Whiplash

Chapter 10 "Dirty Paws"

By DragonMan1997

Zootopia © Disney

Nick clutched onto the envelope Savage had given him. He watched over it, he locked it up when he wasn't looking at it, and he might as well have been sleeping with it, with one eye open. He had added a clip on his belt for the burner phone that was in the envelope. The slightest vibrations made him jump. Anticipating the call that would eventually come from the phone, he struggled to distinguish its ring from the vibration that came from his belt which shifted on his waist.

"Stop, it's not ringing. Relax." Nick felt like he was getting worse. "I'm talking to myself. I must be going crazy." He laughed at his nerves which rattled him to the bone. He felt sick, but he wasn't.

Without warning, the phone on his belt rang. Fumbling, and being careful not to knock anything over, Nick eventually stuck the landing. Pressing the cheap green plastic button, he opened the untraceable connection. "Nicholas Wilde?"

"Yeah," Nick swallowed the crack in his voice, "it's me."

"Don't worry Mr. Wilde. It's perfectly normal for animals to talk to themselves."

Nick was afraid to ask how they knew he had said that only moments ago. "What are my marching orders?" He didn't dare ask for a name. It wasn't Savage. He could tell. If they did give a name, it was probably a lie.

"Go to work as usual. Be ready for a promotion. Don't tell your partner anything until you're alone with her."

"Okay." Nick was about to hang up.

"Another thing, Mr. Wilde." He froze from the voice. "Trust no one." With that, an audible disconnection from the other end left Nick with a haunting electronic monotone note.

Nick rode the bus to the police station. Looking around he couldn't seem to take his eyes off of anyone. It was hot. If a lemming so much as flinched, he was on guard. The pressure got to him. Nick could feel the sweat of his back against his plastic seat. He jumped off the bus the moment he was within walking distance of the station. The cool city air brought comfort as it turned the sweat on his back cold.

Nick grabbed his ears as he took deep breaths. "Trust no one." He whispered to himself. "Don't panic. You can trust one person. You can trust Judy." Nick wasn't going to tell Judy about what Savage had told him about the Night Howler in her mug. He felt bad now. Would Judy trust him after not telling her the truth? It brought a whole new meaning to the phrase, "Trust no one." Nick froze as he finally entered the Police Station. "Can I trust myself?"

"Nick!" Judy's happy expression was enough to ease Nick's internal war. "Come on! You're late, and Chief wants to see us in his office."

Nick put on a smile as he followed her to Bogo's office. The room was unusually dark. It put Nick on edge until he noticed that a couple of lights were burnt out. "Love the mood lighting, Chief."

"Amusing, Wilde." Bogo furrowed his brow. He was looking at a binder. "Maintenance hasn't gotten to it yet."

Judy's expression fell as she took note of Chief Bogo's tone. She could tell he was angry. At least, it seemed that way. But, there was also a hint of frustration, and concern. "Is something wrong, Chief?"

"No." Bogo was blunt as he began to chew the inside of his cheek. "I'm giving both of you a promotion."

"Really?" Judy didn't expect this, but Nick struggled to produce a reaction similar to hers since he already knew.

"I'm promoting both of you as our newest Police Detectives." Bogo closed the binder on his desk. He opened a drawer and pulled out a box. "Return your badges, these will be your replacements." Judy and Nick both picked up their badges. "And, these are the keys to your new designated transport."

Judy looked at the silver badge attached to the leather holder with her photo and information. "Chief, I don't know what to say."

"Say nothing." Removing his glasses, Bogo pointed to the door. "Dismissed."

"Yes sir." Nick quickly made his way for the door, not giving Judy a chance to question anything.

After Judy followed Nick out the door of Bogo's office, Agent Savage stepped out of the dark corner he had been standing in. "Don't worry Bogy old boy."

"This is why I don't trust you." Bogo practically growled at Savage. "You're playing with fire. And! You're throwing my officers in as kindling!"

"Bogy, I promise your officers will be safe. In the end. I don't intend them to be kindling. They're much more valuable than that. Nick and Judy are the poker for this fire."

Bogo scowled. "What does that make you?"

"Me and the rest of my Colleagues are the spade. Hopps and Wilde control the fire, while we clean up the fire like it was never there." Savage pulled out a caramel from his pocket and unwrapped it. "Who knows, maybe Nicholas Wilde would make a great Agent." Smiling, Savage popped the caramel in his mouth.

