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The reading did not make any sense.

Seward had to check the scanner again, even going so far as to hit it to make sure that it was working.Damn thing. He looked up at the sealed door, then back down at the scanner. Unless he was deeply mistaken and/or something had gone wrong, there was a definite energy spike that had not been there before.

He had been walking the halls intending to explore more of the station today, at least a more cursory glance before he could see what he could restore on his own. Then his scanner started acting oddly, reacting to... whatever this was. Seward's logical mind rejected the premise of some kind of phantom energy, since he'd gone over this hallway meticulously. The only difference between then and now was...

Shaking his head, the old snow rabbit tried to recalibrate the old scanner. It's possible it was picking up something else entirely, but regardless he still had a mind to drag over the Reverie's engineering head to figure out exactly what he was picking up. Again he looked up at the sealed door. "What are you hiding...?"

--**--

"Alright, so... how did you end up with glass in your elbow, again?" Barrow looked up at Advent, putting the clippers down and picking up a pair of tweezers.

"I told you," the jaguar replied, holding her arm still. "I was going exploring, got trapped in a room where the door closed behind me. I found the emergency exit button and bashed open the case with my elbow before I was able to call for help."

"Mm."

"Can't you just read my mind?" she went on, sarcasm dripping from her words.

Barrow held back his first, snarky response, and decided to reply with honesty. "Funny thing about that," he began, dropping another shard into a tray. "I am probing your head because that's kinda how I do my medical practice, but whenever I try and seek answers as to how you injured yourself, I run into that mental wall of yours. Very specific. Anything having to do with the layout and where you've been in Redwing station is under that lock and key. So I can't verify the veracity of your words."

"Why does it matter to you where I was and what I was doing?"

"Well, it would help me determine what I would need to do in order to prevent this sort of thing from happening again. If, say, you were instead... roughhousing with Herky--"

"I wasn't with him."

Barrow's ear twitched slightly, and he stopped from extracting yet another shard to expend the mental energy needed to chase down the truth. "No. You weren't."Advent stiffened."Though he was, indirectly, a cause of your injury." The shard came out to clatter on the metal tray. "You should really let him go."

"I don't have much of a choice, do I?"

Briefly, the bat glanced up at Advent, though she wasn't looking at him. Another ear twitch, and he spoke. "Not really, no. I suppose you could wish for the demise of the relationship he has but that seems mean-spirited, don't you think?" Without an answer, he straightened up and grabbed the sub-dermal applicator. "Okay, lemme just patch you up."

Barrow was through making sure there was no more bleeding when someone came into the infirmary."I'll be with you in a moment," he said while repairing Advent's elbow. Instead of a response, there was cabinets opening and stuff being shoved around violently. He turned, ready to be angry when he saw Sheila rifling through his supplies. "E-excuse me!"

Sheila stopped and half-turned to him, holding her arm. "What?"

"I could ask you the same thing. If you need to find something, you could just ask me and you wouldn't have to go through here like a wrecking ball!"

"I need a splint."

"For w-- what happened to you? Are you hurt?"With a quick apology to the jaguar, Barrow advanced on Sheila and the arm she was cradling to her chest."Let me see."

"You're busy," she said, ears going back.

Barrow grabbed her wrist and turned her toward him. "What happened to your paw?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes."Barrow glared up at her."I need to know not only that you injured yourself, but how you injured yourself. My job, Sheila, is to make sure that everyfur is as healthy as possible, and I have the power to remove you from your duties until you are well.Now what happened to your paw?"

The two stared at each other for a second or two. "I was sparring. Some of the security people from Reverie came over. Jale was his name. I knocked him flat with a few kicks. Is that good enough for you?"

Barrow sighed and let go of her. "Yes. Take a seat. And hold out your paw, please." Sheila obeyed, and he looked it over. "You just dislocated your thumb. Pretty badly but... hold on. This might hurt, but try and relax."Gently handling the digit, he pulled it back into place, eyes narrowed as he did so. Sheila didn't make a sound. "Can you move it?" She did, Barrow studying her face. Aside of a small wince, there was nothing. "Here, put this on," he told her, handing her a small cast. "You should be able to do just about anything you need to with that, but I want you to come back in about 24 hours so that I can check it again. You should be fine, though. Do you want some pills for the pain?"

"Pills? Really?" Sheila said.

"Yes, really.We're low on just about everything else except the basics, so you're going to have to deal with it until the Reverie finishes unloading. It's not like this is serious enough to necessitate anything else more advanced anyway. You'll be fine."

Sheila sat up and flexed her paw. Barrow saw a small wince but nothing else. "Thanks," she said and left the room without another word.

Barrow twitched, then took a deep breath. "She usually like that?" Advent asked, her tailtip twitching.

The bat looked over, frowning. Finally he shrugged."No. She's just frustrated."

"I thought you were taking care of that."

Barrow made a face."Like I said, we're low on medical supplies."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

He went to her then, gesturing for her to hold out her arm. When she did, he started to apply the sub-dermal to her. "What do you know about bat physiology?"

