A/N: No excuse on the late update! Again!

"Zela…" [Tugger] wheezed, "Love…"

The gold-red queen was so surprised by his sudden awakening that she didn't know Marceth suddenly fuming with hatred and jealousy. Zela glanced at him with a slightly raised eyebrow…"Marceth…"

He didn't say a word to her. Instead, he picked Tugger up by the mane, threw his close-fisted paw back, and punched him hard in the jaw. "You stay away from my mate!"

~^..^~

Zela wondered if she should be more surprised than shocked. She saw Tugger holding his mouth now, but the only thing the gold-red queen was really looking at was the anger seeping from Marceth's eyes. The action seemed to freeze her thoughts. She wanted to make sure Tugger was okay, but the second she saw that he was simply dazed by the punch in his face, she immediately went to chide her Marcetheus. "Marceth, what do you think you're doing?"

"This bastard isn't going to go near you." He growled, still glaring at Tugger.

Zela sighed roughly and put an arm on his shoulder. "Let him go, Marceth! Right now!"

It took a minute, but eventually Marceth glanced at her and his eyes softened. His grip loosened on Tugger's mane, and he dropped him on the dirt floor. Marceth looked at her with guilt in his eyes, but Zela simply ignored him and knelt down by Tugger's side. The Maine Coon hadn't realized what happened until he looked between Marceth and Zela. "W'a da he'l izz ziz guy's problem?"

Zela raised an eyebrow curiously at the question. It suddenly occurred to her that Tugger's cheek was bleeding profusely and he was holding a swollen lip. She hadn't thought that Marceth would hit Tugger strong enough to make him bleed! She turned her head to her mate and growled angrily, "You didn't have to hit him so hard!"

Tugger was still massaging his face, but he glared slightly at Marceth. "Din't hafta hi' me period…" He muttered.

The gold-red queen ignored his statement and stood up, storming back to Marceth. She still wasn't sure why he had done that, and she was still debating if she liked his masculinity or not. "Marceth, why did you hit him?" she asked angrily.

The Tortoiseshell tom stared at her blankly before looked at his feet. A hint of shame was present on his face, "I'm sorry, Zela… But he does not deserve to call you his love. He hurt you… and I would never do that to you. I don't understand why you wouldn't want me to treat him like a prisoner!"

Tugger finally stood up, though he looked dizzy, "Ze'wa, who is zis jowkah?"

Mistoffelees finally stood up in his cell, glaring at all three of them, "Would you all just calm down! And let me out of this damn cell!"

When Misto's comment registered, Marceth silently unlocked the door of his cell and sat back on his chair with a calm demeanor. Zela sighed and looked back at Tugger with a concerned look, "Are you okay?"

"Whad daws it luxs loike, Ze'wa?" He exclaimed with a self-righteous glare, "Nah why iz zat tom sayin' you'we his mayte?"

His were becoming understandable, thankfully. Zela decided to ignore the question entirely. She turned to Mistoffelees, "We need to move now. Who knows who else he'll catch! If we don't put our plan into action, Misto, we're doomed."

She glanced at her mate, who looked sulky again at the mentions of escape. She wanted him to come with her, dammit! What kind of mateship would it be if they weren't together? Mistoffelees noticed the flickering, silent tension between mates, and cleared his throat, "I agree." He replied, limping forward. Macavity was not being gentle to the mystical tom, that much was certain.

Tugger sat there with a befuddled look, and surprisingly, Marceth was sharing it. Zela watched her mate stand and walk up to her. "Zela, what is he talking about? What have you two been planning?"

The gold-red queen was thinking that Marceth would share her hope with him. For once, she was not taking the silly risks in her head. All her thoughts were on how life would be once they left this horrid place. She placed her paw on Marceth's arm and spoke softly, "Marceth, me and Misto have an escape plan, and it could easily be successful… but we need your help."

Marceth's brow furrowed discriminately, "…How?"

"It's all really simple," She began, looking so positive about what they were going to do, "I steal my father's antidote for the disease in the Junkyard. I hand it off to Misto, then you show Tugger and him back through the henchcat's way out; the one that you showed me. Then I'll be free to use my powers and leave. But the very first thing you have to do is get Jerrie here. Sneak him out. Become his guard and get him to the cells. Then we can all get out of here. What do you think?"

