Chapter 20: Second Chances
Judy drifted through an ocean of endless white. Her exhaustion was seemingly replaced by a deep sense of peace. She had to remind herself of what happened before; the previous existence of her life was drifting away like a half-forgotten dream.
She paced a few steps in the void, looking around, at first it seemed calm and serene, but the loneliness started to take its toll, she wondered why she was alone, where was everyone else, where was that vision of heaven she had been taught since she was a small bunny, "It wasn't here, in fact, where was here?" she thought.
"Where was Nick? "She asked herself
"Surely he is here, somewhere." She concluded.
"Nick!" she called out into the void.
"Nick!" she called out even louder.
She stopped to listen for any kind of response, but it was endless silence, almost deafening silence. She clutched her head and dropped to her knees.
"No! I am not spending eternity alone." She said almost as if needing to convince herself.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a microwave beep, she opened her eyes to find she was in her apartment, she turned and in shock saw a vision of herself, back when she was a meter maid staring into that disgusting box of 'Carrots for One', which she promptly dropped in the trash. It was a memory, her life experience. She watched the memory play out before her just like it did the first time, she watched herself crying into her pillow, crying the words "I am a real cop" over and over. She wanted to comfort herself, tell her that things worked out, but it was a memory, a moment frozen in time that couldn't be changed.
"Why am I being shown this?" Judy wondered.
She opened the door to escape only to find herself back in the void of endless white. She had stepped out of her own memory like it was a room, all of this was confusing.
"Nick…..he's in my memory, maybe he somewhere in my memories."
She stopped for a moment and focused on Nick, her feelings, her memories of him, trying to conjure up something.
"You're gonna want to refrain from calling me Carrots." Memory Judy scolded.
"My bad, I just naturally assumed you came from some little carrot-choked Podunk, no?" Memory Nick started.
"Ah no, Podunk is in Deerbrooke County. I grew up in Bunnyburrow." She scoffed.
"Okay. Tell me if this story sounds familiar. Naïve little hick with good grades and big ideas decides, 'Hey look at me, I'm gonna move to Zootopia, where predators and prey live in harmony and sing "Kumbaya"!'"
"Only to find – whoopsie, we don't all get along. And that dream of being a big city cop? Double Whoopsie! She's a meter maid, and whoopsie number threesie, no one cares about her or her dreams."
"Soon enough those dreams die and our bunny sinks into emotional and literal squalor, living under a bridge. Until, finally she has no choice but to go back home with that cute fuzzy wuzzy tail between her legs to become – You're from Bunnyburrow? So let's say a carrot farmer? Sound about right?"
Judy followed her memory around the corner, narrowly missing the rhino for a second time.
"All right, look, everyone comes to Zootopia thinking they can be anything they want. Well, you can't. You can only be what you are."
"Sly fox." He pointed to himself, then to her "Dumb bunny."
"I am not a dumb bunny."
"Right. And that's not wet cement."
Nick paced around her and walked away.
"You'll never be a real cop."
"You're a cute meter maid, though. Maybe a supervisor one day, Hang in there."
Judy tried to catch up to Nick but no avail, the memory faded into nothing and she was back in the endless white.
"That's not Nick, not anymore, I have to find something more recent," Judy muttered to herself
She walked into the white, trying to find Nick, revisiting memory after memory, their first case, the moment in the gondola, the press conference, back home on the farm, their tender moment under the bridge. Judy admitted to herself, that she liked this memory; Nick could really be a kind-hearted fox when he wants to be.
She visited the memory of Nick going through the academy, she remembers him having trouble with his run times on the track, foxes can sprint but are not long-distance runners and tire quickly, Judy had worked with him to build up his endurance to pass the test.
"Come on, Nick you can do it" her memory encouraged running alongside him.
"I….don't….know…..Carrots….." Memory Nick said, tiring out.
"Keep pushing, I know you can."
"Don't you want to be my partner? I really want you to be my partner" she played.
Nick gritted his teeth and bore through it, trying to keep up with her; he was determined to make the grade.
Judy studied Nick's expression as the memory froze. She noticed he would always look at her, and bring a smile to his lips. Judy knowing now, concluded that on some level, Nick always loved her. She tried to touch the memory of Nick on the face but her paw simply passed through it like fog, he wasn't real.
"Oh Nick, where are you?" she said sadly.
She heard an almost distant whisper in the air "Carrots."
