Whiplash

Chapter 12 "Crazy He Calls Me"

By DragonMan1997

Zootopia © Disney

Lily rubbed her shoulder as she sat in the cold interrogation room. She knew she wasn't in trouble, but she did know that Adam was in trouble. Lily tried resting her arms on the steel table but quickly retracted from the cold touch. It was unusually cold, even for a snow leopard. A strange little box and an earpiece caught Lily's eye.

She was alert as the door popped opened. She could tell it was Detective Nick Wilde by the tone of his voice and the red blur of his fur. "I don't care how cool he is! Just try to catch him." There was another voice that was too quiet to hear. "I don't know! Try a net." Nick turned around and closed the door behind him. "Thank you Miss Clawhauser for being so patient."

"It's no problem." Lily held her paws in her lap.

Nick scratched the back of his neck as he forced a cough. He needed information, but he had to be discreet. If Lily knew anything, he had to be careful about how he got the information. "Have you been watching the news? That Whiplash guy is really something, huh?"

Lily had heard the news about the vigilante. She thought it was inspiring to hear such a story, but at the same time, she thought it was dangerous for anyone to try something like that. An animal could get hurt. "I've heard better things about him in the papers."

Nick raised his brow in amusement. "Really? I didn't know anyone still read the newspaper."

"I've sort of come into the habit. I'm sort of interested in journalism now." Lily remember talking to Adam about it and how thrilled he was with the idea. She loved that about him, he always took interest in her interests. "But, you're not here to talk about me. Detective Hopps told me this has something to do with my, my…"

"Mr. Wolff, your special friend. It's all right, we're not ones that judge animals based on their relationships. But, back to business. I feel it an obligation to you to inform you about our suspicions about Adam Wolff." Nick cleared his throat a bit. "We believe he might be in leads with the vigilante. Maybe, he's even more than that."

"Adam? A vigilante? That's absurd!" Lily crossed her arms in protest. She knew what kind of animal Adam was. He was a responsible and caring parent who worked honest jobs.

"Does he speak about his job?"

"He has jobs." Lily said.

Nick let out a heavy sigh. "What kind of jobs?" Lily froze in an instance of fear. "Do you really know where his money comes from?" She didn't know. "Are there things you don't know about Adam Wolff that you'd like to find out?"

There were a few things that plagued Lily's mind about Adam Wolff. She began to feel a collective feeling of guilt. Had she let the relationship cloud her judgement. "Yes. But, I think I'm getting the image of what you want me to do."

"We want information, to prove or disprove Adam Wolff's affiliation with this vigilante, this Whiplash." Nick pulled out his manilla envelope. "Since you know him, and he probably trusts you, we hope that he'll be more forthcoming."

"So, you want me to manipulate his trust?" Lily shook her head. "I see why Kit left you and why she hates cops."

Nick pretended he didn't hear that. "Listen, we're not asking you to betray him. We just don't want Adam to get into any deeper trouble than he already might be. The keyword in that is might. That means Adam Wolff might not even be in any trouble at all. But, he wouldn't tell us if he was. Maybe he's under surveillance, so if he does try to come to us, he'll be in even more danger. If you care about him, help him."

Lily was at a loss for words. She didn't know what to do.

"Miss Clawhauser, I'll let you think about it. But please understand, Adam could be playing a dangerous game." Nick clasped his paws together. "Has he ever told who he really is?"

Lily stood up. She wanted to leave the room. "I know who he is." Grabbing her crutches she made her way for the door without Nick's consent. "He's a good animal and a loving father to his son. That's all that matters to me." Lily used her crutch to push the door open. She made her way for the exit of the police station until a gentle voice stopped her dead in her tracks.

"I'm sorry."

Lily turned to face the voice. "Detective Hopps?" She had been more open to Judy when she first approached her at the garage.

"I understand that this all might be a little overwhelming. It's hard to accept that anything, or anyone for the matter, is different from what you expected. I know firsthand what that's like." Judy pulled out a card with a number. "Here take this. If you ever change your mind, just call us."

Lily took the card and tucked it into her wallet with the other mess of business cards she always kept. "Will do."

Lily was just able to catch the bus that was headed for the rainforest district. She sat down near a koala and her son who was watching videos on his mother's tablet. "Woah! Mommy look!" Lily could see it was a video of Whiplash. "When I grow up, I want to be a superhero too!" Lily smiled a bit at that. She noticed that the little boy's outburst had stirred up some of the passengers on the bus. They all seemed to jump into conversations about Whiplash. Most of the conversations were in the vigilante's favor.

