The world spun around as Nick went in and out of consciousness. One second he was outside the theater the next he was in the back of an ambulance and then next he is being wheeled through a hospital, that was the last thing he remembered, bright lights and the smell of sanitization. After that he was out.
Through this whole experience Nick could hear voices, some familiar, some not. He remembered hearing Alyssa scream, the sound of Peter talking, and the paramedics talking to each other. Of course, all of their words couldn't compute in Nick's semi-conscious brain. All he could feel was pain, all over, like his nerves were all wired together to just make him ache.
In his sleep he had dreams. Dreams that he wasn't used to, stuff he had never seen before. It was strange… at some points he was working as a bodyguard and the dream went on like a normal day in the office. Other times he was standing in a very fancy looking room with other fancy mammals. Through it all he had a common sight, bright violet eyes that seemed to follow him. He didn't know why these eyes were so attracted to him but it disturbed him. Eventually the dreams themselves faded away into darkness.
Rising from the darkness, Nick began to wake up as if he was surfacing from the bottom of the ocean. All of his senses were coming back to him, slowly but surely. He could hear the beeping of a heart monitor and a subtle hum coming from the room itself. When he opened his eyes he was met by a blinding white light that caused him to shut his eyes immediately. He opened them once more this time much slower to allow his eyes to adjust. He was in fact in a hospital bed, hooked up to the very heart monitor that was beeping. The sound of it making his head hurt every time it went off, it wasn't even loud but it was enough to feel like a knife piercing into his skull.
His new suit had been replaced by a hospital gown, one that was clean and felt more like paper than cloth. He tried to open his mouth but was met by resistance and immediate pain. Reaching his paw up to the side of his jaw he could feel stitches.
He immediately began to panic, memories of muzzles in his past flashing through his head. He could feel that there wasn't a muzzle but he suddenly felt like he couldn't breath, his heart rate beginning to accelerate. The sheets around him feeling more and more constricting, he quickly pushed them off and scrambled out of the bed, his body arguing against him in pain. He was moving entirely on instinct and didn't notice the edge of the bed, next thing he knew, he was on the on the floor in even more pain.
"Mr. Wilde!" Came an unfamiliar female voice from above him. Nick turned to see a badger standing over him holding a clipboard. She could tell that the fox was panicked and did everything in her power to try and calm him down before he hurt himself. "It's alright Mr. Wilde, I'm Dr. Johnson, I've been taking care of you." She stated calmly.
Nick was still panicked but the presence of another mammal made him feel slightly better. He had pushed himself against a wall and leaned on it.
"Just take some deep breaths through your nose, okay?" The doctor said. "As soon as you are calm I will tell you what is going on."
The fox did as he was told, breathing deeply in and out of his nose. It took a minute but eventually his breathing and heart returned to a more normal rate.
"Good, now do you want to go back up onto the bed?" Dr. Johnson asked kindly.
Nick looked up at the bed and thought about how constricted he felt, he would rather stay on the cold ground which felt good against his aching body so he shook his head.
"Alright no problem" she said. Instead of taking a chair to sit on the doctor sat down on the floor and leaned against the wall adjacent to the one he was leaning against. It was a small gesture, but one that Nick appreciated thoroughly. "So let me give you the run down. It is 10 AM the day after the Zoozies award show that you were at. When you came in last night you were going in and out of consciousness due to several injuries. The injuries were primarily in your head and neck area, you have a pretty strong concussion that I am certain you noticed when you woke up. Your nose was broken which we reset nice and easy. And lastly but most importantly you broke your jaw on the right side completely unhinging it, we had to do a small surgery in order to reset that, and to make sure that you don't move it around and unhinge it again we had to wire the side of your mouth shut." She finished up, looking at the clipboard she was holding.
It all made sense to Nick, that one punch he took from the rhino was like getting hit by a bus which is why his whole body was aching. The fact that he couldn't open his jaw still stressed him out but the fact that it was for his own good allowed him to understand why it had to be done.
"Hmm hmmm" Nick tried to speak but was stopped by his own lips that couldn't open. The badger stood up and walked over to the cabinets pulling out a pad of paper and a pen which Nick gratefully took. On the paper he wrote down 'How long will my mouth be like this?' Which he then showed to the doctor.
"About two days, once I believe the bone is starting to set I will take out the wires. But that does not mean you will be able to move your jaw around too much, we don't want you to mess it up after all. So you will be eating non-solid foods for about a week before you can slowly start to incorporate more solid foods into your diet." She said answering his question.
