Chapter 29: The one and three lines
Despite as funny as it was seeing her partner stuck up a tree, Judy knew that she had to keep herself from laughing. It was unprofessional, after all. Instead, she put herself into better use, spotting for Nick and making sure that he can make his way down safely. "There's a branch just below you," she called out helpfully, "it will hold both of your weights!"
Nick only grunted as he made sure that the fox kit he was holding was not going to slip out of his grip. "Rather easy for you to say, Officer Hopps!" he answered over his shoulder, "but I am finding it rather impressive that you failed to notice that I can't actually reach it!"
When a call came through from Clawhauser that there was a fox kit stuck up a very tall tree in a city park game wrong, there was no question which pair of officers was going to be sent in. Or who within them would be the one to actually climb up and actually rescue the terrified child. And as much as Judy didn't like the fact that this only reinforced the stereotype of bunnies being weak, she also knew that Nick was the perfect person to go in for the rescue.
Also, the ZPD was always looking for opportunities to show off their lesser represented species of officers.
And while she knew that Nick was far from a diversity hire, she was still impressed as she watched him confidently climb up and make contact with the stuck kit. Deciding on having the kit hold onto his back, Nick began to make his way down, using the tree's branches almost as easily as a ladder.
Which was why Judy was caught off guard when he suddenly froze, losing his nerve when what was supposed to be an easy branch to reach ended up actually being just slightly too far. From the ground, it looked like an obvious way down. But perhaps it was because he was no longer alone, but Nick;s eyes were rather wide with uncertainty as he glanced around for another branch to grab onto.
In all honesty, it was a bit unfair of Judy think that it was an easy climb – after all, both of their reactions when they arrived was 'how did the guy manage to climb up there?', but Nick certainly didn't have an issue getting up. "Can't you move around to the side?" she called up to him, "if you're getting scared, I can help you find alternative way to get down!"
"Scared?" Nick scoffed, "I'm not scared!" He flashed a grin to the kit. "What about you, kiddo? Scared of the height, or rather enjoying the sights?" The kit gripped his waist harder in answer, his own eyes wide at the ground below. With a grunt, Nick was able to shuffle over around half the tree's width, but found himself stuck once more. "Don't worry about us, Officer Hopps! We're not even stuck! Just pausing to enjoy the view!" He leaned back a little, shifting his weight onto his legs and allowing his arms to get a much needed break. "All the buildings and the sky all around? In fact, I'm rather surprised mammals don't climb trees more often! The excitement of the ascent? It's to die for!"
"Don't use phrases like that, Nick," Judy mumbled with a wince, glancing nervously at the equally terrified mother next to her. "Not in a situation like this one." While she too understood the optics of sending in the fox officer to help with the fox citizenry, she also knew that she would emphasize in her report how they were not actually the best assets the city had to use in this specific scenario, and that there were other civil service departments readily available to help out with these exact situations much easier. "Want me to call the fire department? They can get here in a few minutes at the slowest. And they'll have safety equipment, ladders, the whole lot!"
"No, don't do that!" Nick quickly called down, genuinely sounding worried at the prospect of her doing just that. "Whatever you do, do not call them! You know what? All right, sightseeing tour over! We're coming down!" Redoubling his effort to climb down, he was rewarded with feeling his weight settle onto a sturdy branch. "See? Nothing to it! Almost back at the ground!"
Next to Judy, the worried fox mother that was supervising the kids at play, surrounded by said children, fidgeted in agitation. "W-Why didn't the fire department get called in?" she asked in a hushed tone. "Wouldn't a ladder help out?"
"It would," Judy said with a nod, "but the ZFD doesn't have any foxes in its crews yet, and since we the ZPD do… For what it's worth, I'm fully confident in Ni- Officer Wilde's abilities." She felt like shoving a fist into her mouth as Nick's grip failed and he nearly fell off, arresting a slip with a frantic grab at the main trunk. "...Even if it's not what we usually do on a day-to-day basis."
She glanced around for something that she can use to distract the vixen, but didn't see anything that can work. Her eyes briefly settled on the magazine the mother was holding in her paws, back cover adorned with text and images of fighter aircraft with which one definitely sported three white lines on its tail. As much as it caught Judy's attention, this was hardly something she can use to draw attention away from the rapidly fatiguing rescue crew of one fox.
Come on, Nick, just a little more!
In a hushed silence, Judy closed her eyes and looked away when Nick slipped again, this time unable to stop his fall. For a brief moment, a terrified cry from the kit he was carrying tore through the park, only to be halted with a soft thump as the two hit the ground.
"See? Nothing too it!" Nick repeated with a smug grin, slowly getting up in a way that he hoped would hide the fact that his entire rear end was in a lot of pain where it served as a cushion for the fall for the two of them. "You all right there, kiddo?" The kit nodded and ran back to the rest of the group.
"Oh gosh, are you all right, officer?" The vixen, while relieved that everyone were safe, was now looking concerned over the state of Nick. "Are you hurt?"
Nick grinned smugly, running a paw through his tail. And pretending not to wince as he felt the particularly sore spot on it. "Absolutely fine! Us foxes are lucky, with our large fluffy tails! Natural cushioning! I swear, as long as we land right, we can jump out of an airplane an- What?" Whatever metaphor he was going on, he stopped when he noticed Judy frowning at him.
"You better not be giving the kids any funny ideas, officer!" she scolded, putting particular emphasis on his status as a cop. "In fact, as an officer, why won't you be the one to go and explain to them that they really shouldn't be climbing such trees?" She rolled her eyes in the direction of the huddled kids, motioning for Nick to go and give them the standard lecture for when someone needs to be rescued.
Returning her frown with another flash of a grin, Nick gave her a mocking single-fingered salute. "Sure thing, Officer Hopps!" Doing as she requested of him, he went and gathered up the kids, clearing his throat as though he was a school teacher about to start the day.
But it did leave Judy alone with the mother, giving her the chance to return her attention to the adult. "You have to excuse him, but Officer Wilde can be rather… unique."
"Nothing I don't deal with every day," the vixen brushed off. "You… you're Hopps? Judy Hopps?"
Judy blinked. While even only a few years ago she was still used to being identified by the general public, as time slowly faded the memories of the Nighthowler incident, those times were getting fewer and fewer. "Yes, that's me," she confirmed with a hint of nervousness. "I'm officer Judy Hopps, ZPD."
