A/N: Disclaimer: I don't own CATS, I do own Firelight, Spikes, Cassianne, Mikka, Ascot, Caamer, Rioko, Darci, and Jossen.

(Rumpleteazer)

The small calico queen crouched in the shadows, waiting to strike. The rat was almost in position when suddenly,

“Haha! You’ll never catch me!” yelled a voice that sounded too close for comfort.

The queen jumped, startled. “Dammit!” she muttered to herself. “Now I’ll go hungry again. Stupid animals.” She looked in vain for the rat, but just as she had suspected, it was nowhere to be found. She was too caught up in her thoughts to really be awfully upset. Thoughts of pain, as she contemplated her punishment. She knew she was late, but dammit, she was hungry! She hadn’t been able to eat the last time food was offered because of Him and what he did. She stalked out of the shadows behind the dumpster, still muttering to herself when, BAM!! Suddenly she was knocked flat on her back and blacked out.

(Mungojerrie)

The tom was running for his life after being caught stealing some diamonds. As he ran to the alleyway, he screamed, “Haha! You’ll never catch me!” When he rounded the corner and came to a dumpster, he suddenly ran into something and pinned it to the ground. The tom had not expected anyone to be around while he was thieving. So he was very surprised when he suddenly ran into someone. Luckily, he wasn’t hurt and after he shook his head, he looked to see what he had knocked over: another cat.

Then he realized it was a queen. He cocked his head to one side while he studied the little queen he was sitting on. She had red, black, orange, yellow and white calico fur. Her coloring was similar to his, but she had more white. He couldn’t tell what color her eyes were, for they were closed. She had a sprinkling of freckles across her little pink nose and long white whiskers. She was probably a bit younger than him, but maybe that was because she was so thin compared to him. Her face had a saucy air about her. Her whiskers began to twitch. ‘Man, she’s cute.’ the tom thought to himself.

Suddenly her eyes blinked several times and suddenly flew open. Her eyes were a perfect shade of emerald green with tiny gold flecks in them. They flicked from side to side, and then came to rest on his face. He just stared at her with his tongue hanging off to the side and his head cocked while she got her bearings together.

(Rumpleteazer)

‘Good grief, my head hurts.’ she thought to herself as she tried to get up. For some reason, she wasn’t able to get up. Then she remembered where she was and what was happening. Her eyes flew open and said angrily, “Get off me you…” but her voice trailed off when she looked up into the bluest pair of eyes she had ever seen. They were the kind of eyes that could make a girl lose her breath, just as she now had. ‘Sweet Heaviside!’ she thought. ‘I’ve died and gone to heaven.’ She stared at him while her whiskers continued to twitch. His face was broader then hers, but had similar coloring. His coat was more black than hers was and she could see he was well muscled. He looked to be a bit older than she was. She could feel strength and heat radiating from his body as he sat unmoving on top of her. She noticed that he had a black and silver studded collar around his muscular neck and she felt a tingling of envy.

In the distance, a voice called, “Rumpleteazer! Where are you? The boss wants you!”

Rumpleteazer groaned when she realized what she was doing. ‘Now I’ll get a beating for sure.’ she moaned inwardly. “Please get off me. I need to go, before I get into trouble.” she told the tom. He just stared back at her with a lopsided grin on his handsome face. “Hello? Anybody home?” she asked looking rather perturbed. She waved her paw in front of his face. No response. She then proceeded to slap him.

“Ouch!” he cried, waking up. “What did you do that for?” he asked angrily.

“You wouldn’t get up and I have to go before I get into trouble.” she spat back. “You looked like you were in a trance and I had to slap you.” She tried to get up again and this time he moved off her.

“What do you mean, get into…” his voice trailed off as he heard the voice calling, now closer than before,

“Teazer! Where the hell are you?”

“I’m coming Spikes!” she called as she stood up and shook out her fur.

Suddenly a gold and orange tom burst into the alley. “Where have you been? Boss was waiting for you to come back.” he panted as he ran up to her and nuzzled her back. The calico tom stepped back and looked from one cat to the other.

“Sorry, Spikes. But this moron here bowled me over and I couldn’t get up.” she huffed and pointed at the other tom.

Spikes glared at the calico who put his ears back and hissed before moving towards Rumpleteazer. “Come on! Let’s get out of here before one of those jerks from the Jellicles gets us.” They raced off towards the docks.

(Mungojerrie)

As she continued to stare at him, he felt his face growing hot. He couldn’t stop gazing at her, she was very, very pretty. She had an aura around her that made him feel lightheaded and stars started dancing in his mind as he looked upon her. He wondered where she lived, seeing, as she didn’t have any sort of collar on. She said something, but he didn’t hear it. He was too busy looking at her mouth and thinking what it would be like to kiss her, when, SLAP! Her paw struck him on the cheek and his eyes came back into focus. “Ouch! What did you do that for?” he demanded angrily. ‘The little vixen!’ he noted to himself.

She spat back, “You wouldn’t get up and I have to go before I get into trouble. You looked like you were in a trance and I had to slap you.”

He just stared and then started to say, “What do you mean, get into…” but stopped when he heard a voice come closer, calling,

“Rumpleteazer! Where the hell are you?”

“I’m coming Spikes!” she called.

Then suddenly, a large gold and orange tom came into the alley. The newly arrived tom immediately nuzzled her back. Mungo stepped back and stared at the two cats. ‘Could this be her mate?’ he asked himself as he felt his spirit fall. ‘I guess she’s taken already… but wait, Spikes said ‘Boss.’ Maybe she’s not taken.’ he felt his spirit rise again. Then Spikes glared at him and he slunk back farther into the shadows. But just as he thought that she was single, he heard,

“… jerks from the Jellicles gets us.”

His heart plummeted to the ground as he watched them scamper off towards the docks. ‘Jerk Jellicles?’ he thought miserably. He was part of the Jellicle Tribe so he knew that she could never like him. He started to slink off, when he heard Big Ben start to chime. “Oh crap! I need to finish my job.” he told himself as he ran off into the shadows. He temporarily forgot about the beautiful calico queen.

(Rumpleteazer)

As she and Spikes ran towards the docks, she couldn’t help but think about the tom who had knocked her over. ‘He is so handsome.’ she thought to herself. She was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she didn’t see the garbage can in front of her and slammed into it headfirst. “Ow.” she whimpered as she sat and started to rub the sore spot. Immediately, Spikes was by her side and began to comfort her.

“You little idiot.” he said gently. “What happened? Normally I’M the one who runs into errant objects. Are you o.k.?” he asked with a worried look in his eyes.

“Yeah, I’m fine Spikes.” she reassured him. “I was just thinking about that other cat, you know, the one who ran into me. Does he work for Macavity? I think I’ve seen him around.”

Spikes looked wary, but then said, “Yeah, I think he does. But what would the boss think if his favorite queen was playing around with another of his agents?”

Rumpleteazer sighed. “I don’t know, but you hang around me and boss doesn’t mind that.”

“Well, that’s because Macavity wanted *me* to watch you. And believe me, I won’t touch you for fear of his wrath.” Spikes said. “I already have my own beautiful queen, so boss knows that I wouldn’t do anything.”

By this time, they had reached the warehouse that was Macavity’s HQ.

“Good evening, Miss Rumpleteazer, Spikes.” greeted Rioko who was on watch duty. “The boss is looking for you Miss. He’s in a bit of a state.”

A pained look came over her face but then was replaced by a look of relief when Spikes told her,

“Don’t worry, I’ll back your story.”

Rumpleteazer smiled slightly. As they approached Macavity’s room, they heard loud noises inside. Suddenly, a black and gold tom burst out of the room and streaked away towards the exit with his tail between his legs. Rumpleteazer and Spikes looked at each other questioningly, but then shrugged shoulders and knocked on the halfway open door.

“Come in.” growled a deep voice.

“Hi Macavity.” said Rumpleteazer as she and Spikes crept through the door.

“Where the hell were you?” Macavity growled as he circled them. “You were supposed to be back half an hour ago.”

“It’s not MY fault, sir. I was hungry, so I went to find a rat. Just as I found one, some errant tom knocked me over and I blacked out.” Rumpleteazer pleaded. “However, I did finish my job and here are all of the things you asked for.” She dumped a large, bulging sock on the floor.

Macavity looked at her for a while with his piercing eyes. She watched, unmoving as his gaze slid over her body. “Spikes!” Mac yelled.

Spikes cringed, but then straightened up. “Yes?”

“Is this true?” Macavity asked.

“Yes sir. I saw it for myself. I think the tom works for you, but I don’t know his name and it happened just as she says.” Spikes answered truthfully.

“Very well, I believe you, but… if I find that you are lying to me… you will be in big trouble. Understand?” Macavity purred menacingly.

Rumpleteazer looked up “Of course I understand you. Why would I lie to you? What reason would I have to do so Sir?”

Macavity purred back, eyes glinting dangerously, “Because you are my favorite queen right now and it wouldn’t be the first time one of my other toms has tried to take a queen away from me. So it is only for your protection that I make sure my agents answer me truthfully.” He put his arm around her and drew her close. “Spikes, go get some of that new tuna brought in today. I feel like celebrating.”

“Yes sir.” Spikes bowed, left and then returned laden with a tray that has several cans of food on it. He bowed again to Macavity and then turned to Rumpleteazer as he was leaving saying, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

(Mungojerrie)

Having completed the job, Mungo decided to get some dinner before heading back to the warehouse. He stuffed his almost full sock behind a garbage can outside of Ralph’s Café, which was his favorite restaurant, and thought about how he wanted to enter. He stalked to the front door and waited until some well-dressed people opened the door and then he scampered in after them.

“Hey! You stupid cat!!” somebody yelled.

“Get the Hell out of here!!”

Mungojerrie screamed back, “MMMRRROOOWWW!!” as he leapt up on the tables and dashed into the kitchen. Once there, he knocked over several platters of barbequed chicken and he grabbed one in his mouth and flew out the back door. He raced to the garbage can and hid behind it while the humans came running out and screaming for him to come back. Mungojerrie chuckled to himself. “They’ll never know what happened.” He sat down to eat his meal in peace when a memory of the incident earlier that day flashed through his memory. He had faintly recognized the name ‘Spikes,’ but he wasn’t sure if it was the same cat. He couldn’t go on looks because he had never met the cat. He’d only heard of him as being Macavity’s most trustworthy cat. Soon the memory faded away and left a very complete picture of Rumpleteazer. It was a picture of her wonderful and beautiful feline body. Her eyes, all emerald green with her little white whiskers twitching madly. The vision was enough to make him lose his almost sated appetite. Rumpleteazer, even her name sounded heavenly. He still wondered what it would be like to kiss her, to hold her petite, lithe body in his arms, to dance with her… His daydream ended abruptly when he heard something move in the shadows. He stood and crouched, silently barring his teeth and growled, “Who’s there?”

“Easy sugar.” purred a voice. “It’s only me.”

Mungo froze for a minute, but then relaxed. “What are you doing here Carrillo?” he asked calmly, trying to ignore the rush of heat that had started to spread throughout his body.

The stunningly smooth and sleek looking queen sauntered out of the shadows. In the scant light, her violet colored coat looked almost glowing, her golden eyes half covered by long black eyelashes.

He used to like her, but recently had found her a little too pushy for his tastes. However, he just couldn’t seem to shake her off or, as was most likely the case, she didn’t want to be pushed off. The problem was his body not following his mind. His body loved the feel of her paws, but his mind screamed ‘NO!’

“Hey darling.” she cooed as she sidled up to him. “Boss sent me to come find you. He has a special assignment for you.”

Mungo raised an eyebrow. “Oh really?”

“Yeah. I heard something about diamonds for a queen of his.” she revealed as she sensuously wound herself around his body.

“Come on! Get off me, Carrillo! I don’t like you anymore.” he complained loudly as he pushed her off him. “Why can’t you understand that I don’t want to see you anymore?!” he growled, becoming frustrated.

She shrank back, looking hurt. “All right, all right. Sorry sugar. I’ll leave you alone if that’s what you want, but if you change your mind…you’ll know where to find me.” she said as she flicked her tail under his nose as she walked off. She looked over her shoulder and said, “Don’t forget, the boss wants you now in his private room.”

