Author's Note:

A lot happened in the last chapter, but I did not feel it would have been kind to break that up as a cliffhanger kind of scenario. I am sure you all understand! So, out of the forest, into the fire, right? Not so fast. Time to take a breath and smell the foxes.

If you are just joining Guardian Blue for the first timeyou will want to check out Season 1 first, and I would highly recommend Thanks for the Fox before that as well so everything makes sense. ^^

I love Zootopia. I respect Zootopia. I write about Zootopia. I do not own Zootopia. But if I did… I'd still do all that other stuff, let's be honest!

Also! A HUGE shout-out to J. N. Squire for assisting with editing for Season 2! I will enjoy his help in working on some previous entries as well. Some of the other stories need to be fixed, from back before I had an editor.

Guardian Blue: Season Two

Episode 18: Detour

"I really wanted the window seat." Nick said sullenly. Judy looked a little sleepily at her fidgeting fox. He was in the aisle seat of the plane beside her. Judy sat in the opposite aisle seat. It was an early morning flight and her medicine made her sleepy as it was. Being so early only amplified the effect. She felt the plane begin to move, taxiing to the runway. She discovered that the medicine really helped with the anxiousness about flying that she suffered last time. On Nick's opposite side sat Skye. Jack sat in the seat beside Judy's. Nick grumbled. "The Frost family all gets window seats." Skye put her pink tongue out at Nick playfully.

"It was done fair and square, Nick." Judy said. "We drew cards, highest two got window seats."

"You never shuffled the deck! Of course they both got jokers!" Nick whined.

"You knew I was medicated, and you gave me the task. I shuffled. They won," the doe smirked.

Nick flattened his ears. "You did this." He held a paw as if there was a deck of cards in it, and then shook his paw violently as if it were on fire.

"Maybe I don't want you to have a window seat." Judy stated, smiling.

Nick gasped scandalously. "Say it ain't so."

"Maybe I want you to pay attention to me, and not endless trees sliding below us for the next couple hours," Judy explained with a frown. Nick immediately wilted.

Nick gave the sign for a time out and genuinely pouted. "Oof… Flag on the play, unnecessary feels." He then settled in his seat a bit more, and acknowledged that Judy wanted his attention by giving her his paw. She pulled it into her lap and cradled it lovingly as the plane moved into position for takeoff. Nick grumbled something about wishing that Jack had at least sat beside him because it would be easier to see out the window over a bunny. Skye deliberately mashed herself up against the small window to take in the view of the runway as it accelerated underneath the lifting vehicle. Judy tensed up a lot as the plane left the runway, but her nervousness was missed by everyone else because all four hyenas also on board loudly 'enjoyed' the sensation. Judy winced a little from the force of the changing angle in their small, single propeller plane. Nick certainly noticed that. "You doing alright?" he asked with genuine care.

"Yeah, just a little jarring at the start there," Judy sighed.

"I hope we don't have turbulence," Nick murmured in a worried tone. Judy rested a paw over her middle, feeling the bulky bandages beneath it. 21 stitches had been what it took to put her back together. She hadn't really talked to her family about it. Nick, despite his opinion about misleading them, told them that only that Judy had been cut during an incident and needed some stitches but left a lot of information out. He was actually instructed to say very little because the investigation was just heating up. He wasn't even allowed to tell the Hoppses that they weren't in Zootopia when it happened.

Judy didn't remember the helicopter ride to the local hospital at all, but she remembered being wheeled into the ER. She could only see slim bits and pieces in her memory. She remembered two armed ZBI agents remaining by her side the entire time in the ER, as instructed by Chief Bogo. She could hazily recall that Nick had been there in her room after they were done fixing her up, and vividly remembered noticing that he was also carrying a holstered firearm. She understood that the agents were posted at either end of the hall for her room. Great care was being taken to make sure they would be safe while they remained in the Interior.

Judy slept mostly through the night, blissfully unaware of anything but the presence of her fox by her bed. Nick slept at one point, she remembered, one of the only times she woke up. She found him slumped against her leg, chair pushed up to the bedside. He began to stir as she shifted when she woke. To force her him to get some rest, she immediately took his velvety fox ear between her thumb and finger and rubbed it until he completely stopped moving again. Seeing him sleeping triggered her comfort response the way it always did, and she nodded off immediately after. They both needed to recover. Everything had been very hard on them.

Morning came and things started to move so quickly. She only got to talk to her parents briefly before they had to head out before the sun was even up. They didn't even discharge her from the hospital. She'd never actually been checked in. The drive from the hospital to the airport was anxious. She became aware of the tension and they finally explained to her that there was an unacceptable risk element and she was being evacuated with the others. They were going back to Zootopia.

