Chapter 21: End of the Walk
"I'm going to need you to lower your arm so that I can take a look at your neck," Dahlia said gently, her voice breaking the gaze lock Trigger had with Judy.
But instead of doing as she instructed, her words had the complete opposite effect as he suddenly tore backwards, scrambling away from them in a stumbling crawl, one paw still tightly pressed against his neck. Rocks and dirt flew in all directions as his limbs kicked up the ground around him, failing to find traction in the lose ground. A particularly loose rock gave way beneath him, sending the pilot straight to the ground in a pained and angry growl, interrupted only by his muzzle hitting the dirt. He right away started to get up again, though now noticeably slower and even with less coordination than before.
Which gave Fangmeyer the perfect opportunity to intervene. Lunging past him, she let Trigger's own momentum push himself into her waiting arms, right away locking him into a secure embrace. He tried to escape this entrapment, but was no match for her superior size and strength. Ignoring his mixture of pained whines and angry growling, Dahlia held on firmly, waiting for him to tire out. "It's just us, Trigger!" she grunted, her muzzle just about touching one of his ears, but not knowing if he was aware enough to understand her. "Stop fighting! It's me!" Not quite right away, but eventually, he did stop trying to escape. Feeling the force he was exerting on her cease, Dahlia allowed her embrace to ease off.
Trigger slipped away from her, crawling away slowly and stopping a short distance away. Settling down on a bare patch of ground, he hugged his kneed tightly, burying his head into them.
With a heavy sigh, Dahlia shuffled over to his side. "I still need to take a look," she tried again. "Trigger, please. Will you allow me to take a look at your neck?" He didn't answer her, nor react in any manner at all for that matter. Placing a paw on his head, she was grateful when he at least didn't jerk away this time around. Pulling lightly, he only offered faint resistance to her moving his head back and to the side, revealing his neck to the bright afternoon sunlight. She winced, not liking what she saw.
"H-How…" Trigger's voice was course and gravely. "...How bad is it?"
His sudden question had caught Dahlia off guard, neither expecting him to speak up now, nor to get straight to the point. Taking a few moments to gather her thoughts, she decided to not beat around the bush with her answer. He was a trained combat pilot, not a scared civilian after a car accident. Trigger can handle the truth. "The fur's burned down to the skin," she admitted, resisting the urge to part his fur to get a better look. She could only imagine how much his neck was hurting at the moment, and didn't want to make things even worse. "Which is burned as well, although my best estimate is that it's not deep. But still, that's… I'm used to dealing with burns caused by flame, not electricity." Adjusting his head a bit, she pondered as to what to do, before using her other paw to shift through the contents of the first aid kit she was now feeling very much vindicated in deciding to shove into her own backpack at the last minute. "I'm going to cover the burn up with something that should help," she said gently. "Until it starts acting, it'll hurt, a lot."
Trigger winced, only giving the slightest of nods. "I know."
"All right then. Well, here it goes..." Knowing that, even prepared for it, that the pain will still cause Trigger to jerk away from her, she propped up his head against her paw. As expected, as soon as she pressed down the bandage to the wound, he let out an unintentional wail of pain, limbs pressing hard against her as he tried to push himself away from her. "I know it hurts, but you need to stay still for me!" she told him sternly. "Let me work and it'll be over soon."
Gritting his teeth in a pained grimace, Trigger forced himself to stay put. Still, it was clear by his squirming and how much Dahlia had to struggle to keep him in place that wrapping his neck with the bandage was causing him a lot of pain.
Watching Dahlia work, and Trigger struggle against her, Judy couldn't help but feel completely useless at all of this. She became a cop specifically because she was the type of person not to just sit around when someone needed help. She didn't even let the fact that she was a rabbit stop her from pursuing that goal! And yet, as her sensitive ears completely failed to block out Trigger's whines of pain, what was she doing? Stare dumbly and let it all happen. Clenching her paws closed, she made up her mind. Taking a long, deep breath to calm her nerves, she tapped on Nick's arm. "Nick? Let me go please. I want to talk to him. Try and help him."
Instead, he only gripped her tighter. "I wouldn't if I were you," Nick warned.
She glanced up at him quickly, stunned by his comment. "N-no? Why not? Nick, listen to him!" Even with Dahlia almost done, Trigger was sounding very much at his limit with dealing with the pain right at his neck. "Nick? Let me go." Relenting, she felt his arms unwrap from her.
"Done." Securing the bandage, Fangmeyer let Trigger go as well. Collapsing to the ground, he sputtered and coughed, spitting at the ground as his paw again clutched at the wound. Dahlia reached out and pulled him back into a sitting position, where he remained as he fought to regain his breathing.
Rushing to him, Judy stopped by his side, placing her paw on his shoulder in a small attempt to try and comfort him. He looked at her, alerted to her presence only when she touched him. She tried to smile, hoping that the gesture didn't come across as forceful as she felt she had to work at it. "How are you…" It was at this moment that Judy realized that she didn't even know what to say. "You okay?"
A low growl was her only warning as his fist came flying at her head from the side.
Judy ducked, a combination of police training and natural rabbit instinct preventing her from getting slugged, feeling the air move just beyond the tips of her ears. Then she heard his cry of pain. Darting back up, she was horrified to see Fangmeyer's paw jammed into his neck. "Wh- No, Dahlia! Let him go! Don't hurt him!"
Dahlia growled but let the pressure off his neck. "I know you're hurting and are pissed off, but you try to swing at any of us even just one more time, and the next thing going into your neck will be my claws. Straight for your jugular. Am I understood, Trigger?" He growled back defiantly, trying to escape her grasp, only for his struggles to cease as soon as she pressed into his neck again in warning. "Am I understood?" She only let go when he finally relented and shrank away in submission. He shuffled away from her only to go back to hugging his kneed, muzzle hidden away once more. With a frown, she approached and, while gently, forced his head back up to take a look at the burn, afraid that she caused more damage. To her relief, the bandage was intact and unharmed, so she resisted the urge to poke around some more with it. Reaching inter his dropped backpack, she pulled out a bottle of water. Opening it up, she held it up for him. "Here, drink this. Could help a little." Ever so slowly, he looked up and grabbed the bottle. Taking a swig, he instantly started to cough violently succeeding only in spitting the water out in all directions. Even as a little bit of it splashed on her, Dahlia didn't move away from his side.
"Please… Let me be alone…" Trigger rasped when the latest coughing attack ceased. Forcing himself to down a bit more water, he grimaced as he set the bottle down, returning to hugging his knees with his muzzle buried between them, gloomy eyes staring off at the ground in front of him.
Judy again came closer, glancing nervously at Dahlia. The tiger, sensing what she wanted to do, gave a slow nod of approval. "Um, Trigger?" While his eyes didn't move towards her, his ears did swivel towards her voice. So with uncertainty still in her voice, she tried again. "Please… We really should know, just what happened. I mean, you were just walking fine, and then just suddenly, without warning, your collar went off. And not just lightly… I mean, you dropped! Just like that. Like a sack of carrots." His ears were still pointed at her, so at least he was listening. But otherwise, Trigger didn't react to her in any way. "You never reacted to the collar like that before. It's something I expect from a prep being tased, but, not you, and not from that stupid collar."
"It was a full blast, Hopps," James mumbled from behind her. Trigger must have also heard him for he shrank up even more, eyes narrowing in anger. "I just checked the remote for its status messages. The collar sent out a full charge. That's why he dropped as he did. It was basically a taser shot straight to the neck."
Judy looked over Trigger with pity. "Didn't it send any warning?" Not like it mattered, they had all been too far away to distract Trigger even if there had been a warning from the collar.
"I didn't see any. My guess is that no, there was no warning. Collar itself doesn't say anything except for battery remaining. Sorry, Trigger."
With a heavy sigh, Judy tried yet again. "Trigger, please. We just want to help you. What happened?"
This time, he did move his muzzle to look at her. But even as he stared at her with a deep pain in his eyes, he still didn't say anything. The two of them stared at one another, Judy feeling very awkward at the whole deal. Backing down first, she let her eyes drop to the ground, and when she looked back up at him again, his own eyes were now closed as he reburied his muzzle between his knees, hugging himself tighter in an attempt to hide from the world. Judy felt terrible as she reached out for him, but didn't have the nerve to let her paw actually touch him, nor to try and speak up again.
"Hey, Strikes, I've figured it out." Nick came over as Trigger looked up at him with a disbelieving look. "I'm afraid I have no experience with this, but," if Judy would have been looking at her partner, she would have noticed that despite the tense situation, he was smirking. But what did cause her to worry about him was the instant recognition of the tone Nick was using. An all too familiar, guaranteed to get on her nerves, playful tone that she had learned to dread. Hey, Flash, wanna hear a joke? No, not now! Please, why now-?
"From what I saw, I think that you got... triggered!"
Judy's jaw dropped, swiveling around with the others, staring at disbelief at the buffoon she called her partner. Of course she knew about that terrible pun - the whole precinct did. His name, combined with how the TAME collars work, and the joke practically wrote itself. But for them to laugh about it when he wasn't around just to let it out of their system was one thing. But for Nick to go and blurt it out at a time like this? For the first time since… ever, Judy was genuinely angry enough at him as to be at a loss for words. Of all the times he couldn't take a situation seriously when needed, why now of all times? But the only thing that stopped her from pulling Nick aside for a stern disciplining was a single, muffled snort of a laugh... from Trigger of all people.
