Chapter 4:

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The two officers stepped into the room, pausing a little as they saw who was there. There was the youth who they'd been interrogating of course, his lawyer as standard, and the required parent or guardian standing by him, the identity of which raised a few eyebrows.

"Are you sure you want to be here, given your condition?" Oates asked.

A paw running across her ripening belly, Mrs Fox gave him a hard look back. "I don't feel any less capable than usual," she spoke out, letting the slightest bit of venom into her words.

"Just, maybe your husband would…"

"I decided it would be best if I was there for my children today," she spoke, running her paw over her belly again; saying that in the plural, wanting to remind them what state she was in. After all, this horse was already making himself out to be a Good Ol' Boy, and she knew a thing or two about them. First, they liked to fight and look good doing so. Second, they liked it to be honourable. Third, having to go up against a heavily pregnant vixen like herself was sure to throw him off his game, both making him go a little easier and helping him to underestimate her. After all, in all that faux concern, there was a little hint of belief that she might be a little more quote-unquote emotional than usual.

Well, she was emotional, but it was just the one, unwavering, remorseless feeling that coursed through her. The way she saw it, she had three kits, and two of them were at risk here with the third potentially having to live with the fallout. As a result, she was going to play every dirty trick and every sly underhanded tactic that she could. Her husband would fight, he'd fight well, but he was like this horse. He'd be putting on a show, trying to one-up the opponent and enjoying the means as he worked towards the ends.

She, meanwhile, would just be winning it.

The other officer, a cheetah, looked over at her and smiled. "Aaaawwww," she said. "Congratulations."

Felicity turned to look at her and stayed silent. She let her eyes stay focussed on the feline until her grin began to waver and fade, before letting a little smile grow on her own face. "Thank you."

The cheetah managed a little smile back before turning to Oates and nodding, pressing the recording button as she did so. "Now," she said, looking down. "Can I have your name, please?"

Mrs Fox turned, keeping her emotions in check as she looked at her son. He seemed terrified, she couldn't blame him, not after the horror show he'd just had to witness at his school. Then, as he finally started to piece things together after being picked up, he'd been called up and put under the spotlight. He briefly looked up at her, her heart wincing as she saw the trembling in his eyes, before she held on to his paw and nodded her head. He breathed in and out and then spoke.

"A-A-Ash Fox," he said, his words unsteady. She felt him fidget with his paw.

"Now then," Catano began, slowly. "Can you tell me how you feel about your cousin's arrest?"

"Huh!?"

"How do you feel about it?" she spoke again,

Mrs Fox looked down on him as he paused, closed his eyes and began breathing in and out through his nose. She gently let go of his paw, letting him hold them thumb-claw to index-pad, only to be broken off by the horse detective.

"Listen son, you do know that wasting police time is an offence?"

He jolted out of it, beginning to mumble fearfully before Felicity grabbed his paw, holding it as tight as she could while she snapped to face the enquiring equid. "My son has just seen something utterly traumatic. I think you can see that he's in intense emotional distress and, as he's been taught by his cousin, he was trying to use some meditative techniques to calm down. Now, I don't want you to waste our time by pushing him when he's not ready. Have I made myself clear?"

The sharp tongued response cleared the air for a second or two, Ash using the time to compose himself properly. She silently noted that attempts at playing up the 'emotionally unstable underdog' card might not work from now on, given that she'd been scathing enough to make an elephant think twice. In that case then, that was how she would roll.

"-I understand that you're being protective of your children," Catano began slowly.

"You don't seem to act like it."

Her ears went down and her brow furrowed. "-But we need to hear this from him, himself. It's important. So, Ash, how do you feel about your cousin's arrest?"

Mrs Fox looked down as he breathed in and out. "Scared," he spoke, the words sounding hollow.

"Anything else?"

"I…" he began, pausing to rub his head. There was a pause, a sniff, and Felicity made sure she was holding his paw tight, making sure her precious little kit knew she was there. "It just went all wrong, it just all did. It was over, it was good and things were going to be good. But now they're not, and I'm scared, scared because you might be taking Kris away and he doesn't deserve to be taken away, it's not fair… I... "

"What went wrong exactly," Oates asked.

