"This is fun to you?" Colby asked.
"Yes, Colby. It's very fun. They're enjoying it, too," I said, pointing at everyone else with my hand that wasn't holding Colby's.
"But we've seen all of this stuff before," he said.
"Yes, so has basically everyone here and the place is still packed," I pointed out.
"I can't believe humans pay the money they have to work for on stuff like this," he said.
"You're telling me that in all the time you've been on Earth, you have never been to a zoo?" I asked.
"No. Not once," he said. "I thought that would be evident by their reactions." He pointed at everyone, including Mike, Kevin, and Brennen, who were excitedly pressing themselves up against the glass to watch the zookeeper feed a tiger.
"You don't think this is even a little cool?" I asked.
"I mean, kind of, I guess. But I wouldn't come here if you hadn't asked me to," he said.
"Because you love me that much or because I'm in charge and you have to listen?" I asked.
"Both," he replied.
"I'm not surprised," I chuckled. I pulled him with me over to the exhibit with everyone else.
I wondered how animals in zoos really felt. Did they miss being in their natural habitat? It seemed like life would be easier in captivity, but not as fun. I looked at everyone, excitedly staring through the glass. A little boy pushed his way through them all and started pounding on the window.
"Kitty!" he yelled.
"Jackson!" A woman yelled at the kid. "He doesn't like that. How would you like it if someone banged on your window?"
The little kid sighed. "I wouldn't like it very much Mommy, but he's a cat and I'm a person." He turned and resumed banging on the glass with his fist until his mom came up and dragged him away.
Thank God. Fucking kids.
"What?" I asked Colby. "You hate kids that much?"
"Kids? No, I don't hate them. They're a little difficult, especially Jackson over here, but I don't mind them. Why?" he replied.
"You...," I trailed off. I looked back at the group. None of them were looking at or paying attention to me... except for the tiger beyond them. "No way. No fucking way," I said quietly.
"What?" Colby asked.
"Oh my god, it said 'beings', didn't it? Not just people. Living beings," I said.
"What are you talking about?" he asked.
"The tiger. The fucking tiger. My powers work on animals, too?" I asked.
"Well, yeah. What's he thinking?" Colby asked. I looked back at the tiger, but couldn't pick anything up.
"I'm not sure, I can't hear anything," I said.
"Maybe he's just not thinking about much right now," said Colby. "Hey, Jake."
"What's up, brother?" Jake asked, turning away from the glass.
"Make it come over here," Colby said.
"What, the tiger?" asked Jake.
"Yeah, make it come over here so Jupiter can read its mind," Colby said.
"Shit, alright," Jake said with a shrug. He turned back to the glass and the tiger hopped up onto its feet, making its way over to us.
What in the hell...
"Wait, tigers think in complete clauses? In words that I can understand?" I asked.
"I'm not going to pretend like I know how that works," Colby said.
"Fair enough," I replied. I looked back over at the tiger.
Is this rainbow headed looking clown boy moving my legs? This shit is wack.
"Damn, tiger's got some attitude," I said.
"What's he saying?" asked Jake.
"Wouldn't you like to know, rainbow headed looking clown boy," I said. Colby and I started laughing and Jake's mouth dropped open.
"What! You're making that up," Jake said.
"I am not," I replied. "Make it look at someone else and I'll tell you what it says." Jake pointed the tiger's eyes to Colby.
Damn.
"Well?" Jake asked.
"Damn. All it thought was damn," I replied.
"Yeah, cause it thinks I'm hot," Colby said.
"You are," I replied.
"Ugh," Jake said. He moved the tiger's eyes around to a few different people and I listened to all of its thoughts.
"Mike's an overused human canvas, Katrina is a blueberry, Kevin looks like a dad, and Tara looks like an eight year old," I reported back.
"Jesus, it's kind of a dick," Colby said.
"At least it didn't call you a clown boy," Jake muttered, walking back over to everyone else. I walked over with them, staring at the tiger that was now in control of itself.
