Judy and Nick spent the day working with Gazelle's security team. Since neither of them had ever worked at the Furdome before, most of the time was spent with familiarizing themselves with the layout of the building—especially the backstage area, where they were going to be working hard to protect Gazelle from any unpleasant surprises.
They never actually met Gazelle; she did not arrive until shortly before the concert itself started. Judy didn't mind so much. She was a Gazelle fan, of course; who in Zootopia wasn't? But she wasn't as hardcore of a fan as others she knew—certainly not as hardcore as Chief Bogo or Clawhauser. She only knew maybe one in three songs that the doe was singing tonight, and if she was honest with herself, she was happy with that.
Nick, on the other hand, was mildly disappointed that he couldn't meet Gazelle in person. Like Judy, he was not a hardcore fan, but he still wanted the chance to at least meet her and tell her his favorite song. As he had once explained to Judy, Gazelle's music brought him a sense of comfort during some of the most depressing moments of his life, and he wanted to at least thank her for that.
But alas, the two officers were instead forced to keep busy with other things that night. When Gazelle arrived, she was escorted by her security team directly to her dressing room. At that point, Judy and Nick began their work. They agreed to work in shifts: for a half hour, one of them would stroll the backstage hallways, on the lookout for anyone who wasn't supposed to be back there, while the other stood just behind the curtain on the stage itself to keep an eye on the concert. Then after the half hour was up, they would swap, and keep rotating until the night was over.
Judy began by standing behind the curtain. It was not fully drawn to a close, which allowed her to view the majority of the room with just a glance. Even before the show started, the place was packed, full of mammals of all shapes and sizes—all of them shifting in their seats in anticipation of the concert. To Judy's relief, none of them misbehaved, and the concert started just as her shift ended.
Nick relieved her right on time. He walked up to her and gave a simple wave and a smile. "All clear, Carrots," he reported. "Except some gum stuck under a doorknob in Hall C." His smile disappeared. "Why do people insist on sticking their gum on a doorknob when there's a trash can right there?" He spread his arms about a foot apart from each other. "Seriously!"
Judy shrugged, and with no comment on the matter, she gestured to the curtain. "They just turned down the house lights. Enjoy the show."
Nick saluted lazily. "Aye-aye, Officer Hopps." He walked up to the curtain, positioned himself so he had a clear view of the stage, and stood at ease. "See you in thirty minutes," he whispered.
Judy began walking methodically up and down the hallways. Like any backstage to a music hall, they were simple white hallways with doors spread out along them. Only authorized personnel were allowed backstage, but during a concert, that usually meant they were completely devoid of life.
As such, it felt lonely for Judy to walk in the hallways. It was quite different from her prior spot behind the curtain, which filled her with energy and excitement. Back here, it was quiet—so quiet, she couldn't even catch a hint of the concert. She could only hear a faint echo of her bunny feet as she walked, something that she wasn't sure she'd ever heard before.
She didn't mind, of course; the emptier it was back here, the easier it would be for her to spot anything unusual. Besides, it gave her time alone with her thoughts, and after the events of that morning, she needed all the thinking she could get.
She had given up long ago trying to identify whoever it was that had pulled a gun on her. Instead, she turned her attention to thinking of any clues they might have unintentionally left for her. It was clear that she was on the right track with her investigation, and it was also clear that someone was responsible for what was going on—someone was intentionally making predators go savage.
But that was all she knew. Every predator had been tested for night howlers when they were brought into the ZPD, and each of them tested negative. In fact, they had tested negative for any kind of drug—which made things tricky with trying to figure out what the commonality was between them. Judy still hoped that Bogo's court order might lead to something, but until that came in…
She shook her head. Focus, Hopps. Focus on this morning.
The alleyway. It was the same alleyway that Bruin had attacked her. Was that a coincidence, or was it intentional—a way for them to make it clear to her that they were serious? And if they were serious, what would they do to Nick if she did solve the case? How could she keep him safe? How could she keep any predators in Zootopia safe?
That was something she hadn't considered before, and the more she thought about it, the slower her pace became. There's no way to know how deep this goes—and if we don't catch everyone involved, Nick's life will still be in danger, she realized with horror. The thought made her heart skip a beat. What if we do solve this case, and it would have been better if we hadn't…?