Bogo stood up from his chair. "Get out. Now."

"Sure thing Bogy." Savage was about to leave. He wrapped up the caramel wrapper to throw it away. It missed the wastebasket, but he neglected to notice. Just when he got his grip on the doorknob, he laughed. "Hehehe, it's like only yesterday, when that other spook from the Burrow recruited me. But, that was when we were still partners. I guess you got your answer to how Old Chief DeClaw felt." With that, Agent Savage left Bogo alone with his thoughts.

Nick had brought Judy to one of the interrogation rooms. Jumping up, he unplugged the security camera. Judy took a seat while Nick leaned against the wall. Judy noticed the manilla envelope that Nick was holding. "Nick, what did you want to talk about?"

Nick clicked his tongue a couple times. "The case we've been working on is bigger than it looks. I don't know what is going on, but I know it's important. Agent Savage-."

"Savage," Judy interrupted, "what does he got to do with this? Nick, the case was closed. Cowden is serving his time in prison. And the art?" Judy caught herself. "Wait a minute. How did I overlook that?" Her eyes grew in excitement. "What happened to the art?"

"And, I have a theory." Nick sat at the edge of the table adjacent to Judy. "What if Cowden was the wrong vigilante?"

"You sly fox… With the evidence we have against him? Not to mention, the fact that he gave a confession." Judy crossed her arms. "I'd love to see you pull this one out of a hat."

Nick smiled. "Well, while you were on bed rest at the hospital for a week, I did some double checking. Remember how our suspect Adam Wolff had no tail?" When Judy nodded, Nick pulled a photo out of the manilla envelope. "This is an image from the the security footage the night of the robbery. I had Q change some properties and mess with the brightness of the image. Notice anything?"

Judy shook her head with a smile. "No tail. And, no horns. Do you think Adam is the animal in this picture?"

"It's possible. And I think, you were right when you were suspicious of Adam at the beginning of this investigation." Nick hated that he was losing trust in a guy like Adam Wolff, but until this was all over, they had to be cautious. For all Nick knew, it could have been Adam that poisoned Judy with Night Howler.

Judy rubbed her chin as she eyed the security camera Nick had unplugged. "Something's up. Why did you bring me in here to tell me all this?"

"This is off the books." Nick said. "This isn't an assignment from Bogo." He pulled the burner phone from the pouch on his belt and slid it to Judy.

Judy picked up the phone. "Savage?"

Nick nodded. "It seems that we have a friend from the FBI. I think I know why too. I think that our investigation is going off record because Adam might have eyes and ears, connections, that can warn him of any investigations going on. And, there might be something bigger to this."

"That makes sense." Judy smiled. "We're going shopping."

Nick blinked in confusion. "What does shopping have to do with this investigation?"

Judy pinched on her uniform to gesture to it. "It's kinda hard to lay low in police uniforms. And, you are not wearing any of your wretched shirts."

Nick rolled his eyes. "A suit?"

Judy smiled. "A suit."

"Okay." Nick let out a long sigh. "But remember, if anyone asks, these conversations we have about the case never happened."

Nick and Judy both headed out of the interrogation room. Judy held onto the manilla envelope while Nick held onto the burner phone. Passing by Clawhauser, Judy couldn't help but notice how extra cheerful he seemed. "Good day, Benjamin?"

"Oh, you can say that." Clawhauser practically jumped in his chair with glee as he pulled out his phone. "My cousin's been dating this guy. I think they look so cute together! Here look." He flipped his phone to show Judy and Nick, who both automatically recognized the very clear picture of Adam Wolff next to Clawhauser's cousin. "Yeah. I know they're different animals and all, but I think it's kinda interesting."

"You think it's interesting?" Nick smirked. "Is that because you'd like to go on a date with Gazelle?" Judy nudged Nick in the side and gestured again to the picture of Adam Wolff.

"Oh! If only! But," Clawhauser twiddled the fingers of his paws, "she wouldn't be interested in an overweight cheetah like myself."

Judy hated seeing even a little sadness on Clawhauser's face. "Aw, chin up. You never know. Maybe you can still be head of her fan club. You already are her biggest fan."

"You got that right!" Clawhauser laughed as he pat his sides.

"Hey, about your cousin." Nick switched back to the subject. "Doesn't she work at a garage?"

