December 24th - 8:00 A.M. - The End of Nick and Judy's Shift

"Ahh, isn't this great, Nick? It's Christmas Eve and I get to go home tomorrow! I haven't seen my parents or siblings in so long! I'm so excited!" the doe exclaimed as they walked through the busy halls of the ZPD.

Christmas time was particularly busy for the police, though Judy never minded it too much. She'd spent the last two Christmases away from home due to work, but this year Bogo was able to get her a few days off to see her family. She wouldn't leave until later in the day, but she was going to be home for Christmas no matter what.

Nick was obviously impartial to the situation. In the few years that he'd been Judy's partner, she'd never heard him talk about his family at all. She didn't bother bringing it up around him either. If he didn't want to talk about them, then it was probably best to leave it alone. That was something that she'd learned pretty quickly about Nick.

Despite how enigmatic he could be sometimes, she couldn't help but cherish their friendship. It shouldn't have worked, but yet they were nearly inseparable at times. Most other officers didn't like to hang around other officers all the time, but those two didn't like to listen to what others always had to say.

Recently, Nick and Judy had been working early morning shifts, usually beginning at midnight and going until eight in the morning. They were exhausting, but they were a nice change of pace from their usual daytime shifts.

"Sure is great. Good for you, Carrots," Nick said as unamused as possible, not even bothering to take a look at his bunny partner. Not enjoying the sass from him, Judy quickly nudged him in the side with her elbow, right in the sweet spot. He winced in pain as he grabbed at the area she jabbed him.

"Right in the kidney, Carrots… Why does it always have to be in the kidney?"

"Because. Why do you always have to be so snarky, hmm?" Judy retorted.

"I'm not being snarky. I'm being myself. You should know this by now, I am the undisputed king of snark around here. No one even comes close!"

"Except for me, Wilde."

"Yeah, right. Like you could ever—" Nick stopped the moment that he realized he was arguing with Chief Bogo, who was currently standing only a few inches away from the fox's back. Nick slowly turned around and stared up at his burly superior with a guilty smile.

Nick held up a single finger. "Perhaps it's a close race?"

Bogo huffed. "Better watch the attitude, Wilde. I was just beginning to warm up to you."

"I've been here for three years, sir. Am I really that hard to warm up to?"

For once in Nick's career, Bogo gave him a quick smile. "Indubitably, Wilde. But, since I have you two here, I wanted to know if you two would be able to do a shorter traffic patrol shift early tomorrow morning. Say, two to eight in the morning. Hopps, I know you leave for home tomorrow, but as I understand it, you don't leave until the afternoon. Would it be possible?"

Judy thought about it for a second. She wouldn't be doing anything else during that time other than sleeping. Sure, she would need the energy, but she could always sleep on the train if she needed to.

"I see no reason that I can't, sir. As long as Officer Wilde is up to it as well," she said, turning to him and smiling. His face didn't change from its previous cheeky grin.

"I would be more than happy to do so," Nick said.

"Very well. I will see you two tomorrow morning when you get back." Nick and Judy watched as Chief Bogo walked down the hall and then around the corner.

"You sure you want to do that, Carrots? I mean, that's cutting it a little close, don't you think?" Nick asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

"Oh, we'll be fine. Like Bogo said, I don't leave until the afternoon. I'll have plenty of time, you're not doing anything, and besides, it's more money for both of us, so we probably shouldn't complain."

"You're right about that. Sitting at home during the holidays is wonderful, and I suppose money is good. But we should probably get back to our places and rest up for tonight. I have a feeling it is going to be hard to stay awake the whole time," Nick added.

"That's probably a good idea. See ya later, Nick!"

"Same to you, Judy!"

Judy's Apartment - 10:03 A.M.

Judy currently sat on her bed covered by several blankets. Despite how small her apartment was, the tiny radiator that it came with was about the most pitiful machine out there. It would barely be able to heat a room half that size. Judy had tried time and time again to get it replaced, but according to her landlady it wasn't broken so they couldn't replace it for her unless she paid for it. Deciding that a few more blankets were cheaper than a new radiator, Judy now sat watching her newest purchase for her apartment: a used television.

It came with a small stand that Judy had placed right at the foot of her bed. Judy wasn't one for television, but she had taken to enjoy having the news on while she read a book or studied up on a case. The background noise was good enough for her, so she never had it up too loud. Judy currently was reading through the paper, finding nothing that really caught her eye. She'd only been flipping through the pages for a few minutes when she heard the weather come on her TV.

