A/N: Well, I'm back. What a long wait, I know. However, I got this idea and I felt crazy inspired so I decided I'd write again sooner rather than later. This is going to be a short, fluff-filled little fic about a road trip, and then after this I'm going to start on Warmbloods: Save Rock and Roll. With that in mind, hope you enjoy, and that this will tide the insatiable WildeHopps cravings most of this fan base has. Enjoy.

Chapter One: A Curious Proposal

Nicholas Wilde didn't let other mammals get to him. In the line of work that he'd been in for so long, letting mammals get to you was an offense which could get your snout broken. Instead, he'd learned to bury his feelings and show roughly the same amount of emotion as a drugged walrus at all times. This was why when he did feel something, it surprised him. That's probably how this all started- with him acting emotional.

"Emotional" is not generally the word used for the feeling one has signing up for the Police Academy, but that was what Nick had almost nine months ago now. He still has trouble believing that it was that long ago, that he's spent so long pushing his mind and body to the absolute limits. Every belief he had, every notion he had about what animals could do and how far he could go to survive- all of that was tested in this place. All of that to say- thank cheese he's out.

Nick stands quietly by the edge of his small bunk in the Police Academy barracks, trying to clear his head. He wears nothing but a simplistic light blue shirt and athletic shorts. His mind wanders.

In two weeks, I graduate. He can't believe it; the training seems like a blur now. In two weeks, he'll be on the beat with Officer Toot-Toot, the optimistic, carrot farming, happy little bunny he somehow got blessed to have as a partner. Two weeks, fourteen days, just three hundred and thirty six hours away.

But who's counting? He's certainly not.

It's a terrifying prospect, but he's more than a little excited. More so than ever, a new emotion fills him. It's not joy or excitement, but a strong and almost overpowering sense of self-satisfaction. He has a good reason for feeling this way. He's about to become the first fox in his family to have a real job. His father was a con man, his sister was a mafia associate, and his mother- cheese and crackers, his mother- was a drug dealer. Nick? He was a police officer somehow, and he wasn't even sure how that was possible at this point.

Of course, the thoughts of his mother bring back the events of a few minutes ago. He was downstairs, filling out the final paperwork for his entry into the ZPD's precinct one, and was asked to give the information for an emergency contact. Almost subconsciously, he filled out Judy's information, and handed in the sheet. The lamb at the desk gave the forms a precursory glance and looked up.

"You didn't put down a parent as your emergency contact?" She asked.

"Did I have to?" Nick said, feigning surprise. He gets this more than the lamb in front of him might think.

"Well, I mean…" The lamb said nervously, flipping to the page. "I suppose it's alright… do you not have a living relative?"

"Oh yeah, plenty of 'em." Nick drawled. "Of course, if I get shot, I don't exactly want a bunch of drunk foxes waltzing in and claiming they can take care of me, so I'd rather put down someone I trust." That got her to shut up, and Nick had hurried upstairs.

He didn't understand why the questions downstairs got to him, and he still doesn't. His mother and family has just been a sort of dark spot on his mind for a while, but they haven't actually bothered him. They've just sort of been there, a dark motivator in the back of his mind pushing him up that ice wall during training.

ringringringringringringRINGRINGRINGRINGRINGRINGRINGRING!

Nick grins in spite of himself. Before he left for the Academy, Judy took his phone and uploaded a personalized ringtone onto it. It's a simple telephone ring which gets higher in pitch and louder the longer it's left unanswered. Apparently, it's the ringtone on Judy's phone for her parents. Nick wasn't sure how to take that. He pulls his phone out of his pocket and slides right to answer the MuzzleTime call. Judy's face appears on the screen, her fur still wet from the shower. For some reason, he gets a little light in the chest when he thinks of that, but brushes it away as graduation nerves.

"Hey, cottontail. What's shaking?" He smiles.

"Nick! I can't believe you're actually graduating!" She shrieks. "It's so exciting! I actually get to see you again."

Holy hell, I forgot about that, Nick thinks, almost fumbling the phone in his paws. He's allowed to see Judy again starting today. He is no longer in training and thus can actually meet with people from the outside. The thought gives him goosebumps under his fur.

"We should celebrate." Judy suggests.

"I suppose, but I'm not really big on partying." Nick admits. "Alcohol makes me very irrational and I can't stand store-bought frosting."

"Nicholas Wilde!" She reprimands. "I have seen you eat frosting off of that cake I made you after you were accepted to the academy from your very paws it was so good!"

