Disclaimer: The SWAT Kats are owned by Hanna Barbera and the Tremblay Brothers. I own the OCs.
I accidentally posted a repeat chapter last time. That has been corrected. Please read the previous chapter before this one.
MisaRae, I have not heard from you for some time. Let me know you are alright. Your brother is worried.
Artemis rolled out of her bed and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. On her way to the guest bath, she stopped by the bedroom which Persival and Isis occupied in order to give them their morning scratch behind the ears.
As she scratched Persival, she said, "Good morning, my protector and dear friend."
Persival lifted his head from his front legs and responded, "Good morning milady. This is going to be a wonderful day."
"I certainly hope so, I get to teach my first set of classes without Lisa's guidance," Artemis said before she walked over to Isis and gave her a light scratch behind her right ear.
Isis started to stir when Artemis scratched her. "Its morning already?"she asked. "I was finally getting some rest, your cubs were quite active last night Persival."
"Please forgive them, my love," Persival said as he nuzzled Isis' neck.
"I will. However, why do they have to be so active when I'm trying to rest?" She sarcastically asked.
"I really don't know Isis," Artemis answered. Her stomach growled and she put her paws on her stomach. "What I do know is I'm hungry, I'm going to wash up and get breakfast prepared for us."
After Artemis bathed and changed into her dance clothes, she pulled on a set of sweat clothes and slipped her feet into a pair of white sneakers. Artemis tied her hair into a bun before leaving her room and heading down to fix breakfast for herself as well as the pair who not only befriended her, but also vowed to protect her.
Shortly after breakfast had been finished, Artemis cleaned up.
"Milady, are you sure this is a good idea for you to leave this house without Lisa being there to watch over you?" Persival asked, genuinely concerned for his friend.
"I'll be fine Persival, Felicia is teaching classes all day long. I've seen her students and her practicing and I would hate to be on her bad side," Artemis said as she wiped her paws on a white dish towel.
"Very well milady, go and have fun teaching your classes today," Persival said as he bowed to her.
Artemis bent down and kissed Persival, then said, "Isis is one lucky girl to have you as a mate Persival."
Perisval blushed beneath his fur when Artemis kissed him. "I'm the lucky one milady, not only do I have her love, she is giving me the best gift any male could ever receive, cubs," Persival responded.
Artemis slipped on a light jacket as she said, "I have to go, keep Isis comfortable Persival. If I remember correctly, she's carrying six cubs, that can't be too pleasant. Bye."
Since she didn't drive, Artemis was forced to use public transportation back into the city. Since it was a Saturday, there weren't many on the bus. So, she had her pick of seats for the hour plus long ride into the city.
Arriving at the bus terminal, she got off of the bus and made her way down to the subway. While waiting for the train, a few toms standing on the platform leered at her. She felt their stares and shivered. It reminded her of her time under David's control and the torment she had to endure in order to survive.
Eventually, the train arrived and as soon as the doors opened, she stepped inside, sat down on the hard plastic seats, and breathed a sigh of relief as the doors closed.
The rest of the trip to the studio was very uneventful, maybe even pleasant. A tom who was standing at her exit to the street gave her a carnation, just for the heck of it.
Artemis accepted the flower, breathed in its scent, thanked the tom, and continued on her way to the studio.
She arrived at the building which housed Pirouette's Dance School as well as Dojo Saito. She walked past the window facing the dojo and stopped to watch Felicia in action, teaching her students a few advanced techniques. Artemis had to suppress a bought of laughter when three toms which were bigger than Felicia were easily taken down by Felicia. "She's really good, no wonder why there is a waiting list to take her classes," Artemis said before she walked the few feet to the studio's entrance and opened up for the day.
As soon as she removed her jacket and sweats, she went over to the stereo and played some fast moving pop tune. Her left foot started tapping in time with the beat and she started her warm-up routine before her first class arrived.
The music changed to something she really liked and started dancing with the music, letting everything else fall aside. She fell under the spell of the music that surrounded her and danced harder.
Felicia finished the exercise she was working on and heard the loud music from the studio. She and Lisa purposely didn't schedule overlapping classes so one did not disturb the other. However, the loud music was penetrating through the wall and causing a few of her students to loose their focus. "Fwo-Kasu! (Focus!)" Felicia shouted at her class and almost instantly, her class fell back into their routine.
