(A/N) There is a very spicy scene at the end of this chapter so if you do not want to read that kind of thing feel free to skip over it.
Loves Bond
Chapter 12 - Kissing Game
A red fox in a dark blue, police uniform walked down the shoulder that marked the edge of the freeway. His pace was firm and steady despite the cool, autumn wind that ruffled his fur and tugged at his tie. In his paw, he carried a small clipboard and a few sheets of paper fluttered in the breeze. The long, brush-like tail did not wag or sway as he plodded through the loose gravel that had accumulated on the side of the road. He held his chin up and kept his jaw firmly shut as he walked back to his cruiser.
The black and white police car marked with the number Z-240, was parked on the side of the raised freeway that ran through the center of Zootopia. Red and blue lights flashed from the car's roof and under the grill, warning other drivers to steer clear of the vehicle. The car had recently been released from the garage with a fresh coat of paint after the hood and front window had been replaced, and now she shone like new.
From the driver's seat, Judy watched her partner calmly stroll alongside their vehicle and brush his paw across the shiny, new hood. She could still see a tiredness in his eyes that had remained there all morning. It had only been their third ticket this hour, but the rabbit could tell that Nick was still dragging his tail in the dirt.
Glancing at the fox when the passenger side door opened, she saw how tired he really was. Her eyes followed his strong body as he flopped into the bucket seat with a loud sigh before stuffing the latest citation into an accordion-style filing folder. He rubbed his paws over his muzzle and leaned back into the chair without touching his cell phone causing the bunny officer to frown in concern.
Judy reached over and hit the switch to cancel the car's flashing lights as she watched the turbo charged station wagon in front of them carefully pull back into traffic. This new model had an oversized engine block and handled like a sports car, but it had a covered back end similar in length to a pickup truck. Due to the company's marketing, the wagon was popular among sports enthusiasts like surfers and overnight campers, thus a lot of speedy teens were also taking it out for a spin.
She turned her head towards her partner after the other car had vanished over the next dip in the road, "The hour is almost up, Slick. How about we check out that Dutch Bear's coffee shack I can see off the next exit."
"Sounds good to me, Carrots," the tired fox uttered as he put his chin in his paw and looked out the window.
The rabbit gently tapped the fox in the shoulder, "Come on, Slick. Why are you so glum today?"
A mumble could be heard from the red-furred mammal across the seat. The fox stared out the window at the concrete barrier that guarded the edge of the raised freeway. Not once did he turn and acknowledge the rabbit next to him.
"What is wrong with you today?" She grabbed his shoulder and gave it a gentle shake. "I thought you were just tired when you crawled into the Bullpen this morning, but that was three hours ago. So what is wrong?"
"Oh, it is nothing, Carrots," the fox leaned back in his chair and looked over at his concerned partner. He let out a deep sigh and began to push her paw away. Instead, he grabbed the small, fluffy, gray appendage with both of his black paws and squeezed it gently, "I have just been thinking about everything my mother said last night."
She nodded at the fox as she put the vehicle into gear and eased it gently forward, waiting for an opportunity to jump back into traffic.
"Please give me some time to work things out on my own," he said as he placed his lips gently on the back of her paw. "I promise, your fox will return soon. I just, just need ..." He left the sentence hanging in the air as he released her paw and returned to his internal brooding.
"Ok, sweetheart," Judy replied cheerfully with a very fox-like smirk. "Just don't take too long, alright?" She pointed down the next exit ramp, "I will buy the coffee this time so you can focus on those ever so important thoughts." Winking at her melancholy fox, she flipped a lever on the steering column to signal her move back into the flow of traffic.
Before Judy was able to move the cruiser back onto the freeway, the radio chirped to life, "10-54 reported on highway 4, westbound between exits 153 and 152B." Clawhauser's voice could be heard clearly over the radio. It seemed that the device had also received an upgrade while the car was in the shop. "I repeat, a 10-54 between exits 153 and 152B with a 10-52 en route."
A sharp crack could be heard as a small, gray fist crashed into the fox's dark blue uniform. "Ouch. What was that for?" The fox cried rubbing his sore shoulder.
"It's go time, Slick!" Judy called across the car as she gunned the engine leaping into traffic. She picked up the mic with a free paw and slammed down on the talk button, "Dispatch, this is unit 240 en route to the 10-54 we are currently at exit 156, two minutes out."
"Rodger 240, 157 is already on scene," the cheetah replied.
When Judy arrived at the scene of the accident, the freeway traffic had already slowed and cars were carefully moving around the debris. She pulled up and parked sideways across two lanes well ahead of the crash to further divert the traffic. Before her car was in park, the fox was flying through his door and rushing towards a brown minivan. On the opposite side of the freeway, the rabbit could make out Wolfard and Fangmeyer tending to a small, powder blue hybrid that was facing the wrong way to the flow of traffic.
"Ma'am, ma'am," Nick was calling to the driver of the minivan as Judy approached the crashed vehicle. The driver was an adult antelope in her early thirties, she had a large gash on her forehead and seemed to be unconscious. A huge gaping hole took the place of where the front driver's side fender had been and long scrapes and scratches ran down the entire length of the van. Broken glass was everywhere and Judy could see debris extending for more than a kilometer back along the freeway.
Inside the van, she could hear small voices and she rushed to the other side of the car where she found the sliding door was partially open. On the right side of the vehicle, the rabbit officer could see large scrapes covering the exterior of the van and matching marks along the short, cement barrier.
Her jaw dropped when she saw the passenger side sliding door. Along with the severe scrapes along its length, a huge hole had been punched into the door about the size of a rhino's horn. Aside from the hole, the sliding door had literally been ripped or pried open. The metal had even been peeled back in some places.
The rabbit had to climb over the barrier to reach the opening in the side of the minivan. As she approached the open door, two, young, antelope bucks were yelling at her at the same time and she could not understand what either one was saying. She raised a paw, "Please, one at a time. Are you both ok?"
A buck who seemed to be about eleven or twelve spoke first, "Yes we are fine, but our mom is hurt." He pointed at the older doe in the driver's seat.
"It's ok, Officer Wilde is seeing to her right now," Judy tried to calm the frantic young bucks. "Are you able to remove those seatbelts and climb out of the van?"
