Racing through the backdoor of roll call, Nick scrambled to get to his seat before the chief walked in. Luckily, he had beaten Bogo and was safe in his shared seat with Judy seconds before the side door opened.

"Way to cut it close Wilde." Fangmeyer wore a mocking grin while addressing Nick.

With a grin, Nick turned around. "Says the one who showed up late to work, still hungover because you couldn't cut it off."

The room erupted in laughter as the chief walked in.

"SHUT UP!" The chiefs bellowing voice filled the room and the officers immediately stood to salute the chief.

It was a usual roll call. Officers being punished were running meter maid duty and many officers were set on parole. Nick and Judy were given an updated case file and told they knew what to do.

When they were dismissed, Judy began to make her way to their cubicle to open the file, however, a paw on her shoulder stopped her from going any farther.

"We are going home," he said, as she turned around.

She hated how he was always vague in his statements. It was almost as though he enjoyed seeing the confused look on her face when she would inquire why he had made a comment. Turning to face him and lifting her head to look at him she spoke. "Why?"

Nick hadn't realized just how close he was standing next to her when he had tapped her shoulder. And now she was about a foot below his muzzle, staring up at him with her beautiful eyes. It didn't seem to faze Judy at all. He felt the tug pull on his heart for a second, his brain blanking on the current situation. However, he was easily able to snap out of it before Judy noticed.

"Because we have bags to pack."

Judy was annoyed. Another vague statement. Another I know something you don't know smile on his muzzle. "What?"

Brushing against her as he walked, he moved forward and started to make his way towards their car. With a swish of his tail, he flicked her as he walked away. Flustered and annoyed, she began to follow after her partner. Following him, she thought of what had just happened. ,

When she had turned around she hadn't realized just how close she was standing to him until his muzzle was right above hers. He had froze for a second. Anyone else wouldn't have noticed but she did. Whenever NIck's brain was somewhere else, he would wear this certain face and pause for a certain amount of time before continuing. It was a tell that only she could pick up. Since he continued the conversation like normal, she was hesitant to even recognize what had just happened. Maybe it didn't even happen she thought to herself as she shuffled her feet towards the door. Maybe it was a figment of my imagination. Yeah, that's it. I must just be tired.

She couldn't put into words the strange feelings that she had had the last few days. She felt a strange feeling when she was around him. A sort of… tug on her heart. She couldn't explain it. Not even to herself. She didn't say anything, obviously, because despite her unknowing to why this had started happening, somewhere deep inside she knew why.

She…

"Hurry up carrots! We don't have all day slow poke!" Nick shouted from the passenger side window. Shaking her head she swiftly made her way to the car and strapped in, shutting out the thoughts that had just flooded her mind.

"So what is the deal Nick, what is important enough to keep us from work?"

Nick huffed, "We are not being kept from work, we are going to work, but we aren't going to work at work… Wow, that was awfully confusing."

Judy giggled, "A little." Putting the keys in the ignition she started the vehicle.

"Mine or yours?"

After a second of thinking he realized what she had meant. "Let's start at yours," he said as Judy began to pull out of the parking lot, "and before you get even more frustrated with me…"

Judy rolled her eyes.

"... Bogo is relocating us. It wouldn't be very hard to break into either of our apartments and Bogo isn't playing this time. He is having both of us stay in a secret apartment somewhere in Zootopia. I don't know where but he said that it would be in our best interest to go."

"Ok."

Nick turned to her, now wearing a confused face himself. "No rebuttal, no we can fend for ourselves, no complaining you have to room with me, no feeling like your being babied? Nothing?"

She smiled as she pulled out of the parking lot. "Sorry to disappoint."

Nick laughed. "Not disappointing, just extremely unexpected." Usually, Judy completely hated being babied or told what to do. She was probably the most rebellious officer on the force when it came to direct orders. However, rules were a different thing. For the most part, Judy was a by the book cop and Nick was the one who was constantly bending the rules. It seemed to Nick at times that Judy had a problem with authority when it came to personal or dangerous situations. She was always right… even if she wasn't. That's why her completely going along with Bogo's orders to move both of us was shocking to him.

"I was actually kind of thinking about moving somewhere myself. I don't know why but this morning, there seemed to be things out of place. I know that my apartment isn't necessarily clean and I was really tired last night but things just seemed… different. Quite frankly I don't even know why, it's stupid I know but it just didn't feel right. I'm probably crazy."

Nick shuddered. "No, it's not crazy."

"You know, the weirdest thing is that my uniform was on the floor. Out of everything, I think that is what set me off the most."

