"Why'd they make it look like they didn't want the pictures when they really did?" Judy stood up and began pacing, as she usually did when she wanted to figure something out. Nick couldn't think of any reason that hadn't already been mentioned.

She pulled her carrot pen out of her pocket and paused, her determined gaze becoming uncertain. Groaning, Judy dragged her feet to the couch and sat with Nick, resting her face in her paws.

"You forgot to record it, didn't you." Nick tried not to smile but her reaction had been pretty comical. Judy nodded into her paws and groaned again.

"Awh, poor Bunny." In a swift movement, he pulled Judy to his side so that she could lean on him. She still kept her face covered by turning into his shirt and Nick relaxed, knowing that the risky action had worked out.

"This would be a good time for you to swoop in and save the day with some trick up your sleeve," she murmured into his shirt.

"Actually, it's in my pocket, but good guess." Nick pulled out his own recording device which held evidence and clues that they could use later on.

Judy sat up and one of her ears hit Nick in the face in the excitement. "Wait, really?" Nick held his cheek and cautiously handed her the recorder. Judy continued excitedly, "I'm sure I can find some sort of lead in what she said. There have to be clues we may have missed."

She looked at the recorder with enough hope to make Nick wonder if there really was a clue they'd missed. He leaned back on the couch, lifting a corner of his mouth. "You're welcome."

"Oh!" Judy stood on the couch cushion to reach his sitting height and wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug. "Thanks, Nick," she whispered. He expected her to move away, but after a few moments, realized he'd been hugging her back. He must have moved his arms instinctually and the act was so strange that he considered letting go. Nick wasn't the affectionate type but somehow her comforting warmth, and the way her breaths tickled the fur at his neck, made Nick pull her close against him. In a second, everything faded into the background, piece by piece. The ZPD, the arrests, the possibility of failure. The label of the shifty predator abandoned Nick, leaving only himself, and opening up something he'd kept guarded for most of his life. How could the world be as unforgiving as he'd thought if she existed in it?

She let go to sit down on his lap and it took Nick a second to realize he'd moved her there during the hug. Judy's movement separated them slightly and Nick feared that she let go because she didn't like the closeness. His body protested at even the thought of moving his arms back, so he kept still, trying not to think too much. Judy smiled down sheepishly. "And thanks for helping me with everything else. It means a lot"

Her violet eyes lifted to his, making Nick's heart pound fiercely within his chest. It felt like a magnetic force tugging them closer until he felt her warm breaths mixing with his own. He thought he should say something but her eyes put him in a trance as she touched Nick's shoulder, pulling him forward. It was a slow, delicate kiss and the shock of it kept Nick frozen in place, for only a moment, before holding her tighter. In that moment, Nick allowed himself to imagine a future with Judy as more than a friend. An idea he'd shut out the entire time he'd known her and especially when thinking about the interspecies family. He let himself hope again, knowing that hope led him to pain every time he'd felt it. Would this hurt him? Would it hurt Judy? It had only been a few seconds, but Nick could smell his own fear rising and automatically, he separated himself, breaking the kiss.

"I'm not doing this to you," he decided.

Judy's cheeks glowed red under her fur. "Doing what?" Her words were slightly sluggish and etched with confusion.

Nick didn't know how to explain that he knew anything more between them would just make the inevitable pain worse. She still believed the world was a good place. "Do you want to be with me?" The words came out more like an accusation and when Nick saw her bewilderment he repeated the question in a nicer tone.

"Yeah. I think I do." She stared at his chest and spoke in a small voice. "It feels right." Nick knew exactly what she meant. It was that feeling of rightness that made him ache to pull her into him and take back everything he was saying.

He shook his head, stubbornly. "I'm not going to let you have that life." He pointed at the television showing the news coverage of protesters.

"Nick, you know that most people are accepting. You're just scared. It's okay. I'm scared too but it's worth it." He thought of all the issues the hybrid family had to experience and, even if there was support, there was also backlash. If he was with Judy he would be joyous and elated, but if he ever saw her hurt by bigots then he would lose it. Just the thought of it had his claws digging into his fur. Nothing was worth knowing that he was the cause of her inevitable pain.

"We should just stay with our own species," he said.

Judy's mouth dropped open. "So you would be fine if I just went off with some Bunny?" Nick was hit with a whirlwind of confusion. He would hate it. He avoided her gaze and stared at the news coverage.

"I'd tolerate it," he grunted. Judy got off of the couch, fists at either side of her.

"And you want me to just 'tolerate' some Vixen cozying up with you?! Nick do you hear yourself?" Judy turned her back to him once he saw her eyes tearing up. Nick wasn't sure what was right or wrong anymore. One side of him wanted to protect her the way he protected himself and the other wanted to hope and risk.

"I just don't want to see you get hurt," he said, defeated.

