The next morning, Chance's alarm clock went off. He groaned and rolled over and hit the off button. The poor abused clock was barely held together by duct tape and some ingenuity on Jake's part, as he had either thrown it against the wall or smashed it quite a few times. He forced himself up and out of bed. 'I actually feel more rested than usual. I guess getting some last night helped me relax a little.' He put his arms above his head and stretched a bit before getting up and heading to the shower across the hallway. Him and Jake had to share the community bathroom as neither one of them had a bathroom in their rooms.
A few minutes later, Jake came out of his room, carrying a clean pair of his coveralls, a towel, and other bathroom stuff. He was almost shocked to find the bathroom door shut and locked, someone inside was showering. He looked over to find Chance's door wide open and no one in the bed. 'Huh...he's never up this early and he never beats me to the shower. Maybe this Shadow Kat she-Kat is good for him.' Jake thought, smiling a bit as he went to go put his stuff down in his room and make breakfast instead.
Across the city, Vivian was getting up for work. Her sister Lilian decided to stay on the couch for a couple of days. Vivian sat in bed for a moment, thinking about the events of the previous night. 'Last night was amazing. It was really good, like too good.' Vivian shook her head. 'We have an agreement, screw buddies only. Ugh...what is with me and these yellow toms lately?! I just lose my head around either one of them! I still can't get involved with anyone until my business here is done. Even then, I don't know if I'll be staying after it's over...' She thought as she got up off the bed and opened her door to the hallway. She found Lilian making omelets in her kitchen.
"Morning, you want an omelet?" Lilian asked as Vivian nodded and took a seat at the counter in front of the kitchen.
"Sooooo I saw you went out last night, where did you go?" Lilian asks with a sly look on her face. Vivian smiled slightly. "Just out to meet up with someone." She says as Lilian gives her a knowing look. "You had sex, didn't you?"
Vivian's head shot up to look at her little sister with wide eyes and a blush. "Lilian!" She cried as Lilian started laughing. "You did! You totally did! I knew it! Was it Chance? Was he good?" She asks excitedly as Vivian smiled and shook her head.
"How do you know I went out and got it on with someone? I didn't even say anything!" Lilian smirks as she flipped one of the omelets. "You came out here with this stupid smile on your face. Your hair is shinier than usual, and you're not your usual grump self. It's sure signs you got laid last night! So, spill! Who was it?!"
Vivian scratches the back of her neck. "It wasn't Chance." She said as Lilian comes to the counter as well closer to her. "Oh...poor Chance is gonna be disappointed you have a boyfriend now, or at the very least a tom-toy." Lilian says, leaning over the counter. "We're in a screw buddy arrangement." Vivian responded.
Lilian scrunched her nose a bit. "Ugh...he's one of 'those'? Just wants the milk but won't buy the cow?! You shouldn't settle for that, Viv." She says as Vivian laughs slightly. "I was the one who proposed the arrangement and I'm not a cow!" She said as Lilian laughs, turning back to continue cooking. "So...tell me about him?" Lilian asks as Vivian gets this dreamy look in her eyes as she recalls. "He's...hard to describe..."
Lilian rolls her eyes. "Well...what do you like about this tom?" Vivian thinks for a moment. "He's really strong. He looks good in blue. He challenges me at every turn and I can win sometimes. His voice gets me hot. We have similar...interests. He's a pilot..."
Lilian laughs. "Are you sure you're not talking about Chance? He's all of those things too, although I did hear a rumor going around from the Enforcers I did talk to yesterday." Lilian says as Vivian's ears perked up at this. "What rumor?" Vivian asks as her eyes narrowed.
"That him and Jake are gay." Vivian's hand slaps the counter. "What?! That can't be true! Jake has a girlfriend!" Vivian says as her mouth falls open. Lilian shakes her head. "They say she's just a cover-up. Think about it, they work together, they live together, they go everywhere together." Vivian thinks a moment and then shakes her head. "They're just best tom friends. They're business partners!" Vivian vehemently defends Chance and Jake. Lilian smiles. 'Now if she didn't care about what Chance does and he's just a friend, why is she defending him so? I know why!' Lilian thought to herself.