After a few moments the plane levelled out. It didn't bounce around too much, thankfully. She had been warned that smaller planes were not as gentle most of the time. She looked around the cabin. Two armed ZBI agents were with them still. One was on the helicopter that came to pick her up, Judy remembered. The black wolf, Richter Bay was accompanying them to the city they called home. The other was a female snow leopard that she did not recognize. She introduced herself as Cynthia Rosette.

Before leaving for the airport, Nick had been relieved of his weapon, which he protested a little. He seemed genuinely worried about how safe they would be at the airport. That turned out not to be an issue since they never even went into a terminal. They were driven just a few feet from the plane and hastily loaded up. They barely had their seatbelts on before they were taxiing. They were not taking any chances, apparently.

Once airborne, things calmed down a little. The hyenas murmured quietly among themselves, obviously very excited about being in a plane and visiting Zootopia. None of them had ever been. Judy actually kind of wished that she and Nick could give them the super tour that the fox had given her not long after the Nighthowler incident. There was so much to see that someone would never think to see if they were not actually from there. The hyenas would all likely be taken to a safe house or somewhere to stay and be contained until their security could be assured. They were all witnesses.

The ZBI had allowed Nick to explain the full details of the event to them while Judy had been in the ER. The reason for the rush to get that done was simple. Once their reports were all taken, their value as targets dropped significantly. Revenge was an exceedingly rare motive to harm a witness after the report was given.

As the plane levelled off for the slow flight back, Judy gave in. She lifted the arm rest by the aisle and leaned to the side, taking Nick's paw and drawing him to lean into the aisle too. She arched a bit, nuzzling into his neck. The fox was a little surprised, given that the two ZBI agents were seated behind the pair. He was thankfully unwilling to stop her. That was good. Judy needed the comfort of something that was in her control. Something familiar. She needed something that was not this cyclone of crazy. The agents surely noticed, but they said nothing about it.

"It's gonna get better Judy. This isn't forever." Nick said in a soft tone, seeming to sense that the bunny needed comfort. Judy took in a slow, deep breath. That was exactly, to the letter, what she needed. His soft voice, his touch… It felt like it had been months since they had been able to just hold one another.

"I know. It sucks right now though, Nick," she whispered. "I can't even see my family. We don't even know how long this will go on. Who knows when I will get to really talk to them? They're gonna worry Nick. I can tell my mom already knows something is wrong."

"They'll understand, okay?" he said softly. "They did after the details about the Nighthowler thing came out."

"Wait, Shetani is… is that bunny?" asked Kijivu from the front aisle seat. "What? No, seriously!?" he asked. Skye nodded to him after neither Nick nor Judy wanted to answer. He gasped rapturously. Of course he'd be the one who knew about the events a year ago, out of all of them.

"What bunny?" his mom asked.

"I told you about this! In the city, the poison gun!" He was immediately exasperated. Judy lowered her head, ears back, leaning back into her seat, but not letting go of Nick's paw. She sighed as Motti's family began loudly yammering back and forth about that. There went the quiet, snuggly trip home. She just wanted to relax with him a little bit before the crap hit the fan when they landed. Kijvu switched to their native tongue and the four of them spoke rapidly about that subject. Judy actually felt a little nervous that she couldn't understand the story while it was being told since she could not promise he was being entirely factual. They were still calling her Shetani, though, so it certainly didn't do anything to dispel that little gem she'd be getting to explain to Bogo.

Fortunately, Jack was listening and did care about the facts of the story. He corrected, without speaking their tongue, that Judy had not killed Bellwether. The ewe was in prison. He explained that a lot of what Judy did was normal police work, which she appreciated. She also appreciated that he changed the subject immediately when Kijvu asked if the doe had killed anyone.

"I have been asked, actually, to adapt the story about Bellwether for a movie, loosely based on the details, but the script for it was just… unfixable. It was an abomination!" he laughed.

Motti's mother was the one to respond to that, as Judy relaxed a little with the change of subject. "Oh that is right, you are the actor, yes? I think I have seen one of your pictures. In the Cinema. It is… Jungle Savage, yes?"

Kijvu chimed in. "That is the one with the pretty white doe… Is it… Rose Tillerson?"

Motti's mother gasped and said in a scolding tone, "It is rude to speak of Mr. Savage's previous lovers!"

"We weren't actually lovers." Jack said with a chuckle. Judy opened one eye to glance over to Skye. She was smiling and watching the conversation.

