Day two

"Shut up Panther."

"You shut up, bird."

"What the hell are you guys arguing about this time?" Fox demanded as he crawled out from his and Krystal's room. They had been sleeping peacefully when Falco and Panther started arguing loudly.

"Damn bird punched me."

"He tried to hump Katt."

"I was not trying to mate. I had a bad dream and unconsciously hugged the closest person to me, which happened to be Katt. This would not have happened if I had a stuffed animal or a certain blue vix…"

"No" Fox told Panther flatly "you're not getting Krystal. Besides, she's very pregnant and doesn't want to be with anyone else right now. All of you stress her."

"One of my hugs could ease her…"

"No, Panther. When I said 'all of you', I meant 'all of you', not 'some of you'. Well, I suppose Vixy doesn't stress her. Everyone else better stay the hell away from her. If you want to make yourself useful, go into the cockpit but don't touch anything."

"Can I have a certain blue vixen to keep me company?"

"No. It was a pain in the ass to get her where she wants to be. It's going to be a bigger pain in the ass to get her where she doesn't want to be."

"But Panther likes preg…"

"I'm beginning to regret letting you tag along. Shut up now or you'll be shoved into the air-lock and sucked into the cold vacuum of space."

"Panther will be good."

"Good."

Fox crawled back through the tunnel, returning to his mate.

"What were they fighting about?" asked Krystal.

"You know." Answered Fox "Panther had a bad dream and grabbed the first thing he could, which happened to be Katt. Needless to say, Falco was one second away from snapping his neck. I swear. Why did everyone have to share the same ship?"

"Relax" Krystal reassured Fox "Just ignore them for right now. Just a few weeks and we'll reach our new home. We'll either find or build a place to stay. It'll just be you, me, and our kit."

"You're right. It's just a few weeks trapped in this ship with those idiots. It won't be easy but it'll be worth it. Luckily, the ship's computer has a few games built in. That should keep them busy for a while."

"Who cares about them? Like you said, they're idiots. I now wish you didn't bring them along, but I'm sure they'll be more useful when we reach the planet. Let's just relax."

The two foxes relaxed, ignoring the shouting outside their room.

-------Corneria-------

"Damn it."

Slippy slammed the phone down as he hung up. For the third day in a row, neither Falco nor Bill answered any of his calls. He thought about calling Fox, but then remembered his "suicide". Then he thought about the "suicide".

Why would Fox crash Falco's arwing? Why would he crash an arwing at all? Jumping off Corneria's largest bridge would have given him the same result. What if he faked it? After all, the only reason he would have killed himself was if Krystal was taken away or killed. If it wasn't for that stupid manhunt, Fox wouldn't be "dead" today. Faking his and Krystal's death would have ended the search and allowed them to be together.

If he faked the suicide, would it be connected to Falco's disappearance? Likely. Fox and Falco had been best friends for most of their lives. Both had serious problems. Was it possible that they're hiding somewhere?

Slippy then remembered Fox's upgraded arwing. It had stealth and enough room to hold a dozen people and their supplies and equipment. If they were hiding out somewhere, they would have taken that particular ship. And Slippy knew how to find it.

In the nose and rear were tracking devices that Slippy planted in case the ship was shot down and the communication systems were destroyed. He would be able to track it if they had only left just slightly more than a week ago if they were traveling at max speed. He knew that if they were taking that ship, then they would be traveling for at least a week or two but no more than a month.

But how would he follow them? The only ships still in Lylat with that kind of range are owned by the military. He could probably convince them to let him take one. After all, he wasn't the only one doubting the suicide story. General Powalski also thinks that the suicide may have been faked, though he wouldn't admit it publicly. If he could convince the general to let him borrow a ship, he could locate Fox and Falco, even if it got Krystal killed.

Slippy hated that vixen. He used to like her, but that was before the Anglar War. That was before she worked for Star Wolf and double-crossed them several times. That was before she almost killed Fox on a few occasions. Slippy would do just about anything to see her body stuffed into a garbage bag and buried in a landfill where she belonged.

His biggest hurdle would be Fox. No matter how often she betrayed him, he still loved her. It would be hard to get to her without Fox killing him or getting hurt. She was likely using him, ready to drop him like a bad habit once she deemed him no longer useful.

Unless she changed. If she changed from a sweet girl to that cold-blooded monster, she could theoretically change back. She could change.

Then again, she could fake it. Slippy didn't care. He would gladly put a bullet in her head, with Corneria's permission of course. He didn't want to let a lengthy prison sentence separate him from Amanda. He would find her and then ask Corneria for permission to kill her. Or he could simply take her to Corneria and let them shoot her. He could also simply shoot her without permission and claim self-defense. How would they know?

Maybe he didn't have to worry. Maybe Falco already shot her. Maybe they left her behind somewhere. He doubted it. Fox was very protective of her. Even when he knew she was fooling around with Panther, he wouldn't let anyone badmouth her. If Slippy was going to kill her, he would have to do it from a distance. He would have to wait until she was alone so that he wouldn't accidentally hit anyone else.

Wait, why did he care? Fox's problem was Fox's problem. This wasn't like before, when he was on the team. His paycheck and life were no longer at stake. He could go home to Amanda and forget all about Fox and Krystal.

But that wouldn't feel right. Krystal didn't just put Fox in danger; she put the whole team in danger. She betrayed everyone. If he let her live, how could he sleep at night knowing that justice wasn't served?

He had to go through with this. He had to contact General Powalski. He needed to get a ship and to track down that vixen. He had to make sure she was shot, shoved into a garbage bag, and buried deep in the nastiest landfill in all of Lylat. He didn't care if Fox went after him and blew his brains out. He had to do it.