I've decided to make this a chapter with two parts, thanks for reading :)

Jack opened the door to his office and tossing his bag to the side he sat down at behind his desk on the chair.

He tapped his fingers on the desk trying not to think back on his previous conversation with Judy, but the look on her face only served to make him more upset with himself.

"God damn it, is this how you're going to treat her? Just turn around and snap at her like she's some kind of tramp?"

His previous attitude towards the doe wasn't planned in advance, in fact Jack was quite happy to see Judy in the first place, but quickly after his initial delight it quickly turned into distress as he realized that her being there would lead to a temptation to have a private 'talk' with her. As a result on the spot Jack at the time decided the best way to make it clear to Judy that he wasn't intending to entertain the idea of them being together was to act as what she called a 'jerk'.

However now looking back to their last conversation with each other, it was clear from the surprise and then anger she displayed that he felt that he definitely went too far in the direction of deterrence. Now he was certain it left a bad impression on the doe, and he was afraid that in her eyes he was now an inconsiderate buck who only pretended to have shown any romantic interest in her when in fact it was the complete opposite.

His phone began to ring and he answered it, "This is Agent Jack Savage of the ZBI."

"Hello Mr. Savage, I'm calling you about your son, William."

Jack frowned, "What did he do?"

"Nothing, but he's reported into the nurse's office in request of a therapist."

The rabbit instantly grew worried, "A therapist? What happened?"

"According to the notes provided by Mr. Parker, William is suffering from a form of trauma; he's been exhibiting symptoms that have had a significant impact on his ability to attend class. And we called to see if you would be able to pick him up."

Jack exhaled through his nose, "I will. I'll pick him up as soon as I'm able to."

"Thank you Mr. Savage, he'll be in the nurse's office when you arrive."

"I understand, thank you for calling." he said before hanging up.

He looked to his computer screen where he was composing an email that he was planning to send to the forensics department concerning evidence he carried with him from the mansion yesterday.

He tapped his pen on the bottom of the keyboard, "Hmm...I've been here long enough."

After truncating the email so that it was brief enough to give appropriate information, he sent the email and shut down his computer.

"I doubt Mr. Carter would mind too much if I stepped out for a little, especially if it concerns my son..."

The buck collected his things and exited the office, "Charles, if anyone asks, tell them I'm attending to a personal errand." he said poking his head to the room next to him.

The capybara nodded staring at his phone, "Yeah got it..."

Jack frowned, "Charles."

"I know, calm your tail." he said in a dismissive tone.

"How you're still here I'll never understand." Jack said before walking away.

The buck took a quick glance at his watch, "1 in the afternoon. I'll just quickly pop by William's school, pick him up, drop him off at the house and return back within hopefully the hour."

As he walked down the hallway he mentally began to prepare himself to react appropriately to any scenario that may come up between him and his son. Jack could only prepare for so many at a time, all of which he knew weren't going to be exactly pleasant. However the cat was going to act, Jack knew it was his duty as his father to make sure that he could get his son the proper attention he deserved.

Jack arrived at the academy and went straight for the nurse's office, incidentally the last time William was reported to be in the nurse's office was when his leg began to hurt badly requiring for the buck to send him to the hospital to attend to it.

"Uh, hello, I'm here for my son." Jack said to the receptionist of the office.

"You must be Jack Savage. Yes, he's currently resting on the bed, whenever you are ready just check out with us." he replied pointing to the room behind him, "Here's the note that Mr. Parker left for you."

The rabbit grabbed the note, "Thank you, I won't be too long."

The buck entered the room and found the cat sleeping peacefully on his side, it was clearly just a nap since William's tail was moving around on it's own which gave Jack the tell-tale sign that William was resting easy.

Jack looked back at the receptionist, "How long has he been asleep?"

"About half an hour."

The buck smiled a little, "A shame I have to interrupt this little slumber."

He gently shook the cat's shoulder, "Wake up William, I'm taking you home."

The cat groaned and turned around, "Five more minutes..."

Normally Jack would be slightly irritated at his son's objection, but considering the context that they were in currently, Jack was willing to let his son stay in bed for a little bit longer.

His father chuckled, "Okay, five minutes, then we are leaving." Jack told his son before taking a look at the note he received.

