Twotopia - Chapter 8: Trauma

Story by Silverwolf626 on SoFurry

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Hope I didn't keep you hanging too long.


Judy began to feel numb, she kept a fast hold on Nick's hand as they loaded him into the ambulance and drove off. Finnick stayed nearby, ever watchful over his friend. The paramedics put I.V's in him, cutting away his uniform and wrapping up his chest. Once they had made it to the hospital, she held on for as long as she could, but the doctors forced her away as Nick vanished behind the doors of the ER. Judy stepped backwards, Finnick guiding her toward one of the benches nearby and sat her down. She couldn't stop looking at her paws, the blood caked into her fur. Her stomach turned and contorted as if it were a rag being rung out, her face felt flush, drained of any emotion aside from shock. Her arms trembling, her uniform stained in the blood of her true love, her mate. It took Finnick's grasp of her hands to pull her back for a moment.

"You still with us?" He asked, peering up. Judy cleared her throat and stood up.

"I have to go to the bathroom." She said with her voice breaking. Finnick let her pass as she walked into the females washroom and set herself at one of the sinks her size. Turning on the water, watching it fall for a while, Judy placed a hand under and let her fur soak. Light threads of red swirled the sink and drained away while she swished her paw slowly underneath. Looking up into the mirror, she could see a few red freckles on her face. It was all she could take. Judy's eyes welled up with tears as she fell to the floor and leaned against the wall, covering her face with her paws. Her crying grew louder and louder while she pulled in her legs, rocking back and forth. Finnick had overheard her and peeked inside to see her in a ball, crying inside.

"Judy." He spoke softly, rushing in he placed his hands on her arm and folded his ears back. Judy could barely see him through the tears, but pulled him in and hugged him tight. Finnick was caught off guard, but was more than willing to embrace her. While he wouldn't cry, Finnick's heart was aching, truly scared that one of his best friends was dying.

Judy looked through the window of the ICU. With Finnick's help she had managed to get her hands and face clean. Nick was lying still on the bed, the beep of his heart monitor creeping through the glass. He was in a hospital gown, with bandages across his chest and tubes in his nose. A lioness approached in full scrubs, removing her mask and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Miss Hopps?" She spoke up. Judy glanced up and recognized her face. "Hi Judy, we've met before, do you remember? Dr. Dawson, Lani Dawson?"

"Yeah, I remember." Judy nodded. Lani leaned down and meet her eye to eye. "How is he?" Lani stammered a little before she began.

"It was close. Very close. The bullet passed right through his rib cage, punctured his lung, bruised the heart and out his back chipping the shoulder blade. We were able to set the rib with little issue, but we're not sure about the shoulder blade. His lung collapsed, but thanks to some miracle work, we've got it going again."

"Is he going to be ok?" Judy asked, clasping her vest.

"Maybe." Lani answered honestly. "We've done everything we can, but there was another problem. He had lost a lot of blood on the way here and during surgery. We barely had enough to pull him through that. We don't get a lot of donations from his species, let alone his blood type. We had three units on hand, he used them all." She replied rising to her feet. "We've put in an emergency request to all cities nearby. Predaton answered, they have twenty coming in now via aircraft. We have an ambulance on standby at our airport. I just hope he pulls through till then."

"Judy." Bogo spoke softly. Judy turned around, folding her ears back.

"Chief." He opened up his arms and took Judy into them.

"If you'll excuse me." Lani bowed out.

"Thank you, doctor."

"How is he?" Bogo asked, setting her down.

"It's bad. He needs blood."Judy replied.

"Come, sit here with me. We need to talk about what happened."

"I just want Nick back." She whimpered.

"Shh." He hushed guiding her onto the chair nearby. "Judy. I'm sorry but, we've had loses at the station as well."

"Who?"

"Higgins, Snarlof, Mchorn and." Bogo paused for a moment. "And Jason Fangmeyer."

"Jason?" Judy squinted, feeling the tears well up.

"From what I've heard, Matt chased after Oshu when Jason died. We found him unconscious, seems like someone tased him after a fight. He was pretty beat up, but something tells me Oshu got it worse. He's gone to Jason's house to deliver the news. I put him on bereavement. He's gonna watch over his family for a while."

