"How did he get away?" asked McHorn, angrily. "I mean, you two couldn't control one lazy out-of-shape cop?"

"He's not that out of shape," said Nick, grimacing. "Trust me on that." He leaned back against McHorn's unmarked car and looked around.

Grim-faced officers in full SWAT gear moved purposefully along the street. Uniformed officers were making the rounds, knocking on doors to see if anyone had seen anything. Patrol cars and two different SWAT vans filled the streets with their lights flashing as a helicopter flew overhead. He glanced at a group of mammals near one of the SWAT command vehicles, where his partner stood. Judy looked over at him from where she was talking to another detective and Mrs. Catsleton, and then walked towards him and McHorn.

"You couldn't outrun him?" demanded McHorn. "I thought foxes were supposed to be fast." He gave Judy a disdainful look as she approached. "And bunnies, too."

"I was fast enough to catch Weaselton, McHorn," she retorted. "And we did try to place him under arrest. He resis-"

"He ran really fast," interrupted Nick. "And managed to jam that backdoor with something. You know humans tend to have more endurance than most mammals." That had been a surprise- a lot of mammals could move much faster than a human, but it was remarkable how long they could keep up a chase.

McHorn looked at them suspiciously. "If I find out you two let him go out of some sense of misplaced loyalty-"

"You won't find that out," said Nick firmly.

Judy sighed as McHorn gave the fox an even more suspicious look. "I mean," said Nick, "because we didn't."

With a final glare, the rhino stumped off, shouting orders at a pair of SWAT cops.

Judy frowned at Nick. "You know we didn't actually 'let' him get away."

"Yeah."

"So how did you make the truth sound like you were lying?"

"Lack of skill."

"At lying? You?"

"At truth-telling." Nick shoved his paws in his pocket. "You know, that's just what I wanted today, to be lectured at about misplaced loyalty by a serial adulterer like McHorn."

"You really need to stop provoking him- or letting him provoke you, I guess." Judy moved up next to him, leaned against the car. "Are you okay? I still think we should get an ambulance to check you out."

"I'm fine. I don't think Hunter was trying to hurt us- he was just trying to get away."

"That's another thing. We need to tell everyone he resisted- it'll let them know that he's not going to come quietly-"

"And get him into more trouble, Carrots? You know, you could have heard him out instead of going all super-cop on him."

Judy turned to look at him, her eyes widening in surprise. "Nick, he has a warrant for his arrest! Not to mention the distinct possibility that he's not, um, completely sane."

The fox looked down at her. "Yeah, but we can't just dismiss him like that. Maybe he's onto something- that doctor human could be the serial killer he arrested."

"And the government faked his execution, set him up with a false identity and sent him to Zootopia? Why would they do that for some random psychopath?"

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time that we've uncovered a massive government conspiracy, now would it?" He held up three fingers. "It would be the third, in fact."

"I'm not saying it couldn't happen, but- it doesn't make a lot of sense. And we could always keep Hunter safe in-"

"Jail?"

"Protective custody while we sort it out. He can't be running around like some sort of vigilante investigating this case."

"Maybe he has a good reason, Carrots. I think he's earned a bit of trust by now."

"Yes, Nick, he's earned some trust. But enough to ignore the law on his behalf? Come on."

Nick frowned at her. "He was right, you know. I was a bit wary of him, but you out and out treated him like a dangerous suspect from the get-go."

She turned to face him herself. "Which he was. He threw you across the room!"

"Gently! I mean, he threw me in a gentle manner, like sort of a friendly- look, the point I'm making is that it seems like as soon as there's a few accusations thrown around, you just gave up on him."

She searched his eyes. "Nick, if you're worried that I don't trust you-"

His eyes widened. "No, Carrots, I think we've gotten past that. I know you love me-" and for once there was no hint of banter in his voice "-but after all we've been through with Hunter, and what we've seen of how he thinks and acts, do you really think you can just write him off because of, what? His past?"

"Because of what he's doing right now, Nick. He hasn't exactly shown a lot of trust in us, either." Judy was a bit angry now. "He closed down on us, told us it was better not to know what he's doing, and has been running around this investigation- which is also our investigation, by the way- behind our backs. Does that really sound like the actions of a friend?"

