Work Text:
An uncomfortable silence filled the inside of a police truck. Everyone’s heads were hung low, not daring to speak to each other about what had just happened.
Wolf sighed as he placed his hand on his head. He had messed up big time. Diane’s secret was revealed, all thanks to his poor planning. Throwing the computer into the furnace was never going to work anyway. How would it stop a video from being uploaded when it was 99% done?
Even if melting the computer would somehow stop a video from being posted on the internet, Wolf was stupid to just throw it. He should’ve sprinted towards the furnace and then throw the computer so that it would actually land inside the furnace and not bounce off the tapping channel.
The scene replayed his mind over and over as if it was torturing him, punishing him for being unable to save Diane’s reputation.
And what would Diane think of him once she found out how the video got leaked? She would probably blame him for being so incompetent that he couldn’t conjure up a better plan to stop the upload, or that he didn’t consider the fact that Kitty Kat would double-cross him and his friends.
He couldn’t stop thinking of the many other ways he should have done it. How disappointed his friends must feel towards him. How he had let everyone around him down.
This is all your fault.
His fingers gripped his fur tightly.
If you had thought it through carefully you could’ve stopped the video from being uploaded.
His ears were pinned back.
But no. You’ve blown it. Kitty was right, you’ve lost your edge. Now Diane has to pay for the price of your ineptitude.
Tears blurred his vision. He could only focus on the voices in his head now.
You’ve let everyone down. Again. Just like you always do. Just like at the Golden Dolphin heist. Just like that time at Marmalade’s Gala for Goodness. Now no one can save you and your friends.
And it’s all because of you.
…
“Wolf?”
Wolf blinked away his tears and looked at Snake.
“You okay?” the reptile asked.
“Oh-” Wolf’s voice cracked. He cleared his throat. “Yeah I’m good.”
“You sure?” Snake pressed on, his brows furrowed with worry. Webs was also looking at him with concern.
Wolf nodded. “Mhm.” He looked down again.
“...Y’know this isn’t your fault, right?” Webs asked gently.
Wolf didn’t respond.
“It wasn’t anyone’s fault,” Shark added.
“Yeah. It was Kitty’s. And Pigtail’s. And Susan’s,” Piranha chimed in. He then added, “What? Why’re you looking at me like that? Your girlfriend literally called the cops to frame us!”
Snake huffed.
Wolf couldn’t bring himself to tell them that he shared the blame as well. He knew they were just trying to comfort him. He was their leader, but he couldn’t keep his cool and think of a plan that wasn’t as hare-brained as the three ideas he had.
As a matter of fact, why did he even grab the controller in the first place? Was he truly that desperate to the point it stopped him from using his brain to think first and act later?
If you hadn’t caught it, maybe unplugging the USB would’ve actually stopped the upload instead of making it go faster. Better yet, if you weren’t so desperate to show the world you were good by helping the Chief catch the Phantom Bandit, you wouldn’t have gotten everyone in this mess.
We wouldn’t be heading to jail right now.
Our efforts to go good would not have been wasted.
Your friends’ lives wouldn’t be ruined because of you-
“Wolf? Buddy, are you okay?” Snake asked.
“You’re shaking,” Webs added.
Wolf’s eyes were shut tightly, but he could feel everyone surrounding him, watching him as he fell apart in front of them.
He wondered what they thought of him at that moment, seeing their clever leader reduced to a pathetic wolf who had lost everything and dragged the people he cared about with him.
“Hey, don’t cry. It’s gonna be alright,” Shark assured him.
Wolf clenched his jaw harder at that.
“Is there something wrong?” Piranha asked.
“Yes!” Wolf shouted as he finally looked up. Everyone flinched and backed away from him slightly. “Yes there’s something wrong! We shouldn’t be in here, on our way back to prison. Diane wasn’t supposed to be exposed. Kitty and her crew shouldn’t be on their way to the rocket right now and steal all the world’s gold in space. But we are going back to prison, Diane’s secret has been exposed and Kitty is about to pull off the greatest heist in history. And it’s because-” he paused, inhaling shakily. “Because of me.”
Everyone looked at each other, confused. And a bit concerned as well. Not angry. Not affronted. Not even disappointed. Just confused and worried.
“Wolf,” Snake started gingerly. “What are you saying?”
“Yeah. It’s not like you agreed on the deal with Kitty willingly,” Piranha pointed out.
“I…” Wolf closed his eyes to compose himself before opening them again. “I’ve let you all down. Time and time again, I’ve let you guys down. But not like this before.”
Webs tilted her head. “Wolfie, you’ve never let us down before. Not even once.”
“Oh yeah? Then what about the Golden Dolphin heist? O-or that time at the gala when I panicked and didn’t press the button? What about right now, huh?” he choked.
“Okay, but we’re not mad at you for all that,” said Shark. “Plus, you weren’t the one who uploaded the video. Right?”
Wolf sighed. “But still. I should’ve calmed myself down and think of a better plan to stop the video from uploading. I-” He covered his face in shame. “I’m sorry.”
He sobbed as his back arched forward. He wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole and die in there. He didn’t have the guts to look them in the eye and apologise without breaking down. A good leader would set aside their emotions and give their friends a proper apology. But Wolf was a horrible one. Hell, he was no leader at all. What kind of a leader would lead his friends astray? What kind of a leader would drag his friends into a mess that he created. What kind of a leader would-
He stopped crying for a moment, then resumed when he realised that the sudden touch his body felt was his friends giving him a hug. He felt a scaly tail rub his back and furry legs gently massaging his neck to comfort him.
He cried harder, knowing he didn’t deserve this. His friends should be criticising him for failing to throw the computer into the furnace, for failing to protect Diane, for screwing up their only opportunity at redemption.
He recalled Snake and him arguing in prison when they were wrongfully arrested for Marmalade’s crime.
”Our life was perfect, until you decided to ruin it!” Snake snarled.
Those words never fully resonated with him until now.
They felt the police truck come to a halt. The doors opened and everyone — sans Wolf — looked up.
“What happened in here?” Commissioner Luggins asked.