Chapter 3
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AN: I'd like to dedicate this chapter to a very special reader and frequent commentator of mine. One who is so eager to leave his comments, on all my fics, that he or she repeatedly uses new pseudonyms to let themselves post on them.
I'd like to say thankyou to this person.
Because, in your continual insinuations that I have no talent or should just stop, you beautifully express the fact that the width, breadth, and scope of my works, and the talent that I write with, makes you deeply insecure and self-conscious of your own tragically meager achievements. My hobby and the support of those who enjoy it overshadows the things you have done in your small and humble life to such an extent, that you can only feel compelled to project out, insecurely trying to tear down that which so impresses you.
And so, I'd like to express thanks once again. For, with each comment you give that lashes out and tries to push me down, I get a truly warm feeling that, along with the joy I give to others, I have such a grand and compelling effect on yourself. I feel inspired by the fact that my work inspires you to do what you do, indeed it can only be seen as the highest praise.
So, I shall carry on posting, carry on bringing joy to the lives of others, and stay fast in the knowledge that with each one of your posts, your dedication to me makes you one of my biggest, most obsessive, most influenced by myself fans.
In any case, on with the show!
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Jack, eyebrow raised, looked on as Skye put down her placard and wrapped her paws around the incoming red fox.
Sure, he'd been given the low down: adopted red fox sister, army daughter of a former army fox, sharp dressed…
Incredibly sharply dressed.
Still, they made an odd couple and he wouldn't have pinned them as sisters in any sense of the word, but here they were hugging each other, noses rubbing and then eyes turning to face him. "Hmmmm," the red fox mused. "Interesting choice."
"Says you."
Giving an innocent little smile, the red fox, eyes closed, turned back to face her older but smaller swift fox sibling. "I see your ears are still working then." And with that she gave a boop on his girlfriend's nose.
Eyes opening wide for a second, her ears perked up before slipping down again, eyes burning with half-lidded energy. "Is your brain, Miss 'tried to ship me with a mercenary.'"
And with that she booped her back on her nose.
"He's doing fine by the way," she retorted, complete with boop.
"You're just envious you didn't get to be the matchmaker." Return boop.
"I'm just curious what finally induced this." Boop back.
"Not you, and I think you're just a little upset about that." Boop.
"Oh hush." Boop.
"Says the mammal always saying I should speak more." Boop.
"That was our parents, says the one who asked me if my brain is working." Boop.
"I don't think you ever answered that." Boop.
Jack, sitting down and relaxing, put his paws behind his back and stretched out, ears straight up at the site of what was indisputable sister on sister booping action.
"Oh, it's humming along nicely with the news I've been getting from here." Boop.
"I guess I should be worried then." Boop.
The red vixen gave a cunning little chuckle. "Oh you should be." Boop.
"I'm getting that Sweetie look," Boop.
"It's the Lt Vixen look, actually." Boop.
"Oh, and how's that different?" Boop.
"I think you should be far more worried than you were before." Boop.
"Ah, you're up to something." Boop.
"When am I not?" Boop.
"I was being relative." Boop.
The red vixen chuckled, tail flicking up in front of her, a paw wrapping around it, letting the thumb give a soft pet. "Let's just say I've got some interesting propositions, partly thanks to the hare that's been ogling us for the last five minutes."
"Huh?" Skye asked, blinking as she faced Jack, her tail tip also sailing up into her paws.
"Don't mind me ladies," Jack said, right as a red thumb pad sailed across and, boop.
Invisible again, he sat back and watched as Skye launch a full blown rapid fire boop assault on her sister's nose. "Hey, get here, get here you, I'm gonna boop that snoot, I'm gonna…"
The red vixen chuckled and smiled as she went on the defensive, very clearly holding back. Jack meanwhile mused how he could ever doubt that these two were not the siblings they claimed to be.
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Not long after, they piled back into one of Skye's hot hatchbacks, pushing along the drenched road at the speed limit, something absolutely not terrifying at… "AAAAHHHHHHH!"
A short squeal and flick later, they were back facing the way they were moving. "Just a bit of aquaplaning, Jack," Skye chirped.
Taking a breath in and composing himself, the hare began to raise a finger to object, only for…
"Do that again big sis, I might just smuggle you some more dessert."
"I'm not ten, that doesn't work anymore."
"I'll just say I'll ask you nicely then."
"Thaaat's good enough," she said as the car gave a little wobble.
Thankfully, with that, they passed into a tunnel, Skye grumbling a bit as she pulled out a pair of actual black specs from her side and slipped them over her slowly unfading phasing glasses.
