YES! ZOOTOPIA WON THE OSCAR!
Oh, hello there... How you've been, everyone?
I just got out of a cave and finally got to publish a new chapter, sorry for the wait.
BIG thanks to Cimar of Turalis WildeHopps for his priceless help with editting. Muchas gracias! ;)
I also give my thanks to all reviewers and readers. I said this before, but I'll be repeating it again and again: this story wouldn't exist and grow without you!
ALSO, if you're interested, in my profile I have added short descriptions of stories that I plan on writing in the future. Feel free to tell me your thoughts on them or maybe give some crazy suggestions! :)
As for the references in the last chapter:
-Many people (mammals?) caught the quite *cough* obvious reference to Far Cry 4
-There was also Mr. Wolf, which is a reference to a character from a classic movie Pulp Fiction (adults only!) - that guy was amazing there.
And to answer some questions from the reviews:
-The three thugs? We'll get back to them soon.
-What Clawhauser has on his phone? You know it, I know it, but Judy doesn't. What will happen if she finds out? ;)
Now, on to the new chapter. We'll be dealing with the serum theft and the next few chapters will follow up on this, PLUS we're going to deal with the Judy/William/Nick "love triangle" and let me tell you, sparks will fly. ;)
Chapter 33
"Stolen?" Judy asked out loud after going through the first page.
Bogo nodded with his arms folded. "The pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithCanine reported this only yesterday. Their CEO talked with me personally and insisted for this investigation to be kept secret. For once, I can agree on that," the buffalo leaned forward and tapped the desk with his hoof. "If this gets out, we risk an eruption of panic in the streets."
"Yeah, who wouldn't be happy to know that there's no protection against 'savage' animals?" the fox commented sarcastically, glad that the two didn't understand the irony of his statement..
"Nick, this is serious!" Judy elbowed her partner with a stern expression on her face.
"Did I say that it isn't?," he shrugged at her scolding reaction. "But what's the point in keeping it so grim? Who ever said that funny is the opposite of serious?
"Alright, enough!" Bogo cut in with his deep voice. "You two are on this case, as you've dealt with this before. All known details are in the file, but if you need additional information, the employees of the company involved have been instructed to give you all possible help." With this said, he glared at them with a hoof raised in a warning gesture. "And keep a low profile, this CANNOT be leaked outside of this room, got it? Now get to it, I want this solved ASAP. Dismissed."
"Yes, chief!" Judy pulled off a sharp salute, while Nick made a bit lazy version of it. "Yes, boss."
When the duo left the buffalo's office, they already had two different attitudes towards this case, though their goal was the same. Judy was brimming with enthusiasm and righteousness, determined to get to the bottom of this for the good of the city. Nick shared her idea of the goal ahead of them, but had also his own agenda in this. He needed the antidote to the serum.
"Okay," Judy flipped through the several pages. "Do me a favour and memorize it all, please," she handed him the file.
"Taking advantage of my abilities now, eh Fluff?" he inquired of her in an amused tone.
"Just a precaution," she replied with a smile. "Why keep the file, when we can lock it somewhere safe and have all the details of the case in your head?"
Nick chuckled at her reasoning and opened the folder. "Fine," his eyes quickly scanned the pages and within seconds he handed them back to Judy. "Done."
She shook her head. "You know, even when I know that you have a perfect memory it still amazes me."
"I have many amazing skills, Carrots," the fox wiggled his eyebrows at his partner and for that, received a swift elbow to the side.
To get to the garage and their designated vehicle, the duo had to cross the main lobby and they usually stopped by Clawhauser's desk for a small chat and maybe hear some juicy gossip, which sometimes contained valuable information. Today, they were already beaten to it by a slim cheetah in uniform. When they got closer it became obvious that she wasn't in the best shape.
And Nick knew exactly why, so he decided for a little payback for her loose mouth yesterday. "Hey, Spots! How are ya?" he called in a loud voice, causing Jackie's face to cringe in pain.
"Jeez, have some mercy will ya? My skull's going to crack open," she muttered while grabbing her head with both paws.
