Well, I think I made good time. Updates from here on will probably not go as fast. This chapter I had already started before the last one was published. However, I am already sure of how this story is going to go. Still, I am anxious to see what you guys all think! Please, keep giving me reviews. Any criticism helps and I am always ecstatic to see where the story will go!

I remain your obedient servant,

Thrash Evaine Lovelocke

The majority of the other officers had already departed by the time Nick arrived in the locker room to change so he did so largely without interruption. The only interjection was from Castor Fangmeyer, a sturdily built tiger with a sort of gruff demeanor. Definitely strong and definitely somebody to be reckoned with. Thankfully, all he wanted to do was tell Nick about a missed call on his cell phone that came from his mother. Nick's mother, that is: Marian Wilde. She was a lovely woman. Pleasant and mild-mannered but strong enough to hold her own, she had lived by herself ever since Nick's father, Johnathan, died. He told himself he would call her after he left.

Making his way down the hallway, he expected to come across one of the officers coming in for the night shift or some of the day shift coming back late. There was nobody. Even Chief Bogo's office was dark and Clawhauser's desk lamp had been turned off. The only hint of any light from the hallways came from the locker rooms. The girls' room in hallway three and the guys' in hallway seven. A door closed from somewhere and he looked around the foyer to try and figure out where it had come from as it echoed throughout the area. No other noise came. Nick resolved to believe it had just been someone walking into an office somewhere. For several moments he waited for Judy to walk out of the girls' locker room. "She probably got caught up talking to the others," he said to himself, "Maybe I could go ahead and call my mother now."

In most situations, he would wait until they were on the way home so he could happily ignore an increasingly frustrated Judy and watch her nose twitch incessantly while he and his mother chatted. This time, however, he was incredibly bored. He literally had nothing else to do. Searching through his phone contacts, he found himself having to scroll a lot farther than he thought he would. "Mom? Momma? Mommy? What name did I give her in here?" He looked back and forth in the M's and finally settled on the one that he hoped was her: Mum. "Did I have a British phase?" He joked to himself. After trying to plan his way through the opening moments of the call, he selected her number and the phone set to dialing. It rang once and no response came. It rang twice and no response came. Three times, four times it rang and no response came. Finally, the fifth time it rang, she answered.

"Hello?" An annoyed voice said into Nick's ear.

"Hey, Mom? What's up?" He asked sweetly.

Marian sighed into the phone. "Finally. This silly smartphone you got me is so weird. I miss the days when we used home lines. They were so much easier to figure out."

Nick chuckled at his mother's confusion. "Swipe to answer, Mom. How many times do I need to tell you?"

"Yeah, yeah. You're just such a genius," she responded with a laugh, "Anyway, I just wanted to make sure you have stayed out of trouble. I don't know why I bother because it seems your pawpsicle hustling has really taken off. Did you finally lose that nogoodnik, Finnick?"

How to answer that? Well, technically it was true. "You could put it that way. We had a… separating due to a turn of events."

Another sigh came from Marian. "Don't tell me. Being the good, loyal mammal that he is, he took the rap for both of you when you got caught. Am I correct?"

"Well, no. Not really."

"Did you take the fall? Nickolas Piberius Wilde, if you are calling me from The Department, I swear I'm going to kill you!" she said in a voice that was meant to be intimidating but was really not.

Now, being himself, Nick was unable to resist such a golden opportunity. Since Judy, Nala and the guy officers weren't around, he could take out his boredom on his mother. He knew she hated lies as much as she hated being scared. Course of action? Scare her into thinking he was behind bars, but don't actually lie. That way she would get even more frustrated at not being able to call him out on it. Oh, the brilliant inner workings of an ex-convict's mind. "Well, Mom, I am indeed calling from The Department," he said with a dramatic tone. Marian had always used that as a personal slang term for the ZPD.

He figured she would facepalm at that but the fact he could hear it was even more hilarious to him. "Nick, for God's sake! I tell you I'll stick up for you. I tell you I'll never sell you out, so long as you don't start murdering. I even tell you I'll let you use my freezer to freeze your counterfeit treats if push comes to shove. And, surely enough, the first time I don't call in about two months you go and get caught by the police!"

