Chapter 3: Baring it all.

Joe looked out of the passenger side window while telling Finnick all about the academy and the circumstances surrounding his dishonorable discharge. It hadn't seemed fair towards his new employers to keep that information from them. While disclosing everything he also made damn sure the fennec fox understood that he had been framed. It would be one thing if FDS didn't want to keep him on as he presented an increased risk for their image, but he wouldn't be fired for them thinking he was a drug user. Still, the fennec looked pensive for a minute before speaking. "Even though you claim that it was a frame job you understand we're gonna make you take a drug test."

The skunk understood this reasoning completely. It made sense, and it would absolve Joe to his employers. "No problem I'll take it as many times as you need to trust me."

Finnick nodded, he had looked the guy over, and all the telltale signs of drug abuse were absent so it would be strange if he were taking drugs, but in this case, it was better to make sure. "Good. I'll have Honey design a sure fire test to ensure."

The sharp intake of breath made the fennec look over, and he saw the skunk with wide, fearful eyes stare into the distance. "What? You think we would use a store bought kit that can't detect for manure?"

Joe looked at Finnick and tried to speak, but nothing else than a squeak came out. Retaking himself the skunk coughed and tried again. "Please tell me you don't have the intent to subject me to any more of her creations?"

"It's that, or you won't get hired." Finnick understood the skunk's reluctance to try another of the badger's inventions, but in this case, he would not risk the future of his business to employ someone with a compromised background without some evidence that he at least was not using.

The skunk leaned back and sighed heavily. This was the moment where Joe needed to decide his actions. If he didn't do the probably crazy near suicidal test that woman would come up with he wouldn't get the job, and he would lose the huge chance it presented for an in with the ZPD and the possibility of getting into the academy for his investigation.

On the other hand, he would still be alive to regret his loss. Closing his eyes, he thought back to that moment in the locker room. The moose instructor went by every locker, and when he opened the skunk's one, Joe noticed the small smile the instructor had before schooling his features. As the instructor accused him, he saw the disbelieving face of Harris, and he felt a presence behind him.

As he turned around, he saw the female cadets that had come over to see what the turmoil had been and the skunk saw his 'best' friend Cindy stand there. He called out to her, asked her to speak on his behalf that he wouldn't use drugs, but she had just shaken her head in a dismissive gesture and walked away.

Joe closed his eyes feeling the sting of anger and betrayal but felt new resolve filling his core. "Fine I'll take your damn test, just let me say my goodbyes to my family. And if I should die, you can be sure I'll be haunting your ass."

The fennec chuckled. "You haunt away. I don't really care and don't even think Honey would let a chance slip by to study your ethereal ass."

As the van filled with laughter, they arrived at their destination as the evening set in.


Joe opened the front door and entered the lobby. While it had become night, the Mystic Spring still had more than enough patrons, and the skunk hurried towards the reception desk to hand over the package. He had heard that the oasis was a naturalist club, but luckily it seemed that the mammals were still clothed in the lobby.

The skunk was wondering though who had told him about the club, but decided that he could figure that out at a later date. As he reached the desk, he looked at the mammal who was behind it a yak who seemed to be in the middle of his meditations flies bussing all around his head. Joe was wondering how he would approach the mammal when he heard the side door opening and saw a couple of hogs walk by without clothes on.

It wasn't that Joe was uncomfortable with other mammals and nudity, but he also didn't feel comfortable either. He just had to hand over this parcel and get out before he saw something he wished he hadn't, and the job would be his. His destiny clear he cleared his throat and addressed the yak behind the desk. "Hi! FDS we have a parcel for a miss Nangi?"

The yak stopped chanting and part the hair on his head to look at him. "FDS eh? Must be the miniature zen garden she ordered online. You must hand it over to her yourself so please disrobe in the locker room over there and follow me."

At this Joe had to blink. Discarding his clothes in this place wasn't a thing he was thrilled to do, but he understood that this was why he was handling this delivery as it must be part of the test. This one to see how far he was willing to go to make his delivery. Softly muttering reassurances to himself, he went to the lockers and put his clothes away.

