Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps were busy enjoying the crisp cool air of the park, a cup of coffee in Nick's grasp while Judy had a bottle of water to quench her thirst. Winter was fast approaching, and the pair could feel it in the air. While Zootopia had plenty of ways to regulate its ambient temperature, one can only struggle for so long against Mother Nature herself. The Tundratown cooling systems had a majority of their power re-routed to the heating systems of Sahara Square for efficiency. However, Downtown Zootopia was a section of the city developed to be exposed to the elements. After all, it had many houses and apartments, all of which had heating should the animals get cold and vice versa.
Winter in Zootopia was an interesting change, one that Nick welcomed. Having lived in the city his whole life, Nick found himself drawn to areas such as Tundratown. He enjoyed the cooler climate; however Judy wasn't too fond of it. Being a country bunny, not to mention a farming country bunny at that, Judy was used to the cold weather; she simply saw it as a bit of an annoyance.
"So, do you think it's gonna rain later?" Judy asked Nick casually as she admired the park bench they sat upon.
Nick looked up at the sky, and while it seemed a little cloudy, he could see huge grey clouds in the distance, the wind also seemed to be bringing them closer as well. "Yes, I 'think' it will. In exactly the same way I 'think' that the sun will come up tomorrow morning."
Judy rolled her eyes. "I didn't mean it like that and you know it. Anyways, shouldn't we be getting to roll call? It's already-"
"I'm aware of the time Carrots," Nick interrupted. "The station is literally, forty paces behind us. Well, maybe sixty or so for you but- hrnk!" Nick fumbled with his coffee and tightened his grip on it as a tiny yet forceful fist made quite the impact with his upper arm. He quickly put down his cup and using his paw, rubbed the affected area forcefully. "Yowch Carrots! Take it easy!"
Judy giggled, content with the result. "You were asking for it."
Nick whimpered as he shook out his arm. "Go a little easier next time then, please?"
Judy rolled her eyes as she smirked. "Wimp."
Judy and Nick had spent three months working together in the ZPD. After their work on the Night Howler case, Judy had been given plenty of detective work to keep her occupied while Nick spent six months at the academy. When he came out he was immediately assigned to Judy as her partner, and the pair had been solving cases ever since.
However, since then the fox and rabbit hadn't had much to do. The city was pretty quiet outside of the occasional domestic abuse call, for Nick and Judy anyways. Most days were spent patrolling in their cruiser or putting tickets on cars. Judy had proven to be quite an effective meter maid, a mistake she had made when she was first assigned the role.
Her effective methods were seen as a potential for a little extra funding, after all, her two hundred and fifty odd tickets on her first day created a total bill just shy of ten thousand dollars. She didn't like the job and she certainly wasn't thanked for it, but it paid the bills and city hall was so thankful they decided the ZPD could use a slightly larger budget.
Nick downed the rest of his coffee and stood up. "Come on. Let's get going, and hope we have something interesting to do. I'm getting a little tired of patrols."
Judy nodded and got up, hopping down from the bench and walking with the fox to the station. She had never quite gotten used to the sheer size of the building. It was almost bigger than Town Hall, to be honest, and seemed to always have someone going in or out. They passed Clawhauser at the front desk who gave them a wave which they returned with a smile. Benjamin Clawhauser was an individual who perfectly illustrated the idiom of 'don't judge a book by its cover'.
He had literally described himself in the past as a 'stereotypical, flabby, donut loving cop', which, while true, did not mean he was bad at his job. When he wasn't chatting away to anyone who would listen, he was a brilliant dispatcher. He had an incredible memory, and despite everything, could be very serious when required.
The two entered the noisy briefing room and as they took their usual place in their shared seat, Nick sighed. "Two dollars says we get given parking duty again."
Judy looked up at the fox and grinned. "Five."
Nick chuckled quietly. "Some little bunny is confident."
"Don't make me hit you again. And I've got a good feeling about today. Something'll come up just you wait and see."
Nick smiled. "Alright, Carrots, five dollars. You're on."
Almost on cue a certain cape buffalo came in through the door and took his place at the pedestal. Chief Bogo looked out over the crowd of officers, looking somehow a little more serious than usual, a feat that was certainly impressive by Nick and Judy's standards. "Everyone settle down." The room quietened with surprising haste when they heard Bogo's voice. He was angry, and while he didn't quite show it which everyone in the room was thankful for, his tone of voice was enough to put the officers on edge.
