A/N: I dedicate this chapter to my faulty internet. Though I hate you passionately for breaking down on me this last weekend, I must thank you for giving me such terrible boredom that I was able to write the last ten pages of this chapter. Thus, it is done earlier than I expected it to be! ^_^
Their passion, growing so much in size had clouded their logical judgment. The loving kisses did not stop, the movements did not stop, and soon enough, their joy and pure affection created the night that Marceth and Zela lost their innocence.
~^..^~
The morning was short and frustrating. It was a wonder if it was any more decipherable from the night. But perhaps because Victoria was so clouded in anger, she had given up on figuring it out for herself. Her own mate had lied to her, saying that he would take a break from his research and come back to their den, only to abandon the plans without giving her notice! As if being heavily pregnant wasn't enough, the white queen was in such a dark, emotional state that she could tear her mate's head off.
Growling angrily, Victoria strode into the clearing of the Junkyard as it still appeared deserted and spiritless. Yet anything that was near death could see that the white queen was not going to allow anyone get in her way, not even her depressive home. She saw her father come trudging forward by the tire, and she knew he spotted her striding toward the medical den. Victoria quickly turned her head to Munkustrap, sending him a look that said not to say or do anything to stop her.
For some reason, he did exactly what her actions ordered. She would fill her father in on details later about how angered she was at her mate. Victoria stormed through the isle that two rows of sick patients' made, being sure to cover her mouth, to be safe of Jellylorum's theory of the disease spreading through the air. Of course, now it wasn't saying much when she was lying unconscious on a bed and a catheter stuck into her vein. As soon as she was cleared out of the quarantined zone, the white queen strode forward to the back of the medical den. She slammed her fist on the makeshift door several times as a warning, then pushed it open, obviously irked with anger. She stomped in, ready to give her mate a piece of her mind.
Suddenly, as she observed the room, something was chilling her. The cold loneliness became obvious, but it wasn't her mate absence that was bothering Victoria. It was the chilling sense that there had been some sort of a struggle. Her anger had instantly dissolved, and instead, she studied her investigative observations. There was a broken beaker and test tube shattered along the floor, a slightly colored liquid was splattered around the glass. Up by Misto's desk, blood was sitting inside circular Petri dishes and on the edges of large glass shards.
Her mate's scent was near, but clearly, there wasn't much left to it. He hadn't been inside for a while. Victoria felt sick now, as another scent, a Warehouse tom's scent was in her nose as she got closer to a back exit. A henchcat had been here. Victoria could suddenly feel the tension tightening her muscles. Something had happened last night… "Misto…" she whispered to the air. Her mate… he was gone…
Staring ahead at a junk pile, panic suddenly shot through white queen. Anything could have happened to her mate. If he was safe, then he would have contacted her by now. As her breathing increased, Victoria stumbled back to the entrance, then quickly zipped around and didn't even bother to shut the door or cover her mouth as she was running through the isle of sick Jellicles. There was too much emotion going through her to remember. Victoria found herself shouting her mate's name; sudden tears rolled down her cheek. This was all wrong. The father of her kits wasn't supposed to disappear on her! Suddenly becoming very dizzy, the white queen almost collided with the large tire in the clearing. She placed her paws over it, inhaling the rubber for some rate of support.
She felt a pair of paws on her shoulders, shifting to her in a comforting way. "Vicky? What's wrong?"
The alert voice could only be her father. But Victoria just started blubbering at his words, cringing into his chest. "Misto…" she muttered, crying hysterically, "He's gone..!"
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There was no moon out during night before. And it took until dawn before Barnabas could drag the tuxedo mystic to the Warehouse. It appeared that the chloroform didn't last as long on him as the sleazy henchcat had anticipated. Fighting off a mystic was no simple task, but Mistoffelees at least had the decency to wake up when they had come into the Warehouse's property. The border patrol came quickly to the black tom's aid to fight off the Mystic. It took five henchcats, but they were finally able to dodge the blasts of energy Mistoffelees sent at them, held him down, and drugged him again.
