This is a story based off a sequel for a fanfic I've written called "Short Circuit."
You can read that story right here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/83.....pters/19044199
Illustration by:  ventkazemaru

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Time seemed to have stopped for Fox and his father, they enjoyed their time together like it was the last moments of their lives. Sooner or later, though, someone had to say good-bye; it was getting late and visit time was almost ending. James bid them farewell and warned Fox to come back the next day, so he could introduce him the newest member of Star Fox.

As the two left the hospital, Peppy split ways with the vulpine, as he had pending subjects to address with General Pepper. The vulpine then decided to call a Taxi and head home; on the way there, he still couldn't believe Bill would be working with Star Fox… in fact, he questioned himself many times that day how Peppy would pull it off. Pepper never ceased one instant from trying to get Star Fox into the army, so how is he gonna let one of the most important pilots slash commanders leave just like that?

Fox then reached the same conclusion he had before and pushed the thought away. After all, his father and Peppy are good friends with the general, and besides, they're all together again. Surely, the old dog's gonna be in a nice mood and they'll sort something out. Still… Fox couldn't help but have this odd feeling that something didn't feel right about that.

He felt the movement inside the cab coming to a stop, warning him it was time to step out. He paid the ride and watched as the cab left, then turned around and relished in the familiar view. In front of him was a small home, nothing spectacular by any standards; a porch, a garage, about two rooms upstairs… that was his home, the one he used to spend time with before everything went to hell.

Fox always felt uneasy coming back to this place, it made him relieve memories that he really didn't want to. Making his way to the front door, the vulpine pulled out some keys out of his pocket and used them to unlock it. Slowly, the door creaked open and revealed the state of everything inside; the corners on the roof were covered with webs, the floor was dusty with plastic bags and crumbs of food hanging around, the furniture being used as a rack for used clothes. It was livable, but not a bit pleasing to look at.

There was never any need to clean it up in Fox's opinion, because he lived alone and no one ever bothered to pay him a visit anyway. These were some of the things that made him have a love-hate relationship with Elenard; in one hand, everything was pretty, covered in white, everything was peaceful and everyone was happy; in the other, he wasn't happy, because everyone he knew was busy doing god-knows-what with their families and he was stuck there boring himself till the day was over.

Well, there was nothing he could do but wait until his father was back, so Fox just plopped himself in the couch and turned the TV on, watching whatever was broadcast and hoping it caught his interest. Channel after channel, he flicked the remote and allowed his attention span to do the rest for him. After going through about sixty channels, Fox began wondering why did he even have cable to begin with… that's when he saw a gray-furred figure with an eye-patch seemingly being interviewed in a restaurant.

By the time he realized it, Fox cursed his muscle memory for skipping through a few channels and started to mash down the remote until he finally found the right broadcast again. Just as he expected, it was Wolf giving out another one of his insincere made-up speeches about how he always meant good for Lylat. Why was he on every damn channel, every damn hour of the day, every damn time he turned the TV on? Fox didn't remember being interviewed that much after he won the Lylat Wars… and it's been two months already. He asked himself how could people stand this guy so much? It made him sick.

Fox kept watching the interview, ignoring most of the questions that were being asked to Wolf; until he finally heard one that spiked his interest.

"Thanks for your kind words, Mr. O'Donnell. Now, here's a question we've been dying to know for some time: some of our sources say – even before you officially started working for the army of Venom – that you had orchestrated an attack against the current Star Fox leader and James McCloud's son, Fox; and that you left him badly injured. Is that true? And if so, what motivated you to transition to Star Fox's ally and how has this affected your relationship with both McClouds?"

A snicker escaped from Fox's mouth. That was it, that was the moment everyone in the world would know what Wolf O'Donnell was really like. There was no way he could answer that without looking like a complete fool, a little puppy begging for forgiveness. He watched with delight as Wolf looked everywhere else than the camera and scratched his head looking for something to say. Finally, the defeated lupine told the reporter: "I'd rather not answer that."

"Ha! I knew it!" Fox jumped on the couch victoriously. "Not even you can defend that shit, Wolf; can't even say a damn 'sorry'. And people still think you changed for real? Nah… you're still the same conceited, remorseless asshole I've met years ago." With another flick of the remote, the TV was turned off. "Thank god I don't have to deal with your shit again."

---

The next morning came as quick as the sun, and Fox couldn't contain his excitement. Today was the day he and Bill would start working together as a team, but more importantly, he wouldn't be left all alone in his own house again. Since Bill's family had reallocated to Katina, Fox saw that as the perfect opportunity to invite the other canine to stay at his home for free rather than renting a hotel. He even had the perfect excuse: 'Now that we're gonna be working together, it'd be a good idea to get used to each other's presence.' It was perfect, absolutely nothing could ruin it.

