Kidnapped
A Zootopia Noir
By Xan Steel
(Legal stuff: The Zootopia world, and characters belong to their respective owners Disney and Disney Animation Studio. The Story itself belongs to me. Please enjoy this fanfiction. Author's Note, this story was written three weeks after Zootopia came out in theaters, which also before the character Fangmeyer had both a species and sex change. Many of you might remember Fangmeyer begin a white male wolf and not a tigress. You can thank Jarod Bush for that change.)
People think they know the world from their point of view, and that it's always rainbows and sunshine until they see it through the eyes of another and see the real horrors under that thin veil of happiness.
I'm Nick Wilde, a fox for those you who don't know. Once a successful con-artist turned police officer, thanks to one cute bunny (even though I'm not allowed to call her cute openly), Carrots, or as you know her Judy Hopps. Suffice to say things started off great for me with ZPD, as Hopps had cracked her first big case with my help, but you all know that part. What you don't know is that it has been five years since then, and now things have gone from good to bad.
Carrots has been missing for some time. Now I know what you're thinking, 'What? Impossible it can't be true!' Well, sad to say it is true, and the worst part is ZPD has stopped looking for her due to budget constraints. Now before you all go crazy with anger and rage let me take you back a few months to explain everything, and why I'm at the entrance Avian Valley. A new and still developing area in the northernmost part of Zootopia on this stormy day in a black neoprene body suit.
Chief Bogo walks into the briefing room. His voice booms to quiet everyone down and draw their attention to him. "All right everyone, listen up. We have a new case, and so far, it has not been easy to crack." He turns to look at the map of Zootopia on the wall behind him. "As you can see we have five missing mammals." The pictures all show female mammals. "The only evidence we have at the scene of their disappearance," he turns to look at everyone with a saddened but dark look, "Is their blood." Everyone in the room lets out varying degrees of shock and horror. "Yes, I know what you're thinking, but since we have found no bodies, we can only assume they have been injured to some degree." It's at this point that Bogo begins to hand out the assignments to each group of officers and what locations they would be working, as he gets to us. "Officers Hopps and Wilde, Tundra Town. Check with the locals in the area to see if they know what might have happened to, as luck would have it for you two, an otter by the name of Mrs. Arlington." As he flopped the file report down in front of us. "Dismissed."
Everyone got up and started to leave, but I sat there with Judy looking over the file as the Bogo pulled up a chair in front of us. "I'm glad you two stayed, as I needed to talk to you both privately." We looked up at him as he continued. "I don't normally involve myself in my officer's private lives and will commend you both for not letting interfere with your jobs here at ZPD." I could see Judy was getting nervous as her ears drooped down.
Judy spoke in a nervous tone, "Wha, what are you talking about Chief."
He looks at her a bit more closely. "You have done very well keeping your professional and personal life separate, but the fact of the matter is you both smell like each other, and others around here are noticing it." At this point, I got nervous as my ears folded back as he looked at me. "Look if you want to have a family that's fine."
Carrots blurted out nervously. "Chief that's not possible, we're different species!"
He returned his gaze back to her. "So, you think that because we're different, even though we have evolved beyond being savages, to where we can build buildings and technological devices, that other parts of us can't evolve either?" She hung her head as I reached over and placed my paw on her upper back to comfort her. These last five years had changed her from being overly optimistic to being more reserved in her assessments.
Bogo pulled out a small stick like item and placed it in front of her and spoke in a softer tone, "Here, use this to find out for sure."
I looked at it I saw that it was a pregnancy test. I watched Judy take it and head to the bathroom shaking her head. He then looked at me, "Nick listen, I'm worried about her, and I'm hoping she's not pregnant, as this case is centered around mixed breeding."
"Wait, what?" I said a bit more abruptly with my ears standing at full attention.
"Yes, every female mammal on this board is carrying the offspring from a male of another species," Bogo replied.
I sat there for a minute in thought before speaking. "So, you think we're dealing with a speciest in Zootopia?"
"Speciest, purist, whatever name you give them does not do Zootopia any good, and it worries me if Hopps is," he answered.
Having found out more about this case got me worried as well, but what stuck out to me was, how were they finding out? The only ones that would know right off the bat would be family and close friends. I must have given off a horrified look to Bogo when I reached the end of my thought. "Yes, my mind came to a similar thought, how many of these kinds of people live here," he added.
A few minutes later Judy came back to the room as she closed the door behind her. My ears folded back again with worry as I saw that her ears had drooped more, and she was trembling, "Carrots, what's wrong?" I asked as she looked up at me with tears running down her cheeks.
"I'm," she sniffled, "I'm pregnant," she said quietly.
