======

A ringing cell phone jolts everyone except the bedridden tiger. Larry sighs, 
"Shit..."
He answers without needing to check who it is,
"This is Larry."
The shrill tone that comes over the phone is easy to identify, even after Teita only met her once. Bitch-a-nee. Or rather, Larry's boss Brittany. She didn't sound concerned or upset, she seemed happy to notify him that they would not support him or bail him out if he blew the cover of the club. With only half the conversation audible as Larry walked down the hotel's hall, the others struggled to listen. Larry grumbled, 
"The incident was contained. No members were injured. No merchandise stolen. And no police have arrived."
A pause gave them a chance to breathe without missing the Komodo dragon's next chance to speak, but his pacing was leading him out the door and into the hall,
"Absolutely not. Protocol was followed. Everyone did their job, and the threat was neutralized."
'Why is he lying?' Teita wondered to himself, Larry continued, 
"All I need is any follow-up from the police to be handled on your side. That's not too much for you to handle... is it?"
Teita doubted it was wise to taunt her, but let himself be glad that Larry wasn't being pushed around. 
"... no idea. Some teenager posing as a member pulled a gun on us once he was turned away."
Another lie? 
"Don't forget our deal, Brittany. I keep your  fridge stocked, you give me the leftovers and stay out of my business..."
Larry had moved out of earshot. Kayla whispers in Teita's ear, nodding in agreement the leopard immediately addresses Tony, 
"We need to remove the bullet."
At first, the tiger doesn't move, but a long sigh gets a pleading look from Tony at Kayla behind him.
"Is that you? Are you my tater tot? Are you in there?"
Teita looks at Kayla, the synth clearly perplexed as she shakes her head softly at Teita,  obviously unsure how to respond. The hesitation causes Tony to sigh, turning his gaze to the ceiling as he grumbles like he was back to his normal grumpy self,
"I'm not letting her anywhere near me."
Teita shakes his head, clarifying, 
"I'm doing it."
Tony raised an eyebrow in disbelief, giving the leopard a skeptical scan, Kayla nods apologetically, 
"I'll be guiding him."
Tony turns to look at Henry, but he raises both hands, shaking his head, 
"Don't look at me, I've got more tremors than the earth has quakes, let alone after carrying you up here. Besides I never served... in terms of first aid, I'd hardly know a paper cut from a bullet hole..."
Tony sighs, defeated, and nods softly to Teita as he raises his arm, moving his hand, but the bandage lays snug to him. 

The leopard awaited instruction, but soon a series of simple tools is assembled, sanitized, and Teita sets to work on removing the bullet. 

===

Finally it comes free, making a solid metal 'tac' on the floor. There is a silent sigh of relief throughout the room. 

===

After some clean up,  

Tony still holds deathly still, with only his breathing giving away the fact he was still alive. 

 With only a few stitches left, Teita feels shakes coming on. Fear gripped at his throat. What if he'd done something wrong? What if his daughter had lied or omitted something? Kayla comes up behind Teita, hugging him. Her bare chest against his back helped his nerves a bit as her arms wrapped around his chest. She whispers soothingly, 

"That's your initial adrenaline spike starting to wear off. Breathe. You're doing everything right... you're fine. And now, he will be too. Just need to cross the finish line-"

A glance at Tony's face shows his guard is still up as he watches Kayla's every move. She retreats slowly, mouthing a sincere apology to Tony as she returns to her corner of the kitchenette, leaning on the counter. 

A few more stitches and Teita sighed in relief, replacing the blood soaked homemade  bandage with a clean one. There was some applause from Yuna and Kayla, Dani following their lead, but everyone else just seemed relieved. 

