A/N
Happy Monday everyone. Let's see how our favorite fox will actually go through will getting his badge back. See you below.
-Don
Chapter 24
Redemption
The following morning at headquarters had arrived with much anticipation. Officers having their usual banter about cases they had solved or were close to. Gossip about other officers dating or having a romance circled around as well. Nothing was off limits conversation wise – at least while chief Bogo wasn't patrolling.
Clawhauser had just made it to his front desk to settle in for the long day ahead of him. The cheetah always seemed to be able to keep himself occupied at this time with the usual Gazelle phone apps. He was usually one of the first mammals in the building along with Bogo; so he'd usually see every mammal that entered the front door. However to his surprise this morning he saw a familiar mammal come through; one he hadn't seen in weeks. A red fox strutted through the entrance with a pair of aviators on.
"NICK!" Clawhauser shouted filled with excitement. Last he had heard the fox quit the force after almost murdering his partner on the job.
Nick jumped at being spotted so fast. He had forgotten what it was like to be greeted by the hyper cheetah every morning. Admittedly deep down, a part of him missed it.
"Hey claw, long time buddy" Nick greeted. A grin formed on his face as he removed his aviators. "What's it been about 15 days?"
"Oh gosh. Feels like it's been months since you left" Clawhauser exclaimed now lowering his voice. "Judy has a new partner and everything..." He quickly placed his paw over his muzzle seeing Nicks expression sour. "Oh, um don't tell her I told you that."
"It's alright claw I already knew that. I've even had the pleasure of meeting her myself actually" the fox replied softening his expression.
"Oh so you have talked to Judy then? Good because there for awhile she was looking kinda...blue."
Nick chuckled slightly shaking his head. "Yeah, me and carrots are fine. Anyway do you know if Bogo is in this morning yet?"
Clawhauser glanced up at the police chiefs office door. "I didn't see him come in but his office light is on so I'd assume yes...why?" The cheetah now asked with a smug look. "You going to ask about getting your job back?"
Nick now converting his focus to the office above smirked. "Eh, something like that" he replied now making his way towards the stairs. "See ya around Claw. By the way you're looking leaner buddy. Whatever exercises you're doing are working."
Clawhauser now having a huge smile on his muzzle waved as the fox began making his way up the stairs. The comment made his day as he had been cutting down eating donuts to 2 times a week to get healthier.
As Nick made his way up to the top step his phone began vibrating. It was a text message from 'Cute Bunny'. He snickered at the thought of her being mad at him for actually have that as her name in his phone.
"You better be on your way to pick up that badge mister" Judy messaged. Nick paused slightly pondering how he wanted to reply. He decided to put the camera on taking a picture of Bogos office door and sending it to her.
"Way ahead of you fluff" he responded with the picture. Before knocking on the door he had gotten another text.
"Oh goodness. Praying for you." Judy messaged with a laughing emoji. "I'll be there in about 20 minutes."
Nick smiled at the message now putting his phone back in his pocket.
"Time to face the bull" he muttered knocking on the office door. A momentarily silence followed afterwords building more tension.
"Yes?" A deep voice replied groggily followed by a yawn. Nicks mouth became dry.
"Uh..chief it's me. Wilde. Got a minute?"
Nick heard the wrestling of what sounded like papers before he heard a response.
"Come in" the voice answered.
Nick cautiously opened the door revealing the buffalo himself leaning back with his hooves crossed at the desk. Silence fell over as he slowly made his way to the chair in front of the desk.
"Wilde" Bogo spoke taking off his glasses. Nick nodded his head jumping into the chair. "What brings you here this early?"
Nick clasped his hands together glancing down at the floor. He wasn't exactly sure how he was going to initiate this conversation.
"Well sir, I came here to...uh...well.."
"Ask for your job back perhaps?" Bogo raising an eyebrow leaning forward.
"In a way sure..but I only want my position back if you allow us – Hopps and I – to finish the case on Don Wilde." Nick now met his former boss' eyes.
"I'm not sure if that would be the best decision Wilde. Admittedly I should have never put you two on that case to begin with." Bogo spoke heavily with a sense of concern. "Also you do know Hopps has been issued a new partner correct?"
"Silvia Vines, I know." Nick replied rolling his eyes. Although the two mammals had seemingly put their differences aside yesterday evening at the park, a part of him still didn't trust her fully. How could he?
"She is a good officer. We were quite lucky to get her transferred here after you left."
"Yeah she's a real saint." Nick spoke ready to move on from the subject. He was curious of what the police chief would have thought if he knew Silvias past with the criminal they were currently discussing. Subconsciously he decided not to mention anything. "Listen chief, I know you and I have had a bumpy path at times. I can speak out of line and sometimes undermine your authority, but I know you wouldn't have ever let me on the force – a fox – if you didn't see potential."
"Of course I did and still do Wilde. We wouldn't be having this discussion otherwise. I'm just curious as to why this case intrigues you so much? I feel you're not being completely honest." The buffalo stared hard at Nick – giving the same look he did the day he told Nick and Judy about the suspect. Bogo must have known something.
Nick was now contemplating if he truly wanted to open up to the chief. If he did his chances of getting back on the force may be tarnished. But at this point what other choice did he have?
The fox took a deep breath before speaking. "Donte Wilde...he's my brother." The words burned him to say as he didn't consider the wolf to be his brother at all; not anymore. Bogo sat seemingly un bothered by the confession, rather almost relieved.
"As if you two having the same last name wasn't obvious enough. I figured as much. The only thing that made me second guess was him being a wolf and you a fox."
