It was Alan on camera again, but this time he was holding it himself, crouched near the stairs to the kitchen. It was, from the light coming through the wall of glass, very early in the morning. "Hello world," he said, whispering into the camera. He glanced up, grinning, his face nearly filling the screen. "Gordon's sneaking around. I wanna see what he's trying to hide." He turned the camera around then, disappearing from view.

Alan, apparently very well practiced at being sneaky, slipped through the kitchen to where Gordon was trying to walk past a half-awake Virgil sitting at the counter sipping his coffee. The aquanaut was wearing a white dress shirt and tan slacks, and actually had shoes on for once, as well as a tie, although it had been loosened around his neck. It was clear he'd been on the mainland, probably for TI business, with how he was dressed. Virgil was still in his pajamas, hair messy, face unshaved, with the faint remains of a black eye obvious on his face. Gordon looked rather startled to see him there, honestly, by the little yelp he let out and the maneuver to quickly hide his bundle behind his back. "Virgil! Good morning! How are you so far today?"

Virgil glared, rubbing at the stubble on his chin. "You know, they killed Socrates for asking too many questions," he replied, grumpy and tired. Why he was even up yet was a complete mystery, because the clock on the wall behind him was just edging past seven AM.

"Riiight," Gordon drawled, backing away and keeping his bundle out of Virgil's sight. "Well, I'll just leave you to your morning coffee…"

"Freeze," Virgil commanded, placing his mug down and narrowing his eyes.

Gordon, probably more from instinct than anything else, froze. "What?"

"What's that?" Virgil asked.

"What's what?" Gordon asked back.

Virgil's glare got intensely worse, and Gordon sighed. Alan snuck a little closer, honestly impressive in how he hadn't been noticed yet in a kitchen that frankly had nowhere for him to hide. Gordon stepped up to the counter and placed his bundle up on top, a medium sized animal carrier. He flipped open the door and a creature stepped cautiously out.

Alan spoke up then, voice confused from behind the camera. "What is that?"

"It's a cat," Gordon deadpanned. The thing—apparently a cat—stepped further out, butting its head against Gordon's chest.

"Are you sure?" Alan asked, coming closer. It was an odd-looking creature, disregarding some rather horrific injuries that left it looking even odder. The cat had curly white fur, where it had fur, and massive ears—or, well, one massive ear. The other ear looked to have been burned half-way off. It had only one bright yellow eye, which looked too big for its face, especially as it was missing the other. And it had massive burn scars covering about forty percent of its body, including the side of the face that was missing its eye and half an ear, fully healed but still pink and hairless. Likely, the cat wouldn't have fur growing back in those places at all, from the intense scarring.

"Yeah, Allie, I'm sure," Gordon sighed. He scratched the cat under its chin and a deep rumbling purr came from it. Virgil tilted his head, taking a deep swig of his coffee as he watched silently. He looked contemplative, if still incredibly tired.

"I mean…it's a weird looking cat," Alan said. He reached out and touched a patch of white fur. "I've never seen a cat with curly hair before." The injuries, healed as they were, didn't seem to faze him much.

Gordon hummed and the cat flopped, clearly comfortable on the countertop so long as it was getting pet. "It's a Cornish Rex," Gordon explained. "They're generally weird looking cats," he said. And then he gave a deeper sigh. "You remember that apartment complex fire in Wales? Back when I was primary for Two cause Virge was out of commission?"

Virgil gave a grunt, but Alan nodded. "Right, I remember that. Lost four people." The fact that they seemed to remember the loses, even from a mission so long ago, more than they ever seemed to remember the lives saved, said a lot about these boys.

"Uh huh," Gordon said, still petting the cat. "I saved this little girl and got her to a vet. No owners ever came forward, so I paid for all the care, but the shelter said that no one wanted her and if she didn't get adopted soon, they would have no choice but to put her down so…"

"So, you brought her home," Virgil said with a sigh. He didn't look surprised; Gordon had a soft spot for animals. Especially ones that overcame incredible odds.

So did he, for that matter.

"I figured at the very least I could find her a good home," Gordon replied, looking down at the cat.

Virgil hummed, finishing off his coffee. "She have a name?" he asked, as he got up from the stool he was sitting at and went to place his mug in the sink. He stretched, rubbing at his stubble again and then brushing his hands off on his plaid pajama pants.

"No." Gordon gave a little shrug at the look Virgil gave him. "Didn't want to get attached."

"Martian," Alan said, his hand now petting the curly fur of the cat. At the looks his two brothers gave him, he made a small noise. "Let's be honest, Gordy is already attached. And she looks like an alien."

