FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

This is the first fic I wrote for a challenge on LiveJournal (["30_lemons"](%5C) - one pairing, thirty themes). The theme of this fic is "Virtual Reality", and the title comes from a very nice song by Live with the same name.

My name on LJ is simply ["ChibiRenamon"](%5C), btw. You'll find a few more fics (mostly Digimon drabbles) there, so maybe give it a look if you feel like it.

Mandatory disclaimer: I don't own SWAT Kats. Furthermore, this fanfic will have sex between two (adult) female characters. If stuff like that turns you into a psycho axe killer or something, it might be a good idea to read something else.

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"And then I said 'Honey, there is an Enforcer chopper in our living room!'"

Standing a few meters away, Felina gave the speaker a grim look and rolled her eyes. The people around the fat kat laughed along with him, either being genuinely amused or simply being polite. Watching them from her position, Felina was not quite sure who was faking it and who wasn't. The lack of knowledge bothered her; she was usually good at reading people. Then again, those are business men and politicians, she thought. They are as used to faking interest as I am to piloting a jet. The fat kat cracked another lame joke, and Felina shifted her focus away from him. Any more of this crap, and I'll turn into a giggling zombie politician myself! Why can't Pumadyne just start its presentation already? All this pre-presentation social meeting stuff seriously isn't my thing. What could possibly be worse than watching politicians chatting with each other?

"Lieutenant Feral?"

Aw, crud. Of course, politicians chatting with me is worse. Felina tried not to groan and turned around. The person that had been standing behind her gave her a friendly smile. "Deputy Mayor Briggs?" Felina asked and blinked. Okay, this is pretty much the best case scenario, all things considered. Miss Briggs is easily the smartest and most sane politician I know... even though she's still nothing more than a curvy blonde in a pink business dress. "What are you doing here?" she added quickly in an attempt at polite smalltalk.

Miss Briggs's sudden smirk made her realize just how dumb that question had been. "Considering that this event was organized by Pumadyne and City Hall, my presence is mandatory," the petite she-kat replied. "However," she added, "I'm surprised to see you here. Especially out of uniform... don't tell me this is the new Enforcer dress code." Felina shifted her weight from one foot to the other as the Deputy Mayor gave her dark blue suit a longer look.

"I'm not on duty today, Ma'am," Felina informed her, hoping that the discussion would move away from her person soon.

Much to her dismay, Miss Briggs seemed to have other plans. "Then what are you doing here? Don't tell me you enjoy gatherings of politicians." The blonde gave her a smile that was as close to a silly grin as she could afford at an event like this one.

"I'm here for the presentation, Miss Briggs. Considering how most of Pumadyne's major inventions get stolen sooner or later, I figured it would be smart to learn about its purpose right at the source."

The Deputy Mayor chuckled quietly. "You have a pessimistic view of the world, Lieutenant."

"It's called realism," Felina grunted and prayed that Miss Briggs wouldn't realize just how little credit she had just given both Pumadyne's security and the Enforcers. Oh, who am I kidding? Of course she picked it up; if nothing else, she's extremely observant.

Miss Briggs smirked. "Well, you might suffer in vain today. The new invention is supposed to be purely non-military."

"The day Pumadyne makes such a hubbub about a device that can't be used to blow stuff up, I'll do a table dance for you in your office." Much to Felina's satisfaction, Miss Briggs stopped smirking and instead blushed lightly. Sensing that she finally had the initiative, Felina leaned in closer. "You'll get to pick the time and the music, even..."

The Deputy Mayor was still struggled to phrase a coherent answer when the lights in the large room dimmed. Everybody immediately turned to face the small stage that had been set up at one end of the room, where several Pumadyne scientists were quietly making their last preparations. Sighing in relief, Miss Briggs made her way towards the stage; no doubt she and the Mayor would have to make a short speech or something. Allowing herself a satisfied smirk, Felina wandered towards the front row of the audience.

There were no chairs in the room; instead, the guests formed a half circle around the stage, standing close enough to have a good view, but also keeping an implied safety distance. Right. Non-military my ass, Felina thought to herself and shook her head. Hoping to avoid vapid chit-chat with the politicians around her, she directed her attention to the events on the stage. Aside from the mandatory crowd of scientists who were busily moving around a few computers and a large device hidden under a blanket, the stage was occupied by what Felina just regarded as the usual suspects: Mayor Manx was talking enthusiastically to Felina's uncle, who was looking quite willing to trade in his position as Commander of the Enforcers for being left alone. Deputy Mayor Briggs was obviously enjoying the situation - after all, Manx being busy with Feral meant that the he wasn't boring her to death. And I'm pretty sure that she really loves the idea of my dearest uncle being uncomfortable, Felina added silently.

After about a minute, one of the scientists, a lean, grey-furred tom-kat, stepped towards the microphone that had been placed at the front of the stage. Aside from some annoying exceptions, everybody in the audience immediately stopped talking and looked at the head scientist. A few seconds and some hissed comments later, everybody was silent. "Thank you," the scientist spoke quietly into the microphone. "My name is William Morrison, and I'm a professor here at Pumadyne. As the head of this project, I will guide you through today's presentation."

While the professor made a short introductory speech, Felina tried to pin down his background and profile. She guessed that he had been born in Britain, but with an education in Megakat City. British accent is minimal, but it's there. Rich parents, maybe? Can't have been cheap to send him here to study. Okay, considering that he's definitely younger than 40 and already head of a project, I won't rule out a fancy scholarship for a young genius. She made a mental note to check his bio later on, if just to verify her guesses.

