Chapter 33: Monkeys.

"He left it dead and with its head, he went galumphing back. It's all about you, you know…."

-Linda Woolverton, Alice in Wonderland (2010 movie).

A week passed quickly after that, as things returned to normal. Misfits came and went, another sniper was shot and died, two of M's men came in with the flu and had to be semi-quarantined. John and Moriarty continued to work together with the Misfits, with dinner, with the dishes, and then on the mystery of the Sniper-Shooter, as they were now calling the mysterious left-handed man, whose death toll was up to seven men, even with John's efforts to save them.

"Johnny, I think you deserve a day off," Jim said suddenly, stopping his pacing and turning to face John. "And for that matter, so do I. You, me, and Sammy should go out tomorrow. It'll be fun."

"Yeah, okay," John agreed, too close to sleep to really think about the offer. He'd been slowly nodding off in his chair while Jim paced back and forth, sometimes silent, sometimes talking too fast to follow, sometimes asking John questions that the man never had a chance to answer.

"Perfect. You should get some sleep." There was concern in that voice, but it was so extravagant that it seemed acted. Then again, that was how all of Moriarty's emotions seemed, so it could very well be genuine.

"So should you," John returned.

"Alright, fine, I'll sleep."

"Promise?"

"Pink swear," Jim said, and the two men linked fingers briefly, smiling. "I'll see you tomorrow, then, Johnny boy. Sweet dreams!"

"Same to you," John yawned, and then made his way back through the twisting concrete hallways to his flat.

Oooo000oooO

"Johnny, Johnny, Johnny boy," the words were sung low into his ear, almost crooned.

"Yes?" John mumbled, rolling over and smushing his face into the pillow.

"You might want to get up now," the voice said pleasantly. John groaned and stayed where he was. His brain was fuzzy and his eyelids were heavy and he certainly hadn't gotten enough sleep. "Alright, your choice," the voice said, and then there were two ice-cold hands pressed against his bare back. John shot up in bed with a shout, turning to face Jim.

"Jesus fucking Christ!"

"Naw, just me. Common mistake, though. You're awake now, I take it?"

"Yeah..." John said, still pushing down the shivers from the unexpected icy hands.

"Good, get dressed, we're going out. Sammy and I will be waiting in the living room."

"What time is it?" John asked, since Jim was blocking the alarm clock.

"Ten o'clock, I let you sleep in."

"God, you're like a kid on Christmas morning. I'll be there in ten minutes." Jim walked out and closed the door behind him, and John rolled out of bed. He suppressed the urge to try on about fifty outfits, and simply went with the first things he pulled out of his closet. Then he made his way to the living room.

"Daddy!" he was attacked by a blur of auburn hair and blue eyes. Sammy sprang upwards, and he caught her quickly, spinning around to even out the momentum. "I missed you!"

"Yeah, me too. Nice to see you again. How've you been?"

"Good!" the young girl chirped, and John gave her a quick once-over. She looked healthy. A little underweight, but that wasn't unusual for the Misfits. The dinners helped the ones who weren't working, and Jim had always made sure they got at least one meal a day, which was more than could be said for many of the London street children.

"So, are you ready for a day out with me and Jim?"

"Yeah! We're gonna go to the-"

"Hey now, it's a surprise," interjected Jim. John shot a look at him, only getting a grin in response. Unbidden, his lips curled into a reluctant smile. Alright. A surprise.

"Sorry, daddy," Sammy said bashfully.

"You're fine. Just don't ruin it," Jim said kindly. John blinked, then figured that if Jim could sound normal, he could sound kind. He was a man of masks; he was what he wanted to be.

"Are we going to have to do something with our hair again?" John asked unhappily, remembering that the last time he'd gone out with Jim, he'd had to wear a ginger wig, which had been incredibly itchy and altogether unpleasant.

"No, I got the security cameras taken care of, and I figure the court case is far enough behind us that one or two people may take a second look then dismiss us."

"Perfect," John said with a sigh, happy to be able to go as himself. He set Sammy down, and she immediately grabbed his hand. John had to bend over a bit so as not to lift her off the ground, but it was worth it.

"Alright, team, to the Jimobile!"

"You're kidding me," John said flatly. Jim looked over at him innocently.

"Problem?"

"The Jimobile? Did you seriously just-" he let the sentence hang there. Jim just looked at him as though he couldn't find anything wrong with the title. "It's absolutely terrible," John said finally.

"Oh? And what would you name it?"

"I wouldn't," John replied.

"Well, you're just stupid, then. Every car should have a name, shouldn't they, Sammy?"

"He's right," Sammy said regretfully.

"Come on, that's just ridiculous. We can come up with a better name than the Jimobile, can't we?"

"Yeah!" Sammy cheered. "The Sammy-mobile!"

"Oh, lord," Jim groaned. "I built it, okay? I picked it up and I fixed it; it's my car, and I'll name it what I want!" John found his childish foot-stomp to be the cutest thing since the Misfits, and told him so, which earned an eye roll.

"Look, I'd say it's our car, because we all spend a lot of time in it, and I am not riding in a car named the 'Jimobile,' and everyone knows that cars are girls anyways."

"He's right," Sammy repeated apologetically.

