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art fight attack on @scribbly-bear

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Illustrations for The Blue Wolf Chapter 5

The chapter will be uploaded shortly!

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art fight attack on @scribbly-bear

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An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapter 5 - Undercover Work

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Zootopia - The Blue Wolf - Chapter 4 “A Lucky Break”

It felt like nothing was going anywhere. It'd been only a day since Nick left the ZPD and work had been extremely busy. It was almost as though she had an even heavier workload than before. Perhaps by design. Nevertheless, she needed to do her job, and she needed to do it well. Investigate vandalism and threats. Easy as pie. Right?

She'd arrive hopeful at the house of a threat-receiver and come away feeling forlorn. A lead on the vandalism would look promising but end up vaporising before her eyes. No headway what so ever. Judy kept trudging through interview after interview, asking all the right questions, following all the right leads yet getting nowhere. Even hearsay lead to dead ends. Gossip was old news. No one truly knew anything. She for sure didn't know anything. Nothing useful, at least.

Judy couldn't be entirely sure if there truly were no leads, or if she simply wasn't capable of digging them out when her mind was constantly working on Nicks' case. Tapping the butt of the carrot pen against her chin, her eyes fixated on the notepad in front of her. There was a small drawing of her fox friend with a whole load of question marks around him. Wearing a most serious expression, Judy strolled into the ZPD. Past Clawhauser who couldn't quite find the right words. Through a cafeteria of fellow officers, all unsure of how to greet her. All the way to her office, where she shut the door behind her and took a seat. The desk was crowded with reports, crime scene photos, photos of victims and their statements. Everything came along with little post-it notes where she'd scribbled down her thoughts and comments. Most were useless. Covered in question marks. So many question marks, so many questions.

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A quick sketch from The Blue Wolf Chapter 2, where Judy busts into Kyle’s office c:

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The Blue Wolf - Chapter 3

A Grey Vixen

It was a chill night for downtown Zootopia. The normally mellow nightly weather had given way for a brisk breeze sent by the cloudless night sky. There were no stars up in that vast void, none that could be seen anyway. The city's own ever changing rainbow of lights swallowed those little flickering bodies of star shine. Nick had popped the collar of his thick, cosy jacket in an attempt to keep the crisp wind from slithering down his spine. His hands were buried in his pockets, ears low, shoulders high up and relatively tense. From a passerby point of view, he simply looked keen to avoid the cold. Huddled and hurrying to get home. Perhaps to kick his paws up. Watch a show. Have a beer. Scratch an itch.. For Nick however, those tense shoulders weren't the symptom of the breeze nipping at him as he shuffled down the street. They were caused by a horde of thoughts thundering through his mind. Of a thousand troubles weighing him down. Of one little bunny's fate, resting on his shoulders.