The younger buck quickly unbuckled his belt and tried to climb over his older brother.
"Wait!" Judy cried with both her paws held in front of her, "One at a time please." She pointed at the older boy, "What is your name, young mammal?"
"Fred," He said solemnly.
"Ok, Fred. Are you able to free yourself and climb over to me?"
Fred struggled with his belt, but with the assistance of his younger brother, he was able to remove the strap. He climbed through the opening that was barely wide enough for him to pass and then over the highway divider to where Judy was standing.
Looking back inside the van, Judy spoke to the younger buck, "Ok what is your name?"
"Chad," the smaller antelope said.
Judy motioned with her paws, "It's your turn now. Please come here to me."
After she had both boys safely outside the ruined vehicle, she walked them around and behind it to a safe spot a few meters away. Standing on the tips of her toes, she looked them both over carefully, "Are either of you hurt, or feel any pain?" They both shook their heads indicating that they were fine. "Ok. When the paramedics get here, one of them will give you a closer examination to make sure that everything is alright. But for now please wait here with me."
Two other cruisers had arrived on the scene and the larger officers were directing traffic around the accident. Her partner had managed to rouse the driver who was still responding sluggishly. Across the street, Wolfard and Fangmeyer were clearly dealing with an irate weasel whose rear fender had been hit, causing him to spin out of control.
Nick, with the help of Officer Brownston, had managed to pry the driver's door open, but the antelope remained seated waiting for the paramedics to arrive. The fox continued to speak with the barely lucid mammal, but she was in a great deal of shock and could remember little of what had happened.
"Where is Joey," Chad asked, taking a hold of Judy's paw. His hoof shook uncontrollably while he held the smaller paw, and it felt cold and clammy to the touch.
Blinking in surprise, Judy looked up at the young buck, "Wait, what? Was there another passenger in the van?"
Nodding, Fred replied, "Our brother, Joseph." He then reached out to swat at the younger antelope, "What is wrong with you, Chad. I told you already. Iron Mammal rescued him." Fred also seemed to vibrate from the knees up and could not stand still while he spoke.
"Oh, that's right," Chad said, dropping his muzzle sadly, but he continued to squeeze the rabbit's small paw.
Judy shook her head trying to remove her puzzlement, "Iron Mammal? Wha-what ironmammal? What happened?" She looked up at the adolescent antelope and demanded in her authoritative voice, "Can you tell me exactly what you saw?" Reaching into her utility belt, she clicked on the carrot pen's recorder. "Please start from the beginning."
The older buck began to talk as fast as possible, "After the crash, this big golden robot swooped out of the sky! He ripped open the door like this." The buck made big swiping motions with his arms as he made a loud tearing sound. "Then he reached out his hooves to Joey and said, 'Come with me if you want to live.'"
"He did not," the younger brother said with a slight giggle as he shoved his taller brother.
About this time, Nick strolled over to where Judy and the two young bucks were standing. He stood listening to the story with interest.
"Ok, without the sound effects and drama, can you describe everything that happened?" Judy glared at the older buck. Turning to the younger one who was still clutching her paw she asked, "Where was your mother going, and who hit your car?"
Chad gulped and looked up at his older brother, "Mom was driving us home. We had just left the clinic where Joey gets his checkups. I really hate that place. It's all stuffy and no one there is very nice."
The rabbit squeezed the young one's hoof, "So you were coming home from the clinic? How did your car end up smashed into the side of the road?"
"It was the evil Dr. Ligerin and his fearless army of drones," Fred declared, pretending to snarl and bare a set of long claws. He also made a few fighting moves that were more flashy than effective.
Judy shook her head and looked back at Chad who was smiling at his brother's finesse, "What did you see Chad?"
"Um, I saw a big white truck. It was shaped like a box and reminded me of the grocery store fridg-ratoes, refige-o-mates." He stumbled over the big words but finally said, "where they keep the cold food like ice cream and pizza."
"Refrigerator truck," Nick finally spoke up.
"Ok," Judy asked. "Then what did the big truck do?"
"They-they," Chad tried to speak, but a lump caught in his throat until a small, gray paw squeezed his hoof. "They hit our car, causing mom to swerve out of the way, but they just kept hitting the van until mom went off the road." The young buck clenched his hoof and grew angry, "They wouldn't stop hitting us until we stopped moving, there was so much noise, and mommy was screaming."
Chad took a moment to catch his breath while the other three mammals looked on, "When they finally left, they hit that blue car over there making it go off the road too." He pointed between the slow-moving traffic at the powder blue compact car.
Judy, looked back and forth between Chad and her partner who shrugged in return, "So this cooler truck drove your mom off the road? Why?" The rabbit shook her head again, "Nevermind that, Chad. What happened to your brother?"
"After we stopped moving, I could still hear a lot of screeching tires like you do on TV, and mom was quiet. I yelled for her but she wouldn't speak. I thought she might be sleeping. Then I heard a loud bang next to Fred. Someone was yelling for him to open the door, but it was stuck and wouldn't move. There was more screeching and scraping and the door slowly opened."
Having returned from a quick inspection of the right side of the car, Nick spoke up, "Someone used a very strong tool to pry open that door."
The rabbit grabbed both of Chad's paws and she looked directly into his eyes, "What did you see, who opened that door?"
"Iron Mammal," Fred yelled has he bounced around in excitement as his brother nodded with a sad sniffle.
"It was some kind of robot th-that talked like a mammal. I don't remember what he said, but when he held out his hoof Joey went with him." Wiping his nose with the back of his still shakey hoof, Chad continued, "I wish I could see Iron Mammal's secret lair."
As Chad was finishing his story, the paramedics were walking over to the group. They had finished loading the injured driver into the back of the ambulance and were coming to check on the two, smaller passengers.
Nick walked around to the right side of the minivan and looked over the edge of the divider. When Judy arrived at his side, he pointed to the ground, "Do you recognize those prints?"
The rabbit climbed over the short wall and knelt down in the dirt. At the exact spot where the car had slid to a stop against the heavy cement railing, a long hill sloped down from the freeway and ended in a three-way intersection. In the loose dirt behind the wall, she saw a series of large hoofprints that ran up the hill then back down again.
