Chapter two

"Ok, so that's definitely just Lucy," Cisco muttered, watching the closet that the reverse-tabby had just gone into-and the closet on the far side of the room she'd just come out of. For the last few days, no one had been sure if it was another Metakitty power, or if there were multiple cats that looked just like each other. Finally, Caitlin had suggested collaring her and seeing if that worked to answer the question. While it did, and Cisco crossed out " Susan", " Eddie" and "Petra" on the scraps of paper that made up his semi-official List Of Cats, it still begged the question of how on God's Green Earth the kitten managed to teleport through closets.

"At least she's not teleporting to the roof or out of the lab?" Caitlin offered. " And that's a power that...well, we could probably find her a place outside of Star Labs, it wouldn't be obvious that something was...off."

Since discovering that most-if-not-all of the kittens had some kind of power, they'd gotten a lot more careful. Luckily, none of the cats already placed seemed to have powers, or at least, not noticeable ones. Or so everyone hoped, because explaining that would be "Literal buckets of no fun."

Cisco made a few more notes on his kitten list.

1. Apricot: marmalade colored. No powers? Likes Tunafish best. Might be in love with Doctor Wells.

2. Scrap: brown tabby. no powers? NOT GROWING. Caitlin's. Agoraphobic?

It was true. Scrap had latched on to Caitlin like a duckling imprinting and had refused to leave her side without crying in that pathetic kitten way. No one could resist the tennis-ball sized lump of fluff, so Caitlin had started the process of registering her as a comfort/companion animal, in order to get around the lease at her apartment. It was worth the effort.

3. Fuzzwhump: longhaired light grey tabby ball of floof. Precious baby. MINE.

Cisco grinned. Fuzzwhump wasn't so much his as he was hers, he was pretty sure. She was currently half asleep and snoring/purring on his lap, her belly round with maybe a few too many cat treats.

4. Freda and

5. Georgia: twins? reddish colored. SOMEHOW THEY GOT IN A PIPELINE CELL? I THINK THEY READ MINDS.

6. Nyoom: Grey and white. speedster. Barry's. Keep away from catnip. NO. KEEP. AWAY. FROM. CATNIP.

7. Peanut Butter. Sand colored. Can walk through walls, officially Peekaboo's. They adopted each other, I swear.

He was pretty sure they couldn't stop this anyway, and Shawna had seriously calmed down since getting the cat. Hopefully that meant they'd be able to let her out soon. It really wasn't like she'd hurt anyone, after all.

8. Ginger/Garfield. Orange tabby. Might be immune to heat? Not sure. Safe to adopt out, I think.

9. Schrodinger. Black and white smudgy. IN THE BOX? OUT OF THE BOX? BOTH? (Walks through things. Like walls and PEOPLES LEGS OH MY GOSH NO CAT. Probably don't adopt this one out.)

10. Koshek. Silver tabby. Floats at times. Probably shouldn't adopt out? Maybe.

11. Eevee. Brown and white, looks like the pokemon a little. No powers? Find a home.

12. Sue. Calico. Prisim's therapy cat. NOTHING makes her mad? like at all? She might be blind-note: have Caitlin see. Pretty sure her Purr is telepathic or something.

13. Greebo. Manx, cream colored. only three legs. No powers? Find a home?

14. Lucy. (NOT Susan, Eddie, and Petra) reverse tabby with white. Doors seem to be liminal space? Closet Jumping? Probably safe to adopt out, though.

15. Felix. Standard grey-brown tabby. walks through walls (WHY CAN SO MANY OF THEM? IS THAT JUST A CAT THING?) Seems shy of it? Safe to adopt out. I think.

16. Cassie: longhaired black with white tips on ears. No powers? but realllly hyper and easily excited. find her a home with high energy people.

17. Faulkner. grey and white. Never shuts up. Probably doesn't have powers. Likes the computers.

"Oi!" Cisco started as Faulkner leaped up to the computer and started batting at the screen. Cisco shooed the kitten down. "Falkner, no, down. Go play with your friends, Fuzz's sleeping and I am working. Understand? Work-king."

"Mrrrrt. Roaw?" Falkner chirped. (But that's my name! On the screen!)

(Sleeping.) Fuzzwhump purred, cracking an eye open (Later.)

Cisco stroked both kitties, giving them ear skritches, and got back to organizing the list from the various scraps of paper he'd been using.

18. Spike. mottled brown. WILD. GUESS. KEEP HERE DO NOT ADOPT OUT.

19. Murgatroyd. black and white. Very calming-not sure if Power or if cat. Keep as Therapy cat?

20. Schmendrick. Tortoiseshell. Theory one: living battery. Theory two: can leech energy from things. Theory three: actually nope just got those two. Might be safe to adopt out.

