TITLE: Lost Kitty On A Mission (chapter 2)

***

Spike sat on the front steps of Buffy Summers' house, whistling an old tune that the orchestra used to play back in his human days. He wondered what made him remember the song and whistle it. It was cold out, and very rainy, but this didn't bother Spike, since he was a vampire, and also because rain wouldn't stop him from being as close as he could to the Slayer. Spike loved sitting outside her window at night, just listening to the silence, and picturing a fast asleep Slayer all cuddled under her blankets. Of course, he'd rather be cuddled under them with her, but this was as close as he could get (without nasty Scooby remarks and dirty looks), so he was happy.

Something moving very fast caught his attention. It looked like a squirrel, or maybe a cat. It was running down the tree directly under the Slayer's open window.

He wondered what a cat would be doing out in the rain in middle of the night.

He remembered how worried Red was about her cat stuck in the rain. Then, he laughed. "Oh, please!" he thought. "Of course cats go out in the rain and at night. They're bloody predators, just like me."

Spike was about to light up another cigarette when a strong scent of blood hit his nose; it was a familiar smell, a good one. It was Slayer blood.

He panicked. Could something have happened to Buffy in her sleep? He was determined to find out, and maybe he could even get a little taste.

Spike climbed the tree easily. He was strong, and in good shape. When he got to the top, the smell of blood was already very strong. This worried him more. He looked through the window, and almost fell out of the tree when he saw an open-eyed Slayer with a big red wound across her neck, and blood all over the bed.

Without hesitating, Spike broke through the window, and tore off a peice of his shirt to put on the still bleeding wound. When he got to Buffy, she still had a pulse, though a very slow one. Spike, being a neck wound expert, was relieved to see that whatever did this to the Slayer was not very good at it. The wound was a bit too high to instantly kill the girl, but the loss of blood would definitely do the job. He had to get her to the hospital before it was too late.

An ambulance was the first thing that came to his mind, but he thought that maybe it would take too long, so instead, he carried the limp Slayer out of the house, broke into the Summers car, and sped through the empty streets of Sunnydale, wondering what to say when he got to the hospital. What did this to his Slayer; how come?

So many questions filled his mind, and much worry too, all making him forget about the little cat he saw climbing down the same tree he climbed up, the tree that led straight into the Slayer's room.

***

Spike sat silently in the waiting room. The strong smell of blood and weak people filled his nose and made him hungry, but he was too worried to get any food. The Slayer was still in with the doctors. They looked worried when he brought her in. He knew the faces they made well; they meant that she was a goner.

Spike didn't lose hope yet, though. To the doctors, Buffy was just a regular human being, but he knew that she was stronger, and held a better chance of survival since she was the Slayer.

"Spike!" Joyce Summers ran up to him. Her eyes were red, and she looked tired. "Where is she? Is she okay? What did the doctors say? Spike, thank you so much for bringing her in. I know that she's the Slayer and you're ..."

Spike was glad that someone finally came. He had called everyone, and they were all on their way, but it was taking them a long time, and his worried thoughts did not keep him good company. "Nonsense, Joyce," he said. "You know how I feel about her. The doctors are still in with her. I don't think they're too optimistic, but there are things that they don't know about her." A few minutes of silence passed before either of them spoke again.

"So," Spike said. "Where's the little one?"

"I didn't wake her. I'll call her in the morning."

Spike nodded his head, and said nothing.

Suddenly Giles, Willow, Tara, Xander and Anya burst through the door. They all started asking questions at once.

"BLOODY HELL!" Spike yelled. "Would you all just calm down? I can't tell you anything when you're all yelling like a bunch of idiots."

Everyone stared at Spike, shocked. He was damn serious, and very worried. They had never seen him like this before.

"Listen, I don't know exactly what happened. I was out by the Slayer's house, and then I smelt blood. I went in, found a bleeding Slayer with a huge slash across her upper neck, so I brought her here. That's all I have."

"Did you see anything suspicious?" Willow asked him.

"No, nothing," Spike answered.

***

Miss Kitty ran through the trees happily. She did what she had to do, and now, she was ready to go home. She was just starting to get used to her cat form, and liked it a little. No one ever asked her questions, ever suspected her for anything, and the belly rubs that she got at least once a day were very relaxing. Still, she was a cat, and it did limit her a lot.

Now, all she had to do was go back to the old building outside the grave yard, and tell her makers that she had killed the Chosen One. They would be glad that she had done it so much earlier then expected. She was now one thousand and five years old. She still had more than a half a year to finish her task.

When she got to the old, rundown building hidden by the trees, she was still feeling happy. On the doorstep, she meowed loudly for a moment, and then the door sprung open. She walked in, and looked at the woman standing before her. It was her mother.

The woman started talking to her, and she understood what she was saying even though she supposedly was a cat, but she could not talk back.