Marceth's eyes were still blank and unreadable for her. She was looking at him with hope in her eyes, the thought that her mate would have enough reason to go with this plan stuck in her mind. Yet a second later, all of that hope had disappeared. Right when she noticed the stone-cold look staring back at her. "There's one flaw in your plan: I'm not doing it."

At first, it was just a mild shock, but the thought quickly turned into anger. "What are you talking about?" she hissed, "Marceth, this is not my home, this is not our home. None of us are being held here willingly. We need to get out of here as soon as possible! Why won't you help us?"

"Why do you think Zela?" Marceth snapped back, "You keep talking in 'we' and 'us' but you're forgetting that this is still my home. I grew up here. My loyalties are remaining to my boss."

She stared at him, looking overly shocked, "…If you had been truly loyal to my father, you would have followed his directions. You wouldn't have spoken to me. Broken his rules. Mated with me!"

Tugger let out a low growl, and Zela could tell he finally connected everything after that sentence. "Your mate?" He growled, seemingly healed from his jaw injury, "You mated with a henchcat?"

Tugger was the most surprised out of anyone. Misto was staring down at his paws guiltily, since he already knew. The Maine Coon growled again, "You do realize the tribe could really call you a traitor now, don't you? They don't exactly smile at the tribe queens mating with Macavity's scum!"

Zela growled back at Tugger, "Don't call Marceth scum! He's much different…. Or at least I thought he was…" she turned back to Marceth, who wasn't looking happy at Tugger's comment. Zela sighed and stepped up close to him, "Just tell me what's wrong."

Marceth just sighed quietly, "I don't want you to go... You know that I love you, and I know what you're thinking. But the Jellicles will never accept a henchcat. And your old tomfriend has a good point. Now that we're together, your tribe might not be as accepting of you."

She glared sat his words, and stared at her feet begrudgingly, "This is no home. The Junkyard actually treats everyone who lives there with respect, and you know what? Macavity has you all in a pyramid, where you all work for him at the bottom, and he's at the top. It's not a good way to do things, Marceth. Henchcats blindly follow him, and then get hurt. I don't know why you suddenly want to not help us, but it's not the right decision to make, Marceth!"

Tugger choked on a laugh and rolled his eyes, "What do you expect from a henchcat, Zela? For some reason, you fell for his silly little act and slept with him. You know, I'm almost wondering what all this time with Macavity has done to you, Zela. I definitely don't like what I'm seeing."

Marcetheus growled lowly when Tugger spoke again. Zela could see in her mate's eyes that there was a force that not even her words could stop. "Marceth-"

"Where do you go off talking to her like that? You're the one that broke her heart, you arrogant arse! You know, I've seen guys like you before, but from my point of view, I was looking from the outside of a cage."

Tugger simply growled back at the tortoiseshell tom, hostility building up between them. Zela was trying to get between the toms, but it was obvious that they both were fighting to be the Alpha male. The Maine Coon stepped up toward Marceth, "And where do you go off insulting toms you just met, puny?"

Marceth hissed, "I think I've known you long enough to be an arrogant, hypocritical tool. And if you ever think about insulting my mate again, I'll fill your head so full of nightmares that you won't sleep for months!"

"Oh really?" Tugger smirked and stared down at him, "Well, big guy, this 'tool' has a perfect right to insult the queen that left him and mated with a pipsqueak…. I bet there's not even that much there that Zela can enjoy, eh Z?"

Zelaphelia was about to rebuke Tugger's comments. But Marceth beat her to it. He growled loudly and shoved Tugger back. "Stay away from her!" she shouted, about ready to shove the Maine Coon again. But before the opportunity could present itself, Tugger's balance was lost. He fell over in the corner, curled up on the floor, and started snoring gently.

The gold-red queen stared over at her mate, then over at Tugger. She wasn't even sure what had just happened. She looked back at Marceth with disbelief, "What did you do?"

Misto stepped up to the sleeping tom and blinked curiously, "He's asleep!"

