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We hit 1000 views!

Well okay it was 965 when i was writing this but that's still pretty damn close

I'm finding this quite exciting for my first fanfic :)

Chapter 10

For once Nick woke up before his alarm. It should be mentioned that the fox could easily sleep in till gone midday if given the opportunity. So a situation like this was about as rare as pigs flying and Nick knew that porcine pilots were an uncommon commodity. He stared up at the ceiling for a long while wondering if he had actually woken up because he was still buzzing from last night. Hearing his heart thumping and his nerves twanging as he remembered yesterday's Movie Night, Nick knew it was true.

He groaned as he forced himself out of bed, he currently had a three-step plan, which was shower, coffee and everything else. He was sure he could work it down to a two-step plan if he worked at it but it was far too early in the morning for intense mental exercise like that. Still, maybe he could cut out the coffee, Nick found that he felt full of energy this morning.

Rather than believe that however he figured he'd run through the morning normally and see how it went, he didn't want to suddenly crash from caffeine deficiency just as he got to the precinct. The fox plodded into the bathroom and grabbed the broom from by the door. He'd mentioned the finicky shower controls to Judy last night during one of their conversations and she'd suggested just using a pole or something. Nick tried not to let on how stupid he felt for not thinking of something like that.

Judy's idea was a good one, the shower was turned on and the temperature suitably adjusted all with Nick only needing to wet a paw just to make sure it wasn't going to boil him alive. He showered as usual, no time for day dreaming, and was clean, dry and ready for the day in about half an hour. Nick could take his time getting dressed for once, not that he ever looked untidy, he had to say that he'd attracted a lot of stares from vixens during his first few months on the force.

Not that you've ever felt anything from all that attention, your favourite colour has shifted from red to purple… or maybe grey

Nick sighed as he wandered into the kitchen, it looked like he'd need that coffee after all. He'd almost come to terms with the little voice in his head. It certainly wasn't going away in any case and not for lack of trying. Nick had spent the best part of twenty years keeping people out of his life. The few exceptions being Noct, Albert, Finnick and a couple of others. Sure, he said he knew everyone in Zootopia but that didn't mean that everyone knew him. Hell, he couldn't even remember the last time he'd spoken to his own mother.

Yes you can, it was after Noct disappeared and you started that downward spiral and…

"I've not even gotten out of the apartment yet and I already find myself insufferable" Nick mumbled to himself as the coffee maker finished spitting out his drink "I don't know how Carrots manages"

Nick smiled to himself as he thought about Judy, he could almost feel the unending stream of energy she always seemed to give off. Nick smiled ruefully, to be honest Judy Hopps was bad news for the fox. Right from the moment they'd met she had dragged him along at her pace. The doe somehow seemed equipped with everything you could ever need to break off, chip away at, or just slip past the walls and armour Nick had spent so many years building around himself.

He'd tried to deny it, still was in fact to make himself feel better, but Nick had to face up with the fact that he clearly felt some kind of attraction to Judy. A long sleepless night tossing and turning in bed gives you a lot of time to think. Add on to that the fact that he was having conversations with himself about the topic and, now that he looked back on it, everything seemed rather obvious.

Look, we both know that we aren't capable of love, not after Lily… it's been 17 years and our heart hasn't stirred for any of the countless females we've met... we're broken

You also never met anyone like Judy in all those years…

She changed my life, I can't ask for anything more than that, and there's no way in hell that I'll let her get hurt by being with a fox. Zootopia can be a rather backwards place sometimes.

Taking a deep breath Nick finished his coffee and prepared himself to go see the bunny in question. Locking up his apartment, Nick wandered downstairs and out of the building, pausing to nod a greeting at Donald on the way out.

Just like usual Judy's green car was sat outside the apartment block. This time however Nick couldn't help but hesitate slightly as he walked towards it. Nick was about to knock on the window when he caught sight of the bunny sat inside. Judy looked just like she always did, sat there listening to her music, but for some reason it just seemed… more to Nick today, he couldn't quite place it.

Tapping on the glass Nick watched as Judy jumped in her seat and fumbled for her music player. She hurriedly unlocked the door for her partner and tried not to stare as he climbed in the cruiser next to her.

"Ready for the day Slick?" she asked busying herself with starting the car.

