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Savannah Central - The Fox Den on Roaring St. - Against the Tundratown Border Wall Tuesday - 12:27 PM - Overcast Skies

Murana continued through the inky blackness, a dull, blue glow at the far end of the tunnel. She remembered the first time she ever went down this pathway after she initially made contact with Billy and he had invited her here to his workshop; at the time, she wasn't sure if she was being led into another trap and being taken as a prisoner, slave or worse. He had since proven his loyalty and trust to her over the past decade, but she still felt that little twinge of trepidation as she padded down the dark cement corridor.

At last, she reached the end and it opened up into an atrium of calcified tunnels carved out by water over the millennia. Undulating refractions danced along the lime blue walls of the cavern as the cement structure ended into more natural formed rock. She walked out onto a wooden deck overlooking a zigzagging staircase leading down to a small pier with a rather large cedar shack perched out over the edge of the underground river.

Softly making her way down the steps, she smiled at the large red houseboat moored to the end of the pier, its bow pointing down the waterway. Emblazoned on its side were the words in white, 'Foxglove III.' She frowned at the massive white patch job marring its pristine surface, a blemish in an otherwise pristine vessel.

Murana flicked her ears in the direction of the faded cedar shack. The sound of some clanking mixed with a few selective curses echoed off the walls. Rapping her knuckles on the door slightly ajar, she peered into the gloom, lit only by several lanterns perched on shelving and the light from the water seeping through the windows. A head of white popped up from behind some boxes piled three deep on an already creaking table that was in serious need of leg repair.

"Well, there's a sight for sore eyes." The silver fox grinned, flashing his row of pearly whites as he went back to what he was working on. "What brings you in here today, Murana? I haven't seen you in nearly two years."

"Oh, you know...the usual. A few more kunai, some more stink bombs, a new suit..." She said nonchalantly, hoping that he wouldn't cue in on the more expensive last option.

He poked his head up again, raising a brow at her, "I've given you two suits already. They're made to be durable. Either you've lost your touch and got them tore up or you've misplaced them, which I highly doubt. So which is it?"

"Let's just go with the former and leave it at that, Billy." She sighed, scraping a wooden chair out and settling in it rather roughly, folding her arms. "I'm in need of a new set. If you are worried about the money, you know I can pay you plenty for any replacements."

He waved off the sentiment before standing up, "You don't have to prove to me your funds. I know where you work. I'm just saying these suits take a lot of time and effort to make and sometimes the materials necessary can be quite tricky to find. Building you any replacements is going to take some time."

"So you don't have any spares on hand?" She asked worriedly.

"I didn't say that." He responded, gruffly padding over to a rack on the wall.

"So what's with the big patch job on your boat? Some bad heist gone wrong?" She snorted. She knew that Billy loved his boat more than anything. It was of sentimental value, considering that it was handed down to him by his late father. The fact that it was damaged at all was a bit shocking if you knew what kind of fox Billy was.

"I never discuss my clients' business with another. Let's leave it at that, Murana." He dismissed her with a paw wave, giving her a pointed look.

She was about to respond when she noticed something. "Ugh, seriously Billy?" Murana raised a paw up, hiding her eyes from the garish, red cargo shorts he was sporting.

Glancing down, he shrugged before continuing over to the pegboard of tools. "I never said I was at the height of fashion, Murana, only at the height of making sure my clients don't get killed."

With a grunt, he flipped up a wooden door panel on the workbench counter revealing a mess of wrenches, bullets and various other metal odds and ends. After some clinking around, he pulled out a small switch and pressed the obvious red button on it. A huge, thunderous roar echoed in the shack as several gears and chains could be heard. Within seconds, the pegboard flipped vertically 180 to reveal a plethora of guns and weapons. She stepped off to the side as a bookcase to her right slide open to reveal a small safe room built of solid steel.

"Really? Doesn't this seem a bit antiquated?" She waved at the entire, revealed operation as she folded her arms.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Billy smirked, striding over to the fortified room. He beckoned her over to join him inside, pulling a blanket off one of the center piece pedestals. On a squat stand, she beheld a very sleek, crimson red suit very similar to the one she had torn. "Thankfully for you, I didn't alter much to it other than a few improvement modifications."

Murana had been admiring a few pieces of tech hanging on the walls, but turned to Billy at his explanation. "Oh? I'm flattered that you've been working on a new suit for me even though I hadn't made any payments recently."

