A Fresh Start

Partners?

Nick arrived at work with a coffee in his paw. It was a month today since he had been working at the ZPD. He nodded to Clawhauser and padded over to his and Judy's office. Judy had not arrived yet, which was a surprise to Nick, however he had arrived to work rather early. Nick took a seat in his office chair and rolled over to the desk. The vulpine looked over Ava Lobo's file. He scanned the pages quickly yet thoroughly efficient. He found nothing helpful to the case and frowned as he set the papers back on top of the desk. Nick looked up as he heard soft footsteps enter the room. He spun around in his chair. Nick laid his eyes softly on Judy as he saw her step into the office. A bandage was wrapped protectively around the lupine's shoulder wound. "Carrots!" Nick stood from his chair and pulled out a seat for her. She nodded and sat down. "Nick" she acknowledged him. His ears lowered with disappointment at the fact she was clearly still upset with him. "Look, Carrots," he began uneasily scratching the back of his neck, "I'm sorry for the way I acted. I-" he was cut off by Judy raising a paw, gesturing for him to be silent. "I dont want to hear it Nick. I am here to do my job" she stated frostily, her nose wrinkling. Nick's eyes widened in shock and hurt. He looked crestfallen. There was nothing he could say to her in his defence so he turned away and kept his muzzle shut. Nick realised this was most likely the first time the bunny had ever rendered him speechless. He swallowed hard and balled his fists in his lap. Nick had not felt this hopeless in a while. Tension lay heavy in the air as neither animal spoke a word. The only sound make was of Nick sipping his coffee. Finally Judy rose painfully from her seat. Nick urged to help her but stayed in his place. She would not appreciate him getting anywhere near her right now, not to mention that Judy being the stubborn bunny she was, would feel her pride being hurt if he treated her like she was weak in any way. "I am going to go speak to chief Bogo" she murmured as she left the room. Nick just stared after her. He felt hollow and his heart felt as if it would burst from his chest. He lowered his head, propping it up with a paw resting on his cheek. The fox felt utterly lost. Nick had felt at his best lately but now he was back to feeling his worst.

Judy walked back into the office a while later, wincing slightly with each step. "Chief Bogo thinks I should take a break from work until my arm has healed completely but I think we should get on with this case so I told him that I'd take it easy" the bunny announced. "Good idea Hopps" Nick agreed, "What should we start with?" Nick tried to look casual but he couldn't help the look of concern that was spread across his face. Judy thumped her foot on the floor. "Hmmm, well we spoke to most of the people Ava was involved with so...Ah, maybe we should ask people about that party and the friend she was supposed to be meeting! Yes that's it!" Nick nodded. "I think we should spit up though. So we can get it done faster. I will speak to Ava's best friend and you can find out about that party" Judy decided. Nick felt his stomach drop. This was obviously just a way for her to avoid him. His ears lowered slowly and his gaze dropped to his feet. "Oh. Okay, well, I mean, if you think that's best. Just be careful Carrots and please, I know you are upset with me, but call me if you need me. I will always be here, okay?" Nick looked up into her eyes, his heart thumping in his ears. It was Judy's turn to look away, "Okay Nick" she muttered almost inaudibly. He could see her nose twitch in emotion and her cheeks grew pink. The bunny quickly looked away. "I have to um, go now, to find Ava's friend" she stammered before quickly whisking out of the room. She didn't even say goodbye. He swallowed back his bitter disappointment. Nick stared after her.

Nick blared the music in his patrol car as he flew down the street. Cora had given him a rough description of where the party had apparently taken place in Rainforest District so that was where he was heading. The fox tried desperately to keep his mind on the case but all he could think about was not having Judy beside him. He soon arrived in the all too familiar, Vine and Tujunga and pulled in to a large , old hall. he stepped out of the car and walked over to the doors, looking around. Buzz! Buzz! Nick pulled his phone from his pocket. He sighed when he realised it was not Judy. Instead, he had received a text message from his friend Finnick. It read; "Yo Nick, wanna catch up tomorrow? 5:30, ya know where. Get back to me. Ciao, -F." Nick thought about the offer for a moment. What's tomorrow? Friday! An early shift and an early leave! The fox began to type a quick reply. "Sounds good. Looking forward to it. I could use a drink or two! See you there." He tucked the phone back safely in his pocket and proceeded to look for any clues. Then he saw just what he needed. A flyer confirming a party at this place, on the date Ava had gone missing. It was scrunched up, ripped and dirty and lying on the ground. Nick read the details and tucked it in his pocket. The vulpine briefly looked at the ground. There were alcohol bottles and streamers littering the ground and a small tree had been vandalised with spray paint and toilet paper. "You would think someone would come along and clean this place up!" He muttered to himself in distaste. He placed his paws on the door handles and shook them. The doors were locked which was no surprise. Nick wondered how his partner was going with her duty. He decided he would radio her and check in on her progress. He would find nothing more important here although he now had proof of a party. The fox let out a sharp gasp of pain as he strolled back to the car. Something he had trodden on had pierced his foot. Nick peered down as he lifted his injured back, right paw. His eyes widened in shock as he saw a syringe lying on the soil just where he had been standing. "Oh, no, no! Well that's just great! Absolutely perfect! Now I'm gonna need a medical check and hope I dont get any diseases!" Nick grumbled furiously. Could his luck get any worse? Better yet, his foot stung and he still needed to drive with it. A small trickle of blood seeped from the wound. He limped over to the car and came back with gloves on. Delicately, he picked up the syringe and placed it into an evidence bag. This could have been used for drugs! He then slapped a bandaid over the small wound and hopped into the vehicle. He radioed Judy. "Hopps, this is officer Wilde. I am going to need to swing by the ZPD to drop off some possible evidence and then take the rest of the day off. Something has just come up but I will get back to you." A few moments went by before the bunny cop answered. "I have had some luck with Ava's friend but okay I guess I will talk to you when I see you then?" Judy sounded confused and was that a hint of annoyance Nick could hear? He frowned before starting up the engine. Whatever, let her think what she wants. I suppose she just assumed I am just trying to get out of work, Nick thought bitterly. Did she have no faith in him? But then again, why would she? Nick attempted to shake his thoughts of Judy but the attempts were feeble and in vein. He could never not think about her these days! He missed their close friendship. He missed her faith and optimism. He missed her laugh, her smile and the sparkle in her beautiful eyes. The fox nearly veered off the road for a moment as he drove and he swerved quickly to avoid an accident. The car behind him honked its horn. He threw his hand in the air although it was his fault. He needed to keep his mind focussed on the road. He kept on driving, trying to focus more. Nick dropped the flyer and syringe at the ZPD and left it in the evidence room. He told chief Bogo what had happened and the buffalo ordered Nick to seek medical help right away. Begrudgingly, Nick did so.

