Once Jack and William arrived at the house, the rabbit had to practically carry his son up to his room since the cat was so drowsy from napping earlier, and with the scepter of sleep deprivation still hanging over the teen, he didn't have the energy to try to hoist himself up to his own room.
"You know, you could've just slept on the couch until you were well rested enough to be able to take care of yourself." Jack told the cat as he dragged him inside his room.
"Hmm...nah, it would be too uncomfortable." William muttered.
Jack let his son flop onto his bed, where he instantly curled up into a comfortable position and closed his eyes, "Thanks Dad, I'll be good here."
His father nodded, "You're welcome. I hope that you sleep well, but don't forget to eat something so that you don't end up with a cramp. I've done that before on a mission and it isn't fun to be on a empty stomach just because you decided to sleep in."
William yawned, "Yeah got it, I'll get something later."
"You don't need anything? Some water, an extra blanket?" Jack asked his son.
The cat shook his head, "I'm good."
"To be honest you gave me quite the scare back at the academy for a moment." The buck told William, "I thought you've cracked under the emotional pressure and became well...dejected."
His son stretched out his limbs, "I'll admit that I did have some trouble, but now that I'm here I feel safe enough to recover."
Jack found himself not wanting to leave just yet, so he sat down on the bed right next to his son, "Remember when you were stuck in bed because you couldn't walk for a few days?"
His son sighed, "Yeah, I do."
"I took some time off in order to take care of you, it was lucky that Mr. Carter was fully understanding of my situation and also I had quite a bit of vacation time saved up." Jack reminisced.
A small surge of guilt began to enveloped in the cat's consciousness, "I remember that too Dad, you didn't have to do that for me..."
"I didn't have to, but I wanted to." Jack clarified, "We watched that entire hockey tournament together on the TV, you kept asking me to bring your favorite snack."
The cat chuckled, "Pretzel bites with peanut butter in them."
"You had so many your stomach started hurting." Jack reminded the cat with a smirk.
William groaned, "Ugh don't remind me, it was hard enough to be stuck in the bed already but dealing with a stomachache at the same time."
The buck patted his son's shoulder, "I even stayed in your room one night because you were having a rather difficult time being able to sleep."
The cat could remember his father dragging in the blanket and pillow from his own room and slept on the floor right next to his son to act as a comforting presence of sorts, it worked as William at the time felt secure enough to be able to overcome his insomnia.
"You did a lot of stuff for me huh?"
Jack smiled, "Of course, and I never regretted it. I would dare say that adopting you was one of the best decisions I've ever done in my life even."
William snorted a little, "You're just saying that to keep me happy."
"No, it's the truth. Without you I'm pretty sure I would've felt less fulfilled, less happy, without something purposeful in my life I would've felt aimless. I may have even just left the ZBI altogether and done something less...ethical." Jack admitted.
His father's admittance surprised the cat enough that William didn't feel as tired as before, "I'm really that important to you?"
"Course, what makes you think otherwise?" Jack asked raising an eyebrow.
William thought back to previous altercations, "I used to think you raised me only because you had to."
The buck shrugged, "I could see where your perspective is coming from. At some point I would have to concede that I did feel that you felt at the very least a responsibility. But as I grew more experienced with being a parent I've realized that at some point all parents have gone through something similar to what I've gone through. And eventually I've learned to fully accept and embrace my new role."
William sat up on his bed, "You're saying most parents think that their kids are a burden?"
"Perhaps, it is quite logical to have feelings like that. Raising a child is considered by some to be a burden financially, mentally, physically...but I feel at least it's a worthwhile investment." Jack explained trying to appeal to the cat's logic.
"An investment? Now you're just making me feel like a material object." William sarcastically complained.
His father could only roll his eyes at his son's witty comment, "If you were an object, I wouldn't have been so concerned about your current mental state now would I?"
It began to rain outside again as the clouds covered the sky, Jack noticed the change in the climate and covered the window with the blinds, "I doubt the sight of rain would ease your burdens."
"Anyways, would you mind at all if I said you should take a break from this agent nonsense at least until you feel better?" Jack asked the cat.
"I'll be fine." his son assured the rabbit.
The cat began to feel drowsy again, "I think I'm going to go back to sleep."
"Alright, I'll let you rest." Jack said getting off the bed.
"You're going back to work?" the cat asked.
"In a little bit." Jack answered with a bit of disappointment in his tone.
"Oh, cool I guess..." the cat said before lying back down.
"What's wrong?" the buck asked noticing his son's rather gloomy demeanor.