"Yeah" said Nick slowly as he watched the grey doe, he was actually feeling full of energy "for once I think I am"

There was silence in the car which was a first, neither mammal knew what to talk about. The quiet between him and Judy was starting to wear on Nick and he opened his mouth to say something, anything, but Judy beat him to it.

"What's Broken Clockwork?" she asked quietly, glancing covertly at her partner.

The question was not one he had expected first thing in the morning and had knocked Nick for a bit of a loop. He closed his mouth that was hanging open slightly and considered for a moment.

"That is a question with a very long and complicated answer, one that is far too long to tell in the amount of time it takes to get to work" Nick could see Judy's ears start to droop when he wouldn't tell her "However, next time we are alone and have the time, I'll tell you all about it" Judy looked over at him hopefully "I promise" Nick held his paw up in the Junior Ranger Scouts pawsign.

Judy relaxed at this, if Nick promised on scout's honour then he would definitely tell her sooner or later.

"In that case" she said thinking "What have you done with the money?"

Nick glanced at Judy out of the corner of his eyes, he'd seen enough of greed and envy to know that Judy had none of that, she was just asking out of concern for him.

"It's securely hidden in my apartment for now, I do have some safe places, but I'm not entirely sure what to do about it"

"Well if you don't spend it on something then that big brother of yours is going to make you eat it" joked Judy.

"Not funny" said Nick looking over with a rather deadpan expression on his face "You think he's joking? Noct very rarely uses the word literally"

The car swerved slightly as Judy's head flicked round to look at Nick. Slowly his trademark smirk slid across his face and Judy gave a deep sigh.

"You should have seen your face" said Nick chuckling, it just got louder as Judy grumbled and turned back to the road "He will make me eat it though"

Judy just took a sidelong glance at him this time, what worried her was that she knew Nick, he would often deflect conversations with, or hide information in, jokes.

"Then you'd better get spending, find a nice vixen, show her the town, I'm sure you could blow 500 grand that way"

Judy had a sly grin on her face as she said that but inside she was hurting far more than she thought she would. Nick had turned to look out the window as soon as she mentioned a vixen, his mask always slipped around Judy and he didn't want her catching sight of something best left buried. This also meant that he didn't see the pain on the rabbit's face for a brief moment, Judy was learning from a master but her own masks weren't perfect yet, especially around Nick.

"Nah, I'm not one for dating" Judy felt her chest uncoil itself at his words "besides, being your partner is a full-time job, I don't have the time to go seeing someone else as well" now Judy could feel the heat rising up her ears.

"I was thinking about using it to buy my apartment" said Nick slowly "the place means a lot to me, and it's in a convenient spot. I could use the rest of the money to do it up nice"

"That's a great idea!" Nick jumped at the enthusiasm in Judy's voice "You have to do it, just wait till the look on Noct's face when he sees it all brand new and fancy"

Nick sniggered a bit at that, his brother hadn't particularly taken to his apartment on his first visit.

"What about you Judy?" asked Nick.

Judy looked round in surprise, it was rare for Nick to use her actual name "what about me?"

"I was thinking of giving some of the money to you" said Nick looking out the window again.

"When I said find a girl and show her the town I wasn't really thinking about myself" grinned Judy.

Yes! Yes I was! Her thoughts sang.

"I was thinking more for getting you out of that little closet you call an apartment" said Nick as he tried not to imagine taking Judy out around town "I mean, I'm fairly sure an apartment needs more than one room"

"I can't do that Nick" said Judy softly "There's too much history surrounding that money, I'd be intruding. Besides I'm only in that place to sleep, I go around to yours if I want other facilities, like a sofa"

"Judy, I-"

"Nick" interrupted Judy calmly but firmly "I won't take that money, you use it to make your apartment amazing, not like I won't benefit from that"

The fox could see the determination in her beautiful purple eyes and knew that he wouldn't get his way. He settled back in his chair with a sigh.

Wait a minute he thought as a sly grin slowly emerged on his face let's try a different angle. What if I… you know, that might work…

The fox had a plan, one that the more he thought about the better it seemed, the gears in his head turned as everything seemed to fall into place perfectly. He was just running some sums in his head as they arrived at the precinct. He was going through his mental list of contacts about who might owe him a favour or two as they walked in through the main doors. And he was starting to make some basic designs in his head when there was an ear crushing, excited squeal that knocked all that out of his mind.

