-Zootopia Police Department Headquarters, 5:50 PM-
"Hey, Karen! Karen!" Judy Hopps rushed over to her fellow bunny officer, Karen Skippel. The white arctic hare turned to look at her with a blank expression, her ears were smaller than Judy's and still had tiny little black tips, just like Judy's, but they were also smaller than the gray bunny's. They looked like they could be distant cousins.
"What do you want?" Karen's light blue eyes looked as unyielding as her expression.
"Ah, Nick and I were going to go out tonight," Judy said, placing a hand on Karen's desk. "Do you want to tag along?"
Karen looked at the gray paw on her desk, and briefly, at the engagement ring on it. She turned her eyes away. "And be the third wheel on the Wilde-Hopps mobile? No."
"We, uh, don't have to do anything too mushy when we're around you," Judy hesitated. "We can go bowling, maybe? Go see a movie? Do you like laser tag? Anything you want, really."
"What I want is to be left alone, Hopps," Karen grumbled. "I'm busy. Someone else on the tech team burst right through my firewall modifications while we were testing them, so I'm back to square one there."
Judy tried not to look or sound hurt. "O-oh, are we back to being on a last-name basis? I thought we were making some progress there. You um, you helped me out so much with the Canine Virus case..."
"Just doing my job, Hopps, which I can't do when you're hovering over me."
Nick Wilde headed over to the two bunnies and put his hand on Judy's shoulder. He had his usual warm but slightly cocky smirk on. "C'mon, Carrots. She's not into it. You can't keep bothering introverts for their friendship, it just makes them resent you more."
Skippel shot her eyes over to Nicks hand, which also had an engagement ring on it, then looked up at him, her teeth grit. "What would you know about introversion? You're chummy with nearly everyone in this precinct! And, you have that irritatingly smug expression on for ninety percent of the day."
Nick let the comment bounce off him without even a hint of it hitting home. "All right, Skip. I'll tell you what I know. This expression here? Five years ago, it was a mask." He brought his free paw over his face and changed it seamlessly to a hurt, genuinely sad looking one. "This is what I felt like all the time. But I never let it show, until I was alone in my apartment. I used up all of my emotional strength all day just pretending I was okay. But now, I actually do feel like this." Another wave of his hand and he was back to normal. He patted Judy's shoulder. "And I have Officer Fluff to thank for that." Judy gave a tiny smile, hoping the situation would calm down soon. "Her boundless energy lets me stay topped up on social power, so I never run low. Maybe if you gave her a chance she could un-sour your mood a little, too."
"A-all right, okay, I'm sorry," Karen grumbled, running her fingers over her flattened ears, "just... just not tonight. Ok? I'm not going to get anywhere on these firewall modifications if I don't get to work. My concentration is completely shot, and if I went out with you guys tonight I'd probably end up freaking out and ruining everything."
"Okay, it's okay," Judy held up her paws near her chest defensively, "let's go, Nick." The two left Karen alone. Karen stared hard at her three computer screens, unable to concentrate. Even though she was voluntarily staying late, she couldn't get anything done.
"Ugh!" Karen shoved her keyboard away from her, putting her head in her hands. She got up, got her things, and made her way off.
-The Wet Wolf Whistle, 8:00 PM-
Karen entered the Wet Wolf Whistle, a Savanna Central bar known colloquially as the W3. She headed over to the counter, looking at all the variously sized chairs. Even the smallest one was a little big for a bunny. She grit her teeth, summoning up her meager strength after the trying day and leaped into the chair. She nearly fell off it as it started to spin a bit, but she steadied herself. A friendly-looking brown horse bartender caught sight of her and nodded at her.
"One Bahama Mammal, please," Karen grumbled. "Extra small." The horse nodded again and before long pushed her over a small, fruity alcoholic drink. Karen sipped it slowly. She thought about Judy, how she kept pushing away her invitations for friendship and socializing. Looking away, she stared at the counter and grit her teeth. She knew it was because she was incredibly envious of her and Nick. They both made the perfect partners; they were as good together as peanut butter and jelly. They both relied on each other without even needing words, using each others unique abilities to compliment and protect the other.
