My best kept secret.
Authors note: this story is loosely based on the comic Not Again by The gory saint and Epilogue by Mister Mead
It was his biggest mistake back in the day, to start a family. But he had been young and dumb and bunnies were supposed to do that, well staring a family wasn't dumb on its own, doing so while working undercover for the ZIA was.
Forces in general wouldn't hire small mammals for another two more decades, but the whole shtick of the agency was to employ mammals nobody would guess were part of it, hence the whole undercover thing.
It was a fluke really, he had been a straight A student on the telecommunications field first year college and while the internet was a promising area it was far from the juggernaut it is nowadays, but they saw potential in an inconspicuous hare so they offered him a job. Against all odds he ended up being quite athletic and passed the physical requirements for field work, and Jack Savage, the legendary superspy was born.
Eastern Mammalia, November 21th, 1992:
Jack Savage, the first rabbit to enter de ZIA, held his final confrontation with the nefarious Dr. Meow. The abandoned factory that was used to harvest the illegal supplies for the mass destruction weapons had been blown out, surrounded by its charred remains a hare and an ocelot stood face to face in a standoff, the mortal enemies stared at each other's eyes while holding the barrel of a gun towards each other.
-"It's over Dr. Meow! I have already sent the location of the nukes to the Zootopian government, as of two hours ago they have been preparing all their resources for neutralizing them!"- Jack smiles triumphant, the smugness of his expression belies his exhaustion.
The egomaniac might have been cornered, but his superior intellect kept him five steps ahead of the tiny agent that is too inexperienced to even see that. He has at least three exit strategies on the works right at this moment, while juggling five different potential scenarios in his head, the wittle bunny doesn't stand a chance -"I didn't lose Savage, I never lose. Take my weapons if you want, but I'll take away your life and everything you ever loved!"- He said while shooting first, the bullet failed its mark and instead of blowing his head off the led fragment barely graced one of his ears.
Unfortunately by the time Jack's eardrums stopped ringing the terrorist had fled.
For the rest of his life, agent Savage would regret not shooting first.
…
Bunnyburrow, November 23th, 1992
The tired hare comes back to his home, sure it is fun to travel the world but he loves having a place to come back to, to his beautiful wife and his newborn babies. According to the last ultrasound she was expecting two boys and two girls. How he had wished to be there for the birth of his kits but his mate went into labor a week earlier than expected, so he couldn't come back in time, still he can't wait to meet them. In the end he did the last mission for them, field work pays a lot better than simple surveillance and everyone knows kits are expensive.
He loves his Beatrice, he loves his sweet natured doe. He was never one to stay in one place, always chasing adventures and higher purposes while his wife was the homely type, always with a smile on her muzzle and her paws on the ground. He guessed their love was an "opposites attract" situation, he felt free to fly away knowing that if he strayed too far she would pull him back home.
He crosses the white fence of their small burrow, he is surprised she isn't waiting for him at the gates, but then again the kits must have kept her busy. The garden surrounding the property is lined with flowers of every color, all planted by her since he couldn't grow sand on the desert, but when it comes to gardening she is a natural and that's not just her farming upbringing. Beatrice was actually branching out from the family business of growing vegetables, today he'll tell her about his last fat bonus and how he'll set up a nice flower shop for her right in the main town square so her beautiful flowers can litter the whole tri-burrows area.
The door to the burrows is ajar, instead of the warm smell of a home cooked meal the place is cold and smells of… death.
It doesn't take long for him to reach the main hall, where his wife is hanging from a rope, her white and grey colored paws swing with the cold winds from early winter. Nailed to the floor below her is a white sheet of paper with the pawprint of a medium sized feline, probably an ocelot, in black ink.
He should scream, or cry, or even try to get her out from that noose and do CPR. But the unnatural position of her neck and glassy appearance on her eyes tells him, screams at him, that he was too late and all he can do is stay frozen in place staring at the awful spectacle.
