ANOTHER SIDE

A/N: My first attempt at writing, please be kind. Thanks to ulyferal for being my beta and helping me improve my writing skills.

Chapter One: New Circumstances

A chase after a fleeing criminal in a fast moving jet, a crippling hit by their superior to their own jet, sends the enforcer crew, pilot and gunner, bailing out at the last minute as their plane makes a spectacular and destructive nose dive onto the flight line of the newly built Enforcer Twin Towers. Said pilots parachuted down to the street, safe and unharmed.

As they stood staring up at the flaming mess that was the flight line, both shook their heads in dismay. Behind them a very angry tom dressed in the uniform of the Enforcer Commander stormed up and began to shout at the pair.

"You have disobeyed my orders for the last time!"

The muscular, yellow tabby, pilot turned to face his angry superior. "It was our tag, Commander! None of this would have happened if you hadn't interfered, sir," he said through gritted teeth, eyes flashing with fury.

"That's it! You're off the force...both of you!" The Commander snapped, coldly.

The gunner and pilot shrugged, faces angry as they turned about on their heels. They ripped their helmets off their heads and tossed them to the sidewalk behind them as they stalked away from their former Commander.

The gunner growled, "suits us...who needs this crud anyway!"

But a voice behind them barked, "Just a minute! I said you were off the force but not off the hook!"

The two stopped in their tracks and turned their heads to stare at the furious Commander in confusion and worry.

They found out only too soon what the Commander had in store for them. Just a couple of weeks later and late in the afternoon, they reported to their new work place and home. It seemed they were still attached to the enforcers but their new duties were to run the salvage yard while their pay went to paying the debt that had been laid on them for rebuilding the enforcer flight line.

Their punishment lay all around them as they drove their old sedan into a yard filled with salvage in neat stacks, some of it military hardware, others junked cars, used building materials, tanks of fuel and huge machines that moved or flattened the stuff, and storage buildings. A high fence ran around the huge property that covered a city block and a big sign sat at one corner that said, 'Megakat City Salvage Yard'.

The building that sat near the gate to the yard was an old brick one with a two stall garage and an equally old apartment dwelling sitting on top of it.

The pair pulled up to the front of this building in their old sedan and got out. The big blond tabby stared around him in dismay. He was wearing a white shirt with red sleeves, blue jeans, and a pair of red tennis shoes.

His partner's face wasn't any happier as he too stared around. The slim tom was wearing a button down blue shirt, dark blue slacks and a pair of brown shoes. His brown eyes narrowed as he studied what would be their new home as well as job.

Waiting for them were two dirty looking toms. Evil grins graced their scruffy faces. One of the pair was very short and barely came up to his companion's waist while the other was very tall and fat.

"Hey look, Burke. it's those two hotshots who wrecked the new Enforcer building," the short one said, smirking.

"Don't look so hot, now, do they, Murray?" the big one, named Burke agreed then looked at the dismayed pair and said, "Hey! Commander Feral says you guys gotta run the salvage yard 'till you pay back every penny it costs to rebuild the Enforcer flight line."

"Yeah, and at your present salary, it'll only take a thousand years!" Murray cackled.

"Take care of the place now and the little brat," Burke sang out, tossing a set of keys at the big tabby who caught them easily.

"We'll be checkin' up on ya!" Murray cackled, climbing into a huge dump truck's passenger seat while his heavy companion got behind the wheel. The two roared with laughter as they drove out of the yard, leaving behind a belch of exhaust in their wake.

"This can't be happening, Jake! We're pilots, not junkmen and what the heck did that fat idiot mean by 'look after the little brat'?" The pilot hissed, kicking some of the junk.

"I've no clue, Chance," the slim tom, named Jake said, shrugging, his face showing concern and unhappiness. "It does look bad and we've no choice either. As for the brat...I guess they mean someone is living here...though how that can be..." He let his sentence drift off as he headed for the garage.

Still angry, the tabby followed his partner. Inside the garage only one of the two stalls had a car in it. Nearby, against a wall was a work bench holding mechanic's tools and parts. In the occupied stall they saw a young tom Kat, his back to them, working on an old Camero. They could hear him twisting a socket wrench as they got closer to him.

"Hello..." Jake called out.

The Kat stood up and turned around to stare at them. Chance blinked in surprise. The youngster looked a lot like Jake in color and build but had light green eyes instead of the brown Jake sported as well as having a mop of black hair that hung to just past his neck while Jake only had a thatch of red hair atop his head. The young Kat's name was sewn on his mechanic's overall.

"Hello, welcome to Megakat Auto Repair and Towing," the kitten said, wiping his paws on a rag then extended his right paw toward them. "My name's Garrett. How may I help you?"

