A/N:
Ladies, gentlemen! Mammals of all ages! It is time for BWD to end. For now, at least. I need a break and the characters agree. I do have the next story arc roughed out on paper, but I need a breather so I can do it justice. The sorcerer and his apprentice will be returning with a few new friends and a new adventure after a reasonable interval. In the meantime, you will be seeing the return of the were-bun. I hope that is a reasonable exchange. Please, enjoy the last chapter of BWD, Part 1. Now, enough with the jibber-jabber. On with the show!
Nick's eyes cracked open, rather drunkenly, at roughly the same time as the sun peeked over the horizon. Part of his reason for gaining consciousness was the ray of sunlight that found its way unerringly across his eyes. Another part was his rumbling stomach. The majority of it, however, centered on the fact that he felt someone watching him. It was something he'd just managed to get used to in the last week.
"You know that's creepy as hell, right?"
"You love it," Judy quipped.
Looking down at the rabbit, Nick raised an eyebrow. She was in what had become her early morning perch—laying with her chin propped on her paws, her elbows on his chest, with her feet kicking lazily behind her. The sight made him smile. It helped that she was gloriously nude with a severe case of porn fur.
"Crazy rabbit."
"Crazy boyfriend of rabbit."
"Birds of a feather."
"—make a uniform pillow."
Nick chuckled. "What?"
"Something you said in your sleep," Judy chirped as she slid off him and onto the floor. "Come on, lazybones. We have something to do today."
"Carrots, we've done things every single day for the last two weeks."
"Other than rut," she tossed over her shoulder.
"Yes. Other than rut. I thought this was supposed to be a vacation."
"No, this was a week's leave for me to acclimate to my new position and get prepared after a week's mandatory leave following my review."
"You've had two weeks off, then. Why have we been so busy?"
She turned back to him and held up a paw, ticking off words as she replies. "Oh… Sorcery lessons, sex, apartment hunting, sex, reviewing personnel files, sex, selecting my team, sex, getting you back into your certification classes… And did I mention sex?"
Nick rolled his eyes. "Did I mention that I thought vacations involved sleep?"
"You can take a nap when we get home, or I can ride you like I stole you. Your choice."
Nick's paws swept a grand gesture down himself. "Your chariot awaits, M'lady."
"That's what I thought. Now, get up. We're due at the precinct in an hour." Judy gasped melodramatically when he untangled himself from the sheet and stood. He was covered in scratches, bruises, and bite marks. "Oh, Nick…"
The fox briefly looked himself over and smiled wryly. "Yeah… You really did a number on me."
"Oh, gods, Nick… I'm not sorry at all."
"If you were, I'd be worried about doppelgängers."
"Are those real?"
"Just think of the possibilities…"
"For which one of us?"
"Both."
The rest of their shower was peppered with Judy checking out the damage. While the fox soaped up and attempted to rinse, the doe found all manner of ways to get in the way. Not that he minded. For her it was cataloguing territory claimed, while for him it felt like badges of honor. She was very thorough and he failed to resist at all. The situation only worsened when they realized how much time had slipped by without Judy even getting soaped. Nick solved that by lathering his much larger paws and assisting her. It very nearly led to a much longer shower.
An hour later they were strolling into the main doors of ZPD Precinct One. The only hiccup in their preparations having been Nick's reticence about entering the precinct.
"So, what exactly is your problem?" Judy inquired over her coffee when they'd stopped at the café across from the station.
"I've been in that building many times, Carrots—"
"Exactly! You should be used to it."
"—But, I was usually wearing matched bracelets. You know, the silver kind? Joined by a chain?"
"No charges were ever brought against you and you know I put the fear of civil rights lawsuit into the chief and IA. By now City Hall is trembling in their boots, hoping that the statute of limitations passes on your ability to file suit."
"They'd have to cancel pizza Fridays in the office."
"And any other luxuries for about a hundred sixty years. Are you sure you aren't going to pursue civil action? You're within your rights and all the evidence is on your side. That nice hyena would do incredible things in a courtroom on your behalf."
"I said no and I meant it…" Nick let his statement linger for a moment. "That's not to say I won't change my mind if a process server annoys me."
"You're evil."
"Or practical. Even magic has its limits and any leverage is useful when dealing with demons." Nick made a gallant gesture towards the door, motioning for Judy to preceed him out of the coffee shop. "Shall we?"
Judy's hesitated inside the door frame before scooting back inside to make room for an ocelot trying to enter. Ears pricked, she looked up at her fox expectantly. "Demons? Are you serious?"
"Politics. The root of many evils."
"Politics is a fact of life for a public servant. Which you are, now…. Sort of."
"Talk about unforeseen turns…"
"Uhhuh. You're almost a functioning member of society again, after a decade and a bit off being a magical hobo."
"I was not a hobo! I had a home."
"A rotting room in a ruin is not a home. It's a hovel."
"I'd prefer the term "den", if you have to be pejorative."
"You're deflecting because you're nervous and delaying."
"You're too smart for my own good. And adorable."
"Talk like that will not get you a quickie in the mop closet."
"Office supply closet, then?"
"Let's go."
