The Usual

Nick licked his chops, savoring the traces of his midday meal. He looked down at his partner, who appeared to be equally satisfied from their lunchbreak.

"You know," Judy started, "I was a little skeptical when you suggested that new hole in the wall diner the other day. But after trying it out, I have to admit that it was really good. It was one of your better suggestions."

"Carrots, please, all of my suggestions are good suggestions. You should know that by now," the red fox replied smoothly.

"Now and look at what you've done; you've just left a bad taste in my mouth," the rabbit said, pairing her words with a disgusted face. "I'm almost tempted to turn back and refresh my taste buds with something else from their menu. Those tarts did look mouthwatering…"

"Maybe on another day. That was all the time we had for lunch; we're on duty now." Nick paused for a moment then shuddered. "Ugh, I feel like you now. On second thought, let's go back."

"Nick…" Judy said in a chastising tone.

"What?" he replied defensively. "Bogo'll find some reason or another to yell at us—"

"You mean you."

"—so we might as well make a little detour. A few extra minutes won't hurt!" he finished without skipping a beat.

Judy rolled her eyes. "We can always go back after our shift. I can wait and so can you. We're supposed to be on patrol."

"Fine," Nick relented as they returned to their parked car. He stood expectantly next to the passenger side door while Judy was on the driver's side. "Just unlock this thing and let's get moving."

"I thought you had them," Judy said. The look on former con-artist's face prompted the bunny to pat herself down. Alarm spread across her face as she failed to locate the car keys on her person. "Did I leave them back at the diner?"

"Nope. We didn't leave anything behind when we left."

She took a deep, calming breath. "Okay, then that means I had to have dropped them somewhere along the way. If we just retrace our steps, we'll find them. Let's split up and look. It'll be faster that way. We'll text each other if we find them."

"I'll check around the car; you go back where we were," Nick said.

"Right!"

Judy barely took two full strides before she heard the car doors unlock. She froze and turned around slowly. Standing next to the car jingling a set of keys in one paw was Nick with his lips twisted into one of the smuggest smiles she had ever seen. In his other paw was his phone. A second later, the rabbit felt a buzzing in her pocket. Judy reached for her phone and saw a text from her partner.

found them 😎

Immediately, she understood. "You had the keys the entire time, didn't you?"

"I just checked around the car and happened to find them," he said innocently.

Judy eyed his uniform, spying the one unbuttoned flap of his breast pocket then glared at him. She trudged back to the driver's side door and got in, but not before throwing out, "I hate you."

Nick held out the keys once he got inside allowing Judy to snatch them out of his paws. The vehicle hummed as it returned to life and the rabbit pulled out into the streets, not bothering to wait for the fox to put on his seatbelt. She glared straight ahead and hunched over the wheel, gripping it tightly.

As the pair approached a red light, Nick joked, "You'd think that an officer of your caliber would be able to keep tabs on something as simple as car keys."

Judy slammed on the breaks as they reached the intersection, propelling Nick forward and causing him to bump his head on the dashboard. There was a smug look of her own on the rabbit's face. "Oops. Sorry."

Nick rubbed the throbbing ache on his head and chuckled. "Sly bunny."

"Dumb fox."

Nick stretched out his arms and yawned loudly as he stared at the unfinished police report on the computer screen in front of him. He glanced at the clock. It was only half past three, but the red fox was already feeling a little groggy from having worked so diligently for the last few hours.

Okay, maybe he wasn't being completely truthful with himself, but he was still tired. While he had his theories as to what might be the cause—that his species was typically nocturnal, something he'd tell whomever tried to lecture him on his coffee habits—there was one thing that was certain: he needed a little pick-me-up.

He pushed away from his desk, sending him and his rolling office chair back a foot or two. Before he could plant both feet on the floor, his partner's voice rang out from behind him.

"And where do you think you're going?" Judy asked without looking back, her words accompanied by the click-clack of her keyboard.

"Just going to the break room for a little coffee run," he replied.

"Finish your report first. We both know what happens when you take 'coffee breaks.'"

Nick folded his arms. "Carrots, please, I'm more than capable of returning to work once I've had my coffee, but not so much before. And I did finish that report."

"You're also Chief Bogo's favorite officer," she said sarcastically.

"Alright, fine. I didn't finish the report yet," the fox admitted. "But I will when I get back! Scout's honor."

