First Dance Eternal - Prologue:  Metropolis - Chapter Two

	Alec was back at the cemetary, watching a small group of familiar yet unidentifiable fellow mourners.  The stiff breeze played with his coat, tugging at it and flapping it about.  There was a priest standing in the well trimmed grass next to an open grave, and he was speaking, but Alec didn't hear his words.  Instead he heard the sound of a bagpipe playing "Amazing Grace" somewhere behind him.  He turned away from the group when he felt tears welling up in his eyes, but instead of finding the bagpiper he found an endless expanse of pure white.  He turned again, finding the same thing, but in the distance...or was it fog?...he saw a figure coming towards him.  Recognition set in when the fog dissappeared.
	"Victoria," he whispered.
	The gray fox 'morph walked up to Alec and put her hand on his shoulder, "Open your eyes, Alec."

	...Alec woke with a start and looked around; he was in his apartment, he realized the ringing phone had woken him up.
	"Hello?"
	"Alec?  It's Benita.  Ab's in the hospital."
	Alec sat up and looked at the clock, it was two-thirty in the morning, "What?"
	"He got up to go get a drink and collapsed halfway to the kitchen."
	"Who's there with you?"
	"No one.  I tried to call Terry, but no one's answering.  I hate to ask this..."
	"Don't worry about it, I'll be there as soon as possible.  Where are you?"
	"John's Hopkins."
	"It'll take me about an hour and a half, just hang in there."
	"Thank you, Alec."
	"See you soon."

	Alec's Pontiac Bonneville SSEi tore through the empty streets, its siren echoing and its domelight casting strange red shadows on the darkened office buildings of downtown Washington, DC.  The drive took a little more than an hour and Alec dashed into the emergency room.  Benita, an elderly 'morphic whitetail that seemed much older than usual, walked up to him and hugged him tightly.  She sobbed into his shirt, and Alec held her tight.  After a few minutes she stood back and looked up at him, "Thank you for coming, Alec."
	He smiled wanly, "It's the least I could do.  You guys are like a second set of parents to me.  Have you gotten a hold of Terry?"
	She nodded, "Yes, he's on his way up from Quantico.  I don't know when he'll get here, though."
	"So do they know what's wrong yet?"
	"No, they haven't..."
	A doctor emerged from the doors leading to the main hallway and walked towards Alec and Benita, "Mrs. Gunter?"
	She turned, "Doctor!  Is he alright?"
	"Your husband's fine ma'am, but...well...er, how 'bout we sit down?"
	She stared into the doctor's eyes, "What's wrong?"
	He took in a breat and exhaled slowly, "He's got a tumor in his brain.  It's inoperable and malignant."
	She turned to Alec again and cried.  "How long?" she asked between sobs.
	The doctor shook his head, "Four months?  It's hard to tell with this sort of thing."
	She let go of Alec and looked at the doctor, drying her eyes, "Can I see him?"
	He nodded, "Yeah, he's awake now.  Follow me."  He turned back towards the door, with Benita in tow followed by Alec.  He stopped and held the door open for Benita, but stopped Alec, "Are you a member of the family, sir?"
	"He's close enough," said Benita.
	"But he's not?"
	"No," Alec responded, "I'm not."
	"Then I can't let you back here, hospital policy is no non-family outside of visiting hours."
	Alec took out his badge and the doctor looked at it, "Sorry, Agent Fox.  Hospital policy."  The fox glared at the doctor for a moment, then looked to Benita.  She nodded, "I'll be fine."
	Alec sighed and tucked his badge back in his pocket, "I'll wait out here."

	When Benita reentered the visitor's room Alec was asleep on a row of chairs; a thoughtful nurse had tuck a pillow under his head and put a blanket on him.  Benita walked up to the sleeping fox and put her hand on his shoulder; he jumped a little and looked around.  "How is he?" he asked, sitting up.
	"He's asleep now."
	Alec nodded and looked at his watch, it was quarter 'til six, "How about a little breakfast.  I've got an hour before I need to leave for work, and Terry should be here by then."

	Alec entered the FBI Headquarters at around eight-thirty.  His boss walked out of his office, smiling, "Runnin' a little late today, Fox?"
	"Yeah, I was over at John's Hopkins."
	"What for?"
	"Ab Gunter collapsed last night while going for a drink of water.  He's got inoperable brain cancer."
	The supervisor's mouth dropped open, "Oh, God.  That's terrible.  How's Mrs. Gunter taking it?"
	"Rather well, I think she may have sensed something like this coming.  Terry's with her now."
	"This must be a big shock to you; I know how close you are to them.  Look, there's nothing going on today, why don't you take a little time off.  If we need you we'll call, but James can handle most of it.  He's at a meeting right now, but he'll be out in about," the timberwolf looked at his watch, "thirty minutes, so we're covered.  Just go relax, will ya?"


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	Three month went past quickly, and the weekly sessions between Nicholas and the hypnotherapist became more and more promising.  Meanwhile, however, Ab's prognosis became worse and worse.  The new year came and went uneventfully, with blessedly little in the way of extra work load for Alec, seeing as it was one of the recent high points for domestic terrorism.

