Chapter Text
It was dark and cold outside in Zootopia as Nick climbed in through the window from the fire escape. His landlord didn't much care for foxes and cared even less for bloodstains on the hallway carpeting. He pulled off his trench coat gingerly shook the evening's rain off outside the window and hung it up on the coat rack next to his desk, followed by his wide brimmed hat and the shoulder holster still holding his lead negotiator, a Smith and Wesson .22. A few drops of his blood had made their way onto the collar of his coat, just another thing he'd have to clean before the night was over.
He sat down in his chair and reached for a bottle he kept in a desk drawer, he knew whiskey was what mammals would expect a gum-pad like him to drink, but he preferred vodka for situations like this. He poured some onto a clean rag and started dabbing it on the cut left on his cheek from a thankful client. Just because the man who hired him was pissed enough to take a swing at him didn't stop Nick from getting paid though, and with a grim smile he placed the envelope with his well-earned cash on the desk.
As he filled up a glass with some of the left over vodka he pondered over today's case; a missing mammal, nothing special about that, mammals went missing all the time in this city. Her father was something special though, a wealthy boar, from what Nick had gathered throughout the day he owned a lot of land around the outside of city limits which made him a good mammal to know if you wanted to build something outside of the city tax code but still close enough to be useful. Well the father was convinced that his daughter had been kitnapped despite the complete lack of evidence to support said theory, and he refused to go to the cops as he wanted it kept out of the news rags. This made him a perfect candidate to hire a PI and Nick was one of the best as long as you didn't mind hiring a fox, the desperate never do.
Well, the father was zero help, ranting and raving about mammals taking his daughter for ransom and refusing to hear any other possibilities. Typically ransoms come with demands and there had been none. Thankfully after his meeting in the boar's home Nick 'bumped into' the head maid, a giraffe who had a good head high above her shoulders. After a few minutes of polite flirting and compliments, she was willing to spill her guts on anything he might ask. Turns out the daughter had a boy toy from the rough side of town, and a real streak of pissing her father off. A short trip on the street car, a half dozen cups of awful coffee, a few well-placed questions mixed with a pawful of bills, and a couple of juicy pictures later Nick had everything he needed. Of course just because she'd willingly run away from home didn’t seem to placate the client any, and when Nick refused to haul his daughter back himself he lashed out. Nick tried to make it very clear that because she was 19 it actually would be kitnapping, and he would have no part in it. It was only when the staff came into the room to see what the trouble was that the boar let Nick go and paid him the agreed upon amount. The boar might have been a terrible father, but he was a smart businessmammal, so he knew when it was time to pay what was owed.
As Nick poured himself a second glass he noticed the light spilling under the doorway that lead to the rest of the office was shifting slightly and right on cue the door swung open. The mammal darkening his doorway was the same one who consistently brightened his life, with a set of legs that could kill, well, break a pair of ribs at least. He'd seen her do that very thing once when the pair were set upon by a group of thugs looking to make a quick buck. She was his assistant, a one miss Judy Hopps. He'd bailed her out of a spot of trouble with a few rams a couple of years ago, and she's been working with him ever since. Truth be told, she was a life saver: he was a great PI, always able to sniff out the facts in any case that came across his desk, but he was downright awful at running a business. When she stepped into his office the very next day, demanding for some way to pay him back he was taken aback and nothing came to mind short of money she couldn't spare. Thankfully for him she spotted a few letters marked 'Final Notice' sticking out from a pile of half-read notes stacked precariously on one corner of his desk and before he could object she was going through the whole stack. By the end of the day she had most of his books balanced with checks in the mail for his overdue bills and they were shopping for her new desk that now sat proudly in the front room.
Nick let out a sigh and set his glass down, "Your shift ended hours ago Miss Hopps, and you know I don't pay you extra to stay late."
Judy made her way across the room, "Well, first of all: I was worried about you, rather, worried that my boss would end up bleeding to death in a ditch somewhere leaving me unemployed. Secondly: you always say you don't pay me extra to stay late, and yet the envelopes you give me always seem to have more than we agreed upon. And finally: how many times do I have to tell you to call me Judy, Mr. Wilde?"
"The same number of times I tell you to call me Nick I suppose."
As Judy arrived at the desk she turned on the lamp that sat atop the surface finally bringing some illumination to the room. She pulled the vodka soaked rag away to study his wounded face for a moment before she set the first aid kit she'd brought in on the desk. Judy pulled a few things out and started to properly clean the cut.
