My thanks to everyone for reading, and a special thank-you to everyone who responded to my little April Fools joke. My apologies to anyone I may have upset, and particularly Justin Durfee (I thought I put a note in there explaining that it was a joke, but maybe something went wrong as I was fixing a goof-up. Again, sorry about that).

Truth is, the kind of feedback I described… yeah, gotten some of that here and there, mostly via private messages but occasionally in reviews. If it had come earlier on I might have given up, but with reviewers like you guys how can I stop? Besides, at this point I take the doubts as a challenge, so rest assured I'll finish this story or die trying, Good Lord willing and the creek don't rise as they say.

And on one more note before we begin, I'm renewing something I did a while back and posting this chapter as a kind of birthday present to my readers. Because it's a special day, and in light of the April Folls joke, I've got some shout-outs to a few of my most encouraging readers. I'll probably be doing it again, so don't get upset if I miss you. Feel free to shoot me a PM, and I'll give you props in a later chapter.


"Doesn't it strike you as odd? Those down there look nice. Up here they look unhappy, then cruel. And these look as if they're in despair, as if they've done dreadful things and suffered dreadful things."

Polly, The Magician's Nephew (Focus on the Family audio version)

Some have said that the male mind is made up of a vast collection of carefully organized boxes, and that one of these boxes was the 'nothing' box, where guys went to just veg out and rest their brain cells for a while.

Nick would have given just about anything to climb into his 'nothing box' and take a good, long nap, hoping that when he emerged the whole blowout with Finnick would be a bad dream.

Alas, fortune did not smile upon him that day. He was stuck in the Finnick Box, as if someone had stuffed him in there and sat on the lid. All he could think about was the argument, and all the maybes and what-ifs. He could have Finnick's car fixed, but there were so many snags. Even though he should have enough money for the repairs – or even a new van – squirreled away in off-the-books accounts, he might need that money to settle his taxes. Even if he called in a favor to get the old jalopy back up and running, that wouldn't really deal with the main issue.

Finnick felt betrayed, and deep down Nick couldn't blame him. He'd thought of it as throwing his friend a bone, or a rescue line depending on how you looked at it, but in a way hadn't he used Finnick? He'd convinced him to help with talk of reward money, and instead Finnick had taken a hit not just to his pocket, but to everything. That van was his home, his means of income, and really his baby in a sense. You couldn't just slap someone's baby and then make it up by paying the bill for whatever injuries happened. Life wasn't that simple.

A passing bumper sticker caught his eye. In flourishing letters just shy of script, it read, 'You haven't done anything you can't make right.'

Huh. Yeah, sure, he thought bitterly, not sure if he was thinking more at himself or at whoever came up with that bumper sticker. Hate to break it to ya, but real life's a little more complicated than that.

In this weary daze, he roamed the streets of Zootopia and kept his mind only just engaged enough to accomplish manual tasks like waiting for walk signals. His thoughts, all the while, went around and around like rocks in a rock tumbler as he tried to think of how to make things right with his old partner in crime. How could he do that, though, when the whole aim of his life at the moment was to get out of crime? Was he doing the right thing, or had he just been pulled into a fantasy? Had he been right when he so scornfully told Judy that 'you can only be what you are'?

Somewhere in his aimless wandering he ended up at the fence surrounding Little Rodentia. His eyes settled on the rooftops of the quaint maze-like mini-town as mice, rats, hamsters, and lemmings went about their business. Everything seemed so normal and run-of-the-mill there. The overlooking view made him feel like a giant with giant-sized problems far beyond the diminutive denizens. If the residents hadn't occasionally glanced up at him with varying looks of curiosity, displeasure, or unease, he would have felt like he was looking at a world totally removed from his own.

"Hey, move along, long-nose. You're slashing the property values."

He spun around, more than ready to give the bigoted big-mouth a piece of his mind, but then he realized the remark wasn't directed at him. Some yards away, a burly capybara was looming over a familiar-looking vixen. The target of his aggression had her paws raised in defense and an uneasy look on her face.

