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Chapter Six: Of Long Burned Bridges

Detective Nicholas P. Wilde had changed a lot in the nearly four years since he joined the ZPD. While the night howler case had been a massive scandal that had threatened Zootopia at large, when it came to grit it had been fairly light. Now buried far behind various cases involving murder, arson, gang warfare, drug busts, and armed robbery, the night howler incident seemed to pale in comparison to the horrors Zootopia's seedy underbelly could provide. Despite having the best and brightest partner the ZPD had to offer, the work had still taken a toll on the fox. While it wasn't readily apparent from a distance, a closer inspection of the mammal revealed the full extent of his time on the force. His tired eyes were still as piercing green as the first day he had started, but they had lost some of that sparkle that belied his lighthearted personality. His fur had developed touches of gray around the edges of his eyes and the tip of his tail, the result of the stress that went paw in paw with the nature of police work.

Just below the surface of his well maintained uniform, buried under the fur of his right shoulder lie a scar left by a stray bullet. The scar had been picked up whilst in the line of fire in a bank robbery at Zootopia's First National Bank a year into his tenure. He couldn't remember which had been worse, the blinding pain of the bullet entering his shoulder, or the quavering voice of Carrots as she cradled him and called for help. Nick's most visible scar however was the large notch in his left ear, torn in by the teeth of a strung out badger during a simple domestic dispute a year prior. It's visibility bothered Nick to some extent, but he played it off as adding character to his already _'charismatic'_self.

But the external changes were small compared to how Nick had changed on the inside. For one, the events of night howler case, or more specifically the friendship he had developed with a certain bunny cop had made him a less cynical and more emotionally open mammal. That wasn't to say he had given up his title as the master of snark, but Judy had given him something to believe in, and more importantly someone to rely on. The lasting impact of their friendship had helped ease Nick's distrust of others, and because of that he had forged many new friendships at the ZPD. Many of the mammals at the ZPD took to the 'comedy king' of the bullpen fairly quickly, and even Bogo eventually warmed to his personality, though he was loath to admit it. The ZPD had become a second family to Nick, but still there was no one who could take the place of his beloved Carrots.

Going legit also gave him sense of personal pride. He may not have always been able to agree with Judy's idea that they were making a big difference, but his new life had given him a sense of purpose and the drive to better himself.

Before Hopps came along he would boast about how much money his various schemes made him. But despite his cool demeanor there had always been a pang of shame in living up to the broad brush strokes society had painted his kind with. The same shame that kept him from re-connecting with his mother for so long, a vixen who lived her life the way she wanted to and not the way other mammals expected her to. The same vixen who burst into tears when her son appeared on her doorstep after his years of absence. At the time she professed she hadn't cared whether he was a scammer or a cop, just that he had come home again. Although later she would admit that she was proud that Nick had become the fox she always knew he was. That was another highlight on the long list of positive changes Hopps made on his life, as it was her prompting and pushing that lead him to reach back out to his mother after all this time.

But not everything was a change for the better, at least in Nick's eyes. Over the years he and Hopps had become especially close. On the force they worked exclusively together, they had moved in together, and spent nearly all of their free time together. Nick had been able to convince himself that all of this was standard best friend behavior. But what he couldn't waive off were the increasingly odd thoughts popping into his head more and more during their daily routine. How cute she looked when she passed out on the couch during their movie nights. The way her eyes sparkled with determination when saddled with a particularly tough case. The way her smirk sent chills down his spine. Nick had prided himself on being a fairly observant fox, he was quick on the uptake and great with details. Hell, it was these traits that had secured him a place at the ZPD, and the eventually promotion to detective. But it took Clawhuaser of all mammals to spell out for him exactly what the feelings he was experiencing were. Nicholas P. Wilde was hopelessly in love with Judy Laverne Hopps, and he hated himself for it.

