Bhrast Akela was annoyed. This happened a lot. It had been a year since she was demoted to beat cop and then shoved behind a desk. She hated it, the work was dull and she was terrible at interacting with other mammals. But after keeping her head down for a year, lightly flirting with Captain Higgins, and making sure she kept her skills up to date at the firing range and sparring arena, she'd finally been let back out on patrol. Oh, it was still nowhere near as satisfying as when she had been a Sergeant in Internal Affairs, but at least it was a step back up the career ladder. It had taken her four years to get to Sergeant, and another 18 months to get into Internal Affairs, but she'd only lasted four months there before that fucking fox got her thrown out. She was convinced he'd been bucking for her position, but then he'd been made a detective, going down a completely different career path.
That didn't matter though; what mattered was that she was back to being a real cop again. But then, only three hours into her first patrol shift, she'd been called back to the precinct by the captain. Kelsey, her cheetah partner, was told to take up station at the reception desk for the rest of the evening shift while Bhrast had been ordered up to the captain's office. She had no idea what the hell was going on.
Maybe he needs us assigned to a case…but why would Kelsey have been stuck behind reception? she thought. She felt sorry for Kelsey, she knew how dull the desk was. Hopefully this was just for today. She made her way up to Captain Higgin's office and stood in front of the frosted glass door, which obstructed her view of the interior. She made a few quick adjustments to her uniform and knocked on the door.
"Come in Bhrast," came the rumbling voice of the hippo.
Strange, he usually calls me Akela if it's official business…oh God, I hope he hasn't still got the wrong idea. She really hoped the captain had gotten the message last time; she'd just flirted with him lightly in the hope it'd get her back on the street again. Nothing over the top, a compliment here, a smile there, that's all! He's got a wife and kids, if this is what I think it is I better let him down gently.
"I said come in Bhrast!" Higgins said, louder. It was far more authoritative, but he still used her first name. Deciding not to keep him waiting, she entered. Her heart sank immediately, while her anger rose at the same rate. Sitting in front of the captain's desk and sharing a seat were Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps, the bastards who got her shoved here in the first place. She caught herself before a snarl started, remembering that these two now outranked her, and assaulting a superior officer was a very bad idea. Not that she'd do it, of course.
Well, probably anyway.
"You wanted to see me sir?" she asked, walking up to the Captain's desk, trying her best to ignore the two detectives.
"Yes Bhrast, thank you, take a seat. These detectives have some…news and a few questions for you," Higgins informed as he placed his arms by his sides in a gesture of…what exactly? Resignation? Sadness? Suddenly, the sound of the captain's desk phone ringing filled the room. He picked it up and put it to his ear. "Yes? Can this wait? OK, OK, I'll be right down." He ended the call and turned to the detectives. "Sorry, just got a call from the front desk. I'll be back in a few minutes," he said and made to stand, the floor rumbling slightly under his heavy weight. He made his way around the desk, then turned to her. "I'll be here when you need me, OK Bhrast?" he assured, placing a massive hoof on her shoulders. He looked over to the detectives. "Sorry guys, I'll try and be back as quick as I can."
"No worries Higgins, was nice seeing you again. We miss you at Precinct One," Judy said, her familiarity with the hippo making his rank a small detail in their friendship. When she had just started, Higgins was a sergeant at the precinct, but he had gotten the job as captain of Precinct 99 not long after making lieutenant when he had managed to catch one of the biggest drug dealers in Zootopia about a year ago. By all accounts, he was doing a great job.
"Yeah big guy, it's not the same without you," Nick added, throwing a wink at his former colleague. Higgins smiled and made his way out of the room, finally removing his hoof from Bhrast's shoulder.
"Well? I haven't got all day you know?" Bhrast said, her faux civility all gone now that the captain was out of earshot. If they had to ask her questions for a case she'd help, but it didn't mean she'd have to be civil.
"Officer Akela," Nick began, a face of neutrality presented to her. "Do you know a Bighana Akela?"
