Chapter Three

It was raining again outside Nick's apartment, which offered him at least its soothing rumble to help him think straight. It was nearly nine o'clock, with dinner having finished up around about eight, but Nick still had the meal on his mind. Rather, what he'd suddenly found himself thinking during their conversation. Just the thought of it made his breathing escalate. I really did think that for a moment, didn't I? Nick asked himself as he laid on his back on his bed, staring out at the rain that steadily dripped down his window.

During the dinner, Nick had found himself thinking about something regarding his feeling of emptiness. That was, what if it wasn't emptiness, but loneliness? What if it had masqueraded as something else entirely because he didn't want to face the fact that he needed and wanted friends, especially after what happened with his 'friends' of the ranger scouts troop? But Nick knew it was more than that. He didn't really ever have any friends in his life, but now that he thought of it, it wasn't just friends he wanted. In fact, it was more like he only wanted one friend. One good friend to share life with...

A mate.

He let out a groan as he rolled from his back onto his side, curling up to warm himself rather than bothering to get under the covers. It wasn't so much the conclusion that he wanted a mate that made him anxious, but more so what he'd assumed his brief moment of relief during the Night Howler case was caused by. If his assumption was correct, he needed to know whether or not his feelings for Judy were genuine and, if so, whether or not they entailed what he'd assumed. But the more Nick laid there and shot thoughts around his head, he couldn't think of any other logical explanation.

He got up off of his side and sat on the edge of his bed, hunched over and leant his head on his paw, and let out a long, shaky sigh before staring out the window.

I've really fallen for you, haven't I?

In the morning when Nick woke, he found himself still in his clothes and laying on top of his covers. He groaned, realised he had forgotten to get changed the night previous. I don't care if this is bad, but at least now I don't have to get changed, he thought as he rubbed his eyes.

After dinner last night, Nick had arranged for Judy to meet him at the park in front of the ZPD to discuss what their next move would be on the 'Enigma' case. That's what they'd decided to call it, at least. Though, to Nick, the day was going to be far more stressful than just following a lead, like he'd planned. Now he had to make sure he didn't show Judy any of the feelings he'd only just figured out for himself.

A short while later, Nick was in front of the ZPD and searching for the rabbit, taking a moment before seeing her sitting on a chair beneath a tree. He casually strolled over to her as he let out a large yawn, rubbing his eyes as he did. Judy looked up and saw him and waved him over with a smile. "Morning," she greeted him cheerfully, and he had to try and refrain from rolling his eyes at her usual optimism. He also had to steel himself, resolving not to let anything... unprofessional... show. This is not the time for emotions, Nicholas. Focus on the case.

"Hey, look at that, you're on time," he murmured sleepily with a smirk.

"I promised I would be," she replied. "Now, have you brought everything with you?"

"Sure did; right here," he told her as he tapped his head. "I thought it was better to memorise everything, rather than have anything on me."

"What? Why? It's not like you're going undercover or anything..." she trailed off slowly before continuing, "... right?" Rather than answering, he gave her an incriminating smirk and she let out a sigh. "Well, I suppose there was probably a good reason for you to ask me to not wear my uniform, but you better fill me in on the gaps."

"Alright, but I'm going to be simplifying things. I'm sure you know already, but I'm incredibly lazy – which also makes me incredibly efficient," he told her and she rolled her eyes.

"You really spare all effort, don't you?" He smirked and raised a brow at her stupid question. "Right. Well, are you going to fill me in simply or what? Let's get on with it, we don't have that long."

"Carrots, you only had forty-eight hours to solve the last case and I was practically stalling you the entire time," he murmured rhetorically.

"Yeah, well, if these guys are as bad as you say they are, then I want to put their plan out of action as soon as possible," she told him.

"It was a joke! Just forget I said anything," he muttered with a groan. "Anyway, I'll just tell you, so listen up."

"Listening," she told him with a smile as she got out her notepad. When she saw him eyeing it, she quickly told him, "Don't worry, I'll get rid of this before we go to Tundratown."