"And now, without further ado, I present to you," Professor Morrison waved his hand, and the people behind him removed the blanket, revealing what looked like futuristic hair stylist's seat, "the WILD for DOA!"

Felina tried to pass off her spontaneous giggling fit as strong coughing, with remarkably little success. I'm so dead, I'm so dead, I'm so dead, she thought even as she tried to regain her composure. Finally, after wiping away a few tears of laughter, she was able to face the people on the stage again. As expected, the Commander gave her his trademarked Glare of Death. Yep, he'll tear me to shreds once this is over... Manx and most of the scientists were giving her puzzled looks, but it was Miss Briggs who caught Felina's eyes. She's been giggling, too! But nobody noticed because she hid it while I made a total ass out of myself. God, she owes me for this one...

The Commander was already about to step forward, most likely to deliver an apology or to make up some excuse about Felina being on weird meds, but the scientist's chuckle made him stop. "Yes, you could say that as a male, I'm quite wild about video games involving scantily clad females," the young man said and gave her a friendly grin. "However, I did not name this project after my passion for Dead or Alive. No, WILD for DOA is merely an acronym for Wake-Initiated Lucid Dreams for Determination of Ambitions."

Felina gave the device another glance. So this is just about... dreaming? Pumadyne actually built this thing? She raised an eyebrow and frowned.

"Is there something wrong, Miss...?"

She blinked at the scientist, who was now looking straight at her again. "Feral," she completed his sentence. "And... I was just wondering... this device is... a non-military project?"

"Ah, Lieutenant Feral! Of course, I should have recognized you sooner!" Much to Felina's relief, he didn't make a big deal out of her being out of uniform. "To answer your question, yes, it is one of the few prominent projects of Pumadyne's non-military branch. In fact, it might be the first project that makes people aware that Pumadyne actually develops things that can't be used to blow stuff up!"

While the scientist and the people around her chuckled at this, Felina had a sinking feeling. I'm missing something here. I'm- She glanced up at the stage again. Deputy Mayor Briggs was giving her the widest grin Felina had ever seen. Oh dear God, she thought, suddenly remembering her light-hearted bet again. Table dancing for the Deputy Mayor. Felina gulped, focusing very hard on not dashing out of the room right then. Okay, relax! Maybe you can talk your way out of this. Convince her that she wants something else! Like money! Or hey, maybe I can blackmail her! ...not that I have anything to blackmail her with. And she's a killer when it comes to deals and negotiations. Blackmailing her would only cause her to rip straight through me. Felina took a deep breath and tried to clear her mind. Focus, girl. Let's face it: I can't bribe her, I can't force her, I can't convince her. It's inevitable. One sexy dance in her office. It won't kill me. Sure, she won't ever look at me the same way again, but I'll live. And nobody will ever know. It will just be my shame and her entertainment. She silently cursed her big mouth and sighed.

"However, we can speak about Pumadyne as a whole later on." Morrison pointed at the device behind him. "Before I tell you what exactly our invention does, allow me to briefly explain the basic concepts we made use of. The first one is the fact that practically all of us dream. We may not remember the details in the morning all the time, but I'm sure each of us remembers at least one dream." The people around Felina nodded eagerly; Felina herself was still busily cursing herself and didn't really consider the question, but she nodded anyway. "Very well. Some of us sometimes take things one step further and are able to influence the dream as it happens. This is called lucid dreaming." One or two people in the audience nodded, the rest apparently had never had a lucid dream before.

"Our machine allows the user to go straight into a lucid dream, so the user doesn't have to invest an eight hour sleep cycle. Consider it a sort of 'instant dream' if you like." The comment made the audience chuckle and nod - lighthearted humor was perfect for illustrating seemingly boring concepts. "Of course, we don't just send users into state for the sake of doing so. This is where the last part of the project's name comes in: We induce a lucid dream with the specific theme of visualizing ambitions the user may not be aware of. Lifelong dreams, roads not taken, things like that will be shown in a 'What If' scenario."

"An' what good is that?" a short kat asked and crossed his arms.

"Allow me to answer in the form of a question," Professor Morrison offered and smiled when the businessman nodded. "Have you ever sat in your undoubtedly huge office and asked yourself if you're doing what you really want? Did you ever have the feeling that you might feel more complete doing something else?" There were a few seconds of silence, and Felina was amazed to see the businessman apparently being lost in thought. "I thought up this device because I asked myself these same questions on a slow day. I asked myself what I really wanted, deep down."

"And did you find an answer, Professor Morrison?" Miss Briggs chimed in, making Felina wonder if the question was scripted or not.

"Yes, Deputy Mayor," the professor replied with a slight smile and turned slightly to face both her and the audience. "I tested the machine myself numerous times, and the result was always the same." He chuckled when he saw Miss Briggs's curious expression. "I saw myself as Professor Hackle's assistant."

An approving murmur went through the room, and even Felina allowed herself a smile. Despite having left the industry years ago and being way past his retirement age, Professor Hackle was still an active authority in general technology development and robotics. And Hackle would still be around here if he hadn't quit in disgust because of the growing militarization of Pumadyne. Of course, the little peace advocate then built the Metallikats in an attempt to create a perfect maid and chauffeur. Still, he means well, and it's certainly a noble goal to become his assistant.

"But enough about me, Miss Briggs," Professor Morrison said, blushing lightly. "Why don't we demonstrate what the machine can do? That way, you won't just have to take my word that it works!"

