A/N: Knocked this one out quick, I have started a rewrite on earlier chapters to modernize and fix mistakes that I made as a younger writer, I may turn this version of the story into an archive and start a new one for the updates, feel free to weigh in. It would also be nice if Fanfiction could get the story view numbers running again, I have no idea how well these updates have been received. I'm not one to beg for comments, but, with the graphs being messed up please leave a review since I can't track any of the metrics I usually use. Thank you!
The usually bustling marble lined halls of the ZPD were completely abandoned, even Clawhauser had evidently abandoned his seemingly permanent vigil over the dispatch desk. Everywhere you looked there were only empty offices and crowdless conference rooms, it was as if every officer had gotten up and walked off shift.
It was in this desolate space that Judy's footsteps echoed, each step punctuated with the clink of her duty belt as it shifted on her hips. Beside her Nick strode silently, his long graceful gait easily keeping up with his significantly shorter partner, his hands shoved in his pockets. The Fox smirked at his girlfriend as her nose twitched in annoyance.
"I can't believe Chief Bogo won't let us help interrogate Luna, let alone bar us from the room entirely," Judy complained, suddenly turning to look at her companion.
"With the mess Breckenridge made of things, I'm surprised he didn't put us on leave," Nick shrugged, then immediately winced as a throb of pain lanced through his shoulder.
"I'm fine, it just stings," Nick said quickly, already reading the look of concern that flashed across Judy's face.
The rabbit's gaze softened and she reached out and took Nick's uninjured hand in her own. Her purple gaze bore into him as she planned a quick kiss against the back of his hand then snuggled into the crook of his arm so he was holding her. She felt his heartbeat speed up in his chest as her lithe frame pressed against him and couldn't help the small smile that crossed her face.
"Maybe, if you're gentle," she whispered, moving her mouth to his ear so her warm breath tickled the sensitive fur, "We can try using a little teeth in the bedroom,"
Her smile grew more mischievous as she felt Nick's grip tighten around her waist, his claws digging into the thin fabric of her black pants. A blush crept across her face as she felt her heartbeat rocket into her throat, her body aching to have as much contact with the Fox holding her. A sly smile spread across Nick's maw and Judy nearly collapsed as she watched his lips peel back over his sharp rows of teeth, maybe they could do something with those.
"Is work really the best place to have this conversation? Especially considering our circumstances?" Nick drawled, leaning his head down to lightly nip at the tip of the Bunny's ear.
"S-sorry, all the emotions are hitting me in a weird way, I guess adrenaline makes for interesting conversation," Judy stammered, pulling away from the Fox.
"No, I like this conversation. We'll continue it in the privacy of our home, away from any prying eyes," Nick laughed, his green eyes sparkling with amusement.
"Once again Mr. Luna, you are facing serious allegations here, the blood of Officers are staining your hands. You can make it easy on yourself, just help us help you," Mr Fenrir, the district attorney, questioned.
The spotted Hyena stretched his arms out in front of him, the sleeves of his expensive sleeves riding up flashing the Molemex watch he got as an anniversary gift last year. Simon Fenrir had spent a long time building up his reputation in and out of the courts of Zootopia, and this one case had it all hanging on the edge of collapse. First the Night Howler incident, and now this upstart Reverend, these events were pushing the citizenry to the breaking point.
"I will say again Mr. Prosecutor, I will not speak until I have received my legal council. My lawyer has yet to enter this room, so, I will remain silent in the face of the chief's and your strong arming," Luna said simply, his cuffed hands clasped together on the table.
"Your lawyer has been contacted and is on the way in, for now we won't ask any questions pertaining to the case," Bogo stated simply, his small wire frame glasses perched on the bridge of his nose.
A long silence fell over the three mammals in the small room, each trying their best to ignore the other. Luna stared forward, his green eyes unblinking in the glare from the overhead led light bar. Chief Bogo shuffled through a stack of papers, his eyes darting across the pages as he tried his best to ignore the clicking sounds Simon's nails made on the metal table as he drummed his fingers impatiently. The Water Buffalo huffed as he shifted in his seat, displaying his annoyance with the Hyena's ongoing nervous habit.
"What's up with the activism? Why is there a need for another hate group in the world?" Simon snapped finally, his patience finally running out.
"Hate group? We are no hate group, it's you who spread the hate," Luna hissed, his lips peeling back revealing four empty gaps where his canines would have protruded.
"What happened there?" Bogo asked, moving his hand to indicate his own jaw.
Luna stared at Simon in silence, his gaze boring into the Hyena as if he didn't hear the question. Chief Bogo cleared his throat and returned to his paperwork clearly not expecting a response.
