Mandatory anti-fluff warning!
It was only after what felt like an eternity did Judy finally shake herself out of her stupor and exit the room. She didn't look back at the ewe that she and her partner were questioning, her mind more focused on Nick than anything else. A million and one theories as to the reason behind the fox's current behavior rushed through Judy's mind, and they all seemed just as possible as they were implausible.
The bunny stepped out into the hallway, hoping that Nick hadn't gone too far ahead of her. She found him standing right outside the interrogation room, talking with Warden Bratva. "You need what?" the polar bear was asking in his thick accent, sounding a bit confused.
Nick sighed and tried again. "I would like to see the security tapes for the night of Bellwether's attack. Hopps and I think we may have a lead as to the identity of the culprit."
"You don't think we already tried that?" Alexander Bratva contended, his tolerance of the fox's attitude quickly diminishing. "Our records of night in question are all wiped!"
"Show me," Nick retorted as he kept his icy gaze on the polar bear. As the two fell into a silent staring contest, Judy felt an intense wave of deja vu. In a way, this was almost a repeat of what happened with Bellwether: Nick lashing out and trying to establish himself as the dominant mammal in the conversation. With Bellwether, that fact was already a given, but with the Warden, Nick would have to fight a bit harder, which he was doing.
And he won.
With a sigh, the warden broke eye contact with the fox cop. "Alright, fine. But I promise you won't find evidence you're looking for," he said as he turned and began lumbering down the hall.
"I'll be the judge of that," Nick retorted as he fell in step behind the massive polar bear. Judy soon followed suit, setting her body to autopilot. She studied Nick as the trio walked down the hall and took note of his mannerisms: the agitated twitch of his ear, the constant swish of his tail, the way he kept his body tense and rigid. Gone was the usual, carefree fox that Judy had come to know and love. In its place was a mammal who was angry and stressed.
Judy felt a wave of determination wash over her as she continued to study Nick. He would always be there for her when she was having a rough day, and she would always be there for him.
Before long, the warden finally led the two cops to their destination: the office that held all of the surveillance equipment and records. The wolf on duty didn't so much as glance at them, for his attention was needed on the multiple screens playing a live feed of the prison.
"Hey, Dennis, could you pull up records of night of Bellwether's attack?" Alexander asked. Dennis shot the bear a side glance that asked if he was serious. "Now," the polar bear added, his tone somewhat cold.
Rolling his eyes, the wolf pushed away from the monitors and used his chair to roll over to another screen off to the left. With practiced precision, he booted up the machine and quickly skimmed through hours upon hours of recorded data. Warden Bratva, Nick, and Judy all made their way closer to the wolf and began peering around him to get a look at the screen.
Dennis noticed this and acknowledged the group. "Hey, back up a bit," he barked, leaning back from the screen. "I can't work when you're all crowding me."
Judy was the first to comply, soon followed by the warden. Nick lingered behind out of possible defiance before following suit; however, he didn't seem happy about having to do so. Now that the other mammals were out of his personal space, Dennis continued skimming through the data until he finally found the security feed for Interrogation Room B.
"Alright, the floor's yours, Warden," the wolf announced before pushing away from the small monitor. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got work to do." Dennis returned to his giant wall of screens, his eyes avidly studying the goings on about the prison.
Alexander motioned for either Nick or Judy to take the wheel, seeing as he was far too big to handle the equipment correctly. Judy glanced at her partner, trying to deduce if he would want to sort through the video feed. She was somewhat surprised to find that he was gazing at her with a look that said, "It's all yours, Carrots."
Judy nodded and hopped up onto an extra chair, which Nick then pushed over to the desk. Once in position, the bunny began the feed. The trio of mammals watched as Bellwether entered the room and sat at the table. A few minutes passed without anything of interest happening. But, just as Judy was about to skip through the feed, the door in the video opened. Bellwether turned her attention to her new visitor, who was just now crossing the threshold into the room.
And then the feed skipped.
The space was no longer nice and tidy. Instead, the few chairs were haphazardly strewn about, and the table was overturned. On screen, Bellwether watched as whoever had visited her exited the room, leaving her behind with the mess. Then, as the door closed, the ewe glanced around at the mess before her as if contemplating something. Coming to a decision, she walked over to one of the chairs and positioned herself on it before she called for the guards. As she pretended to be hurt, she somehow got the arctic fox on duty to believe the story that she had just been attacked. Said fox then carried the ewe out of the room.
"Seriously?" Nick asked, breaking the silence that had fallen over the small group. "She managed to fool that guy? That was the worst acting I've ever seen!"
