Chapter Text
It had started with an innocent enough meeting. A little boy crying in the invertebrate wing by himself. You almost didn’t hear him…though the way he’s sobbing it seems like he’s being pretty loud. You should get your hearing aid’s checked, you muse idly. No one else was around so you approached. It was your job, even if you were supposed to be clocking out in five minutes.
“Hey little man. What’s wrong?” The kid looked like he was about ten, floppy brown hair and fancy clothes. They looked like they were perfectly pressed before he put them on. Now, though, they were crumpled and damp under his chin from tears.
“I can’t find my uncles.” He sobbed back. It took you a bit to understand him through his wails, face too scrunched up to read his lips.
“Oh! Well I work here! I’m a zookeeper. I can ask the lady at the front desk to send out an announcement for them and they’ll come get you right away.” You had promised.
But they weren’t back right away. No one could find these mysterious uncles and you spent almost two hours trying to entertain a frightened child while getting increasingly annoyed with these ‘uncles’ that are nowhere to be seen. No one really liked to come into the invertebrate wing. Bugs were a hard selling point, even if you loved them, but there was only so much money this tiny zoo had and…let’s face it, bugs are cheap. Cheaper than tigers at least.
But that’s not the point. You just don’t know how to entertain a little boy in a tiny bug room. So…you take out the Goliath beetle and start talking. He listens to you blabber on and on about all the bugs here and their different personalities. When his tears start again, you let him hold the Goliath beetle and tell him that he like butt scratches. (It’s not actually true he just tolerates them since he gets handled so often, but it made Jacob laugh.)
After about ten minutes David, the Goliath beetle, got annoyed with being held and started squirming so you showed him how to put the big beetle away. He’s the only insect that you would really trust a kid to hold so the two of you wander over to the reptile wing together. You end up sitting on the floor next to the keeper office, letting the tortoises wander around on the ground. You usually let them wander around before the zoo opens, but you might as well let them do it again. They love to hang out near the heater at the end of the hall.
Jacob’s calmed down, but the zoo itself is in an uproar. Everyone else is scrambling around trying to find the uncles. They don’t call the police. They never would. This place is well frequented by the local mafia and the boss’s fear of them is much more intense than their fear of the police for not filing a missing child report. Honestly you wouldn’t be surprised if this kid’s ‘uncles’ were mafia.
Two hours and 34 minutes after you were supposed to be off the clock, the uncles found you. You were racing the tortoises – though they weren’t really cooperating: going anywhere except the makeshift finish line you made for them – when two suave looking men burst into the hallway. The door almost knocks into Shelly from the force of it, kicking you up into a protective rage.
“Hey! Be careful! There’s a sign on the door for f- uh… for goodness sake!” It seems to knock the two of them onto their ass. Like no one’s ever talked to them like this before. “Are you the uncles? The a- jerks who left their nephew for two fucking hours?!” Well at least you censored most of the curses. They both just stare at you, a mess of a thing in a frumpy, ill fitting uniform yelling and stomping your feet like an angry rabbit. A sense of…amusement touches at their faces.
“Where is he?” The first man asks, oddly calm in the face of getting yelled at. There’s a bit of danger behind it. Like he’ll let the yelling slide once, but not a second time. It clams you up and you idly think about the lone lioness the zoo has. How it feels to turn around and find her stalking you. Her sister had just died – old age – and the zoo didn’t have enough money to buy more. A recurring problem.
“Uncle Simon!” Jacob darts around you to hug the first guy’s legs. ‘Simon’ has a fancy fabric mask covering half of his face and expensive looking sunglasses on. He’s wearing suspenders and a dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to show off tattoos. Leather gloves are tucked into his pocket.
“Kid, what happened to Ricky?” Oh…British.
“He got a phone call.” The kid’s eyes are wet again, the forgotten fear coming back to him full force. “And then he said he had to go and you’d come get me.” The two men glance at each other, but say nothing.
“How long ago was that?” The other man asks. He’s got a short beard, perfectly manicured, and a wide brimmed hat sitting really far forwards on his head. He’s also British and dressed very…fancy. Black dress shirt and a deep, dark green trench coat with similar black leather gloves on. You suddenly realize you probably just told off the mafia. You were probably correct thinking this kid and his uncles were dangerous people.
“Um…I don’t know. Just before she found me.” Before the men have a chance to turn their attention to you Jacob goes into an excited rant about what the two of you have been up to. He tells them about David and how he likes butt scratches, and he tells you about the wild bumblebee beetle you found walking over to the reptile wing. He babbles on and on about Batesian Mimicry, which you didn’t think he understood at the time but clearly he’s a bright kid.
They uncles don’t have time to intimidate you with questions and you find that you don’t have time to be intimidated anyways. Shelly has found the open door behind the older man with the hat and the bright blue eyes and is making a beeline for it. Ruffling the kid’s hair as you pass you slip right next to the intimidating men to snatch up the 20 kilo tortoise and haul her back into the hallway, closing the door with your foot.
You don’t notice the way the older man stares. Or the way he licks his lips at the hidden strength in your arms and back appearing at the surface of your skin as you lift the large reptile. You have a curvy body, the kind some guys like, but you also have the muscles of a woman who’s worked in labour type jobs for at least a decade now. And all of it is hidden under the ill fitting clothes of a uniform made for men.