Nick sighed through his nostrils, he wasn't exactly thrilled to have his mouth shut, even if it was just for two days.
"It's okay, the food you will be served will be normal meals, just pulverized into liquid" the doctor said all too cheerfully.
The doctor eventually helped Nick get back up and into his bed, now that he had calmed down he was much happier to be on the soft bed rather than the tiled floor. She also gave him some painkillers so that he could fall back to sleep much easier, and for the rest of the day that is what he did. Even though he had been out for so long the past night he still felt incredibly exhausted. So he did as his body requested and slept.
He awoke a few times when a nurse would come in to check on him, and other than that he was left up disturbed until 9 o'clock that night.
The sound of knocking on his door once again stirred Nick from his slumber. The room was dark, which Nick much preferred to the blinding lights that he first woke up to. The silhouette of a lamb stood at the cracked open door. Nick recognized her as the nurse who had been checking on him, Mrs. Woolerby.
"Mr. Wilde?" She asked into the darkness, her eyes not able to adapt to the darkness as well as the fox's.
"Hmm?" Nick hummed in response.
"You have some guests here to see you" the lamb said.
Nick sat up quickly, he didn't expect any visitors to come to see him. Sure he had some family but they were… not close.
"Hmm" he hummed, hoping his 'okay' got across. The lamb then flicked on the lights, which Nick was prepared for, revealing her face. She seemed starstruck, like she had just seen someone famous…
Nick knew who the guest was.
The lamb stepped to the side allowing the guests to step into sight. The one and only Peter Moosebridge stepped into the room, having to slightly duck under the door frame in order to fit through. He was closely followed by Alyssa, the snow leopard looking at her clipboard like usual.
"Good evening Mr. Wilde. I hope we didn't interrupt anything" The moose said in his silky deep voice that made famous.
Nick reached for his paper and pen and quickly scribbled down his response.
'No you didn't interrupt anything I was just sleeping'
The moose looked at him confused, even Alyssa looked up from her clipboard when she did not hear the fox's response. Nick once again scribbled something down as fast as he could.
'My jaw was broken by the rhino and is now wired shut for at least two days.' If there was one good thing to come out of this hospital visit he would get good at writing really quickly.
Both the moose and leopard hissed imagining the pain and discomfort that the fox must have been going through.
"Well I'm sorry to hear that, but both Alyssa and I are here to thank you" Peter said genuinely, "if it wasn't for your quick thinking and bravery I probably would not be standing here"
Alyssa then stepped forward joining the conversation.
"And to show you our gratitude we have decided to cover to hospital bills" the leopard said with a smile on her face.
Nick hadn't even considered the fact that he would have to pay for all the work that had been done on him, not to mention the room he would be in as well as the ambulance ride to get there. At the end of the day the price would be well over anything he could currently afford even with a stable job and insurance.
The fox sat there stunned by what the two mammals in front of him had told him. Eventually he snapped out of his stupor and wrote once again on his paper.
'Wow… I really appreciate that. Thank you. Both of you'
The moose read the message and smiled, "of course Nick, and in the future if there is ever anything you need that I can help out with don't be afraid to reach out." He said, handing the fox a business card with his personal phone number on it.
Another knock on the door gained the attention of all three mammals present in the room. Once again in stepped Mrs. Woolerby peeking her head in.
"Erm, Mr. Wilde you have another guest here for you" She said awkwardly not expecting anyone else to show up.
'Wow I guess I'm just Mr. Popular today' Nick thought to himself, nodding to the lamb.
She once again stepped to the side allowing a much larger mammal to step in through the door. It was another famous mammal, but one that you would definitely not want to have on his bad side.
Chief Bogo.
The very mammal who was in charge of all law enforcement in and around Zootopia. And now the Cape buffalo was standing in Nicks hospital room.
"Mr. Wilde, Mr. Moosebridge, and Mrs. Growlerson." Bogo greeted nodding to each of them, "I hate to interrupt anything that was happening but I was actually hoping to get statements from all of you. It is awfully convenient for you to all be in the same place at the same time."
"Certainly Chief Bogo" Peter said pulling up a chair. When the Cape buffalo looked at Nick he nodded in agreement.
The group then individually went through their accounts of the events that happened, starting from when the after party started all the way up until they were safely in the ambulance.
