It was 9 am in the morning, and everyone was out and about. Near the police station, a car pulled up to the parking lot. Sapphire looked out from the window and stared in awe. The buildings, the little shops, and all the animals walking by, everything was new to her. As Sapphire got out of the car, she kept her eyes on the tall building, almost dropping her shoulder bag.
"Wow...that... is amazing..." Martin smiled at her.
"I know, right?" Another voice was heard. They turned around and saw Nick and Judy.
"Judy...Nick..."
"Hey Sapphire," Judy waved, "are you visiting the station?"
"Sort of..."
"She's thinking of joining the ZPD," said Martin.
"That's great," Judy smiled, "you should definitely do it!"
"Well, let's get inside before another crowd swarms," Judy and Nick led Sapphire and Martin into the building. When they entered, the place was crawling with officers, all dressed in uniforms and such. Sapphire had her eyes looking everywhere. The station was better than any department she's ever seen in her life, especially the difference in height. The three approached the front desk, where a chubby cheetah was munching on a donut.
"Hey Clawhauser," Judy waved at him.
"Oh, hi Judy! How's it—" he stopped when he looked at Sapphire.
"Clawhauser, this is Sa—"
"You're Sapphire Lovell!" he exclaimed with excitement, "You're the daughter of the famous Lovell officers! I can't believe it!" His shouting caught almost everyone's attention.
"I think he knows," Nick smirked at Judy.
"Aha...Sapphire...this is Benjamin Clawhauser."
"It's nice to meet you," Sapphire took her hand out, and Clawhauser shook it with a smile.
"It's a pleasure to meet you too," he kept smiling. Suddenly Martin felt his phone vibrate, and picked it up.
"Hello?...Oh, hey Daniel...alright...I'll be right over." He hung up.
"I have some work to do. I'll see you guys later."
"See ya Martin," Nick waved as the tiger walked away.
"Hey Clawhauser, is Chief Bogo in the building?"
"He's in his office," the cheetah replied, "he's not busy, so you can call him if you want."
"Okay. Sapphire," Judy looked up at her, "do you mind staying here while we go get the chief?"
"Don't worry, I'll be okay." She waved her hand as Judy and Nick left. She then looked at Clawhauser.
"So...you're their receptionist?"
"Yeah...but it's not as cool as the other's jobs. If I might ask, what do you do miss Lovell?"
"Oh, I do field work like undercover and patrol and other things," she replied, "and you can call me Sapphire."
"Oh no, I couldn't do that," he waved his hand.
"It's okay...if I call you Benjamin, then you can call me by my name too. Sound fair?"
"Well...I guess it's fine," he rubbed his neck sheepishly. Just then, a rumbling noise was heard. The cheetah looked at Sapphire as she smiled sheepishly.
"...I guess I'm getting hungry..."
"Oh, here," Clawhauser opened a box of donuts, "take whatever you want."
"Thank you. They all look so good," she happily smiled. As she and the cheetah were busy, walking in was a rhino officer, holding onto a wolf that was handcuffed.
"Take it easy man," the wolf growled.
"Just keep moving," the rhino kept on pushing him. However, the wolf smirked as he saw Sapphire talking to Clawhauser. In an instant, the wolf slipped from the rhino's grip and ran towards them.
"Hey!" the rhino yelled. The wolf immediately put his cuffed paws around Sapphire's neck and held her there.
"Stay back, or else!" He warned him. The other officers saw the wolf and were about to pull out their weapons.
"Sir, you're strangling my neck. Please back off?"
"Yeah right," the wolf said.
"Okay~" Sapphire stomped on his foot, as he yelped in response. She slid down out of his grasp. She did a leg-sweep as the wolf went down. Sapphire held a firm grip on his cuffed paws, as her other hand was pushing him down with her knee, and stretching his arms out.
"Woah..." Clawhauser dropped his donut. Everyone was shocked by her swift maneuver.
"Not to brag, but," she smirked, "I used to teach a class in martial arts." The wolf groaned in defeat. Sapphire got up as the rhino picked him up. She rubbed her neck.
"Are you okay miss?" the rhino asked.
"I'm fine, um..." she looked at his name tag, "...Officer McHorn...thanks for asking." She watched as he and the wolf walked away from her.
"Sapphire, that was amazing," Clawhauser smiled, "I never saw something like that up close."
"Well, it takes a lot of training, but its good to know how to defend yourself." Sapphire grabbed a chocolate glazed donut and took a bite.
"Mm~ this is delicious! What's in it?"
"Oh, its stuffed with crickets."