He walked around the podium, grabbing a small attachment before linking it up just under the wrist portion of the suit. "I figured you'd be back sooner or later. After all, what I provided you wouldn't last forever. I know a good, returning customer when I see one." They both shared a smile. "Anyway, I've been noticing you leaving hanging threads all over the city."

"Threads?" She queried, unsure of what he meant.

"Yes, your discarded grappling cables. The old belt design is a bit outdated and could use some refinements. I'm surprised you've made do on the supply of hooks and cable you received last time." He shook his head in admiration. "You really are a creature of frugality. I like that. However, I recognize that it was sloppy design and that something a bit more conservative was needed."

"Well, even if all the hanging cables are so high up that most mammals can't get to them, I can understand the concern for just leaving them there as a trail of breadcrumbs to follow." Murana could agree with his statement. Sure they were small and barely noticeable if one were to look up at the buildings she traversed, but if found, they could definitely be questioned if brought to the proper authorities.

"Exactly. So instead, I molded these two gauntlets for each of your wrists to hang on the underside of your forearm. They're fairly flat and shouldn't pose a big profile while you are out doing your acrobatics." He flipped the arm over to show a small button that traveled up towards the bottom center of where the palm would be. "You just press this button and a spearhead will shoot out from this bottom storage unit and impale itself into almost any surface any building in Zootopia is made out of. It'll shoot out hook blades once embedded and you swing as normal."

"That's a neat trick, but how do you get the cable back or detach it?" She couldn't really fathom how this was all that much better.

Billy raised a finger up, winking at her, "There's the beauty of it. Just press this button again when you are done with it and it'll retract the hook blades and zip back into your storage pouch underneath your forearm. This is why I provided two of these, one for each wrist, so you don't ever have to stop swinging if you don't have to."

Murana low whistled at this, "I do believe you've outdone yourself, Billy. This will most certainly come in handy."

He gave a small bow before slipping the suit off, folding it neatly and handing it over to her. "Made a few other adjustments to it as well, more specifically I increased the layers of filament of the suit making it far easier to ward off knives and claws." He sniffed the air around her a bit, "Something, I feel, would be quite necessary for you."

She lowered her ears, glaring at him, "It was an accident and it won't happen again."

Billy ignored her petulance, "I'm sure. You've been doing a great job for many years now. I have complete faith that what happened truly was an accident."

She unconsciously bared her teeth, not knowing if she should take what he said as flippancy or sincerity. Dropping her anger, she stuffed the suit underneath her arm before following him back out to the shack proper. "So do you have any more musk spray and bombs?" She asked hopefully.

"You mean there isn't enough already on you? I can smell it heavily still, like the lingering scent of rain on warm pavement. You might want to switch shampoo brands. You could try mine since I've been working so much on these things." He chuckled before sitting down on a stool looking back at her with indifference.

A small growl rumbled in Murana's throat, "I'm serious, Billy. I can't go back out there again without something to cover up my scent."

"And how would your musk supplier feel if he knew you were using his scent to mask your own? That he could potentially be tagged as murderer to all these felons and criminals?" He pointed out casually.

She leaned up against the table, thinking on it as if she hadn't considered that before. Granted, she didn't go out as often these days to hunt these vile mammals, but the excuse of some poor sap getting drenched in the same skunk stench being linked to each of the hits could only last so long. They could potentially link the scent back to her son if they got the right person on the case. She did recall that they recently got a new fox on the force, one of Anthony's new buddies. He could be trouble.

"So I take that as a no, then." She set the suit onto the wood before walking around the corner of the table to face Billy directly.

"I didn't say that either. I do have one canister left of spray, but I have no more musk left to work with. If you would just give me more, I wouldn't be left working on nothing but fumes. It's not every day that I can just go up to some random skunk and just ask them for some of their musk. Wouldn't really go over well with the general mustelid populace." He crossed his arms, flopping on his black, bowler cap.

Murana sighed with frustration, "It's not really going to be that easy to get for me anymore. He and I have become rather estranged lately."

"He?" Billy's curiosity was piqued. Up until now, he hadn't even heard what gender her skunk supplier even was. It was that sort of trivial detail that had been killing him for years now. "So had a bit of a falling out, did you? You know, I'm actually quite good at repairing broken negotiations. If you don't mind leaving the middle man out of this, I could talk to him directly and see if I could procure some musk-"

"Absolutely not!" Murana stood up tall, bearing down on the fox. "To respect...his privacy, I'm going to be moving on to find another musk supplier. It might be some time before I can come back and bring you more to work with." She lied, cursing inwardly at her mistake. She trusted Billy to a point, but she was not about to let her own son be exposed to this arms dealer.

