Chapter 2: Clementine

Nick sat drumming his fingers on his desk. He had a report to write out, but he couldn't focus his mind long enough to get it done even if he wanted to.

The night had been long. So long that it extended into the next day, and neither Nick or his partner had been able to return to the townhome that they shared. Judy had gotten her arm looked at, but since it was just a simple graze it didn't require that much attention. Nick, meanwhile, had sat with the young kit for hours, as she seemed unwilling to part from him. He'd sat with her in that hellhole of a house where he found her as they waited for backup-up to arrive, he'd sat with her in the back of an ambulance on their way to Zootopia General Hospital, and he'd sat with her in a waiting room trying to convince her to let go of him long enough to be checked out. The whole time she didn't say a word and kept her muzzle buried into his neck.

At least she stopped crying. After a while, anyway. Nick recalled.

She had clearly been abused, though no one was sure about the length of her abuse. Besides the obvious muzzling Nick had spotted when he found her, she was also malnourished and had several bruises on her body. They were all in spots that could be easily hidden by clothing.

Bastard knew what he was doing, Nick thought with a sneer. Part of me wishes we carried lethals instead of tranq guns.

Nick shook his head in an effort to calm himself down. Getting angry wouldn't help anybody, least of all the kit. Currently she was staying at the hospital while Child Protective Services prepared to take over her case. After that Nick wasn't quite sure what would happen to her, and that was the scariest thing of all.

His ear twitched as he felt his partner approach. She laid a comforting hand on his arm, rubbing it reassuringly. "How ya doin', Slick?" she asked him, and he could practically feel the concern radiating off of her.

"I want to adopt her," he blurted out without thinking.

Judy started, her hand halting its rhythmic motion for a beat, but soon enough she seemed to regain her composure and resumed rubbing his arm.

"Are you sure?" she asked neutrally. He couldn't sense any skepticism or disbelief in her tone. He turned his head to look at her, and their eyes locked together.

Nick hadn't really thought about it until he said it, but staring deep into Judy's brilliant, amethyst eyes, he knew he was sure. He was more certain about this than he had been about anything else before. It was as if his soul had made the decision and given his brain the time it needed to catch up.

Judy's mouth curved into a smile as she stared back at him, unflinching. He could see her compassion and understanding in them, could see that she held zero doubts, or any judgements about him.

"Yes," Nick said, nodding emphatically.

Judy's smile grew wider, and she gave his arm an assuring squeeze. "Ok," she said simply.

"Are you sure?" Nick asked, surprised at how quickly she seemed to get on board. He started rambling. "I mean, we are living together, you know. This is gonna affect you just as much as me, at least for a while. It's a pretty big deal that I'm just dumping on your lap, and I'd understand if you didn't- "

"Nick," she said, cutting him off and giving his arm another squeeze. "I'm sure."

Nick laid a hand over his partners, and gave it a squeeze back. "Thanks, Judy."


After placing a call to the Department of Mammal Resources, Nick had gotten in touch with the social worker who was assigned to the kits case. The first thing he learned was that the kits name was Clementine.

What a pretty name he thought idly.

Then he learned that he wouldn't be able to adopt her, at least not for some time.

"How about you come by my office," Sabine, the social worker, had said over the phone, "and we can discuss everything here."

Nick had instantly gone to the chief to request that he and Judy get the rest of the day off. Initially furious, his demeanor changed to that of titanic shock when Nick explained why. The chief had reluctantly let them go, though Nick couldn't tell if he was reluctant because he wanted to keep them working or because he thought that this was a bad idea.

Doesn't matter, Nick thought. All that matters is that I've got a meeting to get to.


"Thank you for coming on such short notice," Sabine said when Nick and Judy sat down in front of her desk. Sabine was a springbok, wearing a light brown pantsuit that perfectly matched her fur. She was sporting a tired smile, and Nick could see the exhaustion in her eyes.

"How is Clementine?" Nick asked.

At the question Sabine's smile grew simultaneously bigger and sadder. "She's still in the hospital, though she should be released in a day or two, and she's communicative but…non-verbal…" she trailed off.

"How do you mean?" Nick prodded.

"She hasn't said a word since…you found her. She has a notepad that she writes in now, whenever she feels like talking to someone."

Nick could see Judy out of the corner of his eye, and saw her ears droop behind her back as she placed a hand to her heart.

