Benjamin had finally arrived at the address the Chief had given him, but he wasn't too impressed by what he saw. This was a high-end neighborhood where the properties were large (along with most of the homes), giving the houses plenty of space and privacy between residences. The residences also had manicured lawns and trimmed hedges—except this one.

The two-story house in front of him looked spacious enough and seemed to be in good enough condition, but the paint was starting to fade and peel in a few places and the large yard was overgrown with weeds which grew up through the tall grass that didn't look to have seen a lawnmower in months, while the hedges that lined the yard hadn't been trimmed even once this year if the wildly sprouting branches were anything to go by. But this is where the chief said he would find Hopps and her foxy friend, so Benjamin turned the cruiser off, grabbed the tiny packet sitting on the seat beside him, then stepped out onto the concrete driveway.

He hadn't even made it halfway to the front porch when the wind picked up and blew in from behind the house bringing the fresh scent of fox and rabbit with it. Benjamin's nose huffed to catch the scent better, even as his ears twitched. It seemed Judy was in the backyard with Nick. With excitement and curiosity shining in his expressive dark-brown eyes, Benjamin made his way to the backyard and felt extremely glad the cold air-conditioning of the cruiser had allowed him to recover a little bit of his strength from the heat exhaustion working in records caused him each day at work.

He was usually a good walker (not a hiker or a runner), but he held his own when it came to walking, and he could even jog short distances if the ground was flat or sloped down. At least, he was a good walker—past tense. Ever since they moved him to Records, with the boiler room right next door, the heat just sapped his strength and energy and left him feeling listless. And having to run up to the Chief's office had become quite the workout. The last time he'd felt so out of shape was three months ago when he had to chase a slippery otter up two flights of stairs. That positively killed him! How could a little otter run so fast!

With a flick of his ear, Benjamin thought once more about the exhaustion the heat was causing him. He'd complained about the heat several times and a work order had been submitted to fix the air-conditioning in the Records' room, but it had to go through the budget committee and see if money could be allotted to the task. The paperwork was submitted two months ago and still the air-conditioning remained inefficient. So, Benjamin had to suffer through the heat each day. He had several floor fans in the room, but they merely moved the hot air around without actually cooling down the place.

So, this break was heaven-sent, especially as Nick's house was in the Meadowlands situated near both a wooded area and open grasslands. This meant the air was much cooler here than in Savannah Central where Precinct One was located, with all its paved roads and concrete sidewalks radiating heat, the tall glass and steel buildings reflecting the heat, and the heavy traffic spewing hot exhaust into the already hot air. It didn't help that a heat wave hit the city a few days ago, so simply walking from the Precinct One building to his cruiser at the back of the parking lot had been a hot, sweaty affair for the already hot and sweaty cheetah.

But Nick's house here in the Meadowlands, with all the greenery surrounding it, had a cool breeze blowing that ruffled Benjamin's fur and helped carry away some of his body heat and heat exhaustion. The cheetah couldn't help but take a deep, refreshing breath—especially since the scent of fox and bunny was strong which reminded Benjamin of his reason for being here. With an excited 'eep' at finally getting to see Hopps again and meet the fox who saved her, Benjamin followed the stone walkway around to the side of the house.

Walking through the open gate of the backyard, Benjamin immediately spied the four-door jeep wrangler. Although he wasn't the outdoorsy, go-out-and-hike kind of guy (hiking would literally kill him), he certainly enjoyed a good romp through the sand dunes once in a while. And this jeep looked like it was built to not only race the dunes, but also do some major rock climbing. Hurrying over to the deep-blue jeep with its hard, black freedom top, Benjamin eagerly ran his paw over the shiny surface while admiring it. Stepping back a moment, he looked the blue jeep over and swore he had seen it somewhere before, but he couldn't quite place where.

Making his way around the jeep, Benjamin's black ears perked up as he heard the muffled murmur of voices coming from further back in the yard. Looking up and turning towards the sound, Benjamin wasn't sure if his eyes were deceiving him. Not only was there this totally awesome gyrocopter sitting in the middle of the large backyard, but Judy was sitting next to a fox (he could only guess that it was Nick) as they gazed at each other while they talked. It was a fluffy moment if ever he saw one and the shock of actually seeing it had him frozen for a moment.

His frozen state was shattered a moment later as he watched Judy slip her paw over Nick's cheek and start to lean in for, dare he say, a heart-pounding kiss? The earth-rending squeal of delight that erupted from his mouth was not a conscious decision, but what could he say? They were such an unlikely, mismatched pair and yet they were going to kiss! In hindsight Benjamin wished he had kept his big mouth shut as it shattered their fluffy moment. Instead of the kiss he was positive was coming, both mammals jerked apart and slapped their paws over their ears.

