(A/N: Sorry for the late story, everyone. I've been trying to get a new chapter out every Friday, but I got a pretty nasty case of writer's block earlier this week. We're nearing the end, though, and I can't thank every one of my readers enough for their support. The writer's block hasn't fully dissipated, so I hope you all can forgive me if Chapter 9 isn't out by next Friday. I'm trying to balance finishing it quickly while also making a polished, finished chapter, and I'd prefer to take some extra time to get it right. Again, thank you all for your readership, and enjoy the chapter.)
Judy's eyes opened to dim dawn sunlight streaming through her window. A paw fumbled and flopped around on her nightstand trying to find her phone. Her ears were splayed out across her pillow, and her free hand rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Looking down at herself, she sighed when she saw her wrinkled clothes from the previous night. Didn't change into my pajamas, she thought. She stuck her tongue out and grimaced at her morning breath. Ugh, didn't brush my teeth, either. Glancing toward her phone, the screen read 6:28 a.m.
Snapping up, she reached over to her alarm clock and hastily flipped the alarm off, ensuring that Bucky and Pronk would enjoy a pleasant morning's rest, as well as making sure that her routine was uninterrupted by marital bickering. Before she set her phone down to begin getting ready for the day, a little notification in the corner of the screen blinked at her. Her paw tentatively went to open up her messages when memories of the previous night came storming back. How many messages she deleted, the one she ultimately sent to Nick, and falling asleep thinking of the color of his eyes all blared in the forefront of her mind. She lingered pressing down on the little letter icon, unsure what he his reply could be, if it the message was even from him.
You're being silly, that text could be from Dad saying something about a great early-morning harvest, she thought. Or Clawhauser telling you about some party he went to. She rolled her eyes at her own nervousness and flipped one of her ears off her shoulder. Once she opened up her messages, a new text from Nick was all that was displayed
Sounds good, Carrots. Pick the time and date and I'll be there. Night.
Her nervousness now felt well-founded. Her eyes zeroed in on the word "date" before realizing he was talking about a day, not their activities. She resisted the urge to thump herself on the forehead. Still, he likes the idea. I wonder how he likes the idea, though? Does he just like it as a way to spend time with a friend? Would he want it to be a date? Oh geez, am I worrying too much? Or not enough?
Judy spent the better half of several minutes switching between re-reading the 13 words Nick had sent her, picking them apart to analyze any hidden meaning, and telling herself she was overreacting before she absentmindedly looked at her alarm clock and saw she was behind schedule. The phone fell to her bed as she hopped out and walked toward her shower. Soon, warm water and rose-scented body wash enveloped her senses, though it did little to take her mind off Nick.
She let herself soak in the steam for longer than she would normally. Trying to pull her mind off her partner, she made a mental note to give Cam's number to the lynx that runs the bakery she gets her and Nick's coffee each morning. Never would have expected Cam to be into pred-prey stuff, she thought. She was vaguely aware of how predator and prey relationships worked out, mostly through flipping through magazines at the grocery store and the occasional news article that popped up on her Chitter feed. She'd never given such relationships too much thought, but the revelation that Cam was interested in predators was too juicy not to think about. I wonder if he's likes getting chased, or if he's into "outsmarting" a predator. He seems like the type to want to outwit everyone, but I bet that means he'd like getting chased down.
Soon, she was giggling to herself as a movie of Cam fleeing on all fours from an agile lynx played in her head. Moments after the arctic hare rounded a corner with the lynx hot on his heels, she took Cam's place and Nick took the lynx's, his teeth bared in an aggressive grin. Her heart stumbled and tripped over itself trying to race as quickly as possible, and her breath caught in her throat. Try as she might, the visage of Nick showing off his fangs persisted and refused to dissipate. She felt warm, and it was apparent to her that it had nothing to do with the water.
She reached for the handle and shut off the water, shivering as the last second of water went from hot to cold. A towel was quickly snatched off the rack, and her bed beckoned with comfort and soft down pillows. Try as she might to resist its call, she flopped her still-damp body down on it while lazily drying herself.
You gotta get this out of your head. He's your partner; you can't go acting all doe-eyed and goofy when you're on the job, she thought, drying each of her ears off one at at time.
What was normal, though? Pretending to ignore the burn in her ears whenever he smiled wasn't an option, and if Cam could make relationships with predators work, why couldn't she?
Duh, because he's your partner, you dumb bunny. That much is obvious.
A lead anchor dropped in her chest at that thought, and the pushback in her head was strong enough that the argument fell flat immediately.
So what if he's my partner, other officers have made it work. Besides, I'm sure we could figure it out. If we could both get through ZPD training, we could get through this.
A wide, toothy grin spread across her muzzle like the swell of a crowd at a concert. She could imagine Nick there, smiling along with her at the Gazelle show after the Nighthowler case, shaking his hips after she'd given him a little encouragement. She recalled the unabashed joy from that night, dancing for hours with him. She was exhausted in the morning, but she still got up early enough to send him off with a hug to his first day of training with the ZPD.
The alarm clock mocked her with a reminder that time was being wasted. She huffed that her reverie would be broken by something so simple as the time on a clock, and struggled to come to terms with the minutes of lateness that was inevitable at this rate. Accepting that there would be a few spots that weren't completely dry, she finished toweling off quickly before heading to the closet and snatched one of the only two remaining clean uniforms off a hanger. Her clothes were thrown on haphazardly, but it would have to do. She bounded down the stairs, but stopped when she realized Cam had dropped her off last night; their car was still at the precinct. A palm found her forehead with a loud smack. The prospect of taking the bus was intensely frustrating, but she'd have to make it work. She broke into a quick jog, and within minutes, was at a nearby bus stop. She frowned and tapped her foot after sitting down on the bench, calculating exactly how many minutes behind schedule her forgetfulness would put them.