Macavity seemed pleased enough when they dragged the unconscious tom into his quarters and threw him in the corner. Of course, no one could ever be completely sure of the boss's reactions. Barnabas only knew that if the Jellicles grew any hope of survival from the boss's raging toxin, he had to be the one to stop it. Being unceremoniously sent out of his den was probably the equivalent of being thanked. Barnabas had learned to take these as good things over the years. But he never enjoyed being in this kind of service. Had the black tom not been Macavity's most loyal espionage agent since the job was assigned to him? He deserved a larger part in Macavity's little show, but he had been patient and strategic for a reason. Barnabas was going to get as close to power as he could. But for now, he was willing to stand by the Napoleon of Crime's door as a guard, and wait for instructions.
A few hours later in the early morning, a beige queen came striding toward the door, grinning madly. Barnabas wanted to smirk. Jezabella was rumored to be one of Macavity's neediest whores, even after leaving the den of his favorite queens. He had known her since she first came to the Warehouse; she was a sniveling queen who was too used to a high societal life. Oh, he had taken a great part in watching her fall into place; however that didn't stop Macavity from moving her up in the ranks. It didn't help the black tom's confidence at all, but knowing that the boss hated her made him feel a little better.
Jeza seemed to smirk when she saw the black, scarred tom that was guarding the door. She sauntered over to him, swaying in a way that Barnabas interpreted as seductive. All the toms wanted to tell her how hopeless she was a playing mind games, but Barnabas found the foolish queen interesting. She certainly had some skill; otherwise she wouldn't be training kittens into henchcats. Perhaps she would come to some use?
"Hey Barney…" the Tokinese queen purred, "What are you doing out here all alone?"
"Guarding, Jeza." Barnabas replied flatly, not taking much of a shine to "Barney".
"Well, that doesn't sound like too much fun…" She said, a pouty sound coming from her throat, "You could always take a break…"
Barnabas smirked, seeing through her innocent suggestion, "Jeza, if I were to leave my post just so you can get in to see the boss, unrequested, I would probably be flogged, and I'm not really in the mood to be flogged. Not when I got zapped by electric bolts three times last night."
Jeza scoffed mockingly, "Poor Baby… I would never have that be my intentions, though. I just think the boss would like my company."
Barnabas rolled his eyes, "You're a hopeless case…" he muttered.
"…What do you mean by that?" she asked, seeming to lose her charm when she detected an insult.
The black tom shrugged nonchalantly, unable to stop himself from smirking now, "You're not going to win anything from the boss except disrespect. I've seen you for years, trying to gain his attention, but can't you see that he doesn't give a henchrat's ass about you?"
Jezabella quickly frowned at him, obviously not as seductive as she was when she came to him. "For your information, the boss cares an awful lot about me. He just has difficulty showing it."
"You annoy him." Barnabas grumbled, "As soon as your voice is out of his hearing range, it's less likely he'll try to kill someone."
Jeza took more offense to this as she dug her claws into his arm and glared, "That's not true." She hissed lowly.
Barnabas persisted, "But it is! The sooner you realize that, the sooner you're better off. He doesn't care about any of us, except for our labor. If you were to die right in front of him, he'd spit on your corpse. I know this because I'm his assistant and spy. I've seen every henchcat abuse in the book. He doesn't care about any of us."
She hissed quietly. "You don't know what you're talking about. And if you're not going to let me in, then I'll just come back later. And once the boss hears that you didn't let me in, then I'll take a pleasure in watching you get flogged! I promise you that!"
The Tokinese queen huffed as she spun on her heels in the reverse direction and strutted away. Barnabas couldn't help but smirk wider as he watched the lower half of her body walk away. For such a dumb queen, she was quite pretty, and very fiery as well. It would be fun to see her get crushed by Macavity in time. Every queen realized that truth eventually, and when Jezabella did, maybe she would be useful. He would pick up her broken pieces and repair her in his image.
Yes, things were going to go right after Macavity's latest scheme blew over…
~^..^~
Macavity watched Mistoffelees sleep uncomfortably at the other end of his den. Smirking evilly, the ginger tom stood up out of his chair and kneeled down next to him. It was amusing, realizing that the only two cats that knew the cure to the ginger tom's virus were in the same room. Of course, Macavity was going to make sure that it would only be one cat relatively soon. Mistoffelees couldn't live, not at the threat of him curing the Jellicles... And yet it seemed like such a terrible waste of magic… The whole point of this plan was to kill the tribe cats and capture their mystics. And this small, tuxedo tom was probably the most useful of all the mystics that resided in the Junkyard.
