Hey everyone! It's been a while, but we've definitely had longer waits. I hope you enjoy this chapter! A few answers answered, on the path for more!
Rick stood behind Judy and silently watched as she furiously typed on her computer and on her phone simultaneously. He held Robin on his lap as the kid struggled to remain asleep because of his father's nervous quick movements and the background noise coming from Judy's typing.
"Has, has he replied?" Rick whispered, daring to ask after a few torturous moments of silence, "Is everything ok?" He added after Judy ignored him and just kept typing.
"I don't know, Rick," Judy turned around abruptly and snapped at him, frustration loud and clear in her voice, "I don't know if everything's ok, because Nick won't reply me!" She screamed before turning back to her computer and taking her phone to her ear once more, "Come on, Nick, please."
"Oh," Rick bit his lip, embarrassed, as he patted Robin's back and prayed Nick would answer soon.
Judy slammed her phone down on the table and leaned her head onto her hands in a clear sign of defeat.
"He won't answer," She quietly sobbed into her hands, speaking more to herself than to Rick.
"Oh, no," Rick looked down, his heart racing as the possibilities of what could have happened started to sink in, "Hum, what, what do we do now…?"
"I don't know, Rick!" Judy turned to him again, tear-filled eyes shining under the faint light of the room as she checked her phone again, "I don't know what to do, because I barely know what we're dealing with, but I don't have the time to figure it out now because Nick might be in danger!" She hiccupped, "Or worse…"
Rick lowered his head and gulped, "Judy, I…"
"All this time, you knew all about this," Judy snapped at him, "I stood up for you, and you lied to me! Is this some sort of family trait you all have? Because it sure feels very familiar!"
Rick turned his face from her, "Judy, I had already lost my brother, I couldn't lose my son too, you have to understand… Besides, I, I didn't even know you two were investigating the club before today, if I did I would have-"
"You knew we were investigating Coy's death, you knew that we knew about the picture of you two in that bar, you could have put two and two together! Don't you think knowing about this earlier could have avoided all this? Instead, you just wait till the very last second-" Judy stopped herself and threw her hands in the air, turning around to face her computer again so that she didn't go on to say something while she was angry she might regret later.
Rick opened his mouth, but couldn't find an argument, so he just closed it and lowered his head in shame.
"I'm sorry," He whispered, "You're right."
If Judy acknowledged that he said that, she didn't give any signs. Instead, she just typed more on her computer and something started to load.
"What… What are you doing?" Rick approached slowly and cautious.
"The cameras in that area," She answered as she moved the image around and forwarded a piece of footage, "It's the closest thing to a clue I can get right now. It is what Nick would have told me to do…" She reminisced.
Rick gulped when the image loaded and he recognized the door of the club. It still looked the same from all those years before – same sign as it had ever been, same regular old bar; much like any other. If they only knew…
"Wait," Judy smiled, "Is that him?"
She zoomed in and a slightly blurry image of a fox leaving the bar filled the screen. Rick's eyes squinted as he starred at it with a little more attention.
"It is!" She smiled and sighed in relief, one hand on her chest as she pointed to the screen with the other, and then picked her phone again, "But where is he? Why hasn't he picked up my calls?"
"Wait," Rick said as he put his hand over Judy's phone and lowered it before she could call Nick again, "Can you zoom in a bit more?"
Although confused, Judy did as he requested.
"Fuck," He muttered under his breath, for the first time not caring not to swear in front of his son, "That's not him."
"What?" Judy looked back and forth at him and the footage, "It is, it's what he was wearing-"
"The tail," He pointed at the fox's tail in the screen, that was conveniently almost all hidden from the camera's view, "You can see here, the tip of the tail…" He gulped and blushed, "It's white. Not black like Nick's."
"What?" Judy jumped up from her chair to look at it even closer, and her eyes widened when she realized Rick was right, "What? But, but, why-"
"This is not good," Rick shook his head, mouth hanging open, "Not good at all."
