Authors notes: Sorry for the late upload, I've been really busy with marching band lately. School will be starting up soon as well sooo...yeah. I promise I'm going to try to keep to my Sunday update schedule but please be forgiving. I love this story and the characters and I hate not being able to type as much. Anyway, enjoy the chapter, this one and the next few will be fairly police work heavy, but don't worry, there is still a lot of fluff in store.
Chapter 8: The beginning
Judy, like always, was the first to wake. As she stirred, the fox next to her started to wake as well. Judy planted a kiss on the foxes snout and hopped off to get dressed. They dressed and ate in silence, neither really knowing what to say. The impending case unsettled both of them.
Judy drove to the precinct and along the way, Nick spoke up "You ready for this Carrots, this is gonna be a huge case."
"Our biggest case? I know this is your sister but..." she was cut off by Nick.
"It's not just her...Judy, we're going up against an entire mammal smuggling ring. This will be huge." Nick told her confidently.
Judy was shocked, she hadn't thought of that, she agreed with Nick and the rest of the trip was made in silence.
"Hey guys, how's the cutest couple ever?" Clawhauser greeted the pair as they entered the building.
Judy was about to say something about Clawhauser calling her cute but remembered what she promised Nick and settled on a glare. The glare went unnoticed by Clawhauser as he waited for an answer.
"We're great Ben. Judy's family was surprisingly accepting of me. Did we miss anything while we were gone?" Nick said.
Benjamin was ready for the question and quickly supplied "Well, while you two were smooching and staring googly eyes at each other, the techs went over the files and made a report for you two. Oh, look at the time, you two should get to muster, bye."
Nick and Judy nodded and started for the bullpen Nick suddenly remembered and quickly said "Oh, and your sister's nice."
Clawhauser was confused but decided to save it for later.
After roll call, they headed to their shared office and began studying the report.
"Hey carrots, look at this."
Judy rolled herself over to him as he pointed out a paragraph.
"Seems they do a lot of business in Tundratown."
"Okay, so we patrol the area, why's that so important."
"Oh, it makes a big difference."
"Huh..."
"Judy, Big hates mammal smugglers, and they're doing business in his territory. We have the entire Big crime syndicate on our side."
Judy's eyes widened at the realization. A thought popped into her head.
"But Nick, do we really want to ask Mr. Big for favors?"
"This won't be a favor Carrots, Big hates mammal smuggling and will do anything to get rid of them, even work with the police."
"Okay then slick, I guess we're in for a trip to Tundratown."
The duo arrived at the Big mansion and spoke into the intercom. They were let in and escorted by two polar bears to a room to speak with Big. After a few minutes, a large polar bear walked into the room and set Big down on the desk.
"So, why is it that two police officers have come to speak with me this evening." He said to start the conversation.
Judy was the first to speak "Sir, we want to ask for you help."
Big was intrigued and asked "I assume you know my help comes with a price."
Nick already knew what to say "Not when mammal smugglers are involved." spitting mammal smugglers like poison.
A scowl formed on Big's snout as he said "What are you talking about Nicky dear."
"Some mammals have been kidnapping kits and selling them to the highest bidder." Nick said with a snarl.
Judy picked up "I assume you know about the raid on that auction? Well, we got information and are going after them now. Nick said you hate those kind of mammals."
"Yes, I do, not as much as Nicky..." he said, gesturing to Nick "but I will gladly aid you. They assign a a mammal a price and sell the poor thing. They deserve every punishment they get and more."
They talked for awhile and Big decided to set up a meeting with an associate of his that may give them useful information.
"Thank you Mr. Big. I also want you to know. I may finally get my sister back after this, so thank you." Nick said as they prepared to leave.
Big's expression softened as he said "Nicky, you are family, if you need anything, ask. And Judy, make sure your boyfriend doesn't get into too much trouble."
They both stopped and blushed at the last comment and Judy said "Thank you, and I will, or at least I'll try." and with that they left and returned to the ZPD.
Judy knocked on the door and Bogo called them in.
"Chief, we have a lead, Mr. big will be setting up a meeting between us and an associate of his. We believe he may be our 'in.'" Judy said with a completely official tone.
"Good. I assume he doesn't know you're cops." Bogo answered.
Nick perked up "Nope, he thinks we have business with him. We hoped we could get him to open up about the smugglers or at least get us close to them."
The chief considered this for a moment "Alright then. You two will be fitted with new equipment better suited to your current task. Report to the armory, I'll have someone there waiting for you. Dismissed."
The officers saluted and left the office.
"So, new equipment. What do you expect us to get." Nick asked Judy, old spy movies playing in his head.
"Probably weapons, and protective clothing that won't stick out so much." Judy responded.
They arrived at the armory and were greeted by a panther.
"Hello, my name is Andrew Clawson, Pleased to meet you." he said.
"Nice to meet you to Mr. Clawson." Nick said as he extended his paw.
"Andrew, please. May I call you Nick and Judy?" he said, shaking Nicks paw.
"Of course. Now, we were told you would be outfitting us with new equipment." Judy said.