Even Marceth was surprised by this new development. He glanced over at Zela and just shook his head, "I… I don't know… He just… he fell asleep!"

Misto rolled his eyes, "Oh really, Marceth? What in freakin' Heavyside tipped you off?"

Unsure about what to do, Zela shook her head and walked back to the Cell's door. To her displeasure, she found that Marceth had followed her. He closed the door and stared at his mate with a look of seriousness. Zela wasn't sure if it was guilt or maybe relief, but as far as she knew, Marceth was trying to remain unreadable. "Look, Zela…" he breathed, rubbing the back of his neck tensely, "I'm sorry… but… I don't want to lose you… I can't do this…"

Zela just stared at him, barely acknowledging his words. The second they absorbed, she scowled sorely at her mate. She no longer saw guilt or relief in his face. She saw soullessness. "Fine… If you're not going to do anything, then I will!" She was about to storm back up the stairs, but something stopped her. She sighed, slowly turning back to her mate, "I still want your help, Marceth. I have to free my friends… But I don't want to do it by myself."

A response wasn't given very quickly. Maybe there was some guilt leftover, but Zela was still hoping that his selfishness could be overlooked. Couldn't he tell that they could be happy if this happened?

Marceth finally sighed and shook his head, "Zel… I'm sorry…"

And with this final blow, Zela felt the keen sting of betrayal. Her heart fell in her chest, and all she could really think to do was sob for the loss of her mate. But she wouldn't do that. Not while he was there. "…Well… the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, does it?" she remarked flatly. Zela didn't even want to see the pity and regret in Marceth's eyes. She simply turned away from him and started up the stairs. Well, if her own mate wouldn't help her… Maybe her father would…

~^..^~

Life was just a poor joke. And for some reason, it felt like poking fun at Macavity in the evening. How was it that he had to sit inside his den all day and work? He was the Napoleon of Crime! He shouldn't have to do any of this! What crime lord did paperwork anyway? This was stuff his boring, not as successful half brother did. But once he finished his work, Hell decided to poke at him further when he heard a subtle knock at his door. The ginger tom growled angrily. No peace at all! What was wrong with this world?

He inhaled sharply, keeping himself on his black chair. He was calmly debating with himself whether or not he could take a visit from a henchcat or not. At the last second, Macavity decided he would simply have to create peace after he was done with one more little meeting. "Come in." he called, sounding a little darker than he expected of himself, though sounding dark was the best intent. He wanted the unfortunate soul behind that door to know what type of mood they had caught him in.

In a few second, the door opened itself, and in walked a collected, beige queen with a saunter in her step. "Good evening, Boss." Jezabella purred deeply.

Macavity gave a disdained nod as a greeting. Of course, out of all the queens that could have come through that door, it had to be the one that was infatuated with him. "What do you want, Jeza?" he asked in a soft, almost distracted tone.

The Tokinese queen made an innocent face, "Why sir, I don't want anything," She smirked slightly and walked toward him, "I think it's all about what you want, and I'm sure that you want the pleasure of my company…" She smirked, adding enough emphasis where her voice sounded sultrier than before.

The Napoleon of Crime proved immune to her enchantments, despite watching the way her hips moved. He was tired enough after sending silly Wynestelle away to the queens' den. He didn't need Jeza, a queen he was only half-attracted to, trying to seduce him in his own private space! "I'd prefer my own company at the moment, Jezabella." He growled, standing on his feet.

But Jeza didn't take t his as a threat. In fact, it looked like his actions only allured her more. She sauntered toward him, "I can understand that, Sir… Anyone would prefer your company… including me …" she came close to him with a deep smile, as if she could get away with the things that only Bombalurina could pull off.

Feeling annoyed enough with her overly confident attitude, Macavity knew this was enough to push him further than he needed to be. He gave her a foul, invidious glare, sending the message that her maneuver of seduction was not working. "Get out, Jezabella." He ordered, "I believe I gave you a speech about your behavior when you were much younger. Even then, I could have taught you a few more lessons! …Bbut because batting you around doesn't wise you up-…" Macavity took a grip of her shoulders, forcibly digging his claws into her skin.

