A/N: This one took a little longer than I would have liked, but from here on out, updates (hopefully) are more continuous. Then again, I've taken the task of continuing First Contact for a little bit, but as soon as that is over, this story will take priority.

Thanks for the support, and please enjoy. ~Sheppard

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Chapter VIII — Cooldown

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Bullet-riddled and in apparent disarray, Fox's abused SUV wound through discreet side streets and wide alleyways, inching ever so closer to their intended destination. Fox did nothing but nurse his wound while Leon continuously turned in and out of the dense, grid-like streets in hopes that the aforementioned law enforcement perimeter wouldn't locate him. Nevertheless, his battered truck obeyed its driver's commands, albeit less responsive than what it had done originally.

"I think we've got a flat," Fox abruptly blurted out, gently poking his nose out of the shattered window.

"Who cares about a fucking flat tire?!" shouted Wolf from the very back of the truck.

"Language," Fox grunted, looking on either sides of the street while the chameleon crossed. "We've got a rating to comply with, and we can't do it if you're dropping vulgar bombs like a hockey player."

"Says the guy who said every single profane statement known to man a whole hell of a lot more than once," Wolf retorted.

"Guys," Scarlet moaned tiredly, rubbing her eyes. "Fox, are we almost there?"

"Just another block or two," the vulpine answered, cringing as he felt his shoulder wound again. "Leon, take this next right, and the garage should be just down there."

"Are you okay, Fox?" Sheila asked concernedly, reaching through the gap of his headrest and the side of the truck to gently press on his injured shoulder.

"I'm fine," Fox dismissively answered.

"Here, hold still," the husky requested, and before Fox knew it he felt some bandaging material get rolled around the site of his wound.

"Sheila, don't you think you've fondled him enough today?" Adam grunted shortly.

"Hey, leave her be," Fox shot back. "You're not the one with a hole in your shoulder. She's just getting the bleeding to stop for now."

Defeated, the blue jay retreated, leaving the light copper husky to patch the vulpine up. Roughly three or four minutes later, Leon drove into the designated parking garage—after paying the rather pricy toll—then scoured the area for an open spot, to which he didn't locate one until the fourth floor out of the seven the garage had. As soon as he pulled into the open spot and put the SUV in park, all four doors and the rear cargo door opened simultaneously as the large group filed out and onto the concrete.

Fox investigated his vehicle, to which there were hundreds of bullet holes, pain scrapes, and dents covering the once pristine armored truck. Shaking his head, Fox sighed, "My insurance premiums are probably going to rape me now. Not like they already weren't… just now there's not gonna be any lube."

Wolf kept the back of the SUV open as he sat on the ledge, letting his legs dangle from the relatively tall height. "Everyone all right?"

Sheila suddenly popped up behind Fox, again working on his injured shoulder. "Fox will be okay as soon as I'm done. Hey, Wolf, scoot."

Wolf begrudgingly slid over, letting Fox sit on the other side with his injured shoulder facing outward. The husky smacked at Wolf's arm again.

"Bag."

"Med bag?" inquired the lupine.

Sheila scoffed, flicking her paws in frustration. "No, your gay porn bag. Yes, the bloody med bag; what else would I want?"

Growling, Wolf reached back and grabbed the red backpack nestled in the cluster of suitcases and bags, angrily forcing it at the husky. Sheila took it from him, immediately opening it and scavenging through the contents.

"They've got an advisory up," Patrik announced, scrolling through his smartphone. "Star Wolf sighted in downtown Corneria City. They're doing a vehicle check on an armored black SUV, plate number SF0064, and will post a reward for anyone with information."

"Shit," Fox hissed.

"Language, McCloud," snickered Wolf.

"Shut up," Fox snapped back. "We better bolt. They're gonna scavenge the area until they find us. It's only a matter of time before they start checking apartments and garages."

"Fox, hold still," Sheila said sternly, rewrapping a new cloth around his injury. The vulpine suddenly felt a chilling, stinging sensation at the site of his wound, instinctively contorting his muzzle in pain. "Sorry, but this will keep you from getting infected."

After the sting simmered down and was replaced with a soothing chill, Fox looked over at the husky and smiled. "Thanks."

"Oh, almost forgot," she stooped over and kissed his shoulder, wiping in in with her thumb. "There. Better?"

Fox grinned at her motherly aura and answered, "It will be now. Thank you."

"Okay, where are we going?" Wolf abruptly interrupted, impatiently tapping his boot against the cement; echoing that awful, irritating sound throughout the cold walls of the garage.

"Fifteenth floor of the Maplefire Tower," Fox answered, pointing down towards the elevators at the very end of the row of cars. "That's where Todd's apartment is. Luckily this garage is connected to it. Follow me."

