A/N: Hi everybody! I'm really, really, really sorry that this was so long coming, but a lot of stuff has happened for me and I swear the lack of activity was not without reason.

That being said, I published a brand new story just last week, and you can find the reasons for my long absence in the first author's note of its first chapter. I got to suggest that book category too, so mine is the very first story to be published under that category! Is that awesome or what?!

Anyway. I have reread all of Purrfection from beginning to end and, while I am sad to say that I don't actually remember much of what I intended for the plot, I do recall some bits and pieces. The show will go on, and maybe whatever I come up with the second time around will be even better.

I hope you aren't too disappointed in the first chapter posted upon my return, as I'm forcing myself to write in an attempt to get past the writer's block. I have some of the inspiration back, but I could really use some more, so I hope to see some happy reviews!

Chapter 10

Wanted: Dead or Alive

{Third Person}

In a small coffee shop that rested between two considerably larger restaurants, two Egyptian women sat together in a booth, both of them pouring over a shared newspaper. They were well-known historians Sabu Byll and her mentor, Lara Bligze. Lara was considerably older, looking to be in her fifties while Sabu seemed to have hardly reached twenty-five. Lara's hair was brown with a few streaks of gray, but her eyes were still bright with internal youth, the elegant color of hazel. Sabu's hair was black as midnight, but her eyes were a striking forest green—nearly the same as Bast herself.

"Another one," Sabu murmured sadly, her lips curved downward in a mournful frown.

Lara nodded her agreement, touching one finger to the single section of text in the article that they were both fixated upon:

In the aftermath of the tragedy, nearly all of the museum's precious historical artifacts were lost. Approximately fifty of their most preserved items were recovered from the safe they were kept in, but amidst the ruins, one single item was completely unaccounted for: an ancient Egyptian bronze statue of Bast the cat goddess. The figurine stands two feet tall and is missing its right eye as well as the sapphire scarab that would normally adorn its brow. Any information regarding the whereabouts of this priceless artifact will be greatly rewarded.

"What do we do now?" Sabu asked, utterly crestfallen. They had come so very close to finally catching up with the statue, and maybe even being able to purchase it if the museum had accepted their bid. They had been tracking the statue for years, locating the piece only to lose it to an inferno when they were mere hours from it.

Lara shook her head slowly, releasing a weary sigh as she sipped from her coffee. "I don't know. After twenty-eight fiery failures, I'm starting to believe that she doesn't want us to find her."

"Do you think she is even aware of us?"

"I don't know how she could be," Lara conceded, "but it seems a bit more than coincidence that every time we are within a few miles of the statue, its current housing location burns to the ground. Don't you find that a bit odd?"

"Perhaps Bast is trying to tell us something?" Sabu proposed, shifting in her seat to face Lara properly and meet her gaze. She lowered her voice to a quiet murmur, leaning close. "Perhaps we were not meant to be the ones to reach it."

The thought sent a chill up the older woman's spine, but she managed to smother the shiver before it could quake her form. "If it is unaccounted for—neither damaged nor protected in the safe—then we can only assume that it was stolen. Again." The statue had a notorious habit of vanishing from the scene of every single fire it started, but it always revealed itself within six months. Whoever was responsible for stealing it usually found his or her own house burning down before too long. And then, of course, it was usually sent to another museum, where she and Sabu would track it down only for another blaze to ruin their chances of reclaiming it.

Sabu released a long, heavy sigh. "So, we wait it out?"

Lara nodded slowly. "That is all we can do, Sabu." She slid her coffee aside, lowering her gaze to the featured photograph of the statue next to the text of the article. She stared into the depiction's single eye, almost swearing she could hear it laughing at them, see its mirth even through time and space. "That is all we can do."

{Darius}

This had to be a nightmare. It just had to be.

A whopping two weeks had passed since Gina's confrontation with Ian at the museum, and already her face was everywhere. That conniving little rat had gone to Scotland Yard and reported that he had seen Gina making off with the statue. He told them that he had fought her for it, tried his best to get it away from her to return it to the museum curator, but she'd had a knife and he had been unarmed. It explained the scratches he had all over his body, so of course they had believed him.

And the worst part? The general public believed him too because, apparently, the last two people were on their way out of the museum when they actually witnessed Gina running for the exit, the statue in her arms, and Ian pursuing her. Now, even if our parents hadn't been looking for us, they were going to be seeing Gina's face all over the place. Just. Freaking. Great.

Furious at the way things had turned around on us, I shredded the paper I held with my claws, baring my sharpened canines in a feral hiss. Not only was Gina stuck in the junkyard now, but the rest of us would have to watch our backs as well because I seriously doubted Ian would have left us out of his story. He probably told everyone that we regularly hung out together and that we were probably in cahoots with her. They would be looking for all of us. Either way it went, we were wanted. Ian wanted us dead, and the police and are parents wanted us alive. A tidbit of Bon Jovi played in my mind, but it wasn't enough to abate my anger.

