Set One

Nick and Judy kept sleeping.

Set Two

Judy had slept in her police uniform since it was just a nap. She considered taking a shower but she would have to change back into the police uniform. And anyway, although Wednesday had been a long day, it hadn't been a particularly strenuous one. After all, much of it had been standing around, at the DMV and the wedding reception.

She hoped Nick had woken to his alarm and would be ready to get going without too much preparation. She hoped he wouldn't ask to eat breakfast at Mr. Big's. She'd rather wait till daylight, when restaurants were open. By then, they'd have talked to Manchas, found out more about Otterton. She could plan their next move based on that and hopefully wrap things up in the remaining twenty-one hours.

She also hoped that Nick wouldn't do anything else to slow them down. If he did, well, she would work around it, like she had the day before.

Nick had slept in his underwear since it wasn't like he'd brought along pajamas. When he'd headed out the previous morning, what was it, seventeen hours ago, he'd thought he'd have a typical day, running a hustle with Finnick. He hadn't expected the bunny to sidetrack him so much, and he certainly hadn't expected to nap at Mr. Big's.

He woke immediately to the alarm on his phone. Sometimes he was more alert at this time of night than in the daytime. He threw yesterday's clothes back on and went across the hallway to knock on Officer Fluff's door. He wondered if she would be her usual ball of energy at this time of night. Probably. She probably only needed the four hours of rest.

She opened the door as soon as he knocked, as if she'd been waiting for him or as if she was about to go check on him. "Oh, good, you're ready."

"Yeah, you?"

"Uh huh."

"Good. Uh, did you want to eat anything first? You didn't have anything at the wedding banquet."

"No, I'm good. I just want to hit the road."

"And how are we hitting it? As you may recall, your Meter-Maid-Mobile is back outside Tundratown Limo."

"Right. I'll have to ask Mr. Big for a favor."

He considered telling her to be careful about asking a crime boss for a favor, especially at three in the morning, but he assumed Mr. Big would do anything reasonable for the bunny who'd saved the mob princess. Nick directed her to Mr. Big's chambers, guarded by Kevin.

"May we speak to your boss a moment?" Judy asked.

Kevin grunted and went inside. After a few minutes, Mr. Big came out in Kevin's palm, wearing a very expensive-looking silk robe.

"Your rooms not comfortable?" There was maybe a trace of sarcasm and irritation in his tone, but that was actually better than if he sounded calm and rational. He was at his scariest sometimes when he sounded calm and rational.

"No, they're lovely. Well, mine was anyway. But we need to go and I wondered if one of your drivers could take us back to the limo lot so that I could get my cart back."

Kevin whispered something to Mr. Big, who said, "Kevin tells me they put it in the trunk of the limo for safekeeping. It wouldn't look right to have a police vehicle sitting outside."

"Oh, of course. Well, can I have it back? We need to get to the Rainforest District as soon as possible."

"In that thing? Why don't I have one of my drivers just take you there?"

"That's very kind of you, Sir. But I need to do this on my own." Nick assumed that she meant "without too much help from the mob," since obviously she wasn't doing this on her own if she was going to drag him along.

Mr. Big seemed to understand how she meant it. "OK, Kevin, go take them to the cart. And good luck to you, My Child. Let me know if there's anything more I can do to help."

"Thank you, Sir." She leaned forward and kissed his cheek again.

Nick was amused at this balance the cop was trying to strike, between being grateful to the kingpin and trying not to take too much from him. Nick had the feeling that Judy would only go to Mr. Big for help again as a last resort.

"And, Nicky?"

"Yes, Sir?"

"Watch yourself."

Nick gulped and nodded. He wasn't sure if that was a threat to not double-cross Mr. Big again or if the mobster meant that Nick shouldn't obstruct the cop. At that point, Nick didn't plan to do either. He just wanted this case wrapped up and the pen in his possession. Then he'd get back to doing nice, simple hustles with Finnick.

Kevin led them to the garage, where the cart was tucked between two limos. Judy thanked Kevin, and Nick told him to take it easy. Kevin grunted again.

It wasn't till they were going down the long driveway from the mansion to the heavy gates that Judy said, "Um, I forgot to ask where exactly in the Rainforest District that Manchas lives."

"The corner of Vine and Tujunga," Nick said automatically.

