"Vickie."
"What?"
"What's that?"
The slight young vixen glanced up from the huge, dented silver pot she was stirring with a crooked plastic spoon and peered through a haze of smoke at the kit seated at the tiny table in the room that served as kitchen, dining room, and living room in their cramped dwelling. She couldn't have been more than eleven, and he was around five or six.
"You'll find out when you're done with that math." she said, removing the spoon and waving it tantalizingly in front of the kit's snout. He stuck out his tongue to catch a drop of the milky liquid clinging to the utensil, and she pretended to smack him on the nose with it.
"Don't be nasty, Nick."
"You should just let me eat now," the little boy offered sagely. "If you loved me, you would."
"You had an apple for lunch."
"That wasn't enough!"
"You know the rules, Nicky." the girl told him firmly. "Homework first, then dinner. Otherwise you'll get sleepy and won't want to finish."
"It doesn't matter if I finish." Nick said glibly. "Miss Ramsey said school won't help foxes anyway. I'll just be a factory worker like daddy was."
He jumped when Vickie slammed the spoon down on the stovetop and whirled around, teeth bared in anger. "She said that to you?" When he nodded, she growled. "That saggy sheep can go to hell."
"Vickie!" Nick yelped, delighted. "Bad words!"
"I don't care," Vickie growled. "She had no right to tell you that. You're smart, smarter than any other kit in this neighbourhood. The whole city, probably."
Nick looked down, flushing with pleasure. "No I'm not."
"Yes, you are." She walked over to his chair and placed a paw between his ears, fiery hazel eyes softening as he purred and nuzzled into her touch. "School matters, Nicky, especially for us. It matters to me, and to to mama. You have to be smart so you can have a better life, and show people that...that we can do good things, okay?"
"We can be good, Nick. You can."
"Okay, Vickie."
Judy
When Judy's eyes pry themselves open hours later, there's a brief, blissful moment where she doesn't register anything past the sheets bundled around her and the faint honey colored beams of sunlight filtering in through the blinds, warming her nose.
For a few wonderful seconds, it's the start of a regular day.
Her radio alarm is going to start blasting the newest Gazelle song to wake her up fully, the coffee maker will turn on automatically after that, and Nick will send her an obnoxious good morning text complete with moving pictures and sound.
Nick...
Who's scent is somehow directly beneath her face, in her bed. For a second, Judy wonders if she's having another one of those (perfectly normal for a healthy female bunny with regular urges and an attractive partner, thankyouverymuch) dreams, but as time passes and nothing... sensual begins to happen, she drifts out of her sleepy haze a bit-
'Vickie?!'
And everything that happened slams into her with the speed and force of a Mack truck, knocking the air out of her lungs.
Raid. Club. Vixen. Hospital. Nick.
NICK. Who slept over the night before. Nick, who is still in her apartment, or should be, at least. But she doesn't hear anything besides her own rapidly quickening breath.
'Cheese and CRACKERS-!'
Judy gasps so fast her ribs protest at the harsh, sudden inflation. She sits bolt upright in bed and fights her covers for the freedom of her limbs before giving up and just rolling onto the floor, taking everything with her and letting gravity separate rabbit from bedsheets. She bounds into the hallway, ears perked and desperate for any sound of movement or activity.
'Fluff, FLUFF, you dumb fluffing-'
She prays he was still in the apartment. Bogo had SPECIFICALLY said to not leave Nick's side and give him a chance to do something stupid, because he wasn't thinking straight.
Here she was, dozing the morning away, while her emotionally compromised partner could be getting thrown out of the hospital, or beating the shiznit out of suspects at the precinct, or aimlessly wandering the streets, or... or...
The bottom of her feet burn as Judy slides into the main room- panting, fur disheveled, violet eyes wild and panicked- only to find Nick perched calmly on the couch with the remote in his hand, returning her frantic stare with one of dry amusement and surprise.
His eyebrow travels up his forehead, and he tilts his neck to the side. "Where's the fire, Carrots?"
Judy bends over at the waist, partly to catch her breath, but mostly to hide the foolish blush sizzling the fuzz on her cheeks. "I t-thought... you'd... left."
Nick doesn't smile, but his lips tilt upward in a ghost of the familiar expression. "Well, that's what you get for thinking."
Judy huffs quietly, chagrined. "Why didn't you wake me up?"
Nick looks... better, than the night before. Or maybe that's wishful thinking, and he's just hiding it more efficiently. She has a strong, sneaking suspicion that it's the latter. There isn't much he can do to cover the deep, bruise colored shadows clinging to the underside of his eyelids, in any case. His knee is jiggling nervously, up and down, up and down, his tail is rigid, and he's reflexively mashing the buttons on the remote in his paw without paying a lick of attention to what he was supposed to be watching.
