A Fox in the Works It's Not My Time to Go By Fox Cutter 1: Alpha 5/19/2000: I rubbed the back of my head as I read over another book about what exactly a Natural could do. I had read over some of them when I had first discovered my powers, but I didn't really pay that much attention to them. I was fifteen at the time and wasn't interested in what I couldn't do, just what I could. Most of the rest I had learned from my friends and companions. It was just luck that I had never used my power to the extent needed to drain my reserves. I guess I was just naturally conservative about such things where Samantha was a bit more... enthusiastic. She had told me that early on she had run out of power after spending a day running through folds. I had never done anything quite like that myself. So, it was right there in the books, in the parts that I had skipped in the past. The logical thing to do was to read over everything to make sure I wasn't missing anything else. There wasn't anything major that jumped out at me, but I did learn that my flashbacks were far more intense than they should have been. It shouldn't have been like I was in the world myself, but more like a dream. I suspect that came from my level of control. I was curled up on the couch with Rhea at my feet. My book was settled down in my lap as I flipped through the pages. I dropped one hand down to tease over the back of the lioness neck and she responded by sniffing a bit and pulling away. I guess she wasn't in the mood to be petted. I was still planning to get Oriana on all fours, but it would have to wait until we were done with this fold and wherever it led. I hoped it would take us to Ms. Orange and Mr. Pink, so we could end it. "Fox," Samantha said as she walked into the living room. Lifting my head I looked up at her. "Samantha, have you ever had a flashback?" I asked her, snapping the book closed in my lap. A puzzled look crossed over her face as she came to a stop. My hope was that she wanted to talk to me about what I had seen when we were linked. I knew I wanted to talk to her about it, but she still wanted to hide it. Talking about it to her was all about telling me that it wasn't important enough to talk about. I wanted to learn exactly what had happened, so I felt that putting her on an off footing would help. "A few, but they aren't very fun," she said, sounding a bit confused. "I get them every now and then myself, though sometimes they have been hijacked," I said, thinking back to the time when Ruhk had decided to talk to me during one of mine. Samantha finally continued on her way and sat down on the couch next to me. Rhea moved slightly to give her some leg room but didn't seem interested in anything else. "How can a flashback be hijacked?" I shrugged a bit, "By an evil god," I said offhand. She pulled back, her cloth tail flicking slightly at this. "Are you serious?" "I am." The woman shook her head and sighed. "You have a higher class of enemies than I ever had." "Was it one of your enemies that gave you your tail?" I asked, reaching out to touch the cloth. "I wish. It was my choice at the time," she said, then frowned as she pulled away from me. "Damn it!" Grabbing her tail with just a bit more strength I motioned for her to sit down. "I think it's time you told me what was going on. After what I saw when we were linked I want to know." She rolled her eyes but stayed on the couch. "What makes you think you are even entitled to know?" I frowned at that. It was a good question for her to ask; hell it was even the right question. I had no right to know about this part of her past and how she had become wired to have a tail. I just wanted to know, and from what I had seen when we were linked it was more than just her tail. "Because I've been transformed in the past, and I know what it's like to deal with the after effects of such a change. I don't think anyone you know could say the same thing, not even Mallory. I feel like I should know because I've been there, and I can help you if you need help," I said, trying to keep the words alive, but they fell flat as I spoke them. She sighed and shook her head. "I'm not going to tell you that, Fox." I placed a hand on her shoulder, expecting her to pull away, but she didn't. "I wish you would. I'm your friend; I want to help you and I think you might need help in this case, simply because no one else can help," I said. Samantha glared at me and shook her head. "I don't need your help." Shaking my head I sighed and pulled my hand away from her. "Maybe not, but I'm still offering it. How much of a change was it? Was it just a tail or were you completely changed?" She looked at me for another moment then turned her head away. "I'm not going to tell you," she said. I watched her for a few moment moments before letting out a sigh. "At least you had a choice in the matter. That's more than I had." I stood up and stepped over Rhea, heading in the general direction of the kitchen. <> the lioness said as she climbed up to her feet and started after me. I glanced over my shoulder as we left the room. Samantha was still sitting on the couch, her head hanging down slightly and her tail folded over her lap. I stepped out of the doorway and pressed my