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SKYFOWL

Judy tried her best to push Savage's moment of pain away from the forefront of her mind, especially considering that she believed she may have somewhat caused it. It wasn't hard to do though when the bunny next to her was smiling and looking back into her eyes with nearly the same glee to be showing a fan his work as she was experiencing to see it. The title card was just now fading and Judy tried her best to contain her excitement unsuccessfully.

The first shot of the movie was snow, a glistening, blinding white that filled the screen and dazzled the audience. Big brass music played somewhere off screen, and slowly the snow around the audience's point of reference became saturated with blood, turning from white to pink and finally settling a deep shade of scarlet. The camera zoomed out slowly to reveal the corpse of a male figure wearing skiing gear that had apparently recently been relieved of its life, then refocused, showing off the otherwise unidentifiable body's badge. ZI6.

And so the movie went. It certainly didn't deviate from formula too much as far as Jack Savage films go, but that was good as far as Judy was concerned. She hid her face during the movie's only sex scene, and while Jack was being honest in saying that it was one of the shortest out of the film series, it still felt like an eternity to the blushing bunny. When she finished covering her eyes for fear of staring at the male next to her through his more intimate appearance she found a small, almost playful smile gracing his lips. She ignored it and continued watching, and soon enough so did Jack.

As the film finally drew to a close, the Special Agent beside her turned halfway to her in his seat, that trademark smile splayed across his features that made the young cop's heart flutter a little bit every time she saw it in person. "So, what do you think?" he inquired.

Judy leaned in closer to hear over the sound of the movie's excellent score, beaming from ear to ear. "I loved it! I mean, it's... well, it's you." She covered her mouth as she said that, it had certainly come out somewhat wrong.

Jack merely chuckled, waving the compliment away carelessly with a paw. "Thank you, it means a lot to me to hear that some people still enjoy these."

Judy couldn't help but interrupt, "What do you mean that some people still do? Tons of mammals love this stuff! It's a great outlet for a lot of-"

The Special Agent smiled at her and held up a paw, cutting her off. "Critics can be brutal you know. This one was better than most according to them, but maybe that's just because they liked watching me get shot a few times in the first couple scenes."

Hopps cringed slightly at that memory. These days effects were good enough that it made her rather uncomfortable to watch the person sitting less than a foot away from her being mortally wounded a handful of times, made worse by the fact that she had seen similar injuries and their consequences before on crime scenes.

The assorted members of the cast and lucky fans were rising from their seats now, stretching the kinks out of their backs and tails. A low buzz of conversation slowly took the theater, and with it the pair also took their place among the standing, shuffling awkwardly out of their row and through the crowd. It was funny, Hopps had figured that for huge celebrities like Savage the process of leaving a cinema would be elegant, not the usual not-so-patient waiting for everyone to lumber out in front of you style that the general public used. Lost in her thoughts, the rabbit realized that he had said something and was looking to her for an answer.

"Wait, what? Sorry, spaced out." she laughed nervously, remembering again finally exactly who she was standing with. Her ears burned and drooped slightly as she watched Jack's face fall.

"I uh, was wondering if you'd like to go to dinner as well. The rest of the cast is going to a rather famous little place not far from here. It's pretty exclusive, normally for only performers or up-and-comings but they do allow one guest each..." The agent coughed, scratching the back of his head. Judy found it rather odd that he would seem so nervous suddenly despite his usual cocky charm.

"Uhhh..." the bunny found herself stammering, "Y-Yeah! Of course!" She accepted without really thinking.

Jack's ears shot back to their own proper upright position and he eagerly nodded. "Great! Thanks." He quickly took hold of her arm, finally breaching the crowd that had formed outside of the theater. The rabbit cop had deja vu for a moment as she was again dragged through the paparazzi, but soon enough she was behind the relative safety of Jack's car door. The striped bunny slid in beside her, letting the vehicle's engine purr properly before catapulting them from the lines of cameras.

The ride to the restaurant took but a few minutes, and upon arriving the pair were greeted by rather peculiar looks from the valet and exterior staff thanks to their current outfits. However, any such odd glances ended immediately when Jack showed the doorman his ID and they were ushered into the building.

