Disclaimer: Heero's not mine. Whaaaaa!!!
Warning: More fluff than you can shake a stick at.
This was to appease my four-footed roommate so she will get off my lap and let me type sometimes.
Heero knew he was being followed. In fact, he had sensed the tail on the last three nights he had snuck out of the dormitory. On the first two occasions, he´d changed his destination, unable to determine if he´d lost the follower or not. It wouldn´t be acceptable to lead an enemy to the Wing´s hiding place.
Tonight however, he was fed up with the games. Heading out, he again sensed the presence of a silent, invisible shadow. Whoever this was, they were good, so good that he was perplexed and troubled. How could he be slipping up this badly?
Well, the game would end tonight. This time, he did not make any detours, did not try and backtrail or make blind turns. He headed straight for the Gundam´s hiding place, deep in the woods outside the campus.
'Come on,´ he thought. ‘Come on and see what you are looking for… it´ll be the last thing you ever see.'
The trail through the undergrowth was non-existent. Heero knew the way, of course, but he´d counted on the thickness of the vegetation to help him localize his target. Only someone as small as himself could get through the brush without making a lot of noise.
It chilled him eerily when the expected noise did not occur. Had the guy given up? Unlikely. He extended his senses to their extraordinary limits and could only clench his jaw in frustration. Somehow, he could still sense the follower, sense him, but that was all. No sound, no sign, nothing. Nothing more than the tension in the skin on the back of his neck.
It was too late to try and change the plan, however. He had to put an end to this little game tonight. He´d missed his contact for two nights, had to check in and see if he´d gotten an assignment.
Making a beeline for the Wing, he stepped into the tiny clearing that sheltered the Gundam. From the air, the camouflage netting hid any sign of the huge mecha, but on the ground, this close, it was easy to spot.
‘All right,´ he thought to the watcher. ‘This is what you wanted to see. Get a good, long look.'
Without missing a beat, he spun suddenly with his gun out, to catch the mysterious shadow that was starting to become a nemesis… and saw nothing…
No… not nothing. At the edge of the clearing stood a small, four-legged creature. It was hard to spot, covered in black fur, but he could clearly see its eyes large, round, tilted, and golden-yellow. The wide round pupils were dilated, and fixed on him. He saw triangular-shaped ears that trained on him like radar, and a long tail, straight up in the air with the tip bending in an inquiring curve.
“Meow?” it said.
Heero goggled. For a moment he could not figure out what the creature was. An animal of some kind, of course, but… suddenly he thought perhaps it was some kind of trained military beast, he´d read about such things. That had to be it… it would…
Dropping the gun to his side, he shook his head, starting to laugh. No, even he didn´t buy that one. But what was the creature, and why was it here?
“Meow,” it said, and approached him on dainty paws, its movements economical and graceful enough to catch his eye. It came right up to him and sat, curling its tail around neatly. “Roaw.”
It seemed to be talking to him. No, not talking, just making sounds to get his attention. Why the hell, he could not imagine. He continued to stare at it, going through every file in his mind about fauna of Earth. It took a while for him to place it. Heero had never seen a cat.
“Cat.” He said at last, pointing at it. The creature lifted up on its haunches and sniffed his finger delicately. Then it dropped to all fours and rubbed its body against his leg.
The fur was soft and smooth, and it tickled his skin slightly. The cat continued to rub against him, backwards and forwards. It stopped and looked up at him expectantly.
“Raaaoooow!” it said.
“What do you want, cat?” he said impatiently.
“Meooow.”
“I don´t understand you.”
The cat rubbed his leg one more time, then walked away, as if he were too stupid for it to continue the attempt at communication. He watched it as it stalked inquiringly towards the Wing, approaching cautiously. He found himself approving of the way it moved slowly as it came close to the Gundam´s foot, stopped, then darted a paw out, jabbing quickly and then retreating.
The mecha, of course, did not move, and the cat, satisfied with the test, moved closer and began sniffing the machine with intent concentration.