"Store-bought, Carrots, store-bought. What you made me was heaven on a platter. How did you even make blueberry buttercream frosting?"

She winks over the phone. "Family secret, Nick."

Nick has to laugh at this. Judy leans in close, looking at him, so close he can see the violet in her eyes clearly and it makes his chest hurt, is friendship supposed to hurt this much? She looks at him for a while, and then pulls the camera back and leans back on her bed, looking critically at him.

"What's wrong?" She asks.

"Nothing's wrong." He lies in response.

"Nick, seriously, you look really tired."

"Carrots…" He begins. How can she read me so well? It's like I'm an open book. "It's my family."

"Nick, what's going on?" She asks gently. Slowly, the story of the day's events pour out. It always does with her, for some reason, and that's not a good thing. If he's going to keep that seemingly perfect record of 'nobody gets to me', then this thing that Judith Laverne Hopps is pulling over and over again needs to stop. He doesn't tell her this, of course. Why would he.

Because I like it…

Nick ignores the thought which crosses his own mind and continues to tell the story.

"I don't know, Carrots, but like, it just bugs me, y'know? Like 'yeah, I'm putting a rabbit down as my emergency contact,' so just get over it."

"Yeah, I know." She sighs. "Some mammals are just odd, Nick. However, that isn't going to distract me from the point."

"What's the point?" Nick asks, bewildered.

"You haven't talked to your mother in how long" She interrogates, bringing the phone closer to herself and enlarging the size of her face. Nick flinches internally.

"Umm… five years?" He says sheepishly.

"NICHOLAS WILDE!" Judy shouts loudly. In the background, he can hear a thumping noise begin to escalate wildly in speed. Her foot twitch, of course.

"Judy, I'm sorry! It's just… my mom- it's- it's complicated."

She softens, if only slightly. "Nick, that's no excuse to not talk to her. She's your mother, she raised you. You should tell her what you're doing, she'd be so proud of you. Everyone is."

"Everyone?" He says slyly. "Carrots, I know like two mammals- you and Flash, and while Flash has expressed pride, it's through very interrupted two to three letter texts."

"I'm crazy proud of you, you dumb fox." She says, and, why, is that a blush he detects? "You've turned your life around and you've saved my life twice over this past year."

"Cheers to that." Nick says, raising an imaginary glass. There's a pause, in which Nick desperately tries to think of what to say next. Suddenly, even through the whirling and spinning of his mind, an idea occurs to him.

"Carrots, how would you like to go on a road trip?" He asks.

She blinks. "That'd be amazing, of course…" She pauses, "But why would we do it? Where would we go?"

"The Bear Paw Mountains." He says. It was one of his mother's pieces of wisdom before she sort of vanished. She told him that if he ever needed to think something over, to really get over something or clear his head, a good old-fashioned road trip to the Bear Paws would be just what the doctor ordered.

"I've never been there!" She says, looking excited.

"Well, me neither, actually." He admits. "I know that they're to the east of the city, about a 20 hour drive, and that they've got the tallest mountains in the region, but other than that, I've got no idea what to expect."

"Oooh, so we're both going into this blind?" Judy says, anticipation evident in her voice. "This is going to be great, Nick!"

"When do you want to go?"

"How about two days from now?"

"Seems fair. I've got two weeks before graduation, so why don't we make the trip seven days- two to get there, three actually there, camping or whatever, and then two back?"

"Sound great!" She claps her paws. "I'm so excited! Okay, I'll send you a bunch of links to ideas for what to do when we get there, okay? That way we can prepare."

"Whatever you want, Carrots. Sounds great, but I can't promise I'm going to read all the stuff you send me."

"What if I gave you a pop quiz on it when I see you?" She asks, an evil smile spreading on her face. Nick blanches.

"You wouldn't dare."

She giggles. "Alright, alright, you got me. Wait a sec." She freezes, her eyes suddenly concerned. She jumps and then looks at Nick through the camera. "Nick, we don't have a car!"

"Not a problem." Nick answers smoothly. She's not going to believe the kind of car, of course. That's always difficult for people to handle. He actually owns two cars. One is his pride and joy, and the other one is his business and transport car. His business and transport car? A Moosan Pathfinder from ten years ago. His pride-and-joy car is a Jaguar. It was the first thing he got with his hustling money. A stupid impulse purchase, and yet he somehow managed to pay off the loan and keep it.

I'll pick her up in the Jaguar and get us to the mountains in the Pathfinder, he decides firmly.

