| In the Heat of Things Disclaimer...JCA is property of Jackie Chan and The WB Network! * * * This fic is based off the episode where Jade and Valmont get kitty-ivied. Here's my twist! When Jackie dashed the cat statue to pieces, believing the antidote was within, he was WRONG. Jade and Valmont remained cats, because that inscription on the statue was just bull. Valmont ran off with the pieces of the statue, hoping to glue it back together someday. Jackie took Jade back to San Francisco, where over the last few years, Uncle was able to give temporary remedies for her cat-ness. The chi spells he used were able to keep Jade's human features when used on a regular basis, and Jade was mostly able to control her cat urges. Jade recently became apprentice to Uncle and Tohru, and learned how to keep her feline side under control with regularly prescribed chi spells and potions. But these chi spells are only temporary remedies...a way to cover up Jade's little 'problem'. There are certain times when nature simply calls and Jade can't control herself... * * * Jackie calmly swept the floor of the store, sweeping up the dust into a dustpan and occasionally emptying it into the wastebasket. It was after closing hours, and Uncle was in the back room, doing his usual research. Tohru was out getting some takeout. The only sounds that permeated to Jackie's ears were the soft rustling sounds from the chore he was performing, Uncle's occasional mumble, the muffled sound of a late night driver, and one more thing. Jade's muffled moans and once-in-a-while screeches. * * * She was pacing in the attic room, having been locked up there. Well, it was her own fault. She had agreed to be locked up there, but she really wanted to be free. Her feline side had gotten worse since the first time she bled, and right now she was just like all the other female cats that roamed the alleys of San Francisco. She was in heat. It was an uncomfortable, irritable sensation, a sensation worsened by the fact that she was pretty much surrounded by testosterone while she was at home. Just being near it was enough to get her blood pumping, her heart pounding, her nerves on fire. She had almost been sent home from school because she was caught pawing at some boy who had happened to bump into her while she was at her locker. Normally she wouldn't have done this because in general she viewed the opposite sex with distaste, seeing them as immature and weird. But the hormones raging in her body caused her to react to male hormones quite differently, and when Jackie saw the way she was acting...at dinner she was scratching the table with claws that had become unsheathed, he knew what he was seeing. It wasn't the first time she was in heat, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. The common solution to the problem was to give her some human-izing chi spells and put her in the attic with books to read and other things to do, but like always, the spells were only a temporary remedy to a permanent problem, and did not last as long when she was in heat. The spell already wore off, and it was barely midnight. She tried to occupy herself with reading some of her magazines...Cosmo, YM, MAD. But the heat was too pressing for her to try to absorb the words on the pages, and she tossed them aside. She knew she would be staying out of school for the next couple of days, as Jackie always called her in sick when this happened. This was Tohru's room, but while Jade was in heat he slept downstairs in the back room, and she was confined here. Right now she was sitting with her back to the wall, her knees drawn up to her chest and making soft growling noises. Her arms were covered with deep scratches from her own frustration, but she knew with her feline abilities these cuts would be gone in the morning. She knew Tohru would probably have something to say about the scratches she put on the wooden support posts on the wall, but then, he was mellow and understanding. She never touched his things (which weren't that many and most were put away for the duration of her 'stay') and was careful about where she took out her rages on. In a fit of frustration, she bounded from her sitting position and leapt to the rafters, entertaining herself with this activity for a while. But the attic was small, the roof was low, and she quickly became bored again. She landed down on the floor and gave out a loud screech of frustration, pacing back and forth and hissing in response to the screeches from outside. Soon enough, Uncle screamed for silence from downstairs, and she bit down on her lip. His screech was pain to her now-kitty ears, which had a more sensitive threshold than a human's. She paced back and forth in silence, hoping to tire herself out, knowing she wouldn't succeed because her feline stamina was high and cats were mostly nocturnal creatures. She leapt up on the bed and back down several times, not making one sound on her bare hands and feet, and leapt back up, looking through the window. She could see the ocean and the full moon, as well as many of the buildings. It was so stuffy in here; so she decided to crack open the window a bit. Summer was almost here, and she longed for a breath of the cool late-spring air. The window came open with a small squeak, and she took in a long, deep breath from the inch-wide slit she formed. It gave her a brief respite from thoughts about heat, and she pushed the window open a bit more. The