Hi everyone! Here's the epilogue for Drawing the Short Straw.
How does Razor capturing a thug help him get Felina's gun back to her?
Author's notes: Here it is. The final chapter.
Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed my story. I'm extremely humbled and flattered that you all enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing this.
Extra special thanks and kudos to ulyferal, the best beta a girl can have.
The story between Felina and Razor is not done. I'm working on the next series plot right now, and hope to start publishing it later.
Here's some quick trivia:
This story started as a one shot a couple of years ago, and then it stalled. It came back to life under the name Déjà vu, were Felina and Razor was going to meet up in the future and flashback about their night together. It wasn't working, so I turned it into the story you see here. I like the title and the concept, so I might try to write another of their adventures like that in the future.
I tend to recycle certain characters in some of my stories. Can you guess the character I might be using in the future?
Felina's dress shirt as sleepwear came from watching The Golden Child. Seriously. I liked the way it looked on the lead actress and it suck. Felina was going to wear a robe for that scene.
Again, thank you all for reading. I had a blast, and I hope you all did too.
AkaneKitty
oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo
Drawing the Short Straw:
Epilogue
oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo
Razor held his choke hold around the thug's throat for a second longer before lowering him to the ground.
Working quickly, he zip-tied the thug's paws and feet together then dragged him to the middle of the open room. Righting a rickety chair, he sat the thug down and bound him to it.
The thug was a robber, known for holding up stores on the west side of Megakat City. He was nicknamed the Ghost because he seemingly appeared out of nowhere, robbed stores, and vanished into the night. His antics frustrated the Enforcers who wanted him caught, badly.
This was exactly why Razor selected him.
After figuring out the Ghost's M.O., he followed the guy to his hideout, an abandoned apartment building close to the west side stores, and easily snuck up on him. The Ghost's successful robbery streak had made him overconfident, which made him easily caught.
Producing a small packet of smelling salts, Razor waved it in front of the thug's face. It wouldn't take long for the thug to stir, so he knelt in front of him, waiting.
The Ghost finally roused. As his eyes opened, he beheld the shocking sight of a SWAT Kat kneeling in front of him. Angry and afraid, he tried to escape but couldn't move and that's when he realized he was tightly bound to a chair with his arms behind his back.
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"You're a SWAT Kat! You aren't supposed to be concerned with petty thugs like me!" he shouted, still struggling to get free.
"You thought wrong."
Ghost gulped audibly. "Wha...what do you want with me?"
Razor smirked at him, produced a disposable cell phone like a magic trick, then held it out to the thug in his left paw. "I want you to turn yourself in."
"Are you crazy? I'd never turn myself-" He choked off when the SWAT Kat raised his glovatrix and pointed it right in his face.
"You want to eat a missile? I hear it hurts...a lot."
Of course, Razor wouldn't do that. But the thug didn't have to know it.
Sweat beaded the Ghost's face as he nodded toward the phone. "What do you want me to say?"
"I want you to identify yourself to the dispatcher. Tell them you committed the robberies, and where you can be found," Razor replied. "Oh, and don't mention I was here, save that for the responding officers. Got it?"
"But-"
Razor ground his glovatrix against the right side of the Ghost's face. "Missiles, Ghosty."
The Ghost began blubbering as Razor pulled back a bit to hit a button on the cell phone which automatically dialed the Enforcer's emergency line. He held the phone to the Ghost's left ear while the line connected.
"Megakat City Emergency."
Razor held the phone just long enough for the Ghost to tell the dispatcher who he was, where he was, and what he did before snapping the phone closed then dropped it to the ground, crushing it underfoot.
"Now Ghosty, when the Enforcers arrive, I want you to tell them I was here. Yell and scream it out if you have to. I'm going to retire to a place where I can watch your theatrics." Razor tapped the side of Ghost's face with his glovatrix. "...And I will be watching."
The Ghost started blubbering again as Razor walked away from him, bounding up some nearby stairs to get to a hidden alcove above. Producing binoculars from a pocket, he settled into the shadows, waiting for the Enforcers to arrive. If they followed protocol, they would eventually elevate the call to the C3 officer, who happened to be Felina today.
He smiled. He hadn't seen the lovely Lieutenant in a while, but his heart skipped a beat when he thought of her. Shaking his head, he pushed those feelings aside, focusing on the Ghost's position.
Besides, it had been just a one night stand...right?
oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo
The House of Falling Leaves...lunch time...
"C'mon. Felina...Tell me!"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I can't."
Callie pouted at Felina over her glass of sake. Felina, still in her dress uniform, opted for green tea instead. The two she-kats were eating sushi at the House of Falling Leaves, a Siamese restaurant located in Megakat City's Siamesetown district.
