Disclaimer: The SWAT Kats are owned by Hanna Barbera and the Tremblay Brothers. I own the OCs.
As the story gets sappier, I rely on my Beta to keep it going in the right direction. MisaRae, Thank You.
Once she had returned to her room, she looked up at the sky and said, "T-Bone, I certainly hope you know what you are doing. I will do my best to go easy on you, but Dark Kat is another matter. See you tomorrow."
Felina arrived and entered the living quarters to see Chance and Callie in a tight embrace. She said, while placing her paws on her hips, "Now, isn't that cute? You two are acting as if you are married already."
"Actually, Felina, engaged to be married," Callie turned her head and said to Felina, while holding up her paw with the ring on it.
Felina ran up to the couple and gave them both a big hug, saying through tears of happiness, "My best friend is getting married!" Then she let go of them and took a step back, before saying, "What will it take to get Jake to realize that he is dating the second best she-cat in the city, and if he doesn't make a move soon, I am going to kick his tail until he does?"
"I am not sure, Felina. He is more stubborn than I am on certain things. I know he has been burned by she-cats before. He is just being cautious. He does not want to get hurt again," Chance said.
Felina was shocked to hear that Jake had been treated that way by other she-cats. He had never been anything but the kindest, gentlest, and most devoted tom that she had ever been involved with. She could not figure out how another she-cat could possibly mistreat him.
"Just take your time with him, Felina. He will come around when he is ready. He is in love with you, and he wants to be with you. But as I said before, he has been burned deeply back in school. The short story is, he was deeply in love with a she-cat in his physics class. They went out for a long time. Before he graduated, he wanted to ask her to marry him. He took her out to a very romantic spot and proposed to her. That was when she told him that not only would she not marry him, but she had just been using him to help get her grades up, so she could graduate from college. Jake had not dated since then, until he started dating you Felina. A wound like that takes time to heal. He is just not ready yet," Chance said.
"Then I'll just have to be patient with him and give him as much fun as he wants," Felina said with a wink.
Callie rolled her eyes and said, "Don't you think of anything else?"
Felina held a paw to her chin and said, "Flying, weapons, and fun with Jake. That's about it." She let her paw drop, then asked, "Where is my brainiac stud, anyway?"
"He is up in his room working on the virus that you suggested," Chance said.
Felina dashed up the stairs to Jake's room. The only thing that Chance and Callie heard was, BANG BANG on the door, followed by "Open up! This is your girlfriend! You are about to be kissed!" She opened the door and slammed it closed. They heard nothing more after that.
Chance and Callie both looked at the stairs, and tried to decide whether they should go and check on Jake and Felina. They waited a few minutes, then looked at each other, and shrugged their shoulders. Then Callie said, "I guess she killed him with kindness."
"Killed is not the right word, my love. Knowing her, I would say that she is murdering him ever so slowly," Chance said with a smirk.
Callie turned bright red with embarrassment, then chuckled.
They went to the kitchen for breakfast, along with Persival.
After about two hours, Felina and Jake came downstairs. Felina's uniform was disheveled, and Jake looked as if he had been mugged.
Callie looked at the pair, chuckled, then said, "What happened up there?"
"I was working on the virus, when the Lieutenant banged on the door. You both heard her yell. She entered and proceeded to attack me, kissing me all over. Do either of you know how hard it is to write a virus when you are being kissed and caressed constantly? Well let me tell you, it is damn near impossible. But, I finished it. Dark Kat won't know what hit him until it is way too late for him to do anything. Not only will this baby pinpoint his location on a map, it will also wipe his hard drive clean, and send all the plans that are stored on his computer to the Enforcers and the District Attorney in a neat little gift-wrapped package," Jake said.
Felina wrapped her arms around Jake, and said, "He is the smart one, and I am the absolutely gorgeous she-cat in this pair."
Jake turned to look at her, and said, "You have to be. I don't have the body for it."
"Keep it up, Jake, and we are going to have to go back upstairs for round two, or would that be three? I lost count," Felina said seductively, then licked his ear.
Callie waved her paws in the air, then said, "Way too much information, Felina."
"Callie, if Chance was as good as Jake is, you would be bragging about it, too." She winked at Callie, then continued, "Anyhow, as soon as you are ready, I can take you to the office and get that paperwork started. I have already called the base and told them to mock up a weapon that will put on a light and sound show, but nothing else. I also called the Secretary of the Treasury and told him of the plan. He was reluctant at first, but when I told him that he would be a hero in the Mayor's eyes, and he would be able to keep his job, he changed his mind. He still needs that paperwork, though."
"I'll be ready to go in five minutes. By the way, say hello to Persival," Callie said to Felina.