Nick raised his right paw and puffed out his chest. Had Judy stopped what she was doing to look, she might have believed him. Actually, no—she would have lost even more faith in him. Although, that would imply that she had some in the first place. Regardless, it seemed that the bunny wasn't going to be distracted any longer.

Judy said, "Just…bring me back something too. I could use a little boost to get through this."

"Gotcha."

Nick stuffed his paws in his pockets and walked to the break room at a leisurely pace. Once there, he let out another yawn and prepared a fresh batch of coffee. To pass the time, he pulled out his phone and began to browse through several apps, keeping himself updated on what he had been missing during work. This didn't last long as one of the chubbier cheetahs Nick had met in his life stepped into the room.

"Oh, hey, Nick!" Clawhauser greeted.

Nick put away his phone and said, "Hey, Benj. What's up?"

The cheetah walked up to the cupboards and started to rifle through the items stored inside. "Just refilling my stash at the front desk," he said. "I forgot to restock the other day, so I ran out. What about you? Making some more coffee?"

The fox watched as the precinct's receptionist pulled out boxes of crackers, chips, and other assorted goods from the cabinets. "Yep! Can't live without it! I'm also supposed to bring some back for Carrots. How much do you think I should set aside for her? Two drops? Maybe three?" he joked.

Clawhauser laughed. "You're just as bad as me when it comes to—you know. Judy's always on our cases about this kind of stuff."

"Tell me about it," Nick said, rolling his eyes. "'A good officer should always be at peak perfor—blah, blah, blah.'"

The two chuckled in unison at the fox's lame impression. "Oh, right! I almost forgot!" the cheetah said, perking up. "You two got some more fan mail waiting for you in the mail room. You should stop on by sometime and pick it all up. You guys are really popular, you know."

"People do get excited about the first fox and bunny cops, especially when they're partners." The coffee maker next to Nick dinged, drawing both of their attentions. "Well that's my cue."

Clawhauser leaned down and picked up all the snacks he had picked out. "This should be enough to tide me over for a couple days. See you around, Nick. Say 'hi' to Judy for me!" the cheetah said, leaving.

Surprisingly, nothing fell from the receptionist's arms, prompting Nick to smile in amusement as he poured himself a cup. He retrieved his phone again, this time while gingerly sipping on his hot drink. He poured another for his partner and took off for the mail room where he had gotten in and out quicker than Judy could accuse him for slacking off.

The red fox returned to his desk minutes later, setting down his partner's coffee onto her desk along with her portion of the mail. He plopped onto his seat and dropped his now empty coffee cup into the trash before beginning to sort through his letters.

He opened them one by one, skimming through each of them. Most wrote about how he had inspired them to do better, to move up in the world. A handful of others condemned him for 'selling out' so easily. Nothing too out of the ordinary. In either case, he didn't let what people wrote him sway his emotions; he was better than that.

At least that was what he told himself until he found a letter addressed from one John Wilde.

Nick took a moment to stare at the handwriting on the envelope's face and the address it was sent from. His paws shook, betraying the stoic mask he usually wore to hide his feelings. He brandished a single claw and tore an opening in its side. He poured out its contents, revealing two separate letters. One of them was weathered and yellowed while the other appeared to be more recent. He picked up the older one and froze.

He read through it several times, his eyes flickering back to the beginning as soon as they left the end. With each passthrough, Nick clenched his teeth harder and gripped the letter tighter. It wasn't long before he caught himself baring his teeth. Instantly, he forced himself to visibly relax, drawing upon years' worth of experience of keeping cool. It did nothing, however, to soothe the turmoil brewing within himself.

He briefly glanced back at his partner who hadn't even begun to go through the letters she received; she was still focused on her report.

Nick carefully tucked the old letter back into its envelope and picked up the newer one.

To Nicholas Wilde:

I apologize for not being able to get this to you sooner, but unfortunate circumstances have only allowed me to send this to you now. You deserve an explanation, but I think doing it in person would be best.

If you can, please come to 11340 Collins Street, Pattermort.

My door will always be open for you.

Sincerely,

A friend of John's

"What was that about 'scout's honor?'" Judy's voice rang out from directly behind him.

Nick flinched and gave himself another moment to compose himself. He set the letter on his desk and turned around, putting on an exasperated face. "Jeez, Carrots, don't sneak up on me like that."

