The mistakes we make.
Authors note: So I crunched the numbers, seven reviews wanted a sequel for "The things we do for love", three didn't (they made very thoughtful and kind arguments), four of them didn't say whether they wanted a sequel or not so I consider them neutral. The poll showed three in favor one against. The bottom line is that while most readers wanted the sequel a few (myself included, that's why I asked their opinion) had their doubts, but this is a world worth exploring a little more so I took the risk. I really hope I'm not retroactively damaging the previous story in doing so, time will tell.
All I ask to the readers that liked the previous story is that you give this one a shot.
And in consistency with the universe this story is gory and violent as well, there will also be some smut.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, don't sue.
…
The jungle is riddled with bullets; shots are fired in every direction. A cacophony or blasts and shouts grows louder as the enemies hunt their targets with relentless drive, they can hear them with complete clarity even over the sound of war. On the distance a storm is approaching, loud thunder is ringing closer and closer, soon rainfall will pour over them. Tropicalia was never a nation known for its stability both in weather and its politics, which means the general safety for its citizens is variable at best. In the thick vegetation a hare runs dodging bullets, a large cougar and his pregnant wife stumble right behind him.
-"El helicóptero está a 200 metros de aquí"- The skilled hare grunts to the mammals behind him. His rifle cocked to the side of his head as he surveys the upcoming threats around them. The revolutionaries are coming and they want the cougar's head, which is not surprising if you consider the aforementioned mammal, Mauricio Riviera, is one of the most brutal dictators to ever sit on Tropicalia's throne. But lucky him, he made a deal with the ZIA many years ago and now the agency is paying it back.
It isn't Jack Savage's job to judge Riviera's ruling, his mission is to lead the now deposed dictator and his wife to the safety of Zootopia. The chopper waits not too far from their location, but the revolutionaries are coming in closer and closer with every passing minute. And while the irregular and elaborate shape of the vegetation does wonders to shield them from the upcoming bullets they are one led figment away from dying at the hands of the revolutionaries.
The hare is obviously very fast even by lagomorphs' standards, but the cougars are not, since one of them is carrying an unborn child and the other one has about 70 pounds of excess fat. And the bullets keep pouring, typical of militarized nations, honest citizens have little access to food but it would seem like ammunition falls from the sky given the amount of it that gets wasted. One bullet managed to lodge itself in the female's right knee and she falls down hard on the fertile soil, her cries of pain and fear cut through the loud rumble of the upcoming storm and the gunshots. The revolutionaries are closing in, soon everyone will be captured unless the ZIA agent figures out a way out of this hell storm. –"Ayudame por favor que no maten a mi bebe"- The female implores to the hare, her large brown eyes are covered in tears.
-"Vas estar bien te lo juro"- Agent Savage tells her reassuringly and means it, he will take them both to safety, he gave her his word.
But time is running out and he has very little options ahead of him. So after this mayor setback all Jack could come up with is to place himself below the wounded cougar, his small but muscular arms around her torso, and with all his might tries to drag her into the awaiting chopper less than seventy meters away. He is strong enough to carry her there, but not enough to do it before they are caught. Exasperated by the almost hopeless situation Jack gives a hard stare to Riviera and barks.
–"Ayudame a cargarla!"-
Riviera simply gives him a stone cold glare, not even bothering to come close to them –"I will help you alright"- he says with a thick Spanish accent, and then he takes Jack's rifle and uses it to shoot his own wife in the head.-"Problema resuelto"- The dictator says coldly.
The pregnant cougar that used to be Margarita Riviera convulses in the agent's arms, a large gaping hole now placed were her face used to be. Then there was nothing more than dead flesh.
Without uttering a word Jack lowers the dead pregnant female on the ground and runs the rest of the way to the helicopter, the cougar close in tow.