Even though Jack knew the logic of the move, call it biology, but seeing his driver wearing two pairs of specs at night did not play quite that well with him. Still, she gave a little look down at him, ears drooping down a bit. Foot paw off the pedal, she slipped into the outside lane and slowly let them drift back. By the time they emerged into Sahara Square once more, Jack felt just a bit more comfortable as they pushed through the rain again.
"I see they still haven't sorted out a way to stop actual rain," Sweetie mused from the back, watching the rains pour down into the desert sands.
"Says the little girl who'd giggle and roll about in the flower blooms," Skye said from the front, sparing Jack a glance and jerking her thumb back in her direction.
And now the hare had ammunition. He turned back and laid his eyes on her, she matching him back, an eyebrow rising. "So, you once weren't this foxy fatale, I see…"
"I was once a little kit called Sweetie Autumn," she spoke, idly picking at the inside of one of her claws. And that little kit grew up into the Lieutenant Vixen you see before you. And…?"
Jack was stumped for a little bit, then he pointed at her. "You're younger, yes?"
"Again, and?"
Turning back, Jack let himself relax, pointing forward. "To the baby pictures, Skye."
The end of Sweetie's muzzle gave a minute twitch.
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It didn't take long for the trio to park up outside an unassuming low slung house on the edge of the built up area of central Sahara Square, facing off against the borders of some of the poorer regions of Savannah central across the sands.
Jack just about made out the lights of Happytown Heights before he practically leapt inside from the downpour, getting a drenching from an overflowing gutter for his effort.
"Oh Gosh. I had the umbrella, I had…" came the stuttering of a familiar grey fox, before her brain kicked into gear and she actually unfurled it, pushing it up into the falling water to try and give the two vixens coming under some shelter.
The success was… debatable, and in came Skye and Sweetie, the latter immediately being glomped in a motherly hug. "Ooooh I missed you my little kit," she cooed, before stretching up planting a barrage of soft kisses on her daughter's face. Paw up onto the crest of her head, she applied pressure, and… "Down."
"I missed you too," the red fox vixen replied curtly, letting her adoptive mother indulge herself with some nuzzling, rubbing the side of her muzzle onto her own.
"Nice to meet you again too, Siwilli" Jack finally said, the grey foxes ears immediately jumping up again, dreamcatcher earrings flicking about.
"Oh gosh, sorry! I forgot, you're drenched. Listen, the bathroom is upstairs at the back, above the kitchen, there's a cheap fur dryer and some towels. My bedroom is the door on the right, pick up some clothes once everything is drying up, 'kay?"
"Sure thing," Jack waved off, as he began walking through Skye's kithood home. First time for everything, and the place certainly seemed… cozy. The walls were thick tan clay, the windows, where present, tiny, everything cast in a low orange light. And there was a lot of everything, the walls practically covered in all manner of kitsch and homecraft art, the vast majority native inspired.
Well, Skye did tell him that her mother was into that.
But even the tables and chairs and stuff seemed just a bit close together…
Upstairs, and everything else was much the same, though there was another stair that led up towards a doorway onto the roof.
Curiosity getting to him, Jack wandered up and looked out, spotting a wide and well furnished roof terrace. This was where they went when they wanted their space then.
Stepping back down and actually getting into the bathroom, it kind of made sense. All these foxes burrowed to some degree, so warm, earthy and cosey wasn't actually a negative in their books. Especially since they could go topside to get their space, something that he, as a hare, was specifically acclimatised for.
The bathroom, in contrast, was quite well set out, to the point that it didn't feel nearly as crowded. The fur dryer though didn't live up to those raised expectations in the slightest. This wasn't a warming chamber of hot air bliss, this was a bargain basement (and quite bodged at that) pull-down air knife. Stripping off his drenched shirt and damp shorts, hanging them on the…
There wasn't actually a radiator in here, for the same reason the fur dryer was so basic. The interior was balmy, thick walls clinging to the heat. Sure, there seemed to be large shutters, so they could flush the daytime heat with cooler night time air when the city throttled back the district climate system, but with this rain coming down they were locking down the hatches for now at least. So, clothes up on a simple wooden rack, he stepped into the device and gritted his teeth as it whirred up like a jet engine. Grabbing the handle, down he pulled, letting the wind-chilled air hit him, pushing down the dampness below its stream.
Easy does it, easy does it, and… -done.
Turning it off and shaking his feet of the last drops, he grabbed a towel, half to dry off the last bits remaining and half for modesty.
Thankfully, though, some dry clothes were waiting for him outside the door.
He was pretty certain they were some unisex things of Siwilli's, as small as she could get but still baggy for him, clinging on thanks to the miracle of elastic.
But they would do.
Down he stepped again, into the main room, pausing as a fourth mammal, large, muscled, tan furred, tail oddly dragging on the floor, turned to face him, with what distinctly looked like a carving knife in his paws.
