Zootopia: Undercover Pursuit

Chapter 36: Duet

"Why did you agree hm?"
"But for what ?"
"To go along with Coraline tomorrow. You know you could have gone with me" Judy replied. Nick sighed heavily, he expected this to make the girl at least angry with him, if not worse. As he drove, he tried not to draw attention to it, but out of the corner of his eye he saw Judy sitting disappointed, at least, staring out the window at the passing cars.
"Oh, come on Judy, you know this is purely a police assignment. Why would I want to hang out with her? I told you anyway..."
"I know, I remember. But I don't trust her. When I look at her, I have suspicions that she might be up to something..."
"You're exaggerating. You're letting your imagination run wild, you need to calm down," Nick explained calmly. Rabbit shrugged her shoulders returning to her previous position. Although she feigned indifference to the fox's words, she figured it didn't have to be a stupid idea. Maybe she was actually too concerned that someone might take Nick away from her.
"Maybe you're right," replied Judy after a moment. She had expected a laugh from Nick, he always liked to make fun of her when he was right, but he merely nodded with a quiet shake of his head.
"Just because I'm a fox doesn't mean I can't be trusted."
"Yeah I know Nicki, I know. We've talked about this probably 200 times" replied Judy more calmly. Fox knew and saw that his rhetoric would work as it always did.

This time they arrived home at a normal time, the clock read 7.30 p.m. so it wasn't so bad compared to the last long patrol, from which the fatigue from it was still present somewhere. When Judy went to have her evening bath, Nick decided to make himself and the girl each a warming chocolate, which was sure to add to their bodies which were demanding an extra internal source of warmth. Once he had made each a cup of chocolate, Nick was able to be alone for a while and reflect on what had happened over the last few days. Staring at the glowing neon lights that were visible especially now gave him a sense of calm and allowed him to focus on his thoughts.
The thought of missing people in his hometown, including his father, made him feel a little lost. He knew he had Judy with him, but at the same time he had a feeling that Judy didn't quite understand what he was feeling. It didn't surprise her too much, she'd never lived in these parts so she couldn't just read into Nick's role. The thought of meeting Caroline was killing him. The sight of his former love didn't fill him with joy, seeing her made him feel a kind of pain that despite the time hadn't gone away. Breaking up with her was not something terrible, he thought he had done the right thing. With time, however, he began to understand that this decision may have been too early and it was better to talk about the problem of toxicity first, rather than immediately implementing explosive procedures such as breaking up. At the time he was young, he didn't think about it. He thought that the best way to solve things, his problems, would be to break up with her. It wasn't until he matured that he realized that perhaps that was a mistake. Everything he wanted to get away from came back, with double the force.

"Nick?" Judy asked as she sat down across from him. Nick shook his head vigorously with a motion while smiling weakly. Despite the pretense, Judy knew that the fox was absorbed in his thoughts and that she had snapped him out of this activity.
"You're musing again," Judy stated. Nick nodded with a movement of his head.
"As you can see you know me all too well"
"I guess I expect what you're thinking about"
"Hm?"
"Probably tormented by the fact that the place you hate, you have to act there now. Well, and probably Caroline that ex-girlfriend of yours. Although I say I'd love to see my ex, at least have a chat, I'd feel the way you do..."
"You mean like how?" Nick asked curiously.
"Lost...I don't know how you feel, but I'm guessing you wouldn't want to see her too often."
"Heh...okay, you got me right there. I have to admit it's a bit stressful" Nick replied.
"Well, and probably me, unnecessarily stressing you out with my questions"
"Relax Judy. Even though I act differently, I'm glad you're asking me these things." Replied Nick.
"Really?" Judy asked. Nick rose from his seat and strolled around the table until he stopped behind Judy's back. He wrapped his arms around her torso and rested his head against her almost shoulder.
"Well, sure. You know, I have better anger management than you...you wild rabbit" laughed Nick digging his claws delicately into Judy's stomach. The rabbit laughed pushing Nick away delicately trying to fend off the 'attack'. The fox stepped back but continued to hold the girl by the torso preventing her from being able to move more.
"Haha, okay, let's assume you're right. And seriously, you know what, I think I'm going to go to bed...I still feel tired from last night, I advise you to do the same" Judy said. Nick released his grip on her and helped her up for her.
"I'll sit up some more...I'd like to sit in silence for a bit" replied Nick.
"Mhm, ok" replied Judy. After a moment's consideration, she threw herself around Nick's neck to place a kiss on his lips, which was reciprocated. After a moment of kissing, Judy let go of the fox's neck and headed towards the bedroom.
"Good night Nick"
"Good night " replied Nick. Judy headed for the bedroom leaving Nick alone.

