When we arrived at Beau’s apartment, I parked the car in the garage then got out, quickly going around to the other side to get Sicily out.  When I opened the door, my heart, as messed up as it was, nearly broke at the sight of her just as it had back at the police station.  I gently lifted her out and closed the door with my tail before quickly carrying her to Beau’s apartment.

	It took a few light kicks against Beau’s door before she opened it, looking like she wanted to bite my face off for waking her up, but she blinked a few times when she saw me, then she looked down at Sicily in my arms and backed out of the way.  I entered the apartment, avoiding the thousands of questions the she-wolf threw at me as I carried my little precious to the bathroom.  I was bleeding, a lot, from the gunshot wounds in my shoulder and side, but I didn’t let that stop me as I gently laid my charge into the tub and set about running the water.  The world was turning gray but I ignored it.

	“You have to let me patch you up, Logan. You’re bleeding to death!” she pleaded to which I finally gave her my attention, the look in my eyes making the healthy she-wolf that could have beat my ass back away.

	“There are some things more important than not bleeding to death! Making sure Sicily gets cleaned up is one of those things,” I growled before turning back to the tub, leaving the she-wolf cowed.  Finally the water was warm enough and I gently started to wash my lil bunny clean but was struggling to do so, the reason becoming apparent when Beau handed me a washcloth and I realized I’d been trying to clean her with bare hands.

	Wetting the cloth, I set about gently scrubbing Sicily clean, finding the going about it so much easier.  Sooner rather than later, she was clean, physically, and I turned off the water, my movements growing a little sluggish.  I started to pick up my little bunny but Beau stopped me and gently picked her up instead, taking her into the other room while I stood and followed.  Finding Beau tucking Sicily into bed, I sighed a little before she turned to me and pointed at the chair in front of her vanity.

	I relented this time and took a seat, not really paying attention to the she-wolf as she left, as my eyes lingered on Sicily.  I would kill everyone that did this to her, especially the one that ordered it.  The police chief would meet his doom, if I had my way, sooner rather than later.  The feeling of a cool washcloth against me turned my gaze to Beau finally to find that she was cleaning my wounds, which had stopped bleeding at some point.

	I regarded her with a detached expression as she sowed my wounds closed, the tugging at my skin odd but not bothering me as much as it should have, showing that the injuries I’d sustained recently, both the gunshots and the bash to the head, were fucking with my sense of self preservation.  When she finished, she wrapped my chest in bandages and gave me this worried look but I just shook my head and fully stripped.  Off came my belt with its gun holster and knives, then my pants before I climbed into bed with Sicily and held her against me, feeling her finally respond a little as she clutched at the fur that covered my chest.  Beau climbed into bed as well, on the other side of Sicily and together we cradled the little one…

	I don’t know when I passed out but I do know when I woke up it was night again.  My head hurt a little, as did my shoulder and side, but otherwise I could feel again and that was certainly a good thing… I think.  I found Sicily still in my arms though now her expression was no longer blank but rather peacefully asleep.  Beau was gone but I could smell bacon coming from the other room.  I slipped away from Sicily to let her sleep, then I went into the kitchen.  Beau was there, wearing an oversized t-shirt that was held up in the back by her tail, exposing her fine ass and the very feminine sex nestled between her legs.

	She turned towards me and raised a hand, tossing her braided black dreads over her shoulder, the gold beads clinking in the otherwise quiet kitchen.  “Good evening… I figured you’d wake up if I cooked something,” she said softly then pointed to the table.  “There’s a few pain killers there and water. Take them and sit down while I fix you a plate,” she ordered softly, to which I relented.  My stomach was growling fiercely and I just could not pass up the chance to stop the pain throbbing in my skull.  I took the pills and swallowed them down as she set a plate of bacon, eggs and pancakes in front of me.

	I ate ravenously as she took a seat across from me, resting her elbows on the table and her chin on the back of her clasped hands as she watched me.  “You’re not-“

	I cut her off by saying, “I want you to look after Sicily if I… don’t come back.  I am going to put down the police chief.  Take Sicily far from this damn city and live in the countryside somewhere.  Change your name, her name, and live peacefully.  I’ll leave the info for my bank account here before I leave.  Use it all to help you do so.”  I finished my food without ever looking up but I could tell the expression on her face wasn’t a happy one.  I knew I was using her to keep Sicily save, was using her feelings for me to keep the one I loved safe, but I just couldn’t help it.  I’d do anything to keep my little bunny safe, even if it meant destroying others.

