Hello all! I just want to thank everyone who's read my story so far, the simple fact that it's gotten attention makes me feel a lot better about giving this thing a shot. I'm planning on writing a chapter whenever I can, and publishing them once a week at the minimum. I've also put a reference to a favorite fanfic of mine – bonus points to whoever can tell which story, and what the reference is! Alright, enough of my chatter, you all came here for a story. Disney owns basically everything about Zootopia, save the custom characters.
~ óÓÒò ~
Chapter 3) Not So Dull Day
"So, are all bunnies bad drivers, or is it just you?" Nick asked, taking the pawpsicle out of his muzzle with a sly look at Judy. Judy smirked, just before slamming on the breaks, sending him flying forward. He sat upright with the pawpsicle stuck to his eye, making him wince slightly as he tugged it away. "Oops, my bad." She said. Nick gave a chuckle. "Sly bunny..." Judy kept her eyes straight ahead, waiting for the light to change, giving a small shrug as she spoke. "Dumb fox." "You know you love me," he smirked a bit, holding the red treat out a bit as he gestured to her. "Do I know that?" She looked up briefly, as though in thought, before turning to him with a smirk of her own. "Yes, yes I do." With a smile, Nick gazed out the windshield, placing the pawpsicle back into his mouth as Judy began driving again, only to be cut off by a bright red car speeding past. Another slamming of the breaks, but this time, the momentum wasn't enough to send his head into the dashboard again, despite the lack of momentum.
"Sorry, you just seemed to be having a bit of trouble keeping your eyes open," Judy replied in a joking tone. Nick grumbled to himself about the coffee being spilled over him earlier, his ears twitching as he looked out the window.
"Can we stop at Snarlbucks in a minute? I'm gonna have a lot more trouble if I don't get some caffeine in my system." He looked over at her. With a roll of her eyes, Judy nodded. "I guess, yeah. Just don't spill it this time!"
"Hey, it's not my fault that that camel couldn't watch where he walked!" Nick complained, face turning to one of pure irritation at the recent event. "And I couldn't even get a refund then because I was running late..."
"But who made you late in the first place?" Judy asked, making him roll his eyes. Here we go, he thought, bracing himself for the impending scolding. Judy droned on in the background as Nick blocked her out. Always be on time, wake up earlier, get to bed earlier, don't be so lazy, blah blah blah, I've heard this a thousand times by now... Nick rolled his eyes.
It took a moment to realize that the cruiser had stopped, and not at a red light this time. And it took another moment for the fox to realize Judy had also stopped. And just as he felt her gaze burning into the back of his neck, a small but powerful paw struck his shoulder.
"Ow!" He hissed, turning to face her. "What was that for?" His tone was cross as she folded her arms over her chest and gave him a stern look. "You were blocking me out again, weren't you?" She said. The expression on her face told him that she already knew the answer. "Look, I'm half asleep, and I've heard your speech about being on time more than any other. Can you blame me?"
"I wasn't berating you about being on time, Nick. I was asking you what you thought about what Bogo told us, regarding the assaults." His ears drooped a bit, but he gave a small sigh, admitting to his messing up, as the vehicle began going along the road again. "Alright... That's my bad. I assumed that you were gonna hound me about it, as usual." "I think I've done that enough," she responded.
"I'm sorry for that. Anyways, about what Bogo said, I don't really know. I'm assuming it's a smaller mammal, so... Nothing bigger than a wolf, maybe? They're average sized, I guess," he thought aloud. "As for his-" "Or her," Judy interrupted. "Right. As for their outfit, the black, hooded coat and mask... We'd need more information on it before we could really narrow things down. Seeing them would make things easier," he looked out the window again.
"We really don't have a lot to go on... If there were a case file, it'd probably be as big as Otterton's," Judy joked, likely recalling the single-page file she had gotten on her second day as an officer. She'd shown it to Nick once he had graduated from the academy, and all he had done was laugh. He smiled at the thought of how much luck she'd needed in order to solve the case – as well as the following Night Howler case.
