It's been a few days since the press conference and Judy was eager as ever to get back home and introduce Nick to her family. And more importantly, spend time with him and show him around the Carrot Days Festival. However, introducing him to her family will be all but a fun tale. She'll have to reel him in… slowly… if possible. As that week slowly pressed to the day they decided they would take the truck back home to Bunnyburrow, Judy couldn't help but notice Nick was getting nervous. He wore his iconic smile as always to cover it up but she could tell he was fibbing the look to hide his anxiousness, not that she could really blame him. He was a fox after all and he was going to soon be meeting hundreds of her brothers and sisters that are still at home and nearly a couple hundred thousands more of her nieces and nephews… if any are on the permits. That thought alone would cause any predator to feel intimidated being surrounded by the Kerfluffle of soft masses. During those few days, Judy had made a stop to check in with the nurse at the precinct regarding her gash; she still needed to keep it covered as it was still healing but it was making progress. Explaining the situation of her "recovering" at home, she was given the clear to downgrade to just the crutches, providing she'd promise to behave herself while she was there, with no excessive actions in concern of the stitches opening again. Oh was she pleased to hear some positive news for once! Another day closer to be back on the force.

The day arrived for Judy and Nick to go back; after Judy prepped her to-go bag with her clothes for the week, (which wasn't much) and gathering all her basic utensils together, she grinned ready to go. Looking over at Nick, she glanced over at him leaning against her wall and aimlessly wasting time on his phone.

Approaching him, she patted his arm gently.

"Hey Nick?" she asked.

"Hmm?" he asked not looking up from his phone.

"Do you… have anything to pack? I mean clothes? Accessories? Bath items?"

"Carrots you're looking at it. I've had my charger the entire time so I'm set on that, I /borrow/ things when I need a shower, and I've got my clothes set."

The expression she pulled at his statement was somewhere in the mix between disgust and shock.

"Whoa whoa whoa." She expressed while waving her paws forward. "Wait, hold up! You mean to tell me you've been wearing nothing but that same dorky Pawaiian shirt and cargo pants the entire time!?"

He looked up to her at this point drawing his attention away from the bright lit screen.

"I'll have you know this is a HIGHLY fashionable statement among relaxed gentle-mammals. And besides, it's not just this one I have. I have more of these; I just choose not to wear 'em."

"Wait… there's /more/ of those dorky shirts!?"

"They're not "dorky" they're fashionable!"

She crossed her arms with a quirked brow.

"Uh-huh. Sure they are." She droned.

"I'm serious Carrots. You'd be surprised how much mammals acknowledge their existence."

She scoffed.

"SURE they do."

"All right. Don't believe me? Fine." He shrugged putting his phone away in his pocket. "On the way to the old train station to pick up the truck, we'll stop by my place and grab a few of my outfits just so I have 'extra clothes' for the stay. Then I'll prove to you that they're just as nice as anything else that's worn by mammals." He emphasized extra clothes with quotation fingers.

She scoffed again.

"This I gotta see."

A moment of silence and something clicked.

"Wait a minute… what did you just say?"

"What that we'll pick up extra clothes?"

"No, no, before that."

"That we'll go to my place?"

She pointed her finger.

"That! Right there! I thought you said..."

"Oh! Well uh… TECHNICALLY it's not my place. I sort of share a room with a bud that lets me stay for versus being on the streets.

"Beats trying to find cover if the weather is uncooperative." He remarked with a shrug.

"But… that means you're still…"

"Yes yes it is. But it's not really that big of a deal Carrots."

"Oh Nick. I wish I had known… I could've helped you find a place."

"Fluff, really it's okay. I'm an adapter for a reason. As long as I find somewhere to sleep in, a little income for the day, and a little bit of food to eat, I'll survive and make things work. I don't require much to be content."

She drooped her ears.

"Okay." She mumbled defeated.

"Hey, don't get emotional on me." He chirped with a half snicker. "Really it's fine. Besides, IF my application goes through and I'm at the academy, I'll have a place to stay there just the same."

