Back by popular demand! a part two.

Joe had accepted his life would never be "Normal" the night he set a stack of papers down on his desk and filed to be Barry's foster parent—he'd seen too many kids go into that system, and he was damned if he'd let Barry fall through any kind of cracks. Still, he hadn't expected, 15 years later, to be filling out similar paperwork for the 5 year old who'd wandered into Star labs one rainy afternoon and promptly turned nearly everyone there into kittens. He was still glad Jay and Iris had managed to come up with something, and that the little girl, all scared dark eyes and tangled hair, had admitted she could change people back, she'd just been too tired, and lonely, and afraid. Roya Walker, age five and three quarters, had been orphaned by the Singularity, and that combined with the fact that she was the youngest metahuman they'd yet seen meant that they owed her, and owed her large.

She'd adapted more than quickly, with the ease of a kitten brought home—skittish for a day or two, but warming up to everyone in turn. Though she called them "Uncle" and "Auntie" ( all but Poppa Joe and Grumpy Cat Harry) they treated her like a little sister or cousin. They welcomed her into the rag-tag family, watching out for her, Barry bringing her treats from across the country, Iris reading to her and teaching her some of the harder words in the picture books she didn't already know, Caitlin finding every cool fact about cats she could, Cisco rigging up cat toys and letting her practice her powers on him.

"What," he'd said when Caitlin asked if that was a good idea. "It gets cold here sometimes, and having fur is nice. I finally get a break around here. You're just jealous because the picture Iris posted of me got more likes. I'm an adorable kitten."

"Me too," Roya chirped from where she had tucked herself on top of a filing cabinet. She'd gotten even better at changing back and forth frequently. Caitlin worried they might have to home school her.
"You're the most adorable kitten, Miss Kitt," Iris confirmed. Roya had latched on to Cisco's nickname with a fierceness. "Hop down, I think Uncle Barry said he'd bring some Calamari for dinner, but we gotta head home soon."
Roya did hop down, morphing into a kitten as she did and landing on Iris's shoulder with a purr. Though she'd eat just about anything, fish related was her favorite.

Of course, halfway through dinner, with Roya constantly glancing over at the Christmas tree, half wanting to just stare at the lights and pile of wrapped packages, half wanting to go kitten and climb the branches, Poppa Joe and Uncle Barry had to go. Roya sighed. She wanted to help when they had to fight bad people with powers that did bad things, but she knew she was too little. Curling up in a ball on Auntie Iris's favorite sweater, shedding slightly, she purred along to the Christmas carols.

The only person who seemed annoyed by the addition to the STAR Labs crew was Harry. Grumpy Cat Harry still sneezed a lot whenever she was around, and Poppa Joe said she wasn't allowed to turn him into a cat, even if Uncle Jay gave her money or fishsticks. She knew he was only so grumpy because he was sad, which she thought was silly, because it was Christmas, but Auntie Caitlin explained that he missed his daughter, and no one would say more than that. Roya heard them talking sometimes, unaware that she retained her mind when she took on her kitten form, even if they didn't. They didn't want her scared. That was silly, too. There were lots of things and people to be scardy-cat of, she knew that.

She had a brother. Sort of. Poppa Joe wasn't her real daddy, even if he kinda looked like her, but the boy at the door had to be the Wally that Auntie Iris and Uncle Barry had talked about when they thought she was sleeping. He was Poppa Joe's son, sort of. That made them sort of siblings, even if he was so much taller and older. Roya looked at the Christmas tree, and at all the people, her new family. She walked over to Uncle Barry softly, and tugged on his hand. She knew she couldn't be a cat around so many grown ups, or at least around Patty, who worked with Poppa Joe, because she didn't Know.

"What is it?" Barry asked, crouching. "Wanna piggy back ride?"

"No. I think we should get Grumpy Cat Harry. He's lonely."

Barry looked at Patty, who looked puzzled. "Roya, he said he didn't want to come."

"Cuz he's lonely and he thinks being alone will make it better. But it won't. Please, can we go?"

Barry sighed. "Patty, we'll be back in a bit, ok?" he caught Cisco's eye, and headed toward the door. The three of them piled into the STAR Labs van, and drove off, until suddenly Cisco screeched the car to a halt. They'd been passing the waterfront for the sake of the Christmas lights, when a flash of blue sparked to life.

"Roya, stay in the car, Cisco—call the others." Barry vanished in a flash of gold light.

Harry clung to Jesse, both of them with tears in their eyes, Harry promising her he'd protect her and knowing that he was powerless against zoom when the Blue blaze shifted and he cried out, knowing in that split second she was going to be torn from him. But someone else got there first, a streak of red and gold, charging headlong and full of fury at Zoom. He wasn't fast enough, and for too many horrible moments they fought, just like before, the memory and sound of snapping bones still so fresh in everyone's minds. Zoom gripped Barry by the throat and turned to glare with bead bright eyes at Harry and Jesse. For a heartbeat, everything seemed frozen, and then Zoom felt a pressure around his knee.

Zoom looked down and the mask twisted into a more sinister grin as he saw the tiny child clinging to his leg, her dark braids quivering. A child thought to stop him? Pathetic.
"You," she hissed, "are a bad kitty."

And quite suddenly Zoom dropped, losing control of his own body as his speed and lightning failed him.

Barry picked himself up off the ground, wheezing. Harry clutched Jesse in an even tighter hug, half crying, half laughing, even as Cisco bent double, heaving for breath from the run and from the worry.

Roya plucked the squirming, fluffy cat, almost half her size, from the crumpled black suit, and hugged him, ignoring the way he flailed angrily. "Shhh, Mr. Fluffy." She looked around. "Uncle Grumpy Cat, are you coming to Christmas? And is that-?" she broke into a grin, still squeezing 'Mr. Fluffy' "Oh good. Now it's a party, and you can come, because you won't be lonely at all."

"I…Why don't we all go back to STAR, Miss Kitt?" Cisco asked, eyeing the metahuman and demon cat, who yowled ineffectually. "We'll ask everyone to come over there."

"Oh. Ok." Roya paused. "Do we need to put Mr. Fluffy in the Be-Quiet Box? Or can we keep him? Because he's not very nice as a people, I think he should maybe stay a cat forever, it's nicer. Yeah, it's nicer. I think he needs a glitter bow. D'you think Santa will bring me a glitter bow?"

"I'm sure he'll bring you ten," Cisco said, nodding at Barry, who gave a small smile and thumbs up. "C'mon."