Sunderance - Chapter 30.4: Damnatio ad Bestias

“All rise.”

At the call from the bailiff have every mammal in the courtroom rising to their feet as Chief Justice Bellwether’s wooly head appeared over the rise of her bench. There was and electricity in the air that was equal parts curiosity and tension, the desire to know the outcome of the appeal that was considered a direct challenge not only to the justice system of Zootopia, but to the status quo of the city itself. Everyone felt it. From the tiny otter sitting next to the bunny who had come in hopes of clearing his name, to the hulking form of the bailiff himself, who watched every figure in the courtroom with a more careful eye than usual.

“Be seated,” Bellwether said, adjusting her glasses as she looked at the folder set in front of her with an expression that could only be called unreadable. She didn’t bother to open the folder, to review the information within again, since her decision had been reached. Instead, her eyes moved to the bunny who sat beside Emmett Otterton.

“What happened here today was nothing like what I expected,” she began, folding her hooves in front of her and leaning forward just a bit so she could see every face in the court. “I would be lying if I said I didn’t have my doubts about the appeal from the start, as I am sure many others did. I like to think that the justice system in Zootopia works. I like to think that no innocent mammal is ever found guilty of a crime. I like to think this because if I didn’t, it would be difficult for any of us to sleep at night. But the truth is, sometimes it does happen. Does this mean that the entire system should be changed or that the law doesn’t work? Of course not. Law and order are not as simple as who is punished and who isn’t; it is also a system that is put into place to deter those who would otherwise abuse the defenseless with impunity or use violence rather than reason…”

Judy was more than a little stunned when she stepped out of the courtroom, feeling shell shocked and exhausted. But happy at the same time, as the otter beside her paused at the entrance to look up at the sky for a moment and take deep breath. She could hardly imagine what it was like, to breathe freed again after having that taken from you, especially so soon after a personal tragedy.

Watching him with a little smile on her muzzle, her mind was moving in so many different directions that she was caught completely off guard by the sudden roar of questions and flashes that rang out from the line of reporters behind the barricades.

“How does it feel to be free after all these months?”

“Will you be suing the city for wrongful imprisonment?”

“Do you think you were set up intentionally?”

“What will you do now?”

“Will you be staying in Zootopia?”

“That being said, when a mistake is made it must be corrected. I know there are questions about whether the system itself Mr. Otterton willfully, perhaps even with hostile intent, but those are not questions that we are not here to answer today…”

She realized that only the last question was intended for her and watched as Otterton, who was not entirely new to being in the eyes of the media, stepped forward and started to answer questions without hesitation. And she was grateful for that, though in some ways she was worried about him and what he was going to do with himself now.

More than that, though, she wanted to see Nick.

Turning her eyes, she looked down the steps of the court, expecting to see the black car waiting on the street below. Instead, she saw Officer Clawhauser running up the stairs towards her with an expression and ear set that had her ears dropping and her head skipping hard in her chest as she moved to meet him.

“Miss Hopps, we received an anonymous call while you were in court,” he said, coming up beside her and gripping her arm to lead her back down the stairs. “About a disturbance not far from the courthouse. The chief decided to handle it discreetly.”

“Where is Nick?” she demanded, violet eyes wide as her already quick heartbeat quickened while she followed his lead around the courthouse. Thankfully, the pace was quick, so she had little time to stop and think as they turned the corner. That was when she saw the black car pulled hallway into an alley, surrounded by police cars, one SWAT van, and multiple ambulances parked on the sidewalk up and down the street.

“He’s... Hey!” he called when she yanked her arm away from his paw and bolted off in the direction of the alley.

“Today, we’re here to do what needed to be done to protect the freedom and the life of one mammal who deserved a chance. A chance that they were denied save for the determination of one mammal, who could very well have sacrificed their life to do so.”

She didn’t hear the calls for her to stop as she ran across the street, pushing herself faster than she had ever run before. When a wolf in ZPD blues raised his paw for her to stop, she ignored him and ducked under his paws when he made a grab for her. Dimly, she heard Clawhauser’s voice telling the officers to let her pasts, but she was hardly aware of that as she rounded the patrol car in time to stop and watch a wolf in black clothing being led out of the alley in handcuffs. The smell of blood struck her and she tried not to let her eyes fill as she stood stunned for a moment with her heart locked in her throat.

“Nick!” she nearly screamed when she could move again, starting to push her way past Clawhauser to enter the ally when he caught up to her.