A moment of silence was broken by the sound of a bun giggle.
"Oh! You're right Nick!"

He simply shrugged in response with his coy smile. "Ready to go?" he asks.

"Yea, just let me call the delivery guys for the couch to let them know I'll be out of town. Be back in a moment."

"Sure." He replied with a single nod to her.

While she's busy dialing the number to the direct warehouse, Nick couldn't help but think about what he just promised to her. "Am I really going to make it into the academy?" He wonders. They could reject him right away because of his species, but more importantly… if they see anything on his record... Not that he's done anything wrong; a few pick-pocketing here and there, a few charmy ways to get quick money, nothing too serious. And anything that was committed would have been under the radar or classified as tax evasion. His thoughts were briefly brought back to Judy and her own hustle from that day. He chuckled thinking about it then returned to his old thoughts. Certainly there WASN'T anything jail-worthy that COULD prevent him from going in. The most work he ever did was being an informant for , but there was never anything beyond that. He never partook in any break-ins be it with vehicles or buildings, because he needed to make money, sure, but he wasn't going to do anything that could be stupid or dangerous. But anything, ANYTHING they could pick out of him in his history could have him screwed of even thinking of getting into the academy. Then it would be an empty promise to Judy and he couldn't bear to think of that happening.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a voice calling to him and recognized her voice.

"You ok Nick?" she asks with worry.

"Yea I'm fine. Just thinking how I should address myself to your family. Any special bunny customs I should know?"

She giggles.

"Well for one, it probably would be best if you keep your trap shut." She winks at him before continuing on. "Don't want you slipping out the wrong words and embarrassing yourself." She added with a light nudge to him.

"That I can do Carrots, that I can do."

"Anyway, the guy said it's fine if I'm out of town. Apparently it's going to take them a week or two to get the couch here at all; they're not exactly local here for some reason."

"Huh, weird. So you ready to go then?"

"Yup! Let's book it!"

Nick grabbed her to-go bag opting to carry it for her while she got herself situated with her crutches. After locking up the door she brought herself downstairs one by one to the bottom floor to head out.

"Seriously fluff, when you get yourself back into work, I suggest you find a better place. You'll certainly have the income for it, and plus this can't be good for your legs." He implied.

"On the contrary my Vulpine compadre, this is actually quite good for a rabbit and their feet as it should be! Besides, all this up and down will certainly tune you up better for the academy!"

"*Doh* Caught me there fluff." He said with a chuckle.

"Yup!" she remarked with a huff. "Can't fool me!"

He smirked.

"Is that so? If you're so smart then I suppose you EXACTLY the way to go to my residence to get my clothes."

"Nick, that's not fair. I've never even heard of this place until now." She complained with a grumble.

"Hey, look. YOU'RE the smart rabbit here that solved a case all on your own. /Surely/ you can figure out where a homeless animal might live."

"No I can't Nick; now stop it. Help me out here so we can get going."

His wide grin grew even further on his coy muzzle.

"Admit it."

"Admit what?"

"That you're not all that clever without this sly fox here."

She raised a brow and huffed balling her one fist into her side and waving the other while leaning on her crutches.

"Nick this is a pointless conversation, why would you even?"

He chirred her to be silent and pointed a finger in the matter-of-factly position.
"No no, this needs to be clarified and have a mutual agreement. You see, you say that you're so clever and can't be fooled by my simple jokes, now I proving to you that you are not all that clever because you can't figure out your way out around without my help AND you did /indeed/ did NOT figure out a case all on your own."

At this point she was starting to scowl at him groaning, and drumming her fingers in annoyance but he continued on.

"If we are to agree you're not as smart as you think you are, then you agreeing that there are some situations that /I/ am indeed the clever fox versus the sly bunny and that I'm not all that dumb and can't be passed off for just some dumb joke."

"Argh… fine!" she replied with a low tone and raising her paws in the air. "You are the clever fox and I'm the dumb bunny. Happy? Okay? Good. Can we move on please?"

