A/N: *Russel Casse voice* "Hello boys! I'm BAAAAAACK!"

Props to whoever gets that reference, and the other reference to that same movie later in this chapter. Anyway, sorry about the extreme delay in updates for this again. I dunno, it was just a chore to work on this for whatever reason, and I didn't want that chore to reflect my writing so I gave it a bit of extra time. (by that I mean, what? Two weeks? More? I dunno.)

So, that being said, I hope you guys enjoy this, and as usual, tell me what you think. Updates for this will continue to be slow as I struggle through this funk I've found myself in, but just know this story will not die unless I do. Unless I did my math wrong, it won't be anytime soon. ;)

Take care guys, and please; tell me what you think. I'll see you next update! (whenever that decides to be)


DAY THREE


Ten miles east of Des Moines, Iowa

"That it?" Kassian asked, inching closer to the ground with his Arwing. Sharp quickly rolled his fighter in front of him and responded.

"Yup… God damn…" he mumbled, gazing out at the charred remnants of the cruiser. A few dark streams of smoke poured out from the main hull, but it looked as though the massive blaze had subsided.

The cruiser remnants came down in a large crop field, miles away from any large amounts of residence and population. There was a distinct path that the cruiser took after it impaled the ground; leaving a huge trench in the ground easily twenty feet deep or more. The trench extended for well over one hundred feet, practically carving out the start of a river if there was more water on the ground. There was still a nasty mud puddle that had accumulated in the trench because of the insane deluge the day prior.

"Where do you want us to go down at, Sharp?" MacKinnon asked.

"In that clearing off to the left," he replied almost instantly. "Keep your heads up once we touch down. I saw a few of the humans' military trucks off to the front of the ship. I don't want them noticing us."

Kassian was the first one to land, followed by Garrison, Sharp, MacKinnon, and the female husky Christina Dennis. Sharp hopped out of his Arwing, then took a glance around his surroundings.

Unlike the previous day, there was not a single cloud in the sky, and it was rather bright with the sun looming almost directly on top of them. Luckily it wasn't hot, but the sunlight sure didn't make it feel like it was chilly out. Sharp instinctively pulled out a pair of binoculars from his Arwing cockpit and took a look down the length of the trench towards the frigate.

"Nobody is in the ditch," Sharp stated, swapping the binoculars for a large carbine. "We can sneak up on them from there, and once we clear them all out we can start searching for survivors."

Garrison pulled out a long rifle with a massive hunter's scope mounted on the top, then aimed the weapon towards the cruiser. Dennis quickly intervened as she pushed the rifle barrel down.

"Not just yet," she said. "If you're gonna use that, then hang back here until we start getting in trouble. We could use your distance marksmanship, but not right now."

Garrison nodded as the other huskies started pulling out their own weapons. Kassian and Dennis had identical sub-machine guns, while Kassian's had a small laser pointer strapped to the underside for more precise shots. MacKinnon primed a large automatic rifle, which was a little longer and heavier than Sharp's weapon, but it had a faster fire-rate and more accuracy from a distance. Sharp elbowed the dark copper husky and pointed at the muddy trench.

"Ladies first," he teased. Kassian gave him a sly glare as he crouched down and slid down into the trench, making a loud splash as his boots landed into the liquid mud. Dennis, Sharp, and MacKinnon quickly pursued, with Garrison taking the high ground with his sniper rifle.

"How many did you see up there?" MacKinnon asked, adjusting his red dot sight.

"Whole group of 'em," Kassian replied. "I'm not too worried about them though. If they are anything like the soldiers that Star Fox had to fight, then we'll easily steamroll through them."

"I heard Star Fox pretty much exterminated anyone who was in that city they attacked," Dennis piped up. "The resistance they found was this military group the humans have called the National Guard. They're supposedly well trained, but our soldiers easily wiped them out."

"I wouldn't bet for that happening again," Sharp stated. "They had no warning during our preliminary assaults, so that was probably why they didn't put up much of a fight. Now that they know we're here, they're most likely more prepared and better equipped. That's why I told you guys to keep your heads up, just in case."

"Don't worry Sharpie," Kassian said with a nudge to the husky's backside.

"No, I will worry," Sharp quickly responded. "I told you guys the other day I do not want to be here at all. My fiancée is at home worried sick, and my first kit is due in a month. I just want to go home so I can be there in my first moments as a father."