She turned her head in the direction of the voice.
"Nick!" she called out.
Judy ran towards the sound, calling out his name, she ran into another memory. They were in Nick's apartment, new at the time, he hadn't even finished unpacking, and it was right after he was fired from the police force.
"What I can't figure out is why they made it a big deal out of it now?" asked Nick.
"It will be ok, Nick, we can work something out," said Judy.
"I can't believe this I finally turn my life around, and this…." He said.
"Nick, it will be fine" she tried to console him.
"I'm sorry I let you down. I'm sorry this didn't work out."
"Nick." She called, getting his attention as she squeezed him and looked up at him.
"Nick, I didn't become your friend just to turn you into a cop, I became your friend because I like you."
"It doesn't matter what you are, as long as you keep trying, I'll be proud of you no matter what."
Nick smiled down at the rabbit in his arms.
"Besides you can't get rid of me that easily, I'll always be here for you." She said with a smile.
Nick leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, Judy's her cheeks blushed.
"Thanks, Fluff. I'm glad to know you always got my back." Nick smiled
"Of course, sly fox. you won't get rid of me that easily," she smiled back.
The memory faded, and Judy continued to walk through the expanse.
"Nick! NICK!" she called out into the endless white.
Judy wasn't sure how far she walked; she stopped and looked around, nothing, just an endless white void. She cradled her muzzle into her paws, she didn't know where she was or even if this place was a place in the strictest sense.
She leaned her head back and let out a deep sigh. She suddenly smelled a fragrant aroma in the air, it smelled of flowers, she turned her head and her nose twitched finding the direction. The fragrance seemed to be calling her. She followed it, and soon she saw a figure in the distance, and she ran towards it, calling to it.
"Nick!" she shouted.
She ran closer, it was Nick, but he was staring at something, he seemed to be crying. Judy ran even faster towards him.
She ran up to him and slowed down, pacing up next to him.
"Nick what's wrong?" she asked
Nick seemed fixated on something, something that was troubling him.
"Carrots, this place, it makes you see things." He replied still focusing on something in the distance.
"I know." She replied
"But it keeps showing me this."
Judy turned to see what he was looking at, and at first, he seemed to be staring into the endless white, but soon the image and place of his memory faded into her perception. It was inside the scout lodge, she recognized it from Nick's descriptions, she watched as she saw the memory play out exactly as Nick had described it, after they turned off the lights, and young Nick gave the oath, they pushed him down, pinning him and strapped the muzzle on him.
"If you thought we'd ever trust a fox without a muzzle, you're even dumber than you look." One of the scouts taunted.
Young Nick ran out of the lodge and sat next to the wall of the stairs, prying the muzzle off, throwing it away, and crying.
Judy held Nick's paw.
"Nick, it's alright, I'm here. I am always here." She told him
Nick was still fixated on the memory, haunted by it, something in him kept bringing him back here. He cradled his face in his paw, and Judy hugged him.
"I'm sorry, I wish I was there." She whispered.
Young Nick cried into his paws.
"Hey there? Are you ok Mr. Fox?" asked a young voice.
"Go away!" said young Nick
"If you tell me what's wrong, maybe I can help." Said the young voice.
Young Nick turned his head up to see a young rabbit girl, wearing a police costume, her larger front tooth sticking out of her mouth. She smiled at him.
Judy and Nick watched the scene completely in shock, how could this be happening? "It's impossible" they thought.
"My name is Judy, Judy Hopps, and yours?" the young rabbit introduced herself.
"Nicholas…..Wilde," he replied
"Well, Nicholas, why are you crying?"
Young Nick cleared his throat "The scouts, they were…mean to me because I'm a fox."
"I know what you mean…..I get picked on cuz I'm a rabbit."
"But it doesn't matter, as long as I keep trying I will show them." She said confidently
"That sounds, really great." He said hopelessly.
"Why don't you come with me?" she gestured with her paws.
"Aren't you worried? Cuz I'm a…..fox?" he asked.
"No. Do you care that I'm a rabbit?"
"No."
"Then what are we worried about?"
"Nothing I guess"
Young Judy offered her small paw towards young Nicholas.
"We could make a great team." She said with an encouraging smile.
Young Nick took the small rabbit's paw and she pulled him up to his feet.
"You think so?" he asked
"As long as we never quit, I think we can do anything."
"Go team Hopps?" he suggested
Young Judy thought for a moment.
