Hello Everyone, I'm pleased to present the next chapter for Steve Gallicci's Nicole and Julius.
As I mentioned in the previous chapter, Steve and I have been reading each other's work for quite a while now, and one amusing coincidence was that, we each had a knack for creating interesting and unique coyotes.
This collaboration spiraled out of our desire to dig a bit more deeply into the possible social and cultural aspects of the various species in Zootopia, with canids being the obvious choice, given the similarities between Carol and Celeste.
It has been a privileged and an honor to work on this project, and I hope that everyone will enjoy the story to date, as well as what is to come.
Nicole and Julius: Chapter 14: Celeste Gets Shot
Another routine patrol day with Jefferson and Whitefoot. The little Coyote girl was driving today, still learning the ins and outs of the city. Her Puma partner was scrutinizing their surroundings as he had an almost supernatural talent for spotting suspicious activity.
"So, how is the extra training going?" Referring to the advanced paw-to-paw combat training that the ZAF had allowed the ZPD to participate in.
Celeste gave a little whine. "I'm still a bit ambivalent about it. I know it will help me be more capable in various situations, but..." She sighed. "But I don't want to become a hammer that only sees every problem as a nail."
Jefferson chuckled at that. "Hardly a risk, Little One. You're too grounded to ever go brutal. Besides, the greatest warriors of legend were the gentlest in spirit."
" So, I've become the Great Mistress of the Atlatl now? " She said in the Old Tongue.
"Hah! Not with that accent." Whitefoot and Jefferson would exchange little scraps of Territories language and lore. She had only the slightest taste from her Uncle years ago and the Puma came from a different district and following, so they didn't have as much common ground as one might suppose. But they did what they could with what they did have, and like the wartime "Code Talkers", had their own private communication.
"Yeah. Carol has more vocabulary, but admits she isn't sure about the phonemes half the time." Celeste smiled. "I guess I'm sticking with the training as much to be around her and her boyfriend. He's a wolf too, and I'm learning more about Lupus/Latrans social stuff from them."
Jefferson glanced over at his partner. Though a bright young Pup, her unusual upbringing had neglected the typical social and cultural experiences of someone of her age and species. Fortunately, her new family within the ZPD was supportive, even protective. He certainly regarded her almost like a daughter himself; the age was right, old cat that he was.
And there was the matter of her Boyfriend, Alan Whitehorse. He was a particularly striking Wolf, as far as Jefferson's understanding of such matters went, and seemed a genuinely nice young Pup. But there were some social differences between the two breeds and the elder Coyote, Carol, was helping Celeste navigate some of those issues.
"That black SUV." A late model mid-size, some fancy trim and mirrored windows.
"Uhmm, almost like they're trying to get us to notice them. Think they want a chase?" For whatever reason, miscreants seemed to think that a high-speed chase was great sport, even with the prospect of ever increasing odds of getting caught and now rather severe penalties.
"I hope not." The big cat grumbled as he tapped on his data pad. "Wrong plates for the vehicle. Likely both stolen." He then called into dispatch to inform them of the situation, then, "Let's light them up and see what happens."
The errant machine didn't stop immediately, pulling off to a side street first, but then stopped.
"So good so far. Don't like the mirrored windows though."
Celeste approached the vehicle. Other than the mirrored windows and the dubious status, there wasn't anything else obviously amiss. The driver's side window buzzed down and she could see a wolf, then -
Jefferson had been approaching the vehicle from the other side, baton-sized flashlight in one paw, the other on the stunner on his belt. Damn, the windows were nearly opaque from the outside, some kind of quickie Mylar foil applique_. The flashlight would help determine if the foil was too opaque to be safe. The foolish things a mammal will do to look 'cool'.
The gunshot startled him for only a fraction of a second as he saw Whitefoot fall away from her side of the SUV.
Then everything became a slow-motion nightmare.
It took agonizing fractions of seconds to slap his communications panic button on his vest, while winding up for a blow with his flashlight to the passenger side window. But the vehicle was already lurching forward, and while he was able to bust the window, he also smashed his paw on the frame and could not really see who was inside, other than hearing a yelp that sounded like a wolf in the passenger seat getting a loose flashlight to the face.
Then the SUV was gone.
He scrambled over to Whitefoot while calling in the incident. She was curled up on her left side, shivering with pain. He saw a bit of bloody smear under her chin, and a growing pool of blood under her head. He ever so carefully raised her muzzle just a fraction to peer under. It was nasty looking.
The bullet had skimmed under her right jaw line then up and out of the lower left side of her face.
He ran back to the cruiser for the aid kit. "Repeat! Officer down with GSW. Suspect vehicle fled east bound on Blair. Driver armed with automatic pistol. Possibly wolf or wolves." He hoped their body cams got a better glimpse of who exactly did what. His nose and ears said wolf for now.
Then he was back and tended to Whitefoot. Getting her sitting upright, he could see that the bullet had broken and dislocated the left side of her jaw, as well as torn out her left cheek. With gauze pads, he cupped the bloody mess back into approximate place then wrapped it all up.
"It's messy, but not too bad, pup." He sat with her leaning into him for support, his arm around her for a touch of comfort. She nodded, and attempted a feeble pat on his arm.
Jefferson began an old chanted prayer that he was surprised that he remembered. Ancient words, the sort of thing more attributable to racial memory than active recital. It helped settle him through the shock of seeing his partner so injured, and to his great relief, her breathing slowed and synced to the cadence of it as well.
Winston and Whitehorse heard the ping for the Officer Down and Be On the Look Out notice. Whitehorse was driving today so it was Winston who read off the relevant information. "Black late model SUV, mirrored windows, with passenger side window missing. Plate -. Two wolves, armed and dangerous."
As Winston read further, her ears pulled back and she glanced over to her partner before calling in. "Dispatch. Unit 217 requesting Hospital support."
There was a notable pause before Dispatch responded. "Unit 217 cleared for 10-44."
Whitehorse frowned and swiveled an ear towards Winston, but kept his eyes on the road. "So?"
"The officer down was Whitefoot. Non-critical GSW."
He let go a thin whine, but remained calm as he dealt with traffic. "Are you sure we can afford to take the break?"
"Stupid Boy!" the matronly Elk Cow snorted. "You're going to be useless with worry. And I wasn't about to not tell you."
"Thanks."
To his credit, the Wolf made his way across the city in an entirely safe and sane fashion, though he was stress-panting the whole time.
When they arrived, Winston gripped Whitehorse's arm. "Take a deep, slow breath, Alan. Freaking out isn't going to help Celeste."
"Yes Ma'am." He took a long whistling breath through his nose, and in that, realized he reeked of stress. And Winston had a can of Mask-All ready for him to use.
He had to let go a sad little chuckle. She was always one step ahead of anything he might do or need. They exchanged looks. His of gratitude, hers of sympathy. "Take care of your Pup, Pup." She gave him a pat and indicated she'd take care of the cruiser.
In trying to find her, Whitehorse found Jefferson and a Detective in a waiting area.
