What is Normal?

by fwelty

Nick's first day on the force , being partnered with Judy. They both proceed to stop the street racer , where something catches Nick's attention and the consequences seem to unravel the beginning of a bigger mystery, one that Judy and Nick may not be able to solve on their own. Will they be able to solve it before it is too late?

4. Simple prep

Finnick woke up, in his van again. He is still having second thoughts. 'I can leave the city, tell her that I can't do it. Too much pressure. No, there is more at stake here, I can't just leave 'em like this. Better make myself useful now but first.' . He gotten onto the driver's seat and started driving to a cafe near him. He drove for about two minutes before reaching a no name cafe. 'Good enough.' He turned his keys back and pulled it out of the ignition. He swung the van's driver side door wide open then closed it . He locked the van up as he 'don't trust no-one' even though that statement makes no sense. The fennec hobbled over to the establishment that stood in front of him as well as his little legs let him. He pushed the door open and the heavenly scent instantly hit him. The glorious aroma to any exhausted mammal in the morning of crushed coffee beans , ground to a fine powder , mixed with cream/milk and water with sugar added to it then maybe certain extra additions to personalise it more. 'Can't start a day without one.'

He walked up to the counter and asked for a mug of the good stuff and actually ordered an Irish coffee. "Bit early in the mornin' fer that doncha think, pal?" The barista asked curious why so early.

Finnick just turned and looked the poor mammal dead in the eyes , glaring through his soul. "I can handle my cup, now be a good kit and pour a cup. It's too early for me to deal with this." He growled deeply. "I'm feeling a little extra down today so I need a stronger pick me up ."

While the now assaulted barista left to find some whiskey , a grizzly bear approached "Shorty, that you? Haven't seen you in a long time, what happened?"

"First off, DON'T CALL ME THAT! Second off, Gary , I moved on to better things. So that's what happened."

"Better things?" The grizzly asked then chuckled. "Lemme guess , your partner left you for better things. Don't worry , I don't care about him."

"Whatever it is let's talk after I have my daily pick me up." As he said that the barista returned and placed the alcoholic coffee on the counter.

"That will be 3 bucks , buddy." Finnick pulls out a five zoollar note and places it , with a heavy slam. The barista grabs the note and places it in his register then pulled out 2 zoollars and hands it back with a 'cheerful' "Thanks for coming here , we hope to see you again . Here's your change."

Finnick takes a sip and instantly feels the flavours flow through his mouth. The caffeine flowing through his veins awakening his body and senses. Between the sips , he aggressively states "I bet you do." He turns back to the ursus that stood behind him "You ordering something now or wanna go to the usual spot or somewhere else? I know you want a quick tussle , can't handle that I beat you last time , can you?"

"I'll get a quick sip then we are on ,buddy."

The barista tries to step in "Mr. Urson , I have to advise agains..." , his voice started slowing down more and more as the two stubborn ,hotheaded individuals stood on either side of him and glared daggers. At this point , the barista probably wished one of those daggers materialised and pierced his heart , would be a better alternative to staying in between these two.

"Cos I'm small yeah, well I'll show you small."

"No no, that's not what I mean, just not in my establishment please?"

The two stare at eachother and Finnick downs his drink. Gary is still standing there , waiting for his.

After a couple minutes, the bear gets his coffee and downs it in 3 gulps, clearly he was desperate at this point.

At this point ,both of them head for the door and leave this so-called 'fine' establishment , but the dirt and grime clearly stated otherwise. They both then entered Finn's van, the bear obviously in the back. When both were in they started laughing, "Did you see his face?" They laughed harder for a few more seconds then slowly calmed down bit by bit. The bear finally answers the question that was asked "Yeah, we will go to the usual spot unless you know somewhere better."

"Nah, I don't . Regular stakes?"

"Remind me what they were."

"I win , you fix and strengthen my bat, you win , you get a few bucks and a few pawpsicles next time I sell."

"Heh, I thought you said you were on to better things. I thought that included that."

