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[url=https://flattr.com/submit/auto?user_id=assilsasta&url=https://inkbunny.net/submissionview.php?id=756037&title=Hottie%20and%20Redd%20-%20Roommates\"&category=text]Flattr It![/url]\n\n", "description_bbcode_parsed": "Characters:
Carrie "Hottie" Schwartz  - f/19/Hyena © \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Maiyumi "Redd" Valentine - Red Panda/Fox hybrid © \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Daffyd Owen - © \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Mitchell - © \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Alice - © \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Hottie and Redd first appear in
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\r\n\t\t\t\tSweet Tea Cup one by TaintedThylacine\r\n\t\t\t
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", "writing": "[center][b][t]Redd & Hottie[/t]\n01. Roommates[/b]\n[i]by Assilsasta Ussessa[/i]\n\n[b]On the Job[/b][/center]\n\nCarrie looked down the scope of the Denel NTW. The Heavy rifle was set up in the slightly lower 14.5mm configuration for the greater, nearly mile and a half range. The dusty attic of the old town house was more comfortable and welcoming than her usual perch when she was called for this kind of job. The young hyena girl was not what the customer would be expecting, and nothing like anyone would suspect if anything went wrong. Her only issue with doing the jobs these days was her lack of a partner and the oversized two person crew served weapon of her off kilter profession. \n\nShe was short, only five foot five, but well-built and physically fit. She needed to be to heft the two thirty-three pound packages that comprised the transport of her weapon. Her strength was well concealed in her very feminine form, leaving all the right curves in all the right places, and a smooth toned look instead of the overly muscular bodybuilder look that so many of the males she knew had. If only the guys at the gym knew why she always had the time to work out and train, they might not be so eager to get in her pants.\n\nThe client for her broker was one she had heard many times before, but had never met. He often had very specific instructions when he contacted her broker, whom she had also never met in person either. All communication was done through encrypted e-mail systems and drop phones that were always provided once the job was accepted. This job was no different. Next to her on the floor were photographs labeled 1-4 and a small sheet of paper explaining the significance of each target. She adjusted the spotter camera fastened to her scope to give the customer, and broker the illusion she was not alone, and verified the video feed matched her targeting almost exactly.\n\nShe brushed her long, unstyled red hair out of her eyes as she took aim on the skinny leopard gecko, ignoring the hired muscle in the room in favor of her primary target. She watched patiently as one of the water monitors brought a currier envelop to the smaller lizard, who opened in and dumped out the contents. She could see there was talking in the room, only to hear a simple order come over the ear-piece, “Blow that bourbon bottle off his desk.”\n\nHer overpowered anti-materials weapon was more than a match for the glass. She squeezed off one of the three high caliber rounds into the object, disintegrating it instantly. and watched as the goons scattered hiding behind walls, as if that was going to stop her. One of the monitors went to look at the hole in the wall, left by her round as the gecko picked up the phone and dialed.\n\nShe could hear one side of the conversation as the client spoke to the target. She didn’t really pay any attention to what was said, those detailed didn’t pay her check. All she could tell was that the gecko seemed to get Irate as the client spoke to him. She only listened for the key words needed to trigger her actions. She watched as the two lizards by the windows slipped behind cover as the client said, “A slightly more emphatic demonstration, please.\" As if that building would save them from an anti-equipment round. \n\nThe high end whisper pickups strapped to her throat send the signal now the wire to the small morpher between her and the drop phone as she said, “On Target, Ready.” She moved the sight to the wall to the left of the window as she waited for the order.\n\n“Fire,” the client said flatly. She simply squeezed off the second of the three rounds and the brick wall splintered with the impact. She hissed as she saw a second shot only a moment later from an angle that might have had a visual on the target, even though she was certain her shot was the kill. A moment after the goon drooped to the floor the client returned with the key phrase, \"Target. Cease fire.\" With that she returned her sight to the gecko and waited.\n\n The conversation continued for several moments as she watched the target apparently relax a bit. Almost as soon as the gecko hung up the phone a voice came over the client’s line into her ear. \"Mr. Owen, you might want to come out here, we've a gentleman that insists on speaking to you, he claims his name is Mitchell.\"\n\nThat was the first time she had ever heard a client’s name, Mr. Owen, and so closely associated with her broker, Mitchell. For her broker to be contacting a client in person things must have taken a turn for the worse. She reached to her side, into the carrying back and retrieved the second three round cartridge and readied it for use, in case things escalated.\n\n[center][b]6 Months later[/b]\n[/center]\nMaiyumi rolled over and slapped the alarm as it sounded at the side of her twin bed. the red panda/fox hybrid’s eyes fluttered open and focused on the overly girly room. The place was filled with everything she could find in every shade of pink known to furkind. She stretched, her arms poking out from beneath the thick, fluffy pink comforter, sending the pile of stuffed plush animals cascading to the floor. She sat up in her bed and looked at the predawn morning. She hated having to get up that early to be ready to open the library, but she couldn't wait for lunch, and the chance to see Alice again. She felt bad about rushing her out of the apartment when Hottie got home. But her roommate didn’t like unexpected house guests.\n\nShe reluctantly climbed out of the bed and started to remake it, piling the stuffed animals back over the comforter. As sis did she heard a thud from something hard falling out of an arm full of plushes. Down at her feetpaws was a small cell phone. She smiled as she thought about how Alice must have left it last night, only a moment before she snatched it up and shoved it into the pile of plushes. She knew if Hottie saw it she would explode.