Feral's first week at work was spent exclusively in his office, clearing the backlog created by his second in command's poor management. This would normally make him furious and ill-tempered but he was far too happy to be back to care.
Tanlir was also extremely busy taking care of the details necessary for getting the embassy up and running to perfection. He spent a lot of time meeting his new staff, learning what all their duties were, and what was expected for this fledgling embassy. It was tiring, but exhilarating, learning his new job. By Friday, he had sent his first progress report to his father.
The rest of the month flew by without trouble from the omegas, much to Feral's relief. His pregnancy was going more smoothly, finally, except for one brief episode which embarrassed Feral to no end only because the SWAT Kats had been involved and had nearly given his mate a heart attack.
It had happened two weeks before the end of the month. Omegas might not have been around but the scientists at Pumadyne more than made up for their absence. A newly designed robot for space exploration had been built to replace the ones the Metallikats had destroyed. It was built along the same lines as those first two except for being a bit shorter in stature and having a living crew aboard.
A small crew of four were supposed to furnish the 'mind' of the robot but, for the purpose of testing and for safety reasons, it was presently being remotely control using its onboard computer brain.
The pre-testing of the brain was a success but for reasons they couldn't determine, during the actual test the computer developed a virus and caused the robot to run amok.
It flailed around, totally trashing the testing facility before finally breaking through a wall and, like a charging bull, headed in one direction. None of the security force could stop its forward motion as it plowed through the fencing of Pumadyne and continued on its straight course.
It's path led it past the salvage yard and over the freeway to the heart of Megakat City. Since it was charging down the center of the road, it caused panic among the commuters, leaving a wake of damaged cars and frightened Katizens.
"What the heck was that?" Chance bellowed when he heard the sounds of crashes, screams and breaking metal.
"Crud...don't know..." Jake shouted as he ran through their gates for the street.
Chance had followed him and together they saw the departing form of the one-story robot racing down the street and the destruction it had left behind. Looking at each other for only a moment, the pair turned and ran back into the yard, closed their garage, and went down to their secret hangar.
Meanwhile, Feral and his sergeant were at city hall dealing with some minor problem that the Mayor seemed to think was a major one when the call came over the Commander's enforcer radio.
"Enforcer One!"
"Feral here!"
"Sir, a robot being tested at Pumadyne has gone amok and is on a collision course for city hall." Dispatch reported.
"Wonderful!" Feral growled under his breath. "Have a squad get to city hall on the double and have choppers in the air to try and halt its progress." He ordered.
"Squad already on the way, choppers leaving the pad as we speak, sir."
"Excellent, keep this channel open and give me regular updates." Feral growled as he moved to the windows to see what was going on.
"Roger, sir!"
Everyone else followed Feral's example and stared out the windows. Just a few miles away, the imposing robot was seen coming into view. It was moving at a fair clip much to Feral's dismay. Looking down, he saw his squad arrive, pile out of their armored vehicles and form a defensive line at the bottom of the stairs leading into city hall.
A familiar roar sent Feral's head upward to see the SWAT Kats arriving on scene. Though he growled in annoyance, he watched as the pair began their assault on the lumbering thing.
His chopper squadron arrived on scene just then and were trying to harry the robot and make it change direction. Apparently nothing either the SWAT Kats or his pilots did could make it alter its path. That's when Feral realized it had no mind of its own, it was just following a single path it had started on and wouldn't stop until they destroyed it.
Huffing in annoyance, Feral wheeled around and hurried for the elevators. Ms. Briggs rushed after him on the heels of the Commander's royal guards.
Feral paid them no attention, his mind focused on the battle outside as he listened to the reports coming over his radio.
Ms. Briggs eyed Feral in concern. "You really shouldn't go any closer to this Commander." She said worriedly.
"I can't just stand by while my enforcers try to cope with that thing and it doesn't make it easier to have those two hooligans on hand either." Feral snapped, distractedly.
Callie sighed in frustration. The Kat was just too bull-headed for his own good. The elevator doors snapped open and the group surged forward toward the lobby doors. People visiting city hall and its employees had already escaped through the rear exits so the lobby was eerily quiet except for the noise of battle coming through the entry doors.
Outside the robot loomed even closer, in an attempt to halt its progress the SWAT Kats had blown a hole in the road before it. This was somewhat successful as it caused the robot to fall in but apparently that had jogged its circuits and now its protection mode had activated.
