Dear reader,
Welcome back! There has been some debate over Nick's amnesia in between chapters. And while I normally prefer to let the story answer all questions, I will simply confirm that Nick's memories have not returned. Moreover, as far as Nick is aware; he could very easily perceive his memories and flashbacks as fleeting day-dream.
-Enjoy
Nick tapped the red icon with a padded thumb; ending the phone call. A squad car would be at his house to pick the two detectives up in thirty minutes.
Making his way over to the occupied bathroom, Nick tried the doorknob and found that it was still locked. "Hay, Carrots!" Nick winced as his shout sent pain rolling deep into his skull. Clearing his throat, Nick continued; "Bogo just called, and he-"
"What?" came Judy's voice; muffled by the door and drowned out by the still-running shower.
"Bogo called…" Nick's head split in pain as he attempted to raise his voice. "A-And he said-"
"Hold on…" Judy interrupted Nick once more, prompting him to scowl at the door. Nick could hear Judy rustling the shower curtain, before the door unlocked with a click.
Exhaling hard in exasperation, Nick walked into the tiny bathroom and closed the door behind himself. Dropping his towel on the floor as he rubbed sleep from his eyes, Nick stepped into the still running shower.
"Oh," said Nick as he finally opened his eyes, catching a full view of Judy attempting to cover her indecencies. "Taking a shower?"
Judy stood, frozen in shocked silence, as Nick matter-of-factly grabbed the still sudsy bar of soap from her guarding paw and began to rub it on himself.
Nick smiled groggily at his shocked Fiancé. Giving a quick peck to and squeezing past the still frozen rabbit, into the showers hot stream, Nick chuckled at Judy's deep-red blush.
"Nick," asked Judy in a mixture of shock and embarrassment. "You said something?"
"I'm showering," replied Nick as Judy turned about to face him. "What's it look like, you big dumb bunny?"
"Nick?" Came Judy's voice with slightly more worry. Snapping her fingers in an attempt to grab his attention, Judy watched as Nick stood frozen in the doorway of the bathroom. "Nick!"
"Oh!" said Nick, as lightning struck behind his eyes. Massaging away the pain, Nick began to relay his message; "Chief called; he said there's been a mass abduction from… Rodentia? Anyways, they're sending over a squad car to pick us up in thirty."
Judy, whose head was the only thing to poke out from behind the shower curtain, wilted at the news. "Oh-no…" mumbled Judy as she realized the implications of the abductions. Returning to the shower, Judy quickly turned off the water and hopped out to dry off.
"Whoa!" said Nick as he caught sight of Judy's unguarded naked form, still soaking wet from the shower. "I'll leave you to it," joked Nick as he averted his eyes and left the bathroom.
Judy stood, naked and silent, as she looked to the closed door where Nick had just stood. She wondered if their relationship had really become that much more familiar in the past two months.
In a flurry of blue, the pair had changed into their respective duty uniforms. Judy felt weird seeing Nick in uniform for the first time since his accident. The only reminder of Nick's trauma was the ace-wrap bandage, which Judy had helped Nick wrap about his torso, and the bald patch on his chest which the doctors had shaved for his stitches. Feeling Nick's embarrassment at the aftermath of his wound; Judy planted a kiss on his warm exposed skin before covering it with the pressure-dressing. Judy watched somberly as the amnesiac fox hummed happily, straitening his badge in the mirror. Nick was blissfully unaware of his own lost memories. Moving from Nick's apartment up to street-level, Judy watched Nick curiously as he fought with the cord of his radio.
"Carrots," Nick groaned to his partner. "How come I have to carry this heavy piece of police-junk?"
Judy's expression sank as she recalled his verbatim complaint; two weeks prior.
Taking a break from his fight with the radio, Nick caught Judy's sad expression. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Judy replied, forcing a smile as she rested her paw on her chest. Her engagement ring, which now lived around her neck, felt very heavy under Nick's caring gaze.
Cutting their exchange short; a police SUV screeched to a halt in front of the detective duo. The passenger side window slid down and a female tiger called out to Nick and Judy; "I heard there were two detectives that needed a lift," The tigress smiled at the duo as she continued; "you two wouldn't happen to know where they're at now; would you?"
Judy laughed at Officer Delgado's teasing as she opened the back door of the squad-car to get in. Meanwhile, Nick's ears pinned down in disappointment at being called detective.
After the duo were safely in the back of the SUV, Delgado punched the gas and speed away through traffic. "It's good to see you're back at it, Detective Wilde" said the tigress, adjusting the rear-view mirror so that she could better look at the miniature duo in her back seat. "Last time I saw you, you weren't looking too hot."
Nick nervously smiled at the friendly tiger, before being struck by realization. "Oh!" Nick said as he turned his attention to his partner. "The case; you've gotta fill me in if I'm gonna be any help, Carrots…"
Delgado's eyes widened at Judy as if to say; "You didn't tell him?" before she turned the rear-view mirror back to the road, shaking her head as she drove.
Judy swam with emotion as her guilt returned with a vengeance. Deep down, Judy still blamed herself entirely for what had happened. After all, it was Nick whom had warned her and tried to stop her multiple times that night.