After making sure he had his parcel and clipboard for the signature he followed the receptionist out into the open area of the naturalist club all the while willing himself to keep his gaze firmly planted on the back of the yak's head. After some bends and turns, they reached a grass field where an elephant was sitting in a meditating pose.

"Hey, Nangi this delivery person has a parcel for you." The yak told her.

"I have no recollection of ordering anything online." The tone Nangi was using made Joe frown as it didn't sound like a mammal excited to receive the parcel they had been waiting for, but her name was on the address, and she did the sign for the package so in his book it was all good.

After receiving his clipboard back, the yak tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, dude I can give you the tour around the place. Usually, I don't go around showing delivery mammals around the area, but seeing as your chakra is all out of alignment, it wouldn't be good karma if I let you leave without offering.

As Joe was about to decline this kind offer, he heard a voice behind him that he really really didn't want to hear. It became crystal clear why he knew how the mystic spring was a naturalist club and he cursed his poor memory for not realizing this sooner.

"Oh look Sam it's little Joe over there!" The skunk looked desperately for a quick way out of this place. Anything was better than what was about to happen. "You sure Martha? If someone didn't seem interested in naturalism, it would be him." A way out, a way out, this crummy job for a way out of here. "Oh, hush dear I'm old, not senile. Joe! Joe honey over here!"

Cursing under his breath and blaming his bad luck and the celestials Joe turned trying to smile and saw his grandparents. The naturalists that had told him about the Mystic Spring.


The car door slammed, and Finnick looked over. Joe sat there looking straight ahead refusing to look at him. "Everything goes alright?"

The skunk handed over the clipboard, but still didn't look over. "Yeah, everything went fine. Went in, delivered the package, got the signature. Now let's go."

The fennec fox looked at the clipboard, and the signature was there, but it seemed something was wrong. "Anything else happened?"

Joe shook his head in denial. "No nothing, nothing at all, but I would appreciate it if we could leave now."

Finnick shrugged. It wasn't weird to have some reaction to seeing mammals naked, but the skunk seemed a little too shaken from this experience. Still, it could be his first time at the Mystic Springs, and if he had seen one of the less attractive patrons, it would explain his reluctance to discuss the delivery. Still, Joe had done a good job and provided that his drug test showed him to be clean he would be hired.


After dropping Joe off at his home and telling him how late he would be back to pick him up, Fin had arrived back at the warehouse and parked the van in one of the docks. It had been a long day, and while he had to get to relax in the afternoon while watching his new hire, it had been a grueling morning, and he was well spent.

Climbing the ramp towards the second-floor lab, he heard the sound of drilling, and he wondered what Honey could be working on at this hour. "Hey Honey I'm back!" The sound of drilling stopped, and Finnick saw the badger look out of the window before smiling at him. "Welcome back. Did the guy pull through for us?"

The fennec fox nodded his head. "Yep did get banged up a little, but he managed to get through all three deliveries without damaging the packages."

The badger looked at him while he walked into the lab. "Ok spill, I feel a big but coming up." She crossed her arms as she clearly heard in the tone of his voice that something was bothering him.

"The guy has been thrown out of the police academy because he supposedly was using drugs. He says he's innocent, but we need to make sure. You have anything we could use?"

The badger leaned against one of the research desks and pondered for a bit. Suddenly Honey smiled widely and walked over towards one of the lockers at the back. "I might have just the thing. The ZPD wanted a tester a while back that could detect drugs in their suspects. Sadly I had to drop this project as the formula only reacted if they DIDN'T use drugs... and it messed up their hair in the process."

The fennec fox did not miss the sudden pause in her description of the test. "Messed up their hair how? Please bear in mind that he had a scare already with your sheep check."

Honey looked at the vials that made up the test seemingly lost in her creation. "Oh sorry, right. No real biggy it just changes hair color a bit, but suspects would complain so the ZPD couldn't use them.

"So basically it would turn some of his hair a different color?" Finnick relaxed at that. "How thorough is this tester?"

The badger smiled. "It's one hundred percent if the guy has used drugs the last year we will know." At this the fennec fox had to blink, a one hundred percent sure drugs tester that could find out about drug use a year ago was fantastic. He understood that the ZPD wouldn't want a tester that only messed with clean mammals, but the fact that this tester was that sure made him wonder why the police hadn't wanted the research to continue to see if they could make it better.