The vulpine led the way, slowly traversing the slight decline in terrain as he approached the elevator attached to the polar end of the garage. Sheila still clung onto him, pawing at his shoulder just to make certain that his injury was stable, with the rest of Star Wolf lagging behind. As Fox pressed the button to call the elevator to his floor, he pulled out his phone and started to throw in a few numbers.

"Why are we going down?" Natalia asked.

"Ground floor is the only thing that links up with the apartments," Fox unfocusedly answered, holding his phone up to his ear.

"Really?" Wolf grunted, narrowing his eyes. "Honestly, runt, you're more trouble than you're worth. You just gotta take the most difficult option."

"Just be glad you have a place to stay," Fox shot back. As he backed into the elevator, he groaned, looked at his screen, then held it right back up to his ear. "He's not answering."

"Todd?" Scarlet asked, pressing herself into Fox to allow the rest of the team to squeeze in.

"I told him I'd be here after the game," Fox replied, slipping his phone back into his pocket. "I just wanted to give him another warning 'cause of the lockdown and all."

"He'll be fine," Patrik uninterestedly interjected. "In other news, the Majors are trending on Barker, and it's not because of being number one in the league."

"Ooh, ooh," Sheila yipped, barreling through the elevator to poke her face in Patrik's phone. "Am I trending? I put in a few barks about the game before we had to leave."

"Are you kidding me?" Wolf moaned, slapping his forehead. "That's what you care about?"

"Erm… you only got two more followers," the malamute admitted.

"What?" the husky yelped, jerking his arm down. "Oh, come on!"

As the elevator opened on the ground floor, Sheila immediately broke out, harshly stamping her feet against the ground. Folding her arms in a huff, she whined, "I planned this outfit out for nothing, then! You guys just had to get in a fight, huh? I probably would have won the fan of the game had you two not put the place into lockdown! Can't you guys go five minutes without getting in trouble with the CDF? Honestly?"

"Spitz, shut the hell up!" Wolf snarled, roughly clamping a paw over her muzzle to keep her from speaking. Sheila immediately yipped in pain, but all that came out was a muffled whine as Wolf held her mouth shut. "You get us caught, and you're as good as dead. Keep your mouth shut; got me?"

Sheila whimpered, grunting in accordance, to which Wolf scornfully pushed her aside and slipped through the doors of the tower. As everyone followed the lupine, Fox noticed out of the corner of his eye that the husky had a few tears in her eyes, but he couldn't stay back to help her in any way, as much as he wanted to.

Wolf roughly shoved Fox towards the elevators inside of the tower when he attempted a look back at her. "She'll be fine. Do your thing."

"You're way too hard on her," Fox remarked, pressing his thumb on the elevator button.

"What did I tell you about what I do with my team?" Wolf growled back. "It's none of your business on how I treat them."

"She deserves better than you," Fox growled back, stepping backwards into the elevator. After pressing the 'fifteen' button, he continued, "You're denying her a lot of freedom, ya know?"

Just like before, the rest of the team piled into the elevator, with many of them pressed up against each other so that everyone and their luggage could fit inside. Wolf took the opportunity to use his forearm to pin Fox against the elevator wall by his neck.

"For the last time, it's none of your business," snarled Wolf, constricting the vulpine's airways. "Now let her be. She's mine, McCloud. My property. You try anything with her, and I mean anything, I will personally turn you into a fur coat. Now scram."

With that, he shoved him aside, inadvertently making him collide with Scarlet in the other corner of the elevator. The vixen knew with that little contact that Fox's blood was beginning to boil, so she subconsciously draped an arm around his chest to keep him from going after the lupine. Fox noticed her actions, then allowed himself to breathe to calm himself down, up until the elevator stopped and opened up.

Fox took the lead, stepping out of the elevator first into a small carpeted lobby. He immediately walked to the left, entering a large hallway lined on either side with white doors with golden numbers, white walls, and an intricate, multifariously colored carpet spread across the entire length of the hall. Fox stopped halfway down the hall, turned around to tell the rest of the team to wait where they were, and after a collective groan from the others, he continued forward, passing five more doors until he stopped at one marked "1524."

He gently knocked on the door, then took a step back and held his wrist behind his back. A few seconds went by, and nothing happened, so he knocked again with a bit more force. Bobbing back and forth between his heels and toes while bending his knees with the coordination of a machine, Fox waited for what felt like two more minutes before he finally heard footsteps on the other side. He heard the heavy deadbolt unlatch, followed by the chain lock below it, and then finally saw the white door gently peel inwards.

Fox was greeted with a damn-near mirrored reflection within the doorway. An auburn furred vulpine with bright green eyes and a much longer, thicker, and more unkempt mohawk stared back at Fox. Yet, a smile didn't form at first glance. In fact, the vulpine immediately started blushing with a furious and vibrant intensity, which was no wonder considering what he was wearing. A forest green, long-sleeved, woolen turtleneck adorned his frame, extending well beyond his waistline and stopping just above his knees. After that was just his pelt of fluffy fur—nothing else.

