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Chapter Text

The darkness faded back into life as the poorly connected lights of the carriage flickered back into dominion. Outside the window, the city of Zootopia stood tall, its highest buildings bathed in freshness as the very edge of the rising sun came to touch upon the horizon, leaving the city's streets and the landscape around in murky black: encapsulation of shadow. Despite this re-emerged beauty, it looked just the same as it had before: same towers of emerald, ruby and diamond. The same blue sky, same mountains, same river.

Judy turned back down from the window, slid back into her seat, the floor of the train's carriage rocking a little beneath her feet. There was no need to gaze upon it more. She remember the city, knew it better, deeper than sight alone could tell.

What else was there to expect, even if her mind's eye had wanted to believe at least something would be different. Who really cared, but she, about the mammal who was so dear to her?

It wasn't the same carriage as the one she'd taken on her first journey to Zootopia. She'd just bought the cheapest ticket available: a carriage of least class. She sat with her feet tucked up on the seat, the floor beneath sticky with a dreadful scent of old urine. It didn't matter; the scent couldn't be avoided. Frankly, she was glad it wasn't her own.

The train plunged into darkness, though this time not caused by faulty lighting. Judy's carriage jolted as it entered the tunnel. The rabbit held her breath a moment at the dull pain in her chest from the motion. She'd been told more than once she wasn't taking enough pain pills, but she'd stuck by her decision not to use them any more than necessary.

As the lights inside the carriage flickered once again, the rabbit looked around at the other occupants. None of them were together. None were looking at or talking to each other.

She caught the eye of a female fossa sat across from her. The fossa gazed at the rabbit a moment, then an unsure smile crossed her lips. Judy smiled back, just glad for the small sign of 'normality' in her life, and wondered if she'd recognized her. It wasn't likely, as she didn't look much the same as she had before, or... at least she didn't 'feel' like it.

The carriage jolted again as it left the tunnel, the rabbit's smile turning to a brief wince at the motion.

"You okay?"

The rabbit turned to the fossa to see who the question was directed at. After a moment's ponder, she realized it to be herself. "Hm? Yeah, fine," she said, her voice catching in her throat a moment as she spoke.

The fossa chuckled, shyly. "These old carriages. Bump all over the place. Government has plenty money to maintain the expensive carriages. Never seem to get round to fixing these ones."

"Yeah... that's Zootopia for you," Judy said, looking past the female. "Beautiful, clean, efficient. But what is it really, underneath." She noticed the fossa's questioning gaze and drew herself back from her darkening thoughts. "In some places, at least. Like the inner parts of the city getting all this 'beautification funding'. Other parts, it takes weeks just for a street light to get fixed."

"You should've seen my apartment. After that explosion, all the insulation was ripped off the side and thrown down the road."

"Explosion. The one at the harbor?"

The fossa leaned closer, nodding to the rabbit. "You know, I get that the city was busy with the aftermath of all that, I get it. But still, it was more than a week it was just laying there in the street, and the building still hasn't been repaired. Did you have any problems from it?"

"I... No, I was out of town. For most of it."

"I see. Probably a smart move? Wish I'd had the money to take a holiday out somewhere 'quiet'."

Judy nodded, but didn't add anything further to the conversation, since the train was already slowing as it came into the station, and the two of them would soon be parting ways; her mind thinking over what had passed since last she walked these streets.

The female said a few words of farewell as the train pulled to a stop, then the rabbit took up her case and, begrudgingly, stepped down onto the urine-smelling floor. Rushing to leave this platform, which was sticky with a sickening 'slachh' whenever she lifted a foot, she passed the fossa on her way out to the busy platform.

Her memory flashed back to the first time she was here, the awe she saw all around her at the masses and scale of the place. This time, she just wanted to get through the thick crowd and get to her destination, frustrated by the wall of legs and other body parts which blocked her way.

The 'last class' carriage she'd taken was at the back of the train, with every other mammal on there blocking her path.

She managed to push and slip her way through the masses, reach the escalators, and find her way to the clearing. Nothing had exactly changed, only the pictures and words on the flashing monitors that marketed their messages across the busy crowds below. There was a mild prickle of irritation at this sight, unlike when she first gawked upon this new world.

She gazed up at the largest of the digital boards, to where the face of a gazelle had greeted her before. There was a mammal upon the screen whose face made the rabbit's lip twist. He inclined his head as though to look down on the mammals walking beneath, while an audio clip of his voice echoed out, "The ZPD. Making the law felt throughout the city."

Taxies rumbled in abundance, with most of the larger ones quickly becoming occupied and driving on their way.

The rapid decline in the volume of available transportation didn't bother the rabbit. The price of a taxi from here to the inner city was more than she saw as worthwhile. The underground tramway would take her to the center in even better time anyway, and at a fraction of the cost.

Just about to move on, with the information sign hanging down from a metal pole a few feet from the entrance, Judy heard an echo of confusion from nearby, an echo which stood apart from the standard hubble-bubble of civilian chatter.

"What do you mean you – get your paws off my bags!"

Her ears pivoting towards the racket, hearing cleanly the terror festering the air, the rabbit turned without reservation and rushed at the source of distress. There was the same fossa from the carriage whose bag was being grabbed by two males...

The rabbit slowed at the sight of the familiar blue, the two officers talking to the fossa. After a moment's pause, Judy pressed on, though her pace slower than before, and lightly touched one of the males on the leg.

"Officer, is there a problem here?"

"Move along, please. We've got this under control, Miss."

"You're trying to search this lady's belongings. Do you have any kind of—"

"I said move along."

The tone of the leopard's voice gnawed on Judy's already strained patience. "Officer Delton," she stated, reading the name from his uniform, "you're required by Zootopia law to state plainly and promptly the reasoning for any kind of pedestrian hold-up."

The leopard turned to her with a grunt. "You think you're some kind of legal... wait..."

The rabbit crossed her paws, her irritation quickly rising under the officer's scrutiny. The last thing she wanted to do was waste time here, though she didn't regret stepping in to prevent what looked like an abuse of police power.

"You're... are you Hopps? Officer Hopps?"

"Your point?"

"Wh— well what're you doing here, I thought, I just... Sure, you're here, why would I know what's going on with your life. So, anyway... You're asking about the search? What's the matter? What we're doing here is legal."

"Yeah, 'legal', but it's against PD practice. You can't just take random people and go through their bags, it's just not what we do!"

"Practice? You mean our common behavior brief? It's had some changes since you were out of the game. We're encouraged to make random stop-searches now, especially in places of public transport."

"It's nothing personal," the older, deeper-voiced hyena chimed in. "Nothing 'speciest'. Places where a lot of people go, any depressed areas, places with a higher than average crime-rate... You get the idea."

She'd understood the statement, but Judy's desire to understand more wasn't so easily quenched. "Sure, but what's with the change? Random searches used to be discouraged, without at least some kind of probable cause, even if it wasn't legally 'necessary'."

"Used to be, yeah, 'til... So, you don't know? Don't know about the Chief?"

"Of course I know," she shot, frustrated anyone could think she'd be that ignorant. "Bogo's been... a— and Snarlov's in charge now."

"Erm, no, I... It's McHorn, he's the Chief now." Judy took a step closer to press for information, but the leopard's dodge pulled him out of reach from her as he and his partner hastily paced away.

"What about Snarlov?" she called after them. "Did something happen to her, too?" Definitely they heard her, though they acted as though they couldn't. Biting her lip, the rabbit looked around, and saw the fossa had also slipped away from the background of the conversation. Judy turned back to the towering monitor, where the figure of McHorn was looping its message every few minutes. She gazed with a narrowed brow, only now focusing on the stars and stripes of the 'Chief' of Police.

Turning back to the sign which dangled from a pole a few feet away, the rabbit tightened her grip on her small suitcase and made her way towards the subway: down the steep, concrete steps, into the realm of synthetic lights, cold winds and shadows which lurked beneath the surface of the earth.

A place of eternal darkness.

...

The doors groaned a low, electronic hum as they slid themselves open. Stepping from the cold pavement, Judy entered into the pure-white lighting of the hospital. The air inside was surprisingly fresh and cool. Or perhaps, she noted, she was just used to the scent of disinfectant and didn't notice it so much.

Pacing over the laminate flooring, she passed a few rows of empty seats and the scattering of various mammals, mostly nocturnal.

Coming to the empty reception desk, Judy reached up and pressed the small attached buzzer. It took a few seconds, the rabbit watching the silhouetted movements behind the frosted-glass window, but the figure on the other side slipped out of a blue coat, left it to hang, and pushed open the door, wearing a warm smile as she walked to the rabbit.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting," she said, taking a seat close by. "My name's Kathy, how can I help you today?" The groundhog held her smile towards Judy for a moment, before she reached across and entered a short password.

