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After the Hustle

-o-O-o-

"It's called a hustle, sweetheart. Boom."

And just like that it had all been over. Damn, that carrot pen had a whole lot to answer for.

Days lay behind her now that had truly turned Judy's life upside down, right-side up, inside-out, every which way and then finally back again. Just like that the best laid plans of bunny and fox had set everything to rights. And it had all started and ended with that little orange carrot pen.

A whirlwind of a week had come and gone, and damn if her shin didn't smart.

"C'mon Carrots," Nick interrupted her thoughts as they watched Bogo and his officers escort Bellwether away, Judy still leaning heavily on him for support, "Let's get you fixed up."

Before Judy could say a thing the larger fox had hooked an arm behind her knees, scooping the light little bunny up off the ground and into a secure lift. Caught momentarily off guard, the arm she had around his neck reflexively tightened its grip, fingers clutching at Nick's fur. As he turned towards an exit on the far side of the exhibit that Judy hadn't noticed until that point, the small bunny couldn't resist the urge to lean herself snugly against Nick's chest. It seemed almost like instinct.

The difference in their relative sizes struck her for a moment, but it wasn't as unsettling as she thought it would be. Sure, it was strange in a way, just how safe and secure she felt there in the arms of a creature who was, to all intents and purposes, her natural predator. She was tenacious, for a rabbit - for any prey, really - and reasoning away her fears was pretty much a way of life. The rational taming the animal. But even on a more primal level, helpless and dependant on him in that moment, there was no fear lurking there at all.

Though perhaps something else. Something sincere, heartfelt. Something... Unexpected.

But then if Nick had taught her anything over the past few days it was that you couldn't, _shouldn't,_judge a book by its cover. And he'd illustrated that point resoundingly for her at every turn.

It was a preconception she'd been fighting against herself from the very beginning.

A deep-seeded warmth blossomed deep within her chest as Nick carried her through the doors, leaving the small exhibit enclosure behind. He'd argued so strongly against her convictions when they'd first met, and yet he'd gone on to affirm them so resoundingly that she no longer felt any doubt. She knew that lack of doubt extended to both her ideals, and to the fox himself. Zootopia was those ideals given - the truth that difference united, not divided. A bunny and a fox, as different and unlikely as it was possible for two creatures to be, had grown to reinforce those ideals. Together. And now, as a result, she had somebody she knew she could trust implicitly and without refrain.

And how close they'd grown so quickly. One, by extending her trust. The other, by letting down his guard and letting her in... Not even a week ago, Judy had found an adversary in the sly, cunning fox. Now, she had the closest of friends. Though the word "friend" barely seemed to do it justice. Nick was somebody whose paws she could, and had, willingly put her very life in and trusted to not let her down. That trust had grown into a level of insight and understanding that Judy was only just beginning to get to grips with. And the proof had manifested itself nigh on explosively. With little time, and fewer words, with which to plan they managed to hustle quite possibly the greatest criminal mind that Zootopia had ever known. Cornered, trapped, undaunted - they'd won! Never in her life had she encountered anybody who could read her so well as this fox, or somebody she could say the same of in return. As clichéd as it was to admit, it felt like they'd known each other for years.

Gods, she was getting sentimental.

"Nick?" Judy looked up at the fox's face as they entered a dimly-lit stairwell.

"Hmm?" was his seemingly distracted reply.

"Thank you." Judy's voice was barely anything above a whisper, but her words were heartfelt, and she could tell by the way Nick's ears twitched in her direction that he was giving her his undivided attention. She hadn't mean to thank him simply for carrying her out of the exhibit. She'd meant it for everything he'd done for her: for all of his help, and for standing by her when nobody else had - when even her fellow officers and colleagues had refused to be anything more than obstacles to her case. She'd meant it for saving her career, her life, and her faith in the values she held most dear.

She meant it for proving her right.

Nicks eyes cast down in her direction again, noticeably bright even in the dim shadows. A smirk was slow to part his lips after a moment, as if coming to grips fully with what Judy meant, "Well, what are partners for?"