"Fox!" hissed the vulpine through clenched teeth, instinctively pulling on the bottom of his turtleneck while tucking his bushy tail between his legs. "What are you doing here?"

"Good to see you again too, Toddy," Fox half-joked. "I thought I told you I'd be here after the game."

"Yeah, but the place went into lockdown," Todd said with a rather vulnerable pitch, practically replicating a feminine tone. Fox still found it kind of ironic—but in a fitting way—that his brother's voice managed to climb so much higher than his own. Then again, after not hearing it for years, he noticed how much of a pain it was on his ears; hearing such a high voice coming from someone of his blood. "I didn't think you would be here so soon."

"I tried to call a few minutes ago," stated Fox, shrugging his shoulders. "Did you not get it?"

"Well…" Todd trailed off, his face turning redder than the scarves Fox always wore as his arms wandered down to his waist. In a volume that Fox had to strain to hear, Todd inched his muzzle forward and whispered, "We were busy, Fox."

"Busy?" Fox echoed curiously.

The other vulpine avoided eye contact. "You… kinda… interrupted us."

Fox instantly widened his eyes. "Oh… …Oh… …That explains the… er…" his eyes combed over his brother's shirt, his own embarrassment surfacing. "Lack."

"Yeah," Todd half-scoffed and half-whimpered, never feeling this embarrassed in his life from the looks of it. "We figured we had enough time since the rink locked down. …Gosh, Fox, I don't mean to be a—"

"It's fine," Fox forced a sheepish grin. "Here, uh, I'll be a nice big brother and let you two… uh… finish up."

Todd blushed even redder, if it was physically possible. "No, Fox, please, come inside… Er, make yourself at home, I mean. I can tell him that—"

"Todd, seriously," Fox smirked, stepping away from the door. "I'll give you two another five minutes. I need to take care of something anyway."

Todd himself awkwardly backed away from the doorway. "Ah, jeez, Fox, I'm really sorry. I won't let it happen again, I promise."

Fox let the door shut, then turned back to walk towards his team. Luckily, they were all preoccupied with a discussion in the lobby just outside the elevators to see the exchange down the hall. He poked his head around the corner, sheepishly grinning at the group.

"Five minutes," the vulpine said, meriting another collective groan of disbelief and frustration from the group. Wolf had the biggest reaction out of all of them, obviously. Snarling, he stormed through the group and angrily approached Fox, who tucked away and backed down the hallway.

"You said we would have a place to stay when we got here!" Wolf roared through clenched teeth, fighting to keep his voice down.

"We do," the fox said, holding up his hands. "Todd just needed time to get the place cleaned up, that's all."

"Cleaned up from all the fucking they do in there!" Wolf snapped, slowly chasing after the vulpine. "I'm not sleeping in a bed or on a couch covered with your disgusting brother's DNA!"

"Language, O'Donnell," Fox snapped back.

"Wolf, hey, calm down," Sheila gently interrupted, approaching the lupine with a plastic bag with a vial of medications. "Your blood pressure meds."

"Oh," Wolf grunted, sifting through the bag until he found a pill about the size of his fingernail, then swallowed it without any liquid aid. He continued to give Fox a death glare as the vulpine stopped at Todd's door.

"Have you ever thought about enrolling in an anger management class?" Fox asked.

"Have you ever considered being in a normal family?" Wolf countered.

"Wow, good comeback," Fox snickered to himself. "Keep the trash talk for the playground, m'kay? I'd like to relax while we're here, and I can't do it when you're being a problem."

"Oh, so I'm the problem?" Wolf showed off his arm-span in a show of dominance. "I didn't put all of us in danger by going to a goddamn hockey game."

"And I didn't come up with the ingenious idea of trying to wipe your names from the entire Lylatian archives," Fox retorted. "Or hire a half-assed team of egotistical, unprepared, and unconformable mercenary wanna-bes that couldn't work together for more than five minutes even if you paid them."

Wolf growled menacingly, baring his teeth in the process. "Language, McCloud. Oh, and what would you call Star Fox? 'Cause I sure know; a half-assed team of egotistical, unpre—"

"At least we had the cohesion to singlehandedly wipe out your half-assed team, thank you," Fox interrupted, a smug grin creasing his muzzle. "One, watch your language, and two, if you ask me, that's—"

"How do you explain bird-brain being an egotistical asshole?"

"Language," Fox interrupted.

"—Or the frog being an unprepared twit?" Wolf continued as if he didn't even hear him. "Or you, McCloud, being an unconformable, mercenary wanna-be?"