"Wilde," Trigger muttered, voice hoarse and still very much in pain, but anger only barely audible over his amusement. "What the hell was that?" There was an odd sense of humor in his voice, but there was no mistaking the raw anger in it as well.
Nick stared back, smirk turning into a wide grin as he wiggled his eyebrows at the pilot. "You heard me, Strikes."
Growling, Trigger picked up a rock by his side and flung it at Nick's direction. His lackluster aim was way off, and it bounced harmlessly off the ground, not that he had meant to hit the fox in the first place. "You really are something, Wilde. Couldn't you have just let me be miserable by myself instead of butting in and ruining it?"
"I'm a fox" Nick asked calmly. "You, being a coyote, especially ought to be more than aware that we're only good at ruining what people want to do."
Trigger grumbled again, glaring at the horizon. "Yeah, I suppose you can say that," he relented with a heavy sigh. Tearing his eyes away from the ocean, he picked up the bottle again, this time succeeding in taking a swig without collapsing into a coughing fit.
"Well, now that you're talking again," Nick continued, "in all seriousness. What happened with your neck? How's it feeling?"
"Why don't I stab you in the neck let you find out personally?" Trigger answered coldly. "How do you think it feels?"
Nick winced as he felt around his own neck, imagining exactly that.
"Trigger-" Judy didn't want him focusing on his pain. Besides, if he was talking, then perhaps it was safe for her to try again. "-What were you thinking just before the collar went off?"
"Hopps," Dahlia warned. Now wasn't the time nor place for it. Just because the collar was now safe in Jame's backpack didn't mean that they could all forget that they were still on a dusty trail by the coast, who knew how many miles from the safety of their car. "Not now."
"No, it's fine," Trigger corrected her. "Well, it's not, but…" he fell silent as his eyes clouded over, losing focus of the world around him.
Judy decided to move closer and sat down next to him. Feeling less anger at Nick now, she patter the ground next to her for him to join her, which he did quietly. As Dahlia and James took their own places on the other side of him, if Trigger noticed that he was now surrounded by the cops, he didn't react.
"It-It was a mission I flew in," he started to explain slowly, his voice barely above a whisper. "Early in the war. Was still with my first squad. I… I can't go into any details, but… it started out well. We cleared out the Urusian opposition…. achieved our initial objectives… Then the drones came. One of the arsenal birds was nearby, and… We hoped to avoid having to fight them, but it wasn't a surprise when they showed up. Even still, the mission continued. We still thought that we were going to achieve the main goal of the mission, but… in a single moment… just like that…" Whatever it was that had happened, Trigger wasn't able to voice it out, his voice morphing into a high pitched whimper only for him to clamp his muzzle shut.
They were only able to watch helplessly as he pawed at the top of his head in agitation, only his hat preventing the claws from damaging his fur. What was even worse, though, were the growls of raw anger that came from deep within his throat as Trigger struggled with whatever was going through his mind.
And whatever it was, that explained the collar going off.
"Trigger…" James warned. Even though Trigger was no longer in danger of shocking himself, it still wasn't good for him to lose control of himself like this. "Just calm down now. Tell us what happened." He could guess what happened, no one reacts like this when a mission ends successfully. But if Trigger could still say in his own words why he was reacting so negatively to it, even now with all the time and distance between him and whatever happened that day...
"I- They…" Another whimper escaped him as he struggled to find the right words. "I was blamed for… something that I didn't do," Trigger finally admitted. "The whole mission was a complete loss, and they blamed me for it." He swore loudly, breathing heavily before calming down again enough to finish retelling the events. "Didn't matter that just the mission prior to it, I had been saving their tails from those damned drones," Trigger spat out, "didn't stop them from being all 'Trigger was the closest!' and 'That fuckingcoyote did it!'" Growling, he swatted at a fly that chose that very moment to land on his nose, jumping to his legs as he chased it off, all of his anger directed at the small creature.
Quickly giving up at chasing the fly, he looked up at the sun over the water. "If I was the closest, then where the hell were you all at?" Trigger suddenly shouted. "We all had a damned job to do, Knocker, not just me! Our job, not mine! And where the fuck were you? Chasing the one drone not swarming all over the objective? Why the hell was I the closest?" Growling again, he leaned down and pawed up a large stone off the ground. Running forward, he got as close to the cliff's edge as he could, only stopped by a few short shrubs. "How's this for close!" With an angry yell, he tossed the rock high over his head towards the sun, staring at it at it arced up, then down as gravity pulled it down below the cliff and to the water below. As it disappeared past the rocky edge, his ears followed its downwards trajectory, flattening on top of his head and then followed by the rest of him as Trigger fell to his knees and just… gave up. "It wasn't me," he whimpered again, one of his paws slowly rubbing at the sore spot on his neck. "I didn't do it…"
He remained where he was, staring at the ground, only glancing away when a set of paws gently grabbed his arm.
"Trigger, you're scaring us," Judy pleaded, tugging him back. "Please, at the very least, get away from the ledge."
"Huh?" Trigger glanced back, noticing that sure enough, just a short few shrubs past him, the ground dropped suddenly into the ocean below. "Oh, right…" He let himself be pulled back up by Dahlia, who came over to help the bunny. Allowing them to set him down next to James, he hugged himself again, leaning against the officer as he stared miserably at the ground in front of him. "I uh, didn't want to lose control," he admitted. "Just… sort of happened."
James rubbed Trigger's back in a circular motion. "Don't worry about it," he said gently. "You think us cops haven't seen something like this before? Nah, just another day at work."
Despite himself, Trigger grunted, but in an amused manner that even brought out a hint of a grin to his muzzle. "What? Are you implying that running into a war legend is a regular occurrence in Zootopia?"
James rolled his eyes. "Well, no, if you want to phrase it that way…"
"But Carrots here did uncover a city-wide conspiracy on her first week of work," Nick added, "so when you really get down to it, Zootopia's Wonder Bunny and the Pilot with the Three Strikes, together in one place? Even with just the cops in Zootopia alone, there are how many of us? How many precincts full of beat cops, each with three different complete shifts? What are the odds?"
Trigger started to chuckle, an odd juxtaposition to how he was acting just moment before. "Tell me about it!"
"And if you read the news, according to both Ocelotia and Urusia together, they claim that you can turn the tide of battle just by showing up," Nick continued, "A real miracle worker! Just don't even bring Carrots with you to battle, the world just might explode."
"Yeah, yeah," Trigger mumbled, although now with far less amusement. "The pilot with the Three Strikes, savior of Ocelotia, and the only reason why Oured isn't flying the Urusian flag right now." He grunted in disgust. "Eventually they might even realize that I'm still only just a pilot in a single outdated fighter plane." He picked up another pebble and flung it off in front of him lazily. "There's a reason why I let Count read the propaganda, well, news for me." He shook his head. "I know I'm trying hard to avoid reading about the mammals that I've killed, but it's impossible to avoid. And other then that, some of the stuff they claim Three Strikes can do…"
"At the rate you're going, Strikes" Nick offered with a sly grin, "you'll start turning water into wine. Or jet fuel."
"Nick, stop it!" Judy scolded, striking at his paws with one of hers. "That's rude."
"But it's not wrong," Trigger corrected with a scowl. "Well, don't compare me to Jesus, but you can can take your pick of gods, as far as what both Ocelotia and Urusia are writing. But you would also think that they can do a quick online search to find out what a fighter can and cannot do, but no, apparently it's too much work. Personally, what I would give to let Count get the three lines instead of me. Not like he always brags how he's really the better pilot than I am. But instead... It finally happened."
Judy glanced at him curiously, but worried due to the tone he used. "Um, What exactly happened?"
"A total mental breakdown," Trigger mumbled nonchalantly, rubbing at the bandage around his neck. "Was always afraid something like this would happen, ever since landing in the city, really. Honestly, I was surprised that it didn't happen far sooner. Although... I didn't expect it to actually hurt so much. But, if I had to admit it, it really was only a matter of time."
"Come on now, Trigger, don't be like that," Judy reached out and gently rubbed the fur on his arm. "It wasn't inevitable. I realize now that perhaps we weren't able to help you out as much as we should have, but I'm sure that, had we a second chance at this, things would have ended up much better."
He grinned down at her in a grateful manner, but shook his head in disagreement. "No, I don't see a way for it to not have happened. If anything, It really did should have happened sooner. There were plenty of times already where... I guess I just got lucky. Such as when Wolfor- James took me to the store yesterday, you know, to get the food and whatnot for today." She glanced over, wondering what this last comment was about. But instead of elaborating on it, Trigger fell into a silence, giving James the opportunity to answer for him.
"Right, that…" James bit his lip in unease as he recalled the event. He had hoped to avoid bringing it up, and being honest, until now, it had been really easy to forget about it with all of the talking about random nonsense that was throughout their hike. "We were going through the isles, and Trigger was just… dazed. Lost, perhaps." He leaned over so that the others can hear him better. "You know how mammals are after a nasty traffic accident, basically just like that. So anyways, I had him point out what he himself needed and then sent him back to the car to wait for me there to at least get him away from the crowds."