"I still occasionally do , got Nick to sign over the permit might as well use it as much as I can."

"That is true, you did complain heavily when you finally got it about how much of a hassle it was. Something about a bunny cop?"

"Yeah, you wouldn't believe it."

"Think you will ever tell the story?"

Finnick laughed at that then just turned "You won't believe me if I told you."

"You know what , let's change the stakes. If you win, I'll improve your bat up to your discretion but if I win, you tell me that story and fork over a few greens. Deal?"

Finnick growled at the idea then "Fine if ya really want to know , ya have to beat me . We have a deal." He then smiles , "So any improvement?"

"That's what I said."

After 30 minutes of driving, Finnick parked in front of a barren field that has metal chaining fencing the area near the outskirts of Savannah Square ,ensuring that if the location doesn't prevent unwanted distractions, the fencing will. The bear leaves the van through the back and proceeds to the door within the chainmail fencing, pushing it open. During this time , the small desert fox exits his van through his driver side door and walked to where Gary was currently standing. Both mammals entered the field and walked to opposite corners and both had a little stretch and a prefight warmup.

"Shorty, you can still back out. You know before it's too late."

"I should say the same to you . It will go down just like last time."

"Still got that fire, huh?"

"Nah, I'm just better."

Gary chuckled after hearing that then both of then stood in a stance that shown that both were ready to fight. After 5 seconds of staring eachother down, they both dashed towards the other. Gary at first had the upper hand due to his greater strength and reach but Finnick was fast and small. This created one problem for the massive bear, he had to punch and swing downwards, unlike Finnick, who had the issue of having to get in close to hit his target.

Knowing that he won't hit, Gary swung his fist downward , blocking the path of the smaller vulpine. After that attack , he charged forward putting his left paw above his right to prevent Finnick jumping on him. Finnick rolled to the right and saw his opportunity as the bears flank was open for an attack. He charged at the towering figure in front of him who just started turning towards him. The ursus turned around but saw only a beige blur darting towards him to which he couldn't react in time. The small vulpine sprinted then turned to a slide , keeping his legs in front of him and striking the toe and shin of the bear after which, Finn went into a roll and then used that momentum to stand and run behind the bear. Although a good hit, the shear size of the bear caused the hit to simply be shrugged off and not seem to damage the behemoth at all. "Good hit, but not good enough, small stuff." In response , Finnick tried to jump onto the back of the bear, in such a position Gary would not be able to prevent whatever the next attack would be , if Finn were to play his cards right, it would be able to end the fight already. Gary turned swinging his arm. The loose arm connected with the sandy fox , who was unable to react in midair. The hit sent the small fox flying backwards , like a baseball being hit with a bat, after which he crashed into the metal grid fence, easing his impact dramatically.

Finnick fell to the floor, standing on all fours. "That your best, gotta hit harder than that." Gary smiled then ran at the fox then threw a right hook at Finnick's head. Finnick ducked and avoided that possibly fatal attack but didn't expect the second attack almost instantly after of the bear's leg sweeping around his back as he let the momentum of his swing pull him onwards. "Hu-oomph" The sweep did major non-lethal damage to the fox. Finn just laid there after taking the hit and muttered under his breath 'I lost'

After a few seconds of Finnick not getting up and laying on the dead grass that plagued the fenced off area , the ursus walked up to him and smiled "You seem to have lost, quite a quick fight but a deal is a deal." He sat down next to the fox "What's your story with the permit and your former partner?"

"A deal is a deal..." Finnick hesitated still not knowing if the bear will believe his story. "So it started on a day when we were doing our usual hustle with the pawpsicles, the one where I was a bloody elephant."

"Heh forgot you used to do that. Most be some interesting memories you have."

"They weren't pleasant, I was humiliated but the money was worth it I guess. Now , today was different because bunny cop -"

"Who? I mean who's bunny cop?"

"Ya don't know who Zootopia's first rabbit officer is?"

