A/N: Thanks Sabertooth! As a present, I hereby dedicate this next chapter to YOU! :)

Chapter 4

The next day...

Danger Mouse bent his knees, leapt forward headfirst, bounced on his hands and executed a perfect flip through the air. As he landed, he heard applause from both Kim and Penfold, who had come in to watch DM's training session, and then the agent felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Show-off", Woodruff grinned.

DM arched an eyebrow, but smiled. "Does that mean you're not?" He clapped his friend on the shoulder and then did a very unexpected back-flip to the other end of the room.

"Cor, Chief!" Penfold was extremely impressed. "You can take down the Baron's rotters any old day!"

"Thankyou, Penfold". The agent flashed a smile across at the hamster as Woodruff approached him again, and whispered in his ear.

"Are you sure you're not doing this just to gain Kim's attention?"

In one swift movement, DM tackled Woodruff to the ground, half-angry and half-amused at the collie's words. The collie looked up in alarm.

"Alright – maybe not".

DM shook his head as he looked down at the headstrong collie before stepping back and helping him up. He was aware that both his assistants were staring at him curiously and looked apologetically at Woodruff.

Anticipating the look, Woodruff clapped his friend's shoulder. "No worries, mate – I understand".

DM chuckled lightly. At that moment, he felt the hairs prickle on the back of his neck, and spun round. But there was nothing.

"DM?" Woodruff looked at him.

"Are you OK?" Kim asked from across the room.

DM shook his head as he and Woodruff went to sit down next to Kim and Penfold. "I don't know – I feel strange. As though something's going to happen".

"You mean, agent instincts?" asked Woodruff.

DM nodded. "Exactly. I know it sounds mad, but instincts like this have never proven me wrong yet".

"I don't think you're mad, DM", said Penfold.

"Me neither", Woodruff said thoughtfully. "But whatever pops up, it'll probably be something we can handle".

"We?" repeated DM, puzzled.

"Yes, 'we'. You know, me, you, Kim, Penfold? The foursome?"

DM eyed the Border Collie. "I wouldn't have thought that you'd want to help on any more cases, especially after Count Duckula".

"Gets your adrenaline rushing", chuckled Woodruff.

Kim and DM exchanged a smirk; same old Woodruff, treating life at the agency both seriously and enjoyably.

"Speaking of which", continued Woodruff. "Do we know what happened to Baron – what was it again?"

"Greenback", Kim filled in.

"Yeah, him. Any ideas what he's planning?"

DM shook his head. "Not that we know of", he replied. "Maybe that's why I'm so worried – the fact that it's been quiet for ages and we haven't seen a trace of him anywhere".

Penfold frowned worriedly.

"Well, when he does appear, we'll be able to stop him, I'm sure", said Kim. "And everyone knows how experienced you are".

Danger Mouse smiled at her gratefully. But even Kim couldn't dismiss the nagging worry at the back of the agent's mind.

Jack sat down in front of the computer that the Baron had supplied to his room. As he couldn't really help much with the mouse-trap that the henchmen were building, Stiletto and Leatherhead had given him some time off – providing the Baron didn't find out.

Jack opened up the computer and logged on to the Internet. Helen had already created an area for him, and had added in his old email address. The first thing Jack saw when he opened it up was that he had email.

Curious, the tiger opened up the inbox and saw an email that said 'Hi, Jack!" Realising whom it must be from, the tiger opened it up with renewed vigour and read the message inside.

Jack

Hi, there, remember me? It's Stella from the hospital! I hope you get this OK – I'm not sure when you get out. I hope you're alright at any rate.

Listen, I was planning on going to visit my step-brother sometime soon, and if you're well enough I was hoping we could meet up. My mum's just got married to my new step-bro's dad, and I think you'd like him. It's a bit weird, because I'm a Black Labrador and he's a Border Collie. His name's William, but you can call him 'Tough Guy'.

Gotta go now. See you soon! (I hope).

Stella x o

Jack frowned as he finished reading the email. He really wanted to go and see Stella, but he could tell that neither Greenback nor Helen would be very pleased. Both of them scared him, even though Helen was treating him more civilly than she ever had before.

But on the other hand, Jack knew he had to stick up for himself. He knew he owed Helen so much for helping him to escape from the police – heck, he owed her ten years worth of survival! But he wasn't he old enough now to make his own decisions?

At that moment, there was a knock on the door and Leatherhead entered the room.

"Greenback wants to see you, Jack", he told the tiger.

Jack narrowed his eyes slightly at the short crow. Leatherhead had been very friendly with him when he had arrived – so why shouldn't he help him out?

"Leatherhead", he said, choosing his words carefully. "I – need you to give me a hand with something".

Woodruff picked up the phone, and dialled the number of his father's house. He had no doubt that Stella would be there – she was hanging around her stepfather's house every day to adjust to her new family life.

"Hello, Woodruff," said his sister's voice as she picked up the phone on the other end.

The collie was surprised. "How did you know it was me?" he questioned.

"You've been phoning me every day." Woodruff could almost hear his sister smiling.

"Sorry," he said. "I just want to make sure you're OK."