Callie had invited Felina (with Feral arriving later) there to celebrate her mini-promotion to Master C3 officer, with the hope that the atmosphere would loosen her friend's tongue.
It didn't work.
Callie frowned, finishing off her glass of sake. Ever since that night Felina deliberately gave vague answers, seemingly not wanting to spill major details about her lover. It didn't seem like it was a bad night...Felina had been smiling all the next day when Callie caught up with her.
It was also very odd...Felina never was shy about giving up details before, either while sober or inebriated. Why was this tom so special?
Felina was amused when Callie poured herself another glass of sake. "Hey, you're not supposed to pour your own sake."
"I know." Callie sighed dramatically. "I'm just perturbed my friend stopped giving me juicy details."
"Sorry, Callie. I would love to, but..."
"And again, why not?"
Felina picked up a piece of sushi with her chopsticks. "I don't want to hear anything about this from Uncle Ulysses. He tries not to let on that he knows, but it comes out eventually."
"How would he know?"
Felina smirked at her. "Callie, you do know that my uncle gets a lot of information from you during your pillow talk after sex? It's better than alcohol."
Callie blanched. "No way!"
"It's true. How else did I find out what to get you for your anniversary party a few months ago?"
"That tomkat!"
Chuckling, Felina casually reached for another piece of sushi, relieved she had managed to distract her friend from the sensitive subject...at least for now.
She hated not being able to tell. Callie was a good friend and she enjoyed sharing stories with her. But there was no way she would be able to tell her about Razor.
What she had said was true; her uncle and Callie chatted a lot during their pillow talks, and Felina was sure that particular tidbit of information would get back to her if she told. Uncle Ulysses was pretty much concerned about her happiness, so he wasn't tyrannical like her father was concerning her choice of mates, but a SWAT Kat was another story.
Besides, she was still confused about her feelings regarding Razor, herself. Was it just a one night stand or something more? Would it be? Could it be? She wasn't sure. And he still had her off duty gun.
Callie was stabbing her piece of sushi with her chopsticks. "I'm going to kill that kat!"
"Kill who?" A deep voice interrupted.
As Feral walked up to the table, Callie gave Felina a 'we're not finished with this conversation' look before turning toward him with her best smile. Felina chuckled. Always the politician, Callie could change her outward feelings on a dime.
"Oh, Council member Froyd was yammering about the robberies in his district again at the public safety meeting today. It's getting old," she said easily.
"Especially since that idiot won't let me increase Enforcer patrols or let me set up a task force to catch that Ghost character." Feral pulled up a chair and sat down, nodding toward Felina. "Anything else I should know, Master C3 officer?"
"The northern districts are concerned about the increase of katnip arrests, but nothing else of note," Felina replied. "Everything else you've heard about already and I've put it in a report for you."
"Good." Feral nodded, stealing a piece of sushi from Callie's plate. "How's the new position been treating you?"
"It's a lot to process and learn but I'm glad I'm getting reports on time from the various units... that would have slowed me down even more." Felina sipped her green tea. "Though I think it's mostly because I'm your niece. The captains don't want to piss off the Commander by hampering his niece's new job."
Feral chuckled. "Why do you think I lobbied for you to get that position temporarily? I've never seen so many on time reports cross my desk in a while, it's refreshing."
"Very clever, Uncle."
"I try."
"By the way," Callie spoke up. "I saw a lot of officers cleaning the outside of Enforcer Headquarters today. Are you starting a new cleaning program?"
Felina shifted uncomfortably in her seat as Feral good mood darkened a moment. "Those tomkats had the audacity to forget their training and leer at my niece."
"Eh?"
"It's the dress uniform." Felina sighed. "I'm sorry, Uncle."
"Don't apologize for those idiots! They should know their training and respect your rank!" Feral grumbled. "So for their lack of discipline, they got cleaning duty and sensitivity training. And if I could take away bars for it, I would. No she-kat officer under my command should have to deal with such behavior."
At that instant, Felina's watch beeped. She was glad for the distraction. "I'd better get going. This afternoon I'm finishing up my rotation supporting the Street Patrol units."
"Then you move to your new office at Headquarters, right?" Callie asked.
"Yep. My first one ever." Felina nodded. "All I ever had was a desk and a locker and I shared meeting space with the other helicopter brigade leaders on occasion. I just hope I can keep it organized."
Feral chuckled. "Before you go, I have something for you Felina."
"What?"
Feral reached into his overcoat and withdrew a small box. He handed it to Felina. "Open it."
