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A LEOPARD'S TAIL

1. Part Six

Peter woke up slowly the next morning. He found himself laying on the floor, a trail of clothes leading from the door to his current position on the bedroom floor. He'd been so tired after getting home last night, he'd barely been able to undress before falling asleep.

After letting out a prodigious yawn, Peter prepared to change himself back and get dressed. But just as he was closing his eyes to concentrate on transforming, he decided not too. Instead he slowly stood up, shook his head, let out another, smaller yawn, and walked out of the bedroom, towards the bathroom.

Once in the bathroom, he carefully got up on his hind legs and leaned against the sink to look at himself in the mirror. He hadn't looked at his reflection as a leopard since that first morning he had changed. It had just been too traumatic.

That's strange... It just doesn't seem as frightening as it did before... Peter examined his reflection a bit more. Yellow eyes, streamlined head, yellow spotted fur. Not exactly the horrifying, ugly creature he'd been imagining himself as. Guess I was so busy worrying about what I might be, I never really looked at what I WAS. Peter slowly got down from the sink and headed back to his bedroom for some clothes, concentrating on changing back into a human. That trip to the zoo had really cleared up some of his worst fears; that he might go all catty, or forget who he was.

Well, now that that fear is out of the way, I just have to worry abut people finding out about me, losing my job, giving Mom and Dad a heart attack, and getting sent off to a research center. No sweat. He grinned to himself as he dressed. He was feeling in a really great mood this morning, though he wasn't totally sure why. Of course, he was happy about conquering his fears last night and all, but he was feeling really cheerful today.

I'll have to thank Karen for helping me again... He thought to himself, grinning He unconsciously began rubbing his hand. He was just walking towards his answering machine and noting the time when the doorbell rang. Peter stopped for a moment, rubbed his face, noted that he could use a light shave, but didn't seem to be growing fur, and walked over to the door. The doorbell rang a second time, then a third immediately after just as Peter opened the door.

"Oh, Hi!" Peter said, as he opened the door, finding Karen about to press the doorbell again. She quickly looked up and smiled.

"Ah, there you are!" She smiled and stepped inside as Peter stepped out of the way and made a courtly gesture, holding the door opened. "I was getting worried.. I called you last night, but all I got was your machine..."

Peter nodded. "I nodded off pretty much right after I got back last night, and I just woke up a few minutes ago... I was pretty drained from last night." He nodded towards his answering machine. "I was just about to check my messages actually."

Karen grinned. "And, speaking of last night, I have something I want to give you..." She said, holding out a small tissue paper wrapped bundle. "Call it a victory present for surviving last night."

"Aw, you really shouldn't have.." Peter said, slowly unwrapping the bundle. When he'd gotten the paper off and lifted the contents out, he burst out laughing.

Karen smiled. "I saw it in the zoo gift shop before, and couldn't resist the urge to buy it." Peter continued to chuckle as he turned the T-shirt back and forth, examining it. It was a black T-shirt, with the image of the back of a leopard on the back, and with the front of a leopard tearing through the front as if it were paper. It had "Kool Kat" written underneath the drawing.

Peter grinned and held it up against himself. He smiled back at Karen. "Thanks... You know, a couple of days ago, when all this craziness started, something like this probably would have given me a panic attack." He paused for a moment before continuing. "You know, you really freaked me out when I first met you....And I can honestly say I was scared out of my mind when you found out about me." He smiled. "But I'm glad you did."

Karen smiled back at him for a few moments, before he looked over at his clock. It was a little after two. He turned back to look at Karen.

"Um.. Would you like to go out for some breakfast?" He asked hesitantly, grinning a bit. "Or is it lunch by now?"

"This is one girl who never says no to a free meal." Karen replied. They both smiled at each other, looking at each other's face.

"Okay, just give me a minute to get ready, and we can go out and find someplace that serves breakfast."

"Good morning Ted!"

"Good morning Peter." Ted responded, watching Peter walk by, smiling and whistling to himself. He shook his head in wonder. SOMETHING is certainly going on with him... Ted shrugged to himself and went back to his office to get to work.

"Good morning guys and gal!" Peter said as he passed the usual little pre-work group. He continued whistling cheerfully to himself as he set his papers in his cubicle, same as every morning.

"I'll be back in a second, I just have to get something from Ted..." Peter said as he walked back through his coworkers, still whistling to himself. His friends just watched him curiously as he passed by.

