Paperwork was still Nick's particular boogeymammal.
Seriously, the fox had no idea on how much paperwork was involved into the police work… Okay, he was a little bit. But just from hearing and seeing it on television, but having to go through the paperwork every day was another matter entirely for Nick. One that he soon found to be his least favorite part of the work as a cop. That was something that he surely could agree with Judy.
Nick had just finished the last of his files, and he was able to stretch himself in his chair as he popped his joints.
Whew! Finally, that was over.
Now, for another matter…
Nick closed the archives he was working on, and continued on to his own personal research.
He had just finished looking in the ZPD's archives for the name "Coyle". The name that Hudson Coyle had gave him.
Once again, Nick had little results on the matter. And by 'little', we meant that there was, once more, no results on the matter about Hudson Coyle or any relative of his. What was strange, for the way that the coyote had talked about himself and his family, it seemed that they had done something…
"Hey, Wilde!" A voice called Nick, making him snap out of his thoughts, and he turned head from his computer to look at the owner of the voice, who was a familiar timber wolf, now out of his freakishly realistic sheep costume.
"Hey, Howler." Nick complimented him back. "So, not baking on that coat of wool today?"
"Nah, they decided that it was better if I stayed far from doing undercover work." The wolf said to the fox. "At least for now, since some guys saw that it was a disguise, they think that if I go out now it could end up compromising me. I'm stuck with desk duty for a while."
"Yeah, I feel your pain." Nick said sympathetic, as he gestured to his own computer. Desk duty was surely a less-glamorous part of the police work, but a needed one. Still, it didn't stopped Nick from feeling bored while he did it.
"Well, at least you can still go out in regular patrols." The wolf said to the fox. "Chief is still gnawing at my ears for 'upholding meaningful information'. I'll be stuck in desk duty for a while."
"Yeah, Buffalo-Butt surely does not goes easy on anyone." Nick admitted. He could still remember the look of cold reprobation in the cape buffalo's face as he asked the wolf to talk to him in private. As well as the meek look of fear in the wolf's face as he walked with the Chief to his office.
"It's been three days already." Nick added, and Wolfard sighed.
"Yeah, I guess the fact that I allowed someone to sneak up on me is kind of aggravating. So is the fact that I left my dart gun behind while I was running, my partner is also giving me a hard time because of that, especially because she now is in desk duty too."
"Hey, I lost my dart gun too." Nick said, being supportive to the wolf. "My partner is not letting me go easy as well."
"Yeah… partners, huh?" The wolf said, and Nick could only nod. The wolf then continued:
"Well, at least we got everyone who was in that place, including Kyle and his bodyguards, huh?"
"Yeah, that we did." Nick agreed. "He is still refusing to talk?"
"According to what I heard, he is asking for a deal in exchange for any information." Wolfard said, "The guy is though."
"Yeah, he looks like it." Nick said, and after a while more of silence, he asked, "Did he said anything else… about that night?"
"You mean, the night he was captured? Nothing much, but he keeps grumbling about 'skinning that koala if he ever sees him again'." Wolfard said to the fox. "He is still insisting in the 'koala' thing. It was a weasel who cut him with a knife! We both saw it, right?"
"Sure did." Nick said. "With the coyote and tiger. Still can't believe we can't find them."
"They probably are not in the system." Wolfard said. "But we gave a good description of them. I'm sure that someone will find something and tell us. We will get these three."
If you count the blue butterfly too. Nick thought, but did not spoke it out loud. He knew better, after all.
Nick could remember the night when they were in front of the Chief to tell what happened. Luckily, he didn't separated them, because otherwise Nick would not have any idea of what to say to the buffalo.
Nick had seen some things that he could not explain, and he was sure that describing them to someone else would sound really strange. Wolfard, on the other paw, had described something that was far more believable.
He told them that they were in danger of Kyle skinning them alive, when a weasel had come out of nowhere and started to slice the bear up with a hunting knife. Kyle was big and strong, but the weasel as far faster, and was able to overwhelm the bear with a very sharp knife. Some animals would take a weasel beating a bear with a grain of salt, but Bogo already knew that Judy had managed to knock out a rhino during her time in the academy, so he was most inclined to believe it. Especially when he heard that right after the bear had been darted.
He then described how a coyote and tiger, both who seemed to be with the weasel, came out and started to fight the bears. The coyote used a piece of rope to fight the bears, but it was mostly the tiger who knocked both of them out. They had their dart guns back, and seemed to have the other animals in their sight, when the coyote pulled out some explosive and threw it at them. They had to dive out of the way to escape from the explosion, which opened a hole in the street. In the process, they lost their dart guns once more.
The tiger looked that he was about to go for them, when the weasel started to discuss with him, and they both got into a fight, with the weasel attacking the tiger with the knife while the tiger tried to maul him back. The coyote even had to interfere to try to separate them. This was when Nick and Wolfard had both used their chance to run away.
Of course, they were seen trying to leave, and they had to make a break for it. That was when someone – probably the coyote – sneaked up on Wolfard from behind and put a rope around his neck. The wolf was held back and was unable to call for Nick's help, and the fox continued his way, thinking that the wolf was right behind him.
Luckily, Wolfard had managed to escape by elbowing the yote in the stomach and sending a closed paw on his snout, but he had to run for the tiger and weasel were coming right back. He met up with Nick right in the moment when the fox had realized that the wolf had stayed behind and was about to go back to help him. After that, they were found by Hopps, Fanghanel and Fangmeyer.
Nick had pretty much confirmed what the wolf said, and filled in the pieces that the wolf had left blank. It seemed like the reasonable thing to do, once telling him what he actually remembered, which was totally different from what the wolf had described, would have been really awkward, to say the least.
