#at least the blood pressure cuff has an excuse to be left laying around

[earthdeep]

parents most of the way through this little cardboard keg thing of red wine, like it's a box with a tap connected to an inner bladder

anyway, for whatever reason they have removed the plastic bag from its shell, and I swear to god I wandered into the living room and thought they'd left a blood bag sitting out

note that my first instinct was not to question the presence of a blood bag in our house, but instead to be beleaguered at them leaving medical supplies out in the open when they should clearly be refrigerated.

I think maybe my brain is on its last legs rn...

[fruitcoops]

Accidental Family

Hey folks! This is one of two fics for the six month celebration of this blog! Woohoo! Blood on the Ice is one of the most popular series I've written, and expanding it into Josie’s (@prohibitionincurls ) Winging It world with her was unbelievably fun. Disclaimer: one of the OCs has ADHD and it is a central theme of the story--while Josie based some of his characteristics on her own experience, we both recognize that this is not a one-size-fits-all situation. Thank you again for six amazing months, and I hope you enjoy!

Lots of love,

Eve <3

TW for mentioned injury

“Oh my god, they’re gonna kill me,” the kid whispered in a wavering voice, sounding much younger than he actually was as he left the penalty box.

“They’re not going to kill you,” Bowie soothed, still watching the tunnel where Remus had disappeared mere minutes earlier. From what he saw, there had been a bit of blood, but the bruising didn’t look too bad. Then again, there had barely been enough time for anything to visibly swell before he was whisked away.

“Can I just stay in the box?” Felix cast a look toward the Lions bench and his voice cracked. “They can’t yell at me in the box, right?”

“Hey. Look at me, Marty.” Bowie took him by the shoulders and gave him a gentle shake. “The Lions are good guys. They’re not going to hurt you, but you did just fuck up one of their best friends. What would you do if someone hit me in the face?”

“Come on, man, I’m a terrible fighter. I don’t know how well I’d be able to defend your honor after something like that. It was an accident. Do you think they know it was an accident? Should I go tell them?”

“I know. They know. Loops definitely knows. But that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re a little cold at first.” He ruffled the rookie’s hair and turned back to the game; the Lions were moving fast and brutal, slicing right through their defense for yet another goal. Shit. Felix clearly felt bad enough already--losing the game wouldn’t make him feel any better. 

They ended up losing the game.

Bowie had figured it might happen; he would have had the same fire if it had been his teammate that got clocked like that. Hell, he used to have the same fire when he and Remus had played together, so he completely understood. 

That did not change the fact that once they got home, Felix was still borderline inconsolable. The 18-year-old wasn’t technically billeting with them, but the apartment he was renting just so happened to be in the same building, on the same floor, and right across the hall from his and Simon’s. This led to an informal adoption of the rookie and he was around their house at least five times a week, if not more. 

Felix Martin was a good kid, and that idea was confirmed when Kronk immediately took a liking to him; the cat loved nobody but the three of them. Bowie was grateful that he and Simon were there to quell some of the homesickness that came from moving out to a new city on his own for the first time. The transition was always tough, but they could provide a little support.

They parted ways from the team when the bus got back from the rink and drove to their building in silence. Once they made their way up the stairs and down the hall, Felix moved to go back to his apartment. 

“Nope,” Bowie said immediately, placing a hand on his shoulder and steering him through the door to his and Simon’s place. It wasn’t a good idea for Felix to be alone right now--there was nothing to do alone after a loss aside from beat himself up about it, and Bowie would be damned before he let that happen. 

Simon and Kronk were perched on the couch, but they both moved into the kitchen as soon as the door clicked closed. Simon took one look at the pair and carefully wrapped his arms around Felix; the kid practically melted. The three of them stood there for a moment until Simon pulled back a bit and tilted his head toward the living room. Felix nodded and Bowie followed the two, sharing the couch with Simon while the rookie curled up in the large armchair diagonal to them. 

He...well, if Bowie was being honest, Felix looked like hell. He chewed his lower lip like an anxious beaver and fiddled with the loose threads of the closest armrest; everything about him screamed discomfort. Bowie caught Simon’s worried glance in his periphery and let out a slow breath, trying to relieve at least a little of the tension in the room.

“You don’t have to relive it if you don’t want to. I saw the game. But if you want to talk about it…” Simon trailed off with a significant look.

Felix sighed and his shoulders caved in a bit. “It was just one of those moments. All of a sudden, I didn’t really have a grasp on what was going on, which feels like shit because I’ve been doing pretty well so far. I dunno. It was just...bad.” 

