Twilight had shifted to night by the time Bogo's vehicle pulled into a disused warehouse on the outskirts of town.
Wordlessly, Chief Bogo exited his SUV. Nick and Judy did the same.
"Where are we?" asked Nick with a quizzical expression.
"Possibly the last safe place in the city," came the response.
The lights came on seemingly on their own, startling the new arrivals.
"Guys, it's ok. Come on out, it's the Chief," said the familiar voice of Officer Wolfard.
Officers Grizzoli and Delgato emerged from behind a tattered sofa, shortly after, Officer Pennington peeked around a stack of crates. She approached the others with a touch of caution.
Bogo turned to Wolfard, asking, "Is there anyone else?"
"N-not that we know of. Francine was already here with the others when I got here," he said.
"Expecting somebody?" asked Nick.
"Well… Sort of. Only a select few senior officers know of this bug-out location. Pennington, Krumpanski and Fangmeyer, to name a few," explained Bogo.
The room became eerily silent. Bogo looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Speaking of which," he began, "where is Fangmeyer? Grizzoli, Delgato, were you not on patrol together?"
"We erh… Y-yes sir, we were," said Delgato nervously.
The Chief's expression demanded an explanation.
"He left us on watch while he went the usual place to get coffee," explained Delgato. "He was on his way back when everything started going to hell."
The lion started to choke on his words and get restless where he stood. Grizzoli stepped forward and put a paw on his shoulder.
"He'd just crested a hill and was driving down to meet us. One of those bombs went off right next to him - he swerved and sped full tilt into a fire hydrant," explained Grizzoli.
Bogo said nothing, though everyone present could hear the faint sound of his thick nails grinding against each other as he clenched his fists.
"Went straight through the windshield, wouldn't have felt a thing."
Amidst the somber recap, Judy had wandered to the edge of the dim light, staring off thoughtfully into the shadows. Nick followed, seeking to find out what was on the little rabbit's mind.
"Penny for your thoughts, Carrots?"
"This has been a long time coming," she said, "of course, that isn't to say that we should've seen it coming."
Judy turned to face the group.
"A move like this takes a lot of effort, but more than that - it takes time. A lot of time.I think whoever did this definitely wanted every cop out of the picture… Including me. All this considered, some of it was handled in a very sloppy way, and…"
Judy's voice trailed off and the little bunny started to lose her balance. Nick quickly stopped her from falling with a firm but gentle paw on each shoulder.
"A-as I was saying," she started.
Nick interrupted, "Now, now. I think that's enough being you for one day. Come on now."
He lead her to the sofa and sat her up.
"That's better… In fact, I might just close my eyes for just a short while," said Judy, moments before sleepily leaning on the tattered piece of furniture, falling asleep near immediately.
"Is she alright?" asked Officer Pennington
"What do you think?" asked Nick derisively.
Pennington was unprepared for Nick's retort and she began to say sorry.
"I didn't ask for an apology," Nick interrupted, "don't waste your breath."
Awkward silence. Nick started to pace agitatedly about the space.
Bogo spoke up, breaking the silence, "I don't think anyone else is coming."
The others agreed, though it felt like there was more to be said.
"That's it then. We need to go somewhere safe, somewhere inconspicuous, to plan our next move," said Nick, brandishing his cellphone and scrolling through it quietly.
Bogo took a step closer, asking, "where?"
After a deliberate tap, Nick looked right at the Chief, saying, "Home." before holding the phone up to his ear.
Nick gently laid Judy in the back seat of Bogo's SUV, belted her in and sat beside her. The Chief clambered in and started the engine. They drove for a while, heading out of town.
Nick felt the vehicle slow to a stop. He sat up to look out the windshield.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
Bogo said nothing, he just stared straight ahead. Roughly a hundred meters in front was a security checkpoint of sorts - armed thugs, almost undoubtedly part of Ezra Bisonhower's 'freedom fighters'.
"I see." said Nick.
Nick put his deep knowledge of the city to good use, directing the Chief to an unused industrial complex with a convenient gap in it's chain link fence. With a bit of off-roading, the Chief's SUV made it to the highway and smooth sailing followed.
Sunlight began to creep through the sky as the vehicle made it's way into the countryside south of the city.
"How much farther?" asked the chief
"It should be just over," Nick paused. "There! Over there!" he said, frantically pointing.
Lacking the night vision Nick had, Bogo had to squint considerably to make out a farm driveway between a sign and an old oak.
Chief Bogo grimaced as he turned into the drive, it was a tight fit for the broad vehicle. Nick's ears went flat at the scratchy sound of body panels scraping on fence posts.
After a rolling stop, Bogo cautiously stepped out of his vehicle. In the back seat, Nick prodded Judy to wakefulness.
"Wakey wakey, little bunny." Said Nick playfully.
Judy's response came in the form of slowly sitting up, rubbing her eyes and doing a cute yawn.
"Wha-"
Judy's eyes widened when she saw where they were and she said, "What are we doing here?"
