.Chapter twenty-six.

Whether Cloak and I liked it or not; we arrived at the award ceremony on time with his family. It wasn't just his mom, dad, and Zanner this time though; I had the privilege of meeting his Aunty Iridisa, the one who told on Cloak and me, and several other of his family members.

"Well, this is where I leave you guys; take care of her for me, Zanner," said Cloak, as he released my hand and gave his cousin a semi-serious look.

"Sure thing, Cloak," smiled Zanner, as he put a hand onto my shoulder.

Cloak nodded, smiled and nodded to his family and then left to join the other officers.

"Let's find our seats," said Mr. T.

The rest of us agreed and followed his lead.

It wasn't long after that, that Zanramon appeared on the stage that was in the hall.

"Evening all," he said.

Everyone said their 'evenings' to the Prime Leader to which he nodded in recognition.

"As you all know, we are here this evening to honour those soldiers who have shown exceptional bravery, ingenuity, and loyalty during their service to the Triceraton cause," he continued.

The audience nodded in agreement.

"So let us not waste time; I believe these are in alphabetical order. Officer Zindak Alkero," started Zanramon; it was a long list and Cloak was right near the end of it.

Eventually it was Cloak's turn.

"And last but not least officer Cloak Titanium for his bravery and ingenuity in the last battle with the Federation," said Zanramon, as he picked up the last plaque in the stack and turned to face Cloak as he walked towards him.

There was a roar of applause from the crowd, but it wasn't the whole crowd, just Cloak's family.

"I see your family hasn't lost it's… individuality just yet," commented Zanramon.

"No, but I wish they would," Cloak replied, as he shook Zanramon's hand and took his plaque. I smiled at him; proud to see him receiving his award and actually putting on a rather good act with Zanramon, you wouldn't have thought that there was so much tension between them. Cloak must have spotted me 'cause he smiled back. I think Zanramon caught on that it wasn't his family that he was smiling at; even though they had quietened down again. I caught him smiling to himself while looking out of the corner of his eye in my general direction. Shortly after Cloak returned to his seat, the ceremony was over and the 'festivities' began.

"Well done, my boy," smiled Mr. T, as he patted his son on the back.

"Thanks dad," Cloak smiled back.

Suddenly Zanner grabbed me by my arm and began to gently pull me forward.

"Hey! Zanner," I protested.

"Here yah go, cuz; just like you left her," Zanner said, as he let go of my arm and pushed me towards Cloak.

The others chuckled at Zanner's antics; I just shook my head at him as Cloak pulled me closer to himself.

"Thanks Zanner," he smiled.

"Anytime," Zanner replied.

Suddenly Zanner caught sight of the food table.
"Now, if you'll excuse me; I hear the dinner bell ringing," he smiled, as he began to make his way over there.

"Not a bad idea," agreed Mr. T, as he and the others began to make their way over.

"You want to join them?" Cloak asked me.

"Not really," I replied.

"I hope this whole thing didn't bore you too much."

"Course it didn't. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks," Cloak smiled, " I just wish we could get going home already," he said.

"You're not the only one who feels that way," I said.

"I guess it's a certain Prime Leader that's got us this way."

"Possibly; you did very well up there with him you know."

"What? You mean actually behaving myself instead of throwing something into his face."

I couldn't help but giggle; it was totally in Cloak's ability to do that.

"Yeah, something like that," I said, trying not to laugh in case Zanramon was anywhere nearby.

Suddenly someone called to Cloak from across the room. He looked up to see who it was and nodded; he then turned back to me.

"I'll be right back; just got to see what this guy wants to talk to me about," he said.

"Sure, no problem," I smiled.

Cloak quickly gave me a kiss on my cheek and began to walk towards his friend while I waited close to the wall at the back of the room so as not to be in the way of anyone.

Unfortunately, I wasn't left on my own for too long.

"I thought I saw you among the Titanium crowd," came an all too familiar voice to the right.

"Zanramon," I said with a polite smile.

"I'm glad to see that you haven't forgotten about me, my dear."

"How could I?"

"You know that your secret's out now, don't you?"

"What secret?"

"Your charming male friend just happens to be Cloak; my assumption was correct."

My heart almost skipped a beat; not because Zanramon had actually guessed right, but because he now knew that Cloak and I were together. This couldn't be good.

"So?" I asked, getting a bit defensive.

