Chapter 2 – Just a Dream?

Nick whipped his face as he looked into the mirror. His bathroom was decorated with what looked to him to be a type of off white/grey tile lining the wall, or at least he thought it was tile, he hadn't really cared to check. The floor had white and grey patterned linoleum. That he knew, he felt the vinyl underneath the pads of his paws. Other than that, the whole thing was white.

He rubbed his face, trying to forget the dream he had just had. "Ugh!" he groaned as he splashed his face with water, "Why can't I get that dream out of my head?" He knew why, 'It felt so real!' he thought, 'I could feel the silk of her dress…thing as I grabbed her!' He once again thought about it, and remembered the rabbit, "She looked just like Judy!" he said out loud.

"Who looked like me?" he heard from outside his bathroom door.

"GYAH!" he called out and turned once again to the closed door.

"Chill!" he heard Judy say, "I'm not that stupid. If I hear you talking to yourself in your bathroom you probably don't want me to disturb you!"

"What are you even doing here?" Nick asked in a panic, and then collected himself, smirking in his usual way, "Trying to sneak a peek at the goods?"

"EW, gross!" he heard her say, "I'm just here to pick you up for work!"

Suddenly he let his eyes go wide, "Work?" he asked in a whisper, "What time is it?"

"Twenty minutes to seven!" Judy responded, and in a silent panic, he rushed to get his uniform on. He had hung it in the bathroom just for emergencies like this.

A few seconds later, he threw the door open, ready for the day in his blue police uniform, "Ready when you are!" he said with a grin.

Judy, a grey rabbit in a very similar outfit, smiled at him, and rolled her eyes in her head, "Having too much fun with yourself?" she asked.

"Ew, just…ew!" he said in response. The two of them walked out into his apartment, a medium sized dark wood floored space that opened up into both his bedroom and his kitchen. He didn't mind that the two rooms were almost connected by half a wall, at least he could have some privacy while sleeping, and unlike Judy's old apartment, he didn't have to worry about noisy or nosy neighbors because his walls were thick enough to muffle most obnoxious noises.

"By the way, your fly is undone!" she said as they neared his apartment door.

"Yah right!" he said, and instinctively looked down, "GYAH!" he called out, and quickly closed the exposing flap. Judy simply chuckled as she found herself ahead of him.

"So what kept you?" Judy asked.

Knowing he had been found out by his best friend, he sighed, but the smile on his face never left, he'd rather be caught by her than chief Bogo any day, she'd actually tell him something was wrong instead of let him go the entire day without knowing. "It was a crazy dream!" he told her as they approached what looked to be a nice green coupe.

"A dream?" she asked, "Was I in it?" He knew she was joking, or teasing. She had gotten good at blurring the two lines of harmless fun.

"Yes actually!" he said smoothly. Her jaw dropped, and she paused in her movement to get into the car. With that, she fell to the asphalt below.

"I was?" she asked in shock.

"I think it was you!" he said as he climbed into the passenger side.

"Did you see the face?" Judy asked as she literally hopped into the driver seat.

"Yup!" he said quickly.

"And?" she asked as she turned the key to start the vehicle.

"She looked like you, and she didn't look like you!" he responded.

"Nick, that makes no sense!" she said, and then smirked with mischief in her voice, "Unless it was naughty!"

"Whoa!" Nick said as he turned to her, "What is up with you today? Are you going through puberty?"

"Hey, I already did that!" she told him, "And I nearly doubled in height!"

Nick then placed a paw on his head, and without moving the level of it, swung it over to hit near the top of Judy's ears. She let her eyes open wide in realization, and then scowled in the same realization. Her ears fell, and Nick looked to her with a smirk, "Carrots, I think you're shrinking!" he said teasingly.

"Har, har!" she said sarcastically, "What was the dream about?"

"Samurai and dragons!" he said simply as he pulled out a pair of pilot sunglasses from his pocket and flicked them open. He quickly inspected them, and placed them on his face to rest on his muzzle.

"That's all I'm going to get out of you isn't it?" Judy asked.

"I'm sure you'll solve the case!" he said happily as he leaned into the chair. Judy simply frowned at the road, hopping that eventually she'd hit a red light, just so she could hit the brakes hard.

Unfortunately, she wasn't able to do that, they arrived at Precinct 1 within fifteen minutes, causing them to need to run into the door and get to the bullpen, all without grabbing Nick's oh so needed cup of coffee. "Sorry Ben, can't talk going to be late!" Judy called out as the two of them ran as quickly as they could. "You get to the bullpen, I'll clock us in!" she then called out, and Nick nodded, making a break for it. He knew she was faster than him, and would probably make it with only seconds to spare.

"I'll hold the door open for you!" he shouted back at her. He quickly made it to the bullpen, and grabbed the handle, nearly throwing the door open, and holding it there. He looked around, Bogo wasn't there yet, probably still in his office. "Hurry Carrots!" he whispered as he turned and saw Judy moving as quickly as she could. She dashed into the room, and Nick let go of the door, the two of them making it to their seat, just as Bogo's office door clicked, the door easily sliding open as the large cape buffalo walked out. 'Made it!' Nick thought to himself.

"Morning everyone!" the chief said, his usual focused look on his face. "Assignments are same as yesterday. McHorn, Francine, and Higgins. I want you in the Canal District. Wolford and Fangmeyer, Tundratown. Snarlof, Anderson, you're taking Trunkaby with you. And keep him out of trouble!" he said, looking down at the warthog. "Hopps, Wilde. I want you in Savana Central today! Let's see if you can find some action there!" Bogo looked up, seeing everyone still sitting, "Well, what are you waiting for?" he asked, and the animals all got up. Judy and Nick making their way at the back of the crowd. "Oh and by the way you two!" Bogo said, getting the two of them to stiffen up, and turn to him, "Try not to cut it so close next time!" he told them, and turned back to enter his office. Nick and Judy just looked up at each other, both with worry in their eyes.