That was it. Bowie knew Felix had seemed a little off. When Felix mentioned he had ADHD at the start of the season during one of their ‘getting to know your neighbor’ chats, Bowie hadn’t thought much of it. But as they grew closer, he began to notice when Felix forgot to eat or drink, or got overwhelmingly excited about something, or when he suddenly spaced out. It wasn’t just Felix being Felix.

The whole team stepped up and became intensely protective, of course. They not only helped him remember meal times, but also scheduling, directions, and everything in between. Bowie felt especially responsible for reasons he didn’t entirely understand--there was just something about the kid’s sweet heart that struck a chord.

He also knew that Felix was highly emotionally intelligent, but had no concept of whether people liked him or not. He was someone who assumed the worst, all the time. So, Bowie decided to do the only thing he knew would work: after a few more beats of uncomfortable silence, he pulled his phone out, tapped a few buttons, and pressed ‘call’.

“Hey, Remus, are you alive?” 

An amused snort came from the speaker even as Felix blanched. “Hello to you, too, Bowie. Jeez, you’re worse than Sirius.  I’m one hundred percent alive, just a little swollen. Your rookie’s got a helluva shot, but maybe tell the kid to hit the puck and not my face next time.” 

Felix flushed red and put his face between his knees, though hearing the laughter in Remus’s voice and knowing that he was okay clearly took some of the weight off his shoulders. Bowie whooped internally and shot him a quick, reassuring smile.

“Yeah, the kid’s got spirit, but he’s also got ADHD. He’s great most of the time, but sometimes under extreme pressure he can’t figure out where the fuck he--or anything else around him--is. Something about focusing or neurons firing the wrong way, maybe? Either way, it’s why he’s a terrible fuckin’ driver.”

Felix flopped back against the chair with a groan. “How the hell am I supposed to know how far away the cars around me are based on the mirrors? And how am I supposed to park?!” 

Remus’s laugh echoed once again. “Don’t ask me, kid, I’m not allowed to drive, either. Not because I’m ADHD, but because I’m terrible at it.” 

“You can say that again!” a muffled voice called from behind Remus. 

“Please excuse my fiance,” Remus said politely. “He’s a jackass who’s trying to make me lay down again.”

Felix smiled, though it was a bit pained. “I didn’t get a chance to apologize earlier. That stick was totally on me. And--I mean, I heard some of the guys talking afterward and it sounded like you got pretty banged up, so I’m really sorry. Like, really sorry.”

“Hey, woah, you’re fine,” Remus soothed. Bowie recognized his ‘talking to newbies’ voice and hid a smile in the cuff of his hoodie. “It’s the name of the game, after all. Did Bowie ever tell you about the time I accidentally checked him into a wall? Or when I broke his visor with a puck? For context, this was when we were on the same team.”

“Or that time you kicked my legs out from under me and sent me sprawling across the ice during practice.”

“That one was on purpose.” 

Bowie glared at the phone, but Felix was snickering and his grin was genuine. It calmed him a bit. “Thanks, Loops.”

“No problem, kiddo.” Remus paused for a moment, then mumbled something inaudible to someone in the background before clearing his throat. “Bowie.”

“Yes?” Remus had never been a wild card, per se, but he certainly had a knack for asking strange questions out of the blue.

“Did you accidentally adopt a child or do my ears deceive me?”

Bowie was about to laugh at the absurdity of it, but then he took a moment to think, looking back and forth between Simon and Felix. “Fuckin’--maybe I did, Re, but he’s ours now. And if that’s the case, I’m going to formally request that you tell your fiance to quit being mean to my son.”

Remus laughed on the other end of the line. “Will do. Felix seems like a sweetheart, I’m glad he’s got you two.” 

Bowie nodded with a slight smile, even though Remus couldn’t see him. “So are we. I can practically sense Sirius hovering, so go let your boyfriend fuss over you for a little while.” 

An offended noise came from Remus’s side, followed by a lower laugh and the click of the call ending. 

Simon looked Felix dead in the eyes. “I’m seconding the ‘kid’ thing. You may just barely be a legal adult, but it doesn’t mean we can’t adopt you. Congrats on your new gay dads.” 

Felix’s bright laugh sent a wave of relief through Bowie. “You guys are only, like, eight years older than me.”

“Silence, spawn,” Simon said, pointing a playful finger at him as his grin widened into something sweet and lopsided. “Now both of you need to come eat something. I made cookies while you were getting pushed around for a living.”

Bowie was still worried about Remus’ face--he made a mental note to call the next day to check in--but all his concerns disappeared as Felix scooped the cat up for a snuggle and followed Simon into the kitchen. They may have lost the game, but he would lose a million Cups to keep that moment forever: his Simon fussing over them both, his cat purring in pure bliss, and his kid settling into place at last.