	I stood and collected a pen and paper, writing down my financial information down for Beau before going back into the room.  Sicily was still asleep but in a different position, showing that she was indeed physically okay.  That was no indication of how her mind was coping but I couldn’t stick around long enough to open that pandora’s box.  If too much time passed, the police chief would catch wind and I’d never find him.

	I pulled on my pants and got my weapons, realizing just then that I hadn’t retrieved my shotgun.  I sighed and opened the gun safe in the closet, staring at the remaining guns, only a back up handgun greeted my eyes.  I cursed under my breath as I added it and its holster to my other hip.  A Browning Hi-Power and a Colt .45, both with two clips each, and two knives.  I had to make it all count.

	“Logan,” Beau said from behind me, drawing my gaze to her as I pulled on an old black jacket that had been mine back in the day.  “I figured you’d do this… so I pulled some strings and found out where the police chief lives,” she told me quietly before stepping close and resting her head on my shoulder, clutching at the fur of my chest.  I sighed softly and gently hugged her, more for her benefit than my own.

      I felt her slip something in my pocket, which I assumed was the directions and I unwrapped my arms from around her, gazing down at her as she stepped back, her gaze down.  “I’ll do what I can for her…” she whispered quietly to which I nodded before going over to Sicily, leaning down and pressing a kiss to her temple.  “Come back alive.  Don’t make her lose anything more,” Beau said before sitting at the foot of the bed.  I nodded again before leaving.  It was time for me to finish this…
      
      I took Beau’s car again and drove to the place she’d written on the paper she’d slipped into my pocket, finding that it was actually a huge estate in the ‘richer’ part of the city.  I ground my teeth together as I gunned it and smashed through the gate, surprising the guards on either side.  Bullets bit into the steel of the muscle car as I drove on, head ducked to keep from getting pop shotted.  It was no surprise when I plowed right through the fountain in front of the mansion, what was a surprise was when I got out and found a fox woman in a maid outfit pointing a shotgun at me.
      
      Holy shit passed through my mind just before I rolled out of the way, hearing the gun go off but thankfully not feeling any of the spray bite me.  I shot her in the chest with the Browning Hi-Power, watching the hole open up and the light in her eyes die before she toppled over.  The guards from the gate where shooting towards me, my car thankfully angled in a way that prevented them from hitting me.  I took them out with a few well aimed shots before holstering my gun and picking up the maid’s shotgun, checking the chamber to find a fresh shell in it.  There was no telling how many shots it still had but I assumed it was full save for that one shot already spent.
      
      I made my way towards the front door, in a sort of crouched run, not hearing guns firing at me, but I could feel people watching me.  When I got to the door, my sixth sense forced me to the ground, diving for cover to shield me from what should have been a complete surprise. Wooden shrapnel rained all around me, as what used to be the door was torn to shreds by automatic weapons fire.  The sound was deafening, as they continuously fired like morons, thinking I was seriously on the other side letting them kill me.
      
      I waited patiently for them to stop and when finally the gunfire died down and the grounds grew quiet, I watched as they foolishly waltzed out the door and looked for my body.  I dove out from cover and pushed the barrel of my stolen shotgun against the side of his head, firing and erasing his idiocy from existence as my gaze turned to look inside the entry way of the mansion.  I drew my Colt .45 and aimed, time slowing down as I shot the two others just inside, their dying body’s protecting me from the last guy that I missed.
      
	Blood splattered towards me, staining my silver fur as that last guy frantically fired at me but after the earlier display, he quickly ran out of bullets, before his friends had even finished slumping to the floor.  I fired again, this time managing to get him in the stomach while I dashed just inside the entryway, waiting to see if others would come out.  I wasn’t sure how many men were left, not sure how prepared the police chief had been for me, but I figured they’d be making their way towards me if they knew what was worst for them.  Dumb henchmen tend to be dumb.

	I heard no footsteps, maybe cause all the gunfire had deafened me, or maybe there just wasn’t anyone.  I advanced slowly, hair dripping with blood and thicker things, some getting in my right eye and forced me to quickly wipe my face on my shoulder.  Unlike the last time such an action was done by me, no one came popping up out of someone’s ying yang to shoot me.  This stillness was starting to bother me.

