Chapter 4
The Journey Begins
"I can't do this" Judy thought as she threw the book in hers to the desk in front of her, she leaned back in the chair. She wore and expression of boredom then her phone rang and her ear lifted then another ring and she nearly fell out of her chair lunging to grab it. She read the screen and it identified the caller a Clawhauser. "He should be working, why is he calling me?" Judy thought. She answered the phone.
"Hello?, Clawhauser why are you..." Judy began as she was interrupted by the mammal on the other side of the phone.
"Hopps"
"Bogo?! Why is he calling me? And on Clawhausers phone?" Judy thought frantically, and timidly answered him.
"Yes?, Chief Bogo"
"Have you read the paper today?, because I have and I don't like the front page, I want you to come in as soon as possible and don't keep me waiting, and wear casual outing clothes."
"Yes sir" Judy answered hurriedly answered.
There was a click as signal that that mammal on the other side hung up. "What is in the paper that could make Bogo want me to come in?". Judy looked over at the clock in the window, 12:00. It was now noon so the paper has gotten to far but in this city that was far enough. "Better get going" Judy thought.
Thirty minutes later Judy was walking up the steps of the ZPD. "What is in the paper that is so horrible" Judy thought as she recalled the trip over.
Mammals that normally acknowledged her didn't pay attention to her or if they did they would have had a hateful attitude towards her. As she walked in the ZPD she stopped amazed at what she saw.
"Hey, is everything alright carrots?"
Judy was nocked out of her amazement by the fox that put her in it.
"What are you doing here?" Judy asked curiously.
"I'm here because of our deal" the fox said with a smile.
"What deal? I didn't make a deal with you" Judy said agitated.
"Oh, the deal is not between you and I, but me and Bogo, but the deal does concern you." The fox said with a devilish grin
"HOPPS! MY OFFICE NOW!" Bogo yelled from the third story.
"You better go" the fox said turning from the bunny.
As the fox began walking away he thought about how eventful his day had been and how it was going to still be. "It all started this this morning" Nick took a seat in another one of Zootopias multi species seats that was obviously built for a larger species.
As Nick got out of the recliner he had to admit the sleeping arrangements put a smile on his face. Tiff had taken the sofa, while he had the recliner, Jessica and Jamie shared a bed in one of the two rooms while Nick had tricked Finnick into sharing the second room and bed with Jasmine. "I wonder how they are doing this morning?" Nick thought as he began walking to the second room. He opened the door just enough to sneak a glance, he chuckled. Last night the fenneck was nearly hanging off the bed to make sure the much larger vixen had enough room, and now the fenneck was wrapped in the vixens arms in the middle of the bed.
"What's so funny?" Tiff was now sitting on the couch.
"Nothing" Nick smiled as he silently shut the door.
Nick walked back into living room and noticed Tiff was not there. He searched for her again but once again did not see her.
"Hey Nick I'm hungry and all they have is food that needs to be made" Tiff said walking out of the kitchen.
"That seems just about right" Nick said grabbing his chin and noticed a puzzling look from Tiff.
"You see Tiff, me and Finnick have spent many a night here and those girls knew the only way to keep us here long enough to wake up and see us was to to fill their kitchen with the promise of a home cooked meal." Nick said with a smile on his face. Nick looked at the clock on the wall. 7:30
"The girls will start getting up within the hour if you want to wait." Nick said turning back to Tiff.
"No I hungry now!" Tiff said angrily.
"Alright I'll make you something just calm down." Nick said raising his paws just below his muzzle surrendering trying to keep Tiff quiet.
"Here you go little girl" Nick said teasingly putting an omlet in front of her at a round table half an hour later.
"Thank you" Tiff said as she began eating.
Nick began looking around the kitchen and noticed the mess he made.
"So what's for breakfast?" Jamie said walking in.
"Omlets, sit down I'll make you one" Nick said walking over to the stove preparing it for an extreme amount of cooking.
