Chapter twenty nine: Old wounds still Bleed

Judy awoke in the middle of the night. She looked at the alarm clock, it was black. Confused she pulled the string on her bedside lamp. It didn't turn on, the power must be out. Suddenly she noticed she was alone in the bed.

"Nick?" Judy called out

She saw that their bedroom door was cracked open, they always closed it before bed.

"Nick?!" Judy called out louder.

Judy crawled out of bed, she looked out the crack in door and saw nothing but darkness. She was in nothing but a over sized T-shirt and underwear so she grabbed her robe. She put it on and opened the door the rest of the way. Nervously she grabbed the flashlight off her utility belt and turned it on. What she saw horrified her. Claw marks covered the floor and walls of their house. They led down stairs, worried for Nick she followed them.

"Nick where are you?" Judy whispered

Her and Nick's cell phone were in the kitchen charging, she had to get one of them and call the ZPD. She walked down stairs and saw that everything had been torn apart.

"What the hell?" Judy said to herself

She heard something moving around in the living room. She shined her light but couldn't see what it was. Panicked she went for the door but it wouldn't open. The thought of calling the ZPD popped back into her head. She raced to the kitchen, she grabbed her phone.

"Damnit" Judy said seeing it was dead

She grabbed Nick's phone, it was alive, but there's no signal. Suddenly Judy heard something behind her. She nervously turned around, standing on all fours was Nick, his eyes screamed blood lust.

Nick lunged at her with growl "Nick No!" Judy screamed.

"Judy!" Nick yelled as he sat up in the bed. His heart was racing and he was in a cold sweat.

"What is it Nick?"

Nick looked toward the master bathroom. Judy was dripping wet in a towel peeking out from the doorway, he could hear the shower running.

"Nothing Carrots." Nick said trying to get the nightmare out of his head.

"Are you sure?" Judy asked

"Yeah I'm okay" Nick replied

"Okay well start getting ready soon, we have to be at the precinct soon." Judy said returning to the bathroom.

Nick got up and began changing into his uniform. The image of him attacking Judy still fresh in his mind, but not from the dream, it was when he was in Vlads warehouse and he went savage. It didn't make sense to him, he hadn't thought about that night in months. Nightmares were no stranger to him, he had them leading up to him confessing his love to Judy. But now he was the one killing her in his nightmares.

"Nick? Hey Nick are you with me?" Judy said waving her paw in front of Nick's eyes.

"Huh oh yeah, sorry Carrots. What did you say?" Nick said smiling down at Judy who was in her uniform pants and a white tank top.

She just looked at him with a painful look on her face. He was worried that she had just said something important and was feeling like he was ignoring her.

"What is it Carrots?" He asked

"I should be asking you that Nick." She said crossing her arms

"What do you mean?" Nick said trying to divert Judy's statement.

"What do I mean? You wake up screaming my name, you look like you've seen a ghost, and now you trying to dodge talking to me about it. So tell me what's going on, are you hiding something from me?" Judy asked

"Of course not Judy, I'd never hide something from you." Nick knew that was lie considering he was hiding the fact he was preparing to propose to her in the coming months. But that was reasonable thing to hide in his mind.

"Then tell me what's going on sweetie, please." Judy said as she took Nick's paw in hers.

Nick took a deep breath as he wrapped his arms around Judy. She wrapped her arms around his waste in return, her concerns deepening.

"Nick, what's going on? You're scaring me." Judy said

"Judy, it's not a big deal. It was just a nightmare." Nick said

"What happened in it?" She asked still embracing him

Nick looked at Judy and began to insure her it was nothing but a look from the concerned bunny told him he wasn't going to get away with not telling her.

"It was about you, and this house. You woke up to the house destroyed, and you tried to get to your phone to call the Precinct. But I had somehow gone savage and I….attacked you."

Judy's heart broke a little seeing the pain in Nick's eyes. She knew he'd struggled with his emotions regarding the events on Vlad's warehouse, but she thought he was past it considering he hadn't even hinted that he was still dwelling on it.

"Nick I know you'd never hurt me, and you know that as well." Judy said embracing Nick once again.

"But I almost did worse then that, Judy I nearly killed you." Nick said with deep sadness

"Nick?" Judy said

"Yeah Carrots?"

"Shut up." Judy said before pulling Nick into a kiss.

Nick closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of his bunny's lips on his. Nick was much taller then Judy, but during the act of kissing Nick's desire to enjoy the act of passion would betray his other senses, one of those would be his sense of balance. Judy knew this and used it to her advantage, sliding her foot behind his and placed two paws on his still bare chest. Nick realized what was happening a second too late, the next thing he knew his back was on the bed and Judy was on top of his chest looking down at him. This was not a new view for Nick as the bunny's hormones caused them to have sex 4-6 times a week. But usually there was a glare of lustful fire in her eyes. This time he noticed more than a hint of sadness.

"Carrots it…." Nick was cut off by a finger being placed on his muzzle to shush him.

