HAT: This is a one-shot of how Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer may have become agents of Macavity and all that good junk. Hope that you all enjoy! Oh, and before you move on... THIS IS MY 50TH STORY! I felt I should do it with something special, and even though I have, what feels like, a million things planned in CATS fan fiction (you have NO idea how many stories are in my computer at the moment... basically you'll have a lot of reading material if I get everything I've started writing finished and posted) so this is why I made this one from scratch, brand spankin' new for all of you... fudge it I rhymed... Welp, continue.
He never wanted to do it. He never wanted to resort to doing something so low in order to get where they wanted to be, but he had no choice considering the circumstances. There was never a choice...
He looked down at his dying twin sister. To him, she was everything. She was the only thing he ever had in this world and if he loses her he loses everything. What would life be worth without his sister? He doesn't even want to imagine because there is no world without his twin at his side. Not to him and not for very long.
"Come on, Teaze, I'm gonna get you better," he promises, carding the small calico queen to his chest. "It's gonna be okay."
That last part wasn't for her and he knew it. It was for himself because if he didn't believe he knew he'd break and not even get her to the chance that he needs to save. her. He takes a deep breath and blinks away the tears in his dark brown eyes and they flash with a hint of green when determination sets in and he rushes to the place that will contain that cats meant to save her. Regret stabs in his heart, but it would be better if his sister lives. He rushes inside after briefly explaining to the guards that he has to get his sister help.
Dear Everlasting, forgive me, he thinks as he looks up at the tall, ginger cat that holds his sister's fate in his paws.
"What do you want?" the deep, baritone voice asks, his yellow gaze scrutinizing the calico pair.
"I want you to save my sister," comes the Cockney accented reply. "Please, I'll do anything!"
"Anything?"
"Yes! Please, she's dying!"
The tri-colored tom slowly saunters over and then takes the queen in his arms, making her look pathetically puny. After murmuring a chant that the calico tom can't understand he can see magic working on his sister. Worry bubbles in his chest and he has to fight the urge to bite his knuckle. When his sister's finished with he can see that her breathing is even and there's color under her fur again. He only relaxes the worry likes on his face when she's in his arms again.
"There, she's all better," the criminal says, a smirk on his face.
Smirks aren't good.
"Thank you... thank you so much," the male calico replies, relief now not the only emotion, but worry once again.
Whatever happens next will be worth it. She's still alive, he assures himself.
"Well, as for my payment in return for saving your sister... I want the both of you to work for me."
"Wh-what?"
"You heard me, Mungojerrie, I want you and Rumpelteazer to work for me," the yellow eyed tom purrs.
"Is there anything else?"
A frown. "If there were anything I were interested in, I would've given you options. Don't worry, you won't have to kill cats for a few weeks, but you will be stealing what I tell you."
What have I done? Mungojerrie wonders as he pales. He has no choice otherwise who knows what the Napoleon of Crime will do to his beloved sister. "Y-Yes, boss."
"Boss... I like it," purrs the fiend in feline shape before turning around and summoning a white queen that if Mungojerrie weren't in this predicament, would stare at blatantly with lust. "Griddlebone here will show you your new den. If you work your way high enough you may be staying with some very rich humans within the year."
That perks the tom-kit's interest and makes him lick his lips. He and his sister have always had some greed in them, but who doesn't? Still, they've been good pickpockets for a long time and can sneak in anywhere that they want. How else would they get to this city? Guilt stabs his heart as his mind turns to the ones that saved him and his sister in the first place. He'll be betraying them by doing this. Heck, he's betrayed them by relying on this cat to practically revive his sister. Still, as a Jellicle and as a tom (kit, but nevertheless, still a tom), he has to honor his word.
"Yes, sir," the calico says, carrying his sister after the white queen to their new secondary quarters.
It's been about three years since this happened. Rumpelteazer, as expected, was furious with her brother for doing this, but after he broke down in tears, she softened up. No, she was still infuriated and unwilling to do as her brother had agreed to with Macavity, but there was no choice in the matter. Who knew what the Hidden Paw would do to them if they declined. They never told their tribe why they stole so much or exactly how they ended up living in a large, luxurious house near Bustopher Jones on Victorian Grove.
Mungojerrie did a lot. He took the load off of his sister's shoulders when it came to killing cats and always had her turn away when he did it. He'd take the brunt of any beating until he was unconscious for her when it came to rough spots whether in the assassination or thieving, and he gained the reputation, more or less, by himself while Rumpelteazer's title as an agent was only slight due to her link to him. The tribe found out and were furious, screaming at the tom, but calmed after Rumpelteazer explained part of the situation, never giving away the terrible things he did in order to preserve her life.
Then one day something changed.
He snapped.
Rumpelteazer had been sorting out their extensive stash when she heard something.