The Special Agent wasn't lying when he said this place was exclusive. The first thing that even hit the rabbit officer was the smell of the entire establishment. It was incredible, savory and indescribable all in one. Like if someone had taken all of her favorite foods and mixed them together, then turned that into a kind of perfume that permeated this place. Not only that, but the building was relatively small, there couldn't have been more than twenty tables, each only seating two to four mammals at maximum. It really was rather intimate, the small space coupled with the only light in the place being the product of candles that danced on each table and in somewhat modest lamps above.

"It's... beautiful..." Judy breathed, her eyes wandering over the room around her. The bunny cop had never even gotten close to anything this fancy before despite her almost-celebrity status. She sniffed at the air again. Among the mix of delicious food she thought she smelled something... familiar. Something that made her feel safe and secure more than any heavily-trained secret agent right over her shoulder could. She couldn't quite put her finger on what it was though, something instinctive almost in the back of her mind more than anything physical.

Agent Savage grinned at her reaction to the establishment, holding her paw on the way to their table. The tiny bit of contact was certainly not unnoticed by its recipient, who merely blushed and allowed it for the moment. She knew that this was her cover, but she hoped she didn't have to do anything more... extreme to keep up her disguise. The rabbit wasn't really sure what would happen if she had to kiss him.

The two were seated, the candles at their own spaces sending odd, flickering shadows across their features. Jack looked even more handsome in the dark, and his eyes seemed almost to glow in the dim lighting, adding to the air of danger and mystery around him. Judy gazed into them, lost for a moment. Then, she caught a hint of another color from the corner of her eye.

"Nick...?" she breathed, almost instinctively.

The militant rabbit opposite her cocked one ear at that, his eyebrows furrowing slightly. He followed his guest's gaze past his head to a table not far behind them. There, a familiar reddish-orange fox was sitting across from a slightly smaller snow-white member of the same species. Judy could spot him from a mile away, not bothering to question why she had been so quick to notice his presence.

The actor cocked an eyebrow to match his ears, smiling and shaking his head slowly. "Well, your partner certainly wasn't lying about his date. I do admit I'm a bit surprised to see him here, but Rachel does prefer to stay relatively within her species as far as dating goes. You didn't hear it from me, but I think she might want kits."

Judy wasn't listening, she had already left her seat, killing the rest of Jack's conversation in his throat. He watched, mouth slowly forming into a slash of disapproval as the rabbit formerly sitting opposite him approached the couple's table. "Or... not. This is a bad idea Hopps, whatever you have planned," he mumbled under his breath at her retreating figure.

Judy was smiling at first, she really didn't know why. "Nick!" she called out across the room that was slowly beginning to fill with various other celebrities returning from the movie premiere. She saw his bright orange ears twitch, turning ever so slightly to the source of her voice, but he never completed the familiar motion by turning his head, instead his eyes were glued to the arctic fox before him. The rabbit's smile faltered, but her pace only quickened to her partner's table. She caught Jack rising from his chair out of the corner of her eye and starting after her at a much more casual, clandestine pace.

"Nick, c'mon, you can't even say-" Whatever Judy was going to say next, it was rammed into the back of her throat by the gaze that locked onto her own. The fox sitting opposite her sly companion was glaring at her with deadly malice. The sight of a predator species wearing an expression of such lethal intent sent her back a pace, her heart suddenly jumping into overdrive.

Nick looked at her finally, but it wasn't the support she needed and was expecting from the fox that was usually so quick to come to her aid. Instead he looked panicked, not unlike his initial reaction to breaking into Mr. Big's limo.

"Ah, Officer Hopps. I must say, I've heard quite a bit about you, especially in regards to your co-worker here." Rachel's voice was pretty, Judy had to admit. She wasn't sure what kind of accent it was, almost English in a strange way. Right now, however, its tone was decidedly ugly.

"Yes, this is Judy. Uh, I don't believe we've spoken much about her. She works with me in the department, isn't that right carrots... er, Officer Hopps?"

Rachel's gaze darkened considerably at the pet name her apparent date had for his co-worker.

"Yes!" Judy quickly agreed, laughing nervously and feeling incredibly unsafe in the whole situation. The only thing keeping her from bolting outright at this point was that odd scent in the air, the smell of lavender and fresh dew was stronger here, if still just on the edge of detectable.