Judy always hung up her uniform when it it wasn't being worn or washed. Everytime that Nick had come over to her apartment, it was hung nicely on the hook on her wall. Everytime.

"Even if I was really tired, I still would have hung it up. I mean there is a possibility that I dropped it and didn't notice. That's probably it."

Nick didn't say anything this time. He hadn't even noticed, but he was now staring out the front window with a scared look on his face. He felt a sickness in his stomach. Judy glanced over at him. "Nick, is something wrong?"

Snapping out of the temporary trance that his thoughts had put him in, he responded. "I…" He contemplated telling her. The chief had said not to, not wanting to worry her more. But Nick was tired of lying and secrecy between them. He didn't want to worry her but if she was already offset, confirming what she thought wouldn't worry her more would it?

"Spit it out slick."

Turning to face her and changing his view from the cars passing by in front of them to the lavender eyes that belonged to his partner. "I guess you should know why Bogo wanted to see me."

Judy looked confused, "You already told me, we are moving in together to a secret apartment. Is that not it?"

"No, no it is. But there is more of a reason than worry. After the last Mastermind… encounter… they placed cameras in the hallways of both of our apartments. Last night, the camera picked up a medium sized mammal break into your apartment. It never showed its face to the camera, like, it knew it was there. Which, doesn't make sense. The camera was well hidden…" Nick began to think. The camera was a professional camera that was so tiny, it was impossible to indicate. So how did anyone know that it was there?

"Nick, what? Someone broke into my apartment?" Judy looked shook. Nick could smell the fear on her.

Nick sighed, turning his eyes back to the road ahead of them. "Bogo didn't want me to tell you because he didn't want you to worry anymore but when you told me that you were already offset, I thought you deserved to know."

"Well yeah I deserved to know! Ugh," she grunted, flopping back in her seat, "the chief is impossible sometimes!"

"Calm down fluff. I think that this knowledge helps us. As I was saying, no civilian would be able to know it was there. Which means that whoever this is, knows it was installed."

Judy's face brightened at the sign of new evidence. "This could mean that there is someone on the inside. Or someone in my building."

With that, the pair pulled up in front of Judy's apartment building. It hadn't changed much since the nighthowler case. It was still as shabby as always. The paint job on the outside o the building was chipped... basically everywhere.

They both walked out of the car and up to Judy's apartment with the utmost caution. Judy's last words had sparked concern in both of their minds. With the sound of the pads of their feet meeting the ground with a soft pat, they walked down the hallway to Judy's apartment.

With the jingle of her keys and the click of the door, the two entered her apartment. The bedding was made as it was everyday, from the second Judy got out of bed. For how small and dirty her apartment appeared, she always kept it clean. Everything had a place. The table next to her door held her keys as she walked in the door, flinging them into the little bowl that say there. Her fridge was filled with plenty of food for him and her. Since they were at each others places so often they both had food for the two of them. Nick threw his coat on the hook as Judy closed the door behind her. Nick was about to walk over to get a drink from the fridge but froze with his paw on the handle.

Judy, hanging her coat up laughed. "Forgot what you were going to get from in there for Nick?"

However, when her quick witted partner didn't give a response, she looked at him once more. He wasn't looking at the fridge, but her desk.

Her view of the desk was obstructed due to the fact that her partner was standing in front of her. Moving over to the left a little she gazed at what his emerald eyes were looking at.

Judy felt sick to her stomach. Not only had they come to her house while she was sleeping, but now they had been here while she was at work in the morning. How did she know for sure that it was the Mastermind himself? Sitting on her desk were two tickets for Treemans Theatre in Tundratown. One said her name, and the other said her partners.

Nick walked over and picked up the tickets and placed them in the pocket of his uniform without giving them a second glance. He didn't need to. He knew what they were and right now, that was not their priority.

"Now where was I? Ah yes, getting my blueberry shake from the fridge."

Nick always kept a few things in Judy's fridge for when he came over. And the drink he always brought was a blueberry yogurt shake. It wasn't fresh, of course. He bought it at the supermarket near her apartment on his way over.

Blueberries were a funny thing for the two. They were more than Nick's favorite food and somewhat addiction. They were also a symbol of them cracking their first case. Together.

Judy watched as he pulled his favorite drink out of the fridge and closed it. Since she first moved to Zootopia, Judy had gotten a TV and a small couch with two cushions, one of which was now taken up by Nick as he began to flip through the channels.

"... and now you add the sauce to the pan and…"

*click*

"... and now your host…"

*click*

"...The last attack has not been for months. Started by Lucas Grey, the Mastermind lives on. A copy cat has now arose, killing multiple mammals. Sources say that this criminal has links to Officer Judy Hopps, who is one of the lead officers on the case…"

*click*

With that, the TV went black. Judy snapped out of the temporary trance that the announcer on the TV had put her in and walked over to sit next to Nick.