"Oh no, poor Jason." She whimpered.

"Turns out the attack on the station was a distraction. The rest of Psych and Oshu's crew hit Furs National Bank, they were able to breech the vault. Over sixty million was stolen. We have to find a way to cut them off from using it but we'll talk more about that later. For now we just need to focus-" the sound of beeping cut him off, as doctors rushed into Nick's room. Judy and Bogo peered through the window to see doctors coming in. Nick was fussing about in bed, cringing and growling. Almost tossing himself off the bed.

"Get him under control." Lani called out.

"We can't sedate him any further, he physically can't take it!" A badger doctor replied.

"Get straps!"

"Carrots!" Judy heard him call out. "C-Carrots!" Judy threw open the door and cut in between the doctors.

"Hey! Get out of here!" The badger shouted.

"Get back!" Judy ordered, with caution she withdrew the tubes and pressed his nose to her neck. Nick drew long deep breaths, taking in the scent.

"I said get out!"

"Judy, you're not helping." Lani tried to argue, but oddly enough Nick was calming down. He stopped fussing while taking in her scent, Judy took hold of his paw and held it tight.

"Shhh, I'm right here baby. I'm right here. It's me. I'm ok."

"Judy." He said more softly.

"Yeah, it's me. It's Carrots." Nick even broke a little smile, settling himself down. "I'll stay with you, ok Nick?"

"Well, my apologies." The badger spoke up. "Thought he was just hallucinating."

"Well done Judy, but come now, he needs to rest." Lani joined in.

"He won't rest unless she's nearby." Bogo spoke up from the door.

"Chief will all due respect." Lani argued.

"Not up for negotiation. She has my permission to stay here, so long as she doesn't obstruct any urgent medical needs." He stated.

"Sir, it's hospital procedure that-"

"I will get the mayor involved if need be." Bogo retorted. "I've lost four good officers today, I'm not about to lose five because you're a bit jumpy. And if I am to lose one, he should be with someone he loves."

"Alright, fine." Lani submitted. "Judy, be careful." She insisted, placing the air tube back in. "Don't turn or move him and mind the tubes, don't obstruct them."

"I understand." Judy agreed, keeping a firm grip on his hand. "It's ok Nick, I'm here." She whispered, kissing his cheek. "And I'm not leaving you."

"Take good care of him, Judy." Bogo stated, exiting the room. Heading down the hall, he was surprised to see a group of officers in slightly different uniforms make their way in. At the head was a female cheetah, pointing down toward a hall.

"Head down there, see if you-" She cut herself off. "Or we can find him right there." She smiled.

"Mariah!" Bogo stood in awe.

"How's it going chubby buddy! Been too long!" She warmly greeted. Bogo rushed over as Mariah welcomed him with a hug. "Oh you big lout, I missed ya."

"Mariah Kasi. It's been too long indeed. What brings you here?"

"Dumb question, Bogo." She giggled, pushing his shoulder. "I heard about the attack on city center. I put my first sergeant in charge of things in Predaton and came down quick as I could. With a bit of cavalry of course." She smiled, gesturing to the group of lions and tigers behind her.

"So you heard about Alex."

"Yes." She nodded, walking along side him to a group of chairs to sit down. "I knew he had moved operations here, but I figured he had made a big mistake coming to your town. I didn't expect him to be this dangerous. Even with that fox along for the ride."

"Mariah, he set off an explosive in our meeting room. I've lost four officers, maybe five. I've also lost contact with my undercover officer in his group."

"Damn." She said with a snap of her fingers. "Alex was just a runner back at home, how did he get to be this big here?"

"We believe Psych and the crew in general are making him more ambitious."

"That makes sense." Mariah agreed. "We need to get our ducks in a row here, got a place we can re-organize and plan our next move?"

"I've relocated some of my officers to Tundratown and Rainforest District stations. A few on bereavement for their losses."

"Rainforest." Mariah pointed out. "If I know my brother, he likes the heat, will probably head to Savannah Central, or Sahara Square. So Rainforest would work best to keep our distance and plan."

"Sounds good." Bogo agreed.