Something tickled the back of the rabbit's brain. She was certain that she had seen these prints somewhere before. Flashes of red and blue in the middle of the night and a red stain on a thick carpet in exactly the same shape. The fleeting images vanished like smoke as soon as they had appeared, but something dark and sinister lingered in the far corners of her memory.
Standing up, Judy's gaze followed the tracks down the hill, where they were joined by a set of fresh, black marks on the pavement.
"Is that a traffic camera down there?" Nick asked, pointing to an overhead traffic light that crossed through the middle of the intersection.
"Good eye, Slick," Judy cried as she jumped into the air and punched her partner in the shoulder.
"The father is here," Officer Brownston called to the ZPD's smallest cops and they both turned to look at the brown bear.
"Where is my wife?" A deep, gruff voice demanded in a foriegn accent.
"She had a serious concussion, Mr. Idube, along with some nerve damage in her hooves," one of the medics was explaining to a tall zebra in a pale-orange business shirt. He also wore a yellow, checkered tie with red and black suspenders. "Your wife has been sent to Zootopia General."
"Is it life threatening?" The large mammal asked as his tone changed to concern.
Nodding sadly, the medic tried to calm the zebra, "It can be Mr. Idube, if not treated properly, which is why she was sent to the ER."
"Papa," Chad cried as he ran over to his father and wrapped his arms around the gruff-looking zebra. Fred on the other hoof, followed his brother but did not embrace the large mammal. He stood to the side with his arms folded over his chest and tried to look angry, but the relief was apparent on his muzzle.
Mr. Idube patted Chad gently on the head while he looked questioningly at Fred. His smile changed quickly to anger and he yelled to anyone nearby, "Where is my son!"
Judy ran to the zebra's side with her carrot pen and yellow notepad at the ready. A red fox was only half a step behind her.
"We think your son was taken, Sir," Nick started to say but the zebra bellowed again.
"What happened to my little Joey?"
"Sir," the fox held up a finger to try and silence the irate equine. "We believe your son was foalnapped."
"Foalnapped!" Mr. Idube yelled again.
Unperturbed by the large and very loud, ungulate, the fox continued, "Have you or your family received any threats or ransom demands. Do you have any enemies or know why anyone would want to take your son?"
"N-no none of that," the zebra stammered. He rubbed his chin in confusion before he shrugged. "I am just a middle manager for one of Zoopharma's accounting offices downtown. We're a small branch that handles minor accounts, I don't know anyone who would want to hurt me or my family. Not even those two jerks from the 7th floor."
"What jerks would those be?" Judy queried while scratching on her pad.
"Just these two self-important programmers who blamed me for taking their stapler," he declared flatly. Then under his breath, he mumbled, "They still haven't finished those TPS reports."
"Ok, Mr. Idube, was it?" The rabbit asked the much larger mammal. "We are looking into the disappearance of your son." She pawed him a card, "If you hear anything or have any more information that could help us locate Joey, please don't hesitate to call."
Driving back to the office after the accident was cleaned up and the freeway traffic was allowed to flow normally, Nick took a sip of his fresh cup of Dutch Bear's coffee. He sighed in contentment before turning to his partner, "I don't think this was an accident."
"Ya think," was the rabbit's snide response.
"I mean, did you see the scrapes on the side of that van?" He took another small sip of the boiling hot liquid.
"Yep," the rabbit nodded.
"And the marks along the cement wall stretch for almost a half of a kilometer," the fox waved at the tall, stone freeway divider out his window.
"It is all very strange," Officer Hopps replied while she turned onto the next off-ramp.
Nick gently lifted the plastic lid from his steaming hot cup, "This doesn't seem like a simple case of road rage either." He took a short gulp of the burning, black liquid and winced as it scorched his long tongue.
"I think you're right," Judy pulled the car to a stop and waited for the light at the bottom of the ramp to change.
"Did you hear me, Carrots?" The fox put the lid back on his cup and slowly sipped through the hole in the top. "I think someone deliberately ran Mrs. Idube and her van off the road."
"I know, Nick," the rabbit snapped at her partner as the traffic light turned green.
"Sheesh," Nick scoffed. "You don't have to get so upset, Fluff." He swirled the cup around in his paw's trying to mix up the cream and sugar that may have sunk to the bottom while the rabbit rolled her eyes.
Two cups of coffee sat silently on top of the vinyl-coated desk. One cup was small and had a bent straw hanging over the edge while dried flecks of brown foam clung to the rim. The second one was nearly twice as tall as the first with a plastic lid gently resting at a jaunty angle on top. The coffee had long since gone cold, but the two mammals behind the desk did not seem to care.
Beside the two cups, were a pair of crumpled balls of yellow paper and a clear plastic box. Printed on the side of one of the balls were black letters that almost made out the word 'McBuggers.' At the bottom of the clear box, was a small pool of tan liquid with crumbled bits of herbs suspended within. An onion string was wrapped around the prongs of a cheap plastic fork which was stabbed halfway through a small lettuce leaf and left alone in the nearly empty box.
Peels of laughter coming from behind the desk made it quite clear that its occupants cared little for the cold cups of coffee or the abandoned fast-food wrappers. They were too focused on the bright computer screen in front of them, and with pawing at each other to worry about the other items cluttering up the desk. The stapler, the desk phone, and the rabbit's family portrait however did care that their neat and clean desk was quickly becoming a hotbed for greasy, fast food and other trash.
Outside, the sun had set more than an hour past, but Nick and Judy were still pouring over lengthy footage from traffic cameras near the scene of the accident. The more sensible officers around the precinct had long since gone home, but the ZPD's smallest cops were determined to spot a glimpse of the foalnapper or nappers. Across the room, a single, brown bear, named Officer Yonar, was still speaking to someone over his desk phone, but no one else was left in the office.
"I think I found it!" Nick finally cried while the rabbit next to him snickered with a paw over her muzzle.
"It is about time, Slick," Judy poked the fox twice in the ribs, causing him to giggle and brush her paws away.