Nick frowned, thought about it. "Well- he probably has his reasons."

"And I have mine. And you know what mine are, Nick, because I don't hide them from you and say you don't need to know." Judy shook her head. "I don't want to hurt him, Nick, but he needs to be stopped. For his own good, if nothing else."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Tavi stepped nervously- though less nervously than the last few times- into the small, dingy lobby of the "Massage Parlor"- that was the name on the sign- in the small strip center. A slouched muskrat glanced up at her as she walked in. "Massage?" she said, somewhat skeptically.

Tavi looked around. "I'm, uh, here to meet with one of your clients."

"Our clients' information is confidential."

"He'll be expecting me. A human, dark-skinned, in his fifties. Probably really sarcastic. Can you just let him know I'm here?"

After a moment, the muskrat shrugged. "What name?"

"Tavi."

"Okay. I'll see if we have anyone like that here."

She got up and walked through a door behind the receptionist's desk. Stealthily, Tavi slipped in behind her, blessing her small size and naturally sneaky heritage. Without noticing her, the muskrat walked heavily down the hallway. Through the doors to either side, Tavi could hear- um, noises. This wasn't just a massage parlor, which was why she was here.

The muskrat moved all the way to one of the back rooms and knocked at the door. "Mr. Cassidy?"

Tavi breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Hunter's voice. "Yes, Janet?"

"Someone here to see you. Name of Tavi."

There was a long silence. "Did you say-"

"It's me, Hunter."

The muskrat whipped around in shock, her eyes widening in outrage. "This is a private-"

The door swung open and Hunter looked down at his former partner. He was dressed in slacks and a dress shirt, a tie loose around his collar. Tavi blinked- she had never seen him in anything formal besides his uniform. Even that he generally somehow contrived to make it look casual. "What the hell, Tavi?"

"I needed to see you."

The muskrat harrumphed angrily. "I'll have her removed, Mr. Cassidy-"

"No, never mind. Just- see that no one else disturbs me, okay? I mean it- no matter what."

Janet's eyes flicked between the mongoose and human as Tavi walked into the room. "Oh. I see."

Both Hunter and Tavi winced. "It's not like that-"

"Oh, well, we're very open-minded here, of course. Although just- well, isn't there a size difference during-"

Hunter closed the door on her. "So how did you find me?"

Tavi was still staring at the door. "Um, does she really think that you and I are, um-"

"We are literally never having that conversation, rookie. How did you find me?"

"Well, the only place a human can blend in is in the tourist areas. Naturally everyone is looking there, though, so I thought about where a human could hole up without questions being asked or answered. So naturally I thought of-"

"Whorehouses. Naturally."

"Brothels," corrected Tavi.

He cocked his head at her. "Does using that word actually make you feel better?"

"Not really," she admitted. "Anyway, since there are a number of brothels catering to, er, specialized tastes among the tourist trade, I figured a human wouldn't stand out too much and if the cops came around, they'd get stonewalled. So I just started checking every brothel I could think of."

For a long moment, Hunter stared at her. "That's pretty smart, rookie."

She felt a warm glow of pride- which was quenched as another thought occurred to her. "I'm not a rookie anymore."

"Huh?"

"I quit."

Hunter looked at her, then sat down on the small bed and covered his eyes with his hands. "I'm sorry, Tavi. I've screwed this whole thing up."

"Hunter-"

"Hey, we're both civilians now. Well, I guess I'm technically still a cop, but I'm pretty sure that won't last long. So it's Zach."

"Anila," said Tavi quietly. "Why won't you talk to us?"

He looked up at her, and she winced inwardly at the defeated look on his face. "So I hear my background is pretty common knowledge around the station?"

"Um, yeah."

"I was cured, you know," said Hunter. "One hundred percent. No more delusions, no more voices. No more thinking the shadows were hiding assassins." He sighed. "No more seeing how people looked at me, no more seeing the very real whispers, the conversations they had behind my back. Or so I thought."

Tavi sat down and listened.

