Welcome to the first chapter of A Better, Place Part 3 -
This Part will be more heavy on fluff than the previous one, but remember : I still am a twisted fucker.
EDIT : This chapter has been edited and updated with the precious help of Lord of Hentai.
Chapter 1 : The Calm After the Storm
Saturday the 13th of April 2019
He blinked a few times before finding his consciousness. The light was bright, way too bright and it sent spikes of pain in his brain. The light stopped shining but the pain didn't get away. The fox heard a strange voice talking.
"He's waking up ! Get the doctor !"
The light started to spin and the fox fell back into torpor.
The fox blinked again and looked around him. He was lying down in what seemed to be a hospital bed. Around him were a few faces that he didn't recognize. There was a raccoon wearing a blouse, which seemed to be around fifty, a female fox that looked slightly around the same age, maybe a bit older, a little fox, that had to be her son, or maybe grandson. And to his right, the most magnificent creature he ever had the chance to lay his eyes upon. It was a grey bunny who was standing up thanks to a pair of crutches.
Something was wrong.
She was a bunny. He found her cute, pretty even, but how could he a fox find a bunny beautiful ? It defied all logic.
His eyes lingered back to the crutches. The fox wanted to ask her to sit, fearing that she could impair the healing of her leg.
"Hello sir, can you hear me ?"
"Yeah." The sound of his own voice sent spikes of pain into his brain. He felt like it was echoing in his bones.
"Can you follow the pen please ?" The doctor moved the pen up and down, right and left. The fox followed it easily. "Good, do you know what day it is ?" The fox concentrated. What day was it ? He knew that, it was easy.
"The 18th of January ? A Tuesday I think ?"
He saw the doctor lift a brow. "What year ?"
The fox blinked a few times. "No idea."
"It's not the 18th of January. It's Saturday the 13th of April 2019, don't worry, memory loss often happens after cranial trauma. My name is doctor Procyon, we met before."
"Cranial... What happened to me ?"
"You were shot in the head. Luckily it was shot at an angle that caused it to bounce off. So while it cracked the skull, we could find no direct sign of brain damage. But with this kind of wound, you can never be sure."
The fox made an effort to lift his paw and touched the place where the pain was the most present. It was bandaged and he didn't dare explore further. "How long was I out?"
"Six days. You should remember how you lost consciousness, or at least the event leading to it. We'll keep you in observation for a few days, in the meantime, please rest mister Wilde."
The fox lifted a brow. "Who ?"
"Mister Wilde. That's your name. You don't remember that ?"
"I don't remember... I don't remember anything. I don't remember my name. I mean... I'm sorry, I don't even know who those mammals are." He said, gesturing at the other people present.
He heard the bunny and female fox gasp, the little fox sighed.
"I'm Vivienne, I'm your mother."
"Are you sure ?" Asked bedridden fox. She answered with an expression of annoyed disbelief.
"You've dyed your fur grey, but I believe I could recognize my own fucking kit."
The fox lifted his paw "Alright, alright."
"I'm Finnick."
The little fox's deep voice surprised the grey fox but he didn't let it show.
"He's been your best friend for last twenty years." Explained the female fox who claimed to be his mother. "And we're dating. I don't want that to be a surprise."
The grey fox smiled. "Uhm, well I'm happy for you I guess. I mean you're happy together right ?"
The fennec fox smiled. "Very."
"Good. That's good. And you are ?" He asked the bunny. He didn't dare look at her in the eyes, and for two reasons. He knew he wouldn't be able to keep himself from blushing, bunnies shouldn't have the right to be that gorgeous. And the other reason was because she seemed so sad. He wasn't sure if he could keep himself together if he found himself meeting her gaze again.
He heard her take a deep breath.
...
When the fox had woken up, she wanted nothing more than to hug him, but the doctor had to examine him first. Nick seemed to be okay, though he didn't remember the right date, but as the doctor had explained, temporary memory loss were common with concussions.
What she hadn't expected however was that he wouldn't remember his own name, that he wouldn't remember his family, or that he wouldn't remember her.
He had forgotten her. She was a stranger to him. For some reason he was avoiding her gaze. She could still see the perfect loving fox she knew, but the simple fact that he had forgotten her, that he may have forgotten his feelings for her, was unbearable. She had to fight with all her strength to not crumble.
