The 12th Fox
Author's Note: Hey everyone! As always, thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed, and reviewed this. It means a lot that you took the time to do so!
This story takes place roughly four months after Nick's graduation from the Academy, about a week after the last story.
Zootopia, Chevrolet, the University of Washington, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the Boeing Aircraft Company, Boeing Field, the King Dome, the Seattle Mariners, the Seattle Seahawks, and the Super Bowl belong to their respective owners. I own nothing but Captain Hopps and the plot.
Here is the sixth installment of There Is a Time for Every Event Under Heaven: The 12th Fox!
"He's going to what school again?" Nick asked the bunny in the patrol car passenger seat. It was late afternoon and the two of them were headed back to the precinct after a day of patrolling in the Rainforest District.
"Aircraft commander school!" Judy replied excitedly, the grin spread wide across her face. "You're his roommate. Didn't he tell you about it?"
"Pistol just said he would be gone for a few months while he went down to Barksdale for some training. I know there's a lot of top secret, hush-hush kinda stuff that those guys do, so I didn't want to press him on it," the fox explained as he made a left onto the main thoroughfare out of the Rainforest District.
"Oh, he's so modest," Judy chuckled. "'Some training,' indeed. Okay, this is how Pete explained it to me. So you know how on airliners you have a pilot and a co-pilot?"
"Yeah."
"Well, you have the same thing on B-52s, except the Air Force calls them the aircraft commander and the pilot. When you first start flying the B-52s, you're the pilot, not the aircraft commander, and you sit in the right seat. When the Air Force thinks you're ready, they send you to AC school where they train you to be an aircraft commander, lead a crew, and fly the jet from the left seat. It's a really big deal because you're ultimately responsible for the airplane and the lives of the rest of the crew."
"So, basically natural career progression," Nick summarized as they entered the tunnel through the Rainforest District border wall.
"But, that's just it!" Judy exclaimed, getting a little more excited. "For Pete, it's NOT natural! They usually don't sent you to AC school until you're a mid-level Captain. Pete just pinned on Captain a little over a year and a half ago, so he's ahead of the curve! The Air Force must be really impressed with him!"
"Huh."
"Oh, come on, Nick!" the bunny exclaimed, practically bouncing up and down in her seat. "Aren't you at least a little excited for him?!"
"Oh, I'm happy for him, of course," he replied in the same bored tone of voice he had been using for the duration of the conversation.
Judy stopped bouncing and squinted up at her partner as they exited the tunnel into Savanah Central. "Are you feeling alright?" she asked slowly. "You've seemed a bit… I don't know… off, I guess, all day today."
"I'm fine," the fox attempted to reassure her. "Just thinking about a few things."
"What about?"
"Oh, nothing important."
"It's obviously important enough to have kept you distracted today," Judy countered. "Are you sure you don't-"
Nick cut her off. "I appreciate your concern, Carrots. I really do. But I really would rather not talk about it, okay? Trust me, you will be the first one I come to if I change my mind."
"Hmmmm," Judy acknowledged skeptically with squinted eyes, but didn't say anything else. Nick was a great friend to her, but his evasiveness could be so frustrating sometimes. This was just going to be another one of those occasions where she'd have to monitor the situation carefully and pray for the best.
They rode in silence for the next few minutes. Judy was just starting to doze off when Nick suddenly broke the silence. "Oh, geez. Really?!"
The bunny cop's ears perked straight up and instinctively began swiveling, trying to ID what Nick had reacted to. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"Look," Nick replied grimly as he pointed forward. Judy looked forward at the car ahead of them, a yellow Chevroneigh Impala, which was swerving all over the lanes in his direction of travel and occasionally even drifting into oncoming traffic before jerking back to the right side of the road.
"You gotta be kidding me!" Judy exclaimed. "It's not even 5 o'clock yet!"
"I guess some idiots just can't wait to start hitting the booze," Nick muttered darkly.
"Roof lights' lit," Judy informed him as she reached over and flicked on the rotating lights.
"Roger."