"How about, 'Go Team Wilde Hopps'?" she asked.
"I like it." He replied
Young Nick and Judy held paws and scampered off into the endless white and out of the memory.
Nick and Judy, watched as the memory faded, they turned to each other, tears running down from each of their eyes.
"What was that?" asked Nick completely torn up.
"What should have happened. What I wish could have happened." Judy answered.
Judy held Nick close and caressed his cheek, drying the tears from his eyes.
"If I could have been there I would, you know that." She whispered
"I know Carrots, I know." He rested his paw on hers.
Judy smelled the flower fragrance again, and Nick took a sniff and smelled it too.
"Do you smell it too?" she asked
"Yeah, I do, I know that smell. Its Lily blossoms." Replied Nick.
Judy and Nick turned to follow the scent when they heard a voice, distant, a whisper.
"It's time to go home." Said the voice.
"What?" they asked the voice
"It's time to go home." the voice said again.
Judy and Nick looked at each other strangely, and there was a strange rumble, a beat. Nick grabbed his chest in pain.
"Ah" he yelped.
"Nick, are you ok."
"Yeah, it was strange it felt like a…" Nick interrupted.
Nick and Judy reacted together this time, clutching their chests with one paw while holding each other's paws tightly with the other. Another beat.
"It actually hurts." He commented.
Another beat, then another, and another. They close their eyes tight trying to bear through it, all the while not letting go.
"This…..connection…..Always hold on to it and each other, and never, ever let go."
"Love, is just a word. What is important is the connection the word implies…"
"No greater love hath a man than he lay down his life for his brother. Not for millions, .. not for glory, not for fame. For one person, .. in the dark .. where no one will ever know .. or see…."
"One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: That word is love."
"Ya know, lad, that love business is a powerful thing. in its way, I'd say it's the greatest force on earth."
Unknown time later, Unknown location.
Judy's body felt heavy, the sound of rushing water, an almost electrical buzzing in her ears, a metallic taste in her mouth. Intense pressure on her head and falling, a feeling of falling, the roar of the noise, like white noise, ever persistent and engulfing, seemed to surround her and then like that, she awoke.
Her vision was blurry, she could hear her heartbeat in her ears, she felt warm, seemingly immersed in liquid. It had a green hue to it. Her vision clearing, she looked around, tubes and wires attached to her, her body scantily clad; bare enough to cover her modesty. She felt something on her face, straps, a mask, she felt the texture of a tube on her tongue, and it seemed to go down her throat into her windpipe, air moving, the feeling of air being pressed into her chest. Vision clearing more, a reflection, a shine against a surface, glass, she frantically reached a paw towards it, and touched its smooth surface, it was glass, she looked and felt around, surrounded by glass, like a fish in a bowl. She looked for Nick, at first not seeing him, then to her right, another glass surface, the blurry aura of green and a blur of orange inside it, thrashing around much like she was. Further still, past the glass, a hospital or lab, she didn't recognize it. Where were they? She frantically thought. Did we do it? Did we win or lose?
She panicked, breathing quickly, eyes darting around. "Captured, experiment, it has to be." Clutching at the glass, a blurred form appeared, unrecognizable, it approached. She reeled back, the figure resolved; it was a seemingly impossible image. She heard a buzzing in her ear, static at first, some sort of comm line.
"Judy, it's all right." Said the figure.
Judy calmed at the voice. She floated closer, the figure resolved to a fox, familiar and welcome. It was Kaiden, she placed a paw against the glass. He placed his paw in kind.
"Hey." He whispered offering comfort.
Judy grunted a response.
"It's alright, you made it, and you're both alive. We all made it."
Kaiden walked between the two tanks and put his paw on the other tank, to comfort Nick. He turned to an unseen person.
"Hey doc, can we get them out, they are awake." Inquired Kaiden.
The doctor came forward and muttered something, Judy couldn't understand, but it seemed to be in the affirmative. Judy tried to grasp her mask.
"No, no, don't, it's ok, we'll handle it, just wait for a second." Reassured Kaiden.
More muttering by the doctor, but a pair of words came through in the clear as the doctor ushered the fox back "Stand back."
The doctor typed into some kind of tablet, the sound of liquid moving, Judy looked up as the top of the tank was moving up, along with her and the harness she was connected to. Her head broke the surface, and two attendants on each side of the tank, the liquid dripping off her fur, the cold air making her shiver, and the technicians unbuckled her from the harness and helped her down the stairs, they unbuckled her mask
"take a deep breath, and blow on three." They told her
"one…two…..three…." they pulled the mask off and the tube from out her mouth and throat.
