Note: In this story Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer are twins, and Munkustrap is Rum Tum Tugger's older brother.

If I stop, he'll find me. If I stop, he'll find me. If I -

BAM!

Sylvie groaned as her head smacked into a brick wall. It was a wonder that she hadn't missed it, but ever since she had started running, her awareness had decreased significantly. And she was a kitten, so clumsiness was expected. Then again, when you're around someone like...him, clumsiness isn't expected. Or permitted.

It was an hour since she had made the very brave decision to run from Macavity. She had been out on a patrol with some of the other kittens and had decided to go alone to 'check an area that looked suspicious', and they had bought it completely. At this point, they'd be starting to get suspicious concerning her whereabouts, but Sylvie knew she still had a good half an hour at least before Macavity sent out a search party. And when that happened, she really needed a good amount of distance between herself and her former den. A very good amount of distance, if she hoped to make it through the night.

The darkness did little to help her disguise herself. Her coat was light and silvery, with little flecks of white and grey, puffed up with the characteristic fluffiness of kittenhood. Her paws before had been delicate and somewhat dainty, but now they were bleeding and raw form running, ruined by the gravel of the streets upon which she stepped. Her eyes, the feature of which she was most proud (though she had never exactly been vain about them), were black like the others, but had a certain warmth to them, a feeling reminiscent of a warm hug or a paw on the shoulder. Like a home...

Macavity had promised her that when she had run from her human owners, he had promised her a home and safety, and being a kitten she had believed him. How foolish she was! Once she had enjoyed her kittenish innocence, but now it just felt...wrong. He had taken that from her, moulded an innocent kitten into something afraid and distrusting, something that was barely even real anymore. Most of Sylvie was afraid of him, and a little part of her was angry at him for doing this to her, but another, smaller yet part of her knew that she could do something about it if she only had the courage. So she ran. Sure, running away from her problems wasn't the best solution, but she knew that was the best that she as a young kitten could do. Maybe one day she would return and face Macavity again, face him and what he had done to her, and punish him for his wrongdoings.

But as she stumbled through the alleyways of Bournemouth, the head injury worse than she had initially thought, that great day seemed very far away to Sylvie. All she wanted at that moment in time was to sleep and not wake up for a long time. Reaching the conclusion that considering her four paws wouldn't move in time, moving may not be the best idea, she didn't make any effort to get up when she fell in the corner of a damp backalley. Just a little nap, she thought, just a little nap and I'll be fine when I wake up...

Mungojerrie was going absolutely mad. Rumpleteazer would not shut up! How was he meant to perform his very serious theft if she kept laughing?

"What's so funny, huh?" he asked her, sarcasm and impatience very evident in his tone.

"You, you nitwit!" Him? What was wrong with him? Sure, he goofed around sometimes like every cat at that precarious age between kittenhood and tomhood, but he always knew when he was doing it.

"Everlasting Cat, haven't you realised?"

"No, I haven't, now tell me before these folks wake up to your giggling!"

"Your face!" Rumpleteazer erupted into laughter once more, and Mungojerrie scampered off to the broken mirror a few feet away. Turning his head this way and that, he found no blemish or spot that his twin could find amusing, and he was left utterly baffled. What was going on in that head of hers?

"It's your concentration face!" she finally admitted, after having been fixed with a harsh glare. "You stick your tongue out and go like this!" She then proceeded to pull a highly amusing face, one which Mungojerrie was sure he had never pulled.

"I don't do that, sis, I an a serious thief."

"You're a cheeky monkey, that's what you are!"

"OI!" He pushed her lightly. Well, sort of lightly. Well...maybe not so lightly...She tumbled out of the window with a loud screech, and from the force of his push Mungojerrie came tumbling after, but he definitely wasn't screaming as loud as she was.

Falling in a tangled heap of limbs and tails, Jerrie and Teazer pulled themselves apart, feeling something soft beneath them. That was lucky, if they had landed on concrete or gravel then they'd have a few more injuries than the bumps and bruises they'd obtained. Licking a cut on Rumpleteazer's tail, Mungojerrie remained entirely distracted, until he felt the soft thing beneath his paws move. Looking down, he jumped in surprise when he realised he was sitting on... a cat!

"Move it, Teazer, we landed on a cat!" Quickly, they both scampered off the cat, which they soon realised was a kitten.