He raised his brow at her sudden outburst, clearly he had struck a nerve and this particular skunk of hers meant a good deal more to her than she let on. Feigning ignorance of what was revealed, he shrugged his shoulders again and looked away, "All right then. I was just trying to make things easier for both of us. If you were to just tell me his name, I could contact him and have full crates of stuff ready for you when you got back. It truly is a great scent."

"What?" She said, flabbergasted, she didn't think she heard him right.

"What?" He repeated dully.

After a moment, "I do not discuss my client's business either, to include their personal information." She said with finality.

"Touché." Billy returned. "Well, you can go gather your things here. Just make sure the funds are in my account by close of business or else..."

"Or else what?" Murana scoffed. Granted, she had yet to pay for this latest stash of things he was giving her, but it still seemed odd that he made this threat. She knew it wasn't idle, something must have him spooked that he would need this money soon. Billy wasn't letting it show though, he was savvy like that. Just another reason she liked working with him.

"...Or else I send my bruiser to take care of you." He flashed another tooth filled grin.

She pointed up above them, "You mean AJ? First off, since when did he become your bruiser? And second, he wouldn't hurt a fly, let alone me." She laughed it off.

"Maybe before, but now things have changed. Any protection from him you might have had is gone." He let that stew for a moment before proceeding, "I never could figure out why you two separated."

So that's how it was, she confirmed. "Is that what this is all about? This hostile bluff? Did AJ put you up to this? Did he ask you about me?" She couldn't believe the gall of that music-loving fox upstairs, using her own business partner to weed out information about her feelings.

Billy stared back at her unfazed, "I don't discuss my client's..."

"...business. I know." She finished for him. "Whatever Billy, keep your secrets. I have mine. The funds will be in your account before the day is done."

"Much obliged, Ma'am." He bent the tip of his hat down in salute. He watched her a few minutes more, turning back to his original project he had started before she arrived.

"Billy?" She called out at the doorway, her gear and weapons stuffed in a brown paper handle bag, dangling in one paw. "Thanks."

"Just doing my job, Murana." He replied without turning to look at her.

"Not just for that, but for helping me at all." She stared wistfully at the ship moored on the water, remembering an earlier model of it carrying her bruised and battered body to safety many years ago. "For believing in what I do."

At this, he stopped and swiveled his head at her. "I may not agree how you do it, Murana, but I believe in getting these vile people off the streets. Your interests coincide with mine. Nothing more."

"One of these days, I'm going to catch you caring a lot more than you show, Billy." She smiled, giving him a wink.

"Maybe so, but today is not that day." He riposted dryly. With another nod, he went back to his business as he heard her footpaws getting fainter. A glimmer of a smile passed over his muzzle.

---

Downtown - Mercy Hospital - Southern Savannah off Oasis Plaza Tuesday - 2:02 PM - Dark Overcast Skies

Murana moved with purpose. She had a flowing coat of white trailing behind her as she swiftly navigated through the sterile halls. It hadn't been hard to secure for herself a doctor's coat, clipboard, pen and a pair of glasses. She entered the hospital like any other patient visitor, looking lost and worried. She obediently waited in the sitting area as she was told until she spied what she had been looking for.

A female kudu caught her eye. Covering her striking, tawny pelt with a gleaming white coat, Murana assumed correctly that the doctor was coming on shift. She swiftly stood up and slipped in silently through the closing door as the kudu badged in. She tailed her for several minutes, acting like she belonged. Not a single soul questioned her presence in the halls.

The moment the doctor stepped into a small side office to set down her things, Murana immediately wrapped an arm around the kudu's neck, slapping a paw over her snout to keep her from crying out. The prey's legs kicked out viciously at first, her entire body screaming in panic and fear at this unknown assailant. Her jerks and kicks began to grow faint as the lack of oxygen to her brain ceased. Soon, she lay still in the wolf's arms.

Releasing her and settling her down into the chair, Murana check the doctor's nostrils, ensuring that her breathing had resumed. Nodding to herself that the kudu was safely passed out, she stripped her of her coat and swiped the glasses off her face. She grimaced at the tight fit of them on her broad skull, but she finally made them rest semi-comfortably across her snout. Picking up a pen and notepad off her cubicle desk, she swept out into the hallway to find her stationary quarry.

