Chapter 2 Death Date
Written by Cimar
Edited by BeecroftA
It was a typical day for Judy. Bogo had yelled at her for not getting her 400 tickets a day that he'd upped her quota to; she'd made it to 322 before being called back to the precinct to be cornered by her boss about it. The DMV called her,asking her to stop writing so many tickets because they were getting swamped with work. Said call ate up nearly three hours of her shift and then to finish the icing on the cake, when she had finally gotten to take her lunch break nine hours into a twelve hour shift…
...she'd found Clawhauser had accidentally eaten her lunch...again.
Which was why she found herself in the small cafe, nursing a carrot juice and small salad, her fork playing around with the spinach leaves and every now and then actually eating one.
A single ear swiveled towards a coughing sound next to her and her eyes soon followed to spot a fox standing next to her.
"Is this seat taken?" he asked, pointing to the other side of the table she was at. Judy shrugged, then shook her head. The tod sent her a warm smile before sitting down opposite of her. She smiled sheepishly before digging back into her salad.
"Come here often?"
Judy blinked as her gaze wandered to the fox. He held a curious expression, his elbow on the table while leaning his muzzle onto his propped-up paw. "Uh..." She wasn't sure how to react as the, by her standards, a handsome tod, smiled at her.
"I'm guessing you're pretty quiet, then? Though I'd have to say pretty and quiet, with a space in the middle."
A blush rose through Judy's cheek as she stared down into her lettuce. "No," she finally stated as she found her voice. "To all three. I only come here when my lunch vanishes at work, I'm your run of the mill rabbit and my siblings would say otherwise."
She didn't know why she was telling him all this, but she cracked a wry smile at the fox. "Though I should be asking what a tod like you is doing in Veggie Chalet of all places. I know foxes are omnivores, but there isn't even fish on the menu here," She threw a paw across the table, "Officer Judy Hopps, by the way."
"Nick, Nick Wilde," the tod replied, shaking her offered paw before both returned to their tasks, Judy trying to focus on her salad and failing, while Nick focused on apparently trying to make her uncomfortable. At least maybe now he knows I'm an officer he might…
"I'm here for the pretty doe across from me."
Judy nearly spat out her carrot juice. Now choking, she grabbed a napkin and coughed into it, attracting a bit of attention to herself. Finally recovered, she settled a glare on the fox across from her. "What are you trying to pull, Slick?"
"Haven't heard that one before," Nick chuckled. He let out a sigh, then clasped his paws on the table in front of him. "You want the truth?"
Judy nodded.
"Well, you can't handle the truth," Nick replied with a broad smile before laughing uproariously at his own joke. He pounded the table a few times as Judy rolled her eyes, grumbling 'dumb fox' under her breath as he calmed down.
"Seriously though," Nick continued. "One, I was walking by when I saw an ad for the delicious looking blueberry smoothie in the window..." he pointed towards a sign that indeed showed the related advertisement. "Reason number two," he stated, holding up two fingers, "was that I saw a lovely doe seated all by herself and looking quite glum. Now, a gentlefox like myself can't have a lady looking so downtrodden, can I?"
"You could have," Judy stated. Everyone else does.
"Sorry, can't do that, Carrots."
"Carrots?" Judy hissed, her ears lowering behind her. Who did this fox think he was that he could call her that?
Nodding, the fox grinned. "Of course I can call you that, since that then focuses your anger, sadness and stress onto a figure that you have no relation to at all instead of whatever mammals around you are causing your anxiety to rise. You release that on me, you don't on them and maybe save your job."
Judy was flummoxed by the explanation, her nose twitching as she stared at the fox who continued to speak across from her.
"Now, judging by your introduction, I'm guessing that your boss doesn't think too highly of bunnies working in the ZPD, am I right?" Before Judy had a chance to reply, he continued. "Well, I'd say that is his loss for losing out on somebunny who, if they made it through the ZPD Academy, a curriculum that I'd wager was made for larger mammals, must be extraordinary compared to her coworkers which means..."
He leaned forward, that dashing yet petulant smile ever on his muzzle. "...they are jealous of you, Officer Hopps. So don't let anything they do bring you down, as each day you are there, you are proving your worth with every deed you do. You, Judy, are an extraordinary mammal."
