Everything had seemed to moving along well for them. Judy could help but smile at how fast they progressed as a couple. Sure Bogo was still pretty pissed at them for the co-mingling. But they took their lumps well. But he never did make them find new partners, which she counted as a win. And being a couple, made them move even more in sync, like a well oiled machine. It made Judy smile, because she bet their chief was looking for any chinks in their armor, but there wasn't any.

Nick was all but living with her now. He claimed it made more sense, to "commute" together and it was cheaper to stay at one place then to constantly be traveling back and forth. She didn't mind, really. However, that mind set wasn't so factual seeing as Nick's diet alone was a lot to manage. She never met anyone who could eat like he could. It seemed like any time she saw him, he had something in his mouth. Well when he wasn't pawing at her, she flushed at the thought of all the affection he had for her. Even if it meant a few sleepless night and sore muscle mornings. When she asked Nick to take her virginity, she never in her wildest dreams imagined things would be like this. She was so blissful, that it made her paranoid.

Not that she didn't trust Nick, she did, with her life. She just had a feeling he was hiding something big from her. There were a couple a nights a week he wouldn't leave work with her. At first she just assumed he was hanging with Finnick, but when he didn't come home reeking of liquor, she figured he wasn't. There was also his laptop, it was password protected. While that may seemed normal, but with Nick, it wasn't. He knew how to track his activity and hide his files that not just anyone could find anything on it. Even before they started dating he didn't even have a personalized image on the desktop, just the one that was there when he bought it. Now it had a very candid "selfie" of the two of them, she had jumped on his back reaching for his phone. She liked that picture, because of Nick's expression. But now it was locked, and it made her wonder why he all of the sudden was worried about what would be found easily.

But today was the last straw, she had gone out to pick up their dinner and was struggling with the bag of food and her key. When she heard his voice, muffled by the door.

"I heard you before, but I'm sure there is a way we can make it work." Silence "No that's not what we agreed on…. I know…. But you said it wouldn't be a problem. Therefore you need to figure it out." Judy felt low, eavesdropping. But she was honestly intrigued by his forceful voice. "Well, I'll just find someone else who can deliver, I mean I would hate to do that, since we've know each other so long." Silence. "That's what I wanted to hear." She couldn't do it any longer and opened the door. Nick looked up at her, for a second he looked flustered, but rebounded quickly "well I'll talk to you later, to hammer it all out." He quickly ended the call and ran over to her and relieved her of the heavy bag of take out. He placed a sweet kiss on her cheek.

"Who was that?" Judy tried asking nonchalantly.

"Just someone I need a favor from. It's nothing." She just made a noncommittal noise, but her curiosity was peaked and she could absolutely tell he wasn't going to be forthcoming. Nick started to pull everything out of the bag as Judy grabbed the plates and utensils. "Oh by the way, I have to take care of something during lunchtime tomorrow. So you don't need to wait for me."

"O-oh alright." Damnit, he was doing it again, the evasiveness. Well if he's going to run off on her again, she was determined to find out just what her fox was up to. The rest of the meal was spent, with Judy staring intently at Nick. She wished she really could read his mind, like everyone claimed that they could. But while she tried to figure out what he was up to, she decided on what she'd be doing while he ran out during their lunch time.

After dinner and while she was readying herself for bed, she came to conclusion, that she had to know. Even if it was the worst case scenario, she needed to know. She stared at herself in the mirror and said to herself. "You can do this. Nick isn't doing anything wrong, and if he is in trouble, I will help." Feeling better with her decision, she went back into the bedroom where her fox, stared hungrily at her. And while she was still mildly upset over him leaving her out of whatever he was doing, she couldn't help but fall victim to his predatory stare, and soon he pounce on her.

Xoxoxo

Judy sat in the driver seat of the patrol car, fidgeting a bit, due to the sore muscle, brought on by Nick and her's nocturnal activities. Nick seemed to smirk with pride when she would slightly groan when she stretched her muscles. "You should be ashamed of yourself." Judy said off handedly

"And how's that?" He asked smugly.

"Finding amusement in my pain, that you caused." She said with a slight grimace.

"Oh is my poor wittle bunny bun sore, from playing with her big bad fox?" He said in an obnoxious baby voice. So Judy smacked him in the arm.

"Some big bad fox, may find himself sleeping on the couch, without the comfort of his 'wittle bunny bun' to hold on to, if he's not careful." Nick sat back in his seat smiling. Rubbing his arm, where she hit him.

Judy was getting antsy. She observed Nick all morning, but he gave no impression that he was up to anything suspicious. He only picked up his cellphone a few time and made a quick text and put the phone away. Again nothing out of the ordinary. Then suddenly it occurred to her that maybe it was the popsicle venture. She figured she could use her training and "interrogation" him over it.

They had answered a public disturbance call and were back in their patrol car. She figured she would just ask, "So when is the new ice cream shop having the grand opening?"

"Oh, um. There is a soft opening next month, if it goes like we hope, probably a week or so after. Why?" He smirked at her "worried about my investment?"

"No." She said blushing. "I just see you are a bit busy lately and I was wondering if things were going as planned."