"Hey there, great to see you again Rachel. How did that audition go for The Fantastic Fur?" A paw wrapped around Judy's shoulder, squeezing it a bit harder than what would normally be considered appropriate.

Rachel's glare finally was broken as she turned to the newest member of the conversation, eyes shifting back to that of polite company. "Ah, didn't notice you at first there, Jack. Odd, you normally tend to take up so much space in whatever room you occupy."

The special agent chuckled, "I can be rather quiet when I want to be, as much the acting guild would disagree." He pulled the shorter bunny next to him closer with a meaningful tug, drawing a quick squeak from her. "I see that you've met my date for the night, Officer Hopps."

Rachel's gaze softened slightly at that and she turned back to the female rabbit, looking mildly apologetic. "Ah, I wasn't aware you were in the game at the moment, Jack. And I must apologize for the initial reaction Hopps, I was merely startled seeing you in public, you certainly have made a name for yourself."

Judy nodded and her heart started to calm. "Y-yeah! I did a bit of work but really, Nick was a huge part of it! I hope that the news has been covering that more, I mean I would have died without him!"

"Oh no officer, you honestly had the whole thing under control. I was just along for the ride." Nick's voice cut in with its usual sly commentary, but its tone was ice-cold. Judy's heart lept into a drumbeat rhythm again, and she felt herself shiver involuntarily. It sounded remarkably like just after her little incident in the press briefing. Her eyes shot to try to meet his, but they were the same. Devoid of any warmth as sudden as a candle being snuffed out.

"Wait... N-nick..." her nose twitched, and her mind raced to try to figure out what had happened, what could she have done to reawaken this side of him. Then, it hit her. Why she had been stared at so oddly, why Jack had followed her to the table and why Nick was so cold suddenly. He was on a date. Rachel was his date. And not just an 'excuse to go to dinner and talk' date, this was a fully fledged 'perhaps Rachel was going to get those kits she's rumored to be wanting tonight' date. In her infinite naivety, she had interrupted Nick's night by barging into a potentially intimate affair. Which also meant that... oh. Nick thought she was actually dating Jack. He had no way of knowing that this was just a disguise, and he had talked to her before about how foxes got rather protective of people they liked. He was probably horribly offended, betrayed even that his best friend would go out without even talking about something like this. Not only that, he was probably worried for her. After all, she had just met Jack that day. A date seemed a bit fast. All of this though, she felt, couldn't describe the obvious pain in her partner's eyes. There was something deeper there, a sort of trust and hope that had been snuffed out.

"No no Judy," Nick cut off her pathetic attempts at an explanation with a raised paw, "I'm happy for you. Jack seems like a great guy, not to mention he's fairly successful. Nice catch, Hopps." There it was, that uncaring, irreverent speech pattern that was the fox's greatest shield. It hurt, how good he was at using it even on her.

Not only that, but he was using her full name. Judy found herself tearing up, shaking in Jack's arms. She shook her head and tried her hardest to compose herself, but before she knew it she had tugged herself free of the larger rabbit's grip and excused herself, her pace quickening all the way to the door. Her mind was screaming for her to go back, but she was determined not to ruin this night for Nick any more than she already had. Somewhere in the distance she heard her name being called after her, but then she was out the door and into the cold of the night.

The rabbit officer tugged her dress cap off, throwing it to the ground of the nearest alley. Her back hit the wall and she slid down it, tears spilling over and wetting the fur down her cheeks and of the paws that she was desperately trying to hide them with. She sobbed, shaking, shivering from the cold in her heart and of the night surrounding her.

It took several minutes, but eventually her sensitive ears picked up a voice calling for her.

"Nick?" she offered, wiping her eyes with the back of a furred forearm.

Jack's head appeared from around the corner, his ears similarly tuned. The pain she had seen earlier before the start of the movie was back, and it only seemed to deepen as he looked over her sorry state. The bunny cop sniffled, trying to stop her crying.

Before Judy knew it, Jack was at her side, cooing and comforting her as he lifted her gently to her feet. Or, no, he was carrying her. She wasn't really paying attention as she was hoisted to his car and deposited carefully into the passenger seat. The agent disappeared for a moment before he finally settled into the driver's side across from her.