After realizing what he'd done to disrupt their moment, Benjamin slapped a paw over his own mouth and wanted to kick himself in the tail. They were soooo close to kissing and he ruined it! How cute would that have been? A bunny and a fox kissing? No matter what Bogo said, he didn't believe they were just friends—not after seeing what nearly happened a moment ago. Oh, Gazelle is so right! Prey and predator can definitely live together in harmony, and the fox and bunny in front of him was the strongest proof he'd ever seen.

"Benjamin!" Judy cried as she leaned out the open door of the gyrocopter.

Waving at her, the large cheetah hollered back, "Hey, Judy! How's it going?"

"Great, Ben! I'm glad you made it." At Benjamin's nod, Judy said, "If you want to wait on the porch we'll be up there in a minute."

Benjamin nodded and with a flick of his spotted tail, he gave her a thumbs up, then made his way around the jeep to the back porch. Feeling extremely grateful to Judy that she would come to him instead making him huff and puff his way over to her (though he really did want to check out the gyrocopter, he hadn't yet recovered all his strength back from the heat exhaustion—he needed a good night's rest to recover fully), Benjamin plopped down on the porch swing which creaked loudly under his immense weight.

While watching the chubby cheetah make his way towards the porch, Nick turned to Judy and asked, "You know him?" With a shake of his head as he realized how dumb his question was (of course she knew him), Nick quickly added, "You knew he was coming?"

Judy gave a bob of her head and said, "Bogo called me earlier while I was waiting for you to come inside the first time you came home. He, umm, . . ." Judy suddenly lost her voice as she really didn't want to face another press conference. She was still traumatized by the first one and the thought of saying something else to cause more hate and unrest in the city terrified her. She also figured Nick didn't like the idea of getting up in front of the cameras, otherwise, why wouldn't he have stood up with her last time? She really wanted to ask him to join her at this next press conference, but at the same time, she wasn't sure she should. He had worked for Big in the past and was a known hustler, so flashing his face across the news probably wasn't the wisest idea.

Nick watched her expression turn anxious and a bit depressed as her gaze became downcast and her ears drooped. Her nose was twitching non-stop, too. Although he found her twitching nose extremely cute, he knew this was a serious matter. Bogo had told her something that unsettled her and she was afraid to tell him. Did the city council turn down his request for immunity? That would come as a huge blow to both of them if they did. Although Nick joked yesterday with Bogo about being a P.I. and a bounty hunter, deep down, he really wanted to be a cop with Judy.

Taking a deep breath (and hoping against hope), Nick reached over to cup Judy's face and lifted her gaze to meet his concerned emeralds. Caressing her cheek with his thumb, he whispered, "Bogo . . . what?"

Judy took a deep breath herself and tried in vain to calm her rapidly twitching nose. Releasing her breath, she said, "Bogo wants me to do another press conference next week."

"Oh," Nick murmured as his own ears flicked back. That would definitely explain his honeybun's suddenly melancholy mood. Perking his ears forward while squaring his shoulders, Nick looked his honeybun in the eyes and said, "Well, I hope he knows you won't be standing up there alone."

Judy's ears sprung up and her eyes widened. "Really!? You'll stand up there with me!?" She was practically glowing with happiness to know Nick was willing to do that for her. The thought that someone was willing to stand with her and share her dream still felt like a, well, a dream, so even though she 'knew' Nick would be there for her, she still had a hard time believing it when it came right down to it. Sometimes, she still expected to wake up to find herself still hiding in her family's burrow back in Bunnyburrow and that this was all just a crazy, wonderful dream. Of course, if she ever did wake up one morning to find none of this had happened it would literally kill her.

Nick gave her this 'stop being a dumb bunny look' and said, "Carrots, there is no way I'm letting you get up there alone in front of all those bloody media sharks again, any more than I'm going to let some dum-dum wolf stare at your tail all d—!"

Judy literally took the words out of his mouth as she grabbed his shirt and pulled him over to lock muzzles with him. The only thing that kept Nick from tumbling down atop her was that one of his paws landed on the seat next to her leg and the open door while his other paw gripped the back of her seat. But his reaction was purely instinctive as the kiss itself made his mind go blank. With her exquisite taste exploding in his mouth as her small tongue slid over his sharp teeth before teasing his much larger tongue, it didn't leave any of his synapses free for any other thought.

As Judy continued the kiss, Nick's tail puffed out and curled up and nearly touched his back, even as his claws dug into the fabric of the seat his girlfriend sat on.

...

Benjamin had been sitting on the porch swing watching the fox and rabbit talking in the gyrocopter which sat in the middle of the backyard. He had watched Judy's gaze and ears drop at whatever they were talking about, and then Nick lifted her chin so they were once again looking at each other. Feeling another fluffy moment coming on, Benjamin quickly grabbed his spotted tail, which had been flicking on the bench beside him, and stuffed the black and white tip in his mouth to prevent any more squeals from escaping and ruining the mood.