There where numerous reasons why he hated feeling this way for her. While interspecies relationships were fairly common, ones between predator and prey were still largely vilified in modern society. There was also the possibility of ruining the best relationship he'd ever had in his life if she didn't return his feelings, although Clawhauser was certain she'd feel the same. Then there was also their careers to think about, and whether or not a relationship would jeopardize all they had accomplished. But the absolute worst thing, the thing that really hit home with him, was the close call Judy had a few months ago.

It was a memory he couldn't help but recall as he quietly watched Judy diligently typing at her desk across the way in their shared office. It was a quiet spring day, and there were very little large cases as of late. The past two months had been largely peaceful aside from the usual petty crimes, and although great for the city it gave the pair very little to actually do. In his boredom he had begun twiddling his canister of fox repellant, flicking the safety on and off at random as he stared at the distracted bunny. As she shrugged in an effort to get more comfortable he could make out the edge of the jagged scar on her neck from the incident. The incident that caused him to start carrying fox repellant in the first place. A simple public drunkenness call, a belligerent fox, so much blood.

He should have tranqed him, tackled him, anything. If he had been quicker on the draw he could have prevented it. But Judy, fearless as always had convinced him to let her talk the drunken fox down. It all seemed so standard at first, Judy would talk the perp down like always, they'd take him to the drunk tank, write a report and go home. But suddenly the situation went south as the fox, seemingly unprovoked, lunged and bit down hard on her neck. It was a blur after that, beating the other fox unconscious, calling in for help in hysterics, cradling Judy in his arms, the blood staining his paws. Luckily the bastard's teeth had just missed the artery, otherwise Carrots wouldn't be sitting across from him right now. But that day made him realize just how vulnerable he was. Judy was the only mammal he truly cared about, and without her nothing else mattered to him. It was that realization, that every day on the job held the possibility of losing the most precious mammal in his life, was truly the worst thing about the whole mess.

After that his stance on his own kind had hardened. He used to try to be understanding, but now to him a fox that wasn't working to make themselves better was a fox that wasn't worth the time or effort to help, wasn't worth the risk of losing his Carrots.

Nick shook his head vigorously in an attempt to dispel the dark memories, gently placing the locked fox repellant on his desk. He leaned over his desk to stare at the clock on the office wall, his ears flicking in time with the tick of the second hand. In a half hour they'd be clocking out, heading back to their shared apartment to watch cheesy cop flicks as was their Sunday night ritual. Still the anticipation was not enough to fully clear his mind, the silence needed to be broken with some witty banter. Grabbing a sheet of printer paper from his desk, he quickly crumpled it into a tight ball. Turning his attention to the thoroughly distracted rabbit, he aimed for the sweet spot.

He wound his good arm back, held it for a moment to keep on target, then released the paper projectile. It sailed across the small office, making a beeline for the space between Judy's ears. However, at the tail end of the pitch it went wide, causing it to softly smack against the rabbit's ear. She flinched in response, before turning to look at Nick with an annoyed look.

"Really Nick? This isn't a grade school." The rabbits nose twitched in irritation.

The fox shrugged, throwing her his trademark grin. "Hey, I was aiming for between the goalposts. Must be getting rusty."

She chuckled softly as she went back to typing.

Nick rose from his seat and sauntered his way over to her desk, leaning over her as she worked. He remained silent, knowing if he waited long enough the rabbit would give him the response he was looking for. He listened as he heard the typing slow, and eventually stop.

"NICK." They said simultaneously as the rabbit turned to him. She simply groaned in response to the fox's mimicry.

"I knew I'd get ya Carrots." Nick laughed as she shoved him with her paw.

"You know I don't like people standing over me while I type!" She huffed.

The fox raised his paws defensively. "Hey, hey, relax. I'm just playing around Fluff. I just wanted to see what you were working on."

Judy whined softly as she turned back to the laptop and started to type again. "I'm just cleaning up some reports for the chief. I want them to be as detailed as possible."

Nick leaned in and peered at the screen. "Tch....Carrots. A report on a purse-napping probably doesn't need to be ten pages long."

Judy turned to Nick. "Well it's jus-" her ears drooped, and she placed a paw over her face. "Argh, I've got nothing else to do right now. It's been so slow." She slumped in her chair.

