Chapter 7: Yellow Paint

Taking a long draw of her coffee, Gazelle was glad to be home again in Zootopia, the city she loved. The cool autumn morning breeze chilled her short fur, and she knew that for the duration of the season, she wouldn't be going anywhere outside of Savannah Central. The coming winter would put a strain on the district's climate control, just as the summer heat beats down on Tundra Town. She loved the warm tropics with Clawhauser, and their honeymoon couldn't be any more relaxing, joyous, and a celebration of their union. They completed each other, and the worries they had in their life, and worries to come, were beginning to feel less stressful. Just thinking of him made her heart flutter, her eyes twinkle with passion, and she considered herself the luckiest girl in Zootopia.

She finished her coffee as she wished Clawhauser a wonderful day over a text message on her phone. Tossing the cup into the trash bin, she pointed herself across the street to the crafts store, a little shop of artistic supplies aptly named PIGments. The door chimed as she entered, and she would attempt to make the visit quick. The owner, Claris, was a real talker and Gazelle could never write a word in edgewise. She wondered if the over-chatty pig could even read. She had been painting like wildfire until her wedding day, and the tropics had been like a ten-day blast of inspiration afterward. She was filled to the brim and itching to get back to it. She thought she'd start with a portrait of herself and her husband, something she could hang on the wall to christen their new life, or rather the continuation of it since they already lived together. She grabbed the tubes of paint she needed and quickly made her way to the counter. The young boy cashier rang her up, and she thought she was free until her senses pinged.

The air seemed to sit still and the color of the world desaturated, there was something around, lurking, looming, and dangerous. It uneased her and adrenaline started rushing, she wanted to go home immediately, she had to find safety, and be safe. Claris had walked in from the back welcoming Gazelle with a smile and beginning to ramble, but Gazelle's instincts were still picking up on the mysterious source of fear. She didn't even listen to the shop owner and her prattling ego, she paid quickly and rudely left to go home, not at all minding how things looked to people around her.

Gazelle came out of the shop in a hurry and almost ran into another antelope. The encounter startled her, and was glad she didn't bump into him, his coffee looked hot.

"Oh, pardon me." The guy said, then with a second glance, he asked a question.

"Aren't you Gazelle, the singer from a while back?" She shook her head, hoping her long flat hair would be enough to fool him and she can be on her way. "Yeah, it's totally you! You are so amazing!" Gazelle turned to leave but he had stopped her. "Hey, if it's not too much to ask, can I have an autograph?" It wasn't a typical thing people asked anymore, maybe enough time had passed where the spiteful ones moved on to hate something else. She felt flattered, so she smiled and nodded anyway. She pulled her notepad from her purse and whipped her name out on a page. She tore it out but was pushed down by the antelope, and she hardly knew what hit her as her new tubes of paint scattered across the concrete. She fell back on the sidewalk with a thump and quickly tried to get up, but was shocked when coffee had been poured on her shirt. The blistering heat of it stung for a brief moment and she squeaked sharply, rapidly trying to wipe it off. The antelope snapped a photo with his phone and walked away, prideful he got to take a shot at the former pop star. She rubbed off as much coffee as she could, and looked at her ruined shirt, and she liked that shirt. She sighed, gathering her thoughts and dropped items along the sidewalk as people chuckled at her embarrassing predicament.

"Here, let me." An exotically accented voice came and a paw was held out for her. She didn't see who was helping her up from the sidewalk but when she had touched the paw, she had connected with the source of her fear. She widened her eyes upon one of her tiger backup dancers, this one was Anuj. She could always tell them apart, though the four identical brothers were never apart themselves, it was odd to see him alone. She took her paw back and helped herself up. She paced a step back from the large dancer, and seen that he had never lost his theatric flair. He was still wearing some makeup, and his eyes were trimmed with eyeliner. She thought the four brothers would return home to Bengaldesh by now without any work, but perhaps they had found something, somewhere. The large tiger bent down and retrieved the tubes of paint for her, placing them in the bag and giving it nicely back to her. "My apologies, Gaz. It's been so long, I hope you are doing well." She shook her head and took back the bag from him, she wanted to leave but he kept engaging her. "My brothers and I work for a furniture moving company now. It's back-breaking work but it pays ok… is everything alright? I see you've been splashed. That's a shame, there's a group on Twitter called 'Drinks On Me' where people throw drinks on celebrities and share pictures of it, it's rather entertaining." She didn't think so and shook her head again, still frightful of him even though anyone passing by would just think this encounter was two friends talking idly. She quickly explained by tapping the scar at the base of her neck and letting out a broken note, Anuj understood. She couldn't tell if he pitied her, or resented her. "No voice? That's a shame. Perhaps it's karma?" He had it backwards. She lost her voice before the record company destroyed her image and her life. There was no good way of explaining this and she excused herself to go home.

She walked with haste to Clawhauser's apartment. She continued to feel fear at the back of her neck, and she refrained from looking around too much to expose her paranoia after she nearly collided with a giraffe walking by. She felt a looming dread upon her the whole way home like prey being stalked, and even when she was safe behind the locked door of her home, she still could sense him. She opened the window in the living room and stuck her long neck out to look around. She saw the end of a tiger's tail escape her sight around the corner of the next street over, but it could've been any tiger, they were plentiful throughout Zootopia. The fear subsided, and with a deep sigh, she let the feeling go as much as she could. She couldn't begin to understand how she was sensing things, the feelings came from a place within her instinctual being, and they were becoming too powerful to ignore. A gift wouldn't be a term she would call it, and certainly not a blessing.

Momentary panic aside, she turned to what she did call a gift, and looked upon the blank canvas resting on her easel in the center of the living room. Gazelle weaved around the stacks of wedding gifts they had received from friends and family. A new toaster, microwave, a fancy waffle iron, pillows, sheets, silverware, it went on and she didn't know what to do with most of it. Though she liked the idea of the waffle iron, that was the thing that made the marriage seem most official. Retrieving her pencils from a case that got buried beneath the gifts, she returned to the canvas and envisioned a wonderful painting of herself and her Benjamin holding hands sweetly. This was an idea for a sweet wedding gift to him, and she knew he would cherish it forever, she simply needed to paint it first. She took her pencil and began sketching, stylistically imposing her idea as a gesture upon the barren surface. She knew every curve and every spot of him well, and she marked it down as a guide for her paint brush. She drew herself, never before needing to examine herself with such precision, she looked in a mirror a studious number of times, and charted her own features to the surface of the canvas. Pleased with her guidelines, she took out the newly purchased paints to begin. She searched the bottom of the bag for the last tube but it wasn't there. The tube of yellow paint must have been lost when that stupid ex-fan knocked her down, and she needed it. Yellow was an important color for the both of them, and without it, there would be little progress. She didn't let that stop her, though, she searched through her bin of paints and found a rich cerulean blue, and decided that this piece would be purposefully discolored, she thought to even call it 'The Cheetah and Gazelle in Blue'. She mixed several values of the one color on her pallet with a knife then loaded her brush with the deep pigment, and as her brush touched the canvas just above Clawhauser's head, she felt her senses trip again. This time, it was an overwhelming sense of loss, and she was familiar with its source, it was from Clawhauser.

"I'm baaaaaaack!" Clawhauser announced dramatically with his arms out wide as he hopped his way through the turnstile door into the lobby of ZPD. He had just dropped Gazelle off at the coffee shop and art store a few minutes ago, and he was still on time for his shift. He still had his arms out as no one greeted him. In fact, no one was there at all, it was a ghost town. "Are we closed today or something?" He said to himself, still no one was around to comment. "Hellooooooo?" He called out loudly. He listened for a moment and heard chief Bogo yelling from the bullpen. At least he found someone who could explain the lack of personnel.

Clawhauser poked his head in through the door of the bullpen, and to his surprise, it was very overcrowded. He didn't know who some of the officers were, or where they had come from, and there were a lot of officers from the night shift, and as well, he recognized extra officers from other precincts. He entered and found there was little room left for him in the bustling busy bullpen. Bogo's commanding voice rang out.

"Wolford!"

"I'm fine!" He barked back at the chief.

"No, you're not! You just finished a triple shift! Now go home and get some rest!"

"I said, I am FINE!" He screamed. Clawhauser took a good look at the wolf, and he was far from fine. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, his fur disheveled and his eyes worn and strained. Bogo finished this little squabble the best he could.

"Delgato, you and your partner take the day off. Go home and rest up. I need his keen nose on this one, I need everyone at their best." Delgato stood up and looked peeved himself.

"But I just got here fifteen minutes ago!" Bogo had fatigue in his own eyes, and it was beginning to show on his face. There was no telling how many shifts the chief had worked.

"I don't care, take Wolford home, babysit him if you have to, that's an order." Delgato put his paw on Wolford's shoulder and the exhausted dog shrugged it off as he stood to leave, and Delgato followed. "Speaking of which," Bogo said to everyone. "Anyone else here who is on their third, or more, shift in a row, go home and rest." A dozen of the officers stood up, and they all sleepily left the room, some pulling their partners with them as they didn't want to leave. Bogo turned and posted two photographs up on the map.

Judy and Nick.

Clawhauser understood now, his heart plummeted to the floor, and couldn't believe it. He stood like a statue as the remaining exhausted officers exited by, walking around him like water around a stone in a river. Bogo noticed him and looked down at his podium.

"Welcome back, Clawhauser." The remaining officers looked at him, and there was no happiness for his honeymoon, his recent marriage, but he understood why now. He seated himself and waited quietly for Bogo to update everyone.

"Judy, Nick, and Bellwether have been missing, going on day ten. Nick may be gravely injured or worse, Judy is still missing and Bellwether is still at large. Last known whereabouts was the penitentiary highway, mile eighty-five. Fangmeyer has been apprehended but has not been forthcoming with any information. We're still looking everywhere we can for them…" Clawhauser's phone buzzed. He waited until Bogo had paused to check it, and he found it was from Gazelle.

"What just happened?" Somehow she knew something was going on, the news was ground-shaking enough, he wasn't surprised. He quickly texted back.

"Nick and Judy are missing." He sent the message on and stowed his phone away in his pocket. Bogo assigned the teams to different districts and locations, and before the last of them could leave, he spoke to Clawhauser.

"I'm glad you're back from your honeymoon, I have a special assignment for you." Clawhauser was confused already about it.

"Whatever it is, chief-" Bogo flopped a case file before him on the table. It was dated, old, and had been created long before his time. He opened and read who the working officers were. To his surprise, they were Clawhauser and Bogo. "Chief, this is one of my dad's files." The chief nodded.

"Indeed it is." He pointed to the report, and a few key lines were highlighted in yellow marker. "Says here your father worked with Piberius Wilde, Nick's father." Clawhauser agreed, he knew the stories.

"Yeah, I remember, this must've been when you caught the guy that kidnapped all those children. He got his name on the wall… he got my name..." Bogo nodded, and Clawhauser caught on. "You want me to look into Happy Town?"

"That's right. One of the few places we haven't been able to look at." Clawhauser stood up and gave the file back.

"I might need backup, chief. They don't take kindly to law enforcement." Bogo sighed.

"This is a lot to ask, I know, but you have to go solo. I'm aware you haven't had much work in the field, so I hope the foxes will be… friendly for you. I'm glad you're wearing your father's coat, some of the foxes will recognize it." Clawhauser still had his father's stunner on his belt too, and he knew how to use it well, but Bogo didn't know about it. It gave him the confidence to accept the assignment.

"I won't let you down, chief." Bogo slipped him a spare photo of Nick and he set it into his pocket. Clawhauser adjusted his coat and stepped out to start the job when his phone buzzed with another message from Gazelle.

"I want to help." It read. Clawhauser was suspicious how she knew what was happening, but any help he could get would be greatly welcomed.

Clawhauser stood and stared at the demeaning banter painted across the section of Happy Town's protective wall. It was once just a checkpoint but something must have caused the foxes to increase security. He wasn't sure how to get access until he saw the heavily bolted door with the large number four above it. He approached and knocked, hoping he wouldn't be turned away immediately. The window in slid open and the brown-haired fox answered.

"Hey bruh, no access today, sorry." Clawhauser came up close to the window and pulled the photograph from his pocket.

"Have you seen this fox?" He let the fox look at the picture for a moment.

"That's Nick. I haven't seen him since that awesome wedding with all of the free food."

"That was my wedding." Clawhauser reminded the air-headed fox.

"Oh, right on, you look totally different in that coat. Anyway, if you're looking for Nick, talk to his friend, Finnick. He hangs out at Nick's pad." The window slid closed and Clawhauser stood for a moment to think, he didn't have much of a lead but he had to keep following the trail. He wished he could get inside Happy Town right now, but it's not like he could jump a fifteen-foot makeshift wall. It was possible Nick wasn't here at all, it was more about being thorough than being effective at this point, start eliminating possibilities. Ten days was too long to be missing, and the possibility of an injury made time short and the situation dire.

Clawhauser knocked at the door to Nick's apartment. After a moment, Finnick peeked through, the door only cracked open enough for him to see who had knocked.

"Hi Finnick, got a moment?" Finnick hesitated, and replied angrily.

"What do you want?"

"I'm searching for Nick. Have you seen him?" Clawhauser was hoping for something more than a no, but alas that's all he got from the little fennec.

"He's not here, and I don't know where he is. If he turns up, I'd be the first to know about it and you'd be the second. Now beat it!" The door slammed shut and Clawhauser knocked again, yelling through the door.

"Can you help me get into Happy Town!?" The door cracked open again. Finnick looked at him for a moment then opened the door for him to enter. Clawhauser noticed as Finnick walked back to the couch that he was wearing a little elephant costume. He slumped into the couch and Clawhauser quietly closed the door.

The apartment was dark, messy, dismal, and the blinds had been drawn to keep out all sunlight. The only light was the glow of the television, paused in the middle of the movie 'My Big Fat Elephant Wedding'. He recognized the scene, it was the one where the mouse guy meets the elephant girl and the awkwardly sweet encounter leads to a date. The movie stayed paused on the mouse's face as he looked into the large loving eyes of the elephant, and Clawhauser remained standing as he spoke.

"So, how can I get access to Happy Town?" Clawhauser asked. Finnick sighed heavily and rolled his eyes at him.

"You can't, at least not right now. The whole place is locked down tight." Clawhauser took a breath and was interrupted. "And I don't know why, either. I'm locked out too and can't get in unless I jump the wall somehow." Clawhauser needed something to work with, and started asking standard questions.

"When was the last time you seen Nick?"

"Before your wedding, he got dressed here then left to pick up Judy. I've been here since, waiting for him to come back, I hope he isn't hurt too bad…" That phrase may have been a slip, and Clawhauser thought he might know something. He sat down on the couch next to Finnick and calmly spoke.

"If you know something, please tell me." Finnick looked at him and shook his head.

"The only thing on the fox network is that we know he's been hurt. We don't know where he is, no one is coming forward. I know you, Clawhauser, you're a good one, and I at least know which side you're on. It's too dangerous to assume anything." It never occurred to him that there might be different sides to the situation. It was possible that if Bellwether is at large, there might be a bounty on her head, everyone would be looking for her. Clawhauser figured that Judy and Nick were involved somehow.

"What's Nick and Judy's involvement with Bellwether?" The question struck Finnick, not sure how much he could divulge. Thinking of his previous statement, he decided trust Clawhauser, hoping he wouldn't use the information for foul play.

"Judy has sympathy for Bellwether. They sent each other letters, so if you can find those, you might have a better clue what's really going on, there's more to the story than we know. Everyone knows something happened when Bellwether was transferring to a safer prison, which involved Nick. That's all I have so if you'll excuse me, I would like to get back to my movie, my grief, and my identity crisis." He pulled the hood of the elephant costume over his head and gave him a toot. He unpaused the movie and the rest of the love scene played out. Finnick was alone, lonely, and suffering a tragic case of Pacadermeopathy.

Then Clawhauser had an idea. "Is there anyone special in your life?" Finnick rolled the hood back and snapped.

"What do you think!?" Clawhauser held his palms up to signal he meant no harm by the statement.

"Just making sure! I know someone that you should meet. A fellow officer on the force, Francine Pennington, she's an elephant too." Clawhauser was hoping that playing matchmaker would earn him a favor. Finnick's hard exterior softened as Clawhauser acknowledged his identity problem without judgment, and had become a little bashful with the idea.

