Chapter 1:
It had been a few weeks since the Night-Howlers case and police life was sinking into a normalcy that Nick found oddly reminiscent of his previous life as a con-artist. Wake up, go to work, crack jokes at Chief Bogo's apparent apathy towards the lives of the officers he supervised, and chase down leads for their most recent case. Everything fell into an articulate pattern that permeated practically every day without any major deviation. It would have become mind-numbingly boring were it not for the dynamic relationship between Nick and his partner, Lieutenant Judy Hopps, which kept even the longest stakeouts and late-night paperwork sessions to a manageable level of boredom. Nick lazily pushed open the swinging glass doors to the front of the ZPD's headquarters, absent mindedly rubbing the sleep from his eyes underneath the trademark silver aviators that completed his look. He yawned wide and shivered in the air-conditioned building, noticing his partner from the corner of his eye he mentally prepared for the onslaught of early-morning energy.
"Another day, another dollar," Judy said as she enthusiastically bounced along next to him, completely ignoring his ragged expression and obviously tired face.
"Sure, but on a Monday I'd rather sleep in and only make a couple cents," Nick replied with a hint of a coy smile creeping into the corner of his mouth.
"Har har." Judy bobbed her head side to side mockingly as she lightly punched him on the arm. "Come on and look alive, the Chief said he wants to see us."
Nick let out another yawn, giving a half-hearted wave to Clawhauser and continuing into the break room. "Chief Bogo second, warm drink first. I'm practically freezing my tail off in this cold." Nick dismissed the smaller mammal's look of shock at his disregard for the Chief's orders, instead taking a mug out of the cupboard on the wall and pouring a steaming green liquid out of one of the pots on the counter. He saw Fangmire come up next to him with an empty mug as well, "What's the mix today, oh master brew-master captain sir?" Nick accompanied the ridiculous title with a mocking curtsey but a smile that actually looked grateful for the drink.
Fangmire let out a gruff chuckle and replied, "Oh I kept it simple today, mint, dandelion, apple, bergamot, and I threw in a couple of spruce needles for an extra kick. Let me know if you like it, I'm trying to find the right balance of flavours here." Nick gingerly took a sip of the steaming beverage and nodded his approval.
"I don't know how you guys can drink that stuff, it just tastes like a wet salad." Judy chimed in after taking a sniff and recoiling from his mug. Nick smiled and inhaled deeply, wafting the mug under his snout in exaggerated circles.
"You rabbits have it easy being able to drink coffee. Personally, I want to stay alive, so the vulpine and the canids will stick to their herbs, thanks. Now I thought you said we had to talk to Chief Bogo, if we're in such a hurry then why are you just standing around waiting for the grass to go. Have you no respect for the senior staff?" He feigned a gasp, clutching his chest for extra effect. Ignoring his laudable charades, Judy set off at a brisk pace to catch up to the retreating fox.
"I would rather get this over with," She said with a note of seriousness in her voice, "It seems that whenever I'm called to his office he's either giving me an award or getting mad at me. But I guess it's different now that we're working together on most of our cases."
"It sure is different, now whenever he calls you to his office he's always getting mad at you." Nick kept his eyes pointing straight ahead, even so he could practically feel the lasers being stared into the side of his head.
Judy knocked lightly on the door as they reached Chief Bogo's office. She reached to turn the handle after a muffled 'Come in' from the other side. Nick entered first with Judy closing the door behind them. Taking a seat on one of the chairs facing the Chief's desk, Nick adopted a leisurely position, crossing one foot over the other knee and leaning back, moving only to take sips of his mug of tea. Judy sat straight-backed upright waiting attentively for the Chief to finish perusing the contents of the file he was currently holding. After spending a few moments like this, the Chief spoke, "I have a new case for you two." His words were calm and quiet, but they held a faint note of confusion and frustrating in them, "We have some questionable intel that there will be an increasing number of crimes in Zootopia." Noting their puzzled expressions, he continued, "I know that sounds vague, and that's because it is. Our confidential informant refused to divulge anything more, possibly out of fear, possibly out of ignorance. Whatever the case is, I want you to look into it and try to find out what this means. And if it doesn't lead to anything, I want to be damn sure that it is indeed nothing, understood?"
