A year ago, if someone had told Nick Wilde he was going to be chasing a black bear down the streets of Zootopia, he might not have questioned it. Maybe the black bear owed him money.
If someone had told him he'd be chasing that black bear down the street because the bear was resisting arrest, Nick might have laughed and asked why he was helping out the fuzz.
If someone had told him that he now was the fuzz, and he was luring that black bear into a trap so his partner could take the black bear down, now he might have been concerned for this mammal's sanity.
If that someone told him his partner was a bunny…. well.
The bear threw a trash down behind him, directly into Nick's path. He dodged it without breaking stride, using an alley wall to scamper around it. Agility had been no sweat at the academy, after all. Fighting big nasty criminals? Well… he had a partner to do his dirty work.
Nick whipped out his radio. "Comin' in hot, Carrots," he huffed as he ran.
The incoming transmission beeped back at him. "In position, Slick," came a familiar voice, tinny from the reception.
Nick smirked. "Time to go in for the kill," he muttered to himself. He'd been herding the bear in a loop for the last ten minutes, and it was having the desired effect: he tell by the staggering in the bear's run that he was starting to run out of steam. A tired bear was a good bear.
Picking up speed, Nick switched to all fours, ducking and darting around dumpsters and light poles, heading the bear off before he could make a left down the next alley. Seeing Nick, the bear scrambled in place, then barreled to the right instead.
"Bingo," Nick hissed, then switched to his radio. "Ready Carrots?"
"Born ready!"
Nick rolled his eyes at her perpetual overenthusiasm, but smiled anyway. "Ok, coming in in three… two… one…"
The bear broke out of the alley and onto a side street, where there was a police cruiser waiting. Before he could process this, Officer Judy Hopps had leapt into the air, grabbing a light pole and swinging around it, gaining momentum, before launching into a flying kick straight for the bear's muzzle.
Her foot connected with the bear with a solid SWACK! The bear grunted before he toppled to the ground, spread eagle, out cold. Judy landed neatly at his feet with a tiny bounce as Nick joined her side, breathing hard.
"Nice one," he wheezed, his hands on his knees. "If Mr. Big ever needs new muscle, I know a bunny he can call."
"Only if he'll hire a fox to run the heavies ragged first," she said, and held up her paw for a high five that Nick weakly returned. "Help me roll him so we can get some cuffs on this guy."
Throwing their combined weight into it, Nick and Judy heaved the bear onto his stomach. As Nick clicked his huge paws into handcuffs, Judy searched the bear's jacket pockets.
"Uh huh, that's what I thought," she said as she pulled out a tiny plastic bag filled with powder. The bear stirred beneath them, blinking dully. Judy placed her hands on her hips and straightened her ears, making herself look as big as possible. She gave him a tiny nudge with her foot until the bear raised his eyes to her. "You sir are under arrest for possession and resisting arrest. You have the right to remain silent…"
Nick watched his partner of the past year, smirking at the way she managed to make her tiny frame look imposing. It was exceptionally cute, though he could never tell her that (at least not while they were on duty, anyway). All wide eyes and a maniacal sense of justice, her energy was a physical thing that practically vibrated out of her.
" – If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be presented to you – "
The bear switched his gaze from Judy to Nick. He blinked again, his eyes coming into focus. "That you, Wilde?"
"That's Officer Wilde to you, buddy boy," Nick replied cheerily.
"Heard a rumor you went pig on us, guess I had to see it for myself to believe it," the bear rasped with a sneer.
Judy glanced hesitantly at Nick, who smiled benignly at the bear with hooded eyes. "Fox, not pig. There's a difference. Red fur, bushy tail… didn't they teach you that at the last correctional facility you were at? Ah well, guess you can take another lesson in prison. Never too late, right?"
The bear growled much to Nick's satisfaction. With a considerable amount of grunting and cursing, Nick hauled the bear to his feet and forced him into the cruiser. He winked at the bear before Judy slammed the door shut.
"Way to not let them get to you, Slick," Judy said, and the warmth in her voice washed away the distant sting the bear's remark had caused. She bounced up to give him a fist bump and his eyes caught the bag of powder still clutched in her paw. "Now when we get back to the precinct, I think we should file this guy's report before we tackle – "
"Whoa whoa whoa, Carrots… lemme see that for second…"
Judy looked at him curiously but handed him the bag. Nick held it up muzzle level. It was a dark blue powder, unlike any drug he'd seen since he'd entered the ZPD. Or before he'd entered, for that matter. It unsettled him – they already had their paws full with known drugs, let alone new ones. Frowning, he gave it a cautious sniff. It had an unexpectedly pleasant aroma.
"What's up? Don't recognize it?" Judy asked.
"Nope," Nick said as he pulled out his phone. He snapped a picture of it before handing it back to her.
"Did you get a good look at the guy who sold it to him?"
"No, he bounced before I was halfway out of the cruiser. Guess we'll have to take this stuff back to forensics. Though we could cut out the middle man and give it a shot right here, Carrots. You know, for research purposes."