"Gee pal, I don't know if I could afford to take anyone to a fancy dinner… she'd think I'm some kind of a schmuck." Clawhauser chuckled, he had her all wrong.

"Nah, she wouldn't like that, she's more playful! Grab a roll of quarters and take her to an arcade, have some real fun. She caught the bouquet at my wedding so love has been on her mind." Finnick stared at him in surprise as the fluffy cheetah smiled back, he was serious and Finnick had been made hopeful, but still doubtful.

"What if she says no?"

"What if she says yes?" Clawhauser took away his doubt and pulled out his police radio from his belt. "Francine, got your ears on?" There was a moment before she responded.

"Go ahead, Clawhauser."

"How soon can you get to Lupus Heights?" He asked. Finnick leaped off the couch and scrambled to get properly dressed.

"About ten minutes."

"Great, I got a friend of Nick's that needs your help." Clawhauser officially got the ball rolling and there was no going back. Finnick was pulling his shirt over his head as he stumbled around. He fell down as he was pulling his pants on.

"You're a jerk, you know that?"

"You probably have closer to seven minutes, she's a lead foot." Finnick was all smiles as he came out of the room and slicked his fur back.

"I owe you big for this, pal!"

"I have two favors to ask, though. The Bellwether letters, and if you find out anything from Happy Town or any of his other friends, let me know." Finnick thought for a second and remembered.

"Nick made a copy of Judy's room key, but it's on his car keys." Clawhauser asked on his radio.

"Has anyone checked out Hopps' apartment?" After a moment, chief Bogo replied.

"No one home as seen through the window. Did not enter, no need to." Bogo told him over the radio. Clawhauser asked his next question.

"Where's Nick's squad car?"

"Unaccounted for at this time." It was his mission now to locate the car, but without a clue, he had nothing. He turned to the door and Finnick followed.

"I gotta find his car, Francine can help you over the wall so if you find anything-"

"You'll be the second to know." That put a smile on the cheetah's face as they exited the apartment.

Francine came as Clawhauser and Finnick came out the front entrance of the apartment building. The door opened for Finnick and he scaled the enormous police car to sit in the passenger seat. Clawhauser pushed the door closed and they were off to find what they could from within the walls of Happy Town. Clawhauser thought intensely on his next move while he walked to his own cruiser. Climbing in, he sat silently thinking, and it seemed he had hit a dead end until his phone buzzed. It was another message from Gazelle. Taking his phone from his pocket, he read.

"Where's Wild Times?" It was strange, and before he could reply, another message popped up. "Look there."

He rolled up to the doors of his previous target practice grounds. The wooden pallet still leaned against the abandoned warehouse where he had laid it, and even the bottles he had missed never moved. The paint had washed away in the rains but he was sure that the targets he painted inside the building were still as he left them. There was no lock on the door, and with a hard pull, the doors opened to show the forgotten amusement park in the light of day. He didn't need to look for long, a large tarp was draped over what appeared to be a car, and it certainly wasn't there last time he was here. With a yank at the corner of the tarp, he pulled the dusty covering away, exposing Nick's squad car. He knew there could be evidence inside so he opened the door with the sleeve of his coat. Studying the fur left on the driver's seat, he found that both a gray rabbit and an orange fox had driven the car. He carefully observed the passenger seat, finding white wool. He had made a marvelous discovery and radioed it to the chief.

"Chief Bogo, I've found Nick's car. It's in an abandoned warehouse west of the bridge." There was a pause and Clawhauser saw the keys were still there.

"Excellent work! Sending a recovery team to retrieve it now. I'll be there myself in a few minutes." Clawhauser ignored the response and pulled the keys from the ignition. He searched through the few on the ring and found a key on the little carrot keychain, it was likely the one. He pulled it off and placed it in his pocket quickly and returned the key to the ignition. He had more than what he had come for, and stepped outside to his own car. He wanted to keep following the leads but he stopped to think before Bogo had arrived. He was really wondering where Gazelle was getting her intel, and decided to message her about it.

"How'd you know about Wild Times?" He asked, and a reply came quickly.

"I'm not sure. It just came to me." He couldn't comprehend how far-fetched it all seemed. He saw the bottles and cans still stacked from his day of target practice, and once he had figured out his ability, it bloomed until it was a natural part him. Considering an extreme possibility, he thought she could have evolved instincts, but this all sounded like comic book superhero stuff to him. Still, he asked.

"Are you psychic? Because that'd be so awesome!" He wrote to her. A message came back and it wasn't what he was expecting.

"I really don't know, Ben. It scares me." He didn't want to worry her anymore about it. In time maybe things will be explained but he had a huge job ahead of him, and time wasn't stopping for anyone. Still, thoughts of her as a police-psychic or a psychic detective were sparking his imagination.

Bogo's cruiser came with flashing lights across the field and stopped beside his car. Bogo exited and looked inside the warehouse.

"We will get this back to the station and I'll have Snarlof personally check it out. If we can find a clue, it would be a miracle. A tow truck is a few minutes away still." Bogo checked his phone as Clawhauser got in his own car.

"Chief, I'm hot on the trail so I'm gonna get a move on."

"Go! I got this, keep up the good work."

Judy's apartment was dark, dismal, dusty, and most of all, tiny. Clawhauser could barely fit inside the bunny's home, though for Judy, it was… probably still tiny. He opened the curtain wider for more light and observed her belongings. Greasy walls, rickety bed, a line of uniforms, her desk, a microwave, not much to live on.

"No wonder she spends all her time at the office." He muttered. He searched the papers on the desk first, finding no significant stacks that could be the letters. He focused on what they would look like, loose leaf pages, written by paw, yellow or some other color. He saw nothing of the sort among the bills and scraps of mail. He looked beneath her bed and found a cardboard box with a cover on it, he opened it and right on top was a large stack of the letters.

He sighed in relief, lifting the box with him to the bed, and searching a level deeper. He saw old photos of Judy and her family, keepsakes, mementos, and dozens of pictures of her and Nick. Most of them were selfies of themselves, and they both were so happy together. Clawhauser gathered that she might've been using the printer at the precinct to print the pictures and store them. He found it peculiar that these things belonged up on the walls, but she chose to hide them. It felt like a reflection of their relationship. All of the other officers didn't notice, but Clawhauser saw the signs. There was more to their chemistry than law enforcement partners. It burdened him to think that Judy and Nick could be gone, or worse, one of them alive without the other. They had been together since her second day on the force, and they've been inseparable ever since. He couldn't think of the terrifying possibilities and needed to stay focused on the facts of the case. He had to read the letters, he knew he could learn something from them, some insight that might lead him to their safe return. He was still hoping Finnick and Francine were able to further investigate Nick's connections and someone would say something that would help crack the case. He began to read the long letter from Bellwether.

On and on the letter went, detailing her plight-filled childhood, and by the time he laid the last page face down on the stack, his mind reeled back to the quiet little room, and he needed a moment to process the information. He breathed a heavy sigh. He now understood why Judy was sympathetic with Bellwether, because anyone can be anything. Those words changed millions. He needed more information, and needed to return to ZPD to get it.

There was a knock at the chief's office door.

"Yes?" He answered and Clawhauser opened the door and closed it behind him. "Clawhauser, what did you find?"

"Chief, what is Judy's affiliation with Bellwether?" Bogo stopped what he was doing and gestured to the chair for him to sit. Clawhauser came up to the desk and sat as he began to explain.

"Judy got it in her mind that Bellwether deserves a second chance, because once upon a time, she did one nice thing and blah blah whatever." Clawhauser was peeved with the flippant tone.

"I just read every letter Judy ever received from Bellwether, and I know about the transfer case with Silvia Fawkes… I agree with Judy." This caught the chief off guard completely and Clawhauser continued. "I trust Judy impeccably, and Bellwether's plan to topple the city's social structure, all she did was amplify what already existed! I keep the records around here, I have read every single one, and guess how many predator-prey crimes there has been in the last year?" He urged Bogo to answer and the chief just shrugged, he really didn't know. Clawhauser stood up. "Zero. She fixed that entire aspect of the city. Predators and preys are playing together in the streets. Anyone still aggressive or prideful is focused on Bellwether, she gave everyone a singular person to hate, she martyred her whole life. She invented 'anyone can be anything' when she wrote Lionheart's speech. She made it so there will always be more Judies and Nicks. Above all, I hope there will be more Bellwethers because someone needs to show the world how broken it really is, someone to show us that we need to evolve." Bogo was speechless. Clawhauser turned and went to leave the chief alone in his office. As the door hung open, Clawhauser spoke one last time. "If I find Bellwether, I will not arrest her." He let the door swing shut on the stunned chief and as he thought about the next step, it came to him in the form of a message. He looked at his phone and thought it was from Gazelle, but it was from Snarlof. He wanted to see him in the garage privately.

The garage was filled with scattered tools, oil, parts, it was the typical creative chaos Snarlof usually kept. The polar bear was wiping his paws off on a rag and leaned against the bench next to Nick's car. The doors were open and wires ran from its console to a computer with diagnostics lined across it. Snarlof pointed to something on the computer when he came in.

"Clawhauser, check this out." He said and turned to the computer.

"What'cha got?" He asked, and Snarlof sighed, taking a breath before he delivered potentially heavy news, and Clawhauser knew this couldn't be good. The only good thing would be if it helped track down Nick.

"This car traveled over 500 miles the day Nick went missing."

"Where did it go?" Snarlof shook his head and shrugged hesitantly.

"Not so much where they went, but what they were running from." Snarlof held up a pair of headphones and Clawhauser took one of the speakers and held it to an ear. Snarlof tapped the keyboard and a video started playing, it was the footage from the dash-cam from when the incident happened.

"Judy…" There was a long pause. Nick had pulled the car over on a dirt road. "... I love you." Then he exited the vehicle. There was some talk, and the screams of Bellwether. The camera picked up the sound of the entire event, Fangmeyer's rage, his accidental stabbing, and his escape with Nick in the other car. The part that sent a cold shiver down his spine was when he heard Fangmeyer say Bogo was in on it. His loyalty to the chief had been rock steady, but now he was beginning to wonder why, for any reason, he would be a part of such a heinous plot.

"Have you shown this to Bogo?" Snarlof's eyes widened and he had a skeptical look on his face.

"Not yet, wanted you to see it first." Snarlof clicked the fast forward button to advance the film by twenty minutes. He stopped at a specific timecode and let the video play again. He heard Judy talk to Bogo, and him saying he was trying to prevent the incident from happening. Clawhauser didn't believe him, he would ask that himself when he was done here. On the video, there was a conflict, followed by Judy and Bellwether getting into the car. They drove north and began to talk about their escape plan, and he heard where they were going, Olannglas. Silence filled the video aside from the drone of the car on the highway, then Judy exclaimed.

"Shoot! Nick has a dash-cam!" There was a loud click and that was the end of the video. Snarlof stopped it as he took back the headset.

"Clawhauser, I can't find Olannglas on a map anywhere. Heard you've been finding clues all day, so does any of this mean anything to you?" The name was from the letters, and within them told of this village's location. Clawhauser knew for sure now.

"I know where they are", he said with an anger in his eyes.

"Clawhauser?" Snarlof said, "Hey, don't go do anything stupid!" He was beyond reason, he wanted answers from the chief whether he was innocent or not.

Bogo was heading for the front door with a file in his paw and his glasses on his nose when Clawhauser cut him off with his whole body.

"Chief!" The angry cheetah confronted. Bogo tried to sidestep Clawhauser but wasn't allowed to pass.

"Clawhauser, I'm very busy right now, what is this about?"

"You were in on it! You knew!" He shouted in the hall, and it got the attention of every officer present. Bogo could feel the eyes upon him and tried to reason with Clawhauser.

"I knew something was going to happen, I was in on the case as a double agent! I ordered Nick AND Judy to take care of it, and Nick did the transfer by himself! I tried to prevent all of this! Your wedding occupied too many of our officers and there was no backup." Clawhauser shoved Bogo back a few steps, his anger rising higher for the buffalo that was literally twice his size.

"Don't you dare blame my wedding! Why didn't you do it yourself!"

"I should have! But once I was free of my duties here, I wanted to personally deliver Gazelle's wedding gift!" He exhaled harshly, and got angry. "Your father was my mentor. How could I miss my his son's wedding? I looked after you for all these years, I had to see if you had finally grown up!" Clawhauser shoved Bogo again, and again quickly. This time, he stumbled back and fell against the front of Clawhauser's desk. Bogo reached for his stunner, Clawhauser anticipated it and had drawn his own stunner cheetah-fast, Chase Clawhauser-fast. The Songbird was no more than four feet away from the center of Bogo's face, the weapon was live, and its electrodes bright with lightning. Bogo knew that stunner well, and took his paw slowly off of his own. Clawhauser meant serious business.

"Is there anything else I should know?" He spat out through grated fangs. Bogo looked with fear down that barrel, then to Clawhauser.

"It's about time you started honoring your father." That comment was a spear through his heart and Bogo meant it as such. Clawhauser already knew he was a disappointment, a joke, and he didn't need to be reminded. He replied with the only thing he had as an advantage over the chief, besides his weapon.

"I know where Judy and Bellwether are." He said it and the department froze in time. Bogo stood slowly from the floor and dusted himself off, and Clawhauser lowered and holstered his weapon.

"Where are they?" He asked with a glare from his eyes.

"I can't tell you, I can't trust you. I will go to them so I can protect them until this gets figured out. If you ever catch up, I will be there to stop you." Bogo approached and Clawhauser put his paw on the butt of his weapon. Bogo was foolish to think he had any power over him, but he demanded anyway.

"Tell me where they are, that's an order!" Clawhauser impulsively detached his badges from his uniform, and dropped it on the floor. It clinked and rang across the large hall, and some of the officers watching muttered among themselves. It was unbelievable that Clawhauser would put his career on the line to protect and serve. He knew Silvia had, and even remembered Judy once staked her dream for Mr. Otterton. The choice had gone from impulse to an act of revolution, and nothing would change if nothing changed. The scene was interrupted by a distress call on all frequencies across every radio in the department.

"Attention all units, there's a fire emergency at an apartment on 4878 Ocelot." Clawhauser froze, that was his own address, then pure terror filled him.

"Gazelle!"

There was no disruption like the feeling of fear crawling back. She had thought about Clawhauser all day, and she stayed connected with him through his image in her painting. Her phone was charging in the kitchen and she kept an ear out for a chime from her Clawhauser, never minding the interruption from her painting. The Cheetah and Gazelle in Blue was nearly finished, but she was too afraid to keep working, and her steady paw shook too much from the looming presence. She knew its source this time, and the tiger that she was once affiliated with through the record company had returned. This time, it was more, he could've brought his brothers with him. She thought that Lakshman and Jasvinder would be angry at her like Anuj, but she didn't know if Jitendra was aggressive enough. She felt them all approaching and now knew that all four brothers were present. She dropped her paintbrush and panicked. She didn't know what to do as the doorknob rattled. Terror filled her, they were right outside her door and she was trapped in the apartment. She immediately retreated into the bedroom and reached into the top drawer of the dresser by the bed to grab a stunner Clawhauser kept at home. She shook as she held onto it, and though she had a weapon that could subdue a tiger, she couldn't possibly take on all four. She needed to hide and she chose the closet, hoping they wouldn't look for her there. She pulled the closet door open and ducked inside as the front door was kicked in. Anuj was the first to enter.

"Hey Gaz, are you here?" She had heard him say but she didn't dare make a sound, not that she could. Lakshman entered next, followed by the other two brothers.

"Looks like no one is home." Lakshman was inspecting the boxes of stuff and the wedding gifts. Jasvinder pointed out the obvious.

