Chapter 7: A Sense of Normality
The gunshots rang throughout the precinct as the firefight raged. Judy couldn't take her eyes off the scene that was unfolding in front of her as the officers fought to keep the invaders from getting to the civilians within the precinct. She watched as Clawhauser ducked down behind his desk and she saw Risha and Jake pull Gazelle into a small corner of the room behind a pillar. Ducking behind the wall that stood behind the front desk she tried to reload her pistol with shaky hands as she missed sliding the clip into place the first time. Taking a breath she steadied herself and slid the clip home before steeling herself to round the corner of the desk, only to realize the room was now silent.
Ears perked up as she tried to listen for any noise, but the only thing she could hear was her own breathing and her heartbeat as it seemed to be beating at a million miles. Slowly she looked up and saw that everyone was dead and bleeding out, their eyes cold and distant. Her nose began twitching as she felt a cold breeze blow and her heart felt like it was working it's way up her throat. She heard the scream next as someone at the front of the precinct cried out in pain before the sound of gurgling could be heard.
Judy tried to move, but found her body wouldn't respond, she felt she was frozen in place as though she were a statue forced to wait as the sound of gunshots returned followed by more shouting and screaming. She couldn't make out what was being said, but it was the emotion that accompanied the tone that made her blood run cold. Soon, out of the corners of her eyes she watched as the invaders backed their way passed her, firing at the desk, only they weren't shooting at her.
Shutting her eyes Judy winced as the bullets flew passed her, but it was the cold breeze that made her open them again as a shadow flew over her, forcing her to watch as a tall mammal charged the closest invader and ripped him in half before chasing after the others that had run down the halls where the civilians were. Finally free of whatever was keeping her from moving, Judy ran after them as she shuddered every time she heard a scream that was always followed by a gargling choking sound or by flesh being ripped and bones crushed. Entering the hallway, Judy's eyes watched in horror as dead innocents lay upon the ground. Mammals ripped apart their faces etched with the terror and the pain they felt before the end. Bones protruded from the bloodied bodies making the hallway look like some ancient religion's depiction of damnation.
Judy continued down the hall until she turned a corner to find Nick's lifeless eyes staring up at her from the floor. His Jaw hung open as his body's mangled corpse lay next to the headless body of Finnick. Dropping to the floor, Judy started crying, "Nick. No, Nick NO! NO!" She cried as she buried her head into his neck where her tears mixed with his blood. She cried until the cold breeze blew by again and she opened her eyes to see the scene disintegrate around her as Nick's body turned to ash before blowing away in the wind.
Slowly Judy looked up to see the creature before her and its face brought tears back to her eyes as Alec stared down at her, blood smeared across his face. His expression maintained his passive aggressive stare and his hair was in disarray as bullet holes riddled his body. He watched her curiously as she began to shiver, her nose twitching in fear. Alec opened his mouth to speak, but she couldn't understand what he was saying. His words were alien to her, foreign as he looked at her waiting for a response that she couldn't give.
Slowly, Alec shook his head with a sad expression before he reached down as she tried to pull away, but found that she couldn't move again. Instead, she was forced to wait and watch as his fingers clasped around her neck before lifting her up and jerking her around sharply, cracking the bones in her neck. He let her lifeless body drop to the ground and when she hit the floor she found herself face to face with Nick's lifeless stare. "Carrots. Carrots." he said. "Judy, wake up. Wake up."
Judy awoke with a start from the couch of the living room she'd come to call home for the past few weeks as Nick stood next to the sofa with a worried expression. "Hey. You alright?" he asked as she brought her fists up to rub her eyes and found fresh tears had been streaming down her face.
Nick hopped up on the couch next to her holding out a cup of water that she gratefully took with a sad smile before downing the whole glass to get rid of the lump in her throat. Nick watched her with his hand on her back as she released a shuddering breath. "Sorry," she finally said after an uncomfortable silence, "Who else heard me?" she asked.
Nick looked down at his partner with a reassuring smile, "Don't worry fluff. Everyone else is doing their own thing. In fact I'm pretty sure we're the only ones inside the house at the moment. Bridgers, Grizzoli, Wolford, and Fangmeyer are all with Risha, Gage, Alec, and Gazelle raiding the juice bar. The other officers were relieved not too long ago and decided they needed something stronger than juice. Though some did stick around for autographs from Gazelle."
Judy chuckled at that before letting out a sigh of relief while she stared at the cup in her hand as Nick's signature smirk fell away to a more concerned one, "Nightmares about what happened again?" he asked.
Judy nodded before responding, "Yeah, only this time- well, in this dream the scariest part was of Nash. After the gunman killed everyone in the precinct he went..." She trailed off looking for the right word.
