Judy scoffed and turned her head away, a look of total disinterest upon her face. "Oh please." She replied, no longer even struggling against those holding her. She couldn't be bothered to give them the satisfaction. "If you're as good as you claim to be at reading people, and as confident in your assumption that I am this good and loyal police officer then you'd know I would never even consider doing any such thing for you."
Laurence then crouched in front of here once more, holding his knee to help him get down. "I don't expect you to do it officer, heck you can walk away right now. Although…" He let his voice trail off as he hiked a thumb over his shoulder in Nick's direction. "That shaking mound of fur, cuts and bruises needs you to do this. Take in mind I have had my fun with him, I am now simply asking you to save me the trouble of sending one of my men to throw away the body." And it was with that statement that Judy realised the choice that she was faced with… It was as though she had hopped at full speed straight into a brick wall. She could never go back on her duty to Zootopia, all the years of fighting naysayers and disbelievers alike. This was her life dream and she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she committed such a heinous and career destroying crime. But if she didn't then she would lose Nick and then he wouldn't get to live at all. Nick… She didn't even really know him, although she thought she did. That kind and caring creature that looked after her while she was injured and treated her as though she were something truly special; it wasn't even really him. Had he truly been using her this whole time? At any point did she truly matter to him? Her eyes began to get glassy as she fought the urge try cry at her current predicament. Battling to decide her next words; her eyes shifted from the dark humoured grin on Laurence to Nick in the distance who was paying careful attention to what was transpiring as he stared worriedly at Judy with one large eye and his other which was almost closed entirely as it started to swell and darken. Laurence gave his two men a nod, and after removing the semi-full tranquilizer clip from her pocket they let her arms go. And as the cruel leopard had read her correctly; once released her arms simply dropped to her sides with zero resolve to fight, and her head hung low. "Now I promise you Officer Hopps." Laurence began as he reached out towards her and used his index finger to raise her chin so she looked him in the eyes. Her large beautiful eyes were stained with red rings that followed around her eye lids and anyone could see she was just about to cry, but also the hurt she felt now ran deep and rotted her to her core. He had to stop himself from smiling and maintain a serious face; he loved breaking his victims and he would count this occasion extra special. "If you do this one, little job for me… Then you and Nick can walk away from this forever. So what do you say?" He released his hand from under her chin and brought it into a handshake's position. "Do we have a deal?"
Nick felt as though he were stuck inside a glass box, observing Judy throw her life away. As soon as he saw her clench her eyes and a single tear run down her cheek he knew what she had chosen. Before she even began to raise her hand to shake Laurence's and confirm that a deal had indeed been struck. He began his thrashing out again, this time even rocking the chair. "NO JUDY! NO!" He shouted at her, his bellows echoing through the large warehouse and still he was being ignored. "DON'T DO IT! DON'T THROW AWAY YOUR LIFE! HE'S NOT GOING TO HONOUR ANY DEAL!" But his shouting was for naught. Judy slowly shook Laurence's hand and gazed blankly at Nick through Red, teary eyes; looking as though her soul had just been pulled out.
"What choice do I have?" She murmured just loud enough to be heard by all those around her and then Laurence released her hand and stood once more, this time wondering closer to Nick. "You are one to talk, fox!" The word 'fox' was almost spat out by the leopard. "What do you even know of honour? You can't even tell your partner the truth about yourself!" Walking real close to Nick, Laurence whispered so that only Nick could hear him. "And now, I am going to tear your life apart from the inside out."
Laurence's two minions had unbound Nick and left Judy to aid him to walk. They were led into a room near the back of the warehouse that would obviously serve as an office area in most scenarios, but it had obviously been converted for such occasions as this one. Opening the door let what little light was provided from the distant flood light seep into this dark place; and inside the small, square room was nothing, except for a mattress on the floor and a basin in the far left corner, Judy then carefully laid Nick onto the mattress and he grimaced in pain. Looking down at Judy who was crouched next to Nick; while standing in the doorway, Laurence grabbed the door handle and stated "Rest well Officer, we will be back for you when it is time." And with that he shut and locked the door; leaving the bunny and injured fox in complete darkness. Slumping against the nearest wall to the mattress, Judy took a deep and controlled breath as she stared into dark nothingness; the sound of Nick's wheezing was only emphasized by the absolute silence in this small and confining room. Even though she could not see the walls in the dark, she could kind of sense where they were, and suddenly her cramped apartment was feeling very spacious in comparison. Her long and delicate ears flinched as she heard Nick take a deep breath and lick his dry lips as he prepared to say something.