21. Rita. greyish? Hides a lot. For hours at a time. Probably safe? Unless she just. turns invisible or something.

22. Moose. Reverse tabby, some white. force fields. KEEP.

23. Santiago. Looks like a baby mountain lion, so abyssinian probably. can chew through things. like solid metal table legs. Better keep.

That only left the adopted kittens, four of them. Havoc was still with the Director of the CSI division, and presumably causing the right amount of havoc for her to keep him. Captain Singh hadn't called in Barry to complain that Raoul was levitating or phasing through things or whatever else meta kitties could do, and Eddie and Iris seemed to be doing fine with Goldie and Bear, judging by the number of pictures Iris had added to her personal blog.

Cisco hummed a little. This really wasn't so bad. Even Doctor Wells seemed to be in a better mood than usual, with Apricot often curled up on his lap, or Murgatroyd sprawled across his feet, balancing as cats seem to have the natural ability to do. It was nice having them all around, even if they got underfoot at times. They'd gotten more kitten food, and in some of his free time, Cisco'd rigged a laser pointer light show type thing in one of the kitten rooms. Nyoom seemed to appreciate it most, but Cassie loved it too. She always seemed to know where exactly the light would go next, even when Cisco'd spent three hours ignoring phone calls from his mother (which was possibly more dangerous than, say, facing Captain Cold with a vacuum cleaner) to randomize the light completely. There shouldn't be a pattern, and even if there was, how smart were these cats?

Maybe Cassie had the meta-kitty power of analyzing probability.

On his lap, Fuzzwhump stretched, then leaped down, looking at him expectantly.

"Lunch time?" Cisco asked.

As if they'd heard, most of the kittens converged on the food bowls.

"Barry, can I talk to you?" Eddie knocked on the door frame of the makeshift lab where Barry did most of his work.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Barry startled, mentally running through any reason Eddie would want to talk to him. "Is it about the, uh-Grier case?" he started scrambling for papers on his cluttered desk, careful not to use his super speed. " I've got the tox screen running now, It should only be a-"

"No, it's about Iris. And Goldie. And Bear."

"Are they ok? Is something wrong?" Barry dropped the stack, suddenly worried.

"No, they're fine, didn't mean to scare you." Eddie flashed a tight smile. "It's just….Things are weird. Like, really weird."

"O-oh?" Barry asked, hoping he sounded just interested and not panicked.

"Sometimes, we'll be talking, and everything's normal, and then I just-can't talk. Or she can't. Like the words just-won't come."

"That's not...weird. That happens all the time. Forgetting what you're saying, or losing your train of thought…"

"But it only happens when Bear's around, like on the couch, or the rug, or the bed. And...that's not the only thing they have in common."

"The cats? Or the times when-"

"The times when we can't talk. It's when-Like, she'll ask me what I think of her pot roast and you know Iris's pot roast."

Barry made a face. Iris was a very good cook, but there were some recipes that she really should probably stop trying.

"Or I'll be asking her if she's had a good day at work, or if she's really ok with my mother wanting to come by for dinner, things like that."

"Things you answer with lies, then." Barry blinked. " So you're trying to tell me that your cats...make it impossible to lie."

"I know, it sounds crazy," Eddie said, running a hand through his hair. " But I think so. Goldie just-meows. Really loudly, like loudly, when anyone says anything that's not true. I've tried testing it, I thought I was losing it, but every time, every time!"

"Wow," Barry tried to keep his face interested and calm. "That-you're right, that is weird. Very weird. Um."

"I know that Star Labs has something to do with all this-Metahuman activity. I am a detective, and the way Joe keeps sneaking over there when we've got cases that are -difficult. So I'm just asking you-have you seen anything? Strange, or-out of the ordinary there?"

"Not...really?" Barry offered.

"Meow." Goldie yowled from Eddie's bag.

Barry winced.

Barry did his best to smooth that over, careful not to admit to being a metahuman himself, and as soon as he was able, beat a hasty retreat to STAR Labs, if only to warn them all that there might be trouble.

"Oh, we have trouble." Doctor Wells said, nodding his head at the kittens clustered around them. Eevee, one of the non-powered kittens was in a glass case. A sealed glass case. And she was wispy and green around the edges.

"Doctor Snow found, ah, Schrodi in a locked room, stuck. And then this one," Wells indicated Eevee, who seemed no worse for wear. "Was downstairs. In Nimbus's cell."

"How is she not dead?" Barry asked. " And how is she…"

"She's appropriated his powers." Caitlin filled in. "Somehow, she can-take the powers of other Metas. Including people."

