Winter of the Bear, Chapter 1.1 – Brief Respite

August 9th, Tuesday Night – Savanna Central

"This may be the worst movie you've ever found," Judy said, shaking her head as yet another mindless car chase began on the television. She had turned off the audio half an hour earlier and it somehow made no difference to the "plot" of the movie, though it did give her more time to ponder the cost of crashing that many vehicles. Reaching into the bowl on the small table in front of the couch, she found she had run out of carrots for snacking, making her frown even more deeply. "Please tell me you didn't pay money for this."

Nick smirked down at her, his arm around her shoulders as they snuggled on their new couch, which had become somewhat of a nightly routine after work. "Of course I paid money for it. The last time I pirated a movie, you lectured me for half an hour about stealing. Higher moral standard for the ZPD, or some such."

Judy growled softly, knowing he had her on the topic of copying movies. She could not encourage illegal behavior, even if this movie deserved it. She rolled her eyes as the chase went on and on, until finally she picked up the box the disc had come from to check the length of the movie, hoping they were nearing the end. When she flipped it over, the entire back of the box was blank, and Nick tried to snatch it out of her paw.

"And how much did you pay for it?" she demanded, holding up the homemade sleeve that looked as though someone had printed it in a hurry.

"Huh. Must be a misprinted copy."

"How much, Nick?"

"Five bucks?"

"Really?"

"Two. It fell off the back of a truck and was likely damaged."

"Hrmmm," Judy grumbled, tossing the box aside. "This is bad enough that I'll ignore you bought it from Duke. I just wish I knew why you always get such terrible movies. I'm starting to think you have no taste in movies at all."

"You wound me, Fluff," Nick replied, putting his other paw to his chest and giving her his best innocent and wide-eyed look. She knew better than to buy into any of that. Even before moving in, she knew better. Weeks under his roof—and longer visiting regularly—only reaffirmed her desire to glare when he put on that act. "If it's so bad, do you want to go to bed early? I'll make it up to you. Paw rubs, back rubs, whatever."

"Nick, it's only seven, but yeah…wait a second." Judy sat up and turned around to glare at Nick. "That's your suggestion every time I hate a movie you bring home."

"It seemed reasonable."

"Are you seriously picking movies I'll give up on so we can cuddle more? Wouldn't it just be easier to ask? I don't think I've ever refused."

Nick's innocent act began to show cracks when his muzzle twitched, trying to contain a smirk.

Sighing, Judy started to lean against him, only to have another realization. She immediately rounded on him again, this time hopping up onto her knees so she could look him straight in the eyes. "You've been picking these terrible movies since long before we were dating."

"Maybe I like these movies? I never claimed to have good cinema taste, only that my choices were better than Finnick's."

"You fall asleep if I don't suggest something else to do, or agree to your ideas," she countered, poking Nick in the chest with her short finger-claw. "Have you been trying to get me to sleep with you all along?"

"Not necessarily," he said, scooting a little farther away from her, while eyeing her finger. "Originally I was just hoping to make out. Then some bunny upped the ante and now I have these high expectations. Absolutely not my fault. I'm trying to meet a bunny's needs."

Judy groaned and flopped against him, shaking her head sadly. He would be the death of her and try as she might to be mad at him, she loved him anyway, even if she now had to find some playful way to punish him for trying to manipulate her. Had he just asked, she could have agreed, but with him trying to trick her it was now a game.

"You're right," Judy said, nuzzling the side of her head against Nick's chest to hide her grin. "I think we should go to bed early."

Nick stifled a giggle, which only helped convince Judy she was right in setting him up for disappointment. There was no way she was going to let him win, even if she enjoyed fooling around as much or more than he did.

"Give me a minute to get ready," she added, bringing her face up to tap Nick's nose with hers. The shiver through his whole body let her knew she had him. "I think you'll like what I have in mind."

Nick nodded vigorously, his ears straight up. "Whatever you want, Carrots. I'll…I don't know…turn off the movie and be right in?"

Judy grinned up at Nick, hoping he would not catch the mischief in her expression. The way he raced off to begin picking up the room told her he thought he had won. If there was one thing she could count on, it was his blind spot when it came to her. Anyone else, he would have seen right through. He could sense a con from a mile off, but not if she was the one doing it. Maybe he actually liked being tricked by her.

Sliding off the couch, Judy pranced out of the room and off to the bedroom. There were days she really loved that dumb fox…and others she loved reminding him he was dumb. Today was going to be the latter.

She walked into the bedroom and quickly changed into a long nightshirt, before climbing onto their bed. From there, she rolled to the far side on her stomach so she could reach her night stand. Digging through it in a hurry—knowing she only had seconds before Nick showed up—she found a book she had placed there.

Judy's ears shot up as she heard Nick approaching. He was already undressing, which meant he thought he knew what they were going to be doing. He's going to be so mad.

Rolling over to face him, Judy kept the book behind her as Nick came bounding into the room, wearing only his boxers. It took all of her strength to keep from laughing at him, so she instead worked on perfecting her "come hither" look. Nick's grin told her she was getting better at it. The downside to using it against him was that sooner or later he was likely to get nervous when she wanted to be sexy. A problem for another day.

"You ready, Slick?" she asked, hoping he could not hear the effort she was putting into keeping her tone sultry, rather than giggly.

"I was pretty much born ready," Nick answered, hopping onto the bed beside her. "What'd you have in mind, Fluff?"

"I thought maybe we could explore the depths of some serious romance."

Nick blinked at her a few times. "That sounds overly fancy…but whatever a bunny wants, a bunny gets."

"So glad to hear it!" Judy exclaimed, slapping the book down on Nick's stomach. "I picked that up the other day and thought it would be so romantic if you read it to me. Originally, I was going to read it by myself when I was bored, but since you're volunteering…"

Nick's eagerness drained away until his half-shut eyelids hinted at some rather scathing things he wanted to say in reply. Clicking his tongue, he picked up the book and stared at the bare-chested male bunny on the cover. "You want me to read… Are you serious, Carrots?"

"Yep!" Judy could not help but wiggle her tail as she lay on her stomach, watching Nick skim the back of the book. "Romance novels aren't just for bunnies. Maybe that one is, but you're reading it to me, so it all works out. I'll pick up a fox one when we finish this one. I might even let you pick it out."

"I…I don't even have words for this," he said, shaking his head as he stared at the cover again. "I can't even say the title without feeling like this is wrong. 'The Buck's Thorn'? Who writes this garbage?"

"Might I remind you I've checked your phone's search history?"

Nick's eyes widened again. "You're really going to do this to me, aren't you? Do you hate me?"

Slinking partway up onto his shoulder, Judy batted her eyelashes at him. "Would you rather do something else?"

"Quite literally almost anything."

"The way I see it, you have two choices, Nick. You can either cuddle and read me a trashy bunny romance novel, or you can go back in the other room and watch that awful movie by yourself. If you do watch the movie, I'll be in here reading this novel and imagining things with the hero of the story. If you read it to me, I'll have to imagine you in his place. Your choice."

Nick grumbled and shook his head sadly, opening the book. "Why do I never win when it comes to you? Fine. A dank day began…wait…dank? Who says dank these days? Ugh…"

Within minutes, Judy drifted from consciousness in his arms, the story forgotten as Nick stroked her ears. She honestly had no interest in the book, but had wanted to give Nick a little reminder that when she set her mind to something, he would never win. It seemed to have worked and so she relaxed to the sound of his voice and was soon dreaming peacefully.

Sometime later, Judy snapped awake as Nick shifted his positioning, nearly dropping her head onto the bed in the process. In her sleep-addled state, Judy briefly thought he had been asleep as well and had been unaware he had jostled her, but as she blinked in the brightly-lit room, she found Nick was wide awake, reading the book by the light of his cell phone.

"What time is it?" Judy asked, yawning. "I think I dozed off."

Nick looked at his phone and jumped a little. "It's…wow…almost midnight."

Judy sat up and shook off her sleepiness to try and figure out what was going on. To her surprise, Nick was halfway through the book. "Have you been reading the whole time?"

"Of course not," Nick lied, putting the book down on the bed. "I…okay…I might have read a little after you fell asleep. I couldn't sleep."

Taking the book from his paws, Judy realized he had folded the edge of several pages. When she tried to turn to those pages, Nick grabbed for the book, forcing her to roll to the side of the bed to block him.

"Are you taking notes?" she asked, turning to the first marked page. Blinking hard, she realized how raunchy that page was and wished she had known before handing Nick the book in the first place. Turning to the second, she found it was even worse. Judy instantly felt as though she needed to hide the book, lest anyone ever read it again and associate it with her in any possible way. Despite her desire to burn the book, she found herself staring wide-eyed at another marked page. "Sweet cheese and crackers, bunnies don't do that."

Nick put his muzzle on her shoulder, staring at the page. "I thought you could do anything you set your mind to?"

Glaring up at him, Judy closed the book. "I push my limits, but that would injure both of us. Mostly me. Nick, this is a book. It's all fiction. Don't get ideas."

"You handed it to me, Fluff. Clearly you're trying to tell me something. How is one little fox supposed to know what bunnies secretly crave?"

Judy scowled over her shoulder at Nick, and set the book on her nightstand. "We have to be up in a few hours for work. Get all that out of your head. I wasn't trying to tell you anything other than to read a book once in a while. If I was trying to tell you to do something different, I'd have whispered it in your ear or instigated it myself, not slapped you with a book."

Leaning over to put his arms around her, Nick lunged and grabbed the book before she could stop him. He quickly opened it as she tried to snatch it away, flipping to another of the marked pages. "What about that?"

Judy grumbled and looked at the page, her ears shooting up in surprise. He was not wrong, it sounded…interesting. "Keep fantasizing. You try that and I'll make you sleep in the hall."

"Fine, be that way." Nick flopped alongside her, and Judy did not have to look to know he was trying to put on a pouting act. "Maybe we can discuss it again later…"

"Maybe. Not tonight," she replied, rolling over so her back was to him. He immediately cradled his body against hers, making her feel entirely secure. "Goodnight, Nick."

"We'll come back to this tomorrow when you've had more time to think on it. My birthday is coming up soon."

"Your birthday is six months away. Your mother tells me everything. Everything."

Nick grumbled softly, before turning off the light from his phone. "Love you, Fluff. Goodnight."

"Goodnight. If you're half-asleep at work, I will use that against you. I love you too."

For once, Nick kept his mouth shut and soon Judy could hear his breathing slow as he settled into sleep with his nose tucked under one of her ears. Despite the noise, being able to hear each breath was soothing and soon Judy drifted off as well, sending her into raunchy dreams straight out of the pages of her book, though with a fox taking the place of the main character.

Winter of the Bear, Chapter 1.2 – Brief Respite

August 10th, Wednesday – ZPD Precinct One

A blaring noise jarred Nick from his sleep and he reached for the alarm, intending to beat it into submission. Three smacks later, the noise continued and he looked around in confusion, realizing that it was only twenty minutes later than when he had closed his eyes. The clock read 00:08 and the alarm was not set to go off for more than five hours. Instead, the alarm sound seemed to be coming from two places in the room at once, making Nick's head spin as he tried to fully wake himself, even as Judy grumbled and tried to reach across him for the alarm.

Sitting up, Nick looked around until his attention fell on his cell phone, which was lit and flashing. Turning to look at Judy's nightstand, he saw hers was ringing as well.

"Judy," he whispered, shaking her slightly. "Wake up."

Grumbling again, Judy covered her face with her paws. "It can't be dawn yet and if you set the alarm to get me up early to try something out of the book, so help me, I will kick you onto the floor."

Nick snickered a little at the thought, but gave Judy another jostle. "Emergency alerts. It's not the alarm."

That seemed to cut through Judy's sleepiness, and she dove for her phone before Nick could grab his. In unison, they read over the message on both of their screens.

Terrorist attack in Podunk. More than 8,000 feared dead and thousands wounded. Further alerts will follow with updated death toll, as it is reported by the ZBI officials monitoring the incident.

Nick nearly dropped his phone. The region had never been at war in his lifetime and the idea of someone attacking more than individuals was all but unheard-of. Even Rolen's attacks weeks earlier had been targeted. This was something new and horrific.

Before Nick could say anything to Judy, another alert came in, this time with the ZPD logo attached to it.

All officers report in on your regular shifts. We will be briefing on the situation and coordinating response. At present, ZBI is handling all management of emergency relief in Podunk. For officers with family in that region, please call dispatch immediately. All others, attempt to get some sleep. –Bogo

"I won't be sleeping," Judy said, slowly putting down her phone. "Not anytime soon."

"Me either." Nick pulled her alongside him as he lay back down. As silly as it sounded in his own mind, he really just wanted to convince himself she was safe. Judging by how tightly Judy clung back, she likely had the same thoughts.

A few hours later, they got up and went about their morning routine, though without the usual banter and pranks. Things were mechanical and hurried, the unspoken intent to get into the precinct that much faster and learn the full story.

