Disclaimer: I don't own CATS!

Warning: mild language, refferences to drugs and prostitution, and some dark imagery.

Angel obediantly followed Munkus through the streets of London, keeping one hand on her stomach as she wondered what was gonna happen.

Munkus wasn't saying anything, he seemed alert and nervous about where they were, keeping one arm around Angel's shoulders as he led her through a dangerous neighborhood. He looked back and fourth as they went, not wanting to be seen where they were going.

Angel was scared out of her mind, and felt strangely afraid in Munk's presence yet still even more afraid to leave him, since she didn't know what to do. It was a cold night and there were no stars in the sky, as if beauty couldn't exist where they were going.

The air was rank with the smell of unwashed ally cats and rotting garbage from the dumpsters, and the dark outlines of the building they passed seemed forboding as they appeared to blend in with the dark sky.

It felt as if the the pavement was radiating the cold air, and the night seemed so menacing that even the toughest cats didn't usually go into this place at night unless they had to.

There was no real life in this place, it was the sort of neighborhood where nobody walked alone and nobody would notice if you came up missing. A place where shootings and drug wars were a fact of life and empty buildings were any crack head's fare game.

There wasn't a light on in any of the buildings they passed, not a tree or flower planted, and the cars looked as though the only thing holding them together was the rust. Absenities were strewn across the buildings in bold gaffiti letters, and gutters were full of trash bags, and the twists and turns the roads made it easy to get lost.

The exhaustion from walking across town was wearing Angel down, and the wind chilled her to the bone. Her breath was heavy and she felt her heart pounding in her chest, as she looked up and down the unfamiliar, dark streets. But the worst was the fear of what might happen, how she was going to deal with everything that had been thrown at her suddenly like a slap in the face. "I have no way to raise kittens! Munkus and I aren't even adults, and he doesn't have a job..." all these thoughts rushed through her mind in this panicked state, adding to the fear that already gripped her just from being in this place. She just wanted to lay down and rest someplace warm, walking like this beginning to get to her.

"Munkus," she whispered timidly, looking up at her protector with pleading eyes. "Where are we going?"

"Hm? Oh, we're going to stay with a relative of mine. Don't worry, she'll help us get this sorted out," he said, speaking to her in a calm voice, which almost sounded alien in this place.

"Kay..." breathed Angel, to tired to speak much. Her eyelids felt so heavy it was torture to keep walking, but she trudged on down the pavement with Munkus, hoping he would find them a place to stay the night.

Every little noise, the wind, every shadow and unfamiliar sight or smell sent waves of fear through Angel's whole being. She kept her arms wrapped around her stomach protectively, as if that would protect her unborn litter from any vagabond or miscriant she was afraid would pop out at every ally they passed.

It was nerve racking, as they went by street lamps that aluminated dreary allys, buildings in disrepair and thugish looking cats. There were buildings with boarded up windows, overturned garbage cans and the ever present sense that they were being watched.

They could see their breath in the cold night air, and the silence repeatedly inturrupted by unnamed sounds kept them constantly vigilent. Papers blew past their feet in the cold wind, making Angel jump as one blew into her leg, thinking it was some unimagined, disgusting thing you would find in a place like this.

It seemed they had been walking for hours, Angel was cold and tired and sore, but after what seemed like a walk through a nightmare, Munk finally pulled Angel behind a dark, brick building. It seemed obandoned but he looked back and fourth nervously, Angel keeping low. Her teeth chattered and she held herself out of fear as she watched Munks survey the area, checking to make sure they were alone.

Munk was checking to make sure this was the right place, he thought back to the address he had been given and looked up at the one above the door, and then looked back down at Angel, who was huddling up against him. There was garbage littered around the door, and a smell of the different illegal things that went on inside hung around the bared windows and wafted through the door.

Angel was so tired she didn't even try to ask where they were, she just wanted to lay down and get some sleep.

Munk was for the first time afraid, if this was a lab, they could be skinned alive for walking in on it. He took a deep breath of the dank air and finally got up the courage to knock, panic racing through him as he beat the door with his fist before pulling back quickly. He stared up at the door with wide eyes and scratched the pavement with his claws nervously as they waited.

After a moment the door opened slightly, and a small queen with suspicious eyes looked swiftly back and fourth as she stuck her head out before resting them on the two cats that stood there waiting. She half smirked seeing the tabby and opened the door more, raising an eyebrow when Angel burried her face into Munk's fur. "You Munkus?" she asked, with a skanky voice.

"Yeah, is the theater queen here? We need a place to stay, and... we need help," he said, looking up at the cat who was obviously a whore.

"Sure, she's here, come in," she said, opening the door more and chuckling as Angel coward as she was led forward.

Angel was terrified as she followed Munkus into the dark building, as she felt the eyes of the laughing queen watching her with a sense of humor. The building was old and the paint and paper was peeling off the walls. The floor creaked under their feet and the hallways seemed endless, as the passed doors on each side, hiding the activities of other retches making a living. It smelled of mold and sweaty bodies and marajuana and a thousand other unnamed things, breathed in by Angel and coating the inside of her mouth so that she couldn't get the scent out of her head.

