-Nick and Judy's Aardvark Rise Apartment 6:00 AM-
Nick awoke to a sweet smell. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he headed from his room into the living/dining area of the new apartment he and Judy shared. He tried to hold back a wide grin as he caught sight of Judy in her nightshirt; she was fixing pancakes.
"Well!" Nick remarked. "A free continental breakfast, huh? I gotta say, I'm liking this new living arrangement of ours more and more every day."
"Har har," Judy rolled her eyes. "Maybe if you woke up before me for a change, you could fix breakfast instead."
"Those wouldn't happen to be blueberry pancakes, would they...?" Nick was hopeful.
"They might have been," Judy started, "had someone not eaten the rest of them last night."
"Oh, how could you, Carrots," Nick feigned hurt in his voice, "you know I love blueberries." After she didn't respond, he added: "Seriously though, you should probably hide them from me or something." Judy laughed lightly and set them both out a small stack of pancakes.
"Mm, delicious," Nick complimented as he dug in.
"Thanks," Judy said. "You see? Things haven't changed too much between us, have they? We still shared like half of all our meals before. All we do now is live together."
"I guess so, Nick agreed, "but living together does have a few perks to it, I suppose. Like getting to see you in your nightshirt." Judy's jaw dropped slightly at his audacity, though she didn't look displeased. Her eyebrows furrowed a bit.
"Nick."
"What, can I not say that?" Nick teased. "I think you're a rather aesthetically pleasing bunny, you know." Through his half-lid, smug eyes, he gazed at her as he shoved another mouthful of pancakes in his muzzle.
"Oh, is that what you're going to go with?" Judy scoffed in mock disbelief, crossing her arms.
"Well, you told me not to call you cute," Nick smirked. There was a brief silence as Judy's eyes broke away from Nick for a few seconds.
"I mean, if you want to call me cute," Judy said coquettishly, poking her forefingers together in hesitation, "I guess it would be okay. If you did it... that is. Occasionally. In private."
"I was going to ask you to pass the syrup," Nick said, "but I think that was syrupy enough for me." Judy grinned maliciously at that.
"You're lucky we have work, mister, or else this syrup would end up in your fur, and you know how hard it is to get out of that!"
-The Streets of Savanna Central, 8:30 PM-
"Another late shift," Nick sighed as Judy drove up and down the streets. "We're low on animal-power and I suppose we are in the middle of a small crime wave. I guess it's the season for it or something."
"Is that how that works?" Judy asked, to no response. "Hey, after we moved in together, did you notice the guys at the office talking more? About us, I mean?" Nick chuckled softly in reply.
"Carrots, you know they've been talking about us since the first day I shared a chair with you in the briefing room."
"I guess you're right," Judy sighed. "I've just been a bit more anxious about it lately, hoping no one will call us out on being unprofessional or any-" Judy was interrupted by Clawhauser's voice coming over the radio.
"Hopps! Wilde! We've got a report of an altercation at 127th and Plains! The call came from the third floor of the Grazing Homes apartment complex!" Nick nodded, putting on their cruiser's siren. Judy picked up the radio.
"Grazing Homes, third floor! Affirmative! We are en route!"
-Grazing Homes Apartment Complex, 8:42 PM-
The two showed up shortly on the third floor of the complex, their stun guns drawn. As they looked around, they noticed one of the doors cracked open. A red panda woman, about Judy's height, was watching them. Judy approached her, lowering her weapon.
"Ma'am," Judy said, "were you the one that called in the report?" The red panda nodded softly.
"Yes," she said. "About fifteen minutes ago I heard loud shouting coming from down the hall, room 307 I think. It sounded really violent, a lot of crashing, then everything went very quiet." Nick started advancing on that room while Judy nodded, holding her hand out to the red panda.
"Thank you; please stay in your apartment." The red panda nodded at this and withdrew. Judy joined Nick outside the door to room 307 and held up her weapon. Nick tested the door.