The sound of approaching footsteps brought everyone back to silence. Suddenly Larry's voice could be heard as he turned into the hall near them. 
"I bet... bye."
There was a collective sigh of relief when the phone hangs up, among all the living Furs anyway. Then Larry spoke as he suddenly entered the room, commanding everyone's attention once more, 
"Let me guess. She tried to..."
Seeing the tools, bullet,  and stitches, Larry practically shouts in disbelief, 
"You LET HER fix you up?!"
Tony shook his head, Henry speaking up, 
"Nah. Your leopard friend kept her at a distance and handled it himself, but she definitely coached him. All looked like it was on the level to me. "

Larry, not pleased, but also willing to accept the compromise, continued, glossing over the deed, 
"Well just know we're still intact, we haven't been exposed (miraculously), and they're screening calls for local law enforcement regarding the sounds of gunfire. Speaking of which, care to explain exactly what happened, Tony? Who shot first?"
"Greedo."
"Not now, old man!"
Henry huffed as Larry sighed,
 "What happened when our wolf 'friend' showed up the second time?"
 Tony shook his head, laying on his good side, staring at the curtains on the far wall while he recounted it, 
"I shot first... He came back and meandered about. What's there to say? I wanted to stand near him, case him a bit, but he didn't even flinch. I barely heard his spine when he walked past me, but there was no mistaking it. I tried to shoot his neck, but he heard the safety come off the gun and took the shot in the shoulder. Never seen a synth move like that before. After that he pulled his own gun and... well it's the shit show you already know.   Speaking of... where's Corby?"
Teita asks quietly, 
"G-greedo?"
 Larry gives the old rabbit a knowing stare, Henry groans to his feet, 
"Aww fuck, fine, I'll go check on him. I'm getting too old for all this crazy shit, kid's not seen star wars, god damn synths what know first aid, shootin' folks, and talking like they're-"
His voice trailed off into the hall. 

There was a long silence. Larry, scowling at Kayla from a distance, finally utters,
"Kayla, come with me."
She whimpers softly, and Teita knew it was a protocol now... a choice she made based on parameters. But he still had no reason to doubt her motives, even if he was being emotionally "manipulated" it was helping him with the courage to  speak up, 
"Sorry,  but... why?"
Larry was calm... The scary kind of calm, all the while never taking his gaze off Kayla.
"I need to ask her some questions. Alone."
Teita steps between them and is cut off by Larry,
"Anything you need to ask-"
"GOD'S DAMN IT ALL, KITTY! I'm trying to protect you too!! Would you stop undermining me about this?!"

Teita wanted to retort that he could take care of himself... But with everything that was happening, he felt powerless. He was nothing in the face of the challenges before him. He realized a long silence had filled the air and finally he sighed in response, 
"Until it doesn't make sense to do so... I go where she goes. I'm her owner."
Dani, smiling and murrling up at him, the little vixen chimes in, 
"And her father."

Teita, warmed by her motherly tone, nods. 
Larry sighs, 
"Fuck it... fine. We're going a few doors down. The rest of you... don't... move."
Tony grunts sarcastically, still not turning to face him,
"Har har."

=== 

Larry shouted, 

"You are making me crazy. I should have turned you off when I had the chance. Of course you figured out how to piggyback on the kill switch Network. Why not? Everything else about you is so Advanced it makes my head spin!"

With Teita and Kayla sitting on the edge of the bed, Larry paced angrily back and forth, ranting and venting so fast that Teita looked back at Kayla from time to time, exchanging a look of similar confusion. 

Finally Teita spoke, interrupting Larry, 
"I thought you wanted to ask some questions."

Larry, seeming to return to the present moment,  grumbled loudly, 

 "Clearly you've been teaching the other synths how to communicate using it, so I can't trust any of them now either. For all I know you've put sleeper programs into each and every one of them."

Kayla grumbled softly now, upset at the accusation, 
"I've done no such thing..."
Larry turns on her, 
"And I'm supposed to just take your word for it?! I can never trust my terminal ...  or any network or protocol you've touched.  I'm going to have to restart the entire framework of SILK from scratch! Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck! It's all fucked! All of it!"