"Forty-three?" choked Nick halfway through Judy's explanation. "I just wanted to make sure I hadn't misheard you, or that my brain-damage wasn't getting the best of me…" Nick marveled at the number with a visceral mixture of amazement and shock.
Nick continued to listen to Judy's bare-bones rundown of their first stab at the case. Trying his best to take mental notes, Nick was blissfully unaware that Judy had skipped over their visit to the Double D and Rocket's lair. Judy's heart swam with negativity and guilt as she finished their story, and thanked the heavens that the squad-car had arrived at the precinct.
Stepping out of the police-cruiser, Nick and Judy found themselves in a lightning storm of flash-bulbs. Nick recoiled at the assaulting thunderous crowd of reporters, as Judy noticed the passenger side-window of the patrol-car sliding down.
"The Press is here about your case," yelled the tigress from her post inside the car. "Welcome back!" Delgado peeled out, prompting an angry glare from the rabbit as she was swallowed by the reporters.
Turning around, Judy caught Nick crumbling under the pressure of a million microphones and shouted questions. Pushing forward, Judy grabbed Nick by the paw and made to drag him into the police precinct.
"No comment," shouted Judy to every would-be reporter. Nick simply shielded his eyes with a raised paw as his head threatened to split from the pressure within.
Breaking through the blockade and into the police precinct, Judy turned her attention to Nick. "You okay, Nicky?" asked Judy with palpable concern.
"Yeah," Nick replied, shaking the pain out of his brain. "A little epileptic seizure never hurt anyone…"
The duo stiffened at a shrill squeal destroyed their ear-drums. Clawhauser looked as though he may burst from excitement at seeing the duo reunited for the first time in too long. "You're back!" yelled the excited cheetah, prompting a death glare from Judy. Clawhauser slapped his paws to his mouth as he realized his volume. "You're back!" repeated the excited cat in a near whisper, prompting a chuckle from Nick.
"It's good to be back, big-catz" replied Nick, smiling as he moved in on the desk. "What's with the paparazzi?"
"Haven't you heard?" replied the receptionist with an exaggerated gasp. "The whole cities in a panic over the new abductions; sixty-four rodents taken in broad-day."
Both Nick and Judy froze solid, as they ran mental calculations. Over one hundred rodents were now missing, presumably dead. Cupping a paw to her mouth, Judy was absolutely speechless.
"I chose a hell of a time to come back…" mumbled Nick to no one in particular.
"You two need to go see the chief, like… now!" said Clawhauser, with more than a hint of urgency.
Running as fast as they could, Nick and Judy made their way through the police station up to the top floor, where the chief's office resided. Without knocking, the detective duo burst into Bogo's office; a deadly mistake.
"Hopps!" bellowed the Cape Buffalo, prompting Nick to cuff both of his ears in pain. "I swear you two are one phone call from city hall away from having those shiny new badges taken away!" the Chief Of Police pointed with a sharp hoof at the detective duo's respective badges. Seemingly noticing Nick's presence for the first time, Chief Bogo turned his attention to the fox. "Detective Wilde," said the Cape Buffalo with a shockingly soft tone. "I feel like a broken record with you two coming back from the Burrows, but welcome back."
Nick smiled politely and opened his mouth to reply, but was stopped by the realization of what Bogo had said. Judy had informed Nick that they had skipped their trip to meet her family; but Nick couldn't help but wonder why Judy would lie about something so trivial.
"The Burrows?" asked Nick, shifting his attention to his partner.
"You probably don't remember it well, but we had a similar conversation after your weekend sabbatical in Bunny Burrows." The imposing mammal paused to massage his closed eyelids in exasperation, and missed the confused and accusing glare that Nick shot Judy. "Speaking of not remembering," continued Bogo "are you sure you're ready to return to duty, Detective? The doctors said you were not to return any sooner than three weeks after your accident."
"Far be it for me to listen to some quack," chuckled Nick as he batted a paw at the air. "Besides, we all know who's the…" Nick's mind went blank as he searched for a word that did not exist in his battered-brain.
"Detective Wilde," asked Bogo, raising an eyebrow at Nick's confusion "were you going to insinuate that you are the 'brains' of Judy and Yours partnership?"
"That one!" replied Nick, snapping his fingers and pointing up at the unamused mammal. "We all know who's the brain of this operation!" Nick elbowed Judy lightheartedly as he smiled up at the concerned Chief Of Police.
Judy plastered a worried smile as Nick entirely dismissed the fact that he could not recall such a simple word. Perhaps, she thought, Nick was not as healed as he seemed.
Chief Bogo's eyes shifted back and forth between the two miniature detectives as he weighed his options. The large mammal cleared his throat before continuing; "Unfortunately, because of the dire circumstance, I've had to contact federal investigators… They will be taking the case from here."
Judy's composure all but collapsed as her shot at redemption was crushed. "But, chief…" Judy pleaded earning her a stern glare from Bogo, and a lofted single digit.