Judy had stayed by Nick's bedside for just around an hour. His grip on her hand was getting light, his stomach growling and his breathing was growing more labored. Judy stroked his head and ears, feeling them a bit cooler than usual. Kissing his paw she stammered and talked to him.

"Nick, please hang on. I'm right here with you. I'm not gonna leave till you're back with me ok?" She insisted, giving his paw a squeeze with both of her hers. "I love you Nick."

"Ms Hopps?" Lani spoke up from the doorway.

"Doctor?"

"Just came to check on him. May I?"

"Of course." Judy agreed, watching her walk in. Lani placed both paws on his feet and moved up toward his belly and neck. She checked his vital signs on the monitors and took a temperature reading with a small wand nearby by placing it in his ear. After setting it down, she sighed and picked up the chart at the foot of his bed and filled it in. "Anything?" Lani looked him over once again, peering back at the monitors and back to him.

"I'm sorry Ms Hopps. We need that blood here as soon as possible; I don't know why I haven't heard anything from Predaton yet."

"What do you mean?" Judy panicked.

"Judy, please. Just keep him warm. Stay with him. I'm not about to give up on any of my patients but, it's a miracle he's still alive right now with the blood loss. I can't see him lasting much longer."

"Dawson to 1-A please, Dawson to 1-A." The PA announced.

"Excuse me." She said softly, leaving the room. Judy began to well up with tears again, crying into Nick's paw. Deciding that if this was how he was going to die, she should be as close to him as possible. She eased herself into his bed and draped his arm over her, running hers across the base of his bandages.

"Nick, I promise you. I'll find Psych and Oshu and put an end to them for you. I can't believe how much we've been through in so little time. Just half a year ago, I thought of you as the biggest jerk in this entire city. Mainly cause you kinda were." Judy giggled. "But when I needed you most, you were there for me. To stand up to Bogo, to carry me when I got hurt running from Bellweather, putting me up in your home. And fine, I'll admit it, I like that lacy little black thing you bought me." She confessed, rubbing his belly. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm not ready for you to leave me yet. I don't think I ever will be. But it just can't be now, it can't be tonight. So please, Nick. Stay with me. I promise I'll always be there for you, just like you've been for me. I love you, Nick." Judy whimpered, cuddling into him close. She pulled the carrot pen out of her pocket and stared at it for a moment. Hitting play she heard. "I'm saying, a little bunny girl taught me to be more open minded. Why I love her so much." Smiling and letting the tears roll again, she held it close to her and played it a few times over. After a few minutes of sobs and sniffles, the door flung open with Lani leading the way.

"Over here, over here! Come on, open it up." She instructed as two deer cracked open a cooler. "A, A, AB, A, B, O! There it is." She exclaimed. "Derek, set up an I.V, Judy, hold up his arm!" Judy complied with the request as Lani was setting up the blood on a rack, feeding down to a needle. Lani pressed on his arm and felt for a vein and got it, sticking the needle in and putting a small strip of tape over. "I just hope we're not too late." Lani stated, watching the blood flow in. "Cozy in there, bunny?"

"Yeah, just scared."

"Well I'm coming in to check on him every ten minutes or so, ok? Let's just hope this does the trick." Lani sighed with relief.

Over the next hour, Lani kept popping in to check on Nick's condition. His heart rate was steadying off and temperature was returning to normal. His breathing grew less laboured and his overall condition seemed to be improving. After checking on him for one last time, she swapped out the bag of blood that had drained out and hooked up a second.

"Judy?"

"Yes?"

"We're gonna take him out of ICU and into a private room. I'm downgrading his condition from critical to stable. Seems that's a tough little fox you got there." She smiled.

"Oh thank goodness." Judy sighed with relief.

"He'll probably be asleep for a while longer, I'm also going to give him a canaphine drip to help with the pain. He might wake up in a few hours a little loopy but, I think he's going to be just fine." Lani smiled.

"Thank you. Thank you so much doctor!" Judy praised.

"My pleasure, Miss Hopps." She bowed. Judy crept carefully out of bed, not wanting to bump or disturb the tubes and joined the nurses that escorted him out of ICU. Going through the doors and out into the halls, they guided him to a room and parked him by the window. Judy waited for the two to leave and crept into bed with him again, snuggling her mate close with a smile.