"Judy Hopps, here to see Nick Wilde. Here's my ID." Kathy's attention turned in full from the monitor. Judy looked back expectantly, her small paw reaching out, plastic ID card held delicately between two fingers.

The groundhog took the card and glanced towards it, though Judy could tell she was just looking out of habit and not really reading anything. "It's been some time... how are you recovering?"

"I'm fine." Quickly realizing this explanation wouldn't satisfy, she added, "I'm still taking the medication, gentle exercise three times a day, fresh air, simple food..." Judy finished the list of what she hoped would be enough 'recovery-small-talk' to get through the conversation, and held out her paw to try and take back her ID.

Pawing it over, Kathy took a moment to pause. "Judy, do you mind if I let Nurse Flo know you're here? I'm sure she or Doctor Dasse would want to see you."

"I have to... not stay long, there's things I have to do. I just want to see Nick. Just let me see him."

"Okay. Okay, but come back this evening if you can?"

The rabbit nodded, the groundhog turning to the computer. Judy watched the screen as Kathy found 'Hopps, Judith' already on the database, where she was logged in for the purpose of her visit. Then she scrolled to 'Wilde, Nicholas', and clicked the screen.

"Ward D, third floor, room eight-one-two. Let me write it down for—"

"I'll remember. Thank you, I just..." already pacing backwards, the rabbit turned away, keeping her spine straight as she moved. "Thank you."

Checking she'd collected her ID, she slipped it back to where it belonged. She moved swiftly towards the elevator, swift enough that the jolts sent small twitches of irritation down her spine and set her breaths puffing. But her mind was too overstimulated with anxiety and impatience, and her heart too full with hope and desire to care.

...

The elevator and hospital's corridors had been mostly empty, which Judy ascribed to the earliness of the hour. She would be just leaving for work by this point usually, on her way down the steep stairs to be greeted by that flash of russet and charm whose sight she had once looked for every morning.

After arriving at the room and knocking quietly, the nurse in attendance came out to see what the rabbit wanted. With few soft and well placed words, she'd managed to convince the nurse to visit the restroom to make herself a coffee for a few minutes, managed to get some privacy with the fox.

Pushing slowly open the door, Judy glanced back at the nurse as he paced away.

She took a silent step inside, her foot falling on soft carpet. The air was friendly, not sharp with disinfectant; the lighting just enough to feel homely rather than sterile. It was the room of a long-term patient. As she stepped closer to the bed; towards the figure resting within it, she noticed that even the monitoring equipment had a permanent shelving system.

"Hi... Nick, I... it, it's good to see you. After so long." She paused a moment, then paced closer towards the bed. "I hear you're doing well. I'm sorry I... sorry I couldn't see you. After the explosion, I... well, Bonnie, she said... Look, it doesn't matter right now, I'm just glad to see you, I'm so..."

She stepped closer up beside the bed, her fingers clasped in between her paws. She tried to swallow back the growing lump of emotion rising in her chest.

"They... th— they said that, that you can hear me. That you've been responding, or your brainwaves have or something. If you can, I just want you to know that I'm sorry I wasn't here, I'm sorry I wasn't... that I..."

Failing to feel or express anything further, Judy Hopps put her clasped paws around the seemingly slumbering mammal's head.

"I didn't mean— I don't want to unload everything on you like this," she whispered, her voice soft beside the triangular ear of the fox. "Apologies, excuses, explanations all aside. I just want you to know. I'm here for you now. I never meant to abandon you. I never... I never..." The bunny withdrew herself, leaving just her paws resting on the fox's shoulders. She looked down into his vacant expression, his closed eyes, the soft rise and fall of his chest. "Never meant to disappear on you."

A noise caught her attention, her ear pricking towards the source before she turned herself to face it. She gazed blankly for a long moment, then a smile crept upon the corners of her expression.

She chuckled, softly. "I always could spot your 'tells'," she joked. "Even like this, your heartbeat monitor gives you away. You can hear me." She held a smile towards the fox's vacant features, but sighed to herself a moment later. "I just hope you're happy to see me. Not mad I left you deserted like this. It was never my intention, Nick. But I'm not going to make the excuse it wasn't my fault."

Slipping her paws away from his shoulders, the rabbit put one simply to rest on the fox's open palm, careful not to interfere with the IV, finger clip, or any of the other attachments which had been attached or 'inserted' into him. She tried not to pay too much attention, just focusing on his face instead.

"I, ehm... I hope you don't mind, Nick, but I'm gonna 'borrow' your apartment for some time. A few weeks maybe? No more than a month, I promise. My apartment's been rented to someone else. I don't have enough to make a deposit for another place right now. I just need some time until the next paycheck comes in. Um... I know you can't exactly give consent or anything, but I'm sure you understand. I'll pay you! And probably it needs some work doing after the... accident, that happened. I'll fix it up and clean an— and—"

The rabbit bit down on the surging frustration at the sight of the motionless fox, the eternity of unknowing. Her voice tightened, though she tried to keep herself from showing too much emotion, for Nick's sake. "And make it nice for when you get back. I... I'm gonna have to go, Nick. I'll be back this evening. Early. Sorry I can't be here more, I've got a lot of tasks to get through today."

With a final soft touch upon the fox's russet arm, Judy paced back towards the door. Upon opening it, she looked longingly back at the immobile figure of the fox. "I..."

Her eyes closing, paws tightening into small fists, the rabbit forced herself out of the room. She was on the verge of screaming to Nick everything she'd been through, all she'd had to deal with, every raging emotion she felt coursing through her.

All that escaped her was a quiet moan as her soft paws clenched.

...

A cab pulled up against the pavement of a wide and open street somewhere close to the core of Zootopia. The rabbit stepped out slowly, her teeth showing in a wince as she left. She reached back in for a moment, pulled out her small, tin suitcase, before reaching into her pocket and taking out a few coins.

She moved to the cab driver's window and showed the coins. A paw came from inside to take them, but held them up towards the light before gesturing unhappily.

"Well I'm sorry," she said, her voice sincere as it carried across the open space, "I really don't have anything else on me. I'm sorry, I... there wasn't... you don't need..." Glancing over her shoulder at the building beside her, the rabbit's face twitched, this time with agitation rather than pain. She looked back to the cab driver and released a huff, slipping a paw into her pocket. "Judy Hopps, here's the ID, Social is right here. My phone number's none of your business and you don't have the right to demand it of me. I'll be in touch with your company within twenty-four hours, and if I haven't, then go ahead and press charges."

The rabbit took back the card, turned and marched away, her ears dropped against her head, the cab driver uttering obscenities in her general direction. She knew she could've used the bus, even if there was no subway to take her to her new destination. There were no more funds, no more savings. She just didn't want the noise and attention of the public transport; she wanted quiet, she wanted privacy to gather her thoughts.

Raising her head, trying to put a sense of 'backbone' into her step, the rabbit got to the main entrance of the ZPD HQ. The automatic doors slid open to her arrival, and as she stepped inside, her appearance was that of confidence incarnate. Who was to know her every swaggered-step was bribing her twitches of exasperation, or that her stomach was churning as much as on her first day of coming in to work?

Above her, a new slogan had been placed upon the sign, its letters of steely white glinting in the early morning sun...

"Zootopia Police Department: Making the Law felt Throughout the City"

...

Author’s notes:

Hesitance jumps around your mind,

Grooms decision thus chosen blind.

Your thoughts most succulent of snack,

All delivered by luscious feedback.

So don’t hide like a tiny shrew,

Thus share that belovable review!

- Welcome to the sequel of Paw in Paw. If you haven't read it, check out my profile and give it a go.

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Chapter Text

The reception was all but devoid of life. Glancing up at the mezzanine balcony, the rabbit saw a few mammals pacing quietly about from one room to the next, gazing ahead blankly as they did their duty. They wore suits of grey or dark blue: the mammals based in the offices upstairs being mostly administrative.

The analogue clock on the wall by the door had been removed; replaced with an LCD display. Written in paint beneath it, brushed in broad, dark strokes was the slogan she had seen in metal lettering outside: 'Making the Law felt Throughout the City'.

She stirred into motion, making her way across the polished though scratched floor. The semicircle reception desk had been replaced with a U-shaped one, the light wood swapped with a dark, matte metal.

“Hey, Claw,” she called out, showing a smile to the figure behind the new desk, only the back of the figure's chair visible as they fiddled with something beside the wall.

“Eh... Officer Hopps, you're back.” It wasn't the voice she expected.

Judy's pace slowed as she came to stand before the unsure smile of the wolf. “Ye— yeah. Officer... Howlitzer, was it?”

“Yes, Ma'am.”

“Wheeeeere's Claw?” she asked, looking around at the balcony above for any sign or sight of her oversized friend.