"Life! And everything," Ash said, shaking his head. "We'd got it all sorted, it was going to be okay, but now it's not."

"So, things weren't sorted before?"

"No," he began. "But I was getting better thanks to Kris, but now he's gone."

"Do you know why he's gone?"

"Yes! He had night howlers in his locker, but…"

"-But why did he have them in there?"

"I don't know!" Ash exclaimed, paws going out before his face crumpled into them. "He'd never have them there. Someone… Someone must have put them there…"

"Do you know why someone put them there?" Catano asked. Mrs Fox made sure to show her a paw, before bending down to hold an arm around her son. She wanted to get through this quickly, but seeing him so wound up was hurting her. He didn't deserve this and he was right, things had all been good, but now everything had been pulled out from underneath him and they weren't even giving him the chance to get back up again.

"Do you know why someone put them there?" Catano asked again, Felicity making sure to give her a death glare.

"Son, do you know?" Oates spoke, the horse then getting the same treatment. He was unphased. "This is important! This could help him!"

"-They were jealous?" he blurted out, then shrugging a little.

"-I'd like to make it known that my son just shrugged," Felicity spoke, before looking up to their lawyer.

"Something I will second."

She then turned to the officers, making sure that they were backing off as Ash began doing a breathing exercise, slowly getting his nerves back together again. A moment or two passed before he spoke again. "Okay," he said slowly. "I can carry on now."

"Let's say that your cousin is in fact responsible for this," Catano began. "Do you know any reason why? Any reason, however small?"

"No…"

"Do you know any time or place he could have gone off to get some, anyone he was working with?"

"No."

"And what about how he'd transport them, I mean he'd have to have wipes to make sure they don't stain him or anything."

"I don't know," Ash sighed. "But he didn't do it! Someone must have put them in his locker."

"Uh-hu," Catano said slowly, nodding her head. "Okay then. How did your day start off?"

"What?" he asked, as Felicity looked over at them. This time, Catano had her paws up.

"We might be able to find an alibi or clue. Just go on."

"Well I got up," he said. "Had a shower, had breakfast, cycled to school. Went to registration, joined Kris in english, we were doing presentations and I was just taking the time to proof my one while others were doing theirs. Then things started going on, the teachers began acting odd and the police began arriving and I began to get worried and…"

"-Scared they were here for you," Oates spoke out.

Ash said "Yeah," before either his mother or lawyer could stop him. Suddenly in damage control mode, Felicity shushed him and snapped around to face off against Oates, the shark in horse's clothing now smelling blood.

"Yes, and why would that be!?" he barked out.

"I…" Ash began, Felicity turning to him, ready to make him shut his mouth but instead caught between sadness and relief as he choked up, his ears going back.

"Of course you know why that would be, wouldn't you?" Oates began, as Felicity snapped to him, only to hear Ash speak as she did so.

"Yes," he said, before his eyes widened in horror. "-I mean…"

"Stop it!" she ordered, to the both of them.

"-No. I don't know," Ash corrected, panting hard and holding his mother's paw tight.

Her guard raised against Oates, Felicity didn't notice Catano, the cheetah butting in. "What do you know?"

"I feel guilty!" Ash wailed, his head going down and burrowing into his paws.

"We need a break," his lawyer argued, stepping up.

"And that means silence!" Felicity almost yelled, her voice lashing so hard it must have disturbed her baby. She felt a slight kick, her paw defensively going down to defend it, her claws baring.

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…

"Now listen," Oates began.

"No, you listen, my son and nephew have been through enough!"

The horse shrugged. "Which is why I didn't want their mother doing something that she would regret either," he said slowly, sitting down and raising a hoof. Felicity took a moment or two to compose herself; she was standing out, her fur all on end and tail bottlebrushing. Her teeth were almost bared too, things she took the time to rectify. Then she turned to her son, her heart breaking as she saw him almost shivering, a few glistening tears running down his muzzle. She could do nothing but dive in and hold him tight.

"It's going to be okay," she said. "Nothing is wrong."

"Can I clarify something," he croaked.

