Chapter Thirty: Skipper and Julien
Private was seated on one of the barstools, sipping a non-alcoholic piña colada while actively talking with a new waitress. Her name was Cupid; she was young, somewhere around Private's age, and had been meant to replace Doris who had mysteriously quit without explanation. Kowalski was seated beside the two of them, grumbling to himself as he enjoyed some imported chocolates and wondered why Doris had left. Not far away, Rico was trying to smooth talk Marlene, who found his interest in her more amusing than anything else.
Park Zoo was lively that evening; the atmosphere had been lifted significantly ever since Maurice took ownership. With showgirls bouncing to and fro and showboys following suit, the air was thick with smoke and perfume and the potent scent of wine. The lights flashed excitedly, accentuating Julien's bright amber eyes as he danced on stage in gold satin harem pants, two deep red silk ribbons that wrapped around his chest like a vest, matching jewels over his arms and neck and waist, and large golden ostrich feathers. The extravagance was not lost on the Penguin Eyes, who had met there with Nigel.
Nigel was there to collect the North Wind, along with Dr. Blowhole and Parker; the two criminals would spend a reasonable amount of time imprisoned, if not for the rest of their lives. That, and Skipper wanted to talk to him about, well, everything. Skipper was seated at one of the tables in the far corner with Nigel, and for once, he was drinking water and not scotch. Nigel, on the other hand, was swirling some chardonnay in a glass, clearly disquieted by all that Skipper had so alarmingly discovered within the last handful of days.
"You knew, didn't you?" Skipper asked bleakly. "You knew that Hans was still alive, all this time."
Pensively, Nigel nodded. "You're right about that, ol' chap. I've known what Blowhole was up to this whole time… And I knew that he would've done it when I assigned Hans that damned mission. It was a failure from the start."
"Then why did you do it?" Skipper couldn't help but growl. He never spoke out of line to a superior (excluding Dr. Blowhole, of course), but he couldn't help but feel the anger bubble within.
"At the time, I thought I was doing the right thing." Nigel sighed ruefully. "I was willing to sacrifice one of my top agents for someone else's secrets, all because he was like a brother to me."
The things people did for love.
"You mean Buck Rockgut, don't you?" Skipper looked down.
Nigel stared off into the crowd for a moment, before he answered. "Yes. I know he was your hero, but… He wasn't the perfect man you thought he was. There was a reason I only introduced him to Private. I didn't want him to discourage you."
Skipper couldn't help but furrow his brows at the thought. "What do you mean?"
"Well," Nigel seemed to want to look everywhere but at Skipper. Finally, he placed his hand next to Skipper's. "Compare our skin tones."
Skipper glanced down at their hands. Nigel's was pasty, almost sheetlike, whereas Skipper's was a dark chestnut. It took him an extra moment to understand what Nigel was getting at. "...He was racist?"
"Extremely." Nigel nodded as he swirled his wine. "You're, what, from the Sioux tribe? I know you say that that's as american as it gets, but my partner didn't see it that way. Kowalski is half polish and half chinese, and from what I've heard, Rico is full on japanese. Buck Rockgut hated that the world was changing, there was a lot he didn't understand and there was a lot he wanted to hide. You can imagine how he felt about working with Clover, a black woman who was just as good as he was at everything."
Skipper felt his face heating up as he listened to this. Normally he'd break someone's nose if they attempted to belittle him for his race, but to imagine Buck Rockgut doing so only made him shudder with unpleasantry. "What was he…"
He took a long sip of his chardonnay. "What was he hiding? Everything, really. But mostly, the fact that he was the Red Squirrel."
Skipper glared. He'd heard this from Kowalski and Private, too, but he hadn't believed them. Now, there was little doubt within his mind that what they said was true. Still, it bewildered him, gave him a headache. How could Buck Rockgut, CIA agent number one, best of the best, also be the Red Squirrel, CIA enemy number one, worst of the worst? It didn't make any sense.
"I don't understand."
"I know you don't." Nigel smiled, but there was a sad edge to it. "Neither did I, not for the longest time. I can't say I do now, not completely. But Buck - he had his own agenda, his own things he wanted done that he never explained to anyone because of his rampant paranoia. Not even yours truly. So he disappeared underground, told me he was going to a place called 'Grrfurjiclestan', not that it exists… And I let him go, because I was young and naive enough to trust him."
"But he betrayed you," Skipper finished.