"Persival? Who is Per- HOLY COW! Where did he come from, and what exactly is he!?" Felina said as she turned and saw Persival standing next to her, after he heard Callie call his name. Felina un-wrapped herself from Jake and took a few steps back.
Persival looked at Callie and said, "Let me handle this, mistress." Then he turned his attention to Felina and said, "I am my mistress' guardian and familiar. My job is to protect and help train my mistress in how to use her powers. I have been by my mistress' side since she was a young kitten, and have no intention of changing that anytime soon."
Felina was still in awe at the sight of a large, black puma with white wings on its back. She had never seen anything like Persival in her life. She had read about those kind of things when she was a kitten. She had always thought that such things only existed in fairy tales. Then again, she had always thought the same about magic. Yet Callie and her grandmother were sorceresses. What would be next, unicorns?
"Welcome to our little family, Persival. As dysfunctional as we are," Felina said to Persival, while tentatively giving him a pat on the head.
"Thank you, Milady," Persival replied.
"Oooo, he speaks just like a gentleman. You two could take lessons from him on how to talk to a she-cat," Felina said to Chance and Jake.
Chance was about to say something in retort, then he decided it was not worth getting into an argument with her. He did say, "You two had better get going. I don't want you out too late doing that paperwork, Callie. Why don't we all go to the house tonight, and then we can get dinner while we are out that way? It is not that far from here. We can be there in about an hour."
"Sounds like fun. I don't think that it will take too long to get the paperwork completed and filed. I should be back here by three," Callie said.
"Alright, my love, and don't let Felina get you into any trouble," Chance said, then kissed her.
"I won't," Callie said, after breaking the kiss. Then she left with Felina.
Chance turned to Persival and said, "Callie is in good hands with Felina. You can go back to Callista now."
"I cannot do that. It is daytime, and someone will see me flying. I will have to stay here until it is dark," Persival said.
"I guess you are going to have to stay in the living quarters or in the garden then. I can't let my customers see you," Chance said.
"I will do as you say," Persival said. Then he walked out to the garden, where he curled up in the warmth of the sun.
Jake shook his head and said, "We had better get to work ourselves, Chance. Those cars are not going to fix themselves."
With that, the two went into the garage and started their day.
The ride to Callie's office was uneventful. They arrived within twenty minutes of leaving the salvage yard. Felina parked her patrol car in Callie's parking spot under City Hall. The two got out of the car and walked over to the elevator. Once inside, Callie hit the button for the top floor. Then she stared at her ring, while thinking to herself, "What a crazy few weeks this has been. I get captured by the Past Master, kissed by T-Bone, who turns out to be Chance Furlong, find out that my grandmother is still alive, and I am a sorceress. Then I get engaged! Can life get any stranger?"
Felina looked over at Callie, saw her lost in thought, and said to her, "Callie, you know that I will always be here for you, right?"
Callie looked over at Felina and said, "Yes Lina, you have always been there. You have been the best friend that anyone could ever want."
"So, what is wrong then? You just got engaged this morning. You should be on cloud nine right now, but it seems like you are stuck in the basement," Felina asked.
Callie ran to Felina, wrapped her arms around her, and started to cry. Felina hugged her back.
Callie stopped crying, then looked up at Felina, and said, "I am very happy that I am going to marry Chance. I just can't shake the feeling that he might not come back to me after this mission. What am I going to do if he does not come back, Felina?" Her question ended on a sob, which turned into a fresh round of tears.
Felina stroked the back of Callie's head and tried to get her to calm down. It took a little while, but eventually, she did. Then Felina said, "Chance is a very strong tom. He loves you with all his heart. He is going to come back to you, and then he is going to marry you."
The elevator stopped at their floor, and the doors opened, letting the two out. They walked down the hall to Callie's office. On the way there, the sight of the police tape still stretched across the doorway to the Mayor's office caught their eye, reminding them of everything that had happened just a short while ago. After taking a moment to collect themselves, they continued on and entered Callie's office.
Callie started to work on the paperwork they would need to legally allow the Treasury Department to do the transfer. Felina got bored rather quickly just watching Callie work, so she sat down at Callie's conference table, grabbed a box of tissues, and proceeded to clean her gun.
Callie heard the commotion at her conference table, and said to Felina, "You scratch that table, the cost of repairing it will come out of your salary."
Felina looked at the mess she had made on the conference table, giving Callie a sheepish look before grabbing a nearby newspaper and spreading it over the area, moving her operations to the newly covered surface. She never really thought about the condition of her own office, but this wasn't hers. It was Callie's, and Callie liked things to be nice and neat. The least she could do was try not to turn it into a total disaster area.
After about two hours, Callie finished her work and got the paperwork filed. She said to the bored Felina, "Let's get out of here and get some lunch."
