I am trying to finish the next chapter of Broken Clockwork, really I am, but different ideas just keep popping into my head

So this is an AU where there never was any Nighthowler plot, instead Judy finds something much more mysterious

Probably going to be shorter chapters than Broken Clockwork

It had taken her 24 years of living and growing, the culmination of her entire life's work and dreams, but Judy Hopps had done it. She had graduated the police academy as valedictorian of her class and had been assigned to Precinct 1 in the heart of Zootopia. Her parents had been so emotional seeing her off, she managed to calm them down by agreeing to take some fox repellent. And then she was off to the big city.

It was everything she wanted it to be and more, from the glorious sights of Zootopia's different districts, to the thousands of different mammals all living together, and even to her pokey little apartment.

There was only one problem.

Her boss, Chief Bogo, was nowhere near as happy to have Judy as Judy was to be there. He made that abundantly clear from her very first day. Not even being valedictorian of her class was enough to persuade the cape buffalo that a bunny had any place on his force. Nope, she got parking duty.

Her parents were thrilled, being a meter maid was lovely and safe, but this didn't make Judy feel any better.

One week.

Another week.

Nothing but parking duty.

Judy was starting to go insane. She had not spent all this time and effort to write parking tickets for the rest of her life. So Judy, whose only desire was to prove that she could do the same things as all the other officers, did something she had sworn never to do.

She used the cute.

Probably due to the lack of bunnies in Zootopia, and definitely due to the lack of small cuddly animals on the force, but Chief Bogo had no resistance to this the most terrifying of rabbit abilities. Even then he was still the Chief of Police, it had taken him three days before he cracked.

Struggling to find something to get the adorable rabbit out of his hair for a while Chief Bogo had tossed her a case no one had wanted. Judy had leapt at the chance, it had to be better than parking duty.

On the outskirts of Savanna Central, near the border with Sahara Square, was a rather rundown neighbourhood. Some of the residents had reported lights and figures moving around in one of the abandoned buildings. The locals said it was haunted but it was probably just squatters, or some kids messing around.

None of the officers wanted to deal with it, it was very out of the way and all the disturbances occurred at night. But none of that mattered to Judy because this was her first proper case.

Which is how she found herself parked outside an abandoned building just after sunset. Judy had never been afraid of the dark, her sensitive hearing more than made up for her lack of night vision. She jumped down from her car, locked it, and set off. Judy had a flashlight in her left paw and her tranquiliser pistol in her right, just in case.

Shining a light beside the entrance way revealed a mouldering sign that could just about be made out to read 'Cyprus Grove Apartments'. Judy pushed open the door and stepped inside. It was pretty much as she had expected. Damp, dust, dirt, it looked like the place had been deserted for over a decade.

Deciding on a course of action, because you should always have a plan, Judy began to sweep the building from bottom to top, one floor at a time.

It was a bit creepy, even Judy had to admit, walking through the empty halls. There was a light breeze outside which only added to the atmosphere. Occasionally something would slam or thud, a shutter blown in the wind, and Judy would pause perfectly still each time.

The ground floor was empty, the first floor was empty too, and she found nothing on the second floor either. As she was heading back to the stairs though she paused again. This didn't sound like any of the previous noises. It was too ordered, in fact, it sounded more like… footsteps. From above her.

Judy tightened her grip on her pistol, it was probably someone harmless but there was always a chance it could be a gang, or drug addicts, or anything really. Judy actually started to perk up at the thought of something exciting happening.

Judy crept up the stairs and peeked out onto the third floor. She couldn't see much and she'd turned her torch off for the moment so as not to give herself away. Her hearing hadn't deserted her though, the footsteps definitely came from the opposite end of the hallway.

Judy cautiously advanced down the hall coming closer and closer to where she could hear someone's presence. It was the last apartment on the left and the door had long since fallen off its hinges.

Flashlight and pistol at the ready Judy stepped inside. It was quite a small apartment, unless you were Judy, compared to where she stayed the place was palatial. Bathroom, living room, kitchenette, all things her accommodation distinctly lacked. Directly ahead was a doorway, presumably to the bedroom, it was from there that Judy could hear movement.

A faint light could be just about made out shining under the bedroom door. It grew slightly brighter as Judy heard the footsteps getting closer. And then someone walked through the door.

Judy blinked slowly.

Someone walked through the door.

