The Unexpected Heroes

By: dispix94

AN: So, I've had this story in development for a while, but between coming up with ideas, redoing the whole plot, and being busy outside of Fanfiction, I've just never had time to actually put it together until now. Now, you all are probably thinking: "Will this be a long fic?" Will I write more than one chapter? Yes, yes I will. I was originally planning on making this a one shot, but then I decided to extend it to a multi-chapter story, since I have a bunch of ideas for this story. I apologize in advance if the chapters are too short, but these are intended to be a series of one-shots. If you think they need to be longer, please let me know.

This story takes place after the scene in the museum, and it will be told from Nick's perspective. So, without further ado, I will now take you into the world of Zootopia.

Disclaimer: I don't work for Disney, nor am I affiliated with them in any way (unfortunately). Because of this, I don't own any of these characters or settings.

Chapter 1: The Re-Application

Nick Wilde slowly walked through the automatic doors to the hospital. Despite Judy's insistence that she was fine, and the fact that her parents would soon be arriving, the red fox still couldn't help worrying about her. The wound that had been inflicted upon her a few hours ago was pretty deep, and the doctor had said she would need to remain in the hospital for a few days. Of course, Judy wasn't happy about this, since she was hoping to get back on the police force as soon as possible, but after a few minutes of arguing, she finally agreed. At the moment, Nick strongly considered turning around and going back in, just to see how she was doing, but then thought better of it. He had just been in there, after all, and Judy may get the wrong idea if he went through with his idea. Not to mention the fact that he would have to deal with Judy's parents, and he was not ready to cross that bridge yet. Besides, there were a few things Nick needed to take care of. First of all, he needed to get a replacement application from Precinct 1. After the incident at the press conference, Nick had angrily thrown his original application into the nearest trash can, not wanting to be reminded of the mammal that had, at the time, betrayed him. But, now that they were on good terms again, Nick had decided to keep his original decision of a change of career. It was about time he started doing something better with his life. Granted, hustling innocent mammals was fun, but it was starting to get old. Not to mention the fact that there were animals that wanted nothing better to do than skin him alive if they found him, mostly due to previous hustles that had gone wrong. Better get out before things get worse, Nick had thought when he had been contemplating his decision the first time.

The second thing Nick had to take care of would be, in his opinion, much harder. Breaking the news to Finnick. Between the press conference and his and Judy's reconciliation, Nick had tried doing a few more hustles with the fennec fox, but it just didn't feel the same. And it wasn't just because he was literally in an emotional black hole at the time.

After a few more minutes of thinking, Nick decided to get the easiest thing out of the way first. His mother had always told him to get the hardest things out of the way first, but he hadn't exactly been listening to what she had told him lately, and he wasn't going to start today. So, he checked his phone for the time. 4:30. Nick knew that police stations never officially closed, but assumed that either the dispatch officer would leave for the day soon, or they would be in the middle of switching shifts. If he could get there fast enough, he just might be able to arrive before any of this could happen. The red fox quickly headed in the direction of the ZPD headquarters, hoping that he wasn't too late.

It took Nick a lot longer than he expected getting to the precinct, due to him having to take a detour to avoid construction on a section of the sidewalk, but he managed to make it in 15 minutes. When he walked through one of the revolving doors, he gave an internal sigh of relief. Someone was at the desk. All of a sudden, Nick became a little nervous. How would the dispatcher react to seeing him? Would he be denied an application due to his species? Nick immediately shrugged off his feelings and remembered his mantra. Never let them see that they get to you. The red fox took a deep breath and approached the desk.

As it turned out, to Nick's relief, the dispatcher happened to be another predator, a cheetah. A very large one, but a cheetah nonetheless. At least he won't be afraid of me, thought Nick. Predators had always stuck up for each other, and, at least from his experiences, were less likely than prey mammals to be afraid of each other. Besides, the cheetah looked far from harmful. In fact, he looked rather comical, sitting at his desk slurping a soda and holding a chocolate donut that looked like it had been half eaten. Currently, the cheetah was too busy looking at something on his phone with rapt interest to notice Nick until he said, "Uh, pardon me Officer…" he paused to read the name on the cheetah's desk. "…Clawhauser," he continued. Clawhauser didn't seem to hear him, instead, he loudly slurped his drink and munched on his donut. Thankfully, Nick had enough experience with getting mammals' attention that he remained calm, despite the cheetah's annoyingly loud chewing. Nick cleared his throat, which caused Clawhauser to finally look up from his phone. As soon as he saw Nick, he immediately put the phone down and gave the fox a look of embarrassment.

"OMGoodness, I'm so sorry," apologized Clawhauser. "I didn't see you there. How long have you been standing there?"

Nick shrugged, giving the dispatcher his trademark smirk. "A few minutes, probably."

Clawhauser looked even more embarrassed when he heard Nick say this, and gasped dramatically (a little too dramatic, according to Nick). "I'm so sorry. I was just-uh-looking at some, uh, police things." Nick studied the portly cheetah carefully. He clearly was hiding something, but Nick decided not to call him out on it. It wasn't any of his business, anyway.

