"To look inside of yourself is the first step you can do to achieve greatness~"
The sun was just starting to set into the twilight hours when the young doe fluttered her eyes open. Whimpering, she shifted underneath her covers sitting up and staring in shock as she was back in her own room! The thought of it! Glancing over at her window she noticed the rays becoming clear from the reflection of her window making her mind have a sudden rush of thoughts. She completely wasted a day just like that! Serves her right. The last thing she remembered was drifting off in the moving car and… wait. Nick got her into her room; but how? She needed to get to him to thank him for his help. Turning to her side and sitting on the edge of her bed, she was about to get off when she felt a twang of pain amidst her step. "Oh yea… a temporary gashed leg…" she thought to herself sitting back down. She glanced to her door and saw her props leaning against the wall tucked nicely in the corner and next to her phone was her meds and… wait what was that?
Squinting her eyes she hopped very limply over to her desk and saw a cringe-worthy crumpled up piece of paper on top of her phone. Using her desk for support, she picked it up and read the words written upon it;
"Hey carrots,
I added myself as a contact, in case you need
anything. P.S. Don't call early in the morning!
Nick W."
His calligraphy was anything but of a child's cursive, but she beamed knowing he had taken the time to write that for her. How sweet. "Sweet… oh dear." She thought to herself frowning as her stomach grumbled right on que. In the rush of everything, she completely forgot to grab herself something to eat. Face palming her forehead, she recalled having a snack when she was back at the farm before she got the hint for her case, but… after that, things just happened too quickly for her to take time and breathe.
Deciding ordering something in might be the best solution right now; she grabbed her phone and dialed in the closest iconic fast food joint location in the area. Opting for the closest Bug Burga she could find, she ordered herself the Chinco salad, a fine tasty mix of evergreen dressings, rich lettuce and succulent fruit on the side with an order of a strawberry smoothie. It took a little time for the delivery-man to find his way to her apartment, and with a single three-course rap to the door she hopped over with one of her crutches to thank the zebra, paying her bill and giving the tip. Closing the door, she took her delicious meal over to her bed and sat with a plop to begin her dinner. The sun at this point had set and the stars were starting to be aligned once more. Judy glancing at the window wondered if her articulate friend would be scavenging about or taking in a full day's rest. I suppose he earned it if he was so; he did help her solve the biggest case with dedicating determination. The meal then suddenly turned sour to her. The food itself was delicious and she did feel rejuvenated once more but, what would happen when her gimped leg recovered and she was back on the force? She felt like she could get anything done with that fah… with Nick around and if he wasn't there then what would she do? Sure she would have a little more respect and trust from her fellow troopers but, the only real friend besides Ben Clawhauser, was Nick. Her stomach twisted at the thought and she shook it off deciding to not think about it until her dinner was done.
With food quickly finished and tossed in the trash, Judy hopped herself with phone in one hand and half-finished smoothie in the other over to the window sill to glance at the busy cityscape below. Leaning against the sill for support, she gazed outside taking in the beauty of the city and admired it for its charm. "Maybe that's what the old landlord was talking about," she giggled to herself. She had to admit, as crummy (luxury was the word it was described; with charm.) as the apartment was, she did feel at home in the city on the force than at her parents farm doing the same thing over and over again. Which reminded her to give them a call; it would be just about the right time before her parents tucked in for the night. Slurping the last of her drink, she scrolled through her contacts and found her mom. That'd be the first person to call. Dialing it, Judy brought the device to her ear.
"Hello mom? Yes, I'm so sorry to call you so late but I needed to check in…"
"…Yes, yes I'm doing fine. No, no. I know it's all over the news. Don't you worry though, I'm okay."
Her face kept changing as she heard her mother on the other end of the line with what sounded like some kids were fighting again and her having to command them to simmer down.
"Seriously? Again? "
She chucked briefly.
"Now sweetheart, I need you to be careful on that leg. Especially with that fox."
"No I told you before, it's not 'the fox'… it's… I know, I know."
"Please seriously bun-bun, do be careful. We care about you and we don't want to see one of our first-born's getting hurt."
"Don't you worry about me mom. With Nick taking care of me I'll be just happy dandy. Err, bunny! Happy Bunny!" She flinched at the thought of correcting her language. Nick was starting to rub off on her in her tongue.
"Right. Speaking of which where is that fox? The way you speak of him so much I'd almost think that…"
"Mom! Seriously? Why would you think that!? We're just good friends remember? And I know you're there dad so you better cut it out!"
She hit the bulls-eye on that one. Her prying dad Stu encouraged Bonnie how to address her daughter for a subject like that. One he casually walked away whistling. She could almost see the glare in her mother's face as he walked off.
"Now sweetheart," she started whispering. "The next time you come down I want you to bring Nicholas with you. He appears to be a nice boy and we...uhh… want to make our amends for our previous behavior from before."
Judy blushed at the suggestion. "Seriously? /You/ apologizing to a fox?"
The words hit like ice against her mother.
"Now you listen here young lady!" Judy flinched at the sudden tone coming from her phone.