Needing an escape, his eyes found their way to the darkness above. That jet black ceiling of a sky. The endless nothingness seemed so solid, as though one could touch it and feel how heavy it was. That sky had seen millions of years pass. It was a thought daunting enough to give him a fair amount of pause; definitely enough to make him stop trudging through town. Drawing a slow, deep breath, he could feel the chill air fill his lungs. He needed to sort this out. He'd jumped - or rather stumbled over - the first hurdle. No doubt there would be reservations and doubts from the ZPD. He'd stretched it out time-wise. He'd gotten progressively worse to be around and work with over the course of roughly a week. It had been draining enough that he'd not done much else but sleep when he got home. Mostly nightmares. Some good dreams though. Enough to keep him going. That's what he had to do, no? It was done, he was out of the ZPD. No one outside of the ZPD would know he and Judy are friends. Were friends? No, are. Are friends. Despite everything.. Or because of everything. Or everything, is because they're friends. A sigh followed a quick grunt as he continued down the street. He had to get his act together. He needed to get to Alexei. From what he'd heard in the past and from what he'd gathered on his own now, there was no doubt that the wolf in question had his fingers in enough criminality to warrant putting him away for life. That was a given. However, the trouble was that Alexei had 'friends' in just the right places. Circumstantial evidence, witness reports, hearsay - it never stuck. That wolf was no courtroom virgin, he'd been on the stand plenty; and he'd always walked away a free mammal. However, no amount of judge friends could keep a criminal on the street who has been caught red-handed. Who can be proven, without the shadow of a doubt, to be a criminal. Video and audio was the way to go. If he could just somehow slip into Alexei's empire - unnoticed - and catch him on tape doing or saying something that proves how much of a criminal he is.. A small twitch of a smile ghosted over his lips. Taking down a notorious criminal on his own was absolutely terrifying; yet sort of exciting. He could enjoy it, if it hadn't come with such high stakes. Taking a sharp turn, Nick then pushed a door open to enter a pub. It was a dingy old place. Dimly lit. Dust in the corners. Dodgy guests. The atmosphere was heavy with aggressive tension, cigarette smoke and dark chatter. His eyes stung slightly as he moved about in the somewhat toxic air, sneaking past tables and slipping through crowds. Finding a small empty table in the corner, he took a seat and put up shop. Good old game swindling. It was second nature to him. These pebbles, these cards, they bent to his will. It was the most lucrative form of magic. The trick was to let them win, just a little. No one likes an unbeatable game after all. They have to decide to play again, you can't force them. Confidence is key. Generosity is rewarded with answers. Every night, Nick went to different places to hustle and ask questions. He'd laugh with them, comfort them, offer them drinks and advice. In return, he got answers. Just not the right ones. Sure, he got snippets of general information about places where general illegal dealings went on, and that's what happens when you have to ask fairly open and wide questions. Too straight forward and the wrong mammals find out, guaranteed. It was slow, tedious work. Occasionally his mind would drift off and wonder what Judy was up to. It usually didn't last long, as the thought was tainted by shame of how he'd treated her. He needed to move on. He needed answers. The fourth night rolled in and Nick found himself in the corner of a rather large and busy bar. It was fairly well-kept for this part of town. These neighbourhoods weren't the nice ones. Barely half decent. Here criminals bled out in the gutter and muggings were simply a part of life. This pub was in slum territory. The other places he'd been to hadn't exactly been fine-dining, but this had an entirely different air about it. There was suspicion everywhere. Vixens and lionesses served drinks and flirted with the customers. Money changed hands without drinks being involved. Eyes everywhere. Ears everywhere. However, he had to endure. They didn't know him. Hopefully. "Hey there young lady, fancy a game?" Nick asks cheerfully, gesturing towards a small grey vixen with a sour look. She'd been observing him the past three games with customers. Him, not the games. That was key. He'd take any lead by now; once this was over, he never wanted to see his old bag of swindlers' games again. "Come now, don't be shy. I don't bite." There was a tease in his voice and he could see her roll her eyes. At least she got up from her seat, that's something. It was a fairly grim looking vixen. Ripped jeans, white top and black leather vest with a popped collar. Not at all like the other vixen in the place who were quite dolled up and presented as eye-candy for drooling males. She took a seat by the table, firmly folding her arms on it. She was a tad short for the chair she was sitting on, but somehow he felt like he really shouldn't comment on that. "What's your bet?" "Fiver." If he wasn't absolutely sure he'd never seen her before, he couldn't sworn she had a grudge or something against him with that cold, piercing look she was giving him. There was even a hint of a crinkle over the ridge of her nose. Contempt? Disgust? He couldn't tell. Maybe it was simply her resting expression. The vixen had shifted to place a crumpled and slightly torn fiver on the desk. Nick resisted a chuckle and instead drew a breath. "Hookay, a fiver it is!" Nick moved to place the cups on the table, presenting a pebble. "Keep an eye on this little