GIVING UP
AN: I'm not a native English speaker but Kristen Sharpe beta'd a whole lot of this story. However, I've been rewriting certain stuff, so I really don't know how the spelling is doing in this current state…
Disclaimer: The SWAT kat's aren't mine.
Summary: A year has past since a terrible accident has taken place and things have changed.. Big time!
GIVING UP 1: Changes
By Vampy
Jake walked into the room. It was pitch black, the perfect resemblance of his feelings. He dropped his cracked SWAT kat helmet on the floor and dropped himself onto the couch. He was resting, but he never closed his eyes.
Eventually, he slouched out a hand to get the clicker and turned on the television to see kat's eyes news. Maybe he was needed.
Ann Gora's face appeared with the just captured Dark Kat behind her. The villain had reappeared after almost half a year but given no chance to do any real damage.
Jake turned off the TV. If he were needed he would get a call from Callie. So, he closed his eyes.
Immediately he opened them again, because he remembered the answering machine. It's light was blinking so the tired tomcat stood up and pushed the button to play the messages. He had three, the first one was a call from Cally.
He walked to the kitchen and got himself a glass of water; the fridge was empty.
Callie was sounding worried but he ignored her. She was calling him almost everyday to check on him. Sweet, but unnecessary. He was walking back to the couch when he stepped on a piece of glass. Mildly swearing he decided to clean it up before he could step on it again.
Truth to be said, the place was a dump. The only things being used were the kitchen, answering machine, tv and couch.
Having scooped up the pieces of glass and having thrown them away, he finally slouched onto the couch again.
Feral had called too.
"Listen SWAT kat, the next time you let us handle him! We were in perfect control until you came."
Pause
"Damn it, Jake.."
longer pause
"...when was the last time you had a decent night's rest? Call me, I'm not finished with you yet."
Yeah right, like he would call Feral. He made a mental note to never give his phone number to Cally again, since she wasn't capable of keeping it to herself.
The next caller shook him awake more then anything ever could have.
Doctor Diana Smith.
"Jake you better get to the hospital right away."
That was his cue.
He stood up, picked up his jacket and almost tripped over his helmet as he left for the hospital.
--------
The Cyclotron roared past an Enforcers car far above the speeding limit. But the Enforcers ignored it, which was one of the reasons why Jake got to the hospital in less then half an hour.
Doctor Smith was waiting for him, a worried look on her face. But, she released a sigh of relief when she saw him. They never spoke but went up to room 336 straight away. There lay Chance, hooked up to several machines. Jake was relieved to find the machine beeping a steady rhythm instead of flat lining.
Jake slouched into the chair next to Chance, a hand up to his face to keep his emotions in check.
"You okay?" The doctor asked. "I saw the news.."
"I'm fine, Smith, besides the heart attack you gave me with that call." He leaned back into the chair. "Next time leave a longer message. Okay?"
Diana was silent for a while, studying Jake. "I called you to get you to see your friend. When was the last time you visited?"
"Diana.. I have to go.."
"You owe him that much."
Jake was just silent.
"Now.. Are you really okay? I saw you got quite a blow to the head." She was probing him for injuries.
"That's why we wear helmets. Now can I go?"
It was more an order then a request, but Smith ignored it nonetheless. She had an injection in her hands and stuck it into Jake's fur. He yelped, stood up and turned away with such force that the needle broke.
"Jake!" Doctor Smith let out with surprise.
"What the hell was that for!" Jake yelled as surprised as she was. He took out the piece of needle that was sticking out of his fur.
She had never tried anything like this.
"Jake! Listen you haven't slept in days, your body is exhausted and you stopped seeing Chance just to be away from people.." She tried to reason with him, but he was long gone. She held a broken injection in her hands and looked up to see Chance. "God it would be so much easier if you were awake..."
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After his visit Jake did realized just how hungry he was and decided to eat something before he would really be a wreck. Stopping the cyclotron in front of the Kat's Eyes Café earned him some strange looks but the warmth that greeted him inside made up for that.