"I noticed how you were looking at Wilde while he was climbing," the vixen said with a sly grin of her own. "You care about him, don't you?"
"Of course I do," Judy replied quickly, relieved that this wasn't going the way she feared it might. "Nick's… he's my best friend. At work and outside of it." Nervous about the answer, she used her sensitive hearing to eavesdrop on her partner, hoping that he was still occupied with lecturing the kids.
"-and while I do recognize the fact that speed tree climbing is in fact an organized athletic competition in many places, may I also remind you that, with personal experience in this myself, no fox has yet to-"
Unorthodox and completely not to the usual script, but it sure sounded like Nick had a handle on the situation.
"How is it that a city fox became best friends with a bunny? Which, if I may take a gander, is that a hint of a country twang in your voice?" The vixen placed her pawn on her hips, waiting to be proven right.
Smart woman, Judy thought. Even after listening to recordings of her own voice many times for various cases, she never detected anything but a neutral Zootopian accent out of her. At least that's what she kept telling herself, in a vain attempt to prove to all of her coworkers that she did not grow up a country bumpkin. "Yes, I come from Bunnyburrow," she answered calmly, mirroring the smile. "Grew up there. Just about threw my family into a fit when I told them that I wanted to become a city cop. As for Wilde? Believe it or not, but he tried to hustle me on my first day on the job. So I dragged him along for my first case after I found out that he was a vital witness. And well, things just kinda took off from there." Finding herself smiling at the memories of them arguing with each other all over the Nighthowler case, Judy forced herself to calm down, an act easier as soon as she recalled her worst time in the ZPD. "You might have seen some of it in the news," she mumbled quietly, "not exactly my brightest moment."
The vixen eyed her carefully. "I wouldn't worry about it too much," she answered reassuringly, "this city was always pretending to be equal for all mammals far more than it actually is, especially for us foxes. And yet, I also like to think that at least some of that is our own doing as well, and we are hardly blame-free. But if Officer Wilde, first fox on the force, cares as much about you as much as I see you do for him, then there is hope for this world after all. Makes the rest of us foxes look bad, if anything." Beaming at Judy, the vixen crossed her arms. "So other than that, was there something you wanted to tell me about today's… incident? I hope we're not in trouble, I did try to keep an eye out on all of them, but there's several of them and only one of me." She waved her magazine in front of Judy. "I swear, it only took ten seconds for me trying to catch up on a story, but the next thing I knew, Julius is somehow up that tree and crying for help."
Judy's mind took a few moments to unscramble herself from the sudden change of topics. "Oh, no, you're not in trouble," she said quickly, "not at all! Actually, as strange as it sounds, but uhh…" she pointed at the magazine sheepishly. "Can I get a quick look through that?"
"...Sure?"
Grabbing it, Judy quickly flipped through the magazine, scanning for the article she was looking for.
"You just, um, flipped right past it."
Judy glanced up, confused. "Which one?"
The vixen mother blinked back at her. "About President Hareling, right? The main article of this edition?" She motioned for Judy to flip back to the front cover, which she did to discover that the entire front was adorned with the portrait of the Ocelotian ex-president, graying fur showing him just prior to his retirement. "That article's the first one in the magazine," the vixen explained further, "and you flipped right past it. Just, I thought, you being a bunny… I mean, isn't that's what you wanted to see here?"
Realizing what the mother was implying, Judy gave a slight chuckle. "Oh, that wasn't what I was looking for, actually. I might be the first bunny cop in the ZPD, but that's only unusual in large cities like this one. Back home, practically the entire law enforcement structure is made up of us bunnies. And us rabbits aren't nearly as underestimated when it comes to being involved in politics. Hareling's hardly the first lagomorph to be a head of state, see? That achievement went to King Ricardo way back in the twelfth century." She tilted her head as she tried to recall the obscure fact. "...I think. And silly me, I can't even remember the name of his country. Anyways, I was more interested in a different article."
Nevertheless, Judy flipped back and read the article. In fact, she knew quite a bit about retired President Hareling, even if he wasn't Animalian. He was one of those "role models" her parents tried to use in an attempt to get her to change her mind about being a cop. Want to make the world a better place? Run for office, just like Ocelotia's Hareling! A fine and prestigious position for a rabbit! ...That also happened to be extremely boring and not at all what she was looking for in improving the world. Brushing these embarrassing memories aside, Judy took a look at the article, just in case there was in fact something interesting in there.
The enigmatic ex-president of Ocelotia, Vincent Hareling, was a far greater leader for his country than his small stature would convey. With the unfortunate death of this humble hero in the start of the currently ongoing Lighthouse conflict between Ocelotia and Urusian on June 6, many continue to wonder how the war would have progressed had he lived. Using recently uncovered sources, the life of this legendary leporid can finally be fully revealed. Begging with…
With a roll of her eyes, Judy flipped out of this article and towards what she really wanted to get to. She didn't even have an opinion on the guy and was already getting sick of the hero worship most of the world bestowed on him ever since Ocelotia's failed rescue attempt resulted in his death. He was a hare who was instrumental in preventing Ocelotia from erupting into a repeat of the second world war with Yaktobania, sure, but he wasn't that great! Not as great as the media loved to make him out to be.
She recalled the one time the four officers had stumbled onto this subject with Count and Trigger, urged on only by mere curiosity due to a random ZNN broadcast and the knowledge that the OADF were the ones who were involved in the rescue mission. While Count dismissed the whole conversation with a simple explanation of not being involved, everyone else had been paying attention to the fact that Trigger's collar had gone off at the mere mention of the president. While he had also been completely dismissive and refused to answer any questions one way or another, and even Count coming to his aid with getting the officers to drop the matter, they had all agreed afterwards that the behavior pointed to him at least participating in that mission, explaining why he wasn't eager to discuss it.
Not that Judy could blame him. She still hated being reminded of, let alone talking about, her disaster of a press conference during the missing mammal case. Despite having more time to heal those mental wounds, she couldn't even begin to compare her botching of answering questions next to failing to rescue the country's ex-president. Even if Trigger wasn't the only pilot to fail that day, Judy barely dared to wonder how it was like to find out that your objective had quite literally gone up in flames.
Which is why no officer ever pressed the matter or subject to either pilot ever since.
The picture she was interested in within a succeeding article pulled Judy out of her thoughts and into the present as to why she was flipping through the magazine. The mother peered over the opposite end of the pages, trying to guess as to why Judy was so interested in some obscure story about some fighter jets. So into it, in fact, that Judy was using a finger to trace her progress through the story, mumbling underneath her breath as she quickly read past the words. "I don't mean to pry, officer, but you hardly seem to be someone to to be interested into this sort of material."
