Relationship: Pre- Alonzo/Munkustrap

Little more angst in this one compared to the previous chapters.

Alonzo paced around the perimeter of the junkyard, following a less traveled path that took him further away from where he called home. Every now and then he found himself yearning for a brief excursion, some time to himself, and wandered wherever his feet decided to take him. Not too far, of course, and he never was gone for too long, but these little excursions were enough to satisfy his desire for some peace and quiet.

It had been a while since anyone had been to this part of the junkyard. A particular pipe was a familiar marker for any passing cat, and he rubbed up against it to freshen his scent. Today there was something about the pipe, however, that was not familiar.

There was an open can of tuna inside. Odd place for food. Hesitantly he sniffed the air. Maybe another cat had stashed a treat away for later? He sniffed the air again. The last scent he could identify was his own, left from his previous pass through the area. Again he found it odd, since the last time he had been by this pipe he would have definitely noticed the tuna. The smell was so strong it overpowered his sensitive nose.

Carefully he stepped into the pipe. A soft towel had been laid out along the bottom of the pipe, providing a comfortable cushion for his feet. It was dark and dry inside, the perfect spot to relax and indulge in an impromptu meal. It could be the perfect spot for a hang out, maybe even for something more, if he could ever gather the courage to ask Munk out in the first place-

CLANG.

The ground shook underneath him. Alonzo whirled around and ran straight into a metal door. All around him was metal, he was trapped, he was in a cage with no way out. A cage that had been cleverly set by humans.

"No." Panic started to rise within him. "No. No no no no no-"

He knew what the cage meant, knew where it led, knew what happened to cats that got caught. No one knew he was out here, he was all alone, the only thing he could do was sit and wait for the humans to return and take him away from the junkyard, away from his home, from his friends, from Munkustrap-

Frantically he clawed at the metal, ignoring the cold sting on his paws. How could he have been so stupid? How many times had he told the kittens never to stick their noses in unfamiliar spaces, especially if said space smelled like humans? Now that he was trapped with no way out he could smell the human scent underneath the tuna.

"Help! Help!" It was futile. No one could hear his wailing, not with how far he had wandered from home. Still he called and called until he could call no longer.

The night was long and cold. After hours of trying to dig his way out of the cage Alonzo had to admit defeat, curling his damaged paws in towards himself and closing his eyes. In his struggles he managed to wiggle the cage out of the pipe, but while he could at least see the stars he was also exposed to the cold and rain.

Come morning he was a shivering, fitful mess. The towel underneath him was damp, his fur soaked, and there was nowhere for him to seek refuge. It was only a matter of time before the humans returned. Then it would all be over.

Time passed. The sun crawled across the sky between bouts of rain. All he could do was huddle in on himself and shiver in misery. If the humans were coming to retrieve him they were taking their time.

Eventually someone approached, delicately stepping around mud puddles as they wove in and out of the soggy piles of junk, careful not to get their feet wet. Each step sent an icy jolt of fresh terror through him. He couldn't breathe, couldn't move, all he could do was wait for the inevitable.

An involuntary whimper escaped him. At this point he didn't care who saw him in such a sorry state, not after a long, terrifying night. There would be time to put his carefully constructed self image back together once he was freed. If he was freed.

"Alonzo?" Immediately the footsteps hurried, splashing through the mud without any regards to the owner's cleanliness.

The voice was familiar. It was too good to be true. Surely it was a hallucination.

"Thank the Everlasting Cat, I found you." Munkustrap rubbed up against the metal separating them. "I've been looking everywhere for you. Hold on, I'll get you out of there."

"It's no use, I've tried." Alonzo moaned. This was the last cat he wanted to put in danger. "I'm trapped. I'm trapped, Munk, I'm trapped. Go before the humans- the humans come back-"

"Hush, it's going to be alright." Munk jumped on top of the cage. "But I need you to be calm."

"I- I- can't-" It was getting harder to breathe. Having the tabby there just out of reach was almost worse than being alone. The thought of the humans coming back and trapping Munk alongside him put him right at the edge of hysterical.

"Alonzo." Munk's voice was strong. An anchor for him to hold on to. "Breathe."

"I'll- I'll try." The command was enough to snap him back to the present.

"Good." Carefully Munk studied the cage, eyes narrowing at the clumps of black and white fur stick in the metal from Alonzo's frantic attempts to get out. "How long have you been here?"

