EPISODE 5

T-Bone had tried to keep the ride as smooth as possible for the bleeding cameraman. He didn't know much about medicine, but he knew enough to see that Jonny was starting to feel the effects of blood loss. He kept saying that he was feeling sick and light-headed. That didn't surprise T-Bone at all. He had gotten a look at the injury as Razor was loading him in the back. There was a deep slice on the back side of his lower leg, there was some technical term for that area of the body, but the name wasn't coming. Thinking about that cut made T-Bone realize that one of them should have found a cloth or rag or something to press against it to slow the bleeding. He felt stupid for not getting that idea sooner. It was too late now, anyway, they were closing in the hospital. T-Bone wasn't exactly sure where he was going to land the Turbokat, but when there's a will, there's a way. He would park in the helicopter landing zone if it came down to that.

They had ridden in silence for most of the way taking things slow and steady. T-Bone checked up on Jonny every now and again. At first he's claimed to be fine, but when the feeling of dizziness and nausea began to appear, he starting going a little faster. Now after a few minutes of quiet, he spoke from the back seat sounding a little weak, but nothing terrible. That was something to be thankful for.

"So this is the inside of your ship, huh? Wish I had my camera with me. Make for a good shot."

"Yea, I guess it would. But right now you just focus on staying alert, alright?"

"No worries, man."

You had to respect Jonny a little bit. He had to be going through a world of pain, but he had kept as quiet as possible, but he could still her him gasp a bit whenever his leg moved or bumped something. The Turbokat wasn't really designed for leg-room, after all. It was build for shooting things out of the sky, not as a passenger jet.

The hospital was now closing in. T-Bone started the decent downward and slowed the ship, scanning for an area to land and spotting it. There was enough room between the side entrance and the parking lot of the Turbokat. He leveled out the Turbokat and brought it down from the air. Two drivers and a doctor were standing around an ambulance by the emergency doors, shooting the breeze when the Turbokat came down, blowing strong gusts of wind all around it. The three men pressed against the side of the car blocking their eyes from the wind as they watched the aircraft land. T-Bone opened the top and jumped out, looking at the astonished faces of the medical staff. If things were as serious as they were, he might have enjoyed how shocked they were.

"Hey, I've got a wounded man in here! We need a stretcher for him now!"

The doctor, who was dressed in matching blue shirt and pants under a white coat elbowed the kat next to him. The kat and his friend were both wearing the same blue as the doctor, but without the jackets. T-Bone guessed that those were the color of the uniforms here. As the doctor poked the driver, he never took his eyes off T-Bone.

"Devon, g-get the stretcher from the ambulance."

The kat, Devon, nodded and ran for the back of the car. The doctor then went to the other person, addressing him and pointing at the Turbokat.

"Todd, help the wounded out of the, um, the, um." The doc paused, and finally gave up trying to describe the jet. "That. Help him out of that."

T-Bone helped carry Jonny out of the backseat as the doctor and Devon raced over with a stretcher. They placed him down as gently as they could and the medics strapped him in. There was the sound of a roaring engine coming around the side of the building. Looking up, T-Bone saw the Cyclatron speeding around the drive and screeching to a halt by their ship. Ann Gora was the first to get off, leaping from the cycle and pulling her helmet off at the same time, dropping it to the ground and then racing over to Jonny. Her hair had been messed up but either she didn't know about it or didn't care.

"Jonny, how do you feel?"

"Swell, Ann. I'll fine."

The doc (T-Bone couldn't read the nametag from this angle so he would just remain 'doc') asked if the woman, who he must have recognized from the TV, to follow them inside. She agreed. The three workers jogged Jonny inside and Ann went after them. After a few steps she stopped and turned around and called back a thank you. T-Bone and Razor waved as she turned as raced inside to close the lost distance.

"Do you think he'll be alright, buddy?" Razor asked.

"Not sure. He looked okay to me, but I don't want to jinx anything by giving an answer."

"Yea."

The two of them stood there, just looking at the building, neither one of them saying a word for some time. T-Bone was the one who broke the silence.

"Well, come on, Razor. Let's hook up the cycle and head back."

"Right behind you. We need to work on that car anyway."

"Ah, Razor. Why'd you have to go and remind me of that?"

He sighed and Razor laughed. He hopped back into the Turbokat and opened the back hatch for the Cyclatron. Razor, who had his helmet sill on and had tucked the other away, revved the engine and drove up and into the ship and they took off for home, leaving one set of responsibilities behind to beginning on the other.

---------------

Back at the shop they changed back into their work clothes. Since the disappearance of Forecaster the temperature had dropped nicely down to the lower eighties allowing them to wear their mechanics uniforms that kept most of the grease and oil out of their fur. Neither of them were really looking forward to getting back to their day job, but it had to be done. They worked until about seven that evening, coming close to finishing, but quite done yet. Hunger had taken both of them over and they called it quits for the night and left the final touches and clean up till the next morning.

