Chapter One
When mistakes of the father become burdens of the son, what else can he do but move forward?
A red fox, looking to be in his mid thirties, and dressed in a set of doctor's scrubs, was typing rapidly on a computer terminal. He needed to finish this last command before-
The facility shook, the lights flickered. An explosion.
John checked his watch, "Twenty three seconds ahead of time. Within the margin of error at least." He'd been expecting it. The detonation was -by all means- a freak accident, and while the fox had nothing to do with it, John knew it would occur all the same. He finalized the command and pressed enter. Now he needed to get to his son.
Another quake shook the walls, a second explosion. He'd need to hurry. Not desperately so, but hurry all the same.
John pressed down onto the facilities intercom announcement system. "Nick, I'll need you to do your old man a favor and head on down to the testing room. It's time to celebrate." He made his way towards the room's exit, a sliding door whisking open to make way for the somewhat-aged vulpine.
A third quake, the intervals were decreasing. The intensity though, was increasing.
Calmly, the fox made his way down stark gray corridors, this bunker serving nearly exclusive utilitarian purposes. Several minutes and as many turns later, he'd arrived at the testing point. The youthful son hadn't yet appeared, but that was to be expected. Nick was more than likely busy exploring the same far corners of the same long hallways for the umpteenth time. But he knew Nick would show, he trusted his son could avoid any hazards from the explosions.
Nick always was a trooper.
A small fox wandered the halls of the building, looking for nooks and crannies to explore. He knew that he shouldn't, or, at least, that his father said he didn't need to.
"Nick, just because us foxes are curious creatures by nature doesn't mean that we must always sate that curiosity," his father would always repeat. This was only when he caught Nick though. Today, dad would surely be seeking him out.
Today was his tenth birthday.
Life in the compound was great. Nick never wanted for anything, his father would make him toys and school was very hands on. He didn't mind the tests that his dad would always give him but they were mean sometimes. Way too difficult, always making him upset, and right whenever he would be about to give up, his father would hint enough to help him solve it. He hated when his father did that.
Nick didn't really remember much from when his father first brought him here, only that it was for his own good. Whenever he began to question the why of his change of scenery as a kit, his father would default to the answer 'For your own good Nick, you will know why when you're older'.
The small tod felt the ground tremble beneath him, a piece of the ceiling gave way falling towards him. He moved out of the way of the falling debris as it smashed into the floor, he choked on the dust kicked into the air by it before turning back, swiftly running back down the path he previously came from. He didn't know what was happening but he knew that his dad would know how to fix it.
Another quake occurred as he turned the corner, throwing him off balance. This caused him to run into the wall ahead of him, the gray concrete wall hurting far more than it should have. Lifting himself off the ground Nick shook his head -clearing up any fog left over from the impact- and began running again, this time on all fours.
The all too familiar sound of the intercom turning on played, and his father's voice came through crisp and clear. "Nick, I need you to do your old man a favor and head on down to the testing room. It's time to celebrate". Nick's excitement for his birthday celebration overrode his slight panic at the third shift of the ground as he sped up even more at a near full run.
Over the course of several minutes Nick made his way to the testing room that his father spoke of. Avoiding fallen debris and staying on guard for more quakes as they came. By the time he reached the room, the quakes were coming in once every few seconds, and it was starting to get to him. He needed to keep going, for dad.
Arriving at the room his father spoke of, the door slid open as Nick entered, quiet compared to the sounds of the recent explosions. His father was already at work preparing what looked to be a small circular stand in the center of the room. Without looking up he spoke, "Step on the pad son, it's time I let you see the outside."
"You promise?" Nick exclaimed. This was the best birthday present ever! He'd never been outside! He stepped up onto the pad and stood there while his father finished his work.
"I promise."
"Thanks dad!" What would the outside be like? Would it be nice? Warm? Cold? How would the mammals be? He wondered if-
"Don't thank me son, that isn't a gift, that's a burden. Because of my selfishness I must pass my duty to you, and you aren't prepared." John stated with morbid finality over the sounds of the detonations.