"You all have mental powers."

"About what I thought." Sighing, Barrow resumed with the sub-dermal. "So, Sheila shows up at my room last night, drunk and wanting to have sex. I tell her no because I'm getting really bad headaches."

"The sex is that bad, huh?" Advent interrupted. Barrow missed what had to be a smirk on her face.

"No. Actually, the sex is great. The problem is that bats have this thing that nature screwed us with, which is an instinctual need to bite."

"So you're just kinky?"

Again, Barrow swallowed his first response. They can't know better if you don't teach them, he told himself."Not quite. It creates a mental, temporary symbiosis. You share thoughts, feelings, some memories."

"Share?"

There was plenty of skepticism, but was that just the tiniest bit of interest coming from her?"Yeah." And then Barrow took it a step further."Sleeping with a bat is the best sex you are ever going to have, because you feel both."

"Both what?"

"Furs, orgasms, whatever."

"Really, now?"The bat could hear the purr on her voice, even as he finished up with the sub-dermal.

"Yep," he said, wiping away a bit of residue. "Why, you wanna fuck?" Instantly, he felt her thoughts seize on the idea, as well as all the myriad reasons why she might want to, which surprised him. "Wait, you wanna fuck?" asked the bat, looking up at her.

Her head was lowered just so, a purr gently coming from her. "I want to give you some relief," she clarified."Poor bat... Sheila isn't giving you the kind of thing that you need, is she?" A paw came to rest on his thigh, gently squeezing.

The funny thing was that Barrow could see right through her. Though there was and apparently had been some genuine interest in him, mostly Advent wanted to get back at Sheila for some past history he didn't care to delve into. And yet... "You're serious?"

"You know I am."And she was. The jaguar didn't need to slide her paw to trace over his suddenly stiff pants, but she did.

"You're... okay with me biting?" It was absolutely an atrocious idea, but...

Advent leaned in, the purring growing louder. "Oh, I want you to bite me." She nuzzled him briefly. "Prey might get squeamish with teeth, but predators know how to play rough."

The bat shivered and swallowed. Terrible idea.Horrendous idea... "N-not here. Meet me... meet me at my room. Gimme 20 minutes."

"You won't regret it," she promised, and nipped at his ear. "See you soon." And she was off, leaving Barrow to adjust his pants.

--**--

That the door was locked was a minor annoyance to Sheila. This old station had its quirks, and one of them was sometimes the doors would lock automatically. While she entered her command code to open the doors again, she made a mental note to address Seward about this.

And then the door opened, and Sheila decided not to report it.

Within, Commander Graham and Ambassador Annika were quite... engrossed with one another. Though it was common knowledge that the two had been mated, nobody as of yet had caught them mating.

Until now.

Graham looked up from where he was nuzzling Annika, his eyes lighting up in surprise."Oh! Sheila... come in... give me.. one moment..."Then the snow rabbit grabbed Annika's rump, drawing a gasp. His hips sped up and he rutted the doe, who had her claws dragging down the commander's desk. Sheila stepped into the commander's room as he bit down on Annika's neck, the latter snow rabbit gasping and bucking backward. It lasted only a few moments before Sheila could smell Graham going over, injecting a bit more of his scent into the already heady cocktail.

"...I can come back, sir," Sheila said, already taking a step back.

"It's fine!" Annika said, clearing her throat. She raised herself off the desk, letting her breasts hang before they were covered by Graham's paws. He mashed them into her body, fingers pressing into her fur and flesh as their hips finally went quiet and disengaged. The two kissed, unabashedly, for a few moments more before Graham sat back on the captain's chair, and Annika lay forward on her arms. "Can we help you?"

"Yes... well.I'm here to give Commander Graham a report on the restoration of Redwing Station."

"Oh, right," said Graham. "My apologies.I was counting on your usual punctuality and then, well... Annika felt it necessary to express her love."One snow rabbit looked at the other with matching expressions.

She straightened up and kissed Graham on his cheek. "It is my fault," she said to Sheila. "I had anticipated some time with the commander earlier, not knowing that you were set to bring that." She turned to Graham then.

"I forgot to tell her," he said, nodding to Annika. The two shared a look again, which made Sheila feel uncomfortable.

She cleared her throat."Sorry, but I just... here." The hare approached the desk and offered the pad with the report on it, which Graham took.

"What happened to your paw?" Annika asked, shifting to lean on an elbow and gesturing to the cast.

Sheila kept looking at a point above Graham's head, coming to attention. "Dislocated thumb, ma'am. It was why I was late; I stopped by the infirmary."

Graham was looking through the report. "We're up to 57% explored?"

"Aye, sir, with 44% powered. Also, on the last page, Seward said he found some unusual energy source. I'm going to investigate with him after I leave here."

"Indeed. Keep me up to date, Lieutenant.Dismissed."

As the doors closed behind her, Sheila let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. It wasn't that the smell in there was offensive, it was just... uncomfortable. Graham and Annika were just so... open with themselves, and with each other.Maybe... maybe Barrow...

