Nick P. Wilde stared out at the blaze as the flames that had once lit the night sky began to dwindle. He fought back wrapping a protective arm around Judy Hopps's shoulder as Chief Bogo sauntered over to them after placing a nefarious looking Armadillo into his squad car. "Hopps, Wilde," he called, "good job catching the arsonist that's been plaguing our city. Citizens can sleep easy now knowing that they're houses wont go up in a puff of smoke."
"But, but there were innocent mammals in there," Judy said as she looked numbly at the wreckage that had previously been a home, "foxes, and they didn't make it out. We, we were too late."
Chief Bogo sighed and shrugged, "You cant save 'em all Hopps, no matter how hard you try. Its a cold hard fact that you're going to have to get used to unfortunately, but look on the bright side. Because of your brilliant police work, this deviant will be behind bars for a long time. Now then, both of you to the hospital after this," he said as he began to walk away, " smoke inhalation is no joke and I wont have two of my best officers dying in their sleep from it because they didn't get checked out. And take the rest of the week off to recover."
"Yes, sir, thank you, sir," Nick said but Judy didn't respond. He knew that she wanted to cry. He had known her too long not to notice it and even though he had taught her expertly how to hide her emotions from everyone else, she could never hide them from him. Although her nose didn't twitch, the droop in her ears told him everything that he needed to know. "Carrots," he whispered to her, " Carrots, Judy," she still didn't respond but instead stared out into the darkness where the house had been. Nick chanced a glance behind them and when he saw that no one was looking, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in for a hug. "Baby, its ok," he whispered so low that he had to wonder whether or not he had actually spoken out loud or only thought up the words in his mind. But he knew that she had heard him because she gripped his tattered uniform shirt firmly and rubbed her soot covered face on chest as if she could gain some kind of comfort for the beating of his heart. Their uniforms were badly singed from chasing Armando, the goon for hire, through the dwelling once they found him after he had set the fire. Nick knew that she was getting a face full of smoke as well but ignored that fact though as he pulled her closer, their affection hidden from prying eyes by burnt and fallen debris. "We did our best," he continued as he petted the fur of her head soothingly, "and we did catch him. I'm sure the family inside went to sleep peacefully and didn't feel a thing. Besides," he said hopefully, " he'll never be able to do this again, probably get the chair." Judy's ears perked up suddenly and Nick smiled, thinking that he was finally getting through to her. He was about to say something else to her but she turned away from him.
"Judy?"
"I hear something,"
Nick looked around. There was nothing but smoke and charred wood around them. It was possible that she was hearing them settling but he heard nothing. "Where?" he said his eyes still searching.
"Over there," she replied as she stepped out of his arms and ran over to a heap of debris. Together they dug into it. Their paws were sore and raw, but finally a patch of dark fur appeared. "HELP!" Judy yelled, "WE NEED A MEDIC OVER HERE, HURRY!" Nick could hear the rustle of fast moving paws headed toward them but concentrated heavily on moving the large wooden rafter that was crushing the creature beneath it. With strength that he didn't know that he had, Nick pulled it off to reveal a sable colored female fox. She was barely breathing but she opened her eyes just as Judy knelt to check her vitals. With the fox's waning strength, she waved her away.
"No," she gasped weakly, "not, me, my, save my …." the sable fox went silent and stilled.
Nick looked down at the female fox, his chest heaving. "Save? Save her what?" he yelled in frustrated confusion, the night finally getting to him.
Judy, on the other hand, didn't share her partner's uncertainty, for she knew what the now deceased fox had been trying to say. Without hesitation but with great reverence, she rolled the vixen over to reveal a new born fox cub still tightly wrapped in its mother's arms. It didn't quite cry but whimpered, it being so young that its eyes weren't even open yet. Nick looked on, lost for words as Judy took the baby gingerly into her arms and held it against her chest. Two EMTs reached them just in time for them to see her cooing the little cub until it fell silent but it began to instinctively try to suckle one of her buttons. "She's the mother," Nick said to the Emergency Services Workers as he pointed to the corpse that lay beside him but he never took his eyes off of Judy and the baby that she cradled in her arms.