"W-what? What do you mean dad? I thought the outside was nice?" Nick couldn't understand what his father meant. Not prepared? Prepared for what?
"I should've let you go, where you truly belong, but now... it's wrong, it's all wrong. I know you don't understand it, but I can't tell you. I want you to know that I-"
A much larger tremor shook the room, interrupting John for a moment. There was no time for formalities. Even to embrace each other would be a death sentence for both of them.
"Know that I've always loved you, and even though it'll seem otherwise soon, I did this for you, ok?" Nick hurriedly nodded his head for yes.
"Ok, now you'll need to remember a few things before you go. One, I'll be out there with you, but I'll be…different," he paused. "But no matter what I say or do, I need you to know what I do is to help you."
He walked over to the console between the door and the pad, putting his paw on a lever and looking at his son again. "Two, stay strong, you need to make sure that you don't lose yourself out there. You're stronger than any obstacle if you've the will to overcome it."
"Three," John pulled the lever and Nick's back felt colder, "find and follow the gray rabbit Nick."
There was a loud noise, "I'll have you when you go back, so you'll need to find them and bring them back." His vision started to get fuzzy and dark.
"Four, unfortunately you're going to die at some point Nick!" The small fox almost panicked when he heard that, but his father stopped him, now yelling over the noise. "But don't worry! If you want to have any chance of seeing me again. Don't. Die. First."
He could barely hear his father now; it was like his head was filled with static. "Oh, I almost forgot! Happy birthday son! I love you!"
He was... falling? At least it felt like that, but he could make out one last thing from his father, who was smiling brightly. "Five, whatever I do to you out there Nick, you need to survive it." His vision faded as he saw fire consume the room with his father inside.
She examined the room, spotting fellow officers chatting lively with each other. Glancing towards the door to her right, she'd noticed that no one else had entered since Fangmeyer. The clock above the doorway read six fifty eight. Where is he? This day is getting worse by the second. First she woke up late and missed the bus, and then she didn't even get to eat breakfast. Now Nick was going to be late, he was never late! Sure he liked to cut it close, but he'd arrive right before the Chief came in.
The rabbit's ears perked up as a door shut, bringing her out of her musings. Without needing to focus, the clicking of hooves on tiled flooring told her everything that she need to know. Bogo was here and Nick was late. Laying her head on the metal table in frustration, she groaned. "I don't need this from you right now Nick."
A loud huff, and the sound of papers tapping wood brought her attention back. "Officer Hopps, I know you're not sleeping, and you're partner isn't here," he leaned forward and adjusted his glasses "but if you'd kindly pay attention, it'd be much appreciated."
Judy nodded hard, a combination of embarrassment from her boss and annoyance towards her partner fueling the head shaking.
"Good." With a snap he was back to business. "Announcements first," he flipped over the first sheet, "Due to a recent threats from a currently unnamed group of mammals, any officers on patrol will remain in their assigned vehicles unless absolutely necessary." Several groans from the officers. "Quiet! I'm not done. Furthermore, no patrol vehicles are allowed to be checked out and used for personal transportation. Both of these regulations will stand in effect for the next 2 weeks or until further notice." More groans came from behind her.
"There are no exceptions, are we clear?"
Everyone responded curtly and loudly, "Sir!"
"Good, you all know the drill, grab your folder, read your assignment, go do it. Dismissed!" The Chief began walking out after dismissing his officers when he stopped halfway through the door. He turned around, and took a few steps back into the room. "Officer Hopps!"
Judy abruptly stood up, her normal routine of waiting for the other officers to exit -so that there was no risk of her getting stepped on- interrupted. "S-Sir?"
He took off his glasses and placed the his shirt pocket then turned his look towards her. "Your partner Hopps, where is he?" Bogo's gaze, even after all her time on the force, was still somewhat intimidating.
"I don't know sir. He never showed up this morning, and didn't call about anything beforehand either." She was apprehensive, what would he have her do?
