"Can't stay down no more, we gotta' make it known. So get back up you're not alone. Then hit'em back leave them gripping to the floor; you never had a choice they're knocking at your door. Remember my friend it's time and this is war." -This is War, Matthew Raetzel
Early mornings were not something Oslo was a fan of; that fact becoming even more obvious as the wolf's jaws snapped shut from another yawn as he pulled the large case out of storage. Sitting on the couch, Lycaon watched the other canine move gear around the living room.
"Didn't get any sleep?" Belle asked, returning from kitchen with a cup of coffee which he greatly accepted. Oslo offered a lopsided grin in return, "Wolf thirens are nocturnal."
"We are not." Lycaon stated as a matter of fact, causing Oslo to roll his eyes. "Well us North American ones are anyway." The he answered, taking a sip of the life affirming hot liquid before tugging the heavy and large hard-shelled case up onto the table, snapping the latches open.
"Let me help," Lycaon offered, only to immediately sit back down as both Oslo and Belle glared in his direction. Sitting across from him Ellen grinned as she scrolled through her phone.
"What is all this for anyway?" Belle asked, looking at the various cases and bags.
"I'm heading out to the Outer Ring with Jane today. We're going to see what information we can dig up about your brother and Mockingbird." Oslo answered, checking through a few more things. He pulled another hard shell case from one of the bags, popping the latches open and pulling out a couple of ear pieces.
"I'm coming with you." Belle declared, causing Oslo to move between her and the gear bags. "Easy there. I need you to stay here and keep that one," he said, jabbing a claw at Lycaon "in check. We don't know what we're walking into out there. I need you to trust us."
"It is extremely dangerous out there, Lady Belle. You should stay here where it is safe and I will accompany him." Lycaon protested. Oslo rolled his eyes. "Neither of you are coming. I need you guys to stay here where it is safe and to monitor things. I can't operate freely if I'm having to watch over you two as well. I don't doubt you guys can fight, but you're still injured."
Lycaon was about to protest again before he saw the glint of evil in Oslo's eyes.
"Lycaon, do you remember when we were kids we found the collar?" He asked, tugging a chair over and sitting backwards in it. Lycaon nodded slowly. "It was a shock collar, wasn't it? Used to train the military dogs? Do you remember what we did with it?"
Lycaon nodded. "We dared each other to put it on and shock each other."
Oslo grinned. "You make one step towards that door and I'll tackle you to the ground, put a collar on you, padlock it and give the remote to Belle." Lycaon wasn't sure what he disliked more, the idea of being forced to wear a shock collar and being under the control of Belle or the fact that he couldn't tell if Oslo was joking or not. He grimaced a bit, deciding not to test it. "Point taken."
Oslo grinned, "Attaboy."
Hearing a car door slam outside, Oslo glanced out the window to see Jane had arrived, with two PubSec officers in tow. He recognized them as the Constable and Captain who had been at his house the previous day. Jane led the group into the house, Oslo offering a smile as a greeting.
"Did you get what I asked you for, Jane?"
"I'm going to pretend you didn't ask me that." She said, tugging a pack off her shoulder, dropping it on the table in front of the wolf. It landed heavily, causing everyone in the room to look at it then Oslo.
"What's in there?" Belle asked, looking over Oslo's shoulder as used a key to unlock the clasp, lifting the lid. The wolf pulled a decently sized rifle round from the box, inspecting it closely. Belle took note someone had spray painted the word "Bark" on the side of one of the canisters Oslo had pulled from the duffle bag, the other read "Bite". Belle glanced at Lycaon, the question obvious on her face as he chuckled and pointed to the larger case Oslo had been lugging around moments before, realizing for the first time the top of the case was painted the word "Fang".
It took a moment to register, but when it did her eyes lit up.
Lycaon couldn't help but chuckle a bit, "The box marked "Bark" is tranquilizer rounds, the one marked "Bite" is…" He let the sentence hang, Oslo picked it up. "And my Fang is my pride and joy."
"You named your rifle?" Jane scoffed, causing the wolf to grin. "Wait," Jane suddenly said, having made a mental connection. "If you name your gear, then why was one of the boxes in your storage labeled "Jane"? What's in that one?" She asked, giving him a curious glance.
"That box? Filled with stuff that nearly killed me." Oslo answered without missing a beat. Belle exchanged glances with Seth who shrugged and Lycaon who looked amused. Jane gave a light laugh. "Fitting." Was all she said, playfully swatting the wolf's ears as she walked past him.
