by Mel Todd
Helen replied with an amused tone. “You do now. If we don’t you look half dead on camera and that completely ruins the effect we are going for, of upstanding heroes.”
McKenna found herself in a chair and her makeup and hair being redone, and the only way to get out of it seemed physical violence, so she subsided and suffered. In the mirror she saw JD come to the same conclusion and they both suffered. Powder, foundation, lipstick, her hair redone, all with a speed and artistry and that made her just sit frozen.
Helen appeared in the reflection behind her. “You look great. Come on you two, time to be the star of the show.” McKenna kept her emotions off her face and stood up and followed her, JD close behind her.
The smiling face of the host, Melinda White, greeted them on the huge TV screen as they walked into a little room. her perfect smile scary at this scale. “Okay you two, just wait here, and once we have the audience in and seated, you’ll be ushered in by me. Take the seat we point at and remember this is supposed to be fun.” Helen flashed them both a smile and rushed away as another young man came up.
“Would you like some coffee? Tea? Something to eat?”
She and JD glanced at each other, then in one voice, “Coffee and protein?”
The young man tilted his head, then a smile flashed across his face. “Ah yeah, you don’t have to worry about the camera non-stop. Sorry don’t normally get real people here. Give me a few.” He disappeared as fast as he showed up.
“I’m really worried that eating food makes us real people.”
“I’m more worried about an entire group who regards real people as something unusual,” JD responded, his eyes still looking out the door. He hadn’t bothered to sit in any of the chairs they weren’t made for his bulk.
Before they could say anything else the young man hustled back in. He came back holding two cups of coffee and a largish bag. "Here you two go, you've got about ten minutes before you'll be called. Please don't spill. I put sugars and creams in the bag. Enjoy."
Before either of them could respond he had disappeared through the door. McKenna set her coffee down, and opened the bag, then grinned. There were two bagel sandwiches, with sausage, egg, and cheese piled onto the bagels. Along with little creams and sugars in the bottom of the bag. They both inhaled the food, sighing with relief as it hit.
"We are going to have to prioritize food a bit more, I think." She muttered as she carefully finished the last few bites trying to make sure she didn't destroy the work of the studio people.
"I'm getting that feeling. Coffee until lunch isn't cutting it." He frowned, and she thought he had an idea but before he said anything Helen came striding in.
"All right let's get you on stage." A smile on her face and McKenna felt the food curdle in her stomach and wished she hadn't eaten.
Taking one last gulp of coffee they followed Helen out onto the sound stage, where the recognizable hosts were sitting chatting, and the audience was all talking. People fell silent as they walked in and Helen directed them to a chair.
"Smile, and relax," were her last words before she headed back off the stage, leaving McKenna trying not to panic at all the eyes looking at her.
"And we are on in five, four," someone off stage began to count and she felt her pulse begin to race as her fingers sank into the armrest of the chair.
"Don't worry, it'll be fine." Melinda White whispered, even as her co-host John Richmond winked at them, then turned to the camera, wide bright smiles on their faces.
"Two, and action." The voice dropped to a whisper at that last bit, and the audience fell silent, watching her it felt like.
"Welcome to a special edition of Good Morning, USA." Melinda said in an overly perky voice that had McKenna cringing. "We have special guests here this morning, that I'm sure you will recognize. Please join me in welcoming Officer McKenna Largo and Officer Joseph Davidson." McKenna felt JD flinch at the use of his name, and the bubble of amusement helped. "As I'm sure everyone knows, Officer Largo featured in the video that first showed shifters to the world." Melinda turned those bright blue eyes and perfect cap of blond hair to face them, the smile more predatory that what McKenna has seen in her own mirror. "Welcome, Officer Largo to our show."
The raptor focus of the audience kicked every instinct she had into flight or fight, and the flight option ranked high in her personal preference. Instead, with a calm coolness she didn't really have, she smiled and responded. "Please call me McKenna. Most of the time when people are calling me officer, either it is my boss or someone who is about to get a ticket."
