"When safe and sound comes burning down; I'll be getting bad news all night, letting go of high hopes."

*CRASH*

Belle shot up out of bed, hearing the loud crash occur somewhere in the shop below. She wasn't sure what the sound was. Had something fallen over? Did one of the Bangboo run into something? That couldn't be it, they didn't mill about randomly at night. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed, standing and grabbing her phone. She planned to use the device's flashlight to help her check things out, but upon opening her bedroom door she realized the entire lower level was bathed in a bright light.

Except it looked like it was coming from… outside?

"What…?" She trailed off, making it to the staircase. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the bright lights but she could make out the outline of someone laying on the floor of the shop.

"Wise!" She shouted quickly running down the stairs. She skipped the last two steps, landing right next to the figure, being careful to avoid their tail.

Wait… Tail?

"Lycaon!" She corrected, dropping to her knees and grabbing his shoulder. He let out a sound that she could've sworn was a whine. It was odd to hear it come from his lips. "Lycaon, what happened? Talk to me." Belle pressed, gently trying to roll the large canine thiren onto his back.

He was trying to say something but Belle could barely hear him; she leaned in closer.

"C-compromised. Run."

He was warning her. Compromised? What was compromised? Her identity? It didn't matter, she couldn't leave him like this. Belle's head snapped to the door when she hear someone step on the shattered wood and glass. It was hard to make out his features with the bright lights directly behind him. As best she could tell he was a little taller than her and was draped in some kind of long coat.

"I would advise you to move away from that beast." His voice was cold, heavy. "This doesn't need to concern you. Go upstairs and pretend you saw nothing. In the morning you'll come down to a fully repaired front door and a generous donation to your till."

Belle didn't hesitate, placing herself between the figure and her friend. She ignored the weak protest to get away from behind her; hardening her glare at the figure. "Get out of my shop."

The man didn't move. "You're making a mistake."

Belle's heart was pounding. She was terrified but she wouldn't allow herself to move from that spot. "We have a silent alarm. Public Security is already on the way." She semi-lied. Her hope was that the AI in the other room, Fairy, had grasped what was going on and made an alert to the authorities.

The figure glanced other his shoulder before turning back to her. She could swear she saw him grin. "You don't have an alarm and the fools at PubSec have no idea what's going on here. You're trying to save your friend. I admire that. If these tables were turned I'd likely be doing the same thing. But my time is short and my patience is thin. He's already dead, just move and let me finish what I came here to do."

Belle felt a tug on her the leg of her pajama pants. Lycaon was still trying to get her to leave him. She shot him a glare before turning back to the man again, taking a step towards him this time.

"I said get out."

Belle could hear her heart pounding in her chest and the act of breathing was becoming more deliberate and harder to do. Her breath hitched as a second person approached from behind the man, whispering something. He shook his head, letting out an irritated sigh. "Fine." He replied, turning on a heel and walking out the door. "Burn it." She heard him call to someone.

Belle didn't have a chance to guess what that meant, the sound of glass smashing and a deafening explosion was all that filled her mind. In an instant she was thrown to the ground, the wind knocked from her lungs.

It took her a brief moment to recover, feeling an excruciating amount of heat on her face.

Fire. The store was on fire!

Belle scrambled to her feet, running on pure adrenaline as she bounded for the stairs. She tried to get to the top but the heat was so intense she had no choice but to retreat. Her body physically wouldn't move forward. She jumped down the stairs again, lungs burning as the tapes around her burned, releasing all kinds of thick black smoke.

She grabbed onto Lycaon's shoulders, trying hard to move the heavy wolf. She didn't stand a chance of trying to lift him so she had to brace herself and try to drag him to the door. It wasn't far, she could do it. A phrase she repeated over and over in her head until another loud crash brought her back to reality. A support beam had crashed down, blocking the exit.

They were trapped. Belle lost her footing, landing in a heap on the floor next to Lycaon. He groaned weakly, a giant hand reaching out to her. "I swear if you're about to tell me to leave you here I am going to be so… so upset!" She threatened, her eyes darting around for ideas.

"Lycaon, I need you to try and move. We need to get to the staff room. If there aren't any flames there we might be able to bunker down until the fire department gets here."

They were coming, right? Even if Fairy hadn't called, someone must have heard the explosion and seen the flames; even this late at night. Lycaon shook his head. He was too injured. Belle let out a growl of frustration. She looked around the room for anything that could be useful.

That was when it finally hit her. "Lycaon, I need your legs." She shouted, tugging the wolf thiren around to face the correct direction, gingerly lifting up one of his mechanical legs. "Fire your ice boosters on the right side. You can do this. I need you to do this." Belle said, trying her best to sound encouraging. She heard another stifled groan before the vents on the leg opened, the powerful engine inside spinning up. Belle braced herself and locked her arms to keep the leg pointed in the right direction.