“Oh, erm. He's been reassigned. Works downstairs now: records.”

At hearing the words, hot buzz formed on her forehead, her paws crossing her chest. “Why? Who ordered that, why was he sent there?”

“I dunno, I dunno,” the wolf stated, Judy making no effort to conceal her shift in mood. “I don't keep up with the gossip. Go ask him yourself. He was up here about an hour this morning waiting for you, but we didn't know what time you were commin' in and he couldn't exactly just spend the day—”

“Alright, alright...” Catching her breath, Hopps glanced over to the main hall leading deeper into the department. “I'm going to roll call, should catch the end. I'll be back at lunch to sort out my salary.”

The last thing she saw from the wolf was a state of confusion. Zeroed in on her destination, the wolf's voice fell on deaf, or at least disinterested ears, “Er, that's not, uh...!”

The corridor seemed darker than usual, the lights dimmed, the cream-tile flooring replaced with hard, industrial carpet. Its dark blue hue soaked the light; its uneven surfaces set like a plowed field, digging into her padless paws.

Coming to the bull pen, the rabbit pressed a tall ear against the door where muffled chatter whispered. She breathed in, held her eyes closed, raised her paw to the door and pushed. The wooden door gave way, the familiar scent and sound of a dozen mammals sat together reaching her ears and nose as her legs carried her into the realm of orders.

“— and within one hour of execution, I expect to see all of...” The mammal stood at the head of the room trailed off, gazing through the dim light towards the rabbit's violet eyes. No obvious emotion was giving way, yet in between the stare of indifference a certain dislike protruded.

As the silence passed, Judy noticed the rest of the officers wondering in confusion. There was some rather-unsubtle whispering which spread all attention upon her. It wasn’t unexpected, but the eyes of judgment or uncomfortable curiosity managed to get to her.

Judy looked back. There were four... five faces she didn't know. The blinds had been closed, the map and blackboard replaced by a wall-mounted screen. The lights had been dimmed to easily see the screen, leaving the room shadowed and doubly uneasy in the continued stare and deafening of the mammals around.

But then, then clapping managed to defrost all the icy fog that had formed. It took a moment for Judy to seek the source of the sound, but she soon found herself looking at the smiling figure of Wolfard whose paws clapped vigorously in the new energy of their surroundings.

Just then another one, Snarlov, joined in an infectious manner, spreading the approval everywhere within the rest of the room.

Judy regarded the faces looking at her, but no expression passed upon the her face. Many smiled, though with some it was obvious they were just clapping to go along with the others. Or maybe they were all just being polite, clapping out of a sense of obligation.

Even in those faces who Judy saw a genuine smile, she couldn't forget... they hadn't told her a thing. Not one thing. Even after contacting every person in the department, almost every person sat here now, smiling and clapping towards her.

Hopps thought to suck up her opinions, smile and say 'hi', but she didn't. Within a few last seconds of gazing at the mammals around her, a low voice broke the applause.

“Alright, that's enough, let's have order,” McHorn said, being both the last to clap and the first to stop. “Congratulations on being here, Hopps.”

“Thank you.”

“Take a seat.”

Without pausing further, McHorn went back into delivering his speech, giving details to some operation they were planning, the various stages, or fail-safes or so forth. Judy didn't worry to pay attention much. She knew already she wasn't about to be involved in 'active' police work.

She paced down to the front and the vacant chair she used to sit with Nick. The sight of the chair caught her strangely off guard, something between nostalgia and deja vu. It caught breath in her chest and tightness in her paws, but otherwise, Judy failed to really 'feel' anything: the mix of emotions apparently canceling out to just a dull sense of...

She failed to find the word to describe how she was really feeling. As she passed the middle of the room, a 'psst' hissed in her ear. She looked to the beige-gray wolf sat close beside her. He smiled, then nodded his head to the small space on the seat next to him.

Glancing to her own chair, remembering that she'd have to climb the thing, the rabbit nodded and stepped towards him.

Wolfard lowered himself a little to her and reached down with both paws to help the rabbit pull herself onto the surface. She held in her breath as the strain writhed inside of her, but she only let out a slow sigh in hopes the others wouldn't notice her surrounding agony that refused to leave her.

She steadied herself on her feet, while the wolf moved to the edge of his chair to grant her a little more room. All the while, McHorn stood at the head of the room and spoke, pointing his thumb to the digital map of Zootopia, delivering orders in a slow, monotonous tone. Apparently she'd missed most of the low-down and the final calling of orders were being delivered; the various officers leaving the room.

“Anderson, take E-Unit to the north side of Pre-One. Had some tips of illegal dealings of something-or-other. Reports on the database. Lastly, Snarlov... I expect to see some results today. If you can't make headway by tomorrow, I'll have you reassigned to the burglary at the mall last night.”

As the last of the names were called, Wolfard glanced to Judy with a small smile, before he slipped down from the edge of the seat and walked to follow the others. “– and the rest of you... you know your duties. Patrols, security checks. I'm not here to hold your paws. Move out, get it done.”

Turning to the screen behind him, the rhino pushed the power button, the screen flickering into standby. “Turn up the lights,” he called out, pointing to the last officer yet to leave the room.

As the room brightened and the heaviness of the shadows waylaid to, Judy’s name found voice, “Lastly, Hopps. Judy Hopps.”

Clasping her paws before her, the rabbit inclined herself to the one remaining mammal left. “Chief McHorn...”

“I was surprised to receive your letter. Weren't you projected another three months of recovery at least?”

“I—”

“You realize I expect you to receive a full medical checkup before I even think of letting you out in the real world.”

“I was going to get—”

“In the meantime, you'll be working paperwork duty. Clawhauser will be overseeing yo—”

“Why is Claw in the basement? You send him there?” she said, her nerves irritated enough for her to snap.

McHorn gazed down at the small rabbit for a long moment, then chuckled, his head shaking back as his eyes rolled up to look at the ceiling. “Clawhauser sent himself to the basement, Hopps. Don't ask me why,” he added, Judy moving to open her mouth. “He has his own reasons, pester him if your interest demands an answer.”

“I'm not demanding anything from anyone. All I want is to do my job. It's why I practically 'ran away' from Bunnyburrow, it's what I'm—”

“Hopps, your detention as a—”

“It's what I, am here, to do.” she stated in defiance. “And if it's still a matter of proving I can be a good cop... if my track record hasn't proved it by now, you're just, jusss... bias beyond all reason.”

The rhino cleared his throat, looking back to stare Judy in the eye. But Judy wasn't going to be easily intimidated at the prolonged-dark denouement of McHorn. After all... she'd handled Bogo's mood for over a year. She sure as heck could handle McHorn.

“Once you have the results from your full checkup, paw a copy over to me and I will judge if I see it as satisfactory. If I do… I will conduct a final test myself.”

“What's the test?” Judy demanded, showing no dread for whatever this new 'Chief' could throw down at her.

“In the ring. With me.”

Her fierce expression turning blank, the rabbit blinked up at the big figure of McHorn. “No way you're taking me down, of course. But if you can last, say... three minutes, with me, I guess I can let you go patrol out round the block.”

Clearing her throat, her voice softening, the bunny accepted the reality of what had happened and exactly 'who' she was talking to. “Chief, uh... I'm 'good', I've healed up a lot, but...” faltering, Judy drew all her maturity to admit what she knew, her paws forming small fists behind her back. “But, you're right... no way I'm ready to go back to active duty. Not right now.”

The rhino grunted. “No deadline. Take five years for all I care. Just know you're not leaving the department on police business until I know you can handle yourself. Call me whatever names you want behind my back, you know it has to be this way.”

“No, it... it's fine, I get it. So, uh, you were saying, Sir?”

“Paperwork duty until further notice. Go find Clawhauser for further instructions, basement floor oh-one, records.”

“Okay. And thank you, uh... Chief.” The rabbit swallowed down a mouthful, feeling like she'd just called McHorn by the name of Bogo, still attaching the title of 'Chief' to that short-tempered, dedicated mammal who once 'chiefed' before.

McHorn nodded, turning to the door, pausing a moment as he stepped out into the corridor. “I have to admit, rabbit: I appreciate the honesty. Here I was thinking I'd have to grind you down every step of the way to stop you complaining I wasn't sending you out with the others.”

“Where're the others going, by the way? By the map on the screen... some kind of operation out on the street?”

“A march.”

“A... civilian protest?”

“No, a ZPD one.”

“ZPD?” she repeated, unable to fathom what McHorn was talking about. She knew she hadn't been able to keep up with news reports in the city, but she felt she would've heard of any street fights or accidents big enough to warrant a full-blown—

“A show of police presence and power on the streets,” McHorn said, cutting into the rabbit's thoughts. “Let the criminal classes know who's watching over their shoulders.”

