Title: Here, Kitty, Kitty
Genre: Humor...and other stuff too.
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: M/A-ish.
Status: wip
Summary: Max wanted a simpler life. She got her wish. She reaaally ought to have been more specific.

A/N: See, there's this wonderful thing about life: It has a way of shitting all over your plans. Without fanfare, or apology. This was supposed to be a quick little story—you know, rapid and frequent updates—nothing grandiose or profound about it. But... stuff got in the way.

Flying by the seat of my pants here, no betas involved. So any and all errors are mine. All MINE. And you can't take them from me!

Here, Kitty, Kitty

- 2 -

Max ran.

Over obstacles, around them, and sometimes even through them, where gaps and breaks afforded her smaller than normal body room to duck and maneuver.

Max ran like she'd never run before. Of course, never before had she run down on all fours, and eight inches off the ground.

'Have to get to Logan's, have to get to Logan's, havetogettoLogans...' The words circled like a mantra through her head.

She didn't slow even when the sky opened up, and a few warning drops soon erupted into a torrential downpour the likes of which the city of Seattle hadn't seen since... last week, at least. Although she did idly wonder if perhaps this all-powerful being known as God that people were always talking about really did exist, and had just decided to take her previous twenty-one non-believing years as a personal affront against him, like a yo' mama joke or a potshot at his new haircut. Because she was pretty sure that somebody up there really didn't like her. And she was kind of not liking them right back at the moment.

By the time Max reached her destination, she was soaking wet, but hard-pressed to care.

She had far greater concerns on her mind. For instance, like the fact that she no longer had hands could severely impede in her ability to turn a doorknob. And she couldn't knock either, so—

Or could she?

After all, the object was simply to get Logan to the door, and all that required was creating enough noise to attract his attention.

Settling back on her haunches, Max raised her front paws to the well-worn door.

'I can't believe I'm about to do this...'

Scratch.

"Mrrreow!"

'So undignified...'

Scratch, scratch, scratch.

"Mreow, mreow, mreow!"

'C'mon already, Logan! What are you doing in there?'

Scratch, "mreow!" Scratch, "mreow!". Scratch—

The door burst open.

"Mreow."

A very disheveled Logan appeared in its place, scratching at his mussed hair, and glasses set slightly askance on his face.

"What—?"

Max didn't wait for the confusion to clear from his features before she rushed him.

Logan stumbled backward, arms flailing in the air as a small furred figure launched itself at his person.

"Ack! Shoo! Shoo...you!"

He tried to dislodge the creature from where it clung to his pant leg. He jiggled the appendage, he hopped around, he made directive gestures with his hands. And all he got in return for his troubles was a rather disgruntled, "mrrreow!"

Finally, he grabbed a poker from the nearby fireplace and tried to pry it off himself.

Max let out an aggravated screech, shredding his pants as she launched away from his body and toward the pile of boxes and hardware cluttering one half of the room.

"No!" Logan cried out in his own panic, "stay away from there!"

Brandishing the poker in both hands, he chased after her.

Max squealed and worked her body into a small gap between two large, humming pieces of equipment she hoped were valuable enough that he wouldn't risk swiping at them.

"What the hell are you doing to that cat?"

Both hunter and prey froze momentarily at the sound of the new voice.

'Alec!'

Max felt an initial rush of relief, which quickly dissipated as she realized there was no telling how he would react to her in her new form (Logan's response being far from ideal). She huddled further into her hiding spot.

"It attacked me first!" Logan defended.

Max let out a feline gasp of outrage. She did not!

"And now it's in there, doing god knows what sort of damage to my computer."

She heard the sound of footsteps moving toward her little haven.

"Yeah, I'm sure she's sabotaging the entire system as we speak," Alec replied dryly. And then a very familiar pair of eyes met Max's own as she scooted further backward. "Hey there, kitty, why don't you come on out here?"

Max glared suspiciously at him.

"I promise I won't let the bad man hurt you," he said in a placating tone.

"Bad man...?" Logan spluttered in the background.

Alec ignored him. "If you come out, we can get you a nice warm bowl of cream."