She held back and looked at him, before glancing up at the fourth adult in the room as he cleared his throat. "Let me hear it first," he said. Felicity nodded, Ash whispering into his ear. He nodded, whispered back, then turned to the officers. "My client is going to clarify what he meant by that last remark. You will not interrupt or pressure him until it is over. Understand?"

Catano nodded and smiled a little, something Felicity had a not too faint desire to punch in. "Absolutely."

Ash shuffled away, breathed in and out, and spoke. "I don't know why," he said faintly. "I… When the teachers and everyone started going around, I just felt they were going after me. They just seemed to be looking at me and, I know now that it was them looking at Kris, but I felt they were after me and then they were taking me out, keeping an eye on me. Then we got to the lockers, his is below mine, and I thought they were glancing at me. I thought they were there for my one. But then they opened his up and they took him away, but I still sort of thought it was me who they were supposed to…" He broke off, sniffing. "-Me who they were supposed to be taking. I don't know why. I don't. I'm scared of those things, the howlers, I don't like them. I was there during the first scare! The head said something about survivor's guilt after, maybe it's that. But Kris… Kris is Kris, it wouldn't be him. I just kind of think it was meant to be me…"

A cold silence filled the room as the young fox trailed off, only matched by the pit of ice forming in Felicity's heart. She immediately dived down, holding a non-resistive Ash, hoping, pleading, that this would somehow let him know that he was wrong. He was completely wrong. This wasn't his fault, this wasn't Kris' fault, it was the fault of no mammal here and he should take any silly idea in his head that he was to blame and stuff it into the nearest correctly labelled rubbish bin. Her paw fussing around, catching his ear, she closed her eyes and breathed in, whispering into him. "Please don't blame yourself. Please don't."

As she did so her lawyer was talking. "My client has clearly gone through something extremely traumatic, not helped by the shambolic way in which the officers responsible handled the initial arrest. I'm sure you've all experienced past events when responding to accidents or traumatic attacks, survivors' guilt is not uncommon. What is uncommon, and in this case repugnant, is an attempt to use this kit's survivor's guilt as a way of implicating himself."

Felicity managed to gaze over at them. The cheetah cop's ears were folded back slightly, though the horse was stonewalling them, his nostrils flaring a little. "So, it was extremely traumatic. I'm guessing you were close to your cousin then?"

There was a faint nod from Ash and Felicity broke off, sitting up and staring daggers at the horse, the occasional one given to the cheetah too. If they tried anything, she was ready to bite.

"Yeah," Ash said weakly.

"Quite odd for cousins to be that close."

"They lived under the same roof for half a year," Felicity spoke harshly. "Like twin brothers. They're in the same class, they work on their own projects together. Kris is like a son to me and he's become a brother to my boy."

"Yes, after a few hiccups along the way," he spoke, and then Mrs Fox saw red.

"If you're thinking about going where I'm thinking you're going, you better not be," she stated, standing up.

"Keep…"

"-How do you even know about how my son and nephew got along?"

There was a pause, then a shrug. "We looked up police records. There was an officer we all know who got quite involved in your family, and a partner who has always been dutiful about record and paperwork filing."

"After all my son… -after all we've been through, I'm sure it'll make you feel nice, big and strong rubbing all that in again," she spoke.

"I'm not judging," he said with a shrug, turning down to Ash. Felicity looked at him, expecting him to by crying or focusing on his breathing exercises. Instead he was staring out at him angrily, a scowl on his face and his jaw in the earliest stages of a scowl. His tail was bottlebrushing too, and she knew that this had a strong chance of not going well.

"Well I'm not jealous of him anymore," Ash spoke, turning down and spitting on the ground. She'd usually chastise him on that, but she felt like giving him a break here. "I know he's better than me at everything, but I'm okay with that. I know I'm still good at what I do, and one thing I am is a good cousin and a good friend! You think I put them in there out of jealousy, don't you? You… you just want to throw both of us foxes in jail or something and call it a job well done! Well you're not good cops at all!"

…

Oates looked down at the floor, before turning to the intercom and pressing in. "Just to be advised, the client did just spit on the floor. If he does it again or at one of us we might need to take precautions. Are there any alpacas or anything the size of foxes? We just might need an anti-spit muzzle soon enough."

