Chapter 6
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Honey spent the rest of the day planning. Plotting. Observing. Looking at how the guards and the doctors got in and out before remembering something. Something about Amy.
When the guard came to take her to her therapy session she lay on her bed, moaning and groaning, saying she had a stomach illness and asking if Amy could come here. The guard agreed, the door closed, and a few minutes later the therapist arrived.
They began talking, Amy in particular asking about how she was feeling and when this had started, Honey doing her best to keep quiet.
"You know," Amy began. "I think I saw a sheep in here recently, did you see him?"
Honey paused, before deciding that it was time. "You know, I think…" she began, before groaning. She bent over, asking to go to the toilet and, permission granted, she went in and faked a rather large release of wind. After all, they might be watching, she needed to keep the story straight.
She met Amy at the door, explaining the problem and asking if they could go back to her office for the talk. The binturong looked on curiously for a second or two before agreeing. So, escorted by the wolf guard, they were led out.
Onwards.
Ignoring a few leading questions about how she was feeling, Honey held back, just a little, as they walked along the corridor that linked the secure ward with the office. Just holding back, and…
"-AH!"
She winced, dropping down onto her knees as she cradled a foot, moving the pad around to observe.
"Everything okay?" Amy asked, looking down at her.
"No, I…" she began. "Pad cut, I think, any…." She trailed off, coughing a few times, before slumping down against the floor. Not still though, but shaking, quivering, her breath getting faster and faster and deeper and deeper, as the wolf guard waved Amy back and pointed his tranq gun forwards. His ears were slanted back, a hunting position, though his tail hung nervously between his legs.
"This… This looks like Nighthowler, I think…" he said, nervously, just as Honey calmed down.
"Wo… Woah," she said, lightly. "I… I'm not sure what that was. Sorry…"
"Huh," the wolf said, relaxing. He looked back at Amy. "Seizure, or…"
Honey leapt out, grabbing his tranq gun and twisting it around, still in his paw. He heard a terrible crack and a jolt of pain as his wrist was torn around, before feeling a dart slam into his chest. Dropping to his knees, wavering about a bit as the drugs took effect, he fell forwards, just as Honey raced at a shocked Amy.
"Honey…!" she began, before wincing as her security pass was torn off her, complete with the belt it was attached to. Honey then shoved her away, it wasn't as if her clothes would fit or anything, before racing to the nearest security door and using the key-card to open it up.
"Wait, I need to tell…"
Amy's voice trailed off into the distance as Honey ran, throwing away the belt and pocketing the card. She was conspicuous, too conspicuous, what with her uniform. She needed a distraction, and…
"Bingo!" she said, going up to and slamming a fire alarm button. In their ward they had an alert bell, to bring a member of staff over and confirm if there was a problem. Here, though, it was the real deal, and everything would be all a bit more chaotic thanks to it.
Honey dashed every which way through the halls, not exactly sure where she was going. She paused though as she saw a guard walk by her.
A lion.
He stopped too, their eyes meeting.
There was an odd silence between them, before he lunged for his tranq gun.
She lunged faster.
Her teeth sunk into his arm while her paws gripped the gun, firing it but missing him as he knocked her back. The other paw went for the radio but she was on it too, tearing it down and away before crushing it in her mouth. He looked at her, she at him, and they charged. She tore and kicked and bit, taking plenty of damage herself as he fought back. But she gave it no mind, punching and assaulting him, harder and harder and harder, until he pushed her off and shuffled back, away.
Bleeding, scared, shocked.
Honey tasted blood in her mouth but didn't care, just like she didn't care about that bleeding gash on the top of her right paw. She looked at her opponent, who was obvious getting his first practical demonstration on why her species was known as the toughest mammal in the animal kingdom. Still, though, he tried to hold his ground. She growled at him before stepping back, grabbing the dart from earlier and lunging.
It hit his thigh and he was down too.
She looked around, finding herself at another secure area. One she recognised. "Time for another distraction," she said, as her ears rose up. There were marching feet coming from behind her.
Into the semi-familiar cell block she went, pausing as she passed the cell she'd originally been placed in before arriving at its neighbour, odd sounds and grumbled coming out of it. This was a place for those even nastier than the savages, so whatever was in here better be good.
