Post–Apocalypse
Kat shoots up in her sleep, a cold sweat shining on her brow and her lungs, constricted. Once again nightmares have plagued her; nightmares of the death toll and how much of it is her fault (allegedly and actually). She sighs and holds her head.
"Kat," a gentle whisper, "are you okay?"
"Yes, Doggie," she whispers back but doesn't turn to him.
They've been sleeping in their mineral deposit office for some time now, but recently they took to sleeping closer together—back to back, but still. Kat finds it comforting to have him there, and while neither acknowledges it the next morning, more often than not they roll over and end up holding each other.
"Try to sleep," he whispers delicately, "we have a big day trying to get to the rangers."
"I know," she whispers and lies back down. The dirt is cool, but soft; Doggie has done his utmost to dig out a kind of bed for them. The dirt has been upturned and down and up again, rid of rocks and roots. It's not much, but it's a small luxury. Kat nuzzles the bundle of spare cloth that acts as her pillow in attempt to comfort herself. She assures herself that she's fine, and that she's only trembling because she's a little bit cold.
Doggie feels Kat trembling beside him. His heart thuds horribly at the distress of his...Kat. The chain of command post–apocalypse has been questionable, but he is still the Commander, and Kat is still his right hand. In a way, this makes her the kind of queen of their underground, and he makes sure their followers act accordingly. Kat is taken care of as well as she will allow. He makes sure she gets sleep, takes night patrol (her eyes work to her advantage while the darkness hides her slight form) and eats enough. He dug out their makeshift bed solely because he knew how uncomfortable she was sleeping in a ball in the gravel patch. They had been sleeping on opposite sides of the mineral deposit, but once Kat's nightmares got to the point of night terrors he made sure they were in a position where he could help her if need be.
Kat is shocked when Doggie consciously rolls over and takes her into his arms. He lets his nuzzle brush the back of her neck and she's embarrassed at her immediate purring in reaction. They both remain silent, pretending they're both asleep, for both of their sakes.
"Kat," Doggie whispers against her hair, growing quickly around her collar bone. "I like it when you roll over in the night."
Kat debates answering for too long and Doggie's breathing seems to steady. Once she's fairly certain he's asleep she sighs quietly, "me too."
Doggie smiles in his charade of sleep.
"Doggie," Kat mumbles in her sleep, waking after a fitful night of consciousness. She's aware enough to know she fell asleep, and to know that she is firmly held in Doggie's arms. "Doggie, we have to get up, it's almost dawn."
He growls at her and brings her tighter, protectively.
In the simple moment, Kat allows herself to feel the lightness of frivolity. She takes a moment to seem embarrassed at her spike in heart rate and wriggles a bit. "Doggie, we have to meet the rangers in Sky's sector."
"Mm," he blinks his haunted blue eyes open slowly. His nose immediately picks up Kat's scent, who, even living underground for two months, smells like flowers (maybe that's just the soil) and honey. Well, despite the lack of sun, she still looks positively beautiful. "Kat, what's going on?"
"It's almost dawn," she says, "if we're going to move it has to be now."
Doggie nods and releases her from his grasp, not mentioning it in the least. She stands and he turns as she changes her clothes. That was something that took some getting used to when they first started essentially living together in a hole. She tells him he can turn again and she keeps her back turned as he also changes. For him it's a simple matter of finding a jacket, but it's a bit of a morning routine, for lack of something better. He pulls on his satchel and finds Kat has done the same; "ready?"
Kat nods and follows him up the tunnels. They walk silently, up and out of the underground hangar, and into the ruins of NewTech. Dusk is approaching but it's still dark enough that Kat has the advantage of nightfall. "Follow me."
Doggie does so silently as Kat navigates flawlessly. Krybot patrol is lightest in the night, and the shift of troupes around dawn works best to their advantage. She has done night recon so many times she knows exactly when and where things happen. From one wall to the other, Kat dashes back and forth, avoiding the view of the odd krybot. Soon enough they've reached the entry to the old subways. Kat descends the crushed in stairs by sliding, followed by Cruger.
