Chapter 28: Back in the City
"...You feeling okay there, Judy?" Parked on the side of the road, the larger officer was able to take her own eyes off the radar speedometer in order to give a worried look at the more junior of the pair.
Judy's eyes jerked up towards Dahlia and away from the laptop screen, flashing a quick smile which she hoped was convincing enough. "I uh, yeah!" Truth be told, she wasn't feeling all that great, and it's not like Dahlia didn't know why. "Well, you know…" She motioned vaguely at the screen where she was doing the paperwork on.
Their day started off as a simple traffic monitoring shift with the two of them, but almost immediately, they were called in to respond to a domestic disturbance call from a concerned neighbor complaining about loud shouting from across an apartment wall. They had arrived to find the door answered by a hyena, blood stain on her sweater and the smell coming off it revealing that it was fresh. Even worse, it didn't take long for the questioning and an inspection of her claws to reveal that it wasn't even hers. While the good news was that no one was actually was seriously hurt, as evident by the worried and only slightly wounded husband inside, protectively keeping their scared daughter from interfering with the officers' job, things only got worse from there.
It had started off innocently enough, or rather, as innocently as answering a domestic disturbance call can be. Invited into the apartment, Dahlia and Judy questioned the parents, very quickly finding out that the incident was an argument that got too heated and resulted in the matriarch clawing her husband in a fit of rage. Regret had immediately followed, but by that point, it was too late as the neighbor had called by that point.
Which was unfortunate, as the law was clear in what needed to happen. Accident or not, officers were called in and found a scene of assault, which meant that the wife needed to go to jail for the next few days. The husband tried to argue, even volunteering to go in her place. She was the one who needed to go to work, and will be fired if she failed to show up because she was being detained. He was able to afford to take the punishment, she couldn't. But he wasn't the one with blood on his claws, and she was, which meant that as per the law, she was the one who had to go.
Judy was already feeling conflicted as they lead the matriarch to their cruiser in cuffs, but when the apartment door was closed, she really hated her sensitive hearing as she immediately picked up the sobbing of the child, crying out for her mother to return.
And the guilty feeling remained with her the entire ride back, the booking of the mammal into one of the precinct's holding cells, and even now that they were back on the road watching traffic and slogging through the paperwork generated by the morning's events.
"I just don't think it was the right call to arrest the mother," Judy finally said as her thoughts caught up with her. "I know they got into a fight… But they were a family at the end of the day. Maybe a warning was all that was needed."
"Maybe, or maybe we did the right thing after all," Dahlia answered slowly, drumming her fingers against the steering wheel. "Listen, Judy, I know Precinct 1 has a reputation as being highly prestigious in Zootopia, but its city center location also means that it has a bit of a reputation for softness as well. Ans yes, I know you've heard this a lot of times before, but still. Compared to the rougher parts of the city, such as say, what Precinct 5 has to deal with, we really don't deal with serious issues all that often, so I'm not surprised that you don't have a lot of experience with these kinds of issues, even after your what? Three, four years with us?"
"Four," Judy answered, mind doing the math instantly in her head.
"Point is, when a family is so fractured that they start fighting," Dahlia continued, "and not just arguing, I really mean fighting. Drawing blood like we saw today. When things get that bad, a night or two in jail and just keeping the adults apart is sometimes the best thing that can happen." She gave Judy a reassuring grin. "Best case scenario? They got spooked enough to rethink their problems and will realize that whatever's causing their rift, that it's nothing they can't work to get rid of." Dahlia's grin then faded, turning grim. "But if I were to put money on the table, I will say that the best thing that can happen for them is divorce. Sometimes… Some mammals are simply not meant for each other."
Judy frowned. "I wish you didn't say that last part," she grumbled.
Dahlia shrugged, still looking grim. "Sometimes real life is messy," she answered slowly, "we can't always get that happy ending."
Judy let out a disappointed grunt, not wanting to simply give in. "Would you have said that to Nick?" she suddenly asked, even as her mind was still formulating the thought. "When I first met him, he honestly believed that the only thing a fox has going for them in this city is to be a hustler and conmammal. Would… had you been the one to meet him first, were you to simply agree with him? About making a living by conning others?"
"Judy, it's not like that..."
Judy smirked in a small moment of personal triumph at how uncomfortably Dahlia was squirming in her seat.
"Okay, I admit it, when I first me Nick, I didn't trust a single word from him," Dahlia admitted, "and okay, truth be told, if I were to come across someone like him again, I still won't trust them. It's just that… It's not about Nick being a fox. It's that he willingly became a hustler. Why? Because it was easy." She let out a long breath, staring at the numbers on the radar gun, changing with each passing vehicle. "You of all mammals know what it's like to break out of your species stereotypes, and that's an achievement I cannot claim to share with you by being a cop. Nor James, or practically anyone else in the precinct, for that matter. Yes, it's true that life makes it easier for for some of us to live lives that we can be proud of, but it doesn't mean that those who need to work harder to get there can't do it. You and Nick are both proof of that. Heck, so are Count and Trigger. A deer and a coyote? Hardly the mammals you think of when you hear 'fighter pilot'." Chuckling a little, Dahlia took a few moments to gather her thoughts. "Guess I am saying that it's not so much who someone is as much as what they are. Foxes, coyotes, weasels, and yes, hyenas. It is very easy for them to simply say 'screw it', and live a less than honorable life. But that is hardly an excuse or a reason for them to do so, and it says a lot about someone's character if they do choose to go down that route, no matter their species. So this morning's family that we had to arrest the mother? Good family members don't attack one another. Argue? Yes, after all, which family doesn't argue? But getting to the point of drawing blood? Sorry Judy, but if you ask me, as much as it might make me sound cruel, but I think we did the right thing by separating them, if only for a short while." She glanced at Judy, growing concerned at a lack of answer. "...Judy?"
