Still feeling unwell over the next few days, she stayed in Demeter's den and didn't leave. Cassandra had not been at the car trunk for three nights in a row; she figured the queen had moved on. This did disappoint her, though. Her friend was, curiously enough, not home often. Bombalurina hoped this was good news; Demeter deserved something good in her life, especially after Macavity happened. Maybe, assuming this was a relationship that kept Demeter away, she'd get to meet this new love interest. Now that was exciting.

Due to this, Demeter was not yet aware of Bombalurina's 'illness'. She really was not looking forward to the inevitable when she would have to fess up. She couldn't deny it by now; she was pregnant and Tugger was the father. It was all more surreal than she liked. She almost wished she could find Cassandra and unload, but she wasn't in the frame of mind to go hunting after a queen that was always able to keep herself well-hidden.

Groaning, she sat up and put her paw to her forehead. That headache really needed to go away. She wanted to speak to Tugger about this, figure out what they were going to do, but she didn't want to bother him at the same time. She was sure she hadn't hurt him, but that little chance that she had bugged her. She dully looked at her surroundings, though they were exactly the same as they had been thirty minutes ago. Maybe she just needed a walk, some fresh air. Nodding to herself, she stood and stepped out of the den. She'd walk out of the junkyard, walk where no one would easily see her. She didn't want Jenny on her tail, mostly.

Meanwhile, Tugger had long since told Munkustrap of the situation. His brother was not happy.

"Didn't she tell you she didn't want to have sex?"

"Yes, but. . . I don't know." Tugger shook his head and leaned against the wall, looking at the fresh bandage on his paw. It really didn't need to be covered any longer; in fact, the cuts would probably heal better exposed to air. But it was an almost obsessive habit now. Something to keep his mind off the more devastating results of him not thinking things through; if anyone questioned it he'd give them a sound smack on the cheek.

"You really need to learn to listen."

"Do you think I'm not ashamed enough of myself already?"

Munkus looked at his brother before sighing and running his fingers through his mane. It was quickly becoming his duty to take care of the tribe, and Tugger always made that difficult. Now he had both the corrupted Etcetera and a pregnant Bombalurina on his paws. To add to it, Cassandra had been seen even less than usual lately. The world was against him.

"What are you planning on doing?" He finally asked. Tugger just shrugged.

"She won't come back to me, and I don't blame her. I guess I'll help her out if she ever wants it. I never really wanted kittens, but I'll help with anything I've created, I guess."

"Then would you kindly help me sort out all this drama?"

Tugger grinned devilishly at his brother, a single eyebrow raised.

"Nice try, Stripes. All talk at you later."

Tugger swaggered out of the den and Munkus rolled his eyes. That tom was learning about responsibility in the bluntest way possible. Maybe for the first time in his life he would actually pay attention to something and learn from it. . .

Bombalurina walked along the outer edges of the junkyard, her paws linked together behind her back. She hadn't found it necessary to walk out here to think in quite some time. In fact, last time she had was when she was. . . oh, fifteen or so. She'd lost her virginity and was so worried that it had been the wrong thing to do. Smiling in a bittersweet sort of way, she recalled how she hadn't wanted to confront Jenny about it even then. She still made mistakes when it came to sex, obviously.

The birds were chirping and it was peaceful. No other cats around, it was almost easy to forget her unavoidable issues. Almost being the key word there, but it was better than nothing. But soon enough, she became aware she wasn't alone. Fearing it to be a rough-housing kitten that would pounce on her, unaware of her condition, she whirled around to try and figure out where she was getting this feeling from.

A pair of deep blue eyes watched her from a safe distance, and she heard rustling. Whoever it was, they were attempting to run away. Bomba rushed after and managed to snatch a wrist.

"Oh!"

"Cassandra? What are you doing here?" The scarlet queen tilted her head with a raised eyebrow as Cassandra looked embarrassed. She released the sleek queen, who immediately began wringing her paws.

