A Cat Cornered based on the World of Firefly by Joss Whedon

The beast could feel the fear emanating from the villagers as she tore apart the bandits that had attack them, the dark man who her other half called partner slinging that long knife as he fought beside her. He hadn't flinched when she had taken over. In fact, the beast swore she had detected a smile on his face. She could feel her human half inside her head, but she was strangely quiet. The beast growled a bit before feeling the satisfaction of another head no longer attaching itself to its body. It had been nice to feel blood on her hands and feet again, her fangs ready to sink into the next neck available. The problem was there seemed not to be one. Werzbowski was cleaning his knife on his shirt, but she was not ready for the blood lust to end.

A scream from a nearby source perked her sharp ears as she snarled. Villagers stood gaping at the death around them, fat pigeons ripe for the picking. Her body loped toward them, her long legs making short work of the distance. With a growl and a leap, she pounced on the first, but instead, her body slammed into a human wall.

"Get a grip, Cat. It's over." A familiar voice called, but she ignored it, slamming her hard head into the one stopping her. Normally, the blow would have dropped a man, but this one was strong. Her long claws bit into flesh at the stranger's side as she heard the gratifying moan of pain. She probably would have finished the job and moved on had 'Ski not pulled her off of her prey.

"Can't be letting you kill these people," he spoke, but she didn't answer him with words, but lashed out with her sharp claws instead. He might have been her other half's partner, but this stranger meant nothing to her. He grabbed her as she went for the villagers again, this time closing his body around hers, She lashed out again, scratching and ripping at his chest and arms. Amazingly, he held firm, dropping her to the ground and pinning her under him. His eyes reflected the beast he kept at bay, bu unlike her, he had control.

A presence filled her mind as the dormant other half woke suddenly, seeing the damage she beast had done. Tears filled her eyes as she began to realize just what she had done. Cat could smell his blood, the blood that poured from the wounds she had given him as he held her down, the beast in her trying to break free of his grasp only to do more damage. People screamed around them and Cat did everything to keep the desire to chase after and slaughter them at bay, but slowly she was losing her strength.

"Kill me." She cried out, her mouth distorted by the long fangs shining in the high sun.

"No." 'Ski held her wrists as she struggled to break free, his breath falling on her with the smell of cigarettes and some cheap liquor. His shirt was either gone in places or so covered in blood one would mistake it as torn flesh. Deep scratches lined his chest, some even deep enough to display bone.

"Damn you, you son of a bitch. Kill me." She moaned again, her body begin to shake under the strain of keeping control. Growling, the green eyes that had held guilt and pleas of freedom, glowed as she pulled against the dark man's grip. "You know you want to."

"Not today, Bitch." 'Ski smiled and brought his mouth down on his partner's with deliberate force. His eyes flinched as he felt the long fangs cut the flesh inside and tasted the blood of both. Cat, at first resisted, but slowly, he could feel as her tongue teased his and her lips began to respond. Dust blew from the road and on to them, the film causing his wounds to cry out even more.

As he let her mouth go, she had lost all of the beast's features save for the long fangs, which were slowly ebbing. Her voice came in a chocking whisper as she looked at him with sad eyes. "Why didn't you just end it?"

"Because I'm tired of being alone, Babe." He smiled at her before passing out from his wounds. She caught him, preventing his face from slamming into the dirt as a pistol close to her basked and something bit into her side.

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Cat awoke with a start. her hands chained to the wall. Her mind raced from the flashback as she tried to remember what had led her back to this. Falcon had found them, with a band of beasts backing him up and there was more there, haze preventing her from seeing clearly. Something had registered right before she had backed out, a smell of something foul. It must has been a knock out gas and something heavy duty to drop her. Cat knew she hadn't been out long, but it had been enough time to stash her here and take the others somewhere else. Her nose picked up two different signatures in the haze of everything. One consisted of tobacco and gunpowder mixed with her scent, which concluded that her partner had to be close and the other smelled like her and a mix of deep space, grease, and brown leather, though she couldn't truthfully determine color by scent, she knew Mal was the other. Both also had one thing in common, they reeked of blood. 'Ski, though, was closer, Mal was a great deal off and his scent was fading fast.

She stretched her body, feeling a distinct ache in her side and noticed that she was covered in red. It smelt of her, but also of Reaver and human. Her mind was foggy from the drug Falcon had exposed her to, but had it all truly been a dream.

The dark room gave way to a little light as she spied another form drenched in shadows, chained to the wall. This one, though had not yet awoken. Cat moved to get a closer look, the chains that bound her, ones not light like hers, creaked as she walked. Half way across the room and they pulled taunt, reminding her as they were meant to of just what kind of animal she was.

“Babe,” a voice whispered as she recognized it immediately as her partner. He rose, but she could tell he was weak and her sharp eyes could see that he had been through quite a fight.

“I'm here.” She pulled at her restraints again, willing her body to go an inch further.

“Did I ever tell you that your beast sure is a bitch?”

“Once or twice,” she humored him, all the while wanting to touch him, to make sure he was alright.

“Your Mal held his own out there.” He winced. “Just so you know.” “Where?”

“Not sure. Passed out after this happened and woke up just now chained to wall. You know, if you wanted me like this, Babe, all you had to do was ask.” He chuckled, but drew in a breath as the pain got to him. “Now, your ability to heal....that would have come in nicely.”

“You are healing as well speak. I can hear it.”

“You are one strange kind of creepy sometimes, Babe. Not that I mind.” He let himself sit against the wall as his partner pulled harder on her chains. “You ain't gonna get loose.”

Cat ignored him and let the metal bite again into her already raw wrist. She had escaped them before and the blood beginning to well up from her wrists was her means of that escape. Spreading it over her already covered hands, the manacles slid off like a tight bracelet would with the right amount of butter.

Her long legs carried her quickly to 'Ski's side as she began prodding him for any serious wounds. One of his ribs had been broken, though his own healing was already working at correcting it. Long gashes filed across his stomach and chest new ones next to old scars, looking like sick stripes of the past and present.

“You mind?” 'Ski smiled, the smell of her flooding his sensitive nose.

“Looks like whatever you fought kicked your ass.” She smiled at him for the first time, before taking a seat next to him. “Can you walk?”

“Can you? There are many things we have been through, Babe, but this takes the cake.”

“What do you mean? My side aches a bit, but other than that...”

“Other than that?! Babe, that ache in your side is from a bullet, one that was shot right before I passed out from stopping you from killing the crew. Whatever Falcon had in the air acted like that orange shit they give me to turn Reaver. You were completely out of control.”

“It wasn't a dream.” She frowned. “I saw images from the first time in the village with you, but the story didn't play right. I though it was just a dream induced by the poison.”

“Do you remember anything at all?”

“You kissing me to calm me, me begging you to kill me, and pain...”

“That's it.”

“Pretty much. So Zoe must have shot me, prevent me from hurting anyone else.”

'Ski looked at her. “Zoe was knocked out. There was no way she could have.”

“Then who? River?”

“Cat,” he spoke her name, “The only person that would get close enough to you beside me was the one pulling that trigger. River was protecting Kitty from you, making sure the little one didn't run over to 'save' you like I did. That leaves only one left standing, Babe. I'm sorry, but you know the truth....the one who pulled that trigger was...”

“Mal.” She whispered, tears in her eyes, “Mal was the one who shot me.”

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So as I always say, I appreciate the feedback, but instead of cookies, we have homade virtual brownies and milk. LOL!! Thnks!!