Judy could see that Nick was preoccupied with something but she could also see that he was in a much better mood so she left him to it. As they entered the precinct she once more saw two familiar animals. Lunette was early again and stood chatting to Clawhauser, if anything Judy thought they were getting on even better than she'd seen last time. Judy headed towards them and, as always, was spotted by Benjy almost immediately. He may only be a desk officer now but nothing went in or out of the department without Clawhauser knowing about it.

She could see the warning signs, the little wiggle he made, the twitch of his tail as the tip started to curl up. Hurriedly Judy jammed her fingers in her very sensitive ears before the sonic catastrophe could happen. Clawhauser squealed in joy just as he did every day when he saw Nick and Judy arrive together. Next to her Nick looked like a foghorn had just gone off by his ear and Lunette was gingerly massaging the side of her head.

Judy left Nick recovering and stepped up to the desk "Morning Benjy, Lunette" the rabbit greeted.

A twinkle that Judy had grown to dread appeared on the cheetah's face.

"It was Wednesday yesterday" said Clawhauser slowly "Soooo, how was Movie Night?"

Judy had just known he was going to ask about that because he asked that question every Thursday morning.

This is the first time where you've actually realised you have feelings for Nick though Judy thought feeling herself to start to blush already is that going to make all this more or less embarrassing?

"Movie Night?" asked Lunette to Clawhauser before Judy could respond.

"Oh, Nick and Judy have a Movie Night every Wednesday" explained the cheetah "not that they don't spend most of their time with each other anyway"

Judy was about to refute Benjamin's statement, they didn't spend most of their time together… okay maybe they did but even so. However before she could do so, Judy's worst nightmare, one that she didn't even know she had until this precise moment, occurred before her very eyes.

A twinkle and a grin that the doe had only ever seen on Clawhauser slowly appeared on Lunette's face as the wolf turned back to look at Judy.

"Soooo, how was Movie Night?" asked Lunette perfectly mirroring the cheetah.

Judy had been steadily working up a blush, however, at this all the blood drained out of her face. Judy's gaze flicked between the two predators staring down at her like a, well, a rabbit caught in the headlights. Her mouth opened and closed a few times.

"Traitor!" said Judy with a small meep as she ran towards the bull pen.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't tease my partner to death" came a voice, Nick had finally cleared his head of Clawhauser's glass shattering squeal "that's my job"

Suddenly Nick found himself under the same scrutinising gaze that Judy had just been subjected to. The fox however was far better at keeping cool and Clawhauser scowled because he knew he wouldn't get anything out of Nick. Lunette and Nick had to move anyway or they would be late for briefing.

"You and Benjy seem to be getting along well" said Nick as they walked.

"Oh we just found some common ground to talk about" said the wolf with a grin.

"Well, that's all well and good" said Nick "but I really wouldn't push Carrots much more than this, never seen colour leave her face while dealing with Clawhauser"

"I'll bear that in mind" Lunette laughed lightly "perhaps you should sit next to your partner this morning rather than me"

Nick agreed that was probably for the best, Lunette chose a seat out of the way near the door as Nick walked down the aisle towards his partner.

"You okay Fluff?" he asked concernedly as he jumped up onto the seat next to her "Not seen Benjy get to you like that before"

Judy was slumped face first onto the desk and didn't bother to raise her head to reply "I can deal with one mammal looking at me like that, not two, it's like my entire personal life is on display in front of them"

By the time Chief Bogo arrived Judy had recovered enough to be sat up professionally in her chair. Judy, Lunette and Nick all knew what they were doing today though they were a little surprised when Bogo didn't say anything about their assignment. They waited till all the other officers had filed out to do their jobs.

"The hospital phoned this morning" began the Chief as he tidied up his paperwork "The boy is awake, but there are some complications"

"How so sir?" asked Nick, he was genuinely worried about the Jackal pup.

"The initial tests are back, whatever was in his system was Night-howler serum but it was mixed with a multitude of other drugs and chemicals. I'm afraid this cocktail of drugs may have left permanent… side-effects on the boy's body. I want a detailed report about his condition, you will need to consult the doctors in charge of him."

Chief Bogo watched the three officers in front of him salute and leave in a hurry. He went to rub his forehead when he realised he didn't have a headache. Whatever had happened over the past few days, Officer Wilde had been on excellent behaviour. Chief Bogo sighed, he knew it wouldn't last.