"Savage?" Nick offered and Judy shook her head.
"Not quite. He was clearly in control of his actions, but... Cold." Nick shook his head and rubbed her back a bit to comfort her as she looked out of the window the sofa was next to. From the second story window she could see Alec, Gazelle, and Risha all laughing as though none of them remembered that day. Everytime she'd been around Alec he'd made it easy to forget about that week, almost as if simply being around him was a drug within itself. As if his presence dispelled all that happened that day, if only temporarily.
Nick gave a small chuckle as he saw where she was looking, "He's not a bad guy Judy, and before you say anything, I know you know that. The chief is right though. Had he not been there..." Nick trailed off and Judy rested her paw on his leg as she looked into his sad eyes. Something had been bothering Nick since that day and Judy hadn't been able to get it out of him what it was, but seeing that look again was getting to her.
"What's wrong Nick? You've been acting strange ever since and it doesn't help my own worries." She said and Nick gave her a guilty smile.
"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry, it's just. When everything happened I was bailing Finnick out of jail when I should have been with you. I never should have left your side when all that happened. I should have been right there watching your back, but instead-" Judy cut him off putting her paw on his cheek and brushed it with her thumb. He tried to look away, but she brought his gaze back to meet hers as his breath caught in his throat.
"Nick, it wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known that would happen and you're right. Nash saved my life, he saved so many others when he saw what was happening. Look, you were doing right by your friend and I'm glad you were." She smiled at him reassuringly before pulling her hand back. "The only ones to blame are those that initiated the attack. And we'll bring them to justice, one way or another."
Nick smiled at her before he glanced out of the window. What he saw made his smile much more genuine as he tried to stifle a laugh, but failed, causing Judy to turn and look back outside. What she saw brought a smile to her face and tension to her stomach as she began to laugh. Rish was carrying Alec around the pool while Jake started to chase after her, arms flailing in the air as he called after her. The other officers stood watching and talking among each other, clearly trying to determine whether Risha was a legitimate threat to the human's safety as Nash flopped around on her shoulder laughing.
Judy and Nick finally got control of themselves before they both stood up, "Guess we'd better get down there in case something does happen," Nick said and Judy followed him out as her mind wandered back to the past few weeks after the attack.
Bogo's comment had been said irritably, but the following weeks had made it abundantly clear as to what fire he'd been referring to. Zootopia had been hit hard and the news was covering everything from the political debates as they began spiking in their intensity to the rising tensions as accusations and arguments threatened to cause riots in the streets. Judy actually found herself guiltily thankful for her assignment to Alec's security detail on more than one occasion whenever she watched the news or caught up with Clawhauser as he told her some of the stories that were circulating within the precinct.
During those same weeks, Alec had been studying for his citizenship test with Gazelle and Risha while Gage had kept to herself and on more than one occasion gotten drunk watching the news. Judy knew the guilt of being safe while the other officers were putting their lives on the line and hated it when she'd catch Gage torturing herself watching the news with a bottle for company.
Thankfully that had all stopped after she'd walked in with Alec on a particularly 'bad day' as they'd found her on the floor passed out with three empty bottles of hard liquor laying next to her. Judy shuddered at the thought of Alec scooping Gage up and bolting for the bathroom where Judy called the ambulance, only to watch as Alec turned on the shower head and brought it down to comb over Gage's back. Gage had been shocked awake from the cold water where Alec bent her head over the bath tub as she vomited into the tub. Later that night when Alec had gotten some water in her system and some food he'd sat by her bed over night. When Judy came to check on the two the next morning she found Alec leaving the room with a well scolded Gage sitting on the bed with her tailed curled around her feet. When Judy asked about what Alec had said to her, Gage's only response had been, "Sense."
After that, Gage had stayed away from the alcohol and spent more time beating on the punching bag in the gym and avoiding Alec for about a week. Strangely enough during that same week Alec had managed to slip out on multiple nights where he'd gone on long walks around the neighborhood without anyone noticing until he'd slipped up one night. Officer Fangmeyer noticed he was gone one night which sparked a citywide search for the human, only to find him back at the house watching television. After that incident and a scolding from Chief Bogo and Gage he'd stopped his little adventures outside of Gazelle's house. Since then, Judy had found herself having these nightmares about the day of the attack on the precinct.
As the two stepped out of the house, Gazelle noticed and waved them over while Fangmeyer shouted at the other two tigers. Risha and Jake both stopped in their tracks while Jake shot straight up and Risha placed Alec back down with a few giggles. "What the hell is wrong with you three. You're acting like children!" Fangmeyer shouted.