Judy's ears perked up and eyes widened. "You came here with a hangover?! Jackie, Bogo will be furious if he sees you like this!"
"Uh, well… just don't tell him I'm here…" the slim feline mumbled in return.
Benjamin scratched the back of his head. "Um, could be difficult, because he's coming towards us right now"
Jackie groaned and grabbed Judy by the arms. "Help me out here! Hide me or something!" she hissed.
"Hide you? How? Stand in front of you?" the doe questioned the idea and Nick had to stifle a chuckle.
The buffalo approached the group with his usual grumpy expression. He scanned the gathered mammals with his gaze and paused when he noticed Jackie's state. "Officer Spotters," he grumbled, a sure sign that this wasn't going to end well.
*Uh, oh…* Nick thought and was about to say something, but didn't get the chance.
"My apologies, sir!" Judy saluted and stood between the cheetah and their superior. "It's my fault, as I am the one responsible."
All eyes turned to her. Jackie and Nick slightly slack jawed.
Bogo crossed his arms and stared down at the bunny. "Explain."
"I invited her for a small celebration and didn't consider that she's not used to strong drinks. The fault lies entirely with me," she stated brazenly, not flinching under the huge mammal's gaze.
Nick was impressed. Both with how she has grown from the uncertain bunny that couldn't get a word in with a discussion with chief Buffalo Butt almost a year ago and with the fact that she just openly lied to her boss to cover Jackie's backside.
"Is that so?" the chief studied the doe's expression, as if to break down her statement with just a gaze. But she stood her ground and didn't falter under the pressure. Bogo let out a grunt that could be either a sign of irritation or his rough version of approval. "First and last warning, Spotters. Next time is a month of parking duty for you."
The stunned cheetah was speechless, until Nick nudged her in the ribs. She pulled off a salute and stood more or less to attention. "Y-yes, thank you sir! Sorry, sir! Won't happen again!"
Bogo simply huffed and turned to the chunky dispatcher. "Clawhauser, I told you to get me the files over an hour ago, why aren't they on my desk yet?"
Benjamin gave him a dumbfounded look. "S-sir, I gave them to Priscilla half an hour ago!"
He was referring to Bogo's administrative assistant, an elderly opossum who worked with the department for more years than Judy had been alive. Being responsible for handling all trivial, formal matters, such as handling the official mail, organizing documentation and managing the chief's office in general. She was diligent, well organized and kind to everyone, but she was getting on in years which started to weigh on her quality of work. Like the situation right now, when the mentioned documents were most likely waiting on her desk and she had simply forgot to hand them over to Bogo.
The buffalo sighed and ran a hooved palm down his face. "Alright, I'll get it," he turned to leave, glancing over his shoulder at them. "And you lot get to work!" he ordered loudly, getting salutes from three officers and a twist of pain on a cheetah's face.
When their boss was gone, Benjamin relaxed and breathed with relief. "Oh boy, I think that we might see a change in personnel soon."
Judy turned to the chubby cheetah. "Is it that bad?"
He nodded. "It happens more and more often. I'm afraid that old Priscilla will have to retire…" his ears fell down.
Judy looked equally sad. "That's a shame. She's a really nice lady..." then she felt a tap on her arm. Judy turned around to see the half suffering, half grateful expression of Jackie.
"Thanks for standing up for me, Hopps. I owe you one," the feline stated with as much gratitude she could muster in her current condition.
"Don't sweat it, it's normal for fellow officers to back each other up, even against Bogo and he knows that. We're almost like a family here," she replied with a wide smile. "Though I am curious what happened for you to end up like this."
Jackie opened her mouth, shut it, looked up at Nick and Benjamin, looked at Judy again and opened her mouth once more. "Can we go somewhere else for a bit?" she nervously stammered.
Judy raised a curious brow and the males exchanged glances.
"Sure," the doe said and they began walking to a different part of the lobby to not be overheard by the males. Jackie cast a quick glance over her shoulder to send Nick a playful wink, in return she got a cold, hard stare from narrowed eyes and he slowly shook his head, just before slashing his paw over his throat, sending a very clear message to the feline.
