slippery, slippery fox
| angsty judy hopps x nick wilde one-shot. inspired by that concept art of judy walking in the rain + the original zootopia plot
| 826 words
| summary: judy is a fed agent assigned to “hunting” lowlife predators and nick is her next assignment; but with every encounter and every time he manages to escape, she wonders if this predator actually has something to lose
| content warnings: blood, gun violence, implied murder, chase scene, car accident
art by me @arvecina
“I know what I did—“
“Don’t.”
Nick tightly closed his mouth.
Judy turned off the safety on her pistol, eyes unwavering from his. He held his paws up as his chest rose and fell in decisiveness, glaring at the gun as he prepared to speak again.
“I know—“ he began, twitching expectantly for her to fire “—that… what I did… was wrong. There is no world where I survive the consequences of my actions, sure, but hear me out: the world we’re living in, right this moment? I’m still alive. And I can get us both out of this.”
She caressed the grip of the gun. Otherwise, she remained still.
“You’ve seen what I can do. You know I’m more capable than majority of the predators you’ve met—“
“You have no idea who I’ve met. But if I had to compare them to you? You’re slippery, Nick. But if you’re anything like what I thought you were, who’s to say that you’re not using it against everyone you meet?”
“Okay, okay,” he swallowed, “just… let me—“
Judy raised the gun and fired.
His footsteps scattered towards the door.
“Slippery, slippery fox.”
She focused on quieting her breathing as she sprinted through the rain, staring at his swaying tail, forcing herself to become hyper aware of every nearby audible sound. If she were to somehow lose sight of him, she would still be able to distinguish the sound of his running.
The sound of his breathing.
The sound of his wheezing—inevitable, close.
She knew this.
And when Nick began to gasp, Judy gained on him. She fired several shots. Damn fox managed to miss every single one. But as she reloaded, failing to lose her stride or direction, the screeching of breaks emerged from in front of her, forcing her to flinch and drop the gun.
In the absence of… well, anything, she looked up.
Nick had been hit by a red coupe. The headlights illuminated his wide eyes as he glared at the car for several moments, likely in shock, until it reversed, turned, and sped away.
She smelled the blood as she strode towards him. He continued to stare straight ahead, panting heavily, resting back on his two paws as his lower right leg bled out, the drips diluted by the rain.
Judy found herself slowing as she neared.
Was she… hesitating?
Focus.
She stopped in front of him. He blinked at her silhouette, and his exhales turned into wheezes.
“I-I-I don’t know what to tell you, agent—“ Nick began to use his elbows and his one good leg to scoot himself away, having to lower his back to the ground in order to effectively try to do so, “—I know you can see a future wh-where you don’t have to murder helpless predators for a living, and I know whoever raised your relentless and driven and murderous self would not be proud of the bunny you’ve become—“
Judy aimed her gun.
He closed his eyes for a brief moment as he gave his weight to his elbows, wincing quietly as he relaxed his legs, failing to cease his wheezing.
“…You don’t have to do this.”
Her trigger shifted under her twitches, but she couldn’t get herself to—
“Tell me what you think you can do.”
Nick immediately spoke.
“You know your boss? Your director? You know how practically every single animal in Zootopia is unaware of his qualifications or his inability to be relayed from his position? He didn’t get to the top through hard work and dedication, agent. You know this. I know you do. And I know you’re choosing to remain ignorant of all the lives he’s taken to get there, both predator and prey alike.”
Her grip threatened to falter.
“Do you know anything about what’s currently happening in Bunnyburrow? Do you know how many rabbits are being—“
“Stop,” she bit, a tremor in her upper arm forcing her to lower the gun.
She’d been so focused on this stupid fox. When was the last time she heard from her family?
“If I… if I let you go, what would you do?”
“Not ‘you.’ We. You can come with me. Obviously, looking at you, the feds aren’t currently concerned with a few rabbits gone missing. Neither are the cops, since Burning Mammal will be a month-long fiasco.”
Nick took a large, deep breath. His fear quietly shifted to Judy.
“We’ll drive down. If your director asks, say you’ve killed me. But when you find empty cottage after empty cottage and smell the lingering stench of feds saying ‘they’ll multiply fast enough to cover our tracks,’ you’ll know exactly where to start.”
With a groan, he straightened his back.
“This is bigger than the both of us. And as desperate as I am to change the generalized prejudice towards every predator in Zootopia, I wonder how much you’re willing to just trust me.”
She turned the safety back on.
“Let’s go, then.”