Hey, we're back with chapter six! And...*see's how long it took, then whimpers* Oh, I'm so damn sorry! I really am! There were a few reasons why this chapter was delayed and in a way put a small stop on this story. I had some family things happen that kinda put a stop on my creativity. Then I had issues with properly writing it down until tossed some really good ideas my way which got the ball rolling really fast. THen well, once I gave him the chapter for review, he actually suggested we split it in two chapters since I got so crazy that it turned out too long. So, those are my explanations and I hope you people aren't mad at me

Chapter 6: Meeting the Hopps

-

Nick groaned as he heard his alarm clock go off. Rubbing his eyes, the fox turned in his bed and fetched his phone from the nightstand. Looking at it, the fox sighed as he saw it was around seven AM. Stretching his arms out and emitting a long yawn, he got out of his bed, which was actually the drawn out bottom-drawer of an elephant-sized cupboard that was stuffed with pillows and an old mattress.
Despite having a pretty decent salary, Nick still chose to live in the same run-down apartment which he had rented for at least seven years now in the pretty bleak neighborhood of Happy Town. Being located at the basement of an old apartment-building owned by an almost equally old bear named Baloo, Nick's living-quarters was unusually spacious for someone his size, probably having been built with bigger animals in mind. Also because it was in the basement, it was lying in close proximity to the buildings entire plumbing-system, making it very cold in the summer and very hot in the winter. His belongings were old and worn, a majority of them having been picked up at various flea markets and in some cases even been stolen from the dump.
The reason for these living conditions wasn't because he was cheap or anything. Heck, back in his hustling-days he could make twice, maybe even thrice the amount of money he currently earned and he still didn't spend them on much besides the bare essentials. It was more of a question of comfort for the fox, as he had become used to this kind of living for a long time. Moving into something nicer and with clean, fresh furniture would almost feel alien to him at this point. Most of the money he earned he saved in mind of a gray day, which was actually a habit he had picked up from his mother, who as a single parent had worked her hardest to ensure him a good upbringing.
Nick approached his desk, and saw that it was a complete mess of strewn out papers and documents. He shook his head, recalling how he and Judy had wasted the entire night trying to find any clues which could connect the dead gangmembers, the unknown sniper and the dead dingo in the tropical zone. So far, all they had come up with was zip.
Jackie Leerdon had been truthful when he had said that the Oasis Jackals hadn't done any dealings with any criminal big shots, and the dingo had turned out be nothing but a smalltime courier and informant with nothing in his home or belongings that would suggest he even knew them or any russian. Either he had been very clean in his way of operating, or someone had made sure to remove all interconnecting traces after killing him.
Nick stared at the mess; police-work wasn't exactly rocket-science, but in times like these it could a headache-inducing nightmare. Sure, strange cases weren't exactly new to them, but most of the time that shit was clear and in a straight line. This was a brain-boiling maze, and Nick was never good at mazes. Hell, even crossword puzzles could annoy the hell out of him.
'Why become a cop then?' An ironic little voice in his head sometimes asked. Well, corny as it would sound, it was probably the desire of doing something good for other people. It was this desire that had initially made him to want to join the boy scouts… But that hadn't ended well. In fact, it was because of that, that had nearly ended any interest in the problems of others and also sent him into a downward spiral filled with cons and shady dealings.
But now that he was working for the law instead of against it, and people could put their trust in him and vice-versa, the do-good desire had been revived and grown much more potent, especially in the upbeat presence of his partner.
Then, his phone beeped. Taking up and looking at it, the fox saw that it was from Judy. Nick raised an eyebrow and opened the message.

"Don't forget, meeting my parents today. Be at your best behavior " The text said, making Nick smirk a bit and type a reply.

"Don't ya worry, I'll be a good foxy Wanna hang out for a little before we meet them? It's a lovely day." His text said. As Nick sent it, he got an almost instant reply which was composed of an A-okay and a smiley face.

After a quick shower, Nick put on his usual Hawaiian shirt and tie; adjusting them properly in the mirror and then giving his reflection a little salute.

"M-hm, still as handsome as ever~" Nick murmured as he strolled out of his apartment.

As Nick stepped out, he inhaled the morning air and smiled. The day was still starting and the air was fresh and crisp, which meant everything was gonna be alright for the fox. He was gonna meet Judy's parents and was dead set in making a good first impression on them. After all he was a smooth enough talker, so it shouldn't be hard to win their acceptance, even if were kind of anxious of his ilk. If they were anything like Judy, he figured that he had pretty good chances.
Whistling, Nick began to head towards Judy's place. While strolling away, a lone weasel was watching him from a nearby car. Once the fox was out of sight he produced his phone and quickly dialed a number.

