The Good Life

AN: I actually have a legitimate reason for being a day late this time. Our dryer went out, so I spent a good three hours yesterday out of the house and wasn't able to completely finish these.

Disclaimer: I do not own Zootopia or the Bad Guys.

Chapter Eighteen:

"This is a beautiful place you have here, Alex," Mason complimented after finishing the tour of the house. Honestly, this was the sort of place he wouldn't mind having. Two stories with a finished basement and attic, fenced-in back yard with a pool and hot tub, four bedrooms, three baths, home office, a game room for the kids complete with three different game consoles of the latest generation.

The kitchen was completely modernized, complete with a wine fridge built into the island. The floor plan of the main area was open and spacious, which was great for entertainment. The furniture in the living room was all leather—super comfortable, too—and the TV in there was an eighty-inch behemoth from a top brand. The total square footage of the house, including all four floors was about four-and-a-half thousand square feet. And the lot it sat on was about two-and-a-quarter acres big.

"You think so?" Alex's question was a rhetorical one, but the genuine smile he wore showed that he appreciated his cousin's approval. "Definitely didn't imagine myself living in a place like this ten years ago, but here I am..." He smiled wistfully as he looked around his home.

The two wolves and Diane were all sitting—well, Mason and Diane were sitting while Alex was standing up across from them—around the kitchen island on a pair of stools. The other three were watching a movie on TV. Snake was sitting by himself on one of the recliners while Hopps and Wilde sat together on the sofa. The two cops occasionally glanced at the reptile, who seemed to be half asleep.

"So how does a ZPD cop end up married to such a prominent, and wealthy, political figure?" Diane asked. "I'm sure there's a story behind that."

Alex shrugged and then smirked. "Well, how does the governor of California end up with a guy like Mason here?" he shot back playfully.

Both Mason and Diane shared a look and snickered simultaneously. "It involved a priceless work of art, a meteorite, and an army of mind-controlled guinea pigs." Mason just snorted at his cousin's dumbfounded expression. "Beat that."

"I don't think I can," he admitted, which made Diane laugh lightly. "But you're right, Ms. Foxington. There is a story."

"Just Diane is fine," she corrected him. "We may not be family yet, but I hope one day we will be." Alex smiled and glanced at his cousin. Mason smiled at Diane and wrapped his arm around her shoulders as he scooched his stool closer to hers. "Seriously, though, what's the story?" Despite her words, she was smiling, clearly wanting to know Alex a bit better.

"I joined the force fresh out of high school, which was...fifteen years ago now... Wow," he chuckled. "Time flies, doesn't it?" He shook his head. "Anyway, this was a year after Mason disappeared. I'd already wanted to be an officer since that night, but him leaving just solidified my choice despite my parents trying to talk me out of it. 'Too dangerous' they said."

"To be fair, it is dangerous," Diane commented.

"You're preaching to the choir here," he smiled. "I know how dangerous my job is. I've nearly died twice. And that's not me exaggerating the seriousness of the situation. How I meant Sam lines up with my first brush with death."

"Hold on..." Mason put up his hand, worry in his tone. "Exactly how close do you mean?"

Alex was quiet for a moment, and he looked away. Thinking about this must be really tough for him. "My heart stopped for twelve seconds," he whispered. Diane put a hand to her mouth with a whispered 'Oh my...'

Mason, however, felt his mood dropping again. "And I wasn't even there..." he mumbled, again feeling terrible for not being there for his cousin.

"You're here now," Alex quickly responded. "That's what matters." Despite his words and genuine smile, Mason didn't feel any better. Seeing this, Alex carried on. "Anyway, this happened right after I'd finished my first year. Political unrest has been as staple of Zootopia since...forever. It comes and goes, obviously, but in a city this big, there's always something that some group or other is mad about."

"I feel that..." Diane muttered, which made Alex snort.

"As a little backstory, the first pred mayor was elected in the late 70s. At the time it was some big thing, but over the decades, it became normal to see both pred and prey mayors. And usually, if one type of mammal became the mayor, the other type would become assistant mayor." That made sense. It was sort of a balance. "Sam's dad, his name is John Chase, was the mayor of Zootopia for two terms, and his last term year was when this whole thing took place."

"So it was an election year?" Diane asked for clarification, to which Alex nodded.

"He was running for a third term, but he was losing in the polls—just barely, mind—to another candidate, an elk whose name I forgot. A week before the election, and it seems a guarantee that the other candidate will win, so John comes out and says that he'll respect the results and step down if he loses." Alex pauses for a moment to get a glass of water.

Once he had his drink, he apologized, and continued the story. "Election night...the votes are pouring into the news outlets. They've got a live count on screen, you know how it is. The elk wins with fifty-three percent of the vote."

"The next night, the guy suffers a massive heart attack and dies." Diane gasped, and Alex nodded. "Almost immediately, everyone starts accusing John of having his rival killed. When the autopsy report comes out, it reveals the guy had a genetic heart disorder that he apparently had no knowledge of. So since he didn't know it, he didn't get it treated, and it ended up killing him."