Judy found herself agreeing with Nick, though she also wanted to vouch for the guard. "Maybe the surprise of finding the place sacked clouded his judgment?" she suggested in a quiet voice.
Nick scoffed. "Yeah, sure, he was startled into believing whatever Smellwether had to say," he coldly teased. Suddenly, his expression changed as if realization had just dawned on him. "Rewind that a bit," he stated, motioning to Judy with his paw.
The bunny rewound the feed until Nick suddenly cried, "Stop! Don't press anything else!" Doing so left the screen paused at a single frame. Bellwether was waving goodbye to her guest, who was currently walking out the door. His face was hidden, but his tail was completely visible.
"Wait a minute," Judy said, leaning forward. Nick nodded as he did the same. "That almost looks like your tail, Nick."
"Right," the fox acknowledged. "While that doesn't prove that Victor was here, it does show that Bellwether was lying about what kind of fox attacked her." He turned to Warden Bratva. "Are there any security cameras outside the room; you know, one that would show visitors going in and out that door?" he asked, pointing to the screen for emphasis.
Alexander nodded. "Yes. Security is important here," he answered. Judy waited for the retort that was bound to escape the fox's lips, but was surprised when Nick held his tongue. It didn't take long for the bunny cop to switch cameras and rewind the feed a bit.
Judy played the video from the point where the arctic fox escorted Bellwether to the interrogation room. Once the door closed behind the ewe, the white-furred mammal stood guard in the hall, standing stoic and expressionless. A few minutes passed before the shadow of another mammal began to cross the floor to the fox's right. The guard turned to acknowledge the visitor and let him into the room.
And then the feed skipped again.
The door just finished closing, and the fox still stood guard. To the untrained eye, it seemed that nothing had happened at all. To a trained eye, the tiny changes in detail were awfully suspicious.
"Fast forward." Again, Nick motioned to Judy with his paw. The bunny did as the fox suggested, coming to a stop just as the guard entered the room upon hearing Bellwether's cry. "Too far," Nick stated, causing Judy to roll her eyes. She held her tongue, however, and rewound the footage just a bit. Unsurprisingly, just as the door opened again, the feed skipped.
"The direction that the shadow came from, does that lead to an exit?" Nick asked in a faintly frustrated voice, turning back to the warden.
"Yes, but I'm sure you'll only find same results as these cameras," Alexander cautioned.
Nick turned back to the screen and hopped onto the chair with Judy, who shuffled over to allow him room. From there, the fox took control, scouring through camera after camera. To his growing frustration, there was a significant time skip in each one, all the way to the exit that the visitor had used. Whoever had wiped the footage was thorough.
"There's nothing" Nick blankly stated. "It's all gone."
"Yes, that is what I was saying," Alexander exclaimed, quickly losing his patience with the fox. "We have already looked at footage."
Nick completely ignored the polar bear and turned to the wolf who still sat in front of the giant wall of screens. "Hey, Dennis!" the fox called. With some reluctance, Dennis turned towards the cop.
"Yes?" he asked, clearly not happy with being interrupted from his work.
"How long are you in here on a day-to-day basis?" Nick inquired, fixing the wolf with a cold glare.
Dennis shrugged. "I dunno. I'm practically here twenty-four seven, but I get a few breaks here and there. I also have a life outside of the Penitentiary to return to, so there's that." he replied unenthusiastically.
Judy's gaze flicked between her husband and the wolf. It was obvious that Nick was growing increasingly frustrated with the mammals around him as they seemed to be of no direct help to the case. However, he appeared to be trying his best not to completely lose it. "Are those breaks long enough for someone to sneak in and wipe nearly a half-hour's worth of footage from the system?" Nick asked.
"Are you accusing me of deleting the data?" Dennis growled as he realized the meaning behind the fox's line of questioning.
"I'm asking you if it was possible for someone else to do it," Nick shot back, his fur beginning to bristle. "That way, I can prove that it could've been you."
At this, Dennis bared his teeth at the fox, who proceeded to reciprocate the action. Judy instinctively backed away from Nick, though the mind in her voice stayed hidden. Warden Bratva watched as the scene unfolded in front of him before finally stepping in.
"Officer, I will have to ask that you don't go throwing around silly accusations. I can tell you are tired; go home and get rest," the warden suggested, keeping his voice calm and collected.
Nick immediately turned to the polar bear. "Oh, right, and waste yet another night that Victor can spend getting one step ahead. We're falling behind, Bratva!" he growled. The warden didn't so much as flinch at the outburst.