She passed by several nurses, each one glancing at her oddly. They didn't recall a wolf being a doctor at Mercy, but in the end they shrugged and carried about their business. Perhaps she was a new transfer from another district? She sidestepped into a medicine cabinet, sifting quickly through various vials until she found exactly what she was looking for: painkillers. Taking a few and stuffing them into her coat pocket, she left the room in search of information.

Bowing her head in greeting at her 'fellow' colleagues, she sat down at the nearest available computer and was relieved to see that it was already logged in. That was good, she didn't have to hack the thing in public. She located the patient listing and quickly scanned for her target of interest, finding both the floor and room he was in.

"There you are." She whispered to herself, a smile spreading across her lips.

"Ma'am?" Murana looked up to see a rather large caribou regarding her warily. "Are you new here? I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting."

Murana's mouth widened more. Might as well go with what the caribou assumed rather than make up something far more bogus. "Yeah," She giggled, "What gave it away?"

"Well, you're not wearing your badge for starters. That and I haven't seen any preda-I mean, any wolf doctors here." The female corrected herself, seemingly to admonish herself for her prejudice.

Murana let her smile lessen, covering up some of her teeth so as to not be as intimidating. "Oh my, you're right! I completely forgot it at my desk! Sorry about that. Just got transferred here just last night from over in Tundratown. I'm still learning my way around here."

The caribou leaned over the counter, crossing her hooves genially, looking a bit more relieved. "That's quite all right, hun. Mercy Hospital can be quite the big place. You from Kravenhall down by the docks?"

Murana wasn't fully aware of the place, but she did know that hospital was over in Rainforest District at least. She clicked her tongue in response, "That's the one. Now if you'll excuse me, got a patient to get to and also make a quick stop and pick up my badge!"

"Of course. Welcome again to Mercy....er...what was your name?" She felt rather ashamed to not having asked already.

"Illyana." She shook the caribou's hoof.

"Grisele." The caribou replied happily.

With a wink, Murana got up from the chair, closed out her search and waved at her new 'friend' before heading down the corridor to the elevators. She stood in silence, her mind already on the immediate future as the numbers in the elevator slowly rose. She calmly stepped out on the 14th floor of the building, filtering through several nurses and a janitor as they got on the elevator to head down.

It was unusually quiet on this floor. She would have preferred a bit more din to mask any potential noise that could occur. She stopped at his room, glancing down the hallway to ensure she had no witnesses before entering. She found the ocelot wrapped in a full body cast of gauze, leaving only his eyes and nose open to the elements. He appeared to be sleeping, but still very much alive.

She sidled up next to his bedside, taking extra care to shut the door behind her and locking it. She spoke in soothing tones as she gently caressed his arm, hanging awkwardly over the bed railing. "Javier...oh, Javier. It's time to wake up now."

The cat's eyes fluttered open slowly, as if awakening from a deep, medicated slumber. It took a few moments of adjustment as his eyes focused on her. His eyes bulged at the sight of her. He began making a low moan, too weak to really travel far, but horribly awful like a hairball stuck in his throat. He made efforts to move away from her on the bed, each motion feeling like daggers being driven into his burned skin, causing him to wail.

"Shhh, it's okay, Javier. I'm not going to burn you this time around. That'd be a bit too obvious, wouldn't it?" She gave him a leering grin all the while petting his arm, the effect chilling him to the bone.

"Yes, it would be a bit obvious, not to mention sloppy." A calm voice resounded in the quiet room.

Kunai immediately leapt into her paws as she faced the voice directly across from her on the other side of the bed. The wraparound curtain had been blocking the chair by the window. A small paw shifted it aside as she looked upon the face of a bunny she had almost long since forgotten. His cunning smile matched his outfit that strangely resembled a tuxedo, complete with bowtie. His grey fur ended at the tops of his ears with black stripes at the tips and coming across his cheeks from the back of his head.

"Jack Savage." She breathed, quite startled to see him again.

"Indeed, Murana. Long time, no see." He smiled cordially, brushed off a fleck of lint on his leg as he crossed it over the other.

"What are you doing here?" She didn't move a muscle, still tense and taut in her pose, ready to leap upon the rabbit at a moment's notice.

"Isn't it obvious?" He leaned back further into the chair, resting his paws in his lap. "After witnessing and hearing about some poor kitty being burned alive last night, yet somehow surviving due to the efforts of some courageous fox cop, it was quite easy to deduce that you would show up here today and finish the job."