Eventually, complete strangers had joined into each other's different discussions. Several children joined the young koala in watching videos of Whiplash. Lily finally gave her two cents. "I think he's pretty amazing."

A moose, who had been quiet the whole time, finally broke his silence. "I think his presence will bring problems for us eventually."

"Why is that?" Lily asked.

"Well think about it, a hero. Sooner or later, don't you suppose some maniac will challenge him?" The moose was interrupted by a rather rambunctious boar.

"Yeah! Like a supervillain." The boar had this creepy smile that made Lily feel uncomfortable. "Wouldn't that be exciting! An epic showdown between a superhero and his arch nemesis. Imagine that…" He unrolled his shirtsleeve to retrieve a hidden box of cigarettes. "Hey lady, got a light?" Lily shook her head. "Darn. My lighter's out."

The moose's interest had been piqued. "Out of curiosity. What sort of power would be a good counter for a Whiplash?"

"Explosions and fire!" The boar cried in excitement. "I can see it now, Whiplash will be caught up in the beauty of explosive fire, he'll be burnt to a crisp"

"Did you mean would?" The moose asked, concerned.

The boar came out of his strange fantasy. "Oh yeah, sure, whatever."

Lily was glad for the moment the bus arrived in the rainforest district. She was uncomfortable with the whole conversation between the boar and the moose. Looking around Lily found the street corner that Adam had told her to wait by. By the lamp post she saw a young buck waving to her with two red wolves by his side. She figured those were Daniel's friends that Adam had mentioned, Caleb and Sara. Lily maneuvered to the three. "Daniel?" When she got closer she noticed Daniel and Caleb were wearing super hero outfits.

"We're super heros!" Caleb chimed. "Like Whiplash."

"Yeah!" Daniel motioned for Lily to follow. "We're here to lead you to the safety of the Wolff residence!"

Lily couldn't help but laugh as she followed. "My heros."

"Ugh." Sara groaned as she kept a slow pace alongside Lily.

"What's the matter?" Lily asked.

Sara crossed her arms as she put on a pouty face. "My brother's a dork."

Lily saw Caleb and Daniel pretending to fly and chop at the air like they were fighting any villains in their way. "What about Daniel?"

"He's different. He's not my brother." Sara sort of smiled at that.

"It's only annoying when it's your brother." Lily laughed, though she never had a brother.

A realization swept across Sara's face as she turned to Lily. "Yes!" That made Lily laugh.

In a little bit, they made it to the house. Lily could see Adam's blue truck parked outside the two story house. Caleb and Sara waved goodbye to Daniel as they rushed to the house next door. Daniel tugged on Lily's sleeve. "Come on, dad's almost finished with dinner. You'll love it!" Lily carefully made her way to the door which Daniel had rushed to open. He ran inside calling, "Dad! Dad! She's here!" Lily waited at the door until she was officially invited in. In a flash, Adam rushed to the door.

"Lily! Come on in." Adam grabbed the door that was left open by Daniel and gestured for her to enter.

"I like the apron." Lily laughed at the white apron that had a picture of a rolling pin with the caption, they see me rollin', they hatin'.

"Spanky got this for me a couple of years ago." Adam looked down to his son who was leaning against his side. Daniel was still wearing his hero costume. "Daniel, go get changed for dinner."

"Yes dad." With that, Daniel leapt up the staircase to his room.

Lily noticed the door to Adam's office was open. On his desk, she saw a cigar box. "You smoke?"

"Hmm?" Adam noticed what she was looking at. "Oh no, that's one of my dad's old boxes. He just liked their smell. And, he would give me the boxes to keep things in." He retrieved the box and pulled out a photograph. "This was my family."

Lily took the photograph. "Wow, your family is so big."

"Yeah," Adam smiled sadly, "they were."

Lily looked up at Adam. "Were? What do you mean by that Wolff?"

"I'd like to talk to you about that after dinner. If that's okay." Adam retrieved the photo from Lily and gently placed it back in the cigar box.

"Okay." Lily gave a cautious smile.

Adam stopped as he was about to put away the box. "Hey, you called me Wolff. Without the Mister."

"Yeah." Lily shrugged her shoulders. "You practically said you were tired of me calling you Mister Wolff. And, I think it's safe to say we're not just friends going on dates." Lily felt her heart race when she said that. She almost couldn't believe she was saying that. He was a wolf, and she wasn't. It made Lily feel strange that that was okay. But he was a nice guy, she told herself, what would be the harm?

Adam was almost dumbfounded, which made Lily laugh inside, but he kept his cool as it were and walked towards the kitchen. "Want to help me finish up the cooking?"

