Chapter 11
Nick and Judy sat at the kitchen table in Judy's apartment, eating Italian food from a new place Nick had walked by a few times. Laughter filled the room as Nick made jokes, and Judy shot back with her own.
"You know, I never thanked you," Nick said, "for helping me with this. For saving my freedom to live here in Zootopia."
"No problem," Judy said. "If I'm being honest, it felt good going on a real case for once. I'm just surprised Chief Bogo was so willing to go along with it."
"Yeah, me too. Who knew the chief had a soft spot for his officers? Even the ones who left for a year."
"You know, Chief Bogo might actually consider reinstated into the ZPD."
Nick took a moment to fill his mouth full of pasta to give himself time to consider how he would respond. With a swallow, he said, "Listen, Carrots, I can't say that I don't miss being a cop sometimes, but I like what I have now. I get paid to manage a coffee shop. Sure, it doesn't sound that glamorous, but it gives me more freedom, utilizes my business savvy. I've just got a good thing going on."
"Well," Judy said, looking down at her food, "if you reconsider, let me know."
"It'd be hard not to. I am spending a lot more time with you. Need to make up for lost time."
"Yeah, a year's worth of it."
"I can do that."
"If you keep bringing me free food, I don't care what you do."
Nick chuckled. "So, you want to watch a movie now?"
"Isn't that the usual routine when you come over?"
"It sure has been for the past few days."
Judy sat on the couch as Nick put in the movie he had picked out on his way to her apartment. As many times as she'd asked him to tell her what movie it was, he simply changed the subject.
"Now do you want to tell me what movie it is?"
"I'll let the movie do that." Nick sat down beside his friend on the couch and watched the little bunny as she looked increasingly annoyed with each second it took for the disc to load. After a generous few trailers, ones that Nick graciously skipped past, the title finally came up, and Judy's jaw dropped.
"No way," she said.
"Yeah way," Nick said. "I present to you, Floatzen 2, complete with shocked bunny factor."
"This movie isn't supposed to be out for another few months."
"Correct, which is why you and I are sworn to secrecy. Wouldn't want to spoil the movie before it even came out."
"Nick... this is a legal copy, right?"
"Come on, Carrots, what do you take me for?" Nick grew a sly smile. "A shifty fox?"
"Where did you get this movie? I thought you just stopped by a rental place or something."
"I know a guy who knows a guy who knows the creators of Floatzen. I had to pull some strings, empty my wallet a little, but you have, right before you, a real, legitimate, and legal copy of Floatzen 2."
"Floatzen is my favorite movie."
"And now you're about to see your new favorite movie."
Judy stopped for a moment, then looked at Nick. Before the fox knew what was happening, the bunny had her arms wrapped tightly around him.
"Thank you, Nick. This means a lot to me."
"Well, it's the least I can do for my little bunny." Nick rubbed the top of her head, her ears flopping. "Now, movie time." Nick pressed play and Judy looked like a child on Christmas as the movie finally started.
~Prey~
About a quarter of the way through the movie, a knock sounded on Judy's door. Nick paused the movie and asked if Judy had been expecting company. The bunny shook her head no and got up to answer it.
As soon as Judy opened the door, she saw Stacy standing there.
"Hey, I tried calling you, but you didn't answer."
"Stacy. Um…" Judy glanced at Nick, knowing she shouldn't have. "What're you doing here?"
"I know it's kinda late, but I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I mean, you kinda disappeared on us after that fox came to the precinct. The chief wouldn't say anything about it."
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine."
"What happened? Who was that fox?"
Nick wasn't sure if he should get up. On one paw, he wanted to know what exactly was going on, but on the other paw, this girl did not seem to be a big fan of foxes.
"He's an old friend of mine. Had a case for me, top secret stuff. I really shouldn't even be telling you, so I would really appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone."
"You should be careful, Hopps. You can't trust foxes. What was this case? Are you sure it wasn't a trap? You should have taken me with you in case it was."