"So," he said, "I finally meet the hare that hitched my little girl." His eyes glanced down, making a quick study of him, before he drove the knife into a breadboard, hard. "Let's have a chat, Jack."
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For want of an outside grill, they were in the small galley kitchen at the back, the sizzling of food in the pans and under the grill doing their best to compete against the drumming of rain coming in from outside and the boiling of the large pots simmering at the back. The 'chat' had so far turned out to be the pair cooking together, the hare, at least taking some solace in the lack of comments on his new attire, assisting where he could. Going by the time left on a timer by the sink, they'd be here for a while yet.
"So, you seem to handle the smell of meat well," the older swift fox said, busy cutting up some turkey sausages, placing them down to sizzle and brown. He was dressed in a pair of jeans and a desert camo T-shirt, which he stated firmly was the infinitely superior version, woodland camo eat your heart out (snow camo was simply cool). To wrap it off, he had an apron tied around his waist. At the back, the cords held his drooping tail to his spine, while on the front a swift fox and a dinosaur grilling together was emblazoned, centre stage, with the title 'Veloxiraptor'.
"You do know not all prey are squeamish," Jack said, finger up.
Joseph, 'Jo' Autumn nodded. "Yeah, I can see that. Just going off the averages."
"Ahem," the hare spoke, crossing his paws. "Isn't judging a species like that not a thing we do anymore? After all, if I judged your daughter…"
"Okay, heads up," the swift fox todd said, turning around. He'd been using a fork to get the slices ends up on the pan to help with crisping the meat, and had skewered one, pointing it right under the hare's nose. "One, in my case I was talking averages, things that are true. In your case, you were inferring things that are made up, and thus not true. So, I get the pass."
…
Jack kept a blank look. "And, two?"
...
"Uhhh, there isn't a two."
"Your bad?"
"Slip of the tongue, now mind that cheek there hare," he said. He gave a little smile. "The fact that this smell ain't making you puke might be the start of you getting into my good books."
Jack's eyes narrowed, a devious smirk appearing on his muzzle. Jack plan (TM), in action! "So, you like a prey that the meat doesn't scare away?"
"You can have your vegi side dishes, I ain't got a care in the world about that. Just as long as we can have what we want, and you lot don't try and guilt us for it. You'll find out soon enough that this fox doesn't like anyone telling him what he can't do."
"Hmmmm," Jack said, fingers coming together. "Well, you see, one thing your daughter has done is helped to broaden a few of my horizons."
The swift fox raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"Well, she has introduced me to certain tastes…"
"Need I remind you I'm her Daddy?"
"Tastes that I now crave, and you, Daddy or not, cannot keep me from." And with that, he leant forward and bit off the sausage end in one full bite, drawing back to chew. Joseph looked on shocked, before his mouth began pulling back into a slightly amused grin. All while Jack, very confidently began to chew the sausage.
"Ha, well, well, well, my daughter has been an influence on you!"
Jack, smiling and chewing, nodded, only for his chewing to slow down slightly. Then a bit more. Then it stopped, his eyes widened and throat bulging out. The swift fox todd stepped aside, unable to stop himself laughing, as Jack sprung up and latched himself over the sink as he chucked.
"You still crave it?" he laughed, as Jack ejected the meat from his mouth with a moist and slimy bleaughhhh….
"Not fair," he groaned.
Jo didn't listen, doubling over, paws on stomach as his laughing got louder and louder. "Guess meat is off the menu then!"
"It was raw inside…"
"Oh, excuses excuses…"
Jack, taking a break from swilling out his mouth, turned back to glare at him. "I didn't realise it was raw inside!"
The swift fox didn't respond, just caught in a full on belly laugh.
"I reserve moral victory if you don't try one."
"What? Like this," he chuckled, leaning over and picking up another bit of sausage at random, throwing it in his mouth. He chewed it happily for a few seconds before pausing, moving up next to Jack and deftly spitting it out.
The two shared a look.
"Don't tell the girls?"
"Don't tell the girls," Jack agreed, as they quietly went back to business.
Those sausages were just one of a wide variety of small sides: toasted bread, fried up peppers, cornbread muffins, corn on the cob, turkey bacon, whole roasted carrots and the fried tips of ostrich wings, Joseph using a cleaver to cut through their bones and turn them into bite sized pieces. On top of that there were bowls of coleslaw, salad leaves, and some jars full of pickled vegetables that the vixens were called in to help take out to the table. Jack was given the task of turning two pots, one sweet potato, the other regular, into mash.
But, as everything went out and it was just the two guys left in the kitchen, there was one big, slow boiling pot at the back, that was slowly raising the hare's interest.
