Mirror Cycle

                            By:

                         Fox Cutter

    Chapter 16

05/21/99:

Five days had passed since Fox had gone after Cain, and I
was worried sick. literally. I had spent the night before
retching up what little in the way of food I had managed to
swallow down at dinner.

If I did what he told me to do in his note, I still had to
wait three more days before I could follow him. But it
seemed so long and I had become so worried about him that I
was almost ready to jump the gun.

Ravindar was starting to agree with me on that fact. Even if
he didn't say it, I could see it in his eyes. Since
protecting Fox was his job, he liked this even less then I
did, and seemed almost willing to join me if I left early.

It was starting to get late for me, and was nearly time to
go back to bed for another night of fleeting sleep. Instead
I just sat on the couch, staring at the empty fireplace, my
fingers playing over the trigger stud on my needler.
Occasionally I would slip it open, and re-arrange the
cartridges.

Santhara had taken her own seat on the far side of the room,
slightly curled up slightly with a book. She was giving half
her attention to it, the other half was watching me as I
stared into space.

I could catch her frequent glances, even though I wasn't
looking towards her. It was part of my training from the
Guild that hadn't left me just yet. For the moment I was
thankful for that.

Flipping the needler around in my paw, I shoved it into my
front pocket as I rose to my feet. Santhara did the same,
tucking her book in the side of the chair. Her tail flicked
a bit as she waited for me to do something.

I had opened my mouth to speak to her when my ears caught a
sound in the distance. Twisting them hard to see if I heard
anything else, I slowly turned my head around.

"Is something wrong?" My guard asked, taking a step closer,
one of her paws gravitating to the holster at her hip. She
glanced quickly to the baby monitor on the table, then back
at the hallway.

Slowly I turned the rest of my body, followed by a few short
steps into the hallway. "I swear I heard the door to the
fold room open," I said in explanation.

"I see," she responded from a few feet behind me. "I didn't
hear a thing."

"You don't know what it sounds like," I said, taking a short
step forward, removing my needler, and setting it to stun.
At the moment the firing stud felt very familiar under my
thumb. I was absolutely sure that Santhara had her gun out
behind me.

There was movement down at the end of the hallway. I could
see it in the twilight falling out from one of the rooms at
the end of its length. Taking a careful step to the side I
used my free paw to turn on the lights.

As the lights came up, I almost jumped. Hunched over at the
end of the hall, was Fox. Rhea was already at his side, and
he was almost hanging over her. I was at his side before I
quite realized it. His jacket was gone, and his left arm was
covered in blood. I could easily see why-- he had been shot.

"Fox," I said, reaching out to touch him.

He nodded, and grabbed my shoulder with his right hand, as
he lifted himself to his feet. "I have a friend who's hurt;
she needs to be taken to the hospital now." He was panting
as he said this, his eyes slightly wild.

I nodded, helping him to his feet. I was not surprised when
Ravindar came to his aid, holding his far side. Looking into
the fold room, I found no one else.

"Where is she?" I asked him.

He rolled his head around to look at me. I noticed a crack
across the left lens of his glasses, the frame had been bent
as well. "On the other side of the fold," he answered, and
then went limp in my arms. At the same moment the fold
sprang to life before us.

"Santhara, Ravindar, go find her now." I ordered, taking
most of Fox's weight onto my shoulders.

Neither of them questioned my orders, they both simply
rushed through the fold. A few moments later they returned
with a female human draped over Ravindar's shoulder. I
physically winced when I saw her, the whole of her right arm
from above her elbow had been blown off.

The fold fell to the ground behind them, all of Fox's weight
falling onto me as I held on to him. Santhara quickly came
over, taking some of the weight from me.

I adjusted myself a bit, and removed my controller from my
pocket. Punching in a few familiar numbers I opened a new
fold.

"Come on," I said, taking more of Fox's weight as we walked
through the fold. The light cleared as, we arrived in a
simple white room, just off the Emergency room of our
hospital.

A gurney arrived just seconds later, with two nurses helping
the human female from Ravindar's shoulder. I saw that what
was left of her arm had been cinched tight with Fox's belt,
but was still seeping blood.

Another pair of nurses arrived a few moments later, taking
Fox from my arms, and helping him onto his own gurney. Both
of them were whisked off into the Emergency Room.

I let out a long breath. It felt like I had been holding it
forever. Both Santhara and Ravindar had looks of concern on
their faces, and blood on their clothing.

"It's going to be a while. Maybe we should go back and get
some clean clothing," I suggested in a weak voice.

Santhara walked over to me, placing a paw on my shoulder.
"You don't have a drop of blood on you, Oriana. Go, be with
Fox. We'll get cleaned up, and get things back together at
the house. We'll be back soon."

I nodded. "Very well then. Go wake Kalie, and tell her to
keep an eye on the children. Come back as soon as you can."

They both nodded, Ravindar tapping at his portal controller
before they both vanished back to the house.

Slowly I walked into the waiting room of the ER. There were
only a few people about at this time of night. I approached
the wolf morph at the front desk. He glanced up at me, and
held out a folder. "Mrs. Cutter?"