The thought petrified her, and for the first time since the mystery began, she wasn't so sure she wanted to solve it anymore.
If I don't finish this, every predator in Zootopia is going to be forced to wear a shock collar—and the prejudice against them will continue to aggravate. But if I do solve the case, Nick's life might be in danger. And maybe other lives as well…
She forced herself to shake the thought from her mind. I'm a police officer. Making the world a better place is my job. And Nick… She gulped and forced the next thought into her mind. Nick's ready to accept the risks. And so am I.
It wasn't easy to accept, but she knew it was the right decision. She had to think about the greater good of Zootopia, even at the expense of her fox.
My fox…
A noise distracted her. Judy perked her ears and turned her head, trying to identify the direction the noise had come from. She quickly realized that it had been from behind one of the doors nearby—the one that led to the loading dock out back.
She cautiously approached the door and placed her ear against it. It was faint, but there were definitely footsteps out there, most likely from someone sneaking around who shouldn't be there.
She smiled softly. Showtime. She quickly drew her taser, mentally counted to three to get herself ready, and flung the door open. She raised her taser, ready for whatever might await her, but what she saw made her sigh in disgust. "Are you kidding me?" she asked.
Standing in front of her, a pile of tickets in hand, was Duke Weaselton. From the looks of it, he had just hopped the nearby fence—somehow avoiding detection from the security wolves outside—and was currently sneaking his way around to the front lawn.
Upon hearing her quip, the weasel froze in his tracks and turned to stare at Judy. He hurriedly tried to hide the tickets behind his back, though in doing so, a substantial number of them fell out of his paws and onto the ground in front of him. He pretended to ignore them and forced a smile.
"Uh…" Weaselton showed all his teeth in a vain attempt at cordiality. "Officer! What a pleasant surprise this is!"
Judy rolled her eyes as she holstered her taser. "Weaselton, how many times have I got to tell you…?"
Weaselton quickly reached to the ground, grabbed a few of the tickets that had fallen, and hid them behind his back once again. "Hey, I've paid my debt to society," he insisted. "And is it a crime to make an honest living?"
"Honest?" Judy began walking over to him. "Where exactly did you get all of these tickets?" She paused to pick up one from the ground. "These aren't exactly the nosebleeds," she observed; in fact, the seat on the ticket was assigned to a row fairly close to the stage.
Weaselton stammered, his mind racing to think of an excuse—and his paws racing to stuff the tickets he held into his back pockets. "As I said, this is all honest." Judy couldn't help but notice he was avoiding eye contact. "I know a guy who bought a whole section for him and his friends."
"A whole section?" Judy repeated, unimpressed.
"Yeah, the whole section!" Weaselton waved his arm through the air as a visual aid—though in doing so, he let several more tickets fling onto the ground. He once again ignored them as he continued, "But he had a last-minute business trip to Corn Ranch and was unable to make it. So he gave them to me to sell in his place."
Judy once again looked at the ticket and mentally noted the printed price. "And how much are you selling them for?" she asked.
"Five hu…" Weaselton caught himself and quickly started his sentence again. "A hundred dollars. I mean, come on, they're good seats."
"Yeah," Judy mumbled in agreement, once again noting the price printed on the ticket she held, "a hundred and fifty dollars good."
Weaselton gulped, knowing he was caught. Hoping he could talk his way out of it, he brought his paws back in front of him and showed the tickets to Judy. "But it wasn't very many of them! See, only about twenty tickets or so!" To his dismay, a light breeze at that moment caused more tickets to fall out of his back pocket, littering the ground with yet more paper. "Only about forty tickets or so!" he quickly corrected.
Judy glared at him, knowing that every single word he had let out of his mouth was a lie. More likely than not, Weaselton had hundreds of tickets on him, and that didn't even count the tickets he had already successfully scalped before now. If she was not on duty protecting Gazelle, she would have been happy to write him a ticket, or even make an arrest on the spot.
However, at the moment, she had more important things to worry about than a weasel scalping tickets. She once again sighed in disgust, and opened up her paw. "Hand them over, Weaselton."
Weaselton blinked, confused that Judy was not immediately arresting him like she usually did during his antics. "Come again, rabbit?" he asked.
"You heard full well what she said."