This caused a wince to flash by Jezabella's face, but she wasn't looking any different from before, as if she was trying to keep her charade in play. Macavity hissed at her. If she wanted him to react, he would react. The ginger tom aggressively pushed her up against the wall and clashed his mouth with hers. He knew they were both enjoying this new contact. Anyone would. But a moment later, Macavity's teeth sunk into her lip, biting deeply enough where she bled.

The Tokinese queen yelped in surprise and pain, quickly pulling away from him. She looked shock that he would be that rough with her. She wasn't use to that, even after a year of staying in the Warehouse. Macavity glared and pushed her further against the wall. "If you thought that was bad, I'll do worse if you try coming on to me again." After a moment of looking over the expression of fear on her face, the ginger tom felt that his message had been received, and he could relax and be satisfied. He shoved her away from him enough where the beige queen lost her balance and landed on the floor. Jeza was breathing deeply, holding her injured lip.

Macavity decided that the message simply had to sink in further, "You have no idea what you're trying to put yourself through. But I just gave you a taste of it, Jezabella! I want you to understand that you're nothing but a sac of fur to me. You're a queen that's meekly trained a few kittens, and barely made them accountable in the Warehouse! Now, either you continue to keep yourself quiet, do what I say, and learn to play by my rules, considering that I can easily put your pathetic life to an abrupt, very unnatural end!"

Between Jeza's facial expression and the fact that she was crawling to the door, Macavity couldn't decide which one he liked better. He growled once more for good measure and stalked forward a step, "OUT!"

And in that brief moment, she disappeared. Hopefully that had scared her enough to make her stay away from him. Macavity chuckled darkly, as that encounter had put him in a better mood. He went back to his chair with a small grin resting on his face….

~^..^~

There was coldness in the air now; the kind of frozen, bitter air that made Jeza not want to breathe. She started off crawling through the main hall of the Warehouse, looking truly feeble to any henchcat that passed her. What her boss had done made her feel dreadful. It was such a violating confrontation on his part. She never thought he would do something like that to her, even with the kiss, which was nice for a moment. But it turned into an event in her life that would haunt her for good.

The Beige queen couldn't have felt more down-hearted or diminished. Her ego had taken a blow from a tom, who she realized had a far larger ego than she did. Breathing deeply, Jeza crawled into a corner near the henchcats' common area, and curled herself into a ball of blubbering beige fur. Rejected. Hated by the boss. Whose life could be worse than hers?

But it took maybe a few minutes of crying by herself until she felt someone kneel down next to her. It was a kind gesture, and the Tokinese queen half-wondered if maybe the boss had come back to apologize. Yet she found herself dismayed after looking up. Barnabas's scarred face was smirking at her charmingly. "I suppose the boss knocked you right back into your place, eh darling?"

Jezabella glared angrily at the black tom and turned her head back to her tear-soaked fur. "Leave me alone, Barnabas…" She muttered in a hoarse tone. Jeza hadn't realized how much she had cried! And now the stupid assistant would know it! "I don't need you rubbing it in my face…"

Barnabas sounded like he was stopping himself from laughing. "Now, Jeza, mia bellezza." That phrase caught her attention. She knew that language was Italian, but she didn't think Barnabas knew any. He sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, "No need to think that way. Macavity obviously hasn't been treating you well. And you aren't the only one. Most henchcats already know that the boss does not know how to treat his employees… So, we are going to fire a message back to him… And you would help tremendously with the cause, darling."

Jeza stared at him with large, curious eyes. She almost didn't understand what he was saying until he said it. "… You're… you're asking me to go against the boss…"

The black tom shrugged, "You could say that… Moreover, I 'm requesting your help. You know the boss will never appreciate us. You can help make sure that he knows we will be respected."

For a moment, Jeza just stare at him, as if he barely knew what he was talking about. "… He would kill all of us for doing something like that…"

Barnabas laughed, "Maybe so, but with the proper help, he won't be able to lay a claw mark on any of us." The words he used sounded so sinister… but appealing, also.

The Tokinese queen's head turned to the side in confusion, "…How do you mean?"

