Chapter 7: "Research"
With a satisfied sigh, Nick hit the 'send' button on his computer and leaned back in his chair, grinning widely as he let out a long, exaggerated yawn. As much as he liked to procrastinate on his paperwork, even he had to admit that the feeling of having it all done and completed felt really good. And right on time too: he had only a few minutes left before the end of his shift.
The fox leaned back a bit more to look at the chair that Judy normally used, still empty from when he came in here after his shift with Fangmeyer. With his and Judy's combined sizes still being smaller than an officer such as, say, Francine Pennington, it was far more practical for them to share a cubical rather than to get one for each of them.
Nick's shift was also identical to Judy's, so it was odd that even now, when they were supposed to meet up in order to head over to his place for their 'end of the week movie', that she hadn't even stopped by the office to ask him to wait up for her.
With a shrug, the fox stood up in order to leave the office. He knew exactly where he could find her, or more specifically, where he could spend the time and she will not miss him: the ZPD lobby. He felt slightly disappointed that he didn't run into Judy on the way down, but her being able to find him was the entire reason why he stopped by Clawhauser's desk. He grinned and flashed pistol fingers at the cheetah. "Hey, Spots? Know any whereabouts for Carrots?"
Clawhauser was busy with his computer, but paused long enough to look over to the fox. "Sorry, Nick. I thought she was with you," he answered. "Today's Friday. Don't the two of you always leave together on Fridays?"
Nick felt the tips of his ears heat up, but his expression didn't change. A nice trick from years living the hustler life. "Yeah we do," he casually replied, "but we're also partnered up normally, and so we end at the same time. But today I was with Fangmeyer and she was with Wolford, remember?"
Clawhauser looked confused for a second. "Why would you be paired up with Dahlia?" His eyes lit up as he recalled the unusual arrangement. "Oh, right, our pet pilots." He smacked his forehead with a paw. "Silly me! How could I forget?" He turned away from from the computer to face Nick better. "Did you try your office?" he asked.
Nick stared back blankly. "I just came from there," he finally told Clawhauser.
The cheetah chuckled nervously. "And she's not there? Uhh..." He glanced at his computer screen, wincing at whatever he saw. "Sorry, Nick, but I really need to get back to work. You know me: I love to chat and all, but Bogo has really been pressing me on this since morning." He noticed the fox looking somewhat dejected at not getting a good answer to his question. "As for Judy? She did come back with Wolford, and she didn't leave yet, that much I know. So she's still here, somewhere."
Sighing, Nick held out his paws in a dismissive manner. "Yeah? Well, what can I do?" he huffed, "anyways, thanks for the help, Spots. I'm sure Carrots will show up soon." Fortune seemed to smile upon him because from behind Clawhauser's desk, Wolford's voice called out to him from across the lobby.
"Hey, Wilde! Over here!"
With a smirk, Nick winked at Clawhauser. "What are the odds? See you around, Spots!" He turned and quickly walked over to the waiting wolf. "'Sup?"
Wolford raised an eyebrow at the overly casual greeting. "Listen, Wilde, I want to ask you to do something for me."
Nick frowned. He really wanted to just find Judy and go home finally. Still, he didn't sign up and go through all that training to become a cop just to be lazy and stupid with his work. Besides, Wolford wasn't acting like he was about to ask any big favors out of him. "Sure thing, what do you need?"
"So you know how the next two days are yours and Hopps' weekend?" Wolford asked.
That wasn't the direction Nick was expecting the conversation to go, so if anything, his interest grew in whatever the wolf wanted. "...Yeah?" he answered, as though it was an obvious question. Although, in many ways, it was: He and Judy worked with Wolford and Fangmeyer long enough together that they were well aware of each other's schedule, and how they both shared a day where their weekends overlapped.
"Well," Wolford continued, "I'm sure that Bogo will have me and Fangmeyer watch over the pilots tomorrow. I'm not sure exactly how it will work, since we're both bigger and he wanted someone smaller to be with them." He paused for a moment. "Uh, he didn't ask you two to work overtime for this, did he?" When Nick shook his head, the wolf shrugged and resumed talking. "And I currently have no idea what will happen in two days, but that's not the point. Actually, don't you and Judy normally leave together on your last day of the week?"