"Scott won't go for it," Gordon sighed, and he looked a little sad. Clearly, he had gotten attached to the feline. "You know we don't have time for a pet, Sprout."

Virgil came back over to the counter, watching the cat for a long moment. She was still giving off that deep, rumbling purr that seemed almost too low for a cat as small as she was. She couldn't have been more than a year old; still just a baby, really. He smiled then, reaching out and scooping her up off the counter. "Leave it to me," he said. "And we don't have to worry about this little lady; cats are notoriously good at taking care of themselves."

Martian, as Alan had named her, melted against Virgil, rubbing her head against his chest. He gave a bit of a chuckle, heading for the stairs. "Stay out of sight," he warned quietly. He took the stairs two at a time, Gordon and Alan going a bit slower behind him.

Scott was at the desk, of course, and Virgil strode towards him with a very determined air about him. The camera stopped midway up the stairs, just high enough to be poking out from the top to see what was happening. "Scott," Virgil said, stepping closer. Scott startled, looking up at Virgil with wide blue eyes. He clearly wasn't used to seeing his middle brother this early in the morning. "Hold Martian for me, will ya?" Virgil asked, dumping the cat in Scott's lap, and turning on his heel to retreat to the stairs.

Virgil joined his two younger brothers, just peeking up from the stairs. "Watch," he whispered.

Scott blinked down at the thing in his lap, jaw gaping a bit. He looked up to where Virgil had disappeared, by all three of them were well hidden from sight. "What the heck?" Scott murmured. "Where did the cat come from?"

He was holding his arms out to the side, as though he didn't really know what to do with them. But slowly, as Martian gazed up at him placidly, he reached out and touched her gently. "What happened to you?" he asked, fingers running down the length of one healed scar. Martian gave a rumbly purr, stretching up to rub her face against Scott's chin.

The tension left Scott's shoulders, slowly seeping away as the cat purred, and he soon found himself leaning back in his chair, cradling the cat that had sprawled across his chest, still rumbling happily. Virgil turned to the camera, raising one eyebrow smugly. "Compatible colors," he said with a shrug, before tromping back down the stairs to the kitchen, likely to get more coffee.

Gordon stared at Alan, who still couldn't be seen on camera. "Did Virgil just give my cat to Scott?" he asked softly. Alan shrugged, the camera turning back to where Scott was still cradling the cat, stroking it gently. He seemed to have forgotten about the work he'd been doing before, content to just sit and pet the animal.

"Well," Alan said softly, "You were looking for a good home for her." And Scott would likely be a very attentive owner—he'd done a good job in raising his brothers, after all.

And the camera went dark.

YolandaMakesBread 9 hours ago
Aww…poor kitty. Good job bringing her home Gordon! She deserves a good place to live!
62.3k likes
View 722 replies

AlanFanGirl87 8 hours ago
Adopt don't shop! There are so many good animals that aren't getting homes because they're weird looking or have special needs! Good on you boys!
73.1k likes
View 298 replies

KatanaUser23 7 hours ago
Weird looking cat. Martian is a good name for it.
37.2k likes
View 183 replies

BigRedChairForMe 6 hours ago
What did Virgil mean by compatible colors? Can we get a video where he explains that?
83.4k likes
View 837 replies

PippinPipPip 5 hours ago
Did anyone else notice that Scott was wearing a ring? Or was that just me? Are they ever going to address that?! Also…the cat seems good for all of them. Good job.
79.3k likes
View 983 replies

For the next couple weeks, all the boys Instagram pages were filled with pictures of their new cat. It seemed that Martian was well loved by all the members of the family, robots included. Some of the photos showed the white feline riding around on Danny-the-Roomba at one point. The cat could also be seen lounging on all the boys' beds at different times, cuddled up with any one of them (John had apparently come down to say hello), and playing with any number of toys that had suddenly appeared.

Alan had apparently knitted a few fashionable sweaters for the kitty in the short amount of time they'd had her. The explanation was that the scarring caused some issues with thermoregulation, so the sweaters were to help. The fact that they were rather fetching was just a coincidence.

She stayed up at night to watch the stars with Alan and John.

She was found lounging in Virgil's studio as the man painted, or on top of the piano as he played.

She was seen stretched out in the sun in Gordon's boat, as the man swam in the ocean.

She was most often seen with Scott, though. If he was working at the desk, she was often on the desk. And she only tolerated him working for a set amount of time before demanding attention. Every resident of Tracy Island loved her even more for that; Scott hadn't been so relaxed since their father had disappeared.