"William has been showing symptoms of sleep deprivation, which seems to have derived from a previous traumatic event. Recommended treatment includes sleep, conversing with him, as well as possibly some anti-anxiety medicine."

Jack sighed after reading the note, "Well, I have Skye's number, might as well let her know that William's coming home early..."

He texted her, "I'm at William's school right now. I'll be dropping him off shortly and then I'm heading back to work."

After sending the message he put his phone back in his pocket and took the moment for himself to relax on the chair.

He looked at his son, "I pushed him too hard, I forced him to do something he wasn't ready for. But what's done is done, and now I have to guide him out of the dark and prepare him for future hardships."

The five minutes flew right by and true to his word Jack sought to awaken his son again, "Alright William, it's been five minutes, time to go."

William turned to be on his back and stretched his limbs as much as he could while he was yawning, "Mm...hey Dad..."

"You awake now?" Jack asked getting off the chair.

"Sort of." William said yawning some more.

"It's time to go home then." Jack said.

Even with the nap, the cat still felt tired, "Do I really have to?"

"You could just the stay the night here then." his father said smirking at him.

"Ugh on second thought I think I can manage." William said forcing himself to get up.

The two stepped out of the building, "It's a lovely day isn't it?" Jack asked mentioning the calm, serene atmosphere outside.

"A bit too bright for me." William grumbled squinting his eyes from the sun.

Jack lent him his sunglasses, "Here, you can borrow them until we get home."

The cat nodded and applied them on his face, "Where is your car?" he asked looking around.

"At the back I'm afraid." Jack lamented.

His son slumped a little, "Oh god, I can't walk that far..."

"You're far too old for me to lift you." Jack reminded his son.

"Can't you just drive the car here?"

The rabbit patted his back, "Where's the fun in making you just stand here? Tired or not you're walking to the car, no exceptions."

Despite William's constant complaining in their walk to the car, they made it there in relatively short time.

"I suppose with your lack of strength you will need help opening the door?" Jack questioned his son in a humorous tone.

"I got it." William said as he entered inside the vehicle.

The car's interior was already cool from the air conditioning which only added to the cat's drowsiness.

"Do you mind if I played some music?" Jack asked his son.

"Sure, just keep it down please." William said.

As Jack suspected, his son quickly fell asleep owning to a combination of being drowsy from his previous nap to the cool air inside the car and the sun bearing down on him also causing him to feel sleepy.

Jack was familiar with the fact that cats and felines in general have a tendency to take naps whenever there was an opportunity to, so the buck was already used to seeing his son doze off whenever he felt like it.

Most of the car rides with him, especially when taking him home from school resulted in William being asleep for the entire ride, something that the cat has done since Jack first adopted him. Jack never admitted it to anyone, but he found it absolutely adorable no matter the age to see his son sleeping on the ride home. He suspected that if he told anyone that, he would be met with confusion, ridicule, or even distrust.

His son groaned and woke up with a yawn, "Are we home yet?"

"Not yet, go back to sleep I'll let you know when we get there alright?" Jack said.

The cat rubbed his eyes, "I tried to, but I can't."

"What's bothering you?"

"I don't know, my head still hurts and I guess it's making me sensitive to the sounds around me?"

Jack turned the volume knob down, "That any better?"

His son shook his head, "No, not really."

Jack tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, "Hmm, how was school?"

"I don't know. It was okay." his son answered with not much spirit behind it.

William didn't even bother to check his phone, he just dully watched the world goes past by with his usual awareness in his eyes missing.

"If there's anything I could do to help, please let me know. I'm worried about you William, I know yesterday wasn't easy for either of us and if you don't talk to me it will be much harder to able to tackle this problem that's going on in your mind." Jack explained.

The cat rested his head on the car door, "I'm sorry Dad. I'm making this too hard for the rest of us."

"No you aren't, it was my fault for getting you into this situation in the first place and now I'm going to get you out no matter what it takes. You're my son and my number one priority is to see you remain a happy person."

William turned to his father and smiled a little, "Thanks."

"I can see that you're still unsure about this." Jack said observing his son's reaction.

"A little, yeah."

"Do you want to me to stay with you at the house for the rest of the day?" his father asked next as he was planning on how to alleviate his son's emotional trauma.

The cat shook his head, "It's cool, I'm just going to head to bed and take a long nap."

