Cold morning and cold memories

After Nick had had his coffee and gotten dressed the fox gathered some gear for a bit of a hike. Judy had advised him he would be traveling pretty far north in his region to check some telephone lines.

Nick was actually a little excited when he heard this news and made a comment about how far north exactly. Judy took the hint and informed him just far enough to see the canyon that separates their regions.

The fox was a little disheartened by this. He didn't realize just how far Judy and he were. He had thought that maybe they were just a day or twos hike away from one another when it reality it would take a very long time to navigate the way to her tower.

Nick tried not to let the news get him down though. He kept reminding himself that he would see her one day. Maybe at the end of summer when the parks department threw a party to celebrate a successful summer. Thoughts of meeting other mammals in parks gear filled his thoughts.

All of them surrounding a grill while a buffalo cooked up some Beatle burgers. Nick's arm wrapped around the waist of a purple eyed mammal as they shared a few drinks and laughs.

Was that too much? An arm around the waist? Would she be okay with that? Nick had to think for a moment about the problem he might face when finally meeting Judy. How would she want to be treated face to face?

The thoughts filled the fox with a kind of anxious happiness. He wished the days would go faster and that the end of summer would hurry up and get there.

For now though he focused on the present. He had a job to do and a fellow firewatcher to keep him company over the radio.

As Nick descended his tower he headed north. The path was actually one he had traveled a little bit before. His first day as a firewatcher had brought him through a narrow canyon from the lake. Now though he would use it to get to the phone line poles that went through his region to Judy's tower.

As Nick came to the bottom of a steep path he noticed the temperature drop. This area was still covered in shadows and the sun hadn't had a chance to warm the canyon. He felt the cool air wash over him and it felt very refreshing.

"Wow! So it can get pretty cold out here!" Nick radioed over to Judy.

"Oh yeah, the canyons and fields can be quite cool early in the morning," Judy explained, "not that you would know anything about getting up early!"

"I need my beauty sleep! If I don't get 12 hours I just can't be seen by my adoring public," Nick teased.

Judy's laugh perked him right up as the canyon echoed with her transmission.

"I bet the ladies just line up to see that confident smile of yours!" Judy said sweetly.

"Oh yeah, wonder if there would be any dhole- waiting in that line?" Nick asked playfully. Today Judy's species was that of a dhole. Nick liked the idea of her being another canine.

"Right up front!" Judy said sweetly.

Nick smirked as he climbed over a smoothed boulder and took a moment to check his map. Bread about to leave the familiar path and go down a new route. He double checked his bearings and then set off into a new region.

"So you used to the cold?" Judy asked softly. Nick heard some shuffling coming from her end of the radio as she moved something across her desk.

"Yeah, not just for being a fox either, used to spend a lot of time in Tundra town back in the city!"

"Really? Never been to tundra town!" Judy announced.

"You dhole- normally like the warmer climate so it makes sense!" Nick teased.

Judy giggled over the frequency.

"What about you? Which district did you hang out in the most?" Judy asked.

"We normally wandered all over the city," Nick admitted.

"We?" Judy asked in a curious tone.

"Yeah, me, Finnick, and Debbie…" the last name burned as it left his mouth. He hadn't said her name in forever and it felt weird repeating the simple word.

He hadn't been thinking, his mind had been off guard while talking to Judy. It just felt so right speaking to her that he just said whatever popped into his mind. This time however it had come back to bite him.

Nick didn't realize it but he had fallen silent for a while. His mind going back to a beautiful vixen who gave him a seductive wink.

"Nick?!" Judy's voice finally brought the fox back to reality.

"Yeah?"

"Oh thank goodness, Nick are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry, how long have I been silent?"

"I have been trying to raise you for 5 minutes!"

"Judy I am sorry, I just, I get like that is all..."

"Nick you don't have to say anything, I am just glad you are okay!" Judy said softly. "You are okay right?"

"I will be," Nick muttered.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Judy asked nervously. "You don't have to, but sometimes talking can help!"

Nick drew in a deep breath. "Just promise me one thing..."

"Anything Nick," Judy responded quickly.

"I don't want to go into too much detail... so maybe no questions yet?" Nick muttered.

"I won't ask anything Nick. You just tell me what you want. I will always have an ear for you," Judy said sweetly, "A dhole- ear which I can only assume is good at listening!"

