A/N: Sorry for lack of updating. My life took a tailspin. I actually have yet to pull up from said tailspin, but in the hopes that things will get less stressful, and I'll once again have purpose in life, I did the only thing I know how to do well: write. And rewrite...and rewrite. This chapter actually went through a bit of reworking, and I think I can finally let it be and let you all enjoy it! It's longer than I first intended, but if you've stayed with the story this long, I really don't think you would mind, heh. So, I hope you enjoy!


Chapter Five

Alonzo walked about the junkyard, as the sun was just coming up. The night had proved uneventful for him, and though he managed to catch a mouse, he wasn't really hungry. So he named it Squeakers and let it go. It was quite a sight, watching it run off towards the setting moon, and Alonzo could almost hear the climactic music building as the mouse disappeared around the corner. But then it was gone, and Alonzo could do nothing more than wipe a tear from his eye and return to the junkyard. And then he was bored.

Until he heard a giggle.

Alonzo's ears perked up at the sound. It was not something usually heard around the junkyard, considering how few queens actually belonged to the Jellicle tribe at the time were capable of forming a giggle, so the tom was curious. He peered around the corner to see Cassandra being helped down from a pile of junk by Mr. Mistoffelees.

Mistoffelees?!

"You Pollicle," Alonzo whispered, smiling at the sight of the shy tom finally interacting with the queen. And interacting WELL, it seemed, as Cassandra fell forward slightly, and Mistoffelees caught her by the hips, before lifting her down. Alonzo was sure he didn't recognize this tom, until he saw the severely embarrassed look on Mistoffelees' face.

Then Alonzo noticed that Cassandra was wearing something that looked very familiar around her neck. Alonzo's jaw dropped, and he could only begin to wonder how Cassandra, of all cats, got possession of the love potion. But his thoughts were interrupted when the scene before him became more interesting.

"Thank you," Cassandra said graciously.

"You're welcome," Mistoffelees said bashfully.

"I had a wonderful time," Cassandra said, inching towards the tom's den.

"Oh, no, I did, too," Mistoffelees said quickly, walking alongside Cassandra. The poor magical tom had no idea what he had in store for him…

"I was wondering," Cassandra said, cocking her head to the side, "we were up all night, and I'm a little tired from all that walking we did. You know, a queen needs her catnap and whatnot…"

"Hmm?" Mistoffelees furrowed his brow. Cassandra took Mistoffelees by the paw and led her close to the entrance of his den.

"My home is so far away, and I don't want to walk back to it yet," she said.

"Oh," Mistoffelees said. "So, what are you going to do? You don't have a den here."

Cassandra caught her disappointed sigh before it made itself known.

"Uh, yes, that's right," Cassandra said. She looked off to the side, as though deep in thought. "But what can I do about that? Hmm…I guess I could just sleep in the hot morning sun. But, you have dark fur, you know what that's like."

"Yeah," Mistoffelees said in agreement. He looked around, trying to find a solution. Then his eyes caught his den. "Oh! Of course, do you want to sleep in my den for the morning?" he asked politely.

"Yes!" Cassandra said, almost too eagerly, sounding a tad desperate. "Yes, that's a good idea." She turned to enter the den, her tail swishing back and forth seductively. Once inside, Mistoffelees remained outside, seemingly unsure of what to do.

A moment passed.

Then Cassandra poked her head back out. "Um…aren't you coming in?"

"Huh?" Mistoffelees said, blushing under his fur. "Oh, I was just going to let you sleep. I didn't want to disturb you."

"No, no, Mistoffelees. I don't think you understand. I want to be disturbed!" Cassandra said a little tersely.

"You do?" Mistoffelees asked. "But that would defeat the purpose of a catnap!"

Cassandra sighed, before coming back out of the den. "Mistoffelees," she said, grinning to him, taking his paw. "Would you like to join me?"

"Join you?!"

Cassandra leaned close, and whispered, "Just say yes," before pulling the tom into his own den, as he let out a squeak of surprise.