There is only a flicker of hope and recognition that whispers in his brain, it tells him "where are the kits?" So he bolts towards the nursery he and her brothers set up in the back of the burrow right before he left, heart thumping in his chest and adrenaline rushing in his veins he finds four cribs with tiny bundles on them.
They are quiet, too damn quiet, removing one of the blankets he draws an awful math. He last spoke to his wife right before he boarded the plane for a twenty hour flight and she had given birth already so she would soon go home, regardless of how long ago she had been killed, it was too long for newborn premature kits to be kept in the cold and without food.
The murderer of his wife didn't technically attack his kits, but all alone in the middle of winter, they never stood a chance.
….
Saint Helen Island, Present day
Twenty four fucking years, it was more than half his lifetime. He spent all that time hunting an enemy in an exhausting game of cat and mouse, fostering hate and resentment, carrying a chip on his shoulder the size of a spear. But all the sleepless nights, horrible nightmares and transcontinental chases end today.
Jack Savage swore he would chase Dr Meow till the end of the world, and in this volcanic island isolated by thousands of miles from any landmass he kinda did. So once again they stand face to face on a standoff, the hare's gun once again pointing at the feline's head. The only difference now is that the evil lair wasn't destroyed (just yet), and the nefarious doctor now has his partner pinned in front of him holding the barrel of the gun to her temple instead of aiming it between the hare's eyes.
That devious cat always had a gift for sensing his enemies' weaknesses, and after twenty four years building emotional walls so strong and high even a bulldozer wouldn't break them, he thought there was no weakness left.
So how did a vixen, of all mammals, managed to get inside his heart? Rabbits mate for life and his one true love was long gone, but against all odds he got emotionally attached to her and his mortal enemy knows that.
Dr Meow uses his partner and lover as a hostage, he keeps her right in front of him blocking Jack's view. Five years ago she had been working for him as an engineer but Savage managed to get her into his side and betray him, ever since then the terrorist had a silent vendetta against her. The rabbit was one thing, he had always been a frontal enemy, but Miss Frost had sneaked behind him and torn his well crafted database, that amount of backstabbing could never be forgiven.
Now if the seasoned agent shoots he might kill them both, if he doesn't the ocelot will eventually shoot her anyway once he manages to escape.
But Jack has a card on his sleeve, a secret hidden so deep within himself that not even Skye knew about it, there is a reason why he has to take the shot anyway even at the expense of his girlfriend's life. There is something much more valuable to him than his new love, even more that his hard earned revenge.
With a cold stare he tells agent Frost all she needs to know, she nods in acceptance and keeps herself as still as possible while discreetly turning her face away from her captor, giving him the clearest shot she can.
And so the agent fires his long range weapon, at the huge risk of killing his love. His enemy could not predict that move, he had been sure Savage was too much of a softie to kill his partner like she was just collateral damage in order to get him. If he weren't bleeding out on the floor the terrorist would've almost been proud of his foe for sacrificing his soul to get the job done.
Skye fell with Meow, for a second she thought the burning in her temple would be the last thing she would ever feel, but several deep breaths later she realizes the shot barely graced her.
In the numbing haze of her concussion she hears a second gunshot echoing in the lair, turning around she sees her partner over the prone figure of Meow, shooting a coup de grace on the feline's head.
She lifts herself gracefully in spite of the bleeding scrape on the side of her head, the red liquid taints her white fur.
Always the charming gentleman her partner helps her up from the blood stained floor and tries to apply first aid but she brushes him off.
-"I can handle it Savage, you contact the HQ while I'll look for a way out, I think I saw a jet ski on the west side of the compound"- Her tone is cold and strictly professional and he knows that even when she acts as calm and sly as always, she's mad at him.
She has every right to feel hurt that he treated her as expendable, and in all honesty he doesn't know if their relationship can survive something like this. There is a chance that he might have lost her and if he did, it would all be his fault.
