A Loving Sacrifice
With the girls asleep that night and the men still at Preventers Cat was left to pace in the living room. She felt helpless and useless, feelings she hated more then any others. She wanted to do something, to help in some way but what the hell could she do? She was in the body of a cat and for that matter only a handful of people could even hear her. And the bastards had taken Maia, her Maia! The poor kid was likely terrified right now and there wasn't a single thing she could do. She'd only really ever brushed up against the terrorist group called Venom once and that was to see one of the group's stooges leaving the store of someone she occasionally bought supplies from. She'd wanted some information about a new security system on the market and the dumb idiot that ran the place was all puffed up about getting an order from the organization. Probably thought he was on his way to the big times. As if, the guy had only wanted the names of some of the best thieves in the area to try out this new security system they were putting in at one of their locations. Apparently the Venom stooge had been the talkative type which made Cat think he wouldn't have survived in the business long. That had been about a month and a half before she'd croaked. Only an idiot broadcasted who he worked for, especially in this case. Not to mention that there was a new base being built, way to advertise for enemies to start looking for it, Cat thought with a roll of her eyes. Then again at the time she hadn't recalled seeing that particular terrorist group's name in the paper much. They must have been laying low at the time as they built up for this current mess.
)
Jumping out of her basket to pace the floor Cat came to a sudden halt as an idea occurred to her. It was just a glimmer of a chance but what if...the base that underling had referred to was where they were keeping the hostages. It made sense that they'd hold their hostages in their newest and likely most secure base after all. And if they really had been looking around for people to test it out...well then she knew those kind of people too. Knew where to find them and just how to get information out of them. Odds were the base would have also been nearby too otherwise why would they have been looking for guys in that area to use as guinea pigs? Why bother with the expense of transportation when you didn't need to? Sure they would have likely done things to insure the men wouldn't know where they were being taken but still...one of them might have gotten some idea either from the trip or something that was said while they were there. Then again they might have just killed said guinea pigs after they were done with them. That would be the most logical thing to do. But the area, well that wouldn't change. And people always knew things, especially ones that could be either bribed or threatened into talking about things they weren't supposed to know about.
"But how am I gonna do that when I'm like this?" Cat said out loud as she looked down at herself with a grimace. She was about as scary as a frilly pillow at the moment and none of the bastards she'd need to talk to would even be able to hear her. Even if she told the boys about all this they'd never get the information, they were just too...themselves for this sort of thing. They didn't have the kind of edge this sort of thing required, least of all the reputation to make things go faster. Anna could do it but she wasn't so well known either since she preferred to stay aloof of the worst of the worst of their trade. Cat didn't mind it since she got things easier through those people but Anna's standards were a little higher. Plus Anna didn't advertise her killings, few people had ever heard of her since her specialty was in making deaths look like accidents or suicides. She did most of her deals online too. Damn it all, she was the best for the job and couldn't do it.
)
Frustrated Cat beat her head against the side of the couch for a moment, frustrated beyond belief. She couldn't remember ever being this frustrated in fact If she could have managed it she'd have started pulling out her fur. Think, think, think. There had to be something she could do about all of this. Some way she could help them get the hostages back. If only she were in her own body. Even just a couple days and she could get all the information she needed. If only... "If only." Cat said slowly, an idea entering into her busy head. She needed her body..and Saint Peter and the rest wanted to send her to hell. She'd been doing some good things lately, even if they hadn't been on purpose so maybe they'd been enough to lower her sentence which the angels above wouldn't like at all. That's why they'd sent her back as a cat after all. So what if she made a deal with them? A deal that benefited the both of them. Pacing back and forth for over an hour as she worked out the idea Cat was finally convinced it was her best chance and headed for the dining room with a determined swing of her tail. Using her hands and paws Cat went to work, finally managing to get one of the window to slide open enough that she could squeeze it the rest of the way with her body. Jumping down and into a snow drift Cat fought her way out and began the daunting task of walking through the snow towards her destination. Sheer will had her climbing through drifts and slush in the freezing weather, the wind fierce enough to nearly knock her off her feet. Struggling through it all Cat was near to an icicle when she'd finally made the four blocks trip down to the nearby church. It took her another half an hour to get in, leaving snow and wet paw prints everywhere as she shivered and shook with cold as her blood began to circulate again. Making her way up to the pulpit Cat looked around her with weariness, expecting someone to shoo her out at any moment. Either that or someone appearing to strike her dead for daring to set a sinful paw in a house of God. Just the thought of going back outside was terrifying. Reaching the front Cat sat down and taking a deep breath did something she'd never done once by choice. She was going to pray.