"Nick, calm down," Judy spoke up, her voice barely audible over the snarl in Nick's throat. The fox suddenly whipped around to her, his teeth still bared and his fur still bristling. Judy flinched back, her paw going for her tranquilizer that was attached to her belt. She saw Nick's emerald eyes flick towards the source of the sudden movement before locking with her eyes again.
Judy ignored the look that the fox gave her and straightened herself up. "Nick. Calm down," she tried again, surprised that her voice was clear and smooth. Nick continued to stare at her as if her were deciding what to do from here. Eventually, he sighed and lowered his hackles as his fur smoothed out.
"Alright, fine, Carrots," Nick snapped, showing that he was still angry. He turned back to the wolf and polar bear. "I just need a lead to give to Bogo so his team can get on the case. Is there anyone who had the opportunity to access the footage? And if so, do any of them have the skill to erase that much data?"
Dennis and Alexander glanced at each other before turning back to the two cops. "Rick," came their simultaneous reply.
Both Nick and Judy were confused. "Rick?" they asked in unison. Judy quickly retrieved her carrot pen and notebook, ready to jot down any useful information. Nick merely glanced between the wolf and polar bear as if he could find the answer written on either mammal's face.
Warden Bratva spoke up. "He was fox you saw in recording. He and Dennis used to work together here before he got promoted to guard." Judy quickly wrote that information down.
"True, true. However, he never really liked that job. Whenever he was on break, he would come to me and rant about how tiring or boring his shift was, how much he missed spending hours in this office, stuff like that," Dennis continued. "I remember, he even came in one day and told me that he had found a part-time gig at an amusement park for predators, of all things. Can you believe it?"
Nick growled as the wolf began to get sidetracked. Alexander picked up on this and spoke up again. "Moving on, the night of Bellwether's attack was his last night here. He gave his resignation notice few weeks back."
"So you don't know where he is?" Nick groaned; it seemed that every possible lead they could get led to a different dead end.
Warden Bratva shook his head. "We don't have policy stating that we had to, as you say, 'keep tabs' on our old employees. What they do outside of work, as long as is legal, is their business."
"Unfortunately, I even fell out of touch with him," Dennis spoke up, only fueling the fox's increasing frustration. "So I wouldn't know either."
Again, Nick groaned, though it sounded more like a growl at this point. "Is there anything you have on him somewhere? Such as a resume or file that can tell us about him?" He sounded almost desperate at this point, his movements and mannerisms becoming frantic.
"Nick, I thought we weren't working on this case?" Judy asked, hesitantly placing a paw on the fox's arm. Immediately, Nick pulled away from her touch. He whipped around to face her again, though he took a moment to at least even out his breathing before speaking.
"Has Bogo thought to continue investigating Bellwether's attack? No, no he hasn't. But we did, and now we know that Victor attacked her," Nick explained as he tried to keep his voice even. "And since Bellwether's attack sparked the riots that we have to stop, I'm technically not overstepping our boundaries."
Judy's mouth hung agape as the bunny was surprised with Nick's actions and behavior. "Nick, stop and listen to yourself! You're hardly thinking straight, you're lashing out at everyone in the room for almost no reason, and you're desperately trying to get in on the case that you said we wouldn't worry about! This isn't you, Nick!" She hoped she could get through to Nick and get him to see reason.
Nick scoffed, averting his gaze as he did so. "Are you sure about that? Trust me, Carrots: there's a lot about me that you don't know. You know next to nothing about my childhood besides what I've told you, and I've kept my life as a street hustler a secret to the whole world," he rambled on, the growl in his throat growing louder with each passing second. "As for the case, I'm just trying to help us along. Innocent mammals are getting hurt because of Bellwether's lie. If the city had a specific mammal to blame, then we can at least lessen the violence while the ZPD tracks Victor down."
"What about those innocent mammals who are wrongly accused of being in association with Victor, Nick?" Judy shot back. "What will the city think of us, the two mammals everyone has started to ridicule just because your last name is Wilde. What about that amusement park, Wild Times? The news is crawling all over it, trying to see if it's even remotely connected to Victor!"
"I said lessen the violence, not stop it," Nick contended, his fur bristling again. His eyes widened as if something had just clicked in his head. "Wait a minute," he muttered before turning back to Dennis. "You said that Rick had found a part-time job at an amusement park for predators, right?"
Dennis, who had begun to feel awkward as the two cops argued, suddenly felt put on the spot. He stuttered a bit as he answered the question. "Y-yeah I did. In f-fact, your bunny friend there just said its name. However, it closes around eleven," the wolf added, gesturing towards a clock that hung on the wall. Funnily enough, it was a souvenir from Wild Times, the face of the clock proudly displaying the park's logo. The time currently read 10:45 pm.