Nick was used to hide his emotions behind a mask when he needed, and right at that moment, Nick was forced to put his mask back. What the wolf described was perfectly reasonable and possible, especially when compared to what Nick himself had seen back there. He knew that it was not an option to tell them his own version of the facts after Wolfard gave his'. So, Nick did the best reasonable thing he could do: smile, nod and go along with whatever the wolf said.
Now, many other mammals would have thought of confronting the wolf on what he was saying, even if it was later, when they were alone. However, Nick had a feeling that this was not going to give positive results, for two reasons:
Reason one: when Nick mentioned the event when they were following Judy into the tunnel the wolf looked at him strange, it seemed that he had no idea of what the fox was talking about, as if he did not see the same things that the fox did. Reason two: Nick was really good at reading others, and while he was looking at Wolfard with his mask while the wolf told them his version of the facts, the wolf didn't even flinched for a second, it was as if he truly believed that what he was saying to them was truth.
These two things combined gave Nick the very distinctive feeling that Wolfard seemed to truly believe that what he told the Chief that happened was exactly what he believed that had happened.
Now, while Nick had maintained his façade during the talk with the Chief, and later on, inside he was feeling quite confused. How could it be that the wolf simply forgot what he just witnessed and replaced it with something else?
Saying that the bear was attacked by a weasel instead of a butterfly? That the tiger had mostly beat up the bears when it was the coyote with the use of his red rope? That the coyote had threw an explosive at them when the ground simply exploded when the tiger stomped?
Could it be that he simply had forgotten all of that? Was this the famous thing that he heard about mammals suppressing or replacing memories if they were too traumatic? Could it be that the wolf got so scared that he simply blocked what he saw?
Or was it something else?
Nick could not forget that Wolfard had stayed behind and was caught by the guys. Over the past few days, he had been thinking if his amnesia could having been caused by these animals. That somehow they had managed to change his memories.
Now, Nick knew that it was far-fetched, and he knew that many would probably question his sanity if he spoke that aloud. Still, the more Nick thought about the matter, the more it seemed actually reasonable. Especially considering Kyle's situation.
The bear also had witnessed part of what happened. Heck, he had been the one who the butterfly had nearly cut to death. When he woke up, Nick had the feeling that he would give them his version of the facts, which would match Nick's. However, the bear told them – with some reservations – pretty much the same story that Wolfard had said, with only a few minor inconsistencies – the biggest one being the species of the animal who attacked him with a knife.
The two stories were consistent, despite the differences, and they almost made it seem that this truly was what had happened. Of course, many mammals would question their own memories over the course of so many facts. Nick, however, was not one of these mammals. Nick was not the kind who would question his own memories, or his own sanity, for that matter. He was not the kind who could easily be convinced that he was wrong over something, with one of the rare examples being how he changed his whole view of life and even his career thanks to a certain grey bunny.
Nick was sure of what he had seen. He was sure of what had happened and that it had been real.
No one would convince him otherwise.
"Wilde?" Wolfard's voice broke Nick from his reflection, and the fox looked back at him. "You have been silent for a while, you are feeling okay?"
Nick blinked at him, and had the same sly smile he was always wearing on his muzzle. "Yeah, just fine, just a lot to think lately."
Wolfard looked at him, and he looked like he had not been convinced.
"It is not about McChill, is it?" The wolf asked, and the fox said nothing.
McChill was an older cop of the force, a polar bear. He was an old-fashioned officer of the ZPD, one that was callous and, let's say, "really old-school". The guy had a lot of prejudices, including in regarding other species. He was famous for being a good and competent officer, but also for being speciest. He was among the ones who did not took it well that smaller species were joining the ZPD, and he had even more problem into having a fox as a brother in blue.
He never hid his opinions about Nick and he used to say to others that it was only a matter of time before the fact that they were employing a fox would come back to bite them.
In the past days, it seemed that his opinion on Nick had become more incisive, since he "abandoned" a fellow officer.
"This was bound to happen, you know?" Nick had once hear the bear said in the hallways. "That is how foxes do. They get close to you while is convenient to them, but as soon as things get ugly they turn tail and run to save their pelts. This is not prejudice, you know? I learned that from years of being a cop. They are the kinds of mammals who only care about themselves, and they would throw their own parents under a bus to save themselves. Of course that having a fox in the force was a mistake."
Nick felt like giving him a piece of his mind, but he had learned soon that things like that were better be ignored. Also, it was not like Nick needed to actually say or do anything in the matter, once he had his own personal guardian angel in the force.
Nick could still remember the shocked surprise on the polar bear's face when the small grey bunny jumped on him and swung her body in a way that it used his own weight to slam him into a table. She stood over his chest and gave him a good scolding for talking about her partner like that. That he should not talk about a fellow officer like that, and that this kind of speciest speech was a crime on itself and totally unfitting of the behavior of a police officer.
It had really paid off to see that big and proud polar bear being talked down by a bunny. It seemed to have prevented the bear from making more comments like that within earshot. Still, Nick could notice the dirty glares that the burly bear was giving him and Judy.
"Just ignore him." Wolfard said to the fox. "The guy has a lot of sticks up his butt, most of it just stupid non-sense. All the guys in here learned not to listen to him anymore."
"Yeah, I imagine." Nick said, and he continued with his usual indifferent front. However, due to the time he spent in the force, some officers already learned to recognize when he was using his mask.
"No one blames you." Wolfard said, reassuring the fox. "It was my fault being caught. You was ready to go back as soon as you saw I was not following. Everyone knows it."