Nick who could see in the dark better than his partner lay in pain and stared at her. She was an emotional and physical mess right now. And he had caused it. He then spoke while exhaling; it seemed to hurt a little less that way, "I'm sorry."
Feeling her throat go tight and her eyes starting to water again, Judy asked back, in little more than a whisper "Why?"
Nick, still lying down with his eyes fixed on her saw her raise her hands to her eyes as she tried desperately to keep herself in check. He swallowed hard to keep himself from getting emotional. "I owed them." He then reached out to touch her leg to comfort her but upon feeling his hand she pulled away from him, scooting away to stay out of his reach. And that hit Nick harder than any physical torture that they had made him endure on this night. Turning his gaze away from her and staring at the ceiling he went on, "It was never meant to involve you, you were never intended to be a part of the plan, all it was; was a simple infiltration job that required my skills as a fast-talker and that was it. I was going to be free." Grunting in pain as his swollen and cut flesh protested, he forced himself into a sitting position against the wall and stared once more at Judy. "But then…" He started to drag himself towards her in the dark, scooting off the mattress and onto the cold concrete floor he ignored the agony and went on. "This persistent, annoying, tiring and ridiculous little police officer taught me how to love, to have honor and to be loyal to those you care for. The beautiful, brilliant and perfect little bunny gave me a reason to live. I was no longer interested in earning my freedom, all I wanted from then and even now is you."
Suddenly lots of talking could be heard outside the small room and in the warehouse and someone out there must have switched the main lights on. Although the room stayed dark, light flooded in around the door frame and cast a dim light throughout the pitch black room. Removing her hands from her face Judy looked around and could now make out shapes and faint colors, and turning her head she could see Nick. In the darkness she had heard her Nick, not this Nick that Laurence had spoken of but the Nick she loved and cherished. She reached out in the dim light and grasped his hand tightly as she looked deeply into his eyes. "I am so sorry." She confessed as she let her emotions flow and the tears came flowing.
"Hey now…. Hold on right here." Nick started as he found the strength and pain-tolerance to lead Judy into his arms. Her soft and sweet head resting on his chest was almost unbearable but he needed to treasure the moment even though his body was so sensitive, he could feel her tears running down his body as though they were claws. Through gritted teeth he continued, "You have nothing to apologize for." And through quick and uneven breaths the distraught little bunny replied. "But I do Nick. I'm not upset because I have to rob a bank for you. I'm upset because I can't." She instinctively nuzzled deeper into his body and between pain and emotions; Nick felt his eyes tearing up as well. "I know what I said in there… I know what deal I struck." Judy continued, un-borrowing herself from within Nick to look up at him with those sweet eyes and her ears folded back over her head. "I want to save you Nick, I just can't do it. I don't have it in me. I've followed rules my whole life, fought harder than I thought possible to save and protect others, but the one I want to save most I cannot. I can't rob that bank for you Nick. I just can't do it." And she once more burrowed herself into him.
Keeping silent for a moment and smiling stupidly at himself in the dark for how pathetic the whole situation was; Nick spoke to her, "Shhh, I know. I know DB. And I wouldn't want you to do it in any case." He loosened his arms from hugging her and used his hands to raise her head to look him in the eye. "Tomorrow you're going to go to that bank, walk to the back, and sound an alarm, get caught on purpose if you have to. They won't walk in the bank with you but rather wait outside, so when the alarm goes off they will flee, and as soon as help arrives at the bank you send them straight here Judy. Do you understand?" And she nodded slowly, before shaking her head. "No Nick! They will kill you, if I fail them, I fail you. They WILL kill you." Nick then smiled at her while adding, "I've been living off of borrowed time as it is. Just promise me that you will sound the alarm, and do not give them whatever it is that they want you to get. If tomorrow is to be my last day alive, then I want to end it knowing that you are free from my demons and mistakes, and you can hunt down these savages."
