This was probably the most fun chapter to write.

Chapter 3:

Cuffed

"Hey Judy, can you hand me my pen?" Nick said. It was the end of the day and they were in their office at the ZPD. Nick was just signing some papers and as soon as he finished they would be leaving.

"What's the magic word?"

"Damn you're annoying."

"I thought I was amazing?"

"When did I say that?"

"Yesterday."

"I didn't say that."

Judy pressed the playback button on the pen.

"You're amazing Judy. You always know how to make me happy."

Of course she recorded it, he thought.

"I take it back, you're annoying. Give me the pen!" He tried to reach for it but she jumped out of the way.

"Come on Nick, is that the best you can do?"

Nick chased her around the room. "Judy, come on! Seriously!" Suddenly he got an idea. He grabbed a pair of handcuffs off the table and cuffed her wrist to his. "There, now I won't let you go until you give me the pen."

Judy looked at the handcuffs, then at him, then at the handcuffs, then at him again. "Nick," she said in a deadpan voice looking him directly in the eye.

"What?"

"There are no keys to these cuffs!" she shouted.

Nick's eyes got wide. "Shit."

"What is the matter with you?!" she exclaimed grabbing his shirt.

"Relax Judy, Clawhauster has spare keys, I'm sure he has keys for these cuffs."

They made their way downstairs to the front desk where Clawhauster was eating donuts. When he saw them he burst out laughing. "Oh em goodness! This is just too perfect!"

"Ha ha very funny," Nick said rolling his eyes.

"Let it all out," Judy said.

"How did this happen?" Clawhauster said still laughing and highly entertained by the murderous looks on their faces.

"Dumb fox here thought it would be a good idea to handcuff us together," Judy said tossing an angry look at Nick.

"Can we just have the keys Ben?" Nick said.

"Sure...oh looks like those are old handcuffs. I don't think I have keys to those but you can try." He handed them a keyring full of keys.

Nick and Judy desperately tried every single one of them but nothing worked.

"God damn it," Nick said after the last key didn't work.

"You're about to wish you were an endangered species Nick," Judy said through her teeth.

"You can saw it off," Clawhauster suggested.

"Saw it off?!" Judy said alarmed.

"That's a good idea," Nick said. "Finnick has a saw."

"I don't know…"

"Would you rather saw it off or be connected to me forever?"

She sighed. "Alright, let's get the saw."

They walked out the doors of the ZPD and went to Nick's car.

"Finnick and I have a meeting to go to. We'll get the saw afterwards," Nick said as he started driving.

"What's the meeting?" Judy asked.

"He's doing business with the mafia. They're meeting up for a money exchange."

"You're a police officer and you're going to an illegal meeting with the mafia?!" Judy exclaimed.

"I'm not a part of this meeting. I'm going for moral support for a friend."

"Nick!"

"It'll be quick. We'll be in and out in no time, I promise."

The whole thing didn't sit well with Judy. She just knew something bad was going to happen. "You are going to get us in so much trouble."

They drove for about 30 minutes and ended up at a mansion on the outskirts of Zootopia where Finnick was waiting outside.

"Why'd you bring her?!" Finnick exclaimed.

Nick held up their cuffed hands. "I had no choice. Can we borrow your saw after this?"

"I'll run home and get it. You picked a fine day to be handcuffed to Judy Hopps. Let's go."

"So who is this guy?" Judy asked.

"He's a mobster. Nick and I used to do business with him. I worked out a deal with him last week. He owes me money. Don't say anything. It's bad enough that you two are wearing police uniforms."

They got to the massive front doors and Finnick couldn't reach the doorbell so Nick reached out and rang it for him. They waited a few seconds and were greeted by huge polar bear guards in black suits.

"What do you want?"

"I'm here to see Emilio. We have a meeting," Finnick said.

They let him pass but stepped in front of Nick and Judy.

"They're friends. Emilio knows they're coming."

The guards glared at them but let them pass anyway.

The place was really nice and lavish, fit for royalty. Judy wondered how much of the beautiful things were acquired illegally. Just being in there made her skin crawl.

They were let to a big parlor room where a man in a very expensive looking Italian suit was sitting in a chair. Two women in tight sparkling dresses were on either side of him.