"I joined the department because- get this, you'll love it- I wanted to help people. I figured after the cure, the past was in my past, and what would matter is what I did to make the world a better place. But word spread, and pretty soon I was getting odd looks, people were talking behind my back, and I started to realize that you can cure the disease, but you can't cure people of their prejudice."

"Mammals can learn to see past that, Zach."

"Really? Let me know when they start, so I can mark it on my calendar."

She stared at him. "What about Nick and Judy? What about me?"

He studied her. "What about you?"

"I'm here."

Hunter smiled. "Yeah, I guess you are." His expression changed, became harder. "And as it happens, I ran into Nick and Hopps too, today."

"You what?"

"I was checking out some leads to try and find Lucas. It sort of intersected with their investigation, so I ran into them while we were both trying to interview the same mammal."

Tavi hesitated. "What happened?"

"They tried to arrest me," said Hunter.

She closed her eyes. "I'm sorry."

"I don't think Nick's heart was really into it, but Hopps- she's got some trust issues."

"Judy?"

"Oh, I know- naive bunny rabbit and all that. Well, the thing is, naivete does not last long in a cop- either it goes or the cop goes. And when you take that away, when someone gets burned for trusting, well, the reaction can be extreme. Hopps is falling back on absolutes, like departmental policy and statutory law, as a substitute for trusting that I know what I'm doing."

"And why would she trust that, Zach?"

He looked at her, his eyes wide with shock- and anger. "What?"

"Look, I trust you, but I'm a stupid rookie. Judy is being the responsible one here," said Tavi firmly. "Did they tell you that you might have been exposed to Night Howler? And its effects on humans?"

"Yes, but-"

"You've been paranoid and even irrational- even if this Lucas guy is a bad guy, why on earth would you assault him on the street? You evade arrest, won't tell us what's going on, and then expect us to just shrug and say, 'well, I guess he knows what he's doing?'" She stood up and walked up to him, and though the mongoose was far smaller than the human- even sitting down- she didn't feel like he was looking down at her at all.

"Maybe we'll be in danger if we help, maybe you're just trying to protect us- but it's our choice to make, Zach. Not yours."

Hunter started to speak, then stopped. Finally, he fell back onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling. "Damn. I really screwed up."

With some difficulty, Tavi pulled herself onto the bed. "Yeah. Rookie mistake."

He smiled at her, then turned his gaze back to the ceiling. "You want to know who Lucas is?"

She nodded. "That's a start."

"He's a serial killer. Klaus Lucas."

"The one you caught."

"Yeah. But there's more." He paused. "I've never told anyone about this before."

She stayed quiet and waited.

"I wasn't supposed to catch him. No one was. When I told the detectives about my theory that he was dumping bodies into a storm drain that led to the lake where the bodies were turning up, they ignored me. And told me to stay out of their business. At the time, I thought they just were- well, let's just say I didn't get good scores on the 'works well with others' section of my performance evaluations."

"Yeah, that's not really a 'past tense' thing, Zach-"

"Anyway, when I caught him he tried to bribe me. That's not real unusual- well, maybe for a serial killer as opposed to a dope dealer- but he implied that he had done it before." Hunter's eyes tracked the fan that turned lazily above them. "When I refused, he said that if I wouldn't let him go out of greed, then maybe I would out of gratitude."

"Gratitude?" Tavi was puzzled. "For what?"

"That's what I said. Then he told me that he knew about my past history of schizophrenia. Said he what he was doing was research. That he had used these methods in the past- including, mind you, experimentation on living and conscious subjects- to cure schizophrenia, among other things."

Tavi stared at him in horror. Hunter didn't meet her eyes, just kept them on the ceiling.

"I didn't believe him- why should I? But now- if he was conducting experiments, that meant he had some backing. And if he's faked his execution- and the pictures of him from AlphaCen in the news- that means he had major backing." He finally looked at Tavi. "Like the sort of backing that would come from someone interested in his scientific results, regardless of the cost of them."

