Cats and Dogs – Undercover
"Hey, Piggy, who's the broad?"
Cruger listens intently with slight fury brewing in him. The image on the screen is troubling to say the least. Not only is Kat's outfit disturbingly...sparse, but she's also in the direct (unprotected) proximity of a bomb. This bomb is intended to wipe out the command center, which means it's powerful enough to vaporize anything alive. Kat has been sent for the job because she's the only officer on the force with undercover training who can also disarm a bomb with nothing but a screw, a toothpick, and a shoelace.
"Hey, girl's gotta mak'a livin', ah?" Kat snarks in a thick, fake, New York, Brooklyn accent. There's no gum in her mouth, but her large and loud chomping noise sells it well. Her ears are concealed under her hair, not curled like normal, but mussed beyond shapely recognition. "Now, ca'we move'is show on the road?—I gotta be at Lexington–Brooke Ave. in an houwa."
The rangers, sitting with Cruger, surveying the scene, are equally unsettled. Kat's persona is so unlike herself it's hard to not cringe and laugh at the same time. They're on standby, in case anything goes wrong. Counting on Piggy to be their undercover liaison has them on edge on top of their unease over the bomb.
"Whatever," one of the traders says from behind dark glasses. "This bomb is strong enough to destroy SPD command center and vaporize anyone therein or around for a one mile radius."
"Good, good, tha's cool," Piggy says nervously. "So, uh, let me have it, ah? I know the rangers, I can get the bomb into the building."
"Payment, Piggy," the other trader, equally mysterious, commands.
Piggy nervously hands over the digi–pad full of fake security codes, created by Boom. He tries not to look nervously at Kat, who is playing the part eerily well. She stands next to him, smacking her imaginary gum and looking bored. His eyes do wander to her legs, long and fully displayed in her short skirt. Her midriff remains equally uncovered, though her naturally beautiful face is covered in awful makeup, mostly to cover the Felina spots on her cheeks. "There y'go, boys."
"Well done," the traders look at Kat briefly, who raises her eyebrows at them sassily. "We'll detonate remotely at fourteen hundred hours."
"Cool, cool," Piggy nods sketchily. "I'll, uh, see you later, then."
"Don't contact us. We'll coordinate after detonation to make sure things are...cleaned up." The two traders leave without looking back.
"Okay, come on, then...whore," Piggy says with a level of awkwardness exceeding even Bridge's record.
"Eyes on the prize, Piggy, get that bomb deactivated," Cruger interrupts through his headset, frustration completely unrelated to Piggy calling Kat a whore.
"Commander, I need to get it to a more stable location. Its plating is armed with a double glass sensory layer. If I don't open it in exactly the right way it'll start countdown." Kat says, once again herself, if a bit cold in her lack of clothes.
"All right, Kat; Piggy, get her to a safe location where she can work. Wait outside and guard it so she's not disturbed," commands Cruger.
"Yes, sir," Piggy says, still uncomfortable.
Piggy takes Kat back to a warehouse he frequents for some alone time, and more often, parties. He sets the bomb down on the office floor and stands outside, leaving the woman to work. "So, Cruger, how y'doin'?"
"No small talk!" Cruger barks into the headset, startling everyone.
"Relax, Doggie, it's a walk in the park from here," Kat says reassuringly into her own mic, hidden in her thick, dark locks.
Cruger smiles, though he can't see her through the camera they have on Piggy. He does, however, see the traders coming back. "Piggy, what are they back here for?"
"I–I dunno!" Piggy says, panicking.
"Piggy, relax, don't look so nervous," Kat says from inside the office, using a bobby pin to carefully pry away the sealant in the seams of the bomb's shell.
"Piggy, are you alone?" The trader asks, coming up to him imposingly.
"Yeah, yeah, alone," Piggy stutters, wringing his hands.
The rangers and Cruger twitch in frustration. Now, if Kat does get discovered, it could cause even more problems. Cruger growls, "rangers, stand by for dispatch."
Kat, hearing the commotion, hides the bomb in a desk drawer and goes into the bathroom connected to the office. She knows this can't be good, and as she hears one of the traders asking why he's standing outside the office she rolls her eyes. Quickly enough, she strips down to her undergarments, flushes the toilet and gets ready for the performance of her lifetime.
"What was that?!" Trader A asks dangerously.
"Uh..."
Piggy doesn't get the chance to fail at answering as Kat waltzes out of the office, back in character. She slips a hand over Piggy's grimy coat and smiles at the traders. She winks; "Come back fu'the show, fellas? Ya might be able t'afford fron'row seats but gettin' in's gonna quost ya some'in awful."