Nick chuckled nervously. Knowing the next part of the conversation was going to be rough.

"I used to date this vixen back in the city, her name was Debbie. I just called her Caboose..."

"Caboose?" Judy asked then cursed, "Sorry, already broke the no question rule. I'll be quiet!"

Nick chuckled at the sweet voice's hijinks and suddenly didn't feel so nervous.

"We ran into each other at a train yard in the industrial part of tundra town. She was living in a caboose at the time. So the name just stuck"

Judy remained silent on the other side of the radio. Allowing the fox to say what he wanted. Though he couldn't see Judy he felt she was standing right next to him. Her purple eyes gazing into his as she listened to his dad tale. If she was here what would she do? Hold his paw? Hug him? Or just stand there and watch him as the tears filled his eyes?

"She and I clicked. We used to do a few odd jobs together with my buddy Finnick. Life was good till..." he froze. He couldn't finish his story. It was too much right now. Judy however decided to finish the story for him.

"She did something stupid and lost you," the sweet voice said. "Which is why you're here..."

"Yeah, something like that," Nick muttered, his voice shaking slightly.

"Can I say something that will sound super inappropriate?" Judy asked which caused Nick to tilt his head slightly. The sadness in his gut replaced with curiosity.

"I encourage it!" Nick said, his playful demeanor returning.

"Okay, ummm…" Judy suddenly sounded nervous. "So just…don't read into this the wrong way or anything..."

"Oh this is gonna be good!" Nick said playfully.

"Shut up!" Judy giggled. "Okay!" Nick heard Judy take a deep breath.

"I am glad that happened to you," Judy began. Nick smiled. Which was weird. Why would he smile when someone like Judy who was supposed to be his friend said she was glad he had suffered so much? Nick however knew almost instantly where the sweet voice was going. "I know it sounds mean and this is gonna sound super greedy…but"

There was a pause as Judy released her mic.

Nick could tell what was going through her mind because it was the same thing going through his. He waited though, wanting her to say it.

"It brought you here…" Judy mumbled softly. Before the transmission ended though she let out a soft whisper. Nick had trouble understanding what the words were but his mind started to fill in the blanks. It sounded like she said "To me". Nick wanted to say something but thought better of it.

There was a pleasant yet awkward silence in the air as both mammals tried to process what Judy had just said. The silence must have been killing her though because Judy soon piped up.

"So listen your here, it is a beautiful day, and you have me," Judy explained. "I mean you have me to umm talk to and get happy with and….wow. I am just digging this hole deeper!"

"Glad to see I'm not the only one skilled at digging those holes," Nick teased.

Though the fox had just revealed a very bad part of his past he didn't feel so bad. He remembered sitting in a bar in Zootopia after it happened. His eyes had lost their color, empty beer bottles all around him, Finnick doing his best to get the fox out of a rut. Only to get mad at Nick and start cursing. Those had been dark times. It had gotten to the point he didn't want to talk about it.

With Judy it felt like he was draining a poison from his body. Just telling her that small fact had been enough for him to think about a certain vixen and not feel so much dread. Judy was like a medicine that would slowly help him get over his dark times.

Nick slowed his pace for a second as he remembered Trisha's request to take things slow. Could he? Judy was proving to be one of his greatest confidants and she was helping him get through some very dark times.

The brown bunny was right though. Nick realized that he and Judy had only known each other for less than two weeks and he was already spilling his guts to her. He was normally better at this.

That was when he realized something. Sure it hadn't been two weeks yet. It had however been constant though. Judy was the only one he talked to out here. Plus he used that radio so darn much he had to carry around a spare battery since he burned through its energy. That just showed that though it had been a short time, they had spent almost all of it together.

Well not so much together.

"We Dholes are very talented diggers….I assume..." Judy teased which brought Nick back to reality.

"Well the evidence is pretty clear," Nick shot back and chuckled.

The two shared a laugh as Nick proceeded down his path.

The fox suddenly perked up when he saw another supply cache. This one was very old though and instead of being bright orange it was painted white. Though he thought it was weird he investigated the cache anyways.

"Guess who found another supply cache?" Nick said over the radio as he approached. "Woah…this one doesn't have a lock."

"Really? All of them should be secured," Judy said anxiously, "unless it was abandoned. We have a pawful of them out there that don't get used anymore so the locks are relocated."

