Title: A WORLD BEYOND DREAMS
Author: ulyferal
Rating: K+
Warnings: Mild profanity and some violence.
Disclaimer: “SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron,” its characters and concepts are copyright to Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc and are used without permission.

Chapter 17: Inadvertent Magic

Sleeping shouldn't have been hard as tired as he was, but it was becoming impossible to find for Feral. It had taken all his will power to push his body to keep moving after the grueling session with the Fae.

After giving instructions to his assistant for managing the office the rest of the day, he struggled to walk the distance to the elevator and from the elevator through the lobby down the steps to his hummer. It was even harder to stay alert during the drive home, but he managed, barely. At his apartment, he parked, nearly crawled out of the car, locked it then walked slowly to the elevator, taking it to the top floor. Another short walk to his apartment and finally inside.

With the door locked, he pulled his coat and weapon off and let them drop to the floor. His tie, shirt, and t-shirt followed. Moving like he was encased in molasses, he went to the couch, sat, and tugged his boots off, then pants. Now stripped, he almost couldn't stand up again but forced himself to get up and move. His feet slid across the carpet, burning his feet a bit, but he was too tired to pick them up to walk properly.

In the kitchen he stood blankly, having difficulty concentrating on what to eat. Finally, he bestirred himself enough to get some milk and left overs from the fridge. He ate them cold and while standing up. Setting the can and empty dishes on the counter, he made his slow way to bed where he slid under the covers then sighed as he realized he'd left the kitchen light on but wasn't willing or able to crawl out and deal with it.

For the next hour he attempted to fall asleep, but it was impossible, he was simply too tired. He'd had this problem before, and it always left him barely functioning the next day.

Perhaps some warm milk might help. Then, he groaned as he realized it would mean getting up, and his body absolutely screamed, 'no way'. Now what do I do? His mind, the part that just wouldn't shut down, began to think of ways to get what he wanted, which was rather pathetic, but it clearly showed what kind of shape he was in.

Suddenly, his whirling thoughts were arrested by the fragrant scent of warm milk. Huh? He cracked his eyes opened and there, floating before his eyes, was a steaming mug. His brain was so fuzzed, it took him a minute to understand what he was seeing. Then, as if in a dream, he slowly raised his heavy arms to grasp the mug. Once he firmly had his paws around it, the mug settled, its full weight being felt by his fingers.

He stared at it in amazement then sipped the hot liquid. 'Ahhh... just right... but how...' his mind struggled for the answer then a light went off. 'Oh, I did it. All that magical learning has allowed me to do things by just wishing or thinking it. Wow! That's just amazing.' Then he paused and frowned. 'Ugh, and not so good either. I have to be very careful with my thoughts from now on or I could really turn Steele into a pretzel for real the next time he pisses me off. Hmm, actually that isn't a bad idea.'

Only a little disturbed where his thoughts were going, Feral finished his warm milk, set the empty mug on his night stand then settled into attempting sleep again. This time, however, he was in a better mood. Happy thoughts chased him into slumber as he realized how useful his new powers were going to be.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Callie's body felt like lead, and she found herself unable to lift her arms up enough to undress. It had been a terrible trial just getting home, but now that she was here, she couldn't find the strength to do anything more.

As she stood there in the center of her living room, swaying on her feet, a wishful thought of someone big and hunky stripping her clothes off, drawing her a hot bath and dressing her for bed followed by a hot meal flitted longingly through her tired brain.

"Yea, right and pigs will fly," she mumbled aloud. Suddenly, gentle paws were pulling on her clothes. She yelped in shock but was so tired she could only blink stupidly at the incredible looking male dressed in some kind of Arabian Nights sort of clothing, who was slowly disrobing her.

"Wha... who the hell are you?" she managed to blurt out.

"I am your slave, mistress. You wished assistance to ready yourself for sleep. I am here to do that for you," he said in a pleasant tenor voice. Then, he continued to pull her clothes off her. All she could do was gape at him and let him do what he wanted as she just didn't have any more strength in her body to do more than stare.

In minutes, the handsome slave had all her clothes off and was carrying her to the bathroom where a hot bath was already waiting. He gently lowered her into the tub. She groaned at how wonderful the hot water felt as all the soreness was pulled away... it was heaven.

Her mind was mostly off line by now, so she never noticed when he soaped her whole body, washed her hair, then rinsed her off before lifting her out and carrying her over to a vanity bench to sit so he could towel off most of the water then held her under the dryer to finish the job.

Dry and limp as a noodle, she felt him carry her again and lay her on her already opened bed. He settled her into a seated position with many plump pillows to support her. She didn't want to think where the extra pillows had come from. She was still trying to grasp if this was a dream or real. No way would she allow some unknown male to see her naked and do all this to her.

But, here she was accepting all this wonderful pampering. She stared at him as he looked down at her in satisfaction then flicked his fingers and a tray with a bowl of hot soup, a salad, and something steaming from a mug appeared across her lap.

"Would you wish to be hand fed, mistress, or feed yourself?" the handsome male asked, politely.