Mungo sighed and finished his food while his thought returned to the beautiful little calico queen he saw earlier. ‘I hope she’s ok.’ he thought.

(Rumpleteazer)

The little queen in his mind was anything but ok. She was tired and hungry and knew that after supper, Macavity would have his way with her. After Spikes left, Macavity steered her towards a table and said,

“Eat. I know you are hungry. And forgive me for not giving you more earlier.”

She sighed and thanked him, knowing that he had purposely denied her the food she craved. But she said nothing and ate, while she felt his eyes on her the whole time.

“Are you getting tired of being my favorite queen?” he asked casually.

She glanced up surprisingly at him over her food and answered, “Yes Macavity.” ‘Did he read my mind?’ she asked herself.

His eyes had an enigmatic, dangerous undertone, but his tone of voice was still pleasant, “Really? Why is that? You are my favorite.”

She looked at him and wondered to herself, ‘Does he really want my answer? Or does he want an excuse to kill me?’

“Come my dear. Don’t be shy; tell why you don’t want to my queen anymore.” Macavity said his voice still gentle, but his eyes gleamed over-brightly.

“All right.” she sighed. “I don’t want to be your queen anymore because I’m tired of being used. I want to see the world. I want to know what it’s like outside of your realm. I want to live life, not be cooped up here as part of your ‘harem.’ I… I also want to find love.” she said the last almost too quietly for him to hear, but nevertheless Macavity heard it.

“Well, you are very brave, my dear.” he said, his eyes becoming unreadable. “However, I’m not about to let you go just yet. Right now, I don’t have another queen who suits my fancy, but… I’ll make a deal with you.”

Rumpleteazer looked at him hopefully.

“You find me another queen who is equal to you, I’ll let you go. For good. That means that no matter what happens, you cannot come running to me for help. If you fulfill your half and the world treats you badly, you can’t come back. That also means that I will leave you alone forever and never bother you again. What do you say?”

Rumpleteazer took a deep breath and asked, “How long do I have to complete the task?”

Macavity thought for a minute, then said menacingly, “Two weeks. If you have not come up with a queen equal to you, then you’ll stay here. Agreed?”

Rumpleteazer looked down at her paws and thought to herself, ‘Where am I going to find a queen who’s equal to me? I don’t know if I could do it, but… if I did, then I’d be off free for the rest of my life.’ She remained silent for a minute, but then looked straight into his eyes and said, “Yes. Agreed.” She could almost taste her freedom. But then a sense of dread set in as fully realized the predicament she’d gotten herself into.

“Wonderful then.” Macavity purred. “Starting tomorrow, your only task will be to find me a queen. In the meantime Rumpleteazer…” he grinned evilly as he rounded on her. “You’ll just have to make me happy.”

Rumple sighed and reluctantly let herself be drawn into his arms. She felt rather than heard his purr as he nuzzled her and kissed her hard. She felt his hips press against hers and his paw ran down her back. She kissed him back and wrapped her paws around his neck knowing that if she refused to do so, then he would abuse her more. Her last thought before he entered her and she screamed, was that hopefully she would be able to keep her end of the bargain.

Later, exhausted from Macavity, she collapsed on the pillows in his room. ‘Thank the Everlasting Cat he was gone!’ She felt her face gingerly and winced when she ran across a fairly large bruise. As she was his favorite queen, she was allowed all the comforts his quarters offered, but she was also called on more frequently then the others.

She was so tired that she didn’t know when someone came into the room.

(Mungojerrie)

After eating, he picked up his bag of loot and ran to the docks where Macavity’s office was. His sack was bulging because despite his misgivings, he had tucked the rest of the BBQ chicken into the sack for later. As he approached the yard, he heard laughter coming from inside.

“Hey, what’s going on?” he asked Rioko.

“I dunna’. I think Miss Ascot has taken too much of her ‘medication.’” he answered grinning.

“Hehehe. You know, I think you’re right old chap!” Mungo laughed with him. It was well known around the yard about Miss Ascot’s catnip addiction, but she always passed it off as “medication.” And because Macavity really didn’t know how she got it, nothing could be done about it. He silently wondered about his next job. And he also wondered who the boss would give the jewels to. Macavity wasn’t known for being generous; even to his favorites. ‘Oh well.’ he thought to himself. ‘It’s none of my business what he does with his stuff.’ He ran a list of the queens names through his head trying to figure out who would be the lucky one. As he approached Macavity’s office, Caamer stopped him and said,

“Mungojerrie? The boss wants to see you in his private chambers.”

“Ok. Thank you. Oh, how’s watch going?” Mungo asked cordially. He and Caamer got along fairly well and so there was nothing wrong with having a friendly conversation now and then.

“Oh, nothing much really. Miss Mikka’s been parading around acting like the Queen of England since Macavity spent two nights in a row with her.” Caamer rolled his eyes. “So what about you? Have you found anyone yet?” he waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Mungo mockingly punched him on the shoulder, then sighed, “No, not yet. Although, I actually ran into this cute little calico queen today and I think that she works here, but I’m not sure. Anyways, I think she is already taken.”

“Oh that’s a shame.” Caamer said gently. “Miss Darci won’t even give the time of day anymore. I’m beginning to wonder if she’s found somebody else…” his voice trailed off mournfully.

“Come off it man!” Mungojerrie said playfully, feeling sorry for his friend. “She’s your mate for Cat’s sake! You guys have been in love with each other for ages. Maybe she is looking for something new. Do something special: taker out to dinner, get her some jewels. Do something that you normally wouldn’t do. Then see what happens.”

“You really think so?” Caamer asked, his eyes shining.

“Yep. And you’ll be fine. Take two and see me in the morning.”

“Yes doctor.”

They fell over laughing at each other. Mungo walked off towards the boss’s private chambers whistling a merry tune. His mind strayed again to the calico queen. He knocked on the door.

“Enter. Wait inside. I’ll be out in a moment.” came Macavity’s deep voice.

Mungo pushed open the door and almost fell over when he saw who was in there. There was an open door near the back of the room and to his left, a large desk and file cabinet. There were several red velvet curtains draped across the room and in the right corner, there were some sheer gold ones pulled back around what was undoubtedly the sleeping area. But it wasn’t the finery that caught Mungo’s attention, it the something that was sound asleep on the bed. His jaw dropped. It was the cute little calico he had bumped into earlier.

“Ah, Mungojerrie. Do come in. How nice to see you.” purred a voice from somewhere behind him. Mungo jumped, then spun around and came face to face with the Hidden Paw himself, Macavity.

Suddenly the little queen stirred.

(Rumpleteazer)

She woke up feeling a little dizzy. She couldn’t think straight. She noticed a bowl of water near the bed cushions and stumbled over for a drink. It was only then that she realized that she wasn’t alone. There, standing next to the boss was the handsome tom she had run into yesterday. She looked up into his eyes and finished her drink. She then went back to the bed and began to clean herself.

“Well, I see my little queen is up.” Macavity said. “Come here my dear.”

Rumple slowly get up and sauntered over to him and looked up at him, “Yes, Macavity?”

“Rumpleteazer, this is one of my finest agents, Mungojerrie. Mungojerrie, this is my favorite queen, Rumpleteazer.”

Mungo bowed and said, “Tis a pleasure to meet such a beautiful lady.”

Rumple couldn’t help herself and let out a high-pitch giggle. “The pleasure is mine, I’m sure.” ‘Man.’ she thought. ‘His voice is so dreamy. He also has more manners than anyone else I know.’

“Rumple, darling. Mungo and I have some business to attend to, but you can stay here until you are ready to leave. Remember, as of right now, you have two weeks.” Macavity reminded her as she got up and started to leave.

“Yes sir.” she replied. After she had gone, she went to look for Spikes. ‘He’ll know where I could get a good queen, I’m sure.’

(Mungojerrie)

Mungo turned around at the sound of Macavity’s voice. He started to say something, but stopped when she started to stretch. He watched as she got up and stumbled over to the water dish. Then she looked up right into his eyes. His breath caught in his throat for a minute. But in those eyes there wasn’t a spark of recognition. The aura was still around her and made him feel intoxicated. Why and for what reason, he didn’t know. She then began to clean herself.

“…queen is up.” Macavity was saying. “Came here my dear.”

The queen gracefully got up and walked over.

“Rumpleteazer, this is one of my finest agents, Mungojerrie. Mungojerrie, this is my favorite queen, Rumpleteazer.”

Mungo couldn’t help but notice the slight accent on ‘favorite,’ but maybe he was just imagining it. He bowed at the waist and said gallantly, “Tis a pleasure to meet such a beautiful lady.”

A silly grin came over her face, making it light up and she let out a high- pitched giggle. The giggle was like music to his ears. “The pleasure is mine, I’m sure.” She giggled quite cutely.

While Mungo’s brain slipped off into dreamland, Macavity walked over to her and started talking to her. He couldn’t make out all of it, but heard,

“…you have two weeks.”

Mungojerrie could have sworn she looked downcast, but then it was gone and a sparkle appeared in her lovely emerald eyes.

“Yes sir.” she answered and snuck out the door.

Mungo sighed inwardly as he watched her go. It felt as if the sun had stopped shining when she was gone.

“Now Mungojerrie,” Macavity said as he motioned for him to sit opposite him at the low table in the room. “What do you think of my little queen?”

Mungo looked at the Napoleon of Crime and gulped slightly. “Well, uh…sir. I, uh, think she’s very pretty. You are very lucky. But then, you deserve the best.”

Macavity nodded approval of his answer.

Mungo released a sigh of relief.

“Yes…” His voice trailed off and his eyes got a faraway look in them, and then snapped back to the present. “Anyways… your next job will to get me a bunch of diamonds. Enough to fill two rows on this collar.” he said as he reached into one of the drawers in the file cabinet and pulled out a beautiful leather collar.

Mungo raised his eyebrows. “Oh?” he inquired.

“You see, that little queen has made a deal with me: her freedom if she can find a replacement queen in two weeks. If she completes the task, I wish to give her a token of my promise. That token will be a diamond studded collar.”

Mungo whistled under his breath. ‘Macavity, giving a cat their freedom?’ he thought to himself, astonished. ‘Mac has never done anything like this before. Lucky little queen. I wish I could be so lucky.’ he said aloud, “So you want me to find you the diamonds, or do you want me to assemble the collar too?”

“I would like you to do both. Remember, you have two weeks as of now.”

Mungo hesitated, and then asked, “Um, what if she doesn’t find a replacement queen, what are you going to do about the collar?”

Macavity’s eyes sparkled, “Well, then I guess I have myself a brand new collar. Get going. This will be your only assignment for the next two weeks. Normally I’m not this lenient, but if you get finished early and I’m satisfied with your work, you may have the rest of the time off.” Macavity then glared at him, “But only if I’m completely satisfied. Understand?”

Mungo nodded and said, “Yes sir.” Mungo left with fairly high spirits. He couldn’t believe his luck! He had been chosen to find diamonds for the most beautiful queen ever. He decided to head over to the junkyard and say hello to his friends and get some sleep. Then he’d start diamond hunting the next morning.

“Hey! Who goes there?” came a loud voice.

“Easy Alonzo, it’s just me.” Mungo answered.

“Mungo? Hey man, how are you?” Alonzo asked as he jumped down from his perch.

“Just fine, but a little tired.” he said as he yawned.

“Do you have another job?” asked Alonzo.

“Yeah.” Mungo replied as he flopped down in his box. “I have to get enough diamonds to fill this.” he said as he pulled out the high quality black leather collar.

Alonzo’s eyes grew wide and he whistled under his breath. “Wow. What for?”

“Macavity’s going to give a queen her freedom.” Mungo said simply. ‘Never mind that she is the most beautiful queen I’ve ever seen.’ he thought dreamily to himself.

“Are you sure?” asked Alonzo, who was flabbergasted. “Macavity, letting someone go? I mean, especially a queen!”

“Yeah I know, but it’s true. He’s commissioned me to make a suitable contract promise.” Mungo explained.

“Hey Alonzo! Are you coming yet?” came a voice. “Dinner is almost ready.”

