When Dust woke up, he wasn't in the car. Instead, he was laid out on his couch. His side and arm ached, he could feel parts of his fur stiff with blood, and his head was pounding. The fox groaned and rolled over, collapsing to the ground with a small grunt. He heard shuffling beside him and looked up, seeing Nick and Judy's worried expressions as they hovered over him, paws held out to offer him aid.
He grunted and pushed himself upright, wobbling on his legs as he began taking off his gear – he was hot. His backpack was at the edge of the couch, and his duster fell to the ground with a clank, before he undid his belt and slid it off, letting the items that were around his waist fall to the ground. He discarded his mask and shirt next, leaving them in his wake as he made straight for the bathroom without so much as a word to either officers.
Judy turned to Nick as soon as Dust had shut the door, frowning with worry. "We have to do something about him," she said. Nick nodded in agreement, leaning back slightly as he thought.
"He's clearly pretty tough, but after a fall like that he needs to take a break. We both know he won't do it, though," Nick said, staring down the hallway. Judy began to pace, eyes staring at her feet as she racked her brain for something. The sound of the shower started drifted from the bathroom. Her eyes ultimately fell down to the taller fox's coat, and an idea sprung into her head.
"What if we have him review whatever's on the hard drive?" She said. Nick raised an eyebrow curiously.
"Wasn't that already the plan, Carrots?" he asked. Judy shook her head.
"Well, it was, but if we can convince him to take his time with it, it could give him an excuse to rest. To be honest, I'd rather get him checked on in the hospital, but since Phraxus knew he was there the other day, I don't think it's a good idea. If Lucas gets word out to them about this, then they'll likely be looking for him in hospitals." Judy set her paws on her hips, staring up at Nick. "So if we have him rest here, and convince Bogo to have a unit patrol around here," she started, Nick cutting her off.
"He could rest up, and thoroughly comb through whatever's on the hard drive. With the patrol going, it'd be harder for Phraxus to get to him, and we could take care of a few things back at the Precinct for however long this lasts," the fox finished. Judy smiled and nodded.
"Exactly. We just need to convince him to take it easy for a while. Maybe we can get a doctor to make a house call, too."
Nick nodded, rubbing his chin. "That would be tricky, though. Maybe. The doctor could lead Phraxus back here. It would be like sending him to the hospital, only it would take a little longer."
Judy frowned at this, groaning at the realization, before her ears rose up and her expression changed to a smile once again. "Unless we have them meet somewhere. If we can find safe transportation for him, Dust can meet the doctor in a safe place. There will be no immediate connections to where he lives!"
Nick joined Judy in smiling at this, though it faltered a moment later. "Hang on a moment, Carrots. He called Frost at the hospital, right?" Judy looked up curiously, nodding. "And that was when he was told that Phraxus knew where he was, right? We all saw him get anxious right before. How did they know where he was?"
Judy opened her mouth to speak, before closing it and holding her chin as she looked down, foot tapping against the ground. "You're right. Maybe they tapped into the call, and traced it?"
"But wouldn't he have said something about it?" Nick asked. Judy frowned at this, but nodded. "Now, hear me out on this. Phraxus knew he was at the hospital, but not where he lives. And all of a sudden, we have all this potential information on them, but again, they don't know where Dust lives. Isn't that a little funny? Almost like this is too easy? Almost like-"
"Like someone's feeding us information?" Judy asked. Nick nodded.
"But the question now is why Phraxus hasn't taken action yet. What are they waiting for?" Nick wondered. The two stood in silence for a minute, before the idea hit them at the same time. Both mammals turned to one another and started.
"They're going to feed us false information," Nick started, before Judy took over.
"So we go after the wrong mammals, the wrong places," Judy continued. Nick picked up here.
"And it distracts us from their actual goals." Both officers stared at one another, giving a small, nervous chuckle. "That's... A little strange, isn't it, Carrots?"
"Their plan, or...?"
"Us completing one another's thoughts and sentences." Nick clarified. Judy rolled the idea around in her head for a moment, before smiling nervously, seeing the awkwardness of it.
"Just a little bit," she admitted. "But, back to the important matter. Why would Frost tell Dust that Phraxus knows about him being in the hospital if he's the leak?"
Nick took a moment to ponder this. "What if it's not Frost?" he asked aloud. "For all we know, it's actually Dust. Or the other two we've met, King and Li. Or maybe it's not like that at all?" The fox started to pace now, Judy containing a laugh at their change of positions. "Frost is the only one we haven't met, and the only one who is in contact with Dust and only Dust. From what we've seen, none of them are exactly computer-savvy."