Gina sat curled into a dejected ball a few yards from where I paced, surrounded by Lisa on her right and Zack to her left. Demeter was on Lisa's lap with one paw resting softly on Gina's elbow. Bomba sat next to Gina's foot with her head and ears drooped. Skimble and Misto rested next to Bomba, both laying down. Skimble looked shocked while Misto looked pensive. I'd just finished reading the story to the lot of them, and Gina was absolutely shattered.

"I can't believe this," she whimpered, tears pouring down her cheeks. "How could things have gone so wrong so fast?"

"People just didn't see enough," Demeter said softly, trying to soothe Gina's upset. "They know what they saw, but they don't know the details of what they saw."

"They have no idea that Ian has the statue and he's lying," Lisa added, reaching to put her arm around Gina's shoulders just under where Zack's arm already rested.

"What can we do?" Bomba asked forlornly, and Skimble shook his head.

"We need more information," I said, finally stopping my pacing in order to face them all. "Since Ian is a cat too, that means he was created by someone. We need to know who his master is. If we know that, maybe we'll have a better idea of what our options are."

"Not like he'll just tell us if we ask him," Zack said, shifting uneasily.

"Which is exactly why we need to be even more cunning than he is," Lisa said, catching on. "We need to figure out a way to get him to leak information."

Misto suddenly sat up straight, ears pricking as his eyes widened. Through the spiritual connection, I felt his burst of excitement. "By jove, I've got it!" The rest all turned to him, and I went closer to join them on the ground. "A spy."

"That's it? A spy?" Gina asked skeptically, frowning and furrowing her brow. "That feels too obvious."

"Precisely," Misto said, turning about on his haunches to face everyone at once. "He'll never suspect it, and that's why he'll accept it."

We were silent for a bit, all of us considering the implications and possibilities. "Who would go?" Lisa piped up, breaking the silence.

"It'll have to be one of us," Misto said, fixing his gaze on Dem, Bomba, and Skimble. "They don't know who breathed the life into the Guardians, so they'll never know that we have a spiritual link and can convey information without ever leaving. All we have to do is pretend we're outraged that humans are staying in the yard and say we want them out."

The other cats ears pricked up and their tails flicked enthusiastically. "Brilliant!" Demeter praised.

"It's perfect!" Skimble agreed.

"No it's not," Lisa argued, shaking her head in dismay.

"What do you mean?" I asked, still too angry at our misfortunes to think logically like she clearly was.

"For one thing, if you mention humans in the yard, he'll guess that we're the humans you're talking about. They'll know where we are, and they can attack the junkyard. There are kittens here. Even if you modify your excuse for wanting to join Ian and his master, what if something happens to one of you? We need you to survive, remember? If anything at all goes wrong and you die, one of us will too."

I'm pretty sure we all paled a few shades as we realized Lisa was right. "One of us then," I muttered quietly when I remembered how to breathe.

"But what about training?" Bomba objected, her tail twitching agitatedly.

Misto shook his head. "There's nothing for it, Bomba. We don't have many options, and already the situation is becoming desperate."

"We could send one of the other cats," Bomba proposed. "We could send Admetus or Pouncival. They both know how to fight—we could even call for Rumpus Cat!"

Before she was even finished, Misto and I were both shaking our heads. I knew the rub just as well as my creator. "They would have to leave the other place and come here in order to give word. If they sent messengers very often, Ian's master might get suspicious of all the external communication," I explained, earning a nod and proud smile from Misto.

"Wait, what about Cori or Tomi?" Lisa suggested, and Dem let out a sad sigh.

"We don't know where Ian is based. Cori and Tomi can't be too far apart for very long or they'll both fall ill," she said. "They need to be close to each other for their telepathic link to work properly."

"Like I said...nothing for it," Misto said regretfully. There was another long silence. I let my gaze roam over my friend's faces, contemplating the fact that one of us was about to be separated from the rest, and there was no guarantee we would see them again anytime soon, if at all.

"I'll go," Zack said firmly, and I snapped my gaze back to him from Lisa. His jaw was set, and he looked ready to meet our foe and promptly wring his neck.

Gina's eyes widened, and she grasped his shirt tightly. "Oh no you won't!" she hissed, staring at him with intense fear.

"Yes I will," he said, eyeing her just as intensely. "I know how to fight. I took Kung Fu and Tae Kwon Do. If it isn't too big of a situation yet, then I can snap the cat's neck and take it and Ian out; kill two birds with one stone, you know."

"And what if it isn't that simple?" Gina demanded, her eyes already growing misty as she knew there would be no convincing Zack otherwise.

"Then I'll do what I originally went for and get as much information as I can to all of you through Skimble."

"There's only one more problem I see with this," Lisa interjected. "They'll know someone created you. What will you tell them happened to your cat?"

Zack pursed his lips and furrowed his brow, thinking hard. "I could...oh bloody 'ell," he muttered irritably.

"You tell them that you absorbed the soul of your creator," another voice cut in, and we all turned in surprise to see Old Deuteronomy.

"Uhhh...sir?" Zack asked, his voice dripping with confusion.