"She asks for you a lot," Sabine said, regaining Nick's attention. "She keeps asking 'where is fox cop?'"

A muted aww escaped from Judy.

"What do I need to do to take her home?" Nick asked hoarsely, fighting through the lump in his throat.

Some of the sadness left Sabine's smile. "You'll need to apply to become a foster parent and then, if you're approved, you can take Clementine into your care."

"That would imply it's only temporary," Judy said, voicing her concern.

The sadness that had left Sabin's smile earlier returned, bringing some extra with it by the looks of it. "Yes. Her…father…would have to relinquish his rights to her for her to be up for adoption."

Nick and Judy both balked, and Nick had to keep himself from growling.

Sabine put up a hand placatingly. "It's not ideal, in this case, but that is unfortunately the way it is. I'm sorry." When it seemed that Nick had calmed down, she continued.

"Normally it's a lengthy process to become a foster parent, but this is a special case. Clementine has no living family outside of her father and, as she is a victim of abuse, the City has a vested interest in finding her a home sooner rather than later."

"Just tell me what I need to do," Nick said, the slightest tinge of desperation seeping into his voice.

"There's some forms you'll need to fill out. Then, in the interest of expediency, I'd like to do the home walk-through today. I'll also need to put my own notes in for the record. In terms of your approval there's only three things I'd be concerned about."

Nick arched an eyebrow. "Like what?"

"Firstly, your occupation. Being a cop is like a double-edged sword. On one hand your background check is basically already done, but on the other hand there might be a question about if you can give Clementine the proper amount of care and attention she needs. Secondly, as you don't already have children, it might be decided you're not ready for such a special case. Finally," she paused, scrunching up her eyebrows, "there's also your…relationship status. The City might be hesitant to trust her to a single father– "

"What if he was dating someone?" Judy blurted out, startling Nick. He had honestly forgotten that she was there, she had been so quiet.

Sabine's eyes widened. "Oh…I'm sorry, I just assumed…yes, that might help. If I may ask, is this a long-time partner?"

She had directed the question to Nick, but it was Judy who answered. "Yep, we've been…partners for about a year and a half now."

Nicks eyes felt like they would fly out of his head as he directed an incredulous look at the bunny, who refused to look back at him. Without warning she wrapped her hand around his own and gave him a reassuring squeeze, as if to say just play along for now.

Taking a deep breath, Nick did his best to give Sabine a confident smile. "Yeah that…sounds about right. Time flies when you're in love, right?"

Judy jolted next to him, and it was his turn to give her hand a squeeze. Thankfully the springbok didn't seem to notice. She clasped her hands together, "Great. Let me go get those forms real quick, and I'll be right back." She practically skipped from the office, leaving Nick and Judy in an uncomfortable silence.

"So…" Nick ventured, trailing off as he realized that they were still holding each other's hands. Judy huffed, then fixed her gaze on the fox. In her eyes he saw a steady determination, mixing with a hint of excitement.

"Nick," she began, "Do you remember that conversation we had a few months ago that we both agreed to pretend didn't happen?"

Nick remembered it well. It was shortly after they had moved in together. They were out at a cop-friendly bar with the rest of the day shift, celebrating Officer Grizzoli's birthday. In a drunken haze they had both confessed their true feelings for one another, and a few rounds later they had both been ferried home to sleep the intoxication away. When they awoke, heads throbbing, they agreed that they didn't want to risk their friendship or their careers by taking things further. Since then, there weren't many days when Nick didn't wonder if they had made the wrong choice. Evidently, it seemed as if the bunny felt the same way.

"I don't want to pretend it didn't happen anymore."

"Are you sure?" he asked, though even he knew that it was probably a stupid question at this point.

"Yeah," she replied, wrapping both her arms around his and leaning into his side. "I'm sure."


A/N: Like I said I like this chapter better than the last one, but I don't think I really start to like my work until the next chapter. Speaking of which I'll probably release it next week, depending on how things go. Work is about to get really hectic though, so I might hold off just to continue building up my buffer. I'm not really going to try to meet a consistent schedule, anyway.

Two things; I don't really know how cops work, and I don't really know how adoption works either. Mostly this is just an idea I had that won't get out of my head, so much so that I wrote the first 4 chapters in 3 days. There are some articles about cops adopting kids they've rescued, and becoming their foster parents fairly quickly, though. Hopefully I'm not bending your suspension of disbelief too much. Regardless, I hope you enjoy.

Cheers.