You know I said some fairly big parts were going to get changed? Well, this chapter will be one of those.

Special thanks to the people who reviewed the previous chapter: GhostWolf88, Tarathiel, aomagrat

TARGETED

The ZBI main office in Zootopia was situated in the City Centre, inside the last ten floors of The Twist, one of Zootopia's most recognisable skyscrapers. It meant the ZBI had one heck of a view over Zootopia itself. Fitting given the ZBI's work.

The Den, as it was known, was situated on the fifth floor that the ZBI occupied. Teams of ZBI agents were separated by partitions. Team 3 was under the command of Special Agent Jack Wilde. Wilde had been in charge of Team 3 for six years, but he had been a member of it since he had joined up.

His second-in-command was a buffalo, Michael Bull. Bull sometimes got on Wilde's nerves. He liked to think of himself as a 'ladies' mammal', and he occasionally played pranks on other Agents, with the exception of Wilde. From an outside perspective, one might suspect that Bull was slightly afraid of Wilde, but in truth, Bull respected him.

Josephine Catalan had been on the team for a shorter time than Bull, but she had proven herself a reliable investigator and had thus earned Wilde's respect.

The fourth member, a weasel named Linda Nivalis, was the 'Probie'. She had been with the team for the shortest amount of time, and had yet to properly make her mark.

Wilde stared at his screen as it displayed a facial recognition program against the city's camera system. He hoped he could find a match to either Dawn Bellwether or Doug Ramses soon, but the program had been running for a few days, with no luck.

The interrogations conducted after capturing those responsible for the source of Waking Death yielded disappointing results. The suspects told them of an individual who wanted much larger quantities of Waking Death. They even told Wilde the name of their next target: Michael. But no more than that: they didn't even know the species of this Michael.

What they did know was that Dawn Bellwether didn't appear to be involved, but Doug Ramses was. Ramses was the chemist responsible for the Night Howler incident many years back, so if he was involved, it was likely that this Michael was intending to weaponize Waking Death in some way.

It was also highly likely that Doug would attempt to target Judy and Nick out of a desire for revenge, and so Wilde had stationed Nivalis outside Nick's apartment in the Rainforest District, and Catalan to Judy's apartment in the City Centre.

Wilde knew enough about his cousin Nick, and Judy Hopps at this point. He had assembled profiles on both of them, and he had found a very interesting tale: somehow, Judy Hopps had managed to persuade Nick to lead a much more honest life. The Night Howler conspiracy didn't even need to be included – everybody knew what went on there. And at some point, the two had become lovers, and though they had never gotten married, they had consummated their relationship, which lead to the birth of their first son, a 'rabbox' that bore the same first name as his father.

Nick had fallen off the grid at around that time, but a search turned him up in Mexicat, under the name Nicholas Anabel. He had mated with a fox and produced a son, apparently unaware of his first-born back in Zootopia. For some reason, Judy had failed to contact him about his son, and that had been the state of things until Viola Wilde passed.

Had Wilde known this at the time, he wouldn't have approached Nick in any case. Family affairs were messy things, as he knew from experience. In addition, unless it became relevant to an investigation, it was, frankly, none of his business. Even so, he had to admire Nick slightly: he might have made a fine undercover operative.

Wilde's phone rang. It was Catalan, the Agent he had placed outside Judy Hopps' residence.

"Wilde," he answered.

"Wilde, I've just spotted a short ewe in what appears to be a jacket and orange jumpsuit. Looks like we've found Bellwether… she's heading inside the building."

Wilde gritted his teeth as he got up from the desk.

"Tag along behind her, but do not apprehend until we get there unless it becomes unavoidable," Wilde ordered. He glanced at Bull.

"Gear up," Wilde ordered, heading straight for his desk to take out his weapon, badge and keys.

"Our poor little lamb has lost her way," Bull remarked, earning a quick glare from Jack.

As Wilde and Bull pulled up to Baobab Avenue in the City Centre, the radio crackled to life.

