Disclaimer: Zootopia and all related characters are owned by Disney. All other characters, product names, trademarks, and copyrights, belong to their respective owners.
…..
"Wow, pretty cool, huh. And you guys know that cop? I sure wouldn't want to be her after tonight."
Judy nodded but didn't say anything.
Nick stared at the TV, stunned in disbelief, not at the takedown, but…
"Yeah," coughed out Nick, "uh, Carrots patrolled with Bechtail for a shift, she was a real mons– I mean, a real memorable cop."
"Ooh, look," said Raven, having flipped to another news channel that was giving a follow-up report, "these guys are trying to interview that masked mystery mammal. I wonder if he's wearing any faux leather under all that black? I bet he rides a motorcycle. So, cool."
"Hey Carrots, how about we go outside for a few minutes."
Judy nodded again.
As soon as they were out the front door, Nick put his arm around Judy and led her around the side of the house to where the wrap-around porch was a little more private. Picking a loveseat swing that overlooked the fields, and more importantly, out of view of anyone looking through the windows, Nick pulled Judy into his lap and hugged her tight.
"He's gone, and he'll never be able to hurt you again."
Nick wrapped his tail around Judy and gently rocked her. After a few minutes, the trembling stopped, and then a bit later, Judy's breathing leveled out.
"When Bechtail described shooting the Mule, some of what he did to me came back. I remember his metal claw blades raking across my chest, I remember getting buried, and… and I remember hearing my own death scream."
Hugging Nick tighter, she buried her muzzle into his neck fur and whimpered, "I shouldn't be here. If it weren't for you, I would've been carved up into little bunny bits, and my parents would be crying over my grave right now."
Nick lifted Judy's head and, looking her in the eyes, said, "You're tougher than you think. The vest might have helped some, but surviving the Mule was all you. Mammals better armed and armored than you have taken him on, and they all failed.
"Everyone except for you."
"Bechtail survived."
Nick rolled his eyes, "I meant, without blowing up a city block of buildings," and then, putting his finger to his chin, added, "Which, now that I think about it, is usually what you do."
"Hey!" Judy huffed as she poked her fox in the chest, "I haven't blown anything up in almost four months."
Nick raised a brow.
Judy pouted, "The dumpster doesn't count. There wasn't anywhere else I could throw that pipe bomb without someone getting hurt."
"I was talking about the truck of stolen fireworks."
"That doesn't count either," Judy replied smugly, "Everyone thought it was part of the closing show. I even got a season pass they were so impressed."
Shaking his head in defeat, Nick said, "However it happened, the world is a better place now that the Mule is gone. He was pure evil. He didn't just kill his targets, he made sure to hurt everyone close to his victims too. He liked to kill, and he was unimaginably cruel while doing it."
"Like what happened to Mr. Big's Gram-mama?"
Nick looked at his bunny in surprise and then nodded, "You heard about that?"
"Yeah, Connor told me. He took a ZPA class from the ZBI profiler that was tracking the Mule."
Judy brushed her paw through Nick's head fur a few times and then tentatively asked, "Were you there? At her birthday party?"
Nick shook his head, "No, I was supposed to be, but Mr. Big–"
Judy smiled.
Nick sighed.
"I was a glorified errand boy, that's all."
Judy raised a brow.
"Alright, I was being groomed, but it never went very far. Everything I told you before I signed up for the ZPA was true, I never hurt anyone, and I wasn't involved in anything illegal."
Judy folded her arms.
"Technically," added Nick cringing at the look Judy was giving him.
Judy's eyes narrowed until she achieved full fox cringe and then, leaning forward…
…she kissed him.
"I know, Fru Fru told me."
"She did?"
"Yup," replied Judy popping the 'p'. And then giggling a bit, added, "Fru Fru might have gotten a little tipsy and let slip that you were way too sweet to ever be part of her dad's organization."
"Sweet?"
"Yeah, and Boris said they wasted a lot of good weapons training on someone too, uh, dobryy, to ever use any of it for business."
"Kind-hearted?"
"Uh-huh. So, yes, you told me the truth," and then tapping Nick on his nose with her claw, "maybe not all the truth, but enough. And the rest I heard just confirmed that I made the right decision asking you to be my partner."