Perhaps then, he wouldn't have to get rid of him… only keep him quiet for while until the point of attack. Smirking still, the ginger tom placed a paw on Mistoffelees' chest, and sent powerful electric currents through his body. The young mystic was so shocked into consciousness, he yelled in agonizingly even after Macavity released him. He watched the tuxedo tom's chest rise up and down rapidly, trying to recover from the pain. It gave the Napoleon of Crime pleasure to see a Jellicle in pain, but his main objective today wasn't to torture. No, it was to put Mistoffelees in his proper place. "Rise and shine, little Mistoffelees..." the ginger tom purred grimly, rising to his full height, "Let me be the first to welcome you to the Warehouse."
Misto's eyes opened in narrow slits, a light growl escaping his throat as his gaze reached the ginger tom. Macavity chuckled, "I don't really have the time to watch you nap in my den, so I'll make this quick: you'll be staying here as my laborer, alive, until you are of no use to me. And I'll be giving you a front row seat to watch your tribe die."
The tuxedo tom stared at the ginger tom for a few moments before glaring. He tried to sit up, but Macavity just pushed him back on the ground. "Bastard…" Misto muttered weakly, "I won't let you hurt the tribe…"
"Yet I already have." The ginger tom pointed out mockingly, "And I really wouldn't be calling your captor and future boss a bastard. Especially when I wouldn't have the strength to do this-" He grinned, striking Mistoffelees with a bolt of energy. The little tom let out another agonized cry, as Macavity was making sure that it was hurting him badly. The ginger tom sighed after a moment, soon deciding to let him go. The Tuxedo tom breathed deeply several times, having no defense in return. Macavity just laughed, "Amusing how someone so clever can be so easily weakened. A bit of a shame, actually… Your powers will be useful, though. Perhaps if you consented to join me now, I could make the tribe's death less painful."
Mistoffelees responded by spitting at the ground. The ginger tom grinned wider, "I thought not. Ah well… It will still be fun to see how much you can take. But until then… perhaps you could keep my daughter some company? Bast knows she barely socializes with anyone."
The tuxedo tom's eyes widened slightly, "Zela…" he breathed.
Macavity just chuckled at his reaction, "Yes, she'll be happy to finally see one of her old friends, I'd imagine… She deserves a little reward for cooperating like a good little heir to my empire." He grinned, "I'll be sure she knows you're here… Oh, and Mistoffelees," Macavity gripped the little mystic's chest again, "If I find that you're using any powers to try and elude me-" he sent a screeching energy to his mind, and simply smiled as he heard the tom scream, "-That is going to happen a lot more often…"
Macavity tossed Mistoffelees on the floor and strode over to his door. "Take him to the cells!" he barked to Barnabas.
The ginger tom checked on the little mystic, who was obviously still working to gain his strength back. "You won't win, Macavity. With more than one mystic gone, the tribe will come looking for us."
Macavity laughed as plopped down in his black chair. "In their condition? Don't count on it, Mistoffelees…" Barnabas quickly walked in, taking the tuxedo tom by the shoulders and pushing him out of the den.
This was working out more splendidly than Hidden Paw had imagined. Two Junkyard mystics were already in his grasp. He almost wished that the Jellicles were all too weakened already and he could attack them. However, if he had been patient for this long, then a couple more weeks wasn't going to hurt…
~^..^~
Zela didn't need to open her eyes to know who was holding her in his arms. The coolness of the cells weren't as strenuous for her since the night before. She felt Marceth's warm breath on her face and his large paws wrapped around her waist. Zela smiled a little, not bothering to open her eyes before leaning forward and kissing his shoulder. "Good morning…" she murmured groggily.
She heard Marceth chuckle as his lips kissed the base of her forehead. "Good morning…" he said back, his grip slightly tightening on her.
As tired as she felt, Zela found the strength to open her eyes and look at Marceth. He was so close to her now… so loving in his touch… it made her wonder what had happened the night before where they fell into this harmonic state. "You sound so content…" she observed after a moment, yawning loudly.
The tortoiseshell tom laughed, looking quiet entertained by the comment. "And you sound so tired… which is appropriate. You sleep much longer than I do, you know."
