Chapter Thirteen
Grim
After being taken off the case, Nick was taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for his injuries. Jack accompanied him. It didn't take that long. There were a few cuts and abrasions that had to be attended to. They were out of Rainforest Regional in less than two hours. A fellow officer was there to drive them back to Nick's apartment. It was still dark out; the moon had begun its descent when the cruiser stopped on the side of the road. The door opened as Nick thanked the officer. Nick stood on the sidewalk as Jack removed himself from the same seat. The officer said his goodbye and drove off. They were still in the Rainforest district, a lower middle income area. It wasn't a slum, but it wasn't that far from it.
Jack looked to the building they arrived in front of. It was a bland brown brick flat three story building. There was no indication that it was even an apartment building. He never knew where his Nick set up his den, but seeing the very few differences between the two worlds he assumed it might very well be the same. Nick didn't say anything as he walked to the glass front door. He fished a key out of his pocket and undid the locked door. Nick looked back to Jack, "Come on Stripes."
"Stripes?" Jack asked as he walked through the door Nick held open, "Is that my nickname now?"
"I was gonna go with Zebra, but I felt Stripes was better."
The lobby was a white tiled, white walled hallway. There were signs of neglect. A closed window sat right next to the front entrance. A small sign above the door read Office. Nick walked past the office entrance and towards a door labeled Stairwell. There was no elevator. Jack caught up to Nick and asked, "What floor?"
"Second." Nick answered as he began to ascend the creaking stairs. Jack followed right behind him.
Jack wasn't sure what to say. Him and Nick didn't exchange that many words after they left the crime scene. Nothing was said at the hospital, nor in the car ride here. Jack didn't know what to to talk about, what to start a conversation with. He knew Nick was hurting, Judy his partner and noticeably best friend was injured. She almost died. Jack was partly to blame, he knew he was. He led them towards that fate. If he never found that paw print they would have never ended up on Arum Drive.
The case might have ended there. The HICU might not have taken Nick and Judy off the case. Even though he said he didn't care, Jack still felt that Nick did. And now he can't do anything to catch the bastards that hurt Judy. Again he was the cause of another Judy's injuries. No matter how much he tried to make himself into a better mammal he always found some way to make shit hit the fan. Jack's ears feel down as they reached the second floor. It was a wooden hallway with plain tan walls. Two single wooden doors marked the rooms on the floor. Nick went to the left one, Jack followed.
Nick unlocked the door and allowed the rabbit to pass. Nick clicked a switch and bathed the room in yellow light from and aged set of four lights from a ceiling fan in the middle of the main room. One of the bulbs decided it was then that it would die. It was a small apartment, even for the smaller stature for the two of them. It was made for smaller mammals, so it fit Nick's size. The floor was hardwood, with an old moth eaten rug in the center. The walls were plain white, Nick obviously never opting to paint them. There were a few posters of some bands that Jack did recognize. Rolling Shrews, Lead Zebra, and Antlersmith were the ones he could see. A green couch sat on the edge of the rug and faced an old tube TV on a small end table. Another matching end table sat on the right of the couch.
A kitchenette sat on the right hidden in slight darkness from the old light. The floor turned to pale blue tiles. A half wall made into a counter separated it from the main room. He couldn't really see into the enclosure. A closed door sat off to the right of the kitchenette and another sat on the opposite wall. Nick walked to the kitchen as he spoke, "I know it ain't much but it's home."
Jack waited to speak. Nick entered the kitchen, turning on a light in there. He began to dig around a draw. Jack spoke up, "Are you ok Nick?"
"I can't be?" Nick responded returning to his task.
Jack stepped closer, "I know you Nick. I know when you try to dodge questions."
"I'm not dodging Stripes." Nick punctuated pulling out a slightly cloudy glass up and slamming it on the counter. He turned away quickly and towards a sink with a few plates still waiting to be washed.
"If you want me to leave I can Nick." Jack suggested stepping away and towards the door.
Nick began to fill the glass with water from the tap. But stopped, allowing it to overflow onto the dirty dishes. His ears fell down and he let out a heavy sigh. Jack paused in his motions as he watched the vulpine. Nick dropped the glass, but remained slumped over the sink, the water still running. Seconds that felt like hours passed before Nick broke the silence, "How did your Nick become a cop?"
Jack gave a small huh in response. Nick clarified, "If your Judy never became a cop," Nick turned to face Jack, "then how did your Nick become a cop?"
Jack looked Nick dead on. His face had fallen. As if he removed the mask of smug and con-artistry he almost always held up. He looked pained, sorrowful. Jack never saw Nick like this. Jack answered, "He told me it happened when he was a pup. He wanted to join the-"
"Junior Ranger Scouts." Nick finished cutting Jack off.
"The same thing happened to you?" Jack assumed.
