Hello everyone! Guess what! I was forcefully separated from my computer over Christmas and New Years so I could go visit family. I'm still suffering the withdrawal symptoms. Damn parents. Anyhow hope you all had wonderful Christmases and New Years and enjoy the new chappie!

Chapter Four – The Mystery of the Blue Cat

Kel screaming wasn't exactly a regular occurrence, and Dom was worried for her. The Kel he knew would have never lost face like this, especially in such a public place. So he did the only thing he could think of. He pulled her into a tight hug and whispered soothing words into her ear while stroking her hair and rubbing soothing circles on her back. Kel buried her face in Dom's shoulder and they stayed like that for several minutes, before Kel stepped back, looking incredibly embarrassed.

"Sorry," she murmured, eyes lowered to the ground.

Dom smiled reassuringly. "It's alright Kel. Come on, let's go check out the mystery of the blue cat."

They trudged off together in the direction the cat had gone, never noticing the two faces watching them from around the corner.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Dom and Kel disappeared down the street, Raoul and Alanna turned to look at each other; both of their faces alight with glee.

"Ooh, that was perfect!" Alanna cackled. "Kel must be really, really frustrated! She's never lost face like that, not even at Haven and New Hope when all those flap-brained bumpkins were trying to tell her how to do her job!"

Raoul chuckled at the description, knowing that Neal had told Kel the exact same thing. His grin stretched even wider when he thought of Dom's reaction to Kel's breakdown.

"Dom did pretty good too. Comforting her and everything."

Alanna grinned back at Raoul, and mock-gasped like a court lady.

"But oh, what if he was just taking advantage of poor Kel's moment of weakness? Why these rowdy soldiers, you can never trust them with something as delicate as a woman's heart. We'll just have to follow them to make sure he doesn't do anything terrible."

"Indeed we shall," Raoul chuckled as they set of after the soon-to-be lovebirds.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wolset and Lerant were just about ready to give up. They had looked everywhere, all over their assigned section, and talked to everyone, but they couldn't find anyone that Kel and Dom hadn't apologized too. It seemed impossible, and yet, somehow they had managed to find everyone that they had insulted when they were drunk and smoothed things over with all of them. Wolset and Lerant couldn't believe it. They had spoken to the most notorious of the feisty midwives, trying to convince them that they really weren't happy with the simple apology given by Kel and Dom, and as a result of their hard work had been abused, cursed at, spat on and hit around the head with wet washing for trying to discredit the two wonderfully polite younglings that had come by earlier. Lerant was now sporting a nice, shiny black eye for muttering that if Dom was polite he was a chicken in disguise. Conceding defeat, they began to trudge back to the assigned meeting point, dodging washing, children and incensed old women along the way.

"Cluck, cluck, cluuuuuck cluck cluck," Wolset grinned, teasing Lerant about his black eye.

"Shut up," Lerant snarled, "or I'll beat you so bad that you're grandma will feel it."

Wolset just grinned. "Well that wasn't very original. Come on Lerant, you can do better than that. What's with all the hostility anyway? You look like you're gunna…lay an egg."

It was this comment that pushed Lerant over the edge and his already frayed nerves snapped.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dom looked back at Kel quizzically when she stopped walking abruptly, and cocked her head to the side.

"What is it Kel?"

Kel frowned at him. "Can you hear that?"

Dom copied Kel's movements from before and frowned as well when he heard the sounds.

"Sounds like screaming."

Kel threw a worried glance at him.

"You think we should go help whoever it is?"

Dom listened harder, and had to hide a grin when he recognized the screaming. He would have to remember to get Wolset to tell him what happened later on.

"Nah," he replied to Kel's question. "The Provost's Guard can handle it. We have bigger problems."

Kel looked suspicious, but he had a point, so they continued on their journey to find the mystery of the Blue Cat (which she had decided deserved capitals).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Raoul and Alanna heard the screams too. Loud and clear. Raoul burst out laughing and Alanna looked at him as if he were insane. Which he quite possibly was, due to prolonged exposure to people such as Neal, Dom and Alanna herself, but that's not the point.

"What's so funny?" she demanded.

"That's Wolset's screams," Raoul managed to choke out.

Alanna looked at him funnily again.

"And you think that the pain of one of your soldiers is funny?"

Raoul shook his head, still chuckling.

"No, you don't understand. Wolset was paired with Lerant. Lerant is a good kid, and normally it takes a lot to make him really, really mad. He gets angry easily, but not like this. But anyway, when he does get really, really mad it's not pretty. It's like Jon when he goes on one of his rants mixed with Peachblossom when Neal is around."

Alanna winced. "Ouch. But I still fail to see the humour in this. Jon in a rant is certainly not humorous. Remember that one time I did laugh at him? I've still got the marks," she mused, rubbing her left forearm unconsciously.

"I was just wondering what Wolset did to make him that mad. Don't worry. I guess it's sort of a personal joke. Come on, we're losing Kel and Dom."

And with that he began walking again, hands in his pockets whistling a happy tune.

Alanna stared.

'I may have to talk to Jon about him. I think poor Raoul's lost it.'

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kel and Dom followed the Blue Cat through the streets as it led them on a wild chase. They went over and under fences, through a couple houses, into back alleys, through the kitchen of a well-known restaurant and everywhere in between. Finally, it approached a low-set brick house and they heard a cry of "Mischief! Where have you been, you naughty cat!". Exchanging glances, Kel and Dom stopped and tried to catch their breath before approaching the house and knocking on the front door. A young woman, probably in her early thirties, with fly-away blonde hair and dirt smudges on her face, answered the door. She looked like the kind of person that would forget her head if it wasn't attached to her neck.

"Um, hello," Dom began uneasily. "This may seem strange, but well, we were wondering….did we do that to your cat?"

The woman blinked at them. "Do what? There's nothing wrong with him is there? Oh dear, is he okay?"

Dom and Kel exchanged glances. This woman was beginning to weird them out.

"Um," this time is was Kel who spoke, and she sounded rather hesitant. "He's….blue."

The woman stared at them as if they were insane.

"Yes, and?"

Kel could do nothing but stare, so Dom thought he better take over the explanations.

"Well, you see, last night we got kind of erm…drunk and we were ordered by our…superior, I guess…to find everyone that we might have done something to last night and make amends. And well, we saw your cat and thought maybe we were the ones who died him blue or something…and we just thought we would check to see if we could do anything to make amends for it."

The woman looked at their rumpled clothing, disheveled hair and flushed faces and sniffed.

"I don't know who you think you are or what kind of a joke you're trying to pull but there is absolutely nothing wrong with my cat. Now leave before I call the Provost's Guard."

And with that, she shut the door in their faces.

Dom gaped at the closed door, and then turned to Kel who was still staring.

"What in Mithros' name was that all about?...No, wait, I don't think I want to know."

He looked down at his clothes and frowned.

"I can't believe we went through all that for nothing. Talk about a wild goose chase, hey Kel? Kel?"

Kel was still staring at the door. Slowly, she turned around to face him, eyes wide.

"That woman was weird."