It was probably the first time in her life that Judy did not wish to return to work. The Hopps Family saw the duo off from the train platform with no small number of tears. Every single Hopps that had been immediately around the events of the trip went up to give Nicholas condolences and well-wishes, hugs and paw-shakes. Little Marcy bawled and kicked when the todd returned her to Vera: not doubt the bunny who would miss Nick the most. If it was not for the fact that Nick had other things on his mind, he might have lost his composure on the cushioned seats of their cabin.
Robby had shaken his Nick's paw and slapped him on the shoulder while mentioning that he would see them in Zootopia soon enough. Bonnie had given him as big a hug as the mother had given Judy herself, no doubt apologizing again for his loss. Stu had spent longer on his hug of the todd, taking a bit of time to whisper urgently in a downturned ear. Judy had to roll her eyes when several of her sisters ran up to give the fox one large group hug while chattering well-wishes, apologizes, and compliments. Nick had hit it off with several of the mothers and some of Judy's single sisters had picked up on that. Judy was fairly sure that it had been Tina that had slapped him on the ass as the todd was picking up his guitar.
The train ride back was spent in near silence. Not one word was spoken between them about what little time that they had been able to spend together. It was not surprising, but it was something that need to be addressed between the two. Judy attempted to "covertly" keep an eye on Nick while sorting through all of the photos that she had been tagged in on Furbook. The todd spent the entire trip quietly contemplating the snow-covered lands beyond the window. He would periodically rub the courser fur on the end of his chin with his claws, resting his eyes in the process, before reassessing the new ground outside. As soon as the trip ended, Nick dropped his stuff on his bed. Judy had heard the jingling of his keys a moment later. She had not expected him to want to get out to complete his tasks immediately and was surprised when Nick wished her a goodnight.
Judy had taken to her bed while listening to the initial roar of Nick's Furd, her ears tracking the sound of the vehicle as it withdrew from the yard and drove down the street. She did not feel as if Nick was in danger by going out, but there was still concern for his well-being. The thought of all that the todd had already been through brought back the memory of the pit.
In the moments before the Nighthowler had taken Nick, she had seen the look of fear in his eyes as he had whipped around to try to find her an avenue of escape. He had hunched over in one last desperate attempt to stay sane while screaming for her to run. The last glance, that Judy received of his emerald eyes that evening, were filled with tears in a silent begging for forgiveness as his pupils finished constricting.
The shudder that wracked her body was not one born of fear of her partner. It was from fear of what he would have had to live with. The look that had been in his eyes made it understood, without a doubt, that he had forgiven her and thought of her as the most important being in his whole life at the time. No matter how short of a time they had known each other. After all was said and done that night, Fangmeyer had had to restrain Judy so that she did not harm Bellwether as other officers were loading her team into a SWAT transport. That had earned Judy a stern lecture. Had it not been for the fact that the cases were closed by the duo, the punishment would have been more severe, she surmised.
Judy's nose scrunched up in frustration. Usually, her internal Council wouldn't shut up at time like this. She was grasping for pleasant memories. She would have even taken the suggestions of daydreams more along the lines of erotic. Nothing presented for her, though. Judy rolled over under the sheet and found her phone. She wished for Nick's swift return while listening to the sound of rain through one of her apps.
...
"Settle down!" Bogo shouted, hammering on the podium with a rolled hoof. "We received word from Interpol that a container ship will be docking at the Port of Zootopia tonight. Interpol says that they have accurate intelligence regarding a mammal smuggling operation that is bringing product in from South America. The Mayor has offered assistance, to the joint Interpol-ZBI task force, by way of TUSK units.
"If you don't see your names on that board," The buffalo continued, pointing at the whiteboard off to their right. "You are to stay for further briefing. Everybody else to their designated patrols. Those patrols, around the port area, are to remain extra vigilant for runners. Dismissed."
Nick and Judy both looked up at the board to find that they were not included in the standard patrols list. They kept their butts in their shared seat while waiting for the other patrol officers. Officers Fangmeyer and Wolford, Detective Grizzoli and Officer Delgato, and Officers McHorn and Pennington remained in the bullpen with the diminutive duo. Wolford was a shoo-in for the next detective's slot due to all the undercover work that he had done with McHorn Rhinowitz, and Higgins, and it was reflected in the muted ZPD t-shirt and blue BDUs that he wore. Grizzoli was wearing simple civilian attire due to his own status.
"Out of the Burrow kitchens and straight into the fires, eh?" Nick muttered to Judy. The doe only replied with a curt nod.
Bogo stepped over and spun a tack board over to reveal a map of the Port of Zootopia's infrastructure. Judy saw several "friendly" colors designating points-of-ingress for the other units involved with the task force. All other zones were marked in red or orange: denoting certain and assumed hostile locations, respectively.
"Alright. Our jobs are cover the southwestern portion of the land-based exits from the port itself. Due to the limited amount of mammalian power that we can wield here at Precinct-One, we will hold two critical customs entrances. TUSK has been tasked with the heliborne assault on the container ship while the ZBI pushes in from the east and southeast. The Coast Guard will be offshore to ensure that nobody gets away by fast-boat. The ZBI has stated that the smuggling crew should be assumed to be carrying medium-mammal grade small arms and will likely fight out due to not having a bug-out location here." Idris Bogo explained, pointing at each relevant location.
"And, the buyers, Sir?" Grizzoli inquired.
"If the ZBI knows who they are, they aren't telling us. I assume that they will be equally armed. Thus, we will be carrying our duty weapons with live ammunition. I also assume that the buyers aren't local to Zootopia. It's a hunch based on the fact that the ZBI aren't telling us who they are." The Chief responded.