"Don't worry, you lovable puppy," teased Stella. "I'm fine. Oh, by the way, I'll be on the Internet later, so don't worry to phone up."

"Work?" Woodruff questioned.

"No – I'm expecting an email."

"Oh, OK, then. I have to go now, I'm about to go and train."

"Go get 'em, bro!" his sister cheered.

"You bet!" Woodruff grinned. "See you!" Putting the phone down, he grabbed his gym bag off the chair and left the room.

"You must be crazy!" cried Leatherhead, as Jack finished explaining what he wanted to do. "The Baron will skin you alive if he finds out!"

"Yes, but what if he DIDN'T find out?" wheedled Jack. "I'll only be gone for a few hours."

"Yes, but the Baron makes daily checks on us every hour. If he finds you're not there – he's not going to take your leg as a fit excuse, Jack."

"Maybe you could pretend I was running an errand for you," suggested Jack.

Leatherhead frowned thoughtfully. "I guess that could work...but you're going to have to really work hard, Jack. I know it's a lot to ask, but try and make the Baron think you're getting better. We might just be able to fool him."

"Thanks, Leatherhead!" cheered Jack enthusiastically.

Leatherhead regarded the tiger for a moment.

"Who're you meeting, anyway?" he asked.

"Just a friend," the tiger replied, as he picked up his crutches and stood up.

Leatherhead grinned. "Whatever you say..."

"Most probably some lucky lady," he mumbled to himself as he watched the tiger hobble down the corridor with more vigour than usual.

Late that afternoon, Kim and Penfold were resting in front of the TV, watching the News. As they sipped tea and discussed the latest headlines, DM stumbled in.

"Hello, Chief," said Penfold, looking up at his friend. "Cor, you look tired."

"He's right...you look exhausted." Kim eyed the agent with some concern. "Sit down."

DM gave a tired smile and sat down in the space between his two assistants. Kim placed a cushion behind his head, and Penfold handed him a cup of tea.

"Oh, thanks, you two," said DM, looking relieved.

"Are you sure you're OK?" Kim pushed back some of the hair that had flopped down over his eyes.

"I'm just tired," said DM, sitting back. "What's on the news?"

"Not much," replied Penfold. "There's something about a tiger who's vanished from the hospital he was being treated at, but aside from that..."

"A tiger who disappeared from hospital?" DM turned to him, his brow furrowing.

"Yes. The other night. Look – they're talking about it again."

DM turned to the screen in curiosity. A picture of a young tiger gazed back at him.

"They said his name's Jack Blackstone." Penfold suddenly realised that Kim and DM were both frowning at the screen. "Er – are you two alright?"

"He looks familiar," frowned Kim.

"And I know why." DM"s teeth were gritted, and he suddenly stood as the tiger's picture disappeared. "That's Count Duckula's old henchman!"

"That's right!" Kim shot up as well. "I knew I had seen him from somewhere!"

"He must have had some accomplices break him out of hospital," said DM, reaching for the TV controls.

Penfold looked about, confused. "I say – what's going on here?" He had been in hospital with a gun-shot wound when DM, Kim and Woodruff had gone up against Duckula and his crew.

But DM had already switched the TV to telecomm mode. Colonel K appeared on-screen, writing some reports at his desk.

"Danger Mouse!" The guinea-pig looked up in alarm, but regained his composure and put his pen and papers aside. "What can I do for you, old boy?"

DM explained the situation. "Count Duckula's old henchman has broken out of hospital and is on the run. He's wanted for numerous crimes."

Colonel K frowned. "Ah. Well, I'll tell you what I think. It's most likely he's been reeled in by Greenback, hook, line and sinker! We haven't heard anything from that toad for ages!"

"It's possible..." DM frowned.

"Didn't Jack have a colleague? Helen, that hawk? Maybe he's teamed up with her," suggested Kim.

"Maybe," DM agreed. "But the thing is, Jack had a broken leg. I doubt the two of them would get far."

"Call Woodruff, DM," advised the Colonel. "He was there; he can give you more information."

"I'll do that now, Colonel," promised DM. "Thankyou. Danger Mouse out."

As the screen switched off, DM picked up the phone on the wall and dialled Woodruff's number.

"I'll call Woodruff first, then I'm going to call the police-station and see if they can come up with any files regarding Jack Blackstone," he told his assistants. "I knew something was wrong!"

Stella opened up her email inbox and was surprised to see a reply to the email that she had recently sent Jack. Opening it up, she read:

Stella

Hi! How's life down your end? Guess what – I'm out of hospital! And I can come and see you! Give me the date and the time and we'll get together. I'll be on crutches, I'm afraid, but you can tell me whether they suit me or not.

Jack.

Stella was surprised at the cheerfulness of the email. In the hospital, Jack had been a bit withdrawn and sullen. But judging from the email, he was getting on fine. Maybe life in that hospital bed had just been rough for him.

Smiling, Stella opened up a new email and started writing back to Jack. As she wrote, she picked up the TV controls on the desk and switched on the TV that was situated behind her – just as the picture of Jack Blackstone was taken off the screen.

The News was just ending. And Stella had missed it.