Oneshot fic about Beckett's tender side. Do you think he had one? Maybe...

Disclaimer: I do not own PotC or anything related to it, so on and so forth...


He probably shouldn't have been walking the streets alone.

Not with all his enemies.

Cutler Beckett wasn't a Lord just yet, but he had made more than enough enemies already on his climb up the social ladder. Enemies who probably wouldn't think twice about slitting his throat in a dark alley like the one he walked down now.

Beckett shivered and drew his frockcoat closer to his chest. He loathed admitting it, but he was afraid. Why had he opted to walk back to his estate? To prove he wasn't worried about his political rivals, Beckett remembered with a scowl.

A small mew stopped in his tracks.

He turned to see a kitten, one barely bigger than his palm, crawling out of the shadows towards him. Beckett tilted his head and studied it; its fur was orange, but matted down and caked with dirt. Its eyes were green: large, luminous, and pitiful. It was also exceptionally thin.

"What do you want?" Beckett growled.

Another tiny meow was his answer.

Beckett stuck out a boot and moved it away. "Go. Shoo!"

The kitten only came closer, shivering from the night's cold. Beckett sighed. He picked it up and placed it against his chest, wrapping it in his coat in an effort to keep it warm. The kitten snuggled up to him, pleased with the sudden warmth.

Beckett, on the other hand, frowned. "Listen you." He told the kitten. "Don't get use to this. You're going to get warm and then you're out of my sight. Understand…"

His voice trailed off when he became aware of something.

The kitten was purring.

Never, in his life, had an animal reacted to him with happiness. It had always been a growl or a hiss or an attempt at a bite. Beckett scowled at the kitten. "I suppose you're just doing this to get on my good side. Very well, then. If you're going to be mine you might as well have a good name. A powerful name."

The kitten looked up at him with wide eyes. Beckett's heart melted.

"Alright, then. I suppose something like Bella would work. It's not a powerful name, and it's certainly not something that would inspire fear into hearts. But then…" he started to pet Bella lightly on the head. "I doubt anything about you would…"

….

Several years later, Bella was a full grown cat, waiting patiently by the door as she always did for her Cutler to come through the door. He'd been gone a long time, longer than usual, and Bella was eager to see him.

Instead, two official-looking officers that were certainly not her Beckett walked in.

"Did he say who he left his estate to?" One asked.

The other shrugged. "We haven't found his will yet, sir."

Confused, Bella walked up to them with a meow. Excuse me, gentlemen. But who are you and what are you doing here?

She was picked up by the younger of the two. "Ah, it's his cat. What do you suppose we do with her, now that he's gone?"

Annoyed, Bella batted at his gold trimming. Officer, as an individual of higher rank and intelligence, I demand to know what happened to Lord Beckett!

"I'll take her. My daughter's been begging me for a pet for the longest time now." Bella was handed off to the other one and he sighed.

"You know? I've heard that this cat's the only thing he ever showed a soft side to."


Well, now that that's over...reviews! Please and thank you. =P