I was both happy and terrified at the same time. I got up and walked over to her and got on my knees pulling her into a hug. "What are we going to do Nick, I'm scared," Judy's voice was on the verge of breaking.
I could feel her trembling. "Shhhh it's all right as long as we work together, there isn't anything we can't handle," I said trying to reassure her.
"My family doesn't even know about us, and I don't know how they'll react once they find out," she replied in that same nervous tone.
Bogo spoke up, "When was the last time you visited them?"
Judy thought for a moment, "About a week ago."
"Then they likely already know and are waiting for you to tell them." Bogo got up and spoke with more confidence, "All right, I'm giving you a few days to get things settled before working on this case. Not to mention that once you start to show more. I'm bringing you in for office duty." Judy started to protest until he gave her that look that said, don't argue.
We went back to her place, where I had been staying for the last month at her request. This is where things blossomed between us outside of work. As I walked in, the place suddenly felt smaller than before, likely due to knowing that a family was on the way. Judy went and sat at her desk as she placed her phone down, and I came up behind her and gently massaged her shoulders. I wanted to help her relax in some way, but this was all new to me as well. After a few moments, she spoke softly. "Nick, I don't know if I'm ready for this. I didn't think this would happen." I sat down on the edge of her bed as she turned to look at me. "How are you feeling in all of this?" She asked me as I noticed her ears had never picked up, and her nose was gently twitching showing me just how scared she was.
I sighed softly as I flicked my ears a bit, "I'll be honest with you, I'm both happy and terrified about being a father."
"What about being a husband?" she asked.
This told me that she was to some degree a traditionalist when it came to raising a family. I looked into her big beautiful purple eyes and smiled. "That has also been on my mind as of late," I answered.
Her ears picked up in excitement "You mean it?"
I nodded softly to her, and then leaned in and gave her a bunny kiss that she had been teaching me. I felt her return it just as her phone rang. The screen showed that her parents wanted to muzzletime with her, and I could tell she didn't want to. So, I picked it up and answered it as she tried to stop me. "Hello?"
"Oh, Hello Nick." Mr. Hopps said. "Where's Judy?"
"Oh, she's asleep, long day for the both of us at work." We continued with the pleasantries for a short bit before he asked me a question.
"Hey, would you and Judy like to come out to the farm tomorrow, say around lunchtime? I got a new thing I think you'll want to see." I could see Carrots shaking her head no.
"Sure, it's been a while since I saw the both of you and the family. We'll be there," I replied in an upbeat tone.
"Great, I'll let her mother know you're both coming it'll make her happy." I smiled, and then we said our goodbyes.
"Why did you agree to that?" She asked as her ears flopped back down.
"Because they need to know. You and I have never been through this, and they have. With their added help we'll have an easier time getting through this together." I pulled her out of the chair and into my arms as she started to cry again. A few minutes later she curled up next to me in bed sleep.
The next day we headed out to her parent's farm and managed to arrive little bit before noon. They came out to greet us as we got closer to the front door of the house. I had to admit, I really loved their home as it always made you feel welcome if a bit full.
We greeted each other with open arms and hugs all around as they invited us in. We sat and chatted for a bit before Mrs. Hopps got up and said, "Honey, why don't you go and show Nick that thing you were talking about while Judy and I get lunch going?" He got up and hugged her saying that sounded like a good idea, as I got up to follow. I looked back at Carrots before I left to give her a reassuring smile, as Mrs. Hopps took her into the kitchen.
Once we got inside the barn, he turned to me and went straight for the kill so to speak. "All right, how long have you and Judy been a couple now?"
My ears folded back in nervousness as I was not expecting this. "Wow, um, straight to the point huh," I began. "We've been together for about a month now," I finished.
"All right, and do you plan to marry her at some point?" He asked.
I nodded before continuing to speak. "Yes, as she is carrying."
He interrupted. "What!" He yelled with his ears straight up. "She's, you mean?" His ears flopped down as a look of anger came over him. "How could you?"
I hung my head in shame as I was not expecting this reaction. I began to explain that it was something we didn't think could happen only to hear him start to laugh. "Boy I got'cha you good, didn't I," he said. I was completely confused by this, and it must have shown. "Nick relax, her mother and I figured you two would get together a long time ago. Judy has always chosen her own path, even if it was different from the family and we accept that and love her all the same. Though I must admit we were surprised by her choice in you, we're just glad the two of you get along so well together. Listen the reason I brought you out here was to give you this." He finished as he turned around and opened a small drawer.
I watched as he pulled out a tiny box and then turn back and handed to me. I looked at it and then back to him. "Well, open it."
