Special thanks go to the reviewers of the previous chapter: Sapperjoe85, Jack_Kellar, GhostWolf88, aomagrat, Wolfx1120, TheJokerman, dracotwo, Spectra98, x_uve

MISCREANTS AND ABSCONDERS

Skipping school had become a routine thing or Robin. If he had been aware that, a year ago, his older half-brother was doing the exact same thing, Robin might have realised the y were more similar than he knew.

In the year since Nick and Robin moved to Zootopia, Robin had become increasingly resentful towards his father spending more time around Judy. At first, he brushed it off. After all, they had a son together. But after a few months, Robin had started to suspect that his father was trying to replace his mother somehow, by rekindling the relationship he had with Judy. It didn't help that, whenever Robin had asked for reasons why Nick and Judy had separated so long ago, Nick had told him that he would tell him when he was older. Nicholas knew, and so Robin had approached him.

"Sorry, Rob," Nicholas had told him. "I know you want to know… I get it. But you're not ready to hear it."

"How come you know?" Robin had asked, bitterness creeping into his voice.

"Mom and Wilde set me straight," Nicholas had corrected him. "Mom didn't tell me everything, and I tried to fill the blanks in myself. Look where that got me."

If Nicholas had meant that as a warning to his younger half-brother, Robin hadn't taken it in. Worse, Robin had started to act out, though Nick didn't yet know to what extent that was even if he suspected.

Robin had encountered a skulk. They were troublemakers, but they hadn't crossed the line yet. Or, at least, not that Robin knew. Part of the skulk were littermates Marie and James Vulpez. Marie was on the tall side for a fox, and had black and white fur. James, on the other paw, looked much more like a typical red fox, though his ears were a bit smaller than was normal. Robert Mackenzie was a swift fox. Rachael Macron was a kit fox. They all knew Robin's father was Nick Wilde, but they didn't care.

The group had hit the arcade. Rachael had 'acquired' enough arcade coins for them to play on the arcade machines. On their way to their favoured machine, James had spotted a young fox with his back turned. He was clutching what appeared to be a bunch of tickets.

"Hey, Rob," James elbowed Robin. "We could use those tickets."

"Wait… you want me to steal them?" Robin asked, internally balking at the idea.

"We wouldn't be stealing them, just… redistributing them," James replied slyly.

Robin's eyes swivelled between the fox kit and his group, all of them looking at him expectedly.

"I… I can't do that!" Robin protested quietly.

"Psh… police boy don't wanna do it," Marie said.

"No, it's okay, I got 'em," James eyed Robin for a moment before sneaking towards the fox kit. His paws outstretched, he touched the tickets, ready to rip them away, when…

"You let go of them tickets, or I'll break your fingers off," an uncharacteristically deep voice came from the 'kit'. James froze as the 'kit' turned to face him – and it was then that Robin realised that this wasn't a kit, but the fennec fox that he had last seen when he had moved to Zootopia, a year ago.

"Split!" James called as he ran off. Robin, however, remained behind. Finnick glared at the fleeing youths, gritting his teeth before turning to Robin.

"Those your friends?" Finnick asked gruffly. Robin glared at the floor. Finnick walked up to him, moving straight into Robin's line of sight, and deliberately made eye contact.

"Nick know you're here instead of in school?" Finnick raised an eyebrow. Robin did not answer, grinding his molars.

"Been where you are, kid," Finnick said. "Wanna talk about it?"

"No," Robin answered haughtily, averting his gaze.

"I said the same thing when I was your age," Finnick remarked. "So did your dad."

"You don't know a thing about me," Robin growled.

"Yeah, that's what he said too," Finnick nodded. "You really are his son."

There was a moment of silence between the two foxes.

"So, you wanna tell me what that was about?" Finnick asked.

"It's nothing," Robin answered tersely.

"You hanging around with a skulk. Usually how most of us older foxes started in the world, but you have a cop for a dad."

"He afraid I'm going to embarrass him?"

"More like he afraid you gonna get yourself hurt," Finnick replied quietly. "Skulks ain't exactly safe places. Had my fair share of trouble in them before I got out."

Finnick looked up at Robin.

"Look, kid, ain't nothing I can say to make you do anything. Gonna guess that losing your Ma was really tough for you. Top dat with finding out you're not an only kit, and on top of that, your dad moves you away from everything you knew. Course you gonna act out. Just be careful of who you hang out with, yeah?"

Finnick shook his head.

"I'm out, gotta cash these in and hit the road," Finnick turned away.

"Why are you here anyway?" Robin asked.