Instead of writing in fragments Nick took the time and wrote the whole story out while Peter and Alyssa shared their side of the story. And now all three mammals sat in silence while Bogo read the fox's account, his eyebrows raising at certain points in the story.
"Hmm, so you really took down an armed rhino single-handedly?" Bogo asked the fox, tearing out the piece of paper before returning the pad to Nick. The fox quickly scribbled down his answer,
'Yes I did sir' Nick wrote with a proud look on his face, although now that he thought about it, he couldn't help but think about how lucky he was to not be dead. If the rhino hadn't struggled with reloading he wouldn't have made it.
The Cape buffalo took a look at Nick and inspected the fox. He didn't look to be in the best shape, considering he had bandages over a majority of his muzzle.
"Mr. Wilde, have you ever considered entering the police force?" Bogo asked, surprising Nick immensely. Once again he wrote on the paper.
'No sir, personally I don't believe that law enforcement is an unbiased line of work. I already go through enough with this job, I don't really want to do deal with any more than I have to.'
Alyssa couldn't help but look down in shame after reading the fox's message. She had been one to stereotype him right off the bat.
The Cape buffalo nodded in understanding, "I get it, it isn't easy being a fox in this city. But I thought I would ask, because I believe you would make a great officer."
'I appreciate it chief but I think I will stick to being a bodyguard for now'
And with that the groups meeting was over. The Cape Buffalo left saying goodbye before politely stepping out. Peter and Alyssa followed him out as well, wishing the fox a good night.
Once again the fox was alone, nurse Woolerby shutting off the lights once all the mammals left the room.
He lied back in the bed and closed his eyes, feeling tired after an hour of talking, or writing for him. Sleep came quick once again and with that came the lingering thoughts of, what if?
The next two days drifted by smoothly, There were a few other guests who came to see him, mostly some of his coworkers such as Wolford. Nick caught up on much needed sleep, and he eventually got the wire taken out of his mouth.
That process was a rather gruesome one, it involved him having to get put on painkillers before his mouth was pushed open and the wires were cut. If it weren't for the painkillers Nick knew the pain would be agonizing. But afterwards he could open his mouth, not all the way, but it was better than nothing.
"Wow. I never thought that I would miss breathing through my mouth so much" Nick said to the badger doctor who was now putting away he tools.
"Hmm I thought you would miss speaking more." She said back to him with a smirk.
"Oh no, I was just getting used to writing all my thoughts down. It's very meditative, you should try it." Nick said putting on a smirk of his own.
"You know. Maybe I will." She said heading towards the door, she stopped just before leaving and turned to Nick, "your suit is in the bathroom, it is still wearable and it is clean. Go ahead and change into that and I will be back with your exit papers in a few minutes." She said before closing the door.
Nick got out of the bed and made his way to the bathroom. His suit was hanging up there was no blood on it and the only damage was some of the fabric tearing where he had slid across the ground. Once he was finally out of the cruddy hospital gown and into the suit he left the bathroom.
He quickly filled out the papers and was on his merry way. As Peter and Alyssa had promised the bills were all payed for prior to him even leaving so once he signed he was free to go.
The bustling city was the first thing to greet him. It was just about 11 am, not necessarily a busy time, but mammals were often going out for their lunch break by this time.
Nick always knew where he was going, at least when he was in the city, so without thinking he started walking towards his home.
After a peaceful 30 minute walk, only being interrupted by some random mammals asking if he wanted to buy counterfeit purses, he finally made it to the garbage pile of an apartment that he called home.
In reality it wasn't that bad, but he didn't live in a great part of town and he didn't have the most luxurious apartment. Upon walking into the lobby, one was often unsettled by the sight of flickering lights and broken mailboxes. Further into the lobby you were met with an elevator, one that never worked and would never be fixed. Nick took the stairs up to the fourth floor of six. His door being the last obstacle between him and his comfortable flat.
Once inside the grimy, dirty halls were forgotten about as you entered a much cleaner, although smaller, room. Nick took pride in keeping his apartment as clean as he could, of course there were several things he could not control, such as water damages or cracks in the tiles or even the occasional broken air conditioning unit. But aside from all of that it was cozy, and it was home.
The whole apartment consisted of two rooms, a large room where his bed, TV, desk, and just about any other basic item in it. And then a much smaller bathroom with just a toilet, a sink, and a shower.
As soon as he was inside Nick began taking his suit off, taking each part and hanging it up neatly. He then quickly put on much comfier clothes consisting of sweat pants and a t-shirt.