"She is the one you were referring to all this time, Hopps, most would be honoured to meet her but as a conmammal , I see why you weren't."

"Yeah, that and this was before the case that made her public. Anyways she followed us into an ice cream parlour as she was suspicious of us, because we were foxes."

"Damn, that ain't cool."

"Ehh, she changed and besides she was a rabbit from bunny burrow so it was basically drilled into her. Anyways, again, we were about to order and I don't know what happened but I assume it was seeing a 'kit' about to have his 'dream' crushed that changed her mind but she stood up for us then even payed for us. Even I was surprised."

"Did she find out?"

"Yeah, almost instantly, saw us melting the pop and then followed us. In the Tundra and the Savannah. After that , we sold our stock as usual, first the pops then the sticks, got my cut and drove off. Turns out , she was hiding behind my van and scolded the poor bastard."

The two chuckled at that "Anyways , didn't see Nick until a couple days after said somethin' about calming down so he went to his usual spot. I'm pretty sure he hit the town a few times but only because I'm pretty sure I saw him a few times . Nothin' certain though. After a few months and the riots , bunny cop returned but she weren't a cop no more at this point. Asked about Nick. Then they uncovered the conspiracy with 'Mayor' Bellwether. Me ,still in my van just resting. Well after a few days the fox says that he is going to the academy to be a cop, should've seen the shock on my face when he said that. I would've continued with the hustle but remembered that the permit was in HIS name but he was trying to turn ova a new leaf and said he promised to not use it. Had to beg him for 2 weeks straight , and buy him coffee every other morning. Safe to say , he still knew how to hustle someone. After the two weeks he finally relented and signed it over but on the condition that I try find a proper job. Still haven't."'I am not going into detail with those two weeks , I still respect myself.' What he failed to mention was the number of public actions he performed such as dancing in the park with his elephant costume on.

"So you want a job?" The bear looks at the foxes van "You know how to work on that." Gary says pointing at the van.

"'Course, it's my van"

"I think I could offer you one, if you are willing to accept."

"I'll think about it but, you know what ,I could go for round 2 , double or nothin'?"

"You already told your story, what would I gain?"

"More money and maybe a few more secrets but this is the only time I will offer them."

The bear smiled "Then we goin' again."

The two now somewhat rested mammals went back to their respective sides and prepared for combat. However, this time Finn had a plan, one that if successful could end the fight in seconds.

The fight started with the same action from the bear but this time the fox sprinted fast enough to be able to slide under it. At this point , the fennec had an open shot as the grizzly didn't know how to react as he was in shock. Using this opening, Finnick jumped upwards and punched the bottom of the bears jaw with his right and grabbed the top of the bears snout with his left. He used the grip on the bear to swing and launch himself at the bear's chest to knock him down. Gary wasn't happy, he sent both his arms to try and grab him but he was too slow. He hit the decaying grassy terrain with his back then head. Finnick wanted to relish in this victory, he thought he won but the bear used his monolithic arms to push the fox off of him. "I'll give you that, that surprised me." The fox still smiled with a sense of accomplishment even though he just taken a hit. While the bear was on his back and had to turn around, Finnick was on his stomach and used his arms and legs to push himself towards his opponent like a sprint race start. He charged towards the colossus in front of him, who was trying to stand up at the moment to be able to fight back. The fox launched himself upwards and aimed his heel at the back of the bear. If the bear was any smaller, this would probably be lethal or at least permanent but the shear size difference prevented this from being the case. Finnick's heel landed in Gary's hip , forcing him to the ground. Gary threw his arm behind him and grabbed the body of Finnick. He pulls the body before hime and is about to punch his body.

