Disclaimer: I do not own Cats. If I did I'd be in Mexico right now.

Notorious and Paranoid

This big break was all Mungojerrie needed. All he needed and he could be free. Free from Macavity, free from crime, free to take his sister and leave the warehouse forever.
Mungo quietly entered the house; it was an expensive one, on Victoria Grove, the ritziest neighborhood in all of London. As Mungo snuck in through an open window, he stopped to admire several vases and paintings that decorated the parlor that he had wandered into. He knew what he had to do next, up in one of the bedrooms were the precious jewels Macavity insisted on having. Mungojerrie did not know why in fact he loved these shiny rocks so much, to Mungo, they had no value whatsoever. Mungojerrie figured Macavity just wanted to be more like his idols, namely humans.

Mungojerrie walked slowly up the stairs; the carpet was red and rich, very soft on his padded paws. When Mungo reached the top, he caught a scent in the air, he immediately crouched low. It was an animal, not a dog, but a cat. He sniffed the air cautiously. He hoped this cat, whoever he was, wouldn't be big, vicious, or a problem.

"I'd best go find them before they find me," Mungo thought irritably to himself. He scratched a black ear pausing once more to sniff the air, and he followed the scent to a small room, not a human bedroom, but a bedroom for the cat alone. Mungo was amazed.

"What I wouldn't give to live here," Mungo thought with a bit of jealously. All of a sudden he felt a claw in his back. He yelped, quietly though, he still had the jewels on his mind, and his freedom. He whipped around and to his astonishment, there was a queen standing in a fighting position. And a mighty small queen at that. She had black and gold fur, and startling green eyes. Mungo noticed she was quite pretty. Beautiful, he would say, even.

"'ang on, 'and on, oi ain't gonna 'urt you none!" Mungojerrie said hastily in a thick cockney accent.

"What are you doing in my house?" The queen spat menacingly. She was fiery, even if she was a small little thing.

"Oi... long story, oi ain't gonna 'arm you none, neither ya owners, awroite? Oi am sorry for disturbin' ya miss..." Mungo hesitated. He knew she wouldn't forgive him this easily for barging into her house unnoticed.

"Demeter. You're a stray aren't you Mr....." The queen, apparently called Demeter, sat down, still warily looking at Mungojerrie. Mungo felt very aware that he hadn't groomed himself properly in a while, and he licked his paw quickly, in an attempt to tidy up a bit.

"Mungojerrie. But call me Mungo," Mungo said, putting on his charming half smile and ignoring her question. It flickered when Demeter's expression stayed icy cold. He sighed. "Yea, oi am a stray. An' no, oi don' loike it. Confused now? Oi don' 'ave toime to explain moi loife story to you Demetah', so do me a favah' and stay outta moi way, ok? Maybe we'll meet again sometime..." Mungojerrie said firmly, and he turned and walked out of the room, his back throbbing where she had sunk her claws into him. He was surprised when he didn't hear her following him, so he made his way to the humans' room. He quietly crept onto the carpet; this one was long and furry as well. His claws got stuck in it several times. He leapt lightly up onto a dresser, looking over at the humans in their beds. The queen stirred slightly but didn't wake up. He saw a jewelry box and Mungo knew he had hit jackpot. He was about to open it when he heard a hiss behind him. He turned his head slightly and he saw Demeter from the corner of his eye, hissing angrily at him.

"Demetah! Oi tol' ya ta stay out of it!" Mungo whispered with hostility. "I can't just stand here and watch you steal from my owners!" Demeter said with defiance. Mungo caught a look in her eyes though, it was almost apologetic. Demeter took a deep breath and yowled at the top of her lungs. Mungo leapt off the dresser in surprise, and took off for the hallway. He heard cursing behind him from the humans as he ran to the open window. Mungo did a fair bit of cursing as well. His freedom was gone. He leapt out the window, a feeling of dread growing through him like poison. He ran through the darkness of the night. He had a sudden image of Demeter, her intense eyes staring daggers through him. He couldn't get her off his mind. He suddenly wished he could see her again.

Mungo had been running for quite a long time. Victoria Grove was a long ways away from the warehouse Macavity and his gang of strays lived at. He finally reached the warehouse, it was old and abandoned looking from the outside, but inside there were mazes of hallways and chambers. Mungo stepped up to the entrance. Immediately, two stocky toms approached him.

