The Fire Triangle, A Zootopia Fanfiction -- Part One: Fuel - 22

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 3 - Day of Carrots and Blueberries

(Continued...Pt. 14)

When Nick Wilde returned to the amphitheater he found only Judy there waiting for him.

"Everyone else went back to the farm-stand, Nick." She said, referring to the Hopps Family Farm produce booth. "What happened with Conor?'

She asked the question in an ambiguous tone, but Nick could see that she was trying very hard not to thump her foot-and also that her gaze was focused on his paw, which was clearly not holding Erin's long, lost, bass guitar.

"I'll tell you on the way," he said, "But listen Carrots, there's something we didn't know..."

When Judy heard it, she gasped so loudly it sounded almost like an asthma attack.

"Oh my Gaw, Erin did that?"

"Yes, Erin did that," Nick started to say-and then quickly corrected his course, "All right, honestly, I don't know what she did, Carrots," he added. Now was not the time for speculation; 'just the facts ma'am', as another police officer once said.

"But that's what Conor says happened," he went on, "and I believe him. He made the offer to sell Erin's guitar back all on his own; I didn't have to ask." (Only technically true, but true enough.)

Judy nodded and resumed walking, looking thoughtful.

"Nick, I-I-I don't think Erin kept it from us on purpose; she's smart enough to know we'd find out sooner or later anyway. No, I think she was just so upset about everything, she didn't quite know what she was saying."

"Hmmm yeah, I think you're right, Judy." The red fox answered after a second or two of reflection. "Honestly, I can't really blame her. Of all the times for that guitar to kick the bucket, it had to happen right then." He turned and looked at her. "How's she doing by the way?"

Judy sucked on her lower lip for second.

"A lot better, last time I saw her, when she left with mom and the others...but right now, who knows?" She seemed just a bit little insecure to the fox, a rare occurrence for Judy Hopps. "Erin's at 'that age' for girls, Nick. Just when you think you've got it together, nature turns on the hormones and ...boom!"

"Right, right," Nick answered, nodding quickly. Like every other guy, he preferred to remain blissfully ignorant of such feminine matters.

They walked in silence for another minute, with Judy twitching her nose meditatively. After a moment or two she looked at him sideways.

"Nick, I think before anything else, we need to have a private talk with Erin."

"Agreed," the fox answered, nodding. (This was a subject he could talk about.) "It'd be better if the others get the story from her, rather than us."

"Exactly what I was thinking," Judy said

They found Erin and the rest of the group out behind the Hopps' Family Farm stall. She was perched on an empty carrot-crate with the others all seated around her in a rough semicircle, and her mother on a crate right beside her. The scene reminded Nick of a painting he'd once seen; a tribal council. Right away he noted that none of the original party had left the group. As a matter of fact, the gathering seemed to have expanded since he'd left; Erin's father was also there, (keeping well off to the sidelines, no doubt at her mother's insistence,) and so were Bobby and Belinda Camull, along with several other Hops family members. The instant they saw the fox approaching, everyone turned and regarded him with a jaundiced eye. Where was Erin's bass guitar and WHERE was that lowlife silver-fox kid?

That told Judy she'd better move and move quickly.

"Mom, Nick and I need to speak to Erin privately for a minute, okay?"

It was phrased as a request, but Bonnie instantly caught the inflection in her daughter's voice and agreed at once.

"Of course, Judy." She said, ushering Erin in her sister's direction before turning to the others, "All right now everyone, let's just step back and give them some room," (mom-speak for, 'Don't any of you even think about eavesdropping!')

Just to be on the safe side, they brought Erin out to the parking lot and spoke to her inside of the passenger van. Judy asked it as soon as the door closed.

"Erin, did you really try to break your bass guitar?"

Her sister burst into another flood of tears.

"I'm sorry!" she sobbed.

"Okay, come here." Judy said, taking the younger bunny in her arms. So her sister really had tried to smash her guitar. More importantly, she hadn't kept it to herself on purpose-thank goodness for that. Just as Judy had suspected, she'd simply been too distraught and/or too ashamed to bring it up. All right, now they could move on...as soon as Erin got hold of herself, however long that would take.