Nick, who had been excited about the new lead, now began to curse under his breath. "I'll have to wait until tomorrow, then. But this is good; this could work," he mumbled to himself as he hopped off the chair.
"Nick, what happened to not letting the warehouse incident repeat itself!?" she cried, feeling infuriated and confused with Nick. She climbed off the chair and made her way over to the fox, who had stopped and turned towards her. "Let Bogo handle it! This is not our case! Please, let's just – let's just go home. We can talk about this tomorrow." The fatigue of the day was finally starting to catch up with Judy again, and Nick's behavior wasn't helping in the slightest.
"Victor's too smart for the ZPD, Carrots! He probably helped Dallas and those guys escape, not to mention sneak in here virtually undetected! As long as he's out there, innocent mammals are going to get hurt, and I can't allow that!" Nick shot back, his voice little more than a growl now.
Judy stared into the fox's eyes. She saw anger laced with so much fear and doubt that it made her heart hurt. "Nick, this isn't your responsibility, so stop acting like it is. You're tired; you're grumpy; you're not you. Let's just go home." The bunny studied Nick as silence fell over the room. So engrossed in her partner was she that Judy didn't acknowledge the existence of the polar bear and wolf, both of whom were both feeling rather awkward as they glanced between the two bickering cops.
The fox leaned forward and broke the growing silence. "He's my dad, Carrots. Therefore, he's my responsibility. Either help me take him down, or get out of my way," he quietly growled before promptly turning on his heel and exiting the room.
Judy could only stare as she watched her husband leave. The harsh sting of betrayal stabbed at her heart as she replayed Nick's last sentence over and over in her mind. She had never heard her fox talk or act like that before; in all the time that she knew him, Nick was never an aggressive mammal. Coming to her senses, Judy began to follow after the fox. "Nick?" she called out, hoping her wasn't too far ahead. "Nick!"
As the bunny's voice grew distant, Dennis and Alexander looked at each other with quizzical expressions. The general awkwardness of the situation was not lost on either of them, though there was a growing concern.
"They looked like they're at their wits' end," Dennis spoke up, gesturing towards the door with his snout. "I almost thought there would be some slapping in there."
"That is not funny, Dennis, and you know it," Alexander snapped, a grim light in his eyes. "Victor will not be happy if they keep pushing each other away."
Dennis quickly glanced back to the door, suspicious of the two cops known for their hustling skills. If all that had been a ploy to get them to admit that they worked for Victor, then they were both in trouble. Luckily, there was no sudden flash of red and gray, no shouting cops reading out Miranda Rights.
"Should we tell Vic, then?" the wolf asked, glancing back at the warden. "I think he'd like to know how his game is going for his two star players."
Alexander sighed and turned back towards the door. "Victor is smart mammal; he can figure it out. I would feel better if he didn't hear news from me." With that, the large bear lumbered out of the office.
Dennis mulled over Warden Bratva's words for a few second before shrugging and turning back to the monitors. "Makes sense, I guess," he mumbled to himself as he quickly found the two officers on one of his screens.
Nick was still ahead, but Judy was catching up. Her body was on autopilot as she tried to get over the pain in her chest. This pain, however, only grew as she kept thinking about it. The bunny fought hard to keep the tears at bay, but it was an uphill battle. All of the emotional stress from the past week threatened to burst forth from the dam that was her heart. It was almost tempting to let it all out, to let the dam break. But Judy needed to be strong – not only for herself, but for Nick as well.
Judy entered the parking garage soon after Nick did, and their cruiser was visible. In a desperate attempt to get Nick to acknowledge her, the bunny called out again. "Nick!" And again, the fox ignored her as he continued to walk at a brisk pace to the car. Judy picked up her pace, quickly catching up with her partner.
Reaching out and pulling on his arm seemed to get his attention. Judy had to pause as Nick suddenly whipped around and growled in her face. "What, Carrots!? What?" His fur wasn't bristling and his hackles weren't raised, but his annoyed tone hurt just as badly.
"Nick, please. You're scaring me." Judy could barely get her voice louder than a shaky whisper, but she didn't let that stop her. "I don't like seeing you like this, Nick. I'm worried about you."
Nick scoffed and glanced away, though Judy could still see the hurt in his eyes. "Worried about me, huh? Yeah right, Carrots. While you think you're worrying about me, you're actually worrying about yourself. You're scared of me; you don't want the big, bad fox to gobble you up, right?" The tone of masked pain and anger tore at Judy's heart, threatening to break the already-stressed dam.