"I want one too!" Jessica said coming in now taking a seat next to Jamie, who was sitting next to the left of Tiff.
"Ok, ok just be patient" Nick said obviously starting to hurry.
"Are you alright Nick do you need help?" Jasmine said walking into the the kitchen.
"Naw he's got it" Finnick said "He's using the skills he's best with" The fenneck said with a grin. Nick put on a devious smile and faced the fenneck.
"So Finnick tell me how did you sleep last night? Did you toss and turn like a mad bear?" Nick said walking closer to the fenneck.
"I... Um..." the fenneck said obviously embarrassed.
"You did something like a bear but it wasn't tossing and turning was it? More like hugging." Nick said looking at Jasmine who looked away in embarrassment.
"I'm going to my van!" The fenneck said angrily.
"Your van or Jasmine?" Nick said with a puzzling look.
"What?!" The fenneck said turning around. "I said I was going to my van"
"I mean which do you care about more your van or your Jasmine" Nick said those last words with a bit of emphasis to get to Finnick and earning a slight squeak from Jasmine making everyone look at her. Nick looked back at Finnick with a cunning smile.
"So which one Finnick?" Nick put on a curious expression.
"My... um..." the fenneck said obviously struggling to speak.
"Your what? Your van or your Jasmine?" Nick said with a curious expression but saying it with a tone that would get to Finnick and surprisingly getting another squeak from Jasmine.
The fenneck started looking around at the mammals looking at him wondering what his answer will be. His eyes then fell apon the mammal in question and she too was starring deeply at him, it was obvious he couldn't handle the current situation and he wanted out.
"I'm going for a walk!" The fenneck started running for the door.
"I'll have food for you in like fifteen minutes!" Nick yelled quickly after the fenneck before the door slammed shut. Nick turned around to continue making food for the others.
Tiff pondered at what just transpired before her and it must have be obvious because Jessica spoke up.
"Finnick likes Jasmine but he's too scared to admit it, and she is to afraid to admit that she likes him to."
"Stop it Jess!" Jasmine yelled.
"Why is it true?" Jamie asked
"Um..." Jasmine looked down and put her paws together.
"Ok girls stop picking on her that's my job" Nick said walking up to the tables with a couple of plates putting one in front of Jamie and the other in front of Jasmine.
"That's not what I'm curious about" Tiff said "In fact that's the part that makes sense."
"Then what are you curious about Tiff?" Jasmine said quickly surprising everyone except Tiff it didn't fase her.
"Nick told me about that promise of a home cooked meal but why would Finnick come back if he made it" Tiff felt like she was missing something and she felt like it even more as the vixens around the table broke out in laughter.
Noticing the confusion Tiff was in Jessica spoke up. "You see Tiff we didn't promise to make food for the boys, WE made Nick promise to make food for us" Nick came walking up to the table with more plates in paw, setting one in front of Jessica and the other at the empty chair of the table and walking out of the room, catching everyone's gaze.
"You see Tiff we may be three vixens who live alone but me and Jamie don't cook or we would burn the building down, Jasmine does the cooking and she only knows how to cause because nick got her hooked on it..."
"Where did Nick learn to cook?" Tiff said interrupting Jessica, and her response started with a sigh.
"We don't know, we just know that he can, and long ago when we first met the boys they were wondering the city doing who knows what, we felt bad for them, and every time we asked about them they evaded the questions, and when we had them stay the night a couple of times they wouldn't be here in the morning so..." Jessica looked around the kitchen "then one day they cooked for us, well it was mostly nick, we were about done with them and the trouble they were causing us but after that meal we made them... Nick promise to stay and make us food the next morning, and they've kept that promise, even now"
"I'm sorry, I don't mean to be invasive" Tiff said leaning forward in her as the vixen across from her loooked as if she was about to burst into tears.
"No, it's alright it's just, we were so worried we were going to lose them when they got drafted." Jessica said now in more calm tone not as if she was about to burst into tears.