It had taken them about half an hour to get the keys from Clawhauser, drive to the hospital, park and deal with the hospital reception. The three officers were now following along behind a Dr Hinckley, a lioness in medical overalls.

"The stuff that was in the pup's bloodstream was essentially a pile of garbage" the doctor said as she led the way through the corridors of the hospital "there was definitely Midnicampum holicithias, Night Howlers, however the sheer quantity of different chemicals also present are the obvious explanation for why the boy was still somewhat rational despite being savage"

Dr Hinckley stopped in front of one of the private rooms but gestured for the others to wait first.

"It was a miracle that you found him when you did, and the decision to sedate him was the best one that could have been made, if he had been left in that state for much longer his body would have simply shut down. The mishmash of drugs that he was under has left a terrible strain on his body, one that we are unsure as to what the effects will be or how long lasting"

Nick could feel his heart leap into his throat and Judy's left foot was thumping the floor rapidly as it did when she was stressed.

"Would it be okay if I went with you Dr Hinckley?" asked Lunette "I never actually met the boy in person so he may be rather unnerved by my presence" she turned to Nick and Judy when the lioness nodded "You can get a statement from Asra and I'll get the details on his condition from the hospital"

Nick and Judy nodded as well, the wolf was a good colleague to have on a case. Nick watched the two females disappear down the corridor before turning his attention to the door. Judy placed a paw on his side reassuringly and Nick took a dep breath as he pushed the door open.

Inside was a stereotypical hospital room, sterile colour scheme, TV up in one corner of the room, nothing else other than the bed, a dresser and a few chairs. Asra was sat up in the bed, although it seemed designed for a larger animal as the pillow was bigger than he was. He had his eyes closed but he wasn't asleep and stirred as the two officers entered. The boy had been very on edge since he'd woken up. He no longer had those horrible feelings and the doctors told him that he wasn't savage anymore. But Asra wasn't really a people person and hospitals in particular made him uneasy. So when he recognised the two police officers who walked in he felt calmer than he had done in a long while.

"Mr Wilde, Miss Hopps" said the jackal happily "thank you for saving me yesterday"

Nick felt a burst of pride in his chest.

So this is what it's like to save someone Nick thought to himself I'll need to say thanks to Noct again at some point

"We're just glad to see that you're okay" said Nick in the same voice he'd used to calm the pup down the day before.

Nick and Judy pulled up two of the chairs and sat down next to the bed by Asra so they could get a good look at him. There didn't seem to be any major injuries on him, no casts or heavy-duty bandages, there were a couple of plasters on his face and arms but that was it. There was only one thing truly noteworthy about the pup's appearance and when they saw it Nick and Judy let out a small, collective gasp.

Asra's right eye was still in the slit like shape that seemed to represent savageness while his left had returned to normal.

"Your eye" said Judy softly, her heart clenching at the sight "are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine now" said Asra smiling weakly "it was a bit of a surprise when I saw a mirror, I, I thought you might be afraid though"

"We've seen real savage animals Asra" said Nick looking him straight in the eye without any reaction showing on the fox's face "just because your eye is a bit different, it doesn't mean anything, what was scary was seeing those eyes without any light in them"

"Savage animals lose their reasoning, they can't think properly Asra" explained Judy "it's the animals behind the eyes that were scary, and you certainly do not scare us"

The words meant a lot to Asra, especially coming from the famous Judy Hopps, he started to cry quietly. He hadn't noticed how worried he was about being seen as a monster since he'd first looked in a mirror.

"You'll be fine Asra" said Nick with a smirk "in fact, I bet once you grow up the ladies will be all over you with that eye of yours"

Judy glared at him slightly disapprovingly but it got a chuckled out of Asra so she let it go.

"We're going to need to ask you a few questions Asra" said Judy as she took out her notepad and pen "is that okay?" she carried on when she got a nod from the Jackal "first of all, can you remember what happened to you?"

The pup frowned as he thought "It-it's rather blurry" he said slowly "I was out in Sahara Square like normal… then there was someone behind me and then everything was dark"

Nick glanced over at Judy and mouthed 'Kidnapping?', she nodded thoughtfully and made a note.