Judy coughed a throaty raspy cough, she grabbed her sore throat and knelt down. The attendants toweled her off. She glanced right when she heard another throaty cough; it was Nick having his mask removed.
Nick and Judy were led to beds to be cleaned off and to recover.
Later….
The lab they were in was the cybernetics lab of Bureau 13, adjacent to the med bay, she hadn't recognized it since she and Nick never went in there, but it was a short walk. The pair were given adjoining beds and they passed out again when they got to them. They slept for another few hours when they awoke to Kaiden sitting next to their beds. Judy opened her eyes and saw the fox was watching them, almost in reverence. Kaiden at the foot of their beds.
"What happened?" asked Nick his voice sounding strained.
"I don't know, how much do you remember….." the cyberfox inquired.
"Did we stop it? Is everyone safe?" Judy asked hoarsely.
"Yeah, you did it, you saved everyone," Kaiden replied.
"Aren't we supposed to be…..dead?" asked Nick.
"Yeah….and well, you did," Kaiden answered.
"So how are we…" Judy attempted to ask not wanting to seem ungrateful.
"Well, about that, Kit didn't exactly destroy the entire lab complex, and Clawhauser, had an idea…..a completely insane but brilliant idea."
Judy and Nick looked at each other and then back at Kaiden.
"Oh god, don't tell me we're clones." said Judy shaking her head with concern.
"Oh, no. No, no no. Not clones, or anything else weird, so don't freak out." said Kaiden to comfort them.
"Clawhauser had the idea to 'borrow' some of the tanks that were in the lab complex. Remember what he said. That they could build or rebuild cells?"
Nick and Judy nodded.
"So that's what we did, we put your 'corpses' in the tanks." Kaiden said scratching his neck.
"Why do you look uncomfortable, Kaiden?" asked Judy.
"Because for a while there, we weren't sure it actually worked, we thought that maybe, all we had done was bring your bodies back to life, and that your…souls were gone. And I didn't want you to live like that."
"But it worked." Answered Nick.
"Yeah, well, we didn't know about that until a couple of hours ago. So I'm just kind of accepting the relief of it." Kaiden said letting out a sigh.
Kaiden placed a paw on each of their ankles and got choked up a little bit.
"I'm just glad it worked. You have no idea how much I feel like I failed when I saw you two in that core room."
"How long?" asked Judy.
"That you were dead or in a coma?"
"Both." She replied.
"Dead, a few hours, your bodies were intensely irradiated, it took several hours just to get you 4 floors to the lab complex and into the tanks. As far as your coma, about a month."
Judy heaved a sigh of relief; "at least it wasn't years," she thought.
"So what's happened? Outside in Zootopia?"
"Well, the lab complex had the cure to the virus, which we have been distributing, so the plague is over, the riots have ended, and things seem to be returning to normal. I mean it will take a while, and there is some stuff that has to be rebuilt, but I think all in all, Zootopia made it."
Judy smiled at the sound of that answer.
"Plus I got a surprise for you, somebody wants to say Hi."
Kaiden looked at someone just past the curtain and motioned for them to come in. Judy almost fainted when she saw the vision of a certain cheetah walking into view, except physically fit and wearing a Bureau 13 uniform. He walked up to Nick and Judy, both of whom were in shock as if they had seen a ghost.
"Hey guys." The cheetah said with a smile.
"B…Ben?" asked Nick
"H….How?" Judy asked completely in shock.
"I don't really know." Replied Ben sounding more like his normal self
"They tried to explain it to me, but I didn't really understand, somehow I used one of the tanks to clone myself, and then downloaded into it. Or something like that."
"You don't remember anything?" asked Nick.
"I remember doing things; I just don't remember understanding what I did."
"Like everything is forever on the tip of my tongue. Ya know what I mean?"
"No, I don't but to be honest, I'm just glad your back," Nick replied
"And thin too…" said Ben pointing at his abs.
"And look at this." Ben put up his arms and flexed his well-developed biceps.
"I'm rocking the gun show over here." He said with a big smile and a chuckle.
Nick and Judy laughed out loud then coughed.
"That's Ben for you." Replied Judy.
