Just another day...

10 years. Yeah, that sounded right. It had been 10 years since the Cornerian force had ceased all traces on him and the bounty was lifted from Wolf's head, which was currently on a sad excuse for a pillow. Yeah, he had the money to buy his own small country... but you don't forget your roots, so a shabby pillow was mentally more comfortable. That, and what space he needed wasn't for a bed and comfort; it was for training and storage. It had came up, once, if his room was previously a closet, and it had been. Why did he take it? That's for another story. But 10 years... And he had lost his edge.

His room was the foci of the entire base; something made a noise: he heard it, and Will happened to be his morning alarm. 5 O'clock. Every. Morning. Will would get up, and start doing minor things around the base, which didn't bother Wolf, as long as he didnt touch three areas; Wolf's room, the study, and the basement. "Study... when did I start taking on class?". There it is again... that missing edge.

His mind was askew with memories, fights, and theories to everything from his Ultimate meaning, to remembering to DVR House. Yup... an average Sunday morning at 6 AM. He was in a black ratty sleeveless with satin-like boxers. He kicked his feet over the side of his bed, stress and sleep straddled everywhere on his fur, and mainly his de-flared 'hawk. He put on his simple, black eyepatch of his left eye, covering his history.

Wolf trudged out of his room, tail and eyelids down. It was just another day.

Zach twisted and turned in his sleep. The sunrise was glaring in his eyes through the window. The alarm also went off about 7 AM. Zach flew up, jolted by the buzzer sound. He wanted to break the alarm badly, but decided to turn it off. Yawning a little, Zach stretched out his arms. His fur had been messed up and his white t-shirt had been torn across the chest area.

"You serious?" He asked himself, looking at the newly found shirt tears. He was deciding if he should go wash up, go to the beach, or go back to sleep. He flipped on the TV in his room, to find his Full Metal Alchemist has stayed on all night. "Heh, some air would be nice." He decided on the beach, his one true safe haven other than his lab.

Zach decided to go to the kitchen first. Might as well get him something to eat and drink. He looked around for something. "Where be some bagels?" He said in his tired voice, making a mess in the kitchen. He hit the pantry, finally finding some bagels. Now for his drink. He saw coffee was brewing. Didn't know Wolf or Will made it, but didn't want to touch it right now. He decided to pour him some soda into a cup. "It'll suffice." He then walked out of the base, with his cup of soda and the bagel in mouth, to the beach, smelling the air.

Yup, Today's gonna be good. Zach thought to himself. He felt it.

"Really? I slept in again?!" Will hit his alarm clock titled '4:47 AM'. He jumped to his closet, putting on a respectable short sleeved-vest with shorts to match. It was a Friday morning after all, better to look spiffy. He walked out into the base, the hallways with ominous single row lights, emitting a "safe area" of circles about 2 yards from each other. "You'd swore I lived in a jail or something. But, I guess it isn't too bad, lit, warm, and well-kept." He slid down the railing onto the main floor. He grabbed the universal controller on the table near the kitchen. With a single swipe, he lit the main sector 2 with a dim, morning-like light. "How to approach the day?" he wondered. "It'd be nice to do something for Dad and Zach alike... maybe get a little coffee for them, assuming they get up soon. Meh, I'll put a delay on it, at least so that it'll do itself." And so as thought and wished, he did so.

Will; the creation of a brawny Dad, and an unknown mother he knew slightly of. With looks alone, that is what tied him and his Dad together. He a photo-copy of his Dad, except Will had both eyes, and a blue hue to his glance. But that was it. Will was knowledgeable, intelligent, and musical to say the least. "Brains," he thought. "I've even had the folly to think of me smarter than Dad." And that was Wolf's fault for the creation of such a statement; there was much Wolf hadn't mentioned, done, or demonstrated to Will, all of the history, the past, the 'once was' of both Zach and himself. But that was for a different story. What little Zach knew of his Dad, was mostly a faulted impersonation of what Wolf wanted Zach to know of him, and that image was slipping ever so slightly. But Will never put two thoughts to it, so it was in abidement for now.

"I should probably practice some of my violin later, surprise Dad with a little classical music; open his library."

