"Why hello there, my little Foxy friend," came a voice from behind him that Fox knew immediately.

He turned around, a bit surprised to see Pyre standing there in a pair of torn black pants and a matching, but not turn, heavy black winter jacket. The kid was also wearing a black knit hat pulled down over half his bangs.

"Pyre, why are you here?" Fox asked as Henry and Noah eyed the guy.

Pyre walked closer, grinning at his fathers before looking back down at Fox.

"Came to have fun, of course."

He looked Henry and Noah up and down again, then returned his attention to Fox, clearly confused.

"These guys are...?"

Fox quickly spun around, nearly smacking Pyre with the huge stuffed fox Henry had relinquished to him earlier.

"This is Noah, my dad!" he said cheerfully, then turned to look at Henry.

"This is Henry... he's my vegetarian."

Pyre raised an eyebrow.

"That's not something you generally introduce someone as... but I'll still accept the answer. Are you guys hanging around for the bonfire?"

Fox looked up at Noah and the guy shrugged.

"Do you wan to see it? It should be starting pretty soon in that main area we saw right after we entered," he said with a smile.

If it gives me more time with Noah... and I guess Henry, too, I'm down.

He also enjoyed spending time, although preferably-limited, with Pyre, too.

"We can go look," he said right before Pyre reached forward and took his free hand, since Noah had somehow let it go in the past few minutes.

Noah didn't look too happy to see Pyre holding it, but as the guy started swinging Fox's hand and talking about the schoolwork he threw in the trash earlier that night, he seemed to relax a little. Of course, Fox could hear him discussing bits and pieces of Pyre's clear delinquency through their bond to Henry, but he paid it no mind. School didn't get you everywhere. It was Pyre's decision to do what he did. He knew that he shouldn't but nothing he said was going to stop him, so he'd just accept the guy as is.

The bonfire was already starting to reach toward the clouds as they approached, drawing Fox's attention like a moth to a flame. It was quite an impressive sight. Of course, he'd seen a few in his days, but never dared get so close... people, and what not.

Now that he had three people surrounding him whom he trusted, he didn't hesitate to walk closer, stopping at the small chain-link fence that was set up to prevent small children, or foxes, from getting too close.

"Hey Fox, what happened to that guy from before? You mentioned that it was your brother?" Pyre asked, leaning closer to his ear so that neither Henry nor Noah could hear him.

Fox held back a frown as he thought about it. He hadn't seen his brother since then, but that didn't mean much anymore. The guy was a creeper and getting disturbingly good at stalking. He hadn't even been able to go to school since he'd showed up a bit ago and chased after him and Pyre.

For some reason, he suddenly didn't want to be out in the open anymore. Sure, there were tons of people around them, but as he began looking around the massive fire at the actual faces blurring in the bright light, he could tell that something wasn't right.

"Something wrong, Fox?" Pyre asked, sensing his unease as he, too, looked around.

Shrugging half-heartedly, Fox tried to push away his nerves, but his animal side refused to be ignored.

"There is something wr—" strong arms suddenly reached around both of them and, hugging them together, spun them nearly one-hundred and eighty degrees, then pulled them tightly against a firm chest. The owner of said chest, who's instantly-familiar scent told him that it was Henry, suddenly jerked as if he'd been hit with something from behind, then hunched over them as people began screaming.

The sudden shift in the volume of noise made Fox immediately huddle closer to the man holding him, but Pyre squirmed his way free and took off out of sight.

"H-Henry?" Fox mumbled out right before he felt his body shift into his animal form from stress.

When he shrunk, Henry fell forward, nearly falling on top of him before Noah caught the man in his arms. He looked panicked, tears running from his wide eyes as he looked around for a split second, then gently helped Henry lie down on the cold pavement.

Before he could do anything else a group of EMT's, likely hired by the fair due to the amount of people being present, appeared and took charge of the situation. One woman gently helped Noah to his feet, but it was clear that he was having trouble standing... and he absolutely refused to look away from Henry, even as the woman asked him questions to try and draw his attention as the other medics got busy, blocking most of their view.

