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The Victoria Chronicles

**Chapter 17

The Furred Crusader**

After having a long calming talk with Visalth in her sleep and getting more instruction on what she could do and how more of the tools worked Vix went into a regular sleep. It wasn't long before she started to have a dream.

Or rather another nightmare like the one she had the night before.

It was just as vivid as the previous dream she had, and she wished that she wasn't.

The people were running around screaming, just like before. It was a just as disturbing and she didn't like it. She was back on the alien world, a world in the mist of chaos and evacuation.

Everyone was screaming, yelling and running. The weirdly shaped aircraft were zooming overhead, leaving contrails and shooting weapons at the unseen foe off in the distance while the civilians ran from the explosions towards the large landed ships where they quickly boarded up long and wide ramps.

Every so often one of the large crafts would take off. Leaving the ground and hovered a mere 50 or so feet above the surface before a portal would open up and they would quickly fly through the aperture, disappearing entirely and the portal would close again.

Vix looked back to where the horrendous noises were coming from. The weird colored fires burned in the direction from where the sounds of the battle were coming. No one seemed to notice her as they ran past in their hundreds, clambering to board any of the remaining rescue craft they could. There were far more people than there was space in the remaining refugee ships from what Vix could see. She already knew that more weren't coming coming.

And then an already chaotic situation got worse, again.

The explosions started drawing closer!

Some of the craft fighting whatever was coming crashed to the nearby hills. Coming down in thick trails of billowing smoke. Some of them had strange creatures attached to them. Vix could make them out more clearly this time. They phased in and out of focus with no defined form, or even fully being in this reality. Whatever reality she was in!

The craft hit the ground with bone-rattling booms and exploded in a shower of oddly colored smoke and flames. Some manage something close to an emergency landing before coming to a jarring halt. But Vix could tell the occupants inside were no longer inhabiting the world of the living. She never saw one escape the burning crafts anyway.

One of the nearby escape arcs took to the air only to be struck by an unseen force. The craft shuddered violently before exploding into innumerable flaming bits. The screaming of the crowds grew in intensity as more rescue craft followed suit. With nowhere to run to many within the crowds fell to their knees and cried. Others raised angry fists to the sky and yelled. There were too many voices for Vix to understand what anyone was saying.

Victoria turned around at a sound she had only heard once before. One that she hoped she would not have heard again. If asked to describe it she would still would not be able to find the words.

Turning around in horror of the dreadful sound Vix caught a very brief glimpse of what had been causing all the mayhem. An anomaly of the universe that she could not imagine! Her own mind shut down in part, a self-defense to prevent her from remembering what she saw! But this time she made out a little more than the last time. A little more detail could be seen this time around.

And then she woke up.

Vix woke with a start, and a scream, kicking the covers off of herself before she realized they were just blankets and not some Lovecraftian horror.

She was back in her own world, assuming that she had ever left it in the first place.

Her scream had woken Pops and Kristine from their own sleep and they both quickly came over to her side after waking with a start.

"What's wrong?" Kristine asked, concern written on her face as she knelt down by the couch. Noticing Victoria's bare chest, fur notwithstanding, she picked up the blanket and draped it over the vixen's shoulders, then fussed with it for a bit while trying to calm Victoria down.

The remnants of the dream slowly faded and Vix calmed down slightly. Eventually her heart rate and her breathing slowed back to normal levels. Well, close enough anyway. She took a moment to collect herself before uttering a word. It took a bit longer than she would have liked. Of course, she would have liked for a lot of things lately to have not happened.

"Just a nightmare." She said to Kristine while she clutched her tail.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Kristine asked gently. "You seem pretty shook-up."

"No!" Vix yelled before calming down again somewhat, "No. I'm fine." Vix said, "I just want to forget it ever happened."

Kristine gave her a concerned. "You don't look fine dear." Victoria gave her a look that said, please don't, so Kristine dropped it for now before eventually nodding. "Ok. If it bothered you that much I won't make you go through it again." Kristine said, "Are you ok?" She gave the vixen a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder, noting that Victoria was trembling slightly, but the shaking was lessening.

"I'm fine now. I'm sorry I disturbed you both." Victoria apologized.

"It's ok sweetie." Kristine said patting Victoria's head. "Try to get some rest. We'll talk in the morning." Kristine gave Vix one last pat before heading back to her cot and lay back down. Pops did the same in his recliner.

Victoria lay down on the couch and watched the two of them for a few minutes before closing her eyes.

But try as she might she just couldn't get back to sleep.

"Yeah, no. I don't think I'm getting anymore sleep tonight." Victoria thought to herself."Not for a while anyway."

She opened her one eye and looked around the dark room. With her eyes and the moon shining through the windows outside she could see every detail perfectly as if it was daylight. She listened to Pops and Kristine's breathing to make sure they were fully asleep before getting up and sitting on the edge of the couch.

She quietly pulled on her jeans and put on a t-shirt, forgoing the hated bra, she wasn't going to be in public, what's the worst that could happen? Then she slid her arms into the arms of her flannel shirt, picked up her backpack before silently made her way to the inner door that lead to the shop, pausing at the door of the closet. She looked between the shop door and the closet door a few times before coming to a decision. Walking the short distance to the closet she reached out a hand toward the doorframe then hesitated. Vix stood there with her paw less than an inch from the frame before finally touching the wood. She closed her eyes and concentrated for a second or two, she felt a momentary tingle on her fingertips, almost like a spark, but different. In her mind a connection was made and she felt she had been successful. Reaching down to the handle she turned the handle, paused, then opened the door. Inside, instead of the inside of the closet, there was instead the interior of Visalth's study.

