Despite the dread she'd initially faced, Judy Hopps had to eventually admit that, well... she was enjoying herself.
She'd thought it was all going to be hell, searching through stacks of entirely disarranged and disordered documents to try to find 'page x' to the thirty page report, but she had come to see it more as a game; a hunt for the missing puzzle piece.
As Clawhauser typed up the next small stack of paperwork, Judy brought some order to the chaos around them: glancing through the many sheets of paperwork, putting all the auto-theft crimes in one stack, the muggings in another, domestic affairs in a third...
It was simply something engaging rather than a puzzle. She knew that if she hadn't just spent so much time cooped up and away from police work this certain 'thrill' would be absent, but in the condition she presently abided in, the rabbit was more than grateful for the stimulation.
However, right now, what she was enjoying most of all was the heated mug of coffee she held between her fingers.
The mug was more than twice too big to fit in her paws. The fluid had been burnt by the kettle and drinking it was a matter of leaning forwards to take sips rather than tipping it back to her mouth.
It was unwise, perhaps, to be drinking such a liquid at such a time, but it was a small reward for herself, a trade-off from those pesky pain pills.
It had been a long time since she'd last drank coffee. She'd been told that with her metabolism, it would be a bad idea to take caffeine and pain medication at the same time. It was only now, with her body beginning to recover, and with several hours of physically easy labor that Judy had allowed the hours to pass without being overcome by the hot buzzes, the flexing irritations of her recovery's frustration.
"It's crazy how much stuff's been lost down here," Judy noted, leaning back a little into the seat. "So many files, so many cases."
"All it takes is a few, Judy-Judy," Claw said, not turning away from the glowing white screen of the monitor. "One deserted case this month, one the next."
She didn't like to think of herself as superior, but she simply couldn't imagine leaving loose ends as cluttered as this. "I don't get how they could be so... so lazy."
"Oh it's only been since... what? About five years since the Admins really crackled down on getting all their paperwork in. 'Fore that, hm, no-one really cared about old case notes after the case was deserted."
"Who knows how old some of this stuff is," Judy told to herself as a finger trailed against thick amounts of dusty coating.
"Dig deep enough, we'll probably find something written in partridge!"
"Parchment," Judy corrected but it didn't seem to reach anyone.
"Maybe even chizzled into stone... oof," Clawhauser hissed, "imagine the carpal tunnel from filling files like that. I'm all for doing my job, but I think I'd desert my po—"
"Claw... stop mentioning dessert."
"Well..." at this, the cheetah did turn to face her, "I'm hungry, Hopps!"
Judy raised her brow, gazing sternly at the cheetah. Holding her gaze, Clawhauser looked ashamedly down to the floor, and then came those cute puppy eyes. Like an unapproving mother, Judy slowly shook her head.
Sticking out his tongue the cheetah blew a raspberry, defeating the feigned vexation of the rabbit who chuckled brightly as the true expression of a bright grin set upon her face.
"So Claw, uh... What's the oldest you found, anyway?"
"Paperwork?" The cheetah paused, turning back to the computer, his ear twitching as his wide fingers came floating above the keyboard. "Seventy years ago. It was written by the Chief at that time, Chief Claytermourn."
"Iiii... haven't heard of him."
"Not really famous for much. Apart from being a real heavy smoker. He did a good job, don't get me wrong. Things ran smooth as ever."
"What was it about?"
"I'm not sure it was even a case. Seemed more like just... uhm... here, I'll—" With a rumble that made the failing wooden beams above rattle with dust, Clawhauser pushed his seat back along the bare-concrete floor and got himself to his feet.
"Left it right around... hah! There you are!"
A moment later, the rabbit found herself with a small stack of string-bound, yellow pages pushed before her. Taking a sip of coffee Judy put the mug aside, pulling the documents closer to her, her ears twitching at the heavy clunk of cheetah falling back into his unfortunate seat.
"Claw, this... there's literally still cigarette ash on this."
"I know," she heard him mutter, "crazy. It's stained right into the paper. Still smells too. Not sure if you can smell it, but I can." Judy narrowed her eyes upon the old smelly pages.
"Regarding the... something... in relation to... the paw-writing's terrible."
"It gets better, just skip the first couple lines."