It took a moment longer than Belle would've liked but the booster fired, launching them both in the direction of the staff room. Belle landed hard on the floor, Lycaon landing a few feet away after bouncing off the couch. Belle winced, that couldn't have been good for the wolf's injuries, but they had bigger problems at the moment. Belle shot her leg out, kicking the staff room door closed. Ages ago, Wise had insisted they "hardened" this room against outside eyes. At the time Belle had considered the idea stupid, but considering how the room was secured from the outside threat of fire and smoke, she was thankful.

Wise… Where was her brother? He was finishing up with the video shop when she had gone to bed. Had he been upstairs when the explosion happened? She silently prayed he wasn't, that he had been anywhere else.

Belle could hear sirens in the distance. Help would be there soon. They just had to hold out a little bit longer. Luck wasn't on their side, however when another support beam in the main room gave way, the force of it hitting the floor was enough to force open the staff room door. The beam was in the way, she couldn't close it.

Her lungs started to burn again as the toxic smoke made it's way into the room. Belle had to stay low, crawling across the floor to the wolf thiren. She realized he hadn't moved since he landed in that spot. She laid her head on his chest – he still had a pulse.

Belle heard another crash. She closed her eyes tightly. She had to stay calm. Someone would get there in time. They had to.

Belle almost didn't hear it. Someone shouting her name. "Belle! Wise! Are you in there?"

It was Enzo! "Enzo! I'm trapped in the staff room! Lycaon is hurt! I don't know where Wise is!" She shouted over the smoke and flames, her body paying her back with a coughing fit from the smoke. At first, Belle didn't know if he had heard her, those thoughts leaving her mind as she watched a large mechanical arm grab the burning support beam in the doorway, forcefully moving it out of the way.

Enzo stood in the doorway, lightly bent down to keep away from the worst of the smoke. "Can you move?" He asked Belle, looking past her to the wolf. "Yeah, but I can't get Lycaon out. He's too heavy for me." She replied, coughing again.

He gave her a gentle shove. "Go. I cleared the way. I got him." Enzo ordered, giving her another push when she hesitated. Belle had no choice, she had to trust him. She made her way for the front door, vision getting blurry as the adrenaline started to wear off. She managed to make it outside just as the first fire truck arrived, the team onboard quickly jumping off and grabbing all kinds of tools and hoses.

One of them ran and picked her up, carrying her away from the burning store and the danger it posed. He set her down in one of the chairs at the noodle shop, saying something about staying there and waiting for a paramedic. Belle didn't hear, her focus was on the store.

Everything they had built was burning down. Belle sucked in a ragged breath as the tears started. She didn't know where her brother was. Eous had been in there still. Not to mention Eighteen and the others. Belle tried to stand up when Enzo appeared in the doorway with an injured Lycaon half over his shoulder. Two of the fire fighters ran over and helped them away from the building.

Belle watched as they laid Lycaon flat on the ground, one of the paramedics who had just arrived quickly tending to him. She was shouting things at her partner who sprinted off to the ambulance to grab them. She watched them fit her friend with a mask for oxygen, watched as they used medical sheers to remove his clothing and look for wounds. She saw the curious glance between the two medics when they realized his wounds weren't just from the fire.

Belle didn't know what to do. Who does she even call? Can she call? Lycaon had been warning her that something was compromised. In the moment she thought he meant someone knew about them being Proxies, but given what came after she could only assume it meant he was compromised.

Belle took note of the fact that no one from Victoria Housekeeping arrived at the location. She recalled a time she had accidentally tripped him up on the staircase and his tumble down the stairs, with all the grace only Lycaon could have, was still enough for someone to call and ask if he was ok.

But tonight he had been severely injured and thrown through her shop's door. If a tumble would generate a phone call, surely this would end with someone being sent here. So the question became, why hadn't they?

Belle couldn't take her eyes away from the medics that were tending to the wolf. Even when Enzo laid a heavy hand on her shoulder. "He's going to be ok." He tried to comfort her. "You know the medics here at top notch."

Belle didn't have the energy to muster up a response, looking up to her neighbor almost blankly. He sighed seeing the look in her eyes. "I don't know." He said, more to himself than anything else. "Belle, what happened? Does this have anything to do with your side business?"

Belle shook her head. Not because she was trying to hide anything, but because she honestly didn't know. Belle looked up at the sound of a commotion, seeing Lycaon trying to push the two medics off him. Belle was about to call out to him when he suddenly shot up and took off running. Belle watched as he near sprinted right past her.

