Chapter 2 : Retrouvailles

The clock already showed midnight. Judy was alone in her very small apartment, and she didn't manage to sleep. It had been hours since she tried. The incident during the afternoon made her go back home much more earlier. At first, she had taken a shower, to warm herself from that last ice-cold bath, but also to get rid of some salt stayed on her fur. She let her clothes dry and directly went to bed. But it was useless, she just won't close her eyes. She felt her forehead boiling, and all her whole body was abnormally hot. The air which she inhaled was dry, and she was bothered by her own cough. In brief: she was sick, and her state was only worsening.

It wasn't a joyful day, even if at least, the skunk which she and Nick pursued a little earlier was stopped by another officer. Nick had helped Judy to go back home, aboard their cruiser. He had asked her if she would be fine alone, and she claimed that she didn't need help.

Judy sighed, one more time. The time seemed way too long for her. Even when she didn't cough, she could be disturbed by the surroundings noises. Either from the noisy neighbors, either by the cars outside. Obviously, each time she coughed, her neighbors could hear it. Sometimes, one of them began bawling when she was making too much noise.

While she tried all the possible and imaginable positions in attempt to sleep, she was interrupted by the ringing of her cell. She reached her arm to grab it and looked at the screen. It was Nick.

"Hello Nick? Why are you calling me so late ? "

"Hey I was sure you would not sleep. Look through your window. "

Judy stood up and did what Nick asked her to do, and she saw Nick himself standing in front of the building.

"Yo." Nick beckoned to her before entering the building, leaving Judy's vision. He was heading her threshold. It took not long before he knocks on Judy's door, who let him go inside.

"Nick why are you here? »

The fox looked all the way around. He had never visited Judy's house before, although he knew the address. He didn't seem too surprised by the deplorable state of the room. There was mold on the ceiling, the floor creaked and was seriously damaged, the wallpaper was falling off the wall. Even the furniture was old and in poor condition.

"Hey, Nick?"

The fox had forgotten to give Judy a reply, so much he felt concerned about the slum where she lived. It was worse than he thought.

"I came here to take you with me, Carrots." He walked to the center of the room. "Pack your bags, you moving home."

"W-Wait. Why? All of a sudden... "

"It's not in this infested dump that you will be cured." And he was not wrong, she knew it. Dry air coupled with mold could affect her lungs and increase the disease.

Nick approached her and put his hand against her forehead.

"You have more fever than before. Do you even take care of yourself ?" He coldly say, a worry look on his face.

Judy looked down, embarrassed. "Y-Yes of course. I bought medicines at the corner drugstore. "

"Tony's? Forget it, I know him just enough to say that he's a crook. Throw this stuff, I'll buy you another medicine if you want. Just hurry up to make your luggage. "

"Nick ... I don't know if it's reasonable ..."

"Trust me. You win nothing by staying here. You'll be much better in my home until you heal."

Judy was perplexed within a short time, then finally nodded in agreement. "Fine."

Nick helped her pack her bags. There was not much to pack in the apartment, since Judy was naturally orderly. She only took with her the essentials. Once the bag was ready, they left the apartment and left the building. Nick rushed to his car to open the car trunk and put Judy's affairs in it. He closed it and then walked to the passenger side to invite Judy to go inside. He opened the door and gave her a reverence accompanied with his usual smug smile. She smiled back at him and went inside. The fox walked around the car and took the driver's seat. He took the key and started the car. He backed down before leaving. Judy had never been in his house and she was curious to know what type of property her partner owned. Both animals were quiet during the route. Judy took advantage of the silence to watch Zootopia and its night lights through the window. The colors were beautiful, they were passing through all the chic districts of the metropolis. Then, after several minutes of driving, they arrived in a neighborhood a little more isolated from the heart, a quiet area with a few houses rather chic all well spaced from each other. Nick stopped in front of one of them.

"We're there." He said. "Everybody gets out."

"You mean ... this is where you live?"

"Yup."

"It's better than what I thought."

"Well, I like comfort, that's all."

They went out of the vehicle, Nick took Judy's suitcase in the trunk and then walked toward his front door. "There it is, make yourself at home." Judy went inside. The house was spacious. Everything was clean and tidy. Nick was way more organized than she first thought. The lounge was very welcoming and elegant with all the adequate comfort : TV and sofa. The fox asked her to follow him as he was climbing the stairs. So they went upstairs and Nick showed her his room. "This is where you sleep."

