Fox narrowed his eyes on Henry's bleeding arm as he sat locked in a dog crate.

I never asked for you guys to help me. I don't want to change my life. Even if you two don't think it's a good one. It's mine and I made it.

Fox lunged at the bars and gnawed on the same ones he'd been bending off and on all night. At the rate he was going, he would be short a few teeth, but also free of the cage hopefully before the people Henry called showed up. He gave a slight sneeze to free his mouth of blood, then went right back to biting at the bars.

"We should just let him go. He clearly doesn't want to go back to what he had. Maybe it wasn't good. Maybe he was abused?" Noah said as he paced in front of the cage biting at a finger nail. "I really don't like this."

The doorbell rang as he finished speaking, making Fox back up against the far side of the cage as Henry walked to the door.

"It doesn't matter what had happened, Noah. That was years ago and he's been missing since then. You finally found him. The least we should do is report him so that the case can be solved. What happens after that is up to the authorities," Henry said as he opened the door and stepped aside to allow the two officers in.

Another person followed them carrying a manila envelope and a briefcase. One of the officers, a woman that appeared to be an age Fox didn't give a damn about, knelt in front of the cage and reached for the lock holding it shut.

"I wouldn't open that. He's not friendly to people he doesn't know," Henry said quickly as he unconsciously ran his fingers over his injured arm.

The officer hesitated, then stood up to address him.

"He definitely looks like the photos. Has he shifted at all for you guys? Do you have a photo of his human form?" she asked, getting two head shakes in response.

"No. He refuses to shift but does seem to understand what we say," Noah said, stepping into the conversation, though it was obvious that he was nervous and unsure.

The other officer, a man, knelt down in front of the cage. "Can we just take him in the crate? We can try to get a DNA sample from one of his relatives to test if it's him, but until then we'll have to hold him at the precinct."

Noah frowned at the man's words. "Didn't they think to get one when he went missing? What if you can't get a sample or it's not him?"

The officer took the file from the third person of their group and handed it over to Noah.

"He attacked a little girl in the park, and from what we were told, he bit you, too. He'll be euthanized if there is no match and he refuses to shift within two weeks."

I don't know what that word means, but I definitely didn't like the look on Noah's face when that man said it.

Fox widened his eyes and lowered his ears when both Noah and Henry looked at him with worry. I'm a cute fox. I don't usually maul people. I'm a good fox. Whatever that word means, you guys should stop it from happening.

To his surprise, Henry actually stepped in front of the male officer after he took the folder that had been handed to Noah. He was skimming through it as he began speaking.

"This just states that he bit someone. The only witness to this seems to be Noah, besides the little girl who can't really be a valid witness. It also states that he has to testify for it to be valid," he said, then turned to gesture at Fox. "Clearly, this fox is not rabid."

Fox let his big ears droop even more, then twitched his nose and hunched his shoulders just-so.

Correct, not rabid at all. I plan all of my bites and give fair warnings... probably a good thing I can't talk.

"Yeah, I agree. That would end terribly," Noah said, then glanced around at the confused faces staring at him.

Henry tilted his head slightly and offered a small awkward smile. "Yeah, it would be bad if he was rabid, but he's not," he emphasized.

Haha. It sounded like this guy could actually hear my thoughts. Let's just stay far away from that situation, shall we? I don't need him to know that I pooped in his underwear drawer to get him back for taunting me with that food the other day.

Fox held his breath and waited, but when Noah just licked his lips and Henry started speaking again, he let it out a silent sigh.

Glad that I don't have to explain myself there... because it wasn't really in his underwear drawer, it was under the bed.

"Wait, what was under the bed?"

Oh, shit. Wait. I didn't mean that literally, but I did, but ignore it.

Noah scowled as he looked around at the group of people staring at him in disturbed nervousness.

"Um, I'm sorry. I need to check something real quick," he muttered and hurried off to the bedroom.

Oh no. He's going to be mad.

"Fox!"

Yep. There's the mad.

"You little bastard! You pooped under the bed!"

Fox crouched down in the crate and looked away as Noah came running back into the room.

"Why did you poop under the bed, you darn fox?" Noah growled right before Fox stood back up and raised his hackles, then pinned his ears back.

Because you stunk up the bathroom with your own! It was horrible. My butthole smells better than that did even before I lick it! It even spread through this place, that's why you didn't even smell mine under your bed!

When Noah just rubbed at his forehead and squeezed his eyes shut, Fox flicked an ear.

Can he hear me or not?

"How about this? We'll keep him here while you guys look for his family to give a DNA sample. Once you get that and prove that he is who we think he is, we can go from there?" Henry said as Noah straightened and nodded in agreement.

