The Fire Triangle, A Zootopia Fanfiction -- Part One: Fuel - 9

Disclaimer: Zootopia stories, characters, settings, and properties belong to the Walt Disney Co. This story is written under Fair Use Copyright laws.

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The Fire Triangle-A Zootopia Fanfiction

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Part One:

Fuel

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Chapter 3 - Day of Carrots and Blueberries

(Pt. 1)

Judy Hopps paced back and forth along the platform in Zootopia's Central Train Station, pausing every now and then either to thump her foot, look at her watch, or gaze towards the entrance in mounting frustration.

"Dangit Nick, where are you?"

She must have asked that question of the absent fox a dozen times by then. Darn him! It wasn't as if their meet point was hard to find; Zootopia Central, Track Two, and by the light-pole closest to the escalator. How hard should that be for a so-called 'clever fox' to figure out?

"Where ARE you, Nick?"

Judy stopped and looked to the right once again, towards the long, silvery form of the Zootopia Zephyr, the newest of the trains plying between the city and its outlying communities. For the moment, it was sitting patiently with its doors open, but another quick glance at her watch told the bunny that it wouldn't be like that for much longer; train service in and out of Zootopia was as regular as an atomic clock.

"Darn you, Nick, hurry UP!"

Just then, as if her last thought had finally gotten through to the fox, Judy caught sight of a bushy-tailed figure, hurrying up the platform with a wheeled travel case slewing in his wake. She started to relax-and only got about a third of the way there before the station PA boomed.

"Attention all passengers, final boarding call for the Zootopia Zephyr, now leaving on track 2 for Bunnyburrows, Podunk, and CUC-a-MEOW-ga! Zootopia Zephyr, ALL ABOARRRRRD!"

Judy let out a groan and bounded full tilt in the direction of the approaching fox. Dispensing with any greetings, she just grabbed the travel case by its other handle and nearly yanked the fox of his feet as she turned and dashed for the train.

"C'mon Nick, hurry!"

As the train came closer she found herself chanting silent mantra at the open doors.

"Please-don't-close, Please-don't-close, Pleased-don't-close, Pleeeeeease...don't close!"

The doors either didn't hear her, or else they had a warped sense of humor. With less than two feet to go, they began to slide shut. Thinking fast, Judy dropped onto her back and kicked out with her feet, catapulting Nick and his travel bag through the gap and onto the train. Pushed backwards by the same motion, the bunny rolled a 180 and came up on her feet. Her move must have impressed somebody up there somewhere, because there was still time for her to make it onto the train...barely

No time to think, Judy hunkered down and sprang for the rapidly closing doors in a Hail Mary leap-for-life.

She made it through with less than a centimeter to spare, so close she felt the door brush the tips of her ears as it shut completely.

But as the old saying goes, 'Flying is easy; it's landing that's hard." And for Judy Hopps, right then was a good example. With no time to gauge her jump she came down hard and on her face. Luckily she had something to break her fall-although Nick Wilde wasn't especially happy to fulfill that role. The bunny's impact turned him into bushy-tailed whoopee-cushion. (Or that was the sound he made.)

For a dazed half-second Judy lay on top of Nick-until the fox made a small, rumbling sound in the back of his throat. "Uhh Carrots, do you mind?"

Judy recovered quickly when she realized that they were almost nose-to-nose, and even more quickly when she looked up and saw a pair of middle aged wombats staring at them with shocked expressions.

She got hurriedly up off of the fox, while just as hurriedly the two marsupials disappeared around the corner. It took even less time for Judy to fold her arms and for her foot to start thumping again.

"Well?" she demanded, regarding the fox with an aggravated eye.

He only shrugged self-consciously and began to brush himself down with his fingertips

"What can I say, Carrots? I'm a sporting predator; I like to give the train a chance to get away."

Judy instantly raised an index finger.

"Nick, that's not...gsss." Her words ended in a wince and a hiss of air. She tried again.

"Now you listen to me-myeeennnn." She looked away clenching her fist and making a sound like fingers rubbing balloon.

One more time...

"I mean it Niiiii-mmmmmm." Judy's face became so taut, she might have been trying to bench-press twice her weight.

Finally she just stared up at Nick with her eyes blazing, and then doubled over, unable to hold it back any longer.

"Ohhhhh, I hate you...heeheeheeheeheehehahahahahahaha-Haw! Haw! Haw!"

(Darn fox, couldn't he ever let her get good and mad at him without spoiling it?)

"Sorry Carrots." He told her, sounding genuinely apologetic, and because of that she was willing to let him off the hook-this time!