"Nothing, I just know who it is now," Zanramon replied.

I gave him a probing look; Zanramon was too selfish to just let it lie there, if he wanted something he was going to get it one way or another.

"Ahh, Prime Leader. I hadn't expected you to still be here," said Cloak, as he walked up to Zanramon and I.

"Well, it's good for me to spend some time with the families of my officers," Zanramon replied.

Cloak looked over at me; I have a feeling that he noticed I was uncomfortable with the situation.

"Cal, would you like me to walk you home?" Cloak asked; I'm guessing that he was trying to make it seem like we weren't an item.

"Sure," I replied, as he offered me his arm and I gently took it in my own.

"Before you leave, Cloak; I would like to congratulate you," Zanramon said.

"Didn't you already do that on the stage, sir?" Cloak asked.

"I meant, congratulate you on winning over Miss Swift here; she wouldn't have anything to do with me a week ago because she was waiting for her male friend to return."

"Oh! That. Well,… thank you, sir."

"The best male won I suppose."

Cloak just shrugged.

"Good evening and have a safe walk home." With that Zanramon began to walk away into the crowd.

Once he was out of earshot, Cloak spoke up.

"Do you get the same suspicious feeling that he's got something planned?" Cloak asked.

"I wish I could say 'no', Cloak, but… I'm afraid I've got the same feeling," I replied, moving closer to him.

"Let's get going; the sooner you get back home, the sooner you can lock the door."

"Same goes for you." With that the pair of us began to make our way through the crowd towards the main entrance to the hall. We were just about to reach the door when Zanner caught up with us.

"Hey, where're you two off to?" he asked, through a mouthful of food.

"Swallow," Cloak instructed.

"Oh! Sorry." Zanner swallowed and then looked at us for an answer.

"Well?" he asked.

"I'm just walking Cal home," Cloak replied.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine," I smiled.

"Then why are you two leaving so soon?"

Cloak and I looked at each other, unsure of how to answer this.

"Well?" smiled Zanner; he seemed to be enjoying this.

"We're just trying to get as far away from Zanramon as is possible; he's just making us feel a bit…," I started, but then couldn't find a word to finish my sentence.

"Uneasy," Cloak finished for me.

"Thanks. Yes, uneasy."

"Right. Well, we'll see you tomorrow, Cloaky; you too, Cal," Zanner smiled.

"Sure thing," I smiled.

With that Cloak and I began to make our way out of the hall and back towards our apartments.

It's been a few months since the prize-giving ceremony and I'm back at my job of looking after Bruno for the All Stars. It's good to be back to some normality, but something just won't go away and it's starting to take it's toll on my nerves. I was sitting on my bed in my room with Bruno at my feet, when one of the All Stars called for me.

"Cal, Cloak's here!" he called.

"Coming!" I called back.

I got up from my bed and began to walk towards the training area with Bruno next to me.

When I opened my door I found the All stars, including Zap, Burn and Cloak waiting for me.

"Hey," he smiled gently.

"Hey," I smiled back, as I walked up to him.

"Take care of her now, Cloak," said Burn, as Cloak put an arm around me and Zap called Bruno over to himself.

"Don't I always?" Cloak asked, with a slight smile.

"Yeah, but I just like to hear you say you will; so that we can hold you to your word."

Cloak chuckled slightly at Burn's reasoning.

"Very well," Cloak smiled.

Burn nodded and smiled at the two of us.

"Shall we get going?" Cloak asked me.

"Sure," I replied.

Cloak nodded and began to lead the way out of the training area.

We walked in silence most of the way; I was a bit twitchy I'm afraid to say. Any little noise would make me tense up.

"Something bothering you, Cal?" asked Cloak, as he noticed my discontent attitude.

"Well… something has been bothering me for the past few months I'm afraid," I replied.

"Oh, why haven't you mentioned this to me before?"

"I didn't think it was going to last, but it has."

"Well, what is it?"

I sighed as I tried to figure out how to put into words what was bothering me.

"Cal," Cloak pressed when I didn't respond immediately.

"It's… Zanramon," I replied.

"He hasn't been visiting you when I'm not around has he?"

"No, of course not, but… what he said that night…"

"Ahh, I see. You're worried about what he's planning."

"Yes. I have no control over what he might do and… I don't want anything to happen to you." I felt tears welling up in my eyes and a lump forming in my throat.

