A few days after being with his soulmate, Tye found himself being summoned to the Chief Enforcer's office. The Turmoil case was still ongoing and his squad was presently out chasing down leads on Dark Kats whereabouts. He suspected Feral had found out about some of their activities but he was certain he hadn't discovered all that had gone on.
Sighing, he prepared himself for dealing with an irate Commander. It was midmorning, he'd grabbed a coffee on his way and was now being deposited by taxi in front of Enforcer Headquarters. No one said anything to him as he entered the elevator for the trip to the top. Greeting the secretary politely he was told to wait.
He finished drinking his coffee as he waited. Five minutes later he was told to go on in. Feral was reading a report at his desk as he strolled in. The Commander glanced up and signaled for him to wait a moment. Tye took the time to study his lover. Ulysses had a strained look that concerned him. Was he still upset about the two of them? He'd hoped that after that night, Feral would be a bit more happy but he looked depressed and tense instead.
Feral signed the report and tossed it into his out basket. He got up from his desk and came down to stand in front of Tye.
"I've heard some disturbing things over the last few days. Things that tell me you have not only stepped over the law but trampled it." The Commander said his eyes narrowing in irritation.
"Ohh. Such as...?" Tye prompted. He wasn't about to give anything away. Let Ulysses lead the way in this chase for information.
Feral scowled at him his irritation rising. "How about the destruction of a certain computer and surge suit for starters!" He snarled.
"My answer is the same one I gave you about Viper." Tye said bluntly. "You'll not get another on the subject."
"That was part of the case for arresting Hard Drive and you deliberately destroyed it." Feral nearly shouted.
"No it isn't. The stolen plans were!" Tye said firmly not backing down.
Reining in his temper and regrouping, Feral pursued something else, "What about the fact Hard Drive apparently can't remember how to make another suit? He seems rather upset about that."
"You believe him? I honestly can't answer that for you." Tye said shrugging his shoulders.
"Someone seems to have taken a special box from the evidence room? You wouldn't know anything about that either, ehh?...or that Professor Hackle has complained that someone stole the Metallikats' memory disks?" Feral was fairly steaming now. "Also there seems to be a lot of research going on about Turmoil's case."
"Interesting but sorry can't help you." Tye said cooly.
Feral practically shoved his face into Sunsinger's, the fury plain on his face. "Breaking the law is not how we solve problems in this city!" He thundered.
"I was paid to solve this city's problem and we are not held liable for how its done. There is no point in you becoming this upset. We have not interfered in any other military or police cases only the omegas for which we were hired to get rid of. You have a complaint, take it up with your Mayor." Sunsinger said coldly and with finality.
"I have no proof!" The Commander snapped angrily. "But I know your squad had something to do with everything I've said."
Tye shrugged his shoulders again but refused to respond any further on the subject. Snarling, Feral returned to his desk and sat down fuming. He stared at Tye unable to reconcile this hard warrior with the lover he'd been with a few nights ago. It disturbed him far too much.
Sunsinger was staring at him in a disquieting way. He swivelled his chair to face the window and stared down at his busy flight line. He felt he'd lost control of his life suddenly...both the job and his personal one. It wasn't a good feeling.
"It hurts me to see you soo unhappy. I'm just trying to get the job done so that we can spend more time with each other." Tye whispered close to Ulysses' ear. Uly startled but kept his eyes forward. "I want to take you in the air. It's what I dream of every night. It leaves me aching with desire." Tye breathed hotly taking a chance and nuzzling Uly's face before withdrawing to look out the window too.
Feral swallowed hard. Sunsinger's touch had sent heat flashing through his body as much as his words did. This complex creature had him terrified and needy at the same time. He felt off balance every moment in Tye's presence.
"Please leave me!" He whispered tightly.
"Alright! I don't want to upset you further but this isn't the end of it. I will not give you up that easily." Tye stated quietly then turned and left Ulysses' office. Feral continued to stare out the window for some time afterward.
Returning to the hotel, Tye set aside his concerns for his lover and got updates from his squad on the search for Dark Kat.
"At the moment none of the leads we've followed have panned out. This is one canny dude." Byron reported. "His past history indicates he favors mountain caves, old volcanoes and empty warehouses as his bases."
"Alright, I guess we'll just have to do a search similar to the one we did for Viper. Chris take Rue, JJ, and Darren and go mountain hunting. Warren, Landon and Tommy check out the warehouse districts. Byron and I will poke around abandoned R&D and military facilities." Tye ordered. His squad dispersed.
