The cacophony of sounds inside the precinct was reassuring to Judy. Nothing had changed in her absence. Officers were running to and fro, some just starting a shift, some ready to go home others were dealing with the almost constant influx of civilians wanting to dispute a ticket or report a supposed crime.
For Nick it was a little unsettling. No matter how many times he would repeat to himself that everything was gonna be fine and that he won't end up in a cell, the amount of blue uniforms around him made that thought seem wishful thinking more than a fact.
All of a sudden an ear-splitting squeal trumped every other noise in the lobby. The rabbit half expected it but wasn't sure if it was coming. The fox was completely unaware of such a possibility and nearly jumped out of his fur.
When the screech ended, a yellow and blue sphere approached Judy at very high speed followed by what seemed to a be a very fast chanting of "Ohmygoodness," before stopping inches from her nose and picking her up for a tight hug.
"Oh my Goodness, Judy! I'm so glad to see you! I missed you so much!" Benjamin Clawhauser nearly shouted. Nick was happy to see that Judy had other friends in the city. "I heard all about the case. That despicable ewe got what she deserved, and it's all thanks to you! I was so happy when I heard you were back in town, but then the chief told us you were injured and I got so worried!" the cheetah rambled on almost all in one breath, a plethora of emotions interchanging on his round face.
Judy tried to speak, but she was being squished so hard by her friend, that all that came out was a muffled guttural sound. When Clawhauser noticed how tight he was hugging her, he apologised and gently set her down. After a coupled of strained breaths, Judy was finally able to talk, "I'm glad to see you too Ben, hope you didn't miss me too much!"
"Girl, you know I did! But enough about me, what about you? Are you okay? What did the doctors say? Where have you been?!" Clawhauser was officially in rapid fire mode, and Judy was struggling to keep up.
A couple of steps back, Nick was watching the little scene going down and was enjoying every second of it. The words of Judy's brother echoed in his mind, it really was quite a sight whenever Judy got flustered. He chuckled when Judy explained to her friend what happened in the pit. His eyes were so big and full of worry that it made him look like a cartoon character.
In less time than it took Nick to blink, Clawhauser, for lack of a better word, "teleported" less than an inch away from Nick's nose, scrutinising him with the same big eyes her had glued on Judy a second ago and a smile so wide it reminded him of a purple striped cat from an old story.
The fox flinched and took a step back, "Woah! Hi! Welcome to my personal space, how can I help you?" Ben's response was another squeal that, even if not as ear-splitting as the first one, still made Nick flinch again.
"You must be the fox that helped Judy! Rick, was it?" he asked with as much glee as a kit in a candy store.
"Uh, yeah it's me. Nick, actually, Nick Wilde." He offered his paw to the excited cheetah in front of him more out of habit than anything else, and immediately regretted it. The much bigger mammal was a bit too excited and started shaking his paw so vigorously that he actually lifted the fox off the ground.
"It's so nice to finally meet you! I heard so many stories about you!" Ben said, not letting go of Nick's paw.
Luckily Judy came to his rescue, "Put him down Ben, I need him in one piece if he's gonna be my partner!"
Ben, finally realising what he was doing the poor fox, let go of him and started to apologise profusely, before what Judy said clicked in his head. "Wait, PARTNER?!" A gasp and another squeal. This time both Nick and Judy were ready for it. "Oh my Goodness this day keeps getting better and better!" he said while giggling and jumping on the spot.
"Calm down Benji, you're gonna get a heart attack!" said Judy with mirth in her voice. She missed Benjamin, and she missed seeing him this excited.
Nick was still trying to recover from the pawshake. He felt like he went through a blender, but wasn't particularly mad at the cheetah for it. He seemed like a nice guy if a bit too excitable.
"C'mon, what are we waiting for! Let's go get you an application!" said Ben, turning and walking towards the front desk of the lobby. Judy was about to say that he didn't have to take time off work for them when she realised that the desk was empty, and the cheetah was walking confidently to it.
"Wait, Ben! You're back on front desk?" she asked with a hopeful smile and tall ears. The cheeky grin he gave her was more than enough. "Oh I'm so happy to hear that!" she said after jumping up and hugging him at the neck.
