I just realized it's going to take until May for this story to be fully reposted, but I've kept with the one chapter a week for this long, and since there's less than twenty left, there's not really any point in changing that now.

Nick let his head drop back against the seat, his fingers viced around the steering wheel. He'd just missed visiting hours at Savanna General. Granted, the news had been good, the swelling in Al's brain was going down, and his doctors guessed they could bring him out of the coma by the end of the week. His spinal fractures were also healing up as they should, though they couldn't be sure how his mobility would be affected until he woke up. But even then, there was still a long road ahead of him, and there was no telling when, or even if, he'd be cleared for active duty again.

Just focus on the now, Wilde, he blew out a breath, leaning forward to lay his head on the steering wheel. Judy had gotten back to him after he and Alice had left the scene at the fish market, saying she'd love to have his cousin stay with them. He'd stopped by the loft on his way to the precinct to drop her off, sneaking in some quick kisses with his bun before heading back out, spending the rest of the afternoon and most of the evening reviewing the crime scene photos and cross-referencing witness statements. There'd also been a call from the Chief, forewarned by a text from Tony that'd said it related to the lead they were working on Dunlap and Sweetwater.

As always, Bogo had gotten right to the point, his curt words scattered through with low grunts of pain and more pauses for breath than usual. He'd asked for an exact list of the cadets who'd given him trouble during the academy, his gut twisting as the buffalo had explained just why. Their former coworkers had admitted to helping the murderer, albeit unknowingly, and had raised the possibility that they hadn't been the only ones contacted by the mammal. It had taken some time to remember the names, it'd been years since he'd last thought about them, but he'd decided it'd been the perfect place to end the day.

He unbuckled and got out, jamming his keys in his pocket as he headed inside, throwing a half-hearted wave to the young anteater mopping the lobby floor. He took his time on the stairs, pausing at the head of the third flight to call his mother, asking how she was doing. She'd seen his request as the perfect excuse to visit friends and family, and had started planning the trip before he'd even finished explaining the situation. At least, what he'd been able to explain.

"I think I've driven everyone crazy talking about little Terry," she said, giggling. "They're all asking when you and Judy are going to come out and show him off!"

He chuckled.

"Judy's been itching to come back to work since I brought them home," he answered. "It'll probably be a year or two before I can drag her away from it again."

His smile fell.

"We're also still dealing with that…situation," he stretched against the wall, wincing when his back popped. He hadn't been this stressed since Darwin and the campground abductions. "I don't know when we'll be done with it."

She was quiet for a few minutes, and he couldn't blame her. As much as she tried to hide it, he could tell she was scared, and he'd be the biggest liar on the planet if he said he wasn't, too.

"We'll get this figured out soon, Mom," he said softly. "I can promise that much."

She sniffled.

"I know, honey," there was a faint rustle. "I-I just can't imagine how hard this has to be for you…"

He swallowed, his fur bristling when he heard muffled laughter. He hadn't realized he'd started walking again until he'd reached his and Judy's door, walking past it to the window at the end of the hall, staring out at the street. The area was mostly residential, with a few restaurants, shops and other businesses sprinkled throughout. There also wasn't much foot traffic at night, meaning it was almost eerily quiet, at least compared to the rest of the district.

"I actually just got home," he finally said, turning away from the view. "Carrots is still up, and Alice is staying with us now. You want to talk to them?"

There was another pause, longer this time.

"Mom?"

She was still quiet, then there was a muted thud as she dropped the phone, his Aunt Yasmin's landline, if the background noise was anything to by. Her next words were muffled and hurried, a few seconds of confusion as she swept it up again.

"S-Sorry, sweetie," she said at last. "I-I just didn't know Alice was back in town!"

He winced, he hadn't told her before now.

"Yeah, she came to the precinct a few days ago," he chuckled. "She didn't even know I'd become a cop, she was all set to bail me out!"

His mother didn't laugh, but it was what she said next that worried him.

"Well, I should really be going," she started hurriedly. "I-I've got so much to do, and you must be exhausted!"

His tail puffed, this wasn't like her.

"M-Mom, wait-"

"I'll call you in a few days, honey," she cut him off. "And you can tell me about all the progress you've made on the case!"

"Mom, wait!"

"Bye, Nicky!"

She hung up, and he brought his phone from his ear, staring blankly down at it. What the hell had just happened? They hadn't heard much from his aunt or cousins since they'd left, even if he still had no idea why, but he didn't think Alice being back in town would warrant that much of a reaction.

I'll ask about it later, he decided, stopping back outside the door, smiling when he heard the giggles still coming from inside. There's something more important I have to focus on right now.

Judy was still laughing when she came into their room later, after getting Alice settled on the couch, the pair of them all but pushing him down the hall when he'd offered to help. Instead, he'd scarfed down some of the leftover garden salad they'd made earlier, then gone for a shower, taking a detour to Terry's room when he started crying. Thankfully, it'd just been a wet diaper, and he'd spent a few minutes getting the kit back to sleep afterward, kissing his forehead before laying him gently in his crib.