"It's unlocked," he said quietly. Both nodded and threw open the door, their weapons drawn and ready.
"POLICE!" both shouted. There was no response. The apartment was ransacked, furniture overturned and scuffed up, and a motionless tiger man lay near the kitchen, with blood pooled around his neck.
"Ah, God," Nick said in disdain. Judy quickly headed over to the tiger while Nick checked the rest of the rooms. "All clear."
"He's dead," Judy said hollowly, withdrawing her fingers from his neck. She picked up her radio. "Officer Hopps to base. We're going to need a bus and a CSI unit. Possible homicide."
"I'll get you the ambulance," Clawhauser said back over the radio, "but all of our investigation units are deployed. Do you think you and officer Wilde can case the scene?" Nick nodded diagonally in a somewhat unsure way.
"We'll do our best, Clawhauser, Hopps out."
Judy rolled crime scene tape in front of the door to the apartment as Nick started putting placards near claw marks and broken items in the apartment.
"You okay, Judy?" Nick asked suddenly. Judy's expression was subdued.
"What do you want me to say, no?"
"Well, I know this is the first murder scene we've showed up to," Nick prodded, concerned.
"I knew this job wasn't going to be sunshine and rainbows," Judy sighed deeply, "sometimes to make the world a better place we have to make sure those that would make it worse aren't running around in it." Nick nodded in agreement.
"Geez, he lost a lot of blood," Nick shook his head, "from the slash marks on his neck, I guess he bled out."
"Is this not the first dead mammal you've seen, Nick?" Judy asked suddenly.
"Well, no, at least, I don't think so," Nick shrugged. "Sometimes when I was walking down the streets of Zootopia I'd see someone lying motionless. Since I was still 'legally adjacent' then, and, well, a bit of a coward, I would just call the police to tip anonymously. All I could do at the time was leave it to the pros."
"Now, we are the pros," Judy mused.
"Now, we are the pros," Nick agreed flatly. The two donned gloves as they began searching for evidence. Judy was on her hands and knees near the overturned couch, when she made out a black wallet against the dark floor.
"Found a wallet," she said, picking it up, "it's empty, mostly. No cash or credit cards, but here's his driver's license."
"Who's our guy?" Nick asked.
"Jason Snarlane."
"Hm, I hope the perp didn't take his phone," Nick grumbled, "It doesn't look like it's in here or on him. I'll check the bedroom." A few moment's later, Nicks voice come from the bedroom. "Got it! Looks like he kept it in a dresser."
"Should we bag that and wait for the techies to crack into it?" Judy called out, looking at the claw marks near the kitchen.
"Maybe no need," Nick shouted back. "Read me out his birthday."
"April 16th, 1992."
"Ha, I'm in!" Nick exulted.
"Huh! Really?" Judy was a bit impressed.
"Yup, not everyone is clever when coming up with a passcode," Nick chuckled. "Let's see, contacts, recent calls... he received quite a few calls from this one number recently, up to only an hour ago." Nick made a bunch of notes in a pad. "The contact only lists the number as 'Supplies'. Odd. Anything in the pictures? Whoa! No, those are not helpful. Wow, I didn't know lionesses could do that..." Judy gave him an exasperated look.
"Focus, Nick," Judy said dryly while looking for any hairs the perpetrator might have left.
"I think that's all I can find," Nick said, bagging the phone, "Maybe the techies can trace the number that called our tiger for us."
"Our tiger," Judy repeated as the ambulance arrived and a couple of deer came out to wheel the body away. "You know, I really kind of doubt Chief Bogo is going to want us to head up a murder investigation."
-Zootopia Police Department Headquarters, 8:30 AM-
"Hopps," Chief Bogo's commanding voice addressed Judy in his office, "I want you and Wilde to head up this murder investigation."
"Really?" Judy said in surprise, "I mean, with all due respect, we're the smallest cops on the main force. I know some things are just logically overstepping our abilities."