"If that you mean they tackled him to the floor and forced a muzzle at him," Nick stated moving to the couch and landing right on it, "Then yes."
"They laughed at him to the point he nearly broke tears."
"Yep."
"All because he was a fox."
"That they can never be trusted and better off muzzled."
"I'm sorry Nick."
"You didn't do it." Nick answered with a shrug.
"Not about that," Jack corrected, "About today. About me intruding in your life."
"Why are you sorry about that?"
Jack looked at the sitting fox, "It's because of me this whole mess occurred today. It's because of me Judy is in the hospital. You are hurt. The case has been taken from the ZPD. The bad guys got away. There's more there obviously."
Jack finished turning away from the fox. Nick removed himself from the couch, "Did he vow from that day to make sure no other mammal would be treated as he was?"
"What?" Jack asked turning back to Nick.
"Your Nick," Nick stated as if it was clear, "Did he decide that day that no other mammal, pred or even prey, would ever undergo the same treatment as he did by those jerks?"
"That's what he said." Jack answered.
Nick gave a half laugh. Jack cocked his head to the side, "What's so amusing?"
"The idea crossed my mind that day too."
"If you had the idea, then why didn't go for it?"
"I was too focused on the treatment of me and other foxes. I buried that idea deep down that day. Never thought of it again until the day Judy forced herself into my life."
"So without Judy?"
"I'd probably still be on the street, conning mammals out of their money. Making the laundry list rap for foxes longer each second I was out there. Stuck for the rest of my days no doubt."
"Do you really think Judy had that much of an influence on you?"
"You'd be surprise what that rabbit can do," Nick answered as he walked back to the kitchen and shut off the water. He emptied the cup slightly and returned. He set the cup on the counter as he spoke, "Why do you always blame yourself for everything bad that goes on?"
"Because I usually am the cause of it," Jack stated turning away, "No lucky rabbit's foot here." Jack shook one of his feet to emphasize the point.
"You really have to stop belittling yourself." Nick countered, "You will never be able to achieve anything if you just keep on pushing yourself back down. You always see yourself as the bad guy."
"Because I am the bad guy," Jack said turning back, "I'm always the bad guy. I'm the murder, I'm the grim reaper. Wherever I go death and misfortune follows. Just today I killed probably five mammals. Nearly half my kill count already. Judy and you are injured. And I ruined the case."
"The grim reaper's a bit of an extreme don't you think?"
"It's not if it's true. I hold a weapon of mass destruction," Jack lifted up his arm to show the Nexus, "I've seen what this can do."
"What do you mean?"
Jack activated the Nexus and projected a hologram of exactly what he was thinking. He lowered the light level of the old lights. The wireframe hologram was red, no longer the classic blue. It filled the entire room. The hologram began to take on the exact look as Jack recalled the memory from his mind. Nick stood on the cleaner edge, on black rocks. Jack projected the main event right around him. Just as he found it back in his world. He stood amongst the picture of the flesh and muscle turned into red goop. Bones and skulls peppered the walls, floor, and ceiling of the room. Behind Jack the burned flat wall of the cavern. Nick looked at the entire scene with wide eyes. His mouth opened and closed as he tried to say something, anything.
Jack spoke first, "I found this the night I stole the Nexus. It is a cavern room completely coated in the remains of seven mammals by my count."
"You killed them?" Nick finally asked. He looked away from the massacre and to Jack.
"I didn't," Jack paused as he looked to the Nexus. It was glowing red now, "But the Nexus did. It is a weapon that kills."
He looked back up to Nick, "It is my scythe."
The picture faded to a wireframe and then dissolved. The lights returned to their low strength. The Nexus turned back to blue. Jack still looked to Nick, "I have caused enough pain to you, Judy, everyone, this entire world. It would be better off if I left."
Jack moved to the door. Nick shouted back, "So you are just going to leave!"
Jack stopped at the door. His ears wanted to go lower, but they couldn't. He looked to the floor as Nick continued, "As soon as it gets tough you quit. Leave the destruction in your wake. Disappear before the dust settles."
Jack remained silent. "And completely give up on returning to your world."
Still no answer came from the rabbit. "Because you know damn well what will happen if you jump again."
"It's like I said Nick," Jack grabbed the knob and opened the door. He stepped through the doorframe. He cast one glance at the red fox, "I'm the grim reaper. Leaving destruction in my wake is exactly what I do."
He shut the door before Nick could respond and he hurried his way towards the stairs. As he ran down them he heard the door slam open, "Stripes!"
Jack made it to the first floor and rushed towards the entrance. He heard Nick on the stairs, "Savage!"
Jack forced the door open. He turned back and concentrated his energy on the glass door. It shined blue as a barrier reinforced it. Nick appeared in the lobby. He reached for the door, but it would not budge. He banged on it. A muffled scream came through the glowing barrier, "Jack!"
"Goodbye Nick." Jack turned away and ran down the street.