"Figured you'd like that." He laughed, trying to duck out of the way. "So what does the itinerary look like?" He said, standing and facing Jane, Seth and Zhu Yuan. "We've got about an eight hour drive ahead of us." The Captain said, handing over a tablet. "It would've been an hour by plane but someone doesn't like flying." She said, glancing at Seth.
"That is a perfectly normal fear." He shot back, folding his arms.
"I've literally watched you fly thirty feet in the air during a fight." Zhu Yuan answered, hands on her hips. Seth scoffed and looked away, tail swishing behind him. "Anyway," She turned back to Oslo, "We've managed to secure a safe house while we're out there. Jane has a contact we'll link up with who will give us the layout."
Oslo nodded, picking up the case of communication devices, handing one to each of them. "These are encrypted and operate on a frequency most folks don't scan for. Their size and color blend in naturally so unless someone goes digging in your ear with tweezers they won't find it." He explained, sliding his own device into his ear. "They're pretty high tech. No need to touch your ear or anything like that. Just speak normally and we'll all hear you." He pointed towards another box on the table. "Grab a watch and a phone. I would leave your own personal devices here."
He reached for a remote, turning on the TV hanging on the wall. It displayed several readouts and a couple boxes with the words "syncing" flashing on them. He nodded towards Lycaon's feet. "There's a drawer in the table there, inside is a keyboard and mouse." He said, moving to stand next to the TV.
"The watches sync with the ear pieces. I'm not going to bore you with all the details, but the primary functions are mapping, data transmission and, most importantly, transmitting your vitals back here." He said, securing the watch to his wrist. As he did so one of the boxes changed from "syncing" to displaying various medical stats about him.
"This is why I insisted you, Belle, and Ellen stay here." He said, turning his focus to Lycaon. "I need someone to monitor the mission. Anything starts to go off the rails I'm going to be counting on you three to provide us with intel. You still remember how to use this system?"
Lycaon nodded. "Looks like a newer version but I would guess the functions are all the same." He said, Oslo nodding in affirmation.
"All data from the watches is encrypted and transmitted out to the team. It's a private network that nobody can break into. That said, if you worry someone is going to get their hands on your gear, five presses of the blue button on the side of the watch will fry the phone, wipe the data from the watch, and activate a distress channel. We'll hear everything going on if that happens."
Seth looked a bit bewildered, sliding the phone into a pocket. "You don't really expect to run into that much trouble out there, do you?"
"He does, as should you." Lycaon answered, everyone's eyes turning to him. He sighed heavily, "The enemy you face now is extremely cunning, cruel and without a moral code. If he has an opportunity to capture any of you, he will. If you can't be captured, dead is just as good to him." The white wolf rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I am sorry, everyone. This monster is of my own making. I should be out there helping to fix my mistake, but with my injuries I would only add to the danger."
"Should've let me kill him when I had the chance, Lycaon."
The statement was followed with a moment of silence as the two wolves stared each other down. Belle glanced between the two of them, feeling the tension growing. Lycaon opened his mouth to say something but end up just closing it and breaking eye contact, the look of shame crossing his features for a moment.
"I know that now."
Oslo sighed, moving to Lycaon's side and resting his hand on the other's shoulder. "For what it's worth, you did what anyone else would have done. I don't blame you." He said quietly, leaving abruptly. The silence that hung in the area was thick. After what felt like an eternity, Jane spoke up. "We've got a long drive ahead of us. Can you two load up the gear in the truck while I fetch the hound?"
Belle watched as Seth and Zhu Yuan each grabbed a set of gear from the table. She looked out the window to see Oslo already leaning against the side of the SUV, looking off into the distance. Seeing the others carrying boxes he took the two heaviest from each, helping load them into the vehicle as Jane rounded the corner.
Belle couldn't hear the conversation, but it ended with the four getting in the truck and driving away.
Belle turned her gaze to Lycaon who's eyes had been on the floor the whole time. She glanced at Ellen who shrugged her shoulders.
Belle took a seat next to the large wolf, resting a hand on he leg. "Lycaon?"
That seemed to pull him from his thoughts, he quickly did his best to mask his emotions, turning to her. "Yes, Belle?"
"Are you ok?"
There was a slight pause before he answered. "No, I am not."
Belle didn't press, instead she did her best to providing a comforting presence. If he didn't want to tell her right now then it could wait. They had other things to foc- "It's been so long since I had thought about that night." His voice derailed her train of thought. Still, she sat quietly. This story was to be told on his time, not hers.