"I wasn't sure I could." he replies. "Didn't have a bullhorn handy."
Judy steadfastly ignores the jab and straightens her pajama shirt, wincing as she runs her tongue around her mouth, tasting her own breath. Her blush worsens when she remembers the impulsive decision she'd made- fluff, she hopes she wasn't breathing that into Nick's face all night.
"Just give me five minutes," Judy pleads. "We'll go as soon as I throw something on." Site needs to shake the wrinkles out of her uniform and at least 'brush her dentures', as her father would say. She knows he's anxious to leave- UNDERSTATEMENT of the CENTURY- but she really, really does not want him to go alone.
Nick's muzzle folds into a frown, and the fur on his shoulders bristles beneath his uniform shirt. "Yeah...about that. I'm a big fox, I don't really need an escort. I was just waiting to say thanks, and catch you later."
Judy balks at him, bewildered. "Nick, you're not going alone."
Nick's conviction doesn't budge. He crosses his arms over his chest, and Judy can see that she's got another fight on her hands. "Hopps, seriously. I appreciate last night, really, I do. Can't thank you enough. But this is something I have to do by my lonesome," he stresses, standing as if to walk out right then.
Judy plunks her paws on her hips, scoffing. "I'm on this case. I'm going to the hospital."
"Fine, just not with me." he retorts.
"I have the keys to the cruiser." Judy informs him. "What are you gonna do, walk?"
Nick's smile is brittle and too wide. His teeth gleam, and his ears press flat against his skull. "Hey, walking's healthy. Cardio and all that bullshit, right?"
"You'll be mobbed before you make it half a block." Judy closes her eyes briefly and inhales, trying to keep a hold on her temper. There's a sharp wrenching feeling in her chest. Nick is basically telling her he doesn't want her with him, and...it hurts, more than she'd care to admit out loud. The old Judy might have quailed under that painful declaration and meekly let him leave her behind to avoid damaging their tentative relationship.
But she'd made up her mind exactly eight hours ago. Nick would not be alone through this, not if she could conceivably help it. Those walls were coming down and staying down, dammit.
"I was there, Nick," she says after a while, voice tight and muted with emotion. "Remember? I saw those girls. I...I have to. They need..." The back of her eyes burn and her vision goes shiny as she recalls the sow with a bullet in her brain, and the terror, the unadulterated pain in that vixen's eyes...
'N-Nicky?'
She has to swallow twice before she can speak. "I saw her, Nick. I know... I know how this must be for you." He doesn't reply. Judy takes a step forward until they're sharing each other's personal space and stares at him until he makes eye contact. It's only for a small second before he's looking away, but it's enough for her.
"We'll figure this out, okay?" she breathes, heart turning agonized flips in her throat. "I promise you, we will figure out why this happened. We. US. You and me, together, as partners, because I'm going. And that's final."
Nick is quiet for a long, long time, so long that a part of Judy begins to worry that he's going to lash out again, or something worse. Ultimately, he lets out a shuddering exhale and sinks slowly back down onto the couch, shaking his head. "Five minutes," he grunts, halving her projected time. "Five, or I'm getting my power walking weights and leaving your fluffy behind, BEHIND."
"Four," Judy chirps brightly, dashing back towards the bedroom section. She nearly levitates with how fast she slathers a layer of deodorant under her arms, gargles with a mixture of toothpaste, water, and mouthwash, and changes back into her blues. Her guts are jumping with nerves and apprehension, but she sticks to her decision to do this with Nick, for Nick.
The fox is pacing a rut in her living room floor by the time she re-enters the room, keys to the cruiser jangling in paw. "Ready?"
She expects a quip, something along the lines of 'my grey hairs certainly seem to think so', but all Nick does is gulp and nod once, turning for the door.
Nick
Zootopia general is the largest species inclusive hospital in the city, catering to predators and prey and everyone in between. Nick drags himself out of his own head long enough to be extremely grateful for their cop status as Judy circles around the ambulance traffic and civilian parking structures to use the special police section. The only reason he isn't driving is because he never officially earned a driver's license (he's working on it, but he's convinced the precinct instructor is speciesist towards foxes. No one else believes him, shockingly).
It's probably better. They would have blown every light and would most likely be dragging the corpses of the pedestrians he would have no doubt run over in his haste to get there behind them.
Nick is out of the car and to the entrance before the engine has a chance to stop running, and Judy has to jog to catch up to him and his longer legs.
He doesn't know what he expects to see the instant he crosses the threshold, but it certainly isn't Bogo and DelGato, both of their large frames crammed into waiting room chairs much too small for them. They stand when they notice him, Judy a footstep behind him, and DelGato gives him a weak sort of smile that looks like it's maybe supposed to be encouraging but in reality just makes Nick feel sick. He's not really sure why the lion is there...DelGato and he have the usual predator-predator amiable attitude towards each other, but past that, Nick doesn't even know his first name.
