Bogo hung the phone up and gave a heavy sigh. Between the news stations blowing up the ZPD PR department phone line with questions about the savage attacks and Bellwether's arrest, and the city government scrambling to temporarily fill the mayor's seat, Bogo had hardly had a minute to himself. Running his hooves over his face, he then dropped them to his desk and started shuffling some papers around. Reports were still coming in from those involved in Bellwether's conspiracy, and several suspects had evaded arrest so there was a citywide mammal hunt for them.
Glancing at the clock, he saw that it was 12 minutes to 10 and he wondered if Hopps and Wilde would be on time for their meeting. He knew Hopps was always punctual, but he didn't know about Wilde. Would he get the rabbit here on time? And would Hopps kill him if he didn't? That thought brought a slight chuckle to his lips. Reaching down to pull out the file he'd compiled on Wilde, Bogo glanced inside.
He still hadn't had time to do a thorough look into the vulpine's past, but he did find a few more things out about the smug todd. Nothing incriminating, but the lack of any kind of job did beg the question of how he was able to survive the last few decades without any income. It was just one more question he'd need to discuss with the red fox. Getting the paperwork in order, Bogo prepared for their meeting.
...…
"It's showtime," Nick said with a smug grin.
Judy nodded at Nick, then unbuckled her seatbelt. Remembering what Finnick had told her earlier, she said, "Before we go in, Finnick brought up a couple of good points we need to consider."
"And what's that?" Nick asked as he unbuckled his own seatbelt and stuffed the keys in his pocket.
"For starters, we need to get your mask back on or we'll never be able to hide our relationship." Nick nodded in thought, then Judy added, almost to herself, "I should probably work at putting a mask on, too. It won't do us any good if you stay professional and I don't."
"Ooh, Judy with a mask," Nick said with sly grin. "That'll be interesting to see."
Rolling her eyes, Judy asked, "So what do we need to do?"
"Well, the easy stuff will be to maintain a proper distance and keep our paws to ourselves. The hard part will be schooling our expressions so we only look at each other as friends and not love-sick teenagers."
Judy brought a paw up and started nibbling on her thumb claw. This was going to be difficult. How was she supposed to look at Nick and not show how crazy-in-love she was with him? Hearing a camera click, she glanced up to see Nick grinning at her.
"That's a serious expression you got there, Fluff, but don't worry, I'll help you practice." Still grinning, he closed his camera and saw the time. With ears flicking flat against his head, he whispered, "We gotta go, Carrots. Bogo won't be happy if we're late and we still need to pick up an application."
Judy sat up straighter and met Nick's worried gaze. "Right. We'll have to practice later."
Nick nodded then turned to get out of the jeep.
…...
Wolford and Delgato were sitting in their cruiser going over a case file when the sky-blue jeep wrangler pulled up and parked near the entrance. The windows were too darkly tinted to tell who was inside, but the vehicle was sized for a wolf.
Nudging his partner, Delgato asked, "Look at that. Do you think they're lost?"
"Maybe," the grey wolf beside him replied. "Or they could be with one of the news stations and are hoping to slip in through the back."
"Not on my watch," the tawny lion growled back. After watching the vehicle for several minutes, he added, "They're taking their pretty time getting out, aren't they?"
Wolford nodded to his partner and said, "Maybe we should investigate."
With a toothy grin, Delgato grabbed his door handle, saying, "What are you waiting for?"
They were halfway across the parking lot when the driver's side door opened, and a smart looking red fox hopped out. They both stopped and stared. The jeep was much larger than the fox and looked well taken care of. It was certainly not something they'd ever expect to see a fox hopping out of—no matter how well dressed he was.
"Do you think he stole it?" Delgato asked quietly.
Wolford shrugged while watching the fox hurry around to the passenger side of the vehicle where he opened the back door and reached in. "You lost, there, fox?" he asked as he and Delgato started walking towards the jeep again.