Jake had trouble sleeping that night. He tossed and turned in his bed for hours without a wink of sleep. He finally gave up, and watched late night TV until he passed out on the couch. His mind kept racing all night, one thought kept leaping to another.

He was thirty-one years old and had been a SWAT Kat for the past five of those years. Every time they went out on a mission, Jake feared that it may have been their last. Somehow they had both escaped major injury so far, but luck didn't hold out forever, did it? He wondered sometimes, what would happen if he quit. Would it really be such a bad thing? The reason this had all started was because of Dark Kat, but then it became more then just him. From Dark Kat came Dr. Viper, Mad Kat, The Past Master, and a million and one other monsters and enemies, the latest of which being Forecaster. Say that somehow they did capture these creeps once and for all, who would be there next to take their place? It was becoming a never-ending cycle of fighting. Razor was sick of it. He wanted a life where his decisions didn't mean life or death; a life with no secrets, or jets, or monsters. So would it really be so bad to run? Would it really?

Jake drifted off to sleep with these thoughts running through his mind, all the while a kat in a cheap suit tried to sell anyone watching super turtle wax. Guaranteed a spot free shine, every time.

The next morning he felt a little groggy, but generally okay. Now he could work again. Now he didn't have to worry about anything else but what was ahead. Chance grumbled as they began repairs on the car for the third and final time, but he had every reason to. By this point they were both sick with the car and wanted it out of the shop as soon as possible. Work on it when on a little longer then they thought. They were going a final once over on the car and came upon something the both had missed before; the muffler on the back was extremely loose and just barely holding on. One bad bump and it would break off. They had to do some searching around the scrap yard before they found a matching piece. After an eternity of fixing, the vehicle was done and Chance placed the call to the owner, some elderly lady, who said she'd be by that afternoon to get it.

They where back in the garage, Jake picking up the tools they had used as Chance drove the car out to the pick-up area. He came back when he was done and helped with the last of the tools. Chance stretched, popping his back an looked around at nothing of importance.

"I'm thinking I'll wash up a bit and then use the gym equipment. Wanna spot me, buddy?"

Jake thought it over and replied, "Maybe latter, Chance. As long as I'm dirty, I'm going to work on the motorcycle a little more."

Chance sighed.

"You know, if you love that bike so much-"

"Why don't I marry it." He finished. "Yeah, yeah. Go lift your weights already." He joked.

Chance shook his head and smiled. Giving him a wave and heading inside. Jake went to the cycle on the far side of the garage. He had his personal toolbox sitting next to it, filled with all the things he needed to work with. Jake had come a far way since first acquiring the bike back when it was just a bunch of twisted steel with tires. Now it actually looked like a bike. He had the frame finished and was now doing last touches on the motor. Pretty soon it would just need a coat of paint and it's fluids and the baby would be ready to go.

Jake was just putting the final touches onto the engine when his ears picked up the sound of a car coming down the drive. It was probably the lady riding in a cab coming to get her car. Jack just needed a few more seconds to tighten one last bolt and he would be good to go. He heard the car park and shut off. After came the sound of heels coming down the gravel and onto the pored floor. A familiar voice greeted him.

"Excuse me, Jake. Are you busy?"

He turned around. It wasn't the old woman after all, it was the Deputy Mayor Calico Briggs, 'Callie' as she was sometimes known.

"Ms. Briggs," Jake said pleasantly, standing up. "what can we do for you?"

"It's my car." She pointed back to her Kat-illac with her thumb. "It's been acting funny lately and I wanted to get it looked at before anything went really wrong."

"That would be smart. Just pull it into the garage and we'll give it a look. I would do it myself, but," Jake spread his arms showing the grease on his clothes and hands. "I wouldn't want to ruin the inside."

She smiled. "I understand. I'll only be a minute."

Jake stepped out of the way as Callie got back in her car and drove it inside. She got out with a briefcase in her hand and gave the keys to Jake who put them his front pocket.

"That a pretty nice motorcycle." She said, nodding at the bike as she stepped out of the car. "Who's is it?"

"Mine, actually. It was dropped off here after it was trashed in an accident. I decided to fix it up myself. It's not done yet, but it's coming along great."

"I hope the driver was alright."

"He was. Would you mind waiting while Chance and I see what's wrong with your car?"

"Actually, I need to get moving. I have to be in the mayor's office in about twenty minutes. I'm just going to catch a cab."

"There's no reason for that. I can drive you over there. That is, if you don't mind riding in a tow truck."

She smiled. "That's very sweet of you, Jake, but I couldn't impose like that."

"It's not trouble at all, Ms. Briggs, really. Come on, the truck's right around the side here."

As they walked around the side of the building, Jake wiped his hands with his rag and stuffed it into his back pocket. Being the gentlekat that he was, he held open Callie's door before stepping over to his side. He got in, started the truck, backed out of the driveway, turned and pulled out onto Megakat's streets.