Judy brushed at Trigger's fur again as she stared at him, concern on her face. "What was so bad about a store? It's hardly comparable to a traffic collision."
"Judy-" James warned. This wasn't something he wanted to explain to her right now, but her inexperience with these matters was starting to show.
"-But..." Judy glanced nervously at the wolf before continuing to address Trigger. "It's just a store! You've must have been inside them plenty of times. What was so wrong about this one?"
"Nothing!" Trigger complained, breath hitching. "But- I mean, that's exactly what was wrong with it! You- you've gone to the grocery store how many times? Don't even give it a second thought about going in. So why should I be worried about going into one? But when I was in there... I never expected to feel so... That everything in there was just so… so normal!" He grunted in surprise as James pulled him into a one-armed hug. "We were in the store, and, when you asked me if I was feeling all right…" he continued, talking directly to the wolf now, "I… I didn't even recognize you! I don't know how to describe it… It was like… like I knew that you were someone that I should know, but another part of me was thinking, at the same time, 'who is this wolf and why is he talking to me'? It was like- no... I did forget who you were! Then I did finally recognize you, and I got so scared!" He suddenly kicked at the dirt in front of him in anger. "I can't even do something so simple as go to the store anymore without breaking apart!" he yelled, his breathing increasing even more. "So… stupid!" His floundering only ceased due to James pulling him even tighter into his embrace to the point where he wasn't able to flail about anymore.
"Easy there. Slow, deep breaths," James ordered, tone stern but gentle. "Relax. Just allow yourself to calm down. Gently does it." He continued to rub the pilot's back as Trigger nodded and did as he was told, taking long, deep and forceful breaths. "Feeling better?" he asked, patiently waiting for Trigger's breathing to return to a more natural state.
"I… sorry," Trigger mumbled, ears flat in shame when he recovered enough to talk coherently again. He allowed his head to lean into Jame's shoulder, staring off ahead into the distance.
"Don't be," James said gently. "If anything, it's only natural that you're reacting like this. I, for one, can only imagine what it's like fighting day after day in a war like the one you were in." He placed his other arm on Trigger's shoulder and rotated both of them so that they can look at each other muzzle to muzzle. "Trigger, listen to me closely. You were probably told this before, but I think you need to hear it again. In the precinct, we have mammals who specialize in these things. Us, here? We can only help you out so much, but we're not the experts around here when it comes to these things. But if you talk to Bogo about it, he'll be able to get someone who knows what to do a lot better than any of us. You can't just keep these things bottled up, you need to talk to someone. And yes, even if you will be leaving us very soon."
Trigger was only able to maintain eye contact for a few moments before looking away. "I… I can't."
James gripped his shoulder harder, trying not to groan in frustration. Why did he have to be so stubborn about it? Instead, he took a quick but deep breath to calm himself down. "And why not?"
"B-because… You don't even know my name!" Trigger argued, wide, frightful eyes snapping back to James'. "H-How can you help me when you don't even know my damned name?"
The wolf sighed, pulling him into a tight hug, ignoring his attempts to escape the embrace. "I'm not asking you to tell us what you're not allowed to," he muttered gently into his ear, "but that's not a good reason as to why we can't help you either. You just need to let us, that's the biggest obstacle here." He extended one of his arms out, silently waving for the others to join him. They did instantly, without any hesitation. While there were a few awkward moments as everyone tried to find a good spot, Trigger didn't complain or growl in anger as he found himself the center of a large group hug. And so, for several long moments, they all remained in that tight group, together.
"Why… why are you all being so nice to me?" Trigger finally asked, voice quiet and… afraid?. "You all know that- that I've killed people. I'm a murderer! I keep reminding you that! And yet, I mean… yet you are all still… like you care..."
"That's because we do care," Judy offered in turn, scratching at one of his ears, one of the few places she could reach from between Nick and James. "Despite what you did or didn't do, we care. Even Nick, when he's not being a sarcastic git. Right, Nick?"
"Sure do," Nick answered, still grinning his sly smirk. "In fact, we care so much that we're going to suffocate you."
"Nick!" Judy's paw curled into a fist. This time she really was going to hit him, and hit him so hard that Bogo would be forced to put her on parking duty for the rest of the year, but if he did then it would so be worth it because her partner really couldn't get a clue about-
She hesitated when a pained, but unmistakable chuckle came from Trigger.
"I uh… you guys are actually making me rather claustrophobic right now," he admitted. "I really appreciate you all being here, but… I could use some air."
Since it was his request, the cops split away from the hug, sitting down nearby but far enough to give him his personal space back. He rubbed his eyes dry with the back of his arm, wincing as some salt got inside. Blinking away the pain, he stared out at the water. "I honestly forgot how pretty it was over here," he mumbled, almost silently. "Of all the places to finally get it over with and have that meltdown, I can't really name anything better." He hugged his knees again, but this time, it was only to aid with supporting his stance rather than to comfort himself. Sure enough, he placed his muzzle on top of his knees so that he can still see past them, rather than burying it into them like before. "And this certainly beats having Count around when to finally happened." He lifted his head back up just long enough to shake it, chuckling quietly at himself. "Like I said, a total mental breakdown."
"Glad to know that getting Nighthowler poisoning was good for something," James said, his own grin slowly forming as he tried to lighten the mood a bit further. "Gave us a day off to kike around in. But I think you really ought to be thanking the doc for this one."
"You didn't have to bring me here, though," Trigger said. "But you did, despite how much of a pawful Count and I've been… Especially me." While he still continued to stare out at the ocean, there was no mistaking the grateful glint in his eyes. One of his paws went up to his neck, slowly rubbing at the bandage. "And as much as my neck hates it, I uh, I'm really glad you guys allowed me to come. I can't even begin to describe how much better actually being here compared to just staring endlessly at a map." He rubbed at his neck again, somehow managing to wince and grin at the others at the same time. "For better or for worse, the entire day has felt like a dream. And at least for for the next several hours, I don't mind not having to worry about waking up."
Dahlia looked at her phone to check the time. They hadn't been stuck here for too long still, but she was worried that she was now looking at time that they couldn't actually afford to waste by sitting around. Glancing at the ground only confirmed that her shadow was noticeably longer than even when they were splashing on the beach not too long ago. "Listen, Trigger, I hate to be 'that one', but I think we really should get going if you're up to it." She smirked at him. "Not like you haven't been telling us that the entire day or anything."
His ears dropped in shame, but there was a hint of a self-depreciating grin on his muzzle. "I really was like that, wasn't I?" he mumbled sheepishly, still rubbing at his neck. "Can we stay for... five more minutes? I mean, look! You can even see those lousy-cop islands still." Despite his grin, it was still evident that he was still in a lot of pain, and needed the time to recompose himself more properly.
Dahlia let out a sigh. "Okay, we can do five more minutes. But you'll need to let go of that wrap, or you'll only mess it up, and the burn underneath it. And that will hurt even more." At least he did as he was told, lowering his paw and scooting over to where he can sit a bit more comfortably and stare out at the sights around them some more. She, in turn, took the opportunity to place the small first aid kit she used back in the backpack. She froze, when in the process of putting it back inside, she spotted the TAME collar stashed away in there was well. She didn't remember placing it inside, but there it was. Glancing over to the pilot, still staring out with an oblivious smile on his muzzle, she knew what she needed to do.
"Listen, Trigger."
He glanced at her, biting his lower lip in order to suppress an urge to whimper at the sight of the collar in her paw.
"No! I- I'm not asking you to put it back on," Dahlia quickly explained. "What I wanted to say was that, I don't want you to wear it for the rest of today. So don't worry about having to put it back on. At the very least, you need to keep your neck clear." Hiding the device back in her backpack where it won't get in the way, she added, "to be honest, we should have taken that thing off the moment we got into the car," she admitted. "I know that you're supposed to keep it on, but… it's a TAME collar! You're not supposed to be forced to wear it on… Well, what else can we call today if not your only day off?"
Trigger gave a small, grateful smile at her, paw unconsciously rising back up to his neck. But he caught himself and lowered it before he could start rubbing at the spot again. "Thanks, but really, it's not your fault," he mumbled back. "Don't blame yourself for some stupid rule my CO came up with to make my life hell when he's not around."
Dahlia winced. "Trigger, don't try to deflect the blame. Hopps- Judy repeatedly pleaded to both me and Bogo about these collars. We both kept forcing her to tolerate you and Count being forced to wear these, even as she saw first hand how much they were interfering with just being able to do regular things. James also kept me informed how you held up with these, but… out of the four of us, I was the one who kept pressing the hardest to just do as we were told. As the most senior officer, I saw it as my job to keep the others in line even as they tried to fight against something that even I agree is completely wrong. But… because we were told that you and Count had to wear the collars, I listened and forced the others to step in line. Between Judy, and James... even Wilde-" her eyes locked with Nick's for a brief moment. "You should have seen him. Sure, when you or Count were around he kept his mouth shut and just played along. But when the two of us were in private, you should have- I don't think I ever saw him angrier before or since about anything."