Felicity's eyes bulged in shock, before she heard an embarrassed whimper from Ash. She turned to see him pulling his legs up into his arms, his lower jaw pulled back so his front teeth slipped over his lip and his ears folded back. She tilted her head a bit at the odd expression, especially as he briefly made eye contact before snapping his head away, pulling everything further back or closer in.

"I apologise for any hurt feelings," Catano spoke, slowly and levelling, looking at them. "But we have to explore every avenue and possibility. I don't think we have any further questions."

"No, we do not," Oates spoke plainly.

"And I have none that I can say in front of my son," Felicity spoke as she got up, a paw going onto Ash's shoulder. He flinched a little, jittering away nervously before breathing in and out, composing himself. She silently guided him out, expecting him to jump into her arms as soon as they left.

Instead he seemed to want to maintain a small distance, something that continued until they reached a bathroom. "Can I just have a moment," he spoke, slowly and plainly.

Felicity nodded, leaving him as he slipped in and going back to the room to tell the others. She kept it plain and she kept it quick, Nick especially wincing near the end.

"I admit, it's hard when you're on this end," Judy spoke. She was slumped down, face in paws and ears drooping down in front. "They were trying to make the suspect trip up. I'm afraid I've done it before to different perps. I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it wasn't you who did it," Felicity said.

"I know, but had we not known you then it would have been, I…"

"-You'd have been more tactful," Nick said.

"So, a worse cop."

He pulled back. "No… A different kind of cop."

Judy sighed, looking up at him. "Listen Nick. Given their records, Ash doing it out of jealousy to bring Kris down makes sense if you don't know them. If I didn't know them and read that up, it would be a possibility. Then guess what, I'd try and make him trip up or get so scared he'd fess it out too. I'd hurt him and you too…"

There was a clearing of a throat from the other side of the room, everyone turning to see the newest pair to make everyone's acquaintance. Haida and Retsuko had largely been silent throughout everything, they had the least stake in it all, but the hyena seemed to have something to say. "So, in that case that's what would happen. But it's not what happened, is it? Even then, those cops were talking to Ash for a little bit and they probably ruled him out. Same for Kris. That then gets them closer to the real guy. I mean it totally sucks, but it just sucks for a moment, then fixes things long term."

"-And I know certain mammals who are jerks a lot of the time but can have a soft side when the cards come down," Retsuko added. "Sometimes you have to put up a face or something for work. That doesn't make you a bad person. That's just reality."

Judy paused, thinking for a second or two. "Yeah, but I'm not sure Mrs Fox and Ash would forgive me," she said, looking straight into the eyes of the vixen in question. A vixen who had had time to cool down.

She paused, thinking for a moment, before speaking. "I suppose this whole event can be written off as ugly but necessary. As long as those officers are sincere in their apology once it's all cleared up, then I could see myself letting them off."

"Well, you're very forgiving," Judy spoke, as she then looked straight into her eyes, her paws going over her heart. "But I promise that we'll help. That's what we do at the ZPD, that's what I do. It's why I joined, to help all mammals, including ones like you. And I promise I'll do everything I can to make things right."

Felicity felt touched and nodded. "Thank you very much. We'll all pull together. It's what you do when others are trying to pull you apart."

"That's one way of putting it," Nick commented, a slight smile on his muzzle.

Jack nodded along. "I most enjoyed the subdued irony in that statement."

There was a nod of agreement from Haida. "That sounds good," he spoke, before turning to Felicity. "Letting them apologise sounds fair. After all, no permanent damage done, right?"

"Right," she said, only for that word to trail off at the end. After all, with how Ash was and… -No! That was silly. He was strong, he was fine, he was taking an awful long time in the bathroom, wasn't he? She paused, a sudden terrible chill gathering on her. If the men's room was anything like the women's, then the cubicles might have doors with a lintel going over the top. A lintel you could tie something on and around, like Ash's hoodie. Which you could form into a noose or something, or why even bother with that when he might slip and start biting again! He'd been so rattled then, that might have set him off, and he'd been alone for so long, longer than if he needed the toilet, what if… The others were noticing it now, but she didn't care, she was getting up. Her husband had seen it but she had to get past him, the second or two it took to explain might be a second or two too late. She might lose him. Oh god, her little kit. She couldn't lose him, she had to get out, around the door and…

"Mom?"

