A/N: There was much debate where I should post this story, under what pen name, whether I should post it at all, but I had so much fun writing it, and am so relieved this semester is (unofficially) over, that I just HAD to post something in celebration. A little different from what people usually see from me (hence the debate - and when I say debate, I mean me thinking about it for a while), but there are so many dark fics I don't post, that I thought I should break the ice with one of my darkest ones. I hope you enjoy, and I hope I accomplished what I set out to do with it. I worked very hard on it, and still am (the later chapters still need revising.)

Now be aware, this is a MATURE rated fic! That means that it can be rated this way due to sexual content, strong language, blood and gore, and/or intense violence, and overall storyline that is intended for someone who can handle it. My story may or may not contain what's listed above and more, but yeah, it's rated Mature, and so you have been advised.

Disclaimer: Cats is not mine, it belongs to T.S.Eliot, Andrew Lloyd Webber, R.U.G., and whatnot, and thank God for their existence, or Cats would never exist, and I might have become obsessed with, I don't know, what's something random? ...Snails. I might have become obsessed with snails. Did you know that snails eat with their radula? (Heh, anyways...)


Chapter one –

Munkustrap sat in his den, daring to dream about anything that had to do with catnip, when all of a sudden he was pinned to the ground. He looked up to see Demeter sitting on his back, smiling devilishly.

"Got ya," she said.

"I let you," he said, shifting his weight until Demeter fell off of him.

"Oh, sure," she said, beginning to get up, but the tom now pinned her arms to the ground. Demeter's brow went up, as she tried hard not to smile now that her mate was on top of her. "What makes you think I'm going to let you do that, huh?"

He didn't need to answer. He just brought his lips to hers and began kissing her tenderly, becoming more passionate with each kiss. This grew in intensity until she let out a soft moan.

"Hmm," he said, pulling away and smiling down at her. "That's what makes me think you're going to let me do that."

Demeter let out a fake sigh of disappointment. "I seem to have betrayed myself, haven't I?"

He kissed her on the neck, running his paw down her sides, causing her to squirm and gasp in surprise. "I'll stop if you ask me to," he said coyly, licking her cheek affectionately.

"No fair," she groaned. "You know I never would."

He gave a playful growl as he nipped at her ear. "I know."

There were voices somewhere in the junkyard, and it sounded either like an argument or some other form of disorder.

"Munkustrap," Demeter gasped, her ears perking up to the sound. "Don't you think you should--"

"Ignore it," he said. He was nibbling that one spot on her neck that made her gladly ignore any commotion in the tribe, even if it did seem they were calling her mate's name. She hardly wanted him to hear them calling his name before she was doing so. So she began running her paws down his back, down his sides, until she caused him to moan as well. Things were just about to get a little more playful when--

"MUN-KUS-STRAP!" The tom broke apart from his mate and looked up in surprise to see Bombalurina standing at the entrance of their den with her paws on her hips. "No wonder you haven't been answering our calls," the queen accused.

Demeter, embarrassed, buried her face into Munkustrap's chest. The tom, however, took a different approach to being interrupted.

"WHAT?" he asked, growling for emphasis. He held Demeter close, bowing his head close to hers, as though trying to help her hide.

"You might want to take care of this. The kittens have been harassed on their way here, and I don't think we can ignore this."

"You mean you don't think I can ignore it," Munkustrap corrected. He pulled Demeter with him to sit up, and the queen pulled away from the tom, not daring to look up at the intruder on their alone time. The silver tabby, however, seemed to take to his duties again as though nothing had just happened. "Are all the kittens here? Safe?"

"Well, the ones that aren't home," Bombalurina offered.

"Which are…?"

"Victoria and Jemima. The rest of the kittens are here and are going to stay with Jenny and Skimble for the night."

"Well, Munkustrap said, glancing towards Demeter, who was looking away. He lifted her chin with his paw so she would have to look up at him. "Victoria is safe as long as Mistoffelees is with her, as he always is when she's not here, and if Jemima isn't here by the afternoon, she's not about to come here. Her owners don't let her out that late. So…" He gave a coy smile to Demeter. "What's the hurry?"