Vix then closed the door, and then opened it again to reveal the inside of the closet again. Ok, that seemed to have worked. Now if she needed to hide or just get away from everything for a bit she knew that she could get there without trouble.

Vix then resumed her way to the shop, but as she crossed the kitchenette she picked up something through her nose. Sniffing the air she smelled something good, something meaty. Looking at the counter she spied a closed pizza box. Her ears immediately perked up and her stomach gave a small growl. Oh yeah, due to, stuff, she hadn't had dinner.

_~"Percii? What time is it?"~_Vix asked as through the mental link she shared with the AI. She wasn't wearing a watch.

_~"It is 14 after midnight."~_He replied.

Good enough excuse to be hungry she supposed. She walked over to the counter and opened the box. Inside was a half of a large peperoni, bacon and sausage pizza. She picked up two slices, put one in her mouth, closed the box back up, and continued to the door. With one slice dangling from her mouth, and the other in one hand, she opened the door and stepped into the shop.

Stepping onto the mezzanine that overlooked the shop and without making a sound she walked down the stairs and noticed that the shop was once again littered with tools and discarded detritus. It wasn't as bad as the day before, but it was still more disorganized than she liked. It also looked like the person that had used the tools had done what they needed them for, then just left them lying where ever they had been and moved on, just leaving tools and rage wherever. She put her backpack on a workbench and spent some time cleaning up the shop and putting the tools back where they belonged. She had a distinct impression that the transgressor was Earle.

Once she was satisfied she gave another look around while wiping her paws on a rag before tossing the rag into the used bin to be either cleaned or recycled.

"Ok, that's better." Vix said satisfied. She nodded her head to herself and stood up. She then grabbed her bag as she headed to the door.

"Where are you going Lady Victoria?"

"Out for a walk. Maybe a run." Vix said opening the door and looking around at the night landscape. Despite there being just sliver of a moon out tonight, less than a quarter moon, she found that she could see everything, every detail, as if it was early dusk, or just before sunrise. She had to remind herself that her eyes too had changed along with the rest of her. She wondered not for the first time if this was because of Visalth's unique physiology or Percii's tinkering inside her genome. But she had to admit, this did open up some interesting possibilities.

"Mistress Visalth was clear that you should stay on the farm." Percii said concerned. It wasn't like the AI to be this out of character Vix knew that much.

"I'm not leaving the farm, just going out to clear my head." Vix said looking around. "I'm just going for a jog and getting some healthy air."

She took off down the driveway and a modest trot at first, slowly increasing to a steady run. She never used to like running if she didn't need to. Not for recreation anyway. But now...now it almost seemed enjoyable somehow. It felt...right? She barely noticed that she was running on her toes, but she did noticed how her toes and claws griped and dug into the ground and gave her purchase to run faster.

Maybe this new body wasn't so bad after all.

She just wished that they hadn't made her female.

She had been running along the road for about an hour now. And she had learned something very important.

She should have warn the bra.

Vix came to a stop at the top of a hill. She was breathing only slightly harder than normal, the exertion of running having had only a minor effect of her body. She felt like she could run for far longer than she already had.

"Feeling better?" Percii asked.

"Surprisingly...yes." Vix replied. "Back in my old life I hated running. But now?...it almost feels natural. Wish I had more support, but I can deal with it for now. Next time I'll know better."

"You will find that you can do a lot of things that will feel more, natural, as you get more accustomed." The AI droned on. "For instance--"

"Hang on! Be quiet! I hear something."

Vix's ears perked and her tail slowed as she heard something in the far distance despite Percii's objections at being interrupted. With Percii's complaints only half heard Vix took off down the road again to investigate.

Shawn had been on his way home from working the late shift.

The key phrase here being had been.

"Damn stupid car!" he grumbled as he tried the ignition again to no avail, the car making a weak clicking noise. Giving up on that he tried his cell phone again. but just like the last time he looked there was no signal to be found at his present location.

"Damn it! Why can't they put up a cell tower out here already!" he grumbled.

It was while he was otherwise preoccupied looking at his cell that he was started suddenly when someone knocked on his window. He cracked the window open an inch or two wondering who could be out on the road this late at night out in this forsaken farmland so far from what he would call civilization.

"Is everything ok?" A female voice asked. He tried to look out to see who it was, but all he could see in the dim light from the screen of his phone was what looked like the persons flannel shirt, her face hidden in the gloom.

"Not really miss. My car died and now the damn thing won't start." Shawn said frustrated.

"Pop the hood. I'll take a look."

"I don't know what you think you'll be able to accomplish," he said as he pulled the release for the hood, "but I'll humor you anyway."

The vague shape of something darker than the starlit sky made its way to the front of the car and opened the hood. Shawn heard the stranger rummaging under the hood while a dim light barely illuminated the engine compartment. He rolled his winder the rest of the way down hoping to better hear what the person was doing under the hood.

"I can't see how you can even see anything without a proper light." Shawn said, trying to pear under the small gap where the hood met the windshield. But after just a few more minutes of quiet tinkering the strange woman finally said something.

"Ok, try it now."

Shawn turned the key and much to his surprise the engine started on the first try and the headlights came on. His savior was just dropping the hood back in place as he thanked her.

