FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Thanks for the lift, Hoshi." Jack stepped out of the van, took a few steps away, and stretched as Corona and Taura squeezed through the door.

"You're welcome. Machiko will notify you when you're needed again." Hoshi offered them a small smile before facing forward again. "Until then, enjoy your time off."

"Oh, we will." Corona put her arms around Jack and Taura. "See you later."

"Goodnight." Hoshi eased the van away from the curb and on down the street.

Jack turned toward the house and let out another half-exhausted, half-relieved sigh, still surprised that no one else had attacked them on the way home. As much as he hated being the focus of a reality show, having all those cameras pointed at them definitely cut down on the chances of someone taking a shot at them.

"Gonna need a shower," he muttered as they headed for the front door. "Got all sweaty under that armor."

"Might want to put that off for a while." Corona grinned and pulled her sports bra off the instant she stepped through the door. She flung it in the sofa's general direction and took her short-shorts off. "You're gonna be doing a lot more sweating once we get to our room. Assuming you're not too tired, that is."

Jack looked her over, turned to Taura and gave her a thorough visual sweep, and grinned. "Oh, I think I'm getting my second wind, all of a sudden."

"Hi, guys," Kim said, smiling and waving from her chair.

"Hi." Corrie rushed over to the sofa, sat, and dropped her shorts on the floor. "How're things going?"

Kim pointed at the door to the toilet-closet, which was cracked open a few inches. "Well, I guess you could say Dale's been keeping me entertained."

Jack glanced over at the door and found Dale's forearm on the floor, sticking out into the living room through the gap. He stared for a few seconds and shook his head. "Is he dead? Please tell me he's dead."

"Nope, just passed out. Again."

"Well, life is full of disappointments." Jack sighed and plopped onto the sofa beside Corona. She slipped her arm around his shoulders and draped her leg over his.

Taura took her trenchcoat off, folded it neatly, placed it on the floor at the other end of the sofa, and sat beside Jack. She glanced at him and Corona, then mimicked her pose.

Jack grinned, blushed, and tugged on the front of his pants in an attempt to hide his body's sudden but predictable reaction. Then he rested a hand on each girl's thigh and said, "If this keeps up, we'll definitely be heading upstairs in a few minutes."

Corona stared directly into one of the wall-mounted cameras, grinned, and gave it a double thumbs-up.

Kim giggled. "So, how was work today?"

"Interesting." Taura chuckled. "We can't talk about it in front of all these cameras, but it was pretty typical of what our recent missions have turned into."

"Lots of shooting, lots of shit blowing up, that sort of thing." Corona shrugged. "But we got the job done and got through it in one piece. We're hoping for a milk run for our next assignment."

"Yeah, I bet that gets old after a while."

"Right. Even though I have a built-in urge to fight, there can be too much of a good thing."

Jack chuckled and glanced around. Hmm. Otto's not here. "Hey, Kim, any news on how Shakira's doing?"

"Yeah, she's out of surgery and recovering quickly. Otto called me about half an hour ago to update me; she'll probably come home tomorrow or the next day."

Jack stared at her. "After being caught in an explosion and having half of her face ripped off by shrapnel?"

"Yep. They used some experimental techniques on her--I think it's the same nanotech they used on you last time you were in the hospital. Even with that, though, she's healing a lot faster than they expected."

"Well, I'm glad she's mending quickly." Taura smiled.

A beep came from the tablet on the table beside Kim. She picked it up, grinned, and tapped the screen. Otto and Shakira appeared on the huge screen on the wall just as Otto casually tugged on the collar of her hospital gown, trying to get a peek at her cleavage. Her eye opened wider and she swatted his hand away.

"We're on!" She shook her head. "You little pervert."

"Teenage hormones. Can't help it." He shrugged and grinned. "Hey, guys. We were watching the feeds from home and heard you asking about Shakira."

"Hi." Jack tried not to wince at the sight of the bandages covering the side of Shakira's face and eye socket. "Good to see you feeling so much better."

