DISCLAIMER: I had my bid to take over Zootopia all ready to go, but the Sheriff of Nottingham burned it when he burned down King Richard's castle. So I still don't own Zootopia.
Huge thanks and praise to my awesome editor Daee17 (daee17 *dot* deviantart *dot* com), without which I would be writing 'ass' instead of 'as', and 'tits' instead of 'its'. It's because of her that this is actually a readable story and not a pile of misspelled words and unintentional innuendos!
Pain. That was the first thing that registered in Nick's mind, as the fox slowly crawled his way back to wakefulness. Throbbing pain in his back.
The second thing that registered was the warm weight on his chest and stomach. A warm weight whose leg occasionally twitched. He opened his eyes and looked down. The weight on his chest and stomach came with an appropriate sized bump in the comforter Judy had him bring from the burrow.
The memories of last night would stick with the fox for the rest of his life. Meeting Judy's family had gone well enough, he figured, and the bombshell that the doe had dropped about Nick being her boyfriend hadn't resulted in him being burned at the stake, castrated, or run out of town on a rail by a mob of pitchfork-wielding bunnies. On the other paw, he wasn't sure if Bonnie and Stu actually approved, but it was better than nothing. Baby steps, right?
Then she'd brought him out here for the little camp-out under the stars. And the kiss. She had surprised him then, both with the suddenness and with her passion. He knew Judy didn't have a lot of romantic experience, so he figured he'd probably be the one to initiate the first kiss, even though vixens usually did that. Her lack of experience was more than made up for with her passion and eagerness. The feeling of her lips on his was seared into his memory.
OK, that rock under his back was starting to be more than a pain in the ass. He had to move, but he really didn't want to disturb the sleeping ball of fluff. Wrapping his arms around said fluff ball, the fox rolled them onto their sides. The rabbit doe groaned and mumbled something unintelligible. Nick grinned.
Though the first time he'd discovered that she mumbled in her sleep was a painful experience for him, he couldn't help but find it adorable at the same time. Cute, even, though he'd never tell her that. He didn't want to be hauled into the sparring ring as punishment. It was well-known around the precinct that a certain gray bunny had a nearly unbeaten record on that floor, and curiously, whenever she walked into the fitness room and asked if anyone wanted to be her sparring partner, all of those in the room suddenly had other things to do, so Judy had taken to challenging them instead.
The fox wrestled his phone out of his pocket and looked at the time. 5:59 AM. Nick was surprised. Normally it was Judy that was awake first, especially at this hour. As if on cue though, he felt the doe shift against his chest, mumbling something, and gently pulling at the fur she found in her fists. Moving the blanket down a bit, Nick gazed upon the gray form as she opened her eyes and looked around. There was a brief flash of confusion before she relaxed as recognition set in. Nick smiled as the doe let out a yawn.
"Good morning, Fluff. Sleep well?"
Judy nodded, shifting herself a little to gaze up at the early morning sun. "How about you?"
The russet canid grimaced. "I slept well enough, but Carrots, next time we do this, we are GOING to bring a foamie or an air mattress or something. You might have had it easy, using me as your mattress and pillow, but I got to feel every rock, twig, lump, and pit in the ground underneath both of us. And chances are, I'm going to be feeling them for the rest of the day, too."
The doe's eyes opened wide, and she brought her paws to her muzzle. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry Nick. I was so caught up last night that I didn't think of that! Usually those blankets are fluffy and thick enough that it's enough padding for bunnies. Are you OK?"
"Well, I'm a bit stiff and sore, but I'll live. Just, lets sleep in an actual bed tonight, yeah?"
With a nod, the doe pushed herself up into a sitting position, and gave another yawn. Sitting up as well, and feeling every second of it, Nick looked out over the endless fields before looking back at the gray rabbit.
"So, what's on the agenda for today? Back breaking manual labour? Maybe a grilling from the parents? Or a foxhunt?"
Judy gave a snort as she tried to hold in her laughter and shook her head. "Come on Slick, don't be silly. I told you we don't do fox hunts any more, and you only get grilled if you piss us off or hurt one of us."
"And by grilling, you mean…"
"I think you know what I mean," Judy deadpanned.
The two stared at each other for a moment before both burst out laughing. "Nick, relax. Even if my family was going to do things so barbaric, do you think I'd let them?"
"Well, who knows? You could just be lulling me into a false sense of security before sending me off into some sort of weird Hunter Games tournament."
