"Oh my god!"

He found her curled up and trembling upon their bed. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know how it happened. I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"Janey, sweetheart you're hysterical. What's wrong?"

"The cat food dish is empty."

Both of them turned as the cat, wearing a 'I am not amused' expression sauntered into the room.

"No, it won't happen again. I swear, it won't. It was all my fault. Please!"

The police car pulled up in front of the house and the pair slowly got out, each putting on their hats out of habit. The woman on the door stoop sat, wringing her hands and crying. When she saw them, she jumped up and ran to them, her clothes flapping comically in the wind.

"Help me. You have to help me."

"Ma'am, what's wrong?" Clara took the lead on this one. Upset people was her forte.

"It's my daughter. She has the day off and I was supposed to meet her for lunch today, but she never showed up. Then the school called me to ask about the children. They couldn't get a hold of anyone either."

"What about her husband? Is he still on the scene?" Larry was the more direct of the two.

"Yes, but he's not at work, I called."

"Hmm," Larry locked eyes with his partner. "Why don't you take Mrs…?"

"Gallagher. Margaret Gallagher."

"To the patrol car and get her details. I'll go in and take a look around. Maybe I can find a clue as to what's going on."

"Okay. Larry, be careful."

"You know me. I'm like a cat. I have nine lives."

Clara settled a blanket around Margaret's shoulder and smiled kindly. "Okay, you said you were going to meet up with your daughter?"

"Daughter-in-law, but we were very close, like mother and daughter. Janey had some extra vacation days that she needed to use, so she suggested going to lunch and then do some shopping. I think Carlisle has the nicest-"

Clara never did find out what Margaret thought about Carlisle. She was distracted by the screaming of her partner. "Stay here." She grabbed the radio. "Officer down, officer needs assistance." She rattled off the address even as she was unbuckling her holster.

She ran to the front door and paused. Looking inside, she saw nothing out of place, except for bloody paw prints. They were everywhere. It wasn't until she entered the bedroom that she saw the true horror. A man and woman had quite literally been ripped to pieces and their bodies were spread all over the room.

Clara looking down and realized what she was standing in and bile built up in her stomach. She stumbled towards the bathroom, only to discover the bodies of a little girl and boy, also mangled in the bathtub. Their bathwater was stained pink with their blood.

This time she didn't even try, but emptied her stomach contents. She would tell the forensics guys about it later. Right now, she just wanted to find her partner.

She headed downstairs and she was walking into the kitchen when she heard a scared, Meow? That's when she remembered all the bloody paw prints.

Clara looked around and saw a pair of sea green eyes looking at her from under the tablecloth.

A sense of relief washed over her. She always had a connection with cats. "Hey, sweetheart, what happened here? You poor thing. I wish you could talk. You're lucky it's me who found you and not my partner. He doesn't like cats." She knelt and held a hand out. "Puss, puss, shh, shh." She tried to coax it out knowing that the Forensic guys wouldn't want to have a cat contaminate their crime scene.

There was a glass vase not far from the cat, its long shards looking razor sharp. Like everything else, they were covered in bloody paw prints.

"Poor little one. I hope none of this blood is yours. You're too pretty to hurt. Hey, I bet you're hungry, aren't you?" The cat seemed to perk up at that.

She walked into the kitchen and stopped. The table and countertop was covered with boxes and bags of cat food. "Wow, they were seriously into their cat." She filled a nearly empty bowl and started to take it back out to the cat when she saw her partner.

How she managed to put the bowl down without spilling it was a miracle, but she did, all while grabbing for her com. "I need a bus," she shouted. She dropped to her knees, trying to figure out which gash needed the most attention first. "Larry, Larry, come on, partner, speak to me. What happened?"

Larry's eyes were wide, staring at a spot over her shoulder. "C.. ca… ca."

"What, Larry?" When she looked, all she saw was a cat hungrily devouring its dinner amid pools of blood and gore. Then she could have sworn that the cat winked at her.

ALL IRREGULARITIES WILL BE HANDLED BY THE FORCES CONTROLLING EACH DIMENSION; TRANSURANIC HEAVY METAL MAY NOT BY USED WHERE THERE IS LIFE. MEDIUM ATOMIC WEIGHTS ARE

AVAILABLE: GOLD, LEAD, COPPER, JET, DIAMOND, RADIUM, SAPPHIRE, SILVER AND STEEL. SAPPHIRE AND STEEL HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED.

Steel pulled at the collar of his shirt and grimaced.

Steel, you are a highly trained agent, stop fidgeting.

There's too much starch in this collar. I can't breathe. He loosened the tie, undid the top button on his shirt and then did the tie back up. That's better. What happened here, Sapphire?

People died.

Yes, I ascertained that from the amount of blood everywhere. What, footprints?

"Who are you?"

The woman's voice was shaky, but the weapon she held was rock steady.

"I am Chief Inspector Steel and this is DI Sapphire." Somehow the necessary paperwork was in his pocket and he slowly retrieved it. Her bullet wouldn't hurt him, but it might be hard to explain. "We were assigned this case."