She let out a sigh and followed Judy to a more distant corner of the lobby.
"Soo, what was the occasion?" the doe inquired when they stopped.
Jackie rubbed the back of her neck with a slightly embarrassed expression. "Breakup," she admitted before her friend, "over Nick."
This caused Judy's curious expression to change into a shocked one with eyes wide and ears drooping low. "What?!" she shot a quick glance towards her fox partner. "I mean, why?! How…" she gestured wildly with her paws. "What happened?"
The female cheetah's shoulders sank a little. "Well, to cut long story short… he already has someone."
"Huh? Vivian said… and I saw you two in the locker room… how is this possible?" Judy couldn't exactly grasp the concept presented by Jackie as she was sure that the two could have a chance together. Apparently, she was wrong.
The feline rubbed her cheeks. "Well, that time in the locker room, it was just me… Nick didn't share the feeling and held no punches in telling me that. And he was right, it was my fault to push him like that," she let out another heavy sigh and gave Judy a strange look that the doe couldn't decipher. "Yesterday he told me that there already is a girl he loves and can't accept my feelings," she snapped her fingers, wincing slightly from the sound. "And poof, just like that I got dumped."
"Jackie…" the bunny placed a paw on her friend's arm. "I'm sorry that it didn't work out."
The cheetah stared at her friends sincere, sad expression and knew that she really meant it. The thing was, though, that she didn't get to know the irony of this scene, as she didn't know who Nick was in love with. And seeing the fox's reaction moments ago, Jackie wasn't stupid enough to earn his ire by telling Judy the truth. She would have to find out on her own. Still, even with a slightly bitter feeling in her chest, Jackie was glad to have the bunny as her friend.
"Thanks… I just needed to drown my disappointment in tears and alcohol, so that's why I'm like this right now," she gestured towards herself with a paw and noticed Judy's expression. "Hey, I'm not an alcoholic. Just needed something to desensitize myself a bit."
The doe crossed her arms and shook her head. "A bit?"
"A big bit, okay? Come on, cut the heartbroken girl some slack, will ya?" the feline stated in a lighter voice. "Without ice cream to indulge in, I only had the liquor."
"Fine, fine. Just don't get heartbroken too often or Bogo will go spare, deal?" the smaller female let out a chuckle and nudged Jackie playfully.
"Yeah…with my luck I'll probably end up asking perps to go on dates with me to avoid arrest."
This time Judy burst out with laughter and slapped her friend on the back. In this atmosphere of amusement, the girls went back to Clawhauser's desk.
"Soo," Nick began, his arms folded. "Everything clear now?"
Jackie nodded. "Clear as day." He didn't like how playful her smile was.
"Good," the fox muttered with slightly narrowed eyes. "I would hate to clear up any misunderstandings out loud," the last two words he said in a louder voice, making Jackie cringe a bit.
At that point Judy grabbed his arm and began dragging him towards the garage. "Time to work, come on."
"Yeah, yeah… I'm going," he freed himself from her grip and now walked beside her. After a few steps he got surprised by a rather hard punch to the side from his partner.
"Hey, what was that for?!" he mumbled with lowered ears, massaging the hit spot.
"You very well know what," the doe huffed and went on.
Nick cast a puzzled glance over his shoulder and saw Jackie giving him a wink and showing an 'ok' sign with her paw.
.
.
They postponed any additional talk about the case until they got into their cruiser and shut the door behind them.
"Soo, your idea where should we start with this?" Nick asked the bunny behind the wheel while they were buckling up.
"I doubt that we could get much more information from the company itself, so how about talking to a mammal that should know the most about the serum?"
Nick narrowed his eyes, "You're not thinking… Smellweather?"
"Bingo! Even if she's not willing to cooperate, we might have a chance to drag something from her."
"If you say so, senior officer. So, we're going to jail? he chuckled.
"Pretty much."
.
.
Their ride was smooth, Nick acting as their live GPS, but only at times, as Judy was hell bent on learning the layout of the city on her own. Also, so she could show him how much of the streets she had already learned while he was at the academy. Indulging her wish, Nick intervened only when necessary and for the rest of the ride kept his eyes on the screen of his phone.