Nick opened the cache and saw a few pine cones and leaves. There wasn't anything very interesting. He did however notice a flyer inside the cache which raised some concern. It was a notice for a missing mammal. A bear smiled at Nick from the paper and it listed some details.

"So, do mammals go missing around here a lot?" Nick asked as he looked at the flyer.

"First off, that was darkly random." Judy began hesitantly. "Secondly, yeah, sometimes. Some mammals wander out here from time to time and just fade away. I am sure it's the same in the city though."

"Makes sense I guess," Nick muttered as he closed the cache. "I found a flyer in the cache for a missing bear."

"Some of those are super old. So they may have been found by now but no one took the time to come all the way out here to gather the flyers," Judy suggested. Trying to calm the fox.

"Either that or the parks department is recruiting sacrifices for their cult!" Nick teased.

"Damn, the other sacrifices weren't this smart. Looks like you figured out our plot of world domination!" Judy giggled.

"Saving the forest and civilization! Just call be the fantastic fox!"

"Fantastic? Meh…maybe the reasonably okay fox." Judy teased.

Nick chuckled as he strolled back onto the main path. It only took him a few minutes to pass a series of boulders and round a corner. He let out a low whistle at the small valley before him. It was a rather beautiful sight. It was even better when he spotted a series of telephone poles in the distance. Beyond them sat Judy's tower.

Though it was still pretty far away this was the closest he had ever been to her tower. It felt kind of nice. He wished there was an easier way for him to get to her. It would be nice to just check the telephone poles and then stroll to her tower.

He wondered what she would say if he just started heading her way. Would she be mad? It would mean he was abandoning his region. However part of him had a feeling she wouldn't stop him. If she did get mad it probably wouldn't be for very long either.

These thoughts filled the Fox's mind as he headed towards the telephone poles. His sharp eyes picking out the black cable that was strung from one pole to another.

"Well found the poles, wire seems intact so far, I'll try and check as far as I can." Nick reported as he approached the first pole.

"Awesome! I have gotten reports from the other regions and they said their cables are still intact for the most part." Judy advised.

"Well fingers crossed everything is good here," Nick began when a thought crossed his mind. "So just out of curiosity how far across is the canyon between our regions?"

"Far enough to keep any nosey Fox's out," Judy teased.

Nick smirked at his walkie and let out a defeated sigh.

"Seriously though Nick. It's really far…plus you have to stay in your region to keep watch," Judy trailed off.

"I understand," Nick said softly before adding, "can you blame me for trying?"

"Nope, especially since I was on one side of the ravine the other night contemplating the same thing," Judy admitted. She suddenly sounded nervous. "I mean I was out on a hike and just so happened…umm...What's the status of the poles again?"

Nick stopped at another pole and looked up, seeing no issues he continued to follow the line. "Wait, so you can get to the cliff from your tower?"

"That's not important..."

"Think it is! How about this! You stand on one side and I'll throw you a rope!"

"No Nick, that wouldn't work!"

"Worth a shot, I have a great arm," Nick teased, knowing it was a pointless plan.

"No! Okay!" Judy shot back. Her tone wasn't playful. It actually sounded scared.

"Judy you okay?" Nick asked hesitantly.

"We can't meet okay…" Judy said suddenly.

Nick froze. "What?"

"I mean like that! Oh shit, Nick I mean I can't meet you like that!" Judy blurted out.

"And why is that?!" Nick asked, his tone growing cold. He felt a sudden betrayal fill his mind. Why didn't she want to meet him? What was the big deal? They could finally see each other!

Was it because he was a fox? No that can't be it! Was it because of Trisha's talks? That dumb brown bunny getting in the way!

Was there someone else?

These thoughts were thankfully interrupted by Judy's sweet voice.

"I don't want us to meet like that..." Judy said softly before her voice turned somewhat nervous "I can't. See you like that. And not be able to...Umm..."

"What?" Nick wanted to shout but he kept his tone low. He felt a little hurt that Judy wouldn't want to meet him. The thoughts of them enjoying the end of summer cookout together started to fade. He felt a little betrayed, he had thought that he had Judy figured out. Maybe he had been wrong.

"I want to be close when we meet..." Judy finally admitted. "I want see those big green eyes of yours."

"Wilde you freaking idiot!" Nick said as he slammed a paw to his forehead. He neglected to key the mic up for that part.