The smaller officer was on her phone, reading over a message that had just arrived. "I heard you," she mumbled in reply, "I want to disagree with you, but I'll be honest in that I am not coming up with a good argument. Nick was always better at such things." She opened up the message she just got from him, wondering what he had to tell her right now. "Honestly, I think he wouldn't mind switching places with me right now anyways. He does rather hate not being in the city, and would know better about what was the right thing to do…" Her jaw dropped when she actually started to read the message. Talk about good timing…
Help me, Carrots! A desperate foxy's dying out here!
Dahlia noticed the rabbit's reaction to the text. "Anything interesting?"
Instead of texting back, Judy skipped the whole process and pressed the dial button on her phone, putting it up to her ear. "What is it, Nick?" It was hard to hide her irritation, with the rough morning and all, but she still tried to suppress it in her voice. After all, Nick didn't know what was up and had nothing to do with it, but it was still very much his style to pick up on that something was wrong, even just from those few words over the phone.
"I uh, didn't actually expect you to call back, Carrots. Just bored out of my mind out here. What's wrong on your end?"
Judy closed her eyes, rubbing her temple. "What makes you think something's wrong?"
"Well, as I just said, I didn't actually expect you to actually call me, so there's one clue. Do you really want me to list the rest one by one?"
"Um, no…?" Despite the question easily passing as disinterest from Nick's end, his voice, even through the phone, was all it took to tell her that he was more than ready to listen to her complain about her troubles. Which is exactly what she did, practically reading off her report as she recounted the morning to him, only his occasional breath coming through from the other end of the line. Dahlia too let Judy talk in peace, monitoring traffic silently and not providing any of her own input, except for the few times when Judy asked her for assistance.
Finally Judy finished her recollection and let out a tired sigh. "I just don't know if we did the right thing, arresting the mother and all. I don't know, I just… Maybe I trust you more with these things."
It took Nick a while to answer. "I wasn't there, Fluff. But between you and me, I would trust Fang's judgment in this case."
Judy glanced over to Dahlia, who sported a surprised but pleased grin. With her phone held loosely and the volume maxed out, neither officer had issues hearing Nick. "You sure?"
"Absolutely! Seriously, though, Carrots, trust her on this one. She's the more experienced officer here… And yes, I do realize that I am speaking here as the newbie of the group. If what you say is really true about that family, then the mother will be out of jail by tomorrow morning and there will be lots of hugs and amending going on in their house. And nothing permanent in anyone's records."
Judy gave out a quiet groan. As much as she wanted to believe that she was still correct with her reservations over what they had done, she was now outnumbered with that sentiment. "Well, okay, if you say so," she conceded. "Switching away from my lousy morning, why did you message me in the first place?"
Nick let out a laugh. "It's stupid actually," he admitted, "you really don't want to hear it. Will make you go nuts."
Judy gripped her phone tighter. "Come on, Nick! I had a lousy morning and your advice is to just ignore it! Can you distract me or something? If you think your message was stupid, then I want to know! Give me something to laugh at! Or get angry at! Just something!"
"All right, but don't complain that I didn't warn ya!" The phone muffled about as it picked up a huff of air from his end. "The issue is that there's no one here. And I really mean nobody. I'm looking at an area larger than Zootopia and all I see is a bunch of rocks, sand, and the occasional desert plant. I guess there's a few lizards and birds down there and whatnot, but not a mammal in sight. And… It's boring!"
Despite herself, Judy couldn't stop a chuckle from escaping her. "Aww, gee, what a terrible conundrum," she teased, "truly a bad situation to be in!"
From the other end, Nick was also laughing. "Yes, it's hardly comparable to your morning, Carrots, I admit! But I didn't know that when I sent you the text! I thought Buffalo Butt gave you traffic duty again or something. Or that Agent Stripes would have borrowed you to have some ZPD officers stand around and look pretty while other ZIA dudes actually run around doing whatever they do. Haven't been on one of their investigations in a while, are they still doing those?"
Judy rolled her eyes. "Yes, Nick, that investigation is still ongoing. James and Dahlia helped out at the docks again the other day. But no, we're not doing that today. As ironic as it might sound for these recent times, but Chief Bogo actually sometimes even has us cops do actual cop work in the city." She let out a slow sigh, "but this was one of those morning where I feel that instead of making the world a better place, I again made things worse, if only for one family this time around. But even that's still too much."
"How about this for a deal, Fluff," Nick quickly jumped in, not giving her time to dwell on her thoughts. "How about you wait on those emotional bunny feelings of yours, and we can talk about it when I get back? That sound like a fair deal?"
"I'm not an emotional bunny!" Judy protested, feeling stupid as she did so. Next to her, Dahlia shoved a fist into her mouth to stop from laughing at the sudden exclamation.
"Uh huh, sure you're not," Nick answered calmly, "and I'm a three-humped camel. Say, so there's a bridge that I happen to own, and it's going up for sale!"