The rabbit doe sighed. "Darn. You figured it out. Our plans to take over Zootopia are ruined now."
"Seriously, Carrots, what are we up to today?"
Judy thought for a moment. "Well first we need to grab breakfast. After that, why don't we go check out the town for a while? I know there isn't much, not like Zootopia, but there are a few things to see. Kind of a tour? After that we can come back here and figure out what to do next."
Nick thought for a moment. "That sounds good, Carrots. I'd love to see the town." Truthfully, Nick would probably have found some enjoyment in visiting a garbage dump, if it meant he visited it – or suffered through it, depending on how you looked at it – with Judy.
The two mammals stood, with the rabbit gathering up the blanket and pillow, shaking them off and folding the blanket neatly before starting back towards the burrow entrance.
The burrow seemed quiet on the outside. Just birds singing their morning song, and the sound of wind blowing across the fields. The inside however was a completely different story. As soon as they opened the door, the fox was blasted by a proverbial wall of sound. Yelling and screaming made up the majority. Cajoling and demanding took up another part. And complaining made up still more.
The fox looked at the rabbit next to him, who had her ears pinned flat. At Nick's questioning look, the doe shrugged. "School day." The source of the noise seemed to come from an alcove off the main foyer. When Nick glanced in, his eyes fell on utter chaos.
Half the kits he saw were the ones yelling and complaining. Older kits were attempting to get the younger ones into their backpacks and jackets, and still other kits of all ages looked on. Before Nick had the chance to comment, Judy grabbed his paw and dragged him further into the burrow, away from the noise.
"Sorry about that. And believe it or not, this is a quiet day. Most of the time, at least with the litters I helped raise, there was a lot more yelling, screaming, and refusals to go to school. You know, typical family stuff."
Nick wasn't sure how 'typical' that was, though for Judy, he suspected that was more the norm. Despite his rough schooling career, he hadn't given his mother a lot of grief when it came time to go. She'd had enough on her plate as it was. He didn't need to add to it.
The further they got from the entry hall, the quieter things got, for which the fox was grateful. It was loud enough with his own hearing. He shook his head.
"How do you deal with that, Carrots? That was loud for me. And unless my memory fails me, you have a lot better hearing than I do."
"Ear plugs were a godsend on the really bad days. On any other day, you could get away with EarPawds or headphones and some good music."
The fox shook his head. He'd imagined that raising a family would be difficult, but 300 kits? Which begged the question…
"Carrots where were your mom and dad in all this?"
"Mom and Dad can only do so much. Dad's out in the fields by now, but I did see Mom in the corner fixing a zipper. When you have three hundred kits though, your time with Mom and Dad is limited. Mom and Dad would spend as much time as they could, but it usually fell to the older litters to help raise the younger ones."
Nick thought for a moment.
"I know you said you helped raise the younger litters, but I didn't think you guys did ALL the parenting."
"We don't. Or didn't. Not really, anyways. We all had set schedules that we cared for the younger litters. Mom still spends most of her time caring for kits, but my parents tried to make time for everyone. We did handle most of the day to day stuff, though." The doe shuddered. "I've changed more diapers than I care to count."
Judy led Nick into the breakfast nook, which, like dinner, was more of a buffet than anything, with a large selection of cereals and muffins, bread for toast, and fruits and veggies. The fox grabbed a plate and bowl and loaded them up. He made sure to add extra blueberries to the cereal.
The two ate a silent but companionable breakfast, the bulk of the Hopps family having already eaten and started their days. A few rabbits bid them hello as they walked by, but no one seemed inclined to chat at the moment.
They had just put their dishes in the dirty dish cart when they heard a commotion from the hallway.
"I'm telling you, Mom! The government indoctrinated her! Why else would she want to do something as crazy as become a police officer, and date that fox? It's obvious he's a government agent!"
Nick wasn't sure whether to be insulted or amused. Judy on the other hand was facepalming.
Nick didn't hear the response from the Hopps matriarch, but it was clear that the rabbit buck didn't like it.
"Mom, they use colleges and universities to indoctrinate mammals! And Judy went to TWO! Can we even call her Judy anymore?"
This time, Bonnie's response was more than loud enough. "Shame on you, Jeremy! That's your sister you are talking about! And while I worry for Judy's safety, she chose her own path. And I highly doubt Nick is in any government agency, besides the ZPD."
