Hello! Yes I am still alive! So sorry for the long time between updates, ugh to life. On the bright side, I was busy writing so the next chapter of Feral is finished, just needs to be edited, so I will post that chapter soon, so double chapter update!

Thank you so everyone who has read and reviewed this fic and poked me as to when the next chapter was going ot be posted, so I apoogize for the delay. But it is here now!

Thank you to my lovely beta Marie Allen for beta reading these next chapters!

And now, please enjoy! XD


Chapter 19

Freddy considered himself to be brave for a rabbit. After all, his species was not known for their courage, so compared to the norm, he felt that he had lived his life with more daring than most. But right now, as he rode his bike through the bustling streets of Sahara Square, he felt that he was a moment away from giving into his instincts, turning tail, and pedaling as fast as he could in the opposite direction.

Unfortunately for his future longevity, he would never forgive himself if he did so. He had agreed to help, had thrown himself into the middle of Judy and Nick's investigation, and he knew that they were counting on him.

Even though he thought that the plan was too risky and had a better chance of ending in possible deadly failure than success, he accepted that he had a role to play in this disaster; and was determined to fulfill it.

Slowing his bike as he pulled up in front of the Palm Hotel, he resisted the urge to look towards the alley where he knew Judy and Nick were waiting for him to give them the signal indicating what he had found.

Hopping from his bike, he placed his tire in the rack. He opened the flap of his messenger bag and dug around for the three thick envelopes he was delivering.

Striding confidently into the building, he pushed his way through the revolving door that led into the extravagantly decorated front lobby done up in rich emerald green and gold carpets, dark wood paneling, and white walls with gold accents. Glancing to his right, an ornate marble fountain depicting the figure of Eostre the rabbit of luck holding a golden coin, standing sentinel at the entrance to the casino. The reservoir filled with coins that had been tossed in, hoping the goddess would smile favourably on the gamblers who entered the den of sin that was spread out behind her.

Reluctantly turning his attention from his quick perusal of the interior, he noted that there was no dry-cleaning on any of the laundry racks, nor tags that would indicate that he was in the right place.

Pulling his shoulders back, he turned to the left, striding towards the hotel's reception desk. There were three mammals behind the desk, a male black panther that gave the air of a mammal in a managerial position, a male lynx looking slightly harried by whatever it was the panther was discussing with him, and a female gazelle.

It had been a while since he had worked this particular route and with the high rate of turnover in the service industry, he didn't recognize a single mammal behind the counter.

Approaching the gazelle that was manning one of the four computers at the check-in desk, he put on his most winning smile. "Good morning," he greeted chipperly.

She smiled back at him politely. "Good morning," she replied.

"I've got a delivery," he said handing her the three envelopes. "Just need you to sign here," he said, pulling out a clipboard and a pen.

"Okay," she said, taking the pen and signing for the mail.

"I have to say, Dottie," he began making small talk as he read her name tag, "your horns look spectacular," he complimented her.

"Oh," she smiled brightly. "Thank you," she said handing him back his clipboard and pen while leaning forward. "It's a new oil I picked up that Gazelle swears by," she shared conspiratorially.

He gave her a knowing smile, "I can see why," he admitted as he darted his eyes around, scanning for anything that would indicate that this was where he had seen the tag.

Frustrated at not finding anything or having any sense that this was the right place, he gave a cheery goodbye to Dottie and turned to leave.

"Where's Wally?" a voice asked him as he nearly slammed nose first into the very wide, very solid chest of a rhinoceros.

Lifting his gaze, he noted that the rhinoceros' dark eyes were filled with anger and suspicion.

Giving a friendly smile, Freddy hoped the rhinoceros wouldn't be able to hear his now rapidly beating heart crashing against his ribcage.

"I switched him runs today," he answered truthfully, which caused the rhinoceros' eyes to narrow and Freddy felt a frisson of trepidation slide down his spine as he sensed the rhinoceros posed a very real danger to him.

He had intended to walk out of the casino, despondent that he had been unable to trigger a memory or find any evidence that this was the place they were looking for, but now, with the rhinoceros looming over him in a threatening manner, he knew that they were in the right place.

Mind furiously working on a plan to extricate himself, he decided to try to talk his way out of it, mostly by telling the truth. Motioning with his paw, he leaned forward as if he was going to share a secret.

The rhinoceros, frowning in confusion, obligingly bent over so that their faces were only inches apart.