Alonzo clapped his paw over his mouth. He didn't know the queen had it in her! Or how Mistoffelees would react to such a…suggestion.

It probably would have been inappropriate to stay around…

…yeah, it would have been inappropriate, and Alonzo decided it was best to leave. That is, until the vial was thrown out of the den in what Alonzo was sure was a fit of passion.

Alonzo stared as the vial came to rest on the ground, the midmorning sun making it glimmer. And then it just lay there, bored and in want of something more to do. A challenge Alonzo would be happy to help it with.

Alonzo looked over to the den, then over to the vial; they were so close together. He could probably sneak over there and out without being noticed…or noticing too much.

The tom's tail lashed back and forth as he prepared to race across the gap. He stretched, making sure to shaking out his paws, so he was nice and limber for the task he was about to take on. He breathed in, then out. Okay…

Alonzo bolted forward, reaching out his paw to scoop up the vial and run off with it unnoticed, when—

There was a loud yelp of surprise from inside the den. Alonzo lost his nerve, turned, and raced back to his hiding spot. Once there, he was glad he had made that decision. Mistoffelees was backing quickly out of his den, his fur all over the place, his eyes wide. "Cassandra!" he said in shock, once safely out of the queens grasp.

Cassandra poked her top half out of the den, laying her paws in front of her, and stretching out. Then she innocently fell to her side, and gave a beautiful pout. "What?" she asked.

"Don't you think you're going a little fast?" he said, fixing his little bow tie collar and grooming his fur while he kept a steadfast eye on Cassandra.

"Mmm…no," Cassandra said, now sitting upright, looking at Mistoffelees curiously.

"Well, I do!"

Cassandra frowned. "Mistoffelees…haven't we known each other for a while?"

"…well, yeah, but--"

"And haven't you had feelings for me for a while, and I you? Didn't we start talking about that last night? Mistoffelees?"

"…yeah."

"So then, what's stopping you?" she asked. "Do you not like me anymore? Did last night portray me in a different light to you?"

"No, Cassie," he said, looking cornered. "That's not it at all! It's just…well…I'm new to all this."

"Well, who better to show you these things than me?"

"Um…"

"…That wasn't supposed to be a hard question, Mistoffelees."

"Cassandra, I didn't mean it that way!" But the queen seemed to have had enough with this tom. She let out a sad sigh, and picked herself up.

"I'm sorry I made you uncomfortable, Mistoffelees," she said sadly as she walked off.

Mistoffelees looked desperate to run after her, but instead resigned to biting his lip, and sitting on his haunches, as he watched the queen walk off. Alonzo thought he should leave the tom alone. Then he noticed…Mistoffelees was sitting on the vial.

Alonzo cursed to himself. He looked to Mistoffelees, back to where Cassandra had gone, then back over to the tom and the vial he was sitting on. He weighed the consequences in his mind. Then finally, with a steadfast nod, walked out solemnly to the tom….

Mistoffelees seemed too dazed to notice Alonzo fast approaching him. The black and gold sat next to the tuxedoed tom, took in a deep breath, and sighed. He then put a paw on Mistoffelees' shoulder. The tom snapped back into the present, looking surprised.

Alonzo shook his head. "So, not the best ending to your evening, huh?"

Mistoffelees frowned. "Were you spying on me?"

"Not on purpose," Alonzo admitted. "I came to…uh…check on you, and you were here with Cassandra."

Mistoffelees blushed. "How much of that did you see?"

"Every last bit of it," Alonzo said. At the horrified look on Mistoffelees' face, he changed his answer to, "I mean, nothing at all. In fact, I don't even know what you're talking about."

"Very convincing."

"Look," Alonzo said, his eyes quickly glancing at the vial the tom was sitting on, then back up at the tuxedo. "You're going to have to talk to her. Work out your problems."

The magical cat sighed. "Don't you think I should give her some time before I do that?"