Lily bit her bottom lip. "Me? Cook?"

Adam laughed. "It's not that hard, and besides, you said you would like it if I taught you some things about cooking."

Lily was surprised that he remembered that. "Okay."

Lily didn't really help much as she was preoccupied with paying attention to what Adam was doing. Aside from toaster tarts and packaged noodles, she had never seen cooking the way he did it all came together, she realized what he was really making. Adam pointed to the recipe, "BBQ cauliflower and chickpea tacos with a creamy lime slaw. Sound good?"

Lily was working with the artichoke. She felt like she couldn't screw that up. "Sounds good. And this, this is grilled artichoke."

"You're doing great, you can take those off in a little bit. Do want to make the sauce?"

"I'll give it a go." Lily looked at the paper with the recipe. "Mayonnaise, harissa, honey, and one fourth of a teaspoon of pepper. Okay." After mixing those ingredients into a small bowl, she took the artichoke off the grill panel on top of the stove. "Is that it?"

"Congratulations Lily, you made your first side dish." Adam began to divide the food among the three plates he had set aside. "I also have-" He stopped and gave Lily a funny look. "Uh, you got something there."

"What, something on my face?" Lily tried feeling around her face and her glasses to find what it was.

"Here," Adam grabbed a paper towel, "I got it." He wiped some stray harissa-honey dip that Lily had somehow gotten on the tip of her nose.

"Thank you." Lily smiled. "So, dinner is ready?"

"Yeah, I'll get Daniel."

Dinner was, as Lily put it, delicious. She enjoyed talking with Adam's son who was full of questions which she gratefully answered. Lily was glad to hear about what Adam had to say near the end of dinner.

"I got a new job as a Forest Ranger. An old friend of mine gave me the heads up that there was an opening. There aren't exactly that many jumping into those kinds of jobs right now. And it pays well enough that I can leave two of my other jobs." Adam stood up and began to pick up his plate and Daniel's.

Lily grabbed her own plate. She noticed Daniel yawn. "Uh oh, someone's getting sleepy," she teased.

"No. I," Daniel yawned even longer as he rubbed his eyes, "I'm not sleepy, promise."

"Come on Daniel, go get ready for bed why we clean up." Adam watched and made sure that Daniel headed for the stairs towards his room. As soon as Daniel was out of sight, Adam smiled at Lily. "I think he likes you."

They both moved to the kitchen where they rinsed the dishes before putting them into the washer. Lily looked at Adam's backside, where his tail used to be. "Do you ever miss it? Your tail?"

Adam started on cleaning around the kitchen. "I've gotten used to it. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious." Lily said. "Also about, how you lost it."

Adam stopped cleaning and leaned against the counter. "Wow." He became shaky. It worried Lily. "It's just." He scratched the back of his neck, nervously. "I haven't had to tell anyone about it for so long."

"It's okay Adam." Lily let out a long sigh. She believed she was just as nervous as he was. "Why don't you put Daniel to bed first? Then we can talk."

Adam nodded. "Okay."

Lily was able to follow Adam up the stairs by taking it one step at a time. "Just a couple of months," she told herself as she stretched her paws. The crutches had started to hurt both her paws and her arms. Once she came to the top she leaned against the wall to listen to Adam and Daniel.

"Is it her daddy?" Daniel's voice was so full of hope as Adam pulled the covers over him.

"What do you mean?"

Daniel gripped on the edge of his covers. "You said mom was lost and that you were looking for her. Is she my mom?"

Adam froze. He didn't know what to say. "I don't know." That was all he could say. It made Daniel sad when he said that.

Daniel knew that when his father said he didn't know, he really meant it. "You promised you would find her."

"Yes I did." Adam smiled at his son. "I didn't forget."

Daniel laid down on his pillow as he let out another yawn. "I hope she's my mom. I like her."

Lily was speechless as she listened from the other side of the wall. She listened as Adam kissed his son on the forehead.

"Goodnight Daniel. I love you." Adam slowly got up.

Daniel snuggled up in his blanket. "I love you too daddy."

Lily smiled as she leaned against the wall. Watching Adam closing Daniels door, she pulled her crutches off. "Hi."

"Hi." Adam whispered. "Did you hear any of that?"

"Yes." Lily held both of her crutches in one paw.

"Lily, I want you to understand. I'm not just dating you because Daniel wants a mother." Adam was surprised when Lily held his face with her paw.