At first everything seemed normal, well, as normal as things possibly could be. Roll call was taken and assignments were given out. However two things happened that were out of the ordinary. One was that Chief Bogo passed out the assignments himself while everyone else remained seated. The other was the fact that Nick and Judy had not been given anything when Bogo returned to his podium. Nick smirked; he was fairly content that the five bucks was his.
"Now, before you all go, there is an important issue I would like to address," Bogo began. The room was so quiet Judy could have sworn everyone had just stopped breathing. "Many of you will know officer Orion Valentine, he is or should I rather say 'was' one of our finest officers both at his desk and out in the city."
To be perfectly honest, Judy had only heard the name in passing and until a picture was put up, didn't even begin to know what the arctic wolf looked like. Nick on the other paw had seen him often. Nick had in his first few weeks, found break times quite boring and lengthy; and so, he had set up a little card club in one of the break rooms. Many individuals came along during their break to play poker and other games; Orion was one of those individuals. There was no gambling, the event was just a fun little contest of luck and wits, one that Orion regularly won. Nick had been impressed with the guy and they had shared many a coffee over a quick game or two. However, Nick had not seen him for several days; he had simply assumed the wolf was sick.
"Officer Valentine has been absent from his duties the past few days. He has given no explanation and supposedly, has gone missing."
A few heads turned and a hushed whispering broke out among the crowd before Bogo stopped it by continuing. "I say supposedly because we have had various reports stating that he's gone rogue."
The hushed whispers became full on spoken conversations as heads turned left and right. It took Bogo a little bit effort to calm everyone down but eventually he was able to continue. "We hear he has been taking bribes, aiding criminals and even going so far as to distribute narcotics around town. A warrant has been issued for his immediate arrest, if you see him you know what to do, dismissed."
As Judy and Nick made to get up Bogo quickly pointed at them. "Not you two." The pair audibly gulped as the rest of the officers filed out to perform their duties. When it was just them and the chief left, he pulled out another folder. "While everyone else is keeping an eye out, you two will physically track him down. You two will be in charge of his arrest, interrogation, and eventual incarceration," he said dumping the case file down on the desk in front of them with a loud bang. "We can't have an officer running about besmirching the ZPD, I'm sure you two will be able to find him, dismissed." And with that, he walked out, leaving the partners with their work.
"A rogue cop? And I thought this 'wasn't' going to be like in the movies," Nick said with a smirk.
Judy frowned as she opened the large case file. "There's a ton in here. What should we even start with?"
Nick paused for a minute. "He's got a place in Tundratown, wife and pups too. Maybe we should go ask them what they know."
Judy looked at Nick with a puzzled expression. "How'd you know that?"
"He told me, is there an address in there?" Nick said as he leaned over to get a better view.
Judy flicked through the papers before finding his ZPD system ID. "Here, 23 Glacial Avenue."
Nick laughed as he looked at the file. "Wow, he's older than he looks. I would have guessed late twenties early thirties like me."
Judy rolled her eyes and looked at the file some more. "We're looking for one Diana Valentine; she must be feeling pretty bad about all this. I can hardly imagine."
Nick nodded. "Yeah, not to mention the pups; it must be pretty hard on all of them right now. So is this our first stop?"
Judy nodded and with that, the duo closed up the case file and put it away safely before taking a police cruiser over to Tundratown. Nick sighed as he went through the radio stations before eventually turning the whole thing off. "Why is there never anything good on?"
Judy shrugged. "Because the radio will beat a song to death with sticks until they play anything new."
Nick waved a paw. "Why does it have to be new? Why can't they play some Fleetwood Yak or, or The Beagles? What's wrong with those?"
Judy giggled. "I didn't know you had such old tastes. I don't mind what's on nowadays, but something like Guns 'n Rodents would be nice once in a while."
Nick simply chuckled. "Yeah it would. Here's your five bucks by the way," he said with a frown as he dumped a banknote in one of the empty cup holders. "While we're on the subject, motive. What do you think?"
Judy paused for a minute, "All I can see from the case file is money right now. What other motive could he possibly have?"
Nick shrugged "Well, let's try and take that further. He's never complained about money before, so why would he need some fast cash? Could be an old debt or maybe he's got a gambling problem or something."
Judy's expression hardened as they entered the tunnel to Tundratown. "That's still no excuse to do what he's doing. Our salaries are okay."