"I'm not scared of you, Nick," Judy mumbled quietly; she wasn't even sure if Nick heard her. "I'm scared for you. I have no idea what you're going through now, but I can tell that it's hurting you. When you keep pushing me away, you start to hurt me too."
To her surprise, Nick seemed on the verge of tears as he regarded her. Hope filled the bunny's heart again; hope that they could finally move past this case and get on with their lives as normal. Judy took a step forward, her paw outstretched towards her fox. "Let's just go home and forget about Victor and this case for now, okay?"
That was the wrong thing to say.
Immediately, Nick's expression hardened as the fox pulled away. Without another word, he turned and continued walking towards the cruiser. The hope that had filled Judy's heart was now crushed with shock and guilt, and the dam just about burst again. "Nick!" the bunny called out for the umpteenth time as she made her way to the car.
She watched as Nick climbed into the driver's seat, shut the door, and stoically glared straight ahead of him. It didn't take a genius to know that he was finished with conversation for the night. As Judy made her way to the passenger-side seat, she thought of ways to get her partner to talk about anything. She dreaded the thought of a long and silent car ride, especially after the day she had.
Unfortunately for her, Nick was still dead silent as Judy climbed into her seat. She sighed as the fox wordlessly started the cruiser. This was going to be a long night.
Connor Lyon yawned for the umpteenth time, more evidence that the coffee served in the ZPD break room had absolutely no effect on sleep. Granted, the raccoon was known to drink the liquid caffeine like his life depended on it, but that didn't excuse the terrible coffee. As Connor looked around at his fellow co-workers, a funny idea popped into his mind.
The coffee is as slow as the sloths. He chuckled to himself as he downed the rest of his mug and turned back to his desk. Vials of different chemicals proudly stood in an organized arrangement that spoke of the raccoon's attention to detail. Small bags filled with evidence from different cases also lay in a well-kept pile as they waited for his analysis.
It felt strange, being back in the ZPD after all this time. Granted, he couldn't blame Bogo for letting him back on the forensics team. Thanks to the Mammal Inclusion Initiative, sloths were allowed to join the ZPD. Unfortunately for just about everyone who wasn't a sloth, the lethargic mammals who were hired all wanted to work behind the scenes. And that meant the birth of the slowest forensics team on the planet.
Despite being welcomed back with open arms, as Connor liked to think of it, he was still put under strict guidelines and regulations. Being a kleptomaniac didn't help the raccoon's case, of course. Officers took shifts to watch over Connor as he worked. Despite only having been hired for about a day, the raccoon had quickly used this arrangement as an opportunity to make some new friends.
One of his favorite officers was a panther by the name of Brandon. They had quickly hit it off together and now spent most of their time talking about the kind of little things that friendships could be built off of. Today was no different: Brandon and Connor talked about their favorite topics while the raccoon worked. This conversation's topic was Brandon's love life, or lack thereof.
"So, we're at the bar, right? There's this gorgeous tigress sitting just across the way. All my drinking buddies are eyein' her, whispering among each other of who'd get first dibs and all that. Suddenly, they all get the same idea that I should go ask," Brandon explained as he sipped his equally useless cup of coffee. Not that he needed it, though: he was usually an energetic mammal. "I tell the guys – I say, 'Listen. I need a few more beers before I can even consider asking her out."
Connor chuckled and glanced at his friend. "So what did you do? Get drunk enough to actually ask her out?" he asked, genuinely intrigued as to what transpired that night.
"Somehow, yes," the panther answered with a somewhat nostalgic smile on his face. "I think the guys had something to do with it, but I was full-on drunk when I finally plucked the courage to ask her out."
The raccoon turned to his friend, and crossed his arms. "I need all the details, Brandon. Come on, tell me what she said. Did you manage to present yourself in some kind of dignified manner?" Connor probed with a friendly tone.
Brandon chuckled. "Alright, alright. From my fuzzy memory and what the guys tell me, I walked up to the tigress like a champ. Apparently, I'm good at acting sober while drunk, so I guess that's a good thing? Anyway, I asked her, and from there my mind is blank. The guys all smile when I ask them what happened, and that's not comforting."
Connor had to fight to hold back his laughter. "Have you checked your phone at all? Surely, if she said yes, you got her number!" the raccoon gestured to the officer's pocket, where his smartphone was bound to be held.
"That seems logical, yes." Brandon fished his phone out of his pocket and began scrolling through the contacts. A few seconds passed in anticipatory silence as Connor waited to see if Brandon did indeed have a date. The panther's eyes suddenly widened as his jaw went slack.
Connor smiled. Bingo.
"Uhm, I have two Fangmeyers in my contact list," Brandon spoke up, glancing to his raccoon friend.
