The Good Life
AN: A bit more character development in this chapter before we get back to the action again.
Disclaimer: I do not own Zootopia or the Bad Guys.
Chapter Nineteen:
Even with the TV on, the sound of Alex and Sam arguing on the second floor could be heard, even if barely. Above the announcer's play-by-play and the constant drone of the audience, it was muffled. No words could be made out, but the fact they could hear anything was a reminder of what was going on up there. Mason tried to get lost in the baseball game on screen, and he kept up a good façade on that part. Inside, though, he was worried.
Alex had orders from the Chief of Police to put him and Snake up for the foreseeable future, but Sam was the assistant mayor. Put in a word with the mayor, and she could ruin any and all progress he'd made with getting back to his old life. Forget community service and one year's probation, she could get him sent to prison.
That thought brought with it an...interesting conundrum.
He did not want to go back to prison. He'd spent a year there, and only his friends' presence had made the place bearable. This time, he wouldn't have that luxury. He'd be sent there alone, and that was a prospect he was silently dreading. Plus, his cars would probably be impounded. Well, the Camaro would be, for sure, since that was the vehicle he'd gone street-racing in. Speaking of which, he'd noticed a noise coming from it during the drive here, so he needed to check that out sooner or later.
Diane might be able to take the Ferrari, which was one good thing, he supposed. Then again, she'd be flying back to California, which meant she'd have to spend money to have it shipped across the country. And Snake would have to fly back to LA on a public flight because there was no way he could hitch a ride with Diane. That, again, would be money out of Diane's pocket. Or his friends' pockets. Either way, it was still more money that he'd end up costing them.
Ironic, wasn't it? He'd come to Zootopia to try and make money for them, yet here he was costing them more money than ever.
"You okay, Wolf?" Snake's question had him snapping out of his funk, and he looked at the reptile curiously. "You've been staring inta space fer, like, ten minutes now. Didn't even react when the Cardinals got a three-run homerun."
Mason glanced at the screen, and sure enough, the Cardinals had three runs more than he remembered. A quick glance at the other two who were in the room showed that Judy was more engrossed in her phone than the game, and Nick seemed to be watching the TV at first glance, but a second glance showed he was actually listening in to his and Snake's conversation. Diane had excused herself a while ago for a phone call. Her being gone so long was a matter of some concern, but she was the governor of California. Long phone calls were a part of her career.
"Just thinking," he eventually responded. Outside of the living room window, he could see his Camaro parked in the driveway, and he figured now was as good as any to go take a look at it. Everyone turned to look at him when he stood suddenly. "I'm gonna go do some work on my car," he declared. "Wanna come with me, Snake?"
"You're going outside?" Nick's tone was full of suspicion. "When it's dark out?"
"Yes, Wilde, I'm going outside. And you'll be able to see me through the window the entire time." The fox's gaze drifted over to the window at Mason's gesture. Though it was past sunset, the garage lights were enough to illuminate the driveway, and Mason had his phone's flashlight for some extra light, of course. "You coming, Snake?"
The reptile glanced between the TV and him for a moment before nodding. Evidently, he'd caught on to the unspoken request. "Yeah, why not?" Snake uncoiled from his spot on the recliner and followed Mason outside.
It was pretty warm despite the late hour. Summer was just around the corner, after all. As soon as Mason shut the door behind him, Snake turned to him with a curious yet serious expression. "What's this about, Wolf?"
The canine was quiet for a moment before heading towards his car, gesturing for Snake to follow. "A few things, actually." He unlocked and opened the driver-side door of the Camaro and reached down to pop the hood. Once that was done, he shut the door and went to the front of the car, opening the hood all the way, and propped it open. "I actually do want to check out the car. There's a noise that I don't like." He fished out his phone from his pocket, checked to make sure he had enough battery life on it—there was—turned the flashlight on, and passed it to Snake. "Hold the light?" he politely requested.
Snake took it, though he leveled a suspicious glare at his friend. As Mason got to work, he could feel the reptile watching him. "This better not be the only reason you dragged me out here in the middle of the night away from the baseball game."
"It's not," he promised. Right now, he was just looking at all the components, making sure nothing was loose or cracked. Based on the noise he heard, it was more likely something in the suspension than in the engine, but there was no harm in giving the whole thing a once over. However, as the weight of what he was going to say dawned on him, he paused and sighed heavily. "We made a promise to each other when we first met, remember? I don't ask about your past, you don't ask about mine, and if either of us wants to share, the other doesn't have to do the same."
"Yeah, I remember." Snake's tone was quieter, softer. Apparently, he realized now what Mason wanted to talk about. "So...what? You're ready to share?"
"Not everything, but...yeah," he nodded. "First off, my name isn't 'Moe Wolf', it's 'Mason Wolford'."
"Well, the cousin thing makes more sense now," Snake commented.
It took Mason by surprise. "You're not mad?"
