Judy leans on the window as she watches the scientists work on the cure for the Nighthowler. She absentmindedly scratched at the bandages around her chest as she wore a new shirt that her parents brought her. "Come on guys. Hurry up." She said almost as if it would speed up the process.
"Miss Hopps?" Someone asks beside her and she looks to see the badger doctor who treated her.
She just sighs. "Yes?"
The badger looks to his colleagues in the room. "It will still need a few hours. We are almost done. But for now, please go back to your room and wait there."
Judy looks back to the room before sighing and starts to walk back to her hospital room as her doctor watches her before she goes around a corner and he walks away to his other patients. Judy looks behind her for a moment before quickly turning to another hallway and rushes down the hall and ends up at Nick's room who the guards let inside.
Judy smiles as she enters and sees Nick's ears rise up as she shuts the door behind her. "Hey, Nick. They're almost done. You'll soon be back to normal." She said walking up and hopping into the seat next to his bed.
Nick opens his eyes and slowly turns his head to her as he sniffs the air.
Judy chuckles a bit. "Can you believe that it's almost over? Once you become cured and get out of this, maybe I will send in your paper. You did want to join after all." She said smiling as she grabs his hand again.
Nick watches her as he grips her hand and holds onto her to make sure she doesn't go away.
Judy sighs in relief. "Just by tomorrow and you can be back on your feet. Besides, I can't go onto the streets without my partner."
Nick blinks before his ears perks up and he grips her hand tighter as he looks to the door and growls as Judy looks to the door and it opens to a lion in a doctor's clothing holding a case and a clipboard that he seems to be busy with. "Easy there boy." The lion said walking over and doesn't notice Judy frowning at what he called Nick.
Nick snarls and tries to pulls Judy closer to him and she leans closer to him when she felt his hand try to move her closer.
The lion sighs and finally looks to him and stops. "Oh. Officer Hopps."
Judy just stares at him as she drums her fingers on the bed.
The lion clears his throat. "Anyways. We have the cure." He said holding up the case. Judy became wide-eyed at that as he sets the case on the nearby table and starts to set up a syringe of something clear. "This should cure him of the Nighthowler. In just an hour or so, he should be back on his feet without being a savage."
Judy sighs in relief as the lion approaches Nick and he growls and tries to get away and pulls at his straps to get away from him. "I got it." Judy said grabbing the syringe and Nick calms down at the sight of Judy taking the reigns before she rubs his arm and stealthily brings the syringe up without him seeing it as Nick kept his glaring gaze at the lion as he holds up his hands in defense as he switches his gaze quickly to Judy as she quickly puts the syringe into Nick and pushes the plunger down as Nick turns to her growling before she quickly gives the syringe to the lion and he takes it away as Judy tries to calm Nick down by rubbing the top of his hand.
Nick snarls at them both before his growls slowly quiets down and close his eyes as Judy smiles and keeps rubbing his hand as the lion looks over the instruments nearby. "He'll out for a bit. Let him rest." He said packs up and heads out.
Judy smiles a bit and lays her head on the bed as she kept her grip on Nick's hand as she hears him snore quietly. "Rest easy Nick. It's going to be okay."
Nick groans as he tries to crack open his eyes and move around and feels a pull back as he rolls his head around. "Hey. Easy." He hears and turns his head slowly to see something blurry right beside him. "You just been through a session with the Nighthowlers." He hears and recognize as Judy's voice.
"Carrots." Nick said weakly as he tries to get up before he feels a hand on his chest and push him back down on the bed.
"Rest." He looks and sees his vision starting to clear up and sees Judy in her civilian clothes that were slightly different than the ones she came back in.
Nick groans and tries to lift up a hand and felt something catch it and looks to see him strapped to the bed. "Carrots…wha…"
Judy sighs. "You were savage Nick. You got hit with the Nighthowler and went after me and…well…" She looks to her chest and he sees the bandages under her shirt. "I'm fine though. It wasn't that bad…" She stops as Nick squeezes her hand hard and makes her stop.
Nick groans. "It's not carrots. I could have killed you." He said squeezing her hand.
Judy smiles lightly. "Well, you didn't. In fact, all you did was nuzzle and scratch at me. Maybe get rid of the some of the anger."
Nick stops and slowly turns to her. "What did you say?"
Judy raises an eyebrow. "You had to get rid of some of the anger."