)
"Uhmmm I know there's likely some special prayer introduction I'm supposed to start with but I don't know any. I probably did when I was a kid but since church was more of a punishment then a joy I kinda slept and fiddled my way through most of it so ya. I'm not going to lie and tell you I've been reformed or anything like that. I guess you being the all knowing and all powerful you'd know if I was lying anyway. I don't like you. I sometimes even hate you. You took away my da and you never seem to be around when people need you. I've seen children beg on the streets, mothers become prostitutes just to feed their kids and men kill others for the coat off their backs or a lousy twenty. I've seen way too much bad stuff to really believe that you care. I never believed really that you existed until I died for that matter. I didn't want to believe that you really existed and just didn't care enough to try and undo all the messes your creations make. I mean I know after the whole ark thing you said you weren't going to interfere any more but I mean sometimes you have to. Sometimes people do such terrible things that only someone like you can fix them. But you don't fix them, you just let them get worse. I have to figure you're there though and that you might have people listening to prayers, even if you don't. I've never asked you for anything, at least not for something really important that mattered. I've broken pretty much every commandment you put down but then again so have most. Because most people don't count on you anymore. After all why should we listen to you when you don't listen to us?" Cat said, sounding belligerent now and realizing it. Taking a calming breath Cat tried again. "But I didn't come here to bad mouth you or tell you what to do. I know I hate people doing that to me and besides that I don't have a whole lot of time to go into all your screw ups. I came here to make a deal with you, a trade that will make you happy and will help me out too. I know that in a few weeks my time here is up. I also know that I've done some good things down here that have counted for something or at least Colin said they did and I don't think he was lying since he's an angel and all. So I've got to assume that those deeds, even if they haven't got me out of hell, count for something. So here's my offer. You guys up there want me dead and burning for all eternity, right? Well then okay. If you agree to put me back into my original body until I've got Mariemaia and the other hostages free then that can cancel out every good thing I've ever done. You let me do this and you can send me to hell for as long as you want. If..if the hostages die then you can send me to hell or if they aren't found till New Years you can still croak me on my original date. I just want to live long enough to help. Please."
)
"You understand that this cannot be taken back." Came Colin's voice and Cat turned to see her guardian seated in the front pew, looking more then a little grim and older some how. He looked downright solemn too, like he was at someone's funeral. "You'll only be in that body until Christmas, if you don't get to them before then they will die."
"I understand and I want to do it." Cat said with in a strong voice that was full of confidence.
"You can't kill anyone, that rule still applies. As soon as you do you're dead regardless of the status of the hostages."
"Okay, then it will be ten times harder. But I can still do this, Colin. I know I can." Cat said as she walked over to stand in front of him. "Let me do this, please. I know it won't look so good for you but..."
"To hell with me, Cat." Colin said as he bounced to his feet, scooping her up so that he could hold her up to look him in the eyes. "Do you realize what kind of a deal you're making here? You'll be sentencing yourself to hell no matter how this all ends. You'll still go even if you fail and then it will be all for nothing."
"It won't be for nothing. It'll be for my boys."
"Stubborn Irish pride." Colin said with a faint but sad smile on his face as he hugged her against him. "Fine then. You get your way, Catherine Rorake. You'll return to your body and may God bless this mission." A bright, pure light bursting from his arms Colin felt tears run down his pale cheeks as the light faded and he was looking down at an ordinary house cat who watched him with sympathy. "The Lord thanks you for the use of your body." Colin said in a choked voice. "And I'll see you to a good home in thanks for your service."
)
Arriving home with bed as their only thought the five trooped in and shedding their outerwear shivered in the surprisingly cold hallway. "Why is it so friggin cold in here?" Heero groused as he looked at the guys questioningly. "Do you think the thermostat's busted?"
"Something must be." Duo said with a shiver, rubbing his arms against the chill. "I'm surprised Cat isn't waiting for us to bitch about it. The girls must have taken her upstairs with them."
"I'll go start a fire in the fireplace." Trowa said as he finished hanging up his coat. "That will have to do until we can get a repair guy in." Heading into the living room Trowa noticed that Cat was indeed absent from her bed and he couldn't say he blamed her. It was damn cold after all. Going back to the task at hand he was just about to start the fire when his sensitive ears picked up on some strange sound coming from the dining room. Puzzled Trowa got to his feet and walked in that direction, growing that much more alert as he felt a decided breeze coming from that room. Had someone broken in? The door connecting the two rooms was wide open and carefully peering in Trowa saw nothing out of the ordinary. Switching on the lights Trowa's eyes immediately found the problem. One of the smaller windows, installed for use in the summer was wide open. What the hell, Trowa thought as he walked over to shut it. Why would that be open? No one could even get in that way. Not even a dwarf. It was only big enough that a small animal could get through and even then it would be a tight squeeze. A small animal. Oh shit, Trowa thought as he left the room and headed up the stairs faster then usual. Opening the door to Anna and Suki's room he stepped in, not really surprised when a gun was pointed at his head before he was fully in the room. "Is Cat in here?"
)
"No, she was sleeping downstairs." Anna said as she lowered the gun, sliding it back under her pillow casually while Suki slept on. "Why?"
