Chapter 2: It's Just A Day Job…
Zootopia General…..An hour later.
Nick and Judy brought the cheetah to the hospital, the amount of tranquilizer they had to use would have been enough to put down an elephant, their worry now was whether or not they actually overdosed the kid.
They had explained the situation to the Oryx doctor who was treating him and in turn to give them the best chance of knowing how to proceed. Even after the doctor assured her that they would more than likely to save him, she was still worried. Nick had called the station on his cell phone to let Bogo know what had transpired and to keep him apprised as the situation developed. Judy was sitting at the edge of a nearby chair in a waiting room, tapping her foot nervously against the floor. Nick happened to notice as he was finishing up the call. After he hung up he paced over to Judy and knelt down so he was at her eye level.
"Carrots, it's alright." He said trying to comfort her.
Judy turned her head to look at Nick; he was trying to present a positive expression, a slight grin and bright eyes. She knew well what he was doing, trying to cheer her up, and he was good at it. He always managed to get her to smile and relax; it's one of the things that made her love him more each day.
"I'm just worried. That kid was like a freight train, I mean I've heard of some cheetah's training to be long distance runners, but that was insane, not at that speed." She replied.
"Well I think that he may have been on something. Isn't that what we heard from that guard at the station?" Nick asked as he remembered back.
"I know, and that just makes me worried more, If he was on something, that plus the darts, plus the physical exertion, and we don't know what he was doing beforehand, where he's gone, where he was going….what…. "
Judy stopped when he felt Nick's paw on her foot, she had been tapping it frantically again, she hadn't noticed.
"Take a breath, count to ten, and relax." Nick replied as he caressed her cheek, a slight look of concern on his face.
Judy took a moment and took a deep breath, and then another and then a third, at the end of the third she let out her breath slowly. Rabbits being naturally skittish she had to learn to control that instinct, which in the modern mammal world meant that rabbits, tended to be nervous wrecks when under stress, normally though she was never one to have a problem with this, but today was different.
"Are you still bothered by this morning?" asked Nick.
"No." she said vehemently then "….well, maybe. I don't know." She responded, she clasped her paw on Nick's.
"It's alright if it does, no one expects you to be made of stone." He comforted
"I know, but I'm expected to maintain a professional detachment." She explained.
"I understand what you mean, but I don't think anybody can truly be detached. We have to be professional, I get that. But it should never get to the point where it doesn't bother us. Whatever happens, we deal with ok?"
"I know, it's just hard when it seems like everything just keeps coming at right angles."
"I know, carrots, but like you always say 'We can do it, as long as we face it together.'"
Judy let out a nervous chuckle, and looked at her foot paws and then back at him, feeling a bit silly, she shook her head slightly as if dismissing one of any of a hundred different thoughts.
"You always know how to make me feel better." She replied
"That's what I'm here for. To take care of you." He said positively with a wink.
"You take care of me, huh?" she smiled and said playfully.
"Well someone has to, you're so worried about everyone else, you leave no room for yourself, Carrots." He replied back with his eternal smile.
"Well, I can think of a few ways you can take care of me…" she whispered with a cool smile and a wink.
Nick chuckled slightly. "Well, that too…"
Nick satisfied that Judy had finally calmed down; he got up and took the seat next to her. They continued to chat, trying to keep their spirits up. They sat in the waiting for over an hour, waiting till the Oryx doctor came back. When he finally arrived, Judy and Nick stood up and stared at him waiting for the answer to a question that wasn't voiced, but was already on the forefront of their minds, a world of possibilities shrunk down to two.
"Firstly, I want to say that you getting him here was the right thing to do, he had received an overdose of the police tranquilizer."
Judy cupped her paws over her mouth, as if waiting for bad news.
"However, we applied a reversal agent and we managed to stabilize his condition. He fine, asleep, but fine."
Judy let out a ragged sigh of relief, thankful that the boy had lived. It was hard enough dealing with this morning's case without wanting another one on her conscience. The doctor pulled a manila folder that he had pinched between his arm and chest and offered it to the officers.
"I'm assuming you be wanting this?" offered the doctor
Judy took the folder and looked back at the doctor, waiting for an explanation.
"The boy's ER report, has injury screen and tox panel, the toxin we found in his system types as both a stimulant and possible hallucinogenic. However without further details on the original chemical formation, I can only speculate as to its origin." He explained
"What about its effects?"
