Chapter Text
The phone rang; it was the low inoffensive bleating of an office line, meant to attract attention instead of demanding it. A hoofed hand lazily reached over and turned on the speakerphone. “Yes, Ms. Muston?”
The squeaky, timid voice of Jackie Muston, the front desk secretary, sounded over the speaker. “Your two ‘o’clock with the Paws’n’Claws Organization is here, Mayor Swinton. Also, your three ‘o’clock canceled.”
“Understood. Thank you,” Swinton drawled, knocking back the last finger in her Lalique lowball tumbler. “Send them up, please.”
Swinton sighed and lolled her head back, staring up at the ceiling, getting into character. There was a knock on the door and she smiled winsomely. “Come in!”
A small parade of representatives, Predators all, filed into her office and sat down across from her. “Welcome! Rachel! How’s the family?”
“Good, good,” Rachel said, smiling. “My son really appreciates the letter of recommendation you gave Springbok University on his behalf.”
Swinton laughed and shook her head. “Think nothing of it! I’m just glad he has the opportunity to put his talents to use! Now, let’s get down to business. How much?”
The assembled managers of the charity exchanged nervous glances, after some quiet prodding, Rachel reluctantly spoke up. “Eight million dollars. It’ll cost at least that much to buy the old Aardvard school building, and then at least two more to renovate and bring it up to code. Leasing is not an option, we’ve spoken with assessor, but he’s unwilling to put the lot up for it.”
A tiger by the name of Bahga spoke up, “Despite the cost, it’s the cheapest option. The current institute building is barely up to code, and we’re really tight for space since the Wary Wooly Warriors torched the second wing.”
“Allegedly,” Swinton said, before shaking her head. “Can you raise the money?”
“If given enough time, yes. We’ve already raised five million through drives and donations,” Rachel said. “But between expenses and the upcoming review by the safety board, we could be evicted from the old building by the end of the month.”
“So you came to me for…” Swinton leaned forward on her desk, her eyes narrowing as her smile widened, “…what, exactly?”
Rachel marshaled her courage and rose to her feet. “W-we would like to arrange for a sizable donation to your upcoming campaign in exchange for a six month delay on the safety inspection. Five hundred thousand dollars.”
Swinton’s smile dropped and she leaned back in her chair. “The safety board is not within my purview, they’re a federal institution whose budget is beyond my ability to control. I’m sorry, but this is out of my jurisdiction.”
“B-but!” Rachel began to say.Swinton raised her hand and silenced her. “How about this, instead? I pull some strings and arrange for the Aardvard school building to go up for lease. For a small down payment, say, five hundred thousand dollars, I could see to it that your organization can move onto the grounds post-haste. From there, it’s up to you to renovate the place as you see fit.”
Rachel beamed and lunged forward, taking Swinton’s hoof in her paws. “Oh! Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you! You’ve done well by a lot of kids, Mayor Swinton!”
Swinton smiled warmly and patted the back of her paw. “Think nothing of it! What with the size and, more importantly, location of the Aardvard building, you could brighten the future of hundreds of kids who otherwise would have been pressured into a life of crime! It’s my civic duty as mayor to do everything in my power to help!”
“If there’s anything you need, Mayor Swinton, all you need do is ask,” Rachel said, her eyes brimming with happy tears.
Swinton cleared her throat and rose to her feet. “Well…now that you mention it…this action I’m taking, well, it cuts through a lot of red tape. In addition to your down payment, I’m afraid I may have to ask the occasional favor from time to time.”
“What kind of favor?” Mr. Bahga asked, cautiously.
“Oh, nothing too serious! Some extra paws and mouths during elections, the odd job here and there. Nothing the kids can’t handle.” Swinton chuckled, glancing aside. “Nothing most of them haven’t already done before.”
“The children?” Mr. Bahga exclaimed. “Uh, Mayor Swinton, if it’s all the same to you, I’d prefer the children be kept out of this.”
“Would you?” Swinton said, her eyes cold and set above a warm smile. “What else would you prefer them to be kept out of?”
Mr. Bahga scowled and prepared to speak when Rachel stepped in, her expression desperate. “Nothing, Mayor Swinton! Mr. Bahga just spoke without thinking! We can’t have the kids expecting something for nothing, can we, Klaus?”
Mr. Bahga quailed as Rachel and the others glowered at him. He shook his head and sat back down. Swinton laughed and clapped her hands. “Wonderful! I’ll see to it that a lease is written up in your name. You should be cleared to move in by the end of the week! Maybe you can have the kids learn a thing or two from the contractors as they work on the restoration. A valuable skill! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a three ‘o’clock to prepare for.”
The group nodded and rose to their feet, each extending their various thanks and appreciation towards her, save for Mr. Bahga, who simply followed the line out the door.
Swinton’s smile vanished as soon as the door slammed shut. She planted herself back down into the seat and poured herself a glass of scotch, plunking two ice cubes into it. “Something for nothing. That’s always the way with these people, isn’t it?”
She sipped her scotch and snorted, glancing aside. “Interesting, isn’t it? Some people you have to reward, some people you have to threaten, but at the end of the day it’s their own convictions that keep them under control. They live for those children, they’d do anything to keep them off the streets and out of the wrong paws.” Swinton examined her hoof, smirking lightly. “Or the wrong hooves. I’ll have to take this slow, let them feel safe, secure, and comfortable. And just when those precious little children finally have something valuable enough to lose, I ask for my favor. Down town, on skid row, I have my thumbs in a lot of different pies. A few hundred local kids, born and raised in the slums, would get my various products where they need to go in a discreet, unnoticeable manner. Something for nothing. Brilliant, don’t you think?” Swinton scoffed and flicked her hair out of her eyes. “I’d like to see Wilde shut this one down. Not even he is heartless enough to gun for a charity. And if he is, I’ll see to it that the media crucify him for it.”
Swinton took another swig and sniffed disinterestedly. “Wilde? A dye-in-the-wool bastard if ever there was one. Worst part about him is that he’d be damn near my best friend if he’d just play ball. He knows how the game works, knows it like his own tail, but he’s got a dead bunny on his back keeping him on the straight and narrow. Funny how something like a friend or an enemy is decided by want of a nail.”
She leaned forward and pulled up a file, inside was the graduation confirmation and transfer papers of one July Hopps, a wicked smiled pulled at the corners of Swinton’s mouth. “Ah, now, that’s interesting. When the rabbit screams, the fox comes a’runnin’…run foxy, run.” Swinton laughed and set her glass down, shooting to her feet. “So, how about you stick around for a while, watch me play the game and show you how Zootopia really works? You just might learn something. Come along, then.”