Alonzo turned a slight shade of red but then yelled back, “I’m coming!”

“Well hurry up.” came the voice as its owner walked out of the shadows. A brown queen with a cream colored belly patch walked out and rubbed up against Alonzo. “Hi Mungojerrie.” she purred.

“Hi yourself, Cassandra.” he replied. He watched as the two of them sauntered off together. He chuckled to himself. They had only been together for a couple of weeks and everyone in the junkyard had thought it was about time they got together. They were a handsome couple. His mind once again returned to the little calico queen as sleep claimed his eyes.

(Rumpleteazer)

For Rumple, the next week and a half flew by. She had come across several queens who might have worked, but one had a mate, one only liked queens, and the other one didn’t want to give up her life as it was.

Then she came across a little queen near Tottenham Court who looked to be about the same age as she was and still had spirit in her. So for the next week, Rumple went to see her every night and became friends with her. “Hey kitten!” She called one night as she approached the girl’s sleeping quarters. “Come here.”

The little queen sleepily crawled out of her box and looked at Rumple. “Yeah?” she said.

“Remember how I told you about the guy who looks after me? Well he would like to meet you and have dinner. Just the three of us.”

“It better not be some old, overcooked fish, Rumpleteazer.” the queen said despairingly.

“Don’t worry, his tribe eats well.”

“Tribe?” her little ears perked up.

“Yeah, you could say that. Anyways, he’s looking for new members.”

“Sure, why not?” the queen snorted. “I got nothing better to do.”

Rumpleteazer laughed and led the queen down to the warehouse. Luckily, nobody was around. ‘Spikes must have taken care of it.’ she thought to herself as they approached the boss’s room. She knocked on the door and then entered. “Mac, I’ve brought you the queen I was telling you about.”

“Wonderful job, my dear.” Macavity purred from behind them.

Both queens turned around to see him standing there.

“So, this must the simply ravishing queen who would like to join my tribe.” he said looking her up and down.

The little queen looked back at him with no fear in her eyes, only a challenge. ‘Good. The girl isn’t afraid.’ Rumple thought as she watched the two of them. ‘I think they’ll get along fine.’

“Well little one, what might your name be?” Macavity asked gently as he pushed her to the table where Rumpleteazer already sat.

“I don’t have a name. I wasn’t special enough to get one. My mom died having me and some other cat picked me up and brought me to the Court. Everybody just called me ‘Cat’ or whatever else suited their fancy.” she spat at him.

‘Yep, she’ll do just fine.’ Rumple grinned to herself. Inwardly she felt just a little bad about bringing the kit into this kind of life, but a life with Macavity was certainly better than life at the court. At least here, there was still respect for the queens, whether or not they were agents or playthings. Hell, even the food was probably better than at the Court. Rumple looked up, caught Macavity’s eye, and raised her own eyebrows slightly in question. Macavity gave just the slightest nod of the head and smiled at her. She sighed with relief. The kitten noticed this and commented on it. “Oh, I’m just tired from work.”

“What do you do for work?” the other queen asked inquisitively, while nibbling on tuna.

“I work for Macavity.” she said.

“Oh, and who’s Macavity?”

“I’m Macavity.” the tall ginger colored cat said.

“It’s one of the requirements to be in the tribe. If he has a job that needs to be done, you do it.” Rumpleteazer explained.

“What kind of job?”

“Well…” ‘Now what? How much do I tell her?’ he wondered silently and then said vaguely, “I pick things up and drop things off for him or if needs someone to keep him company.”

“Sounds fine to me if I can keep eating like this.” She said as she took another bite of tuna.

Macavity laughed, “Certainly little one. But I can’t keep calling you that, you need a name of your very own if you’re to join. Hmm… let’s see.” he sat back in thought. “I’ve got it! How about Firelight?”

The kitten giggled, “Sure. I like it.”

“Good. Well, Spikes will show you to your new quarters.”

Firelight looked frightened, but then Rumple said, “Spikes is a good cat. Just tell him that Rumple sent you and he’ll understand. I would trust Spikes with my life. You won’t come to any harm by him.”

Firelight looked skeptical, but then relaxed. “Ok. I trust you.”

Macavity went to the door and yelled “Spikes!”

The large gold and orange tom came into the room and bowed, “Sir?”

“Take Firelight to Rumple’s old chamber. And make sure no one disturbs her. Understand?”

“Yes sir.” Spikes looked questionly at Rumpleteazer who only looked back at him and silently pleaded with him. He sighed and escorted Firelight out.

“Well Rumpleteazer,” Macavity said with a smile after they were gone. “I really didn’t think you would do it, but you have held up your end of the bargain. In one day, I will hold up my end of the bargain.”

“Why not now?” she questioned.

“Because my dear girl, the insurance hasn’t come in yet.”

“Insurance?” she asked, puzzled.

“Yes and it will all make sense in a bit. Meanwhile you should get some sleep. Since I gave Firelight your old quarters considering you’ll be moving out in a few days, you may stay here and I will not bother you.”

Rumple nodded then went and curled up on the luxurious cushions and went to sleep, dreaming of what she would do with her newfound freedom.

(Mungojerrie)

As he collected all the diamonds, his mind still focused on Rumpleteazer. He picked out each one as if it was *him* personally that was giving her the collar and not Macavity. He found only the highest quality. He’d had to travel all over London, but the result was worth it. Soon the two weeks were up and Mungo had carefully assembled all the diamonds on the collar. However, he had found a medium size ruby that he thought would look great with her lovely calico fur and so he attached that jewel right in the center of the collar surrounded by two sparkling rows of diamonds. He just hoped that Macavity wouldn’t be too upset with his ‘liberty.’ He had also managed to steal a black velvet sack.

He loped towards Macavity’s HQ with the bag and collar. When he came to the door, another guard was there by the name of Jossen who let him in after a stare down. Jossen had never really liked him, so he always gave Jerrie a hard time whenever they met.

Jerrie ran across Caamer and asked cheerfully, “How’s your mate doing?”

Caamer gave a huge smile and replied, “Thank for the suggestions. You know that new jewelry store on 2nd and Main? Well… let’s just say that their security is not up to speed. Now she loves me more than ever.”

Mungo laughed and said, “No prob. Anytime.” He approached Macavity’s office and knocked loudly.

“Come in.” came Macavity's deep voice, silkily cruel.

Mungo entered and saw him sitting there talking to Rumpleteazer.

“Hello Mungojerrie. I trust you have the insurance?” Macavity asked.

“Yes sir. While you did ask for all diamonds, I also found a ruby that was exceptional so I added that. But if you want, I can change it back to diamonds.” Mungo said shakily.

“Oh, really?” Macavity raised an eyebrow and glared at him. “In the future Mungojerrie, you will kindly remember that my agents do not take liberties. Let me see this jewel.”

Mungo gulped and withdrew the collar from the bag. Rumpleteazer gasped at the sight of it. Macavity looked pleased.

“Well, I must say, that this time your ‘liberty’ was a good one. But don’t think that I will be this lenient the next time.” he glared at Mungojerrie.

“Yes sir. The ruby was very pretty and I thought it would be perfect for a very pretty lady.” Mungo said as he looked at the queen eyeing the diamonds.

Rumpleteazer giggled and he saw her eyes shining at the sight of the diamonds.

The sight nearly took his breath away. He wished that her eyes would sparkle like that when she looked at him.

“Rumpleteazer, come here.” Macavity ordered. “As of this day and so on, you are no longer a part of my tribe. I will never bother you again. But likewise, you will never come to my place ever again. Are we clear?” Macavity asked as he placed the collar around her slender neck.

“Yes Macavity.” Rumple said, her eyes shining like stars. Rumple walked up to Mungojerrie, put her paw on his wrist, and said. “Thank you for the jewels.” Then she bounded out the door.

Even after she left, her light touch still burned his skin as if she had used a branding iron. He shuddered inwardly, but it was a good shudder.

Macavity turned back to Mungojerrie and said, “Well done. That was your best work yet.”

Mungo heaved a sigh of relief and asked cautiously, “What’s my next assignment?”

The boss looked at him thoughtfully, glanced at the door and back to him, and said, “Nothing for now. But be available when I call you.”

(Rumpleteazer)

She had been waiting patiently in Mac’s office for over an hour cleaning herself when they both heard a knock on the door. The same handsome calico tom she had seen earlier, came into the room and was carrying what looked to be a black, velvet jewel bag. ‘If there are jewels in there, are they for me?’ she wondered. She loved shiny things, jewels in particular. She brought her mind back to the present.

“…found and exceptional ruby and I added it. But if you want, I can take it off and replace it with diamonds.” Mungojerrie was saying.

She couldn’t believe it. ‘An agent taking ‘liberties’ on a job? How brave.’ she thought, sighing inwardly. ‘I wish I had a brave tom to be with.’

Mungojerrie then pulled out the collar at an order from Macavity and when Rumple saw it, she gasped. It was gorgeous! She continued to stare at the collar then looked at Mungojerrie who said, “The ruby was very pretty and I thought it would be perfect for a very pretty lady.”

Again, Rumple couldn’t help herself and gave out a high-pitched giggle and eyes met Mungojerrie’s. There was an unreadable expression there, but she felt that it was somehow connected to her. She could tell Macavity was pleased.

“Rumpleteazer, come here.”

Rumple over and sat down in front of him as he out the collar on her.

“As of this day and so on, you are no longer a part of my tribe.”

Rumple didn’t hear the rest because she was too busy thinking about how nice the jewels were. She realized that he finished speaking and said, “Yes Macavity.” She got up to go and went up to Mungojerrie who was just staring at her with a lopsided grin on his face much like the one he wore when he first knocked her down. The look sent warm shivers down her spine and she tried to ignore them. ‘Face it dearie,’ she thought. ‘Such a handsome tom is probably taken.’ She touched his wrist and said softly, “Thank you for the jewels.” Then she leaped out the door, leaving Mungo staring after her.

She went to her old quarters to gather her few belongings and ran into Firelight. “Hey Fire, how are you?”

“Oh, I’m fine. Your quarters are nice.” the queen said as she stretched.

“Good, well I’m just here to grab my things and then I’ll be off.”

Firelight looked up her eyes suddenly becoming sad. “You’re leaving? But who will I be able to talk to? You were my one friend.”

“Darling, Macavity decided to let me go. The new collar I have, he gave me as a symbol of my freedom. One day you may get one too. Has Spikes been good to you?”

Firelight nodded, tears slowly forming.

“Good. I know he won’t let anything happen to you.”

Firelight agreed by saying, “Yeah, him and Miss Cassianne have been like parents to me. But you were like a sister to me.”

“Don’t you worry, Fire. I know we’ll meet again. But if it’s any consolation, if you really need to talk to someone, you can always ask Spikes and somehow he’ll find me. Ok?” Rumple asked as she gave the queen a hug.

“Ok. Bye Rumpleteazer.”

“Bye Firelight.” Rumple said as she left the room. She went in search of Spikes. “Hey Spikes!” she called as she found him and Cassianne curled up in a ball.

“Hey Teaze. So are you really off?” Spikes asked as he stretched and yawned.

“Yeah. Oh, I told Firelight that if she really needed it she could come to you and you could contact me. Don’t worry.” she said seeing the skeptical look on his face. “I’ll do my best to keep you aware of my location.”

“Ok, but I don’t know…” his voice trailed off as his mate woke up.

“Hello Rumpleteazer. Wow! That’s fancy collar you have. Where you going? On a date?”

Rumple grinned then turned to look at the solid gold queen waking up and said, “Hello to you too. No I don’t have a date, I have my freedom.”

Cassianne’s blue eyes opened wide as she said, “Really?! So you are the one Macavity let go.”

“Yep. In exchange for Firelight.”

“Firelight? You brought her here as part of your freedom?” she asked not believing her ears.

“Yes I did and I feel bad about it, but she was living at the Court and I felt that a life here would be better than that. Besides, I’ll go mad if I stay here any longer.”

“Oh…ok. Well, you know how to find us if you ever need to.”

“Thank you both so very much and please keep an eye on Firelight for me. Oh, and if possible, I really don’t want her knowing about the arrangement just yet. If she hears about it, fine, but I don’t want her to know. She can find out about when she’s older.” She turned to go.