back against the wall, hoping to hear something. Rhea looked up at me, but didn't say anything at all. She just tucked herself next to me against the wall and sat on her haunches. She turned her head up and perked up her ears. <> My only answer was a quick shake of my head. The lioness flicked her ears back and nodded as well. <> I nodded. I wanted to reply, but didn't want to speak for fear of Samantha hearing me. I really thought that she would not tell me. It was a secret she had been keeping for some time now, and I doubted our little trip together would make any difference. I still worried about how it had happened to her, even if it was her choice. Something must have either gone wrong, or the spell wasn't removed correctly. Maybe it wasn't my place to know, but I felt she should tell someone. Maybe I could slip her the information for Dr. Starker, not that I had that right. It had to have been magic, and Ken understood that and might even be able to make the tail real if she wanted it to be. Rhea, Ravindar and I walked back through the house, heading towards my office. I didn't have anything I wanted to do in there. I was just killing time. I was hoping that Samantha would call me back with a change of heart, but it wasn't her voice that called my name. "Fox," Oriana said, coming up to us. I looked back at my wife and smiled. "What is it?" "You look disappointed," she said. "A little. I was hoping Samantha would talk to me. I'm trying to get some information from her." Oria nodded, her tail flicking back slightly. "You're not going to get it. Come on, Natasha is waiting in the kitchen. We have to get going." "I suppose so," I said and turned around, walking back towards the living room. Samantha met us on the way, coming out of the kitchen. "Mallory came in a few minutes ago. He's waiting in your room," my wife said. The human perked up as a smile crossed over her face. "Thank you," she said, and then moved past us, the tip of her tail flicking in excitement. My wife smiled a bit and ran a paw through her hair. "She is in love." I chuckled. "I believe she is, and it's very strong." As I spoke I reached around and pulled my wife to my side. We pressed up closely for a moment and shared a deep kiss, our tongues teasing against each other as our bodyguards looked away. Oriana was the one that pulled away after a few moments. She placed her paws on my chest and stroked her thumbs over my shirt. "I would love to tease you more, but we have things to do." <> Rhea said. My wife looked down at my sometimes sister. "And why are you going?" <> she said with some force and a small head butt against Oria's legs. She glared down at the lioness and growled. "I'm not going to walk away from this," she said. I sighed and shook my head. "You two work it out. I want one of you along with me, and both of you are lethal in your own way. Just don't get into a shouting match, okay?" They both looked at me in annoyance and shook their respective heads. I just smiled at them both and turned around, heading back to the kitchen. Natasha was sitting at the kitchen table and looking uncomfortable about being there. The moment she saw me she stood up and rolled her shoulders a bit. "Fox, are you ready?" I shook my head and settled down at the table. "My wives are still arguing about which one is going to come with me. It won't take that much longer to decide. Once it's been done I'll pick up my gun and we can find out where this fold leads." She sighed and shook her head. "I wish your personal life didn't intrude on this situation. It seems to come up often judging by your files." I shrugged my shoulders. "It's something that happens. I can't really do anything about it." "I still suggest that you try," she said, sitting down herself and crossing her legs. I relaxed back in my chair, not really having anything to say as we waited for Oriana or Rhea to show up to help. In the end I wasn't all that surprised to see my wife walk into the kitchen. She came up to me and placed my gun on the table, along with a spare clip. "You'll need these," she said. "Thank you," I said, standing up and kissing her on the cheek. She returned the kiss and teased a hand down my back to squeeze my rear. "Are you ready to go?" "I'm not going with you this time, Rhea is," she said. I was surprised by this, and I guess she could see it on my face. "Rhea made a good point. If both of us get hurt there is no one to take care of the children. So it makes sense that one of us should stay behind." It was a perfectly reasonable thing to say, and attitude to take, but it still surprised me. "Are you sure?" "No, but Rhea can watch your back as well as I can. People have a tendency to underestimate her. Just don't get hurt," she said, placing her paws on my shoulders and smiling at me. I returned her smile. "I'll try." I leaned in and kissed her full on the lips, my arm slipping down to hold her again. She kissed back for a few moments before we broke the kiss and hugged tighter. She pressed her muzzle against the side of my head and I leaned forward to whisper into her ear. "I want some fun tonight." She burst into a fit of giggles and pushed me away. "You're a very silly man," she declared. "Of course. Why else