She froze. He was running on pure thiren instinct. He wasn't being rational Lycaon, his body just wanted him out of danger. "Go." Enzo said before she had a chance to ask. "Go find him. Get him somewhere safe. I'll take care of things here. I'll let you know if I hear anything. I promise."

"Thank you." Belle said, getting to her feet and heading off in the direction she had seen the wolf run. Belle thought he was going to be hard to find, only to realize he was leaving behind a trail of blood. She followed it for what felt like half an hour. It lead her to a small house on a nondescript side street. It looked like he had jumped through one of the side windows.

The lights were on inside and Belle could hear someone moving around. Belle couldn't reach the window from where she was. She scrambled to the rear of the house, picking up a large stone and using it to smash the glass on the door. She reached through to unlock it, ignoring the sting of the glass she had scraped herself on. Pushing the door open she entered the house, following the sounds of a struggle.

She came across the sight of Lycaon being held down by another wolf thiren. This one was a little shorter than the Attendant, but seemed strong enough to keep him at bay. He was trying to inject something into a struggling Lycaon. "Hey!" Belle shouted, drawing his attention briefly. The distraction being enough for a near feral Lycaon to sink his jaws into the other wolf's arm.

The syringe wielding wolf let out a howl of pain, cursing as he drew his first back and struck the fighting Lycaon on the nose. The blow was hard enough to get him to release the arm in a daze that lasted just long enough for the injection.

"Fuck, that hurt." Cursed the other wolf, looking at the bite mark on his arm. He grabbed up a bunch of nearby sterile gauze, placing it over his wound, gripping it with his free hand. He turned and locked eyes with Belle, an annoyed grimace on his face. "So do you just make it a habit of barging in to people's homes and distracting them while they're working?" He scolded, "I can't help him if he bites my arm off."

Belle blinked. Help? She honestly hadn't considered that. The night had been crazy enough as it was. For the first time, Belle realized that there was a bright orange bag on the ground next to them, the largest zipper pocket adorned with the universal symbol that made it a medical bag.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know." Belle apologized, looking at her hand when the wolf nodded at it.

"You get that breaking in here?" He asked, watching blood drip from Belle's hand onto the carpet. Belle nodded, watching as the wolf motioned to some of the supplies. "You know how to do basic stuff, right? Grab some of the gauze from there and the small bottle of disinfectant. I'd offer to help but I need to focus on Mr. Teeth over here."

Things were starting to make sense to Belle. In his injured state, Lycaon fled to the house of a friend who he trusted to help. Though, Belle wasn't sure if getting socked in the nose was all that helpful. She sat down next to the bag, handling the supplies as instructed. She took a moment to regard the other thiren. Definitely a wolf, but his fur coloring was odd. A mix of dark blues and blacks, highlighted with some paler blues and silver tones around his face and arms. She couldn't place his accent, but he couldn't have been from around here.

Belle nearly jumped as a new voice joined them, drawing her attention to the doorway that led to the hallway. "Oslo, why is there blood all over the carpe—" the voice dropped out as the owner turned the corner.

Ellen. Belle breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the shark. Ellen's eyes went wide, darting between Belle and the two wolf thirens.

"What happened?" She asked, running to the side of her Boss.

"I've got fresh bite marks and two broken windows is what happened." The medically inclined wolf, Oslo, replied with a bit of annoyance. Ellen wasn't interested, growling at him. "Oslo. What happened?"

The wolf sighed. "Hell if I know. So far I've got 3 stab wounds, 7 bullet wounds, burns, probably a fracture somewhere. He's a total mess." He answered, reaching into the bag for more items.

"Why wasn't I alerted?" Ellen whispered, glancing at her phone.

"Probably because he just got here." Oslo grumbled, his nimble fingers using something metal and sharp to dig at Lycaon's torso.

Ellen shot him a glare. "No, not you." She said, placing her phone to her ear. There was a brief pause before she spoke. "I need an update on an agent. Von Lycaon, location and vitals." Another pause. "You're sure?"

She ended the call, a confused look on her face. "Headquarters says they're showing him at home with no abnormal vitals." She whispered to herself, the realization that something had gone seriously wrong becoming apparent on her face.

"Ellen, I'm good and all, but he needs a legitimate medical facility. I can only do so much with an ALS bag." Oslo said, dropping something metallic into a container with a bit of a grimace.

"Do what you can." Ellen responded. Belle took note that the usual tired and uninterested demeanor of her friend was absent. She hadn't seen the shark this focused since the time someone tried to blow them up with rockets. "We can't take him anywhere until we know what's going on."