Karen looked around at the various mammals at the little watering hole. She knew she was just a technical officer at the ZPD, no one really relied on her or trusted her. But that was okay to her, wasn't it? She'd grown up alone; her mother died during childbirth so she had no siblings, unusual for a bunny. Karen never really made any close friends, but recently she felt like there was a growing void in her heart. She had to admit she didn't know how to fill it.
There was a good variety of animals at the Wet Wolf Whistle. Male and female, predator and prey. Karen gave looks to a lot of them, flinching as a rhino passed her by. Some animals were so big. But looking at all of them, she didn't know if there were any she actually found attractive. She sighed, taking another sip of her drink. They all just looked like details to her. She saw a sheep that had slight claw marks on her handbag. Victim of an attempted robbery, perhaps? There was a sneaky looking female ferret and otter in the corner, whispering to each other. They were probably up to no good, Skippel scoffed.
Trying to stop thinking so much, Karen finished off and paid for her drink. Shortly thereafter, she started to feel strange. She shook her head. Karen knew she was a lightweight when it came to alcohol, but one tiny fruity drink shouldn't have made her feel this odd. She got out of her chair, staggering as the floor came up on her faster than she thought. A few concerned mammals turned to look at her, and she held up a hand to indicate she didn't need any help. She made her way to the door, her steps heavy. She felt like she was falling. She headed outside; it was raining.
Something was definitely wrong. Karen could barely move her body, or keep her eyes open.
"Nn...what's- whats happening...?" Karen tried to head towards the subway. "Maybe if I can make it to, to the subway train..."
Karen gave a whimper as her feet gave out and she collapsed onto the sidewalk. Her senses were quickly abandoning her. She thought she heard heavy footsteps behind her briefly, but then she knew no more.
-Zootopia Police Department Headquarters, 8:00 AM-
"All right you rowdy animals, get quiet!" Chief Bogo shouted, slamming his files down on the podium of the briefing room. He saw Judy anxiously bouncing in her seat with a worried expression, and cocked an eyebrow. "Hopps? Did you forget to go to the bathroom?"
"No sir," Judy said, looking over at the one empty chair in the room, "it's Officer Skippel... she's not here!" Chief Bogo looked uncaring for a minute, then closed his mouth grimly.
"She has never missed a day, much less without calling," Bogo said lowly. He put on his glasses and looked at his files. "Hopps, you and Wilde don't have anything important scheduled today. See if you can find her." Judy and Nick nodded.
"Well someone's a bit anxious," Nick said as the two of them headed over to Judy's cubicle.
"Nick, I don't think Karen has ever done anything off schedule," Judy said, sitting at her desk. "I've timed her starting her lunch break on three separate occasions. She starts them at the same exact minute."
"Wow, that's not obsessive or anything," Nick rolled his eyes.
"I know, she's so meticulous that-"
"I mean you," Nick interrupted her, "you never give her a break." Judy sighed.
"I know she's kinda having a hard time here," Judy explained. "She opened up to me, briefly, like you did on the gondola. But unlike you, she closed back up and won't let me back in."
"Okay, first we need to calm down," Nick said, rubbing Judy's shoulders. "Let's start at the beginning."
"You don't think she might have... done anything to herself, do you?" Judy worried. "She was so upset looking last night."
"That would not be the beginning, that would be an unfortunate ending," Nick said evenly. "Let's call her on her cellphone."
"Oh, right," Judy shook her head, picking up her phone. "Not that I think she'd answer me, but... no, straight to voicemail."
"That means it's off," Nick said. "She probably wouldn't keep it off, so something's probably wrong."
"Rgh!" Judy grumbled in both worry and frustration. "Neither you or I know what she does or where she goes after work. If she would just have let us hang out with her once or twice, we might have some ideas."
"Easy, girl," Nick cautioned. "Let's get in the cruiser and drive around the general area. We can ask at some establishments, see if anyone saw her. Not too many arctic hares in Savanna Central."
"Okay, yeah," Judy grabbed her things. "Let's go."
-Abandoned Warehouse, Savanna Central Outskirts, 9:00 AM-
Karen moaned as consciousness slowly returned to her. Her body still was still not fully responding to her; her blurry vision caught sight of a rhinoceros in front of her. She yelped and her eyes flew open. She was unrestrained, in a small office with a computer. Her head hurt a lot.
