“That’s it, Callahan you’re done… out… I’ve had enough of your bullshit” Danvers screamed, his face literally turning red. “Chill out, I caught the guy and everything’s fine” Callahan replied casually. “NO, everything is not fine. You just fucked up the prince and now we might have to go to a court hearing about your actions” Danvers screamed, Callahan let out a sigh “bah, it’ll be fine” Callahan replied.
“You’re right it will be fine, hand in your badge, you’re fired, off the force…get out and don’t come back” Danvers screamed and Callahan’s face went pale. “Well… what are you still doing here, get out of my station” Danvers screamed and Callahan reluctantly got up and went back to his office and started to clean out his small office. Johnny zipped inside his office “hey uhh Callahan listen me and some of the others heard and pitched in and got you this” Johnny told Callahan and presented him with a small gift box.
Callahan nodded and took the box gracefully “thanks John” Callahan said as he finished cleaning up and patted Johnny on the shoulder. “Hey Callahan… see you around eh” Johnny said with sadness in his voice, Callahan nodded “yeah, take of yourself kid” Callahan said as he left his office and walked downstairs to leave the station, hoping that he’d somehow miraculously get his job back.
Callahan placed his things in the back of his car and chuckled, he’d have to get the sirens removed but at least it wouldn’t be that expensive. Callahan drove up to the exit gate and Bill gave him a nod goodbye and Callahan returned the goodbye with a solemn nod and salute and drove out into the Brooklyn streets, returning to his home.
Callahan parked his car in the alleyway but didn’t leave the car, he simply sat there in his car for the next 2 hours, realizing
that his life had hit a possible dead end. “What am I going to do with myself?” he muttered. He looked over to the small gift the others had given him and unwrapped it. Inside was a small pendant necklace of a howling wolf. Callahan put the necklace around his neck, he found a card in the bottom of the box and picked it up. As he looked at it the card wrote ‘You may be a lone wolf…’ and Callahan opened the card and there were the names of multiple other officers along with a little quote that read ‘but you were our pack leader’. A lone tear trickled down Callahan’s face and he stifled his tears.
Leaving the majority of his stuff in the car, he locked the car and proceeded upstairs towards his house. The necklace dangled from his neck and he held the card tightly, making sure he didn’t drop it. “At least I have a nice place to come home to” Callahan muttered and went upstairs. He went to open the door but remembered that he and Jimmy had gotten a new lock for the door.
Callahan chuckled and pulled out a set of keys and opened his door. Closing the door behind his Callahan simply dropped his trench coat on the floor and kicked off his boots. Squeak lay on the table but wasn’t looking the greatest. Callahan rushed over to his rat friend “Squeak… what’s wrong?” Callahan asked and Squeak let out a weakened reply. Callahan looked to the clock and realized it was 8:30 and the veterinarian clinic was closed. “First thing in the morning I’ll bring you to the vet” Callahan promised and Squeak let out a pained reply “yes I know you hate needles but if it’s stomach pain it could be really bad… can rats get a hernia?” Callahan asked and Squeak’s eyes opened wide in fear. Callahan reassured his friend “I don’t think it’s anything serious so let’s just calm down and watch some T.V.” Callahan told his friend as he picked up the rat and laid him down on the couch’s armrest.
He flicked the T.V. on to the Manehatten COPS show and they were playing an episode about Callahan’s chase with Blueblood. Squeak let out a tiny squeak and Callahan nodded “yeah Danvers fired me… don’t worry though things will work themselves out” Callahan replied as he lay down on the couch and fell asleep rather quickly.
* * *
Callahan awoke rather early and looked to the clock, it read 6:12am. Callahan got up, he knew that the veterinarian clinic didn’t open until 9am so he had a few hours to kill. Callahan took a shower and washed the sickened Squeak so he’ be a little more appealing. He laid Squeak down in the litter box and walked over to the fridge and pulled out some milk and poured himself a glass.
It was only morning and yet it was relentlessly hot. Callahan groaned and walked over to the balcony door and opened it, air rushed through the door and it felt slightly cooler. Callahan walked back over to the kitchen and ran cold water through his mane and placed his head in the sink, “maybe I should just drown myself” Callahan muttered. He shook off the thought and took his heard out of the sink and shook his head, water splashing about in the kitchen and Callahan turned off the sink and leaned up against the refrigerator and looked out to the big city.
“This place is going to be different let me tell you” Callahan muttered but suddenly a white flash of fur zipped into his house through the balcony door and let out a hiss. It was that fuckin Persian cat that killed Callahan’s first rat. Callahan rushed into the living room and saw the cat leap for Squeak who sat helplessly in the litter box. “You stupid fuckin animal” Callahan roared as he ran towards the cat. The cat lept through the air at Squeak, its tiny cat claws extended, as it went for the kill.
It would be the last mistake it ever made, Callahan was faster now than he had been before and gave the cat a mighty kick as it flew through the air. The force of Callahan’s kick forced the cat’s trajectory to be changed drastically and it flew in and opposite direction and thudded against the wall. Callahan let out an animalistic snarl and the cat hissed, the Persian cat wanted that rat but Callahan stood in its way.
The cat lept daringly through the air and caught onto Callahan’s face and began to claw at his face, hoping to strike his eyes and blind him. Callahan ran his face into a wall and the cat screeched in pain and let go of Callahan’s face. Callahan’s face trickled with blood, but his eyes were still clear as the sky. The cat lept out again but Callahan grabbed it with one of his front hoofs and slammed its body into a wall, the drywall broke from the force of the impact and a large hole was put into the wall, the cat bit Callahan’s hoof and he released his grip on the cat, who fell to the ground and clawed at his hind ankles.