"Oh yeah, she works at that garage, Reina's Repair Shop. It's actually a great place. I've recommended others, and I recommend you to go there. They have great car service. Nothing but the best." Clawhauser wrote something on a postit note and handed it to Nick. "Here's the address to the garage."

"Thank you," Nick tucked the note into his pocket, "oh, look at the time. I'm sorry buddy, but we got to be going." Nick motioned Judy to follow. She waved to Clawhauser as they left the station.

"What was that?" Judy asked."

Nick showed off the address to the workplace of Clawhauser's cousin. "Inside help, carrots."

A few corners later, they found themselves in the motor pool. Judy looked at the license tag on the key Bogo had given them. Looking up she saw it. "I'm driving." The car was a steel grey two door sports coupe. As Judy hopped into the car, Nick stopped to admire the little V8 logo on the side. "It's turbocharged too!"

Nick smiled as he did a slow fist pump to the air. "Yes."

Once Nick was in the car, Judy zoomed off to the nearest department store. She practically dragged Nick through the entrance. Formal wasn't his usual attire. Judy didn't mind ditching her uniform, though, she had gotten used to the neoprene garbs. She thought it would be nice to try something new. She had picked out mostly suits that weren't seriously restricting so that she could still run easily. Her suits were mostly the same except for color. Brown, blue, burgundy, black, and she even got a pink one. To go with her new suits, Judy also got plain white blouses.

Once Judy had paid for her clothes, she changed into her burgundy suit. Walking over to the men's section, she went to check on Nick. "Nick? Where'd you go?" Judy's ears perked up when she heard a depressed groan come from one the dressing rooms. "Nick, is that you?"

"Yeah, carrots. It's me." Nick let out a sigh.

Judy stuck her head against the door to hear better. "What's wrong? Did you pay for your suits?"

"Yeah, I paid for my suits." Nick unlatched the door and let it fall open so Judy could see him. "I look so professional. Gross."

Judy laughed. "It's not that bad." Judy looked Nick up and down in the blue suit he was wearing. He looked good. And, she couldn't help but smile at what she saw. "You remember that picture you showed me of your dad?" Judy looked around the bag of ties Nick had bought. She eventually pulled out a purple one and proceeded to tie it around Nick's neck. She left it loose, the way she knew he liked it. "You almost look like him."

Nick was caught off guard by that. He straightened his father's watch on his wrist. "Really?" His half-hearted laugh was almost sad. Looking back at the mirror, he buttoned the top button of his shirt and tightened his tie. Nick tried to imagine the glasses his father always wore. "I guess I do." He loosened his tie and unbuttoned the top button. He wasn't his father, no matter how much he looked like him. "But, I'm still me." Nick picked up his badge and tucked it into his inside jacket pocket. "Hey, maybe we can get shoulder holsters like James Fawnd." Nick picked up the burner phone and clipped it on his belt. Drawing the phone like a weapon, Nick altered his voice with an accent. "The name's Fawnd, James Fawnd."

"Only, you're not a deer, Nick." Judy rolled her eyes as she looked through the manilla folder while Nick started bagging up all his other suits. "Hey Nick. Did you notice the paper on The Wolfenstein Massacre?"

"Yeah." Nick got all his suits together as he followed Judy out of the store to their car. "I didn't look at it too much."

"I did, while I was changing." Judy tucked the paper back into the envelope. She opened up the trunk and put her clothes in with Nick's. "It was a police report on some gang war that happened a long while ago."

After closing the trunk Nick sat down in the passenger's seat. "How long ago was that?"

Judy opened the envelope to look at the paper one more time. She found the date. "This report was filed about twelve years ago." She hummed to herself as she started the car's engine. "Gang war." Judy repeated that to herself. It gave her an idea. "Nick, do you think Mr. Big would know anything about it?"

"I'm sure he would." Nick pulled his sunglasses down from the visor and slid them on. "We're on better terms now, thanks to you. He even gave me a present."

"Was it a rug?" Judy smiled, but held back her laughter.

In a short period of time, Judy and Nick made it to Tundra Town and down the way that lead to Mr. Big's mansion. The usual two polar bears stood guard to open the gate. All Judy had to do was roll down her window. All of Mr. Big's guards were familiar with the godmother to their boss's grandchild. Once Judy parked the car, a polar bear in a red argyle jacket with glasses approached them.

"How you doin'?" The polar bear wore a gold chain over his turtleneck shirt.

