They arrived at Enforcer Headquarters when the city hall clock chimed eleven in the evening. The whole affair had last only a couple of hours even though it had seemed much longer than that. Viper was carted off to a reinforced cell while Feral ordered his ops team to get some rest and take the next day off after they'd written up their reports. Thrilled to have time off, they saluted and headed to the armory to put their weapons away.
Feral called up to the SWAT Kats, "hey you two."
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for your great work. I think we can dispense with you coming to pick up Elora now. We'll be able to do that safely ourselves. Thank you for all you've done to protect her and I," he said sincerely.
"Hey, you're welcome, Commander. But we'd still like the option of seeing her from time to time. We love her too you know," Razor said, grinning.
Feral's face lit with a quiet smile. "You may, just warn me of your visits. I...hmm...might be busy," he murmured, giving his mate a sly smile.
T-Bone chuckled and gave Feral a hard swat to the back and snickered, "Heheh! Oh I get where you're coming from and may we say, we approve of your life's choice. He's a fine catch, Commander."
Blushing, Feral muttered, "Thanks, I think so too."
With their farewells through, the pair waved good bye and leaped into the cockpit of their jet. They waited until the small family had moved to safety before taking off for home.
Hadrian pressed closer to Ulysses as they walked off the flightline, making for Feral's office. "Does this mean you want me to stay?" He asked softly.
Feral halted a moment and gave his lover a long look. Leaning closer, he deposited a warm kiss on Hadrian's lips then said softly, "I think we don't need any further 'getting to know you' time. You've proven yourself to me and I want you in my life, whatever it takes to manage that."
Hadrian felt his heart sing. He was finally going to have the family he always dreamed of, now if only his friend was alright then the world would be perfect!
They started walking again and were soon stepping out of the elevator and strolling down the hall to Feral's office. When he opened the door he was surprised to find the lights on and someone sitting at his desk. A tall, lean golden Korat male sat there with a bandage around one part of his head. He stood up the moment they entered, a huge smile of relief on his face as he came to meet them.
Hadrian gave a cry of relief as he met his long time friend halfway. "Tafari, my God I'm so glad to see you're alive and well."
"Just a bang on the head, my friend. It was you who were in the most danger and it warms my heart to see you unharmed. And I see so is Ulysses and little Elora," Tafari said grinning, happily.
"Ahh, so this is your good friend," Feral said, smiling warmly at the Korat who shook his paw.
"Pleased to make your acquaintance at last. I heard a lot of good things about you and may I say thank you for doing the best you could to protect those I love," Feral said with heartfelt sincerity.
"You are welcome, Commander. Though I wish I could have been in on the final showdown. I was so worried about Hadrian and your little one when I woke up in that mess," Tafari.
"Well, thanks to the SWAT Kats and Uly, the battle was very short lived so that Elora and I suffered no harm. If it weren't for that fellow Hard Drive's defection, it might have had a very different ending," Hadrian said soberly.
"Yes, you are quite right about that but now, the three culprits are in jail, correct?" Tafari asked.
"Not exactly," Feral said, a small smile playing on his lips. "Hadrian took it upon himself to rid the city of Dark Kat so only Viper and Hard Drive are in jail. Unfortunately, Viper will probably only be there just long enough to recover from the Mega shock the SWAT Kats gave him then he'll disappear into the swamps again."
Tafari gave his friend a surprised and pleased look. "Well, you certainly took your job of defending your mate to the extreme, my friend."
Hadrian could only blush at the compliment. Shaking his head, Tafari turned to Feral and ventured a solution to his problem, "Ahh, Commander, if it wouldn't seem to presumptious of me, I have a suggestion that might end your problem for good," Tafari ventured carefully.
Feral blinked in confusion. "What might that be and is it legal?"
Tafari gave him a wolfish grin. "I'm sure you're wondering how I was able to protect Hadrian the way I did, hmmm?"
"That would have been my next question after I'd had a chance to see all the reports on the incident, yes," Feral said, cautiously.
"I'll save you the time," he opened up a wallet and displayed something for Feral.