Felicia turned her head towards one of her better students, then said, "James, you are in charge until I get back."
James flipped his opponent over his right shoulder, then snapped to attention. "Hai Sensei!" He responded.
Felicia smiled at her student before leaving the dojo to find out what was occurring next door.
Artemis was lost in her own world, dancing the morning away. A light bead of sweat formed on her face as she danced and moved.
Felicia opened the door to the studio and her ears were assaulted by the very loud music. She cringed as she entered and made her way over to the stereo in order to turn it down. She watched as Artemis ran across the floor and vaulted high in the air, twisting her body as she flew before landing on the hardwood floor almost as elegantly as Lisa would have. Felicia leaned against the wall with the tip of her tail flicking back and forth in time with the music while watching Artemis pull off maneuvers which would make Lisa proud.
The song that was playing ended and Felicia started clapping.
Artemis turned around to see her friend, applauding her. "Thank you Felicia," Artemis said as she mock bowed to her friend.
Felicia left the wall she was leaning against, came towards Artemis, as she said, "I had to come over to find out what was going on."
"What are you talking about Felicia?" Artemis asked as she rose.
"You had the music turned up so loud, it was disrupting my class," Felicia answered.
"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to disturb your class," Artemis said as she went to get a drink of water.
"Don't worry about it. I was about to take the class out for a run," Felicia said. But as she turned to leave and return to her class, she said, "You might want to adjust your leotard, its showing off more of your backside that I think you care to."
Artemis put her cup down, slipped her two index fingers into the back of her leotard, and adjusted the coverage.
A few minutes later, her students arrived. She greeted each one of them with a smile on her face.
Felicia had gathered her class and had them start their run. They ran past the dance studio and Felicia looked in to check on Artemis. She was pleased to see the happy faces on the students as well as Artemis. She then continued with her students.
"Great job today!" Artemis said to her students. She embraced each one as their parents picked them up.
After the last student left, Artemis focused on straightening up the studio to get it ready for the next class. She didn't hear the small group of thugs dressed in all black enter and lock the door behind them.
She turned around when she heard strange footsteps on the floor behind her. "Who are you and what do you want?" She asked.
"Do you know a little girl by the name of Gwendlyn?" One of them asked.
"I do, she is my friends' daughter. What about her?" Artemis asked, getting defensive.
"Our boss is concerned for her well being, that's all miss," another said.
"Really?" Artemis asked, resting her weight on her left hip. "Then why is your boss not here asking about her instead of you three?"
"He simply could not clear his schedule. So he sent us to check on her," the third answered.
Artemis noticed a bulge in one of the thug's pants that shouldn't have been there. She knew from her time at the Society, that it was probably a small handgun. She never liked guns, she preferred a razor sharp blade to perform her work, when she used to do David's bidding. Artemis backed away from the group of toms as she said, "Well, as you can see, she's not here at the moment. Why don't you try her parent's place? Its only about an hours drive from here."
"We already know where she lives miss and the last time we visited there, we were met with a little.. resistance you might say," the first tom said.
"That is why we came here miss," another picked up where the first one left off. "Neutral territory, no resistance."
Artemis backed further away from them, which caused them to advance on her. She was never to go anywhere without some sort of armament on her presence, and unfortunately for her, her 'companion' was back in her office.
"Why are you backing away from us, little lady? We only want to check on Gwendlyn, and make sure she keeps her mouth shut," the lead tom said.
About that time, Felicia returned from her run with her class. She looked into the window of the studio and noticed what was going on inside. She raised her right arm to shoulder height to tell her class to halt while she monitored the situation inside.
Felicia didn't like what she was seeing at all and turned to her class, then said, "James, Roland, Mitch, and Juan. I want you to come with me and assist me in encouraging my friend's unwanted guests to leave. The rest of you, return to the dojo and someone call the Enforcers. Do I make myself clear?"
In unison, they all answered, "Hai Sensei!" Before they broke off into their assigned groups.
As the rest of her class retuned to the dojo, Felicia turned her attention to the four students she trusted to assist her. "James and Mitch, I want you to go around the back, enter, and stage by the offices. Be ready for anything and above all, don't get shot!"
"Hai Sensei!" They both said and left to carry out their instructions.
