Chapter Text

How do I get myself into these messes?

Finnick glanced into the back of his van to make sure Nick was still sleeping. Poor kid had spent a good majority of the day just crying into the mattress back there. Finnick hadn't asked; he never felt a need to, that's just how it was with them. Had been that way for years. But, if he had to guess, he had a hunch that it had something to do with that bunny Nick had gone off with two days ago.

Poor kid. Finn hadn't seen him this torn up about something since he'd found him crying in that alley all those years ago. The red fox had been so young, bawling about the Junior Ranger Scouts and not understanding why they had been so cruel to him.

"Animals are gonna be mean your whole life," Finn had told him; though at the time he'd only been a year older than him, he had already been much wiser. "Never let them see that they get to you."

He'd passed on that pearl of wisdom, and as far as he knew Nick had stuck to it pretty religiously.

Until now, it seemed.

Finn sighed, staring back out of his windshield and rubbing a paw over his face. Looked like he was gonna have to care for this kid again. He'd never allowed him to stay in his van overnight, not after the shit he'd pulled two years ago. Still…

He could make an exception. Just this once.

Finn leaned his seat back and settled in for the night, crossing his arms over his chest and closing his eyes. Might as well sleep while he could. Who knew what the next day would bring.





It wasn’t until a few days later that Finn finally learned what happened.



He and Nick were sitting in a bar, drinking their sorrows away, when the news report came on. The whole city was in chaos, and the source seemed to be one Officer Judy Hopps. They played a clip of the press conference, and Finn saw Nick in the far corner of one of the shots. Then it went to shots of animals in muzzles. Savage. Feral.



Ah. So that was it. He glanced over at Nick, but the red fox was already hanging his head, refusing to make eye contact. But he could see the pain in his eyes, the firm set of his jaw.



Poor kid.



“Flopsy there really got shit all fucked, huh.” It wasn’t a question. Finn downed the rest of his drink and turned to Nick. “Wanna get out of here?”



“...yeah.”



The foxes paid their tab and walked out, getting in the van and just driving around. There wasn’t really time to hustle, not with things as crazy as they were. Finn made sure to stay in back alleys and side streets, wanting to avoid all of the hub bub going on. Crowds weren’t his thing, never had been. Nick had always been better at that, and at talking. But Inari knew the kid definitely wasn’t up for talking now.



Finn glanced at his reluctant companion, clearing his throat. “For what it’s worth, it ain’t your fault.”



“I know.” The red fox was still refusing to look at him. Fair enough.



He looked back at the road, keeping a neutral expression on his face. “So. What now.”



“I don’t know.”



“You without a plan? That’s a first.”



“Yeah, well, first time for everything.”



“Guess so.”

They drove in silence for the rest of the day, tension hanging in the air between them.







For three months, the kid hung around, just moping in his van. There were no new hustles, no explanations, nothing. He just moped. It was honestly kind of pathetic, and one day Finnick had enough.



“You can’t spend the rest of your life sobbing over some bunny you only knew for two days,” he snapped at him, opening the door and pointing outside. “Either do something about it and get it out of your system, or accept whatever happened and move on.”



Nick laughed, sharp, the first one he’d heard in months. “That’s rich, coming from you.”



Finn glared, going for his bat. “Get out.”



Nick flattened his ears, raising his paws. “Look, man, I’m sorr--”



“I don’t want your fuckin’ apology. I want you out of here.” Finn sighed, shaking his head. “I told you from the beginning that this life wasn’t for you.”



“I’m fine--”



“Then why are you here.”



For once, it seemed, Nick didn’t have anything to say. He opened his mouth and shut it a few times before he looked away, and Finn could almost physically see his walls going up again. “I just--I thought--it’s--” He groaned, rubbing at his face.



Finn shook his head again, gesturing outside. “Get out of here. Do something. But I’m not gonna just let you wallow around. You’re better than this, and you know it.”



“Why are you helping me? Hm? You have all these questions, well, so do I. If you hate me so much, why help me at all??” Nick crossed his arms over his chest, staring down at him.