The skillet not far from Lilian catches fire while she's not looking. "And...you just set my house on fire, Lil." Vivian says calmly as Lilian turns and freaks out, quickly turning off the stove, putting on oven mits, and getting the inferno quickly into the sink, turning on the water and dousing the flame. "I am so...sorry." Lilian says with a sheepish grin and Vivian shakes her head. "Come on, we'll go out for breakfast this morning. Doughnuts sound really good." She says as Lilian raises an eyebrow at her. "You sure you didn't get pregnant last night? You made him wear a raincoat, right?" Lilian asks as Vivian laughs. "I'm pretty sure it doesn't happen that quick, and yes, we used protection. I'm gonna go get dressed and we'll go."
A while later, after Vivian had breakfast with her sister and dropped her off back at the apartment, she was at Jake and Chance's garage, trying to do her work when Chance came up to the desk she was sitting at. She looked up at him and he smiled at her. "Yes, can I help you?" She asked, actually not annoyed today. Chance's eyebrows lift in response. "Woah, you're in an unusually good mood today. What happened? Have nice dreams about me?" He asked as Vivian thought for a moment. 'Even Chance noticed I'm in a good mood today. Maybe there is some weight to what Lilian said this morning? Am I really that much of a grouch in the mornings?'
"I'm not even going to get mad at that little comment you made. What's up?" She asked as he leaned over the desk. "They're opening a new comic book shop downtown by your place today. I thought maybe I'd invite you to go and then we could spend the night just being comic book buddies?" He asked with a hopeful smile. "Don't act like you don't want to, Vivian."
Vivian thought for a moment. 'Oh...I can't turn down that smile and I've been wanting to check that place out too.'
"A nerd night in?" She asked. Chance's smile faded slightly. "Comic books aren't nerdy! The ones I read are rugged and cool!" She laughs. "Okay. I'll even cook dinner." She said as he looked seriously at her. "You can cook?!" He asks as Vivian nods. "Oh yeah, I can cook almost like a five star chef!"
"I didn't know that. Why didn't you tell me? I would've been over more often!" He said as she laughed. "You never asked!"
There was a sudden crash outside and Vivian jumped, not expecting it. Chance walked back towards the garage and Jake came to meet him. They both looked at each other and walked outside to find, once again, Burke and Murray had unceremoniously dumped more salvage directly in front of the garage, blocking off at least one of the entrances.
Both toms marched up to the dump truck. Vivian watched as this happened. "Hey, you two jerks! Haven't we told you multiple times NOT to dump that directly in front of our garage?!" Chance yelled as the smaller of the two toms in the dump truck answered. "Last I checked, this whole place is a dump! Woah, who's she?" Murray asked, noticing Vivian coming up behind them.
"She your girlfriend, Furlong? She's too pretty to be dating your ugly mug." Murray said as he laughed. Vivian glared at him while Chance growled. "Come down here and say that to my face, furball!" He demanded, pointing down in front of him, claws extended. Murray laughed again as Burke spoke up. "Dump that zero and get with one of us, pretty she-Kat!" Vivian stepped up and put her hands on her hips. "I'm not his girlfriend, but I am from Enforcer Headquarters, overseeing the salvage yard and the garage. I'd appreciate it if you didn't make my job harder by making it hard on Chance and Jake too. I have to inventory all of this stuff!" She said, pulling out her Enforcer HQ badge as they look at each other and then at her again.
"Oh, we didn't know yous was with the Enforcers. Sorry, Ms. Vanfang. We'll be more careful about where we dump this while you're here, but we're not doing any favors for them!" Murray said as he handed the clipboard down to Chance, who for once, didn't snap the pencil in half after signing it and gave it back. "Here's your copy." He said, not even handing it to Chance, but tossing it out to land wherever. "We'll see you's guys next time!" Murray said as they both laughed and drove off, leaving black smoke as they pulled away.
"What a couple of ass-clowns...are they always like that?" Vivian said as Chance glared as the smoke dissipated. Jake had the same look as he waved the smoke out of his face. "Pretty much, today they weren't too bad. That was them being nice, believe it or not. Chance and I have almost gotten into a few scuffles with them."