"Miss, I don't know what you did, but you saved me a very long walk in the dark out in the middle of no--" his voice trailed off as the hood descended revealing not what he was expecting to see.

In the light of the headlights was what looked like a combination between a fox and werewolf wearing flannel and jeans. The creature made sure the hood was latched before making its way back to the driver side of the car. Shawn just gawked in stunned fearfulness, unable to move. Let alone roll up the window.

"You're going to want to get the positive battery cable replaced." The creature said casually. "I managed to splice it for now, but I wouldn't drive it for any longer than necessary to get home. Have a nice remainder of your night."

After saying its piece it turned around and jogged back into the shadows of the night.

"Tha-thank y-you." Shawn stammered. Not sure what it was that he just witnessed.

Elsewhere that night things were not as nice as a broken down car.

So much more not nice.

"Why are you doing this?" A woman cried after being thrown into the back of a blacked out troop-carrier.

"You'll find out soon enough!" a man said menacingly. There were two others behind him who snickered intimidatingly.

The door was shut and the woman found that she was not alone in the back of the truck. There were at least half a dozen other people inside with her, some were as scared as her, others were angry at their imprisonment, none of them deserved to be there.

"Where are they taking us?" The woman asked the group.

One of them spoke up. "None of us know. We were each pulled from our homes and thrown into this damn truck without explanation." The man said sullenly.

"But why?"

"Only they know. And so far they ain't talking." The man replied.

They drove on in muffled silence. The only sound was the occasional repressed crying and the muffled talking of the men in the cab.

But after only a few miles down the road the truck made a sharp swerve as something darted in front of the truck and the driver swore out loud. The men in the cab started yelling as something ran alongside of the truck. The driver accelerated to loose whatever it was, but it kept up. One of the men started shooting out the window at it. Whatever it was dropped back and disappeared behind the truck. The men relaxed a bit, arguing about what the thing was.

Suddenly the passenger door was ripped from its hinges and the man closest to it was grabbed by something large, clawed, covered with fur and very, very angry and disappeared into the gloom as he was forcibly yanked from the cab. The driver hit the brakes and the four remaining men piled out of the cab with their guns drawn.

"All right! We know you're out there!" The apparent leader yelled into the dark. "Just come out peacefully and nobody has to die!"

He was met by silence from the darkness. As a group the five remaining men walked in the direction the taken man had disappeared. They soon found him lying in the road. His rifle was broken in half and its magazine missing. The apparent leader motioned for them to stop and he knelt down to check his fallen comrade. The man lying on the ground was still alive and breathing, just unconscious. His knife and all his ammo missing. The leader got to his feet a moment later and motioned for his men to spread out and each took up positions around the truck.

"What was that thing?!"

"I don't know! But I'm going to put a round into it when I find it!"

"Can it!! Keep your eyes peeled, whatever it was it can't be far!" the leader yelled at the two.

Each man turned on their flashlights and started probing the darkness. All but one who the leader posted to watch over their cargo in the back of the truck. The lone man left to guard was called Tom. He shuffled his feet nervously as the rest searched for whatever it was that had attacked the truck. He was younger than the rest and had only just recently been transferred here as his first posting. He was starting to regret he choice to join this outfit after being recruited after basic training. There were too many weird and questionable activities going on. Why were they abducting people for one thing? He was told it was for the greater good of the country, but none of this seemed right.

There was a burst of gunfire off to the right and an angry yell that was abruptly cut off. One of the other men was heard running over to the commotion and yelling obscenities. There was a few more shots fired, and as Tom peaked around the side of the truck he saw the beam of a flashlight arc wildly from side to side as the man looked for his target before suddenly the light went flying through the air to land a few yards away from its origin of flight. There was a muffled struggle before the man's words were cut off suddenly and the night went silent once again.

The two remaining hurried over to the source of the commotion only to find two of their comrades lying on the ground unconscious. One of the rifles had its barrel bent at a right angle and both weapons were missing their magazines. The captain ordered the remaining man to take one side while he took the other and they fanned out, their attentions focused on finding their attacker.

It was but a few minutes later when the other man yelled at movement in the undergrowth, only to be cut off like the rest. The captain ran over to his position to find the man lying on the ground, his rifle missing.

"All right! I'm done playing games!" Tom heard his captain yell into the darkness. There was silence for a few more minutes as the captain searched with his flashlight along the side of the road into the surrounding landscape. Nothing was seen or heard for a bit until there was a sound of bushes shaking off to one side. The captain fired a burst into the overgrowth and was met with silence again afterwards.

He edged over cautiously, on guard for any movement.

"Did you get it captain?" Tom inquired from his post, looking around the corner of the truck again.

"Shut up and hold your position private!"

Tom quickly withdrew back to his position next to the tailgate. There was some muttered swears from the captain as he poked into the bushed along the road. But he found nothing. No body, no creature. Not even a drop of blood.

"What the fu--" The captain was cut off when suddenly something rushed out of the overgrowth at him at high speed.

Tom heard something hit the side of the truck hard. Hard enough to make it sway on its suspension. There was a muffled gurgling heard from the driver's side of the truck as well as a low drawn out growl. Tom came around from the back to see what had hit the truck.

What he saw dumbfounded him.

He saw his commander hanging in the air, his hands grappling at something that had him held up off the ground by the neck. He feebly protested, but his windpipe was being slowly crushed by a pressure he was powerless to do anything about.