Eagerly Felina opened the box. Sitting there on crushed velvet was a silver badge. She peered at it. "What's this?"
"The new Master C3 officer's badge." Feral smiled proudly at her. "You'll be the first to wear it."
"But..."
"I know what you're thinking but it was Major Lewis who okayed it and, as a matter of fact, suggested it. Normally this is conferred in a ceremony, but since your position is temporary, I think I'll save it for when you're eventually promoted to Lieutenant Grade 2," he said, a pleased look in his eyes.
Felina looked up and smiled. "Then I humbly request my commanding officer pin it to my uniform."
"Granted."
With Callie looking on, Feral proudly pinned the new badge to Felina's uniform. Gathering her things, Felina stood up as did Feral, who gave her a salute.
"Carry on, Lieutenant."
Felina saluted back, her excitement bubbling through. "Yes, sir."
Feral sat back down as Felina walked away, just noticing Callie beginning to grind her knife against her chopsticks.
"Calico dear, why are you shaving your chopsticks?"
"Who me?"
oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo
To Razor's surprise, he didn't have to wait too long for the Enforcers to arrive, hearing sirens in the distance. Only minutes later, he heard an officer barking instructions, then the door to the place being kicked in.
The SWAT Kat backed himself further into the shadows as a couple of Enforcers converged around the tied up thug.
"Well...What do we have here?" One of the officers, who Razor identified as Stevens by his name tag, chuckled. "It's the Ghost! We've been looking for you for weeks!"
"And apparently hoisted by his own petard," Steven's partner Owens chuckled. "Guess your friends didn't like you too much, eh?"
"They didn't do this to me!" The Ghost struggled in his chair. "It was the SWAT Kats!"
The officers looked at each other in disbelief. "SWAT Kats?"
"It was the smaller one! I swear!"
Owens laughed, derisively. "They never appear alone, Ghost!"
"And I didn't see neither hide nor hair of their jet or those bikes they use," Stevens added, shaking his head. "You're just yanking our tails!"
"But it's true! I swear!" Ghost was practically screaming now. "He ordered me to call you!"
"Why would the SWAT Kats waste their time with small time scum like you?" Stevens asked, sarcastically, crossing his arms. "I think someone has figured out that criminals apprehended by the SWAT Kats get extra special treatment during booking."
"He was here! You gotta believe me!"
Stevens sighed and looked over to Owens. "What do you think? Should we call in the Sarge?"
"We have to. If there was SWAT Kat involvement and we didn't report it, the brass would have our tails."
Stevens nodded, glaring at the perp. "Why can't this ever be easy?"
The Ghost whimpered, as Stevens keyed his radio, requesting his Sergeant. Razor smiled to himself, noting the officer didn't report any possible SWAT Kat involvement during his call.
That would be up to the discretion of the C3 officer on duty.
oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo
Syndicate Observation Post
The Boss watched the screens with interest as Doc replayed Monitor Four's final broadcasted moments.
He was impressed. Even though his Monitor's lethal abilities would have felled a normal kat, the SWAT Kat made quick work of it after managing to find the robot's weak spot.
He would love to have such talent join the Syndicate.
"It's amazing that tom knew exactly were to jab that stun baton. I'm really glad my Monitors have the ability to self-destruct," Doc spoke up, his paws flying over his keyboard. "That's another area I need to figure out how to properly armor."
"At least he pointed it out for us," the Boss replied. "Now we can start producing our advanced models once the revisions are made."
"Yes, sir."
"By the way, what are the Monitor's current status?"
"Shutdown. Once Four blew up I didn't want to risk them being discovered. And we have other means of procuring information."
"Keep it that way. We don't want anyone else knowing about them too soon."
The Boss' phone warbled, so he plucked it from his suit's pocket. "Yes?"
Doc continued his furious typing as the Boss seemed to get increasingly agitated with the caller.
"What do you mean Mr. Young wants me to take his place at a City Hall dinner party? I thought I was supposed to be making money for him as his junior associate!"
Curious, Doc started pulling up relevant information pertaining to the dinner party as the Boss began growling into his phone.
"How the hell would this elevate me to senior associate? All this means is that he wants a shmuck to take care of his obligations while he plays golf with Mayor Manx!"
After scanning his screens, Doc spotted an interesting piece of information on a list of current dinner party attendees and motioned for the Boss. The Boss read the screens, a smile forming on his lips.
"On second thought, I will attend the dinner party. Put me down plus one...I'll be taking my sister you idiot! She loves dinner parties."
The Boss closed his phone, chuckling. "Doc, how can I ever repay you?"
"More money into R&D would be nice."
"Done." The Boss put his phone away. "Mimi will like meeting her idol."