It was 11:30AM before Nick's eyes began to flutter and wake from sleep. He felt strange, his eyes obscured with double vision for a few moments before catching the scent of his mate nearby. Judy was nestled in close, asleep in his bed with her head just on his belly. Nick, under the influence of his pain medication began playing with her nose, tickling it and scratching it. Giggling under his breath, he started toying with her ears, circling them around and picking them up and dropping them. He even took to stroking them.

"Soo fluffly!" He whispered. "Like running your hands through velvet." Judy finally stirred awake to see her boyfriend smiling down on her. "Why didn't you tell me your ears were this smooth?" He whispered. Judy's eyes went wild, firing her ears up straight.

"Nick!?"

"Hey Carrots, how you doing?" He greeted warmly. Judy leapt into his lips and kissed him over and over again.

"Oh Nick." She said between kisses. "I thought, I was, gonna lose you, I was, so scared. Oh baby, you're alive." She cried, kissing his neck.

"Yeah, I'm feeling alright. What's going on?" He laughed. Judy pulled herself back and asked.

"What do you remember last?" Nick had to really think it seems, but the memories started coming back.

"The alley. I remember, pushing you out of the way and feeling like. Like, he uh. The bad guy. He punched me? It felt like that anyway, and then. I remember the blood. Seeing blood on my paws and, you caught me. It's all white after that." He explained.

"You're probably a bit loopy. They put you on strong pain killers. Just relax Nick, I got you baby." She cooed, taking in his lips for a good long kiss.

"My girl's got me? Hehe. My sweet little Carrots." He chuckled.

"That's right." She answered, kissing down his muzzle. "Oh my poor fox. Want me to get you some food? Maybe water?"

"That, that sounds like its. Good idea." Nick slurred his way through.

"Ok, sit tight."

"No no!" Nick exclaimed, taking hold of her paw. "Don't go. Just stay."

"Alright I'll stay." She giggled, bringing herself back in close.

"Stay." He whispered, draping a paw over her.

After a couple of hours cuddling together and being discovered by the nurses. They brought him in a few jelly cups and water. Judy was enjoying her little role, feeding Nick while he sat upright in the bed.

"Carrots, you don't have to feed me you know. Doesn't really hurt that much to use both of my hands." He stated.

"You shush, I'm taking care of you for now."

"You're loving this aren't you." He smiled, throwing up a brow.

"Am I loving it? Yes, yes I am. Haha, besides, you are sounding more like your old self."

"Ugh, I hate taking pain killers. I feel like the biggest dope in the world when I do."

"Doesn't it hurt right now?" Judy questioned, setting the spoon and cup down on the tray.

"Yeah, a bit. But what are you gonna do." He shrugged off. Judy produced the clicker to increase his medication and smiled as Nick threw his ears back, going wide eyed.

"Maybe I like seeing dopey Nick because I know he's not in so much pain. Tough guy." She suggested, dangling it in front of him.

"So what do I have to do to get that back?" Nick smiled.

"Kiss me." She whispered, leaning in for a good long smack from his lips. Nick tried to take it back but Judy snuck it behind her back. Pressing her nose on his she smiled. "I didn't say once. It's called a hustle sweet heart."

"You are so bad." Nick laughed, suddenly grasping his chest. "Oh, laughing. Not the greatest idea."He cringed with a smile.

"Just one click, ok?" She suggested. Nick sighed, not wanting to argue with his mate.

"Alright, one toot-toot." He chuckled. Judy gave the little device a click and settled in beside him. "Mmm, so, I was really that bad?"

"Mmhmm. It was around 8, maybe a little later last night when she said you might not make it. You were getting cold, pretty weak, and had a horrible time breathing."

"I'm sorry Carrots, I didn't mean to scare you like that." Nick insisted, pulling her in a little.

"You saved my life Nick. He shot high on me, would have hit me in the head. But you pushed me out of the way."

"Still."

"No." She refuted, stroking his belly. "I'm so proud of you. You risked your life to save me, I'll never forget it."

