A/N: C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!
Thought I was exaggerating when I said this one was just about ready, didn't ya?
As always, major thanks to GameBoy for his assistance! Can't point out specifics just yet, it'd spoil the incoming surprises.
Hope you enjoy!
TOG.
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Agent Wilde 2: Mountains out of Molehills
Chapter 6
Second Date, First Op.
Judy was the first to wake, the tranquilizer having run its course rather quickly, she found herself encompassed in a cozy, fuzzy red mass of fur.
Nick's breaths were slow and steady, heartrate low, keeping her in a sleepy daze by pure proximity.
Morning, Sunshine. Lefty drawled, her calculating tone being left soft in light of the current arrangements.
Do we have to get up? Righty yawned her disapproval of the idea.
No. Judy replied, turning gently to face her fox, At least, not yet…
Nick punctuated the response with a particularly deep breath, nose pressing into her fur- one of dozens of scenting breaths during their impromptu nap, the exhale running over her ears in a warm wash down the collar of her shirt. She let out a small sigh, she almost wished they were just a normal couple, no killers to worry about, no one out for their blood. She wanted desperately to just sleep in, cradled by the one mammal she'd ever cared for beyond family.
Sadly, the silence was broken by a chorus of phones going off all at once.
Nick groaned, stretching and subsequently rolling over, trapping the doe underneath him with a surprised squeak, Skye all but leaping out of the shared cot, sending Jack flipping over the other edge.
The buck let out a pained sigh, "That's an interesting 'Good morning'…"
Skye crept over the cot, peering over, "Sorry, dear. Reflex." She stated in apology, reaching down to help him right himself.
Nick realized why the cot had suddenly become so comfortable, and snapped up to all fours, revealing a somewhat flustered and suffocated doe.
"Morning…" he said with a tinge of embarrassment.
Judy let out a short sigh, it was only slightly uncomfortable. "Morning, Slick."
They all scrambled slightly to find their respective devices, all failing miserably.
"Aw, that's just precious…" Skye said as she held up Judy's phone, displaying the background from her return to the bureau.
Nick's ears were planted firmly onto his skull as he passed Jack's phone to him, "That uh… that's an eyeful." He said, clearing his throat. Having seen a tasteful- if lewd, shot of Skye crawling toward the camera, in the buff.
Jack's ears had fallen down his back as he received the device, passing Nick his own.
Judy was staring at Skye's with a warm smile that held a strong sense of longing… it was of the buck and vixen on their wedding day. They looked so happy.
You think he'd go for something traditional like this…?
I get the feeling he'd want to make it something special… something we'd never forget. Righty commented with a 'coo'.
Judy passed Skye's phone over, a bit awkwardly, having stared at it like that. "Sorry... it's a lovely photo."
"It's a day I'll never forget." Skye said fondly, "I'd do it again, if we could turn back the clock." She added with a wistful grin.
Nick caught a glimpse of the screen as it changed paws, feeling a slight pang in his chest as it hit home why she was staring at it with so much want.
Hm…
Another time, pal. Tail chided.
I know.
They all knew what the alert was for, proceeding to wolf-down the now cold food, heating it would take too much time, time that could be used to hunt down their collective threat. They filed out of the office to meet with Bogo and Wolfard.
After a silent walk to the wolf's office, all four agents seated, Bogo waved a hoof at the wolf, who was all but leaping out of his own seat.
"WE HAVE A LIST!" Wolfard burst out, tongue lolling, eyes blazing despite the bags hanging below them.
"Ralph…" Bogo gently- for Bogo, chastised.
"Right, sorry… WE HAVE A LIST!" The wolf all but yelled once more, Bogo put a hoof to the bridge of his nose, the wolf was overtired, and like all canids, easily excited when they knew they'd done well, he let it slide this time.
"A list of what, Scruffy?" Nick questioned.
"Thought you'd never ask!" Wolfard replied, excitement refusing to wane. "It's a list of regular meeting places for our battered squirrel, his point of contact… You wouldn't believe how detailed his code was! He took hexadecimal, converted sections into binary, hid the key to it in BRAILLE and then scrambled it all into a-"
"Woah, woah… In English, please?" Nick interjected, he knew the wolf went through security hell to get the information, but it was far too early, and they were all far too under-caffeinated to remotely grasp even half of what the tech-inclined wolf was about to go over, much less in any detail.
A familiar voice broke through from the corner, having gone unnoticed when they entered, "It's a list of their meeting points, a base description of the mammals he was going to be in contact with at a given meeting, as well as the keywords they were to use for confirmation of a safe contact in the event that either of them were to be replaced due to unforeseen circumstances."
