THE SWAT KATS DO NOT BELONG TO ME!!! (but can't I dream?)

Chapter Twelve: Don't You Ever Do That To Me Again Jacob Clawson!

A million things rushed through Callie's head as Felina sped toward the salvage yard. She couldn't shake the feeling that she would never see Jake again. They were stopped along the way by a strange black-haired she kat carrying a sword. Callie grew afraid when she noticed the marks on this kat's neck.

"Lt. Felina Feral?" She asked, sounding kind.

"That depends, who's asking?" Felina responded.

"And you must be Deputy Mayor Callico Briggs. I have something I think you might want." She pulled out two vials of a lime green substance. "I suggest you insert these right now, before you turn. The process is much more painful for someone who's already turned." She handed them the vials and began to walk away.

"Why are you helping us?" Callie forced herself to ask.

"I don't want to die knowing the pain and suffering that came from me. I can't change what I've done, but I can help undo the evil that I helped to create. Now I believe that there is a certain tom kat that would really love to see you right now Miss Briggs. You better not leave him waiting!" She walked off into the shadows, and vanished.

Was she talking about Jake? I hope he's alright. She held Felina tight as they sped off, approaching the salvage yard.

When Chance opened the door, Callie could see a mixture of emotions on his face. She couldn't tell what he was feeling, but she knew he had experienced something terrible in the time between rescuing her and now.

"Where's Jake? Is he ok?" Callie asked franticly, as she hurried into the house.

"He'll be fine in a few days. He's feelin a bit under the weather at the moment though." Chance sounded relieved. "You might want to see him Callie, it would be really good for both of you." She barely heard him as she was already entering Jake's room. He looked like hell!

"Oh Jake!" She said as she approached his unmoving form. He looked into her eyes and smiled weakly. Callie was now sitting by his side, and he sat up next to her. Shock enveloped her body when her eyes fell on the marks on his neck. "No it can't be...you can't...be..o...one o...of t..t..those things!" She began to cry, not wanting to believe the harsh reality that had just slapped her in the face.

"Relax Callie, I'm fine. I'm still the same Jake as I always was. I was cured already, but since I had to turn first, its going to take a few days to get my blood back to normal. Thank God for this stuff though, at least I won't have to bite anyone as I'm healing!" He pointed to a box on his dresser. It contained various vials of the same lime green substance that she carried in her pocket.

"Is that the cure?" She asked.

"Yup, but its got a mixture of plasma inside of it so I can just inject that into me. I don't have to bite anyone. Within five days or so, my blood should be clean and even the bite marks on my neck will be gone. Its kind of a painful process I'll admit, but its better then the state I was in before hand." He smiled. Callie noticed the wounds on his chest for the first time. They looked too much like bullet holes. And they were still fresh.

"Jake, what happened to your chest?"

"Oh that? Nothing much, that Frank guy just killed me that's all." Callie's heart skipped a beat.

"He k...killed you? But this isn't making any sense, your alive right now, I can even feel your heartbeat." She placed a soothing hand on his chest.

"That's good to know, it means that I'm not really a vampire after all. Callie, I would never let Chance do this to me, but he had the cure. If Maria hadn't bitten me, well, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now. I'm glad I get to stay alive long enough to see your beautiful face again." He kissed her. Then he turned away, shaking violently and wincing in pain.

"Jake! Whats happening? Are you alright?" She asked, she was beyond worry. She had never seen him in so much pain before. Finally he stopped, and he just laid there, moaning softly.

"Sorry you had to see that, its the vaccine cleaning out my blood. Like I said, I already turned. Healing is going to be very painful for me. Speaking of healing, did you meet Maria?" Callie was stroking Jake, then she pulled out her vial.

"If she's the she kat that gave me this, then yes I did."

"You haven't injected it yet? Do it now!" Callie winced as the needles entered her body. She felt a slight wave of dizziness wash over her. Then nothing. At least she didn't have to worry about turning into one of those monsters any more! Her thoughts shifted to Jake. She wished she could share the pain he was going through. It wasn't fair that she could be healed painlessly, while he had to suffer. She felt a tear ease its way down her cheek as she stroked Jake's chest, making him smile and purr.

"Don't you ever do that to me again Jacob Clawson!" She said as she snuggled into the bed, embracing Jake with all her might. "I love you Jake. Please get better soon." She whispered into his ear. He smiled. The pain he felt was nothing now. He had Callie, and she was safe, thats all that mattered to him at the moment. He began to kiss her deeply. Hell we're already in bed, why not? He thought as he rolled on top of his lover's body. She stopped him.

