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"What am I doin' 'ere?" Tuck whispered to himself as he approached the gates to the Black Prison. But he knew his purpose.

The last month had been a haze of agonizing guilt, and the hyena had tried everything to make it stop. Even his past thieving had started to plague his mind like darting shades. But, he had never seen a man die the way the Professor had; it was different, and nothing would ease his pain. He'd even tried spending a whole week in a drunken stupor, but when he awoke with a searing headache, the guilt still found him.

So he decided he was going to do the summarily unthinkable, he was going to set Jim free. If he tried to make this right, maybe he wouldn't be haunted by the blank stare of the dead.

Tuck used several old favors to gain entry to the Prison itself, but he would be on his own once he reached Jim. The thief crept along the darkened halls, sticking to the shadows and doorways as he crept to where the young husky was held. What would he do if Jim had already been driven mad by the tortures of this place? What was it like to have only a harrowed mind for companionship?

Better to not think of it, Tuck decided as he dodged a guard patrol. There was an advantage to Jim being held in this particular prison, in that there was a much smaller detachment of internal security. After all, why would anyone with access to the Prison want to set a traitor free?

Tuck came upon a sleeping guard at the entrance to the holding cells. He had a clock set to wake him when the next round of meals was to be delivered, and Tuck approached carefully to snatch the guards keys.

He used his years of pickpocketing experience to gently unhook the ring and gripped the keys tightly so they wouldn't ring against each other. He held his breath so the heat wouldn't risk waking the guard.

Now he just had to do the hardest part of all. He had to face the victim of his sins.

"Look, squire, I knows I ain't who's you'd like comin' 'ere like this," The hyena called into the cage, "Yer tart's gotta' be hurtin' fierce against me, but I came to try ta'...try ta'," But he fell silent as Jim turned slowly and looked at him with pure hatred streaming from his single eye.

"you," Jim's breath shuddered out of him, "You dare come here...you..." Then Jim leaped forward into the bars, reaching though to grab at the hyena's terrified face.

"YOU killed him! You KILLED the greatest man I've ever known!" Jim snarled, "I'll rip the heart out of your chest!" His arm swung through the bars, desperately clawing at Tuck's eyes, "Come in HERE and I'll show you JUST HOW MUCH I'm hurting! Come in here so I can feel your blood while I tear you apart!" the rage caused him to smash open his scarred wound, "...STOP looking at me! Just come closer so I can do THIS to you!" he shrieked and rattled the bars.

"Come in here so I can take my REVENGE! Come here so I can feel you die!" he gasped as his knees buckled and he fell against his cage, "come in...come in here...so I can feel something...else..."

Jim collapsed with his arm still dangling through the prison, "I can't...I can't breathe anymore," he croaked against the bars, "they took everything...everything away and now I'm...I'm..." he rasped as the wound on his eye began to sear like a hot brand, "I wasn't enough for him...I wasn't enough..." he wept despite the pain it caused.

"...and now I've lost everything...they won't even let Jenny come to me and she's...the only one I have left...I'm not alive anymore..." his breath came in heaving gulps as tears and blood streamed down his face, "And I need to...I need you to..." his paw began waving again in half-hearted swipes, "...come in here because I need to make you...someone else feel this..." he pleaded as his head fell, "please...come here so I can make it stop..."

Tuck grabbed the limply flailing arm between his shaking paws, and slipped his thumb tight around Jim's. The pathetically distraught husky didn't seem to notice, and continued to weep against the bars of his prison as Tuck gently wrung his paw in his own.

"Please don', please don' speak," the hyena begged softly, "I can' tell ya' how hearing ya' twists me up. Me soul can' bear it 'cause...'cause it's trying it's best ta' pain me just as ya' say," Tuck whispered around his wobbling lips, "But cross me dead I wouldn'ta' speeded them blighters if I known their schemes. An' seein' ya' like this...seein' what I done...it's breakin' me apart..." he removed one paw from Jim's to pull a weathered but clean handkerchief from his coat, "...I'm just a humble purse stringer, squire, I never had nobody's blood on me. An' when your Prof'...when I sees..." Tuck hesitated as he pushed the handkerchief through the bars.