Judy rolled her eyes. "Oh har har…"
"C'mon, it would save us a lot of time, plus I'm betting it would be a lot more fun. "
Judy pointed the cruiser keys at him, smirking. "You know, right now you're everything my parents worried about when I moved to Zootopia: a shifty fox pushing street drugs on their little, innocent bunny."
He snorted as he joined her in the cruiser. "Innocent. Sure. I just saw you karate chop a doped up street punk in the head. I'm the one they should be worried about."
"Just admit it: you were impressed," she sighed with self-satisfaction.
"It may or may not have been something straight out of a Clawed Van Damme movie," Nick conceded as she pulled onto the main road. "Which is exactly why I'm going to put my foot down and not allow you experiment with whatever this is. If it's uppers, that's the last thing little miss Energizer Bunny here needs. Trust me."
"You say that like you know a thing or two about it," she said. He didn't even need to look at her to know she was grinning.
"Eh, the only two things I know are that I tried something like that once and that it was enough for this fox," he said, putting his feet on the dash. "All I remember is Finnick and some of our friends passing it around, and the next thing I know I'm running stark naked through Tundratown singing 'I Am The Walrus' at the top of my lungs."
Judy let out a shriek of laughter that sent a thrill through Nick, even if it was at his expense. "Then what happened?" she managed to choke out between giggles.
Nick shook his head. "Sorry officer, that's classified." But then, noticing her giggles were subsiding, he found himself continuing, "All I'll say is it may have involved scandalized polar bear mothers calling ZPD, who may have tackled me into some frozen bushes, and may have resulted in a permanent mark somewhere on my body where the sun don't shine."
His humiliation was rewarded with a fresh round of laughter. Nick watched shamelessly as Judy slapped the steering wheel with hysterics, unable to stop the smile spreading across his face, and made a mental note to search his memory for a few more embarrassing stories to tell her. Whatever it took to get her to laugh like that again.
As her giggles dwindled down to hiccups, Nick turned to the road again. "Man, I wonder what Finnick and those guys are up to. I haven't talked to them since… well… "
He trailed off, frowning. Judy's laugh-drunk grin disappeared from her face as she glanced at him. "Since you joined the force," she supplied softly.
"Yeah," Nick said, only realizing it in that moment. Without meaning to he lapsed into silence, wondering what they'd been up to all this time, and yet also not entirely sure if he really wanted to know anyway.
"Nick - " Judy began, but Nick waved an airy paw as he slung his aviators over his eyes.
"Doesn't matter. I traded those guys in for my very own Carrots, and now I get to hang around an annoying gray ball of fluff every day. There's a bargain if I ever saw one, huh?"
The smile returned to her face, and his afternoon brightened again. "You know you love me," she chirped.
"Do I know that?" Nick paused for effect. "Depends on the day."
"Nick!" she cried before reluctantly releasing another laugh. Nick linked his paws behind his head, drinking it in.
Back at the precinct, they wound their way to their office, with Nick offering Judy a multitude of increasingly wild favors to get out of paperwork, ranging from attempting to bake her a carrot cake that said 'Officer Toot Toot' on it to a full on puppet show reenactment of the missing mammals case. Judy turned them all down with as much dignity as she could muster while attempting to hide her amusement.
"I'm telling you Fluff, you're missing out on a real show," he insisted as they walked down the hall. "the Bogo puppet alone would be worth at least a month's worth of – "
"The Bogo what?" boomed an unmistakable voice.
Nick froze midstep, realizing with dread a certain cape buffalo's office they'd happened to walk by precisely as he'd said that. A certain cape buffalo who had also happened to step out of said office at that same moment.
"Chief Bogo, sir!" Judy saluted. She shot a devilish look at Nick before continuing, "Office Wilde was referring to his p – "
"P-roper and overwhelming amount of respect for you, sir!" Nick jumped in, covering Judy's mouth (and the entire rest of her face) with his paw and playfully pushing her out of the way. She swatted at him but he held her out of reach with his arm.
"Save it, Wilde," Bogo grumbled, glaring down at the fox. "You're been out all afternoon. What's the status, Hopps?"
Judy spun out of Nick's grasp and elbowed him out of the way. "Two perps selling what appears to be narcotics, sir. One suspect in custody, one still at large. Nick and I recovered evidence at the scene sir, but we can't identify it. We're on our way to forensics now."
She produced the evidence bag just as a white, Arctic wolf strolled out of the break room. His ears perked with interest.
"Well well, that looks new," Grizzoli said, tilting his head at the strange drug.
"Whatever," Bogo said impatiently, "Get it down to forensics now. They're backed up enough as it is, and so are we. Do your paperwork and get ready for tomorrow, I've got enough caseloads for two precincts."
"Yes sir!" Judy cried, her and Nick saluting. As Bogo turned to go, Grizzoli extended a paw. "Give it to me Hopps, I'm heading to forensics now. Save you a trip."
Judy waved him off. "Oh I don't mind, really, Nick and I – "
"Listen, I already heard Clawhauser bragging about you kicking that bear from here to the Rainforest District. Take a load off. You've earned it, Short Stuff."
