~The Confession~

Later that same afternoon, Chance and Jake had finished the car they were previously working on so they decided to spar in the underground hangar so as not to get soaked in the rain. The boys wore their usual sparring gear which consisted of tan pants tucked into black army boots, Jake had on a tucked in black tank top while Chance sported an off-white tucked in tank top. Bella was sitting on the couch in the office and flipping through the channels on the tv with the remote, her eyes were a little red from crying but they would clear up eventually. "I leave the nest for one night and I immediately get a job as a mechanic, could be worse." She said to herself, trying to make light of her dire situation.

-

Chance had a lot of muscles on him and was very strong but also kinda slow, while Jake had a few noticeable muscles on him but was very fast and agile. Chance went to punch Jake, but Jake quickly ducked and grabbed Chance's extended arm throwing him a distance away and onto his back. "Oldest trick in the book," Jake said, clapping the dust off his paws and smiled proudly with his hands on his hips. "Give up yet?"

"Not by a long shot. Two outta three, partner." Chance said, getting back up. "And this time, I'll win."

"I'll believe it when I see it." Jake smiled, adjusting his belt.

Chance charged at him to attack, but they both heard an alarm going off on the monitor next to a pair of lockers. The monitor turned on automatically, revealing a green sedan coming onto the lot. "Looks like Miss Briggs is here for her monthly tune-up." He walked over to the ladder and started climbing up it after changing into his light blue jumpsuit and tan shoes. "And this match isn't over."

"Whatever you say, Chance." Jake chuckled, following as well after he got changed.

The rain was finally coming to a stop as Bella noticed a pair of headlights pull up, she quickly got off the couch to hide behind the finished car inside the garage while the guys came into the office from the hatch before the car got turned off. Her first initial thought was thinking the guys had called someone about her, at least she would be quick enough to get out of the garage if that were the case. "Hey guys." A blonde she-kat got out of the car in a pink business suit and walked into the garage, carrying her set of car keys. "Thank goodness the rain finally stopped when I got here."

"Hey there Callie, how's it going?" Chance walked over.

Callie smiled at him. "Oh the usual, Manx wanted me to go over the repairs from Dr. Viper's attack a few days ago. I was able to get it completed, but it took a lot out of me."

"Viper attacked the city again huh," Jake said, walking over.

Callie nodded, looking at Jake. She gave him the car keys. "He did, he was trying to turn it into a swamp and almost succeeded. But not before the Swat Kats came and took him out."

Bella was listening in on the conversation, thinking to herself. 'Swat Kats? Why is that name so familiar?' After a bit of thinking, she remembered when she would be at home flipping through the tv channels and they would get some news from MegaKat City about two anti-heroes that flew around in a jet calling themselves the Swat Kats. 'Wait.' She looked at Jake and Chance as they were talking to Callie, gasping. Bella went through a whirlwind of emotions, it was mostly shock. 'That would explain the hangar and the jet.'

"You're welcome to stay here while we work on your car for you, how about some milk?" Chance smiled at her.

"Sorry I can't, got a taxi coming to take me back to the office," Callie explained. "It was nice talking to you guys, though." The taxi pulled up a few minutes later and she opened the back passenger door, getting inside and shut it as the taxi left the lot.

Bella came out of hiding, walking over to them as they waved to Callie as she left. "I'm guessing you two have known her for a while?"

"A few years, give or take." Chance explained, opening the hood to Callie's vehicle. "She's Callie Briggs, the deputy mayor to MegaKat City."

"Once every month, she comes here for a tune-up on her car and we only provide her the best." Jake smiled.

Bella nodded, looking at them. "So most of your business comes through her."

"And random kats that get stuck on the road." Chance added, looking at the engine. He then looked at Bella, she was wondering why he was looking at her. "Come over and check this out, let's see how good you are."

"Well, I guess I can try. Like I said before, my dad taught me a few things about cars. He was going to teach me more when he felt I was ready, of course, this was all before he..." She cleared her throat, trying not to think about it. "Let's just get to working on this engine." Bella helped them out with what she could, getting a few tips from both Jake and Chance. She felt really excited to actually be getting lessons from the one and only Swat Kats. An hour later the job was completed and Callie came to reclaim her vehicle, Bella had stayed upstairs during the retrieval as Callie left for the night a few minutes afterward.

