(AN: SirRedFox here, back with another chapter of The Long Hustle. Want to thank everyone who has followed and favorite this story, and helping me reach 2K views for this story.)
Ch. 7, The Proposition:
The loud high pitch squeal of excitement came from Clawhouser's cheerful cheetah mouth. Squealing with excitement when seeing the engagement ring on Judy's finger. The cheetah's loud squeal made Nick, Judy, Nala, and Wilford cover their ears. Nala shouted to cheetah to shut it before they all went deaf. Clawhouser covered his mouth with both hands, in hopes of containing his happiness.
Judy continued showing off the engagement ring Nick slipped on her finger to Nala and Wilford. Nala took pictures of the ring with her phone and automatically posted them to muzzlebook. Wilford gave Nick a good pat on the back.
"Oh, Judy. You have to let me plan your bachelorette party" Clawhouser said with excited anticipation. "You know how much I love planning parties."
"That's right," Nala said, "best part of getting married is the bachelorette party you get. So, what kind of male stripper would you like?"
"Woah, we got hitched just yesterday. I think we'll be trying to plan the actual wedding first" Judy said trying to calm everyone down.
"And when exactly do you aim to have the wedding?" Wilford asked.
Nick and Judy looked at each other, hoping the other had an idea of their time frame. Afterall, the two of them had gotten hitched last night, so the questions all felt a bit forced. Nick did not have the first clue about planning a wedding and would hope that Judy takes the reins on his project. Judy was the one that all the brothers and sisters, so quick wedding planning should be in her blood.
"We're aiming sometime in the next three to five months" Judy finally spoke up. Nick felt a bit of relief that Judy spoke up and answered the question. He couldn't help but feel so claustrophobic to all these matters.
Nala and Wilford had to leave and get started on their patrol, leaving Nick and Judy in front of Clawhouser's desk. The jolly cheetah still smiled with excitement for the both of them. Other than the news of Judy's and Nick's engagement, Clawhouser had his exciting news to share. The Cheetah blushed and put his hands over his mouth. Nick and Judy egged him on to spill his exciting news. Judy's ears perked up, and she had her chin resting on Clawhousers desk. Clawhouser leaned in close as if telling them a secret. He told them about the bartender, which Nick and Judy both new Clawhouser had an attraction to, and how he asked him out. Nick and Judy applauded at Clawhouser's news and how took the risk of asking out the bartender he liked. Both, Judy and Nick, knew of Clawhouser's lifestyle and were glad at how open he was about it.
"Hopps! Wilde!" came a loud booming voice above them.
All three: Judy, Nick, and Clawhouser, looked up at Chief Bogo leaning over the rail. He pointed towards the location of his office and walked off. Judy and Nick knew they were to follow. Feeling nervous as they made their trip to Bogo's office. The day had not even begun, and Nick and Judy have only been back on the force from their weekend off for only five hours. The chief probably wanted to congratulate them on their engagement; personally. Nick had said to Judy. In his own troubling and terrifying way.
They approached the door to Cheif Bogo's office. Standing frozen in fear of what awaited them on the other side. Both were taking in a deep breath, and Nick reached up to turn the nob.
"Hopps. Wilde." Judy and Nick turned to see Bogo standing at the entrance to the additional office. It was the same spare room the ZPD were lending to Jack and Sky of the ZBI. "In here," Bogo said.
Judy and Nick looked at each other and shrugged. They both walked into the spare office, passing Bogo. Inside, Jack and Sky were there waiting for them. Sky lead them to a small desk, appropriate for Nick and Judy's size, with two chairs behind it.
Bogo came inside and closed the office door. He didn't sit down, but leaned against the door, as if to make sure no one came in and disturbed them. Jack was leaning on the wall opposite of Bogo, wearing his black ZBI suit and red tie. Sky, as always, looking beautiful in her tight fitted work suit. Judy and Nick waited, sat behind the desk to see what the meaning of all this was.
"Officers," Sky was the first to speak and break the silence. "Thank you for joining us this morning. Hope everything is going well for the two of you."
"Yes. I will say, this is an odd way to congratulate the two of us on our engagement." Nick said.
