Nine o' clock Monday morning couldn't have come soon enough for Alec.  Even though he had gotten a lot accomplished, he had spent the entire week dodging phone calls from James and Rayna.  It was a relief when his boss showed up with a stack of work for him to do; it gave him an excuse to not talk to James or Rayna at all, he could just fire off a memo.  Send them to Israel to wrap up his work?  Nah, Ian was better suited for that, he was more fluent in the languages; may as well send Auroriana with him, too.  The contract in Madrid...yeah, that would work.  So what would he get to handle, then?  Odd...a contract in the American Midwest?  Not a lot of terrorism there, even nowadays.  He punched it up on the computer.  Sure enough, protecting an exchange student in central Indiana.  Attending Midwestern University, even.  Well, why pass up a chance to go back to his alma mater?  He'd take Eric with him, too; they both attended the same school.  Alec got down to the task of writing the memos, then moved on to the stack of reports.
	The small program that the janitor installed went to work, creating copies of the memos and reports in a sort of ghost folder, so cleverly tucked away that only the most elite of hackers could have found it.  It remembered everything that happened on the computer, even Alec's solitaire scores, and sent all of the information out that night when the computer automatically connected to the internet to recieve its software updates.
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	It was a short flight from New York to Indianapolis, and the two foxes were met at the gate.  Eric was a little shorter than Alec's five-foot-eleven, and he was lighter, too, with a lithe build instead of Alec's relative bulk; both foxes were dressed in black suits and overcoats, almost a pair of walking cliches but it looked good.  They were met by a pair of officers from the local WSI facility, an athletic pantheress and a lanky jaguar.
	"Hello," said Alec, "I'm Alec Fox, and this is my partner Eric Fox."
	"No relation," chimed in Eric.
	The two felines chuckled; the jaguar spoke up, "I'm Vincent Benelli, and this is Crystal Mishima."
	Alec smiled, "A pleasure to meet you both."  He made eye contact with Crystal, and they both held it a moment; something passing between them that made the fox smile wider.  They both turned from each other with an quiet, embarrassed chuckle.  "So," Alec said, "Do we meet the principal now or can we get settled in first?"
	"We have an officer on site, but the people who have hired us think it important that you are there as soon as possible," answered Vincent, "We are supposed to drop you and Officer Fox off at the principal's school, then take your luggage to his house.  They want you with him twenty-four hours a day.  Not just an officer, but you specifically."
	"That's...odd," said Eric.
	"We were thinking the same thing," replied Crystal, "We've tried to do some research on our employer, but records is being very tight-lipped about it."
	Alec perked an eyebrow, "Alright, well, I'll get in touch with them and see what I can dig up.  Good initiative, by the way."
	"Thank you, sir," the felines replied simultaneously.
	"Jinx," muttered Crystal.
	Vincent winced, "Crap."
	Alec couldn't help but chuckling, "I take it we're riding with you two?"
	"Yes, sir," said the jaguar, "Someone else will pick up your luggage and we are to take you to the school."
	Crystal walked towards the exit, motioning for the others to follow, "We have your gear in the car."
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	Indianapolis' Bart Henderson High School was as generic as a high school could be, with minimalist-chic architecture on the outside with a failed attempt at a warm and friendly learning atmosphere on the inside.  Alec and his team met the on-site officer and school superintendent, a kangaroo and dragoness, in the cafeteria.
	Crystal handled the introductions, "Officer Walters, Superintendent White.  These are Officers Fox and Fox."
	"No relation," from Alec this time.
	"As I was saying to Officer Walters, I don't like the idea of people carrying guns in here, it's too dangerous," the dragoness was angry.
	Alec glanced at the kangaroo, who shrugged, and then back to the dragoness, "Ma'am, I can assure you that our being here is far from dangerous.  We are legally authorized to carry firearms, and have all undergone extensive training in..."
	"I don't care how much training you've had," steamed the superintendent, "It's still dangerous."
	"Would you rather let us carry our guns and thusly be able to do our jobs, or have a massive lawsuit because one of your students came to harm  because you interfered with our work?" asked Eric.
	The dragoness turned to him, then back to Alec, "Who is the one in charge of protecting Mr. Akawara?"
	"That would be me," said Alec.
	"If any of my students get hurt because one of you people screws up, I'm going to blame you personally," she said.
	Alec nodded, "But of course, ma'am.  My people are my responsibility."
	She looked at him a moment more, "You can find Mr. Akawara in the band room.  Now if you'll excuse me."  She stormed off without another word.
	The jaguar whistled, "Wow.  Sounds like someone's going through that time of the month."
	Crystal punched him in the arm, making him wince again, "You're such a jerk, Vince."
	"I'll escort you all to the band room, then give you a tour of the school," said Walters, "If you'll follow me."
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	Alec stood just outside the band room's door while Eric went and got a late lunch from a nearby fast-food joint; the other officers were milling about the school, working out preliminary security plans.  The bell rang and students began flooding out of the room, eager to go home; a ferret in his late teens walked past Alec, towards the exit, "So you're the new muscle."
	"And you're Saburo Akawara," said Alec, following him, "I'm Officer Alec Fox."
	"Nice to meet ya."
	"Likewise.  I take it you're heading home now?"
	"I was hoping to, yeah, then I'm meeting some friends at the mall."
	"Are you sure your parents are alright with that?  Apparently they're a little more worried about your safety than usual."
	The ferret chuckled, "I'm eighteen years old, man, I think I can go to the mall if I want to."