He and Byron checked the internet and old records at city hall before setting out the next day to investigate some possible prospects. Chris rented another helicopter and his team began a systematic grid search over the mountainous range north of the city. They left at first light the next morning. It would take days to search such a large area. After getting a listing of possible abandoned and empty warehouses, Warren's team left the next morning as well.
At the end of the first day, the squad met for dinner and compared notes.
"Well we covered some hundred square miles of mountains, no luck." Sighed Chris as he dug into his chicken dinner.
"Same for us I'm afraid. We have about another fifty warehouses to check yet." Warren chimed in.
"Afraid our day wasn't much better either." Tye sighed. "Well let's hope for better luck tomorrow. Byron, after dinner I want you to check on the progress of Turmoil's extradition."
Tye requested.
"Sure thing, boss!" Byron said grabbing some more coleslaw.
After dinner, Tye went over his own reports on the Turmoil business as he waited for Byron's report. He sighed, this was taking a while but so far things were looking good.
"Hey Tye, here's the information you wanted. Looks good to me so far." Byron said a little while later handing Tye a printout.
"Thanks, that's good to hear and matches the reports I've gotten too. Hope we can wrap up this problem soon." Tye said as he read over the report Byron had given him. Byron just nodded in agreement and left Tye alone.
Sealing the reports in his briefcase, Tye stretched and got up to go to bed. Tomorrow was going to be another long day. He had a passing wish that he was sharing the bed with his lover when he fell asleep.
In another part of the city...near midnight...
Sleep would not come. He'd never had a problem getting to sleep but since Tye dropped into his life sleep was hard to attain. He paced restlessly throughout his apartment stopping to stare out his balcony door at the moon-drenched night. It was a perfect night for a flight his mind whispered with longing. Scowling he violently shook his head. Such thoughts were the very reason sleep eluded him. He went to his bathroom and turned the shower on. Hopefully a very hot shower and some warm milk could soothe him to sleep otherwise he was going to be fairly useless and irritable tomorrow.
Dawn...Maximilian Hotel...
The sun was just showing itself when Sunsinger's squad rose to greet the day. Very quickly they dressed, ate and left their separate ways. The search for Dark Kat was on for another day.
For the next week the pattern repeated itself as the squad searched nearly the entire city for the elusive omega.
Tye kept away from Ulysses. The temptation was strong but his lover was too skittish for more of his attention right now. He kept himself too busy to think about his increasingly intense need for the moody enforcer. The extradition for Turmoil had finally come through that Friday. Papers in hand, a representative from Turmoil's country of origin and a pair of guards went to Alkatraz Prison. In quick order, Turmoil was formally handed over to her government. She, her guards and the government official were escorted to their plane by Tye, Chris and Byron to ensure no last minute problems. It was with a sigh of relief that Tye watched Turmoil's plane depart and soar into the sky.
He was getting into their van when, sirens screaming, they were boxed in by enforcers. Feral's sedan arrived right behind them. Leaving his vehicle he stalked toward Sunsinger. Groaning inwardly, Tye got out again and confronted the steaming Commander.
"Where is Turmoil." Feral bellowed without preamble.
"See that plane just disappearing there? That's her." Tye said pointing to the end of the runway.
Feral moved till he was in Sunsinger's face and hissed, "How dare you? She was my prisoner. She was tried and convicted here and was required to serve her time here!" He snapped.
"All of that is true. The only reason she is on her way back to her own country is your prison is unable to keep her locked up. Her people on the other hand have a much more secure facility. Besides which, she belongs home. She shouldn't be the responsibility of Megakat City and a drain on the city's budget for her upkeep. I just saved your Mayor money." Tye said bluntly.
Feral gaped at him unable to believe Sunsinger had gone behind his back and swept a prisoner away so easily. The fact that his argument made sense did not ease Feral's sense of outrage. So far everything Tye had done was a slap in Feral's face and damaged his image with his own enforcers. It was a nightmare he couldn't wake up from. Unable to come up with an appropriate rejoinder, Feral turned smartly on his heel and jumped into his car and left squealing tires in his hurry to leave. His other officers were left to shake their heads in confusion and return to their duties.
Shaking his own head in dismay at his lover's behavior, Tye climbed back into the van and Byron took them back to their hotel.
"Well that went well!" Byron said sarcastically. Tye winced but didn't say anything. The rest of the trip was made in silence. It was becoming obvious to his squad, that Tye wasn't happy about how Feral was handling what they were doing. What bothered them, was why it mattered to their leader so much. On other jobs, he never cared what the leaders thought as long as the job got done and they were paid. But this time, something was different. His squad was concerned but kept it to themselves and watched him closely.