"Witness...?" She asked, her grip flexing on the cool metal within them. Her mind raced back over the events of the previous night, locking on to a singular moment as she was awaiting her mark to appear. "You were in the window, in the building across the street. Watching me."

"Very good, Murana." He clucked his tongue as he winked at her. "Good to see that your senses have not dulled over time."

She narrowed her eyes, "What is it you want? You going to try and stop me from killing this cat?" She inclined her head subtly towards Javier, whose pupils were shifting frantically back and forth between the two of them.

"Heavens no!" He chortled, waving a paw at her as he suppressed the remainder of his mirth. "Far be it from me to interrupt a mark. That would be rude. By all means, kill away."

"Then why are you here?" She growled, pressing the question.

"I'm here to repay a favor and do you a service." He rejoined promptly, not changing his expression.

"Jack...you and I both know where we come from. There are no favors and there are no services, not without money." She spat at him, her temper rising with each passing moment with him.

"Come now, Murana. No need to shout. I'm here to honor our friendship that we cultivated over the many years we were in service together as partners." Jack looked sincere. If it was one thing she could be sure of, Jack wasn't a liar.

"So out with it then. I don't have all day." She said with acrimony.

He straightened his suit before standing up and stepping towards her, looking up over the bed at the wolf. "I'm here, as you know, on the orders of our boss...oh right, my boss." He ruminated on that line of thought with a grin before clearing his throat. "Rosco has put out a hit on you and he has tasked me to carry it out."

"How gracious of you to come tell me that you're going to kill me, Jack. Such a great way of honoring our friendship." She snarked.

He looked away with weariness, "Murana, I could have just killed you out there on the rooftop. You know I had the shot and opportunity. You were a sitting cub out there waiting for Javier here. Could have easily popped one in your skull, but I am doing the honorable thing and upholding our previous partnership by giving you fair warning of my intentions...even if Rosco does not want me to."

"So is this it then? Now that I know, are you going to try and kill me here?" She took a step back, awaiting a negative response.

Jack merely shook his head. "It wouldn't be sporting, Murana. Come on, you know how I operate. When I nail you, you'll never see me coming, just like how we were trained. However, I see that you've lost some of your touch. This is twice now that you failed to recognize that I was nearby, twice that you could have died at my paws. These years of being on your own, not training daily like we used to has clearly taken its toll on your skills."

"You going to leave, let me contemplate my future demise and kill Javier now, or are you going to just talk me to death?" She countered with venom. She considered trying to take the bunny down, but knew that he was packing heat somewhere on that small frame of his. Remembering how well he held himself with a gun, she wasn't going to chance a scene here.

"I feel my purpose here is finished." Jack sniffed, looking around the nondescript hospital room. He straightened his tie before walking around the foot of the bed, completely aware of Murana turning to face his every movement. "I would advise you to unplug his life support rather than inject painkiller into his IV."

"Why is that?" She questioned, a bit uncertain now.

Seeing Jack here, of all places, had completely set her off balance and her nerves were shot as a result. Murana had been an assassin over a decade ago under the employ of a ruthless gang leader, Rosco, whose operations originated from the Nocturnal District beneath the streets of Zootopia. She earned a lot of her skills during her extensive time carrying out marks for that brutal crime lord, many times working alongside Jack Savage since it was common practice back then to put out two assassins for one mark. For if one should fail, the other would succeed. Leaving Rosco unexpectedly did not endear herself to him and he never forgot slights like that.

"Well, if you bothered to take the time to read his chart," He picked it up out of the plastic holder on the side of the railing before handing it to her. "You'll have read that you did quite a number on Javier last night to include crushing his ribs to the point that he has collapsed lungs. These machines," he indicated the rather large breathing apparatus set up alongside the ocelot with tubes going up through his nose. "are all that are keeping him alive since he can't seem to draw in breath on his own."

"He's also due for surgery later this evening." She noted as she scanned through his file.

"Exactly. And since you now have your paw prints all over those vials of pain killer I know you have in your pocket, it would be an easy matter of printing it and tracing it back to you once they discover that was the method of his death." He shook his head. "Honestly Murana, I expected better out of you. I had almost hoped you would provide me a challenge, but it seems all I'm going to be up against is a has-been."

"Why do you have to be so cruel?" She snarled, ears flattened back.

