The weather took a turn for the worse as Snake got into the town proper. Rain was beating onto the windshield, rendering the world outside into a blur and maybe he should have picked another day for this but now he'd gotten this far. Besides, it would be dry inside the shelter and Snake was nothing if not weatherproof. He'd gotten through worse inconveniences than rain.

Still, it was hardly surprising that there weren't many people outside in this weather. Which made it all the more startling to see two kidsized canary yellow raincoats hunching by the roadside.

Snake considererd for a second and then stopped the vehicle. He grabbed his coat and got outside, instantly being assaulted by freezing water in his face.

One of the figures looked up and shouted: "Hey, can you help? It got stuck!"

It turned out to be a bedraggled fur ball that was hitting and spitting and growling at the two kids and the approaching stranger. The cat had gotten its hind leg entangled in some meshed wire and had made everything worse by trying to get out of it.

"Can you do something for it?"

Two sets of earnest brown eyes and one of venomous green were directed at Snake.

The ex-soldier studied the predicament of the fighting cat and then turned to get some wire cutters and a blanket from his car. Once back at the site of the accident, he handed the blanket to one of the kids.

"Here, throw this over the cat to keep it subdued while I'll cut it loose."

It took both boys to keep the fierce opponent down while Snake made swift but careful work of the wire. It was not unlike diffusing a bomb. Finding the right wires to cut, making no unnecessary movements that could start a chain reaction which could only end in disaster.

"Be careful not to let it run off once it's free. The vet should take a look at that leg."

The two boys nodded with brows furrowed in concentration. It was a tough mission but the three of them succeeded in the end to the loud protests from their rescuee under the blanket.

Snake enquired where he could find the vet and then shooed the kids home to get out of this foul weather. He was left with the still fighting cat and a lot of rain.

"Okay then, let's get you checked out."

Wrapping the cat firmly in his blanket, Snake managed to get the furious fur ball into his passenger seat. He had to keep one hand on the cat while driving, lest it struggled out of its confinement, but there were no other cars around and though it took longer than it usually would have, he eventually arrived at the vet.

He was lucky, the practice was still open. And since he was bringing the only patient, the doctor immediately waved him through to the examination room.

Snake explained how he'd come by the cat. By then, they both looked half-drowned.

The vet took note of the animal's growling and thrashing in the blanket and decided to put on some leather gloves.

"I'm afraid I don't have a pair big enough for you ..." She studied his large calloused hands.

Snake just shrugged.

He held the cat down while the vet slowly unwrapped it. The gloves had been a wise caution but Snake didn't mind the scratches and bite marks that quickly accumulated on his hands. It wasn't pleasant but you had to admire it's fighting spirit.

"I'm gonna give him a sedative. That should make everything a lot easier."

Snake nodded and held onto the cat until it had dozed off and he deemed it safe to let it go.

"Sorry about that." The vet gestured towards Snake's injured hands.

"I don't mind. He's a fighter on unknown terrain, captured by unknown forces and injured."

The vet studied him for a moment. She'd probably puzzled together that he was ex military but didn't comment. Just nodded and proceeded to examine the sleeping cat.

It seemed suddenly very quiet in the small room.

After she'd cleaned the wounds caused by the wire, she set the limb and then did a full check up.

"He seems to be a stray. He's neutered, so must have belonged to someone at some point but I'm pretty sure he's had no home recently. He certainly hasn't been in my practice before."

"Will you keep him here for monitoring or shall I drop him off at the shelter? I was going there anyway. It's why I'm in town, to pick up a dog."

She smiled though the expression was quickly replaced by a frown.

"I'm afraid neither will be possible. You obviously haven't heard but the shelter is finally doing some much needed renovation and had to divide its guests among other shelters and foster families in the vicinity. You could probably go to one of them but it's a long drive, which I wouldn't really advise in this weather."

Snake tried not to look too disappointed.