"Mister, I wasn't-"

"I didn't ask what you were doing, lady. I told ya to move."

Something inside Nick popped loose, and before he knew what he was doing his paws were carrying him towards the two. In the scant seconds it took to cross the gap, his mind locked onto one of the dozens of plans filed away for just such emergencies. Almost instinctively, he stood up straight and confident, and his voice assumed a formal, somewhat condescending tone that wouldn't have been the least bit out of place with a British accent.

"Excuse me, sir – and ma'am," he greeted, winking to Taelia in a wordless prompt to play along. He had to resist the urge to wince at the smell of the giant rodent's cheap cologne. "May I see your paperwork?"

The over-sized rodent stared at Nick as if he had turned green. Taelia looked similarly confused, though she kept quiet. Surprised as she was to see Nick, she got the feeling that her knight in shining armor – or mismatched fashion chic in this case – knew what he was doing.

"Paperwork?" asked the capybara, puzzled. "What paperwork?"

"Oh, the usual. Employment agreements, a contract, that kind of thing. I'm looking for the form that connects the two of you."

After a moment of confusion the capybara started to laugh. "Employment agreement? I don't run no business, and if I did there's no way I'd hire a skulking bit-"

"Oh, so she doesn't work for you," Nick cut him off, looking back and forth between them. "Well, I guess that means you're not her boss."

Silence greeted his remark as the capybara regarded him with annoyance. Taelia looked like she wanted to laugh, but Nick firmed his expression and hinted that cracking a smile would spoil the hustle.

"Um, excuse me, sir," she said instead, struggling to keep a straight face, "but who are you?"

Nick flashed out a business card and pocketed it again, too quickly for them to see what was on it. "Well, it's technically my day off, but I happen to represent the Rogers and Renald law firm – I'm sure you've heard of it – and we specialize in cases of harassment and discrimination. City ordinances clearly state the area around Little Rodentia for at least twenty yards is public property, open to any and all mammals. May I have your contact information, please, both of you? You'll be hearing from my office."

Faced with the words 'law firm,' the capybara backed away. "Oh, brother," he uttered, partially faking and partly believing Nick's words through his skepticism. "I ain't got time for this. You want my digits, get a PI to dig them up." So saying, he turned tail and departed with a huff and a somewhat hurried gait.

Nick raised a finger to his lips, warning Taelia to keep quiet until her persecutor was out of earshot. Only when the coast was clear did he give her leave to laugh.

"So, how long were you standing there waiting to play the hero?" she asked, regarding him quizzically.

He shrugged. "Only an hour or two," he replied offhandedly. When her expression quirked to one of skepticism, he shook his head. "I'm kidding. I had no idea I'd run into you here."

"Well, I'm sure not complaining." She looked around before continuing. "You mind if we walk? I came here to do some shopping, and I'd like to get it done before more like him show up – unless you want to play the hero again."

As tempting as it was to show off a little more, Nick wasn't really in the mood at the moment. Pretty sad shape when I'm not in the mood to flirt with a vixen, he mused. Still he couldn't stop some of the snark from shining through. "Gotta warn you, one blockhead a day is my usual target. Can't bag too many or they'll go endangered and be protected by law."

She snorted a laugh and elbowed him. "Oh, you," she chided. "Now let's see, where did she say it was?"

It turned out that Taelia was on the track of the cheese she had told Nick about on their lunch date at Chez Cheese. Ellen had dropped her a tip that there was a great gourmet cheese store outside Little Rodentia that might have what she was looking for, so she'd come to check it out.

"Aw, snap," Nick grumbled when she brought that up. He motioned with a paw for her to come with him and started walking. Although he could have just pointed her in the direction of the place, or mentioned the smell of the cheese, he could do with some hassle-free company. "I've been by that place a dozen times. I should have mentioned it."

She shrugged, falling into step. "Well, I'm sure you had bigger things to think about than haute cuisine.Speaking of which, what's going on with the police work? Anything on that?"