Nick looked deeply into Judy's eyes, he'd always been worried that she'd find out exactly how close he'd come to losing himself in Mr. Big's organization. And then it turns out she knew all along.
"Working for Mr. Big seemed like an easy choice back then. I was still pretty young, no family left, no real job prospects, no close friends except for Finn," and then chuckling, "and you know Finn, he's–"
"Your best friend, and he cares about you," said Judy with another soft poke to Nick's chest.
"I was going to say, 'always wanting to bite my face off,' but I suppose that works too."
"Boris still likes you," said Judy.
Nick coughed, "Sure he does."
Judy shrugged, "Maybe it's in a 'you're dead to me' sort of way, but deep down, he still likes you."
"Yeah, well… regardless, I have a vicious predator reputation I need to uphold, so let's keep the whole sweet and kind-hearted stuff to ourselves. Okay?"
Judy smiled as she made a zippering motion across her lips.
Nick shook his head and then said, "So, the party. No, I wasn't there. I was supposed to be, but Mr. Big sent me out to pick up a selection of his Gram-mama's most favorite cannolis for dessert. By the time I got back to the party, it was all over."
"A cannoli run? By the way your fur stood on end when the Mule's picture came up, I thought you might have been there during the attack."
Nick chuckled, "You felt that?"
"Yeah," said Judy as she kissed him on the cheek, "You're my fox, and I know your tells. That picture hit you as hard as it hit me. So, what's up with you and the Mule?"
Judy leaned back a bit and waggled her ears.
Reaching out, Nick brushed Judy's ears down and then returned her kiss, except his kiss went to still her twitching nose.
"You can put those things away. I met him once after the party. Actually, I didn't even know he was the infamous Mule at the time."
Nodding, Judy wiggled a bit to make herself more comfortable on Nick's lap.
"Not helping Carrots."
Judy smiled and motioned for him to continue.
"He was the one that sold Finn and me the skunk butt rug."
"Oh, no," gasped Judy.
"I swear I didn't know. I was young and dumb, and no one told me that the guy who hit the party was an equid, so when I found him selling the most amazing burial rug, made of the softest imported fibers, I thought I was getting a deal and that Mr. Big would like it. And he did, until…
"I never knew how Mr. Big found out. Hell, I didn't know until Mr. Big told me a few weeks after the funeral. And then, when that picture flashed up on the screen, I knew. That psycho set me up. He used me to give the knife in Mr. Big one final twist, and if it hadn't been for Sister Mary, the Mule would have gotten a twofer with that rug."
"Sister Mary, from the orphanage?"
"Yeah, she stood up for me, got Mr. Big to let me go with just a warning never to step in his territory again."
"Wow, no wonder you were so worried when Kevin and Raymond found us in Manchas' limo."
"Yeah, like I said, the Mule is pure evil. He didn't just take out his targets. He made sure that any mammals left behind suffered too."
Nick went silent.
Judy waited for a few breaths and then put a finger on her fox's nose, "There's more that happened with the Mule that night, isn't there."
Nick nipped at Judy's finger, "Foxes don't think with their noses, Fluff."
Judy smiled and shrugged.
"Yeah, there's more that you need to know, and it has to do with Bogo."
"Don't ever tell him I told you this, but I heard he had a friend that was working undercover at the birthday party. His friend was killed when the Mule hit the party."
"How terrible. Bogo told me he and Mr. Big had a working relationship when it came to the Mule, but he never told me anything about losing a friend."
"Yeah, I overheard Koslov talking about it. I didn't get all the details, but whoever it was, was close to Bogo, and afterward, the Mule must have sent Bogo a message like he sent to Big. A trophy, something personal.
"That's the other part I heard about the Mule before almost getting iced. He wanted people to know that he was the one that made the kill, he wanted the memory of that kill burned into their brains, and he wanted to make sure everyone knew he could do it again any time he wanted."
"The Mule was a real piece of work. Kind of crazy how he died and that Bechtail took him out," and then chuckling a bit, Nick added, "Karma can be a real tomato hornworm sometimes."