It didn't take long; after all her earlier crying jags, the younger bunny didn't have a lot of steam left in the boiler.

Judy gave it another minute just to be sure and then lowered herself in her seat so that the two of them were at eye-level.

"Listen Erin, no one else knows that Conor only bought your guitar to keep you from breaking it; they all think he took advantage of you."

"That's right," Nick Wilde said from the driver's seat, reaching over and laying a paw on her shoulder, "And it would be..."

Erin instantly batted him away.

"Don't touch me, okay fox?"

Judy felt her face and ears hardening, but then she saw Nick make a pushing gesture and bit back on the words in her mouth.

"All right, I won't." Nick said, showing his paws to prove it, "But your mom and the others all need to hear that part of the story. Listen, I know you don't like Conor Lewis...

"Or foxes in general," Judy was thinking.

"... but he doesn't deserve to be punished for trying to help you-and I think it would be better if everyone heard about it from you."

"O-Okay," Erin agreed weakly. Her immediate acquiescence was of no surprise to Judy; implicit in the fox's words had been a caveat, 'It will go a lot better for YOU if you tell what you almost did; otherwise, if you don't, we will.'

Knowing she had little choice, the young bunny wisely chose to volunteer the information as soon as they returned. Still, it was a painful admission for her, and she delivered it in a near stammer.

"I'm...I'm sorry now that I tried to break m-my bass...and...and that I didn't...tell you guys. I-I swear I didn't mean not to...you know...say anything about it. I just... I don't know why I didn't tell, but...I...I-I-I don't know what got into me ...please forgive me."

She bowed her head and would have cried again, except now she was all out of tears.

"Erin, it's all right," her mother said, putting an arm around her daughter's shoulder, "The important thing is you didn't break your guitar."

"Only because Conor stopped me," Erin pointed out with a dry half-sob. Okay, now it was official, she hadn't held back the info on purpose.

Nick Wilde took that as an opening and dropped down on his haunches

"Speaking of Conor, there's something else he told me Erin. He's willing to let you have your guitar back for the same $200.00 you paid for it."

A small cheer went up from the gathering-but only a small one, more than a few in the group were too busy putting on shamefaced expressions. (Erin's girlfriends were huddling and looking as if they had just been caught shoplifting.) This was the kid they'd been ready to shave, tar and feather up until less than a minute ago.

The bubble broke when Erin's tongue turned unexpectedly sharp again. She may have run out of tears, but she had plenty of attitude left.

"I don't WANT it back; that fox can keep it!"

That put a damper on things; the near-festive mood turned promptly to one of shock.

"Erin...you don't mean that." Judy finally said.

"Yes, I do!" Her sister snapped.

Judy nearly shied away from the younger bunny; cheez n' crackers was this the same girl who'd been begging forgiveness just a minute ago?

"Erin..." Bonnie came quickly to the forefront, but this time her daughter refused to back down.

"Why would I want it back mother? It's already broken, it won't play anyway!"

Judy winced and swallowed hard. That wasn't the real reason Erin didn't want her bass back, and both of them knew it. Unfortunately, the excuse she'd just made was also an unanswerable argument.

Almost unanswerable; right then Nick Wilde jumped into the fray.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean it can't be repaired." He said.

Erin turned a freezing look on him.

"And just how would YOU know that, fox?"

Nick started to answer, but Erin's mother got there first.

"All right that's enough young lady," She said, wagging a finger in the white-furred bunny's direction, "If I hear you call Nick Wilde 'fox' in that tone of voice one more time, you'll spend the rest of the weekend pulling weeds, do you understand me?"

Judy tensed and crossed her fingers. "And when mom talks to you in THAT tone of voice little sister, you had better believe she means it."

But Erin only lowered her head, "Yes, Mam."

Judy let out a long, slow sigh of relief; over Erin's right shoulder she could see her posse doing more or less the same.

Then Nick spoke up again; he seemed not to have heard any of it.