'Uh oh, what do I do here?' Then an idea entered the small fox's mind. He grinned then opened his jaw about to snap at the hand of the larger opponent. Gary notices and instinctually let go but proceeded with the punch. The bear's fist grazes the tip of the vulpine's head , causing very little damage. He landed on the floor and rolled backwards to build some distance between the two. "That was a close one but you didn't hit me, hehe." . The bear started getting annoyed, his attacks more frantic and less calculating. He charged at the small mammal , his fists curled up and was launched rapidly at his target. Finnick struggled but avoided all the attacks, however the fox felt the attack of him being thrown and the previous fight. His chest and torso started paining , preventing more demanding motions or movements. He leaps out the range of the furious bear , then turned around to keep the threat within his sight. The bear started swinging his arms while stepping towards the smaller mammal. Eventually , Finnick was cornered and Gary was about to clap to ensure his victory. "Do you yield?"

"Nah, it ain't over yet."

"Very well." He proceeded with his next attack. Finnick panicked then as the palms were closing in , he jumped and rolled beneath the legs of the towering figure. As his roll ended, he gripped his chest and huffed in pain. He turned and sent his fist into the back of the knee, dropping the now even more enraged bear. The beige mammal jumps up and strikes at the bears head to drop him to the floor then bounces back afterwards. They both land, one on his feet the other on his stomach. "Gary, do you yield?"

Gary stands up almost instantly, adrenaline flooding his veins. "No. I refuse. I beat you once just now , I will beat you again."

"Good luck."

Gary and Finnick stared each other down and smiled at eachother. They both heaved , the damage they have taken has taken a serious toll on both of them but they could still fight. The small fox charged at the colossal grizzly . In response the grizzly quickly stomped forward , stopping the fox in his tracks. Then Gary reached out and grabbed Finnick. Finnick was now trapped in the grips of the giant bear , who was unwilling to let go. "I hate it when you do this to me. Abuse my height like this."

"Desperate times buddy, desperate times." As he said this, he wound up his left arm to punch the target in his hand. The fennec panicked and quickly thought to bite the hand of his captor. "Glad to see you agree." Gary said while letting him go. Finnick grabbed the hand and swung towards the chest of the bear. The kick that proceeded , connected and slightly hurt him but didn't stagger him, which quickly became apparent as Gary now returned a punch to Finnick. The punch hit the arm, hip and part of the chest. Gary looked at the body , rolling away down the field. The fox stood up. 'If you think that will stop me you got another thing coming.' They looked eachother in the eyes again now even more pained. The bear had slight struggles breathing.

They both said simultaneously "Time to end this fight." Gary sent a straight punch at where Finnick stood. Finnick leapt over it and landed on his fist. The fox started climbing the bears limb. The bear sent his other fist to try and stop the fox in his tracks but to no avail as the smaller vulpine jumped again and landed on the other arm and continued. Halfway up , Finnick declared "It's over." Gary swung his arm up to send the fox in the air but that fox held onto the fur and refused to let go. He used the momentum to flip himself and strike the nose of the bear. The kick from the flip connected with great power and dropped the towering ursus to the floor. "So, we done now?"

The bear laughed and responded "Yeah... it's over."

"Shorty , that was fun, it was good to see you again."

They both sat down "Yeah, it was good to see you as well, Griz."

"So what did you do during the time you were away?"

"Moved to a different location to sell more. What about you?"

"Tried expanding my business, made a second store and hired more employees, still need a few more."

"That why you offered it to me?"

"Yeah, and you a good friend."

"I'll consider it."

"Next week same cafe?"

"Sure, I'll see it through." Finnick's phone buzzes. He looks at it and sees its a message from 'Bunny Cop' "I gotta go."

"Cool, if that's the case I'll walk to town, not too far away. I know how you act under such circumstances."

"Thanks, I appreciate the help, if I can I'll pick you up on the way."

"Aight, see ya."

"Bye."

He looks back at his phone and checks the message that was sent to him from 'Bunny cop'. 'This better be good.' The message read "Hey Finn, I was told about an 11-pronged silver star. What do you know about it?" He just stared at the phone blankly , his worst fears were almost confirmed. He had to put the final nails in the coffin. This ain't good. He returned to his van and opened the door. The fox looked at his seat , hesitated then unlocked it. He swung it open then grabbed the badge and snapped a picture of it.