"From what symptoms we've seen, we think it has an effect on Dopamine receptor, Norepinephrine. Which I'm not sure if you know but Dopamine is the chemical responsible for the pleasure center of the brain and controls the reward system of behavior."
"Meaning?" inquired Judy.
"Well I'm sure this boy, however he got it, was enjoying himself, however the effect on his cardio-vascular system was dangerous, I would surmise that extended use of this substance could damage the heart."
"Do you know when he will wake up?"
"He suffered a serious event, he is going to be out for a while, but if you want I can call you when he wakes." Explained the doctor
"Yes, please do." Judy replied
Nick had reached into one of his shirt pockets and offered the doctor a business card, with Judy's work number on it. The doctor took the card and clamped it into the clip of his chart.
"I'll be sure to leave you a message." Confirmed the doctor.
They each shook the Oryx's hoof and left the hospital.
Back in the car, Judy started it and put it in gear and got back on the road heading towards the station.
"So what now?" she said, glancing over at the fox.
"Hmm, I say we get back to the station, fill out a preliminary report, and go home. The paperwork alone will fill the rest of the day." Replied Nick checking his watch.
Judy was usually one to chide Nick's reluctance to keep going, but today, not only did she not, but she agreed with him, this day was simply a bad day and wanted to put it behind her. She remembered something Rollins had said, the first day they were assigned to him "At the end of the day, do you know what a police officer is supposed to do? Go Home, because it will be still waiting for you in the morning."
Those words echoed in her head, originally they didn't ring at all, but now rang true, all of this would still be there in the morning, so no sense in trying to figure it out today, especially since even a preliminary death report of the youth this morning wouldn't even be available for at least twenty-four to forty-eight hours.
At the very least she had a comforting thought of home, she would get a very much desired shower, and cuddle up to her favorite fox and spend the evening, maybe find a movie on TV or even just talk. The thought alone made her smile. But first the responsibility of bureaucracy, the paperwork, she disliked paperwork, but knowing what the reward was afterward made the pain of it more bearable.
ZPD Precinct One…Later.
As Judy and Nick were filling out their preliminary report, Rollins managed to come back from notifying the tiger's parents. He sat down, scratched his head, opening one of his side drawers and using it as a footrest.
"Well, you can consider me emotionally spent for the day" he fired off.
"How bad?" asked Nick.
"It took me twenty minutes just to convince her I had the right kid. She didn't want to believe it, of course. She said 'it wasn't like him' 'He was always a happy kitten' etc. etc. God it broke my heart to tell her."
"And the one thing I never, ever get used to, is the way mothers have that almost wailing cry. It gets me every time. God damn."
Rollins took his coffee mug and put it in front of him on his desk, took a quick glance to see if anyone was watching him, opened the other side drawer and quickly retrieved a glass bottle with a brown colored liquid inside, uncapping it and pouring some of its contents into his mug. The words "Zootopia's finest whiskey" printed on the label. Recapping it and stuffed it back in the drawer just as quickly as he retrieved it.
He swirled the contents of the mug around for good measure, and downed it, snapping his head at the hit from the burn of the alcohol.
Rollins finally took stock in his apprentices' ragged appearance and observed their glum expressions.
"Why do you two look like someone ran over your tails?" he replied, oscillating a finger back and forth between them.
"We uh, had a chase on patrol." Replied Nick
"Vehicle or Foot?"
"Eh, kind of a mix, we were in our car, the perp was on foot."
Rollins blinked in confusion at Nick "Care to explain that one?" he asked.
"It was a cheetah, couldn't be more than 16, ran over eight blocks from the train station…..at seventy miles per hour." Explained Nick.
"Holy shit." Rollins said deadpan.
"Oh that's not the worst of it. It took two, count 'em, TWO, full sized tranquilizer darts to put the kid down." Nick continued.
"Woah. So is he…"
"In the hospital….he made it, thankfully." Nick finished.
"Well, I guess we can officially mark today in the 'crap day' column….By the way, I have a name on our jumper. A kid by the name of Fredrick Monk, 21 years old as of yesterday, and I got off the phone with the ME, she will have a preliminary report tomorrow, and I mean bare bones, you know how long those things actually take."