"Rules of Engagement?" The wolf delved deeper.
"P-One will maintain a weapons-tight directive unless fired upon." Bogo said deeply.
"Will you be on point for this one, Chief?" Nick chimed in.
"Yes. Hopps and Grizzoli's teams will be on me at the primary southwestern Customs entrance while Fangmeyer leads McHorn's team on a fifty-meter advanced perimeter beyond the gate. Fangmeyer, your section's objective is to surveil, in tandem with the techs in the van, and prevent any unfriendly vehicular movements."
"Any particular method, Sir?" Fangmeyer spoke up.
"I don't care if you get Pennington to stomp on the vehicles, Officer." Bogo said, a wisp of a grin found his lips and quickly disappeared. "Now, get into your BDUs. Split into your sections and take some time down in the range. You all will collect your issued gear and meet back here in six-hours. If you need to, catch a nap in the breakroom after checking your zeros. Dismissed." Bogo said firmly, waving them off as he stepped out.
Excitement. Nervousness. Concern. The swirling concoction of emotions was not what the doe had been expecting on that first Monday back. The desire to get out and make the world a better place was barely overriding the concern for Nick. He had not made it back until well after 10:00 P.M. the night before. Judy had been bored out of her mind while sitting around the house by herself. Of course, Nick had not stated how long things would have taken prior, but the lateness of his arrival made her wonder if he was well-enough rested for assisting on this case.
The next cause for the nerves was rooted in the trepidation of carrying a firearm. Line officers in Zootopia were allowed to make the decision for themselves whether or not they would carry a firearm on them: after having qualified on one, of course. Early on in their partnership, Judy had mentioned it before the new year's qualifications had taken place. Nick had offered to be the one to carry the lethal armaments on her behalf. Partly because he was comfortable with doing so whereas the doe was not. The last two years' quals had been run as required for the Department and Judy was knowledgeable of all the weapons platforms that were available to the line officers, but she did not carry one. Nick had ended up looking into the regulations for firearms carry and approached her later on with a proposal. Nick asked that Judy pass the quals every cycle and told her that he would carry a concealed small-mammal handgun on him in case anything happened to the todd. If he was downed and his own sidearm couldn't be obtained, she would be able to find the spare on his body for self-defense. She had agreed.
The duo collected their gear from the armory's sergeant and stepped out into the empty firearm range bay beneath the Precinct-1 building after changing into the proper attire. Nick had done all of the due diligence for Judy so that she would have the proper gear for missions like this long before today. Judy remembered how much the todd had deliberated between structure- and armor-piercing versus soft-target, kinetic-dump capabilities when on operations like this one. In the end, the todd had asked her to the range, after a shift over a year before, and presented a custom ordered Brügger & Thomet MP9N with alternative caliber conversions. Nick had arranged everything with Bogo beforehand and justified the specialized platform with the fact that she was the only mammal within Precinct-1 that had to have everything customized to her size anyway.
The rabbit-sized submachine-gun came with .45-ACP and 6.5x25 CBJ conversions (with the associated magazines), a Surefire Scout weaponlight, an Aimpoint Micro H2 on a riser mount, a company-produced suppressor, two different holsters (thigh rig and chest-mount for her individual body armor), and all in a Pelican hard-case. Nick had mentioned that he requested that the trigger guard be enlarged so that he could use it in emergencies. All of the other mechanical ergonomics, the todd could use… But, his digits were a little too fat to fit into the guard. Nick had been blunt with the explanation initially. If something happened to her, the todd did not want to be sitting on a pool of ammunition for a weapon that he couldn't readily utilize in an emergency.
Judy's thoughts on the platform were favorable. The SMG had a side-folding stock and a removable, rail-integrated forward grip which aided in keeping down the rise of the muzzle on fully-automatic fire. The rate-of-fire itself was even tuned to the same 800-900 RPM range as the original Steyr design had been, as Nick had informed her. The weight of the suppressor - or "can" as Nick had referred to it as - on the end of the muzzle assisted with that even more. With an evenly selected paw, Nick suggested that they keep to the common Glock pattern of sidearms for the shared ammunition and magazine usage. He had come up with a requested a custom Glock-26 for her that was appropriately mated to a Glock-19 slide assembly for the additional feet-per-second gain in the 9x19mm NATO caliber. His duty carry was a proper Glock-19 and that meant, if anything happened to him, she would still be able to use his magazines.
Despite her concerns with carrying a firearm on duty, Judy had not been able to help imagining herself adorned in SWAT-style attire while standing in a dutiful pose with the sleek Swiss weapon. She may have made herself hot while thinking about how badass she would look that night. Many bucks would certainly paw-off to such a visual of the doe.
Snapping out of memories of the past, Judy found Nick throwing on his IBA with a focused look on his face. It had been nearly six-months since they had been on such a high-profile operation like this and the todd was just as serious of the fitment of his own gear as he was hers. Judy was ever attentive, noticing that he was thrusting a specific type of magazine into his bungie banded magazine holders along the front of his individual body armor. The todd had been rigorous in the final selection of his rifle platform and that had meant a lot of time was spent in contemplation.
"You finally chose a carbine?" Judy asked, looking over the clear polymer STANAG magazines for his 5.56mm.
"I loved what the Aussies did with their latest version of the AUG, but they never changed the mechanics of the trigger. Which meant that they didn't dump the cross-bolt safety. Plus, the Israeli X-Ninety-Five offered more forward rail space with their Sixteen-inch platform." Nick confirmed, withdrawing his bullpup rifle from a soft case.
"What happened with the Colt platforms that you were considering?"