Heero shook his head once more, not even aware that he was doing it. He looked at the gun in his hand and snorted softly, putting it away. Turning to sweep the entire area one last time with his radar-like gaze, he was satisfied that the source of his concerns for the past two nights had in fact been this creature.
“Yuy, you are loosing it.” he said softly. Then he used the remote to open the Wing´s hatch, and jumped up, climbing in.
Sitting in the cockpit, he checked his console. There were several transmissions recorded and waiting. He scanned them quickly, noting reports of the activities of other Gundams. And there was an assignment, an Alliance military research facility, reported to be developing a new radar technology that might effectively counter the radar-cloaking the Gundams employed. His instructions were to take it out, making sure all research, prototypes, and materials were destroyed.
“Mission: accepted,” he acknowledged. Then something sprang through the open hatch of the Wing and landed squarely on his lap.
Startled, Heero gave out a yell, then looked down. A warm furry weight was planted right on his groin and a pair of gold eyes looked up at his face.
“Raow?”
Cursing, he grabbed the animal to toss it out of the hatch, and discovered instantly that the little creature was more formidable that he´d anticipated. Feeling his hands around its middle, the beast dug a number of needle-sharp, retractable claws directly into the material of his bike shorts and the skin beneath, trying to keep its balance. It howled, but by that time, Heero was howling also.
Grimacing in pain, the perfect soldier recognized when the opposition had the superior position. He let go. The cat, no longer feeling threatened, drew its claws back in. It looked up into his face, its expression suggesting either confusion or hurt feelings.
“So… you don´t like being grabbed,” Heero said to it, feeling his abused lap relax slightly. “All right, I can understand that. I won´t grab you. But you have to go.”
The cat put its front paws on his chest and stretched up, bringing its face close to his. It sniffed him, then a pink tongue swept out and rasped across his cheek.
Heero blinked, staring into the wide golden eyes. “Uh…”
It then settled back down, stood up as if it were going to accede to his request, turned around three times, and sat, curling into a ball. Laying its head down on its paws, the cat´s golden eyes closed. It began to vibrate, while making a strange, low sound.
Heero stared down at the warm weight on his lap, completely at a loss. If he grabbed it… no, not a good idea. But he had to go back to the dormitory.
The soft vibrating sound the animal was making had the strange effect of making him relax slightly. Well, he thought, I do need to do some research, and it´s easier to do it here. Expelling a soft breath, he turned to the console and tapped in some requests, looking up more information on the research base. Once he´d covered the target thoroughly, he looked down again. The creature was sound asleep.
Heero reached over and tapped a new request into the console. The screen to his right displayed data from an encyclopedia file.
“1 a : a carnivorous mammal (Felis catus) long domesticated as a pet and for catching rats and mice b : any of a family (Felidae) of carnivorous usually solitary and nocturnal mammals (as the domestic cat, lion, tiger, leopard, jaguar, cougar, wildcat, lynx, and cheetah)”
Solitary and nocturnal, he thought. A hunter. Looking down, he reached his left hand over, hesitantly, and touched the silky fur. One golden eye opened for a moment, looked at him, then closed. The sound started again.
“1- purr: a low vibratory murmur typical of an apparently contented or pleased cat”
“I guess… maybe you and I have a few things in common,” he said softly. Slowly, his hand moved again, finding a repetitive movement that seemed to feel right. The purr deepened. It was surprisingly loud.
Half an hour later, the cat suddenly woke, looked up at Heero, stood on his lap and stretched thoroughly.
“I have to go,” he said to it.
“Raow?”
It jumped lightly from his lap to the hatch. Then it jumped from the hatch to the ground. He looked down, wondering if that were too great a height for such a small creature, but the cat landed neatly, and looked around the clearing. It spotted a small rodent in the underbrush and moved away, stalking it.
“Hn.” Heero watched it go. It never looked back to see what he was doing. He felt oddly abandoned.
Shaking his head, he secured the cockpit and jumped down himself. If he hurried, he´d make it back in time to shower before dressing for his morning class. The afternoon class would have to be skipped, in honor of the doomed research facility.
Heero didn´t see it, but as he left the clearing, the little feline noticed, and left the half-eaten mouse to follow him back through the woods.