Tom held his light up to illuminate the scuffle, but the captain had his back to him and the attacker was hidden on the other side of the suspended captain who was quickly turning blue from lack of oxygen. Tom saw a set of claws circling the captain's throat as whatever had him was holding him suspended by one hand, or paw. He couldn't tell which.

"P-put him d-down!" Tom stammered as he raised his rifle. A pair of glowing green eyes was illuminated in the light from his flashlight as he slowly came around from behind the captain's torso.

"I r-repeat! Put him d-down or I-I'll f-fire!"

Suddenly the captain was released. His body having lost consciousness, fell limply to the ground in a heap. Tom barely caught a glimpse of something humanoid silhouetted in the truck headlights before it darted off quickly with the speed of snake striking. Tom rushed over to the captain and check for a pulse.

He sighed in partial relief when he realized that the captain was only unconscious. Other than a few bruises to his arms and around his neck he seemed unharmed.

But in his hurry to check on his fallen commander he momentarily forgot about what had attacked the rest of his squad. He heard the crunch of gravel from behind him and he slowly rose to his feet. He felt hot breath on the back of his neck, and he knew, just knew, that if he made any rash movements it would end badly for him.

Tom very slowly turned around, his flashlight still in his hand, to face whatever it was that was waiting for him.

He kept his eye downwards as he turned. Now facing the presence he first saw a pair of blue jeans and looking up higher to a flannel shirt. Oh. This doesn't seem so bad. Tom thought to himself. Maybe this was just some farmer that had come out to see what all the noise was about and the creature had fled.

Those thoughts quickly fled his mind when he looked straight ahead into the face of a very pissed off looking vulpine face. The creature advanced on him slowly, giving off a low growl. Tom started to raise his rifle slowly until the volume and intensity of the growl grew threateningly. He lowered the rifle again and moved his finger off the trigger.

He heart was pounding a mile a minute, and his breath was shallow. He was petrified with fear that this thing was about to tear his throat out at any moment.

Quicker than he realized the fox--thing was within inches of him and it leaned in close, its snout practically touching his nose, lips parted and teeth gleaming in the flashlights beam.

"Boo!" Vix said quietly.

Tom came to a short time later. He looked around blearily as his senses returned. Wait! Had he actually fainted? Oh, he was going to catch all kinds of hell from the captain for this. Looking around he started to pick up details that his mind had missed while it had been rebooting.

For one, when he tried to get up he noticed that his hands and ankles had been bound with the zip-tie handcuffs they had. He also seemed to be sitting on the ground and leaning up against something. All the truck side and rear utility lights were on, lighting up the landscape near and around the truck. He turned his head and saw that what he was leaning against was the side of the truck. All of his squad was! All of them were tied up and arranged so that their backs were against the side of the truck in a line. And he was at the end of the line.

The one difference between them and himself, besides the fact that he was the only one conscious was that all but himself were gagged as well as tied up.

He heard a light huff and turned his head around back to facing forward. In the road in front of him he made out a lone figure squatting on its haunches. He nearly swallowed his tongue when the figure opened its mouth and gave a long sigh after taking in a deep breath.

It was the creature that had taken out a squad of six armed men with apparent ease. But for some reason had gone to great pains not to unduly injure anyone.

Yet.

Tom stared at the creature, fearing that it would attack him and end his young life before he had a chance to really do something with it. But it just sat there, staring back at him, with its head slightly tilted to one side ears forward.

After a few seconds on staring at each other, and the creature not killing him and his squad mates, Tom began to take in other details. For one, it had the face of a fox, a beautiful face if he allowed himself to admit to it, but a beautiful one none the less. Although, at the moment it did not look particularly happy. It also had long hair tied in a loose ponytail draped over one shoulder. It had what appeared to be fur covered hands with sharp claws resting lightly over the barrel and stock of a military issued M14 rifle. He froze for a brief few seconds when he realized that it was his rifle it loosely held on its knees. Its feet were digigrade and it sat squatting on its toes. Its feet also had long sharp claws, and he briefly imagined the thing using those claws on him and his squad mates to end their lives. For the life of him he couldn't understand why it hadn't already done so. And, oh yeah, it was clothed in human cloths and was apparently very much a female.

Finally he couldn't stand the silence any longer as his will finally cracked. He had to get it over with.

"Well go ahead! Finish it already!" he demanded as forcibly as he could manage with his adrenalin shooting through the roof in fear, but still couldn't manage to remove the twinge in his voice belaying his fear. "Just kill us already and get it over with!"

To his horror the creature got up and came closer. Much closer. So close that if it desired it could easily reach out a paw and tear open his throat. It gave him a long thoughtful stare and a light sniff before backing up just a bit.

"What are you doing out here!" it lightly growled.

"I, uh, I mean...What!?" Tom stammered.

"Why are you abducting people?" The fox-thing asked. Tom couldn't help but notice how the mouth moved up and down gracefully around every vowel with a hint of British accent. Of particular note, that he couldn't quite tare his eyes off of, were its very sharp teeth.

"I-I don't know!" he cried, fearing that it would kill him at any moment.

The creature sighed and reached out a paw with its claws drawn. Tom squeezed his eyes shut, but instead of tearing him to shreds he felt the bonds on his legs soddenly go slack as they were cut. Tom opened his eyes again slowly to see the fox stand up over him, and in one quick movement it reached out again and hoisted him to his feet by his shirt. It only held on to his shirt long enough for him to gain his balance then released him.

