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When Nick is coming to, the first thing he hears are tiny voices surrounding him on all sides. Soft, child-like whispers that he couldn't really make out in the haze of unconsciousness. He furrows his brow at the bone deep pain all over his body and let's out an exhausted yawn that leaves his mouth wide open.
A large collection of gasps startles him out of his haze and he shuts his mouth promptly and opens his eyes.
And what he sees is bunnies.
He blinks, taken off guard by how close these strange bunnies were standing near him. Small bunnies, young bunnies, older bunnies. Bunnies as far as the eye could see. He didn't know what to make of it. Bunnies rarely let him stand this close. Well, really, they never let him stand this close. With one exception.
A voice stands out among the crowd of bunnies and Nick's ear flicks.
"But why here, Judy?" A hiss. "Out of all places, our home?"
"It's fine, dad. He's harmless." He sighs in relief. A voice he's familiar with. His only exception. "He's the one that got hurt. That collar seriously could have killed him."
"He probably did somethin' to deserve to it, Jude! They have those things for a reason, yanno." He was used to hearing that, so it's easy enough to ignore.
Judy spats out. "He saved my life! And that— That thing almost killed him for it!"
There's a moment of hesitation. "I… Well, gosh…" The male's voice is trembling, unsure. "I just… Have you seen his teeth?"
Nick's lips are tightly sealed at this point, hyper-aware of his teeth in the presence of the small critters. Before Judy can respond, one of the bunnies on his left opens her tiny mouth wide and yells. "Foxy's awake!"
The male voice from before completely stops and suddenly that small bunny is pulled away from his line of sight.
In her place, Lieutenant Hopps appears, placing one of her paws on his cheek.
"Hey." She says, and her voice is soft. She sounds…fond.
He melts into her touch without thinking, brain still foggy from the pain. His eyes close, sighing.
"Hey," he responds. "'s it just me or is the energy in here electric right now?"
Judy groans and he grins. Things almost felt normal again.
"Alright, slick. Hold tight." She glances back and glares at the male rabbit standing behind her, who only raises both hands defensively in response. "I'm taking you to my room."
—
Judy's room is small and cramped. It's got the one bed, a tiny desk wedged by its side, posters of the ZPD and Zootopia and small sticky notes with reminders stuck all over the room. He remembers her apartment back in the city and it makes sense to him how she didn't seem all that uncomfortable in that tiny room. This was much smaller than that.
"How are you feelin', slick?" She interrupts his train of thought.
Nick cranes his neck, the collar feeling a bit stiff around his neck. He could still feel aftershocks, tingling up and down his spine. "Like a toaster that just took a swim, Lieutenant Fluff."
When he looks at her again, her eyebrows are furrowed and her lips are tightly pressed together. She looked like she was going to be sick. She was pitying him.
He sighs. "Don't look at me like that. I'm fine, Hopps. Honest."
"You aren't, though."
"Yeah, well." He shrugs. What is there to even say? That's just the world they live in.
"You didn't need to do that. I didn't want you to do that." Her tone is clipped now and his head snaps up to find her looking at him and she looks… miffed.
"Are you…" He starts, incredulously. "You can't seriously be mad at me right now. I saved you."
"I didn't need you to save me, Nick!" She raises her voice, hand going up to her own neck. "Not when— You know! You could have— That could have ended SO much worse."
Nick blinks, bewildered by her completely misplaced frustration, and he feels rage bubble up in him. Because, seriously, what the hell was she talking about? He closes his eyes and tries to calm down. Lest his collar shock him again. His ears go flat against his skull. "I wasn't not going to save you, Hopps."
Judy grits her teeth and looks away in a huff. "You should know better, Nick."
His jaw drops and when he snaps it shut, hes baring his teeth.
"Why are you mad at me? You want to be mad at someone? Be mad at the government. Be mad at the bigots, be mad at–" His hands gesture wildly until they land on his collar and he grips and pulls, as if willing the thing out of existence. The lights turn yellow as it starts to beep in warning and Judy snaps to attention. "–this fucking thing! But don't be mad at me! Don't tell me I should know better! I do know better. I made a choice. I wanted to save you."
"Calm down, Wilde." Judy says, hands raised in a gesture that's meant to be soothing. The fear is familiar to him, something he's seen on the face of countless prey mammals.
The difference was, of course, that while all the other prey could look at were his teeth, all Judy could look at was the collar. Blinking its warning light.
He's never had someone be afraid for him.
