Night Wolf0179's A/N: Welcome back, guys! It's been a while, though that seems to be the perpetually running theme no matter how hard we try. XD

I apologize for the long wait, but life is life and I think it's about time I stop expecting all of my plans to happen the way I expect them to. Seriously, my life sometimes feels like a dramatic comedy and I have no idea how to feel about that. XD

In all seriousness, it's good to be back. JKnight and I have been working very hard on this chapter, so I'm sure you can imagine how excited we are to finally have this out. Feel free to tell us what you think (feedback, no matter how critical, is very valuable to us).

Really, I'm curious to see what you guys think about the story as a whole. I recently showed this to my friend and she bawled her eyes out quite a few times over the course of our released chapters, so… She both loved it and hated it! I'll take that as an achievement!

It was also a bit strange to me. I don't really show this story to anyone I know in real life. Some people would be really uncomfortable with this story's content, both because it is unwaveringly dark and because it is a fanfiction about Zootopia. But I'm glad I showed her and it certainly helped to push me to finish this chapter off.

And hey, if you feel so inclined, tell us what you think of everything thus far. I guess I'm just really curious to see the overall opinion of everything.

And thanks to our awesome editors. They have nothing to gain from helping us besides experience and companionship, so their continued support certainly means a lot to us.

JKnight97's A/N: Welcome back to another chapter! Yes, we know it's been quite some time but we did say we would upload as soon as RL allowed us to. Now that exams (for my co-author) and the holidays are over, we now return you to your regular scheduled programming. We realized that we hit the two-year mark on this story in August 2019 and this is only the tenth chapter we've come out with. We're not as prolific as others but we do take the time to make sure that we're giving you quality goods and not some cheap knock-off. ;)

Thanks again to all our readers have showered us with kudos and special thanks to those who reviewed the previous chapter: Cimar, InTheLionsDenOnDA, XmanOne, daria102205, J Shute, and for seakard, as you can see, this story is continuing.

As always, our many thanks goes out to our wonderful team of beta-readers/editors who catch the little hiccups here and there: DancingLunarWolves, Stubat007, and Anonymous Beaver (NightWolf0179's friend who was also given an assortment of other anonymous pseudonyms by Google). Now, on to the show...

Eden In Hell

Judy hesitated at the top of the stairs as she let her eyes adjust to the darkness. Stu, on the other paw, navigated his way down with familiarity. "Dad, seriously, I'd appreciate some information here," the doe carped as she watched her father descend into the blackness.

Stu chose not to respond. She heard him strike a match against a surface as he lit an old gasoline lamp set in the wall. As the soft, yellow light revealed more of the hidden room, more questions bubbled to the surface of her mind. Opened cans of food were strewn about the place, leaving an odor that mixed oddly with a strong smell of old dirt and untouched wood. As he moved further into the room, lighting more lamps as he went, his paws kicked up a thick layer of dust and clumps of fur.

One of the lamps illuminated a wall covered in faded chromatic photographs, all of them covered in a thick layer of dust and fur, almost obscuring the images as a soft yellow glow danced against them.

"I suppose out of every kit we've had, it's only fitting for you to be the first I tell this to. You've always been our little trailblazer." The aging bunny stuffed his paws into his overalls, staring someplace past the walls. "So, what did you want to know?" He bobbed his head awkwardly.

As she carefully descended the timeworn stairs, she wanted to answer 'Everything,' but knew that wouldn't be productive. "Just what is this place? And what's it for? Why has it been kept hidden?" A thousand other questions buzzed like angry bees, but she felt those would suffice for now.

"When you were little, did you notice how different you were from other bunnies? How different your mother and I were?"

"Answering a question with a question doesn't explain things, Dad. Why do I feel like you've been pretending to be someone you're not for my entire life?" Judy shook her head as she scanned the room. "It feels like I've stepped inside a bad memory, for carrot's sake."

Stu quietly nodded as he made his way to a table over by the wall and pulled out one of the chairs. "Come, sit. We need to talk, and my hind-paws are aching from all the walking we've done today."