And suddenly, he had asked her who she was.
She took a deep breath and choked down the tears that threatened to spill.
"I'm Judy. I'm your- I'm." She slowly exhaled and felt Vivienne's encouraging paw on her shoulder. "I'm your mate." She saw Nick's jaw fall in surprise. In other circumstances, it would have been funny, but she felt her tears rising again.
"I'm sorry miss... Judy, was it ? I don't remember." He wanted to say that he didn't see how a fox and a bunny could be mates, but kept it to himself. He didn't want to seem rude, and something inside him hated the idea of hurting her.
Judy glanced at the bedridden fox and at the other in the room. "I'm sorry. I have to- I just-" She wanted to run away. At first, she had feared he wouldn't wake up, even though the doctor was very optimistic. But now that he had, he couldn't remember her. It was almost worse. She made a few steps and left the room, outside she rested her back on the wall, letting her tears flow out. It was too much.
The sound of a step on her right made her turn her head. It was Blackfur and Wolford. The wolf was in a civilian clothes. He was off-duty for the week because of the fire he had sustained but otherwise seemed perfectly fine. His cracked ribs were healing slowly. Seeing Judy cry, his smile fell.
"Judy, is everything alright ?"
The bunny didn't know what to answer. Physically her fox was fine but- But she was being stupid. The doctor had warned her before he woke up that he could suffer memory loss. She swallowed back the tears before answering.
"Yeah. A bit overwhelmed that's all." She answered just as doctor Procyon appeared from Nick's room. He glanced at the two newcomers and greeted them with a little nod before turning back to the bunny.
"You were really reckless. I looked at your X-rays and everything seems still fine, but I can't guarantee it really is. The only way to know for sure is to wait for the healing to be complete. I had warned you to not overdo it."
"I'm sorry doctor."
"Don't apologize. I trust there was a good reason why you used that leg. I need to go now. Nick needs calm, but I also think your presence will be beneficial. And knowing you he can only get one of the two." The doctor gave her an encouraging smile and a pat on the shoulder before leaving to meet other patients.
As the two newcomers entered his room, the fox was slightly startled. One of them was wearing a ZPD uniform and something in his mind said that it could mean trouble for him. But the panda wearing it was calm and kind, she didn't appear to be here to arrest him. The wolf in civilian clothes was nice too, and also a police officer. According to them, the fox was one too. Nick couldn't help but laugh at that, a fox officer, it didn't make any sense, but they were serious. The bunny was his partner on the force too, and he gave her a surprised glance.
First he had learnt she was his mate, and then that they were both police officers. He didn't know what kind of world he lived in but one thing was for sure, it didn't make any sense.
Tuesday the 9th of April 2019
This was a bad day for the chief. And he was sure of one thing, it would almost certainly turn into a bad week. It was now one day since Lycus group had been arrested and they had found Bellwether's corpse along with a bunch of others in an old amusement park on the outskirt of the city. One of the corpses was officer FitzAntler's and until earlier that morning, he had no idea what the hell she was doing there.
The other mammals they had found there, were Doug Ramses and the fox named Alexander Vulpes. The sheep was cooperative, but he unfortunately knew nothing, the kidnapping was a total surprise for him. The fox seemed to know more, and could have provided some intel, if most of what he said hadn't been gibberish. They had found him in a cell, but he was convinced to be the one running the operations. Medical analyses had determined the poor guy was under a large variety of drugs and a dig in the files given by the two mammals Judy had met revealed a medical record indicating heavy psychological troubles. So that witness was most likely useless too.
The other fox that could shed light on this business had been in a coma for two days and the ZIA had cut off communications, and had gone back to their old habits. The chief had talked to the mayor about the necessity of a more cooperative relationship between the two organizations. Maybe even a possible restructuring. But he had little hope it would bring any change. And so, he was condemned to make sense of all this on his own. Well, with the help of his officers, but still, it was a big twisted bundle of knots.