"He needs blood, Ellen. He's lost a fair bit."

"If I can get some and bring it here would you be able to set it up?" She asked, locking eyes with the wolf as he started to protest. Something about the look she was giving him caused the protest to die in his throat. "I can try." He sighed, turning his gaze to the sedated Lycaon. "You're in for a rough night my friend."

Belle's attention was drawn to the shark as she reached out and touched her shoulder. "Belle, are you ok?"

Belle wasn't used to this level of concern on the sharkgirl's features. It was unnerving. Belle nodded. "I think so. I just don't know what happened." The proxy answered, watching as Ellen turned off her phone and stripped it of the battery.

Belle was guided to a nearby couch, Ellen sitting across from her. "I need you to tell me everything you know." It didn't take long because she didn't know much but Belle recounted everything she could remember. When the story ended Belle was back in tears again, Ellen reaching over to offer a comforting squeeze on the arm. She was deep in thought, her gaze drifting to her Boss.

Ellen didn't let on, but she understood how serious the situation was. She had watched Lycaon down the biggest Ethereals with a single kick. She had never seem him this injured before. Whoever had done this was likely moments away from killing him if he hadn't sought shelter at the video store.

Ellen jumped when Lycaon let out a groan, the medication starting to wear off.

"Why does my nose hurt so bad." The question took forever for him to get out, clearly fighting through the drowsiness and pain. Oslo turned to face him, staying silent as he held up his bandaged arm.

"Ah."

"Yeah, you try that again and next time it won't just be your nose that hurts." Oslo warned, the threat landing gently when he placed a comforting hand on the wolf's shoulder. "Gave us quite a scare, Lycaon. You were knocking on the great gold doggy door."

Lycaon made a face at the moment, causing the medic dog to grin. Belle caught on, he was checking to see Lycaon's reaction to help gauge the level of injury. "You're not out of the woods yet. I don't know who you pissed off but they went to great lengths to try and kill you. I'm working on getting a hold of some blood for a transfusion. I need you to stay put and not move around in the meantime. It took quite a bit of work to get you to stop bleeding all over the carpet. Don't need you messing up my work."

Lycaon gave a slight, pained nod. Reaching his hand up which Oslo gripped. "Don't even think about thanking me. You'd do the same and with way more style, my friend."

Lycaon's eye scanned the room, landing on Belle and Ellen sitting on the couch. It was hard for her to tell, but it seemed like he was grinning a bit. "I am glad you made it out safely, Master Proxy. I am sorry to have brought such danger to your store."

Belle shook her head. Typical Lycaon, injured, bleeding, and still not able to drop the Butler persona.

Belle moved to his side, resting her hand on one of the few parts of him not covered in gauze. "Lycaon, you're my friend. When you need help you're allowed to show up there. I don't care about the danger. I care about getting you safe."

Belle could tell he was about to protest, but decided against it when he saw the tears at the corners of her eyes. He looked to Ellen next, a brief moment of silence between them that Belle knew contained more communication than any of them could fathom.

Ellen let a tiny grin tug at the side of her mouth, brushing her tail past Lycaon's hand as she moved past him. "Given the current state of things, I'm going to have to go in person to get what we need. It may take me an hour or so, Oslo."

The darker wolf nodded. "I'll work something out in the meantime. Just try to hurry back." He called over his shoulder, reaching into his bag and cursing under his breath. "Belle, right?" He asked, using her name for the first time. "Listen, I'm about to have to do something that you might find a little unpleasant to watch. It will also require me to stay here and not move around much. This house is safe. Feel free to make use of the kitchen and showers. It isn't much but there's a pullout bed in the corner over there that you can use to get some rest."

Belle was about to ask what he was going to do when sucked in a pained breath, reaching out to Lycaon's arm. "Little pinch." He warned, ignoring Lycaon's grunt. He fiddled with the tubing attached to the needle, blood flowing through it after a moment. Belle was confused for a moment before Oslo resting his free hand on Lycaon's shoulder again. "You're lucky I'm a universal donor."

Oslo nodded towards Belle. "If I could trouble you for a moment, when you head downstairs could you bring up two glasses of juice with you? Should have orange juice in the fridge. That'll be best. I always get a bit light headed doing this and Lycaon is going to need the sugar to help as well."

Belle nodded as she looked over at her injured companion again. It didn't take her long to find the requested items, bringing them back up to the wolves along with a glass of water for herself. She placed the first glass on the table near Lycaon's head, handing the second to Oslo who nodded in thanks. She took up a spot on the couch again, watching the two wolves. Her body grew heavy, the night catching up with her. A few moment's later, she was asleep.