CHAPTER 15 - LEOPARD

They fell back without issue. Leopard sat in the tray of one of Taurine’s trucks, rifle at the ready, waiting for a reprisal that never came. They sped out of the metropolitan sector, taking a circuitous route to avoid being followed. Taurine clung to the back of the rearguard SUV with one hand, eyes peeled and expression intense. Leopard kept one eye on her, too. Watched her armored, bestial features melt away.

By the time they returned to the hideout, she looked normal again, without even a trace of her horns. She hopped off her vehicle before it had stopped and had already begun barking orders to her people by the time Leopard, Monkey, and the rest of the Animals had their boots back on the ground.

“Wait right there, Animals,” Taurine said. “I’ll debrief you personally.”

Tiger turned her head to stare at Leopard. “You owe me a new sword.”

Leopard frowned. “How was I supposed to know that guy had a vigilante for a daughter?”

“With a suit of power armor, no less,” Snake said.

Monkey raised a quietening hand, then slung his rifle behind his shoulder. “Easy, guys. We did okay out there. We weren’t out there to kill anyone. For now, I need you three to track down somewhere we can sleep.”

“Here?” Leopard asked.

“We’re safer here, especially now. Spots, you’re with me for this debriefing.”

The three of them headed off into the maze of half-finished rooms and corridors while Taurine finished her rounds. Soon, she marched her way across the motor pool, arms crossed.

“Satisfactory work, Animals,” Taurine said. “We provoked a response from the local garrison, one that’s given us workable intel on their disposition and operational readiness. Nice to know you can follow orders.”

“Star Patrol has, what, six heroes here?” Monkey asked. “They didn’t deploy all of them.”

“No,” Taurine replied. “And now they’re down to five. Between that and the eagerness of their first responder to get his ass beat, we can assume they don’t know who they’re dealing with.”

“Should we anticipate an attack?”

Taurine grunted. “Doubt it.”

“So,” Monkey said, nodding, “what now?”

Thunderhog stepped up and passed a tablet to Taurine. “Now, we wait,” she said, swiping through the data. “Take a few days to consolidate and see how the overall situation changes. Whatever happens, expect another deployment of your people in twenty-four to forty-eight hours. You’re dismissed.”

Monkey didn’t move, and so neither did Leopard.

Monkey said, “My people don’t work for free, Taurine.”

She didn’t look up. “I’d consider the circumstances of our relationship before making even a minuscule request, meat.”

“We’re here to work with you, not for you. We can work together as equal partners, or not at all.”

“Your payment can be that you’ll survive for that much longer, then,” Taurine said. “As far as I’m concerned, you and your team aren’t off probation yet. Dismissed.”

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Later, Monkey was pacing.

The others had found them a spare room with a heavy metal door. Leopard wasn’t sure what it was supposed to be, but it was going to be their home for the foreseeable future. Monkey had sent the others out on a variety of tasks with sharp movements and overly jovial language. Leopard had seen it before and knew what it meant. Something had gotten under Monkey’s skin, had hit him where it hurt. Once the door was closed and they were alone, Monkey had begun pacing. And hadn't stopped. By Leopard’s count, it’d been twenty minutes of silent back and forth, back and forth.

“Is something wrong?” Leopard asked, finally.

Monkey smiled at him, but didn’t stop pacing. “Why would something be wrong, Spots?”

“Because Taurine’s played us.”

“You really think so? Come on, man, have some faith!”

I know so, he thought, but didn’t say it.

“Let’s just let it go,” Leopard said. “Let all of this go. Taurine, Gate—they’re out of our league.”

Monkey snapped, “No one’s out of our league.”

Well, that got a more honest response, at least.

“She is,” Leopard said. “She’s got numbers, guns, and a hell of a superpower. We can figure out something else. Maybe find some way off this island, go quiet for a month or two.”

“No. Fuck that. Taurine might have a superpower, but Gate gave us the tools to bring her down. I’m not afraid of her, and she better show us some fucking respect.”

“Yeah, good point—what happened to our breaker rounds?”

“I had Snake ditch them when we arrived in Asclepion. I figured Taurine would check our weapons.”

“And you didn’t tell me? What would we have done had she attacked us?”

“Well, she didn’t.”

“We need those bullets.”

“It’s a good thing I just sent Snake to get them, then.”

Leopard crossed his arms. “So, what’s Gate going to do when he finds out we haven’t done what he’s paid and armed us to do?”

“That’s not important. If he sends Shadow after us, we’ll put him down, too.”

“We can’t keep pissing off our employers, Monkey.”

“We outmaneuvered Gate, we’ll do the same here. You wanted to play in the big leagues, Spots? Well, this is how it’s done. It’s not enough to keep taking jobs. We have to make our own.”

Leopard grit his teeth. The whole discussion was stupid. He—they—needed Monkey to think straight. He fought to keep the irritation out of his voice. “By telling Taurine to her face that we’d been sent to twist her arm, kill her? It’s a miracle she didn’t kill us.”

Monkey kept pacing.