"Not as happy as I am! Working in records is bad enough, but working near the boiler room in the middle of summer should be classified as torture!" he said before setting her down on the counter and going around it to get on his seat.
After a quick search through some drawers, he produced an application form, handing it to Nick. "Here you go. Oh, I'm so excited! You're gonna look so cu- I mean adorable working together!" He quickly looked at Judy to see if he was clear, but the death glare she was giving him said otherwise.
While the two coworkers were catching up, Nick filled the application for the academy a second time. When he first did it, he made quick work of it, in less than a minute the form was ready to be handed in. This time, he took a little more time. He wasn't having second thoughts mind you, but this time it was more apparent to him that this was gonna be truly a life-changing decision.
He would have to stop seeing most of his "friends" if he could call them that, and his contacts list would get cut in half, if not more. Not many crooks want to talk to a police officer, some might even come after him. And he was doing all of this just because a bunny asked him to.
A quick glance to the bunny in question and Nick realised that the sentence wasn't correct. Not completely. So, after a quick sigh, he filled the last couple of points in the form and signed it. He stole another glance at Judy, and this time she was looking back at him with a small smile on her face. He smiled back and winked, showing the filled form to her. Judy's smile grew, this was the true beginning of their adventures.
"Clawhauser! Where are the reports I asked for this morning!" The booming voice of Chief Bogo came through the intercom on Benjamin's desk and caught all three of them by surprise.
The cheetah was the first to react, quickly pressing the talk button, "I'm sorry Sir, I got sidetracked! I'll bring them to you immediately!" he said while frantically gathering folders and stray pieces of paper.
"What do you mean you got sidetracked!? You literally had no other task today!" Bogo's voice was getting louder and louder by the minute.
Ben pressed the button again, "I know Sir, but Officer Hopps came in and-" he didn't get to finish his sentence.
"WHAT!? What the hell is she doing here? She's got one week still before she's clear for duty!" Bogo screamed down the intercom. It was a miracle the poor plastic box didn't crumble with the vibrations.
Ben went to press the button again, thought better of it, lowered the volume of the machine to zero and then finally spoke into it, "She came here to accompany Nick Wilde Sir, he wants to put in an application to join the academy."
"WHAT?!" was the immediate and incredibly loud response. Ben checked to see the volume of the speaker again, surely he must've raised the volume instead of lowering it. It was on mute.
Three stories above them, Chief Yumba Bogo was feeling a migraine coming fast. Of course Hopps couldn't just stay at home and recover like a normal mammal, and of course, that insufferable fox would follow her. Then again he should've expected it, they were almost literally glued at the hip when he last saw them.
That didn't mean he was happy about any of it. Getting up from his desk and displaying a great deal of self-control simply not smashing through the door, the Chief got to the railing facing towards the lobby and shouted "Hopps! Wilde!"
The two mammals peeked their heads from both sides of the front desk, "My office. Now!" Bogo said pointing behind him and disappearing from view.
Nick and Judy watched the back of the cape buffalo as he walked away, then looked at each other. "He remembers my name. I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing," quipped Nick.
"Definitely a bad thing," Judy and Ben answered in unison.
After a quick and apprehensive elevator ride to the fourth floor, Nick and Judy stood in front of the Chief's office. After gulping almost simultaneously they looked at each other, "So, do you think this is gonna be just a friendly catch up?" asked Nick with sarcasm and just a hint of hope in his voice.
Judy's ears wilted a smidge, "Somehow I doubt it…" she said.
"Stop confabulating outside my office and GET IN!" Bogo commanded from the other side of the door. Both Nick and Judy's ears snapped at attention, and the rabbit jumped up to the handle to open the door.
The office hadn't changed from the last time Judy saw it, with the only exception being the map of Zootopia on the wall. Now instead of being covered with pictures and information on the Missing Mammal case, various red strings of cotton were taught between tacks, keeping track of points of interests for another case. From the small tidbits of information scribbled on post-its next to some of the tacks, Judy deduced it was an investigation on a drug smuggling ring, but couldn't figure out what kind.