Nick simply laughed. "They certainly are just that." The partners sat in silence for the rest of the journey, simply enjoying the beautiful scenery. In Nick's personal opinion, Tundratown was the prettiest part of the city. The snow was always so crisp and white and was never really an obstruction either. The sun could shine and yet the snow would not melt, and instead gleamed in the light.
Judy wasn't the biggest fan of snow and cold, but she did enjoy the sheer beauty of the district. It was always nice to get a patrol here, where you could sit in a nice warm car and admire the scenery while keeping watch.
Nick gave Judy directions to the designated house and they soon pulled up outside. Nick had to admit, Orion was quite well off. The house was a big two story building, with plenty of rooms by the looks of things. They hopped out of the cruiser and walked up to the front door. "Do you have to always keep the heater on in there? It makes it so much worse when you get out into the cold," said Judy as she rubbed her paws together.
Nick knocked on the doors and leaned down to her eye level and smirked. "Wimp."
Judy paused and smirked. "Oh, you're gonna pay for that one Wilde."
Nick laughed quietly. "Still can't take a joke Carrots?" he said crossing his arms.
Judy was about to punch him again when the front door opened and a young female wolf answered the door, looking a little tired and stressed. As she took in their appearance she sighed. "Good morning officers. Is this about 'rion?"
Judy usually enjoyed taking charge in situations like this, and Nick knew it, so he simply smiled as Judy rattled off a quick sentence. "Good morning Mrs Valentine, yes we just have a few questions to ask you. May we come in?"
She nodded and opened the door further, holding up an arm. "Please. Try and keep it down though, if the kids hear anything they'll race down and pester us, mark my words," she said with a bit of a smile. They muttered their thanks as they came in and shook the snow from their fur out the door before shutting it quietly and following Diana into what appeared to be a kitchen. She sat down at a small table before gesturing for them to do the same. "Well, ask away and I'll answer as best I can."
Nick smiled and looked to Judy. Judy usually did all the talking and questioning and Nick didn't really mind. "So, have you seen Mr. Valentine lately?" she asked as she brought up a notepad and pen.
"Well, it's been about a week; I haven't seen him but he called last night. He didn't sound too happy, not angry or anything but…Upset," she said with a sigh. "I hope he's okay."
Judy blinked as she flipped the page and continued. "Did he tell you anything before he left?"
Diana paused for a second before she nodded. "He said he was in a spot of trouble and that he'd have to go away for a little while, and that we might be a bit strapped for money soon. I've seen our account and I've seen the statements and it's much smaller than I remember," she said with a sigh. "I trust him, he's usually so careful but, I'm sure he's okay. We've been through tougher things than a bit of money woe." She perked up again smiling.
Nick looked to Judy who stared back, and they practically read each other's minds. She didn't know. She had no idea what he was getting into. Now the question was whether or not they should tell her.
"Could we get a copy of one of these statements? Just a note of withdrawals and deposits should suffice," Nick asked her. She paused before nodding and getting up, leaving the room.
"Why'd you ask for that?" Judy said in a harsh whisper.
"Because a statement can provide more information than one would think, if you know how to read it correctly," said Nick with a grin.
"I think I can read numbers and names Nick," Judy said folding her arms at the fox with a frown. Nick simply waved a paw in her direction as Diana came back clutching onto an opened envelope.
"That's the most recent one. I've requested them daily now, what with everything that's going on."
Nick pocketed the information and smiled. "Did he have any popular hang outs? A favourite outfit as well perhaps?"
Diana thought for a moment before smiling. "He was never one for formal clothes, you'd have to drag him into a suit and tie. He'd live and die in a t-shirt and a pair of jeans," she said with a slight giggle. "On top of the t-shirt, he'd wear an unbuttoned button up shirt, with the sleeves rolled up above the elbow. He also has a hat he likes to wear, but it's upstairs so, he can't be wearing it."
Judy scribbled down every detail, every word while Diana continued to speak. "He's never been a big crowd sort of guy. You'd not catch him in a club unless you dragged him there," she said with a smile. "No, you'd have better luck checking around the bars knowing him. He always appreciated a good drink, made buying him presents pretty easy. His favourite I'd say would The Deep Freeze. It's an ice bar a block or two down Frost Lane from the town square. May I ask a question officers?"
