CH61

Rick and Kate drove Serena and Joanne across the street to her mom's house so that they could talk to them about the process.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Beckett. When Kate was a detective in New York City she helped me a lot when my mother was murdered," Joanne explained as she gave Johanna a quick hug.

Serena moved on to speak about why they were here, explained about the process to bond her and Oscar to each other and what that meant. "Jim told me a little about bonded life mates, but he told me I wasn't his. That didn't stop him from loving me though. So if we do this we'll be able to talk to each other without actually speaking aloud?" Johanna tried to make sure she understood.

"That and the two of you will be attuned to each other. If one of you is in mortal danger the other will feel it and be able to act on it. Hopefully be able to rescue you before something dreadful happens. They will also know exactly where you are at the time," Serena explained. Being a life mate would have given them other benefits.

"Keep in mind this process is very invasive and it will be embarrassing in the extreme," Joanne warned them and walked them through exactly what she felt when she and Serena did it. "So you two have already done this?" Oscar spoke for the first time and both she and Serena nodded.

"How long does it take?" Because of the restaurant's hours they had a time crunch. They were told how long it took them. "I suppose if they could wait and fly us down there at night after we close, we could do it. Do this the next day, rest that night, and do it again the next morning then have them fly us home whether it works or not. We wouldn't have to close for a day." Johanna tried to plan this out.

Her words had Oscar up with his arms wrapped around her. "You're truly willing to do this for us?" he asked her since he already knew his answer. To hell with privacy. "I'm not thrilled about making love to you however many times we can while two strangers watch, but yes, I'm willing," she told him. "Could be worse. Could be Kate and Rick watching instead of two complete strangers," Oscar teased as he grinned at her. "Oooo, that's really sick Oscar!" And it earned him a wack to his chest, though she was grinning.

It meant Serena and Joanne had to stay with Johanna and Oscar for three days until the evening before the restaurant was closed again. However it also meant Serena and Joanne were introduced to the marvelous deliciousness of Johanna's cooking.

Kate called Espo and Kevin to tell them that she had found someone who was going to provide letters recommending that they get the jobs. She didn't know who these people were but she left that part out. She just hoped that whomever they were they had some influence and that the interviewer didn't ask Espo or Kevin too much about them since the guys wouldn't know anything.

Kate also called Lanie to tell her what she had done for the two of them and asked if she had selected a home to purchase. "I've put in an offer for the first one even though I hate the kitchen," Lanie told her. "I'll talk to Oscar who can come out to look at it after you purchase it. I'm sure he can design exactly what you want," Kate assured her. "It'll be great to have you only a 2-1/2 drive away instead of having to fly to see you. We can come up over a weekend even." Kate was really looking forward to that. "And I'll have 4 bedrooms so there'll be plenty of room," Lanie said excitedly.

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Oscar and Johanna had just flown away with Serena and Joanne to make their way to an area outside of Phoenix. For Serena it meant doing engine maintenance in Lee and Francine's backyard while they worked with Oscar and Johanna.

Rick wrapped his arms around Kate and hugged her. "They'll be fine," he told her. Kate allowed herself to melt into his body and let him work his magic. "I'm more concerned about this attack on Paladin. The possibility of things going awry is high and it has me more than a little worried. We have to wait until I have 3 days off before I can leave," she said. Which meant they had 3 days starting tomorrow to plan this attack.

Her first problem was how to get there. Rick opened an expandable map on his laptop with Kate sitting next to him while Alexis was outside playing with Midas and Maggie. "We're here." He zoomed in on Newcastle and expanded out from there. "The closest body of water is north of here, Hudson Bay. Or you can fly at night and avoid large Canadian cities and air bases to reach the Atlantic then fly south maybe." He traced a route using his finger.