"So?" Bogo retorted. "You've also got the highest rate of closed cases in the precinct."
"That's all petty stuff, you know, the 'fun' kind of mysteries where no one gets hurt," Judy looked pensive.
"Right, including taking down an egomaniac sheep that threatened all of predator-kind. Hopps," Bogo's countenance began to drop, "Please tell me you aren't frightened."
"No!" Judy said indignantly. "I just, well, you know I'm prone to overstepping my bounds, sir. I just wanted you to know I'm ready to fall in line."
"Right, and the line I want you to follow leads to this tiger's murderer," Bogo affirmed.
"Very well, sir!" Judy nodded, straightening up, "I won't let you down."
"Make sure Wilde doesn't either," Bogo grunted. "Oh, I have something for you."
"Sir?"
Bogo walked over and dug a small rectangular box out of a drawer. "I got this especially for you. I kept meaning to give it to you, but there was never a right time. Uh, except for perhaps your third anniversary with us. Maybe that would have been good. Anyway, since you're heading up a dangerous case I thought you might appreciate it." Judy looked into the box.
"A stun gun?" Judy looked skeptical, "I do have one of those."
"A standard issue model, yes," Bogo began, "But I had this one custom ordered for you. It's got a slightly smaller grip that should be more comfortable for your hands, and a bunch of other features I thought looked cool, er... practical. I think you should have every advantage against the criminals in Zootopia, because they're certainly not going to play fair." Judy smiled.
"Well, thank you, chief!" She took the new stun gun and offered up her old one.
"Ah, and here's the manual." He plopped an enormous book that seemed as thick as her waist in her hands. "Hope you like reading."
"Huge fan!" Judy said desperately, buckling under the surprise weight in her hands.
Outside of the office, Judy almost immediately ran into Nick. "Ah, Carrots. I was just about to talk to Chief Buff. The medical examiner finished up and wants to see whoever's going to be taking the case."
"Well, that would be... us," Judy smirked, setting the manual for her new stun gun by her desk.
"What, really?" Nick looked surprised. "Well, OK then! Shall we?"
-Zootopia Police Department, Autopsy 9:00 AM-
Judy and Nick both tried to stifle grimaces at their first trip into an autopsy room, where Jason Snarlane's body lay on a table. From behind the table came a middle-aged male ferret, who looked delighted to see them.
"Ah, Officers Hopps and Wilde!" the ferret exclaimed, "so nice to finally get to meet you two. Heard so much about you!"
"I wish it could have been under better circumstances," Judy said with a touch of remorse. "Doctor..."
"Ah, Pedshark. Carl Pedshark," the ferret introduced, "and don't worry about it, this is how most of the ZPD meets me, unfortunately. Goes with the job, heh!"
"I suppose you're right," Judy nodded, "what can you tell us, Dr. Pedshark?"
"Well, as I'm sure you both guessed," Dr. Pedshark started, "cause of death was exsanguination from the injuries sustained to the neck."
"Figured that much," Nick wryly interrupted.
"They look like claw wounds," Judy offered, "is that accurate?"
"Yes," Dr. Pedshark nodded. "The size, width, and depth of the wounds are definitely consistent with a predator. Wolf was my first guess." Nick's lips twisted a bit. He felt uncomfortable at predator violence.
"Can we confirm that?" Judy asked curiously. "Were there any bit of the claws broken off in the wound or anything?"
"Nothing so fortunate, I'm afraid," Dr. Pedshark apologized. "The killer was quite good about covering their tracks. Bits of Mr. Snarlane's fur have been removed and bleached, which led me to believe there may have been blood on him from his killer."
"Yeah," Nick agreed, "a tiger definitely wouldn't go down without a fight."
"Precisely," Dr. Pedshark nodded, getting a bit more excited. "And, what would be unique to a tiger that a killer might miss?" Nick and Judy thought about this for a moment.
"Oh!" Judy realized suddenly. "Tiger's claws are usually retracted!"
