Chapter 12: Jacks Apartment

Marcus Oliver led them through the lobby and out another set of doors leading into the parking garage. Once there Marcus Oliver let them go exclaiming "sorry to lead you fast like that ladies! But! Those tods are chit chatty! They always leave you standing there waiiiitttiiinnnngggg!" .

Marcus Oliver's explanation just left them more confused, but it was pretty much the default it seemed. Marcus Oliver simply kept going. "So this is our parking garage, not much to look at I know. 8 levels and parking spaces are designated to your apartment number, each apartment getting two parking spots. This is the top level and as so corresponds to the top floor of the complex. Entry to the garage is accessed by I.D tags you place on your front windshield."

Vivian nodded along as Mr. MO explained. Simply commenting "nifty." About the I.D tags. Skye on the other hand was busy geeking out about the two classic muscle cars directly to their left, just barely resisting the urge to start walking around them and inspecting them. Marcus Oliver of course took notice of this. "You like those cars madam?"

Skye gave him a look of a kit in a candy store and exclaimed, "like them!? I love them!"

Vivian only shook her head at her best friend in amusement, Skye was drawn to classic cars like moths were to lamps. Skye couldn't contain her self any longer and speed walked over to the cars, beginning to walk around them. "A 1970 Chevelle SS and a 1972 Dodge Challenger RT! These cars are mint!"

As Skye circled the cars Marcus Oliver leaned towards Vivian and murmured "a passion of hers I take it?"

Vivian only smiled and replied, "yep, just gonna have to let it run its course."

Skye then began breaking down the cars, starting with the Chevelle. " Sky Blue metal flake paint, black racing stripes, custom interior, internals modernized, seat belts, A/C, airbags, custom window tint, custom tires, the chassis is reinforced, tires are….puncture proof…and the windows..(Skye taps the glass) are bulletproof?"

Skye then shifted her focus to the Challenger. "A brushed steel finish, carbon fiber hood, definitely a bigger and more powerful engine, custom exhaust, interiors also custom, internals modernized, and once again…reinforced chassis, puncture proof tires, and bulletproof windows."

Skye turned back towards them a happy loom on her face as she said, "these cars are great! Though I don't get why the owner made it so they could take a grenade explosion and keep going."

Vivian couldn't help but agree with the first part, her eye being drawn to the Chevelle and finding it unable to leave it. She was also just as confused to as why the cars would be so reinforced. Marcus Oliver provided the answer. "Yes the big fox that owns these two cars is very…paranoid. He likes to be prepared for the worst case at all times. Or so he tells me. Heh and if you think I'm peculiar!"

Vivian once again found herself nodding along as Marcus Oliver explained. But then something fully registered for her. "Wait a second, did he just say the big fox that owns these?...this can't be a coincidence can it?"

Vivian turned fully to Marcus Oliver and asked, "I'm sorry, did you say a big fox owns these cars?"

Marcus Oliver gave Vivian a curious look and slowly replied "yes I did, why?"

At this point Skye stopped circling the two cars, catching what her best friend has said. She has similar thoughts on the matter. "A big fox owns these cars? If this is just a coincidence I'm a jackrabbit and my Jack is a fox."

Vivian hesitated for just a moment before asking the question. "Does his name on chance happen to be Jack?"

Marcus Oliver's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "As a matter of fact yes. Jackson T. Hunter."

Vivian tilted her head ever so slightly at that. "Huh, Jackson. His full name is Jackson…it suites him."

Then suddenly another part of her brain chimed in. "Well that solves the problem if you're dating him and him and Skye's jackrabbit were ever in the same room."

Vivian mentally recoiled in shock. "Woah woah woah! Come on brain stop throwing me curve balls in the middle of conversations! I don't want to end up like Marcus Oliver here!"

Marcus Oliver on his part connected a few dots. "Ahhhh, so this is why she's POTENTIALLY ready to mingle. Jack you sly fox you….so this means this is the vixen Demetri was telling me about…things just got a lot more interesting…and fun."

Marcus Oliver's ever present grin took a slightly mischievous glint to it. "Wellll now! So you know Jackson Hunter do you?"