"How fast can you swim?" he asked. Kate had to wait for her dragon. "Half as fast as I can fly," she told him. "So you need to fly more than swim, even if swimming would help hide you. Now where do you cross?" He moved over to Africa. "I'm thinking you should fly across Africa since the Mediterranean and Europe along with Russia are just too dangerous. If anyone picks you up on radar they'll send fighters to intercept you." He was really worried about that. Fortunately Africa didn't have that problem for the most part.

"I'm guessing it'll be daylight by the time you hit Gabon and the Congo. I doubt they have much in the way of an airforce or anti-aircraft guns so flying across them and Tanzania should be easy in daylight. Plus if anyone does see you it would take days or maybe weeks, if not months, for them to get word out," he reassured her.

"There is this chain of islands off of India where you could land and rest till the sun goes down and then fly to his home." Rick zoomed over to that location. "Oops, maybe these islands on the eastern side of the Bay of Bengal would be better," he suggested when he realized Chana's home was closer to Burma than it was to India itself. He moved to the place itself and brought up pictures. "Well, that makes it easy to find. It's the only colored house in the entire village," he pointed out since everything around him was concrete grey.

"Destroy the house and fly out. Cross Africa in the same place and fly until the sun comes up. Do what you think is right or swim underwater till you reach the bay in Canada again and then fly home at night. Find an island in the Caribbean to rest before moving on maybe," he proposed.

"Now what about food?" he wondered since she was going to be naked as a human. 'Not a problem, we eat fresh fish or maybe even a whale,' her dragon told her. "Apparently that's not going to be an issue or so my dragon tells me." Kate was just going to sleep while her dragon hunted down a whale and ate it raw. "You're sure? Staying a dragon for that long is going to require you to eat a lot," he warned her. "I'm positive," she responded thinking an entire whale should be enough.

"Something you want to change? Some of this is going to have to change along the way anyhow based on what you see and what you encounter," he cautioned her. "I suppose flying close to the water would be best. Dive into the ocean when I need to and swim. I'll hopefully avoid anyone's radar that way. Maybe pick up a snack along the way," she remarked. 'Thank you!' Her dragon knew she was going to get hungry fast.

"Worried about something?" Rick asked her since she had been mostly silent during this. "No, not worried exactly. It's just that if I do this at night I'm going to be killing an entire family. Not just the guy in charge but his kids as well." Kate still had a problem with that.

"I know, trust me I know. If someone was after Alexis again..." He put an arm around her and hugged her. "I still remember when Paladin showed up here. The all-consuming fear I felt for Alexis as I ran into the house straight into a hail of bullets..." He shuddered as he recalled that day a little too well.

"I felt it too and I was so scared, but not for myself. They were after both you and Alexis. All I felt was an overwhelming fear that I was going to lose both of you. That was before I even knew I had a dragon inside me." Kate knew she had to go through with the mission for the sake of all shifters worldwide. It was just that she wasn't going to feel good about herself afterwards for a long, long time.

"I'll have an award-winning bear hug waiting for you." He hugged her now to remind her what would be waiting for her when she got home.

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Amber had the day off and Kate left the office early slightly before it got dark. She arrived home to find Rick shoving food at her. "Just eat it. As a dragon you're going to burn it all off quickly anyway," he told her. "Eat!" He encouraged her even though the sun had gone down 30 minutes ago. "I can't eat anymore. I already don't feel well from all I've eaten. Besides it's dark out and I have got to leave!" She pushed away what he'd put in front of her.

Moments later Kate and Rick were outside just past Alexis's playset. Her mother and Oscar had left yesterday for their flight to Phoenix. Serena was keeping up her end of this deal so far; it was time for Kate to do her part. She stripped off all her clothes, handed them to Rick and found herself surrounded by Rick's arms. She buried her face into his chest and let him hold her. Kate moaned when he let go of her. She loved being in his arms.

"I promise there will be a hug waiting for you when you get back. Stay safe. Always remember I love you." And Rick kissed her like he was never going to see her again. "I love you too babe, so very much." Kate wrapped her arms around him, then let go, and started to run. As she ran she changed into her dragon, leapt into the air, and flew north into the night sky.

