Chapter Text
Gary coiled up outside the entrance of the Zootopia Correctional Facility, his scales shifted from both the cold and nervousness. Even with Officers Hopps and Wilde on either side of him as escorts, the feeling of unease coiled deep in his gut.
“I still say this was a bad idea.” Nick said, pulling at his uniform collar. “I wouldn’t trust any of those cats even behind bullet proof glass.”
“What did Kitty Lynxley say exactly in her letter, Gary?” Judy asked.
“Well not much really, just that she and her twin wanted to meet me in person.” Gary replied. “And that I needed to bring you two along.”
“No reason at all? Just ‘hey we know our family framed yours running them out of Zootopia and our brother with daddy issues tried to kill all of you. But why don’t you stop by? Have some tea?’” Nick snarked. “Seriously, there's no way those guys just want to talk with a snake.”
“Well, I still want to hear them out.” Gary stated as he started slithering toward the front door. “Maybe.. They can tell me how he’s doing.”
Judy couldn’t help but feel sorry for the serpent, she knew Pawbert’s betrayal hit him the hardest. In the short amount of time she spent with the pair, she could see there had been genuine friendship between them. Even after everything, Gary wrote to the young lynx. He never received a letter back. Glancing up at Nick she gestured for the fox to follow her after Gary.
“Still say it’s a bad idea.” Nick sighed but followed anyway.
When they’d gotten inside, the pair of them had to carry Gary to the visitor windows as the linoleum floor was too cold for the snake to move over. It was only a minute or two before the Lynxley twins were brought in by a jaguar and tiger officer and shoved into the two seats on the other side of the glass. Even with the several months they’d spent behind bars, the pair didn’t really look much worse for wear.
“You got twenty minutes.” The tiger officer stated as the two officers moved away from them to stand against the back wall. Neither knew what to say for a moment or two. Kitty Lynxley was the first to pick up their phone prompting Gary to do the same.
“So, you’re the great grandson of the snake our great grandfather stole the weather wall patent from.” Kitty spoke first, studying her claws in a disinterested way.
“Yes, Gary De’Snake.” Gary nodded with a small wave of his tail tip. “And you are Kitty and Cattrick Lynxley.”
“Yeah, yeah, Wilde and Hopps here as well.” Nick cut in. “What’d you ask us here for, Kitten? Need some yarn to keep you occupied?”
“Ooo, yarn would be amazing right now.” Cattrick nodded eagerly, earning an elbow from his sister.
“Look, I know you have no reason to listen to anything I have to say but you seem like a reasonable reptile.” Kitty said. “But I have a favor to ask.”
“You’ve already had your day with your lawyer and you got your sentence.” Judy said. “If this is about getting another shot at parole-”
“Not for us and especially not for our dad.” Kitty cut in. “For Pawbert.”
“What?” Gary said in confusion. “From what Pawbert told me about your relationship, you two haven’t really been the most caring siblings since your mother passed away.”
Kitty closed her eyes for a moment as she took a breath and opened them. “We were raised to be the golden heirs of the Lynxley family. We were always supposed to follow in dad’s pawprints, whether we wanted to or not. Pawbert…. I guess you could say he was the spare child, in case we didn’t work out for dad’s plans.”
“He was more mom’s cub than dads honestly. She was his whole world and he was hers; we knew that. Sure, when dad wasn’t lurking in the shadows, we were able to spend time with them both,” Cattrick said with a sad smile. “But when mom died, Pawbert became so lost. He was only ten and he needed his chain, he needed us. We wanted to be there for him to try and fill that hole she left. But before we could even start, dad was already sending us off to boarding schools.”
“The point is, Pawbert doesn’t belong in this place, not with us.” Kitty took over the phone. “We know what we are, what we became under dad’s shadow, and we've made peace with that. Pawbert is different, he shouldn’t be in here.”
“Oh, yeah the guy that tried to kill two cops, a snake and a beaver don’t belong behind bars.” Nick’s smile was all teeth as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Not to mention trying to destroy any evidence of your family’s crimes.”
“Our family. Not his.” Kitty said. “Look.. there’s a reason dad treated Pawbert the way he did. We think this may be the loophole we need to get him out of here and away from our family name, it’s only right since it was never his to begin with.”
“What he adopted or something?” Nick chuckled. It died quickly at the looks on the twin’s faces. “Oh my god, he is.”