Judy grinned as she leaned against her partner, patting his leg in approval. Despite Nick going out of his way to appear to be the least emotional member of their group, she knew that deep down, he absolutely still cared. And even better, hearing from someone else that he would try to act on it even when she wasn't around, well, that's why she chose him as her partner.
His paw again rubbing at the bandage, Trigger stated at the ocean in an attempt to avoid looking at any of the officers. "But I… like it here," he tried to argue. "It's what I told Judy and James on our first outing on a patrol. Between feeling like a prisoner and actually being one, I prefer being able to go outside. To feel the sun on my fur, the wind…" he tugged at his shirt, by now mostly dry. "The feeling of getting dunked in the sea? Nothing moping about inside the precinct could compare. I said it before, and I will keep saying it: This," he waved his arm around at the world around them. "You can't compare this to a map on a computer screen. When we get back, try comparing this right now to the low resolution, still and lifeless, pixelated representation you'll get there! And if McKinsey says that I have to wear some stupid shock collar to be able to experience the real deal?" he let out a frustrated sigh. "Don't get me wrong, given the choice, then I absolutely won't wear the stupid collar. But do you really think Bogo would have allowed you to bring me here if he had found out that you were all sneaking the collars off us when he wasn't looking? Well, he might, but there's no way that McKinsey would have tolerated this if he had seen the reports. Which, from what I understand, the log files were in fact sent to him, just to make sure. Personally I think he enjoys imagining how much Count and I buzz ourselves."
Trigger started to laugh, but in a very unamused, frustrated sense. "So ironically enough, I think we both are getting what we want out of me being here. I get to visit here again, and he… he gets to read about how I nearly burned my own head off doing so. So in a weird way, I guess what I am saying is that if you asked us both if this was worth it? Was him being unusually kind enough to allow this trip for me worth it on his end? I think we both would say, especially now for him, only despite now for me, that yes, if given the chance to make the choice again, I would still want to go." He stopped talking for a moment, slowly looking over at Dahlia. "I guess what I actually wanted to say is that while I am not asking you not to hate these collars, I don't want you to beat yourself up over having me wear it."
"It still wasn't right of us to have you wear the collar," Judy said, butting in. "Dahlia said it: we should have taken it off in the car. Especially since you'll be leaving us soon, and won't be around long enough with us to suffer the consequences. What was Bogo going to do? Force you to stay around longer?"
"He could always do something to you, not to me." Trigger suddenly let out a bitter laugh. "Yeah, well, besides, hindsight is twenty-twenty. Even I didn't think to ask you to take it off until now either." He picked up another pebble and flicked away towards the trail. "Besides, what's with all of your sudden interest in how I'm doing? We didn't come all the way out here just for my benefit. How's that recovery from nighthowlers going for you, James? Nick?"
While Wolford frowned at being reminded of his poisoning, Nick flashed a grin and reached out to thump Trigger over the shoulder. "When the doc said to walk around for the day, I don't think she had quite this in mind," he answered, "I can already tell that I'm going to hate you so much tomorrow when I'll wake up and discover my legs have been replaced by wooden stumps." If Judy will try to go back to the whole collar business, he was hoping for not having to explain to her that this sudden change in subject was, while lousy, still a very clear signal from Trigger that he was done talking about it. And Nick was more than ready to agree that this wasn't the best place to start an actual argument over. They came out here to have fun in the sun, and if it meant that Nick had to milk his legs getting sore, then he was sure going to do it.
Especially since he didn't have to milk the being sore part all of that much. His legs had started to complain ever since the descent from the hill with the table, and as much as Nick didn't feel like admitting it, Trigger getting shocked offered them this great opportunity to take a break and sit down for a little like they were doing now. But luckily for him, Judy didn't try to revert the subject.
Instead, she playfully punched his leg, earning herself a yelp of complaint from him. "Nick, don't exaggerate! You'll be fine, you big baby." She rolled her eyes when he flashed her a grin and winked. "Hopelessly dumb fox."
"Nah, I'm still a sly fox," Nick corrected her with another wink. 'But I do know how to act like a dumb fox. Just don't confuse the two."
Dahlia nudged James. "What about you? Now you're being awfully quiet." She rubbed her paw along his shoulder as she noticed that it was his turn to be the upset person in the group. "James?"
He fidgeted nervously, letting out a nervous grin. "I was just thinking that I would have preferred this not to have happened because of um, that incident at the park. It was such a close call, and more of just dumb luck that no one else saw me." He chuckled, gently brushing Dahlia's paw off. "I know I'm being silly now, but I guess I'm still getting over how embarrassing it all was. I was in my uniform! What if someone had seen me? Or worse, recorded it?"
"It wasn't exactly something to be ashamed of, James," she tried to correct him, only to get herself a snort and a glare of disbelief from her partner. "It was just your body's natural reaction to a new and barely tested medication, acting on also a new drug, now in a previously unknown form. No one expected you to just… flush it all out." She mentally winced at herself when he visibly shrank in genuine shame at the memories she brought up. "Okay, so maybe it was really embarrassing," Dahlia relented. "But you're feeling good now, right?"
His shame changed back to a grin, even if half-forced. "Yeah, sure, if you don't count the fact that I don't think I was able to feel my legs for the past half hour at least. Nick's correct about them being stumps tomorrow." He jerked his head towards the pilot next to them. "But I take it that it was all according to plan, am I right, Trigger?"
"Hey, genius, you were the one that decided to pick me up and dump me in the ocean," Trigger shot back, his tone returning to that playful competitiveness from earlier in the day. "How was I supposed to know you weren't up for it?" But as he stood up, he had to bend down and rub his own sore leg muscles. "But if it makes you feel any better, I'm gonna hate this tomorrow too," he added. "And yes, I know that I was the one that insisted that we go this way. It's been, um, too long since I got to go out on a long day like today, forgot how much it can hurt when you're out of practice. N-not that that's a bad thing!" He rubbed his neck nervously as the other paw reached down for his discarded backpack. "But, well, okay then I guess... We ready to go?"
Judy shared a smirk with Nick, grabbing her backpack as he also started to get ready to start walking again. "Guess our impatient pilot's back. Well, no sense in delaying the inevitable, let's get going then."
"Ready when you are, pup!" James announced, slapping Trigger's shoulder for good measure. The pilot grumbled but his return punch of annoyance was much the same as what Judy would throw at Nick when he would start to annoy her. In other words, it was all in good fun.
"I have a name, you know," Trigger grumbled, wincing as he rubbed his now aching shoulder.
Nick grinned, eyeing him with a humorous glint in his eyes. "Didn't you complain that we don't know your name just moments ago?"
Trigger's jaw dropped as he raised a finger to try and counter that remark. "I uh, okay… Dang, you- you got me there."
"Well, hate to break it to you, but it really wasn't hard at all," Nick retorted, bumping fists with James. Trigger was about to say something in his defense when they were all interrupted by an annoyed shout from Judy.
"Boys! Weren't you the ones insisting that we go?" Sure enough, she was off ahead with Dahlia, impatiently tapping her foot on the trail as they waited for the group to reform.
"How did they get in front of us?" Nick asked, dumbfounded. He swore that, especially with it being Trigger who had gotten up first, that they were in the lead. But no, there was his partner, still yelling at him. "Well, better get going then," he muttered, rolling his eyes at her direction. "Personally, I think she's getting hungry. Carrots can get cranky like that when she doesn't get enough of her… carrots."
"I heard that!" Her glaring daggers would have been more effective if it wasn't for the wide grin Judy was sporting.
"Everyone, can we not argue about this?" Trigger complained, suddenly serious again, shoving past Dahlia and Judy to take point. The officers exchanged a quick look amongst themselves as they followed after him. It was understandable for him to still be upset, but it was still rather off-putting just how quickly his mood was swinging between laughing with rest of them and falling into a gloomy silence.
Judy shuffled herself over to Fangmeyer, hoping to try and discuss this with her, but as soon as she started talking, she found herself being cut off. "-and I mean, if you get down to it, especially when he said-" When you put her into cop mode...
"Judy? Judy… Hopps!"
Judy blinked, glancing up to the tiger. "Uh, what?"
"Now's not the time." Dahlia sighed, jerking her heads at Trigger, now involved in some quiet conversation with Nick and James. "I know you want to figure out what happened, and I can assure you, we all do. But for his sake, do wait until we'll be done with today. Let him try to enjoy the rest of the hike while we're out here."
The rabbit gave a sheepish grin, nodding in understanding. "Okay, I can do that."
Speaking of the pilot, Trigger had stopped again as Nick and James leaned on a conveniently placed log nearby. He leaned down and picked up a long fallen leaf from the much larger tree growing on the side of the trail. Sniffing at it, he even closed his eyes as he enjoyed the scent coming from it. "Now that's a small you don't get in Ocelotia," he commented, reaching down to grab several more leaves and stuff them into his backpack.
Looking over the tree, Judy couldn't help but show off her botanical upbringing. It was at times like this that Nick would joke how 'you can take the bunny out of the farm, but you can't take the farm out of the bunny'. Tapping a knuckle against the trunk of the tree, she flashed a grin to Trigger, though a rather ironic one. "You shouldn't be smelling these leaves here either," she told him, "this tree isn't native to the area."
