"Oh…. Umm…. It's you. You must be Mr. Savage. Please come in."

"Thank you."

"I'm glad to finally get you in here. How many appointments have we bailed on?"

"Mmm, four," Jack sighed as he focused on the room. The doctor's office resembled a personal study; books lined the walls along with beautiful paintings and potted plants. In the middle of the room sat a luxurious leather recliner and a chaise lounge. His heart raced as he sat down on the soft lounge. No turning back now.

He studied the gray fox that sat in the recliner across from him. She was a very attractive vixen with a slim build and amazing smile. The way she ran her tongue piercing across her canines made his nose twitch curiously. Dammit, Skye…. For some reason, the fox had a look of guilt on her face.

"My name is Carol…. As you may know, I do work at Snarlbucks, but I'm studying for my M.D. in Psychology. There's no need to worry; I am more than capable of helping you."

"I don't need your help. Just sign that I showed up and stop wasting our time." Jack refused to make eye contact with the doctor.

"Mr. Savage, you know as well as I do that you need to be here. That was the deal-"

"I know, I know. 'You have to come here to work in joint with the ZPD.' 'Chief's orders.' 'You're sick.' 'Blah blah blah.' I'm here aren't I?"

Carol knew this patient would be a hassle, so she let his criticism slide. "Tell me, Jack. Why do you have to come here? Why would he feel that you, over any other mammal, would need to visit me?"

He opened his mouth to answer, but nothing came out. It was such an odd request. No one ever made him say out right what was wrong. Digging through all the possible lies he could muster, he found nothing. Why do I need help? Why do they feel that I need help? I try so hard to put on a happy face and they still notice. I can't try harder. I'm. . .

"I... I'm tired. I mean…. I'm literally tired. I try so hard to look happy. I smile for people. I try to convince myself not to-"

"You try to LOOK happy? You need to try to BE happy, Mr. Savage. That's something we'll come back to." She looked down to write something on her clipboard, licking her canines in the process. "So you say 'tired'. That's a unique descriptor. Do you mind explaining what you mean by that?"

With a smirk, he responded: "So sitting here and answering questions is supposed to fix me?"

"It's the first meeting, Mr. Savage. I need to learn more about you. Don't change the subject."

"Shouldn't I buy you dinner first?" Failing to draw a response from her, he responded: "I'm… I'm just tired. I…" The warm sensation on his heart grew more intense with each breath. His face fell into his paws, "Please don't make me say it."

Go ahead, Jack. Tell her how weak you are.

"Shut up…"

Tell her how much of a waste of space you are. How useless. How pathetic. How-

"I said SHUT UP!"

Carol began to write frantically as she observed Jack…. argue with himself?

"Patient seems to exhibit major psychiatric disturbances. Talking to oneself. Major swing in demeanour. Rapid breathing. Hasn't looked me in the eye once. Crying."

She looked up from her page, wondering if she bit off a little more than she could chew. "Mr. Savage, are you-"

Jack finally snapped, "I'm sick of living, alright! I try so hard to smile, and kiss ass, and hide my crap! And for what?! So I can die later instead of doing it now? Bullshit! I lay down so sore…. Sooore….. at night from a long day of fighting…. And I wake up…. ANGRY!" Jack sprung to his feet, "I'm ANGRY in the mornings! Why?! Because I woke the FUCK UP! Now I have to deal with this shit another day! Another day of torture! Maybe it'll get better? BULLSHIT! Why do I put myself through this!? So I can deal with her?! BULLSHIT! Because I wanna be with HER!? BULL. FUCKING. SHIT! That's all this is! I want her! I need her! So now I can't FUCKING leave because of HER!" Once again his breathing overtook him, leaving him frozen where he stood.

The room grew silent aside the student's frantic attempt to write every word down.

"The booming roar that came out of this rabbit is shocking! Potty mouth, though. Who is 'her'? Mother? Spouse?"

Carol's feeling of fear towards Jack's strong, masculine voice turned into a curiosity. After she finished, she spoke in a soft, diffusing manner. "We're going to watch our language from now on, okay? Now, you say 'her', Mr. Savage? I didn't even question you about someone and you bring this person up. Whoever this is seems important enough to stay, right? Who is this person? What is this woman to you?"

The question brought his angelic vixen into his mind, quickly cooling his heart and calming his soul. He imagined her warm embrace around him, hiding him from himself. The way those blue marbles looked at him…. Plopping back down onto the lounge, Jack looked into the amber eyes of the doctor for the first time in the entire visit.

"Her?...She's everything…."

"I hope you know that… You're so important to me. I don't know what I'm going to do without you…. You're so sexy, too... Mmm, baby…. I can't wait to get inside you again…. "

"Jack, quit talking to the damn car and come on!"

