AN: Shorter chapters then the main story of Distilled Dreams to help fill in the AU around the OCs that will be reoccurring. Much like some side quests while they add to the main story they are not necessary to the main plot so feel free to skip them if you wish. I hope you enjoy.

Distilled Dreams: Side Stories

The Black Sheep of the Family

Chapter Two

"...In other news the Ranger Scouts Nation Chair Kent Montgomery was found dead today by apparent suicide. This comes two weeks after the Big Foundation a division of Big International withdrew their donations from the Ranger Scout programs. The CEO of Big International, our own local of Tundra-town Zootopian Mr. Big, provided an accompanying statement for the funds withdrawal noted the funds where being withheld after a number of complaints from predator employees about the treatment of their kits within this organization and imploring Mr. Montgomery to investigate these reports..."

"Can you believe this shit?" Officer Ramses gestured to the radio sitting on his desk in the Records Department of Precinct One. "Those damn chompers should have just kept to their own packs. Back in my day in the Rangers Scouts we would run them off if they dared to set foot in the meetings. I got a son in the Ranger Scouts if his pack ever let one of them in I would pull him out so fast he would leave wool behind." The Cape Buffalo sitting at a nearby desk just grunted picking up another case folder doing his best to ignore his coworker. "If you had any would you trust chompers around your kids Bogo?"

"I don't have any..." Bogo dodged the question the white wooled ram asked. He had been assigned to records for the last month and parking duty before that. He had no idea who he had pissed off to get the shit assignments but he wasn't eager to stir the pot anymore. Carefully he read over the file and started to enter it into the new computer catalog system. Case number, active status, date of crime, officers responding and assigned, victim information, and so on. Once everything was entered it would make finding related cold case files and looking for patterns easier. At least that is what the Chief said when he had reassigned Bogo to records.

"Come on there are no chompers down here...what do you really think..." Officer Ramses had turned in his desk to talk to Bogo and caught sight of a lovely little black wooled ewe waiting patiently to be helped. "Well helllooo beautiful. I don't think I've seen you around before how can I be of service to you. Parking tickets or something? I am sure we can work something out to a mutual satisfaction."

Bogo looked up at the strange and sudden change in conversation. He frowned at the ewe that had managed to appear at the desk without him noticing. Looking over her simple dark blue business clothes and bright white blouse his frown deepened. Bogo could not place her but his mind was telling him he knew her. His gut was screaming at him to shut the hell up and let Ramses dig his own grave. After ten years as a beat cop he decided to trust his gut.

The ewe smiled shyly at the ram while fidgeting with a tuft of wool around her wrist. "Terrible business with the Ranger Scouts don't you think Officer...?"

"Its Frank beautiful. Frank Ramses. Yeah those chompers are really getting out of line these days. I remember as a kit we shaved and threw water on a cougar who tried to join the pack I was part of," Frank grinned trying to impress this hot little ball of wool in front of him. "Never seen one of them run so fast. I didn't catch your name miss."

"Oh how rude of me," the ewe giggled into her hoof. Bogo noticed her body language looked...wrong. It looked like an act with every movement too perfect but Frank didn't seem to notice as he stared at her with lust in his eyes. "Rosette. Rosette Blackwoole." Frank blinked drawing back a little. Blackwoole was a well known name in sheep society. An old noble family known as being the most tolerant of the noble families towards predator populations on their family lands back before the aristocracy slowly faded to history. "An attorney of Blackwoole, Blackwoole, Bellweather, and Goldfleece. I have permission from the Chief to look though incident reports to find events of predator discrimination." Frank gulped. Goldfleece and Bellweather where also very well known names. Goldfleece had and remained an extremely wealthy family and the Bellweathers where once part of the royal line before the monarchy was replaced.

Bogo's eyes opened wide and he couldn't control the shock on his face. That is where he knew her from. She had defended a weasel he had wrongly arrested. He had bungled that arrest when the weasel had tried to explain how he had just got off the subway from across town. The weasel ended up with some broken bones after he had misjudged the force he used to grab the weasel. When he was on the stand she had started out her questioning seeming meek but by the end he had begun to fear her more then his ancestors feared a crocodile hidden in a river. She had taken his overconfidence at being easily able to outsmart the meek little sheep that day and used it to trick him into digging his own grave on the stand. The testimony she had gotten from him and the time stamped subway ticket along with surveillance tapes had the Judge throwing the charges out.

The two sheep had still be talking while Bogo's thoughts had drifted. "...a talk with your chief. While the statute of limitations would have expired for 'shaving a chomper' as a kit I am sure your statement will be useful in establishing a history of these types of discriminatory and criminal actions within the Ranger Scout program." Rosette turned to Bogo. Briefly he saw her frown in thought before a rather predatory smile spread across her face. "Officer Bogo if memory serves. Would you be so kind as to let the chief know I need him down here?"

Frank looked pale as he looked at Bogo pleading him with his eyes to help him. Bogo sighed and picked up the phone. "Chief it's Officer Bogo in Records...we have a little problem with Ms. Blackwoole and Officer Ramses...yes she is asking if you would be able to come down... Yes chief."

An hour later Bogo was silently thanking his gut for saving him from ending his carrier by helping Frank. The Chief had listened to Ms. Blackwoole's complaints with Bogo confirming the truth of her statements then spent the next forty five minutes verbally ripping the now fired Officer Frank Ramses apart. Rosette sat at the rams old desk with a short pile of reports next to her and an ever growing list of case numbers. Bogo was delivering files and returning the ones she no longer needed. The Chief had been very clear when he left. Bogo could consider himself Rosette's personal assistant for as long as she was looking through the records. "I have another set of files for you Ms. Blackwoole," Bogo said carefully setting the stack down.