cool air went to her head, and goose bumps formed on her skin. She pushed the window up a bit more, sticking her head through it. She hard many different sounds, most of them subtle sounds that even humans couldn't hear. She heard the screeching and yowling that came with feline mating season, and the heat came back in full force. She simply had to do something about this maddening sensation. * * * Valmont paced back and forth in his bedroom, batting at a ball of yarn across the floor. Being a cat was simply delightful. If he was still completely human, he would be starting to feel the effects of middle age, but now he felt as if he were twenty again, younger even. His life had improved in many ways since the Cat of Khartoum fiasco; he still had the statue fragments to remind him. True enough, he could not pass for quite human on the streets, but the Dark Hand had in fact improved. His business became more covert, more carefully monitored, and of course, easier to hide from the law. There had been fewer brushes with the law in the last few years, and the Dark Hand had grown more powerful, and he himself achieved a certain level of infamy in the world of the underground. There were rumors also, since he did not show his face so often, but he didn't mind. He loved being a kitty. Energy was pretty much an infinite source for him, no longer did he need eight hours of sleep a day. He usually took his rest in brief naps during the day, and by night he was fully awake and conscious of his surroundings. He usually conducted his business during the early and mid-hours of the night, but today he decided to take a break and just be his kitty self, which was what he was doing now. But there was something this kitty was missing out on. Women. Rarely, Valmont would take a night stroll and surprise some woman out walking, usually a call girl. He often had his way with them once he convinced them he was a cute, friendly pussycat that they could play with for hours. This satisfied him briefly, but he wanted something more than an occasional girl who liked cats. He didn't want one-night stands; he wanted something more lasting, though as of right now, he wasn't fully aware of that fact. All he knew was that he was yearning for something, and tonight that feeling was very strong. He decided to go on a prowl and have some pussy (yes, pun intended) tonight. In the Heat of Things, Chapter 2 * * * Jade wormed her way out through the window and onto the ledge. The cool air hit her full-blast now, and she took a deep breath, feeling the air on her bare arms and throat. Her heightened scent of smell picked up many things.car exhaust, barrel-fires, kitchen smells coming from several fast- food places, an apple pie coming from someone's open window, and of course, heat. She heard the yowling of the female cats as they sought mates, and the fighting sounds of male toms as they battled each other for pussy. Which reminded her of her own heat. The warm feeling shot from her stomach to her thighs and breasts, and going all the way to her fingers and toes. She was frustrated by this feeling, and got a sudden urge to ride a bike. Damn it! She thought to herself. She knew what she wanted, and at the same time had a dislike of boys. There was a sudden hiss from nearby, and she instantly yowled in response. "Shut up, Jade!" Uncle screamed in Chinese. Jeez man, was he still up? She scampered down to the alley on the rainwater drainage pipe, and neatly landed on her feet on the cool concrete. It still amazed her how she could be so agile in cat form. In human form she still could have landed on her feet, but it would have been very unsteady. As a kitty she landed without a sound. Which was good. She scanned the alley in both directions. To her right lay the street a few yards away. The flickering lights of the 7- 11across the street was glaring to her feline eyesight, and that was not helped by the hideous orange streetlight that stood guard on the sidewalk in front of it. With her acute eyesight she stared through the Plexiglas and picked out a clerk and two midnight stragglers, probably crack heads, milling around in the store. Uncle always complained about that place since it went up three years ago, claiming that it was 'bad for business' She turned her head to the other direction, where the sight was easier on her eyes. It was mostly shadows, though that was not saying too much with her eyesight and the moonlight. Empty and crushed cardboard boxes littered one side of the alley, along with several trashcans and random pieces of litter. Random graffiti decorated the wall across from her, some in English with the typical gang messages, and some in Chinese, mostly repeats of what was in English. There was some more screaming and yowling, and this time she bit her lip, keeping herself from responding. She figured that she would simply wander the alleyways of San Francisco until the morning's light started to show, then she would make her way back to the attic. Racing through the alleyways and rooftops would help her burn off her excess energy and of course take her mind off her heat. * * * He bounded to the windowsill, then back to the bed. He was restless tonight and wanted to get out. There was really nothing else to do, and it was after midnight. He decided to go on one of his midnight stalks now, and went back to the window, opening it up all the way. The cool night air was deliciously