They continued patrolling in silence, Nick struggling to stay awake, until a Snarlbucks came into view just down the road. "Walk-in, or drive-thru?" His partner asked. "Drive, it's faster," came Nick's groggy response. The large black cruiser pulled into the drive-thru as Nick had requested, Judy ordering a venti dark roast, making Nick's ears perk a bit as he leaned against he window.
Several minutes of waiting, blowing on the steaming beverage, and soft sips of the drink later, and Nick was sitting upright with his usual smirk back on his face, coffee in paw. "Thanks, Carrots. Maybe now I can get through a few hours of this bore-fest," he said before taking another drink. Judy scoffed a bit. "Nick, you know that general patrol is important," she said, guiding the cruiser onto the street again.
"Yeah, I know," he said. "But that doesn't make it any less boring. We've caught, what, five bad guys out of a dozen days on patrol, at least?"
"Nick, it's seven out of thirteen." "I was close."
He glanced over to Judy to see her rolling her eyes. "What? I was!" he insisted. His ears perked a bit at hearing her mutter "dumb fox" under her breath jokingly. He took another brief sip from his almost-scalding drink. Dumb bunny, he thought, the smirk turning into a smile.
~ óÓÒò ~
The rest of the day passed with little incident, the pair of officers giving tickets to speeders and only occasionally responding to their radio – it seemed that every event that could've made their day exciting was out of their range. Officer McHorn and his team had gone after a speeding car, which led them through the Rainforest District. Officer Delgato, with Wolford and Higgins, had stopped a convenience store robbery in Tundratown. Officers Fangmeyer, Grizzoli, and Snarloff had all participated in a growing unrest in Savannah Central involving the region's mafia.
And the fox and bunny? Three hundred and sixty two tickets written, two speeding cars just going over the limit, and one buffalo with a flat tire. Their usual jokes and story-telling aside, the day had been among the more boring and less memorable. Nick perked his ears and looked over at the normally-energetic and happy Judy, watching her faceplant the steering wheel. She groaned before pulling her head up and pressing on the gas as the light turned green. "What's the matter, I thought you liked dull days?" Nick asked, humor lacing his tone like usual.
"Another day of nothing," she complained. He smiled a bit. "Aw but come on, we shared some pretty good stories," he said. Judy cast him a glance. "No, you had good stories. All I had was tales of my school and pretending to be a cop when I was little." Nick laughed a bit. "But I liked them. You've always been strong in spirit, Carrots, and those show that." He looked left to see Judy give him a smile. "Thanks, Nick. I like hearing your stories, too. Although," her smile turned to a small frown. "You did a lot more than just tax evasion that could've gotten you in jail..."
Nick grimaced a bit and turned away, thankful his sunglasses could hide his eyes from her. "I know, but that's all behind me."
"It still happened, Nick."
He sighed, turning to face her again before their radio crackled with static, just before Clawhauser spoke over it. "Officer Hopps, Wilde, we've just gotten a call about a robbery on Flock Street, what's your 10-20?"
The fox looked up with a silent "thank you" to no one in particular for the distraction, grabbing the radio. "We're on Pack Street, should be there in a few minutes. What's the store?"
"Florist's shop, owned by a mister Hunt. Fairly popular," Clawhauser said with a bit of curiosity, as though he were still looking into the store. Judy turned the car onto Flock Street as Nick lifted the aviators to look for the store, spotting the sign not far off. "'Domestically Exotic: Alex Hunt's Flowers for Every Occasion'?" He looked at Judy, who just shrugged as they pulled up to the store. He chuckled a bit. "The name screams irony," he mused, as Judy radioed Clawhauser to tell him they had arrived.
The storefront looked clean, as should any respected shop. The large wooden frames of the doors glowed a proud white, appearing recently painted. The color showed off the vibrant collection of flowers within and in front of the store, all shades of purples and blues and yellows, among many others. If one looked beyond the colorful exterior, however, one could see the inside of the store in some level of disarray – flowerpots and other various plants had been turned over, dirt spilling onto the floor. A bobcat was inside, picking up the various plants with haste, sweeping up whatever dirt he could and placing it in what he assumed was their respective pots.