"Yeah," Judy replied, "but it'd be nice to know a little more about what the Mule was doing in Mordinia and who those guys in the masks were, and why one of them kept saying all her shots went wild. I've been thinking about it and–"
Nick abruptly dumped Judy onto the loveseat next to him and then slapped an innocent smile on his muzzle just as Janae turned the corner and made her way to where Nick and Judy were straightening themselves out.
"We were just talking," Judy volunteered.
Janae rolled her eyes, "Sure, you were. Mom's still not back from talking with Dad, which means the kerfluffle is going to be looking for you two as soon as dessert's done."
Judy and Nick stared up at Janae.
Janae huffed, "Dessert is almost done. If you want some of Gideon's blueberry pie, you need to come now before the kits eat it for you."
Nick hopped up, and holding a paw out to Judy, said, "Shall we."
-/-/-
*Thud*
"Careful," said a muscular Bengal fox as he set the crate he was carrying down next to the one his friend almost dropped.
"Blow me, Flynn," replied a spotted genet brushing his paws off. "This is all your fault. I should be home playing a new game, not here unloading a delivery truck just because you crashed and burned trying to pick up a rabbit doe."
"No, asswipe, this is all your fault. I had a couple of sweet vixens in my sights, and you had to go and pick a girl who'd been marked by a fox," and then getting in his best friend's muzzle, "So, Thad, if I have to kill my Saturday night being punished, so do you."
"Shut up both of you and get back to work, that truck isn't going to unload itself," came a voice from inside a nearby office.
Both boys froze, and then Thad whispered, "What the hell, why'd they come down on you like this anyway? It was just some girl.
Flynn put his arm around his friend and guided him out the back door of the market to where the truck was parked and then replied, "I screwed up. Foxes don't poach another fox's girl, and she's some major-league fox's girl. If word got back to him about what I did, I'd be in a shit-ton of trouble."
"So, foxes have some kind of species 'Bro Code' to do with girls?"
Flynn rolled his eyes, "Don't be an idiot. It's more a Canidae thing, except the fox community takes it more seriously. A lot more seriously. I stepped over a line, and now I've got to pay the piper."
"Too bad for you, she was kind of cute. Marked or not, I would have gone for it," snickered Thad.
"Yeah right, like a girl that hot would give you the time of day."
"Oh, she's 'hot' now, huh?" mocked the genet motioning to himself, "Maybe we make another bet, and Thad here shows you how to stalk a fine piece of tail?"
"Ahem," came a female voice from the doorway. "You boys about done?"
Flynn gulped, "Uhmm, ah, yeah, sure Ruby, last couple of crates. Almost done."
"Good, because there's another truck coming in about fifteen minutes."
"What?!" yelled Thad. "No way am I unloading another truck."
In a blur of red fur, a claw was suddenly in the genet's face, followed by an angry vixen's voice.
"Do you want to know why you're here? Hmm? Why your parents turned you both over to me? Do you?"
Flynn shook his head vigorously.
Thad, on the other paw, glared at Ruby and nodded once.
"You, Thaddeus Mewler, are a sleaze." And then pointing at Flynn, "and you Eugene Silktail are a fox from a respectable family, and you should know better how to treat a girl.
"Yes, Eugene screwed up trying to make a move on another fox's girl, but both of you have been acting like jerks, and all the girls around here are tired of it. So, both of you pull your heads out of your asses and get a life because if you don't straighten up, you're never going to get a girl, let alone find a mate.
"Got it?"
Thad quickly nodded at the scary vixen, while Flynn nervously bowed and bared his neck.
"Good. Now hurry up. The next truck will be here in a few."
"Eugene?" whisper-snickered Thad after Ruby was gone.
"Shut up, it's a family name," came a reply followed by an overripe tomato to the back of the genet's head.
-/-/-
"Status."
"Yes, sir. We picked up two preds last night and turned them over to Orange. A male-female pair, young like he wanted, maybe eighteen or nineteen–"
"Maybe?"
"They were carrying fake IDs, so we're guessing a bit. The upside is that they won't be missed for a while, assuming anyone misses them at all."
Brown raised a brow.
"Their phones were shut off, they were carrying only cash, and they didn't have any real IDs on them. I don't think they wanted anyone to know what they were up to or where they were going."
"Good. And the formula?"