Once they were airborne the hare has no trouble handling the controls, even when a tropical storm is coming their way. On the outside, Jack's cold demeanor is the highest epitome of efficient professionalism. On the inside he's screaming in frustrated anguish and wishing he had shot that fucking cougar or even better, deliver him right into the revolutionaries. The look of horror in Mrs. Riviera's face will be the fuel for his nightmares from today to his final days, he had given her his word that he would save her, and thanks to the dictator for the first time in his life he made a promise he couldn't keep.
How did he end up in this clusterfuck of a mission? Because he did NOT sign up for this when he joined the agency, he wasn't stupid enough to expect his life to be anything like a James Boar movie but for carrot's sake he at least expected to be a hero. It doesn't matter what the ZIA says, there is no justification for what he was ordered to do.
He cursed the idiots in charge to do the proper extraction, once Riviera's government collapsed he should have been evacuated from the rooftop of the parliament by a regular helicopter but the machine was caught in the storm on the way there. So the dictator had to escape through land on a bulletproof limo surrounded by the Tropicalia's military, which chose to switch sides in the last minute, and instead of the airport they led him right into the jungle where his enemies had built their original faction.
And what happens when plans go awry? They call the most efficient agents to do the cleanup and save the day. The one that was closer to the site was Jack, who was doing an undercover mission in Amazonia, so he got saddled with the short straw. When management knew about the wife's death they didn't seem to care in the slightest because Riviera is the one they wanted, collateral damage they called it, how he hates that word.
-"In case you are wondering, I did it for her own good"- Jack hears the deep voice from behind him and feels an acid knot form in his stomach.
"For your own sake Riviera, shut the fuck up" The hare thought bitterly, wondering if crashing the helicopter into a nearby mountain with the fat cougar inside wouldn't do more good than his last three missions combined.
-"You shot your pregnant wife for her own good?"- Jack's tone was even, but he chew out every single word, tightening his grip on the controls so he wouldn't choke that monster to death.
-"She would have been caught, and when they got her a quick death would look like a blessing, compared to the tortures they would have subjected her to. We had to abandon her either way, at least she is safe from them now"- Riviera sounded like he was giving a speech for his campaign. Not even a flicker of pain or sympathy for the poor soul foolish enough to marry him.
-"Or you could have lifted her up and helped me carry her to safety"- The hare grumbled through his buck teeth.
-"And all three of us would have been slowed down, and then easily captured. I do give you credit, a small bunny like you was able to lift her up. You are much stronger than you look"- The cougar grins as he fishes a cigar from his breast pocket, playful rings of smoke evaporate into the cabin and then fade towards the night sky, lighting crashes near them but they can escape the worse part of the storm.
-"I'm a hare not a bunny"- Savage says dryly
-"Tom-a-to, tom-ei-to. Is that how you gringos say? Or isn't it about potatoes?"- At the cougar's callous comments all the agent can do is check the monitors so he doesn't bang his head on the control panel in exasperation.
The bordering nation of Amazonia is now below them, he could swear it took ages to get here.
Ten minutes later he lands the helicopter into the international airport where a large luxurious jet awaited for them. At least five more agents are there to guarantee Riviera's safety, soon they would be flown to Zootopia.
The large fat cougar sauntered into the plane, while Jack stood frozen in place as soon as he stepped down from the helicopter.
-"Are you coming?"- Both the dictator and the other ZBI agents ask
Jack then chooses to get his conscience back, that thing he had been forced to lock up in a dark recess of his brain. It was a necessary step so he could finish the job, that's when the colder pragmatic part of his psyche had to take charge and handle the mission, but that was only until they were out of danger. Now Riviera is the agency's problem, his job is done. And he would rather walk to his home wearing broken glass between his toes than spend another minute in the company of that jerk, so he gives them all a cocky grin and tells them:
-"Nah thanks, I'll take the bus"-
-"Are you crazy Savage? It's a seven day trip by land. Did that cute little head of yours got concussed or something?"- A large hippo wearing the standard ZIA cheap black suit mocks him.