Laughter threatened Nick. He had to bite his own lip to keep from bursting out. His poor mother sounded like an angry bird. "Yeah. They caught me right at the end of the Bellweather Scandal." Technically, this wasn't a lie. Judy had found a way to put him away. He said they 'caught' him. He never said they 'prosecuted' him.

She groaned in… anger? Despair? It was hard to tell. "What's the bail? I'll see if I can fish up the money. But you owe me for every cent," she said exasperatedly.

"Oh, there is no bail," he said casually.

A long moment passed with Marian saying nothing. She finally spoke confusedly. "Nick, how long have you been there?"

Taking a few moments to remember the date and the time of his graduation from the academy, he responded. "Calling it about three weeks?"

Marian screamed through clenched teeth. She hated it when Nick left her in the dark about things. It was going to be even worse when she realized he wasn't giving her the correct context. "When, exactly, was I supposed to know about this?" she asked angrily.

"Whenever you asked, I guess," Nick chuckled nonchalantly.

"I can't believe this. I told you time and time again, 'be careful not to get put behind bars!'" she shouted into the phone at him.

Nick put on a confused expression as though he were speaking to her face to face. "Who said anything about being behind bars?" It seemed to be a long while of silence. There was no noise that came from the other side. Then, Nick heard a loud shattering noise. His ears recoiled at the sound and he winced as a result. "Mom?" he asked timidly.

There was another moment of silence until Marian spoke again. "Nick, dear, I need to go shopping. One of my vases just broke. I may have punched it, it's a bit of a blur. I need to put my waters in a jar of flower and go buy a new vase real quick. But, before I hang up, if you are not in The Department behind bars what are you doing there?"

Pursing his lips to keep from laughing, Nick struggled to get his sentence out. "I- mmm… I work here, Mom. I'm on the Zootopian Force now."

"Oh, wow!" she did not actually sound all that happy. She still sounded very much upset with him. "How impressive. You may see me there soon."

"Why?" Nick asked innocently.

Marian chuckled exasperatedly. "Because I'm going to kill someone with all the stress you just caused me!"

His pent-up laughter came out all at once and he could not help wheezing as he spoke. "Well, you never asked for any specifics. And I never once lied. I was caught by the police. Officer Hopps nearly put me under arrest. I got out by helping her solve the scandal."

This frustrated Marian even further, but she tried her best to keep from losing her head. "How noble of you to use your extensive knowledge of evil for the forces of good," she said sarcastically. Any fool could definitely see that Nickolas Wilde got his wit from his mother. Any fool would be forgiven that she was responsible for his at least minorly feminine behavior at times.

"Thank you, thank you. I am quite proud of it," he spoke proudly.

Marian groaned again, but she relented. "Well, it's good to see you trying to make something of yourself. I always knew you had the guts to be more than a pawpsicle hustler."

That melody sounded familiar. He remembered Judy saying something of a similar caliber back when they were first meeting. He smiled warmly and shook his head. "Yeah, thanks, Mom. I'm glad you have faith in me."

"Of course, dear son of mine. In all seriousness though, I really need to go buy a new vase and put my…"

"Waters in a vase of flower?" Nick interrupted.

Marian made a confused noise. "Did I actually say that?"

Nick laughed and told her yes. She groaned again but bid her farewells, nonetheless. She made him promise to visit soon. There was at least one thing to put on his not so busy social schedule. As he hung up, he thought back to the days when his mother and he lived together. They may not have had everything, but they had enough. She was always quite pleasant, unless someone tried to insult her family. Nothing could stop her from putting a slight injury on anybody who insulted her family. The sound of another door closing made him look up from his thoughts. Again, he saw nothing and heard no one. A lion officer who he did not know came in to start working the night shift. The night shift was never as packed as the day shift. Well, with the exception of the Nocturnal Caverns District. A crashing noise came from a nearby stairwell leading to the basement.

"Oh, curses. Is someone up there? Can you come help me out?" The voice was smooth and soft although obviously agitated.

Setting his bag on the floor next to the front desk, Nick walked over to the stairs and looked down. Close to the basement door was a vixen with a ZPD uniform and a large bunch of papers scattered at her feet. Her uniform, however, was a much brighter shade of blue than an officer's. He made his way down as quickly as he could. "Hey, miss. I couldn't help noticing you from up in the lobby," he joked.

The vixen chuckled at his greeting. "Well, good sir, I must say it is a pleasure to know that chivalry does still exist."