Jake shook it then Chance. "Uh, hi...actually, we're here because we were ordered to start work here in the salvage yard. Didn't know there was someone living here though," Jake told him.

Garrett's eyes widened. "Oh, so you're the two that destroyed the new flight line!"

Chance scowled and crossed his arms over his chest as he said, indignantly, "our jet may have hit it but it wasn't our fault that it crashed at all! Our Commander clipped our jet with his own because he wanted to be a hero and take out Dark Kat himself."

Garrett's eyes narrowed, a frown on his face. "That's not what I was told."

"Why were you told anything and who told you in the first place?" Jake demanded, not happy their disgrace was being bandied about to complete strangers.

In answer, Garrett walked away toward the back of the garage and through a door that led to a small office. He went to the desk and picked up a thin file he'd received in the mail recently. The two toms had followed him so when he turned around they were there already when waved the folder at them.

"This came in the mail and told me to expect two guys who were on the outs with the enforcers, what you'd done and what you were expected to do here," he explained. He set the folder back on the desk. "However, I didn't believe what they'd said about you being at fault for it all. Burke and Murray brought in your jet a few days ago and I decided to take a look at it. My investigation found there were traces of paint from another jet on the left wing and the damage pattern clearly showed the wing had been struck in the air before it hit the ground.

Both toms stared at the youngster in disbelief and surprise. Jake finally shook his head and asked, "what are you a junior CSI?"

Garrett blushed and shrugged. "I've worked here a good portion of my life and have a thing for machines and all things mechanical. I like taking things apart and seeing how they work and I've learned to be observant. This helps in my business as I'm able to tell owners exactly what happened to their car in an accident."

"Well, that's fantastic, so you believe we weren't at fault, eh?" Chance said, amazed at the teen's abilities and intelligence.

"Yeah, but not just because the jet clearly shows someone else hit you. The enforcers also sent me copies of your personnel files. I didn't like that as I didn't feel it was right to be poking into other people's personal stuff."

"Why the heck would they send our personnel folders to you?" Jake asked, getting really angry, not at Garrett but at Feral.

"Well, they said it was for my own safety, my being so young and alone, you see. They said you were trouble makers and that I needed to be aware of it and protect myself. I just didn't buy that at all. But..." he shrugged and blushed, "...I thought I should read the files just to be on the safe side. Those records didn't show a pair of bad cops but quite the opposite. Oh sure, there were reports of misconduct but they were minor compared to the citations for bravery and other things you've done. Besides, I've watched you two on the news a lot. You, Chance are an awesome pilot. Some of those maneuvers you do are just breathtaking and take a really skilled pilot to do safely."

A grin of pleasure flashed across Chance's face at the compliment.

"And Jake, your gunnery skills are nothing short of amazing. Your accuracy rate is higher than anyone on record. Then there's your brilliant and inventive mind which earned you many an award. That's incredible for someone as young as you," Garrett said, earnestly.

Jake blushed at all the good comments. "Aww thanks, but I'm not all that smart."

Garrett shook his head, "yeah, right...well everyone else that wrote a report on you seems to think you are. They can't all be wrong."

Both toms blushed.

"Well thanks, Garrett. It's nice to know we have a fan," Jake said, scratching his head in mild embarrassment.

Garrett raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest. "Oh, I'm not really a fan, it's just that I admire your skills is all."

Chance gave the teen a smug, knowing look. "Sounds more like a fan to me."

Garrett rolled his eyes and snorted. "So, you've arrived just as I was getting ready to close up shop for the day. Tomorrow I'll get you some overalls then sew your names on them. Let me get this place locked down then I'll give you a tour of your new home." He nodded at the two then went outside to close and lock the gates to the yard then returned to pull down the doors to the stalls before turning to take them on a tour.

"Well, as you can see, this is the garage, office, and here is the waiting area with small bathroom," Garrett led them to the rear of the first stall.

The pair peered into the office they were already standing near as they waited for Garrett to lock up and it was rather small inside. It had a beat up old desk, filing cabinet, and small safe in a corner. Next to the office was a rather large waiting room which boasted a small fridge, a microwave beside it on a small cupboard, an old couch, a TV on a small table, a long scarred coffee table, a pin ball machine, a magazine rack with a couple of car mags, comics, and a house and garden mag in it. In the far corner was a small bathroom with only a toilet, sink and tub sink in it. It was clean and tidy despite how old it looked.

Chance noted the TV was a 15" newer model and there was a DVD player beneath it. A small stack of DVD's were next to that. "Nice TV."

