Chapter 1 - What's happening to us?

Written by Zanrok

Edited by Cimar

Artwork by Mr. Punctual

"So, what will it be today, partner? Battling space aliens? Raiding the pyramids?" Nick paused at the snicker coming from Judy as they walked down the road towards Fitwik's Arcade. Leaning lower, he offered her a grin. "I thought I saw one for The Little Mermaid and I always wondered what you'd look like as one..."

Judy lightly tapped him, rolling her eyes as they both shared a laugh. "After what we've been lately in these scenarios," she began, "I would almost imagine that I'd end up being Fursula and you'd be one of my pet eels."

"At least I'd be with you at all times," Nick replied. "Though I don't think that Fursula would be quite so plump with you playing her role."

"Har har..."

Reaching the arcade, Nick held the door open for Judy as they entered. "Though seriously, Fluff, what would you like to try today? I've got nothing. And seeing as my detective skills as to figuring out your oddities has come to naught, I'll just let you decide."

Judy pondered for a moment, thinking back to the scenario's they've tried out so far. They had done quite a few so far, and many of them were rather interesting takes on different lives they could have lived. They reached the machine and stepped inside the curtained off area. Nick busied himself with settling into the comfortable chair, reclining back and placing his paws behind his head.

"Let me know when you chose something," he said mid yawn, his jowls opening wide and tongue lolling out. Judy shook her head at her husband's antics, and simply watched him relax for a few moments. Several thoughts went through her mind at that moment.

First, how amazingly handsome the tod was.

Second, how lucky they were to be able to work together and third...

...what would have happened if things hadn't worked out so long ago?

The thought alone made her shudder and she didn't want to think about it anymore. They were together, they were happy. They were working their dream job, together, as partners, and nobody was going to change that.

Judy smiled once more at her husband before going back to the screen, scanning the options in front of her. She kept scrolling, none of the options perking her interest until she was halfway down the list.

Night Howler plot...

Judy paused, staring at the option. She'd remembered that Fitwik had let them know he had programmed in several of her and her husband's feats into the machine. Her finger paused over the option. Biting her lip, she snuck a cautious look behind her at Nick, who had a lazy smile on his face as the subtle sound of snoring reached her ears. Try everything, right, Nick?

She pressed the button...and was surprised when another list popped open. "That's...odd?" she stated, scanning this new list of sub options. Some she recognized such as "Bogo's Deal", "Case of the Manchas", and "Badge!"...while others she could only raise an eyebrow at such as, "I love you", and "Love in the skytram".

"What do people think we did in during this case..." she wondered, shaking her head as she scrolled on until a new option caught her attention near the end.

"Enhancements?" Judy wondered aloud, half in wonder and half in annoyance. What did mammals think we were doing on this case? Looking at the options before and after it, which so far had been chronological to their first case together, it had to have been right before they had met Bellwether in the museum, somewhere on the train ride. "What does that even mean?"

Deciding that it couldn't hurt to see, as their yearly passes to Fitwik's allowed unlimited use of the PIXAR machine, she tapped the button. She gently pressed her paw against Nick's arm, waking the slumbering fox.

"Picked one," she stated, with the fox nodding as he reached for his helmet. He blinked at the screen, snickering at the title chosen. Judy frowned. "It isn't what you're thinking, Nick." Or at least I hope it isn't...

The fox simply shrugged his shoulders before putting on his helmet as Judy did the same. Her last thought wondering what exactly would happen in this experience…

"I think this is our stop!" Nick yelled in alarm as the derailed train careened towards the bricked off end of the tracks, sparks flying as the metal grated against the rails. Both Nick and Judy clambered out of the burning hulk of the sideways train car, the screeching of metal and rancorous smell of burning night howlers nearly overwhelming their senses. Nick stumbled as he hefted the small case out of the car, yelping as his foot caught on the broken glass.

"Nick!" Judy yelled, frantically turning to help him limp to his feet before grabbing him and leaping towards the platform, just a second before the front of the train crashed into the wall. Both fox and bunny groaned as they scrambled to their feet only yards away from the wrecked train as purple tinged smoke began spewing from it and tried to put as much distance between themselves and the fiery wreck. The two held each other up, coughing and waving at the mist as Judy tryed her best to support her friend as he scrambled forward, limping badly. But barely a second passed before a massive explosion from the train rocketed them forward, sending them careening into the wall. Both heard a pair of cracks, before they blacked out.