Judy gazed out at nothing, the words setting in her mind. McHorn lingered a moment longer in the doorway, grunted, then disappeared out of sight. Judy's brow lowered, a lip twisting as what she'd heard sunk in. “A ZPD... march?”

After a moment, she drew her thoughts back from all those repeating questions. Realizing herself to be alone in this dim room and that she was likely to stay alone for as long as she wanted, the rabbit slowly got to the back of the room.

Her silent footfall carrying her across the empty floor, the stepped up the small podium to where the Chief of Police had been. She took a long look over at the side door, which lead into the Chief's 'ready room', where they would make final preparations for briefings and store inside whatever info they’d need.

She looked up to the screen hanging above, buzzing quietly. Experimentally, she raised out a paw to its warm surface and dragged a finger across it. A red line trailed behind, the touch-sensitive screen responding to her tactile input.

She turned to face the podium, which itself was unchanged: the same straight piece of wood that the former Chief Bogo had stood behind every day she'd been at the ZPD. Reaching out a paw, she touched it on the rough surface: the joints imperfect, with splinters of wood sticking out from the edges and sides. Quite unlike the factory-perfect, sanded down and varnished furnishings of the rest of the building.

She pictured in her mind, the podium having been paw-made by Bogo. She imagined a day with a particularly 'grumpy' Bogo, pounding the previous podium with his fist and splintering the wood into shards. Then she imagined his internal quarrel, whether he should follow procedure and file for a new one with an explanation of how the old came to be broken; or to just spend a few hours DIYing a new one...

Even if this was something silly to think about, the rabbit knew for certain which way his decision would have ineptly swayed.

It would've been entirely fitting of Bogo to have 'almost' finished cabinet, with just the sanding and varnishing left to do, then decided 'it was good enough' and left it be. He was dedicated, dogged... but only for what really mattered. Everything else may as well have never existed.

She took her paw from the rough edge, a light smile upon the piece of inanimate wood and, without ever truly understanding why, snapped to attention with her paw raising to a salute.

...

Author’s notes:

Hesitance jumps around your mind,

Grooms decision thus chosen blind.

Your thoughts most succulent of snack,

All delivered by luscious feedback.

So don’t hide like a tiny shrew,

Thus share that belovable review!

- Welcome to the sequel of Paw in Paw. If you haven't read it, check out my profile and give it a go.

Social Links:

• YouTube: Inlet
• Twitter: InletReal

Chapter Text

Settled Dust

It didn't take long for the elevator to lower the few meters to the department's first basement floor. The motors halted their movement with a small shake, the electronic synthesis of a bell ringing out before the doors slid open. There was the pale and warped reflection of Judy Hopps against the gloss of the doors, vanishing to the sight of skeletaly wooden structures and dangling cables beyond.

The ZPD had two basement floors, though the elevator only stopped off at the first of the two. The second floor, the lower, housed the holding cells for any perpetrators kept under the ZPD's watchful vigilance.

The only way to the jail was down a sloping hallway and system of corridors, designed to slow down potential escapees, giving the other officers time to react and respond, rather than just letting the convicts use the elevator and drop themselves off by the exit.

Judy had never seen much of the gloomy cells. She'd pawed up many perpetrators in her time, but almost every time they were pawed over it was to a larger officer who'd transport them underground.

She could've always just gone down there since there were no restrictions. A part of herself, a dark curiosity, found fascination in the idea of just going and watching what these mammals did, how they behaved, what they talked about... but it had never been enough to actually push her to go see.

This floor, however, the repository for defunct computers, physical files, evidence from...

A gleam of metal caught the rabbit's eye. She paused, stood half way down the tall, narrow corridor. The elevator hummed as someone else called it to their floor. She looked to the end of the passageway, the partially closed door from where she heard the creakings and shufflings of a large mammal within.

Her gaze sliding back to the metal gleam, she stepped off the anticipated path into one of the many siderooms. This basement floor was like a small complex of intermixed rooms of various sizes, the majority of which didn't have real walls, just skeletal frames, cast in wood, glazed in dust.

She made her way to the gleam of attention, small clouds picking up around her feet as they stepped through fields of dust. It didn't go unnoticed and she motioned to brush it away, but realized she'd more likely cause fallout all over herself if she tried. Putting her attention back to her goal, she stepped up to a box sitting on a low shelf and reached the object of her fascination.

"What are you... doing here?" she muttered to herself, lifting the metal device gingerly in her paws.

Handling the gun gently she checked the cartridge for a bullet, revealing to find none. She didn't know the make or model. The infrequency of guns in the country of Zootopia and the 'less-lethal' style of their policing was enough that the academy only taught the basics of weapons and weapon handling.

She didn't need academy training to know it was definitely her size, however. Curiosity filling her policework-starved bunny brain, Judy slipped the gun fully into her paw, aware that any pawprints would've degraded eons ago, if the age of the box was anything to go by.

She sighed to herself as her paw wrapped around the grip, her head falling back to gaze at the cobweb-strewn ceiling. With a spark of irritation she acknowledged that there could well have been fingerprints still on the grip and admitted that, well, she just didn't care.

"It's not like it's being kept as evidence for a case," she told herself, aware she couldn't be one hundred percent sure, "not kept down here."

Toying with the device, she turned it over and over in her paw. Something about it interested her. It wasn't like the ones the ZPD gave them to train with. Nick had complained to her many times about how consumer-grade weapons for smaller mammals were always somewhat garbage... something about how making the same weapon, but at one third the normal size, made it twice as expensive, leading to companies tending to 'cheap out' on smaller versions of their models. There was more to this memory, but she couldn't recall it right now.

This gun was heavier, yet felt way lighter at the same time. It definitely had something to do with balance, since it was thinner and fit smoothly against her paw. Pulling oh-so delicately against the hammer, she could hear the mechanism moving like well-oiled clockwork within.

She bit her tongue softly, lowering the hammer back into its resting place. Even if it wasn't loaded, she didn't want to risk her ears exploding by shooting this thing in a confined space… or risk bringing half the department racing down to see what was up.

It was clearly expensive; she didn't need experience with weapons to figure that. But whose was it? What crime was it involved in? Why was it stashed here, thrown aside as though useless, though kept as if it had some sentimental value. Again her mind took over, overclocking itself after going unchallenged for so long, her brain looking for every angle, lusting for every facet of data it could find alike the self-preserving instinct of suffocation.

She moved back a step, dazed by her mind's desire to seek out, just... whatever there was to seek. She put her palm to her brow and wiped aside the dissing cacophony of thoughts, stepping towards the box to return the gun. She was curious, though, to know what case this weapon had been involved in once upon a time, and she glanced to the case number written on the box's side, making a mental note of the code.

Her nose twitched. Something wrong, something off, but what... what?

Tilting her head, her lilac eyes flitting across the sight of the small pistol, to the box, to the pistol, and she saw it. Dust. Everything inside the box was grayed over, desaturated by the thick film of dust covering it. A silhouette of aged decline, left to gather grime and go unseen by sentient eye for the turning of at least another century.

But this, was almost clean. Her excitement faded a little as she realized that she had been playing with it, which could have caused the dust to fade away, but then she recalled how it had glinted at her; how it had shone with enough brightness to reflect to her eye from across a dark room. That wasn't something dust could achieve.

Her brow furrowing, her lower lip disappearing behind her white pearls as she thought, the small weapon came down slowly and her notepad was drawn from her belt, having changed into her uniform, utilities and all, before journeying down to the basement.

"Case file... eight double-seven, four stroke five, triple-nine three. Gun model, Heckler and Koch. Ober... uber? Oblerand... ob, gah." She fussed to herself, giving up the pronunciation and simply jotting down every word she could see in the dim light, alongside the weapon ID.

The page was torn and stuffed into a pocket. She already knew that if McHorn got even a whiff she was looking into something outside her duties, he'd pull it out from her paws and give it to someone else. This was hers, a side project of 'personal' curiosity.

No need to alert anyone else about this just now.

Her paw reaching out, the rabbit put the pistol back in its prior place. But, glancing over her shoulder, she... reached back in and pushed it deeper into the box, just on the off chance it would've tried winking the attention of someone else.

Then she turned with a breath which tasted unpleasantly like mold. Her pace a little quicker, she made for the comparative brightness of the corridor, the darkness around her, or perhaps just the grime, unnerving her will and giving her instinct's flee.

The rabbit's foot caught on something long hanging across her path. With a stumble, a trip which sent a jolt of heat rushing through her spine, she snapped to find the length of an electrical wire hanging across the floor. With an irritated hiss she kicked the unattended hazard.