"He's hiding in plain sight! Pretty soon, Judy'll disappear into some government program, and we'll never hear from either of them again!"
The sight that greeted them as they rounded the corner was one of Bonnie having been stopped by a buck with huge glasses on his face and a stained white T-shirt, and the words "The truth is out there" in large creepy letters across the front. As soon as he caught sight of them, the buck seemed to panic, and he took off running in the other direction.
Bonnie took notice of the newcomers and sighed. "Don't let Jeremy's antics bother you, Nick. He's always been a bit paranoid."
The doe beside him nodded her agreement. "Remember I told you about him, back before we…patrolled Kalahari Heights last?" Judy was trying to be delicate and not bring up what they'd found that night. The Hopps family heads knew about Wolford's murder, but they didn't know that Judy and Nick had been the ones to find him. Nick nodded.
"That was him?"
"That was him," Judy confirmed
Nick hummed. "Where do you suppose he's off to?"
Judy shrugged. "Probably off to check for crop circles in the south fields again. Come on, let's get out of here."
The two mammals spent the morning touring the town. Small was the first word he'd used to describe it. Judy explained that most of the population did in fact live on the farms, outside of the town proper. Only about 10,000 lived within the corporate limits, despite what the population signs he'd seen said.
"210 million?! 210 million mammals live here?!" he'd blurted out, tensing up and wondering if he'd soon be swarmed with a huge fluffy army.
Judy had laughed. "Gosh, no. That sign's just a prank. You know we're good at multiplying, but we aren't THAT good. It just gets to one billion and rolls back to zero."
Nick relaxed slightly at that revelation.
Judy had taken Nick to see the fair grounds, her schools and through the downtown shopping district. Of course, the stores there catered mostly to bunnies, but there were a number that catered to larger mammals. The two got a few odd looks around town, but nobody actually said anything.
It was about one in the afternoon when a grumbling sound pierced the air. The two stopped and stared at Nick's stomach, the fox flushing under his red fur.
"Carrot sticks, we'd better feed that beast. It sounds dangerous," Judy quipped with a giggle.
She led the fox down the street, pulling open the door on one shop. The heavenly scent of fresh baked goods exploded outward at him, enveloping his senses and making him almost swoon.
"I figured we could hit two carrots at once. This is Gid's bakery, Nick. We can grab…Madison? What are you doing here?"
Judy had stopped as she'd gone through the door, staring in surprise at her sister. Nick remembered her from her brief interjection in their conversation the night before. The tan doe was dressed in a baker's apron and looked up at the newcomers.
"Guess news doesn't really travel out of the burrows, huh? Mom and Dad never told you I got a job here?"
The gray doe shook her head. "Nope. Usually they only bring someone up if I ask them or if someone graduates or is going to have another litter, or something like that."
"Hmph. Guess getting a job at the only fox-run bakery in town isn't newsworthy. Then again, you're the one that's been in front of the cameras more than all of us combined. You and your foxy boyfriend here for something to eat?"
"Yeah. Slick here can't go more than a couple hours without eating something. Honestly, I think his daily food bill is more than the gas we use in our cruiser," the gray doe remarked with a smirk.
Madison laughed. "Let me go talk to Gid. Things are quiet enough after lunch, I might be able to join you if that's OK?"
Nick figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to get in good with some of Judy's siblings too, so when Judy looked at Nick for his opinion, he gave a thumbs up and a grin.
After a while, a portly fox, shorter than Nick and with lighter fur came out of the kitchen. "Judy? Well, damn, Maddy'd told me you were back from the city, but I wasn't sure if you'd be swingin' 'round here or not. And who's this?"
"Gid, this is Nick Wilde. He's my partner on the force. Nick, meet Gideon Grey."
To Nick's surprise, the younger fox offered his paw for a shake, which he gladly took. "Nice ta meet ya, Nick. Though from what Maddy here tells me, you two are a bit more than partners at work?"
Judy's ears dropped, and Nick didn't fare much better.
"Relax, yeh two, I don't mind. I-I'm just glad that Jude here didn't let what I did ta her change that. Dunno if she told ya Nick, but I was a big jerk when I was a kit."
The taller fox nodded. "She told me. But she also told me that you aren't that guy any more and that she forgave you."
Gideon visibly relaxed at that. "She's a good mammal. Most prolly wouldn'ta forgiven me after how badly I messed her up."