He deliberated this a few moments too long for her comfort, then spoke tersely. "My office, five minutes, get your assignment." He stepped out and she felt the remaining mammals in the room breath out a silent sigh of relief. The others knew that they weren't one who he chose to summon at the moment.
After the last couple of officers left, she leapt off of her chair and went over to the assignment table. A quick jump later and she was headed to Chief's office, folder in hand. Judy didn't doubt what this was about. It was about Nick; a couple of minutes later she stood in front of the ever imposing door, suitably labeled.
Chief Bogo
Head of Precinct One
Zootopia Police Department
Judy knocked twice and waited, but not for long.
"Enter."
She set foot into the office through the custom doorway -added for mammals of her and Nick's size- and took a seat in one of the two chairs facing the desk.
"I'll spare you the monologue Hopps, where's Wilde? He isn't one for being late, if not always right on time. He hasn't reported in sick this morning either. Is there anything I should know?" He was looking intensely at her now, searching for a hint of any lie that she may have felt like saying. She wouldn't ever think of lying though.
"I wouldn't know Sir, if something was wrong or if he was feeling sick last night than he didn't make me aware of it." Judy spoke with heartfelt honesty, and Bogo's gaze lessened, taking on a more weary image.
"Go to his residence Hopps, my orders, I can't have my officers unaccounted for, and I won't have any officer out of commission without a good reason." He spoke resolutely, "you're to check on him, if he's in fact sick, notify dispatch and drop off the vehicle, and take the day off."
"But Sir, wouldn't calling him do?" She could patrol fine on her own, even though Nick wasn't there it didn't mean she was useless.
"Don't question my orders Hopps, and no buts either. Don't think I don't want you out on patrol right now. But " he stressed, "it is too dangerous to have any officers out on patrol by themselves right now. I would do the same to officer Wilde if you were out of action as well." For a moment he looked far more tired. "Take care of your partner Hopps, you don't know when you'll lose them." Ending the soft moment he snapped back to the professionalism he was known for and stood up. "Don't let anyone interfere with this, I expect officer Wilde to call in for before nine o'clock. Are we clear? Good. Dismissed!"
"Sir!" With a fire in her eyes she stepped out of the office, ready to find the fox, though she'd rather he call in. What she was about to find, however, would motivate her career far more than any mammal ever thought possible. She jumped into the police cruiser and drove towards Nick's apartment, far from ready.
Fifteen minutes later she was standing in front of eighty eight Shady Place Avenue, at the Orchid Leaf Apartments. Nick's apartment number was four hundred sixty six. It was a decent living space, and she had visited before. Walking up the stairs to his place, she thought about his abode. It wasn't too expensive but it wasn't the worst either, being above average and spacious for a mammal of his size. She stopped in front his door and knocked what she thought was loud enough for him to hear from his bedroom. "Nick!" She knocked again, louder this time. "Are you in there!?" Not hearing an answer she reached up and grabbed the doorknob.
The knob fell off; the door swung open, the room was completely dark.
Something was wrong. Danger, her insides told her...
Drawing her tranq pistol and flashlight, she entered. "This is the police!" Her light didn't help much in seeing around the apartment. She found the light switch next to the door and flicked it on. Turning around, her eyes went wide at what she.
There was blood everywhere, the smell was unmistakable. Too much blood, signs of a massive struggle. But… something was off, there was no smell of fox in this den.
"NICK! Are you in here!? Please answer me Nick!" Judy's senses were in overdrive, screaming at her to run. But she wouldn't, she couldn't leave Nick behind. Her eyes scanned the room, searching for a body, but none was to be found. Her ears were strained, listening for any possible sign of Nick, or an intruder, possibly still inside, but she heard nothing.
She realized what was wrong on her second look of the room from where she stood. The 'blood' was too red, too fresh. If there was no scent of Nick here then it couldn't be that bright, it would've been deep brown from iron oxidation. Synthetic, they want me to believe it's his.