"Yeah, don't worry Carrots, I've got the transportation covered."

"Good." She chirps. "Why don't we up the ante a little bit, then?"

"Carrots…" Nick trails off, curiously.

"If I can convince you to talk to your mother over the trip, you'll do it when we get back. And if I don't convince you over the trip, you don't have to and I won't bug you about it again."

Nick looks at her for a very long time, and finally speaks. "Deal, Carrots."

"Alright!" She pumps a fist with a delighted expression. "Perfect. Alright, you'll pick me up at my apartment in…?"

"Two days."

"9 A.M. sharp. Don't be late!" She says. "This is going to be great. Alright, so back to you, how's the Academy treated y-!" She's cut off by a ringing on her end. I listen intently and begin to laugh as I hear my ringtone echoed on the other side of the line.

"Damn, it's my parents." She murmurs. "I've gotta go, Nick."

"Don't worry about it, Carrots. Tell Stu 'hi' for me." Nick has only met Stu and Bonnie once- while Judy was in the hospital after being chased by Bellwether. After a long conversation, the two rabbits had become quite taken with Nick, asking how he was every time they saw Judy. Nick knew that Stu had a habit of sending boxes of blueberries to the Academy and having them delivered to Nick, but he wondered if this wasn't just a tactic to indebt Nick to him. Either way, he wasn't about to complain any time soon.

"I will." Judy smiles. "See you soon."

"See you, Carrots."

The call ends and Nick stares at the screen for a while. Without warning, he decides to go downstairs to the weight room. He needs to do something physical to quell this strange, unbidden tide of emotion. If he was hustling right now, he'd be as good as dead.

Two hours and a bottle of Gatorade later, Nick walks back to his room, thoroughly exhausted. The Academy has a pretty nice weight room, but that place was hell for Nick back in the beginning of his training. He could barely bench press the bar, but training and fighting helps you with that. He walks in and flops on the bed, winded and mentally absent. He picks up his phone from where he left it on the bed and turns it on. A small notification on the screen displays a notice that he has received one email. He slides right, unlocks the phone, and sits up to read the email.

TO: born. .wilde

FROM:

SUBJECT: Nick, what about this?

Okay, I know you thought I was going to send a bunch of emails with all sorts of ideas, but I think this is the only thing I want to do. I've included a link below.

Judy :D

(P.S. Dad says hi, Mom asks if you're okay after all that training. I said hi back and that you probably were.)

Nick snorts, and keeps reading.

(P.P.S: Chief Bogo is trying to act incensed that you're coming to our precinct, but I think he's actually happy about it. He likes you, I think, he just can't show it.)

Nick smiles, and clicks on the link. It opens the web page on his phone's browser. Normally, he wouldn't have room for the data, but for money's sake, he and Judy share a phone plan with unlimited talk, text, and data. It's a nice little bargain, shared between two mammals. He leans over and begins to read.

ADVENTURE AND DANGER IN THE BEAR PAW MOUTAINS!

By Zootopia Parks and Recreation Ranger Jeremy Buckthorne

Many mammals know the Bear Paw Mountains for its scenic heights and great waterfalls and camping sites. However, the mountain range's greatest treasure is hidden between two of the largest mountains. Known as "Firefly Valley," the gorge is located between Mount Crystalline and Rabbit's Foot Mountain. This valley has been ranked the number one "Most Beautiful Location near Zootopia" in MAMMAL magazine. A warning: this beauty comes with a cost. In order to actually get to the valley, the adventurous animal would need to complete three things: a six hour raft ride into the woods, an eight hour hike onto the base of Rabbit's Foot Mountain, and another, more dangerous six hour hike over steep and rocky terrain into the scenic valley.

The valley contains three things: The Whispering Forest, known for many rare varieties of trees and shrubs, the Mirror Lake, which is perfectly circular and contains water which is almost completely clear, and the legendary Volcanic Lights, which are impossible to describe. The location and scenery are well worth the journey. No photography equipment is allowed in or out of the mountains to preserve the secrecy of the location.

Nick gulps. The journey looks like the single most punishing thing he could possibly choose to do. But then again, he'd also chosen to become a police officer. And there was another, added bonus to this plan: Carrots would be too distracted with the actual hiking and rafting to talk to him about his mother. He opened a new email, and typed his response slowly, carefully making sure of every word.

You're insane, you dumb bunny. Let's do it.

A/N 2: R&R if you want, or PM me to let me know how I'm doing. Always appreciated. Thank you for reading.

NJ