Thank you all for your patience. I've been working on this while I was sans a computer. I've got a couple chapters ready to go as soon as I get them typed up.

Jason Felino wiped his glasses on his shirt and then put them back on. He jerked in surprise to see Jake walking through the doors so late, and so close to the bell. "I was sure we wouldn't be going to school today too." He joked as he approached his friend.

"Yeah." Jake replied quietly.

"You okay? You look kinda... green." Jason backed away slightly.

"Chance had to tow a whole bunch of kats yesterday. There was this she-kat on her way to the doctors. I think I caught something from her." Jake clutched his stomach.

"Why didn't you stay home?" Jason maintained his distance.

Jake shrugged. "I wasn't feeling so bad until I got in the car." He looked at the time and groaned. "I'll catch you later. I have to get to my locker before the bell."

Jason sighed. He'd barely spoken to his friends since the semester started. "High school sucks," he mumbled.

Jake dragged a paw through his hair for the hundredth time, wiping away the sweaty feeling. He exhaled slowly, staring down at his desk, thankful he'd managed to get a spot away from Andrew. What was that kit's issue? Did he not know what deodorant was? He bounced his legs anxiously under his desk and looked at the clock again. Finally the bell rang and he launched himself from his desk and out the door.

The rancid cloud of smoke that assaulted Jake as soon as he pushed open the door to the boys' room had him gagging before he could duck into an empty stall.

"Whoa," a familiar voice coughed from behind him. "Dude, go home. Seriously."

Jake spat weakly into the toilet and flushed before turning to look at Jason. He leaned against the side of the stall. "Why do you smoke this shit?"

Jason looked at the small smoldering joint between his claws and chuckled. "I have no fucking clue. You wanna hit it? I mean, if you're seriously going to try and tough it out the rest of the day, this will probably relax you enough to make it."

Jake looked at his friend and then walked over to the bathroom door. He hesitated for a moment before sliding the heavy trashcan in front of it to block it from opening. "Alright." He cleared his throat. "On one condition."

"Really?" Jason blinked in disbelief. "I'm game."

"I can't believe I'm doing this." Jake sighed and then hiccuped. He grimaced at the foul taste in his mouth. "What does your dad have to do with my dad's death and the kat that shot me?"

Jason stared bleary eyed at Jake for a long moment before gasping. "Your dad was the CEO of Claw-Tech Enterprises?"

Jake nodded.

"Shit." Jason looked like he'd had the wind knocked out of him before he handed Jake the weed. "You're gonna need this."

Jake looked down at it.

"A deal's a deal, bro." Jason shook his head and sat down on the floor beneath the paw-dryer.

Jake sat down next to him. "You... uh... you wanna tell me..."

"You're so innocent." Jason seemed awestruck. "Okay, inhale the smoke and hold it in for a minute before letting it out. It's gonna suck the first time."

Jake closed his eyes. "Here goes nothing." The smoke burned like nothing he'd ever felt before and he pitched forward, choking until his stomach threatened to spill out again. As he coughed and sputtered, his head began to spin. "What's the appeal of this again?"

"It's like a light switch for your brain." Jason took the joint back. "You can just shut off and not care."

"Right." Jake let his head rest against the wall.

"I told you me and my dad don't really get along well?" Jason asked. When Jake nodded slowly, he took a quick puff and sighed. "Ya see, he's always so wrapped up in Pumadyne. It pisses me off. He can't just leave work alone for one second. He was always obsessing over Claw-Tech. I heard him say once that he didn't care who he had to take out to make sure that company went down. Something about how his plans were stolen. That the company was a fraud."

"That's bullshit." Jake chuckled and shook his head, trying to work out why it was so funny. "My dad had the rights to those designs. He perfected them. Your dad is just jealous."

Jason shrugged. "You could be right. Dude. I didn't know you were the same brat-genius he always went on about. And my little sis, all she talks about is you and how 'cute' you are. I swear, bro, I've never said anything about you to him. We seriously can't be in the same room without arguing."