He set to work kneeling next to her and gathering bunches of the paperwork sheets in his paws. "What on Earth were you doing with these anyway? Down here, at least?"

"Oh, I was left to finish cleaning up today's records. The filing cabinets are in the basement. It's ridiculous but I'm not in charge of the layout of the place."

Well, that was true. Nick had never known much about records but the head of the department, Lisa McCallister, had established the running joke of Records' Great Pilgrimage. She must have meant having to move the files for the day into the basement cabinets. "You should complain to the heads of the precinct. Maybe they would consider putting the filing cabinets into the actual records department."

She chuckled. "You mean Chief Brain Trust? If I asked him about that, the only thing he'd do with the filing cabinets is shove me into one of them."

A great smile came over Nick's face. "You call him unflattering nicknames too?"

"You mean there are people here who don't?" The girl laughed.

He nodded in agreement. "I know! There are just too many opportunities! Buffalo Butt."

"Bison Breath."

"Flat Snout."

"Buff Bison."

"Hoof Head."

"Buffalo Butt."

"I said that one already, sweetheart."

The girl took a moment to reflect and shook her head. "Nah. You're just imagining things. That's the first time I ever heard it."

"Whatever, lady."

"Hey," she put a finger to her nose, "A girl is always right. Even when we're wrong, we're right."

Nick nodded and put a finger to his temple. "I will keep that in mind. By the way," he began, "what is your name?" he asked as his paw landed on the last piece of paper. The paper, and the girl's paw.

He looked up at her to see her eyes up close for the first time. They were like ice: bright, shining and cold. He spent a short moment just observing them. They were very inviting. In the moment he wondered what she thought of his own meadow-like eyes. "Rosário. Proserpina… do Rosário. Yourself?"

Taking a moment to clear his throat, Nick composed himself and stood. "Nickolas Wilde. Ex-criminal, enforcer of Zootopia law. It's a long story."

"Sounds like it," Proserpina laughed. "Thank you for helping me. I owe you one."

As Nick opened the door and walked into the basement, he took the opportunity. "Owe me one? Okay. How does dinner sound? Cloud 99, you and me, seven on Saturday?"

His request earned a raised eyebrow from the girl. She walked down one of the isles in the basement filing cabinets and opened up a drawer. As she sifted through it, she answered him. "I honestly hope you're joking."

Frankly, that made Nick feel kind of sad. He sighed. "Oh, well. That is most unfortunate. I was hoping to perhaps get to know you a bit better."

Proserpina took a large stack of the papers off of Nick's arms and then took a second to look at him. "What are you saying? I meant Cloud 99. They're way too packed on Saturdays. How about we go to The Mirehouse instead?"

Immediately, Nick's opinion of her raised higher. She played context games too. "Very, very clever, Ms. Rosário."

"Nah. My name is Proserpina. Ms. Rosário is my mother."

Nick did something that he hadn't done in a while. He laughed at someone else's joke. Usually he only ever laughed at his own. It wasn't even totally funny. He just felt compelled to laugh. "Very well, then. Since we are reaching the end of this little chore, will you be leaving soon?"

Proserpina took a moment to respond as she had to look over the next few filing cabinets before finding the place she was supposed to put the other papers. "Uhh… ah! Oh, yes. I have already stayed a lot later than I wanted to. Today is Wednesday, right?"

The question took Nick by surprise but he responded. "Yeah. Makes the weekend seem a lot farther away, huh?"

"Yep. It sure does."

Nick finally took note of another aspect of Proserpina: her accent. It was not one he was familiar with. "If you don't mind my asking, where are you from?" He asked curiously.

"I'm from…" she paused and grunted as she tried to place one of the files that was particularly full into the cabinet, "… Novas Margéns. In the south. I honestly did not predict myself working up here in a Zootopian Police Department Precinct."

He nodded. This was the first time he had ever heard of Novas Margéns. The south, however, was dominated by two things. Desert towards the equator and forests anywhere below or above. That is until you reached the grasslands of the mid-north. This is where Zootopia flourished. "Interesting."

"Indeed," Proserpina laughed as she turned back to him.

Wanting to learn more about this far away land, Nick asked, "So, what is Novas Margéns like? Is it in the forests?"