Judy sat before her father with a questioning look etched upon her face as he reached into his pocket, drawing out an old smoking pipe and placing it in his muzzle.

"You're not going to light up that foul-smelling thing in here, are you?" Judy asked in mock annoyance.

"Nope," smiled her father. "Just an old habit. Your mother would kill me if I did. Besides, I quit smoking years ago. Happened right about the time this room came into existence…"

"Well," said Stu as he wiped the sweat from his brow, "that's the last of the old furniture. Glad that's over. Now, all we need to do is haul away the dirt at the end of the tunnel and spread it out over one of the newly plowed fields and no one will be the wiser."

"Are you sure about this, hun?" asked the lovely pregnant bunny at his side. "I mean, we could get into a lot of trouble if we're discovered."

"I know, Bonnie," the middle-aged buck sighed as he dug out his smoking pipe from his overall pocket. "But, if we don't do anything, how many more innocent predators are going to die? Over in Zootopia, Bellwether has every prey looking over their shoulders whenever they pass a predator and you can bet that sort of attitude will find its way to Bunnyburrow. Mark my words, if the predators have it hard now, what'll happen when she passes her Slave Collar Law? They'll be scrambling to get one passed here just as well."

"And they wondered why I said yes." She teased him as she kissed him on the cheek. "We'll have to find a way to buy predator food, y'know. And large beds. And plenty of toilet paper. And–"

"Well, we probably shouldn't buy anything using money. The less of a paper trail, the better. We can set up some fishing traps over by the creek and if the kids ask, we can tell them we're going to use it to barter with the other farmers who have predator workers. Same goes for anything else we need; we've got more than enough from the harvest that we can trade stuff for. Besides, with over two hundred kits, something is always bound to break, and we can use it here once we fix it."

"You're right," she nodded, looking about the place. "You know, I'd never be able to live with myself if I didn't do anything for them. They're already having a rough time and it's only going to get worse. Gods, I hope we're not the only ones helping these poor mammals out. We can't be, right?"

"Darn tootin', we are," grumbled Stu as he struck a match and lit up his pipe, puffing away in frustration. "Every other farmer I've spoken to doesn't give two cents about their preds. All they care about is whether they'll have a good harvest or not."

"Stuart Hopps! How can you smoke that… that monstrosity in front of me? And I'm carrying your unborn children to boot!"

"Whoops! Sorry hun! Bad habit I'm still tryin' to quit," the chastised buck apologized as he quickly put out his pipe.

Oh, by the way!" Bonnie exclaimed, hopping up the staircase and motioning for Stuart to follow her. "I think I found a good place for that female tigress who just joined us. What's her name again?"

"Careful there, hun. You're almost due and the doc said no sudden movements for now. We almost lost the last litter that way."

"Oh, posh," Bonnie complained as she rolled her eyes, "What does that old fool know? Isn't he the same rabbit that said prey can never go savage? Look what he said when my cousin Terry ate one of those flowers you use to keep away the insects from crops."

"I know," Stu attested as he closed the cellar doors behind him, "you still have that bite mark he left in your arm. Good thing Jonathan Grey was around to help me restrain him."

"And isn't he the same doctor who kept trying to make you say that it was one of the Greys who did it?" She retorted back angrily as she made her way to the front of the house. "I tell you, if he wasn't a good OB-GYN, I'd have left that speciesist quack for another specialist."

"Still–"

"Stu! Are you saying that I don't know my own body?" Bonnie angrily exclaimed, whirling on her husband as she pointed an accusing digit at him. "After having given birth to over two hundred kits, I should be the one giving out advice, not that aged fool of a buck!"

"Now, now, hun," Stu nervously chuckled as he gently patted her arm, "I didn't mean to get you upset. It's just better to play safe with this kinda stuff, ya know?"

"Whatever," she huffed. "Anyway, this bunch is really active, and I could use some rest right now," Bonnie murmured as she rubbed her conspicuous pregnancy. "Ouch! I swear, some of these youngsters are planning to make pawball their profession in life," she stated as she winced in pain.