The female officer glanced at her partner, who looked at the third person who'd come in with them. When that man shrugged and reached into his case to pull out a few cotton swabs, Fox relaxed. Noah took the swabs and knelt in front of him, and like a good fox, for once, Fox opened his mouth and let the guy run the items around his gums. Once they were done, two of them left while the woman handed Noah a second paper.

"Here's the information for our office since we're handling this specific case. We will give you a call tomorrow, likely in the afternoon, if we can get a comparison sample from a relative. I probably don't need to say this, but please make sure that he is kept confined until then."

Henry and Noah both nodded, then saw the woman out. The second they turned back around, their eyes narrowed on Fox.

I didn't do anything. I was a good fox during that whole situation. Can I have a pancake for being good? Maybe one with chocolate chips?

They both scowled, making Fox fidget.

Don't tell me both of you can read my thoughts now?

Instead of paying him any mind, both men stared at each other.

"You've heard what he's been thinking?" Henry asked at the same time Noah started opening his mouth, likely to ask the same thing.

When Noah shrugged, Fox twitched an ear. "Bits and pieces. He mentioned something about pooping under the bed while the officers were talking."

Henry pursed his lips and crossed his arms over his chest. "I heard that he did that in your underwear drawer... want me to check?" He asked with a slightly raised eyebrow.

Are you flirting with him? That's my person, sir. At least until he stops feeding me. I might be mad at him right now, but pancakes can solve a lot of problems so back up!

"Should we let him out? I don't think he should be stuck in there until those people come back tomorrow... if they can even get a sample to test him with," Noah said as he knelt down in front of the crate with the key in his hand.

Henry seemed to hesitate, but Fox quickly whined and pawed at the bars, then began chewing on them. His gums hurt pretty badly from already having damaged them with the action all night, but if a little pain and blood got him out of the cage, he'd be perfectly fine with it.

"Okay, okay. Fine, you brat. If you poop anywhere else you aren't supposed to, though, you're going right back in there, got it?" Henry said as he nodded for Noah to go ahead and open the crate.

Fox tensed as the key slowly turned in the lock. When it finally popped open and was taken off, he bolted out and around the cage, heading straight for the sliding glass door leading outside. A second later he ran right into it... but not through it, like he'd hoped. Blood trickled down the fur on his forehead as he staggered back, then flopped over onto his side with a frustrated mixture between a groan and squeak.

"I could have told you that that was a bad idea, you know?" Henry noted as Noah ran over and scooped Fox up.

Thank you, doctor sarcasm. Oh wait, you're a vegetarian. Veterinarian? Yeah, that one. Thank you, veterinarian sarcasm... doctor was funnier.

Henry followed them into the kitchen and got some items out of his medical bag he tended to bring with him everywhere. "You're welcome. Now have fun with this," he said as he leaned over where Fox was being held tightly in Noah's arms and pressed a peroxide-soaked cotton ball against his new injury.

You deserve to go to the deepest parts of hell! Fox thought as loud as he could as his forehead burned horribly. If there was one memory that never faded, it was the smell of peroxide and how much it burned when used on his open wounds as a kid.

"You'll survive. It probably doesn't even hurt much anymore, does it?" Noah asked, making Fox look up at him with wide, help me, eyes.

He got unimpressed ones right back, but soon they morphed into unsure, slightly apologetic ones.

"I think all of these fun events call for a good meal," Noah said, glancing over at Henry as the man cleaned up the little mess he'd made, then back to Fox.

Pancakes!

Setting his bag aside, Henry leaned against the counter as Noah set Fox back on his feet. "What about pizza?"

Noah shrugged, glancing down at Fox as if he hadn't heard his first thought. Pinning his ears, Fox twitched his nose and focused. Pancakes! I want pancakes! It's breakfast time! Well, a little late, but it's definitely still almost morning!

If there were any crickets in the house... which there weren't, because Fox ate the only one that had slipped through the back door a few days ago, they would have heard them chirping with how quiet it got right then.

They heard me!

Noah and Henry both looked up at each other and shrugged.

"Pizza it is then."

Dammit. I'm pooping on your dresser later.

"I guess someone isn't getting pancakes from me ever again," Noah said as leaned against the counter and Henry started their order over the phone.

Oh, um, I mean I'm going to go poop in the bathroom, right now. Right where I should.

Fox slowly turned around, sulking as he slowly walked out of the room. Right before he turned the corner and disappeared from sight, he noticed Noah giving him a half grin as he chuckled under his breath. He wanted to comment, but for once, bit his tongue on the thought.

This is going to be hard.

He was halfway to the bathroom when he heard both of the men cracking up as Henry said "that's what she said" just loud enough for him to pick it up.

All Fox could do in response was shake his head as he walked away.