A Second Chance

By FoxMcCloude

Disclaimer: Fox, Krystal/Kursed and all the Star Fox series belong to Nintendo.

Part III: Risky Alliance.

Planet Kew, 11:22 pm…

Fox was racing on his bike at full throttle through the turnpike. He was exhausted and in a very bad mood, it had not been exactly a good day for him, and he couldn't wait to return to his hotel to drop himself onto the bed and rest.

First, that woman chased him around, and stood in front of him to tell him she wanted to work together, just like that, as if she knew him. In another time, he would have accepted immediately without hesitating, but since the last mission of the Star Fox team, after which it dissolved for good, he had changed his way to work, from then on he wouldn't team up with anybody unless he could be 100% sure they wouldn't betray him, as he himself said, "better alone than in bad companies". He still kept in touch with his former teammates, and occasionally he would work with them. Well, except for her, of course. She had disappeared without a trace shortly after Wolf and his team obtained the glory for defeating the Anglars. Naturally, without his help, they wouldn't ever have gotten that accursed device, even though they didn't give him any credit for it. When he knew the plan had been hers, never ever in his life he felt so devastated, and betrayed.

His friends helped him get over it, at least in part, and even more, Wolf at least had some dignity to acknowledge publicly (even though it was several months later) Fox had helped them, although by then his pride had been completely shred to pieces and it was worthless. In any case, one good thing came out of that, Wolf and his team took that opportunity to reform themselves, and he wouldn't have to worry about them causing troubles, even though Wolf still reminded him occasionally he intended to defeat him in battle someday.

But that was not what bothered him at the moment. About one or two hours before, he had gone to search for Gregory Gargantua, also known as Mr. Draco, to see if he could get some info out of him. But things went out of control, and he didn't get him to say anything. On top of that, he searched all over the place trying to find something which could help him hit on the whereabouts of Furio, but even though he literally put the place upside-down, he found nothing at all. The guy had been smart, doubtlessly he should have had destroyed any incriminatory evidence the police might find if they searched the place.

FLASHBACK

Inside a luxury building, about 20 stories, specifically on the 16th story, a certain Komodo was talking to his phone, sitting on his desk inside an office.

- You better watch yourself; that fox might be going after you at any moment. – He heard on the other side.

- No need to worry. – He replied. – I'll stay on alert, and as soon as I see him, I'll send him to sleep with the fish. -

- Whatever you say. And you better warn Furio about this, we don't want him to screw up all the operation. Speaking of which, Draco, when are you going to get me outta here? -

- Tomorrow I'll pass on a request to the police to let you out, so be relaxed. Meanwhile, I'll get in touch with Furio. -

- Fine. Remember, it's THE Fox McCloud you're going up against, don't take it lightly. -

They both hung up. Gregory Gargantua, better known as Draco, had just received a phone call from Sabre Fangs who was still in the detention center, warning him about Fox McCloud following their trace. Draco however did not show any worry, he was going to be a formidable adversary.

Seeing the time, he decided it was the moment to get out of there, and find a safer place to plan what to do about Fox, so he turned off the lights, and then left the office. When it was totally in the dark, a vulpine shadow appeared on the window, pulling a small laser artifact, it opened a small hole in the glass and opened the window from the inside. Who else could be, but Fox? He had flown his Arwing to the rooftop of the building using an optic camouflage and with the engines at minimum power to avoid being discovered; he landed and then climbed down to the 16th story of the building. He had been waiting until the room was completely empty, and taking precautions he entered in the most discreet way he could.

- Fine, Draco, let's see what you have here. – He said turning on a lantern to examine the room. Nothing special, save the fact it was the type only people with money to burn usually have. He went towards the drawer of the desk, which oddly enough was opened, probably in his hurry Draco had forgotten to close it, then he started searching for any clue worth his time. Nothing, only some keys, and some business papers, but nothing illegal, or at least so it seemed. Not finding anything there, Fox directed his attention towards a filing-cabinet, and he started watching the folders, but while he did, he heard a voice and steps of someone who was coming close. Fox looked everywhere, but there was nowhere to hide. Trying to think about something quickly, he stood behind the door, so he wouldn't be spotted, and he could take them by surprise. Fox stood still and contained his breath.