"Nicholas Piberius Wilde, you are going to be quiet and listen to me. I've heard you more than once talk about how you're worried about hurting me. Or how you blame yourself because of what happened. Well guess what, I am afraid too, but not of you Nick. I can't name anywhere that I feel safer than in your arms." Judy grabbed one of Nick's paws and began to play with his claws. "These claws, they are what made my kind terrified for decades. But not me, to me these are the claws of MY fox. These claws bring me not fear but happiness and pleasure when you run them down my back when we make love." Judy released Nick's paw and began to run her paw along his jaw close to his lip that hid his fangs. "Everyone of these sharp teeth, that were meant to scare bunnies like me, do the exact opposite. They excite me, I've seen them scare away any and every threat to me or you. An I've gotten to feel the gentle side of them when you take nibbles on my neck when we do it. Nick how many times do we have to talk about this before you realize that everything that makes you a predator doesn't scare me, it makes me happy. What I am scared of though is losing you." Judy said with a single tear rolling down her cheek.

Nick reached up and wiped away the tear, his action gaining him a small smile from Judy.

"I'll never leave you Carrots."

"Good, it's bad enough dealing with my dad, I don't need you thinking that your so called 'protecting me' by trying to leave me too."

Judy planted a kiss on Nick's lips and it felt as if all his fears and worries melted away. He loved Judy, and nothing would stop him from doing that.

"Now get dressed Slick, we need to get going." Judy said hopping off Nick.

Nick admired the little twitches and wiggles from Judy's tail as she went into the bathroom. It had taken all his strength not to tell Judy that everything with her dad was settled, but that would ruin the plan. And a hustler always has a plan.


-Later that day in the Meadowlands-

"I say we go now!" Madison said with anger and frustration.

"Now is not a good time my dear." Kane Said opening a bottle of Scotch and pouring it into two glasses.

Madison had been at his home for the better part of a hour trying to convince him to go after Judy and Nick immediately. Kane was not giving in to her request.

"Well why not, I'm tired of watching the fuzzball snuggling up to my fox." Madison said accepting the drink Kane offered her.

"Then close your computer, it isn't happening today, tomorrow, next week, or anytime soon. As much as I'd love to go in guns drawn we can't just do that. I don't know about you but I plan on living through all this." Kane said taking a drink

"That still doesn't tell me why I have to wait." Madison said

"Okay, do you know what separates me from a full blown psychopath? I think things through, I hate Judy more than anyone but even I have to admit that she is smart. She and Nick also have the entire ZPD, not to mention the Big family to back them up. They also live in a very good neighborhood with a local watch even though it has little to no street crime. If we don't plan this out to the T we might end up dead or worse, in prison."

"I think you got that backwards Kane." Said Madison taking a drink of her own.

"No I don't, I'd rather die than go to that hell hole. That place broke my sister, it drained the life from her before she was even dead." Kane said sadly

"So what's taking so long to plan out?" Madison, like all predators she didn't care about Dawn Bellwether. She'd never tell Kane but she cheered when news broke about her death.

"Multiple things, one being Silvia." Kane said snapping immediately out of his sad state.

"Silvia? That dumb doe you got hitting mammals with nighthowlers? What's got her tail in a knot?" Madison asked

"She ran out of Nighthowlers last week and wants more. The guys got sloppy and missed a few shots and even spilt some on the floor ruining the delicate bullets. I don't know what to do about her. I no longer have interest in Nighthowlers due to the fact mammals didn't take on the hatred for predators like I planned, no offense my dear."

Madison took great offense to it, but she couldn't upset Kane. He was her key to getting Judy out of the way so she could be with Nick. "Non Taken Kane."

"There are other hold ups but none more annoying then her. I can't just out right kill her. I had to pull so many strings to hide the fact I killed Cal and put the hit out on Zane. Silvia has a much bigger family, she's the second largest mob family in the city. She is second only to Mr. Big."

"Well there's your answer Kane." Madison said finishing her glass of scotch.

"I don't follow my dear?" Kane asked confused

"Have Mr. Big kill Silvia, he employs predators and I'm sure he'd be upset if found out the person responsible was not only a crime boss, but was also the one who gave Vlad a chance to hurt that dumb bunny he loves so much." Madison said

Kane scratched the bottom of his chin for a moment. "That's not a bad idea Miss Madison."

Madison rose to her feet. " Just remember our deal. I help you kill Judy Hopps and get a little payback on Nick. But after it's done I get to leave with Nick, ALIVE." Madison said putting extra emphasis on the alive part.

Kane had no intentions on letting Nick go alive. He wanted to watch the life drain from the todd's eyes after he watched Judy suffer. But that was not something Madison needed to know, yet.

"Of course my dear, I wouldn't have it any other way." Kane said with a smirk

(Hey guys! So first off I want to say thank you to my friend Rain for the nightmare idea. Second it seems that Madison and Kane aren't seeing eye to eye 100%. How will Mr. Big change things when he goes after Silvia. Next time, Judy's birthday has come, which means it time for Nick's big question. Thank you all for reading, please share and review, bye bye!)