"I removed them, my teeth that is. We Predators have evolved past the need for them, so why should we keep them. Our canines are a barbaric reminder of our pasts and serve nothing but to elicit fear in our gentler brethren," Luna answered finally, his eyes flicking over to the Water Buffalo who bristled at being referred to as 'gentler'.
"Man, you really do drink your own kool-aid. Maybe your lawyer should consider an insanity plea, I think you'd qualify," Simon laughed, his posture relaxing.
"Speaking of my lawyer, why is he not here? You arrested me at exactly 7:08 this morning, it is now 6 in the afternoon. Perhaps you forgot to inform him that I was in custody," Luna drawled, his gaze sliding back to the Hyena.
"We have no further questions," Simon snapped, pushing away from the table.
Unlike his companion, who had already left the room, Chief Bogo rose from his chair slowly, his large frame dominating the small room. A lesser mammal would have shrunk from the flat gaze that the Water Buffalo leveled, but, Luna to his credit met his eyes.
"Your people have made my family bleed, officers have died because of you, and even more have been injured. Your lawyer may find a way to allow you to walk, but, you will always have me breathing down your back," Bogo stated simply as he shuffled his paperwork back into order.
He left the room in silence, Luna's green gaze never leaving his back.
Call it lack of foresight, call it flawed planning, call it whatever the hell you wanted, it was all the same. A mistake, a misstep, a fuck up.
Chief Bogo stared down from the balcony that overlooked the main lobby of the ZPD central headquarters, his massive frame leaned against the railing. Just outside of the now locked glass entry doors was an ever swelling crowd barely being held back by the skeleton crew of officers he'd managed to pull from the field. So far violence had been avoided, but, the frequency that armed or masked citizens appeared admits the protesters was increasing alarmingly.
Bogo cursed and smacked his fist against the banister as another small group of officers quickly hurried towards the front entrance, he caught sight of Fangmeyer and Grizzoli buckling on their riot helmets as they ducked under Francine's arms as she opened the one unlocked door. The glass itself wouldn't do much to hold back the crowd if they got violent, but, Francine decked out in full riot kit and guarding the front would make them think twice. Still though, Bogo shouldn't have let Simon talk him into leaving so many officers at Luna's compound, he should have known the crowd would come here first.
"Clawhauser," Bogo grunted into the radio mounted on his shoulder.
"Y-yes Chief Bogo," the Cheetahs response came seconds later.
"Is anyone else on the way in?" Chief Bogo questioned.
"Snarlov and Andersen are on the way in from the polar precinct with a handful, and Pawlson is bringing a helicopter over from Rainforest to join our own. That's it for now," Clawhauser responded, his voice nearly lost in the static from the radios.
The Cheetah and all other nonessential staff had been evacuated from the building and moved to the Sahara office for their own safety. A call went out an hour ago for every available officer to report to headquarters to quell the unrest, but most had been delayed with roadblocks and other acts of vandalism. Not counting the unit guarding Luna's compound, Bogo had close to two hundred officers to use.
"Wilbur, find me a bullhorn, we need to disperse this crowd," Bogo ordered, indicating a pig that was hurrying across the lobby. A quick salute had him scurrying away to follow the order.
"Hopps, Wilde, you two get a patrol car ready to move Luna out of here," Bogo snapped, his gaze settling on the pair of officers who snapped to attention.
"On it sir!" Judy barked, already bounding away leaving her partner to run after her.
The first of the Central branch's doors was shattered at 8:15, after that all hell broke loose. In the investigation afterwards a Llama was identified as the culprit, he has so far avoided capture.
That first brick opened up the floodgates, within seconds the somewhat peaceful crowd descended into chaos. A glass bottle shattered across Grizzoli's helmet as he pushed Audrey, a Kangaroo, behind his considerable frame as she clutched at a gash on her forehead. A grimace spread across the Polar Bears face as he surveyed the carnage. Half the assembled officers weren't in full kit and the crowd was starting to throw more and more debris into their ranks.
"Fangmeyer, get the wall up, pull the ranks back to the door," Grizzoli bellowed.
Nearby the Tiger began barking orders to the handful of officers around him. Slowly the gathered mammals began backing closer to the doors, the ones with riot shields forming a wall between them and the crowd. There were more officers present, but they were still vastly outnumbered and the crowd was still growing. Some carried signs and were waving them wildly over their heads, many more could be seen holding bats, bricks, and other objects.
"Chief, we need to pull back, this crowd is getting out of hand," Grizzoli barked into his radio, then the world exploded around him.
Chief Bogo was halfway across the lobby when Grizzoli's voice crackled over the radio, the roar of the crowd nearly drowning him out. The old Water Buffalo was reaching for his own radio when he saw the Molotov land. One second Grizzoli was standing tall, salient in a sea of blue and black, the next flames were rolling off of his helmet and back as the bottle shattered on impact. Fear lanced through Bogo's chest as he surged forward, his forgotten bullhorn clattering to the floor.