The hare turns on his heels and walks away from them, his right front paw casually poised by his side, his middle finger rises cheekily. –"Kiss my FLUFFY cotton tail Einhorn. And do NOT call me cute"-
…..
His handler was an angel, she sent Jack a plane ticket, sure he was cramped in coach next to a crying baby goat for five hours and got stuck on the airport three hours prior to that. Yet he would go over that several times over instead of seeing Riviera's face again, so all in all, things weren't so bad. Actually it could have been worse; he could still be caught in a rickety bus, riding next to a hundred cramped Tropicalians into the dirt roads of the jungle for the rest of the week.
He felt pity for those poor folk, trapped in a never-ending circle of tyranny by interests and forces far from their control. If the monsters that oppress them can literarily get away with murder, how could they ever escape the poverty that haunts their lives?
Tired, grumpy, and with an existential crisis the hare shuffled into the nearest bar as soon as he left the airport, not caring that it was eleven am or that the place looked neglected and unsanitary.
He sat in the darkest corner, far from the window. Right now what he wanted the most was a quiet place to be alone with his thoughts, and a tailload of alcohol of course. He barely had time to sit down when a skinny ewe took his order.
-"Do you know how to make a margarita? I mean, I want the original recipe"- He mumbled on the verge of exhaustion.
-"Sure"- the ewe said blinking; it took a very confident male with nothing to prove to ask that drink on a biker's bar, anything other than beer or whisky and the other patrons will call you a queer. She was glad that the place was empty at this hour, for the looks of it the last thing this poor hare needed is a bar fight. For her part she thought the division between manly and girly drinks was stupid, booze is booze after all. To the client's credit, the original margarita has even more alcohol than a martini, and with its salted rim it is far from the sweetness usually associated with feminine drinks.
As she mixed the tequila with the triple sec into the cocktail shaker, she stole a glance to the rabbit, he was definitely cute. Deep blue large eyes that held contrast to his white and black striped fur, even when his shoulders were slumped it was obvious he was very fit and much more muscular than an average hare. She wondered if maybe he was like the drink he ordered, something easy to trivialize but packing a strong punch.
Too bad he was clearly having a bad day and not wanting to be bothered. She wouldn't mind spending a little alone time with him, she thought it was worth the risk of getting rejected so when she served him the drink the ewe gently placed a folded napkin next to the glass. Raising an eyebrow he unfolded it and found a telephone number with the word Shirley below, raising his eyes to meet hers she told him shyly
-"I know you are probably not in the mood to make a new friend, but if you feel better later on, don't hesitate to call me."-
Jack smiled at her candor, he liked females who took the lead they were usually confident and easy to talk to. She wasn't a hare, but he had no problem venturing out of his species once in a while. He took a little time to appreciate her soft white wool.
-"You guessed right, I won't be a good company today but I would like to call you later"- He shook her hooves –"My name is Jack, it's nice to meet you"-
…..
How is the private life of an international super spy you ask? Well it is actually pretty boring, turns out that if you want to chase bad guys through rooftops or shoot a machine gun from a helicopter that is set on fire, you can't afford to be a couch potato. The stunts this job calls for on regular basis requires an excellent physical shape, the kind that takes a very demanding exercise schedule and lots of discipline. And that doesn't even cover all the foreign language classes, or the myriad of skills he needs to perfect in order to be effective, from martial arts to flying lessons. So in short, all Jack does on his free time is train and work out, because anything other than that could hurt his performance on the field, killing him or his companions.
Since he never knows when he could be called on duty, drinking too much or partying is out of the question, his chances for success in an upcoming mission would drop drastically if he were battling with a hangover.
Like this very moment right now, when a combination of margaritas, beer and whiskey has rendered the usually alert hare completely defenseless and passed out. His small body is wrapped in tangled bed sheets as he snores loudly in his cold bedroom.
The intruder, a large cow, hovers close to the sleeping agent, large hooves reach his shoulders and shakes him up.