Nick again felt the warmth grow in his ears, but once more, his composure didn't change. "Yeah. We like to watch a movie together to celebrate the start of the weekend," he replied, tone telling Wolford to continue with whatever he wanted to ask.
"So you know how Count and Trigger had to wear those TAME collars today?"
It wasn't really a question. But Nick was already starting to piece it together. "Let me guess: Emotional bunny?"
Wolford winced, but there was a hint of a grin on his muzzle. "Yeah, I guess you can say that," he confirmed. "Actually-" He reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out his notepad. Flipping to the last page, he counted up the tallies. "I've been keeping track of how many times Trigger got zapped," he explained, "it's uh..." his eyes narrowed as he counted off the marks. "...thirteen? There's no way that can be right." He frowned. "No, I'm sure there are no duplicates here. If anything, I might have missed some. But if that's correct, that's almost three an hour..." He rubbed his neck where a collar would have been had he wore one in empathy
Nick tried to read the pad as well, but the wolf was holding it too high for him to see. "Well, even if it's true, last I saw, Three Strikes looked fine. Heck, Count also got zapped a couple of times. A squirrel ran into him at one point, and he got angry, setting his collar off, that one I remember well. He was fine too when I left him to finish up with some paperwork."
Wolford nodded. "And I agree with you. Trigger was just about begging us not to send him back to the station at one point when Hopps had enough of the shocks. Whatever was setting him off all the time, he clearly didn't care enough to stop it. But yeah, speaking of Hopps… I don't think she took being around one too well."
Yup, that definitely sounded like Judy. Trust her to be the one to care a bit too much about what others were feeling around her. Of course, it was one of the reasons why she was such a good cop.
"So you want me to keep an eye out on her?" Nick asked.
The wolf nodded. "More or less. Talk to her, maybe. Actually, I'm sure she's at Bogo's office right now. Complaining about the collars, would be my guess." He flipped the pad closed and returned it to his pocket. "Anyways, here's a plan I came up with: Fangmeyer and I can take the two out for dinner somewhere. I'm thinking Fred's. It's close, and well within the per diem Count and Trigger are receiving. And yes, it's away from the station, so they will have to wear those collars. But I am hoping that we can leave without Hopps noticing. So if you can get her to be a bit more relaxed around them? She really was tense all of today, even when I tried to tell her that Trigger didn't care so much. He tried telling her, but I think that she believes he was only trying to make her feel better." Wolford grinned finally. "So yeah, nothing but a bit of silliness."
Nick grinned back. "So why ask me to do that? You don't think I would have not noticed? Don't worry, this fox's got your back!" With a new destination on where to find the bunny, he waved goodbye to the wolf.
He didn't even make it all the way to Bogo's office: he ran into said bunny slowly making her way down the stairs. Her ears were dropped low over her back, betraying her emotions. The sight made Nick feel uneasy, but he put on his natural hustler smirk as he greeted her. "So, finally done with the day, Fluff?" he placed his paws on her shoulders and guided her down the stairs. "How does a movie sound? Also, takeout or are you patient enough for me to cook something up?"
Judy looked up at the fox. "Listen, Nick..." she hesitated, changed her mind, then shook her head. "Never mind, forget it. Sure, let's go. I'm down for whatever can be nuked in your microwave."
Emotional bunny, Nick though, but didn't voice his opinion. He could already tell that his mammal skills would be needed tonight, but more importantly, that the ZPD lobby wasn't the place to use them. He can wait until they will settle down in front of his television. Besides, some warm food would do Judy good and help her relax as well. "I'll drive," he said, firm tone telling her that no, it was not negotiable.
Judy didn't say anything. She simply walked over to the passenger side and slid inside, staring out the window with a gloomy expression after buckling herself in.
Nick finished adjusting the seat to fit his size better before turning to her. He opened his mouth to say something when he saw just how miserable she looked, but stopped himself. No, now wasn't the time. First he needed to get her home, then get her comfortable. Only then would he actually try to get her out of whatever mental state she dug herself into. Returning his attention to the road, he turned the engine on and pulled out of the lot.
