Disclaimer: I don't own Zootopia, I only own Rick.

LOVE ZOOTOPIA: WILL THERE BE ANY ROMANCE? To be honest with you, I'm not even sure yet. It's possible, but I guess you'll just have to keep reading to find out! :)

Enjoy the chapter everyone!

Nick and Judy were sitting quietly in the same chair in Chief Bogo's office, watching him with silent worry. The chief was rubbing his eyes with his hooves, as if unable to determine how he should approach this situation. For a moment, he glanced to the side at his wall that once held the missing mammals from the Night Howler case. With a deep sigh, he looked back at his two best officers. Judy looked very nervous, but Nick seemed as calm and uncaring as always. There was something about that fox that made Bogo respect and dislike him at the same time. One day, maybe, he would get a chance to know more about Wilde. Once Judy had proven herself to him, he decided to get to know her and her history more, as he tried to do with all of his officers.

Looking back on it, he felt guilty for treating Judy so differently from his other officers, but it just seemed so unlikely for a small bunny to be an officer at all, much less one of the best. He even found himself interested in Judy's background. Learning about her farm life and reasons as to why she became a member of the ZPD were fascinating. Of course, he never let her know that. Yes, he wanted to know about his officers and form a bond with them of sorts, but he still needed their respect...and maybe a little bit of fear.

But something about Wilde made him seem so unreachable. Every statement, question, or observation was deflected with a joke. Maybe this fox wasn't very trusting of his chief, which was understandable, as he had made it clear that foxes were untrustworthy that night that Nick and Judy had been chased by Manchas. Oh well, the fox would open up to him whenever he felt like it.

"All right," said Bogo, finally deciding that he had tortured the two with his silence long enough. "Let me get this straight. You two were nearly kidnapped by a duo of polar bears, you decided to visit a dangerous crime boss for evidence, and you found that he was kidnapped by a large majority of his own men." Judy nodded with a "Pretty much", while Wilde still remained unmoving in his side of the chair. At least he didn't have that annoying smile on.

Bogo sighed, "I would mention your lack of a warrant to search the place, but I think the absence of guards, and the gate being open should be enough to pass as probable cause. What's most important to me at the moment is how you managed to get kidnapped. Where were you and what were you doing?" Judy resisted looking at Nick. She wasn't exactly against the idea of ratting out Nick's friend for allowing them to be taken, but after his help with the case and apparent unwilling cooperation with the polar bears in the first place, she couldn't find the strength to do it. Besides, if Nick thought it best to tell Bogo about Rick, he would have done it already. Still, she couldn't just lie to the chief, or even avoid the truth. As much as she hated it, the chief needed to know everything. Any single piece of information could be vital in solving this case, and Judy knew that.

"Well," Judy started, looking over at Nick. Again, he was lost in thought. No wonder he was being so quiet, "you see, sir, we were following a lead on the robberies, and when we got to the lead, there were polar bears waiting for us. They did attempt to kidnap us, but we managed to escape."

"And what was this lead you were following?"

Judy took another careful glance at Nick. He still appeared to be in thought, but his ears had perked up. He was listening, perhaps even pretending to be in thought just to see what she would tell Bogo. "We were looking for this gray wolf by the name of Rick. You see, Nick noticed that the camera footage from one of the stores that were robbed had its footage on a loop to hide the man who was stealing the jewels. We only assumed that the footage had already been looked at by our tech team, so we took matters into our own hands. We went looking for this wolf who is apparently really good with computers." Bogo stiffened, until she added quickly, "He decrypted it, sir. We know who the direct robber is, except we think that this is definitely not a one man job."

Bogo stared at Judy for a long time, and then he gave Nick a strange glance. "Who was the one stealing the jewels?" he asked.

"Duke Weaselton, sir," Judy responded in a manner that she found a bit too formal, even though she was talking to her chief. Bogo groaned when she said that name. Weaselton was known at the precinct as the most annoying criminal in Zootopia, simply because of how pathetic he was. Regardless, Weaselton had a bad habit of committing small crimes for a larger purpose. His supposed moldy onion escapade months ago turned out to be Night Howlers that had not yet bloomed.