She opened the door, looked in and chuckled. "Different. This is gonna be fun." She then set to work, removing his restraints and any associated paraphernalia, before setting him loose as she raced off to find a new disguise.
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The guards marched on, following her. Organised by Amy, the shocked binturong following them, they let a female coyote at their front track Honey, following her scent trail. They still hadn't found a way to turn off the fire alarm, and, while the escaped mammal one was on, it was drowned out. After all, getting everyone out in case of a fire was far more important than a mammal escaping.
But there was no fire, so everyone's priority was finding the escapee.
They paused in shock, though, as they came across the battle scene. Honey badger vs Lion, with the results lying there in front of them. Amy looked down at him, then up again. "I'll tend to his wounds."
The leader of the guards nodded, and she led her pack on without her. This way and that, left and right, into the high security ward where…
…
"Oh god," she whispered, her entire troupe halting as they saw what stood before them. It was a small blackish brown mammal, about three feet tall, so more than the average bunny. Stark naked, he looked more like a large rat, albeit one with a thin but bushy tail, almost like a mini fox one.
What made him distinct though was the white band on his chest, sloping down from his shoulders to make a small V. A little feature only resident to one specific species of mammal.
The tasmanian devil.
One of the guards began backing off. "That's… That's Taz, isn't it! He's out! TAZ IS OUT!"
The devil looked at him before releasing a species of gargled grunts and slurs, slobbering as he did so. "OOOHEEEHUURUUUHHHLLLAAAARRRGGGHHHHGRUUUUUFRAAAATEEEEE"
The guard pack leader, backing off slightly, gulped. "I know his reputation precedes him. But we stand our ground. Hear me?"
She paused, looking either side of herself, and finding her entire posse had fled. "Frickin' unbelievable."
Taz looked at her and laugh. "HA HE HA HURGGGHHHH. 'Yote all alone. Me like what 'yote taste like."
His brow furrowed, and then he began spinning on the spot, faster and faster like a whirlwind, and the lone guard could almost swear that she could hear him whirring up like a jet engine and…
-He wobbled, smashed into the wall, and then rolled along the floor, his limbs splaying out. He tried to get up again, only to wobble and fall from the dizziness. The coyote's mouth could almost hit the floor. "Seriously?" she gasped, before the tension left her body. She took a few lazy steps forward and fired a dart right into the still incapacitated devil, putting him to sleep again.
"Come on big boy," she muttered, pulling him back into his cell. "Playtime's over."
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Outside the hospital, the alarm still ringing out, the staff members were lining up to be counted off. In secure areas nearby, those patients in secure wards were being let out too, lining up to be counted. Already, though, word was spreading. This was part of a potentially dangerous mammal's escape plan. She was a honey badger. She was out there. She was dangerous. There were cops on the scene, turning up and looking around.
None noticed as Honey slipped away through the crowd, joining a line of pedestrians on the pavement, walking wherever they wished to go. Dumping her tell-tale uniform, she'd sought out the small hydrotherapy area, more specifically the storage area next to it. She'd seen swimwear there, and while the piece that fit her wasn't the exact best, it did its job. Combined with a duffel bag and some shades she'd swiped, she looked like a mammal returning back from a day at the Sahara Square beach. A bit out of place, maybe, but it'd do its job.
She just found her way into a crowd of wildebeest, heading north, and followed them.
Dropping back to the end, before then turning, trying to find another crowd. Find a mammal with a wallet hanging out the back. Grab the wallet, and hope there was a travel card or a contactless one in there, or at least the cash to buy something. Get on the trains. Get home. Get to her bunker. She had to fix herself, after all! That poison was still flowing around her. Still coursing, still…
"-HEY!"
She paused, turning around, and she gulped as she saw some guards, backed up with police officers, coming up close. It was then she noticed the little trail of blood she'd left behind from her cut open paw. She'd barely felt anything, yet it had made such a mess…
"Stay where you are. We need to…"
She legged it, leaping through a nearby wooden fence, literally smashing it to pieces as she went. On she ran, never mind the stitch beginning to burn through her side, this was life or death! A turn right, avoiding some darts being fired. A left. A slide onto the road, dodging through rapidly moving traffic as she cut to the other side, ripping a mammal's wallet off of the cafe table they were eating at before leaping through an alley they were too big to follow her down. This way and that, turning and weaving, she grimaced as she heard rotors overhead.