\n\nMaiyumi quickly got dressed and ready to leave, more excited now that she had something in her paws Alice would definitely come back for. She tossed the sugar glider’s phone in her bag as she slung it over her shoulder and ran for the door. “I’m off to work,” she said as she waved to the hyena that was suspended by her ankles in the distant doorway. “I’ll be back tonight.” \n\nShe heard her roommate call through the door, “I’ll come get you for lunch.” Just as she turned to protest, her date with Alice suddenly in jeopardy, she felt powerful arms grab her and a paw cover her mouth. She tried fruitlessly to struggle free, only to feel the world fade around her.\n\n[center][b]The Library[/b][/center]\n\nCarrie walked up to the counter as she had almost every day since she moved in with the red panda. After a few moments the older Dalmatian walked up to the counter and said, “Hottie, what are you doing here?”\n\n“I came to get Redd for lunch,” she replied, “Is she lost in the romance novels again?”\n\n“I don’t think so. As far as I know she didn’t show up today.” The dalmatian looked concerned as she continued. “She was supposed to open, but no one was here when I got in. I figured the bus was running late until about an hour ago. I just called her to check on her, but it went straight to voicemail. You don’t think something happened to her?”\n\nCarrie could feel the fear burn through her as the scenario played out in her mind. Without a word she turned and ran from the library. She jumped into the old beat-up sedan as she tried to figure out where she slipped up. She knew things were going too well. She was getting complacent, and now it wasn’t her that was in trouble, but the one person she had started to care about. She heard the tires squeal as she tore out of the parking lot and speed through the streets. It had been almost two years since they had last found her, but this time they had something that she couldn’t run from....\n[center]\n[b]Two years ago[/b]\n[/center]\nCarrie stood outside the apartment as she knocked on the door. A young red panda answered, almost too young to be around with what Carrie’s profession was. She didn’t need to bring anything into a home that had children, even if they were near graduation age.\n\n“I’m sorry, I must have the wrong place,” the hyena said as she started to turn and leave.\n\n“Oh, are you hear about the room?” the red panda asked, the bubbly sound of her voice made her seem even younger. “I’m Redd, come on in.”\n\n“Wait; are your parents’ home?”\n\nThe Panda giggled almost childishly as she said, “Don’t be silly. I haven’t lived with my parents for years. If you’re here about the room, come in.”\n\nCarrie turned and looked at the girl. “How old are you?”\n\n“I’m twenty-two. Now are you coming in or not?”\n\nShe smiled weakly at the girl as she was reminded of her own sister. She hid the pain well after so many years of disconnection. But the cheerful panda only brought the memories to the surface. “Okay,” she said as she followed Redd into the apartment. “Now I was looking for a room that was on a month by month. That’s what you have right?”\n\n“Yup, I just need a little extra to stretch things out while I finish up my degree,” the red panda said in her childishly happy voice. “The library doesn’t pay all that well and my other roommate bailed on me. So where are you from?”\n\n[center][b]Panic and Reprisal[/b][/center]\n\nShe slammed hard into the door as she found what she was expecting. Taped there was a crudely written note: Sine umngane wakho. uma ufuna ukubona ephila futhi uyothola echwebeni, engahlomile futhi yedwa. They had founder, and taken Redd by mistake. This would be the last mistake they would make. She was not going to let them take someone else from her, not like her sister. She was going to do something this time, and she didn’t care who she needed to kill.\n\n[center]-------[/center]\n\nShe sat for a while, not sure if her plan was going to work. She had never approached any she had worked for in person, much less one she was certain would not believe her story. She looked at the large caliber casings in her paw and the SD card in her pocket as she readied herself for the meeting. She knew she didn’t look anything like what Mr. Owen would expect her to be, not after all the trouble she had gone through to conceal her identity, so she was going to need to confirm it. She was in her everyday torn and faded jeans, and an old concert t-shirt. The knee high industrial boots rounded out the non-professional look. \n\nShe walked into the office, the three spent casing still in her paw. The vixen behind the desk looked up at her with a welcoming smile. “How may I help you ma’am?” she asked, showing a common professionalism of the Private investigator’s office.\n\n“I need to see Mr. Owen,” She demanded. “It’s a matter of life and death.”\n\n“It often is. Don’t worry, Honey. He’ll be with you in a moment. There’s an office off to the side there where you can wait for a couple of minutes while he finishes the stuff he’s working on right now.”\n\nTwo minutes later a panther stalked into the side office. “Stalked”? Yeah that was about right. He was dressed in a suit and her trained eyes immediately picked up that under his jacket he was armed. He made no threatening moves and relaxed in the chair on the other side of the desk.\n\n“My secretary says you need to see me on a vital matter, miss….?”\n\n“I’ll stick with Hottie for now,” She said as she ran her fingers through her unkempt red hair. “We’ve worked together in the past, and I would prefer to keep my name out of it for now.”\n\n“That’s not a handle I’ve heard before. at least on anyone I’ve directly worked with. It’s out there of course, but you’ll understand if I am a little skeptical of anyone walking in here and claiming such a legendary identity.” She could see the extra tension in his body. He was suddenly on combat alert, ready to draw and shoot at an instant's notice.\n\n“I don’t work under that name these days, for good reason. My handler is Mitchell,” she said as she reached into her pocket and pulled out the SD card. “I heard your name slipped on a mission. I am the trigger on the other side of that video.”\n\n“Mitchell, huh? I knew Marco could hire the best but Mitchell headed them off and put you in their place, right?”\n\n“I just answer the messages.” \n\n“Fair enough. That was a job well done.” He visibly relaxed. “So… I think I agree with your assessment of the situation. Somebody in your business doesn't come to somebody like me unless it really is their last hope.. What do you need, Hottie?”\n\n“It’s not me, I can take care of myself. It’s my roommate.”\n\n“Roommate. Ok. A roommate you care about though. Somebody you don’t want to see getting hurt. Somebody who’s in serious trouble you can’t get them out of alone?”\n\n“It’s because it’s my fault she is even involved. I got too complacent and they found me,” the hyena was visibly angry about the situation. “They are using her to get to me.”\n\n“Aww, crap… Yeah, I got burned like that once too. What kind of shit are they in and how can I help dig them out?”\n\n“It’s… part of my past I would rather forget. I don’t even know how or why they traced me to this country.”