"They were drafted?" Tiff said now curious about her ex commanding officers, and gaining curious expressions from the three vixens also.
"What do you mean?" Jamie now said in an agitated tone. Tiff knew she had to think of something to tell them and quickly.
"What's wrong Tiff? You look like something is wrong with you, are feeling sick" Jessica said.
"I... well..." Tiff was having trouble of thinking of something to tell then until her saving grace walked in.
"We didn't tell others we were drafted, we let them think we were signed up for it." Nick said walking in with wet fur, a new scent, and new clothes on, he obviously took a shower.
"Why Nick?" Jessica asked
"It didn't matter, we were there and nothing was going to change that" Nick said in a defensive tone. The door then opened and slammed shut by a worried fenneck.
"Nick, where are you?, we've got a problem!" The fenneck said looking for the vulpine.
"In the kitchen, what's the matter?" Nick said worried about the fenneck or what he did. The fenneck came rushing in with a roll of paper.
"READ THIS NOW!" Finnick said shoving the roll into nick arms which was quite surprising do to their obvious size differences.
Nick opened the paper and noticed it was a newspaper, the Zootopia Zews to be exact. Air was a small but widely distributed newspaper in Zootopia, and jaw dropped when he read the headline.
"What's wrong Nick?" Jessica said
Nick was snapped out of his trace towards the newsroom. "The newspaper it... it caught me off guard."
"What's in it?" Jessica said.
"Read it for yourself" Nick said as he threw the paper on the table for the vixens and oclet to read. Their jaws dropped at it what they read.
The paper read its headline as The Unwanted Hero as it showed a picture of nick from his left side being walked into the ZPD by a wolf officer, the following paragraph was what stunned them the most. As seen in the photograph above, Two Star General, and decorated vet, Nick Wilde was arrested around midnight for breaking and entering into his own home, General Wilde was the leader of the Chimera Squadron, which was one of the leading groups that lead the final attack and ended the war, and he returns home to get arrested for trying to get into his own home, the lead officer was Judith Hopps, there was a struggle between the two and officer Hopps was nocked unconscious, she checked out of Zootopia General Hospital yesterday morning, General Wilde's condition is also still unknown, it is believed that he was released midday yesterday as well. The hero of many mammals everywhere, Judith Hopps (picture to the right), now arrested a mammal who fought to prove he was more than a predator, now being treated less than that. We all thought Judy was the beginning of change for all mammal kind but is she like most bunnies and she hates foxes just because their foxes. We are looking to get a interview with General Wilde and Officer Hopps.
The newspaper then trailed off into other articles, the vixens looked stunned up at Nick.
"Is this true Nick?" Jessica asked
"No, it's not" Nick said leaning against the frigid
"Then what really happened!" Jamie said in a angry tone
"I..." nick began as the phone began ringing and all of the mammals stopped to look at at the phone on the wall as if it didn't happen. It rang again, and just as it began the third rang nick picked up the phone and answered it.
"Hello, this is Nick Wilde, who is this?" Nick said a little impatiently.
"This is Cheif Bogo, I'm sorry Mister Wilde did I wake you?" Bogo said almost sounding sympathetic
"No, Cheif Bogo, I..., let me guess, your calling about this mornings paper?" Nick said in a more gentle tone, and gaining a surprising glacé from the other mammals in the room.
"I see you've read the paper already." Bogo replied
"Yes, and I have to admit I don't like where it's going" Nick replied in a uneasy tone
"You remember our agreement Mister wilde?" Bogo asked impatiently
"Yes, I can come to you so we can better discuss this, if you want but the ZTA won't be here till 10, and it's a two hour ride to downtown, so I won't be there till noon" Nick asked scratching the underside of his muzzle remembering the train system schedule and the only other one he could of gotten was already gone.