"What's in the pot?"
"Huh?" Jo asked.
Jack smiled and, just so happening to have a corkscrew in his paw, opened it out to a gun-like right angle. Stepping out from the counter, paws out wide, he asked again. "C'mon, what's in the pot?"
For a second or two, Jo looked at him, head tilting, before his eyes widened slightly. They then narrowed and he spoke, his voice quieter, hushed, dead to the world almost. "Oh. You want to know what's in the pot?"
For a moment, a brief flicker of joy flashed across the hare's face, before he got back into character. "What's in the pot?" Jack exclaimed, corkscrew pointing out. "What's in the pot? What's in the pot?"
"You see… uh…. -us predators have this thing for devouring what is alive."
"No, no, you gotta be kidding," Jack hissed, paws going up to his head as he marched around. "You gotta be kiddin' you sick freak…"
"I could normally put a bunny like you in this boiler, that's where you fit," he said again.
"You sick," Jack hissed, pointing his corkscrew forward at Jo's face.
"But I needed something more," the todd said plainly. Jack wandered around, the fox's eyes tracking him.
"C'mon, say it ain't so, say…"
"-So I thought I'd end the life of something, before it was born."
"Ahhhh no…" Jack groaned, paw up to his disgusted face. "It's… what, an egg, I think…"
"Yes, an egg," Joseph said coldly, "an egg that…"
He broke off, as did Jack a second later, the hare slowly turning to see three vixens observing. While the todd to his right coughed a little, the hare marched right up to them and shut the door, dusting his paws at a job well done.
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"So how did you know that was my favourite movie!?"
"I didn't. Just an all time classic I thought I could play off," Jack replied.
The older fox laughed. "Well I heard you were a film buff or something."
The hare smiled, throwing his paw back at himself. "A mere buff? Please, I'm a nerd at least."
"So you say."
"Seriously though, you're a film nerd compared to your daughter," Jack almost complained, bringing out his paw to count off of. "She didn't know Bull Cassidy and the Sundance kit, I had to introduce her to the Clawshank redemption, based on your meat on the menu reference I presume you're acquainted with the works of Foalkein but…"
They were both broken off as a shrill alarm rang out, the timer that had been ticking away in the corner reaching its end.
"Right," Joseph said, sliding the whole thing off the hob and towards the sink. "There should be an ice bath in the freezer, drag it out and smash it up.
Jack, following along, looked in and yup… There it was. A quite literal drag to pull out, but he managed it, before grabbing a handy meat tenderizer and starting to break apart the ice sheet… For some reason.
A reason probably connected to the massive cloud of steam erupting from the sink as Joseph, now up on top of the counter, poured out the liquid from the pot, stepping back coughing from the burning steam billowing out. Finally, though, it seemed to be drained and, grabbing the pot, he lowered it down.
Jack couldn't help but look in.
It was an egg.
A giant one, a good deal larger than his head.
Ostrich.
"Towel," the fox said, leaping down and passing one to Jack. "Okay, we grab, we transfer, we cold shock it for a minute or so, then bring it in. Got it?"
"Got it," the hare said. Together, they lifted it up and then dunked it, relaxing at a job well done. In the little time they had spare, the older todd studied Jack for a second and nodded slightly, smiling.
Only to suddenly yip up in pain, grabbing his tail in his paws and dragging it out of the hot pot where it had dipped into, touching the leftover boiling water at the bottom, and dumping it into the freezing cold pot that was currently holding the egg. "Should have tied it tighter," he cursed, finally sparing a curious Jack a cursory look. "I suppose it goes without saying, it doesn't really work."
"Yeah, I got that," Jack slowly said. "Just didn't think you'd want me to bring it up."
"Well you got that right," he said, pulling it out. Grabbing some towels, he began dabbing it down.
"War injury?" the hare asked.
He laughed. "No, but it's what dragged me out of it. Ever heard of the violet gland?"
"It's the thing that makes the fox smell, yes."
"Yup, on the tail, here," he said, turning the appendage down, paw holding and showing the fur just above where it started brushing out, revealing where the characteristic dark smudge usually was…
Only instead there was a small bare patch, a faint scar revealed. "Caudilomia, stage 3. They cut it out and after some rough rounds of treatment it was gone, but it and the operation wrecked the muscles that held it up. I can wag," he moved it from left to right like any other tail, before letting it go to drop on the floor. He looked up and shrugged. "But it drag."
Jack couldn't help but laugh, as Joseph reached in and picked up the egg. "Along with the fox smell, it also does some steroid stuff, so taking it out put me on pills and gave me a medical discharge, and being a mechanic I had some training in something useful. Going out I wanted something a bit different though, so I ended up as a shop teacher."
