Chapter Nine - With Everything Eternal and Forever Lasting
#10 of Within Escada
Within Escada - Chapter Nine - With Everything Eternal and Forever Lasting
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*Warning - Adult Content*
Contains homosexual characters and themes.
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Jacob sat at the computer as he furiously punched the keys into the keyboard. Mark was packing their bags, quickly filling them with clothing to last them a few days. "Can you toss me the report?" Mark asked as he zipped one of the bags shut. Jacob didn't turn around at all as he reached forward and flung it to the lion like a Frisbee. Mark caught it, and then opened to the second page as he skimmed to the lower portion. 'Immediate call-in. Agent compromised and currently under capture.' Mark sat the paper onto the bed as he resumed packing. "I got a flight scheduled from HQ in about two hours, will that be long enough?" Jacob said as he looked at Mark. The cat nodded in agreement as he zipped up the final bag.
Looking up toward the clock on the wall Jacob grumbled and rose from his seat. It was close to two in the morning when they received a call from RF telling them that they were active. IN the situation that they got out of the report, it was found that Veronica and Uroso had been shot down from their helicopter as they were making their way to Lake Erie. Uroso had evaded capture by plunging through the ice of the frozen lake, but Veronica had been knocked unconscious and could not prevent her captors from taking her. "Are you going to be okay?" Mark said as he motioned for the lupine to take his bag. "I should be. I just need to get that de-materialization finished and we'll end all of this mess." Jacob said as he slowly opened the bedroom door.
They quietly crept down the hallway to the staircase, being sure not to step on the third step down since it creaked. As Mark slowly walked down the hallway to the kitchen he glanced over to the painting to the left of the door leading into the study off of the foyer. He slid his claws along the edge of the painting, its edges lightly changing colors. Jacob stood with him shortly and ran his own claw along the upper edge. After doing so, the wall in a series of whipping sounds dropped down and opened in to a hidden pathway. The two descended the stairs that were found shortly from entering, it was wide enough for two to walk side by side. As they descended low ambient lighting flickered on and the gateway behind them in the same fashion as when they entered returned to its original state.
They continued to advance, neither really saying anything that could really be said. As they reached the bottom of the stairs they had come to a cavernous opening with a river running on the edge and lockers on one end. Much of the space had nothing but black covering it, amazement as to what this space held for them. They stopped moving as they waited for something, both just breathing deeply, to see a small flickering light ahead of them. In a flash they rebounded from where they stood and were now standing in the main courtyard of Red Fang headquarters. "About damn time you two!" Uroso exclaimed as he set down a small light-emitting device. "Well it felt like I was going to puke while you were lunging us here!" Mark rebutted as he coughed heavily. Uroso only frowned as he limped toward Jacob and called over two of his assistants, they took their bags as Mark stood up and exhaled. Uroso was covered in bandages, his chest wrapped in gauze, with the pain in his eyes being apparent. "Come," a large ursine wearing black slacks, a partially open white shirt, a loosened tie, and a pair of silver glasses balanced at the end of his snout uttered from the stairs of a large glass building, "There isn't much time left right now." "Douglas, do we have anytime to check into the central bridge?" Jacob asked the large ursine who towered over him.
Douglas continued walking hastily as the smaller furs followed. Along the way furs came running up to him handing him papers that he glanced over and handed back to them after briefly signing them. As they made a left down a second corridor to an elevator, Jacob noticed that he was being led right where he wanted to go. From inside the elevator, up seven floors, down a series of halls, then through another larger door to the open area that was where the lupine had asked to go. The central bridge was an expansive room covered in monitors and the heavy sound of clicking keys. Furs were shouting to one another and carrying papers from one box to another. It was similar to a space shuttle command, but being ten times larger and filling at least a very large amphitheater. "What did you need?" Douglas asked as they made their way to a raised section positioned in mid-air away from the walls, overlooking the amphitheater. "I need all available intelligence with the last of the sittings of Veronica and the fox." Jacob said as he sat at in one of the chairs around a large, wooden carved desk. Mark followed suit as Douglas ran his large paws along the desk were a translucent keyboard appeared on its surface. He furiously pushed the keys to where he reached into one of the drawers and set what looked like a black book onto a small slot in the desk.