"I can send a squad car to come and get you, so you don't have to spend that long for a ZTA ride, it can be there in thirty minutes, how is that?" Bogo said
"That is just fine" Nick said with a smile as he heard the buffalo on the other side hang up the phone. Nick put the phone down.
"Nick? What's wrong?" Jessica said
"In thirty minutes some officers from the ZPD will be here to get me... oh and Finnick you have food on the table" nick said as he turned to walk into the living room.
The next thirty minutes were spent in complete silence not one of them dare speak, of course only half of them knew why he was truly going, but they all knew he had to go. Then the silence was broken.
BUZZ
It was the call sound that was made when someone pressed a button on the room ID pad in the lobby. Jessica walked up the the intercom and pressed a button.
"Who is it?"
"Officers Delgato and Fangmire are here to pick up Mister Wilde"
Nick had snuck up behind Jessica and continued the the conversation with the officers with the vixen in between him and the intercom.
"Sorry but there's not a mammal here by the name of Mister Wilde..." nick purposefully drug out the name "there is a Nick Wilde..." nick one again dragging out the name "but I don't know why officers would be coming for such a nice young mammal?"
"Very funny Mister Wilde, please come down so we can go Bogo was very serious about getting you quickly and I don't want him and more upset that he already is" The mammal on the other side of the intercom was Fangmire by the sound of it.
"Ok, just let me get my coat and I'll be down" Nick said childishly.
Nick turned around and went for his coat leaving Jessica there dazed at what happened. Nick started to put his coat on as he started for the door.
"Ok guys I'll be back soon, alright?" Nick said as he opened up door and left leaving the others wondering if he was stating or asking about he was doing.
As nick entered the lobby he saw officers Delgato and Fangmire were standing patiently, waiting for the fox. Nick opened the walked through the gate and greeted the officers.
"And how are you two today?" Nick put on a smile realizing how he was a horrible small talk mammal, but the reply by the tiger and wolf made he relax because they didn't realize it, "guess having the same mammals around you for nearly ten years will do that to you" Nick thought.
"Can we get going, Bogo seemed really impatient when we left" Fangmire said
"I noticed when I first meet him he seemed like he was having a really hard time trying to be nice to me, is it because I'm a fox?" Nick asked with a puzzled look.
The two officers looked at each other and back at the fox before one of them spoke up
"It's not you or the fact that your a fox, Bogo just has a hard time being nice in general, all officers just assume it's what happens when you become police chief" Delgato said
"Ok, let's get going" Nick said
The three mammals left the building and got into the police cruiser. The ride had been silent for some time when nick grew a devilish smile and looked at the two officers from the back of the car.
"Have I ever told you two the story of The Streak?" Nick asked
The officers were once again puzzled by what the fox said, Fangmire in the passenger seat looking back at Nick then at Delgato driving then back at Nick.
"No" Fangmire said cautiously
"Oh, you're going to love it" Nick said with a chuckle.
"Wait he was covered?" Fangmire said laughing
"Yes he was head to toe and it took me the entire ambush to realize it" Nick said
"Oh that poor mammal" Delgato said laughing as well.
"Poor him?!, poor us, me and the others had to live with that smell for a week before it washed out" nick said.
Delgato and Fangmire started laughing as they pulled into parking lot of the ZPD. Delgato and Fangmire walked Nick into the building and up to Bogos office. Nick looked at the door that lead into the office. "Well there's no turning back now" nick thought.
"What?, No!" Judy said looking up at the buffalo behind his desk.
"It's either you do this or you lose your badge permanently, understood" Bogo said putting his huffs on the desk and standing up in the process.
"Yes sir" Judy said reluctantly
"Good, now the mayor has set up a special account for you to pay for what ever you and Mister Wilde do, and this is coming from tax payers so don't go spending on what ever, understood" Bogo said as he pull out a card to hand to Judy.
"Yes sir" Judy said taking the card from Bogo.