"Certainly. Now, I shall direct you. Right this way please~" he waved as he started to walk down the street with her to-go back and leaving her gawked.

"By the way, I know you didn't know where to go! I was going to show you from the get go. And there is a magic tool called Zoogle to figure out where mammals are if you can't find them in the database. You should know this as an officer." He called out to her leaving more gawked. After a moment of clicking and a shout "Hey!" she caught up to him straddling along down the street as fast as hurried gimping could take her.

"If you knew this entire time sir, then why waste time to tell me? To earn the bragging rights?"

"Absolutely. One hundred percent."

"But why would you?"

"Because my lovely bunny friend, that's how I roll. I live to see your raw expressions daily."

After a moment of thinking it over, she realized what he was referring to. He just called her out only for her to get back lashed for being so egoistical at his own joke. Or was that his plan from the start?

"You like messing with me don't you?"

"Somebody's gotta keep your smiles going. It's your best feature."

After a sigh, she admitted it with a smile.
"Sly fox."

"Dumb bunny."

It didn't take long to get to the station entrance. Nick looked at Judy with her gimping leg supported by her crutches and considered the routes he was about to endure with her possibly trailing behind. This would have been his preferred way to go but today he has extra cargo and he certainly didn't want to push her to her limits. After a moment, he made a conscious decision.

"You know what? I think it's best to take a cab or a bus. It'll be easier on you."

"What? No, I'll be fine."

"It's a long walk all the way to where we need to go and we still need to go quite a ways to get your truck back to your parents."

"Yea I guess you're right, but do you know any stops near by?"

"Course I do. Come on fluff."

En route to the other Hill Street bus stop Nick would occasionally steal a glance over at Judy. Best case scenario his "bud" wouldn't care less for a bunny walking through that door. But on the other paw… it might be an interesting scene as he's never had any visitors before. The simplest route was to take jump off at crossing of Peak Street and Lionheart Avenue, then take Bus 28 heading north into Tundratown, which would run alongside the red Zootopia Loop transit which then eventually would go into Rainforest District. The whole route would take about a few hours by bus and would get them at the Precipitation Street stop by mid-afternoon. Nick hesitantly looking at the raining canopy above considered all best scenarios while he was getting his fur soaked and Judy urging him to move on. They treaded the grounds heading higher by the climb and making it harder for Judy to carry on. Nick would occasionally look back to make sure everything was okay but she would shrug it off still the same. After a climbing of what seemed like 50 meters, (that's roughly 165 feet high by average giant tree standards) they were crossing a steady bridge to an entrance of an apartment shaded by dark vines and overgrowth shrubs. Nick glancing back at Judy huffing from being out of breath, he sighed and turned his attention fully back to her.

"You know what… maybe this isn't such a good idea."

"What are…" she asked catching breath in-between words. "You… talking about… Nick?"

He paused for a moment trying to find the right words but Judy continued.

"You came… all this way… only to back now?" Judy asked while speaking in a chirped tone from the exhaustion. She paused to catch her breath again. "Nuh-uh. Aint… happening."

"She's definitely bold." He thought to himself. She wouldn't admit it but Judy did tire herself out with all that climbing and the vets did tell her to take it easy which is exactly the opposite of what she's doing. Now granted, Nick complained internally with the feet they had to climb, now taking twice if not three times as long with Judy accompaning, (seriously why did it have to be all the way up there?) but he bit his silver tongue all the same should he have slipped a word or two. Never-the-less even if he did go inside 's home with Judy to get his clothes, she shouldn't attempt to go down the same way they came, not without help at least.

"Nick!" Judy's calling shocked him out of thoughts.

"Carrots…I…" he mumbled. He had to think of something, quick.

"Nick what is it?" she asked finally regained her breath.

"I… I think it's best if I go in alone and retrieve my clothes that way. Then I'll come back out and help you back down the canopy." Nick suggested almost to the point of mumbling.

"Nick no, I'm not staying put outside in this drenching rain waiting for you. I'm going inside."

