The Bunny and the Fox: A Wildehopps Fanfiction

3: "It's Not Like We Have A Choice."

The entire room was silent.

"Animal...trafficking?" A new recruit, Luna, asked, her light eyes wide as she stared at Chief Bogo. She wasn't the only one staring at him like he had lost his mind; no, the entire room had hushed, their eyes all unblinking as they waited for an explanation.

Judy herself was amongst them. She'd just been about to leave when he called everyone into the main role-call area, figuring that he had another surprise celebration or promotion to talk about. God, how wrong she was.

"Yes," the chief said wearily. His eyes were dropping, and he was hunched over the podium, gripping it as if he would fall over without it's support. "Unfortunately, there've been a drastic number of recent cases regarding animals being taken from their homes and sold to who-knows-where."

If it was even possible, the room got quieter. Officers shared fearful glances with each other, nobody wanting to speak up or ask another question in fear of the chief's response. Judy snuck a glance over to Nick, who was sitting beside her (even though she thought he'd have found a different seat because of her outburst earlier). There was no outward sign of his distress - his ears weren't flat against his head, his paws gently set on the table - but his eyes gave his emotions away.

He was terrified, as they all were.

No, terrified wasn't the correct word to describe how the officers were feeling. It was more of a fearful confusion, since animal trafficking hadn't been heard of in over a century, and many of the younger members weren't even sure what it meant.

It stayed quiet in the room for a few nerve-racking moments as the chief stared at the papers in front of him on the podium. With a long, exhausted sigh, he sat upright and made eye contact with each of the officers. 

"I know how you're all feeling," he mumbled, rubbing at his eyes. "And I know this probably makes no sense to some of you. But this is our job, and we're going to do it damn well." 

No one spoke. 

"This task is our main priority," he said, stretching his neck and clenching his jaw. "From now on, I want every officer focusing on keeping our citizens safe. Some detectives are on their way to help us with the case, and I've given them permission to act as your superior. They can chose any of you to help them if they feel the need, and you will listen to what they command without objection. Understood?"

Judy nodded along with everyone else, her eyes wide still. She started softly tapping the desk, trying to calm herself down. Animal trafficking? In Zootopia? It seemed like something you'd see in a horror movie, but not something that you'd see in real life. 

"Every officer will be required to work with their partner, and until we get this situation under control, you should stay with them as often as you can." He snuck a pointed glance to Judy, who gulped. Not only was a shitty thing going on, but now she had to work with someone who probably- no, who definitely hated her. She hadn't slept in a week, she was on the verge of a meltdown, and the animal she had to work with couldn't even look her in the eye. 

"Nick-"

"Officer Hopps?" He asked, cutting her off without even looking at her. 

Judy sighed. "Officer Wilde. Are you sure you and I can-"

He cut her off again. "It's not like we have a choice. Just suck it up."

She nodded. 

"Please head home," Bogo said, stepping away from the podium. "And make sure you rest up. It's going to be a long day tomorrow." 

*

"How is it going?"

A growl emitted from the corner of the room. "That bastard kid bit me!"

The first figure let out a purr. "Feisty. Our client likes that in his concubines. He will love this little brat we found for him."

"Good. Once he has his way with this one, we can get our pay."

"Patience, now. Patience."

*

A/N

Wow...it's been a while. That's for sure. 

I apologise for my absence. I can't say I'm feeling anywhere close to better, but it will take a very long time for that to happen, haha. I hope you guys haven't lost interest while waiting for me!

And sorry this chapter was so short, I've had little time to write recently.

Thank you all for being patient. I'll update as soon as I can. Love you all <3

- Levi