The robot heaved itself from the hole and grabbed a car to hurl but its arm was ruined by a slicer missile from Razor. Unfortunately, that move had allowed the hand holding the car to be sent through the doors of city hall.
Feral and his group had barely begun to cross the lobby floor when, suddenly, something came hurling through the glass doors. Callie caught only a glimpse of, what looked like a car, before she was shoved out of the way and slammed to the floor with a heavy body over her.
The car slammed into the elevators with a loud boom, glass and metal flying everywhere. When her ears stopped ringing from the sound, the body covering her moved off and helped her to her feet.
It was Commander Feral who had saved her and was now looking through the broken doors to see what was going on. His royal guards were caught on the other side of the thrown car and were even now trying to hurry to his side.
What he saw made him furious. The robot had apparently been mindless but now its movements were more purposeful and it was actively attacking. At the moment, it was facing its attackers, its back to the building.
Growling angrily, his face set with purpose, Feral stomped forward and stepped through the broken door, much to his guards dismay. They tried to intervene when Feral grabbed a bazooka from one of his troopers but were too late.
The Commander put it to his shoulder and fired a rocket toward the robot's head just as Razor fired a scrambler missile at the same target. One of his guards pulled the bazooka away from him but Feral didn't pay any attention as he watched what would happen.
Both missiles managed to strike at the same time with devastating results. The scrambler missile caused a surge in the electrical system and computer of the robot allowing Feral's rocket to finish it off, completely destroying its head.
The robot wasn't finished doing damage though, as it's falling body crashed down, its one arm, which were still raised, hit the front of city hall, a floor above the lobby, tearing chunks of masonry and brick away from the face of the building before its body violently hit the ground.
Seeing the robot's body hurtling for them, Feral's guards desperately snatched him by his coat and arms and pulled him back toward a side entrance. He was able to snatch Ms. Briggs despite the guards tugging on him. The enforcers outside, frantically scattered out of the way. The force of the robot's body hitting the steps of city hall caused a shockwave that sent huge sections of the lobby ceiling to rain down, burying everyone.
"T-Bone!" Razor shouted. "That damn robot has collapsed the front of city hall's lobby ceiling. I thought I saw Ms. Briggs there with Feral!"
"Damn, why couldn't that thing have fallen backwards!" T-Bone growled angrily as he found a cleared area and landed the jet.
The pair leaped from the cockpit of their jet and raced back to city hall's ruined entryway. Enforcers were already hard at work trying to get to those they knew were buried under the debris.
At the moment the ceiling collapsed on the trapped Kats, across town at the Asszeria Embassy, Tanlir had been going over a report with his First Secretary Harshad when he jerked upright with a cry of pain and fear. "Ulysses!"
"Your highness! What is it?" Harshad asked anxiously.
"My mate is hurt! I can feel his pain!" Tanlir said sharply, heading out of his office at a run.
Harshad pulled his phone from his pocket as he ran after the Prince and hurriedly summoned a car and guards to take Tanlir where he needed to go.
In very little time, Tanlir was anxiously directing his driver toward where he felt Ulysses was located. His claws sunk into his seat as he tried to keep control of himself.
At city hall, T-Bone had found where the trapped Kats were and was using his cutting torch to carefully cut a hole to their location. Fortunately, the ceiling had fallen at an angle and allowed a safe pocket to be created under it.
When T-Bone and Razor made an opening, enforcers moved to either side and held up the sagging panels so that the SWAT Kats along with other officers could help pull out the Commander, his enforcer sergeant, Ms. Briggs and Feral's royal guards.
The poor Kats were covered in plaster and insulation dust which caused them to cough and have red teary eyes.
Razor had to risk going into the safe pocket to help two of Feral's royal guards, who were badly injured, to get out. Medics swarmed the victims as they were pulled free and took them outside where they could be treated.
The SWAT Kats stayed to be sure Callie was okay. Nearby, Feral fumed angrily, pushed away the medics then stormed over to the pair to give them a dressing down.
"You two hotshots caused more damage than the robot then you let it fall toward city hall rather than rope it and pull it away first." He growled furiously.
T-Bone bristled, "Oh right, it's easy to see that after the fact. Hindsight's a bitch, Commander. You just can't plan for everything." The brawny tabby growled. "Besides, you're the one who blew its head off, remember?"
His fists clenched, Feral was about to give a scathing retort when his vision blurred then everything went black on him. His last thought was, 'Crud, not again!'