refreshing, and he took a deep whiff. It brought even more energy to his already over-stimulated nerves, and he climbed onto the windowsill, taking a look at the thirty stories beneath him. This was child's play to him, and he quickly jumped onto a stone elbow a couple stories under. Then to the right, and around the corner. Then another, and another, and soon enough he found himself in the alley behind the building that his office rested on top of. Despite the high-class poshness of the whole building, this alley was filthy. Many cardboard boxes rested here, along with several trashcans, one that was overturned, revealing the shredded remains of countless business documents. There was also remains of fast food meals and cigarettes here, revealing that his employees didn't have the best cleanliness habits during lunch hour, and he noticed a used condom lying near the iron grating near the back door. Interesting and mildly amusing to him, he wondered if he should put up a hidden security camera here, see what his workers did on their break times. It might give him some laughs. The yowl of a not-so-far-off feline reminded him of why he had left the building. His loins tingled in anticipation and he felt his heat rise. But this time he smelled something different. It was a distant far-off musky smell, one that he had not smelled before. It was so very like that special musk that the female cats gave off when they were in heat, yet it was so different. And enthralling. He raised his head and sniffed the air, looking for more. It tugged at him like these cartoons where the scent of pie sitting on a windowsill could literally pull in a hungry animal. * * * She raced through the alleyways with a speed that was almost indistinguishable to the human eye, which was good for her. No one would recognize her as all anyone who spent their time in the dark alleys could see was a blur or shadows. She avoided the barrel fires and the streetlights, which were glaring to her sensitive eyesight. Then she found something else to amuse her-leaping from rooftop to rooftop. This immensely appealed to her sense of adventure, and it was exhilarating to soar over rooftops that Jackie would hesitate to jump across. She immensely enjoyed her feline grace and strength to her fullest extent, and feeling nothing under her feet gave her a strange rush. It was no wonder at all that Valmont had immensely enjoyed being a cat, though it'd been quite a few years since she had heard of him or the Dark Hand. They had become suddenly more covert and more well-hidden from the law. Probably because Valmont couldn't show his face anymore. Well, now she knew how Valmont felt about his kitty-hood. The feeling that was pumping through her veins.it was indescribable. Her feline powers gave her muscles an extra spring. Her senses almost drove her out of her mind with all that they picked up. And it was the whole.cat-ness thing. There was something to it that being human lacked. It was absolutely delightful! * * * The scent grew more intense as he roamed the alleyways, and it drew him on with an incredible magnetism. He looked up to the star-studded heavens, and with a sodden movement, leapt to the rooftops. The scent was stronger up here.and now he felt that he had a certain fix on it. He took a deep whiff of the air before he turned his head, sniffing around. Following his instinct and primal senses, he turned left and leapt from one building to another, following the deep musk that had him in its powerful hold. It was absolutely tantalizing, and he longed to discover the source of it. He performed feats impossible to humans. He leapt clear thirty feet from building to building. He could jump up or down ten stories and land on his feet with the utmost of ease. And he did it all with a strange silence that would give Uncle the willies. He roamed the rooftops with the silence and speed of a shadow, and anyone lucky enough to look up or see him jump would see nothing more than a blur and dismiss it as a figment of their imaginations. And so it was with this speed that he quickly caught up to his quarry. * * * She leapt onto the rooftop of an apartment building and decided to take a quick rest and calm down her pounding heart. It wasn't that she actually needed a rest, but human habit was imbedded in her so deeply that she felt the need to take a rest after a long while of strenuous exercise, and racing across rooftops was one of them. She made her way to the air- conditioning unit and sat up against it, feeling the cool metal against the bare skin on her back, and leaned her head backwards before letting out a long sigh. All that racing across rooftops had not burned off all the excess energy as she had hoped it would, but instead seemed to give her more. The heat was pulsing through every nerve of her being, pouring through her veins like hot quicksilver. She stared blankly at the landscape in front of her. It was pretty much a platform of rooftops at varying heights with dark gaps between them, the ocean as a lid on it all. The only light other than what came from the heavens emanated through a few windows of people probably partying or holding late night study-a-thons. Or whatever else they were doing. She didn't care. All she cared about was her own senses and what they picked up. Sight, hearing, smell, touch, even taste. She tasted faint traces of things in the air.smoke, food, dust. And an unidentifiable smell