"And you will like meeting her as well." Doc replied casually, his paws still flying over his keyboard. The Boss smirked.
"What can I say Doc? I like she-kats who can take care of themselves."
oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo
West end of Megakat City...
The two officers stood and waited some ten minutes before a kat, with the rank markings of a sergeant, finally arrived. His nameplate identified him as Mallory. He strode up to the small group, halting next to the thug in the chair. He studied the tied up thug a moment before turning his attention to his officers, who saluted briskly.
"Isn't this the Ghost?"
"Yes, sir." Stevens replied. "And get this Sarge...he's claiming a SWAT Kat did this to him."
"A SWAT Kat?" Mallory exclaimed. "I haven't seen anything in the past few weeks that indicated they were still around, or even in the general area."
Both Stevens and Owens nodded. "There was no telltale jet or bike exhaust either, Sarge, when we arrived. It was quiet."
Mallory stood in front of the Ghost. "You sure it was a SWAT Kat? Not some figment of a katnip trip?"
"I know a SWAT Kat when I see one and it was that smaller one that did this!" Ghost screeched.
Sighing, Mallory returned his attention to his officers, rubbing a paw against his forehead. "I'm going to call in the C3. We might not believe this idiot but the C3 has to know so she can elevate this to the Commander or not."
"And cover our tails." Owens added.
"Say, isn't our C3 on duty today the lovely Lieutenant Feral?" Stevens asked.
"Yes." Mallory nodded, taking out his radio. "Why do you ask?"
"Have you seen her in her dress uniform? Where has she been hiding that body?" Stevens pretended to swoon. "That outfit hugs all the right places."
"Keep your 'admiration' of the Lieutenant to yourself, Stevens." Mallory growled at him. "If the Commander heard you, he would have you cleaning the tarmac at Enforcer Headquarters with a toothbrush AND reassign you to sensitivity training. A lot of toms have been staring after our new C3 officer and he is not amused."
"Well, she is his niece." Owens replied.
"A very hot niece." Stevens added, smirking a bit.
"Stevens! Why don't you start your report outside before I report you to the Commander myself? I have a call to make." Mallory snarled at Stevens. "Owens, you stay here and guard our guest."
"Yes, sir!"
Both officers saluted. Stevens walked outside as Owens took up a position next to the Ghost.
As the sergeant keyed his radio, Razor felt his sudden surprising anger at Steven's comments subside somewhat.
Stevens was a very lucky kat.
oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo
Felina sat in the back of an Enforcer cruiser being driven around the city, finishing up a report on her laptop.
She never had a driver before, but she guessed it was a necessity. She would never finish up a good portion of her reports if she had to drive or fly herself everywhere. Being the C3 officer had its perks.
C3 officers handled logistics and were liaisons between various departments and outside offices. The grease on the wheels as Major Lewis described it. They reported to those in charge what was happening and if anything needed their attention. As the Master C3 officer, Felina had powers of escalation or de-escalation for all Enforcer issues.
Knowing which applied was a fine art.
Today was Felina's last rotation with the Enforcer Street Patrol units. As preparation for her new role, the Commander had her take rotations with various units so she could get to know the majors and captains a bit more.
Starting tomorrow she would take up residence at Enforcer Headquarters in her new office and start being the liaison between Enforcer Headquarters, the mayor's office, and DA's office. Subordinates would then funnel needed reports from the various Enforcer units to her office.
Felina closed her laptop and stretched. She missed flying, but helping out Street Patrol was fun. She had more contact with katizens, who greatly appreciated her and the officer's help. That took the sting of being grounded away.
"Ma'am?"
Felina broke out of her reverie as her driver addressed her. "Yes, Tory?"
"Sergeant Mallory is requesting your presence on the west side of town."
"Mallory...wasn't he called in by Stevens earlier about arresting the Ghost?"
"I think so ma'am."
"Hmm...It's odd the Sergeant would need me so quickly, especially for a perp that turned himself in," Felina mused aloud. She turned her attention back to her driver. "Let's go Tory. We'd better get there before the Commander radios me asking why this call escalated so quickly."
"Yes ma'am."
oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo
Razor was alerted to Felina's arrival when the officer and the sergeant suddenly stiffened and saluted. Following their line of sight, he adjusted his binoculars and spotted Felina walking toward Mallory. He smiled. Now he understood why toms were getting in trouble.
Felina's blue and gray dress uniform certainly did hug every curve. Her skirt, while conservative, showed off just enough leg. And the black boots, that were probably designed to help her in the field, just made her look sexier.
She looked great, but Razor still preferred the Felina that looked like she'd just come out of a gun fight.