Nick looked at the wolf, nodding. The fox was actually feeling quite glad that the wolf was saying that. Truth to be told, Nick still felt bad with himself for not noticing that the wolf had been left behind, and that he, as the one who was paired with him, should have been the one to keep an eye on the canine to be sure that he was okay and coming with him.
Having the wolf himself say that Nick did not faulted did not removed the regret lingering in him, but it did made Nick feel a little better to know that the wolf had no hard feelings on him.
"So, what time is it?" Nick asked, and the wolf looked on his watch.
"A quarter to ten."
"Oh, it is my time already." Nick said, looking at the computer. "And I finished right on time."
"Good for you." Wolfard said. "So, now you have all day to relax. One of the perks of being nocturnal."
In fact, Nick had taken a night swift with his partner that day. The night shift was less agitated than the day one. However, you would be surprised on how much things can happen at night, once many mammals were nocturnal by nature. They basically made rounds on their vehicle in the near empty streets, and then came back to deal with paperwork. It was not Judy's favorite thing, even because she was not used to being nocturnal, and she needed some amount of coffee to remain active and awake during that time, while Nick didn't had much difficulty.
Now, it was only a while before his shift was to finish, and Nick had already finished the paperwork that was reserved to him. That meant that Nick could use this little chance to sneak away earlier before Buffalo-Butt got the wiser. After all, he did needed some time for himself.
"Well, guess I'll be going." Nick said, turning off his computer.
"Don't forget to get your partner." Wolfard said to him.
"Actually, I'll be going on my own today." Nick said. "Hopps put herself to work on extra-hours today. She really wants to finish the files on the mammals that she darted in the busting, and you know how she is."
"Oh yeah." The wolf admitted. "Everyone knows how much of a hard worker Officer Hopps is. The Chief even says that we should follow her example sometimes. Do you know how rare is for him to say something like that about anyone?"
"Can only imagine." Nick said, and he was already getting off his chair and walking out. "Well, I'm gonna be on my way before Buffalo-Butt decides that I need to be with my partner in her extra hours."
"You say. So, any plans for your day?"
"Gonna be visiting an old acquaintance." Nick said with salute as he made his way to the dressing rooms.
As Nick walked, he sighed, and once more, he was glad that he was a master of poker face. Wolfard noticed that Nick was wearing his mask, and he assume that it was because of McChill, he didn't noticed that Nick was far too focused into the matter of what happened to them in the night of the busting.
Nick could not forget what he had seen. He could not forget what he had seen and heard into the place.
Nick could not simply let go of what he saw in there. He wanted some answers. He wanted to make some sense of what he saw in there. He didn't had anyone to back his story, so he was basically on his own in what came to this. Well, it was not like being on his own on a matter was something new to Nick.
The fox had spent his free times in the next days trying to find answers to what he had witnessed, which included trying to find those two mammals. Looking up at the name of Hudson Coyle had not gave him the leads that he needed, for it seemed that the guy never had been caught by any crime. He even researched the name 'Coyle' around, and all that he found was a smaller business of sports equipment owned by a coyote named "Marco Coyle". He even noted it as something that could possibly be related.
There was also the tiger, who Nick still remembered the coyote calling "Zane". However, this also led nowhere. The tiger also seemed not to have records of any kind. Nick even went as far as contacting Finnick and asking him if he knew said tiger, and the fennec only said that it did not rang any bells, but he promised to try to find more answers.
Also, there was the butterfly. However, that was possibly the less solid of all leads.
After all, it was a detail that Wolfard seemed to have absolutely no recollection off. It was a bug that seemed to be capable of murdering mammals, and that on itself was something impossible, according to the common sense.
The strangest thing about that butterfly was that Nick was sure that it was the very same butterfly that had companied Nick to his apartment in the night immediately previous of the busting. Not that it helped in the least. In fact, it only made the thing seemed even less reasonable.
It was not a solid lead. Actually, it was barely even a lead at all. Still, Nick followed it. Kind of…
The fox made the occasional research on butterflies, and most of it led him to websites about nature and of bug lovers. Nick even tried one or another more specific research, like "butterflies that kill mammals", and the most that he got was the link to a website of fictional stories, and some stories about invading aliens that looked like butterflies.
Of course it would lead him nowhere…
It seemed that all the things that Nick could try and follow to try and reach answers was not working. The names of the animals in there and the butterfly, which were the one things that could be considered leads, took him nowhere. He even tried to research a few things that he had picked up with his talk with the two mammals earlier, like "freelancer" and "clans". He even tried something like "Clan Wilde", and he got nothing that could really be considered solid. He did, however, found out that there was a "Wilde Clan" in the past, a family of noble foxes. That was a surprise for Nick, and it gave some ground to what the tiger had said about "important clans". Still, nothing truly solid.
Nick's hopes into finding something that would lead him to answers were diminishing the more he looked, as all that he could go after seemed not to lead anywhere.
However, not all was lost. For Nick still had one lead based on the talks he had in the night of the fight. It was one that he was not sure if he should follow hidden, but was one that seemed to actually be able to lead somewhere. Especially because of the way that the information had been presented to him.
That was a lead that could possibly take him somewhere. And that was what Nick was going to follow now.
**********************
Nick had been quick to lose his police uniform and put on his regular clothing, namely, a red pawaiian shirt, a part of indigo pants, and a yellow tie on his neck. Nick had always loved ties, and he was used to wear them. He liked them because they made him seem professional, and this helped others trust him. It was something from the times when he was still a street hustler, and it had became an especial part of his attire. Nick went as far as to think that without a tie he felt naked.
Walking out, Nick casually walked to the street and in direction to the subway. He barely minded the dirty looks of some other animals in there, undoubtedly not liking to have a fox nearby, and some of them walked away from him or pulled their belongings closer to themselves as Nick walked near. Nick was used to this kind of thing, and right now, he barely even minded any of these mammals. He had more important things to worry about now.
