Author's Note: The violence warning is for the reflection of a violent act... not actual violence.
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In Janace, Snowy stood nervously by one of the remaining planes that were there for the UN's mission. Shi expected the groups to arrive to leave to see what was going on Hawaii. Satellite pictures didn't show everything, but it appeared as though there was a massive outbreak that had seemed to engulf all of the Hawaiian islands. Part of hir was certain that if it spread through the entire state, that there had to be at least something else that had done it, not just someone who was fleeing Dover and simply hadn't changed yet. Especially since there was no land bridge between the Hawaiian islands. Kats could swim, but only Dolphkats and Sharkats could swim fast enough to make it between the islands with any degree of speed. Something had to have been to spread the virus between the islands. Depending on when the Dover refugee changed, it's likely that he/shi would have only made onto one island and after transforming while in the lust phase of the virus would likely focus on the island he/shi was on.
As shi waited shi soon saw Maurice coming with Talia and Midnight behind hir. Shi soon also saw Janice, Pinkie, Foxy, Silky, and Snowflake with hir. Snowy regretted having to commit hir children to this. Shi was proud of Janice and Snowflake wanting to help Sally, but they were all still children and the last place they should be was a spot where a lust filled Kat could rape them. Shi also remembered Charlie's nervousness when Midnight went to Cairo, and that Charlie had only accepted it because Sally agreed to go with Midnight and Luna and the fact that Charlie was so heavily pregnant at the time that there wasn't much of a choice. The bigger surprise was that Talia and Midnight looked more ready to "work" than go on a "honeymoon."
"Hello, Snowy," Midnight came forward.
"Hello, Midnight," Snowy commented, "You do know you were picked to get a honeymoon right?"
"Yes, and that can wait," Midnight answered, "Fluffy is only six and while Janice and Snowflake may have helped in Philadelphia, they're still very young. You remember Snowy... dad nearly gave birth to Fluffy and Mary there in the headquarters when I was urged to go to Cairo. Shi was THAT stressed out by it."
"We can help and we'll be good!" Janice spoke up.
"Of course, little sither, but I've still got to be responsible," Midnight patted Janice and then Pinkie's back, "mom and dad would be upset if I didn't look out for you."
"I take it that is why you switched Fluffy for Pinkie?" Snowy asked.
Midnight nodded, "And we are to divide the teams so that way those of us under eighteen are to have at least one adult with them at all times. No exceptions."
Snowy then nodded, "Then all we need is for the others to arrive."
The rest were soon close at hand with Ronnie leading the way. Timothy Chakat walked with his other soughter, wearing what looked like a Marine Corps combat uniform from World War II and the the darts with the Wise Vaccine in a bandoleer that went around his chest. Alexis and Anubis brought up the rear. Alexis moved slowly after leaving Flake with helping to look after the babysitters and Anubis was quietly in hir own thoughts. While hir Presidency had run out its term in Egypt, that wasn't the REAL reason shi had come to Janace, Colorado. The real reason had been a "wounded" and aching heart.
Hir wife became a Kat willingly shortly after the Cairo outbreak and the two loved each other very much, and when hir term as President ended, they went to retire in a small villa near where the Aswan Dam was to live in peace and begin having pups. Anubis's wife had been the one to get pregnant first and they had had a good life, but it didn't last long. One day they had decided to swimming and had been playing in the water. Anubis's wife was getting closer to hir due date and they would be parents soon, but in the course of the playing in the water, they had alerted a large crocodile that had swum up the Nile River. The massive reptile grabbed Anubis's wife by the shoulder of one of hir forelegs and dragged hir into deeper water and ultimately drowned hir. Anubis could only stand in absolute horror. Shi remembered crying for help and remembered getting the army, the police, and game wardens to dredge the waters. They ended up killing five crocodiles before the one that killed Anubis's wife had been found, and then all that they could recover for burial were part of Anubis's wife's tail and worse the partially digested remains of an unborn Jackkat.
People were very supportive and Anubis thanked them for that, but everywhere in Egypt, Anubis had been reminded of the love that had been so brutally taken from hir and the child that was never to be. It broke hir heart and shi had to leave and start over, and Janace soon proved to be a hope for that. Sally and Casey's mother, who Anubis only knew as a human (shi hadn't met Janace as a Hybrikat yet) , carried the same sort of quiet dignity that Anubis remembered hir deceased wife having and despite looking rather old, still had a level dignified beauty that warmed Anubis's aching heart and gave hir hope for a new beginning.
