Fianna bounced along the narrow passageway, feeling a chill from the steel sides. Her paws skidded everywhere on the slippery slope, but she kept her balance. The cats behind her had more trouble; Fiona continuously fell over, Han, still a little weak, wobbled on his paws, and Pinebranch—probably the most agile of them all—managed to walk in a more-or-less straight line.

They could hear faint voices occasionally, and loud stomping Twoleg paws romping around underneath them. Every so often the group would come to a piece of metal with holes in it that showed them where they were. Cold air. smelling of clean, acrid things, gusted up from those metal things. Han called them 'grates'.

"Are we almost there?" complained Fiona. "My paws are numb."

Han chuckled at her complaint. "Well, we don't actually know where we're going—it's you and Fianna—"

He was interrupted by an excited squeal from Fianna several tail-lengths ahead. "Fiona! Come look!"

Fiona dragged her paws grumpily up to where Fianna and Pinebranch were staring through a grate into a familiar lab. Pinebranch snorted a little and backed up. "It's not natural for cats and Twolegs to be so close," he muttered. His posture, rigid, showed his discomfort.

Fianna ignored him. "Look!" she yelped. "It's the same room we were in!"

"Why you're so excited, I don't know," grumbled Fiona. "It's not like we can just walk in and demand to be switched again. The Twolegs would just re-capture us and put us through more brutal tests."

Fianna's joy dimmed momentarily, but soon brightened once more. "But they might!" she chirped. "Han, how do we get down there?"

"I don't really know," the tom replied. A shiver had passed through him at the mention of tests, and now he couldn't shake the feeling something would go wrong. "I knew about the airducts, but I don't know how to get out unless we go back the way we came."

They quickly found out. Pinebranch, curious, stepped onto the grate and peered in. A rattling sound distracted them, and a tiny piece of metal popped out of the grate with a resounding clack. They jumped back, including Pinebranch, but were too late.

Pinebranch plunged down into the lab with a wail. He hit the ground with a thump, but lifted his head and stared around, dazed. "Pinebranch, it's okay!" Fianna yowled down. "Wait there! I'll help you—"

Too late. Twolegs, alerted by the noise, swarmed into the room. They made sounds of confusion, but picked up Pinebranch. The tom struggled weakly. The Twolegs pricked a needle into his neck with a deft movement, and he sagged.

"Is he alive?" Fiona whispered, terror evident on her face.

Han's face was grave. "I'm not sure . . . "

short chapters ftw guys ;) written by l e o p a r d :)