Melinda responded with another wide fake grin, and McKenna wondered why people bought it.
"Well, McKenna, I'm sure you've seen the video many times. What can you tell us about your thought process as you attacked those two men as a cat?" The chirpy pleasantness almost masked the innuendos inherent in her statement.
"Actually, I've only seen it once. Seeing yourself strip down naked on camera is only pleasant for actors I believe." The audience let lose a soft gasp, but she kept her smile fixed on her face. "As to my thought process? I focused on protecting the child by any means necessary. Given that my tools had been removed, I used what was available."
Melinda's smile dimmed a bit, but she cranked it back up. "So, have you found any difference in your sex life since you've become a cat?" The salacious remark garnered sharp intakes of breath from the audience.
This time McKenna let her smile slip and rolled her eyes. "What is it with people and asking me about sex? I don't know, I don't want to know. At this time I’m celibate, not that it is anyone's business. I've been focused on dealing with these changes to my life and trying to do my job well, not seeing what life as a real furry is like." She almost regretted it as soon as she said it, but the widening of the hosts eyes and John Richmond's snort of laughter made it worth it.
"McKenna," John said trying to keep his lips from twitching as Melinda tried to regain her footing. "What are your thoughts about some of the segregation efforts in schools at this time?"
"Don't." Her voice flat, still trying to fight down the annoyance at the stupid sex questions. JD choking silently next to her didn't help at all.
"Could you elaborate?" He prodded. "I see you don't have children, but isn't there more to consider than don't segregate?"
"I don't have kids, but I have a friend with two children that do shift. And they are the same kids they were before. Segregation is only going to lead to an us versus them environment and create a divide where there doesn't need to be one. At this time, I don't know of any issues what would justify that. Heck, while I know they think it is going to be identified as a virus, they haven't said if it is spreadable, and if it turns out it is, well, then we will have something else to consider. But for now," she shrugged, "They are kids. Don't worry about the fact that when they get naked they tend to grow fur."
The ripple of laughter through the audience didn't make her feel good. But she figured the laughter encouraged acceptance as opposed to something else, something darker.
“Do you think this has impacted your ability to do your job?” John asked, as McKenna got the feeling Melinda was sulking.
“Impacted? No. Affected, yes.” John made a go on indication with his hands and she fought to figure out how to say this. “I’m more recognizable and that is letting people create snap judgments of me based on what they think they know. But it also has allowed me to create connections where there might not have been any before. So, altered, but not impacted.”
Melinda smiled and leaped in with a question. “You mentioned you were celibate, does that mean there is no special man in your life? Not even the handsome JD sitting next to you.”
Her control failed and a groan slipped out, as JD choked a bit at the blatant lie that fell from Melinda’s lips. Her mind raced as she tried to come up with an answer that wouldn’t get her fired.
“And commercial.”
She jerked to head up to the sweetest words she h
ad ever heard.
Thank the gods. Now to set them straight on what I will and will not answer.
Preparing herself for a fight she turned, her mouth open, but a scream of rage and something else that she couldn’t even assign a name to rang out though the studio. Her head jerked up to track to the sound even as she stood moving in the direction it had come from. Part of her noted JD up and moving too, but she didn’t slow her head rotating until her eyes locked on a man rushing down the aisle, an object held high above his head even as he screamed racing incredibly fast towards the stage and the two TV personalities frozen in horror.
McKenna’s boots hit the floor, as she moved to intercept, her mind calculating the angles before she even finished processing the thought and she launched herself at the oncoming man. Her body tackled him in a text book tackle. With barely a thought she rolled with the motion, flipping up and over the man, pinning him beneath her as she wrenched the knife out of his hands and cuffed him all in one move.
Wide eyes darted up to look at JD who looked at her with the same expression she knew her face held.
What the hell was that? That move is not policy, I should have told him to freeze, and there was no way in the world I should have been able to pull that off.