"Federal deputies are on their way, right now, to relieve the ZPD of its investigation of the missing mammal/homicide cases" the massive police mammal announced, crushing Judy's protest. "However," Judy's ears perked up as she caught a faint smile on the chiefs iron muzzle "said deputies will not be arriving for another six hours…"
Judy all but jumped with excitement at the implications. Nick looked entirely lost.
Bogo continued; "Until such time, you two are still the leads on this case. Since bail hasn't been posted for either of your suspects, we still have our nameless royal and his giggling sociopath in custody. If I were you two, I'd start there."
"Oh, thank you chief!" cried Judy with excitement. Grabbing Nick by the paw, Judy made to leave the Chief's office before being stopped by the Buffalo's gruff tone.
"Six. Hours. Detectives…" the Chief added deadly emphasis as he spoke. "Six hours, and then I want you two in my office to hand over all of your work to the federal deputies. Are we clear?"
"Yes sir" replied Nick and Judy in near unison, offering chief Bogo sharp salutes.
Returning their gestures, the intimidating mammal wished the duo good luck, and dismissed them for duty.
On their way to the interrogation room, Nick questioned Judy about their trip to Bunny Burrows, and her motivation for lying to him. Questions turned to accusations and by the time the duo reached their target, they were in a full-blown argument. Yelling at each other from behind the one way mirror, the Hyena sat as an oddly appropriate back-drop to the duo's fight.
"If it wasn't important, Judy" Nick growled, the pain in his head feeding his frustration. "Then WHY would you LIE about it!"
"I didn't!" yelled Judy, on the brink of tears.
"YOU DID!" barked Nick, spurring lighting to roll across his brain. "You didn't keep it a secret from me, you didn't only half tell me, you LIED to me! You told me that we didn't go to Bunny Burrows, Judy! WHY?"
"You're being childish!" yelled Judy, throwing her paws up in exasperation. "What does it matter? It's just a stupid trip that you'll never remember!" Tears began to flow as Judy's professionalism slipped.
"That's not the point!" Nick seethed, crushing his paws into his forehead in an attempt to quell the storm in his head. "It matters, Judy, because when you accepted that ring it meant that we trusted each other and that-"
"What ring?" sniveled Judy, interrupting Nick's tirade.
Pulling his paws away from his face, Nick's confused expression met Judy's expression of hope. Nick opened and closed his mouth several time in an attempt to speak, but no sound came out. Judy could all but hear the gears grinding in Nick's brain.
"Nick…" Judy took one of Nick's paws in her own as she repeated herself, praying for memory to strike. "What ring?"
Nick's eyes darted from Judy's vacant paws, which encircled his own, and back to her eyes, making laps between the two. "I…" Nick stuttered "I… I don't know, Carrots."
The hope flickered out from behind Judy's eyes, and she wrapped Nick in a defeated hug. A soft frustrated cry escaped the gray rabbit as she buried her face in Nick's chest.
Nick slowly returned the embrace as the lightning storm in his mind subsided. Stroking the distressed rabbit's long gray ears, Nick mumbled to himself; "I don't know…"
The pair stood for a second, wrapped in each other, in a silent and unprofessional embrace. Finally separating; Judy pulled back to realize she had left two tear-stains on Nick's crisp-blue uniform.
"Aw, shoot" Judy said, prompting Nick to check his own shirt. "I messed-up your uniform."
"Don't even worry about it, Fluff" said Nick with a reassuring smile. Turning his attention to the lightly giggling maniac, which sat on the other side of the glass, Nick changed the subject; "So what's the story on big-shoots here?"
"He," said Judy, turning to look in on the striped hyena "is actually the mammal that… ah… scrambled your noggin…" Judy smiled sheepishly up at Nick, not sure of how tender the topic might be.
"Really?" said Nick with a tone that resembled amusement. "I'd say I thought he was gonna be taller, but in all honestly that's a mountain of an animal."
Judy giggled slightly at Nick's genuine amusement at the criminal.
"You can keep blaming yourself, carrots," Nick joked, marveling at the striped honor-guard. "But I think this guy proves my point."
Judy turned a look of confusion on Nick as she asked; "what point?"
"That this," Nick tapped one of his temples for emphasis "is not your fault. I'm pretty sure the only animal here that needs to stop blaming you is you."
Judy blushed a little as she returned her attention to the window. She wondered how Nick always managed to find the perfect this to say.
"So what's he know?" asked Nick, returning the topic to its original course.
Judy shrugged her shoulders and blew a raspberry, prompting Nick to chuckle.
"That much, eh?" said Nick, still laughing to himself at Judy's response.
"He's a tough nut to crack," assured Judy. "We couldn't even get a name out of him."
"Really?" Nick almost looked impressed as he turned to face Judy. "Those hyenas, they're on a whole other level… but I think I've got a plan to crack this…" Nick's expression went blank as he searched for the right word.
"Nut…" Judy face pawed as she finished Nick's sentence; "crack this nut."
Nick snapped his fingers and pointed; "That one!"
Oh hot-diggity!
Did you just read the whole chapter? Did you enjoy it? If you did, then read another! But before you go, please be sure to write a review, leave a favorite, or make a suggestion. I do this for me, but also for you guy. So please, give me your thought.
-Enjoy the next chapter!