Work Text:
Angus “Mac” MacGyver recognized the sound of the car’s motor before it pulled into the driveway of his house. It was louder because the street was extra quiet. The order to stay home had been announced that afternoon, but the deadline was still a few hours to go. He grinned as he made his way to the front door, but as he opened it, his smile turned into one of loving concern.
In front of him stood a woman with strawberry red hair braided into a halo around her head, dressed in jeans and a grey graphic t-shirt, the words covered up by the bundle in the faded orange towel she was holding, her other hand occupied holding a cat carrier. It took him a moment to realize there was a tiny black face with two relatively large ears, long white “eyebrow” whiskers and wide, blue grey eyes staring up at him. His gaze went from those eyes up to the teal eyes of the woman, and he could tell she had just calmed down from some kind of scare. He ushered the three inside and closed the door behind them, all thoughts of scolding her for being out during a quarantine gone.
“Kait”, he asked, taking the carrier from her and setting it on the ground, “what happened? And why are you out during quarantine?”
“One”, she began, “quarantine doesn’t really begin for a few hours. And I know you. You’d go stir-crazy by yourself in this house, especially since Riley’s said she’s going to spend lockdown at Desi’s, and Bozer has his own place now”. She took a breath. “So, I’ve packed up all the perishables and some pantry goods in the backseat, and our bags in the trunk”. She noticed he was looking at the kitten. “We, ah, had to make a stop on the way here”.
At that moment, the kitten let out a slightly gravelly sounding “mew”, which was immediately answered by a “meow” from the cat carrier. “Better let Angus out before he has a conniption fit”, Kaitlyn said. “He’s been talking to this baby ever since I got back in the car”.
MacGyver knelt down and unzipped the zipper of the cat carrier, and petted the large, ginger and white colored Norwegian Forest cat as it stepped out, making chirruping sounds. The cat then stood on its hind legs and stretched up Kaitlyn’s side, reaching for the towel.
“I know, I know”, Kaitlyn replied, “but we’ve got to get this baby checked out before you can do your own inspection”. She looked back at MacGyver. “I can explain”, she said, walking towards the kitchen. “We were on our way here, taking side roads for time, when we got to that stretch of Red Oak Drive that’s just outside the park, the part that’s still undeveloped, and there was this little black lump in the middle of the road”. She took another breath. “I thought it might have been a rock”, she paused, “until I saw the coyote creeping towards it”. She leaned against the sink before she continued. “So I slammed on the brakes, and when I got out, I could hear this little one screaming itself hoarse, grabbed the nearest rock I could find and chucked it at the coyote. Got him good, too”, she ended fiercely. “Right on his skull and I’m pretty sure I drew blood”. She looked down at the kitten, and dropped her voice, added a British accent and said, “I have some skill at Conkers”.
“And I’m glad you do”, MacGyver replied, kissing her forehead gently. “So, is this little one ok?”
“Doesn’t seem to be hurt”, she replied. “ Just scared out of its little wits. I scooped him up, got back to the car and wrapped him in the towel to try and help him calm down. Angus was a trooper, though. He meowed and chirped and purred until the kitten stopped screaming and shaking. It was still an interesting drive from there to here though”. She started looking around the kitchen. “Mac”, she asked. “Do you still have that blue dishwashing liquid, the one with the duckling on the label?” At his nod, she continued, “good, because this little one is going to need a baff asap”.
She stepped out of the way so MacGyver could reach under the sink and retrieve the dish soap. “I’m assuming you want both sides of the sink filled with warm water”, he said as he worked, “one for the soap, and one for rinsing?”
“You got it”, Kaitlyn replied,then turned her attention to the kitten. “Ok, little one”, she said softly, “you’re safe now, nobody’s going to hurt you. But we need to make sure you don’t have any nasty bugs on you along with all this dirt, so you’ve gotta have a baff “, she began slowly unwrapping the towel, still murmuring softly.
“Does it have a name yet?” MacGyver asked.