"Oh, we're fine. Thanks. We were hoping to talk to Mr. Big," Judy pulled out her badge to show the bear, "regarding information about a case."

"Okay then, right this way. My name is Koslov, by the way." Koslov lead Nick and Judy to the front door of the mansion.

"Woh, I've never been through the main entrance before." Nick took careful notice of the new sights. The large oak doors that bid them entrance to the mansion were still rich with the scent of their original stain. The main hall was amazing. Paintings and statues lined the wall. And fresh flowers, which were probably arranged by Mr Big's florist Mr. Otterton, brought the little extra bit of eye candy to the whole experience.

"So, Koslov. What exactly is it that you do for Mr. Big?" Judy was curious as Koslov stood out from the usual polar bears that Mr. Big kept around.

"I am Big's financial advisor. He's going clean now. No more crime. Hard to believe, I know, but this true. I just finished helping Big with taxes. Oh boy, and I tell you, that was hilarious. You should have seen his face." Koslov laughed, but only a little. "In all honesty, Mr. Big is real good to me, and my son too. Big took us in as his family. I will say, he is truly remarkable."

Just then a small polar bear cub came running to Koslov. "Daddy, daddy, daddy!"

Koslov picked up the cub in one arm. "Now Morris, what was I telling you about running in the halls?"

"Sorry daddy." Morris looked down from his father. "I just wanted to tell you something."

"Oh, really?" Koslov laughed. "And, what was this that you wanted to tell me?"

"I love you daddy." Morris wrapped his little arms as far as he could around his father.

Judy touched her paw to her heart as an audible "aw" escaped her.

"I love you too, son." Koslov set down morris. "Now, I need you to go off and play. I'm working here." Koslov watched as his son carefully shuffled away up the main staircase. "Kids, huh? Anyway, Mr. Big is in his room. Follow me." Judy and Nick followed Koslov upstairs to Mr. Big's room. "Mr. Big? You got visitors."

Koslov left Nick and Judy alone in the room with Mr. Big, only he wasn't as they expected him to be. Already being used to Mr. Big's short stature, neither Nick or Judy would have thought of seeing him sick, and in bed.

"Ah, the godmother of my grandchild," Big paused to cough a bit. "My apologies for my presence. If you don't mind, I'd rather not talk about my fading health. You two look like you have questions. Well, I most likely have answers." There was a calmness in his smooth raspy voice.

"Mr. Big, we were hoping to find out more about the Wolfenstein Massacre." Judy held the paper out to Mr. Big.

After reading the first sentence, Mr. Big laughed. "Oh darling, the police don't even know half the story. Gang war? That's all they can say? Pathetic." Both Judy and Nick pulled up chairs to listen to Mr. Big. "I knew the Wolfenstein family. They were good partners in trade. Although, they were no strangers to weird rituals. You know, given the fact that they made whips from their own skin. I admit, they showed integrity. Especially the youngest, the last surviving Wolfenstein.

"The Wolfensteins were friends, you see, with another family. The Doe family. I've always told people to keep their friends close, and their enemies closer. But in this case? They didn't keep their friends close enough. It was obvious that certain members of the Doe family didn't trust the Wolfensteins. Especially young Byron. He was as overprotective as any brother could be. Byron always looked after his sister, Penny.

"Now Penny, she was real good friends with the youngest Wolfenstein. Both of them were only fifteen. Friends. Well, they were a little bit more than friends. And, Byron didn't like that. Byron was so blinded by his hatred of the young Wolfenstein, that he never noticed how sick his sister was.

"Penny was dying, poor child. And that Wolfenstein boy, he was everything to her. No one knows exactly how much they loved each other, but with children, you can assume it was unconditional. Whenever Penny spent time with him, her doctors almost swore she was getting better. She probably would have too, but then it started. The feud.

"Nobody knows exactly what it was that set Byron off. I imagined it was a kiss, but maybe that's just me. Whatever it was, it was enough to push Byron into cutting off the young Wolfenstein's tail and part of his ear. The young Wolfenstein's brothers came. They saved him from Byron, but Byron mortally wounded one of them.

"The tension between families grew. Bodies of Wolfensteins and Does started popping up all over. When Mr. Doe got killed, his wife arranged a meeting with the Wolfensteins to negotiate peace. But, Byron had other plans.

