Splitting Heirs

Tale Spin Fan Fic

by Katie Sullivan

Chapter 7

10 Oct 1945 -- 10:34 P.M.

Sue looked at her watch again, then back to the wall clock, assuring herself that the time was correct. No, there was no mistaking it. Kit was late. Very late.

The young panda slammed her desk drawer closed, locked it, and grabbed her pullover sweater. She knew when she was being stood up, and she wasn't about to sit around like a fool waiting for him. It had come to her attention long ago that flying was more important to Kit than she was. Apparently he had decided not to wait for her to finish her work.

Affecting an angry, disgusted air, Sue clicked off the light switch and left the office.

11 Oct 1945 -- 2:06 A.M.

On the northern side of Cape Suzette, a silent airfield spread out beneath under the stars. Lines of freshly-polished planes shone in the moonlight, each with a distinctive "SK" logo.

In a black car across the street, a vixen smiled slyly to herself. "You know, querido, Shere Khan and I have the same initials. Shere Khan, Scarlet Karnage!"

In the driver's seat, her husband remained peering through binoculars at the airfield. A cluster of shadowy figures were gathered at the fence. "A most astute observation, mi amor." He lowered the binoculars with a satisfied grin. "Ah, good. They are through the fence." In the darkness, they could just make out Ratchet, Dumptruck, Mad Dog, Gibber and Hacksaw slipping through a newly-cut hole in the fence. "Now let us just hope those idiots can do this correctly."

Scarlet reached into her purse for a small candy. "How hard can it be to wreck a bunch of planes? Those imbeciles wreck their own planes all the time without even trying!"

"Do not attempt to use logic on them. I cannot count on them for anything. That is why I am here in my person."

He was quiet for awhile, watching his crew in action. Scarlet sensed he was preoccupied. Finally, she put a hand on his knee. "Querido?"

"Yes?"

"What's going on with Kit?"

"He found our base of operations. We must keep him lock-ed up so he cannot go warning the police."

"And?"

"And what?"

"And what happened while you were alone?"

"Nothing."

"For a pirate, you can be a rotten liar sometimes."

He frowned. "I do not want to talk about it."

She smiled a little. "That excuse has never worked with me before, you know."

He merely frowned and resumed looking through the binoculars.

"You're not going to kill him, are you?"

No reply.

"Answer me, Felipe."

Karnage sighed heavily, neither wanting to discuss it nor explain it to her. "He betrayed me, ruined my plans time and time again, and, and-- I will not have him interfacing with my plans again! Never!"

"That's 'interfering'. And it still doesn't mean you have to kill him. Just keep him locked up until after the attack. Please, querido, he's just a--"

"Kit Cloudkicker is not just anything!" he snapped, finally dropping the binoculars and turning to her. "Never underestimate that boy, Scarlet. Never. He may be young, but he can cause more troubles than you can imagine!"

"And...he would've made a great pirate," she said knowingly.

He was briefly taken aback, then nodded. "Yes. Yes, he would have." He quietly added a Spanish curse.

"But he's just one more person in your life who's rejected you, and so you hate him."

"He betrayed me! Double-crossed me! Made me look weak and stupid! Stole from me! Ruined the greatest opportunity of my whole piratical career! And...and who gave you a license in psy-- psyc-- er, headshrinking?"

"Felipe, I'm just trying to--"

"Well, don't. This is between me and the boy."

She sat back and looked away, her already fragile emotions at the breaking point. "I just-- I just don't want you to kill him. You know I hate that. I understand pirates need to do those sorts of things sometimes. Lorenzo, I understand. Baltsaros, I would have killed myself if I could have. But this is different. You'd be murdering him in cold blood. I don't--" She swallowed to force back tears. "I just don't want you to do it. Our child, and--" She paused to recompose herself.

"What? You think I would hurt our child? Scarlet, I would kill a thousand Kit Cloudkickers to keep you and that baby from harm. You know that. I do what I have to do. I am a pirate. You are a pirate. It is the way of things."

