Judy had been trained to handle dangerous situations. In the three years that she had been a cop, she had dealt with just about every class of criminal Zootopia had to offer. Car chases were commonplace to her, drug-induced mammals often pushed her to the limits of her abilities, and she had even been involved in shootouts more than once. She had been in life-threatening situations more times than she could count, and no matter what happened, she had always managed to keep her cool.
But something about this time was different.
Maybe it was because the shooters got away. Maybe it was that it all happened so fast. Maybe it was the fact they had been targeting somebody else entirely, or that she could not even catch a glimpse of them to see what they looked like when she had tried to pursue them.
Or maybe it was because Skye's eyes were still wide with fright, and her breathing still shallow, and small whimpers still sounded from her throat.
They were walking up the stairs to the apartment now. Judy had gently led Skye the whole way here from the subway station. Neither of them had said a word the whole trip. Judy had spent her whole life preparing for dangerous situations, and she had been through enough of them by now that she was used to dealing with them. But Skye had not, and she could only guess what was going through the arctic vixen's mind right now. All she knew was that the fox was still scared, even more than twenty minutes after it had all ended, and she was not sure what she could do or say to help her feel better.
And as they reached the apartment door and Judy stuck her key in the lock, she realized that Skye was not the only mammal tonight she would have to comfort.
The second the door opened, Nick's arms reached across the threshold and grabbed her in a desperate embrace. He pulled her inside and squeezed her body so tightly she struggled to breathe. "Judy!" he cried out softly. "Oh, thank God!"
Judy wrapped her arms around Nick's waist and returned the hug. Her mouth was buried too far inside his shirt to say anything, but her strong grip silently assured him that she was all right, and she knew that would be enough.
After a few seconds, Nick loosened his grip, though he kept her in his embrace. He looked down at her, and while there was still fear in his face, it slowly gave way to an expression of relief. His eyes slowly scanned her body from ear to tail, looking for any hint of injury, but after a few seconds, he looked back into her bright amethyst eyes and sighed with relief. "Not hurt?"
"Not hurt," she confirmed.
His eyes wandered away from Judy, and then opened wide in surprise. Judy followed his gaze, and she felt a pang of guilt when she realized that Skye had been standing in the doorway this whole time. She was not looking at them, however; she was staring off in the distance, her mind somewhere else far, far away.
Her lack of emotion startled Nick. "Skye?" He let go of Judy and walked over to the fox. "Are you hurt?" She kept staring straight ahead, her pupils dilated against her ice-blue eyes, and did not give any indication she had heard him. He rested his paw against her shoulder and shook it sternly. "Skye!"
She flinched away from his touch, and a small cry sounded from her throat. Her eyes darted around for a second before finally settling on Nick. It seemed that the sight of the red fox provided her with at least a hint of comfort; her shoulders relaxed a tiny bit, her ears perked up slightly, and a small sigh of relief escaped from her lips.
It took a few more seconds before she comprehended Nick's words. "Oh…" She looked down at the ground in embarrassment and slowly shook her head. "No. I'm fine." Her words were quiet, almost in a whisper, and even though she might not have been physically injured, it was clear that the experience had left her traumatized.
Judy saw how uncomfortable Skye was and decided to take control of the situation. She stepped up to the two foxes, gently led them both further into the apartment, and closed the front door behind them. Then she took Skye by the paw and brought her to the living room couch so she could sit down. Nick followed close behind, sticking close to Judy as if she might be taken away from him if he didn't.
Skye collapsed onto the couch like the muscles in her legs had stopped working. Judy sat down next to her, and Nick sat next to Judy. He lowered his head and rested his paws on his knees, struggling to relax. "I should have been there," he lamented quietly. His paws curled into fists. "I should have been there," he repeated again, this time more firmly. "If I had been there, then I could have—"
Judy placed a paw on his shoulder. "Nick," she whispered in his ear. Her paw traveled to his back and started to slowly rub it affectionately. "It's okay. I'm okay." She caught his eye, and she offered him an encouraging smile. "See? I'm still here."