It wasn't true what Diana said, he wasn't avoiding people he had just been too busy to bother…
He sat down at the bar and McFurley, the bartender nodded to him while pouring someone else a drink. Jake was looking down at his paws, while someone patted his back, saying he did a good job. Otherwise the rest the people let him alone, which suited him just fine.
"What can I get you, Jake?" McFurley asked.
"Something eatable." Jake answered. He didn't care and McFurley gave a random order to one of his colleagues while he stayed with Jake.
"How are ya?" the bulky bartender asked.
Jake grinned. "I haven't even started to count all the how-are-you-doing's yet."
"That good huh? Um, You know, I kinda promised Miss Briggs I would call her if you came here."
Jake looked up at him. "So, tell her you forgot, it's not the first time..."
"True, but I saw the news today and uh..."
Jake had turned his attention to a beer filter in front of him, assured that McFurley wouldn't call the she-kat.
"Don't worry McFurley. I went to see Chance. Smith thinks I'm okay, only need some sleep."
McFurley wasn't totally convinced. "So you'll eat something and then get a decent night sleep?"
"I guess." Jake suddenly lost interest for the beer filter. "Hey, is there a lead on the Mariah case?"
McFurley was silent. What should he tell?
"The truth please," Jake pleaded as if he had read McFurley's mind.
"I'll tell you everything I know as long as you promise you'll go home anyway."
Some people were watching the conversation, but Jake ignored them. They always did.
"I hear it either from you or I'm going to ask someone else which will only take longer."
McFurley shook his head. "Damn you, Jake. pause She died... The injuries were too severe." Jake was stunned. "They know it wasn't Dark Kat, he didn't have the time nor the opportunity to do it."
Jake blinked. McFurley got a plate with fish 'n chips and placed it before the dumbstruck kat. "Here Jake, eat something…"
But Jake was already standing up. "No I.."
"Jake, sit down right now!"
Jake was surprised by McFurley's furious behaviour and sat down immediately with a stunned expression on his face.
"Feral is coming over here, maybe he's got some more information. Now eat!" And with that he pushed the plate in front of the caramel kat.
Jake pushed the plate back, a little angry at the bartender. "Feral doesn't know anything. He called me, only to chew my tail out."
McFurley snorted. "I don't care. You're going to eat that up, hear Feral out and make me a happy camper."
He paused. "Though I would be happier if you'd also get some sleep. Buy beggars can't be choosers I guess."
Jake was about to protest when someone he didn't even know interfered.
"Feral is not sitting by doing nothing. He'll get something!"
"Yeah," someone else said. "Besides, you can't work 24 hours a day."
Someone close enough elbowed this guy before he could say something else.
Jake rolled his eyes towards McFurley and took a bite of his food. "If Feral hasn't got anything I'm not paying for this."
McFurley nodded. Jake never paid for anything but McFurley pretended to write it down.
Everything returned back to normal and 20 minutes later Feral arrived searching the crowd.
When he spotted Jake at the bar he came over and ordered a drink. Jake had just started on an unwanted dessert, an apple. But McFurley insisted on it and since Jake knew that the bartender hadn't written down a single debt, he owed him that much.
Feral took a sip of his drink and asked the two where Miss Briggs was on which McFurley fall into a character to which Shakespeare would be jealous.
"Oh, my gosh! I forgot to call her! The horror, the horror! What a disaster. Shall I do it anyway?"
"Quit it McFurley," Jake interfered. "I'm out of here if you do. All she does is worry."
Jake was more then slightly irritated but Feral gave a mean look to McFurley anyway. McFurley ignored the commander and went to tend some other customers.
"Hey commander! Any lead on the Mariah case?" This was the same guy who got the elbow between his ribs. And he received another one just like before.
Feral searched the crowd for the no good lowlife but with no results, he turned to face Jake who was looking at him. Feral had to grin. "Let me guess, they blackmailed you into staying. All of them?"
Jake nodded. "Pretty much. So.. aren't you going to arrest all of them?"
Feral shook his head. "Nah, and you should thank them, it saved you a lot of rouble. We've got a prime suspect..."
"Dennis Clover?" Jake inquired.
"Yes, Dennis Clover. We've got him under surveillance. Brought him in for questioning this morning, said he was watching a rented movie, no alibi."
