After the cart ride from hell, Deyna managed to stumble onto the streets of the Fort Skull commercial district, a sprawling Underground landscape, filled to the brim with shops and restaurants.

"Come on!" said Red, grabbing Deyna by the collar and dragging him off the cart.

"I believe my stomach ruptured." Said Deyna, who, to his credit, was managing to stand somehow.

"Oh boo hoo, my tummy hurts. Guess what, fucko, I'm missing an arm, a finger, and I've got 17 steel pellets rattling around in my chest cause Coggs is fucking inept at his job. So shut your mouth, or put it to good use." snapped Crabfang.

"Okay okay, relax." said Deyna, his small ears flattening. "Can we go somewhere with a bar at least? I need to get something with a kick to it in my system."

Crabfang and Red exchanged a look before they both burst into laughter. "Woodlander, you'd be hard pressed to find a place around here that doesn't serve your poison."

"October ale?" asked Deyna, as Red pulled them into a large building that looked quite fancy.

"The fuck is October ale?" asked Red, before turning to the host. "Table for... Wait, is that Sixclaw?" She walked past the host, who shrugged and turned back to the two "gentle" beasts.

"Anything I can help you with, or are you going to barge right on into my restaurant?" Asked the host, looking quite pointedly at the two miscreants.

Crabfang looked after Red. "Sorry mate, gotta catch up to her." He and Deyna barged right through in chase of their errant comrade.

Red approached the table cautiously. The corner table was occupied by two beasts. A bottle of beautiful red wine and two glasses were on the table. The lighting in this corner was lower than the rest of the dining room, and the two occupants were sitting very close together.

Sixclaw appeared to have dozed off, her head coming to rest on One-Eye's shoulder, and the massive wildcat didn't even seem all that drunk, just relaxed. Red was in his blind spot, so she was able to observe, before making her presence known. "Hey Boss, out for a bite?"

One-Eye turned his head. His eye flicked to her once, twice, then went wide. The big cat pushed Sixclaw up, before adjusting his tie. "Oh, erhm, 'ello, Red. We were just..." He looked around, trying to come up with a plausible explanation. "Having a conference on... logistics an' all that. Yeah, logistics."

"Logistics..." Red nodded slowly. "I see."

At this time, Deyna and Crabfang arrived. Crabfang surveyed the situation, the feral cat wisely choosing to nod a greeting to Sixclaw, and say nothing further.

Deyna however, was not a wise beast. "Oh, hello 'Six. Thankee kindly for letting me borrow your flask earlier. Are you two out on a da-"

Deyna was cut off by Red slapping him in the mouth with the flat of her knife. "Day trip to the Underground! Yeah."

"Just business. Sit down, you three. We've a lot to discuss."

A/N

I return. Hurricane will most likely delay the next chapter.

R&R