Judy simply stared at him as she was processing what he was saying. She would not have been able to rob the bank even if she wanted to, but with Nick's consent to do the right thing, she felt a huge weight lifted from her shoulders. And she was able to give back her own little half-hearted smile back to him. She released herself from his grip and stood up, gave the fox a strong kiss on the cheek before walking over to the basin. She then began to tear off strips of her shirt and wet them with water, before returning to Nick's side with her hands full of wet pieces of cloth.
Nick whimpered as he felt a sting run through his body as Judy gently ran one of the wet pieces of cloth over the largest cut on his back. She could barely make out anything in the dark but could clearly see this cut so she knew it was a bad one; it ran from his right shoulder blade right down to his left set of ribs, she grimaced for him; biting her lower lip as she did her best to clean it. She spent what felt like forever repeating the process all over his back, shoulders and neck while he lay stomach down on the mattress before taking what she could only assume to be the cleanest rag, rinsing it with more water and letting it stick to the biggest wound before helping him roll over. Fortunately it was only minor scratches on his front so Judy made short work of wiping him down. She placed a hand on his chest and could feel his body was far too hot… she had kept just enough of her shirt to keep herself decent so after rinsing and re-wetting the remaining rags she spread them across his torso, hoping to cool him even slightly. She sat in a kneeling position for a moment and reflected on her work, in some way it was almost as though she were repaying him for taking care of her when her leg got injured. Nick looked up at her and smiled in gratitude and once more she put on a half-hearted smile in return. Tomorrow she would more than likely lose him forever and it was all because her greatest strength, was now her strongest weakness. Nick seemed ready to say something but she couldn't care to give him the chance as she came in quickly and passionately kissed him on the mouth. Months of pent up teasing and taunting finally let free, all because this was the first and now the last chance she would get to show him how she truly felt.
Gently lying down next to him, she gazed at him wondrously; learning the features of his face and burning them into her memory. Shortly after their kiss, he fell asleep from exhaustion. But Judy would not. As she still lay there staring at this animal she loved more than anything on this earth; her mind, body and soul were battling her heart. As she had to convince herself that the right choice; the choice Nick himself wanted, was the only one.
A SPECIAL THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO FAVORITED OR FOLLOWED THIS STORY.
AND BIG UPS TO:
KTRK5
FLASHFLASH-HUNDRED-YARD-DASH
DIRTKID123
PINGUINEHELENE
JAREL KORTAN
DANNY-171984
AND BGNSTEAL
LASTLY A HUGE THANK YOU TO FRIO4686 FOR POINTING OUT THAT GRAMMATICAL ERROR. I PROOF READ MY CHAPTERS BUT SOMETIMES MY EYES DO GLOSS OVER SOME THINGS WITHOUT PICKING IT UP, YOU'LL FIND THAT ERROR CORRECTED SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH :)
AND THANKS TO ASPIRINGAUTHOR13 FOR RECOMMENDING A SLIGHT CHANGE IN THE WRITING STYLE OF THESE CHAPTERS THAT I DEFINITELY AGREE WILL MAKE THE STORY EASIER TO READ, YOU WILL SEE THE CHANGES AS OF CHAPTER 5.
I AM VERY SORRY I HAVE MADE YOU WAIT FOR SO LONG FOR THIS ONE, BUT I FELT THAT CHAPTERS 3 AND 4 NEEDED TO BE PUBLISHED TOGETHER SO HERE THEY ARE, AND I REALLY HOPE YOU ENJOY THEM BOTH! AND BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THE END OF CHAPTER 4, I HAVE A LITTLE 'EASTER EGG' FOR YOU :)
PLEASE NOTIFY ME IF YOU DETECT ANY ERRORS OR FEEL THAT THE STORY CAN BE IMPROVED IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, MY GOAL IS TO CREATE THE ULTIMATE FANFICTION FOR YOU!
Un4gottenSOUL