"Good" Bogo replied
Judy left Bogos office and found nick sitting in chair leaning back, and what looks like him talking to himself. "He must be suffering from something to be talking to himself, and you go and make his life harder Judy" she actually felt bad for the fox, as she got closer she mostly saw the underside of his muzzle, his jaw stopped moving, Judy thought he must have herd her walk up.
"Okay Mister Wilde if your ready we can go now" Judy asked politely and got no response from the fox.
"Mister Wilde are you alright?" Judy was starting to get worried about the fox, who response made her heart jump.
He shifted to his right and started mumbling.
"Run bunny run" the fox said as he finished shifting, he was now almost laying on his right side.
Judy was put into a rage at what she saw. The fox before her was asleep in the chair, Judy was so angry she grabbed the fox by the collar of his shirt.
"Listen you, don't go making a fool of me or the..." Judy was interrupted by the slumbering fox.
The foxes eyes opened wide and what puzzled Judy was they had worry like no other in them.
"Get down John!" Nick then pushed Judy to the floor and covered her like something was about to hurt her, she saw his eyes were once again closed as if they were never going to open again. Nick eyes opened to seeing a bunny, but not the one he expected. He looked up and around and rolled back off of Judy, several officers had come over and helped Judy up.
"Wilde you dumb fox?" Judy started saying in an angry tone but it soon faded when she looked apon the worried fox now pushing away officers who walked over to help him up.
"Where am I? Don't touch me!" Nick said pushing the officers away again.
"Nick are you alright?"Judy said walking closer to the fox getting his attention.
"Who are you? How do you know me? Where am I?" Nick said starting to show hostility towards the mammals surrounding him.
"Your in the ZPD, Zootopia Police Department, you here because a mistake I made, my name is Judith Hopps" Judy felt a wave of guilt and sympathy for the fox. "He actually suffers from PTSD and I just put him in this situation" she thought.
"The ZPD I... I can't... I... I was..." the fox was struggling to process what was going on, and the officers around him backed up to give him room except for the bunny that continued to move closer.
As bunny got up to the fox and bent down on one leg she wanted to show him that he was safe.
"It's alright Nick, were not going to hurt you" she put her paw on his leg to show she meant no harm.
Nicks eyes went wide, his ears shot up, and his body stiffened. His left ear started to flick repeatedly.
"Nick... Nick are you alright?" Judy tried to get the fox to respond.
The fox seemed lifeless except for his flicking ear. Judy grabbed him by his shoulders to get his attention as she noticed he wasn't breathing, she leaned in close to listen for his breathing and couldn't hear anything, except for the flicking of his ear.
"Nick breath!" Judy started to shake him to get him to respond.
"Please Nick! I'm sorry just breath please, you can leave and never see me again just breath" Judy stopped shaking him as she looked down and started crying.
Nick then took in a silent deep breath, his ear stopped flicking and he started blinking. He looked about and noticed the bunny holding onto him crying.
"Tell me are you bunnies always this emotional?" Nick said smiling.
"Nick! I'm so sorry, I didn't know you had PTSD, please don't hate me" Judy said now hugging the fox.
"It's alright and I don't really have PTSD... like you think" nick said looking down rubbing the back of his neck with his paw.
"What do you mean nick?" Judy said genuinely concern for the fox.
"How about we go out to lunch and I'll tell you deal" nick said with a smile.
"Deal" the bunny said jumping up enthusiastically.
The two mammals then left, leaving the group of officers behind them confused at what just happened.
Authors Notes
Ok guys I'm very sorry about the late upload it took longer to write this chapter than I expected. Now the moment I... we've been waiting for "opens inbox moths fly out, opens and closes repeatedly, sighs" ok I was hoping to present some wonderful art and a cover photo for this but I guess I have to keep looking for the one. Also I will be uploading my work to DeviantArt and Wattpad.(my username is still the same Mike62245) I am working on archiveofourown but I'm waiting to hear back from them, as soon as I can I will let you know when I'm putting it on archive. So please let me know what you think or if you have any questions leave a review or pm me about it.