I was going to say that this one is a little short but actually it's still about the same

Guess that's what happens when you just want to write

Anywho, did someone say they wanted to see more of Cherry and Fizz?

Chapter 11

Nick Wilde, hustler extraordinaire, first police fox in Zootopia, had a lot on his mind. This week had been a bit ridiculous, almost as jammed packed as those few days working on the Night-howler and missing mammal cases with Judy. And with so much to think about Nick found himself enjoying the calmness of parking duty again. Although today the fox decided to avoid going anywhere near any parks.

Nick smirked slightly as he slapped another ticket on an overdue car. He'd gotten more use out of his emotions over the past year, and especially the last week, than in the previous 17 years he'd been in Zootopia. His brother had returned.

I still have some more information I need to get out of Noct thought the fox.

There was all this mess surrounding Asra and this crazy new drug. Nick had a very bad feeling about the whole situation, it was one of the main things he needed to talk to Noct about, this was far too familiar to the two of them.

He'd been split from his partner who was now working alongside Lunette. Thankfully that was only temporary. And Nick was fairly certain that he'd be able to make it up to Judy again. Although he needed to talk to Noct about that too, it would be a bit trickier to pull off the plan in his head without his brother's help.

Nick sighed, it was just like back when he was still part of Broken Clockwork, everything boiled down to him and Noct.

Nick turned back and sat down on a bench he had just walked past, the street was almost empty of other mammals, and pulled out his phone. The fox grimaced as he stared at the blank screen for a long time before he finally opened the device. He flicked through his contacts to the newest one he had. At some point while they were getting drunk he'd gotten Noct's number again. Nick had long since deleted the old one so as not to remind himself of his brother's absence.

Nick closed his eyes and hit dial, holding the phone to his ear as he waited for Noct to pick up.

"This is Gear 1 speaking" said Nick when the call finally went through "Come in Gear 2… Hehe, I thought you might have forgotten that for a second… Look, I'm… I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been so stubborn and… What do you mean you aren't mad anymore! I had a whole spiel lined up ready to melt your heart! Wanker... Typical, though I guess this makes things a bit easier… look a lot of stuff has happened, and I need your expertise for some of it, your family's expertise… Yeah, it doesn't look good… Listen, there's too much to go through over the phone on a public street and I also thought that since we haven't seen Finnick yet… yeah, I was thinking Moonlight… tomorrow? Sounds good, 6-ish? I don't want another repeat of last time even if it is a Friday night… yeah I know but still, don't worry I'll talk to Finnick at some point, not like he'll be busy anyway… alright, te videre"

Nick put the phone down and sighed, Noct always managed to run rings around him, of course Nick could do the same thing right back. The fox grinned as he thought of how to do just that.

A puff of smoke was blown through the open window of the moving minivan where it was whipped away in the slipstream. Cherry tapped the last of the ash out the window before tossing the rest of the butt out as well. She was bored, the otter had never liked long journeys unless she was walking, and this trip was pretty long. Fizz was at the wheel as they drove through Savanna Central. Like most mammals on the wrong side of the law, who possessed a certain amount of intelligence, the cougar knew the quietest routes that would attract the least attention.

Neither of the two wanted to make this trip but they were fairly high up in the hierarchy so it was their responsibility to go visit the boss. Not for the first time did Cherry wish she was just some grunt at the bottom of the pecking order. But no, she had to be the best 'delivery girl' in the Canal and Rainforest Districts, she was a transporter of sorts. Fizz, she glanced over at the slightly aging cougar, managed the Canal District branch. He was a whizz with money and numbers, said he was an accountant at one point. But he ended up in the wrong crowd, drank the wrong drinks, took the wrong drugs. He looked a lot older than he actually was, 29 but looked in his late 50's, and his hoarse voice only added to the image. Cherry was 21 and looked her age causing quite a contrast between the two of them.

They'd worked together for four years while the gang had been small time. They got by because they were good at what they did. Then about six months ago their organisation had a change of management. It was quite the hostile takeover, thankfully the two of them were useful enough and low enough on the ladder to not be affected. Gang's absorbing other gangs and that sort of thing were common occurrences. It wasn't the first time Cherry and Fizz had woken up one morning to find they worked for someone new. But this new boss? And the guys he brought with him?

Cherry shuddered a little at the thought and looked back out of the window. The new boss had set up shop in Sahara Square but the gang had branches in every district apart from Tundratown, Mr. Big had too much influence there for others to muscle in on his turf. So Fizz obviously wasn't going to drive through the wintery area if he could help it. Downtown had too heavy a police presence as well. Which is why they had driven all the way down from the Canal District to Savanna Central and were now heading east towards Sahara Square.