bugger," Nick tapped the pebble with a cheeky smile. "And you'll earn yourself ten bucks." His hands moved quick as a breeze, eyes locked on his customer. There was no need to look at the cups, he'd done this so many times before, it was all muscle-memory. The customers were always too busy trying to keep track of that one cup that they simply couldn't notice the pebble switching cups, or disappearing completely. "So," He started as he'd finally set the shuffling cups down, presenting them to her. "Which one will it be?" The wide smile vanished in the blink of an eye as the vixen help up two fingers, the pebble lodged between them, and a quite intensely irritated look in her lime eyes. "I don't like it when folks try to trick me." Putting the pebble down on the wooden surface of the table, she flicked a finger into it, skipping it over to Nick, over the edge and onto his lap before leaning in ever so slightly, her voice hushed. "And there's a lot bigger canines out there, who like it even less." Sliding off her chair, the small vixen headed out the door, her bushy tail swaying from side to side. Nick watched her leave, his ear twitching at the sound of the bell at the door jingling as she stepped outside. His eyes followed her through the window, ears perked, and it was only when he almost tumbled off his seat that he leapt down, pulled on his jacket and headed out the door, not bothering to gather up neither the fiver nor his swindlers' bag. Outside the air was brisk and the wind rather strong. Squinting against the wind as headed down the street, he wore his ears flat against his head. She took a turn. Slithering around the same corner, he only just caught glimpse of her hand in a passerby's pocket. Another turn. Rounding the corner, he froze for a moment. Gone. Rushing to the next alley, he peered down it, relieved to see that bushy tail slip around another corner. His paws barely made any noise as he quickly made his way down the alley, keeping up with her while keeping out of sight. Even as she entered a 24-hours grocery store, he kept up. If he hadn't been so focused on keeping his eyes on her, he probably would have felt silly, ducking under stacks of bananas and hiding behind shelves of canned foods. She hadn't noticed him yet. Good. The vixen was helping herself to all sorts of food - amazing what she could fit in that vest of hers. Outside again. He could feel his eyelid twitch as she screeched a claw against the side of a car while sipping her stolen juice. Not a care in the world. It didn't seem as though she had a plan with where she was going. Neither did he, really. It was just that phrase. Bigger canines. What did she know? Did she know anything? Was it a warning or a threat? He had to know. Picking up his pace, it was getting more difficult to keep up. She'd practically race down the street, swiftly diving into alleyways. Nick is forced to run in order to keep up. In and out of view. Sudden turns. Climbing over fenced off alleyways. Narrow streets. As he was just about to climb another fence, his chest heaving from the strenuous chase, he's stopped dead in his tracks as a figure thumps down in front of him. He could feel a pressure and tug around his neck as he's forcefully yanked down, finding himself eye-to-very-much-angrier-eye with the grey little vixen. A low rumbling growl echoed in the narrow alley and he could feel a sharp claw up against the soft underside of his jaw. Nicks' hands instinctively went up to the typical 'I surrender' stance, eyes wide as he stared at the angry fox. "Keep followin' me and we'll both find out if I can jam my finger straight up through here into your mouth." A silence fell, as if she was waiting for a response. Her ears were pulled back, her tail twitching irritably. "What the hell are you followin' me 'round for? Speak!" As much as it was tempting to simply pull out an easy-to-reach sly comment, he had to play this smart. Letting out an almost unimpressed snort, he gave her as stern a look he could muster. "You probably want to put that finger down, miss. I'm an undercover police officer, and I've got plenty of evidence to put you behind bars if I feel like it." The vixen frowned in an irritated, yet confused kind of disbelief as she let go of him and all but pushed him away from her. "There's no fucking way." Crossing her arms over her chest, she shifted her weight onto one paw. "Proof. Now." There was a soft patting heard from her tapping her paw against the concrete below. Nick huffed a bit as if insulted that she wouldn't believe him. He opened his jacket just enough to slip a hand into the inner pocket, fishing up and holding out his badge for her to see. He'd kept it as a keepsake of sorts. Probably against the rules, but what did he care. Dishonorable discharge and all.. Not officially, but, still. Officially it was just a normal discharge. A good, old, normal 'you're fired'. "Happy now? I am a cop." He put the badge away again, zipping the inner pocket closed. Better safe than sorry, he didn't want to lose it. It seemed to convince her well enough. "Alright. So, what do you want. To, you know, not feel like putting be behind bars." Even if it was slight, she'd relaxed a bit. A cop was just a cop after all, and not a crazy stalker or murderer. Not that she'd ever had a stalker, but still. She'd heard enough stories to last a lifetime. "How about your name." It just slipped out. That, was not his priority. Perhaps that was just his mouth telling his brain he found it a hassle to refer to her as 'the angry grey vixen' in his mind. "Abigail." She raised an eyebrow at Nick, looking quite indifferent. What was even a cop doing out here, and why was an undercover one bothering with her? Perhaps all her endeavours had started catching the wrong kind of attention... Which was any.