"Brothers, I think she just married? Look at all of this stuff!" Gazelle was petrified with fear, she hoped and wished that they would just leave. Anuj stepped up to the easel with the blue painting on it, saw how happy the newlyweds were and it angered him deeply. He felt she needed to pay for ruining the careers they so passionately enjoyed. He yelled out and threw the easel and painting aside against the bookshelf. It startled Gazelle from within the dark closet, she clutched at the stunner, trying to seek comfort from the lit up electrodes on its end. Lakshman laughed and picked up the box with the microwave, and crashed it down to the floor to break it into a useless chunk of metal and glass. That was accompanied by Jasvinder throwing a box of fine dishes against the wall as Anuj ran his claws to shred the couch. Gazelle heard it all and wept for the loss of the gifts from their friends and family. She could hear them break everything and it crushed her heart. If she had known she would bring such destruction to Clawhauser's home, she would've never followed him here the night they met at the convenience store. Jitendra hadn't participated in the destruction, but instead looked to take the waffle iron for himself. Anuj moved into the bedroom, yanked the lamp atop a desk from the wall and hurled it into the large mirror. It shattered into a thousand shards as he ripped the bed apart, shredding the warm blankets Gazelle loved, and clawing the mattress that held them both as they held each other. Lakshman threw the dresser over, tipping it in front of the closet door with a booming thunk. Gazelle squeaked with fright once, ready to use the stunner but the door never opened. Anuj thought he heard something when Jasvinder chuckled as he finished destroying the kitchen.

"Much more fun breaking furniture than moving it!" They laughed, except Jitendra. He stood in the doorway to the bedroom and picked up a framed picture that had come from the top of the dresser. He saw a happy Gazelle, and officer Clawhauser in uniform at her loving side.

"Brothers!" He yelled out. "Stop what you're doing, she married a police officer!" They halted and looked at each other. If they were caught, they would be imprisoned for a very long time for sure. Jitendra sat the waffle iron down gently, treating it like a cursed object and backed out. "C'mon, let's get out of here!" Lakshman and Jasvinder followed him out, but Anuj lingered. He walked out to the living room, stepping through the destruction around his feet, he took one look at the carnage, and pulled a matchbook from his pocket. He didn't care who else lived there, he wanted to burn her life away. He struck a match with a claw and set the book of matches aflame, then threw them all into the flammable inner stuffing of the couch. He stood until he saw the fire grow strong, and then left to join his brothers in the hall to escape.

The silence that followed was maddening. She hid in the closet, shaking with fear until she felt them go away far enough to know they weren't coming back. Her tears had been running down her face, but she let go and huffed with grief. She didn't want to look outside her safe closet, she didn't want to see the damage that had been brought upon her sweet cheetah's home. She huddled in the closet crying, frantically trying to think of how to explain it all to Clawhauser. She feared he would hate her, kick her out, leave her forever. She disengaged the stunner, letting herself sit in the darkness, feeling things couldn't get any worse, then she smelled smoke. She didn't believe it at first, but it was definitely smoke. She pushed against the door and it wouldn't budge, threw her weight at it and it didn't give. She was trapped in a closet with a fire on the other side, no way to call for help. She could begin to feel the heat and the smoke was becoming thicker. She wedged herself to kick with her hooves, the door had opened an inch but more of the smoke billowed in. The air inside the closet was now oppressive, and she was choking on it. She pounded on the door and hoped someone, anyone, would have reported the fire and help was already there, or at least on its way. She kept banging her fists against the door, the heat was growing with intensity, and the oxygen was impure, and the smoke stinging her eyes. Gazelle had nearly given up when the door flew open. She was exposed to the inferno for a second before a firefighter, a courageous hippo, had covered her with a fire blanket. She was torn from the closet and carried through the oven into the hall, out to the street where it was safe, and into the cool afternoon air.

Lights flashed everywhere as Clawhauser skid his own car to a stop in the road. Yellow tape had cordoned off the street, beyond it was a fire truck and some ambulances. Occupants of the building were evacuated and people lined the sidewalks as the fire crew drowned the smoldering apartment with a hose from atop the ladder. The flames were extinguished and all that remained was their soaking wet charred belongings. All that they had was gone.

Clawhauser shoved his way through, and his badgeless uniform granted him enough access to get near the scene. His whole world slowed and sounds were hollow as he found her, sitting with a paramedic breathing fresh air from a mask, covered in a warm blanket to keep her from the bite of the autumn day. Clawhauser collapsed into her as she sat on the curb, both sobbing over each other and the disaster that was in their paws.

"I didn't know if you were ok! I was afraid you were… were…" He couldn't finish the thought, he didn't even want to put it out into the world, he was grateful beyond compare that she was alright. The paramedic gave them space and commented,"She's ok, she's a strong one."

Gazelle was happy to see her Clawhauser, but also feared that she would have to explain to him why this happened. Officer McHorn was commanding the scene, he approached the sobbing Gazelle to find out what happened. "The fire started in your apartment unit, can you tell us what happened?"

She flipped the loose strands of her hair off of her face then made a writing gesture with her paw to Clawhauser. He gave her his pen and police notepad, and she wrote out some information on it. She listed the names of her ex-dance team tigers and wrote 'vandalism, arson' as well. She ripped off the page and gave it to McHorn. He read it and a light bulb clicked on in his head. "Ah, that explains why everything is also smashed." He took the note to put out a warrant for their arrest. It was the most she could do to achieve justice for the incomprehensible damage they caused. She thought about what they had lost, first coming to mind was her gift to Clawhauser, her blue painting. Although she could start again, it still hurt to invest the time into it only to lose it all. She was in denial that they had lost everything. She couldn't comprehend it. Then it occurred to her that the old photos they had of their parents had been in there, and between the fire and water, she lost all hope of seeing her mother's face again. She wrote on a new page as her tears dropped down on it, and showed the note to Clawhauser. He read it while she hid her head in shame beneath the thick blanket, hid herself from him, hid herself away from the world.

"I ruined everything, please don't leave me." Clawhauser hugged her tight as she cried.

"I would never." He told her trying to catch a glimpse of her eyes. "Look at me..." He said. She kept turning away from him until he stopped trying, understanding how hurt she was. He took her paw, and wrapped one of her fingers around one of his. He didn't know what to say, if anything could be said. After a moment, she understood his promise, and gripped a finger in return. She wiped a tear from her cheek then wrote a new note for him.

"Photos are gone." It said, and it was true, Clawhauser knew what she was talking about, and tried to comfort her.

"I know, Darling, but my mama has copies of them all in a bunch of albums…" He stopped to realize that she only had the one old photo that her papá had given her, it was the only photo they had of her family when they were all together, and photography was a luxury in her former country most didn't have. She mourned the loss of it, and she wept so deeply it scared him. She hadn't cried like this since the night she came home with him, and he never imagined he would see her like this ever again.

Clawhauser reached into his inner coat pocket and pulled out a yellow envelope and opened it.

"Gazelle," He shook her shoulder trying to get her attention. "Gazelle, look." She did through tear soaked eyes while he pulled her old photo from the envelope, it had survived. "I was going to go to a specialist to have it restored, but today has been the craziest day ever. It was going to be my wedding gift to you." Her heart flipped. She was so filled with gratitude for him that she burst into more tears and threw herself into his arms, kissing him furiously and couldn't contain how much she loved him. His gift was the sweetest gift in the world.

The scene was beginning to cool down. Gazelle remained sitting, staring at the tiny minute cracks and crevices of the pavement between her hooves. Clawhauser was talking with the emergency personnel about the process to recover from this insurmountable loss. He didn't know how many officers would be available to apprehend the four tiger brothers, he knew Nick was a priority concern, but surely someone would bring them in and justice would be served promptly. It didn't feel like it would've been enough, but it was something. Clawhauser declined an offer for coffee and Gazelle accepted a cup graciously, though she more or less accepted it because it was warm. He sat down next to her as she held the cup in her cold paws.

"Darling, there's not much for us to do here. The clean up crew has to do their thing and we can meet with the insurance company any time. Unfortunately, I need to leave town to find Judy and Bellwether, I found out where they are, I have to go." Gazelle nodded and tried sipping the steaming coffee. After a swallow, she wrote on the notepad.

"Take me with you." Clawhauser read, and after a brief moment of consideration, he agreed to it with a nod. She didn't want to be alone.

The drive north was long, and they were losing daylight on one of the longest days they've had in their lives. The scenery and flora had become more alpine as they drove into a naturally colder environment, and they were both feeling out of place coming from Savanna Central. After a couple of quiet hours and nearing their destination, Clawhauser broke the silence.

"I quit the force today." The words came as a shock to Gazelle. The look on her face spoke for her, she was asking why. "Bogo handled Bellwether's transfer to a safer facility poorly, and it caused Nick to get hurt and go missing. I found where Judy took her from a letter written from prison and the dash-cam of Nick's cruiser. I couldn't trust anyone with the information… Bellwether is… a complicated case. She really stirs up a lot of change, and she could make the world a better place if her mind was set on the right path. She's tried to fill the hole in her heart with power and vengeance, and we all know how that worked out. I wonder what it'll take for her find peace?" Gazelle jotted something down, perhaps she knew.

"Love?" Phrased as a question, it was no answer. Clawhauser sighed and shook his head.

"Who would? Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE hates her. There's only a paw's worth of mammals that understand, and we're doing our best." She didn't understand. Gazelle remembered the riots she caused, and how she stood on the lines with the predators and shouted for peace, trying to restore the city to the Zootopia she loved. That sentiment was fleeting, it was more the Zootopia where she only existed now, and the level of unfairness she experienced paled in comparison to the mistreatment Bellwether was receiving, she was sure of that. It was an odd thing to have in common with the little sheep. Not everyone got along, that's to be expected, but the mammals of the city sure did love their hate, and fear always worked.

They drove over a hill and came to a clear field, and in the field was an airstrip, right where Clawhauser knew it would be.

"Ah, jackpot." He announced and made the turn to enter the complex. There didn't seem to be any activity, but Clawhauser spotted a ram working in an open aircraft hangar. He parked his car and the ram acknowledged his arrival with a wave. He sat a case down next to a small single propeller plane and walked to introduce himself to his guests. Before exiting the car, Clawhauser laid out the plan.

"We need him to take us to Bellwether, so let me do all the talking." Gazelle huffed at him and nudged his shoulder, shooting him a smirk sideways. They got out and the northern air nipped at their nose, and the cold asphalt bit into their feet. At his earliest possible opportunity, he would buy her a warm coat. The ram approached, wearing his own coat loosely over his dull attire and thick wool. He had aviator goggles around his neck, and Clawhauser easily deduced that he was a pilot.

"What can I do for you folks?" Clawhauser swallowed and steeled himself to negotiate.

"My friends, Dawn Bellwether and Judy Hopps, came through here ten days ago. We need to go where they went." The ram tilted his head as he pulled the hem of his coat around to his side, exposing a classic stunner like the one Clawhauser had himself. Clawhauser made the same gesture to show he too was packing lightning. In a quick draw, Clawhauser would drop him before a single strand of wool could touch his weapon, but that would stop them from making any more progress. They'd come too far to risk any such outcome. The ram looked at them both and asked.

"If you're really a friend, you should know the password." Clawhauser froze where he stood and thought of anything it might be, he looked to Gazelle and she didn't move at all, and then it seemed rather obvious.

"Muttonchops." He said, and the ram covered his stunner and smiled.

"Aye, that's the ticket. Yes, I took Dawn and her bunny friend to the Emerald Isles ten days ago. It's a little way out but I can get you there." The ram turned around and Clawhauser let out a breath in relief. The ram opened the door to the plane and welcomed them aboard.

They landed in a small and frigid town south of where they needed to be, and the light sleeting rain chewed away at any warmth they retained. Gazelle was freezing, he didn't want her to get sick, that would make everything worse. She couldn't afford to be bedridden in this far away land. From an old outfitter's shop, he bought her a long warm coat, lined with fluff and made of a thick fiber to keep the wind off. She picked out a lovely thick scarf to keep her long neck warm, and she was very happy with the style of her new attire, it felt nice to be fashionable again. Clawhauser had obtained information from the salesman on how to get to Olannglas. The kind mammal told him his son was driving a shipment north and they could ride with him a part of the way, then it was up to them to go the rest on foot. It was a journey, but Clawhauser wouldn't stop until he saw who he came for.

The ride felt like hours, and the walk was even longer. They were in a previous time zone so the long day was prolonged even more. Still, if they didn't reach Olannglas by the time night fell, with the fog and the lack of light on the lonely road, they could be easily lost in the night. Gazelle's hooves were beginning to ache but Clawhauser showed no signs of giving in. He seemed to be driven forward on more than strength, and Gazelle couldn't think of how he was managing to move forward. She knew he was on a mission, and had never seen him this part of him before. He was determined, it was admirable, and she wished she had his strength. She stopped at the top of a low hill and rested her hooves for just a moment, and Clawhauser did the same. The fog lifted for a moment to expose a small village below them in the distance still a few miles away, resting on the edge of the sea, and relying on its natural secrecy. Gazelle expected the cheetah to smile and laugh with joy, but he remained cool and collected. Gazelle saw that he knew more about this place than he lead to believe, and she could sense a foreboding that almost made her turn back. Clawhauser sighed, with the cold wind and spoke softly.

"We're here."

They entered through the wooden door of the inn. Through an arch to one side was the adjacent pub. Clawhauser peeked over and recognized it as it had been described in the letters. It put a smile on his face like he was living something from a fairy tale, feeling the surreal magical charm of the place. Gazelle had to take a peek as well, and found that a welcoming fire was roaring in the hearth ready to cure her shivering. She stepped by and went to sit at the table nearest to it to warm herself, poor thing was chilled to the bone. There was no one at the front desk for the inn, so Clawhauser took a seat at the bar. He looked around at the patrons for a moment, seeing a goat reading a book pause to catch his notice. Clawhauser and Gazelle would have to pay extra attention to their surroundings, they were so far out of their element in this place, a few stares wouldn't be unexpected. Worse yet, they didn't want any old-world judgements on them. The barkeep walked in from the back room and noticed the new company in his establishment.

"What can I get for ya?" He asked.

"Nothing for now, I was wondering if you can help me. I'm looking for a friend, Dawn Bellwether?" The was a loud woody thump that rattled the glasses next to him, and the bar became even quieter somehow. Clawhauser had turned his head to see that a Billy club had been placed on the bar beside him. It was aged, battle worn, and victory imbued. The paw that rested on its grip belonged to a ram much larger than him, with a swirly beard, straight twisted horns, and a bald head.

"And how did you come to know that name, lad?" Clawhauser recognized the ram by his descriptive qualities, he was bigger and more powerful than he imagined, though much older.

"Constable Racka?" He asked, and the ram tilted his head when he heard his own name. "I really am a friend of Dawn Bellwether… she came here after her parents divorced a long time ago. I'm here now to help protect her." Racka took his weapon from the bar and returned it to his hip opposite of its twin, but the constable still remained cautious.

"What did you say your name was?" He asked. Clawhauser held a paw out slowly to show that he meant no harm, but Racka shake paws with him.

"Benjamin Clawhauser." Racka smiled for a moment, and then the smile left him when it was replaced with concern. He spoke as if Bellwether could hear him.

"Aw petal, what right serious trouble have you gotten yerself into to warrant the aid of a Clawhauser?" Now it was Clawhauser who tilted his head when he heard his name. "Oh come now, I know of yer name too, I know what ya can do. It's a true honor to finally meet ya." Clawhauser smiled and drew his weapon, displaying it for the ram.

"This was my father's…" Racka had the respect to see with his eyes and refrained from touching it, seeing was enough for him to believe.

"If this is in yer possession… oh lad, my condolences for your father…"

"It's ok, it happened a long time ago." Clawhauser thought Racka was aware of his father's legacy, but disconnected enough to be out of date. Racka tapped on the bar and the barkeep sat two glasses down before them. He filled both glasses with a stiff amber drink and Racka held one up.

"Let's drink to your father, and the warriors of old that passed." It was a noble gesture, and Clawhauser didn't want to offend the ram.

"Thank you, but not right now, next time." He declined. Racka shrugged and downed both glasses and let out a raspy exhale.

"I imagined you and your father would be quite a force to meddle with. Are you here by your lonesome?"

Clawhauser pointed to Gazelle. "I'm here with my wife, Gazelle..." He felt the need to establish some kind of credit for her too, and thought of a way to describe her without too much detail. "...she can think around the corner." Racka nodded as he glanced at her sitting quietly by the warm fire.

"Aye, keep that one warm. A great many folks been getting sick as of late. Be a shame to lose another." Clawhauser was worried in an instant. The harsh weather could impede on their health, he knew he was in the right place to find Judy and Bellwether. Once he did, they needed to leave.