"...that weren't nothin' for mortal eyes, squire...I saw meself in them flames an'...an' it's burnin' me up, Jim, burnin' me up like there's a hell in me chest. But if springin' ya' can quench me, then I plans to spring ya'."

"How..." Jim rasped with his head still lowered, "You can't...nobody can help me now..."

"Oy, now don't be lettin' your low opinion of me color the tricks o' the trade," Tuck whispered back, trying to work some cheer into his voice, "I already nicked the jangles offa' that bob back there, haven't I?" He said, patting Jim's paw, "I'll slips em to ya right quick and you can keep me hanky for good measure."

Jim finally saw the handkerchief resting in between the bars, and he pulled out of Tuck's grasp to wipe his good eye and dab the blood from his wounded one, "That's not enough, Tucker..." he heaved in and gasped out some of the anger from of his voice, "I'm...I'm not sure if I can ever forgive you...but, there's no way I can get out of here without your help...And you're the only person I've talked to in so long who didn't just keep walking....I hate you so much...and..."Jim faltered as his eye began to tear again.

"Jes' tell me what to do, squire," Tuck begged as he took of his hat and began turning it desperately in his paws, "I can' even keep down me nosh without it swirlin' like a squid. I'll helps ya' in any ways I can," then his morosely pondering face twisted up hopefully, "I can helps ya' cut back at them 'Steamer toolies," he started nodding encouragingly, "They's no pals a' mine after seein' what they done, and I been wantin' to do them proper besides...But iffn' I can clear you and the good Professor's name, might then I can close me pies an not see the horror..."

"Yes, but how, Tucker?" Jim asked bitterly as he stood shakily.

"Don't crawl me down, squire, first we gotta' spring ya'," The hyena shushed and drew out the keys, "You've enough brains in that bosh to serve them Pyros their pudding. And you'll have me paws what crocs nor locks can' keep outta' nothin', till you says we squarelike."

"Well, seeing as I've had...a lot of time to think in here," Jim growled wetly as the hyena tried the keys in the lock of his cell, "We obviously need to find some way to indict the Pyrosteam Corporation," he began pacing slowly, his anger and pain fading as he felt the relief of talking to someone at last, "But we need proof, some kind of contract or a design with their watermark, something that could launch an actual inquiry of their offices. Espionage on this scale has to leave a lot of loose ends."

"Notta' 'nough ta' keep thems outta' the clanger what don't deserve it," Tuck intoned as he continued trying keys.

"That's just because they were able to frame the Professor and myself, somehow," Jim said with a scowling glare at Tuck.

The hyena lowered his head at being reminded that he had played a pivotal role in the act, "I catch ya', squire, truly, and I'm doing me best ta' bring ya' some peace."

"Anyway," Jim said, breathing heavily to hold back his resurfacing anger and tears, "There's got to be something we could use against them in their headquarters. If I could get you into their building, do you think you could look for something with the Lotack seal? Something that would indicate that Pyrosteam had been trading with them."

"If they has it, I can fish it," Tuck said as he finally found the right key, "But how's it play, once ya' got the plink?"

"I'm not sure just yet," Jim answered with a glare as he moved to the now open door, "but if you can get proof that I'm not a traitor, I'll get it to an authority that's above Pyrosteam's reach. If they controlled the entire provincial government, they wouldn't have needed us as a smokescreen."

"You was tellin' true when ya' says ya' had a good think, squire," Tuck said as he backed away from Jim, "Now if you'd jes' trace me quietlike, we still got a good tick 'afore theys due to bring ya' crumbs."

"Hold steady, Tuck," Jim whispered darkly, "There's a part of me that thinks you deserve to die for what you've done to me and my family."