"I don't remember much of what happened, but when Otto told me about it, well...yeah, I'm shocked that I'm feeling so much better already. Not that I'm complaining."

"That's wonderful news." Taura smiled. "It looked really bad when we saw Otto helping you out of the wreckage."

"Yeah. Guess I'm gonna have some scars and I'll be wearing an eye patch until I can get a cybernetic eye. Which will probably take years." Shakira shivered and rubbed her arms. Her lower lip quivered. "Anyway, yeah, I'm on the road to recovery. Really trying not to think about what happened, though."

"Well, let's see if we can take your mind off it, then." Corona smiled and arched a brow ridge. "Feeling up to a bit of gaming?"

"Bring it." Shakira grinned. "A little fun is exactly what I need right now."

"Got your laptop ready?"

"We've got one of Otto's. That's what we're making this call on."

Otto leaned out of the camera's range and reappeared a moment later with another laptop from his bag. "We'll set up the recording software while everyone decides on a game."

"Okay, let's see what we've got. Taura?"

"Looking." Taura brought up her super-advanced computer's holographic interface and keyboard. "Anyone have a suggestion?"

"Something that's not very fast-paced or stressful," Otto said. "Or serious. Something funny, preferably."

"Hmm." Taura narrowed her search down and nodded at the list in her display. "Any of these catch your interest?"

"Huh." Corona pointed at one of the titles. "Worms? What the hell is that? Sounds like something you'd need medication to get rid of."

"Oh, wow, I'd pretty much forgotten those games even existed." Shakira grinned. "Last time I played them, I was younger than Otto."

"Is it fun?"

"Oh, definitely." Shakira began typing on her keyboard. "Basically, each player controls a team of four worms, and try to kill each other's worms with an arsenal of ridiculous weapons."

"I like it already." Jack grinned.

"Downloading and installing." Taura laughed softly and produced a hard-light controller for Corona and a keyboard and mouse for Jack. "Guys, let me know when you're ready to start."

"Installing now." Otto rubbed his hands together. A few seconds later, he said, "Okay, ready."

"Ready." Shakira nodded.

In Taura's display, five sets of four cartoonish worms appeared.

"How do we play this?" Otto glanced at Shakira and raised an eyebrow.

"First we name our worms and customize their appearance. Then we pick a battleground and start blasting away."

_Oh, boy. Can't wait to see the names Otto thinks up._Jack chuckled and picked the first idea that came to mind. "Okay, I'm going with Hannibal, Faceman, Bosco, and Murdoch."

Shakira grinned again. "Oh, another blast from the past."

Jack kept his eyes on the holo-display and chuckled when the names, Sarah Jane, Donna, Amy, and Rory appeared over each of Shakira's worms.

"Hmm." Corona giggled suddenly and began typing. Jack glanced at her section of the holofield and cocked his head.

"Your team name is Pickled Bread?"

"Yeah." She grinned. "Dill dough."

Shakira snorted. "I'm shocked Otto didn't think of that."

"So am I." Otto sighed, pondered his laptop, and grinned suddenly. He leaned forward and entered the names, BigBlackTittays,Mighty Clit, LabiaStretcher, and Shitstick McGee.

Shakira sighed and shook her head slowly, but had to struggle to suppress a grin at the same time.

Corona giggled again as she typed in Deathcooter, Killpussy,Stabbysnatch, and Murdercunt.

Jack snickered. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

She grinned and shrugged. "Maybe when someone figures it out, they'll let me know."

Jack laughed and glanced over at Taura. She ran a finger over her bottom lip, shrugged, and typed, Flynn, Tron, Clu, and Quorra.

"Nerd." Jack leaned over to kiss her and she chuckled again.

"Guilty as charged."

Corona glanced at Kim and smiled. "Wanna join in?"

"Thanks, but I think I'll just watch for a while. I've never even heard of this game, so I want to see what it is before I jump in and make a fool of myself." She grinned.

A message blipped up in the lower-left corner of the holofield, notifying everyone of an incoming join request, followed by a woman's voice.