But…right. She had seen him at his worst.
Nick exhales and looks at the ceiling, not even surprised to see a pamphlet for the ZPD Training Academy taped up there too.
When the lights on the collar blink off, Judy let's out a shaky exhale and her foot starts thumping anxiously against the floor. Nick watches the way it does so, the quick movement distracting him from the anger he felt moments earlier. She starts pacing, deep in thought as she tries to convey the thoughts circling around in her head.
"I'm not— It's not worth it. That shock was… bad. You could have died. You almost— And it almost happened again." As she stumbles through her words, she pushes her ears back and they droop. She looks miserable. "This is not worth going through that for and it's definitely not worth dying for."
Nick frowns, taken aback by this sentiment. Given how many times she's risked her own tail to save him in just the past few days, this really felt like nothing in comparison. The fact that she cares about him as much as she does makes his heart swell. He's never had anybody, especially not somebody who was prey, treat him the way she has. Believe in him the way she has. Stick with him the way she has. Even through all the shit he's put her through, all the chasing and the teasing and the scares, she was still somehow here. Knowing she'd be in deep shit for helping him. Knowing she would lose everything she's ever worked for if they got caught.
This was worth it. She was worth it.
But he doesn't say all that.
"Agree to disagree," He says instead, shrugging one shoulder.
Judy stops pacing in front of him and frowns up at him. "Don't ever do that again."
"I can't promise that."
"Nick."
"Well, I can't. Judy, you're— You need to live. I'm just a chomper. A shifty, untrustworthy fox. A living, breathing stereotype, really. You're actually trying to make a difference." Her eyes look too big and too sad. He looks away and wrinkles his nose. "Can't we just…promise to protect each other?"
He hears her sigh and, from the corner of his eye, he can see the way she shakes her head in disbelief. "I think we're already doing that, slick."
"I guess that settles it then, doesn't it?" He gives her a crooked grin. She smiles back, but its weak and drops just as quickly as it appears. He can tell there's more she's withholding from him but, knowing the lieutenant, prying would only make her shut him down.
He plops down on her bed. It's soft and fluffy, he can feel himself sinking into the mattress. He wonders if Judy likes it this soft because it feels like being held.
Judy lays down beside him then and he stiffens a bit, before slowly letting himself relax again.
A moment of peace, he marvels. He feels like he hasn't had that since he went on the run to clear his name. He can hear the chatter and thumping of rabbits all around the burrow. Names being yelled, games being played. It was…homey.
He can hear the gentle breathing of the rabbit beside him.
He peeks down at said rabbit, who is staring at the ceiling with what looks like the weight of the world on her shoulders.
"I don't know if… I can make a difference." She whispers. He considers responding, but then she speaks again before he even can. "I'm rethinking the whole ZPD thing."
Nick blinks at her owlishly. "You're thinking about quitting?"
Judy grunts.
"You worked so hard to get where you are," he argues, though there's no real fight in his voice. He wasn't necessarily opposed to the idea. It would make his own weird and jumbled feelings about her only a smidge less complicated. But, one look around her room proves just how badly she had wanted this. Just how hard she had worked to get it. "You had to work twice as hard and look at you, Lieutenant. At the top of your game. One of the best cops at that place."
Judy head rolls over to look at him. "I feel like it's made me a worse mammal," she says, soft and sad. "When I started, I had hope. Hope things would get better, hope that trying my best would make it better. I wanted to make the world a better place. But these past few years, I've just been…upholding the status quo." She curls up a bit and her forehead leans against his side. "I don't know if I can do it anymore."
"But…" He hesitates, and he sees the pamphlet on the ceiling again. "But this has been your dream since you were a kid."
Judy lets out a wet chuckle. "Mammals change. Dreams can too."
Nick wants to hold her but he holds back. Instead, he squeezes his hand into a tight fist, claws digging into his palm so hard it almost makes up for the burning longing he feels in his chest.
"So what? You already have a new dream?"
Judy stays quiet. Her head digs into his side, and when he looks at her ears, the insides look a bit pinker than they normally do.
Nick raises an eyebrow. "Do you?"
She slowly removes herself from his side and sits up, leaning over him from where he laid. Nick looks up at her and he feels his face get warm. From this angle, she looked so intense and serious. He sees the way her eyes flit from his eyes to his mouth. The way her throat bobs with a thick swallow. The way her nose twitches when he tilts his head and her ears flick when he lets out a small sigh.