- Silly me, leaving the car keys here. – He heard Draco's voice entering; the desk was on the opposite side so the door kept Fox hidden. He went towards the drawer and took the keys, but then he noticed something weird. – How strange… I left that window closed … and how come my cabinet is opened? -

- Oops. – Fox said to himself, and even though Draco did not hear him, he had left proof enough somebody who shouldn't had been there. He still had, however, the advantage of the surprise factor, Draco did not know where he was, so he discretely pulled out his Blaster and prepared to attack.

A few seconds passed, Draco walked silently, with a revolver in his hand. Fox was still on a good position to strike, and as soon as he got close, the vulpine jumped behind him and aimed at the back of his neck.

- Don't move a finger. – Fox. – Well, drop the weapon first, if you don't mind. -

Letting out a *hmph!* Draco dropped the revolver, Fox walked around him, never lowering his aim.

- Well, well, what do we have here? – Draco said with a sarcastic tone. – Don't you know invasion of property is a grave crime? -

- The penalty for invading is lower than the one given for what you do. –Fox answered in the same tone. – OK, Mr. Gargantua, or rather, Draco, answer me, where's Furio? -

- Furio? I don't know who you're talking about. -

- Always the same story. –Fox said. – Don't try to outsmart me, and answer my question. -

- And if I refuse? -

- Look, I'm not in mood for pointless chats, tell me what you know or you'll see. –Fox threatened him, but then he got an idea. – Let's do this, take your phone, call him and tell him you need to talk to him urgently, ask him where he is and with that I'll go after him, is that fine with you? -

- Fine, you win. – Draco was about to take his cell phone, or so Fox thought, because Draco was actually hiding inside his jacket a pepper spray (like the ones used by the police) and when Fox less expected, he sprinkled it on him,

Draco without hesitating jumped over Fox, grabbing the hand he was holding his weapon, which discharged and hit the glass lamp hanging on the ceiling, then it fell to the ground and it broke in pieces. The fox and the lizard started a struggle, while Draco tried to take Fox's weapon. Finally, he gripped so tightly his wrist, Fox was forced to release the weapon, moment in which Draco got a hold of it, but having his hand free, Fox punched him in the face leaving him dazed for a while, and not wasting any time he jumped behind the desk and toppled it to use it as a shield when Draco recovered and tried to shoot him, also picking up from the ground the revolver he had dropped when Fox caught him off-guard.

Fox thought for a second of using a grenade, but the place was filled with a large amount of inflammables things and the smallest spark could make him get trapped in an inferno, so that wasn't a choice. He touched the hexagonal device he had hanging on his belt, his Reflector, a small gift Slippy had given him after his last work. He hadn't tried it yet, but it was supposedly capable of deflecting any kind of shot.

- Well, nothing to lose. – He triggered it just in time, as Draco walked around the desk and started shooting him. Just as Slippy said, the reflector deflected the shots, Draco continued insisting, until his revolver ran out of ammo, and Fox's blaster overheated too much to keep shooting. Furious, Draco dropped both weapons and charged towards Fox again, who jumped aside to evade him, turning off the reflector. When turning back, Fox realized he had taken a sword which was hanging on the wall and tried to slice him with it. Fox barely evaded the slash so the sword only gave him a small cut on his cheek.

- Coward, you can't run forever! –Draco yelled, while he desperately tried to get Fox. After chasing him around for quite a while, Draco charged towards him in a suicide lunge. Seeing there was no point in running away anymore, Fox decided to risk and triggered the Reflector, and upon colliding with it, Draco was zapped. - AAAAAAAARRRGHHH!!