"Bout time you got up, sleeping beauty," the rhino grunted in annoyance. "The names Grit Hornbody, or that's what I'm going to tell you, anyway. And this," he gave her a small card. "Is my offshore bank account number."
"What... who...?" Karen was extremely confused. Her mind's fog wouldn't clear, especially at the incredibly unusual and scary situation she found herself in.
"I know you're the technical whiz at the ZPD," Grit said. "So, here's what you're going to do. Use that egghead to hack some bank accounts and make me a very, very rich rhino. By the end of the day, if you don't mind. This ain't a hotel, and I'm not a babysitter. If I'm not pleased by the end of the night, you're dead."
Karen felt a burst of terror hit her, and her nose began twitching. "Wh-what? I can't do that...!"
"Can't?" Grit moved closer. "Or won't? Either way, you're gonna hope you change your mind really soon." Grit growled menacingly and thrust his head forwards. He used the front of his horn to press her against the wall. Karen screamed out and began crying uncontrollably.
"No, please!" Karen begged.
"Any time you spend stalling is time I'm not getting any richer," Grit said dangerously, pressing his horn closer to her, starting to squeeze her against the wall. Karen began to gasp and tremble, giving a screech of pure terror. "So, GET TO WORK!"
Overwhelmed, Karen's eyes rolled back and she slumped to the floor, her absolute terror obliterating her senses. Grit groaned.
"Of for..." he stomped away and came back with a large cup of water, which he poured over Karen.
"Hnh!" Karen started, and started to gasp and cough.
"Boy, the ZPD sure hires the best and the bravest, don't they?" Grit mocked in a dark tone. Realizing she wasn't having some sort of intense nightmare, Karen went back to sobbing, her fear and the chill of the water making her shiver. Grit pointed at the computer.
"Go, there's the computer," he said in a lower tone so she wouldn't pass out again. "It's got internet. Download what you need and make me my money." He held up his phone. "I've got a feed of the account on my phone. I want to see this number be nice and fat. Oh, and if I catch you doing anything suspicious..." He held up Karen's phone. She patted herself as if unbelieving it was taken from her. He dropped it on the ground and stomped on it. Karen cringed. When her eyes opened again the phone was in more pieces than she would have imagined it was even made of.
Karen sniveled, trying to dry her hands on the back of her pants, anywhere that wasn't already wet. She sat down hard at the computer chair, still in disbelief. Trying to keep from losing herself again, she grumbled, hiccuping, as she started downloading some programs.
"You bunnies are such a joke," Grit said, "you're like a bunch of babies. You never grow up. So tiny and pathetic."
Karen cringed again, wondering if she would even make it through the day before he killed her.
-Streets of Savannah Central, 12:00 PM-
Nick and Judy walked down the streets. Both of them had notes that they were flipping through.
"Okay, we haven't found anything about Skippel, but apparently YOU were stumbling drunk out of the W3 last night," Nick gave a chuckle.
"You know that's not true," Judy said in slight frustration, "do Karen and I really look that similar?"
"Maybe to someone who isn't detail oriented," Nick shrugged, "also, uh, one of the two rabbit officers of the ZPD is a lot more popular."
"Sometimes I feel like I'm giving her a hard time just by existing," Judy grumbled, then looked at her notes. "Anyway, someone thought they saw her coming out of the W3, very drunk, but when they looked again she was gone."
"Sounds like she was taken, then," Nick grimaced. "I think we should go back to the station and see if there's anything suspicious on the traffic cams. Maybe any radio chatter of someone noticing any unusual cars anywhere."
"Okay, I'll talk to Clawhauser and you get the traffic cameras up," Judy nodded, jumping into her cruiser.
-Abandoned Warehouse, Savanna Central Outskirts, 12:30 PM-
Karen continued to work on the computer in the warehouse. She could feel the rhinoceros staring at her, and was kind of relieved she hadn't had anything to eat recently, because she felt like throwing up several times. Her fur was damp, she was both hungry and queasy, and her head still hurt. But she was draining money cautiously from various bank accounts. Grit was sharpening his horn, which was illegal, but Karen didn't dare to say anything. It just caused a feeling of intense dread in her stomach.
"Starting to like this number I'm seeing," Grit chuckled. "In fact, why don't I let you go right now? Door's just over there." He nodded to the only door in the room.
Karen cautiously looked at the door, then at him. She felt desperate, but had a feeling she was being toyed with.