But Serendipity help him, he did what he had to do.
So he gives her a court nod and does his job, the cleanup of a mission of this caliber is as important as the mission itself.
The inhabited island is blown up after they escaped into the ocean, they never spoke during the whole trip back into the mainland.
Six hours later:
"Now or never", Jack tells himself as he pads towards Skye's hotel room. His secret doesn't have to be hidden anymore and he hopes that if she knew why he did what he did, then she might forgive him.
He gently knocks on her door –"Frost, may I talk to you?"-
-"Come in"- Her voice is dispassionate and mechanical, that is NOT a good sign. He was often told that when a female rages at you there's usually a chance to get her back, but when she acts cold and distant then it's really serious.
When he opens the door he finds her packing her bags, ready to come home.
-"What is it?"- She doesn't stop packing, she won't even look at him in the eye.
-"I want you to know why I had to take the shot, even with the risk it would pose on your life"- His ears droop and his spine slouches in an uncharacteristic way, the rabbit superspy looks old beyond his years.
-"Is it because he would have killed me anyway? Or because you could have saved me but he might have escaped? And in the end you chose your vengeance over my life."- She gives him a small growl intertwined with a heavy sigh, throwing her remaining clothes on the large suitcase and closing it so bluntly she almost breaks the latches –"Fine Savage I get it, he killed your family and that's all you ever cared about. But let me ask you something, now that you got what you always wanted, what now?"- She pierces right through his heart with her ice blue eyes, the ghost of a snarl on her muzzle.
-"He didn't kill my entire family, one of my kits managed to survive. That's why I couldn't let him escape this time, I had to do this for my daughter's sake."-
The literal meaning of a mind blown is to feel so shocked you swear you brain has exploded and rearranged itself, shockwaves of numbness still rippled within her as she awkwardly slumped on the bed. In the five years she spent by Savage's side, she never suspected he had a kit, there was no paper trail, no wayward comment or slip of tongue, nothing.
-"What are you talking about?"- She says dumbfounded
He drags his large feet close to her bed and slumps right beside her -"Three of my kits died of exposure but one of them managed to survive, I don't know how, though I suspect it because she was the largest of the litter so she had a bit more body fat. Anyway I left her in the care of my sister in law who had recently given birth as well, I had no idea on how to properly care for a kit and I sure couldn't nurse her. My plan was to kill Meow right then, I was an idiot to think it would be something I could do right away, and then I'll come back for my kit once she was old enough to travel with me"-
-"But catching him took you twenty four years"- Skye said as the sad realization hit them both.
-"You could say that, yeah, though I lost the chance to raise her the moment I took her to my sister in law's burrow. Everyone in the town called her "the big matron" for a reason, Bonnie had more litters than any other doe since the age of civilization, yet she was very protective of all her kits. Apparently she imprinted on my baby right away and made it clear she wouldn't give her back to me, it doesn't help that she blamed me for her sister's death and was sure I would end up indirectly killing Judy as well, which is entirely possible given my track record"-
-"Judy? That's her name?"- Skye asked in wonder while gently rubbing her rabbit's back, he looked so vulnerable when talking about his long lost family
-"Judy Hopps, you might have heard of her"- A hint of fatherly pride invaded him and for the first time in his life he didn't need to suppress it
-"Wow, wait, Judy Hopps? THE Judy Hopps? That reckless cop that teamed up with the confox and brought down the corrupt mayor?... twice!?"-
-"Yep, the one and only, it seems that the apple didn't fall that far from the tree."- His smile is a ghost of the confident grin he used to give her when they first met, an expression as charming as fake, but his eyes water on the verge of tears –"And now you know why I had to kill him"-
A quick Zoogle search shows Skye a large amount of articles about the infamous Officer Hopps, from the screen of her smartphone the vixen can see the obvious resemblance, sure the fur pattern and eye color is different but the bone structure of her face is way too similar to Jack's to be considered a coincidence, not to mention the uncharacteristic athletic build both lapines shared. It is way too easy to track her origin as the daughter of Bonnie and Stu Hopps, who happened to be related to Jack's lineage by marriage.