"Sure, call me unconformable while you were the one that chose to hire me because of my résumé," the vulpine challenged, the group behind himself and Wolf becoming more and more uncomfortable with the bickering, yet out of fear, they stayed silent.

"Do you really think I'd trust anyone else?" snapped Wolf, starting to rub at his eyes. "All of the other for-hire mercs are probably undercover agents waiting to arrest me. At least I know the feds wouldn't stick a chip up your ass and call you a surveillance camera. You'd probably like it."

Fox smirked smugly. "Kinky foxes like it kinky, I suppose."

"You're fucking disgusting," Wolf hacked.

"For the last time, language," grunted Fox.

Wolf wanted to bark out yet another snarky comment, but all he did was suddenly let out a massive yawn. In an instant, Wolf went from seething anger to apparent grogginess, seemingly trying to stay on his feet as he turned around.

"Wolf?" Natalia called out curiously.

"Sheila," he started out, his legs beginning to give out. "What… did you give me…?"

"Your blood pressure stabilizer," answered the husky.

Wolf wasn't even awarded the opportunity to reply, as he suddenly started leaning forward until he fell face-first into the floor, out like a broken lightbulb. Curiously, Sheila looked at the vial he had taken his medication from, gasped, then after a second of looking at her teammates, she let a lighthearted giggle escape her lips.

"Oops, that was his sleep aid," she said, stuffing the medications back into the appropriate bag. "Well, least we don't have to listen to him anymore."

A few second of awkwardly tense silence ensued, before the rest of Star Wolf started nodding and grunting in approval. Patrik stepped forward to lift the lupine onto his shoulders, and seconds later, Todd's door opened with the aforementioned vulpine now wearing some baggy black loungewear below his long turtleneck.

"Sorry Fox, we're ready now," Todd said, turning his head down the hallway to see Fox's company. His eyes instantly shot open. "Wait, that's—"

Fox instantly hissed and stuffed a paw in his face, forcing him into his apartment. "Yes, I know, that's Star Wolf. We're here because we need a place to hide."

"Fox!" Todd said in a hoarse whisper after his brother's hand retracted. "Why are you with them?"

"It's a long story," Fox answered, gesturing for the team that had gathered in the doorway to enter. "I'll tell you in a bit."

Todd reluctantly obliged, tail flicking in anxiety. "Make yourself at home, I guess," he mumbled, stepping out of the half-hallway they were in. "Last one in relocks the door, please."

From the front door they entered in, a large and rather spacious living room took up well over half of the allotted space in the back left corner, while a kitchen area rested behind it in the right. The very back wall was completely made out of glass, allowing for a breathtaking view of the Cornerian Ocean and its surrounding beaches and cliff sides, not to mention the gorgeous sunsets that could form as the Lylatian sun would disappear underneath the oceanic horizon. A singular master bedroom, walled off from the rest of the apartment, took up the space off to the side between the front door and the living room, while the bathroom room resided on the opposite side, inadvertently creating a small hallway between the front door and the living room. In the back corner was a guest room, pressed up against the kitchen boundaries and the glass wall.

"Where do you want bitchy-boy?" Patrik asked Fox, swaying in a way that made Wolf's limp arms and tail swing with him.

"Just… stick 'em on the couch, I guess," Fox answered. The malamute lugged the unconscious lupine over to the loveseat pressed against the wall of the bedroom, unceremoniously flinging him onto it. His right arm rolled off, causing his claws to dig into the carpeted floor as a bit of drool leaked out of his muzzle and onto the upholstery.

"That's one hell of a sleep aid," Fox remarked.

"Strongest legal drug out there," Natalia informed him, dropping to her knees by Wolf's sleeping body. She ran a paw through his messy mohawk, cooing, "Aww, my poor baby… you had a rough day, didn't you?"

"Usually you tell him that the morning after," commented Patrik, meriting a glare from the coyote.

"Fox," Todd spoke up by the kitchen, tapping his claws on the granite to get his attention. Fox slipped away from the group to allow them to get settled down. As he approached, he held out his arms to the younger vulpine, who couldn't resist the comforting family embrace even if he was a bit angered with his older brother's antics.

"Thank you so much," Fox blurted out. "I really owe you one for this."

"You've really got a lot of explaining to do," Todd stated as Fox pulled away. "I don't hear from you in years, but as soon as you prove to me you aren't dead, you're with a team of outlaws that tried to kill you years back if I remember correctly."

"Like I said, it's a long story," Fox breathed, ears pinned against his head. "Basically, they asked for me. Well… they kinda forced me in, I guess."

Todd curiously cocked his head. "They did?"

"They hired me. They're paying me because they needed my CDF registration information to get into the servers," Fox relayed in a hushed voice. "But when their software sh—crapped the bed, they needed to manually wipe the names. Enter me, Scarlet, and eventually Vince."