Judy groaned, knowing that just protesting even more will only prove his point even more. "Nick, can we just drop it please? Just like you suggested just moments ago? Can we go back to… I don't know, why did you message me in the first place? You said it was because you're all alone in the middle of nowhere? Uh, where's everyone else? James? Count and Trigger? I know that they didn't drop you off and made a run for it, so you can't really be alone."
"Okay, guilty as charged on that one," Nick answered. "Wolfy's right here with his cousin, but they might as well be gone. Those two are so lost in their binoculars that I don't think they're even- no, no they're not listening to me. Maybe I should start a howl!"
"Binoculars?" Judy repeated slowly, trying to picture the scene. "Count and Trigger are where..?"
"Out flying, in fact. Guess they did a good enough job yesterday to be allowed into real planes. Anyways, 'Cus here drove us up to some hilltop antenna shack where he knows we can watch the whole thing. I tried to watch it too, but I quickly figure out that I am not big into planespotting. Yeah, and well, there's really nothing out here."
"Surely it can't be that bad," Judy offered helpfully. "It's not every day you get to watch several fighter aircraft flying around. People pay good money to see something like that!"
"And I'm not one of those people, Carrots," Nick reminded her, "Wolfy and his cousin might be having the time of their lives out here, but I'm bored out here! I get to at least listen to you complain about work, but I'm also afraid that over the phone is not the way we should be going about it. But how about this for some advice: try to recall a previous time you had to do something like this. What did you do then and why didn't you feel like you did the wrong or right thing then?"
"It's not like this time, Nick," Judy mumbled into the phone. "Every single time before now, I felt like I knew what to do. I mean, there was that press conference where I knew I said the wrong thing. And I ran home after that! But this is different." She let out a groan upon realizing that they were once again right where they just started with the phone call. Nick must have realized it too, based on the laughing coming from the phone.
"Carrots? Carrots, calm down now," he quickly reassured her, "remember what I just told you? Wait for me and Wolfy to finally come home, then we can all sit down together with a nice beer or two, and we can all have a nice long conversation about it. Until then? What was it that Buffalo Butt had you doing now? Traffic duty? Then continue making Zootopia a better place by reminding everyone to drive along our roads nice and safe. Stipes? If you can hear me, make sure Carrots keeps her mind off this! I want a functioning partner when I get back!"
Even as Judy groaned again, hiding her face behind her folded ears, Fangmeyer also let out a laugh. "Sure thing, Wilde," she promised the phone, "I've got Hopps nice and safe in the small-mammal seat! You don't have a thing to worry about!" She flashed her fangs in a toothy grin as Judy shot her a nasty look for daring to use their size difference against her.
"Look, Carrots, if it really does bother you, it's always something you can hop over to Crenspaw's office for."
Judy glanced at the phone, confused. "Doctor Crenspaw? What made you bring her up?" While his suggestion did make sense, Nick didn't actually strike Judy as being the type of guy to suggest talking to a therapist, officially assigned to the ZPD or not. If anything, she always believed that he was always coming up with one excuse or another as to why he didn't actually need to talk to her.
"Oh, she's the one who did the psych evals for the pilots, which came in yesterday, so you can say that I was reminded of her existence. And since I also remember her as not being completely terrible, I guess I can say that I also think she won't be the worst person if you do need to talk to someone else before I get back. Uh, better than talking to the chief. Yes, definitely better than talking to him. And, oh-"
A low rumbling noise came out of the phone, sounding a lot like wind if it weren't for the very sudden way it showed up from out of nowhere.
"Nick?" Judy stared at the phone, wishing that he had turned the camera on as well. "What was that?"
"I think they just dropped a bomb or something. Anyways, some bushes outtaways' just blew up. Big fireball and everything. Rather noisy, too."
Judy's jaw dropped at just how calm Nick sounded as he described it. "What do you mean 'dropped a bomb'?!" Next to her, Dahlia was also suddenly staring intently as the phone, rather than the traffic outside.
"Well, we are watching some military flyers do their thing, Carrots!" Nick reminded her. "Guess Strikes and County are showing off their moves! Wolfy's looking like he's about to start howling in excitement. Can't believe he's not fusing into those binoculars yet." In addition, the excited voices of James and someone else, his cousin most likely, could also be heard being picked up in the distance. "And before you go tying your little fluffy tail in a knot, yes, we do have hearing protection. Not that I can wear it while talking to you. I'll call you back when we're about to head back home, how does that sound, Fluff?"
Judy's face fell. She was just starting to enjoy being distracted from the morning's events. "Okay, Nick. You stay safe out in that undeveloped wilderness out there. See you soon!" Dahlia was smirking at her when she finally put the phone away. "What?"
"At least one of us is having fun," she answered simply.
"Who? Nick?"
"Ni-? No. James."
"Oh, right." Judy felt silly for getting something so simple wrong. "I wouldn't mind being him for today," she admitted. "He's practically on vacation."
Dahlia grunted in amusement. "Are you really telling me that today was too much for even the mighty Judy Hopps?"
"No!" Judy protested, ears perking right up at the prospect of an argument. "It's just that-" she paused, realizing that she was about to start another round of the very same argument with Dahlia again. "Gah, can we really drop this for now? Just like Nick said, let's wait for them to get back and then we can talk about it some more!"
With a chuckle, Dahlia went back to actually monitoring the traffic. "Sure thing, Hopps. Whatever you say."
