Oh hey, lookie what I found! =D
So, this has been sitting around for forever waiting for me to finally post it. (Also, I think I was waiting for my editor to read it. I have no clue if she ever did, so be prepared for mistakes!)

Thanks for waiting, and enjoy!

Chapter 6: Sunday Afternoon

Nick stared at the ceiling above him. He wasn't sure what woke him up, but he was now wide awake and couldn't get back to sleep. As he continued to stare at the ceiling, he let his mind wander back over the events of the last 24 hours.

Movement to his right caught his attention. The fluffy blankets shifted a little and a soft sigh was heard from under them. Nick lifted the blanket enough to peek under; a small ball of grey fur laid there, the tiny body rising and falling. Judy was naked, again.

Nick smiled to himself as laid the covers back down. Returning to staring at the ceiling, he allowed the mental images of the night before to resurface. Nick actually hadn't meant to do anything, or at least that's what he kept trying to tell himself.

He mentally shook himself. It was a lie; a really big, fat lie. Ever since that afternoon when Nick had caught her sleeping naked, all he wanted to do was take her. And of course the sexy dress hadn't helped either. He was grateful when it became clear that the feeling was mutual: Nick wanted Judy as much as she wanted him. As the memory continue to replay in his mind, he couldn't help smile. It had truly been amazing, though not quite what Nick had envisioned upon his return.

Letting out a sigh, Nick finally turned and looked at the little alarm clock. It was seven minutes past two. Reluctantly, he extracted himself from the covers and stood up. As much as he missed his bed, he knew that he wouldn't be getting anymore sleep.

Nick crossed the room and began getting himself ready for the day. He hadn't gotten far. Standing in front of the mirror, Nick glared at himself as he tried to recall memories of earlier that morning; specifically how he ended up dressed in only his casual street pants, with no shirt. And no boxers. He remembered having sex, and being exhausted afterwards, forcing himself to get dressed after Judy had left the observation room, and someone handing him a drink of something. But after that, exhaustion set in and things got blurry.

He gave up trying to piece together the fragments of memory. It hadn't been the first time he lost track of an entire evening due to exhaustion; and in his experience, a hot shower, some food, and relaxation would be enough for Nick to remember anything that might have been important.

Or worse case scenario, he'd ask Judy when she woke up. Though that would require admitting to being a walking zombie fox.

One shower later, Nick was properly dressed with a pair of grey sweats over his favorite carrot boxers and a dark blue ZPD t-shirt. Grabbing his phone, he silently made his way to the kitchen, closing the door behind him.

Nick scoured the cupboards for something to snack on. Judy hadn't exactly told the truth the day before; they did have food, but it was either canned, dried, or frozen. There was hardly anything fresh in the fridge, and it would take severe creativity to create a meal out of what they did have. Grabbing a paper and pen, Nick started a list of things to get at the store.

While looking amongst their baking goods, something caught his eye. With a mischievous grin, Nick put the list on the counter and grabbed the brown sugar. Sliding across the kitchen, he took a stick of butter and the only bundle of carrots from the fridge. He sat them on the counter and went to work.

Roughly thirty minutes and two alarms later, Judy emerged from the bedroom just as Nick turned off the burner he was using. She wore a pair of faded blue shorts and light blue plaid shirt.

"What are you doing?" She asked with a small smile.

"Just making a little snack before going shopping." Nick grabbed two bowls and poured half of the concoction he'd made into each. After placing a fork in each bowl, he offered her one of the bowls. Judy's nose twitched continuously as she took the bowl and peered at its contents.

"Wait. These are carrots." Nick continued to watch her as she took a taste. "Oh my gawd. This is amazing!" she exclaimed and quickly took another bite.

Nick didn't respond, but instead started on his own bowl of glazed carrots.

"Uh, Nick? You don't like carrots." Judy had finally looked up and saw him eating.

"Oh please! I'm pretty sure I made it very clear last night that I lov-"

"I mean vegetable carrots." Judy said exasperated, cutting him off.

