Zootopia belongs to Disney. Spider-Man belongs to Sony/Marvel.
He looked at John for the ten thousandth time, who sat at the front of the lab on a bench, wearing a sleeveless shirt and gym shorts. His eyes were set on a spot on the floor directly in front of him, weighed down heavily by who knew what. Danny wondered why he wasn't saying anything. Or even acknowledging him. He struggled to open his mouth to ask. "J-John... please, please, tell me what's happening." Instead of answering, his mouth pressed together, his eyes closed. He paid no attention, as if he weren't there.
What Danny couldn't see was that John did hear. He heard all too well, because what he heard was his daughter's voice, trying desperately to get his attention... for sixteen long years.
"An-Anyone! What's going on?!" The Boss stood off to the side with his arms crossed, a blank on his face as he looked around at everyone. "John... John!" He began to wonder why he even bothered to keep trying. He wasn't going anywhere.
Danny's eyes kept going back to John. He couldn't help but think that maybe... maybe he was faking it? Waiting for the right time? Maybe he was going to save him at the right moment. Yeah, that had to be it. The thought brought him some comfort and quieted his turbulent breathing. He'd come through. He'd do something.
Calming his nerves helped him pay more attention to the activity in the room. It would be helpful to know what to do when John got him out. He had taught him that the best thing to do in situations like this was to wait and watch for opportunities. So, that being all he could do at the moment, he'd better put this time to good use. Looking around the lab, he took in the environment and some of the things he saw in it.
While normally the laboratory was one of the tidiest areas in the compound, today it was a total mess. Papers were strewn everywhere, strange bottles of chemicals were haphazardly placed on various shelves around the room, there was a space made in the room by just shoving two tables out of the way for a treadmill... what was that doing here?
He had gotten used to the bright light, though it was still bright enough to make him squint, especially from the light reflected off a low table longer than it was wide, made of a shiny metal. The animals stood around it, talking. There was a much taller table with drawers; he'd seen that in passing. A number of glass... cup things were on the table, some with different colored liquids in them. There was also a bunch of what looked like routine medical supplies, including... he gulped. A giant metal syringe. He almost couldn't remove his gaze from the sheer width of the needle, which was more like a tiny sword! Oh, he could only hope that wasn't for him.
There were five animals of different species wearing lab coats. Dr. Andrews was among them, directing each of the others and saying big, big words he couldn't comprehend. He had never gotten to know the hyena well, but he had visited his lab many times and he never seemed to show any malice toward him. Lab stuff had never interested him. But it certainly did now. On this occasion, the doctor wore a kind of headphone with a thin wire extending from the earpiece and suspended in front of his muzzle. Another familiar face stood across from him, providing additional input. Yvette Terrier, who had covertly slipped him candy on several occasions. He was beginning to wonder exactly how much of what he had seen from these animals had been real.
Finally, after an eternity, Dr. Andrews held down a button on his headset and said, "Case 1, Trial 1, begin." Dread welled up within Danny. What was going to happen?
The hyena let go of the button and waved a paw in John's direction. John stood up and followed him to the treadmill. For a brief second he wondered why he was, given that the room wasn't exactly the warmest place right now, but as he stepped onto the treadmill, his clothing made sense.
John stood still at the treadmill. Dr. Andrews placed something into his mouth, attached to a tube thing, which was attached to a machine. He then hooked up several wires to his arm. After that, he pushed a couple of buttons on the treadmill. And the treadmill started moving, faster and faster until John was jogging.
Danny was silent as he watched. What was all this about? Why did he have to be here for this? And why was he restrained? There was something in him - most of him - that figured he wouldn't like the answer, but he still had to know. Intent on getting answers, he paid attention. The Shark's presence, just feet away from him, kept his heart pounding. He wanted to get this over with. As long as he stayed quiet, he'd be ok. Maybe...
Forty-nine minutes. Forty-nine long, tedious, agonizing minutes was the time it took for John to finish with the stupid treadmill. Dr. Andrews wrote on a clipboard the whole bleeping time. At the same time, one of the mammals with a lab coat set down a plate of steaming food and water. The food appeared to be potatoes and some assorted greens. By the time he was finished on the treadmill, he was absolutely exhausted, hyperventilating, much like a few nights ago when he had finished his second job along with John. It was scary seeing him like that, especially given that he was holding out hope that John would stick up for him. Sometime today.
