Meredith had taken at least an hour to fall asleep, and even after that she was fitful at best for most of the time, she was asleep. Leon had held onto her through out that time as the drugs ran their course and she finally started to settle. When she did settle into a more restful sleep Leon found himself drifting to sleep as well.

When he woke up he felt like he had just fallen asleep, even though by the fact that there was no light shining through the sides of the window shades it must have been at least eight hours. When his eyes flicked back to the hybrid in his arms he looked directly into hers. As they looked at each other he felt her paws griping the fur on his chest.

"How are you feeling Meredith?" His paw gently reaching up to smoothly stroke along her ears, laying them flat along her head.

"Better. I don't feel like everything is filtered through a pillow anymore." She was enjoying the soft strokes of his paw over her head. "What happened? Where were you?" Her eyes looking into his own.

Leon continued to softly stroke along her ears as he sighed. "Jack had me drugged too. What he didn't know is part of my training was, well it was worse than what they were using. It took me some time but I got out of their little setup. Once I found out what was going on I put an end to it and came and got you."

Thinking for a moment she couldn't help but smirk. "By put an end to it you mean you gave Jack a black eye and possible broken nose."

Chuckling, "You remember that of all things?" Shaking his head he taped his nose against her's, "Yes well he deserved it."

"And a lot more. But, why? Why the fake kidnapping and the drugs?" She asked.

"Well, it's not unheard of training, but not usually all at once at least not on a new recruit. You got a crash course in interrogation. Sleep deprivation and drugs are both used. Usually you'll start with one and then the other before both or others are used against you. During my training they used LSD or sometimes they used psilocybin."

"Well that's a bit intense, but I doubt that's what they were using on me." Thinking about how she was feeling made her uncomfortable and squeeze her paws a bit. "Nothing as intense as those anyways."

Leon resisted the desire to wince as his fur was pulled in her grip. He wanted Meredith to keep talking it through so that this didn't lead to issues later. "No, I can tell you they were using a higher percentage of THC to give you that weird feeling, and they added a very low dose of amphetamines to keep you awake."

"Amphetamines … those are addictive." Growling she felt the muscles in her paws strain as she gripped her fingers into fists, until she heard a whimper from the Skunk that was holding her in his arms. "What's wrong, are you ok?"

"You're pulling my fur out Meredith." He spoke calmly but the pain of his chest fur being slowly extracted from his skin was becoming quite painful.

"I am so sorry." Her paws releasing and even trying to smooth down the fur, which turned into something of more interest as her paws found long healed scars. "What are these?" She could feel what she thought was at least two bullet wound scars, and at least one long thick scar.

"Its better when you're not pulling out my fur." Leon smirked. "All of those have a story behind them. I'm more concerned for you."

"Physically I'm fine. That doctor however." Meredith started to growl as she thought about what she was going to do when she got her paws on that badger. She stopped however when she heard a chuckle, her ear flicking up and focusing directly on Leon. "Whats so funny?"

"Oh, you just kinda look cute when you're angry." Leon started to regret what he said even before a fist connected with his chest causing him to cough and then rub the spot that he was sure was even now turning black and blue beneath his fur. "Shit Meredith."

"I'm half bunny, remember. Don't call me cute." Smirking. "And don't be so dramatic, my father survived Mom's punches."

"Then he must be like one of those X mammals." Leon rubbed his chest as he smirked.

"Comic books?" Meredith smirked, "The big bad secret agent skunk likes comic books?"

"What? It was an escape. A world where all the problems were on someone else." Smiling at her.

"Geek" Meredith smirked.

"Oh you madam are lucky I like you." Leon chuckled and nuzzled against her cheek with his own.

"Am I lucky? Yes, I think I am." Smirking. "So, when do we have to go back?"

"I told Jack we wouldn't be back for two days." Leon's voice took on an odd tone of discomfort and anger.

"Why? We don't have a lot of time Leon, and I for one am not going to let what that ass hat did stop me from being as prepared as possible."

Leon shook his head. "You'll be ready, but for now, after what happened, you need some time." Seeing her start to protest as she pushes a little away from him. "Let's give it a day, if you still feel ready then we can go back. But you need at least that day."

Eyeing him closely she tilts her head before nodding. "Fine, but if I tell you I'm good then I'm good ok?"

"Deal." Kissing her nose and chuckling as she scrunches her nose and then twitches it in an interesting combination of what he would have expected from both a fox and a bunny.