She shook her head and took another breath. She didn't have time for this. She had work to do, and set out for the armory.

--**--

They still had some azure wine from some of the initial stores. Barrow had appropriated a bottle for his use, but when he went to open the door, he didn't think that he'd have the opportunity to.

When he let Advent in, she was on top of him, bearing him to the ground and kissing him passionately.Sheila didn't even let him do that, and the change was refreshing. The door had closed behind them while he slid his paws over her sides and back, but found she was already taking off her shirt. A break in the kiss had her without her top, followed by more urgent, impassioned kissing. Her tongue pushed into his mouth, licking at the fangs, and it made him shiver.

Barrow took this opportunity to explore the jaguar's body. Her breasts were bigger than Sheila's, and maybe a bit more responsive; he wasn't able to adequately compare them since most times that would lead to biting and the hare would have none of that. Still, Advent actively encouraged him, both by her body language and her mental commentary, which was filled with absolutely filthy thoughts about what she wanted to do and it skewed slightly violent. He was in for a ride.

She finally let him up, a paw going right to his groin, squeezing at him. The bat caught a comparison to Herkimer that was squashed before she went at his neck. First it was her tongue, the slight roughness making it seem as if she were cleaning him, and then came the bite. Barrow's eyes rolled upward as he pushed into her embrace, finding himself out in the open and his pants yanked downward. He was hard and very ready, and he had a clue as to how hard she was going to ride him. Apparently it had been a while for her, too.

He regained some measure of control after she let up the bite, and he pushed at her shoulder. They kissed again, separating as they got up and she held his pants down. He stepped out of them, catching an approving thought (and another comparison to Herkimer, with the bat being superior) before he pushed her to the bed, paws on her breasts. Those big thumbs came into play, batting around her nipples, since Advent apparently had lost her bra in between the infirmary and now. The expression she gave him was positively smoldering, and her legs came around, pulling him further in. With a small gasp, they slid against one another, and it was no accident that she was wet.

Advent didn't give him the chance to slide in. She pushed, and he ended up on the bed again, slightly winded with her nails pressing into his shoulders. The sound of their intimate portions grinding against one another was the track by which she stared at him, and he felt that first burst of fear that fouled and complimented his arousal. The jaguar saw that fear and grinned a wicked grin, adjusting and impaling herself on him in one stroke.

They both reacted at that, the bat's paws grabbing onto her hips even as her claws bit into his shoulders.They stayed like that for a moment before she was stirring him within her, shifting back and forth and in circles, making him grunt. Then she rose and came down, lowering her chest and riding him in earnest.The two came together again and again, the jaguar gradually pushing Barrow's arms out and holding them away from his body, asserting herself.

Barrow allowed this for a time, too caught up in the wonderful feeling washing over him before the psychic energies started to build up once again. Freeing an arm, he grabbed her by her neck and pulled her down.Advent was drawn from her own pleasure, saw what he was doing, and stretched out her neck. Even her thoughts were welcoming it as she kept going with barely a hitch in the progress. Still...

"This won't hurt," he managed, "but... it's gonna be... intense."

"I can take it," she snarled. "Do it!"

The bat pulled her head down further, thrusting upward into the jaguar's body, licking over her neck."C'mon," she said, gasping as her claws poked into the mattress. "Do it, blueberry. Do it!"

So he did.

The bite was smooth, and instantly that psychic energy found an outlet. It only took a moment, a half a breath before it spread into her body, looping around to rock back into him. He was hit with the feed and the circuit was established. A moment after that came the physical.Almost as if overlaid with his own, he felt her body, her pulsing heart, blood racing through her, trying to clot at the site of the puncture but being defeated by the anti-coagulants.Moreover, Barrow felt himself piercing her lower, even as her body continued on autopilot for another moment.

Is that it? was the thought that dominated her mind. Well that wasn't anything to worry about! It didn't even hurt at all, though I have to figure out how he di-- what in the... oh! Is... is this what a male feels...? It's all... Advent's thoughts ran through his brain, able to pluck them freely, with no more effort than what it took to breathe. Just as easily, he brushed that aside even as he felt her convulse from a sudden telepathic awakening. He knew what he was doing, and let the last wave wash over him.

The images were incoherent at first. Advent when she was small, then bigger, standing on an asteroid in a suit, looking at something.Then she was fighting, ducking and dashing for cover, shooting her phase rifle while moving to other cover.Heated arguments with a wolf he barely recognized as Pyro, then her growling as a ship was seen at a site her crew had planned to raid. She had clawed her way up the chain of command... then the top. Then wasps, buzzing angrily, destroying everything, the jaguar barely escaping with her life.Federation prison for high crimes, and then somebody coming back to her with a deal. Freedom. Then--

Climax, sudden and sweet, dominated everything. It blasted through their bodies, the two feeling as one great, writhing beast as she-he came into her-him and onto him-her with the two feeding into each other, looping again and again as their bodies worked themselves into exhaustion, unable to find out who grabbed who's hip, and who moved whose head, and who--

Advent screamed, tearing herself away from Barrow. The movement was so violent as to open up the bite more even as she withdrew from him. Her arms windmilled, and she fell onto the floor. Her tail lashed as she scrambled, unable to properly ascertain which limb was which and lumbering in any direction so long as it was away from the bat. Barrow sat up, groaning and tasting blood. It was disorienting at first, but then he was able to focus in on the jaguar huddling in a corner near his closet. "Are you okay?" he asked. She didn't respond. "Advent, can you hear me?"

