"Yes Cottontail he's in deep, deep problems, he needs help"
As soon as those words reached her brain Judy's whole body froze, her mind Just shut off, unable to form coherent thoughts anymore, she stayed there like a statue, the paw grasping her phone suddenly slack, Finnick's words were ringing relentlessly in her ears, Nick in trouble, trouble, he needs help.
"Cottontail you there? Did you hear me?"
With a jolt she regained control of her mind and body "Yes, yes I'm here I just…what's happened to him? He was fine when I left him after our shift, he's wounded?, do I need to call an ambulance or, or maybe…one of our colleagues at the Precint, I-"
"First of all you have to calm down ok? You won't be of any benefit to him in this state, and second it's not the kind of situation you want police or hospital involved if you understand what I mean."
Oh man "I do"
"Good, now listen, I don't want to talk about this on the phone so I'm on my way to pick you up, get ready in 5, dress comfy and warm, understood?" And without waiting for an answer he ruthlessly hung on
She remained like that for some time, her phone still on her ear, trying to absorb everything when she suddenly realized that she had only four minutes left out of five. With a new determination she hurriedly grabbed some clothes, put them on as quickly as she can and without thinking twice she rushed out her small apartment.
She was practically on autopilot, she walked down the stairs, traveled through the small hallway of the condo and opened the front door almost without realizing until she felt the sudden gush of ice-cold air on her face, it was like a balm for her troubled mind and it helped her regain her usual lucidity.
Nick, what did you get yourself into? What did you do to push your grumpy friend, that barely tolerate me, to ask for my help? She cupped her paws in front of her and blew on them in order to warm them up, It must be something illegal if I can't call for police or medical support, why Nick? You said you were clean, you swore your hustler's days were over now.
She shook her head at that, refusing to believe even for a moment that he was back to that life. No, it can't be that, I trust you, it's your past isn't it? It still bothers you even if you left it all behind, well you aren't alone anymore, hang in there Slick I'm coming.
"Come on Finnick move that old rusty jalopy" She yelled at the empty street
As if on cue, with a loud screech of brake, said jalopy was now in front of her with his small sullen driver who, without saying a word or even a simple greeting, was silently urging her to get in with a slight flick of his paw.
She didn't' hesitate, she quickly opened the passenger door, strapped in and off they go.
However, If she was expecting some explanation from the fennec fox, she was very disappointed when he gave none, not only that, but he stubbornly kept his eyes on the dark street refusing even to acknowledge her presence.
"Well?"
He looked at her with an annoyed expression "Well what?"
If she wasn't so worried for her friend she would have laughed at the sheer contrast between his voice and his appearance but she regained immediately her resolve and almost yelled at him "Well what?! You call me in the middle of the night telling me that my partner is in deep trouble and he needs help, you then ordered me to get ready for you to pick me up and now you just stay there playing dumb? Do you have an idea of how worried I am? I don't' even know what to think, he's wounded? he's still alive or already dead? He's been used as a punching ball from some thieves? Damn it fox say something or I'm not being responsible for my action."
"Whoa, whoa calm down fluff you must not distract the driver", he said raising one of his hand in mock surrender, "I was just trying to gauge your reaction that's all."
"Gauge my reaction? What does that even mean?" She angrily retorted
He just kept driving as it was nothing, still ignoring her questions, but this time, instead of his usual scowl, he was smiling, and worst of all it was a known smile, the one you have when you know something that the counterpart ignored.
That was the last drop for the angry rabbit but before she could act on her homicidal rage he decided to talk
"You finally admit that you care little rabbit."
She was taken aback from the comment, "Of course I care. He's my best friend but I still don't understand what's this all about and you're not helping here."
"Best friend uh? Well you are right on one thing carrots' chewer, you don't understand."
"What?"
"Now shut your cute little mouth and listen ok? He's in a safe place and he's fine, for now, but it will not last long, point is I can't do anything for him, you can though, that's why you are here."
"Wow, that was extremely clear, thank you very much" she said sarcastically.
He chuckled, "Sorry but that's all you'll get from me, this kind of things are difficult to explain and I'm not good with words, it's better to show them directly, especially when I have to deal with extremely stubborn mammals."
Judy mentally gave up in trying to understand the fox's reasoning and mental stability, so she opted to remain in silence wondering how long till they finally reach whatever destination they were going to.
"You are like an open book you know? I'm not surprised we hustled you so easily back then."