"...Oh... Really...?" she looked at the donut and then back at the cheetah, "...Huh...not bad," she kept eating her treat while talking to the cheetah. Up above, three mammals were staring down at her.
"Not bad," Nick smirked.
"She is a professional," Judy implied.
"Just like her parents," the buffalo spoke, "bring her to my office."
"Yes sir," they spoke in unison.
Fast Forward
Knock knock
"Come in," a voice said. Sapphire opened the door and shut it behind her. There she stood inside the office. Sitting in the chair was Chief Bogo.
"Have a seat," he gestured his hoof to the chair in front of his desk. Sapphire sat down and stared at him, a bit anxious. He looked through a file with papers.
"You wanted to see me?"
"Yes. Officers Hopps and Wilde have told me about you wanting to work here. Now...looking through your records here...you've done a lot of work. Not only are you skilled in martial arts, and other combat training...but you have many other talents and you have an IQ higher than the average kind. There is also the incident you've displayed down at the lobby..."
"I'm really sorry about that," she apologized.
"Don't be...you were only acting on an impulse of defense. Now then," he opened another file, which had a couple of papers with information.
"These are the forms for your transfer."
"Transfer?"
"Since you are already an officer, its likely that you would be moving in to a new facility. Once you sign those forms, you will be required to take a training course in order to become an official employee of the ZPD."
"Is there a system to this?"
"Technically the training camp gives four challenges, each one taking on the environments of each district of Zootopia, plus a head to head combat defense. However, since you have previous experience in the field, the facility decided to give you a different training task, similar to theirs."
"When will this commence?" Sapphire asked.
"A week from now. To speed you up, I want you to read through this book," he held a book, saying ZPD's rule book in front, "this will give you information on every rules and regulations to help you through training. For now, I believe you should stay here and help around the force."
"Like paper work, or delivery...?"
"You could say that. This will also give you time to study. Until then, be prepared for what you're up against. Is that clear?"
"...Yes sir..." she smiled. This meant that she has a chance. Things are different now, but she's willing to give a try. A new start, in a new life here.
"Is there anything you need to say before you leave?"
"Um, yes actually...if I may say something, sir?" Chief Bogo nodded his head. Sapphire stood up and put her arms behind her.
"I'm not sure how this will work out. I mean...I just came here as a stranger into your world...I'm sure my parents felt the same way when they became your officers. Although I'm open to trying new things. So if I do pass this test..." Sapphire paused as Bogo listened.
"...I have to warn you...sometimes I may follow your way, or I'll do things my way...either way, I'll get the job done. So whatever they or you put me through, I'm not running away even if it kills me. As a police officer, I am here to serve and protect, no matter what the circumstances...that, I can assure you sir, is something I intend to keep following." She finished as the buffalo kept looking at her. For a while, he said nothing. He got up from his chair and walked towards her. Sapphire felt confused as she looked up at him. Bogo's expression was stern, but he then gave a smirk and ruffled her hair.
"You are just like your parents," he stated.
"Um...so I've heard...but I have to admit sir, that I'm envious of you. You know more about my parents than I do."
"Don't be...I never thought you would follow in their footsteps. You were a troublemaker as a kid...you somehow sneak into my office...jump on me and even threatened me to play with you."
"Really...?" she gave a weak smiled, "I'm really sorry...I guess I was a lot to handle..."
"Heh...I have to agree with you on that," the chief then cleared his throat, "anyway...right now I'm headed to the bullpen for a meeting. You will be joining me and the others...I will give an announcement before we start."
"Yes sir."
"Good...but first, you need to change into your new uniform, and then I will give you a tour of the facility. Now if you would follow me," he opened the door and walked out. Sapphire followed him, waving towards Clawhauser as she passed him.
Fast Forward
Word got out fast about Sapphire's arrival, as the officers were in the bullpen discussing the topic.
"It's true then?"
"Yeah. I saw her take down that wolf. It was amazing."
"Hey Judy, you talked to her right?" one looked at her as she turned her head, "what's she like?"
"She's nice," Judy smiled, "from what I saw, Sapphire has been working on the force for a long time."
"She's not someone you want to underestimate," Nick implied. Across from them were a trio of mammals listening to their conversation.
"Hey Martin," a gray wolf looked at a tiger. The wolf had a triangular shaped cut on his right ear.
"What, Randal?" he asked.
"What do you think about this girl?"
"What do you mean?" a polar bear sitting next to him gave a confused look.
"Daniel...Martin's dad was friends with her parents."
