They arrived at their island base in under ten minutes. T-Bone was in a hurry to get his mate seen by Medi and to soothe his angry mate when Uly discovered he was not going home to his apartment tonight.
Razor lowered the ramp and they both jumped down from the cockpit. Uly met them as they came to the ramp and glowered at his mate.
"Look I know you're mad but the situation is unstable right now and I just want you to be looked over and stay here overnight..." T-Bone began.
"I...am...not...an...invalid...!" Feral fairly spat at his mate. "I appreciate you rescuing me but I want to go home." He slapped the tabby tom on the chest...hard.
T-Bone grunted at the blow. Uly may be pregnant but he was still a powerful kat especially now that he'd gotten his weight back up and was more healthy. Sighing to himself, T-Bone knew they were in for a lengthy argument.
Razor knew it as well and wisely went to change. He might as well stay and get some sleep rather than go back to the garage. Right now, though, he'd just prefer to be elsewhere.
The lover's quarrel went on for an hour with neither giving way to the other. Finally exhausted with it all Feral snapped, "Fine take me to a room where I can get some sleep and you sleep elsewhere!"
"Fine!" T-Bone grumbled just as glad to have the argument end. He put a blindfold on his stiffly rigid mate and escorted him to the medical suite.
Feral knew immediately where he was, his eyes flashed in fury but T-Bone didn't back down and wisely left the room while Medi calmly coaxed the Commander to let him examine him. Fuming but not wanting to take it out on the medical robot, Feral cooperated. Ten minutes later, Medi was calling T-Bone to take his mate to get some food and to rest. His mate's health and the kittens were fine.
Relieved, T-Bone took his furious mate to his bedroom and left him to get undressed and to eat the food he had left for him. He sighed and went to sleep on the comfortable couch in their living quarters. Hopefully tomorrow would be a better day.
The next morning, Feral made it very clear that he intended to go home, change and go to work as if nothing had happened. He would not tolerate any more arguments on the subject. He was surprised when Razor supported him in his decision.
"T-Bone, I think it will be alright if he goes home." Razor dared to speak up while they were standing near the Turbokat waiting to leave. T-Bone snarled at him angrily. "Look, we rescued him from the Marjipoor and taught the tiger a lesson. Now we've rescued him from Dark Kat. I think all those males that want Feral will think twice before attempting to grab him again since we've made it clear that his mate does protect him and, if not from being kidnaped, at least very capable of rescuing him. I won't say he's one hundred percent safe but his odds have gone up to a respectable level." Razor said coaxingly.
T-Bone grumbled a bit longer but he could see the sense of what Razor was trying to say. He looked into his annoyed mate's eyes and saw he agreed with Razor on his risk assessment.
"Alright! You can't blame me for being gun shy. After all, this is the second time I've had to retrieve my mate from the arms of another male. Geez, love, if I knew you were going to be this much trouble I might have thought twice about us becoming mates!" T-Bone said blandly.
Feral almost took offense at that comment if it weren't for the hint of humor he heard in his mate's voice. Sighing, he just shook his head. "Funny! Just take me to my apartment, comedian." He snorted, walking to the jet and up the ramp to take his seat.
T-Bone grinned with relief and made for the cockpit with Razor. Soon they were on their way to Megakat City.
Feral walked into Enforcer Headquarters, later that morning, and strode across to the bank of elevators. Just before he reached them, Felina appeared by his side and entered the car with him.
"Good morning, Uncle. I'm glad you're alright. Thanks to the coordinates Ms. Briggs relayed to us from T-Bone we picked up Dark Kat and his minions. He's at Alkatraz fuming about how he'd been caught without a fight when he woke up from the gas." She smirked still pleased by the memory of an unconscious Dark Kat being carried off to jail without any casualties for once.
"Glad to hear it. Just wish we could keep that piece of crud locked up." Feral grunted in annoyance. "Anything else I need to know about?" He asked her as he walked from the elevator to his office.