"If you are going to kiss me then kiss me Skunk." Smirking she leaned in and kissed him on the lips. She made a happy chittering noise like a fox as she deepened the kiss, teasing his lips with her tongue until his lips parted. Her tongue tracing along his tongue as his returned and traced along hers. A smirk grew on her lips as she pulled away, feeling him try to keep the kiss for a second before he too pulled back. "Much better" She enjoyed the fact that while they kissed his paws had slide along her side to her waist. "Now, I have a need." Rolling quickly away from him before hopping out of bed.

"Call of nature?" Chuckling as he made no attempt to hide the fact that he watched her.

Putting a little more sway in her hips and a flick of her tail for show, she smirked when she got the desired reaction from the male that was still in bed. "That, and a shower. I can smell myself."

"I'll catch a shower after." Shaking his head Leon leaned back against the pillow. This woman continued to impress him. After what she had just been through nobody could blame her if she wanted to stop, and beyond that she wanted to head right back into the fire. He hadn't been completely honest with her though, part of what he had been put through was a video feed of what they had been doing to her. He had been trained early on to never form any personal bonds, they would be used against him. His sister was already proof of that, and now Meredith.

Leon rubbed his arms where the leather bindings had been holding him to his own chair. His first reaction was to fight against the bindings and try to force his way out of them. When that didn't work, he resigned himself to bide his time and look for a way out. As he did, he watched as Meredith continued to defy even the simplest of questions to answer. Even Jack had been impressed, up until he had landed the punch that gave what he hoped was now a swollen shut eye and then the second that undoubtedly broke his nose.

He was lost in thought until Meredith put a paw on his shoulder. "Hay, you ok there?" Meredith's look of concern changed as she watched his eyes trace up her towel wrapped body. "Ok there you are. Get that shower." She smirked as Leon got up. "Off with you" Shaking her head as he made his way silently into the bathroom.

Once she heard the shower running, she changed into a fresh set of clothes and picked up her phone. There were a couple of messages from coworkers about her not being around for her normal shifts, one from her younger sister, and seven from her parents including a voicemail from her father. That made her ears droop. She accessed the voicemail and brought the phone up to her ear.

"You have one new message, message one," came from the speaker in the voice of the traditional mailbox before the voice of her father was played back to her. "Meredith, your mother and I heard that there was an incident with your training. Please give one of us a call when you can. Oh and if the rumor is true, tell Leon I said thanks."

Meredith sighed after listening to the message. Most mammals would have heard a calm tod, but she knew her father and the tone she heard was the anger hidden behind it. "Great." Just as she was about to put her phone down a MuzzleTime request came in from her mother. Taking a breath before tapping the accept button, the video image of her mother came up, with a bit of orange fur just visible on the side of the video image. "Oh hay its my parents."

"Oh don't use that tone Meredith," Judy chuckled, recognizing the voice as one she herself had used when accepting a call she really didn't want to take. "Is it true they drugged you?"

"Wow mom right to the point. Not a hello, how are you feeling." Rolling her eyes. "Yes they drugged me, no they didn't physically harm me beyond an IV and maybe a little bit of abrasion from restraints."

She noticed the flick of an orange tail in the background as her mother leaned back in her chair. "They shouldn't have done that. Jack was way out of line."

"Mom, look they told me this wasn't going to be easy, and I think …" She was interrupted by Leon coming out of the bathroom. " … I think that Jack was just trying to double down on his warnings." Smirking as she watched Leon grab a change of clothes and without thinking drop his towel to pull on a pair of boxers with his back to her. She couldn't help a soft growl before she remembered what she was doing, seeing a knowing smirk from her mother and now a questioning look from her father who had appeared in the video behind her.

"So Leon is there then?" Nick said, though this time it was without any hit of disapproval.

"I am Sir." Leon had been listening, though he was ignorant of the show he had just put on for Meredith. He pulled a shirt on before he walked over to stand behind Meredith, a paw gently resting on her shoulder.

"Thanks for what you did Leon, I wish I was there to do the same." Smirking, "I'll get myn in later."

"Oh you don't have to thank me for that, I did that with pleasure. Tell me is his nose broken?"

Laughing Nick nodded, "Oh he's walking around with it tapped so I'd say yes."

"Ok you two, enough testosterone." Judy elbowed Nick at the same time Meredith did the same to Leon. Both males grabbing their bellies at the same time with a groan. "You two get your own phone call if you want to boast." Judy chuckled when she realized that Leon had gotten the same treatment as Nick. When she watched Nick retrieve his phone and heard Leon's ringing on the other side of Meredith's she rolled her eyes. "Well it will be easier if they are friends." Smiling at her daughter.

"Will it though?" Watching Leon walk to the other side of the room and the volume of his voice drop so all she could hear was the fact that he was talking.

"Hunny, you are ok right?" Judy's concern for her daughter was obvious in how she spoke.

