Nick and Judy leapt out of the cruiser and ran for the back entrance of the restaurant. If they didn't manage to get the employees out, they could have a hostage situation on their hands. Nick pulled on the metal door, which was intended for mammals far smaller than he, and the two officers slipped into the kitchen.

Judy heard movement in one corner and motioned for Nick to join her. In that corner, underneath a blender that had been shattered in haste, there cowered a trio of small predators. While the bunny tried to comfort them and coax them to move outside, Nick searched for the intruders. His keen nose twitched as he sniffed the air. A loud crash from the front of the establishment caught everyone's attention, and they spied shadowy shapes prowling about in the dining area where just hours before dozens of predators had been enjoying their evening.

Hastened by the sight, the bunny nearly threw the employees out the door and urged them to run. As they left, the familiar blue and red lights of the ZPD appeared near the front. The cavalry had arrived. Unfortunately for Nick and Judy, the boars wanted nothing more than to get away from the cavalry, and the obvious direction was through the kitchen. Nick fumbled for his radio as Judy pulled both of them into an empty cupboard.

They sat there huddled together for a moment, their hearts racing as they watched the boars enter the room. Nick quietly called in the location of the gang members, and asked for help around the rear of the building. His voice shook, as did his paws. The officers' hearts skipped a beat when the largest boar stopped in her tracks and started smelling the air. She slowly turned towards their hiding place and approached. They were trapped.

"What do we do?" Judy whispered. "Get ready to run," Nick countered with a smirk. He flung open the cupboard door, waited a moment, and hurled his radio at their adversary's snout. It collided with a loud "POP!" and the pair sprinted for the door. The dazed criminal failed to catch them in time, and they raced into the waiting perimeter set by their fellow officers. Now it was the boars who were trapped. As she stopped to catch her breath, Judy cracked a smile and quipped, "Smooth move, Slick." Nick returned a smile, and retorted, "You expected anything else?" The two relished in their apparent victory.

The calm was short-lived. As everyone knows, a trapped animal will only fight harder. Though evolved, the boars did the same. Gunfire rang out through the dismal treetops of the Fifth Ward as their weapons were turned on the officers. The ZPD returned fire in kind while Nick and Judy ducked behind a barrier. The fox subtly positioned himself so that he was between the crossfire and his partner. He would keep her safe this time.

Fortunately, such efforts were not needed, because the shooting stopped as suddenly as it began. The criminals stumbled out of the building with their hooves up. Nick counted on his fingers before shouting, "That's not all of them!" The officers tensed, and one shouted out an order for the remaining criminals to come out. Nick and Judy remained fixated on the scene as their original suspect strolled out of the building, the smirk on her face a stark contrast to the terrified expressions of her comrades. The officer again shouted at her to put her hooves up. She rolled her eyes and lazily complied, before fixing her gaze squarely on Nick. The boars complied with the rest of the ZPD's demands, their suspect maintaining her aloof demeanor. Nick was assigned to bring her back to the precinct while Judy stayed to help with the investigation.

The ride was quiet; the only sound was the hum of the cruiser's tires and the ambient sounds of a city transitioning from evening to night. Nick kept his eyes focused on the road, trying not to steal glances at the monster in the backseat. Unfortunately for him, the monster decided to speak.

"You know Officer Wilde, you do seem to be focusing very intently on the road right there." Her voice dripped with a smugness even Nick had rarely encountered. He kept his eyes facing forward and didn't respond.

"Oh come on, won't you talk to me? I'm sure a good few of your foxy friends have been sitting right where I am!"

"Ms. Tusks, I'm going to have to ask you to be silent." His voice was measured, but carried a menace under the surface.

"Why should I? If I'm going away for a long time I might as well have some fun with it." She waited for a moment, and noticing Nick's furtive glances at her she continued, "I did have a motive for taking that bunny, you know."

He tensed, and she knew this was where she should work. If she pushed hard enough the whole facade would come crumbling down.

"I'll even tell you!" She smiled before finishing in a drawn out voice. "It was because she cared about you."


After Nick dropped the boar off for interrogation, he was again left alone with his thoughts. As he sat down in a nearly empty subway car on his way home, he couldn't escape the criminal's words. Was he really the reason that Judy had gotten hurt? Did his decision to become her friend put her in danger? Was he a threat?

As he came to his neighborhood, he walked in a daze back to his apartment. His surroundings were pleasantly impersonal. The fox who had opened up so again reveled in being a closed book. He walked past mammals on the street with a long-practiced indifference. This wasn't enough to help him anymore, he soon realized. His problem wasn't with caring too much about what other mammals thought, it was that those mammals cared too much about him.

He slipped into bed, and the thoughts kept at him. As the minutes turned into hours, the fox remained awake, tormented by his own conscience. Facing him in his bed was a picture of him and the source of his troubles, the bunny who cared too much. He took the picture and turned it face-down on the table.