The Good Life
AN: I can never seem to get these two stories done on the day they're supposed to be done. The other two always get done by Sunday, but whatever.
We left off last chapter with Wolf getting arrested, so let's see what becomes of him, shall we?
Disclaimer: I do not own the Bad Guys or Zootopia.
Chapter Thirteen:
Well...this was the second time he'd seen a jail cell from the inside. Actually, it was the holding cell within the ZPD rather than an actual prison cell, but it was still a small room with iron bars keeping him inside. Thankfully, he was the only current occupant, so he didn't have to deal with anyone else pestering him. However, that just made the silence all the more prominent.
Not only did the clacky keyboard from the warden's computer sound extra amplified in this space, which was driving him up the wall on its own, but the vision of that stupid fox's victorious smirk wouldn't leave his head.
Why did he offer to lead the cops away to save someone he had no plans on meeting again? He could've just left and taken the twenty thousand the next day, so what exactly had he been trying to prove? That he could outrun the cops? He already knew he could! He had fifteen years of experience doing just that! Had he been trying to impress the other racers!? Why would he slip so badly and let their innocent taunts get to him!?
He leaned forward, his arms resting on his legs, and growled at himself. How had he been so stupid? "Hey! Quit that out! I'm authorized to muzzle you if need be!" Wolf stopped growling, but that didn't stop him from glaring at the fat horse.
Wolf wasn't even trying to keep up a charismatic air anymore. He was mad. Mostly at himself, but still. There weren't words to explain just how mad he was right now.
When he'd gone to Nick for help, he honestly hadn't expected this outcome. He'd been operating under the assumption that the ZPD cops were like the LAPD cops, aka kinda dumb. The latter would always try to catch him and the other Bad Guys during car chases, which never worked out for them, and they'd never discovered the hideout. And because he had assumed the ZPD would operate the same way, Nick had outplayed him big time.
The cop that stopped him and Snake that first day in the city was there. His license plate had been put in the system that day. And then, during the chase when they'd gotten his plate number, that cop remembered where he was staying, and Nick used that information to ambush him.
For the past hour since he'd been thrown in here, he'd stewed on that. He'd also fought an internal battle with himself as to what to do about it. As far as he knew, there were two options.
One: he called Snake. Snake would then call the others back in LA, and the four of them would end up busting him out. Of course, that would lead to them being criminals again, which would destroy Webs', Shark's, and Piranha's respective dreams. Plus, he'd feel like an absolute hypocrite since it was his idea to go good in the first place, yet here he was going back to old habits as soon as things turned even a little bit grim. They wouldn't hold that to him, though, but that would make him feel even worse. If he gave the word, they'd drop everything in a second, but he didn't want to be the one to ruin their lives like he had his own. Again.
Worse than even that, though, it would pretty much guarantee that his and Diane's relationship would be over. Being a politician, she wouldn't be able to associate with him anymore, but she wouldn't even need that excuse. She would be so unbelievably livid at him when she found out he not only got arrested but dragged his friends back into the world of crime just to get out of prison time. Actually, he wouldn't be surprised if she actively hunted him down to throw him in jail herself because she totally would.
Option two wasn't much better, though.
In that scenario, he'd call Diane and tell her what happened. She'd been utterly furious, obviously, and he figured one of two things would happen. Either she dumped his sorry tail over the phone or she pulled some strings to get his sentence reduced—or maybe even get him released. The ultimate outcome from this road was a whole lot less certain than the other. With option one, he knew pretty much exactly what would happen. This one...he just didn't know how badly Diane would react...
But it was the only option with even a chance at their relationship surviving.
After another twenty minutes of trying to delude himself into thinking she wouldn't be that mad if he chose the first option, he finally sucked it up and stood, walking over to the bars. The room beyond wasn't overly big. It was about as big as the holding cell, which he estimated to be about ten feet deep and twice that wide. The only thing out there was the warden's simple desk and a watercooler. "Hey, I get a phone call, right?"
The clacking stopped, and the warden studied him suspiciously for a moment before standing with an annoyed huff. He grabbed both the key and a set of handcuffs from one of the desk drawers before walking over. "Step back." Wolf did so and even placed his wrists together to show that he was cooperating. The warden put the cuffs on him without a word before guiding him through the door, one hoof a constant presence on his back.
They paused at the door out to the lobby where the horse swiped a keycard. The lock clicked open, and the light turned green to show it had been unlocked. Then, he opened it and guided Wolf out into the lobby.
Through the exterior doors, he could see it was still dark out, and a conveniently placed clock upon the wall showed it was just past three in the morning. Despite the early hour, the building was surprisingly busy. There were about twenty officers about, most with some kind of paperwork. The dispatch officer, not the fat cheetah he saw that one time he came here, was coordinating with the cops still out and about.
Of everyone he saw, three stood out. The first was the rhino cop that had been there when he'd been arrested. The second and third were Nick and Judy, who both noticed the warden leading him out of the holding area. Of those three, only Nick moved to intercept the two. Wolf glared at him, but the fox just matched its intensity. "Hang on, where are you taking him?"