"Look." She crossed her arms over her chest again, a disgruntled look on her face. "I met him once or twice. Happened to be nearby, sort of. He's a real piece of work." Her arms slipped down, her hands burying themselves in the pockets of her vest. It was getting a bit cold - this getup wasn't especially warm. "He was chattin' 'bout how he was moving to Zootopia, how it was a viable market, or target, or whatever. Probably both." Abigail crossed her arms again, not able to decide which position was warmer. "Owns a couple of shady businesses. That's it. That's all I know, alright?" Nick seemed as though he didn't know if he ought to be squealing with joy for his first real lead, or terrified over the fact he's just found his first real lead. It was a bit conflicting, and it showed on his face. Snapping himself out of a whirlpool of worry and excitement, he looked down at Abigail again. "Where is he?" There was urgency in his voice. "Where, is he? Where is his business? What is he doing? I need more information!" Met with silence, a quiet snarl left him. "We have mouse-sized cells and I swear to all that is holy that I will cram you into one!" "Easy chief! Easy!" Abigail's hands had gone up in surrender, her sour expression exchanged for a more uneasy one. She didn't like being trapped, and the thought of a mouse-sized jail cell was enough to make her queasy. "I, know a guy. I do some work for him. He oughta know more." Once the other fox had relaxed, she felt enough at ease to light herself a cigarette. This was too much stress for one evening. Even heists were more relaxing than this bloody circus. Taking a drag, she sighed out the smoke through her nose. "But you ain't getting no information for free. You gotta work for it." Looking him over closely, she then raised an eyebrow with the tiniest hint of a smirk. "Also, you can't go 'round as Nick bloody Wilde, the only fox cop in town. You need a new identity. And a new outfit." Nick frowned as he looked down at himself, stroking down his jacket, shirt and tie. "I suppose I am a bit recognisable." He buttoned up his jacket. "New clothes it is. As for the identity.." He thought about it, scratching the back of his head before perking up with a smile. "How about Luke Pawton?"