"Still," he continued. "There's this massive investigation into John. The police are going through his communications and documents, speaking to his associates. The whole nine yards. Nothing comes up. John's innocent. His opponent did legitimately die of natural causes."

"But there's some people that don't believe it," Mason guessed, to which Alex nods again.

"No matter the evidence that comes out proving he's innocent, these crackpots think it's a whole government conspiracy. Everyone's on John's payroll, and they're all colluding to keep him in power." Diane scoffed and shook her head, muttering a quiet 'Hate those people'.

"So John lost, but since he was the runner-up and his opponent had passed away, he was to take office again. About two months later, my partner and I are patrolling downtown when a call comes over the radio. Shots fired, the mayor is on the scene, backup requested immediately." Alex paused to take another sip before continuing. "When we got there about four minutes later, there was a firefight going on. Cops were arriving every minute, but none of us beat cops carry lethals. The attackers, however, did not have that restriction."

"Who were they?" Mason decided to ask.

Alex waved the question off. "Some prey-exclusive radical extremist group. There were only six of them on the scene, but again, they had lethal firearms, and we didn't. Our stun guns and tranq darts were close range weapons and slow to reload. Plus, they were all kitted up in body armor and helmets. Basically, the mayor had been eating lunch at some fancy restaurant in downtown. Half of his guards were dead by the time they realized they were under attack, and then they'd barricaded themselves inside. The cops outside were keeping the extremists busy and blocking them from getting inside."

"So I'm huddling in cover behind our car with my partner, who's a rhino, and we're on the left flank of this corner restaurant. Occasionally, we'd pop out to shoot a tranq dart or throw something to keep their attention on us until SWAT arrives with the big guns. One of the extremists manages to get around us on the left, however. He's got a perfect shot at both of us, but my partner gets up, gets shot I don't know how many times, and falls, dead, on top of this guy, pinning him to the ground." Both Mason and Diane were listening raptly to Alex's story. Even the TV was muted as the other three listened in.

"So that guy's pinned under the body of my dead partner, and there's people screaming across our side of the street that they're injured or they've been shot or they need assistance. And I'm just sitting there thinking 'Shut up morons! Now they know our defenses are collapsing, too!' And the extremists seem to realize this because now they're starting to advance. There's almost nothing we can do to them, and they're running out of time before our backup arrives. They need to finish up and get out."

Alex pauses, his stare off into the distance. Everyone present could see clear as day that he was reliving that day in his memories. He points somewhere ahead of him and just stares at that spot for several seconds before he picks up again. "And I look into the restaurant window that we'd parked next to. It's long since shattered. There's glass lying everywhere, cutting my hands and feet every time I move around. And I look in there, and I see the face of a she-wolf, about my age. She's staring at me, and I'm staring at her. She's terrified...so I tell her that everything's going to be okay. Just get down, and everything will be okay."

"So she gets down, and I know that I'm probably the last uninjured cop on that street. At the very least, I'm the only one close enough to do anything. Off to the right, I hear more gunshots and terrified screams as the extremists start executing the injured cops. So I did the only thing I could. I grabbed the downed man's rifle, jumped out of cover, and started firing." He mimicked holding a rifle and pulling the trigger. "Two died in the first volley, and that's when the other three realized there was a new threat to focus on."

"One of their bullets went straight through my shoulder." He pointed to a spot on his left shoulder for emphasis. "I couldn't even lift it any after that, so I just kept firing blindly from the hip, one-armed until the clip was spent. Another bullet went into my stomach, and then a third into my hip." He pointed to those two spots. "And then, I collapsed to the ground." He sighed and shivered. "I've never felt more pain than at that moment. I thought I was dying...but then I saw her face in my mind and knew the people inside were counting on me." His gaze grew fearsome. "I wasn't done yet..."

"I crawled back behind the car, bullets peppering the vehicle and street around me. I couldn't stand, my left arm was useless, and my rifle was empty. But the extremist that had been downed by my partner had died at this point, suffocated. In his hand was a pistol. I took it and held it close, my gaze switching from left to right. All three of them came from the left, and I started firing, just pulling that trigger as fast as I could. Another one died, and I injured a second enough for him to fall to the ground." He trailed off. "They still managed to get a few shots off on me, one of which punctured my lung. And that's about where I blacked out. Though I found out later that the guards inside had come outside to assist me once most of them were taken care of."

"I was in a coma for about a month after the ordeal, but later down the road, I found out they medevac'd me to the nearest hospital because they didn't think I would make it. I had to undergo three different surgeries. They gave me three blood transfusions." He trailed off and shook his head. "Like I said, it was bad. I was stuck in the hospital for about four months for treatment and therapy. Sam came to visit me in the hospital near the end of my stay to thank me for saving them that day."