"This 'Rick' you're talking about. Are you saying that he set you up to be kidnapped from those polar bears?"

"No, sir. We believe that he was being forced to commit crimes under their watchful eye. I'm not sure if they were there by coincidence, or if they knew we were coming, but whoever these guys are working for...he's after Nick. When we were there, the polar bears went directly for him. They didn't know who I was at all. I don't have any evidence to back that up, but I do have major concerns about it, sir." At that, the fox could no longer pretend to be in thought. He looked up at Judy with surprise that he didn't even try to hide. After the surprise, came an angry glare, then nothing.

"What is this wolf's last name?"

Judy gave Nick a pleading look, and he didn't look away from her when he said, "Howlens."

"Well then," said Bogo. "I'm going to send some officers to bring Mr. Howlens for questioning and protection. Afterwards, Wilde, we're going to talk about what we are to do with you being a potential target." Nick was still staring at Judy, not even acknowledging the chief standing up and leaving the room to send some officers to Rick. As soon as the door closed, Nick's muzzle crinkled with annoyance, showing his fangs. Judy couldn't push down the slight feeling of fear at the fox's silent snarl. She knew that he would never hurt her, and she refused to make the same mistake that she did at the conference, but that same fear that prickled up her spine was present.

"How could you do that?" he asked, looking directly into her lavender eyes.

"Nick, I protected your friend. When the officers get to him, they'll take him from the polar bears."

Nick sighed, his snarl gone, replaced by another blank face, "First off, Carrots, if this guy could pay off almost all of Mr. Big's guards, what's stopping him from paying off the cops. Rick's better off working for them, at least until we catch whoever's behind this. Second of all, I'm not even angry about that. What I'm angry about is that you told the chief that they were after me."

"They are after you, Nick!" Judy exclaimed in worry.

"You don't know that!"

"But you do!" Judy yelled. "If you didn't know, you wouldn't have told me to go to my apartment that night while you stayed behind and got yourself killed."

"So this is, what, revenge? Are you just trying to get back at me for telling you to save yourself? Judy, you're right, okay? Whoever this guy is, he's looking for me. At least, I think he is. But you know what? He's after you now. You've been investigating this with me, and he may not know who you are, yet, but he might soon enough. He'll be after you too, Judy. If you think you're going to get Bogo to take me off the force, then he'll have to take you off too."

"I don't want him to take you off the force! I just want him to give you a break until we find the guy who's after you."

"He's after both of us!" Nick hissed. "Do you know what that means, Fluff? That means you and me. I'm not leaving this investigation, and neither are you. And think about it. Let's just say that he's after just me. If you put me in hiding, he won't bother doing anything else. You won't be able to find him. Did you think about that?" Judy was quiet. Everything about Nick was different. Just like that night when he told her to leave him. He hopped off the chair, turning away from the bunny, revealing the four gashes in the shirt he had yet to change out of. Judy could see the bandages underneath them. His ears were flatter than ever, and he turned back at her with empty eyes. His smile was gone, replaced by a frown that would rival Bogo's, except this wasn't an angry frown. It was almost sad. Vulnerable. Even his posture was more hunched than usual.

'Well,' she thought, 'I wanted to see the real Nick, but is this him? Is this the vulnerable Nick Wilde that I've been trying to squeeze out of him?' In these moments that Nick completely changed like this, it usually meant that he felt utterly betrayed. That's when Judy felt the guilt. He felt betrayed by her again. 'When will I stop doing that?'

"I...don't want you doing this case without me, Carrots. If something happened to you and I weren't there to stop it...I don't know what I'd do. You've been acting so weird, lately. Listen, I know you're just trying to know more about me, I get that. But do we really have to focus on what happened in the past? It's in the past for a reason, so there's no point in talking about it. You don't want to go there, Judy. It's a dark place...really dark, and I don't know if I'll be able to come back to the light after talking about it. It's not like I'm telling you what I had for breakfast last week...when I talk about these things, I don't just say it, I relive it. When I told you about the Ranger Scouts, I...was there again. I had the muzzle on, I was getting beaten, and I was outside the building, crying my little eyes out. It's like…"

"Like when you have the panic attacks," Judy finished, finally realizing. "But what about the jokes, the remarks, the sly smile you always have on?"