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The Blue Wolf - Chapter 1

Two months have passed since the Bellwether conspiracy was uncovered. The resilient mammals of Zootopia eventually settle back into their old lives, their old ways. A new mayor is appointed through a fairly mellow election; Aurelina Canidae, an honorable former councilwoman. The city felt secure with such a friendly, chubby wolf as their mayor, especially with how she instantly began working towards a long-lasting unification between predator and prey. As for Nick and Judy, it was business as usual. Judy had been showing Nick the ropes and the pair of them had been continually working minor cases and solving them fairly effectively. Things were going smoothly. The rings on the surface had faded. The pebble had sunk to the bottom, never to disturb the river again. As they say, a river always corrects itself.. ..Unless it freezes over.

With a twitch of her nose, Judy was flipping the page of a file folder she was currently holding. Leaning her cheek heavily in her paw, her eyes skittered across the page, taking in the information as quickly as possible. It was the initial statement from an ox who'd stolen someone elses' car and then crashed it into a public fountain and she wanted to make sure she'd read it properly before questioning the ox. Every day happenings in the bustling city of Zootopia; she'd for the most part gone numb to the stupid antics of Zootopians. Last week, a group of teenagers had in the middle of the night gone out, bought a dozen pumpkins, carved them and practically screwed them onto street lights. Her eyes rolled with a small amused smile at the fleeting thought. Nick had swept in from the cafeteria into her cubicle office, holding two cups of coffee, smirking as he slid one of the cups towards her. "Thinking about the pumpkin massacre?" A snort of a laugh left the bunny and she leaned back in her seat, a cheeky smile aimed at the fox. "How'd you even know that?" "I know everything Carrots, you oughta know that by now." He teased, parking his butt on her desk, leaning back on one arm as he took a sip of his coffee, as relaxed as usual. Judy let out a puff of air through her nose with a smile, putting down the folder. "Oh yeah?" There was mischief in her voice as she moved to sit on the back rest of her chair, her paws on the actual seat. "Then, what's my favorite color?" She could hear a swig of coffee almost going down wrong for the fox in a brief splurt. Nick's eyes narrowed as he gave her a side glance of pure contemplation. A silence fell between them, and she could swear that if she were to look in his ears, she would've been able to see cogs turning. "Blueberry?" "Nick that's your favorite. Not even color, just favorite fruit!" "Okay, orange then!" Nick proclaimed, throwing out his free hand in a bit of a fake 'I don't actually care' gesture. "What's with you and fruit colors?" "Now that you mention it, heh, orange. Isn't that weird? It's not like we call 'yellow' 'banana' or something stupid like that." Nick took a sip of his coffee, taking his eyes off the bunny for a moment. However, the silence made an ear of his swivel towards her, his eyes soon to follow. Judy had the worst pokerface. She was sipping her coffee, looking away, acting as though it was raining. Only thing missing was her whistling a tune and the bad-pokerface-trifecta would be complete. "Really, yellow? That's your favorite color?" He huffed out a chuckle, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly, trying to hold back a smirk. "Actually" Judy dragged, an absent-minded paw stroking back and down one of her ears. "It's more like, amber?" "Huh. The more you know." Nick took another sip of his coffee before taking the folder and opening it up, his eyes scanning the pages. "You questioning the car thief today?" "Yeah, you wanna sit in? I had to sit in with the other officers before I got to question suspects on my own." Judy smiled at her friend. He'd come a long way in a short while, she was actually kind of jealous at times. Nick always had such a roll-with-it attitude. "Puh-lease, Carrots. If anyone needs to sit in, it's you, with me. Watch the master in action" He'd placed a paw against his chest like some posh, old-fashioned noble. "and maybe you'll be a real cop one day, like the great, invincible, detective Wilde." Judy swiftly snatched the folder back from him, flipping it in under her arm, jumping off her seat and getting to the doorway in one fluid motion. Leaning against it, she smiled up at the smug fox. "Oh yeah? Well, I'd be honored if the great, invincible detective Wilde could show this poor, inadequate bunny the ropes." "Will do. Now," He slid off the table, patting her head as he passed her, heading towards the cafeteria. "I shall show you, my feeble pupil, how to trick Clawhauser into giving away all his afternoon doughtnuts." The rest of the day flowed on like every other day. Clawhauser lost his afternoon doughnuts, only for Judy to convince Nick to give them back. There was a press briefing with the new press manager Rosalind where all officers currently in the building were present. Nick sat in when Judy questioned the ox about the incident, who was then formally charged. Bogo asked for a report on his desk before five. Things kept rolling. Once he'd clocked out, Nick got out of his uniform in the locker room, getting into his casual getup of a shirt, tie and trousers. One glance left, one right, then a swift lick on his thumb before he brushed it across his badge, making sure it was glistening before he placed it on top of the perfectly folded uniform in his locker. This was a different kind of pride. He'd always thought himself good at what he did, and he'd always thought himself proud, but oh how wrong he'd been. This was what real pride felt like. To be able to walk straight, head held high, to be able to look other mammals in the eye and feel truly equal. Heaving a content sigh, he clicked the locker door closed before heading outside. Judy was working late, otherwise they usually grabbed a bite to eat before heading