"What'd you tell her?" Diane asked.

"He said he was just doing his job." Every single mammal in that room spun around in surprise to see a newcomer standing just inside the front door. Dressed in a business suit not unlike Diane's, just dark blue in color, the grey she-wolf was watching them all with a small smile. Apparently, they'd been so engrossed in Alex's story that none of them had noticed her enter through the front door. "Telling your war stories, huh?" She set her stuff down just inside and walked around to stand by Alex, wrapping her arm around him and nuzzling him.

"How long have you been there?" Alex asked her.

"I came in during the 'I started pulling the trigger as fast as I could' part," she answered before turning to the gathered mammals...and Snake. "So who's your friends? Except for Wilde and Hopps, of course. Speaking of, how have you two been?"

"Just fine, Mrs. Wolford. Thanks for asking," Nick answered for the both of them with his signature smile.

"Oh, come now, Nick. You two have been over enough times now that you can call me Sam," she playfully chastised. Nick's smile just widened, and Judy waved at their hostess, who kindly waved back.

Mason just stared at the absolute beauty that was Sam Wolford. Seriously, he'd never seen such a gorgeous example of his species before. Still, he was satisfied with Diane, who was all the beauty he ever needed. "This is Diane Foxington. Govern—"

"Governor of California, yeah..." Sam cut Alex off, having recognized the name. "What are you doing here, ma'am?"

"Getting my boyfriend here out of trouble." She playfully glared at Mason, which made him chuckle awkwardly. To anyone else, that playful glare was just that. To him, though, he knew it meant he was still in trouble.

"Boyfriend?" For the first time since arriving, Sam seemed somewhat uncertain of herself.

Probably for the same reason Alex had been taken by surprise when he first found out. "They don't have interspecies stigmas in California like we do here. It's a more progressive part of the country in that respect."

"Ah," she made a sound of understanding. "No offense taken. You're both grown adults and can do what you wish. I just never understood the concept of interspecies relationships." Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Hopps and Wilde shuffling a bit uncomfortably, though he kept his observation to himself. Apparently, there might be more between the two than he'd first expected.

"Well, I guess not everywhere can be California," Diane shot back. The two politicians stared each other down for several seconds. It almost seemed like tensions were rising as the two wolf cousins glanced between each other and their partners.

But then, Sam smirked. "Oh, I think we're going to get along just fine."

"Oh yeah?" Diane asked curiously, though she was also smirking. "Does talking politics with someone not out for your blood make you that excited?"

Sam waved her question off. "Oh, you have no idea. Everywhere I go, I have to watch what I say and do, and ever time I talk politics with someone in a similar position in the city, they're all just looking for something to use against me."

"I actually do have an idea," Diane chuckled. "You may be assistant mayor of Zootopia, but I'm the governor of California. What you go through is about ten times worse for me."

His earlier discomfort seemed to have disappeared now that the two females were going at it with each other. Nick watched the two, his smirk permanently plastered onto his muzzle. Judy, however, seemed stuck somewhere between confused and concerned. "How long do you think they'll go for?" Mason whisper-asked his cousin.

But that quiet interruption was enough for both politicians to look at him. Sam's smile fell as her scrutiny of him increased Mason felt a bit uncomfortable by the close scrutiny, and he could feel that this introduction was about to go badly. "Sam..." Apparently, Alex could feel the same thing. "This is my cousin, Mason."

"Get out." No one was smiling anymore, especially not Sam. She had back away from the island, away from her husband, who she immediately turned to. "After everything I've heard about him and everything you've told me about him, he's not welcome here. I want him out of my house, Alex."

She began to storm away towards the stairs. "Sam!" Alex called, though when she ignored him and kept walking, his tone grew a bit angrier. "Sam!" When she still ignored him and disappeared onto the second floor, he growled and then turned to them. "Wait here." He jogged to the stairs and ran up them before disappearing up there, too.

Everyone left downstairs just stared at the spot where the couple had disappeared. Mason felt horrible, though her comment about Alex saying things about him also sparked a bit of anger. What had he been saying about him behind his back!? Not...that he had much to complain about. He had hurt his cousin by disappearing. He'd actually be more surprised if Alex hadn't spoken ill of him, admittedly.

And so, after keeping his mouth shut throughout the entire conversation, Snake chose that particular moment to let the world know his opinion. "Well, that went well."

The TV's sound turned back on in the background. The sound of cheering fans and the commentary of the announcers revealing it to be a baseball game of some sort, and when he turned around, that's exactly what it was. He noticed Diane watching him with worry, and he shook his head. "I'm not leaving until Alex tells me to."

Not that he would. Even if he couldn't convince Sam to give him permission to stay, Alex was under orders from the Chief of Police himself. Mason was staying here for the time being, no matter how much Sam didn't like it.

AN: Uh oh...wonder what that's about? Guess we'll find out in the next one.

Until Next Time

AdmiralCole22