"And I'd do it again in a heartbeat." He chuckled, kissing her forehead. The door to his room opened up, bringing in Dr. Lani Dawson, Bogo and Mariah Kasi. Nick smiled and waved to the chief with his good arm. "How's it going chiefy."

"Well, looks who's up and about." Bogo smiled, folding his arms.

"Well, up at least. I'm not sure about the "About" part yet." Lani noted, coming over to Nick's side. "How are you feeling? Girlfriend taking good care of you?"

"Not bad, I toned back the canaphine. Can't stand that stuff." He chuckled.

"Stubborn one, aren't you." Lani chuckled. "Well you can take that as you feel you need, but just be careful. I don't like seeing patients in so much pain, and you do have a hole in you."

"I've already got a few, I'll just add it to the list."

"He's fine." Bogo stated, unimpressed with the joke. Lani and Mariah laughed as she strolled to the side of his bed.

"Hello Nick, Judy." She greeted shaking their hands. "I'm Mariah Kasi, I'm the chief of police in Predaton."

"Ahh, so you heard about-" Nick tried to say.

"Yes I know. I understand it was Psych that shot you but, I cannot apologise enough for my brother's actions. Trust me when I say he does not speak for anyone in my family anymore." She assured him.

"Which brings me to this." Bogo spoke up, placing a case file in Judy's hands labeled Wilde.

"Nick's file?" Judy questioned. Nick let his ears fall back and swallowed with a quick brush of fear. Bogo pulled a chair over for himself and Mariah as Lani walked out of the room. After she closed the door, he gestured for Judy to open it.

"Not quite." Bogo stated. Judy slowly opened the case file to see a picture of a fox who strongly resembled Nick. She read the name at the top.

"Parker Mathias Wilde." Judy glanced to Nick. He picked up the picture and looked it over.

"Is this, my father?" He asked. Bogo took a quick breath before answering in a solemn tone.

"Yes, and we have strong reason to believe, it is also Psych. I went through as many physical case files as I could rather than relying on the computers and data banks. Turns out Psych erased everything pertaining to his old identity. But the physical records remained. I don't think he was counting on us doing this much leg work to find him."

"No, no it can't be." Nick refuted. "My dad has been gone for years; I honestly thought he was dead!"

"Nick." Judy breathed, handing him a stack of complaints.

"Those are not even made against your father." Bogo noted. "Look at the names at the top."

"Harassment complaint from: Parker Wilde and Rachel Chase. Domestic abuse claim: Parker Wilde, Rachel Chase and Marcus Chase. Assault: Parker and Rachel Wilde. There's gotta be twenty or thirty here. They're all against Daryl Wilde." Nick stated.

"Twenty seven to be exact, but yes, your grandfather had been charged multiple times with trespassing, abuse, harassment and even assault. He was an alcoholic but." Bogo sighed, taking one of the sheets away, he pointed to the bottom. "The previous chief was Daryl's baseball coach, Robert Hogkins. He'd apologise, promise not to do it again and get off the hook. The chief felt sympathy for him, so he tried to brush off these complaints as best he could. You see, about 35 years ago, Daryl had lost his elder son, your uncle Aiden Wilde in a bus crash. Aiden was a baseball player just like his father, and his team had won the intercity finals. He was coming home when the bus lost control. Aiden and six other players were killed." Nick remained silent, placing the picture face down.

"Nick, are you ok?"

"Why did he leave then?" Nick asked, staring down at his sheets.

"Parker was personal friends with Montador Big. At the time Montador was just small timer, but got him a guaranteed hit on Daryl. He was found dead at the bottom of a cliff in the Rainforest District so, we believed the hit successful. However, about twenty years ago as Rachel's last request, she asked we re-open the case. Toxicology reports that were hidden by Hogkins revealed that Daryl was in fact drunk at the time he died and, likely drove himself off in an accident. The charges against Parker were lowered from first degree murder, to conspiracy to commit but, he's never returned. Until now."

"Why?" Nick growled.

"I don't know." Mariah cut in. "Psych had always been a problem in Predaton, but why he teamed up with Alex is still a mystery to me. It's totally out of character for him seeing as how the only one he trusts is Aiden Valor."