Nick shakes his head. "Before that."
Judy ended up being confused. "You nuzzled and scratched at me."
Nick tries to grab at her with his other hand but it was still strapped so he squeezes her hand that he still had. "Judy, this is important. Did I nuzzle you on the cheek and neck?"
Judy's ears start to fall around her. "Yeah…Nick? Why are you asking this?"
Nick groans and falls back onto the bed. "Dang it. Fuck it all to heck." He curses as Judy realizes he used her first name.
Judy leans up close a bit. "Nick? What's wrong? Why is nuzzling getting you so worked up?"
Nick looks to her frowning. "Carrots, nuzzling with foxes is used to mark mates."
Judy stares at him as she slowly goes wide-eyed as he sits up. "What?" She asks almost quietly.
Nick nods and looks to her. "It's like an engagement ring for us. We also use it to keep other foxes away and to tell that our mate is ours. I must have done that because…because I was going feral." He said thinking to himself now.
Judy looks at him confused before realizing what he meant. "Your feral side can notice the mark…right?"
Nick nods slowly. "It was a half and half actually. I didn't know if it would work or not. All I knew is if I'm going feral, I might as well leave a mark to tell my feral side that you are off limits."
Judy slowly nods. "Then that explains why you didn't hurt me that much or even growl."
Nick groans before looking to the straps. "Can you get these off?"
Judy looks and sighs. "Okay. Hold on." She said reaching for them and starts to undo them before she releases his left arm and he clenches it and tests it before undoing the one on his other arm himself and pulls both his arms back and looks them over. "So…do we win?"
Judy smiles as he undoes the straps on his legs. "Yeah. Bellwether is now arrested and everyone else is being cured of the Nighthowlers. Everything should be back to normal within the week.
Nick nods as he swings his legs over the side. "Good. At least it's over. Has anything interesting happened since then?" He asks giving his usual sleepy gaze at her.
Judy chuckles as she hops off the chair. "Just that my parents arrived." Nick stops as he thinks of what they might think of them before Judy pats his side. "They'll like you. You did protect me after all and helped solved a big problem here in the city."
Nick sighs. "Let's hope so. So…what happened with my papers?"
Judy smirks. "I turned it in. I'm sure you will have a place waiting in the academy soon."
Nick gives a lazy smile. "Aw. Look who's my good friend."
Judy hits his side. "Shut up. Now you better get ready because, in two days, you are going to become a cop."
Nick sighs. "Yes, mom. I'll make you proud." He said chuckling.
Judy hits his shoulder this time as Nick was lurch forward and he holds his shoulder and playfully glares at her as Judy smirks and crosses her arms and sticks her tongue out at him.
Judy sighs as she stares at the cup that fell from the machine and it starts to fill up with coffee. "Finally." She said taking it as she starts to savor the smell. "Thank you for keeping me up."
"Which is why I don't drink. It does mess up my rhythm by the time I'm running a con." Someone said behind her.
Judy smirks and turns to see Nick standing before her in a police station and a full uniform while some other officers were just doing their business. "Hey, Fluff Tail." She whispered still holding the smirk.
Nick frowns a bit. "Hey now. You don't see me calling you cottontail."
Judy waves him before sipping at her coffee. "So…?"
Nick gives his sleepy smile and holds up a certificate and a badge. "Say hello to your first fox cop."
Judy hums happily. "Good. Because I need a good side after all that has happened."
Nick pats her shoulder. "Hey. That's in the past. The nighthowlers are gone and cured and no one is going savage. So rest easy and we can take these minimal jobs."
Judy chuckles. "Excellent." She then holds up some papers. "Here's your first assignment. Fill these out and give them to me once done"
Nick blinks. "You have to be kidding."
Judy shakes her head and smirks. "Being a cop isn't all conspiracy and shootouts. That's only ten percent."
Nick look to the papers with a slight glare. "I'm guessing the other ninety is papers?"
Judy just passes by him and leaves the papers in his hands. "Have fun." She said teasingly as she drinks her coffee.
Nick groans and rubs his head. "The things you would do for a carrot farmer."