Nick didn't particularly care for being treated like a kit, but he didn't protest: he knew from experience it'd be totally pointless no matter how much he argued. As she was finishing cleaning the blood from his fur he asked her, "Isn't there anything you'd rather be doing Miss Hopps?" He felt guilty staining her with his grime, but she rarely left him any other choice.
"I know you hate it when I do this, but you're going to just grin and bare it I'm afraid."
Nick wasn't looking at her, his eyes straight ahead. That more than anything allowed him to continue, "No, I mean... a pretty little thing like you? You should be spending your nights making eyes at some buck down the bar, not wasting your time taking care of an old tod."
Judy paused for just a moment before she said, "What brought this on?"
"Because these last 3 years you've been wasting your life being my secretary! You're too clever by half, never met a mammal more driven, and entirely fearless. You should be doing something better with your life, instead of throwing it away working for me."
"I didn't realize I was such a burden to you." Judy couldn't keep the hurt from her voice, but she didn't stop patching up his face.
Nick grabbed her paws, frustrated, and almost shouted, "You dumb bunny; you're not a burden, do you have any idea how screwed I'd be if you left?"
Judy pulled her paws out of his and replied, "Please, you just have to keep better track of your finances. I barely do anything around here Mr. Wilde."
Nick brought his finger below her chin, forcing her gaze up until he could look her in the eyes and said, "You really have no idea do you?"
Judy placed her paw over his and said, "Nick I…"
Nick cut her off "You're fired." It was nothing but simple cowardice that drove those hateful words past his fangs and into her ears. He wasn't blind, he'd seen the ways she looked at him when she thought he was too busy to pay attention to her. As if there was ever such a time; whenever they shared a room it was impossible to focus on anything but her. Still, that fact that she was interested in him didn’t matter because if she dated him, that stain would follow her for the rest of her life, and he couldn’t do that to her, and he wouldn’t allow her to do that to herself. It would hurt them both, but it was for the best.
Judy was stunned silent for a moment before she was able to comprehend what she'd heard. She swallowed once, but set her jaw and said, "Your cut isn't that bad, keep it clean and it'll be fine. I'll see you on Monday Mr. Wilde." she set the first aid kit on his desk and stood up. Nick wanted desperately to tell her that he was serious, that she wouldn’t have a job come Monday, but telling her that once was already more than he could handle. When the door to his office closed behind her Nick let out a sigh that sounded closer to a whimper and poured himself another drink.
Nick was still half asleep as he darted across his apartment. The only coherent thought in his mind was that he was hearing Judy call out "Nick!" repeatedly. He wrenched his door open before even taking off the chain lock, pulling it off the frame with a loud snap. He looked down and saw Judy with her paw still up in the air ready to knock again. He saw that her face was wracked with worry and fear, "Judy!" was all that he could manage to say. He grabbed her paw and pulled her into his chest as he pivoted so she was in his apartment while he was out in the hall. There was nothing there that he noticed that would upset her so, so he relaxed his arm and let her go.
There was a significant blush on her face as Judy stepped back, pulling her face out of his chest fur. She had issues meeting his gaze for a moment and Nick, realizing just how hungover he was, was having a hard time thinking coherent thoughts. He relied on his PI instincts like muscle memory and said, "What seems to be the problem miss?"
Judy managed to chuckled, she'd heard him say that exact phrase countless times over the years, but she never expected it to be directed at her. Such a simple question, but that was part of its beauty; it got you to focus on the problem and in doing so allowed you to actually describe it. She took a deep steadying breath and said, "My brother, Robert. He was supposed to come into Zootopia today, but he wasn't on the train. I can tell you more about it while you get a shirt on?"
Nick finally took stock of his situation and realized that he was in fact only wearing a pair of pants, with the top button undone in fact. The only other thing on him was a bottle of cheap whiskey still in his paw. He remembered he got back to his apartment, and in his misery drank himself to sleep in his armchair. Now that the adrenaline from hearing Judy panicked was beginning to wear off the expected headache was coming. He made his way into his bedroom and began sniffing his clothes trying to find a shirt that was relatively clean.
Judy on the other paw took a look around the kitchen and while she continued her story she set about boiling some water for coffee, she'd been working with him long enough to know that he'd be useless while hungover till he got a strong cup in him. "Robert was supposed to be on the 8:00 train today but he wasn't on board when it pulled into the station."