Felina was done cleaning her gun, anyway. She cleaned up the mess that had she made, then said, "There is a new store at the mall I wanted to check out, anyway. Why don't we go there?"
"Ok," Callie said. Then the two left.
Arriving at the mall, the two went to the food court first and ate lunch. Then they walked to the store that Felina had mentioned back in Callie's office. It was a lingerie' store that seemed to carry racier items than Callie had ever even thought of wearing.
Felina saw Callie's apprehension about going in there, and said, "Chance will not be able to keep his paws off of you if he sees you in something from here. I know Jake won't when he sees what I get. Come on Callie, you need to spice up your life in the bedroom." Felina dragged Callie into the store.
At first Callie didn't think she would find anything to her taste at all, but then, tucked away in a corner of the store was a selection of more modest outfits. One in particular caught her eye. It was a simple teddy that was low cut in the front, and high cut at the legs. Sexy, but still demure. She found one in her size and held it up to her body. The material felt like expensive silk in her paws.
Felina was too busy looking at the racier items in the store, and did not notice Callie's disappearance. She looked around and eventually found her. She walked over with her selections in her paw. When she arrived at Callie's location, she said, "You are going to give Chance a heart attack when he sees you in that. But we really should also get you something that will show him who's boss. Here we go!" Felina held up a black, backless bustier with matching panties and fishnet stockings.
"You expect me to wear that?" Callie said, pointing to the garish outfit.
"Not for long. I expect it will be ripped from your body while Chance makes you purr," Felina said with an evil smirk.
Callie held up her paws in frustration, her original choice swinging from one of them, and said, "Thanks, but no thanks, Felina." She turned and made her way toward the registers, leaving Felina's "suggestion" behind.
Felina was not one to just let things go. She carried her selections plus the outfit she had picked for Callie to the checkout, after she made sure that Callie had left the store. Felina made sure that everything went into her bag. She then said softly as she left the store, "Wait until Chance sees you in 'my suggestion'." The two left the mall and returned to the salvage yard.
At the salvage yard, Chance and Jake managed to finish the day's work, just a bunch of oil changes and tune ups, in record time. Jake even found the problem plaguing the car that he had been working on before Felina interrupted him. Now there was nothing left.
They cleaned up the garage and themselves before the girls returned. Chance went to check on Persival, since Chance had not seen him since he left for the garden. He found Persival still lying in the sun, asleep. Chance gave him a little shake to get him to wake up. Persival did, and stretched out, extending his claws and wings. Chance would never get tired of seeing that. He stood in awe as Persival worked the kinks out of his body.
The girls returned to the salvage yard after they stopped by their apartments to pack overnight bags, since they figured that it would be late by the time they were finished at the house and had dinner.
Callie got out of the car first and went to look for Chance, followed by Felina looking for Jake. They found them in the garden, watching Persival fly around the salvage yard. They both were awestruck. Persival saw the girls return, and landed. Then he folded his wings and walked over to the girls, bending his left front leg underneath him, and bowing to them. Then he said, "Welcome back, mistresses."
Both Callie and Felina were not used to being greeted in such a manner. Not knowing how to respond, they just said, "Thank you, Persival."
Persival got up and stood beside Callie.
Felina looked over to Chance and Jake, and said loudly, "You two could really learn a lot from Persival on how to treat a she-cat."
Chance and Jake walked over to the girls, placed their arms around them, and gave them a kiss. Then Chance said, "Isn't that better than just being bowed to?"
Callie decided to play along. She broke out of Chance's hold, held out her right paw, and said, "No, you are supposed to bow, then kiss my paw and tell me how absolutely gorgeous I am."
Chance did as he was told.. to a point. Instead of just kissing her paw, he gave it a sensual lick. That made Callie's tail fluff out. Chance laughed at Callie's reaction.
Callie blushed and gave Chance a playful slap. Then she laughed, too, before saying, "All the paperwork has been filed. Let us go and check out the house. Felina and I packed overnight bags, since it might be very late by the time we are done. Why don't you two do the same?"
Chance and Jake didn't need to be asked twice. They ran upstairs and packed a small bag each. Then they ran back downstairs as Callie and Felina were packing up the car. They loaded their bags into the car and closed the trunk.
Callie walked over to Persival and said, "You should head back to Callista's once it gets dark. Just make sure stay out of sight." She gave him a scratch on the head and walked back to the car.
Persival was not 100% comfortable leaving his mistress' side, but he would do as he was asked to make her happy.
The group got into the car and left the yard.
They drove for about an hour. Then they reached the street that the house was on. They smelled the ocean air coming in the open windows. Chance said, "I didn't know that this area was close to the ocean."
