Sunderance - Chapter 15.2: Reflection (Patreon)

He was injured.

“Take a slow, deep breath,” said the older male in a low, soothing voice that they both knew very well. It was also a voice that seemed low on patience, which was not entirely unexpected given the fact that the patient had not been entirely cooperative to this point. It had taken fifteen minutes just to get him to sit rather than returning to his dojo. “I would prefer that you allow me to x-ray your chest to avoid complications, but a few fractured ribs shouldn’t be a real problem for someone at your level of fitness and age. The bruised sternum will be uncomfortable, but you likely won’t even notice it while the ribs heal.”

Her ears jerked reflexively as she listened from her desk, the document on the desk in front of her, one which detailed an important trade agreement with an outside territory, blank as far as she was concerned. Fractured ribs? When was the last time he had gotten more than a scratch? It was something that she didn’t even need to think about, because she remembered with full clarity the last time he had been injured. The last time she had needed Lyndon for more than a routine checkup. When she had sent Jack, with great trepidation, to remove an entire organization from Zootopia. Believing that the stoic bunny, who sat without expression as the long horned Saola Ox listened to his breathing with a stethoscope one more time, could have been seriously injured was madness to her. Not by a single fox.

Certainly not by Nicholas.

“There is the risk of infection,” the older male continued as he removed the stethoscope from his ears, then moved his hooves to the bare chest of the bunny to carefully feel around. She knew that even the slightest twitch from Jack would be enough for the ox, the only mammal in Zootopia that she trusted with his health or even the knowledge of his existence, to register that reaction as pain. In the end, he gave a satisfied if grave nod before pulling himself to his feet. “Lung collapse, muscle tearing, pneumonia are all possibilities. I will need to do bi-weekly checkups for the first few weeks and weekly after that just as a precaution. You will have to restrict your routine. Light exercise at most. No acrobatics, no sparing, and no outside activities for the next few weeks.”

“I will see to it myself,” she said, finally forgetting the pretense that she was doing anything other than paying attention to the two males. Rising gracefully from her desk, the Red Fox walked around it with her eyes resting on the striped rabbit. “We can manage without you for a few weeks, Jack. It will only require minor adjustments to the schedule.”

It was a lie. It would require the most extensive reworking of mammalpower since she had taken this office and would restrict her movement for a time. Loyal as he was, she wasn’t foolish enough to believe that he would sit in his quarters and trust someone else to do what he did. Even though the face of the bunny remained expressionless, the subtle narrowing of ice blues told her that he knew this already. But that wasn’t his concern. Not now. Of all the things she could and would risk, Jack was not one of them.

“Very good then,” the doctor said, rising from the chair beside Jack’s. Brown eyes turned to her as he reached up to scratch the side of his white spotted muzzle absently. “He may need ice compresses to reduce the swelling, and I’ll send up some pain medication. Mild pain medication that won’t cause drowsiness, of course.”

That last bit was added when the rabbit’s eyes darted to his face, causing the older male to roll his eyes slightly before he focused them on the vixen.

“Of course, Dr. Lyndon,” she replied easily, keeping her voice easy as she placed her paw on his arm as she walked him towards the elevator. A warning glance was cast towards Jack when he started to rise, one which he understood well enough to allow himself to sink back into the chair without visual complaint. “Thank you for coming to see him at this hour of the morning. I know that you have a Council meeting in a few hours.”

“As do you,” he reminded her, reaching up to pat the paw on his arm. She smiled slightly at the gesture, mostly because he was one of the few mammals that she welcomed the light affection from. “I wish you would tell me what happened, or at least allow me to x-ray him. It is difficult to gage complications without knowing what caused this.”

“There are things you are better not knowing, Darius,” she said lightly, though the stern edge in her voice made it clear that there was no debate to be had on the subject. Her face softened when he gave a resigned nod in reply, his long horn bobbing a bit as one ear flicked in un-voices annoyance. “As one of three mammals in Zootopia who knows he exists, you know better than most that the secret has been kept for this long as it has because I don’t share everything.”

“So, I will simply go with the idea that he was hit by a very small, very fast truck,” the doctor deadpanned as he looked down at her once they reached the elevator, words that caused her to pause as she slipped the key into the slot.

“Is that what is looks like?”

“It looks like he was shot with a high caliber round while wearing a bulletproof vest,” he said, nodding towards the bunny who sat silently in the dimly lit Apex with his paws on his knees. “Whatever hit him struck the projector in the suit dead on. If not for that, it would likely have shattered his ribs rather than simple fracturing them.”

There was a twist in her gut, one that caused a slight ripple in her fur as it tried to rise on the back of her neck, a reaction that lasted for a fraction of a second before she brushed it aside. “Yes. We can assume it was a small, fast moving truck in that case. Thank you again, Doctor. I will see you in a few hours.”

“Of course, Administrator,” he said, his tone more businesslike as he stepped into the lights of the elevator. “Be sure that he relaxes. Discipline is a fine thing to have, but only to an extent when injured. He needs to relax, more than I’ve seen him relax in… Well, ever.”

When the doors slid closed, she stood in front of them for a moment longer to gather herself and settle her nerves before she turned back into her private world. Even as silent as her footsteps were as she crossed the large room, his eyes moved to her when she approached. “I am still capable of carrying out…”

“Enough, Jack,” she said sharply, causing the bunny to fall into silence. His face hardened, his back straightened which made her wince even more than he did when it pulled on overtaxed muscles. “This is not a subject that is open for debate or pride. Consider yourself removed from any outside activities until you are cleared by Doctor Lyndon.”

“Then you’re not leaving my sight,” he said, the words as much as the steel in his tone shocking her into silence for a moment. “Whatever plans you have outside of this building need to be postponed if you expect me to do the same.”

