Zootopia: Secrets And Deception

Chapter 15. The Exchange

Judy couldn't sleep all night, the pain from Nick being taken from her and kept as a hostage, the box that won't open for some unknown reason, and makes her feel like she missed something, and the fact that in a few short hours it will be Saturday. She was too exhausted to not sleep, but much too afraid to, and this entire week has been the longest she has been without him in her life. All of her thoughts and emotions she kept locked inside her, felt as if she was carrying a backpack filled with iron bricks, and was a burden almost too heavy to bear alone. She just laid in her bed, staring at the ceiling through red, dry eyes, before finally falling asleep and drifted into a dream.

In her dream, she was standing upon a stone path that led upwards into a mountain, and couldn't stop walking on that path. Then she was suddenly surrounded by a mist, almost like her other dream, but this one was thicker, and swirled around her like she was inside the eye of a hurricane. When the mist finally had cleared, the path ended and became a bridge, made of wood and rope, and she heard a voice call from behind her.
"Carrots....." is all it said, but was all too familiar to her.
"Nick?" she called out as she turned around, to find the bridge starting to fall apart from underneath her, and grabbed onto one of the ropes which appeared to be cut. She was so close to the other side of the bridge, but was still too far for her to reach out and grab. The rope that she was holding onto was starting to snap and break. "But, how can this be?" she thought, before feeling something holding onto her other hand, and looked down. All she saw was a hand holding her own, before the mist started to clear. "Nick!" she shouted.
"Carrots, the rope isn't going to hold both of us. You have to let me go!" he said suddenly. This remark made her freeze and her hair stand on end.
"No! I won't let you go, Nick! The rope will hold us, just hold onto me!" she shouted back as a single tear fell down her face.
"I'm sorry, carrots....." came the reply, and his grip on her loosened, and his hand began to slip out of her own.
"No, Nick! Hold on, please!" she begged, and more tears began to flow down her face.
"Goodbye....." he said, before slipping completely out of her hand and plummeting down into the mist, and disappeared. Just as she lowered her head, the rope snapped and she began to fall, before a different hand grabbed hers and pulled her up.
"I'm sorry, Judy." This figure said while covered in White, and looked at her with his eyes that were also familiar to her. one was brown, but the other was sky-blue, and just before he removed his mask, he was swallowed by the mist and also disappeared. Then she found herself standing in front of iron bars, inside the ZPD and Nick standing right next to her, with a grim look upon his face. When she looked back at the bars, a head rose from within the mist, but she could only see the backside of it.
"Judy Hopps, and Nickolas Wilde....." it was Jeremiah! "Do you think you are the only one that can wield that?" he suddenly said as he turned to face her. Judy looked at him funny, before looking down and seeing something large and golden around her neck, with a large stone in the middle of it. Suddenly, Jeremiah reached out with his tail at lightning speed, and grabbed the necklace, before everything went black.

Judy then opened her eyes, and saw that it was 11:45 in the morning. The dream she had was just like the others, misty and fading into darkness, only this one felt more real. Suddenly, it hit her that today is Saturday, and got out of bed to take a shower and help calm her nerves, and afterwards almost drinking an entire cup of coffee. After a few minutes, she sat on the couch for the phone call, just the sitting here and waiting for this was excruciatingly painful for her. Finally, at 1:30 in the afternoon, her phone rang and she answered it quickly. "Hello?" she said quietly.
"Hello, Judy....." came the reply, it was Jeremiah.
"Is.....is Nick there?" she asked.
"Of course, Nickolas is fine. In fact, he has something to say to you, don't you?" he said, before there was a slight pause.
"Hey, Carrots....." it was Nick! And he sounded weaker than last time they spoke.
"Nick! Are you okay?" she asked as tears began to form in her eyes.
"I'm okay, carrots.....listen, no matter what happens I will always....." his voice then suddenly stopped.
"Anyways, if you want Nickolas back, bring me both the key and the box, and he will be all yours.....alive that is. In two hours, be at the alley where my men took you from the first time we met, you will get into the black car and escorted to my location.....blindfolded of course. Do you understand?" Jeremiah asked politely.
"Y-yes, I understand." Judy replied, feeling a little scared.
"Don't be frightened, Judy. You will see Nickolas again soon.....oh, I almost forgot. No cops, if I see anyone that seems suspicious to me, Nickolas pays!" he said harshly before hanging up. Judy just sat on her couch for a few moments, she didn't know what to do, what to say, and she just sat there with trails from tears down her face. It was after an hour, Judy had then decided to go to the ZPD and get a wire and tracking device placed on her. If the cops weren't going to be in the vicinity of the exchange, then they will hear every word spoken there.