"I'm going to make the world a better place for you, son," he'd whispered before walking out. "Your mom and I both will."

He rolled on his side when she slipped into bed next to him, smiling contentedly as she scooted closer, snuggling into his chest.

"Mmm, we should've invited your cousin here earlier," she murmured sleepily. "She's amazing."

He chuckled, nuzzling the top of her head.

"I knew you two would get along," he said. "But I didn't want to just spring that on you."

She hummed, her face still half-buried in his fur.

"Fin's coming over this weekend, right? We could invite Steph and Ben over, maybe even Tony," she yawned, deeply. "Make it a regular dinner party…"

And just like that, she was out. He chuckled again, curling up around her, kissing the soft fur between her ears.

"That sounds like a great idea, Fluff," he whispered, smiling when her tail twitched against his palm. "But let's worry about that tomorrow, okay?"

He carefully pulled the blanket over them, letting the day's exhaustion take over.

I don't care what's going on right now, he thought as he drifted off. Because right now, I'm exactly where I want to be.

It was still dark out when he woke up later, to the sound of his phone buzzing on his nightstand. Keeping one arm around Judy, he flopped over and snatched it, his sleep-addled mind snapping awake when he saw the number.

"Tony?" he didn't waste any time, keeping his voice as low as he could. He bit back a yawn. "What's going on?"

"Sorry to wake you so late," Tony started. "But…we've got another, just called in."

"What?" he slipped out of bed, once again wishing Judy wasn't such a light sleeper. He was amazed she hadn't woken up yet. "Where?"

There were a few clicks.

"Outback Island, 416 Shallowford Street," he paused. "Why does that address ring a bell?"

"I don't know," he winced when he heard Judy moan. It wasn't the first time either of them had been called out at o'dark-thirty, but he hated her missing sleep when she didn't have to. He held it to his ear with his shoulder as he fixed his pants, thankful he'd opted just for his briefs tonight. "But I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Right," he hung up, and Nick clipped his phone into the case on his belt, freezing when he heard Judy shift again.

"Nick?" she was leaning on one arm, ears flat against her back, her favorite black nightshirt slipping off one slim shoulder. She yawned adorably, rubbing her eye with the side of her paw. "What's wrong?"

He grabbed one of the uniform shirts hanging on his side of the closet.

"There's been another murder," no point in lying to her. "I'm going to check out the scene."

She sat up fully, her ears perking.

"Should I come with you? Maybe I can help."

"No," it was hard to keep his voice low. He turned to her, doing up the knot in his tie. "You don't need any more stress right now, and I know you haven't been sleeping much lately."

He wasn't surprised when she started protesting, and he leaned down to kiss her, going willingly when she grabbed his collar to pull him in for more.

"I'll stay, this time," she let him go. "But you won't stop me from being on-scene for the next one, I want to do at least something to help you solve this!"

"And you are," he licked her nose, making it twitch. "You're helping me keep my head clear so I can actually focus long enough to solve this."

She looked up at him, her eyes dimly shining in the moonlight that crept through their window. He lightly marked her cheek, straightening after she did the same.

"I'd love to say I won't be gone long," he said. "But I have a feeling this is gonna be an all-nighter."

She sighed, grabbing his pillow and curling up around it. He pulled the blanket up to her chin, knowing how chilly the room could get at night.

"You know I'll always be here when you get back, Nick," she murmured. "No matter how long it takes."

He nodded, cupping the cheek not smushed against the pillow.

"I'll always be here for you, too, Judy," he kissed her temple. "Now, try to get some sleep, okay? I'll be back as soon as I can."

She nodded, turning fully away from him to bury her face in the pillow. His heart twisted when he heard her softly start crying.

It won't be much longer, sweetheart, he promised silently. I'll find this mammal, then I'll come back to you, I promise.

It didn't take long to figure out why the address had seemed so familiar. It'd been the site of Precinct Twenty's most frequent calls last spring, a row of terraced houses built when the district's first mine had been established. They were rented out by the wealthy quoll couple who owned them, and had been the site of a truly bizarre case. Each unit had gotten a strange message in their mailbox, ranging from innocent compliments about the work the tenants had done to their yards, to blatant threats toward whoever happened to live in the house. Either way, it had never been the same thing twice, and after two months, the mammal behind it had turned themselves in, a bored skunk who'd said it was just something to do. Since she'd been a minor and hadn't hurt anyone, all she'd gotten was community service at an assisted living center, where she'd later gotten a job when she'd turned fourteen.