"I really do think Feral pays them extra just to yank our tails." Chance says as both he and Jake head back into the garage, getting ready to have to move all of that dumped salvage. Vivian picked up the receipt and headed back in too.
She made a few notes in her metal book and left the receipt on the desk for Jake. She gathered up her stuff to go. She turned and almost bumped into Chance. "Oh, sorry. Didn't see you there." She said as he smiled. "So I looked it up. The comic book shop is gonna do their grand opening at six tonight. You want me to pick you up in the tow truck? I cleaned it out so it wouldn't be so bad for you sit in." He asked as she smiled. "Yeah, it would be nice not to have to drive for once. Although I enjoy it, I drive so much already." Vivian said, grateful for the offer.
"Awesome! So around 5:45?" He asked, excitedly. She smiled and responded. "Yeah, I'll be ready then."
"See you later then!" Chance said as she left to go to her car.
Jake walked by and stopped next to Chance. "You know buddy, you're going to have to eventually cut one of them loose." He said as Chance turned to his friend. "What are you talking about?" He said raising his eyebrow.
"She-kats are more emotional than us. Eventually Shadow Kat is going to develop feelings for you. There's no such thing as sex without feelings and I can see Vivian is already starting to have feelings for you too, no matter how much you tell me she refuses to acknowledge it. If you're telling me the truth, that you haven't even touched her yet and she's already got "that" look in her eyes every time she thinks no one is catching her staring at you, you're already in trouble. Either Vivian's going to switch to only having to come here once a month to avoid you because you'll break her heart, or we're going to be in a fight for our 9 lives as the Swat Kats against Shadow Kat when you end up breaking her heart instead as T-bone."
Chance shakes his head, crosses his arms over his chest and gives him a 'you have no faith in me' look. "I've got both she-kats under control, buddy. Shadow Kat and T-bone are a temporary fun thing. She and I both established that. As for Vivian, I'm crouched down like a tiger on the hunt. I'm gonna pounce when she least expects it." Jake just shakes his head. "Either way, I'll be left picking up the pieces with either situation. Why couldn't you mess around with just one of them?!"
Chance shrugged and smirked, putting a toothpick in his mouth. "What can I say? Old T-bone and Chance are in demand these days."
A few hours later after both of their shifts were over, Chance arrived at Vivian's apartment complex. He had changed out of his coveralls and into a red t-shirt. He kept the red cap and threw on a black short sleeved button down over that and jeans, but had a pair of black boots on. She was already waiting just outside her apartment to be picked up. She was in simple jeans, a blue light material t-shirt, and blue chuck taylor style shoes and her purse. Chance stopped the truck and Vivian climbed up into the passenger seat, closing the door and looking at him, smiling.
"Ready for a nerd night in?" She asked as he frowned. "I already told you, the comics I read aren't nerdy. They're rugged and cool, like me." He said as she laughed. "Oh, you don't think I'm rugged and cool?" Vivian stopped laughing and tried to muster a serious look. "More like...a hot mess." She joked as she started to laugh again. "Hey! That's not nice! Get outta my tow truck! Rule one of Chance's tow truck, you don't get to..."
Vivian interrupts him. "Talk about Chance's tow truck?" She said smiling, making a reference to the movie "Fight Kats Club." Chance smiles, getting her movie reference but rolled his eyes. "I was gonna say "make fun of the driver" but that works too."
Vivian gives him an innocent look. "Do I still have to get out of the truck now?" He smiles and shakes his head, putting the truck into gear. "Nah, you saved yourself with your movie knowledge, for now. Let's roll!"
A little bit later, they arrive at the comic book store. There's kats of all different backgrounds there, the nerdy ones, the closet nerds, and Kats who were just curious in general about the new store. The store was huge. Figurines were everywhere and other geek memorabilia along with comics and books.
Chance walked by a table with Swat Kats merchandise. Apparently some photographers did catch a few shots of himself as T-bone and Jake as Razor, some with the Turbokat, and some without. Obviously most were candid shots of them, as Chance didn't remember posing for any of these. There were also little figurines of T-bone and Razor, The Turbokat, and The Cyclotron. 'If Feral saw all of this, he'd choke on a major hairball.' He thought to himself with a smirk.