"We've opened our eyes with Gideon and we certainly will make an exception to this Wilde if he seems like a friend. We all make mistakes, even us; and if you so seriously want to have him in the workforce working alongside you as a business partner, then we need to make sure he's A-Okay. All right? Besides, it'll make your father feel… umm… less weary about having his own daughter working alongside a fox. Okay?"
She sighed admiringly. Never once she did hear her mother admitting to fault. That itself was the mark of a milestone.
"Okay mom."
"Now it's getting late. We all need our sleep, especially you. You've got a big day tomorrow with reporting back in."
"You're right. *yawn* Good night mom."
"Good night bun-bun."
Judy clicked her phone ending the conversation. The moonlight was present tonight and she gazed upon its beauty wondering… just wondering… what Nick was doing once more. Scrolling past the contact mom, she found Nick's number and it did start with Nick, but… it was saved as "Nick the stealth" and with his contact, it looked like a selfie of himself. (With his phone I hope?) The picture showed his signature grin with a wink on his left eye and index finger pointing towards the camera in a coy smocking kind of a way. She giggled at it and half-tempted to leave the contact as is, but decided it would be easier to find him with just "Nick W." Making the change she placed the phone back down on the window sill.
She was not the least bit tired since the day completely threw off her schedule but she knew if she didn't get sleep she would feel it in the morning. Grabbing the phone again she set an alarm for 8am, to do a morning stroll before committing to work. Leaving it there she hopped briefly to turn off her desk lamp and not bothering with the manual clock tonight. Letting the faint moonlight guide her back to bed, Judy carefully changed into her pajamas before gliding back into bed tossing her clothes to the side. She'll take care of those in the morning. Covering herself once more, she sighed and mentally told herself to relax letting the darkness creep into her once more, where to her surprise, she was able to drift off for the night.
Nick was definitely not one to waste time. The moment he left Judy's apartment complex building, he flinched at the sudden light of the sun shining brightly in his eyes. Taking only a moment to adjust his peripherals to the harsh light, he started walking casually down the street to take in the sights of the city. Not did a minute pass by that the city didn't even begin to think of what happened less than 24 hours ago. Oh well, such is life for a fox. Soon enough the Zootopia Times and local authorities of the ZNN would be lit up with headlines of a rabbit saving the day. "First hero bunny cop cracks major case!" Or something along those lines. Would they mention a fox in those sub-texts? Probably not, but he didn't care. He lived the life casually and did his best to not let miniscule things like that bother him.
He went onto his merry way dodging in-between every mammal to head to the downtown substation that carried him to Judy's apartment. "Carrots…" he thought to himself looking back at the direction of the apartment. "Soon enough she'll wake to silent sounds of her apartment and wonder how she got there. But it won't last long. She'll realize a stealthy fox like me, "he scoffed admiringly, "helped her out to get her upstairs into her safe abyss. Can you imagine that? A fox helping a rabbit. Oh, won't the Times be pleased?" he laughed the thought off. "She's got spunk for a rabbit. I'll give her that~" With a single blink and a concluded thought, he continued on heading to the station to get to the other side of town to meet a fennec fox.
Jumping on the few stops that took him back to the direction to which he came, he bounced off the train and up the stairs leading out of the grand central station. Heading on outside into the light again, he bounded for a few different possibilities where a fox may be. Turning down some alleyways and turns slickly avoiding everyone to not make a scene, he came upon a van. Bingo! The iconic red van was sitting by its lonesome self-waiting to gulp another helpless victim. With a smirk he approached the vehicle and rapped a few times on the door. The door swung open and a small sandy colored fennec fox appeared with a bat waiting to swing at the invader.
"WHO IS IT?" baring his teeth. "Wilde, you son of a gun! What are you doing here!?"
"Nice to see you too again, Finnick. And do I have to have a reason to see my favorite buddy?"
"Don't you favorite buddy me, not after you cleaned me out to spend a few days running after cottontail there."
"Oh… my feelings are hurt." He pleaded with sarcasm and with further emphasis coiling his arms to his chest. "And here I thought I could talk to you about anything."
"Yea, what do you want?"
"Want? Ha! Nothing! I'm here to tell you I made the big news… or at least I will be soon enough."
"Really?" Finnick eyed with suspicion. This he had to hear. "Says who?"
"You know that case I got hustled into?"
"Yea what of it?"
"Word says I made the biggest crack in the century. Bigger than any of the hustles we've ever pulled! Oh! No offense~"
"None taken. Now please continue bragging." He gestured waving his opposite paw from the other balancing on the wooden bat.
"And the word is, cottontail's gonna try and hook me up with the big guys."
"What!? And become a real cop?" He busted out laughing. "As IF!"
Nick growled at that mockery. "What's so funny about that?"
"There's no way in a million years you'd survive that. Remember seventh grade in gym class?"
Nick rolled his eyes and look dead-panned with a tone to match. "Oh yea I remember… the day I got humiliated in front of a cheetah."
"Exactly. You'd never survive a physical Nicky. And even if you did, you don't gots the mentality to survive the brawns of that team. They may be brainless, but you gotta be quick on your feet to survive what is…" he paused a moment to count his fingers. "Three times the height of you and like…fifteen, twenty of me. Trust me Nick. You're better off sticking with me."
