Chapter 3

(Chapter 3 edited)

"He said I wanna see you again

But I'm stuck in colder weather

Maybe tomorrow will be better

Can I call you then"

"So, what brings you all the way to Zootopia?" Nick asked his new partner.

Eugene Wallace, a mountain lion from West Appalachia, had just gotten into Nicks FMC Police Prowler.

"Well boss man I just needed to start again, lived in those mountains all my life. Loved it. But sometimes ya just need to move on to different things, ya

know?"

Nick nodded, the new guy came from a fairly small town but had been a officer for well over two decades. He figured he could learn a few things from him, guy had

a certain redneck charm anyway.

"So, married? Kids?" Nick inquired, trying to make small talk as they drove over to Savannah Central.

"Got two youngins, divorced. Part of the reason I came out this way. Small towns and all, hard to start over when everyone knows why ya having to do just that."

"Ah, got ya" Nick responded. Well,at least this guy is easy to talk to.

"So, tell me about yaself Nick? Married? Kids?"

Nick laughed "Oh no, no sir. No kids. Never married."

Eugene smiled "Ok, but there is someone. You don't really wanna talk about it with a total stranger, I get that. But I can tell, you sweet on someone"

Nick was taken by surprise, he made a life out of not being easy to read. Kinda miffed this hick from a hollar back east figured him out like a puzzle for a toddler. He was about to say...something but then Eugene changed the subject, much to Nicks relief.

"So, do ya'll carry here or is it just tranqs and clubs?"

"We all have a service weapon in the patrol car, one per officer, but we have to have a damned good reason to carry it with us, much less use it"

"Uh huh" replied Eugene. "Well, I guess I can get used to that, long as they are available."

Nick pulled up behind a Jeep Wagoneer with a open hood and turned on his lights.

"Lets go see if we can get this guy off the road"

"Damned decent of ya'll, I think I'll like it here" Eugene smiled.

The rest of the day was Nick taking Eugene around, showing him various landmarks and points of interest. They hit it off a bit better than Nick expected. The rest of the

week went even better. Nick told his story, how he became involved in law enforcement. He was pleasantly shocked to learn that even way out east they hard heard

about the Night Howler case. Eugene wasn't aware this was the same Nick the fox but he said he had his suspicions. Eugene told him how he used to run shine back

home. He came to be in law enforcement when a judge basically told him it was help be part of the solution or be a part of the problem, while in prison. He joined and

never looked back. Eventually he got married, had kids, and had a pretty stable life, or so he thought. Once both his kids finally went off to college his wife asked for a

divorce. She couldn't handle the drinking, the constant bad moods and cheating. He told Nick he had screwed the hell out of his life. But maybe, just maybe he could

start again. By that Thursday Nick finally let slip that he did have a girl in his sights but he felt he would make her life worse just to make his better.

Eugene stared at him for a full minute, took a sip of coffee and said "Judy Hopps, right?" Nick once again felt his ears burning, how does this guy read him like this?

"Well, yeah. But how do ya know that? I've maybe mentioned her name five times this entire week?"

Eugene let a sly grin come across his face "Because we don't have a damned thing to do with prisoner transfers and pickups yet I see you go by and asked that chubby cat up front who is taking who where. Because every time we leave the station you drive out the longer way to see if her car is in the motor pool. Because every damned time your phone rings or gives you a text alert you pull it out and look at it before it gets past three vibrations and I see the disappointment in your eyes when it isn't her name. Look, let me give you a little southern advice."

Nick sat there, slack jawed, was he really this obvious?

"Ya'll like to spout try everything here right? Well back home we have something a little similar, Don't give a shit what others think about what makes you happy." Eugene laughed a little and continued "Buddy, if she is interested in you, don't care if you think she is out of your league or some nonsense, she is a grown ass bunny, she knows what she wants. She doesn't need protected from you."

Nick looked at him for a minute, "Thanks Eugene, seriously, I think I needed to hear that"

"Anytime brother, anytime." Eugene smiled.