"I should be finding a room then, are there any available here?" Racka chuckled once, swaying his bald head as his drinks went to it.

"The beds here are all spoken for. You can see if there is a bed at Bellwether's hut, since you're visiting her. It's just up the road and over the first hill on the left." Clawhauser smiled at the constable and patted his shoulder once as he stood. Gazelle was rubbing her paws together, still trying to be warm again when she saw him get up. She followed him out the way they came, but not before a long glance into Racka's judging eyes as she passed. She sensed great sorrow in him.

The evening was thick with fog, and the twilight had set in upon the town. It was quiet and the roads were poorly lit with old electric lights barely staying alive. It was surreal and otherworldly, it was the old world, and it would be pleasant if it wasn't so cold. There wasn't snow yet but the weather was ready for it, and they both hoped it wouldn't snow while they were here. They walked the one avenue, and Clawhauser recognized an overgrown bush next to what he could gather as Mr. Landrace's house.

"A Gorse is a Gorse of course…" He muttered. There was a soft ringing of a bell as someone exited the general store just ahead of them, and outlined by the light, Judy walked into the street wearing a thick coat and holding a little brown bag.

"Judy?" Clawhauser asked. She froze, looked at Clawhauser and gasped in surprised. Judy whipped out the electric baton, and its lights gleamed brightly in the fog. Her stance shifted for combat, and Clawhauser pulled his coat from his side to expose his own stunner.

"Stay away!" She yelled out as she approached menacingly.

"Everyone's looking for you, we need to go home."

"Did Bogo send you? He can't be trusted, I can't trust you!" She came nearer and Clawhauser could see the pain and loss in her eyes. She appeared older, weary, and looked of grief.

"Judy, I just want to talk-"

"Lies! All lies! I'll stun you to the ground before I trust the ZPD again..." Clawhauser knew she wouldn't stop herself, and nothing he could say would change her mind right now. Her mind was closed and flooded with erratic emotions, abandoning all logic, and cared only for survival. If they were to fight, it'd be better to subdue her as a matter of weapon choice. Clawhauser could be badly injured by a well-placed baton strike, but a shot from the Songbird would leave much less physical harm, but cause hours of agony. Either way, it was too dangerous. Between the two of them, the name of the game would be speed. He pulled the weapon slowly though, reluctant and knowing just as fast as he could draw and fire, she would be on top of him in a heartbeat. His weapon's electrodes glowed alive, and he was armed and ready. For the moment, it was a standoff, and Gazelle felt the tension building as she gave the two gladiators space while Judy sat down the little brown bag out of their way.

It was Judy that made the first move, rolling in and around Clawhauser's reactive first shot. The yellow gel splattered in a flash of light across the cobble behind her as she grunted with a powerful swing of the baton. He spun his body back, dancing his way to avoid full contact with the baton, and his father's coat protected him by dispersing the electricity. Arcs of lightning waved out over his coat as he shot again from beneath his right arm, she sprung up to his face, jabbing at his neck but still with no connection as he ducked and rolled. He shot preemptively at her feet and she barely dodged, grunting and feeling the sting as the yellow paint splashed in bright sparks. He spun again to be dangerously close and put the barrel of the stunner point-blank in Judy's face. He didn't shoot, he didn't want to risk blinding his friend and she knew it. Judy slapped his paw away, and he recoiled with a kick at her knee to knock her down. Judy quickly bounced up and out of the way of the next shot, and leaped for his chest, pushing her entire weight into him. He stumbled back but without her vest and weighted bands, she had only her natural force to throw at him. He threw the hem of his coat up and it confused her for a split second as he grabbed her coat with his free hand. She twisted and brought the baton down hard on his arm. The coat dispersed the electricity but the impact of the heavy rod was painfully there. His grip on her failed and she was free to bring the baton under his coat to send a shock into his unprotected side. He roared as it jolted its power into him, and he convulsed as he fell down onto the cold cobble road. Judy dashed off and secured the brown bag in her other paw, then disengaged the baton. Clawhauser was down and she had an opportunity to escape. She took off like a missile, running as fast as she could down the road. Clawhauser bore through pain and stood as Judy ran up the first low hill. He took careful aim, and she was slipping away with every fraction of a second. If she escaped back to the hut, she and Bellwether could leave and run anywhere, Bellwether knew the terrain, and the fog would make them impossible to track. It was now or never. He fired a faithful shot, sending the ball of electricity through the fog like a little flare, flickering as it flew through the twilight. As Judy rounded the summit of the hill, it landed on her at what could've been over 150 feet. She was silhouetted in the flash of the impact, and a distant scream of sudden agony confirmed his target had been hit. Clawhauser never wanted to ever hear that sound from her, and he felt guilty he had to do it. He signaled to Gazelle to follow and they ran to see the damage he had caused.

Judy was struggling to move, crawling, clawing her way forward along the road. Clawhauser and Gazelle caught up with her easily enough and he holstered his weapon and nearly keeled over from his own hurts.

"Judy!" He shouted as he caught his breath. "I'm so sorry!" She had crawled up to the brown bag and opened it, seeing that whatever was inside was now broken, and a liquid soaked the bottom of the bag.

"You IDIOT!" She yelled. "I needed that!" Clawhauser saw where she had been painted, she was hit on the back of her thigh. Clawhauser worried he had hit in her the head and was glad she didn't get a worse hit. He tried helping her up, but she batted him away, and the electricity was still stinging into her as she moved. She submitted to the pain, and finally accepted the help with a growl. Bellwether's hut was in sight, and Judy winced as Clawhauser acted as a crutch for her. Gazelle was abhorred by the power of his weapon, and hoped Judy would recover from the shock. Her mind was focused on the hut as she shivered. The soft warm light within it looked more than welcoming to everyone.

Clawhauser turned the latch and opened the door to the old stone and wood hut. The inside was dim and candle lit, and layered with quilt patterned upholstery and curtains. The size was alright for Clawhauser, but Gazelle had to duck in, but once inside, the space was accommodating. A fire gently burned beneath a large kettle in the fireplace of the main room, and Gazelle was happy to see it. Judy grumbled in and sat down in a little wooden chair and tried wiping away the stinging paint.

"Flour." Clawhauser said. "Put flour on it and it'll take it off." She nodded and limped off to take care of it. Gazelle sat and huddled before the fire and smelled the soup cooking in the pot. She sighed deeply and quietly stared into the hypnotic flames. It worried Clawhauser that he didn't know how well she was doing, or what was on her mind. He thought it was bad for her to lose her career and everything the first time, but to lose the home life she had created for herself from unfair circumstances, it was unfathomable. Clawhauser has every right to worry. Judy came back with a fresh pair of pants and dusted the flour from her paws.

"That feels so much better, thank you, but I still hate you." Judy shook off any remaining sting on her leg and seemed to be walking again with only a slight limp. Clawhauser asked,

"Where's Bellwether?" A short silence, the Judy took a candle and brought it with her to a dark corner of the living room. She sat it on a nightstand near a pair of glasses, then shook the sheep sleeping on the large bed.

"Hey, wake up." Judy softly spoke. "We have guests." She gave her the glasses then stepped aside while Bellwether sleepily rolled over to see who had come. She coughed, and her lungs rattled with mucus, then she sniffed her snot-thick nose and wiped it with a handkerchief. She rubbed her dark-circled eyes and put her glasses on. Clawhauser's jaw dropped.

"She's sick!" Judy punched him in his stomach not so playfully.

"And you made me drop the medicine she needed to get better! I spent all my money on the last vial!" The hope in Bellwether's eyes fled and she was still for a moment in disbelief. Gazelle turned around and saw the sick sheep and she didn't need any help sensing how bad it was. She came near to see for herself and Bellwether recognized her.

"You're… oh my… you're Gazelle! I'm so sorry to have to meet you like this. I'm a big fan!" Bellwether blew her nose as Gazelle reached forward and placed the back of her paw on her forehead. Her senses tripped, almost expecting them to, but what she saw was startling. It was not life nor death, but the blank faceless void of uncertainty. Something was yet to be decided and Bellwether's life was hanging in the balance. It was disturbing, far worse than any fear or pain, and Gazelle's concern couldn't hide from her expression. "That bad, huh?" Bellwether groaned. Gazelle wrote a note and shown it to everyone.

"Burning up." Judy was still mad, frustrated, at the end of her rope, she was spinning with emotions.

"Go ahead, Clawhauser! Make your arrest." He turned to Judy and pulled the hem of his jacket to expose the place where his badge should be.

"No badge." He pointed out. Judy's expression softened into a surprise.

"What? Why?"

"Same as you, couldn't trust Bogo, couldn't trust anyone. I shoved Bogo down and stuck my stunner in his face, thought he was going to wet himself." Judy closed her eyes and imagined it with a grin. "So... awesome..." Clawhauser chuckled at it and kept explaining.

"Gazelle has been amazing, she helped me find you." Judy looked at her, and Gazelle smiled as she golf-clapped her paws together for herself. "We've had a heck of a day-" He didn't know where to begin, but Judy cut him off.

"Where's Nick?" She asked. The silence that followed told all, and she knew there was something wrong. Clawhauser stayed stoic.

"As far as I know, he's still missing." Judy sighed and took the news like an arrow through her heart. Ten days was far too long to be missing with an injury.

"He was stabbed, badly." Judy told Clawhauser. "He saved Bellwether's life, and now she's so ill, I don't know what else to do but to make her comfortable." Clawhauser looked at Bellwether, and she had fallen back asleep, unable to stay with everyone. Judy adjusted her pillows to settle her better and wiped her nose with the handkerchief. Bellwether woke up again and was confused, she hadn't known she had dozed off. "You should have some soup." Judy said and Bellwether nodded, propping herself up so she could eat. Gazelle was stirring the soup in the kettle and heard Judy mention it, so she headed to the kitchen to get bowls and spoons for everyone.

Gazelle ducked into the kitchen and searched the cabinets for bowls, finding four large earthen clay bowls that were crafted from scratch. She looked around in the dim kitchen and saw a drawer that looked like it might have silverware in it. She patted her paws around in the dark and let the countertop guide her to where she wanted to be. She touched the brick oven and an image filled her mind. She saw a young Bellwether, a happy child, eager to have one of her Baba's delicious cookies fresh from the oven. It was such a happy memory filled with innocence and light. Then a second memory followed, it was a later time and Bellwether was dark, angry, brooding, and when she was given the same cookie, she destroyed it and yelled. The memory left Gazelle in the dark, and she wasn't able to determine what might have caused such a drastic change in the little sheep's heart. It concerned her, she knew what that dark place felt like, and she sympathized. This old-world place was filled with artifacts, and her senses could be triggered at any moment. She hesitantly touched the handle of the drawer and was relieved that all that was in it was the silverware she looked for.

Bringing the bowls and spoons, Judy ladled the hardy soup into them and passed it around. They all sat around the living room and enjoyed the warm meal and each other's company. Clawhauser sighing loudly as he shared.

"Craziest day ever. I came into work and everyone was going nuts in the bullpen. So many officers from all of the precincts are investigating and looking for Nick. Happy Town is locked-down, so hopefully Finnick can crack that one." Judy finished a slurp of the soup and asked.

"Finnick is working with the fuzz? Voluntarily?" Clawhauser nodded.

"Depends on the fuzz, I may have kinda sorta perhaps only a little bit played Cupid had paired him up with Francine." Clawhauser grinned and shrugged and Judy just gaped her mouth.

"Oh cheese and crackers…" she exhaled.

"It gets crazier. Gazelle is a-" hearing her name got her attention and Clawhauser saw she was shaking her head slightly. He altered what he was about to say. "-super intuitive person, and she helped find his car." Judy nodded and chewed on a big piece of carrot from the soup.

"His car was meant to be hidden until all of this was over. Bellwether had a guy drive it back so it wouldn't be found at the airfield. You saw the dash cam video, didn't you?" Clawhauser nodded.

"Yeah, it was disturbing, but you gave away your location. I borrowed Nick's key to check out your apartment and I found the letters. It described where this village actually is."

"That's good detective work. How is it that you got stuck working behind a desk all day?" Clawhauser smiled and pointed at Gazelle, and she waved it all thinking she didn't deserve that much credit.

Clawhauser groaned and was rubbing the spot in his side where Judy tagged him with the stun baton. "I'm sorry I got you-"

"Don't worry about it, we're even. Not the worse thing that happened today." He looked to Gazelle as she drank the broth of her soup. She swallowed and wrote for a moment on her notepad what had happened.

"Our home vandalized, set on fire. Lost everything." Judy read it, and sat her soup down and went to Gazelle and gave her a big hug.

"Oh sweetheart, that's so terrible!" Gazelle hugged back and was appreciative that her pain was recognized and acknowledged by her. She held the sadness in, sniffing just once and Clawhauser could see the orange fire reflect off her watery eyes. Judy knew how much they had lost, she helped deliver the gifts while they were on their honeymoon. She didn't even want to bring that up, to do so at this sad time might tarnish a good memory so she let it be. The day had been the craziest indeed.

Gazelle gathered the dishes and returned them to the kitchen. She brought a candle with her this time as to avoid any obstacles, extrasensory or not. Judy tucked Bellwether in and felt her forehead again, and she was still too hot. Judy set herself up on the foot of the large bed Bellwether occupied, there was plenty of space left over, and Clawhauser and Gazelle could take the bed in Bellwether's old room. The bed was much smaller, and Gazelle gave it to Clawhauser while she curled up on a thick quilt and a pillow by the fire. She wrapped herself in Clawhauser's coat and pulled the old photo of her parents out of its inner pocket. She stared at it until it comforted her, letting the good memories wash over her, and quietly cried from the need she had for her mamá. Clawhauser sat on the edge of the bed and cleaned the Songbird by candle light. It was a comforting ritual that made him feel close to his father, and through his weapon, he hoped that he could find the resolve to finish this journey. He didn't know where it was going, or what the next step was, he hoped perhaps Gazelle could foresee what came next. He oiled and maintained the parts and clicked the stunner back together, inserting a fully loaded clip. He heard a faint voice and went to investigate, looking through the doorframe of the bedroom into the living room where everyone else slept. Bellwether started coughing hard, her chest heaving with illness, he couldn't help but think that she was becoming sicker. She stopped and caught her breath as he heard the familiar voice.

"Judy… I love you." It was Nick's voice, and it surprised him at first, "Judy… I love you." It came again, identical to the first occurrence. He saw Judy was listening to the carrot pen recorder repeatedly. "Judy… I love you." Clawhauser looked to Gazelle curled on her side before the fire in his coat, and Bellwether had caught his gaze as he looked around. He walked quietly up to her and she whispered to him.

"She listens to it a hundred times every night." She told him. The recording kept playing over and over, and it was unsettling. Clawhauser could see Judy rolled up in the quilt, and faced away from everyone. He noticed her breathing was labored, and she was grieving, possibly mourning the loss of her partner, her love. "It doesn't bother me, the repetition helps me sleep. But she..." Judy rolled over and wiped the tears from her eyes, it was then he saw that she had his badge, his wallet with his photo ID, phone, and the carrot pen. It was all that remained of him, and she held onto the pieces, wishing she had more than remaining pieces of her fox.

"I miss him so much… I can't live without him… I don't know what to do." Clawhauser could feel the despair come over her as she rolled back over and sobbed once to continue expelling the pain she had in her soul. Clawhauser understood how she had come to look so worn, and all she had for comfort was just a few objects. He looked to Bellwether as she adjusted herself, and her bell chimed once, and like a cue, it brought to him its message and the everlasting homage to her Baba. He acknowledged that he, too, remembered through his father's stunner and coat, and as he looked to see his beloved wife with the photograph by the fire. She wrote something in her huddle and ripped the page from the pad. She held the note straight up as she laid to give it to him. He took the note and read it.

"We are not broken."

Gazelle woke up, coughing from a dry throat and remembering the brief lingering panic of a nightmare. She didn't know which nightmare it was, the one of pool powder, or the one of fire. Her throat burned as she gasped and she desperately needed a drink to sooth it. Bellwether was sleeping peacefully, and she made sure she could see discernibly that she was still breathing. Judy wasn't present, and Clawhauser snoozed on the bed in the old bedroom. There was enough of the morning light coming in through the windows to see her way to a cup in the kitchen, and find her way back to the front door. She wrapped Clawhauser's coat around her and stepped out into the cold fresh air of the deep early morning.