"Thank you." With a roll of her eyes, Judy went back to the laptop to actually finish up the report, allowing herself to get lost within her own thoughts. But as the report still covered the material that she really didn't want to be thinking about at the moment, it was a slow tedious slog despite already being mostly completed, with her often pausing in her tying to just stop and… think. And it was in one of these moments that she almost missed a side question from Fangmeyer. "-Huh?"
"You find Nick cute, Judy?" Dahlia repeated, eyes still scanning outside at the passing cars.
Judy shoved her own eyes back on the screen, a feeling of heat rising to the tips of her ears. "I uh, well,-" she started to stammer, getting annoyed at the obviously amused reaction it was giving Dahlia. "Well, yes, you know that!" she finally answered confidently. "He's my partner and my best friend, as I've said very many times! It's not even the first time you asked me that! So yes, you can say that those feelings come across with me finding him... cute." Crossing her arms, she stared out the windshield as she pouted. "Besides, you know how I don't like people using that word. What was up with the question, anyways?"
Now it was Dahlia's turn to look nervous. "Oh, well, you know. Clawhauser likes to keep up with these things. And I guess he was too shy to ask you himself."
Judy grunted in agreement, but there was something off with that answer, and it took her a few moments to figure out what. "Hang on, this has nothing to do with Clawhauser," she accused. "Does it?"
"No!" Dahlia denied quickly, looking completely out of place and despite being several times Judy's size. "It's not just precinct gossip, I swear to you-" she faltered as she saw Judy's smug grin, calling her bluff at her answer. "I uh, okay, fine. It's not about Clawhauser."
"See? That wasn't so hard!" Judy teased. "So now that we have that out of the way, why were you curious about it anyways? For real this time?"
Fangmeyer gave a shy grin. "It's really stupid. You're better off just forgetting about it, honestly."
"Nah, don't think I will," Judy said with a shake of her head. "You got my curiosity. So what is it?"
"Well, it's just, you know…" It was rather amusing seeing the much larger officer squirming in her seat uncomfortably. "Well, now that it's just the two of us in here for now, I just thought, you know, as a way to keep our minds off the morning, well, why not indulge in some, you know…"
Judy raised an eyebrow. "No, I don't. Know what?"
Dahlia glanced down sheepishly. "Girl gossip," she mumbled. Luckily for her, Judy's exceptional hearing meant that she didn't have to repeat the answer.
But what it also meant was that after a few moments processing those two words, Judy suddenly burst out laughing.
"It's not funny!" Dahlia complained, gaze snapping towards Judy. "I was only trying to help!"
Waving her off, Judy had to take a few more seconds to calm down enough to be able to talk. "I'm not saying it's funny, I just didn't expect tough ol' Officer Fangmeyer of the ZPD to be into this type of gossip!" she admitted. "Sure, Clawhauser is all into it, and I strongly suspect that Chief Bogo is as well, as much as he will always deny it. But after all of these years, I didn't actually think you'll be that much into it, I admit." Crossing her arms again, she gave another smirk. "All right, I'll bite. Do you find James cute?"
"A little," Dahlia confirmed. "Even if does sometimes act far too much like an overgrown pup, but yeah, sure. I guess partnered with him also has a lot to do with it, because we really do rely a lot on each other. Much like you and Nick, in fact. Okay, my turn again." It was her turn to smirk down at Judy. "Count?"
Judy frowned in confusion. "Count what?"
"Do you think Count's cute?" Dahlia clarified.
"Oh, that 'Count', the pilot!" Judy smacked her forehead. "And here I thought you were telling me to actually start counting something. But okay, I do think he has his moments when he can be. Too angry most of the time, though, I think. But every now that then, he relaxes and then he can be… rather adorable sometimes. Especially with those large ears of his." As she was saying these last few words, Judy felt rather stupid and all too aware of her own twin satellite dishes on top of her own head. "I think what I find most cute about him is not even his appearance, but that as much as he still argues and fights with Trigger over everything, every now and then, he either doesn't care or doesn't realize that he does something that shows us that he does in fact care. About Trigger, I mean." Judy rubbed her chin in thought slowly. "It's almost like his tough and angry persona is fake. That he's a kind soul underneath but that war forces him to act not like himself."
"I would normally say that just being fresh from a war can do that to people," Dahlia agreed, "but after also dealing with Trigger, who, if didn't already know was that 'pilot with the three strikes' from the news? I would never have guessed! So Count? I also think that there's something to a theory that he's faking at least some of that anger." She eyes Judy carefully. "Say, didn't you talk to Trigger on the phone yesterday?"
"I- I don't remember telling you anything about that," Judy stumbled over her words a little, caught off guard by the fact that she knew for a fact that she didn't actually say anything about that to Dahlia yet. "How did you know?"
"Wolford told me last night," Dahlia grunted, "since you're not the only one to catch up with their partner. Didn't go into details, but he said it was rough."
Judy frowned in thought. "They used some combat recordings for their training," she explained, "some kind of new simulation or something. Except that they accidentally used a failed mission that Trigger was actually in. Remember that picture he carries around? The girl in it? She was killed that day, and Trigger had to listen to it all over again." Lost in thought, she brushed some dust off the glove compartment. "Insert a joke about military intelligence if you want, but what they did was inexcusable. He even tried to glitch the system and stop the recording, but it was hard coded in or something, and he was forced to listen to her final moments all over again." She felt Dahlia's eyes still on her, and looked up. "What?"
"How do you know all of that?"
