Juliet woke up to the sound of someone saying, "Really, Nick, you didn't have to hit her so hard."
"Oh, Carrots, precisely how hard do you smack someone that may be trying to kill you?"
Juliet couldn't help herself, "I wasn't trying to kill you."
The room got silent. Juliet sat up and rubbed the back of her head; she had been struck hard enough to knock her on her tail. She had never been knocked clean out before. She could take that one off of her bucket list.
Looking around the room she took an inventory of everyone there. She saw Finnick, her mark Nick, and was startled to see the ZPD bunny officer, "Officer Hopps? What in the fuzzy side of hades are you doing here?"
Judy bounced on her heels and said, "It's a long story. We should wait until everyone gets here."
Juliet stood up from the floor, "We aren't waiting for anything. You better give me one good reason I am not arresting that fox and taking him in for my bounty."
Judy looked at Nick, who shrugged, Judy said, "Well Nick is, technically in my custody until further notice…so he is kind of, sort of under arrest."
Juliet rolled her eyes, "That is about as clear as mud. What is going on? What happened to good guys and bad guys? I don't get it. This whole bounty has been one whacked out trip. I have been kicked out of my home, my best friend has lost his mind."
Nick put a paw up and injected, "speaking of Leo, you should probably give him an opportunity to clarify your small misunderstanding."
Juliet's collar beeped and she took a step toward Nick, "The only thing you or he are going to get from me is a swift kick in the kiwis. I am pretty upset with the whole male species right now!"
Finnick chortled from the top of a stool in the corner of the room. Juliet whipped around to face him and growled, "Got something to add to this circus, short stack?"
Finnick raised an eyebrow, and Nick laughed at him. Finnick added, "Yeah, just the idea of golden boy Leo doing anything worth getting kicked in the chicharones."
Judy put her arms out and said, "Okay. Everyone calm down. Juliet, you have had a rough night. Nick is in my official custody until further notice and you may need medical attention. Why don't you sit down until everyone gets here and we have a serious talk? We will explain what is going on. Until then, can we just be calm, no kicking of any kind of produce?"
Juliet crossed her arms and sat against a wall in the opposite corner of Finnick. Her tail twitched impatiently. She had an issue with being disrespectful to police officers, and Judy happen to be one. If Nick was in her custody, then fine. Juliet would have to wait. She was starting to wonder who exactly was supposed to be coming?
They all sat awkwardly staring at each other for about twenty minutes before there was a knock at the door. Judy opened it and the sand cat from Leo's place walked in. Juliet didn't even hear the warning beep before her collar shocked her. She cringed and hopped up shouting, "NO, NO, NO, NO, no way….."
Leo followed the sand cat. He looked at Juliet so sadly that she just burst into tears and pressed herself against the wall. She couldn't even look at him. She hated herself for not realizing her feelings earlier, but it was too late now. Leo moved across the room for her, but Nick stopped him with a serious look on his face.
Nick cleared his throat and said, "Juliet…this is Abigail. She works for me. So does Leo. I asked Leo to keep tabs on you while you were tracking me and to report to Abby, that is why she was at his house. He was telling her where you guys had been and what you had talked about. This whole thing is just a silly misunderstanding. See…everything is fine."
Juliet stopped crying and looked to her left. A pile of couch cushions was laying there. She picked up two of them and started hurling them at Nick. "You…stupid…dumb….fox. Do you have any idea what I have been through? And you!" She pointed at Leo.
She hopped over the couch and out the door. Her reaction was so sudden no one tried to stop her. She didn't want to hear any more of it. Fine, he wasn't in a relationship. He was still keeping tabs on her, and for how long? How much of it was genuine? She was stomping around outside looking for her pack when he came round the corner in the dark.
"What do you want Leo?" She found her pack and huffed at him.
"To apologize. There is a reason I was doing this. We are doing something here. It is more than protecting Nick." He made a step toward her. She considered bodily harm. Her collar revealed her thinking.
"Like what?"
"Like trying to get rid of collars. For every predator in Zootopia."
That did it. Her entire body went numb. The concept just eluded her. She couldn't comprehend how something like that would be accomplished. How did Leo get in on it? All she could say was, "What?"
He moved a little closer. "We may have figured out how to get rid of collars. For everyone. Not just here at the park, but for everyone in Zootopia. Even for you, Juliet. That is why I am doing this."
She fell onto the grass. She started to take deep breaths, her collar beeped. It was all too much to take, too much to handle. She was already weak from repeated shocks, and from getting knocked out, she wasn't sure how much more she could take.
Leo put his hands up and said, "hold on a sec." He ran back into the office. Juliet was too weak and numb to go anywhere anyway. He returned with one of the remote things. He knelt next to Juliet and held it up to her collar. She liked when he was close, it made her feel better. Her collar beeped and died. Juliet inhaled and grabbed onto Leo. She sobbed uncontrollably. She would get him for everything he put her through later, right now it didn't matter. He didn't move at first, but after a moment he embraced her and they sat that way for some time in the dark.
After she was done she said, "You ever tell anyone I cried like that, I will hurt you."
He laughed and put his chin on her head. "Never. So will you come back inside and listen to them? I finally convinced them to trust you and then you break into Nick's office. They are all impressed and absolutely terrified of you. Except Finnick. He likes you."
When they got back into the office everyone watched Juliet as though she were a bomb about to go off. She was tempted to scream 'boo', but she didn't have the energy. She found a seat and plopped down. Leo stood nearby her awkwardly. She grabbed his paw and pulled him down next to her. Not too close, but nearby. He got her into this after all.
She looked at everyone and said, "Well, talk!"