She closes her eyes. "I'm… working on it."
Nick feels that burning in his chest again and he closes his eyes to try and stifle it. But, it only deepens when her head drops onto his chest and she nuzzles her face into the spot, finding comfort in him. Him. It's equal parts strange and thrilling. He only barely manages to keep it together.
She feels warm and solid against him. His paw raises up and hesitates over her frame, unsure for a moment if this would break whatever spell the bunny was under. He wraps his arm around her then, with the snap decision that he's willing to take that chance.
She nuzzles his chest again and for a moment he can smell something almost sweet. So distinctly Judy. He swallows down the feelings bubbling up at the scent.
"You bunnies," he sighs, pressing the side of his muzzle on the spot between her ears. "So emotional."
She mumbles something against him that he can't hear. His ear flicks.
"Come again?"
She raises her head and her eyes are wet with unshed tears. He frowns at the sight. He didn't expect her to actually be this emotional. The lieutenant was hardened by her circumstances, mostly angry or annoyed or frustrated. He's never seen her so vulnerable.
"You're not shifty or untrustworthy," she repeats herself. She puts her chin on his chest. "You're so much more than that. I feel so stupid for— for not having seen that before."
Nick let's out a small puff of air, amused. "Not exactly something you're special for."
She doesn't look as amused as he is. "It's just… wrong. It's wrong to feel like that, without knowing you. I was wrong about so many things."
"Again," he raises his paw and boops her nose. "Not something unique to you, Carrots."
She sighs, and her eyebrows furrow in annoyance. There's the lieutenant I remember, he thinks fondly.
"I just feel like I should have known better," she responds, curling a fist around his shirt.
"Eh…" He lets his eyes roll up to the ceiling again, letting himself relax under her. "That's easy to say. Easy to want. The most we can do now is just try to be better mammals moving forward."
She's quiet again and he closes his eyes, content with her in his arms.
He feels soft paws on his collar. And another on his cheek.
"Would you freak out if I kissed you?"
He opens his mouth to respond, but a warning beep from his collar answers for him. The fact that his heart rate elevated exponentially at just the idea of it was embarrassing enough on its own that he snaps his mouth shut.
"Oh." She says, eyes sad.
"NothatIdon'twantto," He blurts out, saying it so fast it all practically comes out as a single word. "Just, uh. Just the opposite."
"Oh," that's a different 'oh' than her sad one. Paws at his collar again. She breathes out sharply and frowns pensively. "I lost my collar key when I ran away with you. After you passed out."
He can't help but feel as frustrated as she sounds by that too.
"That… is a real shame, darlin'."
She hums in response, gears clearly turning in her head. She gets in her own head way too much, Nick thinks. Her one track mind was impressive, even if it did get her into trouble.
"Can we still try?" He asks, looking down at her.
Judy looks scared, worry creasing her brow. Nick's never seen himself during a really bad episode, but whatever he looked like must have really done a number on her.
"Not worth the risk," she hisses out. Her paws are still on his collar, like she's trying to figure the confounded thing out.
"It is to me," he responds. "Because it's you, Hopps."
Judy's eyes soften. And she looks away, deep in thought. Her little buck teeth biting her lip and foot thumping rhythmically against his leg. Nick feels a resounding adoration for the bunny, the feeling just sickening enough to make him want to take it back.
"One try." She says. "But if I hear so much as one beep, we aren't doing it again."
Well, that definitely made things harder, given that it was currently still beeping. He nods, and inhales slowly, squeezing the small ball of fluff in his arms until he feels his heart rate slow down.
She squeaks in his arms, face burrowed in his chest. He's squeezing her maybe too hard, he realizes. But these are the risks you take when you become the emotional support animal of somebody like him.
"Okay," the beeping eventually slows and stops. The yellow turns back into a dull gray. "Okay. I'm good. I'm cool as a cucumber now."
She wriggles in his arms. He finally loosens his hold and looks back down at her. When her big eyes meet his again and she smiles, the beeping returns full force.
"Fuck." He groans. "No, wait, hold on. That doesn't count. Gimme a minute."
Judy just laughs, burying her face in his shoulder. Her laughs become muffled but her shoulders shake with mirth, anyways, and he can't help but grin. He can't really express his own joy right now so loudly, not without risking a shock, so he just lets her laugh and focuses on breathing. Pressing his muzzle against the side of her head, feeling the vibrations of her laughter. Letting her feel this moment for both of them.
The beeping eventually slows and stops with her laughter. He exhales.