"Adopted brother sir" Nick chuckled trying to break the tension. "I know him better than any cop on the force...it would only be right I bring him in."
Bogo now softening his expression picked up some papers lying on his desk. "It's against policy to assist you with personal vendettas Wilde. Whatever falling out you have with this wolf – your brother so to speak – has to be left out of the field."
"You don't understand..." Nick spoke now gritting his teeth. "My mother brought him in..potentially trying to save him from a life his parents couldn't escape. We had his last name changed so he wouldn't be associated with those criminals. All for him to tarnish MY family name and put my mother and myself in danger. He almost had her killed chief!" Nick now stood up in his chair facing the buffalo before him. Emotions of rage filled his face reciting the past events. "I came here to be an officer and take him down the right way..because otherwise I will be taking things into my own paws." Nick was now breathing heavily. "If it wasn't for that dumb bunny...no...no..if it wasn't for Judy... I wouldn't have even wasted my time coming here. Truthfully I would have never joined in the first place..now I am asking you mammal to mammal. Let me finish this case so I can conclude this part of my life."
Bogo was silent for what felt like several minutes. The buffalo had never seen Nick displaying such emotion – let alone getting a view on his past made him sympathize with him. The fox had heart, and truly was misjudged the first time they encountered each other. The chief reached into his drawer pulling out a badge. He tossed it to Nick who snagged it effortlessly from the air.
"Bullpen meeting is in 10 minutes. Don't be a second late" Bogo huffed folding his arms as he turned his chair away.
"Yes sir" Nick answered giving a solute now jumping down from the chair.
"Do you still have your uniform?" Bogo asked as the fox made his way to the door.
"It's in our office locker" Nick replied reaching for the door handle. "Well..hopefully it's still there unless she burned it."
Bogo laughed at the comment as the fox exited the room. Though he would likely never admit it to anyone, a part of him missed having Nicks sarcastic humor around the building. It made for a more interesting work environment.
Nick made his way down the stairs now thinking about what had just transpired. He was officially an officer again. A law enforcing mammal. Reflecting on his old hustling habits he shook his head. While hustling had been a fun pursuit for most of his life, he was in a different place mentally. This was who he was now.
After finding his uniform was indeed still intact he quickly changed clothes to get ready for the meeting. Before leaving the room he spotted the old picture of him and Judy at the desk. It was his graduation day from the academy.
"Carrots.." he mumbled smiling. He turned to head to the meeting that was now about to start in less than a minute.
'Gotta go before buffalo butt changes his mind' he thought rushing down the hall.
Judy flung open the main doors of the precinct running frantically. She usually had never been late for the morning meeting except for now the last 2 days. Rushing past Clawhauser she was surprised he didn't say anything to her; instead only giving her a cheeky grin.
'She's going to be thrilled to see him in uniform again' he thought giggling to himself.
The door to the meeting room crept open as Judy noticed the usual banter wasn't present; instead it was replace with the booming voice of the buffalo. She was late. Quietly creeping towards her seat she attempted to get by unnoticed.
"Hopps, glad you could finally join us" Bogo spoke sarcastically causing the bunny to freeze right next to her seat. All eyes in the room were on her now. Her face turned bright pink from embarrassment.
"Eh, chief you didn't even start roll call yet. I think the word finally is a bit of an exaggeration" a familiar voice quipped from the seat above her. Laughing ensued throughout the room.
"QUIET" Bogo fumed picking up his glasses to place the assignments. A black paw reached down over the side of the chair. Judy grabbed it pulling her up to reveal her old fox partner in his police uniform. She could hardly contain the excitement that overcame her in that moment. She wanted to hug him so much but knew it likely wasn't the time.
"As you all can tell, officer Wilde has returned from his brief retirement" Bogo murmured flipping through pages of files. "Who cares" he groaned to himself. Judy nudged Nick slightly looking up at him in the eyes.
"I do" she mouthed with a smirk. It wasn't until this point she had remembered. Sivlia. Where was she? Judy looked around to see if maybe she had been re assigned a partner but saw no trace of her.
"Officer Vines has called in" Bogo spoke noticing the bunny looking around. "Since we now have an odd number of officers, you 3 will be working together temporarily. Can you handle that?" Bogo questioned now raising an eyebrow.
"Yes sir" both Nick and Judy responded. Having an extra head on the case couldn't hurt. Especially from someone who knows the wolf very well.
Bogo sent all the officers on their way with their assignments. A few passing officers fist bumped Nick as they walked by. Others scolded him still holding on to the rumors of him almost killing Judy.
"Now..Hopps and Wilde" Bogo spoke firmly. "Since one of you was late the punishment is...traffic duty.."
Judy surprisingly smiled at the thought of it.
"Well bun, looks like it was you who got us in trouble this time. Not my mouth" Nick commented snickering.
"Actually it was a mixture of both. Dismissed" Bogo ordered with a smug grin on his muzzle. The two mammals jumped down from the chair to start their long shift.
"You 3 will be assigned to do further investigation on the mammal Donte Wilde tomorrow morning. It's time we finally close this case for good." Bogo called out.
Nick not turning around raised his paw in the air.
"We'll handle it chief" he replied.
A/N
Looks like our fox is back on the force. Admittedly even I have missed having them both as partners. Now, I guess all that is left to stop the wolf correct? Well, there is one tiny little thing that has to be dealt with first in the next installment before the dramatic finale to this tale. I've chosen to upload the next chapter this coming Sunday for a specific reason...hint hint. Anyways, see you all again very soon.
-Don