"Which would mean that Frost is the one who gathered the information on Phraxus that we have now," Judy said.
Nick nodded. "Right. But what if he wasn't careful about covering his tracks? What if they found him, traced him, got to him? The one mammal that might have information on everything for Dust and the others, now at their control?"
"Then no place is safe for them," she realized. "But then, wouldn't they have done something to this place or the others by now?"
"Unless they're waiting, like we said earlier," Nick said. He paused and looked over at Judy, raising up a finger as he made his way over to her. "We need to talk to Dust, and find out exactly what was said in that phone call," he said. Judy nodded in agreement.
"So, the plan is: Get Dust to rest and go through the hard drive; keep a patrol in the area; find out what happened in that phone call; try to get him a doctor; and do our own thing at the Precinct?"
Nick nodded. "Sounds about right," he said. Judy smiled. "Now we just need to convince him..."
"Convince who?" Dust said, walking into the room. Nick and Judy both jumped slightly, having not heard the fox exit the bathroom, and the rabbit had to turn around from embarrassment. Dust was dressed in just his pants, slowly wrapping a white bandage around his midsection. The new injuries to his right side were a visible, angry red, and whenever his left arm stretched too far, he let out a soft hiss of pain.
Nick smirked down at Judy, finding nothing but amusement at her reaction, before straightening out his expression and staring at the larger fox. "Dust, we need to talk," he said. The blue-eyed reynard looked at him, pausing in the dressing of his cuts before resuming.
"Go ahead," he said, tone indifferent. Nick took a breath, his paws hiding inside his pockets.
"You need to take a break," He said. Dust scoffed.
"And I also need a new house, computer, bed..." he said, reaching for the black shirt he had worn earlier. It was stained with blood but, for the time being, it would do. He turned around and began searching for his mask as well.
"I'm serious," Nick said. "You need to rest."
"The answer is no," Dust replied.
"Dust," Nick said, before being interrupted by a harsh "No!"
He was putting his shirt on when Judy finally spoke.
"Robin," she said. Her tone was commanding, stern, similar to that of a parent who had had enough from their stubborn child. Dust froze, shirt partway over his head as one ear stuck out the neck hole. His tail dropped, as did his ears, as he finished pulling the shirt on and slowly turned around. His eyes were full of a combination of fury and sorrow.
"What did you call me?" he asked.
"Robin," Judy replied, not at all deterred by his anger. The fox almost flinched at the name, but he held his ground. "Listen to me. You need to rest. We let you leave the hospital, but this is too much."
"I'm fine," he replied.
"Fine? Dust, look at yourself! You've gotten at least a half dozen injuries in the past week. You took a three story fall. You are not fine!" Judy replied. There was concern evident in her voice, and Nick carefully waited for his chance to enter the conversation again.
"I'm fine," the other fox repeated. "I've got no choice. I'll be fine."
Judy sighed, holding the bridge of her nose in frustration. Nick stepped up beside her. "Then, we've no choice either. Look, you've been a massive help with this, but if you don't listen, we will have to take drastic measures. You're injured, you know that. You're only going to get more injured if you're not at the top of your game. Something that you can only be after you've rested."
Judy spoke up again. "Look, we aren't telling you to stop fighting Phraxus. Far from it, we actually figured out a win-win. You have the hard drive, right? Go through what's on it, here. And while you do that, rest. Take your time and go over it all very carefully. Then, if it's safe, copy it and give it to us."
Dust didn't seem to like the idea, but he was smart enough to not argue yet. Nick spoke again. "Judy and I have our own thing we have to do at the Precinct. If you rest and go through the information, that gives us time to get that done. We'll make sure there's a patrol car here at all times, and we'll get you checked out." Nick held out his paws, head tilted in a 'Well, what is it?' gesture.
The other fox stared at the officers before him in silence, clearly letting the wheels in his head churn. Nick did the gesture again, as if asking him to hurry, and Dust sighed in resignation. "Fine. But I won't stay here any longer than a week. And I'm not seeing a doctor." He cut off Judy as she opened her mouth to argue. "Look, I'll rest. I'll take it easy. I won't even leave here if I don't need to. But I do have my own conditions. One week, no doctors. And if something comes up, the week gets cut short. That's only fair, right?"
"Not entirely," Judy sighed, "But... It works. We'll speak with Chief Bogo in the morning about assigning a unit to patrol here. Until then, we're going to stay here."