Alec merely walked up to the veteran and shrugged with a smile "Sorry Officer Fangmeyer. I've just been so stressed over this test I guess I just got a little-" Alec snickered uncontrollably before calming himself enough to continue, "Carried away with the festivities!" He finished with a loud laugh and Judy had to stifle a laugh of her own as well while her partner allowed himself a casual chuckle.
Fangmeyer's eyes rolled around in his head as he placed a hand on his face to try and hide the smile creeping up on his face from the cheesy joke. Everyone else was chuckling to themselves with shaking heads as they tried to fight their own reactions to the bad joke. Gage even allowed herself a slight smile before asking, "Nash are you drunk?"
Alec pulled back in mock indignation, "Well I never!" he pouted before breaking out into a laugh again, "Maybe a little." He confessed as he continued snickering uncontrollably just before the officers shooed everyone back inside.
Once they'd all entered the house Alec found the closest couch sat down as Gazelle fell in next to him and the rest of the room seemed to follow him as Gage grabbed the remote and clicked on the television. "Who wants to watch a movie?!" Alec called and Judy gave an audible 'humph' loud enough for him to look back at her, "What?" he asked confused.
Judy gave him a knowing look before asking, "Shouldn't you be finishing your studies?" she asked.
Giving her a sly smile Alec brought his little finger up to the side of his mouth before replying, "Meybee." Gage swapped Alec with her tail in an irritable response as the news came up.
A snow leopard could be seen behind a desk with a screen in the background that held the worlds ZNN on it as she spoke, "Later tonight on ZNN, Darius Savage will be speaking about the human, Alec Nash, in an interview and what plans he will have for the human should he become mayor." Alec's smile vanished from his face as a picture of a Tiger with scars running along the side of his face was brought up. Looking around at the rest of the group in the room he noticed they were watching with cold angry stares.
Alec noticed that the officers would get that look whenever they saw anything on television that had to do with Darius and found himself curious as to why; seeing as how he hadn't had much time to get caught up on recent events in the city beyond the bellwether conspiracy. "So," Alec decided to chance the question, "What's the deal with all of you and this guy?" he asked and Fangmeyer actually growled before responding.
"He's a dud. A waste of time and space, that piece of trash should never have made it this far in the elections." Grizolli put a hand on his partner's shoulder to ease the tiger's anger.
"That mammal used to be the chief in precinct three. A well decorated veteran of the force, he was actually a good cop at one time." Mchorn interrupted.
Fangmeyer's tail whipped about behind him the longer they watched the news, "A lot of cops were glad he stepped up, until he gave that speech about planning on dividing the population based on pred/prey relations. Said it was the right thing to do to keep everyone safe in case Bellwether had any supporters. Idiot doesn't get that he's just adding to the fear of the people rather than easing it."
Gage quickly changed the channel from the news to what appeared to be some kind of cop show before putting the remote down allowing the tension in the room to dissipate a little. Looking next to him Alec found Gazelle's ears had flattened down a bit at Fangmeyer's words and the expression on her face showed him that politics were indeed a touchy subject at this time. Before anyone could talk about the subject any further however, Gazelle stood up, "Well I need to go shopping for that dinner tonight, Risha why don't you join me?" she asked and Risha stood up clearly happy to have an excuse out of the atmosphere.
Nick smirked at the two as they left, "Ah the life of a celebrity," he said and Nick shot him a knowing look that he chuckled at.
The next couple of days were roughly the same, except that Alec's test day had finally come up and Nick and Judy were assigned to escort him to the DMV where he was to take the test. Judy's unusually negative attitude about going had surprised the human as he watched her talking on the phone with Bogo asking if there was anything else he might need her help on. Of course there wasn't and Alec gave her a smirk when she hit her head against the wall after hanging up, "And here I thought nothing could get this little bunny down."
Nick chuckled at that, "I'd have thought you'd be more excited to be back here carrots; after all this was our first case together," the fox looked down at the bunny and wiggled his eyebrows at her with his signature smirk.
Alec gave a musing sound as he thought aloud, "Ah yes, if I recall the two of you owe me that story. Guess you two will have time to regale me with the tale of introductions, hmm?"
Nick chuckled in response, "We'll probably have time to do that and more," Judy grumbled to herself.
Upon entering the DMV Alec noticed the issue almost immediately as he slowed to a stop, "Ooohh, I see where this is going. Is there anywhere else I could get my test done?" he asked as the lines were particularly busy due to the slow nature of the sloths at the counter. Judy grabbed a hold of the bottom part of his shirt and gave it a tug towards the center counter where Nick was already chatting up one of the sloths.
