What's The Worst That Can Happen?

"Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities.

Dreaming, after all is a form of planning."

― Gloria Steinem

Judy really didn't know what to say about her sister's plan, but she was glad that there was a basket in between them as they went over the finer details in the back of the squad car.

"So let me get this right," Judy began, her voice a whisper as to not attract too much attention from the sheriff ahead. Already about on the verge of leaping a seat over and dragging June to the ground from the trouble she caused, the bunny continued. "You want to do what now?"

The equal amethyst eyed bunny sighed, relaxing back into her seat with a wide smile. "I said it three times already, Judes: we bring 'im with us. What's so hard about that?"

Judy peered across the basket with both indignation and reserved joy. For one, Juniper seemed okay with Nick, so she didn't have to worry about that. However, it did lead to the other little problem that she was worried about. "Mom and dad are gonna flip, June. That's what's so hard about this."

From her moment of relaxation and checking out the scenery of a road she'd been down before, June turned to her sister with a raised brow. She leaned over the basket and asked her a rather pressing question.

"So... you don't want Nick over for dinner."

At that, Judy was taken aback. Her ears fell to her shoulders and her eyes went wide. "NO I-Well, yeah I-" She had to stop herself from jumping out of her seat as she answered. Only when she looked towards the driver's seat and saw that Chamby had turned away from her did she calm herself.

With a groan, she leaned back and thought of what she was trying to say from this whole ordeal.

One: she wanted a newcomer to feel welcome. One that, as far as she could see, didn't cause problems and was just trying to fit in. Two: she had to prove to Jack and her family that not all foxes are evil - Gideon withstanding, the fox that gave her that pen years ago was very kind. Three: above all else, her dream was to make the world a better place.

"Of course I do," she concluded, her paw idly smoothing over the fabric at the bottom of the basket as she wistfully looked forward. "You know how mom and dad are about..."

Her words lingered for a moment, but she couldn't finish the sentence - didn't need to.

Juniper, however, didn't seem to have a care in the world right then. "Relax, Jude the dude," she replied, kicking her feet up and tipping her hat over as to not see the glare in Judy's eyes as she spoke. "It's Saturday, right?"

Judy nodded. Indeed it was Saturday, schedule and all. But despite the day, Judy wondered what it had to do with June's plan (currently lack thereof) to get back the blueberries that were pilfered.

She didn't have to wait long for her sister to answer. "That means that they're by the carrot fields storytellin'," the black-furred bunny informed, shrugging and trying her best not to laugh at Judy's fears. "Nobody's gonna be in south field."

This made Judy think. The whole warren usually did light duty on Saturday, if any at all - even farmers needed a break. They worked throughout the week to ensure that the farm was running and, on Saturdays, just spent time with each other with various activities and such.

One of which - their old favourite when they were younger - was sharing stories near their family tree. They were anything from old farm life to general tales around the burrows. It helped that they were outside and just snacked on whatever carrots they could pick and just run around and have fun.

Her eyes lit up at the realization her sister gave her.

June continued, "Way I see it: we park over there, you have a berry pickin' and send 'im home with some of the good stuff."

Judy nodded along, noting how simple it all was. Her family would be a good distance away while she showed Nick around. She smiled widely, "That... that could work!"

In her sisters beaming, June didn't fail to capitalize. "Leave it to big sis to solve y'er problems."

And consequently, Judy's beaming suddenly stopped. "You're ten minutes older, June... and if I remember correctly, you caused the problem."

"Ten minutes, but you were born just past midnight," June rebutted, raising her hat just enough to see the fire in Judy's eyes before she made a verbal jab at her. "little sis."

It was well known throughout all their litters that Judy was the only one with a technically different birthday than her siblings - being born a few minutes after Juniper and past midnight was what separated them. Despite this, it made her birthday all the more special as she was the only one in the Hopps burrow to have a day to herself.

She wasn't often teased about it, and June rarely pulled that card unless Judy started it.