Vivian tepidly nodded and replied. "Yes, I do. We sort of just met and he's the reason I'm even here looking at this place to live, he's the reason I have my new job as well…so..I take it since his cars are here..he lives here?"

Marcus Oliver's smile got even more mischievous as he said, "well isn't that something. You'll have to tell me the full story now. But to answer your question he sure does, this is his building after all."

If there had been a record playing, it just screeched to a stop. Vivian's brain immediately overloaded and Skye's jaw dropped. Marcus Oliver meanwhile adopted a look of satisfaction on his face at the two vixens reactions. Skye was naturally the first to recover. "Mr. MO, what do you mean this is his building?"

Mr. MO placed both his paws on his cane as he leaned forward and said, "well when Sparrowtail Industries first got started, Mr. Hunter approached me. He said my building was the perfect size and location to house a lot of mammals that would end up working at the headquarters, I had only recently resized the building and therefore only had a few tenants as it was. So he offered my triple what the building was actually worth to have Sparrowtail Industries take over ownership. I obviously accepted that offer. I also gave him the best apartment since he was going to live here. I expected to be well out of the job right there and then. But then he tells me, 'I just want to own the building, but I don't want to be the landlord and collect rent and all that. I already have all the money I could ever want and I don't want our need the responsibilities. You can stay as the landlord, live here, and collect the tenants rent. I only ask you put 5% back into Sparrowtail Industries.' Naturally I didn't refuse that offer either."

It was at this point Vivian's brain recovered. She had registered everything Marcus Oliver had said, and it sure as hell sounded like Jack from what's she'd learned about him these past 24 hours. Except for the most recent bit she learned at the ZPD. Vivian nodded a few times and said "yes, that sounds like Jack…of course he neglected to mention he owned or lived in this building…but at this point for some reason that doesn't surprise me."

Marcus Oliver nodded a few times at that. "Yes, Jack always plays all of his cards close to his chest. Even when he doesn't have too. Well, how about we move this tour along to looking at some vacant apartments, and while we're doing that you can tell me the story of how you and Jackson came to meet."

Marcus Oliver led them out of the parking garage and into the elevator. They then spent the next 20 minutes viewing a couple of vacant apartments, during so Vivian telling Marcus Oliver how she met Jack. He kept quiet for most of it, asking questions every now and then. He kept a mostly contemplative look on his face as Vivian spoke. "Hmm, definitely the reason she's potentially ready to mingle…Jackson is a good lad…but there's a lot of grey area and mystery to him…a lot of skeletons hidden away in his closet. There's a dark splotch on him, a big one..and as much as I think he's a fine mammal…. He's mysterious, and he's dangerous..very dangerous…and something tells me he's been kicking some hornets nests with what's in his apartment. I can tell Vivian is interested in him, if she wants to pursue him or whatever…she needs to know beforehand."

Vivian finally concluded her story just as they reached the top floor, and the final vacant apartment. Skye had shown great interest in an apartment two floors down and had left shortly after touring it. Her jackrabbit had gotten off work early and wanted to got out so she had practically ran out the door, telling Vivian she would call later. So Marcus Oliver made a mental note to place a hold on that apartment. But this one was for Vivian and he was certain she would want it for several reasons. "Well, that's quite the story, and knowing Jack as I do it doesn't surprise me. (Marcus Oliver walks over to the door marked 11A) Alright Vivian, I saved the best for last."

Vivian gave him a small smile and replied. "Of course you did."

Marcus Olivier pulled out his master key and inserted it into the door and unlocking it. He then opened the door and beckoned her to enter. "Madam."

Vivian nodded to him and as she went by she said, "such a gentlemammal."

Mr. MO chuckled and replied, "my mom would rise from her grave and beat me with her cane if I forgot my manners."

Vivian let out a laugh at that as she fully entered the apartment and cast her gaze around it with enthusiasm. Marcus Oliver came to stand beside her and began breaking down what she was seeing. "As you can see, this Apartments floor plan is more open and modern than the other two. It's also the newest, everything recently being redone. It's also larger than the other two by 50 square feet, add the fact that this one is sized specifically for a fox and then it's more like 250 square feet. Oh and it's furnished, and all of the furnishings come with the apartment, but you can switch and change them out as you please. There are three bedrooms, two baths one being the master bath."

