Chapter 6: Bite the Bullet!

(A/N: We all have reasons for doing things. Sometimes you tell friends things to protect them, right? Keep them safe?)

Today the streets were bustling with all sorts of mammals, prey and predators all crunched together and making their way to and fro- Nick felt more than a few people bump into him as he listened to the squat rabbit in front of him. "So it's a left on Renard and Oiche, and then another left on Sturm and Drang? " said the rabbit, scratching his head and peering up at the street signs. Nick nodded and walk with him over to the corner, pointing.

"Mhm. Left and left. It's next to the hotel." Nick waved the buck off, and went back to walking, enduring the bumps and prods and shoves with as much grace as he could muster. He missed being in the squad car at this point.

"Donations for the school drive, sir?" Nick looked down to see a small weasel holding out an envelope, smile on his face. Nick nodded, deciding a twenty was enough (pay it forward, right?), and the kid scampered away after some quick thanks. Nick wanted to give a welcome, but the proceeding coughing fit stopped him from doing much for a minute or two. He wiped his mouth, stood up from the wall, and kept walking.

Foot traffic was getting heavier as people went about their lunch break, and he kept an eye on anything trying to run through- a good time for cutpurses at this hour. Still, a quiet and calm day, so far. Something else to be happy about.

Nick felt grateful for the small mercies. The fire a couple of weeks ago hadn't taken too bad of a number on him- smoke and chem inhalation was something the doctors were still worried about, but otherwise, he had only relatively minor burns and scrapes. Commander had made him take his vacation hours, though, as small as those were. It turned out that Judy hadn't taken any of her vacation hours for the year, and both her commander and Chief Bogo had made sure that she was going to use them up as well, in addition to medical leave. So, she was out the picture for a good while- or at least, she was meant to be. He had a feeling she wouldn't stay that way.

He ambled down the sidewalk, enjoying the wind on his fur. Being out of uniform in the sunshine was something he was still getting used to, and definitely something that he missed. People still recognized him, though, and he had more than a few people wave and say hello this morning. That included the beat officer, Corporal Musarana- the yappiest mouse he had ever met, and that was saying something.

Corporal Musarana was a perfectly nice mouse, sure, but he had a very nosy personality and a bad tendency to not stop talking. Chief had put him on desk work in the back somewhere, but he still found time to walk around and chat up everyone on their desk station every day. Today on patrol as a temp was no different. Nick had the immeasurable pleasure to run into him outside of the café.

Musarana smiled. "Nick! You got some explaining to do about that squad car, man. What's going on?" Nick shrugged. " You gonna explain why you and Judith keep bringing the car back in after your patrol is up? You brought it back in way past time last night." The mouse barely reached his hip, and yet Nick felt as though he was right in his ear. He kept his head turned to the shops, waving at the owners. The mouse continued. " The next shift needs that car, you know. You two aren't allowed to go on joyrides or whatever it is- I saw you having to go talk to Chief a while ago, and you know there are rumors starting, right? Some people are saying that you two-"

Nick let his mind drift to keep his sanity. These past few months on the force, sure, they might not be the same as running a hustle or stopping some plot, but he appreciated the looks people gave him walking down the street- the ladies, they eyed him more than they used to, if that were possible. Even when he was off beat and around the big predators, they'd at least nod at him or wave. That rabbit had come up to him without a second glance, calm as can be, too. The apartment fire had earned him a good amount of love. It was nice to have the public on your side, he thought.

He took a seat outside of a nearby café and took the time to people-watch. He wasn't sure how long that love would last- no one outside of the highers-up at the station and the people outside of Downtown knew much about him, but someone would find out. Judy, she knew a little, but he still wasn't ready to spill everything yet. The right time was still a ways away.

He frowned and started walking again, having forgotten about the mouse still yammering. Focusing on that won't help anything, and he had a plan to enact. Judy would want to get to the bottom of the slum thing, especially after the fire- James had been antsy ever since they left, and he could tell she was feeling worried about losing their lifeline, messing up their chance of doing good. Couldn't let her go in depressed, so that meant his plan.

It was time to be genuinely nice. Keep her happy, he thought, and she'll get through the whole deal much faster. One part of him said it was for a glowing recommendation for detective at the end of the year, and the other was to keep a friend sane. To keep his pride intact, Nick settled on the former.

Hi dumb bunny. How's the break going?

Hi sly fox! I'm fine, just got done
running. You OK?

It's a lot quieter without you around. Who am
I supposed to talk to out here?

Those girls that keep staring at you?