Judy remembered when she had first had Nick over. On her little couch, in her little apartment, she felt the need to put as much space between the two of them as possible. They would both sit on opposite sides of the couch and the atmosphere was almost… awkward. However, that was no longer the case. Many laughs, many jokes, even tears have been shared on that couch. Even lots of cuddles. Judy no longer felt the need to sit on the opposite side of the couch. In fact, most times she would sit with her head on his chest, on his shoulder, or when she was really tired, on his lap.

Sitting down, she sat close to him. Leaning up against the side of his chest, he moved his arm around her. Anyone else would think this position of lovers, however, to them, it was more like family. Nick and Judy were so close with one another that neither really minded any physical interaction like si\ting next to each other or hugging.

Judy sat there was she felt the rising and falling of Nick's chest as he breathed. The rhythm of it, the feel of it, had a calming power to it that she couldn't put into words.

Nick didn't feel much different. In the midst of the craziness of life, Judy was always there. Her scent always had a weird way of making him forget about everything that was wrong with the world. It was like, every problem that they were facing was washed away.

That made him think. What if one day, Judy wasn't there to comfort him? What if this time, they wouldn't come out on top? What if the Mastermind wins? What if he is left without a partner? What if… he leaves her without a partner.

Shaking this thought train away, he spoke. "You know," began Nick, "We aren't getting much done by sitting here on the couch Carrots. We have two whole apartments to pack and we only have one day."

Judy giggled. "Yeah but it's not like we are doing nothing."

Now it was Nick's turn to laugh. "What do you mean? We are literally being couch potatoes right now, which means we are doing nothing."

"Well, if we are being couch potatoes, then we are doing something. So yes, yes we are doing something"

Nick rested his head down on Judy's, his muzzle resting on top of her left ear. "Sly bunny."

"Soft fox," Judy mumbled as she closed her eyes and leaned even more into her partner. Nick rolled his eyes at her last comment. However, their intimate place on the couch started to make his brain ponder.

He wondered what was going through Judy's mind at times like these. Did the same things that were running through his mind also run through hers? There were times like these that the tug in Nick's heart was too strong to hide, too big to shove under the rug. He consciously let his mind run wild at times like these. What ifs were something that consumed his mind like a raging wildfire at her touch. Sometimes he would try to shut down the thoughts of something… more between them, but to no avail. He didn't understand it. This, feeling that he had acquired for Judy had not come voluntarily. In fact he hated it. But it had naturally grown on him after the last Mastermind case. Something about the realization that Judy almost died, almost left him, left him realizing that he didn't know what he would do without her.

He lifted his head off of her ear and gazed down on her. Her eyes were closed and her head was nestled into him. Her face looked peaceful for the first time in the last two days.

"Carrots?"

Mumbling into his fur she replied with a, "Yes Nick?"

"As much as I would love to sit with you here on the couch all night, we do have some packing to do."

A large "Ugh," came from Judy's lips as she sat up. Standing on her feet, she made here way over to the closet where there were boxes from when she had first moved in.

Why did she still have those boxes? Because she was hoping that one day she would afford a nice place, one a huge step up from this. However, something always stopped her when she googled openings in the area. There was something about the rickety bed and the noisy neighbors that Judy couldn't seem to part with.

After pulling them out she walked over to her bed to set them down. On her way over, the cool morning breeze caressed her fur.

"Nick, did you open the window?" she asked, puzzled over why it was open. She was sure that she had closed it this morning before work, in fact it was never open this morning. And she ws sure that she hadn't opened it when she and Nick arrived.

"No, Carrots. I thought you did."

Her instincts immediately kicked in. Placing her paw on her gun in her holster, she slowly took a step towards the window. Gazing out onto the fire escape, a sign caught her attention. Pinned down in the corners with rocks, it read…

IF NICHOLAS WILDE CONTINUES TO SIT THAT CLOSE TO YOU, I WILL MAKE SURE HE NEVER SITS NEAR ANYONE EVER AGAIN.

(A/N: Hey everyone. I am SO sorry for the wait. Christmas vacation caught up with me and I couldn't find the time to finish my thoughts. That is why I made this chapter a little longer than usual to make up for it ;). I hope that you guys had a great break as I did and I am wishing you all a very Happy New year. Please don't forget to leave a review or PM me with any suggestions or feedback on this story. I am loving the support from some of you so thanks for that. Well, that's all for now. Don't forget, keep on reading.)