Mr. MO then pointed to the individual closed doors, stating what was behind each on. This little door here on our left is a small storage closest. This door on our right leads to the master bedroom. The three doors at the end in front of us is bedroom, bathroom, bedroom. Feel free to look around and explore."

Vivian simply nodded to Mr. MO and padded further into the apartment, stopping in the middle. She couldn't help herself as she spun in a 360 looking at it all at once. The paint on the walls was a very light blue expect for the back left wall, which was a nice yellow. All of the furniture matched and complimented the paint scheme, making the place nice and bright. In fact the whole feel of the apartment gave it a nice sunny day feel to it.

Vivian turned her left to fully take stock of the living room. It was all situated facing a electric fire place, real heat, fake flames, no smoke. A big smart tv sat situated above the mantle and the façade was painted white brick. On the floor was a nice patterned yellow and white rug and on top of it a nice glass coffee table with metal legs and frame. To the right of the coffee table was a rotatable muted white chair, and to the left a yellow reading chair and behind the reading chair was a decent sized white bookcase set against the wall. Behind the coffee table was a very nice quality light blue couch that looked so comfy, the two pillows resting on the arms also looked nice and soft, their color being yellow.

Vivian then turned her attention to her right, to the kitchen. There was a decent sized island the facade and granite countertop white in color. The island containing a deep sink, the dishwasher, ample storage, and on the right side of it some stools for a eating meals. Past the island was the rest of the kitchen, set against the entire right wall and wrapping where the master bedroom and spare bedroom were. There was a ton of cabinets, all white running under the white granite countertops. On the far right was a nice stainless steel stove and on the far left was a big stainless steel fridge with the freezer set in the bottom of it. All in all it was an amazing kitchen, to bad she wasn't the greatest cook. But with a kitchen like this she could work on improving her cooking.

Next she entered the master bedroom, its color scheme a myriad of blues, whites, and greens. There was a nice bed to the left with plenty of pillows and nightstands on either side with lamps on top. To the right was a dresser, a full body mirror, and a little makeup nook. To the front on the left past the bed was the entrance to a decently sized walk in closet. Straight ahead of her was the entrance to the master bath. Walking into it she saw dual sinks, the toilet to the right, and to the left a walk in shower and…a fur dryer!? Vivian gave a small happy dance at that! The biggest hassle for her luxurious fur was the ungodly time it took to dry it.

She spent another ten minutes checking out the two other bedrooms and bathroom before rejoining Marcus Oliver. "This ones just perfect MR. MO! I do believe I'll take it."

Marcus Oliver gave her a big grin and exclaimed "well that's great! And it so happens I already have the paperwork on me to lease an apartment! I always do just in case! So let's take a seat and you can fill everything out! Now, if you don't have the deposit ready at paw right now a 48 hour hold will be placed while you get the funds."

Vivian and him moved to the couch to begin going through the forms and as they did Vivian replied, "that's quite fine, I have the deposit ready."

It took about fifteen minutes for Vivian to fill out everything and sign, passing the pen to Mr. MO so he could place his signature. He spent a minute looking the forms over before standing and offering her a paw. "Well Ms. Wilde congratulations. You are now a tenant at the Sable Ridge Apartments."

Vivian took his paw and gave it a firm shake. "Why thank you. I'm just glad to be getting myself and my kit out of Happytown."

Mr. MO nodded at that and with a slightly grim tone replied, "yes..we really should petition to have that places name changed."

Vivian just nodded at that and replied "no kidding."

MR. MO stood then and started patting at his pockets and after a moment of searching for something said, "hm. Normally I keep all of the vacant apartment keys on me as well so I can hand them over straight away. But I seem to have not this one time. So here let me walk you out and when we hit the first floor I'll swing by and grab your key."

"That's fine with me."

They both exited the apartment then, Marcus Oliver turning to lock the door. When he turned back though, his gaze didn't go to Vivian. Instead, it went to the door two doors down. It went to Jack's apartment. What he had thought of early came back to the forefront of his mind and a plan was quickly hatched. Pointing to the door he said, "that's Jack's apartment right over there you know."

Vivian quickly swung around to see where he was pointing. "Sweet Karma I'm going to be living two doors down from Jack! Why in the world didn't he tell me he lived here! He had no reason not too!"

