Zootopia belongs to Disney. Spider-Man belongs to Sony.


He never woke up easily.

Normally, Judy would be the first one up and running to get dressed for work. And somewhere between putting on her work pants and her tactical vest, Nick would roll out of bed to lumber into the restroom. Being a nocturnal species, he was generally wired to be most awake at night. And though he had trained himself since birth to be accustomed to daylight...

Mornings still sucked.

This morning, however, he woke up just fine. Aside from having one more day off, today was an exciting day.

His wife lay still on top of him. Her cheek rested in a slight tilt on the middle of his chest. Her ears limply framed her face. Her mouth was open slightly, allowing her breath to sail in and out with a few more decibels than usual. That is to say, she breathed somewhat noisily, but in a cute way.

He hooked his arm around her rear and pulled her head up under his chin. She moaned slightly and stirred, turning over on her side and wresting her arm out from behind her. He held her close.

"Carrots," he whispered.

She didn't open her eyes. "Mm?"

"I'm going out for a while. So let me up, please."

"Whryging?" she mumbled, still laying there limp.

"...Ben and I're going to hang out..." he said.

Nick kissed the top of her head and carefully began to slide her off of him. Judy shuffled around and wrapped her arms around his torso.

"Mm-mm, you aren't going anywhere," she said playfully. "You're too comfortable."

He rolled his eyes and smirked. Then, he stroked a claw under her armpit.

"AH!" she squealed. He did it again and she giggled before grabbing a pillow and repeatedly whacking his face with it. "Cheater!"

Blocking his face, he said casually, "Hey, you're the one who had to be born with ticklish genes so don't go blaming me."

Judy let Nick up and he went to the restroom to groom himself and get ready for the day. Meanwhile, Judy stayed in bed, thinking she might take her husband up on his offer to stay down for a little while longer.

Once he emerged, he saluted her with his trademark two-finger swipe and walked out of their bedroom.

"Have fun!" she said he left. After taking care of some business in the bathroom, she climbed back up onto the bed.

Ah! She may have been a morning animal, but being able to sleep in shamelessly was a privilege seldom wasted. However, she would not be able to enjoy it for long on this fine morning. Because no sooner than she had gotten comfortable again did she hear, "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray..."

Without lifting her head, she reached for the alarm clock to shut it up.

"Every mother's prayer, every child knows..."

Annoyed, she tried to reach the right button. It was too far away!

"Because I was her baby..."

"Argh!" she growled.

"Baby, baby, baby, ohhh-oh..."

Judy leaned up and slammed the alarm clock on top of the mantle, which knocked a pen off of the nightstand, before slapping her palm onto the other button. Then, once again, her head fell back onto the pillow. She groaned in frustration as her body started to heat up. Her body suddenly longed for her husband's. She found herself fending off shame at the frustration she felt. The last thing she wanted was for that to be directed at Nick. She knew it wasn't his fault. But she had never anticipated prior to their marriage, or even the first year following, that she would have this... this hunger. As if she'd forgotten she was a bunny altogether. It was a biological prerogative - not that she wanted sex for the sake of it. It was satisfying to be able to enjoy him in that way - but beyond the edges of that pleasure roiled a desire that only grew the more they indulged. A desire that said, Better hurry. That clock is ticking...

Wow. That stupid alarm clock was the all that was needed to rob her of any inkling of further sleep. Her mind was firing on all cylinders.

After getting up, she set a pot of water on the stove and began making herself tea, sitting down to read some the news on her phone while she waited. Once the tea was done, she poured some into a glass and walked outside to sit down on the rocking bench in her front yard. The bench gently rocked back and forth as she sipped her tea. It soothed her troubled mind.