"Are you going after him again?" the cat spoke out his worries.
The buck nodded, "You know I am William, I'm not comfortable with the fact that he's still out there potentially planning something that could send harm's way to us."
"But Dad..."
Jack shook his head, "Please don't object anymore, it's my job to protect you and as part of that, I can't risk letting him get away."
The fact that his son was in a weakened state only served to strengthen his resolve, "I...I don't want you to die because of me. I've already caused too much pain in this world just for you to die as well." Jack told his son.
William felt uncomfortable whenever his father entered that now familiar melancholic state in his thinking, "You've told me this many times before, I think I get it now." he reminded the rabbit with a small smile.
The rabbit crossed his legs, "I only tell you this because I'm afraid I won't be able to tell you these things again."
"Well as long as you don't die on me I doubt that's going to happen." William said in a manner of fact tone.
"That's not what I meant."
His son tilted his head in confusion, "Huh?"
"Consider this; in my experience, unconditional love isn't a thing." Jack explained.
"What do you mean by that?" his son asked a little suspiciously.
"Love is something that is constructed between the people that created it. Like anything that is constructed, it can also be deconstructed. Sometimes gradually, and sometimes all at once." Jack forewarned.
"Wait. Is this about us?" the cat asked starting to catch on to his father's implications behind the speech.
Jack sighed, "You've got the idea. This 'love' we have isn't something that's permanent; one day you may decide that you in fact don't harbor any love for me, but even then I'll still consider you my child."
"What makes you think I'll hate you?"
"That's something that you may or may not figure out in the future. But for now, just to let you know you're still family to me."
"Um...okay?" William said still unsure what his father meant to say.
Jack clapped his paws, "Alright! Good talk, I'll let you take your much needed nap."
"Actually I have one more question..."
The rabbit's ears lifted in interest, "What's that?"
"Do you like Judy? You know as in...really like." William asked.
"If I told you yes, would you be disappointed in me?" the rabbit asked back with some worry in his tone.
"This might sound kind of crazy but honestly, not really." his son admitted.
The buck's jaw nearly dropped, "You're...not angry at me?"
"Well I'm not proud or advocating this but I mean, what am I supposed to do? Act as some kind of buffer between you and your love life?"
Jack hadn't expected his son to act in any way besides anger or disappointment towards his situation, "Please realize that I'm trying to resolve this problem already okay? I just wanted to tell you now, I've already kept too many secrets away from you and I couldn't bear to hold this one."
"It's cool Dad, as long as you are being honest this isn't going to effect us much, just try to keep this from getting too messy is all I'm asking."
"Of course! It's not as though I'm going to keep up this charade much longer, I've got enough on my plate as it is to be honest." the buck assured his son with a smile.
"Well now that's out of the way, I think I'm satisfied for the time being." William said before yawning.
Jack chuckled, "All this talking has made you quite winded hasn't it? I'll take my leave then."
The cat tsked, "Hmm..."
His father gave a mischievous smirk, "What? You want a kiss goodnight?"
William groaned, "Dad..."
Jack bent over and hovered his muzzle over his son's face, "Just one."
The cat tilted his head away from his dad and grimaced a little feeling his father nuzzle lovingly against his cheek, "Stop it! Why are you doing this?"
"Because as we discussed earlier, I love you. Now sleep well you hear?" Jack told his son before hopping off the bed.
"Yeah yeah..." William said settling into his nap.
Jack tucked in the cat, "Sweet dreams."
There was a moment where the rabbit was tempted to just call the rest of the day off from work and tend to his son instead, but he knew that it wouldn't be right to just abandon his post while there is plenty of work to be done first. For both his sake and his son's, Jack steeled himself internally and set his focus to once and for all apprehend the fugitive ferret.
He entered his own room, opened a drawer inside his desk and pressed a button that was located inside the drawer itself. The button activated a device that swiveled a small monitor onto the wall and with it displayed an entire map of Zootopia and the surrounding region. The buck's eye was trained on one specific part of the screen.
"If he hasn't already figured out that I bugged him, Hunter should be at...wait a minute, it can't be."
Jack pulled out his phone and immediately dialed a number, "Nick?"
"Agent Savage." the fox replied in a rather vexed tone.
"Would you mind meeting me at St. Leo church? I've found where Hunter is holed up." he informed the ZPD officer.
He heard a sigh from Nick, "Yeah, Judy and I will be there."
Jack gratefully smiled, "Thank you, I'll meet you there as soon as possible." he said before hanging up.