"Tell me about it." He crossed his arms. "I mean don't get me wrong, I'm glad the peace is being kept. Still at this point I'd be willing to do parking duty for a change of scenery."

The rabbit stifled a snorting laugh, which caused Nick to look at her curiously. "What's that for?" He asked.

"I'm just picturing you in the little meter maid outfit I was wearing my first time out there." She snickered.

"Hey, you know I'd make that look good." He playfully dabbed his paw at his face, earning even more laughter from the rabbit.

"So...any interesting reports from the other officers?" He asked.

"Just mundane stuff, nip bust, theft, domestic disturbance, night howler smuggling." She muttered.

"Again with the night howler. I wish they'd just ban that stuff." Nick muttered.

"It wouldn't do anything anyway, making something illegal doesn't stop bad mammals from using it." She shrugged.

Nick growled with annoyance as he leaned against the nearby wall.

"Fangmeyer caught him though, department thinks it was for a personal dispute. Husband trying to poison his wife to avoid alimony payments or something, it was a really small amount." She continued skimming the report.

"So no further investigation needed." He asked.

"Nope." She sighed. They were both silent, and it hung in the air for what seemed like forever before the door swung open. The duo turned to see a familiar fennec fox standing in the frame.

"Hey Finn, how's my favorite pint sized undercover agent." The fox snorted.

Finnick sneered. "Least I ain't got a notch ear. Makes you look even more shifty."

Nick touched his damaged ear and feigned dismay. "Ouch, my pride." He sarcastically lamented. "I'll have you know I wear like a badge of honor, as well as my gunshot scar." He said, placing a paw on his shoulder. "Still acts up when it rains." Judy rolled her eyes at Nick's usual theatrics.

"Alright gramps. You wanna tell me some 'back in my day' stories next?" Finnick smirked as Judy did her best to stifle her laughter.

"har-dee har har." The fox pantomimed laughter before letting out a dull groan.

Finnick made his way to the chair set across from Judy's desk, and as he clambered up into the seat Nick leaned forward expectantly, placing a paw on Judy's desk.

"Now, you get anything good?" Nick queried.

"You got the twenty Z's you owe me?" Finnick retorted.

Nick crossed his arms in defiance, only to feel Judy gently elbow him in the rib. The red fox grumbled. Reaching into his pocket, he produced a twenty and placed it on the desk. The smaller fox snatched up and chuckled.

"Told ya man, never bet against Sahara Slashers." Finnick said.

"Yeah, yeah, now tell me you got some info on the counterfeiting going on in Savannah Central." The fox was adamant.

"I wouldn't be here otherwise. I got plenty." The little fox gave a smug grin as he handed the pair of sunglasses he had hanging from his collar over to Judy. As Judy plugged a small USB cable into the glasses Nick whistled.

"Mam, they give you some fun toys over at Precinct Two." Nick grinned as he looked over the specs.

"Old Chief Drome likes to keep his best officers up to date, unlike some other precincts." He flashed a smug grin.

"Alright boys, save it for the annual inter-office baseball game." Judy joked. "Now which folder am I looking in?"

"The one from three days ago." Finnick replied.

Judy opened the folder and began scrolling through the pictures. Most of them were in Tundratown, revealing a particularly run down looking ice cream factory. There were several photos of large bricks of ice containing stacks of Z bucks, and a well dressed ermine overseeing the operation. Nick merely peered from where he was standing as she sifted through each photo.

"Seems the operations based in Tundratown, at the old Arendelle Ice Cream Factory. They've been making the counterfeit bills there and transporting them in large ice blocks to Sahara Square.." The fennec stated.

"Ice blocks? Didn't Koslov do something like that years ago?" Judy asked.

The diminutive fox stood in the large chair and began to pace as he continued. "Smuggling through ice was Koslov's specialty, but he got out of organized crime years ago. Had a change of heart like Mr. Big."

Nick threw Judy his usual smug grin. "We can thank godmother Carrots for that one." Judy simply smirked at him in response.