"Uh, Trigger told me..?" Judy wasn't even sure why she was suddenly nervous about that, but she was suddenly getting a nasty feeling within her.
"It's just that, I would think that, but I can be wrong, but won't Trigger not be allowed to just tell you something like that?" Dahlia clarified. "Sounds like there might be some military things there that we're not actually allowed to know about. But then again, I could be wrong."
"Nick and James know though," Judy defended quickly. "Nick didn't tell me what happened, that was Trigger's doing, but Nick did tell me that he saw and heard everything. So if he knows, I'm sure it's not so secretive as to the point that we're not allowed to know about it either." Her attention was diverted when her phone buzzed with a new message. She opened it, seeing that it was the group conversation set up between her, Dahlia, Nick and James along with Jack Savage and Sky Winters. The message was a picture, sent by James, zoomed in as far as the lens allowed it go, but a group of jet fighters caught right in the middle of the picture. A simple caption was sent immediately after: They grow up so fast!
Dahlia let out a snort. "Well, I sure hope so. James made sure to tell me that he couldn't say anything, but I suppose Trigger will know more about what he is and isn't allowed to tell us. I guess we can ask them about it when they get back. Have any idea how he's doing today?" Also glancing at her phone, she grunted in amusement. "Well, guess that answers my question."
Nick sent over another picture, showing a large, rocky, and very empty desert only occasionally peppered by small bushes. Not enjoying the sights, bored out of my mind – Don't know where, USA.
"Well, he's flying around, so I guess well enough," Judy answered after a brief pause of thought, sending a brief reply to the conversation on her phone. "Hmm, hard to think that it's propably just a matter of days before Count and Trigger will leave us for good. But about that, I don't think they would clear him to fly if they didn't think he was ready. Jet fighters are expensive, and I don't think anyone will want to have him smash one up on a landing. It'll be like… Like Bogo lobbing our heads off if we trashed this cruiser because we were having a 'bad day'."
Dahlia snorted in amusement. "Like today?"
"Hey!" Judy shot up, stopping not quite at the point of punching the other officer. Had Dahlia been Nick, she would not have hesitated, but that's only because Nick often said things like these and deserved the occasional punch. Actually, Judy wasn't sure why she pulled this one back, but now that the moment was over, she settled back in her seat. "That's not funny!"
Except that Dahlia wasn't paying attention, instead frowning at something outside. "What in the name of all that's holy is that guy doing?"
Following her gaze, Judy also instantly saw the red sports car darting between the lanes and through traffic. "That is not safe at all in the slightest," she said firmly, one paw already reaching for the buttons to turn the lights and sirens on, the other to grab the radio to report this event. "Let's get this guy!"
To her great relief, the chase resulted in a sudden and noisy end as the red car, its driver spooked by the appearance of police behind them, darted off even faster only to spin out and smash the engine block into a light pole. Luckily, no one was hurt, even the pika driver who had to be told to stay in his car as an ambulance was called over, just in case. Being the superior officer, Fangmeyer took charge in questioning him, only to promply give that roll over to Judy, citing the rabbit's better matching size and a need to keep bystanders away. What it really meant was that Dahlia didn't want to deal with an angry mammal ranting and yelling about how important, rich, and well connected he was and how he needed to be set free and be allowed to go on his way. Right now.
The fact that his car's engine was smashed and unable to do anything anymore didn't seem to cross the VIP's mind. What his complaining did guarantee, was that Judy took great pleasure in handing him the several citations he earned himself. She had to force herself to appear nonjudgmental as she handed him the stack of papers around the same time the ambulance arrived to take him to get checked up at a hospital for any unnoticed injuries. As well as any drugs that might or might not be in his system.
Still, it was exactly this kind of work, not so much citing people like that pika, as much as making sure that he could no longer harm innocents with his reckless driving, that Judy was reminded why she became a cop in the first place. These small, mundane and random acts of making the city a better place for its citizens.
Of course, it also meant that Judy and Dahlia were guaranteed to be stuck back at the precinct, writing up and submitting the required paperwork for the now two incidents of the day. But such were the facts of her work, and honestly, Judy didn't mind it that much. It consumed the time until Nick will finally return, and while she didn't enjoy being reminded of the first incident that had soured her mood, the pika citation more than made up for it.
Also as a pleasant surprise, as a break to the tedium of typing up the reports, Judy and Dahlia were pleasantly interrupted by Jack and Sky showing up, apparently needing to use Bogo's expertise for their investigation, but also using that diversion as an opportunity to catch up with them.
"I know it sounds like we're failing at our jobs," Jack said with a joking tone, "but right now, you two know more about what's going on with the pilots than we do. Any news on their flight performances?"
Judy also used this unexpected stop to ask a question that she was perpetually curious about. "Any news on that nighthowler investigation?"
It was Sky who answered. "The underground lab is as good as dismantled, but other than that, not much we can tell you. Well, there's nothing we should be worried about."
"We don't need to fear another round of savage mammals like we saw with Bellweather," Jack added in a hurry, "which besides, now that everyone know what to look for, won't really work a second time." From there, the conversation quickly shifted to general gossip and pleasantries, at which point the two ZIA officers took their leave to get back to their work, and left Judy and Dahlia again with theirs.
It was late in the day, Judy still hunched over her keyboard, when she felt a presence looming over her. Glancing over her shoulder, she stood up quickly at the appearance of Chief Bogo. "Sir! I didn't notice you here!" she stammered quickly, motioning at the computer. "Was just concluding these reports, just as you wanted!"