"Chief?" he coughs, shocked. "What...?"
The buffalo rumbles deep in his chest and fixes him with a scowl. "I'm the commanding officer of this precinct and on this case, Wilde. Did you honestly believe I wouldn't be here?"
Right. Right, there are other girls, other than...
Something about that statement just... needles Nick, but he can't quite put his finger on why. There's a light pressure in the back of his mind and behind his lungs, and he's feeling slightly itchy under his fur.
"What's happening now?" Judy pipes up at his side. Nick has to restrain himself from taking a step away from her.
"We're waiting for the doctor," DelGato tells her, and what do you know, speak of the devil, because as soon as the words are out of his mouth, an official looking hippo in a white lab coat and blue scrubs waddles over to them, clutching a clipboard.
"My name is Dr. Tubman. Am I to assume that you're all here from the ZPD?" he asks. Nick has to blink to keep himself from rolling his eyes. Seriously.
"Were the uniforms your first clue?"
Judy stomps on his foot HARD, but he barely feels it. Bogo's scowl deepens, and the look on his face is a warning. "Yes, we are. I am Chief Thaddeous Bogo, and these are my primary officers on the FurFlung investigation."
"Judy Hopps," the doctor says, with a kind smile at the bunny by Nick's side. "Yes, I recognize you." The look he levels at Nick is much less friendly, but he can't bring himself to notice much or care.
"What can you tell us about the girls?" Bogo cuts in brusquely. Dr Tubman nods and waves them away from the bustling main entrance.
"In all, twenty three girls were delivered in ambulances here." he begins, adjusting the winking glasses perched on the end of his wide snout. "Eight predators, and fifteen prey." Nick's heart convulses at 'predator', but he's sure no one notices.
"A sow was shot fatally prior to arriving, and was declared beyond help on scene." Tubman continues. "Her family has been notified The others are currently being treated for varying injures. We checked the police database, and as of now we've identified seven of them as mammals that have been reported missing in Zootopia in the last five months."
Nick's vision is telescoping at this point, and there's a strange whistle sound drowning out his thoughts.
It's hot in the room, he hadn't realized before. It's very hot in the room. The conversation takes place around and over him like the tide.
"Three of them are awake, if you'd like to speak to them."
"Which ones?"
"Erm... Kelly Mawson, Melanie O'Gnaw, and one coyote that intensified herself as...ah, 'Rachel'. I'll have an orderly take you to their rooms."
"Thank you. Hopps, I want you and Wilde to... Wilde. Wilde!"
Pain rockets through his ulna as stubby claws dig into the juncture of Nick's elbow and bicep. Nick flinches and looks down and around, to where a big pair of lavender lenes are staring hard into his own green eyes. He slowly raises his chin to meet Bogo's disturbed glare, and a lick of electric irritation lashes at his heart.
"Keep your head on straight, Wilde." Bogo mumbles, and Nick is even more annoyed when he hears the undertone of pity struggling to hide itself in the buffalo's words.
He grits his teeth and forces his lips to spread into a grin that hurts his cheeks. "Will do, Chief."
A nurse comes to lead DelGato and Bogo away. Tubman starts to turn back to the front desk, and before Nick can say anything Judy clears her throat loudly to redraw his attention. "Excuse me, Dr Tubman?"
The hippo spins to face them, clearly surprised. "Officer Hopps. Aren't you going with them?"
"N-no, we aren't. We're here to inquire about another patient." Judy explains, foot thumping a rapid, nervous beat on the shiny tiles. All of Nick's blood is sloshing noisily in his skull.
Tubman shrugs and lifts a piece of paper away from the clipboard. "Name?"
Nick's mind blanks, and he starts to inexplicably panic. His tongue freezes. He hasn't...he hasn't said her name in...he doesn't think he can.
Judy flicks her eyes at him and nudges Nick gently between the shoulder blades, dislodging the sounds stuck in his throat. It sounds and feels like liquid sandpaper coming out, tearing up and through his vocal cords.
He takes a breath in, but it doesn't reach his lungs. "V-Victoria W-Wilde." At the doctors puzzled look, Nick chews on his tongue and spits out a clarification. They hadn't even bothered to IDENTIFY her. "The v-vixen."
Dr Tubman slowly lowers the paper and fixes Nick with an unreadable expression. "Wilde." he echoes. "Officer... ah. I see...wife?"
"...Sister." The correction is a whisper. Any louder and he'd be screaming. Belatedly, he wonders if he's still asleep, if any of this is even happening at all.
"...I see," the doctor says again. "Well, ah, she isn't...her condition was one of the more...extreme cases. I doubt very much if you'd want to..."