"Alright. Settle down." Chef Bogo calls out to the room as everyone turns to him, awaiting their assignments. "I know it's been a tough few months, but it will get better." He said and subtlety looks to Nick wearing some dark shades next to Judy. "First up. Francine, McHorn, Grizzoli, Tundra SWAT." He said holding up a file as the elephant, rhino, and polar bear walk away with it. "Second. Fangmeyer, Delgato, Wolford, undercover Sahara." He said holding up the second file and the white wolf, hippo, and wolf grabs it as they dress up in different animal outfits. "And thirdly. Officer Nick and Judy."
Judy looked particularly excited as Nick chuckles a bit at her enthusiasm.
"Parking duty." Bogo said flatly and Judy's ears drop as she held a dismayed expression as Nick pulls down his glasses a little. "Just kidding." Bogo said chuckling now. "We got a little theft down at an antique shop. Few thousand bucks' worth. Watch it." He said holding out the file as Nick grabs it and they both walk out of the room.
Judy giggles after they left the room and grabs the file and looks it over and sighs in relief that it wasn't a one page Otterton file. Nick just pats her head and Judy glares up to him as Nick walks down to the garage before she follows.
"Well, this is the easiest job ever." Nick muses as he partly reads the file and licks at one of his pawsicles and Judy drives the large ZPD car.
Judy rolls her eyes. "Nick. Read through it. You have to know the details of every single part. I couldn't have asked you for anything if I didn't notice Otterton having that pawsicle."
Nick hums. "Then I guess it was a good thing I did my con huh?"
Judy sighs and brakes hard at a red light and sends Nick forward. "Oops." She said as Nick came back up and had the pawsicle on his face.
Nick groans and pulls at it and rips it off. "Ow. Smart bunny."
Judy smiles. "Dumb fox."
Nick grins. "You know you love me." He said as Judy starts driving again.
Judy hums. "Do I know that? Yes. Yes, I do." She said mostly to herself before she stops. "Okay. Let's go find our thief." She said getting out.
Nick sighs and bites off a piece of the pawsicle before getting out and following Judy as they enter the store. "Geez. You think this place could be even worse for wear." He said nonchalantly as he looks at everything dusted and old.
Judy hits his chest without looking. "Be respectful Nick. Besides, some of this stuff is cool." She said looking at a crystal piece.
Nick rolls his eyes. "Whatever you say carrots."
Judy sighs and walks up to the counter. "Hello? ZPD here to look at your theft incident."
"Oh good. Finally." A voice said around a corner of a doorway and out steps an old female ram. "I have been waiting for help to arrive. Can you really get my vase back?"
Judy was already taking notes as she wrote down the stolen item is a vase. "Yes, we can. So what happened?"
She hums. "I was in the back taking inventory when the door opened and I thought it was just a regular customer. Little did I know was that it was the thief and he decided to open this case and take the vase inside." She said pointing to a glass case which was left open. "Ran right out the front door before I even realized it. Don't know why they want this old thing. It's only worth around three grand."
Judy sighs. "The things animals do for money. Mind if we take a look?"
She chuckles. "Not at all. Go right ahead." She said before heading to the back again as Judy takes a closer look at the case.
"Carrots?" Nick calls.
"Not now Nick. I'm looking for any indication of who might have done this." Judy said looking through the case.
"But carrots…" Nick tries as he stares out the front window.
"Not now. I think I might have found a clue." Judy said trying to reach a corner for something.
"Is it soft fur with very small scratch marks?" Nick suddenly asks.
Judy stops as she looks at the clue and sees it was that. "How did you…?" She asks turning to him.
Nick points out the window. "Where else can you keep a vase that big?" He asks and she hurries over and sees he was pointing to a storage unit area.
"Oh. I'm guessing you saw the perp." Judy asks looking up to him.
Nick nods. "Bigger than us, but I'm sure that won't be a problem. We faced down three rams and a sheep. I think we can take one." Nick brags walking out.
Judy shakes her head before looking behind her. "We'll be back with your vase." She calls.
"Don't hurt yourself, dear." The ram calls back.
Judy chuckles as she hurries up to catch Nick and meets up with him at the entrance of the storage units. "Okay. Where do we start master tracker?" She asks teasingly.
Nick gives a sleepy gaze to her. "Carrots, do you doubt me that much?" He asks harmoniously before Judy hits his arm. "Ow. Take it easy." He said grabbing the area and rubbing it.
Judy just smirks and walks into the halls of doors. "Come on fluff tail. We got a vase to find."
Nick sighs and starts to follow. "You always want to make things fun huh?"
