I sighed and stretched as I walked home from work. My house was in the middle of the suburbs of Connecticut. About two hours away from New York City. I never went there though. With work and Dave, I couldn't get the time to visit the beautiful city. Our house was the same as all the others around it. The same build, color, everything. It was plain and I always hated it. But I couldn't argue with Dave. I never could. I winced when I strained a bruise. I paused when I noticed a box in front of my door. I could hear faint sounds of shuffling coming from the box. I peered inside and smiled at what I saw. Fourteen young kittens looked back at me. I sighed and scratched my head before moving the box out of the way and unlocking the door. I pushed the door open and picked up the box carrying the kittens inside. If I wasn't able to keep all of them, I might as well keep them safe and warm until I could find them another home.

I dropped off my things before setting up a little pen for the kittens in my room. I use to own a few cats so I had all the necessary items for them. I set up a litter box in the pen as well as a little bed for those who wanted to sleep on it. I got a towel and some warm water just in case the kittens were dirty, bathing them at this age wasn't a good idea, and normally they became afraid of water for life.

I put the box into the pen before slowly tipping it to the side. Reaching into the box would have been a bad idea, I had no idea of the condition these kittens were in, and they might react badly to a hand coming to pull them out.

A few brave ones came out of the box first. A black male with sea green eyes watched me warily before looking around the pen. He mewed into the box before two more came out. Two more males, one as black as night with black eyes and one exactly the opposite; as white as clouds and electric blue eyes. The little kitten seemed to be scowling at me.

Two more males made it out of the box, they seemed to flinch away as the white glared at them. I frowned. I hoped the white one wasn't going to be a bully. One of the males was a bright orange, almost the same color of the sun, if cats could even be that color, with blue eyes as well, but a softer shade that the white kittens. While the other was a dark brown color and hazel eyes.

Next that came out was a small female kitten, she was a grayish white, almost silver looking. She had shining silver eyes. I stared at her for a moment in awe. I had never seen a kitten that color before.

Next came a multi colored female kitten that almost reminded me of a barn owl. She had shinning grey eyes that glared at the black kitten with green eyes.

Two more females excited the box, one was the color of golden wheat fields, while the other was a light orange.

A male and female excited the box next. One was a burnt orange color with a slight limp on his back leg and the other was a bright blond female.

The next to come out was a dark brown almost red male, he seemed to scowl at all the others. He looked around the pen with a scowl as well. I wondered if something happened in the box.

Another female waltzed out of the box, which was the best way to describe it. She seemed elegant; she had her head held high as she walked from the old damp box. She was a light shade of brown with dark eyes.

The last to leave the box was a male. He stumbled a little bit before leaving, as though he was drunk. I frowned. He bumped into a few of the others who just seemed to brush off his behavior. The male was a dark grey color with bright purple eyes. I had never seen a kitten with that color eyes before.

Fourteen pairs of kitten eyes now were staring up at me. I stood and pulled the box out of the pen. I looked then over before sitting down in front of the entrance and sighing. How was I going to deal with fourteen kittens?

I flinched a little bit when I thought about what would happen when Dave got home. He didnt approve of animals in the house, but I couldn't just let them stay out there.

"I need you kitties to stay here okay? Don't try to escape; I need to get dinner going." I said in a pleading voice. A few tilted their heads to the side, and one kitty glare, before I swiftly left the room. I shut the door and hoped Dave would be in a good mood when he got home.

Hermes POV

We watched the woman run out of the room before I looked around. It was a simple room, the walls were light blue and the bed was covered in white sheets, there wasn't even a computer in the room. I snorted, don't cause trouble? That was what I was known for. My father, Zeus, was now lounging on the cushion that the woman had set up while pushing off my uncles every time they tried to get on there. It was a bit disorienting being a kitten and not being able to change back.

It wasn't long before Athena and I unlocked the door to the cage. I smirked as I bounded around the room looking for anything interesting. We all paused when we heard a door downstairs slam. There wasn't anything else so we resumed what we were doing. I found a vent, big enough for me to crawl through. I smirked and went on my little adventure. The vent led me out to the hallway. I crept down the stairs and peeked watching the mortals. The woman was there, serving a man, who I assume was her husband, dinner. The man frowned before turning and slapping the woman. My eyes narrowed.

"What's this you bitch!? Can't even make dinner right." The man yelled. The woman backed away afraid, her hand on her cheek. The man huffed before sitting back down and eating the food. I snuck around the room before I froze when I saw the man staring at me. He growled and turned towards the woman again who paled when she saw me. The man punched her knocking her to the floor.

"What did I tell you about animals?!" He shouted. He repeatedly kicked her as she lay on the ground. I growled and launched myself at the man. Even without my powers, I wasn't about to let him abuse her in front of me. The man cried as my teeth and claws sunk into his arm. "You stupid cat!" He cried as he pulled me off and threw me across the room. The back of my head hit the wall and I blacked out.

When I came to, the man was gone, but the woman was still there sitting in a pool of her own blood. I winced as I looked over her body. I slowly and shakily got to my feet. Gold blood dripped to the floor causing my eyes to widen. My blood was still ichor, I was still a god, even in this form; well that was good news. I hobbled over to the woman before mewing in her face.

Woman's POV

I woke to the sound of a kitten. My whole body was on fire. My husband Dave had gotten upset again and beaten me. I opened my eyes and the kitten was sitting there mewing in my face. I smiled, or at least tried to, my whole face hurt. The kitten looked pale and worried.

"I'm okay," I muttered trying to reassure it. I shifted into a sitting position, biting my lip to stop myself to crying out in pain. If I did that and woke up Dave, there would be another beating. I got to my feet as quick as I could, picked up the kitten, who still mewed, worried, before I hobbled over to the sink. I looked at my reflection and frowned. I hoped this would be mostly cleared up by Monday. Dave didn't like when people asked questions. And when Dave got angry, I got punishment. I was lucky tonight though. Dave was tired from his job, he didn't want my body tonight. I put the kitten down before washing the blood off my face and arms. I needed to clean the blood off the floor. If it was still there in the morning... I flinched at what would happen. I looked over the kitten and frowned when I saw the golden blood. That was different. I shrugged it off before cleaning the wound. It winced a bit as I did so but didn't pull away, for that I was grateful.

"Okay kitty, I need you to stay here alright. I need to clean up, and then I can get food for you and the others." I muttered to the kitten. I was surprised when I got a nod but didn't say anything. I placed a few slices of cheese and bread on the table along with a few cans of tuna. I smiled before I took a cloth and began to clean the blood off the floor. I could feel the kitten's eyes on me the entire time. Once I was done, I got the food and held out my hand to the kitten.

"Let's go now, 'kay?" I asked. The kitten mewed to me before climbing onto my outstretched hand and I carried it up the stairs. I slowly opened the door, if one kitten had gotten out there was a high chance that all of them had and I didn't want the door to hit any of them. I could feel all their eyes on me as I put the brown kitten down and he slowly walked over to the others. The bright orange one bound up to me with a worried mew. I smiled at it before sitting down in front of them, all the kittens seemed to have gathered, even the white one that had glared at me.

I slowly opened the cans of tuna before setting out a bit in front of each kitten. They all hesitated except for the brown kitten that had been with me. He ate it quickly and happily. The other glanced at him and ate as well, except for one who glared at the serving in front of him before allowing another kitten to eat it. I frowned before breaking off a bit of my cheese and bread and placing it in front of him. The kitten looked up at me surprised.

"Sorry. I thought that all kitties liked fish, you can have some of mine." I said with a smile. After I and they had eaten, I smiled at them and climbed into bed. I was asleep the moment my head hit the pillow.