"Sweetheart, that apartment inside is not a place for a little country bunny to go inside. And besides, the mammal in there… he's… well… a bear. A very… big bear."

"So?" she rebutted with a wave of a paw. "I'm not just a soft exterior, you know this Nick. That apartment cannot be any more dangerous or ominous than what we dealt with in the Asylum. And in regards to the big bear comment I've taken down a RHINOSCEROUS Nick!" She replied with a blink. "And I have TWO polar bears on the force with me, and Sergeant Ursula Friedkin, my drill instructor that you will eventually meet, is also a polar bear. I am not afraid."

"Crap." He silently cursed to himself. She had a good point; there wasn't much he could argue in return, however his quick thinking got him to speak again.
"That was a different situation with the Asylum Carrots. We knew of the possible dangers we were facing when we went into that building. You don't know this guy Carrots; for all you know he could be an assassin in there."

"Then I'll show him who's boss. You obviously trust him don't you? You've been with him this long and he hasn't killed you yet."

"Yet." He emphasized. "Carrots, I just don't want this whole thing to come off as shocked or concerning. He's a PREDATOR Carrots, and you're a prey. Think about it for a moment and consider the fact that I'm caring for what could happen."

She was getting pretty annoyed at this point that he was wasting time like this when they could be tracking with bags in paw back to the truck to head home for a well much earned rest.

"Nick… my JOB lies heavily with chances concerning my safety. YOUR future job lies on your chances with your safety should you pull through the academy. Every day that I step forth into those giant revolving doors at the precinct I take another chance of not living another day." She practically shouted using emphasis with a point of a finger back to the bottom of the canopy below. "But you know what Nick? I LOVE what I do. I LIVE for the dangers, Nick."

"Carrots… don't say things like that."

"No, you listen. I take the chances every day knowing I could be facing a dangerous enemy in spite of what I do. Every day that I put a dangerous mammal behind bars, like Bellwether, is to ensure I help the citizens I love. So if I can survive a mad-wild case of savage mammals, then I can dang well go inside a building with the potential of a dangerous mammal!"

He stared at her in pure shock. What was she not comprehending? This… mammal, who was the least likely of a predator to let another one in, no less a fox, got along with Nick reasonably… but Judy would have been a complete stranger to him, no less being injured and draped in cloths. The two predators had begotten to know each other a little through drunken banter and shanties but Judy, there would have been no species connection, no common ground, no way for him to take pity on the lapin. Even more so she was Judith Hopps, and Nick would have preferred that it be kept she'd remain unknown. He dropped his head knowing he couldn't say anything further… all he could do was sigh and mumble "Fluff." very defeated.

She sighed and gently dropped her boiling ears rest against her cold wet back. Hopping a couple of steps she approached the fox in front of her and used his chest to rest her paws and keep balance. He flinched at the touch and she continued on in a gentle voice,

"Nick, I trust you. But you have not given me a valid reason why you don't want me to go in there, and every answer you do give to me is just an answer that can be resolved."

"He knows me, Carrots. But he doesn't know you. I…" he hesitated finally managing to speak taking a gulp. "I don't know what he's going to do to you if he sees you, no less seeing you injured."

"Nick, you have to trust me!" Judy urged him with her pounding paws on his chest and searching for his eyes. "I'll be all right, no matter what the condition looks like, how the situation unfolds or what that mammal looks like or does. Please Nick, let me go in with you. Don't leave me out here."

Having heard the plea, damn that pleading voice, he thought thinking it over for a moment and looked up at her with darkened eyes. Her eyes internally widened at the sight, something was bothering him, but she tossed her emotions to the side for the moment to face him right on. With a sigh he turned and grabbed her crutches to give back to her paws and grab her bag.

"All right Carrots, just… please stay close."

"All right." She replied.