Spikes called after her, “Sure no problem. Just let me know when you have a permanent place.”

“Bye guys!” called Rumpleteazer as she dashed off with her two bags into the night. She ran and ran until she found a cardboard box. She curled up inside and went to sleep. For the next couple days she stayed in the box, but then, she found an empty trash can and decided to stay there. ‘Trashcans are so much more comfy than boxes.’ She thought as she fell asleep contentedly.

(Mungojerrie)

After he had left the office, he picked up some dinner at Marcel’s Fine Pastries and headed back to the junkyard. The cat on watch that night was Alonzo again.

“Hi ‘Lonzo.” Mungo called as he approached the entrance.

“Hi yourself Mungojerrie. Did everything go all right?” Alonzo asked.

“Yep. The little queen went free. And I don’t anymore jobs for a while.” Mungo answered.

Alonzo looked at him incredulously. “Wow. That queen, whoever she is must have had a big effect on him. I mean, don’t you normally have a job every night?”

“Yeah, but oh well. I’m not complaining. I’ll see you in the morning. G’night Alonzo.” Mungo said as he slunk over to his box and fell into a dreamland filled with Rumpleteazer.

(Rumpleteazer)

The next morning, she was awakened by little whispers.

“Who is she?”

“Shh! Etcetera! Do you want her to wake up?”

“Come on Victoria, let’s get Munkustrap!”

“Jemima! Don’t do anything. She could be dangerous!”

Rumple stirred and slowly opened her eyes and came face to face with a pair of yellow eyes. She gasped and moved back. “Ouch!” she cried, banging her head on the rear of the can.

The group of kittens looked at her then tumbled back in laughter and raced off. Except for one.

The remaining kitten looked at her for a minute, then spoke, “Who are you? What are you doing our garbage can? Where did you come from?”

Rumple looked up in surprise and said. “Whoa. Slow down little one. My name is Rumpleteazer, but you can call me Teazer. Your garbage can?” she raised an eyebrow. “I came from…” she stopped, wondering what to say. “I came from the streets. I was looking for a place to stay and didn’t see anyone around, so I went to sleep.” she eyed the little queen suspiciously. ‘The kit has guts.’ she thought as she looked the girl over. The queen was mainly white, but had thin black and orange stripes all over. ‘She looks like Firelight, only Fire is more yellow.’ Aloud she said calmly, “What might your name be? Surely a pretty queen like yourself must have a pretty name.”

The kit just stared for a minute, but then smiled and said, “My name’s Etcetera, but you can call me Cetty. If you came from the streets, how come you got all that pretty stuff?”

Rumple looked where the kit was pointing and saw that the edge of her bag had come open. “I… I got that from a tom I lived with. It was part of my parting gifts, you might say. Same with the collar.”

Etcetera’s eyes widened when her eyes landed on the diamond-studded collar. Her little mouth silently turned into an ‘O.’ “At least you don’t work for Macavity. Do you? He’s mean and he hurts queens. He kidnapped Demeter and hurt her real bad, but we now have her back with us.” Etcetera stopped for breath and Rumple started to answer, but was cut off by the sound of running feet and voice calling,

“Etcetera! Where are you?”

“Here I am mom! Over by the car.” Etcetera yelled back. “My mom is Jennyanydots and she’s real nice.” the queen turned to Rumpleteazer.

Rumple just nodded amusedly as a fairly large cat came into view.

“There you are dear. I was afraid something had happened to you. You know better than to talk to strange cats without one of us around.”

Etcetera hung her head for a minute, but then said brightly, “Mom, she’s a stray and she hasn’t done anything. She was only looking for a place to sleep.”

Rumple looked at the yellow queen who had green eyes. Her coat was covered in tiger stripes and leopard spots. “Excuse me. I’m very sorry to have interrupted your home. Now if you don’t mind, I’ll just be on my way.” she gathered up the stuff that had fallen out of the bag when the queen said,

“Oh dearie no, don’t leave. We didn’t mean to scare you. We just were surprised when the kittens came running into the yard with tales of a large strange cat asleep in the can.”

Rumple looked up hopefully and said, “Really?”

“Why of course. I’m Jennyanydots and I see you’ve met my precocious daughter, Etcetera. But you will have to be taken to Munkustrap and Old Deuteronomy for testing.”

Rumple looked startled, “Testing? Whatever for?”

“Well, my dear. You see, Macavity has been around here trying to get Demeter back and I wouldn’t put it past him to use one of his agents to get her. Mark my words. It’s only for our protection.” Jenny nodded and looked at Rumple. “By the way dearie, what’s your name? Even strays have names.”

Rumple wanted to sink into the ground. ‘How will they react if I tell them that I use to work for him?’ she pondered. ‘Oh well, I guess I had better try. Who knows? Maybe they will let me be a part of their tribe.’ Aloud she said, “Oh, sorry. My name’s Rumpleteazer.”

Reluctantly she picked up her two sacks and followed Jenny towards what looked to be the center of the junkyard. As she cam into the clearing, she was shocked at what she saw. Here, kits were having fun chasing a ball around and over in one corner, a group of older queens were hanging on a Maine Coon tom. The tom was mainly black but had leopard spots on his chest and paws. He also had a sandy colored mane. ‘He looks way too conceited for his own good.’ she chuckled to herself. At Macavity’s place, you weren’t allowed to have fun unless it was in bed. This was all new to her. Here it seemed, nobody was really worried and there was laughter. ‘This really wouldn’t be bad place to live. Hopefully they’ll let me stay. This looks like a family.’ She felt an envious sensation run over her as she noticed that every cat had some kind of collar on as a sign that they belonged to a family.

While she had a collar, she knew it wasn’t the same as theirs. Hers was just a contract present, not a loving gift bestowed by a caring family. As she was looking around, Jenny touched her arm and motioned to the big tire in the middle of the yard. As Jennyanydots steered her through the other cats, conversation stopped and an air of curiosity settled in. Rumple looked around nervously.

“Munkustrap, here’s the new arrival.” Jenny said as a silver and black tabby looked up.

“Thank you Jenny.” he said as he looked Rumple up and down.

She started to cower back, but there was nothing evil about the gaze so she stayed put. Rumple did the first thing that came to mind and bowed and said, “Sir.”

The tabby looked surprised, but said, “Come now, you don’t have to bow to me. It’s only Old Deuteronomy that you have to bow to.”

Rumple just nodded, still in shock that she didn’t have to bow to the tom who was obviously the leader.

“Well. This must be the queen who scared the kittens.” a deep voice said from behind her.

She spun around only to be knocked over by a large furry mass.

“I’m sorry little one. Here, let me help you.” A paw came in to focus as she grabbed it and was helped up.

“Hello, sir.” she said quietly.

“What’s your name?”

Rumple looked up into kind and understanding eyes and bowed, gulping nervously. “Sir… Rumpleteazer, sir.”

“There, there child. No need to call me ‘sir.’ Just Deuteronomy will suit me just fine. Why are you here? Do you want to be a Jellicle?” The kind eyes searched hers as she looked over at Jennyanydots for approval.

“Rumple dear, this is our leader, Old Deuteronomy.”

Rumple nodded and said, “Well, I… uh, can I talk to you and the silver tabby in private sir?”

Old D looked surprised but nodded and said, “Sure. Munkustrap?”

He nodded and together they moved down into the center of the tire. “Now, child. What did you want to tell us?”

“Well, sir. Uh, ok… here goes. I use to work for Macavity. He found me lying out on the streets when I was little. He took me in and gave me shelter. He taught me how to steal and fight. I eventually became the best of his female agents. I also became his favorite… ‘plaything’ if you will. Then one day I was out on a job with my partner, and I ran into this other tom who had a collar on. It made me start to think about life outside of the Hidden Paw. Anyways, later that night, Macavity asked what was wrong and if I was tired of being his favorite queen. I said yes and he wanted to know why. So I told him. He said that he didn’t want to let me go yet, but that he’d make me a deal: if I could find a replacement queen equal to me within two weeks, then he would let me go free. Forever. I accepted because I was going crazy being cooped up in there.” she took several deep breaths before looking up at the silver tabby.

He nodded and motioned for her to continue.

“I wandered around Tottenham Court and I ran into this young queen who still has some spirit left in her. She told me that she’d only been in the Court for about 6 months. She knew something of fighting and she wanted a better life. And compared to what she told me, life with Macavity was much better. I took her to meet him and he accepted her as my replacement. Two nights ago was the end of the two weeks. He gave me this collar and said that I was officially free from him and his line of work. So I was wandering around and found a box to sleep in. I was there for several nights until I found the trash bin.”

Munkustrap then asked, “What all did you do for him?”

Rumple could see the unspoken questions in his eyes and answered shakily, “I was mainly a thief and I have never killed or catnapped anyone. I was sent on small or delicate thieving runs. Mostly for jewelry, food, and high-class or fragile goods. I would like to join the tribe, but I’ll understand if you don’t want me around because of my past history.” She fought to keep the tears from falling, but it was pointless. Rumpleteazer really wanted to stay in this place. She looked down at her paws.

Old D looked at Munkustrap who gave a nod of his head. “Come child. We have heard your story and have decided that you can join the tribe. I would however like one point of clarification: will he leave you alone forever?”

Rumple looked up with a smile on her face and said happily, “Yes. Even though he has an evil reputation, there still is a sort of ‘honor code’ among strays. He may be evil, but he does keep his promises.”

Old Deuteronomy smiled. “Very well, child. Welcome to the Jellicle Tribe, Rumpleteazer.”

Munkustrap led her up on to the tire and asked her, “Do you want to tell the rest of them your story?”

She sat and thought about it for a minute. “No, I’d rather not. I don’t think it will cause them harm by not knowing, and I’d hate to cause a lot of chaos the day I arrived.”

Munkustrap smiled with understanding and said, “Well then. Let me introduce you to everybody. Oh, and since you’ve worked for Macavity, we have a tom who does also. Except he does it with our permission as to get information.”

‘Oh really. I wonder if I know him.’ she though as she went down the steps of the tire. Suddenly she tripped and tumbled the rest of the way. She landed with a thud! She looked up into the same pair of breathtaking blue eyes that she had seen earlier.

(Mungojerrie)

“Mungo, Mungo, Mungo!” came a high-pitched voice.

Mungo opened one eye and saw a streak of white and then Oomph! As the streak hit him in the side. “Good morning to you too Cetty.” he grumbled as she rolled off and he stretched. “What are you doing, waking up your brother Squirt?” he asked as he pounced and tickled her.

“Heheheeeeeeeee. Jerrie! Stop it!” she shrieked as his paws slowed. “I only came to tell you about the new arrival. She’s super cute and has the prettiest collar you ever saw. It’s all sparkly and has a big red stone in the center.” She said as she bounced out of the large box.

It took him a minute to comprehend what she had said. “Sparkly collar, big red stone…” Mungo’s head snapped up. ‘No. it couldn’t be… but maybe?’ he thought hopefully to himself.

As he left his box, he saw the Rum Tum Tugger saunter over to him with his fan club in tow.

“Hey Tugger.” he called.

“Hey yourself Mungo. Have you met the new queen? I haven’t, but I did see her and she is very cute.” He winked at Mungojerrie.

Mungojerrie rolled his eyes. Tugger was too much sometimes. As they neared the tire, Mungo turned towards a voice that was calling out to Tugger when thud! Something landed on his feet. He looked down and a pair of emerald green eyes stared back at him. He did a double take when he realized just who those pretty eyes belonged to. “I’m sorry. Here, let me help you.” he said gently as he held out a paw to help her up.

“Thank you.” she said, slightly blushing and still staring at him.

“Excuse me, Mungojerrie?” a voice came. “There you are. I was wondering if you could show Rumpleteazer around as you seem to know her.” Munkustrap said.

Both calicos looked sheepishly at him and Mungo nodded. Munk smiled and motioned them to go.

“Hey there beautiful.” came a smooth voice.

Both cats looked up to see a black tom with a large mane sidle up to Rumpleteazer. “You must be new here. Allow me to introduce myself. I am the wonderful Rum Tum Tugger.” he said and immediately, a cheer came up from the group of queens who had been hanging around him.