"Which, for us, is potentially dangerous. What happens if she borrows yours, Barry? Or if we had not caught her before she accidentally gassed someone?"

Barry sucked in a breath. He'd lost his powers once, losing them again, to a cat ( and having two speedster cats running around) would be on the list of Not Good things. Particularly if the Man in Yellow returned. Though if she could steal his powers….

"We need to find a home for her as soon as possible," Doctor Wells continued. " And find a way to end her connection to The Mist's powers. It would be wonderful if he never regained said powers, of course, but…"

"So put her with another kitten? Let her take that power instead?" Cisco guessed. "But what if it...hurts them?"

"Exactly. I suppose we can always keep an eye on her, and hope that it wears off, so to speak." Doctor Wells removed his glasses and polished the lenses, careful to avoid the lower part of his dark cardigan, currently covered in orange cat fur.

"How long has she been like this?"

"A little over an hour, I'm afraid."

Eevee mewed a little sadly and pressed her paws against the container wall. Fuzzwhump and Faulkner scurried over, Fuzzwhump remarkably fast on her stubby legs, and patted at their friend.

Approximately 45 minutes later, an alert from the pipeline informed everyone that The Mist had regained his powers and was trying to escape through the vents again. Luckily, there were failsafes for just such an occurrence-honestly, they weren't stupid- and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Caitlin opened the door on the tiny containment unit, and Eevee scrabbled out, purring up a storm and moving to brush against first Caitlin and then Barry. Cisco scooped her up before she could.

"We really don't need two lightning bolt kitty blurs around here. Even if it's only temporary," he said.

"It might be useful, if we have to fight-you know. The reverse Flash." Barry chewed his lip thoughtfully. "Slow him down long enough to catch him."

"Are you suggesting throwing Eevee at him the next time he pays a visit?" Caitlin raised a brow. " because that sounds like a spectacularly bad plan."

"She could easily get any of us killed, or any number of people if she happens to borrow your powers, Mr. Allen." Doctor Wells shook his head. " I think it best that we find her a home, and quickly. Someone who has no connection to The Flash or Metahumans."

As if on cue, the intercom buzzed.

"Hi, Caitlin? It's uh-can you see me? Never mind. It's Kenna? From the pet store? I brought the next delivery of kitten food."

Caitlin and Scrap went down to let Kenna in, and help with the boxes. Once the supplies, many more this time now that it was apparent some of the kittens would stay indefinitely, were safely stowed, Kenna bent to the task of greeting the kittens. Santiago started gnawing on her trailing shoe lace, toying with it until the aiglet came clean off. Fuzzwhump sniffed her hands and ran back to Cisco, climbing his pant leg until she reached the crook of his arm. Koshek flopped onto his belly, purring.

"Aww, you beautiful babies," she cooed. "Hi, kitty." Eevee butted her head against the young woman's leg, and Kenna cradled the brown and white fluffball.

"Ms, ah-" Doctor Wells started.

"Page. Kenna Page," she supplied, not looking up.

"Ms. Page. Would you be interested in one of these kittens? In that kitten?"

"What? Um-Well, yes, I'd love too, but-Um-why?"

"Eevee seems fond of you," the doctor continued. " And her presence here is unsettling for some of the other occupants."

(Wish Bear was here.) Santiago mewed around a mouth full of cardboard box.

(Well, he's not wrong, or lying. So.) Scrap purred from her place in the special pocket sewn in Caitlin's sleeve.

"But she's so precious!" Kenna frowned. " Is she sick? Is something wrong with her?"

"No, no, no," Cisco said quickly. " She's just-some of the kittens are...special needs. And she's one of the ones who really needs a home. A more peaceful home."

"Oh. Well-yeah. Yeah. Eevee? D'you wanna come home with me?"

(Yes. You smell like food.) Eevee twined around Kenna's legs and then leaped up to her shoulder.

"I guess that's a yes, then," Kenna laughed. "OK, Um, thank you. So much."

"Thank you, Ms. Page." Doctor Wells said. "For all your help in this, ah, matter."

"Don't worry about it. I'm just glad that you aren't, like, experimenting on kittens."

"We would never." Cisco said, torn between appalled and affronted.

"Like I said, I'm glad." Kenna said, scritching her new pet behind the tufted ears. " I should get going. Anything else you need, give me-er, the shop-a call. I can refer some people looking for kittens to you, if you like."

"That won't be necessary, but thank you," Doctor Wells said firmly. " We'll keep that in mind. Doctor Snow, if you would show Ms. Page the way out?"

As Kenna settled the kitten in a spare cat carrier already in the van, she paused. "That Doctor Wells dude is a strange guy, huh Eves? Eh. Let's go use my employee discount to raid the toy aisle."