Nick woke up with a startle, did he seriously just dream of his and Judy's wedding? The place was fuzzy on where they were at, but there was no mistaking Judy in a white gown and veil, with her father escorting her down and giving her away to him, where they said their vows.
Kind-of jumping the gun aren't you, Wilde? You just started dating, there's no guarantee that it's going to last that long. No matter how much you want it to… He never met anyone like Judy before. When they first met she was some innocent cop that didn't know a con job when she saw one until after the fact. Sure he damped her spirits but she got back at him when he was needed as a witness. Blackmail. He hated her for that sure, but he was impressed later on. How they always upped each other was amazing. She understood him.
Having her for a partner on the force was great but being a partner for life would be even better.
He slowly got up and reached for a small old cardboard box beneath his bed in the apartment he got after he started getting a decent salary from his new honest job. He opened it up to see the things he had from his previous relationships, most of them were actually just dates he used to pull off another con job. But he held a picture booth photo in his paw of him and a female fox, behind the picture it said, 'To my favorite fox! (heart) Vivian'. Vivian was the longest relationship he ever had with until the day he decided he would propose marriage to her only to find her place empty and with a note telling him she had been seeing another fox on the side and left with him.
Other then when he been muzzled, Nick had never felt so heartbroken in his life. It was another crack on his heart he knew that was never going to fix. But when Judy came along… it was like she cemented that crack. Nick threw the picture back in the box and shoved it back in it's hiding place. He didn't understand completely why he didn't get rid of the box but he figured it was part of his philosophy in life. Never let them see they get to you. They were reminders that they didn't get to him, no matter how painful.
After everything that happened with Vivian, he couldn't bring himself to dating foxes again. That was probably why he was attracted to Judy during the Night Howler case, she was refreshing as a different species and for her to be so much like him… But he knew he had to take it easy, dating was a key moment in their growing relationship. Chances are they won't get romantically involved in the future and just end up being co-workers and friends. But there was no way of knowing that if they couldn't get some alone time together whenever duty calls.
He got some cereal and started getting ready to put on his uniform when his phone rang and saw Judy's picture. He answered it.
"Hey, Carrots. Sleep well?"
"Yes, I did. You?"
"Oh, somewhat."
"Had a bad dream?"
"Well, I wouldn't call it bad per say… More like surprising."
"Huh. So, ready to start the day with protecting Gazelle?"
"I'm always ready, Carrots, but it would be better if the Chief had assigned someone else for bodyguard duty."
"Oh come on, I know you better than that, you're flattered that we were chosen because you're a hero."
"Had you known the chandelier was out of whack, you would have been the one saving Gazelle."
"I can't believe it, is this the same Nick Wilde I've met on the streets with his smooth talk actually being humble?"
"It's temporary, I assure you."
"What exactly happened last night to make you act this way?"
A rabbit in a white dress that's what…
He just smiled and replied, "Who knows, Carrots… Who knows…"
"I know you're still disappointed we couldn't get dinner after the party, a chance for us to sit down and talk about things. There's so much I want to share with you."
"Really? What's stopping you from telling me now?"
"Because it's important and it calls for something special…" she smirked from the camera phone. "It's like you said, it's my first time in a relationship, I want to make it last."
"I want to make it last too, Judy… But you know there's no guarantee we'll… end up that way. We could just be what we started out as…"
"Rivals?"
"I was going to say frienemies."
She laughed.
He said, "All joking aside. If this doesn't work out like we hoped it would, can we agree right now, that we'll still be friends and partners?"
"Of course. I need you in my life, Nick."
"And I need you."
"But we can worry about that when the time comes. Right now, I believe we can make it as a couple."
He scoffed, "That is if we can make it past the first step."
"Once we know Gazelle is safe, I promise we'll have that date."
He checks his digital clock, "Speaking of which, when are you going to get here?"
"I'm already on the way. Just make sure you're ready to go."
He shook his head in amusement, "See you in a moment, Carrots." and he hung up.
Nick was playing with the many buttons that Gazelle's stretch limo had. One had controlled a mini bar, another lowered and raised the seat, and another opened the sun roof.
"Judy check this out!" he put on his shades that made him hot, of course, Judy would never admit that to him without inflating his ego more. He went up to the open roof.
She was getting on an annoyed look that her partner wasn't acting professional at all. Gazelle saw it and just smiled.
"Don't worry, I know that animals aren't as fortunate as me… It was not that long ago that I was young and hoping to make it big."
"Yeah… I know from your personal bio you had a hit album from the moment you graduated high school and had top songs since then, but nothing about your life before that."
"Yes, I like keeping my personal life private."
"At the party, Carlos said you were a soloist in the choir."
"I've always loved music, ever since I was a little gazelle."
"Were… other animals jealous of your talent? I'm not going to lie, if I had a talent like yours I wouldn't have wanted to be a cop."
"I… don't know… I don't like thinking the worst in anyone. That's why I dislike how Bellwether planned to divide Zootopia. We shouldn't have to hate anyone for anything. That's why I'm so grateful you and your partner saved the city, it was proof that we can live in the same place without fear…"
"Me, too. That's why I hate seeing you getting hurt like this, the only theory I have is someone wants to get rid of you for some reason."
Nick came down and put his shades away as he sat back down.
Judy filled in on what he missed, "Gazelle has told me a little about herself before making it big."
Gazelle said to Nick, "I'm curious to know if you give your friend his autograph."
Nick gave his usual smirk, "We did and he almost fainted."
Judy was smiling, confirming what he said.
Gazelle also smiled, "I do what I can to make animals of Zootopia happy."
Judy pointed out, "Meeting you in person would make him even more happy."
"And I would love to meet him."
Nick cringed, "You sure about that?"
"I'm aware of fans being out of control…"
"Oh, Ben isn't like that!" Judy quickly said, "He gets a little overexcited, but he's a very sweet officer and takes his job quite seriously."
"That's good to know. You should bring him to the studio tomorrow."
"Is that where we're headed right now?" Nick inquired.
"Yes, I have a recording session to record my latest song from the concert."
"Nick and I were there! 'Try Everything' has to be one of my new favorites!"
Gazelle chuckled, "I'm glad you think so."
The limo came to a stop and the driver opened the door for the singer and the cops to follow after her. Just as they were about to enter the building, Judy's ears suddenly picked up a sound of something, falling… She looked up and saw a flower pot heading for Gazelle!
"Watch out!" she said as she pushed the popstar out of the way.
When the pot landed with a crash, Nick exclaimed, "Not again!" he turned to his partner, "Good call, Carrots."
They looked up and saw no one was around, but Nick's keen eye sight spotted an open window on the 3rd floor…
"Thank goodness you were not hurt!" Carlos said as they were in the studio and Judy updated him of what just happened.
"I really don't understand what is going here…" Gazelle said with sadness in her tone. "I've always consider myself a peaceful creature why would anyone want to hurt me?"
"That's what we're going to find out." Judy assured her and asked Carlos, "Mind if we look around?"
"By all means! I want to know who is responsible for these terrible occurrences!"
"We'll get on it." said Nick and him and Judy left the recording booth.
They went to the 3rd floor to find the open window. When they did, they searched the area of any clue the perpetrator could have left. So far it looked like a clean getaway.
Judy said while still searching the floor, "It had to be a guest at the party, because there is no way anyone could have gotten in to mess with the chandelier without being on the list."
"But that's over twenty suspects! Are you suggesting we question everyone who was at that party?"
"Not without some evidence… So far we got nothing leading us to…" she stopped when she saw something shining on the ground. It was a ring. A class ring. "Nick… I think I got something…"