"I consulted with the SWAT units and they suggested selecting a bullpup with the same mechanical ergos as the Colt because I was a smaller canine. I can only put on so much muscle mass to my overall profile. The wolves carry the Ten-Three Colts, but they informed me that I would get better ballistics with the newer Tavor because of the reversal of the layout and the whole platform would remain as short as their Colts while having more barrel length. Plus, it would have the proper fire-selection switch." Nick explained dutifully, not looking up from his work.
Judy watched as Nick ensured that his Surefire weaponlight had new batteries before placing a piece of electrical tape over the Trijicon's tritium/fiber illumination band. He had blown her mind when first demonstrating how the illumination band worked with the optic's reticle by merely placing and removing his paw over the top while the doe was looking through the optic. Once Nick was done with his checks, his muzzle came up to assess the paper target that was strung up downrange.
"You got your ears, Fluff?" He asked.
Judy quickly mimicked Nick as he put in his own internal hearing protection. He had glanced over at her quickly to ensure that the doe was ready prior to loading a Lancer magazine into the bullpup and releasing the bolt catch. His muscles rippled as the weapon was brought up into his shoulder. She saw the directional tab of the safety rotate 90-degrees and watched as the todd's trigger finger fell down over the trigger. Nick quickly squeezed off two groups of three – the rifle roaring in the underground confinement – before adjusting his aim a little higher on the target, slowly stroking the trigger for more precise shots against the head of the silhouette target. Brass tinkled down from the wall that it struck after being ejected. It was so interesting to watch as his frame relaxed with a re-engagement of the safety before he assessed his shots through the 4x-power optic. After a moment, the rifle was dropped down, the magazine was removed, and the chambered round was ejected with a stroke of the charging handle.
Nick punched the target recall button and began to bag his rifle again. The lights were supposed to play Hell with one's sight on the range. The target had been 100-yards away, at the maximum distance of the range. Once the target was closer, Judy was as pleased as Nick seemed to be with his target. The only indicator being his stock-straight ears. The first six-rounds fell inside a three-inch spread around the X-ring and the final four-shot group was all inside the blackened portion of the head. The todd's sights were on. His proficiency wasn't really surprising, though. He had always made sure to take the time to train because of the fact that he carried their weapons. In his first year, Nick had done a lot of training with SWAT and described his final training profile as being akin to a British Specialist Firearms Officer (SFO). Judy knew that he had taken the training to keep up with her rise to detective. He wanted to be right there with her along the way.
"That's it?" Judy asked suddenly, finally realizing that he seemed done.
Nick shook his head before setting a distance for the target to be carried back out to. After carefully putting his rifle bag down on the floor, the todd shot upright while dragging his Glock from the holster on his belt. His right arm brought the weapon up on target while his left brought a magazine off of the table. He slapped the magazine into the well and ran the support paw over the slide over the handgun to chamber a round. Once his support paw found the grip of the weapon, he fired three rounds.
Slide lock. Right thumb on the magazine release. Left hand reaching for another magazine on his left hip. The sound of the empty magazine clattering on the cement floor was pronounced. He was loaded before it hit the deck. Slide released. Three more down range. Slide lock. Holster.
Even at 25-yards, Judy could see where the rounds fell on the target. Nick had slowed down for precision with his long-gun and sped up for maximum firepower on the sidearm. The last six rounds were mixed with the initial rifle group. Judy had no issue with admitting that this was one of the things that Nick could best her at. She did not practice nearly as much as he had prior to moving in together. It made her wonder how much he'd make it to the range after the holiday season was over. This was something that Nick took as seriously as a rabbit could receive a heart-attack. He never bragged or teased her about how good he was.
So, she fell into the routine that they developed.
Judy pushed her target out to 50-yards before readying the MP9 with a fully-loaded 20-round magazine. That particular magazine fit flush in the pistol grip's magazine well and she carried the proper 30-rounders for operations. Nick had helped her organize her duty belt with the SMG magazines holstered on her left hip while her two spare Glock magazines sat in the front along her stomach. They weren't interchangeable and her sidearm's supply was set for backup purposes. She dropped the bolt release and came up on the target once it had made it to the designated range.
"Three sets of three." Nick instructed.
The Aimpoint was an unmagnified dot sight, which selected in proportion to the Swiss weapon appropriately. Quite a bit of the 2-MOA red-dot covered the center of the target's torso. She adjusted as close to the center as she could and placed a three-shot volley downrange. Judy had to rely more on her own trigger control due to the differences in the optics. Once the last two sets were placed on target, the SMG fell to the low-ready. She heard Nick's voice as he reached over for the target controls.
"Aggressing target. Concise headshots. Fire until the target stops."
As soon as the target began to move towards them, swaying on the wire-run hanger, Judy brought the MP9 up and carefully placed shots on the head until it stopped at 7-yards distance. Once she had safetied the weapon, Nick hit the recall button so that she could assess her work. The shots on the torso fell inside the 7-Ring of the center and all of her headshots had struck true. Some had fallen along the edges, but the rounds that bounced off skulls were still disorienting despite not being killing blows.
"Good?" Nick asked politely.
"Par for the course," Judy commented. She had done no worse than the last time she had been on the range. "I need to get out here more, though."
"Alright. Let's get our duty ammo issued to us and get to studying." Nick said.
Judy had not been worried about Nick after taking stock of the operation's layout for only an hour. He had ended up laying out on top of one of the desks, on his back, while shutting his eyes for a bit. All of their gear was cased and piled at the legs of the desk below him. They were ready and merely waiting for the rest of the team to return from their ventures within the Precinct. Clawhauser had known of the evening's operation and had been kind enough to bring them food a couple of hours later. It had brought the rest of the teams running. Nick continued to rest after eating while Judy finally sat down, allowing for the others to begin their dive into the organization and procedurals.
