(A/N: Alright, I was eager for this chapter to get here. Don't want to reveal why so I don't give out any spoilers. Last time though, things ended on a cliffhanger with Nick and Judy in a rather life-threatening situation. Will they get through unscathed, and what will happen with the case? Let's find out. Unfortunately, due to copyright issues, I had to take out the song, which was meant to be Ed Sheeran's Cold Coffee, but you can find this chapter with the lyrics on AO3 if you want to.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is just a novelization of a fan-film. All credit for the story and its original characters belongs to Mauricio Velazco/Browntable.

Chapter 5: Partners

"Oi, boy! Come here!" a loud domineering voice demanded.

Gripped in fear, the young rabbit, no more than a mere boy, slowly approached. He knew that tone, and it never meant anything good. But that was usually the case when it involved his father. However, disobedience was not an option, and so he slowly made his way over to his father, who looked down at him in open disapproval, and motioned to the box of carrots that had just been picked.

"Look at this," the bigger rabbit growled, his grip on the shovel he held tightening with every word. "What does this look like?"

The smaller frightened rabbit shakingly looked at what his father was referring to and suddenly realized what he had done wrong. There would be no excuses though, no forgiveness or mercy offered, and so he looked back at his father with wide, frightened eyes as the bigger rabbit raised the shovel over his head.

"What did I tell you about picking your carrots early?" he demanded furiously.

As the shovel rose higher and higher, the sound of a phone ringing grew louder and louder. And just as the shovel came down at him, Miles Walker woke with a start, having fallen asleep at his desk.

The dream had come to an end, but the phone kept ringing, and he looked around frantically, shaken by the events of the dream. His gaze landed on the phone, and he struggled to calm his racing heart. He took a few deep breaths to regain his composure before pulling himself together and picking up the phone.

"Miles Walker speaking," he said, his voice calm and collect, as if he hadn't just awoken from a horrible nightmare.

"Sorry to bother you," came the voice of one of his associates on the other end. "It's Liam."

"Oh," said Miles, perking up as he recognized the voice of the gazelle; from the sound of it, he was having dinner somewhere in a noisy restaurant, "what's going on?"

"Yeah, you remember that rabbit that you were talking to me about earlier."

Miles frowned worriedly as he heard the distress in the gazelle's voice. "Yes, what about her?"

"Well, she's in the hospital," the gazelle told him sorrowfully.

Miles covered his face in dismay, his concern increasing as his mind immediately began jumping to a thousand awful scenarios of what could have happened. "Oh God. Please tell me you're joking."

"I don't kid around with this sort of thing," Liam told him seriously.

Miles ran his hand over his face as he wondered what the hero cop had gotten herself into. He certainly hoped she was alright and that it was nothing serious. He wished he could go see her, but he was currently swamped with work, as evident in how he had fallen asleep at his desk rather than being able to go home to his actual bed.

"So, what do you want me to do?" Liam asked.

Miles tapped his chin in thought as he considered what the beautiful bunny would appreciate.

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Miles wasn't the only one concerned with Judy. Nick was frantic with worry too, even after he had been assured by the doctors that she would be fine. He just couldn't help it, and it took everything he had to step away from her as she was treated by the doctors, deciding to take up their offer to use the facilities to take a shower.

In truth, Judy's injuries weren't all that serious, with the biggest being a cut on her arm that had requires some stitches. After being patched up, she had gotten cleaned up herself, and then went about waiting for Nick to finish his shower.

Glancing at the bandage wrapped around her arm, she let out a sigh as she thought about how much of a catastrophic turn their investigation had taken. And things had been going so well too. They'd found some physical evidence of who could have assaulted Mrs. Shell, and they'd made contact with someone who could possibly provide them with some information on the case. Things certainly had been looking up, only for them to come crashing down.

The fact that someone had attacked them meant they were possibly onto something big. The real question was, was it related to the case with Mrs. Shell's assault, or was it something else? Perhaps they had been business associates of Wolfgang? Somehow, she doubted it.

"Oh, Carrots," said Nick, bringing her out of her thoughts, and she turned to smile at him as he made his way over to her, also dressed in the simple clothes the hospital had provided. "You sure you're going to be ok? Might be hard to use your hands?"