It was now time, and she was standing right where she had been taken before a black vehicle pulled up, and the masked driver got out and signaled to her. She was bound and hooded again, before they started to drive away. Chief Bogo and a swat team were waiting for the 'go ahead' from Judy, who still was wearing the tracker. Suddenly, after what felt like forever, she heard a voice tell her something.
"Hopps, the tracker just died. We don't have a location on you." It was Bogo talking to her through the earpiece, and he sounded as if he was about to panic, but calmed himself down so they don't compromise the exchange. When they finally stopped, she got out and was escorted through a chain linked fence, before she was unbounded and the hood came off. It was raining and had grown dark, but she still had the duffel bag around her shoulder and was ready. Just then, two other vehicles pulled up and the drivers exited and one of them opened his door for Jeremiah to get out.
"Jeremiah....." she shouted, though Judy was about thirty yards away from him.
"Hello, Judy." He replied and began to slither towards her, but stopped within fifteen feet of her.
"Where is Nick?" she asked impatiently.
"Don't worry, he is right here." He answered, and signaled his men to bring Nick out. They opened the car doors and brought him out by the shoulders, bound and hooded like herself, and set him down right next to Jeremiah. Just as she began to walk towards him, Jeremiah ripped off the hood and wrapped his tail around Nicks' neck, which made her stop dead in her tracks. "First things first, give the duffel bag to your escort." He said starring at Judys' watery eyes. Judy did as she was told, and her escort brought the bag over to him and unzipped it, showing Jeremiah the contents for which he has asked for specifically. Once he was satisfied with what he saw, he loosened his grip on Nicks' neck. "We have what we came here for, unlock his restraints." He ordered and began to slither back towards the car, as his men did what they were told and followed. Nick fell towards the ground as he was released from their grip on his shoulders. Judy rushed over to him, picked him up, and hugged him tight. He felt limp in her arms, but was alive and safe.
"What did you do to him?" she asked angrily.
"The deals up, Judy. I don't have to answer any of your questions." He replied, sounding impatient.
"You didn't have to hurt him, he was innocent you.....you coward!" she shouted as tears began to trickle and flow down her face.

Upon hearing this, Jeremiah stopped dead in his tracks and didn't move. In an instant, he moved from the front of his car to right in front of her face.
"You don't know pain like I do! You don't know loss as I do! You have never felt like the entire world was at your throat as I have....." he said in a dark, grim voice as he turned his head, revealing his scars all across the right side of his face, and down his side. "It wasn't my choice to do this to him, but I am no coward. I gave you Nick, I held up my end of our deal as did you and I promised you, that if you give me everything I asked for Nick would live." He said as he looked away from her, but she noticed what he tried to hide. Tears began to form under his eyes, and one fell from his face. "Don't. You. Ever. Say that I am a coward, I have lost everything I loved,  and didn't get to choose like what I gave you.....I am not afraid to die, or of anything else." He said as his voice grew softer, before turning around and showing Judy that there was no more sorrow in his eyes, but now there was fire and anger. "And one last thing.....Bogo! I know you're listening. If you intervene, I will make you watch as I dose both Nickolas and Judy with my raw venom, and just when they are seconds away from death I will inject you with my venom!" he threatened and began to slither back to his car.
"H-how did you know I was wearing a wire?" Judy asked suddenly, making Jeremiah stop again.
"It was easy, your wire is putting out sound waves that very few can detect. Bogo has been talking to you this entire time, but I also know that you wouldn't come here without trying to get me on recording." He answered and got inside his vehicle before driving off and disappearing. After a few moments her tracker came back on, and two swat units and an ambulance pulled up, before gently placing Nick on a stretcher and taking him to the hospital. Judy sat right next to him through the entire ride, and through the night before finally falling asleep.