"Turn around." It commanded.

Tom complied and as soon as his back was turned the creature griped his wrists and pulled him close. "I'm going to release your hands. But do not try to run away." It said, its muzzle uncomfortably close to his ear, he could feel the heat from its breath. And in a lower voice that brooked no argument, it added, "Keep in mind, I can run faster than you. I can see better than you. And if you cross me, you will never see me coming for you!"

Tom gulped as it took a step back, and in one smooth movement he felt his remaining bonds sliced cleanly. He slowly brought his arms back around in front of him and noted with dread how cleanly the zip-tie had been sliced with a single stroke of the creature's claws.

"Now move to the back of the truck." It said with a gentle but firm shove with the butt of the rifle in the direction of the rear of the truck.

Once the two of them were standing behind the truck it indicated with a tap on the shoulder for him to stop. Then it spoke to him again.

"Open it." The creature commanded.

"I-but if I do I'll likely get in trouble." Tom said fearfully.

"You're already in trouble." The creature said in a low voice, "But your troubles can always get worse."

Tom took the hint and undid the latch of the tailgate and opened up the back of the truck. Once the doors were opened he was shocked when the creature called out into the back of the truck in a soft and caring voice full of concern that had not been there during its conversation with him, "Is everyone ok? Is anyone hurt?"

"Nobody's hurt, but we have some scared people in here." A woman's voice called back. Vix and Tom's bodies were silhouetted against the light from the trucks overhead utility lights above the rear of the truck, so all they saw were two people standing at the back with their faces in shadow. One of them had two strange triangles on their head, but otherwise no further detail could be seen.

"Don't be afraid. I'm a friend." Vix said calmly. "I'm coming in to release you."

Vix gave Tom a light shove and he entered the truck first before she followed. Vix sat him down in the corner and warned him not to make a move. He didn't dare disobey her.

Vix got to work releasing everyone's bonds in the darkened troop area of the truck. The first one she released was a man, and after cutting his bonds around his wrists she passed him the rifle and told him to keep an eye on the trooper she had banished to the front corner. The man had no problem agreeing to this request.

Some of the people leapt up with joy after the zip ties of their wrists were systematically cut. A few were confused when they felt soft fur against their faces and hands as they hugged her in gratitude, but none made comment about it.

After Vix had released everyone she again asked if everyone was ok.

"We're all unhurt, just scared." One lady said before asking, "Who are you?"

"I'm just a friend who happened to come along at the right time." Vix said kindly.

Vix fielded a bunch more questions as best she could until one person said, "Hey! I found an interior light switch!"

Suddenly the interior lights came on, and any eyes not already pointed in Vix's direction suddenly became aware of the "fox" in the room. Then came completely new questions. Most of them she had already heard before. A lot she hoped to avoid altogether. Eventually she managed to calm everyone down again and the chaos receded. Although things were calmer now, many of the people were uneasy with the fox nearby. They didn't know what to make of her, but there was one thing in particular that she had going for her.

She wasn't one of the abductors!

Once things had calmed down again Vix noticed a small figure trying to hide from the rest of the group. It was a small child, perhaps eight years old, and she was crying softly to herself. Vix hadn't heard her till now until things had calmed. She motioned for everyone to be quite and made her way over to the child.

"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Vix asked the girl. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you."

The girl shook her head.

"Are you afraid of me?"

Again another head shake.

Vix looked back to the rest of the group. "Who's child is this?" No one had an answer. Apparently the girl had been one of the very first ones to have been picked up.

Vix's eyes flashed red briefly and she spun on Tom who had been under guard still by the man Vix had posted on him. She politely moved the man to the side and angrily gripped the troopers shirt, twisting the material tight around her fist under his chin with her left had and bodily hoisted him up off the jump seat and held the shorter man with his feet dangling off the floor plates. Her face was very close to his, and Tom could see a dull red glow behind Vix's pupils.

"You! Abducted! A! Child! From! Her! Family!?!" Vix's growl was low and menacing and had tones of low-frequency infrasound in her cadence. Tom thought the creature to be angry before, now she was beyond incensed!

"It wasn't my idea!" he wailed. "They said it was for the greater good of the country! I just got transferred in!!" He gibbered as he panicked.

Vix turned her head to the group behind her, and as if a switch had been flipped her voice was calm and pleasant and her facial features friendly, and said to the group, "Would you excuse us for a moment? Me and..." she turned back to the cowering Tom and her look was full of daggers again. "What's your name?"

"Tom Miss! Private fir--" Vix cut him off and turned back to the group.

"Tommy Boy and I are going to have a nice little chat outside." Vix said in her most pleasant sing-song voice. "Please talk amongst yourselves while I sort out a few things. We will be right back."

"Ar-are you going to hurt the b-bad m-man?" The little girl asked meekly.

"Of course not." Vix said sweetly. "I just need to ask Tommy Boy a few things. I promise to bring him back in one piece." Vix assured.

"C-couldn't you h-hurt him a l-little?" the girl inquired. The rest of the group added their consent to this idea.

"We'll see." Vix shrugged. "Come on you!" Vix said bodily hauling the terrified private to the rear of the truck and dragging him over the tailgate. "You've got some splaining to do!"

Tom wasn't convinced that he would survive the first question. Or come back in one piece.

Outside the truck along the side Vix tossed Tom against the hood of the truck. "Explain yourself!" she all but growled.

"I don't know anything!" Tom pleaded. "I just transferred in, I swear!"

