#facing fears

A security mission takes Zeno and Leon to a museum for an unveiling of a cutting-edge DNA science exhibit (imagine cool interactive displays of giant DNA strands, microscope tubes you can look into, and suchlike. 🧬) except there's a dinosaur exhibit the next hall over displaying their brand new interactive Quetzalcoatlus skeleton. There is merch. There are stock dinosaur noises playing constantly. The sound of an edutainment documentary is bleeding through the walls. There are children running around in adorable little Quetzalcoatlus costumes.

Zeno handles this with all due grace. He is a professional. He is on duty. He's hiding his discomfort so well.

Meanwhile Leon sees his pet Zeno acting the part of a good B.O.W. bodyguard while so pale and clammy and trembly. This man is standing rigid as a pole, sunglasses doing nothing to hide the nervous sweat on his brow or the way he keeps jump-flinching every time there's A Noise. He's holding it together, yes, but in a pathetic sort of way. he looks like he wants to crawl into a corner and throw up.

Leon comes to the adorably incorrect assumption that the scientific exhibit is triggering him. He thinks he's helping when he switches places and tells him to take off. Oh, Zeno wants to stay close? Okay, why not chill in that dinosaur room that's just down the hall? Hey, maybe you can pick out something for Emily from that gift shop while you're there (one of Zeno's favourite activities, usually) to give to her next time you see her. Bet she'd love getting some dinosaur stuff from you.

Zeno would smile, strained, and go do what he's told without protesting because he's a lovable idiot who failed his communication classes. Leon pats himself on the back for managing another Clone Crisis. He thinks he's sent Zeno off on a relaxing side quest.

Zeno has been sent into the bowels of hell.

Not only is he walking towards the dinosaur noises, he's also carrying the expectation of engaging with the material via picking something for Emily. His handler will have questions if he comes back empty handed. The only thing Zeno doesn't want to do more than visit the Quetzalcoatlus exhibit is admit he's terrified of dinosaurs; he's a dangerous weapon and an assembly of inanimate bones should not faze him. He's marching into the exhibit area like he's walking into a suicide mission.

Scared, but stubborn as hell. He has committed to this with the resignation typically reserved for punishments.

Just imagining Zeno halting at the main attraction and looking up, up, up because it's so much taller than him. Mouth set in a grim line while he swallows. Reading from the fun little info kiosks all dead serious, like it's a Resident Evil journal entry. There's smaller animatronic models that make up the interactive elements of this exhibit. He watches them like a researcher observing their experiments. There's a pettable one. He pets it like a bomb.

Something something facing a fear head-on because you choose to. Leon didn't order him to this exhibit, he just suggested it out of well-meaning concern. Zeno knows he could be slipping out the back for a smoke break instead of being here, just like he knows he could swallow his pride and admit to his handler he's afraid of the dinosaurs without being punished or mocked. In the past, he never had the luxury of engaging with frightening things on his own terms. Now? His soul is nourished by healthy found family vibes and this man is full of stubbornness and determination.

Sometimes, personal victory doesn't shout and jump in celebration. Sometimes, personal victory happens silently, unnoticed in the shuffle of daily life. It quietly walks out of the interactive dinosaur exhibit after watching all the documentaries, it takes the shape of carefully supporting a large green Quetzalcoatlus plush to your chest as you rejoin your handler.

Leon: Oh, hello you. Just in time for shift change. Who's your friend?

Zeno: This is a Quetzalcoatlus. I believe it will be to Emily's liking.

Leon: I'll say. That thing's nearly as big as her. Here, I think my weapons case will have enough room if I move this... and this...

(resident evil inventory tetris noises)

Leon: So, I take it you enjoyed the dino exhibit? Maybe I should pop in next.

Zeno: Yes. You should.

He dashed into the room and gave it a cursory look. On his hands and knees was a lean man with dark, long, curly hair, crawling away from the door and windows. Steve ran forward and knelt down next to the man. “Hi there. I’m Steve.” He introduced himself. As he assessed the man quickly, he noticed he had a few minor burns and likely smoke inhalation, but was otherwise fine. “We need to get you out of here.” The man turned his head to Steve with a scowl.

“Name’s Eddie. I can’t leave yet.” Eddie turned and continued his crawl. Steve halted for a moment, Eddie looked familiar. He shook himself out of it and followed.

“Eddie we need to get you out of here, the building is going to come down soon.” Steve tried again.

“Listen, firefighter Steve! I get that, but I need to get something.” The smoke was getting thicker and Eddie was coughing, Steve needed to get him out of here.

“There’s no time to get anything, I’m sorry. The stairs are caught up in it, you are going to need to jump out your window so the sooner we can get you out, the better.” This caused Eddie to jump to his feet.

Eddie glared back at Steve. "Jump? Are you crazy?! We're on the tenth floor!" He shouted.

"There's a pad down there to catch you. It's perfectly safe. I promise." Steve reassured the man.

“No! No, I can’t jump.” Eddie's eyes were wide and wet. His hands began shaking.

"Are you afraid of heights?" He asked softly. Eddie nodded quickly. "It'll be okay." Steve promised. Eddie took a deep breath.

"I need to get my angel from her cage before I go." He insisted. “I can’t leave without her, she’s my baby.” Steve picked Eddie up bridal style and carried him to the window, ignoring his protests.

"Where's the cage? I'll get her out." Eddie directed Steve to the bedroom while he was placed on his feet. Eddie opened the window and looked down to see the huge jump pad. It looked safe enough and strong enough to catch him, he hoped. Eddie grabbed onto Steve’s sleeve and pulled him close.