He spent the rest of the day relaxing and catching up on anything he may have missed while he was in the hospital. Overall nothing much happened, the rhino had gotten questioned and was sent to prison for six counts of murder. Peter Moosebridge was back on ZNN, doing what he did best. And Nick sat comfortably on his bed for the rest of the night eventually drifting once again into an undisturbed slumber.
His alarm woke him up from his slumber at five am, just like it would on any other normal day. Only now his jaw was hurting him. The first thing he did was mumble under his breath about how much he hated waking up this early in the morning. But he did it anyways because his job called for it. His morning process consisted of eventually falling out of bed. He would then clean himself up and make himself presentable. Once all that was done he would go to his most prized possession, his coffee maker. Everyday he would make himself a cup so that his brain could properly function this early. As soon as all that was done he was ready to leave the apartment.
The morning sun was just peaking over the horizon, it felt cathartic to Nick, to see the sun just as it was every morning. He felt his life could now return to normal and he could go back to protecting mammals. Aside from being nearly beaten to a pulp, Nick thoroughly enjoyed his experience with Peter and met plenty of mammals, some nice some not. But he could now say that he had worked for one of the most famous mammals in Zootopia.
His walk to work was all normal but something felt off. Mammals were giving him looks, but not ones he was used to. Normally they would side eye him as he walked past, but now they were looking at him fully, some even with looks of adoration.
'I guess news spreads fast' he thought to himself, it had been about three days since the actual event happened so word of him must have made its rounds through the city.
But it wasn't the looks that caused him the most surprise, it was the large crowd surrounding the brick building that was SafePaw. Mammals of all size were standing outside the entrance of the building, most of them held cameras and were snapping photos of the buildings exterior. That is until one of them spotted Nick from across the street.
"There he is!" A female giraffe called out pointing to the fox.
'Uh oh' Nick thought to himself. All the heads in the group turned first to the giraffe and then to where she was pointing. Instantly they all began running across the street, completely ignoring the traffic that was driving by. Luckily all the cars stopped when they saw the hoard moving in front of them. And before he knew it he was surrounded by paprazzi.
"Mr. Wilde, how did you take down that rhino?"
"Mr. Wilde, what happened after you left the theater?"
"Mr. Wilde what size shirt do you wear?"
It was pure chaos.
Questions were thrown at Nick left and right, the flashing of the cameras took over his body and he was frozen in place. All the stimulation he was sensing caused his head to begin to pound in pain, most likely a side effect from still being partly concussed.
"Mr. Wilde have you heard about the claims of Judy Hopps?"
The question caught Nick off guard entirely, he had heard all the questions possible in that thirty seconds but this one was different.
"What claims about Judy Hop-" Nick was cut off by a large mammal pulling on his arm. He was quickly taken through the mob and into the SafePaw building. He looked at the mammal who had saved him and was grateful to see Sheng.
"Thanks Sheng, I didn't think I was going to make out of there alive" He said catching his breath. The tiger let go of his arm and smiled down at him.
"You're lucky I got there when I did, those reporters were about to rip you to shreds" he said brushing himself off, "I actually need to talk to you anyways so if you could meet me in my office when you are ready"
Nick took a moment and made sure his uniform was in tact and that his fur was still lying flat.
"Well looks like someone is a celebrity now" He heard from a sassy voice in front of him that caused him to smile.
"Well don't you worry Maria," he said looking up at the gazelle sitting behind her desk, "when I move on to bigger things, I will be sure to mention you in some interviews as my inspiration to wake up every morning" he finished with a classic smirk and a wink that once again made her blush and look away from Nick.
With that Nick made his way towards Shengs office. The inside of his office was rather plain, just like Nick's, a simple desk in the center of the room with a bookcase to the side full of books. There were other pieces of furniture but they were very minimalist in design and blended in with the rest of the room exceptionally.
"Please Nick take a seat" Sheng said when he noticed that the fox had entered the room. Nick did as he was told and took a seat in the chair that was much too large for him.
"Now, Nick I have heard from just about every news source what happened but now I want to hear it from you." He said leaning back in his chair.