	They had reached the Saburo's car, an older Audi sports car that was in impeccable shape.  "Nice ride," said Alec, "This is a first-gen Audi 99, if I'm not mistaken."
	"Yep, the 2202 model, the first year it was made."  He got in and pulled the door shut, then rolled the window down as he let the car warm up, "So I'll see ya later."  He slipped the car into reverse and started to back out of the parking space.
	"Where do you think you're going so fast?"
	"The mall.  See ya!"  He goosed the throttle, whipping the car around and barely missing Alec's foot, then slipped the car into first and took off, all four tires spinning for a brief moment; Alec cursed quietly to himself and jumped into the car the local office had provided, a Pontiac sedan.  He watched Akawara turn onto the main road and accelerate rapidly, then he engaged his lights and siren and ducked into the school's emergency lane, gunning the Pontiac through the intersection, sliding through the turn; he caught sight of the Audi and took off after it, quickly blazing past the hundred mile an hour mark.  He saw the Audi take a turn, all four tires scrambling for grip; Alec shook his head and grumbled, the kid was either incredibly skilled or incredibly stupid.  "This might just be the shortest contract in history," he grumbled to himself, taking the turn Akawara had; the Audi was nowhere in sight.  Alec punched up the directions to the mall on the car's heads-up display and accelerated; he wouldn't be able to follow the Audi without a better car, so he'd meet the ferret at his destination.  "Why can't I ever get the easy contracts?"
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	Saburo was surprised to see Alec at the mall's main entrance; the fox was holding a small palmtop computer and smiling at the ferret.
	"How the hell did you get here so fast?  And how'd you know what entrance I was coming into?" asked Akawara.
	"Pretty simple, Mister Akawara.  One, I frequently participate in SCCNA races, so I know how to drive fast.  Two," he held up the computer, "We put a tracking bug on your car."
	"Look, I have a feeling it's gonna be more trouble than it's worth to get rid of you, so just call me Sam."
	"Alright, Sam.  Now, shall we go meet..." he stopped when the minicom in his left ear crackled to life.
	"Alec?  We've got a handful of people with Kalashnikov assault rifles under their coats coming through the main entrance," it was Officer Walters.
	"Roger, c'mon kid."
	Sam looked at the fox, confused, "What?"
	"I said come on, there's a group of people with guns about to walk through that door, and I don't think they're here to shop at Sears."
	"What?  Guns?
	"Yes, guns.  You know, the things that shoot bullets and kill people?  Let's go."  Alec grabbed the ferret's arm and started pulling him towards the exit on the other side of the mall.  They had made it about half of the one hundred meter when they heard the first shout, "Oh my God!  They've got machine guns!"  Alec stopped and pulled his pistol, turning and kneeling, "Run, kid!  Out that door!"  Officers Benelli and Mishima came through the door just when Sam reached it.  Vincent pointed, "Go, sir!  We've got someone out there to protect you!"  The ferret didn't hesitate, just ran out the door to where Eric was waiting.
	The five armed furs, a pair of canids flanked by a couple felines and an avian, all opened fire at once, three of them spraying the fleeing crowd and the other two firing at the officers.  Alec caught one of the canines, the male one, in the chest, the ten millimeter round sending him staggering back but not knocking him down, it had been stopped by a kevlar vest.  "Armor armor armor!" called Alec over the radio just a moment before an intense burning in his left thigh caused him to fall to the floor.  He continued to fire until his gun clicked dry, then scrambled for cover; two of the attackers went down, their heads obscured by puffs of greyish-pink as they took hits from Crystal and Vincent's rifles.  The avian remaining three fired at Alec just as the fox threw himself behind a rather large fountain.  After a moment Alec popped up, having reloaded, and fired as soon as he had a target; the avian's head snapped backwards and his finger spasmed on the trigger, sending a spray of seven millimeter death in the fox's direction.  Three of the rounds impacted the titanium trauma plate in Alec's vest, but a fourth, actually the first one fired, caught him in the soft part of his body armor, ripping through the kevlar and penetrating the fox's left lung.  Crystal saw him crumple to the ground under a spray of his own blood and felt a wave of terror wash over her; she dropped the female canine with a burst to the legs, and the other feline attacker crumpled to the floor clutching his throat, which was spraying blood from the wound caused by Vincent's rifle.  Cursing under her breath, she ran towards Alec, "Cover me!"
	Alec was staring up at the cieling and struggling to breathe when Crystal got to him; the pantheress dropped to her knees and pulled his head into her lap, "Alec?  Alec, c'mon, talk to me."  She heard the sirens outside and said a small prayer, then started to pull the fox's coat off; he looked up at her with unfocused eyes and coughed, some blood running down the side of his muzzle.  "Come on, Alec, hang in there, help is almost here."
	The fox felt strangely comfortable in the pantheress' arms, and he couldn't figure out why.  She did have startlingly beautiful eyes, though; funny what you notice when you're about to pass out from blood loss.  The paramedics were there moments later and rushed him outside to the ambulance; Crystal had no idea why she wanted to cry, she'd only known the guy for three hours.  Vince came up beside her with a police officer.
	"Ma'am," the equine cop said, "Ma'am I need to take your weapon."
	She handed it over numbly, and Vincent gave her an odd look.  The jaguar waited until the cop was out of earshot before he spoke, "You okay, Crys?"
	It took her a moment to reply, "I'm honestly not sure."
	He blinked and tilted his head, "Well...c'mon, we need to go to the police station and give a statement."  She didn't respond, so he took her arm gently, "C'mon, Crys."