"I ...uh" The vet squirmed a little. "I really hate to ask but do you see any chance you could keep him? Just for the weekend," she hastened to add. "Normally I'd keep him here but ...I have an important appointment in the city and ..."

Snake studied the sleeping cat on the table.

"Okay."

"Really?" The vet's relief was palpable. "I doubt that he'll be any trouble. The sedative should keep him sleeping and calm for the most part and with that leg, he won't be able to wander around much. Just let him sleep it all off in a warm place. I'll give you some food for him though he probably won't eat much. Just make sure he has enough water to drink. And on Monday, you can drop him off again here for a check up."

Snake nodded.

"But first I'll have a look at those scratches."

Snake patiently let her clean and bandage his wounds. After insisting that he'd pay for the cat's treatment, he collected the food and the cat and the vet's card with her private number - if anything should happen over the weekend - and drove off towards home.

He kept glancing at his sleeping passenger, musing over how different he'd thought this day would go.

The weekend went by quietly enough. The cat slept through the night and most of the following day and was probably still slightly drugged when it surveyed the unfamiliar surroundings upon waking up. It didn't stir, just blinked and eventually lapped up some of the water Snake had placed in a bowl next to it, completely ignoring the food. Afterwards, it kept dozing off and only showed some of ist earlier spirits whenever Snake got too close. It'd hiss and tense and so Snake took care to keep at a comfortable distance for both sides. Otherwise, they mostly ignored each other.

On Sunday evening, the cat took a few tentative and wobbly steps towards the offered food and deemed it satisfying enough to gobble up a few chunks. It returned to its sleeping place on the blanket and went quietly back to sleep while Snake went about his usual business.

Monday saw the weather take a turn for the worse. Snake could see nothing but sheets of rain and hear nothing but the vicious howling of the wind and, after a glance at the sleeping cat, decided he could keep his guest for another day. He called the vet and since the patient seemed to be doing better, they agreed that there was no need to face the serious danger of drowning by walking out the door.

"Another day of just you and me then," Snake mumbled and went to clean up his breakfast dishes.

It was a week before Snake seriously considered taking the cat back to town. The rain had finally given up on turning into a fully grown flood and given back land and sunshine.

By now, the cat was doing three legged inspection tours of Snake's cabin. It was still tense and started hissing whenever Snake got too close but otherwise, it seemed to have settled in surprisingly well. It may have been the warm nest in front of the fireplace that Snake had build for it or the sanctity of a dry place to wait out the rain. Or it started to appreciate that Snake mostly left it alone and wasn't particularly noisy. In any case, it seemed to concentrate on recuperating instead of continuing to fight. As a fellow fighter, Snake understood the sentiment. You gotta have all your strength and save what energy you can as long as the situation allows.

Over the course of the week, the cat got more and more used to Snake and by Friday, it allowed him within a few feet of it. And once, when Snake slowly moved to refill the water bowl, it even sniffed at Snake's hand without immediately resorting to biting or scratching.

It felt like the break of a new era in their relationship.

Not that they had any. Snake was still planning to bring the cat back to town though admitted the possibility to himself of keeping it with him until it had healed again. He didn't want to stress it out too much. But his picture of the future was still clear. Bring the cat back. Get a dog (or several). Start the life he'd really been looking forward to when he'd settled in Alaska.

His plans came suddenly undone about twelve days after he took in the cat. Snake sat on the sofa, book in hand, when he caught movement from the corner of his eye.

One cautious look confirmed that the cat had somehow managed to jump onto the sofa and was now sniffing at Snake's hand.

The soldier didn't move. Hardly dared to breathe.

Something wet and rough scraped over the skin of his hand. Once, twice, three times. Then the cat rolled into a ball by his side. And purred.

When he called the vet to tell her he'd keep the cat, she seemed hardly surprised. She laughed and insisted that he'd still bring the cat in for another check-up soon.