"I don't doubt that, Hopps," Bogo said with an approving nod. "I already sent Fangmeyer home with her work laptop, so I don't want you to think that I'm forcing the load onto you. Actually I have another simple assignment for you."
Despite herself, Judy winced at hearing these words, forcing herself to give Bogo a sad smile. "With all do respect, sir, but you did kinda say that this morning," she said. "I would rather appreciate not getting swamped with even more paperwork while I am still behind."
Bogo grinned again. "I'm sure that won't be a problem," he said softly. "The assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to take a cruiser and drive over to the train station. I hear there's two of our officers and two pilots who will need to be picked up and brought back here."
Judy's jaw dropped. Somehow, she had completely forgotten about Nick and James, despite seeing the messages they sent her with the train information after they boarded a few hours before. "Sir! I uh, yes, of course! I'm on it!"
Bogo grunted again. "Key's are on Clawhauser's desk." Without another word, he turned and left, leaving Judy alone in shock. Regathering her wits, she saved her work and hopped off her chair, rushing past the curious glances of everyone else wondering why she was in such a hurry.
Even Clawhauser was amused by her very brief greeting as she jumped directly on his desk to grab the keys and scurry off to the carpool. In fact, her rushing only really ended when she finally arrived at the train station, a few minutes after when the train she was waiting for was supposed to arrive. Scanning through the legs of the much larger animals leaving the station, she found the ones she was looking for. "Hey! Guys!" Running forward, she lunged up and grabbed Nick in a hug, causing him to grunt and James to burst out laughing.
"There's my emotional bunny!" Nick greeted back, trying to pry her off while keeping a hold on his stuffed tote bag. "Was it really that bad, or were you missing me that much?"
Letting him go, Judy did punch him on the shoulder for his dumb comment. "No, Nick, it wasn't that bad, just the paperwork got really boring. And yes, I did miss you, you dumb fox. A little. Did you enjoy your vacation?"
"No, I hated it," Nick teased in answer. "You don't just take a city fox and take them to the desert expecting them to enjoying it!" To emphasize his point, he made a show of taking in a large breath of the stale city air. "Now there's a smell I didn't know I would miss!"
James gave a small chuckle. "I rather enjoyed it, Hopps, thanks for asking."
"Oh hush you," Judy said, starting to lead them back to the car. "I know you liked it, seeing as you got to hang out with your cousin and all. Enjoyed the airshow? How did the flying go, anyways?"
"It went great!" Count answered her question. "We sure showed the Animalians what combat tested pilots can do! I mean, sure, the actual report on our performance should be sent to Chief Bogo sometime in the next few days, but I'll be damned if we failed. Not only did we not fly as expected, we flew well! Even after rotting around in these cells here for the past two months, we sure still got it! Right, Trigger?"
"Sure, yeah," the remaining pilot mumbled.
Judy hesitated at really noticing how tired and haggard he looked, despite only being gone for a little over two days, ears and tail sagging lifelessly. "You feeling okay?"
"Fine. Just tired."
Knowing that he wasn't being completely honest with her, she still let the matter drop and didn't push it further, instead settling back into a conversation with her fellow officers as they drove back to the station. It was when they got back to the cubicles that James had another request for her.
"Hey, Judy? Nick and I are gonna head down to the bar for some drinks. Exercising in the desert air does that to you, you know? Wanna come along?"
Judy frowned. "I would like to, but there's so much paperwork I still need to do," she said. "Today was surprisingly busy."
James grinned. "Dahlia's going to be there too! Savage and Winters too. Besides, did Bogo clear you for overtime just to fill out paperwork?"
"Well, no-"
"-So why stress over it? Not gonna go anywhere. It'll be there waiting for you tomorrow morning!"
Nick took the opportunity to help Wolford out. "Carrots, we just got back to this wonderful city, and I for one will really like to enjoy its warm embrace with a cold one with the pals. Would appreciate it if you tagged along and relax with us."
"Okay, Nick, you win this one. I'll go. But only after one more thing."
"What's that, Fluff?"
"Where did Trigger go?"
Nick's eyes widened. "I actually don't know. Back to his cell, I think? It's late, and he really was worn out after today's flying."
Judy took the lead before he could even finish talking, heading down to the holding bay of the precinct. "Wasn't he able to get some rest on the train ride back though?"
Nick caught up to her, face serious. "Carrots, when I say that he was worn out, what I should also add was that he only got moody when we were very close to Zootopia again. For most of the ride over, we were all talking. Well, County was really taking the time to lavish us with stories of what a great pilot he is, but Strikes was also, um, mostly correcting any extravagant claims, and okay, he was rather quiet for most of the time on the train, but he wasn't in a bad mood. That only really started about an hour ago or so."
Judy let out a low sigh. "I still want to see him, Nick," she said firmly, walking faster now that she was very close to her destination. "Because whatever he might tell me or not, he's not fine!" So it was to her disappointed that when she did find the pilot, he was already fast asleep in his bed, clutching a spare blanket in his arms. "See what I mean? Just look at him!" she whispered. "And how many days left does he have with us before he's sent off to fight for his life again?"
"Hopps?" Count was on his own bed, reading one of the spare magazines from the waiting area. "Leave him be. There's nothing to be worried about."
"And you know that how?" Judy scoffed. "As I repeat myself, look at him!"