The fog was still thick, and the well was visible near enough. She saw Judy had come out for a drink as well and was acknowledged by her.

"Hey." was all she said. Gazelle dipped the cup into the bucket Judy had pulled from the well and drank it up with much need. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and Judy struck up a conversation. "I didn't sleep well myself…" Gazelle didn't blame her. She didn't know what she'd do if she ever lost Clawhauser, she thought she would crumble apart and doubted she would love again. "When Clawhauser said you helped him, did he mean like this?" Judy pulled a note from her pocket and gave it to her, it read 'save Bellwether'. Gazelle was unsure how to explain it, she just nodded. Judy had a look of discovery on her face and asked a new question. "Are you clairvoyant?" Gazelle didn't answer, standing still until Judy spoke again. "No secrets, we need all the help we can get." That was the truth, and Gazelle nodded and shrugged to say yes but it was elusive to her, she undoubtedly confirmed the suspicion. Judy pulled the things from her pockets and held them out for Gazelle to inspect. She knew that any of these things could speak to her, show her something. "Please Gazelle, find him." Judy urged. Gazelle took a deep breath and knew she had to purposely throw herself into a vision to locate their lost friend. She reached her paw out, and tugged at the chain around Judy's neck, pulling out a dented and chipped silver leaf wrapped in wire. The leaf dangled on its wire repair and Gazelle could feel, nearly see with her eyes, the amount of energy that flowed through this relic. She was afraid to touch it, afraid of where it might take her, but she had to try. For Nick and for Judy, she gripped it tight.

Her mind was sent to Nick as he was stabbed, and the pain was overwhelming. She had to focus intensely from being dislodged from the vision, and she stayed with him until he slipped into darkness. His chest hurt and was jostled around as Fangmeyer spoke, telling him he was going to be ok. Nick was fading fast and then he was dropped out of a car and she couldn't tell where he was. The impact to the street hurt tremendously on the wound and it sent Gazelle reeling out.

Gazelle's heart was pounding furiously, and the world was sideways. She had collapsed to the ground and Judy was trying to get her up. She shook her head, tossed the hair out of her face and tried to calm down. Judy gave her a moment until she seemed stable.

"Did you find Nick?" Judy asked hopeful for good news. Gazelle was helped from the frigid ground and focused on reality for a moment. She pulled the notepad to write but she hesitated, not knowing how to describe what she had seen. It worried Judy, and she was unable to definitively find a helpful detail. Gazelle didn't have the heart to describe how much agony Nick was in, she didn't want to crush her spirit. She wrote something down and turned the message over to Judy.

"I think he's ok." She read. It wasn't the most reassuring message, and provided no further insights. Clawhauser yanked the old door to the hut open.

"I need help in here!" He yelled out. Judy ran off, leaving Gazelle in the dust. Gazelle took a few steps, then stopped when her senses pinged off of something, someone was watching. She looked around for a moment and saw a faint figure at the edge of the fog. She couldn't see who it was, but as he turned away, all she could determine was that he was a deer by his antlers. He disappeared into the morning almost instantly and was gone. She thought she had seen a ghost.

Judy burst through the door and saw Clawhauser at Bellwether's bedside.

"We a problem!" He was dabbing the sweat from Bellwether's forehead. Gazelle entered the room and was struck with horror. Bellwether was hyperventilating, and whimpering in terrible distress. "Judy, how does your mama stop a high fever!?" Clawhauser asked.

"I don't know! We always had medicine!" Gazelle could nearly feel Bellwether's suffering, and the last time she felt this way was when she was little. She had a high fever of her own once, and her poor family couldn't afford the necessary medicine. She remembered her mother running a cool bath for her, and she had an immediate idea. Gazelle grabbed the nearest blanket and darted out the door back to the well. She sensed that lurking deer again, but couldn't mind it this time. She dunked the blanket into the cold water of bucket and soaked it the best she could and ran back. Ducking into the room again, Gazelle pulled Bellwether up and moved her to the cool floor. She clutched at her burning head and cried in agony as the sopping cold blanket was wrapped around her, Bellwether held the heavy wet blanket like her life depended on it and calmed down. In a moment, she seemed better and Judy praised Gazelle for her resourcefulness.

"Good call." Bellwether caught her breath as she huddled on the floor, now much more stable as the heat had been sapped away. She coughed repeatedly, and to everyone's worry, it sounded dangerously worse. Clawhauser and Judy looked at one another, hoping to find an idea between the two of them, but when they saw Gazelle looking through the curtains outside at something, it caused an alarm in Clawhauser. He drew his stunner and threw open the door in a single motion then stepped out into the cold silent fog, Judy following with the baton already in her paw. With his weapon aimed into the fog, he couldn't tell who was there, or had been there. The air held still, and not a sound other than the distant coast could be heard. Gazelle knew someone was out there, in fact, they all knew.

"We need a plan." Judy said while she and Gazelle tucked Bellwether back into her bed with fresh sheets and blankets. Clawhauser equipped himself with his own coat and a spare clip, and Judy knew he wanted to hunt for whoever was stalking them. She couldn't disagree, they would take no liberties to keep everyone safe. Clawhauser tossed the hem of his coat over his belt and was ready to go.

"I should at least call in, see if anyone has found Nick." Judy nodded and told him where to go.

"Our phones don't work here but there's one in the general store that does." Gazelle fluffed up Bellwether's pillows and sat them behind her head, she was trying to convince Gazelle she was alright.

"Please, I'm fine, I feel better." Gazelle placed the back of her paw on her forehead and checked her temperature. It had gone down for the moment, and she could tell that the cold blanket would only stave off the fever momentarily. Their efforts were proving ineffective to fight the virus itself, they really did need medicine. Gazelle wasn't fooled, and she had the most concern for the little sheep and her declining condition. Clawhauser and Judy came to the bedside and talked with them, Judy speaking up first.

"We're running out of options. We need to go into town to make a phone call. We'll see if there is anything we can find that'll help her." Judy took Bellwether's paw, looking to bestow the hope she needed to stay strong and survive. "Gazelle will stay and-"

"No," Bellwether spoke out. "Take her with you. I've read about what she is." It was confirmed right then that everyone knew and it was no longer a secret. Bellwether spoke to Gazelle directly. "You have evolved instincts. You're more useful out there where you can use your intuition, so help them. I'm not going anywhere, I feel better, and I'll be here reading my book." She leaned over and grabbed the novel by the candle on the nightstand. Gazelle reluctantly nodded to agree with her. Judy and Clawhauser didn't argue, and the best possible outcome was in everyone's interest. "I gotta ask though, did you always have your gift?" Gazelle wrote in the notepad and showed it to her.

"Maybe, but I was very distracted." Bellwether smiled, knowing Gazelle was once at the top of Zootopia, and now she was on the cold fringe of the world with her. She felt honored, and was happy that she had a friend like her.

"Go get help, and when we all go home, Gazelle can predict the lottery." She said smiling as the party left the hut, Gazelle last, of course, Bellwether saw in her eyes that she may have caught the lie. The door closed behind them and Bellwether slumped down, setting the book back on the nightstand and taking her glasses off, folding them neatly and setting them by the novel. She huffed and blew the candle out, and as it smoked a thin line in the dreary morning lit room, she laid her head down and folded her paws across her abdomen, felt the deeply scarred scratch across her forearm with her paw, and closed her eyes. She wasn't feeling better. Her entire body ached terribly and she was weak to the point that she could barely feel her legs. She could tell it was perhaps her last day, and she couldn't have been in better surroundings as she remembered the good things that came from this place, and the good friends that surrounded her. She closed her eyes, and began a repetition to help her sleep.

"Mother, Father, Baba, Pinky, Leodore, Racka, Mr. Hart, Dakota, Doug, Jesse, Woolter, Bogo, Nick, Judy, Clawhauser, Gazelle, Zootopia, Olannglas, and myself…" she paused for a deep breath before she finished. "Please, forgive me." Her mind was calm, and she had made her peace with everything. She would rest, and whatever happened, she would let happen.

Bellwether was jostled awake, dazed and confused as she emerged from her feverish sleep. She wiped the snot from her nose and saw through her blurry vision who was next to her.

"Gazelle?" She asked as she reached for her glasses. She didn't find them and they were placed on her face for her. The person looking over her was not Gazelle, it was Mr. Hart.

"Gazelle? Is that the name of that exotic bird?" He cooed devilishly. His gray muzzle showed his age, but he hadn't changed a bit since Bellwether last saw him. "You've picked a bad time to visit."

"I don't plan on staying for long." Bellwether told him as she tried to get up and failed with the effort. Half of her body was numb and the unresponsiveness filled her with panic.

"Neither did I." He confessed. "That medicine I gave your hare friend wasn't medicine at all. It was a strong sedative that would've stopped your heart. Doesn't that sound familiar?" Bellwether was filled with fear and she was helpless to do anything, her weakness was too great and she was at the mercy of someone sinister. Bellwether looked angrily at the deer, he didn't have as much power as he thought he had over her.

"So you came to finish the job? I'm too sick, and if I somehow survive, I go back to prison for the rest of my life. Either way, you get what you want. But I'm ok with it. I only hope that one day you can forgive." Her words caught him off guard, and his influence over her had diminished, but the crafty deer had more in store for the little sheep.

"That's excellent, but there is something here that belongs to me, where is it?" Bellwether knew what he wanted, and she didn't deny nor resist him.

"Bedroom, bottom drawer." The deer left her side to retrieve the shoe box of keepsakes and mementos. He brought the whole box out and sat it within her view on the bed. He flipped the lid off and inside was the pink sheep doll. He picked it up and held it fondly, and then saw all of the other things inside the box. Dakota's name, in her own writing, was scribed across the piece of Bellwether's leg cast. Also within the box were cards, souvenirs, dried flowers from a necklace, and crayon drawings of a happy little doe and sheep girl. The memories were all too real, and Mr. Hart put everything away, back into the box that kept them safe for so many years. "I want you to have the whole box." Bellwether said. Mr. Hart was confused, and didn't understand why she would ever give up something so precious. "If it means that much to you, you should have it. It's what Dakota would've done." She was reciprocating the kindness to him, and he picked the box up and held it firmly beneath his arm.

"But this will never bring her back..." he said quietly, feeling his raw emotions stir.

"I know... but I'm glad I could make this right between us..." The buck snorted, and anger filled his eyes again.

"This will never be right. You took her away from me forever, and now I will take someone away from you!" Panic filled Bellwether again, and realized she was looking at a mirror of a person. She herself had been filled with that same blind rage, and it made her do something really stupid.

"Whatever you're thinking, it's not worth it! I've stood right where you're standing and felt that anger, and it only leads to your own destruction!"

"I don't care!" Mr. Hart yelled at her. He leaned close and Bellwether withdrew from him as far as she could. "That exotic bird, I think she will do." A cold terror filled Bellwether, and her heart was pounding out of her chest.

"Don't you touch her!" Bellwether screamed. Mr. Hart had backed off to leave with the box and opened the door.

"Ta-ta." He said cheerfully as he closed the door on the sheep.

"No! NO!" Bellwether wretched herself off the bed and plummeted to the wooden floor below. She hit with a heavy thump and her body gave in. She couldn't move after the exertion, and she laid in a crumpled heap on the cold surface unable to help her friend, or herself. Her eyes rolled back, thinking of the forgiveness she had asked for as her mind slipped into unconsciousness, alone and helpless.

The shop was an assortment of goods, everything from farming supplies to books and stationery was available for a price. Clawhauser picked up the phone at the front counter and tried to place a call. The number to Francine's phone didn't connect. He hung up and dialed zero to get an operator. Judy and Gazelle looked around the shop at the various items, Judy inspecting everything while Gazelle touched nothing. Clawhauser spoke to Judy for a second.

"Hey, go see if there's a doctor anywhere." Judy nodded and thought her best guess was to locate and speak to Constable Racka. She left to complete this task and the call connected on the phone. He heard the elephant through the old speaker as she picked up.

"Officer Pennington."

"Hey, it's Clawhauser!" He said, happy to hear her voice.

"Clawhauser? Is it really you!? Bogo is furious! He almost put your photo on the missing mammals board!" Clawhauser chuckled, knowing he had bested the chief and was not at all surprised he was still angry.

"Sorry I had to leave everyone with that. I'm with Judy and Bellwether."

"That's great! When are you getting back?" Clawhauser paused and thought for a moment, and he couldn't say for sure. He knew that Bellwether couldn't be moved in her current state.

"I don't know." He said honestly. "Has Nick been found yet?"

"No, I'm sorry, we've made no progress." Clawhauser looked at Judy while she listened to one side of the conversation. He shook his head to her and she turned away and sighed in disappointment.

"Has anyone gained entry to Happy Town?" There was a pause before she answered.

"Not yet. Though we've been able to see that security has decreased. I'm on my way to pick up Finnick, he's been following some leads, meeting some connections, we're going to try again first thing. We might jump the wall if there aren't that many guards stationed, as a last resort. Seems like all things are pointing at Happy Town so that's where we're going. If anyone can get in, it would be Finnick and me." Clawhauser agreed.

"My thoughts exactly. Do what it takes." There was a pause before Francine

"Clawhauser, I have to thank you. When all this is done, I want to take Finnick on a date, he's a really wonderful guy! I mean he's cute and confident and… OH! Here he comes, bye!" She hung up but not before she expressed a few last thoughts. Clawhauser felt successful with his matchmaking, and hoped that the elephant-fennec team was all that was needed to get into Happy Town. Francine was right, all things pointed to it.

Gazelle almost didn't see Judy and Clawhauser leave the general store. She was busy reading the various titles of the books and literature that rested on the shelf near the back of the shop. The chime of the bell over the store had alerted her, and through the shelves, she could see Clawhauser walk outside. She stood up and felt a presence. She wasn't alone among the shelves of the shop, and someone was watching intensely on her. She ducked down and stepped back as Mr. Hart searched for her. She eluded his surveillance as he tried to find her. Ducking to the exit, she was nearly free before a voice had spoken to her.

"Leaving so soon?" Mr. Hart had spotted her. Gazelle looked hesitantly upon the deer, and a sense of a void came to her, the same indecision she felt with her paw on Bellwether's head. She turned and saw that he had a small old briefcase in his paw. "I thought I might interest you in some premium items." He asked with a faint quiver of what she might have thought as nervousness. He sat the case flat on the front counter and opened it. Inside laid numerous little vial bottles of what could only be medicine. She needed one badly, the entire village needed them, and the void felt like a fork had been made. Her sense was picking up that a choice was to be made, and it perhaps was placed upon her shoulders. She would have to play the game.

"I have here the medicine you need. No lies." She slowly came closer and she confirmed that he was indeed being truthful, the bottles were labeled with official stickers. She also believed he was nervous, and didn't know yet why. "I would like to help you, birdy." He hesitated and plucked a vial from the case and stared at it reluctantly. She was beginning to see the fork, seeing that the choice was his. She hoped he would make the right one. Mr. Hart thought deeply on the wisdom Bellwether had given him, and with a heavy heart, he held the vial out for her to take. She carefully picked it from his paw and looked at the printed yellow label on it. She stepped back once and turned to leave through the door when the feeling of the void came again. It loomed in her mind, and she realized the choice had not yet been made. The time hadn't come yet, and when she reacted to the jarring thought of a mistake, a rag covered her face and nose. It smelled of ether, and she couldn't breathe as she grasped at his paw. The world spun as her lungs filled with the pungent odor, thieving the air from her. She panicked as the world phased out from her vision, then she collapsed in his arms, limp and powerless.

Judy and Clawhauser met with Constable Racka on the single cobble avenue. A light rain was beginning to come in, and the air was feeling wet. Racka was shivering and needed to get warm or he would fall prey to the sickness spreading around as well.

"Constable Racka?" Judy called as she got the attention of the ram. "We need a doctor! Bellwether is in really bad shape!" Racka sighed, and the expression on his face was forlorn and weary.

"There is none and we have nothing left to offer the sick." He said with defeat. "Even I'm beginning to feel it's heat in my head. We have no herbs left for tea, no medicine either. I hope that Bellwether will pull through, she be a strong wee petal." He started to walk off to his home, likely to rest and conserve his strength. He began coughing and the warrior didn't seem as defiant as he once was, defeated by an enemy most were unable to fight. Judy was worried for the ram, and as she stepped to follow him, Clawhauser placed a paw on her shoulder.

