Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, or the canonverse, but I totally own this random bit of fluff.

Nyaa.

=^ò_ó^=

"Maddie! Maddie, where are you?!"

Vlad Masters had been tearing up his mansion for the past few days with reckless abandon. It had been a full week since he'd last seen his beloved house-pet, and she usually came when he called her. It just wasn't like her at all. He was worried.

He'd checked her playroom, full of everything a spoiled kitty could ever want: scratching posts, kitty condos, catnip, toys, food, milk that was always fresh, a motion-detecting laser-pointing mechanism. She wasn't there. He'd checked the kitchen, where she liked to get into the cabinets to hide and wait for unsuspecting victims. She wasn't there. He'd even combed through the garden, where she could frequently be found hunting small pests for her own amusement. She wasn't there.

She wasn't anywhere, it seemed.

Vlad wandered the halls, trying to maintain his calm and failing utterly. He tried to remind himself that she had gone missing for a day just a few months ago, and when she returned, she had been perfectly fine. Granted, she'd been a little shaken for a few days and hadn't left Vlad's side, but she hadn't been injured or traumatized. He had figured she'd just gotten lost…

"Mew!"

He stopped dead and looked around like a madman. Where had that sound come from?! "Maddie!"

He heard a low, tired mewl and followed it down the hall. Was she hurt? Was she ill? His mind bombarded him with several dozen horrible scenarios. Her meow faded and he stopped again.

"Maddie! Answer me!"

Another mewing – high-pitched like the one that had gotten his attention in the first place – gave away the location: a hallway linen closet, not far from his own room. Of course! How could he have overlooked the location? His cat always stayed near him, and she loved to snuggle in among the comfort of fluffy blankets and pillows.

Carefully, Vlad opened the closet door and peered inside. "Maddie? Are you alright?" A pair of sleepy yellow eyes gleamed at him, but all he got was another tired meow, leading him to open the door further. He reached in and patted her soft, white head sympathetically. "What's wrong, darling? You're not sick, are you?"

"Mew!" A tiny, black ball of fuzz made itself known, hidden in Maddie's side.

It was a kitten, hardly a few days old. Unable to help himself, Vlad picked the little thing up for closer inspection before checking inside again as Maddie crept to the edge of her shelf. It was the only one, but the circumstance was unmistakable – Maddie the cat had given birth, something her previous keepers had said she wouldn't be able to do for medical reasons.

"Mroww…" Maddie placed her head between her paws, showing no sign of agitation that her owner was handling the infant kitten. She trusted him; she merely wanted to keep a watchful eye on the little creature.

"Maddie, why didn't you tell me?" Vlad frowned and looked back down at the small kitten, which curled up easily in the palm of one hand. It was definitely a runt, not very big and not very strong, but the tiny male seemed healthy enough. As he was petted with a finger, the kitten gave another squeak and tried to move, succeeding in little more than rolling himself onto his side, displaying all four of his little white socks.

Vlad felt a small chuckle bubble out of him as his finger was attacked by the blind newborn.

"Hello, Daniel."

=^x.x^=

Too much cute. I'm dead. Why did I write this? I have no idea – the thought popped into my head on a car ride. Jeez-la-wheeze.

Nyaa.