[odd-the-motoring-fox]

Chapter 9 part One

Chapter 9

 Second Chances Part.1

   Chief Bogo hastily entered the S.W.A.T locker room where Nick and Judy, along with their backup, were suiting up, getting ready to serve the arrest warrant for the remaining suspect in the case of attempted murder of their fellow officers. Shouting and waving his hands holding a case file in his fierce grasp, the papers within looking ready to fly out of the blue folder with his hectic motions.  

 “Stand down immediately, that’s an order!”

 Everyone looked at Chief Bogo, confused as to why he would halt the operation after all the hard work and countless hours of overtime put in by Nick and Judy.

 Judy threw her paws in the air, dropping her knee pads to the floor as she did so

 “What do you mean stand down Chief?!, We’re going to get this guy and I am going to cuff that bastard myself!” Judy protested pointing her finger at her chest as she did so.

 Nick and Bogo looked at Judy stunned at her act of rebellion looking ready to blow a gasket.

 Seeing Bogos eyes getting larger as his blood pressure climbed, Nick quickly tried to restore peace by getting between Judy and Chief Bogo.

 “Judy hold on, lets listen to what Chief has to say first… sorry Chief.”  

 The Chief took a deep breath and slowly calmed down and answered Judy’s question.

 “I know you want to arrest the suspect Wilde, but you won’t have too.” The Chief stated.

 All the officers looked at each other bemused, trying to figure out why they wouldn’t have to arrest the suspect in question.

 “What’s going on Chief? Is something wrong with getting the warrant?” Officer Grizzoli asked, putting down his baton on the bench next to him.

 “We don’t have to carry out the warrant in the way of searching for a suspect.” The Chief stated, looking confidently at his well-prepared team of officers.

 “Why do say that Chief? What happened? Did he kill himself?” Officer Bigsby asked who had psyched himself up for a raid.

Chief scoffed at the honey badger’s question.

“No Bigsby, we won’t be serving the warrant for a suspect because; the meerkat the Wildes informed us about, only moments ago turned himself in. Lt. Higgins is booking him in now.” The Chief stated proudly.

Everyone looked astounded at what the Chief had just informed them of. The mammal that was just over 24 hours ago wanted for attempted murder of a police officer was now in-their lockup.

 “No way. Chief…are you serious?”  Nick asked surprised.

 Judy went from aggravated to ecstatic in a flash devious thought came to her now relived nerves.

 “I want to give that meerkat a piece of my mind.” she thought to herself with a smirk

 “Chief Bogo hang on!” she shouted. “Is there any way that Nick and I could…oh, I don’t know…” Judy gestured, eluding to the fact that she wanted to have a few minutes to lay into the suspect.

 Nick put his right paw over his face with embarrassment, already knowing what she was going to suggest.

 “Interrogate Him?” Chief answered.

 Judy couldn’t help it, she became very enthused at the prospect of interrogating the bastard.

 “Yes, I think me and Nick would love to have five minutes to question said meerkat.”

 The Chief looked at both of them and handed them the case file with an unamused expression.

 “Good, because that’s what you two will be doing. I want answers and I want them as quickly as possible.” Bogo informed them.  

 Nick started to grin knowing what his role would be: the good cop.

 “It would be our pleasure, sir” Judy replied putting her paws together rubbing them together deviously.

 Chief looked down at Nick.

 “Nicholas?” Bogo asked.

 “Uh…what she said sir.” Nick replied, pointing his finger at Judy, knowing not to disagree with his very sinister sounding bunny.

 Chief Bogo looked down at them and smiled

 “Splendid.” Bogo replied before re-briefing the remainder of the officers that were going to be part of the operation.

Chief went back to his normal drill sergeant like tone

“Now as for the rest of you, I want you to join the rest of the S.W.A.T team that has been pulled from other precincts to assist in the operation. I have secured a new warrant and I need a full sweep performed of the address and associated addresses to our suspect and deceased shooter. Drugs, guns, and anything else that could help us get a motive for the shooting and any other crimes that may have been committed prior, I want found and brought in as evidence. Understood?” Chief ordered.

 “Yes sir” the other officers responded.

 “Alright, now get moving!” Chief ordered as he turned to leave the S.W.A.T locker room.

 As the other officers went down to the parking garage to join the other S.W.A.T units to go investigate the suspects apartment and the dead gun mammals place, Nick and Judy went back to their respective locker rooms to change into their regular shades of blue.

 Nick walked up to his locker, grasping his orange and white lock that Judy bought him as a ‘welcome to the force gift’ he then began to enter the combination on the lock. Moving the tumbler dial left, right and left again a couple times, the lock finally opened and he placed it the wooden bench behind him. Nick then swung the door open.  He took off his vest then his shirt, then his pants etc. Then began the routine of changing out his uniform. As he finished buttoning his fresh shirt over his vest, running a lint roller across his pressed blue pants and then fixing his black tie, he heard some familiar paws gently tapping on the polished floor, he knew that sound well because they belong to his lovey bunny.