"Feel kinda bad now," Teazer muttered, noting how small the creature was.

"You couldn't have known, sis." Mungojerrie then turned to the kitten, who was still curled up in a ball, meowing softly. "You alright there, love? We must have given you a bit of a shock, landing on you like that. We're real sorry, though." Failing to earn a response, he reached out and brushed her shoulder with his paw, feeling her flinch almost immediately. He drew his paw back and tried not to look into her eyes, the inky colour and the very frightened expression. He'd only seen that when...

Jerrie and Teazer never talked about their dealings with Macavity. Around once a fortnight he would send someone around to ask for something to be stolen, and they'd get it for him in return for neutrality when it came to his dealings with the Jellicles. So far he had upheld his word, never harming them when he invaded the Junkyard, and they had never refused to steal something. But it was very clear that they didn't approve of what he used the stolen items for, as they never met with the cat themselves, only ever his hench-cats. What he did to those kittens, the innocent kittens he stole...It was despicable, and here they were, looking at one.

"It's alright, love," he assured the kitten, but she wasn't buying it, and he knew he wouldn't be able to calm her down. Looking at Rumpleteazer, he realised that she didn't know any better than him, and the pair thought for a moment before running off together in the direction of the Junkyard. They might not know what to do, but Munkustrap would.

He was idly licking his paws when the two troublemaking cats tumbled into his den. With a rather loud huff, Munkustrap sighed,

"What have you done this time?" Yet something seemed...off. Instead of laughing or looking guilty, both Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer looked scared out of their wits. He'd never seen them like that before, nobody had, and he had to admit that it frightened him a little.

"What's happened?" he asked, but the two young cats had preempted his question.

"There's a kitten in an alleyway!" Rumpleteazer exclaimed, her twin adding,

"Don't know if she's a Jellicle, though." Munkustrap sighed. There wasn't anything he could do if he didn't know whether the kitten was a Jellicle or not. Normal cats didn't mix with Jellicle magic, which the Junkyard was full of - more often than not it left them with very damaging injuries, a lot of them died from them and most of the rest were put down by human vets. It simply wasn't a risk he could take.

"I'm sorry," he began, but Jerrie and Teazer protested still.

"We can't leave her there, Munk!"

"She's a kitten, a really little one, fluffy and everything!"

"How are we meant to know if she is a Jellicle or not?" Their previous responses were unanswerable, but this one he could address.

"Remember the old rhyme that Old Deuteronomy taught us at the last Jellicle Ball? The one about Jellicle cats? It said we're black and white, rather small, merry and bright, pleasant to hear when we caterwaul, that we have cheerful faces and bright black eyes-"

"She did have black eyes!" Mungojerrie cried. "Black as coal, they were, but kinda warm, like hot oil or something."

"No, it was more like ink!"

"No they weren't!"

"ENOUGH!"

The pair fell silent at Munkustrap's shout.

"She's a Jellicle, that's good, we've established that. With a bit of luck, we'll have her here in the Junkyard by tomorrow and she'll become part of the tribe." He raised his eyebrow when they looked at each other sheepishly, and Mungojerrie fiddled anxiously with his tail whilst saying,

"Bit of a problem with that..."

"What sort of problem?"

"Well..." Rumpleteazer began. "You know that Macavity sometimes, uh, nabs kittens to train to be his hench-cats?"

"You can't be serious." He held his paw to his face, trying desperately to block out images that came to mind all too quickly.

"We are, Munk. Once you've seen the fear in their eyes, you'd recognise it anywhere."

Acknowledging the sympathy he felt for the twins in that moment, something which he didn't often do to those not particularly close to him, Munkustrap said,

"It's good that you've told me. Has Macavity sent out a search?"

"Not yet," Rumpleteazer replied.

"But he will soon," Mungojerrie added. "He likes that sort of kitten." As much as he didn't want to, Munkustrap knew he had to be the one to go out and get this kitten. He was the protector of the tribe, it was his job to keep all Jellicles safe. Even the ones on the run from criminals.

"I'll be off, then," he muttered, straightening his collar, but both twins protested.

"Alone? Are you mad?!"

"Munk, you'll be toast!"

"What else do you propose I do, then? Stay here?"

"No, of course not. We know you have to go." Mungojerrie gave him a very patronising look, as if he was a very small kitten who didn't understand anything.

"But take someone with you, that's all we're saying. We're not stupid, we know you haven't been the same since the Ball."

