Chapter Text
Conner woke from his sleep, he didn’t know what time it was but no light came in through the windows. Conner turned over, Sly was gone. Conner sat up, he pulled the blanket off of himself. He removed the brace on his foot and rolled his ankle, it no longer hurt. Conner set the brace on the nightstand and stood up.
“Sly?” Conner received no response from the empty room.
Conner left the guest room and walked to the living room. Cass was asleep in a chair, blanket draped over her, pillow propped behind her head. A blanket and pillow sat on the couch he had set David on. He could see Bethany sitting in the kitchen, drinking coffee and reading a newspaper at the table. Conner entered the kitchen, Bethany looked up at him.
“There’s still some in the pot if you’d like,” Bethany paused, “I don’t know your name do I?”
“Conner,” The raccoon answered, “and I’ll pass on the coffee for now.”
Bethany looked at him, she raised an eyebrow.
“Conner,” she let the name roll slowly, “as in Conner Cooper?”
“The one and only Ms,” Conner put on a smile.
“So the raccoon my little brother ranted and raved about putting away for thirteen years shows up on my doorstep dragging him through the door,” Bethany let out a laugh, “oh he’s never gonna live this down.” She continues laughing.
“I don’t mean to be a bother,” Connershifted on his feet, “but have you seen my son?”
“He went out with David and Anthony to look at the car,” she took a sip from her coffee, “should still be out there.”
Conner nodded his head and turned towards the door. Conner stepped outside, it was light enough to see clearly. David and Anthony were hunched over the open hood of the Chevey, Sly stood on a step ladder pointing a flashlight into the engine. Conner walked off the porch down to the car. David looked up at him.
“So what’s the verdict Doctor?” Conner put a hand on the top step of the ladder.
“Front bumper crumpled when I hit the doberman,” David began, “a handful of pellets played havoc in the engine block, at least 5 pipes have holes in them, oh and the powered window in the driver door doesn’t work anymore. I knew I should have stuck with manuals when I got this thing.”
“Sound’s like an expensive mechanic trip,” Conner looked at the door, ten clean holes were visible, “your salary gonna cover it?”
“Oh I wish it was that simple,” David gestured to the door, “that’s two and a half inches of steel same as most of the car, and the engine is custom built to be able to pull the extra weight. Any old mechanic isn’t gonna cut it.”
“What about Dr M?” Sly piped up and looked at his father, “you always said he could make or fix anything in your stories.”
David and Anthony both looked at Conner, David raised a questioning eyebrow.
“That wouldn’t be a good idea,” Conner rubbed the back of his neck, “we didn’t part on good terms when he left the gang.”
David clearly wanted to press the point, Conner gave him a look that told him better.
“No matter,” David said, “I can fix the important bits, just gonna take some time.”
“Well we can’t leave it on my driveway while you work,” Anthony looked at Sly, “you know how to steer a car kid?”
“No,” Sly’s tail drooped as he answered.
“Well sounds like you’re gonna get to learn something today,”Conner opened the car door.
Sly beamed as he got into the car, he had to stand to see over the dash properly. Conner began telling Sly how to steer the car. Anthony and David moved to the rear of the car and waited for Conner to finish. Once he was confident Sly understood what he was telling him he put the car in neutral and the four began moving the car.
____________
Cass woke from her sleep, she still felt tired from healing David. She pulled off the blanket, Anthony must have covered her after she fell asleep. Cass looked around the room, light was just starting to come in from the windows. David was gone, blanket and pillow left on the couch. Cass got up, she walked to the kitchen door. Bethany sat at the table, Drinking coffe and reading the last page of a newspaper. The wolf looked up at her.
“Oh good, you’re finally up,” She smiled, “there’s coffee in the pot if you want any.”
“Thank you,” Cass poured herself a glass and sat down across from Bethany, she took a drink, it was stronger than she normally liked it but drinkable. Bethany set the paper down and took a long final drink from her cup. She sighed and set her cup down.
“I hope David didn’t hurt you with his handgun yesterday,” she said, “he can be a bit… stubborn at times.”
“Oh no I’m fine,” Cass replied, she took another drink from her coffee “why was he so against my help?”
Bethany held her cup in both hands and simply stared into it for a moment.
“It’s… it's a long story” She let go of her cup, “and it isn’t mine to tell, it's an old wound for him.”
Cass got the feeling she shouldn’t press, if she wanted to know she’d have to ask David.
“So,” Cass tried to think of a topic to move the conversation too, “you and your brother run an airfield, what’s that like?”
