2016, September 4

Downtown Zootopia, Packwood flats

6:40 AM

It was the most blissful sleep Judy ever had in her life. No dreams, no nightmares, Just peace and tranquility. When she began to stir, she took note of how much softer and warmer her bed was than it was the other night. At first, she dismissed it, wanting to sleep in a bit more, but then she realized that her "bed" gently rose and fell. On her front, she groggily opened her eyes, to see that she was currently lying atop of Nick while he slept, and that her "blanket" was actually Nicks bushy tail.

...

Judy let it sink in. In short, she had slept the whole night in the embrace of her species worst natural enemy, but didn't do anything to stop it.

...why didn't she do anything to stop it was anybody's guess.

Judy felt flustered and furiously blushed red. "Calm down Judy," thought to her self, "we're JUST friends, and we're STILL friends."

"If your still friends, why are you enjoying your cuddle with him?", a random thought in her head spoke mischievously.

"THAT'S... I..."

Judy couldn't counter the thought. She in fact was enjoying it. Feeling Nicks soft, warm tail rap around her smaller body as she snuggled against Nicks chest. It got her thinking.

"Why am I liking this so much? Granted, it's comfortable and all, but I was sleeping in the same bed with my best friend! That does not just happen! Yeah, I wanted Nick to sleep with me, since I was rattled by that nightmare, but I also wanted... needed him to be their with me. I've been getting awfully... weird anytime I'm alone and without Nick. It feels like when nick is gone and I'm alone, that he took a piece of my heart with him, leaving a hole in my heart.*"

Judy's face blushed red as the truth hit her. Hard.

"Sweet cheese and crackers, am I really in love with my best friend!? Why!? I shouldn't feel this way. I want to feel this way! Not that I'm against it, but this will be a problem. I mean, my first love is for a fox! The public treats us like local hero's. If they found out about this, who knows what will happen! Not to mention my parents won't approve of this!"

While Judy was trying to come up with every reason NOT to love Nick, she catches the fox grinning in his sleep. Seeing this, she couldn't deny that she was loving the moment of peace. Just her, and her foxy friend.

Then the silence was disrupted by the sound of Judy's carrot phone playing it's ringtone loudly. Judy then heard Nick start to whine and groan from her carrot phone ringing.

"Well," Judy thought bitterly, irritated that her and Nicks moment was ruined, "there goes having a quiet, Sunday morning." Judy carefully got off of the foxes chest, dragged herself across the bed to her nightstand, and grabbed her phone, not noticing that the mammal calling was her boss, Chief Bogo. "Hello?", she groggily answered the phone.

"Sorry to interrupt your morning," the Cape buffalo said, "but I'm afraid I'm going to you and Wilde to come to the precinct for an important matter."

Realizing she was needed for work, Judy immediately sat up straight and responded, "What are we needed for sir?"

"I'll explain when you get here. Just be in my office by 8:30, sharp." The chief said before the phone line cut off.

Judy sighed as she put her phone back. "Who was that?", Nick groggily asked.

"Bogo. He said we need to be at his by 8:30, so we better get ready," Judy responded.

"UUUUUUUUGGGGGGGHH," Nick moaned.

"Nick, he said I had to bring my partner, and you're my partner, so I'm bringing you to the station wether you like it or not."

"Get another partner."

Pause.

"Alright then. I'll get another partner if that's what you want," Judy said sadly.

Nick suddenly realized that what he had said came out wrong.

"No, wait carRA-," As Nick tried to get up, his paw slipped over the edge of the bed, making him fall off, hitting the ground back-first.

As Nick groaned from the sudden fall, a mischievous-looking bunny walked up to his side and crouched down.

"So PARTNER, are you ready to make the world a better place?" she cheekily asked.

Nick decided to just admit defeat. If he knew Judy enough, he knows that she is a stubborn bunny that won't quit until he gets up. "Alright sly bunny, you win."

"That's what I thought," she said as her grin grew in width.

"I'll have to sort these feelings out later," Judy thought.

7:42 AM

As Judy was getting ready for work, she noticed that their was a bowl of popcorn sitting at the table along with an empty dvd case that reads "Avengammals: Endgame". Curious, she asks Nick why they're on the dinner table.

"Oh right!" he exclaimed. "You see, yesterday I noticed you weren't your usual, energetic self. So, I thought maybe we could watch a movie to take your thoughts away from... what happened at the hospital and maybe get you to act less gloomy. But then we ended up... sleeping together."

"He did this just to cheer me up?" she asked in her thoughts.

"Oh my gosh Nick," she spoke, her voice barely a whisper, "that's so sweet of you."

"Really?" Nick asked, "because I don't think renting a movie out to cheer up a friend counts as something nice."

"It's the thought that counts you dumb fox," said Judy.

"Well, since the movie isn't supposed to returned until tomorrow, what do you say about watching it after we do our thing at work?"

"Yeah, I'd like to!"