Connor shrugged. "He does have a sister. Didn't you know that?" He kept his tone casual as he tried to hide his excitement and laughter.
If Brandon's fur could change color with his skin, it would surely be a shade paler now. "A sister!?" the panther repeated, suddenly seeming very nervous. "Oh geez, there's a text from her."
Connor was quickly losing the battle against his laughter. "What does it say?"
"I do have a date with her. This Saturday," Brandon mumbled. He then put his phone down, buried his face in his paws, and moaned. "Fangmeyer's gonna kill me!"
"Why would he?" Connor asked. A snicker managed to escaped his lips as he did so, but he was still able to keep himself in check.
Brandon turned his gaze to his raccoon friend. "I'm going on a date with his sister!" he cried out as if it were the end of the world.
That was the final straw. Connor doubled over as his body convulsed with the laughing fit that had been building up over the past few moments. He knew he shouldn't have, given by the glances he got of the panther's distressed and shocked face, but there was nothing the raccoon could really do at the moment. Luckily, he managed to settle down after a minute.
As Connor wiped a tear from his eye, Brandon spoke up again, "This isn't funny, Connor! What am I gonna say to Fangmeyer? 'Hey, how are you? Good? Oh, that's cool. Hey, listen, I sorta met your sister while drunk one night and asked her out. I hope that's cool, though, she already agreed.'" After his "performance," the panther, waiting for an answer to his problems, crossed his arms and glared at the raccoon.
"Brandon, buddy, I feel you. These kinds of situations can be a bit tough, but you just gotta power through them. Obviously, Miss Fangmeyer is a strong, independent tigress capable of making her own decisions. I don't think you forced her into anything, and I think she knows what she wants out of a relationship. If you want to talk to Fangmeyer, then talk to him. But don't just 'ask his permission'; that's stupid. Let him know that you'd never hurt her and all that jazz. Can't go wrong," Connor explained. When he finished, he gave Brandon a reassuring pat on the shoulder and a friendly smile.
"What should I do during my date with her?" the panther asked, looking a little better after the raccoon's encouragement.
"Get to know her. Respect her. Treat her well," Connor listed off using his fingers. "And most importantly: don't bang her unless you're both one hundred percent sure that either of you is sober enough to make rational decisions, or that you're both ready for that step. I'm sure that this is the one part of your relationship that Fangmeyer would take very seriously, so don't screw it up."
Even Brandon chimed in as Connor fell prey to another laughing fit. It took a while for the two to calm down, and when they did, there were still a few snickers left in their system. "Thanks, Connor. I don't know what I would do without you," Brandon stated as he wiped a tear from his eye.
"You'd probably be off getting dates while drunk and never know about it," Connor suggested with a chuckle. The raccoon then turned back to his work, realizing that he had yet to get anything productive done.
Brandon rolled his eyes at his friend's comment. His gaze then fell on a plastic-wrapped object, though he couldn't quite tell what it was. "Connor, what's that?" he asked as he stood up and made his way to the item in question.
Connor glanced over with mild disinterest. "Oh, that? That's the uniform that Wilde and Hopps brought in a few days ago. They say it was Victor's at one point, but no one knows if that's true or not."
Brandon frowned. "Well, why don't you analyze it and find out?" he suggested, holding the plastic-wrapped uniform to the raccoon.
Connor chuckled. "You think Victor would be stupid enough to leave evidence like that behind? That's the biggest rookie mistake a crime boss can make."
Brandon shrugged as he regarded the object in his paws. "Perhaps, but what if he did it on purpose?"
Connor quirked an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"Well, he seems really interested in Hopps and Wilde, right? He's been two steps ahead of the ZPD all this time, so we already know that he's smart. But, what if he got tired of waiting and decided that he'd give us – or, more specifically, Hopps and Wilde – a lead to follow? You know, fueling our fire and all that," Brandon reasoned.
Connor took a moment to mull over the possibility. "Well, it makes sense," he muttered after a few seconds, "but I still think it's stupid." He grabbed the plastic-wrapped uniform from Brandon's paws and got to work.
It was quite fascinating to Brandon how methodical the raccoon was as he worked. He handled everything with extreme care, looking as if he was constantly working with a live bomb that could explode at any sudden movement. He meticulously scoured over every detail, never missing a nook or cranny for fear of missing crucial evidence. And, of course, he was a hell of a lot faster than the other sloths who worked there, so that was a plus.
After the general preparation and examination, Connor ran the uniform through the special scanner that had been installed to counterbalance the slow sloths. When used correctly, the machine could find any and all scraps of evidence within minutes at the push of a button. Of course, with sloths, the hard part was waiting while everything was made ready and the button was pushed.
