Well fuck guys. I saw Zootopia like 5 days ago and I'm already writing fanfiction for it (I started this on Sunday I think, the day after I saw it? Something like that). This isn't intended to be shippy, because I really adore their friendship as it is, but you can read it however you want I guess. I just really wanted to write snarly, protective Nick (and the best way I figured I could accomplish that was for Judy to get hurt, I'm sorry. I know she's not a damsel I swear!)
Nick felt like he was drowning, the scent of blood clogged his sensitive nose and his panic washed over him in heavy waves, paralyzing him with fear. There was a voice in the back of his head that screamed "what if's" as he kept his emerald eyes locked on the bunny held tightly in his arms.
Blood matted his russet fur and stained his shirt, Judy was limp and unconscious, cradled protectively against his chest. What if she died? Nick's ears flattened to his skull, partially to drown out the sounds of people screaming and partially because someone kept trying to take Judy from him. What would he do without her?
Another snarl ripped through his slender frame, lips curled back to flash his predator-sharp teeth at the next animal to approach. His hackles raised, and if his tail wasn't firmly drawn in front of him to block Judy from view, it surly would have been lashing in a display of anger.
The approaching animal balked, stuttering something about "feral foxes" that Nick couldn't register over the smell of blood and the sound of Judy struggling to pull in every breath. Belatedly, he picked up the sound of rapidly nearing sirens. That small voice got louder now, "You idiot! Why didn't you call for backup!" He'd been too panicked and shocked to really think, it'd happened so fast. Sure he was trained on how to deal with these situations, but no one had prepared him for Judy being the one hurt so badly and it had taken him longer than it should have to radio in a rushed call for help. "You're a horrible cop! You can't even save your best friend! What were you thinking, you're just a con man! Just an unreliable fox!"
"Nick?" Judy's harsh wheeze yanked his attention back to reality and into sensory overload, sirens wailed and the gathering crowd murmured and shrieked, the blood suddenly felt too sticky in his fur and Judy's eyes weren't as bright as they should be. The paw he had clamped over the gash in her abdomen increased its pressure, trying to stop the bleeding without anything to aide him.
"Judy! Stay awake Judes I got ya," Nick whispered, trying to relax his ears and bristling fur. One of her shaky, blood-covered paws came to rest on his head, weakly stroking his ear. The fox let out a whine, gently pulling the bunny in his lap even closer to tuck her head under his chin as she comforted him despite the condition she was in.
"S'gon be 'kay, N'ck," She slurred quietly, drawing in another rasping breath and giving his head one last pet before her arm fell limp once more. Her purple eyes slipped shut and Nick felt like screaming, he wanted to shake her and tell her to wake up, that now wasn't the time to sleep.
"Wilde!" It wasn't Judy's voice so Nick didn't respond, his green eyes clenched shut and ears pinned back again. "Nick!" The voice was much closer this time, a rough hand landing heavily on his shoulder a moment later.
Growling in warning, Nick's eyes flew open, glowing ominously in the fading light of the dusk, only to meet the stern face of his boss. Chief Bogo didn't so much as flinch at the sight of Nick's aggression, instead the water buffalo gave his shoulder a small shake, wary of jostling the hurt officer in his arms.
"Nicolas stop this right now, we need to take Hopps to the hospital." The words were harsh and impatient, snapping Nick out of his panic induced haze and jump-starting his brain back into rational thought. He uncoiled himself from Judy's limp form, bushy tail whisking through the air as he stood and handed his best friend to the medical team waiting just behind Chief Bogo. The smaller officer was hurried away in an ambulance, leaving Nick and Bogo behind with the confused and scared witnesses.
The buffalo roughly ushered Nick into his patrol car, pushing past the crowd that had formed and practically tossing the fox into the passenger seat before slamming the door. Nick nervously watched Bogo round the car and step into the driver's side, quickly starting the vehicle and taking off without a word.
"Where are we going?" Nick said, his usually smooth voice uncharacteristically wobbly with unchecked emotion.
"Back to the precinct," Bogo said shortly, eyes glued to the road, "I need to know what happened." Nick wanted to protest, to demand to go with Judy instead, but Bogo cut him off before he could voice his thoughts.