"Aww, do you know what she's having?" Dennis asked with a smile.

"Little girl," he said proudly. "I'm gonna have a daughter… I've even got a name picked out for her too."

"What's that?" MacKinnon asked.

Sharp turned his head to face the light husky, then grinned as he opened his muzzle, but froze once he heard a–

BANG

MacKinnon instantly fell to the ground face first, splashing into the mud as the other huskies scattered to find a safe spot. The brown, murky liquid started turning red around the husky's head as the other huskies tried to regain their bearings.

"Ambush!" Kassian shouted, climbing up from the trench slightly to get a vantage point on the slowly advancing troops. He fired a few shots, which instantly burned through the troops' equipment and dropped them to the grass. Dennis was the next one up, launching a few blue lasers at the group, but most of them did not find their intended destination.

The humans' weapons were loud. Shot after shot flowed from their weaponry dozens, even hundreds at a time as they impaled the ground near where the huskies were hiding. Sharp ducked low and traversed more of the trench while continuously dodging the metal ammunition that was being spewed at him, then pressed his backside against the charred cruiser. He grunted as he slammed into the metal ship, then instinctively popped up and fired; dropping two or three more soldiers.

Garrison's sniper rifle suddenly exploded in a loud reverberating blast reminiscent of cracking a whip against a tree. The human soldier closest to the trench fell flat on his back with a massive hole ripped dead between his eyes, then Sharp sighed in relief and checked his weapon's battery meter. Seeing that it was almost fully charged, he charged out and launched a flurry of blue lasers as he popped his entire body out of the trench and rushed towards the miniscule remnants of the humans' resistance. As he bolted over and ducked behind a large shard of metal that imbedded itself into the ground, one of the human's shots hit his arm that was not shielded by the hybrid body armor. He swore and covered his arm as it started oozing crimson.

"I'm hit," Sharp growled, sinking low to the ground. Although it wasn't pure heat and energy like his weapon fired, the bullet that had lodged itself into the husky's right arm still stung. Kassian noticed his discomfort, then popped out like the larger husky had done and slid over to his wounded frame.

"You alright Sharp?" he asked, placing a paw over his own that was trying to stop the blood flow. Sharp only grunted as he pulled out some bandaging material from his jacket.

"I'm fine; cover me so I can patch myself up."

The copper husky nodded, then poked the barrel of his sub-machine gun out from their makeshift cover and began to hold back the human onslaught. Garrison's rifle cracked again, dropping another soldier as he was inching dangerously close to the trench Dennis was pinned at.

"Chrisie!" Kassian barked, blind-firing his weapon around the metal barricade. "Call for help! We're trapped!"

"On it," she replied, then after a few seconds of silence on her end she spoke out again. "Backup's coming. We need to hold our own for a few minutes until they get here."

Sharp growled in acknowledgement, then after he had wrapped his arm up in a makeshift bandage, he picked up his carbine and returned fire at the human's military. Dennis looked as though she was about to get overrun, so Kassian took matters into his own paws and pushed forward; pushing back the resistance a few feet while slipping back into the trench to protect the last remaining female of the renowned Husky Squadron.

Right as Sharp finished his barrage of fire and ducked behind the large scrap metal, a small cylindrical object was thrown over his makeshift cover and bounced twenty feet away from him. As soon as the object came to a stop, a loud and concussive scream emanated from the object and instantly deafened the large husky. Not only was he rendered deaf, a blinding white light poured out as if he was staring directly at the sun. He groaned and covered his eyes, then while he stumbled around because of the flash, he suddenly felt a harsh force knock him to the ground. As the light faded away from his eyes and his hearing progressively came back, he found himself flat on his back with a tall and heavily equipped human soldier staring down at him with a large boot over his chest.

"Welcome to Earth," he said stoically, pointing his crosshairs right at the husky's head. "Now, I think I speak for the rest of my country when I say… to kindly piss the fuck off."

BANG


Great Fox (Airspace of Colorado Springs, Colorado)

James tightened his white nylon flight jacket over his forest green flight suit and opened the doors to the warship's hangar.

There were six Arwings in total in the large hangar set over two distinct levels. The highest level sat four, those being the iconic silver and blue fighters that Star Fox used in regular missions. The bottom level sat two extra ones; commissioned to any pilot who had an above-average skill level with piloting these highly advanced fighters. Sarah and Wallace had piloted those two extra fighters before, but essentially everyone on the Great Fox could use them if they met specific requirements.

