FFoZ S1E10

Taking out the Trash.

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Chapter 1

Plausible deniability

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Judy was tired. Her head was groggy and the urge to creep back into the warm embrace of her bed was stronger than Hopps family carrot moonshine, almost dragging her back into the blissful world of sleep. With a weary acceptance though, she sadly realised that that wasn't going to happen.

There wasn't a cruel alarm beckoning, telling her to get up for her shift, though her job would be calling for her presence soon enough. There wasn't a scream of a nearby kit, or two rowdy neighbours backing and forthing, to keep her from rest, even though she'd left both behind. It wasn't even an urge to use the toilet.

It was just that Judy Hopps woke up at this time, her eyelids opened by the light of the sun as it filtered through the curtains, and her stubborn body clock was loath to let her slip back into a long slumber. She was a farm girl, an early bird by heart, and nothing could change that, not then and especially not now. Even her rather small lie ins, such as those which graced her first few years of university, were a long passed memory at this stage, regardless of how early or late she went to sleep the night before.

But, while her wake up time didn't care about when she went to bed, her temperament certainly did. Sliding out of her bed, foot paws on the floor, she gave a long yawn before looking around.

Her old room at the Grand Pangolin Arms looked positively spacious in comparison with this. Her bedroom in her new place was bigger than this too, and it took her a few seconds to realise that there was quite a bit off. She'd been in a short bed wedged between the two walls, beneath a window. The curtains and covers, the floors and walls, and pretty much everything else was just a little bit off.

It took her longer than she'd have liked to admit to remember that this was Nick's place. It explained why she was in her casual clothes and not her nightwear.

Still, things needed to be done, she needed to get ready. There was an hour before she'd have to leave, knowing Nick's schedule. She usually left her place after just a quarter of an hour, jogging to the precinct and showering there, before meeting up with Nick, the fox carrying some breakfast. Here, though, she could take that shower now, hopefully getting a bit of a wake up from it.

She found her work clothes roughly folded by her feet, a little note written on top. 'Got you into bed, Sleepy bun. Sweet dreams, your dumb fox.'

"Aaaahhhh," she cooed, only for it to morph into a sort of yawn. Looking back down at it, she noticed that the area under the 'your' had been rubbed out, as if he'd written something and corrected it. "Hmmmm, you know that I could work out what it was," she teased, smiling a little at it. "I could just… uh… um... -Carrot sticks."

Her brow furrowed, and she picked up her clothes and went forth into Nick's apartment. Past the lounge and kitchen area, into the little entrance hallway, and then turning left into bathroom. Stripping off and turning the shower on, she glanced around as it warmed up, her gaze slowly resting on her reflection in the mirror. Her arms were over her body and her legs slightly crossed, trying to cover herself a little, while her ears had collapsed down the back of her head, ready to fall off were they not pinned in place. Her eyes looked the worst though, a dull red in them, while her eyelids hung low.

Not low like Nick's were when he carried his trademark smirk, though…

There was no energy behind them, and they wavered up and down as the siren calls of the day and night drew them back and forth. It looked to Judy as if she'd been tranq'd, about to fall off to rest yet never going, instead just waiting there. Looking. Dull eyes staring out. Sleepy eyes, like another pair she knew. Hurt eyes… Betrayed eyes… Scared eyes, with everything behind them smashed into pieces and...

Judy broke it off, pushing herself into the shower and closing the door, feeling the jets of water press down into her fur. Holding the shower head below her, she forced the streams up and through her fur, letting them percolate to her skin, slowly bringing her around. The sheets of the night were pulling back, thrown off as she began rubbing herself down with Nick's budget shampoo. After a cleansing rinse of the showerhead the suds and dirt were gone, down the drain. Paws cleared her eyes, and she savoured the beating massage of the shower on the nape of her neck before she finally broke it off.

Out of the shower.

Into the fur dryer, blasting hot air around her in a ring which she pulled up, over her head, before returning down to the floor. She was clean, she was dry, and the hard edge of her tiredness had gone.

But still she stood there.

One paw fussed the other one as she thought back. Coming up with vague ideas of new things to say, new ways to make it work out, better things to do to help that escaped mental patient.

That had been a scary moment, and it hadn't been that long ago, but she guessed she was okay.

Yes, she was fine.

That couldn't really be said for the one she'd managed to hurt though, who she could have done better for. It wasn't the first time, either. First with the press conference, then this.

She could do better.

She had to do better.

She would do better!

And that meant that she was okay. She was good. She was excellent.