"Orange started the testing last night as soon as the tranqs wore off. He said he should have preliminary results for us in a few days. He still wants me to pick up another young male pred at the end of the week for a final test… and tissue samples."
"Fine, dispose of the remains in the usual place."
"Yes, sir."
"Anything else?"
"Did you see that report out of Mordinia?"
"Of course I did, and I can't believe you were nearly pissing your pants over that psycho. If a worthless pred cop can stumble in on him during a meet and take him out, I don't know what the hell your problem with him was."
"Sir, everything I said about the Mule was true, which makes me wonder about how he was taken down so easily. That picture the cop took of him made him look… I don't know, off. And why didn't he report back to you on killing Hopps before showing up in Mordinia? I've never heard of the Mule taking another contract without closing out the one he was working on first. That's just not the way he works. Thorough has always been his calling card."
"Exactly, that's why you need to grow a pair and stop worrying so much. He was contracted to kill the rabbit, and now no one's seen her in days. The Mule doesn't take a new job until the old one is done, and he died in Mordinia working a new job. The ZPD investigated the rabbit, and then they clamped down on everything to do with her."
"But, sir, what that reporter said about the picture of the Mule, and who was that mammal in black? How can we be sure about anything that's happened since the Mule went silent?"
"Because I'm sure. The Mule is dead. The traitor rabbit is dead. And any connection between us and her investigation Is. Dead.
"The only question is, when do I leak her murder to the press and force the ZPD to come forward with what's left of her body?" Stroking his long, black beard, the wildebeest ignored his stunned underling and said, "Ten days, tell Orange that's how long he has to dissect his final pred and then get ready for production. No more delays, no more screw-ups, we go in ten days."
"Yes, sir," replied White, shaking his head while making his way out of Brown's office. 'I sure hope you know what the hell you're doing because if you're wrong about what happened to the Mule… or Hopps...' White sighed, 'Ten days, maybe it's time for a little more contingency planning and a lot more muscle, just in case Brown's big reveal doesn't go the way he thinks it will.'
-/-/-
Nick couldn't sleep. Too many crazy things happened all in one day. He'd rolled out of bed certain that today was his last day in the warren, only to be held hostage by chores, video games, and a surprise tune-up. One minute, he was in heaven knowing that he and Judy were courting, the next, even happier after Stu Hopps actually asked him to stay. And then it all came crashing down as he watched the report on the Mule and felt Judy tremble in his arms as memories of that demon, and what he tried to do, came roaring back.
Judy seemed fine during their dessert, mostly. He'd regaled Judy's siblings with some of her more famous takedowns while she, in turn, walked everyone through some of the pranks he thought he'd pulled off without anyone knowing it was him.
After bright red rabbit ears were achieved, an hour-long foot massage was given in exchange for not giving away any more of his pranking secrets, and lots of pie, Nick and Judy read stories to the kits and helped them all into their beds.
Nick covered his eyes with his arm, something wasn't right with Judy. It started as excessive nose twitching during storytime, then it was the one-word answers he got when he asked if everything was okay, and finally, it was getting brushed off when he tried to steal a goodnight kiss.
Groaning, Nick glanced at the clock on his nightstand. Midnight.
'Sometimes it sucked to be nocturnal.'
The door to Nick's bedroom opened and then closed as a silhouette of a bunny doe slipped into his room.
Nick waited as he heard the faint steps of his guest as she padded over to his bed.
Judy stood motionless in the dim light thrown off by the clock on his nightstand. She had her arms tightly crossed over her chest, her shoulders scrunched, ears extra droopy, and a look of anguish on her face as if she'd failed the world or disappointed someone she looked up to.
Nick sat up, "Judy, what's wrong?"
"I remember it now, three shots, I didn't miss, that reporter said he looked like he was asleep or something. He was dead already. It was me. I killed the Mule."
Judy rushed into Nick's arms and buried her muzzle in his chest fur.
Letting her fox hold her, Judy breathed in his scent. Her heart was racing. She'd killed a mammal, taken a life. Good cops were better than that. If she'd paid more attention to her surroundings, hadn't let herself get conned into helping that mini-horse mare, a hundred other ifs, but they all boiled down to the fact that her mistakes meant a mammal was dead.