A loud “EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” was heard as Etcetera bounded up to Tugger.

Rumple looked at him and said disdainfully, “Hello. I’m Rumpleteazer.”

“Well, darling if you ever need anything, I’m the tom for you.” he said rather smugly as he tried to put his arm around her.

Mungo felt a low growl in his throat and wondered why. An unexplainable feeling of jealously came over him, but he didn’t have to worry.

She looked at the tom and then said as she pushed his arm off, “Thank you, but I already have this fine tom here if I need anything and I think you are too full of yourself.”

Mungo couldn’t believe his ears and almost burst with laughter and pride as he saw the hurt expression on Tugger’s handsome face.

“Well babe, if you ever change your mind, come find me.” he huffed as he stalked off. Mungo looked at Rumple and they both burst out laughing.

“How are you?” he asked her after they had calmed down.

“I’m fine. And thank you again.” she said blushing prettily. “You seem to be helping me a lot these days.”

“Well, I…” he started to say, but was cut off as Etcetera dashed up to them with several other kittens in tow after seeing Tugger was in no mood to play.

“So Teazer, I see you’ve met my older brother and the gorgeous Tugger. I absolutely love him and I’m sure he loves me but he just doesn’t show it.” Mungo rolled his eyes as his sister continued to ramble. “Here’s Victoria, Jemima, Tumblebrutus, and Pouncival. Mistoffelees is the solid black tom over there with Tantomille and Coricopat. Those three are all magical cats. See all those queens around Tugger? The black and gold queen is Demeter, the red one is Bombalurina, and the two brown ones are Cassandra and Exotica. Cassandra has a white belly patch and Exotica is solid brown. The other brown, white, and red one is Electra. She is my best friend in the whole world. We do almost everything together. As for the other toms, you’ll meet them later. Come play with us!!” Etcetera bounced up and down. “Our favorite game to annoy Tugger.”

The two calicos exchanged looks and then Mungo said hurriedly, “Actually Squirt, I need to talk to Rumpleteazer alone for a minute.”

“Oh, ok.” she looked disappointed.

Then Rumple said, “Don’t worry, I’ll come play later.”

“Um… would you like to come back to my den?” he asked her after Cetty bounded off, followed by her playmates.

Her face brightened up, but she said, “I have to get my stuff.”

“Ok. I’ll help you.”

“Hey, Mungo?” Munkustrap called.

“Yeah?” he said with his mouth full of a bag.

“Could you share your den with Rumpleteazer until she can find her own place? I mean, yours is plenty big.”

“Sure. No problem.” It was all he could do not to smile and leap for joy. He looked at Rumple who blushed heavily and looked away. “Follow me, milady.”

When they reached his box, she looked around in awe. “It’s really big. Even my quarters weren’t this large and I was the top queen. Do you mind if I set up my stuff?” she asked timidly.

“No. Go right ahead.” Mungo said as she started to pull out things from her sacks. He couldn’t believe his good luck. Teazer, the most beautiful queen ever, was sharing his home. He felt a familiar wave of heat run over his body. He tried to ignore it. He had only previously felt the heat when he’d been with Carrillo. ‘Good grief! How am I ever going to stand it?’ he thought to himself as he watched her set up.

(Rumpleteazer)

She continued to look into his eyes until somebody interrupted them and she quickly looked away. It was only Munkustrap asking Mungojerrie to show her around. She couldn’t believe that this was the same handsome tom she ran into several weeks ago and was the tom who made her the gorgeous collar. As they were about to go, the large black and gold maned tom she had seen earlier sashayed up to her and introduced himself to her as the Rum Tum Tugger. She wasn’t impressed. Mungojerrie was far better looking. She looked behind him at the loud

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!” that came from Etcetera as she pounced on him. She looked at him and said, “Hello, I’m Rumpleteazer.”

Then he had the nerve to put his paw around her as he said rather suavely, “Well, darling if you need anything, I’m the tom for you.”

She pushed his paw off and said as she pointed to Mungojerrie, “Thank you, but I already have this fine tom here if I need anything and I think you are too full of yourself.” She managed to keep a straight face as he stalked off muttering to himself. Then she and Mungo burst into laughter.

He looked at her again and asked, “How are you?”

She looked into his eyes again and blushed. “I’m fine. And thank you again. You seem to be helping me a lot these days.” she couldn’t stop the fluttery feeling that was racing through her whole body as he held her paw.

Suddenly Etcetera dashed up to them with some other kittens in tow. One of the queens was pure white with a fluffy tail and large brown eyes. The other queen was black, gold, and maroon with blue eyes. The two toms she assumed were brothers because the only difference she could tell was the brown patch that was on opposite eyes. As Etcetera rambled on, she found that the pure white cat was Victoria, the black, gold, and maroon was Jemima and the two toms were Tumblebrutus and Pouncival. Then started to talk about the queens she had seen earlier hanging around Tugger. “…The black and gold one is Demeter, the red one is Bombalurina, and the two brown ones are Cassandra and Exotica…” Etcetera continued on to explain the differences between the two of them. Then, at the end of her babbling, she said, “…Come play with us!”

Rumple looked at Mungojerrie and was about to say something when he said that he had to talk to her. Rumple felt somewhat bad when the queen looked disappointed, so she said cheerfully, “Don’t worry, I’ll come play later.” ‘She’s so much like little Firelight. I wonder how she’s doing.’ she wondered silently. That seemed to cheer up the kitten immensely.

“Hey, Rumpleteazer, do you want to come back to my den?” She heard Mungo ask shyly.

She brightened at the thought and said, “I’d love to, but let me get my stuff.”

“Ok.” came his answer. “Let me help you.”

As they were getting her stuff, Munkustrap asked Mungo if she could share his den.

“Sure. No problem.” he answered and caught her eye. She blushed heavily and looked down. She couldn’t believe her luck! She would get to share his den. She was quite happy. When they reached the box, she peeked around the entrance and was amazed at the size of it. “Even my quarters weren’t this large and I was the top queen.” she said as she looked at Mungojerrie. “Do you mind if I set up my stuff?”

“Go right ahead.” he answered. He went and sat down the makeshift bed in one corner and said, “You can have the other half of the box if you like.”

She looked up and said, “Thank you.” She began to pull out pillows and curtains and other stuff. When she was done, her part looked similar to her place back at Macavity’s. She had hung up a red curtain on the entrance and spread another one on the floor. Then she’d found a few holes and after pulling some wire out of the second bag, had hung up some sheer purple and gold curtains. She then pulled out two pillows and moved them to one corner and then took a sheer red curtain and draped it around the bed. She also set up her water bowl. She was very pleased with the result. She looked at Mungo for approval and found him staring at her. “Hey Mungojerrie?” she asked. “Can I just call you Jerrie?”

He looked up and said, “Sure babe. Call me whatever you like.” Then he blushed as if he was ashamed for being bold. He looked around the place and did a double take when he saw all the finery. “Man. This looks like something the sultan would have.”

She turned red, giggled, and curled up on one of the pillows and soon she was sound asleep.

Later the next day as they were eating and he asked her how she got all the finery.

She looked up and said, “Well, since I was his favorite queen for about two years, I was able to get 1st pick of any major goods that came by Macavity. So when I left, I was able to take all my, uh, ‘acquired’ furnishings.” she walked over to her bed and sat down with her head on her paws.

“What was it like? I mean, working for Macavity? I know what it was like for me, but I’m a tom.” he asked curiously as he sat opposite her.

“Well, being his favorite queen and one of his top thieves that also meant doing his ‘bidding,’ whatever it was. Usually it would be to give him nighttime company.” she shuddered at the memories of Macavity at night. She felt his cold, unfeeling paws run over her body. She felt the bruises swelling from where he hit her in the heat of his passion. She couldn’t believe that she had allowed herself to put up with that. “I really must thank you.” she began, but stopped, tears were forming in her eyes.

He glanced up with a puzzled look on his face.

“Well. The day that you ran into me, I saw your collar and I began to think about what was going on in my life and I realized that I was tired of my former life, but I didn’t know how to change it. But seeing you made me want to try to do something. So… really… you are my hero.” she blushed and looked down at her paws. She tried to stop them, but the tears started to come as the memories flared up. She remembered all the beatings she had received when she’d done something wrong. And she also remembered the kisses which came immediately after it. When she looked up again, he was standing in front of her.

“Teazah, what’s wrong?” he asked, his voice was rich and low with concern.

She just shook her head and turned away from him. ‘She couldn’t really tell this tom about everything, could she? He still works for Macavity, but… just maybe… He’s concerned for me! Nobody has ever really cared for me before.’ She sighed heavily as the tears just kept falling. All the pain from years past came pouring out. ‘I haven’t cried in years. I’m too good for that. I can’t cry! I’m supposed to be tough. Damn emotions!’ she cursed silently. Suddenly she felt a paw on her back and then she felt herself being drawn into someone’s arms. She realized it was Jerrie and she just continued to sob into his fur.

He tenderly held her and rubbed her back while purring into her hair. It was a deep, rumbling purr that hit her straight down to her tail and made her shudder with pleasure. He, however, took her shudder to mean something else and just pulled her closer. The last thing she remembered was him softly kissing her ears before she drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

(Mungojerrie)

Mungo just watched as she began to pull various colored things out of the two bags. He went and made himself comfortable on his makeshift bed. “You can have the other half of the box if you like.” he said graciously. He watched her feline body move gracefully as she put up various things. She was indeed very beautiful. Her calico striped fur looked sleek and shiny. He bet it would be soft as silk to the touch. She was an angel and he felt very conspicuous in his unkempt coat next to her radiant body. He looked down at his long ratty coat and decided that later he would give himself a bath.

When she had finished, she looked at him and said shyly, “Mungojerrie? Can I call you Jerrie?”

Her voice broke him out of his trance and he said, not thinking, “Sure babe. Call me anything you like.” When he realized what he had just said, he blushed. He saw a smile creep across her face. It was then that he noticed the fancy things hanging up around his box. He whistled and said appreciatively, “Man. this looks like it could belong to the sultan.” He sat back on his own bed, which now looked bedraggled compared to her beauty. He watched as she blushed again and tucked her small body up on one of the cushions.

She giggled and curled up to sleep.

The next day they were having dinner when he asked, “So how did you get all of these goods?”

She answered, “Well, since I was his favorite queen for about two years, I was able to get 1st pick of any major goods that came by Macavity. So when I left, I was able to take all my furnishings with me.”

“Tell me about life with Macavity. I’d like to hear it from a queen’s point of view, for there are always rumors around the yard about how good your lives are. So what was it like?” he asked mainly out of curiosity, but partly just to hear her voice.

“Well, being his favorite queen and one of his top thieves that also meant doing his ‘bidding,’ whatever it was. Usually it would be to give him nighttime company.” She stopped talking abruptly which caused him to look up.

He looked up just in time to see her visibly tremble at some thought. ‘Probably Macavity.’ he thought angrily. He wasn’t angry at her, but at his boss. He watched as a wealth of emotions flew over her face. He thought he saw tears in her eyes, but he wasn’t sure.

“I must thank you,” she said.

When he looked into her emerald eyes again with a puzzled expression, he knew that he saw tears forming.

“Well, the day that you ran into me, I saw your collar and I began to think about what was going on in my life and I realized that I was tired of my former life, but I didn’t know how to change it. So… really… you are my hero.” After she had finished, she looked at her paws, but not before Jerrie saw the tears fall.

Against his better judgment, he left his bed and slowly crawled over to hers. He was pulled by a seemingly invisible force. He couldn’t place it, but he knew that he had never felt this way before. By this time, her tears were flowing freely leaving streaks on her calico fur and pillows. He couldn’t help himself. He just couldn’t stand to see any creature in pain. He had to do something to stop those tears. They were running down her face in torrents. “Teazah, what’s wrong?” he asked concernedly.

She turned away from him.

