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Secrets In The Dark	By : Daniella Category: +S through Z > SwatKats Views: 1763 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own SwatKats, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 10
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Chapter Ten

“Talking”

‘Thoughts’

As T-Bone and Dena raced across town, inside their destination chaos reined. Club Imre was closed to the public and was, at the moment, filled with panic stricken Iriomkats of all ages. Zachary and Rick had their paws full trying to soothe everyone’s nerves, coax them to be calm and to assure them the Elders were addressing the problem and would talk to them soon.

Zachary could already feel himself becoming short tempered with all that was happening. He couldn’t blame anyone for being on edge but he was having a hard time being sympathetic when pures decided to snap at others who were half bloods or married to Kats. That racial prejudice could spark a major rift among their kind. If the Elders didn’t speak soon there could be violence next.

He and Rick had escaped the mess downstairs for the bar where it was a little quieter. He brightened briefly when he saw Dena come rushing through the front door but soured seconds later at the sight of T-Bone practically on her heels.

“What’s he doing here?” He growled at his brother.

“Don’t know but it seems Dena’s bringing him in doesn’t it?” Rick asked, not very pleased to see the two together either.

“Bastard! He can’t get Briggs so he goes after Dena? No way in hell!” Zachary rumbled furiously, stomping over to them.

Dena saw Zachary come charging toward them, his face and body language giving away his angry feelings. It was very clear he was in a foul mood.

“Zachary doesn’t look happy.” T-Bone said uneasily, not missing the angry mood the oncoming Iriomkat was displaying. He tensed, preparing himself for a fight if Zachary started one.

“I’ll talk to him. Wait for me by the bar.” Dena told him firmly, before striding away to intercept Zachary. Giving T-Bone no choice but to do as she’d asked.

She walked right up to Zachary and halted him with a paw to his chest. She began to talk to him in a low, even voice.

T-Bone watched tensely as she and Zachary argued in low voices. Zachary suddenly turned and walked away with Dena following close behind. He didn’t like to see Dena leave him but felt it would make things worse if he intervened. So, unhappily, he went to the bar to wait for her return. As he approached, he noted Rick was tending the bar tonight.

“Hi,” T-Bone said trying to be friendly as he took a seat.

“Why are you here?” Rick asked coldly, his eyes narrowed.

T-Bone frowned, “To support Dena during this difficult time.” He said carefully, uncertain why Rick was so hostile.

“Drop the act, faker.” Rick spit out nastily then pretended to ignore the tom by picking up a wet glass and drying it.

“Faker? What are you talking about?” T-Bone asked, bewildered. Zachary he could understand the anger but not Rick.

“Don’t act so freakin innocent! You’re pretending you care for Dena when you really don’t! That’s cold!” Rick growled at him.

“What?!” T-Bone blurted in shock.

“You heard me!”

“Why would you even think that?” T-Bone asked, totally taken aback.

“Maybe because you’d made it plain you’d rather bed the Deputy Mayor? You’re just using Dena till you have Briggs.” Rick said nastily.

“That’s not true!” T-Bone said, beginning to get steamed.

“Yeah, right. Everyone knows you’ve had the hots for Briggs for years. As if you would change that! You hate Dena too much to ever actually care or love her.” Rick said flatly.

“You’re wrong! I do care about Dena! We’ve just…” T-Bone began to protest hotly.

“Quit your lying! You may be fooling Dena but you’re not fooling us! The minute you get Briggs you’ll leave Dena and when you do, Zachary and I will be the ones to hurt you two.” Rick threatened.

T-Bone stared into Rick’s furious eyes in stunned disbelief. No way would he take this without an argument. He’d just learned how much he cared about Dena, no one was going to push him away from her now.

“I’m not faking anything! Yes, I liked Briggs but it was infatuation. With Dena it’s much deeper than that. I can’t call it love yet but in time it will be!” He said without a shred of doubt.

“So you’re a two-timer? My, aren’t you mate of the year.” Rick said, not hearing or caring about T-Bone’s words.

