Zootopia belongs to Disney. Spider-Man belongs to Sony.
Judy had told Arya that she had to go to the station to see about a case. That was partially true. Judy had questions, and when she had questions, she wanted answers. But it was also partially because she suddenly had a desire to go for a drive, which was strange, considering the only driving she did was for work and grocery shopping.
"Mrs. Wilde," said a familiar voice as she walked into the lobby of the building, which was beginning to pick up in activity.
"Ben?" she said, seeing the muscular feline at the front desk. "Hi! How are you?"
"Oh, I'm doing great! Just came from hanging with Nick. We went to check out an or-" he stopped himself.
"Or...?" she pressed.
"Or-or-ordinary day. It was an ordinary walk in the park. With my best friend Nick Wilde." He twiddled his thumbs nervously. Judy couldn't help wonder what Ben was up to, but she had more pressing matters to think about.
"O...kay? Anyway, what are you doing at the desk? I mean, not that I'm not happy to see you, but you're a detective now, so..."
"Gaines is sick," he said. "And Brig's covering for someone at P2. So I'm taking the desk for the moment."
"Oh. And where's Officer Futsbauer?" she asked.
"Um, she's taking the day off, something about her apartment. But she's on call if we need her" he said, failing to miss the tone of disdain in the bunny's voice that she'd tried to hide. She had not liked Officer Futsbauer much from the moment the bunny had joined the force. It wasn't that she was... unpleasant? Ok, yeah, she was. She was a smoker, swore often, liked getting into fights, wasn't very traditional even by Judy's standards... actually the opposite of herself in many ways. Judy couldn't help remembering the words she'd spoken at Nick's graduation that day...
"Change starts with you. It starts with me. It starts with all of us." But she had found that even though she'd done that for Nick, doing it again and again for mammals she didn't necessarily enjoy being around was harder than she'd anticipated. She couldn't help feeling glad that she wasn't her partner.
"On that note, you need something?" he asked, leaning his elbows on the desk as he looked down toward her.
"Actually, yes," she said. She snapped her mind back to the present. "I'm looking for someone - Howard Nichelle and his wife."
"Arya Bellwether's foster parents?" he said, raising his eyebrows in surprise. "Why? Do you have a lead on her?" he asked, his eyes widening in anticipation.
"Well, it just so happens... heh, she's at my house." She shrugged with a sheepish smile.
"WHAT!" he cried while leaning over the desk.
"Shh! Ben!"
"Ooh, sorry!"
"So, can you look up his number for me?"
"Sure." As the word left his mouth, a sheet of paper was exiting the copier, which he grabbed and held out to her. "Here you go!"
Judy took the sheet, marveling at how fast he was. Still. He was the most efficient desk mammal she'd ever seen in any profession. He made a good detective, but he made a great receptionist.
They started chatting and didn't stop for the longest time. It felt just like the old days when she was hot off the presses, a rookie cop walking in and asking this cheetah where the bullpen was.
"Thanks, Ben," she said as she turned to leave.
"Any time, Judes," he said with a salute as she walked toward the front door. "Any time."
I hope she's not too mad at me when I get home since I took longer than I said I would, thought Nick with a brief chuckle. Kinda left her in the dust at home.
Nick pulled up to his house and found himself parking a bit more carefully than he usually did, as if he was scared of being caught. He was all too eager to set up this grand scheme of his. This would be the perfect hustle. After a relatively uneventful drive home, Nick walked into the house. "Carrots! I'm back! Ready to go Wild on this special day off with W-"
He was cut off by the sight of the bald lamb sitting on his couch, reading one of his comic books... that is, graphic novels. His first thought was that she had broken in, but a quick glance around proved that was not the case. Besides, she was way too small to make one think she was some intruder. But what was she doing here? Who was she? She looked really tired, maybe she needed some help? He suddenly realized that she looked very familiar.
"Uh... hello. What's your name?"
Arya looked up and her eyes widened at the sight of the predator. She shrank back awkwardly, given that, you know, she was sitting on someone else's couch unannounced.
"...Arya."
Nick cocked his head in wonder. How long was he gone? How did she end up here?
"Well, Arya, how did you get in here? Are you waiting for someone?" He walked over to stand beside her. She shook her head and scooted away a bit. "You haven't seen that pesky bunny, have you?" he asked, looking around with one hand on his hip and the other stroking his chin. "She likes to crash here too, y'know? I've been trying to get rid of her but she's just way too slippery."
Arya smiled and laughed quietly. Her body language put her timidity on display. It wasn't surprising that even that laugh showed how sad she was - she had quite a story to tell.
"She's really nice," she said quietly.
"Yeah, she is... She's my wife." Arya looked at him in surprise. "I know, I know, not every day you see a fox and a rabbit wedded in holy matrimony. But it just kinda happened. I'm still debating with myself how much I remember when it did and how much I'd had to drink." She laughed again.
Nick spent the next few minutes talking to her, asking her questions. He learned about how she had taken a train here with Athena and her family, and he learned the events that led up to her sitting on his couch reading one of his comic books - graphic novels! Afterward, he decided to cheer her up by playing an intense game of chess with her. He told her jokes the entire game to throw her off, which failed miserably, and he ended up losing the game in a landslide to Arya's delight. Then he made her a snack and ended by tucking her into bed once evening started to roll around. Her exhaustion had not escaped his notice and he couldn't help but wonder how long it had been since she'd gotten a decent night's sleep. But he didn't know that she would have trouble sleeping even tonight.
Judy's ears rose at the sound from outside her car as she drove home. She turned her music down and listened intently through the open window. Her eyes widened at the sound of loud grunting and smashing.
"Help!" a voice echoed loudly. "Is anyone there?!"