...
The strum of the Cougar armored vehicle held Judy's attention as the driver sat parked a couple of blocks away from the southwestern port entrance. They were several hours beyond the initially scheduled nightfall and waiting patiently for the container ship to dock. Interpol would give the go-signal for all of the units to begin the operation.
"So, Chief? Are you supposed to be the Terminator with that new shotgun of yours?" Nick spoke up over the engine, laying along what was left of the back bench near the rear doors. He had looked like he was sleeping. "Or are ya goin' for the Muldoon from Jurassic Park?"
"Shut up, Wilde!" Bogo shouted.
"You won't let me listen to music and rock the bus. You won't let me fill out lines-in-inquiry. What am I supposed to do then?" Nick continued to needle their boss.
"Sharpen your senses and shut the fuck up, Wilde!" Delgato shouted on behalf of Bogo.
"Yeah, yeah." Nick shot back. "You'll get to see my pretty eyes soon enough, darling."
The comment brought a chorus of chuckles from all of them except Judy and the Chief. There wasn't a single department or government official that did not know of Nick's Nighthowler exposure. However, there were few outside of the armored vehicle that understood the extent of things. Bogo had to have mammals that he could trust in-the-know. He had wanted to bring Judy into the broader scope of Precinct-1's operations and that meant that Nick could not be excluded. The list of reasons was extensive and could not simply be ignored.
"Interpol says they're five-mikes from going in, Chief." One of the tech's radioed over their COMMs channel. "They want us on-station now."
Judy hopped off the bench and took position behind Wolford, who was waiting to open the doors when they arrived, and Nick dropped down behind her. The team's weapons were charged in the confined space. She heard Nick slap the bottom of his magazine one last time to make sure that it was properly seated in the receiver. The doe almost stumbled against Wolford when the Cougar began to roll out, interior lighting swapped to the red backup lights in the process, catching the bench railing as Nick grabbed her shoulder to keep her steady. When she looked back at Nick, he found her smiling gently at her. His eyes weren't totally slitted, but it was clear now that he had been building his night-vision earlier.
A little over a minute later, the driver brought the armored vehicle to a halt at the gate, Wolford and Grizzoli threw the rear doors open, and the team bailed out of the Cougar. Judy led Nick around Wolford, and the duo took their position near the outbound security gate. Fangmeyer led her section down the road before ducking between stacks of containers on the right.
Nick knelt down behind the concrete barrier, throwing the fore-end of his X95 along the ledge of the barrier while his thumb was poised to flip the safety around. On a knee, the todd's view was over the top of the optic so that he could assess the whole area without being visually funneled. Judy relied on Nick immensely in the later hours of the day. She could not see what he could through the inky gloom, jokingly accentuated by gantry lights that were randomly set beyond their location. The todd could see at least two-hundred yards further than the doe. Judy had mulled it over mentally before; wondering if that range was enhanced after the Nighthowler exposure.
Judy did her best to glare out over the top of the concrete barrier, knowing it was futile all the while. Her weapon remained hugged against her torso while she looked over the concrete block. Nick would keep them covered with Grizzoli and Delgato. It was a curse that the doe could hear better than all three predators combined, but their sight was more powerful than her hearing. Even if it was just a wisp of movement at the edge of the distant darkness, the predators had a clue to the activity beyond the strictest of hearing confirmations for most prey. Their sight was roughly seven-times better than a rabbit's. None of that mattered, though. They relied on Judy's hearing just as much as she relied on their sight.
The reverberating sound of helicopter rotor-blades saturated the entirety of the port as the TUSK units were flown in and fast-roped onto the deck of the container ship. Bogo's team watched the flashes of gunfire illuminated the upper decks prior to the helicopters flying out of hearing range, and after that the gunfire fell prominently on their ears. Judy tried not to focus on the dull flashes from the elevated deck. Nick was solely focused covering the parking lot beyond the immediate, internal intersection of the port's entrance.
The unit listened to the COMMs chatter between TUSK and SWAT for the next couple-of-hours. No heads-up was given from Interpol or the ZBI and there was no activity on the southwestern gate. The doe knew that Bogo was probably upset for being "sidelined" in such a manner. And, Nick was understandably bored with watching the unyielding darkness for as long as he had. After the third-hour, the ZBI gave the all-clear order and asked that Precinct-1 held their positions.
Less than a half-hour after that, Judy heard Nick's growling anger. The ZBI had decided to utilize simple school buses for the transfer of the liberated mammals. Delgato had even shot his muzzle off over the wideband channel. Bogo had jerked the lion aside to chastise him, but there was no refutation of his crude statement from the other units. Judy's ears had fallen. There was a strong sentiment because of the fact that the entirety of the group was made up of river-oriented predators. There was not a single prey mammal involved. The preds of Precinct-1 were discontent with the fact that there would be news network cameras behind the exterior police cordon of the port.
And, that meant there was no anonymity for the prisoners… Slaves. Judy saw that in each muzzle that was on the passenger side of the buses that went by. The lost and disoriented looks.
Bogo had received word that Interpol considered the area to be in full-control of Federal forces: sometime around 1:00 A.M. EST. It was at that point, and at his discretion, that Chief Idris Bogo swapped his initial units out with the previous patrol units. It was a stand-down procedure. There was no definitive hostile activity left and he could allow some of his newer recruits to handle the security while gaining the overtime. His dedicated units would be able to stand-down appropriately, thereafter.
