Disclaimer: I do not own Zootopia or its related characters. All is the property of Walt Disney Animation Studios, Clark Spencer, and Byron Howard. I'm just borrowing them for some non-profit entertainment.

Under a Green Hood

Chapter Two: Line of the Hood

"What do you mean, Wilde just ran out?" Chief Bogo exhaled through his nostrils, sending a jet of uncomfortably warm air at Judy. They were the only two left in the bullpen. The Chief not realizing that the fox was absent until he was about to assign the two of them a case. He held the file out only to realize that there was only one lone gray paw hopping up for it instead of a reddish brown one reaching.

"Apparently there was a death in the family." Hopps explained. It wasn't a complete lie -she didn't think. Nick did say that his 'ambiguously related' something-or-other had passed away.

She looked up Sir Robert of Loxley VI after he ran out. From a quick Loogle search on her phone, she found the Loxley Estates official website -which admittedly didn't give much useful information. The Loxley line was -apparently- the last fox family to still hold ranks among the Old Country nobility. They were a throwback from a period of Mammal history when then ruling class was exclusively predator. Today the estate was devoted to education of Mammal history and the preservation of classical folk tales and heroes. So, basically, it told Judy absolutely nothing even remotely relevant to what she wanted to know. She couldn't tell how this Robert Loxley the Sixth was even related to Nick. Unless both of them being red foxes suddenly counted as being 'related'.

At the mention of a 'death in the family' the water buffalo heaved a groan, this one of exasperation. "Well, tell him that he'll need to come back in at least to fill out the bereavement paperwork."

He turned to leave without giving Judy the case file.

"Uh, sir, my assignment." The rabbit held out a paw for the folder.

"I gave you you're assignment, Hopps." Bogo informed her in a patient voice. "Make sure your idiot partner fills out his bereavement paperwork. Keep his act together for him in his time of need." Slightly under his breath, as if Judy weren't supposed to hear. "Minos knows he has enough trouble keeping his act together as it is."

So that was it, then. She was unofficially being demoted to Nick's babysitter. A fate worse than parking duty. Never mind the fact that Nick was a grown adult and should be perfectly capable to minding himself and his own affairs without her hovering and nagging. Instead she nodded to her commanding officer. "Yes, sir."

"And, Hopps, there's also some paperwork I need you to finish from the Bellwether case." He added, giving her a significantly more important duty to fill the time in between episodes of Nick's personal drama. "I'm handing everything over to the prosecutor on Monday."

"Yes, sir." That, at least, was work she could be proud of.

She made her way over to the cubicle they shared as a work space. While her computer was booting up, Judy hammered out a text to Nick, informing him that he needed to talk to the Chief about his absence, and that if the 'death in the family' story was really true he needed to fill out the appropriate forms for bereavement leave. Considering how he was carrying on earlier, she highly doubted he was any version of 'bereaved'. But if that was the story he was gonna stick to... best to get the forms filled out.

As she opened up her files on the Night Howler case and the arrest of Dawn Bellwether, Judy's final thoughts on Nick before pushing him from her mind and getting to work were of where he went, what he was doing, and what that red feather really meant.

…

Marian pulled an old hardbound book off a shelf. Nick recognized it instantly, his dad had read it to him enough times growing up. 'Ballads and Tales of Robin Under the Hood'.

"Everyone knows the story." She said, holding the book against her heart as she beamed at her son. "A soldier under the Lionheart returns home from war to find the king's petty brother has bankrupt the country and driven the Mammals into poverty. His own property and fortune seized by the crown, he retreats into the Greenwood and becomes a highway robber. Stealing from the corrupt government and returning -most- of what he takes back to the impoverished and displaced citizens -prey and predator alike."

It didn't matter if you were an elephant, a mouse, or a hippo, everyone knew that was the story of Robin Hood.

What most Mammals didn't know, was that 'Robin Hood' wasn't a name. It was a title. A title that was actually bestowed on three foxes over the course of Mammal history, not just the one. Oh, sure, the one everyone recognized as simply Robin Hood was the first.

But since him there was also Sir Percival Blakeney, a baronet of the Old Country like the first Robin under the Hood. But unlike his predecessor, Percy didn't steal money from his own government and give to the poor. Instead, he stole the condemned from their executions -in Normandy after their first Revolution, during the Reign of Terror. But if a Mammal wanted to look him up in the annals of history, the corsac fox would be more easily found under the alias 'the Scarlet Pimpernel'. The title of Robin under the Hood wasn't bestowed upon him until near the end of his career, before that he operated under a different alias.

After Percy, the third Robin under the Hood was a slightly more famous vigilante fox. Even a Mammal who wasn't a fox still might have heard of Diego de la Vega. He was a pampas fox and -thus far- the first Brother of the Hood to live and operate in the New World. He was a Californio nobleman who championed both the lower class and indigenous Mammals. Needless to say, this put him at odds with the ruling body of the time. That seemed to be the unifying characteristic of a Robin under the Hood, sticking it to the government and championing the Mammals that had been the victims of said corrupt government -both prey and predator alike.

Robin Hood was always a fox. But he served all Mammals.

Nick took the book from his mother and began leafing through its pages without actually reading them. His eyes were looking at it, but he wasn't really seeing it.

His phone vibrated in his pocket, but he ignored that too. It was probably just Carrots texting him about how mad Buffalobutt was about his ditching work because a feather freaked him out. Of course no one at the precent would understand. Only another fox would know what the red robin plume meant. He could only imagine what Carrots and the others might be imagining right now. Except he couldn't imagine, because his mind was occupied with more pressing questions.