"I don't remember there being an ocean or beach nearby, but I was a kitten when I was here last," Callie said as she looked out the window.
They arrived at the right address, and were greeted by a large set of gates across the driveway, and a small, old-growth forest at the front of the property. The gates had a pair of dragons on them, one on each gate. Jake got out of the car and took a real good look at the gates. He noticed that they were really old, but built to last for decades, if not centuries. He also noticed the lack of rust on them. Either someone was maintaining them, or Callista's magic was at work here. Either way, he was impressed. He retrieved the keys from Callie and unlocked the gates, before pushing them open. Chance drove through. Then Jake noticed that the house to the left was for sale. He made a mental note of the phone number before getting back in the car. They drove up the driveway, and after about 50 yards, it turned to the right, revealing a large, Victorian style house with wraparound porches on the main and second levels. The house was painted in a light purple with pink shutters.
They all got out of the car and looked at the front of the house. Callie had tears in her eyes as she started to remember all of the good times she had there as a kitten. She vividly remembered arriving at the house and running to the front door where her grandmother would always be waiting for her.
Chance saw Callie with tears in her eyes, and immediately went over to her and placed his arm around her. They walked to the front door and opened it. It revealed a long hallway adorned with pictures of Callie's family, with a kitchen at the end. Light poured in from the kitchen windows, which faced the backyard. As the group entered, their shoes tapped on a wooden floor. To the right was a lavishly decorated living room. To the left was a set of stairs that led to the second floor. They kept walking and found a set of double doors that opened up to a formal dining room, with a table and enough chairs to comfortably seat up to twenty cats. Finally, they arrived in the kitchen. Off to the left, there was a breakfast nook with built-in seating and a large pantry. There were lots of cabinets everywhere, with wood framed glass doors. Off to the right was the food preparation area, which consisted of a large, eight burner cooktop, a separate griddle, two ovens, and a large double sink. There was also an island in the middle that had a smaller sink and a built-in dishwasher. On the far right, a French double door refrigerator stood along with a freezer. Every single appliance in the kitchen was commercial grade. The outside walls were all full of windows, illuminating the space with natural light. The group walked to the door that led to the back yard and went through it. They were now standing on an expansive rear porch that wrapped around to the front of the house. They all looked at the large yard and smelled the ocean air. They went back inside and went to the second floor.
Chance asked Callie, "Do you remember this place being so big?"
"No, I spent most of my time in the yard playing, or in my bedroom sleeping," Callie replied.
The group looked around at all of the hand carved woodwork that was everywhere in the house. They arrived at the first bedroom and looked in. It was obviously meant for a kitten, but it was larger than most modern master bedrooms. It had a full sized bed and two closets. The next two bedrooms were the same, just in different colors. At the end of the hall was the bathroom. The floor was checker boarded in one inch black and white tiles. In it was a porcelain pedestal sink with separate faucets for hot and cold water, a clawed foot bath tub with a shower attached that stood near a window, and a high tank, pull chain toilet. As they left the bathroom, they noticed a guest bedroom over to the right that was as large as a small apartment. It had its own seating area, a queen sized bed, two walk in closets, and windows on three sides, as well as a screen door that led to the second floor porch.
Felina asked, "I guess the master bedroom and bath are on the third floor?" but nobody knew for sure.
They went up to the third floor and were greeted by a closed door. Callie opened it. Beyond the door was a small library full of old books. There was a door at the end of the library. They went to the door and opened it. Inside was the master bedroom suite. It took up almost the entire third floor. In one section of the room that looked like part of a tower from the outside, there was a sitting area that could be used for reading. Shelves ran along the walls of the entire room. There were two separate dressing areas, one for a tom, and one for a she-cat, three walk in closets, a king sized bed, four dressers, and two full length mirrors. Skylights were embedded in the ceiling above the bed and seating area, and there were so many windows that the place was flooded with natural light.
The master bath was no less impressive. It had two porcelain sinks with individual faucets and mirrors, a toilet, two clawed foot tubs, a separate shower stall, and a large linen closet.
Chance thought to himself, "This is the kind of place I want my family to be raised in. No rats to chase my kittens here. Again with the kittens! Why do I keep thinking about kittens?"
They all walked down the two flights of stairs back to the main floor, then walked outside to the backyard. They walked through a clearing to the right, and saw the ocean off in the distance.
Callie said, "I guess if we follow this path, we will end up at the beach."
"So, this is a beachfront property?" Chance asked.
"I don't know," Callie said.
"We can look up the property lines at city hall in the morning. Right now, I am hungry. I don't know about the rest of you, but I could use some dinner," Jake said.
They all went back to the car, grabbed their bags, and placed them inside the house before leaving to find a restaurant.
End of Chapter