Judy looked through the glass into the interrogation room. Bogo stood next to her, looking over some documents on his clipboard. Judy studied the small figure sitting alone, handcuffed to the table, in the adjacent room.
At first glance, Dawn Bellwether would seem to be an insignificant sheep. She didn't look threatening, but Judy knew more than anyone that those green eyes hid a dark personality. Standing next to Bellwether was her lawyer, a pig in a neat suit, who certainly looked like he wanted to be defending anyone else at that moment.
Bogo finished looking over his notes and left to enter the interrogation room. He towered over both Bellwether and her attorney, though Bellwether made a show of not being intimidated by the large buffalo, looking up to meet his gaze.
"Ms. Bellwether," he began in a low voice. "Do you know why you're here?"
"Yeah, cause I'm a terrorist and whatnot. Blah, blah, blah," she answered nonchalantly. Her lawyer looked terrified that she was talking in that tone.
"More than that now, mam," Bogo replied before looking at his notes. "Kidnapping, coercion, assault with a deadly weapon. The list goes on." He sat down the clipboard and moved down into the seat at the table across from Bellwether. "Care to explain?" Bellwether seemed to consider her options before she shifted her gaze to the large two way mirror on the wall, almost looking Judy in the eye.
"Would I be wrong in assuming Judy's listening?" she asked, studying the mirror. Her gaze sent shivers up Judy's spine.
"Just answer the question," Bogo answered irritably. A small smile crawled over Bellwether's face as she turned back to the large buffalo.
"So, that's a 'yes', I take it?" she asked with a smirk. Bogo let out an annoyed snort.
"Don't let her get to you..." Judy whispered from the other side of the glass. She knew Bellwether was playing mind games, but she knew Bogo was smart enough see past it. Judy was intently focused on the interrogation happening before her that she barely heard the door open behind her. She glanced back just long enough to see that Nick had walked into the room.
"How's the big guy doing?" he whispered.
"She's playing mind games with him," Judy answered.
"Would you expect anything else?" Nick said.
"It doesn't matter who's here. Just answer the question." Bogo was becoming more frustrated with the small sheep sitting in front of him.
"I just want to make sure she can hear what I'm about to say," Bellwether said in some type of innocent voice. "It mostly involves her anyway." Bogo eyed Bellwether suspiciously. "Do you hear that, Judy?!" the sheep suddenly yelled toward the mirror. "It's all your fault!"
"What do you mean by that?" Bogo asked. Bellwether snapped her head back to focus on Bogo.
"If it wasn't for that bunny," Bellwether said, a snarl forming on her face. "Everything would have been just fine. But she had to sticking her nose where it didn't belong." She was almost talking through her teeth. "That was the beauty of this whole thing. I would go free, and she would fall from grace. Hero cop goes nuts!" Bellwether waved her hands in front of her, apparently imagining the newspaper headlines. Bellwether let out a frustrated sigh.
"But of course, that bunny has the awful habit of being a major pain in my side," Bellwether continued as she turned back toward the mirror. "You have more luck than any other creature in existence, you know that?"
"She's not wrong about that," Nick commented. It almost made Judy jump. Bellwether tirade was so engrossing she almost forgot her partner was in the room.
"So framing her seemed to be out of the question, so what's the second best thing I could do? Just straight kill her, you know?" Bellwether was now in full monologue mode. Her lawyer tried to step in to stop her from talking, only for Bellwether to shoo him away.
"Stop, I'm talking," she said before turning back toward Bogo. "Anyway, I tried to just kill her, but she still gets away! I mean, really? Can you believe that? Random chance would say I should've killed her by now."
"Why are you telling me all this?" Bogo asked.
"Because you told me to?" Bellwether replied in a questioning tone. "Also, if you don't let me walk out of this building in, say, five minutes, it will be turned into a pile of rubble." Bellwether sat back in her chair and took in the bewildered look on the chief and her lawyer's faces.