"Yeah, it's me… Y-Yeah, he just left… Mmm… Alright, I got you." He said, swiftly hanging up and making his way over to Nick's home while carrying a duffel bag.

After meeting Judy at her place, the two strolled down the street to a nearby park, talking a little bit about everything.
As the two talked, Judy began to think about that conversation they had back at Arabian Nights. She hadn't forgotten about it, but she was a little scared of mentioning it. She was afraid that she had said or done something insensitive, and while she would like to find out what it was so that she could understand it better and apologize, seeing Nick being his usual, carefree self felt too pleasant to spoil by bringing it up.
Her train of thought was interrupted though as they both heard a sharp whistle, followed by deep, gravely voice.

"Hey coppers! How's the clean living treating ya?!"

Judy turned her head and gasped at the sight of a familiar-looking van, which had been painted white, had a slide-window installed on it's side and a humongous fake-pawsicle on the roof. Looking at them through the open slide-window was none other than a fennec fox named Finnick, wearing a white t-shirt and a matching ice-cream salesman cap.

"Well, I'll be damned, Finnick!" Nick exclaimed approaching the van. He looked up at the large plastic prop on the roof with a smile. "New set up?"

"Well since you ditched me, conning's been sort of a dry well." The fennec replied, adjusting his cap. Though his tone sounded light-hearted, his face had an unamused expression. "Besides, this lil' business brings a fairly good pay roll."

"Well, I must say it's a great improvement." Judy said and smiled sweetly to the fennec. Looking at the rabbit, Finnick's face softened and gave off a proud smirk.

"Well thank you Bright-eyes, I have a lil' bit of skill when it came to cars and painting. I miss the old motif, but you know what they say, sometimes you gotta kill your darlings." He said, then fished into the freezer and produced an orange-colored pawsicle. Holding it out to Judy, he spoke to her in a low voice. "Why don't you have a lick of this? For such a fine woman, it's on the house."
Judy's eyes widened and her ears grew hot from the compliment, and she quickly grabbed the frozen treat with girlish giggle and began to nom on it.

"Mm, carrot-flavored! How did you know it was my favorite?"

Finnick shrugged with a smile, while Nick gave him an annoyed look.

"Well?" The fox asked. Finnick to him with a puzzled stare.

"Well what?"

"What about me?" Nick asked while tapping his foot.

"What about you?" Finnick muttered, as he was about to turn away. "If it's about the shirt, I say you should have burned it years ago."

"Finn, be nice please." Judy said. The fennec groaned in frustration and then handed Nick a pawsicle of his own.

"You're lucky you got such a sweet partner, Wilde." The fennec replied, which made Judy giggle even more. "If it wasn't for her, you would have to pay like any other uggo".

"Jeez… You despise me, don't you Finn." Nick replied, trying to sound really hurt by the lil'guys words.

"If I gave you any thought I probably would have." Finnick replied, as he reached into the freezer and produced a can of Smokey-beer. "Anyway, aside from being here and getting served by yours truly, what's up?"

Both Judy and Nick looked at each other in silence, as Nick rubbed the back of his head. Finnick knew that meant that Nick probably wanted another favor from him. Last time it had involved Finnick dressing up as a nurse and Nick playing a rich old guy so that they could stay in a fancy hotel in Las Llamas. So, the fennec braced himself, just in case it was gonna be something stupid and he would need to sock his old colleague in the nose.

"Do you still have your old underworld connections?" Nick asked, making Finnick raise his eyebrow, his fist slowly unclenching. "It's about the murders in Sahara Square."

"Those dead gang bangers?" Finnick asked, getting a nod from the two cops. "Huh, I thought that was just your typical turf war shit."

"That's what the media thinks, but not really. They were gunning for me and Carrots here." Nick said, taking a lick of the blueberry-flavored pawsicle. "However, seems whoever told 'em of our location gunned them down instead."

"All nine were taken out with precise headshots from a Russian military grade weapon" Judy added. "Do you know anyone who'd own something like that?"

"Tch… You always get the funny cases, don't ya? Beats the hell out of me… Have you tried asking Freddy the Spiv?" Finnick asked, getting a nod from the two "Hrm… I dunno many gunrunners who'd sell such stuff. But, I can ask around, maybe the Russians suddenly got new toys."

"If they did, why use 'em on local street trash?" Judy asked, as Finnick scratched his chin.

"Target practice?" He suggested, getting an eyeroll from the two. "Oi, don't gimme that. I'm not a sleuth like you two are. But if I'm gonna make an educated guess, I'd say it's some kind of statement."

Judy blinked.
"A statement?"

"It's a typical mob-thing." The fennec explained. "You know that scene in The Goatfather? The one with the horse-head? That was a very strong statement, ergo, an offer one couldn't refuse. Seems to me that someone is giving you such an offer."