Trigger tilted his head to look up to the top of the tree. "Uh, it isn't? Then what is it doing here?"
Nick nudged James as Dahlia took a spot next to them. "My suggestion, we get the heck out of here. Carrot's going full farmer on us. You never let her go full farmer." Wolford instead crossed his arms and stayed put, choosing instead to watch the spectacle.
"This is a Eucalyptus globulus tree," Judy was explaining, groaning in frustration as Trigger stared blankly back at her.
He grabbed another leaf and sniffed at it again. "But they grow all over the area," he commented, confusion clear in his voice. "Are you really saying that they are…. An invasive species?"
Judy rolled her eyes. "Yes, Trigger, that's what I'm saying. If you failed to catch the name, once again, this tree is Eucalyptus globulus. Eucalyptus! Pawstralian? Their natural habitat is Pawstralia, not Zootopia. They don't belong here."
Trigger's ears lowered at this news. "But I always liked these trees here," he mumbled half-heatedly, getting him another eye roll from the rabbit. Nick on the other hand failed to hide a snicker of amusement.
"You dumbass," Judy said in jest, only later realizing what she had said. She hadn't meant to use the other nickname he had from his airbase, it sort of just slipped out. Not that he seemed to notice. Or if he did, he didn't care enough to react to it.
Rather, his ears suddenly perked up as he motioned for the resting officers to get back on their feet. "Hey, forget the tree, I just remembered: We should be really close to the final intersection!" he blurted out. "If I recall correctly, we are only a couple of minutes from Tourist Rock!" And just like that, he was off again, taking the lead and calling for the others not to fall behind.
"This is going to get old fast," James complained as his sore legs complained at having to work again, "But if he's talking about what I think he's talking about, then we're not that far from the parking lot either. Wait, what did he mean by 'tourist rock'?" He only walked for a bit longer before a random memory caused his eyes to widen as he hurried his pace to try and catch up to the pilot. "Uh, Trigger, wait! There's something you should know about that!"
But Trigger wasn't having any of it, still rushing off in order to get over to his 'tourist rock'. His prediction that they were close had a point when the trail finally turned inland for more than just to get through one of the various gullies along the cliffs. Heading into a wooded valley, it finally appeared to be that it was time to leave the coast behind. Not that this was what Trigger was interested in. Instead, he stopped at a sign post by a intersection between the trail and another small path leading back towards the coast. Whatever he was reading, it wasn't good news based on the flattening of his ears again.
James finally caught up, but knew that he was too late to inform Trigger on what he had remembered. "That's what I wanted to tell you," he said as he placed a paw on Trigger's shoulder reassuringly. "The outcrop collapsed years ago. It was natural erosion, nothing anyone could have done about it."
"It was still up last time I was here," Trigger grumbled as he stared at the sign informing of the permanent trail closure. He placed a finger on the sign, tracing the words slowly. "It didn't even last that long after we left… Collapsed only about a year after we left. I thought it was unusual that I wasn't able to see any mammals taking pictures on it, but… I mean… Everything else all looks exactly the same as I remember. Why did this have to change? It's like… like the very ground is now taunting me how nothing's the same anymore! Ever since the fucking war started…"
James pulled the pilot away from the sign before Trigger would loose his cool even more. "Come on, let's keep going." He could only guess as to why such a change was causing such a sever reaction from Trigger, but as he thought about it, he figured that,were he in Trigger's place, that he would too be rather depressed to find out that such a significant change happened when he was away. "We're almost home. Try not to think about all of this too much."
Trigger nodded feebly and allowed himself to be turned towards their way home. "Okay, okay. Let's… let's get this over with. Yeah, there isn't a lot left…" He took the lead again as James allowed him to pass.
The group entered the trees, the canopy covering so much of the bright sky that Judy was the only one not to have to stop walking and blink while adjusting their vision to the new lighting. Even despite his gloomy attitude just moments ago, even Trigger had something to say about it.
"It must be something to do with the coast and all the light bouncing around all over the place," he told them, pulling the brim of his hat up to let more light in to little effect. "But I've never seen such a sudden transition anywhere else. Not in Ocelotia, but not even in other places around here. But it's not rock walls like a cave or a tunnel, it's just trees blocking all the light!"
Judy, who ironically with her worse eyesight, wasn't as effected by the sudden darkening as the others were, so she got to appreciate the transition a bit more than they did. Plus, she did ninja in a picture of Nick fumbling with his sunglasses, but she wasn't sure if her phone had a good enough camera for this or not. Unfortunately, she will need to wait to get back to Zootopia to see if that particular shot came out well, as she had to hide her phone back when she noticed that her partner wasn't looking around blindly anymore and was very much aware of his surroundings again.
And then they were off again, for the uncounted number of times today, heading down a narrow path inland that hugged the side of a valley, a small creek in a shallow gorge on the other side. The narrow path meant that they were forced to go in single file, but it didn't take long for this path to merge into a significantly wider dirt road. And with this increase in path width came an increase in traffic. Collapsed scenic rock or not, but this latest road, which based on the trail signs was also going to be their last one, was also the most populated segment from today, short only of the actual beach.
For Judy, it meant that she again got to experience the stares of others, being the only bunny among a group of large predators. But those stares, she found them to be rather easy to ignore, especially since she had her phone out and was busy taking pictures of the interesting sights around them.
It wasn't like Nick didn't get a good laugh at her expense when she had to wait in line after a bunch of other rabbits so that she can get a nice close-up shot of a small waterfall created by a creek that came down the valley side, through a pipe beneath the road, and into the main creek on the other side. But honestly, the fact that he simply walked next to her the most part without bantering was something she didn't mind, instead allowing her to listen in as Trigger started up another conversation with James and Dahlia. This time they were chatting on about movies, and while the beginning was very much forced and was a blatant attempt to hide away from whatever had been bothering him, with the two cops humoring him, the conversation soon enough became very much natural lighthearted banter. Even she and Nick joined in. Clawhauser especially can tell anyone about Judy's being prone to gossip for hours on end, but with her taking pictures and whatnot, she was left out simply because she kept leaving the group to hop to the side of the road for a quick snap, Nick in tow accompanying her.
It was a real shame too, because as soon as Trigger mentioned that he was a big fan of the animated Leo King movie, it only took a moment for him to also reveal that he never did see the live action remake – it had come out after the war had started and he never had the opportunity to visit a theater when it was playing. But this was a movie that Judy can spend literal days talking about, especially now that she found another fan. But alas, as it were, she got distracted by an interesting fallen log over the creek, which left James to pick up the conversation.
"-and speaking of creepy shamans in the woods, take a look at that bridge over there," he said, motioning to a small wooden bridge from where anther small trail broke away from the road. If his voice was anything to go by, James knew exactly what they were supposed to find there.
Nick came over to the bridge, and more specifically, to the trail sign right next to it. Leaning closer to examine it, he took a quick read of its contents. "Oh gosh!" Jumping back in surprise, he clutched at his chest in order to calm his racing heart.
Startled by the sudden reaction from her partner, Judy bolted over, eyes wide with concern. "Nick? What is it?" Nick recovered only to lean casually on the sign, a large dopey smirk on his muzzle that caused Judy to slow down in confusion. She knew that look. That look that could only mean-
"The distance remaining starts with a zero followed by a dot," Nick explained, motioning at the sign. "As in, we have less than a mile left! And here I though that we were on some sort of endless walk here." He gave Trigger a curious look. "Wouldn't put it past Chief Buffalo Butt to get Strikes here to make us go on some death march." He smirked again. "Tell me, Strikes, just want to check, you wouldn't be packing a piece on your persons, would you? Put us out of our misery at the very end perhaps?"
Trigger by now knew Nick well enough to know that he was joking. And he was in a good enough mood again to actually play along. Returning the smirk, he patted the straps to his backpack. "Now if I did, why would I tell you?" he asked in response. "Consider it a surprise."
"If you tell me, I'll still act surprised," Nick offered, now moving away from the sign. If they were really as close as it said they were, then there should really only be a matter of a couple of more turns on the road they were on.
Trigger shrugged. "Why should I spoil the surprise? It's to die for!"
For all their silly banter, Judy had to admit that she felt a pang of sadness at the fact that they were so close to the end. She had somehow fallen closer to the back of the group, and her eyes couldn't help but linger up towards the bandage around Trigger's neck, only partially obstructed by his shirt. Only very recently, he was in a very bad mood, and only had returned to normal a matter of minutes ago. While she was very much glad that the day was over, to get off her sore legs, and was looking towards finally being able to relax, she also was wishing that they had perhaps a bit more time today. And yet, their little vacation was about to end simply because they were running out of road to go on.
No, correction. As their little group rounded a final bend in the road, the forest opened up to the grassy fields that they had driven into, and sure enough, there was the parking lot in front of them, cars glinting in the late day sun.
"Now that's such a beautiful sight if I ever saw one," Nick announced, imitating wiping a tear off his eye. "I think I can see our car from here!"
"Last one to it pays for dinner?" James offered, tightening the straps to his own backpack.