"Ninety-five percent oxygen. Good, very good. Ok, John, sit down at the bench." He pointed with his pen toward the taller table, where the plate of food was. "Eat and drink all of it. Don't leave anything." Still having not said a single word, he sat down and picked up the fork.
"Eugh!" was the first word he said as soon as he took a bite of the potato. Danny's eyes widened at the groan, expecting some kind of protest. But John just grimaced and kept eating. That... that didn't make sense! He loved potatoes and vegetables! Was that something else? What...?
Remember, if it tastes bad, Sarah had told him, it's probably...
"John, chto eto?" (John, what is that?) Danny asked without thinking.
"You'll see," said the Shark simply, who stood there with his arms crossed.
"Ah... done," groaned John in a breathy, tired voice.
"Sorry about the taste. I made it to look like potatoes and greens to... you know, maybe make it taste better."
Danny's eyes widened at the revelation. So that wasn't food at all! Then... then what were they feeding him?
Fear tickled the back of his mind again. What was going on here? Why was he here?
Dr. Andrews looked toward Danny, though he seemed reluctant to do so. Like meeting Danny's eyes with his own put a bad taste in his own mouth. Clearing his throat, he said, "Now... I'm going to need you to remain very still. Hopefully, we won't have to do this more than once." With that, he gestured toward one of his techs, who picked up the syringe.
"Hey, hey, don't touch me!" Danny growled at the tech as he started toward him. "Don't touch me!" He thrashed and shouted, fighting with all his strength to break the bonds restraining him. But they didn't even bend.
That needle... was something inside it? Were they going to cut him open? Experiment on him? Would they take something from him? What scared him most was that he didn't know. No matter what it was... he knew the reason they had put him in this thing was so that he couldn't fight back. But against what? What horrors did they have prepared for him?
"DON'T!" he screamed as the mammal approached, his eyes closing at the loud cry. The doctor pressed a button on the band around his wrist, and suddenly, the cuffs restraining his wrists lengthened until they covered half of his forearms.
He couldn't even squirm. His heart thrashed against his chest, for the third or fourth time about to burst through like a battering ram. How many more times would it be strained to the breaking point? How much longer until it just gave out? How much longer until this nightmare ends? This nightmare that started at that coffee shop?
The tech knelt down next to him. "Listen," he said, "do yourself a favor and calm down; tightening your muscles will make this far more painful than it has to be."
"Don't, don't. Whatareyougonnadotome? What'sgonnahappen?"
The tech made an Oh well face before angling the needle. Oh, it looked much, much bigger up close. He looked away as he felt the needle before it touched his flesh. The terror of the thing being shoved into him was unbearable.
"No no no, please, don't," he begged in a tremulous voice.
And then it stung him.
Danny's high-pitched scream rung throughout the lab as the tech forced the needle through Danny's extremely durable flesh and into a vein, grunting as he did so. Finally, finally, the thing was forcefully ripped from his arm. Danny opened one eye and found John's eyes averted from him, just sitting down on that table, slumped over, pretending he wasn't there. Something flickered in his mind as he cried out, an image of his hands around the lion's neck.
Danny whimpered from the pain still searing his arm, even as it was removed. Glancing up at the Shark, his lips pulled backward slightly in a grimace. At least he cares, he thought, half in sarcasm, half in rage.
The tech brought the syringe back to the table and expelled all of its contents into a large glass thing with a seal attached to a hinge at the top. A deep red substance. His blood.
That's why he was here?
Danny watched as Dr. Andrews and Yvette began to work on the tall table, using a bunch of labby tools to put some of his blood into clear tubey things before putting caps onto them. After spinning them around in a kind of machine, what was left was two layers - a kind of pale yellow liquid on top and dark colored on the bottom. She used several narrow plastic tubes with a bulb to transfer the yellow liquid into shiny tubes. She then set the tubes onto a stand and labeled them. Afterward, she and Dr. Andrews mixed the yellow liquid in the first test tube with other substances into a clear liquid contained in a triangle-shaped dish. The liquid progressively grew darker and darker as they added other substances and swirled the container.