They passed pictures hanging crooked and holes in the walls, until the queen who led them pointed to a winding metal staircase that went around to every floor of the building. "She's on the fourth floor, third door down to your left," said the queen, before she gave another irritating little giggle. "Hope she'll help you." And with that the young queen skipped down the hall in a mock delighted way, taunting Munkus and Angel by acting insane. In fact, Munkus suspected she was on something.

Angel felt so weary as she walked up the stairs with Munkus, cringing slightly at the cold metal under her feet and the dizziness when she looked down at the staircase below her.

When they got to the fourth floor they found that the hallway before them was as dreary as the one below, if not slightly more so. There was a molded rug under their feet, but Angel was too tired to notice most of the things that would have normally freaked her out or made her squeamish, instead hoping that she would finally be able to rest.

When they found the right door, Munkus knocked, looking so nervous that even the worn out queen with him noticed, confused, but then the door opened.

"Munkus? Is that you?" asked a voice from inside the dark room, a sound of awe and surprise obvious in the way she asked. But despite her knowing who it was, the cat stayed in the shadows where they could only see her outline.

"Yeah, it's me. Listen, I need help. Can we come it?" he asked, grinning oddly as the door opened more without even a word. The silence between the cats felt strange but went by unnnoticed by Angel, too tired to register anything.

The room was dark say for a lamp on in the corner, revealing a small room with scattered furniture and another room adjoining to it. The strange queen didn't say anything as she watched the tabby leading Angel through the door, she just looked at them both thoughtfully. "After all these years..." she thought, watching her son.

Angel quietly followed as Munkus led her through the room, not noticing anything until he helped her down onto a comfortable couch and she felt herself sink into it. Suddenly for a brief moment the world was as it should have been, and she could finally rest.

But then without warning their strange turned up the light lamp and moved the shade to the side, brightening the room suddenly and bringing Angel back from the brink of sleep. Her eyes opened wide and she looked up at Munks, the light giving her a headache and burning her eyes, keeping her from sleep.

"Angel," whispered Munkus, close to her ear, I'd like for you to meet someone." Angel looked up at the older queen, unsure of whether she had ever seen her before.

The queen was tall and had a slim figure, her head fur longer than most cats and loosely curled. Her coat was silvery and came up in a collar that only added to her stature, and her blue eyes stood out against her face. She stood as if on a pedestal, and her face seemed elegant and almost royal.

But despite all these attributes, she had a tired look about her, as if she were somehow trying too hard to keep her beauty. She was like a fading rose. It was something about the way she kept her stomach constantly sucked in as she tried not to breathe, about her makeup and the ribbons around her ears, about the way she carried herself.

But still she was haunting, mysterious in that she took everyone's breath away just by her presence. She was, Grizabella, the Glamour Cat.

"This," said Munkus, as the queen straightened herself up, "is my mother, Grizabella."

Angel wanted to say something, but just couldn't find the words. She didn't know whether to start with 'thank you for the place to stay,' or 'I've heard so much about you.' So instead of saying anything, the shocked queen stared stupidly, making Munkus feel awkward and uncomfortable.

After a minute, the glamour cat smiled in a sassy way, as if teasing Angel slightly. "So you're another speechless fan, are you?"

"Oh, Griz," muttered Munkus, gripping his face.

"Hey, I was just asking," she said, putting her hand on her hips. "And it's Bella, it means beautiful."

"Well, Bella, you don't have any fans left, most are too embarrassed to say they ever liked you. And this is what you're left to. Your life has amounted to shit." His harsh words seemed to cut through the air, but Grizabella didn't even flinch.

"That's what you think. But guess who got the spot as aria at the Mozart Memorial Opera? That's right, my position as manager here is only temporary, I've got a signed contract and everything. I'm back in the big time."

"Really," said Munks in disbelief, and then looked over at Angel and saw the exhaustion in her eyes as she struggled to keep them open. "From a bordello to the opera. eh?"

"That's right, and I'm also doing a series of cat food commercials soon, we're going to start filming the first one next month," she said, holding herself in a way that showed pride, as if there was any if cat food adds. "But enough about me," she continued, as her eyes fell on Angel again. "Who's this? I heard you call her Angel."

"Well, mother, we should really talk about this in the other room, so we don't keep my queenfriend up," he said, moving the lampshade and darkening the room again. He said this as if he were hiding something, and Angel suspected it had to do with her being pregnant and him being embarrassed.

Grizabella nodded and led her son to the door that led into her bedroom, turning out the lamp there in the den and closing the door behind her.

Angel wearily rested a hand on her stomach as her eyes closed, still unsure of what would happen. Her ears twitched as she heard the sound of Munkus talking to his mother in the next room, and even picking up a word here and there.

"Yeah, we can make arrangements," she heard Grizabella say from the next room, but she was too tired to wonder what she meant, and was soon fast asleep.

I'd just like to apologize that I'm drawing this out so much, one of the things I'm attempting with this story is making it long and drawn out so that you're pulled into the long, drawn out agony of the characters.