I opened the box and saw a smaller box inside covered in velvet, I then opened that up and saw a beautiful carrot shaped diamond ring inside. "Is this a…" I started to say looking back at him.
"It was her grandmother's wedding ring. Judy always loved that ring, and before her grandmother passed away, she left it to Judy. We've been holding on to it until the time came when she would get married and present it to her future husband to give to her," Stu explained.
I was stunned, to say the least. "I, I don't know what to say. Thank you."
Mr. Hopps turned to look out the window, "Well it looks like lunch is ready," he said as I saw them waving at us through the window.
I put the ring in my pocket and headed out the door over to the porch where Carrots and Mrs. Hopps were waiting for us. We continued to have pleasant conversations over the meal, as I kept getting that 'Go ahead' look from Mr. Hopps. They apparently had planned this whole thing, which only served to make me nervous again.
Once the meal was finished, I took Carrots for a walk around the house. She started telling me that her mother had figured us out pretty quickly and that she told her about being pregnant. Needless to say, she was thrilled to hear that she was about to become a grandmother.
As we came around the front again, I stopped her and had her turn around to face me. I had my usual sly smile on with my ears slightly to the back. She looked up at me with bright, happy eyes and smile, but her ears flopping behind her showing how relaxed she was. I then got down on bended knee and held her paws in mine as I looked into her eyes. "Judy, there's been a few things that I've wanted to say to you for a long while. I can't thank you enough for pulling me out of my old life and giving me a new one that has been filled with happiness. Without you, I have no idea where I would be right now. You saw something in me that no one else did and saved me." She leaned in and gave me a bunny kiss making my ears go flat in embarrassment, as I caught her parents looking out the windows at us.
I let go of her paws with my left paw and reached into my back pocket for the ring while still looking at her. "I love you Judy, and I want to know," I slipped the ring on her pawed finger, "Will you marry me?" I was amazed to see that the ring fit nicely so we wouldn't need to resize it.
I watched her expression go from amazed while looking at the ring to excited as her ears stood straight up, as she leaned in wrapping her arms around me in a tight hug saying 'Yes' a few times while giving nuzzles and kisses as I returned them. You know, I don't think I've ever been this happy to hear an answer to a question I never thought I would get to ask. Her parents were happy for us both as they came out to give their own hugs and kisses to her.
Things flew by pretty quickly after that day, as her parents had the wedding at the Bunnyburrow community center and fairgrounds. The whole family was there, all two hundred and seventy-five. We also invited everyone from ZPD for the event, as well as Mister Big, and his daughter Fru Fru, her husband and small family. It was mildly humorous watching Bogo twitch seeing Zootopia's biggest crime boss there and not being able to arrest him.
I had to admit, it was a really down to earth ceremony. As the wedding march played, I turned to watch her walk down the aisle. The dress she wore made her absolutely beautiful, and one of her little sisters was throwing rose petals in front of her as Mr. Hopps walked her down the aisle. Once they got to the end, he kissed her and gave her away. We stood together as Bunnyburrow's magistrate performed the ceremony, and at the end, we exchanged our vows to each other. The magistrate then pronounced us husband and wife and had us kiss.
Sorry for breaking the flashback, but I need to concentrate on what I'm doing here. Avian Valley is newly settled, and there are still some that haven't bothered with obeying the laws of Zootopia, and in most cases actively opposing them. I had to remain in the shadows as I moved towards my target, and it was a good thing that most of the streets were quiet. It should help me get much closer to the Harrowing Medical Research building, which is where the information I had received stated she was being held. I could see the building off in the distance and noticed it wasn't a big building, two stories tops with a few windows that gave off light to let me know someone was in there. All right there's a long unlit section of street that I can move through safely.
We began to settle into a newer and more larger place after the wedding thanks to her parents. It was closer to work which was nice, so we didn't need to commute as far. Clawhauser, of course, couldn't help himself with wanting to help decorate, and once the dust settled, we were finally able to relax and just enjoy each other in the new place. The beginning of the next week is when we started to buckle down on the case in question. We headed out to TundraTown and began going over Mr. and Mrs. Arlington's place with a fine-toothed comb. I had to admit that there wasn't a whole lot to go on. The blood that Bogo had mentioned in his briefing wasn't what I thought it was. It was merely a trail of drips from where she was and lead all the way to a window in that room. We checked it and found that it wasn't damaged, which made us think it had been open at the time.
I looked down at the ground outside the window to see if the trail for blood continued in the hopes of following it, but once I got outside and began to look around, all signs and scents disappeared. I asked Mr. Arlington, who was wolf, if it had rained recently, to which he explained it had been raining off and on for the last few days. He had heard that Tundra Town had issues with its environmental controls and that engineers were working it. I looked around again as Carrots called me back inside saying she had found something, and once inside she showed me what it was. A down feather, tiny, small, and white in color. It was missed the first time around because it was on an eggshell colored carpet, but she caught it. This was our first big clue that Avians might be involved. The only question now was; Why would they be involved at all, as they mostly stayed in Avian Valley helping with its construction.