Brooke shook her head. "That boy sure has been acting strange lately..."

Dan laughed and took a sip of coffee from the mug in his hand. "Mood swings, strange behavior, changes in eating habits. He's either pregnant or in love." Everyone laughed a bit at the joke.

"Peter?" Frank chuckled from behind his newspaper. "I can't believe it."

"Which one? His being pregnant or in love?" Dan asked.

"Either. They both seem about as likely!" Everyone laughed once again. Down the hallway and around a corner, at a distance at which most people would have heard little more than murmuring, Peter stopped dead in his tracks and thought for a moment.

In love? Me? He chuckled to himself. No way...... He paused in his thoughts to rub his chin for a moment, a thoughtful look on his face.

After a few seconds he continued walking towards Ted office. But throughout the rest of the day he had a slightly pre-occupied look on his face.

Peter opened the door to his apartment and stretched his arms over his head, grinning. It was Thursday, and so far he'd been having a great week. He was all caught up at the office, he'd been having and easier and easier time changing himself back and forth lately, now that he wasn't so anxious and fearful, and, best of all, he'd been seeing Karen just about every day. She'd been coming over to check on him, or they would go out to breakfast or lunch to chat for a little while.Peter walked over to his answering machine to check for a message from Karen. The first message, while female, was definitely not Karen. However, it never the less captured his complete attention."Heya Peter. Or should I say, 'Little Bro'?" There was a low laugh, and Peter rolled his eyes, grinning slightly.

"She KNOWS I hate it when she calls me that... " The recording continued.

"I haven't talked to you in a while bro. Just calling to remind you that we're due back at Mom and Dad's house this weekend... I guess Ill talk to you and dig for information on your social life, or lack thereof, then. Seeya Saturday Peter!"

Peter smacked himself in the head with his hand. Jesus! How could I have forgotten that! I must be going senile! He had a three-day weekend this week, and he and his sister had made plans to stay over at Mom and Dad's. His sister, Kristy, was an artist. She did a lot of sculpting and painting and such. Since she had to travel so much for exhibitions of her work, and Peter lived so far away, they didn't meet all together very often, so they would make plans for a little mini-reunion every couple of months, just to keep in touch.

The next message was just coming on as the 'sleep' part of sleeping over at his parent's house hit him.

"Hi Peter. It's Karen. Just calling to make sure you're still planning to come over here tonight." There was a low laugh. "After all the work I had to put in to clean this mess up, you had BETTER be coming over! See you later Peter!"

Peter looked over at the answering machine, rubbing his face. What am I going to do?? I can't sleep over at Mom and Dad's... What if they see me?? But, I can't just refuse to go... I'd need an excuse. And if I say that I'm sick, they're sure to get concerned... More concerned than if they found out their son changes into a leopard? He rubbed his face some more. I'll have to go down there, I've already set it all up... Even if I did somehow forget.. I HAVE had a lot on my mind lately... But what am I going to do about this??

While rubbing his face, Peter noticed a slightly rough feeling. He sighed and walked into the bathroom to check his reflection. As he'd anticipated, there was a light coat of fur covering his face. He closed his eyes and concentrated on his normal self. Looking at the clean-shaven, ordinary looking human face in the mirror, he sighed once more.

"Here we go again..." He mumbled to himself. He looked back into the living room at the answering machine. I'd better get ready and leave for Karen's... I've never been over to her place before. Maybe I'll talk to her about this later. Maybe she'll have some advice. And I'll have to see about getting a plane ticket... Peter shook his head, checked to make sure the piece of paper with Karen's address was still on the table, and went about the business of getting ready.

"Hello Peter..." Karen smiled as she opened the door, and then gasped in surprise as Peter handed her a bouquet of flowers.

"I thought you might like some flowers..." Peter said a bit hesitantly. Karen smiled and took the flowers.

"How sweet..." Karen grinned and gave him a slight peck on the cheek, causing his face to turn a bit red. "Come on in!"

Peter followed Karen into her apartment, looking around. It seemed a lot like his apartment. A small hallway with a closet, leading into a good sized living room, with a couch against the far wall facing towards the door, and a TV in the center of the room facing the couch. There were four doors, two along the left and right walls. There were a few papers and pictures hanging on the walls, but Peter didn't get a chance to get a good look at them.