	Alec and James sat in Doctor Harris' office, all three with notepads at the ready.  Nicholas was lying comfortably on the generic psychiatrist's couch, listening to the ticking of the clock.  The doctor looked at Alec, who nodded.
	"Close your eyes and begin to relax," said Dr. Harris, "Take a deep breath, and let it out slowly.  Concentrate on your breathing; with each breath you become more relaxed.  Imagine a brilliant white light above you; focus in on this light as it flows through your body.  Allow yourself to drift off, as you fall deeper and deeper into a more relaxed state of mind.  Now as I count back from ten to one, you will feel more peaceful, and calm.  Ten...nine...eight...seven...six...you will enter a safe place where nothing can harm you...five...four...three...two...if at any time you need to come back, all you must do is open your eyes...one."
	Nicholas' body visibly relaxed and a faint smile crept across his features.  The doctor turned to Alec.  "He should be regressing now," whispered the badger, "I'm going to wait a moment before starting anything."  After a few moments he took a pen from his pocket and clicked it open, "Nicholas, can you hear me?"
	"Yes," was the racoon's dreamy reply.
	"Good.  I want you to start from wherever you need to, just tell us what you see, OK?"
	"Yeah."
	"Excellent.  Thank you Nicholas."

	The session had been going for about a half of an hour when Alec felt his phone buzz.  He took it out and nudged James, who looked over at him; Alec pointed at the phone and the dragon 'morph nodded.  "Fox," Alec said when he got out into the corridor.
	"Alec?  Ab's in the hospital again.  It's serious this time."
	The fox swore under his breath, "Alright.  I'll be right there."  He poked his head back into the doctor's office and got James' attention.  He mouthed the name "Ab".  The dragon 'morph frowned a little and nodded, giving a thumbs up.

	The drive took longer this time since there was traffic and Alec had to follow the traffic laws a little more now.  He made the drive in about two hours and again, as he had three short months before, he dashed into the emergency room.  Benita was there along with Terry, a large and muscular 'morphic appaloosa like his father Ab, and his daughter Jessica, a beautiful tiger 'morph.  "Is he awake?" asked Alec.
	Terry nodded, "Yeah.  Come on back, he wants to see you."  Alec walked down the corridor, and entered the room where his mentor and good friend lay hooked up to a machine.  The fox tried not to sob and walked up to the bed; the once pround and strong horse tried to sit up, but couldn't manage it.  Alec stepped forward and helped him up, shaking his hand, "Morning, Ab.  How ya doing?"  Ab smiled, "Never been better, son; how about yourself?"
	"Not too bad," Alec lied.
	"Well sit down, son," said Ab, laying back on the slightly elevated bed.  Alec picked up the newspaper sitting on the edge of the bed and took its place.  He stared at the headlines on the paper for a few minutes.  "Look at poor Clint Eastwood.  I guess he won't be acting anymore."  Alec looked at him and smiled, "Guess not."  Ab looked at Terry and Jessica, "You two go check on Momma, she's out there by herself."  The two hesitated a moment, then left the room.  Alec looked at his hero, "How are you really, Albert?"
	The horse frowned, "I'm scared, Alec.  Not of death, but I'm scared for Terry and Jessica.  I'm especially scared for Momma; how's she gonna handle this?"
	Alec fought back the tears threatening to well up in his eyes, "Benita's a strong woman, Ab, she'll be able to handle it.  Besides," he said grinning a little, "she won't have as much stress without you around to argue with."
	Ab laughed, "You're a good kid, Alec.  I'm glad to have known you."
	"You know, you are the basis for my entire code of honor."
	Now it was Ab's turn to fight back tears, "You don't know how much that means to me.  Look, I want you to have something, but it's not here.  Remember that knife I gave your father before he left your mom?"
	"Yeah.  The one you used to carry when you were a deputy sherriff?"
	"That's the one.  Do you still have it?"
	"I sure hope so.  I don't think mom got rid of it after we moved."
	"I'd like that to be yours."
	Alec was taken aback, "Are you sure, I mean..."
	"You deserve it.  Your father certainly doesn't, after doing that to you and your mom."
	The fox nodded and jumped a little when his phone buzzed again, he took Ab's hand and stood, "Thank you."  He walked out into the hallway.
	"Fox."
	"It's James.  We've got the information we needed.  You're gonna need to come back to town, and I'll hopefully have the arrest warrant by the time you get here."
	"For whom?" asked Alec, his heart racing.
	"Senator Edward Baynes."
	Alec stood in shock, "Not funny, James."
	"No.  It isn't."
	The fox just stood there for a moment, "Alright, I'll be back in about two and a half hours."
	"Alright, see you around twelve thirty," said James, and hung up.
	Tucking the phone back in his pocket he walked back into the room.  Benita, Terry, and Jessica were all there with the chief of the radiology department, a mongoose 'morph who happened to be the hospital's cancer expert.  Ab looked at Benita, who was standing by the bed, "What else can you do babe?" he asked rhetorically, "I guess I won't be coming home again."  Benita looked to the doctor, who looked down at the floor a moment before making eye contact, "I'm truly sorry, Mr. Gunter, there's nothing that can be done."  She nodded and the doctor took his leave.  Alec walked up to Terry and put his hand on the horse's shoulder.  Terry turned his head and nodded to the fox, who wiped away some tears.