Disclaimer: The SWAT Kats are owned by Hanna Barbera and the Tremblay Brothers. I own the OCs.
This is a very emotional chapter. Misarae made sense of the mess that I made out of it. Thank You for all that you do.
A brief reminder:
Katerina stood there for a minute and thought to herself, "What did I just do? T-Bone is going to have a fit when I tell him." She then picked up her bags and left to get back to the wharf as fast as possible. She entered the lair, and gave Dark Kat his parts, then went back to her room, and opened the door. Seeing T-Bone standing there waiting for her made her nervous. How was she going to explain what she had done? Then she snapped herself out of it. It was best to meet things head-on. She moved forward, firmly closing the door behind her, then strode across the room to catch T-Bone in a fierce hug before tilting her head to whisper in his ear, "You have a new partner."
"What exactly do you mean I have a new partner?" T-Bone asked.
Katerina replied, "While I was out getting Dark Kat's parts, I came across a small gang of toms that were mugging an older she-cat. I stepped in and stopped the mugging. When she asked for my name, I told her my name was Havoc and," Katerina paused for a second before continuing, "I was one of the SWAT Kats."
T-Bone slipped out of her embrace and walked away from her. He was more than upset at her. He thought to himself, "How dare she claim that she is a member of SWAT! She still has to serve out her prison sentence. There is no way that she could be a member of SWAT!" He turned to look at Katerina with an angry scowl on his face. Then he walked back to her, placed both of his paws on her arms, and pulled her towards him so she was inches from his face. Then he said angrily, "What makes you think that you have the right to call yourself a member of SWAT? You still have a prison sentence to finish. Are you trying to destroy what took Razor and I years to develop? I am so mad at you right now Turmoil, I can't think straight!"
Turmoil could not blame him for being mad at her. She had violated his trust. Katerina did the only thing that she could think of at the moment to get T-Bone to calm down. She forcefully removed her arms from out of T-Bone's grasp and then wrapped them around his neck, pulling him into a hug. Then once he was close enough for him to hear her whisper, she said, "I'm sorry, T-Bone." Then she buried her face in his shoulder.
T-Bone had no idea what to do anymore. He had always been a soft touch for a female's embrace, and having Katerina hug him was not that unpleasant. He eventually pulled back enough to see the tears of honest regret shining in her eyes, and saw that she truly did not want to destroy his trust in her. T-Bone took a few breaths, calmed down, and then said, "Havoc, huh? So what am I going to do now? I just can't stay mad at you when I look into your eyes, Katerina. Do you really think that you have turned your life around enough to really become a member of SWAT? Think very carefully, Katerina. You still have the offer from Felina to become an Enforcer pilot. Are you willing to throw that away just to become a member of SWAT?"
Katerina did not know what to think. She wanted to be by T-Bone's side and help him in any way that she could. Then there was Felina's offer to become a low ranking officer pilot in the Enforcers. She loved being in the air almost as much as she loved T-Bone. She had to think real hard before she could make a decision. Then she replied, "I have changed, T-Bone. I am ready to be the good girl that I know I can be. I received such a thrill helping out that she-cat. It felt better helping her than any crime that ever committed. I am ready to live my life on the right side of the law. I had to tell that she-cat something when she asked for my name. Since I could not use Turmoil or Katerina, I came up with Havoc on a whim, and as for why I said I was a member of SWAT? I mean, who would actually name their daughter Havoc? So it made sense that I was a SWAT Kat." She paused and looked at the floor, then retuned her gaze back to T-Bone and said, "I don't know if I can decide between being an Enforcer pilot or a SWAT Kat right now. My mind is too wrapped up in getting out of this situation and back to prison to finish my sentence and help other cats behind bars."
"I am glad to hear that, Katerina. I'll be there to help you very step of the way. Once you are out of prison, all five of us are going to have to meet to help you figure out what you want to do with your new life, "T-Bone said, then he pulled her into an even tighter embrace.
Jake and Felina were enjoying the sun warming their bodies. Felina was starting to get thirsty and asked, "Care for a cold drink, love?"
Jake looked at her and said, "Sure, just get me the same thing that you are having, please Felina."
