The story so far: Wesley turned into evil vampire kitty! How? Towards the end, evil kitty!Wes let slip that he can turn human at will – without the soul – but before he can reveal his evil plan, the 'poof' came again. Hee

Chapter 4: Mine!

It was like being in a dream-like state. He couldn't really register what was going on around him. One second he was peacefully researching and the next, this. Strangely, it felt like cotton candy all over.

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The others were shocked. While Wesley was in mid-sentence, a very audible 'poof' sounded followed by a tiny cloud of smoke around him. When it dissipated, they saw to their amazement that Wesley's eyes have turned blue again and even the tainted silver on his fur was gone.

"Wesley?" Cordelia said.

Wesley looked up at them innocent-eyed. "Miaow?"

"You're back!" Fred said happily as she went to unleash him and snuggle him tightly in her arms.

"At least as a cat – he's still not human, though." Gunn put in.

"Wes, do you know how to turn back?" Angel asked. Wesley looked at him and gave a freaky shake of the head. Angel frowned and said, "Do you remember what happened earlier?" Wesley shook his head again.

"So, Wes came only look cute while his evil twin is the actual genius?" Cordelia said. "Don't give me that look, Wes."

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Wesley resented that Cordy said he was good for just being adorable. So I can't speak – it's not like you can speak cat so nyeh! Wesley stuck out his tongue and snuggled up closer in Fred's arms in a sulk. That is, until he realised he was face close to boobies so, as a proper gentleman should do, scrambled to get away from them as fast as possible.

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Fred gave a little sad face when Wesley jumped out of her arms and ran towards the reception area.

"You can snuggle me." Gunn suggested, for which he received a light slap. "I wasn't kidding." He mumbled, slightly dejected.

"Well, it's already starting to get light…" Angel said.

"That's it!" Cordelia exclaimed suddenly.

"What's it?" Gunn asked.

"It's dawn!"

"Dawn's doing this?" Angel asked with surprise.

"No, dawn – as in the sun's coming up." Cordelia said.

They were slow to catch up but finally Fred smiled and said, "Oh! So it's like, Wesley's a normal cat during the day and a vampire kitty at night?"

"Exactly!"

"Ok, now we when Hyde comes out, what are we going to do about it?" Gunn asked. They looked at Wesley who had jumped on the tabletop and was sniffing at their leftover Chinese before giving a little sneeze.

"Maybe we should think about that after we've all actually got some rest." Angel said. Then in a whisper he said, "Who's going to…?" He indicated with his head towards Wesley.

"I'll take him!" Cordelia said rather enthusiastically. Off their looks, she said, "We have to go shopping anyway. Get him the name tag, remember? Oh, that reminds me." She held out her hand to Angel and he took out his wallet, grumbling about not remembering anything about this in the benefits package. Holding up the credit card with a mega watt smile on her face, she said, "Don't worry, maybe this time I'll put some fashion sense into him." Wesley's head piped up and he had that deer in the headlights look, or cat that was about to be road kill.

"That's what we're afraid of." Mumbled Gunn.

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Cordelia entered the pet store with Wesley trotting beside her. As she went to get the attention of the store owner, Wesley did a little exploring of his own. He was walking through the maze of display cases when something caught his eye. Wesley stopped in his tracks and slowly went up to it.

It was a collar. Leather-made, sleek and not too thick, it seemed to call out to him. Wesley stood in awe at its intricately hand-woven design; simple yet elegant.

Wear me…it said. Wesley purred softly, his nose pushed up against the display.

Yes, yes… "Miaow."

"Wesley." Cordelia called out. Wesley was snapped out of his reverie and looked at it longingly before reluctantly going to her, leaving a triangle-shaped imprint on the glass. She tapped the counter tabletop and Wesley jumped up and sat up as straight as he could.

"You have a very well-trained cat there, ma'am." The store owner commented.

"Of course! He's British." Cordelia said with a smile.

Just then, a very frail looking old woman entered the shop, dragging along a man in uniform. "There she is! She stole Warlock!"

In the confusion, Wesley moved closer to Cordelia and she held him in her arms. "What are you talking about?" Cordelia demanded.

"I'm sorry, miss. But this lady here seems to think that you've taken her cat." Said the uniformed man.

"Seem to? I know it's him!" said the old woman. She fussed around her bag and took out papers and a picture. "I've had 'im for years and he'd gone missin' fer two weeks. This is his ownership paper an' a picture right here."

She showed it to Cordelia who saw that it did look like Wesley. "So? It's the same breed. Doesn't mean it's the same cat. This is Wesley." Cordelia said, holding Wesley even more protectively in her arms.

The uniformed man said, "Okay. Maybe we should…"

"No, I have proof!" the woman said, not wanting to give up. "Warlock's got a birthmark on his left back paw an' it looks like a little duck."

Cordelia put Wesley down on the countertop to show them. "Well, Wesley doesn't…" When she finally looked down, she was surprised to find that there, on Wesley's back paw, was a strange marking that seemed remarkably like a duck.

"Aha!" the woman said. "I knew it! That's my Warlock!"

Cordelia tried to deny it. "No, that's not a duck. It looks more like a… baby! Slightly deformed."

"I'm sorry, miss. You must've just found the little critter wandering but I suggest you return him to this lady here." The man said.

The woman had a smug look on her face and took Wesley who struggled vigilantly in her arms. "Miaow!"

"Poor Warlock – he always gets this cranky when he doesn't get his treats." She said. She opened the small cage that she was holding and put Wesley in it before moving to leave the shop.

Cordelia panicked as she watched Wesley being whisked away. "No! You're wrong, that's Wesley!"

"Ma'am, I suggest you calm down." The man said.

"But Wesley's…"

"Before I bring you in for pet-napping." The man warned. Cordelia was helpless as she watched through the pet store glass doors Wesley being put in the woman's car and driven off to a stranger's home.

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"She took Wesley!"

Cordelia stormed into the Hyperion a frantic mess with puffed up cheeks and red eyes that showed that she had been crying on her way to work.

Angel hurriedly went to her side and comforted her before asking, "Cordelia, what? Who took Wesley?"

"That woman in the pet store!" Cordelia rambled, "She had papers and everything! It's Wesley's stupid fault for looking exactly as her cat! She even brought an animal police guy into it!"

At that moment, Gunn came down the stairs with Fred and asked what was going on and Angel told them everything.

"We have to get him back!" Cordelia pleaded.

"Yeah, but we don't even know anything about where this woman went." Gunn put in.

"I caught her license plate." Cordelia said.

"I'll get my contact on it." Angel said quickly. Then in a reassuring voice, "Don't worry, Cord. We'll get him back."

"Let's just hope we get him back before it turns dark." Gunn said looking out the window which showed that that time was not far behind.

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The old woman was dozing off on her couch and snoring lightly. The television was still on from when she was watching a Spanish soap opera. In the dark living room was Wesley, still caged in his metal trap. Or perhaps…

'Poof'.

Yes, evil vampire kitty was back, and on his face was what could only be described as an evil smirk.

"Hehehe…"

"Who was that?" the woman said, waking up.

"Meow, lady, now go back to sleep."

"Oh, it's only you, kitty." She said, as she closed her eyes and dreamed of talking cats with funny accents.