"Hehehe, better than Judith's choice. She really has me worried after she did that school play. I mean, whatever possessed her to think she'd be able to make it to the BPD? That's an all-buck club and there's no way they're going to let a female into their ranks. She'd be lucky if they even let her be a meter maid."

"Well, hun, she's still young; reality hasn't hit her like a freight train yet." She looked down at her arm half-expecting her already grey fur to have somehow become paler. She never liked thinking about her age, even though she was still relatively young. Rolling her eyes at herself, she smoothed her skirt around and sighed, "I remember what I was like when I was fifteen. Must be nice to have dreams. Oh, to be young again."

"Yes, as long as you don't believe in them all too much."

When Judy's father finished, her eyebrows were raised to a height that shouldn't have been possible. "L-let me get this straight: you and mom, somehow, constructed this room, housed predators and predator supplies here, and somehow gave them safe passage to predator-friendly countries?" She moved closer to the multitude of photographs on the wall and wiped the dust off of one, squinting as she asked, "This is one of the predators you saved, then?"

"Yee-up," he said proudly, slapping his overall straps. "All of them are."

She wanted to tell him just how dumb this whole idea was, but realized that this must be where she got her own ideas from. "You could've been killed. Back then, the death penalty still existed for prey helping out predators."

"The preds were dying, too. Guess it was only fair, eh?"

Judy scowled at him for that.

"Look," he sighed, "what would you have done in our place? We just couldn't stand aside and let our friends die just because they ate meat? I mean, sometimes I have a craving for bugs once in a while. Does that make me a predator? And everyone eats dairy products and eggs. Shouldn't we be called predators as well?"

Judy was about to respond, but just shook her head and breathed out slowly. She went to one of the cupboards and opened it. Inside were unopened cans of Wolfgang's Turkey Spam soups and old, stale bottles of water. "This is so unreal."

"The operation more or less shut itself down. Predators would come in droves in the beginning, but less and less came as time went by. Not a single predator has come in years - except for the ones you found. How you managed to find them, I will never know," he chuckled. "I'll be moving them here along with some fresh bedding. Not sure if the rest of the family should know of them. You know how some of your siblings think differently than you? They'd sooner turn them in than do even half of what you've done for them."

"I know," she sadly said, grabbing a couple of cans and closing the cupboard. "Why are they like that? I mean, I still remember how Dan used to help us all the time and I cannot recall a single time in which he complained. He was one of the sweetest, kindest mammals that I knew." Better than a good amount of her siblings, she thought.

Coming up to lay a paw on her shoulder, Stu gently admonished her. "Now, Judy, not all of them are bad. It's just that if all they hear, day in and day out, from the time that they were young that predators are bad and should be feared, what can you expect? You've seen the PSA's - the damn propaganda machine has been working overtime this past decade. No one even questions them anymore. To them, a predator is a predator. They're no longer mammals like the rest of us."

"You're not part of the propaganda machine, Dad; you've never said a bad thing about predators. They've had you and mom as good examples ever since they were born! I mean, I turned out alright, didn't I? Despite the propaganda, I'm not like them."

"Yer darn tootin' right! And I'm proud of you, sweetie. I just don't say it enough."

"Thanks, Dad. You're not too bad, yourself." Judy chuckled as she checked the date on the cans. "These are still good, right? I've known expiration dates to lie. Maybe a tad bit stale? How long does meat last in these things?"

"Well," Stu contemplated as he scratched the back of his neck, "they came from over the border and I'd think the predators over there would throw a fit if ever the food they bought was rotten. You know, there's an urban legend that turkey spam can last for hundreds of years."

Judy's ear wilted at that. Even if she was a predator, she doubted she'd still eat a can of turkey spam from even ten years ago. "Not sure I trust that," she said, questioning just how many preservatives there must be in the cans she was holding. And surely the can itself must be contaminating the food by now. "Dad… I guess I'm going to cook some of this. Hopefully they'll like it… and not get sick and die. Does the stove still work?"