Nick's alarm trumpeted in his ears, warranting a low growl at the interruption of his sleep. The urge to throw the infernal noisemaker against the wall grew in him, but he resisted and tossed the covers off himself. At least Carrots didn't have to find me nearly naked again. He flicked the alarm off and headed into the bathroom to begin his morning routine. Brushing his fangs only took a minute or so, prolonged slightly by the progressively louder yawns that kept coming out of his mouth. His shower was, for the first time in weeks, not a horrible way to wake up; he'd remembered that the apartment manager had repaired his hot water heater and let himself melt into the mini-sauna it created. His mind drifted to Finnick, and he sighed. I shouldn't have let him drive home last night, he thought. He should have gotten a taxi or something.
Thinking of Finnick lead his mind to the bar and the events that transpired the previous night. The paws rubbing body wash into his fur froze when he remembered he hadn't actually told Judy what had happened. Well, I hope she's in the mood for big news this morning, he thought.
Stepping out of the shower, he grabbed a towel and headed for his room, drying himself along the way. He spent the better half of a few minutes trying to get his thick fur at least dry enough to not soak his uniform before he opened up his closet to find it empty. He'd changed at the station last night so he could head out with Finnick, he remembered. A very melodramatic groan escaped his lips as he rummaged through his hamper and drawers for something to wear to work. Some wrinkled khaki slacks and one of his favorite Hawaiian shirts would have to cut it. His phone buzzed on his nightstand, nearly falling off from the vibration. He ran over and snatched it right as it was about to fall, finishing with a celebratory fist pump. "What, no one saw that?" he asked to the empty room. "Well, I saw it, and it was awesome."
He went to his messages and saw a text from Judy informing him of the bus situation, but reassuring him she'd still have their morning coffee. He smiled despite the news that he'd have to take public transportation to work. As he was about to close it, the phone vibrated in his hand again with a new message from Judy saying she'd be there in a few minutes. He pocketed the phone and finished getting dressed, waiting in the kitchen. He told himself he was calm and not excited to see her, but his subconscious knew he was lying.
Right as he was about to get into another mental argument with himself over the severity of his feelings for his partner, as if right on cue, he heard a knock at his door.
"Nick?" she called out from behind the door. "I splurged a bit on the pastries today. I know how much you hate the bus, so I figured they might help."
He grinned and shook his head. "There you go again, Carrots, thinking of everyone but yourself. That's gonna get you in trouble one day," he replied, walking to the door.
"I did this for me, too, you know," she said. "Not like the bus is any more appealing to m-"
She was interrupted by the door opening with Nick standing in the doorway. She giggled when she saw his favorite, garish Hawaiian shirt staring back at her like a siren of color. "Uh, Nick? Mind telling me why you look like you're ready to go to a luau instead of to work?" she asked.
He shrugged. "I changed at the station last night to head out with Finnick, so I'll get my uniform there," he said. "And don't diss this shirt, you know I have impeccable style, it's just too auteur for country bunnies to understand." He gestured to his shirt with a flourish, finishing it with a small pirouette, which earned a girlish bout of laughter from Judy.
"Oh, impeccable is definitely one way to put it," she said. The scent of two coffees and fresh baked goods wafted through the air to Nick's snout, and he found himself salivating in anticipation. He spotted the drinks on the ground next to Judy, who could swear his pupils were dilated. "A little hungry, Nick?" she asked, bending down to pick up the bag. "Apparently, they're trying out this new blueberry turnover down at the bakery. They got a deal with some local farmers to use blueberries picked that morning." She waved the bag in front of his face like a hypnotist. "Interested?"
Nick swallowed hard. "More interested than I've ever been for anything else in my life," he whispered, his paws slowly reaching out to the bag. Judy teasingly pulled the bag back a few inches before she saw the pleading in his eyes. She swore she heard him whimper.
"Well, normally I make you wait until we get in the car, but since we don't have one today…" she said, tossing the bag to him. "I guess you can eat now."
He fumbled with the bag, juggling it like an ancient vase before settling down and pulling out a crisp, blueberry pastry. Tentatively taking a bite, the warm, flaky crust nearly melted in his mouth, and he could have sworn he was momentarily teleported to an alternative universe made of pure sunshine, blueberries, and happiness. A smile broke out across his muzzle as wide as any he could remember in his lifetime
"So? What's the verdict?" she asked. "Hello?"
He was pulled from his blueberry-induced catatonia before realizing he was still standing in front of her with half-chewed pastry in his mouth. He quickly swallowed and shrugged. "Eh, it's pretty alright," he said, fighting to maintain his poker face. It was a losing fight.
"You're such a jerk," Judy laughed. She handed him his coffee and picked up her own. "And as much as I'd like to sit here and admire as you eat a Danish more lovingly than Clawhauser ever has, we need to catch the next bus."
His cup was millimeters from his lips when he scowled. "Right, the bus, public transportation, that thing," he grumbled. "Also, this is a tart, not a Danish. I expect better from you." He walked out of the doorway and closed the door, locking it behind him. The pair quickly made their way to the closest stop and sat down on the bench. He reached into the bag and pulled out a fluffy doughnut. He passed it to her, and they were soon both eating and enjoying their food in silence.
After a several moments, Nick spoke up. "So, uh, how was dinner with Mr. Cotton?" he asked, doing his best to sound as nonchalant as possible.
"Oh! Um, it was pretty good," she replied, trying to mimic his aloof tones. Neither was doing a particularly good job. "I know you got my text. The restaurant was really good, and pretty affordable, too. I bet you'd like it."
"Wait, so decent food and cheap is all it takes for me to like a restaurant?" he asked. "Are my standards that low? Once again, Carrots, your words wound me."
She snorted. "I said good and affordable, not decent and cheap. Those are your words, not mine," she replied.
