Dudley Puppy was in a fantastic mood, which was strange considering the rude awakening he had recieved this morning. The canine hummed happily as he walked to work, eager to see Kitty Katswell.
She was his best friend, his partner, and his girlfriend. She usually slept over at his house, or him at her house, but she had been feeling ill the night before, and after some pushing from him, she had gone home early and gone to bed. She had promised to call, but never had. It was strange of her not to follow through; if she said she was going to do something, she did it. Especially when it was him involved.
However, the caninie assmumed she didn't call because she had fallen asleep and was sleeping off whatever bug she had gotten. When he reached the doors to the TUFF building he smiled, pushing them open and walking in, sighing softly in delight as the air conditioned building immediately cooled him off, gently ruffling his fur.
He immediately spotted his friends and walked over
"Hi Chief. Hi Keswick. Hi Kitty-" The white dog froze in alarm, spinning around to stare at the empty chair where his partner usually sat. "Guys where's Kitty?"
"We don't know" Chief replied "We got an email this morning from Agent Katswell saying she quit"
"She's g-g-g-g-gone, Agent P-Puppy" Keswick informed him
Dudley stared in silence at Kitty's chair and desk for a moment, his eye wide with shock
"Gone?" he finally muttered "Quit? That doesn't sound like Kitty at all" he turned and looked at his friends, his earlier smile having turned into a frown and his brows furrowed "I don't understand"
"And you think we do?" the Chief countered gruffly
"S-S-She's gone Agent Puppy. That's a-all there is t-t-t-to it"
"Kitty loves her job" Dudley argued feebly "She would never quit. I had to force her to leave yesterday when she was sick"
"People can change their minds"
Dudley sunk into Kitty's chair, picking up the picture of them she had on her desk
"No" he stated "She didn't change her mind" he looked up at them slowly "Something is wrong"
~~~
Pain. Pain. Pain.
Kitty Katswell shook her head to clear it, slowly forcing her eyes open. Her head immediately began pounding, and she snapped them shut, taking a few deep breaths through her nose. She opened her mouth, immediately shutting it at the disgusting taste she encountered on her gag.
She forced her eyes open once again, and everything in the distance was blurry. She looked down, at her feet and saw her boots were off, her pant legs torn up. She raised her gaze, her back aching as she twisted her neck to see, and took in how much rope was wrapped around her.
There is no way I can get out of this myself she thought, closing her eyes again. She took more deep breaths, her tail twitching against the ropes. Her ears twitched in irritation, and the fur on the back of her neck rose.
She heard footsteps and hung her head, her eyes closed as she fought back tears. The steps stopped in front of her, and a hand fisted into her hair, yanking her head up. She restrained a snarl of pain and anger.
"Pathetic" a voice chuckled, and she was dropped again
The footsteps faded away and the sound of a door slamming shut echoed around the room.
Kitty forced her eyes open again and this time looked to the roof.
Oh God She paused as she closed her eyes again, willing them to focus and get rid of this headache Dudley, for once, please realize something is wrong! Please, come save me!
~~~
Dudley stared in silence at the piece of paper Keswick had handed him. His eyes narrowed
"You're sure?"
"P-P-Positive" Keswick responded "My machine is never wrong"
Dudley nodded
"I'm going" he stated "You and Chief come as backup. Don't come in unless I call. Be ready to cuff them"
"Okay" Chief replied
Dudley turned and rushed out of the building, his hand clenching into a fist, resulting in the note being crumpled. Keswick and Chief watched in silence. Keswick turned to Chief when the canine was gone
"Agent P-P-Puppy is strangely focused" he stated "Normally he would have been distracted by d-d-d-doughnuts, shiny things, and blown at least one thing up"
"It's because its Agent Katswell on the line" Chief replied "Love has that effect on people"
"L-l-l-l-love, sir?"
"Nevermind" Chief waved it off "Let's go. Agent Puppy might need us"
Keswick nodded, and the duo hurried out the agency doors.
Dudley flung himself into the car he and Kitty used, pressing his foot down on the petal as he roared out of the agency's garage. He drove the route he knew by heart, his mind flashing back to the day before. The last time he had spoken to Kitty.
"Kitty, are you feeling okay?" Dudley asked softly when he saw how pale Kitty was, and how she had stumbled "F-Fine Dudley" she replied slowly "Just a little tired is all" Dudley cocked his head to the side slightly, walking over to his partner's desk and standing in front of it, leaning over it and cupping her cheek to make her raise her head and meet his gaze. "You don't look okay" he stated, his voice barely a whisper Kitty frowned, leaning into his touch "I'm not" she replied honestly "I've been sick all day. I've thrown up at least three times. I think I've caught something" "You should go home" he told her gently "Sleep it off" "We have so much to do, Dudley-" she weakly protested, and he cut her off by gently covering her mouth with his free hand "Kitty" he told her gently "It's fine. You're sick. Nothing is going on today anyways. Go home, and get some rest. You can call me later, and if you're feeling better I will come over and we can watch some movies together" She smiled slightly "That sound's nice" she caught herself "No" she stated "I can't leave work" "Kitty" he moved around the desk and pulled her chair away from it, kneeling in front of her when she lowered her gaze "Kitty it's fine. You're sick. I think we can handle it here while you recuperate. We need you, we can't have you getting worse. Take the rest of the day off" She opened her mouth to protest, but his blue eyes were shining at her, begging her to do as he wished. She knew he would just worry all day either way, but also knew the worry would be worse if she didn't go home and get some rest. She sighed heavily and nodded "Okay" she whispered "You win Dudley. I'll go home" He smiled and stood, helping her up "Good. I'll drive you home" "Thank you" she whispered When they arrived at Kitty's home Dudley helped her up the stairs and into her bedroom, helping her into her bed and grabbing a class of water and a gravol for her. He then kissed her forehead gently and walked to the door. "I love you" he whispered "I love you too" she replied, her eyes sliding shut "Call me later" "Okay" she agreed
With that he turned and left her home, closing the door behind him and climbing into the car and criving back to TUFF.