She looked around at the other houses and watched as kids played in their front yards. Joggers went by as well as the occasional car. A few of them waved at her pleasantly and she waved back. That's what she loved about this place. The mammals here were so friendly. They'd welcomed her and Nick with open arms when they moved in. She was glad they'd gotten this house. After finding a few clues that indicated it had a bit of a history, she did a little digging and found a few interesting snippets. It had belonged to a wealthy businessmammal who had owned five houses in three different states, but had been forced to sell it for less than he'd bought it for when his business began to tank. Judy later heard he'd gotten himself back on his feet and was seeking to get the house back but... well, it was hers now, so...

It was a beautiful day. Maybe a walk or a jog would do her some good.

As she was about to leave the cup behind and take off, she heard a child yelling over the sounds of other kids playing nearby. What the child yelled was, "I'm telling Mom!" Her ears swiveled toward the harsh voice, coming from her right. Another voice, a deeper one, spoke up. "Go away, Baldy! Go back to your momma!" Judy turned toward the source. She tilted her head curiously at the sight of a teenage panther, leaning over in the front yard of the house two doors down. She couldn't see who he was speaking to. A tree stood in the way.

The panther's name was Nathan. The neighborhood blight. She'd run into him on a couple of occasions during patrols, to some degree on the wrong side of the law. It was a shame that Athena, his hard-working mother and his only parent, still hasn't really been able to contain him no matter what she's done. All that was left was for him to be put in juvenile detention. It was only a matter of time before he did something really stupid.

Before she had fully processed what he'd said, she noticed the small grayish blip in front of him, cowering before the much larger predator.

"Oh yeah, she's in prison. Because she tried to get rid of predators like me. That's pretty bad, you ask me, turning predators into someone like you." The child turned to run, and he reached out and appeared to grabbed her by the collar, picking her up. He took her glasses with his other hand and let her fall to the ground.

Judy's ears and bottom jaw fell simultaneously. No. No. No, Judy thought angrily as she marched toward the panther. As soon as she got close enough to discern the child's features, she stopped in her tracks. She looked over the girl's long ears, rounded muzzle, green eyes, and small frame. She had never actually seen her before, but if she hadn't known better, she would've mistakenly believed that the diminutive sheep had broken out of prison. Except for her scant wool and the light mark on the side of her head, she was a carbon copy of Dawn Bellwether. The girl tried to get up but he shoved her with his foot, hard. She flew through the air for a second before landing on her elbow on the sidewalk. She cried out in pain from the impact and the harsh scrape that was sure to be there - especially given the little wool to guard her fragile skin. Any inquiries she might have had as to her baldness vanished. Wake up, Judy! She broke out into a jog toward them.

"Hey!" Judy called out as she ran toward them but neither seemed to hear her.

"Yeah, look at that scar!" The lamb covered the side of her head, trying to obscure the pink line running around her head. "You notice that my mom doesn't have nails? Because your mom had them removed." He extended his claws. The little girl gasped.

Judy immediately flashed back. "...just a stupid carrot farming dumb bunny..." She sprinted.

"Good thing she was put in prison before mine were stolen, too."

He extended his arm backward to swipe his claws across her body, a growl rattling from his throat.

Except he was not able to follow through. In the span of half a second, the glasses were taken from his hand and he was thrown backward and off his feet. He fell on the ground and wheezed from the force of the impact driving the air from his lungs. The panther looked up at the bunny who stood between him and the crying girl like a guard. Her eyebrows flexed downward in righteous anger. Her hands were on her hips, with the glasses held safely in one.

She reached down to put her finger in his face and snapped through clenched teeth, "Don't you dare touch her again, do you hear me!" Despite the panther's larger size, the boy was rendered silent by Judy's authoritative voice. He didn't say a single word. But the impact from his landing did cause him to cough seconds later.

Just then the three of them heard a door open. "Nathan!" They all turned and saw the boy's mother standing there, a look of intense exasperation on her face. She looked at the sheep lying down on the sidewalk, then at her son.

"What are you doing outside! I thought I told you you were grounded! Are you tormenting her again!" He just looked to the side. He didn't have a word to say. "Get in here!" she barked, pointing into the house. Nathan's sister stood behind her, watching the exchange.