With a dejected sigh the auburn fox led the way to the entrance of the leaky conspiracy of a building. Its deep soaked dark brown walls were torn up in some places and there was an ivy overgrowing on the right side towards a single outward window and the roof. Some of the paneling at the top had exposed some of the foundation piping that was holding the bloody structure together. It's a real shame such a beautiful place was going to waste. With a hesitated knock Nick rapped the door a single three times. No response. Craning his ear he leaned against the structure's door. He could hear a low and subtle noise on the other side.

"Snoring… typical." He chuckled muttering to himself.

With a gentle twist he gripped the doorknob. Locked, of course. Glancing up at the vines, he approached the greenery to begin climbing it after leaving the bag behind. Judy cautiously stepped forward but Nick beckoned her to stay put and that he'll be back in a moment. He just needed to get inside and unlock the door from the inside to get her in. Watching him climb, Judy noticed how quick he was using his claws to slither up along the side and pacing to the top. He almost had lost his grip with the soaking conditions but quickly regained balance. Judy twitched at that scene but breathed a sigh of relief at the recoil. Watching him ascend, he got to the top and while using one paw to grip tight on the vines, he used the other to make his foreclaw to pick at the lock that was on the inside in-between the planks of the window. With a click and a satisfied grin, Nick raised the planks and slipped on inside with ease with the window hitting the frame with a couple of thunks.

Once inside Nick took a moment to adjust his eyes to the dark setting. The single long panel hallway that had some occasional drip drops from the leaking rain soaked mini puddles on the floor. "One day this place is going to collapse." He commented chuckling to himself. "Still as wet as always."

FLASHBACK -12 years ago-

A younger Nick Wilde and a large oppressive grizzly approaches the top of the steps, Nick in front and the bear marching with heavy steps behind, not complete without a creek from the floor. Nick is beaten pretty badly with long deep scratches on his face and arms, likely from defense and has a bruised left eye. His clothes are also tattered and his tail in tangles.

"Bathroom's to the left inside that room. Get yourself tidied up and you can sleep in there." The bear grunts in a low voice. He finishes with pointing a thumb to a door.

Nick peers over his shoulder to look inside a room that's dark and creepy with musty shelves and piping exposed. You don't see much of it before it focuses back on Nick and the bear.

He grimaced.

"I have to sleep… in there?"

The grizzly's eyes widened and he exposed his teeth snarling.

"Would you rather be outside in the rain?!" he growled agitated.

"Well… no…not really." Nick mumbled.

"Then quit complaining. You're lucky I'm giving you a place to stay at all." He paused to take a breath before continuing. "Sleep tight fox."

"Uhm… thank you Mr?"

The bear was about to head down the steps when he hesitated.

"Wuttersnorth" he called.

Nick smiled before continuing on.

"Thank you, Mr. Wuttersnorth."

The bear simply scoffs before slugging down the steps once more and a younger Nick Wilde looks to the room again for the moment before heading inside.

CURRENT TIMELINE

Nick thought about that flashback briefly. "If he hadn't taken me in, I could have been close to being a dead fox." He remarked. Shaking his head he told himself, "No no, gotta get Judy in from the rain!" Tracking the same pawsteps he once came, he tiptoed himself down the long hall to the twist of steps. Taking each step gracefully, each wooden plank squeakier than the last, he carefully descended after a few minutes peeking into the walkway of the living room. Immediately met with a snoring brown bear practically collapsing his chair, he was comfortably knocked out with the old cubical tv buzzing some old show, sound muted in the background. With every snore the sound echoed and some unfortunate untidied utensil or frame would shake and vibrate in reaction. Shaking his head, he thought about the fact that the old boar really let himself go since that day, but he put his focus quickly back into his objective and treaded carefully on the left side of the room alongside the kitchen towards the door. Tiptoeing once more along the wall, he only paused for a brief moment reaching a nasty spot that squeaked and caused the bear to stir a little in his sleep, but no waking. Continuing on, Nick met to the door to unlock the ten padlocks adjacent along the frame that locked the door.

