Cujo V – The Son Also Rises

Chapter 1

Here's a short one to start. This story is pretty much a continuation of Cujo IV which left a lot of stuff dangling. Intended to complete this before beginning to post but, as usual, am too impatient to do so and, considering the current political atmosphere, I think some distraction is needed.

Imaginary Beta is responsible for any booboos. SPNGran is serving more in the capacity of 'butt kicker' for this first chapter. It was greatly needed.

Disclaimer: No money was made and no animals were harmed in the writing of this tale. People however were greatly endangered.

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The Smell of Jolly Ranchers and Failure

Cujo yawned and stretched; fangs flashing in the light that poured onto the desktop. He sat up and blinked at the sunshine warming the spot on which he lay. There's nothing to do, he thought.

All the mice, lizards, and bugs had already been caught and eaten. With all the extra hunters around these days, game has been pretty scarce.

There aren't even any humans here to pet me! thought the gloomy feline.

Earlier, the tall man, (his own human) had yelled words and then all the humans had run out the door. Nothing was even chasing them!

Now, only the noisy little cats and their mother are here but she is in a bad mood and the little cats are annoying. The one that's the color of the sky when water falls down had jumped up onto the box with him and sat staring expectantly; looking for trouble – as usual.

My tail is not a toy! growled Cujo to the little intruder who'd immediately pounced on the furry appendage. Long ago, Five-0's rodent control officer had claimed the top of this box as part of his territory. Actually, everything here at the place with shiny ground is his territory but only his mate, (and of course the tall man), are allowed to sit on this box. The tall man didn't often sit on it though. He usually sat behind it on the thing that rolls and squeaks. Sometimes, in the biggest room, the humans had used the rolling squeaky things to play. They sat on them and then chased a paper ball with big sticks that had straw or strings on the ends. He ran after the paper ball too but they laughed at him and shooed him away. He hates to be laughed at! I am much better at chasing paper balls than they are! thought Cujo right before he was abruptly pulled back into the present by the sharp little teeth clamped onto his tail.

As usual, his warning had made no impression on the grey kitten who'd happily sunk his fangs into the wonderful new toy. With an indignant squawk the tail began to wave furiously about which, of course, made it even more fun.

Thought the owner of the tail, This is the most annoying of all the little cats! It always finds me no matter how well I hide! I must make it go away!

Cujo took a lazy swipe at the grey puffball to get it to stop but that just made it jump on top of him and start to bite his ears.

Alright! That's it! growled Five-0's rodent control officer. It's time to teach this little cat a lesson!

Rising to his feet Cujo hissed loudly and was just about to give his son a smart swat when the most beautiful of all cats sprang onto the desk and with claws sheathed, slapped him hard across his face.

Hey! I didn't do anything! he squawked in surprise at his mate. She hits hard!

The tabby gave him a look he recognized from past experience which meant, 'Don't try that again if you know what's good for you!'

The sleek red female, Queen Liliuokalani as she is formally known, sat staring at him darkly then turned to chirp at her mischievous son. The kitten immediately abandoned his attack on his father's ears. The red tabby jumped gracefully off the desk top and her son obediently followed her. The feisty kitten had no idea he'd barely avoided a lesson in cat culture - 'Don't mess with a tomcat, (especially your father), if he doesn't want you to.'

On the floor beside the desk, Lili paused to carefully inspect her offspring then ran her sandpaper tongue over his face before chirping again and turning to go out the door. He followed on her heels, having learned long ago to mind his mother's instructions. She is tough. All the cats, big and small, minded her. The kitten also learned that his father is pretty much all hiss and no bite. Of all the cats, he is the most fun to climb on and annoy.

Cujo, nose still smarting from his mate's slap, sat staring forlornly as she and his son trotted out to the hallway.

Everything is different now! Since the noisy little cats came she spends more time with them than me! His beautiful mate also wasn't interested in doing the 'wonderful thing' anymore. The thing that makes him feel even better than the dried leaves his human sometimes gives him. The thing that makes him feel like he's being petted all over his body by many paws at the same time. The thing that's maybe even better than eating little fishes. (He still hadn't decided though - the little fishes are really good!)