I called it into the station to give an update, and Clawhauser mentioned that out of the five teams working the case that two others reported the same finding. Not to mention that those areas also were experiencing similar issues with their environmental controls, causing any outside evidence to disappear. Judy looked at me as she overheard the radio chatter from Clawhauser. She asked him what the locations were in relation to ours. He answered Sahara Square and The Rainforest District both of which were not too far from us.
I thanked Clawhauser for the information and then radioed the other two teams to get a sit-rep from them and to see if we could combine our findings and come up with something more substantial.
We thanked Mr. Arlington for his help and told him that if he could remember anything else, regardless of how small a detail to let us know. This was when he mentioned that she was two months pregnant and that he was the father. Judy turned to look at him and asked how he knew that he was the father. He told us that Mrs. Arlington had gone to see a new doctor that had moved into the downtown area and that she confirmed it, but alas he couldn't remember the doctor's name. This was another trail to follow and hopefully, find more information.
By the end of the day, we arrived back at the precinct with the information we had and sat down other the other two teams that I had talked with to see what we could discover. As it turned out the feathers, we had appeared to match, which meant it was the same Avian or at least the same type of Avian as we sent them down to the lab for farther analysis. They also stated that the females they had in their case files were at different stages of pregnancy. I could see Carrots hiding her nervousness by focusing on the information, but I did catch her nose twitch every so often.
Once we finished compiling our information we called it a day and headed home. Once we get home, I started getting dinner ready and then sat down at the table for a few moments. I looked at her as she sat deep in thought and I began to wonder if it was bothering her. I got up and went to her and started to gently rub her shoulders. Her mood picked up as she smiled up at me and softly moaned in relaxed pleasure. "You feeling ok Carrots?" I asked her softly, as she replied,
"Mmm, I am now Foxy." She gently rubbed her head on my chest as I leaned in and kissed her.
"There is just one thing bothering me though. How come all the missing mammals are pregnant females?" She asked. I continued to rub her shoulders as I explained a theory that had been going through my head on the subject. "So basically, we have a someone taking females that have gotten pregnant by another species because they don't believe such things should happen?" She questioned in a tone of disbelief while raising an eyebrow.
"I think it's more along the lines of not wanting it to happen at all. The only thing that bothers me is how far is this person, or group of people are willing to go to achieve this goal," I replied.
She looked back up at me with a shocked look, "You don't think that, that they would kill? Do you?"
I just shook my head because I honestly didn't know, and this bothered me a great deal. "Judy listen, I, I need you to be careful with who you tell that you're pregnant. I don't want you to end up on the board down at the station." I said as I gently wrapped my arms around her from behind as she sat in the chair.
She grabbed onto my arms as she gently nuzzled them in understanding. After a few moments dinner smelled ready, so I went and prepared it for us, as she continued to look over the information. Once I had it completed, I brought it out to her and sat down with her while putting all our work to the side for the time being.
We finished dinner as I helped her clean up, and sat down in from of the monitor to watch the local news. She came over and sat on the couch with me while leaning on me, as I wrapped my arm around her. They started off with news about Gazelle getting ready to release a new album, and an upcoming concert she was hosting, as well as a few more stories about local events. They then turned to a story about the missing females. They mentioned how ZPD was having a tough time cracking the case, but that five teams were on it, and have already discovered that someone from Avian Valley might be involved. "You know," she began. "It kind of bothers me how they can report so nonchalantly on this matter," she finished. Once the news finished, we decided to retire for the night.
Over the next week, we managed to finally get a break on the case when one of the other husbands mentioned an Obstetrician that his wife had seen downtown. We had Fangmeyer take his wife down to have an undercover chat to see if anything turned up.
Unfortunately, nothing usual happened, but that was to be expected since his wife was also a wolf. Though they did mention that the Doctor was a female striped skunk by the name of Le'Pew.
We continued to try with everyone in the precinct as well as mixing up the couples over the next few days, but sadly nothing of importance was noteworthy. McHorn turned to us and asked if we had planned on trying since we were an actual mixed couple. I will admit it made me incredibly nervous, but Judy agreed. Even after all these years she still had her determination to help others, even if the city had made her a bit jaded. So, we set up an appointment for the next day and made sure we had the right equipment for recording.