Fox stayed alone in the living room for a few more minutes gazing out at the city. In order not to disturb Judy's sleep, he turned off all unnecessary light sources that might irritate her. The exception was the small lamps hanging over the table, which he had to turn on himself to see anything. They gave a small warm light to the area around the table. In the darkness he could concentrate better.
Nick had a brief moment to himself, he could still think for a moment about the things around him. He didn't want to get more involved with Caroline, going away with her certainly didn't serve to bring them closer, but he knew her well. All too well. He expected her to want to use that somehow, the question remained how? Without looking at her, in his mind he was making further plans with Judy, they can't be an ordinary couple after all, not even their parents know about. They were in a place no one wanted to be. It worried him that Judy's father might not accept her relationship, even though they loved each other very much. Judy looked like she was trying to avoid topics of conversation with her father, which also surprised him.  He knew they should do something about it, but currently there was no way to resolve it.

The next day, when Nick was due to go with Caroline to the meeting place, he got up exceptionally early. He had trouble sleeping, it had been quite a rough night for him. He got up just as the sun started to rise above the horizon, he had plenty of time to get ready in any way. However, before he got out of bed he lied down for a few minutes before he went to prepare. There was still some time until the normal start of his work, he was in no hurry to go anywhere and certainly not to meet Caroline. Even though he didn't want to meet her he had to do it. He hoped that it would be a purely professional meeting that would not encroach on his private life. After several minutes, Nick kissed Judy's head delicately, then got out of bed to prepare for the meeting.

Once he was inside the police station the first voice he heard was the call of James, who had been replacing Clawhauser for the past few days. "Come here, Nick!" The boy called out. Fox looked around the corridors leading in two opposite directions - no sign of Caroline or the commissary.
"What do you need?" Nick asked.
"Not me, but rather you. The Commandant told me to give you this. Pictures of everyone you're looking for are contained in this folder. Try not to damage it too much " replied the boy, then handed over the folder. Nick immediately looked through it, the photographs of the people he was looking for were all contained in the folder.
"All right, but what do we need this for? We're just supposed to track this guy down today..."  Nick asked. The boy shrugged his shoulders and went back to the computer filling out the documents.
"That's not what I was told. You were just supposed to take it. Bogo...I mean the Commandant and Caroline are waiting in his office, from what I've heard they're pretty cranky" replied James. Nick sighed heavily and moved towards the stairs passing the other police officers, wishing them a good day.
"Where's Judy?" One of the police officers asked.
"Let's just say she has today...off, I have a special assignment"
"And you're not doing it with Judy? Strange...."
"The commander assigned me another partner" Nick replied. He turned his back on the man and continued on his way to the office. He felt a little angry about the situation, although he knew that sooner or later someone would take notice. The fact that he and Judy were a power couple in the police force was probably known by everyone, the fox sometimes heard rumours that he was rumoured to be with Judy, of course he scoffed at such speculations...for now. He and Rabbit decided to reveal the truth when they were engaged and there was nothing to be ashamed of. For now, only a few knew about it.

When Nick arrived at the commandant's office, he knocked delicately on the door. After a few moments, he heard an invitation to come inside. He opened the door to go inside, then entered the room. His attention was immediately drawn to Caroline's décor, who looked, no hiding it...lovely. She was wearing a long black dress, with lace at the neckline, black high heeled shoes. There were large, charming earrings on her ears and she was wearing nice makeup. Nick stared at her for a few seconds before he realised that both the Commander and she knew about it. Embarrassed by this he shook his head with a motion and walked over to the desk sitting down across from them.
"You didn't mention to him to get ready, did you?" Bogo asked, seeing Nick's casual outfit, Caroline waved negatively with a movement of her head. Her smile towards Nick made him guess that she had seen him smiling at her. It wasn't something she wanted her to see.
"You need to blend in with the crowd Nick, you need to look like an elegant couple ordering something for yourselves. Go, there's a suit waiting in the cloakroom, ordered especially for this occasion. You and Judy left so quickly I didn't manage to mention it. Get changed and wait for further instructions," the commandant communicated.
Fox nodded with a motion of his head, then left the room closing the door loudly behind him.
"I hope you ordered a good sized suit, we have no time to waste"
"Don't worry about that. It will fit him perfectly" Caroline replied confidently.