Chapter Text
He wanted to run, but he had no idea where to go.
He felt the same way he had when he ran to Judy’s apartment. At least then he had known where to run.
His brain was so loud, yet so silent at the same time.
Fog everywhere.
It took him a minute to come back to reality. His heart was pounding so hard that his chest tightened with every beat. A rush of adrenaline urged him to do something, but he was completely lost.
When he finally realized he couldn’t just stay paralyzed -and that he could actually use the adrenaline- he took his phone out of his back pocket.
He hesitated for half a second before finding ‘Carrot’and pressing the call button.
He knew he was about to destroy her day, her investigation, and her mood, but he didn’t have any other choice.
This was all his fault. He was so fucking stupid.
Gary had said they had been watched yesterday.
So why the hell had he left Alma with the snake when he knew that?
Now they were both gone.
A violent storm of fear built in his stomach when she didn’t pick up. If Alma was gone… so could she be.
“Hi! How are you??” her voice suddenly chirped into his ear.
He opened his mouth to answer, but no sound came out.
“Hello? Nick?” she tried again, a hint of concern in her voice.
“I—” he managed after a few seconds. “There’s—” he tried again weakly.
“Nick, what’s wrong?” she asked, now fully convinced something was deeply wrong.
He took a deep breath, which only made him dizzy instead of clearing his mind.
“Alma’s gone.”
Once the words were out, the anxiety burst out of him at full force.
“Alma’s -I - she was at Gary’s and I just -I don’t know where -what the fuck do we do?! Judy I can’t -can’t live without her -I can’t, just NO -and it’s all my fault, I should’ve known better -I don’t know where -I don’t know!”
The words spilled out so fast he barely stopped to breathe.
On the other side, Judy hadn’t heard much after the first sentence.
Her ears were buzzing too loudly.
It felt like some kind of nightmare. She would wake up soon.
There were no words to describe the way her heart dropped, her blood turning cold all at once.
When her senses came back, she realized she was crying -and that Nick was still rambling.
“I don’t know -I have no fucking idea what to do -just tell me, please… tell me what to do to find her and I’ll do it. I just don’t know how…”
He was pleading, praying with everything he had that she would know, that she would have something.
Anything.
But..
“I… I don’t know either,” she whispered. “I’ll just… yeah, I’m coming back to Zootopia right now. I’ll, uh… call Mister Big to… get… something…”, she added her voice sounding so far away to her own ears.
Nick would have fallen to his knees if he hadn’t already been on them.
She didn’t know what to do.
Judy didn’t know what to do.
He was never going to see Alma again. This was over.
His whole life was over.
He didn’t feel anything except his breathing growing louder and more uneven.
“Nick? It’s going to be fine, alright? We’ll… we’ll find her, okay?” she said weakly. “But I really, really need you to not let this panic you too much and -and just focus on getting her back…”
She knew him too well.
He was probably already planning his funeral.
Silence answered her: he was bordering the panic attack.
She took a shaky breath before speaking again.
“Nick, I need you for this. She needs you for this. Please use your panic instead of letting it control you… I know you’re capable of it.”
She spoke softly while running toward the car to get back to Zootopia as fast as possible.
She kept talking for two full minutes until the fog in his head slowly changed into something else.
Something close to anger and determination and mostly an emotion he could only describe as: kill everyone involved in this.
"Yeah… yeah, I -yeah. Just come here and call Mister Big. Text me when you’re back,” he said weakly, cutting her off.
She sighed in relief. At least he wasn’t fainting or completely shutting down.
“Okay. I’ll do that…” she replied, wiping her wet cheeks.
A silence passed before he ended the call.
He stood up on wobbly legs and looked around the room.
His eyes fell on a baby book on the coffee table.
“My friend at the bookshop got a bit weird too…”
Well, whoever that fucking stupid piece of shit was, he was about to get a little surprise visit.
~
In the car, she was driving way over the speed limit while dialing her phone.
Which was stupid, and she knew it.
“Judy, my child, how’s everyth-” Mister Big started when he finally picked up.
“Alma’s missing. I’m going back to Zootopia. Kevin and Henry can catch Joss without me. Can you please, please help us?” she cut him off.
She really didn’t have time for small talk right now.
“Oh my God, this is terrible news! Of course I’ll send a few of my bears on this. I’m so sorry for you,” he replied, his voice sounding genuinely affected.
“Thank you so much. We could tell the ZPD, but they have fewer clues than us and they’ll just poke their noses where they shouldn’t, so…” she said, relieved yet still incredibly tense.
“Yes, that would be a bad idea indeed. I’ll do my best. Talk to you soon -I have to find Raymond and Joseph for this. I’ll send Robert to find Nick and I’ll call you as soon as I have news.”
Mister Big hung up before she could answer.
She texted Nick to tell him Robert was on his way to find him, then dropped her phone onto the passenger seat and sped up.
She was so scared.
She was pretty used to being in danger and everything, but nobody she knew had ever been kidnapped before.
And even if Nick got kidnapped, he was a grown adult.
Alma was not, she was one year old...
Although when she tried to imagine Nick getting kidnapped, she was just as panicked.
