"The answer is 'no,' Nick."

"But-"

"I said 'no!'"

Nick's ears flattened against his head as he pouted. "You're such a buzz kill."

"And you're irresponsible! Honestly, who goes to get coffee in the middle of a stakeout?"

"Me, when the stakeout involves an all-nighter."

It was 1:43 in the morning. Judy and Nick had been sitting in their SUV for hours. They were just on the outskirts of Sahara Square, parked on an abandoned street that ran in front of several run-down buildings, including an old canned-food factory that they believed was the location of the Night Howler operation. The Zootopia Maximum Security Prison security tapes had revealed that a rat had been sneaking in to inform Bellwether of the operation. With the help of some other officers and traffic cameras, Nick and Judy had tracked the rat down to this location. This was it, the break they had been looking for.

"All I'm saying," Nick continued. "Is that a little bit of coffee wouldn't hurt-"

"I see movement! Let's go!" Judy exclaimed as she hopped out of the car.

"After all, I need coffee to function – Carrots? Carrots!" Nick looked up to see Judy across the street, her back pressed up against the brick wall. She already had her tranquilizer gun pulled from her holster, ready to take down an unexpecting suspect.

Nick exited the vehicle and jogged over to her location.

"What are you doing?" he whispered urgently.

"I'm putting this thing to an end." Judy kicked the rusty door open and began making her way inside, Nick following close behind.

The two made their way through a maze of old machinery and boxes until they came to the central room of the factory. Voices could be heard just ahead.

"Ay, I did my job!"

"If you did your job, then that bunny cop wouldn't be alive, now would she?"

"How was I 'posed to know she had a partna?"

"You were supposed to dose her partner, you idiot!"

"Well, then who'd I dose?"

"The fox who was working for us! He was the bait for the cop, and you shot him!"

"Al'ight, al'ight, I'll get him next time."

"There won't be a next time, you dumb rat, because I'm doing it!"

"Aw, come on, Boss. How ya gonna do it? They'll see ya comin' a mile 'way!"

"The shot will already have been taken by then."

Judy looked at Nick. "They have dart guns," she mouthed silently.

Nick nodded as he quietly removed his own tranquilizer gun from his belt. He watched as Judy peeked her head around the pile of boxes they were currently using as coverage. Several tables were set up as makeshift gardens, all filled with Night Howlers in full bloom. At the end of one of the tables stood a sand-colored mountain lion, who was loading a dart gun. The rat informant stood on the corner of the table, handing the big cat the bluish-purple pellets filled with the Night Howler serum.

"Mountain lion," Judy mouthed at Nick.

Nick gestured at the door as his lips spelled, "Call for back-up."

"No way!" This time, when Judy's lips moved, noise actually escaped, as she was unable to contain her outrage.

Realizing her mistake, Judy's eyes widened as her heart began beating quicker. Her ears shot up as she listened for any movement; there was none. Uh-oh.

The boxes around them came tumbling down as the mountain lion attacked.

"Run!" Judy screamed as they took off down the rows of Night Howlers.

The mountain lion was on all fours, his muscles rippling as he viciously pounced after them. Nick turned and flipped one of the tables onto its side, momentarily blocking the cat's path. Judy began climbing a pile of boxes that towered up toward the building's upper floor scaffolding, Nick was at her heels, pushing her up when she came to a box that was too large for her to climb on her own. The big cat began scaling the boxes at a rapid pace, but the lower rows of boxes began tumbling down, making them all sway back and forth in an unsteady motion that made the cat fall back down to the floor below with a loud growl. Judy and Nick barely made it up onto the planks of the upper floor before the tower went cascading down.

"Go, go, go!" Nick shouted as he pushed Judy forward.

The mountain lion was already back on his feet, making his way for the dart gun that the rat had finished loading and was now holding up eagerly. Nick's foot slipped, breaking through the thin layer of wood beneath them.

"Nick!"

"Keep going!"

"Not without you!"

"My foot is stuck, just go!"

Judy ran back to him, frantically trying to help him free his foot from the wood. On the lower floor, the mountain lion took his aim. Nick saw the gun point at him, and with one fluent motion, he snatched Judy's pair of handcuffs from her belt and cuffed his right paw to the rickety railing of the walkway.

"Nick, what are you doing?" Judy shouted at him as she fumbled to get the handcuff keys from her pocket.

"Carrots, listen to me! You need to get out of here."

"I'm not leaving you!"

"You have to go-"

"No!"

"Judy!"

Judy stopped searching for the keys and looked into his green eyes. "Nick-"

"I love you-"

Bang!

The trigger pulled, sending a perfectly circular ball of the Night Howler serum out of the barrel of the gun and up towards Nick's location. With a splatter, the ball shattered against the side of Nick's neck, blue liquid staining his fur. Nick bit down as he attempted to scrape the liquid off of his skin, but the effects were instantaneous. Judy's breath caught in her throat as she watched Nick begin to wriggle in discomfort. On the floor below, the mountain lion was laughing menacingly.

"Freeze!" Judy yelled as she picked her tranquilizer up from where she had placed it on the wood earlier while attempting to help Nick.

"You can always catch me, but can you contain him?" the mountain lion jeered.

Judy looked to where the mountain lion's eyes were gazing. Nick was on all fours, well, almost; his paw that was cuffed was awkwardly being held up as he hissed and growled at Judy, his eyes wide.

"Oh, Nick…" she sighed, heartsick. This was her fault; she should have called for back up, but she didn't. Nick was right; she didn't know when to quit.

The mountain lion began sprinting for the door, but didn't make it very far when Judy's tranquilizer gun's dart went flying into the back of his left shoulder. With an angered snarl, he collapsed on the floor, his breathing heavy. Just then, a set of claws grazed across Judy's cheek, leaving a series of long scratches in their wake. She cried out and looked to find Nick lashing out with his free front paw. Judy reached up and touched her cheek, feeling the fresh cuts that were now covering the old ones that Gideon Grey had inflicted long ago.

Nick snarled as he continued to attempt to twist out of the handcuffs in order to attack Judy. She wasn't afraid, she was simply disappointed in herself for letting this happen. With a sigh, Judy removed the syringe full of Night Howler antidote from her belt. After the incident that led to Bellwether's first arrest, Judy stayed on the safe side and kept a bit of the antidote with her at all times.

Careful to avoid his claws, Judy stuck the syringe into the base of Nick's neck and waited patiently. Working like a sedative, Nick was out in moments, his breathing ragged.

"You're going to be okay, Nick. I promise," Judy murmured, more to reassure herself than Nick.

Minutes passed, but Nick still didn't stir, his breathing now becoming shallower.

"Nick?" Judy asked worriedly, afraid that something had gone wrong.

Without any warning, a copy of Judy's voice rang out through the quiet factory. "

I love you, Nick."

Still lying on his back, Nick handed Judy the pen before running his free paw over his face with a groan.

"That's going to hurt in the morning," he wheezed as he massaged his neck and shoulder.

Judy laughed as she fought back tears. "You jerk."

"Hey, I gave you the pen, didn't I?"

Judy snorted as she looked at him affectionately.

"What?" he asked. "Why are you giving me the bunny eyes?"

"Yes."

"'Yes' what?"

"Yes, I'll be your girlfriend, Nicholas IDon'tCareWhatYourMiddleNameIs Wilde."