Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, original characters and that's about it.
I Think It's A Fish
As she regained consciousness she was pretty sure of two things. One was that she was alive and the other was that she was moving while in someone's lap. Opening her eyes proved to be a struggle but also allowed the past day to sink in. She'd died saving the guy's brat and now she was back on earth. Not just back on earth but in the body of a cat and most likely in the company of an airhead blonde. Of all the fking luck. She'd had to have a landlady in the past who'd given a damn about her lousy and essentially useless soul. Of course if her father had gotten to heaven he would have lobbied for her but she hadn't expected his to be there so that wasn't much of a surprise. Figuring she really needed to get her surroundings in case she'd misjudged the situation she was slowly and with no small bit of difficulty opened her eyes. At first everything was a big blur but slowly it came into focus and as she'd suspected she was lying across the blonde's lap while he talked to the driver of the vehicle. Turning her head, making herself dizzy in the process Cat was finally able to see the driver clearly. Now this was obviously no dumb blonde. Was he an assassin too? He had the eyes for it anyway. She'd been around soldiers since before she could walk and this guy was a soldier through and through and had seen plenty of action if she wasn't mistaken. He was really tall too, Cat figured, even though everyone was gigantic to her now. He had really weird bangs too. They covered half of his face so that it was almost like he was wearing half a mask. Interesting. From the back she could hear some guy singing along with the radio and figured it was the guy with the long braid, or at least she was pretty sure he was a he, could be questionable given the hair.
"Don't worry, Sassy. We'll soon be home and then you can lay down in your nice, new bed and have a good rest till supper time." The blonde said and Cat would have jumped when she felt his hand stroke her back if she hadn't been so drugged up. Hey you perv, get your God damn hands off me she was going to yell before a) she realized she couldn't speak, b) she was a cat so this was normal and c) this petting thing felt really nice. Of course as soon as she realized she was purring lightly under her breath Cat snapped back to attention and would have scratched him if her whole body hadn't felt so heavy. Wait a fking minute, what the hell had he called her? Had he just referred to her as Sassy? Had he been talking to her? Well who else could he be talking about! that son-of-a bitch had not only stopped her from getting hit but he'd had the audacity to give her a stupid cat name too! Oh she was so going to claw his eyes out when she got whatever they'd given her out of her system.
"Hey, Quatre, the Chinese eat dogs right? They don't eat cats too, do they?" A voice from behind asked and Cat perked up at the thought that she might end up dead after all. Of course the idea of being eaten was slightly disturbing but they'd kill her before hand so what did it really matter what happened to her body afterwards?
"Wufei is not going to eat Sassy, Duo. And I've never seen or heard Wufei express a desire to eat a cat or a dog for that matter." The one called Quatre replied with a chuckle. "Don't worry, kitty, you're not going to end up on the dinner menu, promise."
Damn, why not, Cat growled mentally. I want to be killed and eaten you sons of bitches.
"Quatre, we should see about finding someone to take the cat. I can only guess what Heero and Wufei are going to say when you bring that thing home. I don't mind it and neither would Duo but something tells me the other two won't be so happy about it." The other one, the one whose name she didn't know said. Thank you Bangs, Cat thought, mentally cheering him on.
"I'm sure they'll be fine with it, Trowa. They'll love her." Quatre argued with a smile as he continued to stroke her back, Cat too annoyed with things to really care. Why couldn't anything go her way for once? No, they wouldn't love her, Cat thought as she fell back asleep, she'd make sure of it.
"Hey Wufei, Heero, we're home!" Duo called out at the top of his lungs as they walked into the house, loaded down with all the items Quatre had deemed necessary for his new pet's well being which basically amounted to everything but the kitchen sink. "And we brought a present with us. Quatre nearly got himself killed getting it."
"What on earth could he have possibly gotten that required him to nearly kill himself?" Wufei inquired as he walked in from the left side where the front hall connected with the living room where he'd been catching up on his reading while Duo wasn't in the house to annoy him. "What's all this?" He asked as he motioned to all the shopping bags Duo and Trowa were holding, not even counting the animal carrier Quatre was holding.
"Well Sassy needed food and the other essentials." Quatre said having already had similar comments from Trowa and Duo.
"And who is Sassy?" Wufei asked, already pretty sure that Sassy was whatever was in the carrier. What on earth had Quatre rescued now and why did he have a feeling he wasn't going to want it to stay around long.
"She's a little, defenseless kitty who is hurt and needs our help in order to survive." Quatre said looking at Wufei with a knowing look. Better to hit Wufei with his honor complex before he said no. "It would be wrong, immoral and dishonorable to leave her to die."