The scanner whirred to life, and the two friends stood back while they waited for the results. A computer screen attached to the machine suddenly flashed, signaling that something had been found. Connor and Brandon turned their attention to the monitor as new information was printed out.
Both mammals' eyebrows raised as the screen revealed that there was no direct match to the DNA that was found on the uniform. They patiently waited to see if the computer could find a close match to someone else in the database, which normally took a little longer. However, they didn't have to wait long this time.
Connor's jaw went slack as the closest match was one Nicholas Piberius Wilde.
"I need to get a hold of them!" the raccoon exclaimed as he made a mad dash for his desk, where his phone was located. He began scrolling through his contacts when he realized that he didn't actually have the numbers of the two officers he needed to get a hold of. Connor whipped around to see Brandon already scrolling through his phone.
"I got you covered," the panther reassured. He quickly dialed the fox and put the phone on speaker; it was much too big for Connor to comfortably hold.
The anticipation in the air grew as the tone rang on. Connor silently willed Nick to pick up, but as the seconds crawled by at an excruciatingly slow pace, he began to worry.
"Yes, hello?" came the fox's voice. Connor had to stop himself before he let out a huge sigh of relief.
"Hey, Nick, it's Connor!" the raccoon greeted after he composed himself.
"Connor!?" Nick sounded surprised. "How'd you get Brandon's phone? You didn't steal it, did you?" While the raccoon should've been ticked at the comment, he noticed that the fox cop didn't sound too angry with him. This was hopefully a good sign.
"Oh yeah, I forgot you guys didn't know. I'm working with the ZPD again!" Connor exclaimed, though he was anxious to get moving to the more important topic at hand.
There was silence on the phone for a few seconds before Nick spoke up, "Are there any sloths around?"
Both Connor and Brandon furrowed their eyebrows in confusion. "No?" the raccoon replied.
"Thank god!" Nick suddenly blurted, sounding relieved. "It's about time we got someone who knew what they were doing, let alone do it in a reasonable time frame! Congrats, man!"
Connor still wasn't used to the blatantly warm welcome he received from most of the Precinct. It seemed that the pain the sloths unintentionally caused was more than enough to justify letting someone like him back onto the team. "Yes, that's great, thank you. But, I've got somet –"
Nick interrupted him. "So, how are you holding up? You tempted to steal anything yet?" the fox asked in a playful tone.
"Not that I'm aware of," Brandon spoke up, sending a snarky grin at his raccoon friend. "We've got officers watching over him in shifts. It's my turn tonight; lucky me."
"Ah, that makes sense. Good luck, then, Brandon." Both the raccoon and the panther could hear the smirk on the fox's face.
"Yeah, yeah, that's all well and fine, but I've got something important to tell you!" Connor exclaimed, feeling rather impatient to relay the information he had found.
"Really? What?" Nick asked, sounding genuinely curious.
"You know that uniform that you and Judy found the other day?" Connor asked. When he got an affirmative hum from the fox, he continued, "Well, I just ran it through the scanner. The DNA doesn't have an exact match in our database, but its closest match is you."
A beat of silence passed as Connor let the revelation sink in. "What exactly does that mean?" Nick asked slowly, as if he wasn't sure if he should believe the raccoon or not.
"It means that whoever had the uniform last is related to you, Nick," the raccoon replied. "We have a lead."
"That's great!" Nick exclaimed, sounding genuinely excited. "Thanks for doing that, Connor. Make sure to tell Bogo, okay?"
The raccoon nodded, despite the fact that Nick couldn't see him. "You're welcome, and you got it," Connor said. He hesitated as another thought came to him. "So, uh, how are you and Judy holding up?"
The silence that ensued was deafening. Both Connor and Brandon could tell that a chord had been struck, that the question was the wrong thing to ask. In an almost desperate anticipation, the two mammals waited for the fox's reply.
"Well, it was good talking to you guys again. Thanks for the info! Bye!" With that, Nick hung up the phone. His tone was generally the same as before, but Connor and Brandon could tell that it was masking something deeper. Whatever that was, they couldn't tell, but they couldn't help but feel that they dodged a bullet.
"Hey, Brandon!" came a voice from behind, startling the raccoon and panther. They turned to see Snarlov standing at the door. "I'm taking your place. You're free to go." The polar bear jerked a thumb behind him to emphasize his point.
Brandon quickly composed himself and turned to his raccoon friend. "Alright, you behave, got it? I'll see you around."
Connor shrugged him off as a part of their usual banter. "Pshh, you know you'll miss me," he chuckled.