Snake snorted. "Why would I be? You think my real last name is 'Snake'? Or Shark's real last name is 'Shark'? Or Piranha's real last name is 'Piranha'? Or Webs' real last name is 'Tarantula'?" The canine furrowed his brows in thought. He'd never really thought about it, actually. "We're all criminals, Wolf. Or we used to be. We've all been through our own form of hell, and sometimes you just need to change your name to distance yourself from that. Or maybe we just don't want anyone else to know who we really are, make sure no one can go after the friends and family we had in another life." Something about how Snake said that made him think the reptile was speaking from personal experience, but he didn't comment on it. After a moment, the serpent shook his head and returned to the conversation. "That the only thing ya wanted ta tell me?"
"Not even curious about why I changed my name?" Wolf smirked, trying to feign levity.
"Curious, sure. But like we promised, I'm not gonna ask if you ain't gonna answer." Snake's response was so sincere that it brought a genuine smile to Mason's face. "But if ya do wanna tell, I'm all ears."
"You don't even have ears," Mason snickered, making Snake roll his eyes with a groan.
Over the next twenty or so minutes, the canine told his old friend everything he'd told Alex and Diane—minus the part where he'd murdered someone. He spoke about the family he came from, how his parents fell apart, about his mom's affair with a conman and how he ruined her, about the night his father killed his mom and then himself as he hid in the closet. He told Snake about getting adopted by Alex's family and how the two became like brothers. He spoke of the legal case his aunt and uncle tried to make against the conman responsible and how, after three years, nothing came of it. He spoke of his temporary partnership with Nick, and how the two were originally just street peddlers before Mason tried to get Nick to become a real criminal. He spoke of the bank heist that went wrong and how the two completely cut ties afterward. And finally, he explained how he left the city after that and vowed he'd never returned...until a few months ago, that is.
Snake was silent throughout the whole story. Throughout, Mason had progressed from speaking while working to just sitting on the front bumper, arms crossed, as his relived these memories yet again. It was easier with this being the third time. And Snake's silence made it easy to think he was alone, speaking to the breeze.
When he was done talking, he glanced down at the reptile to see his soft expression, something that was extremely rare to see from Snake, but all the more valuable because of it. "Sorry you had to go through all that, pal. No one deserves to go through what you did."
"Thanks..." It was an empty word. As empty as his voice, really. Just because it was easier to talk about didn't mean it was easy. It still hurt, and he expected those wounds would still be raw when he was old and grey. Or well...greyer. But then he remembered himself and who he was with and gave Snake a small smile. "Really, Snake. You're a good friend."
"Hey, I'm glad you could get that off your chest, but that's no reason to go soft on me," Snake shot back with a smirk. That, in turn, made Mason snort.
However, moments later, his expression became a bit more serious. "So, uh...moving on...where's my gun?"
"Safe," the reptile responded vaguely.
"Yeah, I figured as much when the cops didn't arrest me for having it in my car," Mason shot back. "Where'd you put it? Please don't tell me you swallowed it."
Snake 'shrugged'. "Alright, then I won't tell ya." Mason just stared at him in mild horror. "I unloaded it first if that makes ya feel any better."
"A little bit," he admitted. "Can I have it back?"
The reptile's gaze narrowed as he closely scrutinized the canine. After a solid thirty seconds of silence, Snake finally spoke. "No offense, Wolf, but you just got finished reliving some terrible memories, and you've been off all night."
Wolf furrowed his brow in confusion, but then his expression quickly turned to stunned outrage. "I'm not gonna kill myself, Snake. You know me better than that! Yeah, some bad things happened to me a long time ago, but my life now is good! I've got you and the rest of the gang. I've got Diane. I bought my dream car. I'm reconnecting with my cousin. Why would I just end myself?"
Snake sighed. "Yeah...alright. You've got me there, and I'm not really worried about you...ya know. Like you said, I do know you better than that, but...I don't know. It'd just make me feel better knowing you didn't have it. For a few days, at least."
Mason's anger disappeared as he realized Snake was only looking out for him. It wasn't because Snake actually expected him to do the unthinkable. He was just worried about him, even if his worry was unfounded. Even still, since he now knew Snake was just trying to be a good friend, he'd go along with his wishes. "Alright...if it makes you feel better, you can hold onto it. But please, for all things good in this world, spit it out and hide it somewhere. I don't want the metal getting corroded. That's—" He cut himself off when he realized he'd yet to mention that little tidbit of information.
"That's...what?" Snake was confused and rightly so. He had just trailed off for no reason, at least no reason that the serpent knew.
Wolf shrugged and looked away as he answered as nonchalantly as he could. "That's my dad's gun, is all."
Snake recoiled in horror. "The one he shot himself with!? Jesus, Wolf, what the hell do keep this thing around for!? Why—" Snake cut himself off and swallowed heavily. "Guh...I think I'm gonna be sick now."