James growled at the first Arwing docked as he slowly trotted across the second level. On the right side of the hull, just underneath the cockpit was a distinct signature written in a beautifully flowing handwriting in a crimson red paint.

Wolf O'Donnell

The vulpine shook his head in disappointment, then trotted up to the next Arwing in line. He smiled at the blue avian that poked his head out from underneath the fighter.

"All set James?" Riley asked, sliding out completely and staggering up to his feet. His flight suit had various stains of fluids that had leaked out of his fighter, and his face feathers were ruffled and dirty. James cocked his head and stared at his fighter, which was also not in prime condition. There were numerous scrapes and gashes along the hull of the fighter, along with the left G-diffuser sputtering as it tried to activate itself.

"I'm set, but what's up with you?"

Riley groaned in the back of his throat and rubbed the back of his neck. "G-diffuser's jacked up. I noticed it the other day when we went down for the first rescue mission, 'cause I kept feeling lightheaded whenever we made a tight turn. I'm gonna have to stay back and work on her to get her back up to working condition."

"You know you can just take one of the extra fighters," James suggested, but the avian shook his head.

"Dustin's group is taking them, remember?"

"He's in?" James asked with a smile.

"Yup. All three. They're taking the spares, and Peppy let Dus use his fighter for this mission."

James nodded in approval, then patted the tall avian's shoulder. "Thanks Riley. Good luck in fixing her up."

"I'm not the one that needs good luck," he said with a smirk. "You've got one hell of a mission in front of you. I'm wishing you luck that it doesn't go wrong."

"True," James chuckled, then walked down to his fighter. Along the way, he spotted the gray hybrid who was leaning up against the wall and was talking with two heavily equipped soldiers. One he recognized was Rusty; the small reddish brown coyote he had saw with Wes, and a large shepherd and husky mix. He had various colors of fur on his face, ranging from a rusty red, to jet black, to even pure white, and every color in between. The most vibrant color on his face was his two sky blue eyes that were on par with the color of the eyes of the light copper husky they were searching for. James cleared his throat as he approached the group.

"Thanks again Dustin," he said, grasping the thumb of the shepherd's paw as the other canine did the same to James'. "I can't even begin to know how to repay you."

"Killing these aliens is the best way of payment," Dustin replied, smiling as he glanced over at the fighters. "I can't wait to get my paws on them."

"Easy, big guy," Rusty chuckled calmly. "James has the plan. I hope."

James chuckled as he slipped in between the two soldiers and put his arms around both of them. "So, here's what I want you guys to do. I've already got a plan for how Wes and I are gonna get in. However, I'm expecting a standoff as soon as we barge in, so I want you guys as close to the building they're held up in just in case things go to shit."

"How so?" Dustin asked.

"Our latest satellite projections of where Sheila's tracker was last pinpointed was a small house on the outskirts of the city. You guys can camp out on the roof, and when I give the signal, you charge in. You guys still got the code fresh in your minds?"

"Of course," Rusty replied.

"Then follow that," James added on. "I'm suspecting Wolf and Sheila are helping, so I'll map out where those two are with the radio at the most opportune time, and you guys barge in and take them down before they try and put up a fight. We've got charges filed against them, so do whatever it takes to subdue them without actually killing them. That's my job."

Dustin nodded after a brief chuckling fit, then nudged the coyote to signal him to get ready. James took the hint, then trotted over and primed his own Arwing for launch. As he belted himself down into the seat and waited for the G-diffusers to warm up, he started his radio call.

"This is James. Everyone, report in."

"Wes here; all good," the hybrid answered confidently.

"Rusty here; everything is perfect on my end," the coyote said, making sure his instruments were calibrated correctly.

"This is Ashley," a feminine voice replied, that coming from a short black furred vixen who had just wrapped her slightly curled black hair into a ponytail. "Arwing clear to launch."

"Dus here, ready when you are James."

James grunted in approval, then disengaged his fighter from the locking mechanism. As soon as his other five squadron members had done the same thing, he throttled forward, making a beeline for the location pointed out on his HUD map.

##########

Wolf awoke practically in the same position he had fallen asleep in; with both arms embracing the light copper husky tightly. The only movement Sheila had done overnight was that her tail was wrapped around his right leg. Wolf wedged his arms free, then stretched them out as he rolled over onto his back silently. He managed to free his legs from the light copper tail, then spun around and sat up on the bedside.