For once, in the entire precinct built for large mammals, were the fox and rabbit able to enjoy their own chairs without having to sit in each other's lap all the time. They had managed to requisition two, separate, swivel chairs that were designed for their species. The rabbit could actually lean back in her chair and spin around without feeling like a child, while the fox didn't have to worry about getting his tail caught in the spring mechanism every time he adjusted the chair's height.
Judy slid her chair closer to her partner and wrapped her paws around his longer arms. She pressed her hind paw against his heel and began to rub it gently while casually looking over his shoulder at the computer screen. A stray fox tail swished happily and the tip brushed against her thigh, causing the rabbit to giggle in delight as the long, black bristles tickled her fur.
The fox pointed to the screen where the image of one of Zootopia's many intersections could be seen. This three-way intersection was built next to a freeway overpass and, on the far side, a small, dirt hill led up to the freeway itself. "I think this is the right intersection. As I mentioned before, a lot of these small streets are not labeled correctly in the database."
"I think we're just lucky finding anything at all in that mess, Slick," she rubbed a paw against the tod's arm making the fur stand up before letting it slowly fall back into place.
"Let me see if I can find the right time this morning," Nick said while clicking a few buttons on the keyboard. The scene showed several vehicles driving backwards through the intersection at a high rate of speed while the shadows turned like the second hand on an old-fashioned watch. When the sky began to darken, he hit another button and the video returned to normal speed.
"Too far, Nick," the rabbit squealed and pinched the fox's arm. "It was right before nine o'clock."
Nick pressed some more buttons, and the video began to skip ahead several minutes at a time until a large, white, boxy truck came into view. Nick rewound the video a few seconds and then let it play.
Again, the white truck appeared on the left side of the screen and slowly slid over the bridge. Smashed between the truck and the wall, was the Idube's minivan. Sparks flew as the van scraped across the wall before it stopped directly in the center of the little hill. The white truck kept going until it stopped near the right side of the screen.
For several seconds, the white truck sat there before it began to back up and then jumped forward again when the clumsy driver shifted into drive. Before it disappeared off the edge of the screen, it lurched hard to one side as if it had hit something, but it continued to speed up and quickly vanished to the right.
Nick and Judy replayed the accident a few times before she pointed out something in the foreground. At the bottom of the hill, right before the truck began to back up, a dark-colored Tusker SUV pulled up to the curb almost directly below the freeway. It was not a normal stopping spot and dangerous to pull over in the middle of an intersection, so the truck clearly did not belong there.
"Oh my cabbages!" Judy cried with her paws over her muzzle. "It is Iron Mammal."
A shiny, robot-looking mammal jumped out of the vehicle and easily sprinted up the hill like they were casually walking up a set of stairs. When they reached the top of the hill, Judy asked the fox to zoom in a bit on the minivan. For a few seconds, the robot seemed to be trying to open the van's side door before it punched a large hole in the middle of the panel. Then it almost seemed to peel the door open wide enough for it to stick an arm inside.
"Is that Wolfard and Fangmeyer?" Judy asked when a bar of flashing lights flew past above the van.
"Could be," Nick replied, planting a soft peck on the side of the rabbit's head.
"Hey, that is not an antelope foal," the rabbit declared pointing at the small mammal being carried down the hill by the robot. In the black and white camera, the foal's fur was covered in dark and light stripes that reminded Judy of the zebra they had met at the crash scene.
In the video, the foal clearly sneezed or coughed and Nick gasped, "I have seen that mammal before. It was on a routine stop, and there was a sick buck in the backseat who was coughing and sneezing the whole time. I remember the incident because he looked like he was half antelope and half zebra. When I mentioned him to you, you thought he might have been a kudo, but now, having seen the father, I am certain that young buck was definitely a hybrid."
"Nick, you're a genius!" Judy slammed her fist into the fox's shoulder before she kissed his muzzle. "I think you just found our motive."
"What?" the red fox asked, rubbing his sore shoulder and wiping the rabbit slobber from his lips. "Do you think our robot here stole the foal because he is a hybrid?"
"Are hybrids valuable on the black market?" The rabbit asked, then her eyes widened and her ears flew forward smacking the fox across his muzzle. "Is he selling them to those mammal traffickers? We should follow that truck."
The fox's muzzle drooped and his ears fell flat against his head, "I am sorry, Carrots, but with the state these video archives are in right now, it could take us days to find the next traffic camera let alone follow that vehicle."
"Right," the rabbit said firmly. "Then let's zoom in and see if we can get the license plate number." She reached across the fox's arms and pressed a few keys, causing the image to zoom in and focus on the back of the SUV. Squinting, she leaned closer to the screen, "Is that a 'J' and an 'R' followed by a '3'? The rest is hard to make out, maybe an 'H' or a 'K' and that is definitely an 'L' but I can't make out the last letter."
"Don't bother, Carrots," Nick groaned. "I should have recognized that vehicle when I first saw it."
"Why?" The rabbit asked.
"Because I got the unique opportunity to ride halfway across town tied up in the back." The fox reached over and grabbed the shorter of the two coffee cups, removed the bent straw, and downed the contents in one gulp. He grimaced at the cold and bitter concoction. "That SUV belongs to our lovely Dr. William Walia. The plate number is 'JR3KL1.'"
Judy slowly untangled herself from her alluring fox and scooted in front of the computer. She typed in the plate number and began the auto search before reaching for the taller of the two coffee cups, "This should take a while, probably all night. So we might as well head home and get some rest." Before the rim of the cold cup hit her lips the computer beeped, 'Vehicle Found.'"
With a gasp, the rabbit sat back up and set the cold coffee aside," That was quick. I wonder what it found?"
"It's in the impound, or at least it was there this morning," the fox pointed out.
"You mean like our impound. The one that is only a few blocks from here?"
"Yes," Nick nodded. "That is what the computer says, right there." He pointed to the screen with the police impound address printed plainly in bold type.
"And don't we have full access to their systems from here?" Judy was on a roll now. She shoved aside the fox and began typing furiously. In a few moments, she had complete access to the impound's records and security systems.
"Nothing here says that anyone has come to claim the vehicle," the rabbit said, squinting at the screen.
"Didn't our good doctor have a wife or family?" The fox asked, his voice thick with sarcasm.
