The Fire Triangle, A Zootopia Fanfiction -- Part One: Fuel - 50

Disclaimer: Zootopia stories, characters, settings, and properties belong to the Walt Disney Co. This story is written under Fair Use Copyright laws.

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The Fire Triangle-A Zootopia Fanfiction

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Part One:

Fuel

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Chapter 5 - Aftershocks

(Pt. 4...Concluded)

"Awww, can't you stay just a little while longer, pleeeeeease?"

Cotton Hopps was clinging to Nick's leg like a shipwreck survivor to a floating spar, gazing up at him with big, winsome eyes, and refusing to let go.

"Now honey," Bonnie chided the little bunny gently, "you know Nick's a police officer. If he stays here, who's going to help your sister catch all those criminals, back in Zootopia?"

Cotton stamped her foot. "It's not fair!"

"Now listen young lady..." her mother started to say, but then Nick Wilde grimaced and yipped in pain.

"Owwp...tail, tail, tail!" He squalled, and that made Cotton let go of him.

"Sorrr-ry," she said, clasping her paws and looking very small.

They were gathered together at the Bunnyburrow train station; today there were at least as many Hopps family members as there had been for Nick and Judy's arrival. On this occasion, however, a large group of friends and neighbors was also present-the Chatteron family, Gideon Grey and his fiancée, Bette Renaard, the girls in Erin's posse, Gordon Catmull, and of course, Conor Lewis and Finnick, all there to see Nick and Judy off on the 4 O'clock train back to Zootopia. (Mercifully only a few reporters had shown up...and these were being kept safely at bay by a contingent of Sheriff's deputies, with Mac Cannon in charge.)

For now at least, the rain had stopped and the sun was out. Had it not been for the puddles of water dappling the train-station platform, you might never have known it had even rained at all. No one was taking any chances though; every other animal was either wearing foul-weather gear or had an umbrella tucked under their arm.

And in fact the storm wasn't quite done with Bunnyburrow: a rumble in the distance and the faint tang of ozone in the air was making that clear to everyone.

"It's all right Sweetie, I know you didn't mean to," Nick told little bunny, patting her shoulder.

"You'll come back again sometime, won't you?" Cotton sniffled, looking up and offering another drawn-out, "Pleeeeease?"

"Of course I will," the red fox smiled, "I wouldn't miss it for anything."

The little bunny-girl smiled wanly and then hugged him tight.

Her sister Judy smiled too. Nick wasn't just saying that to make Cotton feel better, he really did mean to return again, and soon.

"Is this the same animal I nearly had to blackmail into coming with me for Carrot Days?" she mused, and in that instant she realized something; the red fox standing three feet away from her really wasn't the same one she'd arrived with; over the course of the last few days, Nick Wilde had undergone a sea-change.

"No," Judy frowned pensively, "that isn't quite true, better to say that his experiences changed him."

Exactly how he was different, she couldn't quite say, except she knew it was a change for the better.

And yet...

For some reason Nick hadn't quite shed the last of his melancholia; something was still gnawing at him.

Then her father extended a paw in the fox's direction.

"Nick, I can't begin to tell you how glad I am you came here...and I don't just mean that business with Guilford boys. It's been just plain wonderful having you."

A murmur of acclimation rippled through the gathering as the two of them shook on it, and then Nick's mouth became a short, wry crinkle.

"Stu, I have something to confess; when Judy asked to come with her for Carrot Days, my first thought was, 'how can I get out this?' I was SO sure I was going to be bored out of my skull." He shook his head self-consciously and then grinned, "Dumb, dumb, DUMB fox!"

Stu and most of the other Hopps bunnies laughed, but then Cotton thumped her foot again.

"Are NOT!"

Stu laughed some more, and Bonnie picked up her daughter and hugged her. Judy, as always, couldn't resist the opportunity for a little playful banter.

"Now, now Cotton," she said, pretending to wag a finger, "I've known Nick a lot longer than you, and if there's one thing I know, it's that you should never try to argue THAT point with him."

She glanced sideways at the red fox and winked, watching while he laid back his ears and narrowed his eyes.

"Har-De-Har!"

Judy smirked triumphantly, but then she realized something. 'I tried to get out of it...I was sure I was going to be bored,' A week, even a few days ago, you couldn't have pried an admission like that out of Nick Wilde with a crowbar.