"They're patching her up now." And Jefferson offered him a hug. The wolf accepted, though cringed a bit at the scent of her blood on the Puma.
"What happened?"
"Stolen SUV with stolen plates. Stopped readily, then Whitefoot was shot as she approached the driver. I punched the passenger side window," He held up his bandaged paw. "Mirrored so I couldn't see, but they took off." There were two wolves in front."
"How bad?" the Wolf whispered.
"Messy but not in danger. The bullet caught her like." And Jefferson pointed with his paws the path.
Whitehorse groaned in grief. Through her face, her sweet little puppy face.
"The big thing will be her jaw reconstruction. The Docs said she ought to be as good as new in time, but they were talking about months, maybe. But she won't need to be wired shut. Just a mouthpiece to keep things aligned. She didn't lose any teeth, but it will be soft food for a good while."
Allan was not happy, and the matter-of-fact tone of the big Cat didn't help. He paced around the waiting area, hugging himself and flailing his arms in inarticulate emotion in turns.
Jefferson and the Detective, a Cheetah named Brooks, exchanged looks. Jefferson had warned Brooks about the relationship between the two young Canids before, and now seeing Whitehorse's reaction, the Detective scowled in disapproval.
He leaned in to whisper, "This is why cops shouldn't get involved with each other."
Jefferson shrugged. "Yet it's a thing that happens."
"Still isn't right."
Jefferson regarded the other cat, wondering if it wasn't the two officers as officers that he was objecting to. Seeing the larger cat's angry tail twitch, the detective was anxious to get to business and began drilling Whitehorse about possible connections or associations that might have any motivation for the shooting.
Like with Jefferson, there wasn't anything obvious, and the old Puma's hard eye kept the Cheetah on subject, least he editorialize. On the other paw, he was gratified to see the pup be able to collect himself and focus on the case, even after his initial shock.
All too quickly the interview was over and the three had to simply wait for the doctors to do their thing.
"Oh glob, how I hate domestics!" Julius wooshed, watching the distraught Opossums being lead off for separate transport back to the Precinct.
Nichole sadly nodded in agreement. They'd spent half the day trying to talk down two estranged parents in a fight over a court-approved visitation. It had been resolved without resorting to darts or stunners or paws-on force, but it had been an emotionally wrenching ordeal for everyone involved. Especially the little ones.
The four little Joeys were now incongruously clinging to the Antelope Social Worker who in turn was assisted by a small crowd of other Officers and Emergency Medical Technicians who were trying to console them.
"Let's get back to the precinct and call it a day." Nichole suggested. It was still a bit early, but they were both pretty well spent. They slumped back to their cruiser where they noticed some notifications waiting for them. First was a BOLO for a SUV with armed and dangerous suspects. Nichole read further as Julius got the cruiser ready to head out.
"Shit!" Nichole snapped and called in. "Unit 442, Wilde here! Clawhauser! Answer me!" Too much surprise from Hopps.
"Damnit! That BOLO was about someone who just shot Celeste at a traffic stop! Clawhauser!"
"Unit 422. Clawhauser's out. Kleinzahn here. We knew you were in a situation and didn't need the distraction. You're cleared to go check on her. She's over at Zootopia General."
"How bad?"
"Channel 8 for that." An encrypted frequency for secure communications, least media ghouls or more unfriendly ears were trying to listen. "I'm told it's not life-threatening but nasty. Be safe."
Julius growled to himself as he eased into traffic. Nichole braced for an explosive acceleration and was surprised to have the Rabbit go with the flow. "Julius?"
"We have a BOLO and nice and easy is the best way to do that." He grumbled back. Nichole nodded and the pair shared a tense quiet ride to the hospital. About the time they arrived there was an announcement that the SUV had been found, abandoned, but there was no additional information on the suspects.
They were relieved to find that the little coyote was already settled in a hospital room with several other officers, mostly from the Fourth, there for her. And there was Whitehorse, leaning over to ever so gently rub her ears with Jefferson sitting beside him, his arm supporting the bereaved wolf.
Poor girl. Half her head was wrapped in gauze, her mouth was filled with a wad of absorbent material and a small pan was beside her already half full of bloody product. She had multiple intravenous lines in her arms and thankfully silenced monitors tracing her vitals. Her eye were dull and unfocused due to the drugs she was likely full of at the moment as well.
However, seeing Nichole, Celeste let out a muffled little whine, which brought the new visitors into focus to the rest as well. Just little nods of recognition, as no one wanted to talk all that much, just be there in silent vigil.
Over the next hours or so, a few well-wishers came or left, still with little to be said. Then a Nurse came in to check on Celeste's condition, pointing out that she'd fallen asleep and if the fool Wolf fiddled with her ears or head much longer, he'd rub her hairless. And though she didn't say anything, gave Nichole a look for how she had been gripping Celeste's paw as well.
After some whispered debate, Whitehorse was going to over-night with Celeste, with Nichole and Jefferson ready to give him breaks as needed for the remaining time she was expected to remain in hospital. Thankfully, that was not expected to be very long, though the nature of her injuries meant she would be idled for a good while.
Out of the room, Nichole confronted Jefferson. "You okay?" Giving him a rather critical eye. She had not been on the force every long, but had enough life experience to know that having a trusted partner be caught like that could be devastating.
Jefferson gave her a bemused look and held up his injured paw. "The Docs say I'll be fine. Just superficial cuts and stuff."
The Vixen relaxed at that. The big Cat was known for his stoic meme, mostly, but those who knew him better could count on a subtle sense of humor too.
"Seriously."
The Puma huffed. "I'm not all guilt -ridden or crushed in self-doubt. Just frustrated that I missed it and now can't really DO anything about it."
"Yeah." Nichole mused darkly. "The detective said that the stolen car had the mirror foil added after it was taken, so there is some concern that it was a targeted shooting."
"Must have been a random cop to kill act though. Whitefoot is too new and hasn't done any major busts to piss off some criminal gang or some such."
"With my joining the force, I drew any media attention away from her entry, so she's largely just another anonymous beast in blue."
"On the other paw, we seem to have a DNA sample of the passenger. So if we find suspects, we can get a positive ID." Julius added. "But where to start? There's only ten thousand or so wolves in or through the city at any one time and next to none are in the database." Though the prey/predator ratio in the city was around ten to one, Zootopia had millions of citizens, so even small minorities still added up.
"What I'm worried about is the whys of it. Some kind of gang thing? If so, they're armed and really dangerous, if starting out with attempted murder of an officer, what else might they try?" Nichole looked at her Bunny Boy. Her early worries for his safety had receded, but now the idea of police being targeted brought her anxieties back.
Julius seemed to sense that, and gave her paw a little supportive squeeze.
Nichole cringed just a fraction. "Before, it was just you, but now it's everyone in blue." How that harkened back to her early heart-to-hearts with Bogo and how just wearing the badge made everyone a target.