"I have a vase in my room..." Karen said, holding the flowers. Peter followed her to the far door on the left wall. He stood respectfully in the doorway, watching. The corner of the room he could see contained a small bed with a nightstand next to it. On the nightstand was a ceramic vase, which Karen quickly grabbed. She smiled as she walked back across the living room, heading for the kitchen.

"Go ahead and sit down Peter. I'll be there as soon as I get some water for these flowers." Peter nodded and took a seat on the couch. Karen walked back in with the vase full of flowers, and put it on the counter next to the sofa before sitting down besides Peter.

"Well, you have a nice apartment here..." Peter said, looking around the living room. He examined a few of the objects hanging on the wall. A few pictures of animals, one or two of big cats, and a few diplomas. It was a bit hard to read them from where he was sitting, but Peter could make out that they were college degrees.

"Well, working at the zoo pays pretty well, and I was pretty lucky to find this apartment up for rent when I first moved here. So here I am."

Peter pointed at one of the diplomas. "Your veterinary diploma, right?" He asked, squinting a bit.

"Yeah, how can you tell from here... " She laughed, recalling his slightly above average senses. "Oh yeah. Yes, that's my diploma. She said with a proud grin.

"How did you get into veterinary medicine anyway?" Peter asked curiously. Karen shrugged.

"Well, it may seem a bit hard to believe, but I grew up on a farm when I was little... Out nearest neighbors were several miles away, so there really weren't many kids my age to play with. So I used to follow people around and watch as they worked on the farm. I used to play with the animals a lot, like big pets. " She grinned at the memory. "Anyway, whenever they'd get hurt, I'd take care of them. When I started going to school I got really good marks, so I was able to get a scholarship to college and med. school. I started going into human medicine, but I eventually decided to go with being a veterinarian." She smiled. "The patients are much more interesting, and they don't complain nearly as much as people. Anyway, after I got my degree, I got a job offer from the zoo... And here I am!"

Peter nodded. "I grew up in the suburbs of New York with my family..." Peter cleared his throat slightly, and Karen looked at him a bit curiously, noticing he seemed a bit nervous. "And speaking of family, I'm afraid I'm not going to be around this weekend. I'm going back home for a little mini family reunion. My mother, father, sister, and I plan one of these ever couple of months, since we're not usually all together at one time."

Karen smiled. "That's really pretty neat! My family never really does anything like that..." Peter shook his head.

"Neat is not the word I'd use... I'm going to be staying over there for the weekend." Karen paused for a moment as the exact meaning of that entered her mind.

"As in... Sleeping over?" Karen asked curiously. She made a small face when Peter nodded. "And you still haven't told them about your... Condition?" Peter nodded silently again, and Karen sighed. "Yeah, I can see where that might be a problem..."

Peter shrugged. "But there's nothing I can do about it. We set up this date weeks in advance, so I can't just back out. I'll just have to hope no one sees me, or notices anything..." He said with a nervous shrug.

"Don't you think you should tell them?" Karen asked gently. "I mean, I know that you want to keep this whole thing a secret... But they're your family! Surely you can trust them..."

"Oh, of course I can trust them... But what am I going to tell them?? 'Hi Mom, hi Dad. Just so you know, I've started changing into a leopard when I fall asleep, so if you see a big furry animal in my room at night, don't call animal control, I'll be fine in the morning. Oh, and what's for dinner? Meatloaf?'" Peter snorted a bitterly, then sighed.

"I know they'd never tell anyone if I asked them not too, and that they'd stand by me, but I don't want to drop this whole thing on their shoulders... I mean, it's been hard enough for ME to come to grips with it! And I still don't have any clue why this is happening anyway..." He shook his head. "I just don't think I have the guts to tell them in any case."

Karen patted his shoulder. "Well, what you do is your decision to make. I think that you should at least tell someone, but that has to be up to you, and whether you feel you can do it." Peter nodded slowly and took a deep breath. Karen smiled. "Well, anyway, how about some dinner... I'm sorry to say I never spent too much time learning to cook, but I think you'll find it edible." She smiled and Peter smiled back.

"I'm sure I will." He followed her into the kitchen, making plans to buy a plane ticket to New York.

Peter grinned as he stretched his arms in the air and walked off the plane and into the JFK airport terminal. Not a bad flight. The food almost tasted somewhat like the items it was molded to look like, no more than three or four babies started whining at any one time, and no parts fell of the aircraft. Now if only the rest of my trip goes so smoothly... Peter quickly headed towards the baggage carousel to reclaim his bags

In a few minutes, Peter was heading up to the main entrance, pulling one bag on wheels behind him, with another over his shoulder. He stopped suddenly when a familiar voice called out to him.