"Was it because of the Bellwether thing, do you think?" He asked, still disbelieving. He never once in his life imagined that he could be a Robin under the Hood. He might be sly, but he wasn't all that cunning. He might be a con-artists with a soft spot, but he was a far cry from a noble outlaw. "That's not enough to be a Robin, I don't think. I don't deserve this..."

This honor?

This responsibility?

This childlike fantasy he didn't even know he had?

Marian held the red feather up, directly in front of her son's face. "Someone out there seems to think you do. Robin feathers symbolize growth and renewal, or new beginnings and a bright future. They also mark those blessed by the trickster god Goodfellow and are the badge of a Robin under the Hood."

"I know." Nick snapped the book shut. "I just... I need to... There must have been some mistake. I can't be Robin Hood, I'm a cop! A government employee. That's, like, the natural enemy of a Robin under the Hood."

"Not necessarily." Marian insisted. "A Robin challenges corruption, and Mayor Bellwether was definitely corrupt. A Robin defends those who can't defend themselves, and I'm pretty sure those poor predators weren't in any sort of state to help themselves at the time. A Robin uses tricks and deceptions to achieve his ends. All of that you did. Sounds to me like you're a model Robin under the Hood."

Nick appreciated the complement. But, really, if he was going to be completely honest with himself, Carrots was the real hero. She was more deserving of the Robin badge -except the red plume was only ever bestowed on foxes. Since the rules -unwritten though they were- wouldn't allow her to be a Robin, the feather then passed to him -whom was a fox and thus eligible to hold the title.

And then Nick got an insane idea. In Zootopia, anyone can be anything. Why couldn't a bunny be a Robin Hood? The rules were unwritten. Who says it has to always be a fox. If a bunny could be a cop, a bunny could be a Brother of the Hood (or Sister of the Hood, as the case may be). Who even decided who could and couldn't be a Robin anyway?

…

Clawhouser was munching on a doughnut when an unfamiliar red fox walked through the precent doors. He strolled right up to the reception desk and might have leaned on it casually if it hadn't been just a smidgen to tall for him. Instead, he placed a paw on the edge and peered up at the pastry loving cheetah.

"Excuse me." He said in a smooth Old Country accent that dripped with years of boarding schools and private tutors. Which was not something one usually imagined a member of the fox species possessing. "I'm looking for a Mr. Nickolas Wilde. I was told he's an officer here."

And he said the word 'officer' as if it were the most absurd thing in the world. As if a fox had no business working for the law. As if it violated everything he was and everything he believed in.

Putting his doughnut down, Clawhouser gave an apologetic smile to the red fox. "I'm sorry, but Officer Wilde is unavailable. But maybe you'd like to speak to his partner instead?"

The red fox made a face of displeasure, his ears flicking with annoyance. But he agreed all the same. "Alright. I'll speak to him then."

"Sure, sure, I'll just give her a quick page." He didn't comment on the fox's automatic assumption that Nick's partner would be another male. Correcting casual sexism like that wasn't in his job description -plus, there were far more dramatic schema that Judy defied and Clawhouser liked seeing the looks on Mammals faces when she broke their schema. He pressed the button on his radio. "Hopps, there's a fox here who wants to speak with you." Then quickly added. "Its not Nick."

The fox's ears flicked again. 'Hopps'? Like what beer was made from? What kind of Mammal name was that? Wolf? Rhino? Tiger?

None of the above, apparently. The Mammal that walked out into the lobby was a bunny. A tiny little gray bunny. A bunny was Wilde's partner? No! They had to be playing some kind of joke on him.

The bunny's eyes fell on him and she hopped over with a polite smile on her face. "Hi. Judy Hopps, ZPD, I'm Nick's partner. How can I help you?"

"You're a rabbit." He blurted out. That cultured Old Country accent making the statement sound all the more ridiculous.

But the bunny just smiled at him. A sly smile that was not at all bunny-like. In fact, it very much reminded him of a fox's smirk. "Oh, you noticed that too. You foxes really are the cleverest."

Was she mocking him? She was! A rabbit was mocking a fox. A rabbit was a police officer, partnered with a fox, and mocked predators. What kind of tail-backwards city was this Zootopia?

He cleared his throat. "Yes, well, you're rather smart yourself." A smart-tail. "My name is Robert Loxley and I believe your partner was sent something of mine by mistake."

Judy's ears -which were usually pretty perky- went ramrod straight at the name. She was literally just looking up that name only a few short hours ago. She looked him up and down. A red fox like Nick. A little taller, maybe. Wearing casual slacks, a button down shirt and a light blazer thrown over his shoulders. Pinned to his blazer lapel was a pin shaped like a shield, and after a moment's closer inspection, she recognized it as the same symbol pressed into the wax seal of Nick's envelope. An arrow and a bow. So, if the Robert Loxley that recently passed away was the sixth, then this one had to be the seventh, right?

But what did he want a stupid red feather for? She added that right under 'Why did Nick freak out from a feather?' on her list of things to do today. Answer those questions.

To Loxley she said, "I'm sorry, but I can't give out the personal information of a fellow officer. If you like, you can leave a message and your preferred method of contact with me and I'll make sure Nick gets it."

"That won't be necessary." Loxley assured her. He had other ways of finding Mammals -not that he would announce that in the middle of a police station. The less the bobbies were involved, the better. Brothers of the Hood took care of Hood business. Other Mammals need not get involved.

Nick Wilde's couldn't be the Robin under the Hood.

…