‘Damn. Now I’ve really made her not like me.’ he blamed himself silently. He gently reached out a paw to touch her back and it felt like an electric shock. When she didn’t flinch, he gathered her up in his arms and she cried into his chest fur. He just sat there stroking her silky back and purring slightly into her head fur. He had thought her fur would be soft, but words couldn’t describe how lovely it felt. He gently kissed her ears and said soothingly, “Shhh. It’s ok. Everything’s fine now. Shhh luv.” She just kept crying and he kept holding her, not wanting to move. He loved the feel of her in his arms and even though it wasn’t going anywhere, it was so much more than he had hoped for.

Gradually, she stopped making noises and her body stilled. It was then that he realized that she had cried herself to sleep against his body. As he tried to lay her down, she whimpered and clung to him. He was a little surprised, but just rearranged himself so that he was comfortable (which wasn’t hard, considering he was laying on some of the softest material he had ever felt.) Then he lay back on the pillows, curled himself around her body, and went to sleep. As he fell asleep, he felt himself purr loudly.

Some time later, he was woken up by the sound of someone purring. He opened his eyes to see himself face to face with Rumpleteazer. She had snuggled into his fur and her nose was almost touching his. There was a slight smile tugging at her lips as her whiskers twitched occasionally. Her paws were gently kneading the fur on his chest while she slept. He felt a touch of pleasure as she kneaded his chest. ‘She looks so angelic. I really don’t want to wake her yet.’ he mussed amusedly. ‘But I’m getting hungry and I’ll bet she is too.’ He started to move, but was stopped when her paw became tangled in his fur. ‘Damn!’ he thought. ‘I was going to give my self a bath, but she fell asleep. Oh well. I’m not going to complain.’

Her whiskers started to twitch faster and slowly her eyes blinked open. She blinked several times before fully waking up.

“Good morning luv.” he said as she sat up. Or… tried to sit up. He saw her look at her paw and saw her blush prettily as she tried to untangle it. “Here, let me help.” he said gently. He took her paw and carefully freed it.

But he couldn’t let go of her paw. His body had taken on a mind of its own. He looked down at her small paw being swallowed by his large one. When he brought his head back up, he realized that she had moved a little closer. Their noses touched and to Jerrie, it seemed that time had stopped. It felt as if everything around them had faded away in the distance and the only objects remaining were each other. Tension was in the air, but there was a palpable sense of passion and desire too. He looked into her eyes and felt himself being lost. As if by instinct or desire, or both, he moved closer and gazing at her beautiful face, leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. As he did, he felt as if a lightning bolt had struck him and filled him with energy. He was breathing heavily as the energy filled him. There was a spark of something and it started to blaze, but he managed to keep it under control. He deepened the kiss slightly, waiting for her to react. He wanted to go farther, but being the gentletom he was; he waited for her to give him permission to continue. He didn’t want to scare her anymore than she’d already been. Her lips felt like heaven. They were silky, smooth, and full. He waited patiently. He had all the time in the world.

(Rumpleteazer)

Teazer was dreaming when suddenly, she wasn’t able to free herself. She started to wake up and found herself face to face with Jerrie.

“Good morning luv.” he said huskily as she tried to sit up.

Sitting up didn’t work because she noticed that her paw was caught in the fur on his chest. She blushed and thought to herself, ‘What happened?’ Then she remembered: she had started to cry and he had held her until she fell asleep. She tried to untangle her paw, but it wouldn’t budge.

Jerrie noticed and said, “Here, let me help.”

She smiled and let him take her paw. After he freed her, he still hadn’t let go. She felt warm and fuzzy inside again as he held her paw. She felt as if she was flying on wings made of the softest material imaginable. Instinctively, she leaned a little closer to his face as he looked down. As he looked up, their noses lightly touched. She felt a shiver of pleasure and warmth move down her spine. She started to feel as if her body had left its shell and was floating. He was gazing into her eyes and she looked back into his. Slowly, he leaned forward and touched his lips against hers. She was on top of the world! It was as if they were the only two cats in the world and all the time was theirs to use. She felt her eyelids close as he deepened the kiss slightly. She knew, or at least her body knew what he was doing. She also felt a faint humming of some tune that she had never heard, but realized that at the same time, she knew what it was. He was asking a silent permission to continue. She held the kiss where it was for a minute. Her mind raced as she tried to think rationally about what had happened and what could happen. But as everyone who has ever been really kissed knows, coherent and rational thoughts are nearly impossible to come by in the heat of the moment. As he kissed her, she felt the wave of heat wash over her as if it were a breeze. But the feeling was different than when Macavity made love to her. With him, it had felt wrong and dirty. With Jerrie, it felt right. It was the caress of a lover. There was nothing disgusting about it.

She felt a little purr escape her lips as she kissed him back, giving him consent to continue. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he drew her closer. He put one paw around her waist and the other went to the back of her head. She felt his tongue slide across her lips as he held her and out of inborn response, she slightly parted them, allowing him to venture in.

(Mungojerrie)

He felt a little hesitation, but then nothing as she held the kiss where it was. He felt like he was suspended in the air, not falling, but not rising. He struggled not to lose all of his common sense just yet. He knew that if he did, he might hurt her and then she might never warm up to him again.

Just as he was about to break the kiss, he felt a little purr rise from her throat and she slipped her arms around his neck. That little bit of contact seemed to jumpstart his motor again and he ran his tongue on the outside of her lips and then felt them part slightly. His reason and rational thought fled his mind and all male instincts fell into place. He drew her closer as he put a paw on her waist and the other on her neck. He felt her surrender to his advances as his paws caressed her body. It was so silky and soft. He gradually moved his mouth from hers and moved to her cute little ears. He licked them slightly and she only purred louder in response. He was flying with cupid’s wings and there was nothing to stop him. By this time, they were lying on the pillows again.

She gave a little cry and then collapsed into his waiting paws.

He purred against her neck as she snuggled into his fur.

(Rumpleteazer)

As she let her thoughts and memories go, she could have jumped for joy, but that was impossible seeing as she was being held a willing captive in Jerrie’s arms. Oh, his strong, comforting arms. It felt so very good to be held like she was loved. Macavity had never really held her but had just done the business and then it was over. She felt him move his lips from hers to her ears. She began to purr louder as he licked the tips. She had fallen back on the cushions and taken him with her due to her arms being around his neck. He hugged her closer and she blacked out.

She woke up sometime later with her back to him. His paw was wrapped around her waist and his head was resting in the curve of her neck. She turned slightly and smiled as noses touched. ‘He looks so handsome in repose.’ was her next thought. She kissed him on the nose and got up to clean herself.

He moaned a little and took the pillow in his arms as if it was her. She chuckled softly and pushed back the curtain over the box entrance a little. She could see some other cats milling around lazily. She stepped out into the warm sunlight and looked around. She saw Etcetera and another kitten sitting and watching the Rum Tum Tugger strut around. She thought the other kitten’s name was Jemima, but she wasn’t sure. She noticed Tugger’s back was too her and that his collar was in plain sight. ‘Hmmm…’ she thought wickedly. ‘I really could keep my thieving skills sharp.’ she chuckled to herself as she slunk up to him. She caught the kittens’ eyes and motioned for them to keep silent.

Jemima grinned slightly and said, “Tugger?”

Tugger turned to look at her and said genteelly, “Yes cutie?” and winked at her.

“I, uh, well, umm…” Jemima stuttered as she looked for an answer.

But right at that minute, Rumpleteazer jumped and grabbed his collar yelling, “Wheeeee!” As she did, the momentum swung her around, but she was able to use that to swipe it off his head. She gracefully landed behind the other kittens who were giggling madly at the shocked expression on the once proud Rum Tum Tugger’s handsome face. He turned his head quickly and when he saw the culprit, his eyes narrowed.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” he yelled.

She was about to answer when a black and white tom poked his head out of what was his pipe and looked around frantically. Rumple felt a silly smile creep across her face and she let out a giggle as she twirled his collar around her finger. “I thought you would look better without it.” she giggled and tossed it to Etcetera who shrieked and clutched it to her heart.

“I think I’m gonna faint!” she cried, but she didn’t. She just hugged it tightly. Tugger glared at her and went up to Cetty.

“Hey sugar. Can I have my collar back?”

She just stared at him. Since holding his collar had rendered her speechless, she just shook her head and dolefully looked at him with wide blue eyes.

He sighed and approached her slowly. He kissed her nose, she promptly fainted, and he grabbed his collar back.

Rumple and Jemima were rolling with laughter and couldn’t seem to stop. Rumple was having fun for the first time in her life. It felt good to steal again. Tugger glared again and stalked away.

“Hey.” the black and white tom called. “That was some pretty smooth work little lady.”

She smiled brightly and grinned coquettishly. ‘This is what I should have doing a long time ago: having fun.’ she thought.

“And what might your name be?” he asked. “I’m Alonzo and my mate’s name is Cassandra.”

“I’m Rumpleteazer, but you can call me Teazer! And I don’t have a mate yet.” she giggled as she thought of Jerrie and last night and fell over while doing so.

“Hey Teazer. What’s that around your neck?” Alonzo asked suddenly.

She stopped laughing and looked up. “What, my collar?” she asked as she looked down at it. “What’s wrong with it?” she asked, looking hurt.

He hurriedly assured her, “No, no. Nothing’s wrong with it. But where did you get it? It looks like something a friend of mind made.”

She looked startled as a picture of Mungo holding the necklace in Macavity’s room popped in her mind. ‘Damn! What do I say? He might know about it and if he does, who knows what he’ll do or say.’ she asked herself silently as she pondered what to answer. “I, I got it as a departing present from the tom who I used to live with.” she said hesitantly. ‘There.’ she thought. ‘An answer, but not too much detail as to give away my secret.’ So far, the only cats who knew about her and Macavity were Old Deuteronomy, Munkustrap, and Mungojerrie. And she wanted to keep it that way.

Alonzo’s eyes narrowed. “It looks exactly like the collar that Mungojerrie made for a queen of Macavity’s.” he said in a loud voice.

Rumple looked frightened, as she saw fear and anger appear on Alonzo’s face as she promptly realized that her face had given her emotions away.

“Hey everybody!” he shouted. The other cats out looked at him. “She works for Macavity! She has the collar Mungo made for him!”

At the mention of Macavity, the entire junkyard froze.

She heard a loud cry of “Macavity!!!”

Rumple tried to defend herself, but as soon as she moved towards him, two other toms that she didn’t recognize rushed at her and held her securely.

“You don’t move!” one of them who looked like Pouncival and Tumblebrutus but had red head fur and no eye patch yelled as he glared at her.

The other tom was brown with black stripes and he growled, “You little traitor! Macavity wants Demeter back so he was going to use you wasn’t he? Well, that won’t work ‘cause you’re not going anywhere.”

Rumple started to cry, “Please! You don’t understand! Where’s Munkustrap? He knows about that! Owww!” she cried as they roughly pulled her to her feet. She looked around helplessly, but the other cats who were mainly queens, were huddled in one corner. Even Jemima and Jennyanydots were cowering and glaring.

A flaming red queen hissed and said, “We don’t want your kind around. Macavity hurt my little sister.” Then she spat on the ground in front of Teazer.

“You bet you’re going to see Munkustrap.” the toms spat at her. “And you’re in big trouble.”

She tried desperately to scream for Mungo and got out, “Help! Mun-” before she felt cloth being stuffed in her mouth. She looked around helplessly at the junkyard, eyes pleading, but nobody would look at her.

(Mungojerrie)

Mungojerrie woke up and turned to kiss Teazer, but she wasn’t there! “Damn! Did Macavity get her?” he asked himself as he got up. He was still half-asleep and his legs wobbled slightly. He then remembered last night. He smiled at the memory, but then the smile faded as he remembered that he needed to find Teazer.

Suddenly he heard a cry of, “Help! Mun-” But then the cry immediately stopped. Mungo’s head snapped up as he recognized the voice. His eyes widened as he rushed outside just in time to see Plato and Admetus drag a gagged Rumpleteazer around the corner. Then he heard Demeter’s all too familiar cry of,

“MACAVITY!!” and he groaned. As he started to run after her, he ran into Tugger.

“Hey Mungo, Munku-” Tugger started, but Mungo interrupted him.

“Yeah I know, Munkustrap wants me because everybody thinks that Teazer works for Macavity.”

Tugger looked at him surprised, but before he could ask, Mungo was off running. Tugger shrugged his shoulders and slowly followed.