Judy headed further inside, passing between the shredded couch to her left and the shattered TV to her right, keeping an eye on floor for any stray shards of glass, as well as the now unidentified pseudo-blood substance. She pulled her radio out and called it in. "Dispatch this is Officer Hopps ,I have a four-fifteen over here. Eighty eight Shady Place Avenue, Orchid Leaf Apartments."
"Roger Officer Hopps, this is dispatch, proceed with caution." Since that was settled, with taut nerves, a dry mouth, and a pounding heart, she holstered her radio and moved on.
Going further in and ignoring the kitchen, her steps ending at the entry to Nick's bedroom, paws sticky from the unavoidable substance on the floor. Nick... please be ok. His bedroom door was closed but had light coming from beneath.
The light inside was on.
"Nick, please, if you're in there I'm coming in, I'm here to help." Senses on edge she turned the handle and pushed. This time she had to resolve not to let the smell overtake her, as nauseating as it may have bed was ripped and the sheets were destroyed, claw marks tore into the wooden furniture, the mirror, broken.
Her phone rang, it must be dispatch on the personal line! With adrenaline flooding her system Judy commanded into the phone. "Dispatch!? You need to send a forensics team, now!Get the Chief on the line, he needs to know!"
"Ms. Hopps, what makes you think this is your dispatcher?" A female voice that was distinctly not dispatch spoke on the other end. How did they get this number!? "Quite unlike you to give up information on an 'active' investigation or, at least it will be soon, knowing you."
Judy's training kicked into overdrive after the initial shock wore off. Taking a miniature cell phone tracer out of her belt, she activated it. Hopefully this mammal would keep talking.
"I'll keep this brief, as no doubt you've already begun figuring out what's happened to your partner. Nick will be returned to you safe and sound in two years time." The voice paused, "Well, for the most part anyways, until then however, we will be taking care of him."
The tracer needed about fifteen more seconds. C'mon cheese and crackers why won't you hurry up!?
"Don't expect Nick to be the same when you get him back. He'll be far better than before. Goodbye." The phone went silent.
Judy's eyes focused in on the tracer. It still needed six more seconds to trace the call. Cheese and crackers I need to call dispatch! She ripped her radio from its holster, and held the button to radio dispatch, opting to call Clawhauser directly instead of the general line.
"Judy? What's up? I thought you were at Nick's place picking him up." The chubby cheetah inquisitive about why she'd call. He knew it was her by the radio's issue number on his end.
"Clawhauser, I am still at Nick's apartment! You need to get a forensics team over here! Nick's been kidnapped!" Judy nearly screamed into the radio. She still couldn't believe this was happening, but time was against her. She needed that forensics team now!
"What!? Like actually kidnapped!?" Judy could almost see his panicked state through the radio. Though she was currently faring no better, the cheetah's worry bleeding over into her emotions.
"What other kind of kidnapping is there!? Yes kidnapped, get a team over here!" Cheese and crackers Nick hold on! We'll find you.
Twenty minutes later, a full forensics team was scoping the apartment for evidence. What exactly happened there, they didn't know and were trying to figure out. Several detectives were sniffing around the entrance to Nick's homestead, to no avail, and the irritation of one Chief Bogo.
"What do you mean there is nothing detective?" Bogo questioned; he looked towards the hallway outside. "Check again." He'd already had a dead end with the phone and the according to Officer Hopps they weren't planning on keeping him, but 'taking care of him' for two years. As far as cases went this was as odd as it was infuriating.
"Sir, I'm telling you, Officer Wilde's scent is here, but in the hallway it stops." Detective Wolfstrum began, "It shouldn't be possible but that's the way it is, the blood isn't his, it's fake, and there isn't a scent outside either. Even if he liked to use scent removing spray, his scent would still be here in traces, but it isn't. There isn't even a second scent from whoever did this." The arctic wolf continued, "There should be fur laying around, there should be paw prints on things. Hell, there should be DNA from the torn furniture, but there isn't, Sir."