The horse huffed, annoyed by having to answer the question. Wolf got the sense that he didn't like predators very much. "He wants his phone call," the warden answered gruffly before leading Wolf away. He could pretty much feel Nick's glare boring into his back, but he tried to put the fox out of his mind.
They ended up in what looked like a break room. A counter covered the right wall, and there was a coffee machine with creamer, sugar, cups, and everything else coffee related. On the back wall was a large sofa with a few other chairs around it, and a coffee table in the middle of the room was stacked with magazines. On the left wall, there was a tv mounted on the wall.
The phone was hanging on the wall in the back left corner, and he actually had to stop himself from making a snarky comment on it. It was straight from the seventies. It was a landline, and the phone was connected to the base by a coiling black line. There weren't even any buttons for the numbers, it was that weird dial that you put your finger in. He had no idea what those were called, just that they were old.
"You've got two minutes," the warden informed him, and then he proceeded to sit on the sofa and grab a magazine.
Fortunately, he knew the number he wanted to dial by heart, so he did so. The handcuffs made it a bit awkward since his wrists were stuck together, but he managed. As it began ringing, he held the phone up to his right ear and prayed that Diane answered. Luckily, she did. "This is Governor Foxington speaking."
He blinked at that. It sounded like she was still awake. "Have you not gone to sleep yet?"
"No. And I know I said you could call me whenever, but I'm in a late meeting right now, so I'm gonna have to call you back." His blood froze. He didn't have time to call her back!
"Wait, wait, wait! Don't hang up! This is important!" When he didn't hear the tone that signaled that she hung up, he continued with a sigh. "I've been arrested."
She was silent for several seconds as she processed that. When she did talk, her voice sounded far away, and he realized she was talking to someone else and had her hand over the phone's speaker. A couple more seconds passed, and then. "Explain. Now."
He winced at the clear anger in her voice but did as she asked. Since he had a time limit, he was only able to give her the short version. "I wanted to get some quick cash to help out the guys, so I went street racing, and...I got caught."
"And why didn't you ask me for help to begin with?" she demanded.
"Because you told me about a certain group of people that didn't appreciate you helping out former criminals." In other words, the entirety of California's governing board. "I didn't want to give them more ammunition."
"What do you think this is, Wolf? Me dating you was already bad enough in their eyes. When they hear you've been arrested again, that's it. I could very well lose my job because of this. You know that, right?" He closed his eyes in realization and rested his head against the wall.
The amount of disappointment he was feeling at himself just skyrocketed. "I didn't even think about that," he answered truthfully.
She sighed, and he could picture her rubbing her eyes in frustration with her spare hand. "I am so mad at you right now." The matter-of-fact tone made him feel even worse. Anger was bad enough, but anger and disappointment was so much worse. "Don't say anything until I get there. I'll figure something out."
His eyes flew open in genuine surprise. He'd been hoping that she would help, but he honestly hadn't expected her to fly out here. "You're coming here?"
"Yes. I'll be there in a few days." She paused, and he heard the warden stand up behind him. He held up a finger to ask for just another second. He heard a huff, but since he wasn't pulled away from the phone, he assumed he was fine for a few more seconds. "And Wolf?" Her tone was back to serious. "Be glad that I love you."
And then she immediately hung up. He sighed and then put the phone back on the hook as he muttered a soft thanks to the man upstairs. "Thank you, God, for dropping her into my life..."
That was about the best outcome he could've possibly gotten. How many people would risk their entire careers to help someone like him? Very few. And apparently, he was lucky enough to be dating one.
As he was led back to the holding cell, he made a promise to himself. He was getting a ring as soon as he was out of here, and he was going to propose. He already loved her more than anything else, and after this, there was no excuse to keep putting it off. If she was willing to do this for him, then she wasn't going away anytime soon. And if she wasn't going away...then he would do his best to keep her around forever.
He just needed to hope he wasn't put away forever.
Once back in the holding cell and out of the cuffs, he was able to eventually fall into a light doze. Then, upon seeing he was still alone when he awoke several hours earlier, he could only assume that none of the other racers got arrested.
But...he'd seen Jorge's car get surrounded by cops after he crashed. And Gary had been PITted while they were talking on the radio. Maybe they were taken to another station? He highly doubted that either of them got away cleanly.
This smelled like Nick's doing...
"Rise and shine, pal!" Speaking of whom, the fox was standing right outside the cell when Wolf turned to look. Nick's expression was just as smug as it was last night, which made Wolf groan.
"Could you at least pretend that you're not enjoying this as much as you are?" Nick just smirked even wider, which he took as a solid 'no'. The lock opened with a solid clang, and then the door opened with an even louder clang. Wolf groaned as he sat up, the hard bench not doing any favors for his back. Nick was in here alone. The warden wasn't at his desk. Both of those facts surprised him until he realized that the fox was pretty much taunting him, daring him to try something with a hundred other officers in the lobby.