A raccoon with a 'Trainee' badge hanging from his shirt stepped over to stand next to the wolf, leaning on his chair.
"Cooper?!" Judy blurted out, quite surprised to see the mammal in question.
"He was debriefed while you two were still hospitalized." Bogo stated, "Shortly before he… convinced us he would be a reliable asset by crashing the entire system and broadcasting some horrid song about what foxes say across the building."
Cooper and Ralph let out a chuckle, exchanging a fist-bump at the statement.
"He also mentioned quite a bit about you, Hopps-" Bogo raised a hoof as Judy's ears fell, eyes going wide. "all off the record." The buffalo added, the doe's eyes dropping to her feet in clear shame, until she heard an otherwise inaudible whisper.
"Hey, don't sweat it, Fluff. It's all in the past, where it belongs."
Her eyes flicked to the fox seated next to her, his eyes were still fixed on the mammals in front of them, but he was sporting a knowing grin and his tail had once more curled around, resting behind her on the chair, tip flicking at one of her ears.
Tail had gotten better about keeping things more discreet, and the exchange went widely unnoticed by all but the other bunny in the room.
Said buck simply grinned, keeping his eyes forward.
"They're still working on cracking the rest, but if nothing else, we have a lead." Bogo stated, moving to rest his hooves on the small desk, which let out a creak of protest. "I'm not exactly keen on sending ANY of you into the field right now, much less you two." He said with a pointed glance at Jack and Skye, both still sporting stitches for their injuries, "But we can't waste any time, and we have to assume that the other side is thinking the same thing right now."
"Where do you want us to start, Sir?" Jack asked, standing in the chair.
"For the time being, I want you two to play support for WildeHopps."
Nick snorted, "WildeHopps, Sir?"
Judy couldn't help but giggle at the title, given that was what her mind had been on this very morning. "How come he gets title priority? Why not HoppsWilde?"
Nick let out a dramatic gasp, "You wound me, Carrots… I'm the senior acting agent here, as such, I respectfully request that you not question my superiority of Surname."
Judy boxed the fox in the arm with a smirk. "Mhmm… You're just lucky 'WildeHopps' rolls off the tongue better." Putting a paw to her chin, she added, "Technically speaking, 'I' Would be the senior agent here… I just took a long, forced hiatus." The doe finished with a smug grin.
"…Touché." The fox conceded with a grin of his own. Bogo let out a tired sigh.
These two will be the death of me.
"If you two are quite finished, the official briefing will be taking place in a few hours, you need to get properly outfitted. Their next contact was tonight."
Wolfard handed over a single slip of paper with a short list of words, and an address.
"Get it memorized before you leave, blow your cover and we're all screwed."
They took the slip and made immediately for the armory, they already had their usual gear, sidearms, vests and what have you, they were given the same sleek earpiece Nick had on his trip to the Isles, a single burner each, and a recorder under the guise of a ballpoint pen for Nick. Judy deigned to keep a hilariously stereotypical carrot shaped pen for reasons she didn't state beyond, "It's sentimental."
They were then directed to a makeshift salon for a quick, but effective, cosmetic fix.
Jack and Skye were sitting in a sleek sportscar, windows heavily tinted, retrofitted with a hefty array of observation equipment.
"What do you think they're getting done?" Jack asked, long since bored after the initial excitement wore off.
"Probably just a bit of a dye job, change a distinctive color, contacts and whatnot."
Jack nodded, settling back into the silence.
After what felt like ages, Skye let out a long sigh.
"What's up?" the buck inquired.
She shifted in her seat a bit, "I just wish we weren't on restriction…"
"I know what you mean, we finally get some real screen time, and we're on medical restriction? What kind of screwy turn of events is that?"
"Right?! I mean, it's not like we've-… 'screen time'?" the vixen asked with a confused tone.
"…What?"
"You said something about 'screen time', we're not in a film, Jack."
"Feels like it, sometimes. Think about it." The buck replied, turning in his seat, "What are the odds Hopps would've had an adrenaline injection on her that day on the ship?" he questioned with an air of finality.
"…Huh." The vixen couldn't respond to that, adrenaline wasn't exactly common equipment for mammals abroad, much less one on independent contract outside the ZBI.
Both mammals sat staring out the windshield after that, pondering the current situation, as well as past events, and how… orchestrated so much of it seemed in hindsight.