"Check. Again."
"Yes sir."
Two hours and no leads later, Chief Bogo was in his office, tending to a cup of black, one sugar coffee. He needed it after opening this case, whoever thought that they could get away with this would have hell to pay. The only actual 'lead' that they'd gotten was the proclamation that Wilde would be returned to them in two years time, and he'd sooner step down than let them keep his officer until then. He didn't get to Chief by letting crime go unpunished. A knock at the door turned his attention from the paperwork in front of him.
"Come in." This was unexpected, as he didn't order anyone up here. It was- "Officer Hopps? What're you doing here? You were to take a mandatory leave for the rest of the week. You'd better have a good reason for disturbing my coffee hour."
"Yes I do, Sir!" Judy chuckled nervously, she couldn't lose her courage now. "I actually came to make a request chief." Padding forward she took a leap onto one of the chairs in front of Bogo's desk.
"A request? You can submit a feedback form like everyone else, I don't play favorites Hopps. You know that."
"It's not that kind of request Sir, I want to get put on the investigative team for Nick's kidnapping. Here is the packet I would like to submit to the promotion board." Leaning forward she slid the thick packets towards the large buffalo. He immediately pushed it away.
"Denied Hopps. You're two years too early to even think about submitting a packet for the promotion board, let alone for a detective position." He didn't need this, not at this hour.
"Nicholas and I had," she paused, "have the highest record of arrests and citations per month, for the last year and a half, Sir. I also know that Precinct One operates off of a statistical evaluation of the officer not a time based one." Judy finished strongly.
"While that may be true Hopps, you still have too little experience behind those ears of yours to warrant a promotion to detective. Even though you'd be almost guaranteed a detective position based of your records, I still couldn't put you on Wilde's case. You're forgetting Conflict of Interest."
Perfect. "What would I need to do to ensure that my packet is ready for the officer promotion board this month? Under your recommendation of course, I wouldn't be taking anything directly associated with Wilde's case."
"Parking duty, two weeks, with a minimum of three hundred correctly issued tickets a day." This won't help her packet, but it'd show him that she understood her limits. While Bogo knew she wouldn't back down, it would at least let him gauge Judy's insight of her need to quit for the time being.
"Sir, you can't be serious!? The record for precinct one, the record that I set, is only two hundred eighty nine!"
"Three hundred at least Hopps, or that packet doesn't see the promotion board for the next two years. That's final." Here was her moment of truth.
Judy sighed in resignation. "I won't be able to complete that order sir. I apologize-" her voice started to tremble, and her eyes were getting watery. Her front of courage was beginning to crack. "-and if there is any punishment to be had, I will bear it gladly." She paused, taking a moment to compose herself with a deep breath. She looked -with what she hoped was confidence- at Bogo from her spot at the door. "For Nick." With that her show of courage finally dropped, and she stood defeated, expecting the worst.
"Oh pish Hopps, that means you'll be free to take the rest of the week off. You've been through enough today, you need your rest. I won't have my officers emotionally distressed and exhausted while on duty." Bogo stood up and walked around the side of his desk, taking a more personal approach. "You're pretending you can keep going right now. I've seen that look you've got in others before and it's nothing new. Slow down, take a few days off, you'll drive yourself into the ground at this rate. I can't have you hurting yourself over Wilde. You've already done enough, we'll find him."
He sighed wearily, then went back to behind his desk. "The best thing you can do for Wilde right now is take voluntary time off before I make it an order. It'll give you time to work on that packet." Judy turned to leave Bogo's office, but she barely got over the threshold when Bogo called out to her.
"Chief-" Judy was tired now, "-is there something else?" She wanted to leave and, forget about all this for the rest of the day.
He looked at her gruffly, "Remember, they won't look lightly at your packet. But, you have a chance, so I want that packet first thing next week."
AN: I have no real update schedule planned and due to my classes ending soon it will be harder to update. The only thing I can guarantee is that I will update before the 18th of March.