Nick took a better look around once he and his partner walked in. There was a combination of normal and UV lights along the ceiling. The counter was to their left, a large snow leopard pacing behind it with a cell phone to his ear. "Yes, sir. A wolf, brown fur, black hoodie, blue jeans. Came into the store and took some of my flowers, demanded our cash, too. Yes, sir. Alright." He turned to see the officers who had finally arrived, giving a small sigh of relief. "They're here, do you want me to keep the call going? Alright... Thank you, sir. You too." Throughout the conversation, Nick noticed Judy scrawling away at her notepad, carrot pen a brief blur as she wrote the description of the suspect and other details.
Casting a glance down to the device in his paw before pocketing it, Hunt looked at the officers with a clear expression of concern. "Thank you two so much for coming," he said. Nick stopped as the familiar black-tipped gray ears stopped before him. "Of course, sir. You're Mr. Hunt, I assume?" Judy asked. He gave a nod, "Alex Hunt, the owner of this fine little shop." Judy smiled and held up her paw for him to shake, which he did graciously. "Officer Judy Hopps, ZPD. This is my partner, Nick Wilde." Nick gave a friendly smile, stuffing a paw into his pocket as the snow leopard held out his paw to shake. Nick followed suit, giving him a firm shake before letting go and letting his paw mirror the other.
"Alright, Mr. Hunt," Judy began. "Please, call me Alex?" the store owner insisted. Judy nodded, letting Nick look around. She was the "official note-taker" (as Nick had briefly described it) between the two, leaving Nick to observe their surroundings for her. He made his way over to the bobcat, a somewhat worried expression on his face as he continued frantically sweeping up the dirt on the floor. A flash of panic showed in his eyes once he saw the uniformed fox looking his way.
"O-Oh, hello officer," he said, catching the broom he'd nearly dropped out of surprise. "Hello, uh..." Nick started, trying to spot a name tag. The bobcat looked down at his shirt and sighed in disappointment, muttering something. "Sorry! My name's Ron, I'm Mr. Hunt's assistant here." His tail swayed in apprehension. Still spooked from earlier, Nick guessed. "Hello, Ron." Nick smiled reassuringly, giving the area another look around. "I'm guessing this was done by whoever robbed you?"
Ron nodded. "Yeah... I was going in the back room for some new flowers when I heard some banging... Mr. Hunt was out at lunch at the time, and when I came out, it was like half the store had been knocked over..." He looked down with a sigh, kicking his feet lightly to show the amount of dirt still littering the ground. "He made one hell of a mess... I'm still not sure what he took, aside from money."
"Took it from the register, I take it?" Nick tilted his head a bit. Ron nodded. "Held me at gunpoint when I came out, but yeah... He had me empty the register into a bag. I caught a glimpse of what was in it, though. It looked like moldy onions, but... We don't sell those." He swept some dirt around, trying to gather it into a pile. Moldy onions from a florist's? Nick looked up in thought. That wasn't right.
His ears perked up a bit as he heard Judy speak up, heading towards him. "Thank you for your help, Alex. We should catch him soon enough with the help you've given us," she assured him. Nick turned to see Judy placing the notepad in its place on her belt, along with the pen, as she walked towards him.
"Hey Carro- err, Officer Hopps. Get enough from Mr. Hunt?" He asked. With a nod, she said: "Well, we've got what he looks like for the most part, as well as some video footage. There could be fur samples around here somewhere, or something else." She smiled and waved at Ron as he swept, who returned it with a nervous smile. "Hello, Officer Hopps!" Judy looked up at Nick with slight surprise. She wasn't quite used to most mammals knowing who she was yet, even after the Night Howler case had essentially made her into a celebrity.