"It's not fake, Carrots...not all of the time. I told you that night on the gondola, things don't get to me anymore. Well, most things, at least. Sometimes, there are certain triggers that I can't hide no matter how hard I try. I'm slipping, I guess. I used to be so good at this stuff." Nick laughed darkly. "Maybe I'm just becoming emotional like you." He had on a small smile, and Judy allowed herself to give him a small smile back.

She hopped out of her own chair, walking towards Nick carefully. The last time she tried to comfort him, he recoiled. His head was down in thought. All he did was mention that he had a past, and he was already probably reliving it.

"Nick," Judy said, trying to get his attention. "Nick?" Judy's hand slowly made contact with Nick's shoulder. Immediately, he tensed, and her hand started to jerk back, but her partner grabbed it before it could move away from his shoulder. They both stood there for at least a minute, Nick's hand keeping Judy's on his shoulder. Judy took this moment to wrap her other arm around his waist, and he didn't resist this time. He did let go of her hand, allowing her to wrap both arms around her fox friend in a comforting hug which he returned in silence. "Thank you for telling me," Judy said.

"You're welcome," Nick said, "you emotional bunny, you." He rubbed the top if her head, messing up her fur. Judy laughed and snuggled deeper into Nick's side, tightening her hug. After all of the awful events they had been through in the past few days, this one moment almost made it worth the hardships.

It had been a few hours since Judy and Nick's hug, and they were both sitting in their office, typing on their respective computers. Judy had taken the flash drive from Nick's laptop case, which was sitting right next to him at his computer, along with his luggage. She was looking at the footage of Weaselton, while Nick was playing online poker. They were both really just passing the time until the officers came back with Rick. Also, Bogo hadn't come back yet to give Nick his decision. Judy would vouch for her fox, making sure that he could continue the investigation with her.

She sneaked a glance over at her friend, watching the satisfied smile crawl across his face as he won another game. She could tell that the fox was already feeling better after finally letting Judy know the reason why he didn't talk about his past. Nick knew now that Judy would stop constantly hounding him about such things. He could finally go back to making awful jokes, poking fun at his friend, and continuing his work as a police officer. Admittedly, while he knew Rick would not be happy in the slightest from seeing the cops, and finding out that Nick was one, he was still glad that he would be able to see the gray wolf again under better circumstances.

He watched as another poker game started with some random mammal somewhere in the world, starting to get bored of winning so easily. He needed an opponent that could actually give him a challenge. Finnick was okay at the game, but Nick would have to let him win sometimes, as the fennec fox wasn't a very good sport.

The only mammal in Zootopia that Nick could think of that could fairly beat him at poker was Mr. Big. Of course, that was before the skunk butt rug. In a way, since his friendship with the crime boss was somewhat restored, he found himself quite worried for the shrew. Judy never mentioned it, but he could only guess her worry for Fru Fru and her husband.

'And her baby,' Nick thought with a shudder. Mr. Big and Rick were both living proof that these polar bears weren't just after Nick. That made him wonder who they could have been working for. What was one mammal in Zootopia that polar bears would work for? Maybe that wasn't the most valid question, as Mr. Big could be easily crushed by his own men, yet they followed him...well, they used to. Nick had to wonder for a moment, and just a moment about who this mammal could have been. Was he new? Was he actually a she?

Nick supposed that they could ask Rick, but he doubted that this new crime boss would want Rick to see him. Then again, he was a bit clumsy. He made quite a few mistakes in the attempted kidnapping of Nick and Judy. Mistakes that the fox was quick to point out. Perhaps Rick did know what this new guy looked like. If not, he and Judy would just have to find Weaselton and ask him a few questions. That wouldn't be as easy without Mr. Big to scare him into giving answers, but they could find a way.