Danny's body trembled. He breathed in and out deeply. His eyes kept going to the lion. The hope that maybe he would stand up for him was getting harder and harder to hold on to. This was not right. John was supposed to protect him. Was everything he'd ever told him nothing but a lie?
"Ok..." said Dr. Andrews with a deep exhale. "It's time." Danny couldn't miss the ominous note that resonated in his voice. Something was about to happen. John went to the smaller table and lay down on top of it. His breath had grown tremulous. Danny thought he heard the lion say under his breath, almost silently, "For you, Claire..."
A tech who had remained at the table the whole time grabbed the arms and set them over him. They perfectly fit his torso and arms, keeping him in place. He then inserted an IV into the lion's arm, to which John showed no reaction whatsoever. How he didn't react the way he had, he didn't know. The fact that the needle didn't need to be that big for him... it wasn't fair.
Dr. Andrews took the dark brown liquid in the glass container and siphoned it into an IV pouch, setting it onto a pole. The liquid then began to flow into his vein. The bag slowly emptied, filling his body with whatever the hyena and the dog had mixed together. But why did they need his blood? What was going on here?
Danny watched John as the bag emptied into him. Though the lion was calm and still, there was a tremulous intensity to his body that screamed anticipation. Likewise, the Shark leaned forward as the liquid finished its entry. The tech manning the bed instructed John to stay put, to which the feline didn't respond. He only kept his eyes straight forward, glued to the ceiling.
Danny watched with wide eyes to see what would happen. All eyes were on the lion for several minutes, but nothing did. There was no change. The serum might well have been water.
"Ok," said the hyena finally. "I think it's clear that the serum wasn't immediately fatal at least."
"What?" the Shark yelled, causing Danny to jump. He walked forward a couple steps. "I came here to see a successful experiment. When will we see results?"
"Uh... uh, Boss, medical science doesn't promise results immediately. It'll probably take a day or two..."
"A day or two," he repeated sarcastically. "You told me you were confident that we would see something happen."
"B-bu-but that doesn't mean we're gonna see some sort of 'convulsions and he gains super strength afterward;' that's pure science fiction. This will take some time."
With an exasperated growl, the Shark strutted from the room, walking toward the door. "I'll be back tomorrow. Let me know if and when you see results." All the occupants silently watched the Shark leave as if waiting for him to come back.
Danny broke the silence with, "Now can someone tell me what the-"
"Danny," said Yvette.
"-is going on?! Why did he stab me like that with that... that thing?!"
"I need you to calm down," Yvette continued, calmly approaching him with her hands up toward him.
"CALM DOWN?!" he screamed in a bout of rage. The kitten was startled at his voice, which suddenly sounded lower. Yvette jumped back a step. Danny breathed through his teeth. His sight was impinged by an icy blue tint. His chest tingled with a vibration that spread throughout his body. "Do you have any idea what I've been through the past, uh... uh, the past... what day is it?!"
"Friday?" one of the techs answered meekly.
"IT'S ONLY BEEN ONE DAY?!" he shouted before huffing in and out near uncontrollably. Yvette went to his side and petted his head softly but he paid no attention. His body was tense, and he pushed as hard as he could, so much so that he didn't hear the metal arm creak ever so slightly. But the techs heard it. They all, including Yvette, began to doubt the reliability of the restraints.
"Listen, you're gonna be ok, I promise. But we... we can't tell you what this is we're doing here."
"Why not?" asked Danny with tears beginning to cloud his eyesight. The light blue tint had faded. He grunted in a futile attempt to sustain it, but he couldn't. It would only happen when... when... it just happened sometimes. He didn't even know how it worked.
"We can't because we were told not to..." she answered hesitantly before sighing. "...I don't know. We don't like it either, but..." she searched for the right thing to say "...once this is over, everything will go back to normal. I promise."
She turned around and winced at the sting that her lie caused her. Danny himself looked down, knowing for certain that the last part wasn't true, whether she knew it or not. Nothing would ever be the same. Not after yesterday and certainly not after today. He'd known Sarah and John. He'd known even some of the techs here, even if he wasn't really acquainted with them. He was safe here.
At least he thought he knew this. Not anymore. Yesterday, he'd been just a kitten being taken out for some rare fun with his pretend-adoptive mother. And since that night, everyone from this compound had either outright attacked him, or pretended he didn't exist. Strong or not, he felt very, very weak right now.