Therefore, the unwelcoming, grey walls of Zootopia's main prison came into view pretty quickly. They drove through the gate after flashing their badges to the guard stationed outside and pulled over to the parking lot for the staff. Jumping out of the cruiser, Nick clicked his tongue. He never mentioned this to Judy, but this wasn't his first visit here. The details were complicated and connected with something illegal, so he wasn't keen on anyone from the ZPD finding out about them. The vulpine had to hope that nobody would recognize his face after all these years. Burying his thoughts under the mask of a relaxed and carefree fox, Nick trailed after his partner towards the office building of the prison complex.
Once inside the main lobby, the duo approached an officer behind the reception desk and asked for a meeting with the prison's warden. After a brief call, the uniformed wolverine confirmed that the facility supervisor could see them and called for another officer to escort them to his office.
They were guided through several corridors and to the third floor, where they stood in front of the door to the warden's office.
Nick read the brass plaque on it.
"Atilla Cerbero, huh? The old 'Guard Dog' is still active, eh?" he muttered.
Judy turned her head to him. "You know this mammal?"
The fox sent her a wink, while showing his trademark smirk. "I know everyone, remember?" he quickly knocked on the door to avoid any further questions from the bunny. "Just try not to stare, Fluff."
His partner opened her mouth, but was interrupted by a voice from inside the room.
"Come in!"
It was harsh and commanding, the type of voice that did not accept refusal or disobedience. It possessed the weight of authority.
The police duo entered the office and when Judy saw the warden, she immediately understood Nick's cautionary words. The supervisor of Zootopia's main prison was an african wild dog with a typical, mixed colored fur. Patches of white, black and brown were wildly scattered over his body in a fashion unique for every member of his species.
His eyes stared at them with hostility, as if gauging their worth and thinking of possible crimes they could be charged with. Nick remembered that he was known for a quote, 'everyone is guilty of something unless proven otherwise' and treated every prisoner like they were here for a life sentence. It wasn't that he was cruel, Cerbero merely did his job to the best of his abilities. Viewing himself as a guardian, he never doubted the verdicts of courts that sent mammals behind bars, as that wasn't his role. He was tasked to keep criminals locked away from society and that's what he was doing. It was not within a guardian's responsibilities to question reasons for which the prisoners ended up in his 'care'.
And what was really standing out in his appearance was a thin, long scar around his neck, just above the collar of his shirt.
Apparently, the doe's gaze lingered a bit too long on this mark, as the warden's eyes narrowed and he let out a low growl. "State your business or are you here just to waste my time?"
Judy recomposed herself and saluted. "My apologies, sir. We're here to question one of your prisoners regarding an ongoing investigation."
He held his gaze on her. "What prisoner would that be?" he asked after a moment of silence.
"Dawn Bellweather."
"Former mayor?" the warden raised a brow. "Then why come to me?"
Nick took a step forward. "What do you mean?" the prison's supervisor turned his gaze towards the fox. Not a friendly one. Still, Nick didn't see any resentment or judgement in those eyes, like he usually did whenever someone was looking at him. Most likely because Nick knew Cerbero never discerned between species when it came to dealing with others. For him the world was split into two categories: convicted and not convicted. The place of those sentenced by a court was behind the bars of his jail and normal, law abiding civilians should stay away and not interfere with his duty.
"The inmate in question is no longer here. She was transferred to a maximum security facility three months ago."
The duo exchanged glances. This was something they did not expect.
Judy cleared her throat. "Could you tell us under whose order?"
The warden folded his paws on the desk. "If my memory serves correctly, it was ZPD Chief Bogo's."
"Chief?!" the doe's nose twitched. "Why would he do that?"
"I believe that is not a question for me to answer."
"Ah, yes, you're right. We shall ask our chief personally. Nick, let's go-"
The fox held up a paw. "Just a second, Carrots," something didn't feel right about this, but he couldn't put his finger on it. "Why not ask him right now?" he took out his phone and dialed a number.
"What are you doing?" she inquired of her partner.