Judy wasn't sure what was happening. Muffled sounds and a ringing in her ears were all she could pay attention to. She let out a groan, eyes fluttering open as she tried to figure out where she was. Only after noticing her red furred companion pushing himself up from the concrete next to her, realizing where they were.

Train...nighthowlers...other train...explosion..oh…

"You alright there, Carrots?"

Judy nodded, though the action hurt more than it should have. "Yeah...I'm okay. You?"

She caught Nick nodding out of the corner of her eye. The fox sneezed once, rubbing at his nose as he sat back against the wall of the train station. Stumbling over to him, Judy plopped down onto the ground next to the fox, leaning into his side as her gaze flickered to the burning remains of what once used to be the nighthowler lab they had wanted to bring into evidence.

"It's all gone…" she whispered, eyeing the now smoldering wreck.

"Not all of it…" Nick replied confidently. When she arched her head to meet his gaze with wonder in her own, he lifted up a paw, showing off a suitcase. He smiled when he noticed Judy grinning more brightly than a lit up Christmas tree.

"Oh, Nick!" the bunny cried in excitement, then winced and covered her ears as they fell behind her head. "Oww…"

"Judy!" Nick cried out her name, pulling her closer against his side as the bunny whimpered. "Are you okay?" He looked over her body, trying to find the source of her pain when he sniffed…

...and a wave of smells nearly bowled him over. "Gahh.." He coughed loudly, the sound causing the bunny to whimper once more as he tried to make sense of the scents assaulting his nostrils. There was the smell of his friend, though he hadn't thought her scent had been that strong before, not that that bothered him, but besides the smell of the bunny next to him there was a coppery scent and... Karma save me. This station smells like a bad frat dorm at the naturalist club mets a Chez Cheese' backroom...he thought, trying to down his gag reflex. It would do no good to either of them for him to throw up onto the rabbit laying across her lap who was huddled in the fetal position.

The wave of malodorous odors soon passed and Nick felt like he could breathe once more. At roughly the same time, Judy stopped whimpering and groaned.

"What was that…" she said with a groan.

"I don't know…" Nick replied. He was about to speak more, when several voices cut him off.

"Where did Doug say they were? They should have been here by now!" Nick cocked his head to the side at the nasally, female voice he heard coming from the stairwell down the path. His eyes widened at the ram's name from the subway and he looked down to see that Judy had gone into full alert mode, ears stiffened upwards, rotating to find the source of the noise.

"We've gotta move," she said quietly.

"But where?" Nick added as Judy pulled him to his feet. "It's not like we have many exits here, and all of them are that way!" He pointed towards the stairwell. "And it seems like that is where the other nasties in this whole group of gloom and doom are coming from!"

Glancing around, Judy spotted their salvation. "Over there! Follow me!" she ordered, and pulled him towards a trash can that had been tipped over by the explosion. The fox grimaced, nose already twitching at the cacophony of putricity that would be assaulting his nostrils soon, then as he put weight on his foot, barely managed to stifle a cry of pain.

"Nick! What's wrong?" Judy asked in alarm before throwing his arm over her shoulder and helping him limp toward the trashcan.

"I think my paw pad is cut," he gritted leaning on Judy and almost making her stumble. The tod looked at his foot pad and grimaced when he saw a few crimson splotches staining the cement around it, a small shard of glass embedded in his foot. Judy's ears shot up when the sound of hooves clopping down stairs echoed in her ears. We don't have time to do this carefully...I'm sorry Nick… Judy bent down and place her fingers around the shard.

"Carrots, what are you doinnnggAAAAAAh!"

Judy yanked on the piece of glass, pulling it out while at the same time trying to muffle Nick's yelp of pain with her other paw.

"Do you have something to wrap this?" she asked as he whimpered, though thankfully the wound didn't look all that deep. Nick withdrew a red bandana from his pocket, which Judy quickly used to tie around his foot.

The voices were growing closer and shadows appeared through the stairwell as Judy finished, the two scampering towards the trash barrels. The fear and dread filling the pit of his stomach made the awful smell from the refuse seem like a rather good option, and soon both he and Judy were hidden under several dirty elephant sized newspapers, hidden between the trashcan and the wall. Judy glanced at her improvised bandage on Nick's foot, and was relieved to see that it was holding.