"We're ready," Timothy announced as he presented a dart gun as if ready for inspection.
"Okay, dad are you going Rambo on us?" Snowy teased.
"We couldn't stop him," Ronnie spoke up as shi stood up beside Maurice, "but being helpful isn't a bad thing..."
"Of course... he also nearly tranquilized your sither while getting ready and deciding to try some of the old parade skills," Maurice gave a sigh while shaking hir head, "so we'll also need to keep him calm and from going all Rambo on us."
Snowy decided not ask what Mina did after nearly being given a second dose of the Wise Vaccine.
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In New York, Elise and the Tyrannosaurs Kat slowly began to walk along the streets again. Things were already coming back under control as newly vaccinated Kats began to either clean up after their mess or as city workers that weren't infected also began to do the work. Those that were still human were wearing rubber gloves and wearing gear that would keep them from absorbing anything carrying the virus in through their skin. Cleaning up after that, however, was not Elise's mission. Elise's mission was to find the real South Korean ambassador, since the one that they caught was thought to be an impostor. The first spot to check was to check the hotel/apartment building where the UN ambassadors stayed. Coming with hir was the Tyrannosaurus based Dinokat, mostly in the hopes that Elise could get hir out of hir funk, as shi still seemed emotionally distraught by what shi had done under the virus's influence.
"You... you went through this too?" the Tyrannosaurus Dinokat asked.
"I went through the blood-lust, yes," Elise answered, "though as I said my transformation was a bit more controlled. I can sympathize with the feeling of the blood-lust and the lack of control, but I can only guess at the emotional pain the virus inflicted on you."
The Tyrannosaurus Dinokat looked down, tears going down hir cheeks.
"But I will try to help," Elise answered, "you can talk to me."
"Thank you," the Tyrannosaurus Dinokat answered, "My name is Casey... Casey Jones."
"Casey?"
"It is a boy's name," the Tyrannosaurus Dinokat answered, sounding slightly defensive.
"It could go for either gender, but one of the Kats I know in Janace is named Casey... though shi's a Rattlekat," Elise answered.
The other Casey nodded, but sad nothing.
"I loved her," Casey said after a few moments, "She was going to be my wife. We were going to get married and be stars on Broadway... and the virus made me eat her."
Casey gave a sigh and slowly patted Casey's shoulder.
"It wasn't your fault," Elise said slowly and reassuringly, "It was the virus... it made you hungry... and so hungry that it didn't matter what was in your way. It was the same for me... and I'm sure your fiance is in heaven and knows that it was the Virus that made you do it and has forgiven you."
"You really think so?" Casey asked.
Elise nodded. The two then walked along for a bit and then a thought came to Elise.
"So... Casey Jones... you wouldn't happen to be friends with four mutant turtles would you?" Elise asked, slightly joking.
The grown was very loud, "UNNNGGGH! That joke was old years ago. I didn't even like the cartoon."
"You didn't?" Elise asked.
"Transformers was cooler... and Star Wars wasn't too bad," Casey answered.
"Okay then," Elise then chuckled and then looked around the maze of skyscrapers that made up New York City. She then looked to the name of the hotel they had moved up to and checked it against the address shi had been given from the base on Long Island. Shi then turned to Casey, "I think we're here."
Casey looked up and then over Elise.
"Will you be okay?" Elise asked.
"I'll be fine, but I don't think I can be alone," Casey answered.
Elise sighed and motioned for Casey to follow hir. They made their way in and were greeted by a nervous looking man.
"I'm afraid we aren't accepting new guests for the moment! We're still cleaning... stuff out of the rugs," the man spoke.
"This is the building where many of the UN representatives stay?" Elise asked.
"Yes... but..." the man began.
"My friend and I are with the UN teams that have trying respond to these outbreaks," Elise told the man, "and we believe a spy was the one who started things here and kidnapped a UN ambassador to to it..."
"Kidnapped?!"
"Or worse," Elise answered, "but we need to see the South Korean ambassador's room to get a start."
"That would be Room Four Two Five," the man answered.
"Thank you," Elise said to him, patted his shoulder with one hand and walked forward, heading for the elevators.
Casey followed behind and sat beside Elise.
"Do... do you think this ambassador is here...?" Casey asked as Elise pushed the button for the fourth floor.
"Where else would they take him?" Elise sighed, "The spy was disguised as the ambassador."
"A warehouse or abandoned building," Casey told hir.