Nick was quiet for several seconds while he processed her words. She knew this was a struggle for him. Ever since he had joined the ZPD—maybe even earlier—he had made it his duty to protect her. Any time she got hurt, even from something as simple as stubbing her toe on a chair, he vocalized his regret for being unable to stop it from happening. Sometimes, she found it annoying; after all, she was fully capable of taking care of herself. But as they grew closer, she had come to understand him better. Nick did not think of her as fragile; on the contrary, he thought she was the strongest person in the whole world. No, his feelings were rooted in something much deeper.
Nick was afraid of losing her.
It was a fear that he wrestled with every single day, though he hid it so well nobody would ever know it. Most days, of course, nothing noteworthy happened, but there were days when Judy's life was put in danger, and when that happened, Nick became a completely different person. His cool, joking persona disappeared, replaced with panic and paranoia, and his grip on reality would begin to slip, as if the mere thought of losing Judy was enough to render him completely helpless.
However, whenever it happened, Judy knew exactly what to do. She kept close to the fox, showed him that she was okay, and patiently stayed by his side until his distress faded away. Usually, he would calm back down after a couple of minutes, and give her paw a gentle squeeze to let her know he was back to normal.
This time, perhaps because Skye was here, he managed to reach out and grab her paw after only a few seconds. She raised an eyebrow, silently asking him if he was really okay again, but he gave her a reassuring nod and smile. He leaned his head forward and looked past Judy to the vixen sitting beside her. His smile disappeared at what he saw.
Skye was laying against the armrest, curled up in a ball similar to the way Judy had found her in the alley. She was facing away from them, and her head was buried in her arms, shielding her face from the outside world. Judy's sensitive ears picked up the faint sounds of the fox's short breaths—a telltale sign that she was crying.
Judy rested a paw on Skye's shoulder, gently enough to not startle her but firm enough to catch her attention. "Skye?"
She did not turn around to look at them. In fact, she turned her head further away and hugged herself all the tighter. "I thought…" Her voice was a high-pitched whisper, as if she had just seen a ghost. "I thought they were from Marble Jade."
Marble Jade…
Judy had never heard the expression before. She glanced at Nick, who simply shrugged, indicating he had never heard it either. She was tempted to ask Skye for more information, but the arctic vixen was clearly not in any state to be questioned, and she decided to let it slide for the moment.
"But they weren't." Judy squeezed Skye's shoulder reassuringly. "You don't have to worry, Skye. You're safe here."
Skye remained still, and silence fell over the three of them. Judy's paw slowly began to rub Skye's back to assure her that things would be okay. Her other paw was gripped firmly inside of Nick's, whose thumb rubbed over hers while they patiently waited for Skye to calm down.
Minutes passed. Skye's breathing remained labored. She would occasionally dig her claws into her coat and let out a small whimper of pain when a particularly dark thought entered her mind. Her eyes were shut tight, her teeth clenched, and a small trail of tears coated each of her cheeks.
When she finally spoke again, her words were muddled, and if it weren't for Judy's heightened sense of hearing, she might have missed it. "I should go…"
"Go?" Judy leaned forward, trying to catch the fox's gaze. "Go where?"
Skye's tail curled over her face, blocking it from Judy. "I don't know, but I can't stay here." Her voice was wet from her silent weeping, and even though the bunny could no longer see her face, she knew the vixen was fighting off a fresh set of tears. "I'm just putting both of you in danger. It's only a matter of time before they find me, and they'll kill you if…" Finally, she seemed unable to control herself any longer, as her sobs overpowered her voice and filled the room with the sounds of her anguish.
Judy was used to dealing with trauma victims. When mammals were put under stress, they said all kinds of things they didn't really mean. When their lives were in danger, their flight-or-fight instincts overtook their common sense, and she was sure she could write a book full of all the weird nonsense that she had heard in the line of duty. Her first instinct was to simply dismiss Skye's words now as another one of those things that someone said in a delirious state when they weren't thinking properly.