Before the fox could think about it any further, the subject of his thoughts interrupted him by asking, very calmly and innocently, as if nothing had happened, "So, what can I do for you?" Nick shook his head so he could focus on the present, only to see Clawhauser leaning over his desk and looking at Nick expectantly. Nick felt slightly uncomfortable with this, considering the fact that he wasn't used to someone looking at him like that. It could be worse, he thought, trying to not show his emotions in front of the cheetah. After a few seconds of thinking of how to word his response, Nick put on his calm façade and said, "Well, as it turns out, I was thinking about a change from my current career, which is, to be honest, getting kinda boring for me." That was only half true, he still liked hustling, but Nick did want to improve his life more. Seeing the confusion on Clawhauser's face, the fox continued. "So, I just happened to be in the neighborhood and thought, 'Hey, I've always wanted to work for the ZPD. How about I try here?'" Nick put on a fake hopeful face, hoping the cheetah would buy his act. The fox knew it was lame, but he didn't exactly have time to plan anything better.

As expected, Clawhauser gave Nick a wary look and said, "Well, there is a position that just opened up. Our janitor just quit the other day. Something about 'spending more time with his family…'" Nick stopped the cheetah, deciding to get right to the point.

"I don't want to be a janitor. I want to be a cop." It took a few minutes for Clawhauser to process, but once he did, his face turned to that of surprise and shock, then he immediately returned to his wary state.

"You do realize it's not that simple," the cheetah stated.

"Oh I know. I'm well aware of how long it may take for my application to go through."

"That's not- never mind," said Clawhauser. He then decided to go in a different direction. "So, what made you decide to be a cop," he asked, genuinely curious. It wasn't every day a fox walked in and wanted to join the force, after all.

"Let's just say a friend convinced me," answered Nick, giving Clawhauser his signature smirk.

Once again, it took the cheetah a while to process what Nick just said, but once he did, his eyes grew the size of what few donuts remained in the box in front of him. "OMGoodness, you're that fox that was on the news, aren't you?! The one that helped Judy solve the Nighthowler case?!"

Nick gave an exaggerated bow and replied, "The one and only."

Clawhauser immediately picked up the phone and exclaimed to no one in particular, "The chief has to hear this!" Nick inwardly panicked. He hadn't meant for this to turn into a big deal. He knew he had to face the chief eventually, but was not expecting to meet him so soon.

However, Nick wouldn't have to worry about that yet. Just as Clawhauser was about to dial Chief Bogo's extension, he paused and immediately turned towards Nick, a flustered look on his face.

"Oh, how rude of me! I forgot to introduce myself. Officer Benjamin Clawhauser at your service!" The cheetah reached over the desk and offered his chubby paw to Nick, who took it and shook.

"Nick Wilde," the fox replied. "And, if you don't mind, I'd rather the chief not know that I'm here."

Clawhauser gave him a suspicious look, but agreed. After a few seconds, Nick said, "Now, about that application…"

"Oh, right." Clawhauser immediately began searching through the countless drawers and folders on his desk.

"Hmm, I know they're in here somewhere…" After about five minutes, the cheetah opened a file drawer behind him.

"Here it is," exclaimed the cheetah, a bit too loudly. A few officers nearby turned their heads and gave the receptionist questioning looks. The cheetah looked back at them, a little embarrassed, and called out an apology. The officers then walked away to do whatever business they were originally going to do.

Clawhauser then set an application form in front of Nick.

"Do you want to fill it out here or do it later?"

"I think I'll save it for later. I'll stop by tomorrow to give it to you."

"Okay, sounds good." As the fox turned to leave, the cheetah said, "Hey, wait!"

Nick stopped and turned around, a little nervous as to what Clawhauser would say. But, to his relief, the cheetah only said, "I just want to say thank you. You know, for helping us out. If it weren't for you and Judy…well… let's just say I wouldn't be here talking to you."

Nick was a little shocked and concerned to hear this, but then understood why. After the press conference, things had become more difficult for predators in Zootopia. If he and Judy hadn't exposed Bellweather for who she truly was, who knows what could have happened? Nick then felt a tingling sensation in his stomach, something he hadn't felt in a while. It felt good to be recognized and praised for doing something. He was so used to mammals frowning upon him or insulting him for his actions. It was a relief for him to hear someone react in the opposite way.

Nick gave a rare, small smile to the receptionist and said, "Thank you. That really means a lot to me." The cheetah returned his smile and replied, "You're welcome!" Nick then turned and walked towards the door, hearing Clawhauser call out behind him, "See you around!" Nick gave the cheetah a casual wave as he left, not looking back.

Once Nick was outside, he took a deep breath and let out a, "Phew!" Who knew a conversation with a stranger could bring up so many emotions? It was a wonder that Nick had managed to not break his calm façade in front of the chubby cheetah. That would not have been a good way to make a good first impression on his future coworker.

Nick took a deep breath, trying not to think about the incident. Instead, he pulled out his phone to check the time. 5:45. Nick thought about trying to find Finnick's van and tell him the news, but then decided against it. He had had enough emotion for one day. Instead, he opened his contacts and searched for the smaller fox's number. He hadn't seen his friend since a few days after the press conference, and thought it would be best if they discuss this muzzle to muzzle.

AN: Well, what did you think of the first chapter? Was it too rushed? Just the right pace? Was everyone in character? I'd love to hear your feedback, so please review! Until next time, Zootopia fans!