She wasn't entirely sure if he was making a dirty joke with that comment, but it still brought a smile to her face. "You're just lucky it's my hand getting bandaged and not yours." Then, just because he had put the thought in her head, she added, "You probably use your hand every night."

He let out a small laugh, but his heart didn't seem in it, his worry for her evident. "You know, you should try pursing a comedy career."

No, his heart definitely wasn't into it; he sounded tired, and nowhere near as snarky as usual. She offered him a reassuring smile though as she slid off the bench. Before she could say anything in response though, she spotted a cougar in a doctor's uniform walking over to them with a bouquet of roses in his hands.

"Excuse me," he said, "you're…" he checked the card on the bouquet, "Judy Hopps, right?"

She gave him a smile. "Yup, that's me."

"Right," the doctor replied, and held out the bouquet to her. "Well, I was requested to give these to you."

She accepted the flowers and glanced at the card to see the message 'Hope you're well, Miles' written on it. They brought a smile to her face as she appreciated the gesture. But at the same time, it brought on a feeling of melancholy as she realized what this meant. That was just the icing on the cake on top of everything else that had happened today.

Setting the bouquet down next to her, she let out a sigh. Miles was a nice guy, and his interest in her was evident, but that interest simply was not returned. It looked like she was going to have to have a talk with him the next time she saw him. That wasn't going to be fun. Rejecting someone was going to be a new experience for her. She'd been too dedicated in her goal of becoming a cop to worry about romance before, so she wasn't exactly up to speed in that area.

She would just have to find a way to let him down gently and hope they could remain on good terms with each other, especially if he did end up winning the election. The last thing she wanted was to be on bad terms with the new mayor. She liked Miles well enough and hoped they could be friends, but she did have to let him know that their relationship wouldn't be anything beyond platonic.

Seeming to pick up on her gloomy mood, Nick leaned against the bench next to her. "Soooo, are we just going to sit here all night, or are we actually gonna go and do something?" Shifting closer, he gave her a smooth smile, causing her to break out into one as well. "Because, I mean, we did kind of almost die, so there's a bit of a reason to celebrate." She chuckled at that as she shifted closer as well, and his smile became more affectionate. "Maybe… maybe we should just live a little. What do you think?"

Judy felt her heart swell. She really could rely on him to tell her exactly what she needed to hear when she was feeling down. He was always there for her when she needed him, ready to be for her whatever it was she needed him to be. Whether that be a supportive friend, a shoulder to cry on, a person to trust, a rock to anchor her, someone to have her back, a laugh to lift her mood, or whatever else she might need, he was always there.

"Yeah," she said quietly, her reply saying so much more than a simple agreement to his suggestion.

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Elsewhere in the hospital, another animal was walking through the hospital. It was a meerkat, walking around with a scowl on his face as he eyed the numbers by the doors of each hospital room until he came to one in particular. And this one currently belonged to Mrs. Shell.

She was in there right now, still unconscious and hooked up to a ventilator. She wasn't alone though. Another animal with his back turned to the door was standing by her bed, giving the meerkat pause. He pressed himself to the wall and peaked into the room to see that the animal in question was a badger in a cap and jacket. He was whispering to the unconscious armadillo, and he picked up what he was saying to her.

"I'm so sorry," the badger said to her in a low voice. "Sorry for all of this. I… I never should have dragged you into it." He covered her hand with his own. "I promise I will avenge you. You have my word."

An annoyed groan escaped the meerkat. It didn't look like the badger would be going anywhere any time soon, which meant he couldn't do what he needed to do. And he couldn't just hang around here until the badger left either, that would be too suspicious. He would have no choice but to leave and come back at a later date and hope that the old woman wouldn't wake up before then.

His boss certainly wasn't going to like this, but he had no choice but to tell him. He only hoped he wouldn't get in trouble for failing to follow through.

Taking out his cell phone, he dialed his boss' number as he exited the hospital. He heard his boss pick up after just the first couple rings and quickly filled him in. "Hey, boss, I can't ice her. Not right now."

"And why is that?" came the malicious, hate-filled voice on the other end, making the meerkat's fur stand on end. It didn't matter what the situation was, his boss always sounded so cold and unfeeling, his voice a loud whisper, like he was moments away from choking the life out of someone.