Judy seems to grin. "That's your department." She said before stopping and her ears start to move in every direction. "This way." She said a bit quiet and runs down another hall with Nick following close behind before she stops at a corner and they both peek around to see two white wolves talking to each other as they had the vase in between them. Judy quickly pulls her head back and looks to Nick. "Okay. You need to go the other way and cut off their escape. I'll try and stop them here."
Nick instantly looked a little worried. "Carrots, they are wolves."
Judy raises an eyebrow. "We faced worse."
Nick stares at her before sighing. "Fine. I'll see you at the other end then." He said before running off and heads around a corner as Judy peeks back and sees some money being exchanged. "Okay, Judy. You worked your life for this." She said to herself before taking a deep breath and jumps around the corner. "ZPD! Freeze!" She shouted as she gets ready to catch them.
"You brought the cops!" The far wolf shouted at the other.
The one nearest to her glares at him. "I didn't! They must have just stumbled on us."
"Wait." The first wolf said and peeks around him to look at Judy. "It's just a rabbit. Well, this is easy." He said smirking and shrugging before picking up the vase. "I think you can find your own way out."
The near wolf glares at him. "You mean you won't help me with the cop?"
"Nope. Good luck." The far wolf said walking off before Nick steps around the corner in front of him. "Oh. Right. They travel in pairs. Even easier." He said putting the vase down and almost readies his stance in an attempt to claw at Nick.
Nick huffs as he looks him over. "Should have been more careful and maybe try a back alley first."
The far wolf grins. "I'm going to make a name for myself soon. Might as well start now." He said before lunging and hits Nick as they both tumbled to the ground trying to get the upper paw on each other.
Judy glares at the near wolf as he turns to her. "He did say it would be easy." He said before Judy runs up to him quickly and jumps and kicks him under the chin and sends him back. "Got quite a kick don't ya? Well come on." He declares as Judy charges again before he moves his head up and back as Judy tries to get him again with a kick but he quickly sends a punch, aiming from behind her as she quickly tries to kick off his chest before she felt his fist connected with her back and makes her smash into him before she fell and then rolls away as she gets ready to strike him again.
Nick glares at the wolf as he tries to claw at him before Nick brings his foot up between them and kicks him off and he quickly gets up before charging and bum rushes into his chest into the wall and pulls back a fist and punches him straight into the muzzle before grabbing his head and brings him down and smashes his face into his knee and kicks him away into the wall. "Judy." Nick said quickly as the wolf was knocked out and he sees her jumping around and trying to trip him up. "Atta boy carrots." Nick said as he tries to sneak up on the wolf before the wolf was able to have a window and kicks her away into the wall and makes her hit her head on it and makes her groan in slight pain before Nick's eyes grew sharp at that.
Judy groans and stumbled a bit before quickly getting up and stops at the sight of Nick all over the wolf as he snarls and then claws at the wolf's head and makes him yelp before punching him down before grabbing his tail and pulls him off behind him into the wall next to the other knocked out wolf as Nick snarls and glares at the two.
"Nick?" Judy calls and Nick quickly turns to her and she gasps shocked as she sees the sharp pupils and brandished claws. "Nick." She said worriedly before Nick snarls and shakes his head a bit and his eyes return to normal and he looks at her confused.
"Um, carrots? Why are you looking at me like that?" Nick asks confused before looking around and spots the two wolves. "Oh. They're out. And the vase is intact. Hey, you think we get a finder's fee for bringing it back?" Nick asks grinning as he goes over to the vase.
Judy stares at Nick as she thinks back to what happened. 'But…the nighthowler should have been cured from his body. He shouldn't go feral.' She thinks as to why it's happening again and this time he's freed.
Nick looks over when Judy didn't replay with her usual negativity to his brash ideas. "Carrots? You okay?"
Judy keeps watching him for any signs of going feral. "Yeah. Fine." She said slightly shaky as Nick raises an eyebrow and looks back at the two wolves before taking out some cuffs and starts to cuff them.
"You should call this in carrots." Nick calls before hearing nothing for a bit and looks to see her gone. "Carrots?"
Judy pants heavily as she thinks of the situations of what's going on. 'Maybe some nighthowler is still there. Maybe all we need to do is head to the hospital and get the cure and he'll be right as rain. Yeah. Perfect plan.' She thinks as she heads to the car and calls in the situation as she kept thinking. 'I hope it's that.'
