Hello, friends, strangers, lovers of Zootopia! I'm here with the next chapter of A New Life. I hope everyone enjoys it.

Chapter 6: Nick Knows Everyone

Judy found herself and Lucas setting Lucas's room by themselves. Judy was standing on her son's bed, hanging up a poster of a chipmunk pop idol group when she suddenly asked herself, "Where'd Nick go?"

"Still on that errand, I guess…" Lucas theorized quietly.

Judy's foot rapidly thumped on Lucas's bed in frustration. On the cab ride home, Nick had mysteriously and abruptly gotten out and they had not been together since. Judy found it strange, even for Slick Nick.

Flaskback…

The Wildes were on their way home by taxi. The ride was quiet for the most part. From left to right, when looking from the front of the cab, Nick, Lucas and Judy, along with some of Lucas's smaller bags, were sitting in the back. They were about halfway home from the train station when a skyscraper caught Nick's eye. The older fox spoke up, catching their leopard driver's attention, "Excuse me, ma'am, could you please pull over?"

"Certainly," the young leopard replied as she pulled up to the curb.

Nick got out and tossed an envelope onto Judy's lap, a smug smirk sitting comfortably on his face. Confused, Judy asked, "Where are you going? We have a son to settle in!"

"Can you handle that, Carrots? I just remembered that I have a very important errand to run and time is money. Speaking of which, what's in there should cover the cab fare and the tip for this lovely young she-leopard," Nick explained as he gently shut the door. Lucas glanced at the driver, who slouched, flustered by Nick's comment. She looked to be around Judy's age, from what Lucas could see in the mirror.

"Whatever this errand is better be worth it," Judy sighed as she watched Nick wave back at them and nonchalantly stroll into the building.

End of flashback…

"I don't know what kind of errand takes over four hours and is in a giant building?" the female rabbit muttered as she held up a figurine of a female fox in oriental clothing, holding a staff and striking a charismatic pose. "Where do you want this? Actually, what is this?"

"One of my favorite comic book heroes…" Lucas informed her as he gently took it from her grasp. "The girl I met earlier kind of reminded me of her. So nice…such a sparky personality… Beautiful eyes… A form befitting a young lady. Perfection."

"She seemed a little eccentric to me," Judy remarked, only to giggle at the hypocrisy of her own statement. She prayed that Ashira would be his friend. She hoped that they had a lot of classes together. Of course, it was important for Lucas to make several friends, but Judy wanted Lucas to start with one. Ashira seemed like a pleasant girl who could do the traumatized male a lot of good in social situations.

"Hmm?" Lucas faced Judy, bewildered by the giggling.

"You know, Lucas, I think that that Ashira girl is a good match for you if you're anything like your father," Judy told her son in her laughter. Those brilliant blue eyes went from bewildered to happy. Maybe breaking Lucas in would not be as hard as she and Nick thought.

Meanwhile, Nick was in an extravagant office that overlooked a good part of Savannah Central, talking to Elias Badgerton, a badger friend of his. Elias was an information broker. If he didn't know something, he'd find it with tactics so sly that sometimes they made even Nick shudder. The fox begged the badger, "Please, old buddy, there's got to be something you can do to help us find the perp."

"Is this for a case?" Elias asked, twirling a knife in his paw.

"No, no, not for a case…well, not for one on record. It's…become personal," Nick informed the badger, who had Lucas's file in front of him. "You see…we just adopted the kid."

"I should have figured as much…" Elias muttered and stopped twirling the knife. The badger's brown eyes were focused on the fear and anxiety in Lucas's big, blue eyes in the picture. "I've got to say, Wilde, I never knew you were the fatherly type."

"Honestly, me neither," Nick chuckled.

"And you need me because this is outside your jurisdiction," Elias said conclusively on the topic at hand.

"Affirmative. It's…just a matter of social justice at this point," Nick replied.

"Well, I don't know anything now, but I will look into it," Elias informed Nick. "Free of charge—not because of you, but because of the kid. That's a lot of damage for a kid his age to go through."

"Thankfully, the pervert who touched him is behind bars and the ones who neglected him and those other kids are trying to fight their way out of municipality lawsuits," Nick grumbled in a bittersweet tone. "Now if we could find the reason the fire started, we'd be all set."

"If my word means anything to you, I think the kid cares more about finding acceptance and compassion than social justice," Elias gave the fox his opinion. Nick stood up and held a silent gaze for fifteen seconds.

"Thank you so much for this, Elias," Nick thanked his friend before walking out the door without another word.

Nick got home about half an hour later, while Judy was making food for dinner. Lucas was quietly helping her, passing her ingredients that she would need and cleaning utensils as she finished using them. There was never a peep out of him. Nick whispered, "How is he?"

"He's making progress," Judy reported. "Did your 'errand' really have to take you that long?"

"I'm getting us some help from a fellow mammal-among-mammals," Nick informed his wife as he wrapped his arms around her.

"You know a guy like that?" Judy asked, feigning being unimpressed. Secretly, though, the number of mammals Nick seemed to know personally amazed her. It pays to know people.

"Of course. I mean, come on, I know everyone. You didn't forget that, did you?" Nick asked, giving Judy a small, loving nuzzle.

"How could I forget?" Judy replied, giving Nick a gentle nudge with her elbow. Lucas quietly watched on. Judy saw this out the corner of her eye and turned to face him. Invitingly, she encouraged, "C'mon over here! Let's have our first family group hug in our new home!"

Lucas seemed timid and uncertain at first, but he was starting to feel trust towards Judy and Nick. He was not entirely aware of it himself because he had not been able to fully trust another living soul for the past six years. Everything was so different, so new. Maybe it all was just what he needed. Step by step, he walked into Judy's embrace. Nick wrapped his arms around the both of them. Lucas felt his face grow hot.

"Isn't this nice?" Judy pleasantly asked. Her amethyst eyes beamed up at the teenage fox.

"Y-yeah," Lucas replied, his verbal response complimented by a shy nod. A faint smile made itself at home on his face. He hoped and prayed that these two police officers wouldn't give up on him or see him as broken or damaged goods. He wanted to be treated like family. He wanted to be treated the way he used to be treated until six years ago.