"Only for the screen then?" asked Kijvu. "Man that must be so exciting. I bet you could buy this plane." Skye rolled her eyes at that. It was likely lots of mammals fixated on that detail.

"Not anymore, but Skye could," he laughed, nodding to the vixen. She looked back at him with her ears back.

"No I can't. Half my pay is just free rent!" she laughed.

"I gave everything to you though, remember?" he asked.

"What? Wait, What?" she stammered. Judy sat up.

"The vow? Everything I am, everything I was… all that?" Jack stated.

"J… Jack, I don't get all your stuff. Oh my gosh! You… You really thought you just… Seriously?! You vowed up thinking that you just… You…" Judy looked at Nick who just looked extra-strength smug. She was going to throw him out of the plane. She would have to watch for particularly sharp and horrible looking terrain.

"Nick explained how it worked." Jack said.

"And he told you that it meant that?" Skye exclaimed, paws over her muzzle.

"It doesn't?" Jack asked meekly.

"No! You only give me you! For two life-times! How are you supposed to take all the other stuff with you to another life, Jack? Nick, what did you tell him that for?!" Skye fairly shouted.

"Wow," Nick said slowly, "…these poor ZBI mammals gotta be hating how they can't tell one damned mammal about this secret mission, huh?" he asked.

"I have no idea what's going on." Rosette stated, crossing her arms, "Not what I'm paid for."

"Nick! Why did you tell him that!?" Skye demanded. "Jack's your friend!"

"And so are you." Nick said.

"How was that friendly?" Skye asked. Jack stared at Nick, wide-eyed. Nick looked back at him with a grin.

"Because I knew he'd still do it." Nick said slowly.

"Come again?" asked Skye.

"And now you know what Jack would choose… if he had to choose between you, and literally everything else in his world," Nick stated. The white vixen squeaked.

"Damn it, Nick!" Skye whimpered, cupping her face in her paws and leaning forward on the other side of Nick.

"We uh… we gotta trade places, Nick," the striped buck said softly, squeezing past Judy carefully so as not to push on her middle. The fox beamed.

"I call window seat." Judy said coldly, scooting over to give her partner the aisle seat. Nick gasped and mock-sobbed into his own paws melodramatically. He took a seat however, and Judy was considerably happier to just be able to cuddle her partner more easily. He leaned in closer in part to be able to see out the window. He almost always managed to work things in his favor. It never failed to surprise her.

Bay, the lupine ZBI officer stated casually, "I feel like I'm being given some kind of psychological test, and none of this is real."

While other conversations about Jack's films and personal adventures became the topic of discussion, Judy actually pretended to be asleep, or at least as sleepy as she was feeling to discourage anything but the weight of Nick's paw in hers, and the smell of his warm, silky fur. She could be content just a tiny bit longer. Things were going to be so crazy in the city for a while. She was not looking forward to any of it.

After a time, she really did fall asleep. It was not for long, however. It was actually interrupted by the sound of one of the cell phones being carried by the agent. They had service through the plane's radio communication system.

Bay brought the phone to his ear and spoke quietly a moment, before moving the phone down and turning on the speakerphone feature. The black wolf stated, "Go ahead sir."

"Officer Hopps, are you there?" asked the deep voice of Chief Bogo.

"Yes sir." Judy answered.

"It's Chief Bogo," he stated, as if she wouldn't recognize him.

"Who?" asked Nick.

"Go stand outside a minute, Wilde," the chief said sharply.

"Sir, we are on a plane still," was Nick's anxious reply.

"I'm aware of that!" Bogo snapped. Wilde cringed.

"Err… Got it," he said, making it clear he understood there would be no more banter in the conversation. Judy still smiled to her foxy boyfriend. She still appreciated his humor. He grinned pleasantly back at her.

"Wipe that grin off your face, Wilde!" Bogo commanded. Nick cringed again. The cape buffalo continued talking. "Officers, there's been a change in plans. You are not to return to Zootopia. You are not to enter the city." Judy was immediately very awake, though she held herself half over Nick's lap still, relishing being held during this likely bad news.

"What?" she asked. "What's happened?" Were things getting worse there? Worse than a public official being murdered, even?

"Are you wearing your glasses, Sir?" Nick asked.

"What? Yes, Why?" he asked. Nick covered his muzzle in fear.

"What's happening there?" Judy asked, elbowing Nick slightly and prodding the chief to continue.

"We are unable to locate a number of officials in the Department of Interior Affairs," Bogo explained. "The likelihood that there will still be a danger to you is high. We may have found out what all of this is about." Judy sat up so suddenly she felt pinching from her stitches. She winced and relaxed again.

