Chapter Text

I felt at my face. Oh god it was real! I was a bunny again!

I found myself grinning from ear to ear. My hoodie was just a giant robe and pants were a dim memory, but who cared! I was me!

"YES!!!" I cried, pumping my fist in the air.

If anything that just made the staring from the rest of the car intensify.

I blinked. "Uh... Hi guys. Um... So... Yeah, I was a werewolf for a bit there, but I think I'm better now?"

"No. You're not." Wolford interjected.

Every mammal in the car turned to him. The grey wolf just sighed. "Judy, I'm glad you're in remission, but it's just a matter of time before you turn back, and when you do your mental state worse."

I slipped out of Nick's grip and hopped over to the wolf, yanking him down to face me. The wolf was completely unphased, just like always. It was really starting to really get on my nerves.

I grit my teeth. "Wolford, do you have anything else you can tell us about my condition other than depressing doomsaying? I don't know, some cheerful anecdotes? Maybe a cure?"

Okay, that got a rise out of him. "I already told you Judy, the cure is you putting it in someone else and then killing them. If you recall, I offered to sacrifice myself for you and all I got for it was chained!" He rattled his handcuffs for emphasis.

I felt my fur raise up, I couldn't remember the last time I'd felt this... furious with someone. "That wasn't how it started though, was it? You were planning to take me away weren't you? Take your colleague, your friend out and just kill her in the back of your car..." I felt my paw forming a fist. "Isn't that right, Wolfy?"

Francine reached shaky a hand over to my shoulder. "Judy..."

I slapped it away.

The elephant's hand, an object nearly twice my size, shot out to the side and slammed against the wall of the APC, hard. Francine let out a cry of pain.

I turned to her, all the rage draining in an instant. "Francine!"

I hopped over to the elephant, now clutching at her hand and staring at me. Words just started spilling out of my mouth. "Oh god, I'm so sorry, I didn't know that would happen, and I shouldn't have done that anyway and I..."

She held up the hand. "It's okay Hopps... No real damage done." The hand was rough, and shaking more than a little, but whole. The elephant forced on a confident smirk. "Not going to lie, that was pretty scary though. I mean, I know you're tough and all, but that..." Her smile was growing more strained by the second.

I looked down at my paws. "I... I'm sorry." I had no idea what had happened there. I had no idea what any of this meant.

But my temper was getting worse. That much was certain. Could Wolford be right? Was I going to turn into some sort of monster. Was I going to-

"Carrots." Came a voice.

I turned to see Nick Wilde looking down at me. There was no fear in his eyes, only warmth. He held out a paw. "You are going to be okay. You are Judy Hopps, and you will never hurt the people you care about. And for the record? That's everyone."

He said it with perfect assurance. He really believed in me, much, much more than I'd ever believed in myself.

Just like that the tears started flowing. I'd been holding them back for far too long. I ran up to him and hugged him, just sobbing like a baby. My body was wrong, my mind was wrong, my friends were wrong... It was too much. It was all way too much.

When the tears dried up, Nick turned to the rest of the car. Still holding me tight. "We need a game plan."

Fangmeyer let out a breath. "What we need is backup, which would be easier to get if the ZPD wasn't compromised. We're in way, way over our heads here Wilde... " The white wolf buried his face in his paws. "I can't believe there was a secret organization hiding out right under our noses and we never even suspected."

Wolford let out a sad chuckle. "Don't beat yourself up Greg, we don't really do much aside from passing along rumors. Besides, we've been dancing around Bogo for decades, it's not like we don't have practice."

My ears perked up. "Wait a second. You're saying is the Chief isn't with you?"

The grey wolf's ears flattened. "What? No! I mean-" He sighed, visibly drooping. "Damn it..."

#

Getting Bogo on Muzzletime was surprisingly easy. Nick had apparently filched his personal number a while ago. "Being designated driver has its privileges." He explained. The rest was just luck and the nightmarish abuse of officers of the law that was the (admittedly occasional) 24 hour shift.

The APC's computer screen blinked to life and the image of the buffalo winked on. "Officer Pennington? Where have you been? There's been an all out gang war going on! I expect my officers to-"

Francine held up her hands, now much more steady. "Sir, I can explain, in fact I can explain in video. I'm sending you a file right now. Keep it quiet, we have reason to believe there may be moles in the ZPD."

Bogo balked. "What!? Officer that is a serious accusation!"