"What, you really think I could catch up to you in the time it took you to get to the door, little mouse? Go ahead," Grit smirked darkly at her. Suddenly Karen felt a primal fear, and she scrambled for the door, jumping to get at the handle. The door wouldn't budge. Grit laughed.
"Please tell me you saw that coming, idiot," Grit mocked her. "The door's locked from the outside. I don't even have a key! But that doesn't matter, because all I have to do is shove against it lightly with my shoulder and I'll blow the whole door off its hinges. Whereas you can't do a thing, you tiny little fairy." Karen slumped to her knees, bowing her head, sniffling a bit.
"Oh really, with the crying again?" Grit shouted. "And I was lying earlier about being happy, too. Get me more money."
"I... I can't do this... please..." Karen sniveled.
"Then you want me to kill you right now?" Grit sneered, standing up. Karen felt helpless. Grit stomped over. Karen couldn't bring herself to move. Grit took his fingers of one hand and flicked her in the chest. That small flick sent Karen staggering backwards, coughing from the rough impact. She shuddered, holding her hands over her chest, moaning in pain.
"Look at that," Grit said in disgust. "Weak. Helpless. Sniveling. Mass-breeding drains on society. Why the ZPD hired even one of you is beyond me."
"I... I'll get you more money," Karen choked, trembling. "But please... don't... don't look at me... don't talk to me. I can't concentrate... I'm in so much pain, please..." Grit didn't look impressed at her groveling. "The banks... they've started to notice what's going on. They're setting up more advanced firewalls and other countermeasures. I need to... I need to concentrate. I can get you more money, just please... leave me alone..."
"All right, fine," Grit went back to his corner of the room and turned his chair around. "But I'm going to be watching my account. If it doesn't start jumping up really soon, you know what'll happen."
Karen slogged over to the computer, sitting down. Taking a few deep, painful breaths, she started to be able to concentrate again. Checking to make sure she wasn't being watched, and knowing it might be her only chance, she quickly opened up a website that showed her where the last ping from her cellphone was. She ran through the coordinates many times in her head. Closing the window, she looked up at the ceiling, offering up a silent plea, that, in her mind, only contained the coordinates she was just reading, but in her heart, was a supplication for her only hope at being rescued. She gathered up as clear a head as she could, and went back to hacking into banks. She was getting pretty good at it.
-Zootopia Police Department Headquarters, 2:00 PM-
"Rrrrgh!" Nick gave a canine growl of frustration while looking at the traffic cams. Judy headed over.
"What's wrong, Nick?" Judy asked.
"Look at this," Nick said, pointing to two feeds. "Both 8:45 PM. Out of the W3..." Nick pointed.
"Karen!" Judy watched her staggering down the street and off camera. "She looks like she's in bad shape... wait, where's the other feed?"
"That's why I'm angry," Nick said, backing up the feed to 8:00 PM. "It suddenly goes dark. Just like all of our leads."
"Clawhauser hasn't heard anything either," Judy fretted. Her phone started to vibrate. "Huh. ...What? Unusual bank account activity? Nick, pull up my bank account on your computer." Nick did so. "What the... look at this!"
"What's with all these transactions?" Nick asked. "Someone is repeatedly depositing and withdrawing one dollar...?" They both looked at each other in amazement.
"Skippel!" They both said.
"Has to be! Has to be!" Judy said. "This is such a weird form of communication that it couldn't be anything else! But... what is it? Okay okay." Judy's hands trembled, and she shook them to try to concentrate. "Withdrawls are negative, and deposits are positive? Binary, yeah?" She opened a program and tried plugging in ones and zeros that corresponded to the withdrawls and deposits. "This isn't making any sense..."
"It'd take so long to even get a single character out that way- now wait a minute," Nick thought. "Deposits, withdrawls. Deposits, withdrawls." He clapped his paws. "It's Morse code! Deposits has the word DOT in it, and withdrawls contains the letters for DASH!" Judy's jaw dropped and she marveled.
"Have I ever told you how incredibly attractive your intelligence is?"
"Later, Fluff," Nick shook his head, holding out his paw. "Okay, get ready to type." He looked at the screen and started tapping his finger on the desk as he read the sequence of transactions, starting from the earliest.
"S-O-S," Nick started.