\n\n“That wasn’t my question. Ground rules, lass. If it isn’t relevant I don’t want to know it. Your past is your past and none of my business outside this incident. If it is relevant and you don’t tell me, I’m gone and you can fix this on your own. I repeat, what kind of shit is she in and how can I help?”\n\n“They are African traffickers. They work under a warlord that unofficially controls a large province. And he wants me back. I’m not going back, and I refuse to let them have her.” \n\n“Shit. Is this the continental contact for Kparsi’s crew? Because if you’ve done your research you’ll know I wrecked their op in the cities a little while ago. They got no reason to like me and the feeling is mutual.”\n\n“Look, I just pull the trigger,” she said as she tossed a spent 14.5mm shell casing to him, “and clean up the brass after. What you have going on on the other end of the barrel isn’t my problem.”\n\n“I guess we agree. They snatched her, right? Gave you the choice of coming back in or knowing she had vanished into that web of theirs?”\n\n“I can get her back,” She replied confidently. “But I will leave a lot of bodies. I really don’t think you want to have to figure that one out. After that, I can easily disappear again, but I will need to take her with me.”\n\n“That being the case, what do you need from me?”\n\n“An option that does not scare her any more than she already is, and your connections to get her a new life. I can pay, money is not the problem.”\n\n“It never is with folks that need those kind of connections. Ok, we’re talking options - I guess it doesn't matter if she’s scared of me? If I’m the only face she sees in the extraction op? I’m presuming you’d rather she wasn't any more tightly wound in your professional life than she is already?”\n\n“I’ll already have to explain enough. She’s a librarian, I’m a… consultant. I’d rather keep it as close to that as I can. The less she really knows the better.”\n\n“Ok, you said you could get her back yourself. That suggests you already have most of the info we need, and we both know the level of info we need. That puts you on the outside of the recovery doing over watch, and me going in. If I have to explain how you contacted me, one of the firms you ‘consulted’ with just happened to be a black military contractor. Somebody thought they were doing you a favor by bringing me in.”\n\n“Not exactly a lie. But I will need to be in visual contact as much as I can, call it a control issue.”\n\n“Can live with that. Besides, I’m going to want decent comms with you throughout. Make sure I hit the right marks - you know these guys better than I do. It’s going to be something of a role reversal for you.”\n\n“I think I can do that,” Glances at his paw with the large callable round, “Just remember my contingency plan. If anything goes wrong, Redd will be the only one walking out of there. Everything else will be unidentifiable as anything more than a blood stain. ”\n\n“I don’t work under that kind of constraint. I want to help you, but contingency plans have to be mutual. I’ll be the one hanging my arse over the cliff for her, one setback having somebody of your abilities classifying me as a target doesn't make me want to take this deal.”\n\n“And somebody with your reputation of getting things done shouldn’t have to worry about being a target.”\n\n“You said ‘anything goes wrong’ - you know as well as I do that in an op like this something always does. It could be a big thing or a little thing, but we have to have plans for it, not just ‘it’s gone to hell, kill everyone and vanish’”\n\n“I’ve never work with those kind of conditions. And I’ve never been in a position where someone was not on the target list. I am the trigger.”\n\n“I have been in that position. It complicates the tactical situation. You’re going to need to be more than just the trigger on this one. You’re going to have to think as well as just react. Can I trust you to do that?”\n\n“I’ll do what I have to get her out of this.”\n\n“That’s what I needed to hear.” *dropping the casing on the desk and extending his paw* “We’ll get her out. Now, where is she and how many bad guys do we need to wax to get to her?”\n\n“They have her in a warehouse out in a deserted part of the industrial district.”\n\n“That’s a pretty small area. Not many good places for vantage unless you can hit your mark over a mile away... which of course you can. Do you have the precise building pinpointed?”\n\n“Twenty-three hundred meters,” she said flatly. “Further if I have good conditions. It depends on how big of a hole you want in the target.”\n\nHe pulled up a map on his computer and zoomed in. “So, which of these four buildings is she in?” Turning the laptop so his guest could see the screen.\n\n“That one,” she said pointing to the screen. “There are fifty identifiable targets.”\n\n“Fifty? Son of a bitch.. I think you might have an inflated view of my abilities! I’m going to need a lot of fire support from you to get through that many.”\n\n“Do you care about body count?” she asked with a tilt of the head.\n\n“Not unless I’m in that number! Look, you’ve already said you’re more used to a ‘wipe everything’ style of mission. Support is harder, I’m going to need you to be sensible, take targets when they won’t find bodies on their patrols, when I need you to clear the way in front of me and I can hide the remains... and when they are closing in on my ass and you have to take them because you can’t warn me in time. Can you do that?”\n\n“I use a Denel NTW,” She offered. “I have three rounds at a time. The swap is fast and I can carry in enough Ammo to clear everything if needed.”\n\n“That’s both good and bad news. This city is wired for sound with shotspotter mics and you can’t suppress that round. It’s going to limit your potential vantages to only this building... it’s the only one with a view that’s in the dead zone. You’re only going to be able to cover the north and east walls”\n\n“I know. One of the hazards of my behemoth, but well worth the end results. They don’t often look a mile and a half away when looking for a shooter in the city.”\n\n“Right. That’s why they installed the mics, it sends the cops to where the round is fired, not where it impacts. You might have a little advantage using that round though - its impact on a structure would register to the mics like a shot if it was fired from a dead zone. We might have a plan coming together here. “\n\n“The twenty-two millimeter configuration yes,” she said as she leaned forward, “But that limits my range to eighteen hundred meters.” I can send three or four rounds out to the city and swap to the fourteen point five for actual targets. I have the conversion down to less than a minute.”\n\n“The local cops are smarter than that. How do you feel about a two shot protocol? Every time you take a break from an actual target you put a round into the parapet of this building? Provided you don’t see anyone near your predicted impact point of course. It would deceive them that you’re up there.”\n\n“That can be done. I’ll have to recalculate what I will need to carry in. I don’t have a second to split the load.”