"What do you want?" the deep, irritated voice spoke.
"Well, hello to you too, Big Guy."
"Nick, I haven't heard from you in weeks, then bunny cop shows up wanting to find you, and now you suddenly want to talk? What gives?"
"Well, about that . . ." Turning around to glance at Judy, he decided to move down to the lawn to avoid waking her.
"So what did bunny cop want, anyway? She seemed pretty desperate."
Walking down the stairs, Nick answered, "Oh, she was. She needed my help again. Said she figured out what the real cause of the savage attacks was."
"What! After everything she did to you! You've been mopey and depressed for months! I hope you told her what for."
"I did walk off, but then she did something no one has ever done before." There was a brief pause and Nick's voice dropped to soft whisper of awe. "At least, never to me."
Finnick paused for a moment, then, sensing something monumental had happened, asked just as softly (for him), "What she do?"
"She apologized, Finn. Judy apologized to me."
Finnick was speechless for a moment, then murmured in a hushed tone, "The bunny cop, a member of the Fuzz and prey actually . . . apologized . . . to you . . . a fox!?"
"Right! It never happens, not in a million years!" Leaning back against the side of the garage, Nick ran a paw through his head-fur. "Prey never apologize, and the Fuzz only apologizes if they get hit with a police brutality lawsuit."
"Dang, Nick."
"Yeah, I know."
"So what did you do?"
"Of course, I forgave her. She was sobbing her eyes out, admitted she was ignorant, small minded, and a horrible friend."
"Wait. She really said that? That she was your friend?"
"Yep. Which means she really did see me as her friend. Can you believe that? A bunny who's friends with a fox."
"Dang. I think I need to sit down."
There was muffled thump through the phone and Nick was sure Finnick didn't so much as sit, as fall on his rump. "I'm glad you're sitting, because I'm not finished yet."
"Huh? There's more!"
"Yeah, so she's sobbing her eyes out and says she needs to fix her mistake but can't do it without me. Me, Finnick. She could've taken the information to Bogo and he would have believed her, but she didn't. She came to me. She needed me. No one has ever needed me like this."
"Wow. A bunny actually seeking out the help of a fox. Is hell going to freeze over tomorrow?"
Nick laughed. "Maybe. But the real kicker was what she said at the end of her apology."
"Go on." Finnick couldn't believe a prey mammal, a bunny no less, and a cop, was not only apologizing to a fox, but begging—not demanding—begging for help. The bunny cop who had blackmailed his friend into helping her in the first place. It was just too weird. He was sure the world must be coming to an end.
"So she tells me that afterwards, you know, we catch the criminals, that I can walk away knowing that I was right—you're sitting, right?"
"Uh-huh."
"That I was right, she really is just—" Nick ran a paw over his face and his voice dropped to a mere whisper—"a dumb bunny."
"No way!? She really say that? She called herself a dumb bunny!?"
Nick scratched behind his ear and glanced up towards the deck. "Yeah, she said that, 100 percent."
Finnick was silent for a moment, then started belly laughing. "Oh, that's good. The high-and-mighty officer Toot-toot who threatened you with jail time if you didn't help her actually called herself a dumb bunny! Hahaha. I'm dying here!"
Nick's ears flicked back, and he scowled a minute but waited till the worst of Finnick's laughing was finished before saying, "Yeah, she called herself that, but you can't say anything. I'm the only one allowed to tease her about it."
There was an undercurrent of a growl in Nick's words that had Finnick's laughter freezing in his throat. The growl was a subvocal warning that was more felt than heard—even through the phone. "Yeah, yeah, sure. Whatever you say, Nick. I won't say a word."
With a sigh, Nick answered, "Thanks, Finn."
Finnick didn't think Nick realized what he'd done, but the warning growl was a territorial one that was specific to foxes—a subvocal warning that he never expected to hear from Nick, especially when used against him. Other than his mom and sister, and the things Honey left him, Nick never got territorial about anything or anyone—it just wasn't worth it for a fox. Trying to defend what was yours usually resulted in a beating or jail time.