"Yes, she's my sister. What has the little idiot done now? Got caught whoring herself out? Is that what this is? Blackmail to keep her arrest out of the public eye? You know how much we make as beat cops so I can't pay much. Not that I would pay if I…"
"She's dead Akela," Judy cut in to stop the wolf's rant.
"Wha…what?" Bhrast uttered after a few moments of silence. No no no not Bighana, not my little Bahan, they must be wrong. She said as much out loud.
"Here," Judy said with obvious but controlled frustration, handing over the photo. Bighana took it and stared. Yes, it was Bighana, eyes closed, lifeless, but it was her. She nodded.
"We're sorry," Nick said levelly, "but we're going to need you to come to the morgue and officially identify her. We'll also have to ask you some questions. Do you want to do that now or come to Precinct One tomorrow?"
"No, let's…let's do it now, get it out of the way," Bhrast responded, still staring at the photo. Tears had started running down her face. "Do you know who did it?"
"Not yet," Nick replied. "We haven't got much to go on right now, but we'll find out."
"Pfft, guess those stereotypes of fox intellect are over-exaggerated," Bhrast snapped, her eyes finally turning from the photo to glare at Nick.
"Just like many stereotypes are I guess," Nick said coolly, not taking the bait. Judy on the other hand let out a small growl. The noise was so unheard of from a rabbit it took Bhrast a few seconds to locate the source.
"What's the matter rabbit? Don't like me insulting your boy toy? Maybe you wanna take this outside?"
"I'd advise against it, considering Judy holds the records for taking down an elephant, rhino, hippo…pretty much any mammal that weighs in the tonnes actually, back at the academy," Nick explained before Judy could respond to the provocation.
"Is that a threat?" Bhrast said, smiling.
"No, it's a statement of fact warning that if you continue to provoke my partner, it will probably end badly for you. Just like last time when you did it to me," Nick replied, not a shred of malice or humour in his voice. Judy was amazed he was keeping himself this controlled after his minor episode at the apartment. She on the other hand…
"OK Flopsy, I'll lay off," Bhrast said, obviously annoyed by Nick's reminder.
"The building super said a wolf matching your description was at the apartment building a few days before she was found," Judy said, trying her best to ignore the demeaning term and be more like Nick. "Was that you?"
"Yes, it was. I was delivering a package to her…"
"A photograph of your graduation from the ZPD Academy?" Nick asked.
"You opened it? Where do you get off?"
"At home, with her," Nick answered, smiling as he indicated Judy. The joke immediately threw Bhrast for a loop while Judy glared up at her partner. "We were trying to establish her identity, when she was found she had no I.D., and nobody seemed to know much about her. We had to search her apartment and found that. Along with just under a kilo of pounce. Did you know anything about that?"
"A kilo? Where the hell did she get that?"
"That's what we're trying to find out. I assume you knew of her habit?"
"Yeah, I was trying to convince her to go to rehab when we last spoke three months ago, which is what caused her to not speak to me for those three months…"
"Why didn't you report her to the police if you knew?" Judy asked, harsher than she meant to.
"Because, rabbit, she was my sister! Would you report one of your family? I assume you have one, being good at multiplying and all." Judy held her tongue, not wanting to show the wolf was annoying her, though she knew her face showed it.
"Well that is not the purview of our investigation anyway," Nick said. The overly formal tone reminded Judy she had to keep her cool for Nick's sake; the more upset Nick got, the harder he tried to clamp down on his feelings. She knew she was his emotional crutch at times, something she didn't like, but would support him nonetheless. "Did you deliver her the kilo of pounce as well?" Nick asked.
"What? No!"