Wolf instantly realized the rain had finally cleared up. The sky was a very gorgeous pale blue, much like his partner's eyes. As he peeled back the curtains slightly, he noticed there was not a cloud in the sky. It was an absolutely beautiful day, comparing it to yesterday with the constant glum overcast, insane deluge, and lightning.

Wolf stretched out his back, then quietly padded over to the other side of the bed and snuck in a quick kiss on the tip of the sleeping husky's muzzle. Sheila didn't stir or even make any movement of recognition that he had did so. Wolf grinned, then spun back around and slipped out of the bedroom. He was still only in his tank-top, boxer shorts, and barefoot as he quietly crept through the hallway and into the main room.

The lupine quickly found the scent of food being cooked in the kitchen, and instantly poked his muzzle through the kitchen door. Nathan was over the stovetop, already fully dressed in a sweatshirt and faded blue jeans as he started flipping the contents of the pan. He caught the sound of the door opening and cranked his head around.

"Mornin' Wolf," Nathan said with a smile. "Breakfast?"

"Absolutely," Wolf replied, swiping a plate off of the table and trotting up to the human. As he came closer to the human, Nathan turned back around and raised an eyebrow at the lupine.

"How are you not freezing?"

Wolf snickered as he used two claws to pull up a patch of gray fur on his forearm. The fur easily exceeded an inch in length, making Nathan nod with a grin.

"I stand corrected."

Wolf chuckled as Nathan scooped a few links of sausage onto the lupine's plate. He did the same for himself, then slipped into the seat across from where Wolf had just sat down.

"I heard you talking with Sheila late last night. Did you two figure everything out?"

Wolf nodded and let out a grin. "Honestly, there wasn't really anything to patch up. It was just a miscommunication, and she actually realized what she did wrong and repeatedly apologized for it."

"So, you two are all good?" Nathan asked, biting down on his fork.

"Couldn't be better," Wolf smiled, himself taking a bite of the human's food. After he had finished chewing, he put his fork down and glanced at the man as he tilted his ears slightly. "Nate, can… can I ask you something?"

Nathan raised an eyebrow at him. "Sure? What's up?"

Wolf glanced down at the table for a few seconds, then sighed as he picked his eyes back up. "Do you know if I can get a ring sometime soon?"

"A ring?" Nathan echoed confusedly. "What do you need a ring for?"

Wolf made a quick glance over Nathan's shoulder, then over his own, then lowered his voice. "I want to propose to her."

Nathan instantly dropped the fork onto the plate, making an overly loud clattering sound as his mouth and eyes opened wide. "You want to marry Sheila?"

"Shh, keep quiet," Wolf hissed, raising his paw up. "I don't want her knowing. I want to keep it a surprise. Her birthday's coming up in a few days, and I want to ask her then."

"When exactly?"

"Four days," Wolf responded. "I had this idea for a while, but this damn war fucked up my plans. I really wanted it to be that day to make it special for her."

Nathan let out a cheesy smile and laughed to himself faintly. "I actually do," he admitted, pulling out a small band of gold with a relatively large and glimmering diamond hooked up on the top from his pocket. "I was going to give this to Taylor for her birthday that's in a couple of weeks."

Wolf purred silently with a slight smirk. "Are you two a couple?"

Nathan sighed and shook his head as he fingered the small ring. "No, but… I want her to though. We've been best friends for years. We lived in college together. Hell, we fought in the military together in the same battalion. I always made sure she was safe, because I really did care about her a lot."

"So that's why you were so upset when she didn't want to come with," Wolf stated. Nathan nodded, still with the ring in his hand.

"I was going to ask her with this." Nathan said, shaking the ring slightly. "I mean, we've been friends forever, yeah, but… I still love her… Not a "love" with two best friends, but an actual love, like you and Sheila."

Nathan exhaled as he stared at the ring in his hand, then stretched out his hand towards the lupine. "Here. Give this to Sheila. I don't know when I'll see Taylor again because of this whole situation, but Sheila's birthday is coming soon as you said. I want to repay you for the help you've given me, and this is the best way I can do it."

Wolf stood up and pushed the human's hand into his chest. "Keep it. That's yours. When you said goodbye to her two days ago, it was blatantly obvious that you loved her a lot. I don't want to get in the way of you two."