"It's just that…" he stammered, "she's being visited by some guy. I don't know who he is."

There was a moment of silence before his boss spoke again, his voice taking on a more malicious tone, indicating his displeasure. "Do you have any idea how important this is?" Then it became more threatening. "Do I have to repeat myself?"

A chill ran down the meerkat's spine, almost making him feel like his own life was suddenly the one on the line. "Look, I'll see if I can try tomorrow. I'll try tomorrow, a hundred percent."

More silence, and when his boss spoke again, there was a dangerous promise in his voice. "You better not fail."

The meerkat gulped. There was no need for his boss to actually say it, the message was loud and clear. Either he eliminated the old woman, or it was him who would be dead in her place.

"I won't."

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Hanging up, the boss set his phone down as his attention turned to the arctic fox and otter that had entered the dark room illuminated by a single light that shined down from above his desk. From the looks on their faces, he could tell right away that they were just two more failures that had come to graze him with their presence.

His eyes narrowed in dissatisfaction as they came to a stop in from of his desk, and he fixed them with a cold look. "Well, that was Tim. He failed his assignment. Now let me guess, you both failed your assignments too."

Both the fox and the otter's fur stood on end as the boss' eyes shined maliciously at them through the darkness. After the fiasco with the train, they'd had no choice but to come crawling back with their tails between their legs. They knew that their boss didn't tolerate failure, but they also knew that not reporting in was not an option and could only spell even worse trouble for them.

As the fox stood there looking irritated, the otter held out his hands, pleading for his boss to understand. "No, sir. I mean, we kinda–"

"Sir, I had Wilde," the fox interrupted, giving his partner an annoyed look, "but March here stopped the train."

The boss' eyes didn't so much as blink as they remained fixated on the two of them and he calmly asked, "Is this true, March?"

"No," the otter replied, the unease he felt evident in his voice. "Wha… I mean… Yes, it's true…"

"So, it's your fault that Hopps and Wilde got away," the boss stated plainly, his tone not changing.

The arctic fox's eyes widened as he realized his mistake, and his annoyance disappeared to be replaced with worry, but it wasn't for himself, and he quickly spoke up. "A-Actually, sir, it's no biggie. It was a bit of both of us."

The shining eyes in the darkness narrowed, not holding an ounce of mercy or feeling. "No, you just told me that March impeded you from stopping the train." He leaned forward into the light, revealing the scowling face of a brown-wooled sheep as he coldly asked, "So, who's the liar?"

Fear pooled in the arctic fox's stomach, and right next to him, March looked equally as frightened. They both took a step back, and a moment later, a gunshot rang out. The arctic fox drew back in fright, but it was the otter who went down.

Several seconds of silence passed before the fox dared to open his eyes to see his boss holding a smoking gun and March lying dead on the ground. The sheep didn't show an ounce of emotion to the fact that he had just killed someone as he lowered the gun and sat back into the darkness.

"I hope without interference you can do your job correctly, Mr. Healy," the boss told him, his tone leaving no doubt as to what would happen if he couldn't. "Now go."

The arctic fox could only stare at his partner's body as he forced his legs to work, and he made his way out of his boss' office, trying to come to terms with the fact that in trying to avoid getting in trouble himself that he had just gotten his partner killed.

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"Alright, here you go, you two," said Finnick as he handed both Nick and Judy a paw print popsicle.

Nick accepted the one the smaller fox handed him with a smile. "Thank you very much, good friend. I'll see you around."

Judy took hers as well, unable to keep the smile off her face either. Over the past several months, she and Finnick had become friends as well, and she did her best to look away from the fennec fox's con-artist way of life. Plus, she reminded herself, Finnick technically wasn't breaking the law since he did have all the paperwork necessary to pull of his popsicle scam, so she couldn't actually arrest him even if she wanted to.

After making their stop at their mutual friend's place, they headed out for a well-deserved night of relaxation, and eventually found themselves on a rooftop looking out at the city under the starry night sky. After their shared near-death experience, it was nice to just have a little time to themselves, and they walked in comfortable silence, simply enjoying each other's company as Nick led them to the location he had in mind. And no matter how many times Judy asked, he would just smirk and refuse to tell her where they were going.