He made a face. And here I was starting to forget, he thought dismally, his ears sliding back.

Taelia caught his change in demeanor and backed away slightly – not out of fear, but rather contrition. "Oof, sorry. Look, if you don't want to talk about it, I'm sorry I asked."

Nick shook his head. Just my luck. Can't face Mom, can't face Finnick, and now even Taelia's put off. "It's not that I don't want to talk about it," he fibbed. "It's just… you know, secret stuff."

She nodded understandingly, her ready acceptance offering some relief – sort of. "You're hanging in there, right?"

That was the million-dollar question, wasn't it? "Maybe," he muttered, "but I don't really know."

It was pretty clear his acting skills were slipping when Taelia could see through them that quickly, considering how recently they'd met. Is he thinking of giving up? She almost asked it out loud, but held her tongue in check. Her mind, however, stayed busy working over the subject as she followed him to the cheese shop. Nick couldn't just give up on this, right? Of course not. Every cell in her brain wanted to say something that would put him back on his paws, but at the same time she knew pushing too hard could backfire badly if he was as discouraged as he had just looked. Like her father used to say, 'Nobody wants a cheerleader in a funeral home.'

She felt her eyes drawn to Little Rodentia, and while Nick saw it and felt big, she experienced rather the opposite effect.

Whether her silence acted as a kind of reverse psychology or Nick was just desperate to unload, neither of them would ever know for sure. A moment later, however, Nick muttered, "A buddy of mine tried to help me out, and… well, it kinda backfired on him."

Taelia wasn't sure how trying to help Nick get into the police department could backfire on anyone, but she nodded. Must have been pretty bad, she thought. Nick didn't seem like the type to just crumple, although she imagined loyalty would be a pretty sensitive point for him. "Is he okay?"

"Oh, yeah, he's alive and kicking. He's just, uh… well, he's not very happy with me right now."

"Oh."

Nick apparently didn't feel like sharing further, and Taelia didn't want to press him. She had to admit, though, that she was dying to know how all of this fit together. She tried to curb her curiosity when it came to mammals' personal business, but that aside she was really worried about him.


As soon as the officers reached the place, Catano told Judy to keep an eye on Finnick.

"Last time we checked out a base of operations for these mammals, they tried to bomb it," she explained. "I wouldn't put it past them to try it again."

Judy didn't see why she had to be the one to keep an eye on Finnick, at least until she remembered that Catano had more experience with explosives. But reasoning aside, she was the type that still needed something to do while they waited for Catano to return. Seeing that she was stuck in the cruiser and alone with the fennec, she decided she might as well try to sort things out with her sort-of friend.

"Hey," she said quietly, twisting to look around the side of the seat. "I know you're mad. I would be too, but we'll think of something to do about your van."

Finnick just scowled.

"I mean, I'm sure there's some strings we can pull to get it fixed, and even if we can't the reward money when we catch these guys-"

"If you catch 'em," Finnick scowled. "I been pulling stuff for longer than you've been around, Cottontail, and the only reason you guys got me now is 'cause I tried to help for once."

Species-ist terms aside, Judy cringed at the fox's barely concealed vitriol. She was about to say that he never tried anything on the scale of what these sheep had committed (well, she was pretty sure of that, anyway), but then he kept on talking.

"That smug fox thinks it's all so easy. Just use a friend to get on the right side of the law, smooth everything over, and blow off the little guys who kept him going."

That was too much. "Nick's not-"

"He never would have made it on the streets without me!" he snapped, baring his teeth. "That fox may be smart, but he couldn't fight his way out of a wet paper bag if you gave him an Ewezzi. If it wasn't for me, they woulda eaten him alive."

Judy had had enough. "Nick is not going to just blow you off," she shot back. "He's not using me, and he didn't use you. He's trying to do the right thing, okay?"

Finnick paused slightly at the unexpected outburst, then snorted. "Yeah, well, good luck to him with that," he uttered bitterly.

Judy tried not to let Finnick's bitterness rub off on her. She really did. All the same, though her tone was softer when she replied, there was still some bite underneath, like a trap with padded jaws.

