Unseen Revenge: Chapter 27, Home

Fox sat in his office, feeling complete relief for the first time in days. He knew now that this was over, he would have to get back to work. But as he sat there, he found a slight problem with that, his arm was still in it's cast. Fox's job was to train new recruits, and that would be difficult with his arm in a cast. As these thoughts ran through his mind, Fox became aware to the fact that someone was standing in front of his desk. He looked up and saw a great dane and a collie standing in front of his desk. He didn't recognize either of them.

" Good afternoon Mr. McCloud, I hope we're not disturbing you." The great dane said.

" No, you're not. Is there something I can help you with?" Fox said.

" Yes, I am Sergeant Derek Owens. I am going to be replacing General Pepper when he retires next week. And this is my assistant Julia Arias." Sergeant Owens said.

" What can I do for you Sergeant?" Fox said.

" Well, just earlier today I realized that I'm going to replace General Pepper and, I've never even taken the time to get to know you. After all, I should know you if you're training the new recruits." Sergeant Owens said, a light smile on his face.

" Oh, well yeah, I guess you're right." Fox said, looking a bit surprised.

" If you would like I can come back another time, you look a bit distracted." Sergeant Owens said.

" I guess I am, a little." Fox said.

" Why don't you go home and get some rest Mr. McCloud, after all you need to take it easy with that arm." Sergeant Owens said, a slightly concerned expression on his face.

" I would love to, but I still have so much to do." Fox said, trying to suppressing a yawn.

" I'm sure what ever it is can wait." Sergeant Owens said.

" No, I need to get started on the funeral arrangements for Slippy." Fox said quietly.

" Oh yes, that news has gotten around the base. Mr. McCloud, I am terribly sorry for your loss. I really think you should get home and get some rest. After all, General Pepper and myself are already working on that. I know you will want to do the eulogy but that can wait." Sergeant Owens said.

" Thank you, but I feel I should help out." Fox said.

" Mr. McCloud, the funeral service arrangements are in the capable hands of General Pepper and Sergeant Owens, after all Slippy Toad was part of this military. He will receive a military funeral service, so you can leave the funeral service arrangements to General Pepper and Sergeant Owens." Julia said suddenly.

" Oh, well, yeah, ok." Fox said.

No one said anything for a moment. When Fox went to speak Alex stepped into the room.

" Mr. McCloud, oh, I'll wait." Alex said, turning to leave.

" No, don't leave Alex. I think you should meet Sergeant Owens, he'll be replacing General Pepper." Fox said.

" Oh, hello Sergeant." Alex said, looking a little nervous.

" Oh, so you're Alex, General Pepper told me about you." Sergeant Owens said, extending his hand to Alex.

" Yes, sir." Alex said, shaking Sergeant Owens' hand. " So, I guess that means that I should speak with you about the decision I've made as well."

" What decision are you talking about?" Sergeant Owens asked.

" Well, Mr. McCloud said that General Pepper is going to give me the choice of living as a civilian or a soldier. I've made my decision and now I was going to talk to Mr. McCloud about it." Alex said.

" And since you would like to talk to me, I believe I would be right in guessing that you've chosen to be a soldier." Sergeant Owens said.

" Yes sir. I don't think I could live as a civilian." Alex said, looking down.

" Well we can talk about this now, if it's alright with you Mr. McCloud." Sergeant Owens said.

" Of course, have a seat." Fox said, motioning towards the chairs in front of his desk. " So, you want to be a soldier."

" Well, I was hoping you could help me get a position that didn't require me to do any fighting." Alex said.

" You don't like to fight huh. Well there are a few positions that are open that won't have you fight." Sergeant Owens said, leaning on Fox's desk. " How are you with computers?"

" Well, I did work on computer systems with the Sabers sometimes. And I can bypass any security system or firewall in a computer system." Alex said.

" That reminds me, do you know a Mike Rowels?" Fox asked.

" Yeah, he would check on Jessie when I couldn't get out to go see her. Why do you ask?" Alex said.

" General Pepper said that he was caught on security footage. You've visited her, and you bypassed the security footage so you weren't seen, right?" Fox said.

" Yes, it's not that hard, but Mike couldn't do it. What's you're point Mr. McCloud?" Alex said.

" I think what Mr. McCloud is suggesting is that you be given the open position in the security development and maintenance department." Sergeant Owens said.

" Yes, what do you think?" Fox asked.

" I think that would be a great idea. It'll give him work, and Corneria will benefit from it." Sergeant Owens said.