 Nick shook his head and chuckled.

 “Judy, you know you can’t be in here, last time was a one-time” Nick said as he turned around to greet his partner, explaining to his bunny once again why she couldn’t be in the male’s locker room. However, before he could speak another word, she jumped up and latched on to him. Judy kissing him deeply, her perfectly sculpted figure caressing his own as she wrapped her legs around his waist and passionate desire fitting across her deep lavender colored eyes.

 Unable to restrain himself, he couldn’t help, wrapping his arms around her and shutting his eyes as their tongues wrestled in a sea of saliva and love. After a few seconds, Nick reluctantly pulled himself away, regaining control of his body.  

 “Judy, what are you doing?” Nick said, gasping for air while caressing her beautiful cheek with his left paw.

 Judy looked deep into his eyes and then in a flash, she shook her head, blinked her eyes and then looked at him completely embarrassed-by her sudden unprofessional display of affection.

 “I’m sorry Nick…I don’t what came over me.” Judy apologized, breathing heavily as her chest burnt with desire while cute little nose twitchied.

 “It’s ok Carrots… honestly if we were at home, I wouldn’t have stopped you.” Nick stated lovingly wishing they were still in bed. “Seeing as we’re on the clock however, what we’re doing right now really is not a good idea, especially if were caught. Besides we have work to do.” Nick softly chastised, before placing a quick kiss on her lips.

Judy’s cheeks became as red as a chili pepper.

“I know we’ve got work to do,” Judy said, running her paws down the back of his neck; “I just thought that we could try and at least keep some of our honeymoon going.”

 Nick had a shiver go up his spine with her touch, as he looked around hoping nobody would see her in there with him. Reluctantly though, he resisted his primal urge to merge with his excited bunny.

 “Well, we can continue that later ok but, we better get out of here before someone sees us.” Nick recommended, again looking around the locker room for any silent observers.

 Judy hopped down to her feet.

 “Yeah, you’re right we should stay focused common partner.”

Judy quickly left the men’s locker room, with Nick following not far behind. He watched his lovely bunny walk with a confidence he had not seen from her in a while. He looked at Judy who was walking ahead of him swinging her hips for him dancing almost. Nick knew that she was in a mood that would either end with them entwined in bliss or him sleeping on the floor on an old air mattress when they got home. Such a treacherous, yet enticing, wire to walk.

 They walked through the reception together after Nick caught up with Judy. Both looking at the entrance still seeing the scene of blood and the dead weasel on the floor in their minds. The image of Willow and Delgado still playing through their minds, flashing in and out of reality, like bolts of lighting in a thunderstorm.

 But, if you didn’t know any better, walking around the reception, you would say nothing had ever happened here other than the normal day to day things. All seemed calm with the usual round of mammals reciting the same arguments. ‘He bared his or her teeth first.’-and- ‘I swear man I didn’t do anything’, you know the usual excuses.

 Judy looked up at Nick, seeing the depressed way he hung his head, she knew he was still feeling dismayed about what had happened even though they had received good news that morning. Sensing her love’s state, she, took his right paw, looked up then gave him a nudge and fluttered her beautiful lavender eyes.

Nick smiled, feeling his partner’s soft paw grasp his own.

He looked down to see her beautiful amethyst eyes shimmering in the light and her sweet smile brought some joy into his heart, putting a smile on his muzzle.

 As they cleared the reception together, they walked through a bullet proof glass door that led to lock up processing. That’s where all the mammals that are arrested get booked. First given they’re single phone call, then placed in holding waiting for cell assignment. You name it, prey or predator, it didn’t matter, they all go through here. As for Nick and Judy they hardly ever went in here, normally only to bring in a mammal they had arrested.

 After a making their way through booking they walked down a hall towards Investigation and Information Collections, also known as ‘Interrogation’.

Nick and Judy approached one of the interrogation rooms where the meerkat was already waiting for them. A bull by the name of Officer Hogan was waiting to open the door for them and be on standby just in case anything happened with the suspect.

“What’s happening Hogan?” Nick asked jokingly.  

 “Same old shit, just a different day.” He responded grabbing his coffee.

 “Is that our suspect?” Judy asked redundantly

 “As far as I know he is Wildes, this kids pretty quiet...have fun getting anything out of him.” Hogan joked as he opened the door

 “Oh, we will… I promise.” Judy said deviously as the bull held the door open for her and Nick.

 Nick and Judy walked into the room, Officer Hogan shutting the door behind them with a thud then locking it.