"Yeah I remember" replied Nick
"So Hopps, you haven't said much, what's on your mind?" asked Rollins.
Judy was finishing her paperwork and stapling the last of the hard copy forms, when she turned to Rollins, an expression of both fatigue, both physical and emotional.
"Just finishing up paperwork, and getting ready to go home." She replied.
"This is exactly the type of day where you both need to remember what I told you…One day at a time, and unless it's a big case, don't take it home." advised Rollins.
"I remember." She replied.
The three sat in silence as they each finished their respective tasks, Rollins simply observed the two as he rocked slightly in his chair, occasionally jotting down on his report about the suicide, adding the mother's testimony to it, he noticed a file on their side of the desk, he leaned forward and grabbed it, opening it and taking a look at its contents..
"What's this?"
"Medical report on the cheetah." Replied Judy.
Rollins took a glance the report, going through it until he noticed something.
"Did you guys notice if this kid had an inhaler or anything?" he said still looking at the report.
Judy quirked her head to the side.
"No, we didn't find anything when we arrested him." Answered Judy
"Hmmm, check with evidence; see if the unit assigned to the station found anything."
"Like what." She asked
Rollins spun the report around and pointed to an item on the injury list 'Soft Palette, tissue breakdown'
"When the top of the mouth gets all spongy like that, it's from an inhaler, either frequent cold or chemical burns. Whatever this kid was on, he inhaled it. Only way to have something like that be portable would be an inhaler. Like a vial of Albuterol." Explained Rollins.
"Look I'm sure if anyone found anything, you'll be able to check it tomorrow." Said Rollins shaking his head annoyed.
"God damn, I wish Clawhauser was still here. I'd like to thank you for somehow getting him to leave." Rollins replied sarcastically.
Judy and Nick look at each other, each thinking of Ben.
"Which by the way, I'm still wondering how the pudgy bastard managed to get in shape so fast. It's like he's a whole new feline."
Nick simply smirked "Oh, you have no idea."
"Ya know, even though he was out of shape, the cat sure knew his way around a file system. Could organize like nobody's business…And you got him to leave. So on behalf of all the detectives, I would like to thank you." Chided Rollins.
"He said he would be back, after he took care of some personal business."
"Right." Continued Rollins sardonically.
"Well anyway, none of this isn't anything that can't wait till tomorrow, alright kids, you can go home." He concluded, closing the folder and tossing it onto Judy and Nick's side of the desk.
Rollins stood up and grabbed his things, as Judy and Nick grabbed theirs, Judy putting their paperwork in the outbox of the desk, logged out of her computer and they left.
As they left the building the evening sun was already hanging in the sky, the bright yellow giving way to a bright orange glow, the hot air now a warm breeze still a bit on the hot side, but at least not scorching. They walked to Nick's car, his cherry red convertible, and started making their way home. While they weren't going out of their way to conceal their relationship, they weren't exactly advertising either, simply taking it in stride, no one seemed to care, or at the very least not enough to voice it to Bogo, who himself figured something might be going on considering everything that happened 3 months ago, but again, it was a case of separation, as long as it didn't interfere with the work, then who was he to judge.
At least they didn't have to go through a song and dance of hiding, pretending to take separate routes, or leave a few minutes apart from each other. Judy would have none of that.
Work was done, paperwork filed, and nothing that can't wait till tomorrow, and now she got to be a normal bunny again, if only for a little while. Sometimes, like today, the badge felt heavy, her enthusiasm still very much alive, but the job definitely testing it at times. Officer Hopps and Officer Wilde, would go home to just be Nick and Judy, Judy and Nick, a rabbit and fox who cared for each other, normal people, who do normal things, like make dinner, watch tv, go on a date once or twice a week.
That sense of normalcy she started to crave for, especially after the "Plague Incident" as it had come to be known. The amazing thing was how little of the truth people actually knew, they knew "something" had happened, people got sick, Wolverine Risk Control got a tad "overzealous" with their city contract, and then a cure was found, and as quickly as the event started, it ended.
That sad fact, that the people knew nothing of how close they came to the apocalypse, of everything they knew ending, yet they knew none of what transpired, all of it happening in the shadows, where no one will ever know or see.