A moment of silence drifted between them, making time for chewing and swallowing. "Sounds like you had a good time, then," he said.
"Yeah, Cam's a really nice guy, though he, uh, told me about an argument you two had," she said slowly, her words creeping along to gauge his reaction.
He was halfway through taking a sip of his coffee when he sputtered. "Oh, hah, did he now?" he asked, fidgeting in place. Judy noticed the tip of his tail flicking back and forth. "And, um, just what exactly did he say?"
Judy paused and looked directly at him with an intensity that made him shudder. "He said that you accused him of having something to do with the case, and claimed he was out to get me," she replied.
Nick's head found his paws as he hunched down, trying to hide his face. "Ugh, I'm really sorry, Carrots," he began. "I let my emotions get the better of me, and I should probably apologize, and it was a huge-"
"Nick, Nick, it's okay," she said. "He didn't seem to have any hard feelings, and I'm not mad or anything."
He looked up, his ears folded back. "Wait, really?"
"Not anymore, although you were a jerk," she said, bopping him on the nose. "Don't do it again."
He chuckled as it dawned on him that he was in the clear. "Hah, sure thing, Fluff. Scout's honor." He held up a two-fingered salute and put his other paw over his heart.
"We'll have to see about that," she said. "And I don't know, I talked it over with Cam, and you're just trying to look out for me. You're stubborn and thickheaded and shouldn't do it again, but it came from a good place."
Nick tugged on his collar to loosen it. "Geez Carrots, you sure know how to flatter a guy," he said.
"What about you? How was your night?" she asked.
At that moment, Nick felt like he could drown in his absentmindedness. "Oh crap, that's right," he said, turning to her and grabbing her shoulder. She recoiled slightly, taken aback by the sudden fervor of his voice. "Fluff, you are not gonna believe what happened."
A city bus rounded a corner to pull up to their stop, interrupting him from finishing his thought. "Finally, at least we're not gonna be too late," she said, grabbing the bag and her coffee. "C'mon, you can tell me on the way."
Nick sighed and grabbed his cup as well and headed onto the bus with Judy.
The pair found a seat together near the back. For an early morning bus, it was sparsely populated, with only a few older mammals and a family of hedgehogs in the front. They sat down and began the fruitless task of trying to get comfortable. "Alright, so apparently there was something I'm not going to believe?" she asked. "Let me guess, Finnick got hit on by a hippo or something."
"No, wait, well, no, but how'd you- never mind," Nick said, flabbergasted at the accuracy of her guess. "No, we ran into that boar and hyena from the stake-out."
It was all Judy could do to keep herself from spewing a mouthful of coffee all over the seat in front of her. "WHAT?" she asked, the incredulity of her shriek reverberating in Nick's ears. "You just, what, found yourselves at the same bar? And you didn't think to call me?"
"Wait, no, that's not the point," he said. "Besides, I wasn't going to interrupt your dinner over this. You were talking about the case with Cam."
"Well, yeah, but who cares? What happened?"
He crouched low in the seat and gestured for Judy to do the same. "You might want to stay quiet for this next part," he said quietly. "They were meeting with someone at the bar."
Judy's face had been in a permanent state of shock for the last several moments, and Nick feared that this news would permanently lock her features in place. Eh, she's still cute, though, he thought. No, bad Nick, now's not the time for ogling your partner. Uh, not that there's a good time for it, well, I guess when she's in that meter maid uniform, it's not the worst thi-
"Hello, Nick?" she asked, grabbing onto his shoulder. "I asked who they were meeting. Who was it?"
Nick awareness having apparently failed him, he felt a chill run up his spine and shook it off. "Oh, right! It gets even crazier. I recognized the guy they met with from the precinct. It's another boar, Marty. Works in dispatch."
What had been an excited look of shock across Judy's muzzle sank into melancholy. "So there was a mole after all," she mumbled. "And you're sure about this? There's no way he could be unaware of what that group of mammals is doing?"
He nodded grimly. "Not a shred of doubt in my mind, Finnick heard everything," he replied. "And we recorded it, too."
"I was really hoping Internal Affairs was wrong and they were just getting lucky or something," she said. "Wait, recorded it? On what?"
"Duh, that carrot pen, of course," he said. "What else would you record case-breaking conversations on?"
"Well, can you show me?"
"Sure, let me just-" he said, patting over his pockets, his paws moving faster the longer he didn't feel any pen in them. His jaw hung slack as he stared at her with a look of horror. "Oh no, no, please no," he muttered, looking around and under the seat cushion.
"Uh, what's up? Wait, you didn't lose it, did you?"
He looked up, a sheepish grin spreading across his muzzle. "Uh, I don't think 'lost' is the proper word to use, though I may have left it back at the bar."
Judy groaned. "You mean the same bar that the mammals who we've been investigating were at?"
"Ah, yes, it may have been the same bar," he replied. "Look, we'll just have to head over there when we get to the precinct. I'm sure it just rolled under the table or something. Hell, I bet our waitress picked it up." He leaned back in his seat and took a long sip from his coffee. "It'll be fine, Carrots, don't worry."
"How could- I can't- ah, there's no point now," she said, her ears flopping down as she rolled her eyes.
Outwardly, Nick was a picture of aloof confidence, but inside, he was trying to contain a meltdown. Stupid, stupid! How could you leave the pen there? The one concrete source of evidence that you had? The thing you practically begged your friend to risk his life to get? And you just forget it?
"I just can't believe there was actually a mole in the force, you know?" Judy asked, pulling Nick out of his self-loathing.
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know, I guess I just assumed that every cop was in this together. Serving the public and all that." Her paws rubbed against each other, her fingers nervously entangling themselves with one another. "Knowing that one of them was willing to sell out… it's a betrayal, I guess." Her face fell and Nick noticed her nose twitching.