"Hey, there's nothing to worry about; I can handle anything Zanramon throws my way," Cloak said reassuringly, as he stopped and pulled me closer to him in a hug.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled myself as close to him as I could.

I felt Cloak gently stroking my back in an attempt to soothe me.

"I sometimes wonder if I should just head back to Earth," I said.

I felt Cloak tense up at the suggestion.

"You okay?" I asked, as I pulled away from him slightly to see his face.

"Go back to Earth?" he asked, looking at me with a mild amount of horror on his face.

"It's just a thought, Cloak."

"And one I would rather not think of."

I couldn't help but smile at him.

"We've been together for too long to think of splitting up now," he continued, gently caressing my hair in his hand.

"I know," I replied.

"You've been on the home world for well over a stellar cycle now."

"That I also know."

"And… you've been in my life for just a little less time that that."

I just nodded.

Cloak looked at me, a slightly unsure and confused look was in his eyes.

"Cloak, it was just a thought; don't worry about it. I'm not going anywhere just yet," I said, in an attempt to console him.

Cloak just nodded; he seemed to calm down a bit.

"Let's get going, shall we?" I asked.

"Sure," he replied, as he released me and we began to head towards the park where we used to walk.

A few days later, Cloak and I went for a walk together again; we were halfway around the park when Cloak spoke up.

"Cal," he started.

"Hmm," I replied.

"Do you want to head back to Earth?"

"I thought I told you not to think of it anymore."

"I know, but… would it make you feel better being back on your own planet?"

I had to think about this; Zanramon's words were beginning to ring fainter and fainter in my mind, but he was a cruel ruler and he would stop at nothing to get what he wanted.

"Well?" Cloak asked.

"I don't know. I'm not as jumpy as I was a few days ago," I replied.

Cloak just nodded.

"Why do you ask anyway?" I asked.

"There's an alien merchant ship that's coming this way in a few days and after it's done trading here it's on its way to Earth to pick up some herbs and spices," Cloak informed me.

"Oh!"

"Yeah. So, I was thinking, if you wanted to go back, I could send you with them. They're a very reputable bunch and I know they would take care of you."

"I see."

"So, are you sure you don't want to go back?"

I looked up at Cloak; I could see that he didn't want me to leave, but if I decided to he would back me up one hundred percent.

"How long do I have to decide?"

"One orbital cycle."

"Right."

Cloak pulled me closer to him in a side hug.

"I will miss you if you decide to go," he said.

"And I you," I added, hugging him back, as we continued to walk through the park.

It was nearing the deadline to where I had to decide whether or not to head back to Earth; nothing had gone wrong in the past few weeks so I was leaning towards staying, but, little did I know, I was about to change my mind very quickly.

"Cal!" called Zap from the training area.

"Yeah?" I called back, as I opened my door and found the All Stars rushing about getting ready to go out somewhere.

"Let's get going," he said.

"Where?" I asked, as I walked out of my room with Bruno next to me.

"It's Cloak; he's in the hospital."

My stomach tied itself into a knot and my heart skipped a beat.

"What?! What for?!" I asked.

"We don't know; we just received the call a few minutes ago," Mixx replied, clipping Bruno's lead onto his collars.

It wasn't long before the whole All star team, Burn, Bruno and myself were out of the training room and on our way to the hospital.

When we got there, we were admitted into Cloak's ward. The seven of us briskly walked over to Cloak's bedside; we found him lying there almost motionless, only his chest was moving, but even that was minimal. He had the Triceraton equivalent of an oxygen mask over his snout. I touched his hand and he felt cold.

"Cloak," I said, trying to get a response out of him.

Suddenly I heard one of the guys sniffing behind me; I looked back and found Monza sniffing the air suspiciously.

"Something wrong, Monza?" I asked.

As I asked him the question his eyes widened as he recognised the smell. He pushed past the others and felt Cloak's hand; he then pulled the mask off of Cloak's snout and put it to his own. He soon started to cough.

"Oxygen!" he coughed.

"Oxygen? But that's… poisonous to Triceratons!" I said, now more worried than ever about Cloak's condition.

Monza was still coughing as he turned the handle on the tank that was supplying the oxygen.

"Burn, go get someone to change this and hurry!" Monza commanded in-between coughs.

"Right on it," nodded Burn, as he stormed off to find someone and no doubt give an earful to the head nurse and doctor of the hospital.