Judy's fast-beating heart, and twitching nose, slowly calmed down as she felt Nick's paw gently petting her head fur. His touch felt so much better than any sibling grooming she'd ever had. It felt so much better even than what her mated sisters had described when talking about their bucks holding them. Their mates. Her fox. How did he always know exactly what she needed? Without a word or a question, how does he always know?
"You knew, didn't you?"
Nick's paw paused its petting momentarily and then, finishing a last stroke, pulled her into a tighter hug.
"Sorry, I thought you were asleep, and I didn't want to wake you up on a hunch.
"Finn texted me after you went to bed. Someone in the community found a mule's body in an old warehouse in Happytown yesterday morning. He was sitting in an abandoned car, shot three times, and… he'd been dead for a few days."
"A few days? But… oh, no… the pasty, mangy look the reporter mentioned. That means he must have died right after we fought. But, how could he be in Zootopia yesterday morning and then in Mordinia today? And Bechtail? Holy heck, she thinks she shot the Mule.
Judy's ears shot up as she hissed, "I need to tell her. I need to tell Bogo. I need to tell–"
Nick silenced his spiraling bunny with a gentle finger to her lips.
It didn't help with the twitching nose that was in overdrive, but he got her attention.
"Bogo knows already. Finn tipped off Pawson when the body was found. He thought it was just some equid guy that had been shot in a robbery gone bad, and he wanted the scene cleaned up without any blowback on the community.
"Too many coincidences, the body had to have been the Mule's."
"So, if his body was found yesterday in Happytown and Bogo knows about it, how did the Mule end up in a shootout in Mordinia today?"
Nick went silent for a few moments as he thought.
"Has to be the Commonwealth Security Service. This has their pawprints all over it."
"Commonwealth Security? Why would they set up a meeting in Mordinia with a guy I killed in Zootopia? That doesn't make any sense."
"It does if your boss is trying to protect someone he cares about."
"Bogo? What are you talking about?"
"Bogo's got connections, and you don't get to his level without knowing people."
Judy huffed, "So says the master hustler, huh?"
Nick booped Judy's nose with his and said, "Yup."
Judy rolled her eyes, "Not everything in this world is about favors and who you know. Sometimes it's just about people doing their jobs."
"Au contraire, oh fuzzy one, the world is ALL about favors and knowing people. At least all the important parts.
"You already know that Bogo and Mr. Big have history, at least where the Mule is concerned, what I didn't tell you is that ever since his friend was killed, there's been a rumor out that Bogo's got high-level friends in Commonwealth Security. I'd guess he's been working with someone on finding the Mule for a lot of years."
"So, who's Bogo trying to protect? And why Mordinia?"
"Why Mordinia? Because it isn't Zootopia, and it takes the spotlight off of… you."
"Me?"
"Yeah. If the Mule was found in the City, reporters from every news outlet in Zootopia would be trying to get an exclusive with whoever took him down, and every low-life from around the world would be trying to find you too, except for a different reason."
"Tail on a pike?" whispered Judy.
"Yup. That's how thugs and hitmammals move up in the ranks, by taking out those in front of them.
"It would have been a bloodbath, all of them coming after you."
Judy got a worried look on her face.
Nick chuckled, "I meant for the bad guys. You're my own fuzzy little Jane Wick. I'm sure Bogo was more worried about all the paperwork he'd have to do as the bodies piled up more than anything else."
"Har har, very funny. But I'm not laughing, everyone thinks Bechtail killed the Mule, and it's all my fault. I need to tell somebody what really happened."
"No. This one isn't on you. Bechtail wanted the kill, let her have it. Let your friends help you this one time. What kind of life would it be having to constantly worry about people trying to kill you, whether or not your car's going to blow up when you start it, or what might happen at the next traffic stop?"
"But we're cops, that's all part of the job."
Nick shook his head, Judy never worried enough about herself, so waving a paw around the room, he asked, "What about your family? If the word gets out that you took down the Mule, what happens to them? They might be taken hostage or used as bait. You don't want that to happen, do you?"
"No, but… I–"
"Then think of Mordinia. Bechtail is probably already on her way to a new life in the Commonwealth's witness protection program, which means her reputation moves up in the view of the aristocracy just the way she wants, and the regular-folk get rid of a speciest pain in their tails who can't shoot worth a damn.