Count grinned as he set the magazine down and stepped out of his cell, making his way over to her and Nick. "Hopps, we've been through a series of physical exercises two days ago, which were immediately followed by two days of heavy G-loading. Since I doubt you ever experienced anything harder than a roller-coaster ride, let me just emphasize just how much flying takes its toll on you. But if you're worried about his about his emotional state, then let me remind you that you didn't see him today when he was flying. Guy finally remembered what it was like to be alive, if you ask me. Of course, the G's will catch up to you one way or another eventually though."
"Which is what I was trying to tell you before you ran off on me," Nick added. "Strikes might have had a bad day yesterday, but today he was fine. Better than fine."
"You don't look very tired," Judy pointed out, poking Count in the ribs. "You really want to tell me that you're that much stronger than Trigger? That it's all just physical fatigue?"
"First of all, yes, I am stronger than him," Count answered smugly. "And two, I actually was able to sleep last night, which helps a lot. So to answer your last question as well, yes."
It was Judy's turn to become smug. "Oh, so you're really admitting that it's not just the flying then?" she demanded. "And you want me to just leave him alone? What really happened yesterday, Count? For real?"
"Ugh… Wha… Judy?" Their little argument woke someone up. Trigger had lifted his head from the pillow, but was blinking and visibly struggling to keep his eyes open. "What time is it, Count?" With a groan, he shifted himself to stare at the group better. "Is it really morning already? Feels like I just closed my eyes… Forgot to change out and everything."
"That's because you did just close your eyes, you moron," Count answered with a snort, sidestepping Judy's furious glare and slap at his shoulder. "Take a look at the clock. Hardly been ten minutes."
"...Oh." Blinking, Trigger turned back to Judy. "Then why are you here? Nick and James were all excited to hit the bars after we got back. Was sure they were going to take you along with them. Why the change of plans?" This last question was more directed towards Nick rather than Judy.
He shrugged his shoulders sheepishly. "Remember that's Carrots you're talking about. Beer has to wait on her being all worried about you."
Trigger gave a goofy grin as he watched Judy for a few moments. "You worried about me?"
Judy snorted. "I worry about everyone, you goof, just ask Nick! How else do you think I was able to get out of hustling and doing something good for once?"
Nick smirked as he grabbed her by the shoulders. "As I recall, a certain ferocious bunny forced me to help her out on her first case," he said. "Blackmailed me, more specifically, since you were about to lose your job over it. But okay, fine, it worked out in the end after all."
"Heard it was your day to have a rough time at work," Trigger added quietly. "You need a hug?"
"Just some cop stuff, not a big deal. Besides, it wasn't anywhere as rough as what you had to deal with," Judy pointed out. "Dahlia and I'll talk it over with the chief tomorrow anyways. Besides, I'm not the one who's leaving in a couple of days."
Trigger chuckled as he rolled over onto his back to allow him to rest his head without burying his muzzle into the pillow. "I sleep in a jail cell, Judy!" To emphasize his point, he have the bars a good slap, conveniently leaving out the fact that the door was unlocked and he was free to walk out should he choose to. "But I got to fly again today! It was great! Liberating!" He tiled his head to look at Count. "We sure showed those Animalians how to fly, didn't we? Gonna give the Urusians a nasty shock when we're back on the front lines, right? I don't think they're expecting Three Strikes to come back to the fight!"
Sporting his own grin, Count walked inside Trigger's cell and sat down next to the pilot, helping him out of his outer shirt despite Trigger's weak protesting. "First of all, you need to get some rest. If you think you can actually fly like this, think again. You're going to get yourself killed if you keep this up. Do you always sound high as a kite when you're this tired?"
"No! Maybe…" Trigger answered meekly.
"I recall you were able to go for days without sleep just before these cops here arrested us," Count said, still not done. "First McKinsey was working us to the bone, then that wonderful flight in a transport that got shot down with us inside. Then we were lost in this city for several days, and yet it was you who always knew what to do next. How to try and leave the city and try and find a way out of this county. But even as different ideas failed, and the cops were closing in on us, it was you who kept me going. Then we were finally cornered, and you were still on top of it. I was ready to fight because I was stupid and stubborn, but you? You kept your head, analyzed out situation, and… And you figured out the correct call to make, and allowed ourselves to be captured. What happened to that Trigger that I knew? The fighter? I saw that again today when we were in the air, but now that we're back in the city, it's like your a different person. Hate to admit it, but Hopps is right to be worried about you. Are you feeling okay?"
Slowly, Trigger sat up, staring at Count before his gaze shifted to Nick and Judy. "I… I'll be honest, but I've got some bad feeling," he explained nervously. "Most likely? It's just me still being upset from yesterday's exercise. When Brownie was killed I was… It hurt a lot… Still does... But I was kept busy enough that I wasn't able to dwell on it. And that also was true with me for most of today as well." Surprisingly, he gave a small chuckle, scratching his arm nervously at the same time. "Actually, I'm still amazed they even let me fly today. They always stress that as a pilot, you need to always be honest with yourself about your ability to actually go and fly a jet before you strap yourself in. And since I didn't exactly sleep last night… Truthfully, the smart thing for me was to remain on the ground, but I went up. Was rather scared of what will happen if I told the Animalians that I wasn't flight ready, not after they spent all the trouble of bringing us in and getting the Eagles set up for us. Was scared out of my mind the entire time that I would fuck up, but I guess I did well enough… I know they were impressed with your flying, but I was more worried about not crashing into the ground and staying in formation to care about my performance review."