"Just checking, you know we have to ask," Nick replied and continued through a litany of standard questions. Where was Bhrast on the night of her sister's death? What had she done since then? Did she know anything about her sister's clients? Did she have an alibi? All amounting to pretty much eliminating her as a suspect as long as they all checked out. Bhrast kept her temper in check for the most part after it became clear Nick wasn't biting, though Judy was pretty sure she'd ground her own teeth down a few millimetres after some of the terser responses. She was also aware that it was really, really bad form as a detective to be visibly angry with someone who had just lost their family, but the way Bhrast immediately tried to make Nick the focus of her anger and sadness really rubbed Judy the wrong way.
"Look, you need to go home," Judy suggested, her caring nature finally surfacing. "I think we got everything we need for the moment, but we still need you to come to the morgue to formally identify Bighana. Say around ten o'clock? We can pick you up," she offered. That would give them all plenty of time to sleep and be fresh for the tasks ahead.
"I can make my own way…" Bhrast muttered, her sadness starting to overcome her anger. "Can I keep this?" she asked, holding up the picture of Bighana. Judy was confused by the thought of Bhrast wanting a picture of her sister's corpse…but then again, with what they learned maybe that was the most recent picture she had.
"I think this would be a better idea…" Nick said. He reached into his pocket and handed over the framed picture of Bhrast's graduation. "It's not evidence of any crime as far as I can tell," he added. Judy smiled inwardly as he handed someone who outright hated his guts a small token of solace. Bhrast snatched it out of his paws without even uttering an insincere thank you. Seemingly unperturbed, Nick made for the door, Judy following suit. Outside they saw Higgins at the top of the stairs having just finished his business at the front desk.
"Hey Higs," Nick greeted. "Bhrast is probably gonna need some time right now and a few days off at least."
"Yeah, I'll get it sorted. Poor kid, she loved her sister despite everything she put her through."
"You knew about Bighana's…activities?" Judy asked, not sure how else to phrase it.
"I look after the officers under my command Hopps, and that means knowing about them."
"Look at this guy, heart as big as…well his stomach!" Nick joked, patting the larger mammal's gut.
"Careful Wilde, I am a captain after all," Higgins rumbled.
"Yessir," Nick replied, winking. "Well, it's been a long day; we'll get out of your hair. G'night Higs."
"Wilde, Hopps," Higgins said and made his way back to his office.
"Phew…what a day, huh Fluff?" Nick said jovially.
Too jovially, Judy thought.
"God, I can't be bothered cooking when we get home. Pizza?" Nick suggested before Judy could say anything.
"Sounds like a plan," Judy agreed, her stomach grumbling slightly in response. "Nick, do we need to tal…" she started before realising Nick was already making his way to the car, noticing a slight hunching of his shoulders. Guess I'll wait till we get home, she thought, hurrying after her mate.
"Sweet cheese and crackers, home sweet home!" Nick declared in the same jovial tone as he entered their apartment just after nine pm. He'd been using it all the way home. In the car, then at the precinct, then on the bus, and finally in the pizza place around the corner from their apartment. Judy was about ready to deck him for it. She loved the fox's cynical yet ultimately upbeat attitude. This was…well, it felt like he was being a parody of her!
"Nick…" she began, trying to grab his attention as he put down the pizza. He didn't respond, busying himself with getting the food out for them. "Nick," she said again more firmly, but still he bustled and…was he humming? Oh that is IT.
"Nicholas Piberius Wilde!" she shouted, causing him to drop a plate he'd gotten out for the pizza. It smashed on the floor, making them both jump.
"It's OK Judy, I got this!" Nick said, smiling warmly as he set about picking up the plate, making more noise than was necessary.
"Nick for the love of God just stop!"
"Stop picking up a broken plate? What, you want porcelain in your paws?" he responded, picking up more bits.
"That is not what I meant and you fucking know it!" THAT got his attention. Judy watched as Nick flinched, then grimaced, placing the bits of plate on the kitchen counter.
"Yeah, I know..." he said, resigning to the conversation.
"Nick, you're doing it again…"
"Doing what?"
"Trying to hide your feelings! From ME! And doing it badly I might add."
"God, I can't hide anything from you, can I?" Nick replied, letting out a huff of air.