His father held back a laugh, "If that's what you want, then I'll let you be. Just remember that if you need anything I'll be on the phone and Skye will be in the house."

"Is there like something important going on at the ZBI?"

Jack shook his head, "Nothing worth paying any particular attention to, I just need to be there to finish up some tasks."

"Oh, okay..."

"I should be back around 4. Until then, just lay down on the bed and take that nap alright?" the buck told his son.

"Sounds great."

"And that's...that. Huh, I've been really productive today. I deserve a nice lunch." Nick told himself looking at the clock on the wall.

The fox neatly stored all the papers into a folder and put the folder onto the finished section of his organizer before exiting his cubicle.

"Let's see, I've got an hour, I suppose a sandwich wouldn't hurt." the fox determined as the best choice for the day.

Despite the absence of his partner, Nick was in quite a good mood since the other officers that he befriended during his time as an officer where around to chat with, along with just finishing his assignment that was given to him he was essentially free until the department told him whatever was needed to be done.

Since their was a cafe right across the street, Nick felt it would be best to spend his lunch break over there in order to get away at least temporarily from the fairly stifling mood that the building he worked in had.

"What's up Valerie?" he called out to the cashier who he was familiar with.

The squirrel waved at the fox,"Hey Nick, what's it going to be today?"

"I'll take a grilled cheese sandwich with tomato, onion, extra spinach. And...a water."

Valerie tapped her chin, "Hmm, weren't you on a diet?"

"What are you, my girlfriend? I've been doing a lot of physical stuff lately and if I don't eat to match with my caloric demands I'll wither away." he whined in his usual dramatic tone.

The squirrel laughed, "Wouldn't do to see my favorite customer become a walking skeleton, one grilled cheese coming up!"

The fox sat down at the table next to the window eagerly awaiting his meal, "Wonder what Judy's up to right now. I hope she's doing fine..."

His mind soon began to conjure images of her and Jack getting too intimate for his liking and forced it out of his head, "No, don't let them get to you Nick, your job comes before your pettiness. Soon enough you'll get your chance..."

What kept the fox from getting bitter was the fact that people both inside and outside the cafe recognized who he was and gave friendly waves and nods towards his direction, something before his career that he rarely got besides from close friends. He enjoyed the positive attention that he was receiving now as a distinguished officer of the law, despite all of the hardships that he endured during training and on the beat, in the end to him it was worth the reputation.

"Here you go! Anything else you feel like getting?" the squirrel asked him.

"Nah I'm good, appreciate it Valerie." he said gratefully accepting the food.

"Enjoy!"

"Ah, the best part of the work day, lunch time." he thought as he picked up his sandwich.

As he was about to take a bite Judy rather forcefully opened the door grumbling.

Nick smirked at the doe, "I see today hasn't been kind to you."

The doe sat down across the table from him, "That jerk!"

"Uh-oh, did you issue a ticket to an asshole?" Nick said still smiling.

"No it's not that. It's...argh!" she slammed her head into the table in frustration.

"Whoa there Carrots, don't get us kicked out alright? This place happens to make a mean grilled cheese." he said before taking a bite.

Judy rolled her eyes, "I'm sorry, I'm just not in a good mood right now."

Her negative attitude wasn't like her at all and it very much concerned him, "You want to talk about it?"

Judy's nose twitched, "I don't know..."

"Will a pie change your mind?" he asked smiling at her teasingly.

"...Maybe."

The fox winked, "Gotcha covered. Valerie!"

"What up?" she asked from behind the counter.

"One of your finest apple pies please!"

The squirrel nodded, "Got it!"

Judy groaned, "You didn't actually have to buy me one."

"Why not? I feel that everyday needs a hint of sweetness, and since you're being a gloomy bunny today, I feel dessert should help fill that gap." Nick explained.

The doe's ears perked up, "Really? You think I'm sweet?"

Nick looked around, "Maybe?"

Judy playfully slapped his arm, "Nick cut it out, the other people here might get the wrong impression!"

"Let them think whatever they want, I'm just glad that you decided to come here in a bad mood and not take it out on some poor, innocent civilian." Nick said reclining on his chair.

"I would never do that!" she objected.

"Everyone has their limits fluff, I've seen you right at the limit a few times before, Karma help us all if that line is ever crossed." he said taking a sip of his drink.