Nathan looked between Judy and his mother several times before walking toward the house with a look of angry defiance. Judy followed close behind to make sure he made it there, stopping in front of Athena once he was inside. "Arya," she called out to the girl, her voice cracking in unveiled grief. "Come on."

The girl's head shook no. She just looked down at the sidewalk. "Arya!" Her face dropped lower.

She's living here? wondered Judy behind her disapproval of her frustration even toward the lamb.

"Why is she here?" she impulsively asked in accordance with her thoughts.

"Because her apartment burned down," she said without thinking. But her face suggested that she immediately regretted it - the small lamb was within earshot.

Judy gestured for her to quiet down and lowered her voice in tandem. "Yeah, I knew that, but why is she here and not-"

"It's a long story," said Athena wearily. I'd rather not talk about it right now. Her eyes were beginning to water from anger and disappointment - Judy could imagine why.

"Listen," she said, turning to Athena. "She might need a little time. I could take her with me and make sure she's ok. I'll bring her back afterward."

"Yeah, I think that would help, especially right now. He just won't stop!" she practically yelled into the house to make sure he heard. But her following expression showed a degree of relief. For the exact reason, Judy didn't know, nor did she have the intent to probe further. "Thanks, Judy. You know... oh you know he's gonna get it."

Judy nodded once to show her staunch approval. "By the way, have you been able to contact her parents?"

"I tried talking to her about it, but...no... it's just her."

"Do you know where they are?" asked Judy, looking down to the lamb.

"I'm sorry, I don't. We found her in the train station with no one else there. So I took her home. I couldn't just leave her there."

Judy looked back toward the girl who sat there with water dripping off of her nose silently. As if things couldn't get harder for her... "Well, I'll get her cleaned up and bring her back in a few minutes." Athena nodded and closed the door quietly, leaving Judy with the task of ensuring the poor lamb's security.

Judy walked down toward the lamb, who continued crying silently. Her eyelids drooped tiredly as if she hadn't slept for days. One hand covered the side of her face, but it wasn't enough to completely conceal her incision, and the other cupped her elbow. There was some dirt on her face. Her eyes closed - whether in embarrassment or tiredness, Judy could only guess both.

She reached down to lift up her chin, but she resisted. "Here, let me see," she said softly. She tried again and the girl lifted her face slowly, though her eyes were averted. Judy smiled at her, opening her glasses and setting them back on the bridge of her nose, pushing them slightly to make sure they were secure.

The bunny exhaled at the feeling she got when she got a good look at the girl with her glasses perched, which made her resemblance to her mother even more pronounced. The memory of meeting Dawn Bellwether for the first time at the station flashed through her mind, giving her a feeling of nostalgia mixed with sadness. It was strange, but she missed Dawn - the Dawn she had thought she was. The sweet, innocent, patient, helpful, kind, intelligent Dawn Bellwether. The one who never existed to begin with. She felt a sense of longing, that perhaps her daughter could be what she wasn't.

She lifted Arya's hand off of her elbow. A small amount of blood covered her hand. Not much, but the bruise forming under it was undeniable and livid. Judy's eyes watered slightly from a swell of compassion that suddenly flew by. "Come on, Honey," she said gently as she picked her up and walked toward her house to clean her scrape and maybe get a few answers as to why she was here.

Arya didn't take her hand off of her face, but she wrapped her arm around Judy's neck.

Judy was amazed at the odds that Arya Nichelle would have been brought to this neighborhood. After hearing that her apartment was burned down, she had kept her ears open to find out where Arya would end up. And now here she was! Her question was, why were her foster parents not here with her, or rather, vice versa?

Fortunately, she had been found by a decent woman and in a good neighborhood, certainly better than the one she was in before. Being as small as she was, she was easy prey, no pun intended, with no effective way of defending herself.

Judy opened her front door and brought Arya into the kitchen. She set her down in a chair and reached down in the cabinet next to the sink for a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a roll of paper towels. Arya had taken her hand away from her head, but she still kept that side turned away from the bunny's violet gaze.