Nick on the other paw noticed other details rather than the map, like the fuming buffalo sitting behind the massive desk in the middle of the office. Bogo was staring daggers at both of them. This wasn't the first time he found himself in this position, and if he managed to be accepted and enroll to the academy it probably wouldn't be last, but he was sure that the fur behind his neck would raise every time. To say that the Chief was intimidating would be an understatement.
Luckily, in his years of hustling, Nick met even scarier individuals and had to learn how to not let his emotions show during negotiations, which was precisely what he was doing right now. He was wearing a completely neutral expression with the smallest hint of a smile. The only thing that could give away his internal turmoil was the occasional and very subtle twitch of the tip of his tail. Otherwise, anybody looking at him would the see the very picture of calmness.
Too bad he was in a room with a very attentive bunny and a seasoned Chief. To Nick's credit, Judy thought nothing of it and was impressed with how well he was handling the situation. Bogo, however, saw right through his facade and was pleased to know he was squirming under his gaze. Not because of some sadistic reason, but because that if pressured, the fox would slip up and make a mistake. And that was all that was needed for the Chief to send Nick packing and stop this buffoonery.
After another moment of silence and staring, Bogo finally spoke, "Sit."
They moved closer to the two big chairs seated in front of the desk, and without a word Nick propped his knee and laced his fingers together, boosting Judy up. Once she was atop the chair, she turned around and offered a paw to Nick, helping him climb up himself before sitting down next to each other.
The whole thing seemed so natural one would think they had practiced it for years, but in reality, they had known each other for little more than a week. Bogo noticed it but didn't voice his thoughts about it.
Deciding against letting them stew for a while more, the Chief turned his attention to Judy, "How is your injury coming along, Hopps?"
Judy sat a bit straighter and answered with a professional tone, "It's healing as predicted, Sir. The gash has almost completely cicatrised, and the stitches are due to be removed in three days."
Bogo nodded, "Good. I trust you are following the doctor's orders and aren't putting too much strain on your leg?" he asked.
"Of course, Sir," said Judy. Nick desperately wanted to voice his disagreement but thought better of it. The last thing they needed right now was to start a discussion about it in front of the Chief.
Another nod, "I assume a member of your family has travelled to Zootopia to help you at home?" he asked staring directly at her soul. He didn't ask her this just to make sure that Hopps was taking care of herself, but also to confirm a hunch he had the moment they walked in his office.
Judy faltered for a moment, "Huh… No Sir, they haven't. I'm huh, I'm staying with Nick at the moment. He was generous enough to open his home to me until I can get back on my feet and find a new apartment in the city," she explained. Her professional tone still present, but mixed with a bit of awkwardness. She still didn't like explaining to other people how she imposed on Nick, no matter how many times the fox assured she was doing no such thing.
Bogo had stopped listening after Judy said she was living with him and turned his stare to Nick. "Yes, very generous of you Mr. Wilde."
Nick shrugged and put on a nonchalant smile, "What can I say? I'm just the kind of person that can't turn away from a friend in need," he said, mustering up all the charm he could find and just a tiny bit of smugness. '"The Wilde Special," capable of making its way into anybody's heart. It works every time.'
It didn't work. "Hmm. Hopps, can you please leave Wilde and I alone? I would like to talk to him in private."
Both fox and rabbit's ears wilted a tad at the prospect, "Sir, I'm sure that Nick wouldn't mind-" Judy tried to convince Bogo to let her stay, but he cut her off.
"That was an order, Hopps," he said, never breaking eye contact with Nick.
Judy gulped and her ears folded behind her back completely, "Yessir," she said, saluting the Chief. With a last apologetic look to Nick, she jumped down the oversized chair, walked out the door and closed it gently behind her.
As the door closed, Nick turned back to the Chief, "Is there anything wro-" he tried to ask, but Bogo cut him off too, this time with a raised hoof.
"Hopps!" he almost shouted. Nick was confused for only a second before he heard a startled "eep!" coming from the other side of the door, followed by the sound of small rabbit feet scuttling away.
Nick was ready to speak again, but Bogo beat him to it, "What are you doing here, Wilde?" he asked with a grave face and the tone to match.
