I have been a bit busy lately. And I have another one-shot in progress, as well as many good ideas coming in =) Thank you all for the great support on this story.

This idea was from Trollface Mastah. Thank you so much, and I hope this is at least as good as you thought it would be =)

"Hey Dad! Dad!"

Greg looked up from where he was scrubbing the windshield of Mayor Dewey's van. It was a nice, crisp, autumn day, with grey clouds that had slowly drifted in, forming a protective cover over the sky. The wind rustled a few leaves aside on the road as Steven happily ran up to his father.

"Steven?" Greg asked curiously, putting down his hose and letting water run onto the concrete ground. The first thing he noticed as Steven ran up to him was that his boy was out of breath.

"Dad! I came to tell you that Connie lost her cat over the weekend," Steven had his arms raised, preforming wild gesticulations as he related the story of how Connie had to leave town with her family last weekend and returned to learn that her kitten had gone missing from the house. It was too young to be out alone, and with the prediction of rain coming later that day, her and her family were out looking for the poor thing.

"And that's why I need you to keep an eye out for it," Steven finished. "Apparently, his name is Artemis. He was really small when I got to see him...Tell us if you find a little black and white kitten, okay?"

"Um, yeah Steven. I'll keep an eye out for him," Greg said with a simple smile.

"Thanks Dad!" Steven said, taking off and waving behind him. "I have to keep looking. I'll come by tomorrow!"

"Sheesh, now that's a storm."

From the inside of the car wash, Greg watched as the windows threatened to burst inward, rattling in their frames against strong wind. A small distance away, out at the beach, sailors were frantically trying to tie down the boats and trawlers. The sky had been dark gray, almost black, until the had sun set. The power had gone out only a few minutes earlier, coupled with a sudden onslaught of painful (and noisy) hail, so Greg had decided to 'abandon van' and retreat to the shop part of the car wash that was more fit to withstand such weather conditions.

There was a loud crack of thunder that made Greg jump out of his chair, fumbling with the book and flashlight he was holding.

"Whoa," he said out loud, rubbing his forehead. "Storm hasn't been this bad in at least thirteen years..." He looked over at a small photo that was hung up on the wall of beautiful woman with curly, pink hair.

"Remember that?" Greg asked the photo. "Back when you were pregnant with our son..."

There was another loud crack of thunder, sounding similar to a bomb going off, or maybe part of the car wash caving in, and this time, Greg found himself face-down on the floor.

"I hate thunder," he muttered, picking up the flashlight on the ground beside him. It had gone dark upon striking the ground.

"Meow."

Greg looked up, raising an eyebrow. The door of the shop had something small, and weak, pushing on the other side.

"Meow." It was a pitifully small meow, followed by a pitifully small hiss after another round of thunder sounded.

Greg stood up, tossing the broken flashlight aside, and hobbled toward the door. He looked out the small window, glancing downward, and there on the ground in front of the door was perhaps the smallest cat he had ever seen. It didn't even look as though it should be weened off it's mother's milk, let alone sitting out there, alone, begging for shelter.

Needless to say, and after much effort against the brutal wind, Greg managed to crack the door open just far enough for the small, black and white kitten to scuddle inside.

"Some milk?" Greg offered, setting down a small dish before the kitten.

The small feline was literally swindled inside a blanket, wrapped up like a cinnamon roll with only his head protruding out of the top.

"Meow," it responded curiously, pulling it's front paws out just far enough to lean forward and take a taste of the milk before he shook it off his whiskers and glared at Greg.

"I never said it was good milk," Greg answered back with a shrug. "I don't know when it was put inside the fridge. And the fridge must have stopped working...maybe before the power went out."

The kitten seemed to raise an eyebrow at him before it stoically began to gaze forward, before then proceeding to lick himself dry.

Greg shrugged, standing upright and walking back toward his chair. The small cat snapped its head upward, pausing in mid-tongue-stroke, and then stood up and followed Greg.

"Hey! What are you...?"

"Meow."

"Shoo," Greg said, waving his hands. "Go back to your blanket."

"Meow."

"I said, 'Shoo,'" Greg answered, looking a bit apprehensive. The kitten purred loudly, taking a few more steps further to Greg and pressing its face against his feet. Greg felt a strange, uncontrollable smile pass over his face.

"Well, I guess you can walk around for a little while. I was just going to stay in here the night," he said out loud, looking down at the cat. It purred a little louder.

For awhile, it seemed to prance around the room in circles, its long gaze drifting up the walls in search of anything to play with. Greg sat back in his chair, and watched as the kitten continued to walk the perimeter of the room. The thunder had stopped crashing as loudly, but the rain was still pouring down. Greg lay back in his chair, stretching out and yawning. It was going to be a long night.

"Sheesh, look at all that water damage..."

"Meow."

"Yeah, right? This is going to take awhile to clean up."

Greg had woken up that morning to find that the kitten had hopped up and taken to lying across his chest, the absolute picture of relaxation. When he had finally chosen to get up and see how the car wash had fared throughout the night, the cat simply got up, and followed him out the door a moment later, and sat down beside where Greg now stood.

"Hey Dad!"

"Steven?" Greg called out, leaning and glancing beyond the car wash (the kitten did the same) as Steven rode up on his scooter. Connie was beside him on her bike.

"Mr. Universe...Have you seen any signs of Artemis?" Connie asked timidly.

"Hm," Greg said, looking down at the kitten sitting beside him.

"He was too young to be out last night," Connie continued, riding closer and stopping about ten feet away. "I don't think he made it..." Greg could tell that she was doing her best not to burst into tears. He smiled lightly, and picked up the kitten that had sat down beside him. It meowed at Greg indignantly.

"Is this what you are looking for, by chance?"

Connie's eyes widened upon seeing Artemis. She stepped off of her bike, leaving it lying on its side as she ran over.

"YES! How did you find him? Is he okay? Did he give you any trouble?" Connie asked each question without giving Greg a chance to answer the last.

"Um...he was fine. Just a little rattled by the storm, is all. I can't say I haven't grown a little attached to the little guy, though," Greg said with an easy smile and shrug. Connie leaned in and hugged him.

"Thank you so much," she said, small tears forming in her eyes. "I was so worried..."

"Wow, Dad, that's so cool!" Steven said, waving his arms. "I wish cats came up to me during thunderstorms." Steven smiled to himself, giggled a little bit at the thought. "I guess you could say it would be as if it were 'raining cats and dogs.'"

When his pun was met with silence, Steven still kept an equally enthusiastic smile.

"Thanks again, Mr. Universe," Connie said with a smile, collecting Artemis.

"It was no problem," Greg said, waving as the two kids looked back toward their bikes. The small cat poked its head over Connie's shoulder, looking back at Greg, and meowed. Greg waved back, and watched as the kids left.