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Chapter 6: Finally a Break

He'd been right. He didn't get home until well after eleven p.m. He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. What he didn't know was Felina had entered his apartment earlier and changed his alarm clock. Though normally he woke before it went off, lately he'd been so tired that it had been the only thing that woke him now.

It was well past ten in the morning when he finally woke and looked at the time. He cursed angrily and jumped from bed. He raced through a shower, dressed, skipped breakfast, and drove quickly to work.

At his office earlier that morning, Felina had been going through the morning reports and putting them in order of importance. She took notes of the more pertinent information so that he could hit the important stuff quicker. The Sergeant had popped his head in a little earlier and was surprised to see her.

"Where's the Commander, Lieutenant?" He asked as he walked up to the desk with more reports.

"I reset his alarm clock." She said matter of factly.

He looked at her in surprise as well as relief. "He's going to be furious." He commented.

"Yeah, but he'll be more rested too." She said, giving him a wane smile. He smiled back and left. He didn't blame her at all for doing it. The Commander was looking really exhausted. It was too bad they had to do things like this to get that Kat to rest.

She had finished her self-imposed chores and was getting ready to leave for her own duties when her irate uncle walked into his office. He glared at her.

"Someone changed my alarm clock. You wouldn't happen to know who did it?" He growled as he hung up his coat.

"I did! I've also gone through the reports and organized them, writing notes on the more important items so that you can get through it quicker. You needed rest and now you've gotten it. I have to report to my station now. Have a good day Uncle." She said unrepentant and not allowing him to retort as she passed him and went out the door closing it behind her.

He shook his head in annoyance and chagrin before heading for his desk and sitting down. It actually felt nice that someone cared enough to do that for him. He sighed and went to work. Her notes had made things easier for him.

A couple of hours later, the Sergeant arrived with more reports and lunch. Feral blinked at the foam container in surprise.

"I took the liberty, sir. You need to eat and I know you've been skipping breakfast. Here are the reports you asked for. Anything you want me to take?" The Sergeant asked briskly.

"Uh, yeah. These need to get to records and hand these to Gina." Feral said nonplused.

"Certainly sir." The Sergeant said, taking the files and preparing to leave.

"Sergeant, thank you." Feral said quietly.

He gave his Commander a small smile then turned and left.

In the SWAT Kats hangar, Chance found Jake already working when he got up that morning. He wished his friend would get some rest but knew when Jake had his head wrapped around a problem he wouldn't let go of it until he literally collapsed in the midst of designing a weapon to solve it. Sighing he moved to Jake's side.

"Did you even get any sleep last night?" He asked.

"I slept about three hours." Jake answered distractedly.

"How about eating?"

"No, didn't feel hungry." Came the reply.

Sighing again, Chance went back up to their apartment and made his friend a thick sandwich and pulled a cold can of milk from the fridge. He carried them down and plunked them onto the bench where Jake couldn't miss it.

"Thanks!" The cinnamon tom said still not looking up from his work.

Shaking his head, Chance went back upstairs and opened the garage for the day. Fortunately, there wasn't much work waiting. So he could handle it alone.

It was late afternoon when he heard an alert over the enforcer radio. He listened as he finished the tune up he was doing.

"Attention all units, explosion at the Megakat Chemical Plant. Fire and rescue are on their way. Creeplings have been spotted." The dispatcher announced.

At the mention of creeplings, Chance quickly closed the hood of the car, closed the garage, and raced for downstairs.

"Jake, creeplings at the chemical plant. Let's hustle." He hollered out to his partner as he quickly changed clothes. Jake appeared on the run and did the same.

Soon they were airborne and heading to the plant. Meanwhile, Feral had received the call as well and was now being airlifted by Felina to the site.

A roaring fire was burning out of control from one of the chemical tanks by the time the SWAT Kats arrived. Razor used his foam bomb to get it under control much to the fire department's relief. The creeplings and some ninjas were giving the security people a major fight near the main building.