Nathan shook his head and gently grabbed the lupine's wrist, then placed the small ring into his paw and closed his claws around it. "Wolf, I want you to have it. I can tell you love her with all your heart, and I think it will be the cutest thing for you to propose on her birthday. I want you to be happy."

"But I already am," Wolf quickly added, unrolling his claws on the ring. "She's not leaving my side. I'm not leaving hers. There's always next year I can ask her. I can wait."

Wolf lifted the ring off his paw and handed it to Nathan. He hesitated, but eventually picked the ring out of his claws.

"I can always pick one out on Corneria," Wolf explained. "I don't want to take it away from you. I can always ask her next year, or whenever I get an opportunity of my own. That's Taylor's ring, Nate. You give that to her the next time you see her."

Nathan smiled and nodded, pocketing the small ring. "You're right. But, what about you and Sheila?"

"Like I said," Wolf started, sitting back at the table. "Sheila and I aren't splitting up. Last night she told me that she would never be happy with anyone else. I'm her partner. She's never going to leave my side, and I the same to her. It doesn't matter if I ask her today or a three years from now, her answer will always be the same."

Nathan grinned and patted the lupine's shoulder. "You're a good man– wolf, my friend. You take good care of her."

"You don't have to tell me twice," Wolf responded with his own smile. His ear twitched as he heard footsteps from outside the door, then quickly turned to Nathan and waved his paw around his neck. Nathan nodded as Wolf stood up and poked his muzzle out of the doorframe. "Hey beautiful, sleep well?"

"Of course; you were there right next to me," Sheila cooed, playfully pushing the lupine back into the kitchen. She still had her nightclothes on, with the addition of Wolf's jacket that she had thrown over her exposed arms. Sheila stretched upward and was barely able to sneak a kiss on the side of the lupine's muzzle, then yawned and stretched her arms.

"Mornin' Sheila," Nathan said, grabbing at an empty plate on the counter. "Hungry at all?"

"Yes, thank you," Sheila replied, sliding into the seat next to the wolf as he began to finish his own food. Nathan slid a plate full of sausage in front of the husky, then popped into the seat across from Wolf on the square table. Sheila instantly ravaged the plate as if she hadn't eaten in months.

"Oh, Nathan," Sheila piped up, still with a mouth full of food which made Wolf chuckle softly. "I forgot to ask you about… well… all of this. Can you…?"

"You want me to explain the plan to you?" Nathan asked.

"Please?" Sheila pleaded sweetly with a tilted head. Nathan chuckled and cleared his throat.

"So, Wolf already explained you guys' reason for attacking, but I've come up with a plan to stop them."

"How so?" Sheila asked as she bit down on the fork again.

"Fox," Nathan responded. "I managed to "kidnap" Fox, and we're just waiting for someone in your military or something to negotiate with me to get him back. I'm gonna ask for a cease-fire for his safety, and hopefully they will oblige."

"That's a pretty excessive term if you ask me," Wolf spoke up with a fork in his maw. "But, hey, James is probably flipping shit right now, and would probably happily accept those terms for his kit."

"In all honesty he deserves it," Sheila said coldly. Wolf raised an eyebrow and looked at the husky with narrow eyes.

"Are you still mad at him She?"

"Wolf, he hurt you," the light copper husky explained, placing her paw on the underside of the lupine's muzzle. "There's still a huge bruise from when he hit you the other day. I'm not gonna forgive him until he apologizes to you."

"Heh, good luck with that," Wolf said, grabbing the husky's paw and holding it in his own. "He essentially disowned me by doing that. I'll be in the grave before he forgives me… for any of this."

Sheila giggled as Wolf started nibbling the back of the husky's paw. "Anyway, Nate, how'd you get Woof to come here?"

Nathan opened his mouth but all that came out was a slight laugh. "Woof?" he echoed in between quiet chuckles, then eventually doubled over in a much louder laughter. Sheila herself started chuckling once she noticed the lupines cheeks turn red under his thick fur.

"Oh come on Wolf," Sheila whined. "I thought you said I could call you that."

"Yeah, sure, sweetie," he said tauntingly. Sheila growled playfully and pushed at him, making the lupine burst into laughter. He stopped laughing as he heard the faint sound of the kitchen door squeak. He cranked his head around and saw the little orange vulpine hopping in with a smile on his muzzle.

"Hey Fox," Wolf said cheerfully, pawing the kit's mohawk. "How you doing, bud?"