After only ten seconds he pulled it out of the slot and handed it to the lupine. "At this time we need to get you down to the hanger and suited." He said in a gruff tone. "That would seem customary." Mark said as he and Jacob rose soon following the bear down the path toward the elevators. Jacob began hastily pushing on the tablet that he was given and sliding his claws along the screen to view its information. "As you can see the list of possibilities for where she could be would be hard to put down into a single choice. We are going to say that our best choice would be to choose the capital of Brazil." Douglas said as they entered the car. "Mark and I will need to do some gathering while there am I correct?" The lupine said as he continued his search on the tablet. "As would be customary, but we have had enough reconicense we can see about pinpointing the location in the city where we can get her back, and hopefully alive." He said as the car stopped and opened way to a large locker room.
Uroso stood inside surrounded by bags and suitcases that were being emptied or filled under his supervision. Mark and Jacob both took one of the bags labeled with their names on them and continued their walk through, giving a wave to Uroso in hopes to get a smile from him; they succeeded. "Agents will be dispatched along with you when we have found their borough." The bear said as he opened the next door in front of him. It opened into an expansive air hanger filled with many different flying vehicles. The one they would be taking looked like any other standard jet you would see in an airport, the furs scrambling to pull the fuel lines out of its wings and dashing out of the way. "Sir, we just need these signed." A small badger said as he and three others stood with a single clipboard each waiting for him to sign them. "You know you could just have everything electronically signed with a key pass." Jacob said as he glared over to Mark who snickered at the statement. "Well as long as I'm in charge pup things will still be done the old fashioned way." He said as he turned his wrist to each board and scribed his 'John Hancock' on each one. "What's worse is that even after those are signed they get scanned and then burned. So what's your point to that then?" Jacob continued his attack on an old system.
The ursine only turned and furrowed his brow to the lupine. "Get your ass on that plane and get my agent back." Douglas said as he then reached into his shirt and pulled out a small rod and snapped it to the floor where it cracked heavily. This snapped Jacob and Mark to attention side by side. With another crack they saluted Douglas who then used this rod as a cane as he proceeded to the door from which he came, soon chased by more furs handing him papers and tablets similar to the one he gave Jacob. Jacob and Mark then returned to their normal composure and boarded the plane, Mark patting Jacob's shoulder as they boarded.
Veronica coughed as she awoke in a fully white-lit room, the pain from her wounds causing her to scream. She was bonded down to a bed, belt straps wrapped around her body. She looked at herself as her eyes adjusted to the bright light. Gauze was wrapped around her wear she had been shot or wounded and she had needles driven under her skin to her veins including cables stuck to her that ran up into the ceiling. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." A voice said as she raised he arms to undo the straps. "Why the hell not?" The lupine said in a threatening tone. "Case you may not want to raise quiet yet since you are in no shape to move." The mysterious voice said as she sighed. She sat in thought as she pondered how she could escape. Looking around the room she could not see a door or a window. In fact she couldn't even see the edges of the room; it was as if the room had no particular set space in which it was.
"She's awake now sir." A voice said as he looked over toward a black canine seated behind him from behind the glass that viewed into the room where Veronica was. The room was only dimly lit, the majority of the light coming from the monitors. "Good... Once she's able to stand her nightmare will begin." The dog said as he removed his jacket from the chair and walked out of the room remaining in the shadows.
Wolfe awoke as the sun began to trickle into the room. He sighed as he stretched and then realized that someone else was in his bed. Looking underneath the covers he saw the fox. Alex was curled into the bed with a pillow under his head, his ears perking as he could hear the wolf giggling. "What are you laughing at?" Alex said as he groggily opened his eyes to look at the wolf. "Nothing... Just seeing how cute you are." The lupine said as he grabbed hold of the fox and pulled him on top of himself. Their naked bodies were warm against one another as they stared into each other's eyes. Wolfe smiled as he kissed Alex passionately. They giggled as they then rolled in the sheets, falling to the floor in the process. "So what now?" Alex said as he pinned Wolfe to the ground. "I'm hungry." Wolfe said as he soon lifted himself and Alex from the ground. Alex grinned as he admired the wolf's strength. Wolfe stretched once again and scratched his head and looked around the room. Alex yawned and threw the sheets on top of the bed; he then grabbed the lupine by the paw and pulled him into the bathroom. "How do you turn this on?" The fox said as he looked into the shower and gave a puzzled look at it, there being no levers to turn on the water. Wolfe ran his paw along the wall where light flashed and lit up, he pushed the different colors till the water came on. "Ah... how fancy. Come, let's get in." Alex said as he tugged the wolf into the cascading sluice.