The panther turned and beckoned for them to follow."Of course. I'm told you will be posing as potential partners for a criminal. Well, I have some gear you may find useful, if not lifesaving."
Andrew stopped and picked up two boxes off a shelf and handed them to Nick and Judy.
"Please, open them." he said and they complied. Inside they found a trench coat, matching cargo pants, ear piece, sunglasses, and another hard-case box.
They both cocked their heads at the panther.
"These are yours. They should fit. Try on the cloths and I'll explain everything else." he said, seeing their confusion.
They looked at each other and then to the panther and blushed. Realizing what he really asked the two of them to do, he left to allow them to change.
He returned several minutes later to see the pair had changed. He smiled proud of what he had given them and began to explain.
"First of all, and most importantly, the coats are stab proof and will stop most handgun bullets." he started. "The pants and these boots are simply to match and keep you protected from the elements." he said, handing them each a pair of boots.
The pair looked at each other and were about to speak when Andrew continued.
"The glasses were designed to make of for your optical weaknesses. For you, Judy, They will enhance your night vision and for you Nick, they will protect your eyes from bright lights better than normal sunglasses." he said, Nick smiled, happy he had something to better help him a with his photo-sensitivity and Judy tried hers on. Andrew was expecting her to and turned off the light.
"Wow, I can actually see you two." she said realizing the lights were off but she could still see fairly well.
"Continuing..." Andrew said, turning the lights back on "the ear pieces will allow the two of you to constantly be in communication. We'll test them out before leaving. Now, if you will, open the hard-cases."
They opened them to find a pistol and a knife.
"If you get into a fight, the pistol will have armor piercing bullets that should allow you to take on most threats, the knife will help in paw-to-paw or if you need to keep it quiet." he said. They understood and took their new found equipment and, after testing the ear pieces, left to prepare.
They decided to start at the precinct shooting range. After a few minutes of target practice, they retrieved their targets to give them a look.
"Wow" Judy said, her eyes widening at the target nick shot at "I heard you were good, but that's amazing.
Nick's target had what seemed like one bullet hole, but upon closer inspection, it was several all in the same spot.
"Yeah, I told you, I now have the records at the academy for fire-arms. Precision, accuracy, and speed." he said.
Judy cocked her head at him "Where did you learn to do this."
Nick rubbed the back of his neck and said "Well, when I worked with Big, I decided to learn, just in case, and I found I had a knack for it and just kept improving."
Judy just rolled her eyes "Well, I see you don't need much practice with these. How about we do some sparing, you know I have a record too."
Nick smirked "Yeah, Ursula wouldn't shut up about 'the little bunny' that, and I quote, 'Put a rhino on his ass like it was nothing.'"
Judy giggled "Well, how about I put you on your ass then."
Nick shoved her and ran for the gym.
Nick held an ice pack to his side as Judy tended to his many bruises.
"Dang Judy, you pack one hell of a punch...and kick...and just about everything else." Nick said, amazed at the strength of the bunny in front of him.
"Well, I was trained to take down a rhino after all, how did you get past that."
Nick thought back to it "Well, I ran him around the ring, jabbing at anything vulnerable, and when he was tired, I moved in and took him down."
Judy was impressed but decided not to inflate his ego "How about we get someone to tech us to fight with these knives, I have a felling it'll be useful."
"Well...actually I can do that." Nick said.
Judy cocked her head and simply asked "Big?"
"Polar bears are big and scary, I wanted something better than claws if it ever came to it. And before you ask, no, it never came to it." he replied.
They took out their knives and Nick taught Judy to use in a fight.
After their hours of training, they started out the precinct. They were stopped by Clawhauser.
"Hey guys, how was your day? Make any progress?" He asked.
Judy responded "Yeah, we have a lead. All in all, it was a good day."
"Well, mostly, I'm still sore." Nick added sarcastically.
Judy giggled and Clawhauser tilted his head but decided it wasn't important.
He suddenly remembered his purpose in stopping them "Hey Nick, how do you know my sister."
Nick smiled slyly but Judy sarcastically answered for him, "He knows everything about everyone."
Clawhauser looked nervous for a moment then asked "Okay then, if you know everything about everyone, what is the secret the Chief made me promise to keep?"
Clawhauser looked smug until Nick began to answer.
"You once walked in on him not only listening to Gazelle, but using that app you have to photo shop your face onto the backup dancer."
Both Judy's and Clawhauser's jaws dropped.
"H-how did you know that." Clawhauser asked.
"Like Carrots here said, I know everything about everyone." Nick smugly replied.
Judy turned to him "But I was joking about that. Wait, how much do you know about me."
Nick smirked "More than the average mammal, much more." he raised is eyebrow for the last phrase. Judy blushed, knowing what he was implying and hoping it went over Clawhauser's head, as Nick continued. "And we met your sister at the dinner she works at. I have to ask, is your entire family as perky as the two of you?"
Clawhauser recovered from his shock and said "Yeah, pretty much."
Nick nodded and lead Judy out of the ZPD, leaving the cheetah to ponder what else Nick may know.
They finally made it home. Our home Judy thought happily. And immediately fell asleep as soon as they hit their bed, exhausted from the days activities.