Razor who had been trying to pull T-Bone away so they wouldn't get into a row with Feral, noted the Commander's eyes rolling up and his body suddenly falling. He lunged forward to catch the suddenly fainting tom before he kissed the sidewalk with his face.
"Aw Crud!" T-Bone gasped, as he helped his partner lower Feral to the ground. His anger forgotten and shame taking its place as he chastised himself for failing to remember the Commander's fragile condition.
Two medics hurried up with a gurney and with the help of the SWAT Kats picked up the inert Commander and placed him on it, immediately examining him.
A shout caused everyone to look toward the street. A limo with flags on it was parked haphazardly near the medical vehicles and a familiar figure was racing up toward them, fear and upset on his handsome cheetah face.
"Ulysses!" Tanlir cried as he reached Feral and quickly touched the dark tom's face to reassurance himself his mate was alright, even though the bond told him he was.
Feral groaned and blinked up at the face of his mate leaning over him anxiously.
"Tanlir?...ohhhh...Crud, I hate fainting!" He growled in annoyance then tried to sit up causing his head to spin.
Tanlir and a medic put paws on his shoulders and pushed him back down.
"Oh no you don't, sir. Stay right there until we check your blood pressure." The medic said firmly.
Feral huffed but did as he was told. "How is Ms. Briggs" He asked instead.
"She's alright Commander." Razor told him. "The medics are giving her a look over but except for a few bruises, she's okay."
"Two of your royal guards are injured and are being taken to the hospital, sir. " His sergeant reported. He had been cleared by the medics though he looked odd covered in plaster dust.
"Well that's good news. Have CSI do their thing then have this mess cleaned up." Feral ordered with a sigh.
"Yes sir!" The Sergeant said briskly before turning away to bark orders.
The SWAT Kats had wisely slipped away during all this. Feral heard the jet roar as it raised from the ground. He watched it disappear as he was rolled toward an ambulance.
Tanlir hovered at his side and went aboard the ambulance, brooking no argument from the medics, who shrugged and allowed him to sit near the Commander's head as they traveled to the hospital.
Feral had to endure a transfusion before he was allowed to go home with his mate. He wanted to go back to work, he had a desk load of reports to take care of as well as writing up this incident. Unfortunately, what he wanted and what he was allowed were two different things.
He didn't win the battle and was sulking as he was driven home aboard his mate's limo.
"Come on, my love. It's not like you can't fill out your report at home. You scared me to death and interrupted my own work." Tanlir chided him gently.
Feral sighed and glanced at his mate. "I'm sorry, I do sometimes forget about our bond. Things just happen that I have no control over." He said, shrugging helplessly.
"That I well know, my love." Tanlir sighed. "Even when you're not looking for it, danger just seems to find you. At this rate, I'll have a silvered head of hair before very long." He snorted in good humor.
Feral gave him a wane smile and a kiss for being so understanding.
That had been the only incident concerning his pregnancy and now, two weeks later, he had finally passed his third month. Dr. Taglion told him he shouldn't suffer any further problems concerning low blood pressure but that he should still be monitored for a bit longer.
He was barely starting to show when he had to endure being fitted for formal wear in preparation for the ball the city was holding to formally welcome the Prince to their city.
"Is this really necessary?" He asked his mate rather plaintively.
Tanlir swallowed a smile and said in a firm voice, "I know you would rather wear your dress uniform but you are not going as Chief Enforcer but as Duke Ulysses, so, yes, you have to wear the appropriate clothes for it."
Feral sighed and stared at the ceiling. Tanlir found that endearing and made a promise to himself to give his mate a little personal time when he was done with his fitting.
The night of the ball was warm and clear as the Asszeria Embassy car pulled up in front of the Mayor's mansion. Royal guards that were in armored cars ahead and behind the royal limo, now jumped from their vehicles to form a line of protection for the royal pair before they were allowed to leave their vehicle.
Feral sighed inwardly at all the fuss but plastered a mild look on his face as he stepped out of the limo just behind his mate, Tanlir. The Prince took his mate's arm and they walked down the red carpet leading into the mansion while news crews flashed their cameras and shouted questions. Other important guests looked on in envy as the royals disappeared into the foyer.
Mayor Manx greeted his important guests with a huge smile and a welcoming paw shake.
"So glad to see you, Prince Tanlir. I hope you enjoy the evening we've planned for you." He said in that thick Irish brogue of his.