For the first time since the conversation began, Judy was surprised. She turned around to see Nick standing behind her, in the same doorway she had just walked through. He was leaning against the door frame, arms crossed, sly smile on his face.
She couldn't help but smirk at the sight. She knew that if there was one mammal on the police force that Weaselton couldn't stand, it was Nick—and she knew that the fox was once again about to prove it.
"Dukey, Dukey, Dukey." Nick trotted up to the two of them, his patented half-lidded grin on his face. "How many times are you going to let us do this to you? You know how bad you are at hustling, so why do you keep insisting on doing it—especially in full view of Officer Hopps?" He stopped mere inches from Weaselton's face, his smile broadening. "Every. Single. Time."
There were not many things Weaselton hated more than talking with Nick. While his expression had been discomfort with Judy, now it was nothing short of pure loathe toward the fox. "What can I say, Wilde," he mumbled, "I so dearly enjoy our conversations."
"Clearly." Nick grabbed the tickets from Weaselton's paws in one clean swipe of his arm, his eyes never leaving the weasel's face. "Unfortunately, however, Officer Hopps and I are on duty tonight, so our conversation will have to be cut short."
"What a shame," Weaselton grumbled.
In response, Nick reached into Weaselton's back pocket and snatched the rest of the tickets. "What a shame," he agreed, his smile never fading. "Now how about we give Officer Hopps an apology, and then go about our merry little way?"
Weaselton sucked on his teeth and crossed his arms. "And what have I got to apologize for, huh?" He glanced in Judy's direction and sneered. "She's the one who came onto me."
Even though he didn't change his expression, Judy could sense that Nick had suddenly become a lot more threatening. "I won't ask twice, Dukey," he said, and even though it was in a calm voice, Judy had a hard time remembering if she had ever seen Nick as dangerous as he was at this very moment.
Apparently, neither had Weaselton, who quickly dropped his sneer and took a step back from Nick. For a moment, it looked like he was about to turn around and run away, so scared was he of the fox. But the moment passed, and instead he quickly faced Judy and dropped to his knees and folded his paws. "I'm so sorry, rabbit!" he screamed, as if his life depending on it.
"Officer Hopps," Nick quietly corrected.
"Officer Hopps! I'll never scalp a ticket again—or park in the handicap spot out front! I promise! Just please don't kill me!"
Judy blinked, unsure of whether to take Weaselton seriously or not. In all their encounters in the past, the weasel had proven himself to be a coward and a liar, and she was sure that even now, he was already mentally planning his next con.
If she were honest with herself, she was more concerned with Nick's behavior at the moment. Even though the two of them had had many run-ins with Weaselton in the past, he had always managed to remain professional about it. This time, however, he had dropped his usual playful mannerisms and replaced them with intimidation. He wanted Weaselton to feel afraid, especially after the quip he made against her.
Almost as if Nick was protecting her…
"Please!" Weaselton screamed again. Tears were forming in his eyes, and his arms were shaking uncontrollably. Either he was genuinely afraid for his life, or he was taking his act very seriously.
Judy decided he had suffered enough. "Okay, okay." She raised her paws and made a stopping motion. "I accept your apology. Just…" She glanced at Nick again, not quite sure what to say next.
Nick had her covered. With one final grin, he pointed away from the building. "Until next time," he politely said. Without another word, Weaselton turned tail and ran away from the two officers, slinking into the nighttime darkness.
Judy found herself staring at the spot where he disappeared, lost in her thoughts. She was used to the weasel being a coward, and it wasn't uncommon for Nick to taunt him when his schemes when awry, but this was different. Nick wasn't the type of cop to use intimidation tactics to get his way; on the contrary, Nick was usually very understanding and did his best to deescalate situations as quickly as possible.
Something about Nick was different now…
"Is something wrong, Nick?"
Nick pocketed the tickets he had collected from Weaselton. "Call it stress, Carrots," he responded. It was a casual response, and any other night she might have taken it as a joke. But his smile was fake, and she could tell by the way he turned around and walked back to the building that he was uncomfortable. "Not interested in playing games with the Duke of Scalping tonight."