"It's in the name, darling." He unlocked and opened the door, he tilted his head back to look at her. "Better hurry up though, something tells me not a lot of predators work at Mercy and word has gotten around that there is a wolf prowling these halls. I'll see you soon, Murana." He shook his bunny tail before walking out and shutting it gently behind him.

"Arrogant little shit." She exhaled, putting down the knives and stowing them away into slit pockets in her clothes. Shaking her head from that surreal experience, she considered Javier again. "Well, thanks to our little friend there, it seems you won't have the peaceful death that I had promised you earlier. Things would have been so much simpler had you just burned to death."

The ocelot's mews began to come back with more fervor, his entire body wracked with pain now as she bent low to navigate the maze of cords until she found the one that led to his breathing machine. With a small grunt, she unplugged it from the wall and left it hanging just slightly in the wall, as if it had been kicked loose accidently. Rising up to look down on the small form of Javier, she gave him a self-satisfied grin.

"Now the souls of Fresia Lorian and Tyler Mason will finally be at peace. May you feel the punishment of your crimes, Javier Sanchez. Goodbye." She closed her eyes as she heard his gasping cries, knowing that he was slowly suffocating at having to manually try to breathe in the air he so desperately needed.

"It is done." She let out her exhaustion, opening her eyes to look upon the dead form of Javier, his last throes of twitching subsiding. It was most likely a painful death, no less than he deserved. She wasn't sure which was worse, burning alive or suffocating. Either way, justice was done. She was confident that he would not be coming back a second time.

Content that her job was finished, she pivoted on her hind paw and left the way she came in. She took care, per Jack's warning, to dump the vials of painkillers back into the medicine closet where she found them. Nobody would be the wiser that she had touched them if they were all where they should be to begin with. She waved bye to Grisele on the way out, telling her to have a good rest of her shift.

She moved ahead without thinking anymore of Javier. That was done and passed. She had something else to attend to that demanded her attention now. She set her sights back over to the boundary wall, the frosty air rising in the afternoon sky.

---

Downtown - Tail Hollow Orphanage - Happytown District - Corner of Deluge Ave and 34th St. Tuesday - 4:32 PM - Dark Overcast Skies / Drizzling Rain

Murana furrowed her brow, lost in thought. She was working her way back through Savannah from Tundratown, smelling the noxious fumes of Happytown. She kicked off the lingering grab of a slum dweller begging for scraps as she marched down the sidewalk towards Max's orphanage. She knew better than to take side streets in this part of town. Heading off the main roads meant trouble in this district.

Her visit to the Pale Moon Orphanage was disconcerting, bringing up memories of something long past. Memories she'd rather forget. The situation there was awful. It was as if the entire roof of the building was completely blown away by some explosive incident. Debris and rubble were everywhere. All the older cubs were missing, every single one of them kidnapped. The younger ones were strangely spared. That was not the worst thing she discovered.

The matron there was absolutely terrified and couldn't really be conversed with reliably. She kept babbling on about cruel mammals with swords and cutlasses, some carrying old time muskets and other instruments of death. What alarmed her most was the description of their leader, riding down like a demon from an iron beast of burden that seemingly suspended itself in the air as if by magic. She raved that they spared no quarter and killed anyone who got in their way of stealing all the children.

What Murana found interesting was that the attack on Pale Moon coincided with the very electrical storm that was hovering over it during her hit on Javier the previous night. She mused that perhaps these storms weren't as random or atmospheric in nature after all, but something manufactured and deliberate. She had nothing to go off of on this crazy theory, but that detail couldn't be ignored.

She was jolted to her senses when she heard the female panther's voice emerging from the open doorway before her. She had been so absorbed in her thoughts that she wasn't aware of where she was, her hinds paws on autopilot through the city, almost forgetting why she had come to Tail Hollow to begin with.

"Murana? You here to see Max again? Have you reconsidered adoption?" The Matron inquired hopefully.

"I'm...not sure yet." Murana admitted, feeling great shame in doing so.

The panther groaned at the news, placing a paw over her breast. "Oh dear, that's not good at all. I don't know what you said to that boy. He seems completely unwilling to do much of anything. We tried to get him to eat something today, but he wasn't having any of it. Just wants to spend his hours up in his room being by himself." She glanced up the rickety stairs towards the boys rooms. "Maybe it isn't such a good idea that you see him today."

Murana placed a paw on the Matron's shoulder. "I'll be making my decision tomorrow, Matron. I just want to talk to him one more time to be sure of something. May I?" She beamed at the panther, trying to settle her rattled calm.