"Confirming a hunch," he replied and held a finger to his mouth to stop her from speaking further. After a few seconds, a grumpy voice could be heard in the speaker. "Hey, chief!" Nick greeted his boss cheerfully. "We're-" he was cut off by an angry huff. "Where I got this number from? Clawhauser. No, he didn't tell me, I just saw it written down on a memo on his desk. Anyway! We're investigating the item you gave us and we need your help."
There was something like a sigh from the other end and Nick continued.
"You see, we're in jail. Well not exactly in jail, more like- Ok, ok, I'll get to the point. Did you authorize Bellweather's transfer to a different facility?" when Nick heard the answer his smile faded. "Oh… ok, thanks for your help."
He turned his head to Judy with a concerned expression on his face. "He never gave such an order."
The doe's eyes shot wide open in shock. "Wait… that would mean-"
"Officer," the warden's sharp voice cut in. "You're telling me that we received a forged request for a prisoner transfer?" his fists were clenched tight.
Nick scratched the back of his head. "It would seem so and that complicates matters for us."
The lycaon snatched the phone on his desk and made a quick call. "Rodriguez! Get me the full documentation on the inmate named Dawn Bellweather, now!" he barked as an order.
Judy raised a paw and waved it to get his attention. "Sir, may we look at the video tapes from the time of her transfer?"
Nick smiled with appreciation at his friend. *Nice thinking, Fluff.*
Cerbero cast her a glance of his narrowed eyes. "And get me the videos from her transfer," he added to the microphone.
Judy nodded with a smile. "Thank you, sir."
Two minutes later the phone on the desk rang and the warden picked it up instantly. "Yes? What?" a scowl formed on his face. "What do you mean 'gone'?!"
Nick and Judy exchanged worried glances.
"Deleted? How is that possible?!" the lycaon's mood was quickly getting from bad to worse. "Listen here, Rodriguez. I don't care how, but you are to find out what happened to those videos!" he ended the call and slammed his fist on the desk.
"Unforgivable, for such a thing to happen under my nose!" he snarled and then turned to his guests. "This is now an internal matter of this facility and I need to handle it immediately. I will have to ask you to leave."
"Sir! We-"
"Leave it, Fluff. We're going," and before she could protest, Nick grabbed her arm and headed to the door, dragging the bunny with him. "Thank you for your help, Mr. Cerbero."
He kept silent after that and ignored all Judy's questions and attempts to make him speak. Just after they got to their cruiser the fox breathed out with closed eyes and relaxed in his seat. Though only for a moment, as in the next second he heard a shuffling noise and opened his eyes, only to see an angered bunny right next to his face.
He let out a small yelp and pressed himself to his seat. "Carrots! You want to give me a heart attack?!" It wasn't far from the truth as for an instant he felt that his heart might burst out of his chest.
She backed away a bit. "I'm assuming that you had a good reason to drag me out of there, otherwise a heart attack will be the least of your problems."
"Okay, okay…" he mumbled with a paw over his heart, trying to calm down the hard thumping in his chest. "We know that someone delivered fake transfer papers to the warden and deleted the video recordings from that time. In such a case we can't rule out that it could be an inside job, so it would be better to not discuss it inside their office, okay?"
This explanation seemed to satisfy her and she rubbed her chin in thought. "You have a point, but we just lost the only possible trail. I was hoping to get the warden's assistance in this and we could look at that fake document."
Nick shook his head. "Don't bother. That guy has a reputation of being so stubborn when it comes to his own playground than you'd sooner convince Bogo to sing Gazelle's songs in front of the precinct in just his briefs."
Judy tried, but still failed, to stop an amused snort coming out of her mouth. "Okay, okay, I get it. Just tell me one more thing," she sent him a certain type of look that he learned to recognize as trouble. "Have you ever been in jail?"
Nick cursed internally. *Trouble indeed…* he let out a sigh, trying to figure out a proper answer. After a short, but heated debate with himself, the fox decided to go with the most difficult option - truth. "There… was a time when I was a resident of this facility. But it's not what you think!" he added quickly. "It was kind of job related, so it was more of a hustle to get inside, not a real crime." Nick explained himself, fidgeting a bit with his claws. He kept his gaze on the dashboard, not brave enough to look Judy in the eye right now. So he was completely surprised when he felt a small paw on his knee. He turned towards his partner to see a gentle smile on her lips and a soothing gaze.