It was kind of weird to be alone with Calico Briggs like this. He'd never really had been before, not as Jake anyway. Callie was a beautiful she-kat, without any doubt, with her pink suits and her long, blond hair that always shined in the sun. What Jake really liked, tough, where her eyes. They were that deep green that you heard about, but never really saw. In front of her eyes sat a pair of strange looking glasses that, somehow, were just perfect for her. They gave off the air of intelligence that she had.

It wasn't just her looks that were good, but her personality as well. Callie was a very kind and thoughtful person, loyal to the mayor and the city. She was brave too, the girl could defend herself pretty well. When you combined all of these things together you came out with a woman that was near perfect. And Jake really cared for her. He didn't exactly know if you would call it love, but there were feelings there, feelings that probably weren't returned, but Jake wouldn't be surprised one bit if they weren't. Jake wasn't exactly the type the she-kats went for, that was Chance was.

They had every reason to go after him too. He was stronger and better looking then Jake was. They guy was more of a flirt was well. Jake was the brains, Chance was the brawn. Jake was the quiet one who kept to himself mostly. Chance had feelings for Callie too, probably just has strong as his were, but he was the only one who would really speak those feelings out loud. He would say how pretty Callie was, or something close to that, and Jake would just remain quiet or pull him back into whatever they were doing before hand. He wondered if Chance even knew what he thought of Callie. Probably not.

Yet here Jake was, alone in a car with Ms. Briggs right by his side. He could have told her how he felt, but that would have been out of the question. She was the deputy mayor for one of the biggest cities in this area of the world and who was he, exactly? A mechanic who never went to college and was kicked out of the Enforcers for destruction of public property. Oh yeah, he was one great catch, wasn't he? Still, it was nice to dream. And it was nice to spend some time with her like this. Jake smiled. Chance is going to kill me when he finds out that I went off with Ms. Briggs and didn't tell him. He thought.

"What's the joke?" Asked Callie.

"Hmm?" Jake gave a quick glance over to her then back on the road.

"You were smiling, so I wanted to know what was so funny."

"Oh, nothing. Sorry." He looked over again and saw that she had lowered the window on her side. As the wind came blowing in, it caught the top of her hair, blowing it backward. In the light, it looked like fine golden silk flowing in the wind.

"Something the matter, Jake?" She asked, actually looking concerned. He must have been staring at her for longer then just a glance. Good thing he didn't crash them just then.

"Oh, I was just thinking that it was now cool enough to drive with the windows down. Now that the heats broken and all."

"I know what you mean." She said. "I heard that it was all caused by one kat with some kind of weather powers. He was called Foremaster, or something like that."

"Forecaster." Jake corrected before he could stop himself.

"Oh, yes. That was it. I was on the TV too, he invaded the Kat's Eye News Studio and put on his own twisted report before the Enforcers showed up followed by the SWAT Kats."

"Did you see all of that?"

Callie shook her head.

"No. I was working on the mayor's newest re-election speech at the time. However I did overhear Feral grumbling about it and how the SWAT Kats kept showing off every time he tried to do his dutys. I'll never know why he hates them so much. Personally, I think their the greatest things to ever happen to this city."

"Well I'm sure that if they knew how you felt, they'd thank you from the bottom of their hearts."

"I wonder where they go to repair their jet." She remarked, looking out her side of the window as the city speed by. "I don't suppose they drop by your shop for a tune-up."

Jake laughed, but he couldn't help sounding a little nervous. She didn't suspect, did she?

"Afraid not, Ms. Briggs. I'm sure they do their own repair work."

"I guess they would have to, huh? Oh, we're here Jake."

He pulled the truck to the sidewalk and parked outside the mayor's office. Callie gathered up her briefcase and opened the door.

"Thank you, Jake. You saved me a lot of time."

"Anytime, Ms. Briggs. I'll call you when your car is ready."

"I'll see you then. Goodbye." She closed the door, went across the sidewalk and into the building, disappearing as the door closed behind her.

"Goodbye, Ms. Briggs." He whispered.

He started the engine and headed for the shop. The drive was silent. He tried the radio, but found nothing he wanted to hear and turned it right back off. As he reached the scrap yard he pulled the truck by the side of the building where it was left before, not bothering to roll up the windows. Jake walked around to the garage and up to the door. He was getting a little hungry and decided to grab a snack before heading back outside. He tossed Callie's set keys up into the air, catching them as they came down a few times until he got inside. As he stepped in he noticed that the room was very dark and every window had the shades drawn. Jake took a step into the room.

"Chance?" He asked. "Buddy? Everything okay in here?"

This was really freaky. He felt like a character in a horror movie. He needed to get some light in here and find what was going on and where Chance was. In just one instant, the door he came in from slammed shut behind him and two massive arms closed around him from behind. The first went around his waist, pulling in backward and the second cupped his mouth shut, keeping him from calling out. Then, from his right ear, came a heavy voice.

"I know your secret."

TO BE CONTINUED