The shock sent Draco flying backwards, Fox realized it was now or never, and not having any time to meditate about it, he ran towards Draco, who was staggering around in front of the opened window, and he gave him a shoulder-tackle as hard as he could. Draco stumbled, then he made a little somersault while going through the window and…

- UUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!! -

Draco irremediably went down in a vertiginous and mortal fall of 16th stories. Fox could barely hear the dry crash when the body of the lizard plummeted against the ground. When he looked through the window, seeing on the ground the small (from that height) splotch which used to be Draco, he reflected for a moment. He scolded himself for having killed the guy before he could have given him some valuable information. Since he had no other choice, he made a huge mess in the place trying to find any clues. After a few minutes, he furiously kicked the desk in frustration, there was nothing anywhere. Just then he heard sirens wailing, surely enough the police was coming, so Fox decided it was a good moment to abandon that place. Going out through the same route he came in, he went up back to the rooftop and boarded his Arwing, making his way towards the space port as soon as he could.

END OF FLASHBACK

Fox really didn't like to resort to that, let alone when he didn't have a single clue to start investigating. But it was one or the other, and Fox had no intentions of letting himself get killed. However, having ended Draco's life left him with no clues to search for Furio, and for the look of things, he had no other choice but to wait until that interchange was carried out so he would appear. And with no doubt, that woman would be present when that happened, and he didn't want to run into her again.

Trying to get these thoughts off his mind, he finally stopped upon reaching his hotel, which on the entrance had written on giant letters "MARINE BAY HOTEL", a structure just as elegant or perhaps more than that of the Heaven's Gate. Thanks to his contacts on the Cornerian government (or more specifically, Peppy) he had great help to finance his expenses when the bounty hunting business was in crisis.

- Oof, what a day. – The fox walked through the hallway towards his room, taking off his sunshades, his jacket hanging on his shoulder. Finally when he was before the entrance to his room, he used the keycard and entered. There was a hall-stand next to the entrance, he hung his jacket on it, but just when he was about to turn on the lights, he heard a voice coming from the shadows.

- You're late. – It was a female voice, which unfortunately for Fox sounded quite familiar, and that meant Problems, with capital P.

- Who's there? – The fox demanded to know, instinctively pulling out his blaster and trying to pinpoint where the voice came from.

In response, he only heard the sound of a spinning object flying through the air, and before he realized he was on the ground, all the upper part of his body tied in energy cables, when he tried to struggle to break free, he felt the cables tightened more and more.

- You better stop moving, otherwise they'll get tighter. -

Fox could feel his blood boiling, but he had no choice. He could see in the darkness of the room the female silhouette of his attacker, who then walked towards the switch Fox did not get to turn on. When the room was lit, Fox could see who it was, that vixen again, and she was smiling with satisfaction. And it couldn't be helped, anybody can set up an ambush, but you have to be pretty smart to make the enemy enter it willingly. Fox only looked at her with defiance, he had no idea what she was up to, and he really didn't want to find out.

- Very well, now we're going to talk, Mr. McCloud. – She said approaching him.

- You have quite a particular way to say that. –Fox replied with a half-ironic, half-irritated voice. – How did you know where to find me? -

- I put a tracker on your bike when you were not looking. – She answered.

- Typical, I should have thought. – Fox groaned. – Was it really necessary to do it this way? -

- For someone like you, this was the only way you would listen to what I have to say. – She said, while she sat next to him.

- Didn't I tell you this morning? – Fox replied, getting back on his knees to see her face to face. – I work alone, and if I didn't want to work with you before, what makes you think I'll do it now you tended me an ambush in my room, not to mention how you have me in this moment? -

- McCloud, I beg you, do not force me to hurt you. – She seemed very upset.

- Oh, so you don't want to hurt me? – Fox said. – Don't make me laugh, miss. I don't know what your game is, but I don't think… -

¡WHAP! Whatever Fox didn't think was silenced by a hard slap from the vixen, who had started losing her patience. Before he could protest, she took the word.