They bathed one another, laughing as they poked and prodded at each other's bodies. Once finished Wolfe turned off the water and stepped out. Reaching into a linen closet and fishing out two towels. Stepping out of the bathroom they walked over to the lupine's closet and put some clothing on. Alex wasn't that much shorter than Wolfe and fit into many of his clothes. It wasn't out of custom for Alex to wear the wolf's clothing. They dried the rest of their fur and tossed the towels into a laundry hamper before opening the door to the hall. Just as they got to the stairs Scott and Jessica were laughing as they watched the television below. "Oh god, I can't believe he did that!" Scott exclaimed as he laughed himself to tears. "That's so ridiculous." Jessica said as she wiped a tear from her eyes. The two were watching some reality show on the television as Wolfe and Alex entered the room. "Morning sunshine's! We're hungry!" Jessica said as she smiled to them. "Yeah we were waiting for Mark but they left a note on the table saying they had to go somewhere." Scott said as he handed the note over to Wolfe.
Wolfe let out a sigh after he read it and looked over to Alex. The vulpine just smiled and squeezed his paws to that of his mate's. "Well if you guys are hungry I guess I have to feed all you critters." Wolfe said as he turned to the kitchen. The remaining three chuckled and followed into the kitchen with him as they went to help.
Steve sent Alex a text message when he got the call in. He was sure to say goodbye to Karen as he left. "When will you be back?" Karen said before Steve could open the door. "Hopefully soon in a few days. I have to go meet Jacob when he gets there and go over the final plans I got from the field." Steve said as he looked back at his wife. She sighed as she nodded her head. He returned to her planting another tender kiss to her. "Don't worry. Uroso is setting up a new place for us that should be a bit more secure. It's going to be up near where Jacob is so it'll be a huge step up." He said as he advanced to the door once more. "I'm not worried about where we live, I'm just worried about Wolfe. Jesus, Jacob could die at this rate." She said as she picked up the folder and she sat on the edge of couch. "We don't need to worry. He's got Mark and that should be plenty." He said as he looked down to the ground. "We'll have to hope that since that fur is looking for him he doesn't go anywhere near there home." She said as she looked at the floor plans of the Escada estate. "There isn't a thing to worry about. That building is the work of countless of draw ups that I personally did. There isn't a single way in or out if it comes to it." The fox said as he smiled. "Well hopefully nothing ever comes to that." She said as she placed the folder on the couch. "Be sure to get the scans to Department 82, they requested an update on current reports of the area." Steve said as he grabbed hold of the handle. Karen just nodded and smiled as Steve left through the door, reaching for a cane that hung on a hook nearby. She sighed and walked over to the kitchen counter and opened her laptop, resuming her work.
As they finished eating their meals in the living room, Wolfe reached for the remote and changed it over to a news channel to get the weather. 'It looks like we got reports of diminishing snowstorms throughout the state. It's looking at being very cloudy but it shouldn't be snowing for the next few days." The reporter said as they went to the weather reporter. "Well that's a relief, I wanted to play in the snow today." Alex said as he jumped up and started gathering the finished plates. "Sounds like a plan to me. Think we could go do some shopping today Wolfe?" Scott said with a grin. Wolfe caught the grin and nodded as well. Jessica caught on and then got up to help Alex.