The only reaction Judy had was to snort at his statement. "Writing tickets on parked cars isn't really fulfilling my dream of making the world a better place."
"Still, you're there, aren't you?" the fox inquired.
Judy paused as she was about to stab another piece of salad onto her fork. She was still on the force. It had been nearly a year of meter maid duty but she was still there.
"You're still proving that a bunny can be a cop with every day you're there, and that, my friend, is something to be proud of. So don't forget that smile, alright?"
Judy blinked, but felt a smile creeping upon her muzzle at the tod's words. A waitress came by, a dhole, stopping as the fox ordered the talked-about blueberry shake, as well as two slices of blueberry cobbler. After writing down his order and leaving, the fox smiled warmly at the doe.
"So, where are you from?"
Nick was pleasantly surprised, as well as annoyed, at how well off he'd gotten along with Judy...no, he reminded himself. His target. Not Judy. Targets didn't get names as that grew attachments, which led to a guilty conscience and he couldn't have that.
His initial plan of hustling the bunny into becoming his friend, maybe asking to walk her home so he could take her out and dump her body in an alley, was becoming harder and harder to accomplish. The more they spoke, the more he was enjoying himself. He found himself unwinding a bit, even going so far as to smile for real, not forcing it as he had during his introduction. After years of doing his tasks and fighting down his emotions, he found himself unable to push his emotions down around this...this cute, little bunny.
What is happening to me…
Feeling joyful around the rabbit, who had gone from sullen to perky, from downtrodden to downright bubbling with joy, wasn't the biggest surprise of the night either. It was nearing 9pm when he'd noticed Judy...no, the target...was growing quiet, biting her lower lip as she fidgeted with her fork, drawing circles on the empty plate that had contained her blueberry cobbler Nick had ordered for her.
"What's up?" Nick asked. "As I can see it's not your ears anymore."
Judy's eyes widened slightly, before she placed her fork delicately on the table. "Well, I was uh...wondering, if I could...ask you something?"
Nick nodded, finding himself thinking the vivacious bunny's nervousness quite, dare he say it, cute.
Judy took in a deep breath, steadying herself in her seat and reopened her eyes, amethyst staring directly into emerald.
"Iwaswonderingifyou'dliketogoonadatetomorrownight?"
Nick blinked several times, and Judy watched in nervous anticipation. She couldn't believe she had just asked a fox out on a date. Cheese and crackers what did I just do? the doe thought. As the silence drew on, her worry only increased. Maybe he didn't hear what you said and he is waiting for you to say it again? Or maybe he did hear it and is annoyed that you'd even ask him out? He's a fox after all and you're a bunny. He couldn't possibly-
"Sure."
Judy blinked, her mouth dropping open slightly at the reply. "Really?" she replied, a bit of hope slipping into the single word. Across from her, Nick nodded. "Absolutely, one hundred percent."
This is the perfect opportunity...Nick thought. He was beginning to wonder exactly how he'd get the bunny alone by herself. She had taken public transportation from the ZPD to the diner, and he imagined she'd do that again to get home as a subway line ran a block away from her residence and was one of the busier ones in the city. A date meant they'd be alone, together. Hopefully far away from other mammals if he could get her to agree to it. He could-
"Do you like mini golf?"
Nick nodded without thinking. The only time he had gone was years before with his mother, and he'd been so small that he'd needed to use the tiniest clubs they had outside of the rodent ones. He watched as Judy's smile broadened while the bunny asked about what time would work and if she could meet him here again after her shift. He simply nodded to all of them, too stunned that he was actually agreeing to this.
What am I getting myself into…
Before he knew it, Judy was off the table, money next to the empty plates and was standing in front of him. Again, the sheepish rabbit re-emerged, wringing her paws and ears splayed behind her.
"Nick, I...I just wanted to thank you...for talking to me today. You didn't need to yet you did." She continued, a soft smile playing on her lips that only made alarm bells go off in Nick's mind, warning him that he was getting too close.
Before he could do more than slide off the seat, he felt a pair of arms wrapping themselves around his waist.
"Thanks for being a friend, Nick." She pulled away, the fox blinking in surprise at her action. "I think it is safe to say you are the first mammal to treat me like one in the city and...sorry, I'm rambling again." Nick caught a blush rising in her ears as she took a step back.
"See you tomorrow?"