"I saw the way he walked out," she insisted. "He knows he hurt you, and maybe you don't know how much he hates that."

Finnick snorted. "I'm guessing you do, seeing as you burned him pretty good."

If she had been in more of a debating frame of mind, Judy might have seized on that to point out that yes, she had hurt Nick, and she'd redeemed that flub, so that was proof Nick could redeem himself too. At the moment, though, she just didn't have the heart. "Yeah," she admitted quietly. "Yeah, I did."

He gazed at her grimly, and it was hard to tell whether he was being bitter or trying to help with his next remark. "Take my advice, kid," he grumped. "Stop feeling so much. Good way to get yourself killed in real life."

She knew he was wrong. She knew, deep down, that to stop feeling was to stop living, in a way. For once, though, she'd lost the heart to keep pressing her case.

The pint-sized pair sat in silence for a long time before Catano approached the car.

"Only one inside," she reported, "and someone disarmed it already."

Inside the bar, it was easy enough to see that a fight had taken place. Several tables were overturned, glasses and bottles lay broken, and a chair's back hung haphazardly with the pieces broken most of the way through.

"Yours, I presume?" Catano asked Finnick, noting this last with an extended thumb.

Finnick scowled. "Probably. What makes you think so?"

"The breaks are all in a straight line," she answered, speaking as if it were almost insultingly obvious. "Not exactly a huge brainstorm to guess it was broken with a rigid object."

Towards the middle of the damaged area, they found several spatters of blood.

"I dished out a few broken noses," Finnick boasted without a trace of regret. "And somewhere in the fight I managed to get my paw on a busted bottle."

Somehow, the mental image of the tiny fox dual-wielding a collapsible bat – which he had reluctantly surrendered as evidence – and a beer bottle with the end broken off into jagged shards was actually quite terrifying… even if he was dressed as a sheep.

"Don't touch the blood," Catano instructed, undeterred, pulling out her phone to send a text. "We'll have forensics check it out."

"Who are you texting at a time like this?" Finnick wanted to know.

She glanced at him, evidently pondering whether to answer. "Security office at the hospital," she replied. "I'm having them send out an APB to all medical facilities in the city for any sheep coming in with broken noses, lacerations, or…?" she paused, looking to the fox.

He dipped his chin into a paw, thinking. "I think I busted a leg somewhere in there, and maybe an arm."

At this the cheetah looked mildly impressed. Judy, meanwhile, made a mental note not to be on the opposite side from Finnick in a fight.

They made a thorough investigation of the place, descending as far as the basement.

"Shouldn't we check out the tunnels?" asked Judy.

Catano shook her head. "Forensics should be here soon, and it's best if we leave the evidence undisturbed as much as possible. So far all we've got is one dropped wallet and Finnick's list of names. That's not much to go on."

"So why'd we come here in the first place?"

"In case they left something important behind," Catano answered.

"What about down in the tunnels?" asked Finnick.

She shook her head. "Right now the point of even having you here is because you're the only one talking who knew the events as they happened. You weren't down there then, so unless you can come up with some reason to go down there it's better we leave downstairs alone."

There was no arguing with that kind of logic. Catano's next imperative, however, could hardly have made less sense.

"Go into the males' room," she told Finnick. "Don't touch anything. Just go in there and wait until we call for you."

"Oh, now you've got no use for me? You two high-and-mighties wanna talk alone?"

Catano met Finnick's glare with a calm, 'don't-mess-with-me' look as Judy gazed on literally feeling the tension.

Not like this, she thought. While we spin our wheels, the bad guys are getting away. We need to do something!

"Callie," she said quietly, "whatever you have to say, you can say in front of him."

They both turned to him, their polarized looks shifting to matched ones of surprise.

"I trust you, Finnick. We need to work together on this, and you've lost enough trying to help us." Catano opened her mouth to speak, but Judy wouldn't let her. "I mean it this time. If this has anything to do with Finnick he should hear about it."