At eleven shape we arrived at the doctor's office and went in to begin our undercover interview of this doctor Le'Pew. While the office is unassuming, white walls, white furniture, and white wood flooring with only a few colored paintings. A few magazines were scattered about the small coffee tables. A sheep sat at the receptionist's desk that reminded me of Bellwether which sent a shiver down my spine, not to mention an all-white room was kinda creepy.
The receptionist greeted us warmly enough and asked us to fill out some paperwork. Once we completed it she said the doctor would be with us momentarily, so we sat down and waited. About ten minutes later the doctor came out, "Mr. and Mrs. Wilde?" She asked looking up from the paperwork.
The first thing I saw when she looked at us, mind you I almost missed, a brief look of shock. Now that could be seen as anything, but I made a mental note of it and hoped Carrots caught it as well. We greeted each other as she had us follow her back to another room that she had us sat down in as she began to ask us questions. While her attitude was pleasant enough the answers to the questions, she asked made her ever so slightly twitch.
"So, Mrs. Wilde it says here that you are pregnant, correct?" Le'pew asked.
"Yes."
"And do you know who the father is?"
Carrots reached over and gently took hold of my paw as she looked up at me.
"I see." I noticed her mood and voiced changed. "Where you trying to get pregnant?" she asked.
"We honestly didn't think it would happen, you know being different species in all." I said in a 'matter of fact' tone.
For some reason, she was rubbing a side of me I didn't like. Well, not literally rubbing me.
"Are you sure Mr. Wilde is the father?" she asked.
Carrots gave a confused look, "He's the only male I've ever been with, so who else would it be?" She replied with a slightly upset tone as if Le'pew was suggesting that she was cheating on me.
I gently squeezed her paw to try and relax her. "All right then, let's run a few tests and let's see if we can confirm that you are indeed pregnant," Le'pew finished.
I sat there watching what the doctor was doing with Carrots, as she handed her a small cup and told her to fill it in the bathroom, and not to flush the toilet. After she left, she turned to me, "So if I find that she is, in fact, pregnant, what are your plans?" she asked.
This was a usual question to ask because it was a personal question. I crossed my arms in front of me, as my ears folded ever so slightly back. "That is curious question, but to answer it I plan on helping her raise our family. Why is that a concern to you, Doctor?"
I saw her look soften when I put a strong emphasis in her title. "I'm sorry, it's not my place to ask such questions. I'm only concerned because I've dealt with many deadbeat fathers with mixed species as of late."
I nodded in understanding, but I honestly wasn't concerned for her past issues. For reasons I couldn't understand it felt like this was a cover for something else, or maybe it was my imagination.
At this point, Judy came back in and handed the Doctor her sample. "All right looks good in color. Now let me run this through a few testing machines." Le'Pew said as she left. Judy turned to me and whispered that she had several different types of pamphlets that she picked up for farther study, and I told her the exchange we had with both her mood and expression. We both agreed that it wasn't normal behavior for a doctor.
After about fifteen minutes she came back in, and her mood was, once again completely different, much more upbeat and happy. She was almost starry-eyed when she told us that Judy was in fact, not just pregnant but very pregnant. She had Judy lay back on the small bed in the room and lift her shirt as she wanted to do an ultrasound to see how far along she was.
Once she finished prepping, she gently placed a small handheld device on her belly and slowly moved it along. It turns out that Judy had four little ones growing inside her. I had to admit, I got excited at seeing them as Carrots picked up on it and gently nuzzled into my arms as I held her. "So, it looks like you are one month along at this point, which means you have about another half a month to a full month to go," Le'pew stated as she removed the device and began to clean off Judy's belly.
After which she turned back to the small counter and pulled out some more pamphlets for her to read. "Ok, at this point I want you on light duty at work." Judy was about to argue until I squeezed her shoulder. She continued to explain what she wanted Judy doing, no exercise, supplements if she couldn't eat certain types of foods and drinks, and to make sure I handled everything else. Le'Pew handed Judy a doctor's note to give to Bogo, and another paper explaining the types of food she would need to eat to help in the development of the babies. She then set up an appointment in two weeks' time for a checkup, as she wanted to make sure everything was continuing nicely. After which she handed us a print out of the ultrasound and walked us back to the door.
We headed back to the precinct, and once there we had Clawhauser call everyone in that was working on the case as well as Bogo. Once everyone was settled in we began to explain our findings to them as well as letting them listen to the recording we had. The mood changed once everyone found out that Carrots was pregnant, with a lot of congratulations for the both of us.
However, I happened to watch Fangmeyer leave the room with a disgusted look on his muzzle. McHorn came up to the front with me, as I was watching everyone else in the room.
"Did you notice Fang?" He asked.
I nodded before speaking, "Yes, and while it bothers me. He is allowed to have his own opinion."