That honey badger might have been fearing the nighthowlers coming back, but Judy had a lead! Her hard work, her time spent, her videos watched… She had to work harder and she'd been starting with that, and it had worked! She could go in today, show off the thing she'd found, and make the world a better place! Maybe she'd even be able to try and make it up to that badger, though she doubted it. Moving to the fur dryer door, she reminded herself that she didn't really deserve her forgiveness after what she'd done to her. She…

The jolt of the bathroom door opening caused her to freeze, and she nervously looked on as a tired looking Nick, naked bar his boxer shorts, slumped in. His mouth open in a wide vulpine yawn, he went straight for the toilet, lifting up both the lid and the seat. Judy could only retreat into a corner, suddenly wide awake but really not liking it. She looked on, too mortified to speak, as Nick lowered his boxers and…

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

He was suddenly very awake too, just like Judy, and as equally horrified. His legs kicked out like he was in a cartoon as he tried to find traction, and he rammed himself against the wall, shielding his eyes as he looked away. "I'm-sorry-I'm-sorry-I'm…"

"Nick, it was my fault!" she blurted out, jumping out of the dryer, grabbing a towel to wrap around herself as she exited. "I forgot to lock the door, I…"

"I'm-sorry-I-didn't-mean-to-be-a-creep…"

"It's your bathroom. I shouldn't be here…"

"-Please-don't-be-mad-please..."

"It's my fault, I'm just a dumb bunny."

"-don't-hate-me-please... Please don't leave me. Please don't leave me…"

"I don't hate you Nick," she urged, before being forced to take a breather. He was taking one too, and managed to glance at her, relaxing greatly as he saw that she was modest. He'd been wound up like a fleeing animal, and was still poised to run, but he managed to look at her.

Her feet, admittedly, but those were still a part of her.

"Nick," she began, shying away a little. He was terrified, and it was her fault. She'd gone and hurt him, because she was careless, and she had to make this right. "Listen, I didn't lock the door, I didn't go home last night, it's not your fault, it's this dumb bunnies fault," she said, before pushing forwards and holding his paw.

"I…" he began, before giving an awkward cough. "No lock…"

"Huh?"

"The door has no lock, Judy," Nick pointed out, before relaxing. "So you're not a dumb bunny."

"No," she said, sighing with relief. She even managed to smile a bit from the silliness of it all. "I'm not a dumb bunny," she said, fudging the truth for his sake. After all, she still managed to hurt those other mammals, and Nick most of all. "I'm not mad at you either. I'll just…"

"Leave the bathroom," Nick suggested, tersely.

"Yup," she replied, grabbing her clothes. She paused though, looking back at him. "But I'm not going to leave my best friend and partner, I can promise you that." She meant it, she'd driven him away once before, and she wasn't going to repeat the same mistake ever again.

"Why Carrots," he said, his features softening before he slowly smirked. "I'm truly touched."

She smiled back at him. "Well, I just wanted to make sure you're all good."

"Right as rain," he replied, his signature Wilde charm returning. There was a minor pause, before he carried on. "And how's the beautiful bunny beside me?"

"About the same as the handsome fox in front of me."

He blinked a few times, a sly grin growing on his muzzle. "Why I'm touched," he said, the grin growing further as Judy smiled some more. "Does a certain bunny like the look of a foxer in his boxers?" he teased.

Judy burst out laughing, doubling down again as Nick showed himself off in a few strong mammal poses. She watched him pose, and she looked on at the base of his tail as he bent over away from her, the black fabric covering his rear going tense over his body. "A certain bunny rather does," she replied, as Nick glanced over at her. A faint look of shock seemed to flash over his face and it pulled Judy back. For a second, she saw a different set of eyes instead of his, but it and any guilt were quickly swept away.

"A certain bunny has good taste," Nick said slyly, before pausing. "And a certain foxer in his boxers wants to just double check that a certain bunny is okay. Is she?"

Judy Hopps looked back at him, remembering the guilt she was due. The mammals she'd hurt, and the work she still needed to do to make it right. "Absolutely," she replied, giving him a quick salute. "One-hundred percent."

And, so, she left. She could get changed while he showered, and then maybe get him a coffee and a treat. After all, she needed to make it up to her friend after embarrassing him like that.

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It wasn't much later that Nick came walking back through again, returning to his bedroom to get changed. Judy looked over at him and smiled, keeping an eye on him as he sauntered across the room in his boxer shorts, his tail wagging slightly as their eyes met for a brief second or two. He gave her a wink as he retreated into his room, and she carried on getting things ready, his image still lingering in her mind.

It was probably nothing…

By the time Nick was out, two coffees were laid out, along with some bread and jam. He looked at it for a few seconds before slipping down into his chair. "I thought I was the host here," he teased, taking a sip of his drink. He paused though as he noticed what Judy was having. "I thought you usually had tea?"

"Well today I'm having coffee."

"Isn't that stuff not so good for bunnies?"

"Well, it kind of is," Judy said, as she drank a little. "But this won't harm me, and I need a pickup."

