Chapter Seven: Dreams Reveal the Truth

Jake felt groggy and uncertain. "Where am I?" He wondered, looking around.

He found himself sitting on the floor of an empty white room. Looking down at himself, he found he was dressed in his Razor outfit. "Am I dreaming?" He asked himself, scratching his head. It didn't feel real so maybe it was a dream.

He felt warm and comfortable but he seemed to recall he'd been injured, however, there was no sign of it on him and he felt no pain so where was this place?

The warmth surrounding him felt welcoming and familiar, like something he'd yearned for but was always afraid to explore. As he tried to get a grip on what was going on, a voice began to stir, echoing around the room but there was no sign of the speaker.

"Jake...aren't we in this together?...Watch it know-it-all, where do you think you're going?...We need each other...You can't hide it anymore!" The fragmented statements of things he'd heard and imagined before coming from a familiar voice grew louder and louder in his ears.

Jake shivered at the sound of that voice and before he could even whisper the name, a stocky, powerful figure appeared before him. T-Bone stood there in full uniform, towering above the confused tom. He gazed deeply down at Jake before he ripped off his suit to appear as Chance Furlong in his light undergarments.

"Chance, what are you doing? What's going on?" Jake asked in bewilderment. But before he could get any answers, the white room began to spin. In a blur, Jake started to see the room become more defined and colored. Squinting, he tried to bring things into focus when they suddenly stopped and held still at last.

The room of whiteness had faded and a more defined room began to emerge. Transparent figures and images turned solid, as if Jake had been watching a mirage that suddenly turned to reality before his eyes.

What appeared was what looked like the garage but somehow different. The dingy and dismal blue walls were brighter, more colorful giving it a more homey touch. He stood slowly to his feet and looked through a surprisingly clean and clear window, seeing a cleared landscape that once held stacks of junk. A beautiful field of flowers and wild grasses stretched from the building to a horizon with no fence nor street, just gentle rolling hills of luscious green grasses.

Jake could only shake his head in disbelief. "Okay, I really must be dreaming," he said to himself then he saw a picture hanging on the wall. It showed him being held in a warm and protective embrace as a handsome tabby was kissing him.
Staring at it in stunned disbelief, the dream Chance murmured gently, "Isn't this what you've always wanted, buddy?"

"What are you talking about? None of this is real, it could never happen. This is just a dream," Jake choked shakily, looking down at his trembling paws, unable to look into the face of the dream Chance.

But the question the image had asked was one Jake had dreamed of as being what a real home and true love should be like however, their jobs as SWAT Kats made those hopes impossible much less Chance feeling that way about him...it wasn't reality. He'd pushed all those dreams to the back of his subconscious and locked them away along with his heart, nearly forgetting he'd ever hoped for such happiness in the first place.

Something must have happened to cause these deep seated desires to resurface and be paraded before his dreaming eyes now. Angry and feeling foolish, Jake sat back down and refused to interact with the dream Chance and everything else his mind was trying to tempt him with. It wasn't real and that was that.

"Stop denying this, Jake. It's as real as you're willing to make it. Don't you trust me?" Dream Chance asked softly, still gazing down at Jake, a pleading look in his eyes.

"Of course I trust you! We trust each other explicitly, it's how we survive every time we go out as the SWAT Kats," Jake growled, crossing his arms across his chest and still refusing to look up. "I really don't need this now, Chance. None of this can happen in real life."

"Of course it can! You only have to make it so! I need you just as much as you need me...wanted me!" Dream Chance pushed, speaking passionately. Then the figure surprised Jake by picking him up and embracing him tightly.

That same feeling of warmth he'd felt earlier surrounded him. He ached so much to have that in truth that he gave in to his desires and hugged back. Here in this place, he could do and say what he wanted and not be hurt by what the real world would say about it.

"Jake, you don't have to hide what you feel for me. You're safe here...just say what you've been dying to say and I promise to not leave you no matter what it is," dream Chance whispered in Jake's ear then rubbed his face against the smaller tom's forehead before dropping a kiss on it.

Trembling with hope and desire, Jake gathered up his courage and, despite this being a dream, he blurted, "Chance…I'm…I'm gay and I love you…"

Dream Chance grinned broadly and gave Jake another light kiss on his forehead before saying, "There, now see...nothing's happened...I'm still here for you. It's time you said what you truly feel and not allow your intellect to rule all the time." Chuckling, his image began to fade away and was soon gone from Jake's dreaming mind.

"Wait, don't go!" Jake cried out in anguish, his arms now empty once more but the dream Chance was gone and he was once more in that empty white room. Sobbing, Jake sank to the floor in sorrow then that too faded leaving him empty and alone in the forest of his mind.

In the real world, Chance slept on unaware his friend was crying in his sleep. Tears ran unheeded and, by morning, no trace of them would be seen.