Nick pressed the button on the steering wheel to deactivate the car's Bluetooth, "You hear that Carrots?"
Judy winked, "Sounds like we gonna finally catch the guy, it'll definitely make my week if we do!"
The fox held up his paw, "We got this."
She joined him and grabbed his paw with confidence, "After this, we're celebrating with a lot of drinking."
"I like the idea fluff, good to see that you aren't afraid to let out your wild party side."
The rabbit was practically bouncing on her seat, "Well you always told me that I needed to let loose, and plus this case is definitely going to solidify our standings."
"Still, I hope it isn't a repeat of what we had when we chased down Skye." Nick reflected on the previous part of the assignment.
"It was a misunderstanding alright? I'm sure Jack and Skye smoothed over any issue that popped up between them." Judy told the fox trying to console him.
"I'm just glad this thing is going to be over soon enough." Nick said with some relief.
Judy chuckled, "It wasn't as bad as solving the Nighthowler case."
"That was because it was just us two, and despite all the troubles we when through it was...how should I say it, fun in comparison."
"Fun huh? I thought this case wasn't too bad." the doe remarked on the case so far.
Nick laid his head on the seat, "It'll be short, I'll give you that."
"I'm sure Jack will also be happy to finish the job." Judy added.
Her statement only made the fox more uncertain about working with Jack in the first place, "You know Carrots when this is over we need to have a talk."
The rabbit turned to him surprised by his proclamation, "A talk? About what?"
"I know you're thinking about hanging out with Jack when this is over. And I'm worried that it might start to hamper our work relationship if you become a thing with him later on." Nick told the rabbit.
"A thing with him? What is it with me and Jack becoming a couple that bothers you so much?"
"It doesn't bother me personally." he retorted, "But you should know that you and Jack live almost entirely different lives." the fox pointed out as he pulled off from a light.
Judy tapped her chin ready to hear Nick's explanation, "Different how? We both work in law enforcement."
"Pff, that's like saying Gazelle and a heavy metal singer are the same. Yes they both make music, but they do it with drastically different results. And it's the same with you guys, I mean at the most you're going to be busting some dinky criminal den in the middle of an old restaurant. Jack's agency has been known to topple entire governments." he further explained.
"So what, you're saying I can't handle being with Jack just because he's an agent?"
Nick gave a thumbs up, "Spot on fluff."
"This is stupid, you can't dictate who I can date or not, besides I'm sure Jack and I would make a great couple!" she boldly stated.
"With this determination you have, I fully expect you follow up on that goal."
"Come on Nick, stop acting like you're my Dad!" the rabbit huffed.
"Hey, I'm just looking out for you. You know how us guys tend to be picky about our relationships."
"You're a fox! You mate for life!" Judy shot back.
Nick's mischievous nature was emerging through his internal whirlwind of emotions, "True. But in general the male population has certain...expectations."
Judy crossed her arms, "I'm well aware of that Nick, the guys back home were pretty into that 'perfect obedient housewife' thing, pretty disgusting if you ask me."
"Oh? And what makes you think Jack isn't going to be like that?"
The rabbit was getting agitated by her partner's constant badgering, "I know he isn't that kind of buck, besides it's probably not even going to happen anyways."
His ears perked up, "Hmm? And why is that?"
"He's..." she sighed, "Dating Skye."
The fox could feel a burst of relief inside him but strained himself to control it, "Really now? Now that's interesting..."
"Please don't think of him as some kind of scumbag just because he happened to kiss me while he was with Skye!" Judy begged.
"Too late for that...Come on now Carrots, it was just a kiss. Well now that Jack's off the market what are you going to do now?"
Judy shrugged, "I don't know, probably just keep doing my job?"
"Good to hear, some people would have a hard time with this sort of revelation you know." Nick told the rabbit.
The doe looked down, "Yeah, I guess..."
"Hey, cheer up. Listen, we'll nab this Hunter dude, wrap up any loose ends with Jack and Skye and then we'll go back to our normal routine, but of course being held in higher regards among our peers." he said nudging her.
"And what about you? Are you going to treat Jack nicely or am I going to have to assume that's out of the question?" she asked raising an eyebrow.
Nick looked straight at the road, "I'll treat him as I would with any other officer of the law and no more than that." he flatly stated.
Judy was exasperated by the return of Nick's stubbornness, "I honestly thought that you had gotten along with him. It seemed that way while you two were drunk out of your minds causing a mess in my house."
"Let's just focus on the task ahead alright? We'll talk about this after." Nick told her.
She frowned, "Fine, but don't think I'll let this slide."