"She's definitely kidnapped, then..." Judy's nose twitched.
"R-H-I-N-O," Nick continued.
"By a rhinoceros? ...A rhinoceros could have disabled the traffic camera with their horn from below without being seen!"
Nick finished with some specific numbers and letters. "Uh, did I screw up? It kinda all went to gibberish there."
"It's coordinates!" Judy said, punching them into her computer. "2nd Street and Sunset. An abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Savanna Central."
Nick was already moving, and Judy followed him closely behind.
-Abandoned Warehouse, Savanna Central Outskirts, 2:30 PM-
Karen was exhausted. She felt emotionally numb, and her body felt like giving out again, though she had only been up for about five and a half hours. Her nose had even stopped twitching finally. She just kept hacking and draining more money. She was starving, thirsty and her chest still hurt from where she was attacked.
"You should have seen how little of that powder it took to knock you out," Grit chuckled. "Just the tiniest pinch. No one at the bar even noticed. That's how weak you bunnies are. You're like insects." Karen just felt the words roll off her.
"You're not going to let me out of here alive, are you?" Karen said flatly. She began to stop hacking. Grit looked displeased as he saw the bank account stop updating.
"No one said anything about that," Grit protested. "Get back to work."
"You just keep calling me worthless, tiny, weak," Karen said soullessly. "Like a bug. You don't care. You'll squash me."
Grit got up, unsure if her sudden fatalism was from growing a spine or true resignation. "Hey, you haven't notified the police, have you?"
"I have not notified the police," Karen said blankly. It was only a lie in the most obscure of ways. "Check my internet history, if you don't believe me."
Grit seemed suspicious. "I think I will." He stomped over to the computer and carefully used the mouse. It took him a long time because of the imprecision of his large fingers. He kept missing the history bar. Everything looked to be in order, a lot of bank sites, some sites that must have been from the dark net for hacking tools, but one site caught his eye. "What's this cell phone site doing here?"
"I have to check the cell phone positions of the people I'm stealing from," Skippel bluffed. "If they're in a no-service zone, its easier to hack them because it takes longer for them to notice they're being hacked and freeze their accounts." Grit nodded. This made sense to him.
"Okay, all right now listen," Grit said, knowing the bunny was starting to wise up and not wanting to lose his ticket to more free money. "Let's not get too crazy now, ok? You just keep doing your thing and I'll let you go at sundown. I have another account ready for me to dump all of this money into, so then we have no connection to each other, all right? I didn't give you my real name or anything. You don't have to die. Just keep going."
Skippel looked blankly up at him, but slowly nodded. She knew it was probably a lie, but had the barest of hopes that perhaps it bought her enough time to be found. She turned to the computer and started to work again. Grit nodded and went back to sit down.
-2nd and Sunset, Savanna Central Outskirts, 3:00 PM-
"We're getting close, Nick, turn off the siren," Judy said, turning a corner hard.
Nick complied. "Okay, done. We do need the element of surprise." They parked a block away from the warehouse. "Okay, that's it. Why do you think her kidnapper hasn't asked for ransom yet?"
"There's been some reports of bank account hacking going on today," Judy said. "With how Karen got in touch with us, it's undoubtedly related."
Nick nodded seriously, starting to gather a few items.
Judy didn't want to take any chances. She picked up the radio. "Officer Hopps to dispatch."
"Dispatch, go ahead," Clawhauser said.
"Let me have a backup unit, a TUSK unit, and the largest bus we have at 2nd and Sunset," Hopps said. "Have them park a block down on all sides and wait for our signal."
"Units will be at your 20 in 10," Clawhauser replied. Judy grumbled.
"That could be nine minutes and fifty-nine seconds too late," Judy said. "Nick, grab your gear, let's see if we can do anything." Nick nodded, both of them equipping themselves with various weapons and detterents. Judy sheathed her trusty customized stun gun. They both got out of the car and made their way to the warehouse. It had a huge door with a lock on it. "I think my stun gun's sonic function can break some kinds of locks..."
"Are you insane?" Nick asked. "Maybe it would, but there would go our element of surprise, and everyone in a mile radius would know something was happening.