It was a dismal room a single fluorescent lightbar suspended by ceiling which was as bright as the sun. Two chairs, dark grey walls and white tile floors like you would see at your local big chain supermarket. A single pane of bullet proof glass with a massive bull standing on the other side. Nothing was cheerful or in any way warm and inviting about this room.

There with his hands cuffed, sitting on a cold grey chair his head hanging down over a stainless-steel table with fear in his eyes, was their suspected shooter.

Nick sat in the chair opposite the suspect, putting the case file on the table as Judy stood tapping her right foot.

“Good morning.” Nick being polite to the suspect who remained silent.

Nick thumbed through the case file while Judy started to pace back and forth her flat feet tapping the floor.

“So, Mr. Cornelius K. Wicks…Interesting name Cornelius.” Nick stated, trying to get an angle on his suspect.

Cornelius sat there motionless, only taking in gentle consistent breaths, head still hung low.

“Ya know when I was growing up with my second family, I knew some Wicks. Although they weren’t known for shooting cops, more of the loan shark variety of criminal.” Nick said getting in Cornelius’ Face cocking his head and focusing on him with his right eye as Judy was biting her tongue standing off to the side observing trying to stay calm.

 Nick sighed as he leaned back into his chair.  

 “You know I have one question and it’s pretty simple to answer. I’m sure you could answer it very easily and that question is this.” But before Nick could ask his question Judy asked it for him losing her composure as she lashed out at Cornelius.

 “WHY DID YOU SHOOT HIM HUH, WHY DID YOU DO IT YOU LOW LIFE, BOTTOM FEEDING, DISGRACE FOR A MAMMAL?” yelled Judy, slamming her fists on the table making the meerkat jump up and sit bolt upright in the chair.

 Nick leaned back, nearly falling out of his chair covering his ears to avoid permanent hearing damage.

 Cornelius shook his head and replied.

 “I…I was forced to do it.” He said with a very juvenile voice, the cracks of puberty still hanging round in his throat.

 Upon hearing the breaking of this suspect’s voice, and then thinking back to what Officer Hogan meant when he said “kid” Nick took a second look at the case file, searching for any previous crimes. All he found was a misdemeanor charge for underage possession of tobacco only a month prior, which wasn’t exactly the rap sheet you’d expect to see from an attempted cop killer.

“Underage possession” he thought to himself

Nick quickly went back over the official report to see the suspect’s age. His attitude changed in an instant when he saw his age on the booking sheet.

“Hold on Judy, look at this.” Nick urged, shoving the booking sheet into her paws.

Judy took a second looking at the case file Nick shoved in front of her eyes blocking her view of the somber looking meerkat, seeing his age Judy was staggered.

Both of their approaches to getting information from the meerkat changed immediately.

“I’m sorry I snapped at you. Can I call you Cornelius?” Judy asked, stepping back and jumping down off the table.

“Yes mam” Cornelius responded looking at them with a hopeless look on his face

Judy calmed down and motioned Nick to continue his inquisition of the meerkat.

 “Cornelius,” Nick asked “it says here on your file that you’re only 16, is that correct?

 “Yes Officer…” Cornelius answered nervously.

Nick had flashbacks of his teenage years comeback to him, remembering all the hustles he’d pulled at his age. Sure, he’d been arrested himself, but never for something like this, not even close. Needless to say, he was shocked as was Judy.

“Wow, most mammals your age are normally smoking weed, getting caught trying to buy booze with fake ID’s, stealing something stupid like a shopping cart or maybe sell a few drugs or something.” Nick said, reeling off the standard list. “but shooting a police officer, kid that’s crazy.”

 “Why am I here? What do you want? You know what I did.” the meerkat said in a defeated yet slightly irritated manner.

“What we want is an explanation as to why you and your now deceased friend shot two of our fellow officers.” Judy said, trying to stay calm despite her inner rage.

“And why you turned yourself in.” Nick added.

“I don’t know.” Cornelius answered shrugging his shoulders

Judy’s mood went sour quickly at his answer.

“First off, let me just inform you that right now I’m not in the mood to play games and if you were my child I would have already kicked you so hard you would swear I was a mule” Judy spat out, her threadbare patience wearing even thinner.

Nick nodded.

“She’s not joking kid, now you might want to give us a better answer than that.” Nick suggested.

 “Why should I?” He objected.

 Judy’s attitude went from irritated to downright enraged at the arrogant response from the meerkat.

 “Do you know why you should give a better answer?” She asked sarcastically

 “Not really” the meerkat said with a smug tone.

 “Let me count the reasons.” Judy stated, her anger gaining steam like an old locomotive “First: possession of illegal fire arms. Second: attempted 1st degree murder of a police officer and accessory to attempted murder of a police officer. Which could turn into murder. Third: stealing a vehicle and fourth whatever else our S.W.A.T team finds at your address!” She bellowed, getting right in the meerkat’s face.