"It's going to be pretty nice for Christmas Day with temperatures in the upper 20's all day. It's for sure going to be a White Christmas this year, Savannah Central is going to get around two to three inches of snow during the very early morning, only letting up around the afternoon, leaving us with a fresh blanket of powder for Christmas Day. Back to you, Peter."

Judy didn't think much of it. Growing up in Bunnyburrow, she'd seen snow plenty of times. Every winter was always a blast as a kit, getting to play with her siblings in the snow. Out there, it could get to be almost a foot deep, making it extra fun to try and run and play in snow that was almost as high as you were. Here in the city, snow was a bit more of a rarity, so it was going to be nice for something different than the last few years. Even though she wouldn't get to see it for very long while it was fresh, she was kind of happy to know that there would be snow in the city.

Judy folded up her paper and set it on the floor next to her bed. She should have already gone to sleep. That was her plan at least, but something was keeping her awake. Or rather someone was keeping her awake, and it wasn't Bucky or Pronk. She felt kind of bad that he was going to be all alone again this year. Judy felt compelled to invite him to her home for Christmas.

It was Judy's belief that no one should be alone for the holidays, especially someone like Nick. He never did anything to deserve that kind of punishment. The strange thing was that he seemed content with it all. She didn't know if his parents were very nice mammals, imprisoned, or even dead, but all she knew was that he didn't spend time with them ever and that he really didn't want to.

Judy sighed as she laid her head down on her pillow. Why did Nick have to be the way he was? She knew that her desire to invite him was rooted in some feeling that she'd been suppressing for a while. She continually told herself that it was nothing and eventually it would wear off, but it hadn't. She still really liked him.

Maybe it wouldn't hurt to ask him if he wanted to go with me… I'm going to call him…

Judy grabbed her phone from the bedside table and looked through her contacts until she found Nick. She hesitated for a few seconds, staring at her phone screen wondering if this was a good idea. Eventually, she found the courage to send the call and now Judy waited for him to pick up.

"What's up, Carrots?"

"Meep!" she squeaked as she quickly hung up her phone. Instantly Judy regretted her decision to do that, though it was probably more of a terrified instinct. Stupid! Why would you do that? The worst he can say is no!

Feeling more ready than before, Judy redialed his number, this time he picked up almost right away.

"What's up, again, Carrots?" Judy noted that he sounded a little more irritated this time around.

"Hey, Nick! What are you up to right now?" she asked shakily. Great, you already sound like a complete fool...

"Well, I'm just laying here in nothing but my underwear trying to sleep. What are you doing still up?"

Judy nearly sighed out loud, wondering why he had to put that image in her mind. "What am I doing? I'm just… uh…"

"Go to bed, Carrots. I feel like you need the rest more than me."

"No!" she shouted a bit too loudly. "I uh… I was going to ask you something." A long pause filled the air as she waited for one of them to say something.

"I'm waiting, Carrots. You were going to ask me something?"

"Yes… Yes! I was going to ask you if… you, uh…" Judy nearly started panicking. She thought she could do it, but now that she was only seconds away from actually doing it, she wasn't so sure.

"I wanted to know if you wanted to bring coffee with tonight… so that we don't fall asleep…"

Judy listened to yet another long pause that was finished with a yawn from Nick. "That was it? That's all you wanted to ask me?"

"Y...Yes?"

"Go to bed, Carrots. I'll make the coffee. Just get some rest, please. You don't sound too good."

"O… Ok. Goodbye, Nick."

"Goodbye."

Judy looked at her phone in her paw for several seconds before she dropped it onto her bed and sighed in frustration.

"Why does this have to be so hard?" she asked out loud.

"Maybe you should tell him how you feel first," came a voice from the other side of the wall.

"Yeah, I bet that would make things a little less awkward between you two," said another voice.

Judy stared at her wall for several seconds, some anger from deep within herself slowly bubbling to the surface until she exploded. "Stop meddling in my love life!" For a nearly ten seconds Judy didn't hear anything from either of the two.

"Geez. No need to be a jerk about it, bunny."

December 25th - 1:55 A.M. - Christmas Day

A very grumpy bunny walked into the ZPD. Bloodshot eyes stared straight ahead as she silently walked past everyone. As she approached the front desk, Ben was just getting situated and waved to her.