	I made my way into what looked to be a kitchen, the room dark save for the electric light of the timer on the microwave.  Seems even the rich like the convenience of nuked food.  I heard a rustle and immediately ducked back through the doorway, leaning just out of range as a flash of light lit up the kitchen, not from gunfire but a lightning strike outside.  It instantly started to rain, heavy droplets smacking against the glass of the windows, filling the tense silence a bit as I holstered my handgun and drew a knife using the blade to look into the kitchen as another flash of lightning gave me the ability to see the child advancing towards me.

	I frowned at that and nearly relaxed but then my mind replayed the image and I saw the gun in his hands.  He couldn’t have been more than nine but already holding a revolver in those tiny hands.  I shook my head and dashed out from my hiding spot, putting the blade of my knife between his eyes, his body dropping to the floor with a heavy thud.  “Foolish,” I muttered softly, leaving the knife and picking up the revolver, checking and sighing when I saw it was indeed loaded and that I had not killed this child for nothing.  I shook my head and discarded the gun before continuing through the dark kitchen.

	Out in the dark hall, my night vision had finally started to kick in, sucking up every scrap of light available to let me see the world in grainy black and white.  The hall was empty and quiet, but I could not assume that was anything but on purpose.  I advanced slowly, staying close to the wall and rounded the corner, seeing a light on under a door down there.  I started to open it when at that last second my sixth sense tried to warn me again.  My reaction was just as fast but this time it wasn’t bullets that tore open the door but a bomb.  I was thrown back down the hall and slammed against the wall, slumping to the floor as I coughed up blood.  My side was on fire, letting me know that not only had I tore open the stitches but that I now had many new injuries.

	I blinked a little but hesitated when I realized I couldn’t see through my right eye.  I grimaced a little then stood, cursing my luck.  Not because I’d just lost an eye, but because now it would be even harder to aim right, as if the darkness had ever made it easy in the first place.  With the world feeling a little swimmy and smoke choking my lungs, I made my way forward, fires starting up as I passed what appeared to be a bathroom.

	“You really think you can fight me with all those wounds?” spoke a laughing voice, deep and gruff, like rocks rolling around in a barrel.  It came from a room down the hall and I walked towards it, right hand holding my left side, making me realize I’d dropped the shotgun during the explosion.  I looked for it but gave up after a bit.  My guns were gone too but I still had one knife.  It was all I needed.  I would not give up, not surrender.  I wanted this bastard dead.  “You killed all my men, my son, my maid and butlers and all my security guards.  It’s just you and me.”

	Liar. I knew it.  I could feel it in his voice that there were more, and they were probably in the room with him.  I couldn’t think about that though. They would all die.  I’d send them to hell in a hand basket.  When I got to the door, I pushed it open and drew my knife.  Sure enough there were three men inside, two guards and the chief.  The room was clearly a study and the fat bastard sat at a large wood desk.  “Oh yeah. I lied,” was all he said before his two men drew handguns and aimed them at me.  “But I’m a fair man.  Take a seat,” he said, gesturing to the chair in front of him on the other side of the desk.

	I walked forward slowly and sat, hand clutching my knife tight.  The guards came over as the man continued, “You’ve got some balls, killing my whole police force and then coming here to kill me too.  I like that.  You should join me.”  When the guards got close enough and started to reach for my knife, I reacted instantly, stabbing the left one in the groin while standing and twisting to avoid the guard on the right from shooting me in something vital, though the bite of his bullet still got me somewhere in my back.  I stabbed him next between the eyes and I heard a loud explosion and felt my left knee erupt with pain, the world rushing up around me as I spun, taking the left guard’s gun.  As I fell I saw the hole in the desk about knee level where the shotgun he’d had strapped to the underside of his desk had fired.

	I took that hand gun from the guard, aimed with my only eye and fired, the bullet clipping the edge of the desk, going higher than I’d planned but still took off the top of that fat bastard’s head, his eyes flying through the air as the sockets that had held them in place where shattered.  I hit the floor hard and dropped the gun, the pain too much.  I looked down as I rolled on my back and gasped a shaky breath, seeing my left leg gone from the knee down and my right leg still barely attached.

	I grimaced and slowly dragged myself over to the wall, sitting up as best I could, shaking a little.  Now that all the adrenaline was gone, all the need for revenge gone, the pain was unbearable.  Blood pulled about me and I trembled as I sat there, leaning my head back against the wall, my vision darkening at the edges.

	Sweet numbness overcame me then, as I pictured Sicily, so sweet and innocent.  The world went black as my last thought formed.  I hope she got away safely…