She froze, seeing him walking the other way.

"Mom?" he asked again, his head tilting slightly, and she felt like she could faint from the relief. She heard her husband come around and hold her as her legs buckled, before she took a few deep breaths in. Her legs and back hurt a bit and she was out of breath, really not helped by her younger kit. Still, it was okay, her older kit was fine.

"Are you okay?" he asked, and that time, from him, it registered. She realised that her husband had been asking it too but she hadn't really noticed. She sniffed a little.

"You were just alone for a long time, I just got scared."

His eyes widened before he rushed forward, holding onto her tight. "I just wanted some alone time. I'm sorry."

"I just get worried," she sniffed. "It's okay." They returned to the main room and settled down. "You need to see your therapist," she ended up saying.

"I am seeing her."

"You need to see her more."

"That… that would be good," he agreed. They all waited there, tense and nervous, as the seconds and minutes ticked on, seeming like minutes and hours.

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"Well," Catano spoke, huffing as she entered the office. She looked up at Bogo, a blank look on her muzzle. "I think you can agree that we pursued that with extreme prejudice."

Oates gave a snort, slumping down disdainfully. "I'm going to have to do a Wilde here and say that the only thing we managed with that was giving them an extreme prejudice against us."

Looking at them, Chief Bogo rubbed his hoof against his head. "I can't blame you there, except for invoking the name of that fox. I hope it made you feel better."

"Can't say it did."

"Then please refrain from any more of that in the future," the Chief said, sitting down and reviewing his notes again.

"Will do, sir," the horse noted, before giving another equine snort. "Anyway, where now, as that was a waste of time."

"It was a long shot," Catano said. "It would need for him to be the perp and for him to trip up."

"Indeed," the Chief agreed. "You pulled every trick you could. From hounding him to that clever little thing about the pellets 'staining' and needing wipes. Given that he could have said that he saw his cousin with baby wipes or stuff then, I don't think he deliberately tried to set him up."

"-Unless he's now having second thoughts," Oates pointed out. "That or he's familiar with them and knew it was a trap. Still, this could have been him not meaning to do it."

"Or a third party," Catano pointed out.

"Yes, but who?" the horse countered.

"Or the mammal who we actually found the howlers with," Bogo spoke, the pair turning to him. "After all, he's the one we have the most evidence on."

"Well," Oates began. "I think that's a matter of dispute."

"Or a matter of a third party trying to confuse us further," Catano suggested, shrugging. "If that was his aim, it's worked, and if he wanted to hurt both foxes he certainly succeeded."

Bogo was quiet for a bit before standing up. "Whatever the case, we do have to deal with those young foxes, and given that they are young things are trickier. Even if our DA wanted to charge the Silverfox kit now, him getting off would be a near certainty as soon as we share our evidence with the defence. He'd need more stuff and solid stuff but, until then, we'll have to let them go."

"We're allowed to monitor him though, aren't we?" Oates asked.

Bogo paused. "If he was suspected in a violent crime or we were actually charging him, a judge could write it off pretty easily. However, this is a bit more complex."

"I guess you'll just have to ask a judge and see what they think," Catano said, shrugging.

Bogo nodded, and agreed. "You'd better tell the suspect then."

She nodded, getting up to go out, only to be stopped as there was a knock on the door. All three paused, turning to look at it, as the Chief told whoever it was to come in. Nick Wilde entered. "Officer Wilde, I do believe you're off this case," he spoke, a deep unspoken warning to his words.