Nick was on his way to somewhere that he would prefer not to go on his free time. Still, he had a lead that he needed to follow.
Zootopia was a big city, and big cities had nearly everything. From commercial centers to cemeteries. Passing by gated communities for the super wealthy and red light districts that led some very dubious business and commodities. So, it was no surprise that Zootopia would have prisons in it. Places where the criminals would be put away to fill their jail times away from society, so they could later be returned to it with their debts to society paid and would be able to reintegrate society as they would have been properly reformed.
Of course, these prisons would not be near the places where the "good mammals" lived, so they were somewhat far from the city, still, they were within reach for anyone who wanted to go there. For example, the police officers that came to check on a suspect for information. Relatives of the inmates who came to visit. And the criminals who were put in there, of course.
Nick had not lied to Wolfard when he said he was going to visit an old acquaintance, even though it was one that he had hoped to not have to visit.
Nick had to take two subways and one taxi to be able to reach the specific prison that he needed to go, and soon, he was in front of there. A huge building with concrete walls, big windows with bars on them, and the overall "welcome to prison" look. A huge brick wall with barbed wire on top separated the outside from the front yard of the prison, with two burly boars with dart rifles on watch.
Yeah Nick thought to himself. Good ol' Boarwood Correction Center.
The fox approached the gate, and immediately, the two boars stood in attention, gripping their rifles as they looked at the fox.
"Hey there, guys." Nick said, giving a salute to the two boars, who stood in attention, and both tensed when they saw the fox reaching for something. The fox pulled out a pair of sunglasses, putting them on his face.
"The sun is terrible today, huh?" Nick said, and the boars continued to stare at him. "So, has visit time started already, or did I arrive too early?"
After a tense talk with the boars, and one of them giving a call to inside, the fox was allowed through the gates. Nick was scouted by a warthog, who kept giving him unfriendly glances, but Nick did his best to ignore him. Soon, Nick was in front of the responsible for the visiting, who was a pig who was far friendlier than the warthog. He stood on 5'2'' feet tall, with a chubby physique, as it was consider stereotype for male pigs, and he had mostly pink skin, but he had a tuff of wild black fur on top of his head, which seemed forcefully put in order by using a generous amount of fur-gel. He was wearing an indigo suit that made him look very professional, and his brown eyes focused into the fox as he approached, and he opened a friendly smile on his snout as the fox approached and smiled back.
"Officer Wilde." The pig said, offering his hoof for the fox, who shook it. "Good to see you here."
"Yeah, I could say it is good to be here…" Nick said, taking off his sunglasses. "But honestly, prisons make me nervous."
"Yeah, I imagine." The pig admitted. "I was surprised when you called yesterday."
"Well, I was also surprised when you answered." Nick said to the pig. "So, who would guess that a guy who used to…"
"One more word and I'll put you in one of these cells." The pig said to the fox, making Nick stop. The fox merely looked at him and shrugged.
"Well, anyway, it is good to see an old face, and to know that I was not the only one who turned my life around… You did turned your life around, right?"
"Yes, I did." The pig said proudly. "I'm glad to leave all of that behind." He stopped himself as he noticed the looks that the warthog guard was giving, and he cleared his throat, going back to business. "So, I really have to say this is a surprise. I mean, I know that you are in her visitation list, but I never expected to have you ever coming to visit her at all."
"Yeah, I didn't expected it either." Nick said. "So, I assume that everything is in order, right? Can I go see her?"
"Oh, everything is approved and in order." The pig said, "You would not have been allowed inside if it wasn't. She even knows that you are coming to see her. Still… Are you sure you want to see her? I mean, some guys in directory were quite unsure of how she would react by seeing you."
"Will she be behind the bullet-proof glass?"
"Yes, that is how we do things here."
"Then I'll be fine."
With this, the pig soon was guiding Nick into the place where they visitation would happen.
"So, just to resume the rules of visitation." The pig said, as they walked to the door. "Normally you would be allowed for a max of one hour in there with her, but she will have therapy today this morning, so you will only have thirty minutes at most."
"It will be more than enough." Nick said, and he added, "So, she is really making therapy while in prison?"
"As per court orders. Prison time with therapy, if she ever wants to have hope of a parole." The pig said, and then continued with the regulations:
"You are not the only one visiting an inmate here, so you are to be as quiet as possible. This means, no yelling, no screaming and no cursing. That is, of course, for both of you." The pig continued, when they arrived in front of the door. Another boar was in there, and he approached with a metal detector. Nick soon was spreading his arms and legs to allow himself to be scanned.
"You are to be orderly and dignified during the visit, as not to cause a scene." The pig continued. "Either you or her can end the visit at any time by calling the guard. If any of you behaves in an inappropriate way or start to make a scene in there, an officer will end the visit immediately. Is all of that clear, Officer Wilde?" The pig asked, and Nick looked back at him before smiling his usual sly smirk.
"Clear as water, old buddy. So, shall we go see the devil in skirts?"
With this, Nick walked into the place followed from close by a boar. It was pretty much what you would expect to see from a police movie. The place was basically a long corridor with isles on each side, each isle led to a booth in which you were front to front with a bulletproof glass, with a telephone there that allowed you to talk to the inmate, who would be on the other side of the glass.
"On the left, the second-to-last booth" the boar informed, and Nick nodded, silently going his way.
As he walked, Nick saw that he definitely was not the only one making a visit to someone in that jail that day. There were other mammals in there, talking to their friends or relatives, who were inmates in there. Nick did not tried to eavesdrop into their talks, and neither he wanted to pry, this was not his business, still, his sharp senses, developed by years of being by his own on the streets, allowed him to somehow perceive what was going on, even though he didn't paid true attention to any of it.