He drove in silence, noting how Judy continued to simply stare out the window. Luckily for the fox, traffic was in his favor today, and it didn't take too long to complete the drive back to his apartment. Parking the car, he was going to open the door for Judy, but she had already exited the vehicle and was waiting for him at the door to the apartment. With a shrug, he locked the car and opened the apartment door for her, leading the bunny over to the couch where they would normally watch a movie together. "Make yourself at home, Fluff," he instructed, "I'll get everything ready."
Leaving Judy on the couch, he walked into the kitchen and started preparing dinner. Nick wasn't a cook. In fact, he was only good enough to keep himself fed without worrying about the flavor too much. So when he opened up his cupboards and fridge to see what was inside, he stopped, thinking. Well, food, there was. But today wasn't a day when he can just get away with making whatever for dinner. Judy was waiting, and with her current mood, he needed a little special touch of extra… 'U-Nickness'. Grumbling to himself, the fox returned to the living room where Judy was waiting for him on the couch.
Judy looked up from her thoughts when he walked in. "Need any help from me?" she asked, ears perking up slightly, but still far from their normal excited state.
Nick grabbed the laptop he used for watching movies on with a shake of his head. "Nah, just make yourself comfortable. I'll be back in no time at all! Just gonna find what to watch while I make dinner." Picking up the device, he returned to the kitchen. Judy looked at him with mild disappointment, but didn't argue.
Nick didn't grab the laptop to find a movie. Setting the laptop down on the counter, he quickly did a simple Zoogle search for something completely different. Since it wasn't the first time curiosity had gotten the better of him, Nick knew exactly what to look for when he searched for a simple, quick, but also tasty recipe for lagomorph cuisine. Scrolling through the lists to find something that he had the ingredients for, he finally found one that looked appealing.
Sure hope you'll appreciate the effort I am putting into this, Fluff.
Truth be told, when recipes say 'simple', the authors always underestimate the skill of the mammal on the reading end of the bargain. Or lack of skill, as is with Nick. But after twenty minutes or so, he had a completed plate of what he was really hoping was at least edible, if not for him, then at least for Judy. One paw holding the laptop, the other the food and dishes with utensils, he returned to the living room. Judy was still on the couch, resting her head on the armrest.
"This one's on the house!" Nick announced, setting the food down. And as for the laptop, he made sure to close the web browser before bringing it back, but he didn't have a movie ready to go either. "I couldn't think of something to watch that will fit the mood," he casually explained.
Judy lifted her head up from the couch, nose twitching as she caught scent of the food Nick prepared. "I- wow, Nick, I'm rather impressed," she admitted. "You honestly didn't need to do that."
The fox shrugged as he sat down next to her. "What can I say? I thought this situation needed something a bit more than the usual." He leaned over, and ignoring Judy's comment of 'silly fox', started to rub her shoulders in a way he knew she liked. "All right, Fluff, let's get the unpleasantries out of the way. What's eating you?"
Judy stopped in the middle of grabbing some of the delicious smelling meal, ears dropping back down over her back. "It's nothing, Nick. Honest!" She returned to grabbing the food, but noticed how Nick's massaging stopped after her comment.
"It's not 'nothing'," Nick countered calmly, "something going on I need to be aware of? Judy?" He resumed massaging her as a way to coax her into talking.
The bunny stopped again. The fact that the fox used her actual name, despite the relaxed tone he was using, spoke volumes about the patience that was rapidly running out with him. "I uh… It's the collars, Nick," she admitted with a heavy sigh. "The TAME collars. I was in a police car for almost the entire day while a mammal was in the back with one of those on. And I just… I didn't feel like I was being a good cop. Nick, what kind of cop allows a mammal to wear one of those?"
Nick didn't stop massaging with his paws. "Well, a cop that knows when they have to let some things slide," he answered, "and also recognize that sometimes, what a mammal prefers might be contrary to what you might think they want."
Judy huffed and turned her head to look at the fox. "And what is that supposed to mean? That Trigger wanted to be shocked all the time?" She started to speak quicker as her mood worsened. "And I mean all day! Wolford was keeping track of every time that collar went off! He didn't tell me what the final count was, but even one is one time too many! And I was there just letting it all happen!"