Instead, Skye's words gave Judy a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. She had known since Skye had come to Zootopia that she was running from something; it was one of the things that had drawn her to the arctic fox in the first place. Skye's actions right now might have been a textbook example of a mammal undergoing PTSD, but there was also a ring of truth to her words. This was not her shell-shocked trauma talking. Skye believed every word she said.
Which made it all the more important to keep her safe.
Skye's cries softened after a little while, a result of her emotional exhaustion. Judy wished with all her heart that she could say something right now to comfort the poor vixen, but right now, she was at a loss for words. She turned to Nick and gave him a look that asked for him to say something instead.
Nick considered his words carefully for a moment, then nodded to Judy to let her know he was ready. Judy patted Skye's shoulder, and the arctic fox finally quieted down enough for Nick to start talking.
"Listen to me, Skye. There's a reason Judy and I came into your life, and I believe that reason is to protect you. We have made it our purpose to protect those who cannot protect themselves, no matter what. Mammals with guns won't stop us. Marble Jade won't stop us. A whole army of rhinos with mad buffalo disease…" He paused. "Okay, that might stop us, but I promise, as long as you are with us, we will keep you safe." He looked to Judy and gave her a knowing smile. "Because that's what we do for those we love."
Judy felt the corners of her own lips curl upwards at his sentiment, and she gave his paw a big squeeze in response. She turned back to Skye, and it seemed Nick's words had at least some effect on her; her tail had drifted away from her face, and her crying had come to a stop now.
"Skye…" Judy finally managed to catch the fox's ice-blue gaze. "Do you remember what I told you in the alley? About me and Nick?" Skye weakly nodded her head. "Then let me ask you something: Do you believe I would do everything I could to protect him?"
She had to sniffle before responding, "Yes."
"And do you believe he would do everything he could to protect me?"
Skye did not hesitate this time. "Yes."
"Then believe this: We will both do the same for you."
Judy gripped Skye's shoulder and gently pulled on it, encouraging her to sit up. The fox did so, finally allowing them an unobstructed view of her face. The rims of her eyes were red from the tears, both of her creamy-white cheeks were pressed into wet clumps, and her breathing was still shallow from all the crying. But she seemed better now, and after taking a deep breath, she finally seemed to calm down.
"Thank you," she whispered. She looked to Nick. "Thank you both."
Nick reached past Judy and patted Skye's knee. "And Skye?" He leaned his head past Judy, and a playful smile crossed his face. "I'm counting on you to protect my bunny, too. Can you do that for me?"
Judy placed her paw on top of Nick's. "Only if you also promise to protect my fox," she added.
A small smile came to Skye's lips, her first that Judy had seen all day. "I can do that."
Judy and Nick both gave her knee a final squeeze, then finally pulled their paws back from the vixen. Skye opened her mouth to say something else, but before she could, a big, long yawn overtook her.
"You've had a big day. You should get some sleep." Judy nodded her head in the direction of the guest bedroom. "That is, if you're still interested in staying with us." She offered the vixen a kind smile. "And we would really like it if you did."
"I would like that, too." She slowly rose to her feet and started walking to her room, but paused halfway to turn around and address Judy. "And…" Her face turned a hint of red beneath her cream-colored fur, and she lowered her gaze. "Thank you…" She folded her paws bashfully. "For saving my life."
Judy smirked, and recited the line she usually said at such remarks. "Well, that's what we do at the ZPD."
"And remember," Nick added, "if you need anything, we're right here."
Skye smiled at that, then she went to her room without another word.
As soon as the door closed, Nick turned to Judy, his expression suddenly serious. "Carrots. What happened?"
She knew this was coming. The only reason Nick had put off this conversation for so long was because neither of them wanted for Skye to relive the shooting, and now that Skye was out of earshot, he was itching for information.
And she was willing to share whatever she could. "How much do you know?"
"Not much. Clawhauser called me about fifteen minutes ago and said you had been shot at but that you were okay. I tried calling you but it kept going straight to voicemail."
Judy cocked an eyebrow. "It did?" She quickly dug out her phone, and groaned when she realized the problem. Somehow, when she had hung up the call with Clawhauser and shoved it back into her pocket, she had accidentally pressed the button to turn it off. The screen was still stuck on the prompt asking her to verify, and as long as it was there, the phone was completely useless.
