By AngloFalcon

Chapter Twenty Five

Grilled fox

Nick was achieving the impossible – causing the revered and feared chief of Precinct 1 to be at a total loss for words. Silence had rested for ten seconds on the room. Officers were beginning to shift on their feet

Judy felt a cold sweat forming on her back, making her uniform stick to her. She didn't know whether to expect the buffalo to suddenly dance on the spot with joy or furiously demolish her favourite fox to tiny fragments before her eyes, and felt that either image was equally distressing.

Finally, Bogo shook his head, shifted his shoulders and cleared his throat.

"You're out of uniform," he remarked gruffly.

A sigh of relief spread across the expanse of the bullpen as the tension drained slightly. Nick was still in one piece. The chief had not done any physical damage.

Nick's grin was becoming excruciatingly frustrating, even for Judy. He winked at the massive animal in front of him. "It was a perfect holiday Boss. You should try one. You look like you need a holiday."

"Wilde!" the chief raised a hoof to cut off any further comments. "Both you and Hopps will accompany me to my office. Now." He laid emphasis on the last word.

The fox saluted.

"And wipe that stupid grin off your face!"

The sly expression disappeared in a flash, replaced by momentary panic which stabilized into unease.

Chief Bogo turned and marched past the rows of desks, heading for the door. He barely looked at Fangmeyer as he passed but instructed her to finish the briefing, handing her the clipboard he had brought in with him. When he reached the door, he glanced round to see the long-absent officer firmly rooted to the spot, presumably finally overcome with caution.

"Wilde, step on it!"

The door swung closed behind the buffalo.

Nick gulped, still failing to make a move. Judy huffed and grabbed his black tie, dragging him behind her along the middle of the room. Snarloff nudged the officer next to him and everyone quickly understood the message. The little guy needed reassurance. They all fired off a salute in unison, happy to see the wide smile this brought to the fox's face. His colleagues then held out their paws and the fox raised his own on either side, giving an unbroken series of high-fives as he was pulled along the length of the room.

When they finally reached the door, he glanced round at Wolford. The canid gave Nick a thumbs up as Judy yanked the fox the final few steps out into the corridor, closing the door firmly behind them. She turned round and looked at her friend, smiling warmly.

"See. That wasn't bad," she said.

He held up a paw and tilted it from side to side in a 'so-so' gesture.

A loud cough brought their attention to the far end of the corridor and the buffalo who was waiting impatiently by his door. They hurried towards him, slipping into the room.

The chief closed the door and moved to his seat, but didn't sit. He crossed his muscular arms, expression stern. Nick was struggling to maintain his cool air under the buffalo's gaze.

"Well?" the chief said.

Nick decided it was time for a leap of faith to ease the tension.

"It's great to be here, sir. You look good. Have you been working out?"

Judy gasped, lowering her head in some instinctive desire to pretend she didn't exist, wasn't associated with the fox in the room and hadn't heard what had just come from his mouth. Her eyes flicked apprehensively at Bogo, expecting the worst. To her surprise, although he was struggling to keep a scolding look on his face, she could see traces of amusement on his features. He was trying very hard to suppress something.

"You disgraceful vulpine." His brow furrowed. "Look at you! What do you mean by coming here without sending word ahead? Did you think you could simply pack your bags, take an unprecedented amount of time off and then waltz back into a position here?"

Nick was frozen on the spot, fighting valiantly to exude confidence. He stuck his paws in his pocket and met the buffalo's eyes.

"Bogo, Chief, Sir, I have many fine qualities, the loss of which would only damage your department. The thought of supporting my colleagues motivated me to lift my head from the pillow every morning and finally brought me back to civilization from the darkest outskirts of life."

"Where did you stay?" the chief demanded.

"Nowhere. I was on the streets, suffering from the extremes of weather which plague poor unfortunates such as I." He put a paw to his chest and tried to look as worthy of sympathy as he could, something that Judy knew never worked on the chief.

"On the streets? Yet you claim you raised your head from the pillow every morning." Bogo's eyes narrowed.

"Ah. Yes. It was a metaphorical pillow, padded out with nothing but hardship and loneliness."

The chief grunted. "Wilde, shut that stupid mouth of yours before you make your situation worse."

The fox didn't need to be told twice and pursed his lips tightly. Judy had backed to the far wall without realizing it. She was a silent observer until called upon. She had no idea how to act as a go-between for something like this.

The buffalo lowered his body into the chair, resting his elbows on the desk and lowering his head, rubbing his forehead with his thumbs as if he was suffering from a monster of a headache. He looked up again.

"Nick, we shall talk. I believe you don't fully appreciate your position. Your difficulties. I will explain them to you carefully."