He responded with the image and a message accompanying it, "Bny cop, does it look like this one but with one extra point?" 'Please say no , for the love of all that is holy say no'. After sending the message, Finnick replaced his badge and locked his seat down.

The determining message finally returned "Yes, why and how do you have one?" 'Uh oh, she is suspecting me ,hopefully she want push this topic too hard.'

"It's their logo, and that's my business, where did you see it?" 'maybe it's just coincidence'

"A picture shown by the Chief. Said it was on the raccoon. What does it represent?"

"Shows rank, the more points the higher the rank."He was about to send but then was curious about the raccoon. "Was he identified because I may know who he is but it's just an idea?" ' I can't send a fake lead, would cause too much trouble'.

"No" 'It shouldn't take too long to find out if it is him. But I can't say it is him right now.'

"I'll make sure first then I'll tell you, one slip up and we are all in the pits."

"Good luck, bny cop, we will all need it."

"Thx, you too." ' This doesn't bode well for most.'

Finnick changes his contact and sends a message to Mr. Big "It's them, call over all the others to discuss possibilities, the sooner the better. I will be there for meeting."

"Very well, I believe you know what you are doing so I will have faith in your actions, my child."

Finnick entered his van and started driving back to town. All the way back, Finnick checked to see if his sparring partner was still walking and he was about halfway through.

"Hey you wanna get in?"

"Hell yeah. You know you are dangerous." Gary walks to the back of the van and opens the door. He enters and sits down with a sense of satisfaction. "Hey can you drive to the hospital? Think you did a serious number on me."

"Sure, we'll drive there." He was tempted to tease the bear but would have outed himself as a hypocrite if he did so he just held his tongue. The grizzly going to the hospital made Finnick wonder if he needed to 'nah that would not be necessary'.He drove to the driveway of 'Savannah Hospital' and there stated "We made it here." and then turned around to see a bear struggling to leave.

"I guess the damage was more serious then I expected."

"What do we say?"

"I had to defend my shop. Oh yeah, can you go to my shop tomorrow and deal with some 'security detail'."

"I'll try but no promises."

"Thanks mate."

Finnick walked into the hospital and tried to get a nurse to help the bear in his van but most ignored him most likely because they didn't trust him. He would help himself but he is a twelfth of the size. He continued trying to no avail until a tiger walked past and heard the fennec. The tiger asked about the location then ran towards it while hearing the receptionist scoff. The two returned to see a grizzly bear struggle to walk and the tiger instantly ran to support the downed ursus. "How did this happen? These may be extreme damages."

"Said it was some protection guys wanting to collect money and he sent them back."

"Well, it's a good thing you brought him here. These injuries if I am right could've made fuzzy wuzzy not so fuzzy." The two brought the bear back and the tiger asked for a stretcher. The receptionist had shock on her face seeing an actual patient ,needing emergency care. Finnick stood there not knowing what to do. "Don't worry I will deal with him." He then spoke in a quieter tone " I mean you can trust me, I already deal with your 'dad' and his partner. I'm surprised no-one pointed out you are a different species but I'll let you in on a little secret , Nick is now special. What he will do with that I don't know but he could do a lot. Wanna visit them?"

"You sure I can?"

"Of course, what's the worst that could happen? Don't tell me you are a hitmammal sent by a powerful crime family to end what could be the only two able of cracking down on them." the tiger doctor says in a playful tone.

"When you say it like that."

"Come on, also you will be listed as an acceptable visitor for the bear if you want, you did bring him in."

"I'd like that." Both watch the bear being wheeled away on a stretcher , heading to the x-ray room.

They both walk down the corridor and the tiger stopped Finnick "Sorry buddy medical personnel only, your other friends are over there." He says while pointing down the corridor. "I'd give you 5-10 minutes before you should come back okay?"

"Better than nothing."

"That's the spirit, don't worry he will be okay and free to continue working at his shop soon enough." Finnick nodded in response and walked down to the police duo.