"Yes Mom, I'm ok. Leon put an end to it as soon as he could, he brought me here so I could sleep off the drugs, and he stayed with me the entire time." Smiling over at Leon.

"He's a good mammal hunny. Little rough around the edges but so was your father," to Meredith her mother's eyes glanced off to some place else. "Seems to me he cares about you as well. As I understand it, half the precinct heard him yelling at Jack and that punch he leveled on Jack nearly knocked him out."

Meredith rolled her eyes. "He better not think that I can't take care of myself. I don't need another Dad following me around."

Judy chuckled, "Ahh they get it through their heads eventually that we aren't fragile. If he doesn't then thump him one." Giving her daughter a wink. "He makes you happy?"

Meredith looked over at Leon, engaged in some conversation and now laughing. "Yah, yah I do."

"Good. Keep him close Meredith. I think it will do your father and I some good too." Smiling.

"As long as you don't start asking when you'll be getting grand kits."

"I would never, at least not until you're back safe." Judy smirked and then laughed.

Meredith laughed as well and then a thought struck her. "Hay mom?"

Judy raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"Is there a female badger still around with Jack?" Meredith asked off pawedly.

"Hmmm, yes. She's been treating Jack's injuries. Why?"

"Oh, just wondering." The sly smile, inherited from her father, grew on her muzzle. "I just want to have a few words with her.

Judy tilted her head in curiosity, one of her ears partially flopping over as she does. "Whatever you say Meredith." Judy yawned and covered her muzzle. "Its been a long day, and I still need to make dinner, it's my night. Probably pizza to be honest. Goodnight hunny, I'm glad you are ok."

"Thanks mom, love you." Meredith flashed a small smile.

Judy smiled back at her daughter, "I love you too hun bun." Then she ended the call.

Meredith watched as the secret conversation between Leon and her father continued for a moment more before with a laugh Leon put his phone down. "Well you're father isn't a half bad fella."

"Oh he's not half bad hu?"

"Yah him and I both agree that if we had to eat a bunny, Jack would be first." Leon smirked.

"Really is that what you're going to go with?" Meredith smirked as she leaned back, accentuating a bit of her feminine shape. "You'd eat Jack first hmm?"

Leon tilted his head and nodded, "Yah …. Oh… " He felt the heat rushing to his cheeks and ears. "Now that is not what I meant at all."

"What ever do you mean?" Standing up she walked over to her skunk. "Are you sure?" She chuckled as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Get your head out of the gutter young lady." Leon chuckled and wrapped his own arms around Meredith, leaning his head in to plant a soft kiss on her lips. "I'm more of a scavenger anyways."

"Oh so targets of opportunity?" Meredith looked into his eyes, with mischief written all over her face.

"Nope, not answering that." Leon shook his head with a wide smile.

"Old skunk can learn new tricks." Laughing she leaned her head against his shoulder. "Thank you Leon, for everything." After a few moments in his arms she spoke up without taking her head off his shoulder. "How about we go see how your sister is doing, and then get something to eat. We slept the day away from the looks of it. Tomorrow, I want to have a chat with Jack and his Badger friend."

"I'm definitely ok with visiting Liz, and dinner with a beautiful vixen. Going to see Jack tomorrow though, I told him forty-eight hours and I'd like to keep it to that."

"Just want to chat Leon. That's all. We will stick to your no training for another day." Giving Leon a squeeze before she stepped away from him. "Now, lets get moving. Hopefully Liz is awake."

The walk from the hotel was an easy and familiar walk now for Leon. Made more pleasant by the fact that Meredith was by his side. At one point she had reached out and took his paw in her own with a smile to the side before focusing on their walk again. When they reached the hospital, Meredith led them both to the front desk where a young deer buck sat. Looking up when he heard the mammals approach, he smiled in recognition of Meredith.

"Doctor Wilde. What can I do for you today?" the buck asked pleasantly.

"Leon and I are here to visit his sister Elizabeth Forest." Smiling she waited as the buck accessed the computer infront of him. Her smile started to faulter when the buck looked up at her and held a finger up as he picked up a phone and quietly spoke. When he hung up the phone he leaned back a little bit and looked up at the pair.

"The doctor will be down to meet you in a moment." His voice a little more serious and even a little sympathetic.

Meredith nodded but Leon had quickly picked up on the change in both mammals. "Whats wrong? Why are we waiting on the doctor?" Leon took a step towards the desk when Meredith grabbed his arm.

"Leon, lets just wait for the doctor." Meredith gave his arm a gentle squeeze. "Just wait ok?"

