Author's Notes:

Nick opens up a bit more to Judy on the roof of the ZPD. What's with these two and heartfelt conversations in high places?

I do not own Zootopia.

When Nick pulled into the parking spot out in front of the ZPD Judy was already standing on the bottom steps waiting for him. She tended to work a few minutes past the end of her shift to double check her paperwork so Nick was a little surprised to see her, but even more surprised that she didn't seem to have any of her riding gear with her. Nick killed the engine and opened his helmet's visor, "Hey Fluff, you about ready to get going?"

Judy looked a little concerned but put on a brave front, "Well, I thought we could speak here. There's a community garden up on the roof of the precinct, it would be a good place for a chat."

Nick's shoulders slumped, "Ah, I'd hopped you would have forgotten that by now." He swung his legs off the bike and stepped up behind her, "Okay, lead the way Carrots."

She held out her paw which he took it happily and together they set off inside. Clawhauser was busy talking with a captive audience of a few mammals in pawcuffs much to Judy's delight. She normally enjoyed her chats with the plump cheetah, but Nick had her full attention and she wanted to get to the bottom of his cryptic message as soon as possible. They stepped into the elevator and Judy hopped up to press the button for the roof then hopped again to scan her badge to authorize. Nick shot her a look and she answered the unasked question, "So the roof is the only floor that isn't open to the general public despite the fact it's a community garden. They opened the garden a few years ago as part of their outreach program, but as it's the only part of the building that isn't regularly staffed with cops they keep it locked off. Though to get access all someone would have to do is show some ID at the front desk and you get a keycard that works on the elevator and the door on the roof itself."

Nick nodded in understanding and the doors dinged before they slid open. As they stepped out Nick took a look around, he'd heard some rumblings about community outreach programs over the years, but this one must have slipped under his radar. There were vegetables and flowers in little beds of soil covering the majority of the roof. There was no one else at the moment, but it was clear that mammals were up here regularly to take care of the plants. He was honestly impressed with the amount of work it likely took. "You have any carrots from home planted up here?"

Judy looked around and shrugged, "No, nothing yet. I don't really have my family's green thumb, but I think I might plant something next year. Before I resigned Bogo wanted me to be the face of the ZPD and while I knew it was a mistake then, and now too if I'm honest, I do want to connect to the public at large more. There's such a disconnect between the police and the mammals we're supposed to be protecting… Anyway, that's not what we came here to discuss. You said you had something to tell me?" She sat down on one of the benches and Nick sat next to her.

Nick took a moment to collect his thoughts, "You remember the psychiatrist Dr. Grazer sent me to?" Judy nodded, "Well, after he cleared me for the academy I actually kept going. I was there earlier today. I don't know why I kept it from you, I just… I just thought… I don't know."

"Oh Nick, I'm so proud of you!" She took him completely by surprise and wrapped him in a hug, "Dr. Buck is the best. After the museum and before you woke up I wasn't sleeping well, I ended up doing a few sessions with him myself. I should have mentioned it before, but when you woke up you felt so guilty about the rams I didn't want to compound your guilt with my nightmares."

Nick did feel a little guilt rising up at hearing about her nightmares despite her lack of blame, "Do you still have them?"

She shook her head, "No, they were getting pretty infrequent even before the doctors woke you up, and since I've been sleeping in a bed that smells of you? My dreams have been pure bliss." Nick's eyes burned slightly at his unshed tears and he kissed her sweetly. When they eventually pulled apart Judy said, "Do you want to talk about your therapy sessions?"

He considered it a moment before he said, "Uh, sure, I guess. There's honestly not much to talk about. He's mostly be helping me work through my self-destructive tendencies. He said I internalized the trauma from the Junior Scouts and getting exiled from the Big family, I convinced myself that they were right and it's been manifesting itself in different ways my whole life. I'm just glad I haven't fucked us up, I don't know what I'd do if I ever did…"

Judy placed her paw on his cheek to stop him from turning away, "Nick, I love you, flaws and all. And as long as you never try to hurt me, you'll never fuck us up so bad we can't fix it, okay?"

The tears were spilling from his eyes now and because he couldn't trust his voice to stay level he simply nodded before pulling her onto his lap, hugging her tightly. They stayed like that for a while, the only movement was Nick rocking side to side slowly, and the slight hitching to his breathing as the tears continued to fall. When he finally regained enough composure to speak again Nick said, "I love you too Judy, and I'd never do anything to intentionally hurt you."