Cream! What the hell kind of bribe was that supposed to be? What did he think, that all he had to do was promise her a bowl of thick, warm, delicious...delectable...mouth-watering…

"Mreow?"

Alec's grin was bright as he carefully swooped up her wet, shivery form in one hand. Max eyed him warily, tensing to leap from his hold, but then he did something that froze her in place.

He started scratching the spot behind her ears.

'Hey! What do you think you're doing there, buddy! Personal space! No-touch zones! Keep those hands...doing...thaaat. Oh yeah, right there, right there. Don't stop...'

A strange, rumbling noise started in her throat, but Max was too busy concentrating on the sensation Alec's hands were creating to pay much attention. She shifted closer to him, drawn by the welcoming warmth emitted by his body.

"You like that, don't you?"

Hearing the grin in his voice, Max cracked one eye open (she hadn't even realized when she closed them), and gave him a glare.

'Don't let it go to your head, pretty boy. I'm sure anyone else would've gotten the same reaction from me... Wait, that doesn't make me look too good.'

"She's a pretty friendly one," Alec observed, "I wonder is she's someone's pet."

"How do you know it's a 'she'?" Logan piped up.

Max closed her eyes again, surrendering to the pleasure of Alec's hands.

"She's a tortoiseshell. They're always female."

'Da-amn. He was really, really good at this.'

"Always?" asked Logan skeptically.

"Always."

"Well... don't you think you ought to check? Just to make sure?"

Max's eyes flew open in horror. She leveled a warning glance, first in Logan's direction, then in Alec's. Neither man seemed to make much of it. Perhaps her glaring powers were species-specific?

Alec shook his head. "Nah, no point in risking upsetting her any more."

Max breathed a sigh of relief and cuddled back into her savior.

"Well, it—she—just showed up and started scratching at the front door a few minutes ago. And when I opened it, it—she—launched herself at me." Logan scratched his head. "I don't think I've seen her around here before."

Alec raised an eyebrow in the other man's direction. "You pay much attention to the neighborhood cats?"

"Uh...not really. I'm not much of a cat person."

Max glanced toward him, eyes narrowing slightly.

"Allergic," he explained. "I shouldn't even be in the same room as one... let alone touch it."

'Oh great, so no matter what form I'm in, we can't touch,' Max thought with a mental eye roll, seeing as she no longer seemed capable of a physical one.

"Hmm, maybe then she's just someone's pet looking for shelter from the rain," Alec mused aloud.

'What?'

Max felt a surge of panic at the thought of being left to her own devices on the rainy streets of Seattle in her newer, diminished, and significantly weaker form.

Digging her claws into Alec's sweatshirt, she climbed her way up his chest. She stuck her face into that of the other transgenic, and plastered on the most appealing look she could manage.

Alec laughed.

"I think she wants to stay with me."

'Yes!' Max purred in agreement, rubbing her face against the worn material of his shirt.

"I guess I could keep you for a while."

'Good answer.'

"Hey," Logan spoke up suddenly, apparently not as impressed by the moment of bonding between man and cat as... the man and the cat, "you wouldn't happen to know where Max is, would you?"

"No idea, man," Alec replied, using the sleeve of his shirt to dry off his companion as much as he could. "I ran into her at JP a few runs back, but nada since then."

"Huh. She told me she was coming by a couple of hours ago," Logan mused. "And I paged her, but she's not answering me."

Alec shrugged. "I'll give her a heads up if I see her." He stood, adjusting the feline in his arms. "Oh, right. Here's a new circuit board Luke wrangled up for you." He pulled the piece out of his messenger bag and tossed it to Logan.

"Thanks."

"No prob. Alright, little kitty, whaddaya say we head home for a little food, sleep, and... well, that's pretty much it for tonight."

"Mreow," was the contented response.

Alec lifted the flap of his now-empty messenger bag. "Hop in."

Max did so, popping her head out a moment later as a thought occurred to her.

'You owe me a bowl of cream, buddy!'

tbc

I have no idea when I'll be continuing this next. So don't ask:P