A red pulse throbs behind Nick's eyeballs. It feels like someone is cooking his intestines over a campfire. "I. Need. To. See. Her." he grinds out, russet fur bristled to nearly twice it's usual volume, muscles tensed to snap. It's been a long, long time since he was this angry, felt this out of control of himself. He's barely keeping it together.
There's a flash of fear in the doctor's mud brown eyes. "Now, look now, Officer, for her own safety-"
Her safety!?
Out of his peripheral vision, Nick sees a timber wolf security guard inching towards them with a surly frown, paw hovering over his belt. Nick catches the acrid scent of Judy's fear as it spikes, and she speaks hurriedly to the doctor, digging her nails deeper into Nick's arm until there's a danger of drawing blood.
"Please," she snaps. "It's... this is a very intricate situation. Please."
Tubman closes his mouth with a hard click. Whatever he sees in her eyes must convince him, or maybe it's the growl fighting to claw its way out of Nick's diaphragm. He wordlessly waves away the looming security guard and beckons for them to follow him down a long hall. Nick feels like he's floating. His insides are hot and roiling, but his limbs are the opposite, cold and faraway from his brain, operating on their own steam without any input from him.
They come to the last door at the end of the dimly lit hall after passing a sign emblazoned with ICU. The green curtain is pulled over the large window that looks into the room. The sour stench of pain hovers over the entire area. Nick's ears swivel to catch the moans and strangled sobs emanating from the rooms on either side. A shudder rattles down his spine.
"I think it might be best to warn you before you go in." Tubman says. "We're not sure exactly how long she was with...those people-"
I do, Nick thinks. I do.
"-but the damage was extensive. She has multiple fractures, sprains, and badly healed breaks, mostly her ribs, ankles, and wrists. Her humorous was broken very badly at some point. Multiple contusions and wounds to her back, face, and legs, some of them infected. Bruising, both external and internal. One of her ears was nearly severed...we had to stitch most of it back on..."
The doctor goes on and on, and Nick can sense himself getting more and more distant from the situation. Judy's grip on his arm is the only thing keeping him from...from-
"There was also evidence of..." Tubman fingers his clipboard and dips his head, lowering his voice. "Of repeated and recent sexual assault." Nick's tail spasms, and Judy's claws, if possible, burrow even deeper into his flesh.
"Stop," she chokes-
"No." Nick rasps, wide eyed and hoarse. He needs to know.
Dr Tubman hooks a tooth over his lip, but haltingly continues at a nod from Nick. "From the scarring, we think that it was occurring over a long period of time. There's also reason to believe that she may have been pregnant at one time and wasn't able to carry it to term. Besides that, she's dehydrated, malnourished, and there were traces of NH 3158 in her system, a diluted and altered formula derived from the Night Howler syrum. We're still looking into that, though,-"
"I'm going in."
Nick's own voice doesn't reach his ears until a few seconds after Judy turns and gapes at him like he's lost his mind. Her yelp, when it comes, is shrill with disbelief.
"Nick, that's not...she's not awake, she's-"
"Let me go." he commands, dangerously calm. He doesn't want to hurt her, he really doesn't, but he might if she doesn't listen and let him go. The doctor watches, clearly on edge, as Judy makes a noise somewhere between a plead and a sob and slowly removes her paw from his arm, moisture clinging to her long lashes.
"I can't let you in," Tubman says quickly, "she's in very bad shape. But I can let you see her from out here."
Nick nods again, and the hippo raps his thick knuckles on the wood. Someone inside, presumably a nurse, draws back the curtains. Nick squares his shoulders and clenches his fists before forcing himself to look inside.
Whatever he's expecting... it isn't that.
The vixen in the bed is debilitated and weak, pale and small in the bed that's not her size, dwarfed and surrounded by the racks of IV's connected to every conceivable limb. Blood is crusted and congealed around her nose, and her thin chest flutters with infinitesimal, laboured breaths in time with the beeping of the heart monitor by her head. She's covered in gauze and bandages, and there's a clear tube trailing out of the corner of her mouth, pumping a pale pink substance down her throat.
The air constricts around Nick while he gazes at the horrific scene. His skin is crawling. He's claustrophobic. He's freaking the fuck out.
This isn't what he remembers. This shouldn't be.
Vickie wasn't like this. Vickie was strong. Tall. Pretty. Loud. ALIVE.
This girl in the bed...she's close to death.
This isn't his sister. It can't be. He's about to move away from the window, tell Dr Tubman that they've made a mistake, that this is the wrong vixen, but then the girl's eyelids twitch. One slides open a fraction of a centimeter, revealing the edge of a bloodshot pale green iris with a ring of hazel around the outside.
'Nicky?'
And Nick-
Nick runs.
(A/N: Comments, maybe?)
