Dimension One...
Feral and Felina grilled Hard Drive for more than an hour until they got all the details they could get from him. They rejoined the SWAT Kats at the power plant then took off in their respective aircraft heading for Professor Hackle's home.
"Professor Hackle, this is Razor. We, Feral and Lt. Feral need to talk to you urgently. We are landing nearby and will be at your door in about five minutes." Razor radioed the Professor.
"Roger, SWAT Kats will be awaiting your arrival." Hackle's voice told him calmly.
Once they'd landed they hiked up to Hackle's security gate and pressed the button for entrance. Moments later the big gates opened silently allowing them entry. They walked up to the front door that opened before they could knock.
"Come in!" Professor Hackle welcomed them stepping back to let them in. He closed the door behind them then limped forward and led them to his spacious living room.
"Now how can I help you?" He asked as he sat down on a chair.
The rest sat down tensely around the room. Razor was the one to tell Hackle the story. The Professor's eyebrows went up in astonishment and he looked at Feral in shock.
"Well this is certainly very bad news. I'm so sorry about your mate, T-Bone but if there is any way possible to reverse it we'll find it." He said positively. "Come let's go to my laboratory and get started. There is no time to waste." He climbed carefully to his feet and limped quickly toward his labs. They followed close on his heels.
Razor and Hackle immediately set to work. Unfortunately, there was nothing for the other three kats to do. They moved over to the other side of the lab where the TV was located and a few easy chairs and sat down to wait. Felina stared at the kat that looked exactly like her uncle. Shaking herself she turned to T-Bone.
"Since we have nothing to do why don't you tell me how you and my uncle ended up being mates." Felina asked very curious about how her uncle and T-Bone went from an antagonistic relationship to a loving one.
T-Bone blushed and glanced uncomfortably at his mate's double. Sighing he didn't see any harm in telling her and it would help to pass the time.
"Well you remember when you found out about your uncle being raped and brutalized then gave birth to that stillborn kitten?" T-Bone said quietly.
Feral's eyes widened in shock but kept his silence as he listened.
"Yes, I do. That was a terrible time for him." Felina said remembering her uncle's pain and grief.
"Yeah, well despite the counseling he was getting he suffered terrible nightmares and getting no sleep. I'll admit it bothered me a lot to see that haunted look on his face and the loss of weight so I began to spy on him at night.
For a week I watched him from a roof opposite his apartment. It was terrible to watch. He was dying emotionally and his body was following. I couldn't stand to watch it any longer so that following Friday, I slipped into his apartment, stripped down and lay next to him. I nursed him through several nightmares and grief strickened bouts of tears. My presence helped him sleep and lessened his agony. He finally slept through the weekend and woke late Sunday. He was obviously shocked to find me there but accepted his need of me.
I let him be for about two weeks and he seemed to get better than went downhill again. I repeated what I did before and that began a regular pattern of me being with him on weekends. We did this for months.
Then one day he responded with more than acceptance of my comforting presence. He'd apparently never had a lover before the rape so was not used to being touched intimately and yet that morning he woke before me and found me pressing against him with my usual morning erection. I normally wake first and pull back from his body so that he wouldn't be disturbed by that and suffer a flashback. This time, however, he wanted it. I was very careful and didn't allow intercourse only mutual release. That went on for quite a while before he asked for more.
That first time was a little scary for both of us. We did not know how he'd react to my invasion and at first he did have a brief flash to the rape but we had developed a good rapport so that he was able to get past it and we succeeded. It was a shining moment for us both.
Then not too long afterward we learned he was pregnant. At first he didn't know if he'd keep it but to my relief he didn't want to abort so I helped him get through it.
During this time, Razor did something truly amazing. He began to sell his designs to other countries. He made a shit load of money, so much that he was able to pay a large debt that kept us trapped in a job we didn't wanted, allowed us to build a new base in a safer location, and purchase new homes. By this time our private lives had diverged with me forming a mating bond with your uncle. He went on to buy his own home and continue to do design work and I found a secluded home where Uly and I could be safe, private, and raise our kitten and have a new job I love.
I'm very worried about him right now because he's pregnant with our second kitten. He's only eight weeks along but he gets very fragile when he's pregnant. This one is draining him more than the previous two. He tires more easily." T-Bone said hunching forward and rubbing his head with his arms in distress. Felina got up from her seat and sat down next to the tabby tom and hugged him warmly.
"I'm so glad you two are together. My uncle has never been happier. Don't worry, T-Bone. I'm sure if anyone can solve this problem its Razor and Professor Hackle." She told him offering what comfort she could.