Yup. Today was going to be a productive day.


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Wolf slugged up to the kitchen; Zach seemed to have gotten up, and Will finished his daily morning routines: lights, security check, base maintenance, and... Wolf put his Bloodhound-like nose to the air. "... is that coffee?" The Coffee maker broke the silence of the day with a couple beeps of finishing tones. He grabbed a mug, reading "I Heart Mondays". Nothing he believed, but it was a pretty big mug nonetheless.

The morning started with a hot shower piqued with a shot of black darkness in a mug. He noticed that neither of the family wolves were around. It was a crazy thing, these recent happenstances. Just the build of it all. Alone, criminal, alone once more, team built, found Long-lost brother he barely knew, wife, victories, dying (5 times), loss of a teammate, team broke up, wife disappeared, kid and brother left, with no hopes of a bright upturn. He didn't expect any encouragement or pity, cause he didn't feel any to begin with, so it was even nature.

He took a sip of his morning darkness, and tapped a receiver built into the wall, and slid his finger onto Zach's name, triggering Zach's memo box on his transceiver. "I need you to help me repair the Wolfen later today. Memo back." His head made contact with the counter as he sighed the sleepiness out.

Zach walked on the beach, reminiscing throughout the past. What he did all his life, he regreted, but doesn't. Why didn't I change anything? I could of stopped some events... and yet... he thought until he heard beeping. "Sounds like a message." He opened his transceiver's inbox to find a message from Wolf.

I need you to help me repair the Wolfen later today. Memo back.

Weird. Why? Zach thought. He finished his bagels off and finished his glass. He responded to Wolf's message. "Roger that. See you in the garage." He then sighed. Enough pondering, he has work to do.

Wolf looked up to his beloved Wolfen. He knew everything of it: the parts inside it, the exact color mixings, the data codes, the key readers, the intake and output, everything. But it wasn't the parts or the ship that were in need of check today. It was the one next to it, the once-partnered Wolfen. He once had tried to step inside, to de-authorize the reading code, and to scrap its parts, but everything inside was drenched with... Her: smell, pictures, personal improvements, the ring. It was in there he had his only tear-ridden breakdown. No one knew, and would ever know; tapes erased, tracks covered, alibi built. That would all fall today. He needed the space to create Will a new Wolfen, yet he dared not step into the perfumed heart hole, it was a weakness he darent revisit or speak of. He needed the only other person he could trust with a secret, and possible blackmail to anyone other, than the brothered O'Donnell. That was the heart of today: to forever erase the chapter he desperately clung to.


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Will heard the outer sector door beep closed. "Finally, the peace I want." He stepped out into the main hall and the living room. It was built perfect for acoustics. He whipped out his hand-built violin, excited to try it out. He had read up on how to play, and was ready to play... but he needed his own instrument, thus his very delicately crafted violin. He began to play Bach's 4th prelude for the cello in D minor. His bow pulled vigorously against the strings of the violin, and the most amazing thing happened that completely blew his mind, and his perspective of science. He had read about these kinds of people, and he knew Zach had some weird powers like those others. His Dad wasn't of those people, maybe his Mom was...

The table in front of him was blown to smithereens by a red flash emitted from his bow.

Zach walked up to the garage, still a mess and his glass in hand. "Wonder what he needed." He walked up to the garage and made a sigh before walking in. He noticed Wolf was blanking staring at the ship, almost like he wasn't himself as Zach entered the garage. "Well then. Look at what we have." He hoped he didn't have to do anything that could ruin his day...

His glance never broke from the pilot's window. "I need you to clean out this ship. Don't ask, just do. Take anything you find inside, and burn it. Take any salvageable pieces of the ship and bring them out. I'll do the exterior later. I just..." He stopped, rarely stumbling upon his words. "Do it, don't ask. You'll figure it out eventually. All I ask, is do it fast." And it was then he looked to his brother with an old glance of pain and contained misery. He began to walk out, more than just the cleaning running through his mind. "I'll be back in an hour." He walked out, but only to return to the upper garage area. He over-watched the Wolfen, not entirely concealing his being. He didn't believe Zach could see him, so he stayed there, still as a statue.