"I'm so tired of this shit." Jake unthinkingly took the joint back from Jason and took a second hit. It was a lot easier the second time. "I just wanna live a normal life and not have to worry about kats fucking wanting to kill me and stuff."

"That sucks, kat." Jason took the last hit and then tossed it into one of the toilets and flushed. "I think the bell for third rang, like, an hour ago."

"Shit." Jake stumbled to his feet and grabbed his bag. He blinked, feeling like he was in slow motion as he hurried to History. When he got there, the classroom was empty. "Fuck," he laughed. "It's lunch already?"

Suri looked around while she waited in the lunch line. She could have sworn she'd seen Jake that morning. Had he gone home? A slender, coppery furred arm around slid around her waist. Suri firmly gripped it at the wrist and turned to glare at whatever jerk thought he could just come up and touch her. "Jake," she gasped and let him go. "You startled me."

"Sorry." He grinned at her.

Suri tilted her head and then leaned down to sniff him. "You smell like Jason," she whispered.

"Yeah I ran into him earlier." Jake answered slowly. "What's on the menu? I'm starving."

Suri sighed, burying her concern. "Chicken nuggets."

"Awesome." Jake stood on his toes to see how far away from the food he was. "Why is the line so long?"

Jake started munching on his food before he even got to where he paid for it. By the time he passed Trevor and Andrew, his tray was half empty.

"Where you been hiding, Furlong?" Trevor jerked the tray away from him.

Jake blinked up at his swollen nose and eyes and snorted. "Dude. Your face looks awful!"

"What is wrong with you?" Suri hissed in his ear.

"I owe you for the other day, ya little punk." Trevor gripped the front of Jake's shirt.

"Sorry. Can you come a little closer?" Jake grinned. "I couldn't hear you."

Chance exhaled loudly as he exited the small bathroom in the garage. He rested his paw on his stomach and winced. "I don't know what the hell I ate," he groaned. "But I sure as hell wish it would stay down." He wondered how long the phone had been ringing when he walked into the office. "Megakat Salvage and Repair," he huffed.

"Chance," Jake's voice wavered a bit on the line.

"Please tell me you aren't sick too." Chance groaned.

"Uh..." Jake hesitated. "Not exactly."

Chance was so angry by the time he got to the school, that he was oblivious to his unsettled stomach. He stormed into the school office and right passed the secretary before marching straight into Mrs. Catsby's office. He sucked in a breath as he took in Jake, dried blood around the base of his nose and on his shirt. One of his eyes was beginning to swell and there was a nice gash above it. Chance exhaled slowly as he shifted his gaze from Jake to the two skinny young toms nearby. They were scowling and looked like they'd been mauled by a cheese grater. Suri was leaning against the wall, a foul look on her face. Chance closed his eyes as he turned his head back to face Jake. "I thought I told you not to let it get out of control?"

Jake flinched but maintained his silence. He could practically feel the rage radiating off his guardian. His ears flattened against his head when Mrs. Catsby informed all four of them that they were suspended for a week. The ride home from school was tense. Jake kept his focus on his knees and his mouth tightly shut.

"Go upstairs." Chance said tensely after he'd parked the suv and gotten out of it.

Jake shot him a wounded look and quickly complied. He paced around the kitchen nervously until he heard Chance's heavy footsteps on the stairs. "Crud," he hissed. He still felt like he was moving in slow motion and he was beginning to worry that Chance would notice. "He's gonna kick my ass into next year," he mumbled.

Chance slowly opened the door and then closed it behind him. He leaned against it and gave Jake the most disappointed look he could muster. "What did I tell you to do?"

Jake gave Chance a wide eyed look and then looked to the left. "Um."

"Look at me." Chance's voice was deadly calm.

Slowly, Jake returned his unsteady focus to the tabby. "To go to Mrs. Catsby."

Chance nodded. "Why didn't you?"