Nick barely even noticed they were at the precinct without having spoken once. Normally, he would not give Judy a moment's peace until they walked into the precinct—where there was the nonsense rule about professional behavior—but they got showered, dressed, and made the entire subway ride in silence. It was unheard of for them to be quiet that long, even before they were living together.

By a few minutes after six, Nick, Judy, and nearly a dozen other officers had arrived. The bullpen normally filled by seven, but with the news, everyone was ready to get to work, even if they knew they were a little shy of two hundred miles from where the incident occurred.

Within five minutes of their arrival, Chief Bogo came marching into the bullpen, looking as though he had not slept, either. He waved vaguely as he reached the podium, not bothering with any of his usual formalities.

"I think we can all agree we're getting too old for this," Bogo announced, looking over the officers assembled. "Unfortunately, I don't have any information to provide, beyond what is all over the news. We've been shut out of this one by the ZBI, which seems to be their normal procedure the last few weeks. We are under orders to continue normal patrols, and will be informed if we can be of service. Personally, I think we can all agree that's a steaming load of—"

Bogo cut himself off as the door he normally used was opened. No officer should have been using that entrance, so every eye in the room turned as a slender, white-furred vixen in an expensive-looking suit marched up to Bogo and handed him a single sheet of paper.

Nick stared at the vixen in confusion. There was no other fox on the ZPD, so he had no idea who she was or why she thought she could barge into the meeting. He was so busy trying to figure out her reason for being there that he jumped a little when Judy elbowed him. Glancing at her, he found she was pointing below the desk at something else, her face as crinkled as his probably already was.

Bending over so he could see, Nick found there were actually two mammals who had come into the bullpen. The vixen was leading the way, but a brown-furred rabbit followed her, wearing an equally-expensive suit. The taller mammals could probably see him, but Judy and Nick were too short and had to either climb onto the table or lean under it as they had. From the corner of his eye, Nick noticed two more mammals in the hallway—both tigers in suits of a similar style to those worn by the rabbit and fox.

"Well that's just marvelous," Bogo muttered, crumpling up the paper he had been handed. He flicked it back at the vixen, bouncing it off her nose. She blinked, but did not flinch, though she did adjust her glasses. "It seems the ZBI will be taking over investigative efforts within the city, as well. The agents…no names on the sheet. What do we call you two?"

The vixen turned and casually strolled down the center aisle of the room, eyeing each of the officers as she spoke. "Senior Agent Snow. I'll be your liaison within the city. I'll be the one selecting, training, and assigning your officers as needed to my associate. He will coordinate any actions outside the city, should we need to deploy officers to Podunk or elsewhere."

Nick turned to Judy, who gave him a slight smirk and shrug. She made a slight flicking motion toward her ears and then tilted her head toward the bunny agent at the front of the room. Leaning a little, Nick studied the suited rabbit and realized why she was amused.

Suit and sunglasses aside, the buck had puffed up his chest with what appeared to be self-importance, and Nick wanted to slap him, even without him having opened his mouth yet. That aside, Nick saw that Judy was indicating a series of odd stripes visible on the rabbit's ears, down the back of his head, and at the cuffs of his suit. Nick had never heard of a striped rabbit and apparently neither had Judy. Sniffing, Nick could pick up the faint scent of fur-dye, usually used for accents or to restore color to aging mammals' fur.

"Are you quite finished critiquing my colleague?" asked Agent Snow, having appeared at Nick's side without him realizing she had moved back up the aisle.

"I…yeah…for now." Smirking down at her, Nick tried to regain his upper-paw, but Snow's humorless stare somewhat unnerved him. Had he met someone like her when hustling, he would have avoided her as anyone with such a cold glare was unlikely to fall for any of his tricks. "Yes. All done. Ma'am. Sir."

The vixen's eyebrow raised slightly, but that was all the reaction she offered before turning back to Bogo. "Very good. Chief, please clear the room. We only want the officers who had direct involvement with Rolen Ursius last month. Everyone else can go about their normal duties."

Bogo snorted and nodded at the room. Slowly, the majority of the officers stood up and walked out, leaving only Judy, Nick, Officer Cannus, Officer Spetz, and Chief Bogo where they had been initially. As the officers filed out, Nick watched Agent Snow intercept Fangmeyer and Delgato, leading both back to chairs at the front of the room near Nick and Judy.

"I didn't have any contact with him," Fangmeyer objected, rubbing at his shoulder the way he always did when Rolen was brought up or he thought no one was watching. Despite his objections, the tiger sat back down.

Clearing his throat, the rabbit agent stepped forward and finally spoke. His soft voice rather surprised Nick, making him wonder how young the buck was. At a guess, he was as young or younger than Judy's brother, Jack.

"You and Officer Delgato were both greatly impacted by his actions," the agent told them, smiling in what Nick guessed was supposed to be a reassuring way. It was a little too practiced to be sincere. "Your wounds were intentionally inflicted by Rolen's mammals. Delgato's mate—"

Nick and Judy both turned to stare at Delgato, whose face remained entirely devoid of emotion. The lion had barely said anything since his mate had been kidnapped, and most had assumed she had been rescued, given the lack of news. His slightly deepening scowl let Nick know things had ended gruesomely, though he doubted Judy would catch the subtle hints.

"—I forgot, I'm sorry," the rabbit went on, wincing as he checked a piece of paper extracted from his suit jacket. "That was confidential information and I missed the note. Regardless, you both have strong ties to the situation. Obviously, Wilde and Hopps, too, though they are here as a courtesy. Neither has the skills we are looking for here. Neither a bunny nor a fox should be getting involved this time, as this is somewhat out of their capabilities, both physically and emotionally."

Nick reached over and grabbed Judy by the arm as she prepared to hop down and go after the other rabbit. He held firmly, even when she swatted at his paw and whispered something about "teaching him a lesson."

"Not to be rude," Nick said, putting on his practiced swindling-smile. He kept his paw clamped on Judy's arm. "I don't believe we've gotten any introductions. If I'm not mistaken, we're looking at a bunny and a fox, who by your logic aren't qualified for this."

The white fox stopped alongside Nick and Judy's chair, her eyes narrowing as she studied his face. "I already gave my name, Officer Wilde. If you can't be bothered to pay attention—"

"Yeah, yeah, I heard what you said," Nick told her dismissively, keeping his attention on the rabbit. Giving Snow any hint of respect would only feed her self-importance. Judy was calming down and he released her. "If you're Agent Snow, what's that make him? Agent Brown? Agent Stripes? Your name's clearly made-up, so I'm guessing his is, too."

Chief Bogo cleared his throat loudly and Nick glanced over, realizing the chief was trying to tell him he was pushing his luck. If one joke was all it took, Nick was already past the line and might as well continue. He doubted the chief really cared much about the opinions of the ZBI.

The vixen growled softly and dropped an envelope on the table near Delgato, before heading over to put another near Fangmeyer. "Given that you two are not qualified to go, I will not be providing any more information to either of you. You are dismissed. Please leave. I have no use for officers like you, Wilde."

Nick felt his ears and tail drop abruptly. Looking to Judy, he saw aghast shock in her wide eyes. They, with Bogo, had been responsible for bringing down Rolen. If the case was not closed, Nick certainly had expected some involvement on their part.

"With all due respect—" Nick began, cutting himself off as Snow rounded on him, her blue eyes as cold as her namesake.

"Our department owes yours no respect at this time," Snow snapped in reply, walking slowly back to the front of the room. She stepped between Bogo and the podium as though she did not see him, scrambling up onto the top so the room could see her. "We are without the key witness in a case that is far from closed. The ZPD failed to protect—"

This time, Judy was not slowed in the slightest when Nick grabbed her arm. She leaped to her paws and her tone told Nick she was just shy of yelling. "You listen here! It was your agent who shot Rolen, not ours! Shutting us out won't stop the investigation. All it'll do is make us hide it from you and solve it anyway, like we always do."

Snow's calm stare remained on Judy for several long seconds, before turning to Bogo. "Is this disobedient behavior something you endorse, Chief?"

"I support my officers absolutely," he replied, crossing his arms over his broad chest. "Kick them out and they'll still be the first two at the finish line. You have my support only so far as you cooperate with us."

Agent Snow's scowl deepened as she turned her attention back to Nick. "Very well. They may hear the briefing. That changes nothing about the assignments we give—or do not give."

The rabbit at the front of the room straightened his back, raising his ears as he looked over the remaining officers. "We do need alternates if the first choices don't work out, and having these two available if we get truly desperate—"

"I'm starting to take offense," Nick cut in, crossing his arms over his chest. "Do we get to find out what's going on or not?"

Huffing, the rabbit agent walked over and placed a single packet in front of Nick and Judy. Nick allowed Judy to take it and begin paging through the pile of pictures and documents inside while he stared down Agent Snow, daring her to object again. Now, it was his personal mission in life to irritate that vixen as much as she had already irritated him. Judy would scold him later, but he no longer felt like he had a choice in the matter. One fox to another, this was well past the point of being rude. Biting her crossed his mind more than once.

"Open your briefings if you haven't already," Agent Snow told the officers, pointedly ignoring Nick. "The first document goes over our findings in Podunk. As you can see, the explosives used were highly sophisticated, and set off a chain reaction through the underground gas mains. The number of deceased has been announced formally as ten thousand eight hundred fifty-two. More lives will likely be lost as the wounded pass, but we are going to stick with that number."

"Why?" asked Cannus, still keeping his head down as he read. "Why aren't we telling the truth, if the number changed?"

Snow's muzzle twitched in annoyance. Nick was going to have fun ruining her day if it was this easy to bother her. "Simplicity. Announcing something horrible once upsets the public. Making it worse day by day compounds the problem. Can I continue?"

Nick raised his paw and smirked. Agent Snow grumbled and tried to look right past him, so he took it to mean she was acknowledging him. "Just to be clear…you want us to lie to the public? Normally I get in trouble for that, so I wanted to be sure that's what you're telling us to do. I'm usually allowed to if I'm under orders."

A faint grown from Snow let Nick know he was winning. He really liked this game, though it took all of his concentration to keep from looking to his right and meeting Judy's eyes as she glared at the side of his head.

Stepping forward, the rabbit agent brought up a Manilla folder he appeared to be reading as he began speaking. "Junior Officer Nicholas Piberious Wilde. Two written commendations on your file already, plus two incomplete reprimands. Yes, we save everything, chief, even if you believe you deleted them. Aside from that, a remarkably clear record."

"I try," Nick answered smugly, noticing Judy's ears were up. The expression on her muzzle hinted at him having done something stupid, like walking into a trap…

"Yes, I see that," the rabbit went on, stopping alongside Nick's chair. "I also see you were arrested nine times between ages fourteen and twenty-six for theft by way of deception. Each of those was under assumed names, keeping it off your permanent record. I'd have to say my personal favorite is Myflo Tayl, middle name Fie. Myflo Fie Tayl. 'My Fluffy Tail'. Marvelous. Tell me, officer, do you consider this situation to be a joke like you seem to consider most other things?"

Nick looked over at Judy and felt his smile begin to fade as she glared at him. So much for that game. He was going to have to be professional or she would make him suffer later. "I don't consider a bombing to be a joke. The way this is being handled is the joke, and I assume everyone here considers your partner's superhero name to be a bit of a joke. Carry on. I'll be good for a little while."

Reaching over, Nick took half of the packet from Judy to keep himself occupied as the rabbit agent made his way back to up stand beside Bogo's podium. The majority of the pages he was looking at contained analysis of the explosives used, which meant relatively little to him. What he instead focused on were pictures of the damage done. Page after page held images of twisted and damaged buildings, often interspersed with mangled bodies, or what Nick had to assume were what was left of bodies.

"Nick," Judy whispered, tapping her fingertip on the page in front of him. "That right there. It doesn't make sense."

Nick reread the section, coming away with little more than a chemical breakdown of the explosives. "What doesn't make sense?"

She leaned over, nearly swatting his nose with her ears, something she did routinely when too focused to notice. "The chemicals aren't just difficult to get. They're non-existent. As in, not made in decades, if not longer. This here, it's saying the shell casing was older than parts of the city."

"Please stop talking, so we can discuss as a group. I hope by now all of you recognize the seriousness of this," Agent Snow said loudly, clasping her paws behind her as she looked down over the officers from her perch atop the podium. "The last two pages in the dossier are ones you will want to keep. The rest we will collect after the briefing. The letter on the second to last page is purportedly from Rolen Ursius—"

"We were told he died," Fangmeyer stated dryly, looking up from his own packet. "Did he die because one of yours killed him, or was that a lie, too? I'd like to know which lies are which."

For the first time, Nick could see a bit of shame in Snow's expression as her ears and tail sank a bit. "He… That is… It's being investigated internally. At this time, we cannot comment beyond that. I can confirm Rolen received medical treatment for his injuries and that there was a shooting during the transfer. Anything more is confidential."