It was obvious he was in his I-am-the-Captain-and-anyone-who-dares-to-question-me-shall-be-hurt-in-many-nasty-ways frame of mind. Scarlet shook her head disapprovingly and turned away. After all, it was hard to argue with him when he pledged to protect her and their child from all danger. The problem was, she didn't think Kit Cloudkicker was a danger. It was merely a justification for something that, deep in the core of his being, he felt was wrong. But saying that was bound to make him even angrier, so she decided to hold her tongue...for now. The baby was restless, and she gently rubbed her stomach to quiet it. She was a wife. She could manipulate him in other ways besides petty arguing.

They watched in silence as the others moved carefully through the airfield, systematically snipping wires and knocking machinery loose in Khan's planes. They had wanted to just smash the planes, but Karnage finally managed to convince them that subtle sabotage was best. This way, Khan's pilots wouldn't notice any damage until they attempted to take flight to combat the Iron Vulture. By then, it would be too late for repairs.

Proving that Dame Fortune occasionally even smiles on pirates, the sabotage mission went flawlessly. When each and every plane in the airfield was incapacitated, they slipped back through the chain link fence, which Ratchet then repaired as best he could with a pair of pliers. Thanks to his handiwork, no one would notice the damage unless they closely inspected it. When this was done, the pirates scrambled back into a rickety van. The headlights turned on, and they drove away down the road at a normal, law-abiding pace. It was all done in less than the time it took for the Khan sentry to complete one patrol.

Don Karnage waited a few minutes to lessen the likelihood of being connected with the van of saboteurs, then turned the key in the ignition. He wasn't the best of drivers, really, never having had formal training. He was much more comfortable behind the stick of a plane than the wheel of a car. But Scarlet was even more inept than he, so he did all the driving.

They maintained their uncomfortable silence during the whole ride back to the Fritz Carlton, in the elevator, and for several minutes upon returning to their penthouse. Karnage stood at the window, looking out over the galaxy of city lights. The moon was in its last quarter. In the harbor, a massive ocean liner was steaming in to port.

Scarlet peeked into the other room, squinting into the darkness. Kit appeared to be dozing. He was still tied tightly to the chair, but his head lolled limply to the side, and his breathing was steady. He looked harmless enough.

She went to her husband's side and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm going to bed. I suggest you do the same."

He barely acknowledged her.

11 Oct 1945 -- 3:47 A.M.

Scarlet blinked open her eyes and squinted at the clock. She hadn't slept all that long. Still plenty of time before sunrise. Why was she awake?

There was a sharp jab in her stomach, a tiny foot pressing from within.

Ow. That was why. Her little soccer player was at it again. She gently ran her hands over her belly, hoping to quiet it. It was only then that she realized what else was out of place. The other half of the bed was empty.

She strained her ears and heard the sound of a newspaper rustling in the other room. Faint light trickled in under the door. She double-checked the clock. Ten to four. It seemed her husband was fighting insomnia again. Not surprising, really, but inconvenient.

She half-considered getting up to see if he was all right. Before she could muster the energy, however, the newspaper gave a last, loud fit of rustling, a chair slid a small distance across the floor, and the light in the other room disappeared. Soon the door opened, and Karnage's presence filled the bedroom.

"Are you okay?" she mumbled sleepily.

He made a non-commital noise and flopped down beside her without bothering to take down his half of the blankets.

"We were getting worried," Scarlet said.

"We?"

"The baby and I."

"It, uh...told you that?" His voice carried a hint of a smile, although it was too dark to see for certain.

She took his hand and placed it on her round stomach. "Yes. Feel that?"

"It kicked me!"

"Mmm hmm. It knows you're upset."

"So it kicked me."

"Well, its communication skills are still a little limited. But it wants you to know that it doesn't think you should kill Kit."

"Oh, it does, does it?"

"It does."

He sighed. "Scarlet--"

"Don't. Don't say anything. Just feel that."

"It's still kicking."

"I know. Ow. Believe me, I know. But feel that, Felipe. That's a brand-new life. A new beginning for all three of us. Think about it. Please. You don't need to do this. To Kit, I mean."

He withdrew his hand and rolled over so he was facing away from her. "You have made your point, Scarlet. But this is a decision for me to be making on my own. Good-night."

After several long seconds, she decided she was too tired to debate any longer, and simply echoed, "Good-night." Then all was silence, broken only by the sound of their breathing and the ticking of the alarm clock.

Chapter 8
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