The Meddling Wielder {2} (Catman)

Chapter 1- "Cat?"

Rory stood completely frozen in the middle of the bustling theme park. All the lights and noises faded away into the background. Rory knew exactly whose voice she heard, but she refused to turn around. She couldn't.

What if her mind was just playing tricks on her? What if she turned around and there wasn't anyone there? She would be left with nothing but numb disappointment.

But the pressure and warmth resting on her shoulder was still there. It tethered her to reality. She let the person's touch give her courage to finally turn around. So she slowly did.

As the hand gently slid off her shoulder, she looked up into the face she was hoping beyond hope to see. Rory's breathe left her body as her eyes met with the emerald green one's that she had not seen for months, and that she had previously thought she may never see again.

"Cat?"

Catman nervously looked down at the brunette. Not a day passed that he didn't think of the girl standing before him. She was just as he fondly remembered, down to the last detail. Hearing her say his name was the icing on the cake. Her voice saying his name shot a tingle of butterflies right through his heart.

He had missed her.

She looked back up at him with a flurry of emotions. She was in shock because seeing him in the park was the last thing she had been expecting. She was livid from how he had disappeared for months without a trace. But most predominantly, she was relieved to see that he did eventually come back. Just like he said he would.

Neither could think of the right words to say to each other. But that didn't matter, because right then a shrill screech cut through the air and broke them out of their little bubble.

Both of their eyes locked on a young, blonde girl as she jumped around pointing a finger in their direction. A crowd of starry-eyes girls quickly convened around the ecstatic blonde.

"Huh," Rory mused. "I forgot how big of a hot shot you were around here."

Catman couldn't help it and chuckled at the seriousness in Rory's voice, and how quickly she went from a nervous wreck to being her normal self.

The crowd of fan girls suddenly charged forward. "Time to go," Catman told Rory.

Catman didn't hesitate for a second and grabbed Rory's hand to tug her along as they made an escape. The two ducked between a couple of booths and hastily made their way through the more dim area of the park. Or rather, where the equipment and other such things that kept the park running were tucked away, hidden behind the bright and colorful concession stands and booths.

"Where are you going?" Rory asked between giggles. Her and Catman were simply euphoric, acting like a couple of teenagers as they dodged this way and that between the more secluded and behind-the-scenes area of KISSWorld. The screams of the giggling fan girls faded away into the distance.

"Don't you mean, where are WE going," Catman responded to the brunette with a cheeky smile. "I have something you would want to see." Rolling her eyes, Rory was about to shoot Catman a sarcastic response, but before she could open her mouth, a force slammed into her. She was simultaneously separated from Catman's hold and lifted into the air with a squeal.

"Doll! We have missed you so much! Ow!"

Before Rory registered the voice and stopped her struggling, she may have accidentally elbowed Starchild in the face.

"Oops...sorry Star," Rory sheepishly apologized. Starchild pouted at her for a second more before his beaming smile returned to his face as he put her back down.

"Don't apologize to him," Rory heard another familiar voice say. "He probably deserved it."

Rory turned to face the voice and noticed Spaceman, who was the one that spoke, and the Demon walking up to the three of them. Spaceman promptly pulled her into a side hug. "It's so good to see you, princess."

"It would be even better if you thumped him a little harder next time," the Demon said, mischievously smirking down at her, albeit fondly.

"Hey!"

Everyone ignored Starchild's indignant outburst. What did he do to deserve such blatant mocking?

"I can't believe you all are back!" Rory exclaimed with a beaming smile. But her mood instantly darkened. "What took y'all so long?"

All four gulped in nervousness at the brunette's quick shift to a monotone voice and intense stare, even the Demon. In other words, Rory looked ticked. And it was intimidating.

Before any of the KISS members could offer an explanation, or a plea to spare their life, Rory perked by up like nothing happened. "Never mind, I bet it was for a good reason."

The Demon guffawed at Rory's bluntness while the other three deadpanned. Yep. Typical Rory.

"Glad to see you haven't lost your spunk, Little Heathen," the Demon told the girl as he ruffled her hair. Rory swatted his hand away as she retreated to Catman's side to get away from the offensive bass player.

Catman looked down at the grumbling brunette with affection. He was still in the clouds about having her back beside him.

Spaceman and Starchild shared a knowing look when they noticed their drummer giving Rory lovesick eyes when she wasn't looking. He was totally whipped for that girl.

"Oh, I forgot!" Rory suddenly piped up. "Shaggy and Scooby are supposed to be waiting for me somewhere in the food stalls."

"Is the rest of the gang here?" Spaceman asked the brunette.

All four band members noticed the brunette go tense at the question. "Well....about that. No, they aren't. A couple of months ago we all decided to call it quits on mystery solving."

Shocked was an understatement. KISS would have imagined a lot of things that could have happened in their absence, but Rory's revelation was not one of them. She was met with four pair's of eyes that were widened in surprise so she felt the need to elaborate.

"I stayed with Shaggy and Scooby, of course. We never really settled down to pursue anything. Daphne and Fred, though, are running a two-man tv show! They are doing absolutely amazing. And Velma is running her very own bookstore. She has all the books you could ever dream about. We still keep in touch with them, so don't y'all worry about that."

The four intently listened to the brunette as she rambled on. Catman couldn't believe how much had changed for the brunette in the past few months, and neither could the rest of the band.

As an afterthought, Rory continued in an ominous voice, "oh, one more thing. Scooby and Shaggy remember everything."

________________________

Hey, my dudes!

Long time no see!

I finally have a thought process going with a general outline of a plot. I had literally started this second part without even a SMIDGE of a clue on where to take it....not my brightest moment.

But we needed more Catman and Rory moments, right!?

Enjoy!!! <3