A police copter! It had to be! Dammit, the sheep wanted her real bad, but she wouldn't let them! She would never ever let them!
Another turn right, and she saw a subway station up ahead, only to flinch back as a police car pulled up, blocking her path.
She froze in position, glancing behind her to see an elephant cop blocking the way she'd come in. Trembling, the exhaustion catching up with her and tears beginning to form in her eyes, she looked forwards again, making her way to the subway-blocking car. Her claws might be getting some more use tonight. She wasn't going to let them win. She wasn't going to let whichever mammals, now getting out of that car, bring her in to…
She blinked as she saw a familiar bunny and fox jump out of the vehicle, her face lighting up. "YEEEESSSSSS! YESSSS! YES! YES! YES! HOLY FRICKIN QUEEN OF THE HIVE HALLELUJAH YESSSSS!"
"Um, hello," Nick began.
"Oh my god," Honey said, barely containing her excitement. "It's you! It's really you! In the flesh and fur, the heroes of Zootopia! The world! Yes! YesyesyesyesyesYESSSS!"
"Oooh, we're famous," the fox commented, only to get a light tap on his side from his partner. Judy Hopps held her paws forwards, signalling for Honey to calm down as she began speaking. "Miss Badger."
"Yup, that's my name, reporting for duty!" she said, her paw going up in salute.
"We're here to help you…"
"Of course you are!" she said, beginning to walk forwards. "You're on my side! Our side…"
"Yes, yes we are…"
"The side that will stop the sheep in their tracks…"
Judy blinked a few times, looking over to Nick. He just seemed confused and shrugged.
"Listen," Honey explained, carrying on forwards at a leisurely pace. "I've spent my life researching the Cudspiracy. What the sheep are doing. What they've done. But they're crafty. Real, real crafty. I didn't know about them nighthowlers till you two awesomnauts figured it out! You stopped their first assault on mammalkind. You did more to hold back the coming of the age of wool than anyone!"
"Yes, we did stop Dawn Bellwether," Judy said, trying to be calming. "But…"
"Now we need to combine forces. The sheep are on the move. They imprisoned me, drugged me, because I knew too much. That's why I escaped you see. Staying in there, they'd already started blanking my mind, the monsters lacing imitation Honey Chomps with their taming poisons. I can FEEL it!" Her voice hitched a little, before she looked forwards lovingly at her heroes, walking towards them eagerly.
"Miss Badger…"
"I can still go cold turkey though. Still recover before it's too late. But I need you. I need both of you, but especially you Judy Hopps…"
"Please stay where you…"
"You're the wonderbunny! You brought her down… You did sort of get my sister into a bit of trouble, but that all came out good in the end, so no hard feelings…"
"Last warning Miss…"
"But you're the only one I can trust! They haven't gotten you. You're the purest, safest mammals I can think of. Even without that, I love you. I love you both. You're great, you're brilliant, you'll always be on our side and my side and I trust you two with my life, and together we can save the wo…"
She reached out to shake Judy's paw, only to flinch.
"I'm sorry," the bunny said, her voice a whisper.
Looking down, Honey saw a tranq dart in her chest and, looking up, she saw Judy Hopps' gun.
Empty.
The wooziness was hitting her and she sunk to her knees, the world beginning to spin. She felt dizzy, but she focussed through that. On them. As she did so she began to sniff, her heart feeling like it was breaking. Cracking up, the tears flowing, she sobbed out. "But-but-but you were the heroes… Y-You were the only ones I could trust…."
"I'm so sorry…" Judy said again. "I'm so, so…"
She trailed off as Honey's world went black. A dark, dreamless sleep followed and, when she woke up, she found herself back in the padded cell. Straightjacket on. Muzzle on. Feet shackled with a solid bar. A leash and collar fixing her to the wall.
She could have glanced around, panicking, but instead she curled up and sobbed.
Not at her now certain demise.
But at the fact that she'd lost her heroes.
There truly was no good in this world. Everything was for nothing.
There just wasn't any point to anything.