"Fine, okay, that's our project of the day. Find a name for my car." John swung Sammy up onto his shoulders, and they went out the door with the young girl listing names, and both her daddies occasionally reminding her to breathe.

"Blackie. Night. Nyx. Onyx. Impy. Minerva. Chev. Raven? Belle, that's a nice one…"

John strapped her into her seat, and joined Jim in the front.

"Remember to drive nicely," he said to Jim.

"But that's no fun," Jim pouted. "Come on, trust me, I'm not going to get into an accident, I promise." John hesitated.

"…Alright, fine. But be careful. We have a kid with us, remember."

"Yes!" Jim jumped once, expensive shoes leaving the pavement and clicking back down, then he slid into the driver's seat.

"Sammy, I want you to hold on, okay?" John said to the girl in the back. "We're going to be driving a little maniacally." The girl nodded enthusiastically, grinned, and checked her seatbelt a few times. John checked his own, and then gave a nod to Jim.

The car pulled out, tires screeched, and they tore down the road. Jim rolled down one of the windows, and Sammy's hair started getting whipped around. The young girl let out a whoop and put up her hands, laughing. The laughter was contagious, and soon all three of them were giggling as they raced down the street, almost drowning out the cacophony around them. John rolled down his own window, savouring the wind in his hair, and the sky above him. The only time he got to see the sky was when he was helping Jim on a job, or going out for a meal with him.

Being stuck inside made him realize how little he appreciated fresh air, even polluted by the city. Maybe he could talk Jim into going into the country some day. He probably had a safe house somewhere, away from the people and CCTV cameras. Maybe some day in the future, when the Sniper-Shooter had been taken care of, maybe they could head out there. Just them, two adults, not even the Misfits, the quiet of the countryside. It would be nice. More than nice, really… It sounded perfect.

John stored that idea away for the future.

Meanwhile, they pulled into a parking lot, and John laughed.

"Oh, so this is the surprise!"

"My favourite place in the whole entire world!" Sammy enthused, bouncing in her seat. They were just outside of the London Zoo. John grinned, Jim matched the expression, and the sun was benevolent above them.

Oooo000oooO

Several hours later, the three of them were walking down the boardwalk towards the monkey cage. They'd already seen most of the park, and this was their last stop. It was almost 4 o'clock, and they had skipped lunch in favour of an extravagant breakfast, so an early dinner was in order. Sammy was holding John's hand, her other hand tied to a pink helium balloon that was floating happily in the wind. Jim had decided to get an ice cream cone, despite John's protests, so he was licking that as they made their way along.

John took a moment to savour the memory of the butterfly room as he looked over at Jim. He pulled up the image of the consulting criminal, standing there, holding Sammy's pink balloon and covered in butterflies. For some reason, they had really liked him. Then again, there had been about four on both John and Sammy, but there had to have been at least fifteen on Jim. They certainly had looked magnificent against his dark suit.

The strange sort of family visited the monkeys, and Sammy quite enjoyed them. So did Jim, for that matter. John sort of felt like the only adult in the group, especially after that one time Jim had grabbed his hand and forcibly pulled them both off to see the snakes. And his face, when he had been allowed to hold one of them, had been open and bright, as though he had never seen death or pain in his life.

They made their way back to the still unnamed car. Anansi, Raven, and Corvine had been bounced around, but in the end, they were either too common or too fancy.

"Where to now, my faithful companions?" Jim asked, sliding into the driver's seat. "Space and time is at your feet, what do you desire?"

"Ice cream!" Sammy cried as John buckled her in.

"Ah, no. Dinner first," John said. "Besides, Jim's already had ice cream."

"I could have it again," Jim said in a hopeful voice. "It could be our dinner."

"Yeah! Come on, daddy, please? Just once?" John looked from one to the other, both of them with big eyes and pleading expressions, and had to laugh.

"Fine, fine, just this once. But we'd better have some sort of healthy thing when we get back home."

"Yesss!" Both Jim and Sammy cheered, and then gave each other a high five. John lifted his eyes heavenward as he got into the passenger's seat. He was definitely the only adult in this group. "I've texted the Misfits, and the dinner has been moved back to 6:30, so we've got enough time to dawdle," Jim said cheerfully. "But still, why bother?"

And that was his version of a warning, because three seconds later, he pushed down the parking brake, switched gears with a flick of his wrist, and then rocketed backwards. John, who hadn't get put his seatbelt on, let out a yelp that might have been an inaudible swear word, and then fumbled for the buckle, glancing back to make sure Sammy was in. It was a good thing she was, because when Jim turned, they were all almost thrown into the window, their seatbelts snapping tight and cutting into their skin.

"Jim, have a little consideration," John gasped, rubbing his chest.

"I'm sorry, what?" Jim laughed, and then turned on the antique cassette player. "I can't hear you!" John heaved a sigh and gave up. There was no way he could yell louder than the music. He rolled down one window so that the guitar wasn't deafening him, and then closed his eyes, pretending that he couldn't hear the traffic, or the loud music, just the wind battering his ear drums, and Jim and Sammy's laughter.

A/N: And I'm back! Exams are over, so I should be posting a few more chapters this weekend in celebration... Reviews make it more likely, so let me know what you think! This chapter is pretty much pure FLUFF, but the next one will be a little darker, so hold onto this bright happy day. You may need it. See you again soon, for Milkshakes and Mirrors!