"Nick…?" Judy asked from behind a separating curtain, having the black tips on her ears blended out into a bleached cream color just a few shades lighter than the rest of her coat.
"Yeah, Fluff?"
"…Why is my cover name 'Carrots'?"
Nick snorted back a laugh as the artist continued bleaching out his tail and ears. "No clue…"
The curtain snapped open, leaving the currently undressed fox unable to react without getting chemicals in his eyes, or into the red of his coat.
The doe was still recognizable to the fox, though only halfway, she had several patches across her torso of varying blacks, browns and grays, running up to and wrapping around her face like a half-mask. The only thing that was still original was one eye, a currently blazing violet glaring at the fox in good humor, the other was a green not far from the fox's own. The simple fact they were both lacking clothing had gone forgotten while they were being worked on.
If it weren't for the change in eye color, he'd say she wore the quad look quite well.
"You do realize I'm not going to let you get off scot-free on this, yes?"
"So long as I get off." Nick immediately fired off, before he could realize what the statement implied. Judy's jaw dropped, one eye twitching slightly. That sweet scent was back again, but with a harsh edge to it.
AAAAAAHAHAHAHAAAA! Tail couldn't contain himself, and immediately began thrashing, which resulted in the mammal working on Nick to spill the chemical cocktail in his paws, everywhere.
Everyone instinctively closed their eyes, when they opened them, it was Judy who was laughing.
Nick's coat was rapidly being bleached out in massive patches, and he looked absolutely ridiculous. The doe decided this was quite good enough and snapped a picture of the poor patchwork fox. Sadly, after that, they had no choice but to finish the job and do the rest of his coat in the same manner.
"You know… you don't look bad as an Arctic." The doe commented with a smile. Nick harrumphed at the statement as he popped in the second contact, leaving his eyes a bright, but rusty yellow.
"I do miss the green, though." The doe stated with a smirk, framing blue and green eyes.
"I could say the same for you, although… I've always had a thing for heterochromia." The white tod stated, leaning down with a toothy grin and half-lidded eyes.
"Maybe we could have some fun before we drop the cover story…" She stated with a sultry tone.
ROLL WITH IT. Tail stated, once again flailing, thankfully not around chemicals, this time.
Hush you.
"Are you propositioning me, Miss Hopps?"
The doe didn't reply immediately, instead she just bounced off her haunches slightly, giving the fox a quick kiss before she walked off to get an outfit for the venue, one ear draped over her shoulder, tail bobbing, hips swaying the whole way. "I'm not hearing a 'no', Foxy."
Think she'll keep that tone up the whole time? Tail asked with a pant.
"I wouldn't object." Nick replied after managing to close his maw long enough.
He shook his head a bit before following the doe into the adjacent room for an appropriate outfit.
He entered to find the bunny pawing through a robust rack of clothing, pausing here and there.
"This place is one of those 'retro' joints, right?" She asked the fox without turning from the rack.
"Yep, some 80's deal, plaid skirts, plaid footwraps, that kind of thing." He replied, going through the male selections, mostly cheesy suits, torn jeans and torn jean-suits, it was one fashion abomination after another.
The doe continued pawing through before pulling one outfit back to the front that had apparently caught her eye. "No way…" she exclaimed softly before bolting for one of the curtained rails in the corner of the room.
"Find something lacking holes and tears, I take it?" Nick teased, pulling yet another set with torn jeans to the front. "I'm chalking that up to the Rabbit Foot phenomenon."
The fox was making a second round through, hoping he'd missed a set that wasn't missing half the fabric when he heard the curtain being whipped open with a swish and rattle.
"What do you think?"
If she keeps up that tone of voice, I'm not going to be able to focus… he thought, turning to see a more bashful Judy than her voice would imply.
She was wearing a somewhat loose cut-off top, exposing her midriff, with a Salutations Serval design on the front. The shirt was accented by a zipper-ridden purple faux leather jacket, the 'waistline' of it ending abruptly after the aforementioned top, ears up with a rainbow monstrosity of braided lacy cord tied at the base.
The whole outfit was brought together with a mid-length, angled skirt over leggings sporting several horizontal rips, along with archaic, laced, plaid footwraps. The icing on the cake for the tod, however, was the resulting stance for the outfit was strictly designed around walking off the haunches.
"…"
"Is it too much?" the doe asked, feeling more self-conscious the longer Nick stared without managing a word.
Nick simply raised an eyebrow, eyes running over her form, pausing repeatedly at her legs, the leggings weren't see-through, but he could easily make out the lithe musculature underneath, and it was killing him.
