Silence had followed them into the office, though she had expected that after the fox had taken a full ten minutes checking every room, every corner, and every shadow. She understood. Even with the surprising revelations that he had shared with her about Yurei, he had also reminded her that someone had sent a squad of killers to do what the tiger had failed in. The idea of questioning him never crossed her mind and she stayed just inside the doorway, her eyes following him as he moved from one side of the room to the next so quietly that the only sound she could detect was that of her own heartbeat in her ears. Thorough wasn't the word Judy would have chosen as he checked under every surface, in every openable object, and if the fact that she saw his tail close to the ground through the small bit of the bedroom she could see, under the bed. She was pretty sure he even checked between the mattress and under the toilet seat, which might have made her smile if her own mind wasn't racing through the possibilities.
Another bunny in Zootopia, one who worked directly for the Administrator as… What? Her personal assassin? Bodyguard? 'Fixer'? She was pretty sure some mammals would have used that term for the one who cleans up all the messes, by any means. This fit to what Nick had told her, in some ways, and it made her nervous. Nervous that the Administrator employed someone like that at all, even if this Jack didn't seem to be one of the mammals sent to kill her.
And she really hoped that her parents never, ever learned that she was thinking about who may or may not have been sent to murder her.
Lavender eyes followed the fox when he came back into the room, peeling his jacket off quickly and tossing it over the chair by the desk. Her gaze wandered from his face, down to the twin guns that were holstered under his arms. How had she never really seen them, even if she had been sure that he carried them? Had she been so distracted by the case that she had never even seen him take his jacket off? This seemed to be the case. When he turned into the bathroom, bending over the sink to splash water over his muzzle and face, she also saw the baton sheathed at the small of his back as a part of the same leather rig. She had never seen any of it, maybe because he hadn't wanted her to see it, and it made her wonder what else she had missed or what else he kept hidden from view.
A blush warmed her ears, causing them to drop when she realized that he was looking at her in the bathroom mirror as he ran a towel slowly over his face.
"It's clear, Carrots," he said lowly, though he didn't take his eyes off her when she took a deep breath, nodded, and stepped further into the room.
Seeing him wince a bit and glance down at the towel, she spotted the blood at the same moment that he did. The cut on his cheek was slowly oozing blood again, though beyond the splash of water and towel, he seemed intent on ignoring it when he exited the bathroom without a word. He also didn't seem inclined to remove the harness when he walked past her, lifting a single blind to check the car outside before turning to drop himself into the chair. When his head dropped back and his eyes closed, it only took her a moment to decide that the relaxed appearance was only on the surface. She could see tension in the way his jaw worked and the fact that his paw was not as still as it could have been on his knee.
Stepping past him and going into the bathroom to get the small first aid box – one that she instantly decided they needed to replace with something more robust – out of the cabinet, she returned to him with her ears lifted again. Not sure why she felt so hesitant all of a sudden in the face of the fox, she released a quick breath that was mostly annoyance with herself as she set the kit onto the desktop beside him. "You need to let me look at that cut."
"We'll have to be more careful from now on," he said, his voice as neutral as the set of his ears and the expression on his face when he raised his head to look at her.
His eyes were cool. Or he tried to keep them cool when there was something brewing just under the surface, she decided. Something she probably would have missed only two days ago. What it was, she couldn't really say, but it made a shiver slide down her spine with such intensity that heat crawled under her fur and her tail twitched restlessly. The fact that his gaze traveled down her body as she dug through the kit, coming to rest on that tail and the hips that they were attached to, caused her mind to go blank for a moment. A moment that left her standing there with gauze in one paw and tiny alcohol packets in the other before she shook it off and turned to face him fully.
"I can't image how we could be more careful," she said, keeping her voice steady by using every ounce of courtroom showmanship she knew to level it when she looked up at him. She opened one of the alcohol packs after determining that the cut was longer than it was deep, reaching up to carefully clean the soft orange fur as she tried her best to keep her tone light and conversational. "You're already with me twenty-four hours a day."
"Talk like that, and a fox might think it's a hardship, Carrots," he said, unmoving and unflinching when she dapped at the edges of the cut with a wordless smirk cast in his direction. "I mean more careful in everything, at the very least until I speak with The Administrator. Jack being there means one of three things: she knew where we were and he was waiting, he had been following us for some time, or that she had foreknowledge of the team sent to kill us. None of those sit well with me."