"Ok well, It all started normally I went to Mr. Moosebridge's home and briefed him on all the protocols. Then at the theater nothing happened going in, then the show happened and that went off without a hitch. Things didn't really hit off until the after-party. Things were going smoothly at first, but then Mr. Moosebridge engaged the first code so I went and searched for the threat which I found in a rather large rhino. He quickly moved in on Peter so I attempted to get him out of the tent. Due to some conflicts I couldn't get him out in time so we took cover behind a table. At this point the rhino revealed that he had a gun and was using it to take out security guards who were approaching him. While he was distracted with the gun I made a move on him where our fight began. I got one good hit on him and then then was hit when I kicked his gun away from him, that punch was hard enough to not only give me a concussion but also knock my jaw out of place. I then devised a plan to hopefully knock out the rhino which succeeded when he charged at me and straight into a wall. I then swiftly led Mr. Moosebridge out of the tent where my adrenaline shut off and I passed out." Nick finished. Then entire time Sheng was sitting there quietly nodding his head.
Nick purposefully left out some of the bad moments that would have made others seem worse, such as Alyssa's specism, Claw's threatening presence in the bodyguard room, and Peters stopping to confront the rhino. It wasn't necessary information and was better to be left out.
"Sounds like you had one hell of a night" Sheng simply stated. Nick took a breath thinking back on the night as a whole.
"Yeah you could say that" Nick said while exhaling.
The white tiger stood up and walked around his desk and past Nick, looking through the windows into the office space. He wasn't looking at the cubicles, or his employees that were slowly milling in, and the paparazzi that was still outside hoping to get a picture of the fox seated next to him. He took a deep breath before letting it out in a sigh.
"Listen Nick you did great work, you protected your client and kept them alive. You kept a level head even during an extremely stressful situation. And even when you were hurt the client was still at the front of your brain." He then turned to Nick and locked eyes with him, "I am proud of what you have done. And I know for a fact that not many of the guards out there could have done what you did" He said motioning to the office space.
Nick could tell there was something else, he couldn't tell what it was but there was something else. By the way Sheng was acting there was something he wasn't telling him.
"Sheng, what's going on?" The fox asked getting up from his seat.
Once again the tiger sighed.
"I received a phone call from an unknown number so I let it run to the voice message, the mammal then went on to explain why they were calling as well as the proposition in which they were offering." Sheng said solemnly.
Nick now understood why Sheng was so upset. It was not unheard of for bodyguards to be hired full time from a client who liked them. Sheng considered his guards to be his family and he hated losing one of them, but he would never hold them back from progressing their career, and if things didn't work out with the client they were always offered a spot back at the company.
The only thing Nick didn't understand was the fact that someone wanted him to be their permanent bodyguard.
"Wait, is it Peter Moosebridge who wants me?" Nick asked. It would have made sense, him and Peter hit it off pretty well, even Alyssa vibed well (once she accepted Nick of course).
"No" this deflated Nick's spirits. He hadn't really hit it off with anyone else as well as he had that night, sure they all went fine but it was paled in comparison to that whole experience. The tigers words then pulled Nick back out of his thoughts.
"I actually have no idea who it is"
Nick looked up at Sheng in utter confusion,
"What do you mean?" Nick asked. The tiger turned back to his desk and walked over to where his phone was.
"I mean that I came into work this time two days ago and had this message waiting on my phone" The tiger then clicked a button before an automated voice came on.
"One message from unknown number BEEP"
Then the message began to play.
"Hello I am calling in regards to one of your guards. I am the manager of a very high class talent who wants to remain anonymous through this whole process" It was a male voice, one that was rather flamboyant and jovial. "My name is Benjamin Clawhauser and my client is interested in your fox bodyguard Nicholas Wilde. I believe they saw him at the Zoozies last night and was thoroughly impressed by his skills. They are willing to offer whatever Mr. Wilde is wanting as far as pay, although it must be reasonable, as well as living accommodations" This caught Nicks attention, his pay now wasn't bad but he still couldn't get out of his apartment if he tried. "Once Mr. Wilde is back on his feet be sure to call me back so we can schedule a meeting time between me, my client, and him. Thank you!" Click!
"No new messages"
And with one more click the phone went silent.
"Wow" was all that he could say. The mammal had offered him just about everything he'd ever wanted. But it came with such a major risk, what if this mammal he was now working for was actually a jerk who was reckless and rarely cared for their own safety. That or it could be a really nice mammal who he respected and more importantly respected him as well.
"Listen Nick I would completely understand if you would want to jump on this opportunity. It is a rare one but it is also a risky one. I won't influence your decision in anyway, this one is all yours to make" Sheng said looking at Nick who was staring at the ground deep in thought.