Nick put a paw on her shoulder and rubbed it gently. "I don't know if it'll make you feel any better, but from what I could tell, it wasn't just a guy looking to make a quick buck," he said.
She looked up at him. "What do you mean?"
"There were some, ah, extenuating circumstances, I guess," he began. "I don't think he was blackmailed or anything, but I definitely got the impression he was manipulated into helping them."
"Well, if that's the case, why didn't he come to us for help?" she asked.
Nick simply shrugged. "I don't know, Carrots. Most mammals have their own reasons for doing stuff, and a lot of the time they'll stick by a bad decision for even worse reasons. It doesn't make them bad, just misguided, if you want to look at it like that."
She didn't reply and stared into her coffee cup. Nick noticed her silence after several moments and piped up. "Hey, uh, you've been in the tank a while there, penny for your thoughts?" he asked.
She looked up and gave a weak smile. "It's nothing. I'm just wondering where you got so good at saying the right thing," she said.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Her grin spread wider. "Don't worry about it, dumb fox," she replied, giving him a light punch on the shoulder.
"Uh, is this some sort of bunny mind game that I'm not aware of?" he asked. "Because if you're trying to get into my head, I can assure you, it's not working."
Meanwhile, the inside of Nick's head was ablaze as his mind worked furiously to try to decipher exactly what Judy's words meant. A small portion of it was currently dedicated to making his lie seem believable, though he probably could have spared a bit more for it.
Judy shook her head and giggled. "Yup, you got me, us bunnies actually have secret mind control powers that get stronger the more of us there are," she said, waving her paws in Nick's face as though she were casting an ancient incantation. "That's why we're so good at multiplying; for our eventual goal of world domination." She finished with a flourish that was reminiscent of jazz hands.
Nick had to cover his mouth to keep his laughter from spilling out. "Hah, alright, that was pretty good," he said. "Where'd you become an actress all of a sudden?"
"Third grade, of course," she said. "I was the star of the school play."
The pair refused to let their banter slow down even as they stopped a block from the precinct and hopped out.
. The main hall was decidedly less crowded than normal, with only a few mammals mulling about. McHorn had a smug grin as he hauled in a sheep in handcuffs. He noticed Nick and Judy, and waved over to them.
"Hah, got this guy on my way into work," he called out from across the room. "Thought I wouldn't notice him running two stop signs and a red light."
"Good catch, Horns," Nick replied, throwing a thumbs up in his direction. McHorn responded in kind.
"Okay, so you get dressed, I'll grab the keys, and we can head over to this bar, got it?" she asked as they walked past Clawhauser's desk. The cheetah spoke in quick, apologetic tones on the phone. Nick and Judy could hear the man on the line's voice from yards away.
"Got it," he replied, making a beeline for the locker rooms. Judy headed for the women's locker room to grab their cruiser keys. They quickly realized they were heading the same direction, and shared an awkward laugh."
"Heh, guess we weren't really splitting up," he said.
The two laughed awkwardly again before looking at one another.
"Let's just go grab the stuff," she said, her face deadpan. Nick nodded and nothing more was exchanged before they reached their respective locker rooms.
Nick got dressed in his uniform as expediently as he could while trying to press out the wrinkles with his paws. Meanwhile, Judy snatched her keys from her locker and met him outside. Within minutes, the pair were at their cruiser, the engine pleasantly rumbling beneath the hood.
"So, you're confident that the pen is at this bar," she asked. "That's the last place you saw it?"
"It's definitely the last place I saw it, though I can't guarantee it's still there," he replied. "I'm sure it is, though. It's just a dinky old pen, it's not like it's worth stealing or anything."
Judy put on a face of faux-hurt to disguise the smidgen of real hurt at his words. "Hey, that pen has done great things for us! I don't want to hear you insult it again," she said, buckling her seatbelt.
"Easy, Fluff, point taken," he said. "Now, I nearly died numerous times on the way to the bar last night with Finnick behind the wheel. Think you can give me a nice, relaxing ride for a change?"
Judy shrugged and put it in neutral, revving the engine. "I'm not sure, Nick. That depends on how many jerks I meet on the road, doesn't it?"
Nick gulped as she put it in drive and roared out of the precinct parking lot.
Despite her furious exit from the precinct, Judy soon found herself in the midst of late morning Savanna traffic once again. Pop music was quietly playing through the car's speakers, which she absentmindedly bobbed her head to. "So, what exactly happened last night?" she asked. "Fill me in on details."
Nick had just taken the last large bite of his last blueberry tart, and had to chew for several seconds before he could answer. Judy rolled her eyes at him. "You know, it wouldn't kill you to take smaller bites."
"Can't help it," he replied, his mouth halfway-full of pastry. He swallowed the rest. "Not in a fox's nature to take small bites."
"I'm pretty sure that's completely made up, so if you could give me a rundown of how you managed to get incriminating evidence while you were getting at a bar with your friend, I'd appreciate it."
Nick ran through the early parts of the night, trying to downplay just how much he and Finnick were drinking. He couldn't get anything past Judy, though.
"Wait, it sounds like you guys were drinking for a while," she said, interrupting him. "Why were you getting drunk? Did you mean to?"
Nick rubbed the back of his head, and his ears gave a small twitch. "Hah, well, I was kinda bummed about you going to dinner with Cam, and I hadn't seen Finnick in a while, so it was like a little sad celebration I guess."
"You got drunk because you were upset I went to dinner with Cam?" she asked, her eyes wide.
"Well, and because I hadn't seen him in a while," he replied with a nervous chuckle. "You know, little of column A, little of column B."
Her eyes narrowed at him. I bet it was a lot of column A and none of column B, she thought. Were you that jealous that you had to go get plastered with Finnick to feel better about it?
