All Homo (Part 3)

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The harsh bleep of a phone split the night, Judy Hopps slowly stirring from her spot on the pull out couch bed. Eyes opening with a glare, arms pushing the duvet down, she got up with a groan. "What the…" she murmured, before seeing the time. "One in the morning," she hissed, rolling her eyes. "And of course it's on a GNSD."

Pulling herself off her bed, she made towards the phone, dodging some scattered toys on the floor as she went. All as the lights turned on and an irritated Nick leaned out of the door and into the hallway, the look on his Homon face giving a scowl so bad his former vulpine self would have to bow down in deference.

Either way, she couldn't quite blame him. While her daytime sight had improved somewhat with the transformation, at the cost of reduced hearing range (no more sonar scans), her night vision remained more or less the same.

Not his.

And though tri-colour vision certainly had its novelty, the loss of his night vision and scent always tended to come back and be a pain in the tailless butt at the most inopportune times.

The fox though just shrugged and went to the phone either way. After all, it was one of her Good Night's Sleep Days, he fully expected to have an interrupted night's sleep.

Regardless, they both looked at their phone before their eyes widened. A general summons to Precinct One, right now, all pa… -hands, on deck.

"What about the kids," Judy asked, as Nick huffed.

"Well, we're not the only ones in the same boat," he said, walking over to the storage cupboard and bringing out the double-pushchair. "Besides, we were just following orders. It'll be their problem then."

Judy raised a finger to protest, only for it to die in her throat. Dammit, even with most of his size advantage gone, he just… Uggggghhhhh… She shook her head, walking over to grab some ground coffee and at least give the pair of them a sudden emergency caffeine shot. All as her husband walked into the nursery, looking down at the two sleeping children in their beds.

Ella on the left and Ridley on the right. Snoozing away, dressed up in their footed sleepers, peaceful as could be. The former fox groaned at having to disturb them, given just how peacefully they were snoozing. Still…

Carefully leaning over the wooden bumper guard, Nick slowly lifting him out, making sure to gently cradle him as he was transferred over to the waiting seat, tilted far back to let him rest.

And then it was time for Ella, the ex-fox slipping his hands under her and bringing her up and…

His nose scrunched up a little. Dammit. Now, did he change her now and risk waking up both her and her brother or did he take full advantage of his less sensitive nose and…

A few seconds and he'd made his decision, resting his daughter on the changing table and then walking over to the pushchair, quickly scooting his son out of the room. Door closed and back he went, slowly pulling down the zip on the front of the sleeper. It was a bunny design, grey with a white front, and a cap with floppy bunny ears. Just like Ridley had a fox design, complete with a hanging tail.

It was odd, the fox mused, as he successfully extricated the snug fleece nightwear from under her, tugging it off her little pink feet with their tiny clawless toes. Animal themed designs had only increased in popularity after 'the switch'. Part of him guessed that it was far more for the parents' sake than anything else. An ode to the old familiar, that was going to slowly die away with their memories. There were no bunnies anymore. No foxes anymore. His children would hear stories and see pictures, and… Well, he supposed it would be normal to them.

They'd already asked curious questions, already seemed to have taken it in. Heck, after clearing Ridley up a few months back from a daytime accident, the little boy had pointed at the pawpad designs on the changing mat and asked about what they were.

He shook his head, slowly and carefully changing and cleaning up Ella before putting on another night-time diaper. He briefly paused, noting that they'd only recently phased out the tail straps on these things… Well, some of these things. There were other brands where they'd obviously chosen not to mess around with the machines and keep it as was.

Another lost artifact of the old Zootopia.

Which was part of the reason he didn't bother to bring their potty or their toilet seat and stool with them as he placed the thankfully still sleeping Ella down with her brother, ready to ship out. There were still a bunch of small mammal toilets and such in the ZPD that they could use. Instead, he made sure to pack their sippy cups, a bunch of dried and wet snacks, a few spare changes for tonight plus some pull-ups for if things got just too stressful in the day and a few of their favourite toys for good measure.

Looking over, he grabbed his coffee from Judy and chugged it down, despite the sub-par taste, and then raced off to get changed. All as Judy did a last round, making sure things were good, and headed off on her way. Locking the door behind them, Nick reached her at the lift just as it opened and in they went, riding down to the car park at the bottom and… Oh thank cheese and crackers they'd been cops when it happened.

As it turned out, a lot of mammals had found themselves too big for their cars. And, while new cars could be made and old ones 'somewhat' converted (in many cases chopping the roof off and adding a giant dome on top), even once they filled in the massive automotive shortage there were other, trickier, issues to account for.