The fox went right back to being confused, "I'm sorry I don't-" The Chief cut him off again, clearly not pleased with how his response was shaping up.
"What are you doing here?" he asked again with the same tone and expression.
Nick was still lost, "You were the one that called-" and once again he was cut off.
"What are you doing here?" Bogo was starting to sound like a broken record.
'A rude broken record,' thought Nick. He was getting fed up with being interrupted before he could finish a sentence. "Is this a joke?" he asked.
The Chief leaned forward a little in his chair, "The only joke here is you, Wilde." Before Nick could protest, Bogo soldiered on, "I did some research on you, back when you decided to play hero with Officer Hopps and made me look like a clown in front of my Officers. Want to know what I came up with? Nothing. I couldn't even find your Social Security Number in our records.
"Which obviously raised all kinds of black flags. No matter who you are or what you do, our records always have something to show under your name," he said making sure to never break eye contact with Nick. He wanted him to realise his mistake in being over-zealous and not leaving any trace of his existence behind. It worked, judging from the flick of Nick's right ear.
After a moment, Bogo continued, "So I decided to call some of my old C.I.s, and the picture they painted of you was less than impressive. Low-level hustler, no notable criminal associations and always quick to turn tail and leave anybody behind when things get difficult." The Chief made another pause, this time to see if any reactions from the multiple jabs at him made Nick antsy.
This time, however, the fox seemed nonplussed. The erratic twitch of the tail was still there, but no other signals of distress or rising temper were showing. Nevertheless, Bogo continued and baited him harder, "The only notable thing about you, is that you have connections almost everywhere in the city. That's how you managed to fly so low under the radar to basically disappear. Would've worked too, if you didn't go too far with it. Amateur mistake, really, but nothing more than I would expect from a small-time crook that never had the guts of doing nothing more than robbing the elderly of their savings with ridiculous scams that a five-year-old could've come up with."
Still nothing. Nick was just sitting on his chair, looking at Bogo with raised eyebrows and an almost amused face. "Are you done trying to belittle me, or do you want to take a stab at the size of my penis too while we're at it?" he asked with a bit of mockery and a lot of smugness. He was a fox. He grew up with mammals making fun of him and insulting him, and he learned to tune them out. He learned not to let them get to him. Bogo's attempt wasn't even in the running for the worst tear down he ever got.
Seeing that needling Nick was leading to nowhere, Bogo decided to cut to the chase, "Despite what you think of me, I'm not stupid. When Hopps tangled you in her investigations, you saw an opportunity to gain from it. If you could somehow manage to convince this rookie that you would make a good cop, and use her to get a recommendation for the academy, a lot of doors would open for you. You could gain access to all kinds of information and use them for your 'hustles.'"
Nick snorted, "And I assume that's because I'm a fox, and all we do is lie, cheat and steal?"
Bogo's eyes hardened, and he raised his voice, "No Wilde, that's because you're a lowlife criminal that's been known for stabbing mammals in the back to get what you want!" he shouted. Nick wilted a bit in his chair. He didn't expect the Chief to cut so close to home.
"You might be able to fool Hopps, but not me. So I'll ask you one last time Wilde; What are you doing here?" Bogo asked leaning dangerously close to Nick's snout over the desk.
It took a moment for Nick to calm his beating heart enough to hear his thoughts and another one to come up with an appropriate answer. "You're right. I am every single one of the things you said. I was also discriminated against, belittled and almost every mammal I knew made fun of me because of my dreams. And so was Hopps."
Before the Chief could cut in again, Nick rushed to make his point, "You know what else she is? Something that I never was? Strong. Strong enough to keep going even though everyone was against her. Strong enough to fight discrimination, stereotypes and a literal rhino. Strong enough to fight even you. All so that she could make her dreams a reality." Now it was Nick's turn to fix the Chief with a piercing glare. On the outside he was stoic, but Nick was good at reading mammals too and could see that his speech had the desired effect. Bogo was listening.
