"Chris? T-bone? Chris! Come in!" Jake yelled furiously into the radio as he had been for the last half hour. He got nothing but static.
T-bone pushed through the door into the cockpit of the train. Callie pointed at the obvious.
The Pastmaster stood in a little space to the side of the tracks. He was chanting and a swirling purple portal swirled around in the center of the tracks.
"Hit the brakes!" T-bone yelled.
"I tried! He's doing something to pull us in," Callie shouted back.
The train rushed forward at an alarming rate as T-bone thought, he needed to hit the watch. There wasn't anything in his glovatrix that would cut it. Everything was non-lethal and it could trap the old gnome, but not fast enough to stop the watch. Besides, he wanted that watch gone once and for all.
He felt the heavy weight of Chirs' gun in his hand.
He shoved a side window open and leaned out, trying his best to take careful aim. Where was sureshot when you needed him?
He squeezed the trigger, hitting the Pastmaster, missing the watch.
He squeezed again, praying the bullets wouldn't run out on him.
Miss. Miss. Miss.
Hit! There was a faint shatter of glass and the swirling portal dissipated just as the train rushed through.
"Ha!" T-bone shouted, and kissed the barrel of the gun, "Take that!"
Suddenly the train burst out from below ground and into the pre-dawn light.
"T-bone?" Razors voice crackled over the radio.
"Buddy!" T-bone responded, "We did it! We made it out."
"Yes! You got all the people?"
"Yes, as far as I know."
"And Chris is ok?"
T-bone fell silent, he closed his eyes and sat down in the drivers chair.
"T-bone? Is Chris ok?"
"Look, buddy..."
"T-bone what happened to her?"
"He shot me!" Chris' voice cracked weakly over the radio, "That's what happened, the stupid jerk shot me!"
"You're ok!" T-bone shouted happily, "Nothing happened Razor, she's just fine."
"You shot her?!" Razor asked with disbelief.
"In the shoulder. It hurts like hell and when I get my hands on him I swear to God-"
"It was an accident!" T-bone grumbled, "I am not known for my incredible aim."
Callie looked up from the impromptu press conference she gave on the pavement to watch the Turbokat take off. She had met the she-kat who now sat in Razors seat only briefly. T-bone told her enough that she understood what an influence the girl had had on getting the hostages out. She had also seen a flesh wound on her shoulder and offered medical assistance but the girl had refused, and now they were flying away. Callie never even got her name.
"Ms. Briggs," a reported shouted, shoving a mic in her face, "What do you know about these reports of a third SWAT Kat?"
"God I hope so. Next question please."
The second Chris stepped of the Turbokat Jake ran to her and threw his arms around her.
She pulled away in pain, "Ah. Jesus that hurts! T-bone shot me you know."
"Sorry! Sorry. I was so...I mean..." Jake stumbled to find the words, "I feel like such an idiot."
Chris kissed him lightly on the lips, "That's ok. I look like one. Were a perfect team."
T-bone jumped down from the cockpit, "Don't I get a welcome home kiss?"
Jake shot him a look.
"He dumped me out of a plane too," Chris said through a slight grin, "Will you beat him up for me please?"
"Of course, dear," Jake said with mock politeness, "but first we're going to clean you up. You're going to have a fun new scar."
"Oh boy."
Chris woke up in Jakes bed as the sun went down that day. He had cleaned her up, and she had nearly fallen asleep on the floor but Jake had helped her up here and she had been asleep up here for the past eight hours. She thought that this had been the only time she had woken up in a guys bed guilt free and without a hangover.
She stumbled out of bed and wandered downstairs, her stomach growling noisily. She could smell food cooking in the kitchen.
As she turned into the kitchen, she met quite a site. The lights were dimmed, and most of the light came from a string of white Christmas lights strung across the ceiling. Candles were set here and there around the kitchen, making what light there was dance in strange ways. The table was set for two with a clean white table cloth, a tall candle, champagne flukes, and a rose. Jake stepped in from the garage.
"Woah," she said slowly, adjusting her left arm in its sling, "Did the Fab Five come while I was sleeping?"
Jakes eyes widened, "Maybe Chance invited the president to dinner, you know, as a surprise."
Chris nodded slowly, "I'm surprised."
T-bone stepped in wearing black slacks and a white shirt. A white apron was tied neatly around his waist and his hair was slicked back.
"Chance..." Jake said slowly, "Where did the kitchen go?"
"I think you're asking the wrong question," Chris said, "I think it all comes down to why he's dressed like that. Chance, why are you dressed like that?"