The Impala soon pulled over to the side of the road and Nick maneuvered the patrol car in behind it. As Judy grabbed her door handle and began to step out of the car, she heard the driver side door open as well. She turned to look over and saw Nick stepping out of the car. "What are you doing?" she asked. "I thought it was my turn?"
"I'd like to tag along on this one if you don't mind," the fox replied as he leaned down to look through the car at her.
She was about to protest, but the stone cold seriousness of the look on his face gave her pause. He seemed to be on edge about something. It was probably nothing more than a mild concern about this, their first DUI stop together, but there was still the possibility that whatever had been affecting him throughout the day was still in play. She wasn't thrilled about the idea, but after a few more moment's hesitation, she relented with a quick, "Okay," and the two began walking up to the Impala.
When they reached the driver's window, it was already rolled down and the two cops were greeted by a pig with bloodshot eyes. "'Ssss there a prrrroblem, officers?" the pig asked lazily.
"License and registration, please," Nick responded in a rather clipped tone, almost as if he was holding something back.
"Oh ssssure, ssssure," the pig responded. "Let me just dig… that… out," he continued slowly as he began digging around in his glove box. When he was finally able to produce both items, Nick snatched them out of his hand and began looking them over.
While Nick did that, Judy turned her attention to the pig. "Sir, have you been drinking today?"
"Oh just a (hic) little," the pig responded. "A man's gotta keep warm, ya know."
Nick looked up from the license, "Mr. Hoofson, it's summer. It's 90 degrees outside."
"Seeeee! It's workin,'" Mr. Hoofson countered.
"Step out of the car please, Mr. Hoofson," Judy ordered before turning to Nick. "Breathalyzer's in the trunk, right?"
"Should be."
"'K. You got him handled while I grab it real quick?"
"Yeah, I got it."
Judy turned and went to grab the kit from the patrol car. When she returned, she found her partner and the pig in a rather heated discussion. From what she could gather, the pig was demanding leniency, and Nick was having none of it. But instead of trying to defuse the pig's fury, the fox was matching him word for word, escalating the argument to the point that, if Judy didn't know better, she thought Nick might throw a punch!
"Hey! Hey!" she called out as she approached. "What's going on here?!"
If it had been anyone else interrupting the argument, Nick probably would have ignored them, but he had too much respect for Judy, so he just glared at the pig and muttered, "Nothing."
"It better not be," Judy chastised. "Blow into this tube, please Mr. Hoofson." When he had done so, she pulled the machine away from the pig and waited for the result to show up on the display. When the number appeared, she looked back up at the pig "Your blood alcohol concentration is currently 0.11%, Mr. Hoofson." She ignored the sound of Nick's teeth grinding. "Do you know what the legal limit is in the state of Missouri?"
"Haha! Point twelve, right?" the pig responded with a nervous grin.
"No, it's actually 0.08. You are in no condition to be driving, Mr. Hoofson," the bunny cop replied sternly.
"Ohhhh, come on now," the pig began to protest, "I'm not as think as you drunk I am. I'm only…" He paused as he tried to calculate the difference in his head, but quickly gave up. "…A little bit over. Can't you let me off with a warning or somethin'?"
When the pig said this, something snapped inside Nick. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" he roared as he grab the pig's shoulders and pushed him backward until his back was against the car. "DO YOU REALIZE HOW DANGEROUS THIS IS?! YOU COULD HAVE KILLED SOMEONE! AND YOU DARE ASK FOR A WARNING?!"
"WILDE! PATROL CAR! NOW!" Judy screamed at her partner. "I don't know what your problem is today, but I've had enough and I'm not dealing with it right now!"
Nick turned his head to face his partner, a scowl still on his face. "I'm not-"
"NOW!" she roared again, this time pointing with her free hand back at the patrol car.
The two stared at each other for a second before Nick released his hold on the pig, gave a sarcastic salute and a "Yes, ma'am" to Judy, and trudged back to the car.