"Does it still work?" Stu exclaimed; his pride stung by the question. "Young lady, I'll have you know that I worked these paws to the bone to make sure everything on the farm worked perfectly. I couldn't afford to go out and buy a new doohickey every time something broke down around here."

She rolled her eyes and mentally prepared herself to start cooking… meat. The things I find myself doing…

And what exactly was she doing? Helping out two mammals wanted by a paranoid, bigoted government who had unjustly incarcerated them simply for being born as they were, that's what. No, she shouldn't be surprised at what she had to do to balance the scales. She should instead be asking herself why she took so long in not taking affirmative action against a despotic ruler.

She struck a match and turned the knob on the stove. She waited to hear the hiss of gas, but to her surprise, nothing came out. "What were you saying about everything working perfectly?" she dryly asked, an eyebrow arched.

Stu ran a paw down his face and muttered to himself. "Let me take a look..." He knelt down behind the old iron monster and felt around its rear. "Here's the problem. We turned off the gas years ago. Try it now."

Finnick tried to pass the time but he was bored to heck; there wasn't exactly a lot for him to do in a random barn on the outskirts of some rabbit's farm. He looked over at the sleeping tod in the next bunk and fought down the urge to shake him awake.

"Great," the fennec muttered, "Sleeping Beauty here gets ta sleep while I'm ready to start climbing these damn walls. Where's that rabbit?"

"Over here!" the voice of said rabbit sang out, startling Finnick. "Got some grub for you and Sleeping Beauty. Although," she grinned as she climbed into view, "he looks more like The Beast. Rowr!" she playfully pantomimed a slashing paw after setting down the bowls she was carrying on a nearby bale of hay. "Hope you like canned foodstuffs. Got a ton of it. Oh! And stale water bottles."

The small fox's eyebrows shot up in surprise once his nose caught the smell of the food in the bowls the crazy bunny had brought. "Ya cooked… meat? Didn't think you knew how? Where'd ya even get it! Ya some bunch of were-rabbits or sumtin'?"

"Yep. Better watch your back, then!" she giggled. "I'll go wake Nick and grab your water after. I might be a were-rabbit, but I don't have four arms."

"Seriously? What rabbit family in a podunk like this has canned predator food?"

"How is he?" Judy asked, ignoring the question as she sat down at the edge of Nick's bed and shyly stroked his cheek with the back of her paw. "Has he moved at all since we brought him up here?"

Finnick eyed her as she touched him. "He rolled over once, but that's it." Sweet fox-jesus, they really gonna hookup, aren't they? Don't imagine the kits, don't imagine them…

Nick's muzzle scrunched up as an agonized whimper left his lips. Judy froze. "Fin, I need to check on his wounds. Can you help me?"

"What now, rabbit?" the exasperated fennec muttered just as he was about to spoon some of the meat stew into his hungry maw. His stomach rumbled from the smell and he just wanted to dig into it.

She gave him the death stare. "Will you just come here, please!"

With a groan, Finnick reluctantly stood up, knowing that if he didn't, pain was sure to follow from one of her deadly paws.

"Here, help me roll him onto his back."

"Ya know, bunny, this isn't how I saw this going." He appeared beside her, cracking his neck and knuckles. "Saw two outcomes in my mind. First: We'd make it out. There'd be some struggles here and there, sure; but in the end, we'd be okay." He huffed, gingerly placing his paws onto his friend's midsection and leg. "Second: We'd be dead. No long, intense bouts of pain. Nope. Just an angry PP officer with an itchy trigger finger. I was hoping we could've avoided one of us being in any sorta shape like this. Or torture. They do that too, ya know? And I'm sure you can imagine why we'd prefer a bullet over that."

Judy looked at the floor, uncomfortable with what Finnick was saying. "Why would they want to torture you? How would they even benefit from that?"

The fennec huffed as his tummy growled once more. "Bunny-girl, you're naive if you don't know the answer to that. C'mon already! I'd like to get this over with. Haven't had anything to eat all day."