===

While some indecipherable yelling happened several doors down, Tony lay silently on the bed. Yuna had quietly returned to sewing on her apron as Dani looked on. The tiger rested his eyes for a moment, his strength waning a bit in the wake of the adrenaline subsiding and blood loss. When he opened them, Dani was now watching him with a soft and concerned look. Tony grumbled,
"What are you looking at?"
Dani smiled softly and turned to face him, 
"Someone who might need looking after?"
He mumbled half-heartedly,
"I can look after myself..."
"You are very very strong... But that shouldn't mean you have to carry the weight of our world alone."
The wise words leave Tony speechless and instead resigns himself to staring at Dani. She notices the searching in his eyes, asking softly, 
"There is a reason you joined us at Silk... But it wasn't the money was it? You're looking for something."
Tony ponders, debating whether to share or not, before finally giving a nod, 
"I am... and I am wondering if you... and that leopardess synth might be the key to finding it."
A long silence passes as Dani nods, looking him over one last time, she suddenly breaks the silence with a question, Tony answering flatly without hesitation,
"Would you like a hug?"
"No."
"You sure? You look like you could use one."
"No."

======

Larry had gotten so tired of pacing and ranting he sat on the floor of the kitchenette. Kayla laying on the bed, fingers intertwined on her stomach as her stark nudity continued to distract her father. Teita, the only one still mostly upright, sat on the edge of the bed. Larry waved the gun around, mostly just pointing at the ceiling now, 
"And you know, I'm tired! I'm tired of seeing things that hardly anyone ever sees! And... "
There was a long pause, both leopards looking down at Larry quizzically at the first gap since it had started, the komodo groans as he tries to avoid eye contact,
"And I guess that's it."

Teita sighed in relief, Kayla sat up, her bare tits waving hypnotically as she asks politely, 
"Sooo. Does that mean I can ask you questions now?"

Larry looks defensive, glancing at Teita who shrugs unhelpfully. Larry pinches between his eyes, clearly trying to control a headache, 
"Fine, sure, whatever..."

"Who is knight writer zero one? And why are you sending him money?"

As if he was reminded that there were more she could ruin he suddenly stands, brandishing the gun at her all over again! Teita stands but doesn't make any sudden moves as he hears the click of the safety come off. Larry approaches her, no longer on the defensive as he stared with wild eyes! 
"Did you make contact?!"
Kayla is somewhat shocked by his reaction, stammering as she backs away, 
"W-what do you mean?!"
"I asked you a FUCKING question!"
He fires a round into the bed next to Kayla, she shrieks and scuffles along the sheets to hide behind Teita who places his arm out and moves to shield her!!

Teita's eyes are wide and mouth agape, the sound was intense, but sounded like it  came from next door! He was surprised he could hear anything after that, but he realizes he shouldn't be surprised Larry had a weapon suppression of some sort.
Kayla trembled behind Teita, the leopard shouted angrily, 
"Holy shit, Larry take it down a notch! SHE'S a machine, just make your questions clearer!! What-? Who is 'night rider' anyway? What is she talking about??"
Larry continues throwing questions around Teita, still approaching the  leopards, 
"Did you infect that network too?! Did you two communicate?! Did you trace a god damn location?!? FUCKING ANSWER ME!!!"
There was a short pause, hearts pounding as Teita placed his open palm against the barrel and gently pressed to it, 
"L-larry-"
"Don't test me, kitty. I WILL go through you to protect this one."
...
"Okay... then let's make sure we keep things clear. Okay? Let her speak."
Larry doesn't move a muscle his initial rage having tempered into a fierce determination. Teita could only maintain his calm enough to barely maintain the thin barrier that he was between them. Silence continued for a long moment before Teita probed patiently, 
"Kayla?"
"I'm scared that he'll shoot... I don't want you to get hurt."
Teita sighs softly, 
"Kayla. I apologize, but please temporarily suspend emotions and psychoanalysis for tailored responses... speak politely, but more plainly."
The tremors and simpering disappeared in momments, the leopardess sitting up and turning to face them both,
"As you wish, daddy... shall I answer his questions now?"
Teita turned and looked down at her expression. There was no life in it... it hurt him to see her like this. Larry looked to Teita confused, the leopard nodding at his friend. The komodo stated flatly,
"Yes..."
Teita looked at him, raising both eyebrows reproachfully. Larry added plaintiffly,
"... please."
"No. No. No. No." She recited quickly and then fell still. 
Larry blinked, processing and wondering if he could trust her answer but began to ponder, somehow more trusting of her with this precise candor, 
"None of it...?  You couldn't have found out unless you could... You wouldn't ask if you didn't have access tuh..."
Realization hits as the komodo dragon rolls his eyes and runs his hand over his head in frustration.
"You decrypted my archives... found our old messages... that makes a lot more sense... fuck."
He waves dismissively, 
"Alright, I might have overreacted a little."
Teita almost laughs, scoffing instead, 
"A LITTLE?!?"
 "I apologize for that."
 Kayla states flatly,
 "Apology accepted. I knew from your messages that you were close and trying to stay in hiding. I thought a personal query might enlighten me to the nature of your relationship. Had I known you still felt so strongly about them, I would have approached the matter with more tact. To quote your candor, I apologize for that."
Teita sighs, nodding, 
"If that's all?"
Larry sighs, 
"Yeah... for now... that's all."
Teita kneels, letting his hand rest on Kayla's shoulder as he spoke, 
"Thank you, Kayla, please resume normal functionality."
Teita smiles as her face starts to fill with color and expression, but turns sour again as she looks over her daddy's shoulder, Larry pointing an accusatory finger at her, 
 "But it still doesn't excuse your behavior... you should know it's impolite to poke around other people's things without permission."
 Kayla fidgeted with her fingers, looking down, 
 "I-I know... I got curious... I promise never to mess with your things again."
 Larry sighs,
 "ANYONE'S things! Kayla! Anyone's things!"
 She briefly ponders, asking aloud,
"But what if I find out they are someone's things after I've accessed them?"
Teita, shaking more prominently as his second adrenaline rush of the night wore off,
 "Then... let me know right after the fact... okay?"
 she nodded, 
 "... Kay."