Judy lowered her stance a bit, though not so far as to make contact with the ground, pulling one of her ears down to fiddle with it, eyes flicking between the fox and the floor.
"…I'll grab something else."
Nick finally gained enough cognizance to speak. "No!"
The doe jumped a bit at the sudden outburst, eyes flashing open, she froze.
Nick cleared his throat, worked his tongue clumsily for a moment, and tried again. "No, it looks good…"
She brightened a bit, small smile forming.
"Really good."
Her tail started flicking.
"I suppose… if you're going with that, I should go with…" He flicked through the rack once more, pulling a set and drawing the curtain.
Judy watched the dim silhouette pulling on this, tying down that, and generally rushing to don its clothing.
He'd look amazing in a puck-rock outfit. Righty purred.
I was thinking greaser, myself. Lefty commented.
Please, he could kill almost anything. The doe shot back.
…Touché. Both sides replied in unison.
"You need a paw in there, Slick?" She teased, wondering just what he'd grabbed.
"You offering?" The fox replied, poking his head out with a smirk.
"Just hurry up so I can see!"
The fox obliged, at least until he ended up losing his balance, desperately grabbing the curtain on his way to say hello to the floor. Standing with a grimace, curtain hanging around him, Judy couldn't help herself, and started laughing as she grabbed a laurel off one of the shelves, planting it loosely on the fox's head.
Nick's plastered on a look of 'you're joking, right?' before he unwrapped the curtain from his form and tossed it loosely over the rail.
"Not bad…" the doe commented as she looked him over.
He was wearing simple set of ripped up jeans, a half-tucked shirt sporting a Buns'n'Posies logo over a long-sleeved grey stretch-fit she knew would show off quite a bit more without the interfering t-shirt.
His own get-up was polished off with a garish double-eyed belt, looped up and under itself after the buckle, and a black folded cap with an ear popped out of one side.
He tossed aside the footwraps, he was never a fan of them, opting to simply stand off his haunches without extra encouragement.
She couldn't help but appreciate the simple look, and slight feral edge he had when off his haunches.
Something's missing… she thought as she took it in.
Two things, actually. Lefty commented.
"Well…?" the fox asked with a hesitant grin.
The doe didn't respond, instead, she grabbed a jacket from the rack, tossing it to the fox, it was a similarly zipper infested look to her own, black, a bit too tight for the fox to close, but thankfully waist length.
Nick struck a pose in a mirror, the jacket was a definite improvement.
"Good?" he asked, assuming the doe was done.
She wasn't.
She stood as tall as she could, grabbing his shirt by the collar and proceeding to tear it down to the top of the logo, running her paws down his chest, enjoying both the act of tearing his shirt, and the feel of his almost downy coat.
Nick's ears were fully forward at this point, watching the satisfied look on the doe's face as she pulled him closer. She closed the minimal distance, both mammals tilting to opposing sides. A simple, now practiced, motion of muzzles meeting.
"Good."
The pair approached an otherwise standard vehicle, transformed and ready for their 'date night', jackets having been fitted with internal holsters- as discreet as they could be, the only real downside to their respective get-ups was the distinct lack of ability to easily hide ballistic vests.
Skye caught their scent under the fading tones of chemicals, and nearly lost it when she saw Wilde was white as a ghost.
"Holy…" Jack started, looking between the two as they approached the car, there was no way it wasn't Hopps and Wilde. Visual differences aside, it was odd to see them both off their haunches, walking strictly on pad and claw... it was almost elegant.
"Well, I suppose that seals it, you really were jealous of my spotless coat, weren't you?" Skye stated with a giggle, turning her attention to the quad-patterned bunny at his side, "I'm not hot on the eyes, but I have to say, you two were clearly born in the wrong generation. Not too many mammals can pull off…" she knew it was supposed to be retro, but good lord was it overstated, "whatever look that is."
Judy let out a nervous chuckle before clearing her throat and resuming the same tone she had earlier, though with a bit more pep and angle in it, "I'm sorry, do we know you? We've just been waiting for our Zuber to the club." She punctuated the statement by popping a piece of gum into her mouth and proceeding to blow a comically large bubble with it.
'POP!'
"Idn't that right, Vin?"
"You're already having too much fun with this." Nick stated with a grin.
"I've literally been doing this for years, Slick." The doe replied, with far less excitement as the statement finished, "It's just nice not being alone in it. Feels more like a game, this way…"
She was on the run for a long time. Tail commented, Probably takes the fun out of it when you're doing it to survive.
Fair point. Nick agreed, Now… bunny, ears drooping, fix.
