Author's Note:
Work continues unabated. I kept with my old job because of how high my rent has gone up, but I am getting some help finally so that has afforded me more time to write. I still write some, but it's been for my lately, as I am duty bound to ensure that gets taken care of as best I can. Still, it IS getting better as we go into the holidays so hopefully I can get back to at least once a month posting!
If you are just joining Guardian Blue for the first time, you will want to check out Season 1 and 2 first, and I would highly recommend Thanks for the Fox even before that as well so everything makes sense. ^^ Duke of Absolution will likely also be needed. This story is getting big.
Zootopia is owned by Disney. Did you guys catch Zootopia Plus? I enjoyed t for what it was but I kinda wish there had been enough actual new story content to at least invalidate some of my own fanfiction. lol
Also! Another HUGE shout-out to J. N. Squire for assisting with editing for Season 3. Also, I would like to extend a special thank you to a few others who are helping me to keep updating and keep the quality high even with my busy schedule, and my friend Alex who helps me greatly with beta-reading and constant support!
Guardian Blue: Season Three
Episode 22: Nakama
"It was fun, Nick. I had fun." Finnick was expressing how he felt to his friend about his first day actually going live on the radio. Judy was outraged. Nick hadn't even told her Finnick would be on the radio live. Still, in Nick's defense, things had been crazy for the past couple of days and they were just getting back from the beach after celebrating a full day off together. They needed that.
Still, the bunny glared at her mate as she addressed the smaller fox. "Nick utterly failed to tell me you got your shot. It was one of those things that I feel like… I should have been told at some point." She wasn't so mad at Nick, of course. It really had been busy. She just wanted to make certain that Finnick know that his bunny friend thought it was a very big deal.
"Wasn't trying to diminish your moment Fin, but with everything going on I completely forgot. It didn't even seem real, I dunno," Nick expressed. "And it was so freaking early."
"Why do you have so much trouble with morning, Slick?" Judy asked. "Aren't foxes corpuscular?" That meant they were most active around dawn and dusk. Still, even before he was an officer, Nick was known to be active more in the day dealing with mammals so she knew he was a little different in that regard. Nurture over nature and all that.
"Aren't all bunnies soft and cuddly and meek?" Nick returned.
"Nick..." the doe threatened.
"Bonnie is 66 percent of all that," Finnick offered, effectively throwing himself in front of bunny ire.
"Oh my god," Nick and Judy said together. Was Finnick trying to help Nick or actually build up the bunny storm that was coming?
"Seriously though, you gonna do more of it?" Nick pressed, clearly wanting an offramp as Judy played the image of Bonnie cuddling the tiny fennec when he was disguised as a fox-bunny hybrid. That was so incredibly wrong. She shook her head to get the image to go away like an etch-a-scratch.
"Yeah, honestly. Yes I am," Fin responded, taking a sip of cider.
"Did you get a recording so we can listen to your first broadcast?" the larger vulpine inquired, perhaps in an effort to placate a bunny.
"Colin said he'll get a sound file put together for me. My sister wanted it too." the smaller vulpine answered. Judy perked up at that. Why was it she'd never thought to ask or ever wonder about Finnick's family? Wait…
"Finnick, what's your last name?" Judy checked bluntly.
Both foxes just stared at the bunny.
"How's Hazel doing?" Nick requested, slowly looking away from his bunny. Judy quietly fumed.
"She wants to open a crystal shop in Sahara Square," the smaller vulpine answered.
"I never asked is all," Judy admitted. Was she being a bad friend? She knew all about things Finnick and Nick liked doing together, and stuff they did as work in their past, but... had she just not shown the right amount of interest in Finnick as a friend to know he even had a family? This was awful to the socially conscious bunny!
"You gettin' roped into helping with the capital on this like the yoga class?" requested Nick with his arms crossed.
"I didn't get roped in last time," the fennec responded, taking another drink of his bevedrage. "… I just… support her finding a way to get out of the van life."
"… says my friend who lives in a van," Nick laughed.
"I refuse to line the pockets of th' greedy rent-corporations," the sand-fox growled. "Hazel needs more."
"You're more like your sister than you can accept," Nick answered. "… still, I am glad she's got some kind of direction. She might be good at something like that."
"Seriously, you've got a last name," Judy pressed.