Judy placed two paws onto her hips and gave him a pointed look. "And I thought you said foxes had a better handle on their surroundings than bunnies did."

"They do," he replied matter-of-factly. He leaned back in his seat, crossing one foot over his knee and resting his elbow on the head of his chair. "You just caught me off-guard is all. Don't let it go to your head. It's big enough as it is, honestly."

Nick wore a half-smile, but winced inwardly. He probably could have done without the small jab, but it was a force of habit to deflect back at whomever happened to be nearby. She was a tough bunny anyways. It's not like that kind of insult would bother her.

"Right…" she said at length.

Judging from her tone, it didn't seem like it did. He studied the rest of her body language, seeing if she had noticed—

"So, what's in the letter?" she asked.

Nick's smile faded. "Nothin' but the usual." He spun around to face his computer again. He deftly gathered the letters spread across his desk, subtly hiding the last pair he had been reading within the stack. "'Wow, Mr. Wilde, you're really cool!' or 'You're an absolute disgrace to your kind,'" he said, giving the two quotations their own voices. "You know—just the usual."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "And that last letter was also 'just the usual?'"

He really had to stop underestimating his partner. She had shown multiple times how capable and perceptive she was. He had been so caught up in hiding his emotions, he wasn't thinking rationally.

"If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. I just wish you'd trust me a little more. We are partners after all."

Nick clenched his fists in his lap. Never before in his life had he ever had someone he could trust, someone he could confide in. Finnick wasn't cut out for that sort of thing and his mother—well, there really wasn't a whole lot he could tell her back then given his line of work. But now…

"Look, you don't have to tell me anything," Judy continued. "It's fine. Just finish your report before Bogo gets—the usual, you know?" The bunny went back to her station and resumed typing, leaving her friend to his own devices.

The fox unclenched his fists and released the breath he didn't realize he was holding. Even after opening up to her on the gondola, he wasn't quite ready to share some of the more sensitive intricacies of his life. Maybe someday, he'd tell her.

But for now, Nick stretched his fingers and began typing the rest of his report.

"Mmph, I gotta say—" Nick paused to fork another piece of his dish into his not-so-empty maw. "—you make the best bugloaf. It is out of this world!"

He flashed his signature smile, somehow managing to keep its usual charm despite having his mouth full of food. The aged vixen sitting across from him laughed and cut a piece from her own dish using the cutlery in her paws.

"If you really enjoy it that much, how come you don't visit more often, Nick?" she said before taking a bite. "The last time I heard from you was when you graduated from the academy."

Nick's face fell, and he looked away, not wishing to make eye contact. He rubbed his neck nervously. "Ah, you know, work's been busy. Tons of reports to work on. And stuff." He cleared his throat and turned back to face her, donning his smile once more. "But…things have finally started slowing down a bit, so I decided that it was a great time to see dear old mom!"

"Uh huh," his mother said in a half-amused tone. "I'm not that old, Nick; I'm only 52. I've still got plenty of fight left in me."

"Fair point; you could give some of the girls I've seen on the streets a run for their money. Did I forget to mention that you are looking absolutely radiant this evening. Why I—"

"Just tell me what you want, Nick," she said, setting her fork and knife down. "It's only been 16 years since you last lived under this roof, but I can still tell when you're trying to get something from me. Especially when you're being that obvious."

Getting straight to the point, Nick asked, "You still have a bunch of stuff from when I was still a kid, right?"

"I kept everything back then. Not like it was a difficult thing to do, seeing as we didn't have much in the first place. But yes, why?"

"Some of the guys back at work were talking about their childhoods and stuff. It was just bringing up some old memories," he lied smoothly. He nonchalantly cut off another bite-sized piece of his meal as he waited for his mother's response.

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "If that was all you wanted, you could have just said so. Here I was thinking you were trying to ask for money because you got into another scuffle or something." Nick applauded himself for being able to get past his mother. "I would have given it to you, of course, but…did you really have to get mixed up with those polar bears?"

Nick dropped his tableware and buried his face in his paws, groaning. "Are you still hung up over that? That was 10 years ago! I was young and stupid, I get it. But I paid you back, didn't I?"

"It's not about the money, Nick!" she said, frustrated. "I was worried about you! I hear stories all the time about how young troublemakers like you get involved with the mob and—well—let's just leave at that. You're all I have left now. I'm just happy you're well and alive and that you haven't been working with the mob again." She sighed, calming down from her tirade. Her brow furrowed and she shot an accusatory stare at her son. "…Right?"