Felina got up and went to the wet bar, opened the fridge, and pulled out two cans of pineapple juice. She closed the fridge and returned to Jake. Upon returning to the love seat, she handed Jake his can of juice. She said, "Here you go. I hope that you like pineapple? Everything else in there had alcohol I in it. I thought that it was a little early in the day to start the hard stuff."
"Thank you, Felina, and I agree with you. It is too early in the day to have liquor," Jake replied. He opened his can, took a drink, and then stared out at a pair of cats playing in the surf. He turned to Felina and asked, "Care to go for a swim?"
Felina looked out at the ocean and saw how clear the water was compared to the beach by the city, then said, "Sure."
Jake got up from where he was sitting, took Felina's paw in his, and walked with her to the water's edge. The ocean looked so inviting to them, but neither of them knew exactly how warm the water was.
Felina looked over at her fiancé and said, "After you," She picked him up and threw him into the water.
Splash!
Jake stood up and wiped his face off. Then he turned to his fiancée and said, "This is the second time that you have thrown me into a body of water, Felina! What is your fascination with seeing me drenched?"
Felina just stood at the water's edge laughing at Jake. She calmed down enough to say, "I just love the look of your long fur just hanging there, full of water. You look sort of like a mop." She continued laughing, not paying attention to Jake as he crept closer and closer to her.
As soon as he was close enough to grab her, he did. He picked her up, and vaulted both of them into the water.
Jake surfaced first, and as soon as Felina surfaced, he said, "Now who looks like a mop, Felina?" Jake was smiling from ear to ear.
Felina wiped the water from her face and flipped her soaked hair back so she could see her target. Her eyes locked onto Jake, who was smiling back at her. Although not for long. Jake saw the predatory look in his fiancée's eyes and he stopped smiling, turned tail, and started running away from her as fast as he could, knee deep in the surf.
"There you are, my dear. Come and play with your fiancée," Feina said evilly as she took off after Jake.
Felina chased Jake for about fifteen minutes until he started to wear out. Felina simply had more stamina, thanks to her and Callie's exercise routine. She caught up to him and tackled him in the surf. As the waves crashed around them, Jake managed to flip himself over so he could see his lovely tormenter. Then he said, "Now honey, you don't want to do something rash now, do you?"
"Me, do something rash? Jake, you know me better than that," she said seductively. Then she picked him up, looked around, and saw the parasailing pier. She grinned and walked over to the pier with Jake under her arm. When she got to the pier, she placed Jake down, put a harness on him, and then yelled at the boat pilot to HIT IT! The boat took off, and so did Jake. He climbed higher and higher as the boat sped out into the ocean.
Jake thought that he was going to be scared out of his mind, and he was, but only for the first few seconds. After the initial shock of being dragged behind a speeding boat and having a parachute attached to his back wore off, he actually enjoyed the feeling of being in the air without a jet.
Felina watched her fiancée flying in the air, and from what she could see, he was having the time of his life. She placed her paws on her hips and said, "My plan backfired, again! Why is it every time I try to get even with Jake, my plans go south?" Felina contemplated that thought for a few minutes as she watched her fiancé flying above her. Then she said, "Then she said, "I guess I love him so much that I don't really want to hurt him just for the sake of getting even."
The boat eventually slowed down to bring Jake back to the ground. There was a pontoon boat with a large deck on it that was brought alongside Jake as he descended. Eventually, his feet touched the deck of the second boat, and his harness was disconnected from the drag line of the first boat. Jake arrived back at the pier a short time later.
Jake started to walk back towards Felina, but he did not make it very far. Felina ran up to him, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him into a deep kiss, not caring if they had an audience. Unfortunately, the sheer force with which she embraced him knocked them both off balance and sent them hurtling off the pier, into the water below. As the pair surfaced, Felina said, "Did you have fun up there, Jake?"
Jake wiped some water from his face, then said, "Yes, I did, my dear. At first I was scared out of my mind. Then once I got used to flying without a jet and feeling the warm wind going through my fur, I started to feel like I was flying all by myself. I guess that is how Persival feels when he is in the air. Let's get back to the cabana and dry off."