She blinked up at him for a long, confused moment, trying to process what he'd said. "Uh... I think I can manage on my own," she finally managed to say.

"As you wish." He stood beside the bed with his arms crossed over his impressive chest and waited like a statue.

Staring at him in bemusement, she began to eat the food. It was delicious and filled her empty belly, and the hot drink turned out to be some kind of tea that relaxed her further. She was well past wanting to shut her eyes and sleep but was still disturbed by her 'slave'.

"Um, thank you. That was wonderful. I think I can sleep now," she said, uneasily.

He nodded and smiled, picked up the tray and said, "You are welcome, mistress; sleep well." Then he and the tray disappeared and the light in the room turned out abruptly except for a small lamp next to her. She sat there in shock. After a long moment and a quick look around her room, she shook her head, took off her glasses and put them in their case, then reached out and turned out her lamp.

She slipped under her covers and, as her eyes began to close, it was then she realized what had happened. 'Well how do you like that? I didn't know my magic could do something like making a slave to do my bidding. How incredible!' Still stunned by the whole thing, she drifted to sleep, unable to fight it any longer.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Late the next morning, two still tired and newly skilled at magic individuals woke to greet the day.

Feral blinked blearily at his alarm clock a moment before it registered that it hadn't gone off and it was well after ten in the morning. He lunged up in shock.

"Kat's Alive! I never oversleep. Crud, I must have really been wracked out," he grumbled, throwing his bedding off and stalking to the bathroom.

In a high rise condo, sleepy green eyes blinked aware while a paw fumbled around for her glasses. Putting them on, she stared blankly at her clock. Her eyes widened in disbelief.

"Wha... I must have really been tired to sleep this long and why hasn't the Mayor called me by now?" she wondered, dismayed and annoyed.

Shoving the covers off herself, she yawned then began to get up, freezing seconds later when a sudden idea came to her. I wonder... she thought a moment then closed her eyes again and ordered her thoughts into a specific command.

Opening her eyes, she looked down at herself. Her mouth opened in an 'O' of pleased amazement. "Yes!" She was now clean, brushed, and dressed for work. All she had to do was take a quick potty break and eat some breakfast. Getting up, she made her way to the bathroom.

"I think I could get used to this," she said aloud, smiling.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

When Feral walked into his headquarters, he got odd looks. He ignored them, his mind more on trying to catch up his work before he went to another training session. When he entered his office, he was annoyed to find Steele sitting there going through the files.

Steele shot to his feet and eyed his commander worriedly. "Sir! Are you alright? When you didn't come in yesterday or called, I was..."

"What are you talking about?" Feral interrupted, confused.

"Sir, you've been gone since the afternoon of your lessons on Tuesday; it's now Thursday."

"Kat's Alive! I slept the clock around." Feral was stunned. Hurrying to the desk, Steele moving quickly off or be run over by his boss, the big tom grabbed his radio and called the comm center.

"Open a general Enforcer frequency for me," he barked at the dispatcher. Moments later, he was given the go ahead to speak. "T-Bone... contact me immediately on my cell!"

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Callie strode through the lobby and caught an elevator to the top floor. Feeling relaxed and rested, her mind was already on what she needed to get done before the afternoon's training session as she walked into her offices.

"Ms. Briggs!" her secretary exclaimed. "We were worried about you. When you didn't show yesterday for work, the Mayor and I weren't certain if you were coming back or were still in training, and no one could answer our questions at Enforcer Headquarters."

"Didn't show for work?" Callie gaped at her in confusion.

"Yes, ma'am. It's Thursday."

"Oh no! I lost an entire day!" Callie was stunned. Shaking her head in disbelief, she said, "Sorry, Alice. I didn't realize the training would drain me that badly. I was sleeping all this time. Anything happen while I was gone?"

Her secretary sighed in relief and smiled, shaking her head. "No, Ms. Briggs. Fortunately, it was very peaceful yesterday and, so far, today."

"Well that's good to know. Get me some coffee, please, and I'll dig into my work. Oh, and is the Mayor in?"

"No, ma'am. He's at the golf course," she gave a pained smile, knowing how much the deputy mayor hated being left with all the work. Nobody liked the fact his honor would always take off, especially the mayor's own secretary.

Callie sighed. Yea, that's typical. She went to her office and closed the door. Pawing through her purse, she searched for the SK comm. Finding it, she clicked the button and called, "T-Bone, you there?"

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Wednesday morning...

A grumpy but not tired Chance got up the next morning around eight.

"Well, nice to see you no longer look like the dead after a grueling training session," his partner chirped, eating cereal at their breakfast table.

The big tabby snorted. "Yea, I've finally got enough stamina to handle it now. The other two are still going to feel the effects today, I'm sure." He sat down at the table, made a light gesture and a breakfast of milk, eggs, toast, bacon, pancakes and steak appeared... piping hot and ready to eat.

Jake nearly spat out his mouthful of cereal. "I wish you wouldn't do that; it's so unsettling."

