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The teenagers lay cuddling on Ricky's bed. The mess from their earlier lovemaking starting to soak into his sheets and dry into a tacky mess on Jon's body. The Naga had wrapped the Human in a veritable cocoon of his coils. The human was extremely relaxed therein. He felt no fear of the Naga. The love that was beginning to form between the two was palpable in the air. It wasn't just lust. Theirs was more than that. Their years-old friendship coming to the surface after years of bullying and overcompensation.

They kissed long and hard. The Naga making sure to keep his fangs sheathed as he gave the Human an interesting kiss. Much like a human French kiss, but because of the size of the Naga's maw, it was more like the Naga was mouthing his face than giving him a true kiss. Truly, though, for the human, it was a dream come true.

It was during this intimate moment that there was a loud crash and the sound of breaking glass from the main room of the apartment. The Naga jerked and almost unsheathed his fangs upon the human's cheek. As he left the kiss, he raised himself and whispered to his human lover, “Stay here."

The human nodded. In his entire teenaged life, the Naga had never seen Jon look so vulnerable as in that moment. He smiled sweetly and the human, “I'll be right back. I'm going to go check this out. It wouldn't have been the first time that some speciesist prick hurled a rock through our window."

The Naga slithered off his large, round bed and onto the plush carpet. His coils made the barest hints of sound on the soft surface. As he snuck toward the entrance to his room he grabbed a cricket bat that he had gotten from his father when he'd traveled to India. He brought it up in an in-no-kamae style stance as he slithered slowly into the main room. The Naga nervously gripped and regripped the bat as he slithered down the hall. “That thing won't do you much good against me, Hoser."

The young Naga almost jumped out of his skin, which wouldn't do. He wasn't due for another molting for like another week or so. He turned around slowly and was greeted by the craziest of sights. A red fox anthro about five foot five was holding a sword almost three feet in length and curved in the style of a katana. He was in a ninja gi that was black as night and his snout was covered in a mask with a skeletal jaw of a fox imprinted in the fabric. His acid green eyes gleamed in the light of the overhead incandescents. His red fur shone dully. It was as though the fox didn't quite eat enough and yet still managed to look uncomfortably strong inside that gi.

Ricky's eyes widened in fright before narrowing in determination. Whatever this was, he wasn't going to back down. His rattler started up a staccato rhythm as he coiled into a defensive stance. His hood flared and he opened his mouth wide as he could. Showing off his fangs. He hissed like his feral cousins and he rose his cricket bat into a combative stance and then waited for the fox to hopefully take the bait. He may have only had a cricket bat, but it was of the highest quality materials and meant for a heavy hitter. It wouldn't survive a direct strike from the katana, but he could use it to cause some damage. But he was hoping that the fox would jump the gun and attack him head on.

The fox was a clever sort, though. “What, you think you getting all defensive is going to make me attack? When I can just do this instead." The fox sheathed the sword and in a flash he took out a tranq gun and fired off a dart.

The Naga—caught off guard by the attack—didn't even get the chance to flinch as he was hit by the dart dead in the back of his mouth. He hacked once. Then again before he collapsed, losing his grip on the bat as he fell to the floor, unconscious.

The fox raised a hand to his ear and his wrist to his mouth, “I'm gonna need some help with this one, sensei. He's at least four hundred pounds. And thirty feet lo—“

The fox looked up surprised as the door to the Naga's room opened. Out of it stepped a human male about the same age as the Naga he'd just subdued. The man was stark naked and covered in a dried white substance. The human was built like he played football and he played with passion. His hair was blonde. The color of wheat right before harvest and his skin was alabaster white—as if untouched by the rays of the sun. His eyes were a golden brown. Jon stood in shock at what he was seeing almost dropping the object he held in his hand. It was a gift from his father when he turned eighteen. It was a pistol. A .44 Magnum revolver like from the Eastwood films. He held it out his whole body shaking. He was staring at such a bizarre scene. His lover collapsed on the floor rather unbecomingly so and a fox in a ninja costume with a huge sword sheathed on his back and what looked like a tranquilizer gun in his hand.

The human raised the gun, holding it like his father taught him, both hands squeezing the pistol grip, his right index finger on the trigger as he aimed down the barrel, “I'll shoot, you bastard. Don't try me."

The Fox stood straight up, “I'd love to play with you, pup, but I have more important things to attend to."