Arya's red eyes widened. "Is it gonna sting?" She backed up in the chair a little.

Judy siphoned some into the paper towel and reached for her elbow. "It'll hurt a little bit for a second."

"No, don't, can I just get a band-aid?"

"We have to clean it. You don't want it to get infected, do you? I'll do it fast, I promise."

"No, I don't want that!" She pushed her hand away.

"Arya!" she said, causing her to freeze. She looked her in the eye. "Let me see it. Now." Slowly, she lifted her hand from her elbow. "You ready?" She didn't answer, but she did cringe. "Here we go," she said before pressing it to her elbow.

"Ooh, ow ow ow ow owww-ooh-ooh!" she yelped, grabbing her arm just below the scrape.

"Almost done, hold on." Judy blew on the scrape to soothe it and pulled out a bandage. "There. We're done." Judy smiled and threw away the paper towel before putting a band-aid on the scrape. "All better," she said, patting her elbow with a smile.

She looked down at the bandage, a simple light brown one, with a flash of relief. Ha! Kids and their band-aids. She never used band-aids except for serious wounds. She had thought that bandages were for weak bunnies. In retrospect, Judy was surprised she never got an infection from her lack of simple self-care in her youth.

It was then that Judy saw the scar that Nathan had pointed out... her surgery incision, colored a lighter pink than the surrounding skin. It wasn't as noticeable as that mean boy had made it out to be. It resembled something more along the lines of a small scratch, to be honest. It would be invisible once her wool grew back, much like the scars on her cheek that Gideon gave her in her youth. Nathan was just another weak bully who picked on children who didn't know how to defend themselves: they would always target the easiest things to tease. In Arya's case, that was her family and medical history.

It had been big news - Dawn Bellwether's daughter had been diagnosed with stage II glioma nearly five years ago. Unsurprisingly, ravenous paparazzi hunted Arya down, a four-year-old lamb at the time, and she was subjected to jeering, rumors, unwanted publicity, and one interview after another. Some of these mammals were often angry that they weren't "first in line" for what Nick would refer to as "cruel and unusual press", given their mutually negative feelings concerning the press. But Arya still managed to beat her cancer over the course of horrendous radiation and chemotherapy treatments, not to mention two back-to-back surgeries using general anesthesia... and the media made sure to gulp down all of it. Former Mayor Bellwether had done everything she could to be there for her during her treatment, but she was denied at every turn. She certainly would never be given any privileges now, since she was likely behind the current high crime stats. Life had not been easy for either of them, even if the one had attempted a hostile takeover. Everything she had faced - near-fatal brain cancer, crosshairs from all sides at all times, since everyone blamed her mom for the current crisis - it made for a situation Judy couldn't imagine facing. But she'd made it. That was all that mattered.

Arya noticed that Judy could see her scar so she quickly turned her head and sat there with a blank expression.

Judy then wet a washcloth from the laundry room and sat back down to clean her little face. She talked to the silent girl all the while. The dirt came off easily, since there was little wool to catch it. That boy... she growled inwardly. He must have done more than she'd seen; Athena would have made sure to take good care of her, only for Nathan to ruin that hard work. She felt no anger toward Athena, who clearly tried her best to reign him in. Her son was the neighborhood troublemaker, the kind who never seemed to learn his lesson, with no regard to how hard that lesson came crashing down on him. Athena simply never had the time to keep an eye on him, since she worked two jobs and often came home too exhausted to put in more effort. Some mammals just never learned. It caused his mother enough grief, especially to see how his superiority complex affected the other kids in the neighborhood, not to mention the lamb sitting before her.

Judy snorted at how cute she was, despite the fact that in terms of appearances she was basically a younger version of the former mayor, the same awkwardness with a bit of timidity. Though one thing Judy remembered her best for was her crackly energy. Even if it was all a sham, Judy missed that version of Dawn Bellwether, the sweet, innocent, even nerdy version who came off as the relatively timid but hardworking miniature bovidae.