"I think we'd better close the door Jake. And the penguin is going up as well." She giggled as she closed the door with the paper penguin on it. She climbed back into bed with Jake. He felt his pain vanish as Callie took him to heaven.

Chance hugged Felina as soon as she walked in. He just wrapped his arms around her and sobbed on her chest.

"I'm glad you're ok Felina. Did you get the cure from Maria?"

"Yes...actually I did...Chance...what happened after we left? What's up with Jake?" Chance was silent for a while, the vision of Jake staring lifelessly into his face from a pool of his own blood stained his mind. When Jake stopped breathing, Chance's heart stopped beating. It was the worst thing that had ever happened to him.

"Jake...Jake was killed Felina."

"Oh God! Jake! Chance, I'm so so so sorry." She couldn't hold back her tears. Chance just kissed her. All he wanted at that moment was to comfort her, and kissing her seemed to be the best way of doing that.

"Relax babe, Maria bit him. He has the cure, he'll be fine in a few days, he's just really sick, and he's in a lot of pain." Chance almost had a heart attack when Jake went into his first violent seizure. He hated to see him in so much pain, it tore at his soul. Still, they had done what needed to be done. Jake would recover, he was a strong kat after all! His ears perked as he heard a moan coming form Jake's room. He ran down the hall, but stopped when he saw the penguin on the door. Freakin playboy! He giggled to himself, then turned to Felina.

"We'll we won't be seeing either of them for at least twenty minutes! Don't you think you should let your uncle know where you are. He seemed a little worried when he called us." Felina couldn't believe what she had just heard.

"Wait...MY uncle called YOU? Now I think I've heard everything. Yeah I suppose I should let him know that I'm alright." She pulled out her cell phone, and dialed the number. A while later, she handed the phone to Chance. "Here, he wants to talk to you." She smiled at him. Chance put the phone to his ear, wondering what else Feral was going to say.

"Hello?" He spoke into the receiver.

"Furlo...Chance. Thank you Chance, you don't know what your sacrifice means to me. I'm sorry to hear about Jake." His voice started to shake, and he sounded like he was going to cry again. Please don't do that! Chance prayed to himself. "If it isn't too much trouble, I would like to see Jake. If that's alright with you?"

"I...I guess that isn't a problem then. Yeah, come on over, we got a party goin on!" Chance laughed for the first time in as long as he could remember. He liked the real Feral MUCH better than the fake one! He handed the phone over to Felina.

"Is he on his way?" She asked him.

"Yes, looks like we have to wait a while longer Felina."

"Alright then, but I don't really want to."

"Believe me babe, neither do I!" He said as he heard a chopper landing outside. Well, he makes a noisy entrance! Chance thought as he let Feral inside. He had Dr. Konway with him. This was surprising, but at least now he could give them the cure so they could help everyone. Feral placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Chance, Felina told me everything. I'm concerned about Jake, but really, how are you taking all of this?" Chance really never thought about that. Sure he felt the pain when Jake died, but every though after that had been focused on Jake and only Jake.

"I'm just glad I don't have to bury the only family I have." He shrugged. "Well you're more then welcome to see Jake, but I would recommend waiting for that penguin to come down first." Chance smiled.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean." Feral cocked an eyebrow.

"Come on Feral, you don't know what a penguin on the door means? Didn't you go to college?" As if on cue, Callie stepped out and removed the penguin while buttoning up her shirt. She noticed everyone looking at her, and her face went from a smooth tan complexion to beet red in seconds.

"I see." Feral was trying not to crack up. "Miss Briggs, you didn't tell me you had a thing for vigilantes!" He teased. "How is he?" He asked, full of concern. Callie smiled.

"I think he's feeling A LOT better!" She couldn't contain her girlie giggle. Feral cocked an eyebrow at her and shrugged, following Chance into the room. His eyes fell on the brown kat lying on the bed. He looked fine, if you can get past the bite marks and bullet holes on his body. He smiled as the group entered the room. He liked being the center of attention for once!

"Hey buddy, looks who's here to see you?" Chance smiled as they entered. Jake couldn't believe it FERAL? Of all kats, FERAL?

"Jake..." Feral said, trying his hardest to keep the tears from leaving his eyes. He hated to see any kat in pain, but when he saw Jake, the holes on his body, the way the laid in bed, he held the personification of someone who wasn't just in pain. He looked like he was in hell. Yet he never let it show on his face, something Roger was really good at. You are more like your father than you know Jake Feral thought. Just then, Jake began to scream, he was shaking like he was being electrocuted. Feral jumped back at this. Then concern took him over.