She didn't say anything for a while, trembling, lashing tail smacking against the wall, the floor, anything and everything. Finally, she calmed herself down enough to look at him. "What. The fuck. Was that?" she managed.

Shit. Barrow rolled out of bed, standing up."Advent. Listen to me. It was just a telepathic--"

"WhattheFUCKwasthat?"

It was not going well.The bat lowered his arms."Just calm down and breathe," he said, approaching her slowly. Advent stared at him and kept shaking her head, but he ignored it."Just calm down, you're oka--"

Being a telepath does not help you in a fight unless somebody is already going to lose. The other person would have to be thinking about every move they make, and a good fighter is running on instinct. However, Barrow had learned to recognize tells of a fur about to throw a punch, and was just barely able to escape heavy damage as Advent's paw raked across his snout. It didn't hurt yet, which meant it would hurt soon, so the bat did the thing he probably should have done.

Advent calmed down immediately, blinking up at Barrow. "What--"

"I locked down your emotions," he answered, touching his nose. It was starting to hurt, so maybe it wouldn't be so bad. It didn't seem like it was bleeding, either."You were getting hysterical.Sometimes that happens when furs aren't prepared for the mind link."

"You can do that?"

"I just did.They'll remain like that for at least the next ten to twenty minutes. An hour at most."

The jaguar seemed to process this before speaking again. "You knew that would happen to me."

Barrow blinked."What?"

Advent looked up at him now, her eyes dull. "You knew that would happen. That I wouldn't be able to handle the link. That it was a bad idea to try. You just wanted to get your dick wet."

Shit. She's remembering the things she saw during the mindlink. "W-well it's not like you're really pure yourself, are you?" he returned, lamely

She shook her head."No. We were trying to use each other. I see that now." She shrugged. "I thought I could just put one over on you, but you saw that."There wasn't a question."It's almost kinda funny." Getting up, she started redressing.

He wasn't sure what to do now. Things had gone to shit pretty quickly, and there didn't seem a point to keeping Advent here.So he put on his underwear, ducked into his closet, and raided a medkit for a sub-dermal."Advent."

She looked at him, then the device in his paw. "What's that for?"

"Your shoulder.You're bleeding."

Patching up the wound took only a few minutes. He covered it with a thin bandage while he thought of something to say.Finally: "Word of advice, Advent: The Federation isn't going to give you what you want."

She flinched, but was otherwise impassive. "You really did get inside my head."

"Yeah. I told you I would."

Rolling her shoulder, she brushed off a bit of residue from the sub-dermal. "You know, right up to the point where all that shit happened, it was the best sex I've ever had."

"Thanks, I guess."

"So I'm going to give you a heads-up," she went on, turning. "I'm going to use what I know about you now against you.Maybe even get you thrown off the station if I can."

The bat blinked, his ears going back. "What the hell for?"

"It'll hurt Sheila." At his facial expression, she smirked. "C'mon, Barrow. You've been in my head. You know exactly how petty I can be, don't you?" With that, Advent walked out, leaving the bat to stand there, still holding the sub-dermal.

--**--

"...Three."

The door opened with a hiss, with Sheila covering one side and a wolverine covering the other, both armed with phase rifles. They both advanced inside slowly, the hare going high and scanning what seemed to just be ceiling, no catwalk. Looking at one another, Sheila signaled the wolverine to go forward while she took the left side, as the door they entered through was at a corner of the room. Careful eyes swept through the room, not relying on paw beacons as the dull lights were enough for the both of them to pick out relevant details. Soon, the hare heard a gruff "Clear!" from one side of the room, and she answered with one of her own, lowering the rifle.

Seward stepped in after, followed by a bear. "Ho-lee shit, Seward, you weren't kidding," the bear said. He looked up from his scanner and at the large object in the center of the room. "You don't think this was it, do you? The thing causing these readings?"

"It's hard to tell, Commer," answered the snow rabbit. "The energy levels are so high as to be indistinguishable, but nothing else has the potential to be the source." He looked down at the scanner again, then put it away. "Unless avian technology has a different logic to it."

"Always about logic with you snow rabbits, ain't it?" Commer said, chuckling. "Ah, whatever. 'ey yo, Jale, you see anything you recognize?"

"Neg," the wolverine replied. "I ain't never seen any of this."

"I thought you said you were Reverie's avian expert?" Sheila piped up.

"Hey, I've seen some shit. I ain't ever seen this shit before, though." Jale brushed off a bit of dust from what looked like a control panel."Could probably fetch a pretty profit if'n we haul off some o' these panels."

"You're not touching the panels," warned Seward. "Remember, we're repairing the station, not stripping it and selling it for scrap."