**Wham!!**

Vix slammed her first into the hood just a foot from Tom's head, leaving a deep dent in the toughened steel.

"Not good enough!" she growled.

Tom gibbered as he explained his position again, pleading that he didn't know anything of any importance.

"Where is your bass of operations?!" Vix growled.

"I don't know! I don't even know what town we're near!" Tom gasped, watching the angry fox clench her fist again. "Only the captain knows anything worth knowing! I Swear."

"Where did you find all these people? Can you find where they belong!?"

"N-No! I don't think I could! I don't know where I am!

Vix relaxed her grip and let Tom fall to the ground. She wasn't getting anywhere with this one. The others were still unconscious and likely of little help if what Tom was saying was true.

Vix calmed down, but only slightly. She looked around at the landscape. Although the gibbering Tom couldn't see far into the shroud of night, she could. And there wasn't much this far out. The land out here was filled with farmland with little in the way of habitations. She already knew that all these people didn't all come from one house, and there weren't many around here. She couldn't take them back to the farm either, that left taking them to town. Hopefully the police or someone could take it from there. The other question was what to do with Tom and the rest of his squad? She didn't want to leave them on the side of the road, they likely wouldn't be there once she got back. She could leave them with the police she supposed, but had the feeling that a shadow group wouldn't stay in jail for long. And there was the problem of getting any of the authorities to believe her story. She very much doubted that Sheila would be there this time of night. What to do, what to do Vix contemplated thoughtfully as she drummed her claws on the hood of the truck pensively.

She looked over at the rest of Tom's squad, all of them were still unconscious from their encounter with her. And the ground, and at least one tree. She looked at the captain. No, she knew his sort. He wouldn't be so easy to get information out of. Maybe she could tie them up to some trees and come back for them? But what would she do with them after she came back? Assuming they were still there.

Could she use them to send a message?

"Uhm excuse me uh, Miss fox lady?" A voice said from the back of the truck. Vic turned around as she saw one of the group peering around the corner of the truck. "We'd like to go home. If that's alright with you?"

"I'll be with you in one sec." Vix replied. The person nodded and withdrew back into the truck. "Come on Tommy Boy, let's put you to use."

"You're not going to kill me? Are you?" Tom said with no small amount of trepidation.

"Maybe later." Vix said in a sarcastic dry tone.

"A-are you some kind o-of monster?"

Vix turned toward the shorter man, her eyes flashing that dull glow again before fading. Tom suddenly wished he had just kept his mouth shut.

"No." she said and took a step closer to him, and with a glint in her eye continued, "I'm what monsters are afraid of." She said in a low growl.

In the end she ended up tossing the six would be abductors into the back of the truck and put a few of the released men to guard them. But first she made damn sure the six men had absolutely no weapons or items on them and liberated anything that might prove useful. Then she loaded up some of the others including the young girl into the front cab before getting behind the wheel of the truck herself and heading the truck into town.

On the drive in she got yet more questions.

"So...not to be rude, much appreciate the rescue and all, but," someone started. Vix already had an idea what was coming so she politely waited for them to gather their nerve. "What are you? Are you a werewolf?"

"You know," Vix said warily, "You are not the first person to ask me that. And to answer your question, no, I'm not."

"What are you then?" Someone else asked.

"You would not believe me if I told you." Vix said as she continued to drive.

"She's a hero!" the little girl said enthusiastically.

Vix glanced down to where the girl was sitting next to her in the middle of the front of the cab and smiled. "No, I'm not that either. But thanks for the vote of confidence kid." The girl smiled and gave Vix a hug.

"Not much of a monster after all, are you Lady Victoria?" Percii said through the link. Vix didn't respond but she did give a small smile to herself as she drove. For a few minutes anyway.

They had more questions of course. And for the most part they weren't anything she hadn't already heard by this point. So she answered them as best as she could and the ones she couldn't, or wouldn't, she just politely said, "I don't know."

Soon enough they reached town and Vix pulled the truck up right in from of the police station. She glanced at her reflection in the side mirror then at the people in the cab with her. She wouldn't be able to shift to human while with these people if she wanted to keep her identities separate. She would just have to be herself when dealing with the police, there was really nothing for it. Giving a small sigh she opened the door and stepped out of the truck. She helped the little girl out while the others got out then walked to the back of the truck to open the tailgate.

"Ok, we're at the police station. I'm going to go get someone of authority to take it from here. If some of you men can keep an eye of the soldiers till they are taken into custody that would be grand." Vix explained. Several of the men swore to keep an eye on things.

Vix then went back to the small group near the front of the truck and lead them to the main doors of the station along with a few of the people who got out of the back of the truck. Stepping up to the door she steeled herself and rang the buzzer for the officer on duty.

"Yes?" came a tiny voice from the speaker grill after a few moments.

"Yeah, hi." Vix started in a friendly tone of voice. "I have a few people here that were briefly abducted, but are now not. As well as the people responsible for the act. Any chance you can take them off my hands?"

There was a small crash heard from the speaker as well as someone chocking briefly before the voice responded with, "What?!"

"I'm serious." Vix said before the question could be asked. "Some people were abducted from their homes tonight and I have the men responsible for it. Also, there is a young girl here who would really like to go home to her parents." Vix said, trying not to sound exasperated. She was more or less expecting all this, but still didn't like having to go through it.