And his foresight was rewarded because whatever Nick said to Judy had her ears popping up in excitement a moment before she pulled him into her lap with a fierce kiss. Biting his tail to keep the squeal in, Benjamin's eyes were wide open as he took in the unlikely sight—especially since it was obvious Nick was thoroughly enjoying it. With his squeal of delight being muffled by the tail in his mouth and with his paws cupping his chubby cheeks, Benjamin couldn't believe how cute they looked.

When Judy finally released Nick from the kiss, Benjamin could clearly see the happy, dopey grin on Nick's face even as it took several heartbeats for his brain to reboot. Benjamin watched as they spoke a bit more, then Judy pulled Nick into a tight hug. Another squeal of happy fluffiness was muffled by his tail as Benjamin practically vibrated with joy (which made the porch swing creak in protest). "Ahhh!" he whispered under his breath (he really didn't want to ruin the moment again). "How can a fox and rabbit look that cute together!?"

...

As Judy finally pulled back from the kiss, she giggled at Nick's dazed, dopey look. He was too cute!

Hearing Judy's laugh, Nick flicked his ear then shook the heavenly fog from his mind. Meeting Judy's bright pools of amethyst, he said, "I think I've died and gone to heaven."

Judy giggled again, then said, "Not quite. Now yesterday we died and nearly made it to heaven before our wings were clipped and we crashed back to earth." Reaching up, Judy scratched the sweet spot under Nick's ear as she gave him a bright, bucktooth grin.

With a rumbling purr, Nick tilted his head to give Judy better access to the side of his head even as his tail began wagging. Flashing her a wry smile, he said, "Well, if you kiss me like that again, I'll pack you up to my room right now and we will make it to heaven."

With a happy laugh, Judy threw her arms around Nick's neck and buried her face in the spot under his ear that she had been scratching. "Thanks, Nick, for agreeing to stand up at the conference with me."

Nick slipped his arms around Judy's back while pressing the side of his head and his muzzle against her head and neck. "For you, Fluff, I'd do anything."

Judy nodded her head against his neck but didn't let go. "Are you sure you should? You used to work for the mob and were a hustler for years. Wouldn't flashing your face across the media be a bad thing?"

Nick chuckled and pulled back from the hug. Meeting Judy's worried gaze, he explained, "Those that might cause me problems only knew me as Red. And they won't recognize me, either."

At Judy's raised eyebrow, Nick chuckled again and explained, "Remember when I said I'd make you an 'incognito pro'?" Judy nodded, and he said, "Well, Honey and a few of her sciencey friends had come up with this hair dye type conditioner that coats your fur rather than die it, and it doesn't wash off unless you have this special shampoo that goes with it." Judy's jaw went slack, but before she could say anything, Nick continued, "Needless to say, most mammals who knew me as Red in the underworld think that my fur is a much darker red—no orange tint in sight—that my tail has a white tip, and that my arms, legs and ears are pure black. They also think I have amber colored eyes."

Judy's jaw was now in her lap. Snapping her mouth shut, she exclaimed, "Really!? Honey developed something like that!"

Nick nodded. "Yep. So whenever you want to go undercover, or we want to go out in public without the need to pay attention to how close we are to each other, we just have to paint ourselves up and become someone else and society will never be the wiser."

Judy clapped her paws together in excitement. "Oh, can we do that for our next date!?"

"Um, no." At Judy's crestfallen look, Nick raised his eyebrow and asked, "Have you forgotten that we're having our tour by air tonight." Judy's eyes immediately brightened and Nick gave her a winning smile while motioning to the gyro they were sitting in, saying, "Welcome to Wilde Air Guided Tours where we will be starting our first tour over Zootopia this evening at 5 PM sharp."

Clapping her paws again, Judy grinned widely while saying, "That's right!" With her nose twitching and her tail vibrating with excitement, she added, "This is going to be so much fun! Oh, I can't wait! Are we just flying or do you have other things planned?"

Nick laughed while sharing in her excitement. "Well, I was thinking of packing a picnic dinner and starting the tour around 5, like I said." With a flick of his ear and bushy tail, he explained, "There's this one spot I know of with a stunning view where we can watch the sunset." With his tail wagging lightly behind him as he thought of their date tonight, Nick continued saying, "I'll bring my guitar and we can sing after dinner until the sun sets, then we can do a tour over Zootopia at night." Lifting his paws up and motioning with them, he added, "And let me tell you, Zootopia at night is even more spectacular than during the day."