Nick and Judy looked at each other quickly before nodding in tandem. "Is he in trouble?" The two police officers suddenly froze up and looked at each other once more, their faces distinctly more nervous. "Because I know he works at the ZPD, but I didn't report anything. And I assume he called to claim he was ill or something of that ilk. So, be honest with me, I'm tough I can handle it," she said smiling nervously.
Judy gulped as she began to speak. "Well, the truth is Mrs. Valentine, he-"
"Is a very dear friend of ours and we just wanted to see if he's okay. I can assure you; we'll find something out quickly and keep you in the loop." Judy kept trying to butt into the conversation but Nick kept denying her. "Anyways I think we've outstayed our welcome, you've been so helpful, we'll be on our way. Come along Officer Hopps." Nick had practically dragged Judy from the room and out of the house, leaving behind a slightly confused Mrs. Valentine and ending up with a very annoyed bunny.
"What'd you do that for Nick?! We still had a lot to ask!" Judy said frowning and thumping her foot in the snow.
Nick sighed. "No, we didn't. We have a lead, a description and a list of any and all payments in and out of the account since yesterday. That's all we need."
Judy frowned. "But we could have so much more information to work with if we had stayed."
"I tend to find, if you have too much information, it's impossible to find what bits go where. Would you rather complete a jigsaw puzzle with two hundred pieces or the same puzzle with twenty pieces?" Nick said with a smile as he walked back to the car.
Judy tried to think up a response but came up short as she so usually did around Nick. He was just so much better at quick thinking than she was. She had only really outsmarted him a couple times, and even then those took either planning or prior knowledge. Nick was a brilliant speaker, and his quick thinking and street smarts had proven to be quite the asset when on the job.
They found the bar pretty quickly and headed inside. Naturally at this time of day it was deserted, but there was still a bartender on duty, sipping from a frosted martini glass. "Good morning officers, a little early for a drink isn't it?" said the snow leopard behind the counter with a laugh. "What can I do for you?"
Judy seemed a little out of her element, chattering away in the cold of the bar, so Nick took over. "We're here looking for an Orion Valentine. Wolf, an officer like us, good drink sense from what I hear."
The bartender nodded. "Well, he's not here. Though he does stop by regularly, he was here last night in fact." Nick motioned for him to go on as he walked closer and leaned on the icy bar. "He's been coming in a lot more recently, buying a lot more too. He comes in, whines and drinks away for a few hours and leaves completely hammered. Are you two friends of his?"
Nick smiled. "You could say that. What did he talk about?"
The leopard's eyes shot to the ceiling as he thought, sipping at his drink. "Let me think…He said something about being in trouble with someone. He was worried sick about his family, kept saying he was trying to help them. I think he actually said someone was out to get him, was gonna kill him. Drunken paranoia if you ask me."
Judy jotted down the words and nodded. "Do you know where we might find him?"
The bartender tapped his chin for a minute before answering. "There's an alley, just down the street a little to your right. It gives a great view of the front door. Old Orion has a distinctive look; you should see him come in and out. If not, give me your number and I'll buzz you if he shows up."
Nick jotted down his phone number and laid it on the bar with a smile as the partners walked out into the cool afternoon air. "Stakeout hm? It'll be a little while longer before people start coming for drinks. So what do you want to do?"
Judy frowned and patted her stomach. "I could do with some lunch. Do you know anywhere good nearby?"
Nick nodded. "There's a nice place a few blocks away, the Farmhouse I think it's called. I think you'd like it." Judy agreed to go and they set off. They didn't need the car, so they left it parked nearby, making sure to fill up the parking meter as they did so.
The restaurant had big windows in the front, and Judy took a peek inside as they passed by. It looked very nice and reminded her a bit of home. It wasn't until she was inside that they truly appreciated the décor. First off, as she walked in she immediately felt warm and cosy; the warm air wrapped itself around her like a blanket, heating up her chilled body. As they were led to their table she admired everything from the light fixtures to the floorboards. The lights were very simple; while not powerful they kept the room dim, even when assisted by the natural light bounding in from the large windows. The floorboards and wooden furniture were not polished but were sanded so that they were incredibly smooth to the touch. The walls were painted a gentle cream colour and were accented with wooden beams, the same expert care and detail applied to them as well. It all seemed very rustic and Judy couldn't help but smile as she reminisced.
"Wilde to Hopps, helllooooo?" Nick had been trying to get her attention and was waving a paw in front of her face. She laughed nervously as she diverted her attention towards her partner. "What do you think looks good? I'll probably just grab a sandwich or something."
