Hadrian yawned and stretched. The flight had been long and exhausting but at least it was at an end. He got to his feet and made his way off the plane. Pushing his way through the crowds, he made for the baggage claim area where he endured the same long wait as his fellow passengers.
While he watched the baggage carousal go around, his mind went over what he planned to say to Feral. The night before, he used his laptop to try to find out everything he could about his one night stand.
There was quite a bit about the public Feral but little to nothing about the private one. Except for that interview about giving birth to his daughter, Hadrian could find nothing about the Feral he had been immediately attracted to that night in the Kaimere Province.
That tom had been a witty and excellent conversationalist, a great dancer and, of course, a fantastic bed partner. Parting from the dark tom had been more wrenching than he thought it should have been for a supposed one night stand. The memory of that evening had haunted him for weeks afterwards until work managed to push it the far reaches of his mind.
With this new and shocking revelation, that memory was once more as fresh as if it had occurred last night. He was determined to not let Feral slip away from him so easily this time and that meant learning all he could about him.
The next morning as they shared a cab to the airport, Hadrian asked his best friend for advice on how to handle his first meeting with Feral.
Tafari was reluctant as first, this being a very sensitive subject and so many things could go wrong but Hadrian was a complete basket case this morning and nearly frantic with nerves. He couldn't bare to see his friend in such a state so he relented against his better judgement.
"Alright, my friend, but you must understand there are so many variables that could go wrong the moment you two set eyes on each other again. The first being a really bad case of 'awkwardness'. After all, there's now a kitten firmly between you, if its yours, that is. That will make this tom very protective and cautious. Being a military leader will increase his wariness toward you as well." Tafari said cautiously.
"I know! That's what has me so terrified. I just don't know what to say to him in that moment that won't get me kicked out his apartment. I've spent all night trying to come up with something that will convince him to hear me out long enough to tell him how much I want to be a part of his and our daughter's lives. I want to tell him how much he's been on my mind since we parted, how strong the attachment I feel for him is and that it wasn't just a one night stand." Hadrian moaned worriedly, nearly pulling his hair out.
"Easy, Hadrian, easy!" Tafari soothed, reaching out to pat his friend on the shoulder. "I know this is hard. I don't think I'd be any better at this than you. Anyway, since this Feral is a military leader, I firmly believe honesty is the best way to open the conversation. I have a feeling he'd smell any kind of prevarication so don't dance around the subject. Just come right out and tell him how upset you were at making such a mistake but that you truly enjoyed being with him and would like to pursue a relationship."
And for goodness sake, don't stumble around about it either no matter how shaky you're feeling. Be masterful as you are when doing business. From what I've learned of this fellow, he should respect that approach more." Tafari warned.
"If he allows you to continue talking, because I've heard he has a hot temper, quickly move on to the question of the kitten's paternity. Say how much you'd love it to be yours and that you'd be willing to do a paternity test if he wishes. If things go well after that then go on to suggest starting a tentative relationship and about how much you would love to have a family." He finished.
Hadrian's eyes glowed with excitement and hope. "Thank you!" He sighed in relief. "I knew you could guide me in this. Those are excellent suggestions and ones I intend to follow."
Tafari smiled wanly at his friend's hopeful face. "I'm glad I could help you. However, be prepared for rejection. He may have already reconciled to raising the kitten alone and there is every possibility he has no desire for a relationship now or later." He warned gently.
The gleam dimmed a little at that statement but Hadrian quickly rallied and nodded in understanding...determination showing in the set of his shoulders. "I know, Tafari but I have to try."
"I know and I truly hope you are successful, my friend." Tafari said smiling. "Ah, we've arrived. I wish you a safe flight and await your call on how things went." He said as the cab pulled to a halt outside the airport entry point.
"I will, I promise. Take care, my friend." Hadrian said warmly, hugging his friend then getting out of the cab. He retrieved his luggage and quickly strode through the airport doors.
Now, with bag in paw, Hadrian hurried to the taxi stands, climbing into a nearby empty cab he told the driver to take him to the Bayview Shores Hotel. As the cab pulled out into traffic and hurried toward its destination, Hadrian made his plans.
First, he must check in and clean up. Second, he would go to the news agency that had done the most reporting on Feral. He hoped to find more information on the tom in the newsroom's archives and his last stop would be the library. Knowing more about Ulysses might make approaching him easier...he hoped.
