The Cats of New York by anactoria (PG)

[tortoisegirl.livejournal.com]

Fandom: WATCHMEN
Pairing: Adrian-centric gen, a little bit of Dan/Laurie
Length: ~2500 words
Author on LJ: anactoria
Author Website: Fic master list: http://anactoria.livejournal.com/17094.html
Why this must be read:
The fandom has plenty of post-Karnak Adrian-gets-what’s-coming-to-him fic, but this one is unique in that the revenge is on behalf of Bubastis, Adrian’s pet lynx and one of the causalities of his plan. I love the outsider’s perspective through which the story is told, and the subtle horror that builds up through the course of the fic. Technically it’s a crossover with H.P. Lovecraft’s The Cats of Ulthar, but I wasn’t familiar with the Lovecraft piece when I first read this and loved reading along not knowing what was going to happen; it turns it into a mystery, trying to figure out what’s going on alongside the protagonist.

"Cat owners in New York are reporting bizarre incidents all across the city," the voiceover is saying. "But they've been especially frequent in the vicinity of..."

But Sam finds himself tuning out the words as the picture cuts from a worried-looking old woman holding a struggling ginger tom in her arms to a scene that he recognizes; the Veidt Enterprises building, spotlit purple, gleaming and monolithic and coolly forbidding, actually looking like a sci-fi villain's headquarters against the roiling clouds.

"...unavailable for comment," the newscaster is saying, "Although speculation is growing that the company's genetic engineering programme may be involved. Meanwhile, scientists have suggested that freak weather conditions could be behind--"

The Cats of New York