Nick furrowed his brow and looked up. Sure enough, there was a gaggle (a gossip? A huddle?) of young ladies- a vixen, a ewe, and two doe rabbits- eyeing him a few tables away, sipping their drinks and whispering. Now that he thought about it, he'd seen them every time they stopped in for lunch. One of them gave a small wave, and he waved before turning back to type.

They'll give up one of these days. Anyways,

are you busy around 5 or 6 tonight?

No. Why? Needed to get your daily fix of me? :3

Sure. Just want to keep an eye on my partner,
is all. Can't have you falling apart missing me!

Was that too obvious? Maybe it was too obvious. But what could he do now except bite the bullet?

He swore the next part made him feel slightly emptier inside.

I just can't wait to hear about how the books are

going! And your shows! :)

… Did you lose a bet? :3

No! You know being around you is my
favorite part of the day, Judy! :3

The mammal who had thought of all-or-nothing was a moron.

Judy knew something was wrong. She wasn't sure what had come over Nick, but it must've been something big. There had been two emojis used in the last three minutes, and that was two more than she had ever seen him use. His texts have never consisted of more than " I'll be right there" and "see you soon" Her brow furrowed, and she began typing out her reply, calmly.

NICK! YOU'D BETTER NOT BE DRUNK IN PUBLIC! WE HAVE AN IMAGE TO KEEP UP.

HONESTLY. ONE DAY I LEAVE AND YOU GO AND DO THIS TO ME. I
THOUGHT THAT YOU NEW BETER THAN THAT. I'M VERY MAD RIGHT NOW, NICK.

I'm not drunk! I just

I just wanted to make your vacation
nicer. I want to make sure you're
stress-free.

….

Nick hurriedly sent a selfie, running his paws up and down over himself to make sure he looked presentable. He thought he heard one of the girls offer to help him out.

See? Prim and proper.

Good! See you at six!

Nick closed his eyes, rubbing his forehead with both paws and resting his elbows on the table, stifling a sigh. On paper, it was a good idea, and here he was feeling like he lost a part of himself. And what was that, her just cutting the conversation off like that? He wasn't done talking to her!

He glanced at the time on his phone.

Hours to go! What was he supposed to-

He heard the chair scrape back and someone sit themselves down.

" Hello, Officer Wilde! I've really been wanting to talk to you!" His guest chuckled and took a long sip of their coffee.

Nick leaned back in his chair and tried to smile. This would do.

Judy put the phone down and picked her book back up, trying to pick out the right paragraph. Jack had found out where Laura was being held, and she was sure that this time was the actual climax, no more stalling or red herrings… Oh, but there was still the whole drug addiction arc to go through! Would Jack get over his painkiller addiction before it got the best of him? She wasn't keen on reading through another book for that- the last book spent half the time with him on a farm, planting wheat.

No need to worry about Nick until six. He'd seen her place before, why worry about it now? It wasn't like he was mentally judging every single speck of dust or lack of any food-

The next hour was spent cleaning.

Nick hated her apartment, honestly. It may have been the lack of anything he would call fun, or the lack of good food, it might have been the noisy neighbors constantly screaming next door. He hadn't decided which he hated more. At least the place was kept pretty clean.

He counted the steps over to the other side of the apartment- thirteen. Wonderful. Looking around, it was the same rectangular box with a bed and a desk- no paint, no posters, a few corny family photos... It all looked the same as last time. He glanced at her desk, and noted the scattered notes from work, random bits of food and drink scattered everywhere, sappy romance novels, thrillers- books that he expected her to read, and others that he wasn't sure she intended to leave out. But worst of all, the real criminal element, was the lack of a TV. Did she do anything fun besides hang out with him?

He took a seat in her chair. " Wow, boss. I can tell that pay raise really gets you the good stuff. I was sure this time we'd be doing more than streaming on your laptop. At least it's cleaner than last time."

Judy had sat on her bed, ears now red and sounding slightly defensive. " I'm saving up for something nice, Nick. Something worth a lot more than some TV- and you've never complained about watching movies with me." She knew that was a small lie, but he didn't complain. Verbally.

He picked up one of the books from her desk, and flipped through the pages randomly. "Want to tell me about these for a bit? I forgot my copy, sorry, but I remember that Jack and Laura got caught in some trap again… Right? Or that Jack was fighting his thirty-second relapse…"

Judy shook her head. "Trap, Nick. Here, let me explain the entire book over to you again-" she grabbed the book and turned to the first page. "-page by page."

He knew she wasn't serious. There were good places to go eat nearby, and he was sure that the second Jack Savage movie had come out. Wouldn't she want to do that instead?