home to their separate places. Or to the same place where they'd hang out, watch movies and talk bullshit about life in general. It was a good life. A completely new life. Or.. Not completely new. After walking a couple of blocks and taking a turn into an alley, he slammed his paw against the side of the familiar, graffiti-covered van. "Ey Finnick! You awake?" He could hear a groan, a shuffle, a clank and some choice swearwords. Nick shifted his weight onto one foot, contently waiting until Finnick finally opened the door. "Get in." Nick's brow furrowed and he climbed into the van, which Finnick promptly shut behind him. "Hey hey hey, what's the grim look for?" Finnick was moving swiftly, checking the windows before making sure the curtains were pulled properly. Then he shot a glance at the confused red fox. "I know you ain't rolling with our kind no more, but-" Nick huffed and rolled his eyes. "Finnick come on, that's not-" "Shut up Nick. I was gonna say, but, I'mma do you a solid. 'Cause we're friends. You're a wanted fox, Nick Wilde." "Eh, Finnick, I'm a cop now. I'm pretty sure I'm not wanted, or Bogo would've told me." There was a smug smile pulling at those lips of his, something that made Finnick's whole face scrunch up in an irritated, frustrated look as he grabbed his friends' tie, pulling him down to eye-level. "You're wanted dead, Nick, this ain't no fucking joke!" Finnick snarled out the words, a concern hidden beneath the apparent anger. Nick stared at his friend, blinking as though that would clear his own confusion. Then his puzzled expression shifted into a concerned frown. Noticing the changed attitude, Finnick let the tie slip through his fingers, the anger seeping away to leave room for more concern. "The hell did you do, you dumb fox? You got Alexei looking for ya!" "Volkov?" Was all Nick managed to get out. "Yeah, Volkov. The Alexei Volkov!" Finnick's entire body language was demanding answers, he was not going to let Nick leave before he knew everything. "There I am, down in the tundra corner club aight? And I hear these yak idiots talking 'bout getting massive cred with the big bad wolf if they took you down!" Nick's paws went up, moving as if pushing the air as he shook his head. "Okay, wait, slow down. Wait." Straightening out, his paws subconsciously went up to stroke back both of his ears, dragging heavily down his neck and lacing together behind it. "Okay, this might be a problem." The twitching tail behind Nick was evidence of his mind working a million miles an hour. "What the hell did you do, Nick?" Sucking in a deep breath, the red fox slumped down onto the floor of the van, his tail sweeping restlessly. Why now. What could possibly have pipqued the wolfs' interest again. It'd been so long, he thought Volkov had simply cut his losses. "You want the long story or the short version?" Finnick let out an unimpressed snort, sitting down opposite of Nick. "Give me the jist of it." Nick sighed, scratching idly at the back of his neck, clearly reluctant to revisit the memory. His mouth opened a couple of times, sucking in air but failing to produce any words. A snort snort later, Nick finally cleared his throat and began talking. "A few years back, before I ran with you, I ran with this badger guy. Heck, can't even remember his name. Anyway, he always had jobs for me, they came from someone else." "So you were running blind errands?" "Yeah, well, sort of. It wasn't like we were running catnip to and from the rainforest district. Nah, this was heavier stuff. Sabotage, mostly. Money was good." Finnick had moved to open up a bottle of whiskey, pouring Nick a glass and offering it to him. Grasping the glass, Nick took a generous swig. It burned down his throat and a shiver ran through him. Swiping the back of his hans across his nose, he sucked in a short, sharp breath though it. Letting out a light cough, he swirled the amber liquid around in his glass. "One day" He continued, clearly not looking forward to telling the rest of the story. "This guy I've been doing all this, stuff with, comes to me. With a plan. We were going to do this one job - super simple job, he told me -to get the attention of Volkov. It'd be our ticket to wealth, to infamy. Our ticket out of the gutter." Nick forced down another swig of whiskey, barely tasting it before it heated his insides. "He told me to get two tanks of gasoline. Fine, I thought. I mean, we'd burned cars before, I didn't think much of it, other that it had to be a, really big car, or something." He swallowed a burp and then cleared his throat. Finnick rolled his eyes. "You're an idiot." "I was, at least." "Sure, was..." Finnick grinned before shifting back to a more serious expression. "So, you what were you actually gonna burn?" "An apartment." Nick's gaze lowered to his glass, back to the amber liquid, for a moment recalling that this must be Judy's favorite color. It managed to make him smile, if only for a brief moment, before the story caught up with him. "So we're there... Escape plan ready, gasoline in hand, and I'm dousing the floor, the furniture, the stove... All while thinking of the money, the street cred, the bragging rights... That's when I hear it." "Hear what?" Finnicks' large ears were perked straight up, eyes fixated on his friend. "A yawn. It was faint, but I heard it. I told the guy I was with, this would be murder. There's a mammal in the apartment." The grip on his glass tightened, the ridge of his nose scrunching up ever to slightly. "He just hissed at me to not screw this up for him." Ears flat against his head, his tail was almost curling over itself in relived anger. "So I did the first thing I could think of when I saw him pull out the lighter. I screamed fire, I screamed it as loud as I could before I took off. Like a coward. I just, ran. To save my own hide." His posture relaxed as a sigh slipped out. "Sure, thanks to the warning, the guy got out in time. Fire department got there quickly, the fire didn't even have time to spread to another apartment. The guy I was with got arrested, took the fall for it." "Why didn't he sell you out?" Nick