Shining like pale moonlight, slightly transparent, Judy could see the wall through him, a fox clad in silver fur rather than red stepped into view.

Judy could feel her heart thumping hard and slow, feel her breathing speeding up, feel the blood pumping in her ears. Her torch and pistol were forgotten as Judy slowly backed away. The ghostly fox was also moving backwards as if mirroring her.

Thump.

Judy had moved around too much in the room, when she hoped to back all the way out of the door and escape, instead she bumped into the back wall of the living room.

This sudden shock served as a catalyst for all her reactions that had been suppressed in fear.

"A GHOST!"

"A GHOST!"

Two voices echoed around the derelict flat. Judy noticed that the ghost had also flung himself as much against the wall as possible.

Why haven't they just gone through it she thought curiously as she suddenly realised that the whole situation was more odd than scary.

"What do you mean ghost" said the fox indignantly "You're the ghost, you're all silver and see through"

Judy frowned and glanced down at herself, definitely still a flesh and blood bunny.

"Last time I checked I hadn't died yet" said Judy slowly, her pistol felt comforting even if she didn't think it would help much "and I can read the poster on the wall through your chest"

It was the fox's turn to frown now as he tapped the side of his head.

"Nope, still solid" he said watching Judy warily "what are you doing in my apartment?"

"You live here!?" asked Judy incredulously looking around "Well, I suppose an abandoned building is pretty suitable for a ghost"

"Abandoned? What are you talking about, this may not be the best place to stay but all the rooms are full"

Judy glanced around at the room, there was a threadbare sofa and everything was covered in a lot of dust. Looking back to see the fox just as confused as she was, Judy decided that some introductions may help her understand what was happening.

"I'm Judy Hopps, 24 years old, ZPD. I was sent to investigate this abandoned building because figures had been seen moving around in it."

The fox looked at her quizzically with his head tilted.

"I'm Nick Wilde, 19 years old, a sly and shifty fox" he said with a smirk "I didn't know they let rabbits join the police"

"Well Nick, I'm the first, now you say that your building is full of mammals?"

"Well yeah, I can hear my neighbours from here, pair of chatty capybaras"

Judy frowned again, this was all very confusing, and she wanted to sit down. She walked over to the sofa and collapsed on the least dusty part she could see. It still threw a cloud of dust into the air which she tried to waft away as she coughed. Cautiously Nick approached and sat down on the very edge of the other end of the couch.

"Why were you coughing?" he asked.

"Because of all the dust duh"

"Hey, I keep this place clean, tidy maybe not but certainly clean"

"That's the problem Nick, this building is empty, has been for years, the whole place is in a right state"

Nick seemed to be relaxing a little bit as they talked and leant back properly on the couch. He wondered just what on earth was happening.

"Well let's see" he said slowly "we each look like a ghost to the other but we don't go through things, I mean you haven't fallen through the couch"

"Not true, you walked through the bedroom door when you first appeared"

"No, I opened the door and walked through" said Nick looking at her strangely "watch"

He hopped of the sofa and went back to the door, he made the motion of opening and closing it a few times but nothing happened as far as Judy could see.

"Door's not moving Slick" said Judy getting up to join him "let me try"

This time Judy opened and closed the bedroom door but Nick just watched blankly.

"No, you're not moving this door either" he frowned suddenly "hold out your paw"

Judy cautiously put her pistol away and held out her hand. Nick reached out as well but his own paw slid through Judy's when they touched. It was very strange, no sensation whatsoever, like nothing was actually happening.

"Well that's odd" said Judy slowly watching another paw appearing through the back of her own "kinda creepy too"

"My building is lived in, but yours is abandoned" said Nick almost to himself before his ears perked up "Judy… what's the date?"

"3rd of April 2016" said Judy starting to get what he was thinking "why?"

"I'd say the date was 3rd of April… 2003"

"So you are what? 13 years in the past?" this seemed impossible but at the same time she was talking to a ghost.

"And you my cute little policewoman would seem to be 13 years in the future"

Judy slapped him. It was on reflex to being called cute, she'd had enough of it over the last few weeks, but her paw just passed straight through Nick's muzzle. Didn't do anything but he certainly flinched hard enough.

"You can't just go calling a rabbit cute" said Judy scowling at him.

Nick looked at her in slight shock from what just happened. Slowly though that smirk reappeared which unsettled Judy for some reason.