"Could you teach me how to play that?" Judy asked suddenly. Nick looked over at her, laughing at the tired look on her face. She was obviously sick of watching the same footage over and over.

"Sure, come over here," Nick responded. Judy's face lit up a bit and she scooted her chair over. Nick was about to start teaching her the basics of the game, until Chief Bogo poked his head in and knocked on the edge of the opening in the office cubicle. Judy immediately zoomed back over to the footage, pretending like she hadn't been about to play games with Nick, and turned around to face her chief.

"Chief," Judy said, "you're back." Bogo glanced at the screen that still had poker on it as Nick was casually clicking off of it. He shook his head before shifting his weight.

"Wilde, I've done some thinking about you being on this case," Bogo started, when Judy stood from her chair.

"Chief Bogo, it was wrong of me to say that Nick was a target of these polar bears, sir. He has just as much of a right to be on this case as I do," the bunny said, for once not intimidated in the slightest by the chief's sheer size. Nick was even impressed at the action.

"Your input is noted, Hopps, but I think you should let me finish before you stand up and make statements that could get you on parking duty," Bogo shot back. Judy sat back in her chair, embarrassed, but still ready to stand up again if this didn't go the way she wanted. "I may have assigned you this investigation, Wilde, but I've decided to let you choose whether you want to be involved in it or not. Even if you're not the only target, I am inclined to believe that you are one of them, based on the worries of Hopps here. But I do not think I should force you out of a case that you want to participate in."

Nick blinked. He wasn't sure he believed what he had heard just yet. Chief Bogo was actually giving him a choice. That was new. He let that sly smile show up on his muzzle, and the chief groaned, already knowing what was coming.

"Well," Nick said, "I can't just leave. You'd be out of one of the best officers you have. Let's face it, chief, you couldn't handle it here without me raising your blood pressure."

"You're right about one thing, Wilde: You do raise my blood pressure. Just don't make me regret this."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Chief Cheery," Nick said with a salute. Judy almost wanted to laugh, but she was actually a bit scared for Nick's safety at that moment. He always loved pushing Bogo's patience to the limit, and stopping right when he was about to go over the edge.

Bogo stared at Nick, before finally speaking. "Since you're officially staying, I need you to question your wolf friend. We just got him back from his apartment. There were no polar bears, just a lot of tech. All legal, I'll just assume. He refuses to talk to any of us. All he does is give our officers disgusted looks."

"Yeah, he's kinda messed up. He hates daytime and cops, no offense." Nick looked at the window to see that the sun was still up. "Poor guy was probably freaking out the whole way."

"He was. We had to give him a mild sedative, but he's already gotten over it. We figured it would be best if someone he knew went to talk to him." Nick looked at Judy, who nodded at him, and told Bogo he would be there in a minute. The chief walked out without another word.

"Well," Judy said. "At least he's okay."

"Yeah, but he's not going to be happy," Nick responded, walking out of the room to join Bogo. When he left, Judy looked at his computer, thinking about that poker game. She looked at the surveillance on her computer, groaned, and then slid over to Nick's computer to give the game a try.

Nick walked out of the offices, looking around the precinct for Bogo. He saw Clawhauser on the Gazelle app on his phone. Most of the other officers were probably in their offices or on patrol, except for Fangmeyer, who walked by Nick, flashing him a friendly smile, to which Nick responded with a simple nod. He scanned across the almost deserted looking precinct until he spotted Bogo standing next to a door in one of the far corners, looking at his phone.

Nick resisted to make a joke about Gazelle with Clawhauser in the vicinity, and made his way to the chief, who looked up from his phone, and opened the door for Nick to walk in.

"Second door to the right," he said simply. Nick casually looked at Bogo's phone as he walked through the door. He caught a glimpse of a dating app, but the chief clicked his phone off and followed the fox through the door, taking the first door on the right.

