A/N: This chapter has been sanitized to conform with FFN's rules.
Chapter 10: The Cost of a Glimpse
Nick needed time to gather his thoughts after Jewel's confession of why she did what she did. Sure, she killed mammals to save the ones she loved, but did that make it okay? The same path that led her to cook someone alive in an oven. Although, he thought of a few lingering questions that her confession didn't answer.
"Why did you act the way you did towards Jill?" Nick asked. She cared for her siblings or, so he thought.
"It was for her own good."
"She's your littermate, not a pawn!"
"That's true, but her safety matters more. She's too stubborn to convince otherwise and arguing with other mammals isn't my forte."
Sure, in his past he conned mammals out of money which sometimes had cascading effects, but he wasn't directly responsible for what happened. Jewel on the other paw directly caused suffering because of her predicament.
His silence prompted her to say, "I don't care if I suffer by your paws as long as the mammals I care about remain safe. Give me an alternative if you don't want me to kill."
"Can you at least tell your littermates everything?"
"What if they don't understand?"
"Why did you tell me then?"
"You wouldn't let me live otherwise. I saw it in your eyes. The truth improved my chances of survival than dodging the question yet again."
He wanted to deny the accusation that he himself intended to kill her at one point, but what if she was right? That sent shivers down his spine.
Judy barged into the room, interrupting his thoughts. "Sorry to interrupt but Finnick's here per the agreement you made."
Even though he should be grateful that Finnick followed through on his promise to deliver food, he hated the untimely interruption. It came at an inopportune time, but he couldn't simply ignore him. Judy led Nick and Jewel to Finnick's van right outside the building where Bonnie and Stu, as well as several siblings, were, unfortunately.
"You certainly took your time." Finnick tapped his foot impatiently.
"He paid you to deliver fast food?" Stu asked.
"Yes? Money's money."
"Oh, I was expecting something fancy," Bonnie said. After Finnick revealed what he was delivering, Judy's family left them alone, thankfully.
"Fast food, one meal a day. What a way to spend spring break?" Nick began eating the cricket fries inside the cramped van with four rabbits and a fennec fox beside him. It certainly wasn't ideal, but he had little choice given his paranoia.
Jewel tested the waters by asking Finnick a few questions before deciding to reveal everything she knew about Bunnyburrow to everyone. The revelations surprised Nick who knew most of it. They expressed grievances among themselves while not managing to kill each other despite feeling immense betrayal and shattered trust.
"Nick, there are secrets to keep, and this frankly isn't one of them," Finnick scolded.
Nick averted Finnick's eyes because he was right. After everything Finnick taught him since he ran away from home, something to the scale of Bunnyburrow shouldn't be kept from him. Finnick delightfully imparted knowledge of fox culture since Nick didn't know enough. Foxes looked out for one another and would stand by him through this.
Janna held her paws around Jewel's throat as if wanting to strangle her. "You … kept this … from me. I thought we trusted each other."
Jill was no less enraged. "I thought you suffered from mental issues because of your job but knowing that you bullied me because you wanted Janna to punish you, really hurts." Jewel atoned by licking her fur without prompting.
Judy played the voice of reason by reminding everyone that Bunnyburrow was the real issue.
"I'm going to get something," Jewel said before leaving the van. It took a few minutes for her to return with two cell phones. She showed the gruesome rabbit cooking to Finnick. "Think you can do something with this?"
"Should," Finnick acknowledged. "I'm going to reveal this to Zootopia too."
"Why?" Nick asked. Zootopia's justice system was hardly reliable.
"Because the world won't stand for this when mammals treat their own this way. I don't suppose there's evidence of bunnies taking advantage of other species?"
Jewel replied, "I can acquire some beyond the ones that star myself. Bunnyburrow's ruling caste prides itself on delivering entertainment to the world."
Finnick drove off after promising to spread the word of what truly went on in Bunnyburrow. Nick and his mates agreed to help Jewel obtain points within reason.
After a less than wise agreement to help Jewel acquire points, they gathered in her control booth after completing the video shot. Jewel herself went into the arena below to arrange an unfortunate fate for one of the industry's slaves. Aside from the constant reminder of a struggling crying doe, their experience was over. "Now that business is out of the way, Judy and Nick, how were your first times?" Jewel said after returning from the arena below.
"Would be better without everything else," Judy replied. Nick echoed her sentiments. Her first time wasn't too bad although certain things she did were out of her comfort zone even though she knew what she was getting into. Nick's scent was permanently seared into her mind from all she had to inhale. Jewel earned some precious points without killing and that's what counted. They couldn't save Scarlett from her fate, so Jewel placated them by showing where she kept the two kits.
"I hid them from everyone because of what I did back then. They need to live here by the industry's demands while I can spend points to give them some more freedom," Jewel said. They descended into the hallway where two kits aged fifteen lived. Before she opened the room, she informed them all, "You have ten minutes, and not a second more."
The kits lived in a rather small room. It certainly wasn't spacious with no access to the internet. Everything within the room showed significant signs of use, every book, or game they had.
"Mom, you're not going to kill them, are you?" the doe asked. She wore dull but functional clothing that had holes in several places and the buck beside her was no better off.
"Not this time. These mammals are my family. The ones which I care about. This is Amanda." She pointed to the white doe. "And this is Adam." She pointed to the brown buck. "The industry wanted me to kill them, but I couldn't in my weakness. Now, I've killed many mammals just, so my littermates and they would stay alive. I signed my littermates' lives away that day just, so these kits can live."
They knew that since Jewel told them before, and how she killed more and more just to take her sibling's names off that very contract if she should fail. However, it was a revelation to the kits themselves.
"You did that for us?" Adam said.
"Yes, way back then, after we've known each other for a year. I couldn't kill you both in cold blood." Jewel groomed Adam's ears.
"We love you, and always will." Amanda embraced Jewel.
With five minutes left, Jill said, "Tell us about Jewel."
The kits wasted no time in conveying their feelings towards Jewel. She was wonderful in every way to them despite the circumstances and the stakes. Before they could finish their tales conveying how wonderful Jewel was, Jewel forced her littermates and her mate out of the room even though there was still one-minute left. "Time's up." After they left the room, she explained, "Anyone that stayed overtime forfeited their life."
They walked out of the complex and approached their car. "This was supposed to help me earn points, but overall, I ended up spending six instead. Showing the kits to all of you, cost me ten points while Nick and Judy's roles in the arena earned me four." Jewel turned her head away.
"We understand you now, Jewel," Jill said. "If you require something of us to help, we'll consider it. The industry won't drive us apart."
"That's what scares me, I forced you to act like a pet before without any explanation since the industry offered a deal by agreeing to take one of their names off the list if I should fail at my job yet I stopped it because it was clearly too much for you. As Nick and Judy learned today, points are indeed hard to earn."
"Don't worry about that." Judy knew it was her own fault for taking the initiative.
As Janna drove them home, Judy talked about her experiences within the arena and what she did on video. She wasn't shy about telling everyone the uncomfortable parts she endured because of the agreement.
A/N: The sex scene has been redacted, full version available on AO3. It probably needs better flow as a result.