“Need some help little bird?” The blue eyed man asks.
“I’m good. Thank you.” You tack on the formality tersely. You want him to know you’re still annoyed with him but don’t want him to pull out the hand gun you noticed and shoot you for being rude.
“Thank you for looking after my nephew.” Simon turns to face you and suddenly you’re stuck between them with a heavy tortoise.
“Yup. No problem.” Shuffling past the monster of a man you haul Shelly back to her enclosure. You’re excited to get home, drink a bit of wine, and pretend this didn’t happen. After you place Shelly down, you turn to grab Leo only to find the blue eyed one right behind you in the small holding area with the tortoise in his arms. “Oh…thank you.” You step out of the way so he can put the big guy in his home with his girlfriend.
“Anytime, little bird.” His voice is gruff and closer than you expect. Simon and Jacob appear in the doorway and you glance behind you to the second exit, the one leading to the back hall that connects to the change rooms and all of your stuff.
“Thank you.” Simon says again, almost frustrated that he had to chase you down. “You took care of Jacob and went above and beyond, it’s not no problem. Jacob say’s your shift finished two hours ago.”
“I…” You glance at the kid like he ratted you out. He just grins back at you. At one point he was worried that you weren’t able to care of the animals because you had to hang out with him and that had riled him up so you explained that you weren’t actually working anymore and you two could hang out as long as he needed. “He…uh…no I lied to him. Sorry kiddo, I just didn’t want you to stress.”
“Hmmm, we don’t like lies, do we Jacob?” The older one teases. When you look back at him you know he’s calling you out. He knows that you didn’t lie to Jacob.
“No sir.” The kid looks sad now, big brown eyes seeing through to your soul.
“Want to try again?” the older man murmurs from just behind you. Is he fucking circling you? The hairs are raising on the back of your neck. Even though his tone is teasing you feel like you’re one wrong move away from losing the privilege of talking.
“Okay, okay. Yes, I was off two hours ago. I just…it really was no big deal. It’s my job to take care of Jacob.” Simon glances to the man behind you, deferring to him you realize.
“Last chance.” You can feel his breath on your ear. This is the last time you help someone out, you vow.
“I had fun hanging out with you kiddo. I did. It wasn’t a problem at all. You’re clever and not a lot of people like the creepy crawlies like I do. But fine. I did work two extra hours, I’m not going to get paid for it, and I kind of just want to go home now.”
“That wasn’t so bad was it?” The man behind you chuckles, farther away now. When you glance over your shoulder at him, he’s leaning on the powder blue counter top next to your only other exit. He doesn’t fit in with the super veg and reptivite or all the reptile stock shoved into the shelves. You clean the counter every day, but you still worry that he’ll get dirt or shit on his nice clothes leaning on something so…regular and worn from use.
“Yes, yes. Very freeing. Can I go now?”
“Well, we feel like we owe you a favour now.” Despite looking back toward Simon, the other man’s words have you spinning in place.
“What?” You do not want a favour from the mafia. “No, no. You…you helped me put Leo away! Favour complete.”
“Well, technically I owe you a favour.” Simon joins in, smiling behind that infuriating mask. “So that doesn’t count.”
“Here’s my card.” The other man pulls out his wallet, accidentally displaying his gun again. He holds out the slip of stock paper and your hand faulters before grabbing it. John Price. Fuck, even you know that name. The Captain. One of the Overlords. The Big Bosses. Too much power handed over to a single man with a bit too much ruthlessness in his decision making skills.
“Thanks.” You squeak. “But wouldn’t it be-” You try to point to Simon but Mr. Price takes your hand and presses the embossed card in your palm. “Yup. Okay.”
“Aren’t you going to give me your number?”
“I don’t…have a card?” You try, holding his gently, like he’ll be upset if you bend or fold it.
“Be a good girl and send me a text, then.” You know better than to push this. Hopefully, you’ll be nice but distant and never ever ever take them up on their offer of a favour and then they’ll forget about you and you’ll move on. You have a five year plan that includes escaping this tiny zoo to a better one that actually has an income and isn’t frequented by the mafia. Unfortunately, capitalism means you need a job and this is what you’ve got.
You just send ‘hello’, unsure if you should give him your name. You’ve got a sweater on, one that covers the embroidered name tag all of your shirts have, and you never gave your name to Jacob, who never actually asked. It’s your last thread of control and luckily Mr. Price seems willing to let you keep it.
“I’ll get your number from him.” Simon nods, hand resting on Jacob’s shoulders. “I’ll text you so you can contact me or him if you need something.”
“I won’t.” It mumbles out of your lips without thinking. They both laugh.
“It’s better if you use the favour little bird, otherwise we’re always thinking about you, eh?” Shit.
“Okay.” Mr. Price frown at the demure response and you’re sure you’ve fucked up. But he just sighs, standing. And then they’re gone. They don’t thank you again, and you don’t prompt for it.
A few minutes later Simon texts you and suddenly you have the personal contact information of two members of the mafia. Fantastic. You’re never ever helping lost children again.