"Yeah, I found that in the junk that had arrived a while back. It wasn't even broken that much...just some wires and a few parts needed replacing.

"Really, and you fixed it?" Jake asked, eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Well, yeah. It's not that much more different than working on a car, you know. I do a lot of that as the salvage yard has a lot of cool stuff coming in that sometimes only need very little to fix them." Garrett shook his head. "It's amazing how much good stuff people throw out."

"Wow, sounds like a cool way to get new stuff without buying it," Jake agreed, his mind suddenly seeing an even better use for all the junk out in the yard but said nothing, wanting to let it jell in his mind first.

Outside the two rooms was a staircase and they trooped up them. "Okay, here's the apartment we're going to share. This is the living room, obviously," Garrett said, gesturing to a nicer set up than downstairs with a big couch, side chair, another TV in an entertainment center, a game machine, DVD player, a bookcase was next to this and the floor was covered with a clean but worn brown carpet. The single window looked out over the yard. There were two archways to the left of the living room.

"This is the kitchen," he said, stepping into the small space that held a bigger fridge, stove, microwave, and a small kitchen table with four chairs. "I prefer a clean environment so if you guys don't mind, try to keep things tidy, hmm?"

"Oh sure, no problem. We're kinda of the organized kind as well...well I am at least," Jake smirked, giving his partner a sneaky look.

"Hey, I clean...just not my room," Chance muttered, defensively. Garrett just chuckled.

There was a door in one corner near the stove. "Now I think you might like this," Garrett said, walking over and opening the door.

"Oh nice, small but nice," Jake commented as he stared at the tiny patio that had an old metal table with umbrella, two lounge chairs and a small barbecue in the corner near the wall.

"Yeah, it's great when it gets too hot inside," Garrett said.

They stepped back inside and he took them to the other archway. "Okay, here's the bedrooms. This one is mine," he said as he reached for a door with a railroad crossing sign adorning it.

When he opened the door, the pair could see a tidy room with a made bed covered in camo sheets, big pillow and blanket. A desk in some warm wood sat under the window with a chair of the same color as well as a dresser near the closet. Some posters adorned the walls as a finishing touch, mostly train images. A laptop sat on the desk with some textbooks and a gooseneck lamp in black behind them.

Jake noticed the books and a backpack that was on the chair. Hm I wonder what school he goes to? I'll have to ask him later.

Jake and Chance admired the cozy looking bedroom. "Nice set up," Jake said while Chance continued to look around then noticed some model trains on a shelf above the head of the bed.

"Hey, I see you like trains."

"Yeah, I do. They were my dad's. He liked to collect them 'til..." Garrett halted as if what he said was upsetting to him. "He gave them to me," he finished rather lamely.

Jake and Chance shared a significant look. Both had a suspicion about the teens missing parents but said nothing.

Smoothing over the obviously difficult moment, Jake asked lightly, "so where's our room or rooms?"

"It's rooms, fortunately this place is larger than it looks," Garrett said, grateful for the change in subject. "The bathroom is across from my room there and you two have the end two rooms. When I was told I would be getting room mates, I had them fixed up. I'm assuming you guys lived in a dorm and not in an apartment so don't have any furniture of your own..." his voice trailed off, a questioning note in.

"You'd be right and thanks for making the effort. We've got some of our stuff in the car, the rest we have to go get from a temp storage unit we put it in," Chance said, grimacing. He hated packing up his room at the enforcer building, it reminded him too much on how much he'd lost.

The rooms Garrett showed them were simple but warm. The walls were in a bland cream color and there was a full size bed in each with a dresser and desk with lamp and even a small chair in the corner near the closets. Each had a single window as well.

"Nice digs. I like it," Jake said, grateful he didn't have to worry about finding furniture or living in a dump. Chance was equally grateful and gave Garrett a big smile.

"This is really great, Garrett. I was worried I'd have to go out and get a bed. I'll be comfortable in here," Chance said.

"That's great. Glad you like it. So there's one more place I need to show you guys," Garrett said mysteriously as he led them back down the hall then down the stairs again.

"Gee, what more could you be showing us? We don't need to see the yard right now..." Jake began.

"Nope, not the yard but beneath it."

"Huh?"

"Yeah, there's a bunker beneath this building and the yard."

"A bunker?" Both tom's blurted in unison.

"Yeah, it's an old enforcer hangar I think. Been around since Megawar II according to some dusty manuals I found laying around," Garrett explained as he led them to the back of the garage and lifted up a barely seen manhole cover in the floor revealing a deep hole.

Before going down, Jake and Chance stared at each other in consternation before Jake turned to Garrett and said, "we've never read about an old hangar being here."