"Ah... Nnh… What? We are all ears." Judy said firmly. Nick snickered and stroked one of Judy's long, silky ears and got his paw slapped. This was serious. Nick didn't have a serious setting unless someone was trying to kill him.

Bogo responded, "I don't have time to go over all the details with you, but I can tell you that a package was received by Swinton's assistant, Aggie Porcintia. It had been sent the day Swinton died. The contents were sent to Swinton by an unknown source, and it seems she sent it immediately to her assistant. She likely knew that she was in trouble, and tried to leave the city before being killed at the airport." Kijvu looked at Motti and shrugged. He had no idea who that was. "However, as it had been sent from the Golden Antler hotel, we suspect it was sent to Swinton by Ukweli before he was killed."

"What?!" cried Motti. Judy flinched at that. It really was all connected. That's how big this was. It would have been nearly impossible for her and Nick not to have gotten completely tangled in it. Bogo, however, sighed at the sound of the hyena's exclamation.

"I forgot an important detail about your passenger list." Bogo stated darkly. "I do apologize, and am deeply sorry for your loss. As you are hearing, we are working very hard to give Ukweli the justice he deserves." Motti's mother and father hugged one another, nodding, and Motti and Kijvu just looked intensely toward the phone. "Yes. Ukweli may have sent these research documents. They included pictures of a mural and some painted text."

"The secret!" Motti cried.

"They wanted to destroy it Motti." Her father said in a wizened tone. "Ukweli knew this. He had to. He did the right thing." Motti then slumped in her seat and quietly cried, embracing her remaining brother. Judy swallowed heavily.

"Hopps, it's got really serious implications. I will discuss it with you more later. But you are being directed to a town north of the city. You will be safer there while we deal with the absolute latrine fire that is going on here. I do not have any direct intel that there is a threat against you, but I can't promise your safety inside the city. There's just too many mammals and too many moving parts here. You've provided us enough by giving us names and securing witnesses. You have the bad guys on the run. It's time for your brothers and sisters in blue to follow through."

"Do we have any suspects yet?" Judy asked.

"We have captured Pembe. He was collected at his office in the Interior." Bogo explained.

"He might not be a bad guy. Completely." Motti said in his defense.

"We know," the Chief informed. "He is how we know that the missing mammals from the Interior Department are involved. He is, thus far, cooperating."

"Where will we be going, sir?" asked Judy, curious about how she would even contact her family from some unknown location.

"New Reynard. I have already made the arrangements." Bogo stated.

"No, not New Reynard. Somewhere else, you mean." Nick stated harshly. Judy could actually see his teeth. The bunny knew exactly why.

"It's the best option, sorry Wilde," Bogo insisted.

"No, absolutely not, sir. My mom is there. I'm not putting her at risk." Nick stated adamantly.

"Look," Bogo said in a careful tone, "We do not have actionable intelligence that there is a direct threat to you or Hopps," explained Bogo. "But we have far greater control of your security in a remote location. There's only one road going into that town, and the rail line. It's got satellite access and the surrounding forest offers excellent cover should you need to depart in a hurry and request evacuation. I know you don't like it but your mother's about to change her dinner plans. My advice to you, Wilde, is that you and Hopps and all the others get some rest while you are there." Judy sucked in a deep breath. Nothing sweetened the deal more than that offer. Bogo spoke in a lower tone, suggesting he might not be in a completely private location. "I don't know how long this will take, but security is being handled. You've all been through a lot, and I feel with a high degree of certainty that you will be safer there than anywhere else."

Judy interjected, "Will the other prisoners be transported to New Reynard as well?"

"Yes." Bogo said. Judy understood that to mean the lionesses that had been taken on another plane. Her boss continued, "We will be securing a bed and breakfast by the lake there for this purpose. It's out of the way and even more defensible. We may move other witnesses there as well, but if we do, additional security will be provided. We want to make everyone as safe as possible, but we wish to avoid making a big impact on the town. The fewer mammals involved, the better. I have to attend a press conference in a moment, so I have to go. The ZBI agents will set up security at the bed and breakfast and additional security will arrive later this afternoon. Do you have any questions before I go?"

"Are you still wearing your glasses?" Nick asked.

"Yes, why do you keep asking that?!" Bogo shouted.

"Good luck with the press conference, Sir." Nick said. "You will be in our thoughts."

There was a pause. "Thank you, Wilde. All of you are in mine." The phone hung up.