"Since. Since yester- yesterday." Alonzo shuddered and tried to avoid the look. He could only imagine what kind of wild animal he looked like.

"Time you got out then." There was no hesitation in Munk's movements, only precise poking and prodding at the metal. They were movements of someone who was familiar with what they were fiddling with. Wearily Alonzo closed his eyes and tried to focus on his breathing.

"Tugger got caught in one of these once." Munk said, voice oddly light. "Did I ever tell you that?"

"No."

"Well, I can't imagine he'd go around telling the others. I don't think it would do much for the image he's trying to achieve."

"What- what happened?"

"This happened years and years ago, before you joined the tribe. Tugger was still a kit and I had just come of age, so I was put in charge of him whenever Deuteronomy was away. Of course, the second I was put in any position of authority Tugger did everything he could to make my job as difficult as possible." Munk paused thoughtfully. "Oddly enough, I think it helped me learn a couple of important leadership skills in the long run. Don't tell him that though."

"I won't." Alonzo knew what Munk was trying to do. While it was a rare glimpse into both Munk and Tugger's childhood, it was mainly a distraction. Keep his mind off the fact that any second the humans could come back not only take him, but also trap Munk and take them both to the place where cats never returned home-

"Alonzo!" Again the voice brought him back to the present. "Don't lose yourself. Breathe. In, out, in… out."

"S-sorry." Back to the breathing. Calm. Stay calm. "Wh-what about T-Tugger?"

"Like usual he wandered off. You think Pounce is bad about sticking his nose in places where it doesn't belong? He's an angel compared to kitten Tugger. Anything that looked remotely interesting or like something that I would forbid him from exploring was exactly what he wanted to investigate."

The metal rattled a bit. Munk's words came from behind gritted teeth as he pulled on the door.

"One morning I noticed Tugger's wandered off again, so I immediately go looking and find him in one of these cages. There wasn't even any bait in the trap. He just thought it looked interesting and wandered in. Luckily the door didn't close all the way and I was able to push it up so he could wiggle out, although he did lose a chunk of his mane when he squeezed through-" Munk grunted, pushing with all his might. "Blasted- thing- move-"

The metal rattled again but nothing budged. Panting, the tabby leaned up against the side of the cage again to take a quick breather.

"While it was but a brief moment of terror, we were both pretty shaken up by the event. Tugger made me swear not to tell anyone about what happened, and in return he helped me scour the junkyard for more of these awful traps. We've been able to find them and deactivate them over the years so that others don't get caught, to the point where they stopped appearing in our territory. I thought the humans had given up."

"Lucky me." Alonzo muttered, shivering up against the silver fur that poked through the metal.

Munk was silent for a few precious minutes, eyes roving the area around them. Clearly there was something he was thinking about but was reluctant to say. With a sigh he got back on his feet, still pushing up against the bars so Alonzo could reach him.

"I need to find something to use as a lever to pry the trap open." Munk said. The words were calm but his eyes were worried. "I'm going to have to leave you while I look."

"No, please don't go." Frantically Alonzo pawed at the cage. "Don't leave me." He didn't care how pathetic he looked, he was beyond trying to appear dignified.

"I promise that I will come back. And when I do I will free you."

"Please." He wasn't sure if it was a plea for the tabby to stay or a plea for him to be freed.

"I will be back." With that Munk was gone, leaving Alonzo alone again.

Immediately the cold metal pressed in on all sides, stinging and biting at his soaked fur. There was nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide, he was confined and exposed and left completely at the mercy of whoever had captured him in the first place. His mind, already exhausted from a long night of panic, went straight to imagining all the horrible scenarios that awaited him. Tugger may have been able to escape the trap but not him, he was going to be taken away and would never see his home or his family or his friends or Munkustrap ever again, never ever-

"Alonzo!" Again his name sounded like a lifeline. Alonzo clung to it, not daring to open his eyes in case he was imagining things.

"I'm here." Munk's voice was still calm. How could he be so calm? "Don't worry, I'll have you out in just a moment."

The cage shook. Something heavy butted up against the metal.

"Alright. I'm going to push, and when I tell you to you need to run. Understand?"

Alonzo nodded, cracking his eyes open just in time to see the door of the cage shift open a fraction.

"One- second-" Munk grunted.

Every muscle tensed. This was his only chance, a chance that Munk was risking his own well being to give to him, he couldn't let it go to waste-

"Run!" The command spurred him to action. Alonzo ran.