"I think you'll be okay," she whispered.

"Really?" he asked, rubbing his foot, before his signature smirk appeared. "Maybe a kiss would make it better?"

Judy moved to kiss it, the impulse stemming from hundreds of brothers and sisters and kissing their aches and pains better when Bonnie wasn't around, but halted mere inches from his foot. Rolling her eyes, she placed her fingers to her lips, kissed them, then placed those against his injured foot.

"Better?" she asked. Before he could respond, the voices grew to shouts.

"What do you mean you were sheared by a train?!"

Nick leaned over and poked two holes in the elephant sized newspaper they were hiding behind right at eye level, then noticing Judy leaning up to try and see through them, used his claws to slice mini holes for her as well.

Together, the pair watched three shadows growing across the floor until two sheep in police uniforms appeared, along with an all too familiar ewe. Judy's grin grew at the uniformed officers, the doe temporarily forgetting what had been said, and feeling a flood of relief she almost moved out from under the papers to get their help when a mutter from Mayor Bellwether caught her attention.

"You'd think that Woolter and Jesse could have taken out a dumb little rabbit and fox."

Judy paused. Did they just say what I thought they did? She traded glances with Nick, who gulped nervously as the rams moved aside for the ewe between them, whose hooves were shaking with fury at the site of the destroyed railcar. Judy carefully removed her carrot pen from her pocket and pressed record as the ewe stomped her hoof.

"No, no, no, no, NO!" Bellwether screeched. "That lab took forever to get up and running! How am I supposed to keep on darting predators and making them go savage with Doug's lab to make the night howler serum with!"

"Maybe we can just rebuild it Mayor Bellwether," one of the ram lackeys stated, scratching at the base of a horn. "I mean, it's only some plant bulbs and equipment. We can just have that weasel steal some more."

The ewe glared at the ram before storming towards the smoldering wreckage, leaving Judy's and Nick's view as she moved right past their trash can hiding place. Once all three sheep had passed, Judy tapped Nick's shoulder, and then with as little sound as possible, moved around the bin gesturing for Nick to follow. She could still easily hear Bellwether's angry voice echoing in the deserted platform.

"It is going to take months to get a new lab back up and I need more savages now to get my collar agenda through! And where is Officer Hopps and the dirty fox-toy she is playing around with?"

"Ummm… maybe they, ya know, died in that?" one of the rams offered.

Bellwether growled, silencing the larger animal. "I did not get to where I am by taking chances! I want you to find Officer Hopps and that dirty fox now and if they are alive...END THEM!"

"But there's nobody else here," the second ram added. "We came through the only entrance so they mustn't have made it off the train."

Having heard enough Judy clicked off the pen while the sheep continued arguing. Then taking Nick's paw, gave it a tug and together they started slowly backing away from the trio. It wasn't until they'd almost reached the stairs did they bump into something.

Something fluffy…and as they both slowly looked up, their gazes landing on a very irritated looking ram. He grinned, cracked his neck, then opened his mouth.

Only to bleat in pain as Judy kicked his kneecap. A crack sounding as the ram went down onto his other knee, only for Judy to circle around him, jump up and double kick his back of his head. The ram went down hard, but the sound had attracted the attention of the other mammals in the building.

"Over there!" Bellwether shouted. "Get them! Tranq them! Ram them into a wall! Anything! Just don't let them escape!"

"Run!" Nick yelled, grabbing a hold of Judy and bolting for the exit, wincing with every step of his injured foot. Then a wave of nausea hit him as he passed the downed ram that made the bandaged injury seem rather inconsequential. The smell of the ram's strong body odor, unwashed wool and sweat mixed with an awful cheap deodorant that if anything, made it worse, caused him to gag and stumble as he made his way up the stairs behind Judy. The sheer strength of the smell was worse than anything he'd ever experienced before.

"We're almost there, Nick, you can do it!" Judy yelled over her shoulder tugging at his paw. Nick shook his head, trying to rid himself of that too strong scent behind him and followed.

Why is my nose acting up all of a sudden...he wondered, though only for a moment as the sound of hooves grew closer and louder. Nick and Judy ran past a large statue of a mammoth before turning the corner into the ground floor of the Natural History museum. At the other end near the massive doors and ticket booths were a mass of police officers, led by none other than Chief Bogo himself.