"I'm sure we will, Mayor Manx. Thank you for putting this on for us so that we can meet the important people of Megakat City." Tanlir said politely.
"You're very welcome." Manx said, puffing up with pride. "Shall we enter?" He asked, gesturing toward the ballroom.
Tanlir nodded and followed the portly Kat. The room had been decorated with care and glittered in gold and silver trappings throughout, giving it a fairy tale appearance.
By mid-evening, Feral was mindlessly bored. He hated these things and some of the shallow people that hung around Tanlir just because he was royalty and it would raise their positions in the social structure to be seen in his company.
"Social climbers." He grumbled to himself as he moved away from his mate to go to the restroom.
When he returned, he decided to find a more secluded spot away from the crowd. Grabbing a ginger ale, which was all he was allowed, he headed for the french doors leading to the rather elaborate gardens the Mayor had around his place.
He sighed in relief as he took a deep breath of the night air. He took a watch position near a pillar so he could keep an eye on the activity inside while safe outside. And that was where Ms. Briggs finally found him.
"I should have known I'd find you 'hiding out' here Commander." She said in amusement coming up behind him from the gardens where she too had gone for a break.
He glanced at her over his shoulder. "You know me well, Ms. Briggs." He said with a small smile.
"I don't blame you, actually. These things do get rather dull, I'm forced to admit. How are you holding up?" She asked mildly, as she drank her glass of champagne.
"Except for being a bit tired, I'm fine." He grunted.
"Then your pregnancy has smoothed out a bit?"
"Yes, finally! Being that weak and fragile was really getting on my nerves." He said with a grimace.
"I have no doubt of that." She said sympathetically. "Hmm, it looks like your Prince is looking for you." She said as she noted Tanlir moving through the crowd with a purposeful stride.
"Hmm, Yes, it appears so. Our bond allows him to find me rather easily." Feral murmured, a look of warmth in his golden eyes.
Callie felt a pang of jealously at Feral's good fortune at finding such a loving mate. She didn't, however, envy all the new duties he'd acquired along with it though.
Tanlir walked through the french doors and stepped close to his mate. He sighed, "I should have known this is where you'd be. You owe me a dance, my love."
"Do I? Have the vultures finally let go of you?" Feral asked archly.
"Now...now we mustn't call them that...even if that's a perfect description." Tanlir snorted in amusement. "I see you too had chosen to 'escape' your duties for a bit as well Ms. Briggs." He said turning to look at the Deputy Mayor with a warm smile.
"Guilty!" She said with a small laugh.
"I certainly can't blame you. Mayor Manx must be a demanding person to work for." He said diplomatically.
"That's an understatement!" Callie said with a mild snort. She really liked the Prince. Unlike some royals she'd met, he wasn't pretentious or snooty. He was a caring and likable individual and Callie felt a special kinship with him. "Might I steal you away for a single dance. It would give those pains in the tail social climbers something to gibber about?" She asked smiling wickedly.
"Why, I'd be happy to, Ms. Briggs." Tanlir said with a smile of his own. "But first, my mate and I will dance. Come Ulysses." He said holding his arm out for his mate.
Sighing, Feral set his glass down on a nearby table and took Tanlir's arm. They walked back into the ballroom and headed for the center of the floor. Seeing them there, the band leader immediately began a waltz.
Taking the lead, Tanlir swept Ulysses into his arms and stepped out smoothly in time with the music. A circle of cleared space was made by the other dancers so that the Prince and his consort were dancing alone.
Tanlir was an excellent dancer and Feral was no slouch either though he was the one who usually lead. The cheetah held his mate close as they swung through the moves of the waltz. They had eyes for only each other as they moved across the floor gracefully. Many eyes watched them with envy or appreciation.
When the dance ended, Tanlir gave his beloved a warm kiss. Feral sighed when it ended and nuzzled his mate for several moments before they moved off the floor to allow Feral to sit and rest.
Tanlir gestured for Ms. Briggs to join him. Taking her paw and bowing to her, he took her out onto the floor and they danced together. Callie smiled and enjoyed herself. Tanlir was an excellent partner. She would remember this part of the ball for some time to come. The song came to an end and Tanlir politely guided her to the Mayor's side.
Thanking him for a wonderful dance, Callie watched the Prince return to his beloved mate. She sighed, 'Feral was indeed a very lucky Kat' she thought.