Earlier that morning he had received an unmarked package, and given the state of the precinct, he hadn't found the time to take care of it before noon. Slumping on his seat with a sigh, he opened it. Inside it, was an usb stick and a pink notebook. He had put the stick on the side and opened the notebook. What he read almost made him spit his coffee. He knew the lamb liked to hear herself talk, but he didn't know she liked to write her life down. This was a goldmine. Good thing he had put gloves on to touch it because if her hooves prints were found on it, this was the proof to end all proofs.
He had read it quickly, leaving aside the parts where she detailed how the predators were disgusting creatures that weren't even worth the lead in the bullets she wanted to use to shoot them all. The journal detailed every part of her plan. She had left notes for her accomplice in the Nighthowler case on how to pull her out of prison. It seemed she had anticipated roughly where and when she would be put behind bars. At least she was lucid enough to see that her first plan could fall apart. There was details on the amount of money she had paid upfront to different crime bosses, and mainly Vladimir Zimovitch, to pull off her escape. She had been lucky that the wolf didn't give a shit about her goals and that he didn't leave her rot in her cell. He had even lent her three of his best mammals, a lion, a panther and a wolf.
At that, the buffalo had gritted his teeth, he knew the guys had no principles, but helping someone like Bellwether was a new low.
The notebook also mentioned a hacker and an ocelot mechanic, but like all predators that worked for her, she didn't trust them.
He also found one of the few things he suspected. Her plan was to use mainly predators and have them conduct terrorist actions in the name of predators to instill hate toward them. Later in her notebook, was the mention of how they found Alexander. As one of the three mammals that Vlad had lent were conducting the recruitment, they had stumbled upon him in a squat. They had found fun how much he looked like Nicholas Wilde and that was why they had brought him to the lamb. The chief looked at the date. 3rd of february 2019. It seemed the idea of using him came after the first attack, but she was already set on focusing her effort on the fox population. It also explained why no video was released for the first attacks.
The rest of the notebook was pretty straightforward. Details of her plans, evil gloating on how the authorities were so stupid, details of the other future plans to seize back power, more evil gloating about how she would make mayor Swinton pay for her leniency toward predators.
Her plan was crazy, convoluted, and the worst part was that without Nick, chances were, it would have succeeded.
The chief put the notebook in a sealed plastic bag and put it on the side. He then plugged the USB stick to his computer. The standard procedure should have been to send it to the forensic to have it analyzed, a peripheral coming from an unknown source could be dangerous. But the chief knew by now that it came from the ZIA, and bet that they wouldn't put a virus on an USB stick to fuck with his computer for shit and giggles.
The thing contained two audio files, one short and one long. The buffalo put on his headphones and listened to the longer one first. It was the entirety of Nick's wire feed on the day of Bellwether's death. There was enough proof to send the foxes that were with him during Doug's kidnapping in jail for a long time. At one point, the audio was abruptly cut, it was just after they had reached the place where Doug was to be taken by another team. He rewinded the feed and listened again. He was sure of it, there was a cut there, but he couldn't define if it was because Nick had closed the microphone or because the ZIA had cut the record. In any case, what followed was Nick in a van with a younger fox going to find out who or what was Lycus. The chief guessed the younger fox was the one they had found dead at the amusement park.
When he heard the gunfight with FitzAntlers, all blood left his face. Reading about his officer's betrayal was one thing, but witnessing it and hearing what she had cause was another. And then, there was the long discussion between Nick who played dumb and the lamb revealing all her plan. It explained how Lycus' group had discovered the witness protection car itinerary. He hadn't shared his concern for this earlier, it could have warned the mole that he was onto them. Well, now the mole was dead, good riddance. A new firefight ensued. In the end he put together the three way standoff. The hate he heard coming from Nick surprised him, but it was understandable. After the final gunfight, the audio continued rolling for a bit.
"You dumb fox. Why did you have to do that ?" A few light step noises. "Just as scratch. Gotta search this place and call for the paramedic. Let me just-" The was a strange scratching sound and the audio feed ended.
The puzzle fell back in place. The lamb hadn't been killed in the same firefight her henchmen had fallen. Nick had shot her in cold blood. Well maybe not cold, since she was armed, but he would have shot her anyway. It only shed a new light on the report from ballistic.
The chief launched the second audio record. It was only the discussion between Nick and the lamb, but cut short just after the first firefight.
