A/N: Whoever can spot the Doctor Who quote in this chapter gets a cookie. :) This chapter is my personal favourite so far. When you've read it, you might understand why.

Five: Tugger's Little Helpers

Tugger walked back to the junkyard and was surprised at how small it was. It also seemed abandoned, which he found rather odd. Then he realized. They were all hiding from the intruding human. He sighed. Okay. He would have preferred it to keep his transformation a secret for as long as possible, but he had nowhere else to go, and night was awfully cold when you didn't have any fur.

"Hello?" he called out. "It's okay. It's me."

The first one to emerge was, not surprisingly, Etcetera. She had obviously recognized his voice, even though it was much louder than it usually was, and she was out of the shadows quicker than you could say "hyper fangirl." She gasped audibly when she caught sight of the strange human who smelled like Tugger but clearly wasn't. She took a cautious step towards him. He smiled and crouched to be more on her level.

"Hi Etcie, love. How are you?"

"Tuggy?" The voice was small and nervous and less loud than he was used to, but it was clearly Etcetera's.

He grinned. "Yeah."

"Wha-what have you done? Your mane!" She took a slow walk around him, taking in the new form. "And your fur... your ears... Your tail!" She sounded despairing. "What have you done with you tail!"

"It's gone. I'm human."

"You're huge! Are you going to be human forever?" She stared at him with large eyes.

Tugger reached out and petted her gently over the head. She butted him and started to purr almost automatically.

"Nah," he said. "Just for a little while longer."

By now more Jellicles had started to come out. In the lead of the tribe was a grey tabby who didn't seem very happy.

"Tugger," he said.

"Hiya Munks," greeted Tugger cheerfully. "Don't you think I look handsome?"

Munkustrap ignored the remark. "Let me guess," he said dryly. "You thought, 'hey, now that I've shagged every queen from here to Notting Hill, let's try a new specie!'" He glared at his younger brother. "Mistoffelees helped you do this, didn't he?"

"Yep," nodded Tugger. "And don't worry, this isn't permanent. I'll be back to my normal sexy self in no time at all." He explained in short terms about Paige.

When he was finished, he had Etcetera, Victoria, Jemima and Electra sighing dreamily by his feet.

"He's so romantic," murmured Electra.

Tugger flashed her a smile and started scratching her behind the ears. Her purrs could have awakened the dead.

"Rum Tum Tugger," sighed Munkustrap, "this is by far the dumbest thing you've ever done. No good can come of this." His face got something resigned over it. "But I can't very well just send you away. Creep into the car. It should be big enough for you."

Tugger smiled, truly thankful. "Thanks, bro."

"You'll be in trouble for this, you mark my words."

Munkustrap turned his back to Tugger, who suddenly became aware of how tired he was. He had hoped to be able to speak with Bombalurina, who he hadn't seen in days since he had been too busy preparing for his transformation, but she wasn't around. Either she was still sulking about him rejecting her, or she had decided to hang around with her humans for a while. It wasn't important.

Tugger crawled into the TSE 1 and tried to make himself comfortable on the half-torn out backseats. After a lot of rearranging of his limbs, he managed to fall asleep.

Tugger woke up in the crack of dawn and noticed that a tail was tickling his nose. In a confused moment he thought that he was a cat again and that that human thing had only been a dream, but then he saw that the tail in question was grey and white instead of black like his own. He was also aware that something heavy and warm was lying on top of him. When he rolled over on his back the thing yelped and fell off.

"Etcie!"

The kitten's head poked up from between the seats. She had been very abruptly awakened, and looked very confused about that.

"Sorry, babe," said Tugger apologetically. "I didn't know it was you. What are you doing in here?"

"I figured you might be cold," mumbled Etcetera. "I didn't want you to freeze."

"Thanks." Tugger shivered and hugged himself to try and keep warm. "It's a bit chilly, isn't it?"

