Woo, an update! Sorry it's been so long. But this week also happens to be my spring break, and I will spend a considerable amount of time writing. So maybe if you're lucky I'll be able to hammer out another chapter by the end of the week.

I'm also still working on the next chapter for Closer to Home, which I should also have up sometime this week. I've been struggling to write the current chapter because it's so boring, and I keep skipping ahead to write the parts that I want to write, even though they come much later…(basically, it's because I have recently become a crazy Howdy+Dexter fangirl. Which you will discover for yourself if you happen to read Closer to Home.).

Anyway, let's get on with this fic…this chapter is more or less the "explaining stuff" chapter, so if you've been wondering what the hell is going on in this fic, hopefully by the end of this chapter you'll have some notion of the convoluted storyline that was mulling about in my head when I began writing it. If you get to the end of this chapter and things are still unclear, please let me know in your review, so I can make sure everything is clarified in the next chapter.

Oh, and just a quick warning: there's a bit of, how to say, 'uncomfortable' subject matter in this chapter (*cough*rape*cough*). Nothing explicit, but implied. Just letting you know.

And now, onward!

-Genie

After what seemed like forever, Amy's brisk pace slowed and she raised a paw, signaling to the others that they had reached their destination. She pushed her way through a group of small bushes and motioned for the others to follow her. In the center of the group of bushes was a hole in the ground, leading down to a small underground burrow.

"It's dark down there, and there isn't a whole lot of room," she told them. "But it will have to do for the night. We should be safe from Scuzz and his gang, until tomorrow at least." With that, she began to climb down into the burrow. Boss, Howdy and Dexter followed suit.

Beneath the surface, the burrow soon opened up into a small chamber, large enough for all of them to fit reasonably comfortably. Amy took a match from a small pouch that she carried at her waist and struck it, engulfing the small chamber in light. Boss's eyes were instantly drawn to the small white ball of fur curled up against the wall.

"Bijou?" Boss asked tentatively. Sure enough, the familiar face soon appeared, blinking at the light, evidently having just awoken. When she saw Boss standing before her, she leapt to her feet and threw her arms around him.

"Boss!" she cried. "I am so frightened. What is happening? Why are we hiding? I do not understand." She was sobbing, her tiny body trembling.

"An explanation would be nice," Dexter agreed. "Who exactly is this Scuzz character? And what does he want with Bijou?"

Boss sighed. "I guess I do owe you all an explanation," he conceded, as Bijou released her hold, looking up at Boss expectantly. "It's a long and convoluted and somewhat sordid story, but it all starts three years ago."

"You were just a boy back then, really," Amy smiled. "And I was just a girl. And you thought it would be fun to make your own little boys' club."

"It wasn't a little boys' club!" Boss rebuked. "It was a man's club. For macho men. And the members called themselves the CATS."

"It stood for 'Creating A Tougher Society'," Amy explained. "But it didn't really mean anything at that time. They actually came up with the acronym before they decided what it stood for, just so they could say they were CATS."

"And I was the leader of the CATS, initially," Boss continued. "But then Scuzz joined the group. He thought that we weren't living up to our name – not really 'Creating A Tougher Society.' He had his own ideas of how the club should be run, and amassed somewhat of a following, a group of punk ass kids like himself that soon took over the club and turned it into more of a sort of gang."

"I was Scuzz's girlham at the time," Amy said. Howdy and Dexter gave her startled looks. "I know, I know it seems crazy, based on what you've seen of him," Amy continued. "But love is blind, as they say, and I was too blind to realize how much of a monster he was until..." Her voice broke then, and she looked as though she might start crying. Boss wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Until it was too late." Valiantly holding back a flood of tears, Amy recounted her last evening as Scuzz's girl.

(A/N: This is a flashback…)

The night had started off like any other. The CATS had been up to their usual mischief, and in the evening Scuzz appeared at Amy's home ready to regale her with tales of his bravery and general badassery. She always listened to his stories with rapt attention, but lately they'd been starting to get to her. The CATS were doing worse and worse things each day, and Scuzz always seemed excited to tell her about them. In particular, tonight he was in the middle of telling Amy about how the CATS had beaten a dissenter (the term they used to refer to anyone who questioned their illicit activities) half to death when she interrupted him.

"Scuzz, I can't do this anymore. I love you, but – you're so full of hate and violence. It's been getting worse every day. You didn't used to be like this."

"What are you talking about?" Scuzz demanded. "Don't you know that the CATS stand for what's right? Anyone who opposes us deserves a thousand times worse than what we give them."

"I-I'm not sure that's true," she replied hesitantly. "I don't think you know the difference between right and wrong."

The blood began to boil in Scuzz's veins then. Without warning, he slapped Amy across the face, hard, leaving her cheek red and throbbing. She turned away from him, holding her burning face in her paws.

"Leave, Scuzz. I don't want to be with you anymore."

There was a brief moment in which neither of them said a word or moved a muscle. Then, suddenly, Scuzz was on top of her, tackling her to the ground. He pinned both of her arms to the ground and glared deep into her amethyst eyes.

"Fine, I'll leave," he growled. "But not before I take from you what you've failed to give me the entire time we've been together."

"Scuzz, no!" Amy shrieked, but she could do nothing to overpower him. He would have his way, just as Scuzz always did.

(A/N: End flashback.)

"He...he raped you?" Bijou whimpered, her eyes wide.