Case in point, a large amount of parking spaces laid out for cars that really were just too small nowadays.

If Nick could guess, the underground carpark could now hold half the cars it used to. Which made he and Judy thank the stars that, as members of the ZPD and drivers of an oversized-for-class vehicle, they'd been given a nifty subsidy that had let them afford a large enough space for their now perfectly sized cruiser.

The children's seats still in the back, the pair dropped the sleeping little ones in, buckled them up, and then slowly began reversing, soon gliding through the darkness of the city, lights streaming around them.

"Daddy…" Nick looked back to see that Ridley had woken. His son took after him, the new one, not the old… Though technically… -His head hair was long and thick, but it curled tightly, almost reminding Nick of sheep's wool (But silkier. Way silkier). The result was a red mop on top of his curious little face, with its button nose, green eyes and rosy cheeks. Oh, and big ears. Really big ears. Yeah, his family had always had a thing with kits growing giant ears, then the rest of them growing into them. He could totally see it here. "Where we goin?" he asked.

"Mommy and I have been called in to work…"

"Why?"

"We don't know yet," he said. "We were just told it was important. So we didn't have time to get a babysitter…"

"Not a baby," he muttered.

"Toddler sitter," Nick said. "For you and your sister. Now, are you gonna be a good little boy and be quiet?"

He seemed to let out what was a quiet uh-hu, the ex-fox counting that as a win. Either way, he currently seemed far more interested in seeing what was going on outside with the lights flashing past.

By the time they got to the precinct he was back asleep again, though when entering the main-hall the noise was loud enough to stir both of them. Thankfully, bar a little bit of fussing from Judy, all the stuff going on mixed with their latent tiredness kept them occupied enough to not kick up a fuss.

Clawhauser was off for the night, but Bogo had come in and beckoned them to the Bull Pen. He paused when he saw the kits, at first looking like he was going to yell at why they'd been brought here but then conceding the point. Indeed, he had a solution. "Fanghanel?"

"Yes sir?" came the reply as the ex-wolf came up. Nick would never quite get past how the switch had changed the creepy stalker wolf academy partner. Wolves tended to go into a whole variety of Homon's, from the white skinned variety to ones with tanned skin, or redder skin, or even an odd mix of the last two that tended to be common amongst a bunch of arctic mammals… Which made no sense given that, generally, the closer to the poles a species was the lighter the skin on its Homon counterpart was but… Well, who knew!?

For his part, Eliot Fanghanel had particularly pale skin with long blonde-ish hair, nothing that out of the ordinary. Yet, somehow, it seemed that a very large amount of his 'woolfishness' as it were still translated through. Not in his body, but in his body language and mannerisms… Maybe it wasn't anything to do with wolf stuff, it was just Eliot stuff.

Still, while many ex-wolves still howled at celebrations, one could be sure ninety percent of the ones the ex-bunny and ex-fox heard were from this mammal.

Regardless, there he was, bouncing a little on his heels in front of him and moving in such a way that, were you to look and actually see it wasn't there, you'd be sure a tail was swishing back there. Bogo looked down at him. "Wilde and Hopps aren't the only ones to bring their kits in, and I can't blame them. Is your wife available to look after them?"

He snapped to the two little ones in the stroller and smiled in glee. "Oh of course, of course, let me just…" He picked up his phone and dialled in. "HIYA PUMPKIN!"

He nodded a little and smiled. "Hey, do you wanna come over here and look after lots and lots of super cute kiddies and…" He paused, tilting his head hard to the side. "I mean it is The Chief's idea. You can always fork him!"

He handed the phone over, The Chief sighing as he took it. "Yes. We're hard stretched at the moment and…"

There was a long pause.

"That's a very high rate."

…

"You do know that legally if you're a paid child care provider, you can only look after… -Wait, wait, wait, fine. Fine." He passed it down before looking at Nick and Judy. "Right, can you get that annoying delinquent ex-fennec you use to babysit your two here to help?"

"Unkie Finnick?" Ella asked, getting a little excited.

"Yes," Judy said, as Nick got out the phone.

"Hey, Finster… Bit of a kit sitting problem. We've all been called into Precinct One and, no… -It isn't a trap okay. Just need someone to help look after a bunch of kits with Chloe Fanghanel and…" His eyes narrowed. "No, that's extortionate."

Bogo narrowed his eyes. "Wilde, this is an order."

"Right," the ex-fox huffed. "Can you offer him a get out of fine free card, or…"

"Already bending enough rules as it is."

"Three free pranks," Nick demanded.

Bogo held himself there. "…One."

"Two."

