The past two week were brutal to say the least.

Nick remembered waking up for work just like every other day. Taking the subway to the police station, and waiting for Judy by the front door. She usually got to work before Nick did, but today... she never showed up. Multiple empty texts and voicemails later, Nick decided to talk to Clawhauser. Maybe she called in sick or something.

"In fact, she did... kinda." Ben said with surprise. "The next two weeks are booked as vacation days."

That really caught Nick by surprise. Judy always was an iron grip on her job and stays on shift as long as she needs to. Its a struggle to get her away from the station on her days off, so the idea that she suddenly took such a large amount of time for a vacation seemed too strange.

"Vacation? Judy never goes on vacation. And without telling me?" Nick asked puzzled. "What about Jack?"

The cheetah scrolled down to Jack's name and read it aloud.

"Jack too, the next two weeks." He said. "Wait, he just got onto the force. How does he even have any vaca-?"

"Wait, Jack too?" Nick interrupted. "For two weeks?"

"Yeah. I guess they're doing something together." He said before realizing how heated Nick was getting. "Not that they would be together or anything."

"That's not what your computer is telling me." Nick said, furiously tapping at the screen. "Your computer is telling me that they're probably off at some romantic vacation destination."

"You're jumping to conclusions." He said quickly. "I'm sure there is a logical explanation."

Nick paced the lobby, not sure if it was in worry or anger. What was going on? Judy disappears over night and takes a last minute vacation with Jack? No way. She would never agree to doing something so sudden and extreme. It was totally unlike her.

Just then, Nick's phone rang. He instantly pulled it out of his pocket to see the words Unknown Number flash on the screen. He rapidly tapped the green button and held it up to his ear.

"Hello?" Nick asked, still rattled with worry.

"Hey Nick." He heard Judy's voice over the phone. "I saw your voicemails and tho-."

"Are you okay?" He interrupted in a panic. "Where are you? What's going on?"

"I'm fine. You have nothing to worry about." She said calmly. "Jack and I just need to keep our distance from the city for a bit. We'll be back in a couple weeks."

"Jack? A couple weeks?" He asked in an attempt to hide his anger and fear. "Why? What's going on?"

"Nick, calm down." She said. "I'm at one of Jack's safehouses. You have nothing to worry about."

"I'm still worried though." He answered, trying to stay strong. "You disappeared, just like that. Running off from your life, doesn't seem very Judy-like."

He felt so empty and alone for the whole time Judy was gone. And up until now, it had only been a couple of hours. What would the next two weeks hold? She said she was fine, but Nick was for from it.

"I know, and I can't apologize enough." She said with sympathy. "But I promise you, we will meet again in fourteen days. And we'll celebrate!"

"Can you atleast tell me why you're gone?" Nick asked. "Whats up with you and Jack?"

"I'm sorry Nick, but we got into some trouble." She said with a slow sigh. "I can't tell you what with a happened. It's safer that way."

Those words repeated in Nick's head like a broken cassette player. It's safer that way. It's aafer that way. Two weeks without Judy, only those remains of her voice.

Nick was glad they settled on celebrating at a bar. It gave him a little sense of home in a rather confusing time. If it was Jack's pick, he probably would have chosen some hip restaurant, forcing the group to wear overpriced suits and pay fifty dollars for a swig of champagne. Here however, at some random bar in the middle of downtown Zootopia, Nick felt comfort.

He didn't drink to often and he didn't go out a whole lot, but Nick remembered his earlier years. Ten years old, cheating drunks out of their wallets. But why bars? Because anyone could look like Hairy Houdini when the audience was halfway through their fifth beer.

Animals laughing, cheering along their sports team as the waitresses scrambled to clean and serve the next table. Maybe it was just the nostalgia, but Nick felt warm at bars. Jack on the other hand, was new to society all together.

Nick remembered Jack's exact words. "Ah yes, an area where the public may congregate and enjoy alcoholic beverages." The bunny said sarcastically. "I remember."

And it was a fun time, but only for Nick and Judy. Especially the part where Jack didn't understand how much booze was too much.

Nick and Judy sat together at a small booth, watching Jack from a distance. They figured he would know better than to drink as much as he did, but he must have lost track half way through. He downed one beer after the next, it didn't take long for Jack to slip away from reality. Whispering to complete strangers, spinning around on the bar seat, Jack was a hell of a silly drunk.

"I'm having troubles believing it." Nick said with a chuckle. "That goof kept you alive. Speaking of, what was ir exactly? That thing you did? A mission or something?"

"You know I can't tell you that, we've been over this." Judy repeated for the last time. "It's classified."

"Come on. You're acting like you killed someone." He said with a laugh before dropping his face with terror. "Oh my god, did you kill someone?"

"What? No!" She answered in shock. "Me? A killer? Pff."