Mayor Manx immediately opened his mouth and raised his arm to point at Miss Briggs, eager as always to push the Deputy Mayor into a weird situation. "No, thanks," the blonde immediately cut him off and gave him a thin-lipped smile. Her eyes suddenly focused on Felina. "But maybe the Lieutenant would like to give it a try?"

I would WHAT? Felina's jaw dropped. What is she thinking? She directed her worst glare at Miss Briggs, who simply gave her a neutral smile. No, wait, she's not just smiling, Felina quickly corrected herself. I know this smile. It's the sick kind of smile she has whenever she's in a position to crush her opposition. The sinking feeling promptly returned, reminding Felina of the lost bet. Her glare turned into a questioning look. Is she offering me some sort of deal here? She bit her lower lip. More importantly: Can I risk turning it down?

"Oh, no... I won't force anybody into-" Professor Morrison started, but Felina cut him off.

"No, no... I'd... er... I'd be honored!" Felina gave Miss Briggs a look and immediately noticed her satisfied expression. Man, her mind games are a lot more fun to watch than to play. At least now I know why my uncle never looks forward to meetings with her.

"Are you sure?" The professor gave her a doubting look. When Felina nodded with fake enthusiasm, he beamed. "Always ready to spring into action! What would Megakat City do without Enforcers like you?" He clapped his hands, causing the people around her to applaud, too. Trying not to blush or twitch, Felina made her way onto the stage. Morrison led her to the large seat and motioned her to sit down. "Well, Lieutenant, any guesses of what your ambition or desire is?"

"A faster jet," Felina replied immediately, not even bothering to think of something more personal. Yeah, right, like I'll share personal stuff with a bunch of-... wait... what if those guys actually get to watch my dream? Her eyes widened slightly, and she quickly looked around for suspiciously large screens.

The professor chuckled, obviously unaware of Felina's sudden distress. "I'll tell the boys in the military research labs to hurry up so you can maybe live out that dream soon."

"Er, professor?" Felina quietly asked, making him lean a bit in her direction. "You're not gonna show my dreams to them, are you?"

"Of course not, Lieutenant!" Morrison quickly assured her. "The device is purely for self-discovery. We don't even have any practical way of visualizing dreams. You just have to lean back and relax. You'll quickly fall asleep, entering the dream phase of a normal sleep cycle. All the device does is guiding you towards your ambitions."

"Yeah, that sounds cool," she replied and leant back. "But if this thing malfunctions and turns my brain into goo, you'll be in some serious trouble," she added with a quick grin, trying to sound more confident than she was.

"Duly noted, Ma'am," Professor Morrison replied and returned the grin. Then, he unceremoniously pushed a button, and the world around Felina briefly turned black.

"What the-" she muttered and blinked when the blackness faded away again. The presentation room was gone. In fact, Megakat City was gone, leaving Felina standing in front of a cozy two-story, single-family house. "My secret dream is to own a house in the middle of nowhere? I think the device could use some calibration..." She crossed her arms and stood still, hoping that something about the house would change.

She waited for a few minutes before admitting that her refusal to go near the house wouldn't make anything better appear. "Oh fine! I'm going, I'm going..." Stupid cliche house with a stupid cliche garden in front of it and with a stupid cliche mailbox, she mentally ranted as she walked to the front door, and a stupid cliche name plate on the stupid cliche mailbox, and with a stupi- "The Hell?" Felina blinked and gave the name plate another look.

"Feral-Briggs?" Felina read the name out loud. This is a sick joke, isn't it? "How would that even work? I mean, Miss Briggs and I are both-... hey, wait... who's saying anything about me?" She cocked her head as an image was forming in her mind. Finally, she laughed out loud. "Kats alive! Miss Briggs married my uncle! Okay, that really might be my secret wish - seeing those two being all lovely-cuddly!" Giggling like crazy, she rang the door bell. "I totally gotta see this!" The door was opened after only a few seconds - apparently, somebody had been nearby. Said somebody turned out to be Miss Briggs - Ah, no, wait. It's Mrs Feral-Briggs now...

The blonde she-kat adjusted the silk robe she was wearing and gave Felina a wide smile. "Hey..." she purred.

"Er, hey..." Felina started before realizing that she wasn't sure how to call the woman in front of her. Aunt Calico, maybe?

Mrs. Feral-Briggs gave her a puzzled look. "...that's it?" She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. Still, her smile did not completely fade away. "No 'Happy anniversary!' or something?"

Agh, of course. Dreams are usually about special occasions. Why else would I visit them in the middle of nowhere? Felina gave her aunt the best smile she could come up with. "Oh, I'm sorry! Happy anniversary!"

"Much better..." her aunt purred. Then she rose to her toes and gave Felina a playful kiss on her lips. "Happy anniversary, love..."

The Lieutenant blinked and froze. Wait... wha? she thought, reviewing the events of the last ten seconds again and again. "You mean... this is our anniversary?" she finally managed to ask.

Her apparently-not-really-aunt stopped smiling. "What are you talking about? Of course it is! What else would it be?" Each question brought with it a rise in tone, up to the level Felina recognized from the numerous times when her uncle was being grilled after a major screw-up.

"Wha-... I mean... it's your marriage anniversary, isn't it?" Felina stammered and took a step back. She had a horrible suspicion that her initial assumptions had been wrong in the most critical parts.

"It's our marriage anniversary!" Felina's wife snapped.