Nick felt her eyes boring holes through his head. He struggled to keep his tail under control, cursing his lack of a poker face around her. He knew normally he was a picture of composure, but around her, it all came crumbling down
"I mean, yeah, we got a little drunk and had a good time. Look, the story really begins after we'd been there awhile. I noticed Raul and his crew walking in and ducked. Finnick and I kept an eye on them after they went down and sat at Marty's table," he explained.
"So, you just watched them? How'd you get a recording of their conversation then?"
Nick found himself hot under the collar once again. "Well, I may have, er, talked Finnick into sneaking under the table behind them and with the pen and recording it."
Judy gawked at him, nearly drifting into the lane on her left. An irate meerkat honked at her, which earned a death glare from Judy. She snapped back to Nick. "You're telling me you managed to talk a known criminal, a fennec fox, into eavesdropping on a conversation between a potential mob boss, his hyena enforcer, and their crooked police informant? And all this for an internal investigation amongst the ZPD? While you both were drunk?" Her voice was climbing in volume the longer she talked.
"Hey, we did our best to sober up once we saw them," he retorted, although he had to admit it was a weak comeback. "And, uh, yes, that is what we did. But it worked though!" he interjected quickly. "We got out of there with no one the wiser."
Judy took a deep breath and exhaled, counting to five. "Nick, that was incredibly dangerous and I can't believe you'd take that risk," she began, eyes forward at the road. His ears folded back, and despite the urge he had to defend himself, he stayed silent. "But, it really worked out," she said. "Even if we can't recover the pen, Finnick's testimony would be enough if we both vouched for him. You probably cut the investigation time from weeks to hours." They pulled up to a red light, and she turned back to him with a proud smile. "It was risky, foolish, and dangerous, but that's the kind of officer you are, and I don't think I'd have it any other way."
Her eyes positively beamed at him; he swore it was like looking at the sun. He felt uncomfortable under the intensity and purity of her smile, and he felt blood rush into his cheeks and ears. "Geez, Carrots, you really know how to make a fox feel appreciated," he mumbled out through a bashful grin.
"Well, I know you've been kind of on edge about Cam the last few days," she began. "You just… well, it worked out. You're a good cop, Nick, and you ought to know that."
The car evaporated away from Nick into mist, and he felt himself floating through the sky on a cloud. All his worries were left in the dust as he zoomed around in the freedom of the air. However, his journey was interrupted by Judy's voice.
"Hey, isn't that Finnick's van?" she asked.
Nick blinked a few times and saw they were at The Predator's Gambit. Finnick's beaten up conversion van sat outside, taking up nearly two spaces. A large dent was in the rear bumper, one that he didn't recognize. "Yeah, it is," he replied. "I wonder what he's doing here?"
Judy found a parking space and the pair wasted no time heading for the door. The bar was supposed to be closed right now judging from the posted hours. Judy reached for the handle, and before Nick could voice that it was probably locked, the door opened and they headed inside.
The bar looked different in the daylight with no one in it, he noticed. Finnick and Betty were by the bar itself. Finnick had his wallet out and looked to be grumbling about something.
"Well, I guess let's head over," Judy said. "Is that your waitress from last night?"
Nick nodded. Finnick turned his head and saw the pair walking his way. "Yo, Nick, what are you doin' here?" he asked.
"We, er, I didn't grab the pen from last night," he replied. "We came back to look for it and ask Betty if she saw it. Hold on, what are you doing here?"
"He's finally paying off that tab that he owes me," Betty said with a smug grin. "'Bout time, too. Didn't want to have to sic Kristoff on you. Lord knows you'd be the tiniest thing he's thrown out of here."
Finnick continued his grumblings as he flipped through his wallet and pulled out a thick wad of cash. Nick overheard a few choice swears amongst his incoherent muttering and had to restrain from laughing.
"Also, you mind telling me what's with that new dent in your van?" he asked.
Finnick sneered, but Nick knew he was embarrassed. "I, uh, should have taken you up on that cab last night," he replied. "And what kinda cop are you, anyway? Lettin' a drunk fox drive home like that. You oughta be ashamed." One of Finnick's paws found his hip in a most unmasculine pose as he sassed Nick.
"Hold up, you let Finnick drive home drunk last night?" Judy asked, glaring at her partner.
"Well, I mean, he'd already driven me home, and he seemed sober enough…" Nick mumbled.
"You let him drive you home drunk?" Judy asked, her voice getting louder. "Nick, don't make me take back what I said in the car."
Finnick just sat there cackling. "Hah, that's right bunny, you whip him good," he said.
"And don't think you're off the hook, either," she said, turning to Finnick. "You, in good faith, drove my partner and your friend home after you'd been drinking. What do you have to say for yourself?" She accusingly pointed a finger at him and poked him in the chest.
Finnick took a step back, uneasy by the sudden reversal in her attitude. "W-woah, hey now, I mean, Nick let me do it! What about him?"
She advanced on him another step, refusing to back down. Betty simply sat back and watched with a bemused smile on her face. "Oh, I'll talk to him about it later. But you're his friend, and that means by proxy, you're mine, and I expect more out of my friends," she declared. Finnick felt an overwhelming urge to stare at his feet, the power of his voice suddenly gasping for breath. "So what do you have to say for yourself?"
"I- uh- well…" he stuttered. He looked at Nick for some sort of hint, but his friend gave him nothing other than a noncommittal shrug. "Er, sorry, bunny," he said tentatively. "It, uh, won't happen again."
"No, not bunny, Officer Hopps, or Judy, if you'd like," she said. A moment passed. "Go on."
Finnick scowled in inverse correlation to the grin Nick was wearing; he'd never seen his friend so thoroughly beaten. "Sorry… Judy," he said.
"That's what I like to hear," she replied, smiling again. She turned back to Nick. "So, I think we've got some searching to do."