- You're quite a stubborn one, McCloud. But now you're going to listen to me, and you'll listen closely. -

- Hmph. – Fox was about to groan something, but he finally decided he had to face her, at least so she would leave him alone. – Fine, who cares, whatever you want to tell me, say it at once and let's finish this. -

- I told you before who I'm after. Nathaniel Feral, former Lieutenant Colonel of the Galaxy Federation. -

- Yeah, I know, but aside from the fact he will soon get in touch with Furio, what do I have to do with it? -

- I was about to get to that, can't you have some patience? Fine, as I was telling you, the point is, I've never ever had to face a rogue military officer, and for what I know, those guys tend to be much more dangerous than the average type of criminals I'm used to deal with. -

- Each bounty has its risk, hasn't it? -

- Listen up McCloud, believe me I wouldn't be coming to you if I really didn't need your help. I know your records better than you think, you're a pro, I know that. That's what I need you to help me now, you have much more experience than me and you know better what to expect, right? Of course, you're not leaving empty-handed, I'll gladly split my reward with you. -

Fox remained silent for a moment, as if he considered it. She really didn't expect Fox would be so reluctant to cooperate with her, and seeing he was still skeptical, she finally exploded:

- Damn it, McCloud! What else do you want, you want me to kneel before you and beseech you to help me?! -

Fox looked at her eyes. As odd it appeared to be, something in her seemed familiar, and somehow made his expression soften a bit. She seemed sincere, and if she were trying to cause him any harm, she would have had the chance much before. Exhaling a sigh, Fox finally accepted.

- Alright, no point in saying no because you won't accept. – He said resigned. – Well, this wasn't the best way to start, so, why don't you start by telling me your name, and taking this thing off me? -

- Sorry about that. – She said while she proceeded to free him. – My name's Kry-sorry, Kursed. –

She had almost let it slip. Fox had still not recognized her, and she wasn't sure about what could be his reaction if he knew about it.

- Kursed, huh? That's an odd-sounding name. – Fox said. – Whatever, tell me what you know. –

The two foxes went to sit at a table in the balcony, taking the night wind.

- After we… separated, I went back to the detention center. There was another guy I had to question, his name was Manky Kong. Formerly a subordinate of Feral, from what I could find out, and he collaborated with him in stealing the Zeraph. –

- Several times you've mentioned that software called Zeraph. – Fox said. – But what is it exactly? -

- Well, it's a long story, but to make it short, it integrates itself to any operative system and improves it automatically. You know, makes it faster, adds new functions, you guess. -

- Hmm, no doubt something very valuable on the black market, and dangerous on the wrong hands. – Fox admitted.

- Yes, even though they told me, the stolen disks have a built-in protection, and even the best hackers would take several weeks to completely decode it. –

- Which means we still have time before they can use it? -

- That's right. – Kursed said. – The exchange is scheduled to be carried out in two weeks, at midnight, at Quay 25, in the north side of the city. -

Fox remained silent for a while, he placed his hand on his chin, while he tried to picture the scenario, then he looked at Kursed and spoke:

- My guess is, your plan is to go to Quay 25, wait hidden until they show up, and when they let their guards down, we jump over them and catch them. I send Furio to prison, you keep your disks and end of the story. -

- Simple, isn't it? – She said smiling. – And if something goes wrong, we can always run away in the middle of the dark. -

- Simple, and it sounds good... if it wasn't because, it's a complete stupidity. –Fox said, making special emphasis on the last statement. – Those guys will not be by themselves, surely they'll bring along several henchmen just in case something goes wrong. -

- Are you about to tell me you're afraid, McCloud? – Kursed crossed her arms while giving Fox an inquisitive look.

