Disclaimer: Chicken Little (this incarnation, at least) is the property of The Walt Disney Company. I make no legal claims to it whatsoever, only to the original characters created for this story.

Author's note: This chapter was posted on Fanfiction Dot Net on 2019-08-29. This story was also co-written by Anon E Mouse Jr and Skaz Wolfman who both provided significant support in the creation of this fanfiction.

Chapter One

It was late during the night when Hoggy Woggy stumbled through the alley, looking over his shoulder to see she was still on his heels.

"Shit shit shit," he swore, trying to get some more distance between them, but she was still picking up speed. He turned to push over some trash cans like they did in the movies and TV shows but he just tripped over his feet and landed snout first into the ground. He tried to push himself upright but before he get up beyond his elbows, she slammed into his back and he felt the press of cold metal against his head.

"That was very stupid, Hoggy," she said, holding her gun against him as she pulled out her handcuffs and began to put them on him. "Ya could have gone in for a simple drug possession but now you get resisting arrest too."

Hoggy Woggy huffed as she pulled him up, and did his best to ignore her as she read off the whole right to remain silent spiel. When she had finished, he asked her, "Come on Foxy, can't ya let me off with a warning or something?"

The young fox raised a brown eyebrow at him. "With your record, and physical proof of your crimes? Not a chance," she snorted, shaking her head as he was led to her squad car. "Now do somethin' smart and keep your yap shut."

With a grunt, Hoggy let himself be put in the back seat as the cop went to the driver's seat.

"Hey dispatcher, this is Foxy Loxy, bringing in Hoggy Woggy for drug possession and resisting arrest. Over."

Stretching out his hearing, he could hear over the radio. "Copy that, Foxy. We'll have officers standing by on arrival. Over."

She then switched off the radio and threw the car into motion, driving them off.

Before Foxy could get very far inside the precinct, she heard Ruffidge calling her to his office which either meant something very good or very bad as tended to be the case when the chief called you into his office.

Foxy dropped off the pig at handling, taking in the praising some of the other officers gave her and playing along with the good natured teasing the others gave to her, before she made her way to Ruffidge's office.

Raising her paw to the door, Foxy was about to knock when Ruffidge called out, "If that's you Foxy, come on in."

Opening the door with a smile on her perfectly straight teeth - thank you braces for that little bles - miracle, she corrected herself, she stepped into Ruffidge's office and asked, "And if I weren't Foxy, what do I need to do?"

Ruffidge snorted, shaking his head. "Then you'd need to go get my new officer in here so I can congratulate her."

Foxy couldn't keep her tail from swishing but she tried to downplay it with an easy smile. "Why thank you chief, just trying to do my best here."

"Though there is one thing," he said causing her good mood to drop immediately. "I've been going over your days and I've seen you haven't scheduled any downtime in a while." He raised an eyebrow at her meaning it wasn't a statement but a question.

"Well chief, I'd like to keep myself more focused on the job as I don't got much else going on," she said, rubbing the back of her neck.

"I've noticed," he said with his eyes flicking over to the small trophy cabinet that held the local sports trophies from the different games the first response league had won. "We could have used you on the baseball team, from what I heard you were really go-," he trailed off as he remembered the rest of what her file said about that time. With a blush, he coughed out a Sorry.

"It's okay, chief, I know you didn't mean it," Foxy sighed. She missed playing baseball but it just brought back too many bad memories for her and she didn't trust herself not to lose it in a game with her fellow cops and others around, especially not when she had a blunt object like a bat in her paws. Sitting down in the chair in front of his desk, Foxy pushed her hair away from her face. "That's another reason I'm not too up for downtime, if I'm honest. Sitting at home with nothing to do can bring back the past and I'm…" she trailed off, rubbing and squeezing her arm a bit too tightly which annoyed her. She'd thought she'd got past that bad habit but it seemed she was wrong.

"Look, I can pull some strings," Ruffidge said causing her ears to perk. "Got some favours to call in; why don't you let me take care of things and get you settled up, okay?"

Foxy could barely keep her jaw from dropping, "I... I don't know what to say chief."

"Thanks would be a good start," he chuckled before reaching for his phone. "Now go get your paperwork all done; don't want that to keep you stuck here, do you Miss Loxy?"

"No sir," she said with a mock salute, walking out of his office and to her desk.

It had taken several days to get everything in order but Ruffidge was good to his word; she had a number of vacation days down in Florida to sit on her butt and take in the sun and then go to the Disney park. A part of her, even from back then, had wanted to go there and now she had her chance at long last! All her bags had been packed and repacked to make sure she had everything she'd need and then she'd done another check a couple of hours later on.