"I can't remember much after that, it's all flashes, there was light and noise, people talking, and then everything got… worse. Louder sounds, stronger scents, it was driving me crazy. The lights were blinding, the voices seemed to deafen me, I could smell too much. Then I can't remember anything except smelling water. When I came to again I was in a wood and Mr Wilde found me"

Nick's face was expressionless as he read the Jackal in front of him. He'd picked up a few things from the moment he'd met the pup and, combined with what they'd just learnt, he had a horrible idea what had happened.

"Thank you Asra" said Judy smiling warmly "those were all really useful things for us to know. Now I just need a little information about you"

The Jackal looked a little uncomfortable but nodded anyway.

"Your name is Asra Howlings. How old are you Asra?"

"13"

"And where are your parents? Who should we contact about you being here?"

Judy looked up as Nick put his paw on her shoulder and he shook his head. Confused, the bunny let her partner take over.

"It's okay Asra" said Nick slowly "There's nothing wrong with living on the streets" the Jackal looked over in surprise, as if the fox had read his mind "I've done it myself in the past, I can recognise the signs" Nick turned to Judy "He's an orphan, living on the streets, you see them all over Zootopia if you look in the right places"

Judy looked over at Asra full of concern as Nick continued.

"Looking at the left-over effects on Asra, I'd say that whatever drug they used on him was still being tested, and there are always mammals that no one will notice if they disappear. Make sure that Bogo looks into missing animals from the poorer districts, though I doubt many will be reported"

Judy nodded and hurriedly added that to her list of notes, so far they had a lot of information that they could use.

"Now I know you're worried about being in a hospital Asra" said Nick carefully as he stood up and approached the Jackal "I was wary of them myself when I was living rough. But you don't need to concern yourself with any of that, we'll cover anything the hospital asks for, and if it comes to it I know someone who can look after you for a while"

Asra still saw the fox as a pillar of support, probably left over from the events yesterday, hearing that he understood what Asra was feeling brought up a well of emotions in the pup. Nick gently wrapped his arms round Asra as the Jackal started sobbing. Judy watched her partner with pride, who said that a mammal couldn't redeem himself, Nick's past let him connect with others in a way that Judy never could. She'd never lived in the dark underbelly of Zootopia, and as much as it pained her to think that Nick had, even this was just something else that her partner could do that she couldn't.

Gradually the crying quietened down and Nick and Judy saw that Asra had drifted off to sleep. They'd noticed his tiredness throughout the whole interview, obviously the drug had taxed his body a lot. Silently they left the room making sure not to wake Asra again, Lunette was standing against the wall waiting for them.

"The report doesn't look good" said the wolf as the three of them set off down the corridor "physically he wasn't too injured externally, the main problem is that he's torn a lot of his muscles. This was similar to the savage animals, the limiters in their brains were effectively switched off by the serum, mammals haven't needed to use the full capabilities of their bodies for thousands of years"

"The other animals recovered from that though, right?" asked Judy worriedly.

"Yes, with proper rehabilitation there were no issues" said Lunette as she checked through her own notes "the worst of it is the drug though. It's based on Night-howlers but there is so much stuff added to it that it's a miracle it didn't kill the pup instantly. The hospital has found traces of heroin, tranquilisers, and a whole load of different chemicals, all mixed in with Night-howlers"

"May I?" asked Nick gesturing at Lunette's notes.

She handed them to the fox who started to leaf through them as Lunette continued.

"The drug, as harsh as it sounds, seemed more like an experiment or so the researchers in the lab said. It certainly made a sane savage animal however the damage it caused far outweighed any use this might have. If you hadn't sedated him when you did he would be dead, simple as"

Judy's ears fell as she clasped her paws to her mouth.

"Even so, his body was on the brink of shutting down, he's very weak right now and we don't know how well he'll recover. On the plus side he's a growing boy which should help somewhat but we also don't know what effect the cocktail of drugs will have on his changing physiology."

"Is there anything they can do about this?" asked Judy as they entered the hospital's reception area.

"Well, the Night-howler antidote helped a lot, and currently they are flushing the boy's system of the rest of the drugs as best they can. Beyond that, they've never seen something like this before so they don't know"

Seeing that Nick was still quiet Judy turned to look at him. The fox was still leafing through the notes Lunette had made with an angry frown on his face.

"Nick?"