Felicia looked through the window again and noticed that the toms were close enough to grab Artemis. "You two, come with me. We are going in the front and confronting them directly!" She ordered.
Roland, and Juan looked through the window at the three toms. They smirked as they watched their very awkward movements then Roland said, "Piece of cake."
"Don't get cocky on me Roland! You two are some of my finest students, I'd hate to have to call your parents and tell them their son is dead!" Felicia said. "Let's go."
They entered the studio as silently as they could and approached the group of toms.
Artemis was backed into a corner and had one of the toms standing directly in front of his with his arms straddling her head. "You know, you are quite good looking. Would you consider going out with me?"
"If this is the way you get she-cats to notice you, then I think I'll pass," Artemis said.
"I'm sorry, I don't take no for an answer," he said as his paw closed around her chin, forcing Artemis to face him.
"Hey! The lady said no! Take a hint and your friends and leave!" Felicia said standing there with her legs spread shoulder length apart, arms crossed over her chest, and a very determined look on her face. Behind her, Juan and Roland were standing behind her in similar fashion.
The three turned around to see a very beautiful she-cat wearing gray form-fitting workout clothes being flanked by two younger toms wearing sleeveless shirts and track pants. Each one didn't look too pleased to see them.
The leader sized up their opposition and quickly determined, they might be able to take them on, then after showing his bravado, ask the lovely Artemis out once again. "Guys, we can handle these three. You two take the toms, I'll handle the doll." The leader said.
Felicia lifted the left corner of her mouth, revealing a sharp incisor. She unfolded her arms, then said, "You think you can handle me?"
The leader faced Felicia and raked his eyes over her shapely form. Seeing that she was un-armed, his confidence grew even more. He separated himself from his friends, walked around Felicia and her students, admiring her form. He stopped in front of her, wrapped his left arm around her waist, then said, "I know I can handle you, very well."
Juan grabbed the tom's wrist, pulled it away from his sensei, growled at him, and very angrily said, "Don't you touch her with your filthy paws ever again!"
The leader tried to free himself from Juan's grasp. But he wasn't strong enough to pull away from the stronger tom. While his friends pulled out knives from under their pants legs. One of them said as he brandished his knife, "I suggest that you remove your paw from my friend, or," he reached out and grabbed Artemis, pulling her to him and laying the knife at her throat. "This lovely specimen is going to be spilling her blood all over the floor."
James and Mitch arrived to their staging point and saw what was happening. Then they saw Juan reluctantly let go of the tom's wrist and the tom slamming his elbow into Juan's face. That little movement triggered them to spring into action. They ran from their spot, split up with Mitch going over to assist Juan and James going after the tom that held his knife to Artemis' throat.
Felicia and Roland went on the offensive as well. They went after the leader of the group, tackling him to the ground and pinning his left arm behind his back.
However, as his left arm was restrained, his right reached into his pants, retrieved the gun, and shot. The bullet left the barrel of the gun and managed to land in James' lower back.
He fell to the floor, obviously in severe pain.
"NO!" Felicia yelled before she knocked the leader out with a single blow to the back of the neck and went to check on her student.
Roland sensed that his sensei did not need his assistance and went on the attack. He ran at the tom holding Artemis hostage and with a flying kick, knocked the knife away from Atremis' throat and breaking the tom's wrist.
"Argh! What the …" he managed to get out before Roland slammed his fist into his face, then said, "Didn't your parents ever teach you not to swear in front of a lady!?" He turned around to face Artemis, then asked, "Are you alright miss?"
Artemis raised her paws to her throat and responded, "I'm fine, I think." She started shaking, realizing she almost lost her life at the hands of someone else. She now knew the torment she inflicted on several others as she tortured and killed in the name of David.
Roland was at her side and held her tight into his body. "You are safe miss. I've got you and I promise, no one is going to hurt you while I'm here."
Mark, Jasmine, and Tim received the call of the disturbance at Lisa's dance studio, which caused Mark to race there as fast as he could. He knew that Artemis was there; alone. He drove through traffic like a mad man, desperately trying to get to his wife's studio.
"Mark! This is the second time I've had to ask you to slow down since I became your partner! You are going to kill us all!" Jasmine said as she hung on tighter to the door.