As he asked Honey about why the study had been stopped, she could only reply that the legal department had shut it down. Chief Bogo at the time had been trying to let the research continue, but he also was told to let it go.

"Well Fin sorry to have to shut this conversation short, but I have to do these last upgrades to the ZPD uniform strengthening. Chief Bogo finally has the go-ahead to distribute them to the smaller mammals at the force, and he want's a prototype test next week to show off the resistant abilities to the officers who are going to wear them as well as the administrators.

The fennec fox waved as he walked back down the ramp. "Sure Honey I'm gonna grab a cold one. It's been a long day, and I'm ready for some shut eye."

As the sound of drilling started up again, Finnick could just hear her reply. "Goodnight Fin have a good rest." The fennec fox smiled and felt his spirits lift a bit. Tomorrow he wouldn't have to do the delivery job by himself anymore and with the police uniform project finally complete they could get the other half of the money the project would bring in.


Finnick sat in the cafeteria enjoying a cold beer before he would get into his van and get a good nights sleep. Just as he opened the can his phone started ringing. Looking at his can, he waged a battle between first having his well-earned beer and calling the caller back in the morning or dealing with it now. As the phone chimed for the third time the fennec cursed and answered it. "Yo. With Finnick."

He waited for the answer while holding his beer. The voice he heard was unexpected, but somehow Finnick had to admit, expected. "Hey, little toot-toot you miss daddy yet?"

The fennec cursed his unfortunate luck and struggled not to just end the call there. "You seriously want me to bite your face of don't you?" As he tried to tune out his irritation his old partner came back to him.

"Ah, you hurt me. Can't a father call his son anymore without risking his health in the process." At this Finnick had to scoff. He and Nick had done the whole pawpsickle thing, and it had been good, but now he was starting an entirely new chapter of his life, and he didn't need the reminder of the good old days. "Ok, Slick Nick spill why are you calling me so late in the evening? I'm pretty sure it's way past your bedtime."

The line went silent, and Finnick wondered why Nick was reluctant to explain why he called him. After a couple of seconds, the fox answered. "Yeah about that. When we passed each other today, I noticed you were talking with someone. This mammal set off a trainee that's under my wing, and I was wondering if you had any info on him you would be willing to share as I need to figure out what's the deal with them."

The fennec nodded. It was exactly as Finnick expected. The way the red panda had looked at his employee to be had risen some warning flags, and now his old partner came calling. "Can't tell you much about him. His name is Joe Fragrance, and he apparently was kicked out of the police academy for drug abuse. My guess is your trainee knew him. Before you start wondering I didn't ask, but he wanted me to know. He wanted there to be no surprises further down the road. Honey send him my way to talk about an application I had out for a delivery mammal."

The line stayed silent for a while, and when Nick came back, he sounded confused. "A delivery mammal? What are you planning on delivering?"

Finnick growled. He didn't like to waste time talking with someone who was fooling around and being stupid. The question Nick asked sounded really stupid to his ears. "Whatever mammals want carried dirt for brains! Plants, blankets, toys, hell even pawpsickles later on if I can get a van with a freezer. Or are your worried that you'll have to arrest me or something? Then let me assure you that this business is all above water so you can rest easy."

The fennec fox had a feeling that his old partner might not relish at the chance to arrest him and he wanted to make sure Nick didn't need to worry about his new venture. While Nick had sold them the old warehouse, he wasn't yet aware of Honey and his plans to start up a delivery service. They had decided to keep it from him as he would surely try to help them in whatever way he could and they wanted to make sure he put all his effort in his work and his partner. "That's good to hear, but where does Honey know him from then?"

The fennec took a sip of his beer as he noticed it was slowly warming up. "Don't know, but from what he told me it seems he got wrangled into it by his mother. She and Honey were acquaintances, and she had heard that Honey was looking for someone to fill the position." Finnick took another sip and decided to share some of the info the skunk had shared with him. Not only did he feel that he owed it to his trainee to have this investigated, but it could also aid the ZPD and Nick with rooting out undesirable elements in their ranks. "Nick we've both seen kids on drugs before and believe me when I say that I believe the guy when he claims that he didn't do them."