The fox glanced over and flashed them a lazy smile then shook his head. "Nope, I'm right where I want to be."
Pausing again as they watched the fox pull out a tiny wheelchair (tiny to them), Wolford and Delgato watched him then open the passenger door and reach up to lift someone out of the front seat. When they saw who that someone was, their jaws dropped. "Officer Hopps!" Delgato exclaimed.
Judy looked over and saw the wolf and lion, then gave a wave while smiling brightly, saying, "Hello Officer Wolford, Officer Delgato. I hope your day is going well."
"Um, yeah," Wolford replied. "Are you okay, Hopps?"
"I'm great, thanks," she answered while Nick fussed with her.
Nick helped Judy get situated comfortably in the chair (and was extremely glad Finnick had had the foresight to throw in the pillows), then turned to the two officers. "We're running a bit late for our meeting with Bogo, so if you'll excuse us, officers." He gave a lazy salute then turned to wheel Judy into the building. Judy gave them a backward wave as they reached the door, then they slipped inside.
Wolford and Delgato stood staring for several more minutes, then Delgato questioned, "Was that the fox with Hopps at the Museum, the one that also helped her with the missing mammals case?"
Wolford shrugged again. "Looks like it. He looked different in those clothes, but I can't imagine Hopps with any other fox. There's also not many red foxes with that solid coloring or black-tipped tail." Moving forward, he walked up the to the jeep wrangler and checked it out. It was a nice vehicle and looked to be in mint condition. Bending down, he glanced at the undercarriage and gave a whistle.
"What? Did you find something?" The lion crouched down, too, but was too tall to adequately look under the vehicle.
"Yeah, this jeep has been heavily modified. I bet it rides like a dream in the city." Standing back up, he walked around the jeep again. "Look at the tires, though. They're the ones with heavy tread for off-roading. Whoever owns this put a lot of time and money into it."
"You don't honestly think the fox actually owns it, do you?" Delgato couldn't wrap his head around the idea that a fox could own such a vehicle—not without stealing it or buying it with dirty money.
Running his eyes appreciatively over the blue luminescent body, Wolford shook his head. "It's hard to imagine, but with how smart Bogo claims the fox is, and Hopps' trust in him, I doubt he'd drive it here if he obtained it illegally."
"Do you think he borrowed it, then? To bring Hopps to her meeting with Bogo?"
"Most likely." Running a paw lightly over the body, Wolford was surprised to see that there weren't any dents or scrapes in the shiny paint. The vehicle really was well maintained. Thinking of the two mammals who'd stepped out of it, he wondered more about their relationship. Glancing at his partner again, he said, "Seeing them arrive in something like this does beg the question of where she's been staying the last two nights."
"What do you mean?" Delgato asked while scratching the thick part of his mane that grew under his chin.
"Hopps' parents called Tuesday night looking for her since they couldn't get through on her phone. They were directed to the hospital, but called back to say she'd already checked out and to see if we had another way to contact her. We didn't of course. After she moved back to Bunnyburrow, we only had her cell as a means of contact."
Rubbing his chin, the lion asked, "So what does that have to do with where Hopps was staying?"
Wolford flicked his ear and glanced over at his partner. He could be so dense sometimes. "Her parents said she'd left her wallet at home and so didn't have money for a hotel. After their calls, Bogo sent me over to the hospital to pick up Hopps' medical chart to add to the case file. The doctor notes said she can't put any pressure on her leg and that she'll need someone to help her out while she heals up. There was a note in her medical file stating that a Nick Wilde would be helping her change and clean her wound. That's kinda hard to do if they're not staying together."
Delgato's jaw dropped. "What? Like she's staying in the fox's den or something?"
"Bingo," Wolford said as he glanced over at the door the fox and bunny had disappeared through. "I imagine a small fox couch would be a big bed for a rabbit."
Running his claws through his mane, Delgato murmured, "I guess so, but it's still weird to think of a rabbit willingly staying in a fox's den."
