When Chance got home the night Jake had told him the therapist would see them, he was still of mixed feelings about it. He was frowning as he stowed his cyclotron in their hidden garage and went into the house.
He walked through their kitchen and headed for the bedroom. A powerful set of arms suddenly halted his progress before he could reach the small hallway.
"What's got your tail in a knot that you didn't sense me near?" His mate's deep voice murmured near his ear.
Chance turned his head enough to see Uly's concerned expression.
"Sorry, love. I was just obsessing on the news Jake gave me today," he growled irritably.
"Oh, and what might that have been?" Feral rumbled as he turned his mate around to face him.
Chance couldn't hold back the scowl on his face. "Told me Callie had convinced her therapist friend to see us. We'll be hearing from her soon with an appointment. Also, Jake had told her we would meet this person in our own apartments because it would be more secure for her and us."
Feral stared at Chance thoughtfully as he absorbed the news. "Hmmm, I have to say I agree with Jake. It would prevent suspicion and keep us all safe and though I dislike having to go to the apartment for this, it is the best solution all around."
"I know it's a good solution, I just don't happen to like seeing a therapist nor having to go to the apartment for the sessions," Chance groused.
Feral could only snort at his mate's contrariness because, after all, they both had agreed that this was necessary. Seemed a bit ridiculous to moan about it now but that was Chance for you. He didn't comment further on the subject and, instead, gave his mate a tight hug and kiss.
Chance knew what Uly was up to but was willing to let go the irritating subject and pursue something much more pleasurable.
Less than a week later, it was their turn to meet the therapist. Callie had gone along to make the introductions easier and to show her where Feral's apartment was.
Chance opened the door at the sound of the bell. The smell of food wafted out into the hallway where the pair was waiting. Working at staying polite, the tabby gestured the she-kats to enter. He closed the door behind them and led the way into a spacious apartment only lightly furnished and decorated. Most of Feral's belongings were now in his secret home. What was here was only for short stays and it had that temporary feeling to it.
'It most definitely didn't feel like a home,' Laren thought. She frowned mentally at that. 'I'm not sure this is very conducive for a therapy session but then we really don't have a choice.' Accepting that this was going to make things a little more difficult with this pair, Laren prepared herself.
Feral appeared from the direction of the kitchen with a tray of drinks and snacks he set on the coffee table. "Welcome to my place," he said politely coming toward the females.
"Commander Feral, Chance...this is Laren Jarstone," Callie introduced them.
"Hello...Commander...Chance..." she said shaking both their paws in turn.
"Well, I'll be taking my leave. See you soon Laren...no it's alright, Commander, I'll let myself out. Good night all," Callie said making a quick exit.
"Please, have a seat Dr. Jarstone," Feral said gesturing toward the meager sitting area.
"Thank you, Commander."
They sat down, Chance and Feral on a love seat while she took a recliner.
"Would you like some tea or coffee?" Chance asked, trying to be a good host.
"Coffee, please with two sugars...no cream," Laren said quietly. "Thank you," accepting the cup from Chance moments later.
Feral took black coffee and Chance went without anything. They sat uncomfortably for a few moments before Laren addressed them. She'd taken the moments of polite service to study the pair before her. They were nervous, she noted, though Feral seemed the more relaxed of the pair. Chance was displaying some resentment about being here as well as some barely restrained annoyance.
"Before we begin, I'd like to use a more informal setting so you may call me Laren and I'd like to call you Ulysses and Chance. Do you have a problem with that?"
Feral shrugged, "No, its fine with me." Chance just shook his head but said nothing.
"You don't want me here do you, Chance?" She asked bluntly.
Chance blinked in embarrassed surprise. "Uh, well...I promised to talk to a therapist but I don't like them...nothing personal," he said uncomfortably.
"That's perfectly understandable, however, I was led to believe it was you that suggested it?"
"Actually, it was Professor Hackle who suggested it," Chance muttered, correcting her.
Laren blinked in surprise. "Who?"