"My own father, was the one who shot me?!" Nick cringed. Judy held his hand tight and tossed the picture away, cuddling him close.

"Nick, please calm down baby, you're hurt." She insisted.

"Nick." Mariah spoke up. "I don't think he knows that it was you, anymore than you knew it was him. I don't blame you for hating him for this; it's not something to be forgiven lightly. But speaking as someone with a criminal in the family, you learn a thing or two." She said, reaching for his hand and clasping it. "Like knowing that there is still a person underneath that you can reach. I've tried to help reach Alex, but it's no use for now. I have to put him behind bars where he belongs and maybe with time he can come back."

"He left me and my mother to fend for ourselves, he didn't even visit her when she died. There's no part of that monster that's even close to being someone I'd call a father." Nick argued. Judy slowly raised her hand up, clicking the canaphine device a few times. Nick's eyes leveled out with his ears pointing straight back. "Ok that's cheating."

"Sorry Nick, love you." She smiled, pecking his cheek with a kiss.

"You might be interested to know that Ruth Chase is here too." Bogo informed him, rising from the chair. "She had a mild cardiac episode but, I'm sure she'd love a visit when you can walk."

"Yeah? Well alright." Nick conceded.

"Get some rest, Nick. Oh and, I don't think I have to tell you but, you're off the case."

"What a shock." Nick quipped.

"Judy, you and I will talk tomorrow."

"We did it, woo!" Tyler cheered, tossing bundles of money in the air.

"We're rich!" Manches joined in, throwing heaps of cash up as it rained down. Oshu, Tyler, Manches and Baxter were celebrating a well earned victory inside the luxury of their new hideout. A massive foreclosed mansion at the end of a strip, just up on the large hill in Sahara Square near the edge of Savannah Central. It was immense, with a two wings, 18 rooms 4 bathrooms, a dining hall, full kitchen and living areas. It seemed it was designed with a cat type predator in mind. Multiple paintings of lions and lionesses decorated the white halls of the mansion with each bedroom having its own wall color. It came equipped with a large garage and rooftop patio that had been rigged up with their two rocket launchers to counter any incoming cars or aircraft.

"Welcome aboard boys, this is how it's gonna be from now on, haha!" Oshu cheered with his arms wide open.

"Thank you boss, thank you!" Manches praised.

"I'ma bring my girl here sometime. She's gonna love it." Tyler chuckled. Bryan was on the floor counting his money and seemed to be separating a good chunk of it into one pile.

"Whatcha up to Baxter?" Oshu asked, kneeling down to him.

"Setting aside a cut for Jordan's family."

"You gonna give em a few million?"

"He was my best friend, I owe him this much. His cub and wife shouldn't have to worry bout money for a while with this." Baxter smiled and nodded. "Least I can do."

"You're a good mammal." Oshu laughed, patting his shoulder. "But tonight, you better be a drunk one with the rest of us!"

"Fuck yeah!" Baxter cheered.

"Hey, where's the fox, wolf and panther?" Tyler questioned.

"Psych's cleaning up back at Cliffside." Oshu acknowledged. "Don't want the ZPD following our tracks so he's taking care of business there."

Up at Cliffside, Psych was packing his tower and laptop into Aiden's car after having dismantled all of the computer equipment on site. Shutting the hood, he walked around to join Aiden and leaned on the driver side of the car across from Wolford.

"All wrapped up?" He asked.

"Yeah, we're ready to go. So Wolford, what are you gonna do with your cut?" Psych asked.

"I don't know, haven't really decided yet. Maybe get a new." He trailed off for a moment. "Wait, did you just-" Psych cut him off by revealing his favorite toy. A arm based taser weapon that fired three high voltage prongs per arm. They struck Wolford right in the chest, sending him into the ground in agony.

"Sorry, but I think we made it quite clear, Ryan Wolford. No cops allowed in our little group." Psych stated. Cutting the lines with a click of the button in his palm, he pushed the mechanism forward to reveal two rather long and razor sharp claws per hand. He drove his fist into Wolford's shoulder and with another press sent more current into his body. "Hurts doesn't it?" He smiled.