“Something doesn’t add up,” Leopard continued. “If Taurine’s gone rogue, then Gate could send Shadow. Why are we even here?” The pieces were falling into place, and he wasn’t sure why Monkey didn’t see it. Monkey saw everything.

“You’re overthinking it, Spots.”

“No, I need you to think about it. I think Gate sent us here because we’re the only ones who know what he took off the Adriatic. He said no one could know, right? Well, we know.”

“Then why didn’t Shadow kill us? Why didn’t he murder us in our sleep?”

“Because he can wipe our two problems at once and not get his hands dirty in the process. It’s a trap, man.”

“And what do I say about traps?”

“Yeah, I know. First step is spotting them. But why are we trying to dodge the damn thing instead of just avoiding it entirely?”

Monkey shook his head. “Spots, you’re doing your paranoid thing again.”

The irritation flared, deep behind his ribs. “I’m not.”

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“You think I didn’t see that Gate had an ulterior motive? We can play the two of them against each other. People have always underestimated us, Spots, and that’s why we always win.”

“If we do something stupid now, like whatever it is you’re thinking, then we’ll never get out of here.”

Monkey stopped pacing. He turned, slowly, to stare straight at Leopard. “Really? Tell me what I’m thinking, Spots. I never knew you could read minds.”

“Man, I’ve known you since we were kids. When you get upset, you stop thinking clearly and get really stupid. Let me handle this.”

Monkey took a step towards him. “Why do—”

Leopard realized his error, tried to backpedal, tried to explain: “I didn’t say you were stupid, just that you’re being stupid.”

Monkey, shouting: “—you always bring that up?! You just always have to be right all the time, don’t you? Well, congratulations, Spots—you’re right! You’re always right! But you wouldn’t be anything if it wasn’t for me.”

You’re right, Leopard thought, I’d probably be doing a hell of a lot better.

But Leopard bit down on that thought, and his tongue, hard enough that he expected it to bleed.

“Your dream of taking down the IESA?” Monkey continued. “It requires contacts, networking, resources! If we have to kiss Gate’s ass to survive one more day and get us that much closer to Geneva, then, yeah, I’m going to kiss his ass. If I have to let Taurine think she’s in control, then, yeah, I’ll do that, too. If I have to shove my hand in a bear trap to make someone let down their guard, then I’ll happily chew off my own arm when it’s time to get out. Because everything we do is in the service of being the legends who changed the world!”

Monkey let took a deep breath in and let it out with a long, throaty growl. When he spoke again, his inferno had flickered down to embers and coals.

“We have weapons and gear now. We have a real identity. We’re in a much better position than we were a week ago, Spots, but we still have so much further to go.”

“Yeah,” Leopard said.

“Let me worry about the people. I need you to keep your mind focused. So, when I’ve figured out how to flip this situation to our advantage, you’re ready to act. Stop worrying about things that haven’t happened yet.”

“Yeah.”

There was no point in saying anything further. Monkey wasn’t really listening to him, but he also wasn’t really angry at him, either. He was shouting because he had never been able to comprehend that sometimes you didn’t get what you wanted. The threat of failure only made him all the more fierce.

Monkey sighed, shut his eyes and ran a hand through his hair.

“Sorry for snapping at you, man. Wasn’t your fault. You’re right, though. I can’t let her bullshit power moves get to me. We both need to stay focused on what’s important.”

“It’s fine,” Leopard said, but he wasn’t sure.

“Okay,” Monkey replied. “You know, sometimes I wish I could be half as calm as you.”

No, Leopard thought, you don’t.

He just shrugged. “It’s fine.”

“I’ll figure something out. I’ve got a plan, I just need more time to make sure it’ll work. But if I’m right, we’ll need Taurine for it.”

“We’ll need Taurine for what?” Snake asked.

Leopard turned. There she was, standing in the doorway.

“Shut the door,” Monkey said, and she did.

“Fine by me. We need to talk.”

“Now’s not a good time.”

“That's what you said after the Adriatic job,” Snake replied. “Then again, with Gate’s people. You’re keeping things from the rest of us,” she added, pointing at Monkey and then at Leopard. “The both of you.”

“That’s not true,” Leopard said.

“Then what were you two arguing about?”

Monkey’s eyes narrowed, and he stepped toward her. “How long were you listening for?”

“So you are.”

“We’ll explain once we have something to explain.”

“Fool me once, shame on me. You won’t fool me twice, Elias.”

The name was like a gunshot. Monkey paused mid-stride, practically rocked back on his heels. Leopard couldn’t believe it. The first of Monkey’s many rules was no names. It was one that the Animals held to no matter what.

And Snake had fired a shot, one aimed right at Monkey’s heart.

She had just opened her mouth to say something more, and Monkey nailed her with a right cross.

Snake crashed to the floor, her reflexes picking her up in an instant. She raised her hand to her lips, and it came back bloody. She didn’t say anything. Monkey had struck her dumb.

And Monkey... Leopard turned his eyes on him.

Monkey lowered his arm to his side. He didn’t look furious. He didn’t look anything. He had just decided to hit her and had done so.