"Hey, Judy! Good to see—" His face suddenly changed to that of fear upon seeing her expression. "Oh… um, Merry Christmas?"

"Not in the mood, Clawhauser… Merry Christmas, but not in the mood…" she said broodingly as she walked away, leaving the poor cheetah to wonder what could have possibly made the happiest and most motivated officer he'd ever met look like that.

As Judy continued through the Precinct, Nick managed to catch up with her, already expecting her to be in a sour mood. He, on the other paw, was feeling wonderful.

"Merry Christmas, Carrots. My gift to you is a massive thermos of coffee," he said with a smile as she stopped in her tracks and looked at him with the most unamused look ever. She took the thermos without a word and began guzzling the liquid even though it was still a little bit too hot for her liking.

"This is mine now," she said in between gulps.

"Um, that was sort of the whole gift thing. I know you wanted a new one, so…" Nick quit talking when he saw her turn slowly to look at him with the same terrifying gaze. "...I'm just going to shut up now," Judy's features softened up as she sighed.

"I'm sorry, Nick. That was a bit weird, wasn't it?"

"You're telling me. I almost didn't recognize you. What happened?"

"I didn't get much more than three hours of sleep. I don't know what got into me, but I just couldn't do it for some reason." Judy knew this was a lie. She knew exactly what was the cause of her insomnia, and he was walking right beside her.

"Well, I hope the coffee helps, especially since you so rudely interrupted my rest to get it," Nick quipped sarcastically. "You couldn't have just told me before we left our last shift?"

"M… Must have slipped my mind, I guess," she replied shyly. Nick looked down at his bunny partner. He didn't want to see her in such a terrible state the entire day. Whenever she was in a bad mood, so was he. She usually brightened everyone's day that she came across. Nick nudged her gently on the shoulder.

"Hey, for once, you are going to be in the passenger seat. I'm driving this time."

"I figured," she said quietly. Nick smiled and had himself a small chuckle as they continued to the motor pool and arrived at their car. Getting in silently, Nick noticed how her eyes kept flicking over to him for very brief amounts of time. She definitely looked like something else was on her mind, but he didn't really want to pry about inside her head. Starting the car, Nick drove away from the motor pool and into the dark of the morning.

There was something interesting about the city at this time. Everyone was asleep, but all of the lights were still on. The entire city radiated with every color of light imaginable, and yet there were few souls out on the streets. The only ones that were out and about probably didn't have a home to go to and were forced to find places to stay.

Nick, having been a part of that group for many years, looked at them with understanding. Most of them were good people, just down on their luck for too long that they had nowhere else to turn but the streets. Seeing where he was now really put things into perspective. Had he not run into Judy all those years ago at Jumbeaux's, he would still be out there. She wasn't just Judy to him. She was his best friend in the entire world. What she did for him was unlike any act of kindness he'd ever experienced.

She believed in him.

Nick entered onto the interstate, knowing that their patrol route consisted of all interstate and highway for almost the entire time. Nick actually preferred this over driving around in the city. Here it was more relaxing getting to watch the cars go by from the median and occasionally getting to chase after a speeder. It was a lot of sitting and waiting, but when he was doing it with Judy, life really couldn't be much better.

Nick pulled the car into the passthrough and parked it, turning off the lights as to make the vehicle almost completely invisible in the darkness. He cranked up the heat when he noticed the outside temperature was much lower than they'd originally forecasted. As the sun came up he figured it would warm up, but even for a mammal with such thick fur, it would be a bit brisk. He didn't want to know how Judy would feel.

Maybe I could just warm her up a little bit with a bit of a cuddle… he thought. Nick mentally slapped himself. Now was not the time to be thinking about that. Well, never was the time to be thinking about it. He wanted to tell her so badly, but he couldn't. They worked together. It just wasn't right or very professional for him to be confessing his love to her.

"Hey, Nick," Judy asked. Nick flinched after being so deep in thought. He almost forgot that she was in the car with him.

"Yeah, Carrots?"

"Why don't you ever go and see your parents during the holidays?"

Nick gulped. "W-Why do you ask?"

"It's just been on my mind a lot, ya know since I'm finally getting to go back home for a few days. It made me wonder why you always stay at your place."

He'd avoided this question for so long, but now he felt as though he had no way out. His mind frantically searched for ways for him to smooth-talk himself out of the corner Judy put him into, but it came up with nothing. He was trapped in the headlights. He figured it was time.

