Breaking The Shackles (GaryCato) (A Final Space Fan-Fic)

Chapter 5. Rise and Shine

Avocato had been gone for a day now. Gary had been unresponsive, and the door to the Operating Room was sealed. That left little cato alone, only thinking about what he remembered.

It had been about an hour since gary went quiet, and Avocato came out of the Operating Room with a box in his hands, and he locked the door behind him. He noticed Little Cato, and tried to rush by without a word.

"Dad, what did you do?"

"What I had to." He didn't even turn to look. He wasn't ashamed, but rather afraid of what he would see. "Gary is sleeping right now. Don't worry about him."

"You can't tell me not to worry when you chopped his arm off!" Little Cato yelled. "He was finally starting to open up to you, and in the same day you- you, did this! Are you starting to really see yourself!?"

Avocato stopped at the door, and he turned to face Little Cato. "Son, I do see myself. I heard Gary finally opening up to me. I did this, because I care. He would still be suffering, and dying if I didn't act. He will recover now." He set down the box and held arms out.

Little Cato frowned and hesitantly embraced Avocato. "I care about him, because he cares about me. Just like you. Im giving him a chance because he's nothing like what you say he would have been. You never even tried. And he would be dead If you never listened to me."

Avocato pat Little Cato's back, staring straight ahead. "Yeah. I have every reason to defend myself, but you're right. He never even stood a chance, and I did all this." He sighed and took the rest of Little Cato's words into consideration. "But if you really see him as somebody like me, then maybe he does stand a chance."

"Against what, a coward?" Little Cato huffed and let Avocato go. "He has nothing to fight but you. You're stronger than him, and you act like he's the real threat here."

Avocato stared down to Little Cato for a moment, before picking the box up again, and turning for the door. "I'll be back. Don't disturb Gary until I return. I love you son." He opened the door and left, without another word.

Little Cato laid on the couch, and remembered everything he said. "I shouldn't have said that. But I don't think I'm sorry. He should be apologizing to Gary." He rolled onto his side and grimaced. "Where is he now anyways?" His ranting was stopped when he heard muttering from his communicator. It was very quiet, but he knew noise from dead silence. Gary had woken up.

Little cato sprung to his feet, and went for the door. He tried to open it, but found that Avocato used the child safety lock this time. "Grr, dad." He rolled his eyes, and took out military pocket tool. He slipped the blade into the crevice of the panel plate and popped it off, disconnecting the wire lock and opening the door.

Gary slowly opened his eyes, everything was fuzzy and dark, the dim ambient lighting was on, now the only light in the room. Before his eyes could adjust, he saw a bright window of light appear, and a figure in the middle. "Avo?" He muttered weakly.

"Nope, just me." Little Cato left the panel to hang, and used the inside one to close the door. He saw thick layers of bandages wrapped over the stub of what was gary's left arm, and a line of anesthetics on the counter. "How are you feeling?"

"Well, I can say I feel pretty great!" Gary sat up and grinned, though it quickly went away when he noticed his arm was missing. "I bet that cost an arm qnd a leg." He moved his legs, just to make sure. "Where did my arm even go?"

Little cato fidgeted, and stepped closer. "Lets, talk about that later." He chuckled and sat on the edge of the table, next to Gary's leg. "Its been almost two days. Are... You hungry?"

"Nope. I'm Gary Goodspeed." Gary had the question confused, but he continued on, even with Little Cato trying to stop him. "I have seen a lot kid, a lot a lot. And I mean a LOT LOT. Just look at this thing!" He wiggled his stub and frowned. "They took my arm!"

Little Cato had to stifle a laugh, it was funny to him now, but kind of sad that he couldn't really help. Unless...

"Hey Gary, I think I can help." Little Cato smiled. "It involves a new arm."

Gary hummed, scratching his chin in thought, as if he needed to trust Little Cato first. "Tell it to me with an arm joke and we have a deal."

Little Cato raised and eyebrow and rolled his eyes. "I guess... We can fix this disarming problem. If you want." He shrugged. "Eh?"

Gary gave a thumbs up, and right on cue, fell back to the table, losing consciousness all over again. Little Cato sighed, "We'll start when you're actually awake."

An hour passed, and Gary began to wake up again. He felt something soft in his right hand. He grew a smile, and slowly moved his fingers through what he figured out was fur. He opened his eyes, and saw Little Cato napping on the table with him.

Little Cato felt the movement, and quickly woke up. "Gary? You're awake already?" He sat up and yawned, rubbing his eyes. "Better question, are you thinking straight?"

Gary took a moment to process everything. He didn't remember being awake yet, but he was happy that Little Cato was there anyways. "Yeah, I think im good." He realized that his arm was gone, and his eyes widened. "Wait, he... He actually did it..?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry... But it'll be okay. I have a plan."

Gary looked back to Little Cato. "Yeah, it is okay. He saved me from rotting to death." Gary tried to move, but Little Cato stopped him.

"I can tell you're probably upset. More than me for sure. But big whoop, right? Sometimes, these things happen. Not often obviously, but Avocato did something I wasn't even expecting. Instead of letting me die, he saved me. He didn't have to do that. Maybe you really did get through to him. Thank you, Little Cato."

Little Cato had to stop and think. All along, Avocato did care, a little. He was preserving Gary, and protecting him. He felt a bit guilty for being mad, but atleast Avocato really seemed to be changing his view on Gary.

"Yeah, no problem Gary. But hey, lets do something together now. I think you might like it."