Walking over, Nick soon reached the booth that he had been point at by the boar. Second-to-last one on the left. It was a smaller size of booth, one made for animals around his own size, as well as Judy's and, of course, the one mammals he had come in there to see.
Speaking of the wooly devil…
She was in there. It was possible to see that wooly ball of fluff on top of her head over the table on the other side of the bulletproof glass. Soon, urged on by the female pig officer by her side, and she climbed into the chair, while Nick sat on his own chair, and could take a good look at her in the first time in over a year.
She was only half the size of a regular ewe, with a big pom-pom like ball of wool on the top of her head, and with her big and floppy ears. She was now wearing an orange-colored set of clothing, with a nametag on her shirt. The glasses were the same, however, big and round and with a red framing, and behind then, her green eyes looked at the fox, in a cold way.
Yep, it was Dawn Bellwether all right.
The female pig said something – what Nick was not able to hear due to the thick glass separating the booths – to the sheep, who didn't even looked at her, before she walked out of sight. Nick had the feeling that she was still in the background, ready for anything.
For a long moment, they just looked at each other, Nick with indifference, and Bellwether with contempt, but both of them equally cold.
Okay, enough of that. Nick thought as he reached out for the phone on the booth and took it to his ear. Bellwether continued to look at him for a moment, before she slowly reached out for the phone and took it, before she slowly took it close to her own hear and mouth.
Soon, for the first time in a long time, Nick was wearing the voice of that dreaded ewe, and she spoke very frostily to him:
"Fox…"
Nick looked back at her, before he spoke:
"Sheep… So, now that the bleeding obvious is out of the way, I would like to have a word with you."
The sheep looked at him, and Nick could see a lot in her eyes. He could see, for instant, a lot of contempt that was directed at him. Nick had seen a lot of that during the time of her trial, before they put her away. The sheep continued to look at him for a while, before she spoke.
"So… How is Judy?"
"She is fine." Nick said to her, "Not thanks to your attempts against her life, you know."
She looked at him, and for a moment, Nick thought he had seen a fickle of what seemed to be guilt in her eyes. The sheep blinked, and took a hand to her head, letting out a groan that Nick could hear through the phone. She recovered quickly, though, and now a cold assertiveness was in her eyes.
"It was her own fault." Bellwether said. "I did tried to make her understand, but she was insistent on siding with you chompers. She really gave me no choice."
Now that's the psychotic sheep I know. Nick thought as he continued to look at the sheep, and soon, Bellwether was changing the subject.
"So, I was surprised when they told me that you, out of all mammals, wanted to see me." She looked at the fox with her eyes, and Nick only looked back at her. "So… does this has a reason, or you just wanted to see me wearing the jail uniform, fox?"
Nick looked at her, and he had to admit, a part of him was quite of pleased for seeing that evil sheep who tried to turn him into a savage and kill his best friend in jail. Still, he had come in here for a reason. He had come for information.
"Say, Dawn… can I call you Dawn?"
If looks could kill, Nick would be one very dead fox with the glare that the sheep was giving him at that moment.
"Anyway, have you seen the news lately?"
"They allow us to see two hours of tv a day, mostly to see soap operas and sports programs, but we do see the news once in a while. Besides, you know how they can smuggle radios and miniature tvs in here."
"Any chance you saw something about a busting to a ring of illegal fighting?"
"Kind of. Bunch of mammals in an old warehouse watching a fight." She said, confirming that she truly knew what Nick was talking about. "Why do you ask? Think I might have something to do with it? Because I don't, I have far more class than that."
"Well, the thing is…" Nick said, as he leaned forward, and said in the phone. "There was something that happened in there, and I think that you might know something about it."
"Really?" Bellwether asked, "And what would it be, fox? Because I can assure you I would have nothing to do with such events."
"It is about two animals I met in there." The fox said, "One of which said something much interesting regarding your name."
This peaked Bellwether's interest.
"Really? What did they said?"
"Something on the line of 'Bellwether's arrest by the mundanes does not changes her power in the city', or something of the like."
Bellwether perked into her seat, looking intently at the fox. It seemed that this had really caught her attention.
"Oh, you know something of what they are talking about?" Nick said, noticing the change in her behavior. "So, does that means anything to you?"
The sheep continued to look at him, and she said, "Did they spoke anything else?" The tune that she used was not hostile, but was inquisitive, as if she was the one who was interrogating Nick in the matter.
"Well, the tiger I talked with said a few more things." Nick admitted. "He called me a 'freelancer', and said that I shouldn't 'use the name of the Wilde clan'. Does any of that say something to you?"
Bellwether kept looking at him, and she looked down, and she seemed to be thinking. Could it be that she was reflecting either or not she should reveal something to the fox?
"So, he just came to you and told you these things?" The sheep asked. Nick didn't quite liked the direction things were taking, and he wanted to keep it on track.
"Look, I really would like some answers." Nick said to her, "The tiger seems to think that you still have power over the city even from jail, and I want to know why, also, if I should be worried about it."
The sheep continued to stare at him. "I can end this at any moment, I just need to call the guard." The sheep said, "You have come here to see me, so it just says how much you want your 'answers'. But I don't just give things to others." Bellwether said, "So… you want me to tell you things, you will have to tell me things before."
Nick looked at her, and he pondered what he should do at that moment. The sheep seemed like she knew something, by the way she acted, and she seemed to want to know what Nick knew. That much the fox could tell, and the idea of giving something to that evil sheep, either it was an information or a sliver of bubblegum, was something that really bothered the fox. However, Nick knew that he needed his answers, and he had exhausted his own resources.