"Please, come back to me Kate," he said brokenly as he sent his prayer to the stars. Rick couldn't see her anymore but still he stood there and watched till he finally turned around and went back inside to spend time with Alexis. Maybe being with his little girl would help take his mind off of what Kate was about to do.

"Did Mom go into work?" Alexis asked as soon as Rick showed up. "Yes pumpkin, she went into work. But she'll be back. It's only for a few days." They had explained to Alexis that Kate needed to work and would be gone for a while. Rick was only worried that his little girl was too smart for her own good and would figure out that Kate hadn't gone into the office.

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Kate was only partially in control. She let her dragon do most everything while she just watched and offered suggestions. She was relatively high which allowed her to see the topography of where she was. Knowing her location allowed her to fly out over Hudson Bay where she turned east then flew over a sparsely populated part of Canada and out over the Labrador Sea before heading south into the Atlantic Ocean.

She didn't feel the flapping of her wings or how hard her lungs were working. She left all that to her dragon. She knew the airlines were high above her so all she needed to worry about was any ships in the area. Kate told her dragon that she was probably high enough to show up on someone's radar and that maybe she should fly a little lower.

Kate saw some ships but they were all container ships traveling somewhere. So far nothing to cause her concern. 'How are you doing?' she asked her dragon. 'I'm fine,' her dragon responded. 'Which means what exactly? I'm in here too, you know.' She wanted a real answer. 'I'm fine, just starting to get a little hungry,' her dragon admitted, which caught Kate by surprise. Rick had her eat until she was ready to burst and she was hungry already!?

She noticed that they were flying less than a hundred feet above the water at best. It was just enough that her wingtips didn't hit the water. All of a sudden she dove into the water as the sun was starting to come up. Kate kept watching and found that she was fishing as a large school of she-didn't-know-what went into her mouth. This was followed by a tight turn that chased down another school that went into her mouth. She realized that they were getting deeper then suddenly went up, really fast. When she broke the water she leapt up into the sky, worked hard to gain altitude then headed for land just as the sun came up.

Suddenly they were going down in a steep dive towards a river. When they got there she grabbed something with her two front legs and her dragon struggled to get back up into the air. She saw something suddenly get thrown out in front of her and into her mouth it went. It was followed by another one. 'Was that a hippo?' Kate hadn't gotten a really good look at it. 'If you say so. Whatever it was, it was tasty,' her dragon replied. Being a dragon really was different! They continued to follow the river and Kate saw another two hippos enter her mouth.

Then she flew over the first really large settlement they had seen so far on this trip. Kate had no trouble noticing that she had been spotted when a number of people were pointing up in the sky. 'We've been spotted,' Kate announced. 'Can't be helped. Humans are everywhere.' She didn't detect any animosity in the statement, though it was mentioned like something out of an encyclopedia. Just a statement of fact.

They flew over several smaller communities and each time Kate could see people pointing. It wasn't until she reached the coast that she flew over the southern edge of a larger port city and out into the Indian Ocean. They were doing fine till Kate saw something. 'WAR SHIP! HIT THE WATER AND SWIM!' she screamed and soon found herself diving into the water, going deep. What she didn't know was if she'd been spotted, though if they were any good they likely saw her. She also didn't know whose ship it was since she didn't have time to look for a flag. She didn't know what kind of war ship it was either, only that it wasn't an aircraft carrier.

Kate felt herself coming up. 'Flying might not be such a good idea yet,' she cautioned and found herself leveling out and still swimming. 'I'm actually breathing water. This is so cool!' She was enjoying this. That was until Kate saw two little somethings headed right for them. Then she found herself spinning and going deeper again. "What the hell was that?' Kate asked. 'I don't know but here comes two more of them.' She spun and quickly rose, headed for the surface as fast as possible only to level out and then work herself a little deeper and keep swimming. As she did she saw something big come into view. It was long and round. 'That's a submarine!' Kate recognized its shape but she didn't know whose it was.