The tone, his old partner, took rubbed the fennec fox the wrong way as he replied. ""Finn we also both know that users will always use every excuse in the book to pretend that they aren't using or that it isn't a problem and you know how sincere they can be when they want too."

Finnick struggled not to blow up at Nick as he annoyed responded. "Yeah, but we also both know the telltale signs of drug use and believe me when I say that he doesn't show any of them. He claims to be framed and hearing how that went down I can't say that I'm not skeptical about the expulsion. There isn't any way anyone would benefit with getting rid of him, but that something wasn't right is for sure." He let out an annoyed breath. This conversation was one he really didn't need at the end of a work day and seeing as he was facing a week of many deliveries while showing the new guy the ropes he hoped that Nick had everything he needed.

"Thanks, Finn. While this info doesn't help me directly, I can at the very least look into what happened at the academy. If he was using on training grounds and got caught, a simple drugs test should have been used to determine his guilt. I'll check and come back to you with the results, so you know for certain what kind of mammal it is you are going to be employing."

At that, the fennec had to laugh. While it felt good that his old partner still would look out for him, Finnick had to make perfectly clear that he could look out for himself. "Ok, Nick while I appreciate you are looking into this I have already asked Honey to put our recruit through the ringer, and that includes putting him through a drugs test of our making. We do need to have evidence he's been clean if this blemish on his past was brought up by clients."

Finnick knew that Honey could come up with something that would yield results no one could argue against. "Good knowing you're careful at least Finn. I'll talk to you later. Goodnight." The fennec put his phone down and took another swig from his beer. 'Goodnight Nick. Hopefully, this won't end with things blowing up in our faces.'


Joe walked into the home of his parents and immediately was stopped by his mother in the hall. "How did it go?"

The skunk kissed his mother on the cheek and walked into the kitchen. "Everything went okay mom. I had to show them that I could do the job today and pending a test I have to pass tomorrow they will hire me." Joe kept it from his mom that it was a drug test as he didn't feel comfortable about it. Not only was the test itself suspect and made him fear for his life, but he also felt shame as if he was really a rutting junky dependent on drugs.

"Don't worry Joe you're a smart kid. I know Honey is a genius, but you've always had a good head on your shoulder so I'm sure you'll pass any test she can come up with." At this, his mother went back towards her stove where the dinner for the family was cooking away.

"Yeah sorry that I have to ask, but how do you guys know each other? I'm pretty sure she's only a couple of years older than me." The skunk grabbed some soda and while drinking sat down at the kitchen table.

His mom looked over her shoulder with a miffed expression. "I'm pretty sure you just said in a roundabout fashion that I'm old. As for how I know her it is because I was a counselor at her school and she confided in me as the other teens picked on her because of her beliefs."

"The notion that sheep want to rule the world?" The words had sprung forth before Joe could stop them, but his mom only nodded her head.

"Yeah never found out why she had such strong beliefs about that, but seeing how that stuff with former mayor Bellwether played out it makes you wonder. Maybe she was closer to the truth than we believed."

As the food was ready, Joe's mom called the rest of the family, and while Joe pondered the existence of a big sheep conspiracy, the skunk ate while his family happily discussed their days.

His father turned his way. "Oh, Joe grandpa called to inform you he and grandma enjoyed seeing you today and hope you'll visit again."

At this Joe's eye twitched a little as his mom spoke up. "That's sweet of you dear that you spend some time with your grandparents."

The skunk just nodded his head not wanting to go into details where exactly he had met his grandparents. His mom continued. "We really should visit them more often. It wouldn't be any fur of our back," *twitch* "and they are always so glad to see us. Mom and dad are always so willing to bare," *twitch* "their feelings towards us. I swear everytime we see them they just seem to want to hug," *twitch* "the stuffing right out of you."

As if things were not affecting Joe enough his dad had to put in his two cents too. "Maybe we should visit this 'Mystic Spring' your grandparents are always going on about. I'm not sure I would be comfortable without clothes on, but like that Gazelle always sings 'try everything' right?"

The skunk had done his best not to let the events of the day affect him, but the thought of his parents without their clothes on was literally the last straw and made the skunk hurry towards the bathroom where he noisily lost his lunch.