"All officers in the area of Baobab Avenue, we have a report of a 10-71 into an apartment. Possible sniper in adjacent apartment building."

"10-71? Shots fired?" Bull queried. Wilde pulled the receiver from the dashboard.

"Catalan, confirm the 10-71," Wilde ordered.

"10-71 confirmed, shots fired into the apartment building where Hopps lives," Catalan responded. "Moving up the floor to investigate."

"10-4, we'll be right there after you," Wilde answered, placing the receiver back in its hold. He parked the car up and jumped from the vehicle with his weapon drawn. Scanning the surrounding area, he made for the apartment complex entrance.

"Bull, on me," Wilde ordered.

"On your six," Bull answered.

The pair entered the building and headed straight up for the first floor, making sure they were clear along the way. As they got up the stairs, they spotted Catalan.

"Wilde, the floor is clear and the sniper has gone," Catalan reported.

"Casualties?" Wilde asked.

"One. Hopps is shaken but alright. Her son and his friend were hiding in the son's bedroom, but didn't see the worst of it."

"And Bellwether?"

Catalan shook her head.

"Don't know what she was hit with. It wasn't a conventional bullet, but she's gone."

Wilde picked his phone out of his pocket and dialled.

"We need the coroner to Baobab Avenue," Wilde said, before hanging up. He looked to Bull, and ordered: "Bull, Catalan, go across the street to the building the sniper was in. Clear it, then report back."

"On it, boss," Bull nodded, and he and Catalan disappeared downstairs. Wilde holstered his weapon and carefully entered the Hopps apartment. He scanned the apartment, noticed the body of Dawn Bellwether lying on the floor. Judy Hopps was sat on a bar stool in her kitchen, out of the view of the shattered window.

"Are you all right, Hopps?" Wilde asked.

"Bellwether, she…" Judy began. She shook her head. "I… I tried to save her, but…"

"It's okay," Wilde said. "You did what you could."

"She came here to warn me. To warn me. And I thought she might be lying, but then she showed me…"

"Take a moment, Hopps. You can make a statement later."

Wilde's phone rang. He answered it straight away.

"Yeah, Wilde."

"Boss, we've cleared the block," Bull's voice came through."One apartment was open and empty. No sign of the shooter but witnesses did say they saw a ram with a briefcase fleeing moments ago."

"Got it. Contact the ZPD, have them come here to take the two teenagers still in the bedroom into Precinct One. I'll take Hopps to the hospital myself."

Wilde gritted his teeth in frustration as he hung up.

"Hopps, let's get you out of here."

Zootopia General Hospital was always busy. Wilde had been here enough times to know it practically like the back of his paw.

He was currently in the waiting room with Judy, while doctors assessed Bellwether in a private cubicle. He had sent Catalan and Bull to track down leads on where the shooter could have gone, and in the meantime, ZPD had picked up Judy's son and his friend, and had taken them to Precinct One. He went for the coffee machine, ordering himself a coffee. Glancing back to Judy, he ordered a caroffee as well, and with both in paw, he sat back down next to her.

"Here," Wilde said, passing the caroffee to Judy. She eyed him suspiciously, before accepting the cup.

"Thanks, Agent Wilde," Judy mumbled.

"Call me Jack. Tell me what happened."

"Wouldn't it be better to take this as an official statement?"

"Ah… Right now, you're in shock. A chat will do. We'll sort out the paperwork later."

Judy shot him a glance.

"Did Bellwether say anything before she was shot?" Jack asked.

"Bellwether, she…" Judy began. "She said that this 'Michael' was out to… 'kill' Zootopia with Waking Death…"

"Anything else?"

"I should think that somebody decided to take pot shots at me in my own home would answer that question," Judy replied haughtily. Jack did not feel it appropriate to risk antagonising her.

Judy's ears perked up when the waiting room doors flew open and Nick stormed in, followed by Agent Nivalis. Jack glanced up to him.