"What, in your room ? You know… well, I'm fine enough with the sofa and... "

"Oh Come on!" He interrupted her. "You're in my home, you cannot refuse anything from me. If I tell you that you can sleep here, it must mean that you have to sleep here. I will go to the sofa. You, you need a fine bed to rest." Judy looked away constrained, before releasing a small "Thank you".

"Well, if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to call me."

"Okay!"

He was about to leave the room, but the bunny interpellate him again. "Nick...really, thank you."

He smiled and left, closing the door behind him. Just after leaving the room, Nick went downstairs, took his wallet in the living room and left the house. He decided to go buy the correct medicines for Judy, in a night pharmacy maintained by badgers. It was only a few steps from home, so it was no need for the car. It took him five minutes of walking to get there. He made his purchases, put the drugs in a bag and left immediately. Shortly after leaving the pharmacy, Nick sensed a presence on his left. He turned his head toward a narrow alley where stood a silhouette which was very familiar : it was Finnick.

"Yo", said the fennec. "Long time no see, huh ?"

Nick looked surprised. He hadn't got any news from him for a long time. In fact, since Nick became a cop. Finnic remained in the crime, and they could not pretend not to know each other situation. Besides, the little animal let him know that he was fully aware of his new career :

"I heard that you had joined the other side of the edge, Nick." They stared a moment at each other. The fox just answered with a neutral "Yup", and wished the conversation would just end there. The situation was indeed embarrassing and could quickly degenerate, but his legs remained motionless. For Nick, it was just too awkward. Should he be happy to meet again his former partner ? Or should he return his jacket against him due to his new fresh moral duty ? If not, then would he continue to simply ignore him each time they meet? Nick didn't know what position he should adopt and Finnick knew he was feeling uncomfortable.

The fennec laughed uproariously.

"You must be kidding. Nick... as a cop." He was still laughing out loud as Nick gave him a fake smile, then the fennec sat up in front of him with a more serious expression on his face.

"Hey, seriously Nick... is it what I think it is?" The fox didn't say a thing, so he continued. "A bunny ? You turned your jacket because of a bunny? "He glanced at the plastic bags. "And that, is it shopping for your girlfriend ? Tss… Nick, what are you now? Her pet ?"

"Judy is my friend." He curtly said.

"I don't understand you, Nick. You and I were partners. We helped each other. We were like two buddies, huh? If I left you behind with your beloved bunny, it's only because she had decided to hold you hostage a few days, but I didn't think you'd fell for her to finally betray me instead. "

The fox looked away and sighed. "It has nothing to do with you and... you get the wrong ideas. It's just that... a lot happened and…" He had trouble finding his words, but the little animal in front of him didn't let him go on.

"Hey, I don't care of your explanations." He continued: "You know, it's hard to work alone in my profession. Because of you I have to look for other teammates. Almost all good scams require work in pairs, you know that ! And, since you're not there anymore, I had to consider to change my methods, to consider other plans and ... hey! tell me what is it in your pocket ! "

Nick was pressing back in his pocket what he was holding but Finnick was faster than him as he rushed on him to snatch the object he had in hand. He laughed.

"A carrot shaped pen ? Dear foxy, you're falling even lower than what I first thought."

He laughed again, then looked him straight into the eye with a serious gaze. "What was your intuition with this thing ?"

"I didn't record anything yet... I bring it with me just for safety precaution." He said as he tried to justify himself.

The fennec checked the recorder-pen, trying to find out if he was saying the truth. "You know Nick, you're not able to stop me anyway. I have too much compromising files about you, about our past. Your girlfriend maybe knows who you used to be, but I doubt the police department know all your exploits. I don't think they will close their eyes on what I could tell about you. And even if I have to be arrested by a cop other than you, I will make you responsible for this. But that day will not happen, isn't it ?"

"You seriously intend to blackmail me?"

"Just for safety precaution." He threw him back the carrot microphone, Nick caught it in mid-air while the fennec was leaving the place.

"You know you'll never dare arrest me." He said before vanishing.

Okay, you know what ? I read a lot of other fanfictions in the Zootopia fandom lately (some really good fics here) and I can tell my english still not allow me to improve my writing, which is a bit regretful knowing that I'm usually very meticulous about it. I'm still not quite comfortable with the language for that, so my first concern is to know if the story is clear enough while reading. Maybe I should hire a translator. I may think about it according the feedbacks.