"Why do they even…" She didn't bother finishing the thought. She just let out a frustrated sigh, pressed the appropriate button to dismiss the prompt, and dropped the phone in her lap. "Sorry, Nick. I probably should have called you, but neither of us were hurt, and I didn't want you worrying."
"A little late for that now," Nick mumbled, but he quickly shook his head to disregard the quip. "It's fine. Just tell me what happened and we'll call it square."
Judy thought back to the events that transpired and tried her best to share the most relevant information. "Skye and I were walking from the mall the subway station. I heard a gun cock, and…" She blinked. "I don't really remember much of what happened next. I guess my instincts took over. Anyway, we were shot at, and they got away. I didn't see who it was. It was too dark, and they got away before I could catch them."
"Do you have any ideas?"
She shook her head. "They stopped shooting when they heard Skye scream. I heard one of them say something about 'the wrong fox', and then they ran."
Nick looked away, his brow furrowing in thought. "So, it could have been a hit on a different fox?" he suggested. His breath caught in his throat. "You don't think it was meant for me, do you?" His eyes narrowed playfully. "Maybe it was Steve Hoppkins, making good on his threat of revenge!"
The thought had crossed Judy's mind, but she had a hard time believing it. Hoppkins was a sleaze, but in her experience, he was all bark and no bite. It was difficult to imagine the rabbit would be willing to throw away his career just because he got a little jealous—and even if he did go to such extreme measures, and the hit really was on Nick, there was no way to prove it.
"Not much point thinking about it right now. They got away, and I'm out of clues." She gave Nick a look. "But maybe you should watch your back for the next few days, just in case."
Nick nodded his head in understanding. "Okay, I shall stare directly at my tail for the foreseeable future."
She rolled her eyes. "Dumb fox."
A warm smile came to his face. "My bunny." His smile turned sly as another thought popped into his head. "So, you went ahead and told Skye our little secret?"
Judy felt her ears begin to burn. "Oh…" She smiled shyly. "Yeah. I did. I mean, you told me you were okay with it."
"Yeah, but in the middle of a dark, dangerous alleyway?" Nick smirked. "The least you could have done was tell her over dinner."
"Well, maybe I'll do that next time." She and Nick shared a chuckle, before she decided to circle back to his original inquiry. "Yes. I told her. And I'm positive she will keep it a secret."
"Yeah, I figured." Nick looked toward the hallway where Skye had disappeared. "She seems to be good at keeping secrets." He turned back to Judy. "I take it you've never heard of Marble Jade, either?"
"No." Judy lifted her phone and performed a quick Zoogle search. The top results were nothing but music videos and a few punch lines from obscure comedians. "Maybe we can do some digging at the station."
"Maybe." Nick gently placed a paw on Judy's phone and pushed it down, dismissing her train of thought. "Or maybe Skye will tell us when she's ready."
Judy took the hint, and simply nodded her head silently to end the conversation. Skye had already been through enough as it was, and the last thing she needed was for a well-meaning friend to pry her for more information. The thing Skye needed the most from her and Nick—aside from their protection—was patience. She clearly needed a lot of time to get over what happened today, and Judy was positive it would be a long time before she could fully heal.
She did not know much about Skye's past, but for the first time, she felt like she had seen a glimpse into it today. It was a fearful, terrifying past, that seemed to hang over Skye's head like a dark cloud no matter how much time passed or where she went in the world. Judy knew precious few details about it right now, but what little she did know went a long way to explain Skye's timid personality. The vixen was traumatized by the things she had been through, and even though she was in safe paws now, she was still afraid. Very, very afraid.
The thing that pained Judy the most was that there was not much she could do to help her. Skye was traumatized by her past, and she had to work through that on her own. In the meantime, all Judy could really do was to keep doing exactly what she and Nick had been doing all along: help Skye start her new life in Zootopia, and be here to help her however they could. Judy was not the kind of animal who liked sitting back and waiting for things to happen; she preferred running straight into the action and getting her paws dirty. But when it came to this, she knew that would only do more harm than good. The best thing for her to do right now, was nothing at all. When Skye was ready to tell her and Nick about her past, she would, but until then, all she could do was wait.