Well okay, I don't know that, Erin," he admitted, "But Conor Lewis seems to know his way around guitars...and he's a pretty sharp kid from what I've seen." He looked straight into her eyes. "You tell me; would he have made you an offer on that guitar, if HE thought it was a lost cause?"

Erin looked away for a second; she wasn't beating Nick in a stare-down, not today, 'tude or no 'tude.

"No." she finally said.

"Uhm, excuse me?"

Nick, Judy, and everyone else turned and saw Bobby Catmull with his paw raised like a kit in class.

"I know thing or two about guitar craft myself actually." The cougar said, lowering it and speaking to Erin "If your bass is really beyond repair I might be able to tell you." He shifted his gaze to Nick, "You think Conor would be willing to let me take a look at it?"

"I don't see why not?" the red fox answered, and then he looked at Erin again, "There is one thing though. He's says he'll only sell it back to you-not anyone else."

Judy let out a hiss of air through her teeth.

"Too SOON, Nick!" He should have waited until after Erin agreed to buy back the bass before telling her that.

Sure enough, the young bunny's back went up like shield and the charcoal fur of her ear-points, nose, paws, and feet seemed to darken to pitch black.

"What? No way! I'm not having anything more to do with that f...that creep!"

"Yes you will Erin, and let me tell you why."

Everyone turned to look again; Stuart Hopps was making his way through the crowd in the direction of his daughter.

"You'll do this Erin." He said, getting down on one knee in front of her. "not because your mother, or me, or anyone else told you to; heck, we couldn't make you do it anyway. No, you'll go and get your guitar back because that's the kind of bunny you are." He pointed over at Judy. "I remember when your sister resigned from the ZPD after that horrible press conference she gave; Judy thought she'd ruined everything for the predators of Zootopia, that she'd up and done something that could never be fixed."

He nodded at his older daughter and looked back at Erin again.

"I thought she'd given up on herself, little girl...for good. Heck maybe she had for all I know. But then when Judy saw her chance to make things right, she didn't hesitate. She went right back to the city, and got back on the case." He gave her arm a small squeeze, "because she knew it was the right thing to do. And she got it done Erin, she broke the savage predator plot."

He shifted his gaze again, this time to the red fox standing next to his older daughter.

"But your sister Judy couldn't have done it by herself, Erin; she needed someone to help her, and the only one who could was that same fox she'd hurt so badly with what she said at the press conference. And the only way that was going happen was if she swallowed her pride, owned up to her mistake, admitted to him that she'd been wrong."

He gave Judy and Nick a quick nod and turned back to his younger daughter.

"That was the bravest thing your sister ever did, Erin. Not going to the Police Academy, not graduating at the top of her class, not even bringing down Mayor Weathervane, (or whatever her name was.) No, Judy Hopps's finest hour was when she told Nick Wilde, "I really am a dumb bunny.' That took more courage than I could ever have."

He took Erin's paw and looked at her earnestly. "But it's not more courage than YOU have, Erin-on-a-tear. Remember that? I didn't give you that name because it sounded good. You have that same strength your sister Judy does; I know it, I've seen it. It's in your blood little girl. That's why you're going to go and buy back your guitar; because this is your chance to make things right...and you won't walk away from it, because that's who you are."

Erin looked at him for second, and then she blinked wet eyes and nodded tightly.

"Yes, Daddy." She said, in a little choked voice, and threw her arms around him.

"You're not finished yet, Erin-on-a-tear." He told her, hugging her back, "Not by a long shot."

On the other side of her father and sister, Judy could see that her mother's eyes were also moist and glistening. Well, why not? So were hers and just about everyone else's here; hadn't that been just like her Dad? When you least expected it...

Once Erin made up her mind, she began to show some resolve to go with it. Everybody wanted to come with her to Finnick's van but she insisted that they all hang back at the campground entrance.

"You'll scare the heck out of that fox if he sees an ARMY coning." She said. (She seemed to relish the thought, but understood that it wouldn't be a good idea.) In the end she did allow Judy to accompany her, "But please, let me do the talking 'kay? I'm the one who sold my bass; I'm the one who should buy it back."