Proserpina took a moment to respond as she sifted through the last couple of files and sighed. "Oh, to Hell with these for now, I'll deal with them tomorrow," she whispered, "Okay, what were you saying?"

"Novas Margéns," Nick reiterated, "What area of the south is it in?"

After placing the almost empty box on the floor in a place she determined nobody would find it until she came back in the morning, Proserpina turned to answer him. "Deep in the forests. The city is absolutely beautiful. Granted, it's not Zootopia, but it is what I called home for a long time. Surrounded by beautiful trees. Honestly, part of me misses it."

Nick tried to imagine the city for how she was describing it so far. "Do you not like Zootopia?"

Proserpina raised her paw in a defensive way. "Oh, no! I love it here! I just… well, I had friends back in NM who knew me well. Until I make friends up here, I will just be longing for that old sense of familiarity. You understand? I mean, surely you have at least one very good friend here at the ZPD who like that to you."

Hoping he understood what she was saying, he responded to her, "Well, Judy Hopps and I are known for our chemistry on the enforcement of the law. She and I met…"

"Hold on!" Proserpina interrupted. Nick opened his mouth, trying to ask a reason for her behavior but was silenced once more. "Save some stories for next time! You and I only just met."

Nick raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said you were after a solid sense of familiarity."

With a smile, Proserpina admitted, "I guess I did say that, didn't I? You pay attention closely, Mr. Wilde."

"Nah, my name is Nick. Mr. Wilde is my father," the tod said humorously.

Proserpina laughed at the quick wit of Nick Wilde and gave an admiring nod. "Touché, my friend. Touché."

Adopting a dramatized western accent, Nick gave Proserpina a confident smirk. "Well, this department ain't big enough for two whip-quick foxes."

"I am in firm agreement, Sheriff Wilde. When you find one who's as fast a gun as me, you know where to find me," she countered. Nick nearly offered another retort, but Proserpina shut him up. "And before you say that was below the belt line, all is fair in wit and war."

Nick was very impressed with Proserpina so far. He was also not used to being challenged on equal levels of wit with someone else. Judy suddenly seemed much easier to make fun of. "Before I get pegged by you again, maybe we should take our leaves, huh?" Nick asked, gesturing to the door.

Bowing lightly, Proserpina accepted the invitation and walked towards the stairwell leading upstairs. She walked ahead of Nick back up the stairs and turned to him after they reached the ground floor. "Well, Nick Wilde, it has been a pleasure meeting you. I hope we get to speak again before the weekend."

Nick was confused. "The weekend?"

"You invited me to dinner at The Mirehouse, did you not? I expect to see you Saturday at seven."

He was surprised and happy to hear that. The fact that she had remembered the time and place made him feel honored. "I'm glad to hear you were being serious. I won't lie, part of me was afraid that you would forget."

Wagging a finger in front of him, Proserpina said scoldingly, "I do many things, Nick. However, I never forget. I hope that you remember that about me."

One thing she could do was make a great first impression. Just by what had already been said between them, he knew he liked her. "Well, I'll do my best. That I can assure you of."

"Glad to hear it." Proserpina reached down and picked up her bag off the floor. "Until we meet again, Nick Wilde."

"Until then." And he was alone. Proserpina walked out the front door and towards a nearby parking lot. Now that he was by himself with his thoughts, Nick felt his stomach shiver. It was the sort of feeling you get when you get off the stage after making a presentation you did not want to make. In other words, the kind of feeling you get when you are relieved of nervous pressure. He hadn't even noticed he had felt it until that point. She was a pleasant surprise though. The first pleasant fox he had met since his mother.

"Nick? Hello?"

A voice snapped him out of his trance. Nala was next to him. "Oh, hey, it's the kitty."

A disapproving glance was the first thing he got in return. It was followed by an equally jaded retort. "I'm so glad you're as sharp as always with that one. Judy just texted me. She's wondering what you're doing right now. Has something she wants to talk to you about."

"Is it something important?" Nick asked cautiously.

"I sort of assumed so. She asked you to meet her at the Applebough's nearby. If I were you, I'd get moving. She seemed to be upset about something."