"Cuz, please listen to your partner," Tim said. "I would like to see my wedding day as well as tomorrow! Slow down!"
Mark drifted around a corner onto Main St. and slammed the accelerator to the floor again. His patrol car responded, slamming Jasmine and Tim into their seats.
Mark arrived in front of the building a few minutes later and almost literally jumped out of the patrol car, with his gun drawn. With Jasmine and Tim following right behind him. He looked through the window into the studio and saw Artemis being held by one of Felicia's students, Felicia and a few other students holding down a few toms, and another applying a towel to an injured tom. "Let's go, we have a casualty in there." Mark said as he entered the studio followed by the other two.
Katerina and Tina were right behind Mark and his crew. Katerina skidded to a stop right in front of the studio and the two slammed open their doors so they could get of the car as fast as possible to not only help their partners, but to make sure that Artemis was alright.
Katerina went over to Tim who was using what he learned during his stint in the military to control the bleeding. She knelt down on his left and asked, "What can I do to help?"
Tim didn't remove his focus from the wound in James' back and responded, "Can you get me another towel and check on the status on the rig."
Katerina rose to her feet and proceeded to run to the rear of the studio to get what Tim requested. She also pulled her radio from her belt and said, "Sergeant Belikov to quarters."
"Go ahead Sergeant,"
"I need status on the rig," Katerina said as she grabbed two towels from a rack.
"Two minutes out Sergeant,"
"Not good enough!" Katerina screamed. "Tell them to be here in one minute or I'll personally go down there and talk to their chief with my fists! Is that clear, Da!?"
"Affirmative Sergeant,"
Katerina returned her radio back to her belt as she ran back to Tim with the towels he requested.
Tina was at Mark's side as he cuffed the perp he had secured with his right leg. "What do you need me to do brother?" She asked.
Mark turned his head to face to see Tina. As he secured the paw cuff on the perp's right wrist, he said, "Make sure the other two are restrained."
"Can do," Tina said before she left him to approach one of the other toms. As she knelt down to the tom with the broken wrist, she asked, "What did you do to deserve this?"
The tom lifted his gauze from the floor and looked into the face of one of the officers that adopted Gwendlyn. "You. You are one of those Lesbian Enforcers who took in that girl from the fire."
Tina's face contorted in question since she didn't know who this tom was but he obviously knew her. "And just who are you?"
"No one in particular, just a concerned citizen who's boss only wants to make sure that little Gwendlyn keeps her mouth shut about certain things," he responded.
"And what does my daughter have to keep quiet about, might I ask?"
"That is none of your concern, officer," he answered.
Tina now was seeing red. Her anger grew in her little body to the point she grabbed the tom around the shoulders, brought him to her face, than spat, "None of my concern!? Anything that has to do with my daughter is my concern! I don't know who you are and I don't want to know. But what I do know is if you, or your boss touches or contacts my daughter in anyway shape or form, you will deal with a very angry mother! And trust me! You don't want to see me angry!"
Katerina heard her mate yelling and screaming at one of the perps. "Mark, Tina needs us and I mean now before she rips into that perp with those sharp claws of hers."
Mark rose to his feet while lifting the tom he had cuffed. He easily lifted him with his right arm to his face, then asked, "Are you going to behave while I help out my fellow officer or do I have to do something, drastic?" Mark accentuated his statement by lifting the tom higher into the air without showing any signs of struggling.
"I'll be quite content to sit in the corner, officer," he tom replied.
Mark lowered him to the floor, then said as he let him go, "Good, there is a nice corner over there." He pointed to a corner which would provide him a very good view of the tom. "Go and take a seat, now!"
The tom went and sat in the corner Mark specified, then Mark followed Katerina over to Tina.
"Stay away from my daughter!" Tina yelled as she extended the claws on her left paw which was inches away from the tom's face.
"Sergeant Cassidy! Let him go now!" Mark ordered as he stood in front of both of them.
"No way! This guy threatened my daughter! I'm not going to let that slide!" Tina responded and growled at the tom.
Mark grabbed Tina's wrist with his left paw and lifted her to face him. "He's not going to get away with this Tina! Do you want to throw away everything you've earned by handling this yourself!?"
"No I don't and you know that! But do you really think I'm going to let this jerk and whoever he works for go after Gwendlyn?" Tina responded.