"I know." Lily rubbed the thumb of her paw over Adam's face. She felt him shaking. She was shaking as well. She felt like she was going crazy. He's a wolf, her conscience kept screaming at her, and I'm a snow leopard. Her mind was still at war because she wasn't the same species as Adam. But his eyes, Lily looked at them, those gold eyes. She practically felt the love and kindness of this father pouring out.

Adam cleared his throat. "I need to talk to about who I really am, and where I come from."

Lily let out a deep sigh. "Okay." Without warning, she tossed her crutches down the staircase. "Can you help me?"

Adam was confused. "What?"

"You're such a dork," Lily laughed with a slight groan. "Carry me. Please."

"Okay." Adam placed one arm around her back and lifted her up with his other arm under her legs. "Okay?"

Lily nodded. She was surprised by how Adam was able to pick her up so effortlessly. As they descended down the stairs, she rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. She tried to pretend he was a snow leopard. She reimagined his appearance. He would have looked handsome as a snow leopard. Then she thought on his personality. He would have been perfect. But, she knew, he was still a wolf. When she opened her eyes, she saw what he was, a wolf. It almost broke her heart. And, she felt horrible because regardless of her thoughts, Adam was smiling.

"Here," Adam carefully set Lily on the couch, "is that okay?"

"Yes, thank you." Lily watched as Adam retrieved her crutches and leaned them against her side of the couch.

Adam sat on the other side of the couch. He clasped his paws together. "Can you promise me something?"

"What is it?"

Adam took a deep breath. "Please don't view me any differently than you see me now."

Lily cringed a bit at that. But, she understood he meant who he was not what he was. "I promise."

Adam nodded his head to himself. "My real name isn't Wolff. It's Wolfenstein. That may sound familiar because you may remember or not. Do you know what the Wolfenstein Massacre is?"

"I remember, I think I was almost out of High School when that all happened." Lily made the connection. "But, I thought the Wolfensteins were all dead."

Lily didn't see that Adam had the cigar box with him. He opened it and shakily pulled out a newspaper clipping. "Not all of them."

Lily covered her mouth the moment she saw who it was in the picture. It was a much younger Adam with bandages covering his missing ears. "Adam." Lily began to tear up.

"I just thought you should know." Adam didn't look up at her. He just stared at his lap.

Lily was frightened by the look he held on his face as he stared into nothingness. It as like just mentioning his past took him right back. "Why did you tell me this?"

"I need someone to trust. And, I care about you. I want you to trust me. It's been a burden, not having anyone I can trust with this. I changed my name to detach myself from that world of my violent past." Adam's expression turned to sorrow. He quickly shook his head.

Lily could see Adam's discomfort with self pity. But, something stood out in her mind. Adam said something that gave her this strange sensation. "Wait, you said you care about me?"

"Yes." Adam looked Lily straight in the face. "I do. I like talking with you. I feel like you are special to me. Sorry I'm not very good with words, sometimes."

"Adam," Lily dared to push the boundaries, "do you love me?"

"No." Adam said.

Lily frowned at that. She mentally kicked herself because she was hoping he'd say yes. There was a part of her that she kept trying to give in to. There was this still small voice that kept trying to rationalize a relationship between two very different animals. Lily felt stuck as logic and morality played tug of war with her heart. Logic simply dictated that different species were off limits. That was cold. But, morality gave Lily this warm feeling inside. Adam was a kind wolf with a big heart. He had a past, but he wants to move forward. He wanted to move forward with her.

"But, I want to love you." Adam fell back against the back of the couch. He rubbed his forehead. "I don't understand why I don't love you. I mean, you're beautiful inside and out. You've given me nothing less than respect. I respect you so much. Wow, I probably sound like a lovesick child saying all this."

"It's okay." Lily felt a rush of emotions overcome her. The fact that Adam wanted to love her both thrilled her and scared her. She didn't know if she could completely love him back. "Is there a reason why you don't love me?"

"I can't explain it, but it's funny because you make it easy to love you." Adam smiled. "I don't understand why I can't just say it."

Lily held a sad smile. "Is it because we're not the same animal?"

"Of course not. Why would that be a," it hit Adam. "Oh." He face palmed, quite literally. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize that you were uncomfortable with this."

"It's not that," Lily scooted closer to Adam to put her paw on his shoulder, "I'm just getting used to this." Lily smirked. "You're not scaring me away that easy."

Adam laughed. "Do I scare you. I mean, with my past and all?"

"No." Lily cupped his face in her paw again. "I'm glad you told me. I think the more you're honest with me the better. I trust you more." Lily started thinking about her experience back at the police station. She remembered what Nick had told her about protecting Adam. Tomorrow, she told herself, I'll call them. "I care about you too."