Leon Orcot (under_arrest) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2018-07-01 15:48:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, judy hopps, leon orcot |
Who: Leon & Judy
What: Judy tails Leon
When: Early Juneish
Where: Out and about
Rating: Low
Status: Complete!
When Judy had seen Leon’s sign in to a non existent file, she had just brushed it off. It had seemed strange, but maybe it was just a weird glitch in the system. But then she had overheard someone talking about how a case file had gone missing as well as the suspect. She frowned, going back into the database to see what she could find but it was literally nothing.
The security camera had proven something different. Judy tapped her finger on the desk, her eyebrows scrunched as she tried to think about why Leon would do such a thing. He was lucky she had been the one to find it and someone else hadn’t thought to review video footage. It was the first time since she had arrived at the PD that she was torn over her loyalties and what she should do. Per the policy, she had to report it to their chief, but she didn’t find herself rising from her chair and heading to his office. No, she would do a bit of investigative work herself and see if she could figure it out; it was the least she could do for Leon.
She blocked the video point she had reviewed, making a copy of it for her phone before heading back to her desk. As luck would have it, she saw the man in question in the bullpen and she sat down, trying to act casual as she kept eyes on him.
When he stood to leave, Judy gave him a couple seconds head start before she headed out of the precinct after him. She tried to keep some distance from him, but it had been her first time following someone. She wanted to see if he might meet up with the culprit in question and see if she could find any more information.
Leon was doing his best to not think of what he had done for Dan and Liv. It wasn’t his proudest moment, and it was something he hoped he’d never be brought up again. Of course, it was hard not to think about it. He’d broken the law, and for what? To get an innocent man out of prison, that’s for what.
He stopped on his way to the burger joint where he was going to have lunch to light a cigarette, and the hairs on the back of his neck raised. He glanced over his shoulder and frowned. He didn’t know what had set him off, but he was nearly certain that he was being followed, and the feeling only increased once he started walking again. He’d learned to trust his intuition more than anything else - he’d been told he had animal like instincts on a couple of occasions before - and while he didn’t know why he thought he was being followed, he was going to follow through on the feeling. Even if it was just him being paranoid about being caught like a criminal.
He was beside an alley when he turned on his heel to see if he could spot anyone following him, and while he couldn’t make out who it was, he did see what looked like someone diving into a shop front doorway. Sure that their eyes were off him for the moment, he slipped into the alley and pushed himself against the wall, hoping to get in behind them when they walked passed looking for him.
That was close. Judy had just managed to move inside a store to avoid detection from Leon. Her heart was pounding as she pretended to look at some candy, wondering how long she should wait until she could peek out again. She gave it a minute before she tentatively peeked out. Leon was nowhere to be found.
“Cheese and crackers!” Judy hopped out of the store and hurried along the sidewalk, glancing around for Leon’s familiar build.
Leon was more than a little surprised when he saw Judy rush past the alley he’d ducked into. What the hell was she up to? He stepped out behind her. “Hopps,” he barked. “Why the hell are you following me?”
She stopped dead in her tracks as soon as she heard the call. “Damnit,” she swore under her breath, her hands clamped to her sides. Well, no use denying it now. She’d been caught red-handed.
She turned on her heel and looked at Leon, giving him a sheepish grin. “Hey Leon,” she said, looking up at him. “Um, I was just looking for you ‘cause...well, I wanted to ask you something.” Her eyes darted around her, not sure why she suddenly felt so nervous confronting him.
“Um, can we go grab a cuppa coffee or something?”
Leon peered at her suspiciously, not entirely sure if he believed her. For one, the way her eyes were darting around in their sockets was suspicious as all hell. She was hiding something from him, though what, he had no idea. And if it was something as innocuous as just asking him something she could have just approached him instead of skulking about in doorways. “You know I always have my phone on me, right?” he asked blandly, because of course she did. Most cops kept their phone on them at all times.
“Fine,” he said. Hopefully he’d get to the bottom of this without needing to drag it out of her.
“Uh, yeah, but…” Judy realized she would only back herself into a corner if she tried to cover up what she had been doing. Better to just be honest with him and hear his side out. There had to be a good reason, there was no way Leon could be a dirty cop. At least that’s what Judy prayed as they walked to the closest coffee house.
After ordering their respective drinks, Judy found a table for them to sit at, the one that seemed the most private. Hard to find in places like that, but it would do for now. Judy clasped her hands on the table, staring at them as if they would give her the strength she needed.
“So.” She finally looked at Leon.. “I...saw you signed out a file that wasn’t there. But no big deal. Things get mixed up in weird ways. But then someone said they were missing a case file. Something about a robbery?” She tried to read his expressions, but he was always really good at masking them. “And...well, when I researched it, I dug up the video of you...and the suspect.” She hoped Leon had a reason, a good reason for what she had seen. A transport maybe? But she knew she was only making excuses for him now.
Leon balked a little when she mentioned that she’d been looking into a missing case file. He thought he had covered his tracks, but apparently not well enough. He hadn’t even thought about the security cameras, but obviously they would have caught him letting Dan out entirely on film.
“Have you told anyone about this?” he asked guiltily, hoping she hadn’t. But, well, if she had, he had broken the law, and deserved whatever was coming his way.