"I-I ruined it... I-I'm so sorry..." she choked out, taking a tissue that was offered by an outstretched paw.

The same paw pressed to her shoulder, and she looked up finally to stare into Jack's stunning purple irises. "No Hopps, you didn't. If anything, you fit in with the celebrities better than they do with themselves. I might have to talk to a few people about making sure the tabloids don't hear my date ran away crying, but that should be the least of my worries." He tried to cheer her up a bit with his trademark humor. She merely sniffled and stared, her nose still twitching, chest heaving as her heart pounded. "Judy... I'm sorry. This was a terrible idea."

The rabbit officer nodded, her voice hoarse from crying. "Yeah... never trust me on a covert op, I messed this whole thing up so bad... just... Nick..."

"It wasn't you Hopps. It was me. I shouldn't have put on the disguise for your friends. How about I go back inside and tell them what's really going on here?"

Judy took a breath to agree, but hesitated. Nick had his own social life, he was on a date right now and probably wouldn't appreciate any more interruptions. "No... It's okay. Let's just... go home, okay?"

Jack didn't look convinced, but the least he could do now was fulfill her wishes.

Judy slapped the snooze button on her alarm for what may have been the fifth time. She never slept in, but it was difficult to open her eyes. The night previous she had stripped as quickly as possible and surrounded herself with tissues and a stuffed plush fox that she had jokingly picked up after claiming to her partner that it had a striking resemblance to him. Her phone lie across the room where she had thrown it after stupidly sending a page and a half of text to Nick, then her sister when he didn't respond. Her eyes hurt even without attempting to open them, and she was long out of tears. She seriously considered calling in sick, but that would require checking if there was any response from Nick by this point and she would rather pretend her phone didn't exist at the moment.

The defeated rabbit pulled herself finally from bed, sending a few tissues fluttering to the floor. She dressed half-heartedly, stumbling out her door and off to work.

Judy did her best to hide her face on the way past Clawhauser, doing the same in the bullpen. Nick was surprisingly on time, sitting on their shared seat as if nothing was different at all. If only that were true, Judy lamented mentally. She tried her best to put on a smile. It looked like broken glass.

"Right, shut up!" Bogo stormed as he entered the room, his tactics certainly didn't change much. "We've got a few items for today. Same pairs as yesterday, and you've all received individual instructions as to where you'll be patrolling. Thanks to some great detective work by our very own dream team," the buffalo gestured dismissively at the fox-bunny partners, "we know that any of Mr. Woolson's clients are likely targets for robbery in the upcoming weeks. Those should be highlighted on your patrol routes, so pay extra attention to anything that may be suspicious when you near them. I don't know how secure many of these homes are, but we can still do our best to stop anything from coming of this. In the mean time, Hopps, Wilde!"

Nick had been staring at her the entire time Bogo was talking, but Judy knew that if she saw those pained eyes again she wouldn't be able to stop herself from crying. She kept her own gaze as far from his as she could for the moment, then it shot to the chief as he addressed them.

"You two will be pulled out of service today. Apparently you made some friends at the ZSA. They want you both to report to the regional headquarters for an advanced firearms course. Dismissed."

Nick poked Judy's side, finally able to speak now that the chief had finished his piece. "Carrots! What the heck happened to you? You look like you got hit by a bus!"

The officer's ears shot straight up at that, the voice she was hearing wasn't one of a pained and betrayed fox, it was the usual Nick. Snide, cunning, and just ever so detectably protective of her. She could tell how worried he was under his sarcastic ribbing. Her heart sank once again, a theme much too common lately. She must have completely misjudged last night. Her eyes came up to meet his emerald ones, and it all but confirmed her hopeful suspicions. He didn't look angry, sad, or betrayed. Just anxious, almost terrified for her.

"Wait... you aren't mad...?" she peeped out in a tiny voice. She had to confirm it.

"No, Carrots! I'm worried sick though!" Nick hissed back to her as he rose from the seat, leading Judy to their custom patrol vehicle. It was the only car they had access too, and so would be their transport for the day. "I tried to call you FIFTEEN different times. Fifteen, carrots! I don't normally call once!"

Hopps flinched, her phone must have turned off when she had thrown it. She held the power button tenatively. Sure enough, it blinked back to life, complete with... "O-Oh my god Nick, I'm so sorry..." There were fifteen missed calls and twenty-seven texts from 'Slick'.