ZPD, Precinct 1

8:13 AM

Another perk of their apartment was that it's a block away from the nearby subway station, which the duo took advantage of. They were soon walking through the doors of the prestigious precinct 1 and walked up to the front counter so they could clock-in. The mammal behind the counter was a rather portly cheetah, who was currently munching a donut with on paw and held a Pawpod* in the other with earbuds in his ears. He was oblivious to Judy and Nicks presence as he hummed to gazelles most popular song yet, "Try everything".

"Hmm, wonder what song he's listening to," Nick said jokingly. Judy just rolled her eyes at him.

"Hey, Ben!", Judy greeted loudly so the cheeta could hear her. The cheetah jumped a little as he hurriedly took out his earbuds and stood saluted with a serious expression on his face. His face faded from serious to confused as he looked left and right to see who was talking to him.

"Ahem," Nick cleared his throat.

The tubby cheetah looked down and saw it was just officers Judy and Nick.

"Oh my bad," Clawhauser appologized, "I thought that was the chief that said that."

"Since when did Bogo's voice suddenly sound feminine?" Nick joked. He didn't regret saying it but he definitely did regret it after getting an elbow to the stomach from his strong bunny partner.

As Nick was on his knees, clutching his abdomen with of his both arms, Judy asked, "Hey Ben, could you tell the chief we're here to see him?"

"Oh, yeah, sure," said Ben as he grabbed the office phone by his desk, "Just give me one second."

"Ughh," Nick moaned.

"Oh don't be such a kit," Judy exclaimed, "besides, I didn't hit you THAT hard."

"You'd be surprised at how strong you bunnies are."

They didn't have to wait long, as Ben hung up on the phone, and said that they could head to the chiefs office on the second floor now. As they went up the stairs, Judy and Nick were speculating why they were ordered to come to the chiefs office, especially since it's the weekend.

Correction: Judy wondered why they were ordered to come to the chiefs office, while Nick wondered why bunnies are so strong.

"I wonder why we were called here? Did a new case just emerge," Judy speculated aloud, "and if so, how big is it that we get assigned to it?"

"If you ask me, I think the better question is why you bunnies are so strong," Nick sarcastically responded.

"I'm serious Nick. This could be the first case we've gotten in weeks!"

"Alright, alright, I'll act serious IF this is a case."

"Plus, Nick thought, this could help get her mind off... Tim, I think his name was?"

When bunny and fox have finally made it to the chiefs office door, Judy could hear bits and parts of a muffled discussion on the other side of the door. Nick could hear it as well but couldn't hear any words. Rather than eavesdrop on Bogo, Judy went up to the door and knocked 4 times.

"Enter," she heard her boss say.

As soon as she heard it, she was already jumping up to reach the door handle and turn it. But before Judy and her partner could go to the 2 chairs, that sat in front of Bogos desk, they noticed there were 2 other mammals on the right side of the room, sitting on a bench. One was an antelope wearing a sweater with a brown vest over it and wore a necklace that bored a cross. The other was... Tim. He had a white shirt on and wore grey sweatpants. He also had some bandages on his left arm and his left cheek that looked like they were just changed. As soon as he saw the officers from the other day, his chocolate brown eyes widened in surprise. But his surprise left as quickly as it appeared and changed into a blank expression. Judy's and Nick's minds whirled. Why was the kid here? And who was the antelope?

"Um, you wanted to see us chief?" Judy asked the chief.

"Yes," he responded, "have a seat."

The small officers took their seats in front of Bogo's desk.

"Now," Bogo began, "I'm sure you remember the accident those robbers had during that car chase, since you were the ones who gave your testimony on what happened."

"Yes sir," Nick answered when Judy didn't. He briefly glanced at his partner and saw a faint shine in her amethyst eyes. "She must be trying to keep it together and remain professional," Nick thought. He wasn't sure if Bogo noticed, but if he did, he remained silent about it.

"Then I'm sure officer Hopps remembers giving first aid to Tim Zoloman and made sure couldn't bleed out. Correct?"

"Y-yessir," Judy stuttered. Nick could tell that Bogo DEFINITELY knew there was something wrong with Judy from the way his left eyebrow raised before it quickly fell back.

"Well, what was SUPPOSED to happen," the Cape buffalo began with a slight edge in his tone, " was that young Zoloman was to make a full recovery and was to be sent to the orphanage in the Meadowlands district. But, it appears that from what I'm told by it's superintendent, that the orphanage is currently overcrowded and that it needs to make room, and by that, I mean the superintendent wants Nick Wilde to house Tim at his apartment, until space is made available at the orphanage so they can take him in."

After Mayor Bellwether was arrested for "conspiring against the citizens of Zootopia", including her assistant mayor for being suspected for being apart of the conspiracy, a new mayor was elected by the city council to fill in the power vacuum left behind. The new mayor, Daniel Jellystone, was actually a pretty decent mayor, and even though he was a bear, there wasn't a lot of mammals protesting against him. Probably because they became distrustful of the government, but they couldn't really get dirt on him. One of his acts that prevented this was his decrement that he would provide homes for homeless and would give them jobs to work in, but it was mostly labor or construction work. This ended up being starting to becoming a problem for some of the Zootopian orphanages. As it turns out, at least 60% of the homeless population in Zootopia was under the age of 17 years and younger, making orphanages overcrowded.