Alec released a sigh as he listened to Nick's conversation, "Come on Flash, can ya help me out here? I've got cases piling up back at the station. Besides, you help me with this and I'll owe ya one." At that the sloths face slowly contorted to a look of consideration and Nick could tell he was having a quick little fantasy about speeding through the streets again and having a free ticket out of trouble so long as it was Nick and Judy that were the ones that caught him.
Slowly Flash made a decision and nodded before speaking, "Okay..." he began pointing to his left, "The testing... stations... are down... at the... end... first right... third... table..."
Nick took a step back pointing back at Flash, "Thanks for help big guy, I love and I owe ya." Waving Alec and Judy down the human waited until they were out of earshot before speaking, "and I thought our DMV's used to be unbearably slow. Some things never change."
Judy sighed before speaking, "You were lucky that Bogo sent Nick with us or we'd have had to wait in line.
Alec audibly gulped at that and nodded with a slightly fearful gaze, "Not sure what I'm afraid of more now. Waiting in line at this DMV or being shot again. I think the DMV wins by a knuckle if only because I still haven't died to being shot yet." Judy allowed herself a slight smile at that as the three found themselves at the testing station, which was a computer sitting at the end of the wall in its own little corner.
Thankfully no one was using the station so Alec had free use of the computer and the next three hours dragged on as though he were talking to Flash. When he was finally finished with the test the computer sent the results to one of the sloths in the building who had to have his papers printed off, which left Nick and Judy to stand around the DMV with Alec until he was called up.
Finally after another two hours Alec picked up his papers and bid the sloths a five minute farewell before they left. On their way to the precinct Alec got his chance to look around a little as Nick decided to take a more scenic route back to give Alec some sites to take in. "Wow, I can't get over how well your society incorporates the beauty of the geographic natural habitats with the city. It's done so well. Not to mention the fact that you're able to maintain such an incredible natural environment with the proper temperature for each of the districts." Alec spoke as he looked out the window of the car like a kid with a tourists brochure he'd found in the back seat of the cruiser.
Nick gave a slight chuckle, "So why mention it?" he asked and Judy gave him a playfully reprimanding look before returning her own attention back to the window as well. She hadn't been in Zootopia long enough to really take in many sites and now that Nick was using Alec as an excuse she'd figured why not enjoy herself a little while on duty. Nick chuckled again when he noticed Judy's tail flickering with excitement, so cute, he thought to himself when a thought hit him. Turning back to the road he said, "Hey fluff. Do I have to ticket my own partner for not wearing her seat belt?" he asked and Judy gasped before hurrying to put it back on.
Alec ignored the exchange as they rode down the road next to a river that led them about half a mile outside the precinct when Judy let out a small sigh, "Welp, looks lik-" Judy was cut off by their radios blaring as Clawhauser's voice could be heard.
"Dispatch to Cruiser Z-240, come in Officers Wilde and Hopps." The two glanced at each other curiously.
"Go ahead Dispatch," Judy called back over the radio as Alec's face popped out from the back seat.
"Hopps, the chief wants all units back at the precinct including the two of you with Nash." Clawhauser said quickly.
"We're on our way now Clawhauser. We'll be there in a few." The radio cut out before Judy looked back up at Alec who was staring at her with his typical questioning face, right eyebrow raised with the obvious question. Judy only shrugged up at him as Nick gunned it for the precinct.
Once they'd arrived the three could see other officers and press arriving; whatever was happening was causing a stir and that made everyone worried. Nick parked around back so that they could slip Alec inside without anyone seeing him again and once they'd made it to the small and crowded briefing room, Alec could tell something was indeed wrong.
Alec nearly jumped when he felt someones furry paw touch his arm and when he looked, found a familiar set of green eyes sparkling out from her black fur, "Careful there Nash or you'll break the ceiling when you launch." Gage said as he gave her an embarrassed smile.
A moment later and Bogo walked in with a gray bunny that had black stripes running across his body. The bunny was half a head taller than Judy, but carried himself with a sense of importance which Alec immediately found himself disliking. The bunny was wearing a black tux that Alec may have found cute for a bunny, but seemed more snobby than anything else. Shaking his head he looked back at Gage who was watching the bunny with an intensity he'd only seen when he'd met her.
"Alright, Enough!" Bogo shouted and everyone went quiet, "Today's a special day people. Agent Jack Savage here from the Zootopia Intelligence Agency has apprehended the suspected ring leader of the terrorist group known as 'The Den's Vengeance'." Murmurs began to spread across the room and Gage let slip a low, nearly inaudible, growl before Bogo shouted everyone down again. "We have him in custody in one of the cells. Should Agent Savage need any of you for help, you will cooperate. This is our highest priority at the moment and until such time as this passes we are at his disposal." Bogo finished and dismissed everyone to their desks.