"Those could be searched and could have attracted attention," Elise told hir, "it'd be easier and safer to keep the real ambassador hidden. Likely in a closet or under the bed or in a chest... or something..."
They listened quietly to the elevator music until they came up to the fourth floor. As they made it there, they took a right and headed until they came to a door with "425" on it in brass numbers just above the peep hole. Elise sat down and fumbled with a pouch that hung from a belt that shi wore. Shi then pulled out the key to the door, which had been taken from the spy. Once in the room, they found that it didn't look as though things were out of place. The room was neat, the bed was made, and nothing looked as though there had been a disturbance.
"I think your hunch was wrong," Casey commented as shi entered.
"No, he has to be here," Elise commented and followed Casey in, though shi also heard Casey give a few tentative sniffs. Elise also gave a few sniffs as well. Shi soon caught not one but two scents.
"Do... do you smell that?" Casey asked.
"Yes," Elise answered, "one is our spy and one is likely the real ambassador... but the spy is also related to the ambassador. They smell alike."
"Good... now I know I'm not going crazy," Casey answered.
"You aren't, you're just learning of your new senses," Elise said encouragingly, "and Tyrannosaurs had extremely good senses of smell... better even than Deinonychus."
"How do you know this?" Casey asked.
"I studied archaeology, the study of ancient human civilizations and paleontology, the study of ancient animals," Elise answered, "Before being asked to come help every Kat in Janace... I still did a lot of work in both fields."
Casey nodded and then sniffed again. Shi then pointed with one hand, "the scents lead over there!"
Elise turned and saw a large closed door, likely concealing a closet and began to walk toward it. Shi slowly came close and turned the handle to open to the door. As shi did so, shi found a large black suitcase which seemed to bounce back and forth. Shi also heard muffled cries for help. Undoing the zipper, Elise was surprised when a half naked Korean man fell out of it and unraveled himself. He'd apparently been packed in the suitcase.
"Oh thank you," the man said in heavily accented English, and then kissing one of the raised talons on Elise's right forefoot, "thank you. You got me out of there..."
"You're the ambassador?" Elise asked.
"Yes," he said, "I've been a prisoner here for the past few days."
"When this North Korean spy framed you?" Casey asked.
"In a way," the ambassador said weakly, "But's complicated."
"That man made me eat my fiance!" Casey spoke, sounding a little angry.
"I'm truly sorry, ma'am," the ambassador said slowly, "if there is anything I can do to help..."
"The spy's scent is similar to yours," Elise commented, "Why?"
"Well... we are family..." the ambassador commented, "It all happened when we were kids. My folks wanted to get out of North Korea. They were sick of starving. So they braved the minefields at the border and fled south... we just crossed the line when we ran into a North Korean Commando unit that had been on a standard infiltration team... My mother got killed by them and my brother taken by them. My father and I were the only ones to make it into the south."
"I take it you've tried to get your brother back diplomatically?" Elise asked.
"It's why I became a diplomat," the ambassador sighed, "they brainwashed him and raised him as a spy. He knocked me out and packed me in that suitcase and moved to set up the attack on the UN and New York City."
"Do you know why?" Elise asked.
"To embarrass the UN, your organization fighting the terrorists using the Chakat Virus, the US, and enable further moves to be made," the ambassador told hir, "what that was... my brother didn't know... and... I wish I could save him..."
"He deserved to pay for his crimes... those... those..." Casey began and then gave a few weak tears thinking of hir fiance.
Elise calmly put a hand on Casey's back, still getting the sense that this Casey was still trying to recover what the Virus did to hir. Shi did notice that the ambassador did nod. His face was pained, but he did accept what was likely.
"Just don't kill him," the ambassador said slowly, "Whatever his sins... he is still my brother and sole remaining family."
Elise nodded.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Letting the UN know that the South Korean ambassador had been rescued took only a simple phone call. From there, Elise and Casey began to return to camp.
"You did well," Elise commented, "Held yourself together..."
"I tried," Casey said weakly, "but I will miss Lea for the rest of my days... and... I don't think I can be alone..."
"Come with my team back to Janace," Elise urged, "Brent... the Scorpkat in my team... well... shi's been through some rough scrapes, as had hir sither-in-law. They're different scrapes from what what you endured... but maybe talking with them will help."
"I'll need to gather my things and get a few pictures I have to remember Lea by," Casey answered, "and I'll even help you all... give back to the world what the Virus made me take from it..."
Elise gave a rather happy smile at that. The Tyrannosaur Dinokat was on the path to recovery.