"You a fan of the Swat Kats?" Vivian asked, coming to hang on his shoulder as he looked over at her and smiled. "You could say that. They do a lot to keep this city safe. That T-bone though, he's a badass pilot from what I've seen on TV and his partner Razor? He's an amazing shot! There's no other kats I'd want to protect my city. The Enforcers don't even come close to scratching them." Chance says, basically bragging about himself and his partner, unbeknownst to Vivian.
Vivian smiles, picking up the tiny T-bone figurine. 'If Chance knew I recently slept with the vigilante, I'm not sure if he'd be pissed or impressed.'
"I'm guessing T-bone is your favorite one out of the two?" He asked, with a knowing smirk, reminding her of her conversation with her sister he overheard at the garage. Vivian blushed uncontrollably. "He is an amazing but reckless pilot. I will admit that. He looks a lot like you." She says as he moves to put his arm over her shoulders as they both look down at the little T-bone figurine. Vivian feels a tingle go down her spine. "You think so? I don't see it." Chance shrugs. She looks at him. "Are you serious? You both have the same arm stripes, the exact same fur color, you both have the same voice-"
Chance cuts her off. "Wait, the same voice? How do you know that?"
Vivian's eyes widen a little, realizing what she had said. 'Crud! Think of something Viv, and quick!' At that moment, Chance recalls a couple of memories being close to Shadow Kat as Vivian's eyes go wide. 'Her eyes match Shadow Kat's but it can't be, right? She's a blonde and Viv is a redhead. She has some of the same markings as Vivian too, but I haven't seen if she has the same face markings since she wears that mask all the time. There's no way, right?' Chance thought to himself, waiting for her answer.
"Uh...one of Ann Gora's reports? She talked to him on camera. He sounded a lot like you." She said as Chance gave her a suspicious look, but brushed it off. "Oh. I guess he and I are pretty similar. Maybe I have a brother I don't know about or something. I'm an only kitten, as far as I know."
'Huh, T-bone said the same thing.' Vivian thought to herself. "I'm pretty sure your Dad would know if it was a possibility." Chance's face fades into slight sadness. "I would ask, but he's been gone for a long time. Since I was two, actually." He said as Vivian's face fades from a smile to somber.
Chance looks around, now picking up a Razor figurine. "I'm gonna get one of these for Jake. He likes Razor." He said, trying to change the subject. Vivian could make out the hurt in his eyes he was trying to hide. "What about this guy?" She asks, holding out the tiny T-bone figurine to him and he smiles, taking it. "Yeah, I guess I can get this one for myself. They wouldn't be much of a team without each other."
He started looking around the shop, above all the heads of the other kats. He spots one of his favorite sections excitedly. "Hey! New Kat Commandoes! Sweet!" He said as he removed his arm from Vivian's shoulders as he walks over to the rack and Vivian follows, smiling, pleased that Chance was once again his happy-go lucky self.
About 30 minutes later, they were checking out. Chance had a thick stack of comics while Vivian held the two Swat Kats figurines from earlier and five comics of her own. "This place is awesome! I'll definitely be coming back!" Chance said as Vivian put the figurines on the checkout counter next to his tall stack of comics.
"I'm glad you ended up liking it. I found some stuff I liked too. I wouldn't mind coming back myself." She said, putting her tiny stack on the counter as well. The clerk checked Chance out first and bagged up all of his new comics and the figurines. Vivian's check out was much quicker. They both left the comic book shop together and went back to Vivian's place.
Chance immediately plopped himself down on her couch and started looking through his stack of new comics, picking the one he was going to read first. "Hey! You're starting without me?!" Vivian asked as she laughed and he chuckled. "Aren't you about to be busy making dinner?" She fake pouted. "I thought you'd at least come over to the counter and keep me company while I cooked." Chance smiled and shook his head, putting the comic book back into the bag and coming to sit at the counter while she got out all of the things and ingredients she needed to cook their meal.
"So...question..." She started asking as she started prepping the food. "So...answer." He said, chuckling. "What happened to your Dad, Chance?" His smile faded at her question and sadness was evident in his eyes. "Why do you wanna know?" He asked, staring at her. "Well, we're friends getting to know each other, I noticed how you reacted to the Dad question in the comic book store, so I thought I'd ask what's the reason behind it."