With a weak nod, she stepped back to allow Murana entrance. "Just...don't break his heart again, Murana. I don't think he could take another visit like that again."

Murana confirmed her acknowledgment of the Matron's words. It was more like she couldn't take another visit like that again. Murana didn't say anything to her, especially considering she ran the entire orphanage, but she knew Max had given her a fair bit of trouble since being inducted here. Him lashing out or being difficult to manage after her visits probably wasn't helping matters. She felt it was selfish of the Matron to feel that way, but she couldn't blame her with having to handle all these charges and expect a tidy ship.

She padded up the steps carefully, cognizant of their weakening state. Even with her yearly salary as bank CEO, it wouldn't be enough to renovate this building. It would actually be best to demolish it completely and rebuild it anew. She sighed inwardly as she reached the top of the stairs, spotting a raggedy doll, colors faded from either extreme use or mistreatment. Even the toys here were hand-me-downs that she couldn't fathom how many kids' paws had been on them.

Walking across the landing, she entered the boys' hall and stopped just outside the door to Max's room. It was slightly ajar, indicating that he was still inside. She quietly opened it and peered into the gloom. He had the shades drawn over the window, slivers of light illuminating the darkness from the sides. It seemed the room was even more disheveled than when she had last left it. On his bed, facing away from her, was the form of Max. She was unsure if he was asleep or not.

"So did you figure it out?" His voice droned into the inky blackness.

She winced at his lifeless voice. It seemed like he had already given up hope in her before she had even started. Worse still, she feared he might be right. "Figure what out?" She spoke hesitantly.

His striped tail swished irritatedly across the bed covers. "Your life. Did you uncomplicate it? Or did you come here to tell me you can't adopt me?"

Murana dragged out the wooden chair from beside his nightstand before flipping it around and sitting in it backside front. "Not exactly that. No. Things have gotten a bit more difficult of late. I actually came here to tell you that I've made a decision that I do plan on taking you home with me."

"Just not today." He stated flatly, not bothering to flip over to face her. "Or this week, or this month."

She dropped her head onto her arms, wanting to cover her face with them. "Yeah, I guess you are right, Max. I would be a terrible mother. What was I thinking that I could be good enough for another cub when I did such a fantastic job of alienating my first?"

This comment did prompt Max to turn over and regard her hind paws. "You have another cub?" He wasn't aware that Murana already had another child.

Wiping a small tear from her eye, she smiled in remembrance of Steven. "Yeah, he's been with me for many years. Found him as a young kit and he's clung to me ever since."

"He's not your own?" Max thought on this for a moment. He had originally thought that it would be of her flesh and blood.

She laughed softly, "No, he's not. I never thought myself the motherly type, but he just seemed to grow on me. I wouldn't change my time with him for the world, though." She looked off in a daze, recalling the times she had spent with Steven, saddened that it had come to how it was now. "He has since left my den."

"So I'm a replacement." His eyes flitted over her face briefly before latching onto her ear.

Her gaze snapped back to him. "No! That's not it at all, Max. I just feel a certain type of connection to you. Don't you feel it too? All the times we would hang out and visit the library or the park?"

Max sat up and leaned against the wall, wrapping his tail around him. "Things we don't do anymore." He fired with impunity, uncertain if he fully knew the effect it had on Murana.

Taken aback, she grew frustrated. She could stand her ground against criminals and lethal assassins from the dark depths of Zootopia, but she couldn't lift a finger to defend herself against a small child. "I know it seems I've lost interest in you or that I don't care, but that is not true. I wish I could explain all the issues I'm dealing with in my life that makes all this so very hard for me."

"I guess it is hard to love trash like me." He pulled his knees up to his chin before enfolding his arms around them, closing himself off from her, almost like a physical wall.

"Max Thrash." She said firmly. "What did I say about talking down about yourself? You are not trash!"

"You can't tell me what to do or think. You aren't my mom. You refuse to be!" He shot back. This time making firm eye contact with her. He only held it for the briefest moment, but it was like a shotgun blast to the heart. "Stop coming here and promising me your love when you don't mean it!"

Murana choked back the tears that were threatening her. She looked away to see the lone item in his small, mesh trash can. The library card she had given him lay discarded and unused at the bottom, thrown away because the gesture was meaningless to Max, regardless of her feelings in giving it to him.

After a lengthy silence, Max added quietly, "They're going to move me, you know."