McHorn nodded in return before speaking again, "I'll have a talk with him. As police officers, we are a family and need to watch each other's backs. We can't have someone not helping because of their dislike for someone else's choices in mates and family," he finished.
"No, for now, let him be as I don't believe he's the type to be like that, but we may have to keep an eye on him," I finished.
Things settled down after the initial excitement was over, as everyone began to comment on how she sounded completely different from their investigations in the recording. We made notes and started drawing connections between the time of missing females to when they visited this doctor. Everyone went missing a week later, and as our reported confirmed, it was always in the late evening.
I got a very defined chill down my back once the information had been compiled to show this. Not to mention that the lab had finished its work on all the down feathers that had been picked up. A juvenile Great Horned Owl, which meant it was still small enough to fit through windows, but it was likely large enough, and quiet enough to catch its target unaware and knocking it out. The blood probably came from its claws grasping its victim and carrying it off. That didn't account for the mysterious failings in the environmental controls for the different habitats, that would magically wash away any outside evidence. We all came to the same conclusion that at least two individuals were working together, the Owl, and one other, which could very well be the doctor.
At the end of the week, everything fell apart. Judy was taken from our home, and ZPD went on high alert. It was the same MO as the others, blood from where she was to an open window, and Downtown having what could only be described as a monsoon for two days straight.
I kicked myself for not being there for her, to protect her. The media got wind of Carrots, and blurted out everything about her, our marriage, her being pregnant, and that ZPD had added her to the list of missing female mammals that were also pregnant.
Doctor Le'pew was our first suspect and was brought in for questioning, but sadly she had several solid alibis throughout that day, between appointments at the office, and then spending time with her family in the evening. We let her go afterward since we didn't have anything to keep her. I really hated myself at this point. The one bright thing in my life had been snatched from me, and I had no idea where to begin looking.
Everyone was trying to be helpful with words of encouragement and helping to continue the case. Sadly, it ended. The Mayor came down to the precinct and told Bogo to close the case officially after two weeks of having found no new information. He fought to keep it open, but the Mayor said it was due to budget constraints. The City couldn't afford to continue paying for an unsolved crime when there were others that needed the police's attention.
It was a few days later when he called me into his office for a talk. He was standing there looking out the window that he had in his office, and I could see he was deep in thought as I sat down in the chair. After a few minutes, he finally spoke. "Officer Wilde, I need you to listen to me very carefully." There was a definite emphasis on his last word. "I'm giving you a leave of absence."
My ears perked up, "What, why?" My voice showed my sudden anger and confusion.
"You have lost your Fire and Passion these last few days, and I need you to find it. Take as long as you need, as I don't want to lose another good officer." He finished before dismissing me.
I left there and headed home to try and figure out what I was going to do because I think he gave me the freedom to continue looking for her, but alone.
Once I got home, I opened the door to find a small unmarked envelope at the entrance that had been slid under the door. I closed the door and picked it up, opened it, and began to read it.
"Wilde this is Bogo, I wrote this and had it sent to you just in case you misunderstood my intentions. I need you to continue looking for Hopps as I know she means everything to you. Not to mention since the wedding I've known that you both have a connection with Mr. Big. I would suggest visiting him since he will have connections that we do not. Use every resource you can think of to find her, and to help close this case. The mood here will start to fall, and even though I have never said this openly. You both have had a major influence on making this department a better place. Good luck Nick."
I finally made it to the end of this unlit street, and by the look of things, I'm about two blocks away from the building. [radio static from a small radio ear piece] "Foxtrot, this is Alpha leader, do you copy?" said a small somewhat high-pitched voice.
"Foxtrot here, go ahead," I replied.
"Gamma and Echo have the grounds secured. Beta, Charlie, Delta, and I are heading inside to secure the main floor."
"Understood, keep an eye out for the others, not just the main target."
"Roger that." [more radio static as the communication ends]. A gift from Mr. Big, which has been helpful these last two days.
As evening fell, I headed out to Tundra Town to Mr. Big's place. It didn't take me long to get there and knock on the door and be greeted by Koslov, his biggest and most intimidating polar bear.
He looked down at me with a grizzled look, "It's about time you showed up Mr. Big doesn't like to be kept waiting you know." He greeted as I nodded in understanding.
He then escorted me through the house to the library where Mr. Big was waiting. He held out his ring finger as I kissed it out of respect. "Nick, my boy what took you so long to get here?" He asked with an annoyed tone. "I mean this is your wife, and the Godmother to my grandkids," he finished showing his anger with me.
"Sorry Sir, I've been trying to rack my brain to see if I've missed anything that would lead me to her," I replied.