"Too late." She began to walk away, wiping at her face.

The burning pain that came from causing her tears made him consider giving in to what she wanted. He imagined it all working out: house, marriage, kits, everything. Maybe all the suffering in his life led up to this as the universe's way of balancing it all out. Then the image of the protesters yelling 'Mutated Mutt' at the hybrid family's home came, and he imagined the protesters were at his home, with his kits, and his Judy. Nick had seen terrible hate crimes against predators and couldn't picture how bad it could get if he were with her. The idea of Judy having to watch her family suffer when she still believed the world was good reminded him of his childhood. Nick didn't want her to feel the betrayal he'd felt long ago when he found that some mammals hated him for something he couldn't control. This, however, was something he could control, and that fact was enough to convince him.

He got up and raced down the hallway until he was twenty feet from her. "Judy!" She stopped but didn't turn. "These arrests were a message. It's a rule they're giving us all. You know what they did to the police department that defied them. You know what they did to the family. Are you really willing to risk your job and everything you've worked for for this?" Nick wasn't sure if he was talking about them, or trying to solve the mystery, or both. It was all a mess and he tried to anchor himself by thinking about at the protests. Judy didn't respond and went down the stairway, leaving Nick on the empty level.

He shouldn't have kissed her or held her for so long. "Shit!" He punched the wall to his left, his fist connecting hard against the plaster. He shouldn't have flirted or teased her so much. He punched the wall a second time and once he felt the deserved, throbbing pain in his paw he jabbed the elevator button to leave. He'd been careless in playing with her heart. He'd let it go too far and it ended up hurting one of the only mammals who was always there for him.

Nick had gone back to his apartment, but the smell of Judy's scent of the sheets was too much, so he went to a bar. It was a dark and smoky scene with mainly Foxes drinking and socializing. Nick drank enough to feel a buzz but it didn't do much to take away the guilt he'd been feeling. The bar was moderately crowded and every time someone got up, a new Fox replaced them. Nick blocked everything out, trying to make his mind blank and his feelings numb. When he'd gotten to his apartment he thought about listening to the recording he made, but Judy had taken it without him knowing. At first he smiled pridefully about his sly Bunny but then he remembered everything else and fell back into his regretful mood.

Someone was leaning towards Nick on the stool beside him and he shifted away, assuming they were drunk and struggling to sit up. The drunk tapped him on the shoulder and Nick turned to tell them to knock it off. It was a Vixen wearing way too much makeup and dressed tight clothes that didn't leave much to the imagination. "Hi, I'm Tammy" she said loudly so that Nick could hear her over the music. Nick gave her a nod of acknowledgement and then tried to flag the bartender down. "Are you here often? This is my first time coming here. My friends made me wear this and they did my makeup and I feel completely ridiculous."

"I can see why you'd feel that way." Nick tapped his glass on the counter a few times, but the bartender didn't turn around. He made an impatient sound and then glanced at the Vixen again. She'd been talking without him realizing.

"...and they dragged me here as if I could get over him in one night. But I'm talking to you because they said if I got your number that we could leave and so-"

"I'm sorry. Do I resemble your therapist or something?" Nick really wasn't in the mood for to have a random mammal chattering in his ear. The Vixen laughed loudly as if he'd said something hilarious. In his peripheral Nick could see her glance back at a group of Foxes giving her thumbs up, though they pretended they weren't watching when Nick twisted to look.

"Oh! I love this song!" She clapped and grinned in a way that contrasted the all-black clothes, bad girl, look her friends had gone for.

"Yeah, good for you." It was one of those slow piano songs with some guy whining about losing the flower of his life or something pretentious of that nature. Finally the bartender came over to take Nick's order. The Vixen kept talking but Nick didn't make an effort to listen until he heard her say the song was about the artist's daughter who died. It was enough to garner some interest so Nick listened to the lyrics for a moment.

"She said

good things come in threes,

And

Good things come and go,

But

Should things stay at ease

When

Good things fail to show?

She flew me to a garden

Where sun and rays burned bright

And on the ground, yet to be found

A Daisy came to life

Now moonlight takes the sun

When darkness takes the day

And so at night, without the light

A Daisy wilts away"

The song continued, but Nick needed more info to rule out coincidence. "Who sings this?" Nick asked.

"The artist? Just this indie Elk guy who plays at the Tavern downtown sometimes. His other songs aren't really as good as this one but I-"

"What's his name?" Nick was already gathering his things to leave when she gave the name.

"Ramses Warren."

"Thanks, Tiffany." Nick left some money for the bartender and pushed past mammals to leave.

"You're welcome and it's Tammy! Wait can I get your number?" Nick continued walking and exited the bar. He opened his phone to text Judy after waving down a cab.

N: I'm coming over

J: Dont unless you have a lead

N: I think I might

J: ...fine