Felina gave him a brief synopsis of the evening shift reports. He thanked her and told her to return to her other duties. She gave him a warm smile and left. He'd just gotten started on the days reports on his desk when he received a call.
"Feral, here!" He answered.
"Commander, so glad to hear your voice and that you're alright." Came the distinctive voice of the Deputy Mayor.
"Thank you Ms. Briggs. Is there something I can do for you?" Feral said warmed by her concern for him.
"I just needed an update on Dark Kat and how far you are with the arrangements for the Military Leader's Conference." She said all business now.
He gave her a quick briefing and was glad the arrangements had been completed before he'd been kidnaped.
"Perfect. Mayor Manx will be pleased to know everything is set. One last question. How is your pregnancy coming along? Any problems?" She asked.
"Everything is fine according to my doctor, Ms. Briggs. Delivery is still pretty much on schedule, as close as that can be guessed that is, since kittens tend to pick their own time." Feral said quietly.
"Good. Please be sure that T-Bone notifies me when you've delivered and I hope nothing more happens until that occurs. I think you've had enough excitement for now and could use a quiet period to insure you get enough rest." Ms. Briggs said seriously.
"Humph! So do I Ms. Briggs. Thank you for your concern. Have a nice day." He said in agreement.
"You to Commander." Callie said and hung up.
Later that day...
Razor was at Professor Hackle's lab as promised with Medi. The Professor required regular checkups on the medical robot. He was just finishing his diagnostics when Razor decided to ask him for a couple of favors.
"Hey, Professor Hackle I need to ask you for a favor." Razor said hesitantly.
"Of course, my boy. Ask away." Hackle smiled as he closed the panel on Medi and patted it on the shoulder.
"Well, Feral's due to give birth in about four weeks. Right now T-Bone doesn't know if Feral will keep the kitten or not. Just in case he does, I wondered if it would be possible to make a nanny robot for them. Obviously they can't use a normal kat and keep their secret so I thought a robot would be the solution." Razor told him.
"That's a wonderful idea, my boy. Hmm...you are in luck because I've been working on those types of robots as part of my plan to have robots help katkind. I'm certain I could have a prototype ready by the time there is need for one." Hackle said warmly.
"That's great, Professor. That'll be one more worry off their minds." Razor said smiling in relief. "There's just one more thing." He asked cautiously.
The Professor smiled encouragingly."And that is..."
"Well T-Bone and I have been looking for separate homes since our private lives have become totally separate from our SWAT Kat lives. I've found a new home but T-Bone hasn't been able to find anything that meets his requirements. He and Feral need a secure and secluded home where no one will spot them together and where their kitten will be safe. So, I was just wondering if you knew of a place near here that would meet that need?" He asked hopefully.
Hackle's eyebrows raised in surprise, this wasn't what he'd expected to hear. He rubbed his chin and thought a bit. He limped to his massive computer and began typing in some information. A few minutes later he made a happy sound.
"Yes, I think I know just the place. I've just checked and it is still available." Hackle said excitedly and quickly wrote down an address on his notepad. He ripped it off and handed it to Razor. "There, my boy. Have T-Bone check this place out. Let me know if he likes it." The Professor said patting Razor on the back and seeing his guest to the door.
"Thank you! Professor, you're the best. We'll go see it right away. See you later!" Razor said happily as he led Medi toward the Turbokat.
"Good Luck!" Hackle called out and waved. Razor waved back as he closed the canopy and took off to drop Medi off at their new base.
A couple of hours later...Megakat Salvage Yard...
Jake had put in a little finishing work on their new base when he dropped Medi off before heading back to the garage. He changed clothes and climbed up the ladder. He saw Chance working on a tune up job near the front doors of the garage and walked up to speak with him.
"You're back!" Chance said smiling. "How'd Medi's check up go?"
"Perfect, Hackle gave it a thumbs up. Speaking of the Professor, I asked him for a couple of favors. He came through better than I could have hoped." Jake said happily.
"Ohh...what kind of favors?" Chance asked raising an eyebrow suspiciously.