She followed him back into the building. By now it was time for the intermission; that was why Nick wasn't keeping an eye on Gazelle in the first place. The hallway, which was barren of life during the rest of the concert, was now populated with a few of Gazelle's crew, walking back and forth between the stage and their various dressing rooms. Mammals of all kinds were part of Gazelle's crew: elephants for hauling stage equipment, elk to handle lighting, giraffes for rigging, and of course a group of tigers that she used as backup dancers.
As they passed by one elephant—a tight squeeze in such a narrow hallway—Judy tried to get more information out of Nick. "I've seen you under stress before. Mr. Big, the hockey game, tax evasion…" Nick slowed down, ever so slightly. "What you did out there, that wasn't stress. That was…" She struggled to find the right word. "Well, it was…"
Nick slowed to a stop, and she stopped behind him. Without turning around to face her, he breathed in heavily, as if it was all he could do to give his response. "Protection?"
It was so accurate, Judy was momentarily taken aback. She stammered for a second before finally responding, "Yes, protection."
Nick turned around to look her in the eye. She could tell immediately that he was being sincere with her right now—something he normally avoided. Usually, when he talked with her, he was his joking self, only ever half-serious about things, able to take things in stride.
She had only ever seen his face like this once before: when they had first met, and were riding in a gondola, and he had told her a story from his childhood. At that moment, he had allowed himself to be vulnerable with her, and had poured his heart out to her.
That same expression was on his face now.
"Yes. I was protecting you." He glanced down the hallway, scouting in case anyone else might pass by them soon, before continuing. "I don't know if you noticed, but Duke wasn't wearing a shock collar."
Judy, in fact, had not noticed that. She had been so preoccupied with the weasel's hustle that the thought hadn't even occurred to her.
Nick continued, "He's probably the predator that requires one the most in this city. So you'll have to forgive me if, at the start of intermission, I walk down the hall, see the door wide open, and you interacting with a hostile predator who is not wearing a shock collar." His words were firm, but Judy could tell he wasn't being mean with them. On the contrary, he was trying to be as kind as possible while explaining to her what happened.
Even so, his description did seem a bit extreme to her. "Duke Weaselton isn't exactly hostile," she replied dismissively.
"Even so," Nick responded, "I wanted to get him away from you. I wanted to make sure you were okay. I…" He averted his eyes, suddenly embarrassed. He struggled to finish. "I…I wanted to make sure you would be okay."
His words caught Judy off-guard. Nick usually kept his feelings bottled up; he was good at wearing his mask—an invisible one, but one he wore often, hiding his true thoughts and feelings behind it. Often, she had to pry in order to even catch a glimpse of the real him underneath the mask.
But this time was different. Right now, he was blunt, and she wasn't sure why. Maybe it was stress from having to work at the concert. Perhaps it was anxiety from seeing her interacting with Weaselton. For all she knew, it could have been jealousy—seeing Weaselton without a shock collar while he was still forced to wear one.
She thought hard for a few moments, trying to find the right words. "Nick…" She placed her paws on his arms. "We're both going through a lot right now. In fact, you're going through more than I can ever know." She waited until he looked her in the eye again before continuing with a reassuring smile. "You don't have to worry about me. I'm pretty good at taking care of myself." Her smile transformed into a mischievous grin. "And besides, I have been a cop longer than you have."
Nick considered her words for a moment, then adopted his patented half-lidded smile once again. "I'm your partner, remember? It's my job to watch your back."
The sincerity in his expression was gone, replaced by his usual joking self. The mask was back on, just like that. Part of Judy worried that she had just said the wrong thing, but she couldn't think about that right now. The most important thing to her at the moment was focusing on the job at hand.
"There's no need to worry, Nick," she added. "If something bad was going to happen tonight, I think it would have happened by now. We've got this place covered top to bottom." She smirked. "Besides, audiences tend to thin out after intermission anyway."
"Is that so?"
Judy and Nick both turned to look down the hall, in the direction of the voice. Gazelle was making her way toward the two of them, drinking from a bottle of water.
Nick, caught by surprise, sputtered momentarily before standing straight and saluting. "Miss Gazelle!" he squealed—quite uncharacteristic for him, Judy thought. "I'm sure Officer Hopps didn't mean anything by it!"
Judy had worked with Gazelle before, so the two of them were more acquainted than the doe was with Nick. Instead of fangirling like Nick clearly was in the middle of doing, Judy instead gave a friendly smile and extended her paw. "She knows I was just teasing, Nick," she replied, still looking at Gazelle. "Right?"