He really WAS a different fox.

"You know, I know it's a ways off, Nick," Bonnie Hopps was saying, "But you should come back for a visit over Christmas."

"Ooo, great idea, Bon," her husband agreed.

"Oh yes, I'd love to," the red fox nearly gushed, but then Judy cleared her throat and gave him the eye.

"Ah, that is if I don't have the duty," Nick amended with a hurried shrug, "Life of a police officer and all that. But I'll certainly try to make it if I can."

"We'll keep our fingers crossed." Judy added. She actually liked the idea of coming home for the Holidays even more than he did-but at the same time, she didn't want either one of them making promises that they might not be able to keep.

That was when Erin spoke up. "They should try to get back here for Halloween too, dad," she said, and then shifted her attention two degrees right, "You too, Conor."

"Well, if our studies at the Academy will let us, yeah." the young fox said.

Erin started to answer, but then the words caught in her throat. He had said, 'Our' studies...not my studies. He believed in her; Conor truly and honestly thought she was going to get into ZAPA. She blinked...and felt a sting teasing the corners of her eyes. "Oooo, if you even make me cry, I'll....bushytailed jerk!" she thought.

"Oh I hope so," Her mother Bonnie said, "We always have a great time here in the Burrow on Halloween. It's almost as big as Carrot Days."

"Then for sure we're gonna have to try and make it." The young silver fox said with a smile.

"Us too," Nick chimed in, and that was Bonnie Hopps' cue to say farewell to him and to her daughter.

"There's not much I can add to what Stu said," she told Nick; "except, I'm so glad Judy has you for a partner."

"Thanks Bonnie," he answered and let her give him a peck on the cheek. That brought a rapid response from little Cotton. "Ewwwww!"

"Cotton!" her mother cried, and turned hastily back to the fox, "That's not about your species Nick; she does that whenever her father kisses me, too."

"Kissing's yucko." The little bunny declared, as if to drive home the point.

"Well, if I can't get a kiss good-bye, then how about a hug?" Nick asked, looking slightly disappointed, as if expecting her to find that yucky too.

She didn't; she immediately threw her arms around Nick Wilde's neck and held him tight. "I like you, Nick." She said.

"I like you too, Cotton." The red fox replied, hugging her back and then returning the little bunny to her mother.

"You better keep your promise to come visit some more," she said, regarding him with a stiff lower lip and glistening eyes. In that moment, Nick thought, she was dead ringer for Erin.

"I will," he affirmed, raising a paw, "Ranger scout's honor."

The next to say good-bye was Gideon Grey, who had brought with him a couple of going away-presents.

"Baked these special, just for y'all," he said, offering Nick and Judy each a pink-wrapped box, and then to Nick Wilde he said, "Our species ain't all shifty and untrustworthy son; you and me, we're proof o' that." And then he quickly looked over a shoulder, adding, "Yeah, you too, boy," for the benefit of a certain, young silver fox who was beginning to get a vexed look on his face.

That got a pretty good snicker out of Finnick, while Nick and the other red-fox clasped arms, "You know it, brother," he said, "I'm so glad, I finally got to meet you."

"Same here Nick, same here." Gideon replied, and then tuned to speak to the rabbit standing next to his fellow fox. "And Judy, it's always great seeing you again."

"Same here and right back at you." She said, offering him a thumbs-up.

Next up were Finnick and Conor. (It probably shouldn't have been their turn, not quite yet, but they needed to get on the road themselves, and right away.)

"Finnick, from now on I promise I'll keep in touch," Nick was raising his paw in another Ranger-Scout salute.

"You better." The little desert fox aimed a finger, "or I'll come looking for you." And then to Judy he said, "I never told you this before but I actually kinda thought Nick was a good fit for a cop that first time I saw you hustle him." A grin sliced across his muzzle. "But I never thought you'd up and make him a real cop."

They both laughed while Nick rolled his eyes and muttered, "There must be ten thousand unemployed clowns..."

"And Conor," Judy went on, turning to the young silver fox, "I can't thank you enough for all you did for my sister."

"Hear, hear," Nick chimed in quickly, "We're all grateful for what you did." And he lifted an eyebrow to show that he wasn't only talking about Erin. (Conor caught the signal and nodded ever so slightly.)