"Don't worry , I've been found out." Even though he wasn't seen yet he knew the massive ears that the rabbit possessed would be more than capable of catching his voice.

"Finn, you're back?"

"Yeah, something happened so I brought a friend here."

"Care to enlighten us?"

"Us?"

"Found it easier to sit around here if I treat him like he still is conscious." Judy looked down onto the ground.

"Hey, look at me, Nick is strong, he will make it. Especially if he is with you."

"Thanks for the words of encouragement. Listen, I miss Nick."

"Already? Damn."

"His smug face might not be something that I might miss but all the comments and everything builds up"

"I know what you mean."

"You do?"

"I had to go solo since Nick went to the academy about a year ago. He was quite the 'businessmammal'"

"Heh, I guess you are right."

"How's Nick?"

"He is surprisingly calm but I feel he could strike at anyone at any time and I can't stand over him 24/7. It could be the calm before the storm. Oh and he had his tissues sampled."

"What were the results?"

"We don't know yet."

"Fair enough, I should tell his mother about this."

"Yeah, I would but I don't have her number or actually any form of contact with his mother."

"Sounds like Nick." He looks at his phone and noticed the time. "Gotta go, bye bunny cop."

"I have a name ,you know?"

"I know carrots. Thats what he calls you right." Judy was now crossed which made Finnick smile "Next time don't complain." Finnick walked off now back to where Gary was wheeled into. The tiger just walked out "So, we are quite synced huh?"

"Just a coincidence."

"Yeah, I'm aware. By the way, the images show slight fractures and a couple dislocations."

"Woah, how long will it take for him to recover?"

"A few weeks , maybe a month. It's nothing serious. But he needs to rest."

"I understand and I'll try to support him." Finnick said unsure if he was serious himself.

"I should probably introduce myself, Dr. Growly but you can call me James."

"Finnick"

"Wow,I thought you didn't trust anyone."

"How did you know?"

"Intuition."Finnick rolled his eyes after hearing that. "Oh and here is a note to be able to visit these three at any moment during visiting hours." James hands a laminated slip over to the fennec fox. "It won't be taken back until I think they are ready to leave."

"Thanks."

"Most would say what I am doing is unorthodox but hey what do I do that is orthodox. I'll assume that you want to leave now so I won't hold you back. See ya man."

"Bye." James turns around and enters the medical room in which Gary was placed to be treated. Finnick turns around and walks to the elevator. He goes down to the ground floor and proceeds to leave the hospital.

When leaving the hospital and entering his van, he noticed a parked car with two suited mammals: a possum and a mongoose. They were extremely suspicious but weren't truly doing anything serious.

He pulled out his phone .

"Big , two favours :one a suit for me with no symbols on it and two keep watch of this car, currently in front of Savannah hospital ."

"I will send a few people to watch them and intervene if it is necessary."

"Good. Thanks."

"Also everyone is willing to come for today's meeting you called on. Is it assured?"

"Yes." Finnick sighed and put his phone down. 'Not everyone will be happy to see me.'

He looked at the time "11:50" '10 hours to kill , could investigate and find my way back in.'

Finnick leans back on his seat with a scowl on his face. He then stands up and opens up his seat. There they were, relics of his past he wished to bury forever. The necessary evil to save this city. He stared at them for a few seconds and felt like he held his breath for hours. He released his drawn breath and sighed. A sense of disappointment washed over the small fox as he remembered his 'youthful' actions , which created a pit of regret within his soul. He picked up the badge and wavered when reaching for his gun. "I won't need it. I WON'T need it." 'But what if I do. The badge isn't a sudden safety card.' He looked at the macowrov that laid there and finally picked it up.

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A/N: So yes I wrote Finnick to be more capable than what he was shown to be in the movie and this was just to show that he isn't all bark and no bite, he will gnaw at you if he must.

Also This chapter was meant to be longer but I decided to split it into two, feels more reasonable that way. Expect more notes on the second one. It will be soon.