"Let's just hope it's just one gun and only some minor idiots." Julius suspected that, despite the drama of the attack, the perpetrators were more likely dangerous fools than dedicated terrorists or criminals, or at least that was his hope. Simply good police work could deal with the former, but he dreaded what might become necessary to combat the later.
The bullpen at the First was all a buzz with the shooting that next morning. Nichole and Julius were reticent to say too much beyond some small reassurances that Whitefoot was going to be okay, waiting to see what the official word was going to be.
Bogo entered to a rather more subdued crowd in anticipation of serious news.
"As you all may have heard, one of our own out of the Fourth, Officer Whitefoot, was shot at what should have been a simple stolen vehicle stop. However, it appears that it was a deliberate attempt at a cop killing."
He let that sink in a moment before continuing. "She was hit, but only across the face, and is expected to make a full recovery." A sigh. "But it was only inches and milliseconds from a fatal injury."
"I'm not going to waste our time with the boilerplate lecture about safety and all that. But I do demand that you not be brave, in the sense of ignoring your gut to an iffy situation. Calling for back-up for even the most routine situations should never be considered too wary, or even cowardly. If there are actors out there targeting us, they may well try to lure officers in for the most innocent of reasons."
"As for what we do know about them, there isn't much. The shooter was a Wolf, unidentified, and had a passenger accomplice, another Wolf. We have what seems to be good DNA on him, but he's not in the system. The gun, at least from the spent brass in the vehicle, was a 9mm automatic, possibly a Bruining."
"If any of you hear anything at all that might be helpful to the investigation, pass it on to Detective Post. He's the First's lead on this, working with the Fourth's unit."
Nichole oh so quietly hissed at that. When Julius gave her a querulous look, she indicated 'later'.
Bogo went on to mention Whitehorse was out, keeping an eye on Whitefoot for now, so Winston had to get shuffled. Clawhauser would coordinate times for anyone who wanted to visit Whitefoot. Then the rest of the morning briefing was relatively routine.
Once out of the bullpen, Julius asked Nichole. "What was that about Post?"
The Vixen growled. "Don't know what his malfunction might be, but that 'Yote has some kind of hate-on for me. My best guess is that he thinks I'm running some kind of long con with Bogo and the ZPD."
Allen found himself just staring at Celeste's gauze wrapped face, having reluctantly heeded the nurse's advice and avoiding too much contact with her. The young coyote had finally drifted off into a fitful sleep again when the last of their colleagues had left. He knew that everyone was both worried, and wanted to help, but seeing how it drained his love, he had breathed a sigh of relief when they had finally left.
He wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around her, and try to take away some of the pain...as well as the fear that his nose had been able to detect since he had first arrived. Not wanting to disturb her too much, he reached out and gently took her right paw in his own and just spent the next few minutes gazing at her sleeping face. Every time an errant movement caused her expression to tighten in pain, he wanted to somehow shoulder a small portion of this burden from her. .
A flicker of movement from the suite's doorway pulled his gaze away from Celeste, and mentally he cursed having to deal with another visitor, but any comment he was about to make died in his throat when he saw a while wolf dressed in scrubs and a lab coat enter into the room. The doctor's eyes first looked towards Celeste's, making a quick assessment of her condition, before he nodded to himself and made his way over to where Allen was sitting.
Unlike so many of their colleagues, the wolf made no move to make Celeste aware of his presence, and instead he first reached out and rested a paw on Allen's shoulder, taking a moment to place a small package he had been carrying off to the side before crouching down so that the two were on the same level.
"How are you holding up, Allen?" he said after a moment, his voice just above a whisper.
Even given the situation, Allen had to chuckle at the older wolf's priorities, and he couldn't help but notice the way the doctor's nose twitched as he spoke. He knew that the physician's focus was not a random thing, and the wolf had obviously picked up on his distress. He and Celeste had only known Carol's mate for a few weeks now, but right from the first moment they had met, it had been obvious that Dave was a healer through and through.
Even though it was Celeste who had been injured, the events had taken their toll on him as well. The fact that Dave was able to notice it so quickly, spoke volumes about just how deeply seeing Celeste being hurt affected him.
"About as well as I can," he replied with a shrug, not really knowing the answer to the question himself. "I want to be able to help, but something like this?" he shook his head and stared at the sleeping Celeste for a moment longer.
Dave nodded in understanding, "You're doing exactly what you need to do, Allen." He motioned towards Celeste's bed and then to the room as a whole. "The mammals here are going to move Heaven and Earth to help her physically, but you're the one that's going to need to help her up here." To punctuate his point, the physician tapped the side of his head with a claw tip. "That's going to be a job for all her friends...and her family."
Allen cocked his head to the side in confusion at the wolf's choice of words, but at the moment, it wasn't anything of import. After a moment, he sighed and tiredly rubbed a paw across his eyes. It was then that he realized something was missing, and he looked back towards Dave with another confused expression on his face.
"Isn't Carol with you?" he asked, genuinely surprised that the coyote hadn't stopped by if her mate was going to visit.
Dave allowed himself a quiet laugh and shook his head, "No, she'll probably come by tomorrow, but me being here tonight was at least partially to keep her away for a little bit."
Allen's confusion must have been visible on his face, as Dave smiled and shook his head at the younger wolf. "Right now, Celeste needs rest far more than she needs another visitor,"
Dave held up his paws in a placating gesture, before tapping the monogram on his lab coat where the "Dr." prefix was plainly evident, "Carol finally was forced to concede that I miiiigh know what I'm talking about here, but she did make me promise to give her a full 'briefing ' as soon as I make it home. When it comes to her students; well, for being a certifiable hard ass, she worries all the time."
He looked back over to where Celeste lay, and his ears pinned back slightly as he thought about the events that had lead up to this. He knew Carol would take it as a persona failure, but there was very little that any mammal could do. Rather than launching into a lecture, Dave returned his gaze to the young wolf, just in time to see the ZPD officer shake his head ruefully at his actions.
Allen had fight the urge to roll his eyes as he took in both Dave's reaction and Carole's...well...paradoxical antics, having seen the collection of bruises that Celeste invariably sported after surviving another training session. As he shook his head at Dave, there was a very real smile on his muzzle.
"Thanks for that," he said, and Dave nodded before his ears perked up, and he raised a digit towards Allen.
"I just remembered one thing for you two," he said and retrieved the package, handing it over to Allen, who examined it briefly.
"It's...a towel?" he asked, his head cocking to the side in confusion, "Unless the answer is forty two, I'm kinda at a loss here."
The older wolf couldn't help but laugh at the confusion evident in Allen's voice. "It is a towel," Dave said after a moment, "Take a second to mark that with your scent. Trust me on this one." Allen was still unsure what the purpose of this was, but he dutifully worked the cloth over his face, allowing it to take on some of his own scent.
After passing the towel back to Dave, Allen shrugged his shoulders, and waited for the white wolf to fill him in on the reason for all of this. Dave simply gave the younger wolf a wink before taking a moment to quietly move closer to Celeste's bed, placing the towel next to the sleeping coyote without waking her. Once he was certain that he hadn't disturbed the young officer, he returned to Allen's side.
