She was his anchor, his one tie to sanity. She didn't know this of course, why would he tell her that he was so dependent on someone, and a queen at that? It was bad enough that she managed to all but shatter his sanity last time she left him. That was the true reason why he became the Napoleon of Crime. Not because he desired power, no, of course he didn't. Power was just another responsibility, and he had already passed one set of responsibilities to Munkustrap. No, he became the Napoleon of Crime, the Hidden Paw, to try and get her to notice him, the failed mystic, outshined by an upstart conjurer who was barely even into tom-hood.

"Sir?" Griddlebone asked from the doorway, jarring Macavity from his reverie. Sighing softly, he opened his eyes and stood up in front of the chair he had been sitting in.

"Griddlebone? Is there a reason as to why you are disturbing me? I believe I left strict orders to not disturb me," he asked her coldly. Yes, Griddlebone was quite beautiful, and he would do well to forget about Demeter, yet he couldn't. Insanity was much more enjoyable than being with some queen other than Demeter with her golden fur.

"Yes, sir. You gave me that personal order to tell you when a spy found Demeter being hurt as soon as possible. Macavity, Demeter's being hurt right now, down three alleyways from here," Griddlebone said, stepping out of the doorway quickly as Macavity started walking determinedly outside. He wouldn't allow someone to hurt Demeter. Not as long as he still had breath in his lungs and wasn't stuck in the Fell. He would be the only one who would be able to hurt her without proper retribution.

"Stop, Munk! You're hurting me! Why are you on 'nip anyways?" Demeter shouted. Macavity started running, trying to get to her before his idiot of a brother started hurting her worse than he obviously was.

"How else do I get rid of stress?" Munkustrap replied—by this time Macavity was standing on a small ledge above them—as he pressed Demeter against the wall of a building.

"Maybe by getting some rest," Macavity called, restraining from his characteristic maniacal laugh.

"Macavity!" Demeter breathed as Munkustrap turned around. Said ginger cat jumped down from the ledge he was on and started stalking towards his little brother.

"What are you doing here?" Munkustrap asked.

"Defending my territory," Macavity said, looking at Demeter, rather than Munkustrap.

"This isn't strictly your territory," Munkustrap said. Macavity glared at him, his long claws slowly unsheathing.

"I knew I'd probably have to protect Demeter from the vulgar strays, yet never would I have thought that I would have had to protect her from the Protector," Macavity said harshly. "You promised to protect those who couldn't protect themselves. Now, I find you breaking that same promise."

"So? What you find out doesn't matter. No one believes anything you say. You're insane," Munkustrap said. Macavity inspected his claws nonchalantly, as he took a breath to answer.

"You know, usually people would expect it to hurt when your own family accuses you of being insane, yet I've gotten over it, what with the whole 'let's kill the Hidden Paw' deal you've inspired," Macavity said. Munkustrap hissed softly as he took a step towards the Napoleon of Crime.

"Now, Munky Brother, I don't think you want to get torn to shreds. You technically are on my territory, and I have several of my hench-cats watching for my order to attack you," Macavity said. He was bluffing. No one would find out about this encounter, unless Demeter spun it as one of her "Macavity raped me again" lies. He never raped her. It was always consensual, always. He would never have the heart to rape her of all people. Never. Munkustrap always had those darker leanings, and only the Hidden Paw knew about them. Munkustrap had hidden them well, except for when he was on 'nip.

"You're bluffing, Macavity. Now leave us alone," Munkustrap said. Demeter whimpered softly and she looked between Ginger and Silver.

"Munk, why don't you head home? I'll follow right behind you, and we can continue this where there isn't an audience present," she said softly. Munkustrap nodded once, and started walking away from the two of us. Demeter looked up at Macavity. The Napoleon of Crime felt like a naïve new tom, gazing at her, and she took a step towards him, taking her golden paw in his.

"I'm sorry for the lies. I thought you were truly insane…" she said softly, looking up into his eyes. He was. She was the only reason why he had any claim to sanity, yet he would never tell her that…maybe.

"Almost…" he said softly. He tenderly brushed a paw through her headfur, missing the time before she had dumped him that last time, before he was the Napoleon of Crime, and they were together.

"Almost?" she asked, looking slightly confused. Macavity closed his eyes slightly as he turned away from her.

"Almost. The one claim to sanity I have says I raped her though…" he said softly. Those lies. Those lies would haunt him. He never raped her. Tried to talk to her, yes. Tried to kiss her, yes. Tried to mate with her? No. Never without her consent. A slender golden paw turned his face back towards his anchor and she kissed him.

Never had the Hidden Paw been kissed before. Yes, he had kissed others before, yet no one had initiated it before. Never had the Ginger Tom been kissed. And he loved it. The Golden Queen wasn't running and hiding from him, and he didn't need to kitnap her in order to even touch her.

"I'll quit lying," she said softly, pulling away from him and starting to walk back out of the alley, following Munkustrap's footsteps.

"You don't have to go with him," he said softly.

"Just like how you don't have to be the Napoleon of Crime," she replied, pausing for a moment before continuing back in the direction she had been going. Anchors hurt if they fell, the Hidden Paw supposed. Especially when you were the one it was falling on. Though, that kiss might have been just what he needed to keep enough of a grip on sanity to turn back to the Jellicles with some shred of dignity left.

Life might be good, just maybe.

A/N: So, happy birthday, SummerRose12! This is your birthday present, and I hope you liked it! Well, I hope that other people who read it like it too, and I hope that some people review…yet, it's for Rose, and I hope that she likes it a lot.