The Barclaws Music Club at Lions Gate was quite lively tonight, with plenty of mammals partying. The club's main building appeared shuttered off, and the revellers enjoyed the night on the open field opposite of the club which had been cleared off of all furnitures which were now stashed at one corner. Hung over the club's wall was a banner that said "Barclaws Special Saturday", with "Interspecies Fun: Showcase Your Differences" label plastered on it. The revellers were mostly in pairs of different mammals; there was a tiger dancing with an ibex, a coyote chatting with a horse, to name a few.
It was a quarter past ten when a female moose left the party followed by Gary. Both of them appeared to have enjoyed the party, and Gary was a little amused at how the moose barely appeared tired after partying from almost seven. He kept a sprightly demeanor to match her cheerfulness even as he was fanning himself due to the sweltering atmosphere.
"As far as boyfriends go, you're not bad," the moose teased Gary as she put on her jacket.
Gary smirked, unsure of what to say.
"Thanks for partying with me," the moose continued.
"Good for me if you're happy, Serfin," Gary replied.
"Yeah. Now, to go home," Serfin the moose started walking northwards into the back alleys.
"Wait, Serfin," Gary quickly interposed himself between Serfin and the back alley, "let's take another route back."
"What?" Serfin protested, "We walked this way when we went to the club."
"Well, that was 6 and it wasn't so dark and quiet," Gary countered as he pointed at the now-dark and quiet alleys.
"But I want to get home before 11," Serfin pouted, "Besides, I've got you."
Gary was aghast in his mind. Was this moose so crazy as to walk in the alleys at night regularly? Or was she high from a cocktail she gulped down earlier? Actually no, she looked sober enough, but perhaps way over-confident.
"Ok, ok," Garry conceded, "The shortest path is a straight line, I get it. Let's go."
"Yay," Serfin started skipping forward.
Gary quickly kept pace with Serfin as they walked in the alleys back to Serfin's home. While scrutinizing the quiet, sparsely-lit alleys, Gary thought back at accepting Serfin's request to escort her to Barclaws. He was not informed that the party Serfin planned to attend tonight was about celebrating the diversity of Zootopians, and he was even less prepared when Serfin only clarified at the club that he was to be something of a boyfriend-for-hire on top of being a bodyguard. She said that she's a regular at the club, but she wasn't prepared for this week's "Interspecies Fun" theme, where patrons who came as mismatched pair of species would get one free drink, and more goodies if the pair were prey-predator. Thus Serfin scrambled to get someone to pair with until her friend Iryn the sun bear, who wasn't a party-goer, mentioned Gary in passing. Gary couldn't help but chuckle at the entire situation.
About ten minutes passed uneventfully as Gary tried to keep pace with Serfin, who was going a bit too fast for Gary's comfort. He himself had been comfortable with the alleys despite a few unsavory mammals who loitered in the dark, but having to keep an eye on someone else in the same situation was rather problematic. Gary sighed quietly, hoping that they'd get back to Serfin's home fast enough without incident.
When the two of them walked past an intersection, Gary caught glimpse of some bears coming from the left alley. He froze as he began guessing whether or not those bears were hostile. Serfin noticed him and stopped on her track.
"What's wrong, Gary?"
Gary snapped out of his thought and realized he had just stopped. Curses. There he went again, trying to assess some strangers when he should have been more concerned about escorting his charge home.
"Nothing," Gary began walking again, "Let's move-"
"Hey, what's up?" One of the bears was already right behind them.
Gary spared a glimpse at the bear before he nudged Serfin to walk in front of him.
"What's wrong huh, lovebirds?" Another bear chased after Gary and grabbed his right arm, and Gary turned around to swat the bear's paw before he continued walking.
"Wait," the first bear, judging from the voice, seemed to realize something, "Hey, you're the pup snooping around at Watering Hole."
Watering Hole? Oh no.
"Faster," Gary whispered to Serfin, "I think I know who they are."
Serfin nodded nervously as she began to haste.
"Hey, we still have business from the last time, puppy," The second bear barked, "Get him."