"I can' fault ya' there, squire," the hyena returned nervously, "but me hide's the only thing holdin' back the hell waitin' for me, and I got the scrap over ya', much as it twists me ta' say."

"I know," Jim said evenly as he advanced, "And much as it twists me to say...I think..." Jim shuddered against the rage building within him, "I think...you could be a good man Tuck. Or at least, you're trying to become one," a sad look took over Jim's features, "I don't envy your guilt if you're telling the truth."

"I wouldn' wish it on me worse enemy," the hyena shuddered, "'ceptin' them Pyro's, mayhaps. But ya' gotta' believe me, squire, I didn' know...at leas' not ev'rything..."

"I...believe you," Jim whispered.

"An', though I'm not expectin' it ta' speed ya' forgivin' me," Tuck said anxiously, "I plans ta' be on the up an' up from here on in. An' it's not 'cause o' anything what happened present, I already set meself to ring in last favors an' get outta' the creakin' keel."

"Creaking keel?" Jim asked with a wan smile. How long had it been since he'd felt like laughing at something real?

"Sneakin' an' stealin', though I still be keen on one las' job," the hyena replied with a similar smile, "Right, that's us off then, scarp after like ya' got the shadow a' death behind ya. An' I even gotta' plan for us to make scarce once we breathin' fresh," he whispered as he started to lead Jim out.

"I'll need to stay at a place with easy access to scrap parts and tools, preferably a junkyard or something of the like," Jim whispered back as they traveled down the long hallway. He was getting out. He didn't care that this could just be a trick. He could see something new at last.

"I knows the proper slog for what you needin'," the hyena returned inquitively, "but whats it for then, squire? Them cogs in ya' cob spinnin' truelike?"

"Let's just say that if you can get me the right supplies, we won't need the front door to break into Pyrosteam," Jim intoned softly. They're going to pay. They're all going to pay.

"I likes the sound a' that, squire. I likes the sound a' that..."

It took several hours for the guards to miss the young husky, so by the time they activated the alarm, Jim and Tuck were long out of the Imperial Prison. Although, there had been more that a few close calls that made Jim wonder just how much he could count on his reluctantly gained friend. However, as they reached the outskirts of the infamous Waterfront District, he began to see hope in the situation. The district was a den of crime and old industry, and even if the Imperial Guard knew he was there, it would take months if not years to search through every dank corner.

But despite the rough vista, it was like Jim could see color again after blindness as they scurried through the night. The salty air that would have been nauseating with the stench of fish at any other time smelled rich and heady to Jim's eager nose. His mind seemed to be working over capacity in the sudden burst of activity to his weary limbs, and plan after plan buzzed through his mind as he considered the utility of the rescuer-thief leading him.

For as much as the husky tried to hate Tuck, as much as his heart and bloodied eye told him that he should push the nearest weapon into the hyena's traitorous skull; Jim felt that he was on a path to repentance. Although, such a path is not without its hurtles...

"No, Tucker," Jim said for what he felt was the hundredth time, "there's no way that I'm letting you 'pop off to nick a scrammer,' whatever the hell that means. I need you to take me to this safe place you keep mentioning. I've got to see Jenny again."

"But I's got naught in me tub, squire," the hyena simpered, "I tells ya' me nosh coul'nt settle for a cryin' time. Now 'n I'm helpin' ya' I feels like I could take a bite outta' the docks; an' we's safe enough now we're near the salt."

"Listen, I understand that the Waterfront is safe enough for you, but there's bound to be any number of spies for Pyrosteam out here. Once I'm safe, I'll buy you an entire corned cow if you like," Jim whispered with angry desperation. He had to keep Tuck on his side, as much as he wanted to scream at the bastard.

"Oh, an' how you plans to do that then, eh?" Tuck sulked but continued to lead them, "Ain' no pub gonna' be honorin' ya' credit, injust as it be."