"So that's why you were even quieter than usual?" Count asked with a smirk, playfully shoving Trigger. The smaller pilot also managed to grin back, grabbing onto Count's arm to keep himself from falling off the bed. "Go figure you'll be one to stumble your way into a cockpit and still look like you're the expert to everyone else!"
"Thanks for the compliment, but that's the point. For most of today, I was again too busy and didn't have time to dwell on what happened yesterday. I guess that's not actually a bad thing, but there's not much you can do on a train, right? And then the view out the window became familiar again, and… It's a really weird feeling, you know? Like a strange dream or something, I don't know how to describe it. But I guess that with of what happened yesterday, and when the train was moving past what I... used to think of as home? It was like how I felt right after we got captured and finally had the time to realize just where we are now… Homesickness again, and bad." His gaze locked with Judy's. "So that's what I think this bad feeling is, and I know it makes me sound rather dumb-"
"Scrap Queen does call you a dumbass for a reason!" Count butted in teasingly. "Remember that letter she wrote you? How did she start it?"
Trigger snorted with a shake of his head, pointing at the pilot. "Fine, I asked for that one, didn't I? You can stop now!" Returning his attention back to Judy, he got back to the point. "So as I was saying, a strange feeling, but other than that, I feel fine! Honest!"
Judy eyed him, checking to make sure that he wasn't showing any signs of trying to fool her. She didn't, but it will be something good to check with Nick later. "You sure? I don't want to leave you alone here if you need someone-"
"-Judy."
She stopped as Trigger said her name. His tone was that which told her that he was not going to listen to any of her arguments.
"First of all, I won't be alone. Count's here, for one thing. And second of all, I would rather appreciate it if you actually go with Nick to wherever he and James planned to go tonight to. They were really looking to having a good time and relax since, well, since Count and I humiliated them at our E and E exercise back on the first day, really."
"I wouldn't call it being 'humiliated'," Nick scoffed. "We almost caught you."
"Nah, you two were so lost, I doubt you would have been able to find your own tails," Count corrected smugly. "Admit it, we owned you!"
"Boys!" Judy rolled her eyes at the antics. "Nick, I know you wanted to get going already, but I wanted to check on you first, Trigger. But if you insist you're fine, then okay."
Grinning, Trigger stood up and with a loud yawn, walked over to her, pulling into a hug with one arm, using the other to scratch between her ears like she did to him a few times. "Feeling better?" he teased.
The only issue was that his actions had the wrong effect, and for the wrong reason as Judy immediately squirmed to try and break free. "Trigger, your fur stinks!" Breaking free from the embrace, she huffed and brushed herself off, glaring at him. "When did you last take a shower?"
"...This morning?"
"Well you need another one!" she hissed. "You smell something mechanical. Engine oil or something." Frowning at the pilot, she looked for any telltale stains like her family members would have after working on the farming equipment back at Bunnyburrow. "I thought you were flying a jet, not diving into the engine!"
"I had a minor oil problem when I was making sure that the plane was ready to fly," Trigger explained. "Preflight checks? Heard of those?" As Judy rolled her eyes at him, he sniffed his arm to check, wrinkling his nose at the harsh scent. He then shoved the arm in Count's direction in response to the other pilot's smirking and chuckling. "Okay, so I do stink. Tell you what, I'll go upstairs, take a shower, find something to mix up in the kitchen. Count can help me with the second part. By the time we're done, I want you to be out of here, and enjoy the big reunion with Nick and the others." He let out another long yawn. "After I wake up that is."
Judy frowned. "I don't know…"
Sighing, Trigger pointed at Nick. "Can I trust you to make sure that she relaxes tonight?"
Nick flashed a two-fingered salute. "You got it, boss!" Grabbing Judy by the arms, he held her close to him despite her protests. "Want us to bring anything back?" Count especially perked up at this question.
Trigger also looked tempted for a moment, but shook his head. "We're still under the standing order for no alcohol," he said solemnly. "Rather not get grounded for failing to follow something so simple as that." He ignored Count's complaints of being a spoilsport. "But Judy, I'm serious. Whatever it was that you had to deal with today, don't let it get to you. I'm already used to being the one who's always having a hard time for one reason or another. Don't need to have you start to go all moody on us."
Judy thought about it for a moment, then made up her mind. "Trigger? You have a deal. But first, you need to do something for me." She shrugged herself free from Nick and pointed at the ground next to her. "Get down where I can reach you. You too, Count."
"...Okay…" Doing as she told, Trigger crouched down next to her, motioning for Count to do the same.
Without saying a word, Judy reached over and tugged off the bandage pocking from the collar of his t-shirt. Her nose wrinkled at the very unpleasant scent of a mixture of harsh machine oil and whatever healing ointment was applied to the bandage when it was applied to the burns underneath. She did the same thing to Count's own bandage, crumbling up the two sets of cloth and tossing them into a nearby bin. "There! Feels better?"
"Not really," Trigger answered with a wince, rubbing the burn mark. "But it needed to get off soon anyways. Thanks." He hurriedly lifted his shirt collar, but the effort was in vain as the fabric promptly slid back down. "Nick? Seriously, make sure she has a good time wherever you take her too. And Judy?"
Judy stared at him as he didn't say anything despite asking for her attention. "Yes, Trigger?"
Trigger grinned back. "We're not leaving or anything just yet. I'll see you tomorrow!"