What would she even be able to do with such information, in first place?
Sighing, Nick decided to tell her a bit more. He gave her a very brief explaining of how he first met the two mammals days before. About what he had eavesdropped, and about how they vanished.
"That is basically it." Nick admitted to her. "I found it strange at the moment, but I kind of forgot it. I had other things to worry. The Darkest Hour happened on that night. You know what is the Darkest Hour, right?"
"I might be in jail, but I'm not ignorant." Bellwether said, and she said: "I know what happened in Fangtropolis. It was a time when they allowed us extra tv time, we were going to watch the concert when we saw it happening. I saw … I saw them all dying … I know that these… that these mammals all." Bellwether said, and she seemed to have a troubled expression. She winced and took a hoof to her head.
Nick perked a little at this, and he looked at her.
She took a few moments to recover, and now her look was icy as she looked back at the fox.
"But still." She said to him, "The city was mostly inhabited by savages. It is not like the loss was that great." She had a small smile as she said this, "Quite convenient that it happened right when they were celebrating for them, right? Guess their plans for the Pred-Pride Concert didn't pan out."
Nick gave her a very icy look, as he struggled to keep his face as neutral as possible.
"Going back to subject." The fox said, "Do you know anything of what these two were talking? About the 'ley lines', or 'clans'?"
"You would really like to know, wouldn't you?" Bellwether said, and she seemed to take pleasure in knowing that she had something that Nick wanted. "Do you want to know what the strange mammals were talking about so you think that this way you will be able to understand what's going on."
She was testing him. Nick knew that, but right now, the fox had little patient for this.
"Look, you can be in the mood for games, but I am not. I have seen some pretty messed up stuff, and I want to understand what is going on. So you can either talk to me, or I can turn around and leave now, but don't waste my time, okay?"
Nick was as objective and clear as possible, and the ewe on the other side of the glass was now looking at him. Her expression was one of mild surprise. For a moment, Nick thought that she was just surprised that he had decided to set the path of the conversation by being assertive. However, it was only then that Nick realized that he had made somewhat of a mistake.
"What have you seen?"
Nick could have groaned at his own mistake, but he was still keeping his front.
"Oh, I see a lot of things, Bellwether. Not many of them I would like to share with you."
"What have you seen?" The ewe insisted, and the expression on her face made it clear that she was not going to let go of that specific matter.
"Just give me some information, okay?"
"Tell me what you have seen!"
"Why should I?"
"Because otherwise I'll leave now and let you to wonder if you really saw what you saw or if you are going mad!"
The ewe knew how to make a point, and the fact that she had said that was something that somehow confirmed to Nick that she indeed knew something.
Nick once more weighted if he should either tell her or not.
It was not of her business, seriously, but again, she would have no use to what he would say to her (as far as he knew). If anything, she was not going to believe him. Nick could care if she was someone he was close to and whose opinion he valued. However, she was just the criminal who had tried to tear the city apart. Who cared about her opinion? Nick surely didn't.
The fox took a look around, to make sure that no one was eavesdropping. He then leaned back over the desk of his booth, and whispered to the ewe on the phone.
"Okay. Here is what I saw…"
Nick knew that giving information on ongoing investigations was a serious fault an officer could make, especially when giving them to someone like Bellwether, who was a convicted criminal, still serving her jail time. Still, Nick knew very well that what he was telling her would not be in the official version, so the chances of it coming back to bite him were minimal. Also, it was very likely that no one would believe her if she tried to use it against him, as all he had to do was deny it.
Nick gave her a very brief resume of what he had witnessed, including the magic butterfly, the coyote with his rope, and the tiger who exploded the ground by stomping.
"… and Wolfard seems like he doesn't remember any of it." Nick finished. "As if they have scrambled his memory or something."
Bellwether had remained silent as Nick talked, and she looked at the fox very intently as he finished explaining. Her expression had morphed while Nick explained. From inquisition, she had gone into shock. Then she slowly morphed into a cold seriousness as she looked intently at the fox.
"So, do you think I'm crazy or not?" Nick asked her. The ewe continued to look at him, her face serious and stony.
"Have you told about it to anyone?" She asked him. "Have you told Judy?"
"Can you tell me something about all of that or not?" Nick pressed on. "What was that? Who were these two? What the heck is going on?"
Bellwether looked at him for a few moments. Then she sighed, putting her head down and shaking it slightly. Nick looked at her, and he could hear her muttering something on the other line. It was hard to understand for she was mumbling, but Nick could notice that she seemed distraught over something.
At some point, Bellwether winced slightly, as she took a hoof to her head once more. She trembled a little bit, but soon, she calmed down, and Nick now could make out better what she was saying:
"I have to do it." Nick heard her through the phone. "This is not some occasion of personal gain. It is a serious matter… I have to do it, the fox has seen too much… I need to do it… He have seen too much…"
The way she spoke made Nick really nervous.
The ewe soon raised her eyes, and she was now looking at the fox, as she reached out and removed her glasses, letting Nick stare directly (if you don't count the bulletproof glass) in her lime-green eyes.
"Nicholas…" Bellwether said, as sweetly as she could, "You have seen such strange things… You are so worried about them… You need to relax."
"H-hey. Hey! What are you doing?" Nick said, and the ewe continued.
"So much trouble, so much worry… You need to stop worrying about it… It is not worth that much worry. It is not worthy putting you through this turmoil… You need to let it go… To forget it… Just listen to me and forget it all, let it all go… You can trust me, Nicholas."
Nick stared at her, and for a moment he had the impression that his vision as blurring. However, this passed as soon as Nick blinked, and he now looked intently at the ewe that was looking at him.