"Uh, we're technically closed right now, so is there something I can help you two with?" Betty asked.
"Remember that carrot pen Finnick and I had at the table last night? Well, I think we left it here," Nick said. "It has, uh, sentimental value, so we were hoping to get it back." He turned to Judy, silently asking her to back him up.
"It's from our first case together," Judy said. "We were hoping to just look around for a few minutes."
Betty cocked an eyebrow, seemingly unconvinced. "Why exactly did you have it at the bar, then?" she asked.
"I was showing it to Finnick. Look, it's a little embarrassing, so we just wanted to see if it rolled under a table or something. Did you see it when you closed?"
She shrugged, returning to counting the cash that Finnick had handed her. "Can't say I did, though if it turns up I'll let ya know," she said. "Go ahead and look around for a few, I don't mind."
Nick and Judy both nodded and started checking under each table in the bar, paying special attention to the booth he and Finnick sat at the previous night. Despite digging through every filthy cushion and checking under every table, though, the pen was nowhere to be found.
"Damn, where the hell could it be…" Nick muttered, getting up off his paws and knees. He dusted off his slacks for a moment before turning to Judy. "Ugh, what are we gonna do? That pen had everything on it?"
She got out from under a table and stood up, pausing a moment to think. "If you convince Finnick to talk to Bogo, that might be enough," she said. "It would be up to him, though."
Nick sighed and looked over to where Finnick and Betty where. Their money dispute settled, the two were talking casually. He swallowed hard. "Yeah, you've got a point," Nick said. "I'll talk to him."
He made his way across the room. Finnick noticed him and called out, "Yo, thought you were lookin' for that pen?"
Nick put his paws in his pockets. "We, uh, couldn't find it," he replied. "Say, Betty, think you could give us a moment?"
Betty nodded. "Sure thing, hon," she replied, walking back toward the kitchen, her fingers greedily flipping through the stack of bills Finnick had given her.
"So, I know I asked a lot of you last night," Nick said, drawing out the words as he searched for the right ones. "And I hate to ask more of you, but without the recording, we're kinda stuck."
Finnick hopped off the stool he was sitting on and raised an eyebrow. "And just what exactly would you be askin' of me this time?"
Nick released a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Would you… dammit," he said. "Would you be willing to come with us and tell the chief of police what you know?"
Finnick rolled his eyes and huffed. "Man, you gotta be kiddin' me. First, I risk my tail for this case or whatever, and now you want me to walk into the lion's' den itself?"
"C'mon, it's not that bad, and it's not like you have a big record or anything," Nick pleaded. "I'll try to get you anonymity if you promise to tell Bogo everything you heard last night."
One of Finnick's paws went behind his back. "Yeah, but why would I tell him anything when you can just show him this." He held the carrot pen in his paw, a fang-filled grin lighting up his face.
"I- you- are you kidding me right now?" Nick exclaimed. His face contorted back and forth through several stages of rage, exasperation and sheer joy. "You had it the whole time?"
Judy's ears perked up from across the room at the commotion. She noticed the orange pen and quickly ran over. "Wait, you guys found it?" she asked.
Nick scowled and pointed at his friend. "No, Finny here had it with him since we've been here," he said.
"Actually, I've had it since last night," he said. "Not my fault your stupid ass didn't even think to grab it off the table. You should be thankin' me."
"Thanking you? You let me think it was missing!"
"And that's just a tiny bit of payment for all the crazy stuff you talked me into last night," he replied. "So don't you even think of bitchin' about it to me."
Nick pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "I… suppose that's fair, in a twisted, sick sort of way," he said. "So can we have the pen?"
Finnick flipped it to him. "Yeah, knock yourselves out. I don't want nothin' to do with what's on that recording."
Nick snatched the pen out of the air and handed it to Judy. "You wanna go put this in the car, Carrots?" he asked. "Just in case the universe wants to make it even more difficult for us to transport a pen to the station."
"Sure thing," she replied, bounding out the door to their cruiser.
"So, you tell her yet?" Finnick asked, looking up at Nick.
Nick took a deep breath. "I… don't know about it, I mean, she's my partner. I don't wanna risk things getting awkward between us," he replied, eyes downcast toward the floor.
"C'mon don't give me that crap," Finnick said, jumping up to smack him on the back of the head. Nick winced in pain. "Hey, what the hell?"
"I know you wanna tell her, and you're gonna keep bein' pathetic until you do," he replied. "Besides, I see what you were sayin' last night."
Nick looked down at him, eyes widening. "Hmm? What do you mean?"
"Man, I bet that bunny could kick your ass seven different ways," he laughed, swatting Nick on the back. "You always did like chicks that were tougher than you."
"Hey, I don't want to hear it, Mr. 'Sowwy, Judy, I pwomise it won't happen again,'" he said, sticking his lower lip out and acting as infantile as possible.
"Watch it, whipping boy, or I'll let her know that you were bein' rude to me."
"What, that's your comeback? You'll tattle on me? What happened to not being a snitch?" Nick asked, a bemused smile on his muzzle.
"Whatever gets results, man," Finnick shrugged. "And I can tell that bunny's got you by the tail. Which, if I remember correctly, you were into when you were dating that ocelot chick years back."
Nick resisted the urge to smack his friend. "Shut up, man! Not so loud!"
Judy strolled back inside and looked at the two. "Well, I guess we should get this information to the Chief," she replied. "What were you two talking about?"
Finnick gestured them both away with a paw. "Ah, Nick was just tellin' me a joke. You should ask him about it, it was hilarious," he said, grinning wickedly at his friend.
"Oh, alright," Judy replied with a smile. "Ready to go, Nick?"
Nick glared at Finnick. "Yeah, let's get out of here."