Chance had made a run for some pizza after Callie left, leaving her and Jake alone upstairs. Bella sat at the kitchen table silently drinking her can of milk, not really sure what to talk about as Jake sat across from her drinking his own can. He decided he would be the one to speak up. "I heard what the news said about you, but I want to hear it from your perspective."

"My perspective?" Bella looked at him, then took a breath and exhaled starting to explain herself. "I don't really know much of what exactly happened, I was already asleep when my father was attacked. It was only until the following morning that I noticed something was wrong when the police were walking around the house and asking the neighbors questions outside, one of them escorted me to the hospital where my mom was...she explained what happened to dad but then..." She teared up a bit, but wiped her eyes continuing the story. "After that, the media kept swarming us like vultures and my mom had enough of it. I hated seeing her so depressed so I left the house wearing my poncho and went through the back to give her some space and to calm down, but that's when she..."

"That's when she took her life." Jake finished, looking at her sadly.

"Yeah." Bella nodded, doing her best to compose herself but she was slowly losing the battle. "When I came back, an ambulance had left my house and there was a blood stain on the carpet in the dining room. That's when I heard a ticking noise and looked into the living room to see this odd shaped thing that looked like a metal water jug with a timer on it, it's when I realized it was actually a bomb and ran for the nearest window jumping out of it. My house exploded right behind me as it started storming, everyone outside saw the explosion but didn't see me. So the second I got up, I just started running. Halfway out of town I saw the news report on mom, after that, I just didn't stop running. I wanted to get as far away from that town as possible, not wanting to look back." She was now crying after finishing her story.

Jake looked at her sadly, close to crying himself but kept it together. "I wouldn't want to look back, either." He gave her a tissue.

"Thank you." She wiped her eyes and nose with the tissue, throwing it away. "But seeing that bomb made me realize someone wanted my dad dead and got his wish, the only thing is I don't know who. We moved around so much when I was young, his position as a pilot helped him keep the city safe from all sorts of bad kats. Mobs, drug lords you name it."

"So it very well could have been an assassination," Jake said, looking at her. "Is there anything else you can tell me?"

"Nothing I think that can help no, but I do have a question for you." Bella looked at him.

"Alright, what is your question?" Jake said, chugging his milk.

Bella took a breath, coming out and asking. "What's it like to be a Swat Kat?"

Jake spat out some of his milk, almost choking on it and coughed a bit. "Why would you ask something like that?"

"Because I saw the hangar, I saw your jet. So it's not that hard to figure out. " Bella shrugged but smiled. "So what's it like?"

Jake sighed, looking out the window. "It's not something you should be getting yourself into, we're lawbreakers."

"I know you are," Bella said as Jake looked over at her. "I've seen a few news stories about you guys, you risk your lives protecting those that can't protect themselves. Collateral damage is just part of the job and you still get it done. You may be anti-heroes to others, but I see you as my heroes."

Jake smiled at her, that was the second time anyone has said that about them. The first being Callie, of course. "Thank you, Bella."

"You're welcome, Jake." She smiled back, drinking her milk.

Chance came up the stairs behind her, carrying a box of pizza with him. "I hope you two are hungry, I got tuna topping pizza."

"Starving," Bella said, he sat the box down opening it and Jake took a slice taking a bite. She took a slice out of the box and took a bite as well, it was very cheesy but also crunchy from the crust. The tuna on top added a nice flavor to it, she sighed happily. "This is really good, thank you Chance."

"Don't mention it." Chance smiled as he sat down and started eating as well, despite all she's been through Bella can see this all slowly starting to work out. Learning all of the tips and tricks of being a mechanic will take some time, but at least she has the best teachers around to help her.

Thank you very much for reading, I'm glad to be putting these chapters out. This used to be a totally different story when I first made it and my OC was a complete mary sue, even I cringed at it. But my friend gave me a "Divine" (ayy) intervention and it has really helped me.