"Chief! Chief!" Judy yelled as they sprinted around the side of a massive hole in the floor, inside of which showed a stream scene with several prehistoric deer statues. The cape buffalo turned towards the sound and grunted. Putting a hoof to his muzzle, he shouted over to the running rabbit and fox.

"What are you doing here, Hopps?!" he thundered. His brows arched as two rams in police uniforms emerged from the subway stairwell, hoofing it towards the two smaller mammals. "And what are you two doing here Woolington and Bahton!? Why aren't you at your posts in City Hall!"

The thundering noise of Bogo's shout was deafening to Judy, the poor bunny stumbling as her ears rang and she nearly passed out from the massive barrage her ears just took. She knew the Chief could shout, but this was at a whole new excruciatingly loud level she'd never heard before. Nick saw her tripping and leapt to catch her. But, as he did, all their combined weight came down on his injured foot and the hindpaw gave out, sending them skidding right over the edge and into the unfinished exhibit below.

"Hopps!" Bogo shouted, directing several officers towards the pit. The two rams finally saw the oncoming police officers and instead of running to meet them, bleated in surprise, and scrambled to turn and run in the opposite direction.

"Where do you two think you're going!" Bellowed a voice so loud that it seemed to shake the very world and even with her ears clamped down tight behind her head, Judy's vision faded slightly under the force of the echoing sound.

The two rams froze in place, as motionless as the mannequins of ancient mammals around them. The entire building went deathly silent, the only sound being the footfalls of McHorn and Delgato as they made their way to the edge of the pit.

That is...until the grainy, electronic voice of Bellwether came from within the pit.

"No, no, no, no, NO! That lab took forever to get up and running! How am I supposed to keep on darting predators and making them go savage with Doug's lab to make the night howler serum with!"

Two seconds of utter silence passed before there was a zipping squeal from a recorder and the voice sounded again.

"I did not get to where I am by taking chances. I want you to find Officer Hopps and that dirty fox now and if they are alive...END THEM!"

Another moment of silence, then Bogo made his way tepidly over to the edge of the pit. Leaning over, he saw Hopps curled up in the protective hold of the fox, paws over her ears and whimpering in pain. The fox, he couldn't remember for the life of him what his name was, was holding a carrot shaped device in his paw.

"Mayor Bellwether was the one behind darting the predators," the fox began, then halted when the bunny in his lap whimpered and seized up at the sudden sound.

Bogo glared at the fox, then towards his former officer. "What's wrong with Hopps?"

The rabbit flinched again and Bogo pointed towards Officer Fangmeyer. "Get her out of there. McHorn, call the ZEMS and get them here right NOW!"

His final shout seemed to be the final straw as the bunny mewled, then went limp in Nick's arms. Nick gently pushed her shoulder. "Carrots? Are you okay? Hopps? Judy?"

He heard frantic bleating from above him, as well as screeching from Bellwether yet couldn't see a thing except a massive tiger jumping down into the pit near him. He checked Judy's pulse and was relieved to find her still alive, only passed out. Did the explosion damage her ears? he thought worriedly thinking of how she'd been flinching at all the sounds since.

It was the only thought he had, until the scent of the tiger hit his nose with full force, turning his olfactory gland into a warzone of overwhelming odors and aromas. The strong smell of tiger's natural scent along with the sharp, nearly overwhelmed wolf's marking that made his hind brain scream an instinctual canine warning. All that and a hundred other trace scents, not to mention the truly ridiculous amount of musk mask that failed to cover it all up, it's scent of pine only making the cacophony of fragrances worse.

"Oh my…" was all Nick could say before his eyelids fluttered and he slumped forward out cold, still cradling Judy.

Judy awoke to a beeping sound coming from her left. She groaned, not wanting to wake up as whatever she was laying on felt so comfortable and warm. Like a fluffy, fuzzy pillow. She grasped it closer, breathing in the wonderful scent of violets and happiness, sure this was what happiness smelled like.

The pillow moved, making her frown. So she followed it, wrapping her arms around it more tightly to prevent her pillow from leaving.

My pillow...she declared in her mind as more noises appeared. Nobody can take my pillow.

The plush pillow moved again. This time, Judy growled and clamped her arms more tightly around the fluff. "Mine," she muttered before nuzzling into the softness.

"Actually, that would be my tail, Officer Adorable."