"Um.." Jake felt the uneasiness returning to his stomach. "I... I was going to. But... but then we had the snow day... and then.." He swallowed the sour taste in the back of his mouth back down. "I just..." Jake whimpered and practically threw himself over the sink.

Chance had to fight to keep his own stomach still. He closed his eyes and held his breath. When Jake stopped vomiting, he opened his eyes and pointed towards the other side of their home. "Go to bed."

Jake tried not to be emotional. Tears weren't something his father allowed. But, after spending several hours either curled up in bed or on the bathroom floor without Chance so much as checking on him once, he was feeling so guilty that he felt like he might just cry. He hugged his pillow close to him and looked at the clock. Certainly Chance had called it a day by now. Carefully sliding out of bed, he looked out of his door. It was still silent but there was a light on in the kitchen. Jake waited for a moment to see if there was any movement. He felt disappointed when there wasn't. It suddenly occurred to him that Chance had asked if he was sick too. "Sick too?" Jake felt his heart sink. He timidly knocked on the door to Chance's room. When there wasn't a response, he quietly opened the door and sighed. He wasn't there. "Did he leave?" Jake wondered and then shuddered at the sudden thought of being alone and vulnerable. He dropped heavily onto Chance's bed and squeezed his eyes shut. "You're not a kitten," he scolded himself even as he shivered again.

Chance looked at the time and sighed. It had taken so long for him to get those cars fixed between having to stop every so often to run to the bathroom and then having to get Jake. It was almost eight by the time he finally called it a night and locked up. He decided he'd change out of his work clothes and then see if Jake felt like eating before going to bed. He'd lecture Jake tomorrow. Chance flicked on the light in his room and froze. He eyed the teenager curled up on his bed, shivering like it was twenty degrees and eyes squeezed tightly shut. Chance sighed, quickly changed out of his greasy coveralls and into a loose pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt and then sat on the edge of the bed. He gently patted one of Jake's legs until the teen's eyes fluttered open.

"Cold?" Chance asked.

Jake nodded stiffly.

"Yeah I've been getting chills all day too." Chance looked sympathetic. "Why are you in my room?"

Jake weakly pushed himself up. "I was looking for you." He replied tiredly. "Did you leave?"

"I was downstairs. I had to work late." Chance couldn't help but sound irritated. "Come on." He pulled Jake to his feet. "Whatever you wanted, you can tell me from your own room."

Jake tiredly let Chance usher him back to his own bed.

Chance pulled back the rumpled covers and waited for Jake to climb in before covering him up. "Alright." He sat near Jake's head with one foot on the floor and the other bent at the knee. "What's on your mind?"

"Why didn't you yell at me?" Jake asked, his green eyes sparkling.

"I was saving that until I felt better." Chance smirked.
Jake seemed to pale a little bit at the thought. "I'm sorry," he said.

"For what?" Chance asked.

"For not listening." Jake looked away. "I thought I could handle it." He looked back up, a guilty expression on his face. "Since I'm in trouble anyway, can I make a couple of confessions?"

Chance narrowed his eyes. "What'd you do?"

"I cut the rest of third and all of fourth the other day with Suri after getting into it with Trevor and Andrew at lunch." Jake paused. "And I snuck out a few nights ago, as Razor, and copied Steele's files." He gave Chance a timid look.

"Anything else?" Chance asked, his look of worry turning back into surprise.

Jake swallowed. "Yeah." He closed his eyes. "I smoked weed with Jason in the bathroom after German in a bargain to get him to tell me what he knew about his dad." He cracked an eye open and noticeably flinched at the fiery look Chance was giving him.

Chance half chuckled as he stood up. "You feel up to eating anything?"

Jake shook his head slowly.

"Then go to sleep." Chance said sternly before leaving the room and letting the door shut loudly behind him. Jake's eyes widened and he fought the urge to follow him. The rational part of his brain reminded him that, right now, the best thing to do would be to follow orders. Jake buried his face into his pillow. "I'm so stupid," he mumbled.