The only hitch was that the route she'd be on would take her uncomfortably close to a place she never wanted to see again, but she was a horrible flyer and the last thing she needed was to be sick all the way through her vacation and then some during her flight back home to the Big Apple.

Still, it was a mostly free trip and Foxy wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth, so she got into her car with the windows down and the music up as she drove down the highway. It was an older model; the AC wasn't working and she'd had some frights that it wouldn't start in the past, but it had always pulled through before and if it didn't, she would be in trouble as she couldn't really afford to get a new car anytime soon.

As the first day of her trip down south came to a close, she pulled up into a motel with a bit of concern in the back of her head as her car's engine had been rattling for the last few miles. But the check engine light hadn't popped up yet, so she figured she was in the clear for now.

During the middle of the second day, however, Foxy was really worried that her engine was going to literally fall out of her damn car at this point. She remembered that the mechanics had said something about how the mounts were on their last legs when she had brought her car in the last time around and she was curious if she was going to be stuck in the middle of nowhere because of her fu-

Before she could finish the curse to her pride, however, her eyes spotted something reflective on the road and attempted to serve to avoid it but by the sudden gush of air and thump of the rim hitting the road, Foxy knew she had just blown a tire.

Remembering her training for this kind of emergency, she eased her foot off the gas and did her best to control her car into a safe deceleration that wouldn't involve her flipping around. Cursing the entire time, Foxy slowly pried her fingers from the steering wheel when her car finally came to a stop and just as slowly stepped out to examine the damage.

She cursed as she saw it, and sighed. She had lost a tire due to what looked like broken glass shredding the rubber and she had no spare on her. And even if she did, she had no way of actually changing a tire. Another mistake on her part, she admitted to herself.

Pulling out her phone in the hopes she could get a connection out in the middle of nowhere, Foxy began to call the number for the local tow truck she saw a few klicks back.

After getting off the line with the receptionist and giving her the information she needed, Foxy went back to her car and did her best to steer it to the side and then moved to get rid of the broken glass on the highway so no one else would get in the same trouble as she did.

It was about half an hour as the receptionist said it would be before a tow truck finally came to pick her up and her heart sank as she read the name on its side.

Oakey Oaks Towing and Automotive

Despite doing her best not to growl, she couldn't keep her paws from balling into fists as the truck pulled up to her car. Then she did a bit of a double take as she thought she recognized the driver that stepped out. He was definitely older with a wider gut, but those sunglasses were very familiar.

"Morkubine?" she asked hesitantly.

The porcupine gave her a thumbs-up. "Yo."

She sighed in relief; Morkubine Porcupine was one of the few people she remembered who'd stayed out of that whole mess back when, and had never managed to get on her bad side as a result. She still wasn't sure if he'd even cared either way, since he typically refused to speak up about anything if he could help it, but indifference to both sides was still better than how most people had reacted.

Once he'd gotten her car hauled up onto the back of his truck, he gestured for her to climb in the passenger side of the cab, and then climbed in his own side and started the engine without saying a word.

For the next several miles, they drove on in silence, Foxy uncertain of what to say and Morkubine being his usual taciturn self.

Finally, she broke the silence and asked him if anything had changed in the town from the last ten years.

"No," he said, shaking his head as he continued to drive down the road.

"Still don't say much, do you?"

"No," he said before turning to grin at her and Foxy couldn't help but let out a snort at his bad attempt at a joke. It might have been his way to lighten the mood, and it sorta did but her flesh still crawled when they pulled into the town with the sign saying

Welcome to Oakey Oaks, Best Acorns in the Universe

Gritting her teeth, she watched as the buildings passed her and people she thought she recognized went by as Morkubine drove down the streets. Foxy could tell he wasn't taking the busier streets so either he was trying to keep her out of sight in an attempt to be kind to her or was attempting something unseemly. Though that possibility was dashed when he pulled up into a mechanic's shop that had Oakey Oaks Towing and Automotive above the door.

Stepping outside of the truck, Foxy turned to Morkubine, "So how long do you think it will take to fix the tire, a day or so?"

"Yo," he said, flicking out a finger out at the calendar, pointing to the next day. Foxy raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms with a smirk on her face.

"You're really dedicated to that shtick, aren't ya?" Morkubine nodded his head with a grin on his face. "Well, here's my number so you can give me a call when it's done," she said as she handed him one of her cards and watched as his eyes widen as he saw she was a cop. "Now… now to go the motel so I can have a place to sleep tonight," she said as she got her belongings from her trunk.

"Here," he said, handing out a tourist's map to her which after a quick glance did have a motel.