Judy looked down, then at Nick, then nodded at him. Nick knew what she was asking for, and stood up from his spot on the couch.
"Hi," Nick said in his friendliest voice. Judy could already tell that he was analyzing what he could about her. He would shape his personality to suit her needs, whatever they were. "I'm Nick."
Stacy stared at him, then looked at Judy, then back at Nick, a dangerous look on her face.
This chick must really hate foxes, Nick thought when seeing that stare.
"The case I had for Officer Hopps here involved a sheep who escaped custody a year back. I was visiting Bunnyburrow when I saw him. I remembered him, actually."
Stacy looked as if she would rather chew glass than talk to Nick, but the wolf settled with walking away instead.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Judy."
Judy sighed and closed the door, knowing there was nothing she would be able to say to diffuse whatever anger was going through Stacy.
"Your new partner?" said Nick.
"My new partner."
"Look, just explain, Judy. I used to be an officer, I quit, came back with news of Doug. You can tell her that I helped you with the nighthowler case. There, easy. You explain the situation without compromising my secret."
"That is, if she even listens to me."
There was silence for a moment.
"I'm sure she'll come around. People didn't trust that a bunny could become a police officer, including myself. You proved everyone wrong then, I'm sure you can do it now." Nick smiled down at her, and Judy seemed to find a bit of comfort in that. "You wanna finish the movie?"
Now it was Judy's turn to smile. "Do you even need to ask?"
~Prey~
Judy walked into her cubicle, Stacy already on her computer near Judy's. If only Stacy knew that a fox had once sat in that chair every day and pretended to do paperwork. Judy sat down quietly and turned her chair to face her partner.
"Stacy," Judy said, and the wolf stopped typing. "We need to talk about what happened, but I need you to be open minded about this."
Stacy sighed, "Fine. I'm listening."
Judy explained it all. The nighthowler case, Nick being her partner, having to go after Doug because he had escaped arrest. Judy carefully made sure to leave out Nick's problem, and finished up the story with why he was in her apartment last night.
"He just brought food and we watched a movie. I haven't seen him in a while, so can you really blame me for wanting to be around him?"
"No," Stacy said. "It's just– my mom was scammed by a fox when I was a kid. We almost lost everything, and since then, she always told me how untrustworthy they were."
"But you don't know Nick. He's not like that. Look, just give him a chance, he won't disappoint you."
In that moment, Nick walked into the office with donuts and coffee.
"Morning, ladies," Nick said, handing a coffee to Judy and Stacy. Stacy hesitantly took the cup in her paw, surprised that this fox actually thought to get her one.
Nick set the bag down, and Judy excused herself with the bathroom, demanding that Nick not take sip of her coffee on her way out the door.
Nick sat down in Judy's chair and took a chocolate donut hole out of the bag, popping it into his mouth with a smile. Stacy watched, remembering that she had skipped breakfast that morning, then got a donut hole of her own.
"So, you're Judy's new partner?"
"Yeah," Stacy said, feeling more than a little uncomfortable. "I hear that you used to be her partner?"
"I used to be, yeah. Some things came up and I had to leave, but I'm back now, obviously."
"Have you thought about reinstating?"
"You sound like Carrots now. No, I don't think I'm reinstating. But I wasn't planning on joining the ZPD in the first place so who knows, maybe your partner will convince me."
"Yeah, she seems like a pretty determined bunny."
"She went against all odds and became a cop. Yeah, I'd say she is pretty determined."
Stacy felt the awkward tension in the room, and prayed that Judy came back soon.
"Look, I know you don't exactly trust foxes, but I can show you that we're not all bad. How about I treat you to dinner tonight? I know a place that has the best pasta in Zootopia. That is, if you're willing to give me a chance."
Stacy stared for a second, thinking about what Judy said. With a sigh, the wolf looked up at the confident looking fox, a casual smile on his face. Stacy wondered if that smile was just permanently on his face. Everytime she'd seen him, that same lazy smile haunted her.
"Okay," Stacy said. "I'll give you a chance to make me trust you. Just don't mess it up."