"We have our own to look after, he'll be ok." Clawhauser looked around for a moment, and noticed something was amiss. "Where's Gazelle?"

Clawhauser and Judy entered the general store, and the jingle of the bell made their presence known. Mr. Hart had frozen behind the front counter when he came in, he was nervous but carried on.

"My apologies, we're closed." He said and went back to gathering up select items from the shelf behind the counter. He grabbed the old briefcase of medicine and a paper pile of records.

"Sorry to bother you," Clawhauser asked. "My wife was in here a moment ago, did you see where she went?" The deer froze again and nervously concocted a lie.

"Ah yes, uhm… she bought a cookbook and went home to try a new recipe. She said she wanted to cheer everyone up with some cookies like Bellwether's grandmother once had." The deer picked up a metal box that he kept money inside.

"Going somewhere?" Clawhauser asked. The frantic deer kept talking.

"Yes, I'm off to Animberg, my sister is sick." The deer had a dozen things in his paws, but still managed to open the front door for them and signal to Clawhauser and Judy that the shop was indeed closed. They exited, and Judy chimed in as the buck closed the door behind them.

"He's in a hurry."

"Something's wrong. Gazelle doesn't have any money, I'm sure she didn't say anything at all, and she doesn't know about Baba's cookies." The red flags were too many as Judy sighed.

"He's a terrible liar." Clawhauser tried the door again. It had been locked behind them.

"Sir!?" He called. "Sir! Open the door!" He looked inside and saw no one was there and the lights were off. "Judy, check on Bellwether, see if Gazelle went back, I'm going around back."

"Got it!" Judy sprinted off and disappeared into the fog in a moment. Clawhauser went around the side, checking in each window for either Mr. Hart or his wife. He heard the sound of a truck starting and he ran around the back of the store. He saw an old pickup truck with a camper topper covering its bed. Without any hesitation, it drove off, spinning its tires in the mud before entering an alleyway between the buildings and the main road. Without a vehicle, he had no hope of catching up to the deer. The winds blew, and the rain was beginning. It's cold droplets splashed across him as he lost sight of the truck in the fog along the only road out of the village.

Judy came home to the hut, panting and needing a moment to catch her breath. She looked to the bed and didn't see Bellwether, then seen she had fallen to the floor.

"Bellwether!" Judy called and she knelt down to check to see if she was alive. "Say something!" She shook her shoulder and the little sheep mumbled. Judy couldn't understand her and she picked her up, lugging her back onto the bed and covered her in the warm blankets. "Are you ok?" Judy asked.

"Gazelle…" Bellwether groaned. "Mr. Hart… is going to hurt her… Judy…" Bellwether gripped her paw tightly, holding the rabbit in place so she wouldn't hastily run without hearing her first. "... forgive me." She wearily spoke.

"I… I do. Stay right here, I'll be back soon and everything will be alright! Just stay here!" Judy didn't even know if that was possible, but she had to at least say it. Bellwether nodded and Judy left to warn Clawhauser of Mr. Hart's intentions. Bellwether was dying, Nick was still missing, she wasn't able to think about losing Gazelle too. She sprinted as fast as she could back to the village, adrenaline fueling her heart and her emotions, speeding through the rain fast enough for it to sting her face.

Clawhauser met with Judy at the front of the store and reported his findings.

"Shop owner just left and-"

"He's got Gazelle!" Judy blurted out between breaths.

"W-what!? No!" Clawhauser panicked and looked down the road to see that the winds were blowing away the fog, and replacing it with rain. In the distance, Clawhauser could see with his keen eyes that the truck had stopped, and they could catch up to it, they had a chance.

Gazelle woke up in a haze. The dreamless sleep made it feel unreal and she didn't recognize her surroundings. She was tied and gagged, bound at the bottom of a truck bed covered by a topper, her paws were tied behind her back, and her feet tied around the ankles. She wasn't able to move. Through the light of the back window, she saw there were many things stacked and secured on the shelves within the compartment. She looked up and saw the profile of Mr. Hart at the steering wheel. The truck was rumbling on and she needed to get out fast. She saw a spade hung between the shelves, and she thought to use it to unbind herself. She rolled over and stretched her arms out and found the shovel's edge. The rope seemed manageable, and she scraped it on the spade's edge, wearing down the threads. With all of the help she's had from her gift, it wouldn't do her any good if she was tied in the back of a truck, she had to act. The rope gave way, and her paws were free. She untied her feet and removed the unnecessary gag from her mouth. She was filled with the void of indecision again, and learned the choice was hers all along, the moment had come. If she escaped out of the back of the camper, she would miss an opportunity to get the medicine that Bellwether and the rest of the town badly needed. She couldn't tell how each path ended, but she knew she had to choose to fight or to run. She chose to grab the shovel firmly and acted, jabbing it into the truck's back window with a loud squeaky cry. Mr. Hart was terribly surprised and the truck swerved, throwing her to the side. He slammed on the breaks as Gazelle held onto the shelves, then he climbed out. She saw the case in the front seat and she grabbed it through the broken window, securing it in her paw as she readied herself to fight. The door to the camper came open, and the bright outer world blinded her. She saw the faint silhouette of the deer, then something shot at her. Her body was filled with lightning as two electrodes attached themselves to her shoulder. She convulsed, shrieked awfully, but she wouldn't let go of the case. She collapsed under the voltage entering her, and the shovel was taken from her grasp. The case stayed, and as Mr. Hart yanked at it, she still kicked, connecting her hoof with his stomach. Her mind was frantic, instinctual, reduced to the basic need to survive. With all of her might, she lifted herself and escaped his grip to stumble out onto the wet cobble road. She could see him, her Clawhauser, and Judy too, they were coming as fast as they could to save her. The world felt like cotton as she ran, and for a moment there was hope, but Mr. Hart hit her like a train. She was rammed sideways, being thrown into the low wooden guardrail between the road and the rolling decline that lead to the cliff and sea below. She was pressed up against it, seeing how steep the hill was and was afraid of it. If she went over the guardrail, she would surely slide down the muddy incline. Mr. Hart pushed at her as he tried to snatch the case, and she held tightly onto its handle as her weight went over. Mr. Hart's paws clawed at the sides of the case, and he was the only thing keeping her from descending down the cliff.

"Stop right there!" Clawhauser yelled in the distance. It got Mr. Hart's attention, and as he looked, Clawhauser jumped to find a millisecond of steadiness mid-stride. At the apex, he fired. The yellow splat erupted in a quick flash of electricity, right between Mr. Hart's eyes. He screamed in agony as it burned furiously, proving the Songbird earned its right to be banned, and Mr. Hart would be blind for the rest of his life. He jerked painfully and let go of the briefcase, and Gazelle was set to fall over completely. She landed on the slope and tumbled once, digging her paws into the soft muddy ground. She screamed out with an intense squeal as the great peril of her predicament dawned on her. She never let go of the case, and it rested safely between her outstretched arms. The rain washed the hill, and she didn't want to look down, she knew she didn't have much space to work with, not far to go over the cliff and into the ocean far below. She tried pulling herself up, and the mud came loose easily. She slid a bit further and her heart couldn't beat any faster. Judy was the first to look over the wooden guardrail, and the fear in her eyes told all as she screamed.

"Gazelle! Hold on!" Gazelle looked up and she appeared to be a mile away, out of anyone's reach, but not out of reach if she were to toss the case. If that could be saved, at least those who needed the medicine would get well. She compromised her grip to grab the handle of the case, and with a big swing, tossed it up into Judy's grasp. "Got it!" She confirmed. Gazelle tried again to climb, uninhibited by the case, but more of the cold mud gave way, and she slid further down the slow hill. She felt the open air around her hooves, and all she held onto was the unreliable soil. A deep horror filled her as her legs kicked in the air, kicked at the edge of the oblivion she was slipping into.

She knew it was time.

She looked up and saw the terror in Clawhauser's eyes, she held her head up, half covered in mud, and slowly moved her lips. No sound came, but anyone with eyes could read the message that passed through them.

"I love you." She told him, and of all times, her gift gave her a vision.

She was a passenger in her own body, her future self. She saw, felt, experienced herself losing grip on the mud and free falling down a couple stories to plunder helplessly into the shallows. He body wracked with agony, bones shattering, a horn breaking. She was paralyzed but remained horribly conscious, completely in physical shock as the icy water lapped at her. She was trapped in herself at the edge of the merciless sea as the waves washed her, filling her chest and slowly drowning her. It wasn't quick, it would be minutes before either hypothermia or drowning had ended her time in the world.

She gasped as she came out of the vision, the horrible, relentless curse that showed her what her fate was about to be. It was too cruel that she would have to live it twice. She clenched her eyes and she cried for mercy, wishing to anyone who would listen, it was too much. She felt an odd sensation, and then the world stopped with the sudden suspension of all things in motion. She opened her eyes and saw she was isolated on a suspended piece of the ground she clung to for her life. The piece floated through what appeared to be a bright white fog, and there was nothing else to see nor hear. The serenity was unsettling after all that she had just experienced, and she dared not move. It appeared if she were to fall in this place, she would fall forever. She looked up beyond the island that held her, and within reach, was her mother.

"Mamá!" She spoke, crying out in her own voice. "Mamá! Please help me!"

"Don't be afraid, mi hija," She said calmly. "Look at how far you have come, how strong you have been, all of the love you have given..." Gazelle cried.

"Mamá! Mamá please!"

"It's ok…" She soothed her. Gazelle saw more figures beside her Mamá, and as they came into focus, she knew who the first two were. Beside her on the left was Chase Clawhauser, the detective looked upon her, and she could see that he was proud of her for making his son happy and honest. He felt honored to call her his daughter-in-law. It was remarkable how much Clawhauser looked like him, and in person the resemblance was uncanny. His partner, Piberius Wilde, stood dignified next to him. He placed a toothpick on his lip and tipped his sharp vintage hat to her. Chase nudged the fox with an elbow, and jubilantly pointed at her with approval. On the right, he saw an old sheep with long braided muttonchops. The wise crone stood straight and didn't hold a walking stick, but instead held the paw of a young red wavy-haired doe. Gazelle felt tremendous gratitude coming them for taking care of Bellwether, and ensuring she would recover. Lastly, besides them, she hardly recognized her, but a motherly white floppy-eared rabbit wearing a hotel laundress uniform was present. Gazelle could only think of her to be Hannah's mother. She looked so tired, but solemnly smiled for her, and she knew she was glad Hannah was well and wished she was able to see her as the adorable flower girl at the wedding.

Her Mamá held her paw out within her grasp, and Gazelle saw how easy it would be to reach forward and take it. She knew if she did, her soul would be taken, and her body would be left to suffer its fate. It would fall and she wouldn't be there to be left in anguish, it was the mercy she asked for. She felt that she would be taken to a place where her soul could heal, and once it did, she would try again.

"Mamá…" she cried softly. "...I'm so scared…" The great unknown rested in the palm of the paw extended to her, and she looked lovingly into her mamá's eyes, it would be ok. Gazelle lifted her paw carefully from the mud and reached forward.

Like bursting through smoke, Judy leaped through the vision and latched her paws around Gazelle's arm. The rain was pouring on everything, and the torrential motion of the world came back with a whirl.

"I GOT HER! PULL!" She screamed. Gazelle remained still as she was retrieved from what she thought to be certain death, and as reality came back to her that she was alive, that Judy had interrupted her terrible fate. She kicked her legs up to grip the solid ground. Clawhauser held the rope tied to Judy's leg, the same rope used to bind her was now saving her. Slowly but steadily, she was pulled along the muddy slope, back up to the cobble road, and Gazelle was at last brought to safety. Gazelle was in denial, thinking this was another cruelty from her curse, and she felt at her real face, and felt at Clawhauser's as he held her upright on her feet. She shook from the cold, burned out nerves, spent adrenaline, still she was completely astounded she was alive. She saw her captor, Mr. Hart, lying on the cobble, incapacitated and unconscious. As soon as there was a moment, he would be tossed into the town's only jail cell to answer for his crime. As the gratitude poured from Gazelle, she kissed at Clawhauser's face, leaving little blots of mud where she did, and in a calming wave as she held him tight, she fainted in his arms.

Through the eyes of Nick, she saw a farmhouse, and bunnies were everywhere. She didn't exactly recognize where she was until Hannah walked into the room. Nick sat up, chest aching, but ok. Hannah gave him his favorite green shirt, freshly washed and pressed. Pulling it loosely on, carefully, leaving it unbuttoned, he stood up and looked out of the single window. He saw across the yard at the farm, and spoke.

"Judy, I'm here."

Slowly, Gazelle woke up and felt the warm fire next to her. She was clean and dry, and still shocked that she was alive. She sat up quickly and saw Bellwether was standing next to her, wrapped in a blanket and looking much healthier, and her eyes much brighter without a fever. Gazelle was filled with joy that she was ok, she was happy everyone was ok, and more than glad she was able to help. Judy hopped up to her and hugged her, and she hugged back.

"I'm so glad you're alright!" Judy relinquished her hold so Clawhauser could come in and give her a hug as well, and his was the warmest.

"I thought I was going to lose you." He said, and she was reminded of what she had seen. She wiggled loose and saw her notepad drying by the hearth. She grabbed it and the pen and wrote a note. She gave it to Judy, and her eyes illuminated with joy.

"Nick is at a farm." It read, and Judy knew where to go.

"Nick is at my parent's farm!" She confirmed. "We have to go!" Judy grabbed her coat and threw it on. "Bellwether, are you going to be ok here by yourself?" Bellwether stopped for a moment and shook her head.

"No, I'm coming with you." Clawhauser stepped in and expressed his concern for the sheep.

"If you go back, you'll be thrown back in prison…" Bellwether nodded, and she knew what her fate was.

"I've made my peace, and it's ok. I don't want to stay here anymore. This isn't my home anymore, and there are too many ghosts here." Gazelle thought it was an odd phrasing, and she knew that she would never be able to describe the experiences she's had. She wanted to leave as soon as she could as well. They were done here.

"Are you sure?" Judy asked, not wanting to lose her.

"I am." She confirmed. Gazelle sniffed her nose, and a tingle built up until she sneezed loudly.

"H-baSPWEEP!" She squeaked and was amazed such a sound came from her. Clawhauser roared with laughter.

"Goodness! You sneeze like a panda!" Gazelle laughed too, sniffling and squeaking with joy.

Finnick and Francine had a few minutes until they arrived at Happy Town. This was their last stop and Finnick was feeling he was running out of time with Francine. He really liked her, and certainly wanted to know more about her. He took a deep breath and forced his mind consider her as a friend, but not so close of a friend to excuse rudeness.

"So, uh… Why'd you join the fuzz?" He asked, hoping the slang term for it wasn't too brash. Francine scoffed once, and had a sour look on her face.

"I'm too big to be a paramedic." She complained. "I'm good at what I do, but… I don't know… it's just not fair. So I went to the police academy once they threw me aside. I couldn't keep myself away from the action, all I want to do is help people, y'know?" Finnick shared her sour look and knew how she felt.

"I'm too small for a lot of things. I'm a liability so I know how you feel." Francine looked down on the car seat where the microscopic fennec slumped. He looked up and caught her gaze and looked away. "I stay busy. Got some stuff to do here and there. Always trying to stay on top so I can feel… big." Francine reached and lightly nudged him with a hoof to make him smile.

"I think you're perfect just the way you are." He looked up, and for the first time, he felt ok about himself.

"Hey… thanks, babe."

They approached Gate 4 of Happy Town. This was their last stop and Finnick had talked to every fox he could find outside of it for any info. Wanting to be of service to Francine, he knocked at the metal door with the tip of his baseball bat.

"Tod! Tod, I know you're in there! Open the door!" He yelled. The little sliding window came open and Tod responded.

"No way bruh, I like this job and they said no exceptions."

"We have to know if Nick is in there!" Tod gave him a blank look and said nothing. He closed the little window and ignored the raging little fennec. "I know he's in there!" He yelled out before he gripped at his ears and groaned in frustration.

"This isn't going to work, we need a new plan." Francine stood before the wall and it only came up to her chin. If they played by the rules, they'd get nowhere, but she was tall enough to get Finnick over the structure. "Finnick, let me put you on the wall."