"Alright then. Now, I won't be going over the previous case files, but the final lead we have is rather large; tonight, at six PM, there is a meeting being held in a Tundratown bar named 'The Brair'. It's owned and run by a polar bear named Shirokuma, who also happens to be the leader of a small gang. Fortunately, I've already spoken to Mr. Big, who is on good terms with him, and I've gained some rather helpful knowledge on Shirokuma. He said that the polar bear loves money and that a small amount of hush money should allow us to sneak in and eavesdrop on Enigma's meeting."

After he finished, Judy could only sit in awe for a moment. "Wow, Nick, you've been so... thorough!" she told him and he had to suppress a smile. "When did you even speak to Mr. Big?"

"Before dinner last night, actually. But anyway, I'm just thankful that the two are on such good terms – something to do with Biggy's bodyguard being related somehow or something..." he murmured as he trailed off. "Anyhow, we should get going."

"What, we're going there now!? It's not even noon yet!" she blurted out.

"No, I still have some things to talk to you about, but I'd rather walk around and do it," he told her and she looked at him plainly.

"You plan on us walking there because you don't have a car, right?" she asked flatly, an unamused expression on her face.

"Exactly. Then we have plenty of time to talk," he added as he began walking and Judy rolled her eyes again before following.

"Alright then," she said before she let out a sigh. "So. What do you want to discuss, specifically?"

"Ma Huang." Judy looked up at him as she tilted her head.

"The bootleg hallucinogen that's been going around?" she asked and Nick nodded.

"It's the drug that Enigma have been manufacturing and distributing around the entirety of Zootopia," he continued, causing Judy to stare ahead for a moment as she thought about it.

"That does make sense," she murmured. "Ma Huang did appear out of nowhere... but even still, that was quite some time ago. Just how long has this plan been underway?"

"Roughly a decade or so, give or take a few years. Do you know what it does to the brain?" he then asked, causing her to think again.

"I believe it over-stimulates a certain part of the brain – the part that contains memories – causing the afflicted mammal to recede into a conscious dream-like state. In essence, it basically causes them to relive memories."

"Exactly, and another chemical compound within the drug induces an endorphin to force only specific, positive memories to be relived," Nick added. "And do you know how exactly that could benefit Enigma, who want predators and prey to return to the old hierarchy of life? They're trying to subconsciously recondition mammals to behave like their former primitive ancestors."

"Hmm..." Judy trailed off as she thought about it, finding what Nick said to make quite an amount of sense. "That was all in the case file?"

"Well, no, not exactly. I made that last assumption myself. It sounds rather logical to me, to be honest. What do you think?" he then asked her.

"I think that's a very reasonable assumption and you just may be right," Judy replied as she looked around at the people in the park. She smiled as she saw little ones running around, playing on the grass, and was reminded of her family in Bunnyburrow. I should return home for a visit sometime soon, she thought as she continued looking around, only to let out a sigh. Then she had a sudden, arbitrary thought. "Hey, Nick, have you ever been in a relationship?"

Beside her, Nick raised a brow as he turned to her. "What makes you ask?"

"I don't know, it just kinda popped into my head," she replied, shrugging her shoulders. "It doesn't matter, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No," he murmured as they continued walking.

"That's fine, I wasn't really expecting an answer," she replied, looking ahead.

"No was my answer, Carrots," he clarified.

"Oh, right," Judy said, shaking her head of her momentary confusion.

"What about you?" Nick then asked and she shook her head again in reply.

"I never had the time; I was too focused on training and studying," she replied. "I wasn't really interested, anyway."

"What about now?" he asked and immediately regretted it. What are you doing? He mentally slapped himself for his stupidity. What if she thinks that was an oddly suspicious question? Don't get ahead of yourself.

"Oh, uh..." Judy trailed off, thinking for a moment. "I don't really know, to be honest. I hadn't really thought about it." Don't ask why, don't ask why, don't ask why, Nick pleaded inside his head, realising he was tensing. "What about you?" she continued and he turned to her, trying not to make his relief visible. But then he realised her question and paused for a moment. He looked away again to avoid showing her the panic in his eyes.

"Uh, I'm not really sure yet, either," he murmured, silently letting out a sigh. "Anyway, we're almost at the gate, we can talk more about that later. For now, let's just go over the plan."

"Alright, go for it," she said.