Chance sighed. "My Dad was an Enforcer for Megakat City, like I once was. He wasn't a pilot though, he was a street enforcer. He'd always watch all these movies with me about Mega War 2 and planes, jets, and history. My favorite is the one about the Red Lynx, despite him being a bad guy, he was a damn good pilot. Me and Dad watching those things together almost every night probably is partially the reason I became an Enforcer pilot myself."
Vivian nodded for him to go on. "So what happened?"
"Mom opened the door to that call you never want to get; He died in a shootout against some bad guys." Chance has an almost angry look on his face. "He died a hero, but he left me at two years old to take care of Mom by myself."
Vivian's ears folded back as she listened to his story. 'Poor Chance, he's gone most of his life without a father figure. I've been without my Mother for a while now, but he's basically gone his whole life without his Dad.' Chance continued with his story. "Once I hit Junior High, I was in and out of juivie. I kept getting into fights, defending the little guy basically, but the school system didn't care. They just viewed me as the troubled Kat in a single parent home." Chance shook his head in memory.
"Once I got to high school, I went one more time to juvie after I beat the crud out of one of Mom's boyfriends who gave her a black eye. Luckily, one of the football coaches decided to give me a shot on the team as a last ditch effort for the school before expelling me. He said he saw a lot of potential in me. He said I could have a place to get out all that rage and energy in a healthy way and...it worked. I was even offered a scholarship to all the top colleges, but I turned it down to be an Enforcer pilot."
Chance laughs slightly. "I still wonder sometimes where I'd be if I had taken that scholarship, but I wouldn't change a thing now."
Vivian was leaning against the countertop on the other side, listening to him.
"You wouldn't? Why?" She asked.
"I loved being a pilot. I loved flying. There's nothing that beats it, nothing. Looking back, maybe I should've backed down to Feral, but I don't think I could ever bring myself to do that even if I got a do-over. That's just not me, even though he ruined mine and Jake's lives."
Vivian shrugged. "Not totally ruined them. Maybe changed your fate a bit. You both run a pretty successful mechanic business, Jake is engaged to the Deputy Mayor..."
"And me?" Chance asked.
Vivian thought for a moment and smirked. "You have an extensive collection of comic books and play flying and shooting games like a boss." Chance gave her a "really?" look. Vivian laughed.
"But seriously, you've been through some serious crud, and you've overcome all of that and became one of the best kats I've ever met. You could've become one of the many villains of Megakat City after being kicked out of the Enforcers, especially with your pilot skills, but you didn't."
'Except for those two minutes with Turmoil, but that was to save the city and get the drop on that crazy she-Kat.' Chance thought for a second to himself.
"And, I probably would've never met you." Chance says as Vivian smiles. She begins to put a skillet on the stove and starts cooking. "Probably not." She said.
"So other than Lilian, do you have any other family?" He asks as Vivian thinks for a moment. "My Mom died when I was 14. Lilian is the only one I consider family anymore."
"Oh, I'm sorry. What about your Dad?" Chance asks and he sees the visible rigid ripple go through her fur. Vivian swallows. "I haven't spoken to him in five years since I left for the military."
Chance probes further. "Why not?"
'I guess he's getting me back a little for asking personal questions. I can't tell him who my Dad is. He'll probably never speak to me again if he knew my Father is one of the Kat mafia bosses in Megakat City.'
"He's just...not a good kat. He's not someone I want to associate myself with." Vivian replied.
'She obviously doesn't want to talk about him. It's visibly upsetting Vivian. I'll just drop it.' Chance thought, moving on to another topic.
A while later, Chance and Vivian sit down at her table to dinner and talk some more. Chance ended up scarfing down her tuna alfredo without realizing it until his plate was suddenly empty. Vivian laughed when she noticed. "I guess you were really hungry! Want seconds?"
Chance leans back in the chair with a satisfied look on his face and pats his now full stomach. "Oh no I couldn't fit anymore in there. It was really good! You keep cooking like that, I'm not going to be able to fit into my coveralls for work!" He said as Vivian laughed. "We'll I guess I should take that as a compliment."