"Why does it bother you?" she asked, using her fingers to part the fur around the wound as she tried to decide if the fur needed to be cut. She couldn't apply a bandage if the fur remained, but it didn't look too serious. "I mean, killer bunnies aside, I knew that she was watching me. It goes with the territory of being an invited guest of someone as powerful as she is."
"Because if she knew where we were, it means that she expected us to see Flash at some point and knows who Flash really is," he added, his eyes never leaving her as she set the now soiled pad aside and reached for sterile cloth. "If it was him following us, it means that I failed to notice a tail for the entire time you've been here. And if she knew someone was going to try for you tonight, that means she may know who is responsible. None of those things are ideal."
"Nothing about the situation is ideal," she said softly, not really noticing the soothing notes in her tone as she cleaned the rest of the blood from his cheek. "But you did say he was wearing some sort of holographic device. If he was following us, he was probably using it to avoid being seen at all. As unnerving as that is, it wouldn't be surprising."
"He was supposed to be the one to protect you when you reached the city," he said, surprising her fingers into stillness as she raised her wide eyes to his. Predatory green eyes that were no longer as controlled, that cool burning away from the surface as his paw came up to close around her wrist lightly. "She knew someone would try for you at some point and so she sent him to watch you. To gain your trust, so you would accept him as your guard while in the city. I'm not sure what her end game was with that, but I do know that seduction was on his list of acceptable methods."
"Seduction?" she said, feeling her stomach drop for a moment when she realized what he'd just told her. Her eyes narrowed and sharpened on him when she realized that he still held her wrist. She tugged on it, found herself held in place half by that paw and half by the way he looked at her. "So, what? Do the bodyguards of this city run around seducing lawyers to keep them in line?"
"Oh, Judy," he murmured, surprising her as a soft, pleased grin climbed his muzzle. "I've already told you, I'm not a bodyguard by trade. And I have anything but control of you."
She jumped when she felt his paw flick at the front of her jack to unbutton it, causing it to fall open just as that same paw slipped into it. Her entire body shook with unexpected… Everything when she felt his paw slide around her waist, drawing her just a little closer as he brought the paw he held to his muzzle. Her knees weakened when she felt the warmth of his breath against her palm, followed by the lightest of touches. His tongue, she realized, when her desire to pull away melted into the same puddle of desire as the accusation itself.
"I didn't mean to say that," she whispered, a little dazed and unresisting as he drew her closer until she stood between his knees. The scent of fox and flowers, an oddly delicious scent that was both obviously predator and yet so amazingly tempting to her. "I know you…"
Cut off when he leaned closer to her, her eyes widening when his muzzle pressed against her cheek. The quicksilver pulse of lust centered in her belly made her feel like she was about to catch fire, made worse and better by the draw of his tongue along her cheek. The light rasp of that wide, warm muscle ruffled her fur and she was certain fried brain cells by the thousands as her ability to think was scattered. Some part of her expected him to stop with that one lick. Maybe it was simply affection? A show of appreciation? One that now had the large, dark paw under her jacket tugging her ever closer before it slid down and spread over the curve of her hip. She couldn't find any reason to stop him. The bunny couldn't find even an inch of desire to do so, either. Not when his hand paused at her thigh, obviously exploring as his fingers passed featherlight caresses along the line of her suit pants for a moment before moving back up to mold against the curve of her lower back.
She found herself draw up to him, felt the soft rumble of his growl in his chest as his teeth found her ear. It was the second time she'd felt his teeth, and without the fear of their first encounter, the slick pulse of pleasure caused her to moan. Her paws snapped up to grip the front of his shirt, desperate to balance herself as her knees became water. What had been a short nip the first time became a series of nibbling kisses that followed the rim of her ear all the way to the base. She had no resistance left, no desire to look for more by the time his teeth and lips left her ear.
"We have to stop," he whispered, words that came so suddenly that they managed to snap her back to where she was. And who she was with. And yet, she didn't pull away from him even when he raised his eyes to look down at her.
"Nick," she breathed, her voice escaping in a tone she hardly recognized. The sudden loss of contact made her feel empty, and even a little annoyed. Her fingers tightened on his shirt as her other paw gripped his tie, and she had the satisfaction of watching his eyes go a little wide as she pulled him forward. "How sensitive are your ears?"
Knowing that she had caught him off guard was a temporary victory, a feeling of satisfaction that was replaced with a need to know the answer to her own question. Feeling his breath catch and then rush out in a low growl when she turned her lips to the tip of his ear made pleasure roll through her. She wasn't going to let him walk away and leave her wanting like he had last time, at least not before she knew for certain that this rush was mutual. She kissed the tip lightly, letting the longer fur tickle her lips as she exhaled a warm breath, delighted when the fur on the back of his neck rose and quivered. The paw at her hip tightened and the other came around the back of her neck but didn't try to guide or stop her when she breathed again.