"It has to do with Wilde, actually."

"Oh, then I definitely ain't movin'," Finnick answered, folding his arms.

Catano eyed him and then sighed in annoyance. "One of these days, Hopps, you'll regret being so flexible."

Nobody moved, except for Judy making a slight circling motion with her paw. "So…?"

The cheetah shook her head. "Why won't Wilde get the plans he needs to…?" she paused, glancing at Finnick out of the corner of her eye. "… to move ahead with our case?"

Judy bit her lip, unsure what was safe to say. "Because the plans are with his mom, and they're not exactly on speaking terms."

"Old vixen wasn't exactly happy when she found out how he was helping with the bills," Finnick cut in.

Ears shooting up, Judy stared at the fennec. Didn't he realize how much that could damage Nick's chances?

She kept quiet, making a mental note to have a talk with him when she could do it privately. Looking back at Catano, she was surprised to see an odd look on the cheetah's face. Whiskers slightly drooped, eyes a fraction wider, mouth turning down… was the cheetah actually showing emotion?

Whatever it was, the mask came back on pretty quickly. "Well, he'd better get that problem fixed, and soon."

Judy spread her paws. "You can't just make someone work things out right out of thin air. It's not that-"

Something flashed in Catano's gaze. "This isn't just about the case, Hopps. Wilde needs to sort this out for his own sake, and he needs to do it before it's too late."

The words were conveyed with such conviction that even Finnick actually looked a little afraid. As for Judy, she didn't know what to think. All of what Catano was saying made sense, but… where did it come from? Why now?


It was hard to say how long the foxes stood there, looking at the miniature city, before Taelia worked up the nerve to press forward.

"Hey, if you don't want to talk about what's going on, that's okay… but do you mind if I say something?"

He shrugged. "Why not?" he asked. Can't make things worse.

Though this last thought was not said aloud, Taelia hesitated before continuing. "Well, there's kind of a saying in my family; 'No one ever proved a lie, and no one ever will.'"

It seemed like a rather blasé proverb, but Nick held his tongue. "I'm guessing that didn't come from a lawyer," he noted anemically.

Taelia shrugged. "Not exactly," she admitted. It was actually part of a little rhyme her family passed around as their own collective motto, but she didn't want to say the whole thing to Nick just then. All in all, it would have been like reciting a nursery rhyme. "My dad came up with that one back when I was… mmm, four, I think? My brother got in trouble at school because the turtle he brought for show and tell somehow ended up in his teacher's salad."

Nick tried not to snicker. He'd played more than a few pranks in his school years, but that was one stunt even he'd never tried.

"He swore he didn't do it, but everything pointed to him. He was a total wreck, freaking out about getting detention, and Dad just stopped him and asked if he knew he hadn't done anything wrong."

It sounded like a pretty dumb question, but the way she said it told him there was more coming.

"Rich said of course he knew that, and Dad tells him he can calm down then because he knows he's innocent."

Nick frowned slightly, scrunching his chin and thinking that over. "So is this some kind of 'nothing bad's gonna happen' thing?"

Taelia snorted. "Not even. The point is… oh, forget the story. The point is, you didn't do anything wrong in this mess with your friend, right?"

That was actually a pretty tough, deep-cutting question, but Nick was used to pretending those didn't bother him. It didn't stop a healthy pause before answering however. "No, I… well, I guess not."

"Then give yourself a break," she urged, pushing him lightly on the arm. "You can't control everything that happens, but you can always tell yourself, 'hey, my conscience is clean.' Sometimes the moral high ground is the only prize you can count on. Might as well enjoy it."

The old Nick Wilde would have shrugged this off, maybe even answered with a noncommittal 'Yeah, I guess' to maintain sympathy without actually agreeing. Leading up to the Junior Ranger Scouts incident, he figured he'd been too young to think anything deeper about consciences than the song in Pawnnochio. In the years after that he had done everything to squelch his moral compass. During the three months after parting ways with Judy, he had mostly wavered back between guilty loneliness and self-righteous isolation. All in all, it was safe to say he'd never really thought of life the way that Taelia was now describing.