JUDYS POV

She had been waiting for at least ten minutes now getting outside in the rain. "What was taking him so long?" she wondered. Surely it doesn't take that long to go down a few steps to unlock a door?" she questioned tapping her good foot. After what seemed like another five minutes or so, her brilliant hearing finally heard creaking paw step noises in the background approaching the wall. "Finally! About time fox!" she chanted to herself. Grabbing her moist bag on the ground, she hoisted it up as the padlocks were finally getting unlocked to let her in.

NOW TOGETHER

Nick unbolted the final lock and creeping the door open he popped his handsome face in the archway and beckoned her with a paw to come on inside. Hopping a couple of steps, she stepped in with rain dripping down her almost shaking form and duffle bag where a fox closed the door carefully behind her. Dropping the bag with a thud, she emitted a soft gasp to see the bear across the room sleeping soundly without any trace of any noise. Nick was starting to head back towards the steps, but he noticed he was without one bunny. Looking back to Judy, he could see was overcome with fear and frozen in place. "Oh dear, it must be the smell… too overpowering to her." Nick thought to himself and emitting a soft sigh. "Not scared, yet right Carrots." He finished thinking with a sly grin. Walking back to her and placing a paw gently on her shoulder, she flinched but looked up at him where he motioned an index finger to his muzzle commanding her to be quiet. Judy nodding in reply, Nick hoisted her up bridal style with an almost squeaking in surprise bunny and carefully carried her towards the steps. He was about to step up when she pointed back to her bag. Huffing and rolling his eyes, he placed her down and went back to retrieve her duffle bag and brought it back to them along with the crutches. "These are really a pain in the rear." He complained internally through gritted teeth.

Leaving the crutches with the bag at the bottom of the steps, he ascended with her in his paws to the second floor where she took in the scenery of the room. Having her placed down, he went inside to shuffle through his things while she hopped into the room voluntarily and lowering her ears at the sight. Meanwhile. Judy had her ears instantly dropped the moment she hopped inside and immediately recognized the room as an attic or some sort of storage drop off. The room itself was fairly large, but that was immediately diminished the sights of drainage pipes, bolts, valves and raining drops collecting in various pots, pans and buckets throughout the room. On the left side where Nick was currently scavenging for some of his clothes, there was a single desk with a pulled in chair and a pulled out drawer with… "was that a towel? Is that where he slept?" she asked herself grimacing. Adjacent to the left wall, there was a sad display of singular green triad wallpaper that brought life to the cement filled room with various notes pinned or tapped on it. A singular analog clock displaying the time was resting on a dresser and along the backside of the block-shaped room the notes continued along with, I think, a bathroom, placed at the far back of the wall with a small narrow window above to complete it. The whole place smelled of the dirty water since the fresh rainforest water mixed with the soil of the cement over time and I'm sure causing a few spots to rot the foundation.

Observing her fox now collecting things and wrapping his duffle bag up, she couldn't help but think about him in these conditions; and with a frown accompanying her dropped ears, Judy concluded this could have been why he was hesitating to go inside with her in the first place. Would he have felt… ashamed if he admitted the way he was living back then? Sure no mammal deserved this but she wouldn't put any guilt on him if he did admit it, she would've been understanding in the scenario. Would she ask him about it? Probably. Would he care to share it? Probably not. This might be a piece of his past he wouldn't want to share with her openly and she would just let him inform her about it on his own time. His voice brought her back into reality when Judy noticed he was standing in front of her with bag slung over his shoulder and sly grin on his face.

"Getting lost in the estate Carrots? It's not the best five star abode in the world, but it has the essentials! Five star around the clock concierge downstairs and your very own master bath up here. I'm sure with a few doe's touch here and there it would be a wonderful stay!"

She giggled and smiled.

"Joking about something dramatic as always. At least he's good natured about it." She thought to herself.

"Now… if you are done, I believe, admiring the place, I have my bag ready to go and we can get out of here to get your parent's truck."

"OH! The whole reason I came here, I totally forgot!" she realized bolting upright.