Judy giggled softly, squeezing his neck as she held herself close. The fox's wry smirk was dangerously contagious and she had to avert her gaze or the giggles may have never stopped. Instead, she nuzzled his neck affectionately with her snout, a warm contented smile silencing the last of her chuckles before they could overwhelm her.

"Easy, Carrots." Nick's chest rumbled, the fox taking a slow, easy gait up the stairs. With the bunny in his arms he couldn't see exactly where he was stepping, so he was especially careful to avoid a trip, "You're getting mushy on me."

"Don't care." Judy quipped in firm obstination. The warm scent of his fur was soothing in its own strangely familiar way, and without thinking the bunny pressed her lips against his neck in the most delicate of stolen kisses. A mere fraction of an instant later her eyes went wide before she could complete the motion and pull herself away, an intense rose blush quickly burning like wildfire across her cheeks.

What had she just done?

It had been instinct, but now her mind reeled.

"I felt that, fluff." Nick spoke, surprisingly gentle and soothing in tone.

Judy didn't reply at first, instead putting a bit of distance between them - or at least as much as she could held securely in Nick's arms. They came to a landing between levels, and Nick seemed to hesitate a moment, glancing around. Rather than scaling what remained of the stairs he was instead slow to sit down on the cool concrete floor, leaning back against a wall and seemingly taking a breather. He set Judy down lightly at an angle across his lap, her head propped against his shoulder. His arms moved to ensnare the smaller bunny, slipping so his hands met about her waist in a loose embrace, "Something you want to talk about?"

Judy shifted herself uneasily, as if she were afraid to confront the thought, but the fox held her easily in place and simply waited patiently. Silence descended for a moment or two, filling the minutes, feeling awkward and disquieting to Judy. The much smaller rabbit found her fingers playing absently through the fox's fur at her fingertips. It was surprisingly soft, she noted, even against the downy fuzz of her own fingers. Coarse, thick, longer than her own. But still so soft to the touch. The scent of Nick all around her made her nose twitch.

"Hmmm?" Nick pressed again, bringing her wandering mind promptly back to the present.

Not that it helped clear her thoughts any, "I-I-I..."

"You know," Nick interrupted her stuttering with an increasingly wry grin, almost as if he were enjoying her discomfort, and deliberately shuffling the smaller bunny so she was sat with her back flush to his chest, his chin resting nestled atop her head, muzzle parting her ears, "You're cute when you're flustered."

The rumble in his throat made her ears tingle pleasantly, but she still wasn't going to overlook his teasing.

"You're not helping." She grumbled back with a frown.

"Would you like me to help?" The offer was seemingly genuine.

Judy gave a slight nod, sure that Nick would feel it rather than see it. The fur of the fox's muzzle tickled her ears again as he moved making them twitch, so she relaxed them just a hair. Tilting her head slightly and looking up, Nick seemed like he'd lost himself in a moment of thought. But it didn't take long for his eyebrows to quirk and his trademark grin to return.

"Alright." He began slowly, "Let's try a little game."

"A game?" Judy asked dubiously, wondering precisely where he was leading.

Nick nodded ever so slightly, taking Judy by the waist and leaning around so that he could meet her gaze directly. Even in that dimly-lit stairwell she could see the clear gleam of mischief in his eyes, each a shimmering vibrancy the colour of autumn carrot tops, "I'm going to give you five words, one at a time." He explained, "You say the very first thing that comes into your head after each one. Don't think, just speak."

"O-kay..." Judy was more than a little confused, but she trusted him.

Of course the fox could read her uncertainty with ease, "Okay, a practice shot first. Jaguar."

Judy gave it some serious thought for a moment, "Jungle?"

Nick pulled her back against him, shaking his head slowly, "Don't think about it, bunny. Just say the first thing that comes to mind. Jaguar."

"Vines." She said without hesitation. Memories of herself and Nick, hanging upside-down, tangled and snared above a rain-soaked road surfaced in her mind.

Nick couldn't restrain a chuckle, and she knew he was recalling the self-same moment, "Much better."

Another light nod signalled Judy's understanding, so Nick went on.

"Police."

"Work."

Easy as pie.

"Cement."

"Feet."