"I'm going to stand right here until you go," Bombalurina threatened.

"Then we'll move to a different den," Munkustrap countered.

"This is important! I can't believe I have to actually tell you that!"

"And it can wait, with no danger tonight!"

"Do you really want to take that chance that this be the one night Victoria sneaks off on her own without her big brother by her side? I mean, do you really? What kind of would-be leader would do such a thing? To his own tribe? To his family? Who count on you and expect you to put us first? I mean, if Old Deuteronomy died right now and you took over, would you say, 'Sorry, I want to be alone with my mate. The tribe will have to wait until I'm done getting lucky'? I expect this sort of thing from Tugger, but not from you, Munkustrap. Not from a caring, diligent individual such as yourse--"

"FINE!" he said finally, letting out a sigh. "I'll be right there, give me a few minutes."

Bombalurina laughed. "Only a few minutes? How disappointing that must be for Demeter."

Demeter let out a laugh, but at the look Munkustrap gave her, she cleared her throat and said with an indignant tone, "Bomba, that was uncalled for."

"And?" he asked.

"Very untrue."

"So there," Munkustrap said smugly, sticking his tongue out at the queen.

Bombalurina snorted. "My goodness, Tiger, you're such a nerd." Before he could counter, she sauntered off.

Demeter sighed and let herself fall against Munkustrap. He gladly wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the top of her head. "I better go," he said.

"And after this, we're moving out of the junkyard, so we can have some time to ourselves," Demeter said resolutely.

He chuckled. "If that's what you want. Of course, that wouldn't be such a big problem if you would just move in with my humans. They're very nice to cats. Give you good meals…sometimes chicken scraps off the table. Yum, yum."

"How very convincing," Demeter giggled. "You keep saying that, and I keep saying no."

"And each time, your 'no's are a little less committal. I'm breaking you down, you know it."

"Yes, it's the chicken that's the clincher," Demeter mused. The tom squeezed her a little tighter, possibly as a punishment. "Well, I suppose having you there is a good thing, too…"

"You suppose?" he asked. "When I get back, I'm going to have to do a lot more convincing, it seems." With that, he nuzzled her cheek, before getting up reluctantly. He still held her paw, gazing into her eyes. "Don't look at me like that," he whispered. "It makes it very hard to leave right now."

"Like what?" she asked playfully.

"Like you're completely and utterly, head over heels in love with me," he said melodramatically.

"Oh, you must be reading my eyes wrong," Demeter shrugged. "That couldn't possibly be what they're saying."

"Is that right?" Munkustrap asked. "Then what are they saying?"

At this point, Bombalurina filled the door frame again, rolling her eyes. "They're saying 'get your tail out there and do your job!' Everlasting Cat!"

Munkustrap frowned at Bombalurina, before turning to kiss Demeter on the lips. He then made his way out of the den, roughly brushing past Bombalurina on his way out.

Demeter bit her lip as she looked up at Bombalurina. The red queen put her paw to her forehead, as though checking her temperature. "I think that made me sick."

"Bomba," Demeter said, leaving it at that, and shaking her head.

---------

Dusk, and the sun had set, leaving the remnant straggling light to follow its source. Munkustrap got all the information he could about the harassment the others had been receiving, and went on his way to resolve the matter. He had assumed it was some alley cats, but there was something about this situation that had him feeling uneasy. It was probably best he did get it resolved right away, and he realized why Bombalurina was so steadfast in having him check it out that night. It wasn't just harassment the kittens endured, as told by the scratches that riddled Etcetera's face. Someone was challenging the Jellicles.

Munkustrap trotted along the dark streets, finding nothing of interest on the routes the kittens took. Not even a Pollicle. There was a reason they had chosen those routes to go to the junkyard. They passed innocent landmarks, such a shopping districts or markets or parks, where mostly humans went and no animal threats were about.