Feral's forces arrived to back up the beleaguered security and soon had the ninjas captured and the creeplings killed. Taking them prisoner was never a good thing. Feral checked over the facility with the plant manager and found no other damage. Another distraction, he thought angrily.

No longer needed and no sign of Dark Kat, even though they searched for an hour, the SWAT Kats finally went home.

Feral and Felina returned to base. They had managed to capture four ninjas. Feral was anxious to question them. Usually, they would get nothing from them but one could always hope.

To his annoyance, the first three refused to talk despite a two-hour interrogation on each of them. It was getting late when he had the last prisoner brought in. Prepared to be rebuffed again he was stunned when he actually got a response.

"Tell me what Dark Kat is up to." He demanded tirededly.

"I'll be glad to but first I need you to verify my identity. I don't want to waste time." The prisoner, a black tom with obvious panther ancestors said plainly.

Feral blinked in shocked surprise. "So who are you?" He asked. Felina had straightened up and was leaning forward eagerly.

"My name is Major Reece Jaynard of the Sandaval Federation Security Forces. I was recruited months ago by Dark Kats head ninja. I volunteered to try and find out what Dark Kat was up to. My government was afraid that if he succeeded in taking your city he would come after us. You can call my superior, General Tam Gepson to confirm what I'm telling you." He said.

"We will. Want something to drink while we wait?" Felina asked as her uncle hurried out to make the call. They were all excited. If this Kat was legit then his information was priceless.

"Sure, that'd be great, Lieutenant." Jaynard said with a sigh. Felina signaled one of the officers outside the door to get a drink for the prisoner.

Some fifteen minutes later, Feral returned with a relieved smile on his face.

"Pleased to meet you Major Jaynard. How about we adjourn and head to my office for this discussion?" Feral asked opening the door as Felina hurriedly removed the Kats pawcuffs.

"That would be great. I have much to relate and not much time for you to prepare for what that creep has planned." Jaynard said grimly as he followed the Commander through the cell block and to the elevator to Feral's office.

When they reached Feral's office, he went to his phone and summoned his special force's units as well as his squadron leaders. He escorted the Major to his briefing room where they sat down and waited for his officers to arrive. While they waited, Jaynard told them how he was recruited and what things Dark Kat had done along with Viper.

Felina had a recorder going and made notes. Very quickly all the officers, Feral had contacted had arrived and taken their seats.

Feral introduced the Major and let him take the floor.

"Dark Kat's plan is two pronged. Dr. Viper is to use those deadly vines and plantimals of his to take over the trade towers. With Hard Drive at his side, he is supposed to cripple Megakat City's financial hub. Meanwhile, Dark Kat intends to hold the Megakat Nuclear Power Plant hostage against your city leaders good behavior. If he doesn't get what he demands, which are the reins of the government handed over to him and disbandment of the enforcers, then he will allow the reactor to explode. He'll then take over what's left of the city." He reported grimly.

There was an outburst of anger once he was through. Feral let it go on for a moment then called the room to order. For the next two hours they hashed out a plan to catch the two omegas before they could institute their plans.

It was decided that they would need to let Viper and Dark Kat get set up before taking them out. It would be tricky since they would have to time it exactly to prevent the pair from taking the offensive. Pleased with their plans, the meeting broke up as each officer went off to prepare.

Feral sighed in relief and pleasure. Finally they would get the drop on the worst pair of criminals. Now he had to find a way to do away with them permanently rather than haul them to prison. His mind flipped through many options as the room emptied out.

He returned his attention to Major Jaynard. "We need to keep you under wraps. It wouldn't do to let Dark Kat know one of his ninjas has blabbed." He said in concern.

"You're right there and I don't want to leave until I see this to the end." Jaynard said heavily.