The train lurched slightly and then began to move; the motion put Judy Hopps firmly back in take charge mode once more.

"Come on, let's go get your bags stowed and grab some coffee from the café car; then we can head on up to the observation deck." (She had wisely loaded her bags on the train prior to Nick's arrival.)

To the bunny's considerable surprise, her partner instantly vetoed the idea-but not in a bad way.

"Noooo, why don't you grab us some seats up there while I go get the coffee?"

"Works for me." Judy said, trying not to get all big-eyed. Awww, he really did want to make it up to her.

The train was halfway across Zootopia Sound when she spotted him coming up the stairs, bearing a tray with two coffee cups.

"They were out of nutmeg, Carrots." He said "So I asked for cinnamon; it that okay?"

"It'll do, Nick." She answered, taking the offered cup, and also taking measure of her traveling companion. He had-wisely in her opinion-opted to ditch his usual Hawaiian shirt and tie for something more rural, a pair of faded dungarees and a chambray shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbow. (Judy herself was dressed in the same outfit she'd worn when she'd first arrived in Zootopia; it seemed somehow correct.) She was pleased by what she saw; not only by the way Nick was dressed but by his overall manner in general; now that the fox was on board the train, he also seemed to be a lot more 'on board' with the idea of spending the weekend with her at the Carrot Days festival. (His initial resistance had not gone unnoticed.) She took a sip of her coffee and then posed a question, offering her companion a semi-playful grin.

"Soooo, is this your first time out of the city, Nick?"

Once again his answer surprised her.

"Nope," he said, raising his cup in mock toast, "would you believe, back in the day, Finnick and I were on a road trip for almost three years?"

Judy's ears went up and she felt her nose beginning to twitch. All right, THIS was some unexpected news; she'd always assumed Nick was an urban fox who'd never been further away from his home than the Meadowlands, if that.

"Really, when was this?" she asked.

He tapped at his chin and tilted his face upwards, as if trying to recall.

"Hmmmm, must have been almost....nine, ten years...ago."

His voice faltered and Judy saw him turn to look out the window for a moment. She immediately felt the flags go up; this was something else she'd seen before; Nick was gazing into the past-and what he was seeing there was a painful memory. Something had happened on that road-trip-or just before, she didn't know which. What she did know was that the best thing for her now was just to stand back give him some space.

"I've never taken the train though." He added quickly, turning towards her once again-and poking a thumb out the window, "And I have to admit, this is some pretty country, Carrots."

Yes it was; which was exactly why she'd wanted to ride in the observation deck; summer had arrived and the Wilhamsterette Valley was in full, emerald splendor, lush meadows and high hills, festooned with a mixture of evergreen and hardwood trees, all of them eager to show off their foliage.

The floor of the car began to shake and the fox and bunny instinctively grabbed their seats, bracing themselves; a member of one of the larger species was coming up the stairs, more than one by the feel of things. And yep, less than a second later, a pair of big water buffaloes came lumbering into view. Luckily for Nick and Judy, the large-mammal seats were at the opposite end of the observation deck and as soon as the buffs sat down, they were able to pick up their conversation again.

"There's something I've been wondering about, Judy," Nick asked her, taking another sip of his coffee. "Why's the Carrot Days festival held at the beginning of summer? Wouldn't fall be better? You know, harvest time and all?"

She just smiled.

"Tell me something Nick, do you know how the tradition of letting kids out of school for summer vacation started? No? Well originally it wasn't a vacation; it was so they could go help out on the farm. That's why Carrot Days is always held third week of June."

"Okay, I get it now." The fox said, lifting his coffee cup in another faux salute, "So it's kinds of kids thing?'

Judy thought that one over for a second.

"More of a family thing, I'd say, it was started by my great, great, great, GREAT grandfather on my mother's side, Henry Haredigg." Even she couldn't resist a little puffing once in a while. But perhaps she should have said the 'f word.' Nick's ears stood up at one and pointed at each other

"Wow, I didn't know your family went that far back in the Burrows. How many brothers and sisters did you say that you have again?"

"276...last time I counted." Judy answered while suppressing a groan. She knew what was coming next, a whole, big batch of 'sly fox' comments about waiting in line for the bathroom, keeping track of everyone's birthday and whatever. (Har-de-har, as if she hadn't heard that routine only a hundred times before.)

But for the third time today, she had misread the fox. He just sipped his coffee again and asked, "Are they all still in Bunnyburrows, or have some of them gone out into the world the same as you did?"

