Viktor blinked at Yakov. He swallowed the sip of water he took from his bottle and set it down gently before leaning forwards, resting his arms on his crossed knees. "Excuse me?"

The director of the journalism unit sighed and slid a folder across the desk. "This is your new assignment. You'll be traveling to South Africa to do a secret rating and review. There's a sanctuary there that houses an absurd amount of animals, species that are both overpopulated and on the brink of extinction. Nobody knows anything about it because of how private it is. The security there is insane, I've heard that there's people watching from five miles away in every direction, including air surveillance for drones or any other kind of flying camera."

Viktor grabbed the folder and leaned back in his seat, humming as he took in everything the National Geographic head told him. The pictures were incredible. The African savannah and grasslands were what caught the eyes' attention first, the sunsets jaw dropping and the trees scattered in a work of natural art. But in every picture the folder held, there was a speck of a tall building in the corner or the background, a sturdy fence surrounding it and, by his guess, electrified.

"And you think, for some reason, that I'll be able to infiltrate it when nobody else has even come close."

"You're Viktor Nikiforov, the person who joined National Geographic three years ago and has been promoted more than the managers who spent over twenty years of their lives dedicated to this work. You managed to convince me of your potential when you were twenty two, and I'm the person who most of the people here are afraid of. I trust that you can pull something out of your ass and finish it in a timely order. With a great effort and quality, of course."

Viktor nodded and eyed him thoughtfully. "What's in it for me?"

"You'll be the first person to have ever come in close contact with the place and came out to tell the story. Think about it, Vitya. The world has tried for years to take pictures, orchestrate interviews, host press conferences, hell even touch the dirt outside of it, and not one person has been able to. They had their equipment confiscated, ran through trials, and no matter how hard they tried or whatever different argument they tried to make, they ended up either signing a NDA or landing themselves in prison."

"I have yet to see anything I'll gain from this."

"Fame, Vitya. Prestige, notability, honor, whatever you want to call it. You'd forever be known as the man who managed to share the place with the world, the first to have ever shared what he's experienced with everybody else who's been scratching their heads about it."

"I already have enough of that. Money doesn't get you everything, Yakov." He would know.

"You'd be a voice, Vitya. Not only for the other people, but for our company. Do you know how much we could grow from this? Our competitors would be blown out of the water and I'm sure you and I would get benefits never before seen in the company." Yakov hid his smirk, pulling out his trump card that he knew would be the last push. "After all, don't you love surprising your audience? You haven't published anything in a while, imagine the reactions you'd get if you were to publish the first and only article about the sanctuary." He pretended to look away as he took a sip of his water. "Besides, who knows what those people are really doing to those poor animals? They could be getting abused or starved or both. Doesn't it seem suspicious to you, how much the owner is prioritizing security and privacy?"

Viktor froze in the middle of standing up. He bit his lip and stared at him with calculating eyes before sighing in resignation and plopping back down. He grabbed the folder, much more intentional than before, and flipped it open to pull out one of the few photos.

"I take it this little brown thing is the building, da?"

Yakov relaxed and pushed the water aside, pulling out champagne instead. "You catch on fast."

"Of course." He accepted the new glass with a short nod of thanks and took a respectful sip before flipping the picture around and plucking a pen off of his desk. "Give me the details."

"The flight from St. Petersburg to your destination is over a day long. You'll be landing in a place between Cape Town and Johannesburg. Your flight will be first class, obviously. I already booked the arrangements, your ticket is in the folder as well."

"Mine? I'm not going alone?"

"No, your 'little brother' will be accompanying you."

Viktor frowned. "Little brother?"

"Yura was quite demanding in his argument on why he should be able to go with you. It'll work out though, he's a talented photographer and you might be able to help him learn some new camera work, too… You do still remember how to work a camera, right?"

"Of course I do, Yakov. Geeze, as if I could forget something like that."

Yakov made a satisfied noise and handed him a flyer, written in a language he wasn't familiar with. It was wrinkled and thin, but colorful and had elegant writing on top of a picture of a family of zebras.

"What's this?"

"I hired somebody a few years back to keep an eye on the place and let me know when an opportunity popped up for my journalists. She sent that recently, said that she managed to grab the last one of only three copies. The rumors weren't lying when they said that the owner of the sanctuary wanted to keep the staff to a minimum." He said dryly, an irritated twitch of his eye going along with it.