"Yuy will use her for target practice." Wufei said, swallowing the comment he had been planning to make before Quatre's comment. He knew that Quatre was manipulating him but he did have a point, it would be wrong to let the animal die because it would be an inconvenience. He'd leave that to Yuy.
"I'll use who for target practice?" Heero asked as he came into the hallway, a frown on his face. As observant as always he took in the bags and carrier, figured out what had likely happened and was already starting to shake his head when Quatre began his pitch.
"She'll only be here for a little while, until she's healed up and we can find someone else to take her." Quatre said quickly, setting the case down and reaching in pulled out the sleeping cat. "I couldn't just leave her on the streets alone and hurt, Heero. You know as well as I do that she wouldn't get the kind of care she deserves at a shelter. It'll only be for a couple of weeks and I'll take care of her and she'll be my responsibility completely. Also cats are really independent which means she'll practically take care of herself."
"Fine." Heero said before Quatre could really start pleading his case. Having gone through this hundreds of times before with Mr. Bleeding-heart he knew that Quatre was going to dig his feet in until he got to keep the thing and at least this one wasn't a squirrel like the last one. He'd gone to all the trouble of wasting a bullet shooting the bloody thing and Quatre had turned around and adopted the stupid thing.
"I knew you'd understand and agree with me." Quatre beamed with pure happiness. He wouldn't mention to the guys that he wanted to keep this one as oppose to find another owner for it, he'd tell them once they got attached to her. He didn't know what it was about her but something about her made him think that of all the animals he'd saved over the years this one really needed him and not just for the basic essentials.
It was night time. She was pretty sure of that anyway. She was in a room lit by firelight and there wasn't a hell of a lot of light coming from the windows, just enough to suggest that it was the moon as oppose to the sun. She was in a living room, it looked liked one anyway. The fire behind her was going strong so it hadn't been started that long ago and it was nice and toasty in the room, nearly lulling her to sleep. But she wasn't going to sleep, Cat ordered herself as she tried to get to her feet but fell immediately back into her...my god was she in a basket? How humiliating. And damn it all, what the hell was wrong with her leg? Turning her head she could just make out white bandages wrapped around her back leg with braces on either side. How typical, Cat thought with a dark look. She succeeded in busting up her leg but not dying, that of course would be too much to hope for. As if to remind her of her current state Cat heard the sounds of someone coming into the room. Looking to the left of her she saw the shape of one of the guys, Duo, she thought as he tip toed into the room.
"Hey kitty, you awake?" Duo asked as he crouched down to look into the ridiculous basket Quatre had bought for her. Her golden eyes gleaming in the darkness Duo decided to take that as a yes. He'd been unable to sleep and had decided to watch a movie, the only problem was that he hated to watch this particular movie alone. Hence he'd decided to see if the cat was up figuring she was better then nothing. "Wanna watch a movie with me? Its got fish in it, at least I think he'd be considered a fish. I'm not quite sure but hey, he looks like one which should make you happy. So how about it?"
How about I take these teeth of mine and sink them into your face was what Cat wanted to say but since she couldn't she showed her teeth off in an evil look. Of course Mr. Braid couldn't take a hint and took her showing of teeth for a smile, the dumb idiot. She would have scratched him but he had her in his arms quicker then a second and once she was there she really didn't want to get dropped. If she was to heal and get out busting all her legs would slow things down considerably. Held carefully against his chest Cat gave him a small amount of credit for being gentle as they headed out of the room and opening a door into the basement. Through another door and they were into the family area, featuring a big screen TV waiting for them. Putting the lights on at a low setting Duo carefully deposited her on the couch before disappearing into another room, returning minutes later with a bag of chips, a small bowl, a cup and a bottle of cola. Setting them all down on the coffee table beside the couch he turned back to the TV and shuffling around eventually found the movie he was looking for. Turning everything on he pressed play and while the previews came on disappeared again, returning with two TV dinner tables, one under each arm. He leaned them up against the couch and quickly adjusted the one so that it was right in front of Cat and she could reach it easily. The other he set up beside hers, at his height. Flopping down on the couch, he opened the bag of chips and settle back, in time as the movie began with the two teens running towards the beach, the girl stripping as she went along.