Fox felt like he was drifting on a cloud before his attention snapped toward the opposite side of the bonfire. Someone was running away and Pyre was chasing them... but then the person suddenly disappeared in the panicking hordes around them.

Slowly, Fox looked back down at Henry. He couldn't see his face, but the smell of blood in his nose couldn't be mistaken.

Seeing red, he turned again, then began running as fast as he could. He broke through the crowds fairly quickly since most of them were heading toward the exit, unlike where Pyre was running. He caught up with Pyre in less than a minute as the guy scaled a fence, closing in on the now-familiar scent of his brother.

I'm done with you! How dare you hurt my family. He might only be a vegetarian, but he is my vegetarian!

He squirmed his way through a broken bottom part of the fence, raking a cut down his back, then bolted as he saw his brother begin to shift into his own animal form. His human self had been staggering, likely from agitating his previous wound with running and climbing, but it had also looked like Pyre had gotten several good hits in on him, too. There was also no gun anymore, possibly also due to Pyre's interference. He wouldn't have been able to outrun Pyre on two legs either way, but now that he was on four, he might be able to push himself and get ahead of the human... but he wasn't going to outrun the Fox.

Following the fluffy tail he'd grown up admiring as a little boy, before he'd learned how to shift, himself, Fox darted through the dirty makeshift alleyways, down stalls of snorting, panicked animals, then through several lines of food stalls. No matter how hard his brother tried to shake him, he continued to easily gain ground.

It had been a long time since he'd had to hunt, but this time it wasn't for a meal. This was personal, and it would end tonight.

After about five minutes of running he finally managed to corner him, then wasted no time lunging for his throat. His brother dodged sloppily, then went in for his own attack. Fox easily darted to the side, but as he moved he lifted a paw to slash at his brother's right eye, easily digging his claws into the tender flesh there. His brother yelped and backed away several steps, shaking his head as blood sprayed from the action. He might have felt bad about hurting him many, many years ago, but not now. Not today.

Pinning his ears back and letting out a low warning growl, Fox lunged again. His brother, unable to see clearly, stumbled backwards trying to avoid him. His brother's bad leg truly did hinder him greatly, allowing him to easily land his hit to his neck.

A warm moisture quickly filled his mouth with the taste of blood.

The other fox screeched, but it knew that no one would come to its aid, so it returned the attack with one of its own desperate ones, but even as it tried to bite at Fox's neck or shoulder, Fox refused to allow it. He began to shake his head back and forth as hard as he possibly could, making himself dizzy, but refusing to relent.

You have been chasing me for so long. All for some stupid money! How dare you walk back into my life just to try and take it because you don't think I'm worth anything as a fox. You never thought I mattered once I refused to shift back, well who needs you? I have people that like me just the way I am now, and that way is pretty damn awesome, you dead butthole!

He felt a bone snap between his jaws but refused to stop shaking as his snarls grew louder and drool began to soak into the fur of the dead fox being thrashed around in his jaws, mixing with its blood. His mind knew that he could stop, that it was finally over, but his instincts weren't listening.

It's okay now, Fox.

His mind hesitated for a moment, stopping him from thrashing the corpse as it tried to process the thought sent to him. It was Owen. Normally, he'd be ecstatic that the man was there, and so suddenly at that, but he couldn't loosen his hold on the fox between his teeth.

It's okay. You did it, Fox. You finally got him, and he won't ever come back.

The sound of footsteps slowly approaching drew Fox's attention over his shoulder, the dead fox in his mouth dragging against the dirty ground with the action.

"There you are," Owen said as he carefully sat down a few feet away, then smiled gently. "I came the second I got the text message from Pyre saying that you guys were going to be hanging out here at the bonfire. I didn't want to sit through my night class, so I came right over."

On most days, Fox would have been able to see through that lie easily, but he was so stressed and on such a strong high from killing the ghost that had constantly haunted, and tried to kill him for so long, that he didn't process it. All he did manage to get through his hazy mind was that Owen was there and he had come for him.

Owen is here... he eventually thought to the man, making him chuckle quietly and nod.