He was right. They needed to stop. His scent was too good. The paws that could so easily possess her were trembling as in what she could only believe was control on his part. And more than that, she didn't know that she wanted him controlled. She wanted more but was entirely unsure if she was ready for it.
"You're right," she said, taking one daring moment to close her lips on the edge near the base for a suckle. When it caused him to tense, growl, and then moan in the most perfectly male sound she had ever heard, she slowly drew back to look at him. His eyes were bright and a little stunned, no doubt a match for hers as she relaxed her grip on his shirt and slid her paws over his chest to smooth the fabric. He was breathing as quickly as she was, and it made her smile faintly. "I suppose now we know it wasn't a one-time fluke."
"Was there ever a doubt?" he asked, his tone low and breathless as she felt his paws slide away from her body. And they did slide, she realized. Not simply pulled away, lifted, or removed. His paw slid around her waist far more slowly than was needed, causing her eyes to drop half-lidded when she tilted into the touch before it was gone. She smiled a little, when she felt him button her suit again, her gaze on his until he was finished. Then he leaned in close, and before she realized what he was doing… His lips very faintly ghosted over her cheek. For something that couldn't even really be called a kiss, the shock that passed between them almost made her reconsider the decision to stop herself. "Tomorrow, I'll take you for ice cream."
The words surprised a laugh out of her as he released her, violet eyes sparkling as she searched his face to see if he was serious. "I thought we needed to be more careful," she teased lightly as she took a half step away before reaching up to straighten his tie.
"Being more careful doesn't mean I intend to lock you away in the office," he replied, his smirk soft but slightly reserved. She wondered how much effort it took for him to put on that cool face again, and how hard it might be for him to restrain himself. She knew it wasn't easy for her, nor would focusing on the information from Flash once she opened when he sent. A smile spread and she dropped her paws away from his tie when his answer delighted her to no end.
"Besides, I feel like I could use something as cold and huge as a Jumbo Pop right about now."
He was injured.
"Take a slow, deep breath," said the older male in a low, soothing voice that they both knew very well. It was also a voice that seemed low on patience, which was not entirely unexpected given the fact that the patient had not been entirely cooperative to this point. It had taken fifteen minutes just to get him to sit rather than returning to his dojo. "I would prefer that you allow me to x-ray your chest to avoid complications, but a few fractured ribs shouldn't be a real problem for someone at your level of fitness and age. The bruised sternum will be uncomfortable, but you likely won't even notice it while the ribs heal."
Her ears jerked reflexively as she listened from her desk, the document on the desk in front of her, one which detailed an important trade agreement with an outside territory, blank as far as she was concerned. Fractured ribs? When was the last time he had gotten more than a scratch? It was something that she didn't even need to think about, because she remembered with full clarity the last time he had been injured. The last time she had needed Lyndon for more than a routine checkup. When she had sent Jack, with great trepidation, to remove an entire organization from Zootopia. Believing that the stoic bunny, who sat without expression as the long horned Saola Ox listened to his breathing with a stethoscope one more time, could have been seriously injured was madness to her. Not by a single fox.
Certainly not by Nicholas.
"There is the risk of infection," the older male continued as he removed the stethoscope from his ears, then moved his hooves to the bare chest of the bunny to carefully feel around. She knew that even the slightest twitch from Jack would be enough for the ox, the only mammal in Zootopia that she trusted with his health or even the knowledge of his existence, to register that reaction as pain. In the end, he gave a satisfied if grave nod before pulling himself to his feet. "Lung collapse, muscle tearing, pneumonia are all possibilities. I will need to do bi-weekly checkups for the first few weeks and weekly after that just as a precaution. You will have to restrict your routine. Light exercise at most. No acrobatics, no sparing, and no outside activities for the next few weeks."
"I will see to it myself," she said, finally forgetting the pretense that she was doing anything other than paying attention to the two males. Rising gracefully from her desk, the Red Fox walked around it with her eyes resting on the striped rabbit. "We can manage without you for a few weeks, Jack. It will only require minor adjustments to the schedule."
It was a lie. It would require the most extensive reworking of mammalpower since she had taken this office and would restrict her movement for a time. Loyal as he was, she wasn't foolish enough to believe that he would sit in his quarters and trust someone else to do what he did. Even though the face of the bunny remained expressionless, the subtle narrowing of ice blues told her that he knew this already. But that wasn't his concern. Not now. Of all the things she could and would risk, Jack was not one of them.