Not any more…
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She spent two miserable days in there. It sucked as much as Amy said it might, though for different reasons. She had nothing to do but wallow in the terrible truth, which hung over her and taunted her. When a nurse and guards came in to spoon feed her, give her some water or deal with any hygiene issues it was almost a relief, a temporary distraction which would then go away too soon, leaving her trapped with the truth once more. While they were in she still felt embarrassed, humiliated, disgusted and filthy, but at least it stopped her thinking about Wilde and Hopps.
For a bit at least.
Even the reprieve from her sister visiting, giving her a hug and comfort, didn't last longer than a minute or two after it was over.
Finally, she got a meeting from the therapist. If she took those pills, she'd be allowed back into her old room. Locked from the outside and with strict controls, given the damage she'd caused.
She'd agreed. Why bother anymore?
Back in there, she'd drunk down her pills, with water from the tap no less, and eaten her contaminated cereal for breakfast.
For days at a time. Just sitting, the pointless noise of the TV on in the background.
She still couldn't get over it.
Why them? Why? Why? Why? Why?
Finally, Dr Lupuleli came in. Another time like many.
"Hi Doc."
"Hi Honey. How are things going?"
"The world is a crapsack. I can feel myself get all dumb and droney thanks to those poison pills and cereal. How's your day?"
"Interesting," Amy noted. "But I think it'll get better." She paused, as she held out a bottle. Honey's medicine. "You say these things are killing you?"
"Changing me. Just the same, though. Honey comes in, 'not Honey' comes out."
"How do you know that you're not just improving?"
She huffed. "I… I feel different. I know I'm different. I know the stuff in there is changing me, I just don't care anymore. I just don't."
Amy paused, thinking. "How many of these might be enough to actually kill you. Like actually cause an overdose?"
Honey paused. "I dunno. Five. Six."
Amy shrugged, then downed the whole lot.
"WHAT! ARE YOU CRAZY! ARE YOU NUTS!" she exclaimed, before backing off. She glanced around, before cowering into a ball. "Or is this it? Is this the real thing the sheep are planning? They got you, they got you, didn't they? Now you off yourself, they frame me for that, so I get the dead honey ending and go to jail after anyway. Oh heck… Oh heck…"
She kept on breathing deeply, as Amy got up, sat down next to her, and began stroking her. "Smell them," she said, holding the bottle up.
"Those are them, all right."
"You mean the sugar pills?"
…
"What!?"
Amy smiled. "I do think you have borderline personality disorder. I do think that, from now on, medication will be important. But the stuff you've had since your recapture has been fake."
"But… but… I felt…"
"You believed," Amy explained. "Same with the cereal," she said, before sighing.
"The cereal?"
"And the sheep. That was my original plan, but it took time to set up and, well, you weren't one to wait. After you got back, I threw in the pills to further the point home." She paused, holding up a tablet and playing several recordings. Each time, members of staff got a new box, emptied it out a little, and then watched as mammals, eventually including Honey, came by it. Nothing was added.
"But… But… I was changing! I felt it!"
"You felt what you believed," Amy explained. "All the pills, everything, you warped what you saw to fit it into your great worldview. The Cudspiracy, the sheep, everything. Then you believed these things were happening, because they had to happen. You might have felt a bit worried, or a little off, but you exaggerated and then integrated. You know what else I think? I think you found it comforting. Every time you talked about the sheep, you relaxed. Every time I questioned it, you tensed up. Why? Because even though you set yourself up as an underdog, you knew which side you were on. You knew what you had to do…"
Frowning, she shook her head. "Wait, wait, wait… Why? Why do this? Why all this? Why?"
"To show you that you can be wrong," Amy explained. "To show you that you can make mistakes, big mistakes, and just clamming up and shutting everyone else out isn't a good idea." She sighed, and made sure she was holding Honey's paw. "I think you're terribly wrong about sheep. My job is to help you understand otherwise. It will be long, it will be hard, it will need help from me and others but first I needed you to understand that your mind could play that kind of trick on you. Otherwise, you'd just ignore me. You'd just clam up, and defend your beliefs, even more…"
…
"What about Wilde and Hopps? Did you…"
"I had no idea you were going to pull that little stunt, so no. The day you escaped, I was trying to ask you, see if you felt you were getting worse, and if so I'd reveal the truth. But it seems you had other plans. Those two were just in the right place at the right time, and they did their job… They've both said that they would be willing to come in. Help with your therapy. Apologise, or…"
"-No," Honey barbed, before looking away, sniffing slightly. It still stung. It still hurt. "I… I get that… I get it's my fault for maybe, just real teeny-tiny chance here, of being wrong… But… I don't want to have to deal with that, yet. Okay? I think it still hurts too much."
