Rating: R

Genre: Romance, Drama, Angst, some Humor

Warnings: Slash, Het, mention of sex, some blood, swearing, incest (there cats, there's nothing unnatural about it)

Pairings: Misto/Munku, Tugger/Bomba, mention of Munku/Dem, some Cass/Munku, past Bomba/Munku, Mungo/Teezer

Timeline: two weeks from the Jellicle ball in the movie.

Description: Love cannot exist for a magical cat; in fact, it's fatal if it does.

Disclaimer: I do not own CATS, or any portions thereof. None of the following events took place in the original CATS plotline, and I do not claim that they do.

Songs to Read With: (not mandatory) Take on Me (Ah-Ha), If You Could See What I See (Geoff Moore and the Distance)

Between Death and Love

Chapter Two

By Edenrising

(recap from Chapter One)

And after a time, he fell asleep again, dreaming of his caretaker, but not remembering a detail but beyond that of the identity of his savior.


Munkustrap would never forget the day Pouncival ran into his den without knocking and burst into tears, mumbling something about bullies and Mr. Mistoffelees.

In alarm, Munkustrap grabbed the kitten by the shoulders and sat him down, "What's this, Pouncival? Slow down." Pouncival abruptly flung himself onto the protector's chest and managed, through gasping breaths to recount his tale. Munkustrap patted the back of the brown and white kitten to comfort him, while his mind was screaming for him to go help the Jellicle magician, and said, "Alright, you go to the Kitten's den to have Jenny look at your injuries, I'm going to go get Mistoffelees, Ok?" The smaller Tom looked into Munkustrap's face and reluctantly nodded, releasing the silver tabby from his clutches.

Once Pouncival let go, Munkustrap raced out into the blaring sun to the pile of cars that Pouncival told him about. Below the pile was a black mass that he assumed was Mr. Mistoffelees. As he edged to the unconscious body, he took in the odd angle at which Mistoffelees' right paw was hanging and the blood that matted the fur around his leg, which had been slightly impaled by a piece of metal on the ground.

Munkustrap felt his heart beat wildly in concern, and stopping over to pick up the smaller Tom, he pulled out the metal piece imbedded in the magician's leg and hefted him into his arms. As he made the slow trek back to his den, where Mistoffelees could be treated properly, he looked at the face of the other cat.

Mr. Mistoffelees had sweat pouring down over his face, and was curling closer to his body for comfort. Munkustrap let out a sigh; Mr. Mistoffelees was perhaps the only cat keeping them completely safe from Macavity's clutches. And here was that very cat, in his arms, very injured and very hot from the sun. The Jellicle captain would not be surprised if the magic cat had a stroke among the other problems, and felt Mistoffelees' forehead in concern.

In a way, he was relieved. Pouncival was safe, and at least Mistoffelees wasn't dead. If it weren't for the cat in his arms, the kitten would probably have been killed and their already small tribe would have lost a valuable Tom.

Munkustrap reached the fridge that was his home. The doors of the appliance had long broken off due to rust, and were both placed so that the freezer and fridge had small openings in the corners. The fridge part was the largest, and was where Munkustrap would meet with the other members of the tribe during crisis, while also serving as a 'guest room' of sorts. The freezer was where the protector himself slept, and was also where he and his mates would stay when he decided to take one.

It was needless to say that Munkustrap was very proud of his home; it was warm, cozy, soft and very large. In fact, he often said with pride, it was the largest den in the Junkyard besides the Kitten den and many wholeheartedly agreed with him. Even his brother, the Rum Tum Tugger, teasingly called the protector's den a 'Man's Pad', and always would chuckle when Munkustrap hit him over the head for the comment. It was very obvious, and also almost an honor, when the protector brought another cat into the freezer part of his den. Currently, the queen Demeter occupied the freezer and had been there for two weeks.

Munkustrap quickly jumped into the fridge part of the den and put the small magician on the old comforter he had placed as a makeshift bed and arranged the blankets around the other Tom. Taking Mistoffelees' injured paw into his hand, the Jellicle protector gently examined the break, it was a clean snap, thank Bast, but it would take time to heal.

Taking a few strips of cloth he had found just for this purpose from within a small pot, he wrapped the black cat's cut leg in a tourniquet and set the broken bones in the paw, wrapping that as well.

Once he was done, Munkustrap sat down tiredly in the den; he glanced at the magician lying on the comforter. The white face was relaxed peacefully, and the features in a natural smile. Munkustrap was forced to admit that Mistoffelees was very pretty, if a bit aloof about it and should interact more with the tribe. Although he didn't much show it, except for the occasional show of happiness, he cared quite a lot for his family members, especially the kittens. And he wondered, not for the first time, why he hadn't taken a mate and had a litter himself.