"Hey, if you've still got room for one more player, I'd like to hop in."

Jack stared at the display. "Mom?"

"Since this appears to be what you're doing instead of calling me like you promised, I figured this would be a good way to finally have a conversation with you."

"Aw, hell." Jack grimaced and slapped both hands to his face. "Sorry, Mom. With everything going on tonight, I just forgot."

"In Jack's defense," Corona said with a grin, "we _did_spend the last few hours being shot at."

"Jesus, are you serious? What the hell have you gotten into?"

"Occupational hazard." Jack sighed. "We can't talk about it with all these cameras pointed at us. I'll tell you as much as I can, another time. Okay?"

"Well...okay."

Jack glanced at Taura. "Go ahead and invite her in."

"Thanks." His mom's team of worms appeared, named Church, Tex,Carolina, and Wash. She laughed. "Well, since you didn't bother calling me tonight, I'm gonna kick your ass at this game!"

"Oh, break out the popcorn." Corona giggled, gripped her controller, and leaned forward intently. "Let's blow some shit up."

#

"You okay? You're pretty jumpy."

Ramirez glanced over at Lefty and sighed. "Just not sure we weren't followed, is all."

"Try not to worry. I've got the full range of sensors around my shop. So far, they haven't picked up anything other than a stray dog or cat here and there."

Montoya put his hand on Ramirez's shoulder. "Not only that, but you took such a long, twisting-and-turning route to get here, if anyone managed to follow you, it might actually make me believe in miracles."

_Heh._Ramirez let out a long sigh and smiled at him before facing Lefty again. "So, what happens next?"

"Well, Mickey will start going over the file in the morning." The large equine woman paused a moment to ponder the media card clamped between her big fingers. "There's a lot of info here, so Hoshi will probably help him with it. Then we'll turn the evidence over to an actual government agency and they can take it from there."

"Good. It'll be nice to feel like we've made a difference, for once." Ramirez sighed again and leaned against the shelves running along the wall beside Lefty's desk. "When I worked for the NCPD, most days I felt like I wasn't even holding my ground."

"Same here." Montoya smiled. Then he arched an eyebrow, turned to Lefty, and sighed. "I have to assume, though, that there'll be some blowback from all the shooting and stuff exploding a while ago. If they don't attack us directly, don't be surprised if they try to have us arrested for the deaths of the mercs Jack and the girls took out."

"Given the nature of working for a private military contractor, being killed in combat is an occupational hazard--and these guys fired the first shot. We can all attest to that, and Jack used his cybernetic eyes to record most, if not all, of it. As for attacking us directly, they already tried that, and we have plenty of evidence to back us up there, too." Lefty smiled. "And now that we have a legal department, we should be covered pretty thoroughly."

"That's a relief." Ramirez chuckled. "Well, if there's nothing else we need to do here..."

"Nah, you're clear. Hoshi will pick up this card and lock it in the vault back at HQ, then relieve Shadow for the night. She'll keep an eye on Winslow until the Feds come to pick him up in the morning."

"Okay. Let me know if you need anything else."

"Will do. Goodnight, guys."

Ramirez, Montoya, and Hiro said goodnight and headed for the door. Without thinking, Ramirez slipped her hand into Hiro's.

Montoya grinned and wiggled his eyebrows. "Now you two can spend some quality time together."

"And here we go with that again." Ramirez rolled her eyes.

Montoya chuckled, but didn't push it any farther.

They reached the door and Ramirez held it open for the others. She followed them across the gravel lot to a row of cars in the far corner. Older cars, some scratched and dented, others with faded paint, all of them unremarkable. The Foundation kept a few of them around for times when drawing attention was something they wanted to avoid. She'd used one for the file transfer from Taura, and now it was time to switch vehicles.

Montoya walked over to one of the cars, opened the door, and paused. "I'm heading home. If you're open to suggestions, you might consider spending the evening with Kim. It's been a while since you've had more than a brief conversation over the phone, and having all those cameras pointed at you for a while should keep Argus Defense Systems from taking any potshots at you."

