2. Badges and Upgrades part II
"H-He was my friend…"
He looked her dead in the eye. "I know."
Nick's POW:
Well it's done.
The entire ZPD hates my guts and not a single one of the fuckers will even consider joining now. Bastards must be thinking how unfortunate fluff here was to have been picked by the 'Big Bad Fox'. I continued looking at the rabbit behind me with as much indifference as I could muster. Good, she's looking at me like I'm some fucking monster. It's better for everyone involved if it stays this way.
"What's with the waterworks fluff?" Be cruel. "Your life here is over. Forget about all of your so called friends." Don't fuck this up. "God knows they'll forget about the poor widdle bunny who got dragged off to the specs.". I turned my head away from her.
She was still crying.
"Suck it up." I borderline growled at this point. "You're still officially part of whatever passes for law enforcement here so I'll be your ride along on a patrol today." Just walk away damnit. "5 minutes fluff. I'll be waiting in the garage." I managed to sneak a look at her as I was walking down the stairs. The way she looked at me…
I really am a fucking MONSTER.
Judy's POW:
Forget about my friends…
Forget how he RIPPED Fangmeyer's arm off?!
I'll never give him the satisfaction.
I bowed my head low when he was talking to me. No way I'd EVER look at those dead eyes again. Even machines have more heart than this cold freak does. And they're all acting like I don't even have any say in this! They're just picking me up like I'm some kind of stuffed animal.
"I'll be waiting in the garage." I looked up when he started walking away. He's going to be my partner for the day. Fucking terrific. But no way in hell am I taking his damn orders! I'm not going anywhere until the chief says otherwise. With that I made my way back to the pen. When I opened the door I saw Fangmeyer sitting on the floor, leaning against the podium and the other Specter tending to his severed arm. I felt my heart clench at the pain written clear across the tiger's face.
"Is he going to be okay?" I asked the chief after I made my way to Fangmeyer's side and crouched down, holding his shoulder for support.
"He's fine." The wolf cut in. "Knowing Nick, he just busted the stabilizing pins in the elbow but left the nerve ends and blood vessels almost entirely unharmed." He looked at me and then pointed at the garbage basket in which the prosthetic was tossed before. "That piece of junk-"
"HEY!" Fangmeyer meowled in pain and anger. I smiled at his stupid cat face.
"That heap of utter garbage-" The wolf smiled at my friend. "Is now completely useless. The ONLY reason why you're bleeding AT ALL right now though is because of the shoddy craftsmanship that went into that arm my friend. If it was at military standard like it SHOULD have been…" He glared at the chief who remained indifferent to the wolf's presence. "The safety valves would have closed at the moment when the arm was detached-"
"FUUUCK!" Fangmeyer yelled at the top of his lungs as the wolf jammed two fingers into where the bloody elbow was and turned something until it emanated a resounding *click*. After pulling his fingers back out, the wolf unceremoniously wiped them on his black coat.
"And all of this bloody mess could've been avoided." He stood up and turned to the chief.
"No. He would still do something like this." I seethed at the ground. "That fox is a monster." When I looked up I saw the wolf staring at me with the same dead eyes. That wouldn't stop me from saying what was on my mind though. "He's nothing but an emotionless machine. Just a cold freak!"
"Hopps!" Chief Bogo spoke up and it made me shut my mouth immediately.
"What the fuck do you know about Nick." I saw red hot anger boiling right beneath the wolf's surface and I shrunk under his gaze. "What the fuck do you know about what he was put through. He used to be just like you. Not a single upgrade to his name. Never wanted any either." He took a step closer to me. "Then one day we got sent out after a crazy fucker, he got shot, stabbed, torn to shreds and blown to shit – because he didn't want to pull his gun out or it would've meant the hostages would be killed." He crouched down so we were eye level and he spoke in the most hostile tone I have ever heard. "And even after we took the perp down, Wilde didn't want to be saved if it meant he would have to be upgraded. He wanted to die just like he lived – BEING HIMSELF."
I stared at him in confusion and I was pretty sure the rest of the force did so as well. "Then that means…"
"He was FORCED to live. The top fucking brass wanted to play scientist with his mangled ass and they took him apart – PIECE by FUCKING PIECE – and stuck him in a new body." For the first time in a long while I was speechless. "Nick has the capability to kill anyone in a matter of seconds now and do you know what he does when we're sent out on missions?" Delgato stood up and sneered at me with venomous eyes. "HE PLAYS A FUCKING MEATSHIELD FOR CIVILIANS AND HOSTAGES. AND FUCKING PRICKS LIKE YOUR TIGER PAL HERE THINK THEY KNOW SHIT ABOUT HOW THINGS REALLY ARE IN THE SPECS!"
He stuck his paws in his pant pockets and walked to the door. "I'll forward the paperwork for the rabbit later today." The wolf walked out of the bullpen and left the door open so that everyone, sitting in unbroken silence could hear his footsteps go down the stairs and out of the station.
I stood up from besides my silent striped friend and looked at the chief. "I-I'll go patrol today if that's okay with you chief." A silent nod of approval was all I got before I hastily made my way out of the pen. Nobody looked at me as I left. Not even Fangmeyer…
Nick's POW:
After I left her standing on the second floor, glaring at my back, I made my way to the underground garage with some directional information that I got from a rather 'plush' cheetah.
"Police cruisers are usually kept unlocked and the keys stashed in the glove compartment so that dispatched officers have an easier time entering their vehicles and don't have to worry about the keys." Damn the guy liked to talk. As luck would have it, the cruisers really were unlocked and waiting.
I wouldn't even need this fucking aug'd sense of smell to find which cruiser was hers. I figured she wasn't going to be down in 5 minutes anyway so I made myself comfortable in the passenger seat, rolled down the windows and jacked in to the car's console so that I could listen to some of MY music, not some cheeky goody goody police girl pop songs.
I guess being aug'd has some benefits to it. But I still didn't fucking ask for any of this shit. If it was up to me I'd be six feet under by now. But corporate interest rules the world. And what would rich CEOs be without their fucking expensive toys. And I'm just the newest line of action figure.
Hey at least I'm my own fucking music player now. I relaxed and stuck my feet out the passenger window as some good old acoustic rock filled the sullen garage.
After I checked the time, which I can handily do with my built in augmented reality visor, I decided to chew the rabbit off a bit for being late, when to my surprise the driver door opened and she plopped herself on the seat. She reached for the console and turned my music all the way down, so that we were sitting in complete silence, with me still sticking my foxy feet out of the window.
"Not a fan of rock?" I asked solemnly, staring out of the passenger window. She didn't answer so I broke off my mental connection with the cruiser console and pulled my feet back in.
When I turned to look at the rabbit sitting next to me, she hurled herself at me and HUGGED me. I swear I thought I could hear her sobbing something in my chest. I swear I heard her say:
I'm the monster…
To be continued…