"Not as weird as a herd of deranged sheep trying to take over the city by poisoning predators to go savage, just so they'd have an excuse to collar and segregate them."
The lion's ears flattened against his head. "Yeah, that's worse."
"Yeah, it is," the grey wolf said, as he turned and began walking back to their cruiser. "Now come on, we have several leads to follow." Delgato nodded and followed his partner.
As Wolford opened the passenger door, he glanced over one last time to appreciate the modified jeep wrangler. The jeep rallies will begin the last week of August and will run through October with a different rally happening each month. He'd been trying to find someone with a decent vehicle that he could team up with—all with no luck. His friends with vehicles either hadn't kept their jeeps in good condition or were going to be too busy to attend any of them. It was frustrating as he really wanted to attend this year. Wilde looked to have a winning jeep and Wolford wondered if the fox planned on attending any of the rallies.
Climbing into the cruiser, the grey wolf turned his attention to their case and the leads they had to follow. As Delgato drove out of the parking lot, Wolford tuned out any other thoughts and focused solely on the case at hand.
….…
As Nick wheeled Judy down the corridor, he leaned over and whispered, "So what was the other thing Finnick said we need to do?" Finn didn't often give advice, but when he did, it was best to heed it.
"Oh, right. He said we need to check into the fraternization rules since we're in a relationship. It wouldn't do us any good for you to work your butt off at the Academy and then find out we couldn't be partners because we're together."
Nick's ears flattened against his skull. "Yeah, I didn't even think about that. But you're right, we need to find out first—which means we'll need to tell Buffalo Butt about us."
Judy's ears drooped. "Right. Tell my specist boss about the interspecies relationship I'm in. Lifting her paws, she waved them half-heartedly while sarcastically saying, "Yay."
Nick chuckled briefly at her sarcasm, then got serious again. "We would have to tell him sometime, and it'll be better to get it out in the open now instead of him finding out later." With smirk, he leaned over and tilted his head to meet her eyes, saying, "I hear honesty is the best policy. I've only started living by it the last couple of days, but it seems to be working pretty well so far."
Judy giggled. Sitting straighter in the wheelchair, she whispered, "Mask, Wilde. Put it on."
Standing up straighter, Nick schooled his facial features back into his default smug grin and half-lidded eyes. As a new thought struck him, he looked back down to the doe in front of him. "If we're telling Buffalo-butt about our relationship, we should also tell him about your friendship with Fru-Fru. He'll need to understand how you met and why you're friends, especially since you'll be eating lunch with her in an hour hardly a stone's throw away from the ZPD."
"That's a good point." Glancing over her shoulder, she added, "Our list of things to discuss with the Chief keeps getting longer."
Nick chuckled as they exited the hallway and entered the lobby of the ZPD. Looking through the glass windows of the main entrance, they could see the mob of reporters yelling and vying for attention at the bottom of the steps. Shivering while thinking of what would happen if they somehow caught sight of him and Judy, he headed over to the reception desk.
A bored white-tailed deer sat at the reception desk talking to an elderly wildebeest. After answering his questions, the deer officer directed the wildebeest down a hallway that opened behind the reception desk.
As the officer watched the wildebeest disappear behind the back wall of the reception area, where the enlarged ZPD badge hung on its wooden frame, he shook his head and went back to some paperwork that had been delivered to him a short while ago.
Having walked up while the deer was still dealing with the wildebeest, Nick stopped the wheelchair at the base of the tall counter and reached down to lock the wheels, while whispering to Judy, "I'm going to stand on the chair arms so I can see better. I might get a better reception if the officer doesn't have to lean over the counter to speak to me."
Judy nodded, then had to drop her ears as Nick straddled the wheelchair arms and his tail swung over her head. She really had to work at keeping her mask on as memories from last night flooded her mind. Trying to push them down, she took a deep breath and stared determinedly at the reception desk's side. The only thing that kept her ears from turning beet red at having his tail swish just inches from her head was remembering how good it felt to bury herself in it.