"I'm alright," Fox replied, slipping into the seat adjacent to the husky. Sheila winked at the lupine, then stealthily snuck around his chair and jabbed her nose into the kit's vulpine ear.

"Hi Fawkz," Sheila said nasally, making Fox whine and lean forward with both paws over his ears and a smile on his face.

"Ahh, Sheila," he groaned, cranking his head around to the husky who had just sat back down with her own grin. "What was that all about?"

"Can I not have a little fun?" Sheila asked with a giggle. Wolf meanwhile had silently stood up and crept behind the husky, then slipped his muzzle into her short neck fur and started nibbling and licking. Sheila moaned and whined, but once again did nothing to push his face out of her sensitive neck area.

"Wolf, Wolf, Wolf, stop, that tickles," she complained, finally managing to push his face out of her neck.

"Don't tell me you don't love it," Wolf cooed, making Sheila's light copper tail flick wildly. She slowly inched closer to the lupine, then locked her maw into his. Wolf cradled the back of her voluminous light cinnamon hair as he continued to mush his muzzle into hers.

Nathan couldn't keep a straight face as Fox turned away with a disgusted expression. "What's the matter Foxie? Don't like seeing Wolf all soft?"

"He's just jealous he's not with his crush," Wolf chuckled, making Fox spin around and glare at him.

"Am not!" Fox whined. Nathan smiled and cocked his head at him.

"You like someone too Fox?"

"No!" Fox yipped, feeling the blood rush to his face.

"Come on Fox," Wolf prodded, patting his back. "We're not gonna harass you. Just tell us."

Fox grunted and shook his head as he looked down at the table. Wolf chuckled again and wrapped his arm around the husky. "Fox likes this young little vixen enlisted in the academy. Uh… what was her name again Fox?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Fox mumbled through clenched teeth. Sheila instantly gasped and snapped her claws.

"Oh, was she the short one with the silver curls?"

"Yeah, that's her," Wolf replied. Fox growled faintly in the back of his throat.

"Guys, please," he whined, burying his muzzle in his arms. Sheila giggled and wrapped her arm around the vulpine.

"We're not making fun of you Fox. I think it's really cute that you like Sarah."

"Yeah, but," Fox started, shifting in his seat. "She's a lot older than me though. I'm only thirteen, and she's sixteen."

"And you'll be fourteen before her birthday, Fox," Wolf added. "There's some couples I know of back on Corneria that have a pretty big age difference. It's not that big of a deal."

Fox sighed and lowered his eyes again. Wolf chuckled faintly and trotted over to the other side of the vulpine. "Now, Fox, I know you're really shy, but you gotta put that behind yourself. Sarah is a really nice girl; I think you two would be perfect."

Fox eventually let the ends of his muzzle curl upwards after a few seconds of hesitation. "Thank you Wolf. I… I don't know what I would do without you," he said, then spun around and hugged the lupine whole-heartedly. Wolf wheezed faintly as the vulpine squeezed his chest, then returned the friendly gesture.

"Tell you what Fox," Wolf started as he lifted the tod's head off his shoulder. "If I remember correctly, she's on the Great Fox's ground squad. Once we get this all sorted out, I'll introduce you two."

"Wow, really?" Fox said with a smile. Wolf nodded and rubbed his paw through the kit's mohawk.

Sheila walked over to the lupine and nuzzled closer to him, purring faintly. "You're such a good brother, Wolf."

"I try," he said proudly, then stood up and put a paw on the door. "I'm gonna go clean myself up."

Nathan nodded and watched the lupine's tail disappear through the doorway. He quickly transitioned his glance to the husky who had just sat back down and was beginning to pound the contents of her plate. "Hey Sheila, how long have you and Wolf been together?"

Sheila quickly choked down her bite of food and responded. "Um… Roughly a week or so. Why?"

"Just wondering," Nathan quickly replied. "You two just seemed really close; I would've thought you'd have been with him for a lot longer than just a week."

"Well, actually…" Sheila started, feeling her cheeks warm up as she lowered her voice. "I actually liked him for over a year before. I… just didn't feel confident in asking him."

"So he asked you?"

"Not really," she giggled, pushing some loose hair behind her ears. "It's actually a pretty funny story–"

Nathan and Sheila instantly froze as the doorbell resounded in the small house. "Fuck," Nathan growled quietly, then slowly and hesitantly took a few steps towards the door. "You two, stay here. Don't let who's at the door see you. I'll take care of this."