"Hmm. Good idea. It'd be nice to spend a few quiet hours with her and just talk." Ramirez smiled and stopped at the car at the end of the row. "Goodnight, Enrique."

"Goodnight, guys." He got in and started the engine.

Ramirez watched him drive away, glanced at Hiro, took a deep breath, and settled behind the steering wheel. "Watch your tail," she muttered as Hiro sat beside her. "And your wings."

"Thanks. I almost forgot about that again." He chuckled and pulled his wings and tail inside before closing the door.

She smiled, fired up the engine, and eased the car out of the lot. "So, uh...is there any place you want me to drop you off? Back at the anthro shelter, maybe, so you can spend some time with your friends?"

Hiro shrugged. "Maybe later. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to hang out with you for a bit longer, just to be sure you're okay."

Well, isn't that sweet? Ramirez smiled. "I can take care of myself, but I appreciate the thought." Still, she couldn't quite bring herself to insist on his departure. She drove on in silence for another minute, and finally released a quick breath. "Okay. Just don't mention the situation that brought us together once we're in front of the cameras." Which reminds me, if we're done with the ADS case, I need to get back to the investigation of what was done to us.

"Okay." Hiro nodded and somehow managed to make his rigid beak look like it was smiling. Something about the angle of his head, Ramirez assumed, plus that twinkle in his yellow, glowing eyes. Which always gave her a sort of warm, tingly shiver all over.

She cleared her throat. "And...try not to be too affectionate. At least, not when we're on-camera."

"Right. It could cause problems for you." He nodded again. "And you've already had some blowback because of it."

"Well, that's only part of it." She dug one of her cigars out of her coat pocket, just to have something to do while she tried to decide whether to admit what was going through her mind. Finally, she decided to get it over with. "Mostly, I'm worried about your safety. If any of the people we've pissed off recently find out how close we are, well, it could put you in danger. They could hurt you to get to me."

"Ah, we're close, then?" He did that smile thing again. "Finally, progress!"

Oh, hell. She couldn't suppress a goofy grin. "I...I care about you. A lot. You're a nice kid. I don't want to see you get hurt. That's all."

"I care about you, too. A lot." He opened his beak to say something else, but appeared to change his mind. He held his hand up and said, "I won't bring it up when we're on the live stream."

"Okay. Thanks. Like I said, I want to be sure you're safe."

That twinkle entered his eyes again. "I can take care of myself, but I appreciate the thought."

#

"How can something so violent be so cute?" Corona giggled and maneuvered one of her surviving worms into position.

"Uh-oh," Jack said with a quick laugh. "Killpussy is out for vengeance!"

On the toilet-closet floor, Dale finally woke with a twitch. "Hunnnnhh..." He pushed himself up and swept a bleary-eyed gaze around the room. "Pussy? Where?"

"Shit, he's still alive," Jack grumbled.

Kim glanced at Dale and snorted. "Nowhere near you, dude. The only ones that ever get within your reach have already been used so much, they're numb."

"Oh!" Jack's mom's voice came from the speakers under the TV. "That was mean. Funny as hell, but mean."

Jack grinned. "Not to mention accurate, no doubt." He turned his eyes back to the holofield as Corona pondered her weapons menu.

"Hmm." She selected the ninja rope, fired it into a piece of the half-destroyed landscape and hoisted Killpussy into the air. She swung the worm across a chasm, released the rope, and Killpussy came to a graceful landing--right next to a live mine. Corona's eyes opened wide and her muzzle dropped open. "Eeeeeee!"

The light on top of the mine flashed, accompanied by a rapidly quickening series of beeps. Corona jabbed at her controller and the worm leaped away from the mine.

"Noooooooo!"

The mine detonated and the shockwave rocketed Killpussy into an arch through the air and into the ocean.

"Aw, damn it!" Corona sighed, shrugged, and laughed.

Dale released a sort of slurring mumble and flopped over.