-"Wakey wakey sleeping beauty"-
Nothing, not a single response.
Frustrated the cow swings the limp form of the agent over her shoulders, and while still in his t shirt and sweatpants she places him below the shower and turns it as cold as possible. When the freezing water hits Jack's soft fur his eyes snap open and he shouts from the shock, scanning his surroundings in a panic he makes out the shape of his handler, after squinting his vision gets clear enough so he can see the look of worry on her face.
-"Boy you are a mess. You didn't even bother to lock your door Savage, I could have killed you hours ago if I wanted to"- She knew he had it bad in Tropicalia but this is much worse than she expected.
-"Hey M, you know I always dreamt of meeting you in my shower but I never thought we would be having our clothes on"- His mouth managed the coy grin of his usual cocky self, but the hollowness on his eyes gave the illusion away. He has always been good at hiding his emotions, for this to show so clearly on him it has to mean he's on his last legs.
The cow kneeled on the white tiled floor; a motherly hoof was placed below the rabbits chin forcing him to look at her in the eye.
-"Get a proper shower Savage, then we will have a big cup of coffee and a very long talk"- She said turning away and gently closed the door behind her.
"I don't want to do this anymore" Jack thought in despair, but the words never left his lips. It was hopeless anyway, no one would take his resignation seriously while he was a drunken mess.
So as it had been the case for the last fifteen years, he did exactly what he was told.
Thirty minutes later he found himself on his kitchen table nursing a large cup of black coffee, the heavenly smell of the dark liquid seemed to warm him up a little bit, because he still felt cold after M gave him that rude awakening.
In front of him the large cow sat daintily in one of his larger chairs, he always admired how graceful she could be in spite of her big size. She was waiting for him to talk, and he knew by previous experience how patient she could be, sooner or later he would have to open up with her about his problems so she could snap him out of his issues and then send him straight to work. Because no matter how caring she acted sometimes, the truth is she would never bother to visit him unless there was a mission to be taken care of.
-"Did I ever tell you about my first job?"- He said faking cheerfulness while staring at his coffee.
-"Only a thousand times"- She responded annoyed.
-"A terrorist group was planning to bomb the Zootopian embassy in Catbul, they chose a school bus filled with kittens that were about to go on a field trip to the monument next to the embassy, their plan was to blow it up once it got there with all the civilians inside. As soon as I heard their plans I managed to kill all those terrorists before they could set up the bomb, those kittens went on to have their day out never knowing they had been in danger. That is how I started up on the ZIA, saving kittens."- He smiled fondly at the memory; he had taken out the bad guys and saved the innocents, that day he knew that that's what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. He would be the hero to the defenseless, and the boogie mammal of anyone that dared to disrupt the peace.
But reality crept into his mind once again, he realized now that he wasn't a hero anymore and to make things worse, maybe he never was one to begin with. So he continued talking with an expression of self disgust:
-"Now let me tell you about my LAST job, I saved a genocidal monster from his rightful punishment, but not before I had to stay put while he killed his pregnant wife. And why was I ordered to do that? Because ten years ago that monster ratted out his own enemies to our government, allowing the ZIA to get rid of a threat but also infiltrating the drug trade that was blooming in Tropicalia. How is that going by the way? Are you any closer of ending the drug traffic? Or are you making so much money as middlemammals that you are acting like state sponsored dealers now?"- His ice blue eyes rose to meet the cow's, rage shone clearly on them.
The cow was unfazed by the agent's rant, he isn't the first one to voice these kinds of objections and certainly won't be the last, as a matter of fact she saw it coming a long time ago. He might be much smarter and resourceful than most of the agents on the field, but not even over a decade of war were able to harden his heart. She blamed his species; rabbits can be too emotional for their own good sometimes.