"I was just funnin'..."

"Last time you were 'just funnin'' you got kicked flat on your ass," Sheila remarked, wiping off a thin residue from what seemed to be a monitor. "Is this dust?"

"Maybe," Commer replied. "I mean... seems like it. Has about the same composition of dead skin cells and dander, though there seems to be a lot less of it here than there are in other places."

"Which means that this place wasn't as well trafficked as others," Seward said, picking up from there. "That would stand to reason why it wasn't detected before."

"Why'd ya pass over this room ta begin wit'?" said the wolverine, drawing back a panel of gadgets.

"Scanner said the room was empty." Seward looked up at the large cylinder that dominated the room."When power was restored to this area, it must have activated this. Of course, this is all conjecture; I have no solid evidence of why this room has now made itself known."

"Seward?" Sheila called, drawing the snow rabbit's attention. "What am I looking at?"

The resulting silence made both Commer and Jale look to where Sheila was standing. It was a larger monitor, on which had some kind of script. "When did that activate?" asked the snow rabbit, pulling out his scanner again.

"When I touched it just now," replied the hare. She looked down, then took her paw off the panel. Or at least tried to. "I can't... move...?"

There was something starting up behind the four, with some ancient machinery activating. Whirring seemed to come from the large cylinder, and the lights shot on, flickering as whatever motor was churning gained traction. "What the hell's goin' on?" Jale asked, his short ears pulled back.

Both engineers had their heads in their scanners. "Are you getting these readings, Commer?" Seward asked, flicking through display after display as continued results piled up.

"Yeah, but they ain't makin' any sense. I mean... is this thing some kinda--"

"OW! This... fucking thing pricked me!" Sheila said, her paw still not budging. She watched the blood fall into some kind of collection vial before something was inserted over her paw. "Hey!"

"What the fuck?"Jale rushed over and tried to extract the hare, while the two engineers still tried to make sense of things.

"This has gotta be some kinda battery, but it ain't storin' nothin'...?"

"I'm detecting the motor source, and it's also within the machine... These schematics I'm picking up are highly illogical."

"Hey! You two smartypants need to come over here and help me out!" Sheila screamed, still tugging at her hand.

"Sheila, are you--"

"NO I'M NOT FUCKING OKAY! This thing has got my paw and it's NOT LETTING GO!" Frantically, she started kicking the thing with fevered energy.

"Commer, sending the schematics. There has to be a way to turn off the machine."

"Yeah, but I ain't seein' shit. Who the fuck designed this thing?"

"Sheila, Sheila, stop kickin' the damn thing!" Jale said, inserting his burly body and starting to tug himself. The hare screamed, and stank of fear, which surprised the wolverine more than anything. "Look, just calm down! Augh!"Something shocked Jale, and he let go. Whatever it is continued to shock Sheila.

"This machine is fascinating but we don't know how it works. Sheila, just hold--"

"Oh, fuck all of this!" The wolverine picked up his phase rifle and started shooting. Panels burst as the bolts hit them, and the lights quickly went out. Somewhere along the way the machine started powering down, but Jale didn't stop shooting until Sheila's back barreled into him, knocking him over.

"Sheila!"Seward straightened out and ran over to the hare, who trembled. The old snow rabbit quickly got on the com. "Seward to Sickbay, we're bringing in a patient!"

--**--

"How is she?"

Barrow shrugged."Fine."

Graham blinked."She's fine?"

The two were in Graham's ready room, with the snow rabbit sitting at his desk. The blue bat made a face. "I don't know what happened to her. When Seward and the Reverie furs brought her in she was having seizures, but now... now not a single test is showing anything wrong with her. I can barely find signs that she had the seizures either. She's drinking and eating fine, and is as bitter and joyless as usual."

The snow rabbit paused."That does seem like Sheila." He thought it over for a time, and looked to Barrow again. "Tell me, doctor, did you find anything at the site of her wound?"

"Yeah. Some alien microbes at the cut, but the funny thing about them is that they died shortly after she was delivered to sickbay. I was able to get a snapshot of them and their properties and have run repeated scans to find copies of them, but so far nothing."

"What are your recommendations?"

"I don't know what's wrong with her," the bat reiterated, "if anything.Look, I know we're short-staffed and as much as I would prefer to keep her under observation, I can't think of a legitimate reason other than 'something has to be wrong with her.'If Seward is to be believed, then she suffered an electrical shock for at least 20 seconds, and yet she's showing no outward signs of trauma."

"You doubt Seward's story?"

"Only in that it's fantastic in nature." Barrow shook his head, then nodded at Graham. "You snow rabbits aren't exactly built to lie, but I talked with everybody and read their minds, and they were all telling the truth as they perceived it."

The snow rabbit narrowed his eyes slightly. "Ah yes. I forgot about that ability of yours."

"Well, it's not like I'm hiding it, Graham, because it seems like half the ship has blocks against specifically me!" said the bat, throwing up his arms.

Graham let the bat stew for a bit before speaking again. "Are you well, doctor?"