Apparently not. He wanted to bang his head on the desk at this point. She was still sitting on her bed going over the second character arc for the third ex-henchman.

He rubbed his head. " Did you really have to print out fact sheets for every character and chapter?" She threw him the third sheet, and he watched it flutter to the ground between them. There was a nice pile now, and she still hadn't noticed. " I got yelled at because everyone thought I took all the paper, you know! You owe me!"

" So Gabriel has this really great redemption arc, where he takes Jack's offer to help out him and Laura, and lands the final blow on Byron…"

He asked if they could do something else an hour later. That was the wrong thing to do.

" Humberto! But you've been in a coma for an entire week! How did you get here?" Emilia la Cabra de Aguirre dramatically shrieked, hooves raised to her mouth, and ran over to her second-favorite lover Humberto Chucho Garcia, the ruggedly-handsome and charming super-spy with a drinking problem and a heart of gold. The laptop made the sound tinny, but Judy didn't seem to care.

"I got better, Estella. Your love showed me the way back to reality- although looking at you now-" he cupped her face awkwardly in his hooves "- I feel as though I'm still dreaming; You're too beautiful to be a reality. "

Nick fought the urge to gag, and winced as he felt Judy grab his arm and squeeze, squealing (even while coughing! How?!) like some preteen. He rubbed his head and put on his best smile. "Judy… remember I've got sensitive ears… " he told her, sweetly, for the third time that night. She nodded absentmindedly, eyes still glued to the laptop screen.

She didn't listen. Not during the soap opera, not during the comedy reruns- it took leaving for food to get her in any sort of calm mood, and even that was temporary. He fell asleep that night with his ears still ringing and a sore side, but he was sure that Judy had gotten her hyperactivity out of her system. Tomorrow would be better.

Tomorrow was not better. At least, it didn't start better, but after a while they'd come to an understanding.

"Nick? "Judy had said hesitatingly, holding up the last DVD from the pile. "Do you… Do you want to watch an action movie? " He had nodded, gone 'mhm', and that had gone… fine…, but it wasn't until the final action scene of Cry Hard 3: Electric Boogaloo…

"Just shoot him!" He had eaten the last of the popcorn, and his ears were still aching- he wasn't in the mood for any more stupidity from this movie. " The gun is right there! Jump behind the desk, and- "

He jumped when Judy yelled in his ear ("Just look down! No more talking!"). Her paw fell off his shoulder and they both took to pointing at the gun lying just a few feet away from Jean-Claude van Hamme. Next to some very good concealment… But no, Hamme had dived and taken the shot. Sure, Blonde Bimbo made it out, but it was a very sloppy shot, and he avoided-.

Oh, but Judy had started talking. She looked content, which meant the plan was working, thankfully.

Judy sighed, and leaned her head back onto the wall. "That was good, huh? That one had some very good special effects, Hamme actually tried in this one, too- remember the second one? - and we got more of the backstory…" He saw the time from the wall clock in the corner of his eye- 1:30 in the morning.

Judy stretched her legs out. "Thanks, Nick. Today was a nice boost to my mood." She flopped back on her bed and closed her eyes for a second. "I needed this."

She heard him shift off the bed, and she opened an eye to see him leaning over her, close enough that she reflexively pushed her head back into the bed. " Judy," he said, his voice soft and low. "I need a really big favor from you. I'll pay you back with whatever you want, I promise." He smiled slightly.

She swallowed. " What kind of favor?" He leaned closer, and she couldn't help but note the smells- cinnamon, violets… His eyes were a very nice shade of green right now, and they had so much life in them with him smiling like that..

She shook her head slowly, and Nick laughed. "All I need you to do, Jude, is promise me to stay safe during your vacation. Don't take risks, okay? Let those little lungs rest."

She raised an eyebrow. "What do you actually want?"

"Simple!" He raised two digits. " Leave Liam alone, and remember that this slum business should be left to the professional." He pointed at himself. " Alright? Fox knows best. Country bunnies aren't ready for the slums. "

She opened her mouth to protest, but he spoke over her. "Listen to me, Judy. I'll owe you any sort of favor you want. Please?"

He wouldn't leave her alone if she said no, so she nodded, and Nick stood straight. "If only you had space for me to sleep… I guess I'll see you?" he hadn't meant to make it sound like anything, but the look on her face made him feel like he was missing something, She pulled him into a tight hug, and he had squeezed back, promised to see her soon, and headed out into the hallway.

He didn't like leaving, of course, but he had errands to run.