jerked his shoulders in a lackluster shrug. "He did. But I went by the nickname Pib back in those days, he didn't know my real name. The evidence of me being there had burned, and I'd gone deep, deep underground." "And then you turned up later as a small-time hustler." "Yeah... No big, risky business for me. Pib was dead." "Shit Nick.." Finnick's sharp anger was all but gone, a mix of worry and disappointment swirling about in his voice. "Yeah.. I know." "You know what Volkov does, right? To mammals who wrong him?" Nicks' gaze lifted from the glass to fall on Finnick. "I'm a dead fox." "Not first. He's gonna go after those you love." The severity of the situation finally sank in. It wasn't just his life on the line. Alexei Volkov was notoriously sadistic. That was part of why he'd gone so deep underground for so long after the incident, he knew if he got caught he would've faced unimaginable suffering. Now that all seemed trivial, facing the very real risk of it not being him on the receiving end, but instead someone he cared for. Someone like Judy. "I can't let him take Judy!" Nick had leapt up onto his feet, the glass clinking against the floor of the van, spilling what little was left in. The thought of the sinister wolf having someone as kind and whole-heartedly good as Judy in his filthy, blood-stained paws, it was enough to get his blood boiling. "Over my dead body is he harming a single strand of fur on her body!" "Easy!" Finnick grabbed Nick by his wrists, yanking on his arms to get his attention. A low rumbling growl could be heard from the agitated fox, but once Finnick dug his claws into Nicks' skin, he snapped out of it. "What?!" "Calm, your, fluff." Nicks' tail and neck fur was standing on end in anger and he had to take a few deep breaths in order to simmer down. He needed to think clearly about this, he couldn't do anything useful in a fit of rage. "There we go. Now, 'bout this knee-deep shithole you've jumped into like the idiot fox you are," Nick rolled his eyes with a snort. "Geez, thanks." ".. You gotta think 'bout this. Aight?" "Yeah." Nick relaxed and Finnick finally released his wrists, which Nick instinctively rubbed. For such a small fox, Finnick sure had an iron grip. "They probably know 'bout you knowing Judy. But they probably don't know how well you know each other." "What're you getting at?" "Dude, you gotta ditch the fuzz." "What?!" Nick snarled out the words, he'd just gotten a good life. He had a good thing going, with a really good friend, he wasn't about to give that up. "She's as dead as you if you keep hanging 'round! They got their eyes on you now. For whatever reason, your fox ass in on their radar!" Finnick almost drilled his finger into Nicks' belly, enforcing his point. Nick groaned and tugged at his ears, his mind racing to find another solution. Then, a pause. His ears slowly began to perk up as he drew a slow breath, eyes staring into nothingness. "I need to take him down." The words were but a whisper in a breath. "Excuse me?" "I need to take down Volkov." Nick appeared as though he'd just had a vision or something, slowly straightening out, his brain working more effectively on what to do now that he'd calmed down a smidgen. There was even a hint of a smile twitching a his lips. "And how the hell are you gonna do that? He's got an entire empire at his back!" Finnick had folded his arms, tapping a paw against the floor of the van, a bit irritated with how simple Nick was making this sound. Taking down a crime boss like Volkov was nothing one did in an afternoon. "Don't know yet," Nick held up a finger, a strangely excited look in his eyes. "But I will. Volkov won't even know what hit him." Nick smacked his hands together in a celebratory rub, grinning. "Oh, he is not going to know what hit him." "Nick! It ain't gonna be no afternoon stroll y'know! This is a dangerous mammal, he will kill you!" "And he'll kill Judy if I don't stop him." Nick locked eyes with his friend, the glee suddenly exchanged for a determined look. "I will not, let her be harmed." His fists were clenched, as if expecting his friend to try and stop him. Finnick raised an eyebrow as he looked Nick over before heaving a sigh. Once Nick got an idea in his head, it was no use arguing with him. "Alright, fine. But don't involve me. I warned ya, that's all I'm gonna do. I don't feel like being flayed alive." Moving to open the back of the van, the fennec fox held the door open for Nick to get out. "Ya'll are welcome back once the coast is clear. I ain't gonna risk my hide." Slipping out of the van, Nick offered his partner in crime a quick salute with a slanted grin. "No worries partner, I got this." With a roll of his eyes, Finnick slammed the van doors shut. Meeting over. Nick turned to leave the alley, heading back home with a lot on his mind. Behind him he could hear the engine revving, and throwing a quick glance over his shoulder, he could see it driving off. Most likely out of the city. Finnick had always been keen on the phrase 'better safe than sorry'. He was most likely not going to be coming back for a while. The thought gave him pause, and he turned around to watch the colorful van drive off into the distance. A friend was leaving their home because of him. If he wasn't careful, a friend could lose their life because of him. Looking at his hands, he frowned slightly. How was he ever going to solve this? He was but one fox. He was clever, but these were way deeper waters than he'd ever gone into before. There wasn't much choice though - if he involved Judy or the ZPD in the investigation, so many things could go wrong. For one, he'd have to admit to being an accomplice in an attempted murder through arson. Two, it'd be the same as painting a nice, big bulls-eye on the ZPD and Judy in particular, if he opened an official case about Alexei Volkov. Even the mere thought of the name sent an unpleasantly cold, almost heavy shudder through his body. He'd heard plenty of stories of Volkov to know that he was not one to be trifled with. Even the Big family couldn't touch him - and they practically ran all of Zootopia's