Even under these trying times, there was still a sense of calm kindness that the physician radiated, and Allen simply waited for the older wolf to fill him in on the significance. Not wanting to torture the youngster, Dave chuckled to himself before motioning between himself and Allen, as if to make a point.
"Wolves and coyotes; we share a lot of traits with each other, but we are still different species," he began, working to ensure that his voice was just loud enough to be heard without disturbing Celeste.
"For wolves, we have out pair bonds, and compared to some mammals, they are very strong, but we also tend to have wider networks of friends and family...it's just how the pack mentality worked its way into our modern lives." Dave shrugged and focused his gaze on Allen, "This type of thing is never a hard and fast rule, and even after being with Carol for a few years now, I'm still surprised at the little things that crop up."
Dave took a moment to look at the younger wolf and motioned towards Celeste with his head before continuing, "For coyotes, that pair bond is almost always the most important thing."
As if to emphasize Dave's point, there was a small sound from Celeste as the two males conversed, and they both looked towards their charge.
The change in her posture was a small thing. Nothing more than a simple tilt of her head, but in doing so, she had brought the towel that much closer to it, and as the two males looked on, one of her paws wrapped around the fabric, and strove to bring it even closer to her sleeping form. Seeing the young coyote react to the familiar scent, Dave raised a paw and motioned for Allen and him to move further away.
Both males continued to watch as the visible portions of Celeste's face relaxed slightly as true sleep claimed her. Dave gave a small sigh, and looked over to Allen, seeing that the young officer's attention was very much fixated on his mate.
"There is no rulebook for this kind of stuff," Dave said after a moment, and Allen looked at the physician, now only too aware of how such a simple act could help, "but the bond that you two have, just know that when either of you need it, that connection will help pull both of you out of the fire. Quite simply, she is your family now, probably more so than any other mammal out there."
Allen eyes widened as he processed what Dave was saying. His knee-jerk reaction was to deny that this was the case; the two of them only having been together for a relatively short period of time.
Even as the thoughts formed, he knew them to be a lie, and once again he had to laugh at the...now blatantly obvious signs that he had missed over the past while. His own upbringing was... well, somewhat of a mess, but he did remember something from his youth.
By and large, mammals in Zootopia simply went with some kind of bonding ceremony, in accordance with their own beliefs, but for a lot of canines, it was even simpler than that. There was a truly ancient tradition to still held sway to this day in more traditional wolf families. Although he had never personally placed a lot of weight behind it, and given his family life...well, maintaining ancient traditions had never been a priority.
He knew that, as opposed to the lavish celebrations that were commonly held with other species, the wolf bonding ceremony was a simple thing. The two declared themselves as mates from that day forward, and that could be the sum total of the event.
Some packs added on the exchange of gifts or the like, and Allen knew the basics, but it wasn't something he had devoted any effort into understanding. The only constant that he was aware of was that, the two mammals made vows to each other...and nothing else mattered.
Dave watched as Allen considered his words, and the white wolf smiled when Allen's expression transitioned between confusion, and surprise. The young wolf gave a small laugh before rubbing his eyes tiredly. His eyes first sought out Celeste, and now that it had been pointed out just how close they had become, there was no denying the truth. He looked back to Dave, and the older wolf had a very real smile on his muzzle.
Once Dave noticed that Allen had come to terms with the...revelation he supposed, he retrieved a half empty cup of coffee from the small side table in the room. Giving is a quick sniff; he cringed slightly but still offered the drink to the young officer. Allen took the cup, and downed the tepid liquid almost without tasting it, and he looked towards Dave.
"Thanks for that...and for being here, I guess." he said, still trying to think of what the next steps would be for Celeste and he.
The older wolf gave him a small laugh, and motioned towards the empty cup. "Don't thank me for that. We've used that stuff to peel paint at times...or when we need to sterilize equipment in a hurry."
Even given the current situation, Allen couldn't help but smile at the joke. "Same thing over at Precinct One," he said, and for just an instant, his words were colored with something other than worry. "Paint stripper, industrial cleaner, and up to fifty percent of a patrolmammal's blood."
Dave held up a paw and pointed out the window, "I am swearing you to secrecy on this one, Allen," he said sternly, but the severity of his tone was betrayed by the twinkle of amusement still present in his gaze. "Right next door is the Honeywell Centre...and we have much better coffee...and food in general."
Dave took a moment to look towards the Honeywell Centre, and Allen noted that the older wolf's ears begin pinning back before the physician managed to regain control. Allen still didn't have a complete grasp on what the white wolf's duties were at the clinic, but he wasn't foolish enough to try and downplay the effect that it had on the older canine. From Delgato's description of the Centre, combined with Carol's reaction whenever it was motioned, said all that was needed.
The display lasted for only a second before a smile returned to Dave's muzzle and he looked back towards Allen. "Fair warning to you," he said once again motioning towards the Honeywell Centre with one paw. "The normal coffee and snacks, you and the other ZPD officers are free to have as much as you like, but you will see a container liberally marked with biohazard symbols, as well as the name 'Laura' on every visible surface. Do not touch it!"
The white wolf paused for a second, and Allen was somewhat surprised to detect some apprehension in Dave's voice. The physician met Allen's gaze, and shook his head at the younger wolf, "If you do, no one. Not Carol, not me, not anyone of the staff with be able to save you." The seriousness of his tone didn't last long before he shrugged, "I'll let reception know that we might be getting some visitors in the near future."
Allen nodded, acknowledging the offer...and from the bitter taste he could still sense from the previous cup, it was something that he would be taking advantage of in the near future.
The younger wolf cocked his head to the side as another thought occurred to him, and he gestured towards Celeste, "The towel trick," he began slowly, trying to find the right way to broach the subject of...more traditional canine culture. "Was that something you covered in med school, or just things you picked up over the years?"
Dave considered the question briefly before replying, "There was some formal training, both in college, as well as during my residencies," the white wolf shrugged to emphasize the tenuous connection, "but that had more to do with recognizing mammals in distress."
He tapped the side of his nose, and made an exaggerated show of sniffing the air, "Of course, this can tell you more about a mammal's state of mind than anything else really. It's how I made the family connection between Celeste and you the instant I walked through the door. Your secret's safe with me, just so you know."
He gave a small chuckle and winked towards Allen before continuing, "Apart from that, the little things, like the towel trick, that was just part of Carol and I learning about each other, more than anything else. Everything else is just stuff that was passed down over the years. You know, the whole 'Part of the Pack' , mentality." As he spoke, the white wolf pantomimed quotation marks in the air. Allen ears pulled slightly back, and he shrugged before looking away from the other wolf.
Dave's head cocked to the side as his curiosity was piqued. Allen caught the gesture and gave a small sigh, not wanting to go too far down this road. Dave didn't say a word, and just waited for Allen to broach the subject. The patrolmammal's expression telling him that this neither a happy subject, nor one that he particularly wanted to share.