"Hey Gid, whatever happened to that ferret we went to school with anyway?" Judy hadn't really had the chance to ask beforehand, her previous visits to Bunnyburrow being very brief.
Gideon looked over at the gray rabbit. "Hmmm? Oh, Travis? I haven't seen him in years, but last I heard he got himself locked up for stealin'."
Judy hummed and got a thoughtful look on her face.
"Anyhow, you guys in for some lunch? I can put together some sandwiches for us if you want." At Judy's nod, the portly fox went into the back room, while the other three mammals sat themselves at a table in front of the store window. No sooner had they gotten settled, when Judy focused her attention on her sister.
"So how long have you worked for Gid, Maddy?"
The tan doe thought for a moment. "Maybe three months now? It was just after you visited last."
"Any reason why?"
Madison sighed. "You know I was on Mom's cleanup squad for years. I wanted to move to the kitchen crew, but then so did everyone else and their daughter it seemed. Every time mom had room, I was the last to hear about it."
"I wanted to learn to bake, and I wasn't getting anywhere at home. So, I caught Gid when he made a delivery one day and asked if he wanted some help around here. He brought me on to work the counter and taught me some of the stuff he knew on the side."
At that point, Nick excused himself to the restroom. The two does watched him go. Silence descended.
"So…Nick seems nice."
Judy snorted. "He's a bit…shall we say, abrasive, but he grows on you. But under all those snide remarks and off-colour jokes, he's really got a good heart."
"You really love him?"
"I do. He was there for me to save my job. He was there for me to help me solve the Night Howler case. And he was there for me when we found Wolford's body."
Madison looked confused, before it cleared up. "Oh! That cop that got killed a couple weeks ago?"
The gray doe nodded. "The same. Wolford was my partner until Nick graduated, and he was a friend."
Madison's expression turned sympathetic. "I'm sorry, Jude. That must have been tough."
The two sat in thought for a while, before the tan doe spoke up again. "How did you get Nick to notice you?"
Looking up, Judy couldn't keep the confused look off her face. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, you two are dating right? How did he ask you out?"
"It just sort of happened I guess. We both felt something for each other. We just had to admit it to each other."
"But how did you get him to ask you out?"
Judy shrugged. "Foxes do things a bit different than bunnies. The vixens always ask the tod out first. That's how it works for them. The vixen leads. Why do you…Wait, why are you suddenly interested in fox dating?"
The tan doe's expression went from curious to alarmed.
"Nothing! Just curious! Hehehe! Curious, Judy!"
Judy smirked. "The only fox our age around here that I know of is Gideon. And here you are working for him. And now you're asking about fox dating. C'mon Maddy, admit it."
The tan doe shrunk, feeling a bit small, and thinking that this must be what the mammals Judy arrested felt like when she questioned them.
"He is a nice mammal, Judy. And after all the things I've heard you tell Mom and Dad about Nick, I knew you were falling for him. And I…I just…want to know if I've got a chance with him," Madison said in a bit of a small voice.
Judy smiled and shook her head. "Gosh, Maddy. Relax! I'm not gonna rat you out or anything. But I doubt the parental units will be happy to know that I've corrupted another of the Hopps kits with interspecies relationship ideas!"
The two does burst out laughing at that, just as Nick returned from the bathroom, and Gideon came out from the kitchen, carrying a tray of sandwiches and drinks.
The four sat in the lobby and chatted for a couple of hours, with Madison getting up every once in a while to take care of a customer that walked in, while Gideon would excuse himself to tend to the kitchen as needed.
That is, until Gideon brought out the blueberry pie desert.
Nick's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. He looked over at Judy, then at Gideon, then at the pie, then back at Judy.
Judy laughed. "You and your blueberries, Nick!"
Gideon served the four each a slice and sat back down. Nick stared at the culinary masterpiece for a moment before he dug in. The moment the pie's filling touched his tongue, he was transported to another world. A world of blueberries. And a gray rabbit too. He struggled to keep from moaning aloud but was jarred back to reality by the sound of his doe's voice.
"Should I be jealous of the pie, Slick?"
Nick blinked and realized that all three of the others were staring at him.
It's a good thing his coat was already red. He still wanted to dig a hole in the seat and crawl in though. Judy looked at Gideon. "I think it's safe to say he likes your pie, Gid. Nick's passion for blueberries makes bunnies look like we hate carrots."