" So, I won't have to fight?" Alex asked, a hopeful look on his face.

" You won't have to fight. I'll talk to General Pepper about it and we'll have it arranged in no time." Sergeant Owens said, a light smile on his face. " Oh, by the way, how is Jessie doing?"

" She's doing much better now." Alex said.

" I'm glad to hear that, the poor girl has been through enough suffering." Sergeant Owens said.

" Sergeant Owens, I hate to interrupt, but you're scheduled to meet with General Pepper in five minutes." Julia said.

" Time certainly flies doesn't it. Well I should be going, but maybe we can get together sometime. Try to get some rest Mr. McCloud and I'll see you both some other time." Sergeant Owens said, then he left.

" Umm, Mr. McCloud?" Alex said in a questioning tone while running his finger across Fox's desk. " When will we... be leaving to, to umm."

" You want to know when we're going home?" Fox asked, a light smile on his face.

" Yes sir." Alex said in a quiet tone.

" You've never been able to call anywhere home before, huh?" Fox said, Alex nodded. " Well, you've got a home now. Why don't you make sure Jessie and James are ready to go. I just need to take care of something then we'll go, ok?"

" Ok, and thank you Mr. McCloud, for everything." Alex said.

" You're welcome Alex." Fox said, then Alex left.

Now Fox had to call Krystal and tell her that he invited Alex and Jessie to live in their home. He sat there, looking at the phone, a little nervous to call her. After a minute Bill entered Fox's office and stared at him for a minute.

" Fox, are you ok?" BIll asked, a concerned look on his face.

" Yeah, I'm ok." Fox said.

" You look tired." Bill said.

" Do I?" Fox asked.

" Yeah, you do. Maybe you should go home." Bill said.

" You think so too huh?" Fox said.

" If I'm not the only one telling you to go home, then it might be best if you do." Bill said.

" I was planning to, but first I have to call Krystal." Fox said.

" Why? Can't you just talk to her when you get home?" Bill asked.

" Well, I need to tell her that I invited Alex and Jessie to stay in our home." Fox said, picking up his phone.

" She's going to kill you huh?" Bill said in a joking tone.

" I hope not." Fox said as he dialed his home number.

" Good luck man." Bill said.

" Hey Bill, how long are you going to be on Corneria?" Fox asked as he waited for someone to answer the phone.

" Actually I talked the General in letting me be transfered here. I'm just lucky some guy wanted a change of scenery." Bill said.

" That's great, what position are you taking?" Fox asked.

" I'm in charge of soldier placements. That's a lot of paper work, but I get to meet all the soldiers and place them where they'll be most productive." Bill said.

" Oh... is anyone going to answer the phone?" Fox said as he still waited for someone to answer.

" Hello?" Krystal said as she answered the phone.

" Hi honey." Fox said in a cheery tone, Bill tried his best to suppress a laugh.

" What have you done now?" Krystal said.

" What do you mean?" Fox said.

" You only use that tone when you've done something without talking to me first. So, what is it?" Krystal said.

" Alright, I'll get right to the point then. I've asked Alex and Jessie to stay with us." Fox said quickly.

" You did? What did they say?" Krystal asked in a calm voice.

" They accepted." Fox said.

" That's great! How long are they staying?" Krystal said, sounding oddly excited.

" That's the thing, I kind of invited them to live with us." Fox said.

" Ok, are they coming over tonight?" Krystal asked.

" Well, Alex wants to, and I'm sure Jessie would like to." Fox said.

" So, it's a yes. Are you guy's coming home soon?" Krystal asked.

" Yeah, after I hang up we'll get going." Fox said.

" Ok, I'll see you when you get home. Bye Fox." Krystal said.

" Bye." Fox said then the phone went dead.

" Well, how'd she take it?" Bill asked.

" She was alright with it actually. Didn't seem angry at all." Fox said.

" That's the calm before the storm buddy." Bill said as he looked away.

" What do you mean?" Fox asked.

" She's calm about it now, but what about when you get home?" Bill said.

" You don't know Krystal." Fox said.

" Maybe not, but she might be waiting for you to get home before getting angry at you." Bill said.

" Krystal's not like that." Fox said.

" I hope you're right." Bill said then he looked over Fox. " Do you want me to drive you guy's home?"

" No thanks, James has his license, he'll drive." Fox said.

" Ok, as long as you're sure." Bill said.

" I am. I'll see you around." Fox said as he got up from his seat.

" Yeah, see ya." Bill said as he followed Fox out the door.