The beaver doctor confirmed that everything was fine and that it did not look like Nick had contracted any diseases or anything nasty. That was a major relief. Although by now the wound had swollen a little bit so the doctor put the fox on some antibiotics and antiseptic cream until the swelling subsided. This should not be enough to keep Nick from work though. Not unless it worsened and he felt it necessary. "Thanks doc" Nick waved as he walked out of the clinic, now $33.50 broker than before and that was just for the treatments! Nick drove home, picking up takeaway on the way there. He now sat at his small, round dining table, eating a fried grasshopper burger and fries. He took a sip of his drink and glanced down at his phone. Nick decided to let Judy know why he had left early. Wiping his paws on the tablecloth, he picked up the phone and held it to his ear. The phone started to ring and he placed another chip in his mouth. It tool an unusually long time for Judy to answer but eventually she picked up. "Nick?" The bunny answered. "Oh, um, hi Carrots," he spoke while crunching on his food, "How'd you go with the case today?" Nick heard shuffling noises through the other end of the phone as if Judy was moving around quite a bit. "Uh, yeah, good. Ava's friend's name is Holly Clawmark. She is a black bear and she introduced me to a few of her other friends. An arctic fox, Sally Whitsbearg, a zebra, Charlie Backkick and a young male wolf Josh Luna. They are a bit of an odd bunch but they all seem nice enough and very concerned about Ava. Most of them had been at the party but get this, apparently Holly was supposed to pick them all up but Ava hadn't been where she said to meet and wouldn't answer her phone so they had assumed she'd been caught by her parents. Now none of them have heard from Ava since and they say they didn't see her at the party either so looks like she had gone missing before the party but just after she left Cora's. Interesting right?" Nick sat in stunned silence, a chip hanging half out of his mouth. He stared dumbly at the wall. "Hmm sure is. Now what do we do? I was certain she was abducted at the party or something!" There was a pause. "Holly told me Ava had been seeing a guy. A 24 year old Puma. Holly stated she was suspicious of him and warned Ava to watch out for him as he looked dangerous but Ava apparently took no notice so I think we should start with this guy. The name's Mark Swiftfoot. Anyway was that all you wanted?" She quickly began to dismiss him before he could say anything more. "Ah, wait! No actually, there was something else" Nick willed her not to hang up. "I needed to tell you... I, ur, I got a little injured on the job. Its nothing serious but thats why i had to bail early." Nick face palmed, furious with himself for not being able to say what he really wanted to say. "Oh. Well, I hope you are feeling okay. Um, I should go make dinner now." Judy began to dismiss him again. "No wait! Hopps! Dont go yet!" He rambled desperately. There was a long pause before he sighed. "Carrots, I know you are still angry with me and I know you are in your right to be but please, I just need to know... A-Are we still partners? I know technically we are but, well, not really, not if you cant feel you can rely on me. Carrots, I'm so sorry for what I did and I want to make it up to you. Is there anything I can do? I need you to know you can trust me. I trust you more than anyone on this Earth Carrots and I want you to trust me again too. Is there anything I can do to get you to forget that stupid day? I was acting like a selfish idiot and I just want things to be back to the way they were. This is hard for me to say, admitting to you that I screwed up but its harder not having you by my side. I am really sorry Carrots.... Are we still partners?" He heard a soft sigh then silence. He waited anxiously for a reply. He needed to know their friendship wasn't over. Nothing. "Hopps?" Still nothing. "Fluff? Hello? Carrots?" He looked at the screen of his phone. It was black. He clicked the power button. The phone didn't respond. He clicked it again. Nothing. "Oh no! Great! Oh no! Why now?" His phone had gone flat. Nick raced to charge it. He plugged it into the power point and tapped his claws of the table as he waited impatiently. After what seemed like forever. The screen lit up. By now he had two missed calls and a text message from Judy. He read the text; "I dont know what happened with the connection Nick but I will tell you this okay? Of course we are still partners. I am hurt and disappointed but there isn't another animal who I would rather have as my partner. We are a team Nick. I know I overreacted a little but I was upset and embarrassed. I dont know what you can do now to fix the damage that has been done to our friendship but I know we can get through it and I appreciate you trying to make amends. Talk tomorrow x." Nick sighed, maybe there was hope for their friendship after all. Yawning in exhaustion and no longer hungry, the fox put the rest of his food in the fridge. He left his phone on charge and went over and flopped down on his bed. He knew he should get changed and brush his teeth but he really could not be bothered. Nick closed his eyes and thought of all the good times him and his partner had shared.