It was times like these that made Judy think on Kaiden and Kit, and everyone at Bureau 13. That was months ago, yet it seemed like a lifetime ago. In many ways a lot of things changed, some good, and some bad.
Judy looked over at Nick, softly smiling, his orange fur being backlit by the same colored sun rays that filtered through the hairs at the edges of his being.
'There was one good thing that came out of all of that.' she thought to herself as she looked at the fox, who must have felt the rabbit's gaze because he turned to look at her and smiled before turning his attention back to the road.
The whole world could be in a swirling storm and yet she would still feel safety and comfort in his embrace, creating a bubble of warmth circumscribed by his arms around her. Those were the moments that she found true contentment, and he was all hers, and she was his, the entire prospect was a happy one.
They had finally reached home, which was a larger 2 bedroom apartment, not that they needed a second bedroom per se, but the space was useful as a thinking space, a place to put up stick pins and pictures and evidence, or at least that's what Judy was thinking it was for. Nick on the other paw was considering it more of a storage closet, as he had put the boxes from his things that he still hadn't unpacked.
At least thankfully his landlord put his stuff in storage after he lost the apartment; Judy's landlord was gracious enough not to have actually evicted her after she disappeared, or seemingly so. Thankfully her things didn't get lost in the whole ordeal. Judy made it up to Nick by getting him a nice and comfy new couch, she had seen him eye in a catalogue after he had gone to pine over his lost couch.
They opened the door and walked in, going about their routine of keys on a couple of hooks and pocket items in a basket near the door. The stretching and popping of joints as they took off the heavier of the gear, the equipment belts and placing them on a nearby coat rack, that hadn't seen any actual coats for its namesake.
"Hey carrots, if you want, you can hit the shower first, hot water will be better." He offered.
She smiled back at him, the small favors. That's what counts "Thanks" she replied as she went to get out of her uniform.
Even though it was dirty, she still hung it up on a hanger, to await its eventual cleaning at the dry cleaners down the street.
Nick and her had done the smart thing, for the first few weeks back, each pay check they would buy a couple of extra uniform pants and shirts, to build up a supply, at least two weeks' worth. The idea, that one week's worth is with them, while the previous week's soiled were taken every Thursday, and conversely the clean ones picked up. Nick had turned her onto the idea after he had done the math and showed her how much time they would be wasting on just doing laundry, and probably still not starch them right. Sometimes his seemingly aloof ideas are surprisingly pragmatic, in any case, it was time better spent on doing other things.
Judy got the water of the shower to just where she liked it, and after fully disrobing she stepped into the shower. The hot water felt good cascading down her body, just simply the act of washing the day's filth off of her, did wonders to help put this day behind her, that and the scent of her fur wash, which originally she chose because of the fluffy feeling it left on her fur, which she knew Nick loved fluffy things, and of course she loved being touched by Nick. So it seemed the best way to ensure his constant caresses. At least that's what she told herself, but the scent was quite pleasant as well.
She heard from the next room the clattering of a pot or pan, Nick must be trying to make dinner, when they originally used to hang out at his place, and when she heard of his usual diet, she was worried the poor fox couldn't boil water. But surprisingly he was quite adept; it just was a skill he chose not to waste on himself, but would choose to show off and dote on his favorite bunny.
Judy wished that Nick wouldn't think so negatively or simple of himself, 'he of all people deserves a good life' she thought. 'I guess that's part of why we work, I encourage him to be better, and in so doing, treat himself better.' Of course it helps to have constant kisses, hugs and words of encouragement from a significant other.
Judy finished her shower, trying to save some hot water for Nick. She managed to towel off and dry her fur, still a bit damp, but dry enough to allow the rest to air dry. She opened the door and stepped out across the hall to the bedroom, only about a step or two exposed, she turned her head to see, as expected, Nick's head leaning around the corner from the cooking range with a smirk on his face, just to catch his favorite bunny naked in profile before she stepped into the bedroom to find some evening attire. She wonders if he pre-plans these things or is it just a happenstance based on the geography of the apartment, the fact that someone standing at the range is also facing towards the bathroom.
Part of her felt a blush at the fact that her form, so brought a smile to his face, another part didn't fathom what his foxy eyes saw that was so attractive. 'Maybe we both think down on ourselves' she thought. 'That's why we work, we bring each other up.'