Judy eyed the menu and perked up at the selection. Everything looked good and she was having a hard time selecting. Eventually she settled on a nice plate of caramelized carrots, along with a simple glass of water. Nick adopted the simple yet tasty blueberry jam and cashew butter sandwich. Judy had never heard of it, but she assumed it was similar to a peanut butter and jam sandwich, just with two of Nick's favourite snack foods as the fillings instead.
"So what is it with rabbits and carrots? I personally never ranked them very high on my vegetable list," Nick asked Judy as the waiter walked off.
Judy shrugged. "They're just really tasty. Easy to grow, easy to cook, you can cook them a load of different ways too. There're all those health specialists saying that carrots are actually bad for us, but that's not gonna stop anyone."
Nick nodded. "They are pretty sugary for a vegetable, and you know what they say about sugar. Personally, I can't really taste it."
Judy frowned. "That's your opinion."
Nick laughed. "No that is a dietary fact. One carrot has about the same sugar content as a sugar cube."
Rolling her eyes, Judy looked out the window with a smile on her face. It wasn't long before their food arrived and Judy was soon shovelling down mouthful after mouthful of the delicious food. The carrots were cooked perfectly in her opinion, soft but still hard enough to have a little bit of crunch to them. They had been caramelized with both a mixture of brown and white sugar, which Judy could taste incredibly well.
Nick was busy munching on his toasted sandwich, enjoying the sheer flavour of the fillings. Nick was absolutely livid about blueberries, and cashews were another of his favourite snacks as well. The combination of the two was something had not quite seen before coming here, and now it was his regular order. The two had finished incredibly quickly and were sitting at forty-five-degree angles in their chairs as they relaxed a little. The bill was given to them, but they were in no hurry and so just relaxed for a little bit. "Don't you ever worry about what you eat?" Nick asked Judy casually.
Judy opened her eyes and tilted her head. "What do you mean?"
Nick chuckled. "I mean, I see what you eat. And it's quite a lot. Don't you worry about it?"
Judy shrugged. "I've never really been afraid of eating too much. Because ever since I was a kid, I could eat and eat and eat and no matter how much I ate I always stayed thin. So, no; I don't worry about what I eat."
The fox chuckled a little before his eyes widened and he got up, scaring Judy a little. "N-Nick? What's going on?"
Nick pointed out the window at a certain wolf who was passing on the other side of the street. "Isn't that him?" Judy turned around and narrowed her eyes, squinting to see who he was pointing towards. She did indeed see a wolf; his white fur helped him blend in a little. He was wearing fairly dark clothes as he stared at the ground. "That is definitely him, come on let's get going."
Judy smirked at Nick as he dumped a few banknotes on the table. "You picked a good restaurant, Nick," she said getting up and racing out the door alongside her partner.
Their target, Orion was walking down the street, looking around very shiftily as he buried himself deeper in his jacket. He knew he must be being looked for. He was an officer after all, he had a radio. There would be plenty of notifications telling him that he had a warrant for his arrest.
"What's the plan? Do we arrest him?" Judy asked dropping herself into a lower stance, getting ready to run.
Nick held up a paw in front of her though. "I just ate; I don't want to chase him down," Nick smirked as he saw the wolf turn off into a certain bar they had been in earlier. "Let's wait for him to have a drink or two, that'll make things a little easier."
Judy smiled up at the fox as she relaxed. "Pretty sneaky slick Nick, alright let's go wait in the car."
As they hopped into the car and turned up the heaters, they focussed on the bar. Nick had gotten a text from the bartender indicating the wolf's arrival, granted they already knew but it was nice to see all the same. A few other patrons were showing up as the hours grew later and later, but no wolf yet. They sat mostly in silence, Nick only talking to relay information from the bartender inside while Judy had set up her phone to play some quiet music.
It wasn't until two hours later that they noticed him come out. Unfortunately according to the texts, he hadn't had much to drink, he had mainly been chatting away to anyone who would listen. Nick and Judy looked at each other, nodding as they got out of the car. They had donned some thick coats as Tundratown got incredibly cold at night, the coats would hopefully also help disguise their uniforms should Orion notice he had a tail that was not his own.
They followed him around town at a good distance of twenty paces or so. He kept mumbling to himself, whispers that carried themselves on the arctic wind to the duos ears. They couldn't make anything out, unfortunately, but they kept listening all the same.
