Kat groaned as she woke up the next morning, her back stiff from the angle she was laying at. She knew she hadn't drank much last night but couldn't remember getting to bed, or coming home for that matter. She remembered a faint beeping noise at the bar then Jake disappearing.
Sitting up she looked around finding she was laying at the head of the stairs in front of her room, still wearing her clothes from yesterday. Putting a hand to her head, panicking slightly at how close she had been to rolling down the steps and at the loss of memory. Faint cursing from below brought her out of her daze. She tried to get up, her legs turning to jello, going back to the floor. Panic began to set in again as she tried to kick her boots off, her legs still refusing to respond correctly, the pins and needles feeling going up her legs from lack of use.
Turning back to look down into the kitchen, she could make out Chance cursing about something and Jake's shadow coming into view. Chance groaned as Jake finished wrapping his ribs, pulling his shirt down and rested against the chair slowly. He watched Jake carefully clean up the kitchen table, medical supplies on half of it. A perk of being a Swat Kat was becoming a medic quickly and he was grateful for that. Closing his eyes he rested his head on the wall, thinking the night over.
The night was going great, hanging out with Roxie and listening to Jake vent about Manx ruining his date when their comm's had gone off. Jake had gone off to answer it, leaving Chance to handle Roxie. He poured the small vile they each kept on themselves into her drink and walked over, handing it to her. He put an arm around her shoulders as it began to take effect.
"You know Chance, you're not so bad. I don't know why we fight so much." Chance left money on the table, steering her outside carefully.
"Don't worry about it Runt. Lets get you home." He picked her up carefully and sat her in front of him on the bike.
"I mean it. You're a great guy. Kinda cute too. I can't wait to show you off to my dad at the wedding." Chance nodded, putting her helmet on and took off for home, making sure to put an arm around her waist when she began to fall asleep. He was never so happy to see he yard as when he pulled in, climbing off and picked her up carefully. The hatch was open leading down to the hanger when he entered though the back door, hearing Jake talking to Callie. Walking upstairs quickly he layed her in her bed, covering her with a blanket and removing the helmet.
He went to leave when he felt her grab his hand gently, looking very dazed. "Were ya going."
"To save the city. I'm a Swat Kat, remember?" He smirked slightly as she looked confused then nodded, her eyes closing as she slipped into a deep sleep. Going back down the steps, he made sure the doors were locked before heading into the hanger to change into his uniform.
Razor looked over. "Bout time, Metallikats were reactivated. Come on they were seen at Puma-Dyne Labs." T-Bone nodded, jumping into the jet, flying off.
Chance winced, feeling his ribs protest as he took a deep breath. Jake sat opposite him, his flight suit shredded from Molly's claws, a few dried blood stains darkening the blue color. They both smirked slightly before chuckling, Chance wincing once again, holding his ribs. He took the offered aspirin and glass of water, trying to get comfortable.
"Think this will ever get any easier?" Jake cocked his head before thinking the question over.
"Don't know, but I don't plan on giving up. So what was this bet Roxie was talking about." Chance groaned, finishing off the water.
"If I lost the pool game then I'd have to be her date to her sisters wedding. Whole nine yards. I have time at least. Think she'll let me out of it?"
"Doubtful. Its something to look forward to other then maintenance on the Turbo Kat or fighting someone." Jake shrugged off the top of the flight suit wincing and rotated his shoulder. "Molly hits harder then she use to, wonder who upgraded them."
Roxie sat still, the rest of their conversation fading, the duo below unaware she could hear their conversation. Afraid to move in case the wood floor squeaked, she chewed her lip to keep from freaking out. Her room mates were the Swat Kats. Jake and Chance were the Swat Kats. Chance was T-Bone and had sat with her, talking about her time with Viper. She felt slightly sick and betrayed knowing he had lied to her. She looked down at her claws.
"But that's the point." She thought. "They are the Swat Kats, they protect the city and can't just wave a flag saying 'Here we are'. T-Bone showed me that scar from where he was bitten and turned into a mutate frog." She moved her legs slowly, finding that the tingling and jello feeling had passed and carefully moved to her door, crawling into her room. Standing carefully she walked to her window, resting her head against the cool glass, feeling a headache coming on.