Finnick answered, not missing a beat. “Because you’re family; that’s what we do. No matter what shit you pulled, no matter how you completely fucked me over, we’re still family. And you deserve a hell of a lot better than this life.” He pointed out the door, his gaze narrowed and harsh. “Now. Get the fuck out.”



There was quiet, stillness, before Nick sighed and walked over, hopping out of the van. “Fine. But I’m not coming back.”



“I’m counting on it.” Finn closed the door behind him, satisfied.



Finally. Maybe now he’d be able to get his head on straight.







Unfortunately for Finnick, he only got about two hours of peace.



There was a knock on the back door of his van. With an aggravated sigh, Finn grabbed his bat and swung open the door. “Who is it?!” Then he looked down, his eyes going wide with shock.



Standing there with her ears down and eyes huge, was that damned bunny who had started this whole mess. “I need to find Nick.” She clasped her paws together, looking like she was about to cry. “Please.”



Finn leaned his bat to the side, crossing his arms over his chest. “Why should I help you?”



Her nose twitched and for a brief moment he panicked, thinking she was about to cry. But thankfully she did not, only biting her lip before speaking. “I know I messed up, and I know that you have no reason to trust me.” She looked back up at him. “But I want to make things right. And I can’t do it without him.” She sniffed, her expression pleading. “Please.”



He swallowed hard. Damn it all, he was going soft. He huffed, grabbing his bat and motioning to her. “Get in.”



Her ears perked up and she didn’t argue, just hopped into the van.



He closed the door behind her, heading up front to the driver's seat. He set the bat beside him and buckled in, waiting for her to settle into the passenger's seat before starting it up. He backed up out of the alley and started driving, towards the part of town tucked between Downtown and Savannah Central. It was quiet, awkward and tense, and not for the first time he again questioned why he was doing so much for that damn kid.



Because he’s family. He better know how damn lucky he is.



Finn parked a few yards away from a massive domed building. He pointed at the field in front of it. “If he’s anywhere, he’ll be over there.”



“What is this place?” she asked, her tone in awe.



“Was gonna be a theme park. A project his dad was working on. He died before it could open, though.”



The bunny looked over at him, her eyes warm. “Thank you.”



He shook his head. “Don’t thank me. Just don’t make me regret this.”



She got out, running towards the field. Finn waited until she was out of sight before turning around and driving off.



Good luck, kids. You’re gonna need it.







It seemed he really wasn’t going to get any peace and quiet on this day.



It was towards the evening when he got the call from Nick asking him to come get them from the Natural History Museum. He had no idea what the hell they were doing there, but he was sure that he was going to hear all about it.



He pulled up to see flashing lights and a media storm already waiting to hit. Jesus Capybara, those monsters really didn’t waste any time, did they? He had no choice but to wait, unwilling to try to make his way through that mess. It only took about five minutes before he saw them, Nick supporting Judy as they both made their way through the paparazzi. Thankfully they had what seemed like the whole police force around them, helping them work their way through the crowd. Finn leaned over and opened the door right as they got to the van. They both looked up at him, sheepish grins on their faces.



He raised an eyebrow at them. “What the hell happened to you guys?”



“It’s kind of a long story,” Nick said as he lifted the rabbit into the van, setting her on the passenger side seat before climbing in himself, shutting the door behind him. As he settled in the rabbit winced, and instantly he wrapped an arm around her. “You okay?”



“I’m fine, I’m fine.” She bit her lip, clearly in pain even as her eyes stayed bright. “I’m okay.”



Finn glanced down, seeing the red bandana wrapped around her leg and the bloodstain slowly getting bigger. He knew what that was… he looked back at Nick, both eyebrows raising. He had a lot of explaining to do. For now, he started up the van and took off down the road. “Let’s get that looked at, Flopsy.”