Judy shook her head. "You're right, what am I thinking? My head isn't on straight. Okay, let's look around." Quickly, she spotted a weak looking window with four panes of glass on it that wasn't too far from the ground, only about four feet. She pointed to it and Nick nodded. Nick pulled out a glass-cutter and handed it to Judy, then offered his hands to lift her up. Judy carefully cut the bottom right pane of glass out and gently handed it down to Nick, who set it down meticulously. Judy than cleanly sprang from Nick's hands into the window gap. Turning around carefully, she locked her ankles on the inside of the building and hung down to help Nick up.
There was barely any room for both of them on the hole in the window. Nick struggled a bit.
"Always amazes me that a little bunny can pull me up like that," Nick smirked.
"You can be amazed later. It's not going to be easy to get out of this warehouse if we go in; we need a plan-" Judy started, but at that moment Nick fumbled and fell through the window. He tucked and rolled onto the warehouse floor, making even his graceless fall turn into a silent entry.
"Crud," Nick said simply. Judy silently dropped next to him.
"Okay, we need a plan more quickly." She looked around. "There's only one room over there. Looks like a light is on inside."
"Karen must be in there, with the rhino," Nick nodded. "Hey, you took down a rhino at the academy, right?"
"Yeah, but I had tons of time to figure out how to use the environment to my advantage," Judy said. "There's barely anything in this warehouse. Can we perhaps draw the rhino out of the room? Then, I could slip in and grab Karen."
"Ah, so I'm bait, then. Very well," Nick took in the layout of the warehouse. "Door's at the northwest. You hide behind those boxes near the door, and I'll make some noise at the south to draw him out."
"Okay," Judy nodded. "Set your stun gun to max. Rhinos are one of the hardest animals to take down with them. If he charges, shoot without hesitation." Nick and Judy both adjusted their dials on their stun guns.
"Or, we could just grab his credit cards," Nick shrugged. Judy had a look of bewilderment, then dismay. She and Nick took their positions.
Nick kicked over an empty barrel, and cringed as it made a much louder sound than he was anticipating.
BONNGGGG...
Grit heard it from within the office, as did Karen, who flinched.
"What was that?" Grit asked suspiciously. He had a moment of pause, genuinely not knowing what to do next, and knowing that Karen wasn't going to help him. But the money was just about his. "Rabbit, if you leave this room, I will kill you." Grit got up and bashed through the door to the room, it barely even slowing him down. The door came off its hinges and the room was exposed. Judy took in a breath, holding her stun gun and waiting for him. Nick was hiding further down the room, watching the rhino.
Grit didn't move from the doorway. Nick grit his teeth, knowing he had to get his attention quickly, lest he lose his opportunity. Nick dashed, low to the ground, just along his line of sight and behind more boxes.
"Uh!? Who's there!?" Grit moved away from the door and towards the flash of orange-red fur. Judy saw her chance and vaulted silently over the boxes and into the room.
Karen nearly shrieked when she saw her, putting her hands over her mouth. Judy nodded, putting a finger on her own lips, and gently helped Karen to her feet, seeing she was in rough shape. The two started to escape the room.
"ZPD! Freeze!" Nick shouted before Grit got too close. Grit barely twitched before Nick fired his stun gun.
CLACK!
The charge did not fully penetrate into the rhinos thick skin. Grit gave an amused smile.
"They used to call me leather-hide," Grit grinned. "If it isn't that little fox cop... now I'll turn YOU into leather!" Grit yanked Nick's stun gun from his hands by its cords and crushed it in his hand with a menacing smile. Then, he charged at Nick. Nick smoothly dodged him but was quickly running out of room to maneuver. He began to panic.
"Judy, help!" Nick called out. Judy looked in horror as the rhino turned and saw her helping Karen towards the window. Grit roared.
"Well, looks like I'm gonna have to kill twice as many bunnies as I thought!" Grit started to charge toward Judy and Karen, but the instant his attention split from Nick, Nick grabbed a large set of bolas from his pouch and growled, spinning them as hard and fast as he could.
"Ruh!" Nick grunted, throwing the bolas. Nick grimaced as he knew the rhino's legs were short and far apart, but his aim was true, and the bolas entangled around Grits legs.
"Wuaaah?" Grit spat in surprise, tripping and hitting the ground extremely hard. It seemed like he caused a miniature earthquake. His eyes rolled. Judy took out her radio.
"TUSK unit, are you in position?" Judy shouted.