Nick flashed her his signature smirk. "When I was real little, my mother had this friend who liked to cook for parties and events, and she would often go over and help her. I liked to tag along cause I could snack on the leftovers from when they made too much." Nick paused to take a bite. "Anyway, they liked to make things that both prey and predator could enjoy, and glazed carrots was often a favorite."

Nick could see Judy's heart melting at his story. And he knew that she would try and take the chance to ask about his family or past. She always did whenever he revealed some part of his past.

"So, with that, we should really hurry and go to the store." Nick said quickly, keeping her from getting the chance to ask any more questions.

Nick gently tossed the dishes into the sink, making sure to add a little water to help make it easier to clean later on, and grabbed the list before leading the way out to the truck. While Judy drove to the store, Nick read off the list of items he had put together. He had done pretty well to remember everything they normally kept on paw, including several items that only she ate. She reminded him of a few that he had forgotten and added a couple additional items. To save time, they agreed to stay to the list unless they saw something they absolutely needed and had forgotten to add.

Nick had forgotten how easy and quick going to the store with a rabbit could be. While he pushed the cart, Judy would run around grabbing what they needed and deposit the items into the cart. In no time, they had everything they needed from the store and were ready to check out.

Instead of going straight home, Judy took a small detour before parking the truck in front of a produce stand. Nick waited in the truck while she went and purchased fresh fruits and vegetables from the rabbit in charge of the stand. After placing the fresh produce in the bed of the truck, Judy hopped in and turned the vehicle in the direction of the apartment.

They were able to take all the groceries up to the apartment in one trip, and while Judy put all the food away, Nick washed the dishes from their snack earlier.

"Turned out the beaver was just real- Hey…this wasn't on the list," Judy had been explaining one of many dud leads they had had on the case so far when she stopped and held up a small file that she had found in one of the bags.

Nick smirked. "I told you last night that we'd get a file for those claws of yours."

"I kinda thought you were joking." Judy was blushing, no doubt remember last night's events.

"Well, I wasn't." Nick took the file and put it on the counter for later. "So what happened with the beaver?"

"Oh, he was drunk. When he came to the next day, he had no idea what had happened the night before."

Judy finished putting away everything in the fridge. Nick had finished the dishes and helped her put the last few things away. When they were done, Judy began cooking some frozen noodle stir-fry that they had gotten while Nick went over and turned the TV on.

She had been telling him another story of how they had pursued a weasel who had attempted to sell drugs at the club. He had only been half listening, as he was more interested in watching Judy bustle around the kitchen instead.

"So they were able to lock him up anyways on possession charges." Judy handed Nick a bowl of noodle goodness.

"You know, I think we'd have an easier time finding needles in a haystack then the guy who's behind these tablets." Nick took his bowl of noodles and sat down on the couch.

Judy sighed. "I know. I mean, we have had a good couple leads. But to be honest, I don't think we're any closer to finding this guy than we were two months ago." Judy sat down next to Nick on the couch. "I think Bogo might even pull the case if we don't get anything from the conclave."

"Wait, what conclave?" Nick sputtered, trying not to get bits of stir-fry everywhere.

"Uh...the conclave we have every six months."

"Yeah, but the last conclave was only…." he fell silent as he slowly realized that it had already been six months. Of course there would be another conclave soon. "Right. So when is the next conclave?"

"In three days. It's on Wednesday."

Three days didn't give them much time to prepare for it. Normally Big would give them a two week notice before the scheduled day of the conclave. That way they could gather the information they needed to get the most out of the conclave. But this time, they'd only have three days to gather background intel on the attendees and figure out who would be the best target to go after. Already the pressure was starting to get to him; making him itch to stand up and start researching. He couldn't even imagine how Judy was taking it.

And then the brakes hit. Judy was calm. She sat there eating and watching the silly movie Nick had put on. There were no signs of any eagerness to plan, to make sure this conclave would be flawless. And the way she had talked. She spoke as if it wasn't a problem. As if everything was under control; there wasn't anything to worry about. As if she was ready. Big had given her the two week notice. She probably had everything they needed within days of finding out.