"I wondered why she was here," Todd muttered, his eyes drifting over to the scarlet vixen sitting in the armchair stuffed in the corner of the room by the window. She sniffed her catsuit, contorted her muzzle in disgust, and then discretely started pulling the zipper down.

"She's my key to Vince," Fox informed him. "Can't get to him any other way without blowing cover."

"So, this is all just to wipe names from the server?" Todd inquired, glancing at the unconscious lupine. "He's got a long list of offences on his dossier; no way can it be that easy to push him underground."

"It really hasn't been all that easy," Fox admitted. "We had to go to that Majors game to avoid blowing our cover with mom and dad, and then we actually did blow our cover and got the feds on us."

"I wondered about the bandage here," remarked Todd, gently pawing at the blood stained cloth bound around his brother's shoulder. "You get shot or something?"

"Yeah," Fox cringed. "I think the damn bullet is still in there."

"You're in luck, buddy," Todd grinned with his first instance of happiness thus far. "Jared is in the middle of training should there be an emergency at his job. He can take the bullet out and patch you up, no prob." At that, Fox breathed a sigh of relief while Todd walked over to the closed bedroom door and tapped his claws on the white wood.

"Hey, kit, we need you out here," Todd said in a soft tone.

"Kit?" Adam muttered under his breath.

"Just a sec, foxy," a voice on the other side promptly answered.

"Well, I was just about to say that Todd wears the panties, but I guess both do," the avian whispered to Patrik.

"That's sexist," remarked Patrik, disinterestedly scanning his tablet.

"I mean, hey, I was just— wait, how does…?" Adam trailed off, narrowing his eyes. "How do you classify that as sexist? And… which one would that offend?"

"You're assuming that everyone that uses gooey nicknames to address their lover wears panties," the malamute continued. "If that's the case, then nearly everyone that's ever been in a relationship wears 'em. Or would you not know because you've never been with one longer than five minutes?"

"First off: fuck you; I've held multiple relationships for months on end," retorted Adam. "Second: all I was saying was that they're acting a bit… feminine, that's all."

"That's sexist," Patrik repeated. "Some girls don't like the feel of 'em. My last girl wore boxers to work every day. Sometimes had to borrow mine, even though they were huge on her."

"You sure your last girlfriend was a girl?" Adam snickered.

Again, Patrik answered with, "That's sexist."

Finally, the door to the bedroom opened. Cloaked in a navy blue blanket that dragged against the ground, a sandy brown and light gray furred fox stepped out and immediately rubbed his cheek against Todd's. Both Jared—as his name was—and Todd stood at the same height, but Todd appeared taller because of his iconic mohawk that seemed to run in the family. Upon seeing Fox—after letting his affection show for a few more seconds—Jared gasped and flung the blanket off of his shoulders, launching a plume of gray, shoulder length hair into the air as he immediately embraced the other vulpine.

"Oh my goodness, Fox; it's so nice to see you again," he sang, shamelessly laying his muzzle on Fox's injured shoulder. "I haven't seen you forever. I think the last time I saw you was at mine and Toddy's wedding, but then we never heard from you again, and I couldn't help but think about you every day. Like, I'd ask Todd, "hey, you hear from Fox at all?" every week, and he'd always say no, so I just thought you might have forgotten about us, but then I remembered that you'd never forget your family like that so I just patiently waited to see you again, and now here you are! Gosh, I can't remember the last time I was this happy to see someone before!"

"You're killing me," Fox hissed under his breath, his shoulder igniting in a fire only comparable to hell opening up in his muscles.

"Hey, hey, Jay-Jay, he's hurt," Todd interrupted, gently picking the other vulpine off of him. "He got shot on the way here."

"Oh my god!" yipped Jared, covering his muzzle with both paws. "Fox, I'm so sorry. Did I hurt you? I hope I didn't hurt you. I don't know if I'd be able to live with myself if I knew I hurt the Fox McCloud just being my usual, stupid self. Please tell me you're okay. Are you?"

"I'm fine," Fox cringed again. "I just have a bullet in my shoulder, and I was just wondering if—"

"Oh, oh, I can take it out!" Jared broke in, bouncing on his feet with an unprecedented amount of energy that made Sheila seem tame. "I know how to do that! I took some courses, and now I can do minor surgeries and stitching whenever I want. Well, I have to have my tools first, but I've always got some here, and in my car, and at work, and—"

"Yeah, yeah, that's great," Fox mumbled tiredly. "Can you take it out please?"

"Sure, sure sure sure," Jared furiously nodded his head. He pointed at the door separating the bathroom from the short hallway. "My kit is in there, and it shouldn't take me long at all. Do you need some painkillers? I think I got a few left over from the last time I went to the doctor after me and Toddy got a bit too rough with the—"

"Okay, that's a bit too much, buddy," Todd chuckled sheepishly. "I think I've got some whiskey left over from our last anniversary party. Want a shot to numb the pain?"