Judy glanced up from the pages, noticing the sheepish grin the other was wearing. All is well for it, for the article was not that different than what can be easily found with others online, endlessly speculating about the identity of the mysterious 'Pilot with the Three Strikes', and with the long time-span between his last confirmed spotting over a battlefield, if they were even alive at all by this point. In fact, the only 'exclusive' material the magazine promised was a high definition photograph of the mysterious plane, three large and thick white lines across the vertical stabilizer, taken by someone brave enough to handle a large camera when they should have been keeping their head down. How the magazine got their paws on the picture was anyone's guess, but it didn't offer any new information that Judy didn't know from either Jack Savage or Count or Trigger themselves.
Not that this curious vixen was aloud to know about this last part.
"We have an officer back at the ZPD who's really into this," she quickly explained. "Really into following the whole Lighthouse conflict, but he sure does let the entire department know about it. I was hoping to find something new out before heading back."
"Anything specific?"
...It was long suspected that Urusia was leaning heavily on its drone fleet to be the decisive factor in the war. While Ocelotia always publicly stated that living, breathing pilots always perform better, the accidental bombings of civilian targets in the early stages of the conflict might show that Urusia has a point with its doctrine. In addition, new reports of emerging prototype combat drones, such as the stealthy ADFX-10, of which little is currently known...
"No, not really," Judy answered, still speed reading through the article. In actuality, something did catch her eye, but she chose to ignore it for now as to not arouse suspicion from the vixen as to what she was up to. Luckily for her, it was around this time that Nick finished with the kids and returned to her.
"Seeing anything interesting there, Officer Hopps?" his question hinted at some hidden amusement. "Trying to pull a fast one on Officer Simmons? I wouldn't bother, since he probably already read that one."
That's some quick thinking, even for him. Judy couldn't say how much he had overheard from her conversation over the magazine, but he evidently caught enough to back her story up. Just one of the many reasons why she was really glad to have him as her partner again. While she worked well with James, that wolf had nothing on Nick when it came to how effortlessly well they work off each other. "And what makes you reach that conclusion, Officer Wilde?" she teased right back, but not before closing the magazine and giving it back.
Nick grinned at her. "Well, considering that it usually takes a couple of days to get all of the material, arrange it all, and print it out, I don't think there's anything new in there that hasn't been online for the past few weeks already at least." Turning his attention to the vixen, he dropped the matter entirely. "I spoke to the kids and they promise on the pain of certain death that they will never do something like this again."
The mother stared back in shock while Judy's jaw dropped straight to the floor.
"And by that, I mean to say that they know that they are not in trouble, but that they do need to be a little more careful next time. They're good kids, so let's not ruin it for them."
Blinking away from her shock, the vixen frowned at him. "I, uh, well, thank you, Officer Wilde."
"Just doing our jobs, miss. Now, Officer Hopps?" Nick nodded his head as a farewell gesture before leading Judy back to their patrol car, leaving the vixen and the kids behind in the park. "So what was so interesting about that tabloid, Carrots? I didn't take you for someone to be into that sort of stuff. Anything of interest?"
Pulling her phone out, Judy brought up the map to take a look for nearby kiosks. "I don't know, maybe. But I have a feeling that there might be something new. Think we can stop by a place and pick a copy up? And don't look at me like that, I swear to you I have a feeling it could be important!"
Chuckling as he turned the engine on and shifted into gear, Nick shook his head in amusement. "Whatever you say, boss!"
Pointing him in the direction to drive, there was still something Judy wanted to get back to. "You know, Nick, you were really good back there. With the kids, and not even just the fox kit."
Nick grunted. "Yeah, well, someone here might have learned the hard lessons the hard way. And far too late." He smirked at Judy, an amused glint in his eyes as he winked at her. "Was just passing on words of wisdom, Fluff. I know you're a sucker for such things, but I was serious when I said that those kids are being brought up right." He scratched at an ear as his grin turned slightly nervous. "I might or might not have gotten a little bit envious of them, actually. Didn't look to me like any of them were planning on shoving a muzzle on the little guy to me."
Judy reached out and put her paw on his, grateful that Nick was willing to be so vulnerable to her like that. Taking a page out of his own book, it was her turn to smirk at him. "Are you getting all emotional on me, you dumb fox?"
"Nope, just making you think I am," Nick smoothly replied with a click of his tongue. "Never let 'em see that they get to you, remember?"
"Keep saying whatever you want to make you feel better, Nick. I know you enough to know that's not actually true." She pointed at an empty spot by the side of the road. "Right there. Park and it'll only take me a minute."
As she expected, it didn't take Judy long at all to find a copy of her own. But for the rest of their shift, it sat lodged between their seats, waiting for her to actually get the time to open it up and read more carefully. It wasn't until they got back to the station near the end of their shift that she grabbed it again, still wrapped in its protective plastic, as they walked through the large double doors into the precinct, being greeted by a sight that never got old, no matter how many times she saw it.
Clawhauser, behind his reception desk, gushing over Gazelle to some poor schmuck, arms in cuffs, while an amused Higgins hurried on 'urgent' paperwork right next to them, rather than taking the guy over to holding.
Bounding up a spare visitor's chair, Judy was able to get up to his desk's level. "Evening, Clawhauser! Have you seen this one?" She slapped the magazine down in front of him, letting him slide it over to take a better look.
"I'm surprised we don't already have this one sitting around somewhere," the receptionist commented, using a claw to tear through the protective plastic. "Any reason why you decided to grab this one specifically?"
"There was something in here that caught my eye," Judy answered. "Are the two in here?"
Clawhauser raised an eye as he looked at her with confusion. "Who's here?"
Judy stared back at him, using the same all-knowing grin that Nick always loves to use. "Come on now, Ben! You know. Greg and Forge? The two IT contractors? Are they in today?" It was always silly using this cover about their resident pilots, especially with all the other officers who were all in on it, but it was safer in case an eavesdropping visitor might get curious and put two and two together by some accidental miracle. Especially if one such visitor was in cuffs and standing right there next to them with nothing better to listen to.
Clawhauser's eyes widened in realization. "Oh, them! Why yes, they're in. Just came in about an hour ago with Winters and Savage. They went downstairs somewhere, I think. Try the server room!"