Gary thus started running with Serfin in tow, having counted three Ursines in pursuit. He remembered that the alley that stretched ahead of them was exactly the same path he and Serfin took to go to the club. He needed to divert the Ursines; obviously he couldn't just run straight to Serfin's house when there were bears chasing after them. At one intersection Gary happened to look to his left and thought he saw a large road at the end of that alley way, maybe hundred yards away. He got a plan.
"Go left later," Gary told Serfin.
"Huh?"
"Main road."
Gary wasn't sure if Serfin responded. He hoped she agreed, but moreover, he hoped he was right, especially since the Ursines were still close by.
"Ah!"
Just as they reached another intersection, Serfin stumbled on a dumpster and fell, and as Gary pulled her up he saw the Ursines about to catch up to them. He glanced towards the end of the alley hoping that it really was a large road, and he thought he saw a police car parked on the other side. Excellent. Gary immediately shoved the dumpster towards the incoming Ursines, and the frontmost bear tumbled straight onto him. As Gary tried to lock the bear, he yelled at Serfin and hinted to her to run for the road.
"Go!"
Serfin, thankfully not too injured, immediatelly made a run as the locked bear threw Gary off. As Gary regained his footing, he mustered the loudest howl he could do before the Ursines bore down on him. Hopefully that howl could alarm the police, or at least, hopefully that really was a police car he saw.
Larry, Boris and Wilfred were at the rooftops surveying the neighborhood. The buildings on their current vicinity were not very tall, and mostly dark and quiet, thus giving the team more freedom of moving at that hour. They had spent the last half an hour or so under the sky, and they had yet to find any signs of Gary. In fact, in the last five minutes or so, they had seen no one in the alleys.
At one point, Larry was surveying the alley grounds below him. Nobody. He sighed and walked back, signalling to Boris and Wilfred, who were on different rooftops, that he woud leap across. The two of them gave an OK sign, and they all proceeded to their respective next buildings. As what he had been doing before, Larry laid low as he resumed his surveying from this rooftop, occasionally using his binoculars. He then heard a beep from his transceiver.
"Larry, I think I saw a commotion going towards point 9A," Wilfred reported.
Somewhere to the north.
"Copy that," Larry responded, "We're going there anyway. Let's investigate carefully later."
"Roger," Both Wilfred and Boris replied.
"Raul, do you copy? We're going to 9A pretty soon, what's your location?"
"8B, that means we're 7 o'clock from 9A counting from north," came Raul's reply, "9B is at 11 o'clock from us."
"Copy that-"
Suddenly there was a howl coming not very far from the north, which went silent soon after. Larry froze. That howl sounded like Gary.
"Guys, I'm heading to 9A now, into the alleys," Larry immediately informed the pack.
"Roger that. I'll go there now," Raul responded.
"Where's Lucas?" Larry inquired as he dashed towards the sound of the howl.
"On my way," Lucas answer.
"Hang on, there's a police car west of 9A," Boris cautioned.
"Ok, see if you can find a safer route," Larry ordered.
"Lucas, continue eastward from 8B. Reanalyze the map to see where you need to go in," Raul ordered.
So Lucas did drive through back alleys. Larry briefly chortled before resuming his run.
"I saw the commotion," Wilfred reported, "It's... him!"
Larry now saw Wilfred on a rooftop looking downwards into the alley. He noticed Boris coming from the west with his binoculars still in hand, and the three of them positioned themselves to view the alley down there. Larry could now confirm his fear as he saw three bears tossing a white wolf to the ground. Gary. He began seething.
"I'm in the alley now," Raul said, "I think I saw someone ahead."
"Gary down. Three hostile grizzlies confirmed," Larry informed, his slowed speech gave everyone the hint.
"Saw them," Connor exclaimed.
"Lucas, head to 9A now," Raul ordered.
As one of the bears turned around to notice Raul and Connor, the two howled, and the three on the rooftops prepared to join the imminent brawl.
Officer Jackson exited a small Snarlbucks cafe, gazing around the mostly empty streets. He was on night patrol around the Baobab area, and he was pleased that the place was generally peaceful. After taking a sip from his coffee, he walked towards his patrol car some twenty yards away when he heard a howl from across the street. He sighed. Did no one tell that wolf to quiet down this late at night?