"All right Sergeant...," Felina said after returning their salutes, "...what's going on?"
"There in that chair is our elusive Ghost," Mallory replied. "My officers found him like that when they arrived."
"Mmm, hmm. So why do you need me?"
"Our friend there, says a SWAT Kat did this to him."
"Really?" Felina looked surprised. "I haven't seen either one in a while."
"I know, ma'am. We didn't see any sign of them when we arrived." Mallory nodded. "We're thinking he's on a bad katnip trip and his friends tied him up, but protocol dictates we send this up the chain."
Felina walked in front of the Ghost and knelt down on one knee. "OK, Ghost...who did this to you?"
Wild eyed and disgusted he wasn't being believed, he nearly spit in her face as he shouted, "It was the smaller SWAT Kat, you idiot!" Owens stepped up and cuffed him lightly on the back of his head to make him mind his manners.
"Smaller one? Oh, he means Gun...err...the wizzo." Felina stood up. "He certainly has the means of getting in and out of here, but..."
"It was him!" The Ghost spat.
Felina sighed. "Sergeant, have your officers take this guy into custody and do a field drug test on him just to rule it out."
"Yes, ma'am."
"And while a SWAT Kat might have done this, I'm not going to escalate this to the Commander. There's nothing we Enforcers could do at this point. But note it in your reports. I'll explain this to the Commander later at my briefings meeting."
After saluting, Mallory and Owens cut the Ghost free, dragging the thug away. As Felina began following them, a small pebble landed at her feet. She halted, frowning.
"Sergeant, I'm going to take a quick look around. Guard your prisoner, but be ready for anything."
Looking around, Felina spied a stairway that lead to a darkened alcove above. Narrowing her eyes, she rested a paw on the gun that rode on her hip and climbed the stairs.
Reaching the alcove, Felina peered into the darkness, her paw coming to grip her gun in its holster. How she wished for a flashlight.
"Hmm...being the Master C3 officer looks good on you. I like it," a familiar voice came from the darkness.
Felina exhaled, taking her paw off her gun. "You and every other tom, Gunny."
Razor emerged from the shadows, putting his pair of binoculars away. He grinned at her. "So I've heard."
Felina chuckled, feeling her mood lighten. "I guess you're the one that orchestrated that little scene down there?"
"Me? All I saw was a tom on a bad katnip trip. I was just doing my civic duty as a concerned katizen."
"Yeah right."
"Actually, I heard this was your last day with Street Patrol, so I had to come up with something to get you out here. I'm just glad the officers followed protocol instead of blowing it off."
"So what's up?"
Razor pulled out Felina's off duty gun and handed it back to her. "Your new off duty gun milady."
Felina rolled her eyes as she took her gun back from him. "What did you do to it?"
"Modified it to give you a bit more kick. It should add some penetrating power to your ammo." Razor explained. "It'll still take your regular ammo, so that's one less thing to worry about."
"Thanks Gunny."
"I still should be thanking you. You took a real risk with me Lina, and I appreciate it."
"Gunny..."
"I know."
Felina tucked the gun behind her back in the waistband of her skirt, letting her overcoat conceal it. "How's your arm?"
"Better. I took the stitches out myself days ago."
"Did T-Bone suspect anything?"
"Other than smelling your perfume on me, nope. I forgot that tom has a very sensitive nose."
Felina smirked at him. "I sort of wear that perfume for that reason, you know."
Razor smiled despite himself. "Marking your territory?"
"You'd think that about me?
Mallory's voice drifted up towards them. "Lieutenant?"
"I'm fine, Sergeant. I'll be right down." Felina looked back toward Razor. "I should go now. Thanks for the awesome thank you gift, Gunny."
She turned to walk back down the stairs, and Razor found himself blurting out, "If everything goes well in this city, I won't be seeing you as much."
Felina stopped dead in her tracks. He sounded a bit sad...almost hurt. And she found herself feeling exactly the same way. If things continued the way they were going, there wouldn't be the SWAT Kats flying around. And she wouldn't be seeing her Gunny either.
She wouldn't like that at all.
"Gunny, I'm sure we'll see each other." Felina looked back toward him. "If you can orchestrate this type of stunt then I wouldn't put it past you to figure something else out."
Razor chuckled. "True..."
"Besides, you do know where I live, right?"
"Yep..."
Smiling, Felina walked back over and gave Razor a passionate kiss, pausing briefly to lightly scratch his ears.
"So don't be a stranger, Gunny. All right?"
Felina gave Razor one last lingering look before walking back down the stairs, shouting orders as she went. He smiled at her retreating form.
Yeah. He definitely wouldn't be a stranger.