Nick stood by the bunny's side as she and Ron went over the same details he had just found, though this time they were written on her notepad. Just before leaving, the two were stopped by the snow leopard, who offered them a discount should they return for their help in this. Judy and Nick politely accepted it, giving the employees a wave before going back to their cruiser.
Judy immediately picked up the radio to contact the ZPD. "Clawhauser, this is Officer Hopps, 10-24 and returning with details, over." Nick rolled his eyes as he went over the codes in his head. Assignment complete, he thought, giving a bored yawn. "Well, that was fun, Fluff, but I think we're done for the day." He kicked his feet up onto the dashboard as he leaned his seat back. An exaggerated wriggle of his shoulders and sigh later, and Judy had begun driving around the block.
"We should probably search the general area for the suspect, Nick." He groaned. "But Carrots, it's twenty minutes past when we were supposed to be back! The sun's going to be setting soon." He pointed out the windshield to the orange horizon as proof.
"It doesn't matter, Nick, we have a job to do. Just keep an eye out for a brown fox in a black hoodie, okay?"
"Fiiiiiiine," Nick grumbled as he looked out the window.
The two drove in silence, the only real sound being the growl of the engine as they went around every part of the surrounding area they could. They had begun to lose hope of ever finding their suspect, before Judy let out a gasp and backed up a few feet, putting the cruiser in park. "Nick, I think I've found him!" She exclaimed, hopping out of the driver's side.
The black-tipped red ears atop his head raised up at hearing this, as he clambered out of the cruiser after his partner. She was headed towards an alley, the perfect match to their suspect sitting just inside, struggling against some zipties that held his paws behind his back. The wolf grew wide-eyed at the sight of the officers, though it was quickly replaced by an expression of defeat.
"Alright, pal, what's the story here?" Judy asked, Nick glancing around.
"I... Uh... Tripped and my paws got caught in something?" came a half-hearted reply. "Uh-huh, right... And I'm a mouse." Nick said, walking around behind the wolf, picking up an orange and blue backpack. "And what's in here?" He asked.
The wolf sighed. "Alright, fine, you got me. But what about him?" He gestured down the dark alley. Nick squinted, his natural night-vision slightly kicking in as he made out the figure of a figure in a long coat down the way, a hood pulled over their head and single strap backpack swinging slightly as they went, a faint light emitting from a raised paw – likely a phone of some kind.
"What about him?" Nick asked, frowning. Something about them felt off, but Nick couldn't place it from here. "You think I tied myself up?" The wolf said sarcastically, though he fell silent and Nick looked back to see Judy giving him a silencing glare. "Carrots, can you take care of him?" The fox asked, pointing to the wolf. "You think I can't handle this? Just be quick, Wilde." She said, ushering the wolf to his feet.
Nick kept his eyes on them for a moment before starting off down the alley. Once he was close enough to be heard, he called out "Stop! ZPD!"
The figure ahead didn't stop.
Instead, they cast a glance behind them, before pocketing the phone and sprinting forward, before dipping into another side alley. Nick groaned internally – he hated chases. And yet, he picked up the pace, turning into the same alley to find... A dead end.
Confused, the fox walked down the alley a bit. "Listen, I just want to ask some questions," he said, giving a sigh of annoyance as he found the alley to be empty. Save a locked door and sewer cover, there was no place they could've gone. Nick pried at the cover lightly, digging his fingers into where they would fit, only to grunt as it didn't budge. "Son of a..." he muttered, throwing his paws up before trudging back to Judy, who was waiting in the driver's side of the cruiser with the wolf in the back seat. The backpack was gone, likely put into the trunk.
"Anything?" Judy asked, amethyst eyes hopeful, before turning to slight disappointment when he shook his head. "They disappeared in a dead end alley. Don't bother asking me how," he said, climbing into the passenger's side. Judy shook her head.
"We'll come back later," she said, starting the engine again.
Nick frowned heavily and lost himself in thought as they drove back to headquarters.
He knew every single street, alley, and shortcut in the city. How had this mammal lost him in that alley so easily?