“Well it's not quite the same as a commercial airport,” Bethany was clearly happy to talk about something else, “most planes that land here only show up to be serviced when they need scheduled maintenance.”
Cass leaned in, giving her full attention to the wolf.
“We’ve got a plane coming in two days for a check in fact,” Bethany continued, “fixing planes is incredibly messy work, hardly a day of work I don’t have to take an extra long shower.” The two laughed. “It pays well though, even after all the expenses of owning this place, what do you do Cass?”
“Oh I’m a Police Officer,” Cass answered, "I work a few counties west of here.”
“Ok then” Bethany refilled her cup before continuing, “that how your arm got hurt?”
“Oh this happened two days ago,” Cass rubbed her shoulder, she could move it but it still hurt, “responding to a homicide call with David infact.”
“You work with my brother often then?” Bethany asked.
“No actually,” she chuckled, “it was the first time we met.”
“Oh he was always one for interesting first impressions,” Bethany and Cass laughed.
____________
The sets of wolves and raccoons had pushed David’s Chevy into a small hanger that Anthony used to hold spare plane parts. David had already begun working to remove the damaged parts of his engine, Anthony had gone to retrieve an engine crane in case they needed to remove the motor. Conner sat by a toolbox leaning against a counter, whenever David needed a different tool Conner removed it from the toolbox and had Sly run it to the wolf.
David rolled out from under the car on his creeper, he had the car battery in his hands. He carried it over to the counter and grabbed a screwdriver. He started prying something out of it. Conner heard something pop out, David let out a satisfied huff. He turned and held up a shotgun pellet in his hand.
“As I thought,” David had a smug look on his face, "tungsten shotgun pellets, that’s why they were able to rip through the door.” He set the pellet down on the counter.
“Tungsten?” Conner repeated, “that stuff’s expensive isn’t it?”
“Incredibly,” before David could continue they heard the door open, Cass walked in. Conner smiled, Sly offered a wave, David turned away and rolled back under the car to continue working. Cass walked over to the counter and sat by Conner.
“So how’s the car?” she directed her question towards David, he offered no response.
“Well,” Conner picked up the answer, “the battery caught a buckshot pellet, the door window needs fixed, and the engine might need to be lifted.”
“I need a five eights,” David called, Conner handed the wrench to sly and the kit brought it to the wolf, “thank you Sly.”
Cass looked at the floor, Conner could tell something was eating at her. Conner would have to ask her about it later.
“Well now that you’re here,” Conner racked his mind for an excuse to leave, hoping to let the two air out whatever was between them, “I’m going to go relieve myself.” Conner walked to the door and left.
An uncomfortable silence settled in the room, broken only by the sound of David working and Sly’s occasional humming. Cass found herself thinking, trying to decide how best to start a conversation.
“David I…” Cass started to speak before David rolled out from under the car and sat up on the creeper.
“Before you start,” David began, “no, I do not trust you, yes it is because you are a mystic.”
“Why do you distrust mystics so much David,” Cass asked.
“Mystics have brought nothing but problems for my family,” David let out a sigh, “look I appreciate your help, but I am not interested in small talk. My job right now involves keeping you, Conner and Sly safe. I will do that, but I am not going to be your friend.”
“Oh,” she stood up, “I’ll leave you to your work then Detective.” Cass left the hanger and began walking back to the main house, a feeling of disappointment weighing on her.
David laid back down on the creeper, he closed his eyes and let out another sigh. He opened his eyes, Sly was standing a few feet from him. David looked at the kit.
“Why are you being mean to Miss Chase?” Sly asked.
“You’re not the only one here who lost his mother Sly,” David rolled himself back under the car, working in silence.
____________
The next few days a routine established itself. David Sly and Conner would spend the morning working on the car, Cass found herself helping Bethany and Anthony with upkeep on the property. Once the plane arrived David, Bethany and Anthony spent their afternoons servicing it. Conner spent his afternoon’s teaching Sly what he knew about thieving, Cass joined the raccoons for the lessons fascinated as she watched the methods Conner employed. The only time Cass and Daid interacted was when he told her he still hadn’t heard anything from interpol.
David stepped out of the small hanger, it had been a difficult day of work but most of the damaged parts had been replaced. David was lost in his thoughts deeply enough that he nearly ran into Anthony as he rounded the corner of the hanger.
“So what’s on the docket for today?” David asked.
“Actualy David,” Anthony began, “Bethany and I need to run into town and grab a few things.”
“No plane work then?” David grinned, “whatever will I do without all that dirt in my fur today?”