"Hello Peter. How was your flight? I presume nothing fell off the plane?" Peter turned to find Kristy leaning up against a wall, grinning at him.

Peter laughed. "Ah, that's my sister. The artist with an attitude." He grinned back, and a moment later the two were hugging each other.

"Good to see you again Sis."

"It's good to see you again too Little Bro." They disengaged and Peter grabbed his bags again.

"So, when did you get in?" Peter asked.

"Oh, I caught an early flight in. Been here for a couple of hours. I borrowed Mom and Dad's car to come and pick you up. Come on, I parked over here..."

Peter followed his sister out the door, and took a deep breath of fresh air when he stepped inside. He quickly coughed as his breath came out in a cloud of water vapor in the chill city air.

"It's COLD!" Peter exclaimed, tightening the jacket he was wearing. Kristy laughed.

"That's what you get for living in a warm climate... No tolerance to deal with the cold."

"Oh, I've got one or two ways to deal with the cold..." Peter mumbled lowly to himself, thinking of the coat of fur he kept growing.

Kristy raised a curious eyebrow at him. "What was that?" She asked.

Peter put on his best grin and shrugged. "Oh, nothing." Kristy watched him for a moment, then shrugged herself.

"Come on, we're almost to the car..." She said, grinning. "And once we get home, we can start 'chatting'."

Peter let out a mock moan, smiling. "Ah, the Interrogation..." He laughed. "Why is it that every time we meet, you have to drill me on my love life?"

Kristy gaped in amazement. "YOU have a love life??" Peter rolled his eyes at Kristy laughed. "Besides, it's tradition! I'm your older sister, it's my JOB to meddle in your life!"

Peter snorted in amusement. "Doesn't that make it my job to make your life as miserable and irritating as possible? He asked with a grin.

"Oh, I think you got your quota in when we were kids." Kristy responded, opening the trunk to the car so Peter could get his bags in.

"Yeah? How so?"Well, I seem to recall an incident involving my sock draw, a half a dozen frogs and tadpoles, and a bunch of my friends coming over..." Kristy raised an eyebrow and Peter chuckled.

"I plead the Fifth!" He said, getting the bags into the car, and walking over to the passenger side door. Kristy opened the doors and started the car while Peter got in. Kristy was just about to pull out of the parking lot when she looked over at Peter's face and began scrutinizing it closely. Peter tried to keep his nerves in check, concentrating on staying human.

"What??" He asked nervously, fidgeting under her gaze.

"Oh, nothing..." Kristy said, a curious note in her voice. "Did you do something to your eyes? Get contacts or something? They look a bit odd.. Like they have a bit of a yellow tinge to them..."

Peter laughed as lightly as he could. "Oh, there's nothing wrong with my eyes. Don't worry about it." Kristy gazed at him for a moment, then shrugged and started to back out of the parking space.

"Okay, if you say so..." She said. She could tell she'd hit some kind of nerve with that remark about his eyes. Is there something wrong with his eyes? She thought to herself. Could he be having eye trouble? She mentally shrugged. Well, whatever it is, I'll worm it out of him later... She grinned to herself as she drove out of JFK and headed out of the city, towards the suburbs.

"Hi Mom! Hi Dad!" Peter grinned as he greeted his parents at the door to the house.

"Hi Son!" John Hoffman gave his son a hearty hug, his strength little diminished through 51 years of life. Peter made an 'Ooph' sound, and hugged his father back. Next came his mother, who gave him a much lighter hug and kiss on the cheek.

"Hi Honey." She said with a smile, and looked over at her husband. "Honestly John, the way you hug your son, I'd think you were trying to wrestle him! I'm still amazed you haven't crushed either of our children to death!"

Peter shook his head and laughed as he stepped inside. As usual, nothing seemed to change between his trips back home. His father's head seemed to have a few less hairs than last time, and his mother, still a good few inches shorter than him, was staring to turn a bit more gray, but those seemed to be only appreciable differences.

Peter started heading up the stairs a few feet in front of the to the left of the front door, which lead to the upstairs bedroom. His mother and father always left their son and daughter's rooms alone, as well as an extra guestroom for when they had company. They had plenty of space, so it wasn't a problem.

Kristy grinned. "Go ahead and stick your stuff upstairs, and then we can all meet in the conversation room so you can tell us all about your life and what has happened over the last few months."