With having stopped by Jessica, Scott, and Alex's house before setting off this gray morning to the mall, the four of them had thrown their combined snow gear into the trunk of Wolfe's car. "So what are we gonna buy?" Alex said as he turned to the wolf. "I don't know, a lot of my old snow gear wont fit me now so I guess that is one thing I need to get." The lupine said as he continued driving. "Okay, well then at least we have purpose." The fox said as he adjusted the heater in the control panel. Scott and Jessica just smiled into the rearview mirror as Wolfe glanced into it.
Pulling into the large parking lot, they were surprised to see that it was full of cars. "I guess even snowfall like the last few days will not stop furs from getting some Christmas shopping done." Jessica said as she turned her head to view the rows of cars that seemed to never end. Pulling into a parking spot looked over to Scott and met him eye to eye. Scott was very good at picking up messages from the lupine; they had done so for years. Ejecting themselves from the vehicle they all turned toward the entrance and moved toward its heavily decorated doors. "Wolfe, why don't you and Jessica go and check out some snow gear upstairs while me and Alex go look at snow gear down here?" Scott said as he pulled Alex away from the lupine. Alex looked at the wolf in fear, but relaxed as he saw the look of easiness in his eyes. Alex didn't want to live through the events that happened back in September when he asked for Scott's help with finding clothes. "That's a good idea." Alex said as he willing let the panther tug his arm. " Let's meet in the food court in about an hour. That good?" Jessica said as she looked for an agreement from the others. They nodded and began to walk away from one another, Scott and Alex toward the north while Wolfe and Jessica proceeded up the escalators.
"That was easy." She said as she wrapped an arm in with Wolfe's. "Yeah it was. Come on, I know what I'm going to get him for his birthday." The lupine said as he walked casually with Jessica toward a jewelry store. The store he chose was large with many glass cases lining as much of the store as possible. They walked along the cases until Wolfe stopped in his tracks and stared deeply in to the case. He fished in to his jacket and pulled out a small folded piece of paper with a printed image on it. "That one right there. Next to the golden one." The lupine said as he stood up and looked around for an attendant. "Wow... That's definitely cool." Jessica said as she stood up with him. "How may I help you?" Said a small opossum from behind the counter. "Can I see that one there?" Wolfe said as he pointed through the glass. "Ah... the tungsten-titanium blended band, an excellent choice. Are you getting new wedding bends?" The opossum said as he looked up toward the fox.
Jessica went red as she glared down angrily at the small fur that was helping them. "I believe you are mistaken sir. This is not my husband, I'm not even his type if you catch my drift." She said as she elbowed Wolfe in the gut. "Yeah..." Wolfe said as he recoiled from the blow, "This is for someone really important to me, but unfortunately not her." The opossum continued to smile as Wolfe handed back the ring to him and turned the sheet of paper over that had a few notes written upon it. "So will you be making a purchase today?" The fur said as he looked up to the canine. Wolfe nodded and handed the opossum the paper he held. "... Size eleven... and you wish to have this engraved?" He said as he opened a cabinet and pulled out the corresponding ring style and size. "Yes sir that would be best." The lupine said as he pulled out his credit card to pay. The opossum rang Wolfe up as Jessica looked at some large diamond rings in a case near where they stood. "Alright now son. This will be ready for pickup in twenty minutes so feel free to do some shopping and stop by after then. Have a great day." The fur said as he waved goodbye to the two as they left the store.
"So what are you having engraved into the ring?" Jessica said as they went into the snow gear store nearby. "With everything eternal and forever lasting." Wolfe said as he moved to the jackets.
Alex and Scott continued looking around the store they were in as they waited for an hour to pass. "Think he would like this scarf?" Alex asked as he held up a solid black scarf with red and white lines running through it. "I would think so. He loves red after all." The panther said as he smiled to the fox. "So then I'll get it." Alex said as he grabbed the set of matching gloves that was hanging next to the scarves. Scott smiled warmly as he walked with the fox to the counter. He admired Alex, primarily cause he really cared for his friend. Scott always kept an eye on the vulpine for obvious reasons. But, since Alex gave no real need to have the panther question his motives, he has been letting his guard down when it came to Wolfe's well being. "That will be $27.78 sir." Said a pleasant young tiger from behind the counter. "Oh stop, you know me from school." He said as he handed him his debit card. "It doesn't matter, your still the customer, plus I want my promotion to assistant manager to come soon." He said as he took the card from Alex and ran it along the screen and pushed the keys along. Scott looked at the tiger as he looked back to the fox. The tiger handed the receipt to the fox and slipped the scarf in to a bag.