The group laughed again at the fox's expense. Nick shook his head. "You wound me, Carrots. A fox has to have his blueberries, right Gid?"
The younger fox scratched his head, then winked at Judy. "Dunno, Nick. I kinda prefer strawberries myself."
Nick just stared at the other canid.
More laughter.
After a while, the fox just shook his head. "Crazy. All of you."
The four continued to chat for a little while before Gideon pointed out that he and Maddy needed to get ready for the expected afternoon influx of homeward bound school kits looking for a quick snack.
When Judy went to pay the portly fox for lunch, Gideon refused it, telling the doe that he was just happy to meet Nick and spend some time catching up. The two pairs parted ways, with Judy promising that they'd visit again tomorrow.
The two mammals had barely made it a block from the bakery when a smooth voice stopped them.
"Well, if it isn't the Ice Queen herself. I wondered if you would show up around here again, or if you had abandoned your kind for the big city. Although, from the looks of things, it looks like I wasn't entirely wrong."
Judy froze in her tracks, and Nick could feel the tenseness in the paw that was holding onto his. He glanced down to see the doe's mouth set in a thin line and her ears quaking.
"Then again you were never exactly right in the head, so it's not surprising really."
Judy closed here eyes and took a deep breath, relaxing her features before she turned around, Nick doing the same. Before them stood a white hare with blood red eyes. If the fox had to guess, the hare had albinism. He was dressed in what looked to be a fairly expensive suit, the red tie matching his eyes.
"Grimsby." Judy's voice was so cold, it could have frozen everything all the way to Zootopia. Queen Elsa of Aren-dhole had nothing on Judy at the moment. Judy's ears were straight out behind her head, parallel to the ground too, a sure sign that the doe was NOT in a good mood.
A look of annoyance flashed through the white hare's expression. "That's Gerald Grimsby the Third to you, Hopps. Learn your place."
"Grimsby, you think a doe's place is in your bed, so I'm GLAD to not learn 'my place'."
"Still sore about that whore of a sister of yours? She made her choice, a good one at that. Everything she did after that was her own fault."
White hot anger flashed through Judy's eyes, and Nick had an instant to react before she lunged at the pompous buck. She found herself being held back by a large brown and russet paw, fists swinging ineffectively at the open air between herself and the lagomorph most hated by the bunnies of the Hopps family.
"Let me go, Nick! Let me go!"
The white hare smirked. "Yep, that would be a real smart move. Your family spent years paying my lawyer's legal fees. Why not add to that with an assault charge?" The hare regarded Nick for a moment. "Although it is unusual for a fox to display any kind of intelligence beyond stealing from mammals. I'm surprised."
Nick steeled himself inside and took a deep breath. Judy was still struggling against him, and he knew that if he didn't do something, she was likely to break free or turn her anger on Nick himself. He bent down.
"Carrots. Judy. Relax. Never let them see that they get to you, right?" After a moment Judy calmed down. Her ears stayed pointing straight back.
Nick thought for a moment. "Wait a minute. Grimsby? Of the Grimsby cotton fortune?"
The hare turned his smug expression on the fox. "Wow. This fox actually has a brain. Yes of course. I am the head of Grimsby Enterprises."
Nick winked at the doe beside him before turning back to the pompous prick. "Tell me if this sounds familiar, Mr. Grimsby."
"Little hare in a well-to-do family never learns the value of a buck, never has to do any work to get the things he wants and never has to worry about how much his actions cost him or others. One day our pompous little hare inherits all of Daddy's fortune, his company, and his circle of groupies. Life is good for our little hare. Except, whoopsie, the company isn't doing so hot thanks to the mismanagement of our little hare and his father. Of course, double whoopsie, a buck not knowing the value of currency would just keep spending on frivolous things like that ridiculous suit you're wearing until, whoopsie number threesie the little hare is running his Daddy's fortune into the ground."
Throughout Nick's speech, the hare's white fur was getting visibly redder, and Judy's face had morphed from a look of pure anger to a smirk. She picked up the spiel.
"Eventually our little hare has no choice but to actually start curbing his spending. Where's the limo you were driving around town in last time I was here? The chauffeur? All the gold rings and trinkets? Get rid of those too?"
By this time, the hare could be said to have steam pouring out of his ears. "You'd better watch that filthy mouth of yours, Hopps, or I'll sue you for slander. And tell your pet fox to mind its own business."