\n\n“They’ll work it out eventually but you’ll be long gone by then. It will still limit us to 30 minutes of active fire from you... Once you take your first shot the clock is ticking and if you keep in place beyond that there’s going to to be trouble closing in on you.”\n\n“I’ll need a pack mule with that time constraint,” She said as she shifted in her seat. “I can’t carry my gear out or clean up brass.”\n\n“Not necessarily. I’ll be going in the south side, opposite to your vantage. I’m hoping I can significantly reduce your target load before you have to go active. She’s got to be being held in the center; once I start they’ll be chasing me, moving around. So long as we stay on comms you shouldn't have to take more than half of the fifty out.”\n\n“I can deal with that. The next thing is getting her out of town. She will need a fresh start in a safe place.”\n\n“Not a problem. How about Sioux Falls, SD? Half the fucking town is in the witness protection program.”\n\n“I can’t do that. A place like that is detrimental to my safety.”\n\n“Makes sense. So you pick it. Where, what name, what background and gimme a picture so my guy can fake a decent id.”\n\n“Here’s the deal, and this is where it will get complicated.” She leaned forward, with her elbows on her knees as she started, “She will need to keep her name, and have everything set up to walk into. My identity is irrelevant, I can deal with that. She has one comfort zone, books. She works at a library, and should be reintegrated in the same type of environment.”\n\n“Hmm... not like you’re not asking for the moon or anything. No promises but I might be able to swing that in a safe place. Does it have to be in this country?”\n\n“Yes,” she replied with a cold stare. “She has never been out of this city.”\n\n“You mean she wouldn’t jump at an appointment to the British Library Reading Room? OK, how about the library of Congress?”\n\n“Too flashy. It would draw some unwanted attention to her.” She reached into her pocket again and pulled out a small scrap of a map and put it on the table. Maybe some place like this.” Circled in red was a small dot with the label Marblecliff. “It’s a decent sized city.”\n\n“I haven’t got any contacts up there, closest I have is a friend a few cities over and he hasn’t much influence. How tight is our timeframe on this? Both for getting her out and getting her in, if you take my meaning”\n\n“I give it three days. I want her out tonight. And all she needs is a job at the library. Where she can dive back into her books. And money to get the wheels moving is not an issue.”\n\nThe cat was typing on his laptop and frowning. “It never was. It’s the resources I can call on. Give me a minute here.”\n\n“Ok, I think I have a plan to get her in, I’m not going to warn you in advance but there are aspects of it I think you won’t like. I’m just going to have to ask you to take it on faith when you encounter them, ok? Getting her out is simple. I go in, we stay on open comm and you cover my ass. Does that work for you?”\n\n“Getting her out safe is my only concern. If you can do that, I will do what I have to.”\n\nThe cat stood up, stretched and looked down at the hyena with a predatory grin on his muzzle. “I guess I’d better gear up then. We’re going to both want to be in place before dark,”\n\n[center][b]Waking Nightmare[/b][/center]\n\nMayumi groggily opened her eyes disoriented and confused as she felt herself seated in a chair. She started to lift her paw to rub her aching head, only to find she couldn’t move it. She looked down to her arms and tried to scream as her eyes focused on the plastic ties that held her arms to the chair. The sound was muffled by the gag in her muzzle as a strange looking Doberman looked over at her. He smiled as he put his paw on her chin, lifted it and said something she didn’t understand. She struggled and screamed against as he leaned over and licked her cheek. She was suddenly dazed as he slapped her across the face, before walking back over to the door. \n\nHer heart raced as she looked around the strange room. Her mind suddenly started to replay every kidnapping story she had ever read. Suddenly everything seemed unreal, and more frightening than only a moment before. She suddenly wished her roommate was some sort of secret agent that would swoop out of nowhere to save her. She started to cry as she thought about how these stories often ended, and the fact that she never got to see her new friend Alice again. \n\nShe closed her eyes as she forced her mind back to the night before, with the sugar glider’s arms and wing flaps wrapped around her like a blanket. She concentrated on the memory of the soft, warm embrace, only to feel the vain effort turn into fear of never having the opportunity to be held like that again. \n\nHer eyes shot open as she heard more courts and muffled voices speaking in the same strange words over a radio. Moments later the sound of a distant popping sound made her turn her head toward a blank wall. The commotion seemed to get louder as she saw several more men with guns run past the open door. Her heart pounded as she listened to what could only be gunfire echo through the building. \n\nShe struggled to get free as she heard everything going on out of her view. Even the Doberman had moved to block her view of the doorway. Suddenly a large black feline with a scarred face stood over the collapsed body that once stood between them. She couldn't help but scream and struggle more as she watched the blood pour from the Doberman’s neck.\n\n“It’s ok, lass. Sorry about this.” \n\nThen suddenly everything around her faded into darkness once again.\n\nShe jerked awake, screaming as she sat up. Then felt the cascade of plushes that buried her tumble away to the floor. She was in her own bed, wrapped in her thick comforter and wearing her favorite nightgown. The vividness of the dream still rocked her as she tried to focus on her surroundings. Everything became suddenly sharp and clear as she heard the door to her room burst open and a set of powerful arms wrap around her.\n\n“It’s okay Redd, you’re safe now,” the voice of her roommate was unmistakable and she looked around the suddenly strange room. “No one can hurt you. I won't let them.”\n\nShe grabbed Carrie tightly as the realization flooded in. It was not a dream; she had been abducted, and saved by a strange man. And now she was in her own bed in a strange new place. Something had changed in her world, and it scared her to even think of what it was. But she still had her roommate and she was alive. Maybe some horror stories do have happy endings.\n\n“I have a lot to tell you, but I will never let anything like that happen again.” Her roommate’s words were reassuring and terrifying at the same time and the fragments of stories filtered together to try to fill in the gaps of what had happened in her mind.\n\n", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "
Redd & Hottie
01. Roommates
by Assilsasta Ussessa