Callahan gave a strong buck and the cat went flying across the room and slammed into his television, which fell to the ground and broke. “Fuck” Callahan roared and the cat staggered up, now realizing it was outmatched the cat attempted to flee the apartment room and scurried towards the balcony. Callahan staggered a little in pain and the cat lept onto the pole on the building it used to climb up and down the building. Callahan grabbed his M1911 off the table and raced out to the balcony, he lined up a shot with the fleeing cat but realized he couldn’t simply just shoot the cat because Ms. Abernathy would really have a reason to bring him to court.
The cat looked back to him and let out a crooked smile, satisfied that it had scratched up Callahan quite well. Callahan snarled again as the cat began to escape, Callahan looked up the side off the building and looked to the pole that was beside him then back down to the cat. He leveled his pistol and emptied the guns entire magazine into the pole. It withered and broke off its hinges and the pole fell outwards from the building wall. One of the lower braces kept the pole from completely falling off the building and pole suddenly jolted as it reached its full extension that it could fall. The vibrations from the pole made the cat lose its grip on the pole and let out a screech as it began to free-fall to the ground below.
It landed with a THUMP, and blood splattered on the ground as its fragile body was devastated by the pavement. Blood started to pool around its dead body and Callahan grunted as he went back inside to check if Squeak was okay. To his relief Squeak was fine, minus the stomach sickness. Callahan winced as his cuts began to sting, he walked to the washroom and started to pour ointment on his wounds, it bubbled and confirmed that there was bacteria and germs in his cuts. Callahan wiped the wounds clean but didn’t bother covering them, figuring that it wasn’t that bad. He walked back into the living room and put on a fresh white T-shirt along with new cargo pants and placed Squeak in his pocket, “we’ll go to the vet early” Callahan told Squeak and left the apartment room.
He reloaded his pistol and holstered it and grabbed the necklace pendant the other officers had given him. He left the building and got in his car, he still needed to get the sirens removed because of federal law and what not but there were more important things to do. Callahan started the car and drove into town to the veterinarian clinic.
* * *
Callahan waited at the vet doors for 2 hours before a pony finally opened the front doors. The mare at the counter screamed as Callahan placed Squeak gently on the table. “Oh my Celestia a RAT” the mare screamed and Callahan rolled his eyes, “Chill, he’s my pet” Callahan informed her but she fainted. Squeak gave a weak squeaky laugh and Callahan chuckled as he shook the unconscious mare.
She awoke to Callahan’s face, which was bleeding a little from the cat scratches. “Hey… my pet needs your help, can you help him?” Callahan asked and she leaned forward and took a closer look at his face. “Whoa, hold your horses there, I thought this was a veterinarian clinic not a place to meet mares” Callahan chuckled and the mare leaned back embarrassed, she hadn’t meant to get that close but she was curious about the wounds. “Oh, no… uhm I was just looking at your cuts… are they from a feline?” she asked and Callahan scrunched his nose “What like a cat?” Callahan asked curiously and the mare nodded “Precisely”.
Callahan shrugged “yeah, some cat attacked me this morning, wasn’t pleasant” he chuckled. “Oh my… okay let me get some sterilizer and” she began but Callahan grabbed her by the shoulder “what about my friend?” Callahan asked and she looked to the rat on the table and shuddered.
“You do know that feline claws are extremely filthy and the scratches they inflict usually lead to bacterial infections?” the mare asked and Callahan shrugged “I’ll be fine” he replied but she rushed off. Callahan leaned against the counter and soon the mare came back with some sterilizer pads and some rubbing alcohol. “No, help my rat, then I’ll let you experiment on me” Callahan ordered and the mare let out a sigh and shuddered as she picked up the rat and brought him into another back room.
Callahan followed closely behind and the mare, who he presumed was the vet. She examined Squeak thoroughly then looked to Callahan. “What exactly is wrong with it?” she asked and Callahan shot her an irritated look “his name is Squeak and he has a bad stomach pain” Callahan replied and the vet shuddered “okay well usually we don’t get many rats so let me take a close examination, you can wait outside” the vet told Callahan who obliged and sat on the seats by the lobby of the clinic and sat patiently for a couple more hours.
Several other ponies came in the clinic along with a few other clinic workers, they all gave Callahan frightened looks and Callahan looked to a couple who had brought in their dog. “Dogs are better than cats” Callahan chuckled and the group simply sat there in silence, Callahan shrugged and pointed to his face “Feline cut me up” Callahan informed them. Suddenly the mare came out of the back room, holding Squeak and placed him in Callahan’s hoof, “I’m sorry, we just don’t know enough about rats to know what’s wrong with him… but you know there are lots of rats in Manehatten that you could make your new pet” the mare told him and Callahan snarled “this one’s special, well thanks for trying” Callahan thanked her and got up to leave but she grabbed him on the shoulder.
“Now hold on, I still have to patch you up or you’ll get pretty sick” the mare told Callahan but he shrugged her off “No thanks, I think I’ll pass” he replied and walked outside to his car. He started the car and drove back to his home.
* * *
Callahan lay Squeak on the passenger seat and looked to him “don’t worry Squeak I’ll find you some-pony who can help you” Callahan replied as he turned the corner to the road he lived on and saw flashing sirens. Callahan chuckled to himself “old Ms. Abernathy must’ve called the cops saying that I killed her fucking cat” Callahan laughed but his humor soon wore off as he saw that the sirens came from a fire truck, and that there was smoke and fire coming from the apartment.