"Stop, stop! Please stop!!" Wolford cried out in agony. Psych stopped the current and drew the blades out of his body, letting Wolford writhe in agony on the ground.

"What are we gonna do with him?" Aiden asked.

"Pick him up." Psych smiled. Aiden complied and strapped Wolford onto the top of his car. They cleared the garage and drove out across the bridge, onward to Sahara Square. Heading down the strip, they pulled into the garage and stepped out. Aiden got Wolford down from the roof of his car, throwing him to the ground. He could barely move, struggling to get up. Psych took a cartridge out of his pocket and reloaded his fist weapon and fired on him again. Wolford screamed in agony, the current rushing his body and searing the wound Psych had inflicted on his shoulder. Cutting the cables again, he pulled out a gun and tranquilized him.

"He better not have stained my car." Aiden stated.

"Oh please, you're a millionaire, buy two new ones." Psych quipped. Aiden had no counter argument so he settled on shrugging and picking up Wolford's unconscious body. Aiden took him downstairs into the basement while Psych entered through the garage, walked down the hallway and into the living room. Oshu, Tyler, Manches and Baxter were already celebrating, having cracked open a few bottle of Champaign with music blasting from the home theater.

"Hey hey! The prodigal fox returns!" Oshu greeted with a cheer.

"Well, looks like you boys are having fun, huh?" Psych laughed. Looking Oshu over he could see multiple untreated cuts and bruises and walked over with the look of a father having found his child making a mess. "Look at you!" Psych called out, gesturing to his body. "The hell did you do to yourself?!"

"Got in a fight with that lion cop. Turns out he can throw a few punches after all." Psych shook his head and shoved the cheetah toward the kitchen.

"Get in there you dolt, we're gonna have those cleaned up properly."

Psych went to work, stitching a few of his larger cuts closed and cleaning off the little ones. Oshu had an ice pack resting on his cheek, laughing a little while Psych was mending him.

"Why do you care?"

"What, you're going to go to the hospital to get these amputated when they get infected?" Psych replied. "Might as well rent you out as a rug at that point." He chuckled, cutting the stitch off.

"So come on fox, tell me. What are you gonna do now with your cut?" Oshu insisted, taking a swig from his bottle of Champaign.

"We'll talk about it later." He countered, heading to the sink to wash his hands.

"Later bull shit, come on. Look, we've done it old timer! We really did it. Your brains, my brawn, we got this crew locked down tight! We can do anything!" He exclaimed. "Come on, whatcha wanna do, name it." Psych wiped his hands and sighed, planting his hands on either side of the sink.

"The group isn't mine, it's yours Alex."

"What's that supposed to mean."

"It means, I'm letting Aiden take over for me. I have to go."

"What?" Oshu looked like he was completely lost. The excessive drinking wasn't helping much either.

"Alex, I have terminal cancer." Psych said, looking up from the sink. "I've got a month, maybe two." Oshu took the news rather seriously. Getting up from his seat he walked around, clasping his hands together and leaning on the counter next to Psych and asked in a hushed tone.

"So, if you're gonna kick the bucket. Why do all this, why help me? What's all this money gonna do for you?"

"I'm going to give it to my son." He confessed. "When I left this town, I left a wife and kit behind. Last time I heard, he was peddling popsicles to get by."

"So you're gonna give it all to him?" Oshu wondered.

"Yeah. I'm gonna try to find him, give him every last cent." Psych agreed, taking a towel to wipe off the last few drops on his paws. "I haven't been able to be there for him most of his life now. Least I can do is make the rest of his easy."

"That's really deep, Psych. Never pictured you the sentimental type."

"I'm not." He corrected. "Not really anymore. But I know Aiden can take care of himself, trained him well. Now I just have to take care of my son. With everything settled, it won't matter if I'm dead." Psych nodded. He took a long deep breath and gave Oshu's arm a pat. "You've got family now too, friend. They're out there, celebrating our success. It's all about you and them tonight. Go, enjoy yourself." Oshu gave a soft laugh and smiled, patting Psych's back.

"Thank you, old timer."

"Ahh, go out there and party, spots." Psych laughed.