"Oh," Jack mused. "Interesting. Dead mechanics society much?"
"Ha. No, I went in the deep end, go to the worst schools to get the best pay. Turns out I was fairly good at it, especially when I showed that I could yell the punks into line."
"What, full drill sergeant?" Jack asked, going full up straight, face like an angry rock. "Did you make those maggots understand that!?"
Joseph stood up straight too, face like an even angrier rock, finger out. "If I could and you deserved it which you don't I would recite that entire scene for you! But listen here, you two-cent tiger impression, the maggots rotting that apple were all bark and no bite, just like your mouth there when it comes to giving out pleasure. Those wannabe hooligans quickly learnt that I would take no crap from them, and if they thought they could be the funny guys they would soon leave with their tails so low between their legs, it would make my one look like you got me back to front, in bed with my wife on valentines day! Do you understand me?"
…
"More…" Jack said, starstruck. "More. I need more…"
"Maybe later," he shrugged, picking up the egg. "I don't want to know what those three vixens are thinking or talking about us already, and this chap's getting cold. Besides, I think I've got you figure out Bun. And you'll be very glad to know I think you're okay for my daughter."
"That never really was in doubt."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," he said, starting to make his way over. "Remember who I am and what I did for a living. Don't get cocky, kit."
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Moving into the main room and finding a space, Jack watched on as the foxes, holding their breath, slowly removed the top part of the eggs shell. Topless in its giant egg holder, they then started removing the top layers of solid white, fingers crossed as the dark of the yoke began to appear. The first cut through yielded a small spot of solid pale yellow, but the second…
A small blob of bright orange liquid began oozing out of the top, the foxes breathing sighs of relief. With that, Joseph scooped out a large bowl in the top of the egg, letting the hot running yoke fill it up. And then, the dipping began. All the little sides were there to be submerged in the yoke, as if this were some giant egg fondu.
Almost ironically, Jack, who had had experience with eggs before he met his fox, was fairly ambivalent to it and definitely preferred his sausages and meats virgin.
It seemed the vixens had been talking, a lot, though he supposed it was a good thing it entirely wasn't about him. Lots of girl stuff, about things the younger sister had been pulling off, though it soon verged into the goings on of Jack and Skye in relation to the whole Anonymous Vulpine case.
It seemed she had told her parents the basics. That Jack and Skye knew the kit, that the pair had gotten involved, the fact that Jack had donned various disguises…
"-I knew it!" Siwilli said, shooting up. "When I heard that leaked recording, I knew that voice sounded familiar. It was you, working for the ZPD."
Jack smiled knowingly and nodded, a hush going on as he described his various schemes and 'helpings' at length.
"So, why did you choose to do it?" the red vixen asked, sounding particularly curious.
Jack looked up for a second, bits of mayo covered cabbage and carrot sticking out his mouth, and shrugged. "Because I wanted to," he said, it coming out almost like a question to himself.
"So what," the red fox mused. "You weren't bought, there was no ulterior motive, this wasn't a close friend to avenge…"
"-Oh stop interrogating him," her mother chided, the grey fox tutting slightly. "I'm sure he found a way he could step in and do some good, and chose to do it."
"Yeah," Joseph said, shrugging. "Most mammals don't really get the chance to play hero." He looked down at the hare. "I'm certain this guy here was smart enough to know not to throw his chance."
The hare nodded, paw out and pointing. "Yup-yup," he said, giving a short set of whistles to emphasise it.
Something that sent the older todd off laughing.
Skye just let an unsure ear flicker. "I'm guessing that's a reference to something."
"I think so," her mother added.
The red vixen was silent for a moment, smarmy grin on her muzzle, before speaking once more. "So, did you like playing spy? Get a thrill out of it?"
"Yeah," the hare replied, warming up a bit. "I mean, it's not…" he gave a few short action punches, sound effects added for emphasis. "-Crazy action like that, but I was donning disguises and playing these acts, finding out things to help this innocent mammal who was suffering. And I've acted before, a lot before, but this was something else." For a moment, he trailed off, a paw going up to scratch behind his ear. "I mean," he began, looking to the side for a second and letting out a nervous laugh. "It almost made the career acting I did after for my stageplay… seem a little duller. -I mean, I still loved it! But that kind of spying, it's basically just acting but more exciting, there's a real risk, and it's like this crazy thrill. Like Skye driving in the rain, if that was actually fun and not terrifying. And it gave me this kind of crazy buzz doing it, and it's going to be something I miss."
"Very interesting, very interesting indeed," the red vixen said, only to be cut off by her older sister.
"What are you planning Sweetie?" Skye asked, rather blankly.