- It's not that I'm afraid, it's just I'm not as crazy to run headfirst into troubles I might not be able to handle, that's all. -

- Well, if you have a better plan, I'm listening. -

There she got him. Fox really couldn't think of any other way to go against Furio and Feral. Kursed's plan was risky, for not saying crazy, but since they counted with the surprise factor they had a chance. As long as they didn't know who were after their trail, they would have a tactical advantage. Nevertheless, Fox was not the type who liked to go headfirst into dangerous situations knowing it was practically a suicide.

- You know, you must be tired for having had such a long day. –Kursed said standing up. – Maybe we should talk tomorrow more calmly, when you have rested a bit. If you need me, I'm staying here. -

Kursed left on the table her spare keycard of the Heaven's Gate Hotel, Fox looked at it for a moment, he then saw Kursed jumping off the balcony. Fox looked down a moment later, and saw her going away on her bike at full speed. He saw the card again. He was still considering it, this Kursed lady was a complete strange, however, there was something in her which seemed quite familiar, and for some reason he couldn't explain, he had the feeling he could trust her. Didn't his father always say he should trust his instincts?

Fox directed his look towards the night sky. He started wondering what he was getting himself into. Then again, he had not much to choose from, and at least for the time being his best choice was to work with Kursed.

/-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /

The next day…

It was past 9:00 am when Fox awoke that morning. That long sleep served him well to think what to do, and Fox finally decided to work with Kursed. After having his breakfast and washing himself up, he left the hotel and walked very calmly in towards the address on the keycard Kursed had left for him. Even though Fox could see the lady knew what she was doing, and he didn't still come to understand why was she so bent in getting his help, perhaps he could apply that old saying "safety in numbers". For several years Fox had spent most of his time alone, since the members of Star Fox had taken different paths, and perhaps that had affected him a bit, socially speaking. The fact she was quite attractive made no harm either.

- Hmph, sure, start thinking about now. – He scolded himself mentally. As much as Fox wanted to deny it, he couldn't help but acknowledge Kursed had her charms, and thinking about it, perhaps she used it on her favor from time to time to get her missions done. – I just hope she's not planning on using it on me. -

Fox knew he had to be careful in regards to that. In the practice he had run into several women who tried to seduce him to get what they wanted, although of course he never fell for it. After what happened with… her, he had grown a bit distrustful with women, and that was part of the reason he didn't want to work with Kursed to begin with.

The fox shook his head to get those memories off his mind. He always tried to avoid mentioning her name at any cost, even mentally, that's why he always said "her". That was a part of his life he wanted to forget, perhaps the most painful experience he had ever had, and he rarely spoke to anyone about it.

Falco occasionally tried to encourage him to try his luck and go out with other women, but Fox did not accept. The reason? Well, he had two, even though he never commented about it. The first, the fear of being betrayed made him stay on the defensive. The second, and perhaps the most important, he couldn't still get rid of the love he had felt for her. Yeah, as odd it might be, he still had feelings for her, even despite all what she did to him. However deep inside Fox felt it had been his own fault, for having driven her away from him in the first place, even if his intentions were good. And even if he did find her again, he wouldn't know what to say. He wouldn't have the courage to look at her face and confront her, so he thought the best thing was never seeing her again, and decided he would remain alone the rest of his life, some sort of self-imposed punishment for having committed that grave mistake in the first place.

The son of James McCloud was so lost in his thoughts for a moment he almost skipped the Heaven's Gate Hotel where Kursed was staying. Fox noticed it was an elegant building, so he deduced Kursed's incomings wouldn't be contemptible if she could afford to stay in a hotel like that.

- Well, here I am, let's see what Miss Kursed has in mind. – He said before entering the hotel.

- Good morning, and welcome to the Heaven's Gate Hotel, what can I do for you? – The receptionist greeted him.

- I'm looking for Miss Kursed. –Fox said, handing her the card Kursed had given him. The receptionist verified its authenticity sliding it through the reader.