Thinking about where they were headed Cherry grimaced and pulled out another cigarette.

"You know you should really cut back on those" rasped Fizz not looking away from the road "or you'll end up sounding like me"

"Fuck off Fizz" scowled Cherry lighting up "you know exactly why I need this right now"

"Yeah yeah, relax, I always do all the talking"

"Still doesn't mean I want to be there"

Fizz sighed as the vehicle descended into silence again. He knew exactly what she meant, he didn't want the otter coming either, but this was something the boss wanted. Not for the first time Fizz wondered if they had managed to get in too deep. Their gang had always been small, low in importance to the fuzz, they mostly did minor crimes. But now? Well, they still hadn't committed anything major but the new boss was expanding. And then there was that drug.

Cherry switched on the aircon as they crossed the border into Sahara Square. Knowing that Fizz would get annoyed with the smoke, Cherry hurriedly finished off the cigarette and tossed it out into the sand before rolling up the window. The blessed coolness soon filled the minivan as they headed for the coast. About half an hour later shimmering blue appeared in their views.

They had arrived at a small resort town, it was known as the Sandy Beaches, not the most original name but it captured the reason behind the place. There were very few houses, not many people lived out in the Beaches, the majority of the buildings were for tourists and holiday goers. There were bars, cafes, restaurants, shops, anything a mammal out for a day at the seaside might want. No hotels though, the Sandy Beaches was too small scale for that. The biggest building around was a nightclub called Blue Tide and it was here that Fizz pulled up the minivan.

"Alright" said the cougar reaching behind his seat for the package "let's get this over with"

Cherry just nodded and got out of the vehicle too. They walked up to the double doors that led into the club and pushed them open. As their eyes adjusted to the dark inside they could see the familiar layout of the club. It was well decorated and designed, plenty of dancing space, lots of quiet booths and corners, lots of access to the bars. There weren't any patrons at the moment, far too early for that, and Cherry and Fizz got a few glances from the few staff inside. Seeing the direction they were walking in though, the staff all went back to whatever they were doing.

Fizz led the way into the back of the club, towards the back where there were staff only doors. Picking one out of the many doors Fizz knocked twice. The door opened a peep, just enough for whoever was there to see Fizz and Cherry without being seen themselves. After a few moments, the door opened properly and a black bear stepped out of the way for them to go through. Nobody said anything as the otter and cougar headed further into the bowels of the building.

They were in a maintenance corridor with various utility rooms coming off it. This wasn't what they were here for though, right at the end of the corridor was a stairwell. Cherry couldn't help clenching her fists as it came into view. Fizz glanced across but didn't say anything, he just led the way down the stairs.

Is this what it's like to go to hell? thought Cherry as they descended.

At the bottom of the stairs, two flights down, there was another door. This one had a pair of wolves standing guard in front though. They obviously recognised Cherry and Fizz and respectfully opened the door for them to pass. The two did get some respect from other gang members, even if it was only the grunts.

Loud, base heavy music could be heard the moment the door was opened and Cherry and Fizz stepped out into what seemed to be another nightclub. The layout was very similar to the upstairs however there were some key differences. Upstairs the theme was blue and there was a more open feel to the place. Down here though, dull red light shone everywhere there wasn't a deep shadow and smoke filled the room. Cherry tried to hold her breath as much as possible, that smoke wasn't from plain old cigarettes.

The other difference was that, while the upstairs club was empty, downstairs was packed full of animals. They were clustered together in groups all over the place. Most of them didn't even noticed the two newcomers, in fact they didn't look to be in a state to notice much of anything. Many had a glazed look on their faces, some happy, some scared. Who knew what sort of thing they were high on.

This place was a den for drug users and dealers, nearly everyone here was on some sort of drug. All the mammals near the door and around the edges of the large room however were just normal druggies. There were dangers being around them sure but Fizz and Cherry could look after themselves. If that was the only problem they wouldn't have any issues coming to visit the boss.

Across the completely empty dance floor there was a divide in the room. None of the normal criminals and addicts dared to cross it. On the other side was a series of booths and sofas that made up the boss's territory.

As Cherry and Fizz approached two figures walked out of the shadows to intercept them. They were two wolves, like those guarding the door outside, but these two were completely different. These two carried a dangerous air around them, one you wouldn't get without seeing bloody combat multiple times, but that wasn't the worst. The wolves growled quietly as two pairs of slit shaped eyes stared down at the cougar and the otter.