“Nice try little brother,” Anthony put a hand on David’s shoulder, “I got the plane’s engine set up to test. I asked Cass to help you test it while we’re gone, she should already be at the hanger.” David narrowed his eyes at his brother, “oh don’t look at me like that, you need two sets of hands for the test anyways.”
“Fine, I can work with her for an afternoon,” David said.
Anthony smiled and turned towards the house, David could see Bethany waiting by their truck. David turned and began walking towards the hanger containing the plane. He stopped outside the man door, took a breath, and left his feelings at the door. Sure enough Cass was already in the hanger, getting a close up look at the plane.
The plane itself was on the smaller side of aircraft, it was an EMB 120 Brasilia, at least that’s what Anthony told David it was. Twin turboprop engines, with accompanying propellers, sat on the wings, one of them had its casing removed, wires were plugged into it connecting to a computer. The plane was anchored to the floor to prevent it from moving during the testing. David approached Cass.
“Ready?” David asked.
“Ready to be told what exactly we’re doing,” She replied.
David ushered her to the computer, he made a quick check to ensure everything Cass would need was running.
“You are going to sit here,” David handed her a pair of earplugs off the desk, ‘and watch the screens. Once I fire up the engine a flow of text should start appearing, you’re gonna make sure it keeps coming till I shut them off after 60 seconds.”
“And if it stops?” Cass sat down in the desk chair.
“We check the cables and try again till we get a clean reading.” David answered, “Could take us a minute, could take an hour, just depends how the machinery is feeling.”
Cass sat down and put the earplugs in, she pressed her ears against her head. A timer sat on the desk, she prepped it for 60 seconds. David climbed into the plane, after a moment Cass could see him in the cockpit’s side window. After a few moments she saw him hold up three fingers, he counted down on the last finger the turboprop engines spun up and the propellers began spinning. A stream of numbers and words began to appear on the screen.
Fifty seconds, everything continued going well. Cass began tapping her claws on the desk.
Forty seconds, information continued to flow onto the screen. The engine closest to Cass let out a sputter of smoke.
Thirty seconds, the flow of information cut off as the engine exploded. Cass brought her arms to her face and ducked behind the desk. A piece of the engine slammed into the desk and shifted it towards her.
Cass pulled her head over the desk, The wing had fallen off the plane at the engine. The propeller was gone, cass saw one of the blades embedded in the side of the plane. Bits of metal were strewn about the hanger. The wires were disconnected and scattered on the floor, some pinned under the wing.
David appeared in the door of the plane, he clambered down the steps. David looked at the wing and destroyed engine. His gaze continued upwards, cass followed it and saw the second propeller blade lodged in the hanger’s ceiling. David turned back to the plane.
“Well,” David shook his head and turned to Cass, “on the bright side our work for the day is done.”
Cass looked him over, David looked unharmed save a small cut on his face.
“So this is normal when testing a plane?” Cass stood up as she spoke.
“Catastrophic failure is always possible,” David walked to the desk as he answered, “better to have it happen on the ground than in the air. Surprised it broke the wing though, normally they catch fire rather than exploding.”
“Your face,” Cass gestured a hand at the cut on David’s face, “may I?”
David went to speak, before a word left his mouth he bit his lip. David leaned over the desk and turned the cut towards her. Cass reached her hand to his face, David flinched away for a moment before taking a breath and relaxing. Cass began her tuneless humming, the cut began to mend itself, it was small as such only took a few moments to heal. Once the wound healed Cass retracted her hand, David straightened up and felt his face.
“That itches like hell,” David joked.
David disconnected the wires from the computer then walked towards a door, he opened it pulled out two brooms and dust pans. He handed one to Cass.
“Come on,” he started, “let’s clean up what we can find.”
The two of them began a sweep of the shop, collecting whatever metal had flown from the engine. Placing whatever they could find in a vague pile by the desk. After a thorough search they had yet to find the third propeller blade. The two of them returned to the desk and took a seat. David leaned back in his chair and rubbed his forehead.
“Well,” Cass started, “that was certainly an int-”
“Wait,” David interrupted, he took a deep breath through his nose, “smells like something burning.”
Cass sniffed the air, she could smell smoke. Before she could respond the back wall of the hanger caved in as a massive explosion rocked the building. In a moment Cass saw metal shrapnel rush towards them, David grabbed her wrist, for an instant their eyes locked. Cass stared in absolute shock as she saw his eyes glow silver. Then, but a moment later her vision went white as the hanger was engulfed in a fireball.