Nick stood up and looked over the reception desk. It was obvious the officer found his job tedious by his narrowed eyebrows. Taking a deep breath (and hoping against hope that the encounter would be a pleasant one), Nick spoke politely. "Excuse me"—he glanced at the nametag—"Officer Staggson. I'm sorry to bother you, but I would like to get a ZPA application. If you would be so kind as to hand me one, I'd appreciate it."
The deer stared at him for several heartbeats, then, with a hard edge to his voice, asked, "Is this some kind of joke, fox?"
"No, no joke, officer." With a paw to his heart, he continued, "I am completely serious about applying for the ZPA. I mean, if a smart rabbit can be a cop, why not a smart fox? The Mammal Inclusion Initiative is still in effect, isn't it?"
Staggson's ears folded back and he leaned over the counter and jabbed his hoof in Nick's face, with the sharp, hard edge stopping mere inches from the vulpine's black nose. "Listen, pelt, I don't know why you're skulking around in here, but if you don't leave now I'll have you thrown in a cell for disturbing the peace."
Nick's ear ticked, and it was an effort to keep them both upright and the anger out of his voice. "If you give me an application,"—his eyes darted down to where he knew they should be—"I'd be happy to get out of your fur."
"That's it. You're going in the slammer," the specist deer said as he reached for his pawcuffs.
Nick leaned back, and this time his ears did flatten against his head, but then he felt a tug on his pants and looked down. Judy stared back at him with rage in her beautiful amethyst eyes. With arms outstretched, it was clear she intended to give the specist deer a piece of her mind. With his anger evaporating, he looked forward to the show she was sure to put on. Crouching down, Nick slipped his arms around her waist and with a firm grip, whispered, "Hang tight, we're going up." And then he sprang up and onto the countertop, landing right in front of the bigoted buck.
Officer Staggson's jaw dropped as the fox and bunny suddenly appeared right in front of him. The pawcuffs he'd just pulled from his utility belt clattered to the hard, tiled floor and echoed through the room. His eyes grew big as saucers and he swallowed nervously when the rabbit opened her small mouth.
"Listen you specist jerk," she spat while jabbing her tiny paw in his chest. "I don't know who you think you are to speak to my friend so rudely, but if you don't get him a ZPA application within 30 seconds I'm citing you for Hate Speech and Conduct Unbecoming an Officer."
Nick, with his paws still on Judy's waist to support her weight, leaned forward slightly and with a lazy smile, said, "Don't forget Derelict of Duty, Slander, False Accusations, and Threat of Unlawful Incarceration. If he actually followed through with the last one, I could sue him for Aggravated Assault, depending on how rough he got with me." With his grin growing and becoming quite smug, Nick leaned over Judy's head and pointed out, "And with all the cameras in this building, I'd win easily. Especially when Officer Hopps here stood as a witness and spoke on my behalf."
Straightening up while staring at the dumbfounded buck, he added, "So what's it going to be, Staggson, are you going to give us that application or does Officer Hopps start writing tickets . . . after we talk to Bogo about your misconduct, since, you know, you're making us late to our appointment with him." With a raise of his eyebrow, Nick waited for the officer's response, all the while feeling immensely pleased with being able to tag team with his honeybun again. He was sure this is how it would feel to be her partner while taking down real criminals.
Staggson gulped again and glanced down at the rabbit, and yes, it was Officer Hopps. He remembered her being a lot more soft-spoken and timid, but she was really scary when she was angry. And the way she folded her arms across her chest and glared at him sent a shiver down his spine. Digging into the drawer, he hurriedly pulled out the application and handed it to Hopps, since the fox's paws were busy holding her up.
"Pen," Judy demanded, and the buck hastily handed one over in her size.