Judy pursed her lips and stared at him. So it was true. He wasn’t denying anything and if it came down to it, he had said enough to potentially convict himself. She couldn’t help but clench her fists in frustration, but unclenched then after a deep breath.
“Why did you do it?” She wouldn’t confirm anything for him at the moment and she felt her stomach twist.
Leon frowned, pursing his lips into a thin line. He'd really stepped in it. After a moment, he exhaled the breath he hadn't realized he’d been holding. It was too late now to do anything anyway. He might as well explain things to Hopps. She was still new and bright eyed and bushy tailed, but he’d grown to respect her and her tenacity, and he couldn't let her think that he was bent. “Alright, this, this you can’t tell anyone about. I mean it, Hopps.”
Judy shook her head. “I can’t promise that,” she said, her heartbeat speeding up. What if it was something that could put her in a precarious situation? “I wanna hear you out Leon, but I can’t promise that if it’s something that could be used against you…” She shook her head again not even wanting to finish.
“Why did you do it?”
Leon worried his lower lip with his teeth. “I've got this friend who goes through these… personality changes every few weeks. She doesn't really have a good handle on it and sometimes these personalities can kinda… take over. It’s a dream thing. And she can’t go to prison, also because of the dreams. Trust me, it’d be bad.” Brains weren't likely to be on the prison menu, and if Liv didn’t eat she’d stop being the friendly neighborhood zombie and start becoming something out of a Romero movie. “That guy, he took the fall for her. I… It just didn’t feel right.”
It’s a dream thing. Judy couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief when she heard that. Trying to hide something due to the dreams was definitely something she could understand. What she couldn’t understand was the fact that she had caught Leon. “You’re a detective Leon,” she scowled at him. “You should be better at covering your tracks!” She shook her head, her curls bouncing around. “Lucky for you I didn’t tell anyone else about this.” She sighed again, this time in thought. “You could have trusted me you know. I could have helped you.”
“Well excuse me,” Leon started loudly, but immediately stopped when he realized people were looking at him. The last thing he needed was to yell in public that he’d released someone from jail. “Well excuse me,” he repeated, dropping down to a gruff whisper, “for not doing a good enough job at breaking someone out of prison. It’s not like it’s something I make a habit of doing.” He sighed, and ran his hand through his hair. He really should be more grateful, especially since Judy hadn’t thought to immediately go to her superiours with the information, which she probably should have done. “Maybe I should have asked for help. But it’s really not my secret to share. Besides, I couldn’t drag another good cop into my mess. There’s no point in getting both of us fired.”
Judy’s eyebrows shot up when he started to come back at her loudly, but relaxed a bit when he softened his voice. He had a point though and she chewed on her bottom lip as she thought about it. While he may not have meant for her to get mixed in this, she was now. She hadn’t gone to their chief, instead wanting to hear him out. But what if someone else saw the footage and started to look into it? Was she liable now too because she hadn’t reported it right away?
Swallowing the panic that was starting to rise, Judy started to tap her foot in thought. “Well, I”m in it now, so I may as well help,” she muttered, staring at her coffee cup like it was going to have the answers. “As far as I know, I’m the only one to have seen the surveillance. There were a few other cops who had noticed the missing reports, but that can be easily overlooked if we can get your signature off of it.” Yeah, she could definitely go back into the department and scrub the footage, it would just be about making sure no one was around to catch her. She glanced at Leon.
“I can get erase the footage, but you’ll have to stand guard while I do it so no one can catch me. I’m pretty sure I can erase it without leaving a footprint.”
This… okay, it wasn’t exactly the kind of thing that Leon had wanted to avoid, since it wasn’t even a thing that he had thought that he would have to avoid. Right now, Judy could still walk away. If someone else caught him, Leon wasn’t going to drag Judy’s name into it, just like he wasn’t planning on dragging Liv’s name into it, or Dan’s, assuming they couldn’t figure out exactly who it was that Leon had busted out. But once Judy started messing around with video tapes, well, she was as screwed as he was.
But it wasn’t like he had a better idea. He could probably delete the footage, but likely not without a big neon sign that said “HEY ORCOT DID THIS.” He could leave it and hope no one else was as tenacious as Judy, which, to be fair, was probably a safe assumption. But knowing it was out there now would make him sick with worry. “Yeah, fine,” he grumbled at last. “I’ll stand guard. And you’ll use my log-in information when you do… whatever the hell it is you’re going to do.”
Judy was pleasantly surprised when he agreed to her plan. She opened her mouth to protest, but shut it. It felt like a betrayal to agree to use his info, but she had a feeling he’d keep insisting. Well, better make sure it works so you both don’t have to worry. She nodded her head, agreeing to it all. “Don’t worry, I have a better relationship with technology than you do.” Alright, probably not the best time to joke, but didn’t that also make it the best time? “Sorry.” She straightened up, looking around as if she already felt guilty.
“Well...shall we?”
“Don’t be sorry,” Leon said, rubbing the side of his head in frustration. “If anything, I should be sorry for dragging you into this mess.” He pounded back the rest of his coffee, cool enough now that it didn’t burn his mouth though still warm enough to warm his stomach. “Yeah, let’s get this over with,” he said, getting up from his seat.