Dust scoffed. "Do I get a say in this?" he asked, ears flattening when both Nick and Judy immediately said "No." He replied with a soft chuckle, before rubbing the top of his head and turning for his room. He tossed his clothes over to the pile of dirty clothes he had in a corner, before walking back out for his coat and bag. "Then you two can take the guest bedroom again," he said, lifting his coat and examining it. There were several holes in it, which bothered him. Oilskin was tough and durable, but it wasn't as good as, say leather or something like kevlar. Bullets and properly sharpened blades would have no trouble getting through it, and that showed with the stains of crimson on the black fabric.
He reached into one of the inner pockets of the coat, and drew out the hard drive. Much to his dismay, a part of it was bent and broken, the casing having taken part of a bullet while he had 'fought' Lucas.
Maybe it's just external damage?
And if it isn't? Frost doesn't have access to the Brightwater systems anymore.
Maybe he made a backup?
Hopefully.
"We may have a problem here," Dust admitted, holding up the damaged hard drive for the fox and rabbit to see. Their expressions changed to one of worry and dismay at the damage, but they soon regained a hopeful energy.
"It doesn't look that bad," Nick said. "Maybe it's just the outside that's damaged?" Dust shrugged.
"Even if the actual circuits and wires took damage, isn't it still useable?" Judy asked. Dust shrugged again.
"It depends. See, it's not like a CD where, if it's scratched, there's just some distortion or playback errors. If there's too much damage, this thing is dead. The data could be gone and irrecoverable." He lowered the hard drive and slid it into one of his few unoccupied pockets, reaching down to put on his belt. "However, there's the chance it's still good to use. Or, mostly. Either way, we'll need to wait until morning." He kept gathering what he had left out by the couch, and began walking to his bedroom. The various gadgets and items he kept with his backpack and coat clanked as he walked, dumping them beside his door before walking back out, fingers lightly trailing over the knife wound in his left arm.
Dust walked past the officers and into the kitchen, ducking out of sight as he rummaged through a small drawer and re-emerged with a large, white medical kit. He opened it and began sifting through the items inside, before drawing out a crescent-shaped needle attached to some thread. Without so much as glancing at Nick and Judy, he grabbed a pair of trauma shears from the kit and snipped off a red-stained string that dangled from his arm, before grabbing the needle and beginning to carefully stitch his arm.
He was midway through his self-stitching when Judy coughed, both her and Nick now on the other side of the counter. "Robin," she said, pausing for a moment. Her voice was filled with curiousity and worry. "What injuries do you have now?"
The blue-eyed fox stared at her for a moment, before resuming his stitching. "Why does it matter? I'll live either way."
"So we know what to try and get you while you rest," Nick said. His gaze was harder than Judy's, but concern was still evident in his eyes.
They still care for you.
They need to stop.
They won't; you know it.
Well, I won't stop trying and hoping that they'll stop.
Dust was quiet a moment longer, before sighing. "At least four cracked ribs, a bullet grazed my right side, a sword cut my right side, whatever I had at the hospital... Maybe a cracked ulna, or radius." He tapped just above where he was working, on the upper half of his forearm. "Hit my head with the fall, but I don't think it was major. Think my tail got grazed by a bullet, too."
Nick passed Judy his phone as Dust talked, and the rabbit began typing the information in a text to herself. "How're you still kicking?" She wondered aloud, looking up and passing Nick his phone back.
Dust shrugged. "I got lucky. But I can tell you one thing: No matter what, I'm not dying during this. I can't."
Nick scoffed. "You're not immortal," he said. "And clearly you can be hurt."
Dust tied off the thread, before cutting the remaining string free with the shears and putting the equipment back in the kit, closing it up and putting it away with a hiss of pain from his side. "Never said I was immortal," he replied. "Never said I was invulnerable, either. Just can't die yet."
Judy tilted her head curiously, but she and Nick remained silent as Dust walked around the counter again. "I'm... Going to go lie down," the larger fox said. His tone had suddenly shifted – instead of being somewhat distant, yet determined, he now sounded... Defeated and exhausted. His tail hung low, as did his ears. "You two have a good night. Oh, and... You need to make up your minds on what you're going to call me."
And with that, he walked out of the room, quietly shutting his bedroom door behind him.
~ óÓÒò ~
Dust leaned against his door as soon as it was closed. His vision was hazy as his eyes filled with tears and he slid down the door, resting against it as he sat on the ground.
