A/N first of all I own no claim to Covert Affairs. I just like to play around with the characters.

Blame this on the bunnies. They gave it to me in the middle of the night after I saw the calico kitty who washed up on a New York island. I'm responsible for the punny title though.

This obviously goes out to Mandy58 again.

A PURRFECT FRIEND?

The kitten sat huddled under the edge of the roof in a futile attempt to get out of the rain and into someplace dry and hopefully with food. When she saw the garage door start to rise she made a dash for it making sure she kept well away from the tires of the vehicle. Running straight to a spot near the stairway she made an attempt to shake herself dry while keeping an eye on the car as it came to a stop not far away.

Parking his car in his customary spot Jai wearily got out and grabbed the shopping bags from the back seat. Earlier in the day he and Annie had returned from an op in Paris and after a lengthy debriefing they'd both headed for home with him making a quick stop for much needed provisions. Not wanting to carry everything up the two flights of stairs Jai opted for the often cantankerous elevator. Still holding onto the bags he managed to push the elevator button and waited impatiently as it finally arrived and the doors opened.

Following the tantalizing smells coming from one of the bags in the man's hands, the kitten quickly dashed onto the elevator before the doors could close and sat down in the corner letting out a startled meow as the elevator started it's jerky ascent.

Now where did that kitten come from? Jai wondered hearing the meow. When elevator came to a stop he watched as the doors opened and it slipped ahead of him out of the elevator. Hands full of shopping bags he stepped out and walked the short distance to his apartment. Letting himself inside he went straight to the kitchen to put away the purchases and grab a bottle of beer. Setting it on the kitchen counter he headed for the bedroom to change into a pair of sweatpants and a long sleeved T-shirt. Remembering how wet the kitten was he decided the least he could do was dry it off.

The kitten was waiting outside his apartment when Jai stepped out the door an old towel in his hand. Kneeling down in front of the kitten he spoke softly saying, "Here, kitty, kitty." As it took a few hesitant steps toward the young man he expertly scooped the kitten up in the towel smiling at the resulting indignant hiss.

Gently rubbing the kitten in the towel Jai took the time to get a close look as he carried her back inside the apartment and straight to the bathroom. The longish calico hued coat was somewhat muddy and tangled and it definitely felt as though it may have missed a meal or two. Getting the kitten as dry as he could Jai let it loose to sit on the sink while he reached for a spare comb.

The kitten instead of showing gratitude to her benefactor attempted to puff up and let out what she thought was a threatening hiss while sinking her claws into the back of his hand.

"You're definitely a feisty little one," Jai commented as he gently extricated the needle sharp claws from his hand and daubed at the scratches with a tissue. "Come and let's see if I can find something to feed you. I believe I read somewhere that cats liked scrambled eggs."

The kitten mewed and looked up at him a beguiling expression in her jade colored eyes.

"You like that, huh?" Jai commented. "But before I feed you I need to fix up some sort of litter box." Reaching under the sink he retrieved a small plastic wash pan he'd been sent home with after his recent hospital stay. Pan in hand he went to go tear up some newspaper to put in it.

The kitten hopped off the sink and followed the young man as he tore up several sheets of news paper and then carried the pan into the laundry room.

Setting the pan on the floor Jai watched in amusement as the kitten ambled over to it and peered in. "I really hope you're litter trained or you will end up outside in the hallway," he stated. Leaving her to the litter box he headed into the kitchen to see if he did have everything for scrambled eggs deciding that it would make a good enough supper for himself. Cook up a small amount of plain for the kitten and add chopped veggies and cheese to his.

After the simple supper Jai put the kitten in the laundry room and shut the door before he stretched out on the couch flipping through the news channels until he drifted off to sleep only to wake up several hours later to an annoying infomercial on the latest hair replacement drugs. After shutting off the TV he went to check on the kitten hoping not to disturb her but she was alert and staring up at him as soon as the door opened.

"Well I can see you're okay," Jai said sleepily and turned to head to the bedroom.

Returning to his bed Jai realized too late that he'd left the doors to both the laundry room and bedroom not completely closed. No sooner had he turned off the light and closed his eyes he barely felt the kitten land on his chest and softly pad her way up to his neck. Certain that he was going to feel her claws again he was pleasantly surprised to feel her patting his hair a few times before settling down and purring with both human and cat slowly drifting off to sleep.

In the morning he was awakened by the sound of meowing and his hair being tugged at. Reaching a hand up he gently scooped up the kitten and said, "Okay okay. I'm awake. No hair pulling please." Getting to his feet he carried her back into the laundry room. "Looks like you get leftover scrambled eggs this morning and then I'll go get some kitten food. When I get back I'm going to give you a proper bath. Need you looking pretty when I take your picture."

Mew was the response.

After making sure the kitten was fed and shut in the laundry room Jai quickly got ready to go pick up pet supplies and have breakfast at the café downstairs. Once he got back he planned on cleaning the kitten up so he could get a good picture to post on the lost and found pet websites. With luck whoever she belonged to would come forward and claim her unless she'd been abandoned.

"Remember this is just a temporary arrangement until some one comes forward to claim you," Jai told the kitten as he set the litter box and pet dishes in a corner of the laundry room.

The kitten meowed and looked up as if to say We'll see about that.

Jai laughed and picked her up to carry her into the bathroom where he quickly gave a bath and then pet comb in hand set to work on the tangles. Combing hair was easy since he'd had first a younger cousin who liked him to comb her hair when he stayed with her family during part of the summers and later on his college girlfriend had teased him about becoming a hairdresser. Soon he tangles had been gently combed out and the kitten gently dried off no longer looking as bedraggled as she had been earlier. A couple of quick pictures taken with his phone and he'd go upload them later.

Fortunately for Jai nothing of importance had come up to summon him back to Langley and so he spent the peaceful and well deserved weekend in the company of his furry roommate. Monday morning he left her in the laundry room with fresh litter and plenty of food and water and headed off to work.

Annie was passing by Jai's desk when she caught a quick glimpse of the picture he was looking at on his phone. "What's that in the picture?" she asked making conversation.

"A lost kitten. She showed up at my building Friday night. I took her picture to post on some pet websites. Hopefully someone will come forward and claim her," he answered.

"Oh she's adorable, Jai," Annie commented looking at the picture he showed her. "What's her name?"

"I haven't decided because if she has an owner then she's got a name. I guess I could call her Ms. Kitty or something like that," Jai answered.

"You know you could always name her Mandy after your favorite waitress," Annie teased.

"It's more like I'm her favorite customer," Jai stated.

"Yeah. Whatever," the young woman replied taking a seat at her desk.

Shaking his head at Annie's teasing the young man resumed studying the latest intelligence reports. But as he worked he was thinking over the name suggestion. He did like Mandy and her perkiness although as far as he could tell didn't get any more preferential treatment than her other customers. Yes, Mandy, would be just the name for the kitten he decided.

A/N Anybody else want to be an OC in my fics?