"But what are they offering?" Nick asked. "If we're being warned, wouldn't it be more practical if they told us what it was first?" Finnick shrugged at this.

"Your guess is as good as mine. I am not a hundred percent sure it is a mobster. I mean, I don't think anyone would be stupid enough to target the godmother of the grandchild of Zootopia's greatest crime boss."

Before Judy could say anything, her phone buzzed. She took it up and looked at the message and gasped. She then quickly grabbed Nick's hand.

"Nick, we need to hurry! My parents have just arrived and waiting for us at the station!" She declared and began dragging Nick away while texting back. "Thank you for the free treats Finnick! We'll see you later!"

Nick just gave off another innocent look at Finnick as he was dragged away by his partner, while Finnick shook his head at the two.
There was something undeniably cute about how this odd duo interacted and seemed to compliment one another. Plus, he could tell being around Judy made Nick really happy, as opposed to what he usually was after one their cons. Back in those day it would usually involve a bottle of whiskey and a couple of one-night stands with girls they had picked up at some bar.
Then, a soft cough broke Finnick out of his thoughts and he turned to look at the source.
It was a female ocelot in a gray suit and black cap. A gentle smile was on her muzzle.

"Pardon me, can I have a pawsicle?" The ocelot asked softly. Finnick eyed the young woman and flashed his usual playboy grin.

"Why of course you sexy thing. Any particular flavor?"

"Do you have pine-apple?"

"Sure do." He said, pulling out another frozen treat from the freezer. "And I'll knock down a few bucks for your phone number~"

Taking the frozen goodie, the ocelot let out a little laugh as she then extended a paw and petted Finnick on the head, followed by a scratching of one of his large ears. Usually, the fennec would have answered such a gesture by breaking their hand in three places, but he was taught to be perfectly polite around the ladies. That, plus his sheer adorability, was what usually allowed him to get a date or at least their phone number. He also admittedly enjoyed a good scratch behind his ear and couldn't help but to wag his tail at the touch of this exotic feline.

"Nice try малыш (kid)." She purred and playfully patted Finnick on the cheek. "But I'd say I'm a little out of your league in this."

"Hey, can't blame a guy for trying you know." Finnick replied with a smirk, extending his little paw as the feline dropped a few notes on it. "Though I'm a little surprised to see someone like you here. I thought you tailor-dressed people preferred fancy sorbets and stuff."

"I am not much for fancy things, though my clothes may tell a different tale." Alexis murmured, as she put the yellow treat in her mouth. Her eyes followed Nick and Judy. "So, those were the местные герой? (Local heroes?)"

"Heh, if you mean the ones who solved that Night Howler mess, then yeah." Finnick said, handing back the change. "Why, are you a fan or something?"

"Mmmm… I guess you could say I'm somewhat fascinated with them." Alexis responded as she leaned against the side of the van.

"Why, are you a reporter or something? Cause in that case I could maybe get you an interview~" Finnick said, but quickly got bonked on the nose. "Guess that's a 'no' then."

Giving him a friendly smile, Alexis gave him a little wave and then began stroll away in the opposite direction, when a text message popped up on her phone. She took a look at it.

"It's done, the fox is about to have a baaaaaaaad time~" It read, making her smile as she then slipped on her earphones and chose a song from her special collection of Russian medleys.

Judy was close to freaking out, while Nick was cooler than a cucumber and was casually checking his phone, occasionally looking up at Judy who was pacing back and forth. Sighing, he then stopped her in the midst of her pacing, spinned her around and then crouched before her.

"Hey, it's all gonna be good. I promised to be good, alright?" He said, giving her shoulder a friendly squeeze. "Seriously, learn to chill or else you'll have a heart attack before hitting forty."

Judy sighed and held his paw with great affection and gave him an appreciative look.

"Y-You're right, I guess I'm too jumpy for my own good." She said, giggling a little. "I mean, it's not like you and I are a couple or something along those lines."

Hearing those words made Nick smile drop a little, but then his ears twitched as he heard someone calling Judy's name. As they looked to the source they saw a pair of middle-age looking bunnies waving to them and running over to them. Judy quickly let go of Nick as she ran to embrace her parents, which brought a smile on Nick's face.

"Hey, how's my Jude the dude!" Stu exclaimed holding his daughter close. "Look how big you've gotten!"

"Oh dad, quit with the nicknames!" Judy said and looked embarrassed, noticing the grin on Nick's face. "A-Anyway, I'm glad you two arrived safely."

"Oh c'mon, just 'cause we're country folk doesn't mean we're soft." Stu said, then finally spotted Nick. "And this I take is your… Ahem, partner?"

"Well yes, that would be me" Nick said and took a step forward his paw extended. "Pleasure to meet you Mr and Mrs Hopps, Nicholas P. Wilde at your service."