Stop crying.
Haven't I earned a chance to cry?
What are you even crying about?
Because they care.
So you're going to cry? What are you, a kit?
Why do they care?
It's pity.
No, no it's not. It's real, it's-
Was Rachel's real? Or was it pity?
The fox flinched. Those thoughts struck him like the fall he had suffered not long ago.
Exactly. Remember that.
They care in a different way.
For now, maybe. It'll all end up the same.
Shut up, Dust growled. He knew he was alone, but the argument in his head was getting to him. He didn't want to risk someone walking in on him freaking out again. Rising up, the fox forced himself to his bed. He could feel tears seep through his fur, though his expression never wavered as he flung himself under the covers. Sleep, that was all he really needed. Sleep would drive off the argument. Sleep would heal him. Sleep would hide him.
~ óÓÒò ~
"Dammit!" He shouted, slamming his fist on the table of his living room.
Three days had passed since Nick and Judy had convinced Dust to stay at home. In those three days, he had done his laundry, set up his old tower computer, taken care of his injuries, and eaten maybe five meals. It was now seven at night and he had finally, finally gotten the computer updated and ready to go.
Unfortunately, the hard drive was going to take another three hours to "scan and repair". Dust scowled, his patience running thin. While Judy and Nick had kept their promise of bringing him what they could for his injuries, it really wasn't much more than he'd already had. Just some extra painkillers, a bit of gauze, and other small things. At least he had a replacement for all the sewing supplies he'd used to close up his cuts. They were healing, slowly. The bullet wounds had scabbed over now, and the sword wound was on the way. His left arm, where Lesnitsky had stabbed him, was faring much better and had almost healed enough to take out the thread.
They had been right, Dust really HAD needed some rest. Or at least, his body did. His mind, however, could not be slowed down. He was constantly bored, no matter what he did – games, reading, writing, designing, it all bored him. And, of course, he couldn't leave his house without breaking his word. And it was driving him nuts.
Leaning back into the couch, the fox stared at the various papers he had sitting about. New designs for swords he wanted to try, but never bothered to sketch; ideas for stories that had been filed in his head for the longest time; random drawings of various mammals and otherworldly creatures (oddly, an octopus-faced biped with wings was a recurring theme). Even a few strange ideas he had half-remembered – scrabbling down concepts of different universes. Ones where he wasn't a thing, or was born too soon or too late to help out now. Born in different eras. Universes with different laws and concepts, abstract to the ones he and his fellow mammals were well-acquainted with.
But it still bored him.
Sighing in defeat, he rose up and started gathering his papers, organizing them and putting them in relatively safe places. Judging from the sick feeling he had, and the growling of his stomach, he needed to eat something while he waited.
His attention turned to the kitchen. Cooking was a good distraction, right?
~ óÓÒò ~
Two days later, and there was finally some semblence of progress made. While the hard drive had been damaged, there was enough that could be recovered to be useful. He now had clear access to a list of mammals in the group, several locations of where they had 'bases' or hideouts, information on what gear they seemed to use, and other small things. Unfortunately, there was no information on specifics about these mammals – they were all in corrupted folders beyond repair, the data being too far gone to even try to fix.
In the very least, he was able to get the useable information copied to his tower, and to one of his dozens of flash drives. For a terrabyte hard drive being used, all the information he had was under 2 GB. This concerned him as to the amount of information they may have lost, but he still felt that they had won something here.
He had called Nick and Judy earlier, as soon as he had the files pulled safely, and let them know he had recovered something they could use. They were to come by the next day and retrieve it, leaving the fox free to his own devices for the remaining hours of the night. He silently watched over his dinner as he cooked, glancing at the clock and wincing at the late hour – 10:13. His arm and sides were healing well, well enough that he had taken out most of the stitches, and the bandages were no longer necessary (though, appealing to his less mature side, he kept them on so as to 'look cooler', going so far as to keep his shirt off even). As it was now, he was in the kitchen cooking some more fried potatoes and vegetables, when his instinct began to nag at him. Something seemed off, unnerving. Almost like he was being watched.
He turned down the heat of his stove, letting the crackle of the oil fall to a nearly nonexistent hiss as he perked his ears and listened closely. A quiet scratching sound was coming from his front door. Crouching low, he crept over to the counter, peering around to look at the doorway as his ears strained to pick up the sound of someone outside.
"Think he's still awake?" someone asked. Dust reached into his pocket and drew out his phone, quickly sending out a small text to Judy and Nick as he listened.