That said, the culprit bunny gave her sister a proud smile. "And I didn't cause a problem. I solved two."

Not caring to see what Judy's raised brow meant or inquire, Juniper folded her arms behind her head and sighed. "Really, Jude, you worry too much," she laughed, daring anyone to stop her from saying what would come next. "What's the worst that can happen?"

She waited, no longer than a second before her suspicions were confirmed. "June!"

'Little sis' calling her name, she responded. "What?"

"Don't jinx this!

"Don't jinx what?"

She knew what she was doing... sort of. Much like Judy, Juniper was a bit of a risk taker. She often got in trouble over the craziest things when she got bored. Just as now, when she peeked one eye open at Judy standing on the seat - concern for safety far gone.

This is gonna be fun. Juniper smirked, "All I said what's the worst that can happ-"

Judy had enough. She was gonna leap over the basket and wrestle June to the ground! She bent her knees-

"HEY!"

- and abruptly stopped when Chamby glanced back at the two of them.

His stylish 'I'm the sheriff' sunshades hid his eyes well just below the rim of his hat as he addressed them. The car slowed a little.

"Ya'll two better quit y'er squabblin' back there or else ya' won't be workin' next week!" he demanded, taking a second to glare at both bunnies for a moment longer than needed to get the point across.

Judy sat back down and June sat up properly. "Yes sir," They answered in tandem.

As the car rocked from traveling on a dirt path, the buck huffed and turned back to focus on his driving.

He waited a moment before seeing the house in the small clearing ahead to further scold them. "An' June," he piped up, not bothering to twist the rearview mirror to see her, as he could see a sliver of the bunny in his glasses. "You know what Mulephy's law is?"

Caught off-guard, she tilted her head up in deep thought. "Uh... it's invented by some guy named Mulephy's?"

Judy snickered when she heard that, even when she received a glare from 'big sis'.

Chamby slowly stepped on the brakes, bringing the car to a smooth stop. With the cottage just ahead of them, he drew in a deep breath and looked behind to the bunnies in the box - Juniper specifically.

"It's the one that says: shut y'er yap before the good Lord shuts it for ya," he informed, his voice deadpan albeit with a smug grin of his own.

"Now c'mon. Daylight's burnin'." With them either laughing or saying how that wasn't funny, he unlocked the doors and stepped out, adjusting his hat as he quietly mulled over the work he still had to do.

Let's see what this fox's all about.

Having never formally met the current residents despite being apart of the house's restoration, the sheriff was a bit familiar with the layout. He mentally went over each room from basement to the attic space as well as he remembered.

He smiled to himself, having personally installed the mailbox... which he realized was missing when he turned to see where it should have been.

Strange...

Not bothering to question what happened to it, but also recalling how Eliot had some sort of (as he said in his report on the vehicle currently in the shop) "mishap" on the property, Chamby shook his head and pressed on.

He heard the two bunnies behind him as he hoofed his way down the beaten trail. Glad that he had his sunshades as it was a bit brighter than usual. Probably a good metaphor or somethin' for this. he thought.

When he got to the porch and sought to knock and introduce himself, he stopped cold on the first step.

Just in front of him, he noticed two unusual things. One being that the few potted plants to the side of the door had started to wither as they likely hadn't been watered in a few days. That was fine and easily fixed.

The other thing, however, was that the front door looked like it had been kicked in as it was hanging on a single hinge. Definitely not a good sign.

He tipped his hat up as he raised a brow. "That's new."

Not being the only one in shock about this, Judy looked on in horror. The house hadn't looked like that a few days ago. Her mind raced.

Did something happen to Nick? Why was the door kicked in? I just saw him yesterday! Is he alright?

Immediately, the sheriff went into action. He clicked the button on his radio, already talking while reaching for the weapon on his holster. If something was wrong, then he was the right one to be there.

"Dispatch, this is Sheriff Chamby," he spoke over the hiss of the transmission, not waiting for a reply as he needed to get out what was going on. "Possible 10-22 at 2903 Cedar Oak Lane. Searchin' the grounds, have backup on standby, over."