And, somewhere, somewhere far away, Leopard felt caught between horror and admiration, between revulsion and do-or-die camaraderie. Stuck in that uncomfortable place where he’d just seen someone he admired do something he abhorred.

For all of his charm and his charisma, for all the belief that the Animals would follow him without knowing or asking why, Leopard knew that Monkey knew he was big, and he was strong and that being big and strong were the ultimate way to solve things.

But one of the reasons that Leopard had such respect for him was because, with all that power, he never chose to use it. Even animals had communities.

Monkey was saying something to Snake but, by then, Leopard had already backed out of the room and away, into Taurine’s militarized menagerie, to find some place where he felt like he could breathe.

He wasn’t sure if he felt sick or relieved.

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“Just between you and me,” Tiger began, later, on the half-built roof of a parking garage, “I’ve never understood why you look up to him so much.” She tapped out her cigarette and, in the cold night’s air, the ash danced for but a moment, like dying fireflies.

Leopard tugged at his jacket, hadn’t realized he was bleeding his feelings into his expression. He centered himself, closed his face up, and looked out over the construction site. “Didn’t know you were so perceptive.”

Tiger laughed. “You’re as easy to read as an open book sometimes,” she said. “And I’ve read Stupid, Disappointed Men from cover to cover. Every so often you get this real lost puppy look. Like this.” She creased her brow and squinted into the distance, evidently trying to mimic whatever look she imagined he had.

Leopard crossed his arms. Watched Taurine’s people far below.

“He’s just always been there for me, y’know?”

And that was true. Leopard couldn’t quite recall the specifics of how he’d met Monkey—oh, he knew he was ten years ago or thereabouts, just about when he had turned sixteen. He knew where; he knew vaguely when. But it was all half-grasped images. The feeling that he had always been there, and that they had always been together, even when he was aware that there was some ethereal era known as The Time Before Monkey.

Tiger just nodded.

“Shitty argument,” she said.

“Like you’ve never had a friend.”

“Had a husband. Didn’t really work out. So, maybe?” Tiger bent down and scooped something up, thrust it in Leopard’s direction. “Beer?”

“Where’d you-? No, don’t ask. I’d rather not know.” But he took it all the same.

“It’s not blood alcohol, if that’s what you’re wondering. Won it off some of Vega’s people. Bunch of ‘em are really bad at cards.”

Leopard took a drink, looked out over the skyline.

“What do you think of him?”

“Who? Monkey?” Tiger shrugged. “He’s a misfit who was lucky enough to grow into a handsome misfit. I always get this feeling that he’s still surprised and excited by that. Like he’s worried he’ll wake up and be ugly again.”

Leopard frowned. “No,” he said, flinching away from that whole topic. “Rooster.”

“One of those little chihuahua dogs. A coward, when you get right down to it. But he’ll do anything Monkey tells him to.”

“What about Snake?”

“We’re practically sisters. Come on, kid, what’s with this sudden interest in others?”

“No reason,” Leopard said. “Just trying to figure things out.”

The wind kicked up again, howling around them. Tiger’s cigarette was dragged from her lips and sent spiraling through the air. She cursed and fished around in her pockets for her lighter and a replacement.

“You know they fucked, right?” she half-said around her cigarette. “Monkey and Snake? When we were holed up with the Syndicate last night, and more than a few times in Guatemala? Told her it was a bad idea, that it’d just make things complicated...”

“I didn’t,” Leopard said, frowning. “But that explains something. Hey, you got another of those?”

Tiger laughed. “What? Since when do you smoke, kid?”

“Since— shit. Since who cares. Light me up.”

She did. She complied happily, slipping the cigarette between his lips (“Suck on this,” she said) and lighting it.

He’d never smoked before. Never seen the point of it. Figured you needed as much lung capacity as you could get. He wasn’t sure what to do, and to ask Tiger would’ve been worse. He took a long breath and ended up coughing and spluttering like he was dying.

Tiger burst into uproarious laughter.

“How can you...” Leopard croaked. “How can you stand these things?” Still, the next drag came easier.

“I could ask you the same thing. How can you stand following someone around who doesn’t give a shit about you? You learn to tolerate it.”

Leopard frowned and looked away from Tiger, across the roof and out towards the ocean. “He does.” More than you. More than anyone. He just proved that in the worst possible way. By busting Snake’s lip.

“Oh, kid,” Tiger said softly. “Look, this isn’t your partner in crime speaking. This is your friend here. Things could be so much better if you’d just open your eyes.”

In his mind’s eye, pieces began to resolve again, and fall one by one into place. “What do you mean?”

“Just because something is one way doesn’t mean it has to be, you hear me?”

He did, but there was something else there, too, something under what she had said. A secret message, a deniable one. Tiger was contemplating a push for leadership of the Animals. But that wasn’t just it, either. Now, Leopard could see it wasn’t a matter of if.

“Yeah,” Leopard said, looking at Tiger askance. “Yeah, I hear you.”

It was only a matter of when.