Nick, Judy, Gage, and Alec all walked up to Bogo who opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the other bunny. "So this is Alec Nash. The human that was awakened from cryogenic stasis. You'll be happy to know I have no intention of putting you in harms way which is why I asked the Chief to have you brought here so that you may remain under protection." The little bunny spoke with a knowingly matter-of-fact tone while never taking his eyes off his phone which put Alec on edge.
Taking a breath to calm his nerves, Alec smiled and nodded before speaking, "Thank you. Though it's not my physical safety I'm worried about from a group of terrorists. My concern is more or less for my newfound freedom's."
The little bunny looked up from his phone with a curious look on his face, "And why would you be concerned for your freedom?" he asked with a hint of suspicion.
"I don't mean to be rude, but I must ask based on your last name. Do you have any affiliation with the current political candidate for mayor, Darius Savage?" Alec asked, causing everyone to look at him with a shocked expression of incredulity.
Jack looked at the human once over, his face contorted in confusion before he spoke, "Mr. Nash is that a serious question?" Alec only nodded in response, his own face remaining stern. "Well, Mr. Nash I don't know much about human biology to lay claim on anything that may or may not determine how you perceive things, but I'm a rabbit and Mr. Darius Savage is a Tiger. We are from two different families of mammals."
Alec nodded, "Indeed, however I've learned that despite time and the many number of different species that live in Zootopia; adoption remains an active possibility."
Jack's face fell a moment and Alec could see his nose twitch in irritation before he spoke again. "Mr. Darius Savage and I have absolutely no relations, family or otherwise."
Alec smiled at the bunny with an outstretched hand, "Then I have no problems agent Savage." The bunny took Alec's hand with a confused look and shook.
"Please excuse Mr. Nash, he's rather- erm... quirky and overly cautious after some of the recent events that have been taking place," Judy piped in with a warm smile as she held her hand out to the other bunny and the two shook. "Officer Judy Hopps, ZPD."
"Ah yes, I'm well aware of who you are Miss Hopps. I've been following your career with quite a bit of interest. As well as yours Officer Wilde, especially with a background like the one you've had I find it rather interesting." Jack finished be giving Nick a once over before his eyes rested on Gage. "Officer Wolford. Unfortunately I'm not authorized to review your military records in great detail as Zootopia keeps soldier information highly confidential, especially for those that partook in the Den City op. Speaking of which, would you mind joining me in the interrogation room. I'm sure your insight into the terrorist group will be most valuable." Gage nodded and followed as the bunny walked out of the room.
Alec gave Bogo a questionable look, "Alec, Dr. Madge should be arriving here any second and I'd like for you to go with her to the Cliffside facility for better protection." Alec opened his mouth to object, but was cut off by Bogo holding his paw up, " With the terrorist group's leader here we don't know if the group is planning on a retaliation, and like it or not you're under police 'protection' not 'employment' and are now an active civilian of Zootopia. Therefore your protection is our responsibility. Nelson and Gary will be joining Madge and I've already assigned officers Snarlof and Higgins to you so you'll be well taken care of."
Alec grudgingly nodded in response as a hippo and polar bear entered the room and Alec followed them to the front of the station before stopping and asking the two, "Hey, mind if I pick something up real quick. Just want to see about getting some brochures."
The two nodded as snarlof, the polar bear, spoke in slight exasperation . "Just make it quick."
Alec gave them a smile and ran over to Clawhauser who noticed Alec's approach with glee, "Nash! Hey I'm glad you stopped by, I just wanted to thank you for... well... you know. I was so shook up and had you not been there that Mammal would have killed me on the spot."
Alec gave the plump cheetah a shrug, "Meh. Had our roles been switched you'd have done the same thing. Anyhow, mind if I grab an application for law enforcement and some brochures in a folder?"
Clawhauser inhaled sharply and started bouncing up and down, "Oh of course, lemme just grab them real quick."
"Speaking of that day, did what kind of mammal was that that I incapacitated?" Alec asked as the Cheetah picked up a folder and some papers before placing them in a folder with some brochures of Zootopia.
"Panther. Lady hasn't talked since you snagged her. Been real frustrating for some of the guys that have tried getting her to talk, but she's clamped tighter than a stubborn oyster." Clawhauser replied before handing the folder over, "But that's our problem now. At least you got her for us. Now it's just a matter of time. Here ya go. You should probably hurry back, Higgins and Snarlof are getting antsy." Alec thanked the Cheetah before heading back to the two with the folder.