"Yes sir," the partners spoke in unison. Whenever these two address me, it seems like they're talking in stereo, the Chief thought to himself with almost a chuckle.
"Here is the file with the original transcript of what I've just told you. You have whatever resource you need to pursue this further, I'm giving it to you because I acknowledge that your . . . connections to the underworld of Zootopia will be useful in this situation. Any questions?" The two shared a quick glance, then looked back at the Chief with contented looks on their face. "Very well, dismissed."
As they closed the door and began walking to the stairs, Nick raised his eyebrows and asked, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Judy replied without missing a beat, "It's about time we paid a visit to my god-daughters family, my dear fox." The suave and collected expression on her face elicited a chuckle from Nick.
"I do like that side of your family, you know. But let me grab a mug of that tea to go before we head out, I'm still freezing." He gave a forlorn look into the bottom of his empty mug and turned towards the break room. A concerned look appeared on Judy's face and he tried his best to keep walking and ignore it.
"Are you okay, you've been cold all Morning." She said, trying to face him as he arrived at the counter and began pouring himself a mug from the half full pot.
He shrugged his shoulders and made a dismissive sound. "Who knows, maybe I'm coming down with something. Or it could just be my body reacting to a bad sleep. Either way I'll be fine in a bit."
Not wanting to be ignored, Judy grabbed his arm as he tried to turn away, "I'm serious Nick, you've been complaining about how cold it is for a week now, you've been drinking a lot of that tea, and your fur looks like it's lost some of its luster. Maybe you should get checked out by the resident doctor, better safe than sorry you know."
"I'm fine," he said in a terse manner, not quite angry but firm enough that she got the message, "I'm just a warm-blooded mammal in an air conditioned building, I don't make a big deal when you decide to have two cups of coffee in the morning, and never you mind about my fur, it's as illustrious as usual. Now let's get to the car, I don't want to get trapped in the morning traffic rush."
"Alright, but I'm keeping a close eye on you. If we leave now we should be able to beat the rush so grab your gear quickly and we'll head out." Judy turned away from Nick and headed to the locker room where her gear was held, Nick followed her although keeping his distance to avoid a lecture. She opened her locker and started putting on the various pieces of accessory gear that came with being a police officer. Utility belt, handcuff pouch, radio, and various other bits and bobs. Upon finishing she closed her locker and poked her head out around the row into Nicks view. She stifled a laugh as he stood there, his belt half-on crooked, staring at the buckles trying to make sense of why they didn't line up. Judy walked over and reached out to his side, "Here, you have it twisted in the loops. Unthread it and lace it through again." Nick looked like he was going to utter a clever retort but then thought better of it and followed the rabbit, noting her foot tapping in impatience at his speed.
After getting his belt on properly, he continued assembling the rest of his uniform, upon finishing he threw up his arms in exasperation, "Why can't we have a city without crime, it'd save me from having to put on this stupid belt every time we go out."
"No city is without crime," Judy said, practically pushing him along out the door to hurry him up. "As important as you are, Officer Wilde, crime stops for no mammal."
"I guess a city without crime is too much to ask for… Well why does crime always happen on Monday mornings. Why can't it wait for a sunny Tuesday afternoon or something?" He complained lightly, murmuring to himself as the two reach the vehicle garage and find their interceptor. Nick grabbed the keys off of the wall adjacent and threw them to Judy, "Heads up, Carrots," he called as the keys almost hit her in the face, he ignored the frown shot in his direction as she fumbled the keys before clicking the unlock button and getting in. Judy backed out of the garage and turned to merge with the constant stream of mid-morning traffic. Nick saw how long this was going to take so he lay back and crossed his arms behind his head. "Oh joy, just another exciting morning in Zootopia, wake me up when we get there won't you?" In response she pressed hard on the brakes then quickly let up, causing him to slide through his seatbelt and slip off the seat. "Fine I'll stay awake and keep you company."
Judy smiled and cast a sly glance at the bemused tod, "Would I like that? Yes, yes I would."