"Uh, babe?" Colby asked. I turned around see him staring down at me with a concerned look.
"What?" I asked.
"Who's Alexander Martin?" he asked.
"Alexander Martin? That's... why are you asking me about him? How do you know his full name?" I asked.
"No, I don't know him. It's right on your shoulder," Colby said.
"What?" I asked. I turned around to see the name right behind the head of my snake tattoo. "Why in the fuck?" I whispered.
"Hades," Colby said. My heart dropped into my toes and my body stiffened.
"Hades... Hades wants us to kill Alexander Martin?" I asked.
"Yeah, you know him?" Colby asked.
"We know him," I said.
"Huh? I don't know anyone named Alexander," Colby said.
"You don't know him by that name. Axel? Alexander? It's his cover name," I said.
"Wait, the arms guy?" Colby asked.
"Yeah, the arms guy. The one we bought bullets from on the night we met? The one who basically took me in as his own when I was essentially living on the streets?"
"The one who shot you," Colby said, trying to point out that Axel wasn't exactly the greatest guy.
"The one I shot back," I said.
"In self-defense from him shooting you first," Colby pointed out.
"I know, but heâ,"
"Jupiter, I love you, but you know that these names are non-negotiable. Especially the first one he's giving us. If he doesn't think we're worth the hassle of having to deal with our hesitation or reluctancy, he's not going to be nice anymore and we won't be able to stay on the surface. I promise hell really isn't that fun," Colby pointed out.
Fuck. He was completely right. I wasn't about to back out of the very first thing Hades asked me to do. I wasn't going to give that man any reason to see me as weak.
"Oh my GOD! There are turtles here? I love turtles!" Sam yelled, staring down at the zoo map he'd taken from the front.
"Ugh," Colby groaned, tilting his head back.
"There's koalas, too," Sam said in a sing song voice. I could tell Colby was biting the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling.
"You like koalas? You of all people?" I asked Colby, chuckling.
"Shut it. They're cute. And relatable. Who wouldn't want to spend all day sleeping and eating leaves? Those dudes just be vibing all day," Colby said in defense.
"You are so adorable," I said.
"Shut up. I am not," Colby said. He always hated it when we suggested that he was a lot softer than he let on.
"Let's go see the turtles and then the koalas and then let's dip," said Jake.
"Yeah, my feet hurt," said Tara.
"Well maybe if you didn't wear those full foot high heels then they wouldn't hurt so bad," said Kevin.
"What did you just say?" Kat asked.
"Platform shoes, Kev. They're called platform shoes," said Dev.
"How am I supposed to know that? I haven't been up here for, like, 80 years!" Kevin argued.
"Yeah, give the man a break," said Corey.
"You're telling me you knew what those were called?" asked Mike.
"That's bullshit and you know it," said Brennen.
"Okay, so, turtles?" I asked, changing the subject.
"Yes!" Sam said excitedly. We left the tiger exhibit and started making our way toward the turtles, Colby and I falling a little further behind everyone. He squeezed my hand that was holding his.
"You know, the seven of us are perfectly capable. We have Kev, Mike, and Brennen, too. You don't have to help us if it bothers you to go after Axel," Colby said. I shook my head.
"No. I'm your leader. Like I said to you, I will never expect my followers to do something I couldn't," I said.
"But this is different. He's an old colleague to you and a stranger to them," said Colby.
"It's not different to me. I won't use an excuse. I won't let my past or my emotions get in the way of these jobs. At least I know that the guy we're killing is a pretty bad person instead of a stranger that we just have to blindly trust deserves to die. I can't back down. I'm not sacrificing the respect I've earned and the dignity I have just because I have a personal conflict of interest. He was my family first, but you're my family now. We were literally destined to find each other and fight side by side, and I'll be damned if I disregard my destiny," I said.
"Okay, baby. If you're sure," Colby said.
"Of course, I'm sure. When am I not?" I asked.
"Okay, good point," he said, smiling at me.