Dudley sighed, his grip on the steering wheel tightening. He grit his teeth.
"Don't worry Kitty" he whispered "I'm coming"
Little did he know, Kitty was having the same flashback where she was.
~~~
"Call me later" "Okay" She agreed
Kitty opened her eyes slowly, relieved that she didn't have a headache. She glanced around the room and sighed. No sign of her captors. Or Dudley. She frowned. Dudley. God she missed him.
She heard footsteps and slammed her eyes shut, her head hanging forward as the door opened. The footsteps lead straight to her, pausing briefly before continuing to the other side of the room.
"Shouldn't you be worried about Agent Puppy showing up?"
There was a loud and obnoxious snort
"That moron won't even notice something is wrong. And, if he does, he won't figure out where she is"
A door slammed shut, and she heard nothing else. She cracked her eyes open, and she was alone once again. She sighed, blinking back tears. This was so frustrating! She was supposed to be a TUFF agent! One of the best ones, at that! Yet here she was, helpless and tied to a chair.
Oh Dudley please come save me. Please. I need you.
~~~
Dudley pulled up to the building, slamming on the breaks. He climbed out of his car and made his way up to the door of Kitty's home, silently opening it and walking in. He closed it and snuck up to her room. When he got to the door he pressed his head against it to listen. He heard nothing, and pushed the door open.
He was greeted with the sight of Kitty tied up, eyes closed, head hanging forward.
"Kitty" he gasped
~~~
Kitty hung her head, her eyes closing as a few tears escaped and slid down her cheeks, wetting her fur. Her ears pricked up slightly when she heard the door open, but she forced herself not to move so they wouldn't pay any attention to her.
"Kitty" a gasp of her name sent her head shooting up and eyes flying open
"Dudley" she choked through her gag
~~~
Dudley immmediately rushed over to her, pulling out a pocket knife to cut the ropes. He pulled the gag and set to work on the ropes.
"Dudley" she stated again "You came"
"Of course I came" he replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world
"I-I didn't think you would notice anything was wrong"
Dudley raised an eyebrow, however didn't divert his attention from the ropes so he didn't acccidentally cut Kitty
"I noticed as soon as I got to work and you weren't at your desk" he replied
"Really?"
"Really" he replied, and the ropes finally came undone
She shook them off and ripped the gag off from where it was hanging around her neck. She leapt to her feet and threw her arms around Dudley. He held her close, pressing his nose into her hair and inhaling softly
"I was so worried" he breathed
She purred softly in reply, and both leapt apart when they heard footsteps approaching.
"Come on!" she exclaimed, rushing towards her door
Dudley was slow to follow, but quick to see the man across the room draw a gun and aim it at Kitty.
"Kitty!" he cried out
The feline turned and saw the gun, her entire body freezing in shock. Before she ccould force herself to move, the finger on the trigger pulled back and she found herself hitting thr ground.
She huffed loudly, the breath being expelled from her lungs. She rapidly inhaled and was pulled to her feet by Dudley and dragged out of the building. Keswick, Chief, and several other officers ran inside and cuffed the kidnappers, dragging them outside and putting them in a police van to be taken to prison.
Kitty looked over her body, sighing in relief when there was no injury. She looked over to Dudley, however, and her eyes widened when she saw blood running down his arm.
She rushe dover to where he was standing with a paramedic, getting bandages and waited impatiently for him to finish. When he walked away she spun Dudley around to face her
"Dudley what the heck was that!" she demanded angrily "You could have gotten yourself killed!"
"I was protecting you!" Dudley exclaimed defensively
"I don't need protection!" she hissed "I'm a TUFF agent! I can handle myself!"
"I didn't want you getting hurt!"
"Well I didn't want you getting hurt!"
Dudley sighed, putting his hand over his eyes for a moment. He slid it off and stared up at his partner in solving crime, best friend, and girlfriend. His angry blue gaze softened and his scowl melted into a frown. He reached out and gently took her hand in both of his.
"Kitty... I didn't want you getting hurt" he murmured "I would rather I got hurt, instead of you" he paused "If you got hurt... I don't know what I would do"
Kitty's scowl had melted into a smile. Her green eyes were shining and a purr escaped her
"That is the most romantic thing you've ever said to me" she squeaked, pulling her hand free to wrap her arms around the dog that had risked his life to save hers. "Thank you for saving my life" she paused "Twice"
"You don't have to thank me" the dog replied "I love you"
"I love you too-"
"Ooh doughnuts!" the canine exclaimed eagerly, moving out of their embrace and rushing down the road and into the doughnut store
Kitty smiled slightly
"That's my man" she sighed softly