Nick helped her hop back from the edge, then sit down, as he spoke over her shoulder to the buck. "You know, Judy's leg was injured when we were running from Bellwether and she isn't supposed to stand on it until the stitches come out. So what do you think the doctor is going to say when he finds out a fellow officer was making her stand on it?"
The buck blanched at the thought, but Nick didn't care. Besides giving the specist prick something else to worry about (which was highly entertaining), he also needed to give the many spectators in the room a reason why he kept his large paws around Judy's waist. The last thing they needed was rumors to start up the minute they walked into the building.
As Judy stretched her injured leg out and got comfortable, she handed Nick the pen and paper, which he quickly filled out. He'd already filled out the application once, so he didn't even need to think about his answers. Dropping the pen on the countertop, Nick quickly folded the paper and stuffed it in his pocket, then glanced at Judy. "Ready for our meeting with the Chief?"
Judy gave a quick nod, the anger she was feeling still visible on her face (and using it to hide her feelings for the handsome todd beside her), then answered, "As ready as I'll ever be." Taking a deep breath, she lifted her arms and Nick quickly scooped her up.
Jumping lightly to the floor, he quickly set her in the chair and stepped back, not wanting to spend even a second longer touching her. With the large audience they now had, any kind of lingering touch could be mistaken for what it was—affection beyond friendship.
Bending down to unlock the wheels, he then stepped behind the chair and asked, "Which way to the elevators."
Judy pointed the way and they traveled in silence, as did everyone else in the atrium. It wasn't until they disappeared through the elevator doors that sound returned to the lobby in a cacophony of voices. The main topic running through those present was wonder at a bunny being good friends with a fox. And the fact that it was Judy Hopps who so passionately defended her predatory friend boggled many of their minds. Especially after remembering the press conference she spoke at three months ago. There were only a couple of officers who had been present for the morning briefing, and they kept their mouths shut as they pondered on the two small mammals who had saved the city, and in the process, had forged such a unique friendship.
As the doors closed behind them, Judy let out an angry breath. "I can't believe he treated you like that!"
Nick glanced down, then grinned. "You have no idea what hearing you say that does to my heart."
Glancing up, Judy asked, "What do you mean?"
"Well, you like to give mammals the benefit of the doubt, but not many people do that. The way that jerk treated me is normal. I hate it, but that's just what being a fox means."
"Well it shouldn't be," Judy huffed, still incensed over how her fellow officer treated Nick like dirt. "They have no right treating you like—" Judy felt Nick press his wet nose against hers as he gave her a quick peck on the lips.
"Don't let them see that they get to you, remember?" Nick said.
Judy licked her lips, then nodded. Now that she was focused on Nick and not the stupid buck down in the lobby, she felt her anger melt away. Not that she wasn't mad at him still, but her anger no longer consumed her.
Nick straightened up just as the elevator dinged and the door began to open. Stepping back behind Judy, he pushed her through the door while asking, "Ready to see Chief Buffalo Butt?"
Judy giggled, then whispered, "Nick you shouldn't call him that while you're at the ZPD. What if he hears you?"
With a smirk, Nick leaned down slightly and whispered in her ear, "Does that mean I can call him that everywhere else?"
Giggling again, Judy murmured, "Ni-ick."
Seeing the door with Bogo's name on it, Nick straightened up, then stopped in front of the door. Before Judy could lean forward to knock, they heard Bogo's stern voice boom through the door.
"Enter."
WingedKatt here. So their arrival at the ZPD wasn't all smooth sailing, but Judy wasn't going to stand by and watch anyone hurt her fox. For those of you who have been patiently (and maybe not so patiently) waiting for the meeting with Bogo, it's finally arrived. The next chapter will start the meeting and I hope you enjoy rollercoasters because you're all in for an emotional rollercoaster ride.
Chapter 32: Rent Free, will post on Saturday. I hope you have a great week and as always, if you have any thoughts or comments, I'd love to hear from you.