The indecision only lasted for a pawful of seconds, and Allen gave a resigned sigh, rubbing a paw across his eyes, as the weight of the day became more apparent. Looking back towards the older wolf, Allen thought about how to explain his situation. After a moment's consideration he just shrugged. "I didn't really have that kind of family life growing up, and heck most of the "wolf culture" bits I do know, I either picked up from movies, or from the few canine friends I had growing up."
Dave nodded his head in understanding, "Thank you for telling me, Allen, and you have my apologies for making assumptions." The older wolf cocked his head to the side and his eyes narrowed, as he looked Allen over. "I'm a bit surprised that Wolford or Grizzoli didn't jump at the chance to take you under their wing as it were," Dave laughed and shook his head before continuing, "Well, Wolford at least. You and Grizzoli are of the similar vintage. Both of them came from traditional wolf families, and they'd probably want to induct you into pack culture...vigorously."
Allen had to laugh at Dave's comment, and a smile managed to make its way back on to his muzzle. "I think they tried, Dave." he said after a moment, "I just thought they wanted to do the old 'haze the new mammal' kind of thing, and kept putting it off." He thought back to the various outings that he had been invited to take part of, "This does explain why those two had such confused expressions on their faces."
"If you like," Dave began, motioning between Allen and himself, "Consider this as a second chance of sorts." The older wolf made a show of rolling his eyes in mock derision, "I'm gonna be honest, probably fifty to sixty percent of wolf culture can be summed up as 'Grab your packmates, get sloshed, and then engage in some kind of incredibly stupid act to show your strength.' "
Allen had to laugh at the admission, and Dave gave a mental sigh of relief at the change in both Allen's emotions, as well as his scent. "Fortunately for you," he stated once the patrolmammal regained some of his composure, "I do happen to know that there's significant overlap between some wolf culture events, and the usual...recreational activities of the ZPD and the ZAF."
The physician gave Allen a quick wink; "I'd wager that you've already taken the first few steps already. You might not have recognized them, but that's probably how the other Wolves at Precinct One interpreted it."
Allen shook his head, as he went over the various events that he'd been involved with...voluntarily or not, "That does help to explain why Ivan constantly tries to start a howl once we got to the pub."
Dave rolled his eyes and groaned, "Tell me about it," he said, and Allen caught the older wolf absently rubbing his side. When Dave noticed where Allen's focus was he gave a sheepish laugh before releasing his side. "Carol, is not a fan of the howl, and tends to take extreme measures when I get drawn into one."
Allen winced at the thought, having seen the bruises that Celeste accrued during training. Fortunately, Dave waved away any comment, but did shift his gaze to Celeste's sleeping form. "There are some traditions that you might want to look into, Whitehorse," he began, and Allen could hear...longing in the tone? "Both wolves and coyotes have very old tales, and even things that are best thought of as legends. I think that they are the real treasure for both of our species."
Hearing the older wolf's words, Allen's ears perked up, genuinely interested it the topic. Before he could enquire, the fatigue that he had felt building, finally became more than he could ignore, and a large yawn signaled his condition to Dave who simply laughed before placing a paw on Allen's shoulder.
"Why don't you go and get some rest," he said as he drew a tablet out of his coat pocket, holding it up with a resigned sigh, "Paperwork never ends, and I can stick around until the next ZPD mammal shows up. Unless I miss my guess, Celeste won't be waking up for a few hours at least."
Allen considered the offer, and checked his watch before nodding. "Uhhh, thanks for that, Dave. Patrolmammal Jefferson should be here in a half hour or so. He's a pretty big puma, so you won't miss him." He paused for a moment before looking over at his mate. "He's also Celeste's partner, so this is pretty personal for both of us."
The younger wolf allowed his gaze to linger on Celeste's bandaged face, and he gave himself a shake before looking back at Dave. "Seriously though, how does this all look?"
Dave nodded in understanding, and fortunately he had come prepared for this type of question. "This really isn't as bad as it looks, I'm glad to say."
He opened up a document on the tablet and turned it so that the two of them could see the screen. The image was a rough approximation of a coyote's skull, and the physician pointed towards the left side of image. "The jaw repair is relatively easy, and if Celeste were my patient, I have the support scaffold in place early tomorrow. It just needs time to heal."
The older wolf's smile shifted into something more...predatory as he switched to another set of images showing a wolf's jaw in the midst of being repaired. There was a single metal brace tracing along the jawbone, giving some support to the bone, and taking some of the stress off of the damaged bone itself.
"I'll see if I can pull some strings, but in this case, there's some new techniques that will make her recovery a bit quicker," Dave added, pointing out the almost organic looking mesh that was held in place over the damaged bone. Seeing Allen's eyes widen, Dave shook his head, but the smile on his muzzle was very real, "This isn't magic though, and she's probably looking at four to six weeks for the worst of it to heal, but everything should be back to normal in a total of two months."
Allen nodded but sighed at the time frame involved. "I guess it's better than I hoped, but yeah, it's still going to take time."
Dave turned off the tablet and once again placed a paw on the younger wolf's shoulder. "The surgeries to repair her cheek will be an ongoing thing, but with the right surgeon," Dave paused and when Allen met his gaze, they could see the...protective instincts that projected from both of them, "...and I fully intend on ensuring that she see the best mammal for the job. The scarring will probably be minimal."
Allen released a breath that he had been subconsciously holding in before nodding. "I know it's going to be a long while for her to heal...and Spirits I wish there was a way to do more.
His voice trailed off, and Dave gave his shoulder another shake. "Don't forget that she has a lot of mammals pulling for her."
The white wolf then lightly began ushering Allen out of the room, only pausing so that he could spend a few more moments with Celeste.
Once the two of them were outside the room, Dave retrieved a card from one of his pockets, and handed it over to Allen. "That's our home number. You have questions, any time and any kind, just call.
Allen managed to smile as he pocketed the information, and offered his paw to the older wolf. "Thanks for stopping by," he stated, releasing Dave's paw and giving him a mock salute before making his way out of the hospital.
He would have been lying if there wasn't a very real part of him that wanted nothing more than to wrap Celeste in his arms and never let her go, but the doctor had been right, and he would be useless to Celeste, and to the ZPD if he didn't get some rest soon.
"After all," he mused internally, as an uncharacteristic growl tried to escape from his throat. "There are some mammals that need to be tracked down and locked away for a very, very long time."
The white wolf sighed in resignation as he completed yet another patient's file. Today had almost been a standard one for him and the rest of the staff at the Honeywell Centre, but standard there meant that all he had accomplished was to crush the dreams of another set of would-be parents.
Fortunately, the day hadn't been a total loss however, and he smiled when he looked through the next patient's chart. This was a little one that they had managed to save. The kit had responded well to gene therapy to replace the mutated terc gene, that was a major contributor to her canine idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Even before her birth, she had undergone treatment in utero by his own paws.
Closing his eyes for a moment, his ears twitched as he thought of the scene from the delivery room from that morning. Even though the event should have been a common one for him; given his position as an OBGYN, and pediatric surgeon at the Honeywell Centre; its delivery rooms were rarely used for their intended purpose.