Judy watched as he walked. When he got closer to the patrol car, she spoke up again. "Passenger seat, Wilde! I'm driving!" Nick growled in frustration, but went around to the other side of the car. Judy turned her attention back to the pig. "Now. As for you Mr. Hoofson…"
#
The drive back to the precinct had been a silent one. Nick had glared back at the now arrested pig a few times, but didn't say anything. Judy could only begin to imagine what was running through the fox's mind. What Nick had said WAS true; what the pig had done was incredibly dangerous and potentially lethal, but he had to be more professional than that. They were cops after all. Her confusion regarding her partner's mental state was only further compounded once they reached the precinct. He had immediately headed up to their office without a word, leaving her to make sure the pig was taken to a holding cell.
After everything had been taken care of with the pig, she headed straight for their office, her anger growing with each step. It was one thing for the fox to keep certain things to himself, but one of those things had now affected their work, and an explanation was needed. Judy was determined to get it.
"Okay, Nicholas Piberius Wilde!" she began as she slammed their office door open and stormed in. "Start talking! What on Earth was-" She stopped suddenly, caught off guard by what she saw. She wasn't sure what she HAD been expecting her partner to be doing when she got up to the office, but it sure wasn't this. In front of her was Nick, slumped forward in his chair, his paws covering his face, and sobbing heavily. "Nick?" she asked in a much quieter voice, her anger immediately defused upon seeing him in such a state. He didn't respond, so she closed the door behind her, walked over to her chair, rolled it over beside his, and sat down in it. "It's okay, Nick," she comforted as she patted his arm. "Let it out. Take your time. I'm not going anywhere."
The fox continued to weep for several minutes before his sobs slowly faded to occasional sniffles. Finally, after a few ragged breaths and a wipe of his eyes, he turned to face his partner. "I think I've changed my mind," he said slowly.
"Changed your mind?" Judy asked, a confused look on her face. "Changed your mind about wha- ooohhh." She realized what he was talking about as she thought back to their conversation in the car earlier. "Well, in that case, I'm all ears. Pun intended," she said with a slight smile.
One corner of Nick's lips came up briefly at her joke, before he let out a heavy sigh. "Oh my gosh, where do I start?" he wondered.
"The beginning usually works best," Judy responded.
Nick considered this for a few seconds before continuing. "Okay, you're right. The beginning. So let me begin by asking you this. Where do you think I was born, Judy?"
Judy gave him a look. "I didn't mean the LITERAL beginning," she began to protest.
"No, no, I'm serious," Nick cut her off. "Where do you think I was born?"
Judy, a little confused, responded. "Well, Zootopia, of course."
Nick shook his head. "Not quite."
"Well, somewhere in Missouri at least," Judy countered.
Nick shook his head again. "You're about 1500 miles off."
This confused the bunny cop even more, and she tilted her head to the side and furrowed her brow in a questioning look. Nick answered her unasked question.
"The University of Washington Medical Center."
"University of Washington?" Judy repeated. "As in Seacattle, Washington?"
"The one and only. You see, my mother is from Zootopia, but my father was born and raised in Seacattle. He was enlisted in the Air Force for four years before I was born, most of that time spent performing maintenance on B-52s. He was sent to Foxchild after his training and it was during that time that he met and married my mom. He also got his civilian airframe and powerplant maintenance certifications around that time, so when he got out of the Air Force, he and my mom moved back to Seacattle, where he got a job fixing jets for one of the airlines at SeaTac. About a year after the move, I was born."
"How long did you live in Seacattle?" Judy asked.
"Seven years," Nick answered. "I loved it there. Every so often Mom would take me to the Ballamb Locks to look at the boats or down to SeaTac or Doeing Field [prounounced "doe," as in a female deer or rabbit, and then "ing"] to watch the planes take off and land. And whenever he could afford it, which to be honest wasn't all that often, Dad would take us to the King Cheetah Dome to catch a Mariners or Seahawks game. That's where I got that flag up there," Nick pointed at the Mariners flag pinned to the wall above his desk. "Dad bought it for me at an M's game one summer. Man, he loved those teams. If he wasn't at the stadium, he would make every effort to watch their games on TV." Nick paused and looked off in the distance as he got lost in some memories.