The driver of the Cougar brought the unit back to Precinct-1 hastily. The heavy armored vehicle was launched into the underground parking structure, tossing Judy's dinner into her throat at the abrupt descent. The wolf was a little overzealous with the throttle controls apparently. He was probably angry, as he had also seen what had occurred from his perched location: hanging out of the driver's side of the cab with his sidearm at the ready. Once the vehicle was parked for the night, everyone dismounted to begin their routine of stripping off ballistic helmets and clearing their weapons.
Once their weapons were turned back into the armory, Judy quickly changed into her street clothes so that her and Nick could leave the station. The todd came out of the male's locker room, playing with his keys in a paw. Before he could even link up with the doe, they both heard a crash from within the locker room. Nick did not seem concerned with the sound, so Judy fell in-step with him as they headed out.
"Delgato?" She asked.
"Yeah, Fluff," Nick sighed. "He's pretty pissed off. Bogo wants us to come in at nine, instead of seven, to handle the debrief and paperwork with him."
"What's going to happen with those mammals?" Judy wondered aloud.
"They'll be kept at the TUSK HQ, I imagine. The smart ones will request asylum either here or in the States. The rest will end up being sent back to their home countries."
The duo made it to Nick's truck in the parking lot and hopped in. Nick threw the truck into drive and turned on the lights before pulling out onto main street. The dull orangish-yellow light illuminating from the streetlamps washed through the cab and over the fox sitting next to her like waves on a beach.
"How are you doing, Slick?" Judy finally inquired.
"We helped make the world a better place, but I can't say that I'm not a little bitter about the methods used by the other agencies." The todd groused. "You?"
"I feel the same way." Judy admitted sadly.
"Tomorrow will be a good day." Nick said, trying to be optimistic about things while steering the truck into the driveway.
Nick unlocked the front door before allowing Judy to step inside. He ended up turning back out to the darkness to look around for a moment, eventually moving inside and closing the door behind him.
"You want me to whip you up something to eat, Carrots?" Nick inquired, watching as the doe was making her way up the stairs.
"That would be wonderful. Thank you, Nick." She replied, looking back at his curious muzzle.
"No problem. Go grab a shower. Food'll be ready when you're done."
Judy nodded and proceeded upstairs, listening as Nick slowly made his way into the kitchen while she turned into the bathroom. The todd had pulled out his phone as he made his way. He quickly fired off a group message to his band-mates to let them know that he wasn't going to be able to meet this week as per the norm. He did not allude to the reasons why. There were still matters that needed to be attended to regarding his mother's passing. Vivian's lawyer had called him while he was meeting with the skulk and notified him that he could pick up his mother's will and trusts document.
A pan was brought out and set on a heating stovetop before Nick began working on the ingredients for a midnight breakfast omelet. Personally, he would have settled for one of the microwave burritos. That was pushed aside with the desire to see the doe upstairs properly fed. Once it was cooked, Nick portioned off some for Judy and then mixed some chicken into his portion for a more thorough cooking. The scents of the chicken made him wonder if that bothered the younger doe. As Nick was plating his portion, he could hear that Judy had concluded her shower and was heading back downstairs. The dial of the stovetop controls was clicked off. The todd leaned back against the counter and began eating. He could see the doe turn around the railing of the staircase in the din of the hallway. She was wearing one of her larger ZPD training shirts and shorts, ruffling a towel over her head and ears to dry them out properly.
Christ wept, she's gorgeous, Hope whispered internally.
Nick's eyes fell down on his plate while he slowly continued to feed himself. It was December, after all. The pinching weight in his shoulders was more prevalent and would become even worse over until well into March. He had kept up a valiant effort of ignoring thoughts of the doe's lips on resting his only a few nights before and he had made sure to dutifully ignore the intoxicating scents that occasionally permeated the upstairs shower or crept out of her room, like a true gentle-mammal, since they had moved in together.
The lack of a proper designated season for bunnies is going to be my undoing, Nick thought as his muzzle curled ever so slightly.
Judy went straight over to the plate that he had left for her on the kitchen island and dove in. They were both extremely hungry after the day's long-haul and the portions would sate them until they could pick something up in the morning. He had taken his time while Judy polished off her plate quickly, slowly forking his portion while waiting on the doe to relax.
"Thank you, Slick! That was great!" Judy said, taking her plate over to the sink.
"You're very welcome," Nick acknowledged. "Go get some sleep. We'll be busy today."
"You, too." She replied softly, giving the todd a wave before heading back upstairs.
The slow consumption of his food was emphasized as he focused on ensuring that she had well and truly gone to bed. Once Nick was done, he made his way to the downstairs bathroom at the back of the main floor. The water to the shower was turned on before the todd shucked the vestiges of his uniform. The itch was growing stronger by the moment as he stepped into the enclosed shower, closing the door behind him. He knew why the feeling was so prominent now. Nick was the last of his lineage and his natural urges were coaxed by the need to reproduce. The heated pressure of the water was incredibly satisfying against his aching muscles. Soap was applied over his frame while his thoughts were immersed in fantasies of the amethyst-eyed female upstairs, causing him to fall forward against a raised forearm. His free paw shot down to curl around his aching testes before roughly grasping his sheath.
Nick could not even remember the last time he had been able to manually curb the desires that he had for Judy. It had been so long that his extending cock was already throbbing and releasing pre-cum against the tiled wall, stiffening and presenting faster with the sudden, wrapping pressure of his digits. He couldn't help the sudden growl that escaped through clenched fangs, eyes welded shut as he thought of the doe's soft fur and luscious moans. There was a bit of pain for the todd as he forced his sheath back over his prematurely swelling knot. This was the worse it had ever been in his life.