Judy frowned as her reply registered in her mind, much to Nick's tittering amusement. She elbowed him lightly in the ribs, the fox feigning an "oof" and rubbing the supposedly tender spot with one of his paws, holding the other up in mock surrender. The bunny felt a very fox-like smirk tug at the corner of her lips, and she settled back against him again, his arms finding their way around her as soon as she was settled.

Nick decided to press on, "Carrots."

Judy guffawed, "Nick."

Despite where she was from, her family's trade, and a lifetime's worth of heritage, "Carrots" brought to mind not life on a farm, but an image of Nick. Or rather, a multitude of rapid-fire memories of Nick using it against her. Carrots; her, to him. A nickname from Nick. One she knew she could come to cherish, perhaps even one she already did.

She was as much Carrots now as he was Nick.

"Fox."

"Nick."

It rolled off her tongue without her even thinking. Two Nicks in a row, she realised a fraction later.

"Nick."

"Kiss."

Judy's eyes went wide again as soon as the word had left her lips. Her paws were at her mouth fast enough to stifle even the loudest of silences that could've followed, though far too late to take back the word, her cheeks burning so intensely that it felt as if they may have visibly glowed in the darkness.

Where had that come from?

Well, in all honesty, she knew. A desire. One she'd accidentally surrendered herself to once already. Apparently that was enough to fix it in her mind.

Looking up, still covering her traitorous lips, she could feel Nick's grin even before her eyes confirmed it.

He leaned down as if to whisper in her ear. Instead, though, he surprised the bunny by placing a soft, chaste kiss against her cheek. It lasted barely an instant, but it drew all the heat of her blush to that single, tingly spot. Her fingertips sought out the spot, as if trying to confirm it was actually real, even as the lingering warmth it had imparted suffused her entire body with contentment.

"We've been through a lot in a short time, Fluff." Nick gently nuzzled just beneath her ear, an action that drew a slight shiver from the bunny in a not altogether unpleasant way. Judy's profuse blush didn't fade in the slightest, but she smiled warmly against him nonetheless, "We saved Zootopia. You've saved my life. Hell, you believed in me like nobody ever has done before."

Judy's mind wandered back over the previous few days. Drifting fondly over the way they'd first met, the birth of the rivalry that had seemed so inevitable, each of them trying to out-hustle the other, vying to gain and hold the upper-paw. And then, like a train slowly gathering momentum, things had begun to change between them. How when it had seemed like the whole world was against her, she'd found an unlikely ally. She'd formed a picture of Nick in her mind, and she'd never known it could've been so wrong. Despite himself, Nick had opened up, dropped a mask he'd crafted young and had been wearing for most of his life. He'd actually let her in. Sure, there'd been a major hiccup or two along the way between them. But they had a friendship that had been forged in the furnace of life-and-death trial and tribulation. She'd saved his life, he'd risked himself for her, and they'd come out on the other side so connected, so well-attuned to reading one-another, that they'd crafted a plan that had foiled a master criminal with barely a word shared between them. She'd played her part beautifully, and Nick had too.

The perfect hustle, pulled off like they really had known one-another for a lifetime.

That cliché was back for more.

"You see me." Nick finished.

Judy twisted to look up, regarding Nick with an affectionate gaze. Their eyes met, an unspoken understanding and acceptance passing between them somehow in a way that perhaps neither of them could fully comprehend. The bunny couldn't resist the urge to nuzzle him then. All he did was hug her tight as the moments between them filled with contentment. The embrace didn't fully end until Nick rose back up onto his feet, carrying her with him like she weighed nothing at all.

"Come on, fluff." He settled her sideways against his torso comfortably, carrying her like some hero from fiction, one of her arms draped almost casually about his neck, "Let's get you some help before they come looking for us."

He made toward the last flight of stairs, the exit beckoning them upwards towards the top.

"Nick?" Judy asked after only a few steps.

"Hmmm?" he looked down into vibrant, caring amethyst.

"Wanna come over for dinner tonight?"

"I'd love to."

The bunny placed a final kiss against the side of Nick's muzzle, just above his lips. With an earnest smile, the fox pushed through the doors and carried her into the light.

-o-O-o-

After the Hustle