“Look you, no one’s bothered to see things from my point of view. I learned rather suddenly that the Commander I thought I knew was really a female and before I have a chance to get used to that I’m suddenly bombarded with these feelings for this stranger then I’m told we are mates. I think I’ve done pretty good at beginning to get a handle on all this. Yesterday we had a breakthrough. I know now what her life was like when she was a kitten and I want to do everything I can to make her feel safe and secure. It will take everything I have to convince her I won’t leave her. So cut me some slack here!” T-Bone was nearly shouting when he finally finished and slammed his paws on the bar as he stood nose to nose with Rick

Rick just stood there not flinching from T-Bone’s fury. He heard the words the tom was saying and felt the emotions behind them. The big tom believed in what he was saying and he was right they hadn’t thought of what all this had done to him and what he’d been expected to accept. That hadn’t been fair. But Rick couldn’t help but feel some doubt that T-Bone couldn’t keep his promise.

“I believe you…for now. But I swear if you hurt Dena, I will hurt you.” Rick hissed out then turned away to walk down the end of the bar, effectively ending the conversation.

T-Bone fell back down on the stool feeling emotionally drained. He had felt justified in defending himself but, as Razor would have told him, there were other ways to do it than getting in the face of a dangerous Iriomkat hunter. He was just lucky Rick was a reasonable person. He could have just as easily killed him rather than just give him a warning.

He could understand Rick’s feelings though. If Razor was dating someone who treated him the same way he had treated Dena when they first met, he’d be angry and protective too. Of course, he wouldn’t have believed what that person said till they had actually proven it. But if that person hurt his best friend he would want to hurt him or her.

“Man, what do I do now?” He said aloud, staring into space.

“Do about what?” Dena asked, causing T-Bone to startle.

“Oh..uh...nothing important. You and Zachary talk things out?” T-Bone asked, changing the subject.

At hearing her best friend’s name, Dena looked away, “Sort of. He just doesn’t…never mind. The meetings about to start.” She said, changing the subject herself.

T-Bone didn’t press her as they went downstairs to the meeting room. He took a seat next to her and placed an arm around her shoulders in comfort. Through their bond he could feel anger, hurt, and dejection that had to be from her less than happy talk with Zachary. He hugged her close and nuzzled her cheek. He was pleased when she welcomed his attempt at soothing her with a deep purring he felt through his body.

Sitting not far away was a simmering Zachary. He watched with hooded, hostile eyes, a rage building within him at the sight of the two sitting so close together. His fists clenched beneath the table and his teeth were grit together. He couldn’t sit still and watch them any longer so he lunged to his feet and left the room.

Rick sighed in annoyance and pain for his brother. He would have left as well but one of them had to be there to hear what the Elders had to say. So sighing regretfully, he looked away from the pair and noted the Elders were just filing in. When they were seated, voices began shouting questions from all parts of the room. Elder Sarena stood up and all went silent.

“We have come to a decision. It took us many hours of discussion but we came to only one conclusion, now that Katkind knows about our existence there is no point in trying to hide any longer. We will reveal ourselves and try to live in harmony with them.” Sarena said firmly.

There was a moment of silence then outcries of fear and disbelief filled the room. The response was not unexpected.

“Are you crazy?!”

“We can’t do that! We’ll just be made slaves again!”

“They’ll fear us just as before!

“We’ll have to defend ourselves from the ones that will try to kill us!”

“They’ll be bloodshed!”

“Families will be broken again if we do this!”

Voices of fear and anger overlapped each other filling the room with the roar of rejection at the decision. It was so loud, the Elders had trouble getting everyone to calm down.

T-Bone winced at all the fear and loathing pouring out from all those around him. ‘Were we really this awful to them?’ T-Bone wondered with sorrow and disgust. ‘It’s no wonder they want nothing to do with us.’

Finally, Elder Roy stood up and yelled, “Everyone calm down!” Except for some residual muttering from a few, the room fell silent.

“We don’t intend for everyone to reveal themselves at first. One has been chosen whose already known to the Katizens population as a forthright, brave and honest individual. This person will ...” Sarena started to explain before Oliver rudely cut her off.

“Dena Feral, come up here!” He called loudly.

Everything went still as all turned to stare at Dena, who felt very uncomfortable with all the attention directed at her as she stood up and made for the stage. T-Bone, not wanting her to be alone, stood as well and followed her. Both came to a halt in front of the Elders. T-Bone took Dena’s paw in his as they waited for what the Elders had to say.