Oh dear God, that's it, isn't it? she thought. She's my wife. I'm married to Calico Briggs. Why? How? How is it even possible? What's-... I mean... Felina frantically shook her head, finding herself unable to process the events. Her breath came in short gasps as she moved away from her wife. "W-wait... hold on," she stammered. This isn't happening... the thought alone is ridiculous... I mean, if I was married, then I'd have a- She glanced at her left hand and noticed the golden ring on her ring finger. "-GAH!"

No, no, no! It can't be! Felina frantically yanked the ring off her finger and held it up against the light to get a look at the engraving. When she managed to make out the words, her jaw dropped. "Forever yours - Calico" Her mouth went dry. No... no... just... no. This is some sort of prank. Or a glitch. Can't be... this isn't... no...

The world slowly faded into white, and then, without any conscious transition, Felina was back on the chair.

"As you can see, the system automatically shuts down once it detects a heightened pulse rate," Professor Morrison was calmly narrating for the audience from his position next to her. "While it is possible that happy events trigger such rates, during the initial runs, they usually indicate distress. A completely natural reaction since facing one's ambitions and desires can be a startling experience. However, our studies show that practically all participants had an overall positive reaction to repeated sessions." Finally he leaned over to Felina. "Are you all right, Lieutenant?"

"Erm..." Felina wasn't sure what to reply. She quickly glanced past the scientist and met Miss Briggs's eyes. The Deputy Mayor was giving her a neutral, but slightly concerned look. Okay, you can interrogate Morrison about practical jokes later. First, let's try not to ruin this presentation. "...yeah, I'm fine. The jet was just faster than expected..."

Half an hour later, the presentation was finally over. Felina had smiled and applauded whenever the people around her did so, but she hadn't been listening to the things said by Professor Morrison or the Mayor. Instead, she had tried to figure out whether her dream had been the result of a glitch or part of Miss Briggs's way of making Felina pay her debt. The Enforcer in her was willing to bet everything on the latter theory, but even the Inner Enforcer had to admit that Miss Briggs, regardless of political influence, would've had a hard time convincing Morrison to endanger the presentation by pissing her off. Okay, and I have a hard time believing that she'd go that far for her personal entertainment.

But what if it wasn't the result of a glitch or manipulation? The thought had come out of nowhere and made Felina blink. No. That's silly. Marrying Miss Briggs is definitely not my secret wish. She huffed, startling the people close to her, who had just started to resume their idle party chatter. Why should I want to, anyway? She's Megakat City's official damsel in distress, for crying out loud! I wouldn't want her if she-

"Lieutenant Feral?" The voice startled her more than the finger that tapped on her shoulder.

Felina whirled around and found herself staring straight into Miss Briggs's green eyes. Memories of her dream came back to her, reminding her how the blonde had stood in front of her, risen to her toes and then kissed- Snap out of it! She angrily shook her head. "Yes, Miss Briggs?"

The Deputy Mayor raised an eyebrow and gave Felina a look. "Are you okay? I... I figured that letting you play lab rat would be a funny way to let you out of your table dance obligation, but ever since you tested the machine, you seem to be-"

"I'm fine," Felina cut her off, realizing too late that her tone was a lot harsher than she had intended. Miss Briggs was visibly startled and looked ready to jump back to dodge a physical blow. "I... I'm sorry, Miss Briggs. That didn't come out right..." Felina held up her hand and sighed. "Your concern is much appreciated, and I figure that one crazy dream is better than you stuffing money into my underwear."

For a few seconds, Miss Briggs seemed to be lost in thought. Then, she placed a hand on Felina's arm. "I'll talk to your uncle. You look like you could use another day off..."

"No, no, it's fine." Felina gave her a reassuring smile and tried not to jerk her arm away. Physical contact was the last thing she wanted right now, but she also didn't want Miss Briggs to think that something was wrong. "I'll sleep it off, don't worry. But now, if you'll excuse me..." Before the Deputy Mayor could react, Felina walked to the doors. She didn't run, but her stride was fast enough for her to leave the room without being stopped by any of Miss Briggs's words or actions. Sleep. Yeah. That sounds like a good idea, actually. Okay, and maybe a drink or two on the way to flush out these silly mental images...

When Felina woke up, it was not even one in the morning. "The Hell?" she muttered as she sat up in her bed. Oh, right, she realized as she reviewed her previous day, I went to bed at... what, five or so? She groaned and glanced at the small table close to her bed. The bottle on it was still almost full. Okay, at least I didn't get drunk. Well, not too drunk...

She stripped out of the boxer shorts and shirt that she usually wore in bed and stretched. Kinda early for jogging. And the gym's closed, too. Hm. I could take a long shower...

"All units, come in!" the radio attached to her uniform's belt suddenly came to life. Felina gave it a look - she had tuned it to the special emergency band that was only used for situations when the shit really hit the fan. "Somebody broke into Pumadyne. Early reports hint at Hard Drive being behind this operation."

...or I could kick Hard Drive's tail, Felina thought and smirked. "And hey, I really wonder what lured him to Pumadyne," she muttered as she grabbed her clothes.

"Cut all non-critical lines! Monitor the critical ones! Come on, move it! Time isn't on our side!" Commander Feral was doing what he did best: using his booming voice to shout orders at the people around him.

"Hey, uncle!" Felina shouted as she jogged to his position close to the entrance to the Pumadyne East Lab. "He still in there?"

"No, Felina, he left hours ago. We're cutting off Pumadyne's power and phone lines just for fun!" He gave her a glare and resumed barking orders.