"Thanks, Ben! You're the best!" With a wave of the magazine, Judy hopped off the seat and practically dragged Nick by the arm to lead him downstairs to the precinct basement. Although after flicking the lights on, she was greeted to an empty server room, the chilled air only beeping occasional from the servers housed within. The two computers set aside for the pilots were both off, monitors dark and lifeless.
Nick flicked the lights back off, knowing that this was one of those pet peeves that Chief Bogo absolutely despised considering how harmless forgetting to turn the server lights off was. "I would say that they headed back up, but I don't even smell them being in here today," he said, sniffing the air again to double check. "Maybe the gym?"
True to his prediction, that's where they found Count and Trigger, with the first grunting away on a bench press, while the latter stomped along furiously on a treadmill, tongue flapping out of his mouth in a faint attempt to cool off in the still air.
Trigger slowed to a stop upon noticing them, eyes narrowing at the magazine in Judy's paw. "What's that?"
So much for a greeting, considering this was the first time they met up today.
"You tell me. Just something I discovered while out on patrol today. Saw something I didn't recognize, thought it might be something new." Judy handed the magazine to him.
"Doubt it'll have anything the internet didn't have already for days," Trigger grunted as he took the magazine, breath coming out in a hiss as he saw front cover. Flipping it over quickly, he scanned through the table of contents for the edition.
"We both thought this would be outdated at best," Nick said in defense of his partner, "but Carrots thought there was still a chance there might be something in here that we or you didn't come across yet."
Trigger glanced at them. "In the tabloids?" With a heavy sigh, he went back to flipping through the pages, quickly scanning through much like Judy had before. "This whole thing covers our war, fine, but I don't see anything new in here."
Judy looked a little disappointed at the news, but she had to admit it was not an unexpected result. "Well, it was worth a shot, right? Say, any reason why the two of you are down here at this time? Seems like an odd time to try and get a workout."
Trigger let out a heavy sigh, and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Sounds like an update on our transfer situation arrived today," he explained slowly. "Figured I can sprint some stress out before finding out if we passed or not."
"But why be nervous?" Judy pressed, ever the optimist. "I was told you flew well."
"We've both been burned by sure-thing results," Count said, announcing his joining the conversation. "Doesn't matter how we think we did, still need someone else to approve our return to flight status." Without another word, he grabbed the magazine from Trigger and started to flip through it for himself. Starting from the back for whatever reason, he scanned through quickly, coming to a stop at a page.
Trying to peak at what he was looking at, Judy felt a rush of delight when she glimpsed the same article that had caught her attention in the first place.
"Hey, Trig, you ever read anything about this?" Count asked, pointing at one of the pictures, one of an angular and sleek drone. "'ADFX-10'? I don't remember seeing anything about it."
The pilot nodded. "I came across that designation before, while working with Savage recently," he explained. "But my understanding was that it was only drawings and ideas for a drone, with no one even knowing if anything like it was feasible in the first place. Can I see?" He peered over at the article, and at the pictures provided. "That doesn't look like a design render… Might be an actual photograph. Doesn't look like much, it's very small, for one thing. Don't see any room for any munitions, but still. That angular design? Some sort of stealth recon drone?"
Count frowned, twisting the magazine around to look at the picture at different angles. "Recon bird with forward swept wings? Only reason you would use those is to turn better. And you only need to turn hard in a dogfight." His eyes locked with Trigger's. "Maybe it uses some internal weapon?"
"Where?" Trigger asked, sounding genuinely dumbfounded. "Look at it! Barely large enough to house its own engine. What's it going to use to fight with? A gun?"
Judy felt a moment of amusement as she imagines the sleek drone flying around with a six-shooter taped to its wings, but she doubted that was what Trigger was talking about.
"I guess… Maybe it is just a recon drone," Trigger said eventually. "Because if it's not, then it means that Urusia is finally figuring out how to… they're leaving us behind."
Closing the magazine, Count smirked at his fellow pilot. "I think you need to chill and focus on getting back into a real cockpit." He passed the magazine back with a flick of his wrist. "Maybe something to ask Savage about, if he was the one who mentioned this drone to you before."
"No, you're right. I'm overreacting." Trigger gave Judy a reassuring smile, as well as passing the magazine right on back to her. "Thanks, Judy. For finding this, I mean." His smile changed into a smirk as he turned his attention to Nick. "What about you? Heard you got to climb a tree today. Almost got stuck there."
Nick rolled his eyes. "Sure, if that's what you want to call it. Didn't think you would have head about it yet, we just got back."
Count snorted. "You of all mammals should know how quickly word spreads through this building," he pointed out. "Think of it this way, you haven't-"
"Boys!" Judy interrupted the conversation, putting it to a sudden stop. "Jack's coming down to take us up to Bogo's office."
Trigger's previous grin faded into a nervous frown. "I guess that's it then. Did he say what the verdict is?"
"No, he didn't" Judy said. As the door to the gym opened to reveal the ZIA agent, she added, "but you can ask him yourself."
"...Ask me what?" Savage asked, hearing only the tail end of her comment.
"Do we get to go back to flying, or are we stuck here for the rest of the war?" Count elaborated with a scoff.
"Wha- oh, uh, Chief Bogo didn't tell me," Jack stammered, oddly nervous compared to his usual self. "Just asked me to bring you all up." He grinned a little, still seemingly out of character. "Guess he forgets that I don't actually answer to him. But otherwise, let's head up and see what he wants?"
Count and Trigger looked at one another, silently communicating. With a shrug, Trigger gave a slight nod. "All right, no point in delaying. Let's go up."
Together, they headed upstairs and past the lobby to Bogo's office. However, while Count and Trigger went inside without a word, Jack stopped Nick and Judy from following them in, saying he needed to talk to them about a case briefly. Waiting for Bogo's office door to click shut, he shuffled in place while the two officers waited for him to start talking.
"I uh… I lied when I said that Bogo didn't tell me what the information we got was. Problem is… it's bad. Really bad."
Nick grinned. "Oh, it's that bad? Thought there was something up with you."
Jack's head jerked in his direction before the agent blinked. "No, Wilde, it's not…" He took a deep breath and forced himself to slow down. "Whatever you think it is, it's worse. A lot worse. So right off the bat, whatever you hear in there, it cannot leave the room! Not even to the rest of the ZPD. And descond, the reason I took you two aside just now is that I need to stress, especially you, Wilde: Unless Chief Bogo asks you a question directly, don't say a word! Just listen and don't interrupt. And whatever you do, for goodness sake's, don't joke! Now's not the time for that."