"See you after the holiday Thomas!" Alex said as he and Scott left the store. Scott sighed as he looked at his watch and realized the time. "Whoa, time flies fast." He said as he showed the fox his watch. "Damn, we better hurry." Alex said as he started to trot to the food court. They rounded a corner when Alex bumped right into Wolfe with a loud thud. The two fell onto their backs as Jessica and Scott stood, trying not to break into laughter. Wolfe looked down as he quickly gripped his chest and felt the inside of his jacket pocket. It was safe. "Ouch... that really hurt." Alex said as he rubbed his forehead and looked up. He met eyes with the lupine that stared at him with those mysterious blue eyes. "Looks like we should both keep our eyes peeled around corners." Wolfe said as he stood up and extended his paw to the fox. Alex smiled at him as he gathered the bags that had fallen to the ground. Scott and Jessica just giggled. It seemed that even though Wolfe and Alex were now an item they treated each other like strangers with their shyness. With everyone back in a vertical position and bags back in tow, they began to walk toward the food court. "I'm hungry..." Wolfe said as he began to lick his chops. "When are you not Wolfe?" Scott exclaimed as they all began to laugh.
Jacob looked out the window while they sat in the expansive cabin of the jet. Inside were many small and large computer screens with furs typing and accessing information. Jacob turned and stood from his seat walking to a standing piece of glass with images on it. He tapped his claw on one of the minimized windows on the screen and it opened. Inside he found diagrams of buildings, one in particular that had blueprints scattered on the screen. "So what do you think?" Mark asked as he stood next to Jacob as he flipped through a stapled packet. "Well this location seems probable," the lupine said as he slid the blueprints in front of him, "but we need to get inside the building in order to get an idea of how to get in." "That can be easily fixed." Mark said as Steve walked toward them. "Hey Steve, so do we have any idea on it?" Jacob said as they moved to a small table by the screen. "Yes, it appears that the plans we got from the field show there is four floors of the building underground inaccessible by those who don't even know they're there." He said with confidence. "So we have our selves a underground facility then..." Mark said as he looked over a resonance image showing what appeared to be five more levels.
Steve got up from his seat and went over to the screen and flashed a small card over it. The plans they were looking over were now on the screen. Steve was a white fox with many black highlights through his fur; he wore a suit as customary and a small frame of glasses. He had aged significantly over the years and had required a cane since a few years ago from a gunshot wound. "Jacob will be disguised as guards who currently have access to these levels. We have captured him and stolen the IDs so you can slip in. You will need to use the updated changer so that way you can be as close to resemblance to him. They'll be part of your gear." He said as he slid over a window showing the device. "Well it's smaller than the last ones." Mark said as he adjusted in his seat. "They're definitely an improvement from five years ago." The fox said as he resumed his explanation of how they would be entering. "Mark, you'll provide extra support from within the building as if you were on business. It's already been arranged that you have an appointment with one of the firms in the building." The fox said as he continued moving items on the screen. Jacob nodded in agreement as he stood up from his seat and fished out his lighter and a pack of cigarettes. Lighting the cylinder of tobacco he continued listening, absorbing as much as he could. 'Lets just hope Veronica's still there when we get there.'
Veronica spat up the blood that had pooled in her mouth from the punch. "You sure are a spunky one," said a large Bengal tiger as he popped his knuckles, "but the boss said to make sure you know that you're going to talk if you like it or not." She coughed as she finished spitting up the wretched taste of iron from her maw. The tiger had been beating her for only a few minutes, his strength being apparent, and she didn't know how much more she could take. The tiger reached for her and grabbed her by the scruff of her neck. "You going to talk mutt?" He said in a threatening voice. She said nothing, her eyes piercing into his to say that she would still not say a word. The tiger said nothing but threw her to the ground, a scream of pain eliciting from her gullet. "I'm not going to waste my time then. I'm not going to be the one you should worry about." He said as he walked away. Veronica tried to get up, but to no avail. Her body was killing her, the pain causing her to pass out.