Chance looked expectantly at Jake when he finally left his room the next day. He suppressed the smirk when Jake gave him a 'deer in the headlights' look. "Feel better?"

Jake nodded stiffly.

"Good." Chance pointed at an old, beat up stool nearby. "Sit."

Jake looked around the shop for a moment, like a caged animal looking for a way out, before sitting on the faded, ripped seat.

"I'm so pissed off right now." Chance leaned against the car he was working on to glare at Jake. "That I don't even know what to address first." He shook his head. "I think I'm more upset about you going off, risking your life without telling anyone than I am about you skipping school."

Jake anxiously swiveled on the stool, keeping his focus on the grease-stained concrete floor.

"Did you get anything out of it?" Chance asked, surprising the teen.

Jake snapped his head up, gave Chance a suspicious look before nodding his head. "Regular correspondence with Felino. The files are encrypted though. I haven't really had a chance to work on it."

"I wouldn't count on any free time opening up for ya." Chance pointed at him with the wrench he'd been using. "I want your laptop. And I want you out of the hangar unless you got my permission. I already changed the code on the lock."

"But what about...?"

"If you need it for school." Chance smirked. "You can use the computer in the office."

Jake's jaw fell open. "Chance! That's not a computer! It's a dinosaur!"

"Internet on it works fine and so does the word processor." Chance shrugged. "That's all you need for school."

Jake snapped his jaw shut and returned his focus to the floor. "Fine," he mumbled.

"Now this whole mess at school." Chance shook his head. "I mean, what are you doing? Trying to see how many rules you can break in one swing?"

Jake winced. "Skipping was Suri's idea."

"And you just said 'sure. Let's do it'?" Chance looked disbelieving.

"Chance." Jake sighed. "Her mom just died. I'd just had some douche-bag hold a razor blade to my throat for pretty much no reason. She wanted some air and she begged me to come with her."

Chance's eyes narrowed into angry slits. "A razor blade?"

Jake nodded.

"Did you even bother mentioning this to your principal?" Chance looked as if he might burst a blood vessel.

Jake bit his lip but didn't answer.

Chance gripped the wrench and fought the urge to throw it across the garage. "I'm gonna have a word with her before you go back to school."

"Chance.." Jake started to protest.

"I gave you the opportunity to handle it the right way and you just let it escalate." Chance cut him off.

"I have classes with both of them!" Jake argued. "It's just going to make it worse."
Chance shook his head. "It's not up for debate."

Jake sighed loudly and resumed his sullen posture.

"Now what does Jason know about your pops?" Chance asked.

Jake shrugged. "Nothing. He doesn't really get along well with his dad. He's heard him talking about taking out Claw-Tech by using any means necessary but he said he never made the connection."

"You believe him?" Chance sat down the wrench and hooked his thumbs in his pockets.

Jake made a face. "Yeah. I think I do."

Chance nodded and turned back around. "Did you like it?"

"What?" Jake asked.

"Smoking weed. Did you like it?" Chance asked, staring down the engine of the old Cutlass. Jake's hesitation was enough of an answer but he decided to give the kit a chance.

"I..." Jake closed his eyes. "It won't happen again, Chance. I only did it to get him to tell me about his dad."

Chance bit the inside of his cheek sharply. "Damn straight it won't happen again." He tried his best to keep the growl out of his voice. He softened a bit when he turned back around and saw the way Jake was cowering. "I'm not gonna hit you."

Jake relaxed marginally.

"If this happens again." Chance stepped closer to Jake, removing the distance between them. "Any of this, the Swat Kats are done. I don't care how much work we put into it or how much the city needs it. Next time one of those boys does something stupid or you feel the need to just skip a class or two, it's done. Same thing goes for you sneaking out. And if I so much as think I smell weed on you, don't think I won't get you tested."

Jake fought the urge to lean backwards.

"Are we clear?" Chance asked.

Jake nodded tensely. "Crystal," he whispered.