"Since we've been spending so much time together, it's time I met your father."
"Oh shut up, dipstick," said Judy. "As if. Come on, what's the plan?"
"After you did your little fainting number I figured we needed somewhere neutral to work things out."
"Fair enough, I would've done the same." she said.
Nick and Judy clambered down the side of the car, one after the other. Halfway between the car and the house, the front door opened, revealing Bonnie Hopps.
The mother bunny quietly ushered them in. Unfortunately for Chief Bogo, the builders of the home did not have cape buffalos in mind when they designed it - he had to stay outside.
Though it was still rather early, there were a few members of the household already up fetching breakfast, Nick could hear them in an adjacent room as he, Judy and Bonnie made their way to a dining area.
"My Gosh!" cried Bonnie quietly, adding, "Judy, you're so thin!"
Nick hadn't noticed until now, but Bonnie was right. Judy's face was gaunt, her toned musculature withered, and her curves had diminished considerably.
"Come along now, let's get you fed! Get those thighs plumped back up!" said Bonnie.
Judy's mother snatched her by the arm and led her away before she had the chance to respond. Nick had just started to relax when somebunny coming up behind him gave him a bit of a fright.
"Oh my, sorry about that." said the perpetrator, who happened to be Judy's father, Stu.
"Hi. I'm Nick. You're Stu, right?" asked Nick, shaking paws with the fellow.
"Yup. It's nice to finally meet you."
When Stu was silent for a while, Nick asked tentatively, "And why's that?"
"Oh. Well, Jude talks about you a lot whenever she visits. Not going to lie, I was getting pretty worried. But, now that I've met ya…"
Again, Stu went worryingly quiet.
"Yes?" asked Nick.
"I'm just glad there's somebody lookin' after Jude off in the big city, that's all." explained Stu.
"Me too." thought Nick as Stu Hopps wandered away, presumably to get something to eat.
After breakfasting, Judy met up with Nick and Bogo in a hay barn, starting off their planning by drawing up a map of the city, particularly the area around ZPD HQ.
The chief explained that he was just leaving the HQ when the coup hit. Bisonhower's goons were armed to the teeth. Unprepared, outnumbered and outgunned, with no means of communication, the officers at HQ were helpless to defend themselves.
Making a number of phone calls, the Chief was able to round up several officers who had been hiding out since yesterday. Minutes turned to hours and by this point the sun had already begun it's descent.
"That just leaves two problems," said Bogo. "One being that we are still hopelessly outnumbered. The other being that we have no ordinance."
A brief silence.
"I don't suppose you have any ideas, Hopps?"
"Of course I do." she said. "Just have to call in a little favor."
Judy tapped at her cellphone before placing it on the table and sliding towards the Chief.
Without even looking, Bogo said, "Oh, you don't mean…"
"Oh I mean." said Judy.
Nick watched from the side in quiet amusement.
"Oh, sod it." said Bogo, swiping the phone from the table, taking a few steps away to make the call.
Nick lent forward to listen in. Dial tone. A voice with a notable Mediterranean flavor.
By and large, this gesture on Bogo's part really was something to be admired. After all, it came down to a choice: Chief Bogo's own pride or an assured victory against Ezra Bisonhower.
Following some significant back and forth negotiations, the Chief at last turned toward Judy and Nick, who had matching expectant expressions.
"He's on board. More than that, he was hoping we'd be planning something like this," he explained.
"Police working with the mafia. What could go wrong?" said Nick sarcastically.
Bogo ignored him and, returning the phone to it's owner, he said, "furthermore, he wants to talk to you."
Judy shrugged and put the phone to her ear.
"Hello! Yes it has been too long. Wh-what? Well… Yes. Okay. Alright. See you then…"
Judy quietly pocketed her phone with a musing expression on her face. Before Nick could pick her brain, a voice called out from the house:
"Supper's nearly ready!"
Bogo and Judy left the haybarn without a word or even so much as a passing glance. Instead of feeling put out, Nick felt the need to press on.
All through the evening, Nick tried and failed to talk to Judy. Every conversation was deflected by a response like "I'm fine," or "there's nothing to worry about, Slick." Nick thought he'd finally nabbed a time to talk when Judy declared she was calling it a night, only to find her fast asleep a moment later.
Out of ideas at this point, Nick lay back on a vacant couch. He too descended to slumber near immediately, despite the array of thoughts clouding his mind.
Nick awoke suddenly the next morning, with a glance outside he saw the sun already in the sky. His paws unconsciously walked him out the front door to Chief Bogo, the cape buffalo busy checking his vehicle over.
Simply to acknowledge Nick's presence, Bogo said, "Wilde."
"Morning, Chief."
As usual, Chief Bogo had no time for chatter, merely saying, "I'm more or less ready when you are, find Hopps and we can be on our way."
Nick nodded and returned to the expansive rabbit household. Built more like a homely hotel, to get from one end to the other took as much as ten minutes due to navigating hallways and living areas.