Despite being cold, hungry and being both physically and mentally exhausted, he ran as far as his legs would take him. Away from the cage, up and over piles of junk, through secret passages and tunnels that only he knew, just put distance between himself and that horrible, horrible thing he had been trapped in. It took some time before he had to stop and give his burning lungs a break.

Panting and shivering and shaking, Alonzo's eyes roamed over his surroundings. Freedom. He was free. He was out of the cage with nothing separating him from- from-

There he was. Alonzo ran straight into Munkustrap's waiting arms.

"Munk." He buried his face into the silver fur. "I was- I was so sure I was- I was-"

"It's okay, you're safe. You're safe. I've got you." Only now did Alonzo realize that Munk sounded as scared as he felt. "Everlast, you're safe."

Together they clung to each other, both trying to bring themselves to a calmer state, their hearts hammering wildly in sync.

"How'd you- how'd you find me?" Alonzo finally asked.

"I noticed you didn't return to the junkyard last night." Munk said, voice a little more steady. "So I went looking for you."

"All night?"

"Yes."

"Thank you." Alonzo whispered, hiding his face in the tabby's neck. Every part of him, inside and out, felt raw and exposed.

Gently Munk led him away. Alonzo kept his face hidden. Soon they were sitting down somewhere warm and dry, Alonzo carefully coaxed to sit between the tabby's legs so he could huddle up against his chest. Munk did not attempt to pull away from him, instead grooming the parts of him that were in reach in an attempt to dry his wet, disheveled fur. The soothing ministrations, combined with a strong rumbling purr, gradually began to melt away the icy fear that had overcome him.

Eventually Alonzo felt comfortable enough to look at his surroundings, still keeping his cheek against Munk's shoulder. They were not at home or any place he had been before, despite him having a thorough knowledge of the junkyard's layout. Someone had cleared out the interior of a discarded dryer and lined the inside with blankets and cushions. The arrangement was so neat and tidy that there was only one cat that could have been responsible.

"I found this place not too long ago." Munk murmured, resting his cheek on top of Alonzo's head. "Sometimes I come here when I need to be alone."

"Hmm." Alonzo hummed, curling his tail around their feet. Munk's scent settled around him like a security blanket.

"I was… I was hoping to bring you here sometime." The words were slow and slightly hesitant. "Under different circumstances, of course."

"Of course." Alonzo echoed. It took a minute for the meaning of the words to sink in. "Wait, what?"

"Just… this isn't normally a place where I'd want guests, but I wanted to show it to you. Just you."

Warmth blossomed through Alonzo's chest at the implication. Hopefully Munk couldn't feel the heat radiating from his face as he blushed.

"We'll have to come back another time." Munk said with a sigh. "Once the rain dies down and we both feel more like ourselves."

"Or when we're both driven absolutely crazy by everyone else." Alonzo muttered, only half joking.

Munk's laugh rumbled in Alonzo's ear. "Yes, that too. Certainly then. Please let me know as soon as you hit your limit if I don't come to you first. Especially when we start rehearsing for the Ball again."

"I wasn't aware that we ever stopped rehearsing." Slowly he was coming back to himself. Still he kept his arms wrapped firmly around the tabby's middle.

Munk absentmindedly brushed down the ruffled fur on Alonzo's back. "We don't rehearse all the time. Like I said before, sometimes I come out here instead."

"Mmm."

"I swear."

"Hmm."

"Quiet, you." Teasingly Munk flicked his ear with a paw. "If I don't have you on my side then who do I have to turn to?"

"I will always be on your side." Alonzo wished he had the energy to say more. Still he felt too overwhelmed to get the proper words out.

"I know." Munk held him tightly. "I know."

As they held each other it started to rain again, the quiet pitter patter of water hitting the outside of the dryer soothing away any lingering hurts from before. Finally Alonzo could relax his grip around Munk, finally he could breathe, and finally he felt he could return to himself. Not that he wanted to let go of the tabby just yet.

"Do you want to return to your home?" Munk asked, still keeping an arm around him. "Or would you like to stay with me tonight?"

"I... I don't want to be alone."

"You won't be. I won't ever let you be alone." There was so much love in such a simple statement. Whether they were friends, lovers, mates or everything in between, there was no doubt that they would never be separated. No matter what the world threw at them they would always remain together.

In this moment, the moment between despair and happiness, all Alonzo could do was hold on tight to Munkustrap and never let go.