The black tom just smiled and stood them both up. He kept his arm around and started leading her down another hall. "Let's talk…"

~^..^~

This was risky business. Requesting a favor from her father was not Zela's ideal plan. But since Marceth refused to help her, she knew she was out of options. Macavity was her last chance to freedom, even if he was the one that locked her up in the first place. Yet she wouldn't be surprised if he was listening to her thoughts right now, already catching up to her plan. If he wasn't now, he would later. She kept her mind as blocked as she could.

The gold-red queen kept her eyes straight when she saw her father's den door. She was around her father before, but never like this. Those were practice lessons. That whole time, he was teaching her to fight and to have enough confidence in herself, though the lessons were especially emphasized on how she must remain loyal to her father. Well, now was time to put all those lessons into action. She used these weeks to discover what she had adopted from her father, and possibly use it against him. Yet now, she was going to use it as an advocate towards her case. Inhaling sharply, Zela walked forward and slowly knocked on Macavity's door.

By the sound of his voice, he was disgruntled, "Come in!"

Slowly, she opened the door and walked inside, "Mac-… Father?"

Macavity's face still looked dark and angered, but it seemed to change quickly at the sight of his daughter. Surprises would never seem to cease. "Ah, Zela," he purred, "Well, this is certainly unexpected." He was smiling grimly, making Zela wonder if he had expected her to come. Macavity chuckled at how nervous she looked and stood up out of his chair, "I never thought you would come visit me on your own. What can I help you with, dear?"

Zela looked down for a moment; her fast-pacing heart beat barely beginning to slow. "I need to ask you a favor, Father…" She was glad that she had gotten use to calling Macavity as 'father', otherwise that title would taste far too bitter in her mouth.

Macavity raised an eyebrow curiously, but gave an approving nod, "Alright… go ahead then."

"I need you to free Mungojerrie…"

Another thing Zela was learning: to tolerate the empty silences between them. Macavity had quickly lost his grin and had turned himself away from his daughter. "So I assume Tugger has already explained what happened to Rumpleteazer… Otherwise you would have come to me sooner."

She glared at her feet, "Something like that, yes…" She was keeping herself from telling the truth, of course. He would never give into her request if he knew the full story. All he had to know was that she knew Jerrie was alive; nothing more, nothing less. "You have two other Junkyard prisoners, Father. If you still believe that I'm not trustworthy enough, you have them. But please release Jerrie…"

Macavity sighed and started pacing around the room. His look reminded her of what his bad side was like. She had only been on the end of that a few times in her life. But if he should go on the offense this time, at least she was ready.

Then he turned his head up to her, his face appearing gentle and understanding. Zela stared at him, as if this wasn't her father. "I will release Mungojerrie," he decided, "Since he has no other use to me… I was just going to have him as a toy for the torturers, but I suppose it will work this way..." He looked at Zela and sighed, "I did what I had to so you would be on my side."

She simply nodded, "I know, Father…"

He walked back to her, for once looking like the father figure that hadn't existed. "Someday, you'll understand. When you inherit my empire." He smiled at her, a genuine smile. The gold-red queen was barely able to acknowledge it before it disappeared, "I'll be sure to release Mungojerrie… but he will be in your care. If you find it best to send him back, then you may. But remember that you are not allowed to leave the property."

Zela simply nodded, though a rebellious argument was in her. Holding her tongue was the only thing to do though. He could easily take back their agreement if she said the wrong things. "Yes, Father…" she stated shortly.

Macavity stared at her, looking unconcerned , and for once, carefree. "You may go. Tell your guard, Marcetheus to release him. Oh… and tell Marcetheus to visit me afterwards."

Zela looked at her father, unable to figure instantly why he would want to see Marceth again. He hadn't given any indication that he knew about them! Zela bit her lip, nodding shortly before exiting the room with quick haste. Her father had once again succeeded in perplexing her, but at the moment, he wasn't a worry in her mind. Instead, she focused on her last destination. Now that they had an exit out of the Warehouse, she now had a motive for larceny against her father.

The gold-red queen mystically ascended back to Macavity's chemical laboratory, where she had kept a close eye on what the antidote looked like…

~^..^~