Jackson was about to get in and drive away when he heard someone coming from an alley across the road, yelling for help. He saw a female moose emerge from the alley, pale and exhausted, clearly after running from something. Jackson locked his car and headed towards the moose, who was now staring at him as she trembled right in front of the alley.
"Miss, what happened? Did you get attacked by a wolf?"
"N-n-no. The wolf-" The moose clearly was panicked. Jackson then pulled her a little away from the alley as he began scrutinizing it. There seemed to be noises but he couldn't make out any figures, and the alley looked quite deep.
"All right, Miss, don't worry, I'll help. What happened?"
"A-a wolf is attacked b-by bears."
"I see," Jackson then helped the moose cross the road towards his car, "Did you notice how many?"
"One wolf and- and two- no, three bears, I think."
Jackson nodded as he began weighing his options of either defusing the brawl but leaving the civilian potentially unprotected, or waiting for backup.
"This is Jackson to dispatch. Civilian reports a 10-10 in an alley at 32 South Baobab Lane. One wolf and three bears suspected. Request backup."
"Roger, Officer Jackson," Clawhauser replied.
Jackson looked around after finishing his report. Perhaps he could ask the moose to wait indoors such as the Snarlbucks cafe he just exited, while he would carefully investigate the alleys. Or maybe...
"Do you live nearby, Miss?"
"Uh," the moose seemed to have calmed down a little, "Actually my house is at 23 East Lane, uh, Baobab Lane."
"Ah, that's not very far-"
A chorus of howls interrupted Jackson. There were more wolves in that same alley, two to three perhaps, and that howl could bring more. Could it be a gang war between wolves and bears?
"This is Jackson, update to dispatch," Jackson quickly called back to Clawhauser, "We may have a 10-15 in an alley at 32 South Baobab Lane. Wolves and bears. Estimated individuals involved is seven plus."
"Okay, Officer Jackson, let me find more backup. Oh, Officer Johnson is returning call, hang on," Clawhauser started talking to Johnson, "Yes, Officer Johnson? You and Officer Andersen are already within two miles from Officer Jackson, okay got it."
Jackson punched a few numbers on his intercom.
"Johnson, we may have a 10-15 here, seven plus mammals, do you copy?"
"10-4, Jackson, we're at 15 East Baobab Lane, will be there in three minutes," came Johnson's reply.
From the north.
"Roger that."
After disconnecting, Jackson strained his ear hoping to get more clues on what's going on in the alleys. He thought he heard some fighting in the alleys. What happened? Jackson decided to wait for backup.
"Well, not so tough, huh, pup?" The bear sneered as he lifted Gary by the neck and slammed him to the wall.
"Damn wolf," a second bear angrily punched Gary in the gut, "Pretending not to remember us, yet you clawed my left cheek again like the last time."
"Maybe he just wants to give you a kiss there?" The third bear jested, much to the second one's displeasure.
"Whatever," the first bear then threw Gary to the ground, "You should know better than to sneak around where we are and even pick a fight with us."
"He really shouldn't mess with someone way bigger," the second bear retorted.
"Yeah," the first one replied, but then he noticed the third bear checking on Gary, "What are you doing?"
"Oh, I dunno, maybe I'm in the mood of some lunch money."
"Looting, huh," the second bear chuckled, "Eh, sure, some money to buy bandages for me won't hurt- wait, I heard something."
The three bears were interrupted by a howl, and they turned to see the source. Two wolves, who soon came charging at them. The bears all stood their ground bracing for the wolves.
"Oh, so this pup has friends?" The second bear assumed his fighting stance, "Come at me, ye pupsies."
Suddenly there was a loud thump and a yelp from behind the second bear. He instinctively turned around to see the third bear being jumped on by two wolves, as well as another wolf crashing on top of the first bear as the latter just became aware of what happened to their companion. One of the two charging wolves tackled the second bear as the other gave him a hard kick to the head, sending him crashing onto the wall. The third bear tried to struggle against the two wolves who landed right on him, but a few precise strikes all over his body brought him down. And while the first bear managed to knock away the wolf who crashed onto him, the other four bearing down on him were too much. The three bears were all knocked out in less than a minute.