"Yes," Nick noted, a dark tone entering his voice. "After last night."

"After last night, when we found a lead!" She said excitedly. She'd been too tired to celebrate it then, but boy was she excited now. Taking her drink and some food, she couldn't help but rush over to her computer and boot it up. Long nights of sifting through, trying to find the start of the breadcrumb tail, and she'd finally done it! Checking through the timestamp she recorded, she tracked down the right time on the right camera and jumped up with joy. There it was, a little smudge flying up in the top corner of the screen, unclear and out of focus. But it was still a bat, and it was carrying something.

"Is it as glorious as you imagined?" Nick asked, slipping down beside her. Judy couldn't help but roll her eyes at his antics, and then nod in agreement.

"Given all I need to do, it is," she said. "We're going to push forwards and shut these thieves down." She made sure to take some more screenshots and timestamps, ready to take it all in. She slipped off her chair, only to pause, feeling a pair of eyes silently focussing on her. Turning around, she looked at Nick, the fox looking back with a critical eye. "What?"

"-do you mean by 'all I need to do'?" he asked, "for that is the million buck question!"

Her mouth hung open for a second, before she shrugged it off. "It's just I've got to help figure all this out and end it," she justified, walking off. She halted though as Nick moved himself in front of her.

"Carrots," he began, slowly. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, Nick…" She was. She knew what she had to do and she knew she could do it.

"Judy, are you really?"

"Yes…"

Nodding, Nick let her past thinking for a few seconds before speaking. "You know, Dr Twirly tail…"

"Is that what you call your therapist now?"

"Is Dr Amy Lupuleli's nickname that now? Yes, yes it is. Anyway, she recently emailed me, asking if I wanted to help with a new patient. She didn't give many details, but apparently she hero worshipped both of us after what we did in the nighthowler plot." He held himself for a few seconds, letting it sink in. The cogs in Judy's mind had already finished turning when he spoke again. "I'm just worried about you after what happened with that honey badger," he said. "I know you can take down rhinos, but those mean mustelids can send them running back to their mothers like calves…" He paused, his finger up mid-lecture, before it and the rest of him slumped down. He walked up to Judy, looming over her almost like her father used to do when she was confused, upset and needing to talk, and then just like him he lowered himself down to look into her eyes. "If you need to talk…"

"I'm a bit shaken. It's still early. But I think I'm good Nick," Judy said, before giving him a light punch on the shoulder. "Now come on, let's go and make the world a better place!"

"There we go! Classical Carrots, and about time."

"With standard Slick too," she said, Nick suddenly amazed.

"Did you just do a Nick tease back at me?"

"Did I do a Nick tease back? Yes, yes I did."

"And the apprentice becomes the master!"

"You know it," he said, as he returned to his breakfast.

Judy nodded, before looking up to him, her ears rising up with a feeling of hope. "Did you say yes, to your therapist?" He nodded, and she felt even better. "Could I come…? -To apologise…"

She didn't expect it to be accepted, but she had to try. If she would just be chewed out, she'd just be chewed out. She crossed her fingers as Nick swallowed his food.

"Sure," he replied, "though Dr T-T says it'll be a while now… -you can probably guess why, and she may not want to see us anymore."

Her ears slipped down. "Oh…"

"But she'll be in good paws," he said. "I mean, Dr Tic-Tac is almost done with getting me up to an acceptable standard!"

"Almost…?" she teased.

He shrugged. "Well, I…" He paused, his mouth moving about a few times and his ears pulling back a bit. Glancing away, he shrugged. "I'll try and have it all sorted after work," he said with a wink, as he finished off his food and went to clean his teeth. Judy went to sort herself out too and then, with their gear in their bags, they set off together to work.

By the time they got there, it was a flurry of activity. Mammals marched to and fro, orders were being spoken out, and Clawhauser immediately called them over.

"Where's the donut shortage, Spots?" Nick asked, walking up to him.

"It's nothing that bad," the cheetah urged. "In fact, it's something good! I can't say what, but the Chief is calling all paws on deck. He'll be making a big announcement in the bullpen."

"Aye-aye, captain Clawhauser," Nick saluted, as Judy, rolling her eyes, slipped in front of him.

"Do you know where detective Dawson and Dawson are?"

"In the Chief's office," he replied, as Judy leapt with joy. "Yes, perfect! Thanks Ben!"

Before he could reply, off she went, leaving Nick behind. "I'll just…" he began, pointing in her direction before heading off.

Judy, though, had already reached the office of the Chief and rapped on the door. He called in and she entered, Catano and the mice detectives waiting there for her. Papers and documents were spread out across his desk, and he looked up from them to her as Nick arrived by her side. "Chief!" They both saluted.