Nala was not much for extended goodbyes or for dealing with Nick after a long day of work, so she took her leave and made for her car. Nick followed to the outside and looked up and down the street. A sign directing to Applebough's was not too far to his left. Thank goodness he saw it, too. He would have taken a while to find it with no indicators. The walk was short and, in his casual clothing now, it was much less difficult making the distance than if he was in the restraining uniform with eyes trained to him; some eyes were respectful and appreciative, and others were disgruntled or wary. The wary ones were criminals that had not been found out yet. He knew the face because he had lived it at one point. It was in the nature of prey to be unnerved by the sight of predators and those who broke the law were always lower on the food chain than those who upheld it. In an odd sort of way, it made him feel dizzy with pride and want to smile. He entered the restaurant to the smells of fresh meals being cooked and pleasant people sharing said foods over sodas and tea.

"How many?" A voice asked. In front of him was a young beaver with a black shirt and beige pants. She had a kind expression and a pen in her hand.

Nick thought for a moment. Nala had said Judy was already here, so perhaps that meant she had gotten a table for them. "I'm here with someone else. Hopps for two?"

The beaver girl checked her list and shook her head for a moment. She looked like she was about to peer back up and deny him but something caught her eye. "Oh! Yes. I see it. Okay, your table is that direction towards the stained-glass window."

Thanking the beaver, Nick walked past her towards a small table where he saw his partner in crimefighting sipping on a margarita glass catered to a mammal her size. "Hey, Carrots. What made you feel so hungry as to invite me to a place with this sort of romantic atmosphere?"

At first, Judy seemed to pay him absolutely no mind and just continued sipping away at the beverage absentmindedly. Shortly, she came around and acknowledged him, giving him a humorous scoff as she did so. "Don't flatter yourself, Wilde, I'd sooner have an outing with a skunk who has IBS."

"Ooh! Ouch! That just… ow," Nick said with mock hurt in his voice.

With her now signature smirk of satisfaction, the rabbit took another sip of the lime-flavored drink. "Okay, though, in all seriousness, I did ask you here for a real reason."

Nick took a seat at the table across from Judy. "I figured you did. Alrighty, then. Let's get down to business, shall we? Why am I really here?"

Judy stirred her drink and sighed as Nick sat down. She gave him another glance then pulled her phone out to check the time. 7:43. Well, it could always be later. "Nick, I've been thinking…"

"And here I thought that was just the fajita meat burning," Nick interrupted jokingly.

Judy took her straw out of the drink and flicked the icy slush at Nick. "Another remark like that and I'll make you pay for dinner."

Apologetically, Nick chuckled. "Sorry, sorry. Go ahead and tell me what's up."

"I was thinking about…" Judy paused and swallowed. "That kid that we saw earlier. You know, the monitor?"

"Yeah, little Goga, right?" Nick asked her.

Judy nodded. "I want to go see him tomorrow. The building should be somewhere close to our intended route anyway."

This was essentially how Nick thought the conversation was going to go. Judy was always the one to stick up for the little guy. A trait of hers that most likely stemmed from a combination of her background, her role in taking down the Bellweather Scandal and her close friendship with Fru-Fru Bigg. "Carrots, I feel bad for him too, but don't you think it might be easier to wait until the weekend? That way we don't have to worry about looking strange. A cop car stopping to visit at a place like that? It may ruin what little reputation the place could have."

Judy shook her head. "I really don't care. I didn't see hide or hair of his parents or any sort of legal guardian. In fact, the place didn't even look like it had electricity. I'm telling you, Nick, the place is condemned. I just want to make sure he's okay."

"I'm almost positive he is," Nick replied nonchalantly. He really wanted this idea to be let go, but Judy was not going to unless she could be convinced that she was wrong, and Judy Hopps being wrong was a rare occurrence indeed. "His parents were probably at work and the building may have just been having an outage. If you really want to see him, we should wait."

Once again, Judy's head shook. "I can't wait," she said firmly, "We are going tomorrow. Don't tell anybody. Not Castor, not Shenzi, not Nala, not even Benji."

As she had done several times before, Judy solidly confirmed that her course of action was the only one that would even be taken into consideration anymore. Whether or not he actually wanted to go through with it was now irrelevant. Sighing in resignation, Nick nodded. "Fine. But I don't remember when I died and made you the rulebreaker between us," he said, trying to lighten the mood.