"Is that true?" Daniel looked at his friend.
"Sort of...but I was just a kid back then..."
"Atten~hut!" the hippo shouted as chief Bogo entered the room. Everyone roared as he came in, banging on the tables as well.
"Alright! Everybody sit," he stood behind the podium as everyone sat back down.
"Before we begin, there's an introduction needed to be made. I don't usually care about this kind of thing, but this is different. Come in." He looked at the door he came from. Coming out was Sapphire. Judy and Nick smiled as she entered the room, the others were surprised. Sapphire had her hair down and was wearing her new uniform, the same attire that Judy has on, and she wore her laced up boots. She stood next to Bogo on his right side, staring in front. She felt anxious and embarrassed when everyone stared at her.
'Oh man, this feels real weird," she thought, "is it because everyone's staring at me? Well, I am the only human here...so I must be a freak to all of them...'
You're too young to be here...
What a goody two shoes... she's a pushover...
You're just a kid. Go back to working as a waitress...
Like you'll ever fit in with the big leagues...
Those words crept back into her mind. She could feel her heart beat as if struggling.
'Don't think about it,' she reminded herself, 'that's all in the past... just forget...'
"This is Sapphire Lovell," the buffalo said, "many of you might know of her parents, who worked along side us years ago. She will be joining the department as of today. However, Lovell will be under training before becoming an official ZPD officer. Until then, I want you to treat her as our own, respect her, and help her learn our ways in Zootopia. As for today, I have assignments here for the following," Bogo pulled out his reading glasses, "Hopps, Wilde...there is a gang member stealing valuables from jewelry stores in Downtown...find him and bring him in. Everyone else can go on patrol or stay here. Dismissed." Everyone got up and started leaving the bullpen. The chief turned to Sapphire.
"I want you to handle these," he handed her some files, "deliver these to the mammal's named on each file...tell them I want them done by Friday and turned in to my office. Report back to me so I can give you another task."
"Yes sir," Sapphire nodded.
After a while, Sapphire went to see Clawhauser to say hello.
"Hey Sapphire. You look great in your uniform."
"Thanks Benjamin. Just wanted to say hi before going off."
"So the chief gave you a task already?"
"Mhm...just have to drop these off," Sapphire looked at the first file, "hey um, do you know where I can find Officer Fangmeyer?"
"Oh sure. Last I saw him he was headed to the gym. It's down that way," Clawhauser pointed in the direction.
"Okay, thank you," she left to go find him. As she walked down the hallway, she looked in every direction.
'Am I lost?" she thought. Just then, she saw a rhino officer nearby.
"Excuse me," she called him. He turned around, and Sapphire saw the familiar name tag.
"Oh, Officer McHorn...hello again..."
"Ah...hello..."
"I'm sorry to bother you but, do you know where the gym is?"
"Yes. I can take you there if you'd like."
"Great. I appreciate it," she smiled as the rhino led her to the gym. Upon reaching the doors, she thanked McHorn and entered the room. She saw a few mammals working out, lifting weights or going all out on the punching bags. From a distance, some of them saw her by the doors. Sapphire felt nervous, seeing them stare at her as if she was being tested.
"Watch out!" Someone screamed.
Coming towards Sapphire was a basketball. She instantly caught it with one hand, keeping a firm grip on the files close to herself. The impact made her drop the ball and swatted her hand back and forth to ease the pain.
"My bad...are you okay?" a wolf ran up to her.
"Yeah...I'm good," she looked up at him, "oh..." her face went blank.
"What's wrong?" the wolf gave a confused look.
"I'm sorry," she gave a sheepish smile, "its just...you have something on your...head?" She pointed on top of his head. There was gum stuck on his fur, but more than one. It was a row of gum that looked like a crown stuck on there. The white wolf touched it and noticed how sticky it felt. He heard snickering behind him, and noticed his friends laughing. Fangmeyer gave a glare in their direction. It must of been when he was sleeping.
"Do you need help?" She asked politely.
"Ah, no...I should be able to...um..." when he tried pulling it off, the gum stretched and made it spread more on the fur and his paw. Sapphire giggled. She looked around and saw an ice pack. She grabbed it and gave it to him.
"This should make the gum hard, and it'll be easy to take out."
"Thanks...sorry about that."
"It's fine," she waved her hand, "you know I never seen a timber wolf before. Your fur is so nice and white, its like looking at snow. I'm really jealous..."
"Um...thanks," he sheepishly smiled with a faint blush. She didn't know how much she was complimenting him.