It was still hard to picture them as the Swat Kats, but at the same time it fit. They were ex-Enforcers, and they had been damn good ones. Hell, she had been a good tank gunner and look where she had ended up. She looked over her shoulder when she head Chances heavy foot steps coming up the stairs to his landing, sounding slower then normal.
She relaxed when she heard his door close, surprised she had been gripping the windowsill. What was she afraid of? They were her friends. Changing out of her wrinkled clothes she looked for her phone, finding it and saw she missed a text from her sister asking if she was free for shopping the next day.
Roxie sat on her bed, weighing her options, wondering if the stress of hanging out with her sister was worth it, verses being a doe in headlights with the guys the next day and texted her back, asking what time and where to meet. Flopping back on her bed she stared at the ceiling, her brain working on to many things to let her sleep.
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Roxie yawned and stretched as she waited for her sister and sipped her coffee. She felt guilty about simply leaving a note on Chance's door that she would be out for the day but she couldn't face them yet. She groaned softly seeing her sister walking toward her, wearing a sun dress and heels and glanced down at her jeans and tee shirt.
The Bell sisters were almost opposites of each other. Lillie was the younger by a few years and very much a daddy's girl. Roxie had hung out more with her brothers and tried to please her father but always seemed to fall short. One had loved going out, wearing dresses and boys while the other went and joined the Enforcers and loved tanks. Sighing she couldn't help but smile as Lillie finally reached her.
"Well, you have changed a bit." Lillie put her sun glasses on her head as she looked her sister over. She saw right away that Roxie had differently lost some weight and looked tired, more so then the last time they had seen each other.
Roxie rolled her eyes and threw her coffee in the trash as they headed into the mall. "Sorry about missing the party." Lillie shrugged.
"You have a demanding job. Trust me, I understand. Dad's making a bigger deal out of it then anyone. So Feral see your potential yet?" She raised an eyebrow seeing Roxie chew her lip, always her tell that something was wrong. "Tell me." Roxie sighed, tying her hair back.
"So Feral kicked me off the Enforcers cause of that tank explosion."
"That wasn't you're fault!" Lillie blushed faintly, seeing a few people look over at her outburst and walked into a random store, Roxie following. "You don't even drive the damn things."
"It's him saving face. They sent me to the junk yard where he sent those pilots. They flew into the building not long after it was finished a few years ago." Lillie thought for a moment then nodded. "I haven't told dad yet."
Lillie almost dropped her purse. "He's going to find out. You have to tell him, at least before the wedding. Speaking of which, mom says you have a date. He's real, right?" Roxie chuckled, taking her phone out showing her a photo of Chance after oil leaked out from an engine. "He's cute."
Roxie raised an eyebrow, seeing Lillie start looking her over. "What are you doing?"
"My big, fashion challenged, sister is going on a date with a cute guy at my wedding. I'm not letting you show up in pants. You're getting a dress." She smirked when she saw the look of unease on Roxie's face and linked arms with her, walking to one of the higher end stores. "You have amazing legs and you're going to show them off."
"Lil, I don't have the money for this." She glanced at a price tag as they walked past a rack of short black dresses, trying not to bug out at the price.
"Then its on daddy. And no arguing. He owes you for all the grief he puts you through. Consider this shopping therapy." She smiled, almost pleading and felt triumph as Roxie finally sighed and began looking at a few dresses. "Everyone has a little black dress, but I don't think black is your color."
After a few hours Roxie found herself in front of the mirror in a deep blue dress that ended above the knee, one shoulder was covered, leaving the other exposed. She took the black heels Lillie held out, gaining a few inches in height and turned side to side as her sister looked her over.
"It looks great on you. Blue was always a good color on you. Just need to get the right jewelry to go with it and you're set." She smiled, seeing Roxie blush before she ducked into the dressing room. Lillie paid for the dress and shoes before Roxie came out to save her from a heart attack and handed her the dress bag when she reappeared. They continued down the side walk of the mall, a few street vendors showing off handmade jewelry.