Nick let his brow smack against the tile as his supporting paw came down to clasp around his knot, stroking the rest of his angered red cock urgently. His blood was boiling until the pressure hit a precipice, listening to the doe of his dreams whisper his name. The grasp on his knot became merciless as his pumping speed took on an animalistic vigor. When the tendril snapped, Nick gasped at its cumulation. The throbs were powerful in tandem with his release: shooting his seed rather forcefully against the stall's tiles. The growl that ripped through his restraint was just as powerful.
Gasping and panting, the todd released his tapered cock to focus on massaging his knot. His nerves were stimulated well beyond the usual summertime amounts. The sensitivity was so powerful that it dulled the feeling of the heat from the shower for several minutes while he listened to the waning coos from the doe in his mind. Energy eventually fell below the reserves, forcing Nick backwards and slumped down against the opposite wall. He was not going to get as much sleep as he had originally wanted now that he had to wait for his member to thin.
It was quite obvious that his pupils had reverted to their constricted stylization. It was more prominent now due to the greyed encirclement around the center of his visual focus. It made Nick wonder if it had always been like this for their primitive predator ancestors. His brain was taking in the colored focus and making his mental sensory buzz… vibrate in the back of his skull, just above his neck.
After thirty-minutes had passed, Nick was finally able to stand and begin washing down the shower. He used his own fur shampoo against the tiles to wash away the smell as his member finally settled back into its sheath and, then, he washed his fur again to remove the pheromone scent that had leaked from his pores. He was confident that Judy would not just stumble into his bathroom wantonly, but he wasn't going to take the chance of leaving the scent of his activity behind.
Turning the shower knob off, Nick stepped out and dried off before taking his clothes out to the laundry hamper and heading upstairs with a towel wrapped around his waist. It was time to get some sleep so that he could focus on the endless black-and-white print on his bright workstation computer screen.
...
Diligent as Judy Hopps was, there was no ignoring the fact that paperwork was extremely tedious and boring. The crackle of Nick's radio and the dutiful tapping of their claws on their respective keyboards were the only things piercing the quiet of their shared cubicle. Nick was extremely focused on his own reports. Usually, he would take periodic breaks to go devise his next big prank on one of the other officers. Despite his presence, the doe still expected to hear some kind of ruckus regarding such adventures. It was amazing to see how focused he was. Three more forms were filled out before Judy snuck another look at Nick. She nearly jumped in her chair when she found his eyes on her.
"You look at me as if I'm about to spontaneously combust, Fluff." The todd said with a playful grin.
"Just wondering if you were done yet." Judy said, playing it off while her ears dropped to hide her blush.
"Done before you, no less." He chuckled.
"Be still my tender heart… There's hope for Nicholas Wilde yet." Judy fired back.
Nick stood up with a grimace. "Don't let it get around that I can be reliable. That would tarnish my rep." He said, offering a paw to take her paperwork.
Judy passed off her printouts and watched as Nick strode off to Bogo's office. There was no reserved consideration to ignore the sway and twitch of his black-tipped, russet tail. The doe sat in the cubicle for a little over ten-minutes before hearing the chime from her phone.
"Dress down, if you want. We're done for the day. I'll drop you off at the house."
A second later, another text chimed in.
"Unless you wish to join me on my errands."
Judy's mind was sent into a tizzy as her hindpaws fought to get moving against the flurry of furry thumbs that wanted to respond with demands for explanation. Of course, the gray-furred doe wanted to go with Nick. To see what he was up to. He hadn't explained one single thing about his disappearance after making it back from Bunnyburrow. That got the better of her inquisitive side to the point where Judy could have scaled the walls on her own hindpaws from how crazy it drove her in annoyance and concern.
The thing was…
Judy knew that nothing would get the better of the russet-clad fox unless it was of his own choosing.
It made her remember the plan that she already had. The todd would get his…
With a push of a couple of buttons, their desktops were shut off and Judy rushed away from the cubicle. The flight of stairs was taken in flight and the velocity of the gray-furred missile caused the female locker room door to crack off of the wall. The male's locker room door slammed open just after and Judy heard bellowing despite the fact that theirs had closed firmly.
"Wilde!" Someone bellowed just before the closure. "You asshole!"
Not quite torn enough to pause her movements, Judy quickly threw her original civilian attire back on before peeking out of the locker room door to see what the issues in the atrium were.
"Woah!" Nick said, raising his paws up at his friend. "Wolfie! What's the problem?"
The gray wolf was splattered at the chest with the most bombastic pink paint that could be imagined. Judy mimicked a stereotypical Clawhauser as her paw shot up over her muzzle, wondering just what in the cabbage patch Nick was thinking. Nick's paw shot up in her direction, indicating that the larger canine needed to acknowledge something.
"Buddy, I've fallen in lockstep with ZPD's gray-furred darling the entirety of the day," Nick spoke urgently. "She can vouch for me! And, I was in Bogo's office just now!"
Like a mammal in the headlights, Judy's mind blanked when Wolford's eyes were snapped onto her. But only for a second. It was a fact. Judy had been able to see Nick the whole of the day, minus the short period that he was turning in reports. There was no way that Nick had managed to sneak away for even a second. It was not even feasible to conceive the idea that Nick had managed to talk another officer into pulling a Wolford-in-Nick's-fur undercover disguise – to fool her, first and foremost – while completing the task of tomfoolery. Judy finally nodded with urgency at the wolf, making the final confirmation.
The intricacies were far deeper than even that, though. Wolford was Nick's closest friend in Precinct-1, aside from Judy… And, that meant that there was not a single mammal within that would believe that Nick had pulled such a prank on the wolf. Judy was the only suspicious one in that regard. She knew better. She simply didn't know how.