"Until they arrive we've got to find a way to get some nitrogen and sulphur into his lungs," said Monza, finally recovering from his coughing fit.

"And the only way to do that is CPR," said Daz.

They all turned to look at me.

"Well don't look at me. I'm far too small to get any substantial amount into his lungs and besides my air filter let's me breath oxygen not nitrogen and sulphur," I said.

"Oh right! Forgot about that," said Daz.

"Fine; he would no doubt prefer to find you, but he'll just have to make do with me," said Monza, as he took his place next to Cloak.

I tried to smile at the comment, but I was too worried about Cloak.

After a few tense moments, Cloak began to cough; Monza backed away and Cloak sat up.

"Sheesh! Get some breath mints will you, Monza?" Cloak coughed.

There was a collective sigh of relief from the group.

"Cloak, you're all right," I smiled, as I walked up to him.

"Cal! What are you doing here?" he asked, as he watched me walk up to him.

"Like I'm going to stand around back at the training room while you're in hospital."

Cloak smiled, but suddenly gasped in pain and gripped his side.

"Cloak!" I gasped.

Monza helped him lie back down.

"It's nothing, Sweetheart, just… my wound acting up," he said through gritted teeth.

"Wound?" I asked.

"Yes."

"What happened?" asked Xiote.

"Shot."

"Shot?!" the rest of us exclaimed.

"Yeah. Don't know by who though; they came from behind."

"Obviously not very good; they didn't kill you," said Monza.

Cloak just snorted.

"I don't think that was their aim," he said.

"Then what do you think their aim was?" I asked, as I put my hand onto his.

"I don't know; I don't know." Cloak lifted his hand slightly and wrapped it around mine.

Just then we heard Burn returning with some poor soul who he was giving a real earful to.

"Seriously! You're supposed to support life! Not shorten it!" he ranted.

"Burn?" Cloak asked.

"Burn," the All stars and I replied in unison.

We turned to see a very frazzled Triceraton nurse walked into the room with Burn close behind; she was pushing a trolley with a tank on it.

"Oh! You got him resuscitated I see," said Burn, as he caught sight of Cloak looking at him.

"I'll just leave this here in case you need it," said the nurse, as she took her leave.

Burn narrowed his eyes as he watched her walk out.

"Hospital staff ain't what it used to be back in the good old days," he said.

We all just smiled at Burn.

"How you feeling, Cloak?" he asked, as he walked up to Cloak's bedside.

"I've been better," Cloak replied.

"Any idea as to who did this to you?"

Cloak shook his head.

"They came from behind; shot him in the side, but obviously not fatally," explained Monza.

"What do you think this guy's playing at?" Burn asked.

"I don't think Cloak's assailant was 'playing at' anything. I think he was hired," I said, tying up several ideas I had in my head as to why someone shot Cloak.

"Hired?" the others asked in unison.

"By who?" asked Zap.

"The only one I know who might want me out of the way would be Zanramon," said Cloak.

"The Prime Leader wouldn't stoop so low… would he?"

Cloak and I just looked at each other; we both knew how low Zanramon could go and this certainly wasn't his lowest.

Just then a Triceraton walked into the ward.

"Good day," he said, tipping his hat to us.

"Good day," we chorused back.

"I've got a note for a Mr. Cloak Titanium."

"That would be me," said Cloak, trying to sit up.

The Triceraton walked up to Cloak, handed him a small piece of paper and then left.

"What's up?" asked Zap, as Cloak unfolded the paper and read the message.

"Cal's right; it was Zanramon," Cloak replied.

"How do you know that?" asked Burn.

"Who else would send a note saying, 'keep clear of her or you won't see the end of the week'?"

The room went silent; no one knew what to do or say.

"There's only one thing to do then," I said.

"What?" the others asked.

"Cloak, when does that merchant ship come in?"

"Sweetheart, no. We… we'll find another way," he said.

"Cloak, you know what Zanramon's capable of. We can't report this to anyone; you can't fight the Prime Leader. This is the only way."

Cloak looked away from me; I could see on his face that he was trying to think of an alternative course of action.

"I don't like it any more than you do, but…," I started and then sighed; it was going to be difficult for both of us.

"What are you two talking about?" Burn asked.

"There's a merchant ship coming in in a day or so; after it's done dealing here it heads off to Earth, Cal's home planet," explained Cloak.