"Hello, lady and gentelkat, My name is Chance..."
"Well duh."
"...And I will be your server tonight in Megakats newest fine restaurant at Jake and Chances garage and scrap yard. Our motto is dine while your car gets a new carburetor. If you would like to take a seat." He pulled a chair out and motioned for Chris to sit.
"What can I start you off with tonight?"
"I'm thinking wine, lots and lots of wine," Chris said, her eyes still wide with confusion.
Jake had a similar look splashed across his face.
"Of course," Chance pulled a bottle of wine out of the fridge and poured it into their glasses. Chris picked hers up and stared at it, "Chance, this is sweet but you don't drink red wine out of champagne flukes. It just isn't done."
He took the glass back, "If your going to be picky then you don't get any."
Chris snatched the glass back, "On second thought, I'm going to need this. I figure the drunker I get, the more sense this is going to make."
Jake took a sip of his, "Yeah buddy, lets move on to the part where you tell us what's going on."
"How about an appetizer?" Chance set a platter of bread down on the table and began slicing off big hunks.
Chris took a piece, "Did you bake this?"
Chance snorted, "Course not. I bought it at the grocery store and kept it warm in the oven."
"Oh. Well it's good."
"Really?" He reached for a piece, but Chris slapped his hand away, "You're the waiter. Stay in character."
Chance grumbled but went over to the counter to put the main course together.
Chris leaned over the table to whisper to Jake, "What the hell is going on?"
He shrugged, "I have no idea."
She gave him a look.
"Its true! I was gone all afternoon running errands. I saw this the same time as you."
"So your not in on this at all?"
He shook his head, "I'm as surprised as you."
Chance came back with two steaming plates of food.
"Oh wow, it smells great," Chris was starved.
"And it tastes great too," Chance set the plates down in front of them.
"How do you know?"
"I didn't cook it," Chance said and flashed that grin of his.
"Always a good sign," Jake said as he took a bite of chicken with some sort of white sauce, "This is really good."
"I got it from that nice restaurant on Firefly Street."
Chris nodded her approval, "You need to not cook more often."
"I'm going to leave you two alone now to talk," Chance said, bowing out.
Chris stopped her fork half-way to her mouth, "You make that sound so serious. Is there something we're supposed to be talking about? If so I need more wine."
Jake thought a moment "Actually there is something, Chance and I were discussing it earlier and now might be as good a time as any to-"Chance stomped on Jakes tail, "Or not!" Jake continued without missing a beat, "Lets not talk about that now because..." Jake looked to Chance for a reason, he didn't get one, "Well, just because I guess."
Chris put her fork down, "Ok, somebody has to tell me what's going on here sometime soon or else there will be a lot of pain coming from my general direction."
"Well time to go," Chance said and started out the door. Chris grabbed the back of his apron and pulled him back, "What's the deal Chance?"
"Deal?" he said innocently, "No deal. I just want to do something nice for my oldest friend and my newest."
"That sounds really corny, buddy," Jake said as he picked up another piece of chicken.
Chris nodded her agreement.
Chance sighed, "The truth is a do feel more then a little guilty about shooting you. And dropping you out of the plane. But mostly the shooting you. I'm trying to make it up to you," he paused for a long time before saying, "I also don't want to see Jake lose the girl of his dreams."
Jake coughed and took a long drink of his wine. Chris blushed and looked down at her plate, suddenly finding the bits of seasoning stuck to the chicken really fascinating.
Chance quickly changed the subject and poured more wine.
The next hour went quickly. More great food, Chance bustling in and out, Chris' favorite part was that Jake was there, Jakes favorite was that Chris would still be there later.
Dessert came and went, the dirty dishes were taken away, and The Couple, as Chance was jokingly referring to Jake and Chris, was deep in conversation about, of all things, the state of Chris' truck.
Chance suddenly appeared with a plate with a large mixing bowl resting on top, his version of a silver platter.
"More food?" Jake's jaw dropped, "I can't eat anymore."
"Its not for you," Chance said, setting the platter down in front of Chris.
She looked at it with apprehension, "I don't want it. I'm full too."
"Just open it."
Chris slowly lifted the mixing bowl to reveal a small piece of folded paper. She glanced at Chance, "What's this? The bill?"
Chance grinned and motioned for Chris to pick it up. She reached for the paper and slowly opened it. There was a single word printed on it: Hunter.
Chris stared at the paper for a long time before asking, "What is this?"
Chance could barley contain his grin, "A codename," he said as he rocked back on his heels.