Trigger shook his head. "Nah, we still have that entire straight to get past. Too far to race on," he explained. If he was also disappointed that their hike was coming to an end like Judy was, he wasn't sounding like it. "However, I didn't yet get to tell you my favorite line in the movie. I think it really works for this case."
Judy's ears perked up again. "Yeah, which line is that?" She racked her brain for the ending of the movie, wondering what bit of dialogue he could be referring to.
"You know, it was before the ghost scene. The one with the shaman goes all..." Trigger said, sporting a sly grin similar to what Nick would do. "Bye!" In a flash, he was off, running as fast as he could down the dusty road towards the cars.
"Hey, wait!" Caught off guard, Judy more so felt the wind of him darting off rather than actually see his bolting away. Quickly zeroing in on his retreating form, her mind decided right there and then to latch onto one simple conclusion: Trigger was making a break for it. "Stop!" Tearing off after him, she sprinted after the pilot, legs straining to catch up. "Stop right now!"
Dahlia grumbled at the scene, both since Judy's cries also drew the attention of nearby park attendees. She really didn't expect Judy to overreact as she did. After all, Dahlia had to give it to Trigger that it was actually a rather funny joke to pull off like that, fitting really well with the fact that they had been talking about that movie just now. But since an overachieving bunny didn't get the joke, she needed to be ready to step in, just in case. "Someone needs to stop her from tearing his limbs off when she catches up," she commented to Nick and James, starting a slow jog after Trigger and Judy, speeding up ever so slowly as to not fall behind too far. She didn't feel like sprinting after the two, but it would still be better to be safe than sorry.
And speaking of being not worried, two certain cops did not choose to partake in the chase. "I've got a large clunky and fragile camera I need to keep safe," James muttered, glaring at how fast Judy was going. That bunny was making him look bad. And lazy, which okay, he really was right now. "That, and I can still claim to be sick, I think. Or something. Either way, I suspect that you are also using that as an excuse, Wilde. Or is it not a good enough reason and we have to go after them too?" He glanced at Nick, sharing a look and a grin as they both reached the same conclusion:
"Nah!" They'll get to the others without needed to run after them.
In the lead, Trigger was getting close to the fence line of the parking lot, and looked behind him to see where the others were. His eyes widened in genuine fear at the raging bunny chasing after him, glaring pure venom and still shouting at him to stop. That fear gave him the extra burst of speed that he needed to get through the gate before her, but while he slowed down to a stop once past it, she didn't.
Using her momentum, Judy took a running leap and bounced high up, aiming right for his head. What she had meant to do was to grab onto him so that she can be right up muzzle to muzzle with him in order to explain to him exactly why he can't just go running off like that. That was the plan, at any rate. Instead, he tried to evade her, leaning out of the way as she sailed past him, but not before she was able to grab his shirt collar. Landing on her feet, she heard his muffled yelp of pain as he was brought down to the dusty ground in a muddled heap.
Ears dropping in fright, she lifted his sputtering head up off the ground, checking to make sure that she didn't hurt him too much. His confused and frightened eyes stared back at her worried, but also still very much angry, glare. Otherwise, though, he looked fine. Her ears stood back up as her anger grew greater than her worries over his state. "You can't just run away from us like that!" Judy hissed, noticing that their little scuffle was drawing attention from the mammals already at the parking lot. She forced herself to ignore them. Let rubberneckers rubberneck. "What happened to us needing to keep a close eye on you?"
"Y-you thought I war running away?" Trigger mumbled in confusion, groaning as he crawled back up to his legs, leaning over to rest on his knees. "But I wasn't running away!"
Judy frowned, tapping her foot against the ground in agitation. "Yeah? Then what was that just nowt?" She glanced up when Fangmeyer came jogging over, stopping next to the two with an amused grin.
"It was just to this gate!" Trigger angrily responded, pointing at the gate he had sprinted through while trying to escape Judy's wrath. "A finish line! It was supposed to be a fun way to end the day! I- I didn't expect you to think that I was… running away? Here? There's nowhere to go!" He pawed at his clothing, trying to brush of as much dust as he could. "Seriously?"
Her more rational mind finally catching up to her, Judy started to feel a deep sense of embarrassment get to her. "That… might have been what I was thinking," she admitted sheepishly. "I'm sorry! I saw you bolt off and I thought you were trying to lose us! I don't even know why, but that's what I thought you were doing!"
Trigger frowned at her, changing into a pained wince as he rubbed at his neck. Quickly hiding the bandage underneath his shirt collar, he opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by an amused voice next to them.
"Hey, wolf, you all right there? That bunny knocked you down real good there." An antelope from within a small group of them was smirking at him, looking like he enjoyed Trigger's fall far more than showing any concern for his well being. His speech was oddly slurred. "What's with the bandage around your neck? Also caused by the bunny? You really need to shape up! Come here, I can teach you a lesson!"
"I'm fine! Leave us alone!" Trigger growled, glaring at the group, then shoving Judy and Dahlia away. "And I'm not a- Never mind, forget it! Let's go back to our car."
"Not a wolf? My bad, thought you were some kind of runt or something, but thanks for correcting me!" The antelope's words went unnoticed by the retreating Trigger, but that didn't stop him. "Word of advice, jackal, runt or not, but best not to let even smaller rabbits beat you up! Someone might start thinking that you're some wimp!"
Fangmeyer let out a low growl at the words. "Want me to go and have a word with them?" she asked, glancing at Trigger to make sure that he himself wasn't about to change his mind and return into a confrontation. She didn't want to deal with a fight now, even if they deserved it. Plus, if they got into a fight, Trigger would have to deal with Bogo's wrath over it, despite very clearly not being in the wrong here. Luckily, he was maintain control of himself enough to still walk away with her and Judy.
"No, it's all right. Let them be harmless morons," Trigger muttered hastily, holding on Judy's shoulder and pulling her away before she can rush in on her own terms. "If anything, he sounds drunk. Judy, you especially, don't get involved. Just let it go."
"Being drunk is no excuse for what he's saying!" Judy was especially furious, to the point that she almost tore herself away from his grip in order to stomp back to said morons and give them her piece of mind. This was the exact sort of behavior that she had to see Nick deal with when they were out of uniform. But like Trigger was now, Nick would too insist that she just let it slide and ignore it! Well how about, for once, either one of them allow her to do something about it?
But spotting her partner waiting by the car with James, Judy knew that this battle was not one to be fought today. Letting her own 'growl' of frustration at the behavior of those tourists, she followed everyone else back to their car.
Nick was sporting an extremely wide, cheese-eating grin as he waited for them. "You really gave him quite the face-plant there, Carrots," he said, jerking his head in Trigger's direction. "Doing good there, Strikes?"
While Trigger just gave him a funny look, Judy, still peeved at the rude tourists, lifted a finger. "Not a word, Nick! I-" she froze when her pocket, or more specifically, the phone inside, started to beep angrily at her. Pulling it out, she stared in horror at all the messages and missed calls, all from her family. "Oh no…" She was about to write a quick text back, but stopped almost just as quickly. This was going to be easier just to call and talk to them. Not listening to Nick's jab at her helicoptering parents, she jammed the device to her ear as the ringing was very quickly followed by the voice of her mother picking up the phone on the other end. "Hi! Mom! Just wanted to call you to let you know-" Her ears dropped as she was interrupted again by the sound of Stu complaining loudly from the other end.
She moved the phone right up to her mouth where the microphone will pick up her voice the best. "Dad! I didn't have any signal! That's why I couldn't answer the phone! Couldn't you have just waited instead of trying every five minutes? Yes! Mom, dad- Yes, everything is fine, seriously!" Preoccupied as she was with her family and the phone, she only really noticed that she was now inside the car, alone with Nick, when she finally killed the call and returned the device to her pocket with an annoyed huff. "They need to worry less, seriously," she grumbled, looking around the interior of the car. "Where did everyone else go?"
Nick let out a long, loud yawn as he stretched himself out completely across the back seats, enjoying that his smaller size allowed him to extend to his full length. "They'll be back," jerking a thumb in the direction of a small restroom building next to the parking lot. Lifting his muzzle up to look over to Judy, he flashed another one of his grins. "So, how was the family? How many times did they try to call you when we were out of civilization?"
"Oh uh, too many times," Judy answered, letting out an embarrassed laugh. With Nick's head right there next to her, she smirked at reached out, running her paws through his fur. His reaction to her touch was instant, his eyes closing and mouth slacking into a relaxed smile. "And how's that for a head massage?" she teased, remembering how he complained about it.
"Hmm… Don't stop…" Nick mumbled dreamily, scooting his head closer to her. "Just what the doctor ordered…"
Still smirking, she freed one of her paws to allow it to grab her phone and take a picture of Nick's face. There was no way that she was going to let him get this treatment for free, and Clawhauser, for one, will especially appreciate the image of raw cuteness that her fox was giving right now. "Speaking of doctors, how are you feeling?"
Nick opened an eye up, noticing the phone, and even winking at it. "Just amputate my legs and replace them with prosthetics," he said. "I heard they make great robotic ones these days. Even better than the real deal that we're all born with."
