Chapter Text
This was a low for Bucky. An embarrassment. He didn’t want to be here, but court orders were orders. That’s what he got for joyriding his dad’s car, he supposed. Though better here than prison.
Still, court mandated community service wasn’t a pretty look. Especially because he had to wear this stupid fucking vest for everyone to see. It was bright orange with ‘COMMUNITY PAYBACK’ written in bold letters on the back.
At least he got to wear his own clothes underneath.
He grumbled a goodbye to his mother as she dropped him off at the government building, trudging to the front door as she hastily drove away, probably embarrassed to be seen with him.
He entered the building and paused, sniffing the air. There was a... musk, he couldn’t quite describe. It was a hodge-podge of smells, almost like a zoo, but more enticing.
“Can I help you?” someone called.
Bucky turned to the front desk, then sighed and approached.
“I’m here for community service?” he said.
There was a clacking as the woman at the desk typed something into the computer. “Name?” she asked.
“James Barnes”
More typing. “Ah, yes, I have you right here. You’re late”
“There was traffic”
“Uh-huh. I’ll page your supervisor, they’ll get you started” she said, then wheeled her chair to another desk, grabbed something, and returned. She held it out for Bucky. “You’re service pass” she said.
He took it, a small card attached to a lanyard. He hung it around his neck, then looked down at the card. It had a barcode, and bold letter saying “SERVICE WORKER’.
Bucky fidgeted at the desk, waiting around while the receptionist ignored him. After a few minutes of sweating it out, a man came up to the desk.
“You paged?” he asked in an irritated voice.
“Your community service charge is here”
The man looked Bucky up and down. “You’re late”
“Traffic”
He grunted. “Name’s Brock”
“Bucky”
“Come on, I’ll show you to your station” he said, motioning for Bucky to follow as he turned and walked.
Bucky followed behind, looking around.
“You ever worked around alphas before?” Brock asked.
“Never met one”
Brock laughed. “Ha! They sent in a newbie. This’ll be fun. Oh, I should ask: you’re on heat suppression, right?”
“Uh, yeah?” Bucky said. That was a stupid question- everyone was on suppressors. Males couldn’t get pregnant, so it only served as a nasal nuisance when they went into heat; and females didn’t necessarily need to be in heat to get pregnant, so what was the point? Plus, people had to call in from work or school if they where on their cycle, and that was money lost.
Of course, there were those who chose to go into heats. Sex-crazed addicts, fetishists, prostitutes. The real freaks. Bucky’s mind boggled at the thought. When he’d hit puberty and went into his first and only heat, it had been hellish. He’d burned through tissue boxes and soiled every pair of underwear he owned. It had been just shy of embarrassing as his current predicament.
“Good” Brock grunted. “Heat around alphas is a powder-keg of trouble”
Brock led him to a security point, where they walked through a metal detector. Then to a secured door, a window with a guard on the other side. Brock lifted up a badge hanging from a lanyard around his neck, as did Bucky. They got a nod from the guard who buzzed them in, unlocking the door.
They went through two more doors like that.
“Lot of security” Bucky noted.
“Well we don’t want any getting out, huh?”
“I guess”
Bucky paused past the final door, struck by the smells in the air. When Brock noticed he wasn’t right behind him, he turned with an irritated look, which then morphed to amusement.
“Like a barnyard, but without the shit” he grinned. “Alphas smell. Get used to it, kid”
Bucky made a face, but continued following Brock down a hallway. They made some turns, and then eventually got to a large industrial kitchen, people bustling around cooking at various stations. Bucky spied a few other ‘COMMUNITY PAYBACK’ vests in the mix, and felt some relief that he wasn’t the only one.
“Casey!” Brock called. “Got a late arrival”
A woman came up, looking frazzled and annoyed. She barely paid Bucky a glance, instead focusing on Brock. “All my slots are full- there’s too many as it is!”
“Make room”
“I already made room. I’ve got thirty people doing the job of fifteen as it is. Find somewhere else!” she snapped, waving a spatula in Brock’s face.
“You said you needed more people!”
“Yeah, last month. You can’t funnel all the delinquents into my fucking kitchen!”
“Too bad. Cleaning is already full, and we don’t let community servers work with the kids. Make it happen!”
Casey visibly worked her jaw, angered. She looked into the kitchen at all the people, then back at Brock. “There is one position he can take” she said.
“Great, you can-”
“Nuh-uh. You’re on the hook for this one. We need someone to bring breakfast to the wild-caughts”
Brock rubbed his eyes, groaning. “Are you fucking serious?”
“It’s that or nothing” she said stubbornly.
“Fine” Brock said irritably. Casey nodded, then returned to her work.