"Nah," Alonzo said. "You should get back in her good graces as soon as possible." He looked down at the vial. "Soon."

"But I'm sure she doesn't feel too good about how things panned out. Maybe I should--"

"Take it from a cat who knows," Alonzo said, putting his paw to his chest in a measure of sincerity. "She will love you for chasing after her! Now, go on!" He took a paw and physically tried to push him off the vial in the guise of giving him courage.

"Well, I don't--"

"For the love of all things tuna, Mistoffelees," Alonzo yelled. "Just go after her! How much time do you want to waste and let her get angrier?"

Mistoffelees seemed both shocked and convinced by his friend's urgency. "Okay, okay! I don't know what I'm going to say, but okay!" The tuxedoed tom picked up and started walking to where Cassandra had been gone. Alonzo smiled down at the vial as he would any prey he had freshly killed.

With a big show, he picked up the vial and held it up to eye level, grinning menacingly at it. Then, just as he was going to put it around his neck…

"I'm going to need this for courage!" Mistoffelees appear out of nowhere, snatched the vial from the tom's paws, threw it over his neck, and trotted off to find Cassandra.

Alonzo growled lowly. But he let the tom go. He was, after all, the reason they had the vial to begin with.

------

Alonzo walked sullenly on the streets, kicking a rock as he walked along. He would have really liked to use that potion eventually! He was getting lonely just thinking about it.

The rock hit against the tire of a car, and Alonzo looked at his distorted reflection of the hubcap. Yech. No wonder no queen wanted him. His fur was so scruffy, he had such unusual colors for a tom, and those plain amber eyes of his were so last season - green eyes were the new amber. He had no human home, he lived in a junkyard, and he was scrambling just to get some status in the little tribe he was in. Everyone else seemed to have something about them! Tugger was the sexy one, Munkustrap was in charge, Mistoffelees was, well, magical, though he hadn't actually told anyone this yet, and Cassandra was the only queen their age that was officially in the tribe, that gave her instant status! The kittens would get a place in the tribe before he did!

Alonzo did his best to give a toothy smile, look charming, debonaire, dashing. Of course, the distorted figure staring back at him did little to boost his confidence. He took a moment to groom his gold and black fur. Yet, somehow, it came out more raggedy than before! Alonzo growled lowly to himself.

Well, without the vial, he could at least try to be something. What did he want to depend on a love potion for? He had charisma and charm in there…somewhere! So with that little pep-talk, Alonzo puffed out his chest, held his head high, and did the only type of walk he could do in such a position – strut.

After two seconds on this, he thought he looked ridiculous, and deflated his puffed out chest with a sigh. Then his ears perked up. It sounded like someone was crying. Curious, the tom went searching for the noise. He then saw a gold queen crying on the curb, not bothering to hide her tears. Alonzo's ears fell back against his head. He never knew how to react when a queen cried. Awkwardly he came up to the little cat, who was using her tail to blow her nose in. Alonzo grimaced, but pretended he didn't notice. "Um…are you okay?"

"Of course I'm not okay!" the queen screamed, coming out of her curled and crying position so quickly, Alonzo jumped back and fell off the curb. But the queen hardly noticed. "I'm going to be in so much trouble!"

Picking himself up and brushing off the dust of the street, the tom took a moment to look the queen over. To which she did the same. They stared for a moment. Then the queen pointed at Alonzo. "You look very famili-OH! You're the tom from the junkyard!" She jumped up to her feet. "You have my bottle!"

Alonzo would have answered, but he was at a loss for words, and only managed a, "Wha…?"

"The bottle!" she said, quickly wiping the tears from her eyes, though her face was matted from having cried so much. "You and your tom friend were having a fight or something."

"He—wait! What? Tom friend? What makes you think Munkustrap is my tom friend?" Alonzo said defensively. Then he groaned. (Wrong word to emphasize.) "I mean, I don't have a tom friend! I'm not that kind of tom!"