"In a minute, love. I just want to stay here and hold you for a while. I hope you don't mind?" Felina asked.
"Why would I mind having my beautiful fiancée holding me tight?" Jake said, then he kissed her.
They broke their embrace after a few minutes and made their way back to the cabana, where they laid down on the love seat with Felina placing her head on Jake's chest as he wrapped his arms around her. They both fell asleep with smiles on their faces as the warm sun bathed them.
The rest of the day was uneventful in the shop. Callie was in the back going through some old books on magic that Callista had given her to read, while Persival was curled up at her feet, sleeping peacefully.
Callista was dusting off a few shelves in the shop when the front door opened, hitting the bell signaling the arrival of a customer. She stopped what she was doing, looked over towards the front door, and saw the Commander in his uniform. Callista said, "Welcome, Ulysses. What can I help you with?"
Feral replied, "Callista, I have known you for a very long time now. You can drop the formalities with me." He paused, taking a moment to really look at her, and he realized that she was just as beautiful as he remembered. Ulysses continued, "I just came by to make sure that you were alright after what happened here this morning."
"Thank you, Ulysses, for coming all this way to check on me. But as you can see, I am fine. There was no harm done, and I hope that you were not too hard on them," Callista said as she started to walk closer to the Commander.
Ulysses started to tense up as she walked closer to him. He noticed the way that she was dressed and how her hips moved as she walked. He gulped nervously at being around her. He thought to himself "Why am I feeling so nervous around her? We have been friends for years, since after I got back from the military. Do I still have feelings for her after all this time, and could she feel the same way?" As she stopped about an inch away from him, so close that she had to look up to see his eyes, he finally said, "They are all going to spend the rest of the day as my guests in lock-up. I can't have them thinking that they can just lay their paws on a she-cat whenever they feel like it and not have to face the consequences." He felt a lump forming in his gut as he stared into those gorgeous green eyes of hers. The only thing he wanted to do was reach out and pull her to him, but he had to restrain himself. He could not act like those teenagers that had been there earlier. She deserved much better treatment than that.
Callista could see the tension building in Ulysses' frame. She reached out with her right arm, and took his left paw in hers. She used her powers to get him to relax, but as he opened his mind to her, she felt something completely unexpected. Ulysses still had feelings for her, even after all this time! She quickly let go of his paw and turned away from him.
Ulysses felt her paw touch his and he relaxed a little, until she pulled back all of a sudden. He asked, "Is there something wrong, Callista?"
Callista refused to meet his eyes as she replied, "No, nothing is wrong, Ulysses."
"Then why won't you face me? We have been close friends for years, Callista. If I have done anything, or have said something to upset you, I would like to know," Ulysses said with a deep, concerned tone.
Callista was finally able to regain some control over her own emotions, and brought her eyes back up to meet his. She brought her arms around his broad back and buried her face in his chest.
Ulysses did not know what to think of Callista's sudden embrace. He did care for her, more than he cared to realize. He placed his right arm around her and pulled her to him, while using his left paw to lift her head so he could look into those deep pools of green. He stared into them and lost all control, his body moving on its own. He leaned forward, closed his eyes, and kissed her.
Callista felt her own feelings and emotions explode at Ulysses' gentle but loving kiss. Memories flooded her, taking her back to the first time he had kissed her. Just like back then, his gesture was unexpected, but definitely not unwelcome. It only took her a moment to respond, kissing him back with all the warmth she felt inside.
Ulysses regained some control of his body and realized exactly what he was doing, and who he was doing it with! He pulled back from her, afraid that he had ruined their relationship forever with one simple kiss. Ulysses said to her, "I am so sorry, Callista. I have no idea what came over me. I just wanted to hold you and keep you safe, but I looked into those beautiful eyes of yours and, well, you know what happened. I feel like a fool. Will you forgive me?"
Callista looked up into his face, while still blushing and flushed from the kiss. She smiled at him and placed a paw against his cheek, before asking softly, "Ulysses, even after all this time, do you still feel the same way about me as you did back in school?"