"First, we get inside The Brair and speak to Shirokuma. We hand him his money and tell him that we're the friends Mr. Big told him about, then we just follow along with Shirokuma's way of us eavesdropping and we're golden. He did say that if we were caught, he would not help us because – just like us – Enigma are paying him some hush money for their meeting. I can't afford to miss anything, so I'll be writing things down on a small notepad, but I want you to try and remember everything by memory so that – just in case – I have to get rid of this notepad. You think you're up to it?"

"Of course. My memory's pretty decent, too," Judy told him. "Remember 29THD03?" she asked and Nick nodded.

"It's the plate number on Biggles' limo," he replied. "I have a good memory too, I just want to make sure. Anyway, enough talk now, we're at the gate. In case any member of Enigma is near, we shouldn't speak any more about the case until after we've left The Brair."

After that, the two were silent for a few moments until the bunny couldn't hold her question in any longer.

"Theoretically speaking, what do you suppose would happen if we're caught?" she asked but Nick shook his head.

"It's not going to happen."

"Nick, theoretically." He let out a sigh.

"I would hope to exhaust all other options first, but I've got that revolver on me," he murmured quietly.

"And what would you do with it?" she asked and she watched as he stared ahead solemnly.

"Whatever is necessary to ensure our safety."

Nick and Judy arrived at The Brair just after midday. When they walked in, it was quiet – which wasn't unusual for the time of day for an establishment of such. Please, let this go off without a hitch, Nick thought as he walked over to the bar with Judy in tow. "Afternoon, Master," he greeted the large polar bear, who was in the middle of wiping glasses dry.

"Afternoon. What can I get for you today?" he replied, discreetly looking over Nick and Judy. Nick gave a small smile.

"Anata no saikōkyūno saké de, dōmo yoroshiku," he told the polar bear as he prudently opened his jacket to show a large wad of cash in his pocket. The polar bear then gestured with his head over to a side door and Nick smiled as they followed him over.

"You speak Japanese?" Judy asked in a low whisper.

"That was just the passphrase Mr. Big gave me," he replied.

"But... your pronunciation was perfect?" she questioned and he just smiled.

"Well, I do suppose I'm somewhat fluent," he added quietly as they went through the side door and entered what seemed to be some sort of staff room. The polar bear stood in the centre of the room and turned, holding out his paw. Nick walked over to him and reached into his pocket, grabbing the wad of cash before promptly handing it to him.

"I'm Shirokuma," he told them. "As for my end of the deal; fortunately, you're both small enough to fit through the air vents to the room in which the meeting will take place. If you are caught, I will deny any evidence that I allowed you to do this, okay? Nothing personal." Judy and Nick nodded before he continued again. "Now, I understand you and Mr. Big are on good terms – but know this; I am a reputable mammal and as such you would do well to realise that the only reason I am allowing you to do this is because of Mr. Big. I don't sell out my... patrons, okay?"

"Don't worry, we won't say a thing," Judy replied. "We don't sell out our friends."

"Good. Now, you two are to wait out here until I come out and tell you they're here – that's when you'll climb into the ventilation over there and turn left," he told them, pointing over to the wall. "It's the first opening on the right, just take care that they don't hear you."

"No problem, we'll keep all that in mind," he told him as Shirokuma walked over to the door and began to open it. "Yorokonde, fuwatto shita," Nick added and with a smirk and the polar bear chuckled.

"Sate, anata wa airashi kitsune wa nai nodesu ne?" he replied with a smirk of his own and Judy watched as Nick's face showed an expression quite similar to the one he had when she had told him there was nothing on his tax forms.

"What did he say?" she asked him with a slight giggle.

"I'm not translating that," he muttered flatly.

"Oh, come on! Don't be a killjoy," she told him.

"No."

Judy let out a sigh, clearly irritated, as Nick smirked. "If only I knew Japanese..." she began with a sullen expression before suddenly smiling. "Oh wait. I learned it all throughout my schooling years."

"Yeah right, Carrots," he told her as she smirked.

"You don't have to believe me if you don't want to, adorable little fox," she continued, watching as Nick froze, "but I did so in the hopes of bettering myself for the force."

"Don't call me that!" he exclaimed as he crossed his arms, turning to hide his heated face.

"But you really are an adorable little fox, aren't you?" she told him with a smirk and he realised he would never hear the end of it.

"Says the cute little rabbit," he retorted and immediately he saw the exasperation on her face.

"Don't call me cute!"