"Hey... um, do you know where I can find Officer Caleb Fangmeyer? I was told he was in the gym."
"I'm Caleb Fangmeyer," he pointed at himself, "did you need something?"
"Yes, actually..." she handed him a file, "the chief wanted me to give you this. He also said to turn this in by Friday at his office."
"Oh...okay, thanks."
Sapphire nodded
"If you need anything else, just ask and I'll tell the chief," she smiled, "it was nice meeting you Fangmeyer." She waved and walked out of the gym. Sapphire could feel her heart beat fast as she took a deep breath. All those eyes made her feel very anxious and uncomfortable.
'At least I was able to speak...'
"Its not over yet," she said with confidence, "there's still a lot I have to do."
Soon she found the others and handed them the files. Although, she had some trouble along the way.
"Officer Grizzoli...?"
"...Yes?"
"Hi. The chief wants you to— aahh!" Sapphire couldn't finish, as she screamed in shock when a few books banged on the wall, almost hitting her face. She looked to her side, where a few mammals had sheepish looks and guilty faces. Apparently they were playing a game and didn't realize the trouble they were causing. Grizzoli came to apologize as Sapphire shook her head in reassurance while handing him the file.
"Snarlof, here's your report..."
"Oh, thank you..."
"Somebody stop him!" A badger bandit was running towards them. He pushed Sapphire as he ran, but was soon caught by Snarlof.
"Are you okay?" Snarlof's face went blank, as he saw the human down on the floor, covered in trash and scattered papers from the files she dropped.
"I'm fine...don't worry," she gave a sheepish smile. Things were not going the way she hope it would be.
Even though she was shy, Sapphire acted normal around them, wasn't at all intimidated by their appearance, and only greeted them with a shy smile. It was strange having a human mammal in the station, but Sapphire didn't complain. Although, she still felt nervous, or maybe feared that not many wouldn't warm up to the idea of having her on the force. On her last file delivery, she looked at the name. Suddenly, she heard noise in front of her and looked up. There, she saw Martin next to a wolf and polar bear.
"Excuse me," Sapphire walked up to them. Martin smiled at her.
"Hey Sapphire," he greeted her, "how's it going?"
"Busy... Chief Bogo is really pushing me."
"Well, the chief is one mammal that's hard to please, so you'll get used to it."
"I have something for you," she pulled out the file and handed it to him.
"Ahem...uh, Martin, aren't you going to introduce us?" the wolf interrupted. Martin smirked and shook his head.
"Sapphire...these are my friends...Randal Wolfram, and Daniel Blizzard."
"Hey there," the wolf saluted to her.
"Hello," the polar bear waved. Sapphire waved at them. She then noticed Randal's ear.
"Hmm?...Oh, this?" Randal pointed at his chipped ear, "target practice. Good thing it didn't get the rest. Just luck I guess." He laughed it off. Daniel leaned down to her and whispered.
"He actually stapled his ear on a dare. Cutting it out was the only way to stop him from howling."
"Hey man, come on! Don't make me sound uncool!" Randal pouted.
Sapphire couldn't help but laugh as she put her hand over her mouth. Randal lowered his ears in embarrassment. Just then, Clawhauser called her over from the desk.
"Oh, I have to get back now, so..."
"Right...sorry about that."
"I was nice meeting you guys. Bye" Sapphire waved as she left them. The wolf smiled and turned to his friend.
"She seems nice," he said, "you still don't remember her?"
"... Maybe...I don't know..." Martin pondered on this.
Meanwhile, Sapphire entered the chief's office.
"Chief Bogo...I delivered all the files."
"Good."
"You said there was another task I need to do?"
"Yes. I want you to—"
"Just what do you think you're doing!?" Someone yelled from outside. The chief stormed to the door and opened it. As he and Sapphire looked down, they saw a polar bear officer trying to hold back a black bear who was a criminal. Everyone in the lobby was staring at the scene. The criminal was glaring at Clawhauser who was shrinking into his chair in fear.
"Look buddy, I don't care about your stories on Gazelle or your fan obsession with music and junk! Why don't you go back to eating your donuts, fatty!"
"Hey, watch what you're saying!" the polar bear shouted as he gripped onto his shoulders.
"Sir...I'm sorry if you feel that way..."
"Yeah I bet," he smirked a little, "though I would've expected to see that from a weak and overweight cheetah like you. How are you even an officer, huh? I bet you can't even go up the stairs without someone shaking a donut in front of you for motivation."
"Hey," the officer glared at him, "you have no right to speak that way!"