The pieces were there, a simple connection away from being discovered, something a genius like Meow could piece together way too easily. Now that he had clued her in it was pretty obvious. –"If Meow had found out about her he would have killed her as well, just to get to you. Or worse, he might have caused her a lot of harm just to use her as a pawn against you"-
-"Had she kept a low profile she would've remained safe. But I never expected Judy to be a famous cop! I my head I always pictured she'll grow up like her mom, a sweet doe who loved to be at home and grow flowers"- And then he cries, not caring if he looks like a weak hearted bunny anymore, after twenty four years of pretending to be made of stone it feels good to let the emotions roll of him for once.
-"It must have been so hard for you, to let her go and be raised by someone else"- She says as she wraps her arms around her mate, her long fluffy tail envelopes them both.
-"You have no idea! I tried to get her back when she was almost a year old and Stuart chased me out with a rifle!"- His shoulders shake in a mixture of sobs and laughter –"They hated my guts, they still probably do, and after all the pain I caused to Bonnie's family I can't say I blame them. After that I didn't even bothered to contact her, it would've been safer for the whole Hopps burrow anyway"-
Skye steals a glance to Judy's picture once more, the cute doe has a beaming smile while holding the paw of a tall handsome red fox, the vixen shakes her head at the thought of Jack's daughter inheriting even his predilection for the vulpine species. –"She looks happy Jack, I think they raised her well"-
His cobalt blue eyes stray to the image –"Yeah they did, rifle or not I wouldn't have left her with them if they weren't good mammals"-
-"So I ask again, what now?"- Her claws gently caress his long soft droopy ears.
-"What do you mean?"-
-"Now that Meow is dead, will you try to contact her?"-
-"What would be the point? She's an adult now and if the news are to be believed, then she's doing more than well on her own. Judy doesn't need me, I would just turn her life upside down and for what? So I can have a father's day card?"- He tries to stomp away from her but he keeps him in a vicious hug, firmly in place.
-"So you don't want to meet her?"- Those clear blue eyes might as well be used as lie detectors because they can read his reactions with a disturbing accuracy.
His eyes leak again and his nose twitches, his expression gave her an answer already but he tells her anyway. –"I do. But it's not about what I want, it's about what's best for her"-
White fur bristles on the vixen's back as her clawed paws take a possessive grip below her lover's chin, forcing him to look right into her eyes. –"Well the news said she was almost eaten alive by her partner, who was almost drugged by the mayor, after they crashed a train with very volatile chemicals. Sure her parents probably did a good job raising her, but I'm pretty sure they can't help her survive on a job as dangerous as hers, you can.
She might be technically an adult now but she's clearly a reckless and inexperienced cop living in a violent world that looks down on her, that's an issue in which you have a lot of experience. So spare me the "what's best for her BS" she needs you now more than ever."-
-"Then what am I supposed to do Skye?! Should I just go to her apartment, knock on her door and say "hey! You don't know me but I'm actually your biological dad, by the way Bonnie and Stuart are just your adoptive parents so you've been living a lie all your formative years" Yeah because that won't mess her up"- he crosses his arms over his chest and pouts, he went from looking like a tired old man to a whiny kit.
-"We'll figure something out, but you have wasted too much time already. Maybe you lost the first years of your daughter's life but hopefully she has many more years ahead for you to catch up. Now get that cotton tail of the bed and start packing, we have a lot to do and I want to meet my new step daughter as soon as possible"-
Skye looks animated now, her tail wags a little at the prospect of meeting the remaining of his lost family, as if she knew connecting him to Judy would give him true happiness for once. He holds her tight and gives her a long passionate kiss, it is the first time in over two decades since he felt hope.