But one park did call his attention. Munkustrap's fur went on end as he passed a route used by Etcetera that passed an open field the humans used for sports.

The tom looked about, slowly entering the park. He began to wish he had brought someone with him, but there weren't many cats in the junkyard that night, and he thought it pointless at the time to go out of his way to find any able bodied tom to go with him. Not to mention he felt better leaving them to guard the kittens at the yard.

It had rained recently, and the ground was still muddy. And freezing, for that matter. The only reason Munkustrap was able to tolerate the cold was through his thick coat, but his feet were beginning to feel frostbitten. That, along with the thought it would rain again soon, and the mud caking onto him, made him think that going home and waiting until morning was best. The mist from the grass was wetting through to his fur, either way, and putting him in a foul mood. Perhaps he would go home and try to clean off a bit before he let Demeter see him so messy.

The tom turned to go back, when he saw two red eyes staring at him. Munkustrap gasped as he recognized Macavity coming out from the shadows, a devilish smile on his lips.

----------

Bombalurina was sitting near the Rum Tum Tugger, who had happened to be passing that night when he heard what had happened to the kittens, particularly his best fan girl. A few of the cats had gotten together to tell stories, hoping to make the kittens feel better. Etcetera and Electra were already in higher spirits, being able to have the maned tom put his arms around them.

Demeter had joined them there, more listening to stories than telling them. (The kittens would be far more interested in any stories the Rum Tum Tugger had to tell rather than she.) He was just finishing up a story about how he found and adopted his human when Demeter shot up from her spot with a small gasp.

She looked around, her eyes wide, her ears perked up. After a moment, Bombalurina asked, "What is it?" Demeter realized that everyone was looking at her, nervous. She didn't mean to spoil the mood… "It's not that damn Macavity again, is it?"

"…I don't know," she admitted. "I thought I heard someone calling my name…"

"I didn't hear anything," Alonzo said, who was now standing up and ready for whatever came their way, as he was the protection of the group that night.

"Me neither," Pouncival said, who despite his devil-may-care attitude, was huddled up close to Jennyanydots.

"Hmm," Demeter said, trying to act like it was nothing. But the thought chilled her…because for the first time her intuition kicked in like that, she wasn't frightened. Which for some reason, made her more scared.

After a few moments of silence, Plato popped up and pointed his paw towards the entrance of the junkyard. "Look!" he said. Everyone looked over to see Munkustrap hobbling his way towards them, covered in mud.

"Munkustrap!" Jennyanydots said before anyone else could react. "What happened to you!?" She rushed over and started to fuss over him, but the tom pulled away, almost violently, which caused the queen to stop. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," he said gruffly, looking at the queen with contempt.

Bombalurina got up and walked over, putting her paws on her hips. "You don't look fine, Tiger," she said. "And you sure as hell aren't acting fine either."

He gave a softer expression to Bombalurina. "I'm fine. Just need to rest."

Demeter walked up to him, not sure what to make of his wounds. "You could let Jenny look at your leg, at least," she said with concern. "You were limping in." At that moment, the two made eye-contact, and Demeter stopped in her tracks.

Frozen for a moment, she couldn't place the unsettling feeling she was getting. That look he was giving her! It wasn't a bad look, just uncharacteristic for him…so intense, so passionate, so…she didn't even know how to describe. It was as though he saw her for the first time after years apart.

After a moment of silence, she broke her gaze, and tried not to look him directly into his eyes. "What is it?"

"Nothing…" he said. "I just…forgot how beautiful you are." Demeter felt her cheeks blush. It wasn't like him to give such public displays of affection. In fact, the rest of the tribe awed at the comment, causing him to look particularly annoyed rather than embarrassed.

"I'm going to bed," he announced to the others, walking up to Demeter and taking her paws. She felt a little awkward at the motion. "Care to join me?"

Demeter was silent for a moment. Finally, she nodded. "Sure…" And on the way back to their den, she couldn't help but keep a close eye on him.