"Oh! I see, you're planning on going home on that," said Zap.

"If I'm not here, Zanramon will have no reason to harm Cloak," I said.

Cloak looked at me; his eyes seemed to be begging me to reconsider.

"But what if Zanramon doesn't relent? What if he just continues to do harm?" asked Monza.

"I don't know, Monza; I… don't know." I hugged myself, as a feeling of helplessness crept over me. Cloak beckoned for me to come closer; I walked up to his side, as he hauled himself into a reclining position and put his free arm around me in a hug. I rested my head against his so that we were eye to eye.

"It's our best bet I suppose," he said, rubbing his head against mine.

I just stared into his eyes; this was going to one of the last chances I was going to be able to do so.

"Okay, so… what's the plan?" asked Zap.

"Cal will head back to Earth on the merchant ship and… we'll see what happens once she's gone," replied Cloak, as he and I moved away from each other a little bit.

"Right," chorused the others.

Suddenly something dawned on me and I quickly walked out of the ward to see if I could find a nurse.

"Cal?" I heard Cloak ask behind me; I saw a Triceraton nurse not too far down the hall and walked over to her.

"Nurse," I said.

She turned her head to look at me.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Is the male Triceraton in the ward back there well enough to be checked out?" I asked.

"Yes, but we would like to keep him over night to make sure there are no complications."

"I'm afraid that that will not be possible."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I believe that it is best for him to be checked out and sent home; for his own safety."

She gave me a queer look and so I explained how we thought that there was someone out to get him, not mentioning any names though.

"Oh, I see," she said.

"So, can we?" I asked.

"Of course, but we want him back tomorrow morning for a check up."
"I'm sure that can be arranged."

She nodded and then went to fetch the necessary paper work, while I went back to Cloak's ward.

Two days later, after spending an almost heartbreaking evening the previous day packing my duffle bag to take home, Cloak, the All stars, Burn, Bruno and I were standing on the landing platform next to the merchant's ship. Cloak had arranged for them to take me back to Earth and now we were just waiting for them to finish loading their cargo.

"Two trigons," said Cloak, as he caught sight of one of the merchants waving from the top of the ramp.

"I better get my goodbyes over and done with then," I said, turning to the All Stars.

"Take care you guys," I said, hugging first Monza, then Daz, then Xiote, then Mixx and finally Zap.

"We're gonna miss you something awful," Zap said holding me as close as he could.

"And I you," I replied; trying to keep the lump in my throat at bay.

Once Zap released me I walked over to Burn and gave him a hug goodbye.

"Don't let anyone push you around now and if you're ever in the system again… look us up," he said, as he released me from our embrace.

"Will do," I smiled.

Bruno whined and butted my hand with his middle head.

"See you, boy; be good for the guys, okay?" I said to him.

Bruno just licked my cheek; once with each head. I tried hard to keep the tears at bay and they just and only just obeyed.

Finally I turned to Cloak; he had gone through his check up the day before and been declared healthy enough to be out on his own again. I walked up to him and he quickly pulled me close to himself; I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"Take care," he said, quietly.

"You too," I said equally as quietly.

Suddenly I found our lips locked together; this was no doubt going to be the last time we would have contact with each other unless Earth's technology seriously got an upgrade. As our lips parted, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I looked back and there stood one of the merchants.

"Time to go," he said.

I just nodded, as Cloak and I released each other. I picked up my duffle bag and began to walk towards the merchant ship with the alien merchant by my side. When I reached the top of the ramp, I looked back at my friends one last time. I gave them one last wave and then walked into the ship just as the ramp was brought up and the thrusters ignited.

It wasn't long before the merchant ship arrived back on Earth; they let me out in my home town and then went on their way into the country to a farm where they had a good deal in spices and herbs. I walked back to my house and, needless to say, got a very relieved and happy response from my family; I had only been gone a week because of the time difference (don't ask me how that works; if Donatello really exists maybe I'll get the chance to meet him and ask him how it works). Of course they wanted to know what happened to me and so I told them my story. Surprisingly they believed me and were very grateful to Cloak and the All stars for taking care of me; not to mention Carix, Darix, Augie and his wife. I was home now, among people I knew, away from danger and out of the way so that the Triceraton I loved wouldn't be hurt, but… my heart still ached for Cloak. I wonder if I will ever see him again; I suppose only time will tell.

.The end.