"I don't know." She sighed softly, her eyes cast downward to the ground. Bombalurina wasn't satisfied with that answer; this wasn't coincidence. But she wasn't going to pressure the shy queen, who was quickly reminding her of a scolded kitten.

"I've missed you watching the sunset with me." She said with a smile that only grew when Cassandra's head came up with a look of surprise.

"Really?"

"Oh, yes. I haven't gone the past couple nights because I haven't been feeling well, but yes. Where did you go?"

Bomba tilted her head at Cassandra, who shrugged and rubbed the back of her head with her paw. She often wondered why the queen was so shy. Obviously she was gorgeous, and she seemed too glamorous at the Jellicle Ball. Where was that queen?

"I thought you would be with Tugger so I decided not to impose."

"I told you it was over between us, where did you get that idea? I don't want him back." Both eyebrows shot upward as Bombalurina looked to the nervous queen, who blushed a little.

"I saw him coming out of Demeter's den, so I assumed. . ."

"I was just telling him something important. I'm not going to crawl back to him."

She gave her an assuring smile, and Cassandra seemed a lot happier. Well, Bomba found herself having trouble reading this queen so she might have been totally wrong, but that's how it seemed.

"So. . . tonight on the car hood?"

"You got it, Cass."

The sleek queen practically turned tail and ran in the other direction, seeming more excited than Bombalurina could account for. Maybe she was just glad to have some female company; Cassandra was one of the few queens in the junkyard that only seemed to have a male friend without being intimate. Sometimes she wondered about that queen, but it wasn't her business.

Shrugging, she turned and headed back to Demeter's den, careful to avoid any other cats. Soon enough she'd have to explain her lack of activity lately anyway, but she could put that off for another day. She carefully slipped in the back way and was shocked at what she found.

Before she knew it, she was laughing. Not in a mocking way, but out of pure surprise. The two cats in front of her practically leapt apart. She pointed accusingly to Demeter with an evil smirk on her face.

"I knew it!"

What she had seen, before breaking it up, was Demeter and Alonzo coddling together on Deme's bed. Nothing too serious; the most that could have happened was the possibility of Alonzo nibbling on her ear. Demeter had been so cute, all leaned up against him and giggling softly. Now, however, the gold queen was blushing something awful and Alonzo couldn't look at the intruder.

"Knew what, Bomba?"

"You've been with a tom." The way she said it was as if she was speaking to her young daughter after catching her with her first love interest. That laugh of hers didn't help.

"I'll, er, leave now. . ."

"No, Alonzo, if you don't stay I'll forbid Demeter from leaving the den." Bombalurina sounded so smug; hell, she was smug. "I'll leave, I hate being a third wheel. You better kiss her something sweet." At that, she let out one more laugh before turning and walking out of the den again. She'd go back to her old den; she could stand Tugger long enough to get some rest. She just didn't want to break up that cute little love fest; if it could be called that. Still, she snickered to herself as she walked a familiar path. She felt a bit nostalgic as the amusement wore off, however. Not even two weeks ago this was a path she took every day, and it wasn't because she had to.

Okay, no more of that. She didn't need to start rolling in self pity again. What was done was done and it should be left alone. No use beating a dead horse. But as she got to the den, she was shocked. Not in the same way she had been when she saw Demeter and Alonzo, either.

"What happened?" She asked herself softly, stepping inside. It looked like someone had ransacked the place. Gingerly stepping so she wouldn't find her feet covered in glass, she realized there really wasn't anything left inside the den. A few blankets here and there and the broken mirror was all there was. That was kind of depressing, actually.

"Tugger happened."

Bombalurina whirled, wide eyed, and looked at the older cat standing in the entrance.

"What are you doing here, Jenny?"

"I haven't seen you around, I get worried." Jenny walked forward and put her paw on Bomba's shoulder. The scarlet queen shrugged her paw off and took a step away.

"I'm an adult now, Jenny. Stop worrying about me."