The ex-buffalo sighed. "Fine…"

"Done," Nick agreed, turning to Finnick. "Okay, done."

And with that, he put the phone down. A few members of staff at the end of their shift were asked to just keep an eye on the kits until the proper carers arrived, so that the new staff could get briefed. And with that, into the Bullpen they went.

"Shouldn't it be the Ex-Bull pen?" Nick whispered, getting an elbow from Judy for his effort. "And that's ex-fox abuse," he said, as all eyes turned to a frustrated Bogo, up at the top.

"Officers," he said. "I would only call you in under the gravest of circumstances. And, tonight, that has happened." A picture of a non-descript Homon woman with fair skin and black hair in a prison uniform was shown. "Gentlemammals. This is Bellwether. She's escaped."

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Far off in the safe house, Dawn slowly walked into the main room, her body wrapped in towels after her long, glorious, relaxing bath…

Okay, the lack of wool certainly had one advantage.

And, checking the TV and seeing the news go out, Dawn knew she had a few others. Her prison picture, taken a few weeks after 'The Switch' was held up on display. Of course, she'd be making sure that she had some large differences when compared to that.

For a start, her time inside and then increasingly deliberate isolation had let her skin tone lighten somewhat. Indeed, having compared a selfie she'd taken on one of the backup phones to the one present, it was a noticeable difference. And then there'd been the fact that, with a little foresight, she'd had her cheeks sucked in, her eyes a little squinted, and a few other things going on at the time. Combined with a decided overeating campaign in the months leading up to her breakout, she'd put on a fair bit of weight. She was technically slightly overweight now, whereas at the time of the mugshot she'd been very much off food and had lost enough weight for the prison medical service to start discussing diet plans with her. It was perfect. The gaunt face on the screen looked a fair bit different from the chubbier one present now. No jaw or cheek lines, no bone lines present, honestly, she had a little bit of difficulty herself drawing the connections between the two knowing they were the same.

But, the piece de resistance! Among the items in the saferoom had been wool dyes, designed let black sheep bleach their hair, and a variety of fur dye hues. In particular, brown. It would take a good few days, but while she might not end up with the most 'natural' hair, she was certain it would really throw a spanner in their works. A modified ID later (which would take a bit of editing to format it to the new Homon only version) and she'd be set.

Walk into town.

Go to a nearby vehicle rental shop.

It was a long, long, journey to the next town on the escape route. She'd hand the car back there, check into the next safe house, and then it'd be a long, difficult, but doable treck to a hacienda high up in a secluded set of mountains.

It was one of a few at the end of the line, set up with big food stores, enough land and farm supplies to set herself up nicely, and a small water turbine that would sell enough to the grid to keep her set for the rest of her life.

…

If that was what she wanted, of course.

Because, who was to say she couldn't use some of the cash here to procure a second paw vehicle for herself and then turn the other way.

Hit Zootopia.

Hit them.

She smiled at the thought, before shaking her head.

No.

Not now.

Not while the heat was on.

Instead, she smiled smugly, if she got out of that place like Monte Cristo, she'd return to them like Monte Cristo. Years down the line, so far that they'd forgotten, and built their independent happy lives with no thought spared to her.

But oh, they would remember her when she struck out of the past.

That hacienda far away had a big seed bank, including a bunch of purple crocuses. Some lab equipment here, tech books there. Oh, she smiled, grabbing the dye and moving on to work.

Revenge would be a dish best served cold.

.

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The daylight cast over Zootopia as the cops of Precinct One walked back in. Tired. Exhausted. Their mission uncompleted.

Scouring the area around where Bellwether had escaped the ambulance, they'd found nothing. Zilch. Nada.

And as for the 'help' they'd got.

"Chief Bogo, Chief Bogo, it's happened again!"

The ex-buffalo turned to the big ex-cheetah and sighed, knowing exactly what was going on. "Well unplug it, use another fire extinguisher, just DO something!"

"Yes sir," was all he could say, before commandeering another CO2 extinguisher and running off to try and cool the telephone servers.

Again.

Lest they light up into a proper fire this time.

The Chief groaned, looking down to see Officers Wilde and Hopps (yes, technically both WildeHopps, but he needed to tell the difference). After a night of running around, trying to help, they were collapsed, snoozing, their children next to them though thankfully entertained by reruns of kits cartoons being played on a big TV.

There were about a dozen or so children in the same boat as this, though the majority were somewhat old enough to look after themselves, or look after others, and would soon be piling off to school.

That though led to the six or so remaining ones.

All of whom would be going to preschools to give their parents time to rest as soon as the places opened.

"Any news about getting that crazy ex-mayor?"