Zach watched as Wolf walked off. "Weird..." His attention directed to the Wolfen. Why? is the one word that crossed his mind. He climbed up into the ship. He saw pictures on the floorboard, torn in fours. "Hm..." He didn't need to ponder too much, he just needed to clean it out. He picked up all the paper and picture pieces up in one big stack and threw them into a trash can in the garage. "Why did I have to do this... no worry though... But Wouldn't Wolf do this unless..." Then it clicked. He didn't need to say anything more, but to just do his job. He cleared out parts that was able to be salvaged from the ship and then set fire in the trash can with the papers and picture pieces.

Fire; something even I can't stop. He... Thank you, Zach.

He watched the orange blotch blare through the window, erasing everything of her name and existence. It was in an attempt of self-restraint, that he stepped closer to the edge, tempting to throw himself onto the Wolfen, as if that would stop anything. The one soul he so loved, and the only thing that he... "cared" for in such a way had thrown him aside, with no reason, and forever disappeared in what he could never forget, as a white hall, blinding him of everything but her silhouette.

He fought back foreign water building in his eye. This wasn't a time to shed weakness, or to relive the past. It was time to move on, to build back up his old self. No one was going to be able to read him anymore, predict his thoughts. It was time to become the hard shell he once was. It didn't hurt him, or make life hard. It was... easier, in a way. It was time to be 'back'. The criminal, the assassin.

He had loved her.

He looked in the corner of his eye, knowing that Wolf was still here. Somewhere up high. "All you needed?" he shouted out loud. "If so, I'm going back to the beach. Feel free to watch the sea to clear our thoughts. I was doing that before I came here." Zach then started to walk away from the garage, knowing his job was done.

"Not so fast..." Wolf said. Cover blown, so what. He stepped a little over the edge as to see Zack's countenance. He slowly pushed the metal words through his mouth. "What do you suppose... happened to her?" He looked towards the door that connected the garage to the side sector. "... what do you think Will thinks? I mean, I can't just bring it up, you know? But what do I do?" This flashed some of his own memories back. "He's half-way like us; he doesn't really know his Mom at all." He huffed, kicking at nothing. "I don't know how to do all this 'Dad' stuff. It's just... weird."

Zach, stopping as Wolf revealed himself, started to sigh. Why now...? Zach turned up and looked at Wolf. He could bare to leave his brother without words, but he wasn't going to. "Will will be fine. I mean... Yeah, you have those picture of her hid-" He stopped for a moment, re-routing his words elsewhere. "her somewhere." He then turned to the exit and debated himself for a moment if he should stay or leave.

It'd bear all but saying aloud; he did have the ring and one photo still... but it was nothing he would ever pry open again. "He'll eventually ask about her, it's only nature. And as for us, we'll slip something out from years ago, or even further than that, and Will doesn't need to know about me, about us, and what happened. Will--"

"AAAAAAAGGHH!"

The Earth shook, well enough to even throw Wolf off balance. The inner mechanics of the Wolfen clanked, and the left-most glass shield broke. It was a quick, violent shake that lasted a split 3 seconds.

"What the Hell?!" Wolf dashed for the main sector, basically body checking the door. He headed for the main sector of the base, yelling Will's name. It was that feeling again, the one he despised with all passion; fear. He feared the worse of what he didn't know. He feared something just made the rest of his life worse. He roared to nobody, "I DIDN'T WANT THE WHOLE CHAPTER ERASED! NOT WILL!"


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Will looked ongoingly onto the disappeared table. His Dad's blood took him over; he couldn't stop at just that. He stepped back, looking at the three-tiered walk ways connecting the front of the three floors. He exhaled, and ran an E-minor crescendo through the violin strings. The beam took form in front of his body, until he flicked the last note off the violin, and threw the charge with his bow; his target was felled. He was met with a loud, destructive sound, a surprising yell from his own throat, and a wall to his back. He slid down, weapon and matrix in hand.

Rubble, metal, and cement powdered the air, looking as if a bomb had just blown the front of the base to smithereens. He smiled a new-to-himself smile that felt... good. Breaking his moment, Will faintly he heard his Dad yelling his name. "Crap, if Dad finds out I did this... I'm done for." He sprang up, quickly stuffing his weapon in a nearby storage closet.