"Nick!" Judy flicked one of his ears. "Don't be like that! You're legs will be fine. All it means is that you need to get outside more. But otherwise, did you at least enjoy today? Because it sure sounded all day today like you did, so you can't exactly deny it!"
"First of all, I can," he answered completely matter-of-factually. "And second of all… I will admit it, but only under the condition that you don't stop."
It took Judy half a moment to realize what he was talking about. "What? Oh, you sly fox. All right, you hustled me well there." She fell into silence as she put her phone away, freeing up both of her paws to rub his head fur again. "But seriously, you know what I mean when I asked you about how you're feeling. We did come here for a specific reason, after all. And don't think that I didn't notice you wincing in pain when we arrived either."
"It takes more than some weaponized flowered to take this fox down, Fluff," Nick reassured her, eyes closing in satisfaction as he settled into her renewed scratching. "We'll see tomorrow how I'll be exactly, but my prediction is that, short of sore muscles, I'll be good as new." A short pause, then he added, "and speaking of which, I am flat out refusing to get up early tomorrow. We have our first day of the weekend, and I am planning to sleep in. No arguing against it."
"Don't worry, after today, you earned that at the very least," Judy replied with a grin. "Don't think I'll be planning on being too mobile myself, but I can't help but feel bad for James and Dahlia. They have to work tomorrow…" Nick hummed in agreement, but otherwise fell quiet, letting her scratch his ears. Losing herself in the motion, Judy let her mind wonder, thinking about the day, and now that it was done, really start to process it all. She couldn't help but smile at the memories of some of their antics. It must have been only a few short hours ago at the most, heck, they hadn't even left the parking lot yet. But with the change in mood from then to now, it was already starting to feel like a long time ago. Her smile faded slightly as she recalled the reason for that difference. "Hey, Nick..?"
"Yeah, Carrots?"
"Um, right after Trigger's collar went off, and I tried to help… He really got angry at me. Enough to try and punch me, which you saw. But when you come along, and made that- that really stupid pun, he started laughing!"
"Carrots, you asked him if he was okay," Nick answered rather bluntly. "His collar went off hard enough to drop him to the floor, and you asked him if he was okay. Why do you think he tried to punch you?"
"But how did you know that your pun was the right thing to say? I almost was about to punch you myself when you said it! And it wasn't just that cheeky comment of yours either, you stopped me from talking to him even before that. It was like you knew!"
Nick grinned. "It's called a hustle, sweetheart."
She stopped scratching at his fur, frowning. "Nick…" She pulled her paws back to herself. If he was going to hold his ground, then she was going to go back to her own as well.
Which, in a weird way, made it a rather funny thing when Nick started whining when she stopped with the scratches. His eyes snapped open at the noise coming from his own mouth, at which she smirked and held up her paws. "You want scratching, you talk!"
"Carrots, are you seriously trying to bribe an officer of the law?"
Oh no, he wasn't going to get away that easily. "It's hardly bribery when your felony is impeding with an official investigation," she responded, enjoying his reaction of disappointment. Then just to rub it in even further she added, "It's called a hustle, sweetheart!"
"Sly bunny," Nick grumbled with a gruff. "Okay, I'll talk. But come on!" he wiggled his ears. "Your fox needs his pampering! I'm sick, remember? Nighthowler poisoning and all of that?"
"Getting head massages was hardly part of your getting better plan, you dumb fox," Judy said, but did as he requested and resumed with the scratching. "Now talk."
"Okay, to get back to it, I didn't actually know how he would react to such a joke," Nick admitted. "I just figured, that whatever he was thinking about, it wasn't doing him any good. So it was purely a distraction tactic. Throw him completely off with a terrible pun and go from there. Good thing for me that my hunch was correct." He opened his eyes again to look up at her. "Guess you can mark it down to twenty years of reading mammals' emotions to separate them from their money," he said, giving an answer that was oddly honest for him. "Those skills don't always go towards making a profit."
"And what about now?" Judy asked. "I don't want to just drop it and forget about it, Nick. That was a very bad hit he took, and it's always possible that it can happen again. Bogo will need to know about it, for one. And we don't have a lot of time left, Nick. I can't help but feel worried for him…"
Inside the small restroom, James emerged from his stall to find Trigger behind the counter, standing on a small mammal step to get a better view from the mirrors hanging along the wall. His expression was darkened as he carefully inspected the burned fur on his neck, torn bandage tossed carelessly on the sink to the side.
"Want to talk about it?" James offered, starting to wash his paws.
"Not really," Trigger answered, voice strained.
James sighed. "I can understand you not wanting to, pup. But it doesn't take a genius to see that something's eating at you. If you're worried about someone listening in, it's just us in here, and there's only one way in or out. So if-"
"It's not that I'm worried about that," Trigger interrupted gruffly. "It's not… that."
The officer tilted his head in confusion. "Is it about what those idiots outside said? As a cop, I can still do something about it."
"No!"
James couldn't help but smile a little at how adamant Trigger was being at leaving them alone.
"I mean-" Trigger paused, gathering his thoughts, "They're idiots, yes. But I don't care about them." He glanced nervously side to side, as though to confirm that they really were alone. "I'm Three Strikes!" he hissed at James. Then returning his voice to a more normal level, he added, "why should I care about what some drunk moron is saying? He thinks that Judy beat me up? So what? I don't need to prove anything to him."
"Then what-?" James began.
"Nick, did you hear what that antelope said?" Back in the car, Judy absentmindedly stopped scratching at Nick's head fur.
"Sure, I heard it," Nick's voice was only slightly tinged with the sound of anger, but it was there nevertheless. "Don't worry, jerk's gonna get what's coming for him. Don't know how or when, but karma tends to work that way."
"Trigger didn't let me step in for him, though," Judy rumbled. "Nor Dahlia. Together, the two of us could have handled the whole group if we needed to. But he just dragged us away. And it just… This is the exact sort of behavior I see happen to you when we're out of uniform!"
Nick looked up at her, smirking. "Never let them see that they get to you. Remember that, Fluff?" he teased. "And you never got called down on for being a dumb bunny? There's nothing illegal about being stupid, or talking like one. Don't blame Strikes for not wanting to waste energy arguing with those jerks, it's not like we'll ever see them again."
"Well, we better not," Judy agreed before switching topics. "Nick, about Trigger? I'm really worried about him. I was thinking, after we took his collar off because of… that shock. I was thinking, at the risk of sounding specieist… Can you talk to him? Since you're a fox, I was thinking that perhaps-"
"Carrots…."
"Nick, please! He needs help! And I know he trusts us, but whenever I tried to talk to him, he always changes the subject. Or like today, where he doesn't explain enough. James was never successful either in getting him to talk either."
"Fluff…"
"You need to talk to him, Nick. Please, do it for me."
"Judy!" Nigh sighed, finally grabbing her attention. "I never said that I won't."
She blinked back at him. "You… Right." Her ears fell back as she grinned at her partner, feeling very sheepish. "But you will talk to him then?"
"I will. Don't expect results though," he warned. "It won't be my first time trying to find out anything useful. He knows that we want to learn more, but whatever is bothering him, while bad, as we unfortunately saw today, he won't talk about it."
"Nick…" Judy watched him nervously. "You remember early in the war? How the news was saying that the Ocelotians bombed Urusian civilian buildings? You don't think… Could he have done it?"
Nick shook his head. "He might have been there. But you saw him yelling today. If anything, it sounds like he wasn't the one to do it, but was still landed with the blame. Maybe, since we're just speculating. Doesn't explain all the secrecy either from him nor about him. I can try asking him about it, but I don't think we'll find out. But, as much as I hate to admit it, it's a very real possibility."
"Here, take a seat," James patted the counter top next to Trigger, inviting the pilot to jump up. After a moment's hesitation, Trigger did as asked. Closer to each other's level, James inspected the neck wound. "Might leave a mark, unfortunately," he admitted, "but once the fur grows back in, it might be invisible. So fingers crossed…" He tried to smile at the pilot, but it faded when he was returned with a tired, world-weary gaze.
"I…" Trigger's eyes traveled towards the ground, matched by his ears. "I don't want this to be my last time here," he admitted. He felt James place his paws on his shoulders, but didn't look up. "Especially the first part, all the way until after we got off the beach? It was wonderful today. It was fun. Not the same as a decade ago, but it was still so… fun. And… It was like a dream. One of those wonderful dreams that you don't want to wake up from. But then that collar went off…" Shuddering at the memory, he finally looked up when James gripped his shoulders harder. "I didn't want to wake up from that dream. Because…" he sighed heavily. "I mean, there's no point in pretending otherwise, you all saw me. But to make it explicit, then yes, my life is rather terrible at the moment. But coming here, for several hours, I was able to forget about it all… But not for long enough. And now I will likely have a scar around my neck documenting the moment that dream ended, and I don't think I'll live long enough to be able to redo it."
James cursed underneath his breath. He knew that this talk was going to be unpleasant, but the conversation just took a much darker turn than even he had expected. "Trigger, if you're worried for your life, you don't have to go back to the war," he said sternly. "We can protect you here. Neutral country, remember? Wait the war out, then when it's safe again, you can come back here, or go home. The choice will be yours, and most importantly, you won't have to be afraid."