Jon let out a shot right as the Fox threw a smoke pellet at the floor. As the hall filled with the noxious powder, the fox disappeared in the gloom. He grabbed the Naga bodily, trying his best to lift the giant snake. Then he ran past the human and back into the main room. He went out the window he broke and left the apartment complex, gripping his side. The damn human had gotten the better of him. He was surprised he was still standing.

Back at the apartment Jon was on his knees. The loss of his father and the loss of his new boyfriend was just too much. He cried. Bawling his eyes out, as he moaned his sadness out to the world. His body wracked with tremors from his uncontrollable grief, he cried openly. Not even caring who heard him.

***

Kevin looked at the bloated, decapitated body. It was clean of any really useful evidence except for the traces of dried blood that still clung to her unwashed skin. Her body's nudity just another appalling thing to contend with.

There were days where Kevin hated his job.

He looked at the body with his usual sense of detachment. Something that made him able to deal with some of the gross things people were capable of when he was on the job. They had found the head in a dumpster in the warehouse district, confirming that this was the crazed lunatic who had single-handedly killed an entire precinct's worth of police officers. She was obviously decapitated with a very sharp weapon on account of the clean cut and the fact that there was no apparent evidence of difficulty cutting through the spinal column. “Jeez, I'm kinda done with Big Trouble in Little China. Aren't you?" Kevin asked an otter in a sleek black business suit. His brown head-fur was gelled into a swept back look to make him look a little less 'poofy'—as the otter put it.

He looked over at the human and smirked, “I'm surprised you haven't resigned, I know how close you and Naqut were."

“Well maybe I felt I still have some usefulness for the department."

“That or your father wouldn't let you quit."

The human sighed. The otter was as astute as his tail was thick. The human looked over at the otter with an appreciation for his capabilities as a homicide investigation detective. That astuteness would come in handy when dealing with interviewing family members and the like. As he was lost in thought, though a vibration in his pocket broke him from his reverie. He took his phone out of his pocket and looked at the number. It was Richarde. He answered immediately, “Hey, Ri—“

“Kev, He's gone. They took him. They took my boy!" The Naga sounded distraught.

Kevin immediately knew what Rick meant and he went into investigator mode, “When?"

“Must'a been an hour ago. I came home to find Jon crying on his knees. The window in the living room shattered and evidence of blood on the carpet. Jon shot the—in his words—Ninja. There's a trail of blood leading back to the window. He can't have gone far."

“Why didn't you call 911?"

“Because I have you."

The human rolled his eyes, “Alright, I'll put out an APB."

He looked to the otter and right away the Otter was on his radio calling it in. “Central I need an All-Points Bulletin on a male Naga age 17, hybrid western diamondback and Indian Cobra. Patterning being that of the Rattler. He's 350 lbs and 35' long. Has golden eyes and has a hood. Be advised this is a missing persons case and potential kidnapping."

“Thanks for doing that," the human nodded to the lutrin detective, “It's okay, Rick. We'll find him. Do you have any idea what happened?"

“Sounds like Ricky underestimated what he was slithering into. Jon says that he grabbed his cricket bat when he went into the hall. He closed the door behind him and that's when the ninja pounced. It sounds like he used a tranq gun on Junior and then Jon came out into the hall and shot the ninja with his dad's .44."

“Well, shit. This isn't good. Did Ricky have his phone on him?"

There was some muffled conversation on the other line, before Rick came on and said, “Junior and Jon had just been…making love…so he was in the buff. His phone is still here." The Naga sounded as if he was on the verge of tears. Which, for a species which supposedly didn't have working tear ducts was saying something.

The human blushed. “You anthros and clothes…"

The otter chuckled. “If you had fur over your entire body. You'd understand."

The human rolled his eyes, “Shut it, Ramirez. We're gonna come by the apartment, love. Just hold on. How's Jon doin', by the way?"

“He's pretty broken up…the weight of the day's gotten to him. I…I…Oh Kev, he's just a boy!"

***

The forensic photographer pretty much concentrated on the window and the bloodstained carpet. The investigative squad accompanied him and were swabbing the glass, the carpet and many other samples. They took photos of the bat, the living room. Nothing was left untouched.

Kevin was interviewing Jon as Ramirez interviewed his lover. “So Jon, you two made love for the first time?"

The young man looked at a spot in the carpet between the two of them, he looked so depressed and resigned, “yeah. He uhm…he and I were cuddling after when we heard the noise. Ricky told me to stay put, I did until I heard the other voice. I'm usually not one to take extra risks, but this was someone who I'm very attached to risking their life for me. I couldn't just do nothing. I…I'd been carrying my dad's revolver for a while. After the whole thing with that school in Kentucky, the staff thought that allowing teachers to carry was not that bad of an idea. So, I've had it for a while. The teachers gave me the okay.