This brought Munkustrap to a pleasant thought; he had his own litters to think about. About a year ago, he and Bombalurina had a fling, and she had given birth to Jemima before both he and she had decided to split apart leaving Jemima in the more capable hands of Jenny. Before that, Cassandra and him had created a kitten by the name of Electra, who was about to become a queen herself.

Then, Munkustrap frowned.

Now he had Demeter, and he wasn't so sure he wanted kittens with her. Demeter was a nice queen, and he did adore her as much as possible. But she was difficult, always nervous and skittery around the other cats (excluding her sister Bomba), and prone to mood swings and sickness.

Munkustrap prided himself on being a kind Tom, he wanted to help Demeter get better, but he didn't want her having his kittens. If Demeter had a litter, she would even more emotionally unstable and physically tested. If the kitten survived, she may not, and if they both survived, Demeter would want to take care of the kitten herself. Which, Munkustrap thought, was probably not the best of ideas. Her mood swings might hurt the kitten, but to be separated from her child may result in depression, and to have a miscarriage would be even worse.

He was seriously considering having Demeter leave, she wouldn't be hard about it, they had been together a lengthy amount of time and frankly she was sick of him as well. She knew she had a problem, and was willing to understand that having kittens with him would do no good for her, but if she got pregnant, she would become loathe to leaving him. 'Yes', he thought, 'I should speak with her, maybe later though…' Then Munkustrap hit himself. No, no procrastination. He should just get it over with, and with one more glance at Mistoffelees he jumped out of the fridge.

Demeter was licking herself clean when Munkustrap entered the freezer, she turned, surprised to see him. He usually didn't come see her until after dark. She watched the handsome tabby enter the space and sighed in contentment. Munkustrap was certainly quite the catch, he was strong, handsome, had a good political standing in the tribe, was certainly a good tom, and had the biggest den. 'And' she reminded herself with a blush, 'he isn't lacking in that area either.'

But as the tabby came near her, Demeter felt the familiar nervousness enter her that she got around other cats and she was reminded that she didn't love Munkustrap or trust him enough to be a good mate. Sure, she liked him enough, she liked the comfortable arrangements and the feeling of being needed and recognized in the tribe, but Demeter knew she wasn't the right queen for him. She didn't want to be Munkustrap's mate much longer, she wanted to move back in with Bombalurina where she felt safe, and she wanted the freedom of being a bachelorette back.

"Demeter," the honey voice rumbled, "We need to talk."

She almost felt relieved; "What about?" She felt a spark of anger. Why? She didn't know.

"I don't think we should live together anymore." He confessed, looking very guilty.

Then, she felt sad, "Oh… Why?" her claws kneaded the blanket below her.

The silver Tabby sighed, she was stalling and he knew it, "We're not happy together, you know this Dem. You want to go back to your sister, and I want to move on."

Now she began to feel annoyed, "You just want another queen don't you!" she spat, "You're just tired of fucking meI'm just not good enough, right?"

"No, that's not it Demeter, calm down." He looked at her, seemingly alarmed. He must have caught her in one of her moods.

She looked at his face, and then at her paws, she allowed her anger to seep away, "You're right… I'm sorry Munku; I don't know why I get like that. Yes, I am unhappy, and I do want to go back to Bomba." She laughed guiltily "You've got it dead on, you always do."

Munkustrap crawled to her and hugged her around the soldiers, she was really trying and he knew it. "Alright then," he said as she pulled away and moved to the door. Just as she tensed to jump, Munkustrap called to her, "Wait! Dem," she turned to look at him, "I'm sorry."

She looked at him, feeling the sadness start to creep over her, but she held it in. She managed a smile, "I'm sorry too." And with that she disappeared from his sight.

Mistoffelees woke to an empty room, feeling very drained and in a lot of pain. Blinking at the light that invaded his senses, he tried to sit up but stopped at the ache that resounded in his back. At this, the memory of Pouncival and falling to a probable death entered his mind. He let his breath fall through gritted teeth, looking at his mangled paw and the den he was in.

'Munkustrap's den?' he thought with alarm.

His hearing picked up the entrance of the silver tabby, and he turned his head to face his caretaker. Munkustrap, feeling eyes on him, turned to face the magician. Mistoffelees could literally feel the emotions dripping from the tabby, there was surprise, relief and a slight scent of sadness. He wondered what was wrong.

"You're awake." Said Munkustrap, "I wasn't expecting you to be conscious for another day or so. You had quite the fall." He moved to where he kept the cat treats that Jellylorum gave him for his fourth birthday and gave one to the smaller tom. Mistoffelees stared at the protector throughout all of this, feeling uncomfortable emotions surface as he watched the tabby, he was beginning to come to a sickening conclusion.