She slipped on some underwear, some house shorts and a shirt, and went back out to the front. She felt the cool hardwood floor against her foot pads, and the slight squeak they made as she walked.
"Enjoy the view?" Judy said with a smirk.
"Mhmm, only a half moon tonight though." Nick quipped back.
She rolled her eyes and looked at the dinner in the pots that Nick was preparing.
"Mmmm, smells great." She commented
"I was going to ask, taste this?" asked Nick, as he uses the wooden mixing spoon to scoop a small sample of sauce.
Nick blew on it to cool it down and offered it to Judy, who tastes the sauce and smacks her mouth a few times, really trying to get the flavor.
"Mmmm, that's really good. What did you do different." She inquired
"I added a little bit of Dill Weed."
"It's good." She complimented.
"Plus it can go well with just vegetables for you and fish for me."
"That's really smart. You're really good at this."
"Let me guess, next you're going to say I should have been a chef?"
Judy chuckled out loud. "You're a fox of many talents."
Nick rolled his eyes playfully.
"You could always open a restaurant with Gideon Grey." She joked
"And he makes the deserts?" he replied playing along
"Yeah, Nick and Gideon's. And I'll come there every day." She continued to play
"Oh really, and I get to fill you up with all my delectables." Putting emphasis on the last word.
Nick picked up Judy and laughed with her, the laughter stopped abruptly as they shared a kiss. Afterward, Judy held her head against Nick's
"I believe you can do anything you set your mind to Nick. But for what it's worth, I'm really glad we work together." She nuzzled his cheek
"Yeah. I'm really glad too." He nuzzled back.
Judy left his embrace to set up the table, as Nick went back to minding his sauce base, and finish putting together the custom dishes for themselves.
They had dinner on the wooden table they had bought, since Judy had a desk in her old place and Nick had a coffee table, not that he could ever remember actually having coffee on that table. In either case, they needed a table they could sit and eat at. Bought from the same place as the couch, it was a beechnut colored table, square, with flaps on the side to make it round when needed. They bought the two extra chairs for the set in case they had company, a thought at the time which seemed only to benefit the salesman that convinced them, but they both figured better to have them and not need them, then need them and not have them. Or at least that's what they told themselves.
They ate dinner and had conversation, ranging from the mundane of 'how are your parents', and the ages and major milestones of her brothers and sisters to the more specific as to what plans if any for the weekend.
They were enjoying the feeling of just being Nick and Judy, nothing else existed outside these walls, the rest of Zootopia existed as a backdrop, or a skybox to add color and flavor to the world.
After dinner and the dishes were clean, Nick took his opportunity to take a shower, assuming that Judy would find something on their DVR to watch, a number of a recorded shows and movies they had picked.
Nick finished with his shower and toweled off, grabbing a change of boxers and an undershirt, He was still tussling some of the wetter parts of his fur with the towel, he didn't get the first time, he came out of the bathroom and went back to the couch,
"So did you find something to watch?" he said still using the towel on his face.
He didn't get an answer, so he pulled the towel down, and looked towards the couch; Judy had changed again, this time with a nighty and a smile as she patted the couch cushion next to her.
Nick approached and sat down on the cushion. Judy looked into Nick's eyes seductively and traced on his chest with her finger, which made him smile.
"I know it's not my birthday." He grinned.
"No." Judy replied.
"It's not your birthday either."
"Nope."
"Not that I NEED a reason carrots, but what are YOU thinking?" he asked.
"Well…." Judy started her sentence, as she straddled Nick. "I just realized that we never really had a chance on your first couch because we weren't 'together' yet. Then you lost it when we had to go fight the bad guys."
"So now we got a new couch, and I'm thinking we need to christen it." She suggested.
"Really? I had no idea you were so superstitious." He said lightheartedly.
"Not superstitious. Just something I've never done before." She admitted.
"So….is there any special…..technique?" he asked seductively
"Mmmm, I don't think so, I think you just, go with what comes…..naturally." she replied, taking his paws and putting it on her hips.
Nick felt bare fur, and noticed she had nothing on underneath the night.
"So you not wearing….."
"Mmm, mmm" she replied in the negative.
"So that heat is….."
"Mmhmm" she replied with a smile and a light kiss on his lips.
Judy slowly tilted Nick onto his back on the couch and started kissing him, and caressing him, her paws wandering…