(Rumpleteazer)

When they reached the tire, she looked around in desperation for Mungojerrie. She saw him come flying across the yard and felt him slam into the Tumblebrutus look-a-like tom.

“Get your paws off her Plato!” he shouted. “She hasn’t done anything wrong!”

The tom, whose name apparently was Plato sneered at him and said, “That’s what you think! She works for Macavity! Alonzo told us.”

“You’re wrong! She use to. Where’s Munkustrap? He knows!” Mungo insisted.

Rumple was roughly thrown to the ground and immediately Jerrie was right there trying to comfort her. She looked up to see Munkustrap, Tugger and Deuteronomy come towards them. A few toms tried to stop them from approaching, but the rest of the cats parted like the Red Sea for the three cats.

She looked up tearfully and said. “I…I’m ss…sorry, but Alon…Alonzo saw m… m…my collar and asked where, where I got it. I s…said from the t…t…tom who I liv…lived with.” By this time she had calmed down a bit and continued on, “He said it was the collar Jerrie here had made for a queen of Macavity’s. A…and then… he yelled that I… I was working for Mac…Macavity. A…an…and you kno…know the re…rest.” she couldn’t help it, the tears came again, faster and faster.

“Jellicles.” said Deuteronomy sternly. “Why did you not let her tell her story? When she arrived, both myself and Munkustrap heard her story and we still allowed her to join. Could you not give her that same courtesy? Instead of going mad, find out the truth. The poor kit has gone through enough hell as it is. She doesn’t need anymore from you.” Deuteronomy looked around and all but him, Munkustrap, and Mungojerrie hung their heads in shame. “Now, yes. She was one of Macavity’s queens. He found her on the street and raised her. She became his number one queen for quite a while. She had to put up atrocities that you all, save Mungojerrie haven’t had to go through. And hers were worse because she was at the top. She was also a thief and a good one at that. She made a deal with Macavity: if she could find a queen to replace her within two weeks, then she would go free for the rest of her life. She did work for Macavity, but she doesn’t anymore.”

“But how do we know she’s telling the truth?” an indistinguishable voice came up from the crowd.

“The truth, she does speak.” came two voices speaking as one.

Rumpleteazer turned and saw two cats who could have been carbon copies of each other. They walked, talked and acted the same.

Jerrie leaned down and whispered, “That’s Coricopat and Tantomille. They are magical cats.”

Rumple nodded and rubbed her head against Jerrie. His arms tightened around her.

“Coricopat and Tantomille, thank you for your proof. Does anyone here still believe that she should be cast out?” Deuteronomy asked.

Nobody moved, and she heard low mumbling. Then Demeter slowly came out of her hiding place, walked to her, and knelt down beside her.

She gave her a hug and said, “I know a little bit of what you must have gone through for I was kidnapped by Macavity for a month. I hope you’ll forgive me.”

A small barely perceptible smile came across Teazer’s face as she returned Demeter’s hug.

“If you need to, you can always come and talk to me. I remember that after Munkustrap got me back, it helped to talk to someone. For me, the cat was my sister, Bombalurina. Oh, and if you need a place to sleep, my den is open.” Demeter continued kindly, but only for Teazer’s ears.

Teazer blushed slightly and said, “Thank you, but I’m sharing with Jerrie and I think I’ll stay.”

Demeter nodded knowingly and got up.

“Jerrie, I need to lay down.” she said quietly.

He nodded and stood up. Other cats started to come over, but he growled protectively with hate in his eyes and held up a paw and said, “Leave her alone. You guys have already done enough damage for one day. Her nerves are shot. She was very upset last night, and just as she was calming down, you had to traumatize her. Get out of here and go bother somebody else right now.” There was a shocked silence around the yard.

Then Teazer felt him scoop her up and carry her back to the box.

(Mungojerrie)

He couldn’t believe his ears. Just when she was calm and had started to enjoy herself, they decide to pick on her. He raced towards the tire and saw her. He ran and shoved Plato to the ground shouting, “Get your paws off her Plato! She hasn’t done anything wrong!”

Plato’s lips curled into a sneer and he retorted, “That’s what you think! Alonzo told us that she does!”

‘Damn! I told him the story, but he obviously didn’t really listen or comprehend it.’ he berated himself silently. “You’re wrong!” he insisted angrily. “Where’s Munkustrap? He knows!”

At this, Teazer was roughly flung to the ground and Jerrie bent over her and held her in his arms while she started to cry.

Jennyanydots started to come over, but Jerrie hissed at her. He was so mad at the rest of the tribe that even he could feel the heat rise off him. Finally Munkustrap, Deuteronomy, and Tugger appeared and made their way them.

Rumple looked tearfully at Deuteronomy and started to speak, her words choppy with tears.

Jerrie just continued to hold her and rocked her.

Then Deuteronomy addressed the group and berated them for doing this to her. Then he told her story.

But an indistinguishable voice floated up from the crowd, “But how do we know she’s telling the truth?”

Suddenly, two voices spoke simultaneously, “The truth, she does speak.”

Everybody turned to see who it was. Two cats, identical in every way walked majestically towards the group.

He leaned down and whispered to her, “This is Coricopat and Tantomille. They are psychic cats.”

She just nodded and rubbed her head against him and his arms protectively tightened around her. Deuteronomy then asked if anyone now wanted to cast her out.

Nobody moved except for Demeter and Jerrie hissed, but she kept coming. She knelt down by Teazer and gave her a hug. Then she started to whisper in her ear. He noticed a very tiny smile appeared on her pretty face and he felt better. Of course Demeter would have an inkling of what she had to have gone through. Then Demi whispered something else and Rumple blushed slightly. He decided that it had something to do with him. Then she got up.

“Jerrie,” came Teazer’s voice, but just barely, “I need to lie down.”

He nodded and stood up. He saw other cats start to move near her, but he growled protectively and hissed with hate in his eyes. The movement stopped. He stood up possessively over her and angrily addressed the crowd, “Leave her alone. You guys have already done enough damage for one day. Her nerves are shot. She was very upset last night, and just as she was calming down, you had to traumatize her. Get out of here and go bother somebody else right now.”

The rest of the cats fell silent. They had never seen Mungojerrie so protective or caring about anybody else before. He scooped up her small form and walked back to the box while the other cats scampered off. As he got near the box, a cat stepped out from the shadows and Jerrie saw that it was only Demeter.

She wordlessly looked at Mungo and he nodded. She pulled back the curtain just enough so that the three of them could slip through.

Jerrie carried her still body to the cushions and gently lay her down.

But as he did, she spoke, her voice barely audible and dry from crying, “Stay please. Don’t leave me alone.”

So he sat next to her and put his head on her back.

Demeter sat on the other side and stroked her back. “You’ll be fine sweetie.” she said soothingly.

Teazer jerked up in surprise and defense. But when she realized it was only Demi, she lay back down and Jerrie repositioned his head. “Demi, I need to be alone right now. I’ll come find you later ok?” Rumple said as she closed her eyes.

Jerrie looked at Demeter and she leaned over to his ear, “Take good care of her. She needs someone who will be there for her.”

Jerrie just nodded. Of course he’ll take care of her! He loved her for Cat’s sake! He couldn’t believe that she would even think that he wouldn’t. He felt Teazer, his Teazer, breathing evenly. He loved her. The realization hit him straight between his eyes. She made his life feel complete. He wanted to protect her, to keep her safe from the entire world’s harm. He then decided that she should eat and so he got up and left. As he was leaving, he saw the twins watching him.

He looked at them and motioned to the box and they nodded, wish understood. He dashed off to find food.

(Rumpleteazer)

As Jerrie laid her down on the cushions, she heard Demeter’s voice as she stroked her back. She jumped up in surprise, but then settled back down. She felt Jerrie rest his read on her back. “Demi, I need to be alone right now. I’ll come find you later, ok?” she said softly.

Demeter nodded and then left silently.

She felt Jerrie purr and his purring helped her to sleep.

“Rumpleteazer.” a gentle voice broke through her dreams.

She opened one eye and found Tantomille looking at her.

“Rumpleteazer, there’s a cat by the name of Cassianne here to see you. Do you know her?”

Teazer sat up slowly. ‘Cassianne! How did she find me?’ she wondered to herself as she nodded acquiescence to Tantomille.

“Teazer, my dear. How are you?” she heard a familiar voice and looked up to see a very familiar gold queen appear.

She smiled at one of her closest friends. They hugged each other.

“Teazer, are you crying?”

Teazer nodded and began to sob again. “Oh sweetie!” Cassi crooned and pulled her into her arms.

“They found out here. About Macavity and they were going to kill me.” she sobbed into her friends’ fur.

Cassi spoke after a bit. “I know what you mean, before I became a full member of the Hidden Paw, I was also part of a tribe. What happened to you also happened to me. Except there was not diamond collar involved. Another difference was that the tribe actually tried to throw me to Pollicles, but I managed to escape. But I still have a scar on my tummy from it. Almost immediately after that, I was paired with Spikes and then we became mates. Mac let us as long as he could still have me once in a while.”

Teazer just nodded and thought, ‘This is the kind of support I need.’ Aloud she said, “Wow. I had no idea you were thrown to Pollicles. How awful!.”

Cassianne nodded and said, “Oh, before I forget, I have a ‘hello’ from Firelight.”

“Thank you Cass. That really made my day.” Teazer smiled.

“Fire also says that you must have done something good because the other four senior queens got a collar with a single row of jewels.”

Teazer whistled appreciatively. “Goodness! By the way, how did you find me?” she asked as she looked up.

Cassianne looked embarrassed, but answered, “Well… Spikes told me to follow you and see where you go. I was to follow you until the London Bridge and if you had gone past it, to wait for you to contact us.”

Teazer smiled and said “Thank you so very much. Now that you know where I am, you can come visit me more.” She then giggled and Cassianne started to laugh.

“Teazer! I’m glad to see…” came Jerrie’s voice but then he stopped and stared at Cassianne as he entered the box, half a chicken in his arms.

(Mungojerrie) After he had instructed Tantomille and Coricopat to watch her, he went back to Ralph’s Café. This time, he waited outside the kitchen door. Soon the door opened and out came several garbage bags. Mungo waited until the door closed and then rummaged through the sack. He found half of a large BBQ chicken. He smacked his lips hungrily as he bent down to start eating, when he remembered Rumpleteazer back in his box. He picked up the chicken half in his mouth and the rest on his back and raced back to the junkyard. As he approached the box, Alonzo came up to him, but he glared and stalked by a stunned Alonzo. When he reached the entrance, he heard Teazer giggling. He smiled and went in saying, “Teazer! I’m glad to see…” his voice trailed off as he noticed a solid gold queen sitting there laughing with her.

As Teazer looked at him, he saw a slight sparkle in her eyes that warmed him to the core. He was ecstatic! She had looked at him and he had made her eyes light up. Not as much as the first time, when she saw the diamond and ruby collar, but still a sparkle nonetheless.

“Jerrie!” she cried, her voice brimming with happiness, “There you are. This is Miss Cassianne. She is Spikes’ mate and one of my best friends. She came to see me.”

He smiled warmly at the other queen and said, “Thank you for coming. I take it she told you what just happened, no?”

Cassianne nodded and whispered something to Rumple who blushed and giggled. Cassianne just smiled like the Cheshire Cat.

“So, you are the fine and handsome tom who is taking care of my girl.” Then her eyes narrowed “You work for Macavity too, don’t you?” she asked.

Mungo turned red slightly and nodded in agreement and said, “Yes I do, but I’m more allied with the Jellicles than him and He won’t find out about her from me if I can help it.”

That seemed to please Cassianne who nodded, then hugged Teazer. “I’ll see you later, ok?” She nodded and Cassianne dipped her head to Mungo and dashed out of the box.

He moved closer to Teazer and said as he lay the chicken down, “Here luv. I brought us dinner.”

She smiled and rubbed her head against his, then giggled slightly.

“What?” he said indignantly.

“You have sauce all over your face and back.” she giggled again and gently licked some of his cheek.

He froze at the contact and just stared at her. She stared back at him and he felt the same tension in the air as a few days ago. He leaned in to kiss her, but at the last moment, she backed up and he fell on his face.