"That was fast, I just called it in." She watched her partner being carried out on a stretcher, her face torn.

"We specialize in cases like this." Sapphire immediately sensed her conflict. "If you'd like to go with your partner, we can always find you at the hospital."

"Thanks." She started to leave and then pointed to where two paramedics hovered around a woman. "That is the wife's mother. Her name is Margaret Gallagher. She's the one who called it in."

"Thank you."

One less person to have to trip over. Steel thought as he walked up to the house. The uniformed officers were wary until credentials were once again flashed.

"My word!" Sapphire's hand went to her throat as the waves of fury and open hostility bombarded her. "So much anger," she murmured and Steel caught her.

"Sapphire, you are a trained and experienced agent. You're made of sterner stuff than that." His voice was cold and hard. He knew others were listening. Are you alright?

She straightened and cleared her throat. "It just took me by surprise. It won't happen again. I'm sorry." Steel, whoever did this hasn't left. The anger, the energy, it's still here.

A noise made them turn to see Margaret Gallagher standing in the doorway. "Ma'am, you can't be in here." One of the officers stationed by the door tried to lead her away, but she fought her way free.

"No! I wouldn't be pushed aside! She was my daughter, they were my grandchildren."

Steel held up a hand to the officer and he stopped. "How did you even know anything has happened to them?' Steel didn't bother to temper his tone.

"Isn't it obvious? The coroner's van is here. There's blood everywhere. That damned cat. Where is it?"

"Cat, ma'am?" The officer looked confused.

"Who the hell else would track up the house like this? Her no-account husband? He's to blame for this. I told her that she needed to get out and leave him while she could. He's the one you should be looking for."

A stretcher carrying a body bag went past. "Ma'am, we already know where he is."

"Good!" the woman spat in the direction of the body.

At least we know where the anger is coming from. Steel thought to Sapphire.

I'm not sure. It seems less focused.

At that, a fat cat wandered in from the kitchen and began to clean its paws.

"Are you happy now?" Margaret yelled at the cat while waving her arms around. "Was this necessary?"

The cat held its ground and glared up at her.

Steel motioned to the officer. "I think it's time we escort her off the premises."

She struggled as the policeman took her elbow. "Not without my cat!" She spun and shook a finger at Steel. "All they had to do was feed her. That's it, but apparently, even that was beyond him. I don't blame her, but that loser husband. He couldn't hold a job, couldn't keep his nose clean, couldn't do anything right!"

Margaret scooped up the cat and stomped towards the door. "You are going straight into the bath when we get home! I just can't believe this."

"And Elvis has left the building."

"Elvis?" Steel was obviously confused and he shot a look at Sapphire.

A singer from the 50's and 60's. Considered the King of Rock and Roll.

"More of a Beatles fan, are you? The hair makes sense now."

Steel looked back at Clara. "I thought you were going with your partner."

"He's stable now, but I wanted to make my report first."

"Somehow, I'm not sure it's going to help." Sapphire watched as Margaret stormed from the room. "That was not a woman in grief."

"Comes in all shapes and sizes, I suppose." Clara opened her notepad. "Do you want to go outside to do this?"

"Yes, please." They came out and watched Margaret walk away, talking to the cat she had slung over her shoulder. For its part, the cat lifted a paw to them, almost as if it was waving goodbye.

Steel?

I saw. We have to go.

"That was just stupid, you know." Margaret settled the cat on the couch and plopped down. The real Margaret Gallagher lay a few feet away, very dead. "You have got to learn to control your temper."

"I was hungry and you could see the bottom of the bowl."

"You're ten pounds overweight. You were hardly starving." She glanced over at the woman now sitting there. "We will have to leave now."

"Next time, we need to find some more reliable owners."

"Next time, I get to be the pampered house cat, but for now we need to leave before…"

"Before what?" Sapphire and Steel stood there. "Before you assume a cat shape and attack us the way you did those poor people?"

"You can't stop us."

"I'm fairly certain I can." Steel reached out and settled a hand on a vase. It exploded at his touch. "Like you, we are not what we seem, which begs the fact, what are you?"

"Caught Shee, am I correct?" Sapphire asked. "They are Irish cat demons, shapeshifters, harmless enough until you make them angry."

"All she had to do was feed me." The woman morphed back into a cat, its tail lashing from side to side.

"It's always about what you want." Margaret, too, changed and with that, they bolted. Agile, fast, and motivated, they disappeared before Sapphire and Steel could even react.

"Shall I take back time?" Sapphire asked, but Steel shook his head slowly.

"No, they are gone and even we cannot repair what they did." He glanced over at the real Margaret's body. "It's too late for them and the damage too extreme. All we can do now is try to limit and control the outcome. Come, Sapphire."

They exited the house and started to walk. A cat watched them from beneath some bushes. Sapphire wasn't sure if it was the same animal or not.

"The whole affair has quite put me off cats, I fear." Sapphire said to him as they prepared to depart their current realm. And just for a split second, she could have sworn the cat merely shook its head at her.