The flood of mammals in the Zootopia train station filled the smiling vulpine with an overwhelming sense of nostalgia. The shades that prevented anyone from seeing where his eyes wandered allowed him to scan all of the various species and sexes. Zootopia, the place where mammals never stopped being busy. The orange fur on the back of his neck shone in the setting sun, leaving the white on his stomach to face the city itself. Savannah Central was as beautiful as ever, the almost futuristic looking buildings making the fox's smile widen. He breathed in the fresh afternoon air and took a step, the first step towards the one mammal he was here to see.

But that would come later.

~Prey~

Nick Wilde waited at the door, a single paw in his pocket, the other holding his suitcase. His shades were now on top of his head, pinning his ears back, his piercing green eyes looking around the simple hallway of the hotel where his favorite mammal resided in. The door opened to an older looking woman, her tired eyes looking up at the young male before her. His eyes softened, and hers brightened. The woman flew towards the fox, embracing her son after so long of not seeing him in person. Nick patted the graying hairs on the top of her head as she squeezed her son tighter and tighter, tears playing at her eyes.

"You didn't tell me you were coming," she said, her voice cracking as she finally released her son, allowing him to breathe once more.

"Hey, mom," said the slim fox. "Sorry I didn't tell you. I wanted it to be a surprise. You know I can't just do things the simple way."

"You could always come up with the most complicated things, even as a kid."

"Well, you can't give me all the credit. I had to get my raging smarts from someone."

Mrs. Wilde laughed and stepped back to allow her son in. For the past year, she had only gotten very rare, occasional updates from him so she could make sure he was okay.

The duo sat down at the simple wooden table as the apartment got dimmer from the ever-setting sun. Mrs. Wilde came back moments later with a plate full of food for her son. Nick's eyes widened as he watched steam gracefully rise from the veggies and rice.

"I'm afraid I don't have time to cook something new, so I hope you're okay with heated up leftovers," said Mrs. Wilde, turning around from the kitchen table she was wiping down to find Nick scarfing down the food.

"Are you kidding me? Leftovers or not, I haven't had your cooking in forever."

"No wonder you've gotten so slim. I don't know how you ever ate by hustling on those streets."

Nick was quiet as his mother finished wiping the table off and poured herself a cup of tea she had just finished brewing before her only son came a knocking. The mother stared at her dejected looking son as he awkwardly shifted in his seat.

"I don't live like that anymore, Mom, you know that. And besides, you never actually told me how you figured that out. Every time you asked, I just pushed it away."

"A mother knows, Nick. I'm proud that you got out of that life, I really am. I just wish you had told me you were living like that in the first place. Having to figure it out myself was much more painful. Now I know it's a bit late to be having this talk, but you never let me have it with you before." Mrs. Wilde sat in the chair adjacent to her son, and the young fox smiled up at his mother.

"I know, mom. But I'm turning my life around. That's why I'm back here. To start over...again. That year away did me good."

"I'm pretty surprised at you, Nicky. You haven't made a single clever joke this whole time. You lose your edge?" A playful smile tugged at her lips as Nick narrowed his eyes playfully back.

"Alright, old lady, why don't we whip out Mammopoly and I'll show you just how clever I can be."

"There he is," Mrs. Wilde said. "I'm glad you've at least learned to have these deep conversations a bit more willingly. I used to have to pry and pry to get you to tell me anything personal. Or am I the only lady you're gracing with this gift?"

"Well…"

"We talked about this, Nick. You should call her...unless you're planning on surprising her like you did me." And with that, Nick's mother winked and wished him a good night. Nick finished the food and washed his plate and fork thoroughly before placing them back in the cupboard. His hand lingered on the closed door of the cabinet that held these dishes and let what his mother said sink in. He knew he would have to face this, it was inevitable...It was part of the reason he'd come back in the first place.

Nick looked out at the night sky for a minute before pulling the curtains together, blocking any intrusion of privacy.

The fox walked into his old room, turning the light on, the room flooding with the dull yellow light. Everything was just as he had left it, and it was quite obvious that his mother had been dusting it regularly. Nick even rubbed the top of his dresser with his finger, and not a sign of dust was found.