"Most of us are still at home, Nick." Judy answered him. (Even having lived away from the Burrows for more than two years now, she could never think of her family as 'them'.) "But....hmmm, let me think. My brother Art is studying mechanical engineering at the University of Harezona, my sister Violet just got her teaching certificate, my brothers Darrel and Dean went partners on a tractor repair company in Hoof River Boaregon, my sister June got married and moved to Colorato with her husband, he's snowshoe hare and they run a ski shop together. Annnnd,," she looked out the window for a second, chewing, "That's all I can remember off the top of my...oh wait, riiight, I knew there was someone else. My kid sister Erin is hoping to start next fall at the Zootopia Academy of the Performing Arts."

Nick hurriedly took his cup from his mouth and let out a low whistle.

"Whoa, color me impressed Carrots; that's a pretty tough school to get into, from what I hear."

Judy nodded, but she was thinking, "Pretty tough to get into the way it's pretty tough for an elephant to get into a gopher hole." Even to be considered for admission to ZAPA you needed to have maintained at least a 3.75 GPA for the last two years, and then you had to pass an entrance exam that made the SAT's look like a first-grade pop quiz. And then, if you made it that far, you still had to pass an audition before panel of judges that included no less a fursonage than Gazelle. (She was one of the Academy's biggest patrons.) Small wonder then that ZAPA's motto was, Multi Autem Sunt Vocati, Pauci Vero Electi, ("Many are called, but few are chosen.")

"How close is she to getting in?" the fox asked, interested.

"Well she got the grades of course," Judy answered him, "And she passed the entrance exam, did really well from what I heard, but she's still got to get through the audition, and that's going to be the tough part, Erin's never performed for an audience other than the family." She smiled, "If anyone can pull it off though, it's her, Nick. She's only the most determined bunny in the family, present company included."

"Really?" Nick was looking at her with his head titled slightly to the left, the way foxes do when something piques their curiosity.

"Really times two." The bunny responded. A quiet smile spread across her face as she recounted her sister's story for the fox, "For her eleventh birthday, Erin asked mom and dad to buy her an electric guitar. Well, dad didn't know one guitar from another but he went out looking anyway and found a used one in really good shape; it was just her size too. But when Erin opened up the package, it turned out to be a BASS guitar. She had never played bass in her life back then, only an unplugged six-string, but you know what she did? She sat herself down and made herself learn how to play bass guitar, and now it's HER instrument. See what I mean about how determined she is?"

"I-I-I think I'm getting the idea," the fox answered with a small snicker, "Yep...that sounds like your sister, Carrots. Does she sing, too?"

"Oh you bet she does, Nick." Judy was nodding eagerly, "Erin's got a fantastic singing voice; you'll hear it for yourself, I'm sure."

"I'm looking forward to it, Carrots?" Nick answered with a smile, but now it began to fade into a wistful expression and his eyes began to flicker towards the scenery.

"What is it, Nick?" Judy asked, nose twitching and more than a little bewildered. NOW what had she said?

He only sighed and looked at her again.

"Oh, it's nothing Carrots, it's just that...I never had any brothers and sisters. It would have been nice."

Judy instantly felt her senses sharpening. One thing Nick Wilde almost never talked about was his family; even now, more than two years into their partnership, she knew precious little of his background.

She knew that he had lost his father at a fairly young age and that he'd been raised by his mother (who had never remarried.) She knew that there hadn't been much money in the house when he'd been growing up, and of course she knew about the Junior Ranger Scouts incident, but that was pretty much all of it. Other than that, Nick Wilde was a closed book. Judy was aware however was that on those rare occasions when the fox lifted the cover, her best course of action was just to sit quietly and listen.

And that was what she did now.

"Mom and dad tried to have another cub," he was saying, "Both before and after I came along, but they were never able to. It hit my mother pretty hard, especially after my father passed away."

He drifted into another melancholy silence, looking out the window again. Judy knew that was all she was going to get from him this morning...especially when he turned to look at her again. sporting that famous, foxy smile.

"Oh well, at least I didn't have to take a number and get in line to use the bathroom every morning."

Judy groaned under her breath. "Uh-huh, there it is-finally."

She finished her coffee and got up quickly, before Nick could get on a roll. "Ready for a refill?" she asked.

It was on her way back from the café car, that an epiphany hit the bunny like tidal wave, so overwhelming that she actually had to stop for a second.

Judy had known about it since right after Nick had stopped her from surrendering her badge to Chief Bogo. When the fox had been a boy, "All I wanted to do was to join the Junior Ranger Scouts." Judy knew that tale well enough, but what she had never been able to figure out was why it had meant so much to him.

Until now...

"I never had any brothers and sisters. It would have been nice," the fox had told her only a few minutes ago. That was why he'd wanted to become a Junior Ranger Scout so badly; he'd been trying to find the brotherhood he didn't have at home.