"Kind of a twofer win, if you think about it."
Judy growled in frustration as Nick's pleas started to make sense.
"Come on Carrots, please take the favor. I swear Bechtail will be fine. This time next week, she'll be off the hitmammal radar working some cushy government job."
Judy thunked her head against Nick's chest a few times and then groaned, "Fine, I'll keep my mouth shut for now, but…" grabbing Nick's muzzle with both her paws and looking him square in the eye, said, "I will be talking to Bogo about all of this after we're done with this case. Got it."
"Yes, ma'am," replied the fox.
"Good, now scoot over."
"Why?"
"Because I don't want to think about masked mammals, the Mule, Bechtail, or anything to do with marauding hitmammals, I just want my boyfriend to hold me tonight. Okay?"
"Yeah, no problem, you had me at Hello."
-/-/-
*Some days later at an undisclosed location outside a small mining town in the mountain regions of the Duchy of Mordinia*
"Yes, Commissioner," replied Elkdon into an old-style phone handset. "It won't happen again."
…
Cautiously putting the handset back against his now ringing ear, Hari cringed as he said, "Everyone seemed to buy it okay," and then, with an awkward chuckle, added, "According to Zielsen, it was the highest rated ZNN segment ever."
"It's gone viral, too," whispered Mairi, smirking from across Hari's desk. "Close to five million views already."
…
"Yes, sir," groaned Hari while waving at Mairi to shut it, "Longtooth was my call, I needed–"
…
"Where is she? Well, she caught a flight back to Zootopia a few days ago, so if you're worried about her sticking her muzzle into our crime scene, I think we're good. That picture wasn't the greatest, and Longtooth doesn't usually cover this kind of story, so I don't–"
…
"She did? From one of your CIs? I didn't know you–"
Mairi leaned in toward her boss, a twinkle in her eye.
…
"Yes sir, I know, forty years, not your first rodeo, of course, sir."
Mairi smiled as she grabbed the twenty that Hari had just slid to her and then mouthed, "I told you so."
Hari flipped her off.
…
"Yes, sir. As soon as I get back, I'll take care of Longtooth."
…
Hari rolled his eyes, "Of course not, sir. We don't do that sort of thing anymore, too much paperwork."
…
Hari nervously rubbed his hoof along his rack and then said, "No sir, I don't think my mate would like that at all. Don't worry, I'll figure something out. Thank you, sir. Good–"
*click*
Mairi snickered, "I don't know, I think your antlers would make a fine addition to the Commissioner's collection."
Hari shook his head, "God's help me, can anything else go wrong with this op? Longtooth's sniffing around, Bogo still won't tell me who the Mule's real shooter is, his mini-horse partner has gone to ground, and Bechtail, the star of this horror show, has been disavowed by everyone who ever met her, including her mate."
Mairi raised a brow, "She has a mate?"
"Had. It took a couple of days to find him because he was shacked up with some coyote girl. Didn't seem too upset that Bechtail was being reassigned out of town, permanently."
"So, what are you going to do with her? She won't shut up about her superior breeding and how she took down the Mule. If we let her back out on the streets as a cop, she'll be easy pickings for even the most novice hitmammal looking for her."
"Yeah, I've got a plan. I've been saving this one for an animal just like our esteemed PC Bechtail."
"Senior Police Constable."
"Right," said Hari as he opened the safe room door to let a certain mastiff in on her new life.
"Ms. Bechtail."
"Senior–"
"Not anymore," and then sliding a folder across the table, "This is your new job. You'll be an Inspector."
Bechtail primped, "Ah, a promotion. What agency will I be an integral part of?"
"Pridelands' Municipal… Public Works."
"What?"
"They need a Sewer Inspector, someone versed in BS. Someone such as yourself."
…..
A/N:
Thanks to a comment on chapter 51, I went ahead and added a little bit to this chapter on our two pickup artists.
Posting Note: Due to a few RL issues I need to take care of, I won't be able to post chapter 54 until October 10th. In the meantime, the next chapter will delve into some Bunnyburrow lore, so if there is a burning question you have, feel free to ask via comment or PM and I'll see what I can do.