"I'm supposed to use magic at all opportunities including simple things like making my breakfast," Chance reminded him, amused by his friend's reaction.

Jake could only shake his head. "So, your plans for today are to continue their training then leave by tomorrow?" he asked carefully.

"That's the idea. I really have to be going. I wish I knew the true situation over there rather than just be dropped into it," the tabby sighed, picking up a piece of bacon and stuffing it in his mouth, his expression worried.

"Yea, I know that truly sucks, but I also know you'll do your best to fix things if you can," Jake said sincerely.

"Thanks."

They ate their breakfast in silence after that, and, when he was done, Chance just made everything disappear then headed for the hangar. His first call was on the comm to Callie, but he got no response. Frowning, he made a call to Feral's personal cell but again got no answer. Becoming concerned, he called the Mayor's office and was told Ms. Briggs had not come in. Making the same call to Feral's assistant, he got the same answer.

Shaking his head, he looked over at the clock. It was going on nine. Feral would have been at work by seven and Ms. Briggs arriving right now. Concerned, he sent himself to their homes, easily locating them by their magical signatures.

He popped into Feral's apartment first. It was quiet. He made for the bedroom and found the big tom sprawled across his bed, dead asleep. Going over to the bed, Chance reached down and shook the tom hard, but Feral didn't respond. No way would he fail to react to someone in his apartment much less shaking him, so Feral was obviously far too out of it still.

Dismayed, Chance left the tom to sleep. Appearing in Callie's condo next, he feared he would find the same state of affairs and wasn't surprised to see he was right. The beautiful she-kat was buried in her bedding fast asleep. Snorting in annoyance now, he returned home, startling his partner, who had been looking for him.

"What the hell, Chance? Where were you?"

"Checking on my students. They are dead to the world. No way will they be able to wake up until tomorrow."

"Really? Wow, you must have really pushed them beyond their limits then," Jake said, quietly.

Chance just hissed and ran frustrated fingers through his hair. "I'd better inform my uncle," he grumbled and stalked off toward the room he used for training.

Jake watched his irate partner stomp off. The delay was actually a good thing... for him. It meant he had a little more time to insure he'd loaded everything they would need in the jet for the other dimension, including personal things for himself. He didn't want to rely on anyone there to provide him with basic necessities. Since Chance's people could conjure whatever they required, they might forget he couldn't and he might find himself starving a time or two, so it might be a good idea to stock some freeze dried stuff. He went off to do that while his friend was occupied.

Chance closed the heavy door to the concrete chamber behind him and summoned his uncle.

"Good morrow, my prince," Prince Conall said promptly.

"It's not a good one for me, Uncle. Our two students are still sound asleep and nothing short of a bomb will wake them, so we're delayed for another day at least," Chance huffed.

"I see. Well, it can't be helped, nephew. They did work hard and gave all they had. It was really too much to expect their bodies to manage the severe drain that quickly. Since we can't do the training, I think it a good idea to go over the possible strategies the Queen might be using, discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the Dark King, and anything else I can think of that will be of benefit to you. Then we'll do some more sword work," Conall decided.

Chance sighed mentally and prepared to listen and learn.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Thursday morning...

Chance was in the garage working on a car to fill the time in when the Enforcer Band Radio toned, then a message from Feral sang out. Wiping his paws off, he went to the phone and called Feral's cell.

"T-Bone here. You alert and ready to work again, Commander?" he asked before Feral could speak.

"I only learned I'd slept the clock around. Why didn't you wake me?" Feral asked, grumpily.

"Believe me, I tried. You and Ms. Briggs just couldn't wake up. Don't beat yourself up about it. It took me weeks to build the stamina to handle what you went through. I haven't head from her yet, but I'm guessing since you're up she may be too. Let's plan on one o'clock for the training session; that will give you the morning to catch up on your work, eat a hardy lunch, then clock out the rest of the day," the tabby ordered him.

Feral rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fine, see you later."

He hung up; what else could he say anyway? A second later, he groaned. 'Crud, this means I'll be sleeping through Friday. Guess I better plan on working the weekend.' He reached for his intercom and had his secretary call Steele and Sgt Fallon. He needed to brief them on his planned absence.

As Chance hung up the phone, the alert phone rang. He rolled his eyes, 'well there she is,' he said to himself as he answered it.

Jake had responded too, but Chance just waved him off. His partner nodded and returned to the vehicle he had been working on.

"Hello, Ms. Briggs. Feeling rested?"

"I'm so sorry, T-Bone. I didn't even know I had lost a day until I came into work just now."

"I know. Just got off with Feral who was equally shocked at finding that out. Don't worry about it. I should've expected that to happen since it took me time to adjust to that kind of workout myself. I've already told Feral training will commence at one today. Please eat more than you normally would and plan on signing out for the day and most likely the next too. I'll see you both later, okay?"

"Alright, later then," Callie sighed then heard the connection close. She put the comm away in her purse just as her secretary entered with her coffee and more documents to add to her mounting workload. 'Guess I'm working this weekend.' Echoing Feral's resigned thought.