At The End Of The Tunnel

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At The End Of The Tunnel

Co-Written By Harley Quinn hyenaholic and Froggy22651

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Harley: Hmmm… people seem to be slavering over our story less.

Froggy: Agreed. Let’s spice it up. With drugs.

Harley: And sex.

Froggy: And rock-and-roll!

Harley: Oh, come on people. Show some damn interest! Breech didn’t die. You’re asking why she survived, I know… but you won’t find out unless you keep reading!

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Chapter Twenty-Three: Homecoming

Another day had gone by, another day of repairing damage he had caused, to both himself and those around him. James was not trusted in New Knothole; he felt distanced from everyone else when before they had welcomed him as a friend. It would take a long time to regain that trust, if he ever could. When he wasn’t spending time with his two kids, he had been helping out in the effort to rebuild the village. It wasn’t much, really, but it was the best he could do.

As the sun set, James made his way back towards his new hut, thinking back to his son. He could certainly see himself in the child. They still had a lot to learn about each other, but hopefully they would have the time. Tails had shown off his workshop and inventions; James had shown the kit his sword techniques. They each talked about their lives and how they had reached where they were, learning from the other. Keith and Tails had become inseparable, genius partners who complimented each other’s work and added their unique perspectives to it. James smiled. Breech’s death still was heavy in his mind, but he had lifted other weights too.

As the guardsman approached his hut, he noticed something that was off; the door was hanging open. Something didn’t feel right. The fox frowned, drew his sword, and crept to the door.

"Ugh, blue... I hate blue. Doesn't this guy have any black leather...” muttered a female voice from inside.

Someone uninvited was rooting through his drawers. James wondered what kind of thief would be stealing his clothes. Then he stepped into the hut, his boots heavy on the wooden floor. The intruder spun around, just a shape in the dark, and stumbled backwards, holding a paw up in front of her face as a shield. James stepped forward and placed the blade against the thief’s neck.

“If you are looking for valuables, you are looking in the wrong place. I doubt my clean socks will get you much,” he said mockingly.

“Don't kill me!” the thief shouted, and then stopped, “James?”

James blinked. That voice sounded awfully familiar. Slowly, carefully, he pulled the sword away from the person’s throat and stepped back. The thief removed the paw away from her face, which became illuminated in the last glimmers of sunlight peeking through the window…and James saw a ghost. He gasped, and the sword tumbled from his numb fingers and clattered noisily to the floor.

"This is your house?" Breech asked as she sat up.

He didn’t answer. He was too stunned to. She couldn’t be alive, not after that fall. It was impossible! And yet, there she stood, Breech Loader, back from the dead. All she was wearing was a charred hospital gown, but it was definitely her. Finally, the fox managed to choke out her name.

“…Breech?”

“I didn't mean for you to see me...” she said, the scarred left side of her face coming into view, “Like this...”

James looked at the scar and knew for certain that she really was standing there. Her ghost would never have a scar like that, a wound received by surviving. After an eternity of gathering his thoughts, he spoke again.

“I… I thought you were dead…”

“I think I might have been... I don't remember much... I'm sorry, I...” Breech stopped, unsure what she was apologizing for, “I... I should go now...”

A strangled cry of… shock? Disbelief? Joy? Whatever it was, it escaped James as he suddenly reached down and pulled her up into his arms, holding her tightly. He buried his face in her neck, nuzzling her, and she could feel a damp spot forming on her neck where his tears fell. Breech gasped and pulled away from him.

“How can you bear to touch me?” she wailed, backing up, “Now you know, you know... I'm pathetic, I'm dirty, I'm practically a whore... how can you bear to touch me?”

“It wasn't your fault,” James said, relief heavy in his voice, “I just... I'm just so glad that you're alright. I thought you were gone for good...”

“No, this is all going wrong!” Breech sniffled, “I didn't mean for you to see me... now you might get hurt again and it will be entirely my fault!”

“Oh, believe me... it would hurt much more if I didn't see you. Don't go and make my mistake.”

“No... I...” Breech hung her head, “I was gonna come back again... if I didn't die... I just didn't want you to have to lose me again... ‘cause we're friends...” She remembered James' tears on her neck, "I think."

James smiled softly and walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her again, but much slower and controlled this time. He rested his forehead against hers and whispered, “I missed you.”

Breech swallowed, “I missed you too... I thought you'd hate me after you found out... That was the other reason I didn't want you to see me.”

“I don't hate you... actually, I've grown rather fond of you,” he murmured, followed by a kiss on the tip of her nose.

Breech sniffled, “Are you sure it isn't something more than that?” she asked him, a smile slowly forming on her face.

James swallowed and smiled back. “You're right...it is more than that...”

James leaned in closer, rubbing his nose against hers as he lowered his muzzle drew her into a kiss. Breech began to purr, placing her paw on James' cheek, the other still holding her gown closed as her lips moved gently against his. He traced her spine with his fingertips as he ended the kiss and looked into her emerald green eyes. The fox raised an eyebrow, noticing that she was still stubbornly holding the gown closed.

“You’ve spent too much time around Overlanders,” he said with a chuckle.