Serena shot Oliver a brief look of loathing. She knew he was enjoying this and with good reason. If anything should go wrong it would be Dena who would be at the mercy of the Katizens rather then their entire species.

“I’m sorry, Dena. I know this puts you in a very precarious situation but it was thought your position would provide you some protection and because of your reputation we hoped it will withstand the unveiling. If they accept you then we know our two species can live together.” She said with a small smile of encouragement then she turned to the tom. “T-Bone...”

“Yes?” T-Bone asked cautiously, wondering what Serena wanted from him.

“When Dena reveals her secret, I want you to be at her side. She will need you to get through all of this.” Serena said, seriously.

“I will be nearby, don’t worry. I won’t leave my mate to face this alone but I can’t stand in front of everyone while she does this.” T-Bone said. There was a roar of anger from the crowd. Dena turned to him, shock on her face.

T-Bone shouted above the din. “Hear me out!” Silence fell but the looks he got were hostile.

“The Katizens of this city see us as being antagonists. If I stand beside her in full view of everyone then she will be discredited for associating with a known vigilante and your cause will be lost before it can even be heard. If they learn we are mates then there will be an uprising among her enforcers. Besides that, people will think there’s a conspiracy going on and all hell will fall on us both. So no...I can’t stand at her side but I will be there just no one will know it.” He explained.

“You are absolutely correct, T-Bone. We had forgotten that fact in our concern to solve this problem. Thank you for preventing a disaster. We will be satisfied that you’ll be close by.” Sarena said, chagrined that they had forgotten something so important. She was very glad T-Bone, himself, had been aware of the danger.

Dena relaxed and sighed inwardly, kicking herself for not remembering that fact herself. Of course, she’d been preoccupied with what the Elders had decided. She was glad T-Bone had though. She shuddered at what would have happened...it didn’t bear thinking about...just the unveiling would be bad enough.

While a vast majority of the population of Iriomkats were attending the meeting at the club, a much smaller group was meeting secretly in a warehouse. Many small tables were scattered around the large space, each having a set of chairs. Each table had a pitcher of water and glasses. Nearly all the chairs were filled and the attendees talked softly amongst themselves waiting for the meeting to start. At the head of the space near a back office, three stools sat on a small stage. The only illumination were fat candles placed at on each table providing a warm glow.

Suddenly, the back office door opened and three Iriomkats stepped through. In walked Demon Feral with Kami and Maggie in tow.

The three took their seat on the stools waiting on the stage. Kami and Maggie took the two ends while Demon sat on the one in the middle. Everyone in the room ceased their conversations and directed their attention to the three.

Demon studied his audience for a moment. There wasn’t as many as he’d hoped but it was enough to gain control of this city. With a small smile, Demon began to speak.

“Thank you for coming. As you all know, this morning Lt. Commander Steele has provided proof to Katkind that we exist.” He paused to see if anyone wanted to say anything but they continued to stare at him so he went on.

“While we sit here, the Elders are most likely telling our friends and families that we must now reveal ourselves and try to live with Katkind. We all know that is imposable! Centuries ago Katkind enslaved us. They exerted absolute control over our lives; heaping punishment on us, forcing us to labor for them, hunting and killing us, and breaking up families to obtain what they wanted from us. ” He said grimly.

Demon went silent for a little to allow everyone to remember how it had been for them. He heard various mutters of agreement.

“There can be no peace between Iriomkats and Katkind. They fear us too much to allow it. They would rather see us dead! You know this to be true since even in hiding we are not safe. Kats killed my parents, split my sister and I up to different foster homes, never seeing each other again. It was just plain luck that we found each other again just recently. But all of you have suffered much worse than I.” He said passionately.

At this everyone began talking at once. All their voices intermingling with the sound of their anger and fear as they agreed with their leader.

“Demon is right! Kats will try to either kill or control us!”

“I lost my mate and kittens to Kats! I say we do the same to them!”

“Even hidden we suffer! We can’t move freely till we take control!”

“We must strike now! It’s the Kats turn to be enslaved!”

As they shouted the very things Demon wanted to do, he hid a smile of triumph. When everything was said and done he would have to thank Zachary for allowing him to see the list of Iriomkats who were just like him. Their anger and hate was what he needed to take control of Megakat City. Now all he had to do was lay out the plan for accomplishing this to his new army.