"Anyway, place was free of any trace of Koslov's claw marks, but it ain't no secret how he smuggled stuff around. Seems the perp is a fan of his methods. You got that picture of the ermine?" Finnick stopped pacing to turn to Judy. As she returned to the picture she nodded for Finn to continue.

"Name's Evard Stoat, he's head of the operation and desperate to fill the void left by Koslov and Big's absence. Basically trying to set himself up as Zootopia's new and only crime lord. But he ain't too bright." Finnick smirked.

"I take it we've got a lot more on him then just the photos at the factory?" Judy asked.

"He's left a paper trail a mile wide, me and my partner got more than enough to nail this sucka to the wall!" Finnick slammed his fist in his palm and bared his teeth in excitement.

The room fell silent for a minute as the two cops regarded the little agent, but it wasn't long before Nick had to pipe up. Finn's buttons were too easy to push, and once again it proved too tantalizing for Nick's barbs. He sniffled loudly, bringing up a paw to wipe his eye.

"My little boy's all grown up." Nick feigned more sniffles. "Papa's so proud of you." Judy covered her mouth to hide her smirk as the smaller fox glared at Nick.

"mam, you better watch it." He snarled. Nick only faked a defensive pose in response.

"Hey, you said it yourself. I inspired you to join the ZPD. Remember?" Nick gave him his famous half lidded eyes and smug grin. "It was touching." He placed a paw over his heart.

The fennec growled at Nick before dropping the rage with an irritated sigh. "I-" He shook his head vigorously. "I didn't say it like that mam, don't put words in my muzzle."

"But you did say it. Roughly." The fox shrugged, his grin widening.

"Look, Sheila got TundraTown's Precinct and I'm here to get Savannah on board and make sure this bust is happening! It takes a lot of effort getting all the departments to work together!" Finnick had turned back to Judy sharply, trying to change the subject. Judy was still stifling her laughter, which gave Nick another opening.

"Oh mam Sheila! She still got that picture of her carrying you in her pouch away from that legalize nip protest? She promised to share it with me on Furbook, I bet it's the cutest thing." Nick emphasized the word cute in a sickeningly sweet fashion. He could swear he could see the little vein on Finn's forehead was about to burst.

"I WAS WOUNDED BY THE PISSED OFF PROTESTORS! IT WAS THE ONLY WAY SHE COULD GET ME OUT OF THERE!" Finnick yelled, his fists clenched as he snarled.

"Boys! BOYS!" Judy now stood in her chair, holding her paws out at each of them. After the two fell silent, she sat back down. "You have our support, we'll be ready to move when you are Officer Finnick."

The small fox seemed to relax, sitting back down in the chair and crossing his arms. "Thanks Hopps." He replied, his calm demeanor returning at the show of respect.

"I just need to let the Chief know and- Oh SWEET CHEESE AND CRACKERS!" Judy quickly slapped her paws over her eyes as the computer screen switched to another picture.

Both foxes ears shot up at the sound, and as Nick leaned in to see what was wrong the sight of what was on the monitor caused him to cover his mouth in glee. Nick's grin was practically ear to ear, and he was shaking trying to keep the laugher in. Finnick clambered onto the desk to see what had worked up the two only to pale when he saw the screen. This sent Nick over the edge, and he collapsed on the floor in hysterics. There, in glorious high resolution, was the under skirt of a female gazelle from a very short mammals point of view.

"Officer Finnick." Judy admonished. "Did you-?" She began to flip through the other photos, seeing what appeared to be more of the same gazelle's posterior. The small fox was sweating bullets. "Finnick!" Judy said with disgust.

"I-I said the folder from three days ago! W-why did you look in yesterday's?" He sputtered.

Nick was practically howling as he slowly pulled himself back up to the desk. "H-Ha still-" He gasped. "Haven't figured out H-Ha how to turn off slideshow Carrots?" He sputtered. Finnick glanced at Nick, his eyes filled with panic. Nick's response was to merely waive him off, Nick couldn't get him out of this one. As Finnick turned back to Judy he could see the rabbit now staring daggers at him.