"Thanks," he said quietly. Then, halfheartedly, he raised a paw and stuck out a thumb. "We're at the store, by the way."

Taelia startled a little, yanked out of her diverted state of mind. She'd almost forgotten where they were headed or that they were even moving, but here they were. Built basically into the border wall between Little Rodentia and the city at large, it was unsurprisingly built with sides for larger and smaller customers. The larger side, sized for mammals as large as a tiger, loomed overhead.

"Oh… thanks." She was almost sorry they had arrived, since she got the feeling Nick didn't want to tag along shopping.

His next words confirmed her guess. "Well, I guess I'll be seeing you," he added.

As he turned to go, she reached out to brush a paw against his arm. He paused and turned to look.

"Um…" she folded her paws together, unsure what to say.

"I appreciate the help," he added, "but I just… I need some time to myself right now."

She nodded. "Yeah, I know, but… don't give up, okay?"

He smiled just a little. Like with Judy, he was doing it mostly to humor her. It wasn't as convincing of an act as he fancied, but it served at least the purpose of giving the vixen a little hope that things would work out.

"I'll do my best," he promised. Then, as an afterthought, he added, "What happened to your brother anyway? After the Turtle Incident, I mean."

Taelia shrugged. "Well, they never did find the real culprit, but at least Rich knew he was innocent." After an awkward pause, she added, "Even if he did have to serve two days' detention."

Nick sighed. "Really reassuring."

She swung out a paw and lightly buffeted him with the back of it on his arm. "Unless your friend's a grade school principal, I don't think you need to worry about him giving you that."

The notion of Finnick as a principal was at once so absurd Nick had to chuckle, and so scary it gave him a chill. All the same, he smiled reassuringly as they parted ways… and this time, there was actually something genuine in it.

He wasn't quite there yet, but the cure had begun.


Later that evening, in Judy's apartment at Pangolin Arms, the bunny stared thoughtfully at her phone. The drone of the TV next door – rarely audible over the neighbors – was about the only sound besides traffic noises, and the musty, greasy smell of the wallpaper was working its way into her nose like an irritating insect. She'd have to see about moving somewhere less nauseating, but at the moment that was the least of her worries. Instead, her mind kept going back to the conversation with Callie and Finnick. She hadn't been able to get anything out of her colleague about the sudden impetus for Nick to talk with his mother, but neither had she been able to get it out of her mind.

What did she mean by 'for his own sake'? she wondered. It was clear that the cheetah cared down deep about Nick's well-being, if only as a civilian, but this couldn't be about that. It had to be something else.

It was an impenetrable enigma, and like Nick had said before, sometimes the best thing to do with an indecipherable problem was to go work on something decipherable. Whatever Catano was thinking, she was right about one thing: Nick needed to sort out this mess with his mom. It wasn't just for the plans, but really for him. No mammal should be isolated from his family for that long, and for that matter the same was true of his mother.

I just hope he's had time to recover from what Finnick said, she thought, tapping in his number.

The phone rang twice before he answered. "Hey Carrots, what's up?"

Over in the apartment next door, a voice penetrated the calm.

"Can I please change the channel?"

"Waddya mean? This is my favorite show!"

She did her best to tune out the noise as the ungulates argued about whether the show was stupid or the best thing on TV. "Uh, I was wondering if you'd like to hang out, do something non-police-related for a change." Please? she added mentally as the neighbors segued into their ritual 'No, you shut up' routine.

"Neighbors arguing again?" asked Nick.

She shook her head, not wanting to use pity on his part to get him to say yes. "Nah, nothing major. Just thought it would make a nice change of pace is all."

"Ah."Nick was quiet for a moment as if thinking it over. "Nah. I'd rather just kick back a while, you know? Bit of a rough day."

That seemed like a bad sign.

"How'd things go at the Cloven Hoof?"