"A codename? Like..." she took a breath, "Are you asking me to...to be a, a SWAT Kat?" She looked to Jake, "Did you know about this?"
Jake nodded, "Yes, I was going to ask you about it earlier, remember? I started to and Chance cut me off."
She stared at the slip a little longer, "I'm not sure what to say."
"Say yes."
Chris met Jake's eyes, "You got that line from a movie."
"TV show, actually. But it's true. We couldn't have done it last night without you."
"I, um, wow," Chris faltered. This was what she wanted, wasn't it? But it wasn't and it was all at the same time. She, like the two kats in the kitchen with her now, was a daredevil at heart, so it wasn't that she couldn't handle the danger or the villains or anything else. She had proved that last night. But what was keeping her? There was a voice telling her that this wasn't right. What was that? She filtered through all the reasons in her mind then finally came to it.
She set the paper down, "I can't," she managed to choke out.
Chances face fell and Jake looked like someone had just killed a part of him. Jake reached for her hand, "Why not?"
"I'm a fugitive, Jake. I'm wanted for that whole stupid thing with Feral and the Enforcers and its only a matter of time before that catches up to me. If it catches up to me and I'm connected in anyway to you two then its only a matter of time before somebody figures out that you guys are the SWAT Kats. Just by being here for this long I've put you both in a lot of danger. If I stay here longer, it makes for a bigger and bigger chance that someone is going to find me. If they find me here, then the Enforcers will go over this place with a fine tooth comb and it would be incredibly unlikely that they wouldn't stumble across the hanger or some other thing that would give you away," Although tears welled in Chris' eyes she forbade them to fall. She would fight through this and be fine.
"I'm willing to take that risk," Jake said, squeezing her hand, "I'm willing to risk that for you."
Chance put his hand on Chris' shoulder, "Me too."
Chris shook her head, "I can't take that risk," she swallowed, "Jake says my truck is fixed. I'm leaving tomorrow."
Jakes face fell even further, "Tomorrow? But...you just...you can't. Stay. Please. We can change your name. Cut your hair. I know a guy who can get you some excellent fake I.D.s-"
A glimmer of hope flashed through Chris' mind. She thought for a fleeting moment that it would work, but only for a fleeting moment, "If anything happened to you, to either one of you, on account of me..." she didn't finish her thought, "Jake, I'm doing this for you. For both of you. I should have left a long time ago." She stood and left the table.
T-bone pushed through the door into the cockpit of the train. Callie pointed at the obvious.
The Pastmaster stood in a little space to the side of the tracks. He was chanting and a swirling purple portal swirled around in the center of the tracks.
"Hit the brakes!" T-bone yelled.
"I tried! He's doing something to pull us in," Callie shouted back.
The train rushed forward at an alarming rate as T-bone thought, he needed to hit the watch. There wasn't anything in his glovatrix that would cut it. Everything was non-lethal and it could trap the old gnome, but not fast enough to stop the watch. Besides, he wanted that watch gone once and for all.
He felt the heavy weight of Chirs' gun in his hand.
He shoved a side window open and leaned out, trying his best to take careful aim. Where was sureshot when you needed him?
He squeezed the trigger, hitting the Pastmaster, missing the watch.
He squeezed again, praying the bullets wouldn't run out on him.
Miss. Miss. Miss.
Hit! There was a faint shatter of glass and the swirling portal dissipated just as the train rushed through.
"Ha!" T-bone shouted, and kissed the barrel of the gun, "Take that!"
Suddenly the train burst out from below ground and into the pre-dawn light.
"T-bone?" Razors voice crackled over the radio.
"Buddy!" T-bone responded, "We did it! We made it out."
"Yes! You got all the people?"
"Yes, as far as I know."
"And Chris is ok?"
T-bone fell silent, he closed his eyes and sat down in the drivers chair.
"T-bone? Is Chris ok?"
"Look, buddy..."
"T-bone what happened to her?"
"He shot me!" Chris' voice cracked weakly over the radio, "That's what happened, the stupid jerk shot me!"
"You're ok!" T-bone shouted happily, "Nothing happened Razor, she's just fine."
"You shot her?!" Razor asked with disbelief.
"In the shoulder. It hurts like hell and when I get my hands on him I swear to God-"
"It was an accident!" T-bone grumbled, "I am not known for my incredible aim."
Callie looked up from the impromptu press conference she gave on the pavement to watch the Turbokat take off. She had met the she-kat who now sat in Razors seat only briefly. T-bone told her enough that she understood what an influence the girl had had on getting the hostages out. She had also seen a flesh wound on her shoulder and offered medical assistance but the girl had refused, and now they were flying away. Callie never even got her name.