"Amen to that," Stu Hopps was saying, and then he offered the young fox a paw. "Thanks from me too, Conor."

"Well, save a little of that thanks for yourself, Mr. Hopps," the young fox told him, taking the paw and shaking it, "Erin never would of got this far if she didn't come from such a good family."

Nick felt his ears standing up and saw Judy's doing the same. There was a strange, wistful quality to the young silver fox's voice.

But then he winked, and added slyly, "And yeah, you're right, it IS better to burn out than to fade away."

Stu's ears colored and he looked away, while Bonnie, Judy, Erin, and most of the rest of the family all had another good laugh. As IF his daughter wouldn't have shared the note he'd sent her by now. (What none of them could know was just how much the young silver fox admired Stu for that gesture...and the envy he felt because of it.)

Then Bonnie told him, "Any time you want to come and visit us again Conor, there'll always be a place for you."

"Thanks, Mrs. H," he said, and there was that yearning look again, not merely a desire to come back here for a visit, but also for...Nick didn't know what else for.

"Maybe you can come back for Halloween too, like Erin said." It was Erin's girlfriend Lisa Chatterton, "If it's all right with your folks and school and everything."

"Well-l-l-ll, like I said, it all depends on our studies." Conor moved in quickly before the Douglas Squirrel-girl could get her motor-mouth revved up to full throttle, "School's kind of iffy, we don't get time off for Halloween, but I'm sure my dad wouldn't mind it if I came to visit."

Once again, Nick felt his ears rise up on full alert, but this time, for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why.

Then it hit him, but it was only a glancing blow. This was the first time since they'd that met that Conor had mentioned his parents. Yes, but that was only part of that story; what was the rest of it?

Meanwhile Erin was speaking again, the words rushing out of her as if she needed to speak now, or forever hold her peace. "Conor, I want you know that I'm never going to forget you helping me. When we played the talent show that was best performance I ever gave...and it never would have happened if it hadn't been for you."

And with a sudden, unexpected upwards leap, she threw her arms around the fox's neck and gave him a quick hug, startling him and nearly everyone else before she let go.

No one gasped; the hug hadn't lasted long enough raise any alarms, not with her folks at least. But Nick saw Stu Hopps Jr. getting quickly between the two young mammals and Pop-Pop.

"What're y' doin' that fer, Junior?" the old rabbit asked, raising an ear and shrugging. "So what if she hugged a raccoon? S'not like he's a fox or a badger or whatnot."

(Stu Junior wisely chose not to correct his grandfather.)

"You can thank me by kicking it at your audition." Conor was smiling again, as if it had all been no big deal, "I wanna see you blow Gazelle right out of her seat."

Erin swallowed and then stared.

"G-Gazelle?"

"Yeah, she's one of the judges, didn't you know?" For a second, the young fox looked like he wanted to face-pawlm himself, but then he quickly recovered-and Nick agreed with him. Better Erin should learn that now than later; forewarned is forearmed, as the saying goes.

"Listen kid," Finnick cleared his throat and spoke up reluctantly, "I-I hate to break this up, but we've gotta get going if we're going make it back in time."

"Right, right," Conor bit his lip, nodding, and then turned and offered a final wave. "Bye everyone, bye Erin, bye Stu, bye Bonne, bye Junior, bye Lisa, Terri, Cara, Tawny, and Jill and everybody else I missed; hope I see you guys again, really soon."

"Hey, don't forget Nick and Judy," Erin admonished, thumping her foot.

"Oh he'll probably see us around town sis," Judy reminded her.

Conor grinned, and aimed a finger at the bunny cop, "Not if I see you first," he said in his best Clint Beastwood. (Neither he, nor Erin, nor Nick and Judy had any idea that those words would soon become achingly prophetic.)

"Come Josey Howls, it's time to get out of here." Finnick said, and a final wave they were on their way to the desert fox's van.

When Finnick fired up the engine a moment later, Erin Hopps was standing curbside, and as the van pulled away and onto the road, she offered a final, farewell wave which Conor returned by tooting on the horn.

And then the young, white-furred bunny turned and walked away without looking back.

Welllll, maybe she looked back once.

All right, maybe twice.