"...but if Principle Administrator Vilensky seriously esspe... expects a six per-cent national increase in beat officers he's going to have to stop riding his... secretary... an— and agree to P.A. Bodenhorn's commission for an eight per-cent increase in the Travel and Training budget. And if not, he can get down on his hooves and knees and suck a big... fat..." The rabbit cleared her throat as Clawhauser chuckled. "The whole thing is... is this?"
"Oh it's even more descriptive on page three."
"I knew the ZPD was different, but.. what kind of a report is this?"
"It's not a report at all. My guess is he wrote this after a heated argument or something, got real mad and wrote all this."
"And then came to his senses and buried it down here where no-one would find it," Judy shoved aside the rest of the burning pages for now, wanting to focus on going through the paperwork even if a whole week's dedicated work would only be a dent in the mass.
It did amuse her, though, to wonder what other secrets and lost treasures skulked hidden beneath their seeking paws, and if there were any crimes or convictions which could be proved or disproved by the evidence lost in these dusty halls… This brought her back to the sight of gleaming metal she had seen and almost forgotten a few hours ago.
She wondered if she should just tell the cheetah about what she'd found. Even if it was his duty to, she somehow had the feeling she could trust him not to go running to McHorn.
Working through documents slowly while she thought, Judy soon came to the conclusion it would be irresponsible to tell the cheetah anything about the mislayed weapon, lest its presence became known and Clawhauser's knowledge of the existence of that weapon led him into trouble.
The rabbit cleared her throat, preparing to probe for more. "So aside from the paperwork, what else're we gonna find down here? I though I saw some boxes of... evidence? And stuff. Back in the hall?"
"Oh, uh, I wouldn't worry about that too much. Sure it's an issue but, see, this paperwork... once it's typed up we can throw the original away, clear the trash out. Rest of the evidence, the physical stuff, it's all staying down here."
"We can't just throw it out?" Judy interjected. "Even if it's literally junk?"
"Pfff, I wish. If it's evidence, whatever, it's evidence."
"Surely there's a department on the Ringroad for handling this kind of stuff?" Judy tried once more.
"I mean yeah, maybe, for evidence that officially 'exists'. Stuff here isn't on record, most don't even have case numbers."
"It doesn't exist. It's in limbo?"
"Yeah, I don't know, Judy. Maybe."
"But what if there's information which—"
"Look, go ahead and dig around if you want. I'm not telling you what to do here, Judy. I'm your superior; doesn't make me your boss," he added with a chuckle.
Thinking a moment, the rabbit sipped the last of her coffee and lowered herself down from her chair. The sights of dust and random oddities scattered here and there didn't interest her, only the flash of metal among the dark pricked her curiosity. She reached to take the next stack of sheets to sort, when Clawhauser's muttered, barely audible voice interrupted her.
"See something you like, take it. No-one's gonna notice," he quietly added.
For a long moment she stood there just watching the oversized figure of the cheetah, sitting with his back to her, typing notes into the computer's clunking keys. Not that she had any intention of taking anything, but she wondered what had driven him to mention taking something, or if he'd taken anything himself. Would he always have been willing to steal government property or was his shift in mentality leading him astray?
Clawhauser's ear twitched, Apparently distracted by the silence. He half turned towards her, wearing an innocent expression. "Huh? Did I say something? Oh, I don't think so, I didn't say anything."
Unsure how to react or what to really think of his 'suggestions', Judy simply turned back to the piles of work.
The day passed slowly for the next few hours for the rabbit and the cheetah, with only time's trickling adage breaking the monotony.
Judy's mind had wondered away long ago, her excitement to be doing this wearing away after she'd perfected her system for checking and sorting these documents, leaving the process as simple as reading the top paragraph or two and putting it onto the right stack of other files.
Her thoughts had turned to Nick. Heavily.
She wondered how he was feeling, what he was thinking of while lying there. She wanted to be there talking with him; there, holding his paw. She wanted even more to just speak with him, his voice soothing against her ears; know he was better, or at least that he wasn't in pain.
The work had to continue. She had to support herself and sooner or later she'd have to support Nick too until he was back on his feet. She didn't want to live leeching off of Nick's resources for shelter, even if she knew he wouldn't see it that way. There was also that she didn't want Nick dependent on the government for anything.
Not like she had been.