"No idea," a second voice said. "But hey, there's four of us, this should be easy either way."
"Will you two shut up?" a third voice sounded. "If we don't get the jump on him, this is pointless!"
Dust shook his head, ignoring the dread in his stomach. Amateurs, he thought, slinking back to the kitchen as he looked around. He usually kept something in here to defend himself with, where was it?..
Dust reached into a drawer at the same time that his front door cracked open. The smell of food drifted for the opening, and the mammals waiting outside froze. Dust kept himself under the counter, clutching the three throwing knives he had taken out in one paw. After a minute of silence from both parties, the door was pushed open further. "Don't think he's up anymore," the first voice said quietly. "Let's get 'im."
Dust kept himself still and low to the ground, counting down from fifteen slowly before he sprung up. His door was wide open, the invaders all facing away from him. A brown wolf, tan coyote, and arctic fox, all dressed in black including a mask, each with a weapon. The wolf held a metal baseball bat, the coyote held a crowbar, and the fox was clutching a plain-looking knife. Each one looked young, younger than him, but still old enough to be out of high school.
Dust let out a whistle, causing the mammals to all turn around and stare at him, before he threw the knives their way. Two dug into the coyote's shoulders and one grazed past the wolf's arm, leaving a small cut. With a cry of pain, the coyote fell onto his back, the fox and wolf charging forward.
The fox reached Dust first, and the larger of the two grabbed the frying pan off the stove and swung. Food went flying as the fox cried out from the blow, searing hot oil and metal smashing the side of his head and sending him to the ground. The knife he held slid away and onto the living room floor. The wolf was the next to reach him, bat raised up before being brought down to him. Holding up the pan, the smaller canid deflected the blow and flung the pan at the wolf, hearing a satisying clunk as it connected with his skull.
Dust jumped up to the counter and began to roll, but the wolf swung the bat and clipped his shin as he did so. Dust fell to the ground and rolled again, biting his tongue from the pain in his leg as the wolf rushed around the corner, bat raised again. He brought it down on Dust, but the fox rolled to the side to avoid, before rolling back and hooking his arm over it. He then brought his other arm up to grab the wolf's shirt collar and pulled, coiling up his feet to kick the larger mammal in the jaw. The blow loosened his grip on the bat, and Dust took full advantage of this, grabbing the metal object and swinging for the wolf's leg.
The wolf let out a yelp as the bat connected with his leg, but to his credit, he didn't fall. Dust swung in the oppsosite direction, still on his back, smacking the wolf's other leg with the bat this time. Unable to take the blows, he fell to the side, his head connecting with the countertop and letting out a painful crack. Dust winced and, for a moment, felt pity for the pain he'd feel, before he saw one of his throwing knives smack the counter beside him. Another followed quickly after, and he turned to see the coyote back on his feet, swinging the crowbar at the fox.
With a yelp, he ducked down and dove forward, between the larger mammal's legs, before turning on the ground and kicking the back of the coyote's knees. They buckled immediately, the coyote falling to his knees as Dust threw his arms around his neck, one arm pulling back while the other was firmly pressed against the back of his neck. The coyote gasped and flailed lightly, reaching back to try and beat at Dust with the crowbar, but he quickly faltered and started to go limp. Dust held on a second or two longer, before dropping to the ground, the coyote following.
"You'll live," he muttered, turning to his front door as he heard police sirens. He snapped his attention back to the kitchen as he heard the other fox groan. Dust began walking back over and stopped behind the fox, grabbing the back of his mask and lifting up his head. "So, who sent you total amateurs after me?" he hissed. The fox spit at him, a pointless effort given his mask.
"Like hell we'd ever tell you," he said. "You get nothin' from us. An' even if you were a cop, we wouldn't tell you shit."
Dust grinned darkly. "Ah, but see, that's the thing. I'm not a cop. Which means I can do this," he slammed the side of the fox's head to the ground. "Without dealing with a bunch of legal crap. You know why? Because you broke into my home with clear intent to kill. Now tell me what I want to know, or else."
"Or else what?" the fox hissed. "You ain't gettin' away from us!" Dust widened his eyes as the fox turned under him and swept out his legs, sending him to the floor. With a groan, he rolled to his front, his left side filled with a sudden aching. The fox kicked his muzzle, toppling him onto his back before planting a foot on his chest and stepping down. Dust gasped and groaned at the pain that filled him, staring up as the fox drew out a butterfly knife and twirled it open. "I can't believe they make you sound so hard to kill," the arctic fox said. "This was the easiest damn job I've ever done!"