They both set their faces into calm masks as McKenna started to read the man his rights and all the people in the studio started to freak out. As she Mirandized him, JD moved over and, extracting a glove from one of his pouches, gingerly picked up the object the man had been holding. A long knife, a dagger more accurately, but not of metal, but of a black stone that glinted in the light.
“Is that seriously a knife made out of obsidian?” McKenna asked as she stood up slowly.
JD nodded as he turned it in his hand, then focused on the man gibbering at McKenna’s feet. “Looks like it, and what is he saying? Is that Spanish?”
McKenna focused on the words but shook her head. “No, I don’t know what it is. Sounds weird, but not Spanish.”
They looked up to see security, local police, and the producer Helen all rushing at them and McKenna sighed. “At least I probably won’t have to be on TV anymore.”
After two hours of questioning, and the proof that the cameras had still been filming, and caught everything, backing up their testimony, they were finally allowed to leave. Their phones already had messages from Kirk, Marchant, and Holich, but at this point her patience had frayed to the point that she refused to answer them until she had eaten lunch. A big lunch.
“Isn’t there a Brazilian steakhouse around here somewhere?” She asked as they walked to the exit, escorted by security who looked at them sideways as they walked.
“Sure, sounds good. Nice, quiet, and maybe we can talk.” JD shot her a look and she gave a sharp nod knowing he wanted to ask about that take down, but neither of them said anything else.
The door was held open for them as they walked into a crowd of people, more reporters, and who knew who else.
One of the security people spoke up. “We’ll walk you to your car.” JD pointed where they parked, and they moved towards it, giving half smiles and nods at the people surrounding them.
“Let me take a guess, the footage got leaked?” McKenna commented wryly her voice low.
“Yes, ma’am.” One guard said, his face blank.
“Great.” She rolled her eyes turning her head to scan the crowd, a bad feeling creeping up her spine.
“McKenna look out!” JD’s shout had her turning too late, and two needle pricks hit her neck, then lighting coursed through her body. She opened her mouth to scream, but the cat took over, sweeping upwards and out of her, the pin pricks popping away as she faced the crowd, the cat in full control.
“Kenna!” The voice sounded familiar, safe, and she lunged towards the voice, the friend, only to trip on things binding her legs her arms, and another shout, then pain blossomed in her side and it all went dark.
Chapter 25 - Avoiding Tests
Violence against shifters, or those who have publicly admitted to being able to shift is on the rise. A few riots in some areas of the world where people were killed. At least three reported instances of people who shifted being killed by their neighbors. In Egypt, safe zones have been created by the government for shifters. An interesting side note from Africa, there are multiple reports of people who shifted becoming the leaders of their people, and in some cases being worshiped as gods. Which might not be as far from the truth as we would like to believe if more information about the healing abilities is proven. ~ TNN World News
Pain rippled through McKenna, and she tried to move away from it, but it followed her like a bad dream. Everything felt weird, heavy, and she tried to lift her head the pain spiked higher, making her cry out.
"Kenna, can you hear me? Kenna, listen to me."
JD, I'm not alone. What happened?
The relief cooled the pain, and she stopped struggling as much, if JD talked to her, it meant everything would be okay.
A heavy weight landed on her arm, but it didn't feel right, that wasn't where her arm lay, was it?
I need to see why can't I see?
The thought forced her mind to clear, and she figured out how to get her eyes open. She saw a sea of feet and legs, all well away from her, and slightly out of focus. McKenna blinked trying to get her eyes to clear, and it didn't work, everything stayed out of focus.
Oh, I'm a cat. Why am I a cat? I haven’t changed in days. Did I mean to change? Why do I hurt? I never hurt before after I changed.
The thoughts tumbled over each other as she tried to remember what happened after they walked out of the studio, but she couldn't pull the pieces together.
"Kenna, listen to me. You shifted into a cat. I need you to shift back. Can you do that? Can you become human? We need to treat you for the gun shot." His voice remained calm, but the scents of fear and worry surrounded her nose.