"Well the first was about a robot nanny for your kitten, if Feral decides to keep it. Hackle said he could have a prototype ready when it was needed." Jake told his partner.
"There you go thinking ahead again!" Chance said shaking his head but smiling. "I never even considered how we were going to handle kitten sitting when we both go to work."
"Thought you'd like that. Also I asked him if he knew of any place that would suit you and Feral's needs as a secluded home. He gave me an address that is not far from his place to go check out." Jake was grinning from ear to ear at the expression on his buddy's face.
"What are you...a miracle worker?" Chance said when he was able to get over his surprise.
Jake blushed in pleasure. "So how about we check it out after we close the garage today?" He said.
"You bet! I just hope it pans out. I'm getting kinda tired of looking." Chance said returning to his work.
"Don't be negative, buddy. Let's wait until we see it." Jake said as he went to another vehicle to begin work. Chance just grunted.
An hour after they'd closed the garage and Chance had called Feral to say he'd be late going home, they drove off in their tow truck for the address the Professor had given Jake.
It was quite a drive from the garage to Hackle's home then another mile to a place hidden in the hills northwest of the Professor's. Chance nearly missed the driveway that was not paved. He turned down it and went a quarter of a mile inland before stopping at a fallen tree at the end. He and Jake got out and looked around. At first they couldn't see anything until a stray shot of sunlight broke through the many trees and flashed off a roof.
They stepped over the log and walked through the trees for a short distance before they came out into a small clearing. There before them was a large rambling house perched on a cliff overlooking the bay. It was well camouflaged by many overhanging trees and prolific undergrowth that hadn't been cleared in a long time.
The walked up to it cautiously. It appeared to have not been lived in for a while. Chance went up to the apparently solid and locked front door. Jake jimmied the lock and they went in. The main living space was huge with a large fireplace dominating one wall and a huge picture window looking out over the water. There were two doorways. They took the right hand one and came out into a comfortable kitchen that needed some work and appliance upgrades. There was a back door leading outside. There was also a large pantry. Walking back to the living room they took the left hand doorway. Here they found a small bathroom and two bedrooms. They were fairly good sized and full of dust. At the end of the hallway was a set of short stairs. Following them up they came out to a large loft space. There was a door leading to another bathroom. This one was large with a huge tub, shower, two sinks and dryers. The bedroom also had a set of walk in closets and there was another huge picture window again looking out at the water. They returned to the main floor. Chance went back through the kitchen/dining area to the back door and went out to look around. There were signs of a yard having been there but was badly overgrown. It was fairly good sized. It was wonderfully quiet and peaceful here. Jake leaned out over the bank a little and could see an old dock and rickety stairs leading down to it.
"Well what do you think buddy?" Jake asked as he followed his partner as he scouted the area around the place.
"It looks perfect. Needs some work but it's secluded and has a great view. The only downside is the distance." Chance said as they came back to the front of the house.
"I might be able to solve that. Let's go a little further back behind the house and see what there is to see, shall we?" Jake coaxed as he went back around the house again and headed across the overgrown yard.
Puzzled, Chance followed him. They had to push their way through a jungle of weeds until they came out on a scrap of open field banked by some tree covered hills and flanked by a cliff.
Jake halted and looked around, "Perfect. I can make a chopper pad here and with some new tech I've been fooling around with I can camouflage it so no one can see it from the air. A sort of holograph to make someone think there is nothing here but trees." Jake smirked at his friends stunned face.
"You just never cease to amaze me Jake. Well it looks like I've finally found a home but before we jump the gun we better check to see if this piece of land is included or is free for purchase." Chance said cautiously as they returned to their vehicle. Jake went and resecured the front door of the house then they returned to town.
Back at the garage, Jake did some digging and found the place had been abandoned some years ago. Buying it would be easy since the city now owned it and was anxious to unload it. As for the land, that was trickier. It was owned by a city council member who used it as income. It would take some bargaining to see if he would be willing to sell. That would have to wait until morning. Pleased by what they'd seen so far, Chance went to bed optimistic that everything would work out alright.