Vivian tried to maintain her composure as she spoke. "Oh he does?"

Marcus Oliver wanted to laugh at her utter failure to keep her expression neutral. "Yep, you know….I was about to go in there..since he's gone I make sure the place stays clean and collect his mail. So, you wanna go in there with me?"

Vivian's immediate reaction was to say no. That it would be an invasion of Jack's privacy to go into his apartment and look around. But, at the same time…she admitted she wanted to get to know Jack, to learn more about him, to peel back his layers. She also admitted she was developing a tiny crush on him, but it was hard not to in her defense. She had already learned a lot about him today, including something even Jack himself didn't even know about his own life. Then there was the most recent piece of information she had learned about him…a part that worried her. Going in there just might shed some more light on it, and it would definitely shed more light on the mysterious tod.

"I really should say no…"

"But you're curious. Jackson came into your life out of nowhere, completely turned it around, and then just like that he was gone. While there he practically told you nothing about him and what he did tell he left the details incredibly sparse. He even neglected to tell you things that otherwise he should have told you and not omitted. Like for instance the apartment complex he recommends you check out to live is in fact the one he lives at."

Vivian just nodded and replied. "Yes, exactly."

Marcus Oliver tapped his cane once on the ground and then began walking towards Jackson's door. "Well then, allow me to somewhat sate that curiosity to the conundrum of the red fox tod that is Jackson T. Hunter."

Vivian finally gave into her burning curiosity and began to follow Mr. MO. "Okay then."

Approaching Jack's door Vivian noticed it didn't have your typical lock. This one had a keypad and a paw scanner along with a odd looking keyhole. Vivian tilted her head ever so slightly as she studied it and Mr. MO explained it to her. "Jackson is quite paranoid. This is a three step lock, first you scan your paw, next the key code, then you insert the key and turn it in a specific combination to unlock the door. This makes it literally impossible to pick the door open."

Marcus Oliver then went through the motions to get the door unlocked, making her turn around when it came time for the keypad and turning combination. Once she heard the telltale sound of a drop unlocking did she turn back around. Just in time for Mr. MO to swing the door open and beckon her to walk inside. When so did she was immediately blown away, Jack's apartment was HUGE! It was easily twice the size of the apartment she just got! It even had a loft! Jack's apartment was basically luxury! All the furniture and fixtures, counters etc. were fit to a wolf and foxes size making everything seem huge. A large open concept floor with the big kitchen to the right with a large island in the middle, to the left was the living room with a single large couch in front of a coffee table and a 70 inch TV, past both was a large open area with nothing and to the right was the stairs to the loft and the left the main bathroom, a spare bedroom, and a large closet.

Vivian spun to face Marcus Oliver and asked, "how is this apartment in this complex!?"

Mr. MO laughed at that and replied, "well when I was having this complex resized I decided to leave this apartment elephant sized and then gut it and put wolf sized furniture in it. Put the loft in too. I was planning to have this as my apartment so I had it made exactly how I would want it. But, when Jack bought the building I decided why not and gave him this apartment. It was to be the landlords apartment after all. He was actually surprised when I gifted him the apartment, and at the time that was about the only time I had see his face have any expression on it at all. He paid to have the furniture changed to fox and wolf size."

Vivian nodded along to Marcus Oliver's explanation when something caught her ear. "What do you mean at the time it was about the only expression he gave?"

Mr. MO elaborated. "Well when I first met Jack about four…no three years ago he pulled up in front of this building in that Challenger in the garage at the exact moment I had walked out. He got out of his car dressed in an all black suit, black sunglasses on his muzzle, and he was even wearing a pair of black dress shoes. The second he looked at me I felt utterly intimidated and even more so when he strode over to me. Once he was right in front of me he introduced himself, and it wasn't his real name."

Marcus Oliver paused to deposit his cane in the umbrella bin next to him and shut the apartment door before continuing. "He said, 'Mr. Oliver, for now it's best if you simply know me by Mr. NightOwl. I represent a company that is just about to launch, Sparrowtail Industries. We just recently bought a skyscraper as our headquarters about 15 minutes from here. The reason I'm here is because we will be mostly having medium to medium large sized mammals in our employ, and a mass majority of them being predators. Your building is both the ideal size and location to house a lot of them. So, I'd like to offer you 2.5 million Zollars to purchase the building from you."