Again, for the second time in his life, he was completely, irreversibly alone.
Again, for the second time in his life, he had absolutely no idea why or how mammals would do such things to a kitten who still had yet to grow out of his baby fuzz.
Ding-ding-dong! Ding-ding-dong!
The doorbell startled her back into full consciousness. Had she even fallen asleep? She didn't know. She wondered if she'd even heard the doorbell.
Ding-ding-dong! Ding-ding-dong!
There's the answer to that question. Dropping down onto the floor, she ran to the window next to the door that ran the full length of the door from top to bottom. She pulled the curtain aside and looked out onto the porch. She couldn't tell who it was. All she could see was the mammal's side... wait. Black fur, yellow shirt, purple skirt? Angel!
She jumped and grasped the doorknob, using her weight to turn it. Her legs did the work of pushing the door open.
"Angel, hi!"
"Hi, Arya!"
Arya pulled the jaguar into a hug. Angel was Athena's daughter, who was the same age as the little sheep. "I'm so happy to see you! I was getting so bored."
"If you're bored, come play with me and my friends. We're playing tag."
Her chest began to burn with an exciting feeling, one that she hoped would never leave. She had never been asked to play with anyone before, not as long as she could remember. But upon the thought of Angel's brother, Arya backed up a little. "Is... is Nathan...?"
"No, he's not here. He's out hanging with his own cronies for today."
"Oh, good," she said as she went outside. "I don't think I could take more from him." She turned and closed the door.
"We're going to the park, my friends and me. You want to go?" Arya turned and walked with Angel toward her yard where a few other kids were. She couldn't tell what they were yet.
"Uh... ok. You know, Angel, I've been wondering. Why does Nathan hate me so much?"
Angel pondered that for a second as they walked. She stopped halfway to her house. Arya turned and looked at her, waiting for an answer. "Can you keep a secret?" asked Angel.
"Mm-hmm," she said, wondering if she actually could. She'd never been asked to keep a secret.
Angel thought for a few seconds longer before answering and spoke carefully. "I can't be sure, but I think he's hanging with the wrong group. He talks about this gang he's a part of, like, the most arrogant animals I've ever seen!" she enunciated while lifting her hands to emphasize her words. My mom has done everything - taken his tv, his phone, his books... spanked him. But he just. Won't. Listen." Then she shrugged and said, "He's always been kind of a jerk, but it's gotten worse over the past few years. He and these guys think they can do whatever the heck they want, and that no one can tell them otherwise. They pick on small prey the worst, the ones who can't get them back."
Arya closed her eyes and rubbed the side of her head where her scar was, the one Nathan had made fun of.
"You know, it doesn't matter what he told you yesterday. I think it's really cool," said Angel.
"Really?" she said with a smile.
"Yeah. It makes you look tough. Like, if you can beat cancer, you can beat anything."
Arya actually blushed at that. She'd never been told that by anyone. "Thanks. I appreciate that."
"You're welcome. Come on, let's go meet my friends!" Angel put her arm around Arya and they finished the walk toward her yard. "By the way, it's not only you."
"What do you mean?"
"Nathan's a jerk to prey in general. So you're not the only one. But don't worry about him. If he tries to bother you," she punched her palm, "I'll take care of him."
Arya leaned into Angel's shoulder with a thankful smile. "Thanks."
"Hey Angel, we ready to go?" asked one of the mammals as they came up to the yard. Arya didn't see which.
"I think so. We have five on each side."
"Five on each side for what?" Arya asked the group. She saw that a weasel carried a very long string wrapped in a circle on his shoulder. A zebra wearing camo pants and a black shirt carried a pair of triangular flags, one blue and one red. A jackrabbit had six long, narrow sticks and more string.
"You ever play Capture the Flag?" asked the weasel.
"I... no." She looked away and rubbed her arm.
"You mean you never played it in school?" asked the zebra. "It's one of the most popular games in Zootopia, besides football and basketball. Although, those are actual sports, and this doesn't really qualify as a sport, and-"
"Brandon?" said the horse.
"Yeah?"
"Shut up."
"K," he said, lowering his head apologetically.
"So you've never played?" asked the horse.
"Well..." her hand unconsciously went to her scar in embarrassment "...I, uh, never got the chance. I was never chosen for any teams."