Gazelle walked up to them and shook Judy's paw with her free hoof. She was wearing a bath robe—though, no doubt, her performance outfit was hidden underneath. A towel was draped over her neck, and from the looks of it she had been using it fairly recently to dry the sweat off her fur. But even with the clear signs of exhaustion, she still had a bright smile on her face, and the energy radiating from her indicated she was still more than ready to tackle the second half of the concert.
"Oh, I'm sure there's some truth to it nonetheless," she said with a wink towards Judy. She took another quick sip from her water bottle. "It's all fine with me. I'm just happy you two are here."
Nick, still saluting next to Judy, stood a little taller. "Yes ma'am. Here to protect you, just like you requested."
Judy rolled her eyes and gently pushed against Nick's arm to lower it from his head. "Nick," she groaned, "she's just Gazelle, not the president." When Nick shot her a glance, shocked that she could be so demeaning towards the doe who was standing mere feet away from them, she shrugged. "What? She'll be the first to agree with me."
Gazelle chuckled at them. "The best officers the ZPD has to offer, huh?" Before either of them could react to the lighthearted jab, she quickly added, "I'm glad I chose you two to be on my personal detail."
"All a part of the job," Judy replied simply.
Nick was not so receptive. He unconsciously scratched at his shock collar and looked at the ground. "I'm not sure how much good we're doing," he murmured. Whether he meant for the other two to hear him or not, Judy wasn't sure, but she did hear him nonetheless.
Gazelle heard him, too. Without hesitation, she knelt down to his level and met his gaze. She smiled again—the warm, welcoming smile of a friend. "You're doing great, Nick. You're showing Zootopia that it has nothing to fear from predators." She leaned her head in Judy's direction. "And that our love is stronger than our hate."
Nick looked over to Judy, and she could only guess what thoughts went through his head at that moment. She knew what she was thinking, though. Gazelle is right: We need to show Zootopia that there is more that unites us, than divides us. Our love is stronger than our hate.
Judy found herself focusing on Gazelle's words. Our love…
"Never forget, Nick," Gazelle continued. "You will always have people who accept you exactly as you are." She held a paw to her chest. "Including me." She gestured to Judy. "And including her."
Judy and Nick locked eyes. At first, Judy wanted to verbally agree with Gazelle; after all, it was true that she cared for him, and she wanted to say so out loud. But after taking a look at his face, she decided against it. Nick was deep in thought, pondering Gazelle's words—as if there was some deeper meaning to them, something that Judy did not understand.
Or perhaps something I can't understand…?
After what seemed like an eternity, Nick smiled at her. It was a genuine smile, not at all like his usual playful grins. This was a smile from the bottom of his heart: warm, radiant, and real. He held his smile for a second before turning back to Gazelle. "Thank you," he said in a quiet voice.
Gazelle patted Nick on the shoulder gently. "Never forget," she repeated. She stood back up and addressed them both. "Now, can I count on the two of you to protect me the rest of tonight?"
Nick's smile turned sly and stood straight. "I promise, Miss Gazelle, I'll protect you just like you were my own sister."
Gazelle smiled warmly in return. "Thank you, Officer Wilde." She turned back to Judy. "Officer Hopps."
Judy saluted without saying a word; she was sure the smile on her face spoke for itself.
Nick's eyes widened as he remembered something. "Oh, Miss Gazelle, I wanted to tell you something!" When she turned her attention back to him, he smiled proudly and exclaimed, "My favorite song of yours is Someday My Stag Will Come."
Gazelle raised an eyebrow in surprise. "That's not usually the one people say," she admitted.
"I know." Nick's smile didn't fade in the least. "But it's the one that helped me the most during the darkest moments of my childhood. And I just wanted to say thank you for that."
Gazelle smiled in appreciation, understanding him completely. "I'm glad to hear it. Thank you for sharing that with me, Nick." The fox nodded in response, his face beaming. She glanced at the clock on the wall. "Almost time for the second half." She turned around and started walking away, waving as she left. "Good evening, officers," she called over her shoulder.
When she was out of earshot, Judy turned to Nick with a smirk. "Do you even have a sister?" she asked, though she already knew the answer.