"What was that, Max?" She sniffled, searching his face.

"Matron can't afford to keep me here anymore. She says I would have better chances somewhere else." The first trace of emotion creeped into his voice, recognizing the hopelessness of his own situation.

"Did she say where?" Murana swallowed back the knot in her throat. Max merely shook his head, looking down at his tail. "Did she say when?"

"I heard them say tomorrow." He answered.

She tapped the side of the chair a few times, thinking on the timelines. Things were looking quite dire for Max. It was no secret that Matron preferred easier orphans to take care of, and Max's inability to mesh well with the rest of the kids here did him no favors. She was also in no position to take him right away.

Troubles with Anthony and Steven, alongside issues she was still resolving at her job, with the threat of death looming over her head from Jack made the entire situation of adopting a new family member highly unattractive right now. Yet she only had one day, if that, to claim Max or he might be moved to a place she may not be able to find or track given the new legal privacy laws.

Murana let out a low moan, covering her face with a paw. "That's simply not enough time. Even if I manage to get the paperwork completed, I don't even have my place prepared for you."

Sensing some hope in her consideration, Max's ears came up. "I don't mind sleeping on the floor or in a chair. I can be comfortable just about anywhere."

"No...it's not just that." She sighed, looking back at him with regret. "My husband, Anthony, he isn't exactly doting on young ones that aren't wolf cubs. He would not take kindly to you coming home with me tonight. Not after the fight we had this morning."

"Oh..." His ears drooped again, his eyes trailing down her snout. "So why don't you just have cubs with him then? Why bother coming here at all? Why bother with me?"

Her eyes drooped at his feelings of self-deprecation. "Max, I can't. There is something wrong with me. I cannot have cubs, even if I tried. I came here because you were special to me, Max. Out of all the other orphans here, you were the one that stole my heart."

"Yet your heart prefers to keep Anthony happy rather than yourself." He stated; a truth that seemed evident.

"It's not that simple. Yes, I want to salvage my rocky marriage, but I also want to feel needed." Murana rested her chin back on her arms, looking wistfully at Max, "I've since missed feeling wanted when Steven was around, hugging my legs and wanting me to take care of him daily. Anthony is self-sufficient with his job and rarely needs anything from me. So I'm just there, to warm his bed and be there to support him, but the spark of fire that drew us together isn't exactly burning bright at the moment."

"I understand." Max slumped back against the wall, defeated. "You want to, but you can't. It just isn't our time."

"Max?" She tilted her head, wondering what was going on in his head.

"Goodbye Murana. I really did enjoy our time together." He began, a few tears beginning to form at the edges of his eyes.

"Max, don't say that. Don't say no..." Her breath held in her throat.

"I'm saying no to help you, Murana." This time he fought to keep eye contact with her. "I am getting rid of one more thing that is stressing you out." He paused before continuing, studying the array of emotions flickering across her face. "It would be nice...if sometime in the future we could meet again. Until then, let's leave it at this."

The tears coming freely now, Murana let out a sob. He wasn't even hers yet and somehow she felt like she just lost something infinitely precious. Why did she feel this strongly about wanting someone to love and care for? Max filled a hole that was missing since Steven moved out and now that yawning abyss was opening up again and there was no way to patch it up this time.

"You are stronger than I, Max." She cried, wiping away a tear with a paw. She nodded finally, "Alright, I will honor your wish, but you bet on your striped tail that I will come find you when I'm ready. Even if you are already adopted by someone else, I will come visit you. You hear me?" She waggled a finger at him.

He chuckled a bit at this, finding the humor in the situation despite his own tears threatening his calm. No one else had gotten him to react like this. He was surprised himself at the tears he was crying. "Yeah. Thanks Murana."

"Mura will do, Max." She smiled. Standing up, trying her best to keep it under control, she pushed the chair back to its original position before walking up and ruffling the fur on Max's head. "Keep thrashing, little guy."

Max reached up a paw to hold onto her wrist before letting it fall as she pulled away. "I will, Mura."

They stared at each other a few moments longer, then she turned around and walked out. There was nothing more to be said. An opportunity for both of them had passed. Trying to fight against the inevitable tide was drawing out the pain longer and Max was smart enough to see it first. As much as she was happy that he ended it when he did, her heart broke that it had to end up this way. In the end, she could blame no one but herself for how it shook out. Just like everything else in her life, she was always failing. Why was she just no good for anyone?