Wolford huffed in annoyance before turning back and heading for the male's locker room while Nick took a moment before turning towards the entrance. He was still in his uniform. Judy quickly caught up to the todd in the parking lot and fell in as they made their way to his Furd. The doe shot the todd a concerned look after the doors were slammed closed, watching how he looked calmly out the windshield across the parking lot. Not a word had been spoken before Nick began to laugh ecstatically.
"You didn't!" Judy belted out.
"How could I have?!" Nick retorted, beginning to lose his breath in the process.
The red fox was laughing so hard that he couldn't even drive them away from the precinct. A chime on his brought the noise down to a chuckle and Judy watched as he wiped his eyes before opening the message. It only lasted a moment before Nick's eyes went wide, starting to shake as the laughter renewed. It was even making the truck rock on its wheels. The phone was turned around, bobbing up and down with the todd's entertained antics. Judy shook her head with her own amusement, taking the phone away from him so that she could see the candid shot that Grizzoli had sent Nick. The other wolf had caught the moment after the splattering occurred in the locker room. Even she could not withhold her own giggles at that point.
"You're such a bad influence, Slick." Judy snorted. "But, I don't believe for a second that you didn't have a paw in this."
Nick eventually regained his composure so that he could reacquire his phone, grinning as he remained silent against the accusation. He would certainly not implicate himself. It made it even harder for Judy to know for sure due to his impressed amazement of the prankster.
"So," Nick said, chuckling still. "Where to, Miss Hopps?"
"I'm going with you, dumb fox." Judy said firmly.
"Yeah. I assumed as much."
Their drive took them into the Ottersdam subdistrict. The todd did not seem to be in a rush and missed several lights that he could have made it through with ease. Judy found that he was incredibly considerate to others and his passenger when he was driving around; not one to attract undue attention or show hostility inside or outside their usual patrol vehicle. Eventually, Nick pulled the vehicle up in front of a small office building and parked along the curb. The clatter of his belt against the interior frame brought her eyes back to him.
"I'll be right back, Fluff." He said, checking his mirror to ensure the door wouldn't be torn off by a passing vehicle before hopping out.
Judy looked at the digital radio interface to find that it was just after two in the afternoon. The doe had not brought a jacket along, not knowing that they would end up this far north and relatively close to the end of the Climate Wall to the northeast. Crevasse Valley was beyond that particular point. It reminded her that Bogo never really sent the pair on patrols in Tundratown. Only a pawful of times had they had gone over the bridges or through the tunnels leading the Rocky Peaks subdistrict. It was a bit of a blessing because rabbits weren't well suited to that level of cold and she hated wearing the Arctic-grade boots that her parents had for the warren. It was a far more unforgiving cold than what they experienced in Bunnyburrow.
A glare of sunlight was thrown her way from the building, Judy's ears shot up to find Nick briskly walking down the short entryway path, carrying an envelope against his side, and over to the truck. He popped his head out long enough to check that it was clear and darted into the Furd with a crack of the door. The envelope was placed on the center console between them and Judy did her best not to be nosy and read the white label that adorned it.
"I forgot how cold it was up here." Nick mumbled, cranking the wheel as he waited for the street to clear. Once it had, he flicked the signal and accelerated into a U-turn to get them heading back south: the wheels whined underneath them.
There was a nervous air in the vehicle. Nick seemed antsy as he ignored the beautiful skyscrapers to the west, directing the truck onto Lionheart Avenue to head south. Eventually, he ducked across the river into Hyenahurst to follow the quieter southern road on that side. The lateness of the day had a mixture of lunch and shift traffic causing the drive to take considerably longer than usual, but Nick eventually crossed the Palm Subdistrict bridge to take them into the southernmost reaches of Acorn Heights. They actually weren't all that far away from the house, but it seemed like they were headed to Lion's Bay. The drive took them past the Riverside ZTA station and Judy could see the Zootopia Sound Causeway, which looped over the water from Big Dunes Subdistrict in Sahara Square all the way around to Mole Harbor Port in Savanna Central. Near the center of the Causeway, it split. Mammals could take the highway to the Burrows if they wished to travel the two-hundred and fifty miles by car. She had never been out that way. The designers of the city had originally chosen to take the rail-lines through the west side of the city, through the Nocturnal Range before they split off north and south. The causeway was finalized much later after the southern ports and harbors were situated.
"It'll be hell on gas mileage, but I was wondering if you'd like to drive out to the warren." Nick commented, noticing that she had been staring at the Causeway until it disappeared.
"You want to drive out? But, it's so far." Judy said in wonderment.
Nick chuckled. "The speed limits and straightness of the shot down keep the travel time on par with the rail services. Even after the fueling that we'll end up doing. But, it's up to you." The todd explained.
The truck was finally brought to a halt in the Woody Slopes subdistrict and it caused Judy to look around in surprise. Nick had brought them to a cul-de-sac in a modest community. It suddenly clicked in Judy's mind that they must have been on Cypress Grove Lane.
"You want to come in, Carrots?" Nick asked, looking up the hill at the house.
"Nick?" Judy said with another start.
"Come on, you inattentive bunny." He replied, chuckling softly. "I need take a look around."
Without further explanation, Nick opened his door and slipped out of the vehicle after grabbing the envelope. The rear door popped open so that a bag could be withdrawn from the seat. Judy shot out of the truck to keep up with the todd as he began his walk across the lawn. There was no worry of having the neighbors become suspicious of their presence. Nick was still wearing his uniform, after all.
"Once upon a time, not quite as far back as the days when Bogo first discovered fire, I lived here." Nick said, removing some keys from his pocket and sliding one into the lock with a deft paw.