"And?"

Yakov shook his head and smirked as he pulled out two pairs of working boots. "You, my dear Vitya, will be volunteering with Yura at the sanctuary for four weeks. From what my contact translated for me, your work will be simple and easy enough that you'll have free time to do your work."

Viktor groaned and eyed the boots with distaste. He'd never worn boots in his entire life, he hated how they felt on his feet, too high and too constricting compared to his usual business shoes. Still, he couldn't deny how exciting this whole project seemed. Traveling across the world, experiencing something that only a select few people did, and then coming back and sharing his findings with everybody.

"Fine. When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow morning."

Viktor gasped. "But Makkachin! I have to find a babysitter for her!"

Yakov waved his hand. "Don't worry about it, I already planned everything for the both of you. I'll watch over her for you while you and Yura focus on your jobs, da?"

Viktor's stomach shifted uncomfortably, but he couldn't say no to his boss. This was an opportunity that he wasn't willing to pass up and he knew that it was only nerves for leaving his beloved poodle behind for a month. It happened every time he had to travel and he still wasn't used to it four years later.

"Does Yura know?"

"I called him in before I talked to you. He took the folder and ran, said that he had to go pack." Yakov chuckled at the youngest of their staff and the antics that came out of him. He sure did liven the place up, that was for sure. "Anyway, you should go pack too, Vitya. You have a lot of things to do before tomorrow."

"Right." He stood up and headed to the door, the folder tucked under his arm when he remembered something. "Yakov, what will we do about the NDA?"

His boss blinked, as if he had forgotten all about the subject. "Oh, that? Just use the fake names on the passports I had made for the both of you. They're also somewhere in the folder, along with your new ID's and such."

"I don't want to go to jail, Yakov." Viktor told him bluntly.

Yakov laughed and walked towards him, patting his shoulder comfortingly. "Don't worry, my boy, you'll be out of that country before they even realize what happened. I told you, I have everything set up for you two. Fake names, fake jobs, fake family sob stories to get their sympathy, everything will be fine. You two just make sure to get good pictures and write a stunning article, I'll deal with the lawyers and legal stuff if and when the time comes."

Viktor eyed him wearily, but there wasn't much he could say to that. "Right…"

"Alright, off you go. You only have a couple hours to pack and sleep before you and Yura are off."

"Wait, Yakov, what's the place even called? Do we know that much?" He asked over his shoulder as he was pushed out of the office.

"Yes, it was on the flyer when they asked for three volunteers. You're heading to Katsuki's Animal Kingdom, the most secure and mysterious animal sanctuary on this planet. Congratulations."

Viktor opened his mouth to say something when the door was shut in his face. He cursed lowly and refrained from kicking the bottom of the door, his hold on the folder growing a little tighter.

He'd heard the rumors too about that place, how they were so strict on their prioritized security that they even checked the owner's identity and fingerprints before they let him into the front gates. Although he rarely leaves. It's been spread around that he'd stay within the walls for up to half a year before going out, and that was only to buy groceries and other essentials before he went back for another six months.

What had he gotten himself into?

He squared his shoulders and walked back to his own office on the other side of the hall, head in the clouds and uncaring of the other staff's envious stares on his back. He would do this job and he'd do it to the best of his ability. The world deserved the answers it desired, and who was he to deny their wish?

Yes, Viktor Nikiforov and Yuri Plisetsky would be one hell of a team and the first two journalists in history to answer all those questions and separate the facts from theories and predictions. After all, that was why he signed up for this job, wasn't it? To educate the world on animals and help promote more protection for those species that were more unlucky than the rest.

He couldn't stand the thought of animal abuse and hated any kind of animal brutality, regardless of the species, so if there really were suspicions of any type of underhanded treatment to the animals they held there, it was his job to bring their deceptive actions into the light and move those poor animals where they'd be safe. He'd either be their worst critic or they're best friend and strongest ally.

Either way, the Katsuki Animal Kingdom didn't know what it had coming.


Author's Note: My first YOI fic! I'm an animal lover through and through so the thought of animal whisperer Yuuri and Journalist Viktor - I just love that. Let me know what you think^^