They weren't wrong. His last fight with Macavity had given Munkustrap a fair few injuries, and loath as he was to admit it, he really wasn't as agile as he once was. But who was he to take?

"You two stay here," he commanded. "And inform the others of where I'll be. Tell Alonzo he's on patrol until I get back, and make sure Jenny has her den ready. We may be in need of her services."

"Will do," they said simultaneously, before slinking off in uncharacteristic solemness to complete their tasks. Licking his paws clean, Munkustrap was deep in thought for a few minutes, until he reached a conclusion that was sensible but nonetheless surprising. There was only one cat that could do the job he needed them to do, and that cat was a certain rockstar with a big mane and an even bigger ego...

"As much as your five mates here are demanding your attention, I need to talk to you about something." The kittens stuck their tongues out at him before continuing their admiration of Tugger, and he ate up the attention, paying no mind to his more-than-annoying-and-ruining-the-fun brother until he stamped rather hard on his tail.

"MEOW! What was that for?" he scolded, rubbing the fur gently.

"I need to talk to you about something. Alone."

"Does it have to be alone? You know how much I love my fans."

"Yes. Alone." Taking that as their signal to go, the kittens wandered off into the Junkyard in search of something else to do, leaving the two brothers alone in the den.

"What do you want?" Tugger asked, and Munkustrap huffed with annoyance. Why could his pesky little brother not understand the gravity of the situation?

"Don't treat this like a joke, it's serious. It's about a kitten." Immediately his face paled, and at last he got the message that this wasn't funny.

"The twins came to me in a right tizzy, they said that they'd found a kitten in an alleyway."

"How old? Jemima's age, or Victoria's?"

"Jemima's, if that."

"Everlasting Cat. How did a kitten that young end up in an alleyway?"

It bothered Munkustrap intensely that that was a question he couldn't fully answer.

"I don't know," he admitted. "But they said it must have had something to do with Macavity. Also, she's a Jellicle. Anyways, they said she had this look of fear in her eyes, apparently it's a look that all of his... kittens have. I know Jerrie and Teazer aren't always trustworthy, but they're the best bet we've got, and I don't think even they would be stupid enough to lie about something like this." Tugger raised an eyebrow before asking, before asking in a hesitant tone,

"I understand why you've told me, I get that, but how does any of this involve me, Munk?"

"Because," he sighed heavily, "I need you to come with me."

The Rum Tum Tugger was very confused. He understood the situation perfectly well, it had happened at least twice since he'd been around, and he also knew what was necessary when getting the kittens. Even though he knew it was a low blow, he had eavesdropped on Munkustrap confessing to Demeter the details of how you calm a very frightened kitten, and it wasn't surprising information but it definitely carried emotional weight. As far as he was concerned, Tugger and emotional circumstances didn't mix. Feelings weren't his area, he wasn't a feelings cat, so why did Munk want him around when he went and got the kitten?

"I want you to come with me," his brother began, seeing his intense confusion, "Because I'm not as strong as I used to be. That scrap with Macavity messed me up and I can't fight like I could before, I need someone who could defend me and the kitten if we happened to get attacked by Macavity. Second of all, you're good with kittens." That shocked Tugger right out of his fur. Him? Good with kittens? No way was that true, he'd dropped Jemima the first time he had held her! "Hear me out. They all love you and you handle them perfectly, they're always laughing and purring when you're around, they're always happy. Something tells me this kitten might need some cheering up, and you're the tom to do it."

For a few minutes, Tugger stood in deep thought, so distracted by what was going on in his head that Munkustrap remarked,

"Don't think too hard, Tugger, I don't want you to hurt yourself," before rubbing his ear, as it had been smacked in retaliation.

"We shouldn't be standing around, we need to get doing," Tugger stated, and Munkustrap nodded in agreement, before tentatively asking,

"Tugger, do you think she'll be alright? From what Jerrie and Teazer said, it doesn't sound too good..."

Sensing his elder brother's nerves, he placed a paw on his shoulder, running his claws gently through the clumps of fur that were there.

"Don't worry, Munkustrap. She'll be alright. We have you and me and Jenny to look after her, and Misto if things get really bad, but they won't. Let's go and get her." The two brothers shared a glance before running out of the Junkyard, a glance that seemed to say 'this kitten will be fine'. She had to be.