A/N: Before I start, I want to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for giving me this idea, and the motivation to finish it. You deserve all the praise and the glory, Lord! Amen.
Hey there, folks! This is iheartgod175 again, with another H-B fic. I was hit with some more inspiration to write some TC/Trixie fics. So, if you see a lot of H-B fics focusing on these two, that's why :)
This takes place a few months after "Impromptu Date", and while reading that story isn't really necessary, it does set up the background for this one. I was inspired by another tumblr post in the "Good Kid/Troublemaker" AUs section, but I took a few liberties with it in order to fit with the story.
I hope you enjoy this follow-up!
Story Title: Fightin' For Ya
Genres/Tags: AU/Romance/Drama
Rating: T
Summary:Trixie takes an injured Top Cat back to her house after he gets into a fight at school. When she demands to know why he'd get into such a violent conflict, Top Cat gives his reason. This is a sequel to "Impromptu Date", and takes place several months after that story. High school AU and Top Cat/Trixie.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, sadly...
Fightin' For Ya
Trixie was barely down the hall when she heard the enraged yells and the loud cheers of the students. At a loud resounding boom, she couldn't help but sigh. Fights at this school occurred nearly every day and everywhere imaginable. She knew she wasn't one to talk, since she'd gotten into a fight a few months prior, but it was really getting annoying to have to make another path around the school in order to avoid conflict.
She was just about to head in the other direction, possibly for the back exit, when someone shouted her name. She turned, stunned, to see Choo-Choo, or Chooch, as her boyfriend nicknamed him, running full-speed towards her. His face was set into a worried expression as he skidded to a stop a few feet away from her.
"Choo-Choo, what's wrong?" she asked.
Choo-Choo attempted to speak in the midst of swallowing huge mouthfuls of air. "Ran…to…get you," he said.
"For what reason?" she asked.
"T.C…you've gotta talk to T.C."
"What's going on with-"
And then, all of a sudden, a yellow blur burst from the doors and crashed into a locker. Trixie felt her veins freeze when she saw yellow fur tinged with blood, one eye swollen shut, and one tooth on the floor…
In an instant, she had gone from standing in front of Choo-Choo, to running over to Top Cat. She got down on her knees a few inches away from him, and placed a paw on his shoulder. "Top Cat, what-"
His response was to shove her paw off. "Not now," he breathed. He winced with pain as he tried to stand up. "Not until I teach that punk a lesson."
Choo-Choo ran over next, his expression just as worried. "T.C., calm down! H-He probably didn't mean it-"
"Now that is a lie!" Top Cat yelled, and his furious expression frightened Trixie. "That brat meant everything that came out of his mouth! And I'm gonna teach him just where he can stick it, too!"
"Top Cat, stop!" Trixie said. "You'll be expelled from school if you go back and face him again!"
"So what? I'd rather be expelled than have to deal with him any day!" Top Cat attempted to get up, but his legs gave out from under him. Trixie barely caught him before he hit the floor. "If you knew half of what he'd said-"
And then the doors to the hallway opened. With his trademark snigger on his ugly face, Lou Strickland strode inside with a confident swagger, flanked by Dick Dastardly on one side, and a beaten Sylvester on the other. He stopped right in front of the alley cat.
"Well, well, well," he sneered. "Somebody has quite the temper, doesn't he?"
"You and your gang got some nerve, Lou, beatin' up on T.C. like this," Choo-Choo growled. His paws were balled into fists.
"What makes you think you can do any better, furball?" Lou snapped. "I have to admit, you did a really good job bustin' up Sylvester there, Top Cat. But I don't think all that force was necessary. After all, if you can't take a little joke about your girlfriend, you've got some serious anger issues."
It took everything Trixie had to keep Top Cat down, as he was ready to lunge at the teenager. His eyes were filled with barely concealed fury. "You call reamin' her out a joke?!" he yelled.
"As usual, other people have different ways of seeing things," Strickland said. His smile fell as he glared at Top Cat. "You're lucky I'm willing to let this slide. Normally, I'd have you expelled in a heartbeat, but Sylvester does need a lesson in keeping his mouth shut."
Sylvester sent a glare at Strickland with his one good eye, which Strickland promptly ignored.
"Come on, fellas. Let's leave him be," Strickland said, turning on his heel when he saw that Top Cat had no objections.
As soon as they left, Trixie turned to Top Cat, who was leaning on her shoulder. "You need to explain. Now," she said. Her tone brooked no argument. "Why were you beating up Sylvester Sneekly?"
"I'll tell ya when we get out of here," Top Cat said. "Can you take me to your place, Trix?"
"Are you crazy? With those kinds of injuries, I think you need to go to a hospital," she said.
Top Cat's gaze hardened. "No way. Me and hospitals don't mix," he said. "You've gotta take me back to your place. If my dad sees me like this, he'll put me in that horrible place."
Trixie sighed. She didn't want to risk Top Cat's injuries getting worse, but she didn't want to risk him getting hurt even more. She asked, "Can you stand?"
"Barely," he replied. "But I'll try. I've heard I'm pretty heavy to carry around."
"You want me to go with ya, T.C.?" Choo-Choo asked.
"It would help," Top Cat said. "I don't want Trixie to carry me all by herself."
"I can manage, Top Cat. I'm not helpless," she said.
"Even so…"
Trixie looked at him, and saw how guilty he looked. Sighing she said, "Okay. Choo-Choo, you can take his left side. I'll take his right."
