#kat mom kano

[sketchy-doge1]

Sleepy 'ead,,

[what-does-the-foxy-say]

Stryking Emotions Ch. 5

"Jin did what?!"

Kat almost dropped her communicator in shock from Cassie's update in Outworld. 

"Yup," Cassie confirmed over the communicator. "Jin ended up fighting Kotal Kahn all over a bread thief."

"I mean," Kat paused so she could pass a bowl of soup to a mother and child. "I kinda agree with Jin; execution is a little extreme for food theft. But he's lucky he won; otherwise, we'd probably have a whole other trouble on our hands."

"Speaking of trouble, I should probably report to mom before she finds out I called you first."

"Alright, be safe, Cassie. Stryker out."

"Cage out."

She hung up and put her communicator back in her pocket, and let out a sigh. From Cassie's explanation, they'd probably not be back for some time.

"Everything alright?"

Kat looked up. Standing beside her table was a refugee woman with black hair and a tired smile. Kat returned the smile as she grabbed an empty bowl.

"Just talking to my sister, I offered to stay here and help while she went out."

"Oh," the woman said, accepting the soup. "Do you usually work with your sister?"

"Actually, I just recently found out she's my sister," Kat admitted with a laugh. "It's a long story, but we're basically playing catch up now."

"Oh, how sweet," the woman said with a smile as she turned to leave. Kat smiled back as she turned her focus to the line of people that began to form. She was halfway through the line when she noticed Sonya approaching her.

"Stryker, can you come with me?"

"Of course," Kat said, letting a soldier that was following behind Sonya take over as she followed Sonya to a tent. Inside was Johnny and Kenshi standing at a table where a body bag was laid out. Sonya led Kat over to the bag and pulled the zipper down. Kat's eyes widened when she saw the body.

It was the woman Kat had talked to less than half an hour ago.

"You've been passing out food for most of the day. Do you recognize this woman?" Sonya asked, looking at Kat with an unreadable expression. Kat knew that look; some of the officers in homicide would take on that look when interrogating suspects to keep their emotions in check.

"I do; I talked to her not too long before you came to me," Kat explained, frowning when she saw Kenshi and Johnny share a look. Sonya's expression hardened, and Kat noticed her fingernails were digging into her crossed arms.

"What did you talk about?" Her tone made Kat bristle. She sounded like a mother scolding a child. 

"What does it matter?"

"Stryker, this is serious. I-"

"No," Kat cut her off. "What's serious is a dead woman right here; what does it matter what we talked about while she was alive?"

Before Sonya could reply, Johnny cut in.

"I told you, you need to tell her."

"Tell me what?" Kat looked between Sonya and Johnny. Sonya was glaring at Johnny as Kenshi let out a sigh.

"We need to know because if what you said is true, you were speaking to an imposter. This woman has been dead for a few hours, according to the medic."

Kat's eyes widened at Kenshi's explanation. How could someone impersonate this woman? Was this the person Sonya was talking about earlier?

"Just tell her about Kano, Sonya!"

"She doesn't need to know!"

Kat's attention returned to Johnny and Sonya, who were in the middle of an argument. Sonya looked furious as she yelled about keeping Kat out of it at Johnny. Immediately Kat moved between them and glared at Sonya.

"That's enough; just because I found out you're my mom doesn't mean you can treat me like I'm the child you never raised. Right now, I'm an officer that deserves to know who killed this woman." 

Sonya was silent, staring at Kat with a frown. For a moment, the tent was quiet as mother and daughter stared each other down. Finally, Sonya's voice broke the silence.

"Kenshi, take Cage and prepare some sign-in tables. Keep an eye out for this woman."

Kat could see Johnny wanted to speak up but followed Kenshi out of the tent. Sonya turned her head to watch them go. As soon as the tent flap fluttered shut, Sonya sighed, looking back at Kat. The stern General facade she kept up had gone, leaving a visibly exhausted Sonya in her wake.

"You're right; I should apologize. Suddenly having you here threw me off. You deserve to know." 

She gestured for Kat to follow her over to a nearby computer, where she sat down and opened a file containing her file on Kano.

"His name is Kano; he's a member of a group called the Black Dragon. He's extremely dangerous and is skilled at evading arrest. I've been tracking him for years."

Kat frowned as she stared at the candid photo of Kano. She could tell just by the smirk on his face this man was dangerous. Sonya took this moment to take a good look at Kat. She could see so much of Kurtis in her features, and yet, seeing Kat with a braid similar to her own, it's evident that Kat was her daughter, which means if Kano had talked to Kat, he would have already figured that out by now. 

With Kat leaning closer to read the file, Sonya noticed a square item dangling from a chain around her next. Reaching out, she gently held the swinging object steady as she looked at the familiar numbers on the badge.

"Is this Kurtis' badge?" 

Kat looked down at Sonya as she ran her thumb over the numbers. She noticed Sonya smiling softly as if remembering a fond memory.

"It's not his original; grandma said the other officers told her they couldn't find his body. They gave her a replica of his badge to honor him. I found it in the attic a few years before I moved out and have kept it on me since."

"You know, Kurtis called me once saying he used his badge number to try his hand at the lottery. He told me he won fifty dollars and took you to the toy store and was upset you wanted-"

"A Johnny Cage action figure," Kat finished, smiling at the memory as Sonya chuckled. "He hated those movies so much, but I begged him to watch them with me."

"Would you believe he blamed me for your love of those movies?" Sonya said with a smile. "He insisted that as soon as you watched Ninja Mime once, you were hooked, and you had to have gotten it from me."

"Well, you did marry Johnny, so he might be right," Kat laughed, surprised it was so easy to talk about her dad with Sonya when she usually felt upset when mentioning him.