"Well to my credit I can say you were an adorable little elephant, baby toot toot"
"Touché, and I thought you were just a cute bunny with a dream too big for your sake, the classical naïve farm girl, imagine my surprise when I discovered that it wasn't like that at all. If you ever decide to became a con just let me know I will be more than glad to be your mentor"
Wait was that a compliment? Well sort of…but still
He chuckled again "Yes it's a compliment don't dwell too much on it ok?"
She turned to face him astonished, did she said that out loud?
"No, lady cop you didn't say anything nor do I have Esp, I spent all my life in reading mammals for my job that I'm a natural, some people are easier than other and you have no secrets for me."
For unknown reason she felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment and she quickly turned around towards the window "How much more?"
"Relax we're almost there." After a slight hesitation he continued "To tell the truth sometimes I really don't understand why people tend to make life more difficult, they keep searching for the perfect opportunity and when it's right in front of them they decided to ignore it for some stupid fears. Even when it's clear like the sun that all those fears are unjustified and the feeling is mutual."
He sighed
"He won't even listen, and he's continuously hurting himself, well this end tonight one way or the other. Get ready Hopps, we're here."
The brief monologue did nothing to reassure her mood if anything she felt even more on edge, the HE he was talking about was clearly Nick but the rest was quite messy in her opinion. She was in such a hurry that she even forgot to bring some sort of weapon. Man what kind of cop I am?
"Don't worry it's not a trap and I have no intention of hurting you. If something like that ever happens I think that he will skin me alive and then use my pelt for a muff."
This elicit a little laugh from the gray bunny and Finnick glared at her with his best murdering expression "Hey I resent that laugh missy, just so you know my pelt is extremely soft, I could make a very classy piece of clothing." And with that he opened his door and jumped out of the van.
Still smiling despite the strange situation she did the same and once in the open her cop's instinct took over immediately. He drove to a very abandoned industrial area similar to the one she found Nick so many months ago under that bridge.
It was dark and grim, they were probably the first visitors in ages, but she didn't detect any sound or strangeness. As creepy as it seems the place appeared to be innocuous.
"This way Fluff and watch your steps, the ground is full of metallic scraps but I assure you they are the scariest things you can find in here and Ouch-ok see? That's was what I was talking about."
Suddenly a faint light was pointed to his foot, Judy was using the torch app on her phone and checking for any possible injuries, "It's just a scratch and you're lucky the metal wasn't rusty, but you'd better check with a doctor tomorrow I don't think the dirt do wonders in this case." That said she started to wrap the small appendage with her handkerchief using it as a gauze.
"There, all done, if you have some antiseptic inside I could do a better job later."
"Don't stress yourself over me fuzzy wuzzy, it may not seem but I'm an adult, I won't cry over a little cut I've seen worse believe me. Now let's get over with this foolishness, we have a job to do and a mammal to save. Follow me."
There was a little pause and after a while he simply said "Thank you."
"It was nothing" she minimized
"No, maybe for you it was nothing but for me, for my species, what you've done just a moment ago means a lot it's no wonder that he..." but he didn't finish the line
"That he what?" She gently asked
"Never mind, you will see soon enough, let's go and be careful, we're out of handkerchief."
She internally smiled, it was obvious he was embarrassed of the attention and he was masking it with rudeness, she decided to let it go and obediently she followed the fox, her worries for Nick came back with full force.
He led her to one of the smallest building and he opened the heavy door with a bit of effort for them to enter and once they did, they find themselves surrounded by total darkness. The only little source of light was Judy's torch but even that has such a faint range that all they could see was a small portion of the floor, just enough not to stumble.
The doe, anyway, was so engrossed with the task of finding the red fox that she wasn't interested in anything else, much less the decorations of a foreign warehouse. It could have been furnished by the most expensive internal designer for all that she cared, but she had to admit that, while she was expecting a foul smell of mold or at least stagnant air, the atmosphere was anything but, it was almost pleasurable.
The two animals walk side by side sharing as much light as they could until they stopped in front of another door, "He's here?"
He nodded "You'd better turn the light off now, he's been in the dark for a lot of time and any little source of light will bother his eyes."
She did as she was told and put her mobile in the back pocket of her jacket, he held the door open while she carefully step inside the darker room.
"Nick? Nick are you there? Are you ok? Don't worry whatever it is we can fix... "
SLAM
What the hell? She turned around to the source of the noise but the door was closed, "Finnick? Open the door, Finnick?"
She frantically patted the wooden surface searching for a handle but there was nothing, she was trapped inside and the stupid fennec fox was nowhere to be seen
"Okay okay don't panic, you are a cop remember? Take a breath and think, you trained six months for this kind of situations right? Now grab your phone and, wait where is it?" She emptied all her pockets but it was gone.
