Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The city streets were damp with rainwater, and the drops rapidly fell to the ground. Inside a box sitting under the soft glow of the streetlamps, a young tabby curled himself up, seeking warmth and shelter from the storm. He hummed a soft tune to distract his mind when the young boy heard the sound of a violin growing closer and closer. The young cat thought it must be his mind playing tricks on him. When he heard a voice singing an unknown tune, the young cat thought to himself.

“I wanna go home.”

The night was scary to some, but not Rocky Rickaby. He stared at the darkness head-on when he saw the lone streetlamp. It looked like it did every night, but something in the grey tabby’s mind subconsciously told him to check it out. Waking over to the light pole, the only sound accompanying his humming was the pitter-patter of the rain; his blue eyes lowered to the soaked box, which read “Free Kitty.” he saw a young cat curled up in the box.

“A kid?!” The gray-furred tabby thought, eyes widening in shock, “Oh buddy, you can’t be out here in the cold. You’ll get sick!” Rocky stated, grabbing the kitten from the box, the young cat’s head resting on the older cat’s shoulder. He had to get the kid inside somewhere, but where could he take this boy? His aunt would question him for bringing the kid there more than she would take care of the boy.

“Maybe Miss M. will know what to do with you, " he thought, looking at the young boy sleeping peacefully in his arms. The tabby began to walk to the Little Daisy Cafe until Rocky heard the younger cat cough a little. Having run inside, he rushed past the tables to get into the speakeasy. Reaching the spacious cavern, the gray-furred tabby was now panting.

“What do you have, Rocky?”

Chapter Text

The tabby walked over to his cousin, “Hey, Freckle! Look at what I found outside!” The tabby extended his arms to show his cousin the boy he had encountered. Freckle looked in horror. This boy’s fur was well-kept; he didn’t look hurt. The orange tabby stated, “Rocky, we can’t just take random children. That’s kidnapping!” The young cat had stirred awake from the echoed, panicked shouting coming from one of the cats in the room.
“Nonsense, Freckle, the box said free on it.” The gray cat set the younger cat down, walking over to the stage to continue explaining how the boy was truly abandoned. The echoes of their conversation fill the almost empty cave. The young cat rubbed his eyes as they adjusted to the soft glow of the speakeasy. His mind wandered, looking at the bar. Multiple figures were sitting at the bar. One of them had smoke, a familiar sight to the young tabby; he walked up to the figure.

“Papa!”

The brown-furred cat sighed, smoke escaping his mouth. “I’m not your papa, kid.” His tail swished once he noticed he was talking to a child. The cigarette smoke dissipated while the man’s hand held the cigarette in the ashtray, letting it crumble. Zib turned around, now looking the kitten in the eyes. “What made you think I was your father?” The young cat pointed to the ashtray. “That.”

The older cat looked at the ashtray briefly before grabbing the boy and setting him on one of the empty stools, “What’s your name, kid?” The little tabby looked up at the older man before answering his question, “My name’s Li’l Petey!”

Zib nodded as Li’l Petey said his name. “Kid, I want you to do something. " The little cat looked at the brown cat and asked, “Like what?” The older man pointed to the orange tabby arguing with Rocky and explained, “You see Cal? I want you to go talk to him; maybe he’ll get a new toy for you or whatever it is you like.” The kitten was guided to the tabby; as he looked up, Freckle responded nervously,

“O-Oh! Hey bud, do you need something?” The orange kitten said, “The guy over at the bar said you’d get me a toy or whatever I like.” Freckle was stunned. “Oh, well, I can get you a toy if you’d like." He held his hands together, a nervous smile spreading across his face as the young cat’s green eyes lit up.

“Yes!”

Chapter Text

The laboratory was a mess, and there was no one to help keep it tidy. The last guy was an idiot; no other sound could be heard except for a distant banging. “I wanted another me. Not a child! Why can’t any plan I have go right?” the tabby cried out, his hand slamming against his desk. He looked at the tape that had fallen off his desk, which was labelled with a date 02/24

“What was this again?”, The cat picked up the tape, putting it back onto the desk, “I’ll figure it out later.” he sank in his chair, noting a stack of papers. “What did the kid ruin this time?” The man thought in frustration, picking up the stack, it was a book. The orange cat did not pay attention until he saw something on one of the pages.

‘When I am scared, I know that my papa will be there to protect me.’ The tabby’s heart shattered, “If I dared say that I’d be called a ‘crybaby’,” He then muttered his voice breaking, “What have I done?” The orange-furred man went to put the tape in the player, pressing play, hoping to remember why he had kept it.

The sounds of sirens flooded the background with their piercing wails, a young voice called out, “Dad! You have to go back in there, Mom’s trapped!” The boy let out a panicked whimper as an older voice snapped back, “No! If you care about her so much, then go in there yourself!” There was a crackle after the boy cried out to his dad again; this tape was tampered with. After fifteen minutes of static, the kid’s sobs could be heard as the man snapped again, “When is this crying nonsense going to stop, Petey?! You’re seventeen years old!” There was a new voice that then spoke up, “Hey, you shouldn’t talk to your son like tha–”

The tape ended with a click, and Petey cried out a broken sob. “Mama, I’m no better than him.” The cat held the little book when he heard a sound coming from one of his robots, which he was working on, had recited a letter. The tabby jumped as he looked at the machine in confusion, “I didn’t give you a voice box,” the robot recited another letter. The cat was completely terrified now, “What did I do to deserve this?!” He shouted in fear. Until realizing it was a message.

He grabbed a blank sheet of paper and one of Li’l Petey’s crayons and wrote the letters down as the robot called them. The robot deactivated after the last letter, and the cat looked at the complete message. ‘FIND YOUR SON,’ the orange tabby grabbed his Flashlight and ventured out, calling,

“Li’l Petey! Li’l Petey, where are you, kid?”