Why did this not surprise her, Cat wondered as she watched the girl's clothes go flying while the idiot boy stumbled behind her. Turning her head she watched Duo carefully pouring pop into the cup and into the bowl. The bowl? Staring at him in confusion she blinked as he set the bowl on her table. Was he giving her pop to drink? What kind of person gave their cat a bowl full of pop? One that she liked Cat decided as she managed to get up on her four legs and limp onto the table to lap up some of the pop. Of course it tasted weird, more like water then actual pop but hey, it wasn't too bad at all. Turning her head when she heard the strange music playing Cat felt a chill go down her spine. There was something about that music, then wham, the girl was being jerked around like something had her under the water. But what had her? Cat wondered as she forgot about the pop to watch the girl get dragged around the water as she struggled to stay above before she sank for the last time. What the Hell had happened to her? The screen then switched to a family scene and that didn't interest her much so she turned her attention back to Duo who was munching away on his chips. Noticing her attention Duo smiled at her. "Hey kitty, not scared yet huh? Well here, bet you want some of this. I doubt you've had a lot to eat lately huh?" Pulling some chips out of the bag he crumbled them out before setting the small pieces of the chips on the table. Acknowledging the food with a quick nod Cat started to lap up the chips, at least these tasted more like they should. Now the guy, a sheriff, whatever that was, was checking out the pieces of the girl found on the beach. What could have done that to her? And when would it happen again?
An hour or so later Cat had her answer and between eating and drinking watched one person after another get eaten by a giant shark that was probably as big as a stretched limo. She'd also learned that the mayor was a moron and that the sheriff was also real moron for not closing down the beach. There was a giant shark eating people out there, how stupid could you be? And of course the sheriff's son was at the beach so then he starts to worry, after another boy ends up as fish food and the mom starts a shark hunt. The plot led something to be desired but the shark was pretty cool.
"What are you doing?" A voice asked as another man came into view. She didn't recognize this one at all and wondered where he fit in. He had black hair pulled back in a ponytail, wearing loose white pants with no shirt. Chinese if she wasn't mistaken, likely the one Duo had wondered about eating her.
"We're watching a movie, Wo-man. Care to join us?" Duo asked cheerfully, looking over as the professor guy was telling the people that it was quite possible that the shark the morons had caught might not be the shark they're looking for. Well duh, Cat thought as she mentally rolled her eyes, how stupid could you get?
"What is that cat eating?" Wufei demanded, rounding the couch to look down at the chips and pop she'd been munching on. "Have you been feeding her chips and pop?"
"Maybe." Duo said weakly. "She likes it, Wufei and I figured she wouldn't eat it if she didn't like it."
"Cats aren't capable of tasting sugar, Duo and those chips aren't good for her at all." Wufei stated as he gently put her back on the couch and moved the tray out of her reach. "Just because she'll eat it doesn't mean it's good for her." He added as he sat down on the couch, between Duo and Cat, sending Duo an exasperated look. "What on earth are you watching?" He asked as he turned his attention to watching the three guys in the boat break into this really stupid song as they were all drunk and stupid in Cat's opinion.
"It's called Jaws, a really old movie from before the colonies." Duo said with a smile. "It's a about this giant shark that goes around eating people. Wanna watch?"
"I suppose." Wufei said, knowing that he wouldn't be getting back to sleep anytime soon. He'd had trouble sleeping recently and he might as well stay and make sure Duo didn't give the poor feline anything else that he shouldn't. He sat there and watched the scene play out in silence until something happened he just couldn't understand. "Why are they lowering that guy into that cage? Isn't the shark in those waters?"
"Yeah, the doc's sure going to regret that, but I won't tell you what happens." Duo said with a wink as he settled back in the couch, a minute of so later the music began and he looked at the cat, then at Wufei. "You know, I think this cat really suits us."
"Why would you say that?" Wufei asked as he looked at the cat who was staring at the screen as if glued to it. He'd never been around animals much but he couldn't recall ever seeing an animal appear so involved with a movie or anything like it. It was almost as if she knew that the shark was coming.
"Because every time the shark's about to attack or eat someone she starts purring. She's even more bloodthirsty then Yuy." Duo said with a chuckle as he motioned to the cat who was indeed purring slightly as she watched the shark throw itself at the cage as it tried to break it open to get at the guy inside. "Like I said, she fits this group to a tee."
"That's messed up." Wufei said with a shake of his head. What kind of cat had Quatre picked up?
Oh shut up braid boy, Cat said mentally as she gave Duo a dark look before turning her gaze back to the screen to watch the sheriff, Mr. Afraid of the Water battle the shark after the huge predator had finished eating the captain guy who'd been the only one who'd known what he was doing in the first place. This was going to be good.