"Some of the stuff here is easier to win than it is to buy," Finnick shrugged.

"'Win'?" Robin raised a sceptical eyebrow. "But you'd have to be lucky to do that!"

"Or know the way these machines work," Finnick smirked. "Ciao, kit."

Finnick walked away, waving a paw through the air. Robin stared after him for a moment. He turned to leave himself, but he wasn't paying attention and almost found himself nose-to-nose with somebody.

That somebody was a corsac fox vixen, slightly taller than Robin was. She wore round-rimmed glasses and a denim dress. Her eyes were hazel.

"Excuse me," she said. Robin stood dumbfounded for a moment before shaking himself and stepping aside to allow her through. He watched her head into the arcade, towards one of the game machines. She stopped at the machine, turned to face Robin, looked around for a moment, then beckoned him over.

"Um, what's your name?" she asked.

"R-Robin."

"I'm Lyra. Um… this game's more fun with two players."

Robin stepped forward at the unspoken invitation.

Away from the arcade, Nick and Judy had returned to Judy's apartment after being sent home by Fangmeyer, with a promise to discuss what was to happen next when they arrived the following morning.

Nick was gripping a cup of coffee that he had as he steeled himself. He had agreed to tell Judy about Jack, and why Nick clearly didn't like him.

"Old Jack and me… we don't exactly see eye-to-eye," Nick began his explanation.

"What do you mean?" Judy asked.

"We haven't spoken in…" Nick counted on his fingers for a moment, "… twenty-five years."

"Why? I thought foxes were supposed to be family-oriented."

"Ahaha, there's that old country rabbit thinking right there."

"Har-har."

Nick let a small smile grace his lips, but it fell as he began to talk again.

"He didn't approve of my choices in life," Nick explained. "It was bad enough hearing disapproval from… from Mom…" Nick paused for a moment. The grief was still too real for Nick. The passage of time didn't make dealing with it easier.

"Nick, it's okay," Judy leaned forward and placed a gentle paw on top of his. Nick noticed and shifted slightly.

"Mom would lecture me," Nick continued, "and I could take that. Mom cared, even if I didn't want to admit it at the time. But Jack… he gave off this smug aura of righteousness back then. If you thought I was insufferable when we first met, Carrots, then you should have met him back then."

A knock came at the door. Judy frowned as she stood up to go and answer it. She peered through the peephole in the door.

"I don't…" Judy remarked. Nick could pick up slight anger in her voice.

"Who is it?" Nick asked.

"Come see for yourself," Judy replied as she opened the door. On the other side was Jack Wilde.

Nick allowed annoyance to show on his face as he came up to meet their visitor.

"What are you doing here, Jack?" Nick demanded.

"I've got you both here, which means I don't need to make two trips," Jack replied.

"How considerate," Nick snarked. "Seriously, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to tell you to back off the case," Jack warned.

"Our Chief already gave us orders to do so," Judy replied tersely.

"Forgive me, but it's no secret that you two like to bend the rules," Jack continued. "So consider this a reprimand: back off."

"You can't reprimand us!" Nick protested.

"You're right, I can't officially reprimand you," Jack nodded. "But I can inform your Chief that you are not co-operating. And I'm sure she will."

Nick gritted his teeth.

"You've made your point," Judy said. "Now, please leave."

Jack glanced between Nick and Judy before turning to leave. Judy shut the door on him and turned to Nick.

"The nerve of that guy!" Judy fumed.

"I told you, Carrots. He's not a nice fox," Nick replied.

The following day, Fangmeyer had Nick and Judy wait behind after roll call.

"As much as you two did good work up until this point, the idea of assigning you that case was to keep you away from the Bellwether-Ramses breakout," Fangmeyer explained. "Now that case linked with yours, I'll have to find you something else to do."

"Yes, Ma'am," Nick and Judy chanted.

"And since that's the case, I'm returning you to your original assignments," Fangmeyer continued. "Officer Wilde, Officer Wolfovitz is waiting in the lobby for you. You're out on patrol duty today. Dismissed."

Nick gritted his teeth but nodded and headed out regardless.

"Lieutenant Hopps," Fangmeyer turned to Judy. "I'm giving you back your command, and there is quite a bit of paperwork that needs to be looked over since your absence from your position."

"Yes, Ma'am," Judy replied unenthusiastically.

A week passed. Nick and Judy had suspected that, perhaps, Jack Wilde had carried through with his threat and persuaded Fangmeyer to reassign them so they couldn't plot to undermine his investigation. It didn't really matter: they could still meet after work, after all, but they weren't able to do anything on ZPD time.