The eyebrows of most of the kids raised slightly. It wasn't hard to figure out - her appearance, her voice and vocal patterns, even her general mannerisms made her the exact duplicate of a certain evil sheep at nine years of age. The fact that these animals weren't casting her out already was a new experience, one that she didn't quite know how to process.
"Then I guess you have a lot to learn, our young grasshopper," the weasel said dramatically, clasping his hooves together and bowing. Arya grinned and shook her hands in front of her chest in sheer excitement.
For the first time since kindergarten, she had friends!
The walk to the park wasn't that far, maybe only a mile. Fincher park was the perfect place to go for a picnic in the summer, with all the trees and wide open space. It was also the best place to play Capture the Flag. The zebra, whose name was Brandon, explained the concept of the game as they walked, though he kept going off on tangents and correcting himself. Arya found it simple enough, though she was nervous. She was much smaller than everyone else, and not the fastest runner due to her stature, with legs that were very short even by sheep standards. But she was eager to try.
Once the park came into view, Arya was stunned by what she saw. The area that was visible to her was marked with open spaces dotted with pockets of wooded areas. The perfect spot for such a game. A creek cut through the side of the park in a wide, sweeping current, with a bridge connecting two ends of a walkway that ran into the creek. The sight was beautiful.
"We'll have to take a corner near the back, but it's big enough to have a field to play the game in," said the weasel.
Arya watched as the kids set up the flags and the small prison as well as the string that divided the areas. For the borders, they decided that the fence at one end would be part of the border, and the creek at the other end would finish the border.
Arya was chosen to be the team's offense. She would capture the flag. Angel and the others on her team, along with Brandon the zebra, Chuck the weasel, and Christian the jackrabbit, were defense. Theirs was the red flag. The other team consisted of Caleb, a horse (Brandon's cousin), Hunter, a wolverine, Haley, a gazelle, Faith, a tiger, and Jason, Faith's brother. Hunter was offense while the rest were defense. They had the blue flag.
"Ready!" called out Faith from across the field. "Set!... and play!"
As Arya took the first few steps forward along with her team, she realized she had no idea what she was doing. She walked forward with everyone, just doing what they were doing. Looking around at her team, they all kept their eyes forward, determined but devoid of thought. There was a sense that they felt exactly like she did. Like they were just going along and running right in. The other team walked toward them.
"Arya!" Angel whispered. She looked toward the jaguar. "Go! Get the flag. We'll cover you." Obediently, Arya ran off to the side. The other team ran to intercept her. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, but it wasn't enough. She was tagged very quickly within forty seconds of the game's start.
"Ha! Gotcha!" Caleb said as he tagged her. At that moment, Arya let out a frustrated groan. Not even a minute in, and she'd already lost. Caleb began to nudge her toward the jail but stopped. "Hey guys, pause real quick!" he yelled when he saw Arya's disappointment. "Hey, Arya, what's wrong?" he said, kneeling down to meet her.
She shrugged but gave no verbal response. Her embarrassment couldn't be more clear.
"It's your first time, right?"
She sniffled and nodded.
"Yeah, see? It's just a game; have a little fun," he shrugged. "Tell you the truth, we don't know what we're doing either. We just go with it." Arya stifled a laugh at that.
"Yeah, Arya, we're just having fun!" said Christian from a distance. "Let's see how long it takes us idiots to get you out!" She smiled at that. That was actually something she was eager to see. Feeling much better, she stood up, wiped her eyes, and walked over to the jail.
Crossing her arms to wait, she watched as the game went on.
At first, she was amused by how hard of a time both sides were having trying to get each others' flags. As the minutes progressed, she observed the kids' tactics, and quickly realized they really were winging it. Their strategy consisted of spreading out enough to be able to catch each other... for the most part, they were simply throwing themselves into it willy-nilly. Her team was dedicated to protecting its flag since their flag catcher was currently imprisoned. They crossed to the enemy's side, only to run right back when someone on the other team caught wind of them. Seconds after she realized this, she had already formed a plan in her mind. All she had to do was wait for someone to "break her out," as it were.
Finally, Chuck managed to weave his way through the trees behind the lines without being seen. He broke her out and they worked their way back toward their side.