On the Job


Carrie looked down the scope of the Denel NTW. The Heavy rifle was set up in the slightly lower 14.5mm configuration for the greater, nearly mile and a half range. The dusty attic of the old town house was more comfortable and welcoming than her usual perch when she was called for this kind of job. The young hyena girl was not what the customer would be expecting, and nothing like anyone would suspect if anything went wrong. Her only issue with doing the jobs these days was her lack of a partner and the oversized two person crew served weapon of her off kilter profession.

She was short, only five foot five, but well-built and physically fit. She needed to be to heft the two thirty-three pound packages that comprised the transport of her weapon. Her strength was well concealed in her very feminine form, leaving all the right curves in all the right places, and a smooth  toned look instead of the overly muscular bodybuilder look that so many of the males she knew had. If only the guys at the gym knew why she always had the time to work out and train, they might not be so eager to get in her pants.

The client for her broker was one she had heard many times before, but had never met. He often had very specific instructions when he contacted her broker, whom she had also never met in person either. All communication was done through encrypted e-mail systems and drop phones that were always provided once the job was accepted. This job was no different. Next to her on the floor were photographs labeled 1-4 and a small sheet of paper explaining the significance of each target. She adjusted the spotter camera fastened to her scope to give the customer, and broker the illusion she was not alone, and verified the video feed matched her targeting almost exactly.

She brushed her long, unstyled red hair out of her eyes as she took aim on the skinny leopard gecko, ignoring the hired muscle in the room in favor of her primary target. She watched patiently as one of the water monitors brought a currier envelop to the smaller lizard, who opened in and dumped out the contents. She could see there was talking in the room, only to hear a simple order come over the ear-piece, “Blow that bourbon bottle off his desk.”

Her overpowered anti-materials weapon was more than a match for the glass. She squeezed off one of the three high caliber rounds into the object, disintegrating it instantly. and watched as the goons scattered hiding behind walls, as if that was going to stop her. One of the monitors went to look at the hole in the wall, left by her round as the gecko picked up the phone and dialed.

She could hear one side of the conversation as the client spoke to the target. She didn’t really pay any attention to what was said, those detailed didn’t pay her check.  All she could tell was that the gecko seemed to get Irate as the client spoke to him. She only listened for  the key words needed to trigger her actions. She watched as the two lizards by the windows slipped behind cover as the client said, “A slightly more emphatic demonstration, please." As if that building would save them from an anti-equipment round.

The high end whisper pickups strapped to her throat send the signal now the wire to the small morpher between her and the drop phone as she said, “On Target, Ready.” She moved the sight to the wall to the left of the window as she waited for the order.

“Fire,” the client said flatly. She simply squeezed off the second of the three rounds and the brick wall splintered with the impact. She hissed as she saw a second shot only a moment later from an angle that might have had a visual on the target, even though she was certain her shot was the kill. A moment after the goon drooped to the floor the client returned with  the key phrase, "Target. Cease fire." With that she returned her sight to the gecko and waited.

 The conversation continued for several moments as she watched the target  apparently relax a bit.  Almost as soon as the gecko hung up the phone a voice came over the client’s line into her ear. "Mr. Owen, you might want to come out here, we've a gentleman that insists on speaking to you, he claims his name is Mitchell."

That was the first time she had ever heard a client’s name, Mr. Owen, and so closely associated with her broker, Mitchell. For her broker to be contacting a client in person things must have taken a turn for the worse. She reached to her side, into the carrying back and retrieved the second three round cartridge and readied it for use, in case things escalated.

6 Months later

Maiyumi rolled over and slapped the alarm as it sounded at the side of her twin bed. the red panda/fox hybrid’s eyes fluttered open and focused on the overly girly room. The place was filled with everything she could find in every shade of pink known to furkind. She stretched, her arms poking out from beneath the thick, fluffy pink comforter, sending the pile of stuffed plush animals cascading to the floor.  She sat up in her bed and looked at the predawn morning. She hated having to get up that early to be ready to open the library, but she couldn't wait for lunch, and the chance to see Alice again. She felt bad about rushing her out of the apartment when Hottie got home. But her roommate didn’t like unexpected house guests.

She reluctantly climbed out of the bed and started to remake it, piling the stuffed animals back over the comforter. As sis did she heard a thud from something hard falling out of an arm full of plushes.  Down at her feetpaws was a small cell phone. She smiled as she thought about how Alice must have left it last night, only a moment before she snatched it up and shoved it into the pile of plushes. She knew if Hottie saw it she would explode.

Maiyumi quickly got dressed and ready to leave, more excited now that she had something in her paws Alice would definitely come back for. She tossed the sugar glider’s phone in her bag as she slung it over her shoulder and ran for the door. “I’m off to work,” she said as she waved to the hyena that was suspended by her ankles in the distant doorway. “I’ll be back tonight.”