"You don't want Bobby Catmull to look at it first?" Judy asked her, raising an ear.

Erin immediately shook her head.

"No...win, lose, or whatever, I'm taking my bass guitar back."

Judy could not have been more proud of her.

They found Conor seated at a table in front of the van, working at his laptop again, this time with a headset wrapped around his ears. More animals were returning to the camping area now, but the Carrots Days Festival hadn't quite begun to wind down, not just yet; the campers on either side of the young silver fox were still unlit and occupied.

Judy and her sister were about ten yards away, when the young fox turned and looked in their direction.

Erin's ears shot upwards like antenna.

"What? How'd he know we were...?"

"We're upwind of him, sis." Judy said.

"Oh...right."

Erin squared her shoulders and moved forward. Before she had taken three steps, Conor darted inside the van and returned with her bass guitar, laying it on the table next to the computer. Judy followed her sister to the perimeter of the campsite but then held there waiting. As Erin had told her earlier, this was her show.

"Hi," she said simply when she reached the table. Erin sounded as if she was completely unruffled but Judy could see her feet shifting awkwardly.

"Hi," the young fox replied, appearing equally uncomfortable.

"They look almost like a pair of kids at their first dance." Judy thought to herself with a perplexed smile. She'd expected it from Erin but not from Conor.

"Well, there it is." The young silver fox waved a paw at the bass guitar as he settled into his camp chair again, "If you have the money, it's all yours."

"You said two hundred, right?" the white-furred bunny asked him.

"She still doesn't trust him, even now." Judy could feel her nose twitching and her foot trying to thump, but Conor seemed to take it all in stride.

"Yep, that's the deal." He said. Erin counted out the money on the tabletop and he quickly counted it again before stashing it in his pocket. He might trust her sister more than she trusted him, Judy decided, but he was still going to cut the cards.

Then he waved a paw at Erin's guitar.

"Before you go, ba...kiddo, I plugged it into one of my amps and tried to see if I could figure out what happened. I-I-I think the only wrong with it's a busted amplifier jack; that's a real easy fix."

His words were well intentioned, but Judy saw her sister's ears wilting and her shoulders starting to tremble. Now she knew she'd come that close to ruining a perfectly salvageable instrument.

But then Judy felt her ears kick up and form into a 'light-bulb' V. Hold phone here...

"Conor, could you fix it?" she said, hurrying forward; never mind her promise to stay in the background.

The young fox's eyes went wide for asecond and then his head reeled back, as if he'd been hit in the face by a blast of cold air.

"Wha-me? I don't..."

Judy cut him off at the pass.

"Didn't you tell Nick and me you worked at a guitar co-operative?" She said this while giving Erin quick sideways glance. There was no irritation on her sister's face, only a look of surprise.

"Whoa-ho-ho, waiiiit a minute." Conor lifted up his arms and made stopping motions with his paws, "I said I had an apprenticeship at Peace Rock; way big difference. I helped out on some fixes yeah, but I never did one solo."

"But you just said this was an easy repair." Judy countered, refusing to be deterred.

"For someone with experience, but not for me," the young fox shrugged helplessly, "and anyway, I don't have any tools with me."

It was a good point, but if Conor Lewis thought that argument was going to dissuade this bunny, he really didn't know her all that well.

"If we got you some tools and someone to help you, then could you try to fix it?" she asked.

Conor looked at Judy as if she'd just sprouted antelope horns.

"Well yeah, maybe but..."

...but she already had her cell phone out.

"Nick...can you send Bobby Catmull down here? I'll tell you later...okay thanks. Bye"

When she disconnected, Judy became aware of a drumbeat sound coming from beside her.

It was Erin, thumping her foot.

"Excuse me Judy, but whose bass is that on the table there, yours...or mine?"

Taken aback, Judy could only answer weakly, "Yours, Erin." Oh brother, she was really playing the dumb bunny now-and an insensitive one-leaving her sister out of the equation like that.

"Right!' the younger rabbit gave her foot a final thump, and then pointed towards herself with two fingers. "So I'll decide who fixes my guitar and when, thank you very much."