Jack finished marveling the black sedan one last time before returning his partner's side. The pair finally made to the Zootopia Police Department to return the vehicle and speak to the Chief. He could feel his anxiety lowering his blood pressure at the sight of the same building that crushed his dreams five years back. Sunglasses covered his melancholy gaze as he stared at the front door.

"Calm down there, Jack. Fall in love with that car any more and you'll end up gnawing on the steering wheel or something. They'll never give us it back then!" Before he could give her her expected response she continued, "I know, I know: I'll bite you later, handsome. Come on! It's already 10:35! Chop chop!"

Her canines reflected in the sun when she gave him her smug grin. She glared down at the rabbit to feed off of his annoyed reaction, only to find him still, staring at the front doors. His chiseled chest rose and fell at a swift pace, although his breathing was still silent. All the joy slowly bled from Skye's morning, realizing she was still dealing with a broken bunny. She took the shades of his striped face, revealing the pain he was hiding. The sorrow in his eyes…. He truly looked pitiful.

"Jack…. You know you don't have to go in there, right? I can-"

"...Skye I'm sorry for whatever I did this morning…. I don't remember what I did, but it's making you act different. I don't know what I ran my mouth and said; just know that I'm so sorry...I ruin everything…. I can't do anything right…. And these bastards helped remind me of that."

Skye purposely avoided talking about the morning's events and gave the somber rabbit a hug. She felt his breathing immediately slow to her touch. "Jack you have nothing to worry about. We already proved them wrong! They turned us down, and now look at us. They're calling US for help! It can't get any better than that, right?"

She pulled herself away from his arms and looked him in the eye. No emotion. No reaction. Putting his shades back on, he sighed, "Let's just get this over with."

"That's the dull spirit!" Skye sarcastically cheered in a final attempt to make him smile. He didn't even huff as they started towards the doors.

"BAD JOKE SATURDAY! Why are seals the best to hang out with?... They always go CLUBBING!"

"For god sakes, what's wrong with you!?"

"Pffft come on! That's funny! So what do you wanna do today, carrots?"

"I just want to relax if that's okay with you? I spent all night writing up this report."

"Aww, are you getting soft on me? Don't tell m- Clawhauser! How you doing, buddy?"

"Oh, hey you two! I thought you had today off?"

The red fox leaned against the dispatcher's desk flashing a carefree smile. He wore a dark tie that didn't quite go with his green tropical shirt. Peeking over the desk next to him was a gray bunny with huge, lavender eyes. Her nose twitched at the scent of donuts and coffee that somehow always lingered around the obese cheetah's station.

"Yeah, but SOMEONE insisted we ruin our weekend by coming up here and- OW!"

The fox rubbed his arm as the bunny continued, "We have to turn in this report to the Chief."

"Oh from that drug case? You closed it already?!"

"C'mon, Bengie! Look at who you're talking to." The fox gave a grand gesture towards himself.

The cheetah stared at the amazing duo in disbelief. "No. Way! You two are awesome! You probably didn't even need to work with-

Oh. Fudge! You two can't be here!"

The pair looked at each other in confusion from the cheetah's sudden urgency. "What do you mean, Clawhauser?"

"Chief ordered me to keep you off the premises until after noon! Oh I can't believe I forgot." The cheetah hopped anxiously in his chair, stuffing another donut into his muzzle. "You need to leave now before-"

"... Before what? Hello? Earth to Clawhauser?"

The rotund cheetah froze with crumbs flowing from his teeth; his eyes fixed past the fox towards the front door. The pair followed his stare to see what shook the predator from his religious donut fixation when they saw them enter.

The red fox looked at, who hands-down had to be, the most beautiful vixen he had ever seen. She held her head high, swinging her amazing hourglass figure with confidence. The jeans she wore hugged her hips perfectly, and had cuts across the thighs. The fox had a beautiful white coat that almost shone in the light. And her eyes….

The lavender eyes of the bunny were fixed on the hare that followed close beside the arctic fox. Although he wore sunglasses, his striped fur still helped define his handsome, emotionless face. He wore a gray dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, showing his sculpted arms. She's never seen a rabbit with such a muscular build. The pair didn't seem notice them.

"What are they doing here? Didn't the Chief tell them to be here at noon?"

"They're ZIA," the dispatcher responded, "they're always early for everything. Stricter rules over there, I guess."

"I see. They even look serious. I just wish Bogo would just let us meet them…"

The gray rabbit's ears hung back as she hugged her folder. She noticed that her partner, however, had a suspicious grin on his face. His emerald eyes told her all she needed to know. "Okay, what half-baked scheme do you have now?"

"Don't worry, carrots, we'll get to meet them. Just follow my lead."