Judy fell back down onto the chair, looking defeated.
"They… They wanted us to think Nick is ok, didn't they?" She whispered, horrified, as she pieced it together in her mind. "To drive our focus away from the club. So if that's not Nick… Then he hasn't left."
"No, he hasn't," Rick nodded, "And if we don't do something about it…" He gulped, "He never will."
Judy gasped and her ears drooped.
"We have to be quick then," She jumped out of her chair, "I will call for help, and we-"
"No!" Rick stepped in front of the door and blocked her way, astonishing Judy, "If you arrive there with the police, he will know, and they won't let Nick get away with it. If you go, go like a cop… You'll be signing Nick's sentence."
Judy's mouth dropped.
"Well, what do you suggest we do, then?" She crossed her arms, "Wait and see if he's any lucky in escaping?"
Rick looked at the ground, and then at Robin sleeping in his arms. His mouth went dry and he sighed before he straightened himself up.
He'd been running away too long, being afraid too long, endangering his family too long.
"No, we will do something. We will save Nick," He nodded, "And I will help you with that. I mean, if you want my help."
Judy blinked in surprised and thought for a second before nodding. She was still mad at him, but that was all she had now. And Nick's safety came before anything else in that moment.
"I'm all ears."
"Wait," Judy shook her head as she slowly drove her car around following Rick's instructions, "Run that by me again?"
"It's exactly what you heard, as absurd as it sounds," Rick said as he looked around through the windows of the car as he searched for something, "The club is connected to underground tunnels that lead to several secret entrances all around Zootopia. We used them when we needed to escape during our missions, or hide, or go in without being noticed."
"So that explains how those thieves disappeared into thin air…" Judy nodded, thinking that Bogo would be glad to know that mystery was solved.
"Yeah, that's a signature move of Sheen's crew," Rick sighed and shook his head, "But he was always scared someone would find out if he handed out maps or signs, so all he gave us was-"
"Unsuspecting pictures of you standing where the entrances are," Judy completed his sentence, eyes widening slightly. She waited for him to nod in agreement and sighed, "Goddamn it, Finnick."
Rick blinked in confusion, "What?"
Judy shook her head and waved her hand, "We got pictures of Coy in random places from him. I didn't understand why Finnick would say that that was a clue, but now… Those were the places where secret entrances were. I should have known something was up with that!"
Rick nodded, "Don't feel too bad, Sheen is smart, he knows how to look innocent. Nobody would suspect those pictures, unless you know what they're for."
Judy nodded, but Rick felt like she wasn't convinced.
"We're here," He pointed to a sign on the road.
She stopped her car near a bus stop, that she recognized as being the one in one of Coy's pictures, "Do you still remember where the entrance is?"
"I better do," He sighed and left the car, "Nick's life depends on that now."
Judy left the car as well and watched as he walked away from the car.
Rick got close to the stop sign and started walking away from it, slowly counting his steps. Judy could hear him whispering to himself as he turned to the left and to the right in a weird and confusing sequence. He stopped walking right in front of a huge bush that adorned the park close to the bus stop, and got down on all fours. After some struggle, he managed to disappear into the bush.
Judy then ran to it, making sure to check that there was no one around them, and got down on all fours as well to look for Rick; but to her surprise, he had disappeared and all she saw was bush and grass.
"Rick?" She whispered, slightly alarmed, "Rick?"
Suddenly, a piece of the grass deep into the bush was lifted from the ground, accompanied by a grunt. Judy gasped, but then she saw Rick's eyes appear in the crack that opened from it.
"Good news," He whispered from inside the hole, "This entrance is still here."
"Thank God," Judy whispered and crawled deeper into the bush, approaching Rick. He lifted the piece further to make room for her and she slowly jumped in with him, and with one last check to see if they were alone, he closed the lid and they disappeared once again.
The tunnels were dark and damp, and more than once Judy stepped on something she decided not to see what was, fearing that would be worse.