Spinning on his heel, the buck marched back down the street. For a moment, neither bunny nor fox said a word. It was Nick that eventually broke the silence.
"I've met a lot of mammals, Carrots. Some rich, some poor. And a lot of speciest bigots. But I think that's the first time I've met someone as self-centred as him. How did you cross paths with that guy?"
Judy shook her head. "He was a year ahead of us in high school. Apparently, he got put there by his dad after he flunked out of some ivory league school. He thinks he's God's gift to us does. Or maybe conquests, I don't honestly care at this point. Anyway, he tried to hit on me, and I turned him down."
Nick frowned. "He mentioned your sister."
Judy shook her head and silently started walking the way they'd been going earlier, heading into a small park overlooking the town's river. A pedestrian bridge arced over the water in the distance, and a few mammals were out enjoying the warm afternoon sun. The doe sat down on a bench that was sized for rabbits, which made things a little awkward for Nick. Instead of sitting on the bench, he made himself at home on the ground next to her and waited for her to start speaking again.
"You remember what I told you the morning after Wolford died? About how I've lost siblings?"
Thinking for a moment, the fox nodded. "I don't remember their names, but yeah, I remember you saying something about them."
"Charles, Samantha, and Jackie," Judy clarified. "Charles was older, and Sammy was younger. But Jackie was my littermate."
Nick processed this. "Were you close?"
"Charles died before I could remember much of anything. Sammy died of pneumonia when she was 12. I'd helped raise her. She was a tough loss to take. But Jackie. We were close…"
"What happened?"
"Jackie wanted to be an actress. She wanted to be the Gazelle of movies. She was in the school drama clubs and everything. Heck, she was the one that got me into acting. Anyway, one day, Grimsby sees her and decides she's his next conquest. He promised her he'd talk to some of the people he knew and get her auditions and stuff."
"She went along with it. Ate up every word he said, even when we told her not to. If you haven't noticed, we Hopps's are a stubborn lot. She was so convinced that he was her way in that she didn't want to think about anything else. And when he finally reeled her in… well… it was as easy as making toast for him. Heat up the bread and butter it up."
"She came home the next morning in tears, telling us about how she told him she thought she was in love with him…and he'd laughed at her, called her a fool and a whore. Spread rumours about her in school. I got sent to detention when I beat him up the next time I saw him."
The fox shuddered at the thought. As a conman, he was used to pulling scams that put some dents in mammal's wallets, but he never did anything to emotionally abuse other mammals. There were some lines that should never be crossed.
"That wasn't the worst part, though."
Nick's eyes never wavered from Judy's and he sat silently, waiting.
"She started going through bouts of depression. Locked herself in her room for days on end. Wouldn't talk to any of us, and when she did, she'd have violent mood swings. Eventually, mom took her to see a specialist, and from there, a doctor. We found out she was pregnant, and it was way too late to abort."
The fox frowned. "Correct me if I'm wrong, Judy, but wouldn't she have been showing?"
Judy shook her head. "We all thought she was just putting on weight from her depression. And before you ask, Mom had tried to get her to go see the doctor beforehand, but she skipped out. It wasn't until we essentially forced her to go, that she actually went."
The doe sighed. "Jackie had a litter of 6 kits. 5 of them were stillborn."
There was a long pause.
"Cotton was the only one that survived."
The memory of the tiny tan-furred, green-eyed bunny hugging his leg on the train platform surged into his mind's eye.
Judy slumped. "It all went downhill even faster after that. She couldn't handle the stillborns, and barely acknowledged Cotton. We tried to force the Grimsby's to step up to the plate and at least pay for child support, but their lawyers got the case thrown out as the pregnancy being a "child's mistake that shouldn't be punished" and we ended up saddled with the legal fees. That was the last straw for Jackie. She disappeared, and for a while we had no idea what happened to her. We searched, but it wasn't until later that we found out what happened."
"Someone told us they saw her jump from that bridge over there." She gestured to the pedestrian bridge in the distance.
"We never found her body, and the local sheriff declared it a teen suicide."
The hostility Judy had shown now made sense. Nick laid his paw on Judy's knee, giving it a squeeze. Judy glanced at him. He could see the pain in her eyes, but it was muted. Anger was there too.
The fox sat back and thought. One part of him wished he could dig up some of his old contacts and get some dirt on this guy, something that would either put him behind bars or at least humiliate him. The larger part, the one that sounded suspiciously like Judy, reminded him that he was a cop now, and was expected to do things by the book, and that Judy would be hurt and upset with him if he jeopardized his new career choice.