After the two were conversing for a while, the pie finally arrived, "Mm-mm, looking absolutely exquisite." Nick said licking his lips at the sight of the freshly baked good.

"It does look great, it remains me of Gideon's pies." Judy told Nick remembering the other fox's baking.

"Oh yeah, it was a while since I had one, that blueberry one had me in a food coma the entire afternoon." he reminisced with a chuckle.

Judy took a slice onto her plate and took a bite, "Mm...wow! This is good!"

"Didn't I tell ya? I swear if I wasn't watching my weight I would eat these fuckers everyday." he said taking his bite.

"Nick!"

"What?" he asked with his mouth full.

"Watch your tongue, there's kids here!" she said pointing out a child across the cafe.

The fox swallowed the pie, "Calm down Carrots, we're both adults, besides I doubt that kid knows what I'm talking about. He's what...two? Three?"

She sighed, "I know that Nick, but still..."

"Alright, I'll refrain from uttering any 'foul' language if that makes you happy." he promised sarcastically.

The doe smiled a little, "I didn't mean to not use it entirely, just be more mindful of your surroundings."

"Isn't that a rabbit is good at anyways?" he said wiping his mouth with a napkin.

Judy thought on it, "Hmm, kind of."

"Anyways, since you've got your pie, care to share why you've been acting a little upset?" he asked taking another bite.

"Fine." she sighed looking away, "While I was at the ZBI...I saw Jack."

The fox for a second began to frown but quickly willed himself to remain smug, "Oh? And what happened?"

Judy wasn't sure how to break it down to the fox, "Well, at first he looked pretty happy to see me over there."

Nick held his paws together and nodded his head attentively, "Yeah, and then what?"

"I don't know what happened Nick, Jack was being all nice and sweet to me, but then he got mad when his boss thought I would be a good agent." she explained to the fox.

"Huh, weird." Nick said raising an eyebrow, "What did he say?"

"He said that I wasn't agent material, that I would hurt myself if I tried to do the same job that he did." Judy she repeated Jack's words.

Nick held back a growl, "Well, I say that he's wrong. You've got what it takes to be an agent, in fact I think you would make a better damn agent than him!"

"That's what I said! But Jack didn't seem to care about my opinion!"

The fox's animosity towards the buck only continued to strengthen.

"So now what? You and Jack are over?" he asked still smiling.

Judy looked at him baffled by his question, "What? We weren't even dating in the first place!"

"I meant is your little crush on him gone?"

The doe scratched her paw, "I don't know. I'm sure Jack didn't mean to hurt my feelings like that, maybe if I ask why he said those things it would shed some light on what he really meant."

"You've gotten soft Carrots, normally you are the most stubborn bunny around." Nick teased.

"What, just because I'm willing to let Jack explain his actions it makes me soft? Is that what you are saying?" she asked crossing her arms.

The fox shook his paws, "No! Not at all, it's just I don't want to see you get hurt."

"I'll be fine Nick, the worse thing Jack could do is to keep acting like a jerk. I'm not just some dumb, innocent doe that's going to get her heart strings pulled by some handsome buck." she stated.

"Glad to hear that, I'm happy to see you're going to be smart and not get too hung up over some random guy." he said.

"Jack's not some random guy though, sure we may have known each other only a few days, but I really do feel that he may be the one." she told the fox.

Nick finished his portion of the pie, "Well, whatever you choose to do, make sure it doesn't affect your work life alright?"

"I won't. Whatever happens, I'm still an officer of the ZPD." she assured her partner.

He looked at his phone, "Well would you look at the time? Time for me to head back."

Judy sighed, "Me too I guess..."

"Come on fluff, without your usual energetic self it's going to bum me out too." he said faking sadness.

She chuckled, "Sure Slick."

After Nick paid the cashier the two left the cafe and headed for the precinct, "Anyways, did the chief say anything?"

Judy tried to remember, "Nothing really, I guess we just go about our normal routine until Jack needs us again."

The fox tsked, "Hmm, there isn't much to do over here. I finished all that I was supposed to do anyways."

"You did all the work?" the doe asked in disbelief.

"Yup, with plenty of time left to spare." he told her with pride.

"Look at you! We should ask Clawhauser if you could just join me on patrol." she suggested as she opened the front door.

Nick cracked his knuckles, "Sounds like a plan."