"See, the thing is…" he paused as he shifted his focus around as if he was making sure no one else was listening before he continued, "I temped this run a while back, bouncing around from route to route until I heard Wally was looking to get out of Downtown and I jumped at the chance to take that route. I wanted to deliver to Precinct One because I wanted to ask Judy Hopps, hero of Zootopia and still only bunny cop, out on a date." He allowed himself to take a breath because he had felt he was losing his audience a bit and had to rush the explanation, though his last words appeared to have caught the rhinoceros' attention.

"I asked and she agreed to go out with me," he continued as he gave a cocky grin, like he was the buck, irresistible to does everywhere. His grin fell from his face and twisted into a line of displeasure. "We went out on two dates and she decides that she's not interested. I mean…I was awesome! Took her out, showed her a good time, and then she just…lays the whole, 'I think we should just be friends' speech on me."

Grimacing for real at how thick he was laying on his wounded male pride and his despondency at Judy's rejection, he studied his audience and recognized that he had the rhinoceros' sympathy.

Just two bros talking about the vagaries of females.

Now he had to sell the lie given after the truths that had been told. "Do you know how awkward it is having to deliver the mail to the place where the doe you have feelings for who only wants to be your friend is?" he asked rhetorically. "It's awful," he deadpanned. "I begged Wally to switch me for a week or two until I can find someone to take my Downtown route and Wally agreed because he's a great guy who'll do a buck a solid and he knows the route, so it worked out."

The rhinoceros, recognizing that Freddy had finished his explanation, straightened and eyed him thoughtfully.

Freddy adjusted his bag to his right side, leaving the flap open as he stuffed in his clipboard, the signal of 'this is the place but I didn't find the tag' on display for Nick and Judy to see if he managed to extricated himself from the slightly sticky situation he found himself in.

Trying to appear disappointed and heartbroken as opposed to angry, he gave a soft sigh, his shoulders slumping in defeat.

The rhinoceros reached out and patted him on the shoulder in a comforting manner.

"I feel ya," the rhinoceros said as they shared a moment of bonding over heartbreak, Freddy giving a curt nod of understanding.

"Well, gotta run, or in my case, ride. I'll see you tomorrow if you're working the same shift," he said in a friendly manner, making it look like he was pulling himself back together. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Gerald," the rhinoceros answered.

"Nice talking with you, Gerald," he replied as he gave a wave, turned, and made his way to the revolving door, careful to keep his pace quick, but not suspiciously so.


Nick glanced over at Judy, her eyes filled with deep concern.

'Are you sure you're okay?' she asked him as he felt his left ear flick in irritation, the high-pitched ringing that had begun yesterday afternoon only getting louder after a fitful night's sleep.

'I'm fine,' he lied as they stood, tucked away out of sight, just around the corner from the Palm Hotel, waiting for the signal from Freddy that would determine their next move.

Judy frowned at him, indicating that she didn't believe him, but let the subject drop, intent on focusing her attention back towards the casino.

Nick closed his eyes briefly, willing himself to ignore the piercing sound. Tinnitus had been one of the possible side-effects of the explosion and as much as Nick had been devastated by his hearing loss, he would rather be deaf than deal with the constant, torturous ringing.

Opening his eyes, he pushed his discomfort aside; there were more important things to worry about, like finding Finnick and surviving his insane plan.

He'd managed to escape from more ludicrous situations than the one they were about to thrust themselves into, but he didn't like the odds of all of them making it out of this alive or unscathed.

It was much easier going solo and only having to worry about his own skin, but he needed all the help he could get and truthfully, after learning about Judy's near-death experiences, he wanted to keep her as close to him as possible, even if perversely, it meant dragging her right into danger with him.

He gave a humourless smirk at this thought, but the expression was wiped completely from his face the moment Freddy emerged from the revolving door, his bag flung over his right side, the flap open.

Judy poked him in the shoulder to gain his attention. 'He didn't find anything, but this is the place,' she informed him and he threw her an irritated glance, knowing the code frontwards and backwards, having spent a great deal of time last night not sleeping as his mind tumbled end over end trying to figure out a way for this plan to not go pear-shaped as soon as they walked into the Palm Casino.

Unfortunately, he had been unable to think of an ulterior plan or course of action to the one they had agreed on the previous day, one that was less risky and had a higher probability of success.

Determined to do everything in his power to make sure Judy and Finnick made it out alive, he narrowed his focus and waited patiently for Freddy to finish with the deliveries he had to make on this block.

As soon as Freddy was out of eyesight, they would make their way into the casino and try to flush out 'the bad guy', hopefully finding and rescuing Finnick in the process.