"She left you the house." Judy said smally.
"I assume that's what it says. The attorney handed over the keys and didn't mention their return." Nick pushed the door open, letting Judy walk inside before he hit the lights.
As sure as Judy had considered it, she now knew that it was his mother's will inside the envelope that Nick was carrying into the dining area. The todd took a seat at the head of the table after setting his bag down. His attention was entirely on the papers that he was removing as Judy's paws came together, quietly moving over to sit down nearby. Concern for him overrode the curiosity to explore the house and left her rooted to the chair as she watched Nick's eyes slide across the lines of the document, flipping the first page of the stapled stack over after a moment. Several-minutes passed before he completed the document, taking a moment to go back over one of the pages. Then, he set it down on the table. The todd's tail flicked nervously next to him.
"I need to grab a couple of things. You can take a look around if you want," Nick finally commented, looking over at her. "Or, I could give you a tour."
"I'd like that." Judy said quietly.
"As you can see, there isn't much to look at. Mom was living in an apartment closer to her place of work. I, uh…" Nick paused, standing up and collecting his bag. "I took care of things there already."
The paperwork was left alone while Nick took her through the house slowly. The Wilde Family all had a collective love for the color green. The darker forest color was splashed with lighter shades of the early spring grasses, not quite a pure green but not tainted in the yellow hues either. If was as if a Bunnyburrow forest canopy had been merged with the early sweetgrass fields. The kitchen was dulled in a shade of robin's egg blue. As if it had been Vivian's personal sanctuary. All of the remaining appliances and utensils were covered in white sheets. There was no hum of the refrigerator or glow of the stovetop clock.
Nick flowed through the room as if it wasn't even there. Judy noticed that he did not look around or attempt to touch the history in the room; merely taking steps towards the back hallway. There was evidence that the wall had previously been host to several picture frames: the color of the paint showing through cleaner than the other majority of the walls. At the end of the hall was a doorway to the backyard. Halfway down it, there was a door on the left and on the right. Both were open. It was like there was a whisper within the house that pulled Nick towards the one on the left.
When Judy peeked in, she found that the room had to have been his. The bed was covered with a sheet, the walls were painted in a stylish hot-rod red with golden accents, and surrounding dust-laden desk were the empty cases of several instruments. The memories of the home were starting to show through on Nick's face. A crinkled pull at the ends of his eyes was barely caught by Judy as he turned past her, heading for the other room in the house. It was such a shame, to the doe, that there was not more of his kithood in the room for her to see. Judy turned on her heel and crossed the hallway to find Nick.
The room of John and Vivian Wilde room looked much like the living room in respects to the color orientation and was complimented by a gorgeous view through the large bay window with the nature outside on display. There were several short-stacks of boxes in the corners, some poking out of the closet itself. The only thing in the room that was not protected from the sun and dust was the large wardrobe. Nick had already opened the doors to the tall bedroom piece. The bag that he had been carrying throughout the house was carefully set down next to his right foot.
Judy slowly walked over to Nick's side, finally getting a glimpse at what was held within. At the very center of the chest-height – for a fox – shelf was a tall, silver canister. Behind that canister, on the back wall a little higher up, was a picture of red fox. No doubt, John Wilde. There were differences between the photo and his son. The father had more black accenting around his muzzle and ears. They had the exact same shade of green in their eyes. The most distinct difference was that John had a calm, kind smile on his muzzle. His eyes, on the other paw, were as wily and as smug as Nick was in his whole being. No doubt, it was from the difference in life experiences.
Nick leaned down and opened the backpack, pulling the flap open and surprising Judy as the movement revealed a similar canister contained within.
"I bought Mom home, Dad." Nick whispered.
Taking hold of his father's metal urn with careful paws, Nick removed it from the shelf and set it in the bag. He, then, took the framed picture to pack it away. There were several stacked books, little knick-knacks, and other pictures. Another picture, a capture of the couple while they had been out on a date, was selected from a lower shelf along with the book that sat under it. There was only room in the bag for the second picture frame. Judy felt her lip quiver in sadness when Nick turned towards her.
"Will you hold onto this, please?" The todd asked.
Feeling the tears welling in her eyes, Judy could only nod in urgency as she took the photo album in her fuzzy paws. It was immediately brought to her chest, in wrapped arms, to protect it. The todd knelt down so that he could spread a paw over the top of the two canisters. He spoke in gentle Vulpish before bringing the flap back over and zipping up the bag. Standing up, he quietly closed the wardrobe's doors and lifted the backpack onto a shoulder.
"It's time to go, Fluff. I'll show you more another day." Nick said, sounding apologetic as he stepped out of the room. Extinguishing the light as he went.
Judy followed Nick quietly back through the house, waiting as he collected the documents that had been left on the table before the two exited the house. The lock clicked under a turned key while Judy looked around the area to make sure that they were both safe. Her work-mode had kicked in as if they were watching over a whistleblower or witness protection interest. If someone tried to interfere with Nick's business or attempted to steal his bag, she was going to kick them into the next galaxy. There was no consequence too large to dissuade her.
Once the duo was sitting comfortably in the truck, Judy relaxed a bit. The photo album had been placed on her lap so that she could brush her paw over the embossed words on the leather cover. It was old. The introductory text was that it belonged to the Wilde Family. In smaller letter below it, it had the names of two grandparents, John and Vivian, and later on, Nicholas Wilde's name had been added. His letters were still somewhat shiny from the golden accenting.
The doe looked up to find Nick watching the house for a moment more, his paw still hovering over the shifter on the steering column. Just as she was about to say something – or felt like she wanted to but had no idea what – he pawed the shifter down and rolled away from the curb.