He tried to think of something to say but no words came to mind. The fox frantically searched for a way to recover from what he had just said. Even though he hadn't said much it was how he had said it. He knew that Judy must have picked up on it as well.

"I totally made you feel like an ass right now didn't I?" Judy came back over the radio.

"Yuuuup," Nick admitted as he shook his head.

Judy giggled over the radio.

"Is it because you thought I didn't want to meet my fox?"

"My?"

There was silence over the radio for a moment or two. Nick felt his lips crack into a goofy smile which refused to go away.

"So any luck with that cable?" Judy asked, obviously hoping to change the subject.

"My?" Nick asked again.

"Nick!" the cute voice groaned.

"Yes my dear?"

"Oh my goodness!" Judy busted out laughing.

"What?" Nick asked with a chuckled

"It just sounds...Um...Interesting coming from you," Judy admitted.

"Good interesting?" Nick asked as he began to climb up a steep hill that led to another pole.

Judy remained silent on the line once more. Nick smirked but his expression was sort lived as he looked up at the pole ahead of him.

"Hey Judy," Nick said, his tone growing serious.

"What's up?" Judy asked quickly.

"Found the problem..." Nick mumbled. In front of him was a pole with a thick black cable hanging from it. The fox took a few steps towards the pole and examined the cable. Remembering one should never touch a cable since there could be some kind of current or hazard still running through it. Even though it wasn't a power cable he didn't want to risk anything.

"Uh oh," Judy sighed.

"The cable has been…" Nick began to speak when the wind caught up, causing the cable to sway in the wind. That's when he noticed it. The cable hadn't snapped. No this was too straight. It had been cut. Someone had climbed up and cut the cable.

"Judy…it's been cut!" Nick announced as he looked from the cable and over to Judy's tower off in the distance.

"What? What are you talking about?" Judy asked frantically.

"I'm telling you, I am looking right at the cable. It's obviously been cut."

"That can't be! Who would want to cut our phone lines?"

"Got any jealous ex's?" Nick asked, trying to lighten the situation with a little humor.

"No!"

"Never dated?" Nick asked playfully.

"Is now really the time for this? Someone cut our main line to the head office!"

"Ah ha!" Nick cheered.

"What?" Judy asked nervously.

"You do admit it could have been cut!" Nick said triumphantly.

"Okay okay, it is a possibility, but who would do it?" Judy asked again.

Nick looked around the pole for some kind of clue. His bright green eyes spotted something next to a rock nearby. The fox slowly approached the object and shook his head.

No, this couldn't be. He didn't want to believe it.

Next to the rock was a small crushed beer can. It was the same terrible beer he had found a few days prior at another campsite. It was the beer the ladies with the fireworks had.

"Dang it," Nick muttered. He felt somewhat betrayed by the thought that the mammals he had made friends with could ha EA done something like this.

"Nick, we got another problem." Judy said firmly over the frequency.

Of course, he just had to tempt the universe. He had been complaining of there being nothing to do and now it seemed the universe wanted to punish him.

"What's up?" Nick groaned.

"Look to the South!" Judy ordered.

Nick looked over his shoulder to the southern part of his region. The fox scowled as he spotted what Judy had.

Off the distance was a small line if smoke. Someone was either starting a campfire or wanted to burn down the whole forest.

Not on Nick's watch.

He wanted the forest to stay safe.

Not because it was his job, not to protect the trees, but because he wanted to have his arm around Judy's waist at the end of summer cookout.

Hey everyone!

Sorry for the delay on this chapter. I wanted to get some of my other stories into better stopping points before focusing more time on FW and Extras.

I am currently working alot of hours at work so I dont have as much time to create these stories right now. Hopefully things will change soon and I wil be able to catch up on sleep and write more FW for you all.

I have gotten a few messages from folks begging for more FW. I loved it! OMG it made my night hearing about how you all need more. I am sure many other authors will attest to this. There is nothing like having folks want more writing! So thank you all for your continued support and positive reviews.

So the last chapter had a nice little visit from Trisha in the A/N. That helped clear up some questions but brought a new one. Have I beaten Firewatch? Yes, yes I have. I beat that game like the day it came out. I have since played it again and again and I even done the silent treatment walk through. So dont worry, I know how the game ends! Is that how this story will end? Who knows?

More work coming soon I hope!

-Blue