The Lieutenant smirked. Her uncle didn't resort to open sarcasm too often, so she cherished the moment. "Well, I'm ready to move in and-"

"No," the Commander growled. "You will stay here and we'll-"

"-wait for the SWAT Kats to arrive so they can bust through the windows and do our job? Again?" Felina studied his features, waiting for the subtle twitch he always showed when people pointed out how Megakat City's two vigilantes had established a higher arrest record of supervillains than all the Enforcers combined. When it finally came, Felina knew she'd be going into that building in less than a minute.

"We're not even sure what he's after!" the Commander countered weakly, obviously trying to change the way the discussion was going. "He could be anywhere!"

"Oh come on, uncle! We both know that he's after shiny, new electronics, so he's after Morrison's dream-o-mat."

Commander Feral gritted his teeth. "At least try to keep the property damage below the ten thousands," he finally hissed. "And don't play the hero and get yourself killed - your father would skin me alive..."

Felina gave him a grin. "Don't worry, I'll drag him out by his tail in no time!" She dashed to the entry and drew her gun before entering. All right... Morrison... Morrison... Her eyes scanned the large info board next to the receptionist's table. Ah, not far, she thought upon spotting the section on the small map.

She silently moved through the corridors leading to Professor Morrison's lab, hoping to catch Hard Drive by surprise. Doesn't happen every day that he actually gives us the time to move in, so I better make it worth it! As she got close to the last door separating her from the lab, she heard quiet whistling. That's gotta be him! Okay, please, oh PLEASE, God, let this door open silently... Gritting her teeth, Felina gave the door a very light push. When it opened without a sound, she sighed silently and moved into the room. Hard Drive was kneeling on the ground in front of the WILD for DOA device, apparently trying to take it apart in order to single out the core components. As she had expected, he was wearing his trademarked Surge Coat, which gave him the ability to travel through power and phone lines. Felina knew from experience that one wrong move would make him zap into the nearest electronics system and out of her reach. After all, the kat with the Mohawk was known to be a runner, not a fighter. Okay, just three steps, Felina. As long as he doesn't turn around, you'll be fine.

The grip on her gun tightened slightly, her breathing slowed. Most cadets assumed that one should hold one's breath for such things, but that only led to the need to inhale audibly before being able to do what Felina was about to do now: "FREEZE!" she roared, pressing the muzzle of her gun into Hard Drive's neck. Hard Drive twitched and yelped audibly, but knew better than to make any sudden movements. "HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM!"

After a moment to gather himself, Hard Drive raised his empty hands. "Lieutenant Feral, I presume?" he asked coolly, but his voice was filled with despair and fear.

"Got it in one, congratulations!" Felina allowed herself a smirk. "Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. I'll leave the choice up to you."

"Am I allowed to move before I make my decision?" Hard Drive asked after a moment of consideration. "I'm kneeling in a kinda awkward position here."

Don't let him move, Felina's instincts warned her. But then again, she knew that Hard Drive wasn't the type who'd try to punch or kick her. "Slowly, and I reserve the right to shoot you in non-vital body parts."

"Thanks," Hard Drive replied and slowly shifted his weight onto his left knee, allowing him to turn around a little bit until he was able to look at her. "Hey, you're kinda cute, in an angry kind of way..."

"Flattery will get you nowhere," she replied with a smirk. Yet, something was wrong. He's stalling, but why? What is he waiting- Then, it happened. Felina blinked. And in the split second between closing and opening her eyes, Hard Drive had transformed into a lightning bolt and had disappeared. Acting on purest instinct, Felina pulled the trigger of her gun, but her shot just hit the floor - its intended target was long gone. "God DAMMIT!" Felina yelled. He's gone! Stupid, Felina! Damn stupid! She gritted her teeth. Okay, think fast now. He's on the run, so I got to alert the guys outside!

She grabbed the radio that was attached to her belt. "This is Lieutenant Feral," she barked into the small device. "Hard Drive's on the run, but at least no hardware got stolen!" She released the push-to-talk button and waited for the mandatory confirmation by her uncle that she had completely blown it. When none came, she blinked and pushed the button again. "This is Feral, come in please..."

Finally, the radio came to life, but it was not her uncle who was speaking. "Oh, I'm sorry, Lieutenant. I just wanted to prevent you from making a wrong statement..."

Hard Drive? Felina quickly pushed the button again. "Okay, where are you hiding, and how'd you find this frequency?" It took her less than a second to find the obvious answer to both questions, but still, she was too slow. The radio in her hand went completely haywire as Hard Drive rushed through the circuits he had been hiding in. Felina tried to throw it away, but she already knew what was about to happen. Moments later, a surge of electricity set every nerve in her body on fire. "-ghhhhhhh!" Felina groaned as she sank to the floor, twitching madly.

She watched helplessly as Hard Drive zapped out of her radio and gave her a grin. "You see, I'm not going anywhere before I figure out what makes this device tick." He motioned in the general direction of Morrison's project. "Fascinating machine, really. I've worked here for almost an hour, and I'm still not sure if the key is in the coding or the hardware." The technophile burglar picked up her gun and gave her a look. "Of course, things get more complicated with you around..."

Oh dear God, Felina thought, her eyes widening slightly, I'm going to be killed by freaking Hard Drive. With my own gun, even! She groaned and tried to raise her hand in a pathetic attempt to show resistance.