The tiger moved into the observation room where he stood by the Doberman that was in charge. "No success?" The dog said as he looked up to the cat. "None sir. She's persistent. Should we just use the serum to make her speak?" The cat said as he wiped the blood from his paw on a towel. "I feel it will be necessary, we'll also send in Xavier to finish it once he gets that ridiculous silver out of his coat from the poisoning." The dog grumbled. The tiger grunted, "Well with how much black matter he has absorbed its not going to be long before it kills him. It's causing... things to happen to him." He said as he threw the towel into a biohazard container. "That's just it. If we can get her to talk we'll have what we need to not need to expose ourselves to those effects. I need to find where that wolf is." The Doberman said as he stood. In the light he stood in it was apparent that he was not one to be trifled with. He was built very soundly, a physique that was aged but still ready to fight. He stared through the glass as he pressed a button on the keyboard to cause a buzzing sound. When he did so, two furs soon entered the room where Veronica was and advanced to pick her up and return her to the gurney that she had been lying on before. They bandaged her up and hooked up the various tubes and cables back to her.
The dog turned to the tiger and stared in a manner that looked as if he was to pull the cats sole out through his chest. "Get Xavier up here in the next 10 hours and get that bitch to tell me what I want to know." He said as he shoved the tiger out of his way and wrenched the door open to a hall the room was attached to. The tiger just stood silent as he too followed through the same door and went to an elevator down the hall.
"Lets get this place packed up!" Steve exclaimed as he finished putting the various papers he had back into the drawers of the table, which began to make small whishing sounds. It then sunk into the floor as if it had never existed as much portions of the cabin began to change. As seats rose from the ground, Jacob walked to the front the plane with Mark as they waited for everything to finish. "So it looks like we should now have a good idea of what to do." Mark said as he looked over to the wolf. Nodding in agreement, Jacob turned his attention to Steve who grabbed hold of him as the plane shook. "We're beginning our descent, please return to your seats and buckle your belts." The pilot said over the intercom. All of the furs on the plane that were busy managing computers had changed into disguises as passengers or attendants. Steve took a seat in one of the middle rows, Jacob and Mark following suit as the plane came back to the ground.
The plane landed roughly on the tarmac, the vehicle trembling with the disturbance of the sudden change in speed. As they came to a taxiing speed they unbuckled their belts, many of the furs now taking on Portuguese as their "native" tongue. As they slowly advanced to the gate terminal, the pilot thanked them for their flight as the stewards by the front opened the door. Steve stood up as he used his cane to assist himself and reached for his jacket and bag in the overhead compartment. "Mighty fine snow weather out their I would say." He said as he followed the two furs through the gate. "Yes it would be." Jacob said as he opened his bag and fished out his glasses.
Saying goodbye to Steve they continued to the exit of the expansive airport. They continued to the central lobby and waited for a limousine to arrive. "Ah, here we are." Mark said as a familiar figure exited one of the vehicles and flashed them a wave of his hoof. Thomas stood with the door open as they proceeded smiling to them. "Nice to see you again." He said as he let the two enter before him. Climbing into the spacious interior, Mark pulled out his cell phone and began to fiddle with it. Jacob pulled out the black tablet he was given and began to flip through it. They were going into the heart of the city to a hotel that was only a few blocks from the building that hopefully held Veronica. "Do we have a drop for gear?" Jacob said as he looked toward the swine. They're in the trunk. Everything you should need is there." He said as he handed the wolf a sheet of paper from inside his front pocket. Jacob examined the list and nodded in his agreement of what they were given.