It took a few more tries from Judy before they got through to him. Nick looked up to see that they were outside and nearly back at the cruiser.

"Hmm? What's up Carrots?"

"You were rather engrossed with those notes" said Judy with a little smile "we said shall we go get some food before we start patrol… and parking duty for you"

"And I'm paying" said Lunette insistently "I still kind of owe Judy for back with Mr. Big"

"Why that would be wonderful" said Nick smiling "I was getting slightly worried as I've-"

"Forgotten your wallet?" interrupted Judy raising an eyebrow "I've not heard that one before"

"Ouch, you know Carrots, if your sarcasm gets any thicker I'll be able to cut it with a knife"

"Well I think some fox is having a bad influence on me, maybe I should change partners"

"Sly Bunny"

"Dumb Fox"

"… Can we go get some food now?" said Lunette, a twinkle starting to appear in her eyes as she watched the two of them.

Seeing this Judy gulped and leapt into the car.

They finally settled on the place Lunette had spotted the day before. It got Nick's seal of approval which meant it had to be pretty decent. The three of them were now sat in a booth, in an out of the way corner, staring at the menu. Eventually a waitress came to take their order, Nick ordered a cricket omelette and recommended it to Lunette too. Judy shook her head in disbelief, of course Nick would have a recommendation for a diner they picked at random, she had a salad, no onion but extra peppers.

"Any thoughts on our leads so far?" asked Judy while they waited.

"Hmm" said Nick leaning on his elbow "well, we'll definitely need to check out Sahara Square, I'll get an exact location from Asra next time I see him"

"Aw, you going to visit?" asked Judy smiling.

"No one else is" said Nick his smirk looking a bit strained at the moment.

Judy wanted nothing more at that moment than to wrap her arms round him and tell him how wonderful he was and how proud she was of him.

"I don't know how much we'll find though" continued Nick "the kidnappers probably aren't based near where they caught Asra, too easy to be tracked. He talked about the smell of water but that doesn't narrow things down too much"

"True" agreed Judy as their food arrived, she took a quick bite before speaking again "I mean that could be anywhere in the Rainforest District, the Canal District, along the coastline… could even be Tundratown at a pinch"

"You're getting better at this Carrots, have I told you that?"

"Yes, yes you have"

"Still, I think we can rule out Tundratown, Asra ended up in a park on Green Street, Savanna Central, so he had to be within traveling distance for the pup even if he was savage at the time"

"Huh, Sly Fox"

"Now that's something I haven't heard you say in a long time, I'll have to put it in my journal"

Nick looked across the booth from him and Judy to look at Lunette. She hadn't spoken the entire time since they had ordered. She was just watching the two of them. The wolf seemed very good at wearing a mask, almost as good as Nick, most likely from living in Los Antleres the fox surmised. But she was only almost as good as Nick. It took all the skill he'd honed over his life to find any little tells from her.

"Alright" he asked as he took another mouthful of delicious omelette "What's eating you, Bruma?"

Lunette choked as a bit of omelette when down the wrong way. Judy looked over in concern before glaring at Nick in a 'what did you do' sort of way.

"W-" Lunette took a deep breath to calm her coughing fit "what did you just call me?"

Nick's eyes narrowed, a single word that he'd just thrown out without thinking, and her mask had crumbled. Fear, surprise, joy, sadness, loss… love.

Well this is complicated the fox thought.

"Bruma" said Nick acting as if nothing major had happened "it means winter in another language" he looked over at Judy "You know me and nicknames"

"Is something wrong Lunette?" Judy asked carefully, she'd seen the sorrow on the wolf's face before "if you want to talk we're here to listen"

"Not that you need to talk about it" Nick butted in "I know a lot about not wanting to talk about things"

The white wolf stared at the two of them for a long while, gradually her expression softened and she took a deep breath.

"Yeah, yeah, I guess I can talk about it with you two" she said smirking for just a moment "Bruma is what my mate calls me"

Nick and Judy waited patiently for Lunette to open up, Nick also kept on eating his omelette with a happy grin on his face. Judy elbowed him in the ribs and he tried to act a bit more serious.