Much to her surprise, Hard Drive laughed. It wasn't the crazy laughter she would have expected, but rather the type of embarrassed laughter of an office worker. "Oh, I'm sorry, Lieutenant! I'm not going to kill you!" He put the gun into one of his pockets and bent down to grab her by the shoulders. "Shooting you would be my death sentence," the kat muttered and started to drag the still twitching Felina towards the machine. "I'm realistic enough to know that one day, I'll end up in prison again. And hey, I know you guys usually play by the rules, but I figure they'd make an exception for the guy who killed the boss's niece."

After a few tries - involving some rather embarrassing positions for both of them - Hard Drive finally managed to place Felina on the WILD for DOA's chair. "From what I read in the developer's notes, this machine enforces a sleep-like state and gives you nice dreams," he unnecessarily explained to her. "Which sounds like the perfect state for a... well, not hostage, but rather unexpected guest like you. It's a good thing that I can trap you in there while puzzling out how things work - thank God that you came in before I could start disassembling it. And I guess that as long as you're here with me, nobody will try silly stunts, right?" He gave her a wink and pushed the button that activated the machine.

Felina cursed silently as the real world was once again replaced by the world her imagination had cooked up. I need to get out of here. Need to- Her thoughts came to a halt when she realized where - and when - she was. Calico Feral-Briggs was standing in front of her, looking ready either to cry or to slap her. Felina looked down and was not surprised to notice that she was still holding her wedding ring in her right hand. I'm exactly where the first dream cut off.

"Felina... I... you..." the blonde whispered, tears welling up in her eyes. "What happened...? Did I... did I do something wrong?"

Think fast. This is your dream. And chances are that this is your wish. Felina sighed quietly as she reached that realization. Okay, face it... somewhere along the way, you apparently fell in love with her, but your sense of duty most likely played it down. She gave her wife a look and bit her lower lip. Okay, until I figure out how to get out of here, I might as well salvage this and see where it leads... Felina took a deep breath and placed an arm on the other woman's shoulder before she could back away. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you like that," she whispered and stepped closer.

"Wh-what do you mean...?" Calico asked her, trying not to sob.

"I thought my lame theatrics would... I dunno... maybe amuse you," Felina improvised, "but I didn't think they'd hurt you like that..." What I need is an anniversary present... come on, don't tell me I headed to my wedding anniversary without one! Felina spontaneously felt something being tugged into the back of her trousers. Thank you, lucid dreaming, she thought and pulled the small box out of its hiding spot. "But did you honestly think that I'd forget the happiest day of my life?" Calico gave her a long look, and Felina wondered if her lame excuse had done more damage than good. As skilled as she was with firearms and explosives, Felina was an amateur when it came to dealing with crises of emotion.

Then, finally, the blonde moved, startling Felina as she flung her arms around Felina's neck. "Oh God," Felina heard her sob quietly, "I'm so sorry..."

Felina awkwardly returned the embrace and gently stroked her back. "Shhhh," she whispered, "nothing you should feel sorry for..." Calico pressed herself against Felina, who gasped quietly. God, she feels so warm and... fragile... She closed her eyes and tried to focus on the feeling of Calico's body moving against hers.

"No, I should feel sorry," Calico whispered. "Sorry for actually believing that you'd forget. Sorry for even considering for a moment that you didn't love me as much as I love you..."

A soft smile played over Felina's lips as she let one hand stroke through Calico's hair. "All's forgiven, Calico..."

"Still so formal..." Calico leaned back a bit so she could give Felina a smirk, her fingers playing over the back of her wife's neck. "Even after one year of marriage, you'd rather call me Calico instead of Callie..."

Felina returned the smirk. "Your name has a certain elegance to it... why diminish it by calling you Callehhhh?" she asked, imitating Mayor Manx's pronunciation of the name.

Calico giggled and stroked Felina's cheek, making the stronger she-kat gasp quietly. "Thanks, Fel... thank you for everything," she finally whispered. "For everything you gave to me... for everything you gave up for me..."

Looking into Calico's eyes, all Felina could see was love and undying devotion. It was that moment that erased the last traces of doubt from her mind. I'm in love. I'm in love with Calico Briggs. She pulled her closer again and gently placed her lips on hers. The blonde eagerly returned the kiss with more passion than Felina would have expected. And God... I'd give anything to make this dream come true, she realized and sighed quietly. Screw Megakat City. Screw the Enforcers. Screw the bizarre villains. Screw Dark Kat. Screw Dr. Viper. Screw Hard Dr- Her eyes flew open when she finally remembered how she had ended up in this dream. HARD DRIVE! He's still trying to rob Pumadyne! "Fuck!" she snapped, breaking the lip contact.

Calico gave her a silly grin. "You always knew what you wanted... and you were always pretty blunt about it..."

Felina's mouth went dry. Wait, what? She gave Calico a wide-eyed stare and blinked.

"May I at least unwrap your present before you unwrap yours?" the blonde asked, still grinning.

"I... I don't follow..." Felina stammered. She's talking about-... no, she can't mean... I mean... but then again, she's my wife... oh my... Felina felt her heart hammering in her chest. Her last sexual encounters dated back to the Enforcer Academy, and those had mostly been curious romps, nothing more. And now here I am, getting my pulse rate jacked up just because-... Wait. Felina thought back to the initial demonstration. Of course! The machine shuts down once my pulse is high enough! But how- Her eyes focused on the robed she-kat who was now merrily unwrapping the small gift Felina had given her. Oh Hell, no.