"Please, may I have the bottle back? Please?" she asked, coming right up to the tom, making him suddenly feel uncomfortable. She was very close to him. And her eyes were large and vibrant, from having cried so much. Large eyes staring up at him made him feel that same protective feeling he got with the Jellicle kittens. Alonzo took in a deep breath.

"Look, I don't have it on me right now," Alonzo said. The queen swatted him on the shoulder. "Ow…"

"Liar," she said, glaring at the tom. "Either you have it or that other cat does, and he's slightly frightening."

"Oh, so you'd rather hit me?" he asked, rubbing the spot where the queen had hit him. It didn't hurt at all, but hopefully the queen would feel guilty and not venture to hit him again.

And it worked. She didn't hit him.

She kicked him in the shins instead.

"Ow!" Alonzo said, backing away from the once innocent looking queen. "What was that for?"

"I just want my bottle back," she said, bursting into tears. She was crying after hitting him?

"Holy catnip," Alonzo muttered, rubbing his shin, which was now in quite a bit of pain. "Can't you wait until tonight? My friend is using it right now."

"Using it?" she asked, sniffling.

"Yeah. It's not like you need it anyway. You're young, cute…well, when you're not smacking toms around. And you don't seem to lack any confidence to race right up to a tom and kick his shins in! You know, this still hurts!" He pointed to his leg.

"It's my responsibility to protect the bottle, no matter what," the queen said adamantly. "And Macavity is a lot scarier and has far less kickable shins than you do!

"Wait," Alonzo said, suddenly becoming very serious. The queen bowed her head slightly, as though scared he would do something to her. "You work for Macavity?"

"I'm supposed to be," she said, too afraid to do anything but stand stiffly, holding her ground. "I'm supposed to hold onto the bottle for him for a week, but then those two cats stole it from me, and then that one cat had it, then you had it, and—it's just like he said! Everyone wants it!" The queen tried to choke back tears, and began hiccupping.

"Okay, calm down, calm down," Alonzo said, feeling sorry for the semi-violent queen. "He has you holding onto the vial for a week as though it's your responsibility? What, did he steal it from Cupid or something?"

"Huh?" the queen asked. "No, my name is Demeter."

"That's not what I was asking…but I wasn't completely off," he mused.

"Huh?"

"Nothing, just a mythical reference. SO! You need the vial back that bad, huh? Aw, you don't have to cry anymore. No, really, I mean it, stop. I can't handle the crying." The queen bit her lip in an attempt to stop. "I'll just pop back to the junkyard and get it for you, okay?" He gave an overenthusiastic smiled.

"You're scaring me." He stopped smiling.

"Ahem… look, if I knew that Mungo and Rumple had stolen it from you, I would have given it back the first time I met you. But, I mean, come on…how often do you come across a love potion?"

Demeter looked up at Alonzo, eyes wide. "A love potion?!"

"Yeah," he said, furrowing his brow. "Didn't you know what you were looking after?"

"No!" she said, wringing her paws. "I had no idea! They just told me to—A love potion, really?" She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Alonzo. "How does it work?"

"You have to be wearing it," he said nonchalantly. Demeter seemed relieved, nodding her head. Then Alonzo gave her a look. "You didn't think I was using it on you, did you?"

"Well, you never know," Demeter said, turning her face away from the tom.

"And what, you fell hopelessly in love with me the moment you saw me?" Alonzo asked sarcastically. "And the passion was so great, that you had to kick me in the shin?"

"That's how I show my affection," Demeter defended, giving him the same sarcastic look. "Anyway…can you please bring it back to me? Without wearing it? Please?"

"Sure," Alonzo said, nodding his head in defeat. He would never get to use the damned thing. "I'll just go get it from Mistoffelees."

"Who's Mistoffelees?" Demeter asked. "The one who stole it from me or the one who had it when I first came to that place of yours?"

"No, no," Alonzo said. "Mungojerrie was the tom who stole it from you, and Munkustrap was the one who had it, but he doesn't believe in magic. Mistoffelees is my friend who wanted to use it on a queen."