Ulysses was still entranced by the look in her beautiful eyes and could not form the words to convey exactly how he was feeling at the moment. He did know that he cared for her deeply. Was what he was feeling true love? He was not sure. He finally answered her, "Callista, I really don't know. Every time I see you or hear your voice, I get a lump in my chest, I feel very warm, and I feel that the weight I carry is lifted off of me. When I got back from basic training, I was hoping that you had waited for me so we could continue our relationship. It wasn't until later that I found out you had moved on and were engaged. I was heartbroken, but happy that you found someone to be with for the rest of your life. I went to your wedding and saw you walking down the aisle. You were the most gorgeous bride I have ever seen. I wished it was me waiting for you at the other end of that aisle. I left after you exchanged your vows."
Ulysses turned away from her. He did not what to her to see him distraught.
He continued, "Then I received my orders to be shipped out to East Asia within 5 days. I wanted so much to see you one last time, but my brain would not let me see you. I left for two tours of duty in that hell hole. I was discharged after I took on some shrapnel that damaged my rotator cuff. When I got home, I went to rehabilitation and met my future wife, Adara. She was beautiful, caring, and always had a smile on her face, no matter what was happening. We married a few months later. We were happy for years, and then we decided to try to have kittens. Things started to go downhill from there."
"We started fighting when we discovered that we could not have kittens the natural way. We tried so many different options, but none of them worked. She just could not get pregnant. The screaming and fighting was too much for me, so I left her. She filed for a divorce on the basis of mental cruelty a few days later. I was a lost soul for days. I kept thinking to myself, 'How did I mess my life up so badly?' I was walking downtown and I accidentally came across your shop. I froze and hoped that you did not see me. I looked in and saw you holding your newborn kitten in your arms. You looked so happy and angelic, I ran from the shop and did not return until years later when I heard of your husband's passing. I saw your face in the paper looking ever so sad, that I could not stand to see you unhappy. I went to my commanding officer and told him that one of my oldest friends' husband had just passed, and asked if I could go and comfort her. He told me to go. I didn't need to be told twice. I was out of the precinct office faster than a gun shot. I drove to your shop and knocked on the door. You answered with tears in your eyes. I pulled you to me and just held you as you cried for your departed husband. I vowed right then that I would always protect you and do my best to keep you happy."
Ulysses turned and faced her again. Then he took her paws in his and said, "I never want to replace what you had with Steven, Callista. I just know that if things were different, I would have hoped to be the tom at the end of that aisle waiting for my beautiful bride, so many years ago. Can we start over? Will you go out on a date with me?"
Callista's heart was racing in her chest. She knew that if Ulysses had never been shipped out, she would have ended up with him as her husband. A twist of fate got in the way of her life back then, but she never regretted any of it. She was blessed with a loving husband, a beautiful daughter, and a granddaughter. Now her life was getting back on its original track from years ago. She looked away from him as tears formed in her eyes, from happiness rather than sadness. Callista turned to look back at Ulysses and said, "I would love to go on a date with you, Ulysses."
Ulysses picked her up and swung her around as tears of happiness swam in his own eyes. Then he placed her down on her feet and kissed her again. After he pulled back, he said, "You have made me so happy, Callista. I will call you tonight and we can work out all of the details. I have to get back to the office. Until tonight, then," He bent forward and kissed her paw, then he turned and left.
Callista was so happy that her emotions were projecting themselves. Callie sensed a change in the air, got up, and went to the front of the store. She watched as the entire scene played out in front of her, leaving her beaming with excitement for Callista. After the Commander left, she made her presence known to Callista, "Ahem."
Callista turned and saw Callie leaning against the door frame with her arms and ankles crossed. She was now embarrassed beyond all approach.
Callie sensed Callista's change in mood and decided to play with her a little. She said, "Care to explain what was going on with the Commander, Grandmother?"
"What is there to explain, Callie? You saw everything with your own eyes. He wants to start over, and I am going to give him a chance." Callista knew that Callie was just trying to give her a hard time, so she decided to give back as good as she got. As she walked past Callie, she added, "Besides, you and Chance aren't the only ones entitled to a healthy sex life."
Callie's jaw dropped at her grandmother's insinuation.
End of Chapter