"But you are cute" said Nick smugly "Cutest cop I've ever seen"

Judy went to punch him in the arm but that just passed through him as well. Seeing this her scowl deepened and she turned to leave.

"Wait, Carrots" called Nick his face falling "don't go, I won't call you the c-word again"

"Carrots?" she asked turning back to look at him doubtfully.

"It's better than the c-word isn't it?" said Nick shrugging his shoulders "come on, stick around, you have to admit this is pretty cool"

Judy sighed and grudgingly agreed that what was going on was certainly pretty interesting. They relocated back to the sofa again.

"So, you're the first bunny cop?" asked Nick "what's that been like?"

"Not what I thought it would" said Judy slowly "I spent years training, I passed the same academy as anyone else and yet…"

"Your boss doesn't want a bunny around so you got stuck with the most boring of duties. But your parents back in… Podunck… or wherever, are probably very happy about your situation and you're just ploughing through anyway because you don't want to go home and be a carrot farmer?"

"It's Bunnyburrow" said Judy in amazement "how did you?"

"I've seen mammals new to Zootopia before" said Nick leaning on his hand "and I can guess what the police are like, and since you are rabbit it's likely that you were from the country"

"Wow Slick, you know, you'd make a pretty good cop with deduction like that" Judy noticed the young fox twitch slightly and look away "What do you do Nick?"

"I… uh… well" he took a deep breath "well at least you can't do anything to me… I'm a con artist"

Judy's eye's widened.

"Yeah, sly fox and all that, I buy jumbo-pops, melt them down and make pawpsicles which I then sell on for great profit"

Judy's first reaction was outrage, this was clearly illegal at worst and extremely shady at best. But the look on the fox's face as he spoke stopped the words in her throat.

"Do you want to be doing that?" she asked quietly.

Nick froze, he suddenly realised that because, other than being able to see her, it was like being at home alone, he hadn't put on the mask he normally met the world with. For a moment he felt a burst of fear at someone seeing the real him, but it passed, now that he thought about it, maybe it would be good to have someone to talk to properly, even if they were from the future.

"No" he whispered "but if all the world is going to see is a sly fox, then what's the point in being anything different" and then that smirk was back on his face "and besides I make like 200 dollars a day"

The smirk faltered slightly as Judy just stared at him. She had been brought up exactly like Nick said, seeing foxes as shifty and untrustworthy. But at Nick's words she suddenly wondered if that was ever right, or if it was as he said, and the world made them that way. The fox repellent which was sat on the dash of her car outside felt like it was burning a hole in her chest in shame.

"Earth to Carrots" said Nick waving a hand at her.

Judy shook and jerked back in surprise, Nick saw her reaction and pulled his hand back quickly. Judy could see the pain on his face and reached a paw out towards him. Seeing that, Nick gingerly held his paw so that it was almost touching Judy.

"Are you afraid of me?" he asked quietly.

"A little" said Judy, a flash of fear, sadness, and resignment appeared on Nick's face "but not because you're a fox. It's because you look like a literal ghost sat next to me"

"Really?" he asked hopefully, this cop from the future was surprising him again and again.

"I guess it's probably because my body thinks I'm alone but that's fine, I'm glad you aren't scary"

There was silence in the dark room for a few moments.

"What are you going to do? About your work I mean, you had to investigate this place" asked Nick curiously.

"Somehow I don't think reporting that I managed to talk to a fox from 13 years in the past would be a good idea. I'll just say that there was evidence of recent activity but nothing while I was actually here"

"Oh, the great Carrots, first bunny cop and already falling to the corruption of the big city and lying to her superiors" snickered Nick.

Judy tucked her knees up to her chest as her ears drooped. Nick winced, he'd gone a bit far with that one.

"Carrots I'm-"

"It's fine, I'm not really much of a cop at the moment anyway" Judy shook her head and moved to get up and leave, no matter how fantastical the situation was she just wanted to go home now "I should probably go, early morning tomorrow"

"Wait, Judy" the bunny paused before she left the room "You're stronger than me" said Nick slowly, he was never very good at opening up to people "I just let myself be what the world thought of me… but you didn't, hell, a rabbit cop still sounds impossible to me but there you are"

Nick watched as Judy gave him a small smile over her shoulder before the ghostly rabbit walked out through his door. He glanced around his apartment, imagining what it would look like 13 years in the future as a derelict relic.

"I guess I'll have to move out at some point then" he said to himself.