"Amos is even coming over soon, but you know what? He always wants attention first. Let's show him how well you cuddle and make him jealous when he gets here, huh?" he said, reaching out with one hand partially lowered close to the ground.

I want to sniff his hand. I want to be around Owen. I want to cuddle with him.

Slowly, Fox let the corpse of his brother's animal slip through his loosening grip as he crept closer to Owen, his instincts telling him to be extremely careful, but at the same time it wanted him to run into his boyfriend's arms and hide his face in his heavy coat.

After what felt like forever, he finally allowed his cold paws to take him to Owen. He settled his shaking body within the man's thick coat, then finally laid his head against his warm chest as the garment was zipped up around him.

They stayed like that for a short time before Owen stood up, easily holding Fox's weight with one hand beneath him on the outside of the coat. Night had completely taken over as Fox nervously looked around the area. Garbage, shoes, and some personal items like purses, were scattered around everywhere.

The image of Henry lying on the ground right before the paramedics showed up flashed behind his eyes, making Fox hunch closer to Owen, making him want to tuck his head beneath the top of the coat so that he wouldn't have to see what could possibly be waiting for them.

"It will be okay," Owen said as he gently pet Fox's head with his free hand.

"Noah already texted me. Henry is in stable condition. He got shot in the back, but it missed everything important. He'll recover, but it'll take some time," he said, drawing Fox's watery eyes up to him.

His ears perked up at that moment, drawing his attention over his shoulder right as Amos tackled Owen in a hug, careful not to squish him.

"Thank you, Henry. Thank you so much," he rasped, panting hard as he leaned over and kissed Owen, then quickly leaned down and pressed a kiss to Fox's head.

Amos squeezed them both again before lifting Owen up into his arms. Fox expected Owen to fight him on it, but instead, he wrapped his free arm around Amos' neck and leaned against his chest. Of course, he was careful not to squish Fox, but he didn't mind. He was right where he needed to be at that moment to calm his still-racing heart.

"Noah texted me that the hospital is full and not accepting more than one visitor right now, so he'll keep us updated. He also said Pyre went back to check on Henry after he saw Owen walk over to you. He got to them as they were loadingHenry into the ambulance, but since only one person could come, he picked up your stuffed fox and said that he'd bring it by sometime tomorrow. I let him know that you were doing okay, but why does it look like there's blood on your back?"

Fox flicked his left ear and replied, I scratched my back on a metal fence chasing after my brother. I don't want to go to the hospital.

Amos seemed to contemplate his words for a moment before sighing and turning, carrying them toward the entrance to the fair.

"You just got your tetanus shot for school, so we'll see how it looks at home. If we think that you should go to the hospital, you're going to go?" Amos said, clearly nervous, but likely not pushing it because he didn't want to stress him out further.

Okay.

With that settled, they stopped at a small group of police officers, but after they were told that he couldn't shift back yet because of the stress, and they refused to take a verbal statement through thought, because Amos or Owen could easily change anything he wanted to say, they took their phone numbers and address, then let them go after being told the location of the corpse.

They already had a general backstory for the situation since Amos, Owen, Noah, and Henry had all reported any interaction with his brother since the beginning. The guy had just slipped away every time the police tried to corner him for questioning.

They had video from surveillance that clearly showed his brother firing a gun at him now, too, so they decided not to hold Fox for killing him. They would just be in touch shortly for a statement.

With all of that done, Fox started drifting in and out of sleep as Amos carried them home, his adrenaline draining from his system. Relief at having both of his boyfriends with him and his brother finally out of the picture for good outweighed his instinct's need to stay awake and alert.

"Go ahead and rest. We'll check your injury when we get home in a few minutes," Owen said. He could hear a smile in the man's words, but his eyes were already shut.

Then cooking? Fox mumbled through their bond.

He felt Amos and Owen both chuckle at his comment.

"Your injury might make it difficult, but..." Owen said, the tone of his voice leaving the final decision up to Amos.

"Hmm," Amos hummed before finishing his sentence with "we will make it work, because all good foxes, and especially ours, need cooked."