"Oh, you mean, trusting the crazy ewe who tried to make me murder my friend? What about, no?"
Bellwether looked at him for a while, surprised.
"This… this should have… How? You don't have…" She said, but she stopped herself, and she looked at the fox. "Are… are your circuits open?"
"My… circuits?" Nick asked her.
"No, no, this can't be… They wouldn't have allowed you to simply go if you… If they knew… Did she lied?"
"Wait, who lied?" Nick said, trying to get answers. "If who knew what? What the heck are you talking about?"
Bellwether looked intently at the fox, and Nick knew it by looking in her eyes.
"You know exactly what is going on, don't you?"
She said nothing, and kept looking at the fox, as if she was the one trying to figure him out.
"The most fundamental basis is that you must be able to let them open and realize the exchange between yourself and the world around you." Bellwether said to him, making Nick look confused at her. "Does that phrase means anything to you, fox?"
Nick stared at the ewe for a while.
"Okay, is that a guessing game? Because I don't have the slightest idea of what you just said could mean."
Bellwether scoffed, "Then there is nothing to talk between you and me, fox." She said to him, "You should just forget what you saw and try to move on with your normal life, just like she did."
Nick looked at the ewe, and she continue to look at him.
"Yeah, you should just give up on everything and go on for a 'normal life', just like she did…" The ewe continued, and her face was hardened. However, she blinked a little, her expression softening as she looked down. "She did deserved it… to have a normal life… after all she'd been through… S-she was so nice to me… GAH!"
Suddenly, Bellwether flinched hard as she grabbed the side of her head, groaning. Nick blinked as he looked at the ewe. She remained like that for a few moments, nearly a minute, actually, before she rose her head to look at Nick again.
"Then again, she was weak." Bellwether continued, her face once more hardened. "For a chomper, she just wasn't fit for it. It is actually no surprise that you aren't either." She was looking straight at Nick. "If you did got involved you would probably be dead within a day, and they would never find your corpse."
The tone of her was very condescending, and Nick didn't quite liked it. Not to mention how weird that ewe seemed to be acting…
"Yeah, I guess you should add some hours to that mandatory therapy of yours." Nick said to her. "Either that or get a new therapist, because this one is probably not good."
She stopped smiling after Nick said that.
"I mean, you have been acting even more deranged than you seemed the last time I saw you, so I guess that therapist is not really helping. Did he got his degree paper from a cereal box, or something?"
"DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT!"
The ewe's explosion was so sudden that Nick almost dropped his phone. The ewe was now standing on her chair as she looked at the fox with hate in her eyes.
"Don't you dare talk like that about Krys!" She said to him, her voice dripping with anger. "He was the only one in here who was nice to me! The only one who tried to help me in any way! He is the only… huhh."
The Ewe interrupted her tirade as she took a hoof to her head once more, and Nick was now looking at her. Not only that, but so was the prison warden that brought the ewe, and some of the prisoners who had gotten startled by her outburst, and now were looking to see what it was about.
"H-he was nice to me… but he is just another…" The ewe said, as she was shaking her head and groaning. "He helped me. He was nice to me… But he is just another one… B-but he is always trying to help me, even though I am mean to him… H-he deserves me to be mean, but still he tries to help me, and is so kind and thoughtful… But he is still… h-he is still a…"
Nick could hardly hear anything else, for in that moment, the ewe finally dropped her phone. Now she was on her knees with both hooves on her head. She was doubling over and she seemed like she was in great pain.
Nick could only look at her as the officer came and soon was taking the ewe away. Nick remained in the spot, and as he stared at the empty chair from which the ewe had just been taken, he was only able to think one thing:
What the eff just happened?
**********************
"Just what did you say to make her get like that?" The pig said as Nick was walked across the corridors. "They had to take her straight to the medical wing, saying that she was frantic."
"Beats me." Nick said to the pig. "I just asked her some questions and then she started to act strange." Nick said. "By the way, she was really strange back then, she kept having headaches. Maybe you guys should check her up."
"We already are." The pig said, "Oh, Wilde, I don't know what you two talked about, but it certainly made her really nervous. I can already imagine what her therapist is going to say-"
"You don't have to imagine." Said a voice from in front of them, and the two mammals stopped to look at the mammal that was in front of them.
The canine-like animal was about as tall as Nick, standing on around four feet tall, and his built was slim. He was wearing a brown coat, with a white shirt and black social pants. The fur on his head was reddish-orange, with white on his muzzle and down his neck, and the fur on his paws – which had black fingerless gloves in them – and feet was of a darker shade than the fur on his head. He was carrying a bag on his shoulder, and he had a long and bushy tail with a white tip. There was an extra scruff of fur on the back of his neck and head, which had been tied with little "pigtails". The fox's eyes were of a pale-yellow coloration, and they looked intently at the two animals.
"Mr. Pigford." The fox said, looking at the pig, who shrunk a little bit. "What is that I heard about my patient having a nervous crisis due to a visitation?"
"Oh… I-I, I just… I-it was… huhhh."
While the pig seemed to try and come with an explanation, Nick could only stare at the mammal in front of him.
He is a fox… He is a therapist and he is a fox like me! And he is Dawn Bellwether's therapist! Oh, crap…
Nick then noticed that the other fox was looking intently at him.
"Must I assume that you are the one who caused Bellwether to have a nervous crisis?" He asked, his tone professional, but his gaze icy. Nick all of sudden felt small under the gaze of the other fox, however, he managed to cover it up with his usual attitude, and he said:
"Maybe… Actually, I just talked to her a bit and she suddenly started to act strange. I assume that her therapy still needs some time to pay off." As Nick said that, the gaze of the other fox became even icier.