As they approached the divider, they heard rapid footsteps behind them. Chuck picked Arya up, causing her to yelp, and sprinted toward their side. Chuck turned and looked behind him, allowing Arya to see as well, and the wolverine was gaining on them. Hunter swiped a hand at Chuck, who bent his midsection sideways. He swung again, and Chuck narrowly dodged. After a few more swipes, Chuck ran across the dividing line, with Hunter still hot on their tail.
"Tag him, Arya!" cried Chuck as he held her above his head. She managed to tap the wolverine's wrist as he took another swing.
"Got 'im!" she cried. At that, Hunter stopped and looked behind him, realizing that they had indeed crossed the line. He then kicked at the grass with a grunt and strutted over to the jail.
"Great, now we just have to find a way to get Arya out there and back with the flag," said Christian with an apologetic look. Clearly he was trying not to imply, yeah, maybe shouldn't have made her our offense.
"Actually, I think I might have an idea," said Arya, brushing off the muted remark.
Meanwhile, Angel ran around a cluster of trees trying to avoid both Caleb and Haley. Brandon and Chuck ran from the tiger and tigress. Nothing but a friendly game, but it was clear that the two teams were unequally allocated. While there were speedsters on both teams, the reality was the blue team was faster than the red. Angel's team was having a very hard time just getting past them and spent most of their time scrambling for their own side rather than weaving through the trees to get to the blue team's flag.
Angel barely made it back over the line, closely followed by Brandon. Both of them were wheezing profusely from having run so much for the past several minutes. The weasel stood with his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. They looked out over the blue team's side. "Where is Christian?" he asked. "Did he get tagged?"
"No, we'd know if he did. He probably went to try and get Arya out of-"
"Here you go," said a voice behind both of them.
They turned and saw Christian and Arya standing there. Arya's hands were crossed over her chest. A triumphant smirk graced her lips.
"What-?" Angel looked around once and set her eyes back on them. "How'd you get back here? Neither team has gotten any ground whatsoever!"
"Did you huff it back here? Cause we didn't see you."
"Nope! Turns out Arya had it all worked out when I came to get her. She led me back to this side without being seen. Took a few minutes but we got there. Oh, and Hunter's in jail so that's good."
"How'd you do that?" asked Angel.
"He forgot to remember that he was over the line so I tagged him," Arya answered matter-of-factly. "With Chuck's help, of course."
"No, no, I meant, how did you get back over here without being seen? The area isn't that big."
"All you have to do is use the trees. They make great hiding places. It's the same concept as hide-and-seek, really."
"Eh... that sounds kinda boring," said Brandon. "I mean, this is more of a running game, wouldn't you think?"
"Why not give it a shot?" asked Arya, trying to ignore the way Brandon eyed her short legs in light of his question. "Of course, it couldn't work for everyone; one or two of us will have to provide a bit of a diversion."
"Wait, I know there's a word for this! I learned about it like a month ago in class. Um..." Christian grasped his head and squeezed, his ears falling down behind his head at the momentum of his thoughts.
"Strategy?" said Arya.
"Yeah! Stragety! That thing. Whatever it is..."
Arya rolled her eyes. All these animals knew nowadays was how to beat games on their phone.
"So... what's stragety?" asked Brandon. "That thing you were just doing?"
"Strategy," said Brandon, "is a goal-oriented plan. You see it in wartime, sports, board games, relationships, and a bunch of other things. Personally, I really enjoy reading about different strategies and tactics that were common in World War II, such as blitzkrieg and the use of biological warfare. I mean, I don't like war, of course, but-"
"Brandon," said Caleb.
"Sorry," he said.
Chuck shrugged. "Eh, I'll give it a try. I'd like to actually win at something for once instead of that stupid 'Everyone's a winner' stuff."
"Ok," answered Angel with a nod. "So, Arya, what do we do?" She waved them closer so they could huddle up.
"Hey guys!" Faith's voice cried out as they did so. Looking over, they saw that the tigress held the red flag in her hand, waving it mockingly. Hunter stood beside her, dancing in a mocking way. "Maybe you should spend less time yammering and more time guarding your own flag?"
Three of Arya's teammates (the boys) slumped their shoulders. Christian let out a groan.
"Unbelievable! They got our flag while we weren't looking! We need to get our head back in the game!"