"What are you doing here?" the woman scolded her. "You were not to come back until the task is done. The Chosen One is still not dead. It has already been three months! You have only another nine. If the chosen is not dead by your 1006th birthday, we will never be able to free ourselves. She will stop us. Only you can kill her. Go! And if you fail ... if you fail ..." The woman picked up the kitten, and literally threw her out the door.

Miss Kitty was angry. She had killed the Slayer in her sleep. How was it possible that she was alive? Now, she was back at the beginning.

She began to walk back towards the Chosen One's home. Maybe she could get her this time.

***

It was still raining outside. The sun was about to come up, and an old man who was sitting on a nearby bench whistled to the little black and white kitty. Miss Kitty walked up to him, having spotted a half eaten sandwich in his hand. He was obviously homeless, and probably the only thing he had eaten in days was that sandwich, but Miss Kitty didn't care. She easily worked her charm on him by meowing softly and snuggling his legs. In the end, she ate half of the already half eaten sandwich. She purred softly, and then walked on. She was, after all, a very busy kitty, with a very important mission.

***

In the evening, Buffy finally woke up. Spike, who had already gone home and come back, was sitting in the corner of the room, watching, as all of Buffy's loved ones kissed her, and told her how happy they were that she was okay. She didn't even realize he was there. Finally, Dawn, who had joined them earlier, called Spike over. He hesitated, but came anyway.

"Dammit, Slayer", he said, patting her hand softly, "you really gave us all a scare."

Buffy did not know yet that Spike saved her, but still, she did not want to start a fight, so she just smiled at him, and then turned to her mother.

Spike, who felt that he was unwanted, left the room very hurt; after all, he did save her. He wondered for a minute why he had done it. He had the one chance to let the bloody Slayer die.

No, he could never.

***

After everyone got a minute with Buffy, the investigation started.

"So, Buffster," Xander started. "Do you remember what happened?"

Buffy closed her eyes for a minute, and pictured the night before. She only remembered a few seconds, since that was all the time she had had before losing consciousness. In her mind, she felt the pain, and then saw the little cat pouncing out the window.

"It was Miss Kitty Fantastico," she said out loud, breaking the quiet that fell over the room.

"Buffy, what are you talking about?" her mother asked, confused.

"I swear, I opened my eyes after feeling something sharp in my neck, and I saw the little furball jumping out my window."

They all looked at her, very worried.

"You have to believe me!" she pleaded. "I know what I saw! It was her. It was Miss Kitty Fantastico."

***

Willow unlocked the dorm room, and entered, followed by Tara. It was already 2 a.m., and they were both very tired after a long day at the hospital.

Buffy was looking better, and would be home in a few days. The doctors couldn't understand how she had healed so fast, or how she had healed at all, in fact. Of course, they didn't know everything.

"Tara?" Willow started. "Do you think that maybe ... Buffy ... I mean, is it possible that ..."

"Maybe, Willow," Tara answered. "Buffy is always right, and sometimes she sounds farfetched, but she is the Slayer."

Willow agreed with Tara deep down inside, but she couldn't even imagine that a sweet little kitty could be evil. "Then we should start research tomorrow, and we should look for her as well."

The next few minutes went by silently. The two girls changed, and went straight to sleep. Their minds were working overtime. They had seen a lot in their lives; vampires, demons, ghosts, and much more, but who would have ever thought that a cat, a sweet little innocent creature, would be the enemy? Would be evil?

***

Buffy couldn't sleep at all. The hospital beds weren't very comfy, and her mind was very bothered. She had fought so many creatures in the past, but the enemy was never a cat. How could she fight a cat?

The Slayer gazed out her window, which overlooked the emergency entrance. As she watched, an ambulance stopped, and some doctors carried out a patient. From what Buffy could see, it was a girl.

Buffy wondered again how she would fight the cat. She could never kill her. Who was this cat, and why did she want to kill her? Most of all, Buffy wondered how she would find a small black and white cat in all of Sunnydale, especially since there were probably plenty like her. If only she knew where she was ...

***

It had been a long day for the little black and white kitty. She ate only what the homeless man had given her at sunrise, and now it was after midnight. Upset and frustrated, the small cat searched for shelter. Though she looked like any other alley cat, she wasn't, and surely did not know how to be one. It had taken her long enough to become a regular house cat, and now this? Luckily, the rain had stopped earlier, and she had heard from someone who walked by her that the weather was going to improve.

She had already gone to the Chosen One's house again that day, but only to find an empty bed. For some reason, her tired legs had carried her to the hospital.

She watched as an ambulance stopped at the emergency entrance. A young girl was being carried out. It looked to her as if she had severe bite wounds all over her body.

"Vampires," Miss Kitty thought to herself. "They're probably partying, what with the Chosen One all sick."

She watched for a while longer, wondering the whole time how her plan had failed, and how the Chosen One had survived. "If only I could find her now," she thought. "She is probably weak from my previous attack, and now would be the perfect time to kill her. If only I knew where she was ..."

T.B.C.