"Bingo!" Dr. Pedshark hopped up. "The killer did a good job of cleaning Mr. Snarlane's paws, but he missed the actual claws! I was able to recover some blood that wasn't Mr. Snarlane's from them."
"That's quite a mistake," Nick smirked, "so the blood's been run?"
"Currently underway," Dr. Pedshark nodded. "You should know the results in the next two hours or so."
"Hm," Nick mused, "we'll only get a hit if the perp actually has an arrest record and thus has their DNA on file..."
"I guess we'll just have to hope they're a repeat offender, then," Judy said. "Thank you so much for your help, Dr. Pedshark." The ferret nodded.
"Any time," he smiled, "hope to see you again soon. Well, you know what I mean, anyway." Nick and Judy nodded, and headed back to their desks.
-Zootopia Police Department Headquarters, 10:23 AM-
One hand on her cheek, Judy scrolled through numerous documents on her computer. She had pulled up everything she could find about the victim, Jason Snarlane. Nick poked his head into her cubicle. "Any luck, Carrots?"
"Not really," Judy admitted. "From all accounts I can't find anything suspicious about this guy, or anything that would make him a target. He worked at a local garage, fixing cars. Do you think we should head down there and ask his employer if he had any enemies?"
"Hm, we could do that," Nick nodded. "I just got back from talking with the tech guys about the number that kept showing up on Mr. Snarlane's phone. They said the phone is a throwaway, not a personal phone, so there's no way to get a name from that, but they could pull up the locations that the calls were made from." Nick slipped a thumb drive into Judy's computer. He brought up a scalable map of Zootopia. Zooming into it, several locations were circled, but most in a specific area. "Most of the calls were made here, from a shipping yard right between Savanna Central and Sahara Square." He pointed to this.
"Huh," Judy looked contemplative, "so, if that was to be his killer, they either worked at this shipping yard or were doing something shady there... we definitely need to check that out." Clawhauser headed up to Judy's cubicle, also holding a thumb drive.
"Hello!" Clawhauser waved cheerfully in greeting. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything. Guess what? We got a hit!" Clawhauser couldn't stop himself from putting the thumb drive into the computer immediately, reaching over both Nick and Judy.
"I'm running out of USB ports here," Judy quipped. She pulled up the files on the drive. A picture of an adult gray wolf male showed up onscreen.
"Harold Fangway," Clawhauser read excitedly. "Prior arrests include three counts of robbery and possession of contraband!"
"So it is a wolf after all. Thanks, Ben," Nick muttered. "So now things are starting to get interesting. Why would a shipping yard hire a known crook, especially a thief?"
"Unless he doesn't actually work there," Judy contemplated, "or it's part of something larger."
"And how on Earth is our tiger involved?" Nick scratched his head. "He worked in a garage clear across town, for crying out loud."
"I think we have to get down to that shipping yard, pronto," Judy said, grabbing some of her gear. Nick nodded. They both turned and still saw Clawhauser standing there. He looked surprised.
"Oh um, am I in the way?" He chuckled apologetically, then his voice turned slightly musical. "Well, um, have fun you two! Bye!"
-Port Krill Shipping Yard, 11:45 AM-
Judy and Nick approached the office of the manager of the shipyard. Judy stepped up and knocked on the door. "This is the ZPD, we'd like to ask a few questions." A large male walrus stepped out. He looked fairly tired and irritable.
"This better be important," he started, "lunch break is in fifteen."
"It is, sir," Judy assured him, "we just have a few questions. Do you have anyone named Harold Fangway on your payroll?"
"Nope. Never heard of that name," the walrus shook his head.
"I... see," Judy paused, hoping there wasn't indeed something bigger going on like they had worried. Nick held up his forefinger.
"Hopps, show him the picture." Judy nodded, bringing up Fangway's picture on her phone.
"How about this guy?" Nick asked. Unexpectedly, the walrus' demeanor changed and he gave a hearty laugh.