 Nick jumped in to continue the shakedown.

 “Cornelius, you will be tried as an adult, that’s a fact and with accessory to murder still in your deck of cards, you’re looking at a 15 to 30 year sentence.”

 The look on the meerkats face went from smug to scared in an instant with the bombshell that he would be tried as an adult thrown into the mix.

 “30 years?” Cornelius asked with a shudder

 “You’re damn right” Judy stated, nodding as she began to pace around the small room once again.

 Cornelius laid his head on the cold stainless table and began to sob at the realization of his potential fate, putting Judy in a furious mood.

“What the hell? Oh no, don’t you start the water works! You’re a criminal now, there’s no crying!” Judy shouted at the now sobbing meerkat.

Nick sensed the regret coming from Cornelius, a feeling he knows well. To calm Judy down and try to give some sufficient answers to the question of why he and the now deceased shooter did what they did, reinserted himself into the conversation.  

“Cornelius tell us why did you do this? We can help you but you have to help us ok.” Nick proposed trying to calm the kid down.

 Cornelius looked up at Nick looking like a misguided youth much like Nick was at that age. Seeing this reminded him how lucky he was to be who he is now and not in some jail awaiting trial or still sleeping under a bridge. He knew he had to help right this kid’s life or at least give him the thought to do so on his own.

 “If I tell you why…. will you help me get away from them, please? I’m sorry for all of this I didn’t’ mean to hurt anybody, but I had to do what they told me to.” He choked trying to explain his actions.

 “It’s ok Cornelius.” Nick stated looking into his amber eyes “Help you get away from who?”.

 Judy’s mood turned again, puzzled at the young mammal’s question calming down to a gentle motherly tone.

 “Who are you afraid of Cornelius?” Judy asked.

 Cornelius went silent for a moment, looking at Nick. He was scared to answer but he knew he had to speak up.

 “Rocky Torino and his family” He eventually managed to get out, shuddering as he did.

 Nick looked at the young meerkat stunned.

 “The Tornio family. Is that what you just said?” Nick asked with shock in his voice

 Judy’s expression had gone from calm to confused.

 “Rocky Tornio?” She stated confused looking at Nick

 “The son of Rocky Torino Sr. They are a rival crime family to Mr. Big. When I was in my teens, guys would come in shot or brought in dead after fights with those badgers.” Nick recalled with a shudder.

 “So, you know them.” Cornelius stated with a shiver

Nick lost his cool bearing his teeth, putting fear into the meerkats soul.

“You’re damn right kid and you really fucked up getting involved with those maniacs. Of course, I know them!” Nick responded angrily. “Those guys will do anything. Kill, rape, steal and hell they’ll even burn your house down with you in it to get what they want, even if you have nothing to do with it. That whole family is out of whack.”

Cornelius began to breakdown under the pressure of trying to explain himself to the now enraged vulpine.

“Look, I turned myself in for a reason. I screwed up, I ran like a coward, and now they want me dead. They were going to kill me this morning, but I got here first.” He said, starting to hyperventilate.

 Judy, noticing his distress got up on the table to comfort him, realizing that while yes, he is a criminal but, he was also misguided child who needed to be heard and at most feel safe for once. So, she did what she had to do to calm him down, because she knows someone very close to her heart that was just like this kid at one time. She held his paws and looked into his amber eyes hoping he would calm down.

 “Cornelius, they can’t get you in here, now please tell us what they are planning and what went wrong with the first attempt whatever you guys had planned?”

 Cornelius looked across the table back to Nick, who was taking deep calming breaths before he responded to Judy who had managed to calm him down enough to give an explanation.

 “It’s ok, you can tell us anything.” Nick stated calmly

 “As I said to your Chief, I shot the tiger. I had no target just shoot to kill, but…” he choked

 “Ok, you shot Delgado, what went wrong?” Judy gently encouraged

 “We were supposed to execute the first phase of a plan that was going to be a diversion to something big” He said as tears fell from his amber colored eyes.

 “What?” Nick and Judy gasped.

 “Phase one went wrong because of me and some poor wiring by one of Rocky’s brothers. The plain was to get all the commotion started then, later once all the police officers around there were swarming that area and all the bystanders were around…” He elaborated, his voice steadier and louder as he went on

 “Then what? “Nick yelled

 “Frank Tornio Was going drive in and set off a car bomb” He yelled, balling his paws into fists slamming them onto the table.

 “WHAT!” Judy exclaimed, her face red with seething anger “A CAR BOMB?! Whisky Tango Foxtrot! WHAT HELL…WHY?”