Wait and hope that they really could protect Skye like she promised.
Judy's phone buzzed, startling her out of her thoughts. She raised it back up and looked at it. Her eyes widened. "Nick…" She leaned against his side and showed him the screen. "Look!" The fox stared at the phone, and as he read, his eyes got wider and wider, until they were just as wide as hers.
It was a text from Chief Bogo. He informed Judy that Steve Hoppkins had transferred her paycheck to Bogo's bank account, and that her "exemplary service" had resulted in her receiving an even larger bonus than she had been promised. Bogo then sent a screenshot of the confirmation that the money was transferred from his bank account to Judy's.
And as of this minute, Judy was now $750,000 richer.
Even though they had both known this was coming, they still found themselves dumbstruck now that it actually happened. The last three days of her life were some of the most unpleasant Judy had ever endured, and she had worried the whole time that it would have all been for nothing. And even though she had upheld her end of the agreement, she was half-convinced that Hoppkins would find a way to weasel out of the agreement after the events of this afternoon.
But he had actually done it. Despite everything, Hoppkins had followed through on his promise and paid her for her work. The longer Judy stared at her screen, the more it finally sank in.
It had been worth it. It had all been worth it.
Nick finally managed to say something. "Sweet Cheeser salad." He let out a low whistle. "It kind of feels like we just won the lottery."
Judy shot him a playful look. "What's all this we stuff?" She pulled the phone away from him, letting out a small chuckle when his eyes followed against his will. "Last I checked, this was my paycheck, from doing my job, and it went into my bank account."
Nick finally peeled his eyes away from her phone and stared at her with a look of disbelief. "Hey, wait a minute! That's our bank account!"
Judy placed a finger on her chin and pretended to be deep in thought. "Hmm, well, maybe it was, but now that I'm suddenly a multibillionaire, I think I'll kick you out." She stuck her tongue out at Nick to further emphasize that she was only teasing him.
He decided to play along. "Carrots, you've cut me to the quick." He lowered his eyelids and smirked. "Am I to understand that you only married me for my money, and now that you have money of your own you don't need me anymore?"
"Oh, yeah, like you had any money to your name when we got married."
His smirk disappeared. "Ouch." He pressed a paw against his heart and winced. "You've wounded me! I am going to file a grievance against you, Officer Hopps!"
Judy gasped and placed both paws up to her mouth. "No! Anything but a grievance, Officer Wilde!" she begged.
"I don't know, it really hurts." Nick rubbed his chest with one paw, and pressed his other against Judy's shoulder. He lowered his head and let out a cough of anguish. "If I don't make it… tell my boss… his… breath… stinks…"
The bunny covered Nick's paw on his chest with her own and caught his attention. "Nick, no!" She leaned forward, showing him her quivering lower lip. "I'll do anything to save you! Anything!"
"Even…" Nick coughed again, and his voice grew hoarse. "Even splitting your lottery winnings with me?"
Judy let go of him and sat back up straight. Without her body to rest against, he suddenly slumped into the couch before he had a chance to catch himself. "Nah." She flashed him a cheeky smile. "Mine."
Nick sat back up straight and dropped his playful façade. "All right, fair is fair." He patted her leg and gave her a sincere smile. "You earned it. You should feel free to do whatever you want with it."
"Good." Judy's smile stopped being cheeky and turned genuine. "Because I want to give you half."
Nick blinked. "Wait…" He studied her face, not quite sure if she was still kidding or if she was serious. "Do you mean…?"
Judy raised a paw. "Kind of." She picked back up her phone, took a second to open an app, and showed him her screen. "After having three days to think it over, this is what I've come up with. What do you think?"