"Shut up! I can say whatever I want, especially to this tub of useless lard!" Clawhauser could feel tears forming as he ducked his head into his desk.
Chief Bogo could feel his frown deepening. He was about to go down and deal with the criminal, when a voice caught his attention.
"Hey!" Sapphire was walking down the last bit of stairs and towards the front desk.
"You heard him...back off." She stood in front of the black bear.
"What kind of freak are you? Oh, wait, you're that human mammal everyone's talking about. I thought it was a joke."
"Sir, why are you shouting at the receptionist?"
"It's not my fault he's a fat pussy. He shouldn't even be here in the first place." Sapphire clenched her fists and frowned at him. How can he be so racist towards him, and a fellow predator at that? She just couldn't stand this kind of behavior, no matter what.
"You shouldn't insult him like that. He didn't do anything to you."
"Heh...I'm just stating out the obvious," he retorted, "he doesn't belong here...and I could say the same thing about you too." The bear slowly leaned forward to her face as the officer tried to pull him back. His shadow was covering her whole body.
"You're a freak...a small and weak mammal. You don't even look like anyone of us. No claws, no fur, not even a tail. You really think you could live here? You don't belong here or anywhere in this world. So I don't see why you're standing up for him, when you aren't even his species or genius."
Sapphire bit the inside of her cheek, giving an exasperated look.
"Why don't you go back to where you came from, and maybe take that fat pussy cat with his donuts to keep him company. You'll be doing the world a favor." Tension was rising. Things got quiet for a few seconds. Just then, Sapphire took a deep breath.
"Chief," she shouted, "you're going to have to fire me!"
"What are you—"
JAB!
Sapphire did a right uppercut on the criminal, knocking him down on his back. Everyone was shocked as they continued to stare. Clawhauser had his paws over his mouth. The black bear groaned as he sat up.
"You think I don't know that..." she spat those words out in bitterness, "I'm fully aware of it!" She slowly walked up to him.
"I'm sick and tired of everyone saying that! 'You don't belong here...you're too young...what can a small girl like you do!?' It goes on like a broken record!" She stood in front of him as the officer got a hold of him.
"Everyday I had to put up with those insults and their judgement towards me. I was beaten, bruised, laughed at and insulted for four years...four years they kept acting like I was nothing but a kid, who just got lucky in life! Even now that I'm older... I hate lying to myself. There's a lot of things I hate more than ever...and that's people who insult others like they don't mean anything! So if I have to put up with it here, then that's fine with me...but I won't stand for someone insulting and stereotyping another, especially to my friends! So go ahead, insult me! I can take another million more...go and shout all you want, but don't take it out on these civilians! If you do that, I will never forgive you for the rest of my life!" Sapphire pulled the collar of his shirt, making him see a cold glare up close. The officer was speechless as much as the criminal was. Even so, the polar bear had to intervene.
"Let's go," the mammal then looked at Sapphire.
"... I'm sorry, miss." Sapphire shook her head in reassurance. The mammal took the criminal with him, leaving Sapphire alone. The lobby was silent, eyes looking back and forth with stunned expressions.
Clawhauser had his ears down, his sad expression staring at Sapphire. She was slowly breathing as she clutched her vest.
"Sapphire...?"
"... O-oh, Clawhauser..." she walked towards him, "I'm sorry... Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," he saw the red marks on the corner of her eyes.
"What jerk, right? I know he's a criminal, but he shouldn't have done that to you."
"Oh, I've heard worse...but um...are you okay?"
"Me?"
"He insulted you too," he said with concern, "it's my fault you had to stand up for me."
"I'm fine Benjamin," she gave a fake smile, "I'll admit that I couldn't control my emotions there, but every word of it is true. They can do that to me, but I won't let them do that to anyone else. I had to do something, even if it means getting into trouble. O-oh...that's right...I forgot something in the bullpen, so I have to go now. I'll see you later...okay?"
"Um...sure," that's all he could say at the time.
Sapphire waved as she left the lobby. Soon enough she was opening the door, only to find nothing but the empty chairs and tables. No one was inside. She closed the door, she leaned on the wall, and her head looking down at the carpet. All was quiet. Nothing disturbed her. However, it slowly broke as a drop of water fell onto the floor. The next thing she knew, tears were falling down her face. Then she finally gave in, sliding down to the ground as she curled herself into a ball. Her soft cries were covered by her arms as she hugged her knees.
'I'm so stupid...'
Even if she thought that, it wasn't her fault. She never cried in public...but to herself...now is as good as any time to let her emotions break out for one moment.