"Very good then," the doctor said, rising from the chair beside Jack's. Brown eyes turned to her as he reached up to scratch the side of his white spotted muzzle absently. "He may need ice compresses to reduce the swelling, and I'll send up some pain medication. Mild pain medication that won't cause drowsiness, of course."
That last bit was added when the rabbit's eyes darted to his face, causing the older male to roll his eyes slightly before he focused them on the vixen.
"Of course, Dr. Lyndon," she replied easily, keeping her voice easy as she placed her paw on his arm as she walked him towards the elevator. A warning glance was cast towards Jack when he started to rise, one which he understood well enough to allow himself to sink back into the chair without visual complaint. "Thank you for coming to see him at this hour of the morning. I know that you have a Council meeting in a few hours."
"As do you," he reminded her, reaching up to pat the paw on his arm. She smiled slightly at the gesture, mostly because he was one of the few mammals that she welcomed the light affection from. "I wish you would tell me what happened, or at least allow me to x-ray him. It is difficult to gage complications without knowing what caused this."
"There are things you are better not knowing, Darius," she said lightly, though the stern edge in her voice made it clear that there was no debate to be had on the subject. Her face softened when he gave a resigned nod in reply, his long horn bobbing a bit as one ear flicked in un-voices annoyance. "As one of three mammals in Zootopia who knows he exists, you know better than most that the secret has been kept for this long as it has because I don't share everything."
"So, I will simply go with the idea that he was hit by a very small, very fast truck," the doctor deadpanned as he looked down at her once they reached the elevator, words that caused her to pause as she slipped the key into the slot.
"Is that what is looks like?"
"It looks like he was shot with a high caliber round while wearing a bulletproof vest," he said, nodding towards the bunny who sat silently in the dimly lit Apex with his paws on his knees. "Whatever hit him struck the projector in the suit dead on. If not for that, it would likely have shattered his ribs rather than simple fracturing them."
There was a twist in her gut, one that caused a slight ripple in her fur as it tried to rise on the back of her neck, a reaction that lasted for a fraction of a second before she brushed it aside. "Yes. We can assume it was a small, fast moving truck in that case. Thank you again, Doctor. I will see you in a few hours."
"Of course, Administrator," he said, his tone more businesslike as he stepped into the lights of the elevator. "Be sure that he relaxes. Discipline is a fine thing to have, but only to an extent when injured. He needs to relax, more than I've seen him relax in… Well, ever."
When the doors slid closed, she stood in front of them for a moment longer to gather herself and settle her nerves before she turned back into her private world. Even as silent as her footsteps were as she crossed the large room, his eyes moved to her when she approached. "I am still capable of carrying out…"
"Enough, Jack," she said sharply, causing the bunny to fall into silence. His face hardened, his back straightened which made her wince even more than he did when it pulled on overtaxed muscles. "This is not a subject that is open for debate or pride. Consider yourself removed from any outside activities until you are cleared by Doctor Lyndon."
"Then you're not leaving my sight," he said, the words as much as the steel in his tone shocking her into silence for a moment. "Whatever plans you have outside of this building need to be postponed if you expect me to do the same."
It caused a tick in her chest that was almost painful, a flutter in her belly that required her to draw a slow breath as she walked around the chair to stand behind him. Even if she knew it was just duty to him, intellectually, that rare and unwavering defiance on her behalf was thrilling.
"I know," she murmured gently, raising one tentative paw. She couldn't control the fact that it trembled just a bit before she placed it on his bare shoulder, feeling the warmth of his fur and the strength of the compact muscle that tensed slightly at the touch. She didn't pull away, though. Instead, she placed her other paw on the opposite shoulder as the male in front of her kept his eyes forward and his back straight. "I am already reworking the schedule in my mind. It's not going to be much of a problem."
"You're lying," he said flatly, though his tone caused a small smile to curve her muzzle. More relaxed already, knowing that she wouldn't try to do anything without him. How could she, after all? He was vital to everything. "It will cause a great deal of trouble. I am still more than capable of doing anything you need."
"Only at the risk of making things worse," she said, her tone cooling even as her fingers gently squeezed his shoulders. Squeezed again, before she started to gently knead the tense muscles as she watched him. She saw the very faint motion of his ears as they seemed to straighten atop his head, an obvious reaction considering how seldom they were afforded such close contact. She was determined to savor it, extend it if possible. "Even if it is a small risk, it is not one I am willing to take with you."