The trip back into town was a strainous affair for both and Snake's quiet companion turned back into a fierce fighter on the vet's examination table.

Snake started to doubt his decision.

But a part of him understood. The cat had begun to trust him and he had taken advantage of that by hauling it back into an unknown situation.

It took three days for the cat to forgive him and two more before it rolled up in his lap again, relaxed enough to purr.

Snake tried to tell himself that the cat was old and probably wouldn't live very much longer. Getting a dog was only postponed. He was in no hurry, his life going nowhere, so why not give this fellow fighter some quiet retirement home.

The quiet lasted about three months. The cat and Snake had gotten into a routine where they both went about their seperate businesses during the day, spent some time on the sofa in the evenings before going to bed.

The cat had taken to sleeping curled up by Snake's feet. It didn't bother him much as long as Snake didn't bother it. A few times though, it had woken him up when a particularly nasty nightmare had him in its clutches. The cat miaowed and carefully patted his face until the touch of its paw brought him back to reality. Then the cat curled up next to his face or chest and purred loudly.

They had their routine. They had their understanding. And then Rascal crashed into their companionable solitude one Tuesday afternoon. Rascal was a little black devil that only got dubbed "Rascal" later by Snake because having one cat without a name was okay but things get confusing if there's two.

Snake had no idea where the second cat had come from, it just arrived one day and walked into the open door like it owned the place. Neither Snake nor the previously present cat were very amused. All the old fighting spirit returned when Cat defended his home and soon there was a very loud tornado of fur and claws and shrieks going on a rampage through Snake's living room. Trying to seperate the two combatants proved impossible.

So he watched and tried to be ready if an opportunity should occur to get the black devil out. The fighting did eventually stop but Snake had no luck in getting rid of the second cat which was hiding under his sofa.

In the end, there was nothing to do but shrug and see if his cat - that thought still felt strange - needed any medical attention. But Cat was still too hyped up and wouldn't let him near it.

They eventually went to bed, Snake leaving the window open for the second cat. When he woke up, he learned that a) his cat had the hitherto unknown ability of opening doors on its own and b) that as much as they had hated each other on first sight, the two cats now seemed to love each other.

And Snake had acquired a second cat.

The third was supposed to stay with him for only a week. The vet had asked him for a favour and Snake had shrugged. Two or three, what's the difference really?

Cat and Rascal had become inseperable, grooming each other, sleeping curled up next to each other on Snake's bed though Rascal was still a firecracker and brought a lot more commotion into their quiet life than Snake was altogether comfortable with.

Honey, on the other hand, was a diva. A creamy coloured long-haired sort of cat - Snake didn't really know anything about cat breeds - she excelled at looking pretty whereever she lay down and was very strict about punctual meal times.

One week turned into two when Honey's owners extended their vacation and when they stayed in Florida for good, Honey stayed with Snake.

The fourth, fifth and sixth arrived together when someone left a basket of kittens on the vet's doorstep. Having no place to put them, she turned to the man who rapidly seemed to turn his home into a cat shelter.

If he hadn't been in town anyway because of Honey stepping into some glass shard, he might have withstood. As it was - the three colourful furry worms finding place in one large hand and crying out with their weak little voices - he found that he could not.

Honey adopted them straight away, Rascal was happy to have someone to play with and Cat looked on in mild irritation.

It all went downhill from there.

Some arrived of their own accord. Snake suspected that there must be some long distance cat grapevine because how else was word travelling around that he was taking in cats?

Some arrived courtesy of the vet (he was getting a discount now). Patients that needed some place to heal or guests while their owners where on holiday.

Some stayed, some left.

The dream of dogs receded farther and farther into the realm of impossibility.

When, one wet winter day in January, a certain bespectacled nerd knocked on his door, Snake had no idea how to explain the abundance of cats in his home.

They looked at each other in silence for a moment before Snake could stand it no longer.

"I'm a dog person, I swear."