I got shot? What the hell?
JD's homely mug appeared in her vision, his cheek laying almost on the ground.
"There you are." He smiled, and she recognized relief on his face. "Kenna, I need you to go human. The paramedics can't help you as a cat. I need you to shift back. Can you do that?"
She blinked at him, then closed her eyes, trying to focus. The cat fought wanting to lash out, to protect, but she pushed it back, soothing it mentally and thought of her body, her shape, the way it felt, and felt her bones and muscles move back into their familiar alignment.
"Oh. thank you." JD's fervent whisper rocked her, and she opened her eyes again to see him standing. "She's back, get her lifted up and in that bus." His voice cracked like a whip, and McKenna turned her head trying to see, to track what had happened.
How the hell did I get shot?
McKenna tried to speak, but she felt herself being turned and looked up into two worried faces in uniforms and voices talking at her. Sudden exhaustion swept through her and she just wanted to close her eyes and go back to the darkness.
"Kenna, don't you dare pass out. Listen to me." JD loomed in front of her again, ignoring protests from the EMT's. "You need to focus. The bullet went into your chest as a cat, and I have no idea where it means the bullet landed in your human body. Looks like you get to be partially naked in public again."
Hands were pulling open her clothes and a spike of pain went through her again, but she swallowed the cry focusing on JD. The pain cut through the fog in her brain and she ignored the fingers probing into her chest.
"What happened?" Even in a whisper it came out harsh, demanding.
"Some lunatic in the crowd hit you with a taser and you shifted. In the ensuing panic," his voice got bitter and harsher than she'd ever heard him. "One of the idiotic security guards drew his gun and shot you."
She heard a muffled whine and tilted her head in that direction. One of the guards lay on the ground, no one touching him, blood running from his nose as he held his jaw.
"I might have decked him," JD's voice definitely resembled a gro
wl, and she choked back laughter, and even that little movement made her body ripple in pain.
"Hold still dammit," one of the EMT's cursed, and she looked at them. "Get her belt off, give her weapon to her partner." They were fighting with her uniform. Because of the interview, while they had worn weapons, they hadn't put on their bulletproof vests.
“Dammit,” she cussed as pain spiked as her belt slid off and they ripped the shirt open exposing, she knew, her beige bra to the people who were certain to be filming this. “Oh well, maybe people will send me money to buy La Perla,” she muttered as she tried not to move as they poked at the wound. It still hurt but compared to the pain it had been it seemed less.
An EMT snorted. “Dream on, that shit is expensive.”
McKenna laughed as she tried not to move. The need to look around and find the perp that tased her kept making her jerk her head.
“Who tased me? Why?” She asked more to distract herself than anything else.
“Don’t know. Male, I think. He got away in the chaos after you shifted.” JD stood near her, and she saw him constantly moving his head looking, bristling aggression.
“Dammit, how the hell is this possible?” One of the EMT’s muttered and her head jerked up.
“What?” Her voice sharp.
“You’ve started to heal, but the bullet is lodged deep inside because the wound started to close around the channel. You’re still bleeding, but now they’ll have to cut it open to get it out.” The EMT looked at her, half scared, half serious. “Remember that in the future. If you shift you heal, and it will lock it inside. And trust me you don’t want a bullet to stay in you. They are usually filthy.” He turned and nodded to JD. “We need to get her to the hospital, they are going to have to cut it out, and I have no idea where it lodged. She won’t bleed to death, but it could be someplace dangerous where if the bullet moves she dies.” He turned a serious gaze on her. “Largo, listen to me. I know it hurts, but the bleeding has stopped. The wound looks like it happened about five hours ago. But I can’t tell if you are bleeding internally or the path of the bullet. Your shifting twisted it. We need an X-ray and you need to get it out. So quit fussing, let your partner do his job.” The words were said even as they hoisted her on a gurney and fastened her in.