Zela smirked, cuddling up to his chest. "Always the charmer…" she muttered lightly, leaning forward to kiss his lips. It seemed so strange when she felt him kiss her back. Yet… this felt right… it felt like it was supposed to happen, Marceth and her… together. Together… she thought, finding the statement odd. The gold-red queen quickly leaned up out of his arms and logically thought about what had happened the night before. She remembered saying that she loved him, and that he had said he loved her too. She remembered kissing him… him touching her… when she lay back on the ground… and when he laid himself on top of her…
"Oh Heavyside…" she thought out loud.
Marceth raised himself with her, quickly wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "Something wrong?" he asked, still having a sweetened sound in his tone.
Zela's head swiveled to him, her violet eyes widened in shock. "Last night… we…we…"
Marceth's smile seemed to grow, "Yeah, we did…"
Zelaphelia wasn't comforted at all by his smile, or the way he sounded. Memories of how amazing last night was came back to her. She had felt so fantastic, and it had probably been one of the best nights of her life. But it shouldn't have happened. No, something like should have waited… she had let her feelings get a hold of her. But now, she knew that she loved Marceth. All of her emotions were running so high that she probably would have done anything. "We shouldn't have…" she finally said.
The gold-red queen looked up at Marceth to see his face, which looked less happy and more serious. "What do you mean?" he asked.
Zelaphelia just shook her head, "It shouldn't have happened. Marceth, I was upset and unstable and I shouldn't have let you do anything…" The gold-red female suddenly looked up, realizing her word choice. If she hadn't been so overemotional, Marcetheus wouldn't have been able to do anything. Marceth had taken her while being absorbed in her vulnerability. "You… Marceth, did you take advantage of me?" She suddenly stood up straight. How could she have been so stupid? Marcetheus could have been lying to her the whole time! He was probably waiting for the correct opportunity when she was most vulnerable, biding his time and buying into her affections... Why hadn't she seen it? "Why? Why would you do that to me? You knew how horrible I felt!"
Marcetheus stared her in shock. He stood back on his feet and glared at her, his shock turning into outrage, "Yes, I did know that! I also know that the moment I said 'I love you'; I wanted to be with you! Or was making love to you not enough to prove that?"
Zela wasn't moved by his words. "Who said 'I love you' meant anything, Marceth? That whole time, you could have been trying to convince me you had feelings for me just so you could… could… do that!"
Growling lowly, the Tortoiseshell tom took a firm hold of Zela's shoulders, not giving her much room to struggle. The gold-red queen glared at him, trying to take a step back, yet Marceth wouldn't allow her to do anything over wriggling in his grasp. He wanted her attention to be on him. "Zela, I sat next to you all night. I watched you while you were sleeping! If I just wanted to have my way with you, do you think I would have stuck around? …" Marceth breathed deeply quickly staring into her eyes, "Zela, I meant what I said… I do love you… the words might sound different right now… but it's the truth."
Zela wasn't sure what to say to that. She was still contemplating if he was really leveling with her or not. Taking a deep breath, the gold-red queen looked away from the tortoiseshell tom, and took a step back from him when his grip lightened. "…It did mean something to you… right? What you said?"
"Of course it did." He replied firmly, still looking upset by her original accusation, "I can understand why you were suspicious… but, Zela, I don't think I've felt this way for any queen before… I've never met someone more brave… more loyal… more pretty…" Marceth looked away, his face seeming to rouge at his last word, yet he quickly looked back into her eyes and turned serious, "though I wish you were more trusting…"
Zela's gaze traveled down to her feet as she tried to ignore the guilt he was suddenly making her feel. Yes, he suddenly had a point. If she didn't feel so suspicious of his motives to being with her, then maybe she would trust what he was saying… perhaps if they had met under different circumstances, then none of this would have been an issue. There wouldn't have been any problem with faith in each other wouldn't have been in existence. If Zela wasn't the daughter of the Hidden Paw and he wasn't a henchcats, she knew they would be happy in this new-found relationship. She sighed deeply, "I do trust you, Marceth… But it's strange that I allowed what happened to happen… especially after what I found out about your parents… I don't want to be hoodwinked like that again…"
Marceth sighed quietly, relaxing from their awkward fight, "That won't happen with me. I'm nothing like my parents, Zela. I can promise you that."