Nick and Jack stared at one another, with Judy wondering if this was some sort of elaborate scheme between the two and that they were about to break the facade and declare it all a prank. Instead, Nick was the one to back down, nodding politely. "All right," he declared, "you want gloomy and boring? I can do that." He grabbed Judy by the arm as he used the other to open the door to Bogo's office. "After you, Officer Hopps."
Inside, the normally rather empty office was now filled with chairs, other furniture moved out of the way to make room for them. Count and Trigger were occupying the two closest facing Bogo, waiting silently and nervously, while the chief himself was silently typing away at his own work behind his desk. The two pilots both looked disappointed, but it wasn't a big question as to why – the mood in the room would have been completely different if the news that came in had been good. Skye Winters was typing away on her phone, although the frown on her muzzle was betraying it as a work related exchange. James and Dahlia were there too, flanking the pilots in two folding chairs. The three remaining empty chairs sat waiting for the new arrivals. While James and Dahlia for a moment looked glad to see Nick and Judy walk in, with Dahlia even giving them a small wave in greeting, there was no mistaking the thick tension hanging in the air.
After everyone got themselves seated, Bogo still took a few minutes to finish up with his work before he cleared his throat to let everyone know that the meeting was about to start. Looking over at everyone in the room, he saved the pleasantries. "Agent Savage, if you may? Winters, feel free to jump in as well."
Jack nodded and glanced briefly at his own partner. "I guess I can start… Not that I actually know where. Uh, I mean…" Stopping, he visibly struggled to regain his own composure, odd behavior considering that he was fine and on top of everything just moments ago outside the office. His eyes opened with confidence as he addressed the room once more. "Right, that was terrible, let's try again... To not beat around the bush, as you might have guessed already by us being here not in a good mood, the transfer out of ZPD custody into an active squadron was denied. The problem and why we're all in here is due to the reason of that denial. For that, I need to go back a couple of days, when I recieved an email being sent to me. Sent from an Ocelotian address, with myself, Winters, and Bogo all being direct recipients. Major Easly, whom you've met already, was CC'd as well. What was in there… We needed to check if what we got was real or not, but-"
"With all do respect, Savage," Count interrupted, sounding tired, "we know we didn't pass. Mind getting to the point as to why?"
Bogo jumped in instantly, glaring at the pilot as he answered the question. "The point is, Count, is that the unit you two are from? Four-forty-fourth air squadron? We now know that it also happens to be a penal unit!" he grunted, voice just bordering being a viscous snarl, fists clenched tightly on his desk. "Attached in that email was your complete record. Both of your complete records."
Count's defiant glare wavered as he shrank back into his chair. "...Oh. Damn."
Practically everyone else in the room were too stunned into silence to react or say anything else at this revelation.
"'Oh' indeed," Bogo repeated, "nice little secret the two of you were hiding from us. I, for one, would never have guessed."
"I'll admit that it would have been nice if we never found out," Skye added then. "We really were just days away from releasing you to flight status. But the fact is that we still received your files. A leak from someone sympathetic to Urusia as was later confirmed to us, but we now also know why Ocelotia was so keen on not letting us learn anything about you two. Why both of your identities were such heavily guarded secrets."
"Even after I visited your airbase in person," Jack added, not sounding amused at all. "Would have been nice to know that it was an airbase run by criminals."
"Everyone there are hardly criminals," Count scoffed, "you were fine and will still be fine if you go back there again. Really, the only thing you actually need to watch out for is-"
Bogo snorted loudly, bringing the comment to a sudden end. "Not real criminals?" He picked up a stack of printed out papers, which Count eyed wearily. "Why don't we start with you then? Still has your name blanked out, but everything else is here. Found guilty of, what's this, 'identity fraud and petty theft'?" He leaned over his desk, glaring daggers at the pilot. "Care to explain?"
"I don't think I'm allowed to diverge classified information just like that," Count answered smugly. "So no can do."
"After we were leaked your files, we had to spend several days clearing up what you can and cannot tell us about them," Jack jumped in quickly, sounding annoyed at the attempt at blocking the conversation with a legal argument. "As far as our questioning here is concerned, nothing is outside of our need-to-know requirement. Count? Talk."
"I find that hard to believe," Count countered. "I might know a lot of things you will never be allowed to know."
"Perhaps," Skye agreed. "But unless you are saying that we are bluffing about being cleared by…" she glanced down at her phone to make sure what she was about to say was correct, "...a Vice Chairman Edwards of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, then nothing you might need to say is off limits. Ocelotia spent a lot of time and effort clearing everyone in this room precisely so that you can talk without worrying about whats classified or not. So unless you want to undermine a vice chairman, I suggest you start talking." Her own smirk beat out Count's own, whose confident smile wavered at the information.
Bogo let out a snort of air. "So as I was asking. Care to explain?"
Count silently glared back at the chief before nodding. "Sure, I can explain," he said, glare turning back into a confident smirk. "You know my name, since you already personally asked me about it. So you know how easy it's to mistake me as belonging to a certain major royal family. Rumor started when I barely entered flight school, and you know what? Sure gets old and tiring to keep correcting every new moron who asks me about it! So one time, just for fun, I decided to say 'why yes. I am in fact a royal myself'." Count let out a dismissive grunt. "Everyone who bothered to care about it know it was a load of BS. Never seemed to bother anyone even as I spent my first several years in an active squadron. Hell, some even helped spread the rumor for shits and giggles."
He spread his arms out, bumping them into the others next to him and earning him a few nasty looks, which he ignored. "Except problem. Urusian drones attack and now we're at war. Problem two? Base commander never got the memo that I wasn't actually nobility, and was running circles trying to make sure that I won't be sent somewhere just to get blown up. He tries to explain to me why I can't join the rest of the squad as we set out to fight back, and can you imagine his reaction when I suddenly find myself needing to explain that he got it all wrong? Best of all, I never said a word about it to him prior to that! It was all on him making assumptions and not bothering to check in with me in the first place! Damn moron realizes just how stupid he now looks, so he makes up some crap how I deceived everyone on my identity and kick starts the discipline process. He's also well connected to some politicians, so they also don't want to make him look bad, see? And hey, presto! Second founding member of a newly-formed penal squad!" Count flashed Bogo a mocking salute. "Thank you for your service! Go get yourself killed in some forsaken desert!"