"Always the hard worker," said the fox as he fell back on his bed, the springs groaning from the sudden weight after the long absence of it. Nick felt that same nostalgia that he'd experienced when he'd first gotten off the train. This was his room. The room filled with his memories from boyhood. He remembered all the nights he played board games with his mom, watched whatever his T.V. could pick up with the antenna that day. This was the room he'd spent many nights in, avoiding his mother's knowing eyes. The guilt of scamming people had weighed down on him so hard those first few nights. The dollar bills in his hands would become thin blocks of green cement.

This was the room where he'd lay awake at night and scheme and plan his next hustle. This was where he would try to cry in hopes of relieving some of the pressure he put on himself at times, but tears never wanted to come out.

And now here he was, a new fox, one who had gotten better at showing his true colors, all thanks to one little bunny—the bunny that he wanted to call so bad. But he couldn't. He needed to be patient. This would be his biggest job yet.

Nick took out his phone anyway and called a different number, listening to the monotonous ring of the pending call, waiting for his old friend to answer.

~Prey~

Judy blinked her eyes open as her alarm clock mercilessly blared from the coffee table, the wood vibrating violently from the endless torrent of reminders that she needed to go to work. She put her uniform on and looked in the mirror as she straightened her badge, wondering why she was no longer a morning person. Nick was never much of one either.

Maybe it was the apartment.

Still, Judy always felt so empowered when she looked at that badge in the mirror. Morning person or not, she would always leave her apartment with a sense of discipline on her shoulders. It felt good to have that.

Judy was at the precinct as fast as the taxi would allow her to get there, time not permitting her to walk to work like she usually did.

Judy walked into the briefing room of the precinct, straightening the tie she had hidden underneath her uniform. Her lucky tie for all it was worth. She didn't feel so lucky at the sight of the female white wolf sitting at Nick's usual spot.

Was this her new partner?

Judy felt the tie against her chest as she sat down next to the wolf, glancing up at her icy blue eyes.

"Hello," she said politely, extending her paw as she looked down at the rabbit. She wore a small smile, but there was a stern look to those terrifyingly beautiful eyes. Judy cringed inwardly as she shook the white wolf's hand. "Stacy Snowclaw, at your service."

"Judy Hopps," said the bunny, looking forward at the empty podium, chiefless.

Judy couldn't believe that disappointed her.

"Oh, I know all about you. The hero who saved Zootopia from the nighthowlers. And not only that, you saved the reputation of us predators. That earns respect in my book. Don't worry, I'm not going to ask for an autograph or anything. I'm professional, first and foremost. Still, it feels good to have someone with your expertise watching my back."

Judy swallowed a lump in her throat and said something humble back, not even really paying attention to what it was. She thought about mentioning how she hadn't been alone in her endeavor to fix Zootopia, but in came Bogo, the many officers in the room shouting for their chief. Bogo silenced them as always and told them all to sit before going through his usual report, which included mentioning the fact that a new officer had come in, then declaring his lack of interest in that fact. Stacy smiled at the comment, her eyes burning with a determination that Judy didn't think that even she'd had on her first day here.

And that meant something.

"And finally, Hopps and our transfer...I need you to patrol Savannah Central. Same routine, Hopps. Maybe Weaselton won't somehow appear at a candy store and try to rob it with a flower." Judy raised her eyebrow at the attempted joke and made eye contact with the confused Stacy. Still, as unfunny as it was, Judy wouldn't be surprised to find out that Weaseton had somehow gotten out of jail and was terrorizing some small store.

"On it, Chief Bogo," said Judy as the chief watched the two leave the room to go on their patrol.

~Prey~

Judy drove down the streets of Savannah Central, wondering how she had gotten back to the exact same spot she was in yesterday, with the exception of Stacy, of course.

"So," Judy said while stopping at a red light, "what's your story? What motivated you to become a cop? Mine was a mix of big dreams and big bullies."

"That so? We're trading stories now? Alright, hmm… well, I didn't want to be a cop at first. I actually wanted to go into engineering, until I realized I was only doing that because people told me it paid well. One night, I was walking around town, wondering what I was going to do with my life, when I heard a woman scream…"

~Prey~

Stacy jumped when she heard the ear-piercing scream of some poor woman in danger. The white wolf looked around for help and felt around her pockets for the phone she had left at home, fussing at herself when she found her pockets empty. With nothing left to do despite the strong urge to run away, Stacy ran towards the sound of the screaming woman, following the constant shrieks and cries for help.

