A/N: This is currently undergoing a major rewrite but I felt it was only fair to provide a better backstory for all the characters rather than springing it upon you at a later chapter. I ask for your patience and hope you like what I've written so far. Feedback is appreciated.

Chapter 6

"Hi there! You must be the new student! Welcome to Zootopia High!"

Nick turned around to see who was speaking to him. He didn't see anyone.

"Down here, you dumb fox!" as he heard a giggle.

He looked down and his breath caught. There, dressed in a yellow sweater, frilly skirt and matching leggings was the most adorable creature he had ever seen in his life. The colour of her outfit along with her grey fur clearly complemented the most amazing amethyst eyes he had ever seen.

"Hi! My name is Judy Hopps! I'm the Official Greeter for Zootopia High and I'd like to welcome you to the best four years of your life!" as she offered her paw to him.

Her enthusiasm was contagious and Nick couldn't help but grin as he grasped the outstretched paw and kissed the back of it with a twinkle in his eye.

"Milady, thou dost warmest the heart of this weary traveller with thine words. And thy beauty eases the sight of mine eyes having seen the dreariness of yonder barren landscape as I embarked on my most perilous journey. I thank thee for such a fine welcome. Thou may call me, Sir Nicholas." He released her paw, sweeping an imaginary cap off his head and bowing down on one knee with a flourish of his paws.

His flattery of her made her blush but at the sight of him on one knee before her, she immediately fell on the floor with laughter. "You're too funny, Nick! Can I call you Nick?" as soon as she caught her breath.

"Yes, you can as long as you allow me to stand."

She looked at him questioningly.

He sighed. "A gentle knight cannot stand not till his lady orders him to. And my knee is starting to hurt in this position so I would rather appreciate it if you did."

"Oh! Then, arise, Sir Nick!" she said, in a fit of giggles.

He stood up, brushed the imaginary dirt off his knees, and asked, "So what is there to do in this Podunk town?"

Judy acted as if she had not heard his snarky remark as she hopped up to grab his school tie and started pulling him down the hallways. She started to tell him how wonderful things were in Zootopia and how anyone could become what they wanted to be and how she was going to go out and make the world a better place for every mammal. As she was giving him the tour of his new school, she kept up a constant stream of chatter. The other mammals gave them a wide berth, sniggering and making snide comments as they passed by.

"There goes the Energizer Bunny!"

"I pity that freshman. She's going to talk his ears off" he overheard some say.

Pretty soon, they came to a halt at a room that said Zootopia Gazette and Judy released the death grip she had on his tie.

"What's this?" Nick asked as he straightened his now unkempt tie.

"It's the school newspaper."

"What are we doing here?"

"I was hoping you would volunteer your talent as a photographer and help me with publishing a monthly edition. You see, I'm the school newspaper's editor, writer, and junior reporter all rolled into one," Judy said proudly.

Nick tilted his head and looked at her suspiciously.

"I'm also the only one doing it as no one else wants the job," Judy glumly admitted, holding her head down while tapping her fingers nervously together.

Nick could see the dejection etched in her face. Then all of a sudden, her demeanour changed back to a sunny smile and said, "But no matter! I'm going to do it or die trying!"

Nick laughed out loud at her bravado. She glared at him and punched him in the arm. "Boy, she packs a wallop for a small bunny!" Nick thought.

"I'm not kidding, you goof!" she stated.

"I'm not laughing at you; I'm laughing because of you." Nick grimaced while rubbing his arm. "I betcha that's going to sting for a week!" Nick thought. "How did you know that photography was my thing?"

"Oh, I checked your files out and saw that you had listed it as a hobby."

"Hold on!" Nick said. "Only the Principal and staff are allowed access to my personal files. How did you manage to see them?"

"Well, computers are kinda my thing and I'm planning to be a computer engineer when I grow up so…I kinda hacked into the school computer to see who of the new students I could hijack to help me out before they rushed off to join the other clubs" she sheepishly admitted while rubbing her neck.

Nick stood there with his mouth open considering the audacity of her actions. That plus she trusted him enough to share the fact that she had just committed a felony.

"Tell you what, Carrots," Nick began. "I won't have you committed to a maximum security prison for hacking on the following terms: One, I'll be willing to help you with the school newspaper since it sounds more fun than watching grass grow which by the look of things is the most exciting thing that happens around here however I have the final decision on what photos to use. Two, you promise to stop punching me in the arm. And, lastly, you will be my lunch partner for a month as I don't like eating alone."

Nick watched as her gorgeous eyes grew wider with each of the demands he listed. He swore he could almost see the steam coming out of her very pretty ears as she angrily shot back, "Who are you calling Carrots? I have a proper name. And that's not fair! It's not like I'm asking a lot from you! Besides, you have no proof that I hacked into the school's computers to get into your files! It's your word against mine!"