The pair walked out the door and headed for their cruiser. The mid-morning heat beat down on them without relent, and Nick felt the urge to pant. He stayed a few feet behind Judy as they walked, watching her tail bob back and forth with each step. He could feel himself getting even warmer under the collar, and it had little to do with the sun.
Soon, they were back at the car and buckling themselves in. Judy turned the cruiser on, and Nick immediately reached for the air conditioning to flick it to full blast.
"What was that joke that Finnick mentioned?" she asked.
"Oh! Yeah, the hilarious joke," he replied, wracking his brain to come up with something. "Er, I don't know if you'd like it, it's not really your style of humor."
Judy cocked an eyebrow. "Really? You think I'm some dainty flower that can't handle a joke? I've been a cop longer than you have. Lay it on me."
"Uh, well, alright," he said. He was drawing a blank and struggled to piece together something funny on the fly. "Why can't, um, elephants go to the beach?"
Judy sat and pondered a moment. "Hmm, I don't know, why?"
"Because they can't keep their trunks up!" Oh god, Wilde, that was the worst joke you've ever said. You've really done it now, you stupi-
Judy broke into a fit of giggles. "Hah, okay, that one was pretty good. A lot better than your three-humped camel one you've told a hundred times."
Nick sat flabbergasted. He was mildly aware that his mouth was hanging open, and closed it quickly.
"Why did you think I wouldn't like it though?" Judy asked, pulling out of the parking lot.
"Oh, you know how you country bunnies are, can't handle sophisticated city humor from guys like me," Nick replied, straightening his tie with unnecessary panache.
Judy rolled her eyes and smiled. "You are such an ass. What am I gonna do with you?"
Say take me to dinner tonight, say take me to dinner tonight. What are you waiting for?
"Uh, take me… back to the precinct so we can finish up this case?"
Judy smiled at him. "Sounds like a good idea."
That was weak, he grumbled silently. He quietly sipped his coffee and stewed in his thoughts.
The drive back was thankfully more or less clear of traffic, though there were a few moments of rage from Judy. Nick heavily doubted that he would ever tire of her poor driving manners.
Nick pocketed the carrot pen as they pulled into the precinct. Once inside, they headed for Clawhauser's desk.
"Hey, Clawhauser," Judy said, waving to the cheetah, who looked to be doing is absolute best to look busy without actually being busy. The two shared a look; and wordlessly agreed his acting could use some work.
"Oh, hey you two" he replied. "They missed you at the bullpen today, where were you guys?"
"Just taking care of something for the Chief," Nick replied. "Is he in?"
"Yeah, he's in his office," he said. "Why, is something up?"
"Nah, we just wanted to go over a case with him," Judy said. "Thank you."
The pair nearly ran to Bogo's office, leaving Clawhauser to sit in confusion at his desk. Judy threw open the door to his office, startling the buffalo.
"Hopps? Wilde? What's the meaning of this?" he asked, his tone clipped and terse. "And I hope you two have a good explanation for missing the briefing this morning. That's two in a row you've missed now."
The two took a seat without being offered. "Oh, I think you'll see we had an excellent reason," Nick replied, pulling out the pen and sliding across the table. "For you, Chief."
Bogo glanced from the pen, to Nick, and back to the pen a few times. "Wilde, while I appreciate the gesture, my birthday is months away, and quite frankly, I expect better than a novelty pen," he said, unamused. He set the pen back on the table.
Nick rolled his eyes at Bogo's comment; it was impossible not to notice the tiny smirk the chief was wearing. "Here, allow me, Chief," Judy said, and clicked the play button.
It was the first time Judy had heard the grainy recording, and she was in as much shock as Bogo, who uncharacteristically let his emotions show through to his officers. His eyes went wide during Raul's and Marty's discussion, and he leaned forward in earnest anticipation for the whole duration of the recording. After a few minutes, it concluded with a poignant click.
Bogo sat with his hooves clasped in front of his face for several moments, and the three basked in uncomfortable silence. "Officers Hopps and Wilde, might I ask where you procured this conversation?" he asked after stewing in his thoughts.
"You'll have to ask Nic- er, Officer Wilde about it," Judy replied. "He managed to get it last night while I was trying to gather more information from a contact."
Bogo's eyebrows lifted noticeably. "Officer Wilde, is that true?" he asked, picking up the pen. "Where did you get this?"
Nick rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, Chief, I got it with the help of an… informant, you could say. He was the one who initially gave us some names to work off of," he said. "We had met at a bar to, uh, discuss the case, and the perps from our stake-out happened to walk into late at night."
Nick briefly described his night with Finnick, embellishing where appropriate. He left out the exact reason for their meetup, how much they'd had to drink, Finnick's name, his history, how much danger he was in to record the conversation, and their near-miss exit. Come to think of it, I'm basically leaving out everything, Nick thought to himself with a chuckle.
"Is something funny, Officer Wilde?" Bogo asked, unblinking.
Nick sat up a little straighter at the question. "Oh, uh, no sir."
Bogo listened attentively while Nick described his night. Once he'd concluded, Bogo stood up and picked up the pen. "Now, it's obvious that you hadn't fully planned this out, and it seems like it was extremely risky," he began. Nick felt the urge to fidget in his seat, and he looked to Judy with worried eyes. "However, Officer Wilde, I have to say you've outdone yourself in the best possible way." Bogo smiled, and Nick could swear it was the first time he'd seen him smile in private, especially in front of him. "Not only is this irrefutable, but it will prove invaluable in the inevitable court proceedings that follow this." He set the pen back down. "I have to say, and believe me, I hate to say it, but I'm incredibly impressed, Wilde."
Judy positively beamed at him, and Nick felt overcome with uncharacteristic modesty. "Well, what can I say, Chief, I jus-"
"I want you to understand, I really, really loathe to admit it," Bogo continued.