Nick tried to speak up from the other room but Judy cut him off, "I know what you're going to ask, and no I can't prove that he got on. I called the other station and they said they saw him buying a ticket and they're fairly certain he boarded the train. I already sent my family a telegram telling them to call me as soon as they can. I told them they need a phone in their house…" that last part was mostly for herself. "I don't think I'll be getting a call for a while though. By the time they get the message and get into town, it'll be hours if it's even today."
Nick finished getting dressed while listening to her. He was amazed at how much info she'd already gathered. If half of the clients who walked into his office were half as prepared as her he'd be the luckiest PI in the world. He glanced down at the bottle now laying on his bed and he considered taking a sip, a little of the hair of the wolf that bit him, but thought better of it: Judy needed him, and he would be at his best for her so he left it where it was.
When he reentered the kitchen Judy was just pouring the hot water onto the grounds while she continued, "I might be over reacting, but someone would have told me if Robert wasn't going to make it today."
Nick slipped his suspenders on and said, "Maybe you're over reacting, but I'm not so sure. You've got a good eye for these things. So, how do you want to handle this?"
Judy was a little surprised to hear that, "You want my opinion?" she handed him the cup of freshly brewed coffee as she asked. Nick typically dismissed any of his client's theories almost immediately.
Nick took a sip despite how hot it still was, "Why wouldn’t I? Like I said, you've got an eye for these things, and you know the facts so far."
Judy thought for a moment, "The train is still at the station, and will be for another hour while they clean it out and board the outbound passengers. We should look it over, see if we can't find something."
Nick nodded and slipped on his shoulder holster followed by his jacket. As he reached for his hat he paused, "I already know the answer, but I have to ask. Is there any chance you just missed him at the platform?"
Judy sounded more than certain, "None."
"Okay, let's go. We'll take the street cars, should get us there with plenty of time." With that he took another drink from his mug and made his way towards the door with Judy following right behind him. He locked his door and the two made their way out onto the street.
It was still early, around 9:00 and Nick glared at the hateful sun and pulled his hat lower over his eyes. They didn’t have to wait long before a trolley came rolling by and they both hopped on while it continued on it's way. After they paid the conductor they got a pair of seats and sat down.
As they road through the city streets Nick felt compelled to speak up, "Listen Ms. Hopps…"
"Back to that already? You were calling me Judy not 15 minutes ago. It was… nice."
To any other mammal she would have sounded like she was teasing the tod, playful even, but the sound of uneasy fear was unmissable to Nick's ears. "Judy, then. About last night…"
Again she cut him off, "Nick, think nothing of it. You've fired me 3 times in as many years. We both know it never sticks."
"Maybe this time it should. I was serious Judy, you could be doing so much more with your life instead of working a dead end job with a…" Nick didn’t finish his sentence.
"Finish your thought Nick. A dead end job with a what?"
"With a fox okay?!" Nick hissed the word out as if it caused him pain. He had to remind himself that they were in public and he couldn’t allow his voice to carry, "I know you've heard what some of the mammal around the building have been saying. It's not exactly pleasant conversation Judy. Why do you keep coming back?"
Judy sat silently for a moment, thinking before she answered, "You've never treated me like I was just a bunny, you saw me for me. Not even my family could look past my species, to see my potential. They wanted me to be a carrot farmer. But you? Even the day we met, you treated me like everyone else. Which isn't to say you always treated me kindly." The two shared a chuckle at that, "But you've always treated me well. When you meet someone like that, you don't let them push you away, especially if they still need you."
Nick deflated, he wasn't sure when she became an expert on reading him but she was. "I'm sorry Judy. I've been alone a long time, sometimes… well sometimes it's hard to forget I'm not on my own any longer."
Judy sniffed once, "I know… it still hurts though. Thinking that you don't need me any more."
Nick felt guilty at hearing that, "It won't happen again Judy."
Judy was crying softly listening to his words and Nick placed a comforting paw on her knee, normally she would have kept her composure, but her missing brother really had her on edge. He knew what mammals would say about a predator and prey getting along so well, but at that moment he couldn’t be bothered to care. She grasped his paw with her own and Nick was once again reminded of her small size, but also her incredible strength of character as she quickly took a few deep breaths and steadied her breathing. There'd be time for tears later, right now she had a missing brother to find.