Nick didn't even blink at the bunny's tone. "Thirteen or so," he said, "he told me." He abandoned her shoulder to rub the back of her ears in a way that he knew she liked. "And Wolford also told me that our coyote didn't want to go back to the station. You know, where he wouldn't have to wear the collar. So he must have preferred to leave it on." Taking advantage that his paws were already close to Judy's head, he poked the back of her skull. "And I somehow think that you also knew that. So I suspect that there is something else going on in that noggin of yours. So, care to tell me more?"
Judy looked really guilty as she looked down at the floor in front of the couch. "You remember that press conference, Nick?" she finally asked quietly, "after I thought that we had cracked the missing mammal case?"
Next to her, Nick chuckled quietly. "How could I?" he muttered, a hint of nervousness in his own voice as well. "It took me far too long to realize that as much as I had resented other mammals for never giving me a chance, the first thing I do after you make a mistake of your own was to blow you off and refuse to give the very thing I had always wanted from someone else." He chuckled at recalling his own stupidity with the events, then remembered that he really should let the bunny do the talking. "Right, so you were saying?"
Judy continued to stare at the floor, her nose twitching. "I don't know how much you were aware of just how close the city came to collapsing in on itself after that. The protests, violence, and just general… distrust. By everyone. But especially towards predators." If Nick had his own comments, he kept them to himself as he allowed her time to gather her thoughts. "But that wasn't even all of it. Even, um, especially back then, I had thought that by finding the missing mammals, that it would be all over, and that somehow, we could all just forget about the whole mess. Then the savage attacks started to increase..."
The bunny looked up at her partner, eyes noticeably more moist than they normally would be. "No one knew of a cure, or even the cause for the attacks, but everyone saw that it was only predators. Nick… Zootopia was this close to passing a law forcing all predators to wear those TAME collars. An-And all because I c-couldn't keep my mouth closed when asked a stupid question!"
Her voice started to quiver quite hard at this point, so she had to take a few deep breaths to steady her nerves. Eventually, Judy felt ready to start talking again. "They had driven trucks filled with the collars into the city, so that they would be ready to be put on all predators as quickly as possible. I've seen them, Nick - I saw those trucks filled with those collars. And today, in the office, when Bogo pulled them out, it just reminded me too much of what I nearly did to this city. Of how I made the world a worse place, and not a better one like I had always wanted to."
Judy leaned her head against Nick's body, taking comfort in the softness of his warm fur, as well as the gentle, rhythmic motion of his breathing. "I am such an emotional bunny," she concluded.
Nick grinned down at her. "That you are," he agreed, "but you are my dumb, emotional bunny." He adjusted his sitting position to make it slightly more comfortable for both of them. "Okay, so now we know what the problem is: you really hate those collars, and they come too close to a few skeletons in your closet," he grunted. "Kinda like muzzles for me, now that I think about it. But that's neither here no there. The question is: what do we do about it?"
"I don't know, Nick!" Judy complained, swatting at the fox's paw "if I did, I wouldn't be like this, would I?"
Nick ignored Judy's small outburst, deep in thought. "I think I might know something," he muttered out, getting the bunny's attention. "When I was in the academy, I had to go through some special side training." He glanced down at Judy. "They made it very clear how one of the requirements for passing that I had to deal with was to get used to, well, using a muzzle." He grunted in a rather unamused fashion. "I don't have to tell you how much I enjoyed that one."
Next to him Judy nodded. In her excitement when he handed her the filled out application to become a cop, she had completely forgotten the fox's extreme negative reaction to what was a standard piece of equipment that all cops were expected to know how to use. As well as carry with them, or at the very least, within easy reach in their vehicle.
And after Nick graduated, it was only later that Judy had even remembered about that part of training, she didn't feel comfortable asking him back then. And later, it only slipped past her mind as something unnecessary to know about. But now that he mentioned it… "What did they make you do?" she asked a hint of fear in her voice. "They didn't… they didn't make you-?"
"They did," Nick confirmed with a grimace. His paws rose to cover his own muzzle, as well as moving back at an imaginary locking mechanism. "They didn't force me into one, not like what happened with the Junior Scouts. But they did make me get into one. Repeatedly. And they made me put muzzles on others. But it was a slow process," he sighed, "a very slow, and even more painful, process that I hated every step of the way. But they also made sure not to push me too hard. Guess when your job is to train new recruits, you get good at knowing how far you can push someone out of their comfort zone, without overdoing it to where they fall apart." After this, his tone returned to a more normal tone. "I still hate muzzles, don't get me wrong. That will never change. But I am also able, if needed to, reason my way into using one when I have to. Well, I have yet had to deal with a situation that required a muzzle, thank goodness, so I can't actually say if I will be any good or not," he sighed again, "but I would like to think that if the situation required me to, that I wouldn't let you down by freezing up."