"You were the agent responsible for organizing the transfer," Delgato noted, tapping a sheet of paper. "You're here because you're cleaning up your mess. You failed to protect him, or you were the one who lost him. It doesn't take a detective to figure that out. Even if it did, we've got a few of those available."

Snow cleared her throat, and glanced around the room nervously. "Yes. You aren't wrong. Shall we do away with the nonsense of pretending this is a regular investigation and be blunt?"

A low rumble of agreement filled the room.

"Fine," she continued, taking a deep breath. "The ZBI is dealing with enhancing security in and around the city because of the threats in that letter, but we all know it was written before Rolen's capture. He has others working to keep his cause alive. The ZBI intends to use this as justification to annex the surrounding cities, including Podunk and Bunnyburrow, if only to ensure their safety—"

Nick glanced over at Judy, whose eyes were wide in surprise. Her nose did not even twitch.

"—while we take our investigation a particularly different direction. My junior agent and myself were tasked with resolving all loose threads in this situation. This case may take us beyond the city limits and we will need backup. The rest of the ZBI is concentrating its efforts here."

Nick studied the letter supposedly from Rolen and could not make himself take it seriously. The entire page read like a bad spy movie villain, talking about how he was going to inflict his revenge for all the wrongs his people endured, while carrying on about how the mammals of Zootopia would come to fear his name. Had the letter been a speech in a movie, Judy would have made Nick turn it off. Someone had added that phony letter to justify their own job. Nick had met Rolen and this was too cliché to be written by him.

Flipping to the last page, Nick took a moment to understand what he was seeing. A list of names ran down the left column, though all were clearly made up. The right side was filled with what Nick guessed to be phone numbers, but there were too many digits. On his cell phone, Nick quickly looked up fourteen-digit phone numbers and found that they were satellite phone numbers, rather than landlines or cell phones. The ZBI was apparently very serious about being able to reach their agents.

"Agent Snow?" Nick asked aloud and the grumble from the podium let him know she had heard him. "This doesn't list first names. Can I guess yours is Agent White Snow…no…Snow White…something like that? The fuzzball is just listed as 'Junior Agent.' I'm guessing I'm not supposed to call him Junior? What do we call him?"

Nick tried to ignore the death glare from both Snow and Judy.

"Officer Wilde," the rabbit with Snow said, marching back up to Nick's chair. "This is our final request. Keep quiet and show appropriate respect."

"Respect?" Nick asked, smirking down at the rabbit. "Some dumb bunny comes in here and tells us how to do our jobs, when we're the ones who didn't screw up and you want respect?"

The agent's eyes narrowed and his nose twitched as he stared at Nick.

Nick could not make himself stop, even though he knew he had gone too far. "If you don't have a superhero name, can we call you Agent Stripes? Bouncy? I'm thinking we go with Humps. Maybe Zippy."

The rabbit's ears dropped and he pointed at the door out of the bullpen. "I don't have an agency name yet. Your assistance will not be needed, Wilde. Please leave. Thank you for your time."

Nick snorted and slid off the chair. He would have loved to hear more about the plan the ZBI had, but it was clear to him that this was more of a courtesy visit than an actual attempt to work with the ZPD. Once his paws were on the ground, he reached back to help Judy down, but her paw did not touch his. Looking back at her, he saw she was still standing on the chair, ready to listen.

"Carrots?"

Judy turned slightly and frowned at him. "I want to see if I can help, even if it is working with the ZBI. Go ahead and get back to regular duty. I'll see you tonight."

Nick had not even considered Judy might not follow him, but in hindsight he had talked his way out of spending the day with her. No one to be mad at but himself. Patting her hind paw, Nick hurried out the back of the bullpen and out into the lobby of the precinct. There, Clawhauser was waiting, leaned back in his chair, watching the bullpen.

"Nick!" Clawhauser called out, waving a paw. "Thought there might be more of you coming. I've got your assignment for today."

Taking a deep breath to ready himself for tedium without Judy to entertain him, Nick walked over to the desk and leaned on its edge while Clawhauser dug through a stack of files. "Benji, you know anything about these ZBI folks?"

"Not much," the cheetah replied, pulling out a file with Nick's name on it. "Bogo's always griped about them, but if it helps with the bombing…"

Clawhauser trailed off and wrinkled his nose a little. Sniffing, he leaned forward and then started looking around the lobby.

"Did I step in something?" Nick asked, checking the bottoms of his paws.

"No, not that." Clawhauser stood up and put both elbows on the desk so he could—somewhat rudely—sniff near Nick. "I…um…Bogo said we're not supposed to ask too many questions about your time off the last couple weeks."

"Right. We were both pretty beaten up. Got some rest and now we're both back."

"Both back this week on the same day. Also, the chief removed Judy's address from the employee log. I know you two were going out again, and the kiss on television was pretty convincing. Judy told us it was you acting, but…um...I don't believe it."

Nick's mood soured. He knew where this was going. "Yes, we're dating. That's no secret. I assumed everyone knew already. We're both professionals and we won't make it obvious on the job. I'm certain we're not the first officers to get caught kissing."

"Oh, right, right," Clawhauser answered, waving a paw dismissively. "When did she move in? Or did you move in with her? How does that all…I mean…a bunny and a fox…? No one's surprised you two are going out, but Pennington got us thinking about the—um—physical issues involved."

"It works the same as it does for every other mammal, just a bit more awkwardly." Nick took a deep breath. So much for keeping things quiet. "It's still against regulations, so I have to say I have no idea what you're talking about, unless we discuss it after work. Can we not have this conversation at work?"

"Of course!" Clawhauser slowly sat back in his chair, tapping his paws on his belly. "So you two've never fooled around in the precinct?"

Nick's ears and neck fur shot straight up in fear. "No. That'd get us fired. Never. Why would you even ask that?"

Shrugging, Clawhauser leaned to stare directly at the monitor on his desk. "Well, I do control all the precinct cameras…"

"Please. Please!" Nick pleaded, looking around nervously. "We might have gotten carried away one time after coming back, but we're good now. No reason to tell anyone. Why do you even care?"

"So…the first day you were both back?"

"Second. Can we drop it now, Benji?"

Giggling loudly, Clawhauser patted the desk excitedly and lowered his voice. "Spetz won the betting pool. Fangmeyer figured you two would make it a week before you broke regulations, but I was thinking since Judy's involved, and she likes sticking to the rules, maybe a month. Some of the officers thought a bunny would be the one to break the rules, while others said you seemed to be the pent-up one, so—"

"Benji, please don't say anything to anyone! It won't happen again. Bogo would kill us."

"Oh, you aren't the first to break that rule around the precinct." Clawhauser giggled again and shook his head. "Everyone gets their one slip-up. Bogo doesn't even care unless it happens more than once… It didn't happen more than once, did it? Did you know we put a camera in the janitor closet last year after we caught Officer Dingott and her boyfriend there?"

Nick backed slowly away from the desk, unable to make himself blink. The janitor closet camera footage would have to be found and destroyed. So long as they did not have cameras filming the inside of Judy's cruiser after-hours, he only had to track down a few clips from the precinct security footage. Whether Nick's face or something else gave it away, Clawhauser's grin widened.

"Oh em goodness! You two are terrible, but it's sooo adorable!" Clawhauser exclaimed, laughing loudly. "I don't think anyone will really care if you don't get caught. Anyway…your assignment?"

Nick snatched the file from Clawhauser and hurried away, not wanting to continue the conversation further. Opening it as he walked toward the motor pool, he came to an abrupt halt as he saw he was not on patrol, but on escort-duty around much of the city, though there were no other details on the sheet.

"Benji," Nick called over his shoulder, holding up the file. "Who's the escort? Don't tell me the mayor's doing another public image ride-along. You know I can't keep my mouth shut, and public relations aren't a good place for me."

"No, it's not the mayor," replied a female voice and Nick felt his heart and tail sink as he recognized it. "This operation is my junior agent's first, so I am having him perform the internal testing and training. Given that you volunteered to step aside, you were my first choice for escorting me through your normal patrol routes, Officer Wilde."

Turning, Nick found Agent Snow had managed to get within a few feet of him without him hearing her. At his glower, he caught her slight smirk as she adjusted her glasses, before folding her paws in front of her. Those cold blue eyes told him he could glare all he wanted, she neither cared nor would back down.

Behind Snow, the latest transfers to Precinct One—Cannus and Spetz—stood awkwardly, trying to look anywhere but at the two foxes bickering.

"So whose breakfast did I mark that I'm on your list?" Nick demanded, setting off toward the motor pool with Snow a few steps behind him. Faintly, he could hear the wolf and leopard following at a distance.

Snow chuckled as she kept pace with Nick. "That list is mostly confidential, but I can assure you it is lengthy and mostly filled with three-letter group names. We've been watching you for a while. You seem to upset nearly everyone you meet. It might be your most reliable trait."

Turning on his heel as they reached the doors out of the precinct, Nick managed to force Snow to stop abruptly, her eyes widening as he stood nose-to-nose with her. "If you're here to interfere with my job, don't joke about it. Try to go after my badge and I'll find a way to come right back. I don't like playing around and I don't like idle threats."

A smile slowly spread across Snow's muzzle. She let out a long and loud sniff. "At this distance, I can say I believe you've given me all the proof needed to take that badge, if I'd wanted to. I'd heard the rumors, but I believed them to be lies, even after installing surveillance equipment at Clawhauser's desk. A fox and a bunny? Not something we run into very often. Precisely never that I can recall. You are full of surprises and seem to play all manner of games with your own life, Wilde."

Nick looked past Snow at Spetz and Cannus, who appeared entirely unsurprised. Apparently he and Judy had been far less subtle than they had hoped. They had tried to pass off the kiss as a one-time thing, but no one seemed to be fooled.

"What's the point of this?" Nick asked, raising a finger to attempt to intimidate Snow, but she only smiled that much more with his claw near her nose. "You already said you don't want Hopps or I involved. Messing with me doesn't solve anything about this case. Shouldn't you be out finding who did it?"

"I already found who did it," she replied, cocking her head slightly. "A pattern of ash at the explosion site solved that mystery. We're more concerned with who had them do it. Do you even understand why you and your…partner…were excluded, or why we did it in front of the others?"

Snarling as he turned away, Nick stalked toward the waiting cruiser, while Snow walked calmly after him. He opted to ignore her entirely as he got into the car and went through his daily checklist. By the time he had finished and was ready to hit the road, Snow was just sliding into the passenger seat. A moment later, the other officers got into the back seat quietly.

Nick waited a minute to see if Snow would explain without his prodding, but her slight smirk and calm stare at the parking lot in front of the cruiser made it abundantly clear she was leaving the questions to him for the moment. Sighing, he slapped the wheel and turned to face her.

"No, I don't know why we were excluded," he growled at her, his annoyance growing as Snow slowly adjusted her head to watch him down the length of her muzzle, the way his mother had when he was young. "What I know is that right now, I'm playing chauffeur to a pain in the tail who's keeping me from spending my day with my partner. There's a reason the chief keeps us together. I don't play nice with the other officers, and I like them a lot more than I've liked my first few minutes around you and your partner."

Spetz cleared his throat, as if reminding Nick that he was there.

Snow smiled and nodded, taking off her glasses. "You work better with Hopps because you're in love with her. We do our homework before we come marching into a department, Wilde. What you think of my partner and I doesn't matter in the slightest. What matters is the two of you would not survive a week on this assignment. We aren't excluding you because you aren't capable…we're excluding you to protect you both. You are better off here. The two in the back seat will handle this far better than a fox and bunny who believe they are invincible."

"So what is this mystery assignment we can't go on, but another fox and rabbit can?" Nick asked, getting even more annoyed when Agent Snow motioned toward the car's keys impatiently. "And if we're not involved, why require me to drive you around the city?"

"All in due time, officer," she replied, leaning back in her seat and tapping her hind paws on the dashboard. "Either drive or we can move onto other topics. I would rather not get into your tax evasion, your mother's finances, or your adopted brother's antics. If you will not drive, those are next up. I assure you, I can fill the entire day with conversation of some sort, though I doubt you want the two in the back seat to listen in on that."

Nick could feel the other officers staring at him, and he had no desire to explain any of what Snow had just said. He had even less desire to confess to crimes he had committed before joining the force. Grumbling, he started the cruiser and began driving.

"Where to?" he asked as they pulled into traffic.

"Honestly, I don't care." Snow closed her eyes, folding her paws on her stomach. "Go about your day. I will be your backup for today. If we find anything interesting, the others will take point and you will stay with the car. I want to observe your performance and discuss a few things."

"Such as?"

"Your relationship with Hopps, for one." Snow kept her eyes shut, but Nick watched her ears go alert. She was trying to appear relaxed and keep him that way, too. "Are you able to keep your work life professional?"

"We're both highly-decorated officers."

Snow laughed softly and shook her head. "If your partner died in the line of duty and you watched it happen, what would you do when you were the arresting officer of the mammal that killed her? I read up on your handling of things with Rolen."

Nick kept his mouth shut.