Her nose twitching, she scanned the four-way intersection. It was unusually quiet this time of day. It was only six in the evening, but there wasn't a soul to be seen. The fog made the area around her feel more lonely. Upon further reflection, she realized she'd gotten used to it. The public made every effort to get home safely - these were dangerous times. She squinted to see in the dimming light. She put the car in park and stepped out to search the area. At the same time, her phone was connecting to the police. "911, what's your emergency?"
"Detective Hopps here," she said quietly, staying alert of her surroundings, "I may need backup-"
There was another shout coming from behind her, from the alley.
"Hopps?"
"I'll need backup at intersection of Keeling and Mushroom Stem, possible assault."
"Gotcha, sending help your way."
Judy ran around her car and into the long, narrow alley. There was a left turn at the end that exited onto the street. "Hello?!"
"Help!"
She immediately realized the voice was only echoing through the alley and picked up the pace to reach the mammal and see what the trouble was.
"OOF!" Something swatted at her from around the corner just as she turned. Judy was launched back several meters before crashing back onto the ground with a grunt. There was a flaring sensation pressure on her cheek. She didn't have time to worry about what had just happened as a mad cougar flew around the corner and sprinted for her.
Instinct kicked in. All thoughts faded; her senses sharpened. Judy jumped onto the wall and leapt to the other wall of the alley, dodging the unclothed cougar, who immediately turned around. Her lips were pulled back, exposing her teeth as she gave a loud snarl.
Judy stood at the ready. She'd keep the cougar busy until backup arrived. The cougar swiped at her. Judy rolled forward onto the back of her neck to launch herself upward, delivering a mighty kick into her chin. She yelped and shook her head but it didn't take long for her to reengage. Fine with Judy. She was ready. Taking another swipe, the cougar only hit air. The rabbit bolted like lightning onto the wall and smashed her feet into her side, causing her to stumble. Then, she performed a front flip that brought her heel onto the top of the cougar's head. The cougar collapsed to the ground and fell unconscious.
Judy dusted off her hands and stood over the cougar with a huff of relief. She then got a pair of zip ties out of her car and restrained her hands and feet with them. She sprinted around the corner of the building and searched the area but no one was to be found. It seemed to her that the animal who had cried for help had left. She couldn't blame him, but that was a bummer. He could have provided an explanation as to how this cougar was drugged.
Well, my job's done, she thought, leaning against the wall until the police arrived to take care of the unconscious cougar.
Time for her to get home.
When Nick heard the door unlocking, he snorted at the thought that the tables had turned. They'd used up most of their day off doing their own thing. Judy saw him wave at her from the kitchen table.
"Nick, where did you go?" she asked, less annoyed than Nick would have predicted.
"Where did you go?" he asked with a smirk.
"Touche."
His expression changed as she approached. "Hold on, hold on Judy, what happened to you?" He stood up and knelt down to get a closer look at her face and trunk. Judy looked down and realized her green shirt was dirty and a little torn. Nick stroked Judy's cheek. She guessed she had a bit of a scratch from that scuffle. "What happened?"
"It's nothing, Nick, I had to subdue a cougar hopped up on Nighthowlers." Nick grabbed a bottle of isopropyl alcohol on the table to clean her cheek with as she continued talking. "But I'm fine, so case closed."
"I'm glad you're ok, Hon. It could always be worse."
"Come on, Slick, I'm Judy Wilde. Star detective. What could happen?"
"Judy, seriously," he said. "If you got hurt worse than this, I don't know what I'd do. I love you very much, you know that right?"
She sighed with a smile. "Yeah, I know. Look, I'm fine, ok. So can we get past this so we can tell each other about our day?"
He sat down. "You go first," he said, putting his hands in his pockets casually.
"You're not going to believe this. Today I found-"
"I know, Arya's back in the guest room sleeping like a pillow."
"...Oh. That's right, you would have seen her. Yeah, I'm a little out of it."
"Just so's you know, I've also had a bit of a day. I don't know about you, but I'm ready to sit back, relax, and enjoy all two hours of our day off, what do you think, Fluff?"
"I think that sounds great..."
Just then, her phone rang, cutting her off. Judy looked at the screen. She didn't know the number. Answering the call and putting turning the phone on speaker, a gruff voice said, "Detective Hopps?"
"Speaking." Judy raised an eyebrow at Nick, who sat down at the table to listen.
"Kade Gundersen, I work up at the prison. There's someone who wants to speak with you," he said in a cynical voice.
"Who would that be?" asked Judy rhetorically.
"Dawn Bellwether."
Knew it, Judy thought, though Nick's eyebrows rose in surprise. After a few seconds, Nick shrugged slightly to suggest that it was her call.
"I can take a message," she said. The distrust in her voice was palpable. How could she trust her? That sweet lamb, one of the first faces to greet her at her graduation nearly eight years ago, had been nothing more than a devious and megalomaniacal tyrant, hell-bent on subjugating predators by any means. So she felt little reason to ask forgiveness for being less than optimistic about the sheep's sudden attempt to reach out.
She waited for the deep voice to answer back. About a minute later, he finally said, "She just wants to tell you she ain't doing any of the crap that's happening in the city."
"Yep, she's a liar," said Nick succinctly. "She must be in huge trouble to be reaching out to her worst enemy."
"Anyway, that's it."
"Well, I'd rather not talk to her. But thanks anyway."
"I'll give her the message," the voice finished.
Judy turned off her phone and pointed Nick toward the couch. It was movie time and no one was going to interrupt it again. Nick happily but silently obeyed.
Yet you say, 'Why should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the father?' When the son has done what is just and right, and has been careful to observe all My statutes, he shall surely live. The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the sins of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself. Ezekiel 18:19,20