Nick was going to ask why he was to look after Tim and not anyone else, when he realized why it had to be him. Even though the prejudice against predators wasn't as prominent as it was during the Bellwether conspiracy, some mammals still weren't very trusting of predators, ESPECIALLY foxes. It only made sense to pair a 12-year old fox with another fox that was financially successful and had (almost) no criminal record. But there's only one problem.

That fox only had two beds, both of which are already owned by him and his roommate. What was strange is why did Chief Bogo mention Nick and not Judy? He knew about them being roommates, so why did he leave her out? Nick decided to just play along.

"Sure thing," he acted cunningly, "I'll take good care of him."

"This is all good and all," the antelope spoke up, now talking to the chief, "but why did you ask bring his partner with him?"

"Mr Antonilope," the chief said, "with I'll do respect, I wanted Hopps here to discuss who she can work with until Officer Wilde can can come to work again."

Judy's ears stood up on end.

"Wait," she said, "does this mean that Nick has to stay at his place?"

"Well," Mr Antonilope began, "you see, Officer Hopps, young Tim here has... special needs."

"If I could just say that-," the young Tod spoke up.

"Not now Tom, the grownups are talking right now," the antelope cut off Tim.

Tim silenced himself and crossed his arms.

"Now as I was saying before, Tim has these... special needs," Mr Antonilope said as Tim's eyes rolled, "that limit his capabilities take care of himself, so he'll needs someone to watch him 24-7."

"Now excuse me Mr Antonilope," the chief interrupted, "but if you're done talking to me, could discuss this outside with Wilde? I need to talk to one of my officers, if you don't mind."

"Of coarse," Mr Antonilope responded, " Come along Tom."

"My name is Tim," Tim grumbled.

"That's what I said."

As Nick, Mr Antonilope, and Tim made their way out of the office, the young tod got one last look at Judy before continuing out the door. When it was just Judy and the chief, she took the opportunity to ask the chief something.

"Chief Bogo, sir, does Mr Antonilope know that me and Nick are roommates?"

The chief snorted before answering. "Of course he doesn't. I left that detail out so he didn't suspect anything that may be going between you two. I wanted you to come with Wilde so you can figure out who stays at home and who comes to work. As for WHY I didn't tell the superintendent this because he was very... picky on what Officer he wanted Mr Zolomond assigned to. If I were you, it be in my best interest to not be seen with Wilde when you head back to your home. Am I clear?"

"Absolutely sir," Judy saluted.

"Good."

When the superintendent, Tim, and Nick exited the office, the antelope took the time to explain Tim's needs, habits, and what he can or can't do. But something that stuck out for Nick was Tim's reactions to what the antelope said when they were sill in Bogo's office. Judging by the young tod's reaction, Nick wondered if Tim didn't like being neglected. It would explain why he rolled his eyes at Mr Antonilope when he said that Tim has "special needs". Not to mention he misplaced his name.

Nick's mind went back to reality.

"...and whatever you do, don't let him look at a screen. His mind tends to wander off whenever he looks at one," Nick heard the superintendent say.

"Isn't that the point of-," Tim spoke.

"Ti-im, what did I say earlier?"

"*huff* ...don't interrupt."

"Actually," Nick spoke up, "He kind of makes a good point. Why NOT let him watch TV?"

The antelope glared at Nick's question. "Because his brain will turn into mush faster than a normal mammals would. Now, I will be checking in on your home in 2 days to see how Tom is doing."

"I think you mean Tim and not Tom?"

The antelope glared harder.

"RIGHT. I'll be seeing to your home and as soon as you arrive, we will part ways."

Nicks ears shot up. "Wait, your coming with us?"

"Of coarse I am! I need to make sure that To-... Tim... will be in safe paws while he stays there for the time being."

"Ok, can I at least talk to my partner about this?"

"*sigh* Fine. But let's make this quick."

Nick was about to open the door to Bogo's office, when door opened for him to reveal Judy hanging on the door handle.

"Oh, hey!" They greeted in unison. They giggled a little before Judy came down to talk.

"Bogo needs me to do some paperwork on who's going to be my partner until you get back."

She winked.

"So," she continued, "I'm going to be here for awhile. Maybe later we can hang out?"

She winked again.

Nick knew this was code; that she would stay for awhile and meet up with him later. It was something that they had developed while working with each other.

"Sure," Nick acted, "Does 11:30 sound ok?"

"Yeah, but don't bother the little one too much!" Judy kidded.

"Hey," Nick complained, "I'll have you know, that I'm great with children."

"I'm 12-and-a-half so I'm almost a teen," Tim butted in.

"*Ahem*," Mr Antonilope coughed.

"Don't worry," Nick said playfully, "I'm coming. I'll see you later fluff!"

"Bye Nick, bye Tim," the bunny said as she waved.

Pawpod* - Zootopia version of the iPod