Old Deuteronomy smiled softly and strolled forward on his wobbly legs, seating himself right in front of Zack. "It is a carefully guarded secret that I have never revealed to anyone, but it can be done. This bond is not entirely one way. If a catperson truly wishes, he or she may absorb the remaining soul from the feline host, thus killing the cat while the catperson lives on in full glory."

"Has that—has that ever happened before?" Gina asked, her voice tremoring just a little.

Deuteronomy's smile turned to one of sadness. "Unfortunately, it has happened once before. You will tell your foe that you took the soul from your creator, and you are now a full-fledged feline yourself."

"What would that even look like?" I asked, perplexed and intrigued in spite of myself.

"It would not look as you do, but I am counting on the fact that your enemy will not know this fact," the old cat replied, meeting my gaze steadily. "After all, I am certain that the enemy cannot possibly be my age." Demeter and Bomba both giggled. Turning his gaze back to Zack, Deuteronomy placed his paw on Zack's shoe. "Now then, you'd best ready yourself and say your farewells. The sooner we put this plan into action, the better off we will all be."

Zack nodded slowly. "Yes sir."

"Good. May Bast be with you and place her paw of favor upon you in your journey," Deuteronomy replied, nodding to each of us before turning to hobble back toward his tire.

We just sat there for a short time, memorizing each other's faces. Dem had moved to Lisa's shoulders to provide her with the sight to do the same. I reached out, gripping Zack's shoulder firmly. "Be careful man," I said, managing to summon a small smile.

"Me? Careful?" he replied, flashing both of his sharp fangy canines at me in a wide grin. "I live for trouble, remember?"

We laughed, gratified by the release of tension, even if it was only a little.

{Gina}

About half an hour later, we all stood near the junkyard gate, the entire Jellicle tribe gathered as well. The news had spread quickly once Dem and Bomba went to tell everyone, and by the time Zack joined us with a bag of necessities, everyone was present. There was almost a physical ache in my chest as I looked at him, my gut clenching as if it was our first date all over again.

I'd had a major crush on Zack from the first moment I saw him—a real love-at-first-sight, Cupid's-arrow-in-the-buttocks ordeal. I never knew if he felt the same way, but Lisa liked to insist that he was so enraptured after meeting me that he dug out his school annual from the year before just to find a picture of me to stare at. It sounded like something he would do, which made the joke all the more hilarious. I doubted that was the case though. We were friends for all of three months before he asked me to dinner, and to this day I swear I would have made an absolute fool of myself if Lisa hadn't been there to help me accept smoothly.

Now, as I watched him saying farewell to the cats, Darius, and Lisa, it struck me that it was a very real possibility that none of our future scenarios would ever come true. He might never have the chance to propose to me. I might never have the chance to say yes. We might never raise children, bicker over which of us is the bad parent, disturb the neighbors when we fight because I grounded Ethan but Zack let him go out with his friends, or make up late at night when all the rest of the world is sleeping. We might never celebrate each other's eightieth birthdays, complain to our grandkids about how we hate the retirement home their parents put us in, or enjoy coffee together while we share a porch swing and hold hands, soaking up the morning sun.

We might never love again.

As Zack reached me, I stared up into his eyes, my own streaming tears that I didn't even try to slow or stop. He drew me into his arms, neither of us saying a word. What was there to be said? As I pressed my cheek into his shoulder, I realized that everyone was either looking the other way or leaving, respectfully giving us our moment of privacy. I held him tightly, begging Bast to keep him safe.

"I love you, Gina," he purred softly, shocking me with both the words spoken and the audible catch in his voice. He was crying too. It was the first time he had said he loved me, and I was at once overjoyed to hear it and enraged that it had to come when I could very well be seeing and touching him for the very last time.

"I love you too," I sobbed, and decided that I was going to present him with my own first. I pulled back just enough to tip my head back and meet his gaze. I studied his tear-filled blue eyes, that oh so perfect shade of blue that I would never be able to find or replicate anywhere else. I lifted my hand and rested my palm against his jaw, hesitating for only an instant before stretching up on my toes to press my lips to his.

I kept my eyes open for a moment or two, watching his eyes widen in surprise, blink, and then close as he kissed me back. I let my own eyes close, and his arms tightened around me. We held it for a long time, not wanting to let it end, but when it finally did, he was the one to withdraw. His hands held my face, wiping my tears away tenderly.

"I will come back to you," he promised, and my chest spasmed painfully.

"You better," was all I could manage.

With a final, terrible movement, he stepped away from me and retreated to the gate. I stood there trembling and hardly registered it when Lisa came to my side and put her arm around me. Zack held my gaze until his back hit the gate, at which point he scanned the crowd, his expression gaining strength and resolve even as I watched. He nodded once, lifted his hand as if to wave, then slashed the air viciously with his claws, his eyes now burning like azure fire.

And then he was gone. That was my first kiss, and if he didn't come back like he promised, it would definitely also be my last.

A/N: Phew! Even as I worked on this chapter, I got some more inspiration back and was able to keep thinking up things to write to make it just a little longer. I hope this is a pleasant read for all of you who have waited so long for me to make some sort of progress, and thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed up to this point. I hope to be seeing more reviews from you after this, because I really am back in action!

R&R!