By the time he re-shouldered the radio, he got the confirmation he needed. "Understood, Sherrif. Unit 3 standing by."

After the call back of a quick 10-4, the deer turned behind him. He didn't really want inexperienced bunnies to be involved in something like this, but it was unavoidable now. If they were to be sent back to the car right now, it could be more detrimental than helpful, but he still needed to be careful.

He leaned down. "June, you stay at the door. Hollar an' run if you see anything," he said in a hushed whisper, only getting a nod back before addressing Judy.

"You, stay behind me and keep y'er ears open," he said, his hoof on the door and focused forward. "Last thing I need is somethin' happenin' to yall while I'm here. So scamper if anything starts."

Nodding like her sister, Judy took a careful step forward. It was rare for either of them to see Chamby like this. While he was usually more upbeat, he was still one of the most serious members of the police force.

When he opened the door all the way, he was careful as to not make a sound. Not only that, but each step he took was so silent that Judy had to admit that she was impressed; hooves were notorious for giving away one's position.

Slowly he tiptoed through the house, eyes open for anything. Nothing was out of place, yet. Nothing overturned, the counters cleaned, the dishes done. All that he could see were strands of orange or cream-coloured fur here and there, nothing unusual, but there was no fox around.

Stopping at the stairway that lead upstairs, Chamby had two options. He could either head up there or check around the ground floor more. Judy was okay, and he could still see Juniper by the front door. Left with those choices, he sought to find which one was the best route.

He didn't have to second guess or even think as there was a loud, undiscernible sound coming from the door that lead down to the basement. He didn't need Judy around to have picked up on it. It was like metal scraping and water with a sharp yelp with it.

Well, that settles that.

Taking the opportunity to get the drop on whoever was down there, he rushed to the door and pressed his ear to it to get a better sense of what was going on. Judy didn't waste time in following suit.

"That should do it!" came a muffled voice besides the steady thrums of a machine. "Kinda... messy, though. Uhuh. You mean I don't use bleach? Uhh... I'll check upstairs? Hello? Hello? Guess I'll call back in a bit."

At that, Chamby took a step back, pulling the bunny with him. There were few things he knew of that required bleach and he hoped that he was wrong about his speculation. He kept Judy back as he reached for his taser. One round of his weapon would take out a mammal twice his size.

Though in case things got dire, he always did carry "The Government" with him.

That in mind, he waited for them to show themselves. Being a marksmammal, he'd be the first to draw. He counted on it.

Sure enough, the sound of heavy footsteps came along with the same muffled voice as before.

Chamby braced himself. One hoof hovered over his taser while the other kept Judy at bay. He fully expected a confrontation from an intruder as the doorknob rattled and the door creaked open.

What he didn't expect, however, was a soaking wet fox in blue pajamas, covered from head to footpad in soapy foam.

The only thing that really stopped him from action was the swift movement of a squeaky bunny running from behind him and shouting, "Nick?!"

On the verge of drawing the weapon, Chamby only squinted and relaxed his stance. He further eased his nerves as Judy practically squeezed the life out of the vulpine; soap now covering them both as she half chocked the fox.

"Uh... hi?" Nick squeaked, completely taken by surprise. He didn't think that anybody would show up on a Saturday unannounced and practically break-in (broken door aside) only to give him a spine-crushing side-hug. But hey, here he was.

Not caring about the foam, Judy quickly asked him, "Nick, what happened?"

Recounting everything that was happening, Nick mulled over it all.

First, there was Judy. Having known her for a week, he was glad to see her on such short notice. And their 'date' yesterday still had him questioning everything. I wonder if she'd be up for ice cream again soon?

Second, there was that deer that showed up. Dressed from head to hind-hooves in the same attire that Deputy Eliot wore - and now Judy was too? - he could only guess that they were law enforcement. Though, a bit more decorated and the fox couldn't decipher what his stare was, admittedly, he had never seen a deer buck that short before.