"Officer Spetz?" Snow asked. "The same question as I posed to Officer Wilde."

"I'm single for a reason," Spetz replied. He gave Nick an apologetic look. "I don't like having anyone worried about whether I'm coming home. Broke off my last relationship when Rolen began killing mammals around town."

"Cannus?" Snow asked next.

Scowling, the wolf shook his head as he glared at Snow. "Guessing you already know I stopped dating a year ago after a suspect showed up at my house?"

"I do, but Wilde didn't." Snow finally opened her eyes, and smirked at Nick. "Only one mammal here is putting their personal life above their job. Only one mammal here was passed over for aiding the ZBI. Let's go back to the original question. If she died, what would you do, Officer Wilde?"

"Let's hope it never comes to that. Neither of us really wants to find out the answer. I wouldn't handle it well."

"And that," she replied, sitting up, "is why you are not on this mission. The ZBI is watching you two, but this is not for you. Those going on this mission need to be ready to lose everything. You are not ready for that."

Nick stayed quiet a long time. Soon, he pulled the cruiser onto the road, his paws clenching the wheel firmly. Finally, he could not keep from asking the question at the tip of his tongue. "What about you and Junior Agent Fluffball?"

Smiling as she sat back, Agent Snow shrugged. "We are ready for that kind of mission. That's all you need to know at this time. You may wish to keep your eyes on traffic. I believe that beaver is speeding."

Nick muttered to himself as he turned on the sirens and went after a small sedan that had blown past them.

Winter of the Bear, Chapter 1.3 – Brief Respite

August 10th, Wednesday Night – Savanna Central

Judy got home earlier than usual, though the apartment felt like someone else's without Nick walking in with her. The briefing had taken nearly the full day and left those attending with no paperwork to end the work day, allowing her to head home before Nick had even gotten back to the motor pool.

She had opted to leave Nick a note at his desk to let him know she would see him when he got in, but it still felt wrong to be in the apartment without him. Still, her day had left her feeling uneasy, and gaining a little extra time to mull over her thoughts was ideal. In doing so, she had managed to get a better hold of her concerns. Initially, she guessed them to be largely due to Nick's exclusion on their training and briefings, but by the time she had gotten home, she realized it had been more attributable to the ZBI rabbit's overly-friendly demeanor. She had known far more forward bucks in the burrow growing up, but he had made it a point to be within arm's reach at all times. It was something she was going to have to put a stop to before Nick rejoined the team. Nick was not overly jealous, but their relationship was new enough she did not want to test his limits.

Shaking off the sense of oddness about her new home and the frustrations with her day, Judy tried to get back to her normal routine. Not having Nick standing there being sarcastic made it feel almost too easy, and within half an hour she had their laundry folded with two small dishes cooking in the oven—both of which were normally Nick's chores when he got home, largely because she hated handling the bug-based protein patties Nick liked far better than her vegetable meals. The one time she had cooked actual chicken at Nick's mother's urging, Judy had felt ill for hours, and it had somehow made even the bug patties feel a bit too alive for her tastes.

Judy soon found herself standing in the front room, watching the clock. Though it made her feel bad, she rushed to the bedroom and double-checked her phone to be sure she had not missed a call from Nick or the hospital. It was morbid to think that way, but they had been through a lot the last month and with him out of sight, she worried about him thinking he was slyer than he was. As she set the phone back on her nightstand, Judy heard Nick's footsteps in the hall and hurried back to the main room to greet him.

Bouncing on her toes eagerly, Judy felt her enthusiasm collapse as Nick opened the door, already grumbling. He stomped into the apartment, closed the door, kissed her on the cheek, and marched to the bedroom to change, muttering the whole way.

"Rough day?" she asked, following a few steps behind as Nick reached the bedroom and began tugging at his tie. When he looked too frustrated to actually deal with the knot, Judy slapped at his paws until he let her remove it, lest he end up tearing at it with his claws out of frustration. "I take it you and Agent Snow did not hit it off?"

"She's an arrogant and pushy bitch," Nick said, then frowned even more deeply as he finally turned his attention to Judy. "I'm sorry for the language. No, it didn't go well. Apparently my instincts for criminal behavior suck, my driving needs work, my body language is subpar, and I need to iron my uniform more thoroughly. I'm sure there's a few hundred other things I do wrong, but those are the ones that come to mind. Incidentally, Spetz and Cannus excel at all of those things."

Judy finished untangling Nick's tie and set to work unbuttoning his shirt, which had its intended effect, calming him down instantly. "Your instincts are fine. Your driving does need work. You've mentioned that yourself. You were a con-artist for years, so I doubt your body language needs any real changes. Your shirt was fine, but your pants needed ironing, since you refuse to ever iron them."

"I sit on them all day, Fluff. Ironing them is doomed to failure."

Judy smiled and tugged Nick's shirt off, tossing it into the laundry basket. "It's only for a few days and those two will be gone again. You've put up with worse company. On the upside, I don't need to worry about you running off with the newest vixen in your life."

Snorting, Nick hugged her, and took a steadying breath. "No, you really don't need to worry. She certainly didn't tell me they were leaving anytime soon. I take it Junior Agent Zippy gave you more information about their plans?"

"Funny thing, Nick." Judy looked up at him, batting her eyelashes and grinning. "Being nice and playing along gets you far better results. The junior agent—who has not yet picked his cover name, since he just finished training last week—was happy to tell the rest of us the plan. They want to scour the city for anyone Rolen left behind, and we know the city's inner-workings better than the ZBI. I might even be able to get them to let you join me on my first joint task tomorrow, if you behave yourself."

"You hate it when I behave myself," he said, tickling the base of her ear with his fingertip. "Besides, who's misbehaving? I wasn't the one undressing you as I walked in the door."

Doing her best to look innocent, Judy backed away and put a paw to her chest. "That's misbehaving? Well, as your better half, I guess I need to stop doing that. Regulations, officer. Can't have the ZPD's finest causing trouble, or encouraging a grumpy fox."

Nick watched her suspiciously, the gleam in his eyes belying the scowl he still kept fixed on his muzzle. "Okay, maybe it's not misbehaving for a bunny, but we foxes are more restrained in our—"

Judy burst out laughing without meaning to, and quickly covered her mouth as Nick's eyes went wide.

"Are you…you're saying I have no restraint?" Nick asked, ears and tail drooping. Judy knew that act too well to fall for it.

"I'm saying you're a troublemaker, even at home."

"Oh. I see." Nick put both paws on his hips, and looked past Judy at the front room. "I guess I should stop joking around and cause some trouble, if that's my job here."

Judy braced herself, knowing where this was going. She had instigated this particular game several days prior and Nick seemed entirely unable to resist playing along. To say that the game sort of wrote itself was probably speciesist in some way, but Judy did not really care. The banter was always different, but the end result was the same. Any second—

Nick leapt into motion, gaining speed far quicker than Judy could from a standstill. She had known it was coming, so she took off running, cutting the corner to the hall sharper than he could. They ran out into the main room and Judy leapt sideways, using the couch to bounce out of Nick's reach as he lunged for her. They made a full circuit around the room with Nick losing ground to Judy's more nimble use of the furniture, but in the small apartment she had only so many places she could run.

Taking off on all fours back down the hall, Judy almost made it to the kitchen before Nick closed the gap and tackled her, rolling her onto her back on the floor outside the bedroom. He was careful not to fully land on her, though he planted both front paws on her shoulders to keep her from getting away again as they both lay there, panting.

"Fox wins again," he said, grinning as he nuzzled her cheek. "I think we need a bigger home if we're going to keep playing that game. Gotta give the cute little bunny a chance to get away."

"Who said I wanted to?" Judy answered, licking his nose playfully. "I'm not sure you fully understand the purpose of this game, Nick."

"I understand perf—is something burning?"

Judy squeaked and kicked Nick off of her, sending him tumbling. Running on all fours, she raced into the kitchen and frantically pulled on oven mitts. Even without opening the oven, she knew the turnip dish was going to taste a little burned. The mock-meat pie for Nick smelled as bad as ever to her, but she guessed it was equally singed. She yanked both out of the oven as fast as she could, putting the steaming dishes on the stovetop to cool.

A second later, the apartment's smoke alarm went off and Judy's shoulders and ears dropped like a lead weight as she stared at the blackened edges of both meals. Somewhere behind her, Nick had already opened a window and had begun waving towels at the smoke detector to quiet it down.

"I'm sorry, Nick," she said softly, shaking her head as she poked the crispy edge of the turnips. "I thought I was paying attention…"

Once the smoke detector had gone silent, Nick wandered into the kitchen and put his arms around her. "No harm done, Fluff. It'll still be amazing. Years living alone, you'd be amazed the things I did to food."

"No, Nick, it's really burned." Judy knew tears were coming, but she fought for all she was worth. The last thing she wanted after Nick had a hard day was to incinerate dinner.

Reaching past her, Nick picked off a chunk of the less-charred section of food and tasted it. "Tastes wonderful. Even got rid of the faint bug aftertaste. You worry too much. Go relax. I'll get things finished up and bring them out to the couch.

Judy grumbled a little, but kissed Nick's cheek as she slipped out of his arms. She got as far as the doorway when she realized the dish he had sampled had not been the bug protein pie—he had tried the turnips. He was a better liar than she gave him credit for when he set his mind to it, or things were burned worse than she had thought. Either way, he was being sweet and she appreciated it.

Making her way back to the front room, Judy tried to decide what to do. The whole point of preparing things before Nick got home was to spare him having to do chores he got grumpy about on his best days. Once he got done cheering her up, he was likely going to be headed right back to being upset about Agent Snow. Judy needed something to cheer him up and burned food was not going to cut it.

By the time Nick emerged from the kitchen carrying two steaming plates—neither of which Judy could fully identify—she had arranged a blanket on the couch for them, gotten herself under it, had the television on, and a movie queued up.

Nick hurried over and started to offer her one plate, reversed them, and then winced and reversed them again. "I think I got that right. Don't tell me you're up for bad movies again? Thought we'd moved on to other hobbies. Shouldn't we be going to some store that sells books so we can find something sufficiently dirty?"

Grinning up at him as he slid under the blanket, Judy hit Play on the remote. The few seconds it took for the movie to start gave her a chance to eye her food skeptically without Nick noticing.

"Star Warthog's Holiday Special?" he asked, nearly dropping his plate on her lap. "That's the worst movie I've ever seen. I swore I'd never make you watch that sober. They just make ape noises for the first twenty minutes. Finnick made me watch it on a bet. Don't get me wrong, I liked it, but still."

Judy nibbled some of her food and winced. Either the turnips were burned beyond recognition or she was eating bugs. Neither was okay. Reluctantly, she slid the plate over onto the microwave where Nick would forget about it. She forced herself to ignore that she was still hungry, and curled up against his chest.

"I…I really don't think I can watch this sober, Fluff," Nick admitted less than thirty seconds into the movie. He leaned over her and put his own plate onto the microwave, still mostly-full. "Have you actually seen this thing? This might actually be worse than my work day."

"Nope, I haven't," she admitted. That was her cue and she dug around under the blankets for what she had hidden in the cushions of the couch. "How bad could it be?"

"This movie could actually cause brain damage. Finnick watched the whole thing sober on a dare. Just look at how he turned out. I don't think he sobered up for almost a month."

"So you would say this is the worst movie ever?"

Nick's nose settled between her ears, hinting he was probably staring at her. "Yes. Why?"

Raising her right paw, Judy showed Nick the romance novel he had read the night before. "Worst movie ever. Page eighty-six."

Jumping a little, Nick grabbed the book and started paging through it. "Huh. Sure enough. Worst movie ever is a perfect excuse for romance. If we're going by the story, we would also need—"

Judy sat up and lifted her other paw out from under the blanket so Nick could see the bottle of scotch she had found under the couch when the movers had swapped the old one out.

"Did you just pull scotch out of thin air? I'll admit I'm a little turned on now," Nick said, his attention back on the book. "That's all the story says this requires. I might have been half asleep, but I swear you said—"

"It's your birthday, right?" she asked, grinning up at him. "If you want to argue, I'll be happy to put the book away until next year."

Nick laughed and set aside the book before taking the bottle from Judy, placing it on the floor nearby. "I don't want you to think I don't appreciate this, but can I admit to something without you laughing?"

Rolling onto her knees, Judy stared up at Nick, more than a little worried. "Yes?"

"After a day of being angry at someone and not having you around to talk me down, I really would rather just curl up and…you know…cuddle. Like, actually cuddle."

Judy smirked at him, but gave him a firm hug. "I'll let you win just this once, Slick."

Pulling her close, Nick whispered near her ear, "Best partner ever."

Winter of the Bear, Chapter 1.4 – Brief Respite

August 11th, Thursday – Tundratown

"You can stop pretending like this isn't punishment," Nick grumbled, wiggling his toes to try and keep some feeling in them. He had been standing in snow up to his ankles for nearly an hour, and there was no indication things would change soon. Even with his heavy ZPD jacket on, he could not feel his ears and tail anymore. "Just have Bogo write me up or something."