"Wait right there!" said the voice before the speaker gave a loud burst of static that caused Vix's ears to tilt back from the noise. She leaned on the doorframe as she waited. Just to be safe she held her hand to the frame briefly. The same sensation passed through her fingertips, telling her a connection had been made. Better safe than sorry.

A minute later the doors burst open and Terry came out. Vix was already waiting for him but was only mildly surprised to see who it was. "Hey Trigger. How's it going?"

The response she got was right what she expected of him. He took a step back and raised his shotgun at her. "Don't move! What the hell are you!"

Yeah, this seemed familiar.

Before Vix had a chance to respond the small crowd standing in front of the station voiced their objections at his treatment towards the vixen.

"I'm the person who found a bunch of people before they permanently disappeared. What have you been doing with your time?" Vix said casually. The crowd again voiced what they thought of this.

"She saved our lives!"

"She one of the good guys!"

"Don't treat her like that! Do something useful and arrest the men in the back of the truck that are responsible for people going missing!"

Terry glanced about nervously. This was not going as he expected it to go. Were these people really defending this creature? What were they thinking? This...this werewolf like thing was standing as bold as you please and they were defending it like it was some kind of hero!

"Out of idle curiosity," Vix started and Terry's attention was focused back to just on her rather than dividing it between her and the crowd, "Did the sheriff happen to say anything about what happened at the airfield yesterday?"

"You be quite beast!" Terry spat. Yeah, that's what she thought. Guess Sheila either hadn't had time to disseminate the information yet, or had decided that this trigger happy buffoon didn't need to know yet for some reason. Considering he was pulling the late shift she guessed it was the former.

"Tell you what. Why don't you call the sheriff and find out what you should do?" Vix said in a somewhat sympathetic voice. "You seem a bit over your head here. But first, why don't you do something with those assholes in the back of the truck that are the ones responsible for these poor people being forced out of their homes in the dark of night. Hey?"

As much as he hated it this creature did have a point. "O, kay. But stay where I can see you." he said, "And no funny business."

"Sure thing Trigger." Vix said giving him a slight smile. She then proceeded to the back of the truck where the soldiers were still being held. Once there terry was shocked to see six men in military uniforms without patches sitting at the far end of the cargo area under guard by some not too happy men. Vix hooked a clawed thumb towards the building and the men hoisted the soldiers to their feet and marched them to the back of the truck. "Ok, where do you want them? I'm sure your boss will want to talk to them in the morning. Maybe they should be put into a nice cozy claustrophobic cell?"

Again the beast had a point. To the impromptu guards he said, "Alright, take them into the front office. I'll deal with them in a moment." Terry then turned to the creature who had been peacefully standing there politely. "What's your deal? How did you come to be in the area?" he asked in a dubious voice.

"I was out for a night run. Just happened to be in the right place at the right time." Vix replied.

"Yeah well, I have some questions for you. Head on in and keep your hands where I can see them!" Terry said pointing in the general direction of the front door with his shotgun.

"Sure, sure." Vix replied politely before adding, "Don't you want to ask those six what they've been up to? Why they are abducting people in the first place? Get the abductees side of things before jumping to conclusions like this morning?"

"What do you know about this morning?!" Terry snarled.

"Word gets around." Vix simply said. "You think that Ed was the only person to know what happened this morning?"

"Yeah, whatever." He said dismissively, "Now moving it!" Terry said getting impatient.

"Whatever you say Trigger." Vix said stepping through the doorway.

Terry followed behind her, but when he stepped into the front office, the vixen was nowhere to be seen. "What the fuck?!" he said looking around the room. there was no way she passed him if she doubled back, and she couldn't have gone any further into the building past the front office without either a pass card or the combination for the inner door locks.

So where that hell did she go?

Vix stepped into the main living space of her current dwellings. That was easy. She thought to herself. She'd have to remember that trick in case it was needed in the future. Looking around the room in the dim light and saw that Pops and Kristine were still fast asleep. Quietly taking off her shirts she rubbed her sore breast from all the running and activity, or at least tried to. It was hard to rub then while at the same time she tried not to touch them. She hadn't had them long, and part of that she had been unconscious for while they developed while the rest of her had changed. At least she hadn't been conscious for any of that, but she still didn't feel right touching them and other parts. Showering was still an adventure in where to touch, and where to avoid. It didn't feel...right?...somehow? but now she saw the point of bras. She still didn't like them, but she'd have to reconsider her views slightly. The garment may be slightly uncomfortable, but having them bounce around without restraint was so much worse. Up till now she had been actively ignoring them as much as possible, her run made that painfully impossible.

She then lay down on the couch and got comfortable under the blanket. The whole thing with the soldiers and rescuing the townspeople had made her tired enough that she hoped that she could now get back to sleep. With any luck she wouldn't have any more dreams tonight.

Vix tossed and turned for a bit restlessly. She just couldn't get comfortable. Giving a sigh she rolled over and reached out for her backpack. Reaching inside she pulled out two shirts that hadn't been cleaned yet. One was Sarah's, and the other was Ben's. Hugging them to her chest she breathed in deeply, smelling their scents on the garments. The familiar smells had a relaxing effect on her and she rolled back over to face the back of the couch with her back to the room.

With the small of her friends filling her nose, and tears in her eyes, she cried silently to herself. A few minutes later sleep claimed her for the second time tonight.