"You're an adult that makes more mistakes than can be accounted for; I'm keeping you out of trouble."

"You're doing a piss-poor job of it." Bomba said with a scowl, tip-toeing around the glass towards the entrance.

"What do you mean, dear?"

"You know what I mean."

Before Jenny could ask any more questions Bombalurina was out of the den and walking away. She wasn't sure of where she'd go now, but she was going. She wasn't ready to answer Jenny's questions, wasn't ready to admit she'd been wrong. She was still so lost and scared about the whole ordeal; Jenny would think she was helping but would only make her feel worse.

Now, where was she going to go? Maybe Munkus. . . no, if Tugger had left this den he was probably over there. She had no clue where Cassandra denned, and she had enough sense to not go to the kittens if she wanted rest. Jelly and Jenny were out of the question. . .

She was desperate, so she headed somewhere where she knew he couldn't refuse her if she asked for a favor.

Mistoffelees was such a pushover.

"Hey, Misto," she knocked on the outside of his den and winced when she heard a loud crack and a yelp. Speaking from experience, it didn't sound like anything kinky was happening in the den so she assumed she'd startled him while he'd been practicing his magic. Her suspicions were proven correct when his cute little white face peeked out with soot on it. She stifled a chuckle at his surprise.

"I'm sorry, Misto. Did I startle you?"

"Very much so, yes. Would you like to come inside?"

"I was just about to ask if I could. You're the sweetest little tom ever, you know that?" She gave him a peck on the cheek and slid inside, ignoring his pleased expression and blush. No matter what was common belief, flattery could get you everywhere.

"So, what brings you out here?" Mistoffelees asked politely, attempting to rub the soot from his face as he followed her inside. The den was relatively neat, though everything seemed slightly singed. Wasn't Misto supposed to be getting lessons from the twins on how to control his magic? He'd obviously been ducking out on them, though she could hardly blame him; those two were eerie.

"I haven't been feeling well, and every place I usually rest in seems to be either occupied or unusable. Do you mind if I stay here until around sunset?"

"Sure, just go in there. I'll try to be quiet." He smiled politely and pointed towards a separate room inside the den; obviously his sister denned with him on occasion and liked her privacy. Bomba thanked him with the sweetest smile she could conjure up, thankfully lying down in the bed. Her headache had come back and was throbbing in her temples, much to her disdain.

For the next few hours she listened to Mistoffelees muttering things to himself, and the occasional yelp when something went wrong. Misto was a sweet tom, barely out of kittenhood; he didn't ask questions when someone asked for help, so long as it didn't require his magic. Surely he knew at least some of her recent problems, but he didn't try and stick his nose into her business. She was grateful for that.

She peeked out of the separate room into the one Misto was practicing in, careful to not startle him again. He seemed to be. . . well, what was he doing? Her thoughts were soon answered when he was blown backwards from the lightning that erupted from his fingers. She winced and ran over to him, helping him up.

"What was that?"

"I was trying to control it, but it rebelled against me. . . did I disturb you?"

"Oh, Heaviside no. I was just about to leave." The scarlet queen gave his shoulder a pat and a smile.

"Oh, okay. Have a nice evening, Bomba."

She nodded at his cute grin and stepped outside, feeling the chilling air on her fur. It was mid fall; soon enough she'd been staying in a den whether she wanted to or not unless she had a companion. She faired well enough in the cold conditions, but it wasn't fun. Maybe she could go out and find her old human family, though they'd probably forgotten little Scarlet O'Hara.

Chuckling at the name her humans had given her, she headed towards the car, pleased to see the remaining kittens were quickly scurrying for their shared dens. Etcetera paused to wave brightly at her before following after Jemima, and Bomba smiled. Kittens were always so sweet; maybe it wouldn't be so bad having one of her own. She just wished it hadn't been like this; no kitten should been conceived under such conditions. Ironic such a sweet, innocent creature would come from an act of anger and lust. She idly pondered on if she had been conceived a similar way; her father never wanted her or her mother, it seemed to make sense. She only hoped this kitten's fate would not run that route.