The fox nodded. "I know that sir, but that doesn't mean I can't be a character witness." He looked over to Catano and Oates, sighing slightly. "Listen, I know you're doing your jobs and you don't want one of your own giving you the morality lecture. That's why I'll point something out to you. You think Ash set Kris up with the howlers, right? Not sure how you worked that out, other than the notes from when Hopps and I first met him, but that doesn't matter now. A few days ago I was at the baby shower for his mother. Tons of friends, family, all sorts there, and during it his father announced that Ash had finished a comic he'd been working on; he sells it to one of the pulp magazines, you should try them sometime. Anyhow, Ash had originally put his heart and soul into writing these comics, so he could say he was good at one thing. He entered them into the open competition on the advice of an art teacher, but that same teacher also suggested the same thing to his cousin. Neither knew the other was entering it until they, post-announcement, dropped Ash's comic for Kris' late entry. That was what drove him over the edge back then. Anyhow, afterwards as part of their reconciliation they began collaborating on a joint comic, pooling their ideas and skills and whatever. So anyway, his father announces that he, just he, has completed it. If Ash was still jealous, if Ash still hated or resented his cousin, if Ash had even a smidgen of what was needed to plant night howlers in his locker, then he'd of happily hogged all that glory then and there, right?"

There was a long pause, the cheetah officer and horse detective slowly nodding their heads in agreement.

"Instead, completely unprompted, he told everyone in the room that his cousin had done half the work, letting them give him the applause too. I don't think Ash did any of that, which isn't to say Kris did either. He's one of the most kind and mature kids I know, and I think you know it too, why else would you begin to think that someone else, such as his cousin, did this? Well, you're part right there. Someone other than Kris did do this, but it wasn't Ash." There was a long pause, then a sigh. "I'll let myself out now, but please remember that I know these kits. I really do. It isn't them."

There was a long pause, before Catano nodded. "Your input is appreciated."

"Thanks," Nick said, before seeing himself out. The door closed behind him, silence filled the room, before Catano's face sank into her paws.

"Dammit, I want to tell him…"

"Well the laws say that we can't, so you won't," Bogo muttered as he grabbed the phone. Catano and Oates left the room, moving over to look over their thin case files again. Five minutes later, the Chief came in, and all three headed out.

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Kris was calm.

That didn't mean he wasn't nervous though.

After the two officers had left, he'd been filled in on the laws and regulations that covered him. Being a youth in Zootopia meant that he was fairly well protected. They couldn't hold him in jail without a firm conviction, and even then it had to be a major one. Apparently, if he was found guilty of this, he'd be sent to a reform school due to possession of a controlled substance. It meant he'd have his own clothes, his own room, the chance to go out on different nights or spend weekends or even holidays away depending on his behaviour. However, that still felt like cold comfort. He'd be seeing his friends and family far less, he'd miss them. He'd miss his friends and his school and his father.

He'd been meditating to keep calm but even he could have too much of a good thing; he'd broken off a while back and was sitting down in subdued silence, holding his dad's paw. There wasn't much to say, just a long time to wait. A time period that was broken off as the door was opened, the two policemen from earlier walking in. The cheetah cop sat herself down and spoke. "I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that we will be letting you go. The bad news though is that you're still a mammal of interest, so you'll have to wear a tracker."

Kris heard his lawyer grumble and he knew why. Due to the same laws as before, they couldn't keep him in jail and, if they were to charge him, they'd have to hold his trial within one month. Of course, they didn't have enough evidence for it. As a result, they were using a stopgap order, made for situations like this. He'd wear a tracker for up to six months, though his life could go on as normal as they worked on finding more evidence. Whether they were ready or not, at the end of that they had to take it off.

-Still, it meant he was going home. Kris was happy for that. He'd hoped that things would work themselves out, there were good mammals and fair rules in place after all, and he could cope with wearing something around his ankle while they fixed what was left to fix. His lawyer put up a little fuss, but he nodded and walked on, sitting down at a desk as he was presented with a few forms to read and sign, before the item itself was taken out. Locked on around his leg, he noted that it was fairly conspicuous and was an odd weight. Then again, it wasn't as noticeable to his school friends as what happened this morning. He…

He paused, his ears going back in concern. "I'll be allowed back to school, won't I?"

"Ash has the rest of the week off if he wants, so will you," his father said. "I can arrange a meeting with the head, and we'll go from there."

"Okay then," Kris noted, crossing his fingers. It was a worry on his mind, but that and anything else was swept away as they began walking out of the precinct. He'd been confined for a few hours at most but, as he walked out, a great feeling of hope was lifting up inside of him. He was getting out. They turned a corner, and walked up to a door, his father opening it to reveal the rest of his family.

"Kris!"