Today had been different, and when he had heard the first squeaking cry emerge from the newborn he held in his paws, the smiles of every mammal in the room were plainly evident, even under their muzzle masks.
He allowed himself to exist within that memory for a moment longer. As he placed the crying kit into the arms of her mother, he hadn't even tried to mask the joy he felt. Seeing the parents welcome their new daughter into this world, was an image he would treasure for a long time to come.
A sound from the suite's door drew him out of the memory, and he looked over to see a brown rabbit doe in a clean set of scrubs enter into the room, her attention fixated on the chart she held in her paws. He recognized the nurse from the occasions where he'd be asked to perform a procedure at Zootopia General, or provide a second opinion when the situation demanded it. He and the other physicians at the Honeywell Centre all had full hospital privileges, even if they were only needed once in a blue moon...and most of the ZG's staff much preferring to make use of the Centre's equipment and supplies when they could.
Initially, the nurse didn't even notice him, and started making her way over to Celeste. Not wanting to startle the rabbit, Dave tapped his claws against the surface of small table.
The nurse's ears shot up at the sound and she quickly looked over to the table where Dave was seating. She gazed at him warily for a moment, but then her eyes widened in recognition. "Doctor Hawthorne!" she began, `working to keep her voice low, so as not to disturb the sleeping coyote. "What are you doing over here? I didn't see your name on the duty roster for tonight."
Dave's smile was completely genuine as he considered the smaller mammal. "It's Nurse Hazel, isn't it?" he inquired, not fully trusting that he had all the details committed to memory. He motioned towards Celeste with his head, "Officer Whitefoot is a student of my mate's, as well as being a personal friend for both of us." The wolf gave a shrug as he took a moment to once again go over the coyote's injuries in his mind. "Whatever I can do to make this easier on her and her colleagues, I intend to do."
The rabbit nodded in understanding, before taking a moment to check over the IV fluids. "She's scheduled for the first part of the jaw reconstruction tomorrow morning I think," the doe added, quickly retrieving a tablet from its place beside Celeste's bed. After scrolling through the information she nodded to herself, and looked back towards Dave. "It looks like Doctor Packard, is currently scheduled to handle the jaw repair."
Dave gave a brief sigh of relief, at the news. He was well familiar with Amanda Packard's skills, having needed the golden jackal's assistance as an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, when the deformities of a cub were beyond his own capabilities to repair. He was also silently grateful that she had been one of the pioneers of the scaffold assisted jaw reconstruction, and he was certain that if she didn't opt to make use of it, there would be a damn good reason why.
"Good to hear," he said after a moment, making a quick note on his own tablet. "I'll check in with her first thing tomorrow, but I know officer Whitefoot is in good paws with her." Looking towards the nurse, he cocked his head to the side questioningly. "Who's been tapped to handle the facial reconstruction?" he asked.
The rabbit's expression fell, and both her ears drooped behind her as she heard the question. She briefly glanced back down at the tablet in her paws, before taking a hesitant step towards the suite's door. "I'm not one hundred percent sure," she said, her voice uncertain, and Dave rolled his eyes.
"I'm not looking to get you in trouble, Jenene," he said simply, having remembered the rabbit's first name, "All I care about is making sure she," he added, pointing towards the sleeping coyote, "gets the best treatment there is. I already know I'm not going to like the answer, but just give me the name. I promise to make sure yours is never brought up." He took a moment to stand up and raise his right paw into the air; his first two digits extended while his left paw moved to cover his heart, "Ranger Scout's honor."
Jenene gave a snort of laughter while rolling her eyes at the wolf, "Doctor Edwards requested to take charge of the facial reconstruction."
Dave simply closed his eyes as he took in the news. After taking a calming breath, he positioned his right paw just below the level of his waist. "You're referring to Rick Edwards, correct? Porcupine, about yea tall? Quite possibly the most mediocre surgeon to ever obtain a senior position at Zootopia University?
Nurse Hazel winced at Dave's choice of descriptors, but she had to agree with the physician. "No comment on the more...inflammatory descriptors, but yes, that's him."
After another sigh, Dave rubbed his eyes before finally opening them and looking towards Jenene. "Thank you for the information, and Doctor Edwards will be operating on Officer Whitefoot over my dead body...or his. Either option works for me."
Dave was already reaching for his phone when he motioned towards the door with his head, "Thank you again, Jenene. If you want to maintain some plausible deniability, you might want to take a short walk," he looked over at the wall-mounted clock, "I think ten minutes should do."
Jenene laughed at the wolf, but started towards the door. "I do feel like a walk would do me some good. Everything with Miss Whitefoot seems on the up and up, and I have the strangest feeling that she'll be receiving the best care that we can offer."
Dave smile showed too many teeth to be truly non-threatening, but the rabbit knew that the display was not meant for her. As she left the room, she immediately retrieved her phone, and fired off a quick text message.
"Does anyone know when Pokey was going to be coming in tomorrow morning?"
A reply was almost instant, and Jenene saw that Josh, another rabbit nurse had been the first to reply. "Doctor Edwards? He's booked in for surgery at 9:15, so he should be in for around 8-ish."
The doe smiled at the information, and she quickly sent off another text, " We might want to make sure that he isn't able to duck into an office when he arrives."
As she sauntered down the hall, the plans were already in motion to ensure that Doctor Edwards' misfortune would be well witnessed.
Back in Celeste's room, Dave had wasted no time in calling an old colleague to see what could be done about Celeste's treatment. He tapped a hind paw impatiently while the phone buzzed in his ear, before the call connected.
"Doctor White speaking," a female voice came through the line, and Dave smiled when he recognized the slight Slavic accent that colored her words.
"Hello, Danika, it's Dave Hawthorne," he stated simply, knowing that the Eurasian wolf would already have her interest piqued simply by his calling.
He was not left waiting for long, as a quiet chuckle could be heard quite clearly, "Dave, good to hear from you. So how life or death is the situation this time?"
"I don't only call when I need something, Dana," he said in an amused voice, reverting to the less formal form of her name, "...more like ninety five percent of the time, but yes, I do need your help here. You still have full privileges at Zootopia General, right?"
Dave could clearly hear the rustling of paper over the line, "You always have the most interesting cases, so I'm willing to give you some slack, and yes, I'm still in the system."
"This one isn't quite as...unique as some of the previous ones I've given you," He took a moment to look over towards Celeste, "Did you hear about the shooting from earlier today?" he asked, not entirely aware of how far the news had spread.
"Hmmm, I read about something," Dana stated after giving it some thought, "There weren't any specifics provided...let me guess, somehow, you're neck deep in this?"
"As always," he replied, and he heard an exasperated sigh from Dana, but she made no other attempt to interrupt him, "The victim, a female coyote and patrolmammal with the ZPD, suffered a single GSW to the face. The bullet entered just below the right mandible, on an upward trajectory, exiting out of the left cheek at the fourth premolar. The impact resulted in a stress fracture to the mandible, and the left zygomatic arch." Dave paused, to allow Dana a chance to get all the details.