Oblivious to what shock awaited him, Feral was hopping to his bed from Elora's crib. He had already laid out his clothes and planned getting dressed. He was finally becoming more mobile and it made him very happy. His ankle was nearly healed and Elora was almost sleeping through the night. That last was a huge relief to her poor mother as well as her temporary caretakers, T-Bone and Razor. They'd cut back to only four hours in the day and night, alternating with each other on the shifts to take care of house cleaning, laundry, dishes, and the meals. Feral was able to take care of Elora by himself so the pair wasn't needed for that any longer.
Regaining his privacy had the result of easing Feral's tension making him more civil to his helpers. T-Bone found that a very welcome change as he arrived for his turn of duty on this Tuesday morning the second week since Feral had broken his ankle.
"Good morning, Commander. How are you managing?" He asked cheerily as he entered the apartment via the balcony door.
Feral gave the tom a small smile. "We're doing well. I find I can sort of hop a bit from bed to crib and back so my arms can be free to carry Elora ...she thinks it's fun and giggles when I do it."
"Ahhh, that's so cute." T-Bone smiled warmly at the news. He and Razor were smitten with the little kitten. She was so easy to care for and a joy to be around. "So what would you like done besides the dishes and laundry, Razor told me about?" He asked, getting back to business.
"Hmmm, well Elora's bed needs changing and I'd like the bathroom cleaned." Feral told him.
"Okay, consider it done. I'll get the bed done when you feed her next." T-Bone said, smiling as he left the bedroom to take care of the household chores.
At lunch time, he made them a meal, changed Elora's bed while she nursed then did the dishes before bidding Feral goodbye for the day.
"I made you a snack for later...it's in the fridge. Take it easy and I'll see you tonight." T-Bone said leaving by way of the balcony.
"Uh...I thought it was Razor's turn?" Feral asked frowning.
"Yeah, it was but he has a project he wants to finish and I said I would take his shift," the tabby explained.
"Oh, okay, thanks. Be careful and see you later." Feral murmured, mollified. The tom nodded then disappeared from view.
When the SWAT Kat was gone and Elora was down for a nap, Feral went to his computer to catch up on his work. As he regained his strength, he'd called Sgt Fallon and ordered him to begin sending over reports for his review and he kept up with what was going on in his command on the computer.
He was very anxious to return to work. They had been fortunate not to have a major outbreak of omega activity. Except for that one incident by Viper, the rest of the deadly criminals had still been keeping a low profile. That made him very nervous. Something was up and it bothered him so much he had done something very uncharacteristic for him...he brought up his concerns to his caretakers.
Razor had told him he also was suspicious of the lengthy peace. He promised Feral, he and T-Bone were already poking around places the criminals liked to haunt and making their presence more obvious to try and act as a deterrent. The smaller SWAT Kat said he was working on some new weaponry too because he had a strong suspicion they were going to need it.
That admission increased Feral's feelings of urgency. Razor was very good at sensing something was in the air and always seemed to plan accordingly, He'd learned the cinnamon tom had some kind of second sense that told him he needed to be on the alert and always seemed to develop just the right new weapon to deal with it. He always thought that was a little creepy but couldn't deny the ability always managed to save their tails.
Since he still was housebound a little longer yet, he'd ordered Sgt Fallon to tell the squadron commanders to go to a higher alert status and increase patrols. Trouble was in the air and he wanted his forces geared up now rather than be caught blind sided
There was one more thing he needed to accomplish before he returned to work and that was to find a safe, secure place for Elora when he was on duty. This was going to be very hard since the sitter was in as much danger as his daughter.
Finding someone who was willing to put their life at risk to protect Elora from all his enemies, that wouldn't hesitate to use her as a bargaining chip for any number of nefarious plans they came up with, was going to be nearly impossible. He figured he had maybe a week left in which to find someone.
'Perhaps Ms. Briggs might know of someone,' he murmured thoughtfully. He reached for his phone to give her a call.
While Feral was making his call, T-Bone was just arriving in the hangar at the salvage yard, roaring up the ramp and across the huge expanse of floor then slowing down to a stop next to the other cyclotron parked there. He shut the engine, climbed off, leaving his helmet on the seat before walking to where the lockers were to change his clothes.
Jake was already working in the garage when he climbed the ladder to join him. He checked the job orders and picked a truck to begin working on.
"Hi, ready to work?" Jake asked as he passed by to retrieve a part.
"Yeah, looks like a full house," Chance grunted as he lifted the truck's hood up.
"It is but we need the jobs since we've been closed for too long," Jake said as he returned to work.
"I know. I'm just glad we don't have that much sitting duty now."
"Definitely a plus and thanks by the way for taking the next shift. I want to finish those two new missiles I'm working on." Jake told him, his voice slightly muffled from under the hood.