Nick just went about his business, slapping a new set of cuffs on him and leading him out. Through the lobby they went and into a nearby hallway. Down a few doors and past several other officers they went until they arrived at some random door. Nick opened it, and Wolf made a little 'huh' sound. This would be the first time he'd ever seen the inside of an interrogation room.
Wolf walked in voluntarily, pulled out the chair facing the two-way mirror, and sat down. Nick stepped in and shut the door, but he didn't sit in the other chair, which meant he probably wasn't going to be the one interrogating him. Just to be sure, he decided to ask. "So, Wilde...when we starting this interrogation?"
Nick shrugged. "Don't know. I'm not the one interrogating you."
Wolf glanced at the camera in the corner and noticed the little red light that meant it was recording. "Our history together the cause of that?"
The fox wasn't as incensed by that statement as he had expected. "Every cop in this city knows I wasn't the most upstanding citizen until Judy dragged me on a city-wide adventure. So you're not saying anything they don't know." He smirked again, which made Wolf frown. "Want me to prove it?" Nick looked straight at the camera and waved. "Hello, my name is Nick Wilde, and I used to be a conmammal."
Wolf was so stunned and outraged by that statement that he could almost hear the sound of glass breaking as his view of this fox suddenly shattered. "You were a what?" he growled. Nick turned in surprise before the realization of what he said dawned upon him. Before either of them could say anything else, the door flew open.
"Sit down, Wolf," the newcomer, a large cape buffalo demanded. Wolf blinked, having not realized that he'd stood up. When he didn't immediately comply, the buffalo slammed a folder onto the table, and said in a dangerous tone, "Don't make me tell you again." Upon noticing the equally dangerous glare, Wolf complied and sat down slowly, though he still shot a glare at the fox. "Leave the room, Wilde." The fox did so immediately, and then the buffalo, Bogo according to his nametag, sat down in the free chair and opened the folder. "Moe Wolf..." he read. "World-class thief, professional getaway driver, and now amateur street racer." Bogo shut the folder, clasped his hoofs together, and looked right into Wolf's eyes. "What brings you to Zootopia?"
Since that wasn't such a bad question, he decided to answer honestly. "A chance at honest work."
"Really?" The skepticism was dripping from Bogo's voice. "Because last night says otherwise."
Wolf shook his head and leaned back. "I'm not saying anything about that until my lawyer gets here."
Bogo let out a frustrated breath through his nose. "That is your right, of course. Do you have a number we can call? Or a name perhaps? We can get your lawyer here for you."
"I called her last night with my one phone call," Wolf informed him. "She's on her way from California, though, so she might be a day or two."
Wolf could tell the buffalo was trying to figure out if he was lying to buy time or not, but in the end, he relented. "Alright...then let's start with this: What do you mean by 'honest work'?"
Wolf sat back up and placed his hands upon the table. "Originally, it was to join the racing festival. I had a sponsorship lined up and everything...until they decided to pull out before I could even sign the contract. I tried to find other sponsorships, but..."
He shook his head to indicate he hadn't found one, and the buffalo nodded as he opened up the file again. "So you found work as a mechanic at Viktor Ursun's garage?" At first, Wolf was surprised, but then remembered when Nick and Judy ran into him at his workplace. So he nodded to the question. "What caused the flip if you had an, as you put it, honest job?"
Wolf's answer to that question consisted of a single word. "Lawyer."
Bogo huffed again. It was that dreaded word that every single detective hated to hear, but Wolf was adamant. Diane told him not to say anything, so he was going to follow her advice. Before Bogo was able to say anything, there was a knock at the door. The buffalo glared at the door for a moment before the knock sounded again. Then, he stood and cracked it open, sharing a few quiet words with whoever was on the other side.
Wolf noticed the buffalo glance back at him before turning to nod at whoever it was. The door opened, and Bogo walked out as a new officer, a grey wolf, came in and sat down. Wolf just snorted as the other wolf just glared at him. "Does he expect me to cooperate because a member of my species is questioning me?"
The other wolf merely continued to glare at him, and Wolf would admit a hint of familiarity. "You don't recognize me, do you?" Wolf frowned at that, and then this mystery wolf, who claimed to know him, pulled out a wallet and flipped it open to show off his police ID as he set it on the table in front of Wolf.
Wolf watched him suspiciously before glancing down at the badge, and what he saw made his blood go cold. The name read 'Wolford'. His gaze slowly went back up to the disapproving stare of someone he definitely now recognized. "Alex..."
"That's right, Mason," he nodded, and Wolf almost forgot how to breath at that moment. He didn't even care about the name when there was a bigger issue right in front of him. "We've a lot to discuss. Don't we, cousin?"
AN: I have been planning that reveal since I first started this story, and I am so excited to have it done. The next couple of chapters are going to be especially backstory heavy, so we'll finally get to find out what happened to make Wolf leave Zootopia all those years ago.
Until Next Time
AdmiralCole22