This is just something I had on my mind and I thought it would be a good, quick read. Now, I've got three chapters that have been scrapped for 'Survival Instincts' (Yes, I know I've renamed it). To be honest, I'm not sure whether the one I'm 4000 words into right now is the one that's gonna be uploaded. However I do have another short story in the works, well is say short: 10 chapters each 10k words, set on their first stakeout. What could go wrong? Subconscience: EVERYTHING!

That bridge.

That bridge was the exact place he'd lost his friend, turned his back on her, now she was gone without a trace. Phone number changed, work shifts changed and apparently, no-one named Judy Hopps existed on social media. She was long lost, as much as he wanted to forgive her, he knew if he did she would just run him over like everyone had done to him: his ex, his family, his friends. He lost his trust for people and that was why he shunned the bunny in an emotional squalor back to the burrows. The last words she said to him, he replayed on repeat whenever he missed her, through that pen she'd lent him.

So when he was in the depths of his own despair and drowning in liver failure, he went looking through the burrows, found her family, and her parents said they hadn't heard from her in weeks. They appeared more worried than Nick, but they hadn't seen what Nick had seen on the back streets of Zootopia, so beneath the surface he was trembling with fear for her life. On return to the city he cried. Harder than he had ever before and the only time he had since he was kicked out of the ranger scouts. She was completely gone. She trusted him even though she knew where he came from and what he was; a sly fox.

Months passed, followed by years. He'd completely forgot about her mostly due to drinking. Finnick was deceased due to contracting lung cancer so Nick was on his own, running the pawpsicle business to earn a quick buck without the small fennec he had for a companion. Never in his life had he lost everyone, he always had one person, but what did he expect? 37, he would never expect to be in the state he was then when he first met Judy. He thought she was his redemption, she could have changed his life around but he was too stubborn and lacked the ebullience to find her, something she'd never give up on.

He'd completely changed his appearance for the worse, delving into a squalor himself. He had rough fur, dazed eyes, dry snout and most hidden was the slits on his wrists that he felt inclined to induce upon himself due to the sheer emotional pain he was in, and that was the only way to release the stress. His clothes kept the same, smoked frames with his classic Hawaiian shirts and baggy pants. He was a completely changed tod… for the worse.

The warm winter months in Sahara square usually drew attention from other districts to spend a day out in the heat. This attracted a lot of attention towards Nick's business and he made about 100 dollars a day on it not the 200 he bluffed to Judy. As Nick was heading home from a big day of profit he set his sight upon two bunnies, presumably a couple. It was common to find rabbits in couples as usually, their country rose parents forced them to marry some buck at the legal age. One was male, the other female, the doe was wearing rather large sunglasses that fully covered her eyes and the stocky buck had a survival knife in its sheath attached to his waist, but the doe was acting rather strange as the buck hurried her along the best he could by physically grabbing her wrist and pulling her faster than she could walk. She didn't want to follow him, that was obvious; as it wasn't a two-way connection of paws. They turned the corner down an alley that Nick only labelled as a shortcut.

Due to them entering the alley before him he was expecting to see them snogging or arguing, but he saw something that didn't really surprise him. The doe was getting beat by the buck. Domestic violence wasn't uncommon in Zootopia, Nick had come across some abusers during gambling but it never dawned on him how hard they hit. The grunts that were erupting from his exhaustion and her pain was unbearable. He wanted to stop the buck who was threatening her with worse hits but instead, Nick ploughed past the pitiful doe, he could as he was desensitised to violence by the street fights he spectated as a kit. Yet he knew he had the strength to push the buck away and just one knock to the head could easily take him down, but he couldn't help but think about Judy, the doe who disappeared. That was until he came to a realisation.

Why should another rabbit suffer physically the same way Judy did emotionally because of my own ignorance?

With that thought he dropped the oversized cool-box he was wheeling and ended up creeping behind the buck and bashing him round the head with a loose bit of concrete. When he saw the state of the doe who'd been the victim of the attack he sighed. Blood was pouring from her mouth and nose, and with the absence of them sunglasses the black eye she had was clearly visible. She stood up, firmly for the brute force she'd just taken, no tears, no grunts, no signs of pain were elicited from her bruised body. She held out her paw and Nick shook it. He was surprised at how she'd been able to stand up after taking as many hits as she had, but then she'd probably endured much worse before.

The doe first stated her full name. "Judy Williams."

Nick thought it was best not to state his name due to his raised wanted level by the police. Instead, he hastily replied. "I knew a Judy once."

"Really?"

"Yeah..." There was a long awkward silence, neither of them knowing what to say until the bunny ceased the absence of sound.

"...well! I've got to go and sort this buck out."

"Yeah."

"I don't think I caught your name."

Nick had completely lost his sense of wittiness and flunked the chance of a believable answer. "It's erm, Luke Johnson."

"You don't sound too sure."

"Fine you caught me, I don't really want to say it."

"Why, what's happened?"

"I'm just quite a wanted mammal, so you know..."

"Oh, well stay safe and I'll see you around."

"Yeah, don't let that buck knock you around like a punching bag."

"I think that'll be a wake-up call to get through his thick skull, thank you so much. Bye."

"Ciao."

He proceeded to walk to the end of the alleyway before turning the corner only leaving Nick's tail visible to the doe awakening nostalgia in her head. She just shook off the feeling that she knew him and took some time to gawp upon her abusive partner, that was before she spat on his unconscious body.

After the short trip back to his apartment, Nick slumped down on his couch and mindlessly stared into the coarse carpet whilst in a deep trance of his own thoughts and then as though a spell was lifted, he pulled out his phone. Nick froze debating whether to search what he was about to or not. Then without hesitating he drifted his thumbs across the virtual keyboard and ended up with the words 'Judy Williams'. He glanced at the profile picture and widened his eyes before resting them with a massive smirk drawn across his face and tears brimming his eyes.

"I really am just a dumb fox."