"Hmm. My first thought would be to put you up in one of the enforcer quarters but word would get around about you and your safety could be compromised." Feral said thinking out loud. "If you don't object, I have a guest room in my apartment. No one would suspect you of being there. I can keep you apprised without having to send you messages that might be intercepted." He finally decided then looked at Jaynard for his take on the suggestion.

"If it's not a problem for you sir, then it's alright with me." Jaynard said with a small smile.

"Perfect. Then that's settled. The hours late so why don't we leave now?" Feral asked as he got up and went to his office.

Jaynard nodded and followed the Commander. His eyes strayed over the well-built body before him and drooled mentally. If only he wasn't here on assignment. He'd loved to get to know this Kat better.

Feral was happy. Things were finally going his way. He pushed the button for the lobby with Major Jaynard standing close beside him. His mind was busy so he didn't notice the looks the Major was giving him.

When they reached the lobby, Feral quickly hustled the Kat out the door and into his hummer parked out front before anyone could focus on him too closely.

The drive to Feral's apartment was made in companionable silence. It was only a ten minute drive. He pulled into the underground parking area, something he infrequently did. Parking in his spot, he turned off the engine and got out. The Major waited politely as the Commander secured his vehicle then they made for the elevator.

On the top floor of the apartment complex, Feral got out of the elevator and headed down the hall to the last door. Unlocking it, he gestured for Jaynard to precede him. He locked the door behind him.

Jaynard like the simple but elegant decor of the apartment. He kept his eyes averted as Feral used his wall safe to lock away his weapon. The Commander hung up his coat and took his guest on a small tour of the place, showed him where he would sleep, gave him some towels, pointed to the bathroom nearby then led the way to the kitchen.

"Hungry?" He asked as he rummaged through his fridge. "I've some frozen dinners or we can have grilled cheese sandwiches and soup?" He queried his guest.

"Whichever will be faster. I'm beat!" Jaynard commented.

"TV dinners then. Why don't you take a shower while its heating?" Feral said then eyed his guest. "Hmm, I might have something you can wear that won't hang too loose. Just a moment." He said as he went to his bedroom. He returned a few minutes later and handed Jaynard some clothes.

"Thanks." He said and headed to the guest room. He was looking forward to a nice hot shower.

Feral popped the TV dinners into his oven and set the timer then he too went to take a shower. He returned before Jaynard. He wore a loose t-shirt and sweats.

Jaynard came in and sniffed appreciatively as Feral pulled their dinners from the oven and placed them on the table. He grabbed some silverware and two cans of milk from the fridge.

Jaynard had sat down and was watching Feral move around the kitchen. He couldn't help but stare at the dark tom's belly. It was starting to push outward. He winced mentally as he realized Feral was probably about three months along. He'd read herms tended to show more than females because there wasn't as much room in their bellies for the growing fetus.

Feral seemed to ignore his condition. He made no mention of it and seemed to pretend it wasn't there. He felt bad that he hadn't been able to prevent it from happening.

Feral sat down and uncovered his meal. He really didn't want to eat but forced himself. He was as tired as he had been yesterday. He grimaced in annoyance. Being pregnant was a real nuisance he thought bitterly. He was already showing and he'd had to let his uniform pants button open to accommodate it. He knew soon he would be forced to wear the expanded panel pants and he loathed the idea.

Jaynard watched Feral surreptitiously. He noted the grimace and the body shift of discomfort. He had been taught to pay attention to the minutest detail to ensure he stayed alive. It had paid off, keeping him off Dark Kats radar. That Kat had an uncanny way of detecting trouble before it could affect him. Though he wasn't fallible obviously since he had failed several time against Feral and the SWAT Kats.

He was willing to bet that Feral was trying very hard to ignore his condition. It cost him adequate sleep and appetite. He shook his head mentally. Wish I could comfort him. He seems so alone.

They finished their meal in silence. Jaynard helped clean up then they went to bed both being extremely tired. Tomorrow would be a very busy day.