Bogo stared silently back at Count. "And the theft part?" he finally reminded.
Count waved his hand dismissively and settled back in his seat. "When I found out where I was going to be sent, I decided I had enough of the nonsense and decided to skip town. Stole some stuff I could have used, but got caught in the base perimeter. All that did was ruin any chance of not being sent to Zapland, but high command had their minds quite set by that point, so I figured it was worth a shot. Been stuck in that hell of a unit until the not-airliner I was in got shot down over this city, now I'm here as you are well aware." He smirk returned as he stared back at the police chief. "Good enough debrief for you?"
Bogo grabbed some papers off his desk to take a look at them, at which Count snorted in amusement. "Oh, don't worry about those, I got to take a peek at my file. Remember Full Band? Mentioned him a couple of times. Guy made a habit of finding and looking up everyone's file when they arrived. Most of what I've just said said isn't in there. Says some garbage about systematically defrauding command on my identity and some other stupid nonsense."
Setting the papers down, Bogo watched the room in silence. Letting out a long, deep, breath he shifted in his seat. The tension in the room still hung thickly until he finally spoke up. "Personally, whatever you did or didn't do, I don't care. However, if you take a look around you..." Despite his suggestion, Count's gaze didn't so much as waver. "There's four officers in here who do. More outside of this room. You've been with us for what, a little over two months now? I'm afraid that several of the officers here grew rather fond of the two Ocelotian pilots hanging around our little precinct. Want to tell them anything about what you've been hiding from us all this time?"
This time, Count did look around at the officers, locking an uneasy gaze individually with James, Dahlia, Nick, and finally Judy. "No," he said softly. "I've had only the entire war to think about if there was anything different I could have done. Not my fault the base commander was a politically connected jackass. Only thing I would have done differently was plan a better escape route. But otherwise? Believe me if you want, look at my file if you don't. But no, I have nothing else to say about that." He tapped his neck where the fur was slowly healing back after being burned. "Now you know why we always had to wear those collars. McKinsey wouldn't want us running away in a foreign country, would he? Yeah..." He have a quick nod. "Think I'm done."
"Officers?" Jack asked, breaking the ensuing silence. "And questions for him?"
Dahlia raised a paw. "You said you volunteered," she reminded him accusingly. "Both of you told us that you volunteered to be in the unit."
"Do the crime, volunteer for the time!" Count answered back, almost on autopilot. This answer of his earned him several angry glares from the officers, who were in no mood for such jokes. Realizing this, he let out a sigh and explained further. "That's the short answer. Long answer? Ocelotia still needs us trained pilots, so they offered me a deal. Volunteer for a penal unit, and I get to still fly. My name on the crime records is hidden, one of the reasons why it's censored even in this file, and I get my name back when I'm out. Apart from the unit being trash, and flying with a big fat ol' sin line on the tail of my plane, the deal wasn't actually that terrible. As a bonus, about getting out? I get my record wiped clean." He gave a quick snort of disgust. "Of course, should have known that the only way of transferring out was to get killed. Otherwise I would have accepted the token jail time they threatened me with." He jerked his head in the pilot's next to him direction. "Don't know what kind of deal they gave to Trigger here though."
The room fell silent again as he finished his explanation.
"Didn't… You just mentioned a 'Full Band'. Didn't you end up killing him?" This question came from Judy.
Count frowned in anger. "Yeah, dumbass Trigger let that little fact slip on our first day here, didn't he?" he grumbled. "Full Band's plane was marked as hostile on my IFF. And our AWACS was very helpful in pointing out that there was still one remaining bandit in the AO. I was in the best position to shoot the target down, only it ended up not being so hostile after all." As he spoke, he was staring at Trigger the entire time, glare in his eyes. "Oh, and just in case anyone of you don't know, bandit means confirmed hostile aircraft. So now you all know of my terrible one sin line."
This time, the lingering quiet told everyone that there were no more questions.
"Which brings us rather nicely to Trigger," Bogo said with a groan, massaging his forehead.
Judy watched the two pilots, mind racing. Sin line? That actually rather explained the lines crossing the IDs they had when they were caught. Identity fraud and petty theft? Unpleasant, but hardly anything dangerous, which can explain why Count had a single line. And Count kept mentioning that he only had one line. Does that mean that more lines translate to a worse crime? But the news were always going on about 'Three strikes' and... Oh. Oh no.
Trigger had three sin lines.
She eyed the coyote pilot nervously, really starting to see, even from behind him, how he was frozen in his seat, staring at the floor with fear, ears folded completely flat on his head in submission.
Whereas Count was able to rather casually explain his crimes, Judy was starting to get really nervous about this second pilot. Recalling what she had heard about the war in the news, her mind jumped to the most obvious conclusion. Before she realized what she was doing, she heard herself ask, "Trigger, what did you do?"
Please don't let it be that you've bombed civilians. But if you did, please don't have it be on purpose! Oh sweet cheese and crackers, Trigger, how many did you kill!? Whatever the answer, Judy just had a terrible feeling that she was going to hate the answer.
Despite her question, he remained glued in place, unmoving and definitely not speaking.
"Trigger…" James' tone was almost similar to that of a disappointed parent. "We're going to find out one way or the other. But the best for you is going to be if you tell us yourself. So please, answer Hopp's question, all right? What did you do?"
His mouth opened and closed several times awkwardly, but no words came out. At least he lifted his head to look at the two of them, letting them see much better at how afraid he was about what was soon to be revealed.
Judy stared back, the pit in her stomach sinking even lower. The paw closest to Nick subconsciously reached out and grabbing his own for reassurance.
Trigger tried to talk once more, visibly gave up again, and sank back into his chair with a feeble shake of his head.
"Trigger," Bogo warned, "your file doesn't mince any words, and to call it damning is an understatement. With what's on it especially, I would love to pretend that it was all made up and forget about it. But I can't, especially not after it was conformed to be personally to be true. And I mean what I said to Count about these officers caring about you two. If you have any decency about giving a damn about them back, then the least you can do is break the news yourself. And be honest about it. Understood?" There was no mistaking the raw fear in Trigger's eyes as he managed to get himself to at least look up at Chief Bogo and even give a slight nod. But when he still failed to say anything, the large buffalo grew impatient again. "...Well?"
"I…" He clenched his eyes closed, head bowing down back towards the ground.