"Finnick, I'm glad you're here," he said with an Italian accent. He was calm but his voice portrayed no tone of greeting. It made Judy even more creeped out. She looked up at Nick and he seemed to be totally comfortable.

Emilio looked Nick and Judy up and down. "You brought the cops? You don't trust me Finnick?"

"You remember Nick Wilde," Finnick said. "He's um, involuntarily attached to his friend at the moment."

Nick raised the hand that was cuffed to Judy and waved. "How are you doing Emilio? It's been a while."

"Do you have the money?" Finnick asked.

"First the exchange."

Finnick reached into his pocket and pulled out a shiny emerald ring. "Here you go. Lionhart's wife didn't notice a thing."

Judy gasped. Nick stepped on her foot to silence her.

Emilio took the ring and held it up to the light as if to see if it was real. "Good work. I'll pawn this immediately."

"You can't be serious!" Judy exclaimed.

All eyes turned to her. Nick and Finnick glared at her and mouthed "shut up!"

"You have a problem?" Emilio said with a voice portraying no emotion. That was probably scarier than if he were mad.

"You're pawning Lionhart's wife's jewelry! Don't you think they've noticed by now and they're going to trace this back here?!"

Finnick face palmed and swore under his breath. Nick leaned down to Judy. "Carrots, you've said enough. Stop talking right now."

The guards prepared for action but Emilio held up a hand to stop them and instead walked towards Judy. He smirked. "Judy Hopps, first bunny cop, ZPD prodigy, hero of Zootopia. As soon as I pawn this ring, no one is going to b able to find it and trace it back to anyone. Unless a certain noble cop were to go right to Lionhart and tell him. Are you going to do that Officer Hopps? You're the only witness. You can just as easily tell your whole ZPD and get us all behind bars forever. You gonna tell?"

Finnick was desperately gesturing for her to say no.

Judy sighed. "No, I'm not going to tell." It was against her better judgement and everything she stood for but she couldn't get Finnick, and even Nick, arrested.

Emilio looked satisfied. "Good." He tossed Finnick a bag. "Our exchange." He turned and walked back to his couch. "Don't bring her back here."

The three of them left the mansion.

"You just had to get handcuffed to Judy, didn't you Nick?!" Finnick exclaimed.

"How was I supposed to know there was no key to these?" Nick said. He turned to Judy. "Here's a little life lesson for you carrots, when you're facing a mafia boss don't tell them you're going to arrest them. That's what gets you a bullet lodged in your brain."

"I can't believe either of you are okay with this," Judy said.

Finnick shrugged. "I do what I have to do to get by."

Judy looked at Nick. "And you?"

"That type of life is behind me now. I merely show up to provide moral support and possible defense to my friend." He turned to Finnick. "So about that saw."

"Yeah, I'll run home and get it and then meet up with you. Where are you gonna be?"

"We're going to my house," Judy said.

Finnick smirked contemplating dropping a sexual innuendo.

"Don't even go there," Nick said holding up his fist.

Finnick laughed and held up his hands defensively. "I will see you in a couple of hours."

Nick and Judy hopped in Nick's car and made their way back to Judy's house.

"Looks like we're gonna be pretty close until Fin gets back," Nick said. "What do you want to do?"

Judy looked away from him as she felt her face turning red. Something about the way he said them being pretty close made her heart beat fast. She always wanted to be close to him and now that they had no choice to be close together it made her nervous.

Nick lifted her chin which made her heart rate go wild. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Judy said waving it off like it didn't matter. "I'm perfectly fine. Are you hungry?"

"Starving."

"Well let's make dinner," she said leading him over to the kitchen.

"You've got nothing but rabbit food here," he said.

"That's not true." She opened the refrigerator and pulled out a bag of hamburgers.

"You eat hamburgers?" he said surprised.

"I don't, but I figured if you were ever over I should probably have something that you would actually want to eat. You're welcome."

"That's very thoughtful of you Judy," Nick said gratefully.

"Don't mention it. Just help me cook. This is going to be hard enough as it is."

They began to put a hamburger for him and a veggie burger for her on the stove. They had to work together since they were attached. At first it was difficult but soon it got easier and it ended up being fun.

After dinner they cleaned the dishes together then sat on the couch and pulled out a deck of Uno cards to play several rounds.