Lillie was looking over a few vintage hairpins that has caught her eye, leaving Roxie to look at a vendor a few tables down. There wasn't much on the table, except a dark stone on an old chain. She touched it gently, surprised it was cool on such a warm day. Picking it up, she watched it turn slowly on its chain. The vendor watched her before clearing his throat.
Roxie looked over and smiled. "How much?"
Felix looked the woman over, seeing her rough looking jeans and faded shirt, trying to figure out what he could get out of her. He knew how to work people, put some junk on the table with one good piece, normally donated from the local grave yard. He had been lucky when the piece had all but fallen into his lap a few weeks back.
"It's an old piece. I couldn't take less then $50 for it. Its a rare stone and all." He smiled, trying to be charming as she raised an eyebrow and set the necklace back down. His smile faded as she moved on to the next table. Lillie watched her go and smiled, walking over and held out a few bills.
"I'll take it." She picked up the necklace, putting it in her bag and walked away, missing the faint glow coming from it and walked quickly to catch up to her sister.
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Chance wiped his forehead with his arm and winced as his ribs protested. He almost had the engine out and wanted to get it free before he called it quits for the day. He could hear Jake in the back on the phone with Callie and sighed, remembering what Roxie said. She was right and he had to accept it. Maybe one day he would have a shot but it seemed he had missed his chance and would support Jake in this.
He glanced over as he watched Jake walking over, looking thoughtful and put his phone away. "Get the engine out yet?"
"Naw, last bolt wouldn't give." He hit it with his wrench and Jake nodded.
"Lets call it a day, my backs still killing me from being thrown into a car." Chance reluctantly nodded before following him up to the kitchen. Roxie had yet to return from her surprise outing, leaving the two to their own devices. Jake handed Chance a cold can of milk and carefully leaned against the will.
"So, you had time to thing over my idea." He took a slow sip, watching Chance play with the tab on his can. "What do you think."
"I think its to dangerous, but you have a point. She'll find out eventually and its better coming from us then her waking up and finding one of us dead. And we have to stop giving her that sedative. I found her in the yard the other night just standing there, asleep." Jake nodded.
"So when do we tell her." Jake chucked his empty can in the trash, noticing Chance had yet to begin drinking his.
"The sooner the better. The tanks almost finished and I know she'd be for this. I'll talk to her tonight in the yard." They both looked up hearing a car pull into the yard, Jake looking out, seeing a sport car. Chance came up next to him, and whistled.
"Might be time to turn on the old Furlong charm for a cute kitten like that." He took a sip of his milk, almost spitting it out when Roxie stepped out of the car, grabbing a few bags. The other she-kat waved as she pulled out quickly.
Roxie walked in, dusting her jacket off and stopped when she saw both men watching her. She smiled nervously, inching toward the stairs, hoping they hadn't found out somehow that she knew their secret. She was almost to the first step when Chance suddenly came to life.
"So who was your friend. Maybe she can go out with me, Jake and Callie." Roxie raised an eyebrow, feeling a slight jab to the ego and crossed her arms.
"That was my sister, who's wedding you are taking me to. And why wouldn't I go with you if Jake and Callie want a double date." Jake glanced from one to the other, trying to slip out of the room. Chance had put his foot in it this time and had no wish to be here when the littler fully hit the fan. He could hear Chance start to fumble for an answer, silently wishing the man luck.
"Um, well. Its cause, your one of the guys and well, um..." He glanced down at the floor, suddenly finding the tiles amazing. He never noticed the tiny cracks before. He glanced up when he hear her drumming her nails on the dress bag over her arm. "I also figured you wouldn't want to go out with me." He inwardly smirked when he saw that one caught her off guard.
"Oh. I would have, if you had asked, that is." She shifted awkwardly before going up to her room. Jake watched her go and looked at Chance.
"She's going to kill you one day. you know that, right?"
"Yep, but not today." He finished his milk before heading up to his room.
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Hello all! A it over due but its here! Please review, I do love when you guys do. Starting the next chapter tonight and should have it done in a week.