I nodded, taking it from him, "When can I see my husband?" I
asked in a quite voice.

"He's currently in the examination room," he answered. "Once
that's finished we'll have an idea how long it will be." He
held out a pen for me as well.

Taking it from him, I gave him a short nod. "I want to be
with him the moment I can be, understand?"

"Yes Ma'am. I'll call you as soon as you can join him."

I nodded, turning away to fill out the paper work I knew was
waiting for me inside the folder.

"Ma'am?" the wolf asked.

I paused, turning back around to look at him. "Yes?"

"Do you know anything about the human female that was
brought in with your husband?" he asked, leaning forward
over his computer terminal.

"Not a thing. She's a friend of his, apparently," I
answered, as honestly as I could.

He nodded, touching a button on his screen. "Very well then.
She's already being treated for her injuries. If you
wouldn't mind filling out what you do know about her?" He
asked the question as he handed me another folder.

I took it from him without saying much of anything, and
walked away. This time I wasn't called back for anything
else.

Trying to find a comfortable position in the hard plastic
chair, I opened Fox's folder. Luckily most of his
information was already in the Hospitals' system, and was
printed out on the forms. I just had to fill in a few items,
and confirm everything was still correct.

I spent all of five minutes filling it out before signing
it. Nothing there left to add. In the meantime, Santhara and
Ravindar had returned, each taking a seat flanking my own.

The next folder belonged to the mystery lady. It had all the
Hospital knew about her printed up on the form; which
amounted to her body type being human. There wasn't much I
could add to that, so I jotted down a note that we would
handle her bills until we knew more, and signed it as well.

After taking both folders to the front desk, I returned to
my seat to wait. Ten minutes passed before a nurse came for
me... ten minutes that seemed to take a lifetime. I was
escorted to an examination room, but they didn't allow they
others to come along.

Fox was sitting on the examination table, looking a bit
pale. He had his glasses off and resting in his lap. His
shirt had been removed, and his arm was tightly bandaged and
resting in a sling tied around his shoulder.

"Are you O.K.?" I asked him, lifting myself to sit next to
him.

He nodded. "Ya, I'm all right, the bullet went straight
through my arm. No major damage, thankfully."

"That's good to know," I said, moving my paw to rest against
the center of his back.

He let out a long sigh, bending over slightly, his eyes half
closed. He wasn't relaxing. If anything, he was becoming
even more tense.

I started to stroke my paw down the length of his spine, the
same way I did when the children started to get a bit huffy.
It seemed to work on him as well, his back at least started
to relax a bit.

"Care to tell me who your new friend is, seeing as we're
paying for her stay?"

A small smile played over his face as he lifted his head to
look at me. His clear eyes caught the light in just the
right way that for a moment they seemed to glow. "Her name
is Samantha. Without her help, I suspect I never would have
got to Cain."

I nodded, stroking down his spine once more, slower this
time. He managed to let out a soft purr, almost it seemed in
spite of himself.

"She's currently being treated from what I've been told."

He sighed softly, turning his head to look back down at his
hands again. "Hope they can get her in a re-gen tank before
it's too late."

"I'm sure they will," I answered, working my paw against the
back of his neck, rubbing the muscles there gently. I could
feel them loosening under my fingers.

"Cain's dead," he said after a few moments.

I nodded, motioning for him to turn around on the table so I
could work his back with both paws.

He didn't turn, instead he just shook his head slightly. "I
didn't kill him." He spoke the words almost like a
confession, as if he was asking my forgiveness.

"Would you like to tell me about it?" I asked him, running a
finger along his neck where the band from the sling dug into
his skin.

He paused for a moment, and then turned his head to look at
me. Our eyes connected for a few seconds, my green eyes
focusing into his crystal clear eyes. My pupils slitted, his
round-- my eyes feline, his human. There was a moment there
when it seemed we connected as I reached out to touch the
side of his cheek.

That lasted for a few short seconds before we both heard
footsteps approaching. With his good hand, Fox pulled my paw
away. Lacing his fingers about mine, he resting them
together in his lap.

A moment later a doctor pulled aside the curtain and stepped
into the room. He was a deer morph, and was dressed in the
familiar blue clothing I always associated with the medical
profession on Prid.

He introduced himself as Doctor Baker, then he and Fox spoke
for a few moments, mostly about how to deal with his arm in
the couple of weeks it would take to heal. After a few
questions, Fox asked something that caught my attention.

"How's Samantha?"

"Is that the lady who came in with you?" The doctor asked,
flicking an ear.

"Yes, her name is Samantha St. Claire. How is she doing?"

The doctor pulled out a PADD from one of his pockets, and
punched a few buttons. "She is stable," he answered, "but
still at risk. She lost a significant amount of blood, if
you had gotten her to us any later, we wouldn't have been
able to do anything at all. She's currently having proto
blood cycled though her system until her body produces
enough of her own to keep her alive. A re-gen tank is being
prepped for her. She'll be put inside in a couple days. It
will take ten weeks for her arm to be regrown."