Which is why he always had a bat on hand whenever someone banged on his van door. He had to dish out a beating before getting it himself, just to defend what was his. It was a sad way to live, but he'd gotten used to it. And he thought Nick had to, but here he was, not only staking his claim to a bunny, of all things, but showing he was willing to defend her, to defend what was his.
Dang, bunny cop, what'd you do to my friend? Finnick wondered. Not wanting to rile Nick up, he decided to change the subject. "So what happened after you made up with bunny cop?"
"What did you hear on the news last night?"
"Not much. Just that something went down in the Natural History Museum, but the cops weren't saying nothing. Said it was part of an ongoing investigation but that there'd be a press conference sometime later this week."
"Huh," Nick muttered under his breath. "Wonder why Bogo isn't saying anything. I guess we'll find out tomorrow." Speaking back up to Finnick, he asked, "They really didn't say anything else?"
"Just that the officer involved was injured." Finnick sat up straighter as he put 2 and 2 together. "Wait, bunny cop, she okay? What happened?"
"A psychotic sheep and her muscle-bound posse is what happened."
"Huh?"
"We sacked another mayor last night. Bellwether was behind the savage attacks. She was hitting predators with a potent drug she'd concocted and while we were running from the psycho ewe and her deranged henchmammals, Judy cut her leg." Pausing a moment, Nick then said, "Which brings me to why I'm calling. Do you still have your crutches?"
"Ya, ya, I got 'em. But what are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about Bellwether shooting me, so I'd go savage on Carrots. She was laughing while I stalked her, and she couldn't wait to watch me tear Carrots apart. Just how much more psychotic can you get!?" Nick ran his paw through his fur again in agitation. They'd come so close to losing everything—his freedom and sanity, and Judy's life. If not for Judy's soothing paws on him last night, he was sure he would've awoken to a whimpering, sobbing nightmare.
"Wait! You went savage!"
"It was all an act. I'd switched the serum with some blueberries I had on me, but Bellwether didn't know that. It was Judy's idea to act savage in order to record Bellwether's confession."
"What, like on that carrot pen of hers?"
"The very one." Nick grinned a minute, then took a deep breath. "Do you know what I had to do to really sell it?"
"Uh-uh."
Nick ran a paw through his head-fur again, then pulled on his ear as he walked in a tight circle. Even now, he couldn't believe how much faith and trust Judy had in him. "I . . ." Nick took a deep breath. "I had to bite her neck."
"No way. She let you do that? Wasn't she terrified?"
Nick chuckled. "Let me? She told me to! And no, she wasn't scared of me. But you wouldn't have known it to watch her. If it wasn't for her scent giving off a confident, excited smell I wouldn't have believed it was just an act. Bellwether was certainly duped by her acting skills and sang like a canary." Nick snickered remembering Bellwether's look of shock and dismay seeing him stand and then hearing her own confession, followed by Judy's smug, 'Boom'.
"So you . . . you just bit her . . . just like that?" Finnick couldn't believe Nick could go through with it. Even though she was a cop, she was still a bunny—one of the most paranoid, most-easily scared creatures on the planet.
"No, I didn't just . . . bite her!" Rubbing his face, Nick remembered Judy's words clearly and they caused a warmth to spread through him, just as they had when she first spoke them. Taking a deep breath, he explained, "She told me her plan. I didn't like it. Acting savage was bad enough, but biting her? Uh-uh. I couldn't do it. But then . . . but then she said . . . she trusts me. Me, a fox, her natural enemy, and she trusts me to bite her neck while acting stock-raving mad." Pulling on his ear again, he took a deep breath and exclaimed, "Who does that, Finn!? What prey out there would trust a predator that much. And she meant it! Even after I snapped my fangs around her, she didn't have an ounce of fear coming off of her. Not. One. Ounce."