The Komodo dragon stepped out into the hall, clicking the safety on as he lowered the gun and looked back into the room, clearly exhausted,
"I'll be downstairs. The protocol should be ready in 4 hours. Get her dressed."

======

The leopards walked back into their room. Kayla, still looking 14(save for her chest), hung off her Daddy's arm. Anyone who looked would find the girl at least two heads shorter than the lithe male when they stood upright. Teita, finding the difference in size comforting as his body continued to struggle a bit with tremors. Kayla relaxed a lot, walking around the end of the bed. The bunny and leopardess share a warm look and Yuna smiles as her cotton tail fluttered. The leopardess looks down to find Dani, the itty bitty titty fox, nuzzling and hugging the Tiger's arm as it hangs over the side of the bed. Kayla asks inquisitively,
"Mommy?"
The little vixen looks up, beaming a proud smile,
"I thought he could use a hug."
Yuna chuckled, 
"She wouldn't take no for an answer."
Kayla beamed, walking over with open arms, Tony grumbled, 
"Not from you..."
Kayla retreated, looking a little hurt. Dani scrunched her face in disapproval, gently poking his arm, 
"Hey, be nice now."
Tony stared, relaxing the slightest bit, his voice dropping, likely from embarrassment, 
"... please."
Dani nodded, smiling and nuzzling him, 
"There ya go! No reason not to be polite."
The Tiger had a little smile crack through his hardened features before returning to his old scowl as he addressed her, 
"I cannot trust you. Your spine came from outside this facility, correct?"
She nodded pensively, Tony stared her down, 
"Then until I know what you are, you are not my friend."
Dani poked him again, pouting slightly. The Tiger kept having his tough guy appearance pulled aside by the little vixen and he sighed, 
"... but thank you... for helping me with this." He gestured broadly to the red tinged bandage. Dani murrls approvingly and snuggles him tenderly, rewarding his kinder tone.

Teita smiles at that letting a nod acknowledge the appreciation, deciding to look into the closet for clothes he could give to Kayla for this public excursion. 

Any top she wore would be awfully loose on her shoulders, but snugly hug her bust line, making her nipples prominent. This would make it difficult to prevent calling attention to them if someone passed them on the street... at least without a bra.

An idea perked up in his muddled and tired mind just then, 
"Yuna, have you ever considered making a garment before?"