"I'll spare you the gruesome details of that first blood bath. But, it marked the beginning of the war between them. The young Wolfenstein got hit the worst, I think. Not physically, but emotionally, he was destroyed. Penny tried to save him from her brother." Mr. Big pulled out a handkerchief to wipe away the tear that had accumulated in his eye. "Can you imagine that? Byron killed his own sister. And, he blames it on the young Wolfenstein.

"So after two weeks of all out war, it came down to Byron and the young Wolfenstein. Byron cut off his other ear. But in the end, it was the Wolfenstein boy that won. There were no legal actions taken on him. Why, you may ask? He killed in self defense. Byron had his father's machete. The young Wolfenstein had a tranquilizer gun, but Byron wasn't going down. It took fifteen tranquilizer darts to the chest to stop Byron."

Judy raised her a paw a bit to interrupt. "Sorry, but what was his name?"

"The young Wolfenstein boy? Oh, his name was Adam, Adam Wolfenstein. Go over to that steamer trunk over there. I might have saved the newspaper clippings from that time." Mr. Big pointed to an old beat up trunk that looked older than him.

Judy opened up the trunk and covered her mouth from the dust that flew from its opening. There were a lot of files, film strips, and newspapers. Within the first stack of newspapers, Judy found it. "Sole Survivor Found." Judy put her paw up to her mouth to hide her gasp at the sight of the picture. The black and white picture showed a clear picture of a young Adam Wolff. Judy could see he was on the verge of tears, with his ears bandaged, while he was being comforted by a cop. She recognized the cop. It was Savage. "Nick look. It's Adam Wolff."

Nick looked at the picture. "That's Mr. Wolff alright."

"Wolff?" Mr. Big asked. "So, that's what his name is now. I haven't seen him in so long. You've seen him? How's he doing?"

Nick could see the earnest look on Big's face. "He's doing well. He's got a kid, adopted, but still. He's got a good kid."

A smile spread across Big's face. "Adam was not born great. He was just like any other child looking for his place in the world. I expect you'll see great things from him. Like anyone, he was not born great, but he has grown great. A good blade is always forged in fire. He may not seem like a fighter, but I tell you, he's got the blood of his ancestors in him."

Back in the car, heading into the downtown area, Nick thought about what he heard. Adam Wolff was really Adam Wolfenstein. He was the last of the Wolfenstein family. He was the descendant of the great Fitzgerald Brown who became Wolfenstein. Adam was the end of the line for his legacy. The last one. The idea gave Nick chills. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to be the last of anything. Adam had survived one of the bloodiest known gang wars in law enforcement history, he was the father to an adopted child, and he was dating Clawhauser's distant cousin.

Nick tried to think about what he had learned. "Remember how Adam's son said he was gonna protect him from the monsters in his closet?"

Judy nodded as she took the off ramp. "Yeah what about it?"

Nick was starting to piece together ideas about Adam Wolff. "Don't you find it strange that Adam would describe insomnia as monsters in his closet?"

Judy nodded. "Yeah, it is strange," an idea popped up in her head, "but what if he was lying about having insomnia. Maybe he struggles with sleep for another reason, like post traumatic stress disorder. PTSD is known to cause sleeping disorders. Maybe monsters in the closet has a different meaning."

Nick knew what it was. "The monsters of his past." Nick could see Reina's Repair Shop coming up fast. But something didn't sit right. "But if the gang related tragedy of his past is what caused his PTSD, then why would he steal art? Theft is a crime, if anything, he would want to stay away from that."

Judy switched off the engine once they pulled into the garage. "Maybe, he did it because he knew it would expose Cooning. Maybe he's fighting crime as some fantasy of fulfilling a vendetta. The Doe family was a family of criminals. But, they're gone."

"Maybe," Nick raised his brow in thought, "he doesn't want what happened to him to happen to others." Nick mentally punched himself for putting Adam in the spotlight as a hero. There was still the possibility of Adam being the one that poisoned Judy. The contradicting facts were getting on his nerves. Then he reminded himself, trust no one.

Stepping out of the car, Judy and Nick both saw the friendly face of Lily Clawhauser as she approached them. Her crutches were covered in hot pink duck tape. "Hi there, did you two check in with Kit?"

Nick felt sick. "Woah, woah, woah! Time out. Did you just say Kit? As the fox?"

Lily furrowed her brows in confusion. "Uh, as in she's a fox? Yes she is. Um, who are you?"

