Chief Wilde's Last Day

Flicking on the light, Nick walked into his home office. The part of the walls not blocked by file cabinets was covered in photos and news clippings. They were meant to be mementos of a glorious career, but now, they were scars.

"Fox and Rabbit Foil Felon" headlined the paper when they captured a serial burglar.

"ZPD's Best Couple?" took the center frame just a week before they planned to make a public announcement. The yellowed paper was followed by several bright personal photos, mostly of Judy.

The halfway point of the room was marked by a full front page. The black and white photo showed smoke billowing out from a half crumbled building. Police cruisers, ambulances and the SWAT truck blocking everything else. "Dozens Dead In Savannah Shootout". Private photos of a funeral were pinned next to the page, many of the mourning were rabbits. But Nick was absent from the photos except for one. Two adult bunnies and a red and gray furred kit who was no more than four sat by a fox covered in tubes, wires, and bandages.

That day was when it all went wrong. That was the day that lead him to discover one last conspiracy.

He set the black box on his desk next to the only framed photo in the room. When it was taken, they had been detectives for two years, married for four, and parents for just over a year. They hadn't known it yet, but that was the zenith of their lives. Nick and Judy were all smiles with their daughter Lily, who was no more than a pair of red tipped ears in a blanket in the picture. Nick almost wondered what he would do differently if he knew what was coming, but hypotheticals like that never went anywhere except the bottom of a bottle of cheap liquor.

Judy was in the ground over two weeks before he woke up from his coma. And when she left, she took Slick Nick with her. No one had seen anyone on the force as fierce and determined as he was since Bogo. There were no more jokes. No more swagger. Judy wanted to make the city a better place and he was going to make damn sure that happened.

The only time he ever seemed to smile was when he was with his daughter. Biologically they couldn't have kids and opted for artificial insemination. When asked about the father, the most Nick ever said was that he was a trusted friend. But there was no doubt she was his daughter; having the same innate choice for gaudy shirts, a love of pawpsicles, and a whipcrack wit.

Nick's new vigor to his job saw him fly up the ranks. As he made his way up, he still investigated the Savannah Shootout. He didn't care how many dead ends he found, he knew no bank robbers would ever be that heavily armed.

After making Chief when Bogo retired, he got his first lead. Most of the heavy weaponry used by the "robbers" were bought from an arms dealer in the Marshes. He should have just raided the place, but it was his first big operation as Chief, so he informed the Mayor.

Pulling the chair out, Nick sat and tried to adjust the badge that was no longer on his shirt. He sighed. Today really had been Chief Wilde's last day.

Turning the box, he pulled out the card that identified its contents. In block handwriting by the ZPD file clerk, it read "Personal Effects: Wilde, J.L."

His paw shook as it reached out to the lid of the black box. Barely a hair touched the box before his hand shot back as if it were electrified.

Even since he was aware of the political scene, there wasn't a mayor who wasn't corrupt. Lionheart was a patsy, Bellwether was a power mad tyrant, and everyone after that had their own smaller scandals. An adulterer who ran on a family values campaign, embezzlement, insider trading, and so on. Swinton's corruption was deep and expansive, which is why Nick could never expose her. But she was behind it all.

Her earlier career she campaigned for her role on the city council using fear tactics. Fear of crime that had been going steadily downward. It seemed idiotic at the time. The ZPD was doing a stellar job; high percentage of closed cases, low stats for negative civilian involvement, and their public image was nothing short of impeccable.

And then there was the shootout. In the end, combining ZPD, robbers, and civilians, over thirty mammals died. Fear won out and Swinton became a big part of the city council. The money from her investors went to a middleman and repeatedly expanded hands but ultimately that money hired the goons and bought their weapons.

Every time Nick got close, he was blocked. The trailer vanished or lead to an all too obvious fall guy. Four years they battled each other behind the scenes. She was one step ahead of him at all times and always came out looking better than before.

The second year she started to turn public opinion against him. The third year she slashed the department's budget and laid the blame on him. By the fourth year, she was tired of his determined interference.

"You should stop digging around for something that doesn't exist, Nick. I'd hate for it to negatively affect your daughter."

He should have stopped then. At least he would have had something left.

It wasn't hard for Swinton to enact her revenge. Enough of the city hated him and only a few "old timers" on the force stood up for him while the rest ate up Swinton's swill. All it took was some evidence to disappear and suddenly one bad apple was put back on the streets. Some low level thug who wanted to strike back at the fox who locked him up for whatever crime he committed. He just needed three things; a picture, an address, and a weapon.