"Just spit it out, Trigger, get it over with." Count urged. "It's not that hard." He ignored the angry snort from Bogo for speaking up.
"Damn it, Count, it's not!" Trigger hissed back. His claws were pressed hard into the armrests of his chair, giving away just under how much stress the pilot was under as he prepared himself for the ordeal. The little outburst, however, gave him the energy to look back up and at all the anxious set of eyes all fixed on him. Finally, his gaze settled on Judy's. If it were even possible, seeing just how afraid he was only made her feel even worse. And not just afraid. Ashamed.
"I… I was…" Despite trying and failing several times to speak up, no one made a sound as he fumbled over his words. Finally, he was able to muster up the courage to weakly reveal what was hidden for so long on his file. Unlike with Count, it only took a few words. "...I was found guilty of… assassinating President Hareling."
What?
Unable to bare the feeling of everyone watching him, Trigger hung his head low again, shutting his eyes.
"...But…" Unable to comprehend what she had just heard, Judy struggled to process exactly what she was trying to say. "But he was killed by Urusian drones!" she argued. "I just read about it today! I- I showed you the very magazine it was in! It said-"
"It never said about who fired the killing missile, Hopps," Count butted in. "The best explanation you can find anywhere is that he was killed in a failed attempt to rescue him. Now you know how."
"But why would you even do that?" Judy asked quickly, addressing Trigger directly and completely ignoring the second pilot.
"Because it wasn't me!" Trigger's plea came out fast and desperate. "I didn't do it! It wasn't me!"
Chief Bogo let out a loud groan, rubbing his head again. "Trigger, you are surrounded by five police officers, and two analysts in the ZIA. Do you really think we've never heard that argument before?"
At this time, Judy was watching the pilot nervously. She had heard him say these exact words before, in almost the exact same tone. Mere moments before a shock collar dropped him to the ground. So that's what was going on in his head then.
"But it really wasn't me!" Trigger pleaded again, now eyes wide in desperation, starting to hyperventilate from the stress. "I was trying to save him, not kill him!"
"Trigger…" Jack's tired voice grabbed the room's attention. "We saw the HUD tapes. Chief Bogo and Winters and I all saw the HUD tapes. From your plane. The Ocelotians showed them to us."
Trigger's ears rose in hopeful excitement as he also turned towards the hare. "Then you must have seen the drone! There was a drone right behind Hareling's plane! It was getting on his six to shoot him down! I was going after it! That's what I was- was…" his voice faltered and failed completely as Jack stared at the pilot in confusion.
"There was no drone, Trigger," Jack said simply, shaking his head as he did so. "You just… targeted the president's plane, and shot it down with a single missile. Made the correct radio calls and everything. You knew exactly what you were doing."
"It's not true!" Trigger whimpered. "I mean… What would I have even gained from killing him, how about that?"
"I don't know, Trigger, you can tell us," Bogo shot back.
"-Nothing!"
Judy jumped in her own seat at the suddenly angry shout. Whatever grief the pilot was just showing was completely hidden under a seething rage.
But Trigger wasn't done. "And you know what else? Even if I did want him dead, which I didn't, do you know what I would have needed to do in order to actually kill him myself?" His closed fist pounded the armrest. "Nothing! Not a single damned thing!" The room was only filled with the sound of his heavy breathing as everyone else waited for him to explain himself.
"That mission had two parts to it. The first? Send in a single fighter, low but fast, through the Urusian radar defense grid. Didn't matter that the weather was garbage! Didn't matter that there was a very high chance of smashing into a skyscraper! Go in, make sure to stay out of the radar coverage zones, and take out the Urusian anti-air defenses guarding that space elevator. And guess who they sent in to fly that part? If I really wanted Hareling dead, all I needed to do was to accidentally fly into radar contact, which believe me, would have been very easy to pull off in such a way as that it would have looked like an accident. Alert the Urusians and they would have immediately sent in their Arsenal Bird. But no, instead I did my job and threaded the needles because no one else in several squadrons were trusted well enough to be able to pull it off. Not good enough for you? How about a second chance to kill him by doing nothing? Arsenal Bird was sent in as soon as the shooting started, as expected. But as planned, drones only arrived after Hareling's plane was already in the air and on its way out of the AO. Not that drones would care about that. Two squads against some thirty combat drones? We were scattered all over the place! A drone went in and shot a missile at the plane we were supposed to escort out. Took out the entire nose section, killed the pilot."
Trigger was growling under his breath by this point as he recalled the events. "Hareling should have died right there and then! He was the only living person left alive in that aircraft, and I didn't know that he knew how to fly, but someone on board took over the controls and turned it around." He grunted in anger, breathing heavily. "Might have survived if he had kept going, those drones don't have a lot of range. But damn it, he headed straight back to that space elevator, and I have no idea why! Reentered the furball and got a drone right up his ass for his trouble. And where was everyone else? Busy with dealing drones of their own. I get called in to to take out that drone before it will get the chance to take out Hareling's plane for good." Trigger glared at everyone as he paused for a few seconds. "I was running out of fuel, low on munitions. No one would have blamed me if I continued to just try and stay alive. Well, not any more than everyone else who had the very same objective. But no, like a moron, I blew past several drones who were more than happy to send missiles right after my tail, and why? To target and fire at the one drone that glued itself to the objective." He let out a depressed sniff as his anger waned. "Next thing I know, Hareling's plane is shot down, exploded in the air, and half the force around me are screaming for my head for deliberately shooting down what we were supposed to defend. If it wasn't for that drone, I wouldn't even be here..." He fell silent, still breathing heavily, but slower than before.
"There was no drone, Trigger" Jack said again, Skye nodding in agreement. "We all saw it. Not read in the report. Saw it. In your own HUD tapes. Everything you just said matches what we saw, except for the very end. I don't know what you were thinking, but you targeted Hareling's plane. There was nothing else there."
"So what, you're saying I was imagining things?" Trigger snapped back. "Yeah, fuck you too!"
"Trigger, language!" Bogo scolded. "In this office, you watch your tongue." He ignored the low growling he got from the pilot in response.
"So you shot at the general direction of Hareling's plane?" Dahlia asked cautiously, still earning herself a surprised jerk of Trigger's head. "Even if there was a drone, say it wasn't caught in the recording, is it possible you simply… missed? Hit the wrong target?" She grinned at him sheepishly, hoping that she didn't look too hostile. "I know it's not my area of expertise, but my understanding is that missiles can't actually tell all that well between one target and another. And definitely not between a friendly and a hostile plane."