If she let Nick be dependent on the government, they would be able to push him to do or to go or to take whatever they told him. Just like they had been able with her.
She couldn't help but regret the experiences she had to pass. There was no way of knowing she needed to save up money for this. She also knew that, if she had... the time she'd spent in recovery could have been so very much different.
She came back to the moment, realizing she'd been staring blankly at the same sheet of paper for... she wasn't sure how long.
Clearing her throat, the cheetah's ear pivoted towards her. "Ben, lunch starts in an hour, right?"
"Ohh, don't remind me. All I've got is a bowl of oats and chia seeds to get me through."
She nodded, with other things on her mind than Claw's eating habits. "I have a few things to do. I need to go down to reception and sort a few things out. Mind if I go to lunch a little early?"
The cheetah reacted with surprise, potentially still not fully taking on that he had been put 'in charge' of Judy during her time there. "Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah, by all means, you go right on ahead."
"Thanks, Ben. I should be back in time after lunch."
"Alright, Judy-Judy, I'll be here." Thanking the cheetah, the rabbit made her way from the room.
The twitches of pain still played out throughout her body, as they always had been for more months than she cared to remember. True, it was less than it once had been and even the ability to freely 'walk' was something she was still grateful for.
Her footfall carrying her to the elevator, rising back to the surface, she found her way to the front desk, a place she'd seen well more than a thousand times in her life. At least, that was how it felt, even with the changes and 'modernization' she'd been noticing all throughout the department.
Howlitz was still on the front desk, but quickly drew back his attention to the approaching rabbit, his ears dropping back and his lips tightening to a smile as she came closer.
Judy chuckled inwardly at his reaction. The wolf had already accepted her as his superior, and she hadn't even said a word. "Howlitz."
"Yes, Ma'am?"
"There's some things I need to get sorted out now that I'm back. Insurance, restarting health cover, equipment and patrol vehicle permit... for today, let's just focus on my pay. Okay?"
"Erm, I'm sorry Hopps, but I can't help you out there."
"What do you mean? You're on the front desk and haven't been trained to conduct basic... go on." She indicated for him to talk, seeing his brow rising and his lips twitching with the anticipation of speech. He almost had spoken but apparently he wasn't willing to interrupt her.
"It's not my job, I don't have authority."
Her brow furrowed at the unexpected response. "Why? I had everything sorted out talking to Clawhauser when I first signed up."
"It's the new administrative system. Not McHorn, the Administrators ordained it."
"Because of the bomb?"
"That's right. Heh, you know the Admins. Seem to think every problem can be solved by throwing enough paperwork at it."
Hopps didn't enjoy the joke. She didn't hold it against him; she knew she was making him nervous, either out of her rank, her reputation or what she'd just been through. She wasn't sure and knew he wasn't thinking through what he was saying. She didn't see the deaths of those officers or the repercussions that followed as anything to joke about.
Not with Nick yet to wake up.
"So who do I talk to?" she asked, crossing her paws across her chest. Her foot tapped, but it managed only to tap once before the jolt of pain reminded her it was best not to.
"Upstairs, the Administrators. They're the only ones who can handle this."
"Who do I talk to?"
"Lacey, HR. She'll help you out."
Judy paced away from the desk, nodding thanks to the wolf who eagerly went back to other work, apparently distracting himself from his own fluster from Judy's presence.
She paused at the base of the staircase, her voice steadfast and resolute as she gazed up at the balcony above. "Alright. Second floor. Just a team of pen pushers in fancy suits. I can handle it."
She followed the path her judgment lead her to go, walking up those synthetic wood steps to the balcony beyond, where dark suited mammals walked with bundles of paper in slow, lazy strides.
She'd always wondered what they did on a day to day basis and where those bundles of documents were taken from and to. Nick had always said they were just 'looking busy' to justify their expense to the civilians and to the Police department, but she'd always trusted the government more than that.
Well, she'd used to.
Now, looking about at their blank faces as she slowly climbed those steep steps, her body hot all over with ripples of irritation while she tried to catch anything which could distract her attention, she wondered what the case really was.
Author's notes:
Hesitance jumps around your mind,
Grooms decision thus chosen blind.
Your thoughts most succulent of snack,
All delivered by luscious feedback.
So don't hide like a tiny shrew,
Thus share that belovable review!
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