-"First of all, you know why we have to pay these kind of favors back, if we want future sources to help us they need to know we will keep them safe. And sure that usually involves getting our paws dirty, but you should know by now the agency isn't just cool missions abroad and saving kittens"-
The handler laid her eyes at the hare's dejected expression; trained murder machines like him shouldn't look this adorable. She tried to get to him from a different angle.
-"Jack do you honestly see yourself dodging bullets and beating bad guys to death ten years from now? Effective agents like you can gain a lot of power from the secrets they collect during their careers, management likes you and if you play your cards right you can get a promotion in the near future.
But in order to do that you have to know how to play these kinds of advantages, so if you ever want to be more than a pawn in the game of politicians I suggest you stop moping and get your shit together, who knows maybe you can end up as the head of the ZIA."- She gave him the same smile a mother would give to her beloved son, Jack had seen that sweet expression enough times to know it was just one of her many tactics or persuasion.
-"And what happens if I don't care about moving up on the food chain? What if I care more about not making the world worse than it already is?"- The resolve for a future resignation was beginning to take a more defined shape inside his head.
-"You are not getting any younger rabbit, retirement might be you only way out in a few years, it's not that big of a paycheck compared to you actual salary you know?"-
-"I'm 33"- He said exasperated
-"You have the same physical requirements of a professional athlete; name more than ten that had fruitful careers after turning 36"- She deadpanned, then read the expression on the hare. She had seen it before and knew he was actually thinking of quitting, the poor fellow seemed to have reached a breaking point. It's a good thing she had a card under her sleeve, it was the type of mission most agents dream about but rarely get. –"Anyhow, I have a job for you and this is the one you're gonna be bragging about for the next ten years, it will be even better than saving those kittens"-
M gave him a large file and explained, smugly noticing how the agent had gone from disinterested to exited:
-"The Tundratown mafia has expanded at an unimaginable rate, in a few months they went from working on their own district to basically owning the entire city of Zootopia. They killed the bosses from the other two families and our sources indicate they have both the mayor and the chief of police from the first district under their thumbs, if we don't bring them down soon god knows what they are capable of.
But now that their patriarch Mr. Big, has died, a power struggle between the minor bosses is expected and until that matter is settled they are vulnerable. Either we stop them now, or no one else will be able to stand up to them ever again. The next leader of the family will have more power than any other mammal has ever had in Zootopia since the times of the prohibition, and he will be younger and more vicious than his predecessor."-
Jack was a little taken aback by the news, he realized how much time he had spent abroad and away from his own country -"Wow, how the hell did that happen? Last time I checked all mafias had been working on their own turfs and minding their business."-
-"You did hear about the anti-pred conspiracy a few months ago right?"- M turned somber at the mention of that mess, an entire agency was dedicated to eliminate possible threats from the outside and a few darts with poison almost manage to destroy the city using its own terrified citizens.
Jack nodded; to say that had been big news was an understatement, he had been working in the Amazonian jungle at the time and the news had even made it there. Literary everyone on the planet knew about it.
-"All we know is that before that happened the family was relegated to its turf, when the whole thing with the savage predators blew up mammals in the underworld wound up dead. Fast forward a few months later after the whole debacle is over and the mafia has control over the entire city. A prey supremacy group was found guilty of the attacks, by the cops that happen to work with the mafia."- She scowled.
-"You think they are the ones really responsible of the attacks, the terrorists were just patsies"- Jack said somberly, if the agency's theory was correct this mafia needed to be burnt to the ground. Many innocent lives were taken by the conspiracy, the city was barely recovering of the hate spilled by this tragedy.
M nodded –"Mr. Big wasn't the type of mammal to play this twisted games, yet all this started when these two joined the mob"- a manicured hoof pointed him to a picture of a red fox in his early thirties and a young beautiful doe in her mid twenties.