"Engagement?" she asked, a bit surprised. Judy held up her hand with the engagement ring wrapped around her finger. She smiled and gave a quick kiss on the cheek to Nick. "That's fantastic, congrats to the two of you." She said, hesitation and grief in her voice, still with the look of surprise on her face.
Nick gave a bewildered look from Sky's tone. "You say that, but your tone makes me not believe you," Nick said, pointing out of odd Sky was acting toward this news.
"Oh, sorry," Sky said. Clearing her throat and putting on a big smile for the two of them. "Oh my gosh. Congrats you two" Sky said with a lot more cheer in her voice. "It just makes what we are about to say, that much more challenging, which is we've finally had a full analysis of the Blue Sky drug." Sky opened up a folder and placed it in front of Judy. "Provided in front of you, is a list of all the chemical ingredients found in the Blue Sky drug."
Judy took a look at the file and started naming off the chemicals listed. Saying words like Opioid, Trichloromethane, Methamphetamine, and Carboxylate. Before Judy could read off anymore from the list, Nick slapped his hand over the paper to stop her. "Okay, I'm not going to pretend that I know how to pronounce those words, much less know what they mean. So, why don't you go ahead and tell us what this means?" Nick said.
"Most of the chemicals mention on that list come from a particular plant. One called Midnicampum Holicithias" Jack said, "Or, otherwise know as-"
"Nighthowlers!" Judy said, jumping out of her seat in a panic.
Nick leaned back in his chair, arms crossed and shaking his head. "It's amazing, all the horrible things this little plant can do. For once, I wish we could just find a plant too; I don't know, cure cancer. Is that too much to ask for?" Nick said sarcastically.
Sky went over to her laptop, which plugged into the overhead projector that blasted on to the empty wall. With a few clicks, she had the mug shot of a koala plastered on the wall. "Officer Wilde, do you know the particular individual in this photo?" Sky asked. Nick nodded his head yes. "Then, can you please elaborate who this is and relationship with him?"
Nick did not want to venture down this road. It was the path towards his past life. He let out a great sigh and lowered his head, a bit ashamed of his previous life. Nick has told them many times over and over again, that he knows everyone. Though it's been a long time since Nick has seen this particular character that was posted on the wall.
"His name is Flynn McDowell," Nick said. Nick remembers everything about the Australian native and brief hustling partner koala. It was a few years back when Flynn came to Zootopia, and Nick was still in the con game. Looking at the mug shot of Flynn, Nick remembers how cheerful and happy the koala would become after a few drinks. Flynn would call him mate, or Nicky, with his Aussie accent, and give his arm a hard playful slap. Nick had first met him at a dive bar in Savannah Central, and after a few drinks he let Nick in on an imitation scandal Flynn was cooking up. Flynn would bring in cheap products from Australia: coats, handbags, footwear, and such. They would slap a high name brand to the goods and sell the products for three times its value. Made a pretty go wade of cash pulling off the hustle.
Once the hustle was done, Flynn left Zootopia. Flynn tried to stay in touch with Nick when he could. After two months Nick stopped hearing from Flynn. In fact, the last he heard of Flynn, he was arrested and sent to the big house. Nick explained all this to Sky, Jack, Bogo, and Judy.
"Well, he's moved up from product scams by providing ingredients for the Blue Sky drug. He's stationed himself in Zootopia for awhile now." Jack said.
"I had no idea," Nick said. He was a little surprised that Flynn never tried to contact him during all that time.
"He's mostly kept a low profile these past years. But, a month ago, he was pulled over in an eighteen-wheeler. He was arrested for breaking parole. The interesting part is that the eighteen-wheeler he was driving was packed with every one of the ingredients to make the Blue Sky drug." Sky said, "Though there is nothing illegal about carrying the supplements that make the Blue Sky drug, only when combined."
"This is all great, but can you please get to the point of why this involves us," Nick said, becoming frustrated with being here and listening to this conversation.
"Nick, look" Jack piped up. "Right now Flynn is serving the rest of his sentence in a maximum security prison and we have a proposition for you." Sky posted another picture of Flynn on the wall. It was a much more recent picture of Flynn. If this was the first picture they had shown Nick, he might not have recognized Flynn. The left side of Flynn's body looked badly burned. "We want you to go in, reconnect with your old hustling buddy and help find the supplier of the drug and where the money is going."