“We don’t even know if it’s a boy or a girl yet”, she said.
“Shrodinger would be a good name, then”, he said.
“Shrodinger is the stuffed polar bear in the entryway”, she replied, nodding in that direction. She turned her attention back to the kitten, then added in a cartoonish voice, and lifting the kitten’s tail, “please excuse the indignity”, he looked at the kitten’s back end then back to its face, “young sir”. She tested the water, then slowly lowered the kitten into the warm water. “See, she said, “nice and warm”. As she started lathering up the kitten, Angus leaped up onto the counter and began sniffing the wet kitten, making concerned sounds. “He’s fine”, she said, “trust me”.
“Ok”, MacGyver said, “he looks calm enough for you not to need an extra pair of hands. I’ll just get you a clean towel, then go unpack your car”.
“Thanks, Sugar Bear”, she replied.
A short while later, MacGyver brought in the last of the bags from the car, and overheard Kaitlyn talking to the kitten as she was drying him off.
“So, handsome”, she was saying, “when was the last time you had something to eat?”
Automatically, MacGyver replied, “About eight this morning”.
“Angus MacGyver!” Kaitlyn sputtered at him.
“I’ve been busy!”MacGyver replied. “I’ve been stocking up and making sure I--we--have enough for quarantine”.
“Fair enough”, she said. “Ok, grab that carton of eggs out of the cooler, and the package of bacon, and the cheese. You boys are going to be getting breakfast for dinner tonight”.
She handed the kitten over to MacGyver, and he now saw that the kitten was mostly black, with a splash of white starting at his chin and spreading down his belly, with white tips on his feet. “Hello, little guy”, he said, cradling the kitten, “we really should get a name for you”.
The older cat was making concerned sounds and winding around their legs, so MacGyver set the kitten down. “You two go explore while I help with dinner”.
“Is Riley’s door closed?”Kaitlyn asked. “Or the one to the garage? And if your room has anything toxic in it--besides your dirty clothes--make sure it’s closed, too”.
“I’ll double check”, he said, then walked down the hallway.
He was called back by a surprised squeal followed by, “Uh, Mac? Can you come here a second?”
When he reached the kitchen, he had to stifle a chuckle at the sight. The kitten had climbed up to Kaitlyn’s shoulder and was watching as she cooked. “If I gave you a sliver of cheese”, she was saying between gravelly meows, “would you be willing to get down?”
“I’ll take him”, MacGyver said as he gently pried the kitten from her shoulder. “Come on guys, give the chef some room”.
A short time later, two large plates and two smaller ones had servings of cheesy scrambled eggs and bacon on them, with the bacon crumbled into smaller bite sizes on the smaller plates.
“I’m going to eat with the kids”, Kaitlyn said as she put the smaller plates on the floor a short distance apart, “to supervise”. She then took her plate and sat a short distance away from the cats. “Please be weaned”, she murmured as she watched the kitten approach his plate, “please be weaned”.
She was answered by tiny growling noises as the kitten dove into his food.
“It sounds like he’s saying ‘om nom nom”, MacGyver said with a chuckle.
“That’s where the saying comes from”, Kaitlyn replied with a relieved smile. “He’s letting everybody know that this is his food and keep back”. Her smile faded. “Which means he’s been on his own for a little while”. She turned back to the kitten and added softly, “You’re safe now baby. You’ll never be alone again”.
“ So, what are you going to name him?” MacGyver asked after a few bites of food.
Kaitlyn didn’t answer right away, as she was eating. After a few moments, she said, “Nermal, like the kitten in the Garfield cartoons. He seems to have the right personality for it”.
MacGyver nodded. “Sounds good”, he agreed.
The rest of dinner was uneventful. MacGyver offered to clean up while Kaitlyn followed the kitten and cat to supervise their explorations. The three disappeared down the hallway, but Kaitlyn returned, alone, a few moments later, a delighted grin on her face.