Pulling into the hotel parking lot, the swine held his hoof up to keep them from rising. "Be aware that no move is to be made until we get the all clear. Stay in your room until we establish an alibi and have your intrusion time set." Thomas said as he glared at Jacob. "Yes sir." The lupine said as he slipped the black book into his bag and reached for his own phone and called a random number. His phone's screen flashed and generated a generic call, a setup mock call to keep his disguise set. Mark did the same with his as the swine opened the door and pressed a small switch on the doors panel. Both of the furs immediately started to speak as if they were on call with business while Thomas flagged over a bellboy to get their bags. They advanced to the front desk where Mark gave the lizard behind the counter a last name. For ten minutes they put up the facade they were on important business until Jacob shooed away the bellboy. As soon as the tumblers were locked they both just set their phones down on the table by the door and let them boot out of the program that was running on them. "God damn this is ridiculous!" Jacob exclaimed as he threw his bag to the couch in their suite. "Yes, I know what you mean." The lion said as he followed Jacob as he stomped around the room looking for the mini-bar. Jacob angrily picked up all of the small snacks he wanted and sat on the floor by the window. Mark just frowned as he picked up the case that was brought up and pushed in the locking mechanism. The large case sprung open and revealed its contents of guns, clothes, papers with diagrams and instructions, and other small devices.
"Jacob, we have an hour till it gets to the evening." Mark said as he picked up the black tablet and saw the new message. "Well then I guess I should get this gear stored in." The lupine said as he picked up a small flat black device from the case. They laid the gear out on the floor of the room in rows. Jacob then took the black device and ran his claw against its smooth surface causing a small screen to appear. He pushed a few times on it and it started to glow. One by one the items they had laid out disappeared. "All uploaded?" Mark said as he checked for anything else on the floor. "Nope, we should be all set." The lupine said as he went to one of their bags and unzipped it. He reached in and pulled out two suits, handing one to the lion. They changed into them, both being silent as they did so. Once finished changing they closed up the bags they had opened and tucked everything away. Reaching for a briefcase that was sitting on the couch, the wolf filled it with random work folders and papers. Being satisfied, they sat down on the couch and sat once more as Jacob held the black tablet in his paws and waited for a new message
An hour went by until the tablet flashed on. "Show time." Jacob said as he rose from his seat and grabbed the briefcase in his paw. "Yes sir." Mark said as he retrieved their phones, sipping his into his pocket. Jacob activated the program on his phone again and began his "conversation" once more. Jacob picked up the tablet and the small black object with the gear and put them inside Jacob's jacket. Before going out the door, the wolf put his phone down to his side for a moment and pulled Mark in for a kiss. Mark met the wolf as they passionately kissed, the emotion being strong. They broke apart, the cat turning the doorknob while the wolf resumed his conversation. They proceeded to the lobby, through the doors, and to the curb. The lion flagged a cab, then opened the door for Jacob and climbed in before giving the driver directions to where they needed to go.
Wolfe and Alex came back with the food that they all so much desired. "Finally, I'm starving." The panther said as he eyed the burger that was just for him. "Hold your horses." Alex said as he set the tray down and sat next to the wolf. They sat together and began eating, smiling and conversing lightly. "So what are you doing for your birthday Alex?" Jessica said as she finished sipping her soda. Wolfe coughed as he was surprised by her question. "I don't know yet, I haven't got any plans made." The fox said as he continued eating. "Well be sure not to make any plans the weekend of it, okay?" Scott said as he grinned to the lupine. "Uh... okay. I'll be sure not to." The fox said as he then smiled and turned to Wolfe. Wolfe just continued to eat and avoid looking at the fox. Alex then jabbed him in the gut and smiled to Jessica who only giggled. They all broke into laughter as the lupine rubbed his side and scowled over to the fox after swallowing. "Oh, put on a happy face." The vulpine said as he took his paws and moved the wolf's face into a smile. They all smiled as Wolfe perked his ears back and growled at the fox. "You know I always smile with you around." Wolfe said to the fox and then held his own specific smile. Alex just smiled.
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Until next time, Chapter 10 - Inside the Black Smoke.
Wolfe Dimitrivich Escada
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All characters, structure, scenario, and plot © 2010, 2013 Wolfe Dimitrivich Escada aka XenialShadow
All artists, music, brand names, company names, slogans, registers, and trademarks are copyright to their respective entities and used only to enhance the story.
The majority of the story is purely fictitious and is not to be taken into account in the event of coincidental reality.
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