"Do you want to?" Judy asked, hurt at the thought.
"Nononono! God no Judy!"
"Then why are you doing it?"
"I…I don't know. I guess this whole thing with Akela got to me. And I hate that. I hate mammals knowing they get to me."
"I'm pretty sure she didn't get that impression; she was pretty angry after all."
"Heh, that's true. That was funny," he said, smiling at Judy.
"Oh God, did you see her eye twitch when you asked her about the pounce? I thought I might start laughing right there," Judy mentioned and found herself starting to chuckle. She looked up at Nick, whose shoulders were starting to shake with suppressed laugher. Seeing that sent Judy over the edge and she started bawling with laughter, Nick soon following. Taking breaths between guffaws, they made their way to each other and clung to the other for support. Eventually they calmed down enough that they could start talking again.
"You know, we're laughing at someone who just lost their sister, right?" Nick noted.
"I know, and we are so going to hell for it."
"Oh, fuck yes. We're getting our own private fire pit with attendant demons ready to sodomise us with pitchforks at a moment's notice," he described, a chuckle escaping his lips before a serious look crossed his face. "I guess I was trying to cut Akela some slack and…well I went overboard." He practically sighed at that part.
"It's OK Nick, I know you didn't mean it," she consoled, looking into his perfect green eyes. "Just remember you don't need to hide that shit from me, OK? Please?" she pleaded, feeling tears welling up.
"Of course Judy, I'm sorry. I promised I wouldn't do that again after Robin. Sorry I forgot."
"It's OK, dumb fox," she said before standing up on her toes, motioning Nick downwards to meet her lips. "Now come on, our food's getting cold. Let's just relax tonight, OK?"
And they did, planting themselves on the couch and binging a trashy horror movie on Petflix. It was god-awful, but they enjoyed making fun of it, especially the dumb sheriff character who was dumbfounded at every turn by the seven-foot machete-wielding maniac he couldn't catch. After a while Judy started stretching her feet, the last few days being quite hard on them.
"Hey Fluff," Nick said. He pointed to Judy's feet and then to his lap. Obediently, she raised her feet and placed them in front of him. Carefully he removed her foot braces, not seeming to mind the smell of sweat, and started massaging her feet. She laid back and let the relaxing motions soothe her. Somehow Nick's foot rubs were always exactly what she needed. He managed to unknot the muscles and ease them with barely a twinge of pain. After a while when she'd practically dozed off, she felt a small peck on one of her toes as Nick started giving them all quick kisses.
"Eww, gross!" she said playfully and kicked at his muzzle lightly.
"They can't be gross if they're part of you Fluffbutt," Nick teased, batting her feet away from his paws. After a few minutes of this and realising the movie had ended some time ago, they dragged themselves to bed, undressing and then cuddling with each other after a long day, drifting off to a restful sleep.
It wouldn't last.
What seemed like scant minutes later, Judy opened her eyes as her ears twitched at the sound of something vibrating against wood. Groggily she rolled over, tangled in Nick's warm arms, and saw her phone shuffling towards the edge of her nightstand. Managing to retrieve it on the third try, she winced as the screen lit up, stinging her eyes. She managed to see the time.
Three AM? We've only been asleep for three hours? After her eyes adjusted, she finally saw the name she'd assigned to the phone. It was the precinct. Instantly awake, she answered the phone.
"Hopps. What? Seriously? Goddamnit. OK, OK thanks Fangmeyer, we'll be down as soon as we can." She ended the call, sighed heavily and turned to Nick. "Wake up Slick."
"Nick's not here right now, leave a message at the beep and he'll get back to you when he's conscious. Beep."
"Seriously, we gotta go!"
"Wha? Why, what's happened?" Nick asked, finally managing to wake up.
"Fangmeyer just called. She and Wolford got called to Savannah Sunrise after someone there heard banging from the apartment next door." She took a deep breath. "It's Akela, Nick. She broke into her sister's apartment."