"Surprisingly, no," he admitted, "but I've always wanted one." He looked in the direction Gazelle had walked. "You know, I just realized something: 'Gazelle' is only her stage name. I wonder what her full name is?"
That was one piece of trivia Judy knew the answer to. "Gazelle Isabel Mebarak Ripoll," she answered, without missing a beat.
Nick blinked in surprise. He spent a moment trying to process what Judy had just said, before giving up and simply nodding instead. "Just Gazelle is fine." He turned back to Judy and clapped his paws. "Well, I guess it's time for us to get back to work."
Judy nodded. "Yes, I guess it is." She was disappointed that their conversation from earlier had gotten interrupted, but she knew they would have a chance to continue it later.
The fox seemed to think the same thing. "I'll tell you what, Carrots." He pointed at himself with his two thumbs. "I'll go back to pouring my feelings out to you later…" He swapped his thumbs for his index fingers and pointed them at the bunny. "If you tell me what was bothering you this morning. Deal?"
She had almost forgotten about that. The various distractions she had encountered this evening had reduced her confrontation in the alleyway to a distant memory.
And she resented Nick bringing it back up.
It wasn't his fault, of course. She knew he was just worried about her, and wanted to help her however he could. So she forced a small smile and replied, "It's a deal."
Satisfied, Nick turned on his heel and began walking. As it was now his turn to patrol the hallways, he waved to Judy as he left. "See you in thirty minutes, Carrots," he called.
Judy didn't bother replying. She simply walked in the other direction and made her way back to the curtain, her mind now filled with memories from that morning. She thought back to the gun pressed against the back of her head. Back to the words the culprit had said to her. Back to the threat against Nick…
But what about him?
She reached the curtain and stared blankly out over the crowd. She found it hard to think about the task at hand; her mind was flooded with questions, and she was growing tired after a long day.
But what about him…?
Judy found herself focusing on Nick. She knew there were options for him if his life really was in danger, ranging from a simple precinct transfer to witness protection. However, all of them would undoubtedly mean separating him from her, and she didn't like that idea. He was her best friend, after all, and it was clear to her that she had certain feelings for him that she had to sort through…
She yawned, struggling to focus her attention on any one thing. What are my feelings for him, anyway…? She could feel her ears droop against the back of her neck. And what are his feelings for me, I wonder?
"Coffee, officer?"
Judy's thoughts were once again interrupted, this time by an approaching tiger. It was one of Gazelle's backup dancers—Apollo, if she remembered correctly from the briefing with security earlier. He was walking up to her with a cup of coffee in one paw and a small towel flung across the other shoulder.
Judy politely raised a paw. "Thanks, but I only drink it for emergencies."
Apollo stood next to her and stretched out his paw, once again offering her the cup. "I insist, officer. It's a long night and we both need all the energy we can get."
She considered it for a second. She hardly ever drank coffee, and if she accepted, this would be the second time in two days. Considering how fast her heart rate was when she didn't drink any, she worried how so much caffeine might negatively affect her later.
However, she was beginning to feel a bit drowsy, and she needed to be as alert as possible to perform her job as best she could. Besides, she had a few cups of coffee the day before, and still slept like a rock when the night came.
Finally, after thinking about it for an embarrassingly long amount of time, she asked, "Is there cream and sugar in it?"
"Two creams," was the answer, much to Judy's delight. Apollo handed her the cup with a smile. "That's how I like it. No black for me." He winced at the thought and rubbed his tongue between his teeth.
"Well, two creams is perfect for me, too." Judy took a small sip, relishing the taste as she felt the caffeine begin to fill her veins almost immediately. She closed her eyes and smiled. "Perfect."
Apollo leaned against the wall, making the most of his break. "So, you guys have the place all secure?"
Judy took another sip, bigger this time, before responding. "Yep. Not to worry. No chance of an attack tonight—not while the ZPD is here."
"And we're all very thankful for that." Apollo took his towel and rubbed it gently against his forehead. "And I'm thankful you are getting to the bottom of the savage predators." His smile faded. "It's kind of a miracle that I don't have to wear a shock collar right now."
His words hit Judy harder than she anticipated. By this point, most predators in Zootopia were wearing shock collars—almost all of them involuntarily. She had heard many of them talk about their feelings on the matter, everyone from interviewees on television to Nick in the privacy of their police car, but she could only imagine what it must be like having to live with it first-hand.
