Chapter Text
"If I lay here.. If I just lay here, would you lie with me and..just forget the world?" the soft, melodic voice of Gary Lightbody filled the young boy's room. The slight static noise disrupted the tune since the radio being used was old and without a proper signal.
"Forget what we're told, before-"
"LOUIS!" a loud boom sounded throughout the small building, making the boy jump and quickly turn the radio off, speeding downstairs.
"Y-Yes, Mark..?" asked the fourteen-year-old, clearly scared of the burly man.
Mark's eyes narrowed as he gazed at the tiny boy, hatred in his eyes. "I told you to take out the god damn trash. Are you such a dumbass that you can't listen?" he questioned venomously.
Louis shrunk back a bit, trying not to start shaking in freight in front of his step father. "I-I forgot..I'm sorry.." he just about whispered. He hated when he had to be around Mark. He was always scary and mean to him.
The older man took the chance and got up, grabbing Louis by the front of his shirt and pulling him to his face as he clenched his jaw. Anger burned brightly in his eyes. "You forgot?!" he yelled, spit smacking the child in the face. "You good for nothing brat! Do it now before I 'forget' to feed you!" the man spat, shoving Louis hard enough to make him hit the ground with a thud.
Louis tried to fight back his tears, shakily getting up as he saw his mother leave the doorway to go back into the kitchen, avoiding getting near Mark's yelling like she always did.
When Mark took off the his bedroom after hearing his phone ring, Louis rushed to get the garbage out into the dumpster in the alleyway as he let a couple tears fall down his round cheeks. Since his stepfather came into his and his mother's life, it had been a constant pattern of yelling, insults, and excessive chores. Jay had done everything she could to stay out of Mark's way, letting her only child take on the full heat of the older man's rage.
It made Louis too scared to be in that rundown house his real father had left behind for him, but school wasn't any better. His peers were constantly rude to him, with the teachers always seeing and hearing nothing. The young boy poured his heart and soul into his schoolwork, only succeeding in the other kids torturing him for being a nerd as well.
Louis endured though. He could get through it, right?
When he went back inside after disposing of the trash, Mark's deep tone made him jump once again.
"Okay, you little shit," Mark began, a wide grin on his face. It was the closest expression to happy Louis had ever seen with him since...ever. "In an hour, you're out of my house for good. Go grab whatever the fuck you want of yours and be out of this door in five minutes. Don't leave the property or else your little whore of a mother will be on her way into the fucking ground. I don't need her or you for money anymore. Go. Now!" he ordered, raising his voice suddenly.
Louis jumped up and ran upstairs, grabbing his radio along with a picture of his mother and himself by a Christmas tree when he was five years old, just before his real father left. The last picture of when he was truly happy.
He went downstairs and hurried to the kitchen. He needed to say goodbye to his mummy. She was his world, after all.
"M-Mummy, I-"
"Just get out, Louis," Jay said quietly, tears in her eyes as she quickly turned away. She looked terrified as well as upset.
A knife pierced Louis' heart at his mother's dismissive words. Did she really just say that? Did he really not matter anymore? She was the only one he had left, and for her to say that...
"I love you, Mummy," came his broken whisper before he rushed to the door and went outside quickly. He sat in the dead grass of the yard as he waited for whoever to come, knowing it was probably more bad people coming to get him.
It was always bad people, ever since his dad left. They would come in smelling like the smelly drink stuff Mark always had, disappearing with his mother while he sat in his room, playing or waiting for food. But then Mark came along and he stayed. He was definitely never a nice man. He always had something to yell at Louis for, and it hurt. Especially when his mother didn't help. What did she always used to sing him to sleep?
"Lean into me, believe in me and I'll keep you safe my darling. I'll be here for you sweet prince, I'll stand by your side my boy.." was it, and now Louis realized he was whispering the lyrics over and over, rocking slowly as tears fell down his cheeks. His world was falling apart. Everything was changing now. What was he going to do?
A scream cut off Louis' whispering and crying when a searing pain hit his arm, looking over quickly and seeing some adults, one with a needle in his arm. He could feel everything going away as his eyes drooped, his world finally going black as his body fell limp.
-*-
Pain. Pain was the only thing Louis could feel when he came to, especially in his ears and his lower back. What was going on?
Suddenly, the pain came to a halt when he jolted fully awake, jumping to his feet with an odd ease. He felt lighter, and he didn't get the normal sensation of wanting to fall over.
He felt something like a leg swinging back and forth behind him, finding that he could control its movement as he made it stop and swing around to at least get a glance at.
Louis gasped in surprise when he was met with what looked like a cat's tail, brown and fluffy. He gently made it twitch to make sure what he was looking at was what he could move now. As he suspected, this animal tail was now something that was part of him.
His head snapped up as he felt his ears move as well. His eyes met with a mirror, showing an image of himself with weird dark brown cats' ears instead of his regular ones as well as the same tail swinging in an upward position from behind him. He could feel that it was connected to his backside.