Outside the previously stalwart shield wall was faltering as the assembled officers succumbed to panic, some abandoning their positions outright. More rocks flew from the crowd striking the officers who broke ranks to put out the fire that had consumed Grizzoli. Another brick struck Audrey who had thrown herself over the prone form of the Polar Bear and she gasped in pain as more of her blood splattered the sidewalk.
"Francine, get Grizzoli inside. The rest of you, reform ranks and retreat by columns. Mason, Barlowe, cover the retreat, hit anyone who gets close," Chief Bogo roared, his massive frame emerging from the shattered remains of a glass door. The assembled officers scurried to follow the orders as a pair of Warthogs leveled their riot shotguns at the crowd which pushed back in response. An Alpaca stepped forward to throw another Molotov and Mason squeezed off a round in his shotgun sending a beanbag slamming into the mammal with a deafening blast.
The crowd surged backwards in response to the gunshot, giving the ragtag group of officers enough breathing space to pull back behind the glass doors, half of them now shattered. Grizzoli had managed to stumble to his feet, though he leaned on Francine and Audrey for support as they helped him limp across the lobby.
"Form up in front of the doors, use them as a choke point," Bogo ordered, grabbing a discarded riot shield for himself.
"Chief, Sahara Square is sending over their heavy response unit, all one hundred officers will be onsite within thirty minutes," Clawhauser's voice chirped from the radio.
"Keep holding, we're almost out of this mess!" Bogo yelled as he turned to stare down the crowd that was already reforming.
Nick couldn't figure out what was more stressful, his partner's nervous tapping on the dash, or the green eyes staring at him through the rearview mirror of the unmarked car as he slowly guided it through the empty streets of downtown. Judy sat in the passenger seat, her legs curled up to her chest as she absentmindedly tapped her feet against the car's dash. He knew she was worried and upset that they were sent away from the riot, he knew he should say something, but just didn't know what.
"Interesting," Luna said, shattering the tentative silence that fell over the car.
Judy jumped, her head twisting to look at the older Puma that sat behind the wire divider. Nick cursed under his breath, his own heart beating faster from the unexpected statement.
"What's interesting?" Judy demanded, her purple eyes narrowing with suspicion.
"Your scents, they're all over each other," Luna responded lazily.
Judy's nose twitched violently as she felt a blush creep across her face, beside her Nick stifled a laugh as he brought the car to a stop for a red light. Her eyes narrowed even further and she leaned forward so her face was inches from the wire.
"What's your point?" She asked.
"Nothing, it's just that pred-prey relationships are exceedingly rare, especially between species that historically were at odds," Luna stated.
"We don't let that affect us, what happened in the past can stay there. We certainly don't need some self righteous bigot telling us that we're an abomination of nature or whatever tripe you preach," Judy huffed, spinning in her seat so she was facing out of the front again, her arms crossed tightly over her chest.
"I don't find your relationship to be an abomination, that isn't what my movement is trying to achieve," Luna said after a long pause.
"Well, that certainly backfired then," Nick stated dryly.
"Then what exactly are you trying to achieve?" Judy snapped, her purple eyes flaring in the dimly lit car.
"We are trying to undo the predator bias that has haunted this world since we evolved, prey have been stepped on and cast aside by this society for years," Luna responded, his voice deepening as if he was addressing a congregation.
"Predator bias? Really?" Nick snapped, his hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly his claws dug into the rubber.
"I have been mocked and looked down on for years, simply because I'm a fox. I was nearly barred from working with the ZPD, and I have to keep my relationship secret because of what I am, so please enlighten me," he growled.
Luna opened his mouth to respond but stopped as the cab suddenly filled with light, Nick let out a shout as he spun the wheel hard to the right trying to dodge the oncoming car. The squad car lurched, it's wheels screaming as they lost grip on the asphalt, time seemed to slow as the vehicle jumped the curb and slammed into a telephone pole.
Nick's vision blurred as he pushed himself off of the steering wheel, the dust from the airbag making him cough weakly. Pain tore through his body as he shifted in his seat nearly sending him careening into unconsciousness.
"Make sure Luna is okay and grab the Bunny, leave the Fox, he's no use to us," a voice barked from somewhere in the darkness.
Nick groaned and scrambled to pull his service pistol off of his belt as the sound of footsteps grew closer, pain lanced through his arm as he managed to pull the gun free and point it out of the window.
"Now now, none of that," a voice growled as Nick felt his arm being lurched back, the pistol knocked from his hand.
Nick opened his mouth to curse, to bite, to do anything, but, he was silenced when a fist slammed into his face sending the world into to darkness.