"I understand," he said, his tone flat as his gaze remained resolutely forward. The tone may have seemed calm, but there was something else in it that she could never quite place. Carefully, she rolled his thumbs between his shoulder blades until she saw those high ears start to relax as the muscles under her pads started to ease. "Things have changed."
"Yes, they have," she agreed, trying to divide mind from the reactions of her body as she took a long moment to admire the rabbit in front of her. The soothing stroke of her touch followed the dark stripes up over the back of his neck, the black fur melting into the ruddy coloring of her fingers as she worked at the knot of tension she found there. As she tried to drain the tension from him, she felt a different sort building in herself. But it wasn't the first time she would have forced herself to ignore it. "Seeing Nicholas kill the first assassin was a surprise. Taking out the wolves for fear that he couldn't handle them alone might have been a miscalculation."
"We had no way of knowing his true level of skill."
His voice was more relaxed now, too, though he was still as focused on the conversation as she was. They were a softness to the tone, however, as his muscles slowly relaxed under her touch. His fur warmed, her breathing evened out and slowed, and she felt him lead further back into the chair as his posture became less important than what she was doing to him. It encouraged her to continue, spreading both of her hands out over his shoulders in a feather light caress that made her imagine a shiver running through him even as she kept her own in check. Golden eyes followed the motion of striped ears as they drooped just a little in her direction, putting them close enough so that her next words whispered over his fur.
"You did say that you wanted to assess him," she commented, trying desperately to keep herself focused. She did manage it, simply because the subject of the conversation was dear to her. As dear as the rabbit her order had caused to come to harm. "Do you have one?"
"He is skilled," he said, his voice softer now. Softer still as she pressed the pads of her palms into his shoulder in a firm, repeated slide down the curve of his shoulders. "I was cocky, and paid for it. I landed the first blow, could have killed him in that moment if that had been the intent. His reactions seemed slow."
"But?" she pressed gently, watching his ears fall further until they reached a state of peace when they folded down fully and rested over the back of the chair. On impulse, she moved her hands from his shoulders to the top of his head, to the base of his ears for a soft touch that this time made her stomach quake lightly before she could stop it.
"But," he continued, his voice drifting and distant. So rare, she realized, for him to be this relaxed and peaceful. So perfectly wonderful. She would have to do this again, touch him like this again, even if she knew he would never want it to go further. "He adapted more quickly than I've ever seen before. He didn't try to move faster to match my speed; he changed techniques entirely. He led me to where he wanted me to be, and struck before I realized what was happening. And he struck with the intent of finishing it."
"The doctor said that without the holo-projector on your chest, the damage could have been much worse," she conformed, though even as she digested this stunning information about the fox she thought she knew, she still couldn't take her eyes from the male in front of her. Her fingers moved down his ears, one paw to either one as she worked her thumb and forefinger on the rim of each one. It would relax him, she knew, and was proven right when his head tilted back to allow her uninterrupted access as a slow sigh escaped him. But she knew that this was an indulgence on her part, for him as much as her. He deserved some care, after all. He had always deserved more than she could give him. She smiled lightly, prettily as she teased, "Are you saying that he's better than you?"
"Unknown," he said simply, surprising her with the calm of the statement. It had never even been a question before, never even seemed a possibility and she found the answer as shocking as the feel of his warm flesh under her pads was delightful. "We were both holding back to some degree. He knows I was, or I would have killed him. And I know he was because he didn't follow through after taking the advantage. Does it matter?"
His eyes were open now, looking up at her from where his head rested on the back of the chair. She wondered how much of the heat in those eyes was her imagination and how much was simply a result of the conversation about the battle. She did not stop the stroke of her fingers, however, and smiled faintly when she actually did see him shiver. A sensitive spot, right past the rim towards the center, that she committed to memory. She almost, just almost, allowed herself to wonder what it would take to seduce him. It was respect, and doubt, that had her pushing the thought aside again when she replied.
"You are both important to me. It would be better if there were no surprises, and this comes as a surprise," she admitted, her eyes moving over the handsome face of the rabbit once his eyes had drifted closed under her attention. "I didn't expect Nicholas to be a real concern in Zootopia."
"Whatever he might have been before, Neveen, is gone now. He's not the spoiled rich Todd you told me about years ago," he murmured, making a slow chill slide down her spine that finally had the fur on the back of her neck standing on end when he finished, "As long as he is protecting her, he's much more dangerous."