Barrow started to speak, then sighed. "More or less.Things have been a little rough for me lately."

Graham nodded."As you said, we are short-staffed. While I cannot take Sheila off-duty, I will keep her on half-shifts for the next few days.Is that sufficient?"

"I guess it'll have to do. Hopefully I can figure out what, if anything, is up with her before those visitors arrive."

The snow rabbit blinked, then narrowed his eyes. "That is not common knowledge."

Barrow blinked, then shook his head. "Sorry.Usually I'm more discrete about that. It won't get out if you don't want it to."

"Is that something you do often? Casually skim other's minds?"

"Yeah," Barrow said, "and I'm not about to apologize for it. That same mental ability--"

"--saved us all from the wasps, I know. I am appreciative of your abilities, Barrow. I was simply wondering as to their use and extent."

There was a silence when the two stared at one another, Graham's face remaining impassive."Advent's been here, hasn't she?" the bat asked.

Graham nodded."She told me many things."

"Yeah, well, she's been inside my head, but she's missing the context."

"Undoubtedly."The snow rabbit leaned forward, folding his paws in front of his mouth. "She left quite angry."

"Why?"

There was an odd twinkle in Graham's eye that Barrow couldn't interpret. "I'm not going to kick you out, Barrow. For one, we need you. Secondly, you haven't been quiet about your affiliation with the rogue bats, so it would be safe to assume there were some kind of dubious actions you've been involved in."

"You don't know the half," the bat muttered.

"Be that as it may, some dredging up of your past will not disqualify you for a position here."The rabbit looked off to the side."If it did, then none of us would be here."

"Including you?" the bat asked with a smirk.

Instead, there was a sharp, hard look. "I will respectfully ask you not to burrow into my memories as to why I am here. Or at the very least, do not make public with what you know."

Barrow blinked in surprise."Wh--"

"I do not ask much of you, Barrow. Grant me this."

"Uh... sure, fine, no problem."

Graham visibly relaxed, leaning back against the chair. "I believe that will be all, then."

"W-wait. You're just going to trust me? Just like that?"

"If we cannot trust one another, on this large station at the edge of possibly hostile space, then who can we trust?"

The bat blinked."Good point."

Graham nodded back."Dismissed."

When Barrow left, the snow rabbit heaved a great sigh.

--**--

Sheila woke up suddenly, and immediately bent over, clutching her stomach. She felt hot, almost feverish, and the stomach cramps were vicious. When did she get sick?It took a moment for the cramps to subside after which she started breathing properly. Even now, her body felt off, and she crawled out of her bed, walking gingerly to the bathroom.

There was no waste to dispose of, but she sat on the toilet anyway, willing whatever was in her to pass. After, she leaned against the small sink, staring at herself in the mirror. Gray eyes on gray fur stared back at her, the former seeming wavy from whatever was going on with her. It was the second night of odd dreams and stomach cramps after she had been released from the infirmary, but still not enough in her estimation to go back. Besides, what would Barrow say? Probably prescribe some hypo that would nullify the symptoms.Blinking, she checked her eyes, saw that they weren't especially bloodshot, and went back to bed.

Bed proved to be no refuge, as whatever was going on with her made her feel hot. In a fit of trying to regain comfort, she threw off the covers, then the tank top and panties she typically slept in. It didn't help. Sitting up, she grumbled and looked at the bed. There was a wet spot on the bed. Why was there a wet spot on the bed? The hare checked in between her legs and found herself damp, but the smell wasn't urine. Why the h--

Sheila swore, rolling out of bed and crashing to the ground. The conclusion didn't make any sense, but that might have to do with whatever the hell happened to her when she touched the stupid battery-thing Seward now had under lock and key. Ever since then, she had felt a little off but aside from the odd dreams there had been nothing wrong with her, something that disturbed Barrow while he examined her. But now... now this was serious. For whatever reason, she was in heat.

The panties she pulled on were soaked by the time she yanked on the shirt. Shit. It was bad. Her balance was off, too. She never had a problem with her heat like this, not that she could remember. Unbidden came thoughts of legendary heat periods, where entire warrens were charged to take care of a few females whose heats had synchronized. She also knew that, whatever was going on with her body, it could not be normal... shit.

Stumbling down the hallway, she tried to keep her head focused on finding the doctor's room. She hadn't remembered the last time she fully experienced heat on her own, since there were some amount of times under the wasps that... she didn't care to recall, even if she could. But now her breathing was labored as her body temperature spiked further, and it was all the hare could do to fend off the physical from bleeding into the mental. Sheila closed down her mental shielding as she came closer to Barrow's room, which had the extra effect of improving her focus. She hadn't intended to hide herself from the doctor, but she'd become accustomed to doing so of late. Not that it mattered; soon she was banging on his door and calling his name.

"...the fucking hypos in and already she wants ta fuck. What?" Barrow said, opening the door. But he took one sniff of her, swore, and dragged her in."Okay, let's just get one thing straight right now," he began. "I can't take time off. I'm the ship's doctor, so I need to be available to take care of any furs that need it."