Bonnie Hopps smiled as she grabbed the fox's paw and shook it several times.

"Oh it's a pleasure to meet you Mr Wilde! Judy has told us quite a bit about you! Like how you always watch her back." She exclaimed, as Judy meeped and started to make 'exnay' hand signs in her mother's direction.

"Has she now?" Nick asked, looking at Judy from the corner of his eye; Judy grabbed her ears and pulled 'em down to cover her face. "Well, I wouldn't be a very good partner if I didn't keep her lovely back under constant surveillance."

Bonnie laughed at this, all the while Judy looked she wanted to board a train immediately in order to hide her embarrassment. Stu Hopps on the other hand didn't look very amused.

"She has also said how you two always end up in dangerous situations." He added while crossing his hands.

"Well, usually I try to keep her out of trouble, but she has this knack for ending up in it anyway." Nick said while smiling coyly. "I mean, she sometimes says rabbit-feet means luck. And while she has two, I don't think she should be spokesman for the saying if you know what I mean."

This on the other hand, made Stu laugh.

"You got that right." He chuckled. "Makes me recall one time when she was seven. We had just bought a lot of flour for an annual bake off, and Judy got the bright idea of making pancakes…!"

"DAD!" Judy cried out in panic. "I've told you a hundred times, never to tell the pancake-story to anyone! And for the record, I don't seek out unnecessary dangers, unnecessary dangers seek out me!" She continued while tapping her foot.

"We're just joking!" Stu and Nick said at the same time, which then made them give each other a surprised look.

"Oh you two!" Judy fumed, then before she could say anything else, Bonnie called her to help with the suitcases. "I'll deal with you two later," she muttered while walking away.

"Quite stubborn, isn't she?" Nick said as Stu nodded.

"Yeah, she really is. Gets it from her mother's side of the family." The middle aged rabbit added and looked up at Nick. "Do you really protect her well?"

"Humph, as well as I can. I've been patched up more than a mummy in my attempts to keep her out of harms way." Nick replied, and then his expression softened. "Not that I'm complaining. I'd do anything to make sure she was safe."

Hearing that made the older bunny's eyes widen. As he was about to speak again, he saw Bonnie waving to them. He turned to Nick again and gave him a serious look.

"When we have some time over, I'd like to talk to you about something. Just the two of us."

Nick gave Stu a puzzled look, though he still gave him an uncertain nod. The two then went over to join Judy and Bonnie.

The four was stepping out of the station to catch a taxi, when suddenly, a police car pulled over nearby. A male doberman and a female goat stepped out of the vehicle and started to approach them. Judy and Nick recognized them from work.

"Manning? Bouvier? What's up?" Nick asked.

"Nicholas Wilde, I'm afraid you have to come with us." Manning said while fixing the fox with a stern look. "You're under arrest."

Nick and Judy stared at officer Manning. Then, Nick gave off a snorting laughter.

"Heh, really funny you guys. I didn't think it was april just yet." He said and raised an arm to get the attention of a taxi. At this movement, both the doberman and the goat pulled up their tranq-pistols and pointed them at Nick. Judy's eyes widened and Nick's smile faded.

"Don't move and put your hands behind your head." Bouvier said with a pleading tone in her voice. "Just do it, we wouldn't want to shoot a fellow officer!"

"W-Whoa! Whoa guys! The hell is this?!" Nick exclaimed, just before the doberman grabbed him and slammed Nick's head against the hood of their squad-car and handcuffed him.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Judy screamed in fear. "If this is a joke, it's not funny!"

"It's not a joke Hopps." Manning said as he dragged the fox to the backseat of the car. "Nick is facing some really serious charges. We have no choice but to book him."

"I don't what the hell you're talking about, I haven't done anything!" Nick said before yelping in pain as Manning pushed him into the car. "Jesus Manning, no reason to get rough! I'm not struggling here!"
Manning mumbled something unintelligible and closed the door behind Nick. Both he and Bouvier moved to their seats, but Judy ran around and stopped Bouvier.

"What is he accused of?" She asked. The goat gave her a sympathetic look.

"I'm afraid we're not in liberty to say. You've to go to the station and ask the chief yourself." She said and got into the passenger-seat.

Judy hurried up to the door of the backseat and knocked on the window. Nick met her look. He looked scared and confused, like something caught in the headlights.
"Nick, I'll clear this up!" She told him. "You just cooperate in the meantime!"

Nick bit his lip and nodded at his partner. Then the car started and drove off.

"W-W-What is going on?!" Bonnie exclaimed as she went over to her daughter. "Judy, what is happening?"

"I… I don't know… Mom, can you and dad find your hotel? I… I'll try not to take long!" Judy said and swiftly stopped a cab and told the driver to head to the station as fast he could.