Finally, Stacy came upon an alley where a lioness was crawling backwards on the ground while a lion advanced on her, telling her that she shouldn't have done whatever it was that had made him so mad, that she should have just 'kept her big mouth shut'. Stacy saw the lion and the urge to run away got ever stronger. But with it also came a sense of anger, of strength, the kind that she had felt before when she abandoned her engineering degree. Stacy didn't know if it was the adrenaline talking, or if she had a death wish because of her inability to figure out what to do with her life, but the white wolf stepped forward and ordered the lion to stop where he was.

Both mammals looked at her standing at the end of the alleyway, one seeing her as a savior, the other a nuisance.

"You've no business here, girl. Get out of here while you can."

"TCPD, you are under arrest."

The lion chuckled, "Do you really think some wolf wearing sweatpants and a T-shirt that says 'bite me' can pass as a cop?"

"I'm undercover, you moronic maniac."

The lion grimaced for a moment, then smiled again. "Alright. Where's your badge?"

Stacy was silent for a moment, realizing that pretending to be an officer may not have been her wisest course of action. She tried to think of something that would pass as a badge, but nothing came to mind. The bravery that had flooded her so strongly diminished as quickly as it had appeared, leaving the wolf to timidly shift her position a bit. The lion smiled sweetly at the lioness and whispered something that Stacy couldn't hear. Before she knew it, the lion was walking towards her, mumbling things that she was too paralyzed with fear to acknowledge. Something about this lion, how he walked towards her, how he stunned her with his wild gaze gave her a cold sweat.

He was fear itself, and he wanted Stacy to know it. But in the wolf's moment of tunnel vision, she didn't see the police officer, a real member of the TCPD, sneaking up to tase the lion without a second thought.

Stacy watched as the lion fell to the ground, and the lioness slowly got up and made her way out of the alleyway, carefully eyeing her assailant.

The officer holstered his taser and looked to the two women, asking if they were okay. Stacy nodded, and so did the lioness. The officer handcuffed the lion and radioed for backup. The voice responded by saying that a squad car was just down the street and on the way to collect the suspect. The lioness would be taken in for questioning once she calmed down a bit.

As soon as the officer looked back up at the two, the lioness hugged Stacy suddenly, tears streaming down her muzzle as she thanked the wolf for saving her.

"Hey, it wasn't me, it was the officer."

"Actually, I'm quite glad you kept him distracted long enough for me to book him," the officer said. "So me and this lady both owe you our thanks. Thank you." The tiger officer smiled at the wolf, and Stacy patted the lioness comfortingly on the back as she cried.

"Yeah," Stacy said. "No problem."

~Prey~

Judy had her eyes on the road but kept her ears perked up, listening intently to Stacy's story.

"After that, me and the lioness were questioned, let go, and the lion got beaten in jail. He came out a new lion, supposedly. Got a job, worked his life around. And me and that lioness stayed in contact for a little while, at least until she had to move away for family reasons. I still message her sometimes. After that night, I started thinking about becoming a cop, so I changed my major and went into criminal justice. Eventually, I became a cop, and a few years later, when that lion got out and changed his life, it just further proved to me that anyone can be saved. It made me proud to actually be a cop."

"That's...wow. Guess you had a pretty bad experience with lions, huh? I can't really relate. Mine was a fox."

"What, that big bully you mentioned was a fox?"

Judy just nodded. Stacy made a sound almost like she was impressed. Or maybe she was just acknowledging the irony of their similarly negative experiences, despite their significant difference in drama.

"Ech," Stacy muttered, the disgusted sound getting Judy's attention. The bunny glanced over to barely catch a glimpse of a fox tail slipping into an alley. "I know as a police officer I'm professionally obligated to be neutral about species, but something about foxes, I just... I can't deal with them." Judy caught the disgusted look on Stacy's face and got the slight impression that this wolf had experienced issues with more than just lions.

But before Judy could mention something, her radio clicked and Clawhauser came on.

"Judy!" Clawhauser said as if greeting a long lost friend.

"Not very formal, is he?" Stacy muttered before raising her voice a little bit. "And me."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot. Silly me!"

"Clawhauser," Judy said. "You were saying."

"Oh, right. Um, we have complaints from some residents of the Grand Pangolin Arms. There's a very loud fight going on between some couple. Go check it out, but be careful."

"I always am," Judy said as Clawhauser went silent. "I think I have an idea as to who this couple is." Stacy gave the bunny a strange look as she turned to head to her old apartment complex.