She swam right over the top of it and her dragon used one of her claws to rip it open from bow to stern then she never saw it again. She could, however, feel some pressure changes behind her as the submarine quickly flooded and imploded when it reached its crushing depth. The crew was long since dead.

'Did we just kill that crew?' Kate demanded. 'They were trying to kill us,' her dragon said, defending her actions as she kept swimming towards the islands where she would rest till dark.

She chased another school of fish and she watched a lot of them go into her mouth followed by twisting to get still more.

Kate finally broke water, leapt up into the air, and struggled to gain altitude. It turned out to be good timing as the northern larger island of Andaman came into view. 'Maybe land in that northern most area with the field of trees?' Kate suggested since she didn't see any buildings in the area and certainly no towns or cities.

She felt like it was a controlled crash landing as far as she was concerned. Several trees ended up being broken and lying on the ground. Once she felt secure she shifted back into a naked human and started looking around. "It's an orange tree grove," Kate exclaimed in delight as she recognized the fruit. Some of it looked ripe enough to eat which had her picking one and peeling it. She gave it a tentative taste test. "Yep, it's an orange alright." She devoured the rest of it and picked up several more. Looking around it looked like night was at least a couple of hours away. "Two days to get here means two days to get back. I hope Rick can convince the office that I won't be in," she said to herself as she peeled and ate the second orange.

Kate worked at finding some place comfortable where she could rest and maybe get some sleep.

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Rick had been doing what he could to keep Alexis busy and it was working out pretty well he thought until he heard those dreaded words, "Dad, when's Mom coming home?" For such a long time it had been just him and his little girl; he was who she turned to when she needed someone. Now Kate was in their lives and as much as Rick was missing her, it seemed his little girl was too. "Just a couple more days pumpkin. Her work is keeping her away and her work is important. She really is needed, you should be proud of her," he gently told her hoping that it was enough. Watching his little girl walk away dejectedly told him it hadn't been. He chased her down and wrapped her up in his arms. "I miss Kate too pumpkin, but she'll be home soon. It's just two more days." Rick hoped the power of his hug would last.

Given what time it was and the change in time zones Rick could guess where she was. "This better work," he remarked heatedly. "The price that we're all paying is high, especially for my Kate..."

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Kate was startled awake but had no idea what it was that had done it. "Damn it, its dark out." She had slept too long! She actually lifted her arm to look at her wrist but dropped it when she remembered she was naked and didn't have a watch. 'We need to get moving. Why didn't you wake me?' Kate questioned her dragon. 'Ignore that stupid question,' she quickly added. 'Babe can you hear me?' Kate really wanted to hear his voice, even if it was just in her head. 'How are you doing? Where are you?' Rick responded quickly. His voice caused Kate to sigh; even at that distance he made her feel better. 'I'm on the island still and it's dark. I was just getting ready to make my way to the target.' She hoped that if she thought of it as a target it would diminish the fact that she was about to kill kids.

'Any trouble?' he asked. 'A little actually. We were attacked by someone and we sank a submarine. I don't know whose though,' she said, telling him the truth. 'I'm sure it couldn't be helped. Better get going and come back safe. We miss you so be careful and remember, we both love you,' he told her. 'I love you too, babe,' she replied and began jogging to find the edge of the island. She let her dragon take over once she reached it.

The target was almost due north of them; she just had to avoid any large coastal towns and started using the mountains to hide herself. It took some time and a number of turns to reach it. 'I think that's it!' Kate saw a light, sort of purple-colored large building come into view in the dark. She came right at it and felt her lungs expand greatly then empty as a massive stream of fire reached out to touch the building. She flew over it and continued past as she made a wide turn and came in for another run.