"Are you crazy?"

"If we do this quick, no one will see, c'mon!" Francine picked up the tiny fox and set him on top of the wall. He stepped carefully over to a pipe that ran down from the roof of a building and slid down it, safety landing on the other side.

"I'll see what I can find. Just stay here and-" there was a loud siren, a combination of several car horns blaring a long single note. Tod was doing his job too well and had pressed the button in the middle of a rigged steering wheel that served as the alarm. Finnick drew his baseball bat and was ready for a fight when Francine took a running leap at the wall. She kicked her legs up and over it, landing herself next to Finnick with a ground-shaking thump. Finnick regained his footing and remarked. "I thought elephants couldn't jump!?"

"Well that's a myth because I just did! Go find Nick, I'll distract them!" Three foxes emerged from the building with makeshift stunners and concern filled Finnick. It was all too well known that fox-made recycled stunners were overvolted, and they had their sights set on Francine.

"I'm not leaving you!" He called out. He stood to battle the foxes, but to his surprise, they ran around him, ignoring the unthreatening fennec, and fired their stunners at Francine. She was cornered when the electricity flowed from all three of the tethered electrodes and gave the elephant a powerful shock. She screamed and convulsed as her defiance had been compromised. Finnick was enraged, filled with immense ferocity, and he charged the three foxes as the elephant fell stunned sideways. He swung his bat and clocked the first one who didn't even see him coming, swiped the footing out from beneath the second and jabbed the bat to knock his breath out. The third tried to fight, dodging a swing but being kicked in the nose as Finnick threw his own weight at him, then was taken out with a blow to the back of the head. In a single motion, Finnick defeated all three. He dashed to Francine's face and shook her trunk. "Francine! Get up! We gotta move!" The elephant came to and sat up, shaking the voltage from her head. She saw the three foxes groaned in pain on the grassy road before them.

"You beat them up?" She asked, feeling that she had been defended despite that she wanted him to go on. She felt flattered. "Thank you, Finnick."

"I wasn't about to leave you, now let's move! There'll be more where they came from!" Francine got to her feet and picked the little fox up and sat him on her shoulder. He shared her height, and was exhilarated to be tall.

"Hold on!" She called out and with long strides, she quickly ran through the streets. "Where are we going?" She asked.

"Make a right!" He called out and she turned at the intersection, ducking a low street light and hopping over an old car. "Now left!" Finnick called out at the next junction and they went past a shop by the name of John Wilde's Tailors. "Another right!" He called out and they came to an apartment building. "Stop here!" Francine skidded to a stop on the grassy pavement, and found that she had attracted the attention of a white fox in the open second story window. Francine was catching her breath as Finnick yelled out. "Where's Nick!?" He cried and Snowy shook her head. Finnick saw someone on a bed in the office, and leaped at the open window, diving through it and crashing into the bookshelf on the opposite wall. He turned and saw Nick lying on the bed unconscious with a bandage on his chest. "Nick!" Finnick got up and went to his side. "Everything will be ok! Francine's here!" The elephant peered through the window and tried to see.

"Is he ok? I can't see!" Finnick grabbed the leg of the bunk bed and pulled it to the window with all of his strength. Francine pulled it the last little bit of distance with her trunk and saw the bandage. She was large enough to carry a full-size medical kit on her utility belt, she detached it and set it beside Nick. "I need to check his wound, Finnick if you could watch my back-"

"I'm on it." He grabbed his baseball bat and left out the door to stand guard outside. Francine delicately removed the bandage with her trunk, operating through the window the best she could.

"This is bad, these stitches are ok but he needs internal stitching to stabilize his condition." Snowy scooted up in the office chair and provided assistance.

"I've done my best with herbs to keep his pain under control, at most I can keep him asleep. I'm sorry about the stitches, I'm no doctor." Francine pulled out a glove for her trunk and another pair for Snowy.

"I am! He needs surgery now, are you ready for this?" Snow took a breath and nodded her head.

"Sure," she said as she snapped the latex gloves over her paws. "Let's do it."

Finnick kept an eye out for any more trouble, and wasn't surprised when some showed up. A small group of foxes approached and Finnick did his best to ward them off by brandishing how proficient he was with his baseball bat.

"Stay back!" He yelled to them. "Nick is undergoing surgery to save his life!" Some of the foxes lowered their weapons and muttered amongst themselves.

"Nick is in there!?" One of them asked.

"Yes, this elephant is a doctor! Just back off!" Another fox stepped forward away from the group and set down his weapon. He came to up to Finnick with his paws up, showing he meant no harm.

"Finnick, people are hunting for Nick, Judy, and Bellwether. There are vigilantes out there that want all three of them dead! He's in danger if he stays here!" Finnick looked up to Francine.

"Did you hear that? We've gotta move him!"

"I heard, we're almost done." She told him. Nick stirred in his sleep, and was beginning to come to. "Hold him down, almost done!" Francine told Snowy and she held his head in place. Nick spoke out.

"Hey... Francine… …that hurts…" whatever Snowy had used to keep him sedated was wearing off fast. He winced in pain and Francine searched through the medical kit for a shot.

"Nick, I'm going to give you a shot of morphine, you're gonna feel a prick."

"Compared to being stabbed… that sounds… awesome." Francine jabbed the quick-injector into his leg, and he felt its effect almost instantly.

"Ok, help me clean him up." Snowy carefully wiped away the remnants of the procedure from Nick's fur, and Francine had prepared a fresh bandage. She applied it carefully and finished the operation. Francine and Snowy propped him up and more bandaging was wrapped around his torso to secure everything. "We're done, let's get him mobile. Finnick! We need you up here!" The little fox rushed back up the stairs and braced Nick as he stood. Snowy wasn't much help now, but she did more of her fair share to help Francine successfully perform the surgery. Nick would be ok. Finnick looked up to the tall elephant and asked.

"Where are we going?" Nick was the one that answered.

"Judy's farm, Bunnyburrow…"

Nick groggily woke from the first painless slumber he's had in eleven days. He felt like ran-over rubber and really wanted a cup of coffee. It sounded good but also bad that he didn't want the morphine to wear off too much. He rested in Judy's old room, one of the few single bedrooms in the household, and he was surrounded by all of her childhood things. He missed her so dearly, and hadn't been able to communicate to her that he was now ok. He couldn't imagine what he would do without her, what she would do without him.

There was a light knock at the door, and Hannah had brought him his shirt, freshly pressed and clean. She left, feeling uneasy around Nick's injury, he thought it may have frightened her. In fact, it probably frightened everyone. He slipped his arms through the sleeves carefully and left it unbuttoned, putting no strain on his wound. He stood up and was a little wobbly, but took hold of the window frame and looked out across the yard of the farm.

"Judy, I'm here." He said aloud, hoping Mother Nature would pass on his message somehow. After a moment of reflection, a police car skid to a stop before the house, and chief Bogo came out. "Fantastic…" Nick spat sarcastically. He knew if Judy arrived with Bellwether, this wouldn't end well. He carefully exited the room and walked out onto the front porch of the house. Bogo was confronted by a hysterical Bonnie Hopps.

"Mrs. Hopps, I'm not here to help find your missing child, I'm here to see-" Bogo saw Nick leaning up against a post that held the roof of the porch. "Wilde!" he yelled as he approached. "Francine called in and we traced the phone to this location, so glad you're alive!"

"Well apparently getting stabbed is my one weakness." Nick's thoughts shifted, remembering he didn't want Judy to come and bring Bellwether, it wasn't safe as long as Bogo was present. Nick knew he'd stop at nothing to do his duty and make an arrest. Nick was about to reason with Bogo to leave, but Bonnie got in Bogo's face again.

"Please officer! There's been a mistake!"

Nick called out to her, wondering himself about her concern.

"Bonnie, what's going on?" The worried mother pulled on her ears.

"Hannah ran off a moment ago! She got into a fight with a boy at school today, and the mother is so angry, she called child protective services on me! She said I have been hurting her, then she called me to say a social worker was on their way and never let any of my kids hurt her kids again, oh this is bad! Really bad! She'll hide for days if we don't find her!" A number of her children came out and joined Nick on the porch. "Kids! Help find Hannah!"

"Again!? Ugh." One of them said and just turned around and went back inside the house. Nick knew this happened often but the situation was dire this time. If Bonnie couldn't provide the child when the social worker arrived, she could be in even bigger trouble, so Nick spoke up.

"Bonnie, go look! I'll stay here at the house in case she comes back. Chief, please help her look, I'm not going anywhere."

"Ring the bell when she's found!" She called out as she and Bogo went off in a direction. The children ran off on several different paths and thought this was a game. Nick stood on the steps and conserved his strength. He saw a car coming in the distance and thought to meet this social worker, at least he could smooth talk some more time for everyone to find Hannah. The car drove up and stopped abruptly as Nick approached, ready to work his magic. All four doors opened, and Bellwether, Clawhauser, Gazelle, and-

"Judy!" Nick cried out.

"Nick! You're ok!" Nick fell to his knees and Judy ran to him, landing in his open arms with tears streaming from her eyes. "Nick! I thought you were dead! I missed you so much! Let's quit the force together and live here and grow some nice safe carrots and get married and adopt like twenty kids and settle real hard for the rest of our lives! I love you, Nick! I love you! I love you…" the fox stopped moving, and for a moment it frightened her. "Nick?"

"I never want anyone to see that they get to me…" he looked to her, and she saw the tears fall from his eyes. "You got to me." He took an ear of his bunny and dried his tears into it, knowing she would take good care of him while he healed. She hugged him and all was right in the world, she was back in his arms where she belonged, and nothing in the world would ever separate these two again. "Ok, I'm still very tender." He reminded her. Judy's ears picked up yelling, and there was more commotion than normal. Rabbits and bunnies were running about, calling out Hannah's name.

"Where's Hannah?" Judy asked, not wanting to let go but did anyway while Nick filled her in.

"She beat up a kid and his mom called child services on your mom." Judy was enraged in a second. "Carrots, there's more. Bogo is here so you have to take Bellwether and run!" Bellwether stepped around Clawhauser and spoke up.

"It's ok. I'm going back to prison." Nick couldn't believe after all that had happened, nothing would be gained. He sighed and replied to the little sheep.

"Are you sure that's what you really want? I mean, I took a knife for you!" Bellwether nodded and leaned against the car to wait for Bogo to find her. She wouldn't run away, she would go peacefully with dignity. Judy began to delegate the search for Hannah.

"Gazelle, Clawhauser, check the woods, I'll check the fields!" Nick stepped up to Judy and told her.

"I'll watch the house."

"Ok Nick, I'll be back, I promise." Nick chuckled and poked fun at her.

"Remember last time I said that?" Judy looked angrily at him, and if looks could kill, their trials would've ended in vain right then. "What? Too soon? Ha! Too late…" Judy rolled her eyes at her dumb fox and ran off to search for Hannah. Bellwether noticed Gazelle was looking at something as she reluctantly followed Clawhauser. Bellwether matched her gaze and saw what she had looked at. Atop the barn was a cupola with a weathervane at its peak. Bellwether had guessed that if Hannah could climb onto the roof, she would be in there. She looked around and saw no one was near enough to hear her idea, so she took the chance to run off and search for a way onto the roof of the barn. Around one of the sides, she did find an incline of firewood that stacked up to the top of the attached carport. It was definitely climbable, Bellwether accepted the challenge and scaled the small logs. Once on top, she carefully stepped up the shingles to the peak, and quietly approached the cupola. On its sides, it had circular wooden vents, and when Bellwether pulled at the nearest one, it came loose to provide a way inside. She looked in, and the dim space was indeed occupied by one little white bunny. She was crying as she looked up, and was petrified.

"Please don't take me away." She said as she sobbed. Bellwether could've called out, announcing she had been found, but it didn't seem right, this little girl was hurting. Instead, Bellwether crawled inside, and pulled the vent back into place behind her. She joined Hannah in her secret hiding spot. "I don't want to go away." She said again.

"It's ok, dearie, I'm not here to take you." She told her.

"You're not?" Hannah asked.

"No, I want to hide too, if they find me, they'll take me away too." Hannah dried her tears and looked into Bellwether's eyes.

"What's your name?" She asked.

"Dawn. What's yours?" Bellwether knew who she was but she was carefully building her trust. She could see the pain in her eyes from her strife, she was troubled and it shown.

"Hannah."

"Nice to meet you, Hannah." Bellwether said with a charming sweet smile. She extended her arm to shake her paw and Hannah noticed the deep scratches carved into it.

"Your arm… does it hurt?" Bellwether thought carefully, and replied honestly.

"No, not anymore. A very bad mammal did this to me, but it's ok." She said. Hannah was quiet for a moment and shifted to turn around, and pulled up the back of her shirt. Bellwether was shocked and abhorred by the terrible scars left by what could only be lashings. Hannah explained it as she let her shirt down.

"A very bad mammal did this to me, too." She said nervously. "The other kids make fun of me… it's why I got in a fight today, I was just so mad!" Bellwether was beginning to understand her, and she felt an incredible compassion for her.

"They don't understand, but they will once you tell them what happened." Hannah wiped the last tear from her eye and was unsure of herself.

"If the kids at school knew that my father hurt me, they'll make fun of me even more. I don't have a mommy to help me. No one wants to be my mommy, no one wants me..." She said and Bellwether finished.

"There will always be those who will help you, no matter what." A smile came over their faces, and Bellwether took the bunny's paw in her own. "Scars are nothing to be ashamed of, they are reminders of things we should forget." The light of understanding illuminated inside Hannah, and she felt better. "Now, would you like to come with me, out of this stuffy box?" Hannah smiled and Bellwether held her paw as they climbed out and down together.

Nick rang the bell loudly, summoning everyone back to the farmhouse. Bellwether walked with a smiling Hannah, and she knew that this little one would live her life to the fullest from then on. Bellwether was glad she could help, and as everyone converged on the house, happy that Hannah was home safe, Bellwether spoke one last time to her.

"Remember what I told you-" her words were cut short as chief Bogo yanked her from Hannah's grip and threw her to the ground. Bogo snorted over her and pulled out his handcuffs.

"Bellwether, you are under arrest." He clicked the cuffs and locked her paws behind her back. Hannah witnessed it and screamed for her.

"Dawn!" As she ran to the struggling sheep, she was caught halfway by the social worker. Bonnie was yelling for the rabbit lady in a suit to stop.

"You don't understand!" She cried out. "There's been a mistake!" The social worker wasn't giving anyone any doubt and was holding Hannah back from Bellwether.

"Dawn! No! Don't leave me!" She cried. Bogo's grip was too solid on Bellwether, and Hannah violently thrashed at the rabbit holding her back. From across the yard, Clawhauser roared out.

"Chief Bogo!" With his attention diverted, Clawhauser fired the Songbird once to tag the chief with electric yellow paint right in the chest. It shocked him off and his hold on Bellwether gave. She scrambled to her feet and ran towards Hannah. Judy drew her baton and it lit up beneath the social worker's chin.

"Let her go!" She commanded and the social worker put her paws in the air. Hannah dashed for Bellwether, and they caught each other in the middle. Bellwether fell to her knees and let Hannah wrap her arms around her. Hannah cried, sobbing for her, in a short amount of time, Bellwether gained her trust and understood her like no one had before. They had bonded, and then Hannah said it.

"Dawn... I want you to be my mommy..." Everyone stopped as they heard it, and couldn't believe their ears. Bellwether froze as well, and the hole in her heart that she once filled with spite, vengeance, and whatever she could find to rectify the injustices she dealt with throughout her life, was filled by Hannah. She made her whole, and her spirit ascended by the very nature of love. Bellwether wept, she wept for the child that chose her, and would love her unconditionally. Bellwether had forfeit her life, but now she had been given something so precious, given a second chance, and she wanted to keep fighting.

"Uncuff me so I can hold my daughter." Bellwether demanded through the tears and the overwhelming new emotions. Everyone encircled them and would protect them from any more harm, and Bogo and the social worker were very outnumbered. The chief rose wearily to his feet and came forward with the key to the handcuffs, and unlocked them. Bellwether wrapped herself around Hannah, cried over the bunny's shoulder, for her and herself, while compassion filled her. The social worker then came forward and held out a paper from her briefcase.