"Aw yeah!" he said, "Earl Schmidt! Hard workin' kid."
"Is he here today?" Judy asked.
"Oh yeah, I can take you to him, assuming he didn't duck out early for lunch," the walrus chuckled. Nick and Judy followed the walrus through long corridors and piles of shipping containers.
"Do you think this 'Earl' is a different guy?" Judy whispered to Nick.
"Probably not," Nick hissed back. "Likely just a fake name so he could be hired at a place like this." The three found the gray wolf unloading a box from a shipping crate.
"Yo, Earl!" The walrus manager called out to him. "Police are hear to talk to you!" At that, the wolf dropped the box and took off into the maze of shipping containers. Judy and Nick shot each other a look and then pursued.
"Stop, police!" Judy shouted after him. The wolf had already turned a corner, leaving the two blindly chasing through gaps between shipping containers.
"I wish just once a perp would stop when they're asked nicely," Nick grumbled as they gave chase.
"This place is a literal maze!" Judy wailed. "How are we ever going to find him before he gets away?" Nick started to sniff the air. A bunch of conflicting scents came at him from all directions, but he did think he caught a scent of wolf. Following his nose, he turned a corner where Judy, not noticing, stayed straight. "Either way, I don't think we should split up, maybe we should head to the entrance to see if he tries to escape that way. ...Nick?" Judy suddenly realized she was alone. "Nick!?"
"This way, Hopps!" Nick called, but his voice seemed to be coming from everywhere as it bounced off the crates. Judy headed in the direction she thought she heard his voice come from, dread creeping upon her. For fifty agonizing seconds Judy looked around with her stun gun drawn, terrified. Her heart felt like it could burst from her chest at any moment. Then, suddenly she heard growling and a scuffle coming from her left. She gasped and headed this way after a small pause. Turning a corner, she found Nick, with the wolf behind him, one arm holding Nick's arms to his sides and the other with his claws held to his neck.
"Nick!" Judy shrieked. Nick looked terrified and somewhat embarrassed that the wolf had gotten the drop on him. "Let him go, Fangway!" The wolf looked somewhat surprised to be called by his real name. Judy had her stun gun trained on him.
"Or what, bunny, you'll shoot your little shock gun at me?" Fangway sneered. "You're just as likely to hit this little fox kit, and then he'd be dead anyway. And it'd hurt the whole time he was dyin'!"
"Let him GO!" Judy shouted, trying to keep her hands steady. Nick seemed like he was trying to break free, but Fangway had a good grip on him.
"Nothin' out of you, fox," Fangway warned. "And I don't think you're in a position to be making demands, little rabbit. How about you drop your gun, then we can talk?" Nicks eyes were wide, silently begging her not to do this. Judy kept her hands steady, hesitating. An intense moment passed where no one moved a muscle. "I SAID, drop the GUN!"
After another excruciating moment, Judy slowly began to put the stun gun on the ground, very meticulously. Nick's heart sped up as his mind raced and tried to psychically scream at her not to comply. He couldn't believe she was acquiescing!
"Yeah, that's right," Fangway smirked, "Nice and slow. Then, how about you kick that stun gun over to me?" Nick tried to find Judy's eyes to make one last appeal to her, but she wouldn't look at him. He could feel Fangway's claws start to press closer to his neck. Gently, carefully, Judy placed her foot on the gun.
"Nick, I am so sorry..." One of Judy's toes twitched.
Suddenly, a piercing, blaring, high-pitched sound started emitting from the gun. Both Nick and Fangway screamed and whined in pain, breaking apart from each other. In the next second, Judy had picked her gun back up and delivered a drop kick to Fangway to knock him away from Nick. The wolf stumbled backward with a grunt. Nick dropped to his knees, his hands over his ears, as the sound got closer. Judy advanced upon Fangway, holding the gun level.
