Digging up the Past
The rest of the date didn't feel them same. Every smile was forced, every laugh was strained, and it took effort to try and start any conversation. So it didn't take long until they (Nick) decided that they had enough fun for one day. They car ride was better as the radio kept the silence to a minimum.
And then the questions started.
"No."
"Well if you could-"
"I said no, Carrots"
Judy had been trying to convince Nick to come forward and to involve the ZPD with the incident. But he refuses.
Nick doesn't believe that it would be taken seriously. Not only does he not have any evidence to suggest even a remote involvement, but Boggis, Bunce, and Bean have all been shining examples of all citizens should be.
However, once being a criminal himself (no matter how low on the totem pole he actually was), Nick knew better than anyone else that a public persona could hide so much that anyone could be fooled.
He knew that those three, while not crime bosses like Mr. Big, are just as dangerous.
Judy has been quite upset since he revealed that tidbit of his past. Not that him sharing is a bad thing, in fact, she is thrilled that he is comfortable enough to share painful memories with her. What is upsetting is what they are about.
Why was his adolescence full of strife and pain? She tried to get Nick to go to the police, so that way, she can take an active and legal role in trying to resolve this skeleton in Nicks' closet.
How dare they do this to her Mate! Judy can almost growl as if it were natural for her to do so. Her Mate is the kindest, most caring-
Wait. Why is she referring to Nick as her Mate?
Technically, that is what they are. They had Mated (not that she could remember) and they still are together.
Judy has a warm tingling in her chest as she continues to refer to him as her Mate. It's really confusing for her to go from lovey-dovey to barely contained rage, to lovey-dovey again. It just feels like that's not normal. But then again, she never felt this way toward anyone other than Nick.
Judy hasn't said anything. What is going is going through her head? His eyes flick from the road to the Bunny next to him.
When Nick pulls up to her apartment, he walks her to her door just to spend a little more time with her. No matter what mood he's in, he prefers to be in her company. But eventually Judys' room is in sight
"This is me." They stop outside her door. Neither wants the other to go.
"I had a lot of fun today-" Judys' tail wiggles in happiness "- so hopefully you aren't sick of me yet, 'cuz I have other ideas of what we can do."
Judy grabs his tie to bring him to her level, and she kisses him "I can't wait"
She giggles as she sees his tail wag.
"Good night, slick."
"Night, fluff."
When she closes the door behind her, Nick lingers for a moment before heading back. He's glad that his retelling of past events hadn't ruined the rest of the date.
It came pretty close though.
There's something about his Rabbit that just causes him to let down the carefully constructed defenses that he developed over years of living as a Fox that embodied the stereotype that they're untrustworthy and thieves. She didn't see him like that, she expected more from him. And he will try his damnedest to meet her expectations. He didn't want to be a lost cause. He wanted to be someone that she would be proud to call her Mate.
So he decided that he will join the academy and be her partner so that he can protect her at all times like a good Mate. But in order to do that, he needs to clear some things up.
There are things that he hasn't told Judy about. When she threatened him with tax evasion, he really wasn't worried. He actually did pay taxes, although not as much as what he needed to. Since they couldn't prove that he had been working, they couldn't prove how much he earned. But his car, his condo, and the fact that he provided for himself does prove that he does have income from.. somewhere. So he did file some of his taxes. Although it's not under the name Nicholas Piberius Wilde because that is not his original name, it's Jason Francisco Fox. And since Wilde didn't exist until later when he couldn't use the name Fox anymore, he and his Mother had to use a new identity that his extended family had set up for situations like that. He didn't tell Judy how infamous they actually were, and how much they stole over the years.
They didn't steal from everyone. They envisioned themselves as a modern day Robin Hood, except they stole from the corrupt and gave to themselves as well as the poor.
But with what he had in mind, required Nicholas Wilde to be a bit more real. So now, he had things to do.
…
Judy had things to do as well.
At this moment, she is reading up on the three mammals known as Walter Boggis, Nathan Bunce, and Franklin Bean.
Walter Boggis is a chicken farmer. Things she found included horrible practices that involve extreme overcrowding and bad treatment for the animals. He is a massive Brown Bear, but not massive in the muscular way.
Judy is surprised that he can even stand.