Okay, three times.

Four times and that's it!

Inside the van meanwhile, Finnick was favoring Conor with a quizzical, sidelong glance.

"Wha...? We bein' followed or something, kid?

The young silver fox answered him with a puzzled look of his own

"Followed? What the heck are you talking about, DF?"

"You keep looking in the rear-view mirror," the desert fox said, pointing a finger towards the passenger side window.

"Ah, it's nothing," Conor told him, looking uncharacteristically flustered for a second, and then he angled his gaze forward, becoming stone-faced.

But his eyes refused to stop darting to the right.

Nick and Judy saw none of this; the train was due at any moment and they had arrangements to finalize.

The two of them had picked up a fair amount of swag during the Carrot Days Festival (especially her,) and it was more than they could bring on the train, so Stu Hopps Junior had come up with an idea-that they let him send it along with the Hopps Family Farm's next shipment of carrots for Vegetopia Produce.

"You're sure it's okay?" Judy asked him again with her nose twitching.

Junior tried not to groan.

"How many times do I have to say it, Jude? Yes it's okay. I already talked to Rick the assistant manager at Veg-Top and he said go ahead, no problem."

"It'll be fine, Judy." He mother added, throwing in her own note of reassurance.

"And yes, I have Clawhauser's Gazelle shirt packed in my suitcase," Nick Wilde said, anticipating her next question.

Judy threw up her paws in surrender.

"Okay, ohhhh-kay, I trust you guys."

"Train's coming!" a voice called from the far end of the platform. Nick cocked an ear but didn't bother to look at his watch; if he didn't know by now that the rail service between Bunnyburrow and Zootopia ran like an atomic clock, he'd never figure it out.

"You'll call as soon as soon as you get home?" Judy's mother was asking.

"I will mom, promise," she said, raising her paw in her own approximation of Nick Wilde's Ranger Scout salute. And then Nick saw her smile; even now, after she'd been with the ZPD for more than two years, Bonnie still couldn't help fussing over her daughter but, typical Judy, she seemed to find it endearing rather than annoying.

A double honk sounded and then the long, yellow form of the Zootopia Express pulled into the station, brakes hissing softly as it eased to a stop and the canned announcement came over the PA, "Arriving...Zootopia Express."

A wave of memories washed over Judy Hopps; she hadn't known it would be this train; the very one she'd taken when she'd departed the Burrow for a new life in Zootopia after graduating from the Police Academy. But today, at least one thing was going to be different; this time she wasn't going to (almost) forget to hug her folks a goodbye.

She turned and grabbed them both.

"Ohhhh, I love you guys so much," she said, holding them tight and giving them each a kiss on the cheek.

"We love you too, Judy." Her mother said, hugging her back.

"And we're very proud of you," Her father added, fighting hard to keep the waterworks in check.

"You're going to do it, Jude," a young girl's voice said from off to the side, "You're going to make detective, you and Nick." It was her sister, Erin

"Well, I should hope so, after last night," Junior Hopps offered, thumbs hooked into his suspenders.

Judy turned to the younger bunny and opened her arms.

"Come here, Sweetie." She said, and the two of them quickly had their arms around each other. "And YOU'RE going to make it into the Performing Arts Academy, little sis," Judy told her, "You can do it, I know you can."

"Carrots, it's time," Nick Wilde was tugging at her elbow.

"Okay," Judy let go of Erin and then raised her paw to the others in a final farewell, "Bye everybody."

And then she and Nick were scampering for the train, making it through the small-mammal door just as it closed. When the Zootopia Express pulled out of the station a seconds later, some of the younger Hopps family members went running along beside it, including...yep, there she was; little Cotton, waving harder than anybody

Judy flicked a finger at the corner of her eye; this really was like that first time all over again...only more so. She felt the train begin to gather speed as it arrowed past the 'Now Leaving Bunnyburrow' sign with its ever-rising tally of the region's population.

She was going to have to find her iPaw, and crank Try Everything again-but first thing's first.

Turning to Nick, she brushed back an ear.

"Come on fox, let's go find our seats."

His expression was almost, what the...did he look anxious?

"Uh, Carrots, is there somewhere on this train where we can talk in private?" he said, green eyes moving this way and that, as if halfway certain that someone was eavesdropping.