"Ms. Briggs," a reported shouted, shoving a mic in her face, "What do you know about these reports of a third SWAT Kat?"
"God I hope so. Next question please."
The second Chris stepped of the Turbokat Jake ran to her and threw his arms around her.
She pulled away in pain, "Ah. Jesus that hurts! T-bone shot me you know."
"Sorry! Sorry. I was so...I mean..." Jake stumbled to find the words, "I feel like such an idiot."
Chris kissed him lightly on the lips, "That's ok. I look like one. Were a perfect team."
T-bone jumped down from the cockpit, "Don't I get a welcome home kiss?"
Jake shot him a look.
"He dumped me out of a plane too," Chris said through a slight grin, "Will you beat him up for me please?"
"Of course, dear," Jake said with mock politeness, "but first we're going to clean you up. You're going to have a fun new scar."
"Oh boy."
Chris woke up in Jakes bed as the sun went down that day. He had cleaned her up, and she had nearly fallen asleep on the floor but Jake had helped her up here and she had been asleep up here for the past eight hours. She thought that this had been the only time she had woken up in a guys bed guilt free and without a hangover.
She stumbled out of bed and wandered downstairs, her stomach growling noisily. She could smell food cooking in the kitchen.
As she turned into the kitchen, she met quite a site. The lights were dimmed, and most of the light came from a string of white Christmas lights strung across the ceiling. Candles were set here and there around the kitchen, making what light there was dance in strange ways. The table was set for two with a clean white table cloth, a tall candle, champagne flukes, and a rose. Jake stepped in from the garage.
"Woah," she said slowly, adjusting her left arm in its sling, "Did the Fab Five come while I was sleeping?"
Jakes eyes widened, "Maybe Chance invited the president to dinner, you know, as a surprise."
Chris nodded slowly, "I'm surprised."
T-bone stepped in wearing black slacks and a white shirt. A white apron was tied neatly around his waist and his hair was slicked back.
"Chance..." Jake said slowly, "Where did the kitchen go?"
"I think you're asking the wrong question," Chris said, "I think it all comes down to why he's dressed like that. Chance, why are you dressed like that?"
"Hello, lady and gentelkat, My name is Chance..."
"Well duh."
"...And I will be your server tonight in Megakats newest fine restaurant at Jake and Chances garage and scrap yard. Our motto is dine while your car gets a new carburetor. If you would like to take a seat." He pulled a chair out and motioned for Chris to sit.
"What can I start you off with tonight?"
"I'm thinking wine, lots and lots of wine," Chris said, her eyes still wide with confusion.
Jake had a similar look splashed across his face.
"Of course," Chance pulled a bottle of wine out of the fridge and poured it into their glasses. Chris picked hers up and stared at it, "Chance, this is sweet but you don't drink red wine out of champagne flukes. It just isn't done."
He took the glass back, "If your going to be picky then you don't get any."
Chris snatched the glass back, "On second thought, I'm going to need this. I figure the drunker I get, the more sense this is going to make."
Jake took a sip of his, "Yeah buddy, lets move on to the part where you tell us what's going on."
"How about an appetizer?" Chance set a platter of bread down on the table and began slicing off big hunks.
Chris took a piece, "Did you bake this?"
Chance snorted, "Course not. I bought it at the grocery store and kept it warm in the oven."
"Oh. Well it's good."
"Really?" He reached for a piece, but Chris slapped his hand away, "You're the waiter. Stay in character."
Chance grumbled but went over to the counter to put the main course together.
Chris leaned over the table to whisper to Jake, "What the hell is going on?"
He shrugged, "I have no idea."
She gave him a look.
"Its true! I was gone all afternoon running errands. I saw this the same time as you."
"So your not in on this at all?"
He shook his head, "I'm as surprised as you."
Chance came back with two steaming plates of food.
"Oh wow, it smells great," Chris was starved.
"And it tastes great too," Chance set the plates down in front of them.
"How do you know?"
"I didn't cook it," Chance said and flashed that grin of his.
"Always a good sign," Jake said as he took a bite of chicken with some sort of white sauce, "This is really good."
"I got it from that nice restaurant on Firefly Street."
Chris nodded her approval, "You need to not cook more often."
"I'm going to leave you two alone now to talk," Chance said, bowing out.
Chris stopped her fork half-way to her mouth, "You make that sound so serious. Is there something we're supposed to be talking about? If so I need more wine."