"Affirmative."
"Break down the door, suspect is down!" The TUSK team worked on breaking the lock and getting the warehouse's door open. Nick rushed over to Grit and put his hand on his neck. He had to press really hard, but he felt a pulse.
"Looks like he's alive, but unconcious," Nick said. "I guess the bigger they are, the harder- you know what, I'll just stop right there."
Karen gave a sigh of intense relief. The TUSK team broke the door open and the EMTs groaned as they saw whose body they had to wheel away. Nick and Judy helped Karen get out into the sunlight, and the arctic hare started to shiver, despite it being pleasant outside.
"Acute stress reaction," Judy guessed. Nick waved over to one of the EMTs.
"Can we get a blanket over here for Officer Skippel? And some water?" A white wolf male nodded, heading over and offering them a blanket and a glass of water. They carefully wrapped the blanket around Karen and offered her the water. She drank it all immediately.
"Are you okay, Karen?" Judy asked gently.
"No," Skippel shook her head vehemently, starting to cry along her recently dried tear streaks. "H-h-how do you do it, Judy? How do you go out and look death in the f-face and just l-l-l... laugh...?"
"I don't know," Judy said. "To be honest, I really don't. Probably a lot of it has to do with trusting in my partner. But this should have never happened to you... you're not supposed to be out in the field." Nick and Judy slowly led Karen to a smaller ambulance that she knew was for her, and the dread of the day crashed over her again as she realized how it could have ended, causing her to shudder. All three sat on the outside edge of the ambulance.
"Karen, I know it's not okay," Nick said. "I know you're terrified. But you did great. You trusted in your fellow officers, and we came to get you. You practically saved yourself."
"You figured out my m-message..." Skippel nodded. Then, she looked like she wanted to get up. "I g-gotta go back to that computer. I stole a lot of money from a lot of people... gotta..."
"Don't move, Karen!" Judy said worriedly. "Let the rest of the technical team worry about that. You've been through so much..."
"Just relax, Karen," Nick nodded. "You've done enough for today." Karen nodded, rocking back and forth a little bit, trying to calm herself.
The white wolf EMT came back around. "Officer Skippel, are you injured?"
Karen nodded. "H-he attacked me once, on my ch-chest. Feels like it could have br-bruised."
The wolf nodded. "Let's get you to the hospital, Skippel. Hopps? Wilde?"
"We're okay," Judy nodded. "Do you want us to come with you, Karen?"
Karen sniveled, but then sighed. "Y-yeah."
-Zootopia Mercy General Hospital, Floor 2 Hallway, 6:00 PM-
Nick and Judy stood in the hallway of the hospital. By now Karen was calmed, talking to her doctors. She had lost a lot of fluids they were having to replenish. A male armadillo doctor headed out of her room.
"Officer Hopps," Judy introduced. "Will Officer Skippel be all right?"
The armadillo nodded, sighing. "Physically, anyway, she'll make a full recovery." Nick and Judy frowned a bit at this.
"How about the perp? How's he doing?" Nick asked, folding his arms.
"Inconclusive. He has suffered a large concussion," said the doctor. Nick nodded and the doctor headed off. Judy looked up at Nick.
"Did what I had to, Carrots," Nick shrugged, his arms still folded.
Judy nodded. "You saved both me and Karen."
"Well, you, anyway," Nick said, "not so sure Karen is saved, yet. She might have suffered some sort of lasting trauma from all this."
Judy sighed, but nodded again. "What do we do?"
"All we can do is be there for her," Nick said. "She may not want us, and if she doesn't, she doesn't have to have us. But we'll be available for her."
"Yeah," Judy agreed. "She put her trust in us intellectually and physically, but now we have to work on the emotional aspect."
Nick nodded, uncrossing his arms and giving a soft pet over Judy's drooped ears.
"It finally happened, Nick," Judy said distantly, "a case we closed that I don't feel like we 'won'."
"Don't despair, Judy," Nick said, "we may not have won today, but this isn't over just yet."
Judy smiled faintly at Nick's determination, and they both turned to see that Karen was resting.
"C'mon, Carrots," Nick beckoned. "Let's get some food from the cafeteria then come back here. We'll want to be here when she wakes up."
Judy nodded, heading down the hall with her hand in Nick's.