"How did you end up in Zootopia?" Judy prodded gently after a short pause.
Nick looked back at Judy with a sad look on his face. His eyes began to water again. He sighed heavily before continuing slowly. "When I got off the school bus one afternoon, I was met by one of our neighbors instead of my mom like usual. When I asked her where my mom was, all she would say was that my mom couldn't make it today so she had asked her to come get me." Nick's voice began to break a little "When I walked in the front door, I-I found my mom sitting at the kitchen table crying. There was a cop s-sitting next to her. Of course, I ask what's wrong, but M-mom was too distraught to say anything. So the cop turns to me and says," Nick paused as he struggled to maintain control of his voice. "He says, 'Son, your father is dead.'" A few sobs followed before he continued. "He was killed by a drunk driver on his way back to work from his lunch break. That was 26 years ago… today." At this point, Nick lost all control and began to sob again.
"Oh, Nick," Judy said sympathetically. As the fox continued to sob, she stood in her chair, climbed over his armrest, and stood on his lap as she comforted him with a hug.
Nick returned the hug, gripping his partner tightly. "That idiot!" he bawled. "He killed him! That stupid idiot had no business being behind the wheel, and he killed him! My dad is dead because of him!"
"I know, Nick. I know," Judy comforted as she began to tear up a little too. "Let it out. It's okay. Let it out." The two sat there, letting the tears fall for a few minutes before they began to regain control again.
Nick let out another shuddering sigh before continuing again. "After he died, my mother had trouble finding work, and decided it best that we move to Zootopia so she could be close to her family who could help us out while she tried to find work. They helped her find the job at the tailor's shop over in Sahara Square. She still works there today."
Judy finally released the hug, but still held Nick's hands in her own as she sat down on the edge of his desk, her feet resting on his legs. "I'd like to meet her someday," she said quietly, as she looked into his eyes.
Nick nodded slightly. "And now you know why I blew up today. I really thought I had put it past me. I haven't gotten this emotional about it since the Seahawks won the Supurr Bowl a few years ago, but I guess the DUI stop triggered something in a similar way." He sighed and looked down at his lap. "I'm really sorry about dumping all of this on you, Judy. I feel like I've been burdening you with so much emotional stress lately and I hate it."
"Hey, look at me," Judy immediately commanded. Nick looked up. "You are NOT a burden. Okay? Don't ever think that. You are my FRIEND. I care about you and I want you to tell me if something's bothering you. I know you would be there for me if *I* needed it."
Nick smiled. "Thanks, Fluff."
Judy smiled back at him before reaching over and picking up the Seacattle Seahawks Supurr Bowl XLVIII Champions ball cap that Nick had sitting on his desk. She examined it for a moment before looking back up at Nick. "May I?"
"Sure."
She put the hat on her head and took a moment to adjust it before turning back to her partner. "What do you think?"
"I think Dad would have loved it," he said with a warm smile.
"What?" she asked. "Me wearing the hat or just the hat?"
"Both."
Judy chuckled as she removed the hat and held it in one paw while she ran the fingers of her other paw over the Seahawks logo. Neither one of them said anything for a few minutes, until Judy looked back up at Nick again. "I'm glad you told me about your dad, Nick. I know it's not easy for you to talk about things like that. And I'm sorry about what happened to him, but you know… there is at least one good thing to come out of it."
"What's that?" he asked.
Judy looked down at the hat briefly before tossing it onto the desk beside her. She looked back up at the fox. "It put you in my life. Something I thank God every day for."
Nick smiled. "You're gonna make me cry again."
Judy chuckled. "Come on. Let's go home." And with that, the two stood and headed for the door.
Author's Note: Well, I hope y'all enjoyed it! I gotta be honest, I'm a little nervous about the quality of the ending, but I couldn't really think of a way to improve it, so let me know what you think. Until next time, please review/favorite/follow, ask questions if you have them, and may God bless you all!