Part of the building was basically missing while what was left was partially on fire as Kate felt her lungs expand and she exhaled as another blast of fire touched the building.

She made another wide turn and came back for another run. Kate could see about a third of the building remained as she came back in again from the same direction as the first time. Once more Kate felt her lungs expand and she exhaled a stream of fire that touched what was left of the building.

She flew over it and made still another wide turn. Kate didn't see much of the building was left as they approached it. This time, however, she coughed three times quickly and saw little red blobs fly out like the one she had used to open Hunt's safe. They flew to the target, struck the area, and exploded.

It was at this time not that far away that a set of red eyes popped open and a toothy smile formed. It had been dark until the eyes opened. The red of the eyes gave the space an eerie glow and the evil that existed there could almost be tasted. The smile only made things worse. It stirred and shook loose the dust that covered it. It felt Kate and knew that it was time, a new body awaited and he was going to take it.

After that last run she headed back the way she came only this time she didn't stop at the island and just kept flying.

Kate wasn't sure just how much time had passed when she saw two small flashes of flame that didn't make sense to her in the distance over the water. That was until suddenly two items hit her and exploded. She felt them but also knew that she hadn't been hurt much, certainly nothing she couldn't heal. 'Missiles maybe?' Kate offered as she flew down closer to the water. Suddenly a large ship came into view and to her it looked like a military ship. This time she was trying to see a flag when she felt her lungs expand and just as she was about to fly over it, a stream of fire reached out and touched the ship just before she passed over it and continued flying. This was followed by a huge blast and a shock wave of the ship blowing what was left of it to pieces.

'Babe, who has a flag that's orange on top, white in the middle, and green on the bottom with a blue circle in the middle?" Kate called out to Rick. 'Give me a minute,' he didn't know so he had to find his laptop. 'That's the flag of India,' he replied and wondered why she needed to know. 'I think I just sunk an Indian war ship that shot missiles at me,' she responded which had Rick turning on the TV to check the news.

She flew over Africa in roughly the same location as last time, only this time it was in the middle of the night. She watched as her dragon snatched up another pair of hippos, ate them whole, and kept flying. They came out over the Atlantic Ocean and once again went fishing before flying for home.

This time Kate stopped as the sun was coming up on the northern end of Flores Island in the Azores. She landed near a stream where her dragon drank deeply before changing back into a human. She was a few miles outside of Ponta Delgada. She did her best to make herself a bed to rest on and went to sleep.

Come the next day Rick was beginning to get worried. He should have heard from her by now. 'Kate where are you? Tell me how you're doing,' he called out and heard nothing in return. His writer's imagination began working overtime. 'KATE TALK TO ME!' he bellowed at her in panic. 'Go away! 'M trying to sleep,' she grumbled at him.

He collapsed onto the sofa. Kate was fine! And he closed his eyes in relief.

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It was days later when Rick and Kate hear the news about India losing a guided missile corvette in the Indian Ocean where no one took credit for its sinking. India had just finished building two of them called the Kirch and Kulish in 2001. The one they had lost was from 1998 and was called the Kora. The missiles they had fired at Kate cost India a crew of 134 and $35,000,000. Whoever lost a submarine wasn't admitting it, so they never did find out whose it was.

What was really in the news for a short time was the complete destruction of the house that had held the largest family on the planet. A search had yet to turn up any surviving family members. Kate was sitting on Rick's lap, his arms around her. "This had better have been worth it babe. It had better have been worth it." His hug wasn't helping her much this time. She had killed a lot of people all because of one man's xenophobia. Ziona Chana, the head and creator of Paladin was dead.

What showed up on the front page of the Star and other cheap, tabloid magazines were stories about a dragon being spotted in Africa and not just any dragon, a purple dragon no less! Still this story never made it into mainstream press. However in the region, it was talked about and and the story was handed down from generation to generation as the size of the dragon kept getting bigger and bigger.