AN: Welcome back my friends! Here we go with chapter 3. Edited by the awesome AngloFalcon!
Chapter 3
Seeking Answers
The alarm sounded. Nick groaned and hit the snooze button. He didn't have much time to slip back to sleep before Judy prodded his side with her elbow.
"Come on Slick, let's get going."
She climbed out of bed, leaving the covers open and allowing a draft to run up his back. He shivered and flopped the covers back down. The fox heard Judy snicker as she pulled the covers off the bed, leaving him fully exposed to the 5am air of the house.
He sat up rubbing his face, still groggy. "Aw now that's just cruel, Carrots."
The rabbit tackled him back onto the bed, giggling, and gave him a kiss before whispering in his ear, "I'll get the coffee on, that should get you going."
He snickered and gave her a kiss before responding, "You get me going..."
She laughed as she threw on one of his large shirts. "Oh I bet I do. Up and at 'em, Slick Nick!"
Nick snickered to himself as he swung his legs out of bed. The toes on his right foot were numb this morning, and he flexed them trying to get some feeling back in them before slowly standing. Nick absently thought about the day he was about to have. Going through all the paperwork from yesterday's events, and hopefully the suspect didn't find a way to kill herself in the night. He put on his uniform while standing in front of the mirror, slowly buttoning up his shirt and looking at his reflection. Even in his unbrushed, morning face, he admired what he saw. His eyes, showed trust on a level he could never achieve as a hustler, and his shoulders were squared and proud from service, not from cheats. He was a different animal, and wherever his dad was, Nick hoped he would be proud of the fox he had become.
Judy showed up with a pair of cups, smiling as she walked in. "Hot and sweet, just the way you like it."
He gladly took the cup from her and sent her a wink. "Just the way I like my wife."
She chuckled as she looked into the mirror with him. "I'll have to meet her someday; she sounds like one lucky fox to have you."
Nick looked over at her slyly. "Oh she is lucky, but she's no fox!"
Judy cocked an eyebrow. "Oh really? Not a conventional relationship? Oh my...You must share with me!"
Nick leaned over at her with his usual smirk. "Honey, you wouldn't believe me if I told you!"
Judy planted a kiss on his lips. She pulled back and started to walk to her uniform. "Or maybe, just maybe, I would."
Nick stood there still smiling for a while as he watched her get dressed. Finally he straightened up and looked back in the mirror to pin on his badge. "So I take it you're not in a conventional relationship either? Who'd you marry?"
She giggled from the other side of the room. "A handsome fox."
Nick tried to button up to the last button but the collar rubbed against his stitches. He sighed as he left it alone and put on his tie loosely. He stood staring at himself with a frown at the loose tie and unbuttoned collar before gasping, "Oh my god!"
Judy looked over concerned. "What is it?"
The fox looked at her, smirking. "I think I'm starting to become Bogo! I hate looking out of uniform like this!"
She laughed at him as she pinned on her own badge. "You roll your sleeves like that - you're always out of uniform."
"Not out of uniform Carrots, just out of regulations." he responded in a half mocking tone.
Judy drained her coffee before responding, "Semantics."
Nick smiled as he headed for the kitchen with his empty cup in paw. "One of my many endearing qualities, I assure you!"
She followed him out as they put their cups in the sink and went to the front door. Nick stopped at it and smiled for a moment, looking over the house. His wife grinned at him. "What are you thinking about?"
He looked down at her, still smiling. "How happy I am to be here with you."
Judy thought after a year of marriage he wouldn't be able to make her blush but that comment proved her wrong. She felt her ears go hot as she smiled and let out a shy giggle as they stepped out into the crisp morning air.
She looked next door as Nick locked the door to see Calvin speaking with Kerava. The panther was standing in the doorway, Calvin in his uniform on the first step leading to the front door. "Okay Cal, your lunch is a bug sandwich with fresh lettuce and mayo. Thermos has black coffee. Not sure I could make it any stronger for you. Pretty sure you could degrease engines with it already."
Calvin nodded to her. "Thanks Rava, don't know what I would do without you!" He turned to walk down the path to the sidewalk.
She called out to him as he walked away, tail dragging in his wake, "You'd probably starve!" She looked over and saw her neighbors walking out and locking the door. "Hey, Nick! Hey Judy! Have a good and safe day at work!"
Nick smiled as he walked down to join Calvin. "I don't know how you live with that guy; he keeps his living space so warm, I practically died in the week I spent at his house in the canals!"
She laughed. "I'm from the Rainforest District. Only difference is there's no humidity here!"
Nick waved to her and joined Judy and Calvin as they waited at the curb for him. Together the three animals started their walk into work. They made pleasant conversation as they went along.
Nick looked over at Calvin, smirk on his face. "So your roommate makes you lunch for the day?"
Calvin shrugged smiling. "Sure, I think she is a pretty awesome roommate. Deals with the heat better than you did too."
"Coffee too, huh?"