"Oh trust me," said Arya with a devious look in her eyes. She rubbed her hands together. "Our heads are in the game like never before. We'll be unstoppable..." Angel and the others looked at each other in momentary unease.
"So what do you think we should do?" asked Angel after they put their flag back up.
As quickly as that devious look appeared, it vanished. She was instantly herself again as if that twinkle had never appeared. For a moment, many of them thought that she had looked very much like... her. "Angel, from what I've seen, you and Christian are the fastest. Caleb and Haley love to run. All you two need to do is keep them busy. Hunter kinda seems to prowl around without any real plan, so he won't be much of a problem. And Faith and Jason pretty much never split up. So..." she looked around the opposite field and clicked her tongue "... assuming we can keep the others busy, Hunter's really the only one Brandon and I have to watch out for. And Chuck, you'll have to be arrested."
"What?!" he said incredulously. "That's your idea of strategy? Pfft! Forget that!"
"Chuck, come on," said Angel. "Let's try it just once. It's just a game anyway. And... I'm interested to see if this works. Besides, I'd like to stop being the fall guy for once."
"Huh, good logic," said the weasel.
"Besides, once we get the flag, you'll get right out of jail," added Christian.
"Yeah, it's because I'm not fast, right? Or because I'm a dirty weasel?" he said with an air of offense.
"Oh, please, don't go there," said Arya, covering her face.
"That's really below the belt, Chuck. You don't see her whining about anything!" injected Angel who pointed at Arya.
"Ok, fine!" he snapped, crossing his arms angrily. His eyebrows were a straight line across his face. "No fun," he grumbled.
"But try not to let yourself get caught until you hear Brandon yell. We need time to get to the back. Try to get tagged by Jason and Faith. Keep away from everyone else. Angel, don't run back until you hear that signal. Let's go!" said Arya.
There went Angel and Brandon across the line separating the two fields. The others remained on their side and watched as they ran to keep away from the stallion and the gazelle. Now it was Chuck's turn. He crossed the line right in front of the siblings, who charged after him as soon as his foot touched down on their end; he was off instantly. Arya was almost mesmerized by how limber his entire frame was as he bobbed and weaved through the trees and open field, as if he were part snake. She looked around some more and found Hunter pacing back and forth in front of them.
Oh yes, Arya was looking forward to how much fun this was going to be.
"Nick?"
"Hi, Honey. Everything ok?" he responded in a low voice that sounded... embarrassed.
"Where are you?" asked Judy over the phone. "I'm back at the hospital room but there's no patient and no you."
"I'm, er, looking at something you're gonna want to see. I'm on the first floor next to the elevator we went up on."
"On my way." She ran to an elevator and rode it down to the first floor to find her partner.
The massive elevator door opened, and an equally massive gurney carrying an equally massive elephant rolled in, accompanied by three equally massive nurses, one of which was giving the elephant equally massive CPR compressions.
"Oh! Look out!" Judy yelped as one of the nurses nearly stepped on her. She was nearly overwhelmed by the whole situation. Physically overwhelmed, that is.
"Hey guys, please! My wife's in there!" she heard Nick plead.
The nurses began to move around, jostling Judy forward onto the threshold of the door. "Thank you," she said, trying to hold back her spite. Bad as it was, they were dealing with a Code Blue. Not fun. "Ok, so what is it you-" turning around to face Nick, she met a swollen fox cheek. Nick was smiling a little bashfully. For a moment, Judy almost chortled at how differently he would have reacted years ago. He would've brushed it off so well that the bruise would be nearly invisible.
"At least it makes me look tough, right?" he asked, reaching up to nudge it. "Ow," he winced.
"What happened?!" she asked worriedly. "Did someone do this to you? Oh, I'm gonna-" Nick stopped her mid-growl as she strode past him.
"Aaaaaactually, that won't be necessary; she's gone anyway."
"She? You mean you got beat up by a girl?" she said with a chuckle despite the circumstances.
"Carrots, every girl I've ever met that's bigger than a beaver can kick my butt. But that's not why I'm here. I'm here because of that." He pointed upward at that glob that they'd passed on the way to Rhinowitz's room.
Judy's eyes squinted at the round mirage. "What is that, some kind of... futuristic... light fixture or something?"