There was only one thing he could think of to do, and that was to scream in terror.
-*-
The place he had been taken to was a lab, and some mean-ish lady with long, black hair and a mask had told him he was the only one to survive taking the "T5783" serum or whatever. He could only assume that that stuff is what gave him the cat parts, as well as the ability to jump higher, run faster, and lift heavier things, as he had come to find out.
Over the next three weeks, Louis was forced to do exercising, jumping, running, and other "tests" the white-clothed people made him do. When he wasn't doing all of that, they made him sit in a white cell with only a toilet and a bed without anything to do.
After taking his daily weight lifting test, Louis was led back to his cell and locked inside. Looking up, he blinked as he saw that there was a spot above the top of the bars that wasn't covered. It was just big enough of an area which he could get out of.
Not really knowing if he could do it, Louis braced himself before leaping as high as he could and barely gripping the top of the twelve-foot-tall bars, able to heave himself over them with ease.
Landing on his feet without making a sound, Louis ran as fast as he could down the hallway and out to the testing area, biting his lip and dodging white-clothed men and women trying to stop or grab him. His ears perked up as he heard the chaotic shouting being paired up with a loud alarm. Louis was in big trouble.
Louis managed to get past the testing area and out to another hallway. Looking up slightly, he was able to quickly glance at and follow the signs that read "Exit", bursting out through a red door and tearing it completely off with a gasp. Oops.
He had no time to act and began climbing up the stone wall surrounding the facility, running across the top until he got to an area with a short drop down distance that he knew he could survive, jumping down and running away from the giant building.
He hated that place. He hated those people. That main black haired lady. They changed him forever. He was a half animal! What was he supposed to do?
Louis just kept on running and running as fast as he could. He had to get away.
-*-
Louis finally found his way back to London, the city he grew up in. He knew he was there by the signs.
On the way, he had practiced wrapping his tail around his waist to look like a belt, and he had found a tattered beanie that just abandoned, so he wore it to cover his ears.
He knew he needed to eat, so he started looking around restaurants to see if there was garbage that he could eat perhaps. He used to dig in the dumpster back at home in the same manner as when Mark refused to give him food as "punishment".
Able to find a little bit of half eaten garlic bread, Louis downed it quickly since it had been a while since he had eaten.
"Um..hello..?" a gentle female's voice sounded, making Louis tense up and snap his head towards the owner.
About five feet away stood a man and a woman, staring at Louis curiously, probably never having seen such a young boy in such need to dig for a meal.
As Louis moved to run the man made him stop. "No son, it's okay. We won't hurt you.." he said with a gentle voice, holding his hands up.
The woman's eyes grew soft as she looked Louis up and down. "Let us order you food and get you a shower at our flat. You look like you haven't been taken good care of for days, Love," she said softly, stepping back a bit.
After studying the couple's sincere faces, Louis slowly nodded and followed them away from the dirty dumpster.
-*-
Louis had figured out that this couple was actually pretty nice. Their names were Thomas (Tommy) and Stariel (Star) Sanders. They were both in their thirties and just married when he met them.
At first, Louis hadn't trusted them. He had just taken them up on their offer before leaving to the streets. They always managed to find him, though, and got food and clothes for him, letting him use their shower when he wanted. So, after three weeks of the back and forth, the Sanders offered him a place in their home. He had gladly accepted.
It had been two years and Louis was feeling better. Yes, he was still bullied at school, but he knew that Tommy and Star wouldn't hurt him. He considered them his aunt and uncle of sorts.
At first, Louis had opted to be home-schooled because of his ears and tail. However, Tommy and Star gave him the idea to wear baggy shirts and wrap his tail around his waist, while wearing a beanie to cover his ears. He didn't mind the idea, and he knew that they had his back, so he decided to return to school. Yeah, he hated the bullying, but he preferred being in a classroom rather than learning on his own. He could do it, but it got boring after a while. It was also really lonely. He hated being alone.
One day, the sixteen-year-old Louis was walking home from school. No big deal, he loved to walk. He had a lot of energy to burn off and he loved seeing the city. He hummed a soft tune to himself before digging for his phone - gifted to him on his fifteenth birthday - when he heard the chime to alert him of a text.
'help' was all the text said, Star's contact name showing up. Louis frowned as he looked over the text. Star was a total grammar freak. She would be kicking her own ass if she saw what she sent. Why did she send it like that? Was she okay..?
He wasted no time dwelling on it further, starting to run towards his home. He was a bit worried. He didn't want to lose this new family. He couldn't. They were all he had left. Paranoia wasn't too bad of an issue if it meant he could save Star, and possibly Tommy as well.
Running and bursting through the door, Louis was surprised by the rank scent of blood that hit his nose. He started to look around and stopped dead when he saw one of the most horrific scenes of his life.