Bunny, cute, fluffy. Tail replied, beginning to swish before wrapping around the doe and pulling her over to the vehicle.
"C'mon babe, these mooks are the Zubah." Nick said clenching a toothpick in his molars, opening the door and ushering the bunny in. All with a very cheesy, surprisingly effective accent reminiscent of old B-grade gangster flicks before snapping his claws at Skye and Jack with a look of disdain and a mischievous wink.
"…" Jack stared at the two as they took their seat- in a literal sense, there was just enough space in the back for one mammal, given the equipment that had been jammed into the already tight space.
The window rolled down to show Judy lounging back in the fox's lap, kicking the driver's seat while staring with disinterest at her phone, still blowing bubbles, Nick making a 'Let's get moving' motion with his paw.
Skye and Jack exchanged an amused look.
"They've created monsters…" Jack stated as the window rose to a closed position with Nick grinning, rolling his eyes. 'greasy goombas'.
"I think it's cute…" Skye stated with a smirk, "don't say you're not jealous, just because we're stuck on support for this one." The vixen scolded playfully, "You've just got tangled fur because I'm not in a short skirt and tights." She finished with a whip of her tail, taking her seat at the wheel.
They were all silent for a short while after the vehicle pulled out and away.
"If things go tails up, you two are to get out, NOT engage, Skye and I will be monitoring things as closely as we can. If it comes down to it, we can feed you answers, but the more organic your interactions are, the better." Jack stated.
"Why bother taking guns at all, then?" Nick chided, Judy just shook her head at the exchange.
"Shooting your way out is a last resort, Wilde. Unless you intentionally drop your story, you two shouldn't run into any issues. So far as we've been made aware, Secret was the only mammal accessing our building electronically, as such, they shouldn't have any inclination that you two have undergone your little change in appearance." Skye shot back.
Jack let out a short sigh, "Look, you two are clearly already settled into your personas, just don't drop them and you'll be fine, this is as much about your ability to maintain a calm, consistent act when you're faced with mammals intelligent enough to poke holes in it."
The buck quickly cut off Nick's building retort, "I know you managed in the Isles, Wilde, but this is different. For one; you two are working in tandem on this, not trying to fool one another."
"And two?"
"…There's more than one immediate life at stake if either of you slip up."
Nick and Judy- or rather, 'Vinny and Carry' exchanged a look, they both knew what was at risk, and they were determined to avoid that 'worst' outcome at all costs.
It was a fairly long drive, all four mammals were firing off the potential questions and appropriate answers off the sheet they'd been given, they were well versed in its contents well before they reached their destination, a neon ridden, thumping monstrosity of a club. It was impressive, if only for the fact the bulk of it was underground.
'Vinny' sent off a single message on his personal phone before leaving it alongside Judy's in the back seat, the contact was simply listed as WC-1-LPR.
The two were deposited at the front, standing in the neon glow of the massive letters above the stairwell leading down and in.
Skye pulled away from the club, out around the block, turning the headlights off while she turned into a side alley far enough from the building to not draw undue attention, but not so far as to waste time if they needed to get out quickly.
"Think they'll be able to pull it off without trouble?"
"It's Wilde, Skye… the likelihood of things going south is high by proxy." The buck responded, handing over one of the headsets, flicking switches and adjusting volume levels. "You heard about the Isles, it was effectively one flip of the coin after another."
"True, but he didn't really have any backup, then. You know as well as I do how much easier things are when you've got someone to watch your tail."
"And you know as well as I do how much that same factor can throw a monkey wrench into things on both sides."
"They'll find their common ground quickly enough, dear. If they haven't already."
Jack could only grin at that as he made his final adjustments and leaned back in his seat, the equipment coming through crystal clear, thus far.
"Ready, Carrots?" Vinny asked, adjusting his jacket, replacing the toothpick with a fresh one.
"As I'll ever be." Carry replied, lacing her paws around the arctic fox's offered arm.
"Let's give 'em a show."
The odd pairing took the stairs at a casual pace, fading from silhouettes into nothing as the neon lights were left behind them.
Greasy Pete's
A/N MkII:
Wait for the next chapter might be a bit, there's going to be a lot going on in it…
In the meantime, I've been curious, how many of the references and pokes at other shows, games, stories, etc. have you caught and really recognized or enjoyed since OhNo? (Don't pay any heed to the Wizard of Oz one, I made a mistake on that, it doesn't exist, there is no Wizard…) (o,o)
Sincerely,
TOG: The Wizard of Gauze.
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