Judy felt her heart begin to sink, but then her sister turned and spoke to Conor Lewis.

"One question. If I let you try to repair my bass, is there any chance you could end up breaking it for good?"

His expression became even more bewildered.

"Mmmm, nooo..." he finally said, "THAT wouldn't happen but..."

"Fine, then go ahead," Erin told him.

Conor shot up out of his seat.

"Go ahead? What are you, a couple of March Hares; didn't you hear what I said just now? Aghhhhh, grrrrrr, I should of let you break that thing when I had the...!"

"Hey everyone what's going on?"

They all looked and saw Bobby Catmull approaching; it was Judy who answered the cougar's query.

"Conor says he might be able to fix Erin's guitar..."

"Hey, I never...!"

"...but he doesn't have any of his tools with him and he can't do it alone. Could you help?"

"Mmmm, maybe," Bobby answered guardedly, "I've got a few of my tools with me. But what's wrong with Erin's bass, any idea?"

He said this while looking at Conor, who in turned looked the same way Nick Wilde had when he'd heard his voice playing back on Judy's Carrot pen. 'I make 200 dollars a DAY, fluff.'

"I think it's the stereo jack," the young silver fox finally said, "but I..."

"Oh yeah that's a Morty-Mouse repair job." The big cat told him, nodding cheerily...and then held out his paws towards the instrument lying on the table. "May I...?'

Conor's ears began moving in twenty different directions at once.

"I just...Look, I....It's not...aw, here already."

He picked up Erin's bass and passed it to the cougar. Judy thought he looked like Leep, surrendering his sword to Grunt at Hippomattox. (For the life of her, she couldn't understand what the fox-kid's problem was.)

Bobby took the bass guitar and examined it minutely.

"Did you try plugging it into an amplifier?' he asked.

"Yeah," the young fox said, "When I turned up the gain I got a low hum, but nothing else. I tried holding it near a mike too; see if I got any feedback."

"Did you?" the cougar asked him.

"Yeah, sure did," the young fox answered twisting a finger in his ear to demonstrate. His reticence seemed to be rapidly fading.

"So the pickups are still good." Bobby gave the instrument back to him, "I think you're right, it's a bad stereo jack." He raised a cautionary finger, and then pointed at the guitar, "The bad news is, I'm pretty sure that one's toast. It's going to need replacing, not fixing. And I don't have a spare, I'm afraid."

"Me either," said Conor, perhaps a little quickly. (He seemed to find the information heartening.)

"We'll get you one." Judy told him confidently. That was good for an odd look from both the young fox and Bobby Catmull; even Erin was regarding her dubiously.

"Okay," he said, raising his paws, "No promises, but if Bobby here can help me, and if you can find a replacement jack-one that'll fit this bass-then I'll try to see what I can do, okay?"

Conor didn't sound particularly sure of himself, but he finally understood one thing if nothing else, (a fact well known to his fellow fox, Nick Wilde.) When Judith L. Hopps got a notion into her head, you couldn't dislodge it with dynamite.

"Okay Conor, that's all we can ask." Judy told him, offering a paw. (Erin only nodded; she didn't want this fox touching her either.)

Conor took Judy's paw and they shook on it, but then showed he hadn't played all of his cards either.

"I can't do anything tonight," he said, reaching over and powering down the laptop, "I gotta get back to the stage; they're gonna be wondering what happened to me. Heck, I'll be lucky if I haven't been fired."

Judy felt her ears go up and saw Erin's do the same. Bobby Catmull's tail was flicking in curiosity.

"Back...to the stage?" she queried at last.

By way of response, the young fox slipped two fingers under a lanyard encircling his neck and then lifted them up to display a laminated, plastic card.

"I volunteered to help out at the talent show." He explained, "Figured I might learn a thing or two, you follow what I'm bringing out?"

He closed up the laptop and scampered back inside the van with it, leaving the bunnies and cougar to stare after him in confusion.

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There are two Easter Eggs here. an indirect reference to the most famous all Disney icons and another to character in another Disney animated feature. The previous chapter's Easter Egg was the number of Finnick and Conor's campsite, A-113.