drawing closer. It was a certain musk.a musk that caused her heat to respond. It was testosterone without question, but not just any testosterone. Where did it come from? * * * He landed on the asphalt of a rooftop with total silence despite what was under his feet. The smell of the musk was almost overwhelming, and that was when he hard soft breathing. It came from behind the large, clunky air- conditioning unit a few paces away, and his curiosity drew him closer. The being who was behind the unit was giving out the musk, and he wondered who, or what he would find. On agile cat's feet, he tiptoed closer, and made his way to the side of it, and brought his head around the corner. And found a unexpected surprise. * * * She became lost in thought as she stared out in the distance, but came crashing back down to earth as her ears registered a soft purring that was not from the AC unit. She raised her head and looked to her left, then to her right and saw a familiar face, and let out a shriek. Valmont was crouched just around the corner, staring at her with those slit blue eyes as he gave her a small grin. His attire was considerably relaxed since the last time she saw him. He wore a pair of dark-green emerald slacks and a black silk blouse, but he had no tie or jacket. How had he found her? She slid away from him as far as she could, and got to her feet as son as she could. "My, how you've grown." He purred, remaining in his crouching position. She realized that with her tight orange tank top and cotton blue flannel pants, that he could see all the curves of her body. "How did you find me? What are you doing here?" she demanded, feeling her claws come unsheathed. "Your smell attracted me." He purred. Smell? What the hell was he talking about? She never smelled, since she put a high standard on personal hygiene. "I don't smell." She retorted, flexing her fingers, feeling her claws. "No, no.it's not a bad smell.it's your musk." he purred again, taking a couple of inches closer. She immediately drew back. "I'm not gonna hurt you, little kittycat." he purred, taking a few more inches. Did he ever stop purring? He drew even closer, and she caught another whiff of his musk. He was giving it off in waves, and something in her responded to this, and she felt a slight heat rise to her cheeks. He drew closer, purring all the while. "Ugh. I don't believe you. You tried to kill Uncle Jackie and others before. You made a deal with a demon. You're head of a criminal organization. There's no way I'm gonna trust you." she hissed. "Have I given you any trouble in the last few years?" he asked. What he said was true enough, they heard nothing from him and had no more brushes with trouble. Jackie was back to being a full-time archaeologist, though he still remained in contact with Black, after all they were good friends. She even went so far as to guess that perhaps Valmont was dead. She stared at him, unblinking, saying nothing. "Hm?" he purred. The damned purring was almost hypnotic, and she heard nothing else. He drew even closer. "Don't come one inch closer." She hissed, showing him her claws. "I'll attack you." "Haven't changed much, hm, Jade?" he asked. "I don't doubt it. But I won't hurt you, really." He purred loudly. She felt a sudden urge to purr as well, but held it in check. "Then what do you want?" she asked. But something deep inside of her knew. And her feline instinct responded by turning up the heat a notch higher. But the human wanted nothing more than to get rid of the heat or at least suppress it until she could turn it back down on her own. Valmont purred in response to her questions and drew even closer, suddenly looking like a dangerous mountain lion ready to jump on its prey. And yet he was so appealingly seductive. * * * Her musk was all he could smell, and it was what drew him on. Right now it seemed like his sole purpose. The way she acted.the tense muscles, the defensive position, the look of determination on her face.all served to only enflame him more. He so wanted to rip off her clothing and press her body to his so their heat could mingle. He moved in closer on all fours, watching her take steps backwards. He truly wasn't going to hurt her.at least not in the way she thought. A sudden swipe to his face caused him to draw back for a moment. Then he realized that Jade had swiped at him, but what he felt was he wind from her movement as his feline reflexes saved him from a marred face. "Feisty, aren't you?" he chuckled, bringing himself forward again. She took several uncertain steps backwards, graceful yet awkward. Then he realized that those uncles of hers prevented her from fully enjoying her cat-hood, and she was still unused to it. This could work to his advantage.after all he had years of enjoying his cat-hood to the hilt, while hers had been suppressed, by chi magic. He purred as he drew closer, and Jade gasped as the back of her legs bumped against the low stone wall that signaled an end to the rooftop. He crawled closer, his purring growing more loud as the scent of musk got stronger. Jade's green eyes widened, and she put one of her feet on the top of the wall, ready to jump. And he pounced. Jade gasped and put her other foot on the wall, taking only one second to suddenly crouch then let her muscles spring up and propel her forward and outward, when he grabbed the hem of her left leg, hearing a tear as the blue fabric came into his hands. Jade was