She heard her roommate call through the door, “I’ll come get you for lunch.” Just as she turned to protest, her date with Alice suddenly in jeopardy, she felt powerful arms grab her and a paw cover her mouth. She tried fruitlessly to struggle free, only to feel the world fade around her.

The Library


Carrie walked up to the counter as she had almost every day since she moved in with the red panda.  After a few moments the older Dalmatian walked up to the counter and said, “Hottie, what are you doing here?”

“I came to get Redd for lunch,” she replied, “Is she lost in the romance novels again?”

“I don’t think so. As far as I know she didn’t show up today.” The dalmatian looked concerned as she continued. “She was supposed to open, but no one was here when I got in. I figured the bus was running late until about an hour ago. I just called her to check on her, but it went straight to voicemail. You don’t think something happened to her?”

Carrie could feel the fear burn through her as the scenario played out in her mind. Without a word she turned and ran from the library. She jumped into the old beat-up sedan as she tried to figure out where she slipped up.  She knew things were going too well. She was getting complacent, and now it wasn’t her that was in trouble, but the one person she had started to care about. She heard the tires squeal as she tore out of the parking lot and speed through the streets. It had been almost two years since they had last found her, but this time they had something that she couldn’t run from....

Two years ago

Carrie stood outside the apartment as she knocked on the door. A young red panda answered, almost too young to be around with what Carrie’s profession was. She didn’t need to bring anything into a home that had children, even if they were near graduation age.

“I’m sorry, I must have the wrong place,” the hyena said as she started to turn and leave.

“Oh, are you hear about the room?” the red panda asked, the bubbly sound of her voice made her seem even younger. “I’m Redd, come on in.”

“Wait; are your parents’ home?”

The Panda giggled almost childishly as she said, “Don’t be silly. I haven’t lived with my parents for years. If you’re here about the room, come in.”

Carrie turned and looked at the girl. “How old are you?”

“I’m twenty-two. Now are you coming in or not?”

She smiled weakly at the girl as she was reminded of her own sister. She hid the pain well after so many years of disconnection. But the cheerful panda only brought the memories to the surface. “Okay,” she said as she followed Redd into the apartment. “Now I was looking for a room that was on a month by month. That’s what you have right?”

“Yup, I just need a little extra to stretch things out while I finish up my degree,” the red panda said in her childishly happy voice. “The library doesn’t pay all that well and my other roommate bailed on me. So where are you from?”

Panic and Reprisal


She slammed hard into the door as she found what she was expecting. Taped there was a crudely written note: Sine umngane wakho. uma ufuna ukubona ephila futhi uyothola echwebeni, engahlomile futhi yedwa. They had founder, and taken Redd by mistake. This would be the last mistake they would make. She was not going to let them take someone else from her, not like her sister. She was going to do something this time, and she didn’t care who she needed to kill.

-------


She sat for a while, not sure if her plan was going to work. She had never approached any she had worked for in person, much less one she was certain would not believe her story. She looked at the large caliber casings in her paw and the SD card in her pocket as she readied herself for the meeting. She knew she didn’t look anything like what Mr. Owen would expect her to be, not after all the trouble she had gone through to conceal her identity, so she was going to need to confirm it. She was in her everyday torn and faded jeans, and an old concert t-shirt. The knee high industrial boots rounded out the non-professional look.

She walked into the office, the three spent casing still in her paw. The vixen behind the desk looked up at her with a welcoming smile. “How may I help you ma’am?” she asked, showing a common professionalism of the Private investigator’s office.

“I need to see Mr. Owen,” She demanded. “It’s a matter of life and death.”

“It often is. Don’t worry, Honey. He’ll be with you in a moment. There’s an office off to the side there where you can wait for a couple of minutes while he finishes the stuff he’s working on right now.”

Two minutes later a panther stalked into the side office. “Stalked”? Yeah that was about right. He was dressed in a suit and her trained eyes immediately picked up that under his jacket he was armed. He made no threatening moves and relaxed in the chair on the other side of the desk.

“My secretary says you need to see me on a vital matter, miss….?”

“I’ll stick with Hottie for now,” She said as she ran her fingers through her unkempt red hair. “We’ve worked together in the past, and I would prefer to keep my name out of it for now.”

“That’s not a handle I’ve heard before. at least on anyone I’ve directly worked with. It’s out there of course, but you’ll understand if I am a little skeptical of anyone walking in here and claiming such a legendary identity.” She could see the extra tension in his body. He was suddenly on combat alert, ready to draw and shoot at an instant's notice.

“I don’t work under that name these days, for good reason. My handler is Mitchell,” she said as she reached into her pocket and pulled out the SD card. “I heard your name slipped on a mission. I am the trigger on the other side of that video.”

“Mitchell, huh? I knew Marco could hire the best but Mitchell headed them off and put you in their place, right?”

“I just answer the messages.”

“Fair enough. That was a job well done.” He visibly relaxed. “So… I think I agree with your assessment of the situation. Somebody in your business doesn't come to somebody like me unless it really is their last hope.. What do you need, Hottie?”

“It’s not me, I can take care of myself. It’s my roommate.”

“Roommate. Ok. A roommate you care about though. Somebody you don’t want to see getting hurt. Somebody who’s in serious trouble you can’t get them out of alone?”

“It’s because it’s my fault she is even involved. I got too complacent and they found me,” the hyena was visibly angry about the situation. “They are using her to get to me.”

“Aww, crap… Yeah, I got burned like that once too. What kind of shit are they in and how can I help dig them out?”