Amy nodded and brushed a tear from her cheek. "That's not even the worst of it," she continued. "The next day, I went to my brother, Andre, and told him everything. Andre had never liked the fact that I was dating one of the CATS, and he was more than happy to have a reason to take on Scuzz and, he hoped, knock him down a peg. But instead..." Amy's voice cracked and she looked down at the ground. She began to sob softly.

"Andre didn't realize that Scuzz doesn't play by the rules, doesn't fight fair," Boss continued for her. "He went in expecting a one-on-one fistfight. Scuzz had his knife – and a small army of CATS."

"You mean...?" Howdy began.

"They took him down effortlessly," Boss sighed, and Amy's sobs grew louder. "I...I was there. I saw the whole thing. But I was too much of a coward to stop them, afraid I would lose my own life. And they...they just killed him. No second thoughts, no questions. Just killed him for defending his sister's dignity." And I've had to relive it these last three nights in my dreams, he thought to himself.

"So...Scuzz is a murderer," Dexter said.

"And a rapist," Bijou added.

"And a kidnapper," Howdy pointed out.

"Yeah, that's what we're up against, unfortunately," Boss replied. "No crime is too heinous or depraved for Scuzz. He'll literally stop at nothing to get what he wants."

"So, it's pretty much hopeless then," Howdy said.

"We're doomed," Dexter agreed.

"Wait," Bijou said. "What exactly is it that he wants, anyway?"

There was an uncomfortable silence among them. Then Boss sighed, looked down at the ground in front of him and muttered, "You. He's here for you, Bijou."

Bijou gasped, taken aback by Boss's words. "But I don't understand! Why me? What does he want with me?"

"After the...incident," Boss began, "Amy turned to me for support. Her brother dead, her boyham having betrayed her, I was all she had left. We had been friends for some time and she needed someone to help her cope with everything that had happened. We left town together, set out on our own to start a new life...but Scuzz still wanted Amy for himself. In his eyes, I had stolen his most prized possession."

"And so now," Amy sniffled, wiping the last few tears from the corners of her eyes, "Scuzz wants to do the same to Boss. Take away the one thing he loves most dearly." She turned her soft gaze to Bijou. "And that's you."

Bijou was speechless. She looked from Boss to Amy and back. After a moment of stark silence, she took a deep breath and spoke. "Boss, is that true? You…love me?"

Boss turned away from Bijou as the color rose in his cheeks, unable to offer a reply.

Bijou turned back to Amy. "And how can…how can Scuzz claim that he loved you, after the way he treated you?"

Amy sighed. "Scuzz has a…different way of expressing his affection," she replied. "I think he did love me. But more as an object, to be used however he pleased, than as a fellow hamster."

Bijou pondered this for a moment, then continued: "And during the time you and Boss spent together, after you ran away from Scuzz and the CATS…were you…together?"

Amy blushed and glanced towards Boss, who returned her gaze briefly before looking away again. "You mean…as a couple?"

Bijou nodded.

"Well, we…" Amy began. "Er, that is to say…"

"I'd take that as a yes," Howdy interjected, and Amy found this to be sufficient and gave up trying to find a better explanation.

"Then why did you not stay together?" Bijou demanded now, her brow furrowed.

"In truth," Amy replied, "It was all just too painful. I loved being with Boss, but at the same time…whenever I was with him, I couldn't get away from the memories of Scuzz, and my brother, and everything terrible that had happened."

"So what made you come back?" Dexter asked. "Perfect timing, by the way."

"I…don't really know, honestly," Amy replied. "I just had this feeling, this little voice in the back of my head telling me that something bad was going to happen to Boss. And though we'd separated some time ago, I knew where he was living now, so it wasn't hard to find him. But I found Scuzz first – managed to stay hidden and eavesdrop on his plans, which was how I was able to get to Bijou before he did."

Howdy raised an eyebrow at her. "You knew everything Scuzz and his gang were planning?"

Amy sighed. "I know, I'm sorry," she replied. "But it's not as though I can be in two places at once. In the amount of time I had, I could have either come to your rescue or Bijou's. And I knew they weren't planning on killing you, whereas I have no idea what Scuzz would do if he were to get his paws on Bijou. Though if I had known how much they were going to rough you up…Wait, that reminds me." Amy reached into the pouch at her waist and produced a small bottle of ointment. "Here, this should help." She squeezed a drop of the ointment into her paw and began rubbing it into a small Scuzz-inflicted cut on Howdy's cheek.

Howdy was surprised at first at Amy's gentle touch and felt a slight blush creep across his face. Then he smiled.

"Dang, I could get used to this," he mused. Dexter cast him a sidelong glance.

"Don't worry, sweetie, you're next," Amy said with a smile in Dexter's direction.

As this was going on, Bijou had been pondering the question that was on everyone's minds. Finally, she grabbed a hold of Boss's paws, looked into his eyes and asked it.

"What do we do now?"

A silence filled the small burrow as it became evident that nobody had an answer. Boss sighed and squeezed Bijou's paws, trying to reassure her in whatever way he could.

"I don't know," he replied at length. "I don't know what Scuzz will do next. I don't think there's anywhere we can go where he won't find us. Maybe the only thing for me to do is to face him. To fight him."

Amy turned and looked at him. They shared a long, meaningful gaze. Boss knew what Amy was thinking; she couldn't stand the idea of the same thing happening to Boss that had happened to her brother, Andre. But she also knew that Boss was right; the only way to get rid of Scuzz for good was to stand up and fight.

"If you are going to fight Scuzz," she told him, "I want to fight with you."

Boss smiled and nodded. It was only fitting that they should take him on together, for better or worse. There was no telling what would come of it, but as long as they were at each other's sides they had the strength and the courage to do it.