"Here's where I will prove you wrong. I have a reason to stay committed to it."
"For what? The looks? The fame? The money? Maybe a hot lady every now and then?"
"No my dear compadre, a new me."
"A new you?" The fennec fox gazed curiously confused. "Wilde, boy, I don't follow."
He sighed. "And you won't follow Finnick. Trust me on this one."
"Try me~" he challenged folding his arms.
"Because…" he took a moment to think it through. "Because a certain rabbit has tugged me into an internal hustle. To prove I'm much better than a conman."
"Boy… you're treading into very dangerous waters with /that/ one."
"I know Finnick. But sometimes you just gotta take the plunge and go for it."
"Nick… do you remember what she did to you? At the press conference? How do you know you won't fall into the same situation again?"
He sighed looking down.
"Nicholas. I know I've only known you for a short time, and believe me there are times where I want to rip your guts out; especially if a plan goes wrong because of YOUR actions… but hear me when I say this. We foxes need to stick together. Do you think I want to see the little cub that I helped raise get his personal feelings hurt because of who he is?"
He only huffed in response.
"I just don't want you to fall into a pit you can't ever get out of Nicky. I don't want to see you repeat the same mistake again that's been happening since the Ranger incident."
"I know Finnick, I know. But believe me… this… this is bringing a new light into me. This rabbit. I almost… I almost feel like I owe her a million things with what she did for me. You know as much as I do she came back to apologize, and she meant it, Finnick." He placated further emphasis on that last part of the statement.
"Well that would explain why she was searching for you."
"Yes. And in her I'm seeing her as she sees me. Myself. Not because I'm a fox, but because she sees I have a new chance. A new reason to do more than what I have done. And I'm not hustling you when I say this Finnick, I think she really does care for my well-being."
"But… how do you know she won't turn around on you? How she won't back stab you in your pride yet again?"
He breathed a couple of hard breaths taking in that hard suggestion.
"That my friend is something I can never trust on fully, I'll admit. If nothing else, this could be the greatest hustle I've ever committed."
"And what's the hustle?"
"Knowing that I have a true friend and not an enemy in sheep's clothing. You didn't see her when she was threatened by her own boss, the very dream she wanted to accomplish being taken away by some stupid case. I… remember when she helped us get that jumbo pop, even though we hustled her into paying for it?"
Finnick nodded in agreement silently and listened on.
"I saw… I saw determination in her, in that brave bunny as naive as she was, for standing up for us against . That determination drove her further into this case that I helped her crack. And when she was threatened to have that determination completely cut off, that determination that was guiding her to prove to everyone else she could do good just as much as any other stereotypical cop, right before her very eyes, I had to do something. I couldn't just stand there idle."
He continued to listen on intently.
"She in her own way hustled for me and by golly did I hustle back for her. I… I can't let her down Finnick. Not after what she did for me." He placed a paw onto his heart. "She proved to me that through this crazy adventure, I could be more than I already am. And for once do something to make my dang old man proud!"
That statement hit that mini fox like a freight train. His father did everything and anything to get money flowing through the difficult times. Anything, everything to keep hopes up for his wife and son… but that's a story for another time. And his mother, sweet vixen she is, was so upset when he came home, broken and tattered from the Junior Ranger Scouts. She didn't show it in front of her son putting on her brave face, but he had sneaked and observed her later her while on the steps, seeing her sit in the kitchen bawling her eyes out for the disappointment of her son; yet again, because of him being a fox. The shame of it all. Addressing now in present time and not of a flashback, Finnick nodded silently in thought.
"All right, fine. Take the plunge." He shrugged. "But if you get on the sour end of the rope, don't come crying back to me to tug it back for ya."
Now a Nick Wilde wasn't one to open up his emotions very much, but to Finnick, he definitely was open there. He smirked taking in the gratitude of his beloved friend and scam partner.
"Thanks, Finnick. You're so kind for caring about me." He joked.
"Eh don't rub off on it. Now I do say you earned yourself a bit of rest mate."
The sun was just starting to lower on the horizon. He'd been talking to that fox longer than he thought. A startling surprise actually. Taking a glance at his own pawdroid, he looked at Judy's contact he absently added in into his own. Pondering he half tempted to call and muzzletime her but… the better thought of it was to leave it be. She earned that rest too, whatever she was getting of it. A talk to her later would be needed for sure however.
"All right, thanks again for the talk Finnick."
"You sure you don't want to come back and do more jobs with me Nicky?"
"Naw. I've hustled my last one. I may come back for a few extra… err… income pluses every now and again, but I'm a dedicated fox now. I'll see if it can work out."
"And if it doesn't?"
"I'll shoot myself so hard they'll call me Ole Betsy~"
"Now now… don't go shooting yourself aimlessly~"
Both busted out laughing at the statement. They needed a chuckle or two after that deep intense conversation. Ah the good times, talking about the days of old when it felt good to be a fox. Nick said his good-byes to him and went on his way to head on back to this fort under the bridge, or what it could be of one, to take a rest and gander at the rest of the day. Yup, he was a changed fox, and he was going to prove it to the rabbit that believes in him, no matter what.