As they left the café a news update filtered through the air from the flat-screen mounted in the corner. The reporter was the same lioness that had made the initial report on the strange phenomenon two weeks previously. Her report hadn't changed much—more speculation and a little follow up with local mammals on the aftermath. That didn't stop Judy's ears from pinking in mild embarrassment. Nick noticed, of course, just as he noticed the extra spring in her step, her self-satisfied grin, and how she dropped her head like a bull, ready to meet the day head on.
He smiled as she lead him out to face the next chapter in his odd life.
He was nervous; not as much as she seemed to think, but that was also partly her deflecting her own nerves. It was a blow to his pride, but worth the allowance for his bunny. She was about to step into a new role as a team leader. It was a hell of a step up and under the watchful eye of many mammals of consequence. It would be a long time before she felt settled in her role and that was just one of the many changes they were faced with. The weeks previous had been a rather busy time for the pair. Despite being supposed downtime, Judy had had many things she'd wanted to accomplish.
"Carrots, are you serious?"
"Like a mortician on holiday."
"That makes no sense."
She'd rolled her eyes and huffed, "Yes, Nick, I'm serious. You are moving in with me."
"We both can't fit in this toy box of an apartment, Hopps. I adore you, but you'd have to sit on my lap constantly."
"I fail to see the issue with that."
"For one thing, I don't want a second job as a recliner. For another, it would lead to other things constantly. We wouldn't get anything done."
"Especially since I spend my time at home nude. …And you're distracted."
"Shh… I'm visualizing."
"You can do that after we get you signed up for your PI recertifications. We also have apartments to look at after lunch."
"Do you have the whole day booked?"
"All week."
"I do still have to work, sweetheart."
"And we can have lessons while we work."
"Maybe I can skip right to the tests for my recerts."
"You might for some. One way to find out."
"Apartment hunting, recert tests, training and my work with the city… I got a girlfriend and my schedule's packed!"
"I've also earmarked several hours a day for us to rut all over this toybox."
"Several… How? When will we sleep?"
"When we can't physically move." Judy grinned wolfishly. "It'll be worth it."
Nick gulped audibly and smiled weakly. "What a way to go…"
That conversation had been the morning after they finally caught each other. Phone calls to the Chief and a few other mammals saw their week fill up with tasks, errands and to-do lists. Nick found that he was most definitely on Judy's to-do list and rather frequently. They did manage to find time to sleep, but it was frequently interrupted. Making up for lost time was an activity both of them enjoyed and neither complained about lost sleep. The neighbors, on the other hand were far less sanguine. Nick was glad they were going to be signing the lease for their new place after their introductory meeting—the one he was currently being led towards.
The first thing Nick learned upon entering the precinct, sans handcuffs, was that the desk officer could qualify for planetoid status. That said, he was a sweet if shrewd mammal in Nick's opinion. The considering scowl on the cheetah's face lasted until the rabbit and fox got into scent range. Then the felid's face morphed into a the most glaring expression of glee Nick had ever seen.
Judy saw the joy-gasm building on Clawhauser's face and knew once he got started he wouldn't stop for an hour, at least. She had to get to the meeting and was getting dangerously close to being late.
Judy barked, "Clawhauser!" The cheetah blinked and focused on her. "After my meeting."
"Promise?"
Judy stifled a giggle at the squeaked reply. "I promise. I can't be late on my first day."
"Oh! No. Go, go, go! I'll talk to you after. Everyone else should be there, already."
"Perfect. Thanks, Ben!"
Judy grabbed Nick's paw and rocketed to the stairs with a girlish squeal nipping at their heels. She didn't want to think about the conversation she'd be having as soon as they were done with the official business of the day. Conversations, she amended as she passed colleagues and co-workers in the halls.
There were many, many curious expressions and a lot of considering looks that the pair got as they scampered past. She realized too late that dragging her new boyfriend through the halls paw-in-paw may have been the most overt way to advertise, but the damage was done. Dropping his paw, Judy hopped up and grabbed the door handle that hovered a couple feet over her head. A firm push from Nick opened the door and Judy let herself drop into the fox's waiting arms.
Once her feet were on the floor, she led him in. Seated around the table were a solid-dozen mammals. Some faces she knew well and others only from their personnel files. Two wolves, a tigress, a moose, a coyote, a badger and a lynx—her team. Also in attendance were Chief Snarlov, the otter who served as his administrative assistant, a beaver from accounting she knew only by happenstance, a goat she had never met before, as well as a lycon who looked vaguely familiar. Judy seemed right at home until a deep, booming voice rolled out from behind the door.
"Detective Lieutenant Hopps, it's good to see you again."
"Commissioner Bogo. It's been far too long, sir."
"It has. Are you ready to get to work?"
Judy looked around the room, her sorcerous perception on full blast. She saw Wolford and Fangmeyer's attraction like rubber bands between the two predators. Lupinski's barely restrained excitement sparked on the air. The mindsets and emotions of all the mammals in the room swirled and ricocheted off the walls. Everything from the Commissioner's resonant gravitas to the lynx's interest in the beaver's doodles was plain and clear as day. She felt the world turning under her paw and the heartbeat of the city—and she felt him. The warm, peaceful presence behind her, like a sleeping titan. Her fox. She had never been more certain.
"Absolutely. One hundred percent."