Judy thought back to the news she'd heard through the grapevine, that she and her foster parents had fallen off the map following their apartment's destruction. How and why she'd ended up here, she could think of of a few reasons, but they were only speculations. The only way to find out for sure was to call her foster parents and ask them.

Arya's eyelids appeared to grow heavier. Judy was about to ask Arya if she was ready to go back to Athena's, but then her face tightened and her eyes watered. Judy's ears fell. Arya's hand went to her face as she broke down. "Ohhhh..." Judy whispered, "...come here." She pulled her into her lap and rubbed her back as she cried and sobbed. "It's ok, Honey," she said softly. Good thing she'd grown up with hundreds of siblings back home in her own family. "You're ok. You'll be just fine, I promise." She hugged her closer. After a few minutes, Arya's sobs devolved into periodic sniffling. Pretty soon, she closed her eyes and began to fall asleep. "He's wrong, by the way," she whispered, using her hand to turn her head to face her. "I think it looks really cool. It tells everyone how strong you are."

Well, she didn't go for a walk. She'd found much, much better use of her time.


"This is a much nicer place than I thought it would be," said Nick. He and Ben stood in front of a relatively colorful one-story building - mostly of light yellow and green - that smelled like fresh paint. Literally. As in it wasn't hard to tell that this was a new building. The large print on the front read, Zootopia's Helping Hand, and below that, Adoption Services.

The color scheme reminded the fox of the Meadowlands, where he had visited a number of times to sample some of the organic fresh fruit right off the vine/tree/root. Though he was chased off every time. Before joining the force. Mostly.

"What were you expecting?" asked Ben, looking down at the fox with a smile that waited for a smartass response.

"Chains. Lots of chains. And a lot of gray," he said, indicating to the building. "Like what you see in a prison block."

"Or an elementary school. Where Ms. Trunkbull is the principal?"

"Exactly, Mootilda." Both of them laughed and proceeded inside. It had not taken much to convince the cheetah to come with him on this trip. Pretty much the only reason he had told him was that he felt that it would be fun to watch him gush over it. Ben's eternal youth was endearing to the aging fox, something that made the large, muscular cat look like a little boy. Besides, Ben was one of his closest friends. No reason not to bring him in on the action for fun's sake.

The smell that greeted Nick's vulpine nose confirmed for him that there was fresh paint afoot, along with the remnants of settling particles from sanding pads, caulk, woodwork, copper wiring, among other construction endeavors. This was, in every sense of the word, a new building.

"Wonder who's in charge here?" said Ben absentmindedly.

A feminine voice answered. "That would be me."

Both looked in the direction of the voice to see a female otter dressed in a plain white shirt overlaid with a knitted pink vest with long sleeves and blue jeans.

"Mrs. Otterton!" Ben cried, running over to the woman and picking her up to give her a crushing cheetah hug, causing her eyes to pop out briefly. "Where have you been?" he asked after he set her down. Nick shook his head with his usual smirk at the display.

She dusted herself off a bit with a chuckle as she answered. "I've, uh, I've been busy. As you can see, I'm running my own business now, so..."

Nick joined them. "So, what started this enterprise? So new, in fact that a fresh start is saturating the air?"

"Well, a while back, our flower shop went out of business, so I thought I would invest in my lifelong dream to work in adoption and foster care."

"Really? Well that's great!" said Ben. "Thought it is a shame about your flower shop. I remember riding the bus and passing that shop on the way to work every morning."

"Yeah... it was just current circumstances, so..."

Nick knew what she meant. Mr. Big, their primary customer, had all but gone out of business merely two years after the Shark arrived on the scene. There wasn't even a power struggle; he just... vanished from the spotlight. But Nick was wise enough to keep this to himself. The Ottertons were not criminals, but the police would not be happy to know that they were willing to trade with a criminal organization in something so mundane as flowers. Thankfully, the shrew had managed to maintain his wealth, but his affluence in the criminal underworld was all but gone, usurped by the crafty wolf.