"You need to get cleaned up and calm down. Only then can you see her," He grunted, sparing Nick a short glance. The fox had curled up in his seat, knees drawn to his chest and tail draped over his feet. They rode in silence for a few minutes before Nick spoke again.
"I messed up," He whispered brokenly, resting his chin on his knees, "She got hurt and I didn't do anything."
"Things definitely could have gone better," The buffalo quipped with a nod of his massive head, Nick flinched at the hardness of his tone and fell quiet, stewing in his own thoughts.
He barely registered when they got to the precinct, didn't acknowledge Clawhauser- who was understandably worried- on the way passed the front desk, and numbly washed the blood out of his fur when he was shoved into a shower. He changed into the spare uniform that was left for him before padding through the building toward Bogo's office, ignoring the looks he received along the way. Only once he was sitting in the chair across from his boss' did he look up, meeting the Chief of Police's hard stare.
"We were on patrol like usual when we noticed a robbery in progress," Nick started without prompting, pausing to collect his thoughts and let the Chief write his words down. He went on to explain how the two jackal criminals had put up a fight once they realized they couldn't outrun the two cops. Nick had managed to pin and cuff one while Judy had chased after the other, only to have the jackal turn around to confront his pursuer.
"He stabbed her with a pocket knife neither of us had seen. Just whipped around and rushed her," Nick took a deep breath through his nose, tail twitching anxiously, "She didn't have time to react and I was too far away, trying to keep the other one pinned." Bogo nodded, continuing to jot down notes without looking up to look at the fox in front of him.
"It's all kind of a blur from there..." Nick trailed off, brow furrowed as he struggled to put the events of the morning in order, "I let go of the one I had and ran to help Judy. He ran when I came to help her, darted into an alleyway. When I turned around, the one I'd cuffed was gone too."
"And that's when you sat with your partner and started growling at people trying to help?" Bogo questioned flatly, finally lifting his gaze from the paper in front of him to level a glare at Nick. The fox shrunk under his gaze, ears flattening before answering in a small voice so unlike his usual cock-sure attitude.
"They were trying to take her from 'the feral fox.'" Green eyes flicked up to meet Bogo's dark ones and the buffalo felt a small measure of surprise at the bitterness they held, "They thought I'd done it, thought that I was the one that hurt Judy. They were drawn by the commotion and didn't see the jackals," Another growl threatened to rumble in Nick's chest at the thought of strangers trying to take her from him, of the assumptions they'd made because she was a bunny and he was a fox.
Bogo said nothing as Nick finally collected himself, stomping down his anger and sitting up straighter, letting his tail fall over the side of the chair and positioning his ears into their usual laid-back tilt. Bogo knew Nick's image was important to him, he'd heard the fox tell Judy, "Don't let them see they got to ya," on those occasions the bunny had a breakdown. So Bogo just went back to writing without a word.
"Officer Wilde, you are dismissed. I don't want to see you around here for another week," Bogo sighed heavily, "I will contact Judy's family and let them know what happened, but for now you're the only one close enough to her to help her recover. I also want you to attend more training practices when it comes to situations like this, we can't have a repeat of what happened today."
Nick nodded sharply, smooth con man mask in place once again, "It won't happen again, sir," With that the fox hopped off the chair and stalked purposefully to the door, ignoring Bogo's stare prickling at the fur on his back.
Hospitals were one of Nick's least favorite places to be, they smelled too much like chemicals and sickness for his taste, not to mention that they were just down right depressing. The fox paced through the halls, casting quick glances at the numbered doors in search of the room the receptionist said Judy would be in, shifting the chaffing dufflebag strap on his shoulder uncomfortably. She'd been patched up and put in a room to rest, and even though it was getting late, Nick had convinced the staff to let him stay with her overnight.
Standing in front of Judy's door, the claws on his feet scraped the tiled floor gently as Nick flexed his toes, a nervous habit he'd picked up a while ago and hadn't been able to shake. With a hesitant paw Nick turned the cool metal handle, cautiously poking his narrow head through the gap in the doorway, seeking out Judy's bed with perked ears.