As Boris and Connor rounded up the bears onto the wall, Larry checked on Gary, pale as he started imagining the worst things.
"Gary! Gary!"
Larry imagined he saw Gary twitching, or at least that's what he tried to tell himself as Gary gave no audible response. Wilfred made a preliminary examination on Gary.
"Still alive. But looks bad."
"See me, guys?" Lucas interrupted from the transceiver.
Raul heard the sound of their van and saw a flash of rear light.
"All clear," Raul replied as he saw Wilfred and Boris dashing to the van, then he went to Larry, "Here, let's get him to the van."
Larry nodded as he and Raul carried Gary to the van while Connor trailed to make sure there were no more threat. Boris and Lucas were already at the front seats, and Wilfred had prepared an impromptu bedding and first aids for Gary, and once all wolves got in, they drove off.
"What we have right now won't help him much," Wilfred stressed, "We need to get him to hospital."
"No!"
"Larry, I can't even tell right now if he's just bruised or already got a few broken bones. It's better if we get him to hospital now!"
"There were cops earlier, remember?" Larry countered Wilfred, even as he could agree with him.
"What of it?" Wilfred quizzed as he recalled Boris' warning about a police car.
"If we bring him to a public place, the cops will know he got into this mess. And I don't want the cops getting involved too much in this."
"Then what do you suggest?" Wilfred retorted even as he understood that Larry's stance stemmed from the fact they they had been in jail before; the authorities might be prejudiced against them.
"A doctor not associated with public facility?" Raul surmised.
"Madge?" Lucas responded.
After a pause, Larry asked, "Will that work?"
"I think that's a good idea," Wilfred smiled, "She hasn't regained her license, but she's still a medic."
Larry nodded as Raul ordered Boris and Lucas, "You two, check the map and see if we can find a way to reach Dr. Madge as fast as possible."
With that, the wolves took a detour westward to reach Dr. Madge. Larry could only hope Gary could make it through all this.
Jackson returned to 32 South Baobab Lane to find a few ZPD officers on the scene. He just went back from escorting the moose, who introduced herself as Serfin, to her home, and he estimated eight to ten minutes have passed since Johnson and Andersen met with him and offered to watch over the alley while he took the moose back. In addition to Johnson's car, there were four more, but they had begun departing the scene. As the cars passed by him, Jackson saw three of them contained a bear each, but there was no other perpetrator. Andersen then came up to Jackson as the latter got off his car.
"Looks like we missed out quite a lot," Andersen began.
Jackson merely raised an eyebrow.
"There were three bears who had been beaten up, but we," Andersen gestured to both himself and Johnson who was positioning himself beside Andersen, "didn't see any wolves."
"No wolves?" Jackson queried, but then he thought of something else, "Wait, you're telling me the other officers didn't go in with you?"
"We did think of waiting for backup considering you said there might be at least seven perps in there," Andersen explained, "but things went too quiet after a minute or so, so we decided to go in."
Jackson didn't know what to say. Geez, guys, don't be so reckless.
"And we arrived at what probably was the fight scene, with those three bears already out cold and nobody else around."
"Were they shot?"
"No. In fact, apparently there was no weapon involved. At most one bear got clawed on the cheek."
"We'll probably figure it out once we interrogate the bears," Johnson interrupted, "The most logical guess is that if there were wolves, they fled after the fight."
Jackson scratched his chin. The entire unrest lasted for too short a time, with a possibility of it ending at the same time Johnson and Andersen met him. His estimate based on the howls was that there were probably four wolves, while the civilian estimated three bears. Theoretically speaking, it wasn't impossible for the fight itself to end fast, but for the bears to be taken down so thoroughly like that, the wolves would have needed firearms, which Andersen had debunked. If the number of wolves were higher, trouncing the bears so badly in such a short time barehanded might be possible, but if that howl indeed were to summon more wolves, the resulting mob would have been very noisy and might not have escaped notice in that short time frame. And yet Johnson and Andersen didn't find any sign of wolves. What happened, actually?