Nick finally found his voice. "Yeah, see you then."
With a wave of her tiny paw, she was gone, leaving a flummoxed fox in her wake. Nick took his seat back, placing his head in his paws as he let out a groan.
"Coffee?"
The waitress from before had returned, her pad and pen already out. Nick nodded. "Yes. Black, no sugar or cream." She nodded and hurried off as he resumed his previous position and began to realize one important thing about this mission.
He, Nick Wilde, was in utterly over his head.
It had taken most of the day for Nick to push down the emotions from the previous day, slipping back into his mask of indifference he could usually wear without problems. That was, until a certain bunny decided to mush up his life with emotions, which until then he had been able to clamp down on.
And so he was standing outside the corner of Veggie Chalet, waiting for a grey-furred doe to arrive and he actually felt...nervous? He shouldn't be feeling that way. None of his previous hits had stirred that emotion within him. He hadn't even felt the barest twinge of nervousness when he'd taken out the hit on that arctic vixen working at the ZBI a few years back.
So why was it that this bunny of all mammals was getting him all worked up?
"Hi Nick!"
Speak of the bunny...he thought. Turning around with a smile, he saw the purple-hued eyes of Judy Hopps, no...target...the TARGET...staring up at him.
"Well if it isn't Officer Hopps," he replied with a mischievous grin. "And here I was thinking that all officers were punctual."
Judy could sense the sarcasm in his voice, but the smile and twinkling in his eyes betrayed his true sentiments. "A bunny is never late," she replied sweetly. "They arrive precisely when they mean to."
Nick was surprised to find himself laughing along with the joke, then even more surprised as he offered out his arm to the doe. She clasped her paw around his elbow as they started off down the sidewalk.
Too close...too close...you're getting too close…
"So, how was work?" Nick asked.
THAT'S NOT HELPING YOU! His mind screamed at him.
"Better than yesterday," Judy replied with a smile. "Again, thank you. Your words really helped. I actually caught my first crook today and Bogo didn't yell at me." Her smile was exultant and Nick couldn't repress the swelling of pride that another mammal had succeeded because of him.
It was a unique feeling, one that he wished he could grow accustomed to if not for his line of work.
"That's great news!" Nick replied. "Please, tell me all about it."
And so she did. In every exact detail and Nick couldn't help the smile which crossed his face as Judy described just how she managed to capture Willy the coyote, a mammal who had been outsmarting the precinct for weeks with his theft of birds from local shops. She had managed to boot his getaway car as he ran from a poultry shop with an armful of pheasants and from there, it was a simple task for her to chase him down as he fled on paw.
"Well look at you!" Nick laughed, messing up the fur between Judy's ears with his paw. "Looks like someone finally reached their goal of becoming a real cop. What was it like?"
Judy paused, deep in thought judging by her expression, which gradually softened as she turned to face him.
"Grateful."
Nick's head quirked to the side. "That's not the feeling I was expecting."
The doe laughed, a sound which Nick actually found he liked. "At first I was excited, thinking that finally I had made a difference and that I could now become something more than just a meter maid, but..."
"But?" Nick questioned after the bunny had gone quiet. She looked up at him with smiling eyes.
"I realized that I should be grateful for what I have. I worked my entire life to be a cop, but this past year, I just realized I hadn't been grateful for any of it. I had just wanted more. More opportunities to rise through the ranks. More chases. More difficult cases...more, anything. And I only realized it yesterday, thanks to you."
Nick was truly humbled by her words. She said them so honestly, and with such conviction that he felt...no, knew...with every fiber of his soul that she, even in her moment of success, was giving him the credit for it. And not just some, but all of it.
"You really inspired me last night, Nick," she continued quietly while looking ahead as they neared their destination. A smile crossed her lips. "You should have seen Bogo's expression when I simply told him I was doing my job and was going to head back out to finish my metering after bringing Willy to booking."
She laughed again, the sound making Nick's mission that much harder.
"I even managed to break my record at parking tickets today," she said, beaming up at the fox.
"And that is?" he questioned, almost afraid to know the answer considering she had mentioned yesterday her daily quota was 400.
"783."
His mouth dropped open. "Seven hundred, eight-...are you some kind of machine, Carrots? How do you even get that many?"
Her smile did a horrible job at concealing her mirth. "Sloth convention downtown."