Marcus Oliver paused again and walked over to the couch and sat down beckoning Vivian to join him. Once she did he continued. "That entire time, and every moment after. He never once had any sort of expression on his face he kept it completely blank. He kept his voice in a neutral tone and even his body didn't betray a thing, the only time his tail would move was when walking so he stayed balanced. It only added to his aura of danger and intimidation. Of course at the time I didn't know he was only 16, but that's besides the point."

Vivian absorbed all of the information she was just given. "So at 16 he had that Challenger, was wearing a expensive all black suit with dress shoes, which is odd in itself. He gave off a strong aura of intimidation and danger, and was already able to buy this building for 2.5 million zollars. Then there's the strangest fact, he didn't give Mr. MO his real name. He said it was best for that time if he was simply known as Mr. NightOwl…I'll have to ask Demetri about that part."

Vivian shook her head once and said out loud, "the mystery to Jack..son.. deepens."

Before Marcus Oliver could say a response a question popped up in her head that she quickly asked. "Was Jack armed when you met him?"

Mr. MO gave her an odd look before replying, "as a matter of fact he was, a black 1911 on his right hip. Why do you ask?"

Vivian then spent the next ten minutes or so telling him what she had learned about Jack at the ZPD. Marcus Oliver the entire time kept a thoughtful look upon his face and when she finished he took off his top hat and set it on the couch beside him. He then nodded a few times and said, "well then that explains this somewhat."

Before Vivian could ask what Marcus Oliver meant by that he shot his right foot out hitting the right side of the coffee table. This caused the front of the coffee table to suddenly open up and a rack popped out and up containing an assault rifle. Vivian jumped back in shock exclaiming "my gods!"

Marcus Oliver just nodded a few times at that and said, "yeah that was pretty much my reaction when I discovered it by accident. What your looking at is a HK M416C with a holographic sight, 2x magnifier, angled grip, and suppresser. The weapon also is fully automatic and Jack has it set to that setting. It still has its serial number and I checked it, its registered to Jack and he has an actual permit allowing him to own fully automatic weaponry. So the weapon is legal, but my question always was why would he have it? And why put it in some contraption in his coffee table? What you just told me helped finally understand part of why…but at the same time does it fully explain this?"

Marcus Oliver then reached in between the two cushions and pulled out a menacing looking revolver. "Smith and Wesson 357. Magnum 327 performance center R8. It's an eight shot mean as all hell revolver."

He then put it back, pushed the rack back into the coffee table, and then put the table on its side revealing a sub machine gun that was on the bottom of it. "HK MP7, only fully automatic."

He then reached under the couch and pulled out a shotgun. "Benelli Super 90. Semi auto."

He put the shotgun back and fixed the coffee table before standing and gesturing to the whole apartment. "In practically every square inch of this place is a gun! I won't pull every single one out but I'll show you some of the more interesting ones starting in the kitchen. Come on follow me."

Vivian slowly stood and followed him as he strode into the kitchen. First thing he did was point to a hanging cabinet. "Just a regular looking cabinet right? Someplace he'd probably but his cereal right?"

Vivian unsure of what she should say said, "right?"

Marcus Oliver nodded and said as he opened that cabinet revealing some boxes of cereal. "Normally you'd be right, and there is indeed cereal in here. But what I want to show you is BEHIND the cereal."

Moving a box of lucky chomps out of the way Marcus Oliver pulled out a grenade launcher. "He has an M320 grenade launcher. In his kitchen. BEHIND HIS BOXES OF CEREAL. A. GRENADE. LAUNCHER. The ONLY upside to this absurdity is its loaded with a smoke grenade round. But still, A. GRENADE. LAUNCHER. BEHIND HIS BOXES OF CEREAL."

He gave her no chance to react to that as he strolled over to a drawer and opened it. "This is Jackson's silverware drawer. Let's see we have your forks, knives, spoons, FRAGMENTATION GRENADES, and lastly your flashbangs." For the last two items Marcus Oliver pulled out one of each.