Orion had walked all the way across town and had gone into a place that surprised Judy and Nick, a church. They looked at each other confusedly as they watched him go inside. The case file had said nothing about the wolf being a religious individual, yet here he was. "What do we do now?"
Nick sighed and tapped his foot. "I think we should go in. I'm tired of this chase."
Judy begrudgingly agreed and the two headed inside as quietly as they could. There they found Orion collapsed at the altar, his head bowed. There was no one else here, the rector and vicar must have gone home for the night or were off tending to other duties. Judy could hear he was mumbling quietly to himself but was unable to make out the words.
The two approached him, walking slowly down the aisle, the carpet that was laid across it muffling their footsteps. As they got closer to him Judy began to make out words of his muttered sentences. "Forgive…Strength…Smite…"
Judy coughed to announce their presence, much to Nick's chagrin. Orion stopped muttering and got up, turning to face the two officers. "Nick. Judy. I had a feeling I'd be seeing some friendly faces soon enough."
Nick crossed his arms as Judy talked. "Why'd you do it? Why'd you run off and do all this?"
The wolf sighed. "It wasn't my choice. I was blackmailed, threatened even. They used against me what they knew I'd submit to, my family. I'm sick of it. I don't want to be remembered as some coward who winds up dead in a ditch outside of town."
Judy couldn't quite see it, but in the wolf's jacket pocket Nick saw a familiar shape, a pistol. "What are you going to do?" the rabbit continued.
Orion chuckled softly. "I can't report anything, they hear sirens coming and I'm brown bread anyway. So, I'm dealing with this myself."
Judy had had enough, and just wanted this case to be over with. She drew her tranquiliser gun and aimed it carefully. "You're under arrest, turn around and put your paws on your head."
As the weapon was trained on him, he sighed and his expression hardened. "I'm sorry about this. But I won't have you take me away. I don't want to hurt you guys, so kindly let me go. I'll turn myself in when I'm done, and that's a promise."
Judy after seeing this side of the wolf felt her resolve thicken. "Turn around and put your paws on your head or we'll use force."
Nick turned to his partner and blinked. "Carrots think about this. Don't you think you're being a bit hasty? In a church of all places too."
"It is our job, to arrest him Nick! We can't just let him run!" Judy retorted as she turned her head to Nick.
Seeing his chance Orion surged forward, ducking his head behind his thick coat. Judy in surprise turned quickly and inaccurately fired a dart at the charging wolf. It embedded itself in the coat but didn't manage to penetrate the thick winterization material, and the wolf slipped by and out the door at break neck pace before the Nick and Judy even knew what was going on.
They quickly ran after the fleeing wolf and as they got outside, saw him throw his heavy coat to the ground, sprinting off down the street. Judy charged after him, Nick close at her heels as she reported the situation. "Officer Hopps to dispatch, I am in pursuit of suspect Orion Valentine in Tundratown, heading…South from the churchyard." There was a muffled acknowledgement as a few moments later, sirens could be heard as Clawhauser notified nearby patrols.
Judy began to pant as she chased him down side lines and alleys and right own the middle of the road occasionally. He was fast, incredibly fast and only seemed to get faster as the sirens grew louder. He glided across the snow, never slipping once as he turned a corner and disappeared out of sight. Judy a good few seconds later caught up and turned the corner to find…nothing.
He couldn't have just disappeared. Nick eventually caught up, panting and wheezing. "D-Did you get him?"
Judy shook her head and stomped, before getting an idea. She looked down and saw the prints in the snow, bold as brass, wolf prints. She began to follow them, reloading her tranquilizer gun as she did so. "J-Just forget it Carrots…"
The prints led her further into the alley and round another corner where they suddenly stopped. She looked all around but could see no sign of him. Where had he gone? She stood in the prints and looked around for something then she saw it. A fire escape, just above her, at the top she saw a white tail suddenly slip away onto the rooftops. After notifying Clawhauser she made a jump for the fire escape ladder and as she grabbed hold slipped and fell into the snow, much to Nick's amusement.
He gave it a shot and managed to keep his grip, pulling himself up before offering a paw to Judy. "Come on! We're gonna lose him."
Judy nodded and jumped, grabbing onto the much less slippery paw of Nick and soon they were climbing the stairs quickly as suddenly the sound of helicopter rotors filled the air. Bogo must have been really determined to catch him.
