A/N: If you like this fic, you may enjoy my other Zootopia story, The Meek.
Bump!
The truck jolted upwards. Another rock on the rustic road. It had jolted him out of his thoughts.
He rehearsed the monologue in his head again.
Hi Judy. I just want to say I'm sorry for the way I behaved in my youth. I had a lot of self-doubt, and it manifested itself as aggression. I was a major jerk.
He still had time to work on it. That is what he had been doing the whole ride.
He was not eager for the meeting. Mr. Hopps had sounded eager on the phone. He did not expect hostility...but all he could feel was shame and anxiety.
The Carrots Day incident had been the climax of his bully life. His father had given him the spanking of a life time for striking a smaller mammal. He had not looked Judy Hopps or any of his former victims in the eye since. From that day forward he had mellowed out, grown apart from Travis, and engaged in a lot of self-reflection.
Bump!
His father had been the one to give him this second chance at life. He had inherited the business from Gideon Grey Senior. He even kept the pink color scheme of the truck and aprons he detested, in his memory. He had never liked to cook as a kid, but his grades were rotten. He had been held back twice. It was the only thing he was good at. And it spared him a lifetime career at Chez Cheese.
Hey Judy. I would just like to apologize for the way I behaved in my youth. I had a lot of self-doubt and it manifested itself as rage and aggression. I was a major jerk.
But he had more reason than just guilt and reform to hang his head. Aside from Judy's success at the impossible, the world had turned upside down. This was no longer a predator's world.
Much had changed in the last 15 years. A bunny cop. A sheep Assistant Mayor...just 'Mayor' now. A few weeks ago, he might have called it 'equality.' But the Predator Attacks had pushed it well past that. Poignantly and ironically, it was Judy who had cracked that case, from what he read in the headlines.
He remembered what he had said to Judy, word for word, on Carrots Day. What a fool he would have sounded like now. The same thing that made him feel mighty when he was down: his ancestors, the terrible and majestic overlords of the wild, was what made him evil to those he had never met. They were two sides of the same coin.
He had always been treated with suspicion as a vulpine, but nothing compared to this.
He had once used his predator heritage to numb the pain of being born a fox. Now those two aspects of his blood compounded the hurt.
"That killer instinct is still in our d'nah."
Mammals like him had paved the way for this day.
He tried again to formulate his apology.
Hey Judy, I would just like to apologize for the way I behaved in my youth. I had a lot of self-doubt and it manifested as unchecked rage and aggression. I was a major jerk.
And now he saw it ahead, the stand. He could identify Judy immediately. Pink flannel. Straw hat. All grown up. There standing next to her parents. His breathing nearly halted. Becoming mechanical, trying not to overthink, he slowed to a stop and put the truck in park.
His belly was tight. His veins tingled with anticipation.
He opened the door and exited the truck into the open air, trying to keep his eyes forward and mind focused on why he had originally come here: the pie delivery. How would Judy react to him? It did not matter. His speech would be the same either way, he thought as he walked to the back of the truck.
He opened the back-door. He took one of the pie trays and-
"Gideon Grey."
His insides froze at the soft female voice.
He turned his head.
"I'll be darned," she said simply.
Judy Hopps.
So far, so good, but-
"Hey, Judy. I-I'd just like to say I'm sorry for the way I-I-I behaved in my youth." He fidgeted wildly as he spoke, but took some comfort that he was already half way done. "I-I had a lot of self doubt and it manifested itself in the form of unchecked rage and aggression. I was a major jerk."
Done. He immediately tried to read her face.
It was...humble. Sympathetic. For the first time since the phone call, Gideon felt relief. A tremendous relief.
"Well...I know a thing or two about being a jerk," the bunny replied with a small shrug and sad half smile.
What did she mean?
Eitherway, he was now eager to change the subject. He quickly turned and retrieved the tray.
"Anyhow, I brought y'all these pies."
As he turned back, it was a pleasant surprise to see a sober smile on all three of their faces.