"Nick?" The fox pushed the door open further at the sound of Judy's voice, taking sure steps into the dull room that betrayed none of his emotional distress. Judy looked tired and small resting in the faded white bed, but she smiled genuinely when Nick approached.
"Hey there, Carrots," He replied with a smile of his own, dropping the bag onto the floor beside her bed. The rabbit's ears swiveled at the noise, her nose twitching in curiosity as she gingerly leaned over to examine the dropped object.
"Is that... My bag?" She asked, looking back to Nick, perplexed, "How did you get that?"
"I picked the lock on your desk at work and grabbed your house key," He shrugged easily, pulling up a chair and leaning his elbows on the bedside.
"Nick!"
"What?" The fox said, his usual sly grin creeping back onto his features, "Did ya wanna go home in a hospital gown, or your clothes?" Judy's cheeks puffed with anger, her paws balled into tiny fists in her lap.
"You can't just break into my apartment, Wilde!" She whispered angrily, her posture stiff as she resisted the urge to lean forward and swat her friend's snout.
"I didn't break in," Nick replied matter-of-factly with a half lidded gaze, raising a paw to dangle the key just out of Judy's reach, "I had a key."
The bunny made a sound that was surprisingly close to a growl, her paws miming a strangling motion in front of her before she yelped in pain at the motion, relaxing back into the giant pillow she was leaning against. Nick's tail swished in worry, but he otherwise kept his expression schooled, sharp eyes taking in the way Judy wheezed and brought a paw to her abdomen.
"Don't strain yourself there, Cottontail," He said without his usual snark. Judy shot him an unamused, though halfhearted, glare and gestured for Nick to come closer. The fox leaned over, one ear flicking in suspicion but unable to deny his friend anything in the condition she was in. He was surprised when instead of flicking his nose or something similar, she stroked the crown of his head soothingly.
"I don't blame you, ya dumb fox," She said quietly, purple eyes soft, "I know you blame yourself, but you shouldn't. It wasn't your fault," Nick huffed, whiskers twitching where Judy's arm brushed them, and closed his eyes against her soothing pets.
"I was scared Judes," He admitted after a long moment, cracking a single green eye to watch Judy's reaction. She nods solemnly but otherwise doesn't react, moving to play with his large ears and easing them into a more relaxed position. "I kept thinking I was gonna lose you," He sighed, letting his eyes drift closed again, "I won't let this happen again, not on my watch."
"Aw Nick, you can't protect me forever. Don't do that to yourself," Judy huffed sternly, giving Nick a firm stare that he surly felt the heat of despite his closed eyes. She wasn't used to seeing him so reserved and sad, it unnerved her. Nick was always the cool and collected one, distant emotionally- at least that's how he come across- and always ready with a sarcastic quip. So she switched tactics.
"C'mere ya big softy," She chuckled in exasperation, tugging one pointed ear and sitting forward, trying to scoot over carefully to make room for the fox's larger form. Nick stopped her when the motion tugged at her stitches and caused her to wince, standing on the chair to put his paws on her shoulders.
"What are you doing? You're in bed for a reason, no moving!" Judy's long ears drooped dramatically in a very pathetic and convincing pout that made Nick roll his eyes.
"Fine, here," With more care than Judy had ever seen him move, Nick crawled onto her bed and lay down on his stomach behind her, curled around the bunny's small body with his head resting by her left hip and his legs scrunched by her right. Judy smiled brightly, always excited to be able to cuddle with him- she insisted he was soft and warm, the perfect pillow. She relaxed back against his side, slouching into his body heat and already feeling significantly more at home as his tail swept across the sheets to rest in her lap.
"Thank you, Nick," She murmured sleepily, closing her eyes against the exhaustion that had been pulling at her since she first woke hours earlier. Nick grunted, head set on his crossed arms and also feeling the tug of sleep. It was late, and as much as he hated to admit it, snuggling like this was immensely reassuring and calming, lulling him into a sense of security he didn't feel very often. The small paws slowly running through the long fur on his tail didn't help the drowsiness, and soon both rabbit and fox had fallen asleep.
Aaaaand there we go! I had more written (Judy's parents showed up and freaked out bc Nick was there) but ugh. My attention span and motivation kinda took a nose dive, so I'm gonna cut it here and call it good.