"Now, now..." Peter's mother admonished. "You know very well that you shouldn't go bothering your brother about his personal business. Even if he IS 25 years old an living all alone in a little apartment, probably working himself into an early grave, not taking anytime to enjoy himself..."

Peter sighed and rolled his eyes in amusement. "Gee, thanks Mom." Kristy laughed as their mother wandered down the hall into the kitchen.

"Oh, and what about YOU?" Peter asked, lugging his bags up the stairs. "A 28 year old unmarried female?" Kristy put on a superior air.

"My patients and persistence have finally paid off. They've finally given up on me, and decided to concentrate their attentions on you." Peter snorted in amusement and gave his sister a look.

"Is that right?" Kristy laughed.

"Well, that, and I've already been here a few hours..." They both laughed, and Kristy shook her head. "Things never change, do they?" Peter's face turned serious for just an instant.

"Sometimes they do..." He quickly shook his head and continued walking up the stairs. "I'll be back down in a few minutes..."Kristy nodded and watched him ascend the stairs, a thoughtful look on her face.

".. And then your father tries to use the broom stick to push it down the sink!" Everyone laughed with the possible exception of Peter's father, who merely cleared his throat in mild embarrassment, and looked amused.

"Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time." He said in good humor.

Peter, Kristy, And Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman were all sitting in the conversation room, a small hardwood floored room to the right of the kitchen. The two rooms were connected by a large archway. A little farther down the same wall was a second archway, leading into the living room, which was directly behind the kitchen. The room was something of a small art room, with a stereo in one corner for background music, and a few pieces of art adorning the walls, as well as one of his sister's pieces of sculpture sitting on the coffee table which they were all sitting around.

"So, how have things been going for you, Peter?" Peter's mother asked conversationally.

"Oh, things are going pretty well." He chuckled a bit nervously. "Same old same old."

Kristy grinned at him. "Oh, and what about your eyes?" She asked innocently. Peter tried not to show any reaction to his sister's comment.

"What do you mean?" He asked with a feigned smile.

"Now that I look that them, they DO seem a bit odd..." Peter's mother said with concern, leaning forward to get a closer look. Peter resisted the urge to back away and shield his face. "Are you getting an eye infection or something? You should go to see a doctor about it..."

Peter quickly shook his head. "It's nothing Mom, really." But Mrs. Hoffman wasn't paying too much attention to him at the moment, thinking to herself instead. Then she grinned and looked back at him.

"I have a perfect idea!" She said, a smile on her face. "One of my friend's daughters is an optometrist. I'm sure I can get an appointment for you, and then maybe you could both go out to dinner..."

Peter shook his head vigorously. "Um, no thanks Mom. I think I'll survive." And the last thing I want is someone examining my eyes... They seem pretty normal most of the time, but who knows what someone who is familiar with the human eye might turn up? He resisted the urge to shiver. And besides... He paused for a moment, trying to figure what the besides was. A little image of Karen sprung to mind, and he shook his head slightly to clear it.

"Well, well, you certainly seem a bit anxious to avoid this appointment." Kristy said, leaning across the table and grinning at him. "Any particular reason?" She asked sweetly.

Peter looked desperately over to his father, who had remained silent during the conversation. But his father just shrugged back helplessly, smiling.

"Oh, no particular reason..." Peter said as nonchalantly as he could. Now that he thought about it, declining his mother's proposal had been a mistake. His mother almost always tried to set him up on a blind date when he came over, and he usually just went along. The girls his mother tried to set him up with were usually pretty nice, they'd have a little dinner, go home, and he'd never see them again, much to his mother's frustration. Her son and daughter were really testing her matchmaking skills.

Kristy grinned for a moment. "Sounds to me like someone's got a girlfriend..." She said, smirking in amusement. To her surprise Peter's face turned a bit red, and he cleared his throat. "You DO have a girlfriend?" She asked in shock.

"Well, kind of.. I guess... " Peter cleared his throat once again, and even his father raised an eyebrow in interest.

"So, who's the lucky lady?" His mother asked with a smile.

"Yeah Peter, spill the beans." His sister said, leaning forward."I don't see how it's any of your concern..." He said, blushing slightly. He wasn't sure exactly how he felt about Karen himself. She was definitely a good friend, and she knew his secret, but... Who would want a giant cat for a boyfriend anyway?