Judy gave a soft squeal of happiness, then hugged Nick again. "Oh, I can't wait." Pulling back, she pressed her lips to his again. She kept this kiss much lighter and shorter, but it didn't stop the squeal of delight sounding from the back porch. Luckily, it was a much softer squeal, but it had the same effect of breaking the moment.

Judy pulled back and glanced towards the chubby cheetah sitting on the porch swing who now had his paws pressed against his mouth to stop any further sounds from escaping. She gave Benjamin a small smile, even as Nick dropped his head back to stare at the roof of the gyrocopter. With a heavy sigh, he asked, "And why do we have a ZPD cheetah here again? And what's it going to cost to keep his mouth shut about us?"

"Ni-ick!" Judy said as she punched him lightly on the arm. "Be nice. He's the only officer at the Precinct who would even talk to me. His name is Benjamin Clawhauser and he's very nice."

Nick's ear's flicked back at the reminder of how hard Judy had it after her first press conference. It also sent a wave of guilt through him for leaving her alone through it all. He should have been there at her side, helping her shoulder all the manure that was thrown at her.

Not realizing the thoughts running through her boyfriend's mind, Judy twiddled her thumbs as she further explained, "Well, anyway, when Bogo called earlier to tell me about the press conference, he said he would send an officer over with paperwork to help prep me for the conference." Taking a deep breath, she added, "So I asked him to send Clawhauser over with the packet as he's the only officer that actually made me feel welcomed at the ZPD." Glancing back at Benjamin through the large windshield, Judy added, "And besides, they moved Clawhauser off of Dispatch and down into Records due to all the savage attacks." Scowling, she explained, "The city council said a predator shouldn't be the face mammals first saw when they came into the station."

Relaxing slightly and letting her scowl soften, Judy explained, "Records is really hot and stuffy since it's next to the boiler room and I thought Benjamin could use an excuse to get some fresh air." Glancing up at Nick apologetically, she added, "And I really wasn't expecting us to be here," she waved her finger around in the air to indicate the gyrocopter and then at the two of them, "or being lovey-dovey where he could easily see us."

Nick took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay, so we have a hot, gossipy cheetah who, by the looks of him, has a severe sweet tooth, am I correct?"

Judy nodded. "A severe sweet tooth. I swear that cheetah has at least 6 boxes of donuts a day! And that's not including his sugary cereal and other sweet snacks he has stashed around his desk."

Nick nodded again as a plan formed in his mind to keep the chubby cheetah from literally squealing on them about their relationship. "Okay, let's go meet this nice cheetah, you can introduce us, and then while you run interference, I'll go get something to bribe him with so the whole Precinct doesn't know about us by tomorrow morning."

"Nick!" Judy giggled. "We can't bribe an officer!"

"Sure we can!" Nick said with a wide grin that showed off his sharp, white teeth. With a wave of his paw and flick of his tail, he continued, "Once he eats the evidence then there'll be nothing left to implicate us!" Wagging his clawed finger at her, Nick added, "If there's no evidence, then there's no crime."

Judy giggled again, with her cute, little, pink nose twitching, then said, "I hope that's not going to be your attitude after you get your badge and we're out investigating a case."

Meeting the twinkle of humor in her eyes with a twinkle of his own, Nick tightened an imaginary tie around his neck and said in a slightly snobbish tone, "Of course not, my dear rabbit. I would never overlook a crime, no matter how little or nonexistent the evidence might be." With a wink at her and dropping back to his own voice, he added, "But I don't have my badge yet and you're still on medical leave, so a bribing we will go."

Laughing at Nick's antics, Judy merely shook her head and said, "You are such a goof, Nick."

Nick's grin widened as he leaned in closer to her. "But would you really have me any other way?"

"Hmm, not really," Judy murmured in a low voice. In a softer, sultry tone, she added, "Except when I want you . . . hungry." Nick's ears flicked forward as Judy slipped her paws behind each ear and pulled him down for one last, passionate kiss. Since Clawhauser had already seen them kiss twice, why not go for broke?

Nick agreed with her silent reasoning and didn't disappoint her as he wrapped his own paws around her and leaned into the heated kiss. After they finally came up for air, Nick leaned forward slightly and booped her nose, then said, "Come on, let's go meet this nice cheetah so I can go pick up an immensely sweet, decadent, icy bribe disguised as a hot summer's treat."

After another giggle, Judy said, "Sounds like a plan, Slick." After booping his nose back, she added, "Come on, let's go."


WingedKatt here. Sorry for the wait, next posting should be about my normal time on Friday night. Next chapter, Nick and Judy will have an interesting conversation with Benjamin, and then they'll have a fluffy discussion about the errands Nick had to run that morning which will have surprising results. =)

Ch. 68: To Bribe an Officer, will post in 2 weeks. I hope you have a great weekend. If you have any thoughts or questions, let me know.