~
Nick stormed out of Gary’s place after picking up the panda plushie and the yellow sweater from the floor to keep with him. Always.
He took the receipt of the books that was still in the trash can to get the bookstore’s name.
He saw Judy’s message, so he texted Robert to send him the location of the bookstore and explained the sketchy plan he had.
Then he walked there half running. The panic was still inside his chest, but the anger was stronger for once.
Those people had drugged them, sent Judy to the hospital -she could’ve died- and now they had taken Alma.
And they had to “hide” because they were “dangerous”, if you asked him, they were mostly a pain in the ass.
When he arrived in front of the bookstore, a sign saying “Closed” was hanging from the doorknob.
Who cares?
He tried to open the door and it wasn’t even locked.
He walked carefully toward the back room.
“Hey! I’m sorry, we’re closed for the day -I was just about to lock the door. You can come back tomorrow,” a voice said from behind him.
Nick turned around and saw a snake.
Probably Gary’s friend.
The snake’s expression flashed with something when he saw exactly who he was talking to.
“Oh -are you that police officer? Gary said he was babysitting your daughter, right?” Quentin asked politely.
Yet Nick could sense a bit of fear in his voice.
“Yeah,” Nick replied coldly, not moving an inch toward the exit.
He could smell the hesitation coming off Quentin in waves. Adrenaline and worry always made his fox senses sharper.
“Where’s Gary, actually?” Nick continued, moving slightly closer to the door to block it in case Quentin tried to run out.
“Oh, he’s gone? I had no idea… Maybe he’s on holiday…” the snake replied, furrowing his brows.
Nick sighed. Did they really have to act like they didn’t know what was going on?
“I don’t think so. He was supposed to watch her again today, yet they both mysteriously seem to have disappeared,” Nick said thoughtfully while keeping a hand in the pocket where he kept his pocket knife.
Ever since he knew Alma was in constant danger he had it right there.
“Well that’s unfortunate… maybe they’re at the park-” Quentin replied with a smile.
“Yeah, right,” Nick cut him off, “Or maybe she got kidnapped for revenge. That would be crazy, right?” he continued and took a step toward the snake.
Silence filled the whole place. Quentin’s smile froze.
“It would be even crazier if you knew about it and were just too stupid to realize that pretending to be innocent wasn’t going to work. Right? I mean, it’s not preschool anymore. Just be a bit more fucking courageous. Right?” Nick continued with a cold smile.
Quentin didn’t reply.
But his smile was gone.
“So let’s say we all fucking man up, or we’ll end up in Mister Big’s frozen pool, because they’re coming here right now. Hypothetically, of course.” he added when the silence stretched painfully.
Nick stared directly into Quentin’s eyes for about ten seconds.
“What do you want?” Quentin finally whispered, looking away from Nick’s cold gaze.
“I want my baby and my friend back. So where are they?” Nick replied, taking another step closer.
A wave of relief hit him when Quentin finally stopped denying everything.
“I’ll tell you if you leave me out of this. I don’t want to freeze to death…” Quentin said, trying to meet Nick’s eyes again.
“Sure,” Nick replied with a shrug.
Quentin exhaled in relief.
“Gary was drugged, just like you were before. They’ll send him back home once they’re sure the dosage is right. They don’t want another ‘Judy' problem.’”
Nick’s stomach twisted at the reminder.
“And Alma’s… gone from Zootopia. She’s… uh… probably way past Orchydee by now… I don’t know where exactly,” Quentin finished calmly.
Way past Orchydee.
Where Judy was.
He didn’t have time to think about it when a car stopped in front of the building and a massive form appeared behind the glass door.
Nick felt a rush of panic coming from Quentin.
Robert pushed the door open and stepped into the room, a tranquilizer gun in hand.
“Hey, hey -you said I’d be out of trouble! You can’t-” Quentin said in a high-pitched voice before Robert aimed at his neck and fired.
The snake collapsed to the floor with a thump.
Nick leaned over him.
His eyes were still open, the tranquilizer taking a few seconds to kick in.
“I lied,” Nick replied coldly. Then he turned and started walking out of the shop, “Oh, don’t ice him,” he added over his shoulder to Robert “Just keep him wherever you’re keeping Joss. I’m starting a collection of assholes.”
He smiled slightly at the polar bear, who nodded and picked Quentin up before shoving him into the back of the car.
Nick watched the car leave the Reptile District before heading back to Gary’s place.
Eventually, Gary would be sent back.
He sat down on the curb in front of the door and texted Judy about what he had learned.
Then he took Alma’s panda plushie out to look at it.
And strangely, he didn’t cry.
He could still feel that crushing weight in his chest, but no tears came.
He was determined to get her back, and sadness would lead nowhere.
He’ll find her.
Then he’d cry.
~
Judy still had an hour of driving left before reaching Zootopia when she saw Nick’s message.
Alma had been sent toward Orchydee.
Where she had been all day.
She stopped the car brutally.
The black truck?
She turned the car around and sped back toward Orchydee.
She had no proof that it was that truck, but a suspicious black truck leaving town at high speed was usually not clean business.
She cursed aloud at herself for being so stupid.
Before, she had been so desperate that everything had looked like a clue, except the one that actually was one.