"I don't know. And neither does the hospital," he said with an ominous tone. "But one thing I do know: that is no light fixture. It's some kind of gooey, globby stuff. One of the janitors was about to get it cleaned up but apparently a lab tech passed by and wanted to test it to make sure there wouldn't be any bioterrorism or nosocomial nonsense going around. Personally, I think it's just a big pile of snot."
"Noso-what?"
"Nosocomial. When patients get sick in the hospital."
"Oh... so they're testing it? Does that have anything to do with the fact that you're a pansy?" she asked while pointing at his face.
"Carrots, I am offended," he said, putting his hand on his chest briefly, then holding up an index finger like a scholar. "I will inform you that I am not a pansy, I am a wimp; there is a difference."
Judy closed her eyes and puffed out her cheeks to keep from laughing. Air whistled through her lips in a high-pitched snicker. She covered her mouth, struggling to say, "Fair enough." Despite the fact that Nick was actually a strategic fighter who rarely lost a one-on-one bout, there was but one individual he knew that he would never beat: the bunny in front of him, and Judy would never let him forget it. Judy took a breath to get control of herself and continued with, "But seriously, what happened?"
"Well, let's just say that Ms. Sarah Kityarn had places to be, animals to meet."
"Like whom?"
He put his thumbs in his pockets and shrugged his shoulders smugly. "Oh, only quite possibly the very animal we're looking for. But-"
"What?!" she exclaimed, holding her hands up inquisitively. "And you let her leave without following her? Nick, that could've been our best lead!"
"Hey, you see this right? She kind of smashed me to bits and ran off. Next thing I knew, some girl was giving me mouth-to-mouth."
"Excuse me?"
He laughed. "Thought I was code blueing on her. Don't worry, Carrots. Wasn't exactly the cutest girl." She didn't feel much like laughing. "Besides, where were you? We were supposed to be interviewing her together," he said.
Judy lay her elbow in her hand and rubbed her cheek with the other. "Nick, I was handling an actual situation. You don't-"
Nick held his hands up. "Ok, you're right, that was a bad situation," he said quickly.
"No, Nick, please, please tell me why I should skip out on a possible arson case. Because apparently safety is less urgent than our case here."
"No, it's not," said Nick apologetically. "I'm sorry."
Judy turned and sighed. "No. I'm sorry, Nick. I'm a little riled up."
Nick put his arm around her. "You want to take a break?"
She shook her head. "No. We still have the other patients to talk to."
"No need," he said, holding up his cell phone. "I already tried and they're about as dopey as Dopey the dwarf. And just so's you know, I did manage to get a tracker on Ms. Kityarn before she left." He held up a device that resembled a GPS, with a map of the city that displayed a small, blinking light.
Judy's eyes widened at the phone in his hand. "Nick... you genius!" She punched his forearm, punctuating her words. He barely reacted, having grown all too used to it. Although he could very well have suffered some nerve damage over the course of their partnership. "I have got to stop underestimating you!"
"Hey, you didn't underestimate me. I should've just told you outright."
"Well, doesn't matter. Let's see where she's headed and get our tails there. This just might be the breakthrough we're looking for!" she said as they turned to head for the entrance to the hospital.
"Don't worry about it. I sent Snarloff and his gang on it. And, well, I don't know about you, but I'm curious to find out just what that stuff is." He indicated to the shiny bulb of goo behind them.
Judy scoffed with a look of disgust on her face. "I'm not."
Nick's phone rang. He looked at the screen and saw that it was Higgins. Eagerly, he answered the call and put the phone on speaker so Judy could hear. "Hey, Higster, where'd our ocelot run off to?"
The hippo sighed. "We followed the trace right to the dot on the GPS, but there's no one here. I think the tracker was busted."
Nick's shoulders slumped. Busted. Are you serious? "Well, could she be nearby? I mean, maybe-"
"Nick, we're standing right on top of the dot. She's not here. Just a dead end."
"The billionth clue yields a dead end," he mumbled under his breath. "Shocking." Judy looked at him, unsurprised and rolled her eyes. "All right, well it was a good try. We'll figure something else out."
"I hope so," Higgins said before hanging up.
I try to be so tough, but I'm just not strong enough.
I can't do this alone, God I need you to hold on to me...
...Savior please, keep saving me.
Savior Please, by Josh Wilson