so startled by this that she forgot to ready herself for landing, and since her jump was interrupted, she went into one direction. Down. She sailed past quite a few stories, still in a bit of a state of shock, and he jumped right after her. He heard the telltale sound of one's head hitting something hard and wood splintering, and when concrete came in contact with his feet, she was already lying there, collapsed into a wooden crate, a dent in the lid of a now-turned over closed trashcan bearing testimony to her fall. He felt a sudden panic, and with lightning-fast reflexes was at her side. Two tentative fingers placed at her neck revealed to him the blissful fact that she was alive. Thank God she had feline strength. It was doubtful that an ordinary human would have survived that. A quick examination of her head revealed that it was a hit to the side that knocked her out, and a hit to the side was not as serious as one to the back of the head. As he put her head back down gently, she let out a barely discernible meow before she fell silent again. He knew with her feline powers she would come to soon enough, and he didn't want her to wake up in a cold alley. And the occupants of the surroundings were bound to come out and investigate. He gently brushed a stray black lock from her face, staring down at the smooth, creamy skin of her cheek and throat. Letting out a soft smile, he buried his face in her neck and inhaled deeply, smelling feline musk, bath soaps, and heat. With a gentleness beyond his strength, he picked her up and placed her in one arm so that her body was weighted against his in efficient fashion and her head was in the crook of his throat. He savored the warm feeling of her body against his, and squeezed his arm a bit tighter before he left the alley. m In the Heat of Things by the one and only SPLEEFERZ!!! Who da man??? Disclaimer.JCA is property of the one and only Chan man and the WB network. * * * There was a dull ache on the side of her head, and she reached up to touch it. Gently pressing it with her fingers, it felt like only a minor bump. Where did it come from.what had happened. Memories of a fall and knocking her head against a trashcan came back to her. And a minor bump came from this? But she had been knocked out. Valmont! Her eyes popped open to see the ceiling of a room lit only by the moon that was cradled above the Pacific. And a shadow silhouetted against the wall to her left. And there he was, standing behind the floor-to-ceiling windows on the wall to her right, looking outside. She took a glance at the window, and realized that wherever she was, she was very high off the ground, and felt an immediate panic at not knowing her surroundings. And how she got there. She quickly brought her hand to her chest, relieved that she still had her clothes on. Valmont turned and stared at her, giving her a soft smile, and she felt her pulse quicken. Stop that! She told herself. Valmont's one of the bad guys! "What am I doing here?" she snapped, pulling herself up to a seated position with feline speed. Valmont did not react to this, and simply stared at her before finally making a reply. "Don't you remember, kitten? You took quite a nasty fall." he said, drawing closer. Was she some sort of magnet he was attracted to? "Because of you!" she spat out, and her instinct took over. With the reflexes of a cat, she jumped off the bed and on top of him, stunning him. Her hands went around his throat, where she teased him with her claws, letting them bite but not draw blood. He winced in pain but made no move to attack her. She however stayed on guard, remembering her valuable lesson from her uncle. She settled herself in position, placing one leg on either side of his body, squeezing a bit more tightly with her hands. "Okay, okay." Valmont managed to blurt out. "Okay, so I grabbed your pants and made you fall. But I could have left you there in the alley for someone else to find, huh? Besides.I didn't do anything funny to you.perhaps it would have been fun to tie you to my bed.heh heh." This joke was cut short as she squeezed his throat and he gasped, trying to mouth out something else. She gave him minimal release and he blurted out "Well, I didn't do anything to you, see?" he asked with a catty grin on his face. "But you brought me to.I assume this is your place?".Valmont nodded."and since you're a bad guy, I don't trust you!" she declared. "Fine, fine.nobody said you HAD to." He said this with a strange leer that threw her off-balance, and suddenly his hands were around her waist, and with lightning-fast movements their positions were traded. She found that her hands were now held down by one of his, and the other one closed her mouth and prevented her from biting or spitting. And he was stronger than she was. Suddenly she was picked up, her arms pinned to her sides, and tossed on the bed with Valmont throwing himself on top of her. She was on her stomach now, with his full weight on her, and she felt her face pressed into the emerald-green comforter. Most people would have taken this move as a threat to their lives or at least well-being, but a sudden moment of clarity hit her. She was in heat. And her feline sense of smell told her that he was in heat too. He gave off his own musk and was attracted to hers. He wanted to. Why did she choose tonight of all nights to go out wandering, on the night that Valmont had apparently decided to do s home |