"Ah, it's only Mungojerrie," The larger one said. He was mostly a dusty brown color, with one black paw. His name was Janguire.

"Oh, 'ey Mungo. Good raid tonight?" The other one said cheerfully. He had a more pleasant looking face; he was a grey tabby, with heavier black markings around his eyes, tail and paws. His name was Ruttifer.

"The boss is gonna kill me Rute," Mungo said groaning. Ruttifer shook his head sympathetically and he and Janguire stepped aside to let him through. Mungo made his way to throne room, as Macavity liked to call it. It was Macavity's living chambers. Mungo groomed himself quickly before he knocked on the door nervously but firmly. He hoped Macavity wasn't with a queen, interrupting him and a queen would mean certain trouble.

"What?" He heard a voice yell from inside.

"It's... it's Mungojerrie sir," Mungo said, trying to keep the accent out of his voice, which was very difficult for him. "

Come in," He heard Macavity growl from the inside. Mungo went in nervously. He sat down in front of Macavity. The red cat was wild looking, young and good looking. He was the most eligible bachelor in the warehouse, he was ruler of everyone. Mungo envied him and despised him at the same time.

"'ey boss," Mungo said quietly. "So Mungo? How'd it go? Is that freedom I hear?" Macavity put a paw to his ear and grinned at Mungo. The grin never reached his eyes. They remained cold and yellow.

"Oime... fraid not boss. Oi woz insoide, but this queen, small little thing, she yowled something fierce and woke up them 'umans. Oi told 'er to stay out of it, but she wouldn' listen," Mungojerrie said this all very fast and cringed a bit while looking at Macavity's expression.

"Why didn't you just deal with her? You could've knocked her cold," Macavity said in a deadly quiet voice.

"Oi... she..." Mungo said, his throat very dry. He would never do something like that; it was too horrible to even think about.

"Let me guess. She was a very pretty queen. You didn't want to hurt her. You had no backbone," Macavity said, flicking his claws out and clicking them together. It was a gruesome sound. Mungo nodded silently. "I'm going to deal with this myself. You can kiss your freedom goodbye Mungojerrie," Macavity said angrily pushing past him.

"I'll deal with you later," Mungo watched him leave, a lump in his throat. He felt like crying, his freedom was gone. That would have been his last raid. He could have left, and gone to the Jellicles, he could have found his sister. Mungo made his way slowly back to the living quarters, he knew Macavity would surely give him a black eye or two when he returned from wherever he was going. It wasn't something he was looking forward to. When Mungo reached the living quarters, he nodded to a few cats, but didn't talk to anyone. He settled down on a pillow in the corner and drifted into an uneasy sleep...

[Flashback/Dream]

"So, this is your son eh?" Fireforefiddle growled. He was large and black, with dark red markings throughout his coat. A young Mungojerrie stood shaking at his feet, while a larger Tom with similar markings stood at his side.
"Ye... yessir!" The larger tom replied. He was Mungojerrie's father, if you could call him that. He beat and abused Mungo and his sister, and now all he was going to do was sell him to Fireforefiddle. His name was Jerome.
"Yea, this boy'll do. But that little queen, she can go to the junkyard. I'll collect her when I'm in need, eh?" Fireforefiddle said, pointing to the small queen with identical markings to Mungojerrie.
"But... she's moi twin sistah'! We can' live wiffout each othah!" Mungo said, panic creeping into his voice.
"Look, you want to work for me, you'll accept the consequences," Fireforefiddle said angrily. Mungo looked tearfully at his twin Rumpleteazer.
"Jus... be brave Mungo. We'll see each othah again someday," Rumple said softly. She kissed him on the cheek and waited for her dad to escort her to the junkyard where the Jellicles lived.
"Make me proud son," Jerome said with an evil looking grin. Mungo gulped and tried to hold in his tears.
"Oill ya won' is money! That's all! You... don' love me at all!" Mungojerrie burst out suddenly. Jerome and Fireforefiddle began to laugh loudly. Mungo felt very stupid at his outburst.
"Well, he is observant. My son will teach him to hold his tongue," Fireforefiddle said, and he started to lead Mungo inside the warehouse. Mungo gave one last look to his sister and he turned his face away as he slipped inside the forbidding warehouse.