“Be careful with her okay? She’s skittish, especially around strangers.” Steve smiled, this tough looking metal head was so protective of a little critter. “And she bites.”

“I’ll be careful, besides I doubt she could bite through the gloves.” He pointed out. Eddie nodded, the fear still clear on his face. Steve directed him to sit on the window sill before jumping to give himself a second.

“You got this.” Steve encouraged as Eddie took a deep breath.

“You can do this.” Eddie whispered to himself. “GO!” He shouted as he threw himself out the window. Steve watched to make sure he landed safely before turning to make his way to the bedroom.

“Now to rescue a critter.” He said to himself. With the way the fire was going, and the amount of apartments still to check, Steve hoped the little girl would be okay in the pocket of his shirt.

The smoke was getting thicker and he knew he was running out of time. In the bedroom, there was a fairly large cage exactly where Eddie said it was. Inside was a decent sized rat. Unfortunately, it was on its side and didn’t seem to be breathing. A shame, as far as Steve was concerned, but he figured Eddie would like the body regardless. As he reached his hand into the cage, something huge darted towards his hand. Steve yelped and pulled his hand out quickly, barely avoiding the shape. The rat was no longer sitting in the middle of the cage, instead it was being slowly squeezed by a four foot long boa constrictor.

“Shit. Shit...Shit!” Steve swore after letting out a high pitched squeal. He was both regretting letting Eddie jump to safety and extremely grateful for it. On one hand, the hot man didn’t have to hear Steve’s scared noise, but now Steve would have to touch this thing. “Hey, Robin, over” he said into his walkie.

“I read you Steve, everything alright?, over” She asked. He couldn’t do this.

“No. Like physically, yes but emotionally no.”

“What? Why?” She yelled. He hated worrying her but he really didn’t know how to react.

“The apartment I’m in right now has a snake that I need to get out.” He stared at the snake as it slowly started to consume the rat. He tried not to gag. He heard Robin laughing at him, which was just rude. She went out of her way to turn her walkie on for that. “I’m going to give the walkie to Eddie since it’s his snake.” The next thing he heard was some static before Eddie came on.

“Alright, here’s what you do.” He began. Steve was trying his best to stay calm but watching the snake finish it’s dinner was kinda horrifying. Steve listened closely to Eddie and followed his instructions. He gently stroked the back of the snake to let it know of his presence, then he picked it up from the middle. It was a heavy, wiggly thing but Steve held on. “Okay Steve. This next part you’re going to hate. You need to open your jacket a bit and let Angel in. She will likely wrap tightly around you, but you’re too big for her to consider pray. She’s basically considering you a tree so you’re not in any danger. It’ll just be weird.” Steve gulped but did as he was told. Angel wrapped her body around his waist like a belt, with her head tucked under his armpit and her tail around his thigh.

“Ugh. I hate this.” He whined to himself. In that moment he regretted all his life choices. He wanted to change careers, he wanted to move states and change his name, never to be seen again. But he was a firefighter dammit! He was fearless or at least brave in the face of fear. He quickly did up his coat and made his way to the stairs. “Alright, Eddie. You can hand the walkie back to Robin.” He said as he descended. He checked the apartments on the other floors he was in charge of all while the boa was slithering around his body. Thankfully he didn’t have to rescue any other animals or people and he was finally able to exit the building.

He was barely back to the safe zone when Eddie came sprinting over even as Robin yelled at him to slow down. He skidded to a stop in front of Steve and breathed deep through the oxygen mask attached to his face. He anxiously watched as Steve took off his coat and let Angel out. Eddie held his arm out and Angel slithered off of Steve and wrapped herself around her owner. “Angel! You’re okay.” He said to the snake. He removed his mask and did his best to put it over the snake’s nose. He turned a blinding smile towards Steve. “Thank you so much! Robin said you were afraid of snakes.” Steve glared at his coworker/best friend but nodded anyway. “And you faced your fears to save her. Thank you.” He darted forward to peck Steve on the cheek.

“No problem. You jumped despite the height so the least I could do was rescue your pet.” He blushed. “And once I got used to it, it wasn’t too bad.” Eddie stepped in close to Steve and whispered.

“Angel is a boa constrictor, but I have a python you’re more than welcome to hold.” He wiggled his eyes suggestively. If Steve wasn’t blushing before, he’s sure red as a tomato now. They were so lost in their own world they didn’t realize how close Robin was still standing.

“Ugh! If I’d known the Animal Freak was so cheesy I wouldn’t have started watching your show.” Even though her words were harsh, she was smiling. But the words got Steve thinking. It was like a light bulb went off over his head like an old cartoon.

“Oh Shit! You’re Animal Freak Eddie? The guy who has that show on Animal Planet?” Steve exclaimed.

“Yup! The one and only.” Eddie beamed. His show, “Freaks of the Animal Kingdom” was all about the animals that weren’t cute and fluffy. Snakes, spiders, insects, fish, bats, you name it. It was a way to raise awareness for the conservation for animals that weren’t soft and cuddly.

“Huh, I guess that makes sense why you have a pet snake.” Steve said as the two grinned.

“I hate to interrupt whatever is going on here, but Eddie we need to get you to a hospital to check you out and we need to get Angel to a vet.” Robin interjected. Eddie walked towards the ambulance but before he got in he turned back to Steve.

“Give me your phone number sweetheart?” He asked somehow confident and shy at the same time. Steve wrote it down on a piece of paper he borrowed from the EMT and handed it to Eddie.

“Call me?” Eddie promised to do so, and as the ambulance pulled away Steve sighed. He’d really have to get over his fear of snakes.