She saw why when they reached their destination. Nick had led them to a particular rooftop that overlooked a section of the city, providing them with a beautiful sight to behold. Judy could only stare in amazement at the scene as Nick sat down, and she took a seat beside him.

"Wow," she exclaimed truly mesmerized. "This… this is a view."

"Yeah, it is," Nick agreed, glad that he had brought her here. And from her reaction, he could tell that she was glad he did too.

Resting an arm on her bent knee, she glanced at him with a smile. "Why are you doing all this?" she asked, sounding genuinely interest. She cocked her head to the side, giving him a curious look. "Getting popsicles, taking me here."

He returned her look of interest with one of fondness. "Well, because I care about you, Carrots." He then playfully tapped her nose with his popsicle. "I want you to be happy."

She resisted the urge to giggle as she pushed his arm away, truly feeling touched by his words as she sensed the sincerity in them. "Thanks, Nick. I care about you too."

They stared at each other for a short while after that before returning their gazes to the city. But while Judy appreciated the view, Nick found himself getting lost in his thoughts. He suddenly found himself feeling very vulnerable with her, but rather than that making him uncomfortable, it only made him want to open up to her more.

The next thing he knew, he found himself talking without really thinking about what he intended to say, simply speaking from the heart. "When I was… fifteen, I… I came here to think." He wasn't looking at her, but he could feel her eyes on him. "This used to be my little place where I was alone with my thoughts."

Judy gave him a curious look. "What did you think about?"

He hesitated for a few moments before answering. "I always dreamed… things would get better." He let out a humorless chuckle at how silly that seemed to sound. "That I wouldn't have to struggle with hustling every single day."

Judy let out a small laugh of her own, but not one that came across as her making fun of him. "You are full of surprises. I thought you loved hustling. Making these popsicles, earning money that way."

He shook his head, feeling as if her amusement was contagious. "Oh no, definitely not." His amusement quickly faded though, his tone becoming more serious. "I had to make the most of the life that was given to me, Carrots. I… I just acted like I loved it." He looked back at the city as he repeated the words he had said to her when he had told her about his childhood of when he was bullied. "You can't let them see that they get to you."

Judy frowned at the sadness in his voice. "Do you ever think of the future, Nick?"

"Only every day," he replied simply.

She hesitated for a few moments, trying to work up the nerve of what she wanted to say next. Perhaps it was almost dying today that made her feel bolder, but she finally decided to broach the subject. "Do you every think of spending it with someone?"

Now it was his turn to hesitate, but he once again gave her a simple answer. "I do."

He glanced at her, as if seeking her reaction to his answer. His smile was one of fondness, and it made her feel flustered. For some reason though, she found her thoughts suddenly turn to the bouquet of flowers she had received today, and she felt the need to clear the air on that with Nick.

"I have a feeling that Miles Walker wants something with me," she admitted as if it were a simple statement that had no real bearings on her life. "I think he likes me. Is that ridiculous?"

She followed up her question with a laugh, suddenly feeling nervous about the topic of conversation that she herself had brought up. Nick gave a small chuckle as well, and Judy felt as if the tension had been cut a bit.

"No, it's not," he assured her, his tone completely serious. "Who doesn't like you, Judy?"

She smiled at him. "I don't know. Probably Bogo."

She let out a hearty laugh at her own joke and slapped a hand to his shoulder, using the gesture to shift closer to him. Nick just continued to smile at her.

"Yeah, you're not wrong there, Carrots," he told her. "Anyway, there's this remarkable thing that's been invented." He pulled out his phone and brought up an app called Pawtify as he began speaking with playful sarcasm. "It's called a phone. And we can use it to listen to some music."

He attempted to get to the playlist of music he had made, but hit the wrong thing and a rather cheesy song began playing. Both of them raised an eyebrow as they stared at his phone, and Nick actually looked embarrassed as he glanced from the phone to Judy, then let out a nervous laugh as he quickly began swiping over the phone screen.

"Yeah, you know," he muttered in embarrassment as he fiddled with the phone, "I had this amazing playlist planned out, but, er, it's not really, um… It's a cheap phone."