"Get me a vial from the shelf! Now!" Chance yelled. Feral fumbled the liquid in his hands, but managed to hand it to Chance. "Hold on Jake!" He stabbed the liquid into him, and he calmed down. He did have tears running down his cheeks this time.

"Wow! That was the worst pain I've ever felt!" Jake exclaimed.

"I wish it was me buddy. Believe me, I wish it was me instead." Chance said, taking Jake's limp hand and squeezing it tightly.

"Why is he in so much pain?" Dr. Konway asked, startling everyone.

"You try being turned into one of these things, and then imagine you can feel the death of every cell of this virus in your bloodstream at its destroyed. It isn't fun." Jake said weakly.

"Interesting!" Konway was studying the vial. "So this must be the cure for this infection, am I right?"

"Yes it is." Callie answered. Felina was holding her own vial now. She hadn't understood what it was until she saw Chance giving the same thing to Jake. With no other thoughts, she injected the fluid into her arm. She got dizzy, and then she felt fine.

"I just took the same stuff, so why am I not in any pain?" She asked the room, not caring who answered. Then she remembered what Maria said about curing an already turned kat. She shuddered.

"This is all so interesting." Konway went on."It seems that Viper has made something so evil, yet good has come from it. You were shot earlier right?" He asked Jake. Jake just nodded. "And yet you were infected, brought back to life, and were cured? It seems Viper has invented the ultimate medication." Jake sat up quickly, too quickly. He yelped in pain before he could stifle it.

"Easy buddy, you already let Callie get a hold of you. You aren't better yet, don't push it." Chance increased his grip on Jake's hand as he pushed him back onto the bed. Jake was glaring at Konway.

"You can't be serious Konway! This thing that Viper made, it causes nothing but evil. I didn't make the choice to be bitten, I was a little too dead to think for my self. I do realize that Viper's virus is what saved me, but at what cost? Is it really worth becoming a monster, even for a few minutes, just to avoid death. You have to let Kat's die. You can NOT play GOD with this stuff!" Jake yelled, wincing in pain again. He was getting tired. He rested his head on the pillow.

"I was only speculating Jake." Konway smiled his understanding. "Do you mind if I take a vial with me to my lab? I could reproduce enough of this to heal every Kat in the city!" He was studying the green substance closely. "Wait, this is thicker then it should be, it looks like its mixed with something.

"Yeah, it has plasma in it. It was made to cure someone who has already turned, and the plasma works as blood to keep the virus alive. You see, when you turn, the virus has already taken over your entire body, if you don't feed, you will not be able to remember anything about your life, not even your own name. In order to remember, and to stay alive, you need plasma or blood in your body. Even though the virus in me is getting destroyed, the cells still give me cravings. Typically, you don't do what I just did a few minutes ago, but typically you aren't killing the virus off anyway. So you see, in order for me to get rid of this, I have to stay alive. And in order to stay alive, I have to feed the virus. The dosage gets less and less through a course of five or six days, then you're done. The bite marks heal and vanish, and you are no longer the monster you once were. Though, as you just witnessed, it is a painful process." Jake sounded sleepy. Callie had crawled into bed next to him.

"Thank you Jake and Chance, we now have the cure! I think I can separate the vaccine from the plasma, shouldn't be too hard." Konway said as he was leaving the room. "I hope you feel better soon Jake, that was rather unpleasant to see." And he left, waiting for Feral.

The Commander knelt to Jake's side. "Jake, you are everything your father hoped you'd be. I just want you to know that he would be proud if he could see the hero his son has become." Then he turned to Chance and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I know what its like to loose your best and only friend. I know how bad it hurts. I understand the lost feeling afterwords, and I know what its like to stare my brother in the face, knowing he will never stare back again. I'm here for you if you need to talk." He left them, the sound of the chopper fading as they went back to HQ.

Chance was stunned. He never thought he'd be consoled by FERAL!! Hell he always figured if something like this happened, he would end up in prison! He looked at Jake again, he was fast asleep with a smiling Callie nestled up against him. Jake, I never want to see you die again! He thought as he was leaving. He noticed the paper penguin on the dresser. Jake wouldn't be needing this right now! He turned toward Felina, showing her the paper bird. She smiled and nodded, and they went into Chance's room, with a penguin on the door.

Ok so I have to explain the penguin! My friend lives in four people dorms and her rooms are seperate form the living area. She has a roomate that likes to have nightly visits from her boyfriend...LOL! Soooo thats where I got the idea to use the penguin, because thats what they use! LOL!