"You know, I had real questions for him." Bay said with a glare at Nick. "Thanks for that." Nick shrugged casually. Judy sighed. What was going on in Zootopia? What was all of this really about? She closed her eyes and leaned in against Nick as Jack and Skye helped comfort Motti. She cried not from sorrow but gladness. To her, the whole city was working hard to make it so Ukweli was not forgotten, and his death not meaningless. He would not be 'nothing' after all.

There was a very small airstrip a few miles outside of New Reynard. It was used for fire control due to the large size of the forest, a place for planed to land and refuel when battling forest fires and protect the small town from certain doom otherwise. The runway was made of dirt, so the landing was bumpy. Judy was held tightly by her fox for it, and it still hurt a bit. She felt like at least one of her stitches might have popped. She'd have Nick check when they were settled in. After landing, they were transferred to a couple different SUVs. Coming into town, they passed the train station that sat lonely in the forest. Judy wistfully remembered it from when she came here and found Nick's mother so many months ago. The leaves were already beginning to change colors. It was late in the season. She bet New Reynard was stunning in the fall.

Skye and Jack were in the same SUV as Judy and Nick, and she was delighted by the look of the town as she came into it. Jack admitted that he had also never been to the small predominantly fox town. Judy smiled and pointed out the Muck Street Diner to Nick. They looked as hard as they could to see if Vivienne was working, but they just couldn't see well enough to see inside. Without stopping, their vehicles went through town on Musk Street, the main road there. Three black vehicles in a row were as suspicious as one could get in this small town. Judy watched as they passed the graveyard where she had met Elliott Scritchard. Judy looked at Nick, wondering very briefly if he'd visited his dad's memorial there. She wouldn't press him on that. Skye was elated by the statue in the middle of town. She pointed it out to Jack, who was not as enthusiastic, but was certainly supportive.

The bunny had not been further than the middle of town, so she watched as the school went past, a few homes, one of which she understood to be where Vivienne lived, a factory of some kind, a grocery, and then forest again for about half a mile. Finally, they reached what was literally the end of the road. It ended in front of a small, lovely lake with a rather large dark blue two story house with white trim and a wrap-around porch. The sign in front read, "Autumn Refuge Bed and Breakfast".

"This looks really lovely," Judy said in a gentle tone. "Have you ever been here?" she asked her partner.

"No, never." Nick said. "But obviously I stay with my mom when I visit, so I never had a reason."

"I love these kinds of places," Jack whispered to Skye. "You've not seen cozy until you've been to this kind of establishment. They all have such magical personality."

"So long as I'm with you, it could be a cardboard box, Jack," she said melodically. She had been in a snuggly mood unrelenting since Jack's confession that he thought giving up all his worldly possessions was a part of vowing himself to his vixen. She was impressed by that, and Judy was not entirely sure that had not been Nick's entire intent. She didn't want to ask in front of them.

The ZBI got out, moving around the house before signaling back that everyone was okay to get out of the vehicle. An sturdy looking lady badger dressed in camo trousers and a black sweater exited the establishment. Energetic brown eyes gleamed at the approaching visitors.

"Oh we are in luck," Jack said excitedly, "I bet she's the empty nest super nurturing type."

"What the hell!" she cried in a harsh tone. Jack waved politely. She put her paws on her head. "That guy said four rooms! There's a dang army of you! Oh, yer gonna cook your own vittles, all right! And I'm gonna pitch a little tent outside for the first'un that decides they gotta take a shower at three in the morning, and that's a promise. Oh my God, are those bunnies?" Judy looked warily at Nick, who didn't look particularly confident either. "I ain't even got bunny chow!" She flailed. "Now I gotta run to the grocery." She spun around a bit. "I just went! Why can't they'a told me who was comin'? Ya'll go in and suss out your own rooms! Gah, why? On a Monday!" She stomped to the back of the house, two of the ZBI agents moving to avoid her. She then drove out from behind the house in a van that looked like it was held together with rust, harsh political bumper stickers, and aging anti-Bellwether propaganda. Judy watched quietly as the van with a license plate that said "Honey" lumbered noisily down the road.

"Yep, gonna be real cozy. I can't wait." Jack said, ears tall, still grinning like an idiot as he took Skye by the paw and headed for the front of the house. "Hey look, a porch swing!" he exclaimed. Skye brightened up immediately.

"Let's get our bag put away!" Skye laughed.

Judy cupped her muzzle and looked at Nick, who shook his head slowly.

He said, in a soft tone, "Maybe Mom won't mind if we visit her a little."

"Sweet!" Jack called from inside, "This place has a punching bag in the living room that looks like a sheep, Nick!"

Nick folded back his ears with a cringe. "Or maybe a lot."