AN: Another one for my OF 100, 23: Cat. This one is sort of intrinsic to my own personal canon, so of course to me it all makes sense. If some of it doesn't to you, please point it out. It was intended as something of a character study and not much more.

I leaned against a brick wall and tapped a cigarette out of the pack. I didn't light it; I twirled it back and forth between my fingers as I watched the cat and dog wrestle. I wasn't that much of a smoker. I just needed something to do with my hands before I screamed with boredom.

The fight was heated and tense, but I had seen it a thousand times before. The dog, a yellow mutt, suddenly pinned the cat, and the cigarette paused- for a moment, I was interested. But then, just like I had known would happen, the cat threw the dog off and jumped back several feet. "Why can't you just leave me alone?" the cat demanded bitterly. The dog snarled and jumped at him.

I rolled my eyes and started searching my pockets for a lighter.

The animals tumbled end over end a few more times. Finally the cat yowled its frustration. There was a flash of bright blue light, and the dog yelped in pain. I shook my head as the cat ran off into the night.

The dog twitched its shoulders, and then a blonde-haired man in his late teens was sitting there. Sebastian. He exhaled sharply as he pressed a hand rimmed with red light to the cut on his belly. "Damn cat," he muttered between gritted teeth. As he ran his hand down his wound, it shrunk, and raw scar tissue appeared in its place.

"Why do you always insist on taking Nemo by yourself?" I asked. Sebastian shot me a nasty look over his shoulder. "Seriously. He'd be beaten by now if you'd let me have some of our underlings gang up on him. The Pack, maybe. There's enough of those stupid wolves, at least."

Sebastian stood up slowly, like an old man. His healing abilities were minimal; he'd only been able to take care of the big wounds. He'd be sore for the rest of the month. "I have to beat him." Sebastian's voice was low, almost like he was talking to himself. Then he looked back at me. His blue eyes were cold and full of old grievances. Suddenly I was glad that I didn't have a past to deal with. It was clear Sebastian had one hell of a chip on his shoulder. "Don't you get it? I have to."

I offered Sebastian a smoke, but he shook his head and spat some blood into the street. I could tell his blood was still up from the fight; otherwise he would never be so tasteless. Sebastian was fastidious. I shrugged and lit my cigarette. "But you won't," I said. "He's stronger than you are, and he's not even full-grown yet, so you'll never have him there." Sebastian's face hardened, but he didn't speak. I ignored him. I held higher rank than he did, and this little habit of his was a liability that needed to be discussed. He knew it, too. "And he's got a lot more magical ability-"

Sebastian cut me off, his rage flaring up like embers stirred with a stick. "Don't you dare."

I raised my eyebrows. Nobody but Sebastian could get away with interrupting me, but that didn't mean he couldn't remember his place. "Why not? It's true."

Sebastian shook his head, biting his lip so hard it split. "He can't be." Sebastian looked away. "Not now, at least not when he's denying a part of himself."

"Brooded about this a lot, I see. Seems like you're making it awful personal."

Sebastian laughed. It sounded resentful and rather like a bark. "Don't go lecturing me. You've got no right, not when you gave up your past because you couldn't handle it. At least I remember. At least I know who I am, Ada." He spat my name like an insult into the lightening sky. So what if it wasn't the one I had been born with? He had no right to act like he was better than me.

I dropped my cigarette and ground it beneath my boot. It hadn't touched my lips, but smoking would only piss me off more at the moment. "What's done is done, Sebastian, you hear that? I made my choice, didn't I. It's no one's business but my own if I don't remember it, so just lay of. What's done is done."

Sebastian shook his head. "Nuh-uh. I won't be quiet. Not this time. It's people like you who piss me off the most, you know that? You and that damn cat. Both of you take the easy way out. You don't deal with what bothers you- you just ignore it or block it out. And you both pay for it. Nemo won't accept the animal in him-" Sebastian bared one longer-than-normal canine in a nasty grin, "-and you…" Here he paused, crossing his arms and feigning thoughtfulness. "Well, have you looked in a mirror lately? I've always wondered if it's just vampires who can't see their reflections or all people without souls."

I looked at him. "Is that supposed to bother me?" I asked after a moment. "If I do take the 'easy way out,' would I really let it?"

Sebastian smirked. I was usually indifferent to him like I was to everybody, but right then I hated him. I wanted to make his face part of the concrete. "You already have, or you wouldn't have mentioned it. You hate for me to bring it up, but you know it's true." Sebastian's scowled again; now he was all gravity and hatred. "Our boss may like you best, Ada, but I'm still the stronger one because of that. I'll always be the stronger one."

I didn't say anything for a while. I was seething. But damn, did I hate it when somebody found a way under my skin. I prided myself on my control. Sebastian prided himself on his ability to push me beyond my limits. And he was the one person I couldn't afford to kill. I had powers, but when it came to spell-casting, there was nobody as powerful as Sebastian, at least not in our little organization. Otherwise I'd have made myself a nice Sebastian-skin rug long ago and replaced him with somebody quieter.

"Well, that's real nice, Sebastian," and I knew I was mad then; my Georgia accent had crept back into my voice while I wasn't paying attention, "but the fact remains." I dug out another cigarette.

Sebastian put his hands on his hips. "What fact, Ada?" he asked, sounding bored and almost indulgent. Another reason he got on my nerves: he always thought he was right. Even as he drank from the poisoned goblet he'd be telling you why he picked the safe one.

I took my sweet time lighting my smoke, and this time I took a good long drag right away, just to make sure I'd get to. "Even if you're the stronger one, you still have yet to beat me or Nemo, sweetheart."

I ducked the punch Sebastian threw at me and started for home.