She turned to stare at him a moment. "How do you know that?"

Nick shrugged. "I told you I know everyone. And I've been to his place once or twice."

"How do you remember all this?"

He shrugged again. "I just do. People, places."

"And yet you forgot my name at the DMV."

He didn't tell her that he'd just said that to irritate her.

The cart seemed even slower than he remembered. Maybe it was taking longer to warm up because they were in Tundratown, but she had managed to keep up with Finnick's van back on Monday.

"Uh, Carrots, what do you say we park the cart at the nearest train station and take the train to Vine and Tujunga?"

"No, then I'd have to come back and get the cart later. It's bad enough I let it out of my sight when the mob took it."

"OK, just a suggestion. So, how shall we pass the time? I'm not seeing too many cars at 3:30 in the morning, so we can't do any license-plate games."

"I think you played enough of a game with license-plates yesterday afternoon."

"Ouch. But I deserved that."

"Yes, yes, you did."

"Soooo. Um, you want to do a sing-along?"

"Not really."

"OK. Um, you want to talk?"

She sighed. "I guess. Tell me about your partner."

"As in provide incriminating information?"

"No, forget for a moment I'm a cop."

"As I ride around in your little cop car while you wear your cop uniform."

"Nick."

He sighed. "I've known him a very long time. But I don't know that I really know him."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, for one thing, he told me when we met, 'Call me Finnick.' But I don't think that's even his real name."

"Is it supposed to be his first or last?"

"Both I think. Like Gazelle."

"Ah."

"So tell me something about you. Something I don't know."

"Well, I'm from a family of almost 300 kits."

"Hm. Well, you did say bunnies are good at multiplying."

She blushed and shook her head.

"So much for talking." He started singing, "Row, row, row your boat."

She laughed and joined in a few words off, as was traditional. They moved on to "99 Bottles of Beer" by the time they crossed the district border into the Rainforest.

Set Three

Nick and Judy kept sleeping.

Set Four

When they got back to the house, Stossy and some of the other littles rushed up to her and asked, "Can we go with you to the train station, Judy?"

Judy hesitated, not sure how to explain to them that she wasn't going back to the city.

Then her dad cheerfully said, "Guess what, Kids? Judy's home for good!"

They looked more confused than happy.

"You're not going to be a cop anymore?" asked her little brother Bob, looking very disappointed.

"No, not anymore." She tried not to cry.

"But why?" asked a bunch of her siblings.

"It's complicated," she said.

"Hey, Kids, why don't we have some candy?" her father suggested.

Judy's mom looked like she was going to scold her dad but then she said, "I'll go get it."

"Excuse me," Judy said, quickly leaving the room and going into the nearest unoccupied bathroom.

She didn't cry much, just a little. Then she tried to pull herself together. She would've given herself a pep talk, but she didn't live alone anymore. So she just practiced smiling in the mirror until she was ready.

Her teenage brother Charlie was waiting outside. "So you had to a chance to leave for good and you gave up?"

She shook her head and ran past him, up to her bedroom, which was empty for now. She cried quietly into her pillow.

Meanwhile Nick kept napping.

Set Five

It was after three and they hadn't had lunch yet, so they went to the food court in the mall. Nick had Judy sit at a table while he ordered for them. He was amused to find her surrounded by autograph-seeking kids when he brought the food over.

"Officer Hopps, you're so cool!" exclaimed a piglet in pigtails.

"Yeah, I wanna be a cop like you when I grow up!" said a gangly giraffe.

Judy seemed embarrassed but flattered by the attention. And Nick could see she was good with kids, not surprising, considering what a big family she came from.

Then, to his surprise, a fox cub said, "Hey, are you the fox who helped her?"

"A little bit."

He and Judy smiled at each other.

After the kids left with autographs from both, Nick teased, "I guess we'll have to get used to the fame."

"Well, I've already been famous," she said with a grimace. "Or infamous."

"It's different now," Nick said quietly, thinking of how the cub might think of Nick as a role model, too. This time, there would be no anti-predator fallout to cracking the case.

She smiled again. "Yes, very different." He had the feeling she meant because they were a couple now.

He smiled, too, but just said, "Let's eat before more of our fans show up."

So they did. Then he guided her to the nearest train station so they could stop by her place before her interview.