The department had a whole floor dedicated mostly to administrative purposes, including a whole room where they stored junk like this. Why they needed a basement to keep more junk – why they needed to have people actually work down here – she never had figured it out.

Approaching the door, the warm light got out from within, catching the lazy dust with a volumetric illumination shafting from the doorframe. The rabbit grew a smile and reminded herself she'd 'only just' arrived at the basement to only see the awaiting cheetah.

A shadow moved across the frosted window of the door as the rabbit stepped close, an overbearing shadow which she recognized the shape of. Her uneasy smile grew into a beaming one, her paw reaching out to the surface of the door, pushing it inwards to the first heartwarming sight she'd seen since arriving at this city.

"Ben!"

"Oh my, Judy-Judy-Judy! How are you?" he squealed, the whole of his face wobbling with excitement as he came towards her.

"I'm getting better," she said casually, smiling up at the cheetah.

The apparent office the cheetah had taken for his own was oddly homely for what it was. There was a wooden desk, a fridge, a cabinet with a sink. The loose wires and holes of missing plaster in the walls were an odd offset to the homely touches: the warm lamp and the mild music from the cheetah's phone, the coffee machine churning in the corner.

The only thing which caused the rabbit real panic was the paperwork which rested in bundles from the system of uneven shelves to the cream-tiled floor. There wasn't a system she could see, just a mess.

"Oh goodness, Judy, how long has it been! Ah, I'd hug you and crush you to death, but I don't think your 'recovery' is up to that right now. How are you, by the way? How is it... really."

"It's... a lot of strain." Clearing her throat, she thought for a delicate way of putting how she felt: something that wasn't a lie, but wasn't exactly the truth either. "Moving around, generally, iiiiit... it isn't perfect. But hey, on the upside, I haven't been taking half the pain pills my doctor said I'd need. So that's good, right?"

"Yea! If you're managing the pain okay, I mean. Oh goodness, Judy, you didn't have to come back so soon. We've got the... oh, well," he chuckled, pulling a chair up behind him and falling back into it. "There's no point trying to get you to go back. I know you. Once you've made up your mind, there's nothing that's changing it. You've always been like that. Oh! Help yourself to coffee, by the way. Or donuts, there's plenty. Or flapjack. Or ice—"

"I get it, Claw, I get it," she said, her paws clasped in front of her, her body swaying gently side to side as she smiled at her friend. "So good to see you, Ben. You look good."

"Oh well, I've actually been dieting a little since the, uh… Can't say I like cutting off my sugar. Just tastes bland… but yeah, I've lost a couple kilograms just this month, actually."

The rabbit's gaze wondered down to the cheetah's stomach. She cleared her throat, politely. He looked healthy, though didn't exactly look 'thinner'. "Weight loss can be hard for some mammals. However much you've lost is an achievement."

"Well I... I, erhm... Close the door would ya, Judy?"

The rabbit turned obediently and did as he had asked. She had to put her back into it, pushing both paws against the tall, wooden obstacle for the door to click into place. Closing a door more than three times her height wasn't a 'new' procedure; even with her pains she was able to pull it off fairly easy.

When she turned back around Ben's mood had visibly shifted. His shoulders were low, his back hunched; even the flab around his cheek seemed to be more sunken than usual.

Judy climbed up onto the opposite chair without difficulty. There was enough miscellaneous boxes and crates around for her use as stepping stones.

"I ballooned up like anything after what went down. It's why I wanted to come down here in the basement. All those officers, their cubs, their families. Not to mention Harold. None of them deserved to go out like that. I started eating real bad, Judy, the whole time had something in my mouth."

His wording brought Judy to experience what might've been during that awful day and the amount of stress that had eaten at Clawhauser, especially with her own distasteful recollections. She couldn't help herself but get closer, resting a paw on the cheetah's side as she spoke softly, "I know, Ben. You'd known him for... you said once you two went to college together, right?"

"Stollheart University of Ethics, Business and Law. He was taking ethics and law. It's how I met him. He overheard me and a couple friends talking over some religious ethics issue... or something. He came over, told us we were all missing the point and lectured us on how it was just a social reflex or something.

"Anyway, cut to two hours later, we were still arguing things out. Hah, that is, me and Harold were, anyway. The others didn't stick around, can't blame them. We kept it up for a while but then the rain got us to a draw. Well, I called it a draw; he just huffed as I walked away."

The rabbit smiled to herself, guided in the melancholy memories of the times that had gone by. She wanted to know more, wanted to tell Clawhauser she was there to talk to if he needed it, but she also didn't want him to feel pushed to saying more than he wanted. "Ben, I..."

"So what I guess I'm getting to, if I could ever stop gossiping on," he said, his enthusiasm and typical bounce returning, "that just because I don't look any smaller to you, young Missy Judy, don't think old Clawhauser's given up on losing this flab just yet!"

"Well keep it up, Ben. If you work hard enough for what you want, it'll come through. Might just take a while."

"Thanks Judy. I don't think this paperwork applies to your worldly advice, though. Might take more than a miracle to get anywhere with it… maybe a few of them if you ask me."

Drawing a breath, Judy stepped down from the chair, picking up a random sheet from the floor and glancing over the page. "Is this what you came down here for? What's it all about?"

"Oh, old cases. Dead ends, mostly, from before the Admin ruling that all paperwork had to be digital. I thought to myself... 'you're no fit state to be on the front desk Claw, so go make yourself useful and type up some of the old dead cases in the basement'. Uhh, I know there was a lot, didn't realize it was this many."

"That is what we're doing here," the rabbit said."Typing up these abandoned, unfilled documents into a computer?"

"Until you're good and span, Judy-Judy, I think so. Chief McHorn's already told me you're here until you've got a clean bill. It's not a hard job, just a pain to file up."

"Yeah, I can... tell. Is there any structure to this?"

Smiling, the overweight mammal before her waved his paw in slow, apparently random directions. "Well, over there's 'March to the twelfth century'. That heap there is June to... who-de-who. That pile is definitely 'misc.'."

"And the rest?"

"... Other?"

Her gaze rising to the ceiling, the rabbit asked herself if staying back at the burrow wouldn't have been so bad after all. "Great. At least it's motivation to keep up with my recovery exercises."

"Yeah, and for me to keep up my diet! Eighty kilograms. I get back to the size I'm supposed to be, I'll let myself back on the front desk."

A touch of nausea waved across the rabbit's spirit; whether it was her last dose of pain pills finally wearing off, the prospect of the endless paperwork to come or just the dust which satiated the air... she couldn't tell.

With her stomach yet to settle from all the knocks and bumps on the train journey, and the small spikes of irritation each one of those bumps had caused, Judy pondered on the state of her recovery. She felt like she'd lived through all hell: nights of sleeplessness and of pain too harsh to endure; arguments prolonged by the faltering of her will; her anxieties overwhelming her sanity; and through it all she had ensured. Each passing day she could feel her strength slowly growing.

However, she still remembered the strength she had in the days of the past, a memory she held onto like a vivid dream, grasped onto during every waking moment to stop it slipping into obscurity. She still felt the faults in her body all too well; she knew her recovery was but steep ascend.

And, looking at the size of the stomach of the mammal stood beside her, Judy knew...

"Benjamin, I think we're going to be stuck here a real long time.."

...

Author’s notes:

Hesitance jumps around your mind,

Grooms decision thus chosen blind.

Your thoughts most succulent of snack,

All delivered by luscious feedback.

So don’t hide like a tiny shrew,

Thus share that belovable review!

- Welcome to the sequel of Paw in Paw. If you haven't read it, check out my profile and give it a go.

Social Links:

• YouTube: Inlet
• Twitter: InletReal

Chapter Text

Despite the dread she'd initially faced, Judy Hopps had to eventually admit that, well... she was enjoying herself.

She'd thought it was all going to be hell, searching through stacks of entirely disarranged and disordered documents to try to find 'page x' to the thirty page report, but she had come to see it more as a game; a hunt for the missing puzzle piece.

As Clawhauser typed up the next small stack of paperwork, Judy brought some order to the chaos around them: glancing through the many sheets of paperwork, putting all the auto-theft crimes in one stack, the muggings in another, domestic affairs in a third...

It was simply something engaging rather than a puzzle. She knew that if she hadn't just spent so much time cooped up and away from police work this certain 'thrill' would be absent, but in the condition she presently abided in, the rabbit was more than grateful for the stimulation.

However, right now, what she was enjoying most of all was the heated mug of coffee she held between her fingers.

The mug was more than twice too big to fit in her paws. The fluid had been burnt by the kettle and drinking it was a matter of leaning forwards to take sips rather than tipping it back to her mouth.

It was unwise, perhaps, to be drinking such a liquid at such a time, but it was a small reward for herself, a trade-off from those pesky pain pills.