A low roar came from further back in the gloom and the two wolves backed off. Cherry and Fizz carefully advanced towards the largest booth in the middle of the back wall. Their every move was under constant scrutiny as more and more feral eyes appeared in the shadows, from nearby booths and couches. Hiding their fear, the two of them finally reached the coach where their boss was reclining.

He was a lion called Rennie Lamane, big even for a lion, dressed in a white silk shirt and trousers. A very scantily clad, beautiful young female cheetah was hanging off his right arm. A polar bear stood at either end of his couch on guard, staring down at the two visitors with savage eyes. Rennie Lamane looked on at Cherry and Fizz with his own slit like eyes for a long moment, his gaze lingering on the otter, before he spoke.

"Dusk… it's not quite Night… a drug that makes your instincts come alive" the lion spoke in a deep but eloquent voice "It opens the mind to what we used to be, what we could be, what we are deep inside…"

The lion traced a claw down the back of the cheetah as he said this eliciting a moan. Cherry glanced at the girl briefly, the slit shaped pupils that seemed a bit vacant, the shivering. This was obviously the first time the cheetah had ever taken Dusk, Cherry had seen it before, the boss liked to toy around with girls who were overwhelmed by the sudden rush of sensation the drug caused.

"So, tell me" continued Rennie "What is this month's report from the Canals and the Rainforest?"

"Work has continued as standard" began Fizz respectfully "since we started to distribute Dusk last month profits have risen by ten percent" the lion nodded approvingly "as with any new drug on the market, especially one like this, I predict this will only increase exponentially"

Fizz produced the package that contained the money to be passed on. A black rabbit buck in a suit walked out of one of the booths. Even this bunny gave off a feeling of savagery that Cherry and Fizz had grown to recognise as Dusk.

"Excellent" said Rennie running his paw down the Cheetah's flanks "Now how have the experiments been going? Dusk is wonderful, and more importantly it is stable… however, it's effects are too weak, we need… more"

"This is the latest lab report" said Fizz handing a sheaf of papers to the black rabbit who then disappeared back into the shadows "Dr Ramstein says that things are progressing to plan, he mentioned that there was some promise with one of the batches. On the other paw, the more extreme experiment he carried out ended in failure. While it showed good results the side effects were far too much"

"Oh, good results how?" asked the lion biting the cheetah's ear lightly causing her to melt into his side.

"The guinea pig was a young Jackal however he managed to break free and escape the lab"

"A child managed to escape from Ramstein? Interesting, why did he say it was a failure then?"

"Dr Ramstein managed to gather some data before" the cougar paused to clear his throat, coughing lightly "before the pup escaped and what he gathered showed that the experiment had put too much of a strain on the boy's body. Even if he escaped he was still going to die within 24 hours"

"Hmm, tell Ramstein to keep looking in to that data, we might be able to work something out of it"

Cherry couldn't help but shudder at the look on the lion's face.

"Cherry" said Rennie leering at the otter unreservedly "Have you given any thought to my offer?"

Cherry trembled in place, her pierced ears flat against her head, she was too afraid to talk but she obviously had to. The hundreds of slit shaped eyes in the dark gazing down at her started to make her panic.

"Sir" said Fizz quietly "while I obviously have nothing to say against you, I feel that I should point out that Cherry is the best transporter we have in the Canals and the Rainforest. If she were to move to attend you here at Blue Tide then, even if we get the next best person, I'm afraid our profits may drop by up to 35 percent"

The cougar was sweating profusely, he could see the displeasure on his boss's face quickly rising. Thankfully, once he mentioned the losses they would make, Rennie relaxed and looked only a little disgruntled. If there was one thing that the cougar had a reputation for in the gang, it was working with numbers, if he said 35 percent then it was 35 percent.

"You really are very good at your job" Rennie said staring intently at Cherry "Both of you are" the lion snapped his fingers.

The black rabbit in a suit returned this time carrying a much smaller package which he handed to Fizz.

"You two can take this as a token of my appreciation, your district is the one that runs the smoothest and I know that I have you two to thank for that"

With that the lion waved for them to leave before turning his attention back to the quivering cheetah beside him. Cherry and Fizz gave their thanks and left as calmly and respectfully as they could. Even when they were out of that red lit hell and were climbing back up the stairs, they still didn't relax in the slightest. Not till they left the nightclub itself and climbed back into the minivan could they let everything collapse.

Cherry started taking deep gasps of air, she knew exactly what the boss wanted from her when he had made that offer. She thought about the poor cheetah, trapped in her own senses and instincts, at the mercy of that lion. Cherry started trembling again, the sheer pressure that the boss and his people made when they were on Dusk was terrifying.

