Disclaimer: I don't own Monk or any of it's characters.

Author's Note: I recently became a Monk fan (a couple of months at the most) but I just love this show. I have plenty of OCDs and phobias, so I see myself in Monk a lot and that is the main reason why I first got hooked on the show. Needless to say this is my first Monk fic. I read the first chapter of a fic in which Monk also got a kitten and even though I didn't read the rest and I can't comment because of it, I saw a lot of people complain that it was out of character, especially the way the rest of the story developed and how characters like Randy and Sharona were written. I want to try and make it a bit more IC, but we'll see, I'm not even sure I can pull it off.

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Touching every pole and parking meter he walked past, Adrian made his way back home from the supermarket. He carried a paper bag--he had asked for plastic!--with a couple of last minute cravings. It was late at night, so the supermarket had been partially empty which was always a good thing. He didn't have to come across kids begging for their parents to buy them a treat, even if they already stuffed their faces with a chocolate, smudged candy around their mouths. He always felt tempted to toss a wipe at them, but many parents felt offended by it for some reason.

Adrian came suddenly to a stop as an orange tabby kitten ran out of an alley. He attempted to walk around the kitten and continue his way back home, but for some reason the cat shifted to one side or the other, sidestepping just as he did, getting on the way each time. The cat only watched the man, tilting its head curiously. Adrian pulled down his jacket sleeve and covered his mouth with it, stepping over the kitten and quickly continuing his path home. As he finally arrived, he rushed into the building and into his apartment. He had to change his shoes, the cat had probably rubbed against them and God knows all the fleas and other parasites it had.

He put the paper bag on the kitchen island and headed straight to his bedroom, removing his jacket and nicely hanging it back in his closet. Then the shoes came off and went straight to the garbage, along with his socks for good measure. A hot shower was of course in order, and by the time he came out and dressed himself in his pajamas, he was stopped on his way to the kitchen by a loud meow. He looked around for a moment, there was no way the cat could be here. It was probably in his head after such a traumatic experience. He would have to tell Dr. Kroger.

Taking out the few items from the paper bag, he once again heard the meow and, somehow, he was sure it wasn't in his head. He peeked out the window. Could the cat have followed him to his house? There was nothing outside. As soon as he closed the window, he heard the meow a third time and froze. It wasn't until there was a fourth meow--thank God, an even number--that he slowly walked to his front door, cautiously opening it and finding the orange tabby kitten sitting right outside. His eyes widened at the sight and he closed the door faster than you can say meow. He should probably call Natalie, this wasn't right. Before he could do anything else, his eyes traveled down the door and to the small crack between it and wooden floor. A small paw was trying to reach inside.

Adrian ran to get his telephone and dialed Natalie's cellphone. A cheerful Natalie answered, but she didn't finish greeting Adrian when he was already panicking and asking her to get there.

"Mr. Monk," Natalie spoke in her most soothing tone "slow down. What did you say?"

"I said there's a cat in my house, it wouldn't stop following me down the street and now it's inside the building, it keeps making sounds and it keeps sticking it's paw under my door."

"So it's not inside your house."

"But it is trying to break in! You have to come down here Natalie, just take it away."

"Mr. Monk, I'm on vacations, remember? I'm hours away from you."

"That's okay, I'll wait."

"You're not seriously thinking I'm going back to San Francisco just to shoo a cat away from you, are you?"

"Then I'll call animal control."

"Mr. Monk, it's a cat not a crocodile!"

"Please, Natalie, can you please come get rid of it? You can go back to your vacation after that."

Natalie sighed on the other end of the line. She usually did everything Adrian asked her to, he was her boss and friend, but this was something she wasn't willing to do, especially since the cat wasn't even inside Monk's house. "Look, I'll be back in a couple of days and I'm sure the cat will be gone by then. Goodnight, Mr. Monk!"

"But Natalie--" The dialtone rang out from the phone and Adrian pulled it away from his ear, staring at it for a moment before setting it back in its place. He was on his own on this one.

He slowly made his way to the door. The cat wasn't meowing anymore, and he couldn't see the paw sticking in. Very slowly he opened the door, peeking out and finding the cat sitting primly a foot away with its tail around its feet.

"Get out of here," Adrian told the cat who only tilted its head at him "shoo! Out!"

The cat meowed loudly in response, its little ears and whiskers shifting back at his demanding meow. "I'm not sure what that means," Adrian answered as he slowly pushed the door closed, but stopped before the doorknob clicked. So maybe the cat was filthy, but it wasn't an actual threat. He felt bad for a moment. After all, it was a small little creature, it wasn't going to hurt him. Not that he was willing to touch it, anyway. He finally closed the door and locked it, going back to his business in the kitchen.

A couple of hours later, as he was getting ready for bed, he decided to take a last peek outside. Very slowly, and trying not to make a sound, he unlocked and opened the door, finding the kitten asleep, curled up into a ball on the wooden floor and covering its nose with both paws, probably too cold by itself. Adrien sighed at the view and shut the door again, remaining next to it for a moment before heading to his bedroom. He surely had an old blanket or cloth to toss over the kitten. He did find an old throw blanket, he could just burn the thing once the cat left.

Quietly opening the door one last time, he stepped out and covered the kitten with the old warm blanket. He decided to just cover the whole kitten. He wasn't getting close to it, and the cat probably wouldn't mind being covered from head to tail since it was already covering its little face.

Adrian let out a content sigh and finally walked back into his place, ready to wash his hands a few times before going to bed. Hopefully the cat would be gone by the morning.