did you marry me?" I teased. Oriana just shook her head and turned away, her tail swinging in a low arch over her legs in a way that was solely meant to tease me. "Hurry back," she said over her shoulder then slipped out of the room. "God, I love that woman," I said with a soft growl as she vanished around a corner. Natasha shook her head and tisked her tongue slightly. I ran my hands over my head then picked up my gun, taking a moment to feed my belt though the holster and slip it into position. "Samantha, Mallory, Rhea. I think it's time we did our jobs," I called out. Samantha and Mallory came down the hallway, a knowing smile on each of their faces. She had composed herself a bit more after our conversation and her tail was flicking in anticipation. A moment later Rhea came down the hall herself, walking on all fours and with her collar held in her teeth. I bent down and took the collar from her, wrapping it around her neck. She laid her ears back at this, finding it rightfully distasteful. Judging from the look on Natasha's face she wasn't keen on it herself. "This is Rhea?" "Yes it is," I replied. She bent down to look at the lioness, a look of curiosity on her face. "Why is she wearing the collar?" <> Rhea replied with an annoyed tone. "But you're clearly not." I shrugged. "The lack of thumbs seems to be an issue. I've been working on the problem but no one seems willing to take reasonability for fixing it. Like all bureaucracies, it's easier just to pass the buck." Natasha nodded and stood up. "I see. Well, I'm sure that a solution can be found. She is clearly sentient, and as should be treated as such." Mallory chuckled at this but did not say anything. I smiled at the group and nodded my head. "Let's get going," I told them. Then the group of us started down towards the fold room. I keyed in the code and the six of us all walked inside. Samantha and I walked up to the fold. I could feel it pull at me, almost eager. "Do you think this fold will go anywhere?" I asked her. She shrugged her shoulders. "I hope so. I would be pissed if we went through all of this for just a dead end." I nodded my head and then reached out with my power, grabbing the fold and forcing it open. It flared to life in front of us, the light of it swirling around the center point. Samantha went first, followed by Mallory and Rhea. I followed right after with Ravindar on my heels, and Natasha took up the rear. We all had our guns out and ready to use; we didn't want to take any chances. The fold connected to a rather plain-looking living room of a plain-looking house. I looked around a bit as I closed the fold, not sure where we were. <> Rhea said from her spot near the window. I nodded and looked around the room. Everything was nice and tidy. A blanket was kicked under one table and I could see plate a of something on the table itself. "Hello?" I called out. Natasha walked over to the plate and gave it a closer took. "We need to search this place, and fast," Samantha said, then started down the hallway towards the back of the house. Mallory walked to the front door, finding it unlocked. He pulled it open and stepped outside, moving quickly around the edge of the house. Rhea followed him but circled the house in the opposite direction. I started into the kitchen with Natasha following a short distance behind me. There wasn't anyone around, or any sign that someone had been close by. There was a coffee pot in the sink, but it was empty. There were three doors in the kitchen. One led outside, while the other two had less obvious destinations. I took one door and Natasha took the other. I only found a pantry that was more empty than stocked. A few cans of soup and some prepackage meals, but nothing of any note. I looked back to see what Natasha had found, but she had vanished behind the other door. I glanced up at my bodyguard then shrugged a bit. I didn't want her getting hurt, so it would be for the best for me to see where she had gone. Looking through the doorway I found a set of stairs leading down to a basement. "Natasha?" I called out. She peeked back up the stairway and waved her hand a bit. "I'll look around down here. There are only a couple of rooms." I frowned a bit and sighed. "Not by yourself," I said, but was brought up short by the sound of gunfire echoing through the house. I pulled back from the door, my gun held tightly in my hand as I ran out of the kitchen and looked around the house. I saw Samantha standing at the end of the hall next to a closed door. She had ducked down slightly with her hand over her head. A moment later she unloaded a few rounds into the door in front of her. Running down the hallway I slid to a stop close to her, keeping my head down. "What's going on?" I asked. She glanced at me, her tail flicking in annoyance. "Two men--they were hiding in the master bathroom and opened fired the moment I came in." I nodded and glanced up at Ravindar. He looked back at me and nodded his head. Leaning back he kicked at the damaged door, sending it swinging back into the room. I could see the two men, ducking down behind the bed. Both were human and one was holding a gun over the top of the bed. He fired off a few wild shots that didn't come near