"I can get the others for you. Warm you up," offered Etcetera.

"I... think it's better for me to try and localize some more clothes. Do you know where Jerrie and Teazer are?"

"They went out mousing. They'll be back soon."

"That's good. Okay. I need more of that money stuff. And other clothes." He sniffed himself and made a face. "And a wash. I really, really need a wash."

Before he had really thought it through, feline instinct took over and he started washing himself. He immediately realized his mistake and began spitting to get rid of the horrid taste.

"Oh, that was vile!" he groaned.

Etcetera giggled a little. "You're human now, Tuggy. You'll have to wash the way humans do it. In a bath."

Tugger's eyes widened. The mere thought of a bath made his skin crawl.

"I'd rather smell like this forever!"

"But that girl, that Paige, she might not like it if you showed up all smelly and stinky." The tortoise-shell sounded innocent enough, but her eyes were sparkling with laughter.

"But where am I supposed to get a bath anyway?" asked Tugger out loud. "It's not like I can just break in somewhere..."

"Oh, oh, I know!" giggled Etcetera delightedly. "Victoria!"

Tugger frowned. "What about her?"

"Her humans are probably getting ready for work right now! They will be leaving their home soon!"

Tugger smiled as he realized what she was saying. "Ah babe, I knew I could count on you."

Etcetera was positively beaming.

Victoria closely observed her humans as they went through all their silly morning rituals. For some reason they seemed to take much longer today, almost as if they knew what had been planned. Finally, Mrs. Jones said "goodbye Virginia" and gave Victoria a loving kiss on the head, Mr. Jones picked up the car keys, and they both left their flat. Victoria waited until she was absolutely certain they wouldn't come back (Mr. Jones often forgot things) and then she jumped up to sit on the windowsill in the living room. There she sat and waited for her friends to show up.

Down on the ground, hidden behind a very convenient bush, Etcetera squeaked excitedly, causing the rest of the group to hush at her.

"There's the signal!" she squealed. "Come on, let's go!"

"Yeah, yeah," mumbled Mungojerrie. "Don' get yer whiskers inna twist."

He was in a rather foul mood, since he had not caught anything but a fly while his sister had managed to bring down a juicy rat. She had offered to share it with him, but he had thought he'd be able to catch something even better, so he had said no. And when he had finally decided to let go of his pride and take up on her offer, the rat was already gone. So Mungojerrie was very hungry, and he always got cranky when he was hungry.

Tugger hushed at them both and nodded for the group for come with him. The other two members of Operation Bathe Tugger, Jemima and Rumpleteazer (the former had decided to come along simply to be around the ex-cat's new scratching skills) immediately jumped up, ready to obey. Electra had stayed put at the junkyard with the orders to make sure that Mistoffelees knew Tugger was looking for him. He had promised Paige a cat, and a cat she would get.

Tugger nonchalantly put his hands in his pockets and began to calmly saunter up to the door. The flat in which Victoria lived was located in the finer area of London, in a large white building with big windows and an old-fashioned doorknocker. Tugger tried to open the door, but it was locked. He groaned and looked at his feline companions.

"Now what?"

Mungojerrie stepped forward. He seemed to perk up at the prospect of breaking in somewhere. "Allow me. Ya wouldn' mind liftin' me up? It would make it quicker."

Tugger bent down and carefully scooped up the calico tom in his arms. Mungojerrie nodded towards a metal box with buttons on it that was located right next to the door, and Tugger held him towards it. The burglar sniffed on the buttons before punching in a combination. The door whirred, and something clicked.

"There," said Mungojerrie triumphantly. "All yours."

Tugger tried again, and this time the door slid open immediately. He went inside, still carrying Mungojerrie. The rest of the group followed.

"Second floor, she said," muttered Tugger. "Not so complicated."

He went up the stairs. Thankfully, Victoria sat at the top of them, waiting.

"Hello," she smiled. "Welcome. Please don't scratch the furniture."