And instead he'd been rebuffed in the most cruel and heartless manner imaginable.

Judy looked towards the stairs and felt her eyes getting misty. More than anything, she wanted to go back in time, find that little fox-boy and hug him tight. "Don't worry, I'm here for you."

Well there was nothing she could do for that kid now, Judy told herself with stiffening resolve, but she could still be there for the fox he'd grown into. Maybe, just maybe when they got to the Burrows, she could help him find a little of what he'd been looking for back then.

She braced up and moved on.

When she sat down at the table again, Judy was surprised to see that they were only 83 miles from the Burrows and with only a little more than an hour to go. (Each car-and the observation deck-had been fitted with an LED readout showing how long and how far it was to the next station.)

She realized then that Nick was looking at her curiously.

"Sorry," she said, passing the fox his blueberry latte, "It's just-this new train is so fast; I hope someone's going to be there at station when we get to the Burrows."

"You can always call ahead." The fox suggested, and Judy nodded quickly.

"I'll do better than that, I'll send a text," she said, and pulled out her cell phone.

Nick took a small sip of his latte and asked her, "So what do you think our next assignment will be?"

Judy's foot thumped the floor before she could stop it.

"Seriously Nick? We finally get some time off and all you want to talk about is work?" Her expression tilted sideways. "And besides, I do the gung-ho cop routines around here."

"My sincerest apologies for cribbing your style, Ms. Hopps." the fox responded, bowing deeply over the table with feigned, exaggerated grace.

"Apology accepted," the bunny answered with a snicker, "But since you asked, I'd really like to get the assignment of trying to take down one of the Rafaj Brother's illegal diamond suppliers." She sighed, "But honestly, I don't think that's going to happen. The Chief's right, they're probably out of our jurisdiction."

"Maybe we'll get lucky and they won't be," the red fox offered hopeflly, and Judy felt her expression turning lopsided again.

"Be careful what you wish for, Slick. Remember what else Chief Bogo said? A lot of those blood diamonds come from gunrunners, and those are some of the most dangerous animals out there." She took a short pull from he own cup, "That's how Claudia Nizhang ended up with her bad leg you know; she got hurt in the shootout at Finagles Nightclub, with that gang of arms dealers, The Company." She let out a short, quick breath, "Whoa, there were some BAD guys, only two of them made it out of there alive, Kieran McCrodon and Danny 'The Danaconda' Tipperary.

"Tipper-IN," the fox corrected, causing Judy's ears to rise up and her nose to start twitching. She was only aware of the name from having seen it online the night before-she'd become curious about councilmember Nizhang's history with ZYPD-but Nick seemed to know it off the top of his head.

Her change of expression did not go unnoticed by him.

"Yes, Carrots I know who he is." he told her, shaking his head and sighing, "or who he was. I guess I should say. Danny Tipperin used to operate back in Zootopia before he moved on to Zoo York; I knew him by reputation, but that's all; I always stayed as far away that swift fox as possible." A dash of bitters entered his voice, "It's animals like him that give my species a bad name."

"Right, right." Judy nodded quickly, slightly embarrassed. If Tipperin had gotten his start in Zootopia, of COURSE Nick would know about him.

They spent the rest of the journey talking safe subjects, food, TV, the weather, anything that wouldn't strike a spark. And with every passing mile the numbers on that darned overhead display seemed to ever more slowly; it was like the wall clock on your last day of the school year, with the dismissal hour approaching.

But then finally the PA pinged and a velvety voice intoned.

"Bunnyburrows Station, Bunnyburows Station, next stop. Doors open to my left."

"Well, I sent the text, I hope there's someone there to meet us," Judy said as she got up. (She hadn't received a reply, maybe she should have called.)

But then she noticed her traveling companion was staring out the window, wide eyed and open mouthed.

"Wha...what Nick?" she asked.

The fox just raised an arm and pointed.

Judy turned and looked, and felt her throat thickening and her eyes becoming misty all over again. "Awwww, guys!"

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Chapter 7 Easter Eggs: The three City Council members.

Sven Kristofferson -- Sven and Kristoff, the Reindeer and his faithful human stooge, Frozen

Ray Louis, Ray and Louis -- The alligator and the Cajun firefly from The Princess and the Frog.

Jake Marahute -- Jake and Marahute, the 'other' mouse and the eagle from The Rescuers Down Under

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The soundtrack for Nick And Judy's journey back to Bunnyburrows. ( The sound quality could be better and I could do without the intro, but for all that I like it more than the studio version.)