Nick's chest grew tighter with every minute that passed while he looked for Judy. Feeling quite flustered after more than an hour of searching, he stopped for a breather in a kitchen.
"You okay there?" asked Stu, who happened to enter the room.
"Yeah… No, maybe I'm not. I don't know."
"Hmph. Well, if you need anything, give us a shout, alrighty?" said Stu, turning away.
Nick stood up.
"Stu, wait."
The rabbit father stopped and turned to face Nick again.
"I'm looking for Carr- Erm, I mean, I'm looking for Judy. Do you know where she is?" said Nick.
Stu started off dismissive, saying, "Oh I'm sure she's around somewhere." His voice trailed off then he looked Nick in the eye, "Actually, I don't know where she is. But I know a place she might be."
Nick stared back expectantly.
"Whenever Jude needed some time to think, she'd go sit at the base of the big oak at the south end of the farm. Out the back door, up the hill, you can see it from there. It's quite a walk, about a mile and a half I think."
Nick had hurried off before Stu could even close his mouth, sending a "thank you" over his shoulder as he raced down a hallway.
Out the back door and up the hill, Nick scanned the horizon. Then he saw it. The only object that stood out from the miles of lush countryside - Stu wasn't lying when he said it was big.
Even making a bee line for that oak, the trek felt like forever in a day.
Finally cresting the hill where the tree was rooted, Nick had to stop to admire the mighty oak. Nothing in the city came close.
As Nick's eyes were drawn across the length of the tree's immense trunk, he caught sight of a small creature at it's base, nestled amongst some large roots.
When Nick approached the little bunny, she looked up at him and wordlessly scooched over. When he sat beside her, Judy leaned into him.
"Alright then, bring it in," said Nick, putting an arm around Judy's shoulder.
Looking down at her face, the fur around Judy's eyes was damp and her collar had wet patches around the front.
"I see," said Nick. "You've had to cram two weeks into a day and a half…"
Nick wasn't sure where he was going with that sentence.
"You know, Chief Bogo actually reacted when I told him you were hospitalized," said Nick, "his eyes widened a tiny fraction of an inch and the corners of his mouth-"
Nick stopped talking when he saw Judy silently giggling at his story.
"That's right, Carrots," he said, "you broke him. Sort of."
Nick felt calmer than he'd felt in two weeks. He had barely slept the whole time Judy was in hospital, now he felt it in every part of his body. Judy had fallen asleep on him, he couldn't bear to wake her up. Nick let his head rest against the tree, his eyes slowly rolled shut as he dwelt on the warmth he felt in his heart.
The glare of the setting sun and hard prodding from Judy woke Nick up.
"Come on, Slick," said Judy, "wake up!"
Nick yawned, stretched and began to slowly stand himself up.
"What's the rush?" asked Nick.
"We have to be back in Zootopia before sundown! Remember the plan?"
"No," said Nick, "at least I would if you had actually told me the plan…"
Judy rolled her eyes, then realized the fox was right.
"You know how I was on the phone to Mr. Big, right?"
Nick nodded.
"He's throwing a party, a ball... Thing. It's all a front. Understand?"
Nick wasn't sure he did understand, but Judy didn't give him the chance to respond, immediately setting a quick pace in the direction of the farmhouse. Nick had no choice but to follow.
The return hike felt like forever but at the same time it felt as though not enough time had passed before Judy and Nick reached the farmhouse.
Nick had to match Judy's pace stride for stride to keep from getting left behind as she deftly navigated the network of halls and open rooms that made up her childhood home.
Chief Bogo turned abruptly to witness Judy and Nick, the latter after running out of breath, emerge suddenly from the front door.
"Where have you been all day?" Bogo demanded.
Judy stopped. "Hold that thought, I'll be right back!"
"But you've only just…" said Bogo, voice trailing off.
Judy had already disappeared back into the house. Nick looked to the house, then to Bogo.
"I think I'll…" Nick didn't bother finishing his sentence, he just sauntered back inside.
Bogo huffed and stomped about, relenting to give his vehicle one last once over.
Following Judy's faintly sweet scent, Nick found her rifling through a closet, occasionally holding a dress in front of a mirror then tossing it away unceremoniously. Nick stepped closer and watched from a short distance.
Nick idly reached into the closet and pulled out a hanger. On it was a cream colored dress with a knot across the chest.
"Here. This one," said Nick, passing the hanger to Judy.
"A-are you sure? Good dress sense doesn't come to mind when I think of you…"
"Come on, Carrots. Trust me. Otherwise we'll be here all night."
Judy reluctantly conceded to Nick's choice. They quietly returned to Chief Bogo and embarked on the road back to the city.
End Notes
At over 2,800 words, this one is third longest.
Chapter name is a reference to Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. With that in mind, this chapter contains no whales, time travel or Montgomery Scott trying to talk to a mid-80's computer with the mouse.
Chapter VII won't be far off. Most of it was written in notepad on a late 90's Toshiba laptop after my PC died, I just have to rewrite the start of it.