-Case Missing Officer-
Hiya!
I'm here with a new fanfic. Cool, right?
I hope you have had fun on New Year's eve. I personally couldn't party as I was the designated driver to my friends, my parents, my godparents and my sister. So yeah.
So while everyone else was getting drunk elsewhere, I had some time to write and this little fic was born.
This will not be very long, no more than 4 chapters estimated (hopefully lol) Also this is unedited and there might be typos, and English isn't my first language so please excuse any dumb mistakes (why are prepositions so damn hard..?)
Anyway, I will not bother you anymore. Hope you like it. Here's to 2017! (may you be a bit better year than 2016)
Disclaimer: Do not own.
-Chapter 1-
New Year at Marian's
January 1, 2X17
Nick and Judy's apartment
Judy groaned as she groggily opened her eyes, with the sunlight shining right on her face. She rolled over, searching for Nick's warmth with her arm but only found the cold pillow. She lifted her head up, realizing that the fox must have already awoken, although he almost never woke up before Judy, being a nocturnal animal and all.
She squinted as she looked at the digital clock on her nightstand. 10:16.
She rubbed her face as she slowly sat up, the room spinning fast and making her feel sick.
"Never again", she thought as she finally managed to sit up and started slowly walking towards the bathroom. The TV in the living room was on, playing kids' cartoons.
She emptied her bladder (just how much did I drink , she thought) and washed her face with cold water. She was already feeling a bit better and could finally walk without swaying or the fear of throwing up all over herself.
She walked to the living room. It was by no means big and there wasn't even a real kitchen, only a small space in the corner. She and Nick had bought the apartment together three months ago, and even though it was small and very cheap, Judy found it very cosy.
She was surprised as she realised that Nick wasn't in the living room. It actually seemed like the fox had not come home at all.
Judy thought about the intense partying they all did. Nick had proposed that they'd go to his favourite bar, the Maid Marian with some friends of his. They had had fun, they drank and sung karaoke and she was sure that at one point Finnick had revealed that he used to play the bass guitar in a band back in high school.
Judy had left early, because she had promised to fill in for McHorn whose mother had fallen in stairs and now her leg and hip needed a surgery. It had been sudden but Judy was more than voluntary to help.
Although most of the night was in blur, she remembered hugging Nick goodbye as she has left, and had made him promise to get a cab when he was done. She looked at her phone and saw that there were no missing calls, so she decided to call Nick.
"The number you have reached is not in ser-"the all too familiar voice answered her. She hung up, thought for a minute and tried again, with no greater success.
She tapped her chin thoughtful and then decided to try Finnick.
She and the fennec fox may not have been the best friends, but they did get along and Nick had given Judy his number in case something like this ever happened.
"Finnick", a gruff voice answered the call.
"Hey Finnick! It's Judy", she said.
"Okay."
"Well, I was calling if Nick was crashing at your place? He hasn't come home yet."
"No."
"Oh, really? Um… So do you maybe know where he is?" Judy asked sounding a bit disappointed.
"No."
Her ears drooped.
"I see… So when you two left, did he say anything?"
"I wouldn't know, I left before him. That fox really has no self-control. To drink that many pints in one night… All I know is that he'll have a killer hangover today."
"Oh… Okay. Uh, thank you anyway."
"Whatever."
The call ended and seemed thoughtful as she stared at her phone. So Nick wasn't at Finnick's. There was no real reason for the fennec to lie, unless… Unless Nick was there with a girl.
She shook her head. Of course Nick wasn't there with a girl, and there's no way he'd even think about cheating her. Judy felt bad after even thinking about something like it, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.
She knew it was in vain, but she tried calling Nick's phone once more. Nothing.
"It's okay", she said to herself. "The battery has just died. There's no way that he'd turn off the phone because he doesn't want to talk to me!"
She clutched the phone in her paws.
"Yes. It's the battery. The battery…"
The doorbell rang and her ears shot up, only to see that it was the newspaper being delivered. She walked to it and took it in her paws.
"2X17 STARTS WITH A BLAST", the headline read. She quickly scanned through the paper, not at all surprised by the fact that there had been many fights all around Zootopia.
She threw the newspaper on the end table and then looked through her contacts. Who would know about the fox's whereabouts?
Perhaps… No, she wouldn't do that.
But maybe she should. For Nick.
She bit her lip and then searched for Wilde, Lucia. She had met Nick's mother once. That was when they had just started dating and she found out that Nick had a mother; she had assumed that Mrs. Wilde was dead or the two were not in good terms, because Nick had mentioned her only twice. Then she had suggested that they'd meet and Nick had finally given in after two weeks' worth of begging and nagging from Judy. Mrs. Wilde had been very kind and supportive of their relationship despite having herself been born in the era when interspecies relationships were frowned upon.
It was clear that the years had not been kind to her, and Judy felt really bad that she still lived in that old, dusty apartment. Apparently it had a lot of sentimental value to her.
"Lucia Wilde", the call was finally answered.
"Hey, it's Judy, Nick's- Uh, Nick's girlfriend!" she greeted.