Nick sat there in silence as everyone looked at him, waiting for him to respond. After a minute of silence, Nick tilted his head back a let out a loud laugh. It was evident to see that this is not the response Jack and Sky were hoping for, as they looked back and forth at each other.
"I know it's a hard choice to make," Jack said, "but you're the only one to gain Flynn's trust and gain entrance to uncover this crime ring."
"No, it's not a hard choice. My answer is 'no,'" Nick said.
"No?" Jack asked, a bit confused and shocked.
"Yeah. No, I'm not going to do it," Nick said with a stern tone. "Let's say I agree to do this. How long do you plan on having me undercover?"
"Well..." Sky said, nervous and scratching the back of her neck. Afraid to say what needed to be said. "We estimate somewhere around three to five years."
"Okay, stop right there," Nick said, holding up his hand to stop Sky from talking. "You want me to go undercover for five years, three at the least, in hopes of infiltrating this crime ring. All which could lead us to nothing, except wasting five years of my life? Yeah, don't think so. Find someone else, Skippy," Nick said in a harsh tone towards Jack.
"It's Jack, and there is no one else, Nick. This might be our only shot at taking down this drug and stopping all the harm and suffering this drug is causing."
"That's a shame, Skippy, because I'm not doing it."
Jack slammed his fist down on the desk in front of Nick. Jack was becoming frustrated at Nick's child like stubbornness. "If you're not up to it, then there is the door."
Nick got up from his chair, thanking them for the offer, and made his way to the door Jack was pointing towards. Bogo moved out of the way, knowing it would be pointless to try and stop him. He looked back over to Judy, who was still sitting behind the desk. Nick asked if he was coming? Judy, looking at Jack and Sky, didn't know what to say and just pointed in Nick's direction. She got up from her chair and followed Nick. Nick told the two agents if he changed his mind he would give them a call, but they shouldn't hold their breath.
The conversation that took place with Jack and Sky of the ZBI stuck with Judy for the rest of the day. While on patrol, she would look over at Nick who was looking out the window not wanting to make conversation. Every time she would try to bring it up, Nick would shoot her down with a quick "NO" response.
It was not until late that night, when they were back at Judy's apartment, that Judy wanted to address the situation. Nick was going on about how they should move Judy's stuff first, into the new apartment. That was all that he wanted to think about, Judy's and his new life.
"Nick," Judy said. "I believe we need to talk about what happened earlier, with Jack and Sky," Judy said. Nick laughed and told her that there was nothing that happened earlier today he wanted to discuss. "Please, Nick. Why are you so hostile towards this conversation?"
"Because," Nick said, frustrated at Judy for wanting to push this conversation. "Do you not understand what they are asking me to do? They expect me to go back and be the stereotype I always believe I was. The stereotype of a shifty sly fox that I felt I was for so long until you showed me different. Frankly, I'm surprised that you are considering me even doing this?"
"No, I don't want you to do this," Judy said in a plea, not wanting to upset Nick. " In fact, this is the last thing I would ever want you to do."
"Then why are you bring this up?" Nick asked defensively.
"Because..." Judy started to say. Judy had her arms crossed and ears drooped behind her head. She looked down and off to the side, afraid to look at the disappointment on Nick's face towards her. "I believe that if anybody can pull this off, it's you," Judy finally said. Nick didn't know what to say and let out a loud sigh and scratched his head, thinking of the whole situation. Nick didn't want to do this, but he understood what Judy was saying. "Maybe, I'm just looking at the big picture, Nick," Judy said.
"I don't care about the big picture," Nick said irritated that the two of them were having this conversation. Nick stepped towards Judy and grabbing her arms, gave them gentle rubs to comfort her. "The only picture I care about is the one with you and me. Okay?" Nick said, with a comforting smile at Judy, which she gave a small smile back, as Nick held her in his arms.
Judy glanced at the engagement ring on her finger, with its lavender encrusted jewel. Maybe Nick was right. Their lives finally felt like everything was coming together. It felt too soon for it all to go away. Judy rested her head on Nick's chest, not wanting feeling warm and comfortable. She did not want this feeling to end.
(AN: I know this was a short chapter and not much to it. Thankfully the next chapter will have a lot more action and comedy. A lot more twist and turns are on their way as this story progresses. As always, if you are enjoying this story, please leave a review.)
