First Dance Eternal - Prologue:  Metropolis - Chapter One

	The cold, late autumn wind whipped through the gravestones of the small cemetary.  Gray, snow filled clouds rolled in from the east, slowly obscuring the clear afternoon sky over the suburb of Echo's Hill.  It was a small town, sitting thirty miles west of Washington, DC; and it was a quiet town, too.  Filled with a number of large, expensive homes; palaces of the American nobility.
	The small cemetary sat just outside the gates of a rundown church, the overgrown grass hiding the weathered gravestones.  There was a new gravestone in with the older ones, the marble still polished and shiny, reflecting the image of the racoon 'morph kneeling in front of it, running his hand along the words:  "In Loving Memory Of Our Child; Victoria Page; 12 September, 2005."
	"Were you a friend?" asked a gruff voice from behind the racoon who stood and turned, wiping away some tears.  He found a tall, athletically built red fox 'morph with a mangled left ear and warm brown eyes.  The racoon shook his head, "No.  I actually never met her.  Something just told me to come here.  I..."  He trailed off, looking back to the gravestone for a moment before continuing, "This may sound strange, but I keep seeing the young gray fox that keeps trying to tell me something and I think it's her."
	The fox looked at him for a moment, then look up when he felt snow land on his muzzle.  He looked back to the racoon, "You know, I think you might be.  Do you mind if we go someplace warmer and talk about this?"

	The ride to the tavern was a short one, and quiet except for the usual small talk.  The fox and racoon took adjacent seat at the bar, and the fox waved over the bartender, a massive black bear 'morph.
	"What can I get for ya?" he said, cleaning out a mug.
	"Killian's Irish Red?  Two of 'em," said the fox looking to the racoon, who nodded.
	The bear grunted acknowledgement and ambled off.  "Alright, Nicholas," said the fox, "To start off with, what do you want to know that you don't already?"
	The racoon shrugged, "To be honest I don't know anything about what happened."
	The fox nodded and collected his thoughts for a moment, waiting until the drinks arrived, "Well, she was shot.  Apparently by her fiancee, who then took his own life.  She had been cheating on him and, well, he found out.  By a rather sick twist of fate the guy she had been cheating on him with saw the whole thing.  Even says he tried to help."
	Nicholas took a drink of the beer and looked at it for a moment.  "That's not what happened," he said.
	The fox blinked in surprise, "What?  How do you know that?"
	The racoon shook his head, "I don't know, I just feel it I guess.  Look, Alec, I can't explain any of this.  All I know is that I keep seeing a gray fox in my dreams, and I know that's not what happened to her.  I'm not saying she wasn't shot, it just wasn't by Julian."
	Alec blinked again, "How did you know that name?  They were never released to the press."
	Nicholas looked at Alec, staring straight into his eyes, "I told you, I don't know, I just do."
	The fox contemplated his beer for a few more moments before taking a large drink, "Look, I investigated this myself and the other guy's story checks out."  He eyes met Nicholas' again, "But I guess I was just looking for a quick end to a sad case.  To be honest I had a personal involvement in the case.  She and I were friends, more like brother and sister, never romantically involved.  We went to the same college together and we'd help each other out with classes or we'd just be a shoulder for the other if something wasn't going well.  I just wanted to finish the case for some closure, I guess."  He took another drink before continuing, "Matter of fact I saw her at the market a week before it happened.  She seemed fine, though; we talked about the usual crap like the weather and whether the Capitals could make the Stanley Cup this year.  Not even a hint there was somethign wrong.  Well, I knew she and Julian had been through a bit of a rough patch but I didn't know she had gone to Ed."
	"Who's Ed?" asked Nicholas.
	"Senator Edward Baynes," replied Alec, "big-shot from Virginia.  Lives here in Echo's Hill as a matter of fact.  He's not a Senator anymore, though.  He was so devestated by what happened that he resigned.  Now he teaches political science over at Georgetown and dabbles in the lecture circuit."  Alec regarded Nicholas for a moment, "You still don't think that's what happened, do you?"
	Nicholas shook his head.  Alec sighed and pondered his beer, "I know it's a bit of a commitment, but would you be willing to work with the office's pshrink?  He's one of the best in the business.  I know it'll take a while, hell it could take as much as three months, but I think it's worth it.  You just seem so damned sure of yourself."
	The racoon didn't hesitate, "I would be more than happy to do that.  I want to know the truth myself.  When can we start?"
	"Tomorrow morning at eight?" asked the fox.
	Nicholas nodded, "perfect.  You work at headquarters?"
	"Yeah, I'll meet you in the lobby at about ten 'till."

	Alec got to his apartment a half-hour later.  When he stepped off the elevator he saw a beautiful example of a leapord 'morph knocking at his door.  "What are you doing here, Haley?" he asked, smiling quizzicaly.  She jumped a little in surprise and turned to face him.  They stood in silence for a moment.  "What's going on?" said Alec, the smile leaving his face.  She looked at him for a moment before responding, "I can't decide."
	Before the fox could react she pushed past him and got in the elevator.  Alec turned, trotted to the elevator, and held it open, "So that means, 'no'?"
	She shrugged and nodded, and he let the doors close.
	"Better than maybe," he told the glas doors of the elevator, then turned and walked into his apartment.
	Once inside he pulled off his jacket, hat, and gloves and dropped them on the bar of the kitchen area.  Walking around the bar he opened one of the cabinets and pulled out a bottle of Stolichnaya vodka.  He retrieved a shot glass as well, but put it back and opened the bottle.  He walked over to a small table in the corner of the massive apartment and picked up the picture that was there after taking a gulp of the clear alcohol.  The picture was of a young 'morphic gray fox.  	"Talk to us, Victoria," he said, tears staining the fur of his cheeks.  He put the picture down and walked over the the futon in the middle of the room that faced the entertainment suite.  He took another drink of vodka, then punched a button on the remote control.  The strains of Dream Theater's "Take Away My Pain" filled the room.
	About an hour later a knock at the door woke Alec.  He walked/staggered to the door and opened it, finding a large, well-muscled red dragon 'morph.
	"Hey, Alec," said the dragon.
	"Heyas, James.  What's up?" slurred Alec.
	The dragon sniffed the air and then looked past the fox, "Shit, are you drunk?"
	Alec laughed and shook his head, "Nope.  Why would you think such a thing?"
	James growled and pushed past Alec, entering the apartment and grabbing the now half-empty bottle off of the coffee table and carrying it towards the kitchen.  He proceeded to pour it down the sink.
	"What the hell?!" raged Alec, "That's expensive shit!"  He stalked around the bar and grabbed James on the shoulder.
The dragon punched the fox in the face hard enough to knock him down.  Alec lay there stunned for a moment while James finished pouring the vodka down the drain.  He walked over and helped Alec up, "Sorry about that."  The fox reached up and touched the swelling around his left eye, wincing a little, "Did you have to punch me that hard," he asked, glaring at his friend.  "You're a bitch when you're drunk and since you're a borderline alcoholic, yes.  I did.  You've got a problem, man, we're gonna have to fix this."
	The fox glared at him again, "I don't have a fuckin' problem.  I can control it, I just don't feel like it sometimes."  The dragon snorted, "Look, whatever man.  We're gonna have to fix this, I'm..."
	"You're not getting me to one of those meetings."
	"Whatever, I'm not gonna argue with you right now.  So why weren't you at IHOP tonight?"
	"There may be a break in the case."
	James looked over at the picture, which was now on the coffee table, "That case?"
	Alec nodded, "Yeah, I think we may have a rather peculiar witness."