"Please?" said Fox, clawing at the bandaging.

"I barely drink," Jared announced, watching Todd pull out the shot glasses and about a two-thirds of a bottle of whiskey from one of the upper cabinets. He disinterestedly continued, more entranced with the swaying of Todd's bushy tail as he reached for the glasses, and wasn't too discrete with his attraction either. "Although alcohol makes for a fun night. Isn't that right, Toddy?"

"I take my comments back," Patrik muttered at Adam under his breath, both men with faces twisted in awkward disgust.

"Anyone else want one while I got it out?" Todd asked.

"Sure," Natalia finally broke out of whispering sweet nothings into the unconscious lupine's ear, approaching the small island countertop on the edge of the kitchen tile.

"Are you even old enough to drink?" Fox chirped.

Natalia avoided answering his question, opting to retort, "I'm old enough to beat the shit out of you, how's that?"

Fox's eyes widened with a sarcastic, smug smile. "Hey, language, missy. It's not my fault; I didn't feed your baby daddy animal tranquilizers."

"Oh, you know what, McCloud?" Natalia snapped, her ears fidgeting with her skyrocketing anger. "One, I won't have kids yet because—"

"Because you haven't hit puberty, is that right?" Fox only antagonized, enjoying seeing the little coyote get flustered.

"Be-cause Wolf actually knows what he'd doing unlike you screw-ball horny-ass foxes!" Natalia yipped. "What, you take it up the ass too, Fox?"

"It's super fun, isn't it?" Jared added with a wide, oblivious smile.

"Hey; that's my job to enjoy the kinky stuff!" Scarlet piped in from the opposite side of the room. "And don't you be stealing FurFur's gimmick either!"

"Way to break the fourth wall again, Scarlet," Adam grumbled.

"Can we please not talk about this?" Fox moaned in disgust. "Now, Natasha, I'm sorry—"

"Natalia," corrected the coyote.

"Whatever; everyone always butchers your name anyway," muttered Fox. "In case you haven't seen, I'm in a bit of pain."

"Not enough if you ask me," Natalia retorted, swiping her shot as she strutted back over to Wolf's prone body.

Todd handed Fox one of the glasses filled with a nearly translucent brown liquid. "Here. Jared, go ahead and take care of him."

"Right away, Toddy boy," sang Jared, gently leading Fox towards the small bathroom nestled in the corner of their small apartment. As the click of the closing door reached the rest of the room, Sheila gently poked out from behind Scarlet's armchair, ears folded back and eyes wide as if to examine the room.

"Is the fighting over?" she whimpered.

"Yes, you can come out now," Todd said in a gentle voice. As she slipped out and trotted up to the vulpine, Todd graciously extended his hand. "You must be Sheila, right? I heard Fox mention you when we talked the other day."

"Aww, what'd he say?" asked Sheila with excitement. "Did he say I was cute? Because I think I'm pretty adorable."

"Er, I think I'll let him restate what he said," the vulpine said in an attempt to deflect potential heat. "But I think you're adorable."

Sheila blushed, flicking her paw in her hair to create a plume of luscious locks. "Everybody does," boasted the husky, violently wagging her curled tail in a way that could break bone should she desire to.

"Well, I'd like to meet the rest of your team, if you don't mind," Todd requested, combing over his living room to examine the people strewn about. Yet, he stopped when he got to the window on his right, freezing in place at what stood before him. During the entire exchange moments earlier, Scarlet had managed to remove the entirety of her catsuit and stood with nothing but two strategically placed black boxes to mask her assets from the viewing audience.

"Oops, sorry: I'm just here for fan-service," she said, giggling as she watched Todd's face start blazing red while Sheila's jaw gradually began lowering in formation of a smile. "Do you have a washing machine here? My suit smells awful, and I didn't know I was going to be spending the night here."

"I saw a laundry room on the ground floor before we got in the elevator," Patrik's voice informed her.

"Can you please not go down in the lobby butt-naked?" Todd nearly whined, trying with all his might not to let his eyes wander.

"Oh come on, I'll be quick," Scarlet insisted. "It's not like anyone will get mad at me for doing this."

"How did you get those?" Sheila asked, eyes narrowing at the black boxes.

"What, this?" Scarlet pointed to the box covering her chest.

"Yeah!" she nodded. "What even is that?"

"They're only censorship edits," replied Scarlet. "They keep our rating down so that the author doesn't have to describe our lady bits."

"Ohhh," Sheila mumbled. She suddenly perked up again, glancing down at her jersey. "Wait, so if I…" she grabbed the bottom of her long jersey and pulled it all the way up, folding it under her neck. "Hey, look, I got them now too! See, Todd?"