She fell onto her cushions, her side shaking with laughter at him. He couldn’t believe that she had done that to him. Her laughter then turned into giggles and a silly grin spread over her face.

Mungo got up and just glared at her. She continued to giggle uncontrollably. Mungo began to clean himself while ignoring her laughing. Soon her giggles quieted and he saw her slink over to where the chicken was and started to eat it. “Enjoying dinner luv?” he asked as he sauntered over to stand beside her.

She looked at him and grinned mischievously.

That was all the warning he got as she pounced on him and began to tickle him.

(Rumpleteazer)

She looked up at the sound of Jerrie’s voice. He had been so good to her. Her eyes sparkled at the thoughts of everything he’d done for her. “Jerrie! This is Cassianne. She’s Spikes’ mate and one of my best friends who just cam to see me.”

Jerrie nodded and smiled warmly at her as he said, “I’m glad you came. So she’s told what happened?”

Cassianne nodded and leaned down to her ear, “Man girl. He’s cute. Don’t let him get away. He really cares for you. I think I’ll leave you two alone.”

Teazer blushed and gave an embarrassed giggle. She caught Mungo looking at her intently.

“So,” Cassianne purred. “You’re the handsome tom who’s been taking care of my girl.”

Teazer noticed that her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“You work for Macavity too, don’t you?”

He nodded and said, “Yes I do, but I’m more allied with the Jellicles than him and He won’t find out about her from me if I can help it.”

Cassianne and Teazer both nodded. Then Cassi knelt and hugged her and nodded to Mungo and left as silently as she’d come.

Teazer was happy she had come. She had been wondering if she would ever be able to leave the box after what had happened. Jerrie came over to her and dropped the chicken. It smelt really, really good and she had only just realized that she was hungry. She rubbed her head against his in thanks and then giggles slightly.

He looked very indignant and asked, “What?”

Teazer giggled again and said, “You have BBQ sauce all over you.” She took a deep breath and gathering her courage, stepped closer to him and gently licked his cheek. She felt him stiffen and she stopped and looked at him. Again there was an unreadable expression on his face.

He leaned closer and she, realizing this, waited until hips lips almost touched hers, and she pulled away. He looked shocked and then promptly fell on his nose. She started to giggle and fell over. She felt a silly grin spread across her face as she went over to the food and started to eat.

He came over her after he’d cleaned himself up and asked, “Are you enjoying dinner luv?” She got an idea and grinned at him with a mischievous glint in her eye and then tackled him and started to tickle him. She pushed him to the floor and her little fingers danced across his ribs.

“AAAAAHHHHHH!” Jerrie cried as she continued to tickle him. He was writhing under her fingers. A smile spread across her face and she giggled again. But soon his arms were free and he began to tickle her.

She squealed and stopped tickling him so that she could try to stop him. In her haste, she grabbed his ears to hang onto something while he was making her giggle uncontrollably. Suddenly she was underneath him and still holding onto his ears. She then realized what they must have looked like and her body stiffened.

Almost immediately, Jerrie stopped tickling her, seeing that it wasn’t having the same effect that it did earlier. They just stopped and stared at each other. The same feeling of time stopping fell upon them and Jerrie started to lean forward again as she gazed into his oh, so very blue eyes.

Then she remembered what happened earlier that day. Her eyes started to well up and promptly Jerrie rolled off her and sat there panting as she curled into a ball and started to cry. She couldn’t help herself. Everybody had been so mean, so cruel. Except for him. he had been wonderful and sweet and caring when he could have just left her. She realized then that she loved him. That she wanted to show him how much she loved him. He was perfect. She had only met him recently, but it felt as if she had known him for a lifetime. He always made her feel special, never being condescending to her, as some toms were. Macavity had been that way: always putting her down. Mungojerrie, her dear Jerrie.

She picked herself up and flung herself into his arms, knocking them both over. She just lay there and cried into his fur and he just held her. She felt his lips on her head and soon she heard his deep purr. After a bit, his purr had helped to calm her and his steady breathing made her feel relaxed. She sat up and started to wipe her eyes. She felt Jerrie’s paw running gently through her fur. Then she started to clean her face of all the tearstains. She felt something rough touch her face and she realized it was Jerrie’s tongue. He was helping clean her face. She gave a tiny smile and rubbed her head against his and purred. She put her arms around his neck and leaned into his body. An unfamiliar feeling of warm and comfort came over her. Her mind warred within itself and came to a decision. She leaned to him and whispered in his ear, “Thank you again, Jerrie.”

He pushed her face back slightly and said curiously, “What for?”

Even from a distance, she could still feel his body humming. She looked down and then felt a hand on her chin slowly bring it up.

Her face was now directly in front of his and he repeated, “What for?”

“For being there and caring.” she said quietly, still looking into his eyes, searching for something. Something she had never felt, and yet… she knew what it was and she wanted it. His eyes asked her a question and she knew what her answer would be.

(Mungojerrie)

Jerrie screamed as her fingers flew across his stomach. ‘Good grief!’ he thought as he tried to get some breath into his body. He looked up into her shining face and couldn’t believe how beautiful she was. First she had been crying and now she was smiling and giggling her sweet, special giggle that made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside. He managed to get his arms free and he found out that was ticklish too. ‘Time for sweet revenge and it’ll give me a chance to touch her.’ he thought as he grinned wickedly and tickled her back.

She squealed in delight and grabbed his tufted ears. In his haste to get her off his ears, he turned his head and somehow managed to pin her to the ground. Suddenly her body stilled and Jerrie stopped tickling her and looked at her. In her eyes, there were emotions that he couldn’t fathom.

All he knew was that he had better stop… looking… into… those… deep…emerald… eyes. Eyes… that… a… tom… could… get… lost… in. His thoughts slowed down as his eyes fell into hers and he leaned forward unable to stop himself. She was the whole world to him and he loved and wanted to show her.

Then her eyes started to tear up and warning bells went off in his head. He listened to them and gently rolled off her and started to pant to try to release some of the heat that had been building up ever since she had licked his face. Oh, how he wished that he could somehow get rid of those tears forever. He wanted to love her more than ever, but he would like to do it when she could truly choose him rather then as a result for comfort from a tear-induced state. He had never felt this way about another queen before. Oh, he’d had his share of queens, but somehow she was different. Maybe it was because she came from Macavity. He couldn’t figure it out and his mind was too strung up while she was in his arms that he couldn’t think about anything: except for the fact that he loved her with his entire being. He loved her so much that he was willing to wait until she was ready and when she was in a rational state of mind.

Unexpectedly and without warning, she flung herself into his arms and as a result, both of them toppled over onto the bed cushions. She didn’t say anything and he didn’t ask. He just lay there and held Teazer, his Rumpleteazer, while she cried. He kissed her head lovingly and began to purr because she was in his arms. After a while, her sobs stopped and she pushed herself up into a seated position. Jerrie pushed his body up onto his elbows and reached up a paw to run it through her head fur. She started to clean her face and then, it was as if his mind was invaded by something other than himself. He couldn’t describe it other than an invisible force that made him reach his head up and start to lick her face.

She rubbed her head against his and put her arms around his neck. He felt another purr starting and what little heat he had let out came raging back with a vengeance. He felt her body press up against his and he felt the burning sensation of desire. But somewhere in there, off to one side was the other voice. It was reminding him that he wanted to wait for her to make the move. ‘It’s the devil and the angle, sitting in opposite shoulders.’ he mused to himself as he tried in vain to stop the waves of pleasure and need that were racing into his brain and quickly consuming all matter there. It was a fine line he was treading. Not giving or receiving, but just waiting. Then he almost felt faint as her soft whiskers tickled his ear as she said,

“Thank you again, Jerrie.”

He frowned confusedly, pushed her back a little, and said, “What for?” He saw her look down and he reached his paw up and gently lifted her chin up until she was looking directly at him. Her eyes were searching his for something, he didn’t know what, but he tried to get his eyes to show love and compassion.

“For being there and caring.” she said quietly. He looked into her eyes searching for an answer to his unspoken question. In her eyes, her gorgeous eyes, he saw it: love: pure, simple and unadulterated. Love for him.

She smiled and apparently, her eyes found what they were looking for because she leaned closer to him. What had begun as a small flame quickly quieted. She rubbed noses with him and hesitantly touched her lips to his. Then, the flame roared up and took control of his body. He had no more control over rational thought. Then slowly, she deepened the kiss on him instead of the other way around. Jerrie grabbed her close and hung on to her because he was flying with wings of gods. She had chosen him! He was in ecstasy because she had made the move, not him. He wanted to show her what he was feeling. He wanted her to feel it too. All his mind could focus on was her being in his arms. Her choosing him to be hers. To have and to hold him. Forever. It was that ageless melody of pure, passionate and simple love. The chords hummed through their beings as if they were the bars and the notes were their beating hearts. Only lovers can feel it and those who have know what it is.

He felt her paws wrap around his waist sensually and her tongue played across his lips. She was being demanding, taking and not giving. He moved his mouth from hers and kissed down her neck. He knew his kisses were heavy with lust, but also with love. He felt her lean back, giving in to his advances. His tail took hers and played with it. Then he felt her paws move lower, her claws slightly out, but not enough to hurt him. Just enough to make him shiver. Her paw moved lower and suddenly, Heaven. He was floating in the air. He felt drunk. Drunk on love as her touch sent pleasant shivers down his spine. He looked down at her with passion-filled eyes, searching hers for the answer to his question…

Then he clearly saw her eyes answer, ‘Yes.’ He leaned down and fully kissed her, his tongue dueling with hers as they shared a love that couples have. He kept kissing her and it was heaven all over again. Never would anybody ever hurt her. She was his and he was hers. As they collapsed in each other’s arms, he knew without a doubt that she loved him.

(Rumpleteazer)

Her eyes searched his and his searched hers. They were both looking for the same thing and then, there it was: Love. Love for her. Not caring about what had already happened or what was happening now, but just what was. It was so simple and yet complex. Clear and muddy at the same time.

Like something she had heard once, “O Heavy lightness, Serious vanity, Misshapen chaos of well seeming forms…” It was contradictory.

She also knew that he had found her love for him shining in her eyes. His love for her was like a beacon coming from a lighthouse to chase away the shadows. He was offering her a new life, a different way to live and she took it. She rubbed her nose with his and slowly kissed him on the mouth. She took his offer of a new and different life. A heat flash fell on her as she made contact. She had answered his question and accepted him. This wouldn’t be like the first time he had loved her, it would be different. Rumpleteazer knew that it was a promise. A promise to keep forever. Much like a wedding vow it seemed. She wrapped her paws around his muscular waist as she deepened the kiss. She felt as if she was flying on the wings of a song. A song not written down, but still known, a song without tune, but still sung: it was the song of lovers. It moved through her body as she touched him. She kissed him with everything she had. She was in control now and he knew it. She let her tongue play across his lips as a sound halfway between a purr and a growl rose from him. He followed her, matching her touch for touch, unspoken thought for unspoken thought. Then she gave in as she felt his lips move to her neck and lower. She had chosen and given and now it was time for him to take.

She felt his tail connect with hers and played with it. She unsheathed her claws slightly as she moved her paws lower. She touched him and he looked at her. His eyes, filled with wanting, glanced over her body and then looked into her eyes again asking one final question. She knew what it was and she knew what her answer would be. It was the question that could change her life. She felt her eyes clearly say one simple word, ‘Yes.’ At that instant, the music of love they had made soared up to unbelievable heights as they shared a couples’ love. He continued to kiss her. The music died down to a soft, lilting tune as they lay contentedly in each other’s arms, but it was still there.

And she was in her Jerrie’s arms. She would have him forever and vice-versa. Their tails were still entwined and both calico bodies were purring softly. She knew and felt that she was safe with him. She was somehow relieved, exhilarated, and relaxed. Lying in his arms, Teazer knew that she was different from the broken, beaten cat that stumbled into the Jellicle Junkyard a week ago. She knew that her old life was gone and a new one was there. It was the dawn colors breaking over the horizon and washing everything in a warm golden glow. It was here with Mungojerrie that her new life had begun.