A/N: Some guys can't take a hint, but some just don't want to be lonely all the time. From what little I know about the original Ace he was a Jack Savage spy type of guy. This one isn't so I made him a guy whose information about how to treat a girl all came from spy movies. Since I can't use Jack in that role I'm using a James Bond pun instead. Bounder, James Bounder. Yep I'm a super nerd. Anyway this Ace is just desperate for a girlfriend, and not some big evil prick. No I'm leaving that to Jack and his bosses.

Disclaimer: has anybody noticed I use star wars sayings in these disclaimers? "I love you." "I know." Weird that Disney owns Star Wars and Marvel as well as Zootopia.

Chapter 4: Hole in the wall

Ace kept his distance from Judy for most of the week. The talk with Finnick seemed to have the desired effect and then some. The poor buck just carried on with his work without so much as a smile. The few times he'd run into either Nick or Judy he would sigh and walk away without a word. All his co-workers noticed the change in him and more than a few were worried for his mental health. Then on Friday Raymond and Kevin helped Finnick corner him in the break room.

"Ace," Finnick said sternly, "the girl isn't interested in you. You shouldn't be acting like this over her. Listen buddy, your time will come. You will find a girl who likes you back if you are just patient."

"I know," Ace said sadly, "It's just hard sometimes, you know? Doesn't help that she's so pretty and I've always liked a spitfire too."

"Well that girl doesn't want you so look elsewhere," Finnick said. "Tonight the boys and I are taking you drinking and we will be your wingmen."

"Sounds like fun boss," Ace said smiling.

…

Mars

Jack nursed his busted nose. The riot had been bad today. Three officers hospitalized and several civilians beaten and arrested. More of the civvies were joining the riots hoping to save their loved ones. It was all thanks to Hopps getting away free and clear. When the news broke that she was alive, not only did the riots not die down like he hoped, but they intensified. If one doe could get away why not more? He had to stop this but how?

…

Earth

The day after Judy's first at the store Finnick took them off garbage duty. He told Nick to get Judy trained in every aspect of working at the store. He also took Judy aside and told her to teach Nick some manners.

"So, we move the older stuff to the front and put new stuff in the back so the old stuff sells first." Nick instructed her. "The store makes more money that way which means they can afford to pay us more. Or at least give us more hours anyway."

"That makes sense Nick but what about when something gets too old or goes bad?" Judy asked curiously.

"Well we ship it back to a distributor or a compost compound to then be made into fertilizer." Nick answered.

"How much of that is guesswork?"

"Logical leaps of guesswork but yeah most of it."

They carried on with stocking and rotating bread while discussing the ins and outs of grocery work. A swift fox vixen with a stroller walked by with a small smile at the two mammals. Judy's ears followed her movements. When the vixen was out of earshot she whispered to Nick.

"Shoplifter."

Nick's eyes widened and he whispered back, "the vixen mom?"

"Vixen yes but mom? No, she's not." Judy said a bit louder starting to trail the thief.

"No sounds from the stroller?" He asked keeping pace with her.

Judy smiled at him before answering, "none, but I do hear plastic crinkling in her clothes."

"Okay I'm going to grab Raymond and wait outside." Nick said knowing grabbing the shoplifter before she left the store wouldn't get her arrested. "You follow her and Kevin will back you up when we ambush her."

Nick scampered to the front of the store and Judy did as he asked. She saw the vixen slip a few more items into the stroller and her clothes before she started walking towards the front of the store. Judy spotted Kevin just out of sight of the vixen near the front entrance. The female fox rolled the stroller through the door and Judy grabbed her sleeve stopping her just outside.

"Excuse me Miss," the angry doe said deceptively sweetly, "do you mind if I see the baby?"

The swift fox turned to look at Judy with angry eyes."It's his naptime and it's so hard to get him to sleep so if you don't mind…"

"Oh no there's something wrong with the baby!" Cried Nick in mock distress from where he stood right in front of the now open stroller sun shade. "Looks like he's going to be someone's lunch."

Nick held up a whole raw chicken and Raymond was blocking the vixen's escape. Kevin was now right behind Judy and the vixen had nowhere to go. Ten minutes later she was in the back of a ZPD cruiser and a wolf officer named Wolford was taking their statements. Judy was hiding in the back and was not mentioned in any of their statements.