Mentally filing it for later, Nick stared down at the spine-crushing bunny. Days ago, bunnies never got that close to him. And now, he was just baffled at how strong her grip was.

Once he felt Judy loose him a bit, he explained everything that happened - as much as he decided to tell them.

"Well, since my school uniform had ice cream stains on it, I decided to fix that. Then I started shedding. So, I thought I'd wash everything in one load. But then... uh... the washing machine decided it didn't like the amount of detergent I used."

He purposefully omitted the part where he used half the box of detergent and the thing overflowed, then the part where he called his mother in a fit of panic as to what to do - he had never done laundry and it was a tough job for a teenager - but that paled in comparison to the part where he had to dive into it and empty the washer, almost drowning in foam when it caught his tail in retaliation. But that was a story for another day.

Explanation aside, the deer still had questions. "So y'er Nick, huh? Nicholas Wilde?" Chamby asked, crossing his arms and giving the fox a once over. He didn't look like much, maybe like a skinnier Gideon Grey, scrawny even. But definitely not the devil that Jack thought he was.

Hopefully not, anyway, the Sheriff thought.

Nick nodding and starting to wring himself dry was all Chamby needed to continue. "I'm guessin' y'er folks ain't here yet?"

The buck noticed that he was the only one around - not a particularly good sign, but one he was used to seeing.

At that, Nick sighed. "Yeah. For a bit longer."

Not pressing the matter, the buck hiked his thumb towards the entryway and huffed. "An' what, pray tell, happened to the door?"

Still soaking wet, Nick clenched his teeth and gave a nervous smile. It was an awkward subject to bring up, one that he didn't even tell his mother - much like a certain bunny and date that he omitted from their conversation yesterday.

With unfamiliar law enforcement there, he figured he may as well just say it rather than risk being in trouble. He scratched the nape of his neck and took a deep breath.

"You see... um... Deputy Eliot-"

"Nevermind!" shouted the deer, waving his hooves in dismissal and storming out of the room. He went back over to respond on his radio and wave Juniper over before inspecting the door for damages. "Just off the hinges. Lemme get my screwdriver."

He continued trotting off outside yelling how, "He'd have words with Eliot," as June padded her way back in.

All clear, Judy took a step back and looked up to Nick in shock. She could dry her uniform later, but still. "Deputy Eliot broke down your door?"

Nick shrugged. "He fixed it the day after. Aaaannnddd broke it again this morning. Oh! The mailbox, too."

Makes sense, Judy thought. If he was able to break down the Hopps' door a few times enough for them to get a reinforced one, then Nick's door was nothing. It was difficult to stop Eliot when he was excitable.

Left with nothing else but to pop the question - June was giving her that smirk as if she'd ask him herself... or was daring to try - Judy rocked on he heels and asked, "Soooo... want some blueberries?"

Still trying to figure out what was going on, Nick's features lit up - his tail wagged a little. Did she bringmore blueberries? he questioned while still trying to keep his cool.

He'd be happy to oblige, but he still wanted to have fun with this.

"Want some what?" he asked with the curious tilt of his head.

"Blueberries."

"Yes, that's my nickname," he said with a nod, giving Judy a flash of a smile back. "As given to me by a talking carrot."

The doe mentally facepawed from how she didn't see that coming. Playing along, she tapped her foot. "Blueberries! Want some blueberries, Blueberries?"

Faux gasping and placing a soapy paw on his chest, the fox began to reply only to have a dry paw rest on his lips, effectively silencing him.

Between the three of them, only Juniper stood wide-eyed. Nick was cross-eyed.

Judy stood stalwart, amethyst eyes staring deep into his own emerald ones. Her paw was far softer than he remembered; maybe it was the fact that it was on his lips this time is what made this so shocking?

His brain couldn't register.

Hey, Nick... Nick! It's your brain again. Hi!

Not now!

Fine, fine...

Ugh, what?!