A quiet hush fell across the table, not that it seemed to phase her. "I may know a few mammals," she said off paw. "Something to maybe talk about later."
Skye looked like she was about to say something, only for her mother to come in with an excited coo. "Oooooh, training you up to be a spy? Actor to spy, that would make a great movie on its own." She chuckled. "Though it would be dangerous, and I don't want you to get hurt or anything. My little kit needs you, after all."
Skye began to say something, only to pause, not sure how to say it in a way that wouldn't result in her foot paw relocating to her mouth.
"No need to let your imagination run too wild, mother," Sweetie carried on, regardless.
"Part of me can't help it," she giggled. "I'd say it was silly, but you two have done some crazy things already, haven't you…" She paused, getting serious for a second. "Just don't do anything dangerous and stay safe okay. I mean, you could always use this idea for your next script instead, Jack. I don't think anyone's done that before."
"Well," Joseph cut in, sparing a look down at the hare. "In the immortal words of Matt Sloth and Trey Panther…"
"-Cuss yeah," they spoke together, before breaking down and laughing, much to the confusion of two of the three vixens.
The subject was seemingly forgotten for the rest of the meal, the group slowly packing up. As they did so, Jack felt a red furred finger tap his shoulder. "That thing," she said quietly. "In a little bit."
And with that, she left, Jack left standing there.
"Okay…?"
He went on helping out putting things away, and then assisting Joseph with sorting out a small leak that was starting to pool into the kitchen. An overflowing gutter was resulting in a stream of the unrelenting rain channeling down and in. And so, the hare found himself shanghaied into stepping out into the downpour once more, standing on top of Joseph's paws so he could reach in and drag out some of the muck.
Not long after, the pair stepped in, fully drenched. The only consolidation was that Jack's original clothes were dry by now, and so the hare could step out of the ones he was wearing and back into his own.
"Those look better on my wife anyway," Jo said, the pair undressing in the bathroom, Jack pulling on his old clothes once more.
Stepping out, the hare found him facing off right against Skye, the vixen smiling as she looked down at him.
"Ahem," Jack spoke, crossing his paws. "If you wanted to oogle and objectify my naked body, your chance to walk in on me passed about a minute ago."
The corner of her mouth pulled up as she bent down, nose and eyes level with his. "If you wanted to oogle and objectify my naked body, your chance might be coming up about a minute from now."
"And both of you are invited to my room," the Sweetie said, walking past them, flashing a smile.
While Skye's eyes narrowed in irritation, eliciting a smirk from her sister, Jack's foot had begun drumming, a smile growing on his muzzle. "It's been a long, long time since I was involved in a plot like this," he said, waggling his eyebrows.
"-Oh yeah, just remember the role I'm playing then," came a voice from behind, Jack's ears collapsing.
"Heh…" he nervously chuckled, as two thick tan paws lay down on his shoulders. "You were still behind me."
"Always was," Joseph spoke, looking up at his daughters. "Both of you, shooo… Before I tell the story of… Well, how about the ant hill and the paint can to start with?"
The two vixens stepped back, looked at each other, and silently darted off.
Joseph then looked down at Jack, and led him off, holding his paw tight. "Come on," he said, the hare's ears flat against his back as they entered his bedroom, a chair being pulled out. "Sit."
Jack, unable to think of anything smart to say, did just that as Jo opened up a box and began rummaging around, just as the hare found his voice again.
"Remember how we were joking and laughing in the kitchen?"
...
"That was fun!" Jack carried on, forced grin quickly fading. Claws began tapping against each other nervously. "What new father-in-law son-in-law stuff have we got planned?"
"Well, I'm glad you asked," he said, bringing out something. "Because right about now, I'd have liked to be sharing some embarrassing baby photos of my daughter. The two of us laughing about them, embarrassing her. Unfortunately, that's not possible."
"Are you sure?" Jack asked, voice squeaking a bit.
He sat down, having to use a paw to adjust his limp tail, and then looking straight into the hare's eyes. "Oh I'm certain."
He gave Jack some photos.
Skye, as a kit.
Six-ish years old, a big smile on her face as she played at the beach.
Jack looked up at Joseph, one of his ears raised slightly in confusion. The fox just rolled a paw. "Go on."
Jack flicked to the next, young Skye playing with a lego set.
Then another, the little kit dressed up in a princess dress, radiating dangerous levels of poutiness.
Another, her looking far happier in a pair of denim overalls, holding a wrench.
Then a few more. Skye curled up sleeping, or just her head popping out of the sand.
All through them, Jack noticed she was getting younger, and then…
"It ends there?" the hare asked, looking up.
Joseph nodded. "And why do you think that?"