Nick gave a nod towards the casino, indicating that it was time to go. Judy slipped from the alley first and Nick followed close on her heels.

Their pace was sedate and leisurely. They didn't want to give the impression of suspicious intent.

Entering the hotel lobby, they ignored the hotel reception desk on their left and turned right, walking to the large center fountain that stood at the entryway of the casino. Nick dug into his pants, pulling out a coin and flicking it into the reservoir.

Judy lifted an enquiring eye ridge at him and he shrugged. 'Every little bit counts,' he explained as he put his paws in his pockets and strolled into the brilliantly lit and bustling casino.

Judy's eyes widened as she glanced around her with open awe and he asked her if she had ever been inside the casino before.

'No,' she answered as she continued to take in her surroundings while Nick, who had been to the casino on several occasions, realized how very difficult their task was going to be.

The casino sprawled out before them covering an area of several blocks and two stories. Nick quickly recognized the impossibility of finding the entrance to the secret basement level.

Judy poked him in the shoulder gaining his attention. 'What about over there?' she motioned to a set of double doors guarded by two elephant security guards in black tuxes.

'That's the Players Lounge for the high rollers who bet their fortunes on the turn of a card,' Nick informed her. 'It's possible that there could be a back entrance through there, but there isn't any way we are getting past those two, even with a distraction. There are cameras and we would be spotted in no time; security would come running.'

'What about the second floor?' she asked. 'The elevator could descend into a basement level,' she pointed out, her eyes scanning what she could see of the retail shops above their heads.

'I've been on that elevator and it only has the main floor and the second level. You can't even access the rooms of the hotel from there,' he informed her.

Taking Judy's arm in his own, he led her over to the roulette wheels. They weren't going to play, but they were located on a raised dais that would give them a better view of the East and South side of the building.

Thankfully, at this time of the morning, the tables were thin of patrons and they were able to observe the layout of the casino easily.

Sitting upon the rich, emerald green and gold carpet and interspersed between soaring, white marble columns were banks of slot machines taking up a good portion of the central area of the casino. The East side of the room housed the blackjack tables and the South side had the poker tables and the cashier.

A buffet and restaurant area were located on the North side of the room and the West housed the craps tables.

Judy tugged at her arm that was still clasped in the crook of his. Looking at her in question she gave a shake of her head. 'There are a few fire exits, the doors to the kitchens for the buffet and the restaurant, storage closets, employee only entrances which probably lead to break rooms and back hallways, which means-'

'There are too many places to look,' he agreed, interrupting her thought. 'And places we can't access without attracting too much attention. We would have one shot, one guess, and that would be it.'

Judy scanned the casino floor again, Nick's gaze following his partner's, knowing that her mind was razor sharp and that she had good gut instincts.

'This doesn't feel right,' she finally said to him, gaining his attention by pulling on his arm.

'We haven't been accosted yet,' he agreed.

'Were we wrong?' she asked, concern written on her face.

He flicked his eyes around the casino, noting that there was security walking around, but they weren't particularly interested in them as they stod at the roulette table watching the lone gambler, a porcupine, lose three spins in a row.

Baring his teeth in a snarl, he clutched his free paw into an angry fist. If they were wrong, they were back at square one and their chances of finding Finnick, which were already low, were now even worse.

'Do you think Freddy was wrong?' he asked instead of giving into his frustrated, desperate fury.

'It's too important,' Judy replied. 'He wouldn't have let us come in here if he didn't really think that this is where he saw the tag.'

Nick let out a huff, unclenching his fingers and trying to clear his head. Judy was right, and he couldn't help but to agree with her assessment of the situation.

Something wasn't right.

Only the Players Lounge stood out to him as being an access point for rich mammals deciding to bet on something other than the cards they held in their paws. The casino customers may not notice mammals heading through restricted doors or areas, but too many employees would have to be in on what was really going on in the casino if patrons were walking through kitchens and service hallways without objecting to their presence.

'Damn it,' he snarled.

'Player's Lounge?' Judy asked.

'It's the only place I can think of, but…' Nick bit his lip before making a decision.

Pulling Judy along with him, he moved at a sedate pace across the room towards the Player's Lounge, where the two elephant security guards continued to stand outside of the door.

'Hey there,' Nick said with a charming smile as both mammals looked down on him from their imposing heights, their eyes obscured by dark glasses.

If either of the two elephants spoke, he couldn't tell as he had encountered a severe hinderance in his ability to read the lips of a mammal with a trunk obstructing his view.

Not sure if he was interrupting or not, he addressed both mammals, shifting his attention between the two. 'I'm Nick Wilde and you both probably know my partner, Judy Hopps, the hero of Zootopia.'