'So that's where they'll be watching me interrogate my friend,' Nick thought. 'This isn't going to go well.' As soon as he stepped through the door leading to a small room that was a bit too brightly lit for its own good, he spotted his friend, Rick, looking extremely nervous. There was a metal table in the center of the room with a chair on each side. Nick took the only available chair, now facing Rick. The gray wolf looked up, his eyes widening like saucers when he saw the fox.

"Nick? Man, what are you doing here?" he asked, looking at the mirror on the wall that was actually a window leading to a grumpy buffalo. "I'd heard that you managed to escape those bears, but I didn't know the fuzz got you."

"Rick…" Nick struggled to find the words. "I need to ask you some questions."

Rick laughed a squeaky laugh, "What do you mean you gotta-" he stopped when he saw the serious look on Nick's face. "Are you...are you working with them?" Rick gestured to the mirror. Nick didn't respond. Thankfully, the gray wolf didn't freak out like he thought he would.

"Nicholas, man, we've been friends for a long time, so I'm gonna give you a chance to explain."

"Rick, I'm sorry, but I don't have time to explain, not now. I'll explain everything later, but right now I just need you to answer my questions. Please."

Rick crossed his arms, leaning back into his chair, staring at Nick with his one eye. "Fine," he said. "You can ask me whatever you want, but in return, I want protection. I don't want to ever see those polar bears ever again. And, I want a pardon for all of my past...encounters with the police."

"Already done, my friend," Nick said with a sly smile. He could almost feel Bogo's deadly gaze on him. Rick joined in with a smile of his own. "Did you manage to see the mammal who sent those polar bears to watch you?"

"No, I didn't, but I heard him. His voice was...smooth, suave, however you want to say it. He sounded really fancy. He told me that he had a job for me, of course I wasn't going to deny good money. Unfortunately, I had no idea I would have a group of huge bears watching me the whole time. Man, it was awful. I couldn't sleep, I didn't trust the food they gave me, but I ate it anyway. They wanted me to mess with some footage on a few shops and stores. Simple enough. I did the job, and afterwards, more polar bears came. Not long after that, here comes Nick Wilde with a little bunny, come to visit me. I hope you found the flash drive I gave you."

"I did," Nick said.

"Good. Anyways, after they took you, the bears just left, telling me not to say a word of anything that happened or I'd regret it. Man, I felt awful for you and that bunny. I was so glad to hear you had gotten out of that. I didn't think they'd hurt you, I just thought they wanted to use your con skills, but I still wouldn't wish those bears on my worst enemy. Even cops. That means you too, Nicky boy. After that, things were pretty quiet until the cops came to my door. I won't lie to you, that would have ended badly if they hadn't told me they were there to get me away from the polar bears."

"Thanks, Rick," said Nick, letting the story sink in.

"It's cool, I guess," Rick said. "But now, you owe me an explanation as to how and when you became a cop, Nicholas Wilde." Rick ended that with a laugh. A very long laugh. Nick snickered a bit himself at the intensity of his wolf friends laughing fit. But suddenly, the Rick's laughing turned into coughing and heavy breathing. Nick's smile left him immediately and he was at his friend's side in mere seconds.

"Rick, hey, you okay? Rick?" Nick kept trying to get the wolf's attention, but he kept coughing and choking on his own breath. With his fox ears, Nick could hear Bogo shouting something from the other room, and then someone bursting in. Nick was trying to remember all of the basic first aid from the academy, but not only could he not decipher what was even happening to his friend, but he was too busy panicking to focus on anything else. In that moment, holding his shaking friend, it was as if Nick was no longer in his own body. He had no idea how long he was staring at himself, holding his friend, but he watched paramedics rush in and grab Rick from Nick's paws, taking him away.

Nick didn't move an inch. He just watched Judy walk up next to his empty body, demanding to know what just happened. Bogo soon joined her, then Clawhauser. Judy told everyone to back up and give Nick some space. She then looked into his eyes. His empty, empty eyes, and tried to talk to him. Tried to tell him that Rick would be okay. She shook him a bit, as if trying to wake him from a dream. Nick blinked and he was back in his own body again, looking up at Judy, suddenly very tired. All the poor fox could remember after that was darkness.