It didn’t take long to reach the hospital, and they both hurried her in before any of the media could catch up to them. The nurses took one look at her and hurried her to the ER to patch up her leg. They made Nick and Finn stay in the waiting room, and the two foxes sat down in the chair there. There was a moment of awkward silence before Nick broke it.



“Hey. Thanks. For everything.”



Finn looked over at him, big ears pointed at his companion. He shrugged, crossing his arms and looking away. “Like I said, you’re family. It’s what we do.”



“I know, just… thanks.” He heard Nick shift in the chair beside him. “And… I’m sorry.”



Finn froze, before slowly turning his head.



Nick was looking at him, his green eyes firm and serious. “I fucked up, Finn. I hurt you, in the worst ways possible, and I’m sorry.” He sighed, glancing away and rubbing the back of his neck. “I understand if you can’t forgive me, though.”



There was a breath, two, before Finn was able to speak. “I’m sorry, too.” He waited for him to look at him before continuing. “I was a prideful ass and I refused to listen. You were right. About her, about everything. I fucked up just as much as you.”



One blink, two. Then, Nick smiled. He held his paw out to Finn. “Brothers?”



Finn took it without a second thought, giving it a firm shake. “Brothers.”



They grinned at each other before the moment was broken by the sound of a throat being cleared. They let go of each other and looked over.

A mole rat nurse smiled at the two of them, adjusting her glasses. “Miss Hopps is all patched up and ready to see you.” She gestured for them to follow her.



The two foxes quickly stood up, following her out of the waiting room and down the hall. It was a long walk down before she led them down another hall to a large room. Animals of all sorts were there, getting looked at and patched up. And in the far left corner, Judy sat on one of the beds, signing a clipboard. She looked up and smiled when she saw them, waving to them.



They quickly made their way over to her. “Hey, Carrots, how do you feel?” Nick sat by her, hovering.



“I’m okay. I’ve got stitches and I’ll have to change my bandage, otherwise they said I’ll be okay.” She beamed at him, then over at Finnick.



“You’re a tough one, huh?” he commented, a bit impressed.



She shrugged, looking pleased with herself. “What can I say? I don’t know when to quit.”



“So what now?” Nick tilted his head at her, curious.



“Well, we’ll need to give Chief Bogo our statements, and I need to go back to Bunnyburrow to let my family know I’m okay. Though I don’t really have anywhere to go after that…”



“You can live with me,” Nick volunteered, though the insides of his ears turned pink. “My place is big enough for two.”



Finn snorted. “Your place is a shithole.”



“Better than living in that van of yours. When was the last time you cleaned it?”



“Hey, you be nice to Sheila, we let you live there for months!”



Judy looked between them, clearly about to laugh. “Sheila?”



“It’s my van’s name, she’s a good reliable old lady,” Finn defended it.



Judy snorted, then laughed, and the two foxes joined in. Once the humor died down she turned to Nick again. “If you don’t mind, I can move in. Better than my old apartment. It was basically a shoebox. And,” she bit her lip, carefully setting her paw atop his, “it would still be nice to have a partner.”



The red fox’s expression was soft as he smiled at her. “I think I could still be convinced.”



Finn looked at the two, shaking his head. Everything was going to be fine. That he knew for sure.







It took about two weeks to get everything settled down. After Nick and Judy came back from Bunnyburrow, they had to get her set up in Nick’s apartment. It really wasn’t much, but she seemed grateful that it at least had more room. Then there was the matter of getting everything settled with the police, and making sure the ex-mayor was indicted for all of her crimes. After that, they had to get Nick registered and ready to go off to the Police Academy.



Through it all, Finn made sure to help them as much as he could. He refused to accept any kind of payment they offered. “You’re family now,” he told Judy at one point when she was flustered at him refusing her money. “We help our own.”



At the end of the two weeks, he and Judy came with Nick to see him off on the bus to the academy. He waved at them through the window as it drove off, and they waved back. Then they looked at each other.



And froze.



Aw shit, he thought, suddenly realizing that they hadn’t been alone without Nick since she’d come to him asking where Nick was.



Welp. This could get weird.