"...Home..." Trigger's blank stare into the distance was really starting to worry James.
"Trigger-"
"That's not my name!" the pilot snapped, regaining focus. "Don't call me-" his voice faded, his entire demeanor visibly shrinking with shame and fright. Without saying anything himself, James reached over and pulled the trembling pilot into a tight hug.
"Speaking about all of that secrecy, Carrots, there's something I overheard recently walking past chief's office," Nick said, head still pressed up against his partner. "Which is, if I heard correctly, and I'm sure I have, then he already knows Strike's real name."
Judy paused, glancing down with eyes full of surprise. How in the world did no one else know about this already? "Wait, Bogo knows Trigger's real name?" she repeated in disbelief. "Why did he not tell us then?"
"Beats me," Nick admitted, "From what I heard, he was complaining to Agent Stripes that even with the name, there was no information trail to follow. Didn't hear anything else after that. Which, by the way, nearly got a week of parking duty just asking Buffalo Butt about it, too,"
"But why would Bogo not tell us?" Judy asked, more so to herself. "He's our chief!" She decided then and there that this was something she needed to talk to Bogo about. Even if it was going to get her in trouble.
James separated himself from Trigger, patting the pilot in the shoulder for good measure. "You're really touch starved, aren't you?" he teased.
Trigger stared back, managing to return a hint of a grin. "I-yeah, I guess you can say that. Just don't tell Count." He glanced down sideways when James squeezed his shoulder for good measure.
"I was being serious you know," the officer said, "about you not needing to go back. If you stay, you'll be safe here."
"But I have to," Trigger said firmly. "Being stuck here is one thing. Okay, I get it, the lawyers need to figure out the legality and all that, so I can't complain about being placed in more permanent custody, or whatever else you do to POWs. But now that I will have a choice... I have to go. I can't remain hiding here while others are dying. I can make a difference, so it doesn't matter how I feel about it. Especially now that I know just how much Urusia wants to get rid of me, okay, I'll admit it. I'm scared. But it doesn't make it right for me to hide out because of fear. I have a duty to fly, and compared to infantry running around with rifles? No one's asking them if they want to leave or not. So if nothing else, it's not fair for them for me to run away. Not now." His voice faded off as James squeezed his shoulder again. "Look, I just…" He slid off the counter top, brushing his shirt off. "I don't want to talk about it. Can we go back to the car?"
"Yeah, sure." He lead Trigger to the door, opening it up for the pilot and following him out, nearly bumping into Dahlia, who was patiently waiting for them outside.
"You boys sure took your time," she said with a smirk, mostly aimed at her partner. Lowering her voice to speak only to him, she then asked, "how is he? He looks rather blue again."
"It's complicated. I'll tell you later," James answered quietly, looking nervously at the back of Trigger's head, hoping that the pilot wasn't able to hear them.
"That's fine, we really need to give him a break about it all for today anyways. And what about you, James?"
He did a double take when he noticed that she was smirking again at him. "What?"
"And what about you, ya big goof," Dahlia asked, her voice normal again. "Or am I not allowed to ask on the status of my job partner?"
Jame's ears folded downwards in embarrassment. "I'm fine!" he insisted, feeling silly that her question completely flew over his head. "Don't worry, Doctor Honey was correct, today was good for me. I suspect Nick as well."
They followed Trigger back to the car, which Dahlia took the time to fish out the keys again. "James, I just sent Mike a text," she told him, referring to her husband. "If you won't mind driving, it's not a large detour if you drop me off near our apartment. I'll be very grateful if I won't need to waste time driving to and from the station."
"Oh, yeah, that won't be a problem, don't worry about it," he answered, grabbing the keys and slipping into the driver's seat. Turning around in the seat, he couldn't stop himself from grinning at Nick and Judy. The pair were sharing a set of earbuds and sitting rather close to each other. "I'll be dropping Fangmeyer off by her place. You two good to head down to the station after that, or do you also want a different drop off point?"
"You mean you're offering not to force me to walk home after this death march?" Nick grinned as he pressed his paws together in mock prayer. "My prayers have been answered! Yeah, if you haven't guessed, you can drop me off close to my place too."
Judy took a few moments to think about if she needed to grab anything from the station. Not having to ride a bus home was sounding really good right now too. "Nick, want to make it a movie night?" she asked. "In which case, I can be dropped off with you." In reply, he simply shrugged and reached out for the phone, plugging in the next destination into it.
Taking the phone back, James glanced over at Trigger. The pilot was already had the seatbelt strapped in, and was leaning against his door, muzzle pressed against the cool glass. The borrowed phone and earbuds inside his own ears blocking out the outside world. All in all, he looked close to falling asleep, despite only being in the car for a minute at most by this point. Not, James thought, that he hadn't looked like he needed a good rest ever since his collar went off. So with a shrug, he turned back and started up the engine, quietly shifting into gear and slowly driving out of the dusty parking lot, following his phone's directions to guide him back to Zootopia.
Remembering how he himself had basically slept through the entire drive in, James was glad that he was now able to enjoy the scenery as he drove back. Letting the radio play music at a low volume, he occasionally talked with Dahlia about random things. Ironically enough, they chatted about their walk quite a bit, sharing some quick stories that they might have missed despite all of them being there only hours ago. But also, as they drove, he also did notice that the back of the car was oddly silent. With the small winding road not offering an opportunity to look at the back seats, he let Fangmeyer be his eyes for this one. "Hey, Dahlia, how's everyone in the back doing?" he asked randomly.
She looked behind, letting out a quiet aww. "Trigger's passed out, not that I can blame him," she informed, "as for Nick and Judy? Uhh, Clawhauser's gotta get a picture!"
James grumbled as she fished around for her phone. "Come on, Dahlia! I can't look behind me. What are they doing?" Though based on the lack of any complaining from Judy or some snarky come back from Nick, he could already guess what they were doing.
Snapping pictures, Dahlia tried to explain the scene at the back. "They're also asleep. Nick… he has Judy in a hug, tail wrapped around her and all. His head is using hers like a pillow. And Judy? Well, Nick can sure make a soft and cuddly bucket seat. They really do look cute together. I would say take a look yourself, but relax, I'll send you the picture too. It'll be so fun to tease them with it!"
"Okay, okay, I'll take your word for it." Letting out a sigh of disappointment at not being able to also enjoy the view, allowed himself to relax a bit further into his own seat and enjoy the ride back. Not like it was only a matter of time before he would enter the usual traffic and bustle of the city, so this country road was making a very nice change of pace compared to the normal he was used to.
With the sun well into setting, the forest around them steadily grew darker until the car decided that it was time to turn on the headlights. Soon, the scenery around them also started to start being lit up as the forest stated to give way to buildings and other signs of civilization. Before he wanted to, it was time to get off the small roads and onto the much larger and more populated intestate. Then, after some time driving on a that, a quick hop over one of the many bridges, and they were back in the familiar view of the concrete jungle that was Zootopia. Now paying attention to the phone's directions more closely, he finally reached his first destination.
"See you later, James," Dahlia said as she gout out, giving her partner a quick, one armed hug. "Predicting a normal patrol tomorrow?" She looked at the back seat, but chose to let everyone in the back remain in peace.
"Yeah, tomorrow, back to the grind," James confirmed with a playfully grim tone. "Have fun with dinner!" Pulling away from the sidewalk, it was off to the next destination. By the time they arrived, the two smaller officers were already awake again.
As they were exiting the car, Judy was about wake Trigger up to say goodbye to Trigger, but Nick stopped her. "You'll see him soon enough," he told her, pulling away and waving James that they were clear and he was good to leave. ""Let the poor guy sleep if he wants to!"
She stretched her surprisingly stiff legs. "That's oddly caring of you, Nick. Is it because of how I need to get you up every morning?" When he refused to answer, she went to the next item down her list. "So, dinner first and then movie?" It was really late, but they can afford to stay up now, since tomorrow was a normal day off for them.
"Why not both?" Nick offered. "I know a great takeout place. Let's grab some of that, then figure out what's worth seeing on Pawflix."
"Sure, Nick, that sounds great!" Letting him take the lead, she followed her fox.
At the ZPD precinct one building, the white unmarked cruiser puled into the underground lot. Killing the engine, James stretched for a brief moment. As good as the walk was, it was great to be home again. Well, not quite for him, but this was the final destination for the still sleeping occupant in the back. Gently nudging Trigger awake, James only ceased when the pilot snorted awake. "We're back. Feeling all good?"
Trigger blinked, rubbing his eyes awake. "I, yeah, just give me a moment…" Letting out a long yawn, he puled the earbuds out. Fumbling with the device for a bit, he placed it into his backpack before handing the entire thing over to James. "Thanks for letting me used these," he mumbled, opening the door and sliding out. "I uh, see you tomorrow, right?"
James also exited the vehicle, walking around it and placing a paw on Trigger's shoulder. "Yeah, see you tomorrow, pup. Take care of yourself, okay?"
Trigger smiled back. "Can't make any promises, but I'll try. But about today? Thank you… I really mean it, it was great. Okay… See you tomorrow." Turning into the door leading into the station, he hobbled inside.
The door slowly closed, and finally shutting, blocked him away from sight.