"We're your family. It's out JOB to meddle in your life." Kristy said, grinning

"Well, at least tell us something about her." His mother said. "Does she have a job?" Peter sighed.

"Actually, she works down at the local zoo... She's a head of one of the departments."

"Well, that sounds like an interesting job." Kristy said. "What department?"

"The feline section..." He said a bit nervously.

"Isn't that a bit dangerous, working with big wild animals like that? I think I'd be a bit nervous, working around a large cat..."

What about living with one, or having one as a son for that matter? Peter asked himself. He mentally shook his head before speaking.

"Oh, it's really quite safe. She knows what she's doing, and all of the animals are in their own cages and enclosures." Well, ALMOST all of them... Peter resisted the urge to shiver, reminded of when the leopards had just sat there and stared at him when Karen was feeding them. He'd pretty much gotten over his fear of going feral or anything of that sort when he'd been stuck in the cage with them, but he still found the image of them staring at him disconcerting, to say the least..

Peter looked over at his mother, who was smiling thoughtfully to herself, not looking directly at him. Probably thinking about grandkids. Peter thought to himself. With my luck, she'll probably end up with kittens... He thought bitterly. Unbeknownst to him, while he watched his mother, his sister was watching him intently.

While his mother might not have noticed his mild distress, Kristy certainly did. She'd noticed he was acting strange since they met at the airport. She was still a little surprised that her little brother seemed to have finally met a woman he was interested in having a relationship with, and was happy for him, but it seemed obvious to her that he was still hiding something. Something big. But what? What could he be trying to keep a secret? Well, whatever it is, I'm just going to have to find out... She grinned to herself as the conversation picked back up.

"So, how are your exhibits going, Sis?" Peter asked, quickly trying to change the subject.

"Oh, pretty well. You know how it is. I keep hoping around from one gallery to another..." Kristy had always been artistic as a child, often amazing her family and friends. She had gotten interested in modeling and sculpting in High School, and had poured most of her talents into that, doing all sorts of pieces, from busts of people, to animals, to inanimate objects, to abstract stuff. She also worked on paintings and drawing whenever the mood struck her. Some of her works had become quite popular, and she was almost always moving around from one art gallery to another to set up. Most people would have found the constant roving exhausting, but Kristy loved it, never staying in any one place too long. She often got inspiration for her pieces from things she saw while traveling.

"So, how are you and Dad doing?" Peter said, turning to his mother.

"Oh, we've been doing fine Honey. You know how your father and I are. We've been having our neighbors over for company pretty often. Mrs. Stengel will probably be dropping by tomorrow, so you'll get a chance to meet her."

The conversation continued on, hopping from topic to topic, remaining light and amusing. But Kristy continually kept one eye on Peter's expression, while Peter tried his best to act completely normal. Their parents, just happy to have their children home for a little while, seemed completely oblivious.

Several hours later, Peter sighed as he entered his old bedroom and closed the door behind him, placing the small glass of water in his hand on his cabinet. His room hadn't really changed too much since he was a kid. Of course, all of his old momentos were gone, but the basic layout was the same. Bed in one corner of the room, dresser on the side, closet, nightstand. All the same. Everything seemed to be the same, except him.

Peter let out a deep breath as he dressed in an old pair of pajamas from his bag. He'd spent most of the day chatting with his family about current events, and what had happened the last few months. He thought he'd done a pretty good job acting normal and keeping his family from getting too suspicious. Still, Kristy had kept digging at him, not that that was unusual...

But now came the hard part. Peter opened another compartment in his bag, and took out a bottle of caffeine pills, popping one into his mouth and swallowing it with some water. The pill would be enough to keep him up for over an hour, hopefully well after the rest of his family would be sound asleep. He'd already brought a small alarm clock with him, and set it for early the next morning, hopefully before anyone else would be up as well.

Depriving himself of sleep like this wasn't a very good idea, but back in college he'd pulled more than one all nighter and still managed to seem pretty active the next day. Regardless, he couldn't risk anyone seeing him asleep.

And so Peter turned off the light and laid in his bed, Pajamas on, eyes wide opened, waiting. When he started to get tired, he planned to undress and change into a leopard, and go to sleep on the floor, so as not to damage the bed sheets with his claws.

Just two night.. I've only got to do this two nights, when I'll be back home.. Just two little nights... Peter sighed and laid in his bed, waiting for the minutes to tick by.