Fangway snarled and attempted to lunge, but Judy holding the gun closer to him caused him so much aural pain that he flinched and stumbled backwards. Judy glared at him, her eyes full of fury. Fangway turned, attempting to run. This was just what Judy had been waiting for. She turned the gun's sonic weapon off, and...
CLACK!
Judy fired the charge from her stun gun and it sank into Fangway's back. Screaming out, he toppled face-first to the floor, convulsing as the charge wracked his body. Judy advanced on him, her face in a line.
"I hope that hurt," she found herself saying, mostly to herself. She took out some appropriately sized handcuffs and cuffed him behind his back. "Harold Fangway, you are under arrest, for, including other things, assaulting a police officer. You have the right to remain silent-" Judy was interrupted by Fangway suddenly turning his head to snap at her with a snarl. Judy gasped and flinched backwards, his teeth clasping down inches from her arm.
"And by that, she means, keep your mouth shut," Nick said darkly, pressing his foot on the wolf's back and fitting a muzzle around his mouth. Fangway collapsed again, growling, but defeated. He was weak enough for Nick to grab him up by his shirt collar. He was not gentle with throwing him into the back of their cruiser.
"Let me ask you something, Hopps," Nick asked, "what good are those enormous bunny ears of yours if that ridiculously painful sound coming from that tricked-out gun didn't even phase you?" Judy reached into her ears and pulled out some globs of wadded-up gauze.
"Sorry, did you say something?" Judy smirked. Nick's jaw dropped; he was gobsmacked.
"You... little... genius," Nick marveled, "how the heck did you know to do that?"
"Well, I did get a little bit of time to read the manual while I was searching for stuff on the tiger," Judy explained, "and knowing how canines hate high-pitched, loud noises, I knew I might have to use that sonic function. After I heard where you two get into that fight, I plugged my ears and hoped for the best."
"So you couldn't even hear him when he was trying to negotiate with you?"
"Barely," Judy admitted. "The sonic weapon was kinda painful for me, even with the gauze, but I knew what I had to do, and steeled myself." Nick gave a strange, sputtering sound. He looked like he might cry, out of either relief or pride or some combination of both, but he held it together. On the drive back it was unusually quiet between the two. Nick knew his screw-up had nearly cost him his life, and expected to be attacked about it by Judy at any time, but it never came.
-Zootopia Police Department Headquarters 3:13 PM-
"Well, you did it," Chief Bogo smirked proudly, looking at the muzzled Fangway who was sitting in an interrogation room, "enough hair from this wolf was left at the scene of your little altercation for Dr. Pedshark to run. Pretty soon we'll have him dead to rights for the murder of that tiger." Judy's eyes searched the floor, then looked back at Bogo.
"But...?" She asked, sensing a caveat.
"Well, the district attorney always loves a confession, because it makes things easier, for them anyway," Bogo chuckled, "since this is your first big bust of a murder suspect, do you and Wilde want to try interrogating him? You have nothing to really lose, even if you screw up." Nick stepped up next to Judy.
"I have to say, I do love games that I can't lose," he smirked. Judy smiled, feeling some fire in her tummy.
"Yeah, why not?" Judy said, starting to head toward the interrogation room with the case file. "So, you good cop, me bad?" Nick tried to swallow a huge smile.
"Sounds fun to me."
The two went into the interrogation room. Judy plopped the case file dramatically onto the desk as she'd seen in so many police shows she'd watched as a kit. "So! Harold Fangway. Or can we call you Harry?"
"Bite me," Fangway replied.
"Maybe I'll have my partner take you up there," Judy snarked, "his teeth are sharper than mine. So Harry, had to change your name because you couldn't get a job?" Fangway just grit his teeth in annoyance. Judy stepped closer, her hands behind her back. She leaned over, lolling her ears to the side mockingly.
"Listen, buster, we have you," Judy shot at him, "you're going to jail either way, so you might as well talk to us now while you have the chance."
"Eh, so I roughed up your fox friend," Fangway shrugged, "that ain't gonna get much."