"Then spit it out," he responded simply.
Despite telling him to, Mason was quite surprised when Snake slithered around to the other side of the car, away from the window, and spat out the gun and its magazine. It was covered in slime, which made Mason wince, but he just opened up the car door, grabbed some napkins from the glovebox, and used them to wipe the worst of it off. He'd definitely have to clean this before using it again, not that he planned on using it again, but there was no point in carrying around a gun that was more likely to explode in his hand than fire correctly.
Once it was wiped off, he went around to the trunk, opened it, and set it inside as he rummaged through his go bag. In it, he found his gun cleaning kit, so he set about doing just that. Snake came around to watch him.
The literal second he finished, the front door opened, and Alex stepped out. Before his cousin could see what he was doing, Wolf put the gun into his bag and shut the trunk, taking his phone from Snake without a word. "What are you guys doing out here?" he asked, but Mason could tell it was more of an ice breaker than anything. He didn't really care, though that was probably because he'd just finished a long argument with his wife.
"Just talkin'," Snake answered. "But I guess we just finished."
"So what's the word?" Mason asked before Snake could say something they'd all end up regretting.
"It was hard to convince her, but she's letting you stay. I, uh...I had to tell her about that night. It was probably the only thing I've never told her." Snake quietly interrupted with a 'I'm goin' back inside', and both wolves watched him leave. Only once the front door closed again did Alex speak again. "I said a lot of bad things about you over the years, and for that I'm sorry. I was angry, and—"
"I know." Mason's interruption made Alex stop. The two leaned against the side of the car in similar poses, arms crossed and gazes out at the lit street and the houses' empty yards. No one but them were outside at this hour, which was all for the better, he supposed. "You had...have every right to be angry with me, so you don't have to say anything else. I understand."
That just made Alex shake his head. "You say that, but I don't think you do. I loved you, Mason. I mean, we told each other everything...or I thought we did. I didn't understand why the guy I thought of as a brother would suddenly turn into the thing that ruined his life because you never reached out."
Mason sighed and looked over to Alex. As soon as he saw the glint of moisture in his eyes, he stood and wordlessly pulled his cousin in for a hug. The younger wolf latched onto him as if he'd disappear in a second as soon as he let go. Alex didn't cry, but he was very upset regardless. "I'm sorry..." Mason whispered quietly. The only sign that Alex was listening was how his ears perked up a bit. "I know this probably seems like a crappy excuse, but I was terrified that you'd look at me differently, that I'd just be another Moe." He scoffed derisively. "It's how I saw myself, so why would you see anything different?"
There were a few beats of silence before Alex responded. "You're right...that was a crappy excuse." Both of them snorted in mild amusement. "I would've dropped everything in an instant if you'd just called."
"I figured as much," he nodded. Years later, once that original fear had been rationalized away and the temptation to pick up the phone grew, this particular thought had dissuaded him. "Which is why I didn't."
Alex pulled away and gave him an odd look. "What do you mean by that?"
Mason gestured around. "Look around, Alex! Look at what you have! You've got a wife, kids, a nice house! You wouldn't have any of it if you'd come chasing after me." Alex gave no argument to his claim. "Look...I'm sorry I wasn't around to experience all of this with you, and I would go back and change it all if it meant I could be a part of your life, but the fact is..." He gestured in the house's direction again, and a lump of emotion grew in his throat as he uttered his next words. "You're better off without me."
"That's not true!" Alex immediately, and fervently, denied. Mason looked away, but his cousin grabbed his shoulder and turned him around to meet his gaze again. "That's not true," he repeated with even more conviction. "I love my family, Mason. I love my parents. I love Sam. I love my kids." Even though he was forced to look in Alex's direction, Mason's gaze still drifted away, him unwilling to look his cousin in the eye. Seeing that, Alex gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "But you're family, too. We were so close as kids, and I've always loved you. It hurt when you left. And I was angry. Most of that was from not knowing why." There was a brief pause as Alex sighed. "I never thought I'd see you again," he admitted.
"That makes two of us..." he mumbled.
"But knowing now why you left and getting those answers from you, I understand now, which means I can forgive you. Do I wish you had never left? Absolutely. But you're back now, and that's all I care about. You're part of my family, too, Mason...and I am never letting you go again."
There was much hugging after that proclamation. Soon after, the two returned inside. Sam apologized to him about her earlier outburst, but beyond that, the two didn't interact at all. Neither of them mentioned their talk to anyone else. That was their moment. The moment where two brothers in all but blood finally reconnected.
Mason would remember this night for the rest of his life, and he had a feeling Alex would, too. This was just one of those defining moments of their lives, the end of a long chapter of separation, blame, and fear. After tonight, a new chapter would start...and Mason couldn't wait to see where it lead.
AN: Alex's priority is definitely his family. All of them. I can already hear the Fast and Furious memes coming.
Until Next Time
AdmiralCole22