It had been a long time since she'd last drank coffee. She'd been told that with her metabolism, it would be a bad idea to take caffeine and pain medication at the same time. It was only now, with her body beginning to recover, and with several hours of physically easy labor that Judy had allowed the hours to pass without being overcome by the hot buzzes, the flexing irritations of her recovery's frustration.

"It's crazy how much stuff's been lost down here," Judy noted, leaning back a little into the seat. "So many files, so many cases."

"All it takes is a few, Judy-Judy," Claw said, not turning away from the glowing white screen of the monitor. "One deserted case this month, one the next."

She didn't like to think of herself as superior, but she simply couldn't imagine leaving loose ends as cluttered as this. "I don't get how they could be so... so lazy."

"Oh it's only been since... what? About five years since the Admins really crackled down on getting all their paperwork in. 'Fore that, hm, no-one really cared about old case notes after the case was deserted."

"Who knows how old some of this stuff is," Judy told to herself as a finger trailed against thick amounts of dusty coating.

"Dig deep enough, we'll probably find something written in partridge!"

"Parchment," Judy corrected but it didn't seem to reach anyone.

"Maybe even chizzled into stone... oof," Clawhauser hissed, "imagine the carpal tunnel from filling files like that. I'm all for doing my job, but I think I'd desert my po—"

"Claw... stop mentioning dessert."

"Well..." at this, the cheetah did turn to face her, "I'm hungry, Hopps!"

Judy raised her brow, gazing sternly at the cheetah. Holding her gaze, Clawhauser looked ashamedly down to the floor, and then came those cute puppy eyes. Like an unapproving mother, Judy slowly shook her head.

Sticking out his tongue the cheetah blew a raspberry, defeating the feigned vexation of the rabbit who chuckled brightly as the true expression of a bright grin set upon her face.

"So Claw, uh... What's the oldest you found, anyway?"

"Paperwork?" The cheetah paused, turning back to the computer, his ear twitching as his wide fingers came floating above the keyboard. "Seventy years ago. It was written by the Chief at that time, Chief Claytermourn."

"Iiii... haven't heard of him."

"Not really famous for much. Apart from being a real heavy smoker. He did a good job, don't get me wrong. Things ran smooth as ever."

"What was it about?"

"I'm not sure it was even a case. Seemed more like just... uhm... here, I'll—" With a rumble that made the failing wooden beams above rattle with dust, Clawhauser pushed his seat back along the bare-concrete floor and got himself to his feet.

"Left it right around... hah! There you are!"

A moment later, the rabbit found herself with a small stack of string-bound, yellow pages pushed before her. Taking a sip of coffee Judy put the mug aside, pulling the documents closer to her, her ears twitching at the heavy clunk of cheetah falling back into his unfortunate seat.

"Claw, this... there's literally still cigarette ash on this."

"I know," she heard him mutter, "crazy. It's stained right into the paper. Still smells too. Not sure if you can smell it, but I can." Judy narrowed her eyes upon the old smelly pages.

"Regarding the... something... in relation to... the paw-writing's terrible."

"It gets better, just skip the first couple lines."

"...but if Principle Administrator Vilensky seriously esspe... expects a six per-cent national increase in beat officers he's going to have to stop riding his... secretary... an— and agree to P.A. Bodenhorn's commission for an eight per-cent increase in the Travel and Training budget. And if not, he can get down on his hooves and knees and suck a big... fat..." The rabbit cleared her throat as Clawhauser chuckled. "The whole thing is... is this?"

"Oh it's even more descriptive on page three."

"I knew the ZPD was different, but.. what kind of a report is this?"

"It's not a report at all. My guess is he wrote this after a heated argument or something, got real mad and wrote all this."

"And then came to his senses and buried it down here where no-one would find it," Judy shoved aside the rest of the burning pages for now, wanting to focus on going through the paperwork even if a whole week's dedicated work would only be a dent in the mass.

It did amuse her, though, to wonder what other secrets and lost treasures skulked hidden beneath their seeking paws, and if there were any crimes or convictions which could be proved or disproved by the evidence lost in these dusty halls… This brought her back to the sight of gleaming metal she had seen and almost forgotten a few hours ago.

She wondered if she should just tell the cheetah about what she'd found. Even if it was his duty to, she somehow had the feeling she could trust him not to go running to McHorn.

Working through documents slowly while she thought, Judy soon came to the conclusion it would be irresponsible to tell the cheetah anything about the mislayed weapon, lest its presence became known and Clawhauser's knowledge of the existence of that weapon led him into trouble.

The rabbit cleared her throat, preparing to probe for more. "So aside from the paperwork, what else're we gonna find down here? I though I saw some boxes of... evidence? And stuff. Back in the hall?"

"Oh, uh, I wouldn't worry about that too much. Sure it's an issue but, see, this paperwork... once it's typed up we can throw the original away, clear the trash out. Rest of the evidence, the physical stuff, it's all staying down here."

"We can't just throw it out?" Judy interjected. "Even if it's literally junk?"

"Pfff, I wish. If it's evidence, whatever, it's evidence."

"Surely there's a department on the Ringroad for handling this kind of stuff?" Judy tried once more.

"I mean yeah, maybe, for evidence that officially 'exists'. Stuff here isn't on record, most don't even have case numbers."

"It doesn't exist. It's in limbo?"

"Yeah, I don't know, Judy. Maybe."

"But what if there's information which—"

"Look, go ahead and dig around if you want. I'm not telling you what to do here, Judy. I'm your superior; doesn't make me your boss," he added with a chuckle.

Thinking a moment, the rabbit sipped the last of her coffee and lowered herself down from her chair. The sights of dust and random oddities scattered here and there didn't interest her, only the flash of metal among the dark pricked her curiosity. She reached to take the next stack of sheets to sort, when Clawhauser's muttered, barely audible voice interrupted her.

"See something you like, take it. No-one's gonna notice," he quietly added.

For a long moment she stood there just watching the oversized figure of the cheetah, sitting with his back to her, typing notes into the computer's clunking keys. Not that she had any intention of taking anything, but she wondered what had driven him to mention taking something, or if he'd taken anything himself. Would he always have been willing to steal government property or was his shift in mentality leading him astray?

Clawhauser's ear twitched, Apparently distracted by the silence. He half turned towards her, wearing an innocent expression. "Huh? Did I say something? Oh, I don't think so, I didn't say anything."

Unsure how to react or what to really think of his 'suggestions', Judy simply turned back to the piles of work.

The day passed slowly for the next few hours for the rabbit and the cheetah, with only time's trickling adage breaking the monotony.

Judy's mind had wondered away long ago, her excitement to be doing this wearing away after she'd perfected her system for checking and sorting these documents, leaving the process as simple as reading the top paragraph or two and putting it onto the right stack of other files.

Her thoughts had turned to Nick. Heavily.

She wondered how he was feeling, what he was thinking of while lying there. She wanted to be there talking with him; there, holding his paw. She wanted even more to just speak with him, his voice soothing against her ears; know he was better, or at least that he wasn't in pain.

The work had to continue. She had to support herself and sooner or later she'd have to support Nick too until he was back on his feet. She didn't want to live leeching off of Nick's resources for shelter, even if she knew he wouldn't see it that way. There was also that she didn't want Nick dependent on the government for anything.

Not like she had been.

If she let Nick be dependent on the government, they would be able to push him to do or to go or to take whatever they told him. Just like they had been able with her.

She couldn't help but regret the experiences she had to pass. There was no way of knowing she needed to save up money for this. She also knew that, if she had... the time she'd spent in recovery could have been so very much different.

She came back to the moment, realizing she'd been staring blankly at the same sheet of paper for... she wasn't sure how long.

Clearing her throat, the cheetah's ear pivoted towards her. "Ben, lunch starts in an hour, right?"

"Ohh, don't remind me. All I've got is a bowl of oats and chia seeds to get me through."

She nodded, with other things on her mind than Claw's eating habits. "I have a few things to do. I need to go down to reception and sort a few things out. Mind if I go to lunch a little early?"

The cheetah reacted with surprise, potentially still not fully taking on that he had been put 'in charge' of Judy during her time there. "Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah, by all means, you go right on ahead."

"Thanks, Ben. I should be back in time after lunch."

"Alright, Judy-Judy, I'll be here." Thanking the cheetah, the rabbit made her way from the room.

The twitches of pain still played out throughout her body, as they always had been for more months than she cared to remember. True, it was less than it once had been and even the ability to freely 'walk' was something she was still grateful for.

Her footfall carrying her to the elevator, rising back to the surface, she found her way to the front desk, a place she'd seen well more than a thousand times in her life. At least, that was how it felt, even with the changes and 'modernization' she'd been noticing all throughout the department.