The chief sighed. This was problematic. Though the lamb was armed, Nick hadn't shot her to defend himself. Then again, the buffalo preferred to know Bellwether would not be a threat anymore that being at the paws of the ZIA. Maybe it was even a better fate for her to be dead. Sure she still could have agents around, but without the head, the snake couldn't do much harm. The good news was that after the proof would be released to the public, every predator that supported Lycus were sure to do their best to be forgotten. No one wanted to be the fall guy.
But releasing the evidence would put Nick in a tight spot. The chief couldn't really say he had done the right thing, shooting a mammal, albeit one that didn't really deserve any pity. And he couldn't be sure he wouldn't be blamed for his decision by the public. The shorter feed made no mention of Nick being Frank. It was just one nosy fox being there by coincidence, and being lucky enough to gun down five armed mammals on his own. And both records mentioned FitzAntlers' betrayal.
Technically, Nick was still under the protection of the 'licence to kill' when he had shot the lamb.
The chief gave a dark chuckle and made a decision he never thought he would ever do.
He clicked on the longer audio recording and pushed the 'delete' key.
Only the short version would see the light of day.
Sometimes, the right thing to do was wrong on all sorts of levels.
But he didn't care.
Thursday the 11th of April 2019
What the chief did care about however was the well-being of his officers and the city's state. There had been wounded mammals during the multiple arrests, but no casualties among the ZPD. A few officers had needed a trip to the hospital, including Wolford, but it was a light wound. Only cracked ribs, and though still in sick leave, he was already out. There were two mammals that worried him though.
The first was Nicholas Wilde. He was still unconscious after having been shot in the head. Said like that, it sounded ominous, but the bullet had bounced off the side of the skull, only resulting in a concussion and a small crack. He had been unconscious for five days now, but the doctors were confident that he would wake back up.
The other one he was worried about was Benjamin Clawhauser. The feline had done his job perfectly, shooting the van he was supposed to immobilize, but during the shootout, he had had to take down one of the attacker which was about to open fire on his colleagues. It had resulted in a deadly headshot.
Sadly, the pudgy cat wasn't build for the field, the chief had been worried when he had accepted to deploy him as a sniper, and his fears had played out. He had ordered the feline to stay home until he got better, putting him on sick leave for as long as he needed.
Usually, the chief wouldn't be worried, Clawhauser had a tendency to quickly bounce back from his bouts of morosity. But this was way more serious than a missed concert or a bad break up. He had actually shot dead another mammal. And though it was his duty to protect his colleagues and stop criminals, the chief knew enough about the cat that he would spend at least a few days down the gutter.
A few days, right. The chief gave another dark chuckle. The cat was a deeply kind mammal and practically a pacifist. Would he be able to come back from that ? At least, since Wolford spent most of his time at home, there was someone there with the cat to keep him company, and report on his condition in case it got worse.
But still, he could help being worried. Looking down as his hoof, he saw it was trembling slightly. He frowned and closed his fist, pushing back those dark feelings.
Those were personal matters more than professionals, and the chief had other things to think about. For instance, he had already made public the cut audio footage and most mammals in the city were already wondering how a fox could have stumbled upon Bellwether's schemes and dispatched the attackers. Some speculated that he hadn't been alone and words had begun to spread about how things had played out.
The official version was that a fox of unknown identity had been suspicious of the activity of his employer, namely Lycus, and intending to find out what exactly was going on, had uncovered that the foxes were used by Bellwether that had been falsely kidnapped. The authorities had revealed that Alexander Vulpes was in fact the drugged victim of things he couldn't even understand, and the foxes that had been captured and questioned were, for most of them, going to spend time in jail.
The chief thought that it would result in a bit of unrest, but for once, the citizen of the city had impressed him. In an overall positive reaction, group support were created for the victims, and even some rallying for leniency toward some of the manipulated criminals.
Mayor Swinton didn't hesitate to use it, unveiling ahead of schedule her plans to put in place a better rehabilitation programs for ex-convicts, and several education reforms give a better access to education to the poorest citizens of the city.
He couldn't decide if it was only a political move or a genuine one. Good politicians could conciliate both and the swine had proven to be a formidable one.
In any case, the future was looking brighter than he could have imagined only a week prior. He only hoped that his officers would recover soon, and not only for the good of the city.