"This is extremely, EXTREMELY unprofessional, and grounds for sexual harassment." Judy said sternly.

"I-I was off duty, and I wasn't at the precinct." The little fox protested.

"Not to mention a gross misuse of police equipment, invasion of privacy, egregious unprofessionalism. If this is the same Gazelle in all of the pictures, then stalking, not to mentio-" as Judy continued to flick through the photos the last picture stunned her into silence. Nick's laughter died away as he too saw the picture of a very familiar mammal working in a drive through window. Finnick jumped to take advantage of the silence, clearly eager to steer the conversation away from his free time activities.

"Aw yeah, forgot I took that one. Tha-"

"Bellwether, Dawn Bellwether?" Judy muttered in disbelief.

"Yeah." The fennec cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I uh, wanted to show you guys this one...thought you might be interested."

"She's out?" Judy said in a harsh, questioning tone. She turned to Nick, who shrugged in response.

"It's been four years already? Damn, how time flies." Nick replied.

"Why didn't I hear about this? Someone should have told me!" Judy growled.

Nick raised his arms defensively. "Hey, don't look at me. I didn't know either Fluff."

In a swift motion Judy slammed her paw on the intercom. "CLAWHAUSER!? ARE YOU THERE?" She barked into the receiver, causing both foxes to wince.

After a moment of silence the chipper voice of the cheetah chimed in. "Whoa Judy, you sound upset. Is everything okay?" He asked, worry apparent in his voice.

"Did you know Bellwether was out of prison?" She snarled.

"Oh yeah." The cheetah hummed. "Last week I think. It was pretty quiet. I think only a handful of mammals know."

"WHY DO YOU KNOW, BUT DETECTIVE WILDE AND I DON'T?" Her voice was strained. There was a silence on the other side for a while before Clawhauser finally spoke, Judy's ferocity had seemingly spooked him into a timid state.

"I-I...uh" He muttered.

"I told the officers who knew to keep it quiet." The familiar deep voice of Chief Bogo cut in.

Judy stared at the intercom in disbelief.

"Ch-ief?" She sputtered.

"You heard me Hopps." His response was gruff and emotionless. Judy turned to Nick, confusion marking her face. Again Nick shrugged, unsure of what to make of the events.

"B-but why sir?" She mumbled dumbly.

"It was required to keep the release hush, hush." Bogo stated. "Thanks to Snow's Prisoner Privacy Act, the release of a well known prisoner on parole is only disseminated to law enforcement and government officials, and then slowly released to the public to prevent a media frenzy that could jeopardize a prisoner's rehabilitation. Considering the nature of her crime, such knowledge released to the public could create unrest, or put the prisoner in harms way. It is standard procedure Lieutenant Hopps." The statement was blunt, as if read from a cue card.

Nick could see that Judy was reeling, she kept glancing to the fox. Her eyes shining with a different emotion each time. Horror, rage, sadness fear. Nick wanted to say something reassuring, but no words came. Before he could think of anything, Hopps pressed the chief further.

"Sir? Why weren't Detective Wilde and I informed like the other officers?" Judy asked.

There was an uncomfortable silence from the intercom followed by a long sigh.

"I believed you and Wilde were too..." The water buffalo paused. "emotionally compromised to deal with the information at the time." It was hard to notice, but there was hesitation in his voice as he said it.

"Emotionally compr-" The rabbit's voice quavered. Judy paused and cleared her throat. "Emotionally compromised? Sir, with all due respect we are your best officers and are familiar with Bellwether's case. Surely we should have been notified of her pending release."

"The case is closed Hopps, there's no crime to pursue." Bogo replied calmly.

"B-but surely there should be some officers monitoring her? Mammals that are familiar with her behavior like Nick and I! We'd-"

"ENOUGH HOPPS" Bogo bellowed, causing the assembled officers to wince. "Bellwether is currently being monitored by the parole officer assigned to her, and the board who voted for her release. They've probably spent more time around the lamb at this point than you have."