"Good." Chance hissed. "Now you're not gonna spend all day hiding upstairs. I got a whole pile of junk right outside that needs to be sorted and I gotta have this car done by noon, so go change and get your tail out there and get to work."

Jake closed his bedroom door behind him and leaned against it. He and Chance had just come home from Suri's mother's funeral. Her father had apparently been more forgiving of her being involved in a fight at school, but it wasn't clear or not if she'd confessed to skipping class. Still, she'd looked beautiful despite her reason for being dressed up. Jake felt ashamed for how he was thinking about her on such a sad occasion. Especially when he'd been the entire reason there was a bomb in the hotel. He'd wanted to tell her so bad but he was afraid she'd hate him. Jake sighed loudly and removed his tie. He swore he could smell her shampoo on it from where she'd hugged him and thanked him for coming. Jake closed his eyes and inhaled the arousing aroma. A loud pounding on his door jerked him from the trance.

"Hurry up!" Chance shouted. "We've gotta meet Ma for dinner in half an hour!"

Jake let his head thunk against the door and he cast a downward glance at the tie he was still holding before finally forcing himself to focus on changing out of the formal attire. He slipped on a pair of jeans that had been faded when he bought them and then worked a studded belt through the loops. He paused in front of the mirror on the inside door of his closet to admire the definition finally beginning to show in his chest and arms, a drastic change from his clearly kitten physique he'd been trying desperately to shed. Satisfied, Jake pulled on a slightly fitted shirt, grabbed his bomber jacket and hurried out of his room before Chance could say another word about the time.

Chance gave Jake a good once over, noting how the cuffs of Jake's pant legs weren't completely dragging the floor anymore. He fought the urge to comment on the teen's height. Jake really hated the short jokes. "He might actually be looking me in the eye by this summer," he thought with a smirk.

"What?" Jake asked when he caught the look Chance was giving him.

"Nothing." Chance grabbed his own jacket. "We're running late."

Jake rolled his eyes. "You'd think Callie was gonna be there or something."
"Heh," Chance replied.

Jake's eyes widened. "Wait. Let me guess. We're picking her up. She's having dinner with us and then I'm going home with Rita so that you can hit it without feeling guilty that there's a kit in the other room."

Chance blanched a bit. "So I can 'hit it'? Really?" He sighed. "You're staying the night with Ma so you can clean out her basement for her tomorrow."

"What?" Jake gasped. "Chance..."

"Grounded," Chance reminded in a sing-song voice.

"Right." Jake frowned.

"This used to be Chance's room." Rita said as she fussed with the pillows. "Is it warm enough in the house?"

Jake dropped the backpack that Chance had already had packed for him on the floor by the door. "It's fine, Rita."

"Alright." She patted him on the cheek. "Get some sleep."

Jake looked at the clock. It wasn't even ten yet. "Sure. Goodnight, Rita."

"Goodnight, sweetheart." She smiled affectionately before leaving, closing the door behind her.

Jake sat on the bed and winced when it groaned loudly. He sighed and stood back up. There was a chest of drawers, a small table by the bed with a lamp on it, a desk by the window and a closet. Curious, Jake opened the drawer in the beside table. His eyes widened as they took in the cover of an old Play-kitty. "I bet she hasn't done more than dust in here in years," Jake thought as he gently pulled the magazine from the drawer. It was dated October 1997. As if handling an ancient manuscript, he carefully turned the pages. His heart skipped a beat as he ghosted a paw over a pair of spread, light blond furred legs. Excited by his find, Jake took a quick moment to look through the remaining pages before carefully tucking it into his bag. "Wonder what else he's hiding in here." The chest of drawers was empty except for some moth balls. Inside the desk drawers were several tiny model planes. Jake neatly lined them up on the desktop as he examined them. Finally, he found a kit for one, the box still sealed. "Guess he never got to put this one together." Jake turned the box over in his paws. He was surprised. It was a replica of the Blue Manx. Carefully, he used a claw to slice the tape, wondering how long it would take for him to put it together. The task was just slow and dull enough to make him tired.