"Dang, Nick, you really got to that bunny, didn't you?"
"Well, she got to me first, so you know, it's only fair." Finn chuckled, but then Nick continued, "Right, so about those crutches. Could Carrots borrow them for two weeks? And can you bring them by right now or are you busy?"
"No, no. I can bring 'em. No problem."
"Thanks, Big Guy."
"Does she really let you call her Carrots? Doesn't she get mad?"
"She did at first, but that was back when we both still hated each other. Now she likes it. At least, she hasn't complained about it."
Finn chuckled again. "Whatever, Nick. So you at the warehouse?"
"Finn, why would I bring Carrots to the warehouse? What would possess me to bring her to my bachelor pad that's only fit for entertaining guests for a few hours?"
"What guests? I'm the only one that ever comes over."
"My point exactly!"
"Then if you're not at the warehouse, where are you?"
"Where am I?" Nick rubbed his face. "Finn, use that brilliant foxy brain of yours. I have two places: One only fit for a short visit and the other for a more permanent stay," he answered while motioning with his paw.
"Huh?"
Nick sighed. Was it really that hard to figure out? "Finn, I brought her home with me. She's staying in Honey's old room."
Finnick's hand dropped from his ear and he sat gaping at the phone. He couldn't get his head wrapped around the fact that Nick, the jaded fox who didn't let anyone in and who selfishly did whatever he wanted, had brought a prey—a bunny and a cop—home to his house. A house he hadn't even lived in for over five years.
"Finn? You still there, Big Guy?"
Finnick shook his head and brought the phone back to his large ear. "You seriously brought bunny cop to your house? You don't even like that house."
Nick sighed again. "I never said I didn't like the house. It's just . . . it's just too big and empty to be living here alone. There are too many dusty memories. It hasn't felt like home since Honey died."
"So why bring her there, then?"
"Duh!" he said while waving his paw through the air. "If she's here, it's no longer a big empty house! She has enough happy chatter and enthusiasm to fill the whole place up." Moving his paw over, Nick scratched the base of his ear, remembering how good Judy's paws felt last night. With a softer voice, he continued, "Besides, she's helping me make a lot of new memories that I can sit back and enjoy."
Finnick really didn't know what to say. The bunny cop he remembered was a hypocrite and difficult to deal with, and yet, she seems to have made 180 degree turn around and had brought out a side of Nick he didn't think he'd ever see again. Finn needed to see this for himself. "Okay, okay. I hear ya. I'll bring the crutches. I'm still in Savannah Central, so it'll take about 20-30 minutes to get there if I don't get stuck in traffic."
"Great. I'll see you shortly, Big Guy."
"Ya, sure, Nick. Ciao." After hanging up with Nick, Finnick sat and stared at his phone for several minutes. The whole conversation seemed surreal. Nick never talked about his feelings and certainly didn't spend nearly thirty minutes doing it. Unless it involved work, Nick was never serious for more than a few sentences. And the teasing! Nick didn't tease him even once! Hell must be getting ready to freeze over or the end of the world was on the horizon.
Shaking his head as he stood up and put his phone back in his pocket, he climbed into the front seat of his van and started it up. The loud bang as it backfired put a scowl on his small muzzle, which showed off several of his small, pointy canines. "If Nick's home, that means he can let me use the garage to fix my van. That sorry sod owes me that much. Hardly speaking to me for 3 months and then not shutting up when he finally does. Lovesick pup." It was obvious to the small fox the emotions his larger friend was developing for the energetic bunny. The world was definitely coming to an end.
….
WingedKatt here. So Finnick has made his appearance and we've seen a glimpse of Nick's thinking process. Next chapter will reveal one of Nick's 'toys' out in the garage and another enlightening phone conversation.
Chapter 14: You've Ruined Me! will post on Saturday, Aug 31.
If you have any thoughts or comments, I'd love to hear from you. Have a great week.