The fox's mind was in a flurry of thinking, there were many goods as well as many bads that could come out of this.
'Hold on I have to think about this differently, like a con-mammal' he thought to himself.
After a few more moments of thinking he finally had his plan.
"I got it. Go ahead and call him back tell him he can meet with me today here at SafePaw. But tell him that I want to meet who it is I will actually be guarding. If they really want me that bad they will comply." Nick said looking at Sheng.
Sheng thought about it, 'it's true, they are willing to come to meet him and not the other way around.'
"Alright I will call and let them know" Sheng said. The tiger wouldn't say it but he appreciated the fox's ability to think on his feet. Without this Clawhauser mammal even arriving Sheng knew how this whole situation was going to end. But he didn't want to hold the fox back and made the call.
After what felt like a couple hours the paparazzi at the front of the building gave up on their pursuit of answers and pictures from Nick so they left. All the guards had gotten their daily assignments and left as well to do their daily tasks, leaving Maria, Sheng, and Nick alone inside.
The waiting was the hardest part. Sheng had called them about an hour ago at this point telling them that Nick was ready to meet as soon as possible. They didn't give an exact time back, only saying they would get there before the end of the day before hanging up the phone. So now Nick sat in the tigers office staring outside the window waiting for any sign of life to come through the doors. He continued to think about all the different outcomes as well as possible ways in which this could go wrong. Him being a pessimist he couldn't stop thinking about how much of a mistake this could be.
A glint of light outside the front caught Nicks attention. He looked up to see a long limousine pulling to a stop just out front.
'This is it' he thought to himself.
Out of the limo stepped a rather large cheetah who Nick assumed to be Clawhauser. The cheetah turned and leaned into the limo, talking to someone who was hidden in the shadows, Nick strained his eyes hoping to get a sight or a clue of who he was talking to, but not even his night vision could see through the darkness of that limo. Once he was inside him and the receptionist began talking. The conversation slowly evolved from civil to more relaxed until both mammals were talking passionately, using hand gestures and smiling the whole time.
'Well if he can get along with Maria then he can get along with anyone I suppose' Nick once again thought to himself.
The pairs conversation died down and Maria pointed him in the direction of Shengs office. Both Nick and Sheng quickly stepped away from the blinds and sat in their respective seats.
'Knock knock' the sound of a paw tapping the door met both mammal's ears.
Sheng cleared his throat before speaking, "Come in"
The door opened revealing the cheetah once again.
"Benjamin Clawhauser?" Sheng asked standing up from behind his desk.
"Yes sir. And you are Sheng Bengal?" The cheetah asked in the same flamboyant voice that he had heard from the message that he had left. The tiger and the cheetah shook hands for a moment,
"Yes I am, and this is Mr. Nicholas Wilde, I do believe he is the mammal you are looking for" He said gesturing to the fox who was standing to the side.
"Ah yes! Mr. Wilde it is a pleasure to meet you. Well it's a pleasure to meet both of you actually." Clawhuaser said with a smile.
"it is nice to meet you too Mr. Clawhauser" Nick said politely.
Whilst Nick shook the cheetahs hand he searched his eyes for any sign of hostility towards him, any kind of judgment, anything that would show that he may not like him right off the bat. But he saw nothing, just like Peter Moosebridge. The cheetah just seemed happy to be there, it caused Nicks worries to settle quite a bit.
The group eventually settled down and sat in their seats, Sheng behind his desk, Nick and Clawhauser sitting in the chairs in front of the desk.
"Alright so where shall I begin?" Clawhauser asked.
"How about we start from where you and your client first saw me and had their interests spiked?" Nick asked honestly. Nick then remembered the deal that he set up, "Your client will be joining us right?"
Clawhuaser quickly nodded, "yes she will be joining us soon".
She
The cheetahs words echoed in his head. He had only ever guarded two females before, they went fine but it is different from guarding a male. Different types of mammals would go after different types of mammals and for different reasons, you understand.
Clawhuaser saying 'she' crossed off a lot of mammals on Nicks theoretical list of possible clients.
"So we first saw you at the Zoozies just a couple days ago. We have seen the footage of you taking down the rhino as well as your presence at the event. We were both thoroughly impressed by all that you did and the fact that Mr. Moosebridge even shouted you out on stage." Clawhauser said reminiscing on the events of a few days prior. "Oh and the mammal I had guarding my client somehow got a bloody nose during the show, and refused to tell us why".
Nicks eyes widened.