"Ah…too many M's…" She looked up to Alonzo. "And what's your name? Does it start with an M, too?"

"No." He smiled. "It's Alonzo."

"Okay," she said, looking about nervously. "I don't mean to be a pain, Mr. Alonzo, but…I want the bottle back as soon as possible."

"Mr. Alonzo?" he asked. Sheesh, how old was this queen? "I'll bring you back the vial, just…never call me that again."

"Okay," she said, nodding in agreement. And with that, the tom turned tail and raced back to the junkyard.

-----

Demeter walked back and forth, looking up at the sky, while wringing her tail in her paws. Every now and then, she hopped up and down, hoping to expend the energy from her anxiety. All she had wanted was to impress Macavity, to get his attention, and now, she was running around the city, looking for a stupid bottle that supposedly had a love potion in it.

Then, for a moment, she mused how it would be if she used the love potion on someone. Say, Macavity, for instance. Make him fall head over heels in love with her…

…Then again, that image frightened her, and she shook her head of that thought.

"Ahem," said a female voice behind her. Demeter turned to see a white cat standing there, her voluminous fur making her quite a presence. "Hello, little one." She smiled cunningly.

"Hello," Demeter said. Having never had a reason to fear queens, she gave her a quick smile, and turned around, continuing on her pacing.

"Ahem." Demeter turned again, seeing the queen was much closer to her now. "I've heard tell that you're supposed to be guarding quite the little secret..." Demeter's eyes widened.

------

Cassandra sat next to Mistoffelees, her lips tightly sealed. The tom was on his side in a submissive pose, carefully batting his paw at Cassandra's whiskers. "Please listen to me, Cassie," he said, giving a pout.

"No," Cassandra said, turning her head away.

"Aw, but you want to hear what I have to say," Mistoffelees said, smiling gingerly. "Otherwise you would have gotten up and moved."

"I just don't want to be displaced by you," Cassandra said, taking her swishing tail and tucking it under her.

Mistoffelees sat up and tried to make eye contact with Cassandra, but she stubbornly looked away. "I'll do anything to make it up to you, Cassie."

Cassandra glanced over to the tom, seeing the vial around his neck. The queen let out a small sigh, before looking up to the tom, and smiling almost too cheerfully. "Alright," she said. "I think I know something you can do to make it up to me!"

"What's that?" Mistoffelees asked, relieved the queen was finally looking at him.

"There's something I like that most cats run away from. But I think they're beautiful."

"Vacuum cleaners?"

"No!" Cassandra glared. "Fireworks."

"Fireworks?!" Mistoffelees asked, his eyes widening.

"Give me a fireworks show, and I..." She leaned in close, "would love you…" She nuzzled him on the cheek "for the rest of your life." Leaving the tom with little to say, the queen got up and walked off with a sensual sway.

Mistoffelees sat, stunned, for quite a while, staring off into space, wondering how he could possibly accomplish that.

"Hey, Misto?" The tom jumped, looking back to see Alonzo had trotted up to him.

"Everlasting cat, Alonzo, how do you always find me?"

Alonzo stopped, looked the cat over, and seemed to be thinking the same question. Then, after a few moments, Alonzo sat next to his friend. "I was trying to come up with a witty response, but I'm in too much pain from having been beaten up over that vial around your neck."

"Beaten up?" Mistoffelees looked concerned. "What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Alonzo said, looking away dramatically. "But I'll survive. That's all that matters. But I need that vial, or they'll break my legs."

"Really?" Mistoffelees asked, eyes wide.

Alonzo grinned, "Well, I'm sure she'll try."

"She?"

"There's a queen." Alonzo began to explain to Mistoffelees just what had happened while he was trying to win over Cassandra.

"Well," Mistoffelees said, looking mournfully at the vial. "I guess she needs it more than we do, huh?"