Now if only every crime were that harmless, Nick pulled up next to Tony's SUV, zipping his jacket as he got out. The Outback was one of the hottest districts during the day, but once the sun set the temperature quickly dropped. The house was one of the last in the row, the yard cordoned off and brightly lit, a suited-up team of officers combing carefully through the small, well-manicured lawn for any clues.

"Sorry to drag you out of bed like this," Tony waved him over, ducking beneath the line of police tape Nick simply walked under. "I just hope you didn't have a big dinner."

They headed inside, going to the attic.

"We got reports of a fire here a few hours ago," he explained, nodding toward the ladder. "The weird thing is, there were no visible flames, and if the house hadn't smelled like smoke when the family renting it came back, I doubt we would've heard anything about it."

Nick just looked at him.

"You mean whoever set it covered the walls in some kind of…flame retardant to keep it contained?"

Tony shrugged, looking bewildered.

"I can't think of anything else that makes sense," he pulled an evidence bag from his back pocket. "This was also tied to the string you have to pull to bring the ladder down."

He passed it to Nick, the smaller male visibly tensing when he saw what was inside. Another envelope with his name on it, already opened with the note paper-clipped to it.

'I'll admit I had some help with this one, I really wanted it to be special!'

"Wow, so they just admitted they have an accomplice," Nick gave it back, staring up at the patch of ceiling he could see through the opening above him. He swallowed hard before starting to climb, keeping his gaze locked on the painted rafters until he could see over the raised lip around the door. Abby was already examining the body, and he breathed through his mouth to try and cut down on the sting of singed fur. "What do you have so far, Abby?"

"This whole room was doused with Flame Stop, they found an empty thing in the trash out back," she focused back on their victim, a white spotted deer, naked and bound like all the others. "I'll have to test to be sure, but she was likely drugged, then left in this room to die of smoke inhalation."

He nodded toward one of the warped and scorched metal bowls scattered about the floor, many with ashes clumped at the bottom.

"And I'm guessing the fires were set in those," he swallowed again. "How long has it been?"

"Rigor mortis has already set in, that and her liver temp suggests about eight hours," she moved to the doe's face, her mouth dropping in shock. "Oh god…"

"It's gotta be bad to get that reaction out of you," Nick stepped on the next rung, still not climbing fully into the room. "What is it this time?"

It took her a second to reply.

"Her mouth's full of coagulated blood," she carefully angled the head so he could see. "Her tongue wasn't taken cleanly, like the other injuries we've seen, it was ripped out."

His stomach dropped through the floor.

"That gives us two more possible causes of death," she went on. "Even lying on her side like this, she still would've pulled blood into her lungs, meaning there's a chance it choked her before the smoke could, or she simply bled out."

Carefully, she reached under the doe's body, her ears perking when she caught something.

"Her ID's here," she held up the card, the plastic partially melted. "Her name is Mary James, age twenty-eight, species, fallow deer."

Nick's paws clenched on the lip, his claws starting to sink into the wood. Abby looked at him.

"Another ex, I'm guessing?"

He nodded.

"I ended it with her just before the whole Bellweather thing started, she kept spreading lies about me," he started, his voice tight. "T-That was part of why I was such an ass to Carrots when she showed up."

She hummed thoughtfully, then slipped a paw back beneath Mary's side, coming out this time with a pink voice recorder.

"It's a safe bet this thing was damaged by the heat," she went for the play button. "But let's try it."

There was a second or two of static before the music started, pitched up like it always was.

'I liked you from first sight, I wanna be your friend, let's play'

'I don't need the paint books, the dolls and the dresses'

'Just tell me why you've left your pictures and gone'

"We were friends as kids," he clarified. "At least until I started moving schools. We ran into each other at some park, and it just kinda went from there."

She nodded, though he could tell she was barely half-listening, focused instead on finding what she could at the scene.

"We lasted a few months before she started getting suspicious of me," he kept talking anyway. "She got the idea that, since I hustled for a living, I couldn't be paid to tell the truth, and that I was just trying to get something out of her."

"Which, outside of those hustles, I can't really see you doing," she stepped away from Mary's body, apparently having gotten all she could from it.

'I did nothing wrong, so why do you hate me so much?'

'This burning canvas became your cruel answer'

'And now flames unsparingly kiss me goodnight'

"I'll see if I can find out what the ashes are," Abby hit stop on the recorder and dropped it in an evidence bag, sealing it before doing the same with Mary's ID. She then grabbed a clear sample cup from her kit and scooped some out of the nearest bowl. "Though I wouldn't get my hopes up, whatever it is burned pretty thoroughly."

"No kidding," he looked around the small space, furnished with little more than the rickety bed Mary was lying on and a pair of old chairs, the dingy paint cracked and chipping. He'd barely opened his mouth when Tony called up to him.

"Hey, Nick, you're gonna have to cut it short up there," he said urgently. "We just got a call about a body in the Rainforest District!"

Puppet- Mary's theme song from Ib, though I'm not sure what that actually is.