Jake thought a moment "Actually there is something, Chance and I were discussing it earlier and now might be as good a time as any to-"Chance stomped on Jakes tail, "Or not!" Jake continued without missing a beat, "Lets not talk about that now because..." Jake looked to Chance for a reason, he didn't get one, "Well, just because I guess."
Chris put her fork down, "Ok, somebody has to tell me what's going on here sometime soon or else there will be a lot of pain coming from my general direction."
"Well time to go," Chance said and started out the door. Chris grabbed the back of his apron and pulled him back, "What's the deal Chance?"
"Deal?" he said innocently, "No deal. I just want to do something nice for my oldest friend and my newest."
"That sounds really corny, buddy," Jake said as he picked up another piece of chicken.
Chris nodded her agreement.
Chance sighed, "The truth is a do feel more then a little guilty about shooting you. And dropping you out of the plane. But mostly the shooting you. I'm trying to make it up to you," he paused for a long time before saying, "I also don't want to see Jake lose the girl of his dreams."
Jake coughed and took a long drink of his wine. Chris blushed and looked down at her plate, suddenly finding the bits of seasoning stuck to the chicken really fascinating.
Chance quickly changed the subject and poured more wine.
The next hour went quickly. More great food, Chance bustling in and out, Chris' favorite part was that Jake was there, Jakes favorite was that Chris would still be there later.
Dessert came and went, the dirty dishes were taken away, and The Couple, as Chance was jokingly referring to Jake and Chris, was deep in conversation about, of all things, the state of Chris' truck.
Chance suddenly appeared with a plate with a large mixing bowl resting on top, his version of a silver platter.
"More food?" Jake's jaw dropped, "I can't eat anymore."
"Its not for you," Chance said, setting the platter down in front of Chris.
She looked at it with apprehension, "I don't want it. I'm full too."
"Just open it."
Chris slowly lifted the mixing bowl to reveal a small piece of folded paper. She glanced at Chance, "What's this? The bill?"
Chance grinned and motioned for Chris to pick it up. She reached for the paper and slowly opened it. There was a single word printed on it: Hunter.
Chris stared at the paper for a long time before asking, "What is this?"
Chance could barley contain his grin, "A codename," he said as he rocked back on his heels.
"A codename? Like..." she took a breath, "Are you asking me to...to be a, a SWAT Kat?" She looked to Jake, "Did you know about this?"
Jake nodded, "Yes, I was going to ask you about it earlier, remember? I started to and Chance cut me off."
She stared at the slip a little longer, "I'm not sure what to say."
"Say yes."
Chris met Jake's eyes, "You got that line from a movie."
"TV show, actually. But it's true. We couldn't have done it last night without you."
"I, um, wow," Chris faltered. This was what she wanted, wasn't it? But it wasn't and it was all at the same time. She, like the two kats in the kitchen with her now, was a daredevil at heart, so it wasn't that she couldn't handle the danger or the villains or anything else. She had proved that last night. But what was keeping her? There was a voice telling her that this wasn't right. What was that? She filtered through all the reasons in her mind then finally came to it.
She set the paper down, "I can't," she managed to choke out.
Chances face fell and Jake looked like someone had just killed a part of him. Jake reached for her hand, "Why not?"
"I'm a fugitive, Jake. I'm wanted for that whole stupid thing with Feral and the Enforcers and its only a matter of time before that catches up to me. If it catches up to me and I'm connected in anyway to you two then its only a matter of time before somebody figures out that you guys are the SWAT Kats. Just by being here for this long I've put you both in a lot of danger. If I stay here longer, it makes for a bigger and bigger chance that someone is going to find me. If they find me here, then the Enforcers will go over this place with a fine tooth comb and it would be incredibly unlikely that they wouldn't stumble across the hanger or some other thing that would give you away," Although tears welled in Chris' eyes she forbade them to fall. She would fight through this and be fine.
"I'm willing to take that risk," Jake said, squeezing her hand, "I'm willing to risk that for you."
Chance put his hand on Chris' shoulder, "Me too."
Chris shook her head, "I can't take that risk," she swallowed, "Jake says my truck is fixed. I'm leaving tomorrow."
Jakes face fell even further, "Tomorrow? But...you just...you can't. Stay. Please. We can change your name. Cut your hair. I know a guy who can get you some excellent fake I.D.s-"
A glimmer of hope flashed through Chris' mind. She thought for a fleeting moment that it would work, but only for a fleeting moment, "If anything happened to you, to either one of you, on account of me..." she didn't finish her thought, "Jake, I'm doing this for you. For both of you. I should have left a long time ago." She stood and left the table.