Nick's smile fell deadpan. "Yes, I understand, Chief."
"I know this is going to amplify the already dangerous level of your ego," he said.
"I appreciate the humbling compliment, sir," Nick sighed.
"Relax, Officer Wilde, I'd expect a former street hustler to recognize a joke when he sees one," Bogo chuckled, which earned a giggle from Judy.
Nick's smile struggled to return, but came back a zombie, a poor facsimile of one. "Well, I really do appreciate it, Chief."
Judy spoke up. "Sir, if you don't mind me asking, what are you going to do with Marty?"
Bogo sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with his hoof. "Honestly, Officer Hopps, with this damning level of evidence, we'll have no choice but to bring him in for questioning. I got the impression, as I'm sure you both did, that he wasn't fully in earnest about this whole operation, so my hope is that he may be willing to feed us information on his cousin and their gang in exchange for reduced punishment. I wouldn't worry about that, though; that's going to be left to Internal Affairs."
Another silence wafted across the room like a dense fog. Judy looked distressed at the mention of punishment, and Nick simply stared at the ground.
Bogo sighed. "I understand how you're both feeling," he said, taking off his glasses. "This isn't the first time we've had to investigate the force for officers complicit in illegal activity. It… stings, each and every time." Nick and Judy both looked at him with anticipation. "But, it's just another reason why we need good cops such as yourselves, not just to watch over the citizens, but to watch over your fellow officers, as well. You've both done excellent work."
Judy's heart soared and she saluted Bogo. "Thank you sir, we're happy to help."
"And not to downplay Officer Hopps' contributions to this case, but especially good work from you, Officer Wilde," he said, nodding his head at Nick, who just sat mildly dumbstruck. "When I assigned this case, I certainly wasn't expecting a resolution in a few days. I know the suits down at IA will appreciate the tenacity of your investigation."
Nick tried to smile, but the corners of his mouth didn't want to go up. Something isn't right, he thought. Bogo's actually praising me. I should feel amazing.
"I wouldn't worry too much about the case from here on," Bogo said. "We won't know anything until we can speak with Officer Tuskington, anyway. Any sort of sting operation will most likely be performed by SWAT. In any case, excellent work, you two. You're dismissed." He waved them off with a hoof and picked up his glasses, carefully balancing them on the bridge of his snout.
"Er, sir?" Judy piped up. "What is our assignment for the rest of the day?"
Bogo blinked. "I'm not sure I understand, Hopps," he said.
Judy shrugged. "Well, all we had been assigned was this case, and we've finished our investigation," she said. "What are our orders now?"
Bogo looked away from the pair with a furrowed brow. "You know, Hopps, I hadn't really thought of that," he said, leaning back in his chair. After a few moments, he clapped his hooves together loudly. "You know, I've got just the thing for you two," he said with a grin.
"Parking duty," Judy grumbled to her partner. "He put us on parking duty, after what an amazing job we did on that investigation! The nerve of him!" The pair were wearing matching orange vests, and they each wielded their own ticket punching machine. "We risk our necks to try to root out a mole in the force, and this is how we're thanked. Well, I'll show him, I'll have 300 tickets by the day's end, that'll teach him!"
Judy bounded from car to car, leaving Nick quite literally in the dust. His stomach felt empty, but he wasn't hungry at all. Bogo had heaped more praise on him than he ever had before, and Judy was obviously proud of him for the work he did on the case. Why am I not happy? I've earned the right, for the first time in a long time, to be smug to everyone around me.
He trudged over to a white sedan, noticing the meter it was parked in front of was ten minutes late. His ticket machine was acting slow today, which normally would have bugged him, but he didn't mind. The numbers were punched in slowly, but not deliberately; Nick wasn't even sure if he'd entered the information correctly. Eh, people skip out on this crap all the time, he thought. The ticket was just placed under the windshield wiper when the car's owner, a strangely tall otter, came running over. "Aw, c'mon, I was only like five minutes late!" he pleaded.
"It was ten minutes, sir, and you can challenge or pay your citation at the city's traffic court," Nick sighed.
The otter harrumphed. "You know, my tax dollars are what pay your salary," he grumbled, snatching the ticket away from the wiper and stuffing it in his pocket.
"Yes, and we're all very grateful for your contribution," Nick replied, walking back toward his little parking cruiser. He could overhear the otter tossing a few curse words his way under his breath, but he ignored it. Spying Judy out of the corner of his eye, he took a few moments to watch her happily hop from car to car, checking for even the most insignificant late meter. A tiny smile spread across his muzzle. See, why can't you just be more like her, he thought. Always so optimistic and happy for others. God, the way she smiled when Bogo was telling me I'd done good work was almost too much to bear. His gaze lingered for a few moments too long, and Judy caught him looking at her. Her nose twitched, and she felt her ears get hot again. Still, she wasn't going to let him get the better of her.
"You know, you're never gonna keep up with me if you keep taking breaks!" she called out to him from across the street. "C'mon, I bet I can double your total by the end of the day. Loser buys dinner!"
His grin spread even wider, and even though he realized he was smiling like an idiot in public, he didn't feel any urge to change the situation. Loser buys dinner, huh, he thought. Their texts from the night before replayed themselves on a loop, and Finnick's words echoed in his mind. I know you wanna tell her, and you're gonna keep bein' pathetic until you do.
Nick stood up out of the miniature cruiser and loosened his tie, determination beginning to swell in his chest. Mini-Finnick popped up once more on his shoulder. His eyes looked to be asking a question, though Nick wasn't sure what.
You know what, screw the consequences. He took off down the street, looking for cars with expired meters to ticket. He didn't run too fast, though. After all, he had a competition to lose. He glanced over to his shoulder to see if Mini-Finnick had anything to add, but when he looked, he was gone.