"I know I know... I'm just worried about you." He admitted. "I know you can take care of yourself, but running off in the middle of the night with a soulless James Bond protecting you from international criminals isn't very comforting."

"I know, I guess I just got caught up in the moment." Judy said with a sigh, taking another peek at her hero. "He is handsome though."

Oh hell no. Nick instantly thought. This is not good.

"Always wearing a suit makes him look like a jerk." He countered. "He's like a drunk Barney Stinson, only shorter and less funny."

"You really don't like Jack do you?" She asked in disappointment. "I thought you were just upset about the mission, but you really dislike him."

"That is not true." Nick defended. "Sure, he has a wierd vibe, but I think he means well."

They both sat in silence for a while, appreciating each other's space. But Nick could tell something was off. Judy didn't look quite right.

"You doing okay?" He asked with concern. "Any PTSD from the mission?"

"It's... something else." She admitted with a sigh. "When we were on the steak out, waiting for Kayla to show up, I wasn't asleep the whole time. I heard you picking on Jack, thinking he's hiding something. You were so mean."

it took a second for Nick to register what Kudy was saying, butbonce he did, the night came back to him instantly. He remembered questioning, interrogating Jack while they waited for their target. It sounded normal at the time, his special way of getting to know someone, but now that Judy had brought it up, he could see where she was going.

"Judy, I didn't mean for it to sound that way." He said. "I just... I didn't really trust him. I didn't want to put you in any kind of danger."

"Well, he brought me back safely from one of the most dangerous things I had ever done in my entire life." She said in desperation. "Do you trust him now?"

But Nick couldn't bring himself to agree. He still didn't truthfully trust Jack. He had met so many different animals, and the way he first felt about them was always right. Jack was no exception, even if he kept Judy safe.

"If I said yes, I would be lying to you."

Judy was nothing short of disappointed. With a heavy sigh, she turned and ran off to Jack.

Nick laid back against the wall, rethinking that dreaded night. What if Jack never showed up that day? Or if Judy really had fallen asleep?

He was just about to go apologize to Judy again when out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a shady character moving along the side of the bar and posting up at the front door. An arctic wolf dressed in a long black trench coat and sunglasses scanned the room.

As Nick looked around, he noticed the others. One standing by the back door, another on an elevated floor looking down at the rest. All wolves of the same type, dressed identically.

"What is it with wolves always being the bad guys?" He muttered to himself as he marched off to tell to Judy of the trap.

He found her sitting next to Jack at the bar, consoling him as he drifted off from reality and grabbed at the air around himself, laughing as he went.

"A couple animals just stepped in and they don't look too friendly." He told Judy. "We should keep an eye on the-."

"Hey!" Jack interrupted droopily. "You just talked to Judy? Cause you hurt her feelings."

"Now is not the time, Savage." He grumbled with tension. "I'm not in the mood."

"Do you know who I am?" Jack taunted between hiccups. "I'm a killing machine. I'm super good."

"Not when you're wasted, you're not." Nick said fiercely as he marched towards the animal, forcing Judy to hold them apart.

SMASH

Suddenly, Jack's bottle shattering into millions of tiny pieces, leaving only glass dust.

With instincts faster than the speed of light, Nick and Judy had already hopped over and taken cover behind the bar. They instantly made the connection to gunfire and were already behind cover.

Jack however, dazed by the alcohol, was a little slower. "Hey, where you going?" He shouted before being pulled over and behind the other side of the bar, seconds away from a hail of bullets.

"I have a sneaking suspicion that they aren't here for the drinks." Nick shouted over the gunfire. "I think they might have something to do with that mission of yours."

"Can we talk about this later?" Judy said, reaching into her coat pocket to produce a handgun no larger than the palm of her hand. "I'll give you some cover, get Jack to safety. I'll be right behind you."

"A gun?" Nick asked terrified. "You carry a gun now?"

"Nick, you need to focus." She ordered before popping over the bar and firing a couple shots to distract their shooters.

Nick took the opportunity to grab Jack and throw him over his shoulders before scurrying of into the kitchen, barely missing a bullet or two.

As promised, Nick turned to see Judy right behind them, following Nick to the back of the building. They ran past chefs and waiters, ducking for cover and hiding under tables in an attempt to stay alive.

More explosions rung in their ears as they pushed through a back door, leading them out into an eerie alley.

"Maybe this safe house of Jack's could come in handy." He said shutting and locking the door behind him. "Hiding is important when others want you dead."

"You know I can't bring you there, Nick." She said. "It's top secret."

"Well, we don't have anywhere else to go. If they can find us here, they know where we live."

Judy clearly wasn't happy by what Nick had just said, but she knew it was true. If they went anywhere but the bunker, they would get hunted down right away.

"Follow me." She ordered as she ran off down the alley. "And try not to fall behind."