Still, he would keep an ear to the ground as it were. Maybe ask Gideon to do the same.
In the mean time though, the fox figured a change in topic was in order.
"So, Carrots, what were you and Madison talking about when I came back to find you two giggling today?"
That brought a smile to the doe's face.
The two arrived back at the burrow before dinner. Bonnie's kitchen crew had made up a stew this evening, one Nick found very enjoyable. He noticed that the stares the two got were a lot fewer this time around, and the questioning was mostly about how their day in town had gone. Judy skipped over the encounter with the albino hare, and Nick decided not to bring it up, guessing that it was probably a sore spot with the family.
The two retired to Judy's room, the doe having convinced her parents to allow Nick to share the room, if not the bed. Though he'd grown up living in an apartment, and eventually under that bridge, the earthy, underground room with the small round window felt strangely comfortable for the fox. He suspected it was because his ancestors made their homes in holes in the ground in the days before they had learned to build with tools.
Nick grabbed his toiletries and headed off to the male's washroom, just as Judy returned from her evening preparations. When Nick got back, the doe had already changed into her sleep clothes and was propped up on her bed, scrolling through her phone, tapping out a message every once in a while. When she noticed Nick, she put the phone away and scooted to sit on the side of the bed.
"So, did you have a good day?"
Nick plopped himself down next to her, bouncing the bunny. He shrugged. "It was nice seeing the town. You know, where you grew up. Never thought I'd actually have a reason to visit a bunny town before. I was kind of surprised to hear about your sister though. Do all the Hopps does have a thing for predators?"
Judy shook her head. "Just me and apparently Maddy, as far as I know. I didn't even know she worked at Gid's bakery until today. We weren't exactly close growing up. Not enemies or rivals, or anything, just off in our own little groups."
The fox nodded.
"So, what did you think of Gideon?"
Nick took a second to organize his thoughts.
"I honestly wouldn't have guessed that he'd been a bully of yours when you were younger. From what you told me of him when he was a kit and what I see of him now, it's like night and day."
Judy chuckled a little at that. "That's what I thought when he showed up at my family's farm. Beyond the physical resemblance, I could hardly believe it was the same mammal. The first thing he did when he saw me was to me apologize for his behavior too." Judy smiled, remembering that conversation. "He'd spent a lot of time in therapy since leaving high school. It showed."
Nick smiled. "Well, I'm proud of him. And of you too, for forgiving him. It takes a big heart to forgive something like what he did to you."
Judy smiled at that.
"It also takes a big heart to forgive me. I was a jerk too." She kissed the fox on the tip of the nose as they settled under the comforter.
The fox cupped the doe's cheek in his paws. "Stop worrying about that, Fluff. You've fixed that mistake. Just like Gideon."
Judy nodded, wrapping her arms around Nick, and sighing contentedly when she felt his arms and tail encircling her. It was a while before either of them fell asleep, but eventually, both succumbed and found themselves lost in the world of dreams.
A/N
Just a couple of things. In this chapter, there's a bit of a crossover with Midnight Opheliac's Safe Paws. Gerald Grimsby the Third (or 'Gerald Grimsby the Turd' if you so prefer) was created for A Ray of Hope, but he actually made his first appearance in Safe Paws, in chapter 35. Just to clarify, he belongs to me, but was offered to Midnight Opheliac for her use.
Madison Hopps, on the other hand, belongs to me and my wonderful editor. She's our creation. So please ask before using either one! Thanks!
The Bunnyburrow population counter was about 81.5 million when Judy first left for Zootopia, and it was increasing at about a rate of 5 per second.
So…
5 per second x 60 seconds per minute x 60 minutes per hour x 24 hours per day x 30 days per month x 10 months (approximately) = 129,600,000 increase
129,6000,000 + 81,500,000 = 211,100,000
I had one "Ask the Cast" question last chapter, on DeviantArt. Keep the questions coming! (All answers are in-universe!)
Last week's references, some people picked up the Star Wars reference, but no one picked up the reference to DreamWorks TrollHunters! Can you find the reference in this chapter?
Coming up on June 29: Fielding Questions!
I reply to all comments, except guest comments on FFN! Questions? Critiques? Was your favourite TV show interrupted by some crazy Canucklehead posting a new story chapter? Leave a comment!