"You know me way better than that Tina!" Mark rebutted. "We all love and will do anything for Gwendlyn, just as you would do the same for Raphael!" He lowered her back to her feet, then said, "We took a vow to enforce the laws of this city Tina, let the system do its job."
Katerina recognized the tom as one of the four Black Diamonds she and Gary scared off. She cuffed him, dragged him over to his friend, and pulled out her phone. As she brought the phone up to her ear, she said, "You had better hope my daughter is alright, because if you thought my partner was tough, wait until you deal with me!"
Elizaveta's phone started to ring. She lifted it from the kitchen counter and to her left ear. "Da," she answered.
"What is the status of your detail?" Katerina asked.
"Gwendlyn is fine commander. She's still over at Evelyn's with Inna and Esfir," Elizaveta responded as she rose to her feet.
"Are you sure? We had a visit with the Black Diamonds, asking about my daughter," Katerina asked.
Fear crept into Elizaveta's body. She started wondering if Esfir and Inna would be enough to protect Gwendlyn. Then she shook her head, dispelling her thoughts since those two were two of the best soldiers she had under her command. "Inna would never let anything happen to Gwendlyn and Esfir can sense trouble from a mile away!"
"Gwendlyn had better be as you say Elizaveta," Katerina said. "You remember what happened to Natasha, da?"
Elizaveta froze in fear. She remembered what happened to her comrade. Natasha disobeyed Katerina's orders only once, and she paid the ultimate price. She found her in the cargo hold, in a large fabric bin with a gun shot in her chest. "Da, I remember what happened to her, quite well commander. I was the one who found her."
"Then this conversation is over," Katerina said before she disconnected the call. She then shuddered. Gwendlyn was now her life and she would do anything to keep her safe. But she kept slipping back into her role as Turmoil, that was something she desperately didn't want to happen. "I need help," she said. "I'll talk to Tina tonight."
"Now I remember you," the tom said. "You are that she-cat who took the keys from my car. Damn, you looked good in those tight jeans you were wearing that day, but you look even better in uniform."
Katerina turned around and grabbed the tom. "How dare you! First you try to intimidate my friend and now, you make a pass at me!"
"Can't help it officer, you are one good looking she-cat," the tom said.
Katerina slammed her fist into the tom's face, knocking him out cold.
"Sergeant Belikov!" Tim yelled. "What do you think you are doing?"
"This punk was in my neighborhood before, watching my daughter! My father and I thought we scared him and his friends away. Apparently, we didn't do that good of a job!"
Tina shook her head as she asked, "What did you and our father do?"
Katerina went over to her fiancée, ran her clawed fingers through Tina's hair, as she answered, "When we first brought Gwendlyn home and brought her over to meet Mrs .Fredricks, there was a sedan across the street with this guy and three of his friends inside. Our father and I went over to find out why that they were there. After we found out what their intentions were, we stood up to them and our father did our best to intimidate them."
Tina pushed Katerina's hand away, then asked, "Why didn't you tell me? Don't I deserve to know if there is a threat to my family?"
"You do Tina, but you and our mother were so happy being around Gwendlyn, that we didn't want to interrupt your time together," Katerina answered.
Tina hugged Katerina tightly, she then said, "That was so sweet of you Kat. However, my mother and I are not some delicate flowers that would shy away from a challenge. You and our father need to keep us advised if something affects our family, ok?"
"I'll try. Old habits are hard to break," Katerina said as she hugged Tina back.
"Isn't that sweet," the tom who Mark had sitting in the corner said. "Two beautiful Enforcers in love. My boss won't care that Gwendlyn has two mommies that are officers of the law, once he finds out we were taken into custody, your little family will never have a moments rest!"
Mark and Tim went over to him and towered over his form with their arms crossed over their chests. "Did you say something?" Mark asked through a growl.
"I was only advising the two loving mommies that their family will never be the same again!" He answered.
Felicia, Juan, Mitch, as well as Jasmine joined Mark and Tim in front of the tom. Each one looking as if they were going to pummel him until he was a bloody mess. Then Jasmine said, "If you manage to be freed after this, which I doubt you will. Tell your boss that their family will not go down quietly. Not only are Katerina and Tina Sergeants of the Enforcers, they have friends who care for them, deeply!"
End of Chapter