She noticed something on Apollo's neck. She focused her attention to it, and to her dismay, she saw that the fur around his neck was pushed down slightly—a clear indication that he had been wearing a shock collar earlier that day. Undoubtedly, he had taken it off when he had arrived at the Furdome with Gazelle, but Judy knew that he was going to have to put it back on after the concert was over, and that he would have to keep it on indefinitely after that.
She took one last sip from the coffee cup and handed it back to Apollo. "Don't worry, Apollo." She placed a paw on his shoulder reassuringly. "We'll get through this." When he turned to meet her gaze, she smiled. "We'll all get through this."
Her confidence seemed to help him feel better. He smiled in silent gratitude, then in one swift motion, downed the rest of the coffee. He forced a suave smile and flung the towel back over his shoulder. "Well, intermission is almost over." He turned and walked away. "On with the show!"
"Break a leg!" Judy called after him. Then he disappeared around the corner, and she went back to looking past the curtain to the auditorium.
Less than a minute later, the house lights dimmed back down and the second half of the concert began. For a while, Judy focused her attention on the crowd, on the constant lookout for anything suspicious or out of the ordinary. The caffeine from the coffee helped her senses become more alert, and she felt like she was ready for anything.
After a few songs, however, she began to relax a bit. The concert was over halfway over, and she was sure that if anything bad was going to happen, it would have by now. Her eyes stopped darting back and forth, and her ears stopped pointing this way and that. Instead, she finally allowed herself to stand back and enjoy the show.
Gazelle was singing a relatively old song now, moving back and forth across the stage like a wave in a pool. Her voice never faltered, and her feet never tripped. Judy couldn't help but admire the doe as she performed her routine flawlessly. Everything going on with the show was flawless, and Judy couldn't help but be impressed.
She especially admired the backup dancers. Their jobs were to compliment Gazelle, not outshine her—and Judy thought they did a fantastic job. The tigers moved in rhythm with each other, grinning the whole time. Their dancing reminded Judy of when she lived on her farm and watched wheat flow in the wind; there was just something magical about it all.
I wonder how long it will be until they're forced to wear shock collars all the time, too. Just like Nick…
The music seemed to fade away as Judy found herself lost in her thoughts. She wanted to help Nick—she wanted nothing more than to take his collar off after the concert tonight. She could only imagine the joy it would bring him—joy that she would share. She wanted to spend some quality time with him, just the two of them, free of their burdens and fears, and able to truly be themselves—even if just for a few minutes.
But someone had made a threat against his life. And she had no idea of who that someone was. For all she knew, it was someone who knew Nick personally. It could have been someone close to him, someone who would have easy access to his apartment. If they saw him without his shock collar, they might take that as a sign of defiance on her part and…
She unconsciously tapped her foot nervously. I can't. I just can't. It's too risky. As much as I want to give him a few hours of freedom, I value his life more.
It was a decision that she didn't like, especially since the thought of taking his collar off had made her so joyful earlier. But she couldn't risk his life. And if things went well, it wouldn't be long before she solved the case and was able to free her fox anyway.
My fox…
All of a sudden, Gazelle's singing came to a stop. The background music came to an immediate halt. The crowd erupted in a panicked collective scream.
Judy shook her head, forcing her thoughts away. She poked her head past the curtain and witnessed the situation unfold.
Gazelle was being pushed away by one of her backup dancers, toward the side exit. Gazelle's security was there, already running through the door, and within a few seconds, they ran up on stage, grabbed her, and quickly escorted her away. Judy could see her try to say something into her microphone, but the audio cut off, and moments later, she was gone.
Judy scanned the auditorium as fast as she could, trying to find the source of the commotion, but all she saw were the attendees scrambling for the exits. She turned her attention to the stage instead—and her heart sank when her eyes fell on the one responsible.
It was Apollo. The tiger was on all fours, roaring and thrashing at the other backup dancers. They, in turn, were trying their hardest to run away from him, but in their panic they were quickly backed into a corner of the stage, trapped and defenseless. Even as she watched, those who remained of Gazelle's security and another dozen ZPD officers ran to the stage. Some had their tasers drawn, but Apollo didn't seem to notice. Even in the face of certain harm, he crept up to the other tigers, ready to strike out at them with primal fury.