“Because of this, the truth in this case has finally come to the light. Where the system failed, someone came from outside of that system to show us the truth. And for her, I wish to express my deepest gratitude and hope that she continues to show people that the system does work. And that with persistence and integrity, there are rewards to be taken and cherished.”

“Over here, Carrots.”

A silent sob rocked her chest when she heard the sound of his voice, turning quickly to see him sitting in the back of an ambulance with a tall, older curved horn stag in a paramedic uniform wrapping bandages around his upper arm carefully. She covered the distance to him in seconds, and it was only the fact that the stag stood so close to him that prevented her from launching herself at him. Which might have been a good things, considering that his chest was wrapped in bandages, he had multiple cuts over various parts of his body that were visible as lines of blood in his fur, and his face was puffy around exhausted eyes. Still, she reached out and laid a trembling paw on his leg as she moved as close to him as she could without interrupting the EMT.

“Nick, what happened?” she asked, looking at his battered face with an ache in her chest that seemed to get worse when she realized that much of the smell of blood was coming from him.

“Well,” he began, glanced at the EMT beside him for a moment before he gave a slow shrug. A shrug that caused him to wince slightly and earned from a disapproving look from the stag. “These gentlemammals currently being carted away by the ZPD wanted to have a word with you and knew that I was the fox to see if they wanted to make an appointment. We had disagreement on the terms.”

She stared up at him for a long moment as he looked down at her, feeling some degree of relief in the fact that his eyes – those beautiful, predatory green eyes of his – were as bright as they ever had been despite the swelling around him. Amused, even, as they turned, and she followed them. What she saw was five wolves, in various states of consciousness, in various positions. Three of them were walking under their own power, though one of those had their paw bandaged and another walked with a limp as they were herded towards the SWAT van by two rhinos carrying heavy tranquilizer rifles. The other two she could see as she glanced at the other pair of ambulances further down the sidewalk. Both were laid out on stretchers but given the almost relaxed pace with which they were loaded into the back of their perspective ambulance it seemed doubtful that they were seriously injured.

“As you can see,” he continued, drawing her wide eyes back to him as he waved the paw of his least injured arm, and almost managed to make it look casual, “I settled the dispute for the time being. And as much as I appreciate the placement of that paw, if you move it much higher, I might not survive in my current condition.”

That caused her to blink uncomprehendingly up at him, only to realize that her paw was pressed to his thigh rather higher than it should have been. She released a quick laugh as she removed it, and swiped the back of the paw over her eyes to wipe away the tears that had never quite managed to fall. All she could think was that he was okay, and he hadn’t killed them. She didn’t even know if she cared that they wolves were alive, beyond the fact that he had decided not to kill them even though, by his own words, it would have made any fight with them easier. And while he had not hesitated to kill before, he had made the choice not to do so even when she hadn’t been there to act as his conscience.

“We’ll need to take him to the hospital for a full workup,” the EMT said, his voice calm and smooth as he rested cool eyes on her. “But from what I can see, he likely won’t be in for more than a day as long as he can remain inactive for at least a week.”

“This Court finds Emmitt Otterton not guilty on all charges raised against him in the murder of his wife. I am personally sorry for everything that you’ve had to go through, and despite your personal losses and the trials you’ve faced, I hope that you can move forward and find happiness.”

“Okay, he will,” she muttered, only half paying attention as she responded to the stag with her eyes glued on the fox and her heart beating more steadily that she thought it should be now. “Give me just one second before you take him, please.”

Nick’s eyes were on her as she climbed up to stand on the bumper of the ambulance, putting herself on eye level with him. She carefully cupped his cheeks, avoiding the long cut visible on one of them, as soft fingers drew him closer until her lips pressed to his. There was a sort of electric heat in the kiss, as her heart stopped beating steadily and quickened when she felt as much as heard the quick into take of breath from the fox. Maybe it was the kiss, or the fact that she wasn’t going soft or sweet. She kissed him deeply, almost demandingly until his lips parted to the urgency in hers and the taste of him filled her senses as completely as his scent. It was made perfect by a growl that rose from low in his chest, one that she felt as a ticklish hum against her lips as one of his paws slipped under her ears to press against the back of her head to deepened it further. And damned if in that moment she didn’t realize just how much she had been denying herself all this time. One week didn’t seem like so much. But once that was over?

She was going to move forward with him and find her own happiness.

“Court is Adjourned.”