A/N Hey everybody! I'm back with chapter four! I took a little while in deciding how I wanted this chapter to end, otherwise it would have been done sooner. Sorry for the delay!

Thanks for reading everyone! Please review if you've got a moment, I live on feedback!!

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Meanwhile, as RJ was leading Luby through they're own private section of suburbia, Verne and Velma were getting on famously. Somewhere between the episode with Carl and Verne's tour of the log and it contents they had thoroughly begun to enjoy each other. maybe it was her intelligence, or his skills with organization, or maybe even the fact that they were the same species. whatever it was, he would be sorry to see her go, and he had told her so. she had only smiled at him.

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Having cleaned our Nate's place the previous evening, RJ decided to venture a little deeper into the neighborhood. As a precaution, they invited Tiger to come along to stand watch for them, seeing as cats generally went unnoticed in crowded neighborhoods. He and Luby were getting along very well, and they chatted happily as RJ led them through the sunny backyards of El Rancho Camelot.

"So, you've lost some weight then?"

"Yes. The outdoor-woods is very good for one's health, I think."

"Are you sure it's not just because you've stopped lying around all the time and eating kitty treats?" RJ asked, grinning as they ducked through a hole in a privacy fence.

"Exactly! It is exercise. sitting always, it is just not good for you."

"Well I'm happy for you. It seems like you've really taken to the wild life." Luby said, smiling at Tiger. Glancing back at them, RJ couldn't help but smile too. She didn't really know the cat, but seemed interested in what he was saying to her. 'A very caring person.' he thought. His mood improved considerably as they went along, and at length he turned aside and approached the back door of a house with blue siding and white shutters. Tiger split from them and circled to the front of the house. Anxiously, Luby looked up at the windows, casting a glance towards RJ. The raccoon was inspecting the back door.

"What are you doing?"

"If this thing is unlocked, this'll be a lot easier on us." he said casually. She hesitated before joining him. "I didn't realize you went inside when the humans were here."

"What?" he paused to look at her. "They're not here!"

"How do you know?"

"This is the Kirkpatrick place." he waved a paw at the house dismissively. "they leave this door open for the breeze when they're home."

"Oh." normally, Luby was unused to raids consisting of more than digging through trash cans. She was glad she wouldn't have to get used to this. Pushing her anxiety away and trusting that RJ probably knew what he was doing, she watched him abandon the door and move to the low windows. Obviously being very experienced with this kind of work, he went steadily along the side of the house. He worked patiently, giving a tug to first one corner, then the other before moving on. Admiration came over Luby as she watched the raccoon work. she had a sneaking suspicion that he had been breaking into houses for the greater part of his life. Finally at the third window, he found one to his liking. He gave a sharp whistle and began to pull hard at it as Tiger bounded back into view.

"Piece of cake." RJ congratulated himself. He lent a paw as the others crossed over the sill. They found themselves in a sort of living room, which was adjacent to the front sitting room. Tiger saluted them eagerly.

"I will retake my post, looking out for danger. if arise danger does-"

"We get it, just go!" the cat nodded, trotting away to climb into the front window where he could look out onto the street. "He gets excited when we ask him to play lookout for us." RJ explained as Luby followed him down a short hallway. "Proud of the responsibility, or something like that."

"Certainly rises to the occasion, doesn't he?"

"Yeah, well, he comes in handy. Even if he didn't we'd have to tolerate him for Stella anyway." the two of them turned a corner or two and came into the kitchen. RJ, having been there before, knew his way pretty well.

"Stella?"

"The skunk. You know, the one who chased out those chipmunks last night? They kept saying the pool smelled like a swamp."

"Oh yeah...that was pretty late. Some parts of last night are a little blurry." RJ grinned, unable to help himself.

"I was worried when you got into your fourth Mach-6. Knew you had too much when you started coming on to me."

"I did not!"

"Are you sure? You said it yourself: things are a little blurry."

"They're not that blurry." Luby elbowed him sharply in the side, but all she got from him was a chuckle. Rolling her eyes, she began to rifle through the low cabinets. RJ, seeing that she was already taking her pick, climbed into the sink to reach the window. She tossed things up to him and he happily punted them through the window, where they could pick them up on their way out. They had nearly finished picking through the good stuff when Tiger suddenly came flying into the room.

"They are here! They are here!" he fairly screeched as he tried to keep from crashing into Luby. She yelped and dodged away as RJ dropped to the linoleum.

"Where? Coming up the street? The driveway?" he asked, calm despite the cat's obvious panic. Bumping Luby out of the way, the raccoon grabbed a few more things and hurled them at the window.

"No, not outside. Here!"

"Here!?" the three of them froze. From the front room voices reached them, muffled by the door. They stood horrified for several seconds before RJ snapped to attention. "No need to panic, we've dealt with this before...you couldn't have given us more warning?" Luby felt him tugging at her, wanting her to climb to the window.

"I did not recognize the Kirkpatrick automobile! I am sorry, I have failed..."

"No, you're just getting us killed. It's no big deal, really, but perhaps we should go!" feeling incredibly bad about himself, Tiger followed after the two raccoons as they quickly scaled the cabinets.

The cat leapt for the counter, his claws sliding uselessly off the plastic. RJ and Luby grabbed onto his front paws, pulling at him. It wasn't working. He was bigger than both of them. "Good grief! How did you get through the other window?"

"It was lower down." Tiger slid back down, landing in a heap of fur on the linoleum. "It is no good! I will handle things here. Go!"

"I don't think so." RJ wasn't about to leave him behind. He moved to jump down from the counter, intent on pushing the cat from behind. However, before he could Tiger sprang up and bolted through the door.

"I will stop them, run!"

"Stupid cat!" Luby groaned after he had gone. They stood, tensed, listening to the clamor his sudden appearance in the front of the house had caused. The Kirkpatrick's definitely sounded surprised to find a Persian cat running wild through their living room. "What do we do now?" she whispered. RJ was cursing silently, and he made a face as he quickly thought it through.

"We'll have to come back for him." he sighed.

"We're leaving him?"

"Luby, we can't do anything about it right now. There's too many of them. Let's go back and round up some help." he pulled her toward the window.

"But will he be alright alone, with all those humans?" They jumped out through the window, landing heavily on a loaf of bread.

"Look, it's different for cats." The two of them ignored the pile of stolen food and set off through the yards. "People don't freak out over him like they do with us, that's why we use him for lookout. He'll be fine." Luby didn't entirely believe him, but he did know more about handling the situation than she did. She felt horrible now about suggesting this trip as she ran after him. It had been a terrible idea, and now they were going to have to go back and tell everyone they had lost Tiger.

It looked as if she'd get to stay longer than she'd planned.