Fox gave a slow nod as he took all of this in, a small frown
playing over his face. "All right, give her the best care
you can. We'll be paying for it. I would also like a sample
of her hair if I can, enough to track her home Universe and
Verse."

Dr. Baker nodded, pressing a few more buttons. "The billing
is now on your account, but I'm afraid we can't give you the
hair sample. Privacy issues."

"Right, right," Fox answered, shaking his head slightly. "Is
she going to wake up before going in the tank, or is she
going to stay out cold till she has her new arm?"

"We don't expect her to regain consciousness that soon.
She'll be fully recovered once she leaves the re-gen tank,
but will need physical therapy for her new arm."

Fox nodded, "That's understandable. Thanks, Doctor. Unless
there's anything else, I think I want to go home."

"Just the pills you need to speed up your healing. I've
already sent the prescription in, they should be delivered
to your home in two to three hours."

"Right," he responded, sliding off the table and onto the
floor. He held his good hand out to me. "Come on, we should
go."

"You might want to think about a new shirt," I commented,
taking his hand in my paw.

Dr. Baker walked over to one of the cabinets in the room,
and pulled out a shirt in plastic wrap. "Here you are," he
said, handing it to me.

I smiled, snagging my claw on one corner of the plastic, and
ripping it open. Removing the white shirt from the bag, I
helped Fox get it on, getting his good arm though a sleeve,
and buttoning it down the front for him.

Once that was finished, we walked out of the examination
room, and into the waiting room, picking up the pair of
tigers on the way through. They both fell in a few steps
behind us, once to each side, covering their respective
charges.

On returning to the house, I left Fox in the bedroom, and
made a quick check on the kids to make sure they were al
right. Adric was a little fussy, but he settled down with a
few minutes of being held.

Once they were all asleep, I took the baby monitor for
Kalie, and joined Fox in the bedroom. He wasn't there, but
there was a trail of clothing leading into the bathroom. I
followed quickly, glancing into the room.

He had the bathtub half filled, and was looked like he was
trying very hard to relax, but with his arm in the sling,
and dried blood speckled all over as he fiddled with his
glasses, it was clear he was failing.

"May I join you?" I asked, stepping inside of the room.

Not looking up, he smiled just a bit. "Please, my love, I
would enjoy you close to me at the moment."

A smile rolled over my face, my ears perking up as I pulled
my own clothing off, throwing it into a pile on the floor
before shutting the door with my foot. I took a quick glance
at his arm as I slipped down into the still filling tub. "Is
it safe to get that wet?"

"I'm suppose to soak it for at least an hour, to allow the
dura-skin to bond tightly to my own." he answered, setting
his glasses to the side as I moved to sit next to him,
leaning on his good arm. The bruise on his shoulder had
nearly faded. The only colors left were soft blues, and a
few purples under the skin.

He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close. In
returned, I threaded my arm behind his back and pulled him
just as close to myself, and started to nuzzle his cheek.

Fox nuzzled back, a soft purr escaping from his lips as the
water level rose around us until it came up to our
shoulders. Reaching back I undid his pigtail, letting the
hair fall back into the water. I took his earring off as
well, as he had forgotten to remove it.

He sighed, and leaned up against me as I shut off the water.
"I suppose you want to know what happened?" he asked.

I smiled. "It had crossed my mind love, but I didn't want to
press you into telling me about it."

A short smile played over his lips, and he leaned over me.
"Thanks love, but I do want to get this off my chest," he
murmured and then gave me a quick kiss.

I returned the kiss for as long as I could before he pulled
away. "Then start with who Samantha is?" I suggested.

He smiled and nodded. Then he proceeded to tell me how he
had met her on the other side of the Fold, and learned that
she was after Cain as well, and was also from another Earth.

I raised an eyebrow when he told me that he had spent the
night in her hotel room. I knew he didn't sleep with her or
anything, he was too honest for that, and I trusted him
enough not to suspect it.

Still I gave him a kiss when he told me he hadn't done
anything that night but stay up all night watching TV and
learning the local language.

He kissed me back for a few a seconds, pulling away far
sooner than I wished. "That afternoon," he continued, "we
started hitting the bars, trying to find out about Cain.
Mostly I let Samantha lead, with her (at times brutal) form
of questioning."

"It took several days, but we learned a few things. The base
I shut down was Cain's main base, and home. I gather he was
rather pissed that I took it from him. Second, the local
base was some sort of safe house. The scuttlebutt was that
he had started some major construction there, building a new
home."

He smiled a bit. "And of course, we found out where the base
was. It was under an old warehouse in a business district a
few miles from where the fold was. We managed to get in the
day before." He smiled wider, "Don't ask how we managed it.
Just leave it that it involved three guards, a piece of gum,
a laundry cart and five sticks of dynamite."

I let out a soft laugh, quickly smothering it with my paws.
Fox chuckled in return. "Don't worry, it was far sillier
than it sounds, and the dynamite was actually only... you
know, just in case."

"Needless to say, we did manage to get inside, and that's
where things started to get interesting again."

   To Be Continued...

-----

This story is copyright 2001 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.