“I had it in a holster inside of my pants, it barely looked concealed. But it worked. Anyways, I took it out and ran for the door. When I opened it was when Ricky hit the floor. At first I thought he was dead. Until I saw the tranq gun. It was a [insert commonly used tranquilizer gun here]. I've seen some of my dad's buddies use it on the job. Sometimes, the scales on a scaled anthro protect them from electrically based forms of suppression. So that's when they pull out the tranq guns."

“Ok, so ignoring that you're underaged, you happened upon him and then you shot him?"

“I warned him, first. I don't think he believed I would do it. He threw a smoke bomb before I could get a clean shot and so I think I just grazed his side. Still, that should slow him down a bit."

“It certainly would. Based on the blood, though, this is more than a grazing wound. Can you tell us anything more about the ninja, as you call him?"

“He was short, maybe five-four, five-five, definitely a fox or wolf. His eyes were acid green. Like the color of those old zombie posters. He had a thick, bushy tail behind him that was practically ramrod straight behind him so I'm leaning more toward fox. He was dressed in a dark black gi and his mask had the design of a fox's skull's jaws on it. He also had a large samurai sword on his back."

“You've got a good memory. Your dad help with that? Teach you about being debriefed?"

“Nah, just always been good about remembering stuff."

***

The fox drug the Naga quite a way on his own before he finally got some help in the form of a brusque leonine. Dressed in the same attire as he yet with his gi's hood down and his mane was shaved except for the very top of his tawny furred head where a shock of auburn-colored mane swept back into a top-knot. It bothered the fox. It was a human hairstyle that he just couldn't pull off.

“Bit off more than you can chew again, Kitsu?"

“Leone, I don't need to hear it. I got him, didn't I?"

“Junior-kun? Yes, you did, didn't you? But the hatchling is 300 pounds of pure muscled tail. He'd be tough for even me to carry on my own." The lion chuckled before both he and the fox held their hands in a one-handed tiger seal. Disappearing in a swirling vortex of leaves.

***

To say Richarde was worried would have been the ultimate understatement. He paced the length of the living room back and forth, cell phone in hand waiting for a call. Anything even if they found a body would be better than not knowing the fate of his only son. He was in such a state that he hadn't even noticed when Kevin had left to go out looking.

At this point it was a city-wide manhunt. They were looking everywhere they possibly could and yet they couldn't find a single clue. Whoever these Kazegami guys were, they were good at their job. It was getting close to noon when Richarde's cell started to buzz in his hand. “DeVille." He answered.

“We found something, hun. It's not quite enough to go on, but it is something. It's a piece of…parchment. Written on it are the words: Votre garçon est avec nous. Si vous voulez lui, venez-vous à la boulangerie au coin du Vickerson et Broadmoor."

“Vickerson and Broadmoor. I know that bakery. That's where I grab my morning croissant."

“I know it, too. I can't believe they'd give us the clue so easily. This has got to be a trap. Richarde."

“…Yes?"

“You're going to stay home and let me handle this, right?"

The Naga gave his human mate the affirmative, wished him luck, and then hung up the phone. He left the apartment without even mentally processing what he was doing he was behind the wheel of his car and driving to the bakery.

His mate would be angry with him, but he'd been so nervous, what with his only son having been kidnapped. He wasn't going to let this kind of thing go on any more. He was putting in his letter of resignation with his firm and would ask to work with the DA. Sure that the human would agree to that. He was an extremely good attorney at law and he was a capable investigator. It had been a potent combination which had won him most of his cases. Now, though, with his son's life on the line and his mate and fiancé risking his life to find him, he couldn't help but question his motivations for being a defense attorney.

It was time for him to come to the right side of Justice. As he parked on the busy street about a block away from the bakery, he noticed a large group of black and white police cruisers with lights flashing. They were arranged in front of the bakery and he could see several uniformed officers with guns out and pointing toward the façade of the bakery building. It was then that he followed their sight lines and saw something that took his breath away.

His son was held low. His arms cuffed to the sides of a wooden block and a metal collar crushed his hood to his neck as it held him to the same. The ninja that Jon described was standing to one side and a lion anthro with his mane shaved into a top-knot stood on the other side. Both of them held two-foot-long swords with straight blades. And they were crossed over each other the blades kissing Ricky's neck.