"When I first met her, I thought that she was destined to fail. A bunny cop? In Zootopia of all places? She wouldn't last a week," he said with a little contempt. "That was the first time she proved me wrong. After I gave her a good dress down and felt very happy with myself for behaving like the people I'm so quick to judge, she found me again and set me up for failure. If I took her down a peg or two, she took me down twenty." This time, there was something akin to pride in his voice. Bogo was still stoic, but now it was apparent he wanted to see where Nick was going with his speech.
"So obviously, I had to do everything in my power to make her fail. I couldn't stand that someone was able to achieve their dreams in the same environment and situation that made me give up. And I did. I took every chance I had to set her up for failure again and make her life hell. But again she proved me wrong, and was still able to work through my interferences and continue her investigation." Nick took a moment to himself to think and decide how to finish his monologue and drive the point home, and Bogo used that time to size him up again. He couldn't figure this fox out.
Finally, Nick nodded and was ready to say his last piece. "When she saved my life the first time I started to respect her. When she did it the second time, I started to trust her. That's why I stood up to you back in the Rainforest District, I trusted her and knew that together we could solve the case. And we did, only for her to unwittingly break that trust. It hurt me more than I would've imagined, but I moved on. That's what I always did. Hopps however, didn't. She came back and poured her heart out to me trying to apologise, and I forgave her without a second thought. She meant every word she said to me, and she's still trying to apologise. She still trusts me.
"She also believes in me, so much so that she's asked me to join her in her dream. I have done a lot of things, most of them bad, but I could never break that trust. I know how much it hurts to have your dream ripped from you. I know how much it hurts to have your trust broken. And I'm not about to do that to Judy. She's the first one to see me for more than just a fox in a very long time, and I want to prove her right." Nick took a breath. He meant everything he said, but he never thought he would say it. Not out loud, and definitely not to Bogo of all mammals. Still, it felt good voicing his feelings, which in turn felt extremely foreign to him.
On the other side of the desk, Bogo was even more confused. He thought he had Nick figured out to a tee, but now he was not so sure anymore. They stared at each other for a while, neither of the two giving in to the other, and the Chief could not find a shred of deceit in the hustler's eyes.
At length, Bogo broke the silence in the room, and with a very threatening tone said, "Give me your application."
Judy was pacing frantically up and down the front desk, "They've been in there for almost an hour now! What could they be possibly be talking about?!" she said turning to Clawhauser, who had been trying to calm her down since she came back from the Chief's office.
"Don't worry about it Judy," he said, "I'm sure everything is alright. Besides, the worst thing the Chief could do is arrest him, and if he does he would call an Officer to his office to take Nick into holding!"
Judy's eyes widened, and her ears went rigid, "That's it. I'm going back in there!" she said before motioning to jump off the desk.
"Judy wait! If you barge in there, you're only gonna make things worse!" Clawhauser pleaded barely catching Judy by the scruff of her shirt and setting her back on the desk.
Judy turned around and spread her arms in disbelief, "I can't just sit here and do nothing! He could need help!"
"Who could need help?" said a voice from under the counter. Both Judy and Benjamin peeked over it and found Nick standing there, looking a little worse for wear but otherwise completely fine.
"Nick!" Judy jumped down from the desk and started checking the fox from top to bottom. "Are you okay? You were in there for so long! What did Bogo say? Did he question you? Did you question him? Please tell me you didn't call him Buffalo Butt again!"
"Woah! Calm down there Carrots, everything is okay," he said with a chuckle. "Chief Buffalo Butt did question me, but I had an answer for everything he threw at me. In the end, he was satisfied with what I had to say."
Judy's face belied a little of the anxiety and worry she felt for her next question, "And, about the application…?"
Nick scratched behind his neck and looked away, "Yeeeeah, about that…" he said with disappointment in his voice.
Judy's ears plummeted to the ground, "Oh no…"
A smile snaked across Nick's muzzle, "The next train to the academy leaves in three weeks, I have until then to sort all my personal matters," he said with overwhelming smugness.
"Nick!" Judy shouted before punching the fox square on the shoulder with far more force than you would expect from someone so tiny, "Never do that again! You scared the frick out of me!" she said with righteous anger.
Nick was furiously rubbing the spot when his joint once was, "Yup, I deserved that."