Judy was nodding along with Nick's explanation, but when he ended, some of his reasoning started to fall apart in her head. "But Nick – those are muzzles! They are completely different than those collars. And we never put mammals into a muzzle for hours on end!"
The fox frowned. "Yeah, well-"
"Nick!" Judy interrupted, getting rather agitated. "I am not going to 'just get used to it', if that's what you're implying! There's a reason why they aren't used!" She pointed an angry finger at her fox. "And don't you dare try to ever justify using one of them!"
Nick's ears folded back as he shrank away from her accusing stare. "I wasn't trying to justify them," he mumbled, "it's just that, well, for me, I don't really see the difference between a shock collar and a muzzle." When Judy's angry glare changed into a glance of confusion, he took it as a sign to continue talking. "Look, when one of those TAME collars isn't actively shocking you, then what it is? A hunk of dead weight hanging around your neck. Not much of an intrusion, is it? Okay, it does then shock you if you feel… anything extreme, but think about it, that collar, well, it's kinda like a muzzle for emotions, don't you think? One is a contraption of metal and wires, the other is a fancy electric circuit and a battery. But in the end, both server the same purpose – to stop a mammal from being fully able to express themselves."
Judy continued to stare at him.
Nick reached over to her shoulders and resumed rubbing them as he took a breather to gather his thoughts. "As far as I am concerned, if I had my way," he explained, "I wouldn't have either of them. Ban both the collars and muzzles. Greater society has decided that one is worse than the other, to which I say 'to hell with them'. But as for our current situation: we are asked to escort around mammals who have two choices: stay at the station, or be granted some freedom at the cost of having to wear an 'emotional muzzle'."
"A terrible choice," Judy muttered dryly, "no innocent mammal should be forced into that position. That's an unfair choice!"
"Life's not fair, Judy," Nick interrupted without blinking. "Sure, you know how when at the station, I always act like I'm the 'Super Fox', best mammal in the world! No one better than me? And yet, for more than ten years, I spent my life completely resenting the species I was born as? More then a decade, completely gone and wasted, because I didn't like the unfair position I was given."
"Nick-" Judy began, but stopped. She wasn't actually sure if she wanted to interrupt the fox.
"Then you came along, Judy," Nick said with a smile, "you showed me that yes, life is unfair. I, a fox. Good for nothing, scheming, lying fox. You? a bunny. A small, cute carrot farmer." He ignored the sour look he got for using the 'c' word, especially right to her face like that. "We can't choose a lot of things in life, but we do have a choice of how we deal with them. You didn't allow other's attitudes to stop you from a achieving their dreams. And I? I did. At least until someone came along to show me how wrong I was." Nick held up a finger to show that he was almost done. "And sometimes, even then, no matter how hard we try, we just have to realize that sometimes we can't do what we want without someone else's help. Which, last I checked, wasn't this our job? To help others?"
Judy let out a sigh. "It is, Nick," she agreed, "but I still don't see how making someone where a TAME collar is 'helping' them. Quite the opposite, in fact."
The fox grinned nervously at her. "Well, if you phrase it that way, then no, it isn't supposed to help."
"So why bring it up then?"
Nick was sensing that Judy was only getting more agitated, but he felt that he knew the way out now. "Well, when my shift ended, I was able to talk to Wolford briefly," he explained, "and from what he told me, I want to ask you a question: in your own opinion, do you think that Trigger would have preferred to stay in the station, or go out as he did while wearing that collar on?"
Judy hesitated. "I- well he did ask not to be returned to the station at one point. It was right after he got shocked again, and I had enough."
Nick smirked back at the bunny. "In Wolford's words, I think I remember hearing the term 'begged' when being told what happened. Is that an accurate description?"
"No! Well, not really. A little." Judy sighed, defeated. "Yes."