"It was the incident that caused me to leave a life of dishonesty and vow to be a protector." He said quietly, "It was a number of years ago. I was still running schemes with someone I thought of as family. We had just managed to pull off our biggest job. The kind that earns you enough money to disappear and live out your days on a far away island. But the job was tainted from the start."
There was another pause, "What I didn't know, is that during the planning stages our mark had figured out what we were up to. As a result, he captured the one we now call Mockingbird. This wasn't the first time one of us got picked up during the planning stages of a job. The rule was if the mark or cops found out and managed to capture one of us, we were to buy as much time as we could for the other to get out of town. This tactic worked great with cops who can only hold you for so long without trial and small time bruisers who didn't want to invest a lot of time and money into going after a couple of low level thieves. But this time we had drifted into a territory we absolutely were not prepared for."
Belle watched as Lycaon subconsciously rubbed the side of one of his legs.
"Mockingbird had struck a deal. He'd turn me over to them and in return they would let him join their organization. We did the job, got the money, and as we were making our getaway I got grabbed. I woke up in a warehouse, chained to a chair and stripped of my clothes."
His fist clenched, only relaxing when Belle placed her hand on it.
"When the door opened I knew I had been betrayed." He paused, "That day I would lose my family, my legs and be blinded in one eye."
Belle couldn't stop the gasp from raising in her throat, covering her mouth with both hands. The story of Lycaon's legs was one he kept close and likely hadn't told many over the years.
He let out a breath before turning to face Belle. "Mockingbird was ordered to torture me and he did. He didn't hesitate, didn't question, he just acted. It was in that moment I finally understood who I had been calling a brother for so long. The injuries he inflicted on me would result in the prosthetics you see today."
"That's awful," Belle whispered. Lycaon expected her eyes to be filled with pity for him. But they weren't; he saw passion, rage, and concern. She didn't pity the wolf, she was angry with the ones who hurt him.
"After several hours his new bosses came back into the room to check out his work," Lycaon continued, shifting his gaze to the window before closing his eyes, letting the events play out in his head as if he was watching a movie rented from the store.
The warehouse was poorly lit, a couple of large lights in the corners the only thing keeping the darkness at bay. Lycaon coughed, his body no longer registering pain. He guessed he was going into shock by this point. The trauma inflicted on him causing his body to go into survival mode. He was beyond the point of thiren instinct taking over, his body would conserve blood flow for his vital organs and, left untreated, he would die here.
He was still conscious, so at least he had that going for him. So long as he could stay awake he could still try and figure out how to escape, or at least find somewhere to die with a bit of dignity.
The heavy metal door at the far end of the room opened, the bosses of whatever organization that had grabbed him entering to see their newest recruit's work. Lycaon allowed a bitter chuckle to escape him. There was something funny about all of this, he just couldn't figure out what.
He was aware of the voices around him, though at this point he didn't bother looking up.
His ear twitched when he heard what sounded like a puff of air followed by a thud. He looked up to see one of the men sprawled out on the floor, blood pooling under him. The sight causing a fresh dose of adrenaline to course through his veins. He couldn't move much but he could see the two other high ranking members were now taking cover behind some cargo containers, wildly looking around for signs of the attacker.
He watched as his friend ducked from cover, fleecing a weapon from the downed man before coming to a stop in front of Lycaon. For a moment he thought maybe this was a rescue, but that hope died when his friend wrenched the chair around, placing it and Lycaon, between himself and their hidden attacker.
"You coward." Lycaon hissed, his own eyes searching for any sign in the darkness.
He squinted slightly, his vision narrowing in on the faintest glow of what looked like a display screen. It was so faint the wolf realized he was the only one who could see it. He had no intention of warning the others.
"What the fuck happened?" One of them was shouting. Lycaon looked over to see him fighting with a phone, apparently unable to get an outbound call for help to work. They were dealing with a professional. Someone who took the time to find a spot they could sit and watch their prey, but who was also smart enough to make sure they couldn't call out for assistance.
Lycaon heard another puff of air and watched as the man with the phone crumpled to the ground, half his face gone. Lycaon grimaced as he was forced to shift his weight as the chair was moved again.
"Can you see him?" Mockingbird whispered in his ear. Lycaon let out a low growl in return. He had no intention of helping. The wolf was as good as dead by his hand, he would be dammed if he tried to save him now.
Another puff of air and the final boss was down, but not dead. Lycaon wasn't sure if the bullet had been caught by a vest or if it had been intentional since the first two shots were direct kills. But that didn't matter, the only ones left now was Lycaon, his former friend, and whoever had just laid waste to the three men scattered around them.