"Your cooking is really good though! It's a wonder why no one has snatched you up as their mate yet." Vivian stops halfway to the kitchen as she was cleaning up. "Uhm...I was engaged not long ago." She said as Chance stopped leaning back in the chair and looked at her, a little surprised. "Oh. Did it not work out or something?" He asked as Vivian put her dishes in the sink. "Uh...no. Max died doing what he loved two years ago. He was a scientist at Puma-dyne."
Chance resisted the urge to shiver and roll his eyes. 'Great, my absolute favorite place ever!' He thought sarcastically. "I'm sorry. What happened?" Chance asked as she came over, taking his empty plate to the kitchen.
"He was working on several things. He was mostly focused on a cure for Kat cancer. He told me he was close to cracking it before he died. He wanted me out of the service. We were engaged and trying for a kitten since that was the fastest way out and we wanted to start a family as soon as possible anyway, but it didn't happen. Even though he was proud of my service, he didn't want me to be a sniper for the United Kats military anymore. I've been shot before a couple of times, stabbed at least once, and nearly blown up. He didn't wanna loose me and he was scared to death any deployment could've been my last. I was willing to give up what I loved doing for him."
Chance swallowed for a second before asking his next question. 'I hope me and Jake weren't the causes of his death, as many times as we've had to destroy Puma-dyne over and over again. She seemed to have really loved that tom if she was willing to give up her job for him.'
"So what happened?" Chance asks, cautiously. Vivian continued her story. "The Coroner told me he had died due to an escaped lethal toxin in the room he was in, but I don't believe it. I saw the photos from the room. There were traces of blood splattered across the room, like a gunshot type of splatter. Trust me, I would know. They said that's what he coughed up before dying, but there was no video to prove it. The security camera for that lab room malfunctioned."
Chance nodded, half relieved his death wasn't caused by the Swat Kats trying to save the city. As much as they tried to avoid it, there were always going to be accidental civilian casualties caught in the crossfire as a result of them trying to save their fair city. 'So that's why she's so hell-bent on not dating. She's probably still mourning over this Max tom two years later.'
"I left Megakat City shortly after his death. I went on and served out my five year enlistment and got out recently when it was up. They begged me to stay, but after Max's death, something in me changed and I didn't want to stay anymore." Vivian said as she finished cleaning up from dinner.
"I'm sorry you went through all of that, Vivian." Chance said simply. She just gave him a small smile. "Thanks. Let's get to reading comic books already!" She said as she moved over to the couch and Chance followed. They spent the next few hours talking, laughing, and reading comic books. It was getting late when Chance finally looked up at the clock on the wall.
'Wow, it's 10:00 PM already. I was having so much fun with Vivian, I lost track of time.' There was a click of the lock of the front door and laughing that Vivian recognized as her sister and some tom. "Crud! Grab your comic books and come with me quick!" She says as she gathers up her stuff quickly and starts towards her room. "Why?" Chance looks at her with a concerned look and picking up his bag of comic books. "Just...get in here!" She hissed as he made a slight jog to her room with her and she shut the door and locked it. "What's going on?" Chance asked, now trapped in Vivian's bedroom with her. "My sister is apparently staying with me, uninvited by the way. I gave her a key to my apartment just in case she ever needed it. I guess she thinks she can just come and go as she pleases!" She whispered to Chance.
"So, why do we have to hide in your bedroom if it's your apartment?" Chance whispered back. "Have you met Lilian? She's like the Spanish Inquisition, she'll be all over me like white on rice if she sees you here. I'm not ready to deal with that right now." Vivian went to grab a dark towel to put down against the crack of the door so she wouldn't see the light. Vivian flipped a light on so they at least weren't in the dark.
"But we're just two friends hanging out?" Chance says as Vivian shakes her head. "That'll be hard to believe. Us two, here, alone?"
"It's gonna be even harder to explain if she finds out we're hiding in your bedroom. I can climb out that window if you need me to. You're on the first floor." Chance whispered as Vivian looks at him and once again shakes her head. "There's a bush as tall as you out there in front of my window. You're not getting past that." She said as Chance thought for a minute. 'If I had the glovatrix, I could slice past that.'