As they climbed onto the rooftops they spotted the white wolf already a block and a bit away, leaping across the gaps easily. Judy and Nick, of course, followed, having a little more trouble with the jumps but they were getting across. They saw him getting further and further into the distance and Judy sped up. However, as she jumped she slipped on a particularly icy part of the roof and flew off the edge, screaming. She fully expected to die right there, falling a good seven or eight stories into the not so snowy alleyway and so closed her eyes.
However, she felt a paw tighten itself around her leg and suddenly she stopped falling. When she had the courage to reopen her eyes she looked up and saw Nick holding on to her leg with one paw and grasping onto the rooftop with his other, his claws digging into the icy brick surface. "I've gotcha Carrots, don't worry I've got you!" he said as he strained to pull himself back up.
Judy could barely move, suspended by her leg over a precarious drop. The sirens were right on top of them now and she saw a few officers burst into the alley below her and immediate catch the partners. Nick started swinging from side to side which made Judy squeal a little bit. She full on screamed when suddenly the grip around her leg loosened and she went flying. The flight, however, was short as she landed on her rear atop the roof as Nick clawed at the snow with his other paw, scrambling for a hold to pull himself back up.
Judy quickly rushed over to help and pulled the fox atop the building where he lay on his back in the snow, panting heavily. "Y-You're heavier than you look."
Judy playfully punched him in the arm, giggling as she did so. "You saved my life. I'd have fallen all the way down if you hadn't grabbed me."
Nick smiled, "I know. That's usually how gravity works. Don't worry about it."
Judy laughed. "Well, let's hope they catch him."
Nick nodded and sighed. "Let's just get off this roof."
They found themselves wrapped up in blankets with hot cocoa as other officers set up a perimeter and followed the path Judy and Nick had said they'd seen him travelling. After a good fifteen to twenty minutes or so, a few officers had to go off to respond to a 246, which Nick explained was a shooting at a house, they were usually just accidents but Judy felt a chill go up her spine at the news.
"What do you think he was planning? It didn't sound good," said Judy as she sipped her drink.
"You want my opinion? That radio call was him. It sounded like he wanted revenge, badly," Nick responded. "I wish we'd have gotten him. We still don't know anything about why he'd do any of this really."
The search continued for quite a while until about forty minutes since the beginning of the chase later, they found Orion. However, from what Judy could ascertain from the radio, things hadn't gone as expected.
The officers that had gone to respond to the gunshots had been the ones to find him. That alone made Judy and Nick glance at each other, before throwing off their blankets and finding their cruiser which was parked nearby at the bar. They went to the given address in silence, neither could think of anything to say. It was a short trip, and soon they pulled up outside a house with numerous police cruisers and ambulances surrounding it. "Think this is the place?" Nick said weakly, trying to lighten the mood. When Judy didn't respond or even smile, he sighed and hopped out of the car to see what had happened. He and Judy walked up to the house and were blocked by a familiar face in Officer Fangmeyer. "Whoa, you two shouldn't go in there," he said with a reassuring smile.
Judy simply looked up and frowned. "Why not? Finding Officer Valentine was our case."
Fangmeyer made a face before stepping aside. "Well, if you're sure about this don't say I didn't warn you. Try not to step in anything."
Judy and Nick tilted their heads at that and shrugged as they went in. It was very clear what had happened just from the front hall. Blood stained the walls and ran across the floorboards. Bits of flesh and grey matter adorned the walls along with bullet holes. The bodies had already been outlined and bagged. Judy felt like being sick at the sight but managed to keep her composure as she walked through the macabre halls. Every room had been painted with blood; the floors were absolutely covered in it.
They travelled up the stairs of the building where they found another chilling scene. "Talk to me. Keep your eyes open and talk to me. You're gonna be fine." There was a bunch of paramedics tending to a white wolf lying on the floor, his once pristine fur now soaked in blood. Orion's eyes were watery as he stared up at the ceiling, crying out as the medics attempted to work on the numerous gunshot wounds he had sustained.
"T-They're all gone…Finally gone…We're free…" he said shutting his eyes.
"Keep your eyes open! Look at us, you're gonna be alright. You're gonna be laughing in a few days, just hold on."
Nick and Judy looked on, unable to speak as they watched. Orion opened his eyes once more and grunted in pain as his wounds were bandaged. "I-I-I've got no chance…Let me die…Let me go…" He coughed up blood which stained his face; He took a few deep breaths as he shut his eyes again.