An idea crossed his mind, that was a bit crude, but he needed to play the innocent to save himself. He quickly buried himself under the wreckage, and waited for his Dad to come. Stories and ideas ran through his head as to how this happened, and he needed to settle on one. The rubble and dust set on his fur, as well as everything else, erasing his tracks. The sound of the metal clanking from his father's attire was nearing, making both Will's mind and heartbeat race.

Zach, slammed up against the wall.

"God damn! What the hell happened?!" He noticed chunks of the roof were broken, walls got more cracks, and the door was ripped off. He saw Wolf dashing out the garage, worried. "Wh... Oh Nevermind!" Zach began to move to outside, noticing trees were almost blasted down. He, not caring about himself, ran after Wolf, to make sure Will was alright.

"There's something fishy about this, but right now, let's make sure everyone is alright" Zach told himself.

Door after door, Wolf rammed into, and through, every one, breaking the electric lock and reader. He got to the last one, and he rammed into it, only to be pulsed back onto the floor. After a second of swatting away the air birds, he tried once more, still unsuccessful. He tried the lock, but the elctro-frame was fried. He stepped back, determined to blow this door open. He quickly shifted his stance, and swiftly kicked the door in its center, bending the door nearly in half. He used all the muscle he could to bend the door further, so that he was able to climb over it. He jumped to a landing, stumbling a bit. "Ngh... I think I broke my ankle on that last kick." He started to military crawl, dusting his clothes which wasn't caked with dust, with rubble. He saw a tail slowly waving, more of just moving, side to side. His Dad's pupil narrowed onto the tragedy. He grabbed Will's leg, making Will jump a little, but nothing that was visible. He started pushing rubble away, and lifted Will's limp body. He check for a pulse under the throat; and such there was.

Now if Wolf had really payed attention, the heartbeat was overly strong, especially from a shock explosion as was this one, but that nary thought didn't even touch his mind. He held Will to his chest, supporting Will's back in his huge left hand, protecting Will's head against his sternum with his right--Will saw this as his golden opportunity. "D... Dad?" Will whimpered. Just as his instrument, he played his Dad's heart like a violin. "What... What happened?" Wolf said something that rarely ever touched his lips. "I don't know." He let his embrace go, and quickly became the self-taught medic. "Any pain, cuts, white areas in your vision?" Will stammered, "N-No... just blunt pressure around my tail and lower back." Wolf didn't see blood, so that was an already great sign, for Will, but Wolf was scabbed up from the crawl, and his brain had locked away the pain from his ankle, and was running on pure adrenaline. He knew all hell was to pay once everything died down, but that didn't matter right now; Will was okay. The one of two lives that he cared for was safe, and the other was near. Wolf stayed in a semi-kneeling position, holding Will against his toned chest. He resorted to an unusual pup-like state, chammering to Will what Wolf had never heard, but needed back then. "It's Ok, Dad's here." Will sinfully passed a crude thought through his head. "I think it worked..." Wolf just slowly and silently repeated himself. "It's Ok..."

Zach, following Wolf's broken path, walks to see Will and Wolf together. Wolf repeating "It's ok..." and Will smirking. He looked around, frowning. First of all, how did this happen? Second, Why?

"Looks like a Clean-up job is in order." Zach said from behind. He noticed Wolf's ankle was twisted in a bad position. "Wolf, is your ankle okay? Will, are YOU, yourself, okay?" He turned to see the place in semi-ruins.

"I'm gonna go check all the rooms, make sure nothing else is destroyed."

Wolf broke away from Will, long enough to become aware of his ankle. One by one the neurons started sparking, and he felt the pain finally reaching his brain. He pulled his foot closer to inspect it. A fracture, break at worst. Something he'd have to work on himself. That was something else he possessed, different than his kin; major pain tolerance. He'd soon be forced to demonstrate such upon himself. "It's... crap" He grabbed his upper leg, growling with pain. "I can't promise it's healthy."

Will wiped his forced tears, looking to pry into Zach's emotions. He choked on his words. "Y-yeah, I think. Something just exploded. I heard a beep-like sound... and everything just kinda blew apart. Were... we attacked?" He managed to whisper.