Howlitz was still on the front desk, but quickly drew back his attention to the approaching rabbit, his ears dropping back and his lips tightening to a smile as she came closer.

Judy chuckled inwardly at his reaction. The wolf had already accepted her as his superior, and she hadn't even said a word. "Howlitz."

"Yes, Ma'am?"

"There's some things I need to get sorted out now that I'm back. Insurance, restarting health cover, equipment and patrol vehicle permit... for today, let's just focus on my pay. Okay?"

"Erm, I'm sorry Hopps, but I can't help you out there."

"What do you mean? You're on the front desk and haven't been trained to conduct basic... go on." She indicated for him to talk, seeing his brow rising and his lips twitching with the anticipation of speech. He almost had spoken but apparently he wasn't willing to interrupt her.

"It's not my job, I don't have authority."

Her brow furrowed at the unexpected response. "Why? I had everything sorted out talking to Clawhauser when I first signed up."

"It's the new administrative system. Not McHorn, the Administrators ordained it."

"Because of the bomb?"

"That's right. Heh, you know the Admins. Seem to think every problem can be solved by throwing enough paperwork at it."

Hopps didn't enjoy the joke. She didn't hold it against him; she knew she was making him nervous, either out of her rank, her reputation or what she'd just been through. She wasn't sure and knew he wasn't thinking through what he was saying. She didn't see the deaths of those officers or the repercussions that followed as anything to joke about.

Not with Nick yet to wake up.

"So who do I talk to?" she asked, crossing her paws across her chest. Her foot tapped, but it managed only to tap once before the jolt of pain reminded her it was best not to.

"Upstairs, the Administrators. They're the only ones who can handle this."

"Who do I talk to?"

"Lacey, HR. She'll help you out."

Judy paced away from the desk, nodding thanks to the wolf who eagerly went back to other work, apparently distracting himself from his own fluster from Judy's presence.

She paused at the base of the staircase, her voice steadfast and resolute as she gazed up at the balcony above. "Alright. Second floor. Just a team of pen pushers in fancy suits. I can handle it."

She followed the path her judgment lead her to go, walking up those synthetic wood steps to the balcony beyond, where dark suited mammals walked with bundles of paper in slow, lazy strides.

She'd always wondered what they did on a day to day basis and where those bundles of documents were taken from and to. Nick had always said they were just 'looking busy' to justify their expense to the civilians and to the Police department, but she'd always trusted the government more than that.

Well, she'd used to.

Now, looking about at their blank faces as she slowly climbed those steep steps, her body hot all over with ripples of irritation while she tried to catch anything which could distract her attention, she wondered what the case really was.

...

Author’s notes:

Hesitance jumps around your mind,

Grooms decision thus chosen blind.

Your thoughts most succulent of snack,

All delivered by luscious feedback.

So don’t hide like a tiny shrew,

Thus share that belovable review!

Social Links:

• YouTube: Inlet

Chapter Text

The upper floor was like an entirely different building, a different world altogether; now even more than in the past. Judy had always understood the reason for the difference. The upper floor was dedicated to administration rather than police work, after all, but it at least used to feel like it belonged there.

Now however it just felt like an 'Admin' headquarters stuck on top of the police HQ.

The floor was carpeted with soft, cream fabric, the walls papered with a faint pattern of leaves and grass. It looked fresh and surprisingly homely, but the heavy atmosphere of 'corporation' was not so enjoyed. The smell of new paint and the adhesive they'd used to attach the carpet to the floor was feasting in the air.

She paused a moment to glance down from the balcony to the foyer below. The wolf had been joined by another person she didn't recognize, and the two were attending to a small queue of mammals.

The wolf's ear twitched as apparently he'd sensed Judy's gaze. Her attention moved to the ceiling, acting as though something else was occupying her mind. She could see him from the corner of her eyes, his stare lingering for a few seconds before extinguishing away.

She looked back, her brow furrowed at his odd actions. Howlitz indicated to the sheep he was talking to for a moment of silence, then took his radio and pressed upon one of the buzzers. Judy's curiosity spiked to know with whom he was going to speak, her ear lifting to try and focus on what—

Another sound breaking her focus, her ear flinched and she backed sharply away as a big horse passed through the space she had just occupied. His snout was buried in a two-page spread of line graphs and pie charts.

"Watch it!" she shot, too irritated to let it pass. The mammal didn't even pause to glance at her and carried on as if she was never there.

Judy rolled her shoulders, easing the discomfort the sudden movement had caused. This gave her a reminder of the pain pills she had stowed in her case and that she should go back and get them. But her resolve to persevere without them quickly stepped in, as she told herself she shouldn't be dependent on anything, even to the calmness of pain relief.

She turned to the signs on the various doors, keeping her neck straight and straining her eyes to look as high as they could. It was easy to pick out the world 'HR' from the much longer names the other rooms had.

Pulling upon the stainless steel pole of the door, Judy found it blissfully light to open. Stepping inside, she asked herself if they'd hired the interior decorator from Heaven to design this place.

Soaking in the sight alone was difficult, without spontaneously sprouting wings and a halo. There were no sharp lines or edges: the desks circular or oviform; the half-height dividing walls between office cubicles was built with tan wood and frosted glass. The room was decorated with pictures of nature and sprinkled with tall, rich-green potted plants.

All it was missing was angelic mu—

Judy chuckled to herself as she caught sight of a buck fiddling with a radio. Its back was off and he was pushing fresh batteries inside. In a moment's work he snapped the side back into place and the soft, classical music played out.

Judy shook her head at the sight, pushing past her bewilderment to the task at paw.

Nobody seemed to notice her; nor did she want to go to any of them to ask for advice. After a moment, though, she spotted the white, waving paw of a golden-furred dingo sat at one corner of the room.

Judy didn't need to force a smile in return to the dingo's bright expression. While crossing the soft carpet, she noticed the dingo's neat stack of papers which she pushed away to Judy's approach. "Are you... Lucy? Lacey?" Judy asked.

"Lacey. How can oi help, Judy? You here to get things reinstaydid?"

The rabbit glanced to the oversized bush beside her, its distracting leaves shaking lightly to the whir of the airconditioner. "Actually, for right now, I just need to make sure my pay's coming in."

"Oh sure thing, love. Oi've got the paperwork reye here, pull up a seat."

"Thank you. I'm—" The rabbit paused, the sound of a ringing telephone cutting her off.

She wasn't sure why the sound had attracted her attention over all the other random sounds. It wasn't the phone on Lacey's desk, just a phone from somewhere nearby. She shook herself from her thoughts, telling herself she should drop thinking about it and focus on why she was there. "I had to cancel my previous bank account," Judy mentioned.

"Should be easy to get sor'ed out. You have the paperwork weeth ya?"

"I'm sorry, no. I can easily get it for tomorrow."

"No trouble, Hoppsie. Just tell us the name and oi'll give 'em a ring."

"Oh. Well, thank you. You can do that?"

The dingo gave a wink towards her, picking up the landline phone and pressing a key. "The advantage of bein' in the system of Admin'straders. Can always mayke a call and foynd what ya wanna know. What's name uh the bank, love?"

Before Judy was able to even moisten her tongue someone joined in the private conversation. "How're the two of you getting on. You're doing okay?"

Judy turned to look upon the buck she'd seen a moment ago fixing the radio, Lacey lowering the phone back into the receiver. The deer wore a gray suit and a smile which didn't compliment it. The smile didn't compliment him much either.

"Think we're dooin alwyte. What's up, Bordy?"

He smiled again. Just as last time, the smile faded instantly as he spoke, talking over Judy's head. "Just making sure we're synergized with current administrative procedure."

"You mean abowd calling Judy's bank? I only needs the ryght account number, I can get it easy."

"Sure, I understand. While moving forwards, I just want to make sure we're all on board with how things operate here while moving forwards."

"I understand how they operate. I just don't see..."

The two kept talking for a short span. Judy had a hard time paying attention with all the gestures and hoof movements the buck was making. It reminded her of a motivational speaker who had once came to the police academy. Seemingly this deer had about as little of value to say as the motivational speaker had.

Hoof gestures such as this, Judy decided, were a hallmark of mammals who really didn't have much to say.

"Okay, okay. But to circle back to the point—" he shifted with an overexerted gesture, drawing a circle in the air.

"I thought we were moving forwards," Judy stated, looking up blankly at him. The pause wasn't a long one, but the rabbit didn't miss the flicker of irritation which played across his features.

"Thank you, Miss Hopps. But to come round to the point, Lacey, we need to raise the bar as we're going forwards and keep our ducks in a row. Miss Hopps will have to bring in the required paperwork from her bank tomorrow."

"Well, if... sure thing, Borden. Judy, oi... am gonna have't' ask you to come back with the paperwork. Awight, love? Get the income sorted out tomorrow."