"Professor Hackle is a former weapons designer from Pumadyne. He's a devout pacifist now," Feral told her. "He's also the one trying to develop robots to help kat kind unfortunately one of his attempts back fired on him and that's how we ended up with the Metallikats. But other than that, he's a brilliant inventor and only means the best for katkind.
"Yeah, he's a great guy and he's helped Jake and I out a lot as the SWAT Kats. Recently, Jake has been working with him as Razor to build some special equipment for the enforcer's use. We and the Professor are tired of seeing so many enforcers die due to outdated equipment," Chance explained.
"Anyway, Jake had been so distracted lately that Hackle demanded to know what was wrong. Without telling him who we are nor who our lovers were, Jake managed to convey what our difficulties were. He was the one who told us to learn to accept what we couldn't change, stop being so over protective of our lovers and to seek counseling to help us achieve that," he finished.
"Ah, I see. He sounds like a very wise Kat and a very observant one because he was able to see that you needed help even though he wasn't privy to who you really are. This means your problem is more visible than you imagined and must be addressed, do you agree?" She prodded Chance. She had to convince him that this was in their best interest but he had to accept it for himself for it to be of any benefit to him.
Chance frowned and ran his fingers through his hair to try and dispel his frustration and annoyance at being in this position.
Feral turned and drew his mate into his arms and nuzzled him until the tabby sighed and relaxed. Feeling Chance was much calmer, Feral released him slowly until they were again sitting side by side.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm all wound up with the need to keep Ulysses safe that I can't focus properly," Chance admitted.
"Or you over react," Feral added. Chance looked at him questioningly. "What you did to the Pastmaster wasn't a calm, reasoned act but one of angry revenge for what he'd done to me," he said quietly.
Chance blushed at the reminder. It hadn't been one of his most stellar moments.
Laren listened alertly. Apparently, Chance had done something very reckless and scary in defense of his mate and Feral was reminding him of it. There was a note of concern in the dark tom's tone about the event. She nodded to herself mentally. Chance was the one with the most problem of trusting his mate to take care of himself.
"Well, why don't we address that issue right now, Chance...tell me what you felt and what you did that day," she suggested. Learning about their background would have to wait until another session. This subject needed airing immediately.
Chance glared at her. He really didn't want to talk about that moment where he'd lost control and didn't see why it had to be brought up now.
"Chance, she's only trying to help and she's the professional after all," Feral tried to coax his mate to be more cooperative.
"If you hadn't gotten so close to those gargoyle things you wouldn't have been in danger of nearly dying," Chance hissed angrily.
Feral reared back as if struck, his face darkening with anger. "I was doing my job! It does mean getting in danger at times..." He started to say tightly.
"Your job does not require you to be in the forefront. As the leader, you're supposed to be at the rear so you can see the problem as a whole so you can develop a strategy to solve it, but no...you have to be right there at the front lines!" Chance spit, his temper rising by the minute.
"Now see here, Chance. You take even more risks than I by racing headlong into danger before checking things out first...," Feral hissed, temper flaring more hotly.
"Hold it! Hold it!" Laren barked then gave a sharp high pitched whistle to get their attention.
Startled the pair halted with their mouths still open in mid-rant as they turned their heads to stare at her in surprise.
"Finally, I have your attention. Yelling at each other doesn't solve your problem only intensify it so that you never address it because you're far too angry to hear each other. Please calm yourselves and be silent for a moment until you are calmer," she ordered quietly.
Blinking in embarrassed discomfort, the pair stayed silent, faces turned away from each other and focused on the floor.
After waiting for five minutes, Laren judged the pair to be ready to talk again...she hoped. They were a truly volatile pair that she was amazed fate had decided were perfect mates. Mentally shaking her head at the weirdness of life, she attempted to get them to speak of the incident again.
This time it was Feral who described what had happened to him that had caused Chance's over the top reaction. Chance grudgingly told her what he'd felt and how he'd reacted.
She took a slow breath. What he'd done to revenge his mate's treatment showed a much more intense protective instinct than Jake. But then, Jake hadn't been faced with such a harrowing situation yet. He could very well be just as deadly or more so than his partner if pushed to it. These two were like a powder keg of deadly force that would kill for those they loved.