"I know," Jim said with rising anger, feeling like the hyena's complaints were a little too close to whining about him being an accused traitor, "Look, I need you to bring Jenny to me right away, before Pyrosteam learns that I'm free. When you go to fetch her, tell her I said to give you as much food as you like from her bakery."

Tuck thought about this nervously. He may have swung the kindhearted Jim to give him a second chance, but getting Jenny to provide him nourishment seemed like a tall order, "I'll needs that in yer scribe, squire; your missy can' be too keen on me poppin' in."

"I already need to send you with a message, so I'll be sure to add it in the post script," Jim whispered exasperatedly as they crossed yet another seedy corner on their way deep into the Waterfront, "You have to help her get here with the things on the message. I don't need your stomach taking your mind off the job."

The hyena nodded quickly, "Don' blink yourself on that, squire. I already got me guts in a grind becausa' what happen' to the Prof', I don' plans ta' see what double I get for losin' yer lov'ly. Once I get ya' squirreled away, I grabs me lorry and bring 'er quick smart."

"Good," Jim sighed, hoping he wasn't making the worst mistake of his life by bringing his beautiful wolf to this corrupted place, "now just how much farther is this shed of yours?"

"Ain't but a skip over that, squire, we'll be in it 'afore you can spit," Tuck assured him, "An' the shipyard I tells ya about be behin' this lolly 'ere," he said rapping his knuckles on the high wall they were moving along.

They soon reached Tuck's shack and it actually turned out to be a rather nice place for the Waterfront District, which is to say that the smell of fish and mildew was slightly less strong inside than out. The small structure was equipped with a couple rooms devoted to sleeping, eating, and bathing, although which room was for what purpose seemed up for debate.

"Tuck, are you aware that you have a loo in your kitchen?" Jim asked as he looked around the decaying spaces.

"Well, it ain' 'xactly me favorite grop either, squire," the hyena admitted abashedly, "But it's near 'nough your bits like ya' asked, an' the bobbies don' poke 'round the likes o' here."

"Then it'll have to do," Jim sighed as he grabbed some crumpled writing paper, or what he hoped was writing paper, and bit of charcoal from an ancient fire. He quickly scrawled a note telling Jenny to bring the Guilty Gear device and some other essentials, along with a quick drawing on the back and instructions to bring lots of food. He hesitated for a moment before handing Tuck the message. There was still so much that could go wrong, and bringing his love to this place...well, if he ever wanted to see her again, he had to.

"Okay, Tuck, bring her as quick as you can without risking being seen. I doubt those Pyrosteam bastards are still watching her closely, but you never know," he warned as he handed over the note.

"No fear, squire, I still got me chops as a wheelman, I'm jes' quailin' at hows ta' get ya' crumpet to come quietlike," Tuck intoned nervously as he read the note.

"Just show her the drawing on the back, and it's got your 'nosh' mentioned there as well," Jim said pointing at the reverse side of the note.

The hyena squinted perplexedly at the crude sketch, "Eh, I think I can tell its your mush, squire, an' I'm lifted ya' look all smiles in it. But is ya' steely tha' yer' Jen can tell its from you?"

"Trust me, Tuck, it will make sense to her."

It took a little longer than Tuck hinted it would before he brought Jenny, but Jim was happy to bathe in some gratefully hot water before reclining on the creaky old sofa in the front room. He was free, at least for now, and the possibility of seeing Jenny again wriggled in his stomach like warm feathers. He felt truly alive again; he just prayed it wasn't a dream. And, he already had at least half a plan to clear his name, all he needed to do was get the Guilty Gear device and enough scrap to rebuild his Sparrow. If nothing else, that alone would give him the ability to take Jenny away from Cabalton.

Jim was deep in thinking over how to manage the wing material when he heard the sound of a motor carriage pulling up, followed by barely hushed arguing,

"Come on, love, chuck us a biscuit. We's here ain't we?"