Calvin nodded, not quite understanding where Nick was going with this. "Yep, coffee too...why?"
Nick's smirk became a wide smile. "She cook for you?"
Calvin looked over at him, becoming a bit suspicious. "Yes...not the greatest cook, but she bakes like a pro. Again though, why do you ask?"
The fox chuckled. "Sounds like she wants to be more than your friend."
Judy elbowed him. "Nick, stop antagonizing Cal."
Calvin, for his part, laughed. "Rava and me? No way that would happen!" He stopped laughing and thought for a moment before looking at Nick with a slightly confused face. "You don't think? Really? Rava and I?"
Nick shrugged and put his paw on Judy and brought her closer to him. "A bunny and a fox can, I see no reason why a reptile and mammal can't. I mean you already have shortened each others names. Next comes the cute names. Like Carrots or Slick."
Calvin thought on that for a minute before shrugging. "No idea, however I think you should get to know her better. How about dinner tonight at our place?"
Judy smiled. "Oh that would be fun, if she's okay cooking for two more."
Calvin pulled out his phone and started typing. "Sure, let me just get an answer from her on the idea,"
A few moments of buzzing phones and chuckles passed before he looked over at them with a grin. "The answer is a hearty 'yes', AND she is going to make dessert."
When the three made it to the ZPD, Clawhauser nearly squeezed Nick and Judy to death. He had been deeply troubled by yesterday's events and kept looking at Nick's neck as they chatted for a while. Finally they headed to the bullpen to await the morning orders. There the mood was less jovial than normal. All the animals went silent as they entered. Some stood up and came over to check over the pair and ask how they were feeling. Many expressed deep desires to find those responsible. Nick and Judy found their seats and Calvin sat next to his partner John as Bogo stepped into the room.
Chief Bogo flicked out his readers and shuffled a few case files about. Some went to TUSK duty, others in undercover, a pair to check on CI's until the only ones left were Nick, Judy, John, and Calvin's. He looked at the four with a serious glint in his eyes.
"Now for you four. Getting to the bottom of this is your first priority. Look into the case files of the Canals Incident, and read over your reports. Look for anyone with a motive for this attack. As it stands, these were not some street thugs. These were professionals. They are skilled and dedicated to their cause."
He shuffled through some papers at his podium before continuing. "The autopsy on the dead assassins is not finished yet but we have some things of interest. First is that the weasel killed himself with a cyanide pill. The ram and puma both had one as well that they never got the chance to use. Second; the bones in one arm of each assassin are..different. They are thicker and more dense as well as the bones in their paws. This is likely due to striking a hard surface repeatedly and being healed over time. It's possible that they feel nothing in their knuckles. If you run into any more assassins, DO NOT engage them in paw to paw combat. A hit from them could be devastating."
Bogo came around the podium and handed them each the new case file. "Now, Sergeant Wolford and Officer Reynarks are about to interrogate our prisoner. I suggest you go with them and watch."
All four of them nodded as the got the files and left the room to find Wolford. He was sitting at his desk with Reynarks looking over some paperwork on the desk next to him. The younger fox smiled at them as they approached. "Good to see you looking well, Officer Wilde."
Wolford chuckled. "Only slightly out of uniform with that collar and tie."
Nick shrugged as he responded, "I'm not crazy about it either. Sleeves sure, but this is just sloppy."
Reynarks smirked at him. "Well then, you should stop getting shot."
Nick looked over at the younger fox with a wounded expression. "Are you drinking buddies with my doctor or something? Jeez."
Judy giggled at Nick's expense for a moment before turning to Wolford. "So Sergeant, I hear we have a puma to talk to?"
Wolford shook his head as he stood. "No, you are to observe only. Officer Reynarks will conduct the interrogation. We can't have the assassin in the same room with her targets."
Nick nodded. "Right, one small problem with all this - she has no tongue, remember? How is she going to tell us anything?"
Reynarks held up a pad of paper and a pen with a smirk on his face.
Nick's expression changed to one of acceptance. "Very well, lead the way!"
They walked to a set of rooms, one with the suspect and the other with recording equipment and a one way mirror. Reynarks went into the room with the suspect who was under guard and cuffed to the table. The rest stepped into the observation room where they watched the young fox.
Tommy Reynarks, knew he was being watched and despite having done many interrogations over the past two years, this one was different. This one involved two of the most influential police officers of his life, and he was ready to get any information he could out of this assassin.
He remained standing after he placed the pad of paper and pen in front of the puma. "Alright, I'm going to ask a few questions and you can write down the answers as you feel ready to reply. First of all, how is your tongue doing?"
The puma slid the pad over closer and started writing. She flipped it over so he could read. 'Gone'
Reynarks chuckled. "I only meant how what was left was healing."
She flipped it back over and wrote some more. 'Ask your questions'.
He shrugged. "Well let's start with you; do you have a name?"