"Morning Peter! You're up pretty early." Kristy said cheerfully as she entered the kitchen, finding Peter sitting at the table, eating a bowl of cereal. Peter looked a bit tired, but that wasn't too unusual in the morning. Of course, Kristy didn't know that Peter had only gotten a few hours of sleep the previous night, rising before the sun to be sure no one saw him in his leopard form.

Kristy sat down at the table across from him, pouring herself a bowl of cereal. "You know, I had the strangest dream last night.. Seemed really realistic too..."

Peter nodded his head, a bit distracted as he ate his breakfast. "About what?"

"Oh, it was really strange.. Made no sense at all really. I dreamt that I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, but I was so groggy that I walked into your old room instead. The weird part was that when I looked inside, I saw this big leopard sleeping on the floor..." Kristy shook her head. "Weird, right Peter? Peter? Peter, are you okay??" Kristy looked up concernedly at Peter, who was now choking on a sip of milk he'd taken. He beat himself on the chest a few times as he caught his breath.

"I'm... I'm fine. A bit of milk just.. Just went down the wrong pipe..." He replied, voice hoarse and still coughing a bit. "You were saying... A leopard?" He asked nervously.

"Yeah, a leopard. Weird, huh? I guess it must have come from you saying that your girlfriend.. I mean, 'friend' works at the zoo..." Kristy chuckled slightly as Peter blushed a bit despite his anxiety, then continued. "It seemed extremely realistic though. I would have almost sworn it was real, if it wasn't so bizarre."

"Um.. I'll be back in a couple of minutes. I have to go to the bathroom..." Peter quickly got up from the table and headed up the stairs, passing his blurry eyed father on the way. His father had a moment to notice that Peter seemed in desperate need of a shave before he passed by.

Back at the kitchen table, Kristy watched in surprise as Peter abruptly left. She blinked a few times in confusion. Well, that was strange. I wonder why he took off like that. Could it have had something to do with my... Nahhhh... Kristy shrugged her shoulders and went back to eating her breakfast, absently waving hello to her father, deep in thought.

Peter took a deep breath and tried to relax as he washed his face with a bit of cold water, willing the fur to disappear from his face. Okay, okay.. Calm down... This is bad, but not horrible. Sure, Kristy saw you, but she thinks the whole thing was just a dream.. I WISH this whole thing was just a dream... He took another deep breath. I just have to deal with this another day and night, and then I'll be on my way.. No problems. I can do this. I CAN do this.

After taking another few moments to calm himself down as best he could, Peter opened the door to the bathroom and stepped out into the hallways that ran down the center of upper floor, with bedrooms on either side. He immediately noticed Kristy standing there, waiting for him, and he began to grow nervous once again.

"Hi Peter. Mom and Dad are waiting downstairs for us in the kitchen." Kristy looked closely at him as he walked towards her, and Peter resisted the urge to twitch.

Kristy stood in the middle of the hall, blocking Peter's path. "Okay, spill it." Kristy said firmly.

"Spill what?" Peter asked nervously.

"Whatever it is you haven't been telling." Peter looked a bit surprised, and Kristy laughed and rolled her eyes. "You really thought I wouldn't notice? Come on! You're been acting weird since I picked you up, and I want to know what's going on."

"Nothings going on..."

Kristy cut him off. "Come on, this is your SISTER you're talking too, remember? The one who still hasn't told Mom and Dad YOU were the one who stuffed play-dough in the toaster all those years ago? Whatever is going on, you can tell ME!" She grinned at her little brother. Peter's lips curled up a bit at the mention of the play-do incident, but his face remained serious.

"Okay, I admit I AM hiding something." Kristy grinned victoriously. "But I'm not going to tell you, so you might as well give up." Peter's face remained deadly serious, as Karen's fell a bit.

"Come on Peter.. This is your big sister you're talking too! She continued to smile reassuringly at him. "I'm going to figure out what's going on eventually anyway.. It's my job to keep you out of trouble!"

Peter shook his head. "We're not kids anymore, this doesn't involve play-dough, and it's nothing you can help with, so let it drop. If you want to help me, just let me be."

Kristy grin mostly disappeared, and shook her head. "Sorry Little Bro, you know I just can't do that. I'll figure this out eventually and help you, whether you want it or not."

Peter shook his head. "Well, I'm afraid you aren't going to get anything from me. Now, why don't we head down to have a bit more breakfast with Mom and Dad?" Peter said, smiling a bit.

Kristy nodded and stepped out of his way, and the two walked back down the stairs in silence.