After greeting the white kitten, she led them through the one door in the hallways which was open. Tugger close it behind them when everybody were inside the flat (Victoria could open her front door easily enough, even unlock it, but shutting it afterwards was more difficult) and found himself standing in a lit hall that smelled of strange humans and also, faintly, of flowers.

The Jones flat was much fancier than the home Tugger had known. The wooden floors shone, and every room was tastefully decorated with elegant furniture and the very classiest of designs. Victoria's basket was placed in the living room, and it had a light blue satin cushion that caused Etcetera to stare and Rumpleteazer's eyes to sparkle with want. A few toys were scattered here and there, but it seemed like they had been purposefully placed there instead of being the result of untidiness. Next to Victoria's basket stood two food bowls, both having a name engraved on them in a very posh fashion. The smell of the cat food made Tugger realize how hungry he was.

"The bathroom is this way," said Victoria and nodded for Tugger to follow her. "And the rest of you..." she looked at them as sternly as she could, "please behave."

"Don' worry, li'l princess," said Rumpleteazer and smiled innocently. "Jerr an' I will make sure no one touches anythin'."

"It's mostly you two I'm concerned about," muttered Victoria.

She turned and walked down a short corridor. Tugger followed her to a glass door that led into the shiniest room he had ever seen. He made a silent vow not to show this to the burglars, for they would most certainly go on a rampage and take everything that wasn't screwed down. In fact, if he knew them correctly, they would try to steal the gilded taps and the expensive looking marble sink as well, even though they would never be able to carry them. In a small white cabinet in a corner stood rows and rows of perfumes and various crèmes, probably belonging to the female human. The bathroom also had a tub large enough for two people, and it smelled of lemon detergent and some sickly sweet version of vanilla.

And there was, of course, a mirror. Tugger went up to it. He had not yet seen what he looked like as a human, and he had been very nervous when Mistoffelees had said that he looked ridiculous.

He looked good, but that was to be expected, of course. His hair was brown, with streaks of golden brown here and there, and it was as wild and untamed as his mane had been once. The transformation had not ignored his muscles, but had simply translated them into another form. His new body looked strong and healthy, very different from Paige's father, the only other male human Tugger had really watched up close before.

Tugger grinned at his reflection, and it showed a set of gleaming white teeth in return. His teeth were slightly too pointy, which worried him for a moment. He'd wanted his features to be as normal as possible (all right, his sexiness would be impossible to get rid of no matter what form he had), and the grin gave him a more feral look than he found appropriate.

"New teeth," he muttered. "That's weird."

"I think you look nice," said Victoria shyly. "Your eyes are still a bit catty, though."

Tugger had almost forgotten she was there. He looked at her with a tilted head. "They do?"

He leaned forward to take a closer look in the mirror. Ah, yes. His eyes had darkened from their feline yellow to a rather nice golden brown, perhaps a shade too light for a human, but that wasn't the main issue. When he looked close enough, he could see that the pupils were still thin and oblong. They had barely changed at all.

"Just great," Tugger said out loud. "Remind me to talk to Misto about that. Now." He turned to the white kitten. "I will wash up for my lady, and you, my little Snow White, is going to leave."

Victoria looked embarrassed. "Oh. Oh. Okay. I'll go. Sorry."

She hurried out of the bathroom, and Tugger closed and locked the door after her. Then he looked at the bathtub.

"All right," he said out loud. "It's you and me now."

But first, there was one thing he had to check. It had worried him just a bit, and he had planned to see how things were as soon as he was alone. Now he was alone. He stepped out of his trainers and sighed in pleasure as his feet were freed from their smelly prison, and then he methodically began to remove the other two pieces of clothing he wore. The trousers were easy, but the t-shirt was slightly difficult to get over the head. Then Tugger stood naked in front of the mirror, critically viewing his most precious body part.

Then he smiled contentedly.

It was good that some things never changed.