There was a sudden knock on her bedroom door and the jiggling of the handle. "Viv! You home?" They both heard Lilian ask on the other side of the door. Vivian nearly holds her breath and tried to be as quiet as she could.
"Hmm...I guess not. You wanna do it on the couch?" She heard Lilian ask whatever tom she brought home and Vivian's mouth dropped open. "That mangy little..." She growled, not finishing her sentence as she noticed Chance was stifling back a laugh. She slapped his arm slightly. "It's not funny!" She hissed as he looked at her with nothing but humor in his eyes.
"It's pretty funny. You're worried about her thinking we're getting it on while she's about to get some on your couch!" Vivian sighed and shook her head. "I'm gonna have to disinfect that couch, or throw it away." She slightly opened the door and saw her sister making out with some tom on her couch. She closed the door again. "I'm gonna skin her alive once I figure out a way out of this!" Vivian said as Chance took a seat in her recliner she had in the room. "Well, looks like we're both stuck here for a while." He said, taking out his comic and starts reading again. Vivian paces for a while, trying to figure out a way around this, but gave up after a few minutes and took Chance's lead, going to her bed and started to read one of her own comics. She looks over at Chance while he's reading. 'Why does he have to be so damn cute?!' She thought to herself, annoyed as she blushed.
About 30 minutes later, the situation only worsened. Obvious mating noises coming from the living room. "Kats alive, your sister is loud!" Chance says loud enough for Vivian to hear. "Thank you, Chance. The obvious escaped me!" She says sarcastically as she looked annoyed from her place on her bed. She tossed away her comic book and got up off the bed, Chance watched her, putting down his own comic book. "What are you doing?" He asked as she came to the door, placing both palms on the door, turning them into fists, leaning against the door. 'This is the absolute worst situation I've ever been in, and I've been to Katsghanistan. Ugh!' She thought to herself, the mating noises only getting louder and worse, her sister saying the raunchiest things she's ever heard. 'I'm going to have a serious talk with her when we're out of here.' She turned to see Chance behind her. "What are you doing?" She asked, feeling slightly trapped. "I asked you first." He said with an eyebrow raised.
"Listening to see if it's over so I can get you out of here!" She said as Chance looked at the door and then her. "It doesn't sound like that's happening anytime soon." Vivian huffs, leaning against the door.
'Take the shot, Furlong. It's not everyday you're trapped in a pretty she-Kat's bedroom with her!' Chance thought as he stepped closer.
"Vivian?" He asked as she looked up at him, slight annoyance on her features. "Hmm?" She asked. "Why won't you admit it, you like me as more than just a friend? You wouldn't agree to these friend dates if some part of you didn't like me. You wouldn't be pissed like you were at the pool hall when that she-Kat kissed me. You wouldn't be trying to hide me right now." Her face changed from annoyed to surprised.
'Is he really doing this right now?' She thought to herself as she answered him. "Chance, I don't know if I'm truly over Max. It wouldn't be fair to you or anyone. I don't know how long I'm going to be here, if I'm staying or not. I don't want either one of us hurt-"
"You don't know unless you try. What if your plans change and you do end up staying here? I'd be willing to help you get closure with Max." He said, caging her between him and the door with his arms. 'Screw it.' He thought to himself as his mouth crashed into hers. Vivian sank against him and the door. Her eyes were wide open at first but slowly closed. His hands slipped down to her legs, picked her up and wrapped them around his hips. Vivian complied and tightened her legs around him.
He deepened the kiss, his hips moving against hers against the door. She moaned through the kiss slightly. He moved to the bed with her, laying her down on it, following on top with her. She started pulling at his open shirt on top of the t-shirt. He took it off and threw it somewhere. She was completely lost in him, more so than when she had been with T-bone. Chance was enjoying himself as well. He felt his whole body reacting to her, which he had not felt with anyone else. The feeling was almost addictive. She suddenly broke the kiss and made him look at her. "Chance, I don't want to be just another claw mark on your bedpost."
"You won't be, Kitten. Let's just...see where this goes." He tried to lean down again, but she stopped him. "I can't...I really want to, believe me, but I can't. I...I don't know what I want right now, not knowing if I'm staying or going and then there's still the Max thing..." She said, pushing against his shoulder slightly. 'I can't bang two toms at the same time either. It wouldn't be fair to Chance!'