Spetz and Cannus stood to either side of Nick, both shivering in the chill wind that whipped down from the walls of the district. They both turned angry looks from Snow to Nick.

Leaning close, Officer Cannus whispered, "If we're being punished because of you, during the next precinct boxing match, I will hurt you. I'm willing to risk Hopps's wrath. She might beat me senseless, but you're going down first."

Stopping near the front door of the fourth boarded-up building they had passed since leaving their cruiser, Agent Snow turned and stared at Nick in confusion for a moment, blinking and twitching her whiskers with her tail wagging. "Sorry, I forgot you were here, Wilde. You should contribute more to this if you expect me to release you to regular duties anytime soon."

"Contribute?" Nick gestured vaguely at the building, while pushing Cannus away with his other paw. "It's abandoned. The last few were abandoned. That's all I know. You haven't told me anything since we left the precinct. I'm assuming this has something to do with the case, but I have no idea how. The attack was in Podunk, not Tundratown. The bomber died and wasn't even from Zootopia. Nothing about what happened leads me here."

Agent Snow straightened and slid her paws into her pockets. Unlike Nick and the other two officers, she seemed entirely relaxed in the bitter winds. "You are being stupid, officer. Try harder or we will be out here all day. For now, let the professionals do their jobs. Cannus? Any scents in the area?"

Carl Cannus stepped forward and sniffed, the same way he had at the last few buildings. "Nothing again. No one but us has been around here in a while."

Without prompting, Spetz knelt in the snow and looked around. "The snow pack is undisturbed. There's no sign the snow has filled back in over any prints. The only mammal bumbling around leaving an obvious trail is Wilde."

"That was helpful," Snow told the two officers, smiling graciously. "Unlike Wilde, you're both pulling your weight here."

Nick kept his attention on Snow, trying to ignore the smug posturing by the others. "Immensely encouraging. Thanks. When my tail falls off, I'll send Judy your way for an explanation. Good luck with that."

"Officer Wilde, what I'm trying to say is that you're looking at this all wrong." Snow stopped where she was and looked around at the buildings nearest them. "What can you tell me about all of these structures?"

"They're all abandoned. And cold. Probably still warmer on the inside than where we're standing."

"You're stating the obvious. What makes these ones different from others in the district? Your fellow officers have given you clues."

Nick growled and studied each building nearby. They were boarded up, and far smaller than most modern structures in the city. Given the population, small buildings were somewhat rare, as were houses for individual families. "Old? Probably why they're abandoned. I'm actually surprised they weren't torn down and rebuilt as condos or apartment complexes."

Nodding, Snow slid her glasses out toward the end of her nose and looked down her muzzle at him. "What else?"

The stone exteriors of the buildings gave Nick very little to go on. He started to focus in on the stone itself—not a common construction material, at least in Tundratown given how poorly it held temperatures—but then realized that he could see security glass behind all of the boarded windows. More importantly, if no one had come by in days, they were not only abandoned, they were also isolated for some reason.

"The boards are for show," he noted, mostly ignoring the smirk Snow gave him. "These buildings aren't homes. They're supposed to look abandoned, but someone wants them kept very secure. Guessing the front doors are reinforced."

"Much better." Snow walked up the path to the nearest building's door and kicked it. The solid thump confirmed Nick's suspicion. Both Spetz and Cannus stood up straight, giving the structure a fresh look. "I do find it interesting that you noticed all the subtle details, and yet were oblivious to the ones that a child would see. Tell me, are you the sort to remember your partner's favorite color, movie, and music, while entirely forgetting her birthday? You may be the worst excuse for a fox I've met, given your oversights. How did you survive as a kit, let alone a hustler?"

Nick took a deep breath to calm himself, but mostly just managed to freeze his lungs. Coughing, he stomped one hind paw and threw up his arms. "I've had it! All you do is insult me! What is your problem, Snow? Don't like the ZPD? Don't like your fellow foxes? Do I look like one of your exes? Why not bring along a different punching bag for a day?"

Spetz began jabbing Nick in the shoulder, but he was in no mood to pay attention.

A slow smile spread across Agent Snow's face. "I wondered how long that would take. After your behavior yesterday morning in the bullpen, I'd guessed you were one to criticize others, with no ability to deal with it yourself. If you are ready to act like a professional, I will moderate my commentary. If not, I can assure you I can keep this up for days before I grow tired of it."

"Fine," Nick said, grumbling as he put his paws back in his pockets. He shot Spetz a sharp glare and the leopard let his paw drop. "I'll stop harassing you in the bullpen and try to be nicer to you in general."

"My partner, too, Wilde."

Nick had hoped Snow would not catch that. "I draw my line in the sand at being nice to someone without a name. When he picks his superhero name, I'll try."

Snow's eyes narrowed. "I understand your concerns, Wilde, but that is the last time I want to hear you referring to our ZBI aliases as 'superhero names'. We have aliases to protect family or friends. You, of all mammals, should understand after Rolen went after your family. Had you been under an assumed name, your mother would have been far harder to track down."

The fight went out of Nick instantly and his shoulders sank. "Okay. Now I get it. I just don't know how to talk to you two without first names."

"That's rather the point," she explained, coming back down the steps as she spoke. "We're not supposed to be friends with anyone. We're supposed to do our jobs. I've heard the nicknames you give others. It's endearing, but also means if they die, you will feel that loss of attachment clearly. The ZBI doesn't have that option. We're doing the jobs the ZPD won't. No first names, no nicknames, no friends. My partner is actually my partner unlike you and yours, though that would be allowed, so long as it did not compromise our work. You should listen to how officers Spetz and Cannus talk to each other. Professional. Succinct. Emotionless. Learn to be like them, and I would have far less to use against you."

Cannus and Spetz exchanged glances and shrugged.

Sighing, Nick asked, "And you think my involvement with Carr…um…Judy compromises my work?"

"You tell me, officer." Snow crossed her arms and cocked her head, watching him. "All morning, you've been wondering where she is and what she's doing, instead of trying to figure out why we are going building to building. Now that you are paying attention, can you tell me what all these buildings have in common, and possibly why we are looking at them, or do I need to bring her into the conversation more often to keep you on task?"

Nick forced himself to concentrate and put aside his annoyance at what still felt like a waste of a day. "All the buildings were on one side of the district."

"Correct."

"The two I can see from here both have security glass and solid doors. I'm guessing the others do, too."

"Also correct."

"All of them are…they're all against the district wall." Nick stopped and looked along the row of buildings, not waiting for Snow to confirm his statement. They were all set with their backs built flat against the district wall, towering high overhead. When he leaned back, he could see clouds of snow rushing past overhead from the wall's cooling system. "All of them are between the vents. None are on a wall without venting. There's no similar buildings anywhere on the other walls that I can remember."

"Now, you're thinking about this properly, Wilde. Why would there be secure doors at the base of the wall?"

Scrunching up his muzzle, Nick tried to reason his way through things. He turned to face the west, following the line of the district's southern wall. Glancing back east on the south wall, he spotted a large city building several blocks away that provided service access to the wall. "Storage maybe? The weather systems should be accessible elsewhere. The only other thing I've ever heard of that might explain it—" Nick glanced over at Snow and she actually smiled slightly. "—was Rolen claiming the walls had other purposes long ago."

"Most of the entrances were closed and sealed," she answered, tilting her head toward the building they still stood in front of. "We were looking for the correct one. In case of war, every district maintains one entrance, though the last few mayors have done a fine job of losing the paperwork on which entrance it might be. Lionheart knew the general area, but not which building. I had to listen to that imbecile's blathering for nearly two hours to even narrow down where in the district the entrance might be."

Clearing his throat to draw attention, Spetz nodded toward the stone building. "You're saying this dates back to the last war? That's generations ago."

Snow shrugged. "I said no such thing. If you want to infer that, the ZBI has no reason to correct you."

"Why Tundratown?" Nick asked. "Couldn't we have gone to another district?"

"Absolutely." Snow padded up to the door again and looked back at him. "I prefer the weather here. Also, yes, I was punishing you, so I dispatched agents to the other districts. The other officers were willing to accept whatever training I offered. You would take coming here personally, which was my goal. Are you coming?"

Nick stayed where he was until Snow produced a key from her lightweight jacket and unlocked the door. He maintained a low growl all the way to the door, following her into the dark room beyond. Spetz and Cannus trailed a few steps behind.

"Cover your eyes," Snow warned Nick, though he had trouble picking out where in the room she might be.

"Why do I need to—?"

Lights came on in the room with a flash, blinding Nick and making him wish he trusted others enough to just do what they said the first time. He blinked rapidly, soon making out faint shapes around him, including a white blur he guessed was Agent Snow. The other two officers were already past him and exploring the room.

"Old lights," Snow said, walking around piles of boxes. "The way they flare tends to blind nocturnal mammals. We used to use them to surprise recruits during training."

"What kind of training is improved by being blinded?" Nick still could not quite make out details, but his eyes had adjusted enough that he could navigate through the room after Snow.

"Martial skills. Turn on the lights and then the recruit has to defend themselves. By that point, most of them can at least make a show of fighting back. Only about half are unconscious before their vision clears. Cannus seems to be handling it just fine. If I were recruiting you, I would have had a few larger mammals waiting to ambush you after you failed to follow my directions. Thankfully, you are not my problem."

Nick grumbled and rubbed at the bridge of his nose as he cautiously followed the others. "You're messing with me. Now that I know you do things like that, I know you're screwing around. No one would train recruits that way."

Agent Snow looked over her shoulder at him and smiled, wagging her tail as she made her way to the back wall. "It's not much farther."

"Do they train ZBI agents to be evasive, or did that come naturally?"

"A little of both." Snow stopped at a metal door set into the stone rear wall of the building. "I'm assuming you were not implying I'm evasive or manipulative simply because I'm a fox?"

"Nick is, but that's because he's an ass," Cannus added, before shifting his attention to the walls of the room when Nick glanced his way.

"All mammals have their talents, even if Judy keeps reminding me we can be more than what we were born as. Sly fox isn't just a nickname, it's—" Nick lost his train of thought as Snow kicked a small box almost under his foot, which he had to avoid tripping over. "What gives?"

"Most of the time when someone begins bragging about their slyness, they aren't paying attention to anything but themselves." Snow began testing several keys on a ring in the door lock. "You bragged, so I decided to see if you were going to look like an idiot when you fell. Congratulations on passing the most basic test I could think up."

Nick stopped where he was and glowered at the grinning wolf and leopard with them. "Laugh it up, you two. That pain in the tail is training the two of you. I'm just the escort and you see how she treats me. You're both doomed."

Snow smirked as the door lock clicked. "I have different training in mind for those two, as they actually follow orders. I'm doing Chief Bogo a favor by trying to get you in line, Wilde. Hopps might even thank me for house training you."

"That's your job when you're not investigating bombings? Training recruits and pissing off the more rebellious?"

"Who said that was part of my job?" Snow asked, putting away her keys. Reaching into the room beyond the door, she flicked a switch and lights began to flicker in what appeared to be the bottom of a staircase. Without waiting for Nick, she headed for the stairs as she continued. "We have more agents on this than the two you've met. Bomb experts are working on the scene itself. Profilers are combing through the records of anyone who might have helped set this up. Trainers are working with Fangmeyer and Delgato. It's all part of our standard procedures."

Elbowing Nick, Cannus whispered, "Standard procedures. You wouldn't understand."

"Bite me," Nick snapped back, barely keeping his temper under control. "Don't encourage her."

"Not my job to bite you," Cannus answered, before hurrying after Snow.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Nick called after the wolf.

"He's saying he's no bunny, and probably too tall for your tastes." Spetz gave no hint of humor in his tone, making the remark that much more annoying for Nick.

Sighing, Nick walked to the stairs and looked up, seeing a spiraling staircase that went up a hundred feet or more before passing the last lights. "We're not even looking for the culprit? Also, you said it wasn't much farther. Is anything you tell me the truth?"

Snow stopped at the first turn in the staircase and watched Nick emotionlessly until he began climbing, while Cannus stopped beside her. "Not much farther to the stairs. Much farther to where we're going. And no, we're not looking for a criminal. If we find one, wonderful, but that is not our job. Our task is to find out how this was done and to use that information to form a better plan of action for the future. Your specific task is to convince me that the ZPD is not incompetent. So far these two and even your partner have done a far better job at that. You should be careful. You could wind up doing paperwork for the rest of your career."

Nick rolled his eyes and continued marching up the steps after Snow, with Spetz right behind him. "Judy's the best there is. I'm not even going to pretend that I think I can outdo her on anything other than cards and drinking."

"That's entirely not what I meant, Wilde. You should be careful in general."

Nick managed to keep his mouth shut for another few circuits around the staircase, before he had to ask. "I should be careful of what? That she'll show me up at the annual potluck? That she'll actually learn how I cheat at cards—not that I cheat at cards, just hypothetically—and beat me? She's certainly not going to drink me under the table anytime soon, unless my liver finally calls it quits."