"Jackson?" Johnson puzzled.
"Ah? Oh," Jackson snapped out of his thought, "Nevermind. That civilian moose earlier was a witness anyway. We'll ask her at a later time."
"Ok."
The three of them then returned to their cars. Jackson then gestured to the other two that he'd report to dispatch, and the two saluted back as they left. After informing Clawhauser about what he, Johnson and Andersen discussed, he resumed his Baobab patrol.
"Thanks for your help, Doctor," Larry shook Dr. Madge's hand as he also took glances towards Gary.
"Happy to help," the badger smiled back, "I'm still a bit shocked how sudden you were looking for me over midnight like that. Especially with Gary being so badly roughed up."
Dr. Madge then spared a glimpse at Gary.
"Quite the sturdy one, isn't he?" she continued, "I was worried that since he was beaten to unconsciousness, he might have suffered severe internal injuries, but turns out everything is manageable."
Larry made a smile without noticing. Dr. Madge then turned towards Larry somewhat grumpily.
"But seriously, Larry, why did you bring him to me instead of the hospital?"
Larry was taken aback as he quickly replied, "I-I just don't want him handled by some stranger."
"Wilfred has a point, you know. This time, Gary's injuries are something I can still manage, but this is not a hospital, and I don't have the best medical equipments. Had his injuries been worse, the time you would have wasted sending him to hospital from here could have killed him."
Larry flinched. Ever since that jailtime, he had steeled himself against getting help from outsiders, especially authorities, on dealing with his pack given that their reputation had gone unsavory. And yet he couldn't refute Dr. Madge's words; by denying Gary the best possible help in the worst situation, he could have lost Gary forever. Larry sighed with a defeated tone, and Wilfred tried to think of what to say to defuse the situation.
"Actually, Doc, do you think it would have helped if we were to take Gary to Cliffside? I mean, that place is practically a hospital." Wilfred began asking.
"Pretty sure Larry would disagree," Dr. Madge rebutted as she noticed Larry collapsing on a chair beside Gary, "I heard that ever since the Night Howler incident, the place had been regularly patroled by ZPD. And besides, that place is still far from here anyway."
"Oh," Wilfred scoffed.
"Thanks again, anyway," Larry mumbled without looking away from Gary. Dr. Madge shook her head and gazed on the window, realizing that it was almost midday.
"You two haven't slept for hours now," Dr. Madge told the wolves, "I'll prepare some bed-"
"Oh, no, no, Doc, you also haven't slept," Wilfred declined, "You go get your rest on a nice bed. We'll make do with the sofa or chairs or whatever here."
"Erm-"
"It's ok, Doc. Our fault also that we bugged you at the wrong hour like that."
"Well, if you say so," Dr. Madge conceded, "You can take some cushions from the living room. Sorry I don't have big pillows."
"Thanks, Doctor," Larry replied.
For the next few hours, Larry sat by Gary. He was at once glad that Gary was still alive and worried that the worst had not passed. It weren't just the bruises which Larry was concerned about, but that Gary had lost quite a weight. At times he petted Gary, asking gently for him to wake up even as he knew it wouldn't happen so soon. At other times, he communicated with Raul, whom he had put in charge of the base while he and Wilfred stayed at Dr. Madge's house to take care of Gary. That night, Lucas and Connor came by, both to visit Gary and to bring some food for the two caretaking wolves.
The next morning, when Larry entered Gary's room after a shower, he heard a few grunts and noticed that Gary's eyes were half open. Larry was beaming as he sat by Gary, who soon replied with a weak stare. Larry merely held Gary's paw, and Gary wasn't sure if Larry was crying. He then tried to get up.
"Hey, hey, easy there," Larry gently held Gary down, "You just woke up."
"Where... is this?" Gary sounded confused.
"Dr. Madge's house. You were-" Larry wiped his eyes before continuing, "you were- you got me worried there."
Gary looked on, unsure what to say.