 “Wait, slow down kid!” Nick said putting his right paw over his face shaking his head. “You mean to tell me there was supposed to be a car bomb going off right outside the ZPD, is that what you’re telling us?”

 Cornelius felt the guilt he had been carrying for the past few weeks finally overflowed out of him, his thoughts going back to all the innocent lives that would have been lost because of him. He knew he had to tell them everything.

 “Look I’m sorry ok, I knew about this whole thing but they threatened to kill me if I spoke a word to anybody!” He shouted with his paws shaking.

 “A diversion? For what?” Nick asked with his pen ready to take note.

“An assassination.” Cornelius replied.

 Nick and Judy looked at each other shocked. They’d never once heard of something like this happening in Zootopia. They now knew this was something way bigger than an attempted killing spree.

“Who were they trying to kill and for what reason?” Judy asked taking notes

 “The Mayor” He stated.

 Nick and Judy looked perplexed at this answer. Why the mayor of Zootopia?

 “Ok, the mayor, but why all of this…the shooting, car bombs...I mean, is it really all that necessary?” Judy stated, still not understanding the Torino way of doing things.

Nick looked at his wife irritated that she hadn’t gotten the idea of how the family of badgers’ commit their misdeeds.

“Judy, for the Torino family, yeah it is. They don’t want anything pinning them directly to any crime whatsoever. They have pulled off some of the most complex crimes ever seen in Zootopia. You name it, bank heists, murder and the occasional cargo theft. I’ve never ever seen any of the Torino family get caught directly.” Nick explained going back over his memories of when he was growing up.

 “These guys must be good.” Judy said shocked that they didn’t even register on her database on her carrot pad.

 “They were but lately ever since Rocky Sr. died their kids have been slacking”. Cornelius added

 “So, we know who planned this and technically speaking we can get a warrant for their arrest for conspiracy to commit mass murder and assassination of a political figure.” Judy said proudly ready to get a warrant for another arrest.

 “Well yes but,…” Cornelius interjected.

 “But what?” Judy responded with a concerned expression

 “That’s not the main reason I turned myself in, it’s something bigger.” Cornelius said seriously

 “What Cornelius? What are they planning?” Nick asked cocking his brow.

 “An assassination of the Prime Minister of Europa” He said with a cold stammer

 “Prime Minister Sterrion…...the reindeer?” Judy questioned, note quite believing it.

 “Yes.” Cornelius affirmed

 Judy thought the name of the foreign leader sounded familiar and then she remembered that Chief Bogo a few weeks back was asking for volunteers to work off duty as security for a championship football match that would be played at the Palms Arena in a few weeks.

 “He’s coming for a visit in two weeks. For the MIFA world cup. His country Europa is going up against Spain.” She Said knowledgably as an avid fan of soccer, Judy knew of the world cups first ever visit to Zootopia, as well as a thousand other bits of soccer trivia.

 “Ok how and Why?” Nick quickly jumped in, wanting to divert Judy from a soccer splurge of facts and stats.

 “What do you mean?” asked Cornelius.  

 “How are they planning to do it because I think you know.” Nick stated.

 “And why are they doing it?” asked Judy her carrot pen at the ready to jot down more information

 Cornelius tried to remember every detail he could, knowing that he could find redemption in his heart and his mind.

 “The same reason they wanted to kill the Mayor…. drugs and money.” He admitted

 “Explain.” Judy simply stated, her pen marking her notepad and the recorder on Nick’s tablet taking in every word spoken.

Cornelius took a deep breath and began.

“Ok, we were supposed to use the bombing and shooting as a diversion to get most of the mayor’s security officers out of the building. Then we would use all the radio interference to scramble any chance for a call for backup at city hall.”

Nick and Judy began furiously taking note of all the details, making sure they didn’t miss anything.

“Then one of the Torino goons was going to go through the front doors and distract the remaining officers, whilst one of Rocky Torino’s hit men went up to the mayor’s office and to make sure the mayor would be ‘sleeping with the fishes’ then they would use the temporary mayor that they had already paid off, who would have been put in charge to remove some of the chief of polices power to execute searches and make it harder to get a warrant for any sort of investigations. Then he would have slashed the budget and forced cutbacks on the police force. The idea they had was with less heat they could get away with more.” He explained, information flowing from him like a raging torrent.

Nick and Judy were stunned at the plan, but had one remaining question that just didn’t make sense to either of them.

“So, what does this have to do the Prime Minister of Europa?” Nick and Judy asked simultaneously

“Let me finish” Cornelius said, annoyed at being interrupted.