…

The rest of the work week was uneventful. They had two days off in a row and a hole in their house. Nick borrowed Finnick's van so that they could get what they needed from Beaversdam Lumberyard. The wood and nails and paint took up much of the room inside but they were careful not to put a scratch on Finnick's 'baby'. They unloaded the supplies they had picked up in front of the house. Hunting down Nick's tools took the better part of an hour in the total disaster that was the storage closet.

"Nick you seriously need to organize this closet." Judy teased her roommate.

"When am I going to have time for that?" Nick asked, "besides one project at a time Carrots."

"Okay Nick," the doe replied, "but sooner or later we are going to need this closet space."

"Oh," he said in a snarky voice, "you're planning on filling it up with dresses to wear for Ace."

He knew it was coming but didn't dodge knowing it was deserved. "No! You... dumb… fox. I... don't...like ...him." Each word was punctuated with a slap on his arm.

"Sorry. Sorry," he pleaded with her, "I knew it was wrong the moment I said it. Hey, um can you tell me why you don't want anything to do with him? I know his pick up lines are out of a James Bounder flick, but other than that he's a really nice guy."

She calmed down and apologized for smacking him before answering his question.

"My family was always trying to set me up with some buck or another but I never liked them. Nevermind how sweet or understanding about my dreams they were I just wasn't interested. Then they tried does thinking I was a lesbian but that didn't work out either. I'm kind of considered weird by my sisters because the only stimulation I've had down there," she said while gesturing toward her nether regions, "was manual."

Her breath caught as she realized what she just admitted to. Less than a second later the entirety of the inside of her ears was beat red in a blush that was only made worse by Nick's giggles and attempts to not burst out laughing.

"Wow," he remarked in a mock impressed tone, "zero to full blush in 0.2seconds a new record!"

"Oh shut up," she whimpered totally mortified.

"Hey it's alright I won't tell anyone about you not being into bunnies," he said matter of factly. Does that mean I might have a shot? Going through his head before getting shot back down by his more cynical side. Nope I'm still a loser.

"What do you mean not into bunnies? What else could I be into?" Judy asked genuinely curious about the answer.

"Well it sounds like to me you are probably an Inter." The todd said a bit uncomfortably before continuing quietly, "like me."

"I have no idea what that is," Judy said looking at his face for some kind of clue.

"It means(coughs uncomfortably) that your mind and body will only be interested in a mammal from another species." Nick finished quickly as his ears went even redder than hers had.

"Oh." She said with a squeak.

The two of them gathered up the hammers and drill from the closet and hurried about their work. They started out patching the bottom of the hole in uncomfortable silence made only worse when one or the other needed an extra paw to hold a piece of wood in place. Before long they had a new frame for the wall in place and thrown the busted bits outside through the hole. Nick brought in a rickety old step ladder so they could work together on the higher portions of the wall. Judy climbed it without complaint and was hammering in nails into the board Nick was holding in place. Suddenly there was a cracking sound and the ladder snapped and Judy fell backwards. Nick leapt from his spot and caught her in a dive that landed them on the nearby bed, Judy safe in his paws.

"Are you okay?" They blurted out together in shock of what had happened.

I have her bunny buns in my paws! Nick thought.

His paws are on my butt! Judy thought.

Finnick who had just walked in after being dropped off by Kevin to collect his van, smirked. "Damn, you two in bed together after a week of meeting each other?"

His teasing comment was only made worse when the old bed frame creaked and then broke crashing into the floor. Finnick stared then cracked up guffawing in his booming deep voice.

"You've... already... broken... your...first... bed... together… and… you're...not...even… naked… yet!" He choked out between laughs.

Judy and Nick glared at him which only made him laugh harder. Judy hopped off the busted bed, and Nick followed shortly after. Judy picked up Finn by his scruff and Nick put the fennec's keys in his shirt pocket. They then set Finnick outside the front door and slammed it.

…

"Then they threw me out without a word." Finnick said to the two polar bears and brown rabbit.

Ace looked thoroughly shocked as he began speaking, "I wish I hadn't made a total fool of myself now. You were right about Judy. She is an Inter."

"Tried to tell you Ace," Kevin said, "Girl wants Nick."