As he continued to try to get his phone to do what he wanted it to do, Judy simply stared at him with the utmost affection as she slowly shifted closer and closer to him until she could lean over him. She calmly reached over and simply put his phone to sleep with a push of a button, and the corny song stopped playing as the phone went dark.

Nick just laughed in discomfort. "Yeah, alright, thank you. I was looking everywhere for that."

Judy didn't say anything, she just continued to stare at him with that hooded, purple gaze of hers and a smile on her face. If Nick didn't know any better, he'd go as far as to call them bedroom eyes. Despite the embarrassing moment that had just happened with his phone though, a comfortable silence once again fell between them, and Nick soon wore a similar expression on his own face.

Like Judy, the whole fiasco with the train and them almost dying had affected him as well. Having a near-death experience tended to put one's priorities in order and cause them to reexamine their life and what they wanted to do with it. And while Nick already knew what it was he wanted, he too was feeling bold tonight, bold enough to actually go for what it was he wanted.

"Hey, I want you to do something," he told her.

"What?" she asked, sounding utterly content.

"Ok, come here," he said, motioning her over, and she shifted even closer until she was sitting right in front of him. "I want you to close your eyes." He waited for her to do so, and she did, showing nothing but complete trust and faith in him, and he nodded. "Yeah, that's it. My, uh my mother used to tell me to just… to close my eyes and listen."

"Listen to what?" she asked quietly, keeping her eyes shut.

"Everything," he told her, adjusting the purple scarf she wore to protect her from the night's chill. "Just… life." Then he too closed his eyes. "The animals that live in the city, they all have stories, for better or worse. There are those that have it better than us, there are those that have it worse. But when things get hard, animals will help each other, because animals… are good."

He opened his eyes, looking out at the city once more. "I stopped believing in that." Sensing eyes on him, he glanced back at her to see her watching him, and he leaned in closer to her. "Until I met you."

Judy looked flustered, lowering her gaze before looking up at him, staring directly into his eyes, the happy smile never leaving her face as she too leaned in closer to him.

"You getting tense there, Carrots?" Nick asked.

Judy pulled back and waved off his comment. "Tense? Never."

Nick let out a light chuckle as he moved back too and started to get up. "All right, come on. I think there's a lot of this city you haven't seen yet."

He held out his hand to her. She accepted it, letting him pull her to her feet, and they once again headed off together into the night.

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Later that night, they found themselves in a bar called Burnie's Pub. Judy ordered a drink while Nick told her to wait while he went to take care of something. The bartender placed her drinks down, and Judy took a sip as she wondered what it was the fox had planned.

She couldn't help but think about what had happened between them on the roof. It had felt like such an intimate moment, one where Nick had really opened up, even talking about his mother again, and she knew that was a sensitive subject for him. She really appreciated that, glad that he felt comfortable to open up to her enough to tell her such things.

He'd been so cute when he'd been fumbling around with his phone, and couldn't help but wonder what kind of songs he had put together for the occasion. She would have to ask him to show her later. She rather wished they were still up there together. The atmosphere had felt very romantic, certainly a spot one would bring their love interest to. She wondered if he ever brought anyone else there before, maybe a former girlfriend, and found that she didn't like the thought of him doing so

For some reason though, she didn't think he did. That place had felt special, special to him in a way that he didn't share it with just anyone. In fact, she had gotten the impression that she was the only other person he had ever brought up there, and that thought caused a warm, fuzzy feeling to bloom in her chest. She hoped they could go up there again some time.

"Hey, everybody," a familiar voice spoke out over a microphone. "How's your night going? Hopefully good."

Recognizing the voice, Judy's attention turned to the stage, and much to her surprise, she saw Nick sitting up on stage with a guitar resting on his knee. She blinked a few times to make sure she wasn't seeing things, but no, that was definitely Nick on stage.

"Mine's been great," he continued, as if he didn't have a care in the world. "I've been having fun with a friend of mine. Name's Judy Hopps. She's sitting right there, and, yeah, she's the most dedicated person I know."

Getting over her surprise, Judy felt several eyes in the bar fall on her, but none of them bothered her. She simply stared at Nick in utter amazement, not paying attention to anyone else as she wondered what exactly it was he was planning.