"Did you really think I didn't have a contingency for this situation?" she added with a laugh. "The explosives were going to used against some... other things, but placing them around this building was a good second target.
"Nick, start to get people out of the building," Judy said. He snapped out of his stunned silence and nodded before he darted into the hall.
"Tick, tick, tick, Chief," Bellwether warned. "Time's running out." Bogo stood and left the interrogation room. The attorney left seconds later, heading for the exit. Bogo walked into the adjacent room where Judy was.
"Sir, Nick's started an evacuation," Judy informed.
"Good," Bogo replied. His mind was obviously reeling. Judy knew Bellwether was insane, but was just extreme even by her standards.
"What should we do?" Judy asked.
"Well, we can't just let a criminal back out on the street," he answered.
"So, we just wait for the bombs to go off?" Judy asked.
"No," Bogo replied. "Leave. I'll deal with the prisoner. Try to get people as far from the building as possible. I'll be right behind you."
"Yes, sir," Judy answered. She reluctantly turned toward the door. Just before leaving, she looked back toward Bellwether. A look of panic had replaced the sheep's confidence and she was struggling with the handcuffs that kept her in the seat. Judy almost felt sorry for her. Almost.
Judy rushed into the empty lobby and made her way to the front door. She saw Nick directing people away from the building with a bullhorn.
"Please vacate the premises," he said as calmly as he could. He then noticed Judy leaving the building. "Carrots, where's the Chief?" he asked.
"He's going to make sure Bellwether gets out without escaping," she said. "He should be out soon."
"Good," Nick answered. "We don't have much-" He wasn't able to finish his sentence due to the massive shock wave that threw both Judy and Nick to the ground. Her ears ringing and her hands scraped up from sliding across the pavement, Judy looked back at precinct, which was now engulfed in fire.
"Huh, she actually wasn't bluffing." Nick's voice cut through the ringing as Judy saw him climbing to his feet. He didn't look any worse for wear, though some of his fur was singed by falling embers. Judy sat up when her brain came to a sudden realization.
"Chief!" Judy bolted toward the entrance.
"Carrots, wait!" Nick yelled before bolting after her. Judy reached the doorway, but was slowed down to the billowing black smoke. She was just about to rush in when Nick grabbed her arm to hold her back.
"Judy, you won't find him!" he yelled over the roaring flames.
"Someone has to try!" she yelled back.
"You will die if you go in there!" he said as he tried to pull her away from the flames.
"I need to try!" she repeated. She was just about to yank her arm away from Nick when the roof started to collapse. Judy looked up just in time to see several pieces of concrete dislodge and begin to plummet toward her and Nick. He saw it to apparently, managing to throw her out of the way with all the strength he could muster before attempting to duck out of the way himself.
Judy just saw large pieces of debris slam into the ground, kicking up dust and embers.
"NICK!" Judy shouted as he scrambled toward the debris, starting to pull the rocks out of the way. "Nick!" she shouted again. She then saw so movement under the rubble. "Nick, are you OK?"
"Yeah," a weak voice responded. "Arm's pinned, though," he added. Judy saw the rock and knew it would be too heavy to lift. She looked up toward the first responders who were arriving at the scene.
"Somebody help me!"
It took a long time for Zootopia to return to normal. To Judy, it never really felt like it fully went back to normal. The precinct was rebuilt, but it never felt the same. Morning roll call was never the same without Bogo there to start the day. His body along with Bellwether's was found in a collapsed hallway near the entrance. Had Bellwether's timing been more accurate, they would have had more time to escape, but that last mistake cost her her own life.
The following weeks saw the arrest of many animals who had supported Bellwether in her crusade against Judy and the ZPD.
Nick made a full recovery, though it took a long time to regain the full range of motion in his left hand. They still met each morning on a bench near the door before work.
THE END
Author's Note: Well, that's it. I feel like it wrapped really quick at the very end, but I was running out of ideas and I was starting to brainstorm for another story. Thank you to everyone who read and enjoyed this!