Sucking the last bit of slush out of the margarita, Judy gave a sigh of relief and she stood, leaving a generous amount of cash on the table for the waiter. Nick, having gotten nothing during his shorter time there, stretched and yawned. "Well," Judy replied, "I don't remember dying and making you the worry wart either, but it looks like I did." For a moment, nothing was said. They said their thanks to the beaver at the front as she bid them farewell and exited the front entrance. Once outside, Judy took in a deep breath of the air and turned to Nick. "Okay, listen. I know that you have reservations about this but think about it. He had to be what? Three years old, at most? Maybe, four? Nick, there are better accommodations to be had in Happytown!" Even mentioning that horrid place made Judy's ears shiver. She was so glad that she would never have to set foot into that district of Zootopia.

Despite his history with the Zootopian underground, even Nick was flustered by the mention of Happytown. Comparing Goga's current home to it made him wince. His opinion shifted to a much more solid support of Judy's idea. "Yeah. When you put it that way, I guess we… Well, we probably should go."

"Thanks, Bonehead," the rabbit answered with a smile. She looked down at her smart watch and nodded. "It's getting late for the night before an important day. We should probably get home and get some sleep."

Nick agreed and the two of them made for the subway. The two of them spent most of this time in quiet. This allowed him ample amount of time to think. The subject of their unscheduled destination tomorrow kept entering his mind and made him nervous. The more he thought about it, the more unsettled he became. After Judy's comment comparing the place to the slums of Happytown, Nick felt more and more like something about that miserable building was abnormal. He was not exactly sure why, but he was growing scared of the place and scared was not a word that was generally used to describe Nick Wilde in any situation. For once, the ride on the subway seemed longer than ten minutes.

When their ride finally came to its end, Nick could not have been happier. Now, he could put the troubles down at the front door of the Grand Pangolin Arms and not worry about them until he entered Precinct One the following day. Judy stopped him before they parted ways and whispered to him. "I just remembered something."

"What is it?" Nick asked curiously.

Judy sighed. "Nala and Shenzi-Marie. They patrol around that area tomorrow. We'll have to go early and work through lunch to avoid them."

Yet another problem in front of them. "Are you sure this is worth it, Carrots? You are taking this whole thing a bit seriously."

"Can you blame me, Nick?" She asked him incredulously. "There's nothing I hate more than seeing people forced to live like that. If nothing else, I just want to make sure he knows that someone is out there who will help him."

Nick did not want to talk about it anymore. He was glad they were home and he knew they could deal with that problem tomorrow, when the right time came. He bid his friend goodnight and let her take her leave on the third floor. He finished his ride to the fourth and exited to go on to his room. As he stripped of his day clothes, he ran his shower to a pleasant, warm temperature. He soaked his fur for a long time and took almost as long to try and blow dry and brush it down. Once he was satisfied with his appearance, he equipped a different pair of boxers and almost immediately laid down in his bed.

He was not having much difficulty falling asleep, but he ran through his itinerary for every day from tomorrow to Sunday. This was a habit he had picked up from Judy.

Tomorrow was Thursday. He would go to work and take lunch early so he and Judy could take a visit to the strange building that the monitor dragon Goga lived in. He decided to name that building Scalehide's Shell. Until the end of their shift that day, he would have to avoid Nala Nobleheart, Shenzi-Marie ya Fisi, Benjamin Clawhauser and anybody else who may interact with him, aside from Judy, at the ZPD.

Friday, as far as he knew would return to normal. However, knowing how attached Judy was already becoming to the young monitor dragon, they may be sneaking in another visit. He began to pray that this would not become a normal occurrence. He felt bad for Goga too, but he had known the life of the slums before. The boy would likely survive.

Saturday, at seven in the evening, he would arrive at The Mirehouse. There, he would meet and enjoy the company of Proserpina do Rosário. Until that point, he was largely free to make other plans.

Sunday, he would finally rest.

Just as Nick was falling asleep, another thought occurred to him that he was surprised had not before: Zootopia was a city centered on the needs of mammals. Avians resided in Spire Zenith. Most aquatic creatures lived in Aecor Oceana. Reptiles inhabited the city of Sunningmesa. Now, there was a sizable minority of aquatic animals living in Zootopia. A couple of districts had even been built to accommodate them. However, avians and reptiles were not fond enough of Zootopia to leave their respective cities. So, if that was true, what was a monitor lizard doing in Savanna Central?