She pricks her ears and looks around. If she listens hard enough it sounds like sobbing. She weaves her way through the treasures, both meaningless and meaningful, and finds her tiger-striped brother sitting in a human child's chair and hunching over while crying quietly into his fist while biting onto it so hard that he's bleeding. There's blood mingle with tears on his thighs and slowly dripping to the ground beneath. She rushes forward and uses her thumb and index to grip his cheeks at the back of the jaw and squeeze his jaws open before forcing his bleeding paw into his lap.
When she releases his face she nearly gasps. His face is... well, for lack of a better term, worn out. It seems as if he's at least a decade older than he really is and his eyes are rimmed with read while his eyes are a dull dark brown color full of pain, guilt, and hopelessness. This isn't the face of a young adolescent. This is the face of an old tom full of regrets. She, for the millionth time since that day three years ago, wishes that she didn't talk him into going out that night and get attacked by a pack of pekes.
"Jerrie," she whispers softly, holding his face between her hands, afraid he's as fragile as a kitten and will break if she lifts her voice or holds his face any tighter. "Shh, shh... what's wrong?"
He looks so ready to break that she wants to take it back and hold him, but before she could do anything he speaks with a croaky voice. "There's so much I've done, Teaze... I don't wanna do it anymore. It-" he pauses to take a ragged breath and let out a deep sob, "it hurts. All those cats... those kits... so many I've hurt and all to live in the lap of luxury... what kind of life is this if I have to do what I do, Teaze?"
She doesn't know what she can say to that, but she hugs her brother and rubs his back soothingly. "It's okay..."
"No it's not... it'll never be okay. I have too much blood on my paws," he manages to choke out before he lets out a wet, ragged sob and buries his face in her shoulder as he hugs her.
The tiger-striped queen ignores the pain in her ribs from how hard she's being held because she knows that he needs this. Physical contact and to hug her to get a grip. She feels so selfish and she hugs him tighter. She's been coming to him to solve her problems for years when he's done all he can while she's done very little. She's the cause of this, her brother breaking down, and she wants nothing more than to fix it. She's only glad they're in their human's house with the humans occupying it gone otherwise there'd be too much for her brother to handle.
"I'll be right here, Jer, to hold you when the sky falls down," she promises, rocking him gently form side to side and running her fingers through his head fur in a soothing way.
"It's too late," he murmurs.
"It's never too late," she reassures, holding him at arm's length, but keeping a firm grip on him while her dark eyes flash with a hint of green with determination. "You won't have to do any of this anymore... I will."
His red rimmed eyes widen and he shakes his head furiously. "No! You don't know how much it'll tear you apart! I won't allow it."
Her face softens and she sighs softly. "I have an idea... but you can't take it anymore. You stay here and rest while I take care of this mission."
His mouth opens to protest, but she hits a pressure point and he collapses, unconscious and unable to stop his sister from the next mission...
-LINE-
When he opens his eyes he looks up at his sister and sees her crying, blood still on her paws and there's a familiar smell and he straightens up carefully and moves over to her, no longer in his fragile, broken state, but now in his protective brother one.
"Teazer... what happened?"
She lifts her eyes and they're just as broken as his were. "I-I did it... I killed-"
He doesn't need to hear the name to know who she killed. He quickly gathers her in his arms and murmurs assurances, for both her and himself. What's done is done. He regrets everything, putting them through this. He should've gone to the humans or to the Junkyard that day, but it's too late and now he will never redeem himself or his sister...
A silver tabby quietly contemplates, silvery eyes on the sky as the sun sets. The orange and black of the horizon reminds him of two calicos that he used to know. Pain fills his heart as he's reminded of what he had to do. Mungojerrie had jumped forward and claimed to have killed the one his sister did, but after the deed was done Rumpelteazer acme out and confessed over her brothers dead body, looking into silver eyes with dead dark brown eyes.
He winces at the decision he made. Now his younger brother and multiple cats hate him... still, she killed one of the tribe and though her brother didn't, he killed countless other cats. In a way justice was served, but it was still heavy on his heart a year later. They did what they did for the sake of each other. Yes, there were many regrets, but they did it for the ones they cared about most. The silver and black tom closes his eyes and prays silently that their souls are at peace. When he hears familiar laughter, quiet, but recognizable, he opens his eyes and can see their faces smiling as they play. He knows they're happy in the Heaviside Layer and will be reborn into better lives.
"The things you do for love," he murmurs, thinking of their situation, "are endless..."
Mungojerrie & Rumpelteazer: *gapes*
HAT: *gapes before blinking, shaking head, and closing mouth* Even I didn't expect this to come out of me.
Mungojerrie: Did... Did you just kill us?!
HAT: *nods guiltily*
Mungojerrie: Why?!
Rumpelteazer: And who did I kill?!
HAT: I dunno why, and you didn't kill Munkustrap... could've been anyone.
Rumepalteazer: *storms off*
HAT: Wait-
Rumpelteazer: I'm taking your deer bacon!
HAT: D': Nooo!
Mungojerrie: You deserve it. *sighs* Review. *stalks off* I'm taking your root beer.
HAT: *bites bottom lip before shrugging and shaking head* I dunno. I... I'm really afraid to say this but... let me know what you think. *walks off stage*