"I got Jack involved in the show," Finnick answered. Nick perked up and Judy immediately gave up on trying to get more information because she was way, way more interested in that. They all relaxed, sipped drinks, and enjoyed talking about radio, commercials, and trivia with a famous bunny. Judy's worry that she wasn't being a good friend took a back seat for the moment as she just enjoyed being a friend.
Finnick didn't need much cider to fill out his diminutive needs, so he found his place on the couch as Nick and Judy wandered off to bed. A shower was enjoyed with their usual work-related shower-talk, and then warm and serene fox-cuddling that never, ever lost its potency. The doe enjoyed being scooped up in vulpine arms and legs and tail and ensnared as safe and quiet as the city could allow. She had this every single night now and could not imagine for a second getting tired of it. In a conversation with her mom, it was implied that sometimes the company of another could become less interesting after a while. That had not been the case with Nick.
He had been less affectionate the past week or so, but Judy knew it was nothing to worry about. It was a combination of work exhaustion and the fact that Finnick could probably tell her what her blood pressure was if they didn't have a fan on to create some white noise. Some things made noise no matter how you did them.
So, happily, she ended a nice day of sunny beach, friends, and family with a content, cuddly, blissful sleep.
The following day they found Finnick already gone as they headed in to work. Nick was certain that even Finnick was not so corpuscular that he enjoyed being out that early, but he had been pretty excited about his new role the previous day, so they both hoped that he continued to enjoy himself.
Sadly, the fox and bunny would not get to listen to Finnick today either as he would be live again as they were getting their assignments in the bullpen. Fin made sure that the pair knew he'd bring them recordings to listen to if they really wanted to just hear him talk that badly. Judy genuinely did. It was very exciting for her friend and she wanted to show her absolute support.
The bullpen was pretty active as usual, but when Nick and Judy walked in there was applause. It had happened a few times when they had a good catch out on duty or got some kind of accolade. This time they knew it was because, while there were some loose threads, they had completed their cheese case that the entire department had begun to regard with distress.
Nick and Judy accepted the platitudes graciously and hopped up into their usual chair together. The usual discussions surrounded them on all sides about active cases, funny things that happened out on the field, stuff they were looking out for, an increase in thefts here, a problem with traffic there. It was all very organic for the bullpen.
As Tora entered the sound level exploded. It was important to show a unified acceptance of the chief, Judy learned, even if it seemed over the top. It was a psychological thing because it unified the entire shift as they got ready to accept their daily assignments. As was normal, Tora decided when the rowdiness had gone on long enough with a roared "Silence!" that everyone knew to expect. There was a good energy left over from the exchange. Finally, Tora took the podium
"I expect everyone enjoyed the absence of Sergeants Wild? No one pelted with lions or having to climb into a ravine to collect a 400 pound tiger out of a burning wreck in the rain?" There was uneasy laughter. That could be offensive if Nick and Judy really felt like they were being blamed for it, but they knew how outrageous the past few days had been. No offense was taken. After what laughter there was ran its course, the chief continued. "Wolfard, you and Fangmeyer will be working together today, I have you assigned to Sahara square." The wolf whimpered barely perceptibly. He loathed having to carry several bottles of water just to keep from getting dehydrated by his own panting.
The chief continued down the roster. Francine and Grizzoli were sent to Tundra Town for patrol duty but had a special event later in the day, an auction that needed higher security. Pawlander had a missing mammal case he was working, but it was suspected the missing mammal had skipped town because it was learned that he had city tax issues that were about to catch up to him. The assignments continued but none specifically came for Nick and Judy.
They exchanged concerned glances, given that they were effectively done with their cheese case. There wasn't so much left with that to wrap up that they would not be given either another case assignment, or just sent back to patrol. But, they were skipped entirely. The bullpen was dismissed, and a few stares were passed from the other confused officers. Nothing that had transpired made it seem that the pair had gotten into trouble since they had their day off.
"Good luck," Wolfard whispered as he headed out.
"Happy panting." Nick traded, getting an eye-roll.
"Sergeants," stated Tora predictably as they got up to … maybe just wander off and go patrol whatever part of the city they wanted? They weren't sure what would be expected otherwise.
"Chief?" Judy replied.
"My office for a moment," the tiger gestured. Judy gritted her teeth. Sure, she didn't think she'd done anything wrong, but it wasn't hard to get blindsided when so much was going on. They followed the large cat upstairs from the bullpen to the second floor office of the chief.
Both sat in chairs too large for them.