"Thank you, Nick," she gave his leg a little squeeze. "For being honest with me."
His jaw dropped down. "You… you're not going to ask me… like why, when or something similar?"
Her smile broadened. "Only if you're fine with telling me."
A huge wave of relief and gratitude washed over him and once again he asked himself how on earth he deserved such a friend.
"Thanks, Fluff. Someday I will be..."
"Don't sweat it, big guy," she patted his knee as she started the engine. "Right now we have a lamb to find so let's focus on that, okay? So put your mind to work and think where could we find some clues."
"Well… thinking about that forged transfer request..." he scratched his cheek with a finger. "There might be a guy that could have some useful information, but it's not going to be easy to get it."
She tilted her head at his words. "Really? What do you mean?"
Nick pointed his paw to both of them. "He hates cops. And not without reason."
Hearing this, the doe's eyes narrowed. "Let me guess, he's involved in doing something illegal?"
He sighed. "Hey, we've got bigger fish to fry, so don't try to nab every little guy trying to make a living, hm?"
"Fine," she folded her arms. "But it better be worth it."
"Okay," Nick took out his phone and started tapping a text message, he sent it in a flash and a minute later he got an answer. "Okay, he agreed to meet tomorrow at 10 in the morning."
"Where?"
"Sahara Square, he has an, 'office', there."
This time it was her turn to let out a sigh. "It's not much, but I guess that we have no other-" she paused abruptly and her ears sprung up. "Cameras! We could use the cameras!"
Her partner raised his brows in surprise. "Carrots, we just learned that-"
"No, you silly fox!" she shook her head. "The jam cams! We could connect to the traffic cameras system and try to find the vehicle used to get Bellweather out of jail!" she was hopping from her excitement.
His eyes widened in realization. "Well, I'll be darned…" a smile found its way to his muzzle. "I must be getting rusty for you to think of that before me," he quipped and let out a hearty chuckle.
Judy replied with a smug smirk. "Or maybe I was smarter than you in the first place, hm?"
"Maybe," he equipped himself with his sunglasses and buckled up. "To the precinct then, my sly bunny."
.
.
With a meeting planned for tomorrow and no new leads to follow, apart from the possible camera footage, the duo returned to the precinct and give Bogo an update on the case. They also went with Judy's new idea and prepared documentation about Bellweather and the 'jail-lamb-disappearing-incident' to pass it through their chief to his trusted contacts in the ZIA and FBI. This was a rather roundabout way of doing it, but considering that they were dealing with someone capable of deleting security footage in the prison, they didn't want to take any chances that it would fall into the wrong paws. It was a long shot, but every bit of information would be useful to them at this point. With these formalities concluded, the pair headed for the IT section of the building and sat down by one of the computers that allowed access to the city's monitoring system. However, what they found there after few hours was very disturbing.
"Don't tell me…" Judy's ears were drooping while she was tapping at the keyboard. "Gone… all surveillance recordings from the time of her transfer are gone!"
Nick clicked his tongue. "Bellweather disappears, the antidote disappears… If this is a coincidence, then I'm a tap dancing elephant."
"Damn it!" Judy slammed her fist on the desk. The fox was surprised by her outburst, as it was rare for the doe to express her anger in such a way. "Somebody is playing with us! A dangerous prisoner disappears and we learn about it only after three months!" her hindpaw furiously twitched in the air, not long enough to reach the ground from the chair she was sitting in.
He put a paw on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Easy there, Fluff. It's not like you to act like this. Plus, if you frown that much you'll get wrinkles," he allowed himself a chuckle at the end.
Judy spun around to face him. "Nick! This is seriou-"
She saw the vulpine's relaxed expression and his typical smirk. "Of course it is, but I'd like my cheerful bunny partner back, please?"
The doe stared at the fox, at his half-lidded gaze and eventually snorted. "You're impossible, you know that?"