Chance considers for a minute, sort of hurt now and obviously frustrated in other ways. "But...why would you kiss me back if you didn't want me?" He asks as she shakes her head. "Maybe we shouldn't hang out anymore. I'm sorry if I sent you mixed signals, but I can't do this right now." Chance sighs and gets off of her, picking up his shirt that was on the floor and putting it back on. 'I'm not going to give up. I'm just going to keep coming after her, whether she likes it or not.'
"I still want to hang out with you, Viv." He said but she sat up on the bed and shook her head. "We can't get everything we want, Chance." She said as she got up off the bed. She walks past him, putting her ear to the door. "Okay, I don't hear anything. Maybe I can sneak you out now. You did clearing room drills in the Enforcers, right?"
Chance shrugs. "Yeah."
"Well that's what we're going to do." She said turning off the light and moving the towel. Chance grabbed his bag of comics, getting ready to sneak out. The hallway was dark so it gave the perfect cover. Vivian slipped out first, Chance behind her. She spotted Lilian and the random tom on the couch, laying down, making out, oblivious to them sneaking out. Vivian and Chance made it to the door. She gently opened the door, hoping she wouldn't hear the light click. She didn't. She quickly pushed Chance out the door and slammed it, making both Lilian and her lover jump.
"What the hell Viv?! Where have you been?" Lilian said as she gathered the sheet around herself, covering the important parts. "You, get your crap and get out." Vivian said coldly to the tom, obviously still shaken up. He looked at her, a little fearful with her just staring at him. He quickly got his clothes back on and went to the door. Vivian opened it for him and glared as he left. She slammed the door on him. She then turned her attention to her sister, who had a sheepish grin on her face. "We need to talk, Lilian." Vivian said with a serious tone in her voice. Lilian giggled nervously.
A while later, Chance arrived back at the garage. It was nearly midnight. Jake happened to be up, watching a horror flick, one of Chance's least favorite type of films. "Hey buddy, where have you been all night? Shadow Kat again?" Chance smiled and shook his head. "Nope, I was at Vivian's again. Got trapped in her room for a while." Jake smacked the side of his head. "Awe, Chance, you didn't...!" Chance shook his head. "Nah, we had to hide from her sister. I'll explain in the morning. Here." He pulled out the tiny Razor figurine and handed it to Jake. "What's this?"
Chance smirked. "New comic book shop downtown. They had a Swat Kats section dedicated to us. You should've seen it Jake, it was radical! Tons of pictures and these little guys." He said, pulling out his T-bone figurine. Jake smiled and put his on the coffee table. "I'm surprised Feral didn't show up and demand that get taken down." Jake said as Chance laughed. "Yeah, me too pal. I'm going to bed. It's late."
"Night!" Jake said as Chance made his way upstairs to go to bed. "Night." He said it back to him. A while later, Chance laid in bed, trying to go to sleep. He couldn't help but think of Vivian again. 'I'm not going to stop chasing her. It explains a lot though why she is the way she is. Because of the military and her dead fiancé. Not sure if her Dad is apart of it too. Just gotta try harder. I can't wait to be able to kiss her again.' He thought as he drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, Vivian arrived at the garage like always. This time though, she avoided Chance when she could. If he tried to start a conversation with her, she'd act like she didn't hear him or ignored him. Chance felt a little hurt by the way she was obviously treating him now.
"This is Ann Gora, Kat's Eye news. Apparently a strange crime has happened in Megakat City cemetery..." Vivian looked up at the mention of the cemetery where her fiancé happened to be buried. She got up from the table with her coffee mug and went to watch the TV. Chance and Jake were on their breaks on the couch watching as well. She stood near them, but not too close. "It appears someone has dug up only one grave and now the body is missing."
They did a close up of the gravestone. Within seconds, both Chance and Jake heard the crash of the ceramic mug on the floor. Vivian had dropped her coffee cup on the floor as soon as she read the name on the robbed grave. All color left her face and her hands were shaking. Maxwell Sharpclaw, her dead fiancé.