underground at one point in time. Now, he had no idea. Volkov could have slowly slithered into the city's power structure, leeching from it without notice. Who knew how far he could've gotten in these past years. Eventually, Nick noticed that other mammals were looking at him funny, as he was just standing on the sidewalk, staring into space. The van was long gone by now; most likely for the best. Scratching the back of an ear, he turned to head on home. There were no two ways about it; in order to ensure that Volkov wouldn't target the ZPD or Judy, he most likely had to get himself fired. The next day, his phone rang early as usual. As soon as he heard the familiar Judy-assigned tune, a knot as heavy as lead weighed in his stomach. Grabbing his phone, his thumb hovered over the swipe which would answer the call. He found himself simply staring at the joyful image of Judy on his phone, almost forgetting to breathe as his ears flattened against his head. This wouldn't feel good. It wouldn't even feel justified. However, it was the only way. Here goes. Sucking in a deep breath, he swiped his thumb, accepting the call and raising the phone to his ear. "What." There was a moments pause from the other end. "Oh, geez, did the fox wake up on the wrong side of the bed today?" It already felt terrible, but he had to stick to it. "You know I don't really like it. You, calling this early." "What? Oh, well.." He could hear her worried hesitation, and it stung. "I, was just calling to check if you'd want to grab a coffee before work!" It was apparent that she had to force her usual peppy voice. "No, I don't want coffee. I need to get ready for work." With those words, he hung up, smacking the phone down on his nightstand and burying his face in his palms with a pained groan. That didn't feel like trying to save his friend, that felt like being an asshole to the one that least deserves it. Stroking his palms over his ears, he fell backwards onto the bed with a grunt. "I can't do this." It felt hopeless. How could he continue? She wouldn't understand that it's for her own good. Dragging his palms over his face, another but louder and more frustrated groan left him. "Nnnngh but I have to! What's me being a jerk, compared to her being dead? Nothing!" Nick threw up his arms as though he was having an argument with the ceiling before they slumped back down onto his chest. Sighing deeply, he glanced over at his phone. This was going to be harder than he thought, but he had to stick to it. Getting dressed took far longer than usual. So did eating breakfast, and brushing his teeth. Perhaps he was postponing the inevitable. He had to be an ass, at work. How did one even get fired from the ZPD, without actually committing a crime? He didn't want to go down that road, he'd avoid it as far as he could. Looking about his apartment, he couldn't help but smile. Judy had been there just the other night. They'd eaten tacos and played video games until they both passed out on the couch. Judy had woken up underneath the couch cushions; apparently sleep-burrowing is a thing bunnies do. It was kind of cute. Sighing shortly, he turned and got out, locking the door behind him. Nick always took the bus to work. Two separate bus lines, but it got him to work in just under half an hour. In between the two lines, where he got off to switch, there was a coffee shop. That's where he and Judy got coffee in the morning, at least every other day. Now, he barely dared to throw a glance that way, and instead directly got onto the next bus. He needed more time to prepare for the day. Time always seems to slip away, when you need it most. "There you are, you little foxy!" Clawhauser greeted Nick with enthusiasm, leaning over his desk with his chin in his palms. "Did you and Judy have a fight?" Nick rolled his eyes, Clawhauser was a bit too into gossip to realize when it was appropriate to be excited by it. "No. Now get off my case, fatso." Heading directly to the locker room, Nick didn't look back at the somewhat distraught cheetah. Burying his hands in his pockets, he marched on to the locker room, avoiding eye contact with all and any he happened to pass by. Usually he couldn't wait to get into his uniform. The badge was as shiny as he'd left it the day before, but now, it almost made him feel ashamed. After all, he was nothing but a crook. That was the entire reason why he was having to behave this way. He'd just hurt Ben's feelings, only because of his own past, which was coming back to haunt him. "Okay, here goes." He'd never felt less worthy of wearing the proud uniform and badge of the ZPD, but still, he had to face the rest of the day this way. Heading towards his cubicle office, he thought about if maybe being an incompetent ass could be enough to get fired. He could file his paperwork all wrong, he could forget to read the rights, he could compromise evidence on accident.. "Hey, Nick, hi..!" He snapped out of his train of thought as Judy's voice reached his ears. For a moment, he just wanted to tell her everything, ask for her help, and tell her how sorry he was for being a jerk. Once that initial instinct had passed, he let out a short snort, crossing his arms over his chest. "Hi. What do you want." Judy withdrew her previously waving hand, holding it to her chest for a moment. "Nick, what's wrong? I'm sorry if I woke you-" "Look, I ain't got all day, fluff. What do you want?" Judy wore a concerned frown as she looked up at her friend, her ears drooping behind her. She didn't know what'd gotten into him, maybe he was just having a... Really bad day. "Well, uh, oh!" She raised a finger with a smile, trying to stay her cheery old self. "Bogo says there's a string of vandalism all around the city and he needs some cop to look into it. I got Tundra Town, you in? Like old days, investigating in the freezing cold!" "No." Judy blinked a few times, tilting her head slightly to the side, taken aback by the response. "No?" Her voice was hesitant, as though she was bracing herself. "No. N-O. Are all bunnies dumb or is it just you?" Nick snorted with disdain and headed on past her.