Todd immediately covered his eyes with his paws.

After straightening out her jersey, curiosity overtook her as she used one of her clawed digits to peer down her pants. "Hey, I don't see one down here."

"It's gotta be out in the open," Scarlet explained.

"Oh, right, right, right," she muttered to herself, gently pulling her pants below her waistline. "Oh, aha! There's that censor box! Huh, that's really funny."

Meanwhile, Todd vacated the kitchen area, mumbling, "I'm a married man, I'm a married man," over and over and over again.

Adam's head poked above the back of the couch to look at the two girls. "Does it work for guys too?"

"Adam, I swear to god if you pull your pants down I will rip your penis off and choke you with it," grumbled Patrik.

"Don't worry, I'll be right back," Scarlet insisted, draping her dirty catsuit over her shoulder. Both instances of the word tail were swaying as Scarlet strutted out of the apartment, swiping a spare key from the rack as she slipped away.

A long string of drool was hanging out of Sheila's muzzle as Todd turned around to look at her. "Oh glorious fox butt," Sheila murmured in a trance-like state. "Please tell me your secrets."

A throaty cough resounded from behind her, suddenly becoming aware that Fox was standing behind her with fresh stitching in his shoulder. Yet, that didn't stop the husky from beginning a tirade.

"Even you have a butt, Fox!" she flicked her paws yet again. "And where's mine?" she asked to nobody in particular, twisting her neck around to look back at her tail. "Did mine just take a vacation and not come back? Hey, don't laugh at me!" snapped the husky, referring to Adam and Patrik's chuckling. "I don't have a butt! Look, it's back—" she began to slowly guide her paw down her spine. "—back, back, tail, and then leg! No butt!"

"Sheila, I think your butt looks nice," Jared shyly commented.

"That's the thing: I can't be complimented on my butt because I don't have one!" Sheila groaned. "Can I just take some of my hair and stuff it in my pants to make a butt? Better yet, can I have the author take some of this hair away and give me a butt?"

"But your hair is beautiful," Jared added, continuing his complementing string. "It's what makes you, you."

"I want a butt though," the husky muttered in defeat, sadly trudging away from the kitchen. "I'm a skinny husky with no butt and too much hair."

"Anyway," Fox interrupted, attempting to bring order into the situation. "We should all take a page out of Wolf's book—" here he spared a glance over to the lupine in question, still sleeping soundly. "—and get some rest."

"Good idea," Patrik agreed, even though his tone would imply otherwise. He kicked his feet up onto the coffee table and let his head fall into the upholstery. One by one, each of the Star Wolf members began arranging themselves all over the room. Natalia, obviously, managed to wedge herself onto the couch and into Wolf's limp grasp. Leon crashed in the armchair Scarlet was in moments prior just seconds after Todd extinguished the lights. After twenty minutes or so, the only ones awake were Fox, Sheila, and Scarlet—who had returned wearing her newly cleaned catsuit—aside from the two actual residents of the apartment.

"I'll be back with you in a moment, Jay-Jay," Todd told his vulpine husband, planting a kiss on his cheek before the latter disappeared into the bedroom. "Fox," he turned to face his brother. "I'll try to help you when I can. You may be stubborn and stupid, but you're my brother, okay? I'll do what I can."

"I don't want to drag you into this," Fox told him. "I only needed a safe-house for one night. We'll be gone tomorrow, I promise."

Todd nodded. "Well, goodnight," he said, waving himself away.

Scarlet yawned. "Well, Fox? Have you anything to say?"

"What? You're not expecting an apology, are you?" Fox curiously asked.

"You kinda dragged me into this, in case you forgot," Scarlet huffed, folding her arms. "I was perfectly content with staying in Sierra Foxtrot, thank you."

"Don't worry, you'll be gone once we get to Vince," Fox assured her. "And when I say gone, I don't mean it in that way. I was told under explicit commands not to brutally murder you in any way, shape, or form."

"Good," Scarlet nodded contently. "So, what about now?"

"Yeah, what about now, Fox?" Sheila echoed. "I'm tired."

"So am I," Fox sighed. "Well, Todd said he had a guest room."

Sheila needed no more incentive than that, for as soon as Fox reminded her, she bolted off and disappeared through the mentioned threshold. Scarlet merely sighed and followed Fox towards the room.

"She's a real character," the red vixen mumbled.

"Look who's talking," retorted Fox with his signature snarky smile. He flicked the light switch upon entering the room, and was greeted with a twin sized bed, nightstand, and dresser. Sheila had already made herself comfortable; in those short few seconds, she had ridded herself of her jersey and pants and laid face-first on the bed with a new pair of delicates adorning her body. Once the light turned on, however, Sheila quickly flipped over and stared directly at Fox.

"I don't see how this is going to work," she said with a slow, hesitant tone. "This bed is a bit on the… small side."