It took a few seconds for it to click. "She wasn't adopted as a baby, was she? When she said, I thought…"
"Yeah, I gathered, she doesn't talk about the before so I get why you'd have that impression." With that he leant into his pocket and pulled out another photo, Jack assuming to be just like the rest.
It was Skye, looking a fair bit younger, around three if he'd have to put his claw on it.
But that was the least of the differences.
Her fur was duller, patchy, uneven, even darker in places from bruising underneath, while her back was hunched, ears plastered down, eyes smaller, duller, looking away. She looked scared and unsure, hurt and worried, almost… broken.
"What you don't see there," Joseph said, taking it back. "Was the five rotten baby teeth she needed pulling. Or how, not long after this, we learnt that one of her tail bones had broken and healed. Or the multiple lice treatments we gave to clear them out, or how most of the fur from between her legs had fallen out from untreated rash, seeing as her original parents didn't even care to potty train her."
He stared into Jack's eyes. "It took a lot of effort and love to fix her up. Now, I know she's a mature and responsible adult, and, just like my other adopted daughter, can choose to do what she wants. Dangerous things, even. My red fox daughter wanted to go into the army, and I wasn't one to argue being in there myself, even if I knew how it could take from her. And even if I wanted a third generation of swifties in this family coming from Skye, I'm happy with her finding love in another species, just like I did. But, I will always be her father, and I will always want to protect her. Now, you look like a fine young mammal, but being an ex-Bellwether voter I've fallen for good acts before, and I know you're very qualified in that department. Look after my daughter, and she'll look after you. But if you dare hurt her, then I will find you and hurt you ten times over. I'll make you regret what you did to my little kit, or I'm a platypus and Murana Wolford's the Dark Flame Wolf. Got that?"
He jabbed a finger into Jack's chest, the hare nodding.
"Good," he said, offering a smile. "Because I want her to be happy, and right now I think I quite like you."
Jack smiled, standing up and getting a pat on his back as he walked out the door.
-Only to be immediately pulled away by Skye, paw in paw.
"Is this a thing now?" he asked. "Because I'm not sure if I don't like it."
"My sister insisted," she said, as she moved them into a rather plainly set up guest room, the red fox sitting on a chair patiently. Skye moved to walk out, only for the waiting vixen to clear her throat.
"I'd have thought you'd be interested in this too, sister."
Skye paused, closing the door and sitting down next to Jack. "So," she began, "an eyebrow raised. What exactly have you been scheming. And which machiavolpean military intelligence officer are you planning to rent my hare out too?"
Sweetie parsed her fingers and leant forward, "that's such an ugly word, Skye."
"I think it fits, even if this mammal isn't of our genus."
"Oh," she mused, almost sounding surprised. Her tail came up, working its way between her fingers. "I was talking about the rent bit." Her smile increased. "And as for the machiavolpean bit, why thank you."
Skye blinked. "Wait, it's just you. You're not some middle-mammal, you're..."
"The machiavolpean military officer planning to hire your hare? Yes indeed. Surprised?"
Skye blinked for a second. "Yes."
And then her sister tilted her head and let her kit-eyes put on a performance. "You didn't believe in your little sister?"
"No," she said, voice hushed a little. "It's just I didn't expect… -this."
She gestured down to Jack. "Likewise."
"I told you about him and our adventures," the swift fox cut in, tail beginning to flick about. "Did you give me any clues about this?"
"Well, having to keep things a secret is part of the job," Sweetie mused, looking quite pleased about herself. "As you can see, I'm very good at it."
The vixens were cut off as a grey paw rose up. "What is, 'it'?" Jack asked.
"Well I suppose I can tell you two now," she said, leaning forward. "Early in my career, working at an army base in Korea, I discovered a pair of double agents, spying for the north. Normally you'd just report this but, seeking an opportunity, I jumped up to the head of the local intelligence agency and presented a simple pitch. Rather than capture them, we let them do their missions, but make sure that the information they're sending back is misinformation. Bold, but the leap was taken, and the project has been an excellent success. To the point that I've received a number of promotions, and now specialise in the hiring, recovery and utilisation of unorthodox assets. And that's where you come in."
"A-ha! So you want to hire us, then," Jack said, perking up. "Let me guess. Me as your new action spy, Skye assisting with gadget design. Working to protect… Hang on, who do you work for exactly?"
"Zootopia not really being known for their military, I joined the US Army, following in my father's pawsteps," she explained. "And moving up, I work for their intelligence agency. However, while not militarily linked, Zootopia has long ago decided that intelligence is one place where collaboration is a very good idea. Thus I have been granted high clearance and authority, me being a native being a cherry on top."
"Uh-hu," Skye said, scratching the side of her muzzle. "Nice story. But what exactly would we be doing, who's the enemy here?"