"You remember how I told you about my life in Los Antleres, Judy? About how I lost faith in our profession and was just going through the motions. And that I met the Shade and suddenly things started happening again. Well that's only part of the story about how I pulled myself out of that slump" Lunette smiled fondly as she thought back "I met a guy, and he made me see that, while Los Antleres is a terrible place full of terrible people, it still has its good points. It's quite funny really, we met by chance, in the middle of a shootout"

Lunette chuckled at the confused looks on the other two officers "I was on patrol when I found a robbery going on at a supermarket. They were alone but armed, I thought I could take them, unfortunately it turned out they had two friends as well who I hadn't seen. It became chaos, luckily most of the other shoppers had run for cover. There was just one guy standing there, I dove towards him and tackled us both into cover. Bullets started to fly but luckily the shelves were holding up" Lunette laughed lightly to herself "I was about to berate the male for being so stupid but he beat me to it. He looked at me and just said 'beautiful, you're beautiful, would you care for a dance?'"

Nick raised an eyebrow at this as Judy's mouth opened in surprise.

"I was pumped full of adrenaline as bullets landed all around and for some reason I took his hand. It was the most surreal thing I've ever experienced, we danced down the aisles of the supermarket while bullets flew all around us. The robbers were idiots, they holed up by the tills and just kept shooting. They didn't try to flush us out since they outnumbered us nor did they notice no one was shooting back and try to flee. Which meant I just kept dancing till backup finally arrived and took care of the criminals. I went back to talk to the officers who had arrived but my dance partner had gone by the time I finished with all that. I felt a bit sad, that was my first proper dance with a male since I never went to prom or anything like that"

Lunette paused the story to eat some more of her omelette before it went cold, she had to give it to Nick, it was delicious "except that wasn't the end. He went and found me, and this time he meant business. He courted me with a passion, I was a little scared, I'd dated before yes but I'd never met anyone chasing after me with such sincerity before. I asked him why we danced and he just said 'I saw the most beautiful wolf, no, mammal, I had ever seen. With all the danger around I would have died with regrets if we hadn't made it and I hadn't asked you to dance'. I've never met anyone, before or since, who showed me how much they loved me at any given moment. I couldn't help but fall for him in return"

Judy was hugging herself with a huge smile on her face as she listened to her friend's love life.

"Everything was wonderful, I felt like the light I'd lost had returned with him, until I met the Shade. That was when everything started to unravel, my career was put under the grinder but the worst was that he… disappeared" a look of terrible sadness and loss appeared on Lunette's face "One day he just never came home, I searched and searched but there was nothing, no clue, no evidence. It was like he just didn't exist anymore. I love him, still love him, more than anything, he's my mate" small tears started to well up in the corners of her eyes "I just want him back, I want to know why he vanished, was it my fault?…"

Judy's face that had been so happy suddenly fell to almost match the sorrow on the wolf's face. Even Nick was feeling uncomfortably moved by the story, he cleared his throat.

"I- we can only offer an understanding shoulder to lean on" he said with a sad smile "You're not the only one with stories like that" he pointedly ignored the laser sharp stare that a certain grey bunny aimed at him when he said that "It's just… I don't quite get why you were so hesitant to tell us this"

"Los Antleres may be the worst place to live that you could imagine" said Lunette slowly as she dried her eyes "however in some ways, not that I'd ever want to go back there, it's better off than Zootopia. In Los Antleres everyone is in the same pile of garbage, there is literally no discrimination or speciesism. Here in Zootopia, well, because it is a much better city there are prejudices. In Los Antleres no would care that you were a fox, you could be a cop, a lawyer, whatever. And being a rabbit certainly wouldn't hinder your choice of profession Judy"

Lunette sighed a little and smiled, she looked mostly back to normal "I never, at any point in the story, said that my mate was a wolf, did I?"

Judy's eyes widened at the revelation, she couldn't help glancing swiftly at Nick, something Lunette caught with a twinkle in her eye.

"Let's just say that I was a dog and he was a cat" said the wolf carefully "I-I'm sorry but I don't really want to go any further into this"

Judy wiggled down from her seat, vanished under the table and reappeared next to Lunette. The rabbit wrapped her arms around the wolf and pulled her into a hug like a vice. Lunette couldn't quite believe the force the bunny was capable of putting out. 'I can't move, my ribs are breaking' she mouthed at Nick across the table. The fox gave her a sympathetic smile and the slight pain in his eyes showed that he understood exactly what Lunette was going through.