"That doesn't sound too bad," she stated after a moment. "I can imagine that the soft tissue damage is going to be nasty, but it's nowhere near critical..." her voice drifted away to nothing as she considered Dave's motivations for bringing her in on the case.
Dave didn't bother to conceal his motivations, "Well, she is one of Carol's students, so even if it's only for self-preservation, I want to make sure she gets the best treatment," He paused for a moment before taking a deep breath, "But the real reason is that, I just found out that Rick pulled rank, and took over the facial reconstruction."
Dave was forced to move the phone away from his ear, as a blistering string of, what he assumed were rather colorful descriptors for Doctor Edwards, "Taj arogantan, jebeni idiot. Nije mogao naći dupe s obje šape i kartu." He had no idea what Dana was saying, but a sudden crash and the sound of broken glass had both his ears standing on end.
"Dana, are you okay?" he asked cautiously, while he listened for any signal from the plastic surgeon.
There was some additional rustling noises followed by a slow sigh before Dana's voice "I'm fine." There was the faintest rumbling of a growl in her voice, but Dave was just relieved that, although apparently livid, Dana was physically fine. "Please tell me that idiot isn't going to be handling the jaw reconstruction?"
Dave laughed at the question, but was quick to assuage the other physician, "Fortunately not. They've given that task over to Doctor Packard."
"Amanda's handling it?" Dana asked, the undertone of menace that had colored her earlier words abated once she knew that Celeste would have competent care. "Good, I'll reach out to her ASAP, and make sure that we're working in concert...and also play my trump card on Rick... Bezvrijedan grumen trulog mesa! "
The final words were barely above a whisper, but even without knowing the specifics, Dave could only smile at the...vehemence of Dana's dislike of Doctor Rick Edwards. Both he and Dana had experienced the dubious honor of having studied under the porcupine as part of their residency training. Quite frankly, he was the laziest physician Dave had ever met, only ever doing the minimum required to treat his patients.
He had been able to escape after only a few months, plastic surgery being about as far from his personal interest as one could get, but Dana...she had to deal with him for almost 3 whole years. It was only when Dana made it a habit to approach Rick's patients and offer to repair the porcupine's minimal work that things had finally come to a head.
Apparently the dean had been quite blunt when Dr. Edwards had lodged a formal complaint. Indicating that the fact that Rick was a tenured professor was the only reason he wasn't sent packing...Some lingering animosity between the two miiight still be present.
"Okay, Dave," she stated simply. "I've got this handled, and I'll let you know how the officer does sometime tomorrow."
"Thanks for that, Dana," Dave said before giving a sigh of relief, knowing that Celeste would now very much be having the pest paws in Zootopia working on her behalf. "Look, if Officer Whitefoot needs any special equipment or treatment that the ZPD or government won't cover, please let me know."
Dana gave a small laugh at Dave's words, "You never change, Ti Glupi Vuk . There shouldn't be any real problems unless the nerve damage is worse than you've indicated, but I'll let you know if the coffers of the Honeywell Trust can make a difference." There was another rustling of papers, as Dana reorganized herself, "I'll be in touch, be safe!"
Dave didn't even have a chance to say goodbye himself before the call disconnected. Shaking his head, he moved to Celeste's side, and looked over the poor coyote's face. The dressings were still clean, and he was glad to note, that the phone call hadn't disturbed her. A rustling from the door, made him look up to see a rather large puma enter into the suite, wearing a ZPD uniform. Dave also noticed the fresh dressings on the puma's paw, and could guess that they had either been earned in the same incident that had injured Celeste...or from when the officer had punched a wall in frustration...which happened more often than it should.
The big cat had a wary expression on his muzzle, and Dave took the opportunity to step away from the bed and head over to introduce himself. "You must be patrolmammal Jefferson?" he stated simply, offering the big cat his paw in greeting. "I'm Doctor Dave Hawthorne, Carol Latrans' mate."
The puma's eyes widened slightly in realization, but his face remained utterly impassive, but he did reach out and shook Dave's paw, nodding his head in greeting. "Tahoma Jefferson, ZPD Precinct 4." the officer's words didn't betray his emotions.
"I was expecting Allen to still be here," he said, his nose twitching slightly as he took in the various scents in the room. Underneath, the disinfectants, and the scent of many strangers, Allen's scent could be clearly made out, and Jefferson estimated that he had probably left fairly recently. He released the doctor's paw, and the white wolf motioned with his head over to the side of the room, where a small (at least for him) table was located.
"Allen needed to get some rest, so I offered to keep an eye on Celeste until you arrived." Dave turned back to face the puma, and he examined the officer for a moment, wondering how long the big cat had been awake for given the day's events.
Jefferson considered Dave's scrutiny for a moment, making a dismissive gesture with his uninjured paw before looking back towards Celeste. "The two of them are strong," he stated simply as if just by making the pronouncement the strands of fate would heed his call. He looked back at Dave before speaking again, "Thank you for looking out for them, both of them."
"It's going to be a long road, but I know the mammals here, and she's in good paws," Dave nodded, and motioned towards the puma's bandaged paw, "On that note, would you like me to take a look at that before I leave?" he asked, unsure about the degree of injury, or the level of care that Jefferson had received to date.
The puma just shook his head, "It's nothing," was all he said, as he moved over to Celeste's bedside. He didn't reach out to touch her though, and he simply held his paw over her bandaged face. When he spoke, the words were quiet, " Hanályį́į́h yázhí adeezhí. Níłchʼi dooleeł náʼoolkiłí danihí ." The words were unfamiliar to Dave, but he had heard something similar from both Carol and her mother.
"Was that the old tongue?" he asked, somewhat hesitant to interrupt the puma's vigil.
There might have been the beginnings of a smile on Jefferson's muzzle, before his face reverted to its standard stoicism. He nodded, towards the wolf, before pulling a chair closer, so that he could maintain his vigil. "You know of it?" he asked, once he was settled. The curiosity was plain on his voice, as his interactions with most of the mammals in Zootopia showing varying degree of ignorance of the old ways.
Dave nodded in reply, "Not a lot, but Carol or her mother sometimes uses a word or two." He chuckled slightly before continuing, "Given the...situations they were involved in at the time, they probably were not too friendly.
Jefferson nodded, and watched as the wolf's expression became more contemplative. "There was one other bit," Dave started, unsteadily, "a song of some kind I think." The physician closed his eyes and thought back to the moment when he had heard Carol's mother quietly singing the song. His voice was hesitant, but he tried his best to remember the sounds.
"Ahala ahalaso naahsha gha!"
"Shi naahsha gha..."
His voice trailed off as his memory of the words reached its end, and he was somewhat surprised to hear a quiet chuckle from Jefferson. Opening his eyes, he saw that the puma had obviously found his performance more amusing than insulting, and was working to maintain his composure. The puma's expression didn't revert to its normal stoic state, and there was a surprising warmth in his gaze.