Even while mourning the loss of Lilly the public cried for Chief Wilde's head. Two other students were shot and a teacher was killed trying to protect them. All because Nick Wilde was a target of a deranged ex-con.

But he kept digging and fighting, until tonight. Swinton final won out and Nick was ousted from the position of Chief of Police by public demand.

With careful motions, Nick lifted the top off as if it were an ancient artifact ready to crumble to dust. Inside there were two smaller boxes. A plain black hard plastic case and a slim green box with and orange bow.

Moving with autonomic ease, he opened the black case and began inspecting the revolver. It was very much like Judy; small but powerful. He went through the motions of examining it, a task that was all but automatic by now. It looked almost new. He opened a drawer in his desk, grabbed a handful of bullets, and loaded the gun.

There wasn't anything left for him. He was an old, tired, failure. He failed to protect his wife. He failed to protect his daughter. He failed to protect his city.

But there was one last thing he had to do before he ended his final day.

Pulling out the colorful box he saw a tag attached to it.

"To my Dumb Fox."

His heart slammed against his chest as he slid the ribbon off with a shaking paw. Inside sat a familiar orange hunk of plastic. The carrot pen.

Tears blurred his vision as he pulled it out of its container. Drying his eyes with the back of his paw, he clicked the play button and heard the familiar sound of the unnecessary analog rewinding on the digital device. It stopped and so did his heart.

"Hi, Nick."

Her voice was small but serene.

"I don't have much time left, but you know that. I know it's going to be hard, but I believe in you, Nick. You'll do what's right for Lilly and this city."

Her little voice hitched as Nick's sobs became convulsions.

"I want to be with you, Nick. But I know in my heart you are needed here. Zootopia needs you. Even if it doesn't know it yet. Just remember that. And remember that I love you. I love you completely. Goodbye, my sly fox."

Sucking in ragged breaths, Nick set the pen down and looked back at the other item on the desk.

"I'm sorry, Judy. I'm so sorry."

The panther silently slinked into the house, followed by his partner. The house was dark but their night vision allowed them to ease their way through. They knew the layout of the house so he headed towards the office entrance from the living room while his partner passed through the kitchen and popped out the other side of the hall.

Risking a glance, he spied the fox sitting at a desk on the opposite end of the room. One hand was on a gun on the desk the other was on what looked like a carrot. A female voice kept coming out of the carrot.

-Rvvvvt-

"Hi, Nick."

-Rvvvt-

"I want to be with you, Nick."

-Rvvvt-

"-it's going to be hard, but I believe in you-"

-Rvvvt-

"Goodbye."

His partner started to pull out his gun. He shook his head. He's seen enough sad sacks off themselves and from what Swinton told him, it seemed like the fox was just moments away from biting the bullet. They were just insurance in case he was too much of a coward. But it was looking to be an easy paycheck.

The fox played a few more bits and pieces of the message again.

"I love you."

The revolver's hammer clicked back.

His partner smiled before three shots rang out and blew through the wall and the smaller panther. He moved as three more shots rang out, feeling heated impacts against his side and thigh. The shot he got off that shattered the middle rung of the empty wooden chair before the fox sprang from the side of the room and twisted the panther's paw with a crack, dropping the gun.

Holding his broken hand he stared at the barrel of his own gun being held by the fox.

"Swinton send you?" His voice was hard as steel.

"She'll bury you like the rest of your deviant family." The panther spat at the fox, noticing blood in his saliva.

Without a flinch, Nick emptied the clip into the panther.

Picking his revolver up, he began to reload it as he pulled out his phone and entered a number.

After two rings it was answered with silence.

"I'm taking every last one of them down."

"They'll be out on bail before you could blink, Chief." The voice on the phone responded.

"Didn't you hear, Jack? I'm not Chief anymore."

"Okay, Wilde, what's the plan?"

"Like the lady said; this city needs me, even if it doesn't know it.

Author's Note:

Smash to black with The Rolling Stones "Paint it Black". Credits roll.

This story was inspired from Judy is Dead. Originally two ideas popped into my head. This was the first one. The second one… I might still do but probably not. It's harsh in a different way but ends up happier. If I wanted to expand upon this particular story, it would have basically been a revenge flick (John Wick, Death Wish, Leon: The Professional, etc, etc) with Nick and Jack taking down Swinton's corrupt empire. And yes, that is Jack Savage he is talking to at the end. I might pop back and do a few more later scenes of this AU. Maybe.

The other major inspiration of this fic was the song "Here Comes the Arm" by The Protomen. It's basically where Judy's last message came from and why I chose not to end it with Nick biting a bullet