"I really don't remember," Judy said before pointing to a small section of the screen. "But here, this afternoon's camera recording shows the SUV was no longer on the lot. Someone must have picked it up, but there is no record of a release form."
"Well let's take a closer look, Sweetheart," the fox took the opportunity to nuzzle the giggly rabbit as he traded places with her at the computer. In turn, she nipped his muzzle, "Oh darling, where have you been all my life?"
From across the room, Officer Yonar bellowed, "Will you two just get a room already?"
Judy snickered and whispered in the fox's fluffy, triangular ear, "But we already have a room."
Nick placed a paw on Judy's knee and replied, "And it is a very nice room at that, don't you think Carrots?" This caused the rabbit to snort and snicker even harder as she leaned into Nick's side to cover the noise.
Rewinding the footage to earlier this morning, Nick found the time when Dr. Walia's SUV left the impound, then he rewound it even further. Right after the impound lot opened in the morning, a strange mammal approached the gate.
The ZPD impound lot was surrounded by a double high, cinder block wall, with a chain-link fence mounted on top of that. A single gate guarded the only entrance to the lot with a corrugated metal fence blocking the way. Adjacent to the gate, was a large, metal shack with a single door inside the open gate. Inside the shack, a uniformed guard sat behind a long counter.
Beyond the walls of the lightly guarded compound, were numerous vehicles of all sizes. Medium and large vehicles were held along one wall near the entrance, while small mammal cars were kept in a separate stockade near the back. Tiny vehicles were stored inside a glass cage behind the guard's main shed, where medium-sized mammals could not simply reach inside and carry them off.
Some of the vehicles that had been lined up in the lot were pristine and looked to be in good condition, while others were nearly destroyed. As the exterior camera panned, Judy spotted one black limo that had been covered in a barrage of tiny holes. On a second pass of the camera, she spotted a heavily damaged ice cream truck with scorch marks on one side.
A tall, female ibex entered the shack and walked towards the counter. The black and white security cameras were unable to identify the exact color of the long coat but the two small officers watching the video guessed that it was white. One of her very long, crescent-shaped horns was broken near the base leaving only a jagged stub and her hind hooves glinted in the early morning light.
"Mrs. Walia I presume?" Nick asked no one in particular.
The ibex strutted up to the counter like a supermodel taking a little turn on the catwalk and her short, black tail swished attractively with each step. Once the goat was standing at the counter, Judy switched the camera to the internal view where she and Nick could watch the nanny converse with the guard. They were unable to make out her words or those of the cougar guarding the counter, but after a minute or two, she pulled a large stack of bills out of her coat pocket and placed them on top of the counter. The ibex then began to fondle the stack seductively with her paws.
Judy reached across the fox and paused the video, "Since when do ibex have paws?"
"Maybe they were gloves to keep her hooves warm?" Nick shrugged snidely, pressing the play button again, but the rabbit glared back at him with a dubious expression.
The camera was pointed over the shoulder of the cougar so they weren't able to see his muzzle, but the video clearly showed him shaking his head and stepping away as soon as the money hit the table. He also waved his paws in front of him and then pointed towards the main exit.
Not discouraged by the guard's refusal of her bribe, the ibex simply pursed her lips and blew him a kiss. She spoke a few more words before winking at the guard and began to slowly unbutton her lab coat to reveal the bare fur underneath.
Before the buttons had gone far enough to expose the mammal's very large and naked breasts for all the world to see, Judy placed a paw firmly over both of the fox's eyes. What Judy saw, but the fox did not, was that the ibex had a very unique fur pattern on her chest. Even with the black and white camera, the goat's naked chest resembled a colorful rainbow arching between her ample breasts.
"Hey," Nick cried, trying to brush the small, gray paw aside, but the paw's small size belied its strength and they held firm. "What are you doing?"
"I should ask you the same thing," the rabbit said coldly.
Blindly placing a paw over his heart, the fox replied in a dignified manner, "I am investigating, like a good cop." He turned to smirk at his partner, "Unlike some little bunny who wants to play peek-a-boo instead."
Grinning up at her fox, Judy's hungry look returned and she slowly loosened his tie, "Well, Slick. I do have a pair of something that you can investigate all you want back in that room you mentioned earlier." She leaned in closer and whispered, "Privately."
Before the rabbit leaned away from her fox she tightened the tie around his neck almost causing him to choke, "But for now let's just focus on the task at paw, shall we?"
When they returned to the screen, the topless ibex was gone along with the guard, but the large stack of cash remained on the counter. Backing up the footage, Judy zoomed the camera out so that her partner could not get an eyeful of bare fur. They watched the ibex walk behind the counter where she took the cougar's paw and led him into the back room.
Nearly thirty minutes later, she returned to the front juggling a set of keys as she snatched up the money on her way out, but everything about this mammal seemed wrong. When she walked through the lot towards the SUV, her provocative strut was gone and had been replaced but an odd kind of limp, she even stumbled a few times like she was drunk. Her head seemed wrong and her horns were tilted at an odd angle. But, what made both officers gasp, was that she now had two tails. The first tail was the short, black, whisk-like brush that she arrived with. A second tail, seemed to have grown below the first and was much longer and bushier, like those found on many canids. This new tail appeared to compose of a mix of dark and light fur while it was quite obviously tipped in a pure white.
Nick and Judy were so busy sharing shocked stares, that they never saw the not-quite-goat climb into the darkly colored SUV and drive it off the lot.
A soft giggle broke the silence in the quiet apartment. The single lamp hanging over the dining table was the only source of light in the open plan living area, shrouding the rest of the large room in soft, relaxing shadows. An 'L' shaped kitchen with a sink full of dishes waiting to be washed, was illuminated by the lamp, but the rest of the apartment was cloaked in a cozy gloom.
Far from the soft light, a comfortable couch sat against one wall, with a closed window to its left. Thick curtains covered the window and would have completely blocked out even the brightest sunlight. Sitting next to the couch, was a tall floor lamp with a simple, round shade that would fill the room with a soft, warm glow, but its light had been recently extinguished.
In front of the plush couch, sat a small coffee table made from darkly-stained wood and strong glass. The table was not at all fancy, but sturdy and had held up to hot food, heavy books, and hind paws that needed to stretch out after a long day on the beat. It had even survived a few vicious pillow fights, one Game Day victory dance, and the tearstorm that followed the entire Our Nine Lives weekend soap opera marathon.