"Are you sure you remember the way?" She asked as she held onto Rick's arm with one hand and lightened up their way with her phone's flashlight with the other. The place was like a maze, several twists and turns that lead to different places. The fact that he seemed uncertain about which path to take at times didn't reassure her in the least.
"I, I think I do," Rick gulped, "I used this path for so many years… It's almost like I never left," He sighed. Maybe he hadn't physically been there for a while, but that place had never abandoned him. Sometimes, he feared it never would. It would always haunt him in some way…
"I think I hear music," Judy's ear shot up as she smiled, "We're getting closer!"
"Quiet," Rick shushed her, "We cannot have anyone finding us here, otherwise it won't just be Nick they'll be ending tonight."
"Right," Judy nodded, "Ok, I think we need a plan. What will we do when we get there?"
Rick stopped walking and took a deep breath, "I, I'm not sure. But the first thing definitely is to find Nick. If things haven't changed, it's likely he'll be in the basement… If he's still alive," Rick's face went pale.
"Rick, focus!" Judy urged him, "He is alive, and we will find him! Come on, what next?"
He shook his head, "Ok, ok. This path leads to the first underground floor. We have to find a way to get to the second underground floor without anyone noticing, that's where I think he is. And that's… that's going to be a challenge. The only way is to get to the hallway to get to the stairs, and we'll have to go through a room for that. All without being noticed."
"Ok," Judy nodded as she pushed him to keep walking, "If that's all we have, that's what we'll roll with. We will find a way."
Rick nodded and kept taking her on their way. It didn't take long for the path to become sturdier, the music became louder, and Judy could feel they were closer to their destiny. Suddenly, she noticed a crack on the floor through which a faint light was shining through – a door.
"We're here," Rick gulped, and took his hand to the knob as he silently prayed for it to be unlocked, "Be quiet, wait for me, and if anyone sees us: run, run as fast as you can back into the tunnels."
Judy gulped as well, "Ok," She nodded, "Understood."
When Rick turned the knob and pulled, the door opened with ease – and his heart dropped to his stomach.
The door opened to a small supply closet, illuminated only by a faint, old yellow lightbulb. They had to be careful not to step on anything that could make a sound and alert others of their presence, such as the brooms or bottles all around them. There was another door across the room, which they quickly reached.
Rick and Judy then pressed their ears to that door and Rick sniffled under the door crack, trying to see if they could pick up any signs.
"I think there's no one there," Judy nodded with hope, "Where does this door lead to?"
"If nothing's changed, a lab," Rick told her, "We're lucky almost no one comes here, unless it's needed. So we should be fine… Hopefully." He took his hand to the door knob, "You ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," Judy shrugged.
They opened the door as slowly as they could, making sure no one was there. However, the door opened not to a lab, but to a room with a desk and a chair – much to Judy's confusion and Rick's horror.
"I think it's empty, come on," She urged and walked out of the closet, into the room, "Where to now?"
"Crap, things have changed-" Rick shook his head and followed Judy out, standing by her side, "Listen, we have to be really careful now. This is not the lab, this is-"
Rick was interrupted when someone closed both his and Judy's mouths from behind them and forced them back into the closet. Immediately they started to kick and try to scream, their voices muffled by their capturer's hands. Their hearts were beating fast; Rick's eyes were watering while Judy fought with all her might, kicking the air around her and trying to harm the arm holding her with her fists.
"Quiet, they'll hear you!" The mammal holding them urged.
Judy was confused when Rick immediately stopped fighting, staying completely still and quiet as he had been told. She nudged his arm and kept kicking and screaming, urging him not to give up; when suddenly he was freed from their captor's tight embrace and stepped away from them.
"Would you tell her to quiet down?" Judy heard the captor saying to him, watching in confusion as Rick stared into them and then at her, "Ow," They exclaimed when Judy managed to kick their stomach, "Hurry!"
"Oh," Rick put his hands on Judy's shoulders, finally getting her to calm down, "Judy, it's ok. She won't hurt us…" He looked up at who was holding Judy with pleading eyes, "At least, I hope she won't."