The Naga slithered as fast as his tail could take him trying to get to the scene. When he arrived he shouted, “Ricky! My son!"

The lion smiled. “And so, the lawyer makes his entrance. We are ever so glad you decided to join us Richarde, Sr."

“Give me back my son!"

The Lion looked up and off to the side while comically putting a finger to his lips, “Hmmm….Let me think on that…Nah."

Kevin ran over to Richarde. “What the hell are you doing here, Rick?"

“Saving my son."

“He's our son, Rick. Let me handle this. You're a lawyer. Not a police officer. Please, my love, go home."

If Naga could cry, Richarde would have shed a few tears at that. The look in his mate's eyes was one of sincerity, love, and most of all determination.

The soft feel of the human's hand against the side of his muzzle regained Richarde's attention. The Rattlesnake Naga was brought into a gentle kiss in front of the entirety of the public eye and he cared little for it. As the human broke the kiss, he whispered gently, “Go home, my love. Wait for me."

The Naga closed his eyes solemnly. He nodded before turning around and heading back to his car.

***

Jon was still waiting at the house when Rick returned. He'd had the courtesy to shower and don some clothing, though he looked silly in one of Ricky's kilts. Richarde sighed and slithered over to the couch in the living room. “Come and sit down, son."

The human boy looked nervous, but he didn't hesitate to obey, practically tripping over himself in order to comply with the Naga's command. “What is it Mr. Lawrence?"

“Well, I just want you to know that no matter what happens, Jon, you should let the police handle this."

“I know that. Was that all that was, Mr. Lawrence?"

The Naga blushed under his scales and rubbed the back of his neck, “Yeah, kinda."

The young man chuckled, “Don'cha think you should've listened to your own advice, old man?"

The elder Naga let out a sigh.

“They'll find him."

“They already have…"

“What!? Really?"

The Naga nodded, a grim expression on his muzzle, “They had swords to his neck! Had him on a chopping block!" The strain was too much, The Naga did something he thought he could never do: He cried.

Doctors often debated whether a Naga's tear ducts were vestigial or not. Most Naga didn't cry often, if at all. And most of the time those crying spells weren't accompanied with tears. They had other ways of showing sadness. But as if to flip the bird to all the experts, Richarde's tear ducts overflowed with salty tears of irrepressible grief.

The knowledge of his son's predicament and the fact that his mate was risking his life was too much for the serpentine lawyer. He let his head fall into his scaled hands and let the tears soak beneath his scales. The feeling of his arms being moved away and of a warm body pressing against his made him jump a little.

The human boy—the kid who not even a few days prior to this had been bullying his son—was showing him sympathy.

At that moment the phone rang, blushing furiously under his scales—thankful that they hid the redness thereof—he disengaged himself and grabbed his cell phone from the table. The picture of Kevin on it looking dashing in his dress blues the day of the funeral looked back at him. He hit the answer button and held his breath, “Hello?" he answered. He hoped for the best, yet expected the worst.

“D…dad?"

“Junior. Oh, my gosh, son! It's you. Oh, thank god! Are you alright?"

“Fine, dad, you might have inadvertently brought this case to the public eye."

“What? How?"

“Are you in front of the TV?"

“Yeah…"

“Turn it on to the news."

The elder Naga complied. On the TV was a reporter explaining the scene at the bakery where he just was, With a picture of himself and of the logo of the Firm for which he worked:

“Authorities on Scene are still unsure of exactly the connection between Richarde deVille Lawrence I and these criminals calling themselves the Kazegami—Japanese for Wind God. There are however many implications of extortion based on today's events.

“Officers declined to comment on any known connections between Mr. Lawrence's place of employ or any of his clients and the Kazegami. What we do know is that Mr. Lawrence's son is currently recovering in the hospital under protective custody"

The Naga stared blankly at the screen. This wasn't good, Kazegami wasn't one to take things sitting down. They'd learned that the hard way when Kevin's department was hit. There'd most likely be retribution. And he had a feeling what that might end up being.

“Are your windows locked, Junior?"

“Wha…uhm…I believe so."

“Good. Keep them that way. Who are the officers out front of your room?"

“Officer Gold—a wolf—and Kevin. Kevin asked to be here. He doesn't believe that anybody else would be fit for guarding—in his words—his only son."

The elder Naga blushed at that. It seemed Kevin took no time at all to feel like what he was: a part of the family.