"The truth is I don't really want to go see my mom. I feel like I disappointed her all those years ago when I left. As for my dad, well, I actually visit him a lot. He's always lying in the same place…" Nick stared out of his window, avoiding eye contact with Judy. It took her awhile, but she finally realized what Nick was getting at. The fox felt a paw gently squeeze his forearm. He turned to see Judy looking at him apologetically.

"Nick, I'm sorry. I didn't realize… I shouldn't have brought it up…"

"No, no. It's alright. It's been a long time since he died. He was a great mammal, though. I wish you could have met him."

"But your mom… why don't you go and see her?"

"I don't know if she'll appreciate me showing up after I left her all those years ago. It's just a personal fear, I guess."

"I still think you should. It's Christmas… tell her that you're sorry. Tell her how you feel."

Nick froze in place. "Say what now?"

"I said, tell her how you feel. Tell her that you're sorry about keeping her in the dark. She'll understand."

Nick wasn't sure what to think anymore. He had to change the subject quickly or else he was going to freak out. He didn't know if it was his mind playing tricks on him or if she was actually hinting at something, but all he knew was that this could not continue.

"Oh, look at the time! We should probably move to another spot!" he said nervously as he turned the lights on and tore back out onto the interstate. Judy seemed confused by his sudden change in attitude, but she sat back in her seat and just let it happen.

This is going to be a longer shift than I thought…

5:27 A.M.

The remainder of the shift had been mostly silent and with only two incidents that ended up just being warnings in the end. Judy's sudden curiousness made everything a little bit awkward between them, and she seemed to understand that they just needed to stay silent for a while.

They had moved to a few different spots throughout the night, but ultimately it had been incredibly slow just as predicted. Nick did struggle to stay awake a few times, but he managed to keep himself plenty alert. The situation he was in probably made that a little bit easier.

Nick noticed that it began to snow a while ago. He'd heard that it was supposed to during the early morning, so it was nothing unexpected. The strangest part was when he noticed it was getting to be a bit heavy. Nick was struck with a little bit of caution and grabbed his radio.

"Clawhauser, is there an update on the weather?"

"They just issued a blizzard warning for the entire area. Things are probably going to get a bit hard to see. Apparently, it changed pretty quickly. Are you thinking of getting out of there?"

"I think that's our best bet. I don't want to be stuck out here for too long."

"You'd better hurry, then. A couple of units have already reported zero visibility."

"Crap…" Nick said as he turned on the headlights and went back onto the interstate. Judy, who seemed to just be waking up from an accidental nap looked a bit shocked to see that they were currently moving through some pretty bad weather.

"Nick, why don't we just stay there and wait for it to clear?"

"Because we could be stuck there for a while if we can't get out of that spot. The snow is gonna be a lot worse than originally expected." Just as Nick said this, his visibility dropped from a little bit to absolute zero in a couple of seconds. The wind picked up dramatically and Nick had to slow down quite a bit.

"Crap, I can't see anything!" he said. Judy seconded that as she peered out the windshield and tried to see where they were going.

"Nick, you should probably just stop where we are. Just wait for it to clear—"

She was unable to finish her sentence as everything suddenly dropped nearly 45 degrees downward. Nick held onto the steering wheel for dear life as the car slid down the steep incline and eventually to a stop far below the interstate.

He'd just driven right off the road.

"Uh oh…" he said quietly. Nick slowly turned to Judy with a sheepish grin on his face. She looked less than amused.

"Nick! Are you kidding me! Why didn't you listen to what I said? Had we just stayed where we were—"

"We would still be in this situation. Stuck and going nowhere. And besides, I bet we can get out of here. This thing has some crazy off-road tires." Nick stepped on the gas, but the car didn't move. It didn't even make any noise.

"Nick, the car is off."

"Oh… yeah, I knew that," he lied. Nick turned the key and he heard the car's starter try and try, but it just would not fire up the engine. He tried again and again, but still to no avail.

"Nick… please tell me the car is going to start again…" Judy said, already knowing the answer to her question. Nick kept on trying, but it still did not fire up.

"No, I don't think it will," he admitted quietly. Nick reached for the radio once again. "Clawhauser, our unit is off the road. When can you get a tow truck to us?"

"Pending the end of the storm, or at least for the visibility to get better, could be a while. I suggest you sit tight, for now, might be an hour or two."