"We're going let you guys get some sleep, I'll send Kit by to say Hi if you want?" Kaiden asked.
Judy and Nick both nodded but were already drifting off to sleep again. Kaiden and Clawhauser smiled back at their friends taking solace at the fact they were safe and sound again.
Over the course of the next several days, Nick and Judy were released from the med bay and Bureau 13 and started to get their lives back together.
Bureau 13, continued to operate, working on dismantling the Council's network and its lower-level agents and assets.
Bogo had resumed his post as Chief of Police and begun working on replacing the lost officers, rebuilding Precinct 1, and memorializing their lost comrades.
Gideon Frost had quit WRC, which was under investigation on corruption charges and had accepted the job as Deputy Chief working under Chief Bogo.
Nick and Judy got their jobs back with a little assistance from Kaiden, who used his connections with Bureau 13 to officially expunge and pardon Nick's criminal record, as if it didn't exist, allowing him to not only resume his job as Judy's partner but more over to never have it used on him ever again.
Nick and Judy got a promotion to corporal and we're putting their names forward to start training to become detectives, starting as soon as they get back.
The trio worked for Bureau 13 on a contract basis but went to live back in their house in the rainforest district.
Finnick decided to turn his life around and get involved in the music business, his first album is expected to drop in a few months.
A week later…..ZPD, Front Courtyard.
Nick and Judy were in their uniforms and had just arrived to start their shift when they were greeted by Kaiden, Kit and Clawhauser.
"So you kids, really want to go back to being cops? I got two Bureau 13 badges with your name on them if you want?" Kaiden asked
"Yeah, I think we've had enough of the spy business for one lifetime." Joked Nick
Judy batted Nick playfully.
"But Kaiden, do keep in touch, you're always welcome to visit us."
"What about me?" Joked Kit.
"Of course Kit, anytime." Replied Judy with a smile.
Judy saw Clawhauser, who was standing there wearing a Bureau 13 uniform and not ZPD Blue.
"Hey Ben, what's with this?" Judy asked pointing to his uniform.
"I've uh, decided to join up." He replied.
"Really? Why?" she asked.
Clawhauser looked down a little bit melancholy.
"I uh….helped to hurt a lot of people Judy. A lot, and I got to make up for it." He replied.
"Ben you can't blame yourself." She tried to absolve.
"Yeah, I can. I remember doing what I did, and I don't think I could live with myself if I just walked away now." He answered.
"So you're just leaving?" she inquired.
"For now, like I said, I got to make up for what I've done. Then maybe someday, I will have earned the right to wear that uniform again." He replied pointing at Judy's uniform
"Ben…." She replied, both proud of him and sad at his leaving.
Judy gave Clawhauser a hug, which he returned.
"Just be safe, OK?" she asked
"I will." He reassured.
Judy turned to Kaiden and Kit
"And you two, look out for him, he's one of my best friends."
"We will" replied Kaiden.
Judy hugged Kit
"You take care of yourself." She said
"I promise, Judy." He replied.
Judy went to Kaiden and gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"I'm sorry you didn't get your happy ending." She consoled.
Kaiden simply smiled back at her.
"I did get my happy ending Judy, I'm glad to see you and Nick alive, and back where you belong. I couldn't be happier." He replied giving her a hug back.
Judy and Nick finished saying their goodbyes to Kit, Kaiden and Clawhauser.
"Gentlemen, Atten-hutt!" Kaiden orders the others to attention.
"Corporals Wilde and Hopps. It was an honor serving with you." He complimented.
The three saluted the pair, who returned their salutes.
Kaiden, Kit and Clawhauser left, going to their nearby van, and drove away, leaving Judy and Nick in the courtyard, walking up to the door of the ZPD.
"So, Carrots, looks like everything is back to normal." He suggested.
"Well not everything, we still have that task force that's going to find the families of all those Zootopians in the cryo pods. And the continuing investigation of the council's other assets."
"Oh is that all." He quipped.
"So not like it was, but the start of the next adventure." She explained.
"Well Carrots, you want to see what the next adventure holds?" asked Nick motioning a paw towards the door.
"As long as we're together, we can face anything." She confided
"Team Wilde Hopps?" He offered
"Team Wilde Hopps….forever," she said with a wink.
"I love you," he said
"I love you too." She replied
"Shall we?" Nick opens the door.
"Let's go." She replied as she stepped through the door.
The pair walked in the door, and onward to their next adventure.