"I told you I'm not giving you a crumb until I see Jim and I meant it."

The sound of Jenny's voice was like music to Jim's ears, and he sprang off the couch and almost tore the rotting door off of its hinges in his haste to get out.

"Jenny!" he gasped.

For there she was, jumping out of the lorry and shooting a fierce look at Tuck. Her fur was like satin silver, her eyes like the fire of the sun itself, and when she heard Jim utter her name, she turned with a look that would make a stone fall to tears.

"Jim!" She breathed and ran to him as her eye's poured out the joy of seeing him and the sorrow of being kept apart so long. They flew together and kissed, their tongues wrapping around each other like braided rope as they tried in an instant to make up for all the lost time. They shuddered together as tears fell uninhibited, tracing hot trails of loving agony through their fur. Jim sucked in her scent like he was drowning, her fur almost glowing with the decadent aromas of her bakery.

"I never thought I'd see you again," Jenny wept as they finally pulled apart to look at each other, "I wanted to see you so badly, but they said...they said they'd kill you if I ever came...and I love you so much..."

"It would have been worth it," Jim sobbed back as he held her face in his paws, "It would have been worth it to see you one more time...I love you...I love you..." he pressed his nose into hers as she reached up towards his face.

"Jim...what have they done to you," Jenny whispered through her tears as she caressed his wound.

"It's nothing," Jim cooed around his own, "I guess you'll just have to be the good looking one from now on."

Jenny hiccoughed a laugh before stretching up to kiss his sewn eye, "You'll always be beautiful to me, my love" she whispered as she went back to stroking the fur of his face. They just held and looked at each other in silence, praising the heavens to be together again at last.

Tuck meanwhile was trying to make himself busy with the supplies in his steamtruck, feeling the wrenching sickness of keeping the lovers apart. Though, he wasn't above scarfing some of the pastries while he waited for them to remember he was there.

"Tucker," the hyena jumped at Jim calling his name, "...thank you...thank you for bringing her here safe..."

"She weren't keen on me come croppin' at first, I promise ya'," Tuck replied as he dropped a scone to begin twisting his hat, "but when she sees that squiggle o' yours, it were like heaven itself were flyin' underneath 'er."

Jenny looked over at the anxious hyena and he quailed under her furious gaze. She reluctantly broke away from Jim to rush over to him.

"That is for helping those...creatures!" she snarled as she struck him hard on his spotted cheek, her unlikely strength sending him reeling to one knee.

"And this," she said kneeling next to him and taking his quivering face in her paws, "is for bringing my Jim back to me," she whispered before tenderly kissing his coarse muzzle.

For a moment, Tuck felt true happiness swelling in his aching heart, he thought that all the regret and the pain was being dragged out of his throat into Jenny's cushioning lips. But then, she brushed her paw across his smarting cheek, and the agony of his shame reboiled in his core. He pulled away as if her mouth were ablaze.

"I...I'm..." he gasped as his eyes began welling, "...Ya' can' thank me for tryin' ta' put things right," he said turning away from her, "I deserve worse than yer fist on me spots, lass. An' were I not set on helpin' yer clasp, I'd offer me clacker so's you could do the job proper." He ground a paw in his eye and started picking up some of the supplies he'd unloaded from the truck. When he turned back, Jenny was in front of him again with her paws crossed over her heart.

"Don' look at me like that, miss," he said when he saw her eyes, "Don' look at me like ya' already forgot what I done," he begged.

"I haven't," Jenny whispered, "But it's not in me to punish you any more for this. Not when you've done so much to try to help..." she opened her paws and offered Tuck the small cake she had been holding.

The hyena shakily took the confection and cradled it in his grasp, "...Ya' found the light o' the stars in this one, Jim...she be the light o' the stars..."

"I know," Jim replied softly as he pulled up next to Jenny to put a paw around her waist, and Tuck quickly took a bite of the cake so they wouldn't see his quivering muzzle...