There was silence between the two as they stood in front of the doorway to their destination, which lasted nearly a minute as Nick processed her words. Then, with a true smile gracing his muzzle, he opened up the door to the mini-golf arena.
"Hopps, you are one sly bunny."
"Hopps, you are one devilishly evil bunny."
Nick was lugging around a massive, smiling carrot as the rabbit next to him offered him a grin.
"It wasn't me who wanted to make a bet on who'd win at mini-golf," she replied, hip-bumping the fox in the process. "What was it you said? That a sly fox like yourself could easily best a bunny?" Judy placed a paw against her muzzle, feigning shock. "Gosh, if only I knew a sly fox so I could test that theory out..."
She turned her gaze onto the tod, smiling wickedly.
"Sly bunny," Nick groaned, shifting the stuffed carrot in his paws so the massive googly eyes were staring at him.
"Dumb fox," came the giggled reply.
As Nick rolled his eyes, a cougar walking towards them bumped into the fox.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," the feline replied, looking embarrassed, eyes briefly flickering to Nick's paw before he wandered off. Nick palmed the note as Judy glanced from him to the retreating mammal. She finally shrugged before meeting his gaze.
"I'm going to use the restroom, don't run off with my carrot now, alright?" she joked. Nick laughed, without any emotion behind it as the doe wandered off towards the restrooms. Only when she was safely out of sight did he open the note, reading just two words written on it.
Do it.
Nick felt like the world was continuing on without him at that moment. He went to look for the cougar, but found the mammal had vanished into the crowds. His instant thought was to look for Judy, but he knew that his unknown associate wouldn't take over his assignment. It was a rule among the assassin group that an assignment, once given, was not to be messed with.
The note was obvious in its intention though. He was being watched, and whoever it was, wasn't pleased with his results.
Nick didn't know how long he had been standing there, the note long since disappearing into his pocket by the time Judy came back from the restroom, finding a slightly different Nick as she returned.
"Hey, something happen?"
The comment startled the fox from his daze. He gave the bunny a brief look, and Judy could almost see a type of sadness momentarily in his eyes before the vim and vigor of earlier returned.
"Nothing's wrong," he replied, feeling a twinge of pain in his chest at the blatant lie.
"Are you sure?" she pried, taking a step forward and placing a paw on his arm. "I mean, if you'd like to talk about something we could-"
"Well, I was thinking we could go for a walk in the park nearby," Nick interrupted. He briefly smiled, hoping that the idea could be what he needed to accomplish the task given him. The weight of the syringe in his pocket suddenly felt a thousand times heavier than before that moment.
Judy's ears perked up. "That sounds great! I'd love-"
A buzzing sound suddenly went off in Judy's pocket, cutting the rabbit off. Taking the phone out, she gave Nick a sheepish look. "Sorry, work..." she muttered before checking the message.
Her eyes widened and she shoved the phone back in her pocket.
"I have to go," she stated in a hurry. "Emergency downtown and Bogo needs me there specifically." She began to run off, but stopped, returning back to the fox's side. "I'm sorry that we have to cut this short, but, could we maybe go out again tomorrow?"
Nick nodded, stunned at the sudden string of bad luck. He whipped out his phone, and gave Judy his number. A text appeared nearly instantly, a smiley face emoji winking up at him from his phone. By the time he looked up, she was already speeding out the door. Nick sighed as he watched her disappear. Walking over to an abandoned bench, he sat down roughly on it, placing the googily eyed carrot plush next to him.
He looked at the doll with a mixture of sadness and worry. "Do you think I'm in over my head?"
The doll stared at him and the fox let out a groan. He knew what he'd have to do, the words on the note being absolutely clear about that. The price he'd pay if he didn't…
He shuddered, a spine-tingling fear tracing itself along his spine. In the end, if he didn't assassinate Judy soon, then he'd be finding himself pushing up daisies while the doe would be assigned to another killer. She might last a few days, a week tops before she'd meet the same fate as if he had done the deed himself.
In the end, it was either him or her, Nick decided. And he hadn't gotten this far in life by putting others first.
"I'm sorry Judy," he whispered as he got up from the seat, leaving the stuffed carrot plush behind. "But this will end tomorrow."
AN: Oh boy, I think things are about to hit the fan.