Tora gazed across her desk at the officers for a while, glancing down at files on her desk, then back to the pair. It was quiet a moment, but not really awkwardly so. It was like she was just trying to get her thoughts in order before discussing things. She didn't appear mad.
"Is everything okay?" the fox finally asked.
"Your… progress on your investigation was adequate," Tora explained casually. Judy felt like it was more than adequate but did not interrupt with such. She just agreed.
"It was… more involved than we thought it would be, but it would seem to be resolved, yes," the doe stated with the same relaxed tone.
"The associated case has not provided any other leads," Tora added.
"The K-case?" Nick queried, surprising Judy in how he continued to use code as if others might be eaves-dropping.
"That one, yes," confirmed Tora. "I had hoped, given the level of violence that your two suspects from the other day were willing to visit upon the goat lady she would have known more." Judy nodded. That would make them trying to kill her make more sense. "Still, either she was only getting the goodbye treatment because she had offended K that badly... by trying to carve out her own cut, or she is simply too scared of them to actually talk." The tigress shuffled her folders a little, looking down. "The tiger from the car chase won't be talking to anyone any time soon. The boar lawyered up and we don't suspect we will get much out of him. He gets kidnapping and aggravated assault charges... but that's not enough to make him turn on K, I'm sure. So that leaves me with why I asked you in here."
"You want us to take on… the K case?" Judy inquired, her heart hammering. This was huge.
"No!" barked Tora, making Nick jump slightly. "Oh God no! Good heavens no. Oh by every stripe ever, fish and biscuits no. No, no no." Judy laid back her ears. Okay, she got it. That was not getting passed off to them.
"Then what did you need, Chief?" Nick pushed, sounding less offended than Judy was.
"I need to know that you have told me everything you know about this.. adjacent case… and you are not just holding onto it as … ammo for a certain thing that has not happened yet." Judy glanced at Nick who appeared immediately horrified.
"Uhh..." She wanted to interject here but didn't think that was her place.
"I am culturally aware, and I am patient," Tora explained slowly. "But this is too important for me to be permissive if… that is something you are working on just to … prove yourself or whatever the nature of your… getting is." It was obvious she was choosing her words carefully. The mood was so pensive that the bunny felt crushed by it. "I'm serious. I am truthfully impressed. You don't have to prove it," the chief added genuinely.
"I am rescinding your getting," the fox said bluntly.
"I have done you no favor to clear my coin, Wilde," the tiger responded frankly, proving she really did understand it.
"I am unable to safely top my wife dropping you with a dart in front of the whole department," Nick explained. Tora frowned at that. She seemed hard pressed to accept that boon at face value, and even harder pressed to like the memory that came with it.
Tora bridged her claws in front of her as she sat at her desk. "I admit to having been wrong about … your value to the department. I thought that your efficiency with the cheese case had to have been with help from other officers who did not enjoy my stance when I first arrived. However, I have been assured by Clawhauser, who I can rely on for literally any saying that needs to be said, that no such thing was occurring or would even be necessary. It is something he says Bogo calls the … FoxBunny effect. So… if the air is clear now, please..." She gave a measured stare to the two smaller officers. "Do you know anything that might be beneficial to the K-Case? This has been at least fifteen years coming. Even the Big family has not been so utterly… invincible from consequence or even notice. Anything you know would be valuable to me." The fox stared back a moment, appearing to also carefully consider what he should reply to that with. He finally spoke.
"If there were anything that I felt like you didn't already know I would certainly tell you, Chief," Nick said earnestly. Judy softly sighed. The mood at least felt lighter with the getting apparently off the table. Still, she'd have to find a way to make it up to her mate. He had been so enthusiastic about the intended fate of their gotten chief. Regardless, the situation was too serious to have that as a possible distraction, so she understood completely. They needed to let it go.
Tora leaned in closer. "Is there something you... think I know that maybe I might not?" the tigress asked. Judy felt like that was the most humble question she'd ever heard from her chief. In effect, she admitted that she might not be as well informed as her officers gave her credit for.
Nick spoke softly. "When I was in my younger days I ran in circles similar, but uninvolved, and we were very carefully instructed to stay outside of certain other circles. The family I worked for on occasion was not on friendly terms with the family you ask about. We knew where to avoid, but you should know that those places have certainly changed between now and then. However..." Judy perked up.
"Yes?" Tora pressed.