The elephants glanced at each before studying Judy and himself. 'Anyway,' Nick continued, 'I was curious, is this the entrance for the casino's security room?'

The elephant to the left of the door answered, Nick able to pick up the movement of his trunk, but nothing else.

'Sorry,' Nick apologized, 'I'm completely deaf, lost my hearing when I was in a building that blew up,' he explained in a contrite tone.

The elephants looked at each other before the one on the left shook his head.

'Oh,' Nick said, as he felt Judy's claws digging into his arm, indicating she was wondering what he was doing. 'Sorry,' he apologized again, trying to be as pleasant and non-threatening as possible. 'I've been here before, but I've never been here this early and I've never noticed this door,' he explained. 'I know it's a pain but do either of you have a pen and paper on you?' he asked. 'It would make this easier,' he explained. 'Since the accident I've been on bed rest, so this has been my first chance to get out. I convinced Judy to bring me here, hoping for a little fun, even though it's a little short of company at the moment, I thought it would be better to avoid the crowds, broken ribs aren't much fun and being jostled would be painful. Anyway, like I said, I was just curious as to what is behind this door? Anything interesting?'

The two security guards turned their attention to Judy who gave a shrug and said something Nick was unable to make out.

The elephant on the right walked over to a podium and pulled out a clipboard and pen from somewhere within and quickly wrote something down on a piece of paper.

The elephant handed it to him, and Nick took a moment to quickly read what the elephant had written on the blank sheet of paper while surreptitiously lifting the corner of the page wanting to see what appeared to be a list beneath.

Already knowing the answer to his question, he knew he needed…

'Is that Gazelle?' he asked, suddenly, his head swivelling around to follow a set of gazelle horns that he had caught just out of the corner of his eye.

…the perfect distraction.

The attention of the elephants shifted in the direction he indicated, and he quickly lifted the sheet, having a look at the list of twelve of Zootopia society's creme del la crème.

The gazelle strode into view and though beautiful, was not the Gazelle.

'Guess it wasn't her,' he said with a sad shake of his head, handing back the clipboard. 'Say, is there a game going on right now?' he questioned.

The elephant wrote: No. Cleaning staff are inside.

He nodded. It would be ridiculous to guard an empty room. But a room that is occupied by cleaners made more sense.

'Can I get a peek inside?' Nick asked, handing back the clipboard. 'Just a quick peek, I won't even go inside. I'm just curious how the other half plays poker,' he said with a wink and a polite smile.

The elephants both shared a look, possibly debated with each other, before they gave a shrug and opened the door.

Taking a look around and true to his word of only observing what he could from the door, his gaze took in the large poker table that sat in the center of the room, the private bar at the far end and a private bathroom at the other, where he was able to make out the tail of a beaver, who had to be part of the cleaning staff the elephant had told them about.

The room had no other doors or exits. Nick pulled himself away from the door, disappointed and frustrated.

'Thanks, you guys. Wow! Must be nice to have money. How much is the buy in?' he questioned, still trying to be pleasant and not suspicious.

The elephant wrote down a number that was more than he made in a year and he gave a low whistle.

'Gentlemammals, thank you,' he said as he gave a quick salute and tucked Judy's paw back into the crook of his arm.

He remained silent as he headed back towards the entrance. Striding past the huge fountain, Nick tried to control his temper and ignore the desolate, hopeless feeling that was sitting in his stomach like a chunk of lead.

They had one shot -one- and they failed.

The only lead he still had left was the list from the Player's room and he knew they didn't have any evidence or reason to bring any of the mammals on that list into the station. Being rich was not a crime.

He strode through the lobby, his thoughts in turmoil because he didn't know what to do next. They walked through the revolving door of the Palm and Nick exercised his extreme will to not break down right there on the sidewalk.

Instead, he ignored Judy pulling on his arm, attempting to get him to slow down or stop, instead, heading towards the rendezvous point where they would meet up with Freddy.

Rounding the corner, he saw the buck standing partially hidden in the alley with his bike, a relieved, unsure, but hopeful expression on his face, and Nick felt his knees buckle.

Striking the asphalt, he found himself bowing forward as if in pain, but even though his ribs screamed the abuse, it only registered as a dull ache in comparison to his heart, which was breaking.

He had been so sure that they had reached the right conclusion, determined the right location, but they had been wrong. They had found no evidence of any nefarious criminal operation. He and Judy hadn't been approached by anyone and security hadn't paid any attention to them.