"Yeah," Alonzo said, as Mistoffelees handed the vial over to him. "Listen, I have to take this back to her, lest she disappear on me like last time, so I do care about what happened between you and Cassandra, just have no time to ask. So, remember it and tell it to me when I get back, okay?"

"Yeah, whatever," Mistoffelees snorted. "You act like you're the one who has to make the fireworks happen."

"That's such a cliché euphemism, Mistoffelees," Alonzo said, as he got up and walked off. Mistoffelees was confused by what the tom had said, but let it go.

------

Alonzo put the vial around his neck and trotted along to where he left Demeter. He was a little disappointed that the vial would soon be out of his possession. But the happy look on the young queen's face should be worth it. Who knew? Maybe she would want to join the tribe afterwards instead of Macavity's, and then there would be more queens in the tribe to drool over.

But that was probably the love potion talking.

Nearing where he had left the queen, he slowed his pace a little. He didn't want this odd adventure to end quite just yet.

Then…

A sharp pain on the back of his head, stars, everything going black…

And when he opened his eyes, the midday had turned into a dawning sun, and a peach and white face looking down at him with concern. He tried to smile, but couldn't. Then he felt a horrible pain on the back of his head. When he went to lift himself up, the world spun around him, and he fell back. Demeter caught him before his head smacked against the ground.

"What happened?" he asked, gingerly feeling the back of his head with his paw.

"Um," Demeter said, scratching her cheek, thinking of the best way to tell the tom the news. "There was a queen."

Alonzo furrowed his brow. "Okay."

"Her name is Griddlebone," she explained. "She works for Macavity. And…she heard about the vial from somewhere."

Alonzo couldn't focus through the thick fog that his mind was encased in. "Okay," he said dumbly.

"Well, she found me and asked me where the vial was, and…well…she kinda was waiting for you to come back."

"Okay."

"And when she saw you…"

"Uh-huh?"

"She took the vial for herself."

"I'm not following."

Demeter sighed. "She knocked you on the head and took the vial from you!"

"Nah," he said, grasping for his neck, but finding nothing there. "Where's my collar?"

"I don't think you had one!" Demeter said in a bit of a panic. "Are you okay? Maybe I should get someone you know…"

"No, I'm okay…wasn't I wearing something around my neck?"

"Yes, you were," Demeter said, trying to help the tom up. But being such a small queen, she found the job to be very trying, putting all her energy into lifting the tom to a seated position. "You had a--"

"Wait, wait," he said. "It's coming back to me."

"Oh, good."

"It was a little black bow-tie, right?"

"No!" Demeter managed to get him to sit up, and then rose to her feet to try and get him onto his feet. She struggled to pull his arms up. "Come on, we have to get the vial back!"

"Why?" Alonzo asked. "Oh, my fur is gold and black…I thought it was white and black."

"Maybe in another life," Demeter said, now pulling backwards, dragging Alonzo a few centimeters before stopping to rest. "You were going to get me the vial so Macavity wouldn't make mince meat of me! Oh, what's the use? I should lock my cat-doors. The humans close the windows, so I guess I don't have to worry about that." She stopped talking when she realized Alonzo was staring up at her. "What?"

"Are you my mate?" Alonzo asked.

Demeter blushed under her fur. "I-wh-no!"

"Heh, I was just kidding you," Alonzo said, getting up on his feet. "It's coming back to me. Just give me a second."

"Okay," Demeter said eagerly. Then she wondered out loud, "How long has it been coming back to you?"

"After you said Macavity," he said, his paw on his chin as he continued trying to remember what had happened. "That name could scare any tom back to his senses. Now, shh, I need to think…Who is this Griddlebone; have I met her?" Demeter shook her head. "No, I would remember a name like that."

"The vial," Demeter urged. But Alonzo was now trying to gain spatial reasoning by using his paws to put the events back into place in the imaginary time line in front of him. "Oh, just come with me!" The queen grabbed the tom's paw and dragged him into the direction they would be sure to find Griddlebone.