During that week, the ZBI had successfully raided the Docks warehouse Nick and Judy had scouted in their search for the source of Waking Death. Zootopia News Network had run coverage for most of the day it had happened on, but that coverage had since stopped. What was on as Nick entered the break room was a report about the latest goings-on with a film star that Nick didn't really care about. He made his way to the coffee machine, grabbed a cup, and sat down at a table.

As he began to sip on his coffee, he was joined by Officer Wolfovitz.

"Hey, Wilde, Chief wants you up in her office," Wolfovitz said.

"Ugh… what now?" Nick rolled his eyes. "She going to reassign me to a different precinct?"

"I'm not that lucky," Wolfovitz snarked.

"Nor am I," Nick replied, allowing a small smirk on his face. "I'll be back soon."

Nick got up, drained the rest of his coffee, and made his way to the second-floor landing. As he reached the landing, he spotted Judy standing outside Fangmeyer's office. He raised a quizzical eyebrow.

"Hey, Carrots, any idea what's going on here?" Nick asked.

"No," Judy shook her head. "I know she's in there with… Agent Wilde… but I don't know if that's why she's called us up."

"Starting to sound more and more like he's interfering," Nick grumbled.

"Well, we're about to find out," Judy replied. The door to Fangmeyer's office opened.

"Wilde, Hopps, come in," Fangmeyer ushered the pair into her office. They sat down in chairs, noting that Agent Wilde was staring at them. As Fangmeyer sat back in her chair, she shook her head and to Agent Wilde.

"Well, it's your case," Fangmeyer said, allowing a hint of annoyance. "You tell them."

Agent Wilde flicked his eyes to Fangmeyer briefly, before returning his attention to Nick and Judy.

"First, thank you for keeping out of this," Agent Wilde said.

"You didn't give us much of a choice," Nick grumbled. Agent Wilde raised an eyebrow, but didn't reply to the remark.

"As you are undoubtedly aware, we launched a raid on the warehouse in the Docks," Agent Wilde continued, "We have arrested the mammals involved."

"Yeah, we know," Nick replied. "We do get the news here."

"What are you telling us?" Judy asked, her eyebrow raised in scepticism.

"The information we recovered indicates that there is another mammal in the mix," Agent Wilde said. "All we know so far is that the mammal in question goes by the name 'Michael' and that the mammal in question is planning something with Doug Ramses, involving the Waking Death drug. We're not able to get anything more, not even a species of this individual."

"Some investigative work there," Nick snarked. "Need us to help you run into more dead ends?"

"Wilde," Fangmeyer warned.

"Where does Dawn Bellwether fit into this?" Judy asked.

"She doesn't," Agent Wilde replied. "From what we were told, Michael wanted Doug exclusively. Our detainees were unaware of Bellwether's status."

Judy frowned.

"If this 'Michael' wanted Ramses and not Bellwether, perhaps he's after Ramses' knowledge in making weapons from illicit substances," Judy speculated.

"Great," Nick said. "A weaponized Waking Death, and an Agency that wasn't there to do anything about it the last time Ramses managed to weaponize a chemical."

"You are aware that this version of Waking Death lead to the death of a member of the public?" Judy said, her voice almost a growl.

"We have already seized the supplies of Waking Death left at the warehouse," Agent Wilde replied. "We have sent it to chemists in the city in an attempt to find a quick cure should any use of Waking Death as a weapon occur."

Judy resisted the urge to grind her teeth.

"Why are you telling us this?" Judy asked.

"A weaponised Waking Death, in the hands of somebody who potentially wants to get their own back on you…" Agent Wilde replied. "I thought you'd like to know."

"How could you possibly know this has anything to do with us?" Nick asked.

"According to the prison files, Ramses has spoken often about exacting revenge should he ever escape custody," Agent Wilde explained. "We're guessing, but that might have been his price to help Michael."

Judy slinked into her apartment, closing the door behind her. Nicholas looked up from the table at the other end of the living room. Sat with him was Amy Wolfard, and on the table was a stack of books and papers.

"Hi, Miss Hopps!" Amy looked up when she heard Judy coming closer.

"You can call me 'Judy'," Judy replied, her eyes flicking briefly to Nicholas. Nicholas responded by rolling his eyes.

"Pa always told me to be mindful of my manners," Amy replied.

Judy let a small smile grace her lips.

"Wise wolf," Judy replied. "Can I get you anything?"

"No, thanks, Miss Hopps," Amy smiled.