Judy's eyes flew open. She stared at the 'pillow' in her paws, only to see a red, russet toned, furry tail in her arms. A tail, which led up to a smirking fox laying next to her in a massive gurney in what appeared to be an ambulance.

"And Sleeping Beauty has awakened!" he declared with a smirk.

Judy was completely mortified. Here she was, several paramedics looking down on her and snickering, while she clutched Nick's tail in a death grip. Her blush was nearing dangerous levels, to the point where she might have needed to go to the DMV and register a new, red fur color on her driver's license.

And that wouldn't be a pleasant experience…

Judy released the tail and pushed away from Nick, pulling her ears over her eyes and muffling the sounds and sights around her with them.

"What happened…" she whimpered.

"Before or after you declared your love for my fine tail?" Nick joked, earning a punch in the arm from the rabbit. "Alright," he chuckled. "You passed out in the pit at the museum and apparently I, not wanting you to feel alone, passed out as well."

"What? Why?" she asked, peeking out from behind her ears.

He shrugged. "Dunno, but the paramedics think it might have had something to do with the train car full of chemicals exploding next to us. Delayed sensory overload, or something like that."

Judy nodded. It seemed like a reasonable explanation due to how close they had been to the explosion. She was lucky they hadn't died and managed to escape from Bellwether…

"Where's Bellwether?!" Judy yelled, frantically sitting up on the gurney. The paramedics looked startled by her sudden movement.

"Hold it there, Fluffinator," Nick asked, placing his paws on her shoulders to calm the rabbit. "We're good, she's good. I'm good...we're all good," he stated towards the two deers staring at them. He gave them a thumbs up before turning his attention back towards Judy. "Bogo's got her in a cell along with Sergeant Shultz, Tweedle Deer and Tweedle Doe. They aren't getting out anytime soon."

Judy let out a sigh and leaned back onto the bed, carefully avoiding the fluffy appendage next to her. "That's good…" she declared.

"Yep, that was only the good news."

Judy's head whipped around. "What's the bad news?"

Nick offered a snarky grin. "Did I say there was bad news? No, no I did not. What I meant to say was…" He flipped open a piece of paper he pulled from his pocket and Judy's eyes widened in shock.

There, in his paws, was a brand new, fully filled out ZPD application form. Judy sniffled once, eyes shining with tears as she leapt at her friend.

"Oh Nick! Yes, yes, yes, YES!"

Nick laughed, patting Judy on her back. The rabbit jumped off him, standing on the gurney with an excited smile, her eyes lit up with joy. Her gaze travelled to the form in his paw, where at the bottom, it was signed by none other than Chief Bogo himself.

"The Academy started a few days ago," he stated, his smile wavering slightly. "But Bogo signed a waiver for me to enter after I explained everything about what you found-"

"We…" Judy interrupted, placing a paw on his. "What we found out. We did this together." Her eyes shimmered as she wiped at a stray tear forming. She again found herself leaning forward, enclosing him with a bunny hug as tightly as she could. "I can't wait to be your partner, Nick."

Nick patted the bunny on her back, his nose twitching slightly at a new smell drifting through the air. He ignored it, along with the other new smells that came to his nose as he simply enjoyed the moment. His worries not long forgotten, but set aside for the moment. He'd have to leave in the morning for the academy, but with Bogo promising that Judy would be reinstated and if he graduated Valedictorian, that he could be her partner.

It was enough for him.

For Judy, she didn't know why, but the steady thumping of Nick's heartbeat in her ears relaxed her as all the other sounds seem to fade into the background. She'd given out plenty of hugs before, what, with growing up with now over 300 siblings you couldn't avoid them. But this one was different. She could hear the fox's heartbeat quicken slightly as she nuzzled his chest. The slight rumble he let out at the subtle motion. The whine and beep of the medical equipment and even the breathing of the other mammals in the ambulance seemed louder than normal, but somehow seemed insignificant against the steady tha-thump of his heart.

She pushed those thoughts away, deciding that for the moment, life was perfect the way it was. In nine months, she was sure life was going to be the best it could ever be...

AN: No way an ending like that could be ominous, right? And there's absolutely, positively no way that anything could go crazy in the next chapter with Zanrok writing it. Absolutely zero percent chance of that. *snickers*

Also, a huge shout out to Mr Punctual who drew the artwork for Enhancements. So go check out his page on DA under the name Mr-Punctual. A fantastic artist. :)