The fox visibly shrunk a few inches, glancing at Judy for support.

"Judy, leave us," Bogo said without looking at her. The rabbit jumped and quickly walked to the door, glancing round, not even daring to smile encouragingly at Nick. He stood in front of the chief's desk, looking like a convict about to receive his final and most damning verdict. She closed the door.

That poor, stupid, lovable, wonderful fox.

"How long have they been in there?"

Judy was brought out of her thoughts and looked at the wolf officer who sat across from her in the canteen. He looked genuinely concerned. She checked her watch, calculating.

"Four hours and seventeen minutes."

His shoulders slumped and he shook his head as if he had already consigned the fox to the grave. "I'm sorry about your friend."

"He's not dead!" Judy spluttered.

"No, but he is an idiot. Chief Bogo doesn't like idiots," he reflected.

"I know," she agreed miserably. "Wolford, I don't know what can be done with Nick Wilde."

Wolford patted her paw and stood, stretching his arms and walking away from the table, break finally over.

Judy was relieved to have some time alone. It had been a tense morning for her too, trying her finest to get Nick reinstated smoothly. She just wanted things to return to normal. Wanted to have him by her side making infuriating comments and throwing out jibes about her driving.

She drank the cool remainders of her cup of tea, grimacing as the tea leaves which had seeped out of the bag filled her mouth.

The rabbit didn't just want Nick to get his job back. She wanted to be close. How was she expected to unlearn to love him? Despite his streetwise persona, he was the most kind-hearted mammal she had met. She knew that he hadn't meant to frighten her. Understood that he was ashamed of nearly hitting her. She had forgiven him fifty times over in her own mind, yet he still seemed to feel it was somehow better for her if he closed himself up again. When he first returned, she had been overjoyed to have him back as a friend. She was still overjoyed. But the thought of them never again being a special part of each others lives was painful.

"Judy?"

Her eyes glanced up to see Fangmeyer standing tall by the table. The tigress didn't meet her gaze.

"I think they're nearly done."

Judy rapped on the door to the chief's office timidly. She didn't know what she would find or what she would hear. She prepared for the worst as Bogo's voice called out "Enter" from behind the door.

The door swung wide and she saw a humbled fox standing, rocking on his paws. The buffalo rose from his seat and looked at Judy with satisfaction.

"I believe we have covered everything we need to for now," he stated, clipping a large batch of files into a ring binder which he stuffed away in a drawer. "Dismissed."

Judy barely managed to contain her questions. It probably wasn't the time for them, in front of the chief. She looked at Nick, who approached her with a mild smile. That brought at least a little relief to her.

"Oh, and Nick," the chief said, making the fox stop in his stride and turn at the door to face him again, "the next time you decide to go for a 'long stroll', as you put it, have the decency to tell me first."

Nick nodded sheepishly and ducked out of the room. Judy closed the door behind him while backing out into the corridor. She was sure she saw Bogo smiling to himself. Really, genuinely smiling.

The road slipped along beneath their car. No word had been exchanged between Nick and Judy since the meeting with Bogo. Nick had quickly hurried off to a different part of the building and then it was time to leave. A group of animals had been waiting for him by the main doors – colleagues who all wanted to wish him well. At least he'd managed to get some blueberry cake out of the whole event - a special gift from Clawhauser.

The sun was peeping through the clouds, glinting on the windscreen just enough to make Judy squint. Nick sat in the passenger's seat, staring at his paws.

"Look, I can't take the silence. Will you please tell me what the chief said?" Judy sighed.

"Oh, he wanted to know how I'd been getting on."

"Obviously," she said, rolling her eyes.

"He asked lots of questions about where I'd been, what I'd done. Stuff like that. It was pretty tedious really."

"Nick," she glanced at him through the rear mirror, "what did you do? You haven't told me what happened in those forty eight days."

He laughed quietly. "Just this and that."

"Was it illegal?"

"What?!"

"Nick, did you steal something?"

"Judy! How could you think that of an honest, dedicated cop?"

She spun the wheel and turned onto a new road. "Cop? Are you fired or not?"

"Well-"

"Do you need to reapply?"

A long pause. He was toying with her and she knew it.

"No...No, I don't need to reapply. Yet. The chief said he may be able to wrangle something with forms, holiday allocations, sick leave and other things I didn't pay attention to."

"You didn't pay attention?!"

He raised an eyebrow, looking dispassionate. "Judy, I needed the toilet. That's all I could think about for three hours. And I'll be darned if Chief Bogo didn't realize that."

She grinned. That would explain why the fox had been shifting from foot to foot when she came in.