Taking a wandering look to his bag she cursed herself for getting lost in her thoughts and not even paying attention to what he was packing.

"Nah, ah, ah, ah. Can't peek Carrots. You missed out, you're out of luck. You're just going to have to wait until we get back to your house." He finished with a wink.

With a huff she crossed her arms. "Oh, I'll get you yet fox." She thought to herself.

With a swift motion back down the steps once again, Nick somehow managed to haul himself, Judy, and the two duffle bags out to the door and dropping her off with the crutches before locking up and going back upstairs to descend himself down the vines. With a hefty jump and thump on the bridge, he volunteered to carry both bags while Judy took the reins to control her crutches once again.

"Hmm… this could be difficult," he thought to himself before asking her, "How exactly are you doing with the progress Carrots?"

"Honestly… I don't even know why I'm still on crutches. I can put this foot down." She huffed and shrugged with demonstrating placing the bad foot down.

"Hmm…" he replied. "The easiest way to go down…" he started and then an idea clicked. "is to go by vine! That's it!"

"Wait-what? What's it?" she asked completely lost.

"We'll swing down and go by vine to the bottom of the canopy!"

She blinks being uncertain of his impulse decision.

"Nick… are you sure about this?" she asks with worry.

"Absolutely." He nodded while walking to a nearby vine. "Come on, hop on."

"Nick…" she dryly replied with bemused eyes.

"Sorry! Didn't mean it like that." He apologizes with a wave of his paw. "Now come on, get on my back." He insists with a heave of both bags over his shoulders.

"Nick… are you sure you can carry all this weight including yourself down?" she asks while hesitantly approaching him on the edge of the edge of the bridge.

"Carrots, you're like… maybe half my weight and the duffle bags are nothing. And besides, you said yourself a little while ago you trust me. Do you trust me?" he asks holding a paw out to her.

She sighs before replying with a smile. "Like I have any choice."

Grabbing her paw, he uses his own leg as a balance beam for her to position herself against him and Judy uses her crutches as stabilization to hold her grip against him around his neck.

"Now hold on tight and don't look down, *gulp* because likely I won't want to do the same."

"Nicholas…" she complained through gritted teeth.

"Okay. *breathes* Here we go." Nick says confidently.

While Judy holds tight and keeps her eyes closed, she has her feet wrapped around and connected at his stomach. In the meantime, Nick grips tight on the vine with all paws locked and starts descending down. Shifting his weight at an angle to look at the feet below, he gulps with wide eyes ablaze and uses his body to brace, outward thrust, jump, inward thrust, grip, lock. Brace, outward thrust, jump, inward thrust, and grip, and lock again. After the few first hesitant and awkward jumps, he develops a rhythm keeping steady as he keeps going down. After a series of ten more of these jumps, Nick braces before the edge of this vine and using his body to twist, he turns and uses his body to push in and out to cause the vine to start swinging, and after a good sequence of the rocking, Nick at the edge of the tip of the arch thrusts onto the adjacent vine and locks for his life for the stabilization of the vine praying to all the gods that this one and the next vine he has to grip on are young vines and not an old ones. During his course of jumping, he could feel the grip on Judy tighten and her cringe with her heartbeat going pat pat pat pat, practically palpitating. He could definitely feel his own heartbeat pounding sure but he could literally hear hers as it echoed. "Stay focused Wilde. You can do this, for her sake." He mentally reminded himself.

He keeps doing this same continuous pattern for the next hundred feet or so where he finally starts reaching familiar landmarks; more bridges equals more homes equals more mammals which means more civilization and not so much spaced out homes. Continuing on the vine he's been leaning on for the last twenty feet, he grips the edge of the vine to a bridge that can finally be accessed by many paths and swings him and Judy to the bridge. Landing with a thud, Nick tries to ease Judy out of the panicked state but no budge. Shrugging it off and re-positioning to carry her, he continues on running as fast as his feet can take him down the windy paths down to the bottom; in the meantime she's calming down and opening her eyes to see she's… moving? Weren't they just dangling in the air? Looking down, she sees a mass of red fur in her view and looks to see Nick transporting her down the paths and she blinks amazed that he just did all of that… for her. Finally after another fifty feet later and, likely early evening at this point, they reach the bottom of the canopy where they call a Zuber to transport them from their current location to the truck.