"Oh, hey Judy! How do you do?"
"Just fine", she answered.
"Your voice is a bit hoarse. You were out partying, huh?" the vixen asked with a suggestive tone.
"W-Well, yeah. I was wondering if Nick's there. He hasn't come home yet."
"Nick? No, I haven't seen him. Knowing him, he probably lost his key and had to stay at a motel", Mrs. Wilde replied.
"Okay", Judy said although she wasn't sure whether this was indeed the case. Nick maybe wasn't the most thoughtful fox around, but he would have called. But there was a chance that his battery had died before he had the opportunity to.
"Thank you for your help", she said.
"No problem, dear. Once you find him, please hug him and give him a lecture for me, would you?"
"Of course. Thank you again. Bye."
"Bye."
Judy pondered for a moment.
Well, she thought. If he is staying in a motel, he'll get back and call me. But now I need to get ready for another day at work.
January 1, 2X17
Zootopia Police Station
"Hey Judy. Had fun yesterday?" Benjamin Clawhauser asked her as Judy stepped in. He had been there ever since the morning and was visible exhausted; it seems that not even his work only consisted of sitting around during New Year's eve. The station was busier than even and Judy wondered how they even managed.
"Yes, although I'm still a bit hazy on the detail", she replied. "I didn't even drink that much, it's just not for me."
"I get you", the cheetah said. "I can't really handle my liquor."
Judy suppressed her smile as she thought about few months back when it was Officer Clawhauser's birthday. The poor feline had drink so much and gotten absolutely crazy, stripping of his clothes and dancing half naked. Nick still had that on a video. And speaking of which…
"Hey, by any chance, have you seen Nick today?" she asked.
"Nick, huh? No, haven't seen him. I have been here ever since the cockcrow, so unless he was arrested, then no."
"Hm… Is there any chance he was arrested?" Judy asked half-jokingly but knew this was a possibility as there had been cases where Nick had taken part in the quarrels between some prey and predators.
"No, I don't think so. He's probably sleeping somewhere, he probably had a rough night…"
Judy nodded.
"Alright. Thanks", she said and the cheetah smiled.
"No problem, I'll always help my favourite bunny cop!"
Judy rolled her eyes smiling and left Officer Clawhauser as she has work to do as well.
She met with Officers Rhinowitz and Wolford, Officer McHorn's partners. The two were not thrilled having to work on the first day of the year, but someone has to do the dirty work. They had talked with officers who had been working the night shift, and apparently they were all exhausted. It had been the first New Year's Eve after the incident with the Night Howlers that almost divided the whole Zootopia in two. Needless to say, there were still some repercussions.
"I'm guessing you and Nick watched the fireworks together?" Rhinowitz asked Judy.
"Yes, we did. They were really amazing this year. Although they might be amazing every year, this just was the first year I actually saw them in person", she replied.
"I see."
Judy quickly glanced at her phone, but Nick hadn't called her. How long was that fox going to sleep?
"So, let's go", Rhinowitz grunted after drinking his coffee. They had to go on patrol, watch out for any suspicious activity or fighting around the precinct.
January 1, 2X17
Patrol car
"I don't know what you're trying to do, but I doubt anything'll happen if you keep checking your phone every minute", Judy suddenly heard Wolford say. She looked away from the screen at the big canine and smiled a bit embarrassed.
"I'm sorry", she said.
"Trouble in the paradise?" Wolford joked and Rhinowitz hit him in the arm. "Ow!"
"No, it's just… Nick still hasn't called", Judy said quietly. Neither of the bigger officers answered, after all they weren't even aware of the situation.
She decided to call him one last time, and she held her breath as it took a bit longer for the phone to make any sound. She felt only disappointment as the same monotone was all she heard.
"Something wrong?" Rhinowitz asked.
"Nobody has seen Nick after the party at Maid Marian's", she told him.
"Huh."
"I-I can't shake the feeling that something has happened. He hasn't contacted me, his phone is out of service and he was really drunk when I last saw him."
"Should we get something to eat?" Wolford asked suddenly. "We have been here already, what, two and a half hours."
"Sounds like a good idea. You in, Hopps?" Rhinowitz asked. "I'm sure Wilde's fine."
"Everyone keeps saying that, but it doesn't change the fact that he's missing", Judy muttered.
"I'm sorry, but it's not like we could even do anything yet. We cannot declare him missing before he has been away for 24 hours", the rhino reminded.
"But anything could happen during that!" she yelled devastated. "I left the party at 0:30, so it has been almost 14 hours since I saw him!"
"Maybe you're overreacting", Wolford said. "He's probably still shitfaced and sleeping somewhere else."
"He would have told me."
"Maybe he's passed out."
"Well then someone would have contacted me! I mean, I'm his girl-"
She realised that both of the bigger officers we're staring at her. Despite everyone knew about Nick and Judy's relationship, she still found it a bit awkward to talk about it.
"Anyway, something's wrong. I know it", she said. "And once we're done with this, I'm going to find out what."
