six months 》junick

Chapter 8: More Discoveries and an Argument

"How did this happen...?" Judy wondered aloud as she switched off the TV in her office, Nick staring at the blank screen with wide eyes.

"Ten murders? In one night?" He questioned, the disbelief evident in his voice.

Judy's brain churned with all of this new information, wondering how in the living hell her and Nick were supposed to stop The Preds when they were pulling off ten murders at once. She wanted to give up; all the pressure, the guilt, the families of the victims stating how devastated they were on the news - saying how the police can't do their job right. It was all too much for Judy, and she wanted to give up.

Just as she was about to throw the towel in however, she remembered her and Nick's plan to go to The Preds' hideout tonight, and decided it was the only way to actually progress in this mission.

"We gotta get to that hideout," she stated, running for the door, but Nick grabbed her arm and pulled her back before she could reach it.

"Hold on there, Carrots, it's dangerous," he warned, letting go of Judy's arm once she turned around and gave him a death glare.

"What other choice do we have?" She asked, stamping her foot on the ground.

"Hmm, I don't know. How about waiting until nighttime like we planned!" He yelled in response, only causing Judy's blood to boil further.

"Nick, right now they'll be out living their normal lives, doing anything they can to not get caught by the cops. Right now is the perfect time to go!" She yelled back, her nose twitching slightly.

"Judy, that's what The Preds want us to do. They want us to believe that they're out living normal lives so we'll go to their hideout- can't you see that?!" He asked.

"Nick, we have to go and stop them!" Judy argued, practically pleading him at this point. "If we don't, who knows how many more innocent prey will be killed? We haven't got time to wait until night."

"Look, Carrots, I understand that you want to be a good cop, but what use will you be to the ZPD if you're dead? It's a trap," he insisted, but Judy wasn't having it. She was already shaking her head at Nick's argument, even though it was fairly reasonable, and keeping her side of the argument up.

"Nick, it's my duty to protect the animals of Zootopia, regardless of whether I'm putting my life at risk or not! I can't just...wait around for night to fall because if I do, I'll never be able to fight off the guilt," she insisted, and Nick regretted what he said next.

"Is it also your duty to be a dumb bunny? To get yourself killed all for nothing?" He retorted loudly, the silence that followed after screaming in his ears as much as his subconscious, telling him he was stupid.

Nick cared about Judy, more than she could ever imagine, and that kiss they almost shared last night made him feel like he was needed. As a child, he was never liked or loved by anyone, so the fact that he came so close to kissing someone who cared about him deeply made him feel special, and he didn't want to lose that one being who made him feel this way. As selfish as it sounded, Nick didn't want Judy to go to the hideout, because he may not be quick enough to save her if something happened. And if something did happen, he would never forgive himself. But with what he just said, Nick was sure Judy wouldn't give a damn about how he felt, and go to that hideout regardless of how much he cares about her.

Judy stared at Nick in shock for a few seconds, before her expression turned to one of disgust and anger. She clenched her fists at her side as her blood boiled even further, the anger evident in the shaking of her body.

"Last time I checked, I was the cop, and you were the idiot working on community service," she spat, her voice surprisingly quiet considering how mad she was. "I never asked for your help - even though it was pretty stupid of me to ever expect a fox to be of any help to me."

Nick's eyes widened in shock as he took a step back. So this was it. One heated argument was all it took for Nick's confidence to be knocked down like building blocks. He thought Judy believed in him, but obviously not.

He clenched his fists by his sides and turned his head away from Judy, holding back the tears that threatened to spill out from his eyes.

"Just when I thought somebody actually believed in me," he mumbled before turning around and storming out of the office.

Judy's subconscious was screaming at her, telling- no, begging her to go after him, to, apologise for what she said and tell him that she didn't mean it. But she didn't move. Judy was dead set on solving this case, with or without Nick, even though she couldn't fight off the pang of guilt in her chest and the tears in her eyes...

~*~

Huehuehue...😈

And they all lived happily ever after!

Big thank you to CleonGeoffrey who's been really sweet with telling me I'm doing really well with this story; thank you! ❤️