"You're kidding!" Feral blurted when he got a gander at something he'd heard of but never seen before. He glanced over at his mate with questioning eyes. "Did you know what your friend does for a living?"
Hadrian shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "Yes, but that's because of what I do for a living. Our lives crossed a lot in the beginning and a life long friendship grew from it."
"Unbelievable. So when you offer to 'deal' with my problem, do you mean permanently or ..." Feral asked suspiciously.
"Well, personally I would have wanted to end it permanently but since that would upset your firm morals and devotion to the letter of the law, I would only offer a solution that would make not only make you happy but also make the Katizens of this city happy as well," Tafari admitted.
Intrigued, Feral asked, "I'll bite, what's your solution?"
"Have you heard of The Felinus Stronghold?" Tafari asked, casually.
Feral's eyebrows rose in shock. "Yesss...the nastiest, harshest, most secure prison in the world and run by the Kingdom of Mubato. But it's only for their prisoners...not outsiders."
"Normally that's true. But I have connections so what if I said I could get Viper and Hard Drive a cell of their own there, would that solve your problem?" Tafari smirked.
"Crud, I'll say, except for Hard Drive. Without his coat, he's just an ordinary criminal and he did prevent a possible war, but definitely Viper. How soon could you do this?"
"I can have them transferred and incarceration within a day," Tafari promised.
Feral could only stare at him for a long moment. 'Kat's alive, if he can do this...wow...our city would finally be safe at least for a long while, if he ever found a way out of that place,' he mused. "Alright, you have a deal. I'll even draw up the extradition paper myself and have the case locked up with all the evidence by later today. Will that do?"
"Perfect! I'd be glad to do it as soon as you're ready. So, it is very late and I know two people or should I say three," Tafari said as he smiled at Elora's sleeping face, "...that need to get some sleep. All this can wait. However, you do have a small problem..."
"What might that be?" Feral frowned.
"Your apartment was thoroughly trashed by those creatures and ninjas of Dark Kat. Do you have somewhere else you can stay?" Tafari asked.
"Crud!" Feral groaned, having forgotten that fact with all that was going on. "Well, there's no help for it. Fortunately, I have quarters here and I happened to have put a portable bed and kitten things in it just in case I needed to keep Elora by my side. We can sleep there for now."
"Perfect. I'm glad. So with that, I'll bid you both a good night and I'll see you tomorrow," Tafari said, briskly, heading for the door, pausing to give his friend a strong hug before walking out.
"Well, that was a fantastic bit of good luck, I must say," Feral said shaking his head at his good fortune.
Hadrian grinned warmly, "yes, he's good at the 'knight in shining armor' bit and I love him dearly for it. Shall we go to your quarters now, love or is there something else you need to do first?"
Feral blinked then yawned. "Oh...uhm...sorry. No, I have nothing else to do right now so let's get out of here." He lead the way back out of his office, locking the door on his way out, and back to the elevator. They got out at the thirteenth floor, walked across the sky bridge to the other tower then down to the tenth floor where the dormitories were.
The Commander paused outside a room at the end of a short hallway and unlocked the door. The room was large, with a mini kitchen and bathroom, plus kingsize bed. Over in the far corner that functioned as a small living room, was a portable kitten bed.
Feral walked to it and laid their exhausted daughter down for a bit. He would see if she would eat again, change her, then put her to bed again.
When he turned away to walk into the mini kitchen, Hadrian was there before him getting two bottles of cold water out and handing one to him. He smiled gratefully and chugged it down in one go.
"Ahh, didn't realize how parched I was," Hadrian sighed, then grinned at his mate as Feral tossed his bottle in the trash, "...and so were you I see."
"Yeah, definitely. Want to shower first?" Feral asked politely.
Hadrian tossed his bottle then moved to wrap his arms around Feral's waist. "I'd rather share it..." he murmured softly.
Feral felt his face heat as did other things. Despite being tired after such a long day and night, he felt he didn't want to put this off any longer. "If you'd like," he whispered, huskily, accepting the intense kiss Hadrian bestowed on him at that moment.