This evening, the dutiful coffee table was covered in small, white takeout boxes from the nearby, far eastern restaurant. As with most evenings, a brutal food fight had broken out between the diners. One gray mammal, who was supposed to be a vegetarian, kept stealing the caramel-crusted shrimp from the other's meal when he wasn't looking.
Noodles flew, and chopsticks had clashed in the air, while the combatants giggled hysterically. During the entire battle, the sturdy, squat table did not groan or protest even once. Nope, it never even complained when the furry soldiers leaned their full weight onto the thick glass and signed a truce with their puckered lips.
Against the far wall, sat a large, flat television that looked curiously like a cell phone for a large mammal. It had a sleek design with rounded corners and a silver trim. On the left side of the TV, was the nearly life-sized image of a carrot with a bite taken out of it. The screen still held a very faint glow after having been shut off only moments before.
Below the improvised television was an old automobile dashboard turned entertainment center. Under the dash, were an older, video disc player and three different game consoles, along with a cable box that had the cover removed and wires sticking out in all directions. In the dim light that filled the living room, only a blinking red light on the cable box could be seen.
Laying on the couch with her legs stretched out, was a small gray rabbit who wore a comfortable, pink shirt and a soft pair of stretchy leggings. She had her arms held behind her head where a frilly, square pillow supported her head and neck from the couch's firm armrest. Her hind paws rested in her boyfriend's lap where he rubbed her sore toes.
Softly giggling, Judy tossed the TV remote onto the coffee table where it joined the random takeout boxes and loosely scattered noodles. She had turned off the living room lights and the news broadcast after her boyfriend started rubbing her second paw. It would have been too much effort to climb off the couch and extinguish the one remaining light in the dining room. Besides, she quite enjoyed the soft, romantic mood that single light created around her.
Nick had lost his shirt earlier that evening due to an unexpected barrage of sweet and sour-covered veggie balls. Topless, he had climbed onto the couch and watched the Late Late Show and some replays of the daily news, but his bunny girlfriend had other ideas. He did not complain when she placed her large, hind paws into his lap with a cute, little bunny grunt.
Taking the bunny's sore and tired hind paws, he had rubbed them between his palms to create a warming sensation before he dug his thumbs into her soles. He had watched her close those pretty, purple eyes and let out a pleasant moan while he rubbed away all of her pent-up tension.
Now, the tod had only begun to work on her second paw when the living room lights suddenly went dark, and the TV went blank. He was not sure what his bunny was thinking as she tossed the remote onto the messy coffee table, but he was certain that she was preparing for some new bunny game. Smirking at the rabbit in the dim light, he continued to rub her large paw.
He turned his head away from the rabbit, but kept her on the edge of his vision, waiting to duck in case a pillow suddenly flew across the room. His triangular ears twitched as he listened to the rabbit's quickened breathing like she was getting ready to pounce at any second. Lifting his long snout in the air, he could smell her excitement and something else, something spicy.
The rabbit's hind paws were a unique fascination to the red fox. They were very large and fluffy, without any pads on her soles to provide traction when running. She had removed her paw straps seconds after the apartment door had closed behind her and had never looked back. He had heard that rabbit's paws could be very lucky, but he knew from personal experience that these two paws packed quite a wallop. Judy's legs were very strong and she worked to improve them every day in the gym.
Judy stretched out on the couch. She raised her arms high over her head and pushed hard with her strong legs. With a delighted groan, she could almost make out the fox's smirk as he watched her stretch. She loved when he smirked at her like that, it always gave her butterflies in her stomach, but after eating dinner, those colorful insects didn't tickle nearly so much. Leaning back, she once again placed her arms behind her head and let her boyfriend work his magic on her sore paws.
This fox was so good to her and despite the autumn chill in the air, she felt a warmth lift her heart. In the dim light, she explored his topless silhouette with her eyes. He had the shape of a predator, which was obvious with his sharply pointed ears and long, powerful jaws. She should have been afraid of him, she was afraid of him, but that fear quickened her beating heart and she reveled in it. With the warmth growing in her chest, she imagined him chasing her around the apartment and wondered what it might mean if he caught her.
Instead of the sore, aching pain that her paws had felt almost all day, they now felt warm and tingly like they were floating on puffy, white clouds. She wriggled her toes and began to rub them through the fox's lighter-colored, chest fur while he started to rub her strong calves.
He really was too good for her. She had spent many hours watching her fox and wondering how she deserved such a wonderful mammal. The fact that he loved her back was a complete mystery to the bunny, but she would not complain, she would enjoy every moment that she got to spend with her gorgeous fox. He really did deserve a reward for all his hard work today.
The rabbit leaned forward and placed a soft finger on the end of his muzzle as she stared into his eyes. For several days she had been working on a plan, a plan to strengthen their relationship and bring them closer together, and tonight she was about to execute the first steps in that plan.
Judy scooched across the couch and climbed into her fox's lap. In the dim light that covered the couch, she gave him a soft and gentle look while she ran a finger through his soft chest fur. After several slow breaths, she leaned forward and placed her lips on the end of his mouth. Only three beats of a rabbit's heart passed before she pulled away and sighed.
Nick's mind raced as he blinked at the cute rabbit sitting in his lap. He was used to her little games, like the pillow fights and cute, little punching matches that often ensued after long days of work, but this playful kissing in the dark was completely new. What was she doing? How was he supposed to keep score? Was he supposed to feel something?
He did feel something. After a second, soft, teasing kiss, the fox realized that he wanted more. With one brush of her gentle lips, this little rabbit was causing his heart to flutter and skip a beat. Many more of these tender kisses and this big, tough fox would have gone into cardiac arrest, and he wanted more, much more.
Before the rabbit could tease him further, a long tongue leapt forward and caressed her pink, heart-shaped nose. Her nose twitched happily but she didn't wipe away the wet drops he had left behind. Instead, she stuck her tiny tongue out as far as it would go and licked his nose in return. She didn't giggle as he wrinkled his nose in response but maintained the soft, yet serious gaze she fixed on his green eyes.