Calm.
He nudges her off his shoulder and grabs her cheek with one paw. She leans into the touch and, before he can lose his nerve, he presses their muzzles together in a soft and clumsy kiss.
Clumsy, of course, because his snout was longer and it was a little awkward to find the right angle. But she leans into him further and they eventually find it, her paws finding ground on his shoulders and his own finding home on her hips.
Her teeth lightly nip at him and he shudders. He angles his head to try and deepen the kiss. His claws catch at the cloth of her pants and her leg twitches in response but she doesn't pull away, letting him deepen the kiss.
To think, even earlier this week, the idea that she liked him at all was unfathomable to him. This felt unbelievable. Too good to be true.
And yet…
She lets out a small moan against his mouth when his claws manage to find their way under her shirt to lightly scratch at the fur there. His tail starts wagging eagerly at the sound, thumping against the mattress under him and (unfortunately) the beeping starts up again as his heart rate goes crazy at the sound.
She stops and pulls away, smiling at him with a furrow in her brow and then she stares at the collar again, like she was cursing the thing a thousand times in her mind. Nick understood the sentiment. He hates the thing around his neck more than he hates anything in the world.
"Wow, Hopps…" His embarrassment at his quickened heart rate being exposed by the collar needs to be dampened, so he falls back on an old reliable. "Sparks. Absolute sparks. Tell me you felt 'em too."
Judy, again, did not look amused at his attempt at humor. "Is there a reason you can't take anything seriously?"
"Oh, I'm being serious alright," He clicks his teeth. "I'm shocked that you think I'm not. Our bond is so electric, I'm practically a live wire right now."
She throws her head back to groan. "Stop. Please stop. It's all awful."
He grins. "Can't help it, you've got me all charged up."
"Alright," She pushes off of him. "Never again. Not if you keep doing that."
He smirks. "What, like you didn't enjoy it?"
She smirks back down at him, arms crossing against her chest. "Well… Maybe not as much as you." Her eyes glance down at his still eager tail.
"That remains to be seen." He answers readily, sitting up to peck at her small nose. He does hold his tail down as he does so, trying to act nonchalant despite the frenzy that warm press of lips was trying to send him on.
She lightly pushes him back down and he sinks into the mattress once more with ease. She flops down beside him again and wraps an arm around him.
They lay in a much more content silence than before this time. Nick feels himself falling asleep again, hind paws curling and tail wrapping around the small bunny. He can't remember the last time he felt this… serene.
"Nick?" She whispers.
"Mm?"
"I need to… tell you something."
He hums again, in acknowledgement.
She hesitates for longer than he expects. Her foot starts anxiously tapping against the mattress again. He doesn't pry. He knows not to.
She takes a deep breath and shakes her head. When she speaks, she sounds steady. Resolute. "Things will get better."
"Yeah?" He asks, drowsily. Judy was rarely the optimist. Ambitious, yes. Determined, absolutely. Realistic? To a fault. But outright optimistic? After everything she's been through? She sounds almost like the bunny she described earlier, the one who had first come to Zootopia.
"Yes," she answers. "I'm going to solve this case. Clear your name. And after that, I'll fix everything. I'll make sure of it."
"We're going to solve the case," Nick reminds her, slow and languid. He was too tired to think about the case right now, what with his body still recovering. "Let's make a game plan tomorrow, alright? Make the world a better place then. Sleep now."
She doesn't respond, only squeezing his middle with her arm. He takes that as a yes and then he's out like a light.
—
He wakes up alone.
The room is dark. The lights are off and there aren't any windows in here, but his night vision still lets him see that he is alone. He yawns loudly and tries to stretch his arms up but one of them comes up short as a small, metal jangling stops him in his tracks. He looks at his arm and finds that he is handcuffed to the bed. The cool metal wristlet is an unfortunately very familiar sensation to him, at this point.
Blinking, he pulls at the handcuffs. And then pulls. And pulls again.
He glances around confused, ears flattening out against his skull in confusion. "Carrots?"
He looks around the room, finding it empty. When he looks up at the ceiling, he finds that the ZPD academy pamphlet is gone and in it's place: a note.
Nick,
Going to solve the case. My family will take care of you. It's safe.
I'm sorry for everything.
Lt. Carrots
He blinks and then blinks again. Reads it over and over, like reading it again will change what it says.
"Oh," He grits his teeth and curses to himself, free hand dragging down his face in frustration. "That dumb bunny."