"Rest first. I'll get her to check on you," Larry then gestured Gary to lie down, then bolted outside half-yelling, "Doctor! Wilfred! He's awake!"
Some thirty minutes later, Dr. Madge finished her examination on Gary, and joyfully informed that Gary might be able to recover well enough in two or three days. As Gary looked at Larry, he thought Larry really was about to cry. Dr. Madge then left the wolves by themselves.
That late afternoon, after answering a call from Raul outside Gary's room, Larry came in to find Gary seated on the bed. Larry wasn't sure what to feel; He was happy that Gary was making a swift recovery, but Gary himself looked very depressed, if that word were enough to explain. Larry then sat by Gary, who didn't immediately look back.
Larry's first words after some silence was, "You ok?"
"No," was Gary's thought, but somehow he couldn't even shake his head.
"If you're still not feeling well," Larry continued as he gently stroked Gary's head, "lie down and rest first."
"I just," Gary uttered something, "I just can't do anything right, can I?"
Larry was silent, but he intently waited for Gary's next words.
"I screwed you up, and- and I... can't even do anything right on my own."
Part of Larry wanted to chide Gary for that nonsense, but he realized that was not what Gary- no, that was not what the two of them needed right now. Gary then turned to Larry with such sullen eyes that Larry instinctively rubbed Gary's eyes as though there were tears. When was the last time he wiped tears off someone? That didn't matter. He waited to see if Gary had anything else to say, and only began talking after some silence.
"You're not a screw-up, Gary."
"I can't even solve my own problems, that I still end up needing your help," Gary listlessly drooped. Larry paused as if scrambling for words.
"You're not perfect, I-I think I can say that," Larry fumbled as he scolded himself for saying something that might have been hurtful, "But you've been a great mate. And you're still surviving."
Larry wished Gary smiled upon hearing that, but Gary shook his head and replied, "But you're better off without me ruining you all."
Larry sighed as he patted Gary's shoulder.
"What can I say for you to change your mind, Gary? Look, what's done is done. That's just a lesson for us for the future. You shouldn't just think that everything is your fault and that by suddenly leaving us you would have taken away all our problems, that you would no longer burden us by just-"
Larry wasn't sure what to say. Had he done something, said something all this time that made Gary believe that he should solve his problems alone, to the point of pinning all the blame of the pack's problems to himself due to one mistake he made? Well, that by itself wasn't the issue. Larry had always believed that what happened with the pack should be solved by the pack. Or perhaps it was precisely that mentality he had instilled to Gary that eventually led to this? Larry shook his head. Perhaps he needed to rethink a few things. He then gently turned Gary to face him.
"Please tell me, Gary. If you think you're a screw-up, do you not trust me to help you overcome that?"
It was almost imperceptible, but Larry could feel his question jolted Gary.
"I'm proud of your determination to tackle your mistakes, your shortcomings. But I don't- I just don't like it when you got a big problem and you just go and try fix it yourself without telling me. You're-" Larry appeared as if he were struggling for breath, "I don't want to you just leave like that because you think you're just letting me down. I don't want you to think that you are the source of my problems, because that just untrue."
Larry was imagining tears welling up in Gary's eyes. Or maybe his own eyes were also getting wet.
"Or... is it that living in a pack isn't like how you want it to be? Am I troubling you in any way?"
"No!" came Gary's sudden reply that stunned Larry, "No... I..."
Larry rubbed Gary's eyes, which now really had become watery.
"I just think that... I'm not good enough for you all. For you, who took me in."
"Don't think that way. Please. I would never know how worse off we would be if not because of you, and I'm glad I don't have to find out. But one thing for sure," Larry then wrapped himself over Gary, "I'm glad to have you."
"But I can't even help myself- save myself-"
"That's why I want you back with us. If you're still not confident with yourself, we'll- I'll support you."
"I can come back- you want me back? After all this?" Gary began blubbering.
"To me," Larry also started crying in joy, "you have never left."
Larry didn't know if Gary said anything as his white wolf broke into tears. The two of them spent the next moment in each other's embrace, happy to be together again.