"Actually my dear," as Nick smirked at her and pulled out my junior spy recording pen which he had hidden in his coat jacket pocket, "it's your word against yours!" as Nick pressed the play button.

"Hey, you have no proof that I hacked into the school's computers to get into your files! It's your word against mine!," came the tinny voice. She looked at Nick with alarm.

"It's called a hustle, sweetheart. Relax, dumb bunny. I won't release it and I'll even give it back to you at the end of the month so that you can delete it. I just want to have a lunch companion. Even with one as cute as you."

Judy started to seethe realizing that she had been just been scammed. Then, it dawned on her that even though Nick had been annoyingly accurate about Zootopia High, at least he was willing to help with the school newspaper. No other mammal that she had approached had been willing to stick with her. And, as she started to calm down, she considered that having lunch with a fox for a month didn't seem too bad. Especially with one this deviously charming.

"Sly fox!" she chortled. She extended her paw out to him. "Deal!"

As he grasped her paw, she exclaimed, "Except for this!" and hit him again in the arm. "Don't ever call me cute!"

"Owww!"

The van came to a screeching halt and Nick immediately jumped out of it. "Did you order take-out?" said the older bunny snarkily, frail voice now gone.

"Why thank you, Bonnie!" said Nick. "I'll take a rabbit to go," he snickered as he picked up Judy in his strong arms as if she was his bride. He immediately jumped back into the van followed by Bonnie. "Go! Go! Go!" Bonnie yelled as she slammed the van doors behind them.

As the van's doors closed, the driver of the van took off and headed straight for the back of the semitrailer in front of them. If Judy had the ability to scream, she would have but she was still paralyzed from the effects of the Taser. Suddenly, the back doors of the semi opened up with two ramps appearing and the van drove them up right into the semi. Once the van was inside, the ramps retreated back into the semi and the doors closed. She could feel the semi begin to move into traffic.

Nick held up his phone and suddenly the theme song from the movie, "Mission: Impawsibble" started to play. Nick was grinning from ear-to-ear.

"Shut it, Wilde!" yelled the small fox driving the van. "They'll hear that from outside."

"You're no fun, Finnick," Nick complained as he reluctantly turned off the music and placed Judy down on the van's seat. He started to rub Judy's limbs to help start the blood flowing again. Soon, Judy was able to move her limbs on her own.

"Sorry about that, Carrots. We needed to move as quickly as possible and weren't sure if you'd cooperate," he smirked.

The first thing Judy did was to throw her arms around Nick's neck and held on to him for dear life. Nick's eyes showed his surprise and started to wrap his arms around her body. Then, she suddenly started to pound away at Nick hitting him about on his head, arms, neck, shoulders and chest.

"Owww! Carrots, It's nice to see you, too. Owww! Shit! Stop that! Judy! Come on!" Finally Nick growled, "Enough already!"

She kept hitting Nick until he grabbed both of her paws in his and kissed her fully on the mouth. She initially froze when his lips touched hers then slowly melted into his embrace as she savoured the physical contact. Nick let go of her paws and tenderly pulled her closer to him, wrapping his arms protectively around her. Her paw unconsciously went up to Nick's muzzle, gently caressing it. She pressed herself into his wide chest, acutely aware of how safe she felt while in his embrace. They stayed like that, lips locked together, for what seemed an eternity to Judy until Nick broke away from her, both of them panting hard.

Judy had a blank look on her face and her mind refused to engage.

"You broke her Nick," snickered the older bunny.

"I didn't Bonnie but that seemed the only way to get her to calm down."

"Yeah, you don't look so calm yourself, buddy boy," chortled the small fox. "Get a room!"

"Just catching up with my old friend here, Finnick," grinned Nick as he put his arm around Judy's shoulders.

As soon as she could speak, Judy shouted, "Nicholas Piberius Wilde! Sweet cheese and crackers! How dare you?" Nick cringed as she yelled in his ear.

"Wow, all three names. You're in deep doo-doo, Nick," laughed Finnick.

"Just a minute, Fluff. I don't know why you should be upset when I'm the one who's been wronged here."

Judy choked back an insult and refrained from hitting Nick again so that he could explain himself.

"We agreed that you would come alone so that we could talk. Well, guess what? Your precious Jack had three sniper teams positioned around the area plus two backup units in the adjacent buildings. Luckily, I was prepared for such an eventuality."

Her mind swirled with these facts. "You mean you knew he was going to double cross you?"

Nick shrugged and cryptically said, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

"So, all that talk about not letting Jack know…"

"I knew he was monitoring the conversation, Carrots," said Nick, "and I fully expected him not to keep his word. So, I prepared my own surprise by neutralizing his snipers and backups. Then, with Flash's help, the view from the lookout area was temporarily blocked giving us enough time to extract you with a minimum of fuss. It's called a hustle sweetheart," as he waggled his eyebrows at her.