Wolf shook his head. "If someone was near our base that wasn't of our team, I would have noticed immediately." He tried not to reveal his tracking abilities of planted chips. Nothing need be known of that yet. He felt horrible though, knowing he let this happen.

And thus the trigger was thrown.

Wolf narrowed his glance onto Zach. "Well if it wasn't from the outside... and it wasn't me nor Will..." This was like 2+2=8. It didn't matter truth or not, it didn't even make sense. It didn't have to, it was the only option left untried, and Will was quick to catch, banking this tidbit into his mind. "... something isn't right here. Your "Why" wouldn't be pheasa--GRRR!" He swore under his breath. Nothing could be solved until he was able to walk. He wobbled onto his good foot. "I'm going to need... medical refixation." Will chimed to his phone, but Wolf intercepted Will's hand. "I'm going under my own knife. I've done it once... and I'll do it again." Will stood, shaken at the mentality of his Dad; which Will himself had cause, he couldn't forget that. Oddly... something was keeping him from just coming clean. So this was what it felt to be like his Dad...

Wolf started hoping towards the basement, turning to speak. "I'll be busy for about an hour, resting for about 6. My scanner is on me, beep if needed." He dissapeared into the afternoon rashed hall.

Will looked to Zach, the only enemy to his alibi. "Uh, before you go... what do you think went on here?"

"Either something could of malfunctioned or you had something to do with this." Zach said. Glaring at Will, he walks off to his room, accessing the closet elevator to the Lab, which Zach had used every so often. He stepped off once the elevator hit ground. "So this is my old lab..." He noticed it's been invaded by dust and dirt. He sighed and turned to the main computer files, with the old records of his data on aura, Stravia, their encounters, their adventures. Annoyed by the memories, be started to grab a lead pipe on the size and almost smashed one computer but noticed a file marked. Confused, he dropped the pipe on ground and opened the file, which had all of the records of past team members and current. She scrolled down to find one name which pierced his heart. The piercing felt worst than any Stravia attack. "L-L-Leslie..." He opened her file, in which he saw their past relationship. The one he couldn't bear to see. The one that bothered him as Firedra bothered Wolf. To this day, Zach still can't bear the thought of Leslie, feeling responsible for her leaving the team. He then hear noise above. "Damn, I forgot to close my doors." He shut down the computer, locking it with his passcode. He then exited to the beach, running from the past...

"What could I have possibly done with this? Yo--" Zach left. Will looked around, feeling accomplished, avoiding this mess. Except Dad broke his ankle, and Zach seemed flustered... but that would heal. He lowered his head to the floor, eyes glancing about. What was he thinking? He just hurt his Dad just to avoid trouble. Did that make him the bad guy in this? No... it wasn't his fault, he didn't know. Yeah... but how does he make an alibi? Wait... "Cameras. Dad has them everywhere in here. I could just delete a few... and presto; uncontradictable alibi." Will rushed over through the unharmed hall. This wasn't going to be a walk in the park trying to find this place. He started touching around weird indents in the walls, most just from drunken nights of his Dad's past, and an unlucky bottle... or person. He started to contemplate creating an alibi till he remembered Zach over talking about his lab years ago, and Zach was a little protective of his room. Those two keys seemed to go to the same lock. By luck, Zach's door was left unlocked. Will stepped into a semi-distraught room. Nothing looked out of place, and certainly nothing like a door. He kicked around, peering through books and shelves here and there. He eventually wondered to the closet, and opened it to find a boring wardrobe. He started to pick through hangers and shirts until he felt the floor bent a bit. He quickly stepped off, only to test it again. Bingo. He started to look around for a switch. With no luck, his Dad's blood boiled once again; time for the brute approach. He started to repeatively smash against the wall, until he finally hit hard enough for the wall to give way, and for him to fall into the capsule. He rubbed his head that made elegant contact with the new wall, as he was transported to where he hope was the tapes. Will stood up to be welcomed to what looked like a lab. He walked out, only to see a freshly activated computer, what he assumed to be the HQ surveilence, locked down. He sighed, and sat down, seeing the password box upon a large screen. This was going to be a looong day.