Coming to a stop above him, Snow leaned over the rail of the stairs to look down at Nick. She waved Cannus past her, and he soon vanished around the next turn in the staircase. "You are a wonderfully naive mammal, Wilde. Let me ask you this: how many does has my partner taken home since he started on the job last month?"

"Who cares?" Nick asked in reply. "A buck with no name to give? I'd be kind if I said one. No one falls for a nervous bunny with fake stripes and no name."

"Eleven," Snow said firmly, and Nick could not see any hint that she was lying. "Don't ask me how he does it, but I've worked with two other bunnies in my career. Both were the same. How long do you think this will really last for you?"

Nick swallowed hard. This was not something he really wanted to think about, especially with Judy assigned to work with the junior agent. "Don't think I haven't worried. I trust her, though. She says she loves me, and I know I love her. We're not too serious yet, so it doesn't matter. Do we really need to talk about this?"

"No, we don't need to." Snow leaned fully on the rail and shook her head slightly. "You have a career ahead of you, Wilde. I see it getting sidelined the moment she—how shall I put this—makes a poor decision. We are not bunnies, and they are not foxes. There are differences we can't entirely make up for with love alone."

Beside him, Spetz said softly, "She's not entirely wrong. I dated outside my species once. Didn't end well."

"Shut it," Nick snapped at Spetz, before returning his attention to Snow. "I really don't think this is appropriate work talk, Agent. Can we get back to work?"

Snow did not appear to even consider letting the topic drop. "This is important. We foxes may not have the best reputation, but I do worry that you're putting yourself in a position—"

"Stop!" Nick said firmly, and to his surprise Snow's jaw snapped shut. Spetz went rigid, as though ready to restrain one of them, if needed. "This is none of your business at all. I don't even know why you're being so insistent about telling me what you think. So far, I'm assuming it's because you're a raging bitch, but I'll reserve judgement. Judy and I are fine. I trust her with Agent Zippy, and anyone else she's training with."

"Does that trust go both ways?"

"Yes. We trust each other."

Snow began walking slowly down the steps toward Nick. "I may have misjudged, and if so, I am sorry."

"It's fine," Nick lied, shivering a little at the implications Snow had all too clearly impressed on him. The thoughts were not new, but having a stranger voice them made Nick's own worries feel that much more valid. "We had a rough couple months and I'm a bit touchy about the topic. We're good. Nothing to worry about, and it will not alter my work performance. I don't expect others to really understand."

Walking up to him, Snow stopped a little closer than Nick was entirely comfortable with. To his surprise, she smelled faintly of some flowery perfume—lavender mixed with something else. He barely had a chance to think about the scent before Agent Snow gave him an abrupt hug that startled him. Even more disturbing, she made a point of rubbing her neck against his, instantly putting him on-guard.

Nick looked to his left and found that Spetz's usual almost sleepy expression had broken and the leopard stared at Snow and Nick with wide eyes.

"I do like to check the confidence of those I work with," Snow explained, stepping away and adjusting her glasses. "I'm thrilled there is no risk to your work performance if your partner smells you were with a vixen. That would be awkward if she did have an issue with it."

Nick tried to quickly dismiss the comments. "That actually would probably… You did not just… Dammit! What is your problem? You knew about Silvia, didn't you?"

"The agency knows a lot more than you think about both of you, Wilde. Perhaps we should get moving. You'll want enough time to clean up at the precinct before going home tonight. A touch of perfume is easy enough to cover up. I look forward to observing both of you tomorrow to see how this pans out. My fellow agent—Zippy, I believe you called him—placed a wager on how much trouble a simple hug might cause. I gave you the benefit of the doubt and assured him I would need to sleep with you to cause lasting issues."

Openly snarling—something not only considered beneath most mammals, but outright illegal when done in public—Nick grabbed Snow by the arm, stopping her as she began ascending the stairs again. "Do not threaten Judy or me. Are we clear?"

Spetz lunged, ready to take Nick to the floor, but Snow raised one paw and halted him.

Agent Snow very deliberately lowered her gaze to her arm, and then back to Nick's face. "I'm glad to see you standing up for yourself, officer, but if you don't remove your paw right now, I'll remove it myself. I only give one warning. The next time you touch me without invitation, we will be studying exactly how deficient the ZPD's paw-to-paw combat training is."

"You hugged me without my invitation. Maybe I'm done playing the little ZBI games."

Twisting sharply, Snow was out of Nick's grip and had his arm locked behind his back before he could react. "I did warn you, Wilde. We have work to do. I would rather not waste the day sending you back to the hospital, and the paperwork would be bothersome. Are we quite finished yet?"

Nick strained to pull his arm free, but Snow had a solid grip on him. Despite being nearly a full head shorter, there was no way to move that would free him without dislocating his shoulder. The only way he could find to free himself would be to sweep her legs, but that would only escalate things far past what was necessary. One or two days more and he could be rid of her. He had more concerns about what Spetz might say later than what Snow would do.

"We're finished," he said, grumbling as she released him. Without another word, Snow began climbing the stairs again and Nick had little choice left but to follow.

"What was that about?" Spetz asked, once they had fallen in behind Snow and Cannus. "I haven't even been with the precinct long and I know that wasn't you."

Nick snorted and shook his head. "She's a button-pusher. After all the drama with Rolen and my ex, Silvia, she knew what would make me afraid."

"What Snow says doesn't change anything about you and Judy."

Nick knew he was supposed to keep discussions of their relationship far from his coworkers, but there was little harm left in it after Snow's meddling. "I know. Trust me, I know. That doesn't make me worry any less. I've got half the city still sending Judy and I letters telling us that we're disgusting and that we're the reason morality's falling apart these days. We're coming up on a hundred church flyers, inviting us to come back to faith."

"We both know you aren't to blame for anything, either." Spetz grabbed Nick's arm and slowed him. "You two are a great couple, Wilde. After what happened at Mister Big's place, Officer Cannus and I will be among the first to speak up for you. Don't forget that. We both saw the love between you two, and how you were willing to sacrifice to protect her, even from yourself."

"I don't need cheerleaders, but I do appreciate it."

"Then what do you need to not let Snow get to you?"

Nick looked up the staircase, catching a glimpse of Snow's white paw on the handrail almost two floors above them. "I need confidence that I'm not going to lose Judy for a stupid reason. I don't have that yet. It'll take time. We're just not there yet."

"If anything comes of Snow's gimmicks, I'll happily talk to Hopps for you," offered Spetz, giving him a rare smile. "I saw everything. Hopps is smart enough to see through this. You have witnesses to vouch for you."

"Thanks. It means a lot."

"Good. You owe me a beer."

They continued up into the wall for another twenty minutes in silence, until Snow and Cannus stopped at another door like the one at the base of the staircase. The stairs kept going, though the lights ended twenty feet past where they were, making Nick wonder what more lay beyond.

"This should be mostly historical items that you are required to keep quiet about. Disclosure of anything seen here is a criminal offense," Snow warned them, her paw on the door handle. "Given that the outer door was still locked, I doubt we'll find anything related to the case, but we must explore every option. Look for anything out of place."

Nick nodded and waited as Agent Snow found the correct key and unlocked the door. As it swung open, she led the way, drawing a small handgun from her jacket.

Walking after her with the other ZPD officers, Nick was decidedly unimpressed with the first glimpse of the room, illuminated by several dim bulbs. He had expected some grand secret—especially after Rolen's claims—but found himself entering a huge room filled with wooden boxes, some as small as his paw and others large enough he could have fit his couch inside. Some had rotted from the moisture leaking through the stone walls, though most were still intact.

Once everyone was inside, Spetz and Cannus split off to search one part of the room, while Snow wandered off another direction. That left Nick alone, which suited him, as he was not even part of the investigation.

Nick slid his paws into his pockets and began meandering around, while Snow raced from one row of boxes to the next. The first few boxes he passed were unmarked, leading him to wonder if they were in the wrong place. Turning into the next row, he stopped as he came upon a huge box that had partially-broken, revealing a cannon large enough to fire a rhino.

"He wasn't lying?" Nick asked, blinking as he began to reevaluate the other boxes. "The walls were for defense during a war? The city really has been hiding this?"

Snow stopped her quick darting around the room, and moved to one of the long walls. Touching a faint outline where the stones did not quite match, she nodded. "The cannons could be wheeled into position on either side from here. Attackers might be able to breach one of these stations, but each was designed to be independent of the others. Rolen was telling the absolute truth, tainted with his viewpoints—the same way he does almost everything. Enough truth that any investigation will prove him correct. Knowing what I do about him, he likely wanted you to go to the media with his claims."

On the far side of the room, Nick could see both Cannus and Spetz on their tiptoes, trying to overhear the discussion. Spetz had heard Rolen's claims first-paw and likely shared them with Cannus. They knew the stories.

"Attackers?" Nick picked up a rifle near the cannon that appeared to be of a fairly modern design. When he turned it over in his paws, he found rust and mold on it, hinting at it being older than he would have guessed. "You mean predators. Our ancestors."

"Mine, not yours," Snow corrected, going back to her search more slowly. "Your ancestors from this continent lived a little south of the island that became Zootopia. I've checked your lineage, and likely they were slaves helping to build the walls, or were traitors to the predator clans of the extreme south. No one was keeping your family out. They were kept in."

"My lineage?" he asked, fur standing on end. "I don't even know my grandparents. How do you know anything about me?"

"Because I can read more than comic books." Snow picked up a broken piece of a crate, shaking her head, before tossing it aside. "Wildes have been here for twenty-three generations. Four times, your family teetered on the edge of extinction, usually because someone got themselves executed for theft or other bad behavior. Your relationship with Hopps marks the fifth time the Wildes might vanish."

"I don't actually care about maintaining my family name. I'd rather be with the bunny I love than worry about having kits, especially after the way my father left us."

Snow's searching stopped sharply. "Yes. I read about your father's…departure. I'm sorry, Wilde. Would you like to know more about Hopps' family history, rather than your own?"

"Probably generations of over-achievers."

"A few. If we dig deep enough around this room, we may find the old family mark on some of these relics. I'd like to tell her the details, if given the chance, as the truth about history seems sorely lacking around the city."

Nick looked down at one of the crates, which had a label reading only, "collars." Wincing, he asked, "It was all true? Enslavement of the predators by prey?"

Snow looked to have a brief internal debate, before shrugging. "Yes and no. Your ancestors were likely slave labor, but they had tried to enslave the prey first. There was a push during a particular hard few seasons to turn prey species into a renewable food source, the way we now do with insects. The prey were protecting themselves and forcing the different species to work together at the same time. It would have been awful for us back then, but it was the practical direction for things. They made the only choice they could."

Nick walked past the cannon toward a row of smaller boxes, most of which were intact. After checking the first few and finding them filled with what appeared to be bullet casings, he turned his attention back to Snow. "What about your ancestors?"

"We worked with larger species and we did not fail to enslave the prey," she said without looking up. "Rolen's ancestors and mine came from the same region, if you trace things back far enough. The original warlords came to power because they found a place in the war efforts for every species."

"The extreme south? Somehow that doesn't seem right for arctic foxes."

Snow smirked and nodded. "Not a lot of prey farther north than Zootopia. When prey moved south, so did we. Everyone evolved to survive, long before our evolution led to civilization. First that was through society's growth and the development of speech and cities. Later, we abandoned the ways of the animals we came from. It doesn't mean things were ideal."

Nick stopped at the end of the room, where an entire pile of boxes had tipped over, spilling cannonballs onto the floor. Shaking his head, he tried to figure out what to even search for. "When did your family move to this region?"

"They didn't," she replied immediately. "Without explaining too much, those of my extended family who are alive are still surviving in the old Ursian lands. It's why I know what we are up against."

Nick blinked a few times in surprise. "I'm sorry."

Snow straightened so she was visible over the boxes, and gave him a confused stare. "For what?"

"What you went through. Having met Rolen, I know how bad that had to be. I've heard his father was worse."

"No, you don't know." Snow wandered back around several rows of boxes toward him. "For your sake, I hope you won't. Now, did you find anything odd?"

Nick shook his head and looked back at the fallen boxes. He almost turned away, but stopped as he realized that the cannonballs were spread in a wide arc from the center stack of the boxes—where none had toppled. Chips in the stone floor hinted the metal balls had come down hard, but that would mean there should be a fallen crate. "Actually, yes. This doesn't look right."

Stepping carefully between the cannonballs, Nick soon reached the boxes along the wall. He lifted the lid of one of the intact ones and found that it was filled with bound journals, rather than weapons. Checking the next box, there was nothing inside, though it still smelled of paper.

"What is it?" Snow asked as she reached his side.

"One box full of books and another empty near it." Nick eyed the nearby stacks of boxes, but all were either full of some form of mortar shell, or broken open. "Why would there be books in here, when everything else is a weapon for a war that's long since finished?"