Tommy was laying on the floor, curled up with his hands on his chest. There was blood spatter and a trail of blood going down the wall, straight to Tommy's body. There was also some blood on the floor. As Louis walked closer, he could see that Tommy had gunshot wounds in his chest. However, Tommy wasn't moving. Louis knew in the back of his head what that meant. However, he was too numb to think. A sight of ginger hair in the corner of his eye made him turn to behind the couch, eyes falling upon Star's body. She was in a lump, a gunshot in her back and her head positioned in an awkward way, indicating that her neck was broken. She wasn't moving either.
Louis stood there for what seemed like forever, not moving and breath labored. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. They were gone...all gone. Dead, wasted, whatever the fuck. Just gone. He finally raised his hand up and wiped at his cheek, feeling the wetness of tears. He just realized the stinging in his eyes and his body jerk as he let out a sob, the full force of what happened hitting him. The only thing left he could do was to call the police.
-*-
Not much of anything happened after that. The police came, took his statement, and cleaned up the place. Since Tommy's and Star's wills had him getting it, he decided to sell it to have money to live on, probably just getting somewhere small. After all, who would hire a freak like him?
He got a smaller flat and lived on the money for a good seven months, getting worried when his money was low. So, he learned the art of pickpocketing and started taking credit cards, withdrawing the money and making sure they didn't catch him. He also stole food and other things he needed. It was no big deal. He was doing okay. Until he heard about the owners of Michael's Jewels, a local jewelry store, going out of town. And everyone knew that Michael, the main owner, watched the cameras at night. Perfect.
That night, he decided to make his move. Wearing a hoodie and some black yoga pants for movement, he snuck in after picking the lock at the back door. Making sure to keep his footsteps quiet, he crept through the store, hopping over a large shelf to avoid the camera, over to the jewelry cases. He picked the locks to the cases and was about to reach the reach for the jewelry when he heard the cocking of a gun.
-*-
Paul Higgins was the chief of police for about twelve years. He was the top of his class at the academy and was on the force for ten long years before being offered the job. With his experience came many friends, including Michael and his husband Andre. The two had kindly asked him to keep an eye on their store while they were away, so he agreed. It was his day off, and he could afford to stay up the night. It was the weekend, so his daughter didn't need taken to or from school, and his wife was home to watch her so he could sleep.
So, he just leaned back and watched the cameras inside of the monitoring room. At first, he had glanced at his phone to answer to a text from his wife, and when he looked up he watched as a small boy carefully maneuvered around the store, keeping quiet and in a defensive position to keep safe. Paul was certainly intrigued.
He watched with wide eyes as the boy jumped clean over the shelf with some items on it without touching it or knocking it over. It was that moment that he made his way out to stop this boy. He could do some damage to Michael's and Andre's store.
Paul pulled out his gun and crept behind the boy, cocking it when he was close enough so the boy would hear.
-*-
Louis jumped and quickly turned around, holding his hands up. "Don't shoot! I'll leave!" he exclaimed. Shit, he was in deep trouble.
Paul raised an eyebrow. "You're coming with me, Kid," he said, making Louis turn around so he could cuff him. Since the boy seemed too scared to stop him, he put the cuffs on him and led him to the monitoring room. He would keep an eye on him until morning.
Louis bit his lip as he was sat down in the chair, his mask taken off by the cop to reveal his ears, which were flattened a bit. He was terrified.
Paul's eyes widened when he saw the ears, swallowing thickly and sitting in front of Louis. "What's your name, son? Why did you do it?" he asked him softly. He had to calm this kid down. He didn't look more than sixteen or seventeen.
Louis looked at his lap as he thought about what to say. "L-Louis Tomlinson. I need money," he said quietly, voice barely heard by Paul.
Paul studied Louis carefully. The kid certainly looked poor, clothes worn out and ragged. He felt a bit of pity for the boy. His ears possibly meant he was scorned, but he had such skill. "Why don't you have a job instead?"
Louis shook his head slowly, sighing. "Who would hire me? I'm a freak," he murmured.
Paul thought about it. "I'll pay you. Pass my tests, and I'll hire you to work for the police. I'll make sure you don't get charged with tonight's events, okay?" he asked him. So many crimes were happening lately. Maybe this kid could help.
Louis shook his head quickly. "People at school will make fun of me," he said. That was part of the reason, but he also didn't want the people at the lab finding him.
Paul smiled softly as an idea popped into his head. "We'll get you a mask and a suit to disguise yourself if you want. Only I will know who you are, but you'll need an alias to use if people ask."
Louis opened his mouth to protest before he considered it, not saying anything. He wouldn't go to jail, he could get money, and he could help people in need. But what would he use as a name? His ears perked up, catching the faint sound of the radio that Paul had used to entertain himself, hearing Black Cat by Janet Jackson playing. He was instantly taken back to his real father learning how to play the guitar with that song, earning a big kiss on the head when he played it for his mother, no matter how bad it was. At that moment in time, he had only one name in his head.
"Black Cat."