Leon nodded his head snapping up when he heard footpaws coming down the hall. The same doctor from a couple of days ago came walking out of the hall directly for them. This time Leon took note of the doctor. The cheetah stood a good foot taller than Meredith who was only slightly taller than himself and was dressed in blue scrubs with a lab coat over that. As he approached his expression was relaxed but not happy. "Leon, Doctor Wilde. Why don't we go to my office to talk." Turning without another word he led the pair down the hall to a small office off a second hallway.

The office had a small desk with a laptop and a wide green shaded desk lamp. The room lights were dim letting the lamp cast most of the light down onto the desk and casting the room in a gentle green ambient light. The walls were lined with full bookshelves of many different topics of medicine, all except for one shelf of books that seemed to be dedicated to religious books from around the world. On that same shelf were numerous small status of deities.

The one thing that caught his eye the most was of a sitting four legged female fox. The statue itself was made of a light grey rock, but around its neck was a red votive bib. The eyes of the statue felt as if they followed him as he walked further into the room. His attention from the small statue was changed when he heard the doctor clear his throat.

The doctor had been watching Leon with interest for a moment, nodding towards the statue. "A messenger of Inari, god of prosperity, fertility, and rice. The white fox is supposed to symbolize benevolence and malevolence. I've been told to not doubt the power of the kami but most importantly the foxes. If you doubt them they will prove to you in a most malevolent way. If you respect them, and give them offerings they will plead on your behalf to Inari." The doctor took a seat behind his desk and motioned for the pair to also sit.

Meredith looked at the statue briefly before taking a chair next to the one that Leon had taken. "Doctor Eldridge, please what is it that you wanted to discuss?" Placing a paw on Leon's after they were both seated.

The cheetah sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Well Elizabeth is still alive, however she has not regained consciousness. The first time we tried to decrease the medications keeping her asleep she had another seizure, so we put her back under. We found that she had an increase in cranial pressure and Dr Waterton, Meredith you met her the older otter at the Christmas party, was able to surgically correct the issue but when we attempted to wake her up again she hasn't responded. She's been weened off of the medication but still requires the ventilator."

Leon was listening but found there was nothing he could say. He looked down at his arm when he felt Meredith paw tighten a little more. When he looked up at her she was looking at him, he could see the worry on her muzzle before she turned back to the Doctor. "Brain activity?" Meredith asked.

"Minimal, so there might be a sliver of hope but." Breathing in deeply before placing a paw against the edge of his desk. Leon watched as one of his paw fingers rubbed over the same spot. Something that apparently had become a habit of the doctor's, perhaps when anxious, as that area of the wooden desk had been slowly worn away. The varnish of the rest of the desk was missing in that two inch or so space and bare wood had started to be warn into a smooth divot. "There is no easy way to say this but in all of the similar cases I've seen like this I've had maybe two or three percent recover."

Leon looked up at the doctor, the fur under his eyes moist from tears he held back as best he could. "There is hope?"

"Well yes, but Leon … "

Leon cut off whatever the doctor was about to say with a soft but stern voice, "No, if there is hope then I want her cared for. Nobody is pulling the plug on my sister."

"Yes, of course." The doctor continued to stroke that spot of wood, "You understand though that I will have to have her moved to a different ward. We don't have the long term care here."

"Whatever you need to do doctor." Standing up. "I'd like to see her."

"Not tonight Leon, shes still healing from the surgery, and given the extent of that we are taking MRSA precautions." Doctor Eldridge remained calm but the rubbing on the desk increased.

"I'm her damn brother." Leon's voice got hard and almost threatening.

"And I'm her doctor. You want her to remain in care, then when the care giver makes a decision you have to live with it." The cheetah stood up as well, causing Leon to have to look up a little.

Meredith stood at this point. "Boys, stand down." Looking at Leon first. "Leon, he is the doctor, and right now his word is law." She then looked at Doctor Eldridge, "MRSA precautions?" When she didn't get a response. "We'll be back tomorrow. I don't care if its through a glass window you will let him see his sister, right?"

"Yes, of course. Don't come so late and we can put you both through proper cleaning and then you can go into her room."

Meredith turned to leave the office and started walking towards the door. "Lets go Leon" Leading out the door.

Leon turned to leave when the Doctor spoke up. "You're a good mammal Leon. We will take care of your sister. I promise."

Leon turned back around to look at the Doctor. "Mammals have been saying I'm a good mammal. Doctor, you need to know that my sister is my only living family and that I'd like to be a good mammal for once." His voice was soft but confident. As he turned to walk out of the office, he glanced over at the fox statue again, it felt like it was smiling at him now. Squinting at the statue for a moment longer before he walked out of the office to meet with Meredith.