It caused a tick in her chest that was almost painful, a flutter in her belly that required her to draw a slow breath as she walked around the chair to stand behind him. Even if she knew it was just duty to him, intellectually, that rare and unwavering defiance on her behalf was thrilling.

“I know,” she murmured gently, raising one tentative paw. She couldn’t control the fact that it trembled just a bit before she placed it on his bare shoulder, feeling the warmth of his fur and the strength of the compact muscle that tensed slightly at the touch. She didn’t pull away, though. Instead, she placed her other paw on the opposite shoulder as the male in front of her kept his eyes forward and his back straight. “I am already reworking the schedule in my mind. It’s not going to be much of a problem.”

“You’re lying,” he said flatly, though his tone caused a small smile to curve her muzzle. More relaxed already, knowing that she wouldn’t try to do anything without him. How could she, after all? He was vital to everything. “It will cause a great deal of trouble. I am still more than capable of doing anything you need.”

“Only at the risk of making things worse,” she said, her tone cooling even as her fingers gently squeezed his shoulders. Squeezed again, before she started to gently knead the tense muscles as she watched him. She saw the very faint motion of his ears as they seemed to straighten atop his head, an obvious reaction considering how seldom they were afforded such close contact. She was determined to savor it, extend it if possible. “Even if it is a small risk, it is not one I am willing to take with you.”

“I understand,” he said, his tone flat as his gaze remained resolutely forward. The tone may have seemed calm, but there was something else in it that she could never quite place. Carefully, she rolled his thumbs between his shoulder blades until she saw those high ears start to relax as the muscles under her pads started to ease. “Things have changed.”

“Yes, they have,” she agreed, trying to divide mind from the reactions of her body as she took a long moment to admire the rabbit in front of her. The soothing stroke of her touch followed the dark stripes up over the back of his neck, the black fur melting into the ruddy coloring of her fingers as she worked at the knot of tension she found there. As she tried to drain the tension from him, she felt a different sort building in herself. But it wasn’t the first time she would have forced herself to ignore it. “Seeing Nicholas kill the first assassin was a surprise. Taking out the wolves for fear that he couldn’t handle them alone might have been a miscalculation.”

“We had no way of knowing his true level of skill.”

His voice was more relaxed now, too, though he was still as focused on the conversation as she was. They were a softness to the tone, however, as his muscles slowly relaxed under her touch. His fur warmed, her breathing evened out and slowed, and she felt him lead further back into the chair as his posture became less important than what she was doing to him. It encouraged her to continue, spreading both of her hands out over his shoulders in a feather light caress that made her imagine a shiver running through him even as she kept her own in check. Golden eyes followed the motion of striped ears as they drooped just a little in her direction, putting them close enough so that her next words whispered over his fur.

“You did say that you wanted to assess him,” she commented, trying desperately to keep herself focused. She did manage it, simply because the subject of the conversation was dear to her. As dear as the rabbit her order had caused to come to harm. “Do you have one?”

“He is skilled,” he said, his voice softer now. Softer still as she pressed the pads of her palms into his shoulder in a firm, repeated slide down the curve of his shoulders. “I was cocky, and paid for it. I landed the first blow, could have killed him in that moment if that had been the intent. His reactions seemed slow.”

“But?” she pressed gently, watching his ears fall further until they reached a state of peace when they folded down fully and rested over the back of the chair. On impulse, she moved her hands from his shoulders to the top of his head, to the base of his ears for a soft touch that this time made her stomach quake lightly before she could stop it.

“But,” he continued, his voice drifting and distant. So rare, she realized, for him to be this relaxed and peaceful. So perfectly wonderful. She would have to do this again, touch him like this again, even if she knew he would never want it to go further. “He adapted more quickly than I’ve ever seen before. He didn’t try to move faster to match my speed; he changed techniques entirely. He led me to where he wanted me to be, and struck before I realized what was happening. And he struck with the intent of finishing it.”

“The doctor said that without the holo-projector on your chest, the damage could have been much worse,” she conformed, though even as she digested this stunning information about the fox she thought she knew, she still couldn’t take her eyes from the male in front of her. Her fingers moved down his ears, one paw to either one as she worked her thumb and forefinger on the rim of each one. It would relax him, she knew, and was proven right when his head tilted back to allow her uninterrupted access as a slow sigh escaped him. But she knew that this was an indulgence on her part, for him as much as her. He deserved some care, after all. He had always deserved more than she could give him. She smiled lightly, prettily as she teased, “Are you saying that he’s better than you?”

“Unknown,” he said simply, surprising her with the calm of the statement. It had never even been a question before, never even seemed a possibility and she found the answer as shocking as the feel of his warm flesh under her pads was delightful. “We were both holding back to some degree. He knows I was, or I would have killed him. And I know he was because he didn’t follow through after taking the advantage. Does it matter?”

His eyes were open now, looking up at her from where his head rested on the back of the chair. She wondered how much of the heat in those eyes was her imagination and how much was simply a result of the conversation about the battle. She did not stop the stroke of her fingers, however, and smiled faintly when she actually did see him shiver. A sensitive spot, right past the rim towards the center, that she committed to memory. She almost, just almost, allowed herself to wonder what it would take to seduce him. It was respect, and doubt, that had her pushing the thought aside again when she replied.

“You are both important to me. It would be better if there were no surprises, and this comes as a surprise,” she admitted, her eyes moving over the handsome face of the rabbit once his eyes had drifted closed under her attention. “I didn’t expect Nicholas to be a real concern in Zootopia.”

“Whatever he might have been before, Neveen, is gone now. He’s not the spoiled rich Todd you told me about years ago,” he murmured, making a slow chill slide down her spine that finally had the fur on the back of her neck standing on end when he finished, “As long as he is protecting her, he’s much more dangerous.”