The smirk on his face turned into a wide grin. "Why, thank you, Carrots! You sure know how to throw a compliment!" A playful, yet dangerous thought entered his mind and he almost instantly decided to act on it. "I'm pleased to see that you're still the sun of this team," he stated merrily before he quickly took her small paw in his and laid a gentle kiss on top of it.
He could feel through his fingers how she flinched and that sensation only added to the warm feeling spreading across his body. It was like a rush of energy that stormed through his veins and almost lifted his hindpaws off the ground. However, that was as far as he would allow himself to go. No more physical contact than this. He wanted to break her from that tensed, angry form, while having a bit of fun on his part, but it also showed him where the border lay. Even with the heat medicine, more than this would most likely rob him of his common sense and Judy of her clothes if the savage fox would take over.
He would not accept such a turn of events, ever.
She was too precious of a bunny to be hurt like that. She deserved something better. Nick withdrew, the smug grin never leaving his face, a mask that could fool everyone, but didn't do anything to hide his own thoughts from himself. His body ached for her, while his mind knew that he couldn't have her.
Oblivious to Nick's internal discord, Judy put her paw to her vest, albeit slowly and turned her gaze away. "Geez, for you to do such things…" she muttered to the computer screen.
"Well, good manners are a result of proper upbringing, so all credit goes to my mother," he chuckled, causing Judy to look at him again.
"Then I'll make sure to thank her for that. Would hate to work with a rude fox without manners." And there it was, the heart warming smile he always loved to see on her face.
"Glad to hear that, Fluff," he said straightening up. "Now then, since we have reached the end of our shift, I vote for taking course to our homes and-"
This caused her ears to sprung up. "But the case… We can't just…"
Nick let out a sigh and leaned down to her with paws on his knees. "Look, for now all we have is our meeting tomorrow and we also need to rest from time to time to not overwork ourselves. I know how devoted you are when it comes to being a police officer, but make sure to not overdo things, okay?"
She shook her head. "I know all that, but how am I supposed to rest, knowing that Bellweather is out there somewhere, most likely plotting to do something with Night Howlers again?!"
Her words made him raise a brow. "Oh? So I take it that we won't have our evening meeting today?"
Judy flinched and ears eased a bit. "Of course we will! But there's still time and…"
"Carrots, sitting here, going over and over again through the number of things we don't know is not going to help us in any way. A small break though, might give us a fresh perspective. Besides…" he lowered his voice, deciding to drop a heavy weight argument. "I need to take my medicine and I left it at home," he gave her a wink.
She quirked a brow. "Medicine? What med-"
"Heat medicine, Fluff," his smile grew when he observed how the insides of her ears gradually gained an interesting shade of pink. "It's December, hello? Fox mating season?"
The shade deepened. "Oh… OH, right… um…"
He patted her on the shoulder and turned around to leave. "Then I'll see you at Joey's at seven, right?"
"Y-yes, right!" she stuttered, hopping off the chair. "Sorry, I was just surprised that you're taking medicine. I forgot that it's your season."
"Hey, would be rather uncomfortable for me to hang around mammals without it and my morning dose is wearing off," another one of those dangerous ideas appeared in his mind. "Say…" he took a step forward. "You're a female, right?" the fox stared at her with a playful glint in his eye and held up his paws in a way as he was trying to grab her. "It'd be dangerous for a doe like you to be in presence of a fox in heat," he closed the remaining distance between them, making sure that he kept his instincts in check.
Judy flicked him on the nose with a giggle.
Nick's eyes grew wide. *Huh?!*
She folded her paws behind her back and tilted her head to the side with a smile. "There's no way you'd threw yourself at me, Slick. You're not convincing anyone," the doe nudged his chest with a finger. "See, Vivian told me that you'd never take advantage of a girl and I trust her judgement," Judy sent him a wink.
Nick blinked and after a second took a step back, letting his arms fall to his sides. He let out a nervous chuckle, after which brushed the fur on his head with a paw. "I just can't win against you, can I?"
Her smile widened and shined with cheerful radiance. "No, no you can't."