The teen scratched his neck and shrugged. "Apparently no one seems to remember it being here. Don't know if the information got lost or what but I couldn't find it in the records anywhere."

"Did you report it?" Chance asked.

"I was going to but...well things got busy...other things happened in my life, so I just forgot."

"You forgot?" Jake asked, scandalized. Something like this needed to be immediately reported but this kitten had sat on the information.

Garrett snorted, not seeing what the big deal was about. He stuck his tongue out at Jake. "So?"

"So, you could get into a lot of trouble not reporting it to the enforcers," Jake said, sternly.

"Aw, I doubt that. Besides, I think it's a better idea not telling them. Wait until you see it. I managed to get the lights working. Come on!" Not waiting for them to argue more about it, Garrett turned and climbed down a ladder that was affixed to the cement wall of the tube leading down into the dark.

Jake and Chance stared at each other for a moment, then Chance shrugged. "Maybe he's right. Let's just go see."

His partner sighed but followed readily. Soon the two of them were standing on a landing at the bottom of the ladder. The lights suddenly flicked on and the two stood there gaping at the huge space. It was obviously big enough to hold at least a couple of planes. Old equipment and benches dotted the landscape and they could see some rooms off to one side one with a glass door to it.

"Well what do you think? The wiring is really old..." Garrett said, smiling at their stunned looks.

"I'll be damned...just look at this place," Chance whistled as he went down the steps of the landing to the main floor of the hangar. "And the enforcers don't know about this place," he asked again, finding it hard to believe that a place this big could have been missed by the enforcers in the first place.

"Nope, I swear they don't. They keep a listing of all military facilities but this one somehow managed to escape being listed. I suspect it was some kind of repair facility for enforcer vehicles. It also happens to have a huge boneyard of destroyed aircraft and tanks at the far back area."

This huge place combined with all the salvage stored above were adding up to a really incredible idea germinating in Jake's brain. Before he voiced what he had in mind, he needed to speak to his partner in private. What he had in mind could change their lives in a really significant way.

"So, you going to report this to the enforcers?" Garrett's voice was a bit strained and anxious. "I hope you don't as I kinda would like to continue to tinker with all the stuff down here and I just like the idea of having a place like this that no one knows about."

Jake eyed him seriously. "We won't tell anyone about it, Garrett. Promise." Though a bit surprised, Chance added his promise to his partners.

Garret smiled in relief. ""Thanks, there's so much history here so I thought it would be awesome to study it and who knows maybe get it running again. Oh, there's something else I've got down here that I thought you'd especially like. Come on, let me show you." He led them over to where Chance had noted the glass door. When he opened it, Chance's mouth dropped open.

"This is a workout room I made for you two," Garrett said proudly.

Inside the pair could see a padded floor, a treadmill in one corner, some weights and a bench with a bar on top of it for bench presses next to it, a mirror on the wall, and a stationary bike. A large area of floor was apparently where one could do martial arts and a boxing bag hung in another corner. In front of the treadmill and workout bench was a small table with a TV sitting on it.

"Aw Sweet!" Chance shouted as he went towards the bench and lifted the bar up.

"You put this together for us?" Jake asked Garrett, pleased and amazed the teen had thought of it.

"Yep! I had my mom and dad's equipment in the basement of our old home so all I needed to do was dust, put down the flooring, mirrors, add the boxing bag and bike from the salvage to finish it up. I just thought you two might want to stay in shape."

"Wow, thanks." Jake smiled walked around the room checking out all the equipment.

"Well, at least we won't lose our fitness we'd gained being in the enforcers," Chance said, very pleased as he placed the bar back in place.

"Well, that's about it guys. Welcome to your new home," Garrett said, smiling.

Pleased and happy about their new situation a little more than when they arrived, though it didn't change the fact they weren't enforcers any longer, Jake and Chance followed Garrett back up to the garage.

"Hey, we might as well unload our car. Want to give us a paw?" Jake asked, heading outside.

"Oh sure."

For the next twenty minutes, the three unloaded the car and carried things up to the two bedrooms. When they finished, Garrett locked up then suggested dinner.

"Good idea, I'm famished but why don't you let us order pizza, our treat," Chance offered.

"Great idea," Garrett's face lit up.

Snickering at how happy the kit was, Chance ordered from their favorite place and an hour later they were chowing down and watching TV.

It was late and they were all tired. It had been a long day of moving for the pair and busy work day for Garrett. Since tomorrow was a Saturday, they could finish moving in and have a talk with the young Kat. He knew a lot about them but they knew next to nothing about him.

Jake wanted to rectify that as soon as possible. Saying good night to their new room mate, the two ex-enforcers went to bed.