"You really think we're looking at something major happening soon?" Chance asked, frowning, raising his head and turning to look over at his partner.
Jake pulled his head out from under the hood of the car he was working on to look over at his friend. "Unfortunately, the feeling has only gotten stronger as time passes. I almost feel I might not get done in time," he said grimly.
Chance shuddered. Jake didn't get these feelings too often but when he did it always meant something really bad was about to hit the fan.
"And Feral is feeling it too." Jake added.
"Okay, that's just too creepy for me. Normally, he's so blind to that sort of thing that he's nearly always caught off guard. Wonder if it's because he's become a mother that his senses have been hyped up?" The tabby said a little facetiously, the whole subject weirding him out.
Jake eyed his partner sympathetically. He knew how much his friend disliked anything he couldn't see or touch, especially magic. In that, he and Feral were really alike but, as Chance had just learned, Feral was beginning to experience this nebulous extra sense stuff too.
His expression grim, Jake said, seriously, "I wouldn't be surprised. He's a very protective mother with an excellent bond with his daughter...so, yeah, he's probably more sensitive to threats that could harm her."
Chance grimaced at that but shrugged his shoulders in an accepting way. "I guess I have to agree there. He's a real protective momma, alright. Wonder who he's going to find to sit her when he gets back to work?" He asked casually.
Jake stopped working and stared at him in dismay. "Crud! I've been so busy preparing for a possible assault that I completely forgot about Feral needing a sitter." He shook his head and frowned. "It can't just be an ordinary Kat since Feral's enemies wouldn't hesitate to use her against him and kill the caretaker."
The tabby froze as that likely scenario struck him. "Oh Kat's! That is so true. But what can we do? I don't know of anyone that can help?" He asked anxiously.
The cinnamon tom rubbed his forehead as he tried to think of possibilities. "I don't know. I'll have to think on this. I'm sure Feral is trying to find someone. Maybe he'll get lucky." Jake finally said, worriedly.
"Well, I hope he can or that you come up with someone. I couldn't bear to have that sweet kitten harmed in any way." Chance said in concern.
"We'll figure something out, buddy. I promise, but right now we've got tons of work so let's get busy." Jake said returning to the vehicle he'd been working on. His partner sighed and did the same.
Across town, Hadrian was leaning back from the computer screen he'd been sitting at for hours at the Megakat City Library. Earlier he'd spent a couple of hours over at the Kats Eye Newsroom's morgue, digging out everything he could on Ulysses' military life then had gone to the library to see if he could find out more on his private life.
Hadrian was rubbing his eyes after hours of researching hundreds of articles involving Ulysses. He sat back in his chair and closed his eyes for a minute to give them a rest.
He'd found out a lot about his one night stand. At the news room, he found out, thought Ulysses might not be liked by his superiors, he was respected. Some of the articles weren't very complimentary especially the ones about his failures and the pair called the SWAT Kats successes at the enforcers expense.
His business skills allowed him to see between the lines of the articles to see a beleaguered individual who was being hamstrung by the ruling party of the city government. Severe budget constraints had prevented Ulysses' enforcers from being the force they used to be under other administrations.
It made him angry at all the ridicule that was heaped on Feral for things he couldn't prevent no matter how much he obviously tried to. The SWAT Kats were successful due to advanced tech and no constraints on their behavior. Yes, they did save the day in many cases but they also created a lot of damage that was left for the legal forces to deal with.
He was amazed Ulysses had remained in such a thankless job but he had learned that had a lot to do with the tom's hard core devotion to duty and not backing down no matter how bad things got.
'An excellent trait in a mate,' Hadrian thought, very pleased.
The information he'd managed to glean from his research gave him a picture of a driven individual who pushed his way to the top with bravery, determination, and being willing to take on things in his job others wouldn't. Feral possessed a strong moral core that guided everything he did. He was very much a type A personality hence the temper, the need to oversee everything and be at the forefront of all actions, an excellent strategist and leader.
However, Hadrian wasn't certain such a personality made a good mother. He would have to see Ulysses interacting with their kitten to know for certain. Sighing tirededly, he finally turned off the computer he was working on and made his way out of the library. He hailed a taxi and went back to his hotel room for a meal and rest while he absorbed all that he'd read that day.
He needed to check a few more sources before he made his move as well as find out where Feral lived. He'd already learned the dark tom's address was hidden under security and privacy rules. Perfect precautions for someone in Feral's position so finding it out would require some careful research on Hadrian's part.
He could approach Feral at his office but that didn't seem right for something so personal...no, he must do this very discretely. He'd already learned Feral was still on medical leave so he needed to find the tom and confront him in his home.