"We're fine, Mom," Nicholas added. Judy smiled in return and headed into the kitchen to get some food.

"What are you working on?" Judy asked.

"History," Nicholas replied. "The unification of the Tri-Burrows."

"Oh, right." Judy replied, "Anything I can help with? Maybe the acceptance of predators and unconventional couples?"

"No, Mom," Nicholas replied, shaking his head. Judy noted a slight reddening in his ears. Judy glanced briefly at the pair at the table, allowing a smile onto her face as she noticed how close the pair had gotten.

Judy picked out a salad set from the fridge, pulled two plates from the cupboard and started setting out dinner. As she went to pull out the bugs and fish meat that Nicholas would have with his meal, a knock came at the front door. Judy's ears perked. Amy and Nicholas turned their attention to the door, before glancing to each other.

"I haven't texted my Mom yet," Amy remarked, "so that's not her."

"Is it… Wilde?" Nicholas asked.

"Nick can be spontaneous at times but it's not like him to turn up with no warning," Judy frowned. Amy got up and headed for the door. She took a sniff.

"That's not a fox's scent," Amy remarked. "Smells more like…" Amy took another sniff. "Smells like a sheep."

Taken aback, Judy left the kitchen and headed for her room. When she came back, she was holding her dart gun.

"Nicholas, take Amy into your room and don't open the door until I tell you to," Judy whispered. Nicholas nodded to Amy. They went into his room and shut the door behind them. Checking the dart was loaded correctly, Judy walked straight for the door. Throwing it open, Judy levelled her dart gun at the figure on the other side of the door.

It was Dawn Bellwether. Her wool was messy and dirty. She was wearing a jacket that looked like it had been scavenged from somewhere, over the top of her prison jumpsuit. Her eyes were bloodshot and she lacked her glasses.

"Well, I'd say this isn't how I was expecting you to greet me, but I'd be lying, so…" Bellwether said.

"Come to finish the job?" Judy asked.

"No," Bellwether denied. "I just didn't know where else to go… if I went to the ZPD, they'd arrest me and they probably wouldn't believe me anyway."

"And what makes you think I will?" Judy glared at Dawn. "What makes you think I'll believe anything you have to say?"

"If you don't want to listen to me, then dart me and get it over with," Dawn replied stiffly. "It'll do you no good once Doug gets his way."

"What do you mean?" Judy demanded. "What does he want?"

"Apart from revenge?" Dawn answered. "Doug's kind of simple. He wants to disappear, and he wants you dead first. And Michael is going to give him both."

Judy noted that Dawn knew about Michael. She wondered what Dawn knew. Thinking ast, Judy decided to keep Dawn talking to see what she knew.

"And you don't?"

"Years ago, maybe… but now? What's the point? I did what I did, and I've paid for it."

"Not enough, if you're out," Judy glowered.

"When Michael got what he wanted in Doug, he had his goons ditch me by the climate wall in Sahara Square," Dawn continued. "I would have fried. I don't know if you noticed, Judy, but I'm a sheep. My wool is supposed to keep me warm, but there, all it did was try to kill me. And not slowly. And that's what Michael wants with Doug: to kill Zootopia, and not quickly. And he's going to use this… Waking Death thing to do it."

"What do you know about Michael?" Judy asked.

"He's neither pred nor prey," Dawn replied. "He's some sort of cross-species. And he blames this city for the Night Howler crisis which claimed his parents."

"Ramses was part of that," Judy said.

"And Michael knows it. Doug probably thinks Michael's a mammal of his word, but I think once Michael gets what he wants from Doug, he'll kill him too."

Judy thought for a moment.

"Why come here and tell me all this?"

"Like I said, if I went to the ZPD, I'd be back in a cell and they wouldn't listen. I know you well enough to know you want to do the right thing. I know what it's like, Judy."

With that, Dawn leaned her neck to the side. She indicated to a small puncture wound.

"He wanted me to suffer, so he injected me with that stuff," Dawn explained. "The only reason I got away was because the dose must have been too weak. But, Judy… if he unleashes bombs of that on the city, we will all die a slow and painful death."

Judy considered her words for a moment. What she said made sense. But Judy also had a duty. Reaching for the phone by the door, Judy's ears pricked up. She heard the shattering of glass, as Bellwether collapsed to the ground.

Judy dove to the ground and aimed at the source of the sound – her decimated window. At that moment, she came to realise that Dawn had been telling the truth.

Doug Ramses had come for her.

And that's a wrap for this chapter! I combined another two chapters here, with one of them changing significantly.