Sonya sighed, letting the badge go and standing up. She hesitated as she raised a hand, reaching out to touch Kat. When Kat showed no resistance, she brushed a stray hair behind Kat's ear before placing her hand on Kat's cheek.

"When we leave this tent, I'll make sure to treat you like an officer before a daughter. I also promise from now on; there won't be any secrets between us. If you need to ask me anything as your mom before we leave, you can ask now."

She had so much to ask; why did she leave? Why did she never look for Kat? Did she regret having her? All these thoughts were racing through her mind, but she only had one question in the front of her mind.

"Did you love dad?"

Instead of immediately answering or reassuring her instantly, Sonya paused as if trying to find the right words to say.

"I did, and even after being with Johnny, a part of me still does. It might sound cheesy, but your father was my first love." Sonya let go of Kat's cheek and gently took her hand. "I need you to know, when I had you, it was one of the happiest moments of my life. It killed me to be separated from you. But it's because of my goal of taking down Kano I had to stay away from you both to keep you safe. If Kano found out about you and used you to get to me, it would haunt me for the rest of my life."

Sonya's explanation made sense; that was why she wanted to know what Kat said to the imposter woman. It still stung that she missed so many years getting to know Sonya, but her safety was more important.

"I understand," Kat said, wiping away tears that threatened to fall. "Thank you for telling me." The warm feeling in Kat's chest made her smile. She hadn't felt this happy since her dad was alive. She wished Cassie was here so she could talk to her.

At that moment, Kenshi stepped in.

"We have everything set up, General."

Sonya's General persona returned as she nodded at Kenshi, telling him to wait outside for her. Before she dropped it to speak to Kat.

"Take your time before coming out. When you're ready, meet us at the tables we have set up; I could use your help catching Kano."

Kat nodded, watching as Sonya began to walk to the tent entrance. She wanted to call out to her, say what she's been wanting to call her since she found out. But the word remained caught in her throat as she watched Sonya step out of the tent.

----------------------------------------------

Sonya's eyes traveled across the lines of people like a hawk. Kat and Kenshi stood at her side, keeping watch as well. Once in a while, her eyes would drift to Kat as she thought about their conversation earlier. While she said she would treat Kat like an officer, she didn't know if she could keep that up when confronting Kano.

Do not worry; Katherine can take care of herself

Kenshi's voice in her head did nothing to reassure her. Until Kano was found, she couldn't rest easy, knowing both Kat and Cassie were at risk.

"General." She heard Kat whisper as she pointed to one of the lines. Near the middle of the line, trying to hide between two taller people was a woman who looked exactly like the murdered woman.

"Gotcha," Sonya said with a smirk, gesturing for Kat and Kenshi to fan out. Kenshi went left, Kat right, while Sonya made a beeline to the woman. As soon as she noticed Sonya coming, she attempted to escape by pushing through another line but was stopped by Kenshi. When she looked back, Kat had stepped up to block the way around. With a smirk, the image of the woman dropped, and in her place stood Kano, smirking at Sonya.

"Hello love, been a while."

"Not long enough," she replied, calling for backup at her location. As she spoke into her radio, Kano's attention turned to Kat. 

"Well, well, now that I can get a better look at you, you're the spitting image of your mother. Have you been hiding this one from me?" 

"Lay even a finger on her, and you'll regret it," Sonya growled as Kano laughed.

"Hello, love," Kano said to Kat with a sickly sweet grin. "You can call me Uncle Kano."

"No thanks," replied Kat. At her side, Blitz gave a warning growl. "If I had an uncle, he probably wouldn't be a murderous scumbag like you."

"Well then, how about we have a trade, mom," Kano said, turning back to Sonya. "Information for freedom."

"Like Katherine said, I don't negotiate with scumbags." Sonya stepped forward to restrain Kano but paused when she saw him reaching for his knife.

"Well then, if mother won't play nice…," he said as he pointed his knife at Kat. Sonya felt her heart stop, memories of losing her partner at Kano's hands rushing through her mind. 

"Maybe the daughters will."

"If you ever-" Sonya growled, stepping forward while Kano continued to smirk. 

"Back off, and all is well. Piss me off, and it'll be Cassie's turn to meet Uncle Kano."

"I swear to god I'm gonna kill you," she said, dropping all pretense of a composed General. Right now, she was not only a furious mother but an avenging friend.  Before Kano could say another word, she moved in close, delivering a solid punch right into his nose. He grunted in pain, wiping the blood off his upper lip with a grin.

"Well, looks like mother does want to play after all."

Sonya ducked and dodged as he slashed at her with his knife. She could faintly hear Kat shout her name and Kenshi shouting for Kat to stay back. After an attempt to drive the knife into her stomach, Sonya grabbed his arm, yanking him forward and bringing her knee up to slam into his lower jaw. As he fell back, slamming his head against the concrete, she brought her boot down onto his chest, faintly hearing a crack as a rib broke. Kano lay unmoving on the ground; the only indication he was still alive was the rise and fall of his chest.

Sonya's body urged her to continue, to crush all his ribs under her boot and let him drown in his own blood. She held back the urge. Looking around for the backup she requested. When she realized they hadn't arrived yet, she turned her attention to Kat.

"Katherine, cuff him and wait here with Kenshi; I'll be back with the MP."

Kat nodded, and Sonya waited until the handcuffs were securely around Kano's wrists before she turned to leave. She had taken about three steps away when she heard Kenshi shout.

"Kathrine! Get away from him!"

Sonya quickly turned around. Just in time to see Kano sit up as a red beam pierced through Kat's chest.

[sketchy-doge1]

Bein a mom's hard sometimes :P

[sketchy-doge1]

Here have a redraw of both Kano's being cute w/ cats <3

[sketchy-doge1]

Kat mom Kano