Both small paws now firmly caressed her fox's bare chest while the rabbit's next kiss fell to the side of his nose. The third, fourth, and fifth kisses were for each of the dimples where his whiskers protruded from his long snout. She boldly kissed her way along the crease that formed his mouth, until she had to stand up to reach the corner where mouth joined his cheek.
A large, black paw reached up and began caressing one of the rabbit's long ears. Nick enjoyed the rabbit's attentions as she kissed him along his muzzle. He was familiar with her desire to kiss his whole head but she was never this slow and delicate, it almost tickled. His heart had stopped fluttering randomly and now beat with a fierce rhythm that he could both feel and hear. The rabbit began to hum softly as he rubbed her tall and fuzzy ear.
After she was done kissing the corners of the fox's mouth, she nipped at his cheeks. Once, twice, a third time, she fiercely sunk her large blunt teeth into the fox's fluffy cheek causing the fox to make a small, high-pitched noise that could have been a whimper. She never broke the skin since there was so much fur on his cheeks that she never even came close to the soft flesh below.
Standing on the tips of her toes, she rubbed the bottom of her chin across his muzzle and over the top of his head marking him with her scent. She then began to rub her muzzle and head firmly across his cheek and under his chin trying to spread his scent across her as well.
Swiftly she pressed her lips to the side of his head before pulling off her shirt in one swift motion. She leaned towards the fox's fluffy, triangular ears and whispered seductively, "I told you we could have our own private investigation." As the last flirtatious word escaped her lips, she sunk her two buck teeth into the bottom of his large ear daringly.
This time the fox did whimper, loudly, but it was not a cry of pain. "Carrots," he breathed with a hint of gravel in his voice. "You could get into a lot of trouble biting a fox's ears like that."
"Well," Judy demanded while chewing out the words between mouthfuls of his fluffy fox ear. "Are you going to investigate or not?" She released the soft, creamy fur on his chest and grabbed his paw to raise it to her own bare chest.
Nick tried to shy away but the rabbit clung to his ear with her strong teeth, "Careful, Fluff, you are walking on very dangerous ground."
The rabbit stopped her chewing and began to vigorously lick the inside of her fox's ear, "I know what I am doing." She tried to bite his ear again but he gently pushed her away from the sensitive location.
"What if I hurt you?" The fox tried to hold back the lust that began to fill his voice. She was seriously getting to him like no one had before and he was starting to lose control.
"You won't," the rabbit stated sweetly, brushing his nose tenderly with the tip of her finger. "I trust you, Nick."
"Judy," his breath was full of desire as his heart jumped into his throat cutting off the rest of his words.
"I want this," she declared while her stretchy pants slid off her wide hips followed by the bright orange panties.
Spicy pheromones filled the air, and the fox was suddenly dizzy. The room was spinning and the rabbit was kissing him fiercely. He nipped at her ear and heard her squeal in pain. His control was slowly slipping away and he felt her soft fur brushing through his teeth. She was calling his name and he smelled fresh blood.
Snapping back suddenly, he saw Judy laying on her back beneath him with her neck arched back while she panted heavily. Her ears were fully erect and her paws were caressing his cheeks while she smiled at him in pleasure, but there was a tiny red spot on her soft white cheek.
He shook his head and tried to push away from the beautiful and seductive rabbit, but she held both his arms and refused to let him escape, "No, Judy. I already hurt you. We-we can't do this." Unable to free himself from the strong rabbit's grasp, he wiped the blood from her cheek with a tender claw.
Judy's smile was replaced by a frown, her ears dropped and the lust in her voice vanished, "Ok, Sweetheart. If you won't take me on your own, then you leave me no choice."
The fox barely had time to puzzle over her words when she shoved her paw down his pants and between his legs. After two beats of a bunny's heart, she flexed the strong muscles in her arms and the fox gave a loud yelp of pain.
She had never heard her boyfriend scream like that before, not even after taking a hard strike in the boxing ring or when he slammed his tail in the door. There was something almost lusty in that yelp that made the rabbit's heart skip several beats. She also felt an immediate reaction from her fox, a reaction that caused her nose to twitch furiously and her breathing came out in short, heavy pants.
The next thing that Nick knew, his jaws had clamped around Judy. He held her tightly between the neck and shoulders in a strong love bite. When he heard her cry his name he almost let go.
"Oh, Nick!" She cried, her voice thick and husky, "Please. Don't hold back. I want to remember this moment for the rest of our lives."
As the fox's sharp teeth sunk deeper into the skin on her chest and back, the sensation was more than she had ever dreamed. While his fangs tore into her soft flesh she also felt a tearing sensation from below. The pain only lasted for a brief moment before it was replaced by a unique pleasure.
Nick's sharp teeth slowly released her but she knew that he had already left a deep mark. She tried to give him one of her own, but his body was moving in an odd rhythm that she could not quite match and she only bumped her flat teeth against his broad shoulder.
Joining with her fox made the rabbit's insides tingle and a warm glow began to fill her body. As the glow began to grow and rise up from her belly and into her chest, she wrapped her arms around the fox and pulled him close.
The rabbit pressed her chest into the fox as he rocked steadily back and forth and occasionally nipped at her ears. She wanted to share with him this heat and warmth that was growing inside of her. Digging her claws into his bare back, she tried to pull him closer, she wanted to push herself inside of him like he was inside of her.
The glow inside her chest grew to nearly bursting and she dragged her claws down her mate's back. One more vigorous push from her strong fox and that brilliant bubble would explode in a shower of sparks and her body would become an eternal firework shooting across the night sky.
Rocking back and forth inside her, Nick was surprised at how this cute little bunny reacted to his teeth and claws. She purred and let out a soft whimper when he ran his teeth along the inside of her tall ears. Her breathing sped up whenever he nipped at her neck or under her white, fluffy jawline. It was like a wild vixen hid beneath her soft, grey fur and she vehemently begged for him to set it free as he rubbed his claws across her cheeks and down her neck.
She did not shy away from his touch, but raised her chin to expose her soft throat to him in complete and utter trust. Her show of trust and desire only aroused him beyond anything he had ever felt before. This tough little rabbit not only wanted him, but she wanted him to be himself and make love to her like a predator, like a fox.