"On it, Trix."
When Mr. LaRue opened the door, he was not expecting to see his daughter and Choo-Choo supporting a beaten up Top Cat. He stared at this scene for a few moments, and then he frowned.
"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded.
"It's a long story, Mr. LaRue," Choo-Choo breathed. "But long story short, T.C. got beat up bad and he needs some help."
Mr. LaRue was about to tell him to leave when his wife came downstairs. As soon as she saw Top Cat, she ushered them inside. While Choo-Choo set Top Cat on the couch, she told Trixie to head in the bathroom and get some bandages and ointment to treat his wounds.
She turned towards her husband. "And you were just about to turn him away, weren't you?" she asked.
Mr. LaRue groaned. "Look, if he got hurt, he needs to get to a hospital, not come limping here," he said.
"Darling, he can barely walk," Mrs. LaRue said looking at Top Cat.
"And T.C. hates hospitals," Choo-Choo added.
"Alright. But if anything's broken, it's straight to the emergency room for you," Mr. LaRue said. He then went into the kitchen without another word.
Trixie, who was coming back into the living room, watched her father leave. She turned towards Top Cat, who looked mildly unhappy.
"Don't worry about him," she replied. "That's his usual way of showing concern."
"Yeah, well, he didn't sound like it to me," Top Cat said. "I don't think he'll ever like me."
"He'll come around eventually," Trixie said. She knew that the first time her father and Top Cat had met, it hadn't been pretty. Her father had immediately launched into a tirade against him for getting her into another detention and said that no "streetwise punk" was going to date his daughter. From then on, both of them had treated each other with some contempt.
"I wouldn't count on it," Top Cat said, and his tone indicated that he wanted to change the topic.
As Trixie started to bandage Top Cat's wounds, she couldn't help but wonder just why he would get into such a brutal fight. He liked to goad people into making them mad, and would sometimes give out a threat if he was angry, nothing more.
He did not go around beating the crap out of people.
For a few moments both of them were silent, save for the occasional hissing from Top Cat as she applied ointment to his cuts. After she bandaged him, he muttered something that she didn't quite catch, other than "keep his mouth shut".
"What was that?" she asked.
"Because he can't keep his mouth shut," he replied.
At once, Trixie knew that he was talking about the fight. "There's got to be some other reason, Top Cat," she said. "Nearly everybody shoots their mouths off, and you didn't beat them up."
"I know that, Trix. But if you heard what he'd said about ya, I think you would've clawed him across the face, too," Top Cat said.
Trixie paused, remembering what Strickland had said. If you can't take a little joke about your girlfriend, you've got some serious anger issues. "What…what did he say?"
Top Cat frowned, an action that made him wince because of the pain. "Somethin' I won't dare repeat. A lady should never hear improper language after all," he said. "But…he attacked your honor, Trixie. He called you, among other things, a spoiled upper-class brat who likes to snub others."
"He said that about me?!" Trixie gasped. "Sneekly's been my classmate ever since the seventh grade! He'd never say that to my face!"
"He was perfectly fine with sayin' that to my face. And the way he said it, all cocky and nonchalant…it made my blood boil. That's why I beat him down," he said. "It's one thing to insult me." He looked up at her, his gaze clear and unafraid. "It's another ballgame when someone insults you."
Despite feeling upset about what had happened earlier, she couldn't help but blush at this. It was touching to know that someone would fight for her honor, but at the same time…
"Top Cat, as…as touching as that is, I don't want you beating up people because they were saying bad things about me," she replied. "I can handle it myself."
"I know. But I also know that you'd be real upset afterwards," he said. "If that were to happen, I'd make him regret the day he ever crossed me. Nobody gets away with insultin' ya, Trix. I mean it."
"Top Cat…I don't really know what else to say," she said. "Other than you're still a big troublemaker."
Top Cat smirked. "I'm still your big troublemaker," he corrected, and leaned in to kiss her.
"Ahem." And then, Mr. LaRue was standing right behind the couch, his eye scrutinizing. "Top Cat…"
Top Cat sighed as he pulled away from Trixie. "I know, I know. No making out in the living room," he said.
Mr. LaRue's eyes widened and Trixie's face went bright red. "We were not going to do that," she said immediately, only to stop when she saw Top Cat try and fail to hide a grin. She sighed, and set her expression into one of mock anger. "Very funny, Top Cat."
"Hey, I couldn't resist," he said.
The End
Another TC/Trixie fic from me? In the span of a few days? Even my HuckleFlower one-shots weren't that frequent. Which reminds me, I have a couple of AU ideas for HuckleFlower, too. I've just gotta get around to writing them.
Due to T.C.'s protective nature around his friends, I can definitely see him getting angry at anyone who insults his girlfriend. I'd also imagine Trixie being somewhat touched and somewhat worried about this kind of behavior, since it's definitely unlike the coolheaded cat she's currently dating. And yeah, Sylvester Sneekly's kind of a bully here. He's my go-to bad guy in any H-B AU fic I write. And of course, you've got Lou Strickland, the main antagonist from "Top Cat: The Movie" as the king of the school. I'm having fun writing about this alternate universe :)
Reviews are great, and constructive criticism is appreciated as always! And thanks to btamamura and SuperAlex64 for liking the first story and adding me to my favorites! It really means a lot, coming from cool authoresses like you two!
God bless, iheartgod175