Once again he gave her no time to react as he then strolled over to another hanging cabinet and threw it open. "This is his spice cabinet. Let's see we have, parsley, basil, garlic, paprika, two 93R burst pistols…"

Marcus showed her the two pistols before closing the cabinet and strolling over to the storage closet and opening it. Vivian following him on auto pilot. The first thing he pulled out was three large wooden blocks on wheels and pushed them out. Vivian looked at them with confusion and took note at the fact they looked very damaged. Marcus Oliver explained why. "Jackson throws knives and shurikens into these blocks for practice."

Vivian still on auto pilot mutely nodded at that. But her eyes widened when he pulled out the next item from the closet, a light machine gun. "This is an M249 SAW."

Her jaw dropped when he put it back and pulled out the last item. "This is an RPG."

He then put it back, rolled the blocks back in, shut the door, and then waved for her to follow him. "Come on."

He then began to go up the stairs leading to the loft. Once they were both there Vivian looked around a bit. There was a small open area before the entrance to Jack's bedroom, the only things there being a couch, a standing lamp, and a poker table. Marcus Oliver gestured to the area, "there's about four guns just in this one area. But it's the bedroom I want to show you."

Vivian hesitated at this point. She was still trying to process and comprehend everything Marcus Oliver had been showing her but, this was Jack's bedroom..this was completely different. She was already in his home and she felt like that was enough of an intrusion. Besides, who knows what could be in there..and she wasn't talking about weapons..Jack was a male after all…she shook her head as that thought made her blush. Although, the more she thought about it going in there could reveal the most about him she could learn along with whatever Mr. MO had to show her.

Steeling her resolve she pushed all of that shock and all of those thoughts about what Mr. MO was showing her she followed him into Jack's bedroom. She was determined to keep her cool and see what he had to show her before demanding he get to the point of showing her all of this. Because yes a lot of this was excessive, and absurd. But to her what she learned at the ZPD and about his childhood pretty much explained all of this. So that was the plan, and once it was done she would then analyze Jack's bedroom fully to see what she could find out about him.

Marcus Oliver had waited for her just inside Jack's bedroom, letting her work through whatever she was working through mentally. Once she finally followed him in he immediately gestured to the dresser. "So what do you imagine that's filled with?"

Vivian at this point knew the game. "Well normally I would say clothes, but I'm assuming more guns."

"Exactly! Except there's also knives, swords, explosives, ammo, tactical gear and vests, passports and IDs of varying identities, credit cards, money, a few gold bars, other miscellaneous tactical equipment, as well as some stuff of which I have no idea to what they are or what they do."

Vivian opened her mouth to say something but Mr. MO held up a paw, "I know you want me to get to the point of me showing you all of this. But there's just one more place I want to show you."

Marcus Oliver then entered Jack's large walk in closet and flipped on the light. Since he didn't bowl straight into what he wanted to show her Vivian was able to look around. The entire left side of the very large closet was all suits of dark color, mostly all black. Dress shoes being at the bottom under each individual set. But to her direct left was several of Jack's military uniforms including two sets of dress uniforms, their caps sitting on a shelf above them. In the middle of the room was a cushioned bench and a small glass cabinet containing watches, lapel pins, and cufflinks.

The right side of the closet contained casual clothes, something she'd never seen him in or heard as described in. She actually had speculated for a bit he didn't wear casual clothes. She noted it looked as all of his shirts were plain, no designs on any of them. She also noted there was several flannel long sleeve shirts of varying colors. Next she looked at his pants, most of them were cargo pants of several colors and there was a several pairs of jeans. One thing she noticed was there was only a few pairs of shorts, she assumed shorts wasn't his thing. She tried to imagine him in casual clothes, and found she actually couldn't.

She would have tried more but it seemed Marcus Oliver was ready to show her what he wanted to. He walked over to the left side of the closet and then dragged all of the clothes excluding the military uniforms down to the very end, showing the white wall that was behind him. Then he went over to uniforms and lifted them slightly, hitting a switch that had once been covered by them. The walls suddenly lifted up and LED lights came on, revealing a massive array of weaponry. He simply gestured to it and said "Jack's personal armory, about two hundred guns ranging from a derringer to a minigun."