- Yes, Miss Kursed said she was waiting for someone. Suite A20045, second floor, go straight ahead towards the end of the hallway as soon as you go out of the elevator. –

- Thanks. – Fox took the card back.

Taking the elevator to the second floor, Fox went towards the room, but before he got there he heard behind him a door opening, as well as cups breaking, not to mention screams which seemed characteristic of some spoiled rich girl. The commotion made him stop instinctively, and he could see the hotel's bellboy sitting against the wall, and around him some broken cups with all the liquid spilled on the hallway's carpet, while a guest, a female panther, struck him mercilessly with a metallic tray, perhaps made of fine silver, the bellboy tried to cover himself from the blows.

- WHAT KIND OF TEA HAVE YOU BROUGHT FOR MARIE!! MARIE CLEARLY ASKED TO BE PREPARED WITH THE FINEST HERBS!! -

- Madame, ouch! I assure you, aaahh!! I didn't, gah!! –

Fox didn't know if he should be laughing about the ridiculous of the situation or intervening to help the poor bellboy, but he had not much time to think about it, because he finally couldn't take it anymore and decided to run away.

- Hmph, nothing what they serve in this miserable hotel is worthy of Marie. – She then turned to see Fox, who still had not fully assimilated what had just happened. – What are you staring at, fox? I mean, if you can see something behind those glasses you have. -

- Wasn't that too much of an outburst just for a tea? –

- Well, well, all of the foxes in this planet are that much of idiots? You do not understand Marie's necessities. -

- I guess not, if you enter such a tantrum like a small child for something as trivial like that. –

- What have you just said, insolent? Listen up, don't you dare talk about Marie like that! –

- And who might Marie be, if I may ask? -

- You fool, don't you see she's in front of you? -

- Ah, so you mean your name is Marie. – Fox said. - Well, excuse me for not catching the message, if you spoke normally perhaps it would be much easier to understand you, don't you think? – Fox was about to leave, and without looking he said to Marie. – Ah, by the way, if I was you I would clean up that mess before the hotel demands me for making a bad use of their facilities. -

Marie started screaming something else, but Fox covered up his ears to not to hear her. When she finally stopped, the vulpine let out a sigh in relief, that high-pitched and arrogant voice the panther girl had was unbearable.

- Oof, and I thought Panther was annoying with that way of talking in the third person. –

Next he turned towards the door, he was about to open it, but then he thought it would be rude to enter without announcing himself, (he wouldn't do the same thing she did last night, right?) so he chose to press the intercommunicator which was above the lock.

Inside, Kursed had just came out of the shower and she only had a purple towel on when she heard intercommunicator. Expecting Fox, she went towards it to turn it on, and effectively, the male vulpine was outside her room as she wanted.

- So you came after all. – The vixen said calmly, even though inside she felt much more triumphant.

- I hope… I didn't come in a bad moment. – Fox said in a bit of embarrassment, the intercommunicator had a screen so he could clearly see Kursed all wet and only wearing the towel.

- Don't worry, it doesn't matter. Give me a few minutes to get dressed and I'll let you in. – She turned off the intercommunicator. Fox waited patiently, until the door opened and Kursed let him in, and invited him to sit at the sofa.

- Do you want a drink or something? – She offered.

- No, thanks. – He replied. – Better save chats, let's go straight to the point. –

- I suppose if you came here, you must have considered my offer. – Kursed said while sitting on the couch in front of him.

- Yeah, well, I thought about it and… -

- And? – She gave him a half-inquisitive, half-seductive look, which almost got him off balance for a second.