I was gonna say... but I don't have a mouth so technically...

Is this really the time for this?

Alright, alright! Hear me out.

What!

Look... I got nothing on this bunny. And you still have soap in your ears.

Why are we friends again?

Because you need me to form coherent thoughts, sentences, and motor functions?

You're not doing your job then. I still have soap in my ears.

Know what? I'm leaving you with her. You're on your own! I'm taking our coherent thoughts, sentences, and motor functions with me.

No! Wait! What am I supposed to say and do?

Judy grinned widely. "If I hear one more snarky comment, I'll give a whole bushel to sheriff's department instead. Got it?"

Giving her sister a side glare, Judy merely let that idea set in. June, however, didn't look the least bit guilty. She was smiling awkwardly, though. As if she had yet another bright idea brewing.

The fox somehow managed to gain some semblance of reality when the bunny moved her paw away. His mind raced a thousand miles a second while he fidgeted with the soap bubbles in his ear.

Take that, brain. Didn't need your help there.

With the promise of food somehow heard in all his chaos, the fox casually went back to his antics, careful as to not have them delivered to law enforcement.

"Oh, you wound me, Carrots. Of course I'll humbly accept your gracious gift of round blue fruit," he said with flair, slowly stepping forward. He tried not to make it obvious that he was somewhat shaking himself dry with a bit of a wiggle to his features. It worked only until his tail brushed against Judy.

Satisfied with the answer, Judy giggled. He'd definitely be a shoo-in for theater arts.

"Well good," she said, stepping by him and giving him a friendly jab to his shoulder for all the horrors he just put her through. "But you'll have to pick them yourself."

Nick stopped and raised a brow, completely unsure of what she meant and where that punch came from. "What?"

Luckily, big sister June - who was ten minutes older than her sibling, had great advice, an easily understandable accent, and totally witnessed everything that just happened with a bit of shock and awe on her face - was there to help.

"Well I guess y'all gonna have to wash up an' dress fancy on a count a workin' a day in the field."

Nick's brain stopped and his jaw hung open. Juniper was impossible to understand, terrible advice and all. "What?"

Luckily Judy was there to translate her sister's terrible advice. "You," she began, pointing at the soaking wet, red and blueberry fox. "Are gonna pick some berries with me."

Finally understanding what was going on, Nick nodded and walked off upstairs to dry off and get a change of clothes.

Through it all, Juniper placed her paws on her hips, proud of the work she was doing. She gave her sister the widest 'told ya' so' smile she could, even going so far as to voice her opinion.

"Like I said, Judes: what's the worst that can ha-"

That's a great question to ask when dreaming. But the answer may surprise you.

[A/N]

Huge thanks to Koraru-san for continued use of her OC's Eliot and Chloe.

Interestingly, the last chapter, this chapter, and the next chapter were all one chapter at one time. But I had to cut it short to be readable. XD

Thank you for all of your ideas and such, I'm still trying my best to get some high school stories from readers and dreamers out there.

[FF Review Responses]

Dominic-G: Of couse they don't. Especially not when you've got a best big sister. XD

GhostWolf88: I think the better question is "How is Judy not gonna choke her sister after this.

the Red Omega: Chloe knows what they did, Eliot knows what they did, Chamby KNOWS what they did. XD

imjustlikehumphery: The good sheriff's actually pretty relaxed unless Sunny's there.

Metal Amadeus: I gotta admit, you got me good with that one. XD

InTheLionsDenOnDA: "What's the worst that can ha-"

J Shute Norway: You'll see an angry bun very, very soon.

Cimar of Turalis WildeHopps: Silver lining meets her sisters dark, evil plan that she just made up. XD

WildeHopps85: I am SO gonna use this! Thank you for the idea. ^^

Jknight97: This is gonna probably be the shipiest story that I'll ever write! Just wait until ch19. ^^

seakard: When will they realize this? I don't know. Maybe once a certain... date happens?

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Till Next Time
-DLW