"Barrow."

"I just got the fucking hypos in but I can't take more than one a day, otherwise it'll screw with my body chemistry, which is not very pleasant if you're a telepath."

"Barrow!"

"Oh don't you "Barrow" me! The reason I gotta set these rules is because you won't fucking let me--"

The bat felt himself get yanked down by the shirt by a trembling paw, looking straight into Sheila's wavy gray eyes. "This. Isn't. Normal." she said through gritted teeth.

"What?"

"This isn't normal," she said, panting as she let him go. Her grip was hard, but it faded quickly. "I need--" but whatever she needed was lost as she doubled over.

"Sheila!"

"Something is inside me," she said at a whisper. "Something... in my head. It's messing with my body..."

"What are you talking about?" Now he was truly worried. Sheila never did anything like this before.

"The thing... in the room that Seward... closed down..." Abruptly she relaxed, panting. The cramp or whatever pained her seemed to wear off, but with it came more of that (false?) heat-scent. "It took my blood, a-and it put my paw into... something... and pushed something into me. Been having dreams... then this." She looked up at him then, gray eyes wavering between need and resolve. "You have to get it out."

"Sheila... I, I can't get into your head. You made sure of that."

"Yes you can!It's... it's at the edge of the shield. You can... get it." A look passed over the bat's face, making Sheila alarmed. "You can get it, right?"

"I'll need to bite you."

The hare said nothing, wearing a confused expression for a time. But then it contorted in anger. "Liar!" she screamed, hitting him in the shoulder."You fucking liar!"

"Sheila!"The block was late and ineffectual. When she moved to lunge at him again, the bat backpedaled.

"You don't... y-you don't need to get into my head like that!" She threw another punch, but he caught her wrist this time.

"Are you a telepath?"

"What?"

"Sheila, you need to trust me."

"You don't... you..." Barrow caught her other paw before she could double over again, riding that wave of pain. When it finished, he let go of one wrist, tugged down her panties, and jammed a finger into her. It was enough for her to spasm and peak. "You... asshole," she panted.

"I took the edge off.You won't have the cramps for a while. Sheila--"

"No."

Barrow closed his eyes, counted to five, and started again. "Sheila, if you don't trust any of us, here, on this ship, who can you trust?"

The hare groaned."Fuck you," she said, shaking her head. Then: "I warned you."

"Sheila?"

"Do it. Just... just... just fucking do it."

Barrow leaned into her, but at the last second Sheila averted her muzzle. "No kissing," she said. Then she gasped, as the bat slipped a second finger between her legs, stirring both within her. "Oh, fuck you," she breathed, her chest starting to rise and fall a little faster.

"Fuck you harder," Barrow countered.

"You'd better," she breathed. The hare seemed to wrap her body around him, nudging into his ear. "Quickly. Can't hold it back much longer."

"What?"

"It's... chewing at me.At my head, my shield."

Barrow said nothing, but instead helped Sheila up. "C'mon," he said, and lay her on the bed. He stripped off his clothes and joined her, though she soon was on top of him again, like so many times before. Even now, there was an air of desperation around her as she lined him up and sank down on him, a shiver running through her body that she hadn't ever shown before. Sheila had a brief thought of whether it would show weakness before having him in her overrode that. Even then, it was a hard habit to break to pin him down even as she rode his shaft, instead hugging around his chest. The gnawing had ceased, though she suspected it due to whatever it was getting what it wanted. It helped that whatever this false(?) heat was doing to her, it made everything feel more sensitive than it would normally. Perhaps consequently, it was thrilling when she felt Barrow's tongue drag along her neck and shoulder, trying to prepare herself for something she'd been avoiding and finding herself strangely calm about it. Maybe it was the--

It was a pressure, and then the fangs were in her. There was no pain. She remembered looking up bats on the datapad she'd stolen from him a while back, and the fact that the bite was often preceded by a numbing agent in the saliva. Sheila barely had time to reflect on that before she heard, then felt the second heartbeat.She was still having sex, but then she felt her own claws digging into Barrow's back, the exquisite sort of pain this gave him, and the feel of him sliding into her, her rump tensing in the bat's spindly fingers.

Layered over that came the bat's thoughts, which were calm against the low-level freak out she was experiencing. But then Sheila had never had a mental invasion so comfortable. The wasps had drilled at her, and her sanity while she struggled to fight them off, but Barrow, by comparison...

"Yeah," she "heard" Barrow think. "It's not as bad as you thought it would be. Brace yourself."And with that, the hare found yet another layer. Incoherent, but sifting through them she caught the abrupt foreignness of the memories she was experiencing. There were brief moments, like the bat's first kiss, his mental awakening, his mother's disappearance, his introduction to the rogue elements, his--

She found herself next to Barrow, in some kind of area that she instinctively recognized as her own thoughts. Considering the wild, turbulent skies and darkness, she had to wonder why it was hers.

"There's a metaphor for it," the bat remarked, turning to her. "I need you to point out the foreign entity. Whatever's messing with you."