 “You see, it wasn’t long after Mayor Lionheart was sentenced to a year in jail and was forbidden to run for public office ever again. Once the then in-term mayor who was later officially elected mayor began to try new ways to prevent something like the Night Howler attacks from happening again. From then on, the Torino family began to suffer losses in income from drugs and other means.

The whole Night Howler thing was a proposition by that Sheep. She was going to lessen Chiefs power to combat the epidemic of crime in the city and use that to get more predators arrested and off the streets on trumped up charges.”

“The Night Howlers were going to be knocked down to a hallucinogenic street drug, rather than a full-fledged rage inducer of a powder or liquid. It was going to be more powerful than cocaine and that would hurt other businesses in competition with the Torino’s. However, the new mayor couldn’t be bought much like former Mayor Lionheart.”

“Ok slow down kid” Judy interrupted, flicking back to the beginning of her notes.

“So, let me see if I’m on par with what you are explaining to us. The drugs trade had gotten extremely competitive and this new mayor wasn’t playing their way. By giving Chief Bogo more power to go further in the crime reduction efforts; they wanted to send a message to the politicians of the city while at the same time getting rid of those who stood in their way and henceforth limiting the power of surrounding and local law enforcement. Am I on the right track.”

 Nick wasn’t surprised, he couldn’t help but give a smug smirk to the meerkat hearing what his love had just read back to him.

 “Yes, officers but may I continue?” Cornelius asked with a now serious look on his face.

 Judy motioned with her pen for him to carry on.

 “Ok, now here’s where the Prime Minister comes into play. See he was the one the new mayor first met with a couple years ago on a visit. Prime Minister Starrion showed our very own Mayor Timbers all the new methods he was implementing across Europa to combat crime.”

 He continued to explain all the methods that Mayor Timbers had enacted after learning what worked so well for their neighbors to the east. Cornelius began explaining how the Mayor Timbers implemented them in Zootopia and explained that it was so effective that most of the organized crime had almost ceased to exist. Apart from Mr. Big who was smart enough to diversify his business into other means of keeping his people working, the Torino Family and a couple others were barely hanging on to what little business they had left.

 “So, when Rocky Sr. was on his death bed he told his son that he wished he would have done more for them in the way of getting rid of their problems in the government, He told Rocky Jr. that he should deal with the problems.” He continued.

 “True to Torino Family ways they came up with the plan to kill Mayor Timbers and the Prime-Minister to fix the game in their favor. Thanks to me screwing up and the bomb not detonating, they had to put the assassination on hold. Instead their going to kill them both at the cup finals during the game to make it look like a terrorist attack. rather than a political assassination”.

 Taking in all this information, Judy had enough.

 “Ok, I’m making sure this doesn’t happen; I’m getting a warrant immediately” She stated angrily.

 Nick looked at her with a look of are you kidding me?

“Judy did you not get any of this? Even if you get a warrant you won’t find anything not on these goons. We just can’t barge in on this case, we have to take this one step at a time ok.” Nick said, trying to placate his partner.

 Judy scoffed at Nicks response

 “What are you talking about Nick? This is all we need to stop all of this!” She argued

 “No, it isn’t Judy and let me tell you why.” Jumping out of his chair

  Nick paused the conversation to gather his thoughts.

 “Well go on Sherlock I’m waiting” Judy said sarcastically, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms on her chest.

 “We have to keep this under wraps ok. If we go after them now they will get desperate. They will know that we know and not only that with Rocky Sr. out of the picture, that means Rocky Jr. is going to do something even more drastic, something we won’t be able to respond to fast enough. The best thing we can do is let this play out. Maybe just observe and watch the plan unfold and right before it is put into action we stop the operation catching them off guard.”

 “Won’t they be expecting that.” Judy admitted, impressed with her partner’s reasoning.

 Cornelius interrupted

 “No, they won’t be but here’s something you guys should consider. Sure if all goes well you catch them in the act and they end up here and everyone goes home safe. The other possibility is that they discover that they are being watched and they come up with a new plan something a lot less explosive so to speak.”

 “Well then we better make sure that we cover all angles.” Judy said going through scenarios in her head and taking notes of possible outcomes. “Look Nick it’s time we go and speak with Chief about this.”

 Nick checked his watch to find it had been 3 hours since they started interrogating this kid and it was time for him to head to his cell.  

 “Yeah, I guess…Well Cornelius you’ve endured our insanity and played our game for the past few hours, thank you for all of this information and we will be checking in on you from time to time ok.” Nick said with a smile, sensing that, despite what this kid had done, he still had a kernel of goodness within him.

“Ok” Cornelius said with a glimmer in his eyes and a slight grin on his muzzle

Judy knocked on the door signaling for Hogan to let them out. Grabbing the remaining files, Nick followed Judy out into the hallway as Hogan Closed the door on their juvenile shooter.