Serendipity's Shadow
Rated T
Chapter 14
Sun broke through the window warming Tia's face. She blinked her eyes a few times trying to wake up.
Do I have a phantom hangover?
Tia groaned rubbing at her eyes some more before remembering everything that happened. ZPD, Mr. Big, Bar, NO DRINKING, and Judy's strange house in the middle of nowhere.
"What time is it anyway?" Tia asked herself.
Tia jumped out of bed heading to the nearest window. Normally, she would have checked her phone, but she didn't charge it last night. Also, Tia wasn't comfortable even touching her phone. As the thought had occurred to her, her phone could be hacked. So, she opted to guess the time by looking outside. She pushed aside the dark curtain revealing the sun glistening against the raindrops that stuck to the glass. It would have been a pretty sight to admire. If only rain didn't always give her a headache. She guessed it was still morning maybe an hour or two before noon.
Bang! Ba-Bang! Bang!
What now?!
Tia peeked out from behind her bedroom door. Judy's bedroom door was wide open, and the hallway was silent. The banging noise was louder though as her ears twitched towards the sound. Tia followed the sound listening intently. The sound became more prominent as she descended the staircase. Peering from behind the railings of the staircase Tia found Judy. The smell of frozen pancakes wafted through the air. An empty plate was placed on the still-covered coffee table. All the furniture was still covered making the living room appear mundane and haunted. However, Judy didn't seem to mind as she went to town against a red punching bag hanging in the corner from the ceiling.
"What are you doing?" Tia asked as she slowly approached Judy.
"Oh!" Judy immediately stopped her workout grabbing the punching bag to keep it steady. "I couldn't sleep."
"So…you decided to…punch a bag…because you couldn't sleep?"
"Ignoring your skepticism of my sanity." Judy smiled pulling off her black boxing gloves. "Yes, I couldn't sleep. I would normally go for a run, but I wasn't comfortable leaving while you were asleep. So, I pulled these out of the closet after I found some frozen pancakes to eat."
"That's my next question. How do we still have edible food when the power was off?"
Judy paused trying to think on how to best answer the ferret. Last night Judy explained this was the most secured place in the rain forest district. That no one could easily get in. What she failed to mention that was unless you were someone who worked for Nick.
Earlier this morning when she once again couldn't sleep. She decided to just give up and make breakfast. Only to take one step down the stairs and realize that there was no, edible, food in the house. When Judy decided to try and approach the kitchen anyway when a small knock emitted from the front door. Immediately going on to the defense Judy crouched down. She slowly approached the door as she peered through the spy hole. The sight made her immediately groan in annoyance. It was a box with Nick's symbol printed on the front.
I told him to stay out of this. Judy thought annoyed.
She aggressively opened the door. Stalked towards the box and ripped off the note that was attached on top.
Dear, Carrots.
It began much to Judy's displeasure.
You told me to stay out of this personal matter of yours. And I have every intention to respect this. Then, it occurred to me that you don't have any food at what was once going to be our home. So, I have this little care package for you. It's nothing extravagant since I know that would just piss you off more. But it will be enough to keep your little fuzzy tail, happy and healthy.
Love, Shadow
And that's the story of how they got a package full of food, cleaning supplies, and toiletries. All off-brand, nothing named brand, and really resembles a collection of items someone would buy when moving into a college dorm.
"Let's just say an annoying pixie dropped off a care package." Judy smiled.
"O...okay." Tia answered hesitantly as Judy's smiled looked anything but friendly.
"Just a fair warning. Don't expect anything five stars. It's mostly just microwave meals and peanut butter and jelly."
"It's fine." Tia walked off to the kitchen. "I didn't date jackasses because I'm spoiled."
Judy didn't really laugh at Tia's attempt at a joke.
"Well, now that I'm all sweaty I'm gonna go take a shower." Judy called Tia.
"Okay." Tia called back.
Once inside her room, Judy had to pause to take in her surroundings. She remembered when she first stepped foot in here. And how much she was ready to spend every waking morning next to him.
"Nick." Judy pathetically whined. "What are you doing? Where are you taking me?" Judy laughed.
Nick refused to remove the blindfold around Judy's eyes. He simply laughed at Judy's small complaints.
"Hold on. Hold on." Nick urged leading her up the stairs.
Once he got her into the room, he led her to the far side window. Judy felt the warmth of the sun on her back.
"Ready?" Nick asked.
"I'm actually a little scared, to be honest."
"One. Two. Three." Nick removed the blindfold.
Judy paused to allow her eyes to take everything in. Nick being impatient and not handling the silence began to walk around the room.
"What do you think?"
Judy had no words to answer as she walked towards Nick. Before she pulled him down into a kiss.
"You're spoiling me." She mumbled after the kiss.
Nick simply smiled while he caressed her cheek.
"Because you deserved to be spoiled."
Judy's phone ringed as she almost got lost in the memory. With a resounding sigh, she approached the nightstand. An unknown number had texted her.
Miss Hopps. It read. I have been informed by Shadow that you acquire my unique skills. How may I assist you?
At the bottom of the text, it stated there was no time limit for this service.
First things first. Judy stated.
Judy texted back. Will you be reporting to Shadow about my inquiries?
She didn't have to wait long for a response.
No.
Let's get started.
AN: Hi Everyone! Sorry, it's been so long since I posted a chapter. But if you ever worked retail and know the hell that is INVENTORY WEEK. Then you understand why I've been so busy. And to those who don't know INVENTORY WEEK, it sucks. And the week following that my coworker went on vacation. So, yeah, that sucked for an already short-staffed store. So I hope this chapter can appease you until my schedule goes back to calm down mode.