The rabbit waved a paw at her. "That's fine. I understand."

"But we can still get your licenses and permits sorted out ryight now if your'd like. You've just gotta fill up... this... here ya go. Here's for yuh driver's license. Aff'er that, we got the paperwork for the carrying uh non-lethal aahms, body arma, so on."

The rabbit's gaze wandered down to the pages before her. Titled at the top were the words 'ZPD Vehicle Permit' and that familiar registration plate number of the old vehicle she and Nick had driven once before. "It'll be some time before I'm allowed to take it out," she said under her breath. "Be some time before I'm out there making a difference again."

…

A while later, stepping into the ZPD cafeteria, Judy Hopps was relieved to find it busy with cops. It would make avoiding attention far easier, especially being as small as she was.

Walking further in, past the line of officers waiting for service from the food counter, towards the benches and tables which filled most of the florescence, the rabbit wasn't surprised to see the school-styled wooden benches replaced with some kind of rough plastic, held up with metal supports. It was as if they were made uncomfortable and lifeless so people would stay here less and go about their duties.

She'd had the option to stow her suitcase down in records, but had kept it with her for the pills and small meal that were kept cool inside.

Finding it easy as ever to navigate through the legs and dangling tails, Judy got to an empty bench and table closer to the center of the room. The noises and babble of the mammals all around filled the rabbit with a soft sense of security, while the scents of the food they were waiting to receive... didn't do much to invigorate her stomach with jealousy. The ZPD in-house lunch was palpable, but better food could easily be found.

At any rate, the salad sandwich she had in her case was more than enough for her current appetite. She pondered a second if she should get the water she'd need to take her pain pills, but reminded herself she could do without them and stepped up to the table, regardless.

Looking up to the edge of the seat above her, she pushed the tin case up onto the bench and put her paws beside it to help pull herself up. Her attempt at jumping was cut short by the warning that scissored from her neck and lower back. She withdrew her paws, remembering that things weren't as easy right now as once they had been.

She moved closer to the table, pushing the tray further down the bench to give herself a little more space. She hunched. She hopped. Her paws slipped again from the surface of the bench, her back calling out with louder distaste for what the rabbit was currently trying to do.

A breath was sucked in, the eyes of the mammals around undoubtedly on her. She gazed up at the edge of the bench and hoped her next attempt wouldn't fail her. Hotness grew in her cheeks, partial embarrassment, partial frustration at how strenuous even simple activities had become for her.

Wanting to check, wanting to see if anyone was watching her failures, Judy scowled and forced her head to not look around.

Of course they'd be watching, and laughing too. Judy knew that looking around would only show them she was self conscious about it, giving even more fuel to the fires of their judgment, the 'comedic value' of this country-bumpkin-bunny failing to climb a simple seat.

Snapping from her deep brooding, putting her frustration into use, the rabbit grabbed at the corner of the chair and threw herself into motion. But her frustration grew to mistakes, as the rabbit's 'good' paw failed to hold its grasp. It slipped, leaving her whole body weight solely on her formerly broken wrist.

She bit into her teeth, recoiling her paw, her fingers turning to a rigid claw as her paw cramped up in pain. Her throat seized up as she held in the urge to cry out. She wasn't ready to be back at work. She knew being here was a bad idea, but she couldn't stand, couldn't bare to spend another day in–

"Judy?" came a voice from behind, "You want some–"

"No I don't want any help," she cut out, her voice as hot as the anguish in her wrist. Nevertheless, she glanced just a little to see who was speaking, but unable to comfortably move her neck enough to actually see. "I can do this on my own."

Breathing quickly and deeply, the rabbit bent her knees a little, fixed her gaze on the surface of the bench, held her breath and leapt. She grabbed the corner of the table while bringing her feet up onto the edge of the bench, holding herself in place to catch a moment's breath, before pulling herself fully onto the plastic surface.

She caught her breath, rubbing her bad wrist with her good paw, slowing her breaths from the effort. There was the floor, just a little below her. As she looked down, she pondered that this had been in no way an impressive jump. At least, it wouldn't have been had she been in full health.

Her mind cleared from the frustration of before, since memory nudged her to the mammal stood somewhere nearby.

She turned to whoever it was and in place of the grin she'd expected to see, the forlorn existence of Wolfard came to meet her eye. The wolf managed at least to try and reduce that smoldering aura as he softly nodded his head at her with a weak smile.

"Good to see you back, Judy. I'm sorry you've... for what you've been going through. Erm, if you just want to be alone, I understand. Sorry to—"

"No-no, sit! But eh, sit across from me. My neck can't, I'm not..." Nodding, Wolfard got around the table and slid his tray of food a little clumsily on top, having to reach his paws up to neck height to get it onto the tall surface. Judy knew she wasn't the only officer who couldn't easily reach these seats. But, it appeared to her, she was the only officer here who had trouble climbing it.

The rabbit busied herself with her case as the wolf settled, opening up the clasp and taking out her food. Her eye caught the tube of pills which she took out a moment later, pinching the lid between her fingers and unclasping it from its safety catch.

Putting a pill into her palm, Judy sought for the sound of an attention-seeking cough, to see Wolfard holding a bottle of water at her. She thanked him quietly, taking a sip alongside the swallowed pills. "So, eh, what's been going on at the PD, Jim?"

"Chaos, to be quite honest. Well," he corrected, glancing over his shoulder, "a very organized kind of chaos. Everyone knows what they're doing and when they're doing it. Just, there's a lot changes we're not all used to yet."

"Yeah, I see the old clock changed, the desk, the blackboard."

"Not just that, the whole department's different. I mean, different Chief, it would be. It feels like we're way more active but we're getting less done. Arrests are up, the press is happy, but..."

Judy listened closely, the wolf muttering to himself, gazing down to the floor beneath them. "Don't think they get that the reason drug crime is down eighty percent is because of the work Bogo did. Just it happened under McHorn's watch. I mean I don't exactly blame him for taking credit, it's free publicity which is never bad when you're the face of the PD, new Chief, gotta look good, but..."

Judy leaned closer since every new word from him was new information. Wolfard appeared to notice what he was doing and snapped from his mumbled complaints.

"Sorry, Judy, didn't mean to start rambling. Did you get a chance to see Nick yet?"

The rabbit's brow lowered. With the way he'd glanced about, the rabbit's 'detective' instincts told her he'd stopped himself out of fear of being overheard, rather than to prevent boring her. Whether her feelings were true or unfounded, she moved on. "He's actually doing okay. I guess. I mean, all things considered."

"Oh, yeah. Nick's for sure not the strongest officer on the force. But give him his due, he's tough. I've been over to see him once or twice a week just for some company, since you decided you were better off recovering back home." Those words struck a nerve in the trainwreck that was her recent memory.

"I didn't decide that." she said, flatly.

"What do you mean?" Jim asked through a brief pause of deep confusion. "It makes sense you'd want to go back, even with Nick here."

"I did't... decide... to g—"

"Hopps. Nice to see you." Judy turned to the new voice: a tall, impatient voice which cut easily through the rabbit's words.

The bear wore the same kind of gruffly forced smile Bogo would when dealing with press and politicians, but something didn't fit in Judy's mind... she somehow doubted Snarlov would be 'unhappy' to see her back, and so Judy pushed to find out the true problem. "Snarlov? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. We'll... talk later. Just wanted to see you're doing okay."

"Eh, I'm good enough."

"Good. Well, excuse me."

With that Snarlov moved away and cut to the front of the cue, to the complaint of none of the officers in line behind. She took a package of food from the serving mammal and disappeared from the room once more, leaving Judy to end her observations. It was now up to Wolfard to cue her in.

"What's wrong with her?" the rabbit asked.

"Overworked like hell."

"McHorn's pushing her hard for results, huh?" Judy stated, remembering his comment to her at roll call.

"Yep. Call it bitter, call it worried she'll try take over... McHorn's not too hot on Snarlov right now. He's not trying to ruin her, just doesn't want her looking 'too' good to outsiders. Everyone knows Bogo was planning to make Snarlov the next Chief."

"Everyone? Buh, but then we can contact the Administrators, get things straightened out."

"Well, I guess 'everyone' is an extenuation. Just a rumor, the kind everyone knows is true. But, even if we all know it was supposed to be Snarlov, a lot of the 'old guard' are sticking up for McHorn."

Judy stared at Jim's eyes as if trying to make him change how things were, but as she noticed the uncomfortableness she was putting him in, her paws reached for her food and she sighed the deepness of her disappointment.

Least she could do right now was to figure out everything she'd missed.

...

Author’s notes:

Hesitance jumps around your mind,

Grooms decision thus chosen blind.

Your thoughts most succulent of snack,

All delivered by luscious feedback.

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