She shook her head. "Nothing, really. Looks like someone tried to blow the place up to destroy any evidence, and someone else disabled it before we got there. Catano suspects it was the ewe who owns the place." Feeling the need to change the subject, she asked, "You doing okay after… well, what happened earlier?"

It almost felt cruel to even ask, like re-opening a wound that had maybe just scabbed over. She had to ask, though, for his sake.

"I guess I've gotten kinda numb to it,"he admitted, "but am I okay? No. No I am not."

Knowing how uncharacteristic it was for him to be so honest about this kind of thing only amplified Judy's sympathy pains. "Is there anything I can do?" she asked.

He shrugged. "No, I'll… I'll manage somehow."

The conversation drifted elsewhere, and didn't come back around until for some strange reason he mentioned bumping into Taelia.

"Oh," she replied when he said this. "How'd that go?"

"Well, she tried to cheer me up,"came the reply.

Judy wasn't sure if she should be annoyed that someone had done what she suspected could only make Nick's funk worse, or thankful that she wasn't the only one trying to help him. Still she figured she had to play the ball from where it lay. "What did she say?"


Not sure why he was divulging so much – except, of course, that it was Carrots – Nick related his encounter.

Silence reigned on the other end of the phone. "Well, she's got a point,"Judy replied at length.

He sighed, wondering if there was any sense in trying to explain this. "I wish it was that simple," he pointed out. "Considering how far doing the right thing gets me."

He knew he was hurting her by saying it, but he couldn't seem to keep the words in his mouth. What was he supposed to say? What was he supposed to do?


Again, Judy was quiet for a long time. A tear traced down her cheek, but she didn't sniffle. She didn't want Nick to hear how much that had hurt her. It wouldn't be fair.

"Carrots?"

She opened her mouth, but the words caught in her throat. She cleared it and tried again. "Nick," she said, doing her best to keep her voice determined and steady, "you've got nothing to apologize for, alright? You did the right thing, and honestly, I think Taelia was right."

"Are you sure I did the right thing?" he countered. "Because honestly, I'm not."

Hearing her friend's doubt, she firmed up her resolve. "Well I am," she said decisively. Maybe getting tough right now was a bad idea, but she had to do something. She had to act. "I was right there with you the whole time, and I know for a fact that you didn't do anything wrong at all. You made every right decision you could; every single one."

All in all, it was pretty much the same kind of chutzpah that that nearly gotten her and Nick killed in Mr. Big's office. Faced with everything standing in her way, she was choosing to plow ahead even knowing that it might bury her like an avalanche.

Had she used this method earlier in the day, or on someone other than Nick, it would have backfired dramatically. However, it might have been that Nick's time away had done more good than either of them knew. It might also have just been that he'd grown rather fond of her bravado, and took comfort in knowing that no matter what had changed she was still the same relentless rabbit.

Either way, no one could have been more surprised than he was that he found himself fighting back a smirk which quickly strode right over all his defenses like so many speed bumps. "Okay, Doctor Hopps," he joked in a tone of mock-surrender. "So what should I do now that all those right decisions got me here?"

Judy paused for a long moment. She hadn't expected to hear a smile in his voice. It actually worked, she thought to herself. Now what?

Taking a deep breath, she put on her trademark 'I don't know when to quit' grin, accented with just a little tenderness.

"Go make the next one."

This chapter was actually a bit of a surprise to me (I love when that happens) building off the fiasco with Finnick. I had initially meant for Judy to talk Nick through what he needed to do next, being the voice of hope and encouragement that she so often is. However, I realized that after a gut-punch like that, she wouldn't know what to say and would either just give him his space or plunge ahead too quickly and likely do more harm than good. Think of the press conference and you might get some idea of what I mean. Besides which, she would have to go with Finnick and Catano to keep pursuing the case. Fortunately, this was exactly the kind of situation – or one of them – I had intended for Taelia, and so her presence and conversation with Nick practically wrote themselves. For some of the process I figured on her carrying Nick through the whole thing herself, and Nick surprising Judy by actually being ready to get back on the case so soon, but when I got to the point that seemed a bit much. So, I ended up settling on the two girls performing a kind of accidental tag team, which is actually very appropriate on a couple of levels. I wanted Taelia's role to provide a way of exploring the complexities that are wont to arise when law enforcement and everyday life overlap, so having this kind of baton pass is almost poetic.