She had brought up a spreadsheet, showing how she had planned to distribute her paycheck from Hoppkins. The total amount was only $500,000—the amount she had been promised without the bonus—but after modifying it to $750,000, the spreadsheet updated itself accordingly. The very first thing set aside was a certain percentage to take care of taxes. Then it was split into two columns, one for Judy and the other for Nick. Each of them would have $100,000 deposited into their retirement accounts, followed by another $50,000 to be set in an emergency fund. Even after all of that, there was still more than $250,000 leftover, which had a small note written next to it: To be determined.
Nick studied the spreadsheet for a minute, then turned back to Judy and nodded. "I think that's fair," he agreed.
"Perfect." Judy pocketed her phone and lay her head against the fox's shoulder. "You have tomorrow off, right?"
"Yep. Third Monday of the month, like usual." He draped his arm on her shoulders and pulled her closer to him.
She nuzzled her head into his side and let out a contented sigh. "So, we both have tomorrow off." She cocked her head up so she could lock eyes with the fox. "What do you say we go on a shopping spree tomorrow to celebrate?"
Nick wiggled his eyebrows at her. "My, my, my, so irresponsible. I'm not sure I want to be involved in such frivolous spending."
"We can buy a new PreyStation," Judy offered enticingly.
Without hesitation, Nick nodded. "Let's go waste some money." He pulled her closer for a quick hug. "It's a date, then?"
"It's a date!"
With that decided, Judy rested her head against Nick's chest and made herself comfortable. Between finishing her job with Hoppkins, getting shot at in the alley, and getting paid more money than she knew what to do with, it had been quite a day, and she felt herself start to grow drowsy as she thought back on all that had happened in such a short amount of time. Beyond her fatigue, however, she knew she was too excited to fall asleep anytime soon. The sheer amount of money she had now was life-changing, and even though she had already decided where most of it would go, it still made her heart pound in her chest to know how rich she was. Her mind was already filling up with all the things she could buy, even after setting a limit on herself. Images of clothes, video games, Kitsmas gifts for her family, and chocolate-covered strawberries floated past her mind's eye, and she was sure there would be plenty of other frivolous things that would tempt her as soon as she and Nick dropped Skye off at the mall in the morning.
All of her other thoughts left her. Skye…
Even though the vixen had seemed much better when she went to bed, Judy still worried about her. When she had first met Skye, she was little more than a scared, paranoid fox. In the days since then, she had improved quite a bit: slowly coming out of her shell, building confidence, and even being able to walk down the street without ducking her head to avoid being recognized. The more time passed, the more Judy felt she was beginning to see the real Skye—the Skye who was not scared all the time. The real Skye was a fox who could stand up for herself if needed, wanted to make others happy, and was so full of life that it brought a smile to the bunny's face just being around her.
But something about the incident in the alleyway had changed that. Skye had reverted back to her old self, except now it was even worse. If she was simply wary before, now she was petrified. Whatever Marble Jade was, it struck terror in her in a way that Judy had rarely seen in other mammals before. It was hard to imagine just what could have happened to turn a sweet girl like Skye into such a fearful shell of herself. Maybe she had committed some unpardonable sin against the wrong person? Or possibly an old lover was too obsessed over her? Or perhaps it was just simple prejudice against her because she was a fox?
Judy felt her heart sink thinking about Skye. No matter the reason, nobody deserved to fear for their life the way she did. And while she and Nick could promise her that they would protect her as much as they wanted, they couldn't fix the fact that she needed protection in the first place. As long as Skye feared Marble Jade, Skye would always be running, and as long as Skye was running, she could never be truly happy.
She let out a helpless sigh. She wished she could do something for Skye to help assure her that everything would be all right. Even if she couldn't take care of Marble Jade—at least, not without knowing more information first about what Marble Jade even was—she wished there was something she could do. But no matter how hard she thought, nothing came to her. It was a bitter irony that she had more money than she knew what to do with, but even all the money in the world could not solve a problem like this. There was nothing she could think of that she could buy for Skye that could possibly cheer her…
An idea popped into her head. Wait a minute… Her eyes snapped open, and she allowed herself a quiet gasp. That's it!
"Hey, Nick?" She raised her head and looked into her fox's emerald eyes. "I have an idea that can help Skye." He raised an eyebrow. "But this decision, you and I will need to make together."