How was she going to help temper such an instinct with caution when their whole lifestyle was one of violence and quick retaliation. She let the breath she'd been holding, out slowly while she centered herself. She could only do her best. Already, she had found a partial solution to ease Jake's protective instincts so now she had to find what would help Chance ease his.
She realized she would need to know more about each of them to do that. She glanced at the clock on the wall and realized they'd already been at this an hour. Sighing mentally, she resigned herself to yet another long session. Considering who the couples were, it was really no surprise.
Taking it slow, she veered them from the troublesome subject they'd just covered and began to ask questions about their backgrounds, when they'd met, how they came to mate so late, and how they were doing now.
It was during this questioning, Laren learned Feral was an hermaphrodite. She groaned mentally, 'So this is why Chance feels so protective. He's treating his mate as female without realizing it. Time to bring that to his attention. Feral is not going to like this.'
"The reason for the personal questions was to help me figure out how to ease your over protective natures. Being both male, you each have an intense need to protect your mate. Chance, I'm not sure you realize it but you are behaving as if your mate is female. Your behavior proclaims that very loudly." Laren said, dropping the bomb. As she'd surmised, Feral didn't like that at all.
The big tom's eyes flashed with shocked annoyance. He turned to his mate and growled, "I am not female. Just because I'm capable of breeding a kitten does not make me a fragile she-kat," he snapped.
Chance blinked in surprise. "I know you're male. Except for having female organs, I didn't consciously think of you as female. I can't help it if something in me insists that I protect you as if you were," he objected.
"In that you are only half correct, Chance. You can learn to not be soo over protective. Your mate is a strong and powerful male in his own right. He is also well trained in how to protect himself from harm. Look how long he has survived in a job that should have killed him many times over. I would say he lives a charmed life but its more likely because he is more alert to danger and can survive it better than most just as you and Jake can," Laren interjected before an argument could start up again.
Silence met that statement as the pair mulled it over. Neither had ever thought of their abilities to avoid being killed as anything really unusual. They were just very well trained and hyper-vigilant. Others perceived them as having charmed lives when it was nothing of the kind. By reminding them of this fact, Laren was getting them to see that they really had no reason to be so over protective of each other.
Laren interrupted their moment of introspection. "It's getting late and I want to end this session with some homework for you both. Trust is an issue you both have problems with..." she started to say.
"Wha...no we don't!" Chance sputtered in indignation.
"Not the trust of fidelity, Chance. The one I mean is the one where you trust your mate to be a skilled enough enforcer to do his job and survive. That goes for you too Ulysses. Chance has trained himself to be the best he can be and you must trust that he can defend himself. Though you aren't able to directly help your mate for fear of revealing your relationship, it doesn't mean you aren't consciously trying to protect him every time you are together in battle. You both do this and that behavior of over vigilance will get you both killed," she cut him off quickly.
"You ask too much! How am I supposed to simply turn off my instincts?" Chance demanded angrily.
Laren sighed. "I didn't say turn off your instincts, Chance, I said trust them more. You know in your heart that Ulysses is very capable of defending himself. You must learn to allow him to do so just as he must with you. That is your homework. Yes, it will be hard but nothing in life worth having is ever easy and you two know this more than anyone in this city," she said firmly.
"We'll try," Feral, who had been quiet all this time, interjected reaching out for his mate and pulling him close. "It will be hard, but we will try."
"That's all I ask. Now, we should schedule your next session in about a month. If you need to speak to me before that, here's my card. It doesn't matter what time it is, I'll be there if you need me," Laren said gently.
They spent the next few minutes figuring out a mutual day and time and marking their calendars. An emotionally exhausted Laren, bid the pair good night and left for home.
Feral and Chance silently cleaned up the apartment then left for their home outside the city. Despite the hour, by mutual agreement, they wanted the peace of their hidden home to ease their jangled nerves. It had been an emotional wringer of an evening.
Not willing to bring up anymore of the subject they turned in without making love as was their usual wont. Instead, Chance insisted in wrapping himself around his large mate and being wrapped in turn, seeking comfort. Feral didn't hesitate to provide it as he nuzzled and licked his tired mate to sleep.