"I don't want that!" Bellwether growled. Judy snatched the paper and looked at it.

"It's an adoption form."

"Oh, I do want that." She took it, and hugged Hannah tight again, letting her little girl dry her tears in her muttonchops, and then Hannah spoke sweetly to her mother.

"Soft…"

It was the last day Bogo had given everyone to relax from the dilemma that they all endured, rounding their recovery period to two weeks. Nick wanted to return sooner but Judy was given explicit orders to make sure Nick had plenty of rest. Bogo held a press conference to inform Zootopia that Nick and Judy had been found and are well, and the situation concerning Bellwether had been 'resolved'. With no specific details, he left it to the citizens' imaginations to fill in the blanks, and over time, no one cared. Bellwether was reappointed to house arrest after a lot of paperwork and pulled strings, and her sentence was community service in Bunnyburrow. The ankle bracelet was never attached to her, it just sits in its box in Judy's old room and was never seen again. Bellwether helped out around the farm, and she liked it. It connected her to what was real, tangible, and she made small but important contributions to the world around her.

Judy was walking through the small woods that was left untouched to serve as a windbreak for the crops, but in the last couple weeks, it had been repurposed. She came upon the clearing and saw Nick and Hannah sitting before a small stone in a cool patch of grass. The stone had only two prints on it, and Judy walked up to a pie tin of green paint and added her own by the fox print. She sat next to Hannah, and pulled a silver leaf from her pocket. She held it up for her to see, it spun and glimmered in the light of the woods, and then she read the name inscribed on it, 'Bellwether'. Hannah smiled widely and let Judy latch it around her neck, letting it rest on its new home above her heart. Judy smiled and commented.

"So I guess it's official now."

"Thank you, aunt Judy!" Hannah hugged her, looked at the leaf, studied its form, and cherished its meaning. Someone else entered the woods and called for her.

"Hannah? Dearie, are you back here?" Bellwether came to the clearing.

"I'm here, mommy!" Hannah replied. Bellwether wore a tan apron and a cap on her head, and was blotted all over her attire, she looked like she lost a fight with a can of yellow paint. Judy giggled at the messy sheep.

"Did you paint the house or did the house paint you?" Bellwether smiled, plucking bits of dried paint out of her wool.

"It took me all day, but yes, it's done! Want to see?" Hannah took off running down the trail and Bellwether followed. Judy tugged on Nick's tail.

"C'mon Stitches, let's go tell them the good news." Nick slowly stood up and turned around, and his bandages were still on his chest, but his own tattered leaf was displayed proudly around his neck. He palmed it and reflected on its worn state.

"I'm glad you gave this back, I guess for all these years, it really was lucky. I give it to you and this happens." He pointed at his injury with distaste.

"Thanks for sharing some of that luck, it came in handy." Judy said. She took his paw, and they walked together down the trail back to the farm. She was curious and couldn't help but ask. "What did you ask Mother Nature for?"

"I favored for you." He said with a smile.

Judy and Nick strolled to the new little house built by the Hopps family. It was a joyful shade of yellow. The paint was perfect and Bellwether was proud of the work she put into it.

"Whoever lives here will certainly be happy." She was delighted and Judy nodded. Nick chuckled and just had to say.

"You missed a spot." And pointed to a random area. Bellwether was surprised and ran off to investigate, but saw nothing of the sort.

"I did not!" She yelled back peeved. Nick laughed and Judy elbowed him softly to stop him from teasing her. They went inside to the kitchen, the new space was filled with potential and possibilities, and the rabbits had a thing for nice round architecture. Nick was the first to notice.

"Where'd Hannah run off to?" Bellwether put a finger to her lip.

"Oh, I think she's hiding somewhere around… here." She kicked the cupboard door open beneath the sink, and below it sat the little white bunny.

"Awwww..." Hannah was disappointed she couldn't hide from her mother. Judy giggled and remarked.

"I think the hide-and-seek champion has met her match." Hannah crawled out and hugged Bellwether. "So I guess I can spill the beans now." Judy paused for dramatic flair. "This house is yours!" Bellwether lit up, and Hannah squealed with so much delight that she bounced up and down. "Since you'll be here a while, we thought we should make a home for your family." Bellwether was so overwhelmed, she cried.

"Thank you." She said sincerely. "It's so much more than I could've ever imagined." Judy held her paw and nodded.

"We can at least try to make the world a better place." Bellwether stopped Hannah as she ran from room to room, exploring every nook and cranny of her new home. Bellwether was just as giddy.

"Oh-ho-ho, I'm going to bake so many cookies!" She giggled, and noticed the time on the carrot shaped clock on the wall. "Hannah dearie, wash up for dinner!" Hannah went to the washroom and Judy noticed Nick's bandages.

"Hey Nick, your wrapping is coming off." He noticed the tape wasn't staying on and so he peeled it off. Stripping the binding, all that was left was the main pad that was placed over the wound itself. He carefully removed to exposed the tender scar beneath it.

"How does it look?" He asked. Judy could not hold her laughter and burst out. "What? What's so funny?" Nick looked at the scar and Judy told him.

"It looks like a carrot!" Bellwether laughed too, agreeing with her.

"It really does." Nick looked down the best he could at it and tried to deny what it looked like.

"No it doesn't you guys are full of… well… it sorta does but when the fur grows back it won't look like one! C'mon!" Judy and Bellwether laughed at Nick's expense as he buttoned his shirt closed and hid the mark from the world.

Everyone attended the final dinner at the grand table for all of the Hopps family and friends. Hannah sat quietly as the bunnies bustled in rowdy commotion around her. The noise no longer bothered her, she loved the family that was given to her. They were all there, aunt Judy and Gazelle, uncle Nick and Clawhauser, and of course her mother, Dawn Bellwether. Hannah grabbed a bunch of vegetables from a platter as the rest of her family and the kids talked about what they wanted to be when they grew up. Hannah took a plump strawberry from the platter of fruit and sat it on her plate. Bellwether grabbed a whole lot and Hannah was appalled when she took so many. Bellwether saw Hannah only had one so she grabbed half of her pile and plopped them down on her daughter's plate. Bellwether found out quickly that they both had a taste for strawberries in common. Hannah leaned her head on Bellwether, happily feeling a little tired already in the early evening, though she slept well lately in the company of her mother. Bellwether reached her arm around and gently rubbed Hannah's back. The loving gesture was soothing, and she often did it to help her sleep at night. Bellwether's motherly reassurance told her that despite her back was scarred and ugly, it was ok, and she was beautiful. She was deeply loved no matter what she thought of herself. When the children made fun of the scars, Hannah told them about what happened and most found it wasn't really that funny. Hannah bested them with the truth, and despite being an awful truth, she gained some friends that chose to understand and see beyond what was only skin deep.

"Hannah?" Clawhauser called out. "What's your answer?"

"I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention." She said, worried someone would say she had cotton in her ears.

"That's ok. Just asking everyone what they want to be when they grow up, because in Zootopia, anyone can be anything." Hannah paused and thought of her answer.

"If anyone really can be anything, I want to be…

...happy."

Epilogue

Clawhauser pinned a new photograph on their wall of memories. The board was beginning to run out of space after seventeen of the best years of his life. He stretched his aching back after the long day, and the clock on the wall read nearly midnight. He started this journey on the left side of the board with pictures of his father and the original squad he was a part of at ZPD precinct one. Below it was the restored photo of the young Gazelle and her parents, clear and resisting its age as it rested safely among the other photos. A young Hannah shortly after Bellwether took her into her heart, or was it Hannah that took in Bellwether? Hannah spent time away from Bunnyburrow every summer, and the first summer after that fall and winter, she spent it with her aunt Judy.

Judy learned to fence from Nick's mother and her boyfriend, Robert, and Hannah was interested in joining the lessons to learn for herself. It was a respectable discipline, and she learned the valuable truth that all skills take time and patience, and over time, one always improves if one never gives up. Nick spent time with Hannah as well, taking her on a ride along and was shown the skill of how to read people with easy ways to memorize things. It was difficult at first, her being so young, but spending time in Happy Town provided much insight. Silvia Fawkes never returned to any law firm, but with Bellwether's help, she was able to gain a seat at city hall and push for the restoration of Happy Town. There was little to work with, but she found a loophole. Just so happens that the Hopps family was a big one, and the name was on the wall. With the help of a thousand extra paws and feet, the long process to restore Happy Town had begun, and it didn't look like it would slow down until the district had returned to its former vintage luster. Hannah was happy to help, and the foxes didn't care that she was a Bellwether. With business booming, the bordering walls torn down, the people of Zootopia saw how well crafted fox-products were, and money flowed into Happy Town again. In a short two years, Snowy could afford to walk again, and did.

There was a photo of when Hannah won best of show in a science fair. Her mother was a fantastic teacher and could keep up with her level of intelligence. She had excelled in math and physics, but still couldn't find the answer to why the corona was hotter than the sun. Her mother filled in that blank, casually answering during the commercials of a show they were watching about exotic fish, that gases burn hotter than plasma in the vacuum of space. She had such an insatiable appetite for all things in space, and she often stayed up all night to watch the meteors, looking through the telescope, and charting the cosmos' constellations with her mother.

There was a summer spent with Clawhauser and Gazelle along the lane of memories. Hannah was older and blooming into a fine young lady. She humored Gazelle by never speaking and writing in her notepad to speak with her. The entire notepad was pinned to the board, and it perfectly recalled the conversations. It was Clawhauser's favorite piece on the wall. He flipped it open to a particular note, the one from the end of the day when he taught Hannah how to shoot. She was a fine shot, and had excellent eyesight for it. Like her fencing, it was a discipline and she cared for it like his father had taught him. The final lesson was to take a hit herself and understand the responsibility of such a weapon. She stood at eighty feet and Clawhauser could barely pull the trigger. Gazelle was steaming mad at him, and he wished he never had despite the importance of the lesson.

Hannah graduated high school and went to a great college with a science scholarship for her academic achievements. A photo showed Hannah as happy as she could be holding her diploma, and the photo next it was her and her degree from the university, even happier. She then moved on to aeronautics, and her work landed her a rare position among history. The space program had recognized her talents and research, and signed her on to join the team. Everyone couldn't be more proud, and everyone was present to see her off to go live closer to the cape and the launch sites. Her work continued, and tomorrow was the big day. The photograph he just pinned to the wall was of the launch crew, each in their suit of the color of their choosing, and down in front of a wolf and a leopard was a little white bunny in her white and magenta striped suit. She would be the first bunny in space, among one of the few to ever go there.

Clawhauser smiled, his life enriched by his family and friends, and stepped back to take in the whole wall. He was surprised Nick and Judy never got married, though they were already married in spirit despite policies of liability, and they continued working at ZPD on active duty. Judy declined the offer to become chief when Bogo retired, she declined solely on the principle that it would separate her from her partner, the sly fox, Nick Wilde. A new chief was enlisted in, some big brown bear, and Nick just couldn't help but push his buttons whenever he could. The cases were many, and days were challenging, but Clawhauser knew that there was absolutely nothing that those two couldn't overcome. They made the world a better place, one case at a time. The tiger dancers were all apprehended and served jail time for their vandalism, Fangmeyer was sent to prison for attempted murder, and Mr. Hart regained some of his vision, and lives with his sister while he adapts to his condition. Constable Racka was kind to help him arrive safely with a vial of medicine at his sister's home in Animberg.

There were photos of Francine and Finnick too when their relationship was young. They really took a liking to each other, and Finnick moved out of Nick's place and into Francine's. There was plenty of room for him there, and with the vacancy at Nick's, Judy moved in. Finnick had married as well, but Clawhauser didn't have a photo for it yet, it happened so fast. Francine was still on the force, and Finnick became the next 'Piberius Wilde' if there ever were to be another. He worked on the fringe to help crack some of the greatest cases over the years. He had the guts, skills, and the connections to do it very well.

His favorite pictures were the ones he always kept at the center of the wall. At the end of each summer, they all gathered on the ridge outside of Zootopia, and spent the afternoon on the overlook having a grand picnic. Enjoying each other's company, catching up, and sitting just beyond the reach of the city for a moment to breathe, relax, and remember the love they have for one another.

Last, but certainly not the least, was the memory of the place he and Gazelle now occupied. This was his happiest, and it warmed him to remember it before bed each night. Once Nick had recovered from his wounds and they all returned to Zootopia, Clawhauser and Gazelle were met with an unhappy ending. He tried to rejoin the police force but Bogo had half the mind to lock him up for stunning him. If he didn't have the shared compassion for Hannah at the time, he easily could have. His old apartment was still destroyed and there was little to recover from it. Everything was gone, and with no job, no income, everything was worse. He and Gazelle lived out of their cars for a while as either of them tried to find work, but with the changing times, pickings were slim. Gazelle slipped into a depression that haunted her, and she felt like such a burden on the cheetah, but he never stopped reminding her how much he loved her, and he would never leave her despite how she blames herself for losing their home. Gazelle tried applying to anywhere she could, and wished terribly she still had her guitar, but it was burned to ashes and she would never feel the music in her paws ever again. The cold winter rolled in and they did their best to stay warm. Gazelle had gotten sick and after the illness that plagued them from their time in Olannglas, Clawhauser took every precaution, spared no effort to keep his Gazelle warm during the winter. She got well again just in time for Valentine's Day.

Gazelle borrowed twenty dollars from Judy and wanted to treat her husband to a slice of cake from Bridgette's Breads, but upon arriving, the bakery was closed. Gazelle knocked at the door and Pan had greeted them to describe that he and Maeveen were retiring from the business after so many years. They had grown weary together and were beginning to have trouble maintaining the little bakery. Clawhauser offered to help out, and for a time, he did until Pan gave him the keys to keep the business alive. Clawhauser and Gazelle would become the new couple to inherit the shop. Pan and Maeveen taught them everything they knew, and it was time for Clawhauser to fill his own shoes for a change, out from beneath the shadow of his father and no longer under the thumb of Chief Bogo. He learned to bake and was passionate about it, and in no time, his donuts and pastries were the choice of Zootopia. Always by his side was the ever silent Gazelle. She had continued her painting once they were back on their feet, and she decorated the parlor with her works wherever they would fit. When she felt someone had a connection to a painting, she would give it to them, free of charge. She still had her intuition, but the frightful visions stopped, and she mostly saw subtle things. Daily meditation considerably helped put her mind at ease.

The clock chimed as it struck midnight, and it was time to close the shop. Clawhauser walked down the stairs from the loft apartment above to the parlor below. He saw Gazelle sitting at a table with a llama that looked like he had trouble with his date. The llama ate his complimentary muffin with gratitude, and Clawhauser chuckled as he entered from the back.

"You tell that story to all the lonely hearts that come in." She turned, her grown long curly braided hair falling past her knees, and as she swiped the strands from her face, she winked. Clawhauser replied. "Yeah I know. That's why we stay open so late." The llama thanked them for their generosity and advice, and left through the door with a chime from its bell. Clawhauser flipped the sign on the door to say they were closed for the day until tomorrow and locked it. Gazelle came up behind him and wrapped her arms around him. She pulled his head around and placed her soft lips on his, and embraced him in a kiss that always kept the hearth of their love burning for each other. "I love you too, my angel with horns."

The news was coming on the TV and as Clawhauser was about to turn it off, he noticed a particular white bunny had made the headlines. "Hey darling, look at this." He turned the volume up with the remote and they watched as the launch crew posed for pictures and shook the paws of officials. Hannah was interrupted when a little old sheep hugged her proudly and Hannah hugged back. Bellwether's age was beginning to show. They often forgot how much older she was than the rest of them. She began to braid her muttonchops as soon as her wool had lost its youthful softness and grew wiry, her glasses were thicker than before, and her ears, nose, and eyes were becoming wrinkly with time. At least the wrinkles were formed out of years of happy expressions, and she always looked like a smile had been chiseled into her cheeks. Gazelle noticed how much she looked like her Baba, she would never forget her face, and after having the opportunity to read Bellwether's letters, she'd never forget her message. The news story advanced to some local coverage and Clawhauser turned off the TV. Gazelle yawned and took his paw, silently telling him to come to bed with her, and meaning there would be no other mammal in Zootopia she'd rather be with. He was her one in a million, her sweepstakes winner, her Benjamin.