It was nearing eleven in the morning and Fox then parted off to visit his father. Lunch box in one hand, he walked through the snow-covered streets of Corneria City. Something that was bothering him along the way was that Peppy had flat-out refused to come along with him that time, saying he was busy with something, but not bothering to tell what. It was so strange, Peppy had never missed a single opportunity to visit the hospital, so why now?

In his musing of the facts, Fox had lost focus and tripped over a crack on the sidewalk; the food box opening mid-air and its contents spilling all over the floor, blending with the snow below. "No!" The vulpine crouched down and tried to gather every bit of food back together in the box before they got too dirty. Looking back on his handiwork, he realized he wasted energy for nothing; the meal he packed for his father was already as white as ice-cream.

He started to stand up and turn around when, suddenly, he bumped into another man's chest; losing his balance, Fox fell back on his tail. "S-sorry, I didn't-" He tried to apologize, but a familiar voice cut him off. "Well, well, well… If it isn't Little Pup Riding Hood." When Fox looked up at the man's grinning face, he realized there was never any need to apologize to begin with. "Hey there, pup." Wolf said, offering his hand to pull Fox off the ground.

The vulpine scowled and swat the hand away. "Why the hell are you stalking me, Wolf? We had a deal, you asshole." He said, getting up and dusting off his green hoodie of the snow.

"Hey! I was just on my way to job interview and saw you walking around. I wasn't stalking you, pup. I just wanted to stop by and tell something real important to ya."

"And that'd be…?" Fox asked, placing his hands on his hips.

Wolf then lifted off his prized eye-patch and revealed his left eye. What once was a deformed-looking empty shell now turned into a livid crimson window that allowed the lupine to see the world. He smiled and stated "I fixed my eye!"

As Wolf was showing Fox his eyes, the vulpine rolled his; turning around and walking in the opposite direction. "Yeah, yeah. Good for you." He dismissed with his hand and continued from afar. "Now if you excuse me, I gotta go." (Preferably as far as I can get from you.) He mumbled under his breath. Wolf watched him go and shouted "See you around, pup!"

He heard the lupine shout and grunted in disgust. That stupid wolf, why the hell did he think Fox would care about that dumb eye of his? … Actually, that posed a pretty intriguing question: did that thing work the whole time? If so, then why was Wolf wearing that eye-patch to begin with? He couldn't be that vain, could he? Or maybe he just liked to show it off so he could tell everyone 'Arrgghh, I'm a space pirate, fear me!'

And since when did Fox care about the way Wolf looked, anyway?! He shouldn't be thinking about that bastard. He should be thinking about good things, like his father and Bill working with him… That question suddenly started to haunt him again, how did Peppy get the general to let Bill go? He was the commander of Katina's air defense force, for heavens' sake!

But it couldn't be anyone else, his father said the new pilot would be someone he met from his academy days, and someone who's practically his best friend. It could only be either Bill or Slippy, and since Slippy is already on that team, that only leaves Bill. Or… maybe he was talking about someone else, but who…?

Fox then stopped moving. He got so worried about getting away from Wolf he had forgotten completely about buying his father's lunch. The vulpine turned around yet again that moment and started heading for the restaurant of the day before. Along the way, he started thinking about Wolf once more, forming a frown by recalling how the lupine stalked him. (Job interview… Pfftt! Yeah, right!)

Suddenly, the vulpine's feet froze in place as he figured out what Wolf really meant with that. Fox slapped his temple as he put two and two together. And when he finally realized who his father was talking about the other day, the rage started washing over him so fast he couldn't even contain the words that had escaped his mouth: "Son of a bitch!"

---

Hospital doors swished open as an enraged fox stormed into the building, walking past the reception and stomping into each step of the stairwell till he reached the third floor. There, he continued his path of destruction until he was face to face with the door to his father's resting place. Fox used all of his inner restraints to prevent himself from kicking that door open; he twisted the knob and pushed it forward at the same time, finding his dad already waiting for him with his arms held up in self defense. "Calm down, Fox. It's not as bad as you think."

The older vulpine tried to tell him, but Fox just slammed the door shut and stomped over to his direction. "Oh, is it?! So you're telling me you didn't just hire fucking Wolf to be on my team?!"

James looked away from his son and attempted to fake a chuckle. "But I didn't-" He was cut off with Fox ramming his fists into the bed. "Don't lie to me! You used your mental powers or whatever to convince Peppy to hire him, admit it!"

Fox waited for an answer, but James remained silent instead with a sorry look in his face, giving his son the confirmation he needed. "Ugh!" Fox grunted, covering his face with his paws. "Are you even my father?! Why did you bring me that bastard?!"

"Why not?" James answered. "Wolf is a great pilot and you two worked well together in the past months."