"What's going on?" Nick demanded. "What happened? I heard somebody got shot and had been taken to hospital!"

"Nicholas…" Jack got up.

"Carrots, are you okay?" Nick ignored Jack.

"I…" Judy said, balling her fists against her thighs.

"Nicholas, could you give us a minute?" Jack asked.

"Look, I know you're just doing your job…" Nick snarled. "But I had to hear from the Agent I wasn't supposed to know was scoping my home that there had been a shooting!"

Jack grimaced. It meant that Nick had most likely clocked Nivalis outside his home. He always was observant.

"I'm sorry, Nicholas, I figured that not informing you of the Agents we have watching you would be less disruptive to you…" Jack began, but before he could say any more, Nick had grabbed him by the collar and thrust him against a wall. Various orderlies rushed over.

"Nick!" Judy sprang from her seat. Nick bared his teeth briefly before letting Jack go. He stepped away from Jack and glared in his direction before turning to Judy.

"Are you okay, Carrots?" Nick asked.

"I'm a little shaken up. That's all, Nick. Promise." Judy replied.

"Junior?" Nick asked, his ears sinking.

"ZPD took him to the Precinct," Judy replied. "He's shaken, but he's fine."

Nick let out a sigh of relief.

"Where's Robin?" Judy asked.

"Finnick came around to watch him," Nick answered. "If neither Carrots nor Junior were shot, then who…?" Nick looked at Jack.

"The casualty was Bellwether," Jack confirmed.

Nick bristled angrily.

"An Agent stationed outside each of our apartments, and you still couldn't stop her from walking right in!" Nick shouted. "What would have happened had Bellwether done something?"

"She didn't," Judy interjected. "She… just thought she stood a better chance of being listened to coming to me instead of going to the ZPD."

"Well, once she's better, she'll have all the time to tell her story, I'm sure."

"Dawn Bellwether is dead," Jack said. Nick stopped where he was.

"D… dead?" Nick repeated.

"Killed by Ramses, though no doubt he intended Hopps to be his target."

Jack turned to Judy.

"Cold though it may sound, Bellwether turning up as she did may have saved your life, Hopps."

It took three days to set up the safe house and for Jack to clear Nick and Judy for working within the Precinct. Chief Fangmeyer was not happy about losing two officers but agreed that their safety had to come first, given it was highly likely that Doug would make another attempt.

An autopsy confirmed that Bellwether had died of cardiac arrest, and a toxicology test confirmed that she had been hit with a lethal dose of Waking Death.

Jack had taken a full statement from Judy. Her son and his friend had recorded the exchange on their phones, and when Jack listened, he found that Bellwether had been trying to help Judy instead of putting her in harm's way. She displayed only resignation to her fate as opposed to remorse for her actions.

The biggest reveal was that Ramses was now working for a third party, a cross-species named Michael who wished to, as Bellwether had put it, 'kill Zootopia', and it seemed he was going to use the Waking Death to do it. The fact that Bellwether had been killed by a Waking Death bullet suggested that Ramses had already successfully weaponised it.

With Bellwether's part of the case now closed, it meant Jack had just one remaining fugitive to deal with, but he also had an impending terror threat as well.

Been a while, huh? So, first off, I said a few big things were going to change. In the original, the Waking Death only put Bellwether into a coma. I wanted to 'trim the fat off' a bit, so I changed it to outright killing her – as that was the fate that should have belonged to Judy. It was also clear that I was not going to repeat the redemption of Bellwether when I re-wrote the previous chapter. It does mean a slight change in the future with regards to an upcoming story thread, but we'll get to that later.

Another change is to a member of Jack Wilde's team. I wanted a 'callback' and not an as-on-the-nose reference to NCIS. So, I changed the name and species of Jack's second-in-command to a buffalo named Michael Bull. However, that is still, in its own way, a reference: Michael is the first name of Michael Weatherly, the actor who played Tony DiNozzo in NCIS. And Michael Weatherly is currently starring in Bull, named after the titular character, Jason Bull.