The elephant sighed. "I don't want to believe it any more than you do sir, but the evidence is strong. Please, just watch the video. With earbuds ideally. There's a written report to go with it."

The Bogo considered her words, then sighed. "If this is a prank Pennington, it will cost you your badge. I'll call back in a moment."

It was more than a moment, it was 20 agonizing minutes during which the entirety of the car was more or less silent and we prayed the dash cams sold our story. Nick looked like he wanted to crack a joke a few times, but the atmosphere was too tense for even his sense of comedic timing.

When Bogo Called back he looked more than haunted. There were donut crumbs on his desk. That was never a good sign. "Please God tell me this is a prank."

"It... Wouldn't be very funny sir." Nick replied.

Bogo took off his glasses. He suddenly looked very, very old. "You know, I was really hoping when I had to pry out plants from the Big Syndicate it would be the last time I had to deal with turncoats."

Wolford, still restrained in the back of the car, spoke up. "Sir! I am not a turn coat, and neither is anyone else in the department. The only thing we care about is keeping people sa-"

The cheif shot the wolf a look that could melt steel. "Bring him over." He said. His voice was cool. Calculating even.

It chilled me more than any time he'd screamed.

Francine reached back and carried the grey wolf forward.

Wolford did not struggle. For the first time since he'd revealed himself, Wolford looked scared. "S-Sir..." He managed.

"Officer Wolford," Bogo began. "You are hereby relieved of duty pending investigation into your actions and association with criminal elements."

"Sir I-"

"Shut. The Fuck. Up." Our chief returned. "Whatever excuse you had about 'the greater good' or whatever asinine nonsense those monsters fed you can wait. I trusted you, and you used that trust to aid an organization that tried to murder one of my officers. Now, I know how your kind works, so I'm not going to bother with the usual interrogation tactics, but I want you to think long and hard about whether your badge actually meant anything the next time you open your muzzle." The Chief turned to the Elephant in front of him. "Put him back Pennington."

Francine picked up the stunned, broken wolf with her trunk and placed him gently back in the rear of the car. Her expression was very tight. Still, she forced an extremely uneasy smile and turned back to the screen. "Sir, not that the ZPD being compromised isn't absolutely horrifying, I'm right there with you, but I have to ask: aren't you a little more concerned about, you know, Hopps being a freaking Werewolf!" Her composure had disintegrated somewhat at the end there. Honestly I couldn't blame her.

Fangmeyer put a comforting paw on his partner's side and turned to the phone. "I have to say chief, that is pretty damn world shattering. I'm kind of still not convinced this isn't an acid trip."

The buffalo gave out a grim snort. "Likewise. Still racist fairy tales aren't something I know how to deal with, so I'm focusing on what I can. I'm going to make some calls to internal affairs. Meanwhile I have three good officers and that's a start."

"Four sir." I was sick and tired of...

I noticed my anger and forced it down. The cheif wasn't ignoring me, there was just a lot going on. It was the truth. Period.

The chief sighed. His expression was genuinely sympathetic. "Hopps, you're hurt. You were on medical leave before and that hasn't changed just because the form of your injury has." The buffalo shifted his jaw, considering. "Still, I know you and no matter what I tell you you're not going to let this rest... Alright, you want an assignment? here it is. You are hereby tasked with figuring out what the hell this magical nonsense is and how it changes our operations. I shall expect a report and a briefing as soon as reasonably possible and I want you too keeping as far off the streets as you can while you do it. And I swear to god if you complain to me about not letting you tear out there and bring me all of these bastard's heads." He blinked, turning away for a moment. "I honestly couldn't blame you. But we are servants of the peace Hopps, and right now what we need to keep it is information." His expression softened. "Also, if you do have any reason to believe you are... Compromised," He let out a breath. "Just stay safe, and stay alive."

And the shivers just kept coming. I shot him a salute. "Yes sir."

He then moved on to logistical. "Is your current location secure?"

Nick shook his head. "They'll probably come by and comb the spot pretty soon. I know a place we can lay low though."

The chief nodded. "Good. Stay secure until I can arrange an interview with the obvious lead. Keep the line open and I'll contact you when I have something."

None of us knew what to make of that. Fangmeyer raised his hand. "Uh... Sir? What obvious lead."

The chief grew a wry smile. "This is why they pay me the intermediate bucks. You ran into a wolf paramilitary organization concerned with animals going savage and not one of you flat foots made the connection..."