"Yep! I get to cry myself to sleep again," Brandon laughed as he made his way to the exit. He barely heard Connor's snarky reply as he passed Snarlov and began the trek to the main lobby. The panther felt like he needed some rest, despite having a relatively easy day.
He waved to Clawhauser after clocking out and acknowledged any officer that he passed by. Soon enough, he stepped out into the chilly night air. The wind gently nipped at the panther's fur, but it didn't bother him. He rather enjoyed the cooler weather, especially after a hard day's work.
Brandon quickly found his car, which was nothing incredibly special. Once inside, the panther retrieved his phone and dialed another number. The call picked up almost immediately, much to the cop's surprise.
"Yes?" came the rough voice. While it was from an older mammal, the voice held some similar qualities to Nick's, which never failed to surprise Brandon.
"Hey, Vic," the panther greeted as he began to pull out of the parking lot. "Just calling to let you know that they've finally analyzed your uniform. They've got your number now, so to speak."
Victor laughed. "Really? That's great! What took them so long?" he asked in a merry tone. Brandon smirked; his theory about Victor being bored was correct.
"Oh, I subtly dropped a hint or two. Luckily, the ZPD hired a new guy onto the forensics team, so it didn't take five years," the panther joked.
"Well, thank you! Does my son know?" came the next question.
"Yes. We called him immediately after the scan. Bogo should know very soon, too, so there's that," came Brandon's answer.
"Perfect. The rest of my plan can finally be put into motion! You've done well, Brandon. Get some rest; you've earned it." With that, Victor hung up, leaving the panther in silence.
"Oh, I plan to," Brandon smiled as he pulled up to the apartment complex where his flat was located. Right now, rest sounded perfect.
The door to Nick and Judy's apartment opened without any ceremony. Nick entered first. His fur was bristling just slightly, and his face was set in a near-permanent scowl. However, he looked more tired than angry as he made a beeline for the bedroom.
Judy entered after him and closed the door behind her. Her eyes were puffy and her fur was matted, the telltale sign that tears had been shed. Her ears drooped behind her back, and her movements were slow and lethargic. She seemed tired as well, though her despair was clear as day.
The talk hadn't quite gone as she had planned, leaving both mammals in an emotional tizzy. The bunny hoped that a good night's rest would help smooth everything out, but even her positive side had doubts that things would be easier in the morning.
Judy made her way to the bedroom at a sluggish pace, her energy drained from the events of the day. She saw that Nick had haphazardly discarded his clothes and now lay in the bed, snoring lightly. Most nights, the sight would have put a smile on the bunny's face, but not tonight. Tonight was different – had to be different. She had heard Nick's conversation with Connor on the phone, and she knew what had been found. With the new evidence, the ZPD could start really searching for Victor Wilde and put a stop to him.
But Nick wasn't invited.
He was too emotionally attached to the case, as was told by his outburst at the Penitentiary earlier. Judy sighed as she began to undress. She could only imagine the pain that her fox had to go through, knowing that his father was a now-known criminal who was causing turmoil in the city. Judy came from a family-oriented culture, while Nick had only known his mother. They were polar opposites in every way, and the bunny was sure that Victor knew that.
A mighty yawn escaped her throat, derailing the train of thought that was going through Judy's head. Her tired body now on autopilot, she climbed into bed next to her fox, but something felt off. Taking a moment to clear her mind enough for coherent thought, Judy realized that Nick was facing away from her, his body closed off to any nighttime cuddling. A pang of sadness stabbed at the bunny's heart as she reluctantly turned to face away from Nick as well.
The bed felt cold without Nick's arms around her and empty without his body pressed up against hers. Judy began to gently shiver despite the thick blanket that lay atop her. Then she felt it. A soft, fuzzy feeling washing over her entire body and ridding her of the shivers. Thoughts of how she and Nick could fix everything once Victor was caught played through the bunny's mind, filling her with hope for a bright future and helping her forget all about the ugly present.
It was with a sad smile that Judy fell into a dreamless slumber.
Wait! Before you all go grabbing your torches and pitchforks, just know that the anti-fluff will only be around for a few more chapters! I promise it'll get better if you guys are just a bit patient. Trust me, it's getting harder and harder to write these chapters, but I feel that I'm getting some great practice with this tone.
It was nice to bring Connor back, but it also seems that Victor has eyes and ears everywhere, huh? I bet you're all confused as to what he's planning, and I'm gonna keep it that way, albeit, there will be a few hints dropped here and there. Keep a sharp eye out, because I'm giving enough hints to give you an idea of what's going on while holding back the full picture! It wouldn't be a good mystery without that, right?
Anyway, hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Until next time!