"Nick, you know that you are both family to me, and I have ways of getting the information we need. Once I heard on the news what had happened, I sent out the Black Clan to track her down."
"Black Clan?" I question as it sounded like some martial arts group.
"Yes, they are a family of highly skilled Stoats trained in combat, and reconnaissance. I use them when I need to see if someone is going to cause me problems." I nodded. "I've been having them follow you two for about a week and discovered that the good doctor Le'pew is, in fact, the mastermind behind these disappearances." He continued to explain that the Owl she had been using had been taken from its family at an early age. Which is why she was able to control it so easily and use it to snatch her targets. He then ordered Koslov to retrieve the items that the Stoats had left for me while giving me the information I would need to meet up with them.
I finally reached the main grounds of the building and met up with Gamma and Echo. They told me that they had tranquilized the guards, and then tied them up for safe keeping while handing me a tranq-gun and a few darts as I headed inside.
Once I got inside, Alpha radioed again to let me know that they had found the others safe and sound, abate without clothing. I headed to the room they mentioned as I wanted to get a recorded statement from them while grabbing a few lab coats for them along the way.
That is until I passed a room that gave a heavy smell of blood that caused me to stop and investigate. I went to the door and slowly opened it taking just a tiny peek inside. The table at the center was covered in blood and bits of meat, of which I couldn't identify. I also picked up the scent of an owl in the room, as I heard disgusting crunching noises. I opened the door farther to get a better look only to be mortified at seeing the owl feasting on whatever this mystery meat was. I then took aim and fired a dart at it and hit the owl square on its back. It screeched loudly as it turned to look at me with blood dripping from its beak as it started to take off and come at me, only to watch it flop to the floor. 'Wow, that worked fast.' I thought to myself, as I then went into the room, and bound up the owl. While in there I also picked up on a few different female scents, as I looked around and saw a large bin filled with their clothes.
It was easy to take the bin with me as it had wheels on the bottom, as I quietly ran to the room where Delta, and Charlie where waiting. As I rolled in with the bin, they told me that I needed to get to Alpha quickly as he had found Carrots, they said they would get the females out of the building and call ZPD to pick them up. As I left Alpha radioed me. "Foxtrot, Hopps has been given a paralyzing drug and is now on a breather. She plans to use another drug to force her body to reject her unborn young."
"WHAT ROOM!" I yelled into the mic desperately.
"Second floor, fourth room on the right in the main hall."
I ran for the stairs since they were right in front of me, and bound two to three steps at a time up, and then busted through the door. I saw a Stoat waving me down as I took off at full speed towards him as he opened the door for me. I reloaded the tranq-gun and got it ready as soon as I ran through the door, as saw that Another Stoat had jumped in the way of the Doctor to slow her down. "FREEZE!" I yelled while panting heavily, with my teeth fully bared and my ears straight back and the gun aimed right at her.
"No, I won't let you stop me," she said while smacking the Stoat off to the side as he hit the wall and lay unconscious, while she brought the needle down.
I didn't hesitate as I pulled the trigger. Everything seemed to slow down, as I watched, I could only hope that the dart would make it in time. It missed her paw with the needle in it, but then headed to her face and muzzle, but she saw it and ducked out of its way. I then took this chance to pounce on top of her and wrestle the needle away from her, as I tried to pull out a pair of cuffs I had on me. We fought more as she eventually got the upper hand and moved away.
"That's it I'm spraying you." This was a skunk's only natural defensive weapon they had when they needed to make a quick escape, and sadly I couldn't find cover fast enough. I saw her turn around and dropped her shorts, bend over while raising her tail, and then… nothing. I heard her grunting and straining, but nothing was happening. I walk over to her and quickly cuffed her, and then pulled her shorts up to cover up her embarrassment. She began to openly weep, "Damn you father, why did you marry that black cat?" I heard her question the air, and that's when it hit me. She was the child of a mixed species relationship, which explained why she couldn't spray me, she wasn't born with that ability.
I went back over to Judy who was laying there naked, as I could see the stream of tears running down her cheeks, but she wasn't moving. I took off the top of my black outfit and covered her up. Le'pew had tied her legs to a set of stirrups, as well as her paws above her head. So, I untied her and gently brought them down to help cover up her dignity, and her paws and arms down into a relaxed position.
I then returned to the doctor and asked how long this paralyzing drug would last, but she didn't answer. I then picked her up and put her up against the wall and asked again, while looking a little more intimidating she responded that it was only strong enough to last for about ten minutes. This was when I heard Carrots moan softly. I turned to watch her move a bit as I went over letting the doctor sit on the floor. I watched as she pulled the breather out on her own, and to turn to the side and vomit on the floor. She was gasping for breath which made me think that she wasn't entirely over the drug. I carefully lifted her up and pulled her into a hug, as I felt her slowly return it, as I could hear her start to weep. A few minutes pasted McHorn came through the door letting us know that paramedics were outside.