A sudden knock at the front door made Jack's heart twitch. Taura stood and crept up to the door. She glanced at the small monitor beside the door and let out a quick sigh.

"It's Lola and Hiro." Taura opened the door and smiled. "Hi, guys. Come on in."

"Hi. I don't mean to intrude, but I just wanted to say hi to Kim."

"Hey, Mom." Kim grinned. "How're you doing?"

"Hanging in there."

A sudden, sharp bang came from the holo-display and Ramirez started. She stared at the images in the holofield and raised an eyebrow. "What in the hell is that?"

"Just some friendly competition," Otto said from the TV. Beside him, Shakira grinned, but appeared to be having trouble keeping her eye open.

"Ah." Ramirez cocked her head as one of Otto's worms made its way up a steep slope to get within range of one of the worms on Jack's mother's team. "Shitstick McGee? Really?"

Shakira chuckled and pointed at Otto. Ramirez nodded.

"Oh. Of course."

"You should see the rest of his team's names," Kim said.

"No, I probably shouldn't." Ramirez tossed her a lopsided grin. She turned back to the holofield just as one of Jack's worms inched its way over to Otto's other remaining worm. "Oh. 'BigBlackTittays.' At least that one makes sense."

On the TV, Otto smiled. "There's definitely a certain pair of big, black 'tittays' that's never far from my mind."

Shakira rolled her eye. "I guess all I can really do is accept it as a compliment."

"That's how it's intended." Otto grinned. "Of course, the rest of you is always occupying my thoughts, as well."

"Um, hooray, I guess?" Shakira chuckled, then yawned.

"Maybe we should make this the last round," Otto said.

"Yeah, I think the pain medication is kicking my ass."

"Okay. We'll call it a night, then."

Jack selected the Holy Hand Grenade, aimed, and Bosco lobbed it at BigBlackTittays.

"Uh-oh," Shakira said. "This one's gonna be loud."

The grenade landed behind Otto's worm, bounced, and rolled downhill until it bumped into Tittays. Otto's mouth fell open.

"Oh, that was perfect. Nice shot, dude."

The Holy Hand Grenade blew and the explosion engulfed four other nearby worms. The concussion sent them all flying, and Tittays slammed into Bosco and propelled him into a mine.

"Aw, shit." Jack snickered as the mine blasted Bosco into the air. When the worm hit the ground, the last of its health points drained away--as did that of all the other worms in the grenade's blast radius. One by one, each of them produced a detonator, pushed the plunger down, and exploded.

Taura sighed and leaned back. "Well, that knocked me out of the game."

"Me, too." Corona shrugged, stood, and stretched.

Jack watched her and smiled.

"And now it's my turn," Jack's mom said from the speakers. Tex lowered herself on a rope to the rubble-strewn landscape and slid toward Jack's last worm. "Only Murdoch is left, and his health is at fourteen. One shot and it's over."

Kim shook her head. "This has to be emasculating."

Jack shrugged. "There's always next time." He grinned. "If the rematch happens in a game I'm actually good at, things will be_very_ different."

Tex stopped in front of Bosco, took out a baseball bat, and clobbered him. He rolled across the ground, landed beside an explodey barrel, and his health dropped to zero. He blew himself up and ignited the barrel, sending a fountain of napalm arching over a pile of rubble and directly onto Shakira's last worm.

Shakira laughed and shook her head as her worm zeroed out. "Eh, just as well, I guess. I probably would've fallen asleep before my next turn, anyway."

"We'll let you rest, then." Otto smiled and reached out to his keyboard. "Goodnight, everyone." He tapped a button and he and Shakira blipped off the screen.

"Good game, Mom." Jack chuckled and glanced at Corrie and Taura. "I'll call you in the morning, I promise. And now, if you all will excuse us, I'm gonna go upstairs and fuck my girlfriends." He grinned and rushed to the stairs behind the kitchen doorway.

Corona_squeed_ and bolted after him. Taura gasped, powered down the holofield, and hurried after her.