As the arctic fox reared back his arm, Dust reached up for his knee and took hold, twisting as best he could. From sheer insinct, the fox turned with his leg, falling to the floor as Dust scrambled to his feet. The fox was swift to pick himself up, holding out the knife offensively. "Really think you can beat me with all those injuries?" he said, his grin practically beaming through the mask.
"Really think you can beat me with that? Kid, I perfected those things," Dust replied, giving a smirk as the fox twirled the knife around in a feeble attempt to intimidate him. It didn't work in the slightest. "Let me give some advice. Never fight someone who's had more experience than you in literally everything you do."
The fox let out a frustrated hiss as he lunged forward, Dust stepping to the side and grabbing his arm from behind. He kicked at the fox's knee, making him kneel briefly, before releasing his leg and kicking him in the back, making him bend over. Dust took advantage of this kick the fox's side, making him release the knife and send it along the ground.
At that moment, several more mammals rushed into the building. "ZPD! Nobody mo-" a white wolf started, pausing as he looked around. A tiger stepped beside him, looking around with a whistle. Dust raised up his paws and walked out from around the counter, looking rather smug. Nick and Judy were looking around as well, clearly frustrated with the sight before them. At seeing Dust, the group walked over.
"Aren't you supposed to be resting?" Nick said, his usual humor marred by the terseness that told Dust he had stepped over a line somewhere.
"Well I was, but these guys wanted me to sleep a bit longer than I wanted to," Dust replied. He lowered his harms and looked around. "There's three of them. Wolf, coyote, fox. I'm pretty sure they'll all be okay."
Nick walked to the kitchen, Judy holding the bridge of her nose in what could only be described as irritation. "You couldn't have hidden and waited for us?" she asked.
"What, and let you guys have all the fun?" he grinned. This faltered quickly as Judy gave him a scathing look, and he averted his gaze. "Look, I know this'll cause a mess for you guys back at the precinct. But would you rather I had risked them all finding me at once?" He shook his head, walking over to the tower computer in his living room. "At least there's this," he said, holding up the hard drive and flash drive. The wolf walked over and, after a careful and questioning look, took the hard drive, slipping it into a small evidence bag. Judy took the flash drive, pocketing it somewhere on her belt.
"Alright, look. We're going to double patrols here and keep a covert unit nearby for the next two days. We need to find out who sent them and why." Nick was talking as he rounded the corner again, the butterfly knife being safely set inside another evidence bag. "There's the chance it isn't who we think it is, but better to be safe than sorry. Delgato, Fangmeyer, let's wait outside for the others."
"You got it," Fangmeyer said, turning and walking out of the room. Delgato followed after, still looking around at the scene inside. Nick stopped beside Judy and stared at Dust.
"So, how're you feeling?" Judy asked. The larger fox shrugged.
"The baseball bat clipped my shin. I'm now without a dinner. The fox stepped on my chest. Aside from that, I feel fine. Didn't pop a stitch, didn't get any new cuts, or anything like that." Dust looked away briefly, his left paw running the fingers along his bandages as he spoke. He could feel Judy's gaze grow concerned, and Nick's grew curious, but neither said anything. "I'll have to do some cleaning tomorrow, huh?" he joked, looking around with a sigh. Silent nods were all he was given, and they all stayed still in silence for a minute.
Finally, Judy spoke as more cruisers pulled up outside. "Alright. We need to get the drive back to the precinct. Make sure to stay safe, okay?" Dust nodded at this, turning away. "Oh, and, Robin?" she said, making him pause in his tracks. He turned his head slightly, one eyebrow raised curiously as he waited for her to speak. "Thanks. For everything you're doing."
With a quiet nod, they reynard continued to his bedroom, ignoring his growling stomach as he shut the door.
They care.
That they do.
Maybe that's not such a bad thing?
Now you're catching on.
~ óÓÒò ~
And there we go. Of all the names he's used, it's been decided which one Judy and Nick prefer for their vigilante friend: Robin Wick, his real, real name. No more lies or aliases. I'm sure it's gotten slightly confusing, if not just annoying, to keep changing names with him but there's a reason for it. Anyone care to guess what it is?
That aside, I'm going to be working on my stories randomly now. Sometimes the creative juices just flow for one of them and not all, so I'll go with what I feel like writing. I do promise to try and keep you all from waiting too long with updates!
Until next time.
~ óÓÒò ~
-N'yrthghar