My female hasn't been fun for many, many, times of dark and light. The little cats eat my food and then climb all over me. If I growl at them to stop she gets mad at me. It's all different now. With a discouraged sigh, he plopped onto his side and began to bat idly at the few pieces of bent metal he'd managed to pull out of the thing that wouldn't tip over anymore. His human had made it somehow impossible to spill everything out onto the shiny ground. Try as he might, he couldn't push it off of the top of the big box. The other thing with the little sticks in it could still be tipped over but he'd already done that. The little sticks were fun because they made more noise than the metal things when they landed. There weren't as many of them but it was fun to watch the tall man talk to himself while he picked up all the little sticks. Sometimes his human would even say the name he recognized as his own but he didn't think it was said in a good way. Oh, well, it was still entertaining to watch the tall man crawl around looking for the little sticks that had hidden under the big box when they'd landed on the shiny ground.

Sometimes he could find other things to push onto the ground. One time on the big box that belonged to the loud man he'd found a round thing with little lumps wrapped in crackly paper in it. He'd pushed the round thing off then he'd chased all the crackly lumps that had fallen out of it. There were so many of them and they were all different colors and smells! They smelled like fruit and Cujo had come to the conclusion that they were probably treats for humans. He bit into one but it didn't taste very good because it was sour. Humans eat strange things.

Like other times, the loud man had yelled and chased him. The loud man didn't really run all that fast but he was always good for a game of chase . . . and words. Actually, there were some words he used a lot: 'evil', 'little', 'bastard'. That's what the loud man calls him so maybe they are part of his name? Does having many words in your name mean that you are more important than cats or humans with only one name? If that's so, then I am very important! thought Cujo.

He sat on his human's desk top and stared into space. The little cat had tired him out. He lazily considered exploring the loud man's room to see if there was anything to push off the big box. Of course, he'd have to get by the noisy little cats without getting pounced on. If they did pounce on him, he'd have to scold them and then his mate would get mad at him again. Probably not worth it, he sighed as he thought of his beautiful mate whose fur looks like the sky just before the dark comes. Her eyes are the color of new grass. She is the most beautiful of all cats but she is also kind of mean sometimes, especially when he tries to scold the noisy little cats. She hasn't been much fun since they came. Maybe it will change if they leave. Are they ever going to leave?

Cujo is still pondering the mysteries of his female, (unbeknownst to him some of the same mysteries pondered upon my mates of other species as well); when he hears the door to the big room outside open. Familiar footsteps tapped along in his direction. The hair on his tail immediately fuzzed-up and he growled.

Glancing around his human's room, he sees nowhere to run. He'll have to make his stand here!

…..

The only things evident in the suffocatingly hot Quonset hut were the rusted pieces of abandoned machinery embedded into the oily packed earth that served as its floor.

The bust had been a bust. Their intel was wrong and the WWII era corrugated structure is empty rather than filled with smugglers and their cargo. Dust motes danced in light leaking through grimy windows high up on its walls. Besides the smell of dirt and machine oil, the air in the old metal building was thick with the scent of failure.

Steve unfastened his TAC vest to let it hang loosely off one shoulder. The others had done much the same. With no need for them it was far too hot in here to keep that extra layer on. Tired, overheated and disappointed, the team straggled back toward their vehicles. The 'all clear' had been officially declared and their back-up, SWAT and HPD teams, were gathered in the adjacent parking area.

Taking a last, disgusted look around the empty space, Steve shook his head and snorted his disappointment then walked toward the door he'd kicked in only minutes before.

"Don't even!" he warned over his shoulder to Danny. He knew his partner would have something to say about the informant whose trustworthiness would make even Sang Min seem like a paragon of credibility.

Danny's only response was a smirk as they exited into the bright sunlight of a broiling Hawaiian afternoon. Not finding the bad guys was disappointing but maybe not getting shot at made up for it. At least Steve had waited for back-up this time.

Intending to join the knot of uniformed personnel gathered in the middle of the parking lot, they'd taken only two steps into the open when the crack of a rifle split the silence.

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Have four chapters completed and will try to update weekly. Would love to hear what you think of this first chapter.