Tiny fingers dug into his upper arms, punishing enough that he had no choice but to finally face his partner.

'Nick! You need to calm down!' Judy said to him, enunciating her words so that he would have no problem reading her lips.

'How am I supposed to calm down?!' he snarled. 'We failed!' he bit out angrily. 'We had one shot to save Finnick or at least find out where he is and we…we didn't find anything!'

He slowly stood, shaking Judy's paws off his arms. He needed a moment, and thankfully, she gave it to him.

Pacing back and forth in agitation, his mind was nothing but black roiling chaos. He was unable to even gather a single thought, too many crowded twisting threads were writhing together to make sense of anything, but it didn't matter, because they had hit a dead end.

Judy's paws latched onto his upper arms again and he looked into her brilliant violet eyes.

'We have something,' she said to him and he stared at her in disbelief.

'What?' he asked incredulously.

'Freddy says that he was accosted when he was in the lobby of the hotel, but we weren't when we were in the casino,' Judy explained. 'They had to know we were surveilling the place, but no one approached us or seemed concerned with our presence.'

'We thought the casino was where everything was happening because it made the most sense,' Freddy said to him. 'There are so many mammals and things going on, and if they are kidnapping mammals for mammal fighting rings and betting on them, what better location than the casino? But what if it's happening in the hotel instead?'

'The dry-cleaning tags would make more sense,' Judy added with a nod.

'The hotel would have conference rooms, stairwells, and service elevators,' Nick acknowledged, hope blooming within him at the thought that they still had a chance to find and rescue Finnick.

Freddy took off his helmet and placed it on his handlebars, slinging his satchel over the seat and shoving his bike behind a dumpster.

Frowning in confusion, Nick never got the chance to ask Freddy what he was doing before the buck explained.

'I'll go,' Freddy stated as he gave Judy and Nick a smile. 'It was going to be our first plan anyway, so we'll just go with that.'

'Freddy, no,' Judy protested as Nick stared at the buck in shock.

'I know the layout and I can slip in unnoticed, you two can't. Give me half-an-hour. And don't worry, I'll be careful,' he promised as he darted down the alley, heading towards the back of the casino.

Too shocked to react to the buck's sudden decision, Nick knew he would never be able to catch the rabbit. Judy acted more swiftly than he had, taking after the buck at a sprint only to slide to a halt at the end of the alley, unable to catch up to the rabbit and apparently not wishing to draw attention to Freddy's actions.

Running back to Nick, Judy shook her head in dismay. 'We can't let him do this.'

'We kinda already did,' Nick pointed out, fisting his paws in irritation as he stared at the empty entrance to the alley, knowing that Freddy was right. Having Freddy infiltrate the Palm by slipping in through the kitchen had been their first plan to get into the hotel, but he had an uneasy feeling about letting the rabbit go in alone now that they knew they had the right location.

Stupid bunny, he thought to himself, gashing his teeth. It didn't matter that the buck was right, the problem was that he was probably going to get himself killed…or worse.

He looked to Judy. They had no plan for extracting the buck. The main floor of the hotel was massive, and he had no idea where he would end up or be taken.

Nick closed his eyes, the adrenalin that had been pulsing through his veins fading; the dull ringing in his ear that he had successfully been ignoring until now intensifying.

A gentle paw was placed on his arm and he found himself suddenly on his knees, the feeling of a nail being driven through his left ear causing him to cry out in pain.

Judy knelt in front of him, her paws gripping his shoulders tightly, as he grabbed his afflicted ear.

Claws, sharp and piercing, tore into his arms as Judy's paws were ripped away. Opening his eyes in fearful confusion, Nick caught a glimpse of Judy being forcefully dragged away by a coyote.

Judy was able to call out his name in distress before a black bag was shoved over her head, her body going limp in the coyote's hold.

This horrifying sight was obscured as a thick, black, cotton bag that smelled vaguely of cigarettes and greasy food was dragged over his own head. He struggled against the attack, his arms quickly pinned to his side, pain blossoming in his arm as his already blackened world quickly faded from his consciousness.


Cliffie! Because yeah... I'm evil...

A/N Eostre is an Anglo-Saxton goddess of the spring, resurrection, the dawn, the moon, fertility, and a bunch of other stuff. She is associated with eggs and rabbits and is said to take the form of a rabbit, and as I was trying to look for a mammal that was considered 'lucky' I ended up on a rabbit because of the whole 'lucky rabbit's foot' thing. And because Eostre is associated with rabbits and can turn into one, I used her name and made her the rabbit goddess of luck in the Zootopia world.