Lycaon realized the only reason Mockingbird was still alive was because he had been using him as a shield. Whoever was shooting didn't want to risk hitting someone who was a hostage. That didn't square up with the evidence behind him, though. Lycaon knew that any civilian police force didn't work like this. They usually worked in large numbers to overcome and arrest their targets; but he doubted whoever was shooting at them was an assassin either, since they wouldn't have thought twice about putting a round through Lycaon to finish their mission.
Lycaon was pulled from his thoughts by the chair being jostled again, this time as Mockingbird placed the injured wolf between himself and the lone man approaching from the darkest corner. Lycaon didn't have to squint to see this time as the figured stepped under one of the lights.
The man was as tall as Lycaon. He had a rifle slung on his back and a tactical vest with no insignia on it. Lycaon guessed it was used to help spread out the weight of his gear. He had a pistol in a two handed grip, the weapon pointed to Lycaon's right. As Lycaon's eyes came into focus he realized the other man was a wolf thiren, the fur pattern was unusual, and reminded him of a friend he knew as a kid.
"Move away from the hostage." He ordered. Lycaon felt the grip on his chair become tighter. "Let him go and you can leave. No questions asked; limited time offer."
Lycaon's eyes went wide as he finally recognized the voice.
"So that's it? Just let him go and you'll let me walk out of here?"
"That is the plan." The other wolf answered, tail swishing in annoyance behind him. Lycaon could see the subtle shift in his weight, the wolf tightening up his aim. "My patience is finite, however. So either use the gun or toss it and leave. I won't ask again." The tone didn't leave much room for negotiation.
There was a sudden rattle heard to Lycaon's left, the weapon of a recently expired crime boss dropping from his hand to the floor. It was enough of a distraction that drew the attention of the other wolf, Mockingbird taking the opportunity to raise the pistol in their direction. He managed to squeeze off a single round before the wolf's attention snapped to him, returning fire.
Lycaon heard the impact of the round striking the man behind him and out of the corner of his eye he could see him stumble, losing his grip on the weapon and in an effort to get it back the weapon fired. Lycaon hissed in pain, his chair being knocked over as Mockingbird made his escape. Lycaon heard the sharp report of gunfire as the wolf took aim at the fleeing man.
Lycaon coughed, his vision blurry now. "Os—" he tried to call out, his voice raspy. "Oslo! Don't!"
He heard a frustrated growl, followed by a hiss as the wolf skidded to a stop just within Lycaon's line of sight. "I'm here brother, I got you." He said, looking over Lycaon's injuries. Oslo cursed under his breath. "Terri! Need you in here now!" He shouted, pulling gear from the various pouches on his vest.
He pressed gauze to one of the wounds on Lycaon's leg, grabbing the wolf's hand and placing it over the gauze. "I need you to keep pressure on this." Oslo commanded, rubbing Lycaon's sternum when his eyes lost focus and his head began to swim. The new pain brought him back to reality.
"Oslo what the fuck-" A new voice called, this one female. Whoever it was had broken into a run at the sight of one wolf hunched over the other. He felt someone take over applying pressure to his leg, his eyes rolling into the back of his head as exhaustion claimed him.
Lycaon opened his eyes again, he was back on the couch in Oslo's living room with Ellen and Belle. Ellen had heard the story once before after she had been particularly difficult on a mission. He had shared it with her as a way to build trust.
Belle, however, had tears in the corner of her eyes as she looked at him.
"As fate would have it, Oslo had joined the military and after proving himself in a short period of time got recruited by one of the intelligence agencies. He and a partner had been deployed here to investigate the warehouse to determine if a terrorist organization was using it. He just so happened to have been there investigating when he saw me getting pulled from the van and into the building. I owe my life to pure chance and a wolf with a gun."
He was about to say more when a chime from his phone interrupted him. He glanced at the device, seeing a text message on the screen from a number he didn't know. "Sorry. -Oslo" It was short, something that happened when the wolf felt bad about something he did. Lycaon smiled at that.
"His bosses were furious." He chuckled. "He was only supposed to investigate and report, not "turn it into a shooting gallery" as he put it when he told me about his discipline hearing. He would've been fired if not for the fact that his father was on the review board. As another wolf thiren, he understood."
"Anyway, when I had called out to him he had lined up a shot that would've prevented all this. He didn't take it because I asked him not to. For some reason, in spite of everything that had happened. The thought of my friend being dead still gave me pause."
Lycaon gave a long pause, his eyes focused fully on the proxy.
"A mistake I do not intend to make twice."