"But that would mean-"

"That I'm cured because a lot of people were tortured and murdered. That I owe whatever I've made of myself to a vicious, amoral bastard." He sat up. "You want to know why I'm acting so irrational, Anila? I doubt it has anything to do with Night Howler. I think it has a lot more to do with the fact that I'm..." his mouth worked, trying to get the words out. "I'm scared, Tavi. This guy didn't try to kill me, he undercut everything about me. He made me question who and what I am." He sighed and put a hand to his temple. "All this whining I'm doing is giving me a headache. You got any aspirin?"

Tavi shook her head. "You're not whining, Zach. You're being honest."

"Okay, all this honesty is giving me a headache. Look, Tavi, you want to help?"

She answered without hesitation. "Yes."

"Fine. Here's something you can do."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Janet the muskrat looked up as Tavi walked out. "Wow, you two were in there a while. More stamina than I would have expected from an older mammal."

"Ugh. We were just talking," said Tavi angrily.

"Oh, one of those, huh? Try to get them to upgrade, honey, they usually will once they get it all out of their system-"

She made a disgusted noise and turned to walk away.

"Hey, if you want some more work, just give me a call!" shouted Janet. "We could always use smaller mammals for-"

"Do not finish that sentence!"

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Author's Note: So Erinnyes01 brought up an excellent point in a review, where it was noted that Judy's skepticism towards the conspiracy theory was kind of weird considering the background of the story. That's absolutely true- I wrote that scene poorly, I think- I was trying to stress her growing belief that Hunter might be starting to suffer from the effects of Night Howler, not so much the craziness of what he was specifically saying, but that did not come across. That's my fault. Sorry about that. If I can ever figure out how to edit posted chapters in FF I will try to re-write it. Seriously, shoot me a PM if you can explain it to me.

So who is right in this very angsty chapter about trust? That's a good question. I actually veered between supporting different viewpoints throughout this thing, which is probably a good sign I nailed the ambiguity, though obviously I could be wrong and others might disagree.

(The following is a digression where I talk about some of my theories about writing; feel free to skip it if you're not interested in the maunderings of a crazy person on the Interwebs. It has nothing to do with the story except maybe with regard to my writing process.)

This leads me to a quick little soapbox moment regarding ambiguity in writing. To me, ambiguity is a key component of thoughtful writing- it allows a reader to empathize with other points of view and in so doing learn to see different sides and get into the heads of people who might have far different backgrounds. I tend to strongly disagree, however, with plot ambiguity. The best example is probably Frank Stockton's famous short story, The Lady or the Tiger? (You can Google it and get the whole story if you're interested). To me, that sort of open-ended plot point is kind of cheating- the story you're writing is yours, and you control what happens. Saying, well, it's up to you to figure out what happens next- especially when you go out of your way to subvert expectations or make multiple, mutually contradictory outcomes seem likely or at least possible, which you should- seems like a cop out. A plot should be surprising and challenge expectations, but has to be real and make sense, and it should be there to tell a story. My answer to the Lady and the Tiger when we studied it oh-so-long-ago in class was to flip a coin. Heads, it was the Lady, tails, the Tiger. My Literature professor was not amused, but I pointed out that since it could be argued equally either way, it was equally valid to use a binary randomized decision generator to decide. To me, that's not particularly challenging to the reader, except in how to deal with frustration.

Ambiguity in characterization, however, strikes me as much more reasonable. I've done a number of Alternate Character Interpretations (thanks for the term, TV Tropes!) in here, and it's both fun and challenging to both myself as a writer and hopefully to my readers. It means that you have to get in people's heads and think about them. The plot then either subverts or confirms your expectations, and then you have to readjust your thinking and confront why you were wrong. Of course, if the plot fails to conform to the characterization the writer established, that often means the writer screwed up (for example, having a character exposed to multiple conspiracy theories reject the latest, to take a random case). But the bottom line is that the plot- the actions of the characters- is a key component in your interpretation of the characters themselves. Failing to resolve that, to me, is a failure of the writer. It's sort of the scientific method of writing- you make a hypothesis about a character, then a testable prediction, then see if the plot confirms your prediction. Like I said, of course, poor writing can undercut that.

Short version: Ambiguity in plot (usually) bad; ambiguity in characterization good. This, of course, is my personal opinion and I may well be completely wrong. But it's an interesting argument, isn't it?