"You're inside my head, can't you find it?" she spat.

"This way is quicker, and we don't have a lot of time."

"We--?" The answer came after she started thinking about it, and she was thrown back to their bodies still entwined... though the bat stirring and not thrusting.

The hare was brought back shortly after. "I need you here, Sheila," Barrow said, holding her arm. "I know you have the focus. Concentrate and find it."

"Find what?Find... that?" Sheila turned and pointed, and there it was. It was unlike anything she'd ever seen before. The bird (or avian, or whatever) turned to look back at her.She couldn't quite tell what color it is aside from green and translucent, and even as they looked at it, it tilted his head as if trying to figure out what they are. Then she realized that she could hear the bird's thoughts, dimly, but they weren't...

"Thank you," Barrow said, and lunged. He tackled the apparition, which squawked and disappeared. Or at least it seemed like it. The bat snatched at the space it occupied, drawing it into a box she hadn't seen before. "I'll take this. Now, we can finish."

"Finish?"

"Finif."The words were muffled and came from outside her body, and that was disorienting of itself. But then Sheila felt Barrow's intentions as he pushed, rolling the two of them over, with him now on top. They were still linked, and the searing heat of her around him seemed to heighten as he drove into her again, or was it her into him? At this point she wasn't sure what was going on, only that the pleasure was building and building until it--

Sheila had her share of lovers, but only one had openly professed to give her a mind-blowing orgasm.She was a deer, and was definitely good with tongue and lips and paws. But that deer hadn't been able to both make her climax while shoving the feeling of her own orgasm into Sheila's body. It was almost too much to take at once, but even as it happened the feeling began to subside and spread, until it abruptly cut off when Barrow lifted his head from her neck, leaving one last lick.

The hare blinked, shivering and weak for no reason she could think off. Barrow withdrew from her, though when he tried to stand he wasn't too much better. The bat wobbled over to a table, dug out a hypo from a medkit, and pushed it into the hare's upper arm. "Wh-wha?" Sheila began.

"Birth control," the bat said, and lay down heavily beside her. "We're not ready yet."

"Who said anythin' 'bout 'we'?" Sheila mumbled before sleep rolled over her.

--**--

Between one breath and the next, Sheila woke up.

It took her a moment to realize where she was, but that came quickly. After all, this wasn't the first time she'd been in Barrow's room before. But things had changed between then and now. She stared at the bat as he slept peacefully, and she wondered how he did it. Even now, his scent was calming, but as quietly as she could, she got up and off the bed.It took her a moment to find her shirt.

"So, are we going to keep doing this?"

The hare froze in the middle of tugging on the shirt, then slowly pulled it down, still facing away from the bed. "Doing what?"

Barrow sighed."You know what it is."

"Just because you feel bad about sleeping with Advent doesn't make it okay with me."

"Oh, no, Sheila, don't.Just... be honest with me.Please."

The hare hugged herself."You already know, don't you?"

"Not really.You're shielding pretty hard."

"Don't make me say it."

Barrow sighed, and she heard him shift on the bed. "Yeah, I saw it, Sheila. Not all of it, but enough to get an idea."

"And?" she spat.

"And I don't blame you for being scared."

She turned on him then."How dare you--"

"What? How dare I what?" He was calm, where she was fire and passion. "I don't want to do this anymore, Sheila.I don't want to posture."

"So what do you want?"

"Honesty."He met her gaze with his own."I'll start. I'm bitter, Sheila. The Federation stole my mother, and when she came back she was different, and then she died. I tried to find out why, and they found me out and accused me of stealing state secrets. Secrets I didn't even have yet. I went underground with the rogues, so I could be myself without hiding. You saw all of this, and I know you know what I saw."

The hare was quiet for a while, hugging herself again, feeling vulernable in a way she hadn't in a long time. "I'm scared," she said, quietly. "Even though... even though I know the wasps are defeated, and I killed their queen myself, I still get nightmares. And then... everything I've ever committed myself to has abandoned me.First the Federation, then... well. You know."

"Pyro."

"Yeah.Pyro." She laughed softly. "I wish I could be angry with him, but I don't blame him.I understand him."Sheila glared at the bat."I don't get you."

"There's nothing to get--"

"Don't. Don't you get up." The hare had already taken a step back, even as Barrow slowly resumed his seat. "I'm not ready for you yet."

"Will you ever be?"

The question stopped Sheila."...I don't know. I really don't. But... I'm going to figure that out."

Barrow nodded."I can live with that."

"In the meantime, have these." The bat blinked and caught the fabric, frowning as he held up her panties. "They're my favorite pair. I'll be back for those."

She turned to leave when Barrow stopped her at the door. "Sheila."

"Mm?"

"You're not wearing any pants."

"Didn't bring any."

The look on her face dared him to say something about it. "Okay, but... these aren't your favorite pair of panties. You are not the kind of fur that has a favorite pair of panties."

Sheila smirked."Nope," she said, and left.

Barrow shook his head and chuckled, flopping backward onto the bed. Still smiling, he brought the panties to his nose and inhaled.