Fizz started the minivan as best he could, his hands were shaking terribly, but they needed to get as far away as possible as fast as possible. He opened the windows to feel the air flowing, even with the heat and sand, and it helped to calm him a bit. Savage eyes appeared in his mind as he pulled back out onto the single road that lead to and from the Sandy Beaches and he shivered sending the minivan swerving slightly.

"W-what did the boss give us?" he asked to try and distract Cherry.

Nervously the otter picked up the package from where Fizz had dumped it and she opened it up. Inside, surrounded by lots of padding, were two vials full of liquid. It was a deep, bloody orange like a setting sun and seemed to flow like oil within the vials. The moment Cherry saw it she was filled with dread.

"Fizz, Fizz, they gave us Dusk! What are we gonna do?!"

The cougar jerked the wheel at her words, nearly sending them off the road and started to swear heavily. Looking over he saw the vials and felt a coldness run through him.

"Dump it!" he said quickly "now! Before we leave the desert, throw it into the dunes"

Nodding Cherry closed the package up again and hurled it out of the open window as hard as she could. The package flew over a ridge and disappeared from view, the ever-shifting sands of Sahara Square would bury it within minutes. With the drug gone Cherry felt herself relax a little and everything came crashing down. She curled up into a ball on her seat and started to sob.

Fizz looked down at her sadly, thinking again that maybe they were in too deep. He placed a shaking paw on her shoulder briefly before he turned back to driving, getting them back to the Canal District safely came first right now.

Parking duty, as always, seemed to go on forever. It didn't help that it appeared to be a popular Thursday for criminals. Nick kept hearing report after report over the radio from other officers and all the action, and his lack of, was wearing on him.

He was very thankful when his shift came to an end and he could return to the precinct.

Nearly done Nick thought as he headed for Mrs Ivory to hand in his equipment one more day and you can be back on the beat with Judy

He was a little sad that he didn't see any sign of her while he was in the precinct, understandable though, it'd be quite the coincidence if they just happened to go off duty at the same time. Nick convinced himself he felt that way because, without her, he'd have to walk home. A five to ten minute drive in the morning equated to about a forty minute walk and even before he started Nick could feel himself starting to flag.

The fox was barely managing to drag his feet when he finally made it to his apartment. He made some sort of attempt at waving at Donald who just raised an eyebrow and didn't say anything.

I think this is the first time I've wished there was an elevator thought Nick as he stopped for the second time as he climbed the stairs.

The sight of his apartment door was very welcome by the time he reached his floor. Struggling slightly to open the door, Nick headed straight for the bathroom discarding his clothes along the way. He was too tired to even care about the finicky shower controls and just stood there in the cold as the water warmed up. A nice hot shower did wonders for the soul and Nick found himself perking up a bit. He considered just staying in the shower all evening but he also knew that the hot water would run out eventually. He dragged himself out of the shower with a groan and went to dry off.

Nick had just finished getting washed and changed into t-shirt and shorts and was about to go collapse onto the sofa when the someone knocked on the door of his apartment. He wanted to get angry at the person who had just interrupted him actually getting some rest however he recognised that knock. It was one that he heard extremely often and it came from about halfway down the door.

With a sigh Nick stumbled on over to the door and opened it to reveal Judy, she was wearing a blue t-shirt and black leggings.

"Come on in Fluff" said Nick tiredly as he got out the way.

Judy watched as the tod staggered back to the sofa and collapsed onto it. She stepped inside and closed the door properly behind her before walking into the living room as well. Nick had turned the TV on and was idly flicking through the channels. Judy just watched him for a few moments before she hopped up onto the sofa next to him. With how tired he looked, Judy just wanted to lay him down in her lap and cuddle him… but she couldn't.

They didn't say anything, the TV muttered quietly in the background, the two were just happy to sit in each other's company for a while. Judy breathed deeply, Nick had just showered and he smelled of blueberries, of course Nick Wilde would have blueberry scented shampoo. But there was also an underlying scent of fox mixed in with it, the combination seemed heavenly to Judy, it just seemed so… Nick-ish.

Nick on the other hand was doing slightly better, he was really tired, which made it a bit easier for him not to stare at how form fitting Judy's leggings were. The day hadn't been particularly strenuous, it was only parking duty after all, but the fox had a feeling that it was just the crazy week catching up with him.

He wasn't so tired however that he couldn't guess what Judy wanted.

"Alright Carrots" he yawned slightly "I'll talk, I'll talk"

"Are you sure?" asked Judy frowning at him "you seem shattered, we can leave it for another time"

The fox stretched his arms out and cricked his neck a few times.

"Nah it's okay" said Nick perking up a bit "so what do you want to ask me?"