Snapping out of her thoughts, she looked at the car before leaping up onto it, wincing at the cool surface. Surely there were better areas to view the sunset, but she had yet to think of one. The view and the lighting just seemed so perfect from here. After a little shuffling around she finally sat down on the cold car hood and dealt with the unsatisfactory conditions. Soon enough, much to her relief, she wasn't alone.

"Hi Bomby."

Wow, she hadn't heard that nickname in a while. Tugger had called her that on occasion, but sweet and gooey wasn't quite his style and that nickname always sounded a tad sappy compared to others.

"Hey Cass. I'm glad you're here, seeing I'm freezing my ass off."

The sleek queen giggled (boy it was hard imagining her doing that) and sat a little away from Bomba. She still didn't seem comfortable with physical contact, but it was nice to see her coming out of her shell somewhat.

"Well, the colours seem to be nice tonight." The scarlet queen said after a pause, nodding towards the sunset when she saw Cassandra's questioning glance. The other queen nodded.

"Yes, perhaps more so than usual."

They didn't say anything else until the sun had nearly set completely. About then Bombalurina decided to inquire about something.

"Y'know, I've never seen you with a tom other than Alonzo. Did y'all ever have anything going on?"

Cassandra seemed determined to keep her gaze on the fading sun, but shook her head in response.

"No, we have been friends since we were very young."

"Ah." Bomba couldn't think of anything to say in response to that, so kept her mouth shut rather than flounder in a conversation. That seemed to be what Cassandra did, after all.

"Well. . . I think I better head off to bed. I'm getting kind of tired." She moved to get off the car hood but was stopped when she felt the touch of a paw on her shoulder.

"No, wait."

"Yes?"

Bomba turned around to look at Cassandra, a questioning expression on her face. The other queen faltered, as if losing the nerve to say something important. But words were not what she was about to deal out, and what she got surprised Bombalurina more than anything had in most of her life.

Cassandra had actually leaned forward and kissed her. Definitely not what Bomba had expected. It was a chaste kiss, especially compared to most in her life, but the shock was in the fact it was a queen kissing her. She'd never thought she was attracted to queens, and this ran through her mind as she dully acknowledged the fact Cassandra had literally scampered away.

Well, that was. . . new. Now thoroughly confused, Bombalurina walked like a robot back to Demeters den. Demeter could have Alonzo tied up to the bed in unimaginable bondage, threatening to ass rape him with a whip and Bomba wouldn't acknowledge it. That was just. . . different.

I'd like a collective 'aawwwwwwww' right about now. Demeter and Alonzo are getting cute, Cassandra's coming out of her shell, Bombalurina's coming to better terms with her situation (though now I think she's a little... confused), Munkus still can't get Tugger to help with anything and Tugger... well, he's stuck in the same frame of mind he was stuck in a few chapters ago. He's being stubborn, the little pervert.

"I am not a little pervert!"

Oh, then what are you?

"...A big one!" snicker

I need to stop talking to myself. Anywho, I quite like this chapter. I pulled in another character for at least a little while since only having the few can get dull, so you get a little of Misto's cuteness. I think Tugger really needs to talk to someone about how he's feeling, because let's face it; all that time ignoring Munkustrap means Tugger automatically lets everything go one ear and out the other when it comes to advice. So I think he should head off to a friend... Misto may make another appearance. I'm at a point where I could completely drop Tugger from the main story, but I want him to come to terms with everything completely and really truly get the stuff sorted with Bomba.

...After she goes through a little more confusion, of course. All this torturing is for a good cause! Honest!

And I think I keep switching between car trunk and car hood... I just started to realize I may be doing that. I'll look and be extra careful about it from now on; I noticed I did it once in this chapter and fixed it, maybe it won't happen again.