Everyone's jaws fall to the ground surprise. Cruger feels his blood boil at the sight, though how and at exactly what part of the scene is conflicting. B–Squad feels equally muddled over the development, though they have to applaud Kat for quick thinking. Unsure of where to look they focus on the task at hand, though Boom has turned beet red and is unable to look at his mentor in such a state of undress.
When Piggy's eyes and the camera attached to his fur(?) remain on Kat's chest Cruger barks, "Piggy, focus!"
"Ma'am, you need to vacate the area," says Trader B.
"Cummon, this SPD blowup thing soun's like a swee'deal. I cou'get outta the business. So, wha's it gonna take for you boys ta lemme in on th'secret?" Kat looks at them with enticing eyes, looking to get a confession out of them on record.
"No can do."
"Pleeeeease?—s'just li'l old me," Kat approaches Trader A and walks her fingers up his chest. "I'll make it worth y'while. What'ja got 'gainst SPD anyway?"
Trader A pauses a moment. "They'll pay for fighting against the Troobian Empire."
Cruger cringes; he had heard of Troobian rebels in New–Tech, but he hadn't seen them until now. "Kat, get out of there."
"Aw, so ya gonna blow it ta smith'rines, nice!" Kat begins chewing nonexistent gum again and sways her hips as she goes back to Piggy's side. "You guys work for Grumm hi'self?"
"Higher up, ma'am. We all are vowed to serve—"
Trader B stops Trader A from saying anything more. "How do you know of Emperor Grumm?"
"Who don't? Cummon, s'basic knowledge, eh?" Kat covers smoothly. "Mind not givin' me th'fou'th degree while'am standin' 'ere naked?"
"What did you guys need, anyway?" Piggy pushes on. When Trader B looks at him it's with scrutiny, and for quite a long time.
"We came back to tell you that when we detonate, you'll have ten minutes to make it a safe distance away. Your services might prove helpful again in the future, and we doubted you'd be smart enough to get out immediately once the bomb was planted." Trader B ignores Piggy's offense and turns to Kat. "Would you be interested in a job as intel for our rebellion?"
"Do I got gum in m'mouth?" Kat smirks, still chomping on air, and spits on her hand before shaking Trader B's. "This'll teach 'ose uptight coppas."
"Very well; we'll be in touch." The Traders wait for a moment.
Kat watches them suspiciously. Her muscles tense, ready to pounce, while Piggy shakes. "Gotta prob'um, guys?"
Traders A and B trade looks. They leave, though Trader A looks back at Kat, who has a bad feeling about this.
"All right, Piggy—"
"Kat, what's going on?" asks Cruger.
"Doggie, send in Bomb Division, now!" Kat's voice is on edge, worried.
"Kat, what has happened?!" Cruger asks bordering on frantic.
"They remote detonated while we were talking, I think they saw Piggy's camera. The timer has seven minutes on the clock." Kat's voice is harried but still stable as she pries the bomb open. "I might be able to stop the clock on time but there's no guarantee."
"Forget it, Kat, just get out of there!" Cruger stands now, eyes helpless.
"There are too many people in the area, we'd never evacuate the coverage span on time." Kat says calmly, working precisely but quickly on the inner workings. The bomb is complex, and one wrong move will disintegrate the district. "Doggie,"
"Hang on, Kat," Cruger's voice has turned quiet, pleading desperately in a whisper.
"Doggie, if—"
"There is no if, Kat."
"If I don't make it,"
"I said no!"
"I—"
Cruger stands as some muffled garble is heard. Piggy's camera shorts out and they lose all connection. "Kat?...Kat!...KATHERINE!"
B–Squad holds their breath. Jack is on his feet, waiting for a sign.
"Katherine Manx, answer me!" Doggie roars.
Static is his only answer.
Cruger crushes the headset in his paw like it's a toothpick. His fangs are bared in full and he can feel the salty tears in the corners of his eyes. Somewhere in his mind he knows Sky has called in BD to Kat's location but it means nothing to him at the moment. All he can think about is the horror of having to find Kat's body...or lack thereof. The pain of the thought that he has lost Kat tears at him horribly.
A buzzing comes. Then some scratching. A coming in frequency sounds. It's a radio station. Then, an exterior SPD base. Then some more garbled mess. Then a click. "Doggie, come in; it's me, Kat!"
"Kat!" Doggie shamelessly rips the headset off Boom, who nearly loses an eye in the process. "I thought—"
"Sorry, I used the wire from mine and Piggy's communicators to short out the current connected to the detonator. There was a backup charge I had to short out with Piggy's camera, and there was a small explosion, but it only took out the west corner of the warehouse. Bomb Division should be here soon, awaiting your commands."