"Ooh, no, sorry about that," Nick said soothingly, "you're gonna be going away for murder."
"That's right!" Judy said. "By the way, those are some lovely little slashes on your arms you're sporting. Look pretty deep. Maybe infected? You should get that checked out." Fangway growled in annoyance.
"What can I say? Police brutality, eh?"
"You and I both know you didn't get those from him," Judy nodded her head in Nick's direction. "You got them from that tiger you murdered. Jason Snarlane! We have your DNA, buddy. You're going down."
"Then what's the point of this?" Fangway said, struggling against his restraints. "Why do you want me to tell you if I did it?"
"Probably personal satisfaction, on her part," Nick pretended to muse, "that bunny's kind of a psycho, you know?"
"If you don't tell me why you killed that tiger," Judy smirked dangerously, "I'll make sure everyone on your cell block knows that a little, itty bitty bunny took you down." Fangway processed Judy's slightly deranged look, his eyes shooting over to Nick.
"She'll do it, man," Nick shrugged standoffishly, "I can't imagine that'd make you too many friends. A laughingstock, maybe."
"Okay, fine," Fangway groaned. "It was about money. Jason and me, we had an arrangement. I would help get him illegal car parts so he could modify cars for street races, and then I'd sell 'em. We'd split the money. But lately, he had started getting into gambling at Sahara Square. Buying lioness escorts and the like. He changed our profit margins, and then I found out he somehow got into my one of my own accounts and drained the money I was going to use to buy our next stockpile of items."
"So you killed him," Nick said.
"After I robbed his place of what he owed me. I wasn't gonna, but I saw that smug tiger sitting there in his chair without a care in the world and I knew I had to pay him back for making me look like an idiot in front of my contacts at the last shipyard I worked at. I didn't have the money to pay, because that lug had drained it all to pay for his gambling addiction! I had to change my name, again, to get a hit off me."
"Well, that's a pretty good story," Judy stood up, stretching. "We'll see how a judge likes it." Fangway snarled at her, but she didn't even flinch this time. She left the room, with Nick lagging behind.
"Hey," Fangway called to Nick, "no disrespect... one canine to another, it was a tense situation there. But she isn't really gonna tell 'em she took me down, is she?"
Nick just shrugged the most devil-may-care expression he could muster.
Bogo had a smug smile on his face as the two came out of the room. "Well that was entertaining, and moderately well-done for a couple of interrogation rookies."
"Yes!" Judy pumped her fist, then cheerfully offered it to Nick, who bumped it with his own. "That was kind of invigorating!"
"Well, they won't all be like that," Bogo warned. "You two kits take some time off now, you deserve it."
-Nick and Judy's Aardvark Rise Apartment 10:47 PM-
Nick sat alone in his bedroom, atop his bed. He couldn't sleep. He kept reflecting on the action that had happened at the shipyard, and his mistake that nearly cost him his life. Judy's quick thinking had been there for him when he needed it most. He felt emotions welling up in his chest and gave a shaky sigh. He was glad he had the next day off. His ear perked and he turned to his door as he heard it very quietly open, and a bunny's head peek through.
"Hey Nick," Judy smiled gently, "I had a feeling you'd still be up." She came over and sat next to him on the bed, with no objection from Nick. He didn't look at her immediately. "Do you wanna talk at all?"
"I screwed up, Judy," Nick admitted, "I should never have broken away from you. I thought maybe I could cover more ground by going after him a different way. I caught his scent, but I should have known that a wolf's scent is better than a fox's. He was in the entrance of a shipping crate, ready to ambush me."
"It's okay, Nick," Judy said, putting her paw on his leg. "We got him. That's why we're great partners. Whenever one of us falters, the other is there to pick up the slack. You've been there for me many times."