His face was blank for a few seconds, before a faint smile grew across his muzzle. "I should have expected you to turn up early today," he said gruffly, pausing as he glanced at Nick. "I still expect you to turn up hours late, but there we go… At ease."

"Now I certainly expected you to say that, Chief," Nick replied. Dave gave a slight chuckle, though Bogo just gave the fox his 'strike one' look.

"Yes," Judy began, "we came in early as we have news of vital importance."

"-Well you can tell me about that as soon as we've got our briefing from the detectives," he said, gesturing over to them. They nodded, before Basil leapt onto a large map.

"For too long, we've been confounded by the theft of these nighthowlers. Despite investigating the source of the theft, we have found no evidence of who took them. Why they took them? Where they went… Until now."

Judy's eyes widened. They'd found their own lead? She smiled, before stepping forwards. "Seems like we hit it at the same time," she said proudly, gathering the pairs attention. "Last night I found something on the jam cams. It's not much, but it should help set us on the path forwards."

Basil nodded. "Fantastic work, though sadly unneeded." He then turned back to the papers, Judy staring on blankly into the distance.

She'd just misheard that, hadn't she? Odd…

"What I think my husband was trying to articulate," Dave began, his paws fumbling with each other as he cautiously spoke. "Was that we took a different approach to researching this task and, while your effort is most certainly appreciated deeply… we… Well, ahem, we happen not to need it."

"Oh," Judy replied, still feeling a bit odd as she listened to the mice. They couldn't have found the source this early, couldn't they? No… Probably a false lead or not the whole thing or something. They could still use it, and her find, though, when they got on to the real deal. This was just just a preamble.

"I was struck with the task of finding out the use of these devilous plants," Basil was elaborating, as he pulled a list out. "And I presumed the most likely use was for the howler toxin. It's the largest threat in any case. Now, while the standard detective mind would try to look at the body of evidence, find the roots of the pyramid and build up, I realised that we could turn it on its head." There was a pause, and a chuckle. "Though not without help from my better half."

Davel couldn't help but feel a bit bashful from the attention. "It was merely a comment about my experience in the medical field. It was you who pieced it together."

"Gentlemen," Bogo commanded, "need I remind this is an office environment."

"Of course," Basil chirped, heading back to the list. "Working with the DA, we were able to negotiate with Doug Ramses for the formula used in return for an earlier parole option."

"Thankfully he was looking for this kind of convenient excuse to help out his friends," Nick added, before pausing as a bunch of eyes were turned onto him. "What?" he asked, with a shrug. "We all know he's a Bellwether crony. She promoted him over better candidates, he turned a blind eye to hate crimes during the savage scare while pursuing preds… The only reason he didn't cut their sentences before is because he needed a valid excuse to do so."

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"Strike two, Wilde."

"Anyway," Judy said, turning back, before pausing in confusion. "That's not the case, right?"

Bogo looked down at her sadly. "Nothing could be firmly proven, but I think most mammals in the know feel that way… Still, he only has half a year left before his term is up, and we can kick him out. Anyway, back to the topic at paw."

"Yes, yes," Basil began, picking up again. "Quite simply, the serum is a whole mix of chemicals, themselves a mix of chemicals. We presumed that the bad guys would cover themselves by synthesising the primary chemicals from secondary ones, actions that required certain equipment. Thus, we searched for sales of these devices, finding several on the hot list being purchased at a similar time by a couple of different license holders. Looking forwards, the same ones were purchasing various chemicals that are all linked by the list! After doing an automatic search for several of the associated vehicles, we tracked them to this site! Basic checks with the cams, and a sweep by one of our best sniffers, confirmed it! These are our guys!"

"Indeed," Bogo replied. "We're ready to do the raid, the force is gearing up, and we need you two ready too!" He looked down at Judy, then at Nick. "Gear up, be ready for the ship out. We'll be hitting them hard and fast. Step to it!"

Both mammals saluted, before jogging out. Judy, integrated into TUSK due to her unique skills, would be on the front line. Facing them. Fighting them…

"Feeling ready for this, Carrots?" Nick asked.

Judy nodded. "Let's make the world a better place." She meant it. She really did. But she couldn't help but shake off a feeling in her mind. This wasn't the real deal by a long shot, was it? It wouldn't be that easy, would it? It might be a false flag, or a front… Then they'd be back to looking, researching, trying to get these terrible mammals in as soon as possible.

Using her find as part of it. As her find was important, right? She'd spent ages and ages trying to find it, long night after long night, had she not?

And that wouldn't have all been pointless.

It wouldn't. It wouldn't!

She kept telling that, as she and Nick suited up, and marched off to the briefing.

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AN: While the very helpful Dancou Maryuu has proofed much of this series so far, I'd also like to thank the brilliant Ubernoner for looking through this and giving me a few pointers. The good people at the Zootopian Author's association also gave a helping hand.