"You mean how we almost killed each other? Again?" Fox said rhetorically while crossing his arms.

"I know things between you two have been bad. But I've seen Wolf; I've looked into his mind and he has no intention to kill you."

Fox sighed and told him "I don't care. He's still an asshole and I don't want him anywhere near me."

James then removed his sunglasses and talked to Fox from his eyes to his. "And why do you think he's an 'asshole'?"

Fox then let out his frustrations with another sigh and sat in a chair next to his father, he then started venting out. "Well… you looked into my mind, so you know all the fucked up shit he's done to me and everyone I love. What's worse is that we never done anything to him, and when he found about it, he never apologized; not once. It doesn't look like he's sorry for any of the shit he's done, because he never tried to make up for it; even now that he got on Corneria's side. Plus, he still keeps trying to piss me off and keeps calling me a kid with that stupid nickname."

The whole time, James demonstrated he understands by nodding in agreement with his son, not leaving his eyes for a moment. When the rant was finally over, James fiddled with his sunglasses and looked away, saying "You know, Fox… apologizing is not really something that's easy to do, many people can't pull it off." He then returned to make eye contact with his son and asked an important question: "Do you remember the last time you've apologized for something really bad you've done?"

Fox then formed an angry frown and answered "I don't need to apologize to anyone, because I've never done anything wrong. Now, Wolf-" What would be another long vent of Fox's was suddenly interrupted when someone knocked on the door. James then muttered to him "Well, speak of the devil…" He put his sunglasses back on and then shouted "Come in, Wolf!"

As the door was creaking open, Fox had immediately hung his head down and listened to the footsteps. He didn't want to see Wolf; he didn't want to listen to Wolf, but that would cause a scene. The lupine entered the room and James's arms opened wide. "Heeeey, buddy~ What you're doing here?"

"I saw your pup on the street earlier and I saw him dropping all your food to the ground." Wolf told James while walking towards him, snickers escaping his mouth while Fox mouthed off obscenities when he wasn't looking. "I figured he wouldn't bring you another, so there." The lupine stretched out his arm and revealed a packed lunch he offered for James. The vulpine picked it up and opened its lid, inhaling the mixed scent of the contents inside. "Thanks, Wolf. You're a life-saver."

He threw a glance at his side and noticed Fox looking to the ground, avoiding his stare. Wolf then clutched his paws onto the vulpine's shoulder, making him jump on his seat, and asked in a teasing manner "So, am I late for the big surprise or what?"

James then answered for him while picking up a spoon "Just a bit. Fox here was just talking about how he wanted to spend Elenard with you."

"What?!" Both canines shouted in unison, looking at each other, then back at James, then repeat. Wolf's grin grew larger than his snout while Fox's jaw was falling to the floor and his eyes were about to pop out of his face. "Oh, come on, son; don't be shy. You said that, now that you two are gonna work together, it'd be a good idea to get used to each other's presence, ain't that right?" James told them much to Fox's dismay, who looked up and saw Wolf's shit-eating grin aiming straight at him. Fox's face then started cracking trying to form a smile and he said "Y-yeah… that's… what I had in mind… really…"

"Why didn't you say that before?" Wolf asked him. "You know, I just bought a nice, big house on the outskirts of Corneria. It'll be just like living in the Great Fox." Fox's jaw opened again and he threw a glare at James, who just shrugged while Wolf continued. "I'm gonna get my car ready, then I'll come back to pick ya up." He patted the vulpine's back and proceeded to leave the room. "See you outside, pup."

The door was closed and Fox listened to the footsteps outside. He waited a while, then lashed out at his dad. "Why are you doing this to me?!" The older vulpine chuckled and told him. "Because I'm your father?" The spoon he was holding made contact with the lunch box. He took a bite off his meal and continued while chewing it. "Besides, spending some time with Wolf is gonna help you clear your mind a bit for when you work together. You really need to start getting along with him."

"What if I just burst into Pepper's office and rip that contract right in his face?" James then lowered his sunglasses just enough for Fox to see his disapproving stare. "Alright, alright. I'll play along with it!" Fox said, crossing his arms and avoiding his stare. "That's the spirit, Fox!" The vulpine continued to look away and pressed his lips together. "Aw, c'mon. Don't be like that, son; it's Elenard!"

"Yeah… peace, happiness, and all that crap…" he trailed off, getting up from his seat and making his way out of the room. Before he closed the door shut, he took one final look at the other fox sitting in his bed and told him: "I don't know who the hell you are, but you sure ain't my father." And before James had a chance to reply, Fox had slammed the door to his room shut.

The then vulpine proceeded to walk through the hallways of the third floor as he left, and from one of the windows above, he saw Wolf parking his car in front of the building. That was the point he knew… he was about to have the longest days of his life.