“Uh, so what am I doing?” Bucky asked.
Brock sighed. “Most of our alphas are surrendered when they’re tested as kids. They’re taught to behave and are used to this place, ‘cause it’s all they’ve ever known. But some people raise them to adulthood out beyond the city. You’ve probably heard of cases like that”
Bucky nodded. He’d seen some raids on the news. Feral alphas without government oversight, roaming freely. He’d heard horror stories about it, of the dangers.
“When an adult like that is discovered, they come here, and they aren’t too happy about it. We have to segregate them from the rest of the population, isolate them and shit. Lucky you, you get to bring them their meals”
Bucky’s shoulders sagged in dread. So not only would he be working around alphas, but feral alphas. Great.
While they’d been talking, Casey had gone and retrieved a cart. On it were piles of covered trays of food. “Here” she said, pushing the cart to Bucky. “Take these to the wild-caughts, and don’t come back until they’ve all eaten and returned their trays”
“Go on, kid” Brock said, motioning for Bucky to take the charge of the cart. He did so, and then followed Brock back out into the hallway while pushing the meal cart.
They walked to a different section of the building, passing other workers as they went about their day. They went through another security checkpoint, but Brock paused. “Hey Sal, you got a spare zapper on you?” he asked the guard.
“What for?”
“Newbie here. He’s feeding the animals today”
The guard let out an ugly laugh, then opened a drawer and pulled out a little device, no bigger than a USB stick. He slid it through the tiny slot in the windowed separator, and Brock took it, then handed it to Bucky. “Here” he said.
Bucky took it hesitantly, inspecting it. It was a smooth black device with a thumb-switch on it. “What is it?”
“You’ll see” Brock grinned, then led them on.
Bucky tucked the device into his pocket and followed along.
Then they were entering a more dimly lit hallway, and Brock paused.
“So this is the wild alpha section” he warned seriously. “Behind each of these doors is a wild-caught alpha. The front walls and doors are three-inch thick plexiglass, so you’ll be safe. There’s cameras aimed all up and down the hallway and are monitored, so if anything happens, guards will come. And if you feel threatened at all, don’t be afraid to use this,” Brock said, then pulled out a device similar to the one Bucky had gotten.
“What’s it do?” he asked again.
“Zap’s ‘em” Brock grinned. “Here, I’ll show you. Come on”
He walked Bucky up to a glass wall, behind which looked like a prison cell. The glass had small holes in it at head-height, small enough that you couldn’t even fit a finger through, but enough to allow air flow. Inside there was a cot, an open toilet and sink, and a pile of books.
Also inside was a man reclining on the cot and reading a book, looking inconspicuous enough if not for his beige jumpsuit. His feet were in equally beige slippers, a white shirt peeking out of his collar beneath the jumpsuit. Around his neck was a tight-fitting collar.
Without warning, Brock aimed the little device into the cell and pressed the button.
Immediately the man seized, shouting as his muscles went taut. He dropped the book and shivered on the thin mattress.
Then Brock let go of the button, and the man went limp.
“Wha’ the fuck?!” the man inside slurred. “I’s on good b‘haviour”
“Just testing the zapper” Brock laughed, waggling the device. He turned to Bucky. “They’ve all got shock collars on, so just point and aim, and they’ll drop like a sack of bricks”
“Oh” Bucky said, feeling a little bad for the alpha in the cell. The device held a new meaning now, burning a hole in his pocket- though admittedly, he felt a little better for having it with him.
“Anyway, here’s how you feed ‘em” Brock went on, leading Bucky to the door. “The bottom opens up like this” he said, leaning down and unlatching a small opening at the bottom of the door. It slid open, barely a foot wide and half a foot tall. “You slide the tray in, then close the hatch. Do that for all the cells. Then wait for them to finish their food. They ought to leave the empty tray for you near the hatch, so just collect them and take them back to the kitchen”
“Wait, you’re not gonna stay?” Bucky asked nervously.
“I got other things to do”
“Well how long do I gotta wait?”
“Until they all finish. If they ain’t cooperating, zap ‘em”
“What?!”
“Relax kid, it’s easy” Brock assured. “We’ve got safety measures in place- you’ll be fine”
And with that, Brock left, leaving Bucky floundering and alone in a hallway full of feral alphas.
“Fuck me” Bucky swore, then turned and looked down the long hallway. There had to be at least sixty cells here, thirty on each side. He looked up and saw evenly placed cameras on the walls, trying to take comfort knowing someone was watching out for him.
He then looked back at the cart, piled high with trays of food. He was really coming to regret joyriding his dad’s prized Ferrari.
Regretting quite a lot.