Vivian walked up and down the armory once before walking over and flipping the switch closing it. She then fixed the suites moving them back into place before turning towards Marcus Oliver, who had taken a seat on the bench. "Okay, so you showed me all of this. Yes it's shocking, yes it's excessive, yes it's absurd. But, from what I've learned about Jack since I met him from his childhood to him being raised by one of the deadliest criminal assassins on the planet. It's honestly not to surprising. He's paranoid and he wants to be ready for everything. That's why there's guns everywhere. He wants it to be that if some mammals came in he'd be able to have access to several guns no matter where he is in his apartment. As far as this armory goes he obviously likes guns, and I didn't see duplicates of any kind, so maybe it's his hobby and this is his collection. So what was the point of showing me all of this?"

Marcus Oliver nodded a few times before starting to speak. "You see, that's what you see. But you've only known him a day Vivian. I've known him for three years and you weren't there to see him those years ago. Look Vivian I can tell you're interested in him, maybe even considering pursuing him. So I feel you needed to see and know this beforehand, as well as hearing this next bit I'm going to tell you. Something is…off with Jackson. Somethings wrong with him…there's some dark splotch on him and I couldn't begin to tell you what it is. But I can tell you it has to do with all of this and as much as I think he's a fine mammal…. He's mysterious, and he's dangerous..very dangerous…and something tells me he's been kicking some hornets nests with what's in his here. I don't know who the hornet nest belongs to but to me it explains this a lot more. You need to be careful."

Vivian digested what he told her. "What he's saying makes some sense. But still, him being raised by The Fox and his kithood in general also makes all of this make sense. But..at the same time…what he's told me about when he first met Jack, how he carried himself…then there's the fact of that aura he puts off. I felt it when I met him but it apparently was a fraction to what Marcus Oliver felt when he met him for the first time…and Jack is indeed mysterious…and this dark splotch he mentioned Jack has…somehow it makes sense. If I've learned anything it's the fact that it's pretty indisputable that Jack was indeed raised by The Fox. The rest I just don't know…and I don't even know how I feel about this fact which I don't get. I do know I'll be slightly cautious around him but that's about it. It's just to early to pass judgement on him. I can't and won't judge him simply on his past, it's the present version of him that counts."

Vivian information now digested said, "I appreciate the warning Mr. MO. I'll be a bit cautious and careful about him. But I think it's just to early for me to pass judgment on him. Thank you for showing me all of this."

Marcus Oliver stood and replied, "that's all I was looking for. Like I said, despite all of that and this he is a fine mammal and he's improved over the years. But yes be careful because there's just to much mystery to let your guard down. So you're quite welcome. Now come on, I can tell you want to look around some more since I basically dragged you from place to place in here, but I felt you needed to see this. So you can pass your eye over the place to see if you can learn something more and then we can get you your apartment key and you can get on your way."

Vivian only nodded at that and followed him back into Jack's bedroom, shutting off the light as she passed it. Now back in Jack's bedroom she took a moment to look around. It was dimly lit, the only source of light coming from three partially opened shutters. Looking up she noted it was the only light source. All of the furniture was dark wood and the sheets and paint on the walls a very dark shade of grey. There were no pictures, posters, or paintings on the walls. The entire bedroom was completely clean, there wasn't a speck of dust anywhere, not one article of clothing on the floor, and the bed was made. Speaking of the bed she tilted her head as it looked as if it was actually never used. There was no creases or anything and there was no indentation of where Jack would be sleeping on either side of the bed.

She simply filed it under the strange category and moved on, there was nothing to lean in here. As she turned she caught eye of a picture frame on Jack's nightstand. Moving over to it she picked it up and inspected it. It was a pair of foxes, the male much bigger than the vixen and the vixen was holding a baby. She let out a little gasp when she noticed the tod and the baby had sea foam green eyes. "This must be Jack's parents! Which means that's him as a baby!"

She brought the picture closer so she could look at his parents better, turning so some light would shine on the photo. Jack's mother was a drop dead gorgeous vixen with soft and expressive blue eyes, she also looked younger than Jack's father. Jack's father looked to be older by at least five years his features hardened but eyes soft. His shoulders were quite broad and he was much taller than Jack's mother, nearly twice her height. But looking at Jack's father more she had to admit, he looked…wolfish. "Why does Jack's dad look like…well like he's part wolf? Hmm something else to maybe ask Demetri about…So mom gave him his looks, and dad gave him his eyes, shoulders, and height."