"Shi Naasha," he stated simply, easily able to identify the song...even though the wolf's pronunciation was...well awful, but the fact that he made the attempt was more than what most mammals would try. "It's is a lullaby, mainly..." he paused for a moment, and once again had to fight the urge to laugh, "and it's normally sung by females trying to get their cubs to sleep."
Dave couldn't help but laugh at the explanation, and he shrugged before retrieving another business card from his pocket before handing it over to Tahoma. "That's my home number," he stated pointing to the relevant information. "If you, Celeste, or Allen need anything, just call."
He once again looked over at Celeste, "She's going to be in and out of surgery for the next while, but it's good to see just how many mammals are in her corner."
Jefferson nodded politely, "Thank you for your help, Doctor." he paused for a moment, his gaze fixed on Celeste, "I'd like to spend some time with my partner, if that's alright." Dave nodded in understanding, hearing the worried undertone that colored the puma's words, but understanding that the patrolmammal needed some private time.
After the white wolf left the room, Jefferson rolled his eyes at the memory of the wolf's impromptu performance.
"Well adeezhÌ ," he said simply, looking at his partner, "we found a mammal with worse pronunciation that you." At that point, the puma just sat there in silence, watching Celeste sleep. His expression was unreadable, but an observant mammal would notice that his bandaged paw was clenched so tightly that it shook.
As much as he wanted to stay by his beloved's side, getting up and out was a grudging necessity. Allan tried to relax and stretch as he walked down the street, grateful that Dave had stopped by, and in doing so had given him the opportunity to stretch his legs. He had to smile at the impulse to resent the perfectly normal day around him while he had to deal with such tragic crisis.
But Nichole and Jefferson, and by extension, Julius and the combined First and Fourth Precincts were on hand for support and Celeste, and him, were in good paws. Now he needed to take care of himself and prepare for Celeste's home coming. Groceries and housekeeping were the goals for the day.
A wolf was coming up from the opposite direction. Typically, as strangers, they'd simply exchange a nod of recognition. The idea that they would also exchange sniffs was more a comedic stereotype than truth. As Allen was concentrating on other things, he wasn't putting too much thought into the other's approach, but just as they passed each other, Allen's fur stood on end as something about to other wolf set off every survival instinct he possessed. Before he even had a chance to begin processing the feeling, he heard the other wolf's foot pivot.
Not knowing exactly what the wolf was planning, Allen spun counterclockwise, and swept his left arm out, his digits pointing upward and ramrod straight. He was gambling on the other canine being right-paw dominant, and he silently hoped that this was the case.
As the stranger came back into view, Allen quickly processed the situation, and took immediate notice of the pistol that his attacker was starting to aim in his direction. His gamble had paid off however, and his left paw struck his attacker's wrist, before his assailant could draw a bead on him. The impact knocked the firearm to the side, but it also caused the wolf to fire off a single round.
The report of the weapon was deafening, even in the open environment of the quiet street. Allen winced as his sensitive ears rang in the aftermath, but his training at the academy had taught him what to expect, and he worked past the discomfort. His opponent was not so disciplined, and the other wolf visibly flinched as the pistol discharged.
Allen made good use of the momentary distraction, and deftly grasped onto the other wolf's wrist in order to maintain control of the weapon. The other Wolf was about his size, but was entirely lacking in his agile athleticism, something that became more obvious when his attacker stumbled backwards, having lost his footing on the uneven pavement. Allen followed the wolf down to the ground, maintaining a constant grip on the paw holding the pistol, while at the same time striking the wolf's right elbow with his own right limb, forcing it to bend, and allowing him to position the pistol so that it was no longer aiming anywhere near him...but was also positioned quite close to the other wolf's ears.
Subconsciously, he knew that, while there were no other mammals on the street, they could arrive at any moment. The rarity of firearms in Zootopia meant that, rather than running away at the sound of a gunshot, many mammals would move towards the disturbance as curiosity got the better of them. Although he was confident that he could handle the wolf, this needed to end quickly.
He made the decision in an instant, and before his attacker could make a move to try and escape his grasp, he jammed his right paw into the trigger guard, while at the same time, tried to pin his ears as far back as they could go.
Once again, the pistol discharged, and even having prepared for the blast, the pain in his ears was immense. He was still able to hear the sound of the bullet ricochet off the pavement, but his attention was fully invested in the condition of his attacker...The effect it had on him was on another level entirely.
The wolf immediately made of yip of pain that transitioned into a full on scream, as the wolf released his grip on the pistol as he tried to cover his abused ears. Allen quickly tossed the firearm to the side, well out of the wolf's reach, and had the now moaning wolf zip-cuffed within moments.
Once the suspect was secure, he took stock of the situation. From the red tinged fluid dripping out of the other wolf's right ear, he was almost certain that the noise had ruptured the eardrum, but as that wasn't a life threatening injury, he was content to keep an eye on the suspect and he moved to retrieve the firearm before crouching down beside the subdued wolf.
Though out of uniform, he still had a utility pouch and his comm on his belt. He slapped his panic button and called in. "Officer needs assistance! Assailant in custody was armed with a handgun! Officer out of uniform and seeking cover! Scene is not secure!"
It was only when he said the words that he realized just how open his position was, and he quickly scuttled to take cover behind a nearby vehicle, taking a moment to drop the magazine of the pistol, and a quick glance told all he needed to know. The magazine was almost full, with only the two fired rounds unaccounted for. He was about to clear the firearm, when something made him pause, and instead he replaced the magazine and verified that a round was already chambered, before hunkering down to wait for backup to arrive.
Notes:
...Yes, we're evil for ending this chapter with a cliffhanger, but I do hope that you enjoyed the journey to get to this point.
For those of you who don't read Lost Causes and Broken Dreams, the Honeywell Genetic Counseling Centre, is the main setting for the story. It exists to try and help interspecies couples to start families of their own, but the simple truth is that genetics is not a kind mistress, and there are so many critical steps that need to happen perfectly in order for new life to come about...well it's not a happy story. For Dave and the other mammals at the Centre, their daily routine borders on Sisyphean, but they still work to help whoever they can.
I won't go into too much of my usual musings relating to Zootopia, but I would like to mention one element that was used in this chapter. Namely how Allen used the discharge of his attacker's pistol to effectively end the fight.
This is very much a "water is wet" kind of fact, but it is important to point out that firearms are generally very, loud. In the case of the 9mm round used in this story, it can reach as high as 160dB...and that's a ridiculously loud level of sound. For comparison, standing 25m away from a jet during takeoff will only reach about 150dB, so it's a significant amount of energy that's involved. Having a noise that loud occur right by your ear would be devastating. For those who haven't experienced it, a ruptured eardrum is both extremely painful, but also disorienting. As one of the purposes of the inner ear is to assist in our ability to balance, having anything disrupt it can cause extreme nausea, as well as balance issues.
So if you're out at the firing range, make sure you have your ear protection on at all times...and also don't stick your head into a jet engine. Any questions or comments, please leave a comment or send me a message.