Her sniffing descended into tears, and Amy was there throughout that.
Finally, as she recovered, the therapist carried on. "The real drugs might help with that. Do you want to take them now?"
"I…" she began, before pausing. Did she even know what was right or wrong anymore? She didn't know. Everything felt confusing, and she didn't feel like the malice of the sheep was there, pushing it on. However crazy it sounded, that made it so much worse. It made her feel naked, scared, vulnerable, as if the knife's blow could come from anywhere and anywhen.
She sighed, looking down. "I'll… I'll try."
Amy smiled. "I'm proud of you, you know. You're brave. I think that deserves some real Honey Chomps at the exact right time."
Honey couldn't help but let a tiny little smile escaped for a second or two. "So there's that… Will that 'cure' me?"
Amy shifted in front of her, holding her paws. "It'll help," she said. "It's going to be a long road. A real long one. But you've taken the first step now, the one all this was about. It was the hardest one, the most important one, and the one I had to push you to take… -You'll still be in here for a while. I'll let you in on a little secret. When I brought you in here, I kept wondering if it was the right thing to do, but seeing what you can do when running amok, knowing that there's a chance of helping you, and getting to know the Honey that's in there and deserves to get out… I can say that I trust that decision now, fully now. You needed to come in here to get help, and help you've got. It's a long road. But I'll be beside you, holding your paw, leading you on the right path. Do you like the sound of that?"
Had she been asked any time before all of this, Honey would have laughed it off. Dumb sheep talk, making her more vulnerable. Putting her at risk…
Yet…
Yet things made less sense now, and even those she thought she could trust weren't as the seemed. By all means, bar her close family, there was no-one she should turn to.
But, looking forwards, Honey felt that she might be able to trust Dr Amy. It was a scary leap into the unknown, yes, but seemingly everything felt that way now.
Was there even anything left to lose?
She nodded her head.
She wanted to get 'better', however long it took.
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AN: And there we are. Will Zootopia's favourite raging speciesist eventually be normal enough to return to society? We'll see, but with Dr Lupuleli on board, I feel that the prognosis is rather good.
Honey is an interesting character in the fandom. Part of this stems from her birth in the Zistopia AU's, where there's a genuine reason to turn a blind eye to her ramblings, especially if/when they stem from a traumatic event…
But in non-collar AU's, she's either treated as a useful ally or a quirky friend, when arguably she's just as bad as a Klansman or a Neo-Nazi…
But I don't think that means she is deserving of all the hate that said people get (and, given the cases of people being talked out of such organisations by people like Daryl Davis, maybe hate isn't always the correct solution there either?)
To quote MLK, 'Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.'
Regardless, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this fic. Like 'Different' this story was following Honey in the process of accepting that treatment was needed. We will see her again later on in series 1, but if people are interested in snippets of her during the rest of her treatment, just ask. That's what the one-shot collection is for, after all.
Like, review and subscribe to the FFoZ collection on A03 or series 1 on fanfic. In addition, if you prefer smaller bi-weekly updates to larger weekly ones (or vice versa), please say so. This fic had some good places to cut it up, others won't, but I'd like to know if (where possible) I should pursue this format.
Regardless, next time we'll be having a nice beefy one-shot, with some fantastic mammals going on a wild goose chase.
See you all then, and stay pawsome.
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The melanistic cheetah sat down on the couch. Though a therapist, he had his own one, as many did. Staring into the void did mean it stared back at you sometimes, and help like this was welcome. He talked and talked and, nodding along, was his therapist. The elderly looking beaver was dressed in a white shirt, blue tie, grey suit and had some thick rimmed glasses on. He had some hair, though it was white, and mainly just went up and back, giving him a wise and comforting look.
"So, I ate the mental breakdown chili…" the cheetah carried on. "And then, I think I transcended. I just saw… a trillion different realities, folding into each other like thin sheets of metal, forming a single blade."
"Yeah, yeah, the time knife," his therapist waved off. "We've all seen it…"