Bogo would have given a very blunt, dismissive remark had the question come from one of his officers. As it was, it was from the spouse of one, and one who'd come in and helped them very much by looking after all the kits in question. Chloe Fanghanel, Eliot Fanghanel's ex-thylacine wife, had very dark skin like the ex-cape buffalo, though the shape of her face was certainly different to that of female ex-buffalo, or indeed most ex-mammals who'd inherited the darker toned skin.

It was hard to put his hooflet on it, and no he wasn't going to use the term 'finger', ever, but it involved the shape of her jaw and head and… Who was he kidding, it was something just a bit different about her that set her apart, though she certainly wasn't alone. Go to Outback Island and all the ex-marsupials looked to be part of the same 'type' in the way that he was not.

The only clear point he could put his finger on (apart from some mentions that she had an unusual tolerance for the cold, wearing a real minimum of clothing where others would wrap up a bit) was her head-hair. Rather than black and frizzy, it had a smoother, longer, softer and much curlier texture, forming into a bunch of long, thin, chocolate-coloured strands that stood out against her darker skin.

Either way, from what he'd gathered, the 'switch' had been particularly traumatic for marsupials. The kangaroos especially given that they'd had to learn to walk in an entirely different way. But she'd had it tough too, especially as, despite now being able to have children with her mate, she had gone from a species with about the easiest birthing possible to one so difficult only the hyenas could claim it as an improvement. The result had been a traumatic first birth, and a second that was most certainly going to be via caesarean or so help them god…

Still, the result had been two healthy boys, one a year older than the Wilde-Hopps twins and one a year younger. Both Daniel and Gabriel looked like a cross between their mother and father, though the former certainly took more after her while the latter more after him. Daniel was currently being guided off to the toilets, while Gabriel was snoozing in a pouch-like bag his mother was wearing.

Her help had been most welcome and, as he didn't want to disturb the sleeping little one, he spoke quietly. "No. And all the calls are making things worse."

"How can that be?" she asked.

He shrugged. "White skinned homon with long black hair does not narrow things down," he huffed. "We're getting thousands of concerned calls every minute. 'Oh, that might be Bellwether,' or 'That might be Bellwether.' We've given up. Even with a recording saying 'you have to be one-hundred percent, she literally gave you her name or fought against you' we're getting in too many calls to screen."

She nodded sadly as her husband, tired after his shift, came up. "I guess we still can't tell each other apart," he said, giving his wife and son a kiss before turning to Wilde and Hopps. "Awwww…." He cooed, smile forming, back slumping down and… ears fanning down?

Both Bogo and Chloe shook their head at that bit of imagination, before realising that both other had imagined it, with worrying implications. Regardless, the ex-Cape-Buffalo groaned. "We have no way of scent tracking her either. By now she could be anywhere. We'll keep it up a bit, but if she has a set of safe houses or contingencies…" He shrugged. "She's free…" And with that he looked down at Nick and Judy and sighed. "All the worse for them."

"Huh?" Eliot asked, turning and looking at him.

Bogo raised an eyebrow. "She's mad and revenge fuelled. Even if she doesn't want to come back and strike them out of revenge, they'll have to worry about it for the rest of their lives."

Eliot gulped. No…

"Who knows," Bogo said. "They might have to go into hiding."

Nooooo….

"Witness protection. We may never see them again."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

…

All eyes turned to the ex-wolf, looking surprisingly currently sheepish amongst a small chorus of crying children. "Ooops, uh… My bad?"

Tired, bleary eyed, moving over to cradle their crying children, Nick and Judy looked at him before the fox glanced down and reached into his childcare bag. "We're all gone for forks, but I do have this small plastic feeding spoo…"

"That's good enough," Chloe chirped, hand coming up to catch it.

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Late that night, Eliot could only pace around, occasionally rubbing his sore eye while his brain was wracked with worry.

The end of WildeHopps!?

The end of his children being friends with theirs.

The end of their families potentially coming together!?

This was terrible.

Awful.

Just terrible.

Still, he held out hope.

They were still scouring the area around where Dawn might be.

As one day passed.

Then two.

Then three…

And on it went, things seeming to return to normal, but a slight worm of fear always being there.

It was always with a heavy heart of melancholy that playdates were arranged, work was done, Nick got angry with him.

Each time, it could be the last.

And one sleepless night, staring out at the full moon, only just remembering the old urge to howl. Eliot just wished that they could all go back to how they were. THAT would make capturing Dawn easy.

His ears pulled up a little as his phone rang. "Hello?" he asked.

"Good evening, Eliot," the voice spoke, its cold tone sending a shiver down his spine. "I'm here to talk about your wish."