"Anyway," the fox continued, "the lowdown is that he will try to sort it so I can come back with just one week's 're-induction'."

The rabbit nearly stamped on the gas, correcting her mistake with another and stamping on the brake instead, sending Nick flying forward into the dashboard.

"Rabbit!" he protested.

"I am so sorry. But Nick, that's fantastic! We can be partners again! We can work together."

He clambered back into a proper sitting position, brushing down his shirt. "Yeah, yeah. That's certainly a strong possibility."

Possibility? The word troubled her. Why was it only a possibility? Was he not even willing to do that much? She set off again, driving towards his apartment. Her mind was firing with ideas. She had to somehow ease him out of this stubborn mindset of keeping an overly professional distance. He'd promised they could be friends. Just friends, but friends none the less.

"I best thank the chief. Sometimes, he's almost not too bad," Nick muttered, pulling his phone out of his pocket and swiping the lock screen away.

Judy slowed the car at some traffic lights and reached for her own phone. She wasn't really meant to do this but hey, who would stop them? She had an idea.

Nick's phone buzzed.

Hi! Congrats on getting your position back! You're one articulate fella!

He chuckled and glanced at her. "Seriously? We're texting each other in here?"

She tapped away at her phone again.

Can't wait to work with you again, Nick Wilde. Someone needs to teach you to drive.

"Okay, fine. We'll play it your way," he grinned, starting to tap at his own screen. She had him hooked.

The lights changed just as she heard her phone's ringtone. Judy positioned her iCarrot on the wheel, holding it in place with one thumb so she could drive and text at the same time. She looked at her message.

Hey Judy, guess which chief secretly missed the ZPD's favourite fox?

She tapped her reply.

He's not the only one. I like what you did with your fur. -Judy

He burst out laughing when he saw this, forgetting his previous distance. He couldn't resist good banter, no matter how hard he tried.

As she glided past another car, she checked her latest message.

Well, you looked pretty scared when the chief came in. Calm and reflected? Tease me anymore and I'll kiss you.

She caught her breath, nose twitching. She hadn't read it wrong. She looked over at the fox, who seemed a little confused by her expression. He returned his attention to his screen and nearly dropped his phone.

"No! Sorry! I meant kill. Kill. Damn otter-correct!" He started tapping away at a new message, head down.

A few more streets sped by. When she didn't receive a message, she glanced at him again. "Is that it?"

"I'm still writing that message to the chief," he snapped, embarrassment strong in his voice.

They drove along in silence for a few moments longer. Judy decided it was time to start again. A quick few taps and another message was on its way. She knew she was being sly with this one, playing at his weakness.

Don't worry. We both know we're keeping our distances. There's no harm in sending a mushy message though. It makes me laugh. –Judy.

"I can't," he groaned.

"You said it," she nodded, looking ahead at the road. "You can't. I always knew you would get stumped for words one day. Guess that smooth tongue just ran out of things to say."

The doe bounced with amusement when she saw the frown on his face. She had just insulted his pride.

The fox started tapping purposefully at his phone. He forgot his resolution. He would show her. Can't write mushy? Hiya! Thank you for helping me get settled, you beautiful mammal you. I've missed you loads. You're swell. Perfect. Ain't I just the best? –Love Nick.

He almost didn't get to tap send as Judy drove over a bump, bouncing them both around. Once they settled, Nick glanced at the message. Sent. He nodded with satisfaction and sent his other message, slipping the phone back into his pocket and sitting back.

As they slowed to a stop outside his apartment, wheels crumpling over cans and plastic bags which lay in the street, Judy's phone chimed. She smirked at him and raised her iCarrot, reading. Now she looked puzzled.

"Sir," she read aloud, "I would like to thank you for your willingness to listen to my humble-"

"No, no," Nick shook his head, irritated, "that's for Chief Bogo. I sent one to you."

"Well I've got his. He must have mine. You got the contacts the wrong way round," she explained.

Judy didn't understand why his expression changed so much in an instant.

Author's Note:

Hi all!

Happy Zootopia Day! You guys can finally take the film home on Blu-ray. :) Please review! I absolutely love reviews. Guests? Don't be strangers now. :) And if you haven't done so already, remember to vote on the poll on my profile. Thanks so very much for everything, all the support and kind words.

Matri, thanks. You know why. ;)

I wish I could be watching that Blu-ray with you all. Although I am really stoked right now! There was a live Q&A on Twitter today with Byron Howard and Rich Moore (the film's directors) and AngloFalcon got a mention! Well, in as much as they answered my question. XD But at least they know my username now.

Have a brilliant day and please do let me know your thoughts on the chapter/s. Love you all.

Till next time.

-AF