While they wait for the zuber sitting on a bench, Judy awkwardly over at him leaning back relaxed against the backside and takes in a breath before asking,

"So have you done that before?"

"Hmm? Done what before?" he asks not even opening his eyes.

"That! All that climbing and swinging back there… I thought you foxes stayed on the ground."

He chuckles.

"Okay, now you're stereotyping Carrots. And yes actually I did. I used to do it all the time as a young tod. It was a little intimidating at first, but if you stay here long enough, you quickly learn the quickest way to get down is to either swing by the vine, or climb down the tree. And I figured you didn't want the latter."

"No… and I certainly appreciate it, thank you."

"Sure thing."

An awkward moment is passed before she asks again, "So… what is your friendship with that bear?"

"Oh? He kinda took me in and gave me a place to stay when a time for me was low. Kinda appreciated him as a sort of guardian role. He taught me a lot that I know aside from Finnick."

"I see… it must be tough. Not really talking to your parents much." She mumbled.

"I managed. It wasn't that big of a deal to talk to mom. I made things work my own way."

"Nick," Judy started with a slight burrowed frow. "Surely you miss her?"

He paused to look at her for a moment before speaking.

"Do I? Sure I do, but I've also lived without her."

He continued to look away while talking,

"I don't need to interact with her to know that she's still alive."

"But how do you know if you don't talk to her?"

"She's a stubborn old vixen. I just know; she's better off without me."

"Nick…" she mumbled.

JUDYS POV

Before she could say anymore the local zuber driver pulled up to their location ending their conversation. While Nick attended with the bags to toss them in the trunk, Judy pondered on their chat. There was a slight agitation in his tone the way he spoke of her by the end of that; the tone that says I'm done talking about this now drop it… surely he did miss her deep down? Knowing his past with the ranger scouts, and how much she must have felt when he disappeared on her after high school, surely she would like to know what her kit was doing as an adult? Her thoughts were cut short when he approached Judy to help guide her to the car. Opening the door, she hopped on inside and he entered the car after a moment. While his voice was muffled in telling the driver where to go, she still was thinking about him and his mother. There's got to be a way for them to talk to each other, even if it was just a quick reminder to let her know that her special kit was okay and that he was doing all right. Maybe… maybe he didn't want her to know what he was doing; because after all, who would want to know their kit worked with a crime lord? Certainly not. Maybe during his graduation ceremony she would find a way to contact her and maybe even invite her. Yeah, that could work. She would need to plan this carefully.

NICKS POV

He went ahead and brought the bags over to the car and dropped them into the truck. "Now to retrieve my bunny," he thought slyly. However, approaching her he realized she was in deep thought. "Probably still thinking about my mother." He concluded to himself. "Why doesn't she just let it go? It's best that she (his mother) did not know where her son was or what he was doing. After all, he was eighteen when he graduated, so in all legal aspects he was a full grown tod and he should be able to do what he wanted at that point with no regrets. He didn't want her knowing of the connections with and to stress her out even further… she already suffered enough with his father leaving, Nick failing the scout initiation and him getting into trouble in the past during school. The next time he would even try to appear at her face again was when he actually accomplished something for once. Brining his attention to his bunny he guided her to the car that was going to transport them. "And I'll start accomplishing something by being a gentle-mammal to her." He thinks while making sure she's situated. "All my focus on currently is to make sure Judy gets better and gets back on the force, then… and only then… if I get accepted, my focus will be on my studies." He concludes thinking entering the car to sit beside her. Looking at her briefly Nick notices she's still in thought before telling the driver to go on ahead to Banyon Street.

"I don't have time to worry about my past if right now my focus is on the future. If I accomplish that, then I'll find a way to talk to her again."