"Yes, he did make quite the mess of things," Nigel laughed as if he really wanted to cry. "But I've protected him all these years… Even from Blowhole. I don't know why I kept it up for so long. I'm getting older now, though… Well, I've been saying that for years. I knew that partnerships like Buck and mine were doomed to failure, which is why I let everything happen between you and Hans. He would have stabbed you in the back anyway, no matter how much he loved you, so I just made him disappear. I hadn't known it would affect you the way it did, but I suppose I should have seen that coming."
"Doomed to failure? I wouldn't have believed you a week ago, but after everything that's happened… I guess there was nothing that could have been done." Skipper looked up to the stage where Julien was dancing.
Nigel followed his eyes, before he smiled gently. "No, but it all worked out, didn't it? I got to make sure that my little nephew was safe from everything, and you found something new."
Skipper looked at his glass of water. "I don't know if I'll ever completely get over Hans."
"You might not think so now." Nigel replied simply. "But that's the beauty of the world - it moves, whether you want it to or not. You might as well move with it, right?"
He realized, in that moment, that Nigel was right. He had stayed, for so long, trapped in Hans' disappearance that he hadn't experienced the last eleven years. He'd be damned if he let himself stagnate for the next eleven. Not when Julien was in the picture, someone that loved him unconditionally, someone that he couldn't help but love back. He still had Kowalski, Rico, and Private, didn't he? He had his family, he had his love. And suddenly, he felt as if he didn't need anything else.
He'd heard before that you only fall in love once, but Skipper now knew that this was never true, if only for the fact that he would prove it wrong.
"What about you?" Skipper turned to Nigel. "What are you going to do now? You're not going to keep lying for Buck Rockgut, are you?"
"Buck Rockgut actually died a couple years ago." Nigel shrugged. "Like I said, Skipper, I'm getting older. Too old for this business, too old for all these lies and double crosses and secrets... My contract is running thin, anyway; I'm going to retire, maybe move off to some remote place… Not sure where yet."
"Retire?" Skipper rose a brow. He honestly couldn't imagine Nigel, one of the CIA's best, retiring. But he supposed that it was, in fact, time. Nigel looked more weary than ever, and after finding the truth, he could easily see why. "Then who's gonna take your place?"
"I've met this brilliant young woman named Kitka. She's a lot like you, actually, which is probably why I like her so much. By now she has seven years of experience... I think she's ready to take over." Nigel took another sip of his wine. "Speaking of… Francis Blowhole was the New York police chief, you know. Now that he's gone, well, this place will be needing a new one."
Skipper blinked in surprise. "You mean…"
"Yes. I could pull a few strings, and it would certainly pay better than being a private investigator and working on commission." Nigel grinned. "I have some wonderful local positions open for Kowalski and Rico, too… There's a need for a scientific professor at NYU, and as for Rico, I have a friend who is in need of a demolition expert for construction purposes. Don't worry - I'll make sure you all still have time for your own adventures, too."
"I think you'll have to take that up with them. As for me, I…" Skipper paused as the lights dimmed.
Julien's show had finished, but instead of exiting the stage through the back as he usually did, he instead jumped off and hurriedly made his way to Skipper. There was a bright smile on his face, as he was clearly excited to see his newly found boyfriend. Skipper couldn't help the smile that took over his expression as well when he watched Julien weave his way through the crowd. Julien laughed in excitement as he practically dove into Skipper's arms, embracing him tightly. He leaned back to kiss him on the cheek.
"You know Nigel, I'll have to get back to you on that." Skipper winked at his old boss.
"I'll see to it that you do." Nigel smirked as he stood, pushing in his chair. "I'll leave you young gents to your partying and love. Ta, Skipper. I'll be in touch."
Skipper saluted him as he walked off, before turning to Julien and pecked his lips. Julien wrapped his arms around Skipper's neck and half-sat in his lap, giggling. Skipper couldn't remember ever feeling so happy in his life. They were young(ish) and they had eachother, who could ask for more?
"You know who you are reminding me of?" Julien queried as he drew circles over Skipper's chest with his index finger.
Skipper smiled. "Who?"
"Superman," Julien laughed.
"You know…" Skipper mused. "I've always been more of a Batman kinda guy."
"Batman Skipper?" Julien hummed thoughtfully, before his smile brightened. "I like it."
Skipper swept Julien's yellow feathers out of his face and back into his headdress, having been misplaced from his dancing. "What do you say we get out of here for a little bit, dollface?"
Julien's smile brightened further, if such a notion was even possible. "Oh, Skipper! You mean like a vacation?"
Another brief kiss on the lips. "I think we could both use one, don't you? After everything that's happened."
"Yes!" Julien exclaimed, kissing Skipper back. "Yes, I would absolutely be loving that! Where should we go?"
Skipper grinned. "How does Monte Carlo sound?"
END