One sharp claw scratched across her shoulder in a moment of intense pleasure and drew a small line of blood where none had been before. She did not shy away from the pain he had caused her, but seemed to revel in its sharpness and gasped seductively as his claw tore into the tender skin beneath her fur. Was she actually begging for more?
Her body was much too small to hold his entire girth, yet his instincts required him to push harder as his own pleasure rose. He tried to hold himself back from breaking her delicate body, but she accepted him with only a soft mewl. Sinking his long teeth through the black tip of her long ear, he accidentally punctured the flesh below and when she screamed her body seemed to open up and swallow him whole.
Licking her head from the tip of her nose to the end of both long ears, he suddenly felt a dull pain in his shoulder. A soft purr escaped his long muzzle as his body relished the feeling that his cute little bunny was actually trying to bite and mark him. Her large, flat teeth could not pass the thick mat of fur that covered his body to break the skin beneath, yet she held onto him like a vise clamp as his steady rhythm increased.
Once her hungry teeth released him, he leaned back onto his knees and continued to push into her. Running his claws down the front of her chest she began to pant wildly and told him, "Yes, yes, YES!" The last word came out in a loud scream as he once again saw three lines of blood form where his claws had passed.
"More," she begged loudly. "Bite me, scratch me, tear me. But please Nick, don't treat me like I am some soft and delicate doll." She lifted her head to try and bite him again but missed and ran her own claws down his bare chest instead. Even digging them in, her newly sharpened claws barely scratched the predator's tough hide. "I want all of you my pawsome fox, right now."
Nick pushed her soft, grey and white paws aside as he leaned forward again and wrapped his razor sharp teeth around her supple, exposed throat. In the dim living room light, he saw her gulp in anticipation moments before his teeth contacted her tender skin. With his tongue, he licked her fur and felt her swallow twice while panting heavily. Between his strong jaws and the way she tensed her neck muscles, he could tell that she was afraid; but how she petted and pulled at his head fur, told him that she was very aroused at the same time.
He felt a familiar sensation from below. There was a heavy tightness and an urgent need for release, but he tried to push away the feeling. With his jaw clenched tightly around her neck, he pulled her down into him and began pushing harder, and faster. As hard as he pushed, he could not fight his body's demands as the heavy tightness grew till it nearly overwhelmed him.
Just as he could not fight the intense demands any further, his body exploded into the rabbit like a river bursting over the Grand Beaver Dam. He felt like his entire being was washed away in that raging flood as it washed into the small, tight body of his beautiful bunny. Releasing her neck, he desperately tried to hold back the scream that rose in his throat while his arms buckled and he crashed across her chest, completely exhausted.
She clasped at the fox in desperation, clawing for more, but he had suddenly and violently jerked to a stop with a very unfox-like howl and fell limply across her body. His breath came in ragged gulps like he had completed a marathon and had fallen, exhausted only a finger length across the finish line.
Wrapping her arms around the naked fox, she gently rubbed his back and planted a tender kiss on his cheek. Lifting her muzzle towards his large, fuzzy ears, she began to whisper sweet nothings while the tufts of his fur tickled her nose.
For a long time, Judy looked up at the shadowy shapes that hung out on the ceiling. She felt her fox's slow breathing against her bare chest and her thoughts and feelings were filled with him like her nose was filled with his scent. She felt him pressed against her and how they were still joined together. She felt his fur against her own and how it rustled when he moved, causing her body to tingle in pleasure. She felt how his body radiated its own warm glow that seemed to match the glow inside her chest.
Judy clutched at his fur and cuddled with her fox, her friend, her mate. A bright happiness filled yet she could not fully describe how wonderful it felt to be this close to him. Holding the naked fox tightly in her arms she felt as emotionally attached to him as they were physically joined. Her hunger had been sated for now, but she realized now that this gate lay open, she would never be fully satisfied again.
The fox slowly roused from his deep slumber. He did not remember falling asleep in his bed or pulling the covers around his neck. Cuddling with Judy on the couch was the last thing he could clearly recall before the fog of dreams took over.
Reaching a paw out to the bed next to him, he felt around for his girlfriend, but she was nowhere within reach. Maybe she had gotten up for a drink of water or something.
Closing his eyes again, he tried to roll over but something moved under the sheets and held him in place. He felt a strange sensation and his eyes opened wide, as he realized what had woken him in the middle of the night.
He pulled the covers free of his body and found his beautiful rabbit sprawled across him. When she looked up at him as she wiped the back of her paw across her lips with a pleasant hum. "Hey foxy," she said, in a deep, husky voice. Crawling up his torso, she gave him a deep sensual kiss that lasted for nearly a minute.
"Hey beautiful," he said, rubbing a paw against her cheek. "What are you doing up so late?"
"Oh a little of this and a little of that," she giggled seductively as she scooted back down to straddle his waist.
"Again?" He asked the amorous rabbit.
"I hope you hadn't planned on getting any sleep tonight, Honey…" She asked with a deliberate pout on her lips while she began to wiggle back and forth.
"Wouldn't think of it, Darling," the fox declared as he closed his eyes and let the enamored rabbit have her way with him.
[A/N] Can you guess all of the movie and TV references in this chapter? Here is one hint: Our Nine Lives is from a webcomic called Breaking Cat News by Georgia Dun.
So now our favorite fox and rabbit are mates! It has been a long 5 years and 36 chapters so I hope it was worth the wait. Things could be heating up between them, but we will have to see.
(This chapter was written while watching the youtube video: Judy&Nick-Zootopia-Love me like you do) - And no I had not seen the movie until after finishing this chapter. Then I went back and rewrote some of it :P
I was seriously debating how much detail to put into the live scene here while keeping the rating as broad and inclusive as possible. I was worried that by increasing the rating I would lose readers, but it seems that the opposite has happened. With that in mind I add a few more details that were in the rough draft. Without some of the detail, parts of the following chapters would have been confusing, and I serious wanted to have Judy use the technique that Vivian explained in the previous chapter.
Thank you to everyone who left a comment in the last chapter, and welcome to all the new readers. Please check out my side story called Extra Fluffy for small offshoots and the occasional backstory for some of the side characters.