He knew that his little spiel was a bit much, but that was the point- get her off her game and she'd be less inclined to argue. Although he doubted she would listen. But he still had a good feeling about it all.

He avoided her gaze as she slowly locked the door, and waited until he heard the deadbolt and lock click into place to head outside. Part one of the errand was easy- all he needed was coffee from the gas station, and Gerald knew to expect him around this time. He left a five buck tip and left to start part two.

He took his seat at the bus stop across the street from her apartment, grateful that this one was covered and had a backing for him to rest his head against. Tonight was quiet, thankfully, beyond the last of the partiers dragging their way back home. He took a sip of the coffee and waited. The coffee would keep him up long enough, and the vacation time meant he had time to sleep in this morning.

Tonight remained just as quiet as it had been for the past week, but how could he know? One slip up, and…

He was watching the main entrance, and he knew that her window was too high up to scale to, not with the brick outside, and the back entrance was locked tight. Judy could take care of herself fine, he knew, but that's not why he was sitting out here tonight.

His… friends… had told him that Liam had trouble getting resources to make another push. Soon enough, he would get desperate- or cocky- enough to come and find Nick himself- he knew Liam had enough to keep tabs on him. If the meeting earlier today had been honest…

Liam took a seat on the bench, right next to him. Nick took another sip of his coffee, keeping his eyes trained on the apartment block door.

"So. You gonna keep on assuming something is going to happen, Nick? You think I can afford someone good enough to take down the famous Judy Hopps?" Liam laughed quietly. " I launder, I extort, I threaten. When's the last time you heard of me hiring killers?"

Nick tapped his chest. " I inhaled plenty of smoke during that arson of yours. That's something you don't do either, right?" Liam sighed, and Nick could see him lean forward, elbows on his knees.

"You two are an annoyance, Nick. Trying to turn my boys against me- James is a tough one, and no matter what I do he's still fighting for that damn speech your little partner wants to give, talking to everyone else and getting them all hopeful." Nick heard him breathing through gritted teeth. " I haven't done anything yet, and that's because I still know how to be kind. Leave me alone, and I swear on my reputation as a businessman that she won't come to any harm. You neither."

Nick sloshed his coffee around in the cup. Half gone already. He spoke slowly. " You threatening a police officer, Liam? That could get you behind bars, you know. Wouldn't want that." Liam snorted. " I'd be out in a few weeks at most- that's what happens when you know the right people."

Nick turned to look at him. "Some pathetic slum lord like you knows people? As far as I knew, you lost a lot of territory to that group in the Savannah, and I know that the boys in Sahara and Rainforest has been nipping at your heels- just some small piece of prey getting chewed out by the big predators." Liam had opened his mouth to rebuke him. "No. You listen to me, Liam. Me and my little partner being there for- what, a month or so?- and we've already scared you into action- you're being cornered by rookie cops, reacting and hoping for the best. Nothing you've done shows me you know the right people, and that's a shame. I expected better from someone with twenty years in this business. "

With the street empty of all but them, Nick could clearly smell a mixture of anger and fear. Good. Liam had risen up to his feet now.

"Don't make me laugh, boy! I've got people to call on, don't doubt that! All I have to do is make one phone call, and you'd get crushed by one of Adisha's boys, you and that doe!" Liam was shouting now, and Nick felt the spittle hit his face. " Panya, you know her? One call and that's it! Dead in your sleep!"

Nick put down his coffee and stood up, looking down at Liam and staring into his eyes. The fear in those blue eyes was clear now, and Nick smiled wide enough to show his teeth. " Remember, Liam!" Nick kept his voice cheerful. " You've got dirty cops and contacts, sure, but what'll happen if you make those calls? After you call those favors in, you'll have no one to protect you when the cruisers swoop in to clean up the cop-killers, and all those weaker gangs you've left alone will want a piece of the pie. Careful now. We've got some very mean predators on our force, you know."

Liam straightened himself. " You… I remember who you used to be, Wilde. That pay you get isn't too good, is it? Just let me be and I can ease that pay gap, charitable donations from a private citizen."

Nick sipped the last of his coffee. "I could go call Adisha for you, tell her you're ripe for the picking now that you're so focused on me… Or did you forget who I used to work for?"

Nick ignored the threats and bluster as Liam left. He sat back down and closed his eyes.

It took a good while for his paws to stop trembling, and the coughing fit that came didn't help his nerves. Information had been gained, good, but how much of it was true and how much of it was a bluff?

" There's my favor, Nicholas. Shall we go? " His next appointment had arrived- or had been skulking, Nick knew.

Nick took a deep breath, sighing and standing. " Off to the boss then, Shani."