Judy sniffled as she had been crying too, "I know you wouldn't. My fox would never do that."

Nick let out a sigh of relief, it felt amazing to get some of that out in the open. Just as good as her acceptance of his continued therapy. Judy didn't move off his lap she just shifted to look him in the eyes, "I don't know about you Slick, but I don't think I'm up for mattress shopping tonight. Do you want to just order some take out and veg out in front of the tv tonight?"

Nick realized he felt pretty emotionally drained as well, "That's a fantastic idea Carrots. Come on, let's go home and put on our comfiest clothes and get under some blankets."

"Sounds like you know how to show a girl a good time."

A few hours later the pair of them were wrapped up in a blanket, cuddled together on the couch, their bellies pleasantly full. Judy was already starting to doze off and Nick was honestly not far behind her. He felt blessed once again for having found this little bunny, or more accurately, she had found him. He wanted to do something to thank her, but for now, simply petting her ears felt like it was enough, especially considering the sighs of contentment she kept making.

With herculean effort Nick sat himself up and took a deep breath. He wanted nothing more than to fall asleep next to her on the couch, but Judy had work in the morning so he decided to carry her off to their bed so she could get a proper nights rest. He was thankful they had already gotten prepared for bed before stretching out on the couch. He climbed onto the bed as carefully as possible and made his way towards the middle before setting down his bundle. He tried to unwrap the blankets from her but Judy was clinging to them rather tightly. Nick chuckled softly to himself and decided on a different tactic. He crawled to the bottom of the bunny burrito and began burrowing himself through the blankets, bunnies weren't the only mammals who had lived underground once upon a time. As he drew up behind his bunny she let go of the blanket and turned around gripping his shirt instead. Nick planted a kiss on her forehead and wrapped his paws around her waist pulling her in close.

Nick was parked outside of the ZPD waiting for his bunny to come out to him again the next day. In stark contrast to the day before he didn't see her come out till 15 minutes after her shift had ended, but he never minded waiting, that little hop in her step made it all worth it. He held out a paw and she climbed onto the back of their bike with his help. He walked the bike backwards and pulled out into the street, "How was your day Sweetheart?"

"It was good, fairly boring as these things go. We headed to the mattress store today?" She couldn't contain the happiness in her voice as she spoke.

"We sure are. We're headed to the same place you bought the rest of the furniture the other week."

"Stripped Furniture and Upholstery? Does that mean I'll get to meet Madison?"

"If she's in, yes, most likely. I didn't call ahead to see if she was working today or not. We can ask the salesmammal when we get there."

"I hope she is, I like meeting your friends."

The shop wasn't all that far so a few minutes later Nick was came to a halt in a parking garage just around the corner from Stripped. The two got off the bike and made their way inside the shop. It was a large store, with furniture for every sized mammal in Zootopia. Moments after they walked in a skunk walked over to greet them in a board but friendly tone, "Good afternoon and welcome to Stripped Furniture and Upholstery, my name is Jennifer. Is there anything I can help you find today?"

Judy took the lead, "Yes, could you point us towards your medium mammal beds Jennifer? We'll need a mattress and frame." Despite his silver tongue Nick never minded watching his bunny take charge.

"The bedding section is just past the living room displays, down the main aisle and to your left. Would you like for me to lead the way?"

Nick spoke up, "That's alright, we'll find the way. Though I'm wondering; is Madison in today?"

The skunk looked at them a moment and said, "Yes she is. Is there a reason you need to speak with the manager, or is there something else I can help you with."

"No nothing in particular, I just happen to know Madison from way back in the day. If you could you tell her Nick Wilde is here she may be interested."

Jennifer nodded and said, "Sure, I'll let her know you'll be in the bedding section."

Judy nodded her thanks and lead her fox off towards the back of the store, looking for their new mattress. They were laying on their 4th mattress, weighing the pros and cons of a spring bed when a shadow loomed over the pair, "Hello Nick, it's been a while. Who's your little friend?"

Nick sat up on the bed and scootched a little closer to Judy, "Madison Garden, it has been a while. How's business?"

The zebra looking at the two smaller mammals said, "Business is good Nick. But you didn't answer my question: who is your friend?"

"Madison, meet Judy Hopps. Judy this is Madison Garden."

Judy offered up her paw which Madison took, "It's a pleasure to meet you Madison. It's always a treat to meet some of Nick's friends."

"Somehow we only seem to be friends when he needs something."