"If Edy ran afoul of K because of our rat suspect blabbing to the wrong mammal, it suggests that what we pressed him about was a legitimate liability to K's operation. The goat almost died because the equipment that got seized was borrowed. If we can trace the equipment back to where it came from somehow, we might find other equipment that K has not had time to safety evacuate without raising suspicion."
Judy patted her fist into her opposite paw. "Losing a warehouse full of illegal stolen or smuggled goods would really put a smudge on the perceived legitimacy of Kitsune's 'untouchable' organization."
Tora stared, eyes fixed hard on Nick.
"And?" she demanded.
"And?" the fox repeated.
"The warehouse can be found where?" the tiger finished with the obvious.
"Corner of River and Marsh, Meadowlands side of the Canal district," Nick responded frankly. Tora scrambled and grabbed a pen.
"Really?!" Judy interjected incredulously. When had he deduced that?!
"No," Nick replied with a shrug.
There was a loud crack. Judy looked up at a harshly frowning tiger. There was a crest of splattered ink over the bridge of her muzzle where her pen had practically exploded when she angrily crushed it.
"Where is the warehouse, Wilde?" Tora growled.
"We would need to investigate that, but we are not on the case," the fox answered.
"I am not putting you on this case, Nick," Tora insisted unevenly.
"I am sure that whoever is on the case can find the warehouse," the vulpine smugged.
"Do. You. Know. Where it is?" Tora was still crushing her smashed pen.
"I do not."
"Would you know if you were on the case?" she asked. Judy didn't think she liked the implication there. Nick wasn't withholding evidence.
Nick took a deep breath, perhaps feeling the same way. "I promise that if I knew anything to help, or learned something I thought would help, or thought anything I could do would help, that help would be yours. You know the cultural significance of that coin, yes?" He indicated the token that still held its place of esteem on the chief's desk.
"I researched it… extensively." Her answer was very firm. Given her attitude of late, the bunny worried that maybe Tora has obsessed a little, not merely researched.
"Then you should know that we do not give those coins to an enemy." Judy put her ears high. She thought back to what Nick had told his cousin about 'gettings'. It was to temper the response. It wasn't to end a friendship, it was to keep one.
"I understood as much, yes," Tora admitted.
"We are a team," Nick explained. "We might have different roles. We might have different methods. We might not always get along, and we might not always agree, but we are on the same team and we have the same goal."
"What is your goal?" requested Tora in a softer tone.
"To make Zootopia a better place," Nick fired back with near automatic clarity. Judy looked up at the lights, eyes wide. Don't cry.
"Yes. Correct." Tora answered in a more relaxed tone. "That is good." she said. "If I have more questions concerning this… side case… I will speak with you directly. Do not discuss it outside this room."
"Yes Ma'am," Judy and Nick responded, Judy trying to mask a squeak in her voice. Damn it. Nick.
"You are both dismissed," the tiger stated resolutely. Nick and Judy hopped off their chairs and strode toward the door, but the bunny halted just before stepping to the other side with her mate.
"Wait… what… what is our assignment today?" They still had not been given one. Tora gazed down at the now impotent coin on her desk and gave a slow, Cheshire grin.
"Parking Duty."
"And what did we learn?" Nick asked in his sing-song voice.
"Stop talking, stop talking, stop talking," the bunny sighed. She printed out ticket number 11. Judy had tried to get her partner to compete with her on who could write the most, but after learning of her department record the fox had simply refused to attempt it. They hadn't been talking much for the past hour. It wasn't because either was upset, there was just a lot to mentally digest.
"At least it's not raining," Nick bright-sided.
"Do you have any idea how we might find the warehouse before Kitsune moves all their junk?" pried the bunny.
"We might wait until Pawlander or whoever else she's got on it tells us where they found it," Nick replied casually, printing a ticket of his own for a convertible that was clearly driven by a skunk.
"Are you … mad that she didn't put us on the case?" the doe inquired. He hadn't seemed angry, but she felt rather slighted. They were doing great as detectives.
"We don't want to be on that case," Nick replied.
"That hard?" the bunny meekly offered. There wasn't anything wrong with having a difficult case. It's not like they were expected to solve every single thing that came at them. Sometimes officers didn't get the win. It's how things worked.
"No, it's that dangerous," Nick added, inspecting the flat tire of a sport utility vehicle that was clearly disabled and left in a two hour parking spot with no time left on the meter. The amount of leaves and other dirt on the vehicle suggested it had been there for days. "Tickety-ticket for yoooou."
"We've dealt with danger, Nick. It's part of the job."