"What about the movie?" Jake inquired.
"He hired it for a week.."
"But you've got him under surveillance?"
"Of course! pause Oh, Felina told me to give you this note." Feral fumbled in his pocket and handed Jake a folded note.
"You didn't read it, did you?" Jake eyed the commander suspiciously.
"Of course not. Besides, Felina would never forgive me."
Jake grinned at that, the tall kat really had weak spot for his niece. He turned away to read the note that read:
'Hey sure shot, hope you're doing fine. Don't worry about the Mariah case. My uncle has it covered. Sweet dreams.
Love Felina.
PS. I'm going to see T-bone tomorrow at 1 O'Clock.'
Jake folded the paper and put it in his jacket. Feral was talking to McFurley. Jake stood up and left. He said good-bye to McFurley and wished Feral good luck with the case earning himself a smile from the commander.
A few seconds later, the cyclotron was heading for the hospital again.
Chance was on the third floor so in order to evade Smith he climbed the relatively short distance.
The window was open and Chance was still where he had been for the past year.
Even after all this time it was still strange to see Chance lying there, as if he was peacefylly sleeping. The only problem was that he wasn't waking up.
Jake sighed then looked at the empty bed beside Chance's.
He never felt like sleeping at the scrap yard, it was just too big and empty somehow. Besides, if he slept in the hospital he could keep an eye on Chance and he would be in the city, which saved him some travelling time in case his help was needed.
He lay down on the bed and closed his eyes. But the sleep wouldn't come, even though he must've been exhausted.
He knew it was because of the nightmares.
When he opened his eyes and saw Chance's still form, he could barely control his feelings, so he turned around to face the wall.
Just then there was a knock on the door. Followed by the door opening. A soft 'Jake?' sounded.
Jake sighed. "Go away."
Smith ignored him. "I think I should explain myself. I never meant to drug you or anything but you're turning into a wreck if you keep this up." Jake was silent. So Smith continued. "I'll never do it again. Okay? I just wanted to tell you that."
She had still one question left and Jake knew it. But she didn't ask it. She made a move as though to leave. So Jake reacted. "Doc?"
"Yes Jake?"
"You were right.. and.. well.. " Jake was getting a little lost. "I can't sleep."
Smith sighed and told Jake it was okay. Then she injected him with a small sedative and his world went black.
--------
"Dark kat has been locked away after a sentence from Judge Hardy and has to spent the rest of his nine lives in jail. The only question remains: will Dark kat find out a way to escape? We asked mayor Briggs what she thinks."
The sweet face of
Cally
Bridge appears on screen. "Well Ann, I think we shouldn't have to worry about a single thing, because the crime ratio has been so low this past half year.. In fact the Mariah case was solved last night at approximately two O'clock..."
This woke Jake up.
"...Dennis Clover has been arrested by the Enforcers and will probably stay in jail for the following 20 years for murder.
For the first time in three months neither the Enforcers nor Razor have a job to do. The city is momentarily crime free and we suspect it will stay that way for some time."
Ann Gora appears back on the screen. "Thank you Mayor. So there you have it.
Megakat
City is momentarily crime free and that means we'll be ready for anyone who'll dare to commit a crime. This is Ann Gora, Kat's Eye News."
The TV went blank and Felina, who head been watching the news, turned to face Jake. "Isn't that great?"
Jake blinked against the sun that shone brightly through the curtains. "Good morning to you too. Sjeesh."
"Awww, come on, Razor." She sat down in the chair while Jake wiped away the sleep in his eyes and yawned, showing all his teeth. "Besides it isn't morning anymore. You slept till noon, it's half past one."
Jake looked at the clock, she was right. "Wow, Smith must've given me something strong."
Felina gave him an unbelievable look. "Sure hotshot. So... you hungry?"
"Yeah but not hungry enough for hospital food."
Felina grinned. "Nah, and you need a shower too."
"Hey!" Jake was offended by that. "Since when did you take over my life?"
"Since now. Let's go."
And with that she took him by the arm and dragged him all the way to her place leaving Chance alone.
TBC
