Diamond in the Rough
Chapter 1: Undercover
Nick Wilde watched as his partner bounced into the room. Ears high, eyes bright, and nose twitching, Judy Hopps was always eager to get a new assignment. Or any assignment. Somehow that perky little bunny even got excited about being a meter maid. Nick smiled and shook his head, sometimes he just couldn't see how she was always able to stay so optimistic.
"Hey there, partner! Ready for case assignments?" Judy asked, climbing onto the chair next to him.
"I don't know Carrots, Bogo's been eyeing me today. I'm suspecting we're just going to be trying for the ticket quota again." Nick said, looking at Judy's plump face. Something in him wanted to reach out and stroke her cheek. Surprised, Nick shoved the thought out of his head. He's already stereotyped as a fox, no reason to make it worse with a conduct charge.
"He's probably just ticked that you beat him at cards again on Friday night," Judy chuckled, "he thinks you've cheated, and you know how stubborn he gets when he thinks something's fishy." Nick started to laugh, then looked baffled.
"Wait, how did you know about the card game?" Nick asked suspiciously.
"Bogo and I take a class together on Saturdays" Judy said cautiously. Bogo would definitely not want Nick to discover that secret. Judy snickered at the thought. Nick caught Judy's laugh and wondered what she wasn't telling him. What kind of class? She's smiling over it, is there something going on between them? Nick cringed at the thought of Bogo the giant Ox, having a thing for his tiny bunny partner. Judy would never go for Bogo. Right?
Nick spent so much time thinking about what Judy and Bogo did on Saturdays that by the time he snapped out of it, Bogo was assigning parking duty. Nick looked at Judy when their names weren't called to see if he had missed their assignment, but she looked just as confused.
"Officers Hopps and Wilde, my office, now." Chief Bogo added. Judy turned to Nick.
"What did you do now?" she teased. Nick racked his brain. Did Bogo find out about the raccoon incident? Impossible. Nick shrugged his shoulders and followed Judy to Chief Bogo's office. Has Judy's tail always looked so soft and fluffy? Nick wondered, averting his eyes.
"Close the door Wilde." Bogo ordered. Nick closed the door, taking the opportunity to compose himself while his back was turned. Spinning on his heel, Nick coolly took a seat. Calm and collected, be aloof.
"Whatever Nick did, I'm sure it was an accident this time!" Judy blurted. Bogo raised an eyebrow at Nick.
"Normally, I'd agree with Judy, but whatever I did it wasn't me. Unless it's about the raccoon, in which case I was totally within reason to-"
"No, for once Nick, this isn't about you. But you can tell me about that raccoon later." Bogo interrupted. "A new case has come to my attention, that I believe the two of you are best suited for. Victor Clawhauff is a notorious black market thief and merchant." Bogo slid a picture across his desk. Looking over Judy's shoulder, Nick saw a large, muscular, badger in an expensive suit. The picture was taken from far away, but Nick could tell that the picture was showing a transaction of most likely illegal dealings. "We believe Victor has a new target." Another picture was provided, this time of Arthur & Gale's Diamonds. "A&G Diamonds just received a very special shipment, one that must remain confidential. Sources lead us to think that Victor's next target is this shipment. I want the two of you to be stationed at A&G as security for the safe." Bogo said. Just then the phone rang.
"Go for Bogo. What?" Bogo's face went pale. "Ok, so what's the new plan?" a long pause, as Bogo wrote on a piece of paper. "Ok, and what will my team be doing? Hmm. I think this will work. Ok, I'll let them know." Bogo hung up the phone. "Change of plans. You two are going undercover."
Nick's jaw dropped. Judy looked excited. Bogo looked nervous. "A&G Diamonds was just robbed." Nick felt his stomach twist.
"Something else happened though, didn't it?" Nick questioned. Bogo closed his eyes.
"The owners, Arthur and Gale were in the store. Arthur's in critical condition in Zootopia General. I'm afraid his wife, Gale, didn't make it." Nick looked at Judy. Her ears lay flat; her face was of shock. Nick began to reach for her hand, to reassure her, but before he could, she shook herself and clenched her fists. Her body language said courage and composure, her eyes said her body lied.
"What can we do to catch this badger?" Judy said, voice steady and determined. Nick admired her strength with a new light. Maybe pride, or affection?
"One second," Bogo held up a finger, as the printer started printing. "Barb just sent up the updated files," Bogo grabbed, and sorted through the papers, and handed a stack across the desk. "Those first two pages are your new aliases, Nick, your paper's on top so we'll start with you," Nick looked down at the first page. The name Nathaniel (Nate) Padden was displayed next to his picture. "Due to your con artist background, you're going undercover as part of Victor's crew. How are you at finance?"
"Under the circumstances of self-incrimination, I'm going to answer that question by not answering." Nick said pointedly at Bogo. Yes, he dabbled in illegal buying and selling before he met Judy.
"Good cause Victor will be looking for a new fence." Bogo made the mistake of adding the word new. Judy caught it.
"What do you mean new fence? What happened to the old fence?" Judy asked skeptically. Nick looked to Bogo for an answer.
"Erm… if you pull out that back page you will see what happened to the past fences, but I'd advise not looking if you have a weak stomach." Bogo said. By the time he gave the warning, it was too late. Judy had already grabbed the page. She paled, and Nick thought he saw the paper quivering in her hands. She looked up from the paper to Nick. Nick had never seen such emotion and pain in her eyes as she looked at his face.
"Hey, Carrots, give me the paper!" Nick said with a nervous chuckle. Judy took in a sharp breath when he used her nickname. She shoved the paper back at Bogo. "Hey!" Nick exclaimed.
"It's not a good idea for you to see that, it could affect your performance." Judy stated matter-of-factly. Nick scowled. He grabbed Judy's alias page and read it out loud, as Bogo put a hoof to his forehead.
"Judy Hopps, AKA Isobel Forester. Exotic dancer-"
"EXOTIC WHAT?" Nick and Judy turned to Bogo, searching for an explanation.
"Victor uses a gentlemen's club as a cover for his business. Private dances are a good cover for the transfer of money. And since Judy has experience in this area, she'd be able to go in as one of the dancers." Bogo explained. Judy started blushing.
"Excuse me, Judy has experience in exotic dancing?" Nick nearly passed out. Sweet little innocent Judy, as an exotic dancer?
"She pole dances." Chief Bogo stated. Nick stared at Judy open mouthed. Judy, still turning red, explained.
"I take pole dancing classes on Saturdays. It's actually a really good workout. Uses a lot of core strength. Honestly, you should consider trying it." Judy said, turning less red. Nick was in shock, and trying to imagine Judy twirling on a pole, he couldn't picture it. Nick sat back in his chair, dumbfounded. Bogo continued to explain the case, Nick continued to remain in shock. Judy listened intently. Finally, Bogo finished.
"Any questions?" Nick shook his head.
"Just one," Judy ventured, "Do our aliases know each other? Or should I pretend I've never met him?"
"Your aliases must have a history together, but not recent so as to avoid suspicion. The two of you can come up with the story. It needs to be believable, because if one of you is in some kind of trouble, the other needs to be able to get you out of the situation, without causing suspicion." Bogo stated, gathering the papers, and handing them in a folder to Judy. "Now get out of my office, I'll see you here tomorrow afternoon to get you ready." Nick and Judy got up to leave.
"So Carrots, let's go invent our past!" Nick offered Judy his arm, rolling her eyes she linked arms and headed out of Bogo's office.
"See you in class Saturday Judy!" Chief Bogo called after them before realizing what he just gave away. Nick cackled until out of the precinct.