Nathan reluctantly peeked out of the kitchen door, seeing a small navy blue cap stick out of the window above the front door. He sighed in relief as he recognized the golden glint off of the center of the cap. After adjusting his sweatshirt, he opened the door which revealed two police officers in full uniform. The officer behind the one with the cap was bald, and had a pair of sunglasses on his eyes just like the other one. Both of them were not smiling, instead they had looks of concern and skepticism.

"Uh, good morning officers," Nathan greeted friendly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Can I help you two with something?"

"We got a call from one of your neighbors earlier saying that you had an emergency," the bald cop replied. "What's the issue?"

"Issue?" Nathan echoed curiously. "I didn't call about an emergency. Are you sure you're at the right address?"

The one with the cap pulled out a device and stared at the screen. "Yeah," he said hesitantly. "This is the right house, right? Two eight–"

BANG

The officer with the cap instantly fell to the ground as a new hole was ripped right over his right eye from behind. Nathan instantly recoiled and put his back up against the open door as more gunshots like the one he had just heard resounded from across the street. The bald officer tried to pull out his weapon, but two or three green lasers punctured his chest, instantly felling the large officer.

Fox instantly jumped out of the kitchen with eyes wide. "What's going–"

"No, Fox, get back in–"

"MOVE FORWARD," a loud voice commanded, then a barrage of footsteps resounded from the other side of the street. Nathan cursed and grabbed the kit's stomach as he carried him behind the couch. He then vaulted over the couch after securing the tod, then grabbed his ACR from the back wall and popped it over the couch back.

Sheila hesitantly poked her muzzle out of the door, but Nathan aggressively waved his hand to signal her to get back. She nodded, and right as the husky shut the door another voice shouted from right outside the house.

"Fox?"

Nathan instantly primed his weapon, but Fox practically pulled the rifle out of his hands.

"Nate, wait!" he pleaded quietly. "That's my dad!"

"Fox!" James shouted, barging into the house and raising the rifle to the human.

Fox tried to jump up again, but Nathan put his hand on his chest to prevent him from moving. "Stay behind me Fox," he pleaded, throwing his ACR down on the couch.

"Get your paws off of him!" James barked harshly, priming his weapon as he slipped the crosshairs over the human's head.

"Dad, STOP!" Fox yipped, pulling on the human's sleeve.

"Give me my damn kit back!" James snarled, keeping the human's skull directly in his crosshairs. Nathan held one hand up, with the other one over the small fox's chest as he attempted to push him behind his larger frame.

"James, please, just wait a second!" Nathan pleaded, but the larger orange vulpine wasn't having any of it. There was a pale green fire blazing in the fox's eyes, and his muzzle was so contracted it was almost flat.

"Give. Him. Back." James repeated with long pauses and acidic inflections. Fox was practically in tears as the larger vulpine slowly took a step forward.

"James, I'm not gonna hurt him, or you," Nathan explained, feeling his heart beat through his chest and in his ears. He was downright terrified of the larger vulpine, especially with the rifle tightly grasped in his paws. "Just put the gun down and–"

"Bullshit!" James retorted, tightening his paw on the handle. "If you don't let go of him in five seconds I'll blow your god damn head off."

"DAD!" Fox screamed, trying to snap his father out of his rage-induced state. Nathan kept his hand over the kit's chest as they backed up towards the wall.

"One," James started, inching closer to the human.

"James, calm down and let me explain," Nathan pleaded, not releasing the vulpine behind him.

"Two."

"Please!" Nathan cried. "It's not what it looks like! Just let me–"

"Three," James interrupted with a glare. Fox tried to push himself off the human, but Nathan kept his hold on him. He could see the sunlight reflect off of the older vulpine's bared canine teeth as he kept taking step after step towards them.

"I'm not gonna hurt you guys," Nathan reiterated, but James kept inching forward. He stopped when his knees hit the coffee table in the middle of the room, but still kept his weapon trained.

"Four," he continued, raising his voice. His claw wrapped around the trigger as another growl escaped his maw. Fox cringed and tucked his head into Nathan's arm, anticipating a gunshot, but only heard a click resound from the other side of the room. He hesitantly opened his eyes and glanced over at the hallway where the sound emanated from, then gasped as he saw a large gray lupine with a handgun straight-armed at the older vulpine. James turned his head around just in time to see Wolf give an absolutely nasty glare at him.

"Can't let you do that, Star Fox."