“It’s… part of my past I would rather forget. I don’t even know how or why they traced me to this country.”

“That wasn’t my question. Ground rules, lass. If it isn’t relevant I don’t want to know it. Your past is your past and none of my business outside this incident. If it is relevant and you don’t tell me, I’m gone and you can fix this on your own. I repeat, what kind of shit is she in and how can I help?”

“They are African traffickers. They work under a warlord that unofficially controls a large province. And he wants me back. I’m not going back, and I refuse to let them have her.”

“Shit. Is this the continental contact for Kparsi’s crew? Because if you’ve done your research you’ll know I wrecked their op in the cities a little while ago. They got no reason to like me and the feeling is mutual.”

“Look, I just pull the trigger,” she said as she tossed a spent 14.5mm shell casing to him, “and clean up the brass after. What you have going on on the other end of the barrel isn’t my problem.”

“I guess we agree. They snatched her, right? Gave you the choice of coming back in or knowing she had vanished into that web of theirs?”

“I can get her back,” She replied confidently. “But I will leave a lot of bodies. I really don’t think you want to have to figure that one out. After that, I can easily disappear again, but I will need to take her with me.”

“That being the case, what do you need from me?”

“An option that does not scare her any more than she already is, and your connections to get her a new life. I can pay, money is not the problem.”

“It never is with folks that need those kind of connections. Ok, we’re talking options - I guess it doesn't matter if she’s scared of me? If I’m the only face she sees in the extraction op? I’m presuming you’d rather she wasn't any more tightly wound in your professional life than she is already?”

“I’ll already have to explain enough. She’s a librarian, I’m a… consultant. I’d rather keep it as close to that as I can. The less she really knows the better.”

“Ok, you said you could get her back yourself. That suggests you already have most of the info we need, and we both know the level of info we need. That puts you on the outside of the recovery doing over watch, and me going in. If I have to explain how you contacted me, one of the firms you ‘consulted’ with just happened to be a black military contractor. Somebody thought they were doing you a favor by bringing me in.”

“Not exactly a lie. But I will need to be in visual contact as much as I can, call it a control issue.”

“Can live with that. Besides, I’m going to want decent comms with you throughout. Make sure I hit the right marks - you know these guys better than I do. It’s going to be something of a role reversal for you.”

“I think I can do that,” Glances at his paw with the large callable round, “Just remember my contingency plan. If anything goes wrong, Redd will be the only one walking out of there. Everything else will be unidentifiable as anything more than a blood stain. ”

“I don’t work under that kind of constraint. I want to help you, but contingency plans have to be mutual. I’ll be the one hanging my arse over the cliff for her, one setback having somebody of your abilities classifying me as a target doesn't make me want to take this deal.”

“And somebody with your reputation of getting things done shouldn’t have to worry about being a target.”

“You said ‘anything goes wrong’ - you know as well as I do that in an op like this something always does. It could be a big thing or a little thing, but we have to have plans for it, not just ‘it’s gone to hell, kill everyone and vanish’”

“I’ve never work with those kind of conditions. And I’ve never been in a position where someone was not on the target list. I am the trigger.”

“I have been in that position. It complicates the tactical situation. You’re going to need to be more than just the trigger on this one. You’re going to have to think as well as just react. Can I trust you to do that?”

“I’ll do what I have to get her out of this.”

“That’s what I needed to hear.” *dropping the casing on the desk and extending his paw* “We’ll get her out. Now, where is she and how many bad guys do we need to wax to get to her?”

“They have her in a warehouse out in a deserted part of the industrial district.”

“That’s a pretty small area. Not many good places for vantage unless you can hit your mark over a mile away... which of course you can. Do you have the precise building pinpointed?”

“Twenty-three hundred meters,” she said flatly. “Further if I have good conditions. It depends on how big of a hole you want in the target.”

He pulled up a map on his computer and zoomed in. “So, which of these four buildings is she in?” Turning the laptop so his guest could see the screen.

“That one,” she said pointing to the screen. “There are fifty identifiable targets.”

“Fifty? Son of a bitch..  I think you might have an inflated view of my abilities! I’m going to need a lot of fire support from you to get through that many.”

“Do you care about body count?” she asked with a tilt of the head.

“Not unless I’m in that number! Look, you’ve already said you’re more used to a ‘wipe everything’ style of mission. Support is harder, I’m going to need you to be sensible, take targets when they won’t find bodies on their patrols, when I need you to clear the way in front of me and I can hide the remains... and when they are closing in on my ass and you have to take them because you can’t warn me in time. Can you do that?”

“I use a Denel NTW,” She offered. “I have three rounds at a time. The swap is fast and I can carry in enough Ammo to clear everything if needed.”

“That’s both good and bad news. This city is wired for sound with shotspotter mics and you can’t suppress that round. It’s going to limit your potential vantages to only this building... it’s the only one with a view that’s in the dead zone. You’re only going to be able to cover the north and east walls”

“I know. One of the hazards of my behemoth, but well worth the end results. They don’t often look a mile and a half away when looking for a shooter in the city.”

“Right. That’s why they installed the mics, it sends the cops to where the round is fired, not where it impacts. You might have a little advantage using that round though - its impact on a structure would register to the mics like a shot if it was fired from a dead zone. We might have a plan coming together here. “

“The twenty-two millimeter configuration yes,” she said as she leaned forward, “But that limits my range to eighteen hundred meters.” I can send three or four rounds out to the city and swap to the fourteen point five for actual targets. I have the conversion down to less than a minute.”

“The local cops are smarter than that. How do you feel about a two shot protocol? Every time you take a break from an actual target you put a round into the parapet of this building? Provided you don’t see anyone near your predicted impact point of course. It would deceive them that you’re up there.”