"Thanks," she said with a smile on her face.

"No prob," Morkubine said causing Foxy turn around in surprise.

"Two syllables?" she said with a bit of snark in her voice. "I guess you grew up eh?"

Morkubine simply shrugged his shoulders good-naturedly before he went to the tool rack to start his work and Foxy was left to walk through a town she hadn't seen in ten years.

It was all she could do to keep herself calm and collected, moving down the sidewalk and not making eye contact with anyone that she thought she recognized.

For the most part, to her growing delight, it seemed to be wo-

"Foxy Loxy, is that you?" a voice she instantly recognized called out to her and caused her blood to boil. It was that damn twerp that had helped that other bastard ruin her life get away scot-free, Chicken-

Turning around to glare down at him, she bumped her snout into the chest of a tall and very muscular man. Taking a step back she looked up to see the concerned face looking down at her. "Little?" she said her thoughts aloud.

"It is you," he said with a grin breaking out on his face, opening his arms as if to hug her but she let out a growl and stared hard at him.

"Touch me and you'll lose that arm, Little," she barked out through clenched teeth.

He blinked in surprise. "What did I do?"

"You know," she hissed. "Because of you, that… arrrgh!" She growled again. "Got off without so much as a slap on the wrist."

"Foxy," he started to sound like his old loser self now, but still had that adult influence in his voice. "I know things didn't go as they should have and I am sor-"

"I don't care," she snapped, doing her best to keep her anger under control. "That doesn't make up for those-"

"I know a simple apology won't do that, Foxy, but at least let me try-"

"To clear your own conscious so you can be a hero again?" she shot back, enjoying seeing him squirm.

"Foxy." He suddenly sounded a lot older. "All I did was call for calm, like a judge calling for order. How was I supposed to know everyone else would get a completely different meaning out of it?"

"Because you know just as well as I do that this town is filled with stupid idiots?" She leaned into his face and her old victim flinched at her. "Now leave me alone; it's hell that I am stuck here on my vacation for an hour, let alone the night and day that it'll take to get my car fixed."

"Please Foxy," he reached for her arm again but stopped when she began to bare her teeth. "Just come to my place for dinner tonight; we can talk like adults in private and try to find some sort of understanding."

She wanted nothing more than to spit in his face but she knew from her police training that it was sometimes best to let the perp think they were getting what they wanted so they could be easier to deal with. And that meant pretending to think it over so she leveled her best nonconfirmational glare at him and let him draw his own conclusions.

"Right," he said uncertainty, put off by her glare but still believing she was agreeing with him. "At seven okay? It's the same place from when I was a kid, okay?" Chicken began to rub his fingers uncertainly before he began to walk away from her. When he was finally out of sight she dropped her glare and looked around to see a crowd had been formed and watched the entire thing. Thankfully, none of them had the guts to actually try and talk to her so she could get on with her day.

"And that's when I got to my motel room, boss," Foxy said as she sat on the bed she paid the night for, with her right leg over her left, suitcase by the nightstand. She had already talked to her therapist and called the resort she'd be staying at to tell them she'd be a day later than she'd thought she would be. She uncrossed her legs and then placed her left leg on right as she listened to his question. "No, I'm not going to his house; he can enjoy a dinner for two by himself." She snorted, hoping Chicken would get the message. She then ignored the bit of the lecture Ruffidge gave he before her ears fell to the side of her head. "I'm okay, chief. I really am." She let out a yawn, tired by the entire day and being back here. "I think I am going to call it an early night." She wished him goodnight before she got changed out of her white shirt and jeans and into her sleepwear before closing the lights and doing her best to fall asleep.

THUD THUD THUD

Foxy jumped from a sound sleep with her paw reaching for her gun, only to remember it wasn't under her pillow.

"Miss Loxy, are you in there?" a voice called from outside.

"Yeah," she called back, somewhat groggily. "Just a sec."

Throwing the covers off and grabbing some clothes, she covered herself and then went to answer the door, surprised to see a pair of police officers outside. "Can I help you?"

"Miss Loxy, can you account for your whereabouts last night?" the officer on the right asked.

"Yeah… I came to this place, checked in, went straight to my room… spent a few hours on the phone and then hit the sack," she said. "Is there something wrong?"

"You could say that." The officer on the left looked grim. "We had a murder last night, and at this point in time, you're the only suspect."

Foxy stared at him. "What." She then snorted, shaking her head. "You better have a damn good reason to suspect me."

They shared a look before the one on the right looked at her with handcuffs in his paws. "The murder victim is Chicken Little."

Foxy's eyes went wide before she let out a curse. "Well shit."