Jack's mom snorted. "Did not need that image in my head."

#

"You sure you don't need anything else?" Otto slipped the laptop back into his pack and slung it over his shoulder.

"Nah, I'm fine." Shakira smiled and appeared to stifle another yawn. "Thanks for sticking around and making sure I'm okay, though."

"I'm more than happy to." He smiled and put his hand on hers. "It was fun, too. The game, I mean."

"Yeah, I think it was just what I needed." She turned her hand over and clasped his for a few seconds before letting go. "Well, I'll see you in the morning."

He nodded, hesitated, and took a deep breath. What the hell. Better go for it before I lose my nerve. He leaned over abruptly and kissed her on the forehead.

She stared at him for a second, smiled, looked away quickly, and dimmed the light above her headboard. "Thanks. Goodnight, kid."

"Goodnight." Smiling, he walked into the hallway and headed for the elevator.Don't want to be too far away, just in case. Maybe I can spend the night in the waiting room without anyone noticing. Too worried about her to get any sleep, anyway.

He stepped into the elevator and decided to head back to the cafeteria for a more substantial meal. He leaned against the rear wall, closed his eyes, and took a few slow breaths.

The doors began to close--then stopped and parted again.

Otto opened his eyes and caught a glimpse of a man in a long, dark coat slipping between the doors. Otto reached out to the control panel.

"What floor do you want?"

The guy said nothing.

Otto raised an eyebrow, pushed the button for the ground floor, and turned toward him. "Which fl--"

The man met his gaze and suddenly everything faded away.

He jolted awake and glanced around frantically. Sunlight bathed the waiting room, but he barely noticed it. He stood and stumbled toward the elevators, his body moving as if it had a mind of its own, beyond his control.

What the hell? Am I still asleep? Is this one of my fucked-up nightmares?

Those had all been otherworldly, like scenes from space-opera movies. This was just the hospital he'd been in last night. Nothing out of the ordinary about it at all. Everything seemed solid...physical...nowhere near the ever-shifting images of his typical dreams.

What's happening to me? The elevator arrived and the doors opened. He lurched inside, almost tripped over his own feet, and jabbed one of the buttons on the panel.

Everything turned hazy.

When his sight cleared, he found himself in Shakira's room.

Oh, shit! What's going on?

Shakira stood beside her bed, fully clothed, staring at the floor. Her bandage was gone, revealing the fresh scars crisscrossing the left side of her face, but they appeared to have healed enough not to be in danger of reopening. A black eyepatch covered her empty left socket.

She didn't move. Continued staring at the floor, as if in a trance.

Otto tried to call out to her, say something--anything--to get her attention. His voice wouldn't work, his mouth refused to open. Before he realized what was happening, he walked over to her.

What the hell? I can't stop! What am I gonna do to her? Why can't I stop myself? If I'm about to hurt her, somehow--

He stopped in front of her. She finally looked up at him, but her blank expression didn't change.

They turned and walked out of the room, moving in unison.

I'm fucking terrified, but my pulse isn't racing. I should be shaking and gasping for breath, but I'm not.

His next realization made everything so much worse.

He had absolutely no control over his own body.

He and Shakira entered the elevator and rode it to the ground floor. In the corner of his eye, her face remained expressionless.

So, she's in the same shape. Poor woman must be as scared shitless as I am. More, even.

He wanted to put an arm around her, or hold her hand, but his body wouldn't obey.

They crossed the lobby, passed the front desk and waiting room, and paused long enough for the front doors to slide open. Otto spotted a woman sitting at the desk and tried to call out to her, wave his hands,anything to get her attention.

Help us! Stop us before something horrible happens!

And_still_ his body refused to do anything other than stride into the parking lot with Shakira alongside. He wanted to burst into tears, but couldn't do that, either.

Somebody, help us! What the hell is happening?

They reached the sidewalk, turned, and kept going. Otto wanted to suck in a deep breath and release a frustrated scream--but could do nothing except keep walking.

No!