Nick almost sounded genuinely offended when he said, "Madison! That hurts. We used to be the best of friends and this is how you talk about me?"

"Nick, you ran an underground poker game where I tended to lose a lot of money. Please don't pretend it was something else."

"Okay sure, you lost a lot of money to me over the years, but who told you to get help when your gambling really got out of hoof?"

At that Madison did break out into a wide smile, "You did Nick, and I don't think I could ever thank you enough for it. So, which one of you is looking for a new mattress?"

Judy said, "We are. We'll need a fox sized queen, but we're still deciding on which mattress to get."

Nick spoke up, "I liked number 2."

"So did I Nick, but there are still others to check."

Madison was at a little of a loss, "So you two are looking to share a bed then? That's… never mind. So what is it exactly that you're looking for in your bed?"

Nick smiled wickedly, "Well there's only one thing I need in my bed…"

Judy nudged his ribs, "Nick! Well, I think we're looking for a softer mattress…" and they spent the next few minutes discussing their needs and wants while trying out a few different styles.

After they finished checking all different mattress that were available Madison asked, "So, are any to your liking today?"

Nick was all smiles while Judy scowled at him, "I think so, how about you Carrots?"

Her expression darkened slightly, "You're insufferable you know that? Yes Madison, the second on we tried was perfect. We'll take that in a fox queen if you have it."

Madison pulled a phone from her pocket and scanned the code on the side of the bed, "Let's see… yes we do have one in stock. Would you like to pick it up or have it delivered?"

"Delivery thank you. That and the bed frame as well if they could be delivered together?"

"Of course. Because you're an old friend Nick, we'll get it to you tomorrow. Now, what about your old mattress? If I recall correctly it was a tiger California King wasn't it?"

Nick nodded, "Sure was, I'll pay to have that hauled away if your delivery team can do it."

The zebra nodded, "Sure. Come, step into my office and I'll ring you up myself."

A few minutes later the pair left, their bank accounts a little lighter. They split the mattress and frame down the middle, but Nick insisted on paying for the whole cost for the haul away of the old bed. Judy relented when she realized he wasn't going to budge on that issue. As they climbed onto their bike and began to head home Judy spoke up, "You know, there's one issue with us getting a new bed."

"Oh, what's that Carrots? It's a little late, but we could always cancel I guess?"

"No, we don't need to do that. It's just that, we'll only have it a few days before you ship out. It won't have enough time to really take in our combined scent. Soon enough it'll just smell like me. It'll just be another reminder that you're nearby, but just out of reach." She sniffled once at the thought.

Nick didn't say anything for a moment, he simply considered her words. After he processed what she said he twisted the throttle and pulled away from the traffic and onto one of the side streets. He weaved in between the few cars that were on the road until they arrived at a small park. Nick pulled over and parked the bike, killing the engine. He stepped off and said, "Come with me Carrots."

They wondered off towards the center of the park where a little lone tree sat atop a small hill. The two of them climbed the hill and Nick sat against the tree and patted his lap, signaling her to sit as well. She did as he asked and he wrapped his paws around her waist, holding her gently. "It's going to be hard, almost impossible to be separated from you Judy. I know we're going to be seeing each other as often as possible on the weekends, but I still don't relish the thought of us being apart like that."

Judy chuckled sadly, "Nor do I Nick. I miss you when I have to work late, and then I feel stupid cause I know I'll see you soon enough." Nick interrupted her train of thought by kissing her deeply, his paws moving down to her hips squeezing them appreciatively. "Mmm, I guess not that stupid when your kisses are this good. I'm going to miss you Nick."

"I will miss you too Judy. But we'll talk as often as we can, and see each other every weekend. We'll get through this."

Judy hummed softly, "It'll all be worth it to have you as my partner out on the streets. Wolford and Fangmeyer are fine, especially since they started dating, but they're not you."

"I feel the same way about every mammal I've ever met Judy."

Author's Notes:

Soooo, I've been working on a DIFFERENT story that's kinda been bouncing around the back of my brain for a while. I will likely be posting the first chapter in the coming weeks, with the second not too far behind. If you like my writing please give it a look over.

Brief description: in 1940's Zootopia Nick Wilde works as a Private Investigator doing his best to keep his door open. Judy is his secretary/assistant. When her brother goes missing from the train that was taking him into town the two track down the missing rabbit and the mammals who took him.

Working title: Wilde Noir. I'll update this note when the story goes live and if I change the name.