"It's Kat and the Commander!"
When Kat and Doggie reach the inner tunnel they see their rangers waiting for them. Kat hesitates for all of half a second in stride. It's imperceptible to everyone but Doggie. He notices. Although she seems nervous she sees their smiles and relaxes a bit, "hello, rangers."
"Kat!" Z and Syd run to the older woman easily and hug her tightly. "We've missed you!"
"We've all missed you," Sky says first, coming to envelop them all in his arms. Jack and Bridge follow suit. "It's good to see you, Kat."
"It is good to see you, rangers," Kat whispers quietly. As they let her go and move to greet Cruger, she firms her resolve. "I've missed you all, but we need to look at this."
"Right," Bridge nods and Sky leads them down a tunnel. "So, how are things in your sector?"
"Things are better than they've been, thank you," Doggie nods. Even in this easy air of conversation his body is tense, ready to protect Kat in an instance.
"How are you?" Bridge asks again, a deep emphasis on them. His eyes are as sad as they've seen them, and they are, for the most part, directed at Kat.
"I'm fine," Doggie looks at Kat for her report.
Kat looks at her rangers, who look at her pleading eyes, asking her to relieve their consciences. Her eyes turn tender and she tilts her head like she did in the good old days, "I am fine as well, thank you."
"That's good to hear," Jack says meaningfully as they continue.
"We're here," Sky announces. They arrive at the end of the tunnel where several others meet. There, several mulling bodies move about like ants performing menial tasks. They seem in fair condition, given what's happened. Most of them are cadets, with a few citizens. "Blue Sector, we have guests."
"Welcome," they turn and bow.
"Figures, even in this hell you've managed to make a structured set of regulations," Syd smiles at Sky fondly before walking in ahead. "A table?"
"Yes, Ma'am," a boy nods and gestures for two others to bring over a light table. They also bring over rocks to hold open papers.
"Here," Kat lays down her schematics for the homemade satellite monitor she made. "It took me quite a while, but now that I know what works, it should be easier for you."
"Bronze, Silver, Gold, here!" Sky barks into the darkness. Three boys, all dark haired, come scurrying out. "Can you find the things on this list?"
Bronze looks at the paper briefly, committing the components needed to his memory. "We can be back in thirty minutes, tops."
"Good lad," Sky pats the young boy on the back. "Doctor Manx here needs them."
Kat looks at the three young boys who turn their gazes to her. She immediately allows herself to smile at them warmly, gently; "hello, boys."
"Are you going to help us beat the Troobian bastards?" Gold asks genuinely.
"Language," Sky scolds his young charge, "you don't speak like that—not to a lady."
"Sorry," Gold nods to Sky then bows to Kat. "You're the engineer of SPD, right? You're the reason we held out as long as we did."
"You could say that," Kat's smile turns sad.
"Thank you, Miss," Gold, Silver and Bronze all bow to her chivalrously. "We've heard great stories about you: the queen of SPD Earth!"
"That's very kind, boys," Kat bends to them, now, so she may come close to looking them on an equal plain. "What you're getting these for is to make a satellite monitor. Once we have eyes on the surface, we can calculate our next move. I've been collecting intel, and once the new year comes, Omni will need to recharge before moving on to other planets. It's then: that is our chance to reclaim Earth."
The boys look at her wide eyed, amazed at this story of hope. Smiles come to them and they salute to her crisply. "Leave it to us, Miss, we'll get them for you!"
"Thank you, boys," she ghosts her hand over their heads before they scamper off. She turns to Sky, Bridge and Jack; "they remind me of three other boys I knew."
"Who?" Bridge asks and tilts his head.
"Never mind it," she shakes her head. "Once the satellite uplink is finished we won't have much time. The new year comes in seven days, and it'll take you at least two to get the necessary correlating data."
"You said you'd gathered intel—how?" Z frowns.