"She works with me," Nick proudly announced to the bar as he fiddled with the strings of his guitar, "so I would know, and it's great for her to finally, finally relax, you know, a little bit."

He took a deep breath, but looked sure about whatever it was he was planning on doing. "Now, for tonight, I'm gonna sing a little song, like usually, and, uh, hope she'll join me up on stage, because I heard through the grapevine that, uh, she's a good singer. So, let's get started."

Judy couldn't believe it. He was going to sing a song for her in front of all these animals. That certainly wasn't expected. But still, she felt touched by the gesture, and smiled fondly at him up on the stage. While Nick never seemed to mind making a spectacle of himself in public, for him, who found it so hard to open up to others, to dedicate a song to her that he wanted to sing in front of everyone… she could just kiss him.

Nick lightly knocked his fist against the side of the guitar a few times before strumming it, and then began to sing.

Judy listened to his soothing voice as he sang, sang for her in front of everyone. And before she even realized it, she had climbed off the bar stool and her feet were bringing her closer to the stage as if they had a mind of their own. She was perfectly aware of the fact that everyone in the bar was watching her, but none of that mattered, she only had eyes for Nick, and was soon climbing up to join him on stage.

Taking the spare microphone, she walked up next to him and joined him in singing.

Their eyes had found each other as they sang the last line together, and from there, the entire bar and all the other animals in it disappeared, and they only became aware of each other. It was just the two of them, all alone in the whole world, singing to each other, expressing unspoken feelings in the words of the song that said so much more than what the lyrics indicated.

Nick fell silent here, but kept playing as he allowed to Judy sing the next verse of the song before he joined her in singing the chorus as the other animals in the bar listened to the sing. The chemistry between the two was palpable, so much so that it was impossible for anyone to miss, even for the more intoxicated animals that were paying attention. And as they sang, a cheetah sitting at a table raised an eyebrow curiously and leaned over to his warthog friend sitting next to him and asked what he thought he was picking up on, even though it was so outlandish he couldn't believe he was thinking it.

"Hey, man?"

"Yeah?" the warthog replied.

The cheetah glanced back at Judy and Nick, then nodded in their direction. "Is it just me, or do like each other?"

"No," the warthog answered, almost automatically.

His answer wasn't so much a result of him actually considering the question, but one that was automatic of what should be obvious, because surely there was no possible way that a fox and a rabbit could like each other, not in the way his friend was suggesting. It was just too ridiculous to even consider.

But then he took a second look, and he began to see what his friend was talking about. Were it Nick and Judy any other animals of the same species, or even a similar species of the same family, then there would have been absolutely no doubt in his mind that they definitely liked each other. But seeing their difference of species…

"Well, at least I don't think so," he added uncertainly. "Yeah, this is…"

Nodding, the cheetah looked back at Judy and Nick, glad that he hadn't had too much to drink that he was imagining things. "Yeah, they're pretty weird."

"Yeah, nasty, you know," the warthog agreed.

They took another look at the two singing animals. Judy had moved closer to Nick, wrapping an arm around his shoulder as they sang together, the chemistry and energy surrounding the two of them stronger than ever. And the way they were looking at each other, there was no possible way to deny what those looks meant as they sang the last few lines of the song together. Only now they seemed to be singing directly to each other and no one else. It was truly clear that they were no longer performing, even as they sang.

As they finished singing, and the crowd broke out into applause, but neither the fox nor the rabbit seemed to register anything other than each other. The cheetah and the warthog could only stare, unable to believe what they were seeing, but were also unable to deny the truth of what they saw.

"Yup," the warthog told his friend in open disgust, "they like each other."

(A/N: I really enjoyed doing this chapter. We got to see some really sweet moments between Nick and Judy. Talk about feeding the shippers for them. But, uh oh, it looks like others are picking up on their feelings for each other, and it wasn't with the best reaction. Could this spell trouble for the two of them? And where will their relationship go from here. Well, you're going to have to stay tuned for more. But until then you can see the video of this chapter since I was able to fit the whole thing into a single chapter. Same as before, just copy and paste the link below with the DOTs replaced by real periods.)

wwwDOTyoutubeDOTcom/watch?v=nxx_n2ByZGw