"Right. I am a cop now and it would be against my oath to work with criminals like that while on the job," he said carefully.

The pair resumed their eating and for several seconds, there was only the sound of metal bouncing against ceramic. Then the vixen spoke again. "Anyways, I moved everything I don't use into your old room—it's down the hall, first door to your left."

"Mom, I remember where my old room is."

"I was just making sure since you didn't seem to remember that you had a mother in the first place."

Nick rubbed his temples. "Look, I'm sorry I haven't visited. I promise I'll try harder."

His mother stood up with her now empty plate and walked towards the sink. "I'm just teasing. If you're really that busy, it's fine. But if you do drop by, try seeing if that bunny friend of yours wants to come. It's been a while since I've had guests. It'd be fun."

"Yeah, yeah," he said dismissively. Judy probably would jump at the opportunity to see where he grew up and meet his mother. But he wasn't sure if he wanted that to happen. The chaos that it would bring would be impossible to navigate through.

"You can go in whenever you're finished eating," she said as she turned on the faucet. "Remember—"

"'No wasting food,' I got it. I definitely haven't forgotten that one." He stood up and handed her his plate, which she took without another word. "I'm gonna head in then."

She hummed in approval and began washing the dishes while Nick set foot into his old bedroom for the first time in years.

A cloud of dust wafted up to his face, prompting him to cough. Once he recovered, he flicked on the light switch to see stacks upon stacks of boxes. He spent a few minutes rummaging around until he found a box labeled '1992.' He wiped away the dust on top, this time managing to keep it out of his lungs, and opened it. Inside was a collection of different items—an old baseball, some pictures, and most importantly, old letters.

He flipped them open, ignoring their contents for the most part. He wasn't interested in what they said—he knew the words by heart anyways. What he cared most about was the handwriting on them and the address they were sent from.

A lump formed in his throat. There was no doubt. The letter he had received earlier today, or rather one of the letters, had been written by his father.

Every obscenity Nick knew rolled off his tongue. After 25 years of not being in his life, that bastard was trying to somehow worm his way back in. Nick pursed his lips and glanced at the box in front of him again. He heard his mother's footsteps approaching, but instead of stuffing everything back inside, something compelled him to take things out. He quickly gathered several items from the box and some from another.

"Did you find what you needed, Nick?" she called out.

He closed the box labeled '1992' and shoved it off to the side. "Yeah, I did. Do you think I could take some of this with me?"

"Sure. Let me get something for you to put them in." She disappeared from the doorway, leaving Nick alone again.

He shuffled the items he had in such a way that she wouldn't be able to see some of the choice things he had picked out. His mom returned with another smaller box in tow and handed it to him.

"What are you going to do with that stuff?" she asked as he placed his things inside.

In his head, he asked himself the same question. "Think I'm just gonna look through them for a while. Nostalgia, you know? I hope you don't mind."

"Of course not. Keep them as long as you like." She surveyed the mountains of boxes in the room. "I probably should get rid of a bunch of this, but there are a lot of good memories in here," she said as she wistfully blew away some dust sitting atop nearby boxes. The vixen sighed and saw that Nick was getting ready to leave. "Are you going to be heading out now?"

"Yeah," he replied.

"Alright, let me get the door."

The pair of foxes exited the room and walked down the hall to the door of the small apartment. "Don't forget to visit again, okay?"

"I will!"

His mother spread her arms apart, asking for a hug. Relenting, Nick set the box he was carrying onto the floor and embraced her.

"I'm proud of you, Nicky," she said.

He chuckled at her nickname for him. "I know. I love you, mom." He gave her a peck on the cheek and picked up the box, flashing one more smile at her before leaving.

So some of you might have seen the story title and all and wondered what was going on. Answer is that I decided to rewrite the entirety of chapter 1 and parts of chapter 2. Seeing as that was pretty much all I had before, I figured I'd just reupload this as a fresh story (especially since the last time I updated was a little over a year ago).

I have no promises against doing that again, which I'm really sorry about, but I actually have chapter 3 most finished. It needs finishing touches still, but it should be out within a few weeks. Chapter 2 will come out shortly after this, roughly one to two weeks from now. Hopefully I can do better in 2018. It even sounds like it would be the perfect New Year's Resolution.

Thanks for reading!