“That can be done. I’ll have to recalculate what I will need to carry in. I don’t have a second to split the load.”

“They’ll work it out eventually but you’ll be long gone by then. It will still limit us to 30 minutes of active fire from you... Once you take your first shot the clock is ticking and if you keep in place beyond that there’s going to to be trouble closing in on you.”

“I’ll need a pack mule with that time constraint,” She said as she shifted in her seat. “I can’t carry my gear out or clean up brass.”

“Not necessarily. I’ll be going in the south side, opposite to your vantage. I’m hoping I can significantly reduce your target load before you have to go active. She’s got to be being held in the center; once I start they’ll be chasing me, moving around. So long as we stay on comms you shouldn't have to take more than half of the fifty out.”

“I can deal with that. The next thing is getting her out of town. She will need a fresh start in a safe place.”

“Not a problem. How about Sioux Falls, SD? Half the fucking town is in the witness protection program.”

“I can’t do that.  A place like that is detrimental to my safety.”

“Makes sense. So you pick it. Where, what name, what background and gimme a picture so my guy can fake a decent id.”

“Here’s the deal, and this is where it will get complicated.” She leaned forward, with her elbows on her knees as she started, “She will need to keep her name, and have everything set up  to walk into. My identity is irrelevant, I can deal with that. She has one comfort zone, books. She works at a library, and should be reintegrated in the same type of environment.”

“Hmm... not like you’re not asking for the moon or anything. No promises but I might be able to swing that in a safe place. Does it have to be in this country?”

“Yes,” she replied with a cold stare. “She has never been out of this city.”

“You mean she wouldn’t jump at an appointment to the British Library Reading Room? OK, how about the library of Congress?”

“Too flashy. It would draw some unwanted attention to her.” She reached into her pocket again and pulled out a small scrap of a map and put it on the table. Maybe some place like this.” Circled in red was a small dot with the label Marblecliff. “It’s a decent sized city.”

“I haven’t got any contacts up there, closest I have is a friend a few cities over and he hasn’t much influence. How tight is our timeframe on this? Both for getting her out and getting her in, if you take my meaning”

“I give it three days. I want her out tonight. And all she needs is a job at the library. Where she can dive back into her books. And money to get the wheels moving is not an issue.”

The cat was typing on his laptop and frowning. “It never was. It’s the resources I can call on. Give me a minute here.”

“Ok, I think I have a plan to get her in, I’m not going to warn you in advance but there are aspects of it I think you won’t like. I’m just going to have to ask you to take it on faith when you encounter them, ok? Getting her out is simple. I go in, we stay on open comm and you cover my ass. Does that work for you?”

“Getting her out safe is my only concern. If you can do that, I will do what I have to.”

The cat stood up, stretched and looked down at the hyena with a predatory grin on his muzzle. “I guess I’d better gear up then. We’re going to both want to be in place before dark,”

Waking Nightmare


Mayumi groggily opened her eyes disoriented and confused as she felt herself seated in a chair. She started to lift her paw to rub her aching head, only to find she couldn’t move it. She looked down to her arms and tried to scream as her eyes focused on the plastic ties that held her arms to the chair. The sound was muffled by the gag in her muzzle as a strange looking Doberman looked over at her. He smiled as he put his paw on her chin, lifted it and said something she didn’t understand. She struggled and screamed against as he leaned over and licked her cheek.  She was suddenly dazed as he slapped her across the face, before walking back over to the door.

Her heart raced as she looked around the strange room. Her mind suddenly started to replay every kidnapping story she had ever read. Suddenly everything seemed unreal, and more frightening than only a moment before. She suddenly wished her roommate was some sort of secret agent that would swoop out of nowhere to save her. She started to cry as she thought about how these stories often ended, and the fact that she never got to see her new friend Alice again.

She closed her eyes as she forced her mind back to the night before, with the sugar glider’s arms and wing flaps wrapped around her like a blanket. She concentrated on the memory of the soft, warm embrace, only to feel the vain effort turn into fear of never having the opportunity to be held like that again.

Her eyes shot open as she heard more courts and muffled voices speaking in the same strange words over a radio. Moments later the sound of a distant popping sound made her turn her head toward a blank wall. The commotion seemed to get louder as she saw several more men with guns run past the open door. Her heart pounded as she listened to what could only be gunfire echo through the building.

She struggled to get free as she heard everything going on out of her view. Even the Doberman had moved to block her view of the doorway. Suddenly a large black feline with a scarred face stood over the collapsed body that once stood between them. She couldn't help but scream and struggle more as she watched the blood pour from the Doberman’s neck.

“It’s ok, lass. Sorry about this.”

Then suddenly everything around her faded into darkness once again.

She jerked awake, screaming as she sat up. Then felt the cascade of plushes that buried her tumble away to the floor. She was in her own bed, wrapped in her thick comforter and wearing her favorite nightgown. The vividness of the dream still rocked her as she tried to focus on her surroundings. Everything became suddenly sharp and clear as she heard the door to her room burst open and a set of powerful arms wrap around her.

“It’s okay Redd, you’re safe now,” the voice of her roommate was unmistakable and she looked around the suddenly strange room. “No one can hurt you. I won't let them.”

She grabbed Carrie tightly as the realization flooded in. It was not a dream; she had been abducted, and saved by a strange man. And now she was in her own bed in a strange new place. Something had changed in her world, and it scared her to even think of what it was. But she still had her roommate and she was alive. Maybe some horror stories do have happy endings.

“I have a lot to tell you, but I will never let anything like that happen again.” Her roommate’s words were reassuring and terrifying at the same time and the fragments of stories filtered together to try to fill in the gaps of what had happened in her mind.

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