"Yeah, but a mistake this big," Nick said, his voice shuddering, "I could have died. I could have left this mortal coil, and not only would it have deprived the world of a dashing fox, I... I don't know if I could have lived with myself, even in the afterlife, knowing I'd put you through that pain, and it being my fault..." Despite his best efforts to prevent himself, Judy saw hot tears welling in his eyes and leaking out. Judy just gave a small smile, rubbing his leg gently. "Foxes, so emotional, huh...?"
"A bit," Judy teased. "All we can do is learn from our mistakes, Nick. I have, you have. We'll just be more careful next time. We got lucky; we seem to get lucky all the time. But with that luck we're learning valuable lessons, too. Someday we'll have to apply everything we know. We'll be the best cops out there." Nick stopped crying, giving a sigh.
"Thanks, Judy," he said, "I feel a little better now. See you in the morning."
"I'm sure you will," Judy said quietly, "but I'm not going anywhere tonight. My partner still needs me." She started crawling under Nick's bed covers.
"Y-you sure, Carrots?" Nick blinked. Judy pat the space next to her.
"Just think of me as a slightly large, breathing teddy bear," Judy smiled, "maybe I can help you get to sleep."
"Or, I could be self-conscious about crushing you during my sleep and not sleep a wink," Nick said.
"One way to find out!" Judy chirped. "Either way we win, huh? We have the day off tomorrow. We should go somewhere nice to eat."
Judy's relaxed attitude finally started to remove his tensions, and he slid into bed next to her. Predictably, she glomped onto him right away, snuggling into his fur. Nick concentrated on her warmth and soft breaths, but not for long, as he indeed drifted off to sleep in short order, where he remained for the rest of the night.
-Aardvark Rise Apartments Rooftop, 11:40 PM, New Year's Eve-
"Well, we made it another year together!" Judy said jubilantly, sipping from a glass of champagne. She looked charming to Nick in a simple white dress, and he had on a suit and tie, of course. "The ZPD New Year's Eve Party was pretty nice."
"Yet we still cut away from it before midnight, huh?" Nick smirked at her, having his own sip. The two were alone on the roof as fireworks burst seemingly all around them from various other parties.
"I just wanted some time alone with my partner," Judy giggled. "We're the coolest cops in the ZPD after all. This whole party should have been for us!"
"Hm, was it a good thing I drove home for once, Carrots?" Nick chuckled. "You seem a little buzzed." Judy scoffed.
"Maybe only a tiny bit." She cozied up to his side, taking his free hand in hers. Nick didn't know why, but every time she made physical contact with him, he felt a little bit anxious. Was it fear he felt, or a bit of excitement? Whatever it was, he was growing to enjoy it.
"Maybe we shouldn't get too mushy right now," Nick warned, but didn't let go of her hand, "you know, we might say something that we regret after the champagne wears off."
"Aw," Judy chuckled, "like what? Where would you draw the line?"
"Oh I don't know, something like," Nick started, then he started to speak rapidly and matter-of-factly, "I love you, Judy Hopps, I'm so thankful every day that you're in my life, aaaand I hope to God I don't have to face any of the rest of the years of my life without you." Judy's face lit up. It felt extremely hot and she knew it wasn't just from the champagne. She tried to regain her composure and close her amazed, beaming mouth.
"Oh, you think that would be going too far, huh?" She joked.
"Maybe just a little," Nick nodded.
"Well then, Nicholas Wilde," Judy began, and Nick gulped, "I look forward to many more adventurous years with you as my partner. I'm not going anywhere, and I know you won't either. We're the perfect partners." Nick sighed, but he didn't know if he was relieved or disappointed that she kept herself from getting all gooey on him. He was shattered from those thoughts, though, when Judy leaned up and tenderly kissed his cheek. Oh right, he thought. She was more of a physical person.
"To us?" Judy offered her glass. Nick nodded, gently clinking it.
"To us."
As the clock struck twelve, they enjoyed the numerous colorful fireworks exploding around them.
"Happy New Year, my dumb fox."
"Always with you, my dumb bunny."