"So, I guess you two don't know each other yet, right?" The pig said, trying to break the tension that was building in between the two animals. "This is Officer Nick Wilde, of the ZPD, you probably heard of him already from Bellwether." He said to the fox in coat, and he continued:
"Wilde, this is Dc. Krystin Mieczyslaw. He is Dawn Bellwether's appointed therapist."
"Wha- 'Mitch sauve'?" Nick said, and the other fox was quick to correct him:
"Mieczyslaw. Me-etch-ee-sauve. M-I-E-C-Z-Y-S-L-A-W." The expression of the fox was indifferent as he explained it, and Nick continued to look at him.
"Man… that surely is a mouthful. Is it Zuusian or something?"
"Is Polish, Officer Wilde." The fox continued, "Now, if I might ask you: what was that you did to my patient to make her have a crisis?"
"Me? I did nothing." Nick said, trying to look as innocent as possible. "I'm just in there, talking to her, and all of sudden she acts like her head is hurting. Maybe the wool has started growing to inside of her skull, that would explain a lot of things."
The doctor continued to look at the fox. He seemed completely unimpressed and unamused.
"What exactly did you two talked about?" The fox asked, and Nick shrugged.
"Well, you can ask her yourself during the therapy. By the way you should try something new, because I think that whatever you are doing is not exactly working."
"So, Officer Wilde was just leaving." The pig tried to say. "Bellwether is just being checked, you can go and check on her yourself, it you want, Doctor." The pig looked like he was trying to avoid a situation from escalating, but the other fox was fixated in Nick.
"So, you really think that she is not progressing?" He asked the other fox, and his expression was not very positive. Nick said nothing, and the other tod sighed, "Yeah, I had an impression like that… I feel that we make progress, but all of sudden it is like something goes wrong and there is a set back… I just don't understand…"
The air sudden got heavier, and it seemed that the other fox was not satisfied with his work. After all, he was a therapist, and his job was to help the patients improve and feel better. Something that seemed not to be working with Bellwether, if what Nick saw was of any indication.
The fox sighed. "Guess I'm not a good therapist after all."
Nick looked at the vulpine, and as a fellow fox, he could not help but feel for him somehow.
"Well, you are not a bad therapist." Nick said, "At least, Bellwether don't think so, seeing how she tried to defend you."
This caught the tod's attention, making he look up at Nick.
"Dawn- I mean, Bellwether defended me?"
Nick looked at him, and he was a little bit awkward in this. "Yeah, she did… You see, I might have made some commentaries about your work with her, and she didn't took it nicely. She told me to back off, or at least she tried."
"Tried?" The doctor asked. "What do you mean by 'tried'?"
"Well, it seemed like she wanted to defend you." Nick admitted to him. "But then she started getting strange. She was talking strange and it seemed like she was having a brute headache. She kept trying to say nice things about you and it got worse…" Nick said, and soon, he was saying something that was on his mind, even if it seemed to be strange.
"It was like trying to defend you made her head hurt."
There was a brief silence, and Nick simply shrugged. "Yeah, I guess that what happens if you hate predators as much as she does. Maybe you should try working along these lines with her." Nick said, in a playful tone.
"… yeah…" The fox said, seeming like he was in deep thought. "Maybe I should…" He was looking at the ground, and he started walking down the hallway, passing by both mammals as if he had forgotten of their existence. Nick noticed that while he was walking he seemed that he was mumbling something.
The two mammals walked as the fox in a coat walked down the hallway. Both of them in silence as they looked at this.
"Is he like that normally?" Nick asked, and Pigford looked at him, and shrugged.
"They say that he is eccentric, but very good. Or at least I was told." He said to the fox. "Do you believe he came all the way from Roarope only to be Bellwether's exclusive therapist?" The pig said, and this, of course, got Nick interested.
He looked at the walking tod a bit more as he walked down the hallway, before Nick and Pigford both went their own way down the hallway.
As they turned to leave, they failed to notice that the doctor had stopped and was now looking over his shoulder at them.
No. Not at them.
Dc. Mieczyslaw was looking very intently at Nick as the other fox walked down the hallway.
**********************
That trip had not been very much like Nick had expected. But again, Nick was not really sure of what he was really expecting of this.
Nick never truly understood why Bellwether had added him in her visiting list. Maybe because she hoped that he would one day come so she could see him in the eyes? Maybe she was a bit of a masochist?
Nick also wouldn't discard the possibility that the ewe had so little close people that she would include the fox who helped bring her down into the list of people who she would like to come and see her.
Still, Nick had decided to use it on his favor after his other attempts in finding answers proved fruitless. He decided it based only on what the tiger had said about Bellwether. It was a longshot, but it was still something.
The visitation has left Nick with more questions than before, and few answers (if any at all).
The ewe knew something, that much Nick was sure. The way that she spoke, and the things that she said. Nick could not make sense of most of it, but he still knew that she knew something.
Could he had been able to make her talk a bit more if he had put a little more pressure? Would she even want to talk to him and give him any form of answer? And what was that she tried to do when she told him to forget the thing and move on with his normal life? What was she even talking about when she mentioned "her"? Who even was "her"?
As Nick walked into the Zuber that had just arrived, the fox could only think that this trip did not gave him the kind of information that he wanted. Well, at least there was no negative repercussions on this little fieldtrip.
His cellphone dinged, and Nick soon was looking at it, to see that he had received a message from Judy.
NICK! THE CHIEF RECEIVED A PHONE CALL FROM BELLWETHER'S THERAPIST SAYING THAT YOU WENT TO BOARWOOD TO HARASS HER! YOU ARE IN TROUBLE!