- *Ahem*, fine, I'll be sincere with you… I really don't like at all the idea of working with someone I don't know, but due to the circumstances, I have not many choices. –

- And what made you change your mind, if I may ask? -

- Well, I didn't tell you before, but it turns out last night, when I was outside, the guy I wanted to interrogate… well, bad play of the destiny, he ended up indisposed… permanently, so I have no leads to find Furio. –

- Why, that's a real shame. -

- Since the only place and moment I can get him is during your infamous exchange, then... OK, I'm willing to accept your help and work with you. -

- Yes, I got you now, Fox. – Deep inside she couldn't contain her excitement, but in the outside she only limited herself to smile, nothing more. – Very good, I'm glad to heart that. –

- But a pair of conditions. – Fox said. – First, we'll do this MY way. Normally I like to know who I'm dealing with, so just for precautions, I want to be the one who decides what to do and how to do it, understood? –

- Hmm, fine, I have no objections. – Kursed. – What's the second? -

- Each one receives their corresponding reward. You get yours for retrieving your famous Zeraph, and I'll get mine for locking up Furio. -

- I was willing to split mine with you, but since you put it that way. -

- Fine. If we both agree, I think we can start discussing our plan. -

- Wait a moment, McCloud. – She said. – There's still plenty of time for that. In this moment, don't you think we could, I don't know, get to know each other a bit? You know, to build up trust and that. –

- I don't like the direction this conversation is taking. – Fox said to himself, Kursed's look was making his fur twitch, and her voice tune helped too. – Sorry, but if you don't mind, I'd prefer to keep our relationship strictly professional. -

- Didn't you just say you liked to know who you work with? -

- Yes, but not to the point of… - Fox blushed at the moment he almost let go something.

- To the point of what? Ah, I see, so that's what you mean. – Kursed said upon realizing. – Hmph, you're quite the evil-minded, do you think I'm the type of woman who goes around having little adventures anywhere with anybody? -

- Well, with your… attractive and the way you dress up it wouldn't be too hard. -

- Well, then forgive me for giving you such a bad first impression. – She defended herself. – I might not look like it, but I do have mi dignity, I wouldn't stoop that low. I have my limits. -

Fox stared at Kursed, as if he evaluated her response. The vixen did not seem to leak out any doubt, her voice sounded secure, never faltering, and her expression was too. Her eyes seemed to be scolding him for having assumed such a thing just like that. A few seconds later, Kursed finally spoke:

- McCloud, when I said "get to know each other", I didn't mean it to such an… intimate level. –Kursed said. – I know you have the reputation of being a nice guy and all, but I don't go that far. -

- Hmmm… - Fox reflected for a moment, and he realized his mistake. Even if they look suspicious, you cannot people if you don't know them. – I'm sorry, I didn't mean to… -

- No, no, don't worry. I've been said even worse things. – Kursed replied, she wasn't actually mad at him. – What I meant was, we could talk, tell each other a bit of our lives, that kind of things. -

- Well, I can do that. – Fox said. – But, if you don't mind, can we do it at another place? Truth to be told, being in a hotel room completely alone with an attractive woman makes me feel a bit… uncomfortable, if you get my drift. -

- We can chat while eating something. – Kursed said. – It's almost lunch time after all; if you want we can go eat something at the restaurant. -

- Sounds good to me. -

Fox and Kursed stood up and walked towards the restaurant of the Heaven's Gate Hotel. While walking, Kursed looked at him aslant. She had made it; Fox had accepted working with her. It hadn't been easy, and Fox was still a bit defensive, but at least it was a start. The question was, should she tell him the truth or not, who she actually was? She couldn't say it just right out of the blue, he wouldn't take it well. Kursed decided that at least for the moment it was better for Fox not to know it. At least not until she was sure it was the right time to do it.

- Look at the good side… at least, you're close to him. – She thought.

To be continued…

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Author's Notes:

Fine, with this I've completed the 50% of the story. I told you Krystal/Kursed would get aggressive, and I was serious, although it seemed to work fine. Well, Fox has not realized yet, and he will not until she herself tells him. That and more in the next chapter, which will surely increase the tension.

OK, now to close, thanks for the reviews: casey or dtp 78, ninjafoxshadow, WhisperingZephyr and saberstorm. Stay tuned for the following chapters.