"No, I understand. Just, don't do that to me again, okay? And... I'll be honest Hopps, I was mad last night, but that doesn't mean I'm going to be angry forever. I don't really know what you meant to say in your texts, you were kinda all over the place. I don't know what set you off either, I've never seen you get like that save when you just decided to quit way back in the Bellwether case." Nick sighed as he finished, stepping into the car. He looked exhausted, and the rabbit beside him could tell he had been holding that in for hours.

"I... overreacted... Jack and I were out for PR for his public cover and when he said I was his date you just looked so... betrayed."

Nick flinched slightly as she mentioned the word 'date'. "Yeah, well I certainly felt it at first. I'll be honest Hopps, if you like him, I get it. Just, tell a fox beforehand."

The rabbit whimpered, shaking her head. "I don't. I mean, I do, but not that way... I think. It wasn't meant to be a date between us though. I... didn't expect to run into you."

The pace of their conversation was slowing finally from its frantic pace, and Nick nodded gently. "Okay," He let out a pent-up breath, shaking his head slowly.

The pair sat in silence for a moment, and when conversation started again it was the red fox's soft, warm tones now, a harsh contrast to the hurried recap of the last few minutes. "I was... really worried carrots."

Judy nodded, slowly turning to look at him. He was staring out the windshield of the car, focusing on nothing is particular.

"I tore up two sets of bedsheets in the whole two hours of sleep I got last night, but you look even worse. I'm so, so sorry I made you feel that way, Judy."

The officer beside him felt her heart blossom with warmth when he used her real name in such a caring tone, and she responded slowly. "I'm so, so sorry I reacted the way I did, Nick. I really don't know what came over me..."

The fox beside her put a hand over her paw making her jump slightly, a shiver running up her fur. He looked at her, meeting her gaze with his own for a moment. Then, he removed his paw and started the car. "I get to drive this time carrots, I was right. Bunnies do suck at it."

Judy's ears rose to a peak as she heard that casual cockiness she was so used to keeping at her side. She gave him a light punch on the arm, then a stronger one, her resolve returning. "Shut up."

The fox and bunny rode in contented silence for a few more precious moments, but Judy had never really been one to let silence stand for too long. "You know, slick. I still wonder... what made you so mad about the idea of me going on a date with Jack anyway? I mean, you were on a date too..."

Nick shrugged, noticeably blushing a slightly darker shade of red before covering it with his usual suave ways. "Oh, well I was on a formal date. Pick up a lady, buy her something nice to eat and drop her off. With Jack, well, you never can be too sure about those military types. Some of them can get rather touchy before you know it. Not to mention, he _is _a rabbit..."

Judy felt her ears burn, she joked about rabbit multiplication once in a while but in this context what Nick was implying forced a comeback. "Hey, I'm not the one who's literally... well, you know, right now Mr. Slick. I'm sure there was a little more to that 'formal' date that you're leaving out. You know, the part after the dinner that's commonly accepted these days?" She prodded his ribs with her elbow as she silently regretted reminding herself of that possibility, her mood taking another spiral.

Nick shot her a look of mock offense. "How dare you. I am a gentlemammal, I don't know what you expected but I'll have you know I drove her straight back to her abode immediately following dinner and we said our goodbyes briefly."

A silence fell over the two, Judy unable to respond with her usual vigor. She finally spoke to break the awkward pause after several seconds. "So... date number two coming up?"

Nick also took a much longer time than usual to answer, and when Judy tried to read his eyes they seemed to be a mix of emotions, somewhat sad, somewhat hopeful, and maybe even a hint of that basal confidence he held. "I don't know carrots, I think maybe I already know someone better, I just can't really get up the courage to ask her."

Judy's ears twitched slightly, trying to get a better look at his pupils as he spoke. She put a paw on his leg gently, watching him stop for a Bengal tiger crossing the road. "Who, Nick? You've said this before..." then, when there was no response, "You can trust me you know..."

The fox looked to his side, giving her that out-of-character pained smile again. He sighed, breathing deeply as he leaned over her slightly. "Carrots..."

Then, the glass of the windshield exploded, a hail of bullets following the debris into the driver's seat.