Putting the photo back on the nightstand Vivian turned and exited Jack's bedroom and descend the stairs. As she descended her eyes went to Mr. MO who was in the kitchen placing what looked like Jack's mail onto the island. "His behavior and demeanor shifted after we left..well my apartment, I guess this is Oliver I've been talking to."

As Vivian took her eyes away from Marcus Oliver and back to surveying the apartment as she descended the stairs she caught sight of something that caught her eyes and she brought it up once she reached the bottom. Pointing to a painting on the wall between the two large windows by the large open area she asked, "is that a real Jackson Pollock painting?"

Marcus Oliver looked to the painting and replied "yep, Jackson bought it in a auction about two years ago. It drew his eye was all he told me when I first saw it."

Vivian nodded at that and swept her eyes around the apartment, when she had first entered she hadn't paid attention to the details, paint scheme and such. To focused on what Mr. MO had said about Jack and then showed her. The paint was a lightish grey and the wood floor an actual light grey, the cabinetry was white and the countertops concrete. The couch she had been sitting on was black, the dark wood coffee table accented by it. As her gaze went back to the kitchen she finally took noticed of the several large black trash bags. "Well Mr. MO it would appear Jack left you some trash to take out."

Marcus Oliver looked over his shoulder at the bags and replied, "yes it would appear so, little bugger didn't tie em off either."

Vivian giggled at that as he turned fully and walked the short distance to the bags. As he went to tie the bag closest to him he bumped it, starting at chain reaction that ended with the bag closest to the door tipping over, some of its contents pouring out. Vivian walked over to help pick them up but blanched when she saw it was 6 bottles of alcohol, scotch, bourbon, and whiskey. Picking the bag up she looked in it and noticed it was full of more bottles of hard alcohol. The other two bags proved to be the same. Vivian dreaded the thought at Jack drank what she assumed was close to thirty bottles of bourbon, scotch, and whiskey.

Marcus Oliver quickly belayed her concerns though before she could express them. "Ah, that explains why the sink reeks of alcohol. Jack dumped all of his bottles."

Vivian quickly picked up the bottles that fell out and redeposited them into the trash bag before going over to the sink and taking a whiff. She quickly recoiled when the super strong scent of alcohol burned her nose. "Yep he dumped it."

Marcus Oliver while tying the three bags said, "good riddance I say. It's about time."

That got Vivian's attention and the dread returned. "Did…did Jack have a problem with…"

He finished the sentence for her. "With alcohol? Sadly he DOES have a problem with it, though it looks like he's stopped thankfully. Yeah these bottles in these bags would have lasted him a couple months maybe…I mean he drank, A LOT. He never got wasted to where he couldn't function and blackout and such. But he still drank everyday. But if this tells me anything it looks like those days just might be behind him. Now I don't know why now, it could be because he joined the military….but I have a sneaking suspicion it's because of you."

Annnd done!

Really Concern? You ended it on a tease? Why yes, yes I did and I apologize for nothing. *disappears into the shadows as the angry mob forms*

So quite a lot was achieved in these two chapters, a lot of future plot points set, new characters introduced including a potential love interest, a lot of things explained, and some things left in the open.

One of the characters introduced, who I think everyone will grow to love, was Marcus Oliver. A.k.a Mr. MO. Mr. MO is based off of two characters in ThaRedPanda's possibly abandoned story (though I hope not), Two Against the World. Those characters of course being the black wolf Marcus and the brown wolf Oliver. I enjoyed both of these characters so I mashed them together and then added a NOT so healthy dash of my own madness disguised as my personality into the mix. *laughs maniacally and erratically* erm, sorry that slipped out.

Some final news, all future chapters for all three of my stories will now be in the 6,000-8,000 word range.

Next time on A Father Figure! We get to see Vivian's reaction to what Mr. MO just laid down on her! Vivian and Nick move into their new home! The interview at Paragon Grove! And finally the girls get together for drinks!

Oh and keep an eye out for the next chapter of A True Brother: The Prologue in the coming weeks

Well that's all folks! So until next time this is TheConcernedF0X signing off! See you next time!