"Everything is going well." He said, Judy want to pry more. If it wasn't the business venture, then what? Before she could ask anymore questions, their back up announced they were on site, so they could take their lunch.

Nick leaned over and kissed Judy softly, "I'll see you after lunch, my wittle bunny bun." He got out of the car and took off his radio and his belt, placing them on the seat. Judy nodded and went to park the car at the station.

Once there she took off her own gear and put both her's and Nick's in the trunk and ran after him. She caught up to him quick enough, he was talking to someone on the phone, she kept a respectful distance and just observed. If he stopped anywhere, she duck into a hiding spot close enough, that if she strained a bit she could make out what was being said. After ten minutes of careful stalking, she giggled to herself. This reminded her so much of when she suspected Nick of the crime of kidnapping Mr Otterton. It seemed like so long ago.

While she was daydreaming, someone walked up to Nick and shook his hand. They talked for a moment, the badger Nick was talking to looked nervous and paranoid. Because he kept looking around. Whatever the conversation was, it wasn't going well, as she could tell. Nick was gesturing, something he did when he would get upset. Judy looked around the neighborhood they were in and instantly felt uneasy. She gasped, putting her paw to her mouth. He's not doing shady business again, is he? In her mind it made sense, the phone calls, the locked computer, the evasive way he would answer her questions, the evenings away. Judy wanted to cry, she trusted Nick, he couldn't have fallen back into things. Not if it would hurt her. She quickly turned tail and went back to the station. She felt sick, and ran the bathroom and cried.

Ten minutes later her phone buzzed in her pocket, while she sat on the floor of bathroom. Judy wiped the tears from her eyes and read the text

"Carrots, want to meet up for a quick bite ;)"

She didn't know if she could, she was heartbroken over her revelation, but if she said no he would know something was up.

"Sure, I just need a few minutes." He knew that her normal habit would have been to work through lunch back at the station. In fact he was always making her stop her tasks to eat. Which if he didn't she'd probably be rail thin. And with that thought, the thought that he always took such good care of her. Made her chest ache, how can he be so perfect and yet go back to his street days? She blew her nose and washed her face.

Judy met him in the lobby, Nick walked over and threw his arm over her shoulder as he walked them out and into the little diner near the station. Judy wasn't hungry, but knew she had to keep up the pretense. Ordering a small salad, while Nick order something big and hearty. She sat in silence, staring off into space. She wasn't sure what to do or say. But apparently her mood was far too noticeable for Nick to ignore. "What's with you, Jude?"

"It's nothing, I guess I'm not feeling good." She said, not looking up and poking absentmindedly at the veggies in the salad.

"You know I can tell when you are lying, right? No something is wrong. Does it has something to do with me?" Judy hated how perceptively Nick is, she tried to steel her emotions but her ears flicked, giving her away. "It is me." He said surprised and sounding slightly hurt. "Tell me what I did." He reached across the table and lifted her chin to look him in his face. She almost started to cry when she saw the hurt in his expression. "I can't fix what I don't know is broken." He said softly.

She swallowed back the lump in her throat and bit back the tears. "I followed you." She said softly "Are you running hustles again? I don't know why you'd do that and jeopardize everything."

"Wait, when did you follow me? Today?" He asked not sounding mad, like she thought he'd be. Judy simply nodded. "And what exactly did you see?"

"I saw you in a shady part of the city, talking to a nervous badger. I've been getting really odd feeling over things with you lately. I needed to know what kept you glued to your phone or laptop all the time, and where you went when you just said your were going out. You used to tell me everything, and now I feel like I'm losing you." The traitorous tears started to roll down her cheeks.

"Hopps, I want you listen to me. You are my whole world. I'm sorry I haven't been so forthcoming with things lately. But I promise you, that I'm not doing anything illegal. And guarantee that the scheme I've been working on is for our future. I love you, Judy. I wouldn't ever dare do something to hurt you. You do trust me, don't you?"

Judy hiccuped as her tears turned into a sobbing fit. "I do, more then anyone else. Maybe this is why I got so scared when I thought you were reverting back to your former self." That was when Nick got up and moved to her side of the booth and held her tightly as she her body wracked with sobs. "I don't want to lose you, Nick."

"And you never will." He rubbed comforting circles on her back. "Hush now, my little emotional bunny." One of his paws moved away from her and she heard him muffled by his chest. "Hey, Clawhauser. Judy isn't feeling too well, is there anyone else who can cover the rest of our beat?" Silence. "Thanks. Yeah I'll tell her." He put his phone on the table. "Let's go home." Judy nodded as he got up and handed her a napkin from the table. He offered his paw to help her stand. Once she was on her feet, he embraced her. Then he pushed her slightly away, so he could look into her eyes. "You know you love me?"

With a watery smile she looked at her fox, "Do I know that?" She sniffed "yes, yes I do."

Author Note:

Ok so don't hate me, but this is the end of this particular story. But don't pull out the pitch forks and torches, just yet. I have an epilogue planned. I'm just not sure if it will be added to the existing story or in its own installment. But I want to thank you all for reading and enjoying my little tale about these two.