Trigger crossed his arms as he shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe. But damn it, I know what I was trying to do! And I definitely know what I wasn't trying to do! I… I never wanted to shoot him down! You have to-"
"-Trigger." Skye's tone stopped him cold. "I don't know what you were able to convince yourself about what happened since then, but pilots are always trained to trust their instruments, that much I do know." She eyed him carefully, even as he shrank back from her gaze. "What your own instrument recordings showed us was clear. You shot him down. You… you killed him, plain and simple. So please… stop. Just stop."
His expression was full of fear as his breathing started to quicken. "You don't believe me?"
Jack shook his head. "I, speaking for myself, don't have a good reason to. Not after seeing the evidence the Ocelotians showed me. But I won't speak for the others here."
Whatever fight was left within Trigger left him as he collapsed into his seat, completely dejected. He didn't even bother to argue back anymore as he rubbed his rapidly watering eyes.
It was Nick that provided the next question. "Count said he volunteered to the penal squad because he was offered a deal. If you insist that you're innocent, why take the plea bargain? Why didn't you fight the charges?"
"Because…"
"Go on," Bogo urged.
Trigger shrank back again, clearly afraid. "They… They threatened my family," he whimpered.
Chief Bogo and the ZIA agents exchanged looks with each other. "And why would you say that?" Bogo asked carefully.
"They threatened to go public." The way Trigger said the phrase was with a tone of finality, of having thought and rethought the decision many times. "Would have gotten my parents fired from their jobs. Make them unemployable, and at their age? It'll ruin them… I wasn't going to let that happen to them! I… Look at me, I'm a coyote!" Trigger suddenly snapped. "It doesn't matter if I would have been found innocent or not! If it had went public… If it leaks out of here…" His wide eyes, despite being covered in a layer of tears, focused on Bogo. "I… I don't care what you do to me, just don't let this get out! Th- that was why I took the deal." He sagged back into his seat, closing up his answer. "They promised to keep my name and what I did a secret. And I hoped… that by serving in that penal unit, that I… never mind."
Bogo raised an eyebrow. "Never mind what?"
"I'm not a traitor!" Trigger cried, begging. "I know what it says in that report, but I'm not!" He sank back down, closing his eyes again in order to try rubbing them dry. "You now know what I did and why I'm here. Please… No more." He continued to futilely rub at his eyes, quietly whimpering underneath his unsteady breaths.
Next to him, Count started to chuckle quietly, slowly getting louder. "Damn, Trigger, I-" he had to stop as he chuckled again. "At the very least, you really aught to control your emotions better. Think of it this way: now you no longer have to hid that part of you from them. In some ways, it makes it a lot easier, doesn't it?"
"Shut the hell up!" Trigger snarled, bloodshot eye glaring at the deer from beneath his paw.
Instead, Count only grinned back and shrugged.
Snarl turning into a full on growl, Trigger shot out of his seat, knocking Count over and sending the two of them crashing to the floor. Count's chuckles turned into full on laughter, only suddenly stopping due to a loud crunch, followed by a groan of pain.
Within a moment, the four police officers were on top of the two pilots, pulling them apart. Trigger hissed in pain as Fangmeyer locked both of his arms behind his back with one paw, using the other to lock them into a set of pawcuffs. "Way to show how innocent you are," she grumbled at him. While she did relax her grip a little, she was by no means being gentle with him. "Seriously, what's wrong with you?"
Trigger avoided her gaze, staring at the floor even as he calmed down enough to visibly show his shame at his actions.
Count, for his part, after being helped up by Wolford, was still grinning despite pressing a cloth to his bloody nose. "Always knew you had it in you to give a real punch," he mockingly praised the smaller pilot. "Finally found what it took to get it out of you!" He shrugged off prodding by James who was trying to inspect the damage. "I'm fine, leave it alone!"
Chief Bogo sat back behind his desk after confirming that the officers had the room under control. "I think we're done here for now," he announced, quickly checking with Savage and Winters to make sure that they agreed. "Officers? Take these two disgraces down to their cells… Lock them up. I don't want any sudden escape attempts. After that? Go home, take whatever time you have in your shifts off. Think over what you heard today, do whatever research you feel you need, but… No, I don't want you talking to one another." He suddenly glared at them. "And whatever you do, keep your mouths shut about this! Better or for worse, but this still needs to be kept a secret. Other than that, we'll probably have a lot of questions for you tomorrow, and I don't want you to affect each other's opinions." He let out a long sigh, shaking his head. "And officers? I'm sorry. But we felt it best that you heard this today."
Judy nodded slowly. "It's all right, sir. I- I'm glad we were allowed to find out." Turning, she followed the rest out of the office. The walk down was made in silence, Trigger's still occasional sniffing the loudest noise between the six of them.
Arriving at the holding cells, Nick and Judy stopped at the entrance, waiting for James and Dahlia to lock the pilots in their cells. As they waited, Judy glanced down at the magazine in her paws, blinking at it. While she remembered taking it up to the office, she couldn't recall bringing it back down here. She stared at the cover, feeling a pang of longing at the morning. That shift with Nick? Watching him struggle up a tree? That was fun. Helpful for Zootopia's population, but fun nevertheless. And even though it was still the same day, it was already feeling like a lifetime ago.
She felt the gentle grip on both of her shoulders, and looked up at the reassuring grin from her partner. "Thanks, Nick," she mumbled, patting his paws gratefully.
James and Dahlia came back, stopping next to the two smaller officers. "Well?" Dahlia asked wearily, "we have what to do… See you all tomorrow?"
"Yeah…" Judy nodded. "Actually, wait!" Letting Nick's paws slide off her, she hurried into the holding area, stopping by Trigger's cell.
Despite the low lighting, she was able to make out the shape of his head as he lay on his cot, staring at the opposite wall. "...Trigger?" His ear flicked in her direction, but she didn't hear him say anything. "Trigger, please! I just wanted to ask you…" She waited a little for him to react, but when he still didn't, she just went for it. "I know you wanted to tell us about this before. I now know that several times you nearly did. And we could've kept it a secret! I mean, now we know and still need to, but…. It would have been nice to find out earlier. You must've also thought so, at least several times! So… Why didn't you?" She gripped the vertical bars as she pressed herself closer.
Trigger rolled over to look at her. Finally, he spoke. Just two words that left her feeling ashamed for asking in the first place.
"Would you?"