She simply smiled as she began to pop her knuckles on her right paw, cuffs clinking quietly as she did. Reynarks watched as she brought her thumb pad up to each other pad and pulled it down, popping it, repeating the process on each pad before flexing the paw, letting loose a new ratcheting sound as they all popped together. She never responded to his question.
The popping made him shift uncomfortably before asking another question. "Do you pop your knuckles like that because of how much it has been broken in the past?"
This time she started to write again. 'Where's the fox?'
He smiled. "You don't have any problems with your eyes, do you? I am a fox."
She let out a mocking chuckle as she started writing again. 'I'm not here for a kit. I want Nicholas P Wilde.'
Reynarks looked over at the mirror where he knew Wilde was watching. His mind raced. "What about Officer Judy Hopps?"
The puma smiled in such a way that Reynarks actually found himself uncomfortable being in the same room with her. She wrote on the pad two words that made his fur stand on end. 'Bonus Bunny'.
He stood in the room feeling like someone just turned on the heat. His paws were sweating. He was about to leave but the sound of the puma writing got his attention. When he looked at what she wrote, he felt slightly confused. "What's my name?", he read aloud.
The look on her face told him that she had asked a rhetorical question and instead of pressing the issue he left to go meet in the observation room with his fellow officers. He just wanted to get away from the unsettling feline.
The door opened and Officer Reynarks walked in to find all the officers watching the puma as she just sat there staring back at the mirror. He joined the officers. "Sergeant, what did she mean by asking what her own name was?"
Wolford sighed deeply. "She's toying with us. The problem is that there's nothing on these assassins. They have no names, no paw print data, no blood work, no paper trail. Nothing. She had an ID on her but it was a fake. We had to run an ink analysis on it to figure that out. A VERY good fake. These animals simply don't exist according to everything we have."
The lupine turned to the team in the room. "We need something on her, anything that we can use to make her uncomfortable. Another assassin with their tongue still in their mouth would be good. Or something that links her to an organization or animal. We're effectively stumbling around in the dark here."
Nick nodded and continued to stare at the feline on the other side. "She did give us one thing though."
Reynarks looked at the older fox. "What's that?"
"She was hired. When you asked about Judy, she said bonus bunny. That implies payment. There's a hit out on me and my wife is a bonus target." Nick's voice trailed off with depression as he finished his sentence.
He turned to Judy who was staring up at him with her ears laid back against her head. He sighed deeply. "Being around me is dangerous. I know how contracts like these work. If they get me, the contract ends and they will gain nothing from killing you after. With us together, you're in serious danger."
Judy's ears popped back up in challenge. "Oh no Slick, you are not about to suggest what I know you are. You are out of your mind if you think I will go somewhere else just to keep myself safe."
Nick sat down on one of the chairs in the room. "Judy, if we were not married, if we were any other cops in the precinct, you know that this is how it would go."
Wolford signaled to the other animals in the room and they all discreetly left the couple in the room alone while Judy started to tap her foot with frustration. "You're missing the part where we LIVE together! Am I just going to go live somewhere else while assassins close in on my husband?"
He sat silently for a moment before responding in a hushed, downcast tone. "Yes, that's exactly what you should do."
Judy was about to respond when her phone buzzed. She pulled it out to find a picture of her father. Just what she needed. She thumbed it open and answered as cheerfully as she could.
"Oh hey dad! What's up?"
His voice was filled with concern. "I just saw the news Judy. Why didn't you call when you were safe?"
She put her paw to her forehead as she responded. "There was a lot going on yesterday. I'm sorry we didn't call."
There was a pause on the other end for a bit before he responded, "How's my fox son doing? I heard he had been hurt."
She looked over at Nick who had his face buried in his paws. "He's fine physically, but I want to get his head looked at. He is starting to make some questionable decisions."
Stu put some authority in his voice. "Well no matter what, you two stick together. You depend on each other. Bon feels the same way."
Judy's ears fell a bit and Nick looked up. She looked at the phone mournfully as she spoke. "How is mom?"
Stu responded cheerfully. "Getting better every hour. Like I said, probably just a bug or something. Anyhow, you two be careful, okay? Love ya both."
Nick chimed in from his seat. "Love you too dad!"
"Okay, love you dad, bye bye!" Judy finished.
She hung up the phone and looked Nick in the eyes. "Sorry, Dad's orders. You're stuck with me Slick."
A knock on the door kept Nick from responding. The door opened and Wolford poked his head in. "Don't mean to disturb you two but this can't wait."
Nick looked over at him. "Sure bud, what is it?"
Wolford opened the door and stood straight and tall.
"Mayor Growlburn would like to see you two...right now."
AN: Uh oh...the mayor wants to see them, and whats this about a contracted hit? Oh dear our pair better be careful! It seems that they will be sticking together on this one, but what do you think? Would it be smarter to split up as Nick says, or stick together as Judy and Stu say? Find out in the next chapter coming in a week! Thanks for reading and enjoy it all!
Travel well
-Keft