I carried her out of the building to them so that they could check her over, as Bogo came over to me. "Chief."
"Wilde, I'm glad to see you're all right, how is she?" I explained that I had made it in time before she could use the other drug that would have forced her body to reject the babies inside her. "I'm glad she was spared from that pain, sadly the others were not, and the final horror of it." This was the first time in the five years of knowing Bogo that I had ever seen tears. "Le'pew forced them to watch her owl." He paused as he rubbed his forehead "Devour the fetuses."
If your jaw could physically fall to the floor, that's where mine would be, but instead, I could only stare at Bogo in disbelief. That would explain the room with the blood-covered table, and the mystery meat bits I saw. "This, this is, confirmed?" I asked in a shocked tone, as he replied that the five females that we had rescued confirmed it.
At this point, one of the paramedics came over to me, a black panther. "Mr. Wilde?" I nodded. "Your wife and babies are going to be fine, just take it easy with her for a few days."
I thanked him as I went over to Judy. "Sweetie I just heard." I saw her reach out to me as I got close wanting to hold me, as I wrapped my arms around her. Bogo came over and lets us know how glad he was that she was all right. Carrots then asked if she could take some time off from work. Bogo told us to take two weeks, but that he would like her report the next day because he would need something for the press conference. He then said to her that if she needed to, to make use of the therapist at the precinct.
We decided to go out to her parent's farm for the time being. Thinking that getting away from the city would do us better. The nights were the roughest for her, with being woken up by nightmares, as I did my best to comfort and help her get back to sleep. After a week passed, she began to feel a few kicks inside her, which helped her mood change to a happier one. I laid in her bed one night next to her listening to a song. "Foxy, who is that you are listening too?" Carrots asked me.
"Ewe 2."
"I thought you didn't like that group," she stated.
I looked at her for a moment. "For some reason, this song really resonates with me," I paused in my speech as an idea popped into my head. "Say I know, let's dance to it." She giggled a bit but agreed. I put my phone in its little speaker dock that I had brought with us, and reset the song to the beginning, and then took her paws in mine and said play.
You got a face not spoiled by beauty
I have some scars from where I've been
You've got eyes that can see right through me
You're not afraid of anything they've seen
I was told that I would feel nothing the first time
I don't know how these cuts heal
But in you, I found a rhyme
If there is a light, you can't always see
And there is a world we can't always be
If there is a dark that we shouldn't doubt
And there is a light, don't let it go out
And this is a song, song for someone
This is a song, song for someone
You let me into a conversation
A conversation only we could make
You break and enter my imagination
Whatever's in there it's yours to take
I was told I'd feel nothing the first time
You were slow to heal, but this could be the night
If there is a light, you can't always see
And there is a world we can't always be
If there is a dark within and without
And there is a light, don't let it go out
And this is a song, song for someone
This is a song, a song for someone
And I'm a long, long way from your Hill of Calvary
And I'm a long way from where I was and where I need to be
If there is a light, you can't always see
And there is a world we can't always be
If there is a kiss I stole from your mouth
And there is a light, don't let it go out
We started off slow in our steps as we moved around her room, as I spun her and dipped her a few times. Our steps picked up speed when the song did and slowed when it did. In the end, I got down on my knees and pulled her into a hug and just held her in silence. For the first time since that night, I realized just how close I came to possibly to losing her and the babies that I started to softly whine. She put her paws to my face and pulled me back and saw my tears. Something I hadn't shown since I was a little kit, back when I tried to be a ranger. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't stop the emotional tide from rolling in.
"Foxy what's wrong?" I could see her worry as I tried to answer her, but my voice was breaking.
"I, I thought. That I had. Lost you." It was at this point I completely broke down in front of her as she pulled me into her arms to comfort me as I could feel her start to weep as well.
"It's ok baby its over just let it go." I've never cried so hard in my life, as I held her tightly not wanting to let go. She began to lick the top of my head as she held me close, and I had to admit, it felt good and helped me calm down.
At the end of the last week, she gave birth to two boys, a brown fox, and a red bunny, and two girls, another bunny and fox, both white, one with purple eyes like her mother, and the other with green eyes like her father. Bogo visited us in the hospital and gave us an update that the environmental controls for the habitats. They were actually having issues not directly related to the case just an odd coincidence, and that the five females in question were doing fine physically, but mentally would take a lot more time.
All in all, the case was finally closed, and we had a new family to love and care for.
The End
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