Jack scanned the file; the fox's name was Nicholas Piberius Wilde. There wasn't much information about him from before he became an assassin for Mr. Big. He seemed to have had a somewhat normal childhood in a mostly predator inhabited slum until his mother was killed by a mugging gone wrong, after that he basically left the system. But if records are to be believed, once he showed up on the Tundratown mafia mammals dropped dead like flies, he's been attributed several murders and even a mass killing in the Savannah. He must be one of the most cunning and devious creatures that ever existed, because he went from a nobody to the actual leader of the Savannah District in very little time, a rare feat considering that area was never pestered by organized crime before.
If Wilde's file was impressing, the file of his wife was… wait what?
–"That's his wife?!"- At Savage's shocked expression M merely huffed amused, times are changing it seems. Not that a pair of vicious assassins would give the slightest fuck about morals or taboos.
Shaking his head the hare kept reading, the file of Mrs. Wilde just made no sense. Birth name: Judith Laverne Hopps. Apparently she was raised as a typical farm girl and had no criminal record whatsoever, while growing up in Bunnyburrow she was actually a straight A student. When she turned 18 she moved to Zootopia to become a lawyer with excellent grades, but about a year ago she dropped out to work as a waitress, while the restaurant she worked for belonged to Big her record was still a hundred percent clean. One day she was an honest mammal working in a decent job, the next one she was an assassin for the mafia involved in almost as many murders as Wilde.
Pinching the bridge of his nose the agent grumbled –"This doesn't add up, how did a doe like Hopps end up with someone like Wilde?"-
M said casually while she inspected her hooves –"Details are a little iffy on how they met but rumor says she was forced into prostitution right about the time he joined the mafia"-
-"Is it possible that she's another one of his victims?"- Savage raised an eyebrow in curiosity, he couldn't fathom the idea that a doe would fall for a fox, but it was quite plausible that a predator would take advantage of her.
-"That's our theory too, he is twice her size and a cunning criminal, we believe she is his slave and the marriage was only a front to make their situation legal. And that is where you will come in, you'll pass as a powerful businessman wanting to handle real estate on the city and as such you will need the mafia's help to navigate all the "paperwork" involved in such transactions. Once you gain their trust you'll become close to Mrs. Wilde and seduce her, if you succeed she will be your way in and then you'll be able to destroy the mafia from the inside."-
-"There's a little detail you might have missed"- Savage said sarcastically –"Wouldn't the large murderous fox have a problem with me if I start flirting with his wife?"- He didn't mind tackling a predator like him, actually if he was as cruel as the intel suggested he would look forward to it, but infiltrating could be hard if Wilde sees him as an immediate threat.
-"That's where your partner comes in"- M said as she gave him the photo of a beautiful arctic vixen –"Meet agent Skye Frost, she works for the KGB. As you can see she is very attractive, they call her the most dangerous femme fatale of Siberia, she will make sure to distract Wilde while you work your magic on Judith. If everything goes well she will kill him once they get their "alone time" if you catch my drift, with Wilde out of the way technically his widow would be left in charge and that is where you will pull her strings"- The cow said with an impish grin and winked.
Jack saw the picture of agent Frost one more time, light blue eyes and flawless silky white fur. Even when most mammals weren't attracted to a different species, they could notice and even appreciate the beauty of another creature, if a hare like himself could acknowledge her allure he guessed she would be irresistible for a male fox -"Okay so when do I meet her?"-
-"As soon as you get her out from a maximum security prison camp in Furmekistan, she was captured two weeks ago by the Sha's regime. Now get that fluffy tail up that seat, the plane leaves in an hour"- Now that she managed to get him involved on the mission she dropped the caring motherly act, and sent him on his way in her usual no nonsense attitude.
Jack rolled his eyes, of course he couldn't just waltz right into the mafia, that would be too easy. Nope, first he would have to infiltrate a prison camp in one of the most dangerous areas in the whole wide world. And you know what? He wasn't complaining, unlike his previous mission he was the undeniable hero this time, he would be the brave soldier that would save the damsel in distress.
And then he would make sure to destroy this wretched Mafia