us. Samantha and I both returned fire. She went high, trying to hit any part of them that peeked over the top of the bed, I shot at the bed, hoping a few rounds would hit our attackers through the padding and springs. "I'm with the CSC. If you stop now you'll be under arrest," I called out. It was lame, but I wanted to at least try to give them a chance to surrender. One of the men glanced up and fired at us again. This time the bullets pegged into the wall over our head, sending drywall dust down over the three of us. Samantha let out a small growl, threw herself onto her belly and began to slowly crawl around the bed. I started covering her, shooting a few rounds over the top of the bed, hoping to distract them so they couldn't see my friend. Ravindar was doing the same. We fell into a steady rhythm, I would fire a few rounds, and then he would shoot his. By the time I had to swap clips Samantha was nearing the corner of the bed. She was just starting to edge around it to fire at the two men when the wall behind them started to glow, then burst into flames. The heat rushed over the room forcing all of us to duck as the wall collapsed down into ash. Mallory was standing on the other side with a look of anger on his face. The two men looked up at the new doorway. With them distracted for the moment, I lunged forward over the bed, tackling one of the men. At the same time Samantha lunged forward and forced the other man down to the floor. The man under me started to struggle so I spun my gun around in my hand and smacked the butt of my gun against the side of his temple. He let out a pained gasp, his eyes rolling back in his head as he went slack jawed for a moment. "You're under arrest," I snapped and pulled the gun from his hand, throwing it to Ravindar. He caught it, pulled out the clip, and cleared the round from the chamber. Samantha followed the same course, but used her telekinetic power to pull the weapon free. I looked down at the man then back to Ravindar. "I don't suppose you have a way to bind these guys?" I asked. He rolled his eyes and pulled out a few large zip ties. I took one from him and forced the man onto his back. I gathered his hands together and closed the zip tie around them. A second zip tie went between his hands, separating the first tie into two cuffs and preventing him from pulling free. Once my guy was firmly bound I turned to Samantha. She had her man done up so tightly that his wrists were turning pink where the plastic cut into them. "You might want to loosen those up just a bit, we don't want him to lose his hands," I said. She gave me a look and shook her head. Standing up I stepped over the man I had taken down and looked up at Mallory, then at the hole he had blasted in the wall. "How the hell did you do that?" I asked. He raised one of his three fingered hands and flexed them, showing off the gems that were on each digit. "It is a contained plasma burst with a neutralizing force field. It burns as long as I wish it to," he said. I snickered softly. "What a wonderful toy." "I still want one," Samantha said, searching through the man's pockets. Natasha ran down the hallway, looking into the room and through the hole into the backyard. Rhea was now sitting behind Mallory with a look of amusement on her face. "Fox, you had better come with me," the gray-skinned woman said, then turned and ran back down the hallway. I looked back at my friends and then followed after Natasha. She ran through the house, the kitchen, then down the stairs at full speed. I rushed after her, holding tightly onto the railing as I tried to both keep up with her and not to fall on my face. She vas jumping three steps at a time, not even bothering with the railing, . At the bottom of the stairs she turned to the left and went through an open door, stopping on the other side. I followed after her, coming to a stop and looking around the room. It was a simple room with plain walls and a cement floor. At the center was a table that had someone strapped to it. There was a sheet over the top of it with stains of blood on the fabric, some fresh but most of it dry. The face of the person was uncovered, and in the darkness it took me a moment to recognize the face. "Jadith," I said under my breath, rushing over to her side. I touched the side of her neck, feeling a faint pulse and the soft sound of her breathing. Her face didn't look that bad, other than the lines of blood from her eyes that showed she had been using her healing powers. Lifting the sheet up, I frowned when I saw that the rest of her wasn't in as good as shape. I looked back at Natasha. "Get help, now." "Already on the way," she replied. "Good," I said, looking past her to see Ravindar in the doorway, looking rather concerned. I turned back to look at Jadith, reaching under the sheet to hold onto her hand. She shifted a bit, squeezing slightly but not opening her eyes. I couldn't tell if she was awake or not, but I was glad that she was alive. ----- This story (AFiW #512A) is copyright 2008 by Fox Cutter. Hardcopy reprints limited to one per person, all other rights reserved. This story may not be distributed for a fee except by permission of the author, and this copyright notice may not be removed.