“Nermal knows how to use a litterbox!” She squealed. She saw MacGyver’s confused look and explained, “it is a huge deal. You won’t be seeing any puddles or ahem 'landmines’ around the house. Angus led him into the bathroom where you have his box set up, and the little guy just hopped right in and did his business”.
At that moment, Angus walked into the room, followed closely by Nermal. The ginger cat walked over to the hearth of the fireplace in the livingroom and hopped onto the pile of blankets MacGyver kept there, and curled up. After he settled, he made several chirruping sounds and moved his fluffy tail to one side. Nermal mewed back, then climbed up next to the cat and curled up. Angus then fluffed his tail back over the two, put his head down and closed his eyes. A moment later, they heard a loud purr.
“I don’t think we have to worry about them getting along”, MacGyver said quietly.
“You should know, you’re not old enough to be drinking that stuff yet”.
Kaitlyn’s eyes flew open. She looked at the spot where MacGyver should have been, next to her in bed. But he wasn’t there. She got out of bed and slipped on a pair of shorts. Who in the world could he be talking to?
She quietly padded down the hallway towards the living room, and as she got close, the mystery was solved. Nermal was on a high shelf of what MacGyver used as a bar, full of liquor bottles and glasses. The kitten curled his front paws around the edge of the shelf and leaned forward until his nose touched MacGyver’s. Kaitlyn melted at the sight.
“Come on”, MacGyver said, chuckling. “Let’s get you down from there. Some of this glassware is older than both of us”. He reached out and cautiously picked up the kitten, moving as slowly and carefully as if he were moving a small amount of unstable explosives.
As he set the kitten down on the floor, Angus walked up to them and chirruped. The two cats touched noses, then disappeared down the hallway.
The morning passed uneventfully. Afternoon found MacGyver and Kaitlyn sitting on the couch, balling a skein of grey yarn. “So”, MacGyver was saying, “what are you planning to make with this?”
“I was thinking of crocheting a hat for Angus”, Kaitlyn replied. “Now it looks like I’ll need to make one for Nermal, too”.
Suddenly, the sound of thundering paws was heard. Angus raced into the living room, followed closely by Nermal. The fluffy ginger and white cat banked off the cat tree MacGyver had built for him some time before, causing it to rock on its base, then up the side of the couch, then behind the couple, causing them both to exclaim, down the other side and back down the hallway.
“What the hell was that?”MacGyver asked after he had taken a breath.
“I like to call them the Kittyanapolis 500 Time Trials”, Kaitlyn replied calmly. “They’re just playing”.
“Ok”, he said, then added, “I think I’m going to have to add some more weight to that cat tree, though. It needs to be stable”.
“Can it wait until I get this ball finished?” Kaitlyn asked.
“Sure”, he replied. “As long as they don’t come racing through here again”.
On cue, Angus walked into the room to the cat tree and climbed up to the top platform. Nermal followed shortly after, but instead of going to the cat tree, began climbing up the stones of the fireplace towards the mantel.
“I’m not changing your name to Peter Parker”, Kaitlyn said, watching him as he made careful progress across the mantel towards the cat tree where Angus was curled up sleeping.
The couple held their breath as they watched the tuxedo kitten make the leap between the mantel and the platform where the other cat slept. Nermal landed on top of Angus, who woke up and jumped down to a lower level.
Nermal sat there for a moment, then looked around, then down, then back at the humans. “Mew?”
“Got yourself stuck up there, eh, little guy?” MacGyver asked. He set the coil of yarn down carefully on the couch, then got up and walked toward the kitten. “Don’t worry, I’ve got you”. He reached up and grasped the kitten gently, then took him to where Kaitlyn sat. “Here”, he said.
Kaitlyn took the kitten and cuddled it. After a few moments, she noticed the kitten eyeing the ball of yarn. With one hand still holding the kitten, she moved the yarn ball a little farther away. “Oh no you don’t”, she said. “Not the time for playing with yarn”.
MacGyver watched the two and smiled to himself. This was going to be an interesting quarantine, that was for certain, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.