Cruger blinks his tears away and smiles. "Excellent work, Dr. Manx."
Kat gets a visual through, apparently with a plain old cell phone. "There we go; thanks, Doggie. Piggy here did his part too."
As Piggy comes into the picture Cruger straightens his face. "Piggy, thank you for your services; SPD will reward you for your work."
"Good, 'cause this was way more stressful than you said it would be," Piggy says crankily.
"Anyway, sir, threat neutralized, but rangers should come on scene. The traders headed west to the next district. I can text message their last known coordinates and direction." Kat lowers the camera to text, wiping some soot and the makeup off her face with the back of her hand. She shivers.
"Piggy, give her your damn coat!" Cruger commands. The rangers are unused to hearing him curse in any way.
"Actually, sir, I'd rather not touch that...thing. It's a bit, uh, dirty." Again, Piggy's offense goes unheeded. "Coordinates, sent, I can hear Bomb Division; relax, Doggie, this mission was a success." Kat shivers again as a wind blows through.
Doggie is out the door before anyone can blink.
It takes him a matter of two minutes to get to them with his speed. He sees Kat (and Piggy) on approach. In one smooth, jumping motion, he lands in front of Kat, depositing his Commander's coat over her tiny frame. It encircles her like a cloak and he lands between her and Piggy. Bomb Division arrives seconds later, as Cruger is chewing Piggy out for letting Kat go through this.
"Doggie, give him a break, he did well!" Kat tries to defend Piggy, but she can't see a thing past Cruger's back.
"Bomb Division Squad A, sir!" A man in black salutes to Cruger.
"Good, here's the rest of the bomb," Kat bends and hands him a horrible mess of scrap metal and wires, having to fiddle with the oversized sleeve. Her hand looks like a child's in comparison.
"Thank you, Dr. Manx. Why are you wearing Commander Cruger's coat?" Another man in black asks.
"Because I am unclothed underneath," Kat says with such a deadpan, straight face it's a bit hilarious.
When Bomb Division's eyes linger on her in question, as if trying to decipher a puzzle, Cruger clears his throat. "Thank you Bomb Division, for your assistance."
"Sir!—we'll take this to evidence," BD snaps to elbow–salute Cruger and leaves.
Kat sighs, tired from the day's work. Cruger's coat is much warmer than what she had on, but it's so much larger than her body it weighs on her heavily. "Doggie, can I just go back to base? Thank you, for your coat, but I'd love to put on some proper clothes," she says, gesturing to how his coat hangs on her like an adult's button down on a five year old.
Cruger picks Kat up bridal style, gently, and speeds back to base. He carries her like a precious treasure. She nuzzles his chest tiredly, enjoying the wind in her hair and the warmth of his body. They arrive back at base and Doggie takes her right to her quarters. He even stands dutifully outside as she gets changed. When she emerges, she's once again her immaculate self, and has even folded his coat perfectly.
"Ah, thank you; I feel like myself again," she sighs.
"The rangers quite enjoyed your little show," Cruger smiles widely as blushes. She bites her lip cutely, looking embarrassed. "It was quite the performance."
"I am never going to live this down, and that outfit was...ridiculous!" Kat blusters, waving her hands around her (once again properly curled) hair.
"Nonetheless, you've accomplished something few else could have. You performed a great service to earth as SPD," Cruger's compliment is so formal, yet so profound, Kat is astonished. After a moment of gratitude filled silence he speaks again: "What did you want to tell me?"
"I'm sorry?" Kat tilts her head and moves her ears.
"Before your mic shorted out you were about to tell me something. You..." Cruger lets himself trail off to encourage her to finish for him.
"Oh, oh—that, yeah, um, I, uh..." Kat looks down sheepishly, trying to find a way out of her confession. "I don't remember that."
Cruger raises his version of an eyebrow at her. "Kat, you know better than that."
Kat hangs her head in defeat and yowls in displeasure. "It's nothing, Doggie, just forget it."
"Katherine," he scolds lightly. "You can tell me."
Kat blushes scarlet from one pointy ear to the other, the pink tips looking conspicuous against her dark hair. "I...was going to say...that I... "
"Hey, Kat, I'm glad you're okay!" Boom rushes up and hugs her tightly.
"Thanks, Boom," Kat wheezes from his painfully tight grip.
"Welcome back!" Boom shouts, continuing on his way. "By the way, super hot bod!"
Kat's entire face turns a red rivaling Jack's uniform and Cruger turns: "BOOOOOM!"