Another surprise: The notion of Finnick as a school principal never occurred to me until Taelia said it, and my reaction was pretty much the same as Nick's. Some of you may find that nuts since Taelia's technically in my head, but no, I'm not joking. That's actually pretty normal for some writers (if you like, I can tell about the time my whole fantasy cast staged a revolt).

On a couple of other side notes, I'd actually been wanting to use the quote from The Magician's Nephew for some time, it being one of many very deep observations in the Narnia series. This chapter just seemed to fit it, as well as the title "Happy Plastic Mammals," a takeoff on a line from the Casting Crowns song, "Stained Glass Masquerade."

Guest Reviews:

Guest: That's an idea I hadn't thought of, and it's actually not a bad one strategically since I dare say smuggling weapons into Mystic Springs would be difficult at best (although the sheep could hide shivs in their wool, come to think of it). I have to wonder if they'd let Finnick stay there full-time, seeing as it's a club and not a motel, but it's certainly an outside-the-box solution. You didn't by any chance read WANMWAD's "The Unlikely Heir," did you?

Invitada: Parece que lo hizo, con un poco de ayuda. Todos necesitamos eso a veces, ¿no? Gracias por su continuo interés y apoyo, mi amigo!

Easter Egg Answers:

Chapter 27

Scott's fondness for music and sports contain nods to Max in the Goofy Movie series. The cardboard cutout is a loose equivalent of Max's mockup of Powerline from the first movie. The triathlon alluded to is drawn from the second movie, and the getup described on Nicole (congratulations if you guessed it was her in the poster) is a rough description of the one worn by Sylvia (also in An Extremely Goofy Movie).

Lionheart's reminiscence about his son's youth describes a typical getup similar to one of the characters from Recess, a show that used to air on the Disney channel and even scored a couple of movies.

The 'hot idea that never happened'' is Legend of Pyro, an admittedly none-too-clever play on Legend of Spyro. Spyro the Dragon was supposed to get a movie drawing on the Legend of Spyro game series, but alas it never happened and instead we got Skylanders.

Taelia's thoughts at the end of the drive-in movie scene are a paraphrase of a line from Bambi 2, in which The Great Prince tells Bambi to "not look back; only ahead."

Chapter 28

The hotel name "The Winking Sand Rat" is a takeoff on "The Winking Skeever," an inn in the game Skyrim. Skeevers are rat-like creatures somewhere between a terrier and a Labrador in size, and fairly low-level as monsters go, but pack a plague-ridden bite.

The claim that Vanya killed someone with her thumb is a nod to Rataouille, in which the sous chef claims to have done time for the same offense.

And since it's a special day, I'd like to give a few shout-outs. First of all to Turjas for spotting an accidental Easter Egg (of sorts) in the final chapter of Fox Dens and Rabbit Trails: Santa Clawed. Technically it wasn't one I put in there intentionally, but I'm giving a shout-out anyway. Good to know the story's still getting readers even this much later. Special thanks again to everyone for the encouraging reviews thus far. I've actually found some of the more cynical ones, like on Chapter 27, pretty helpful too, but the ones encouraging my approach are a big lift. To name just a few, AngloFalcon, BeecroftA, Berserker88, Blenderguy, DeusExfreak, dispix, Dr.D180, Euphonemes, Foxlover, HawkTooth, JrRangerScout, Justin Durfee, Kyla, LionKingAlex, Major Wolf, niraD, Out of Pseudonyms, RogueActive, The Mr E, and xuve, all joking aside, I count you guys as proof that this kind of story can work. Keep the feedback coming and the WildeFangaster train running!

Also, has anyone heard from QualityQuantity? I haven't heard from him in a while, and his reviews were pretty shrewd.

Easter Eggs:

Judy's speech in the movie