The fox's smirk fell. "Look, I'm not asking you to like the options being forced here," he said, "but what I am saying is, whether it's Trigger, or Count, or whoever really, if they need to choose between two undesirable outcomes, let them decide for themselves. Because as awful as it sounds, being allowed to chose the less terrible of two options can be the only blessing someone can look forward to."
Judy let out a groan and leaned back into the sofa. "This really sucks."
"Yeah," Nick agreed. "Oh how I would love to meet whoever thought those collars were a good idea."
Next to him, Judy raised an eyebrow. "If I remember correctly, sounds like Count and Trigger already knew whoever was responsible. Wasn't he a warthog or something?"
Nick chuckled. "Yeah, sure sounded like a real party fellow! Hope I never have to meet him. But hey," he grinned back at Judy. "Better than some maniacal conspiratorial sheep."
Judy's ears fell. "Nick!" She whined. "That's not fair! Bellweather knew how I was going to react at that press conference! She set me up! And I nearly forced all the predators in the city into those collars!" She let out a groan of despair as she sank into the sofa. "If only I wasn't so stupid..."
"Hey, Fluff. You realize that you just gave the answer to your own problem."
An eye opened to glance at the fox. "Nick..."
He held his paws out. "I'm serious. It wasn't your fault. Bellweather was a politician through and through – and that means knowing how to read and manipulate mammals. Plus, I doubt someone can just ring up truck loads of collars on a short notice. No, I suspect she had everything ready, and she just needed a good excuse to drop the domino, so to speak. And so when the fresh new cop finds all the missing mammals, there it is! Let's place her right in front of all the cameras and get a goon to ask the exact sort of question that will get a desired response out of her." Nick reached over and placed a paw on Judy's shoulder again. "Judy, you dumb and silly bunny… you are no more at fault for what happened than any of the mammals hit by the Nighthowler and turned savage. Do you really think the fear and mistrust of the city can seriously be blamed on them?" When Judy didn't answer, he then added, "don't tell me you forgot how much Zootopia worked to make sure to get across that the savage mammals were victims of the plot, and were not guilty for whatever they might have done. Wasn't it what the city did? Tell them all that 'hey, you might feel like you are responsible, but you're not'."
Judy sighed and sat back up. "Yeah, I guess so, Nick. I'll try not to let my emotions get in the way of all of this. But… I guess I just need some more time to think this through. And uh… thanks, Nick. For being such a friend." Her eyes fell on the plate of food she had gathered for herself, forgotten during her chat with her fox. "Sorry, totally forgot about that."
Nick followed her gaze towards the plate. "Ah, don't worry about that," he said as he reached over and picked the plate up. "I'll reheat it, don't you worry." As he stood up, he motioned at the laptop with his other paw. "While I'm doing that, see what movie you might want to watch. We still got time."
The bunny was even able to crack a smile at these instructions. "I thought you said you already found something to watch."
Nick laughed as he made his way to the kitchen. "So you were paying attention, Fluff! I lied about that. I needed cooking instructions." Even as he got the stove working, he could hear a certain faint reply of 'dumb fox'.
Eh, guess she can have that one.
When he returned back to the sofa, warm food in his paws, he found Judy looking ready to eat and spirits, while perhaps not back up to their usual upbeat standards, considerably more improved than even just a few minutes before.
The laptop had a movie on it selected and ready to play.
Nick was half expecting some dumb rom-com to be waiting for him, as a sort of mindless mood lifter that he knew Judy liked, so he was even rather surprised to see the action movie she chose. "Seriously, Fluff, 'Top Gun'? Isn't that a bit… cliched?"
The bunny grinned as she reached out to grab her plate. "Well, if we are going to be watching over a pair of fighter pilots, I figure, why not see how they act? Call it homework if you want."
With a shrug, Nick sat down next to Judy. "You know how I feel about homework, Carrots. Plus, I highly doubt that movie is accurate for even getting an idea about- umf" He stopped talking when he found one of Judy's paws pressing on his mouth shut.
"Just be quiet and let us enjoy the movie, my dumb fox," the bunny answered with a smirk. "You asked me to choose, and I did." To complete her sentence, she pressed down on the play button, letting Nick's surprisingly good sound system to take over.
As the opening titles started to show, Nick realized something was still seriously off. Jumping off the sofa, he ran over to the wall.
And killed the lights.