Scarlet nudged Fox. "Well, I'll go see if Todd and Jared can spare some room. Fox, she's all yours."

Fox immediately grabbed her shoulder before she could escape. "Scar, what are you doing?" he whispered at her, confusion prevalent in his eyes.

"Hey, you and I are already a power couple in a different timeline," said Scarlet, a devious little smirk creasing half of her delicate muzzle. "I'm not bitter about this, okay? Just know that you and I are the One True Pairing™."

Fox smirked and shook his head. "Whatever you say. Just don't go in there and try to turn either one of them straight."

"I can't promise anything," she cooed before slipping out of the room, closing the door in her wake.

"This is just like yesterday, Fox!" Sheila quietly yipped, visibly trembling with excitement. "Remember that?"

"Yup," Fox admitted, peeling his blood-stained shirt off of his body, cringing as the material rubbed up against his fresh wound. "Damn that hurts."

"Oh, here," said Sheila, rolling off of the bed to meet up with Fox. She leaned over and planted another gentle kiss on the site of his bandages. "There, that should help."

Fox chuckled sheepishly. "Thanks again," he said, making the mistake of looking up at her. Those intoxicating eyes again. For whatever reason, those two sky blue pools staring back at him were so mind-numbingly brilliant to him. Despite the stories she's told, they still had a glimmer to them that Fox couldn't help but become drawn to as if he were a moth being attracted to a flame. That same fire set his senses ablaze, and it wasn't long before the sensory detonation simmered down enough to allow Fox to put two and two together to find out why he was acting like this.

He wasn't falling for her, was he? Did he really see something so attractive in her?

The more he stared, the more a clear and definitive answer was being molded for said questions. Her new attire hugged her nearly flat chest and behind to try to give them the illusion of being bigger than they actually were, but even so, it added yet another layer of her cuteness aside from her eruption of luxurious hair and those aforementioned eyes. Tail wagging and smile prevalent, Sheila broke the silence with an adorable giggle, setting Fox's cheeks on fire when he realized he had been staring.

"Sorry, just tired," Fox lied through his teeth, so badly that Sheila noticed his blatant excuse straightaway.

"In that case, we should probably get to bed," she said, peeling the comforter back before crawling onto the sheets. When Fox failed to move, she patted the covers next to her. "Come on, we got a busy day tomorrow."

"Right," Fox muttered, bashfully ridding himself of his filthy clothes aside from the essentials. Clearly embarrassed about being so revealed, Fox tentatively stepped towards the bed, avoiding eye contact by checking his phone.

"Fox, come on, I'm getting cold over here," whined the husky, patting his side of the bed again. Gently, Fox slipped underneath the covers and set his head down, immediately sighing at the comfort that enveloped his body. This was the first time he could finally relax all day. His pains that weren't numbed by the shot of whisky earlier slowly dulled into weak aches as he melted into the comfort of the bed.

Confliction quickly engulfed Fox when Sheila immediately curled up to him, muzzle poking into his neck and arms being wound around his body. He wanted to enjoy being cuddled in such a comforting and needy manner, but at the same time, it felt totally awkward. His heart was beginning to beat quicker, and Sheila noticed it.

"Hey, it's okay; it's just me," she assured, a weak giggle escaping her lips. "Just making sure we both stay on this little bed."

Fox couldn't respond; he was too preoccupied with not making an embarrassing noise or gesture while being spooned by the larger husky. He liked the feeling and felt comfortable because of who it was, but the latter made it all the more conflicting for him. Sheila was "Wolf's property," and if he couldn't get his juvenile hormone spikes under control, Wolf would legitimately murder him.

"I like this," Sheila said after a moment of silence other than their respective breathing. Fox felt every breath slip out of Sheila's nose ruffle the fur on his neck, tickling as much as it was stimulating and relaxing.

"You do?" Fox asked.

"I've never held a guy like this before," she continued, her hands slowly and mindlessly mapping out Fox's upper body. Under her breath—which, in Fox's position, she could've talked normally and he wouldn't have been able to tell the difference—Sheila whispered, "Especially someone I like."

Fox opted to play it cool and pretend he didn't hear it, but in actuality, his mind just detonated. It made his thoughts scream to be let loose, but in turn, it caused even more hesitance to brew. He didn't want to make his own position known so soon, for fear of creating even more complications with his team. But, restraining his thoughts would prove to be even more detrimental.

"Well, goodnight, Foxy," said Sheila, nuzzling closer to him. "Sweet dreams."

"You two," Fox replied, listening for the husky's breathing to simmer down to signal that she had fallen asleep. Once he registered that she was in fact bound for dreamland, Fox let out a quiet sigh, followed by one more comment before attempting to fall asleep himself.

"I hope everyone bought tickets, because the ship is sailing…"