Alexander Claw. Wolford had punched him in the face for what he was saying to Nick.
'Could it just be a coincidence' Nick thought. He couldn't remember if anyone else had gotten a bloody nose in the guard room. The events of the night were somewhat hazy to Nick, he remember the general parts but couldn't remember the specific bits and pieces. Such as the fact that he could remember that Claw had told him who his client was but he couldn't remember who he said his client was. Being beaten around by a rhino can do that to you.
"Ok now lets talk details" Nick said, "How much are you willing to pay me?" Nick wanted to get to the important details as soon as he could.
"How much do you want?" The cheetah asked with a smile.
The fox sat back in his chair, he didn't really think about it until now.
"Well I'm getting paid 30,000 a year right now how much would you be willing to increase off of that?"
The cheetah thought for a moment, clearly doing some mental gymnastics in order to give an accurate number.
"I would be the one paying you so I would be willing to triple your current salary up to 90"
Nick could barely keep his jaw from dropping. He had to clench it in order to keep his shock at bay, doing so caused the pain in his mouth to flare up but the pain was numbed by the info that the cheetah had just told him.
"Yeah I think that could work" The fox said relaxed. "Now you also said that you would provide housing."
"Yes. You would be living in The Lofts. My client currently lives there, I live there, and you would live right down the hall from both of us." The cheetah continued into more details about the living situation but Nick faded out as he thought about what he had just said.
The Lofts were one of the nicest and newest apartment complex's in all of Zootopia. They weren't that far from city center and were often talked about on the news as a place for the wealthy to relax. It was an immense step up from his current living situation, and a step that he would be very willing to make.
"Does that sound good to you?" Clawhauser finished bringing Nicks attention back to reality.
"Yeah I think that could work" Nick said.
"Perfect do you have any more questions?" Clawhauser asked.
"Yes actually. I'm going to ask this one more time and if I don't get an answer I'm going to have to turn you down. You must understand being the bodyguard I need one hundred percent clarity between myself and the mammal that I am protecting. This does not feel like that. So can I please meet your client." Nick said honestly.
It took a lot for him to say that because the benefits and pay seemed too good to be true for him. Just then someone walked in the front door of the building. Nick couldn't see who it was because of the fact that the windows were covered in blinds. But the clear door could be seen through by Sheng, who didn't hold back the dropping of his jaw at who he saw.
"Well you can meet her now actually" Clawhauser said getting up and stepping towards the door. "Nick, Sheng, I would look you both to meet my client: the one and only…" Clawhauser swung the door open revealing the mammal outside.
'Judy Hopps'
The rabbit was just as eye-catching as she was on the night of the Zoozies. However now she was wearing much more casual clothes that consisted of a very nice purple blouse and a black pair of pants.
She strode into the office and stood in the center, "Thank you for that flattering but really unnecessary introduction Ben" She said to the cheetah.
"Ah its what I do" Clawhauser said closing the door behind him. "Any who, Mr. Wilde, this is my client Judy Hopps"
Nick was now breaking a sweat trying to keep his composure but it was really hard. His mind was going hundreds of miles an hour thinking about why the heck The Judy Hopps wanted him as a bodyguard. There were several reasons for why it was so strange: a) he had never guarded her or even spoken a word to her, b) he had never even seen her perform live other than at the Zoozies, and c) he was a fox and she was a rabbit. They were natural enemies, so why would she want his protection.
Judy stepped up to Nick and reached out her paw which Nick shook, "well Mr. Wilde it is a pleasure to finally meet you. And might I say you make quite the first impression" she said, almost flirtatiously.
"Well its nice to meet you too. I'm glad I could make such an impression on you that you want me to protect you" he said, cool as a cucumber.
Nick then did his usual scan searching for any hostility to him, for some reason he couldn't read her. Normally the eyes are the most obvious sign, but he kept getting lost in her amethysts that she had for eyes. He had seen them before, he had seen them at the Zoozies, but not only that he had seen them in his dreams. It was so strange, the purple eyes that had followed him around were actually hers. There was something else about her eyes though, just like at the Zoozies there was something off about her, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
It was then that Nick noticed that he had been staring at her this whole time, awkwardly shaking her paw.
"Anyways, I'm sure Clawhauser has been going over the details with you. And now that you know what you are signing up for I'm curious what your decision will be" She said.