That was the last thing that was said for a while. Nick didn't know how long it was before anyone finally said something, but it was long enough for the car to get noticeably colder than before. Cold enough for him to see Judy start to shiver.

"I'm sorry about this. I probably should have listened to you." Nick glanced at his partner, but she didn't look back at him. He stared at her with a longing that he'd never felt in his entire life about another. He felt compelled to do things like he was programmed to do them.

Judy felt her seatbelt unbuckle and slide past her body, though she still didn't look up at Nick. A set of paws grabbed her and she let out a stifled squeak as she was lifted out of her seat and into the driver's seat, surrounded by a warm embrace. It was so comfortable, so natural. It was all she ever wanted to feel.

She felt his breath tickle the furs on top of her head as he rested his muzzle on top of her. He held her in his arms like she'd fall if he let go. Her shaking form calmed ever so slowly, eventually no longer feeling the effects of the ever-chilling car.

"I'm sorry for whatever I did. Please, just tell me why you've been acting so weird today," he whispered quietly in her ears, causing her to shiver with pleasure. Judy shuffled about in Nick's lap, turning herself so that she could look right into his eyes.

"You didn't do anything except being the best friend I could have asked for. Nick, for a while, I've been wondering who you really were to me. I realized now that you're not just my best friend. I don't want you to be just that. If you'll have me, I want to be something more with you." Judy closed her eyes, preparing herself for the hardest words she could think about speaking, even though she was as certain as possible about them.

"Nick, I think I'm in love with you…"

Judy could feel her heart pounding in her chest as well as Nick's moving along with hers. Nick pulled Judy into a tight hug, the rabbit wrapping her arms around his neck. When they separated, Nick stared deeply into her eyes, studying every detail in her violet irises. He wore a gentle smile as he caressed her cheek and brought her in for a quick and tender kiss.

The rush of euphoria and the feeling of her lips on his was better than he could have ever imagined. It only lasted for a few seconds, but they were perhaps the best few seconds of Nick's life. Every nervous feeling that he had prior to this went out the window. He was more confident in how he felt than ever before.

"Are you sure about that?" he said jokingly. Judy laughed as she rested her body on Nick's chest.

"I'm absolutely positive about that."

"I'm glad, but I really need to be upfront about something. I may have lied to you yesterday. When I said I enjoyed being alone for the holidays, I didn't mean it. I'm actually miserable because I'm constantly reminded of my past mistakes and how badly they hurt people that I cared about. It was about this time when I was twelve that I actually ran from home, so I never really forget that night. Every year I get reminded, and it never gets any easier to cope with—"

"Shush," Judy said while placing a finger over Nick's mouth. "I think I have a solution to that problem. Depending on when we get out of here, we are going to go and see your mother right after this, and then you are coming with me to Bunnyburrow. I want you to know what it means to spend the holidays with family. Now that we're actually trying this, you are part of my family, and I hope that I will become a part of your family as well. Let's do this together, alright?"

"You sure it's a good idea for me to do that? Won't your parents be a bit weirded out with you bringing a fox home for the holidays?"

"If worst comes to worst, we'll just have to tell them the truth, but for now you're just a friend who needed a place to go, got it?"

Nick chuckled menacingly. "Wow, lying to your parents on Christmas… Never thought you'd be the one to do that," Nick said, but he regretted it immediately as he felt a bunny fist collide with his sternum.

"Hey! We're really doing this?" Her last statement was filled with hope, even though she knew for certain what his response would be.

Nick smiled warmly at his partner in both work and now life. He leaned back in the seat and held her close, knowing that he never wanted to let go. Judy rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes with the happiest smile on her face.

"Together."

8:03 A.M.

A tow truck along with a police car pulled off to the side of the interstate after finding snow-filled tire tracks. Following them all the way down led eyes to a police car covered in fresh, powdery snow. As the tow truck began working on getting its winch down to the car, one of the present officers tracked down to the cruizer.

He looked at the driver's side window, which was covered completely with snow. He wiped it off with his paw to reveal the best sight he'd seen in months. Chuckling to himself, he raised his radio to his mouth and spoke clearly.

"Attention all units. Notify the Chief. WildeHopps is a thing."

A/N: I think I forgot how much fun it was to write fluff like this ;) Hope you enjoyed your late Christmas present. I started writing this late on the 23rd, so it came rather quickly as I originally planned on not doing a Christmas story this year. But in the end, the fluff got me… I'm pretty sure this stuff has healing powers!

-Ande