"We know what you mean. We're overwhelmed trying to fend off every assault that comes our way, every single bout of nighthowler-induced violence... but it's a good thing you're doing this. The city really needs it."

"And that leads me to a question that's been on my mind: are either of you considering adoption?"

"Yes, just as it so happens, I am," Nick responded. "I was hoping you could answer some questions for me, maybe show me the process...?"

"Absolutely," she said eagerly before waving him toward a hall behind her. "Come with me and I'll show you around." Nick and Ben followed her, down the hall and then to the left, where there was another hall. This one was much longer than the first and was lined with numerous doors. "Now this building is itself both the headquarters - obviously, since I'm starting from scratch - but it also doubles as a kind of orphanage. My husband Emmitt works as an entrepreneur now, so he helps tremendously with finances and providing for the children we take in."

She led them to one door near the middle of the hallway that was marked, 1 to 2 years. Turning around, Mrs. Otterton put her finger to her lips: "It's naptime right now," she said, "so let's not disturb them too much." She and Nick went through the smaller door while Ben went through the larger one.

Inside the dimly lit room that was half-cylindrical in shape was an arrangement of cribs lining the wall. A couple of female mammals, a bunny and a porcupine (with her spines shielded of course) tended to them. As soon as Ben laid eyes on all of the babies, his hands went to his cheeks and he seemed to somehow let out a silent squeal. He then proceeded to circle around the room, hungrily gazing at the cute babies. The nurses glanced in their direction but didn't pay them much mind, being more preoccupied at the moment.

Nick and Mrs. Otterton stayed near the center of the room as they talked.

"We have different rooms for different ages. Whether it's because I'm finnicky or what, I don't know, but it works." Nick snickered at that.

"What happens when a couple finds a child they want to take home?" asked Nick.

"Well, the official process is done mainly by means of a lawyer from family court. And all guardianships have to be approved by a judge. You know, background checks and everything. At least that's how it is right now. Once this business is fully independent, the process will become much easier."

Nick sighed inwardly in thankful relief that the mayor himself had declared him debt free due to his services to the city on the latter end of the Crisis. Having that debt would have ruined both him and Judy for life. Having a family would have been out of the question.

"What other questions do you have?" asked the otter.


Arya held on tight to Judy's hand as the latter rang the doorbell. She knelt down to her and held her shoulders. "Arya, if Nathan keeps picking on you, I want you to come to me. Ok?"

Her head hung low, but she still nodded. "Thank you," she said quietly, causing Judy to smile.

The door opened and Nathan stood there with his head high and mighty, his hands in his pockets, a look of apathy on his face. His mother stood behind him.

"Tell her you're sorry," she said strictly.

He shifted on his feet and looked at her with the barest hint of a sneer. She smacked him on the rear and he stumbled forward slightly.

"I said, tell her you're sorry!"

"I'm not going to apologize for the fact that her mom had your nails ripped out!" he suddenly belted out. "Or for putting Dad in jail! Or for all the crap that's happening now! It's probably her mom that's doing it!" Judy's jaw had dropped in bewilderment during the entire diatribe. The boy was now in grave danger of getting a broken nose. Looking at Arya, she cringed harshly at the vicious insult. Arya turned to run, pulling her hand from Judy's. She tried to catch her, but missed. She turned back toward the boy, who was now smirking. "I mean, everyone knows her apartment was burned down because someone wanted to get to her. It's only a matter of time," he finished with a shrug.

"You are in so much trouble," she said to him, grabbing his arm and shoving him inside. "Go upstairs, you're grounded until-."

"Oh right, like that'll help! You're never here to do anything anyway!" he yelled. "And Dad's gone, so yeah. Good luck!"

"Until college!" she screamed. Judy heard him marching up the stairs without another word. The door slammed and there wasn't another sound for a moment.

"I am so sorry you had to see that," she said mournfully as she turned around, but nobody was there.