"You're not going to die, not here. Just keep talking and keep those eyes open. Don't stop fighting."
Orion laughed weakly. "I-I've sinned enough f-for one lifetime…I'll be imprisoned, for life…Let me die here…" He gritted his teeth as they attempted to lift him up a little. He wriggled and writhed until he dropped to the floor again, curling up into a ball as he coughed and wheezed. They couldn't get close enough to move him, even in his condition he fought them off. They tried to administer a drug but he twisted and snapped the needle.
He kept resisting, crying out in pain with every movement. Eventually, he slumped over, his eyes shutting as his breathing became slow and steady. Nobody made a move. The paramedics had even given up at this point. They knew he wouldn't make it like this, and unfortunately so did Nick and Judy. He opened his eyes once more and noticed the duo, smiling weakly. "H-Hey…"
They had no response, and so simply waved a little as he continued. "C-Can you t-two do me a favour? Make something up for Diana…For my…My kids…" he said, his eyes beginning to water. "I-I…I did this for them…To keep t-them safe. A-And now…They will be…" He smiled contently, as he shut his eyes. Judy and Nick couldn't move, or even say a word for that matter. They were stunned. Judy had never quite seen someone die, especially not as brutally as this. He was still breathing, the cold air condensed all their breath and Judy could still see it coming from the fallen wolf. It was only when the breathing ceased that Judy and Nick finally managed to look away as the paramedics found another body bag, and zipped him up in it.
The next day, the formal report was issued and every officer had read it; even those that hadn't been on the case or even on duty read it. The short version went as follows.
Some time after eight PM, Officers Wilde, and Hopps located and identified rogue officer Valentine. They pursued him from the Tundratown Chapel where he fled from and subsequently lost him on the rooftops of residences on Icicle Drive. He was later located in residence 319 Snowflake Avenue, gravely wounded; he was pronounced deceased on scene.
It is suspected that Officer Valentine was the culprit of breaking and entering and nine counts of homicide that evening, all within 319 Snowflake Avenue. The house upon a search contained narcotics, firearms, large sums of money and written plans for what are suspected to be large-scale heists. Further investigation is being conducted on the identities of the deceased.
While Officer Valentine did potentially halt the actions of a major crime ring, he did it without police sanction and was deemed to be 'overzealous' in his actions. Officer Wilde vouched for Valentine, stating that he had been blackmailed and threatened by the individuals involved; while this would give Officer Valentine further motive and explain his previous actions, it cannot be confirmed at this time. Further investigation as to the truth of this story is underway.
After a few weeks of press interviews, they had deemed Officer Valentine to be justified in his actions as he had been operating under severe duress and overall his sacrifice had prevented major damage to the city. Judy and Nick had given poor Diana the news. She cried no tears, threw no tantrum. She simply thanked them for the information, and asked them to leave, with which they complied very quickly.
And that was that. Judy had been given the day off and was busy contemplating the case as she read and re-read the report. She had never dealt with something like this before. Obviously, police work could get messy, but this was her first experience with it. No one was locked up, anyone who could have given them answers were dead and there was nothing she could do about it.
She had never had a case that ended in a bloody disaster like it had with this one. It was strange, confusing, but she wasn't about to let that deter her. Like she had once said, real life is messy. She put down the report and smiled as she looked at herself in the mirror. She wasn't about to sit down and cry over one failed case. She had to keep going, keep trying. No matter what it threw at her, she was going to make the world a better place.
Hi there guys! This was a nice little change of scenery for me, I thought about the idea of a rogue officer for a while but never really thought about writing it until now. This story really got away from me near the end, I didn't plan ahead and I had to rewrite the whole thing practically after I decided I liked another idea better.
While sloppy this was a fun little thing to write, and also got me to put in my OC Orion. Orion has taken many different forms and roles as he travels between fandoms and universes. He originally started as a Unicorn in the MLP universe as a character for a roleplay. He was a doctor back then, who had lost his family in a tragic accident of the GM's cruel design. He's mainly stayed as a medical doctor throughout the years but lately I've been putting him into more of a soldier role, as shown here. I'll probably write a bit more with him, he is my OC after all and I'm still a little bad at portraying Nick and Judy properly. I'm actually thinking about experimenting with a little story that portrays this one, but from his point of view.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this little one shot. I'll be right on top of Blazing Darkness in a little while. Have a good day now ya'll!