The silver fox couldn't help but smile as his cousin saw him, relief etched into his face. "I did say I'd be okay," he replied back, before his aunt came up and glomped him in a huge hug.

"Oh thank heavens you're okay," she said.

"Yeah," he said, relaxing.

"You good, Kris?" his uncle asked, as he nodded back, slowly breaking away from his aunt to look around. He smiled as he saw Nick and Judy there too, giving them a wave.

"Thanks for coming."

"Hey, no problem," Nick said with a smile. "You know, if you wanted a VIP tour, you just had to ask."

He chuckled at that one, before looking on at the rest of the crowd. Skye and Jack were there, as was a red panda who he didn't know. There was also a large hyena, who was ringing a lot of bells. Kris' head tilted ever so slightly as he thought before his eyes widened, the hyena's half-lidding in response. "Hey, I know you…"

The hyena flicked up his paw, a carrot pen held within. With a flick of his claw, he pressed the play button. 'Okay, let me stop you right there. Yes, I look very similar to a certain line of stuffed toys. No, that isn't a coincidence. I've just found out my 'sister' designed them and sold the rights for a graduate job about a decade ago. Yes, it is awkward. No, I don't know what I'm going to do next. It will be ugly.'

Kris blinked. "Oh, okay then. I was actually going to say that we met on a bus ages ago."

His gloomy mood lifted. "Yeah. Hi there, again. I'm Haida, Retsuko and I were out with Nick and Judy when we got the call."

"Well, thanks for coming around," he said, shaking his paw.

"Thanks, to all of you, for coming around," his father spoke, as he took them all in. "This has been a horrible morning for all of us, but thank you for coming in and helping. Currently they'll be monitoring Kris with an ankle tracker but, hopefully, they'll get to the root of this soon."

"Yeah," Kris agreed, looking up and smiling.

"Come on, son. Let's go home."

The sentiment seemed to be shared with everyone as they began filing out. Kris felt happy as he walked away, things were still bad but he'd held strong and the worst was over. It would be getting better from here for everyone.

"-Hey," Ash began, Kris turning to look at him. "You seriously didn't recognise him from the plush at the baby shower. Or the one my therapist has?"

"I did. I just thought it would be nicer not to bring it up."

"Yeah," Ash agreed. "I wouldn't like to be his sister now. Imagine having a sibling like that."

Kris briefly thought about joking about having a cousin like that, but he decided not to. Sure, there had been a few snickered out rumours that he had fleas or worms, which may or may not have come from his once angry cousin (after all, there was a chipmunk in his class who could have easily contributed as well). But that was long past, and he felt no reason to bring up bad stuff from then now. They were walking out into the lobby now, the sun filled doors to the outside just ahead. He couldn't wait to get out, he could feel the sun already. He didn't even mind the tracker that much. This was all about to be over; he was going to avoid that.

"-Stop right there!"

They all did, turning to see a shocked looking hippo exiting out of the water entrance. Lumbering out, opening his arms as the dryer removed the clinging water from his skin and suit, he kept his eyes fixed straight at Kris, the young silver fox backing off ever so slightly.

"-Mr Wassermaim…" came the voice of the Chief, walking out.

"That's District Attorney Wassermaim," he boasted, before taking on an ever so slightly more-righteous-than-thou tone in his voice. "Do your officers call you Mr Bogo?"

"My apologies, District Attorney," he spoke. "Please tell me why you're here?"

He paused, then let an exceptionally proud smile grow across his face. "I'm here to do what you're not doing, keeping the people of my city safe by making sure a certain dangerous terrorist does not go free." He crossed his arms and gave a solid nod, his gaze briefly flicking over to stare down Kris.

The young silver fox felt a shiver run down his spine and to the tip of his tail as the megafauna smiled as if he'd just won the argument. Their eyes meeting, he couldn't help but notice his grin turn ever so slightly predatory.

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AN: Questions: First, would any of you like named chapters for this fic/episode?

Secondly, and more seriously, the cast will be getting quite large going on, and quite referential to other works. If any of you would like me to do another cast list (an old one, relevant at the end of Aggretopia, is included in one of the drabbles), then just say, and I'll do it.