Arya ran down the road, keeping her face straight as possible until she tripped and stumbled on the grass of a random front yard. She didn't know how far she had run. She crawled in the freshly-mowed grass toward the side of the house. She got up and ran the rest of the way and set her back against the brick wall. Finally, she took a sharp breath and let it out in a trembling moan that dripped with grief. She let herself fall until she was sitting, causing her glasses to bounce off her nose and onto the ground beside her. This was the shortest time she had ever spent in a new hopeful family. The only thing going through her head was one word: Alone.

She sat there for who knew how long, that one word echoing at the front of her mind.

"Arya!" she heard, along with the sound of a car driving by. She pulled her legs up to try to hide from the bunny. "Arya! Where are you!" She put her face between her knees and sat there silently. But she could hear the grass crunching under footfalls that got closer and closer.

"Arya," Judy's voice breathed, a hand laying itself on her shoulder.

"Just leave me alone!" she cried.

"I'm not doing that," she said. "What he said was not true."

"Yes it is!" she yelled loudly without lifting her face. "I'm her daughter so it is my fault!"

"Arya, look at me," she said firmly. She didn't move. "Look at me," she repeated more firmly. After another moment, the little girl lifted her face to the bunny's, which was inches away from her own. Her eyes were intense with conviction, such that grabbed Arya's full attention. She spoke quietly, but with utter finality. "I don't care if it's your fault or not. I'm not leaving you here. You're coming with me, do you understand?"

Arya stared at her for a long time, as if failing to understand. But then she nodded slightly. The rabbit slowly pulled the lamb into her, hugging her close. Arya pressed herself into Judy's chest, crying softly. But for the first time in forever, perhaps the first time in her life, she felt secure, like nothing else would be able to penetrate the barrier protecting her from anything that would want to hurt her. For the first time, she felt safe.

Neither Arya nor Judy said anything as she carried her back to her house. Now, as Judy carried her back into her house, Arya could finally be at peace at least for the moment.

"Are you hungry?" she asked as she set Arya down in the kitchen. The lamb nodded while wiping an eye. "You go relax while I get some lunch started." She looked like she needed a nap badly.

Judy wondered where Nick and Ben were. They were great friends and complimented each other very well. Though early on in Nick's own career and before he outgrew his immaturity, the two had been a source of mischief at the station.

Judy heard the rustling of a sheet of paper. She looked behind her and saw Arya looking at an assignment folder with Arya's name on it, as well as the names of her foster parents. She looked through it curiously. While technically she wasn't allowed to look at it, what harm could it do? She was curious.

"I pulled that file yesterday after I heard that you'd gone missing. The ZPD was looking for you and I figured I'd to do some research. I guess it's safe to say, Mission Accomplished!" Arya smiled slightly at the older bunny, who went to cook some food for herself and the little girl. How would Nick react to seeing Arya Nichelle in their house? As long as she was safe, that was all that mattered to her. If there was a problem, they'd work it out.

Judy made light conversation with the lamb as she made some eggs for Arya, though she didn't talk much.

The lamb picked up her fork and began to eat very quickly, shoveling one bite of egg after another while reading over the report.

"Looks like we have a detective in the works," she said, appreciating how deeply engrossed she was in the report. Arya looked up at her with her tired eyes.

"Am I going to have to talk to the police?"

Judy put her hand on hers. "You already are." Her eyes widened. "Arya, it's ok, you're safe. I'm not gonna put you on camera. Nobody else besides the police will know where you are. You're safe."

"But what if someone tries to kill me again?! The police couldn't do anything when... when..." she seemed lost for words.

"Listen," she said, sitting down and taking her hand, "You're safe. I promise."

Arya nodded, outwardly convinced, though inwardly she knew that this was temporary. Everything good that happened to her always was.


The LORD watches over strangers; He supports the fatherless and the widow, but He thwarts the way of the wicked. Psalm 146:9

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. James 1:27

For my mother and my father have forsaken me, but the LORD will take me in. Psalm 27:10

As for me, I am poor and needy, but the LORD takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God! Psalm 40:17