The door to the office burst open. "Nicholas Piberius Wilde!" It was Kit, Lily's friend.

"The name!" Nick silently murmured to himself. "Why does every angry female do that?"

"I heard that!" Kit rushed down with steam practically shooting from her ears.

"It's a shame your mouth is as good as your ears!" Nick felt his paws tensing up into fists.

"No Nicholas, it's a shame your mouth is as big as your ego." Kit rolled up her sleeves, getting ready to have a throw down then and there.

The only thing stopping Kit from attacking Nick was Lily's crutch. "Hold on, what's going on here."

"Careful Lily," Kit wagged an accusing finger at Nick, "be careful around this spawn of evil!"

Nick put his paws on his hips as he shook his head. "You're one to talk, succubus!"

"You take that back!" Kit eyed Judy who was hopelessly confused. "Who's this Nick? Are loose bunnies your thing now?"

"Excuse me!" Judy pulled out her badge as her foot tapped in anger. "I'd prefer you show more respect to an officer."

Kit shook her head as she laughed sarcastically. "Role playing too? You really know how to pick 'em Nick."

"This isn't funny." Nick pulled out his badge. "It happens to be my job."

Kit went silent the moment Nick pulled out his badge. "I should have known. Just to spite me, is that it? Your a cop now. Great, just peachy!" Kit stormed off to leave the garage for some air.

Lily didn't know what that was all about. "I'm sorry about this officer," she was addressing Judy as Nick had walked off to lean against the wall, "is there something you wanted to talk to someone about?"

"Sorry about Nick, and your friend." Judy pulled out a notepad she carried with her at all times. "I'd actually like to ask you some questions."

"Me?" Lily straightened her glasses. "What do you want from me?"

"Do you know an Adam Wolff? A darker furred wolf, gold eyes, and missing his tail and ears?" Judy readied her pen.

"Oh, yes. Of course I do. We've sort of been dating for a little more than two weeks now. He actually got me this tape for my crutches." Lily smiled at that thought, but soon a worried look took over her face. "Is he in trouble? Is he okay?"

"It's complicated." Judy left it at that. "We need your help." She reminded herself that since Lily was emotionally involved with Adam, she had to be careful. They didn't want Lily to go against them.

Nick let Judy take over on talking to Lily. She had a better track record when it came to dealing with others. He almost jumped when he felt a tap on his shoulder. "What?"

It was Kit. "Hey, can I talk to you outside? Please?"

Reluctantly, Nick forced himself to comply and follow Kit. "Okay. I'm listening."

Kit was a lot calmer than when she confronted Nick earlier. "Listen, I just want to say I'm sorry for how I reacted earlier."

"Don't be. I sort of fueled the fire too." Nick tried to rub away his headache. "I don't think you ever got why I left."

Kit crossed her arms. "Since we're on the subject, why did you leave?"

"I'm sure I probably hurt you when I walked away. But, did you ever think that you hurt me?" Nick rubbed the back of his neck.

"What," Kit scoffed, "because you couldn't handle being closer to me?"

"I told you I didn't want to. I still don't." Nick clenched his fist in his pocket to hide his anger. "That's why I was going to ask you to marry me. But then, you flipped, and I left because I knew it wasn't going to work out."

"I'm sorry that I didn't want a family then." Kit dared to take a step closer to Nick. "What did you do with the ring?"

"I chucked it." Nick shut his eyes, almost in shame. It was only almost because it was just a small bit of guilt. "Off the docks, into the water. It wasn't worth pawning." Nick turned away from Kit. He couldn't look at her anymore. "At least it wasn't my grandmother's ring."

Kit folded her arms even tighter, feeling cold. "It's a good thing you didn't waste it." She forced a smile. "What do you want with my friend Lily?"

Nick turned around after wiping his eyes so she couldn't see. "We need her help with an investigation. It concerns Adam Wolff. You know him?"

"Yeah, I know him. I was the one who suggested that she talk to him more. If I had known that he was gonna be trouble," Kit shook her head. "Is she safe?"

"I'll make sure your friend stays safe." Nick mustered up the courage to put a comforting paw on Kit's shoulder. Though, he didn't believe it would be that comforting. "It's the least I could do, after I hurt you."

Kit looked down and nodded her head. "Is there any way I can help?"

Nick did a double take at that. "What? Why do you want to help?"

Kit put her paw over Nick's on her shoulder. "It's the least I can do, after I hurt you."