It was getting very late and night had fallen some time ago when Dena and T-Bone were finally able to leave the club. T-Bone drove them back to Dena’s place. She waited as he hid the cyclotron and set its security system.

Once done, they moved until they were under Dena’s balcony. T-Bone shot a grappling hook to snag the roof from his glovatrix then wrapped an arm around Dena’s waist as she put her arms around his neck before retracting the line. They shot up to the balcony in seconds.

He helped her over the rail then heaved himself over before disengaging his grappling hook and retracting it. She opened the sliding glass door and was waiting for him on the other side. He stepped through and closed the door behind him.

“Are you okay with this unveiling?” T-Bone asked, coming to her side.

“Someone has to do it. It makes sense it should be me.” She said in resignation as she closed the blinds on the door.

“Yeah, but if anything goes wrong it will be you whose targeted.” T-Bone said, concerned.

“It has to be done, T-Bone. There’s no point in worrying about what ifs. We’ll just have to deal with what happens when it does. So let’s not rehash it all over again, okay?” Dena said with a sigh. “I’m hungry, how about you?” She asked.

T-Bone sighed and understood there wasn’t anymore to be said about tomorrow. He allowed his mate to change the subject. She’d discussed the subject to death enough at the club, so he dropped it but it didn’t stop him from worrying anyway.

“Yeah, I am actually. I know a twenty-four hour Chinese restaurant. Want to order from there?” He asked.

“Sounds perfect!” She sighed as headed to the bedroom to change clothes.

“Anything you want specifically?” He asked as he reached for the phone.

“No, anything you order will be fine.” Dena called out behind her then disappeared.

As T-Bone called in their order, Dena sighed and began to undress. She could feel her mate’s concerned for her. She was actually quite scared at what might happen. Would her Enforcers fear her? Would Manx order her to leave? Would the city try to take control of her kind? There were so many questions and no answers. The guesses were frightening enough.

She shook herself. ‘Stop scaring yourself, it will do you no good.’ She told herself. Wearing a comfortable sweatsuit, she returned to the leaving room just as there was a knock on her front door. She knew the food couldn’t have arrived already as she made her way to it. She noted that T-Bone had left the room, probably for the kitchen to get something to drink.

Frowning she peered through her peep hole and saw it was Demon. Surprised she opened the door and stayed out of sight until he had stepped into her apartment then closed it again.

“What are you doing here?” She asked then saw two meal boxes and drinks being held in her brother’s paws.

“Hi sis! I’ve brought you some dinner.” Demon said smiling warmly.

‘Oh shit!’ She thought as she stared at her twin unable to think of what to say. She offered him an uneasy smile instead.

“Something wrong? Did I come at a bad time?” Demon asked, noticing her uneasy behavior.

“Um, not exactly...its just...well...I hadn’t planned on telling you yet but now that you’re here I guess I might as well.” She said with a helpless shrug of her shoulders.

“Okay, what is it you want to tell me?” Demon asked setting the food on her coffee table.

At that very moment, T-Bone strolled in from the kitchen. “The food will be here in about…” T-Bone was saying but stopped when he saw Demon. He eyed the stranger carefully but said nothing. He moved closer to Dena and noted the other food there. He glanced at Dena questioningly, letting her tell him what was going on. ‘Who is this guy?’ He thought detecting a similarity between Dena and the strange male.

Demon felt himself stiffen at the sight of the large SWAT Kat. ‘What’s he doing here? Did he find out about me? About us?’ Demon thought furiously. For a moment Demon considered killing T-Bone, but a paw on his shoulder made him pause.

“Demon, this what I wanted to tell you. T-Bone is my mate. T-Bone this my twin brother Demon.” Dena said slowly, letting the information sink in for both males. She was worried her brother wouldn’t take the news too well. She was right if the sharp note in his voice was any indication.

“You’re joking, right?” Demon asked, disbelief in his voice. ‘No! My sister can’t be mated to him! Not a Kat!’ He thought, feeling a rage build in him.

“Sorry, no joke! We are mates.” T-Bone said carefully, not liking how Dena’s brother was looking at him. ‘Geez, it’s almost like he wants to kill me.’ He thought, a shiver racing down his spine. He wouldn’t be too thrilled to learn he was right.
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Secrets In The Dark