"Ummm...sure, okay," she told him.

The overhead observation deck turned out to be occupied, by a binturong and a family of gophers, but the lounge in the last car was luckily deserted.

"Okay Nick, what is it?" Judy asked him as she eased into a small-mammal seat near the very back of the train.

Nick took the seat opposite hers, but said nothing for a long moment. He seemed to be grasping for words that were hovering somewhere just beyond his reach.

Finally he said, "Judy, do you remember last night when you asked me to dance, and I told you to leave me alone? I..."

She already had her paw up.

"Oh Nick, you don't need to tell me about that." She said, but surprisingly, he refused to be deflected, leaning forward in his chair with an expression of edgy resolve.

"No, Carrots, I do need to talk about it. Many years ago, I made a terrible mistake ...and I'm still paying the price." His left brow rose up slightly higher than the other one, "What you saw back there at the dance was part of that price."

Judy felt her nose begin to twitch.

"Nick, please don't talk in riddles; you know how much it bothers me." She felt immediately contrite; he wasn't trying to be coy.

"Okay," the red-fox puffed out his cheeks and looked down for a second. When he looked up again, he had his cell-phone out and was swiping his thumb down the screen. His eyes, however, remained fixed on hers.

For a long moment neither one spoke; outside the train, the storm was ramping up again, white noise tap-dancing on the roof and dark skies barely visible beyond windows laced with water.

Nick raised his voice a little so as to be heard over the racket.

"Judy a long time ago, I kept the truth from someone very dear to me; it was the biggest regret of my life...and I don't want to...I CAN'T go down that road again." He stopped scrolling but didn't show her the cell-phone. "I need to tell you, Carrots," he said, tapping his knee with a finger for emphasis, "There's a lot more to me than losing my father or what happened when I tried to join the Junior Ranger Scouts." His face became earnest, almost pleading, "And I need to tell you, right here, right now. And you need to hear it from me, not from anybody else."

For a moment, Judy thought he was going to grab her paw, but his own remained exactly where it was clutching the cell-phone like a talisman.

"All right Nick," she finally said, she couldn't remember the last time he'd looked so...intense? Yes, that was word, "What is it that you need to tell me so badly?" she asked him.

The red fox seemed to deflate a little...but from relief rather than resignation.

"Everything Carrots...everything," he said, and then finally he passed her the cell phone. "First of all, when I said those words last night, I wasn't speaking to you." His eyes moved away from hers again for a second, "I-I was...I was talking to a ghost."

Judy took the cell and studied it. There, on the screen was a slightly washed-out photograph-probably taken with an analog camera and uploaded later, via a scanner she guessed.

It showed an image of a cross fox vixen; a black face with amber eyes and red cheek tufts, black throat, red arms and a black tail with fox-red highlights. She was seated on the edge of a wooden platform looking to her right, with a shy smile on her face.

"No, wait, that's a stage she's sitting on," Judy realized, and is to confirm it, she noticed for the first time that the vixen had a keytar slung around neck and that the outline of a band set up was just visible in background behind her. She was dressed in a tank-top covered by a torn military-surplus jacket and stressed jeans over yoga pants. She wore a red bandanna around her head and had a matching kerchief encircling her neck. Judy couldn't help noticing how much this rocker-vixen's outfit resembled the one Erin had worn during her talent show performance; and look at how fit she was; she could almost have been the visual definition of a 'tough grrrl.'

Except for that bashful smile she was wearing...and why was she looking off to the right instead of at the camera?

There was something else Judy noticed about her, too. She was...

"Who is she Nick?" she asked, looking up at him, "she's beautiful."

By way of response, the red fox pressed his thumb and forefinger to the cell-phone screen and pinched them together. At once, the image zoomed out until the whole of it was visible...and now Judy could see that the cross-fox vixen wasn't alone in the photograph. Sitting beside her on the stage and holding her paw was another fox, gazing into her eyes with a look of deep emotion.

It was Nick Wilde, a years-younger version of the fox sitting opposite her but it was still unmistakably him.

"Her name is-was-Robyn, Robyn McFerral," Nick told her in a soft, almost velvety voice, brushing the cell-phone ever-so-delicately with a fingertip, "Once upon a time she and I were engaged to be married."