"During night recon, it's easy to sneak around their base camps. I've collected enough data to know that Omni will be running dry in six days. On the seventh, he will need to be recharged for a full twelve hours. That's our only window of opportunity." Kat speaks seriously, ignoring Doggie's unpleasant discovery of her endangering herself on a nightly basis.
"How to get to him, though," Jack frowns as well.
"Grumm will be his primary guard," Doggie speaks up now, "I will face him."
"Not alone," Syd joins in.
"Yes, alone," he corrects her. "I will face Grumm while you destroy Omni's center. Kat will accompany you."
"What if..." Bridge looks on curiously. When Kat and Doggie both bow their heads he understands. "This was the plan from the very beginning."
"No," Sky whispers in denial.
"There isn't much of an option. We have a limited number of people for the job as is and we cannot afford to divert your forces any. This is simply how it must be," Doggie's gruff voice rumbles over their grim silence. "It has been decided."
"You can't be okay with this," Jack calls Kat out, who struggles.
"Of course I'm not!" Kat reels, the only time the rangers have ever seen her snap at anyone. In a moment, she collects herself again, and an all encompassing sadness takes over her. "I wish there were another way, but this is the only chance Earth has. If there's anyone who can defeat Grumm... "
Doggie meets Kat's eyes. He knows first hand how hard this is for her. When they first devised that he would have to face Grumm alone she had come quite close to having an absolute fit. Her hair had stood on end and she began hissing uncontrollably. Still, the more they went over it the more it became clear that it was their only option. She went over things again and again... "This is the only way."
"There has to be some other," Jack receives suffocating silence in return. He runs a hand through his hair. "If you face Grumm alone, what about us?"
"You will have Kat with you. She will take care of the technicals that you cannot. Plus, if there is any reason you need assistance in combat, she will be able to help." Doggie knows Kat is not one for front line action, and since the Command Center was overrun it's a particular sore spot. However, she's willing to go back, for her rangers.
"You're not very optimistic about coming back," Z bites, though there's a trembling in the back of her sarcasm that betrays her.
"I'm afraid we have to look at things in a worst–case–scenario perspective, Z" Doggie sighs. "Regardless of my outcome, Grumm must be eliminated. If he is allowed to live he will just escape and rebuild Omni again, even if you were to succeed. They both must be destroyed."
"The Commander has made his orders clear," Kat speaks firmly, in hopes it will snap her Cadets back into some rigidity. "They're beyond contestation."
"Yes, Ma'am," they nod at her sadly. They wish to argue, but they know that if Kat could, she would have stopped him by now. This plan in its solidity only means that there really is no other possible option.
"Miss!—we have the parts!" Gold, Silver and Bronze come running back, satchels and pockets full of machine parts and wiring. "We have the satellite parts!"
"Good work, boys," Sky congratulates them.
"Thank you," Kat nods to them as they pile things by her feet. "That was quick."
"We know our way around, Miss," Gold scratches the back of his neck bashfully.
"Good thing," she smiles and begins digging through the parts. "These are in excellent condition. I should be able to get this working by sundown."
"I can help," Bridge announces to no one in particular and bends to her.
"Doggie, you should go back home, they might need you there," Kat looks up at him. "We didn't leave much protection for them with both of us absent."
"You're right, I suppose," he nods. He looks at the rangers, who react to the look by pretending to admire the ceilings of the tunnels and whistling no particular tune. A little self–consciously, he bends to Kat and places a paw on her shoulder. "You'll not come back unless it's nightfall or you have someone accompanying you, yes?"
"Doggie, I'll be fine," she scolds him lightly, though she lays her hand over his paw, per usual. "I promise; I'll contact you when I'm done here and on my way."
"Very well," still quite aware of the rangers he lays his muzzle against the pulse of her throat and feels her purr in return. It assures him that she is alive and well. "I'll wait at home."
The rangers turn once they hear his paws on the dirt of the tunnels. Kat gazes after him lovingly, like the good old days. They smile: "glad to see you two haven't changed."