Around six in the morning Pops stirred awake as this was his normal time to wake up. Sitting up in the recliner he looked over to the couch. The vixen was still where he remembered her being, the blanket pulled tightly around her shoulders. She was facing the back of the couch on her side and mostly all he saw was the back of her vulpine head and ears. She seemed to be breathing slow and regularly. At least it looked like she had slept through most of the night.

Carefully and quietly getting up from the chair he crossed over to the couch to check on her. Standing over her he got a batter look at her face now that he had a better view. He frowned, it looked like she had been crying in her sleep. He bent down and smoothed her hair, the vixen gave a small whine and pulled the blankets tighter around her.

Best to let her sleep.

Carefully getting up he crossed over to the cot where Kristine was still sleeping. Putting a hand on her shoulder he gently shook her till she roused a bit.

"Hmm? What's up dad?" Kristine said sleepily.

"I'm going to go get some breakfast and coffee." He said quietly. "I just wanted to let you know before I left. I'll bring back something for you and Victoria as well."

"How is she?" Kristine asked, rolling over to face the couch.

"She seems to be sleeping peacefully, for the moment. With some crying at some point. We'll let her sleep for now. From what Frank told us about her day yesterday she could use it." Pops said before heading over to the door and quietly letting himself out. Pops walked down the stairs, got in his truck, and after starting the engine drove down the driveway and onto the road heading towards town.

On his way to town to his preferred diner Pops' cellphone notified him of a text message. Pulling over he put the truck in park and pulled out his phone. Unlocking his phone he looking at the screen.

Frank: [Hey Pops. Is Victoria with you?]

Pops quickly typed a response.

Pops: [She's at home with Kristine. Why?]

Frank: [Was she there all night?] Pops' phone dinged after a minute.

Pops: [Yes. Kristine and I stayed with her all night.]

After a minute the phone dinged again.

Frank: [Are you sure?]

_What? What kinda of question is that?_Pops thought to himself.

Pops: [What are you talking about? Stop leading me on and get to the damn point!]

There was a lengthier pause before his phone dinged again.

Frank: [Seems like someone was busier last night than you might know. The people that took her friends were out taking people again last night. Only, they ran into her and she messed their shit up. Also made some friends out of the people she rescued.]

Frank: [Seems someone may have been doing some good last night. And before you ask, I'm sure it was her. Unless you know of another vixen with a vendetta against those people.]

Nearly an hour later Pops parked his truck in front of the shop and shut off the engine before climbing up the steps to the apartment. Opening the door he quietly poked his head in.

Looking at the couch Victoria seemed to have not moved and was still asleep. Kristine was scrolling through the days appointments on her phone and trying to organize her day. Today she had some morning appointments off the farm, but her afternoon looked to be free so far.

Pops made a quick clicking noise with his tongue, getting Kristine's attention. Once she turned her head to look at him he hooked a thumb over his shoulder, indication that she should follow. Once the two were outside and on the top landing of the stairs his mostly closed the door before saying anything.

"How's she doing?" Pops asked.

"Hasn't stirred one bit outside of the occasional ear flick. She seems to be fast asleep still." Kristine said.

"No wonder. From what I've been hearing she had a busy night last night." Pops replied glancing through the gap in the door at the sleeping vixen on the couch.

"She snuck out last night?" Kristine said shocked.

"Seems that way. Don't know what her reasoning was, but while she was out she found some trouble quite some distance from here." Pops responded with a shrug. He then went on to explain what both Frank had told him and what he'd heard from other people during his time at the diner as people were talking about the nights events. Kristine had a mixture of surprise and mild shock on her face, but also some admiration. When she finally said something after Pops relayed everything she had a look of slight concern on her face.

"Do you think it's wise for her to go work with Frank at the scrapyard today?" Kristine asked.

"If Frank was going to be around to keep an eye on her I'd say yes. Assuming he had her working around the yard and not finding more trouble out and about. But he's going to be out of town today so he's going to have the yard closed. Both of us thought it would be better that she not be left along in the yard." Pops explained. "He could find her plenty of work to do, yes. But we both agree she should not be left alone today."

"Well that's obvious." Kristine said with a look of concern. "She's also hiding something."

"I know. But I'd rather she come to us with it." Pops nodded before adding, "When she's ready she'll tell us. If it was something bad or important I'd like to think she would have told us already. But regardless, she's only known us for a relatively short time. Whatever it is that's bothering her that she hasn't already told us already she'll come to us when she's ready. I think she's gone through enough stress yesterday. And last night. What she need's right now is something positive."

"I just have a few appointments this morning, and then I'm free the rest of the afternoon." Kristine said before thinking of something, "I know! Katie and I can take her cloths shopping. From what I can tell from the cloths that you and Frank found at the campsite her cloths must either have been destroyed or gone missing. All she seems to have it what little we had laying around."

"That actually sounds like a good idea." Pops said giving it some thought. "Go do something to take her mind off things for a bit. Give her a girl's day out. Frank said he was going to go check out a few things today and that he might have something by the time he gets back to town tonight. For now she needs something to distract her." He rubbed the stubble on his chin thoughtfully for a moment before adding, "I'm going to head back home briefly to change cloths and clean up a bit. While I'm there I'll ask Edna is she will go with you gals. Maybe she can help talk Victoria out of the gloom she's been feeling these past few days."

"Ok dad. Go see what mom has to say and I'll keep an eye on her till mom gets here." Kristine said.

Pops gave a nod and as he walked down the stairs towards his truck Kristine headed back into the apartment to wait for Victoria to wake up. The breakfast Pops had brought would probably help.