“He doesn’t know though. We planned to keep it that way until we thought the time was right, now’s as good a time as any.” Cattrick said. “And dad definitely doesn’t know we know. Pretty sure he’d have our hides as carpet if he did.”
“That’s the loophole you’re talking about.” Judy said her brain going a hundred miles a minute. “If he isn’t a Lynxley by blood then he can potentially be removed from your family’s crimes.”
“That’s the idea.” Kitty nodded.
"How did he join your family?" Gary asked.
It tokok Kitty a moment to answer as she recalled the painful memory. “It was a horrible blizzard that night, Mom went into labor at the manor. But it was too early, there was so much blood. Our real baby brother… was so tiny, he didn’t… he couldn’t take his first breaths.” Tears leaked from the female lynx’s eyes as she remembered that night. Cattrick was quick to wrap an arm around his sister’s shoulders. The trio on the other side of the glass waited patiently for the woman to compose herself before she continued. “A maid was pregnant at the same time, another female lynx. She’d went into labor at the same time and had a baby boy. She.. she didn’t survive; I guess the stress was too much for her. Mom couldn't handle the loss of our real brother; she just snapped and started destroying the room. Dad couldn't send her to a mental facility; the scandal would be too much. So, when he learned a lynx maid died giving birth to a baby boy.."
“He replaced the brother you lost with a maid’s orphaned child.” Gary finished. “That’s why you were both so horrible to him.”
“Even though we knew he wasn’t our brother by blood, he was still our baby brother.” Cattrick said. “We treated him the way we did because we were trying to protect him.”
“Funny way of showing it.” Nick scoffed.
“It wasn’t ideal, but it was necessary to keep dad’s attention off him. At least before he sent us off to school.” Kitty said. “When we came back… the bright happy little boy we left had been turned into a hollow, quivering mess. He couldn’t even look us in the eye anymore. We needed to push him out of the family, he wasn’t a Lynxley by blood and that was his only saving grace honestly. But he was so stubborn and determined to prove he was a real Lynxley. No matter what we did or said he just clung on tighter. Please, please you have to get him away from us and our family name. It’s toxic to him, surely you saw that when he betrayed you all for the family. Dad would have never accepted him even if he succeeded, but he just couldn't accept that.”
“Five minutes Inmates!” A guard suddenly called out. The two Lynxley’s looked at each other slightly panicked. They were running out of time.
“Do you have a pen and paper on you?” Kitty asked quickly. Judy nodded as she pulled the items from her tactical belt. “Contact Bart Batberg, he’s the only lawyer that hasn’t turned his back on us. Tell him you want to try and get Pawbert’s case reopened and him released on a technicality.”
“Uh hello? Have you two, Fuzz-for-brain’s forgotten something?” Nick asked. “You’re not brother tried to kill two ZPD officers and two innocent civilians. Do you really think they’ll let him out?”
“That’s where you come in.” Kitty locked eyes with Gary. “If Bart can get the case reopened, you’ll need to testify whatever Bart comes up with that’ll get him released. Please, I know the two of you were friends. If you still care for him at all you’ll get him out of here. He’ll probably try to leave Zootopia and you won’t have to see him again.”
“Oh, one more thing, Officer Hopps, could you write this.” Cattrick said before rattling off two strings of numbers. “Take that to Tundratown National Bank, tell them you need to withdraw everything in the account for Pawbert Frost. They won’t question you.”
“Alright, You two, let’s go.” The two guards that escorted them in, approached.
“I know you don’t trust us, especially after what our family did. And what Pawbert tried to do, but please help him. He won’t survive this place much longer.” Kitty begged as she and her brother were led away.
The trio remained quiet as they left the prison, a lot of information was given to them. Information none of them expected. What to do with that information now was the question.
Back in the prison the Lynxley twins were returned to their cell where their father was waiting.
“Well? Who visited you?” Milton questioned. “Was it someone useful to get us out of here?”
It was so easy to slip back into their old personas in front of their father it should scare them.
“It was a useless lawyer we’d contacted.” Kitty sniffed as she primley sat on her bed. “We thought he’d be able to help, turned out to be just as worthless as a certain someone.”
“Where is the waste of fur anyways?” Cattrick asked, sounding disinterested.
“A few animals had some… words to say to the traitor of Zootopia, they assured me he’d return in one piece.” Milton’s grin was malicious as he turned to reach for the newest book the librarian had brought.
The twins shared a concerned look behind their father's back. They needed to get Pawbert out of this place and fast, before their father let it tear him apart.