Before she knew what was happening, she was running to Apollo, yelling at him to stop. The tiger didn't listen to her; he just kept creeping toward the dancers, mouth open and drooling, ready to take a bite out of all of them. She drew her taser and kept running, quickly closing the gap between them.
She yelled his name again, and this time, he heard her. He turned to look at her, and to what should have been her relief, he instantly recognized her and started to calm down. "Officer Hopps, I—"
Judy refused to let him finish. Instead, she ran right up to him, dug her taser point-blank into his shin, and pulled the trigger. He instantly fell to the ground and rolled onto his back, yelling in pain. She knew he would be unable to move for the next few minutes; her taser was powerful enough to take down an elephant.
Still, she felt that her job was not quite over. She left the taser where it was—dug into his leg—and jumped onto his chest.
She felt anger boil inside of her. Anger at this tiger for ruining the night. Anger at Gazelle for forcing her to work security instead of finishing up the savage predator case. Anger at whoever was behind those savage predators. Anger at Assistant Mayor Rolfe for forcing Nick to wear a shock collar. Anger at herself for not being good enough to stop any of it…
She felt something in her. It was something she had never felt before. She should have ignored it—she should have run away from it. But she didn't. Instead, she embraced it. She embraced the anger, the rage that fueled her thoughts and her feelings. She was no longer in control, and she didn't want to be either. She just wanted to let loose.
She curled her paw into a fist and punched Apollo's face, as hard as she could.
The more the seconds passed, the more she didn't care what she was angry about. She just knew she was furious—more furious than she had ever been before in her life.
Another punch landed, then another, and another. Apollo was still conscious, able to see and feel everything she was doing, but unable to control his muscles enough to move his arms to stop her. She could see the terror in his eyes, as he realized that she had no intention of letting up on her attacks.
She could feel the eyes of all her fellow police officers around her. Fangmeyer, Wolfard, Pennington, Chief Bogo… all of them and more were staring at her in disbelief. The backup dancers were staring at her, too. The few audience members left in the seats were staring at her as well. She didn't care. The whole world could be watching her right now and it wouldn't make her stop.
"Carrots!"
She ignored Nick's voice behind her as she continued her attack. Fist after fist connected with Apollo's face. More and more blood formed as the cuts and bruises multiplied.
The rage, the anger, the fury—it kept growing in Judy's heart. Anger at her parents for not believing in her dreams. Anger at Chief Bogo for not getting that court order fast enough. Anger at anyone who had ever shown her prejudice just because she was a bunny…
"Carrots, stop!"
Two arms grabbed Judy from the side and tore her away from Apollo. She yelled in desperation and pounded on the arms. "Let go of me!" she screamed. "I'm not done yet!"
"Judy," a voice whispered in her ear.
Nick's voice…
No!
She wouldn't stand for that. She wouldn't allow Nick to calm her down. She refused.
With a sharp turn of her body, Judy wriggled free from the fox's grasp and, in one single motion, lashed out with her claws.
She felt contact. Nick fell hard to the ground. A yelp of pain filled the air.
And then all was silent. All the security and cops around them were eerily quiet. Apollo, lying on the ground next to them, started to breathe a bit more normally again. And Nick was so silent and still that, for a moment, Judy wondered if she had knocked him out.
The severity of what she had just done finally hit her. In an instant, she felt her anger disappear—replaced instead by horror, at herself, for her actions. She felt her feet move slowly in the fox's direction. "Nick?" she quietly called.
The fox jerked his head up and looked in her direction. His eyes were wide, his breathing shallow, and a paw covered up the left side of his face where Judy had scratched him so violently. She gasped in dread upon seeing him like this—knowing that it was her fault.
"Nick…" She couldn't find any more words to say beyond that.
Nick's paw slipped off his cheek. Judy felt her breath catch in her throat when she saw what it had been covering. Thanks to her, and her outburst, Nick now had a series of claw marks on his face—in exactly the same spot as she had received from Gideon Grey sixteen years prior.
The two of them stared at each other for a long time, neither knowing what to say to the other. The deafening silence was only broken when a single beep filled the air.
It was Nick's shock collar. And it had just turned yellow.