Fox headed down to the infirmary to see if Jessie was still there. Fox noticed the hall was empty, which surprised him a bit. Even at night the halls would be filled with people on night shift duty. Fox shrugged it off, figuring it was because no one had a reason to be down the hall he was in. When he reached the infirmary he could hear talking that stopped when he entered.

" Hi dad." James said, his arms wrapped around Jessie.

" Hey, so you guy's ready to go?" Fox said.

" I can hardly wait." Jessie said, giggling slightly as she leaned against James.

" Well, come on. Oh by the way James, you're driving." Fox said as they headed out.

" I get to drive your car? Are you serious?" James asked, excited.

" Well, I can't drive." Fox said.

" You don't get to drive his car much do you?" Alex said.

" No, not really." James said.

" Why not?" Alex asked.

" I don't know. Dad, why don't you let me drive your car much?" James asked.

" Well, I need it to go to work everyday, that's all." Fox said.

" Really, that's the only reason?" James said, a bit surprised.

" Yeah, pretty much." Fox said.

There wasn't anything else said as they made their way to Fox's car. It wasn't much longer before they were out in the parking lot. The lights were on as the darkness of night set in. A chill rested in the air as the four hurried to Fox's car. Even though it as summer, the nights were fairly cold. After a minute Fox stopped and scratched the back of his head.

" Dad, where's your car?" James asked.

" You know, I have no idea." Fox said, chuckling.

" What? How do you forget where you parked your car?" James asked.

" Hey, I haven't driven it in a while." Fox said.

" It's pretty sad when you forget where you parked dad." James said, shaking his head.

" Don't you have your own parking spot?" Alex asked.

" I wish, it's park where you can." Fox said, looking around the lot.

" This is gonna take a while." James said, as he helped Fox look around.

So they began the search for Fox's car. Several minutes and many spaces later James found it. He waved Fox over to where he was. The others walked over and they all were soon in the car. Fox looked into the back as James started the car. Alex didn't look as though he wanted to trust James as the driver, but they didn't have much choice. Jessie seemed excited that they were on their way to a real home. Fox couldn't help but smile as he relaxed in his seat. Fox closed his eye's as James drove them on their way. Fox listened to the sounds around him as they moved. The sound of the cars on the highway and the city seemed somehow relaxing. Every now and then Fox could hear whispering in the back, but he couldn't hear what was being said. He was too relaxed to care about it though. Fox lost track of time as he sat there with his eye's closed. After a while the car came to a stop and the engine cut off. Fox felt a hand on his shoulder, gently shaking him.

" Wake up dad, we're home." James said in no more then a whisper.

" First off James, I wasn't sleeping, I was resting my eye's." Fox said, stretching a little. " Secondly, you're going to have a pretty hard time waking someone up if you whisper like that."

With that said, the four of them got out of the car and headed up the walkway. Fox was the first inside, he held the door open as James led Jessie in. Alex stood in the doorway and looked around for a moment before stepping inside. He just stood there, staring down the hall as Fox closed the door. Fox gently gripped Alex's shoulder, making him look at Fox.

" Welcome home Alex." Fox said softly, a smile spread across Alex's face.

Fox led Alex down the hall into the living room, where the others were. They saw Emerald, who had her arms wrapped around Jessie.

" I can't believe you're staying with us! This is wonderful!" Emerald said as she pulled back from Jessie, who looked so happy.

" Dad!" Ray said as he wrapped his arms around Fox's waist.

" Hello Ray, glad to be home?" Fox said, patting Ray on the head.

" Yes." Ray said, still hugging Fox.

" Dinner's ready everyone. Emerald, take everyone to the dinning room." Krystal said as she entered the room, then she gently grabbed Fox's arm.

" Ok mom." Emerald said then they headed for the dinning room.

" Fox, can I talk to you for a minute?" Krystal asked.

" Sure." Fox said, a nervous smile on his face as they were left in the living room alone.

" It was sweet of you to invite Jessie and Alex into our home." Krystal said, pulling Fox close to her.

" Yeah?" Fox said, no longer nervous.

" Yeah. Things are going to be interesting with them here." Krystal said, a smile on her face.

" Yeah, it sure will." Fox said.

" You didn't think I would be mad did you?" Krystal asked, a sly smile on her face.

" No, of course not." Fox said.

" Uh huh, well, let's go eat before dinner gets cold." Krystal said, now leading Fox to the dinning room.

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Alrighty, not the end, but almost. Let me know what you thought. Please Review.