"Research is as much a part of war as the weapons are," she explained, pulling one of the books out of the box. Opening it, she showed him a diagram of some form of mobile cannon platform. "This kind of research was outlawed generations ago. Most of our weapons these days are very limited, and are little more than refined versions of what they built then. When you have every rabbit and mouse in the region studying how to make better killing machines, and a new generation of them born every few months, can you imagine how quickly the science of war advanced in that time?"

"That kind of work doesn't just disappear, Snow. If you're claiming they had advanced weapons a couple hundred years ago…"

"Let me put it this way, officer. The climate regulation systems we use now were designed and built two hundred years ago as the winding-down of the war efforts. A hundred years of every short-generational prey doing research advanced the world more than the previous thousand years combined. The things in these books is carefully regulated. Anything truly dangerous should have already been removed, but if they found something overlooked, it could explain the bombing."

"We have something!" called out Cannus, holding up an empty box on the far side of the room. "This area's crates all have 'explosives' marked on them. This one is empty."

Snow groaned and took a deep breath. "That's actually good news. They used a weapon from here, rather than designing their own."

"Only if we know they won't eventually build one anyway." Nick knelt beside the boxes and studied the topple-pattern of the cannonballs. "Only if they had a way to get in and out. The doors were sealed. Wait—is the air fresh in here?"

"It is," Snow said, frowning. "It shouldn't be. There's no ventilation to the rooms when the windows are sealed, other than from the staircase vents."

Behind them, a single sharp bark drew attention to Cannus. The wolf stood beside a large hole in the side wall of the room. It had been concealed by a stack of boxes when they had entered. Spetz was already halfway into the hole, examining it.

"We have a very big problem," Snow told Nick, grabbing his arm and pulling him as she ran across the room.

By the time they reached the hole, Spetz was seated in a small open space beyond, his fur and uniform quickly being coated with snow that blew in from somewhere beyond him. The roar of winds made it almost impossible for Nick to hear anything.

"The hole is alongside one of the blowers. Hidden from the outside," Spetz yelled to them. He inched forward on paws and knees, then slid back toward them. "A rope ladder is coiled up here."

"Is this good news or bad?" Nick asked, looking to the agent for guidance. "We did find out something. That's good, right?"

"One of those journals lost could restart the wars and change the balance between the two sides," she said. "We may also have lost more explosives like the one used in Podunk."

Nick sighed and met Cannus's worried stare. "Okay, so losing even one journal is bad. How many did we lose?"

Snow took off her glasses and began rubbing at them with her coat's trim. "There are fifty journals in each box. The one you found had none left. Assuming none of them are at ZBI headquarters, this is exceptionally bad news. There are no backup copies of most of these books."

"On a scale of one being a stubbed toe and ten being Night Howlers for Bogo when I'm locked in a room with him?"

Agent Snow looked at Nick, and for once, appeared genuinely worried. "Fifteen, give or take. Podunk may have merely been a distraction. Nearly five million mammals in the city are in immediate danger and another hundred-million in the outlying regions. I cannot even put to words how bad this truly is."

Winter of the Bear, Chapter 1.5 – Brief Respite

August 11th, Thursday – Plainsland Plaza Shooting Range

"Keep your eye on the target," the agent insisted, though Judy had begun to tune him out. He had suggested the same thing for a dozen shots or more.

Once again, Judy hit the target within a finger's length of the center. The shot was not perfect, but would have dropped nearly any mammal in the city. She kept firing, thankful for the booming noise and the combination of earplugs and earmuffs to drown out the gunfire and the agent's suggestions.

"Better, but not as good as it could be," he told her, as soon as she ran out of bullets. "I think we can still see some improvement."

Judy rolled her eyes, thankful for the panels on either side that would keep him from seeing the motion. Leaning forward slightly, she could see Fangmeyer to her right and Delgato to her left. The three of them had been at the range for most of the day under the guise of having the ZBI agent help them work on their accuracy, though Judy had yet to see him even check in on the others.

Ignoring the agent at her back, Judy watched Fangmeyer with particular concern. Officer Markus Fangmeyer had once been the city's premier sniper on the SWAT team. Now, he struggled to hit the target, and his arm shook slightly after every shot. Two months prior, he had been shot in the shoulder by someone hired by Rolen Ursius to take out ZPD officers. Fangmeyer had been lucky, though the anger in his eyes told Judy he would have rather been killed than left in a crippled state. She had to hope his stubbornness would push him through, even if it took time.

Judy's thoughts scattered when the ZBI agent put his paw on hers, startling her. She had been through months of training at the academy, and her instructors had never touched her except in sparring. The simple contact was jarring and unexpected, though back in the burrow, she would never have been surprised by the far more touch-accepting bunnies. In Zootopia, mammals did not go around touching another without permission or a degree of friendship that did not exist between them.

"If I might," he told her, his ears up and alert, showing off the fake stripes that Judy had been struggling to ignore all morning. She opened her mouth to inform him that he should not, but he talked right over her. "You are close to becoming a great shot, but it will take some adjustment of your stance. Allow me to show you."

Judy had to work to keep from rolling her eyes again or huffing. She just wanted his paw off hers. It felt awkward and unprofessional, and was far from the first thing she wanted Nick seeing if he came back from patrol early. "Make it quick."

She expected the agent to take the handgun from her, but he took her paws in his and forced her to aim, with both arms around her in a clumsy hug. Trying to hold a gun with him alongside her was clumsy and instantly frustrating, and within seconds, Judy put the weapon down and pushed her way out of the booth.

"I need a break," she told him, backing away and holding up both paws. From the corner of her eyes, she saw that Fangmeyer was watching her. The older officer had begun acting too much like a big brother of late and this was probably more of that. "I'll be back."

The ZBI agent said something Judy ignored and went to check on Delgato, while Judy hastily made her way out of the firing range. She was frustrated from hours of trying to improve, while feeling nervous about the agent standing over her shoulder. Her nerves were all but shot after so long, and making it through the rest of the day was going to require some serious willpower.

Judy made her way to the locker room, where she sat down on a bench to shake off the overwhelming sense of annoyance. She felt jittery and wished Nick were there to give her a pep talk. Even at his worst, he could make her laugh or convince her to outdo him. Thankfully, just thinking about him brought a smile to her face and helped lighten her mood.

Rubbing her muzzle, Judy tried unsuccessfully to calm herself down. She could not even put words to why she was so upset. Something felt…off…about the day. At a guess, it was Nick's absence for the second straight day. She had gotten used to him always being around, and the training was getting to her.

Twenty-four years without him around, and I'm frazzled less than two days into him being occupied elsewhere, she told herself, laughing a little. It was silly and frustrating at the same time. I'll be a wreck if he ever has to go somewhere without me.

Digging in her locker, she found a wooden bite-stick and began nibbling at it to calm her nerves. It was a habit she had learned as a child, but one that many rabbits shared. Wearing down their teeth was a necessity, but the act of chewing was calming. It was, unfortunately, also a reminder that she had skipped lunch. Forcing herself to stay focused, she chewed on the stick a little longer, until she was certain that she would be calm enough to fire at the target for a few more hours.

With one last deep breath, Judy slid the bite-stick back into her duffel and ran her fingers through her neck fur. It was going to be a long day if she had to put up with the agent watching over her the whole time. Even longer if she could not figure out why he was bothering, when she was just an alternate for whatever mission the others were in on—something he had yet to fully explain.

Judy adjusted her ear muffs, and made her way back into the firing range. There, the agent was waiting for her, but Delgato and Fangmeyer were gone. That instantly made her fur and ears stand up in surprise. From where she stood, she could not quite see the ocelot who manned the range desk, but he would be the only other mammal around if her fellow officers were gone.

"They went to get lunch," the agent told her, his normally-soft voice raised so she could hear him with all the ear protection she wore. "Give it another try?"

Judy nodded and went to the table in her stall, picking up and loading her weapon. As soon as she raised it, the agent stepped in right behind her, so close that she could feel his presence without having to look back. She ignored him and leveled the handgun, lining up her shot.

"No, no, no," said the agent, reaching over her shoulder.

Judy froze as the male rabbit flattened his stomach to her back so that he could grab her right paw with his. Before she could decide how to react, his other arm wrapped around her waist and held her tightly against him.

"Steady, no matter the situation," he told her, though Judy was barely listening. "Don't let anything rattle you. Not me, not someone firing back at you, not anything. Like this."

Judy began to tremble as the agent aimed her paw for her. She kept telling herself she was overreacting, but her mind raced as he held her. It felt wrong, and every instinct began urging her to run or fight, but definitely not stay still.

Abruptly, the agent pushed her waist against the table, his hips grinding against her tail. So much for a misunderstanding. She started to push away, but the agent kept a firm grip on her arm and with his free arm around her waist, she could not move in any direction.

Panic began to set in, but Judy could not immediately make herself react as though the agent was a true threat. She froze, no matter how much her mind screamed at her to do something, as she had been trained. She had never been in a situation like that, and could not convince herself that she was not misinterpreting, even when he tightened his arm around her waist.

"Let go," Judy warned, realizing how small her voice sounded. Looking around the stall for anything, she realized how trapped she truly was. She could not even get her legs into a position to kick him. The barriers to protect other shooters now worked against her, preventing most sideways movement, while the bench kept her from moving forward. "I said, let go! Now!"

"No," the ZBI agent told her, leaning her forward slightly with his chest. "Until you can hit the bull's eye…"

Judy tried to pull away, but the buck actually pushed her back down. His left arm came off her waist and she felt his paw come down on her shoulder, and realized he was going to force her to bend fully over the table. All reservations vanished instantly, and she swung her left elbow back, throwing him off-balance. That gave her enough room to turn, and she brought her handgun up, the grip connecting with the agent's head before she managed to come fully around, aiming the weapon squarely at his chest as he stumbled back a few steps.

"Are we done here?" Judy demanded, barely breathing as she held her ground. Slowly, the agent raised both paws defensively and backed out of the stall. "Don't ever touch me again. Don't ever touch anyone like that again. You try it, and I will show you how accurate my shots can be."

The other rabbit looked around nervously, keeping his paws up. Blood had begun to stain his fur near his left temple. "What did… Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize… Officer Hopps, you need to understand…"

"No, I understand more than enough." Judy was past caring what he had to say. Emptying the handgun onto the table, she threw aside her ear protection and walked quickly out of the range. She nearly forgot her bag in the locker room as she stomped toward the exit, and had to double-back. Faintly, she heard someone talking to her, but thought it was the agent trying to justify himself and she kept going.

In the locker room, Judy grabbed her duffle and started to leave, but lost her momentum. She came to a stop in front of the locker, staring numbly at the wall. Raising one paw, she saw that it shook badly. The tremors spread quickly, making her knees unsteady, forcing her to lean back against her locker for support.

"Judy?" a male voice behind her asked, making Judy jump and spin. Standing near the entrance to the locker room was Fangmeyer, looking for all the world as though he were as shaken as she was just by being in the female locker room. "Are you all right? I saw you in the hall."

Judy opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out the first time she tried. Swallowing, she tried again. "I…um…no. I'm not."

Before she could stop herself, Judy collapsed. She hugged herself, and fell back against the lockers, crying uncontrollably. She barely even noticed when the tiger rushed to her side, and hugged her in his huge arms.

"What happened?" he demanded, leaning one way and then the other, searching her for injuries. "Are you hurt?"

"No." Judy's voice shook more than her body. She wanted to leave, to sort out what had actually happened, but could not make herself budge. "Promise me you won't talk to Nick."

Fangmeyer sat up straight and gave her a worried look. "Hopps…"

"Promise!" she snapped, finally able to make herself look him in the eyes. "He worries too much already. I need to deal with this, not him."

Fangmeyer briefly bared his fangs, but nodded. "I promise."

Judy took a deep breath to buy herself time to think. This was not going to be easy. "I don't know what happened. The agent…he might have tried to make me…or maybe I'm overreacting…"

The tiger's whole body tensed, and for a moment Judy thought he was going to go after the ZBI bunny, but he did not try to leave.

"I just don't know. I might have misread the situation, but I think… I'll talk to Bogo and get it dealt with," she told him, finally getting her trembling under control. "I'm probably being a dumb bunny, but I can't risk letting this go if I was right about what just happened."

"There's places his body won't ever be found."

Judy looked up at Fangmeyer in horror, but realized he was giving her a worried smile. He was joking, trying to lighten her mood.

"Don't even kid about that," she insisted, patting his arm. "I've got this. Thank you. I just needed to get my thoughts together. It'll be fine."

Fangmeyer did not seem to entirely believe her, but he did allow her to slip out of his arms and pick back up her bag. "Go home, Hopps. Drink something strong, and we'll deal with this in the morning. I've got your back if Bogo needs someone else there."

"You promise not to talk to Nick?" Judy asked, more worried about what Nick would do than Fangmeyer.

"I still promise," the tiger replied, frowning deeply. "I can't promise not to be awful to that striped fleabag. Until you and Bogo get this handled, I won't be letting him out of my sight, especially with all the cadets from the burrows and other areas in the precinct lately. I know you can fend for yourself, but I can't vouch for the others."