All of a sudden a screen on one of the walls came to life and she found herself surrounded by light, and for the first time since she entered in the building she was able to see something.
She cautiously approached the odd source of light and she noticed that it wasn't a screen but some sort of window with a clear vision of the other room, now completely visible, in the middle of which stood a very proud Fennec fox with his arms crossed behind his back.
"Hopps I know you can hear me, and I want to apologize because I hustled you again. Nick is not here…yet, and before he arrives we have to talk. Well at least I have to talk because the room you are in is completely soundproof and just so you know the door had a thickness twice the normal and a heart of steel so it's basically indestructible. I'm not sure that even a plastic explosive can do the trick. So don't' even bother to dislocate your shoulder on that."
"This is an old place we used for some of our less legal activities in the past, for your sake I won't get into details." He gestured with one finger to the window they were both looking at "This is a one way mirror, like the one you cops use for your interrogations, you know how it works so I leave it at that, I'm afraid the heater is broken so you might get a little cold in there, you can find a blanket and a big thermos filled with hot carrot tea on a small table, I have no idea how long it will take, so I suggest you to use both items."
With a flourish worthy of a magician he produced out of nowhere her phone," I took your phone from your pocket and I'm confiscating it for the time being, I learned this trick when I was five so don't blame yourself if you haven't realized it." And with practiced skill her phone disappeared once more.
"Now I must go retrieve that stupid fox of yours, I have the only key so you will be safe, I will be back shortly, make yourself at home and try not to miss me too much!"
He turned around and he only added "If this goes as planned I promise you that once is all over I will let you take your revenge on me in any way you seem fit." And he was out of the door without another word.
Judy was speechless, trapped in a small room by a clever fox, with some sort of plans for her. How can she have been so foolish? Best cop ever my ass! Tricked like a rookie. Just the thought of that was enough to make her nose twitch and her little foot thumping like crazy.
"Finnick you little mutt, you will pay for that was it the last thing that I do, just wait and see"
Out of sheer willpower she forced her nose and limb to stop.
"Damn he was right, it's freezing in here" she said vigorously rubbing her arms, she noticed the blanket and angrily she wrapped it against her body and over her head and ears, luckily it was designed for a bigger mammal and she was able to cover herself adequately. She was surprised when she discovered that It was very soft and clean and she felt immediately a lot warmer, she then grabbed the thermos and sat on an old stool exactly in the center of her "prison" and she resigned herself to a long wait.
On her high position, she had now a perfect view of the other side, she noticed it was quite empty except for the bare necessities, a worn out couch, some mismatched chairs and some sort of cocktail cabinet so big that it takes up a whole wall.
She uncorked the thermos, poured a generous dose of the steaming beverage in the lid and brought it to her lips savoring the sweet brew.
As she sipped it slowly she wondered idly which kind of business had taken place in there when the door opened and two well known mammals made their appearance, she gasped and she almost dropped both the thermos and the cup when she notices the state Nick was in.
He was slumped over the smaller fox's shoulder with a half empty bottle of beer in his other paw, and by the way he was dragging himself or rather by the way he was being dragged it wasn't just his first beer of the night He's drunk?
"Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiin you are such a gooooooood fiend you know it?"
"Yes, yes and you stink like a distillery you know it? How many did you drink this time?"
"Maybe a couple…of dozen! Lost count on 15."
"You're killing yourself or at least your liver if he didn't commit suicide already, and this" he took the bottle away "is mine now"
"Awww no give it back, it's my sweet solace."
"No way, now sit" and he unceremoniously flopped him on the couch.
He lightly bounced on the cushions but didn't complain, he just rested his head on the upper edge of the sofa and sadly stared at the ceiling.
Meanwhile the lighter fox was busy rummaging in the cabinet bringing our various bottles of different sizes and colors and placing them on the counter next to a cocktail shaker.
"Ok spit it out. What happened this time? What did she do?"
The former hustler smiled but it was a sad one, he placed his elbows on his thighs and he hunched over, head down and ears flat he appeared to be in a deep misery.
Judy on the other side was in no better shape She? He's like that because of a girl? Wait is the one he was talking about this morning? Oh Nick why? Is that stupid girl so important to you? You can do better than her.
"Yes, Fin it's her, it's always for her, and she didn't do anything wrong, it's not her fault, it never has been. I'm the wrong one, if only I wasn't born a fox."
"Well flash news for you, you ARE a fox and there's nothing you can do about it. Now, care to tell me why you drowned your blood cell in beer?"
He raised his head and opened his glossy green eyes looking straight in front of him "She's getting married Fin, Carrots…my Carrots will be a beautiful bride soon, too bad I will not be her groom."
Wait, what?