Nick's ears flicked downward, his eyes darting between Grizzoli's cool façade and Judy's surprised smile. Short Stuff? He was a solid 99% sure that he, Nick, was the only one allowed to toss around demeaning but secretly endearing nicknames for Carrots, for Fluff, for Officer Toot Toot, for Cottontail…
"I think we can handle a walk down the hall – " Nick started, but Judy jumped in.
"Thank you, Grizz," she said with a pointed look at Nick as she handed over the evidence bag, "We really appreciate it."
Grizzoli plucked it out of her hands and shot her a finger gun motion. Nick rolled his eyes without discretion, drawing a smirk out of Grizzoli.
"No problem," Grizzoli said. "You know, a bunch of us are headed to the Hair of the Dog for drinks after our shift. You should join us."
Judy beamed at him as Grizzoli thudded Nick on the back with enough force to jolt him forward. He snickered. "You can tag along too, Wilde."
"We'll see you there, thanks again!" Judy called to his back as Grizzoli made his way down the hall. Though the second he was out of earshot, she whipped around to face Nick, her ears missing him by an inch, the beaming grin replaced with a reproachful scowl. "What's got your tail in a knot?"
"Moi?" Nick asked, gesturing innocently to himself.
"Grizzoli was nice enough to take our evidence from our case down to forensics, and invited us out, and you acted like he just coughed up a fur ball in your lap. What gives?"
"Nothing gives," Nick said, turning to pour himself some coffee. Mostly so he didn't have to look her in the eye when he was dodging the truth. "'Tag along…' He just… he's just sucking up to Bogo, he wants that detective spot that opened up."
"So, doesn't everyone? That's no reason to be nasty to him."
"But it is a reason."
"There has to be real reason."
"Does there?"
"Yes!"
"What's wrong with a little unsolved mystery?"
"We're cops! We hate unsolved mysteries! Why does he bother you?"
Nick threw his head back dramatically. "I don't know, because… because – "
Because he was flirting with you.
The thought came into his mind without warning, so much so that he nearly dropped his coffee. It was as though a stranger had whispered it in his ear.
He could only offer Judy a blank stare, which she thankfully interpreted as him stalling. Crossing her arms, she said quietly so that Fangmeyer, who was watching television nearby in the break room, could not hear, "You know, it wouldn't kill you to be a bit nicer to Grizzoli, or anybody else here, for that matter. I know you miss having friends."
This was one of the few things that could knock him out of his mental tailspin. "Come again?" he asked, shaking his head to recalibrate.
"I saw that look on your face when you were talking about Finnick. You miss having fun with the guys, I know you do. I know you can't have… that kind of fun anymore, but maybe if you made a few pals around here you could do, you know, whatever it is that guys do when they're not at work."
"I don't need more friends, I've got you," Nick shot back, leaning in so they were almost nose to nose in order to throw her off. "And considering being friends with you has me nearly getting bit, shot, or dismembered on a daily basis, you're about all the friend I can handle right now."
She scoffed and used one small finger to push him back by his nose. "Flattered as I am, you can't tell me that running around Zootopia and watching terrible movies with me at your apartment almost every night is what you dreamt of for your social life."
"Who says it isn't?" Nick said, fixing her with a hooded stare. "Besides, I do have other friends who aren't you. How about, uh…" he gazed about the room until his eyes rested on someone. "Fangmeyer here! Hey Fangmeyer, we're chums, right?"
Fangmeyer spared him one bored look before turning back to the television without a word.
"See, what I'd tell ya Carrots? Fangmeyer and me, we're such good friends we don't even need words to communicate," Nick cooed, marching over to Fangmeyer. "Watcha watchin' there, best friend?"
He took care to stop before he was in punching distance from the powerful tigress. She had a steely reputation, the kind where she didn't need to raise her voice to inspire fear in her opponents. Even Grizzoli and Delgato, her frequent partners, avoided crossing her.
"Shut up, Wilde, I want to hear this," Fangmeyer said, her voice as silky and flat as always, not bothering to spare him a glance this time.
Nick and Judy turned to the television, where a rather regal looking antelope in a smart suit was being interviewed by news anchor Fabienne Growley. Though, upon second glance, Nick wasn't entirely sure she was an antelope… she certainly looked like one, with the slim build and the horns… but she also stripes that looked remarkably like a zebra's.
"That's Gwen Reedbuck, " Judy said, joining his side. She seemed to have guessed that he had not been paying attention to the news lately. Or ever. "She's running against Lionheart for mayor."
"It's fair to say that Mayor Lionheart is pretty beloved in Zootopia," Growley said, facing down Reedbuck, "What advantage do you believe you have to overtake him in the race?"
"I don't believe I have an advantage," the antelope replied smoothly. "I believe I have conviction, and a drive to do what is right. Which Mayor Lionheart has as well, I assure you. The key difference is that I will follow through on my promises. There will be no lip service here."
"And what promise is that, Gwen?" Growley asked, intrigue working its way onto her features.
Gwen regarded her calmly. "Why, if elected, I promise to promote equal rights for interspecies couples in the Zootopia districts."