"Thank you Officer Bogo," Rosette said looking up from the file she had been reading. Carefully she closed it and set it on the stack of unrelated files. He started to pick up the files she had finished with when she placed her hoof over his. "You never answered the question that Former Officer Ramses asked. If I am going to have to rely on you to bring me the files I am looking for I would like an answer."

"Ma'am," Bogo said swallowing. "I am an officer of the law and my superior has ordered me to assist you."

"That's not an answer you know," she sighed and wrote down two case numbers on a scrap piece of paper. "Please bring these two files to me."

Bogo silently walked out of front office into the archives. The first case number was relatively recent and did not take long for him to find. Not bothering to look in the folder after double checking the case numbers matched he hunted for the next one. This one was older by eight years and took some time to hunt down. Curiosity got the better of him when he found the file in question tucked away in the section of the archives dedicated to closed murder cases. He skimmed the details like he was about to enter it into the computer catalog. Male Arctic Fox age seventeen, beaten to death and tail cut off as a trophy, assigned detective found dead with a small prey street gang at the location of the murder. A few of the crime scene photos caught his eye and he hunted for a third file referenced at the end of this file.

Returning with the extra file in hand he gave Rosette the two files she had asked for and sat down to read the third. The file regarding the investigation into the death of the detective and the street gang. All of them had been shot. Some of them multiple times by several different calibers. No casing found at the scene and not enough blood for it to be where they died at. The case was made cold a day later and buried in the archives. Only a short paragraph was in the file explaining why it had been made cold. 'Bodies of the street gang and the Detective where shot at an unknown location and dumped. No evidence located onsite. No witnesses and no clues when canvasing the neighborhood. The dump site was the site of a murder two weeks prier of an arctic fox youth. Tail of said youth was in the possession of the street gang leader. High probability of a retaliatory killing though no connection where found in the youth's records to known criminal elements.'

"Anything interesting in there?" Rosette asked pulling Bogo's attention away from the file. She hadn't bothered to open the two files he had brought him. She just sat their watching him.

"A cold murder investigation ma'am," Bogo replied. "A detective was killed while investigating...'

"The murder of Theodor Winters," Rosette replied without any emotion sliding one of the files over to Bogo. The one he had glanced though. "Not really much of an investigation into his death though. The detective closed it the day he got it. Random act of violence if I remember right was his reasoning. Quite a few of those that year against foxes. I remember telling Theodor he shouldn't go walking off on his own at night but he did anyway. Not much choice really when the only job he could get to help support his family was a graveyard shift at a factory. How he managed to graduate a year early while working full time is still beyond me." Her voice caught and she rubbed a hoof to catch a tear before it could fully form.

"You didn't read that file...and you knew that case number off the top of your head...errr...the two of you knew each other," Bogo said uncomfortably closing the file he had been reading.

"Very well at the end," Rosette said with a ghost of a smile. "I was thirteen when I stared high-school and he was fifteen and a year ahead of me. His table was the only one with room at it at lunch that first day. He asked if I wanted to trade my apple for his cookie. We kept eating lunch together, then started talking becoming friends, then studied together once I caught up to his grade, and started dating that last year." She shook her head and focused on Bogo. "He was killed two days after graduating. Beaten, tail cut off, and left to die alone in the alley like a piece of garbage. The police didn't help then because it was just one less pelt on the street. A civic service if those like Former-Officer Ramses are to be believed." She pushed the second file over to Bogo. "Please read this over."

Bogo did and grew angry. Victim Male Red Fox age nine beaten and muzzled while attending Junior Ranger Scout meeting. Attached doctors report showing multiple assailants in the small and medium prey category kit sized with deep bruising to victim. Lacerations from victims own claws in attempt to remove muzzle. Report filed no charges pressed. "Why wouldn't his parent press charges or open an investigation?" Bogo snorted in anger closing the report. He looked at Rosette who only stared back at him.

"'The BOLO said it was a weasel. Average height and weight for the species. I saw the defendant acting in a suspicious manner and went to question him...' sound familiar?" Rosette asked rhetorically. She was quoting a part of his testimony. "Despite his coloring not matching the BOLO, him lacking the scarring mentioned in the BOLO, and him just leaving a cross town subway station you still went after the weasel. I filed that report on behalf of them and even then it took using my position at my law firm and a corroborating medical report the be taken seriously. Foxes are known to be even more suspicious and untrustworthy then a mere weasel. Do you think anyone at the station would have listened to them?"

Bogo ground his teeth at that incident being thrown back at him. What had shocked Bogo was the weasel he had injured didn't press for a lawsuit or police brutality charges. Instead he had agreed to forgo that if Bogo went though some retraining and gave an apology. He had asked the weasel why then and gotten an odd answer. 'Getting you kicked off the force for some money doesn't help me or mine the next time someone says to look out for a weasel. Maybe you will learn something and pass it along to your other officers.' He hadn't though of that in a while.

"I'll ask you again Officer Bogo. Can I trust you to bring me files that will let me keep what happened to the kit from turning into what happened with Theodor by trying to catch it early enough?"

"Yes ma'am," Bogo said straightening up with a new look of determination in his eye.