“And you've spent too much time on your own,” Breech answered. She hesitated and leant her head against his chest, rubbing up against him slowly, “I don't know how I feel anymore,” she said, her eyes closed, “About anything...”

James held onto her with one arm, the other reaching around behind her head and scratching the base of her ears, “I know. But we’ll be alright. We’ll find our way,” he assured her.

“But... I might die,” Breech said quietly. It didn’t sound like she was warning him about SWATbots or cultists. It sounded like something else.

“Why?”

“I... I don't want to tell you... it's just another reason to hate me...” Breech whispered.

“I won’t hate you. I just want to know the truth.”

Breech pulled away from James and pulled back the sleeves of her dressing gown. In the crook of her left elbow were needle scabs - an uncountable number.

“I'm a junkie,” she whispered, “One of Robotnik's drug-slaves. I wanted to give up... I wanted to end my worthless life... and then I met you, and I thought, 'He's a way out of this crap'. And you helped. And then I spent some time with you, and it turned out that life wasn't so worthless...”

At first, James was disgusted, but not at Breech. Robotnik. He wanted nothing more than to tear the cyborg Overlander apart with his bare hands. Enslaving his minions with drugs… Breech sat down on a couch and turned her face away from James. Her shoulders shook as she tried to keep from crying.

“I've seen people die from lack of ROBO. I don't want to die that way...”

“You won’t,” James said as he sat down beside her, “We're going to free you from that poison, and you're going to live. You are going to have a life free of Robotnik and his followers, free to spend with your son.”

“No, you don't understand... ROBO isn't like crack, or speed, or weed... you don't just think you need it to live... you really need it to live... It replaces the oxygen-carrying agent in red blood cells... without it, you just... suffocate. Within a few days, you're brain-dead.”

James’ eyes widened in shock. It was so cruel and so effective. A drug that forced its user to continue taking it or die, and the only source to get it from would be Robotnik. It was a trap, a prison without bars.

“I got a month's back-up... I was coming for Keith... I thought he could help me...”

James looked around the room, as if expecting to find the answer there. “I…I might know someone who can help.”

“Who?” Breech asked, “And how?”

James licked his lips and thought, choosing his words carefully, “You know when I told you about the insider who set me free and made me how I am now?”

“Yeah?”

“That insider was Snively.”

Breech blinked, “I brought him with me, as well as Nack... He's just outside the refugee camp. The cultists took over Robotropolis, I saw it happen... Snively escaped them and followed me and Nack halfway here, so we just took him with us so we could watch him. I don't know what the cultists did with Robotnik, last I saw of him he was shouting at me and Nack to save his life,” she turned away so that James couldn't see her expression, “Cur was with them... he's not dead, he's alive...” Her shoulders began to shake, and then she started to sob.

This news was hard to grasp. Robotnik gone, the cult taking over, and Curtis still alive. James carefully hugged Breech from behind and laid his chin on her shoulder.

“I guess that means that Snively can’t help us.”

Breech wasn't listening, she just curled up on the couch, crying.

“We'll find a way, I promise...I'm not losing you again, Breech...”

“He'll come... I know he'll come...” Breech wept.

“If he does…” James glanced at his sword on the ground, violent thoughts in his mind, “I’ll be ready for him.”

Breech turned around and clutched James desperately, “Don't let him get me, oh god, you don't know what he's like... If ever I failed... a mission for Robotnik... and he succeeded at his... he'd get me... his reward... my punishment...”

James closed his eyes tightly, trying to keep from seeing that in his head, but it was a futile effort. A low growl escaped his throat. Being betrayed by Robotnik was one thing. Being betrayed by a fellow guardsman was quite another. They were like family, and James was not happy about what his ‘brother’ had done.

“He won't get you. And he's going to pay for what he's done, I promise.”

“That night you came to Robotropolis,” James felt Breech's claws dig into his back, “I failed and he succeeded... he got to... make love... to me...”

“Stop... stop... don't tell me any more, please,” James begged her. He didn’t want to hear the details; he couldn’t stomach it.

Breech continued to sob, and James continued to hold her close, ignoring the pain of her claws and just hoping that his presence would make her feel safer. She hid her face in James’ chest, her claws retracting.

“Don’t hate me… please don’t hate me…”

“I don't hate you, Breech,” he whispered.

“Why?”

“I don’t have anything to hate you for,” James sighed, “We’re alike, you and I. We both began life in the gutter.”

“Yes,” Breech whispered, “But only one of us was looking at the stars…”

They stayed that way, him holding her, and her crying into him, until she finally fell asleep, exhausted. The guardsman carefully picked her up off the couch and set her down in his bed, tucking her in, careful not to wake her. Once she was in bed, he went about the business of going to sleep. He found a spare blanket to use and stripped out of his armor and cloak. He sat down on a chair near the bed, wrapped himself in the blanket, and drifted off to sleep.

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End Of Chapter Twenty-Three

Froggy: Hey, there wasn't any sex in this chapter!

Harley: Well, some people have said they didn't care about sex any more... Come on people! Read and review! I like reviews! Especially good ones!

Froggy: Yeah! Read! Longer reviews mean longer chapters and we're happier so that means better chapters!