Munkustrap was becoming uncomfortable under the black cat's gaze, and moved to sit beside the magic cat on a chair. "That was a great thing you did for Pouncival," he began, "He thinks of you like a god now." The silver tom chuckled, "Beware, you might have just created your own cult following." He looked at the small tom, who had the most peculiar expression on his face, but it changed to a neutral one the minute they locked eyes.

Mistoffelees could feel the panic set in, but he remained as calm as possible, he decided he should say something, otherwise Munkustrap may believe him to have amnesia.

"What's wrong?" he began.

Munkustrap almost looked shocked as the sound emitted from the magician, collecting himself, he answered, "I… ah, I just broke up with Demeter. Just getting used to the feeling I guess." He shrugged, and stretched. Mistoffelees felt his throat unwillingly go dry at the sight.

'Dear Bast,' Mistoffelees thought, 'It's happened.' But he let none of this show outward on his face, he couldn't let anyone know.

"I see," he replied, "She was rather… Unstable, right?" at Munkustrap's nod, he continued "It's for the best then, both of you were hurting inside." Mistoffelees had always noticed the tension in their relationship; from the beginning he had sensed it was not preferable to either of them to date.

Munkustrap regarded Mistoffelees closely, he seemed to not be too affected by his injuries, nor was he complaining of his being treated like a baby. Clearing his throat, Munkustrap stood and walked away from his patient, "Are you feeling alright?" he asked, looking around for more bandages, Mistoffelees' leg should be re-wrapped.

"As good as I could be," Mistoffelees said, 'Considering my situation,' he thought.

"Good. I'm going to change your leg bandage, and then we'll see about feeding you." The silver Tabby answered, and lifted the blanket to reach Misto's thigh peeling the old bandage away.

Mistoffelees felt panic rise in him as his body began to react to the tabby's touch on his thigh and his mind let out a 'WHOOP!', his heart beating faster and his blood began to feel warmer. Emotionally, Mistoffelees felt like crying, he'd made it so far and all the work had gone to waste.

Through considerable inner will, Mistoffelees did not react physically or verbally to the other Tom. But subtly panted as the silver tabby finished, pupils shrinking from their enlarged state, and steadying his swirling mind.

Once Munkustrap let go of the injured limb, he looked at Mistoffelees, who was trying not to pant from exertion, 'He must be in horrible pain,' the tom thought, 'He's so strong.' And he rose to place the bloodied, old bandage outside, noticing that a storm was approaching, which would clean the bandage. "I'm going to go cover the entrances Misto; it's going to rain soon." He took the metal garbage can lids that he put over the doors when it was going to rain and started to climb outside.

Once he was gone, Mistoffelees let the situation sink in. Munkustrap had probably shown more care to him in the past two hours than anyone else had in his entire life, it was only reasonable that this should have happened to them. Mistoffelees then let his mind cross another dangerous subject, was there any chance of survival? Sure, Munkustrap was single and already was generally familiar with him, but he had never taken a male as a mate before and even had two offspring to show for his mating exploits.

Mistoffelees sighed, and allowed a tear to track down his cheek before shakily breathing. It was stunning how much he was unaffected by this, he was actually more content with the situation than with anything else in his life. He had expected to throw a fit when it finally happened, but instead he was strangely calm, warm, comforted and had a bubbly feeling in his throat. In fact, Mr. Mistoffelees had never felt better in his life, 'This feeling,' he decided, 'Is worth trying for, even if I am to die anyways.'

When Munkustrap entered the den again, the magician made a crucial conclusion; he was going to make Munkustrap, son of Deuteronomy, protector of the Jellicle tribe, fall in love with him. After all, it was a matter of life and death.

Munkustrap, feeling he needed to say something to the cat in his den, regarded the magician, "Mistoffelees?" he said, "I want you to know, I am really thankful for what you did for Pouncival today." He sat on the chair once again, laying a hand on the injured cat's shoulder, "And I consider you to be a great friend to all of us," and he smiled at the magician, nuzzling his head against Mistoffelees'.

Mistoffelees, who was becoming very tired, felt the original warmth leave his body and a great sadness enter him at Munkustrap's words, 'That's not true,' he thought, 'I don't deserve your friendship,' Munkustrap pulled the magician into a friendly hug, unaware of the other Tom's thoughts.

And as he took in the scent of the one he desired, Mistoffelees felt the tears enter his eyes as he fell asleep on Munkustrap's shoulder.

'Because I've bonded with you, and now I've ruined our lives.'