"She isn't down there and a window in the dining room was open. It's wide enough for her to squeeze out." Trowa said with a bad feeling growing in his stomach. There was no logical reason why she would want to go out, especially in this sort of weather but still...he couldn't shake the feeling.
"You think she did." Anna said as she threw back her covers and stood up. "I'll trust your instincts over Cat's common sense any day. Go look for her?"
"What's going on?" Duo wanted to know as he stuck his head in the door. "I went to get a snack and no fire or Trowa. Only freezing coldness."
"Cat's gone and we had a window open that she could have opened if she'd put her devious little mind to it." Trowa said, watching Duo go pale as the implications hit him.
"But the weather...there's no way she could last long in this kind of weather, fur or no fur!" Duo whispered, looking paler by the moment as the ramifications ran through his head. "When did she get out? Which window? Could she be in the backyard or could she have gotten off the property?" As if on cue the doorbell rang out and Duo's face flashed with relief. "That's her. It's got to be here. She's somehow figured out how to ring the doorbell!" Duo announced as he raced out of the room with Anna and Trowa on his heels, the other boys coming out of their rooms too to find out who was calling so late. Coming down the stairs Duo came to a grinding halt at the sight of Colin calmly waiting for them with Cat in his arms. "Hey, Cat! Way to give us a heart attack, why don't ya!"
"This isn't Cat." Colin said calmly, cradling the cat carefully against him. "This is simply a cat, nothing more or less. Your Cat no longer resides in this body."
)
"What do you mean?" Quatre demanded to know from the top of the steps, shivering in the housecoat he'd thrown over his pajamas.
"Her soul has left this body and returned to its original home." Colin explained as he tried to find the words to explain in a way that wouldn't hurt the men any more then they had to. "Cat made a deal with the powers above and part of that deal was to leave this body."
"You mean she's back in Spain? In her real body? What did she have to give up to do that?" Wufei hazarded to guess, wondering exactly what the catch was going to be. There was no way they were just going to let her back into her body without getting something equally big in return.
"She's given up her last two weeks and any chance of going to heaven." Colin said bluntly, not knowing how else to say it. They wouldn't appreciate any sugar coating and Cat deserved for them to know just how much she was sacrificing for them. What she was giving up for them as a result of her love for them. "She loved you men so much she asked to be returned to her body for a week so that she could try and get back her friend Mariemaia and the other hostages for you. She's given up any chance of going to heaven for you all."
)
It had taken most of the day but she'd collected what she needed to get out of Spain and on her way to her destination. Thankfully she'd had a wallet and cards in her purse during the party which had been brought along to the hospital to be kept for her. Liberating that and a woman of her clothes she'd managed to stroll out of the hospital looking like hell and feeling it. But hey, it had been the first time her body had felt much of anything in months so it was worth it. Now that she'd maxed out two cards she was dressed, armed and had transportation all lined up. There was just one last thing to take care of while she was here and then she was off. Watching children stream by Cat absently thought that this was her one and only time standing in a school yard, waiting for someone. She would never have a reason to again. Eyes scanning the children and parents as they met up and left Cat finally found the child she was looking for. Clutching the hated pink bear in one hand Cat weaved through the crowd, calling the boy's name when she was close enough for him to hear.
Hearing his name called Max came to a stop and turning around broke into a huge grin as he spotted a familiar face walking towards him. "CAT!" Racing over the little boy launched himself at his guardian angel, wrapping his little arms around her waist as far as they'd go. "You're all better! God made you all better like I asked! Everyone said you were going to go to heaven but I knew you weren't. I knew you'd get better and be okay!"
)
"Hey ya, kiddo." Cat said softly, patting his head awkwardly since she wasn't at all use to being around children, much less being hugged by one. "I just came for a quick thanks and to let you know I was okay. Uhm..the guys said you came to visit me and gave me the bear...I just wanted to say thanks."
"So you like it? I'm glad you do. I looked at hundreds of bears before I decided on it." Max exaggerated with a beaming smile, his eyes shining with excitement. "I was starting to think you'd never wake up."
"Yeah, well I needed my sleep, I guess. Anyway I kinda have to go, there's another girl who really needs my help with something and quick. Since I have to go I can't come see your class like you wanted and I'm sorry bout that, I would have like to. I've got a lot of things to do too so I won't likely be around to visit you...but I just wanted to you to know I will think about you and stuff." Cat said nervously, feeling guilty and thoroughly weirded out. "I wish I could stay longer but I can't."
"That's okay, I understand. Mommy says that you're my guardian angel so I guess you gots to go and help other people too right? Not just me." Max said with a knowing look on his face, wishing that she could stay but knowing that it wasn't right to hog such a cool guardian angel to himself. He had to let other kids share her so that they could be happy like him. "That's okay, it doesn't matter. You go and help the other little girl so that the bad guys don't get her. I know you'll save her just like you saved me, Cat. I believe in you."