A bright smile soon appeared on her small muzzle, however, "Eeeek! I'm so happy! We're gonna be partners!" she said before diving in for a hug.
Nick almost lost his balance from the force of impact, but managed to regain his footing and awkwardly return the hug, "Don't get ahead of yourself Fluff, I got accepted to the academy, but only because Bogo cashed in some favours from the council. In return, he promised me that if I do anything to make him regret his decision, he would, and I quote, 'Make sure that I spend the rest of my life rotting in a prison cell regretting having ever been born.' And last but not least, to get assigned to Precinct One I have to score within the five percent of my class. "
Judy's hug didn't relent, "I know it's gonna be tough, but I believe in you, Nick! I know you can make it."
Nick's heart skipped another beat or fifty, "You really gotta stop doing that Carrots, a guy can only take so much."
She looked up to him with her head tilted to the side, "What do you mean?"
At that moment, Clawhauser decided to make his presence known again, "Aaaawwwww, you two are so c- adorable together!"
Nick chuckled, "Nice save there, Spots."
"And before you get any strange ideas, we're just friends Ben. So you better not spread any rumors, or your tail is mine!" Judy threatened. It worked, Clawhauser hugged his tail in horror.
"What's with you and tails Carrots? It's like you have an obsession," said Nick.
"Shut up! We don't have time for your banter right now, we need to go back to the apartment and start prepping for the academy!" Judy said before starting to drag Nick through the lobby.
Again Nick almost fell face first to the floor, "Easy Carrots, we have three weeks ahead of us."
Judy looked almost horrified, "Three weeks are nothing Nick! We need to start immediately if we want a chance to be ready," she said, picking up the pace, "See you later Clawhauser!"
Nick was struggling to stay on his feet by now, but still managed to turn around and fire a quick two-finger salute to the cheetah, "See ya soon buddy, keep your fingers crossed for me! Hey, Carrots hold up a sec- woah!" And with that, they were out of the door.
Clawhauser sighed and lowered the paw he was waving with, "He has no idea what he just got himself into," he said wistfully, resting his chin on both paws.
After a wild subway ride back to his apartment, Judy practically burst through the door, still dragging Nick from the precinct. "Alright, you sit here and start looking up what you'll need for the academy on your phone, I'll call Jeff and ask him to send me my old books here. We also need to come up with a work-out schedule later, you're not gonna last an hour if you don't get in shape Wilde," she said before shoving Nick on the couch and running to the bedroom.
"Hey!" he protested, "First of all I'm in fantastic shape, thank you very much! And second of all, there's still- aaaaand she completely ignored me," he said after Judy shut the door behind her. He couldn't help but laugh a bit. 'It's so quintessentially her that I can't even be mad.'
He took a big breath and sighed, before looking around his apartment. It had been a crazy morning, and the day was still young. His "friendly chat" with Bogo had drained him more than he would have imagined, but in the end, the buffalo wasn't nearly as bad as Nick originally thought. After he was sure that Nick wasn't lying, he did all he could to help him get in the academy even though the recruitment time slot had come and gone by more than a month. His exact words were, "As I said, Wilde, I'm not stupid, and I know to recognise when I made a mistake. I did it with Hopps, and I'm doing it with you as well. But don't think you're off the hook just yet. I'm gonna keep a close eye on you while you're at the academy. One mistake, and you're out."
Nick snorted. Old Buffalo Butt was still a mystery to him, but a new picture was starting to paint in his mind, one that wasn't as grim as before. And the picture didn't include the Chief alone, but everything else as well.
It was all about to change, and he couldn't wait. His new life was about to begin, and he only hoped the old one wouldn't come back knocking on his door.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
A/N: Got to England, opened a bank account, got a job interview, celebrated my birthday, got laid for my birthday. Three weeks in a summary. How was your three weeks?
All jokes aside, life has been crazy but good to me. That's why I'm able to release this chapter WAY before I'd anticipated. It's maybe a bit of a clichè, especially in this fandom, but hey! So is my whole story! So I hope you like it in all its clichè-y glory.
As always any and all feedback is highly appreciated!
