The Long Game, A Zootopia Fanfiction

Broken Heart

Disclaimer: Zootopia and all Canon characters are owned by Disney. All other characters, product names, trademarks, and copyrights belong to their respective owners.

...

It was a dark and stormy night. No, it was actually quite the pleasant Zootopia afternoon, dark and stormy was how Nick felt. The red fox, dressed in his standard-issue khaki pants, flowered Pawaiian shirt, and tie, was standing in front of the Grand Pangolin Arms apartment building looking up at Judy's window with a pained look on his face. An overweight pig in an expensive jogging suit slowly passed the stationary tod. "Damn Fox, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk, move out of the way."

Nick started walking, and within moments he was on autopilot headed toward the Metrorail station. Ever since they'd first met, he had promised himself over and over that this wouldn't happen.

When Judy had dug up some old information on him and used it to blackmail him into helping her with the Missing Mammal case, he was so impressed by her hustle that he went along with it. He'd promised himself that he'd lose her later, he didn't.

Waiting on the rail platform, oblivious to the dirty looks he was getting, Nick remembered when Chief Bogo had tried to welsh on his deal with Judy and take her badge when she still had ten more hours to find Otterton. Nick had stood up to the large Cape Buffalo and helped Judy keep her job. Afterward, he swore to himself that he wouldn't start caring about her.

After claiming a seat in the railcar, Nick knew things had gone south with Judy after they boarded the gondola car and he told her about his disastrous attempt to join the Junior Ranger Scouts. When she'd put her paw on his arm, and said she believed in him and that he could be much more than what others expected, emotions long buried started to emerge.

The railcar started to slow as he thought about how he walked out on her after the news conference. Try as he might, to hate her for what she'd said, he couldn't. He even had to give up hustling, because, for three months, all he could think about was the gray bunny and how much he missed her. When Judy found him under the bridge and apologized for what she'd done, he waited a whole two seconds before forgiving her and then they were off, best friends again, solving the Nighthowler case.

Stepping out of the railcar onto the platform, Nick slowly made his way out to the sidewalk. He remembered helping her while her leg healed after Bellwether had been arrested, and then being amazed when she pulled his old ZPD application out of her back pocket and asked him to be her partner again. That was when he knew he wanted her in his life, but as what? Friend or girlfriend? He'd sworn to himself that he'd keep that answer buried inside his heart.

Still on auto-pilot, Nick walked for a few blocks through a rougher part of town, he hadn't been this way in a while and was barely conscious of where he was going. The academy training was the hardest six months of his life, physically demanding and academically challenging. Judy was there for him the whole time. Meeting him for extra workouts, near-nightly phone calls, sharing her old study guides and testing him on the material until he knew it backward and forwards. She even kept him from giving up the day his death count on the obstacle course reached double digits.

The day Judy visited him, injured from a shooting, Nick felt like he'd been gut punched. That was the moment he vowed he'd have her back no matter what. And, since graduating top of his class was the only way to guarantee they'd be assigned together as partners, he promised himself that too.

When he actually did graduate valedictorian of his class, she was the one that pinned his badge on. When she smiled and saluted him for the first time, he gave up lying to himself, he'd fallen for her.

Unfortunately, he knew nothing could ever happen between them. She was amazing, and he was a pelt. A fox and a rabbit could never work. He decided (more promises) that having her as a best friend was more than he deserved and it was enough.