It only took Calico a few more seconds to remove the wrapping paper completely. Holding her breath, she opened it, and her eyes widened slightly. "My God..." she whispered when she took out a small medallion with a Yin Yang sign on it. Calico's smile widened when she opened it. "Yeesh, you used your old contacts to dig those out, didn't you?"

Felina smiled back and tried to get a look at the images on the inside. The left photo showed a younger Calico, most likely from the era when she had just been Manx's intern. The right photo showed Felina, arguing openly with her uncle. She grinned when she made the connection. Our first public appearances in Megakat City...

"Thanks... it's wonderful..." Calico whispered and closed the medallion again. Then she started to grin again. "Well, I guess it's time to unwrap your present..." After placing the box on a nearby table, Calico turned to face her wife. With a naughty smirk, she loosened the belt that held her robe closed. Before Felina even had the chance to say anything, Calico let the robe slide to the ground. "Happy anniversary, love..."

...oh Hell, yes, was all Felina could think as she stared at the white teddy that Calico was wearing. She could just see Calico's cream fur through the thin material, but a thicker flower pattern above the crotch and the nipples left the best parts to her imagination. This is wrong, a quiet voice in the back of Felina's mind protested. Keep in mind that in the real world- Felina quickly shoved the thought aside. This isn't real, this is the fastest way out of here, and God, does she look sexy in this thing...

"I take it I won't have to return it," Calico commented and grinned when Felina found herself unable to do much more than staring. "Well, if you'll just be standing there, I might as well take the initiative for a change," she purred after a few seconds of silence. Felina gasped audibly when the barely clothed she-kat pressed her body against Felina's clothes. "You may kiss the bride..."

"I hope I may do more than just that," Felina whispered just before brushing her lips over Calico's. As if to answer the implied question, Calico started to remove Felina's jacket. Once it hit the floor, the blonde started working on Felina's belt buckle. All this was done with surprising ease, making Felina wonder how often they had undressed each other like this. After less than a minute, Felina's clothes lay scattered around her, leaving the muscular she-kat in only her bra and boxer shorts.

"Now... where were we?" Calico mused with a wicked grin. "Oh yeah... you were letting me take the initiative..."

Felina threw her head back and inhaled sharply when she felt a slender hand slipping between her shorts and her fur. Before she could do anything to stop her - not that she wanted to - Calico's fingertips were brushing over her surprisingly wet sex. "Oh Gawd..." Felina bucked her hips, urging Calico to continue.

"Oh, look... my big, butch wife enjoys being toyed with like a young and needy girl," Calico teased her... and removed her hand, making Felina whine. The panting woman helplessly stared as Calico held up her glistening fingers and began to lick them clean.

"Ca-... Calico... please," Felina begged, her voice barely more than a croak. But instead of answering her pleas, Calico simply continued to clean her hand, sucking on her middle finger. Felina wanted to beg for more, but she somehow could do little more than pant and stare as her wife held up her wet finger and slowly let the hand move between Felina's legs again. "Oh yesss... I'm begging you!" Felina moaned when she felt Calico's wet finger pressing against her slit.

The slender she-kat placed her free hand on Felina's neck and pulled her into a kiss, letting her tongue slide past Felina's lips. Before Felina could even wonder when the normally so shy and composed blonde had developed such initiative, Calico's finger slid into her wet passage, making Felina moan loudly into her mouth. Her thumb quickly joined the action, brushing roughly over her clit. Unable to take this silent torture any longer, Felina broke the kiss and begged - she was barely aware what exactly she was begging for, the words simply flowed out of her mouth. Vows of fidelity were joined by sexually explicit promises, which were eventually replaced by incoherent, pleading moans. She only knew that she wanted - no, needed - to orgasm. Calico's skilled fingers were driving her hard to the edge, but kept her there for what seemed like forever. "Say it," Calico suddenly whispered.

"Say... what...?" Felina managed to ask while she was panting. It was hard to focus on anything, but something told her that she needed to focus on Calico's words in order to get what she was craving for.

"Those three words you kept secret from even yourself for long years..."

Felina bit her lower lip. She knew which words Calico had meant, and she knew, deep down, that the observation had been spot-on. "...I love you," she finally said, keeping her voice as steady as possible.

"And I love you, Felina," Calico replied and slightly increased the pressure on Felina's clit, letting not just her fur, but also her nail roughly brush over the sensitive flesh.

Felina shuddered as she felt herself being pushed closer and closer to the edge. She bucked her hips wildly, trying to get that one last push that would let her-

-wake up. Felina blinked in the twilight that was suddenly around her. It took her a few seconds to realize that she was back in the real world, infinitely far away from her wife. She gritted her teeth to prevent herself from screaming - even in her anger she remembered why she had steered events towards her early return. Hard Drive.

"Yeeeesh! Commander, I didn't break into Pumadyne to spend the entire night negotiating with you!" Hard Drive was holding a cellphone in one hand while using the other one to gesture wildly at nobody in specific. Felina slowly rose out of her chair, thankful that the techno thief had been looking the other way when she woke up. "Let me make this very clear to you: Your niece is in my power. And-... no, I'm not interested in hurting her, sir. ...yes, I know. ...yes, that's a highly creative use for my spine, sir. If I may just-..." He sighed loudly as Felina's uncle was obviously making it extremely clear what he would do to Hard Drive once he got his claws on him. Another sigh, this time of the annoyed variety. "SIR? I've got your niece's firearm. The last three digits of its registration number are 6-8-3." He relaxed slightly; apparently, the Commander was finally realizing how serious the situation was. "Yes, it's loaded, sir. And trust me, the Lieutenant is in no position to fight. So, I suggest you hook up all those extra phone and power lines you most likely cut early on so I have plenty of escape routes. Then you just pull back or at least stay put, and I'll call you once you can come in to free your niece."

