Chapter Text
The train from the academy wasn't anything like the long ride from Bunnyburrow. This one took only a couple hours to complete - 'hardly enough time for a good nap,' in Nick's words. It wasn't technically worth the expense of a private compartment, but hey - the cars were there.
And it would be their first time alone together - really alone - in two weeks.
Nick wasn't quite convinced yet, though. Judy sat by the window and watched him peer into each of the overhead bins in turn.
"The staff psych team would have a field day with you, you know."
"Humor me," Nick said. He snapped the last bin shut and pulled the privacy curtain over the window set into the door. "I think you're going to want to be sure this doesn't have any spectators, either."
Judy flushed. "As long as it doesn't become a thing. There are no monsters under the couches at home."
"Oh, I already check for those." Nick sat beside her, fetched up in the corner of the padded bench seat, and let her tip against him.
He was so warm. So soft and strong and full of his subtle Nick scent and he finally, finally had the opportunity to reciprocate the way he wanted. The way he deserved.
He held her cheeks in his enormous paws and rested his forehead against hers. Judy let her ears fall forward, to drape over his, and he smiled.
"I don't know where to start apologizing for how this went," he said.
"It could have gone a lot worse," Judy murmured. Nick's claws worked against the tension in the muscles of her ears, where she never realized she was sore until he started massaging it out.
"That could be our motto," he said. "Maybe next time we go back things will be different. Or we won't make the same mistakes."
"I'd hope we're never in a position to have to go back in the first place."
"That's fair, too. Maybe to teach the nuggets in a non-disciplinary setting. Maybe we'll get more Patches."
"If I'm right, he'll be along soon enough. We'll see him on patrol someday." Judy leaned forward to kiss him, and he held her there.
"He apologized for hiding out, you know," Nick said. He shifted and pulled her close against his chest. "Profusely. But he thanked me, too, for pretty much everything. I think we helped him put a lot of stuff behind him."
Nick was smiling. It was still such a disappointingly rare thing for him to be a valued role model. Judy knew he still wasn't sure how to handle it sometimes, when the cubs came to visit the station, or the press watched him sort out the aftermath of big cases. All things equal, he'd rather be with her, alone. She figured her admiration was all he really wanted - the rest was just details.
Lucky him, then.
The train started with a muffled clunk. Judy heard the whistle going, and out the big picture window they had all to themselves, the brickwork of the little academy terminal slid by. Nick sighed and settled down, his careful paws making sure she was comfortable, waiting for her to squeeze them with that little signal that meant yes, that's perfect.
She did squeeze them, and his long chin tapped the top of her head, and still she held on.
"I'm sorry I tried to keep it from you. What happened with him."
"I know why you wanted to do it," Nick said. "Strecker didn't know about us."
"But I need to trust you more than that," she said. "Believe me, I appreciate and love and sometimes need the things you do to protect me."
"Sometimes."
"Yes, fox, sometimes." Judy tucked his paw under her chin. "I guess I just worry about perception, too. What you'll look like swinging to my rescue again."
"I love you," Nick said, with such feeling it made her ears prickle. "So it's worth it, as far as I'm concerned. That's part of the sacrifice I'm always going to make, no matter what."
Tears stung in Judy's eyes. "I always end up saying 'I'm sorry' a lot, don't I?"
Nick rumbled. "We both do. But I've never heard you not mean it. That's good enough for me." She felt his muzzle on her ear. "I forgive you, by the way."
They watched the world go by, and because the train's smooth motion was so constant and Nick was such a solid, reassuring warmth beneath her, Judy felt herself drifting off. She burrowed deeper under his chin to prove him wrong about nap durations.
"My couch tonight, or yours?"
"We'll decide when we get in," he said. "I want to get a nice dinner first, and then we'll worry about making up for lost time."
They were going home. They'd come through this now, too - learned something important, and taught something important, almost by accident because they'd nearly tipped over another edge along the way. But they'd caught each other in time, the way Judy knew they were always going to.
"Nick?"
"Yeah, sweetheart."
"I'm proud of you."
"You, too, Carrots." Nick squeezed her tight. "You, too."