Her statement caused Nick to stutter, "uuuuhhh, I uhm didn't realize I would have to answer right now. I mean this is such big news and there would be a lot of change and..." he trailed off. Looking back at Judy's face she did not seem amused by Nicks antics. She then looked to Clawhauser, who was starting to sweat at his clients reaction.
"Oh uhm, sorry I must have left this detail out but, you see, she was hoping you could come now. Like we will be going to your apartment, pack, then you would start tonight." Clawhauser said with a sheepish smile.
Nick stared at the cheetah for a few moments before breaking out into a fit of laughter. It started out small but eventually made its way to full on, he had to even bend over as a single tear rolled down his cheek, which he wiped away as his laughter died down.
"You want me to start right now? Like we do all that stuff and then I'm on the job in six hours. You must be crazy" Nick said to both Clawhauser and Judy. The seriousness in Judy's eyes and the sweat rolling down Clawhauser made Nick realize that they really must be crazy. "Oh my gosh you're actually serious".
"Why? Will that be a problem foxy?" Judy said looking at the fox. Nick was taken aback by her statement. She didn't say that flirtatiously, she seemed to almost be challenging him. "I thought the big strong mammal that I saw a few days ago was standing in front of me and not some sorry excuse for a bodyguard." She said leaning forward so that her face was a mere few inches from his snout.
Whatever chord this rabbit was striking, the strings just broke. She had gotten to him, for some reason Nick couldn't handle being shown up by a rabbit.
"Alright Fluff Butt" he said with disdain, "I'll go with you, and I will show you what it means to be protected" He leaned even closer to where his nose was practically touching hers. Suddenly she perked up out of her stupor and leaned back with a smile on her face.
"Great! Clawhauser go get the limo, and tell the movers to begin taking his stuff out" she said skipping towards the door.
Nick suddenly realized what had just happened. She played him. She had riled him up on purpose because she knew that if she pushed him enough he would cave, even if it was out of anger.
'Hmm well played'
Clawhauser had his phone out and began getting to work, Judy by now was heading towards the front door where Maria was still frozen in surprise, probably because she was star struck by the rabbit who was now in front of her.
Nick was about to follow when he heard a noise behind him. He turned to see Sheng sitting at his desk, his face was a mix of emotions.
"So it seems you will be going after all" he said in his deep voice.
"It seems that I am" Nick said. He was sad to be going, he had so many friends at SafePaw that he would miss, but this was an opportunity that for some reason Nick didn't want to miss.
Sheng reached into his desk and pulled out a small box. "I want you to have this" he said sliding the box off the table and towards Nick. The fox reached up and opened it reveal a small metal cylinder inside. Nick took it out and looked at it, it was a smooth matte black tube with a single button in the middle of it. When he clicked the button the tube expanded into a baton.
"That is my first baton that I got from my boss over thirty years ago. I was much smaller back then so I believe this will work for a mammal of your size." Sheng said reminiscing about his past.
And it was perfect for Nicks size, he could easily maneuver it and control it. The weight wasn't too much but it was enough so that if you got hit by it the impact would definitely hurt.
"Thank you Sheng" Nick said gratefully.
"Just consider it a message that you will always be welcome back here"
Nick nodded, "thank you Sheng, for everything. I'm certain I will see you again"
"Take care Nick. And watch out for that Hopps girl, she seems like quite the handful"
The fox nodded one more time before turning and leaving. He made his way towards the front door stopping in front of Maria.
"Hey Maria, I'm sorry but I've got to go. On to bigger things. You understand right?" Nick said, giving her once last jab before he left.
"Nick, you are obnoxious… But I am going to miss you" She got up and hugged the fox before he went out the front door.
Outside a limousine was waiting for him. Ready to take him off to places that he didn't even know.
'What have I gotten myself into'
Hey everyone, how's it going? I'm sorry that this chapter took so long to come out. School is extremely busy right now and it is driving me kind of nuts. It keeps me up until midnight which is around the time that I would normally write, but for some reason I've been extra tired so I normally just fall asleep. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, if you did let me know. A lot of you followed and favorited which I really appreciate. A lot of you also left reviews some of which I took into consideration, such as someone saying that Nick should have a weapon (which he now does). I know this is kind of seeming like a Sunderance knock off, and if you don't know what that is you should definitely look it up because it is really very good. Anyways I can't promise consistency with these chapters but I hope you stick around to see where this story goes. It is going to be quite the roller coaster (or at least I hope).
Keep it real everyone, I will talk to you in the next chapter.
DAG