"Remember those spies I mentioned," she said, standing up. She began walking and talking, dictating to the pair. "Given our arrangement with them, we can't exactly account for their every move and action. To keep the illusion up, we have an entire fake military base and staff for a start. This keeps them mostly in check, and when they go to the local cities, we can usually tail them anonymously. However, not long ago they flew out, and we lost contact. After much difficulty and worry, they eventually returned, allowing us to continue our operation. However, the question remained, where had they gone in the meantime? Their flight out and in had been carefully planned, from two different airports. We were at a loss for where they'd been in between, but another team were able to fill us in."
She withdrew a picture, the pair blinking. Two small squirrels, talking to a large grey wolf, with a ridge of fur on the top of his head and an eyepatch over one eye. But what drew their eyes the most was the setting.
"Zootopia," Skye said.
"Exactly," Sweetie confirmed. "And this wolf here is believed to be a member of one of our slippiest enemies, and a known associate of their regime. A secretive group of international arms dealers. Who leads them, what their ulterior motives are, where they're based, we don't know. We're not even sure about their name, the only clue being an overheard name. 'Elsa'. We don't even know if that's the real one, but it's the nom-de-guerre they've taken on. These are mammals who deal with WMD's… Which makes it all the more worrying that our informants are convinced that they're heading to this city, for some reason or other. And that's where we step in. Work out why they're coming here and, if possible, expose and take their secrets. Every last one of them."
"And you want us to help you," Skye said, thinking for a second. "And in return?"
"Well," she said, flipping a paw over. "Apart from a very generous compensation package, future us scratching your back for this back scratching here, and the knowledge you're taking down major threats to global security… -You get to help your little Sis do cool stuff…" She gave a wink and then turned back to Jack. "And you get to taste that action you liked again. Crazy thrill, crazy fun, wasn't that how you put it?"
"Yes…" The hare said, a smile growing on his muzzle.
Skye looked down at Jack. "You really want to do this?"
He looked up, then at the red fox vixen, and breathed in and out. "What? Action and adventure? High stakes acting? Defeating supervillain like bad guys? Heck yeah, secret agent Jack Savage is back! Let's do this."
He stepped forward and thrust a paw out at the red fox, who shook it. "Excellent," she purred. "And naturally, he'll be backed up with weapons, tech, and the motoring skills of a mammal of unquestionable loyalty and skill, will he not?" She looked up at Skye and Skye looked back and almost whispered.
"No…"
"Ah, let me reiterate the generous renumeration…"
"It's still gonna be no, Sis," Skye cut in, a tenseness entering her voice. Ears falling back, she shook her head. "You can't just drop something crazy like this on me," she bemoaned, "and expect me to tag along!"
Sweetie blinked. "Oh… Seems like a minor miscalculation, and the abruptness is quite something. But still, this is a back of the house role for you, arguably lower in risk than your previous engagement…"
"And will it stay that way?"
…
"Aren't you the vixen who'd talk about how epic these adventures I was on sounded?" she asked. "How you were envious that I could put up with all the military 'tit-tat-rules and regs' that you couldn't. This is that shortcut you always wanted…"
"Not. Any. More." Skye spoke, a new hardness to her voice, tail bottlebrushing as she stood up. "I don't want to do this, and trying to convince me or guilt me or whatever will just split us apart. You can play spy with Jack, I have no problems with that, but I don't want in."
And with that she breathed out and left the room.
…
"It's not you that's changed her," she mused to Jack, claws rapping along her muzzle. "I'm certainly curious as to what it is, though I have enough experience to know that probing her is a futile endeavour. As for you, are you still interested?"
Jack paused, thinking for a second before trusting his gut. "Yeah, I guess. What now… Sweetie?"
"Well, now that I'm your boss, it's Lt Vixen, not Sweetie. After all, we're into serious business now. Let's keep things professional."
"Uh-hu, then what?"
"Tomorrow, presuming you sign your contracts and get the busy work out of the way, we'll be approaching the ZPD to inform them of our business. They have a mammal who might have been doing business with them in their custody, I intend to pull rank and investigate him. You're also not my only asset in this." She knitted her fingertips together, eagerly. "We have a certain special someone, ready to provide firepower going on. A little surprise, if you tag along. So, what do you say, special agent Jack Savage? You onboard?"
He stood there for a second, before leaning in. "Yeah…. -YEAH!"
"Excellent," she said, "as for my sister, give her some time and space. I have a feeling she'll come around." With that, Lt Vixen turned around to gaze out of the window. Through the pouring rain, the lights of the city centre could be made out. "Tomorrow can't come soon enough. It's going to be a very interesting day."