The rabbit looked to Nick almost pleadingly, seemingly looking for back-up. The fox rolled his eyes, but decided to try to step in.

"Sir, at they very least someone from this precinct could also monitor her. Lieutenant Hopps and I would feel more at ease at least knowing what she's up too. Whether it's nothing or otherwise." Nick stated coolly. "I mean this is the safety of the city were talking about, after what she did-"

"Detective Wilde." The buffalo sighed. " Look, I am on your side, both of you. You think I'm a fan of what she did? But we have to trust in the system and have faith that she is being monitored accordingly. We haven't even been given pertinent information as to were she's currently living or working."

There was a long silence, and the pair of cops exchanged uncertain looks. Bogo finally spoke again. "Trust me, it is better for our precinct not to get involved, and especially you two. It would be better to just try to forget it."

Judy opened her mouth to speak, but Nick placed a paw on her shoulder causing her to stop. She looked at him sadly, and Nick shook his head in response.

"Yes sir." Nick and Judy muttered, their voices laced with reluctance.

"Good, and let this be the last I hear of it. I don't want to think about it any more than you two. Good day Officers." And with that the intercom went silent.

The room had become deathly quiet, with the fox and rabbit seemingly frozen. Nick had his own reservations about Bellwether's release. But he was more concerned with the state of the rabbit now slumped over her desk, ears draped over her keyboard. His paw still on her shoulder, he gingerly shook it until she turned to look at him.

"I hate to say it Carrots, but I think Buffalo Butthead is right on this one. We got enough to work on without worrying ourselves over what Bellwether's up too. I'm sure she's got more than enough eyes on her." He patted her gently.

The sound of the door slowly opening drew their attention, and they turned to find Finnick sneaking his way out of the room. At some point he had snagged his sunglasses back, as they now hung from his collar again. Finnick froze under the gaze of the two.

"Uh...erm." He coughed awkwardly. "You guys probably need some time...I'll get going. Just call my office when you get the clear from old horn head." Slowly and awkwardly, the little fox started to edge his way out the door.

"Wait! Finnick!" Judy called.

The fennec stopped in his tracks. Slowly he turned his head to look at Judy, worry etching his face.

"Which Bug-Burga was that photo taken at?" She asked.

"Wait what?" Nick asked.

"Um...the one on Elm." Finnick said, confused.

"And how late was it?" Judy continued.

The little fox shrugged. "Dunno, one-ish? Two-ish? It was late."

The rabbit turned to Nick, growing a small grin.

"Oh no Carrots, no way. Bogo said-"

"He doesn't have to know Nick, he doesn't know where she works. We can just-"

"Absolutely not! Carrots this is a terrible idea, just drop it!" The fox waived his arms frantically.

"We'd only go to observe for like a half hour on a few of our late patrols! She won't even know were there!" Judy was now standing on her seat, her nose twitching excitedly.

"Carrots are you even hearing yourself right now!? Finn, back me-" Nick turned to see that the little fox had long disappeared, fleeing during the distraction. Nick dragged his paw over his face in exasperation. "Carrots, no. Just no. Alright?"

The rabbits ears drooped, and her eyes went wide. Nick knew what was coming, the best weapon in Carrot's arsenal. He did his best to strengthen his reserve in anticipation.

"Carrots! Don't you dare!" He growled.

Her lip began to quiver as her large amethyst eyes stared into him, he could feel his will beginning to crumble.

"Carrots..." He whimpered.

"Please Nick..." She said, sadness in her voice. Her eyes were now peering directly into his soul. He covered his eyes with his arm desperately, but he knew it was over.

"Alright! Alright! Fine!" He yelped. "You win." Nick deflated as the rabbit hopped in victory, pumping her fists.

"But we only observe. That's it, okay Carrots?" Nick crossed his arms.

"Okay, thank you Nick." She quickly sat back down and returned to her computer, leaving the fox slightly annoyed. She knew just how to play him.

"Manipulative bunny." He muttered.

"Weak fox." She chirped back before continuing to type.