Nathan Bunce is a duck and goose farmer. He owns a facility that is more akin to a reserve than a farm, and there are no negative light on him in the way of business. But he has a reputation of being extremely prejudiced toward prey species and some predators like Rats, Weasels, and Foxes. She already disliked him. He is a Wolverine that was short even for his species, about Judys' height, and apparently had a bit of a complex in regards to that.
Franklin Bean was a Cheetah that owned a turkey farm and apple orchards that produced juice and cider, alcoholic and nonalcoholic. He was a different can of worms altogether. He was nasty to anyone who he doesn't do business with and even then, he barely tolerated them, the only mammals he showed respect to was Walter and Nathan. He even has multiple assault charges that never stuck, all the victims had dropped charges long before a verdict was declared.
Judy feels that they give farmers a bad name.
What to do next is harder to figure out, but she'll think of something.
…
The morning sees Nick up early again, and this time he is going to do something that he absolutely doesn't want to do.
He is going to see the mammal that can help him with what he needs, and the mammal that is part of the family. He really needs to come up with a name for them other than 'the family'.
He is going to see Clive Badger.
Clive was one of his Dads' closest friends, and was Nicks' favorite from the group. He was a lawyer who, with two others, owned a law firm named "Badger, Beaver, & Beaver". Nick actually spent his summers between school interning at the firm. Clive saw that Nick had a natural silver tongue and could talk circles around others.
So Clive took Nick as an apprentice of sorts which ended sometime after everyone disappeared. A few of them couldn't disappear like Clive himself as he was in a position with many eyes on him. It helped that he was helping in the background and not in the field.
Nick knew that Clive was in touch with them and when he confronted the badger, he admitted it. But he wouldn't tell him anything.
Nick prepares himself as he heads to the firm located in Meadowlands. He calls the office and asks if Clive Badger was in. Once he got confirmation, he hung up.
As he pulls up and parks in the lot behind the firm, he looks at the building that holds so many memories.
He remembered that Clive loved dad jokes. He remembered that Clive always had good advice, said that he learned from his mistakes and told other how to avoid those mistakes. He cared for Nick as his own. He…
He can't do this.
A ringtone cuts through the silence of the car.
"Good morning Slick."
"Mornin' Carrots, what gives me the pleasure of hearing your voice this early?" He can't see it, but he's sure that her tail is flicking right now.
"Can't I just talk to my M-boyfriend when I want?"
"Now I know that you want something."
"Oh really? And what are those motives?"
"Well one, I'm going to call every morning, and those calls are going to get earlier and earlier until you wake up at the same time as you would have to at the academy."
"Does that mean your going to give me an edge for show up the other cadets?"
"Nope. Your going to do this to prove to yourself and others that you have what it takes to be a Officer."
His heart warms at her words.
"And two," she drops her voice to a husky tone "I don't need a reason to hear my boyfriend's voice."
He couldn't stop the shiver that runs though his spine. "And what do you want to hear? Do you want to hear how sexy I find it when you talk like that?" He can practically see her shiver. "Well that will have to wait 'cuz I need to do something right now."
When he hears her pout, he busts out laughing. "Don't worry, I'll call you after I'm done. And if you want, I can go over and whisper whatever you want into your ear."
"You big tease!" She giggles but he can tell how flustered she is, and he loves that he can do that to her.
"You know you love it."
"I would love it more if it wasn't a tease."
She doesn't know what she does to him. He lets loose a low growl "It's a promise then." He wishes he can see her reaction at that moment.
"I'll hold you to that. I'm going to let you go now."
"Don't be sad, you don't need to wait too long until you hear my heavenly voice again."
He really loves her laugh "Bye Nick"
"Talk to you later."
Right, he needs to do this.
He gets out and heads to the building before his determination fades.
The Gopher that was Clive's secretary is no longer there. Instead there was a Weasel sow that sat in the front.
He walks past her and he displays absolute confidence. She doesn't stop him.
Works every time. No one questions you if you look like you have a mission to accomplish.
Nick stands in front of the door. And through the acrylic window, he sees Clive focused on the paperwork on his desk. He hesitates opening the door.
For Judy.
He knocks.
He sees Clive wave him in without looking "Come in."
Nick walks up and stands in front of the Badger.
"Hey Clive." He has some satisfaction in seeing him drop his pen and snap his head up to look at the fox. "Long Time no see."
He sees the aged Badgers' eyes start to water up, and a smile grow on him "It has, hasn't it?"