"Skip you, skip again, draw four," Judy said as she put down cards."

"Damn it," Nick said picking up four cards from the deck. He had nothing to put down so Judy put down her last card.

"I win!"

Nick started to put the cards back into the deck. "Good game carrots."

Judy smirked. "Am I still annoying?"

"No, you're not," Nick admitted. "I meant it when I said you were amazing."

Judy was surprised to hear that. "Really?"

Nick leaned back on the couch. "Of course."

"Well, you are too," she said. She held up their cuffed hands. "And I guess this isn't so bad. Although I'm never going with you to a mob meeting again."

"I wouldn't ask you to."

"Why? Because I almost got us murdered?"

"Well yes."

Judy laughed.

"But also because I don't want you wrapped up in that kind of life. It's dangerous and unfulfilling."

"Then why did you do it if that were the case?" she asked curiously.

"Because I didn't think I could do anything else," Nick said. "When you start doing stuff like that when you're 12, granted I didn't meet with mob bosses at that age but still, it's just what you're used to. I didn't think there was anything else out there for me to do to contribute some good to the world. Asking me to be your partner gave me a sense of purpose. It was the second greatest thing that's ever happened to me."

"What was the first?"

Nick hesitated as the toyed with her fingers nervously. "You coming into my life."

"You...you mean that?"

"Damn it Judy, of course I do. You make me happy, you make me feel whole. I don't know what I'd do without you."

Judy held his hands feeling overcome with happiness. "Nick, that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me."

"I meant every word of it," he said moving closer to her. And he did. He'd finally told her how important she was to him. It was like ripping off a band aid. Maybe this could be the first step towards something more…

"Just fuck already!" shouted one of Judy's loud neighbors.

"You just ruined the moment! Even if they were, they're not going to now!" the roommate said.

"Oh fine. Sorry, carry on! Act like we're not here!"

"Would you shut up in there?!" Nick exclaimed.

Judy giggled finding the whole situation funny. Then she reached over and gave Nick a hug. "Thank you for coming into my life Nick," she said still laughing.

*WW*

The next morning when Judy woke up she felt unnaturally warm. When she tried to sit up she felt something weighing her down. She opened her eyes all the way and nearly fell off the couch when she saw Nick next to her. She rubbed her eyes with her free hand and tried to remember what happened last night.

They had gotten to her house, made dinner, and then there was that very sweet confession of how much they meant to each other. The thought made her smile. She had hugged him and they spent hours just laying there talking about everything from their lives to their families to their aspirations until they had drifted off to sleep.

It had been peaceful and fun. She couldn't remember ever having a night so amazing. Just being with him was perfect and sleeping next to him had only been a distant dream until this moment.

She hugged him close to her. He was asleep so he couldn't object, she might as well get it all out now. She circled her finger in a heart motion on his back as she watched him sleep. Normally he had a cocky "I know something you don't know" look about him and was always ready to say something smart. But when he slept he looked more innocent. She had never seen him so still and quiet and it was nice.

About ten minutes later he yawned and started to stir. When he opened his eyes he also looked surprised to be next to her.

'"Good morning," she said hoping he wouldn't immediately jump up and regret being next to her.

Instead he just smiled. "Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

"I slept amazing," she replied. "How about you?"

"Same." He sleepily buried his face in her neck. His breath was warm and the stubble on his face itched her skin in a pleasant way. Judy felt like she was floating on cloud nine. The two of them had never cuddled like this before. It was like a dream she didn't want to wake up from.

They lay there for so long she lost track of time. Eventually he loosened his hold on her and began to stretch.

"What should we do today?" she asked.

"No idea," he replied. "Although I'm wondering where the hell Fin is. Didn't he say he'd be here last night?"

"Yeah," Judy said. She didn't want this moment to end. She loved how affectionate he was being and she didn't want him to stop. But she would have to take what she could get, it was good while it lasted.

"Hand me my phone," Nick said.

She reached over to the side table and handed it to him.

Just as he was dialing Finnick's number there was a knock on the door.

The two of them got off the couch and went to answer it and sure enough Finnick was there with a big saw.

"Where the hell were you?!" Nick exclaimed.

"I fell asleep," Finnick said with a shrug.

"You fell asleep. What a lovely excuse!"