Divisions
The noises of disgruntled patients filled the main hall in the general care ward. Cries for attention, help, beeping machines and the footsteps of nurses running from room to room all filled Judy's ears with a depressing melody. Some nurses were crunching data on computers in the doctor's hub in the middle of the hall. Finnick sat next to Judy just outside Nick's room. Their backs to the doctor's hub.
"Let me ask you something, Judy," Finnick turned his head curiously and faced her. His ears fanned the air. Judy blinked at him, alert.
"Why are you so involved in all of this? You could be at home in your bed or having yourself a nice breakfast made up of whatever you rabbits eat. Hell, you could be smoking the morning away or whatever you fancy. Instead, you are here sitting with strangers. You don't even work today and you're being all nosy and activist-like. What do you get out of this?"
"Oh!" Judy smiled, seeing an opportunity to inspire, if possible. She cheerily went through her reasons, "I swore an oath as an officer to protect other mammals. It doesn't matter who that mammal is. It is my duty as an officer to protect and aid the vulnerable. And I see Nick as vulnerable. He has had a lot of bad luck. I can't turn away from that. I just can't."
"You're a fool if you think you can fix the world," grumbled Finnick.
"No. I don't think so," Judy confidently retorted. "You just have to try!" Finnick cringed. Judy leaned forward to Finnick as he avoided her gaze. Hoping to keep him following along, with sincerity and gentleness she spoke,
"Finnick, Nick is a good mammal. I've had an...educational conversation with him in my patrol car last night. We may not get along much and he may be holding on to a lot of angst. But I see a mammal that truly loves to be around others. Even if he feels he doesn't get fair treatment, he finds ways to make others smile. I can't let him fall further than he has. Whether it's Nick, you, or anyone else who is in need of support. I can't turn away from the unfairness of it all. It's so easy to see Nick's natural charm. It makes people happy just to see his face! You can't fake that kind of charisma. Nick deserves the opportunity to live free from danger." Finnick lowered his head and choked back a whimper. Judy waited for a response.
"Fuck you, Judy!" snapped Finnick. He stared at the light that squeezed out from under Nick's closed door. Judy jerked back from his outburst. "You can't fix us. We'll always be garbage foxes. You can't fix Zootopia." His voice cracked. Judy crossed her arms, insulted. Before she could respond, Nick's door opened. Fangmeyer and McHorn walked out of the room and approached Finnick. McHorn spoke,
"Finnick Brone, we have to take you in for questioning about a cargo heist in the Rainforest District. A witness reported seeing a fennec fox along with a red fox in the district during the time of the heist. Because you fit the description, you have to come with us." Finnick slumped forward in his seat as the massive McHorn towered over him. McHorn's legs took up most of his view. He then stood up and faced Judy,
"Just let me take the hit. I lost. There's nobody here that can be 'saved.'" He stuck out his tongue. Finnick, still with his back to McHorn and Fangmeyer offered his wrists to the officers. "You cops just do what you gotta do." Judy watched them with drooping ears. As Finnick was being cuffed, he turned to Judy and said in a low but pained voice, "I won't forget what you said about Nick." His brows wrinkled with sadness.
Finnick held still while McHorn cuffed him. This outcome was expected. Still, Judy wished to avoid it. It didn't make the arrest any easier to accept. She wanted to continue believing in the good of Nick and Finnick. She couldn't help feeling like she fell short of her duties. But she couldn't deny they broke serious laws. Before he was taken away, Judy pleaded,
"Just give up Big! We can take him down."
"Not gonna happen," rumbled Finnick as he was being led away. Judy was unsure if his response meant he wasn't going to give up what he knows about Big, or if the ZPD wasn't going to take down Big. But she didn't have the opportunity to press further and ask. They had already left and Judy was distracted by seeing Chief Bogo talk to a doctor just outside of Nick's room. She overheard the doctor say that Nick's health checked out. She expected Nick to be brought in for questioning. Instead of sticking around, Judy decided to leave the depressing hospital ward and go for air. She no longer saw how she could do anything that mattered.
Despite everything, the idea of Finnick and Nick possibly spending a decade behind bars just didn't sit right with Judy. Were they guilty of participating in the heist? Yes. Did they do it willingly or were they coerced into the act by Mr. Big? That question still hung in the air. But from her conversations with Nick and Finnick, she leaned toward the belief that they would never attempt such a heist on their own. The more she thought about Big's manipulation of others, the more she wanted to bring him down. Judy's phone beeped with a text alert:
"Hi, Judy. I hope I could catch you for lunch? I know it is short notice, but I'm free for the next two hours. Would love to chat – Jack"
"Oh!" Judy responded with a wide smile, almost forgetting about her heavy thoughts.
"Meet me in Little Rodentia's Spice café. I could use a shoulder to cry on right now."
The ride back to the station with Chief Bogo and Nick Wilde was suffocatingly warm. They closely followed behind McHorn and Fangmeyer driving single file down the streets of Savanna Central. Even in the light of day their flashing red white and blue lights played tricks of colors on the many buildings and the furs of many mammals they passed. Delgato looked into the mirror hanging over the dashboard trying to read Nick's expression. The guilty fox avoided any form of communication with Delgato and it frustrated him. Knowing the impossibility of communicating without incriminating himself, or without further incriminating Nick, Delgato could do nothing but ride with the strict by-the-books Chief Bogo and stay quiet. He fell back into the role of police officer for support.
"Delgato, do you think the shrew mentioned by our anonymous witness is the infamous Mr. Big?" Delgato's shoulders jumped at the question. After a slow intake of breath, he said, "I don't know. There aren't many shrews nor foxes in Zootopia. But I wouldn't make any assumptions."
"I am not assuming anything, Delgato. I'm an officer, not a gossip queen."
"S-sorry, Sir." The Chief smirked,
"Relax. We got a good catch today." He pointed a thumb at Nick. "Maybe we can finally get something to stick on Finnick too."
"Oh," Delgato fidgeted with his fingernails, "hopefully."
The ride couldn't end soon enough. Fangmeyer and McHorn, followed by Chief Bogo and Delgato pulled into headquarters and escorted their suspects into the station for questioning. They were separated and isolated as was standard for interrogations.
Delgato was nosy enough to discover that McHorn had little luck getting Finnick to say much. What little he did say amounted to lies and insults. With the foxes stone-walling as best they could, Delgato's confidence built back up. He trusted Finnick and Nick just enough to believe that they would not throw around Big's name. The Chief ordered Delgato to help file paperwork. Once this task was completed, he was allowed to turn in for the day.
He anxiously raced out of the police department. A message had been burning a hole in his hip pocket since he rode back to the station with Bogo. As he hurried over to Savanna station to get to Tundratown, he read the message on his phone. Before even reaching the train station, the sender's name already chilled his blood like the large cooler fans of the tundra:
"Why, after a day and a half of being late to return to me with payment from my fences, have I not heard from you? Scouts in the city have said they saw you running around a hospital but they couldn't tell what for. If you keep up this silence I'm going to feel disrespected. I want my money, I want answers. Do you know what it's like to try to scratch your ass without nails? You're dangerously close to finding out! I like to rip claws from the bones of cats fingers. Oh, the sounds they make! Come clean or come in pieces! - Big."