A Night With The Zoo Police
Disclaimer - I'm just playing with my toys and own nothing that you may possibly recognize. :)
The night air was cool as it brushed across Myka's face and blew through the soft curls of her hair. She loved the smell of the crisp September breeze - even when it was laced with the wafting odor of elephant dung.
Myka Bering was on patrol at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park. This was only her fourth week on the job and she was still fresh out of the police academy. Although she would have prefered a job during the day, this was a good place to start her career. She always had a soft spot for animals and it just felt right to be there to protect them and their enclosures from harm.
Tonight's patrol was different from most nights. Myka was still alone in her sector, aside from the animals, of course, but the zoo was holding its Snore & Roar program and she could hear chattering voices as they drifted over from the Asia Trail. The program was a fun opportunity for people of the public to spend the night in the zoo, learning about the animals. Since tonight's event was adult only, there was also wine involved and Myka was mildly annoyed that she couldn't partake.
Myka continued her patrol, noting that the voices quieted as the hour grew late. While passing by the cheetah conservation for the fifth time that night, she heard the clunking sound of a metal gate coming from the other side of the zebra enclosure. None of her fellow guards were assigned to be in this sector and she immediately grew suspicious. Quickly moving her right hand to the holster at her hip and drawing out her flashlight with the left, Myka darted toward the sound.
As she rounded the corner, Myka passed under the glow of a light post and leapt over an abandoned wine bottle. She looked back up to see a dark figure gracelessly fall over the gate into the zebra enclosure.
"Zoo Police! Stop right there!" she shouted, shining the beam of the flashlight at the figure and taking a few steps closer. In her four weeks on duty, this was her first time actually encountering someone who was not supposed to be there. She was hesitant to move too close until she could better see who she was dealing with.
"Bloody hell," the figure whispered in a smooth English accent touched with a slight slur. She rose to her feet, facing the opposite direction.
"Slowly put your hands above your head and turn to face me," Myka ordered, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt.
The woman followed her instructions, but stumbled slightly on the uneven ground. Myka's hand twitched at her gun.
"Apologies, darling! Officer, I mean! I have no intention of disobeying your orders," the woman charmed, "but the wine is catching up to me."
Myka cast the beam of the flashlight in her face to see better and the woman squinted against the bright light. Unable to forget that face and the silky dark hair which framed it, Myka recognized her from the group that was here for the sleepover. Deciding that she didn't feel threatened, Myka eased her hand away from her gun and walked over to the gate.
"Hang on a sec," Myka said in a softer voice, "and I'll open the gate so you don't have to climb back over it." This woman clearly had no ill intention. She just drank a bit much and must have wanted to get a closer look at the animals.
Myka started flipping through her keyring, searching for the master key that went to the gate locks. She found the key she was searching for and grasped at the lock. Inserting the key, she screwed up her face in confusion as it got stuck halfway into the keyhole.
"I don't think that's the right one, dear," the woman said with a heady laugh, holding firmly onto the gate and watching Myka with a curious look.
Myka blushed and fumbled until she found another key that was similar in appearance. It slipped easily into the lock. Giving it a twist and pulling, Myka removed the first lock, followed by the second one, and opened the gate enough for the woman to slip out. She closed the gate and replaced the locks, pulling hard to make sure they were secured. The last thing she needed to deal with tonight was a zebra chase while civilians were sleeping in tents.
"Right, so I'm going to need to take you down to the station for processing," Myka began uncertainly before being interrupted.
"Can't we just...forget this happened?" the woman asked with a thick layer of sugary sweetness in her voice, brushing her fingertips over the back of Myka's hand. "I'll go back to my group and you can return to your patrol with no worries of filling out stacks of unnecessary paperwork."
Goosebumps appeared on Myka's skin and she let out an involuntary shiver before coming to her senses. She grabbed at the woman's hand and twisted it behind her back.
"So that's how we're going to play it," the woman teased, unaffected by Myka's display of force.
"Ma'am, I need you to be cooperative and let me take you down to the station," Myka said with a sharp edge to her voice. Being so close to this woman was unnervingly intoxicating and Myka needed to focus on doing her job.
"Of course, Officer," the woman agreed, letting Myka escort her back to the main path where her golf cart was parked nearby.
"I'm going to handcuff you, at least until we reach the station. It's protocol."
"By all means."
Myka fastened the cuffs barely tight enough to be effective and led the woman to the passenger side of the golf cart. She didn't know what had come over her or why she was being so hesitant and… accommodating… with this strange woman who broke the rules and trespassed. Perhaps she was wasn't cut out for this line of work. Maybe she was too soft, too kind. This is why I'm guarding a zoo in the middle of the night, she suggested to herself.
She noticed the woman next to her studying her profile and kept her eyes focused on the path ahead.
"My name is Helena, by the way," the woman offered. "Helena Wells."
Myka glanced over briefly before returning her eyes to the path and offering her own name. "I'm Myk…*ahem* Officer Bering."
"Officer Bering," Helena slowly rolled the name over her tongue like a fine wine.
An uncomfortable silence fell over the women. Or at least it was uncomfortable for Myka. Helena appeared to be just fine with the silence, as well as her current predicament of being detained by the police.
"You know, the zebras aren't very friendly," Myka informed Helena, breaking the silence. "They might just look like striped horses, but I can assure you they do not have the same temperament."
"Well, I'd have prefered to pet the giraffes," she snarked, "but it appears that this rubbish zoo does not have any. Do tell, how is it that the zoo of your nation doesn't even house any giraffes? What kind of zoo is this?"
Myka sighed as she pulled up to the front of the police building. She, too, was still somewhat upset about the lack of giraffes. She stepped off the cart and escorted Helena into the building, nodding to the guard at the front desk as they made their way to one of the two processing rooms.