"Yeah, and if they make it our job I will charge right in, but I ain't begging for this, Fluff," her mate responded as he walked alongside her. "If we work on this case, we work on it, but Tora's right. She's got more seasoned veterans and she's been working this specific case longer than you've even wanted to be a cop. Our job, right now, is making sure that the detectives on that important case have plenty of open places in the city to park, and for once, I am glad that this is a service I can provide. Ooh, double parked!" He punched the keys on his ticket-printer. Judy let her ears fall back. She wondered if this was him being protective of her.
"Is Kitsune really that dangerous?" Judy asked, following Nicks bushy tail quickly.
"To answer that, I don't want you in the habit of even saying the name out loud in public," her fox elaborated. "But... if it makes you feel any better, no… I don't feel slighted or insulted that Tora didn't want us on that case."
"She put us on parking duty, Nick," the doe pointed out.
"Which she hasn't done since I gave her the coin. It's definitely our turn, Carrots," Nick framed.
"Yeah… maybe..." Judy punched out a ticket for a car that was parked in front of a mouse diner. Blocking an entire business from view was socially unacceptable and very ticket-worthy. "You think she's been afraid of assigning us just because of the getting?" She decided to drop the talk of Kitsune for now.
"It might have something to do with why she didn't assign us, but not because she was … afraid of the getting." Nick checked a meter, but it still had twenty minutes on it. They were safe… for now. "… No, if it had something to do with it, it's because she would have thought I expected us to get Parking Duty and it would give us more time or opportunity to come up with a getting."
"You think she was thinking that deeply into it?" Judy pondered.
"Possibly. But, she's safe now. And I actually feel relief no longer having to come up with something funnier than Clawhauser's cucumber thing." Judy laughed at that, remembering Tora diving out of the ring. She had almost forgotten. She didn't discount that Nick often knew exactly what to say to break her out of her funk. She loved him for that.
"That's it for this block," Judy announced. "Where to next?" The rounds were no always the same. It kept people from figuring out when officers were coming to check the meters.
"We need to stop and get gas, and then maybe we do Acacia? I don't think we've been back since that moose tried to flatten the joke mobile." They were not driving that today though. They had their regular cruiser.
"Sounds good, Slick. I could use a soda as well." The pair hopped back in their cruiser and headed toward the several blocks they could service on that side of town. The drive was light, as most of the traffic for that time of morning had dispersed, but Nick seemed to take a weird route to get there. It was not very common for him to drive at all, but sometimes he liked to be the one behind the wheel. They were still discussing getting their own car, so the fox wanted to stay in practice.
His reason for choosing a weird route became more apparent as he pulled into a familiar smaller gas station which didn't even have pumps anymore.
"Is it even open yet?" Judy asked.
"One way to find out!" Nick hopped out and headed toward the door. A little bell chimed as Nick pushed it open.
"I'm sorry, were all out of cheese," Kris laughed from the counter as they got inside. Nick laughed back playfully and pointed to the nacho stand in the center of the store.
"Oh yeah, what's that?" the fox pressed.
"Being honest? Probably not cheese," the small otter giggled.
"What are you even supposed to be selling here once you get all your new shelves and everything in?" Nick inquired with a gesture.
"Games, snacks, drinks and salt!" Kris chimed. "We'll have tables for table-top gaming and the like, a deli, and my dad is getting the widest selection of gourmet and specialty salt licks for all our sodium-craving neighbors. His partner in this, Bruce, is an aficionado in that department." Judy remembered that she liked a savory herb salt lick that she got one time as a holiday gift, so she could certainly see the draw. "I'm gonna be the one in charge of the salt counter. If it goes well, I might even get my own shop, but we gotta start somewhere. You guys figured out yet who did all that junk in here?" she asked.
The bunny nodded at that. "We have it pretty much closed. I wouldn't worry about anyone following you or anything," Judy comforted. She could only imagine how alarming the incident with the rats must have been for her, so she understood why Kris would be interested in how that case was going.
"That's a relief. Been kinda… watching myself a bit more than I'd like to admit." She rested her chin on her paws behind the counter. This, the bunny figured, is why Nick really wanted to visit. She appreciated him for that. "What big case are you on today?" she inquired with visible interest.
"Traffic duty," Nick explained.
"Oh wow. That seems boring," the little lady otter groaned.
Judy grinned at Kris and gave a happy sigh. "It can be... but sometimes... you can meet the most interesting mammals..."