He slowly leaned forward to kiss her forehead gently. Zela inhaled deeply and leaned her head so that it rested on his chin. The anger and suspicions quickly cleared from her mind as she re-wrapped her arms around him, and his around hers. His touch and his warmth… they had far too much love to be labeled as a lie. Marceth rested his head over hers, chuckling quietly in her ear. The gold-red female grinned, "What?"
"Nothing…" he said, grinning down at her, "… But I guess this means we're together doesn't it?"
Zela purred quietly at the thought. They were truly together then, especially because they mated. She belonged to him now. "I guess so…" she murmured, "…Yet… doesn't mating mean… we're actually mates? Or at least it means so unofficially. That's the way it's explained in the tribe…. I think you have to dance at the Jellicle Ball first and mating just seals the deal…"
Marceth blinked, seeming to be in pondering with the idea. "…Probably… though it's a little different here. It's an unwritten rule that henchcats aren't allowed to come to your precious little balls. There aren't really any mateships in the Warehouse… If two cats wanted one… well… they'd have to be approved by the boss…So yeah… technically, this is an illegitimate mateship…"
The gold-red queen looked up with him, suddenly getting a worried look in her eye. The word "boss" stuck out to her. She never even thought about what Macavity would do if he found out his daughter had mated with her guard. "My father won't be happy about…this…" she pointed her paw between them, yet quickly hooked her other arm around his neck.
Marceth nodded, kissing her lips again gently, "If he ever did find out… I'm here to protect you. Besides, we have a plan, don't we? I'm an interrogator by day and guard by night… at least until Macavity trusts you again… but even when that day comes, the cells are always private… It might be a bit of a morbid place… but… in a way… it really does feel like our place, you know?"
Zela smiled narrowly, "You're right… Thank Heavyside it's so vile that only prisoners and guards go down in it…"
Marceth laughed, "Certainly vile enough where we mate in cells… Not strange at all for you?"
"'Course not." The gold-red queen replied with a smirk, "I think I'm a little less reactive to all these strange things. It's nice to finally find a perk to being a prisoner."
Marcetheus just grinned as he leaned forward and kissed her lips softly. Zela complied, kissing him back with a terse emphasis. They stood there for a few minutes, simply enjoying their physical contact. The gold-red queen could only see this as a perfect moment between lovers. He did love her. She could feel it.
But before she even wanted to stop, a shout from the prison door interrupted them. "Marceth! Open the door, you dolt! I got a prisoner for you!"
Marceth's eyes flashed forward to the cell door. He inhaled sharply and took a reluctant step away from Zela. "Act casual…" he told her, quickly removing himself from the cell and locking her inside. Zela frowned, but sat down in the corner and crossed her arms, trying to appear as miserable as she was before. The tortoiseshell gave her a wink of approval before unlocking the main door to the cell, revealing Barnabas holding a tired, struggling tom by the pelt.
Zelaphelia's eyes widened as she recognized Mistoffelees. "Misto!" she cried, unable to control herself as she ran up to her cell door.
Marceth gave her another look that said not to overreact, but then just fell into the role of tough-angry-guard. "Sit down!" he shouted, whipping the gold-red female with his tail. Zela backed up from the door reluctantly, but kept at Misto, who was still struggling in Barnabas's grasp.
"This one's a wriggler," the black tom muttered, quickly tossing Misto into Marceth's arms, "And a Jellicle mystic, too. Don't fall for any of his tricks." He growled lowly at the tuxedo tom, then just turned himself to the exit and gave no concern to Zela.
When he shut the door, Marceth quickly dragged Mistoffelees into the cell next to Zela's, and locked him in. Zela could hardly bear watching her friend be treated like this. She banged her fist on the bars. "Let me out, Marceth! He's my friend!"
The tortoiseshell henchcat stared at her, confused for a second before unlocking her cell door. "I can't let you in his Cell, Zel. Protocol. "
"It's not like you haven't broken protocol before…" Zela muttered, but then she just shook her head and sat down next to Misto's cell. "Never mind… Misto, can you hear me? It's Zela…are you alright...?"