T-Bone raised his head and smiled wanly at her. Sighing he reached for the control box. Felina released him and sat back. He found a program that was moderately interesting and they both began to watch.
Feral watched them both while his mind whirled with all the information he'd gained about the relationship between this T-Bone and his double. He didn't envy his double's horrible past. It made him wince in sympathy but he was truly stunned by the generosity and genuine concern T-Bone had shown his former antagonist. It revealed a compassionate heart. He only wished he could find such a deep commitment.
That thought made him remember a certain tom kat whose attentions he'd spurned, too busy rising up the ranks of the enforcers to take time to allow a relationship to stop him. Now that he was older and, hopefully, wiser he realized that that tom kat had been the only one he'd been willing to care deeply for. He'd kept tabs on him from time to time and was surprised that Jaren had not found anyone to share his life. Like himself, Jaren had forged ahead with his career and was now a very wealthy and powerful kat but was just as alone as he was.
This situation he found himself in made him see his life with new eyes. It reminded him that life was really too short and in the blink of an eye it could all be gone. If he finally made it back home perhaps he should seek out Jaren and see if the passion they had before could be rekindled. It seemed worth the effort he mused to himself who knows perhaps he would find happiness too.
T-Bone suddenly tossed the remote and got to his feet. "It's late and I need to check on Zira." He said going over to Razor to see how it was going.
He came back to the pair near the TV, "It will still be a bit so I'm going to leave and be right back." He said getting ready to leave.
"Wait, T-Bone! Could I go? I'd love to see Zira and it might help distract her from looking for her mother." Felina said.
"You might be right! Okay." T-Bone said then stopped and looked at Feral narrowly. "I'm not sure I should leave you here while they're busy." He said uncertainly but reluctant to take him along as well.
"I'm not going to do anything but I'm bored too. I wouldn't mind seeing this place you've made a home." Feral said quietly not pressing the issue.
Thinking hard, T-Bone finally nodded. He turned to leave followed by the other two. Soon they were winging their way a short distance. T-Bone had blindfolded both his guests. He landed at the mini landing pad behind his home and led the two across the field and through the back yard until he reached the back door of his home. He removed their blindfolds. The two looked around in appreciative silence.
"This is beautiful, T-Bone!" Felina said softly. Feral just nodded in agreement.
"Thanks." He smiled at Felina then turned to Feral. "Commander, please don't speak and stay in the kitchen so that Zira doesn't accidentally see you." He said firmly.
"Certainly. I wouldn't want to upset your daughter." Feral quietly reassured him.
T-Bone opened the back door and looked in first, seeing no one he stepped in and allowed Felina to follow close behind. Feral waited a moment longer before entering the room. The kitchen was a warm and comforting place.
T-Bone and Felina went on into the other room. Feral looked around the kitchen. Out the window he could see the sun setting and the fading light glittering on the water of the bay. It was beautiful. Turning his attention back to the room he spotted some framed photos on the wall.
Moving closer he studied the pictures. In one of them, he blinked as he saw himself hugging T-Bone and smiling as he leaned his head on his mate's shoulder. Another photo was himself again but this time holding a beautiful little kitten. He was looking down at the tiny kitten held in his arms with a loving smile on his face. The last photo was obviously taken by Razor. It was a picture taken in the back yard with a toddler slung between the adults grinning as she swung by her arms and her parents grinning and looking adoringly down at her. It was a happy and loving image. He felt his heart contract a little with envy at the joy that shown from the pictures.
He sincerely hoped the pair at the lab could send him home. His double needed to return home to the loving arms that missed him so much and he had a second chance to correct an error in judgement and find his own bit of happiness.
He'd been so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't realized how much time had passed until he saw that evening had fallen. T-Bone came back into the kitchen trailed by Felina. Needing to do something, T-Bone set about fixing sandwiches to go.
"Anything you don't like?" He asked the two.
"Nah! Anything you want to fix is fine with me." Felina said amicably.
"Same for me!" Feral said softly.
"This is a beautiful place, T-Bone and Zira is adorable." Felina said feelingly.
"I agree. Even if I haven't seen any more than the kitchen and only a picture of her. I can tell this is a home full of love and beauty." Feral said longingly.
T-Bone glanced up at him a moment then turned back to the sandwiches, a small smile gracing his lips that the double of his mate couldn't see. Soon he was finished, grabbed some cans of milk and led the way back out of the house. They ate their sandwiches in the back yard listening to the night sounds. Finishing quickly they disposed of their cans in the trash can at the back door. T-Bone blindfolded the pair again and led them back to the Turbokat.
Only minutes later they were back in the lab. The two inventors were still hard at work. Sighing Feral grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, settling on the news. They watched the days events while they waited.