Judy thanked Fangmeyer, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Excusing herself, she hurried from the range and into the parking lot. There, she stared at her cruiser for a long time. She had driven with the ZBI agent. Leaving him behind was one thing, but she was not sure she should be driving, especially when she held up her paw and saw it still trembled.

Shaking her head, Judy went to the nearest subway. The trip from Plainsland Plaza to Nick's apartment required taking two trains, but it was still safer than trying to drive herself. By the middle of the afternoon, she walked into the apartment and threw her duffel onto the floor near the couch.

Judy stood in the front room for a while, still trying to process what had happened. She felt sick to her stomach. More than that, she felt dirty, as though her fur was covered with oil. Wiping away tears yet again, she frantically pulled her uniform off and tossed it into the bedroom as she ran for the bathroom.

Climbing into the shower, Judy broke down as soon as the warm water hit her. She very nearly fell as she curled dropped into a small ball, crying openly and thankful for the falling water to hide her tears. It was not until she heard Nick come into the apartment that she crawled across the tub to turn off the water, barely even aware that the water had gone cold long before. Scrambling from the tub, she wrapped herself in a towel as Nick opened the door.

"You okay, Fluff?" he asked, stopping in the bathroom doorway.

Judy kept her mouth shut and faked a smile, hoping Nick might not be able to pick up on her troubles with her soaked. This was apparently not going to be that day, as Nick's eyes widened and ears shot up. With his paw still holding the edge of the door, she saw his claws extend briefly, then retract, something she had seen him do when tensing suddenly.

"What's wrong?" Nick practically dove across the bathroom, coming down hard on his knees in front of her. He did not even wait for her to reply before he was kissing her cheek and looking her over for some kind of visible injury. "What happened?"

Judy wrapped Nick in a hug, drenching him immediately, though he did not object. "Nothing. Don't worry. I've got it under control. Just a bad day. Really, really bad."

Easing himself out of her grip, Nick gave her a visual check again, and then sat down hard on the floor. "You know I don't believe you."

"I know," she replied, kissing him on each side of his muzzle. "This isn't your fight. I can handle myself." The word choice was not ideal, and Judy saw the worry in Nick's face fade slightly into anger. He was making assumptions about what had happened. "I'll be fine tomorrow. I just…tonight…"

Nick shook his head and got up. "Don't worry about it. I'll take care of dinner and chores. If you want, I'll read you romance novels, or put on a movie you like. Give it some thought while I get something cooking. Whatever will help, I'll do. Maybe not well, but I'll do it."

Judy smiled back at him as he left, then sat down on the edge of the tub. Looking at her hind paws, dug into the bathroom rug, she could easily guess how he knew she was understating things. Her toes were swollen from an hour or better in the shower. Even through her fur, the wrinkling of her skin was visible. Nick was not stupid and he noticed every detail, especially when it came to her, for better or worse.

I can take care of this myself, she thought, trying to convince herself it was true. Bogo had never let her down. Once she talked to him, things would be resolved. I'll probably get to watch the striped pervert get thrown out on the street, if he's lucky. At worst, I might have to help write up Bogo for assault. One way or another, it's handled.

Smiling to herself, she wiped away another tear. She had never been quite so rattled by someone in her life. Sure, she had been upset and hurt, but nothing like this, even among past boyfriends. No one had ever treated her like…like some kind of toy or property. It was demoralizing and made her feel like a kit, needing her parents to help her out. In hindsight, she dearly wished she had hurt the agent far worse than she had.

Judy finally made herself get up and leave the bathroom, only to find Nick waiting with her robe and a plate of something vaguely resembling turnip turnover, though she knew it had to be something else he had butchered, as there were no turnips in the apartment. She was not about to question the kind act and set to eating once she was dressed.

Throughout the meal and well into the night, Nick did not let her go. He kept both arms around her almost constantly, as if trying to shield her from something he knew nothing about.

If she had her way, he never would. He worried too much about her already.

Winter of the Bear, Chapter 1.6 – Brief Respite

August 11th, Thursday Night – Tundratown Safe House

Rubbing his face, Harry tried to get the horror he had seen in Judy's eyes out of his mind. The way she had looked at him—he was a monster. He had hurt her far more than she had hurt him, even with the way his scalp had been slowly bleeding for hours. Deep down, he knew he needed stitches, but had no desire to have the injury looked at. Ignoring his medical needs was a way of punishing himself for what he had done.

A faint creak of a board outside the remote building's door alerted him that someone was approaching. He slid one paw under his chair and into his coat, where his handgun lay. No sense in being too careful with recent events. The last thing he wanted was to have his first case be his last simply because one of Rolen's followers managed to find the safe house, and he was too distracted to react in time.

"Identify yourself!" he called out, drawing his weapon.

"Three blue sixteen roger," came the reply. The code phrase was one they changed nearly every day, so he knew who was out there.

Holstering his weapon, Harry waited as the door opened and Skye—Agent Snow to the others—slid inside. She paused long enough to say her goodbyes to the two tigers who had escorted her. The large predators had been assigned as simple bodyguards for her and Harry, though they normally stayed with her. Soon, she closed the door behind her, and swept her gaze across the tiny room, settling on Harry.

"You look terrible," Skye told him, as she took off the glasses she had taken to wearing for the assignment. "I am guessing this means you decided to test her?"

Harry huffed and held up one paw, covered with blood. "I told you she wouldn't put up with that. What possible reason did you have for wanting me to make her think I would do that? I really hate myself right now."

Skye shrugged and walked to the chair across from him and sat down. "I don't think she can fulfill the role we need. You all but proved it. She's too strong-willed to be believable. Besides, it's a good test of both of your fighting skills. Yours clearly need work."

"Not funny."

"It wasn't supposed to be," she said, sitting back. "You need to get that bleeding under control, agent. I can't have you passing out from blood loss."

Harry grumbled, but picked up the rag he had been using earlier to staunch the bleeding. Pressing it to the side of his head, he glared at Skye, though she seemed not to even notice. "How did things go with your three trainees?"

"Three?" she asked, blinking hard. "Right. The wolf and leopard are good enough. I doubt they'll let me down. They can do what we need. Wilde is an absolute pain. Much like the bunny, he needs more training than we have time to provide. This plan is beyond hopeless. I say we abandon it, and move out in the morning without them."

Harry let out a slow breath and shook his head. "You know what's waiting out there. We can't do this with just the two of us."

"I do, but I only trust the two of us. Besides, if things go according to the plan, we won't need them. It's only if things go wrong."

"They always do, and if anyone recognizes us, it will get you killed if we go back. Those two can cover for us." Harry checked the rag and found a lot of fresh blood. Hopps had hit him harder than he had expected. He had been warry of her kicking him, but the liberal use of her handgun on his skull had been a surprise. "We need help. We need partners."

"You are my partner."

"I'm not and we both know it," he countered, pressing the cloth to his head again. "Your last partner is in pieces five hundred miles away. I'm just a mammal you found who understands you, and is willing to put up with it. It's not the same."

"Including those two isn't going to undo what we've seen. You know that, right?"

"I know, Skye."

"Agent Snow."

Harry rolled his eyes. For once, he agreed with Wilde. The names were grating and did feel like "superhero names." "We need their help. On our own, we'll be found out in no time. The plan I submitted to the ZBI won't work without help."

"We'll take the other officers." Skye stared through him, her thoughts on something he would never be able to see. "They have nothing to lose. They'll be more willing to risk themselves."

"It's not the same, and you know it. Why don't you want Wilde and Hopps? They're the best out there, and the only two we could possibly use."

Skye sat up a little straighter, as though hearing him for the first time. "Did I say I don't want to bring them?"

"You're trying to talk us both out of it."

Her shoulders drooping somewhat, Skye gave him a very slight nod. "They have a life ahead of them. I don't want to do this to them. We might well destroy all that they have."

"And having the city attacked won't?" Leaning forward, Harry took her paw in his, making her jump a little. Normally, he would have been afraid of her taking a swing at him, but she was too lost in her thoughts to strike. Besides, invading her comfort zone the way she had made him do to Hopps was only fair. "We can't keep hurting them forever and expect different results. Tomorrow, I want to open things up. Let's let them find out everything."

"Everything?" she asked, snickering. "I'm happy to run a combat training class, but if Wilde finds out about what you did, I'll be scraping you off the walls."

"Let him find out. I want to see what he'll do. More importantly, I want to see what he'll do when you explain why. We can advance things a lot faster, even if I get hit again."

"He'll kill you. I'm not using hyperbole, either."

Harry sat back. "I'd rather have him kill me for a good reason than die by surprise where we're headed next. Tell me you don't feel the same."

"I'd rather keep going, day to day," she answered, scowling. "I don't intend to let Wilde, Hopps, or even Rolen kill me. You and I are here because we're survivors. Not because we chose one death over another."

Harry reached down and picked up his case file. Opening it, he stared at the picture one of their spies had captured outside the city shortly before the explosion in Podunk. Three mammals were escorting Rolen toward a nondescript vehicle. The bear was badly injured, but standing on his own. Shortly after that picture had been taken, the bat who had taken it had been killed by someone allied with Rolen. The photo Harry held was the only information that had escaped.

"We're all going to die," Harry told Skye, tapping his tiny claw on the face of Rolen in the photo. "It's a question of whether us dying is helping make the city a safer place. I'm willing to risk Wilde or Hopps tearing me apart if it gives us a better chance of getting to Rolen, before he's in hiding again."

Skye growled loudly. "You know I agree, Harry. Don't imply I am not willing to make sacrifices."

"Names, agent," he scolded, getting a hateful glare in response. Usually, she was correcting him. "I was thinking about finally getting a proper agency name."

"What were you considering? Please tell me you found something with some flavor to it."

"I'm considering Agent Savage. Has a certain morbid humor, being a bunny and all. It's particularly fun after the Bellwether incident."

Skye stared at him as though he were insane. "No. That's awful, Harry. I refuse to partner with Agent Savage. I'd rather go with Wilde's 'Agent Zippy' than that, despite all my objections."

"This is just too much work," Harry admitted, sighing as he tossed aside the rag.

"The alternate name?"

"Yes."

"You know why we have those names…"

"I do, but I've got no family, Skye. No one's getting hurt if I'm found out for who I am. I'm all that's left. Can we, just this once, go with the truth?"

"Meaning what?"

"Use my real name. I don't care if the ZPD knows who I am." Harry touched his head with his fingers, and found no fresh blood. It still probably needed staples or stitches, but he would be fine. "Go ahead and set up fighting practice for the team tomorrow."

Skye got up and delicately examined the cut on the side of his head. "You'll bleed out in minutes the first time someone hits you, if we don't close that up. I'll only make the announcement if you let me staple it."

"Go ahead," he told her, sitting back to keep his head still against the back of the chair while Skye retrieved their medical kit. "It's not like it's the first time."

Skye returned a moment later, and knelt beside him with the staple gun. "I'd almost think you enjoy being hurt. We can wait on the fighting training."

"No, we can't." Harry took a deep breath and held himself rigidly as Skye put the cold metal to his head. A sharp snap echoed in his large ears as the first staple clamped his skin shut. There would be another, as she did not remove the staple gun after the first. "Each day we wait, he gets farther away. Once he's settled in, we'll never find him. I want this team to roll out by the end of next week, or we should just give up. With the sheer number of paid mammals between here and there who will attempt to delay him, we have that long before he's out of our reach."

Another snap made Harry wince and brought tears to his eyes. To his dismay, Skye adjusted the staple gun again. He had not realized how badly the skin had broken open.

"You aren't in charge," Skye reminded him firmly. "If we take longer and I say we still have a mission, we still have a mission. Understood?"

"Understood."

The vixen set aside the staple gun and put the bloodstained cloth back in his paw, and made him press it to the wound. "Keep it covered for a little while longer."

"Are you going to make the announcement tomorrow, or not?"

Skye sat down across from Harry and picked up a glass of whiskey he had poured for himself. She sniffed it and scowled, but drank the cheap alcohol anyway. "I will. I will not make it clear what happened. Let Wilde figure it out himself, or let Hopps try to act against you. I want to see if they are as creative at working around the rules as I keep hearing."

"The chief isn't going to give them the chance," Harry said, suddenly really wishing Skye had not taken his drink. The pain in his head was only getting worse by the second. "I don't expect he'll be very happy to see me tomorrow."

"Leave that to me." Skye swirled the glass, clattering the ice in it against the sides. "Hopps will be too scared and rattled to call him tonight. She'll want to deal with it in the morning."

"You intend to get to him first?"

Skye nodded. "Can't have that bunny getting this reported back to the ZBI. That would prompt an immediate look into your history, and I won't allow that. We need her to stay quiet."

Sighing, Harry crossed his arms over his chest. "You have something in mind?"

"I do." She finally looked up from the glass to regard him emotionlessly with those cold blue eyes. "You won't like it."