Judy frowned in confusion, but calmed down regardless. Soon enough, the tight grasp around her softened, and she was set free. She immediately stepped away from her captor and turned around to see who it was.
"What are you doing here?" The vixen asked, looking at Rick and then rushing to the closet door that had been left open when she pulled them back in, "Do you know what Sheen's going to do when he…" Her eyes slowly moved to look at Judy as she closed the door, "You brought a cop with you?" Her voice went higher and her eyes went wide in desperation.
"Lydia, please, I'll explain everything," He put his hands together and pleaded, "Just don't tell Sheen we're here, please."
Her ears folded back, "You're insane, Rick, insane! You were given a chance to escape this place, and yet you come back, do you know what Sheen's going to do-"
"My brother is here," He interrupted her, and Judy noticed that that seemed to have gotten to Lydia, as her shoulders drooped and her ears folded back, "Remember him?" Rick smiled, still pleading, "My little brother, Nick! I can't let anything happen to him, Lydia, not again. I looked for him for so long, and I found him, and now he's here-"
He was interrupted by Lydia muttering something he didn't understand.
"I'm sorry, what was that?" He asked.
"I know," She repeated, more clearly this time, "I know he's here." She looked at him with a frown.
"You do?" Rick's smile grew on his face and he stepped closer to her, taking her hands in his, "Where is he? Can you help us?"
Judy watched Rick's hopeful face and Lydia's confused one. Before Lydia could answer, her ear twitched when she heard a noise coming from the room in front of the supply closet.
"Not a word, you two," She looked at Judy and Rick as she pulled her hands away from his and walked out of the supply closet, closing the door almost all the way with them in there.
"Who's that?" Judy asked in a whisper once they were left alone in the closet again.
"That's… An old friend, from when I used to work here." Rick answered, biting down on his nails.
Judy smacked her lips and looked around, wondering if they should start running now and call that a mission fail.
"Rick, do you really think we can trust her?"
His heart wanted to say yes, but his brain remained unsure. He closed his eyes and shook his head, "I don't know, I think…"
Rick was interrupted when they heard a door opening in the room. They spied the room through the small crack left and saw another fox walk into the room. Judy blinked in surprise at how much he resembled Rick.
"Is that…?"
"Oh, fuck," Rick muttered, that already being enough to answer Judy's question.
"There you are, hun," Sheen spoke to Lydia as he approached her and pinched her cheek, "I need someone to go handle the bar." He laughed when she pushed his hand away from her face, "What are you doing here, anyway?"
Lydia looked at the closet for a split second, her eyes meeting those of Judy and Rick through the crack of the door as they held their breaths, waiting for her response that would dictate their destiny.
"S… Someone threw up on the floor upstairs and I had to come grab a cloth to clean it before someone stepped on it," She told him and rolled her eyes, quickly walking to the closet.
Judy and Rick understood the cue and hid behind the door before she opened it to grab a clot. Before she closed the door, she looked at them quickly and mouthed "wait", to which they nodded, and then she closed the door again.
"That's my girl, doing her job," Sheen cooed when she passed by him as he sat down on his desk.
"Not your girl," She said as she went upstairs again.
"I, I think we can trust her," Rick whispered into Judy's ear; trying to calm his racing heart down.
"I hope so," Judy nodded while she prayed that Rick was right, "So I guess now, we… wait."
"Yeah. Wait for Lydia." Rick would have smiled at that thought, if their lives weren't on the line.
As they sat in silence, Judy wondered why Lydia looked so familiar.
I had the beginning of this chapter written for a while, but couldn't quite figure out where I wanted to go with it. I decided to use this one out of my ideas, and I hope I picked the right one.
I hope you enjoyed it, and thank you so much for reading! Let me know your thoughts :D Oh, and shout out to BeecroftA, whose birthday happened to be when I last updated this and always leaves lovely reviews. Happy late birthday!
See yah next chapter!