Judy put a finger on her chin as she thought, eventually she decided on what she tried to ask that morning. She shuffled across the sofa till she was leaning against his side.

"What's Broken Clockwork?" she asked looking up at him with those shining, purple eyes.

Nick stiffened slightly as Judy leant against him but, looking down at her, he relaxed and shifted slightly, putting an arm round the bunny. Judy screamed for joy inside her head at this as she felt surrounded by Nick.

"Broken Clockwork is a couple of things" said Nick trying to figure out where he should start "When you heard me and Noct mention it, that Broken Clockwork referred to our job. Broken Clockwork was, is, the name of an… agency"

"And this is how you earned" Judy counted on her fingers "one and a half million Zootopian Dollars?"

"One and a half?" Nick frowned slightly "oh, you mean the cash we had in the duffel bags. That was just spending money, most of Broken Clockwork's assets are either invested in various projects or stored in about seven different banks"

"You mean there's more?" asked Judy incredulously "what the hell did you two do for a living?"

"We… did various things, fixed things, Jack-of-all-trades sort of deal" Nick could tell the bunny wasn't buying it "Broken Clockwork dealt with the highest echelons of Zootopia, the richest and most powerful, that's why we made so much money. I was the front man, I dealt with the clients, I picked the jobs. We had a conscience you know, I wouldn't choose any jobs that physically harmed others, avoided children and the elderly unless it was to help them. We would be hired to do things like destroy blackmail material and things like that"

"Illegal things?" asked Judy quietly grabbing onto Nick's shirt.

"Probably" said Nick with a sigh "Nobody can catch Noct though so it doesn't matter, that guy did all the actual work. We were under Mr. Big's protection at this point which meant a lot, plus, we were useful, too useful for anyone to come after us. Hell, the person we targeted often came in the next day as a client. I… I like to think that we were doing good, keeping the city a bit balanced"

Judy was silent as she took all this in.

So Nick was more than a hustler once

Way more! This sounds extremely illegal!

But it's Nick, you know he wouldn't do anything really bad

Just think of it like him being a modern-day Robin Hood

The image of Nick in that classic green outfit with the hat and a bow appeared in Judy's mind. She found it equal parts funny and attractive and couldn't help but giggle. Nick looked down at her questioningly.

"Sorry" said Judy smiling "just thinking to myself. So you did sneaky jobs for the rich and famous. No-nobody ever… died, right?" she asked her smile straining, the hope in her eyes screaming at Nick.

Nick could literally feel his walls and armour melting under the bunny's gaze.

"No!" he almost shouted as he wrapped his other arm round Judy as well, pulling her to his chest "Never! That is Noct's cardinal rule, and mine as well, any job like that was instantly disqualified. Our clients knew our rules."

Judy felt a wave of relief wash over her, she was glad that the Nick she knew obviously hadn't changed much from then. She also enjoyed being wrapped in Nick's embrace and snuggled into his chest happily. Much to the rabbit's disappointment Nick eventually let go but Judy stayed cuddled next to him as he continued.

"The other meaning behind Broken Clockwork is literally Noct and myself. Before we set up the agency we were under Mr. Big's wing, one of his subordinates kept an eye on us kids. People would call our names" Nick grinned sleepily as he looked down at the doe nestled next to him "Nick, Noct, Nick, Noct, Nick, Noct, Nick, Noct, what does that sound like to you?"

"It sounds like… 'tick, tock'?" enlightenment dawned on Judy's face "broken clockwork?"

"Right" said Nick "it's just a nickname people had for us. But we liked it, we…" Nick yawned again "we thought it fit…"

Judy could see that the fox was struggling to stay awake now.

"I'll head home" she said gently as she sadly disentangled herself "you need to get some rest"

"You could stay" said Nick tiredly.

Judy froze, she wasn't sure if she heard what she thought she heard. Had Nick noticed? Was he actually asking her to stay the night? She started to flush and was too shocked to say yes like she wanted to.

"I'll be going out to see Noct tomorrow evening so I won't be around" continued the fox.

Judy felt both incredibly disappointed and extremely relieved that she had misunderstood Nick's words.

Of course he wouldn't mean it like that you dumb bunny

"I-I'll get going" said Judy a little hastily "you make sure you get some sleep"

She hurriedly fled the apartment, Nick was obviously shattered as he didn't notice any of her embarrassment. Judy wanted to keep it that way.

"Night Carrots" said Nick to the empty room, he hadn't even noticed the doe leave.

There was a patch of warmth that smelled of Judy next to him on the sofa. Nick knew he wouldn't make it to his bed and was strangely drawn to the scent. He curled up on the sofa with his tail wrapped round him and was asleep before his head hit the cushions.