As much as I enjoy hearing somebody talk down to my uncle, it's time I put an end to this, Felina thought as she snuck up on Hard Drive for the second time that night.

Get a grip, Felina, her inner voice cautioned her. You don't have your gun, and you're going up against a guy who can tazer you with a touch. Oh, and he got your gun. You know the protocol: Get out of here and let the boys with the heavy artillery handle this. How do you actually plan to fight a villain like Hard Drive, anyway?

Felina hesitated. The last time she had felt this silly was when she had tried to sneak up on a Pastmaster with a net gun. Or maybe that time she had crashed a damaged alien spacecraft into its mothership. Or that time she had joined the SWAT Kats to fight mutated scorpion beasts eight miles under the surface. Felina allowed herself a smirk. Silly things like that are just my thing, I guess - so why stop now? I'll have to think of a way to make this look less stupid in the report, though... And with that, she struck the back of Hard Drive's head with her elbow, making the thief let out a startled croak before he collapsed. Acting quickly, Felina unbuttoned his Surge Coat and threw it out of reach, even though she was confident that he'd stay unconscious for at least ten more minutes. Only then did she pick up the cellphone Hard Drive had dropped. "Uncle? It's me, Felina."

"Felina! Thank God, I thought-" the Commander shouted, obviously relieved at hearing her voice again. However, he quickly caught himself and reverted back to his grumpy Commander persona. "What were you thinking? Another idiotic stunt like that, and I'll personally throw off the upper starting ramp!"

"Yeah, it feels good to hear your voice again, too..." Felina grinned. "You can move in and hook up those lines again. Hard Drive's out cold, and I got his coat. Situation's under control."

When Felina left the building, the tanks were already moving out of sight, and the only hints of the earlier Chopper presence were the blinking position lights in the night sky. The few remaining Enforcers on site were hooking up the disconnected lines again and managing the crowd that had gathered nearby. Felina could make out the Kats Eye News team, as well as various newspaper reporters. The only civilian car that had been allowed in was a dark green compact car, and Felina didn't even have to check the license plate to know who the owner was. No... please not right now, she thought and gulped. Maybe, if I can just get quickly to my own car before-

"Ah, Lieutenant!" Miss Briggs exclaimed from somewhere behind Felina, making the Enforcer groan.

Aw, crud. Okay, Felina... focus. This isn't your wife. No hugging, kissing, or mental undressing! She doesn't love you. And let's be honest - she never will. Always think of that. Your dreams and fantasies will remain just that. This is Calico "business only" Briggs. And you're Felina "cocky and self-secure" Feral. So act that way! Felina nodded, took a deep breath, and turned around to face Miss Briggs.

All her good intentions crumbled almost immediately.

"Sorry, I know you must be busy," Miss Briggs started as she came closer. Felina couldn't help but notice how her hips swayed while she somehow managed to jog in her short skirt and the high-heels. Cursing herself, she clenched her fist, digging her nails into her palm and hoping that the pain would be enough to keep her focused on Miss Briggs's words instead of her slender figure. "I just wanted to-... you look agitated. Bad timing?"

Felina carefully unclenched her fist again and shook her head. "No, it's... well... actually, it's-" she stammered and once again silently cursed herself. "Never mind, Miss Briggs," she finally muttered. "Hard Drive decided to give me another session with Morrison's device. That's all."

"Oh, I see..." Miss Briggs cocked her head. "Even though it's weird. The machine is supposed to show personal wishes, and yet you seem to be troubled each time you-"

"This is private business, Miss Briggs," Felina hissed angrily, making the Deputy Mayor blink.

"I... yes, of course." The blonde she-kat bowed slightly. "I deeply apologize, Lieutenant."

Way to go, Felina! Why don't you intimidate your crush even more? That'd at least take care of any ambiguity regarding her feelings about you! Felina mentally kicked herself. "No... I should apologize. My comment was out of line." She sighed. "It's just been a long and awkward day, so... if you could... I dunno... talk to my uncle about mission details? I know you and him don't really-"

"It's okay, Lieutenant, really. Go and get some rest, you certainly deserve it." Miss Briggs smiled. "I just need a few basic facts for a quick press release, anyway. And I can squeeze those out of the Commander with little work, too."

"Thank you, Deputy Mayor." Felina nodded and turned to leave.

"Lieutenant?" Miss Briggs suddenly spoke up. When Felina stopped and turned back, the petite blonde held up a small business card. "I just... I dunno... if you ever need somebody to talk, I figured..."

Felina took the small card and noticed that there were two phone numbers on it. "You figured that I helped saving your tail and the city often enough to be trusted with your private number?" She smirked and prayed that her blush wasn't showing through her fur.

Miss Briggs giggled sheepishly, looking about as nervous as Felina was feeling. "I'm sorry, I know how silly that must sound. But... well... the offer stands. Besides... it might be a welcome change to actually talk in situations that aren't directly linked to some super-villain trying to kill either one of us..." She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "I know we come from radically different directions, but..."

"I understand, Miss Briggs. Thank you, it's much appreciated." Felina slipped the card into her wallet and gave Miss Briggs the warmest smile she had ever given to a non-family member. After a few seconds of silence, she finally turned around again and walked to her own car. Maybe I was wrong... maybe, one day, there might be the chance to somehow turn my dream into something real...