"Don't worry too much, you'll probably just get a slap on the wrist. They usually offer the option of paying a fine or doing volunteer work for community service."
"Can I do my volunteer work at night...with you?" Helena asked with a sly smile..
Myka cleared her throat awkwardly. "I doubt it."
"I suppose we'll see about that. I have a way of getting what I want."
Myka blushed at the way Helena's eyes drank her in. In a quick attempt to diffuse the increasing tension, Myka began gathering the paperwork and making sure all the forms were accounted for. It appeared that they were out of fingerprint cards.
"You can start filling these out," Myka told Helena while handing them over. Their fingers brushed slightly and Myka withdrew quickly. "I need to go fetch some more fingerprint cards. I'll be right back."
"Take your time, darling, it seems I have enough to keep me busy for a while."
Myka left, closing the door behind her, and made her way to the next room over for a fingerprint card. She knew she should probably grab a large stack from the box in the supply closet, but it was farther away and she figured she could just do it later.
With a card in hand, Myka took a deep breath before entering the room with the strangely alluring rule-breaker. As she opened the door, Helena's eyes darted over and raked up her body.
"I do love a woman in uniform," Helena said unabashedly before casually returning her attention to the forms. Myka blushed furiously and busied herself with preparing the ink for rolling fingerprints. She sat down and patiently waited as Helena filled out the forms.
Helena slid the papers across the table and looked expectantly at Myka.
"Right, okay, let's go ahead and get your fingerprints," Myka suggested while standing up and moving to Helena's side of the table.
Helena held her left hand up languidly and Myka gently grasped it. The skin was so soft and smooth that Myka briefly forgot why she was holding this woman's beautifully slender hand. Snapping back to attention, Myka pressed each fingertip to the ink pad before carefully rolling it over the allotted spaces on the card.
When both hands were done, Myka forced herself to let of Helena's hand.
"Come this way and you can wash the ink off your fingers," Myka gestured toward the door. She followed Helena closely after instructing her to head down the hall to the left.
"Do you mind if I use the toilet, right quick?"
Remembering that Helena presumably drank an entire bottle of wine, Myka nodded. "Of course. I'll be be waiting out here."
Myka leaned her back against the wall and crossed her arms while Helena entered the restroom. She tapped her fingers anxiously on her arm, still wondering how this woman set her so off kilter. Clearly, Helena was just flirting to get out of trouble. Or was she? Myka's mind lingered on the way Helena's eyes seemed to sparkle as she flirted and teased Myka.
Her reverie was broken when the door opened and the stunning subject of her thoughts emerged.
"Well, we're all done here," Myka said while walking them back out of the station. "It'll likely be a few days before your file is processed and you are contacted in reference to your options for punishment, so no leaving the country." Myka tried her best impression from the numerous crime dramas.
"I have a feeling I won't be leaving the country for quite some time," Helena chuckled at Myka's embarrassment of the flat joke. "I seem to have found a reason to hang around for a while longer."
"I'll escort you back to your group," Myka offered as she stepped toward the cart, "without the handcuffs."
"Are you certain," Helena began, "that you wouldn't rather let me tag along with you on your patrol? Those dolts in the group are all asleep and I'm feeling very much awake."
"Oh, I'm sorr…" Myka faded off at the pout on Helena's face. She stopped and reconsidered. It was certainly against policy, but Myka felt a pang in her chest at the thought of Helena returning to the group and leaving her. "Actually, you know what? Yes. I would rather that. These nights get lonely and some company would be rather nice."
"Aces!"
Myka's heart beat wildly as she drove the cart back to her sector, half at the prospect at the rest of her night with Helena and half at the realization of the trouble her rule-breaking could cause. She was always one to follow the rules down to the letter. It wasn't her place to bend or break them, but right now, she was having a hard time seeing past Helena.
The rest of the night passed uneventfully, heart palpitations aside. Myka taught Helena some new things about the animals and Helena was genuinely interested.
"Why can't you play cards in the African Savannah?" Helena asked in a serious voice.
Myka screwed up her face in confusion.
"Because of all the cheetahs," Helena finished with a smirk.
Myka's confusion quickly melted into a wide smile and she snorted slightly as she laughed at the joke. Her hand snapped its way up to her face in embarrassment at the snort and her face warmed at the rush of blood to her cheeks.
Helena's smile grew to match the one Myka just covered and suddenly they were both laughing together, giddy in the cool night. Helena came back to her senses first, gazing at Myka with adoration as she tried to get a hold of herself.
"I'm sorry," Myka said through laughs, "I just was not expecting such a cheesy joke from you."
"Cheesy?" Helena questioned with feigned hurt, "that happens to be one of my very best jokes."
"One of your best? Remind me not to let you do stand up comedy. Ever."
Helena smiled and Myka realized what she just implied. Here she was, talking to a woman she just met, and she was already talking about their future. Mortified, Myka sobered from the laughing in an instant.
Helena's brow furrowed and Myka started to turn away to keep walking. If she walked, maybe they would get distracted and Helena would forget the words that just bubbled up out Myka's big mouth.
A cool hand grasped at Myka's retreating wrist and tugged her back around. In one swift movement, soft lips were pressed against hers. Their noses brushed against each other and Myka froze for just a moment before gently pressing her own kiss back against the waiting lips. It was a brief wisp of a kiss, but it spoke of hope for something more. Myka twisted away slowly and started patrolling again.
"You coming?" she asked over her shoulder with a grin.
Helena smiled as she took a few long strides to catch up and lace her fingers through Myka's.
[AN - There might be a part two. I'm still deciding if I want to write more or just leave it here.]