Mistoffelees groaned before sitting up and rubbing his head. "Zela…" he murmured, grinning slightly, "I knew you weren't dead. Or switching sides."
Zela raised an eyebrow, suddenly puzzled by the tuxedo tom's words. "Misto, what happened to you?"
The small mystic wheezed as he leaned up to look through the bars of his cell, "I… I did it, Zel… I found the cure to the disease in the Junkyard…But Macavity found out and had me kitnapped… Now I'm stuck here until the whole tribe gets killed off…"
The gold-red queen shook her head in disbelief. "The tribe… what's been going on?"
He shook his head gently as he rested his body on the concrete wall, "Half the tribe has gotten infected… even Jelly and Jenny… we barely have any power against the toxin… our defenses are down… Munkustrap is a mess… and Zel, Demeter's sick…"
Zelaphelia felt her heart beating rapidly as her stomach turned over in queasiness. "Not my mother…" she murmured, suddenly glaring down at the stone floor. "That's going too far… how long does everyone have?"
Mistoffelees shook his head. "I'm not sure… Plato and Etcy probably don't have more than a week to live… If I could get back, I could help them…"
The gold-red queen sighed roughly, "I know… but I know where we can find another cure, Misto. It's in the Warehouse. This whole toxin was Macavity's plan against us. As soon as I find out where Jerrie and Teazer are, we can all get out of this place. I won't let them hurt you more than they did…"
Misto stared at Zela for a long time before his brow crinkled. "Zel… Teazer is back at the 'yard. She told us that she saw you training with henchcats and that you turned. And Macavity told her that he killed Jerrie."
"… Teazer's at the 'yard?" Zela said, suddenly wondering about what on earth her father had been up too behind her back. She growled lowly. "So my dad hadn't really been that truthful, has he? …Oh Jerrie…" the gold-red queen breathed deeply several times at the thought of the tiger-striped tom being killed. She had wanted to keep him alive. She thought doing what Macavity said would save both Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer… but now the ginger tom had made her angry. He couldn't take her friends from her now. She wouldn't allow it. "We're going to get out of here, Misto. We'll get that cure to the tribe, and Macavity won't be able to stop us."
Marceth finally spoke up after being silent for so long, yet he didn't sound as calm as he had been earlier. "Zela... you're kidding, right? You're not actually leaving…"
Zelaphelia looked up at Marceth, suddenly feeling a bit of heartache. If she got Misto and herself out of here… then she would lose Marceth. And there was no way he'd come with. He was too loyal to her father, and besides, Macavity would kill Marceth if he found out that the young tortoiseshell betrayed him. "Marceth… my tribe is at stake… I can't let them die, knowing I could have done something to stop it. Please… it's the only way…"
"But it isn't!" he shouted, placing his paw on her shoulder firmly. The gold-red queen stared at him, and strangely enough… she could see in his eyes that he wasn't going to let go of her any time soon; not when they had just come together. "Zela… there must be another way… let me help you."
Zela sighed quietly, "Marceth, how can you help us?" she quickly looked back at Misto, who seemed confused about the exchange happening between her and an unknown henchcat.
Marceth ignored her stare to Misto and just focused on Zela. "Look… this… this Jerrie person… he was one of those two thieves that were imprisoned here some time ago, right?"
"Yeah…" she replied, somewhat tentatively.
"Let me search for him! Since no one has really seen him dead, then there's a possibility the boss left him alive to keep him as leverage above you." Zela saw the sincerity of Marceth's smile, yet she could easily believe that this was just a way to slow the inevitable… eventually … she would have to leave him.
"It would be good reasoning…" she mused, "…Maybe… you just may be right…But if you're going to do something like that, Marceth, then I'm helping you." She grinned at Marceth, finally accepting him now as her mate. The gold-red queen turned her head and grinned wryly at Misto. "We might be able to save the tribe yet…"
The tuxedo tom smiled weakly as he leaned himself up to look at the two cats outside his cell. "And I'll help in any way I can… however, can you explain to me… exactly what's going on between the two of you? And exactly who the heck this tom is?"
Zela chuckled quietly at her friend's words, and was glad that he was still the same tom, despite the abuse he withstood from Macavity. She then took the time to explain to Misto exactly what she had been through the past month, and exactly what was between Marceth and herself…
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