Everything, except Nick.

Suddenly, the last 36 hours made sense. Nick now understood why Bogo had sent in the Midnight Tablets. Why the overly cautious and strict buffalo had taken a chance he normally never would. He needed Nick back.

Nick remembered when they first started the conclaves; Bogo had been real worried about Judy. Sure, the little bunny could take care of herself, but the conclaves would be in a whole new arena for her. Bogo wanted to make sure she was safe. That's why he agreed to involve Mr. Big.

"Earth to Nick." Judy's voice brought him back to the present.

"Oh, sorry. I was just thinking." Nick mentally shook himself.

"I noticed." She paused while he took a bite of his noodles. "What about?"

Nick swallowed. "Just the conclaves. Speaking of which, do you have the intel?"

"Of course." She stood up, putting her bowl of noodles on the coffee table in the process, and headed over to the dining room table. After digging through the piles of paperwork that cluttered the table, she came back over with three folders. "These three are the targets."

Nick took the folders from her and read the names that were printed on the them. "Piggy Snoot. Jerry Thomouse. And," Nick looked up. "Vernon Claw? Are you serious?!"

Judy's eyes widen as she took a step back. Nick's heart ached as he realized his reaction not only caught her off guard, but scared her.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly. "It's just, these three are well known criminal bosses in the underground."

"Could've fooled me," Judy sat back down beside him. "I couldn't find anything on any of them."

"Heh, of course not. If the police knew of half the things these three have done, they wouldn't be on the streets still."

"Well, how about enlightening the police right now?" Judy reached over and picked up her bowl.

Nick took a deep sigh and looked at the clock. "Alright. But it'll have to be quick. I don't like talking about them, but I definitely don't like talking about them in public, and especially anyone from the underground.

"Thomouse. He's your run of the mill doormouse. Except he also happens to be the head of the largest and most successful thieves ring. Remember that artifact we had to track down six months ago?" Judy nodded. "Well, I found out from Big that it had been Thomouse who was hired to steal it. He's good; he doesn't get caught, he doesn't leave any clues."

"Is that why you completely ignored the crime scene?"

"Yup. Cause anything that was found was either left on purpose, or had no importance. And even if we went to him, it wouldn't matter. He deals in hired work only." Nick eyed his bowl of half eaten noodles, and reluctantly took a bite despite his sudden lack of hunger. "Ms. Piggy is the queen of acquisition. You want something, she'll get it."

"Isn't that what Jerry Thomouse does?"

"Kinda. He steals what his clients want. Ms. Piggy will import it illegally for hers."

Judy swallowed. "Wait, import? As in...from outside of Zootopia?"

"Yup. And I know for a fact that she doesn't use the normal legal channels. She makes more money by charging the same as other venders and using illegal, and obviously cheaper channels of acquiring her goods." Nick took another bite while Judy mused on what he's told her so far.

"And Vernon Claw?" Nick visibly shuddered. He hadn't meant to, but the mere thought of the name made him want to crawl under a rock and never come out. He had spent his entire life avoiding Claw, and in three days, he'd be sitting in the same room as him.

And if that wasn't bad enough, the fact that Judy would be there too...he couldn't even finish the thought.

"Claw is the last animal you want to see. He's an assassin criminal mastermind. He has personally killed more animals than I can count, and has ordered the deaths of countless more. He's the guy you hire if you want someone dead."

The air was thick between them as they sat in silence for several minutes. Finally, Judy broke the silence. "How has he not been caught yet?"

"Cause he's good. Just like the others, he knows how to cover his tracks." Judy gave a small chuckle. "What? What's so funny?"

"Oh, I was just remembering something Bogo had told me when he gave me the list of names." Nick raised an eyebrow. "He told me that Big said you wouldn't like who was attending this round."

Nick laughed. "Yeah, Big knows me."

But wait! There's more!