Nodding and refocusing, she placed both of her paws on Nick's shoulder, careful not to aggravate the one that had been dislocated when he fell. "One… two… three!"

Nick's eyes immediately shot open the moment they began pushing him, a pained cry leaving him. His eyes watered as they found Judy's, if only for a moment.

Judy's eyes widened, her paws immediately leaving him. "Sorry! Sorry! I needed to check on your wounds!"

Nick didn't say anything, merely fainting once more.

"What did I tell ya, rabbit?" Finnick barked, finally losing his temper. Despite all that she had done for them, he felt he had every right to do so. After all, she had promised not to hurt his best and only friend in the world. In his eyes, she had just committed a mortal sin. He was going to teach her a lesson about keeping one's word, especially to predators with fangs and claws.

He pounced on her, pushing her away from the now unconscious tod. "Get away from him!" He growled, baring his fangs. "I told ya I'd make ya pay for–" The smaller fox never finished his sentence as he was too busy writhing on the floor, clutching his groin in pain.

"I warned you about putting your claws on me," Judy coldly reproached him as she picked herself up from the floor. "Now, would you like a demonstration of how good a field-kicker I am? We won the state championship because of my fifty-yard kick."

Finnick quickly shook his head, his wide-eyed stare taking in the steely-eyed bunny who stood over him, paws akimbo on her hips.

"So, do we have an understanding, Fin? I'm here to take care of the both of you. And, sometimes, there'll be pain involved. I don't like doing it but if it's necessary, then it has to be done. Are we clear?"

"Crystal." He managed to squeak between clenched jaws.

"If you're going to stay here, learn to check your attitude. Not everyone will take as kindly to it as I have." Returning to Nick's side, she drew aside his shirt and took a better look at his injuries. Tsking, she said, "We'll have to wake him at some point if he's ever going to get better."

Carefully parting his fur, Judy saw his cuts and bruises looked fine enough. "No infection so far, at least. I can make a poultice to reduce the swelling on his shoulder. Some lavender, turmeric, mixed in with camphor will also ease some of the pain he must be feeling," she commented as she monitored his shallow breathing.

"Ya know," the smaller fox uttered from his position on the floor, "it can't be safe for him to be in pain like that. Shouldn't ya be more concerned?"

"It's not like we can take him to a hospital, Fin. This is the best I can do. He just needs rest. I'm sure he'll be fine as long as infection doesn't develop, and even then, we have antibiotics." She groaned as she slapped her forehead. "Arghhh! For bunnies. Antibiotics… for bunnies. That might actually be a problem." Not wanting to aggravate his injuries any further, she laid his shirt back over him and made a note to grab some blankets. "I could do more if I knew his medical history. Without it, it's too risky for me to treat him with anything but herbs and natural medicines for now."

Finnick sighed, struggled to stand upright and limped his way back to his food. He felt some small consolation that it was still warm in his paw. "I shouldn't complain. This here's better medical care than either of us has gotten in years," as he began to eat. "Damn, not bad!" The vulpine gave her a thumbs up, to which Judy scoffed, a small smile tugging at her lips.

Judy finished redressing Nick's bandages after she had applied an herbal topical anesthetic on his wounds to help him with his pain. Finnick cautiously approached, observing as she watched over his friend, comfortingly running her paw through the fur on his head.

"So…" he warily began. "Thanks."

"For what?" Judy impishly smiled as she side-eyed him. "For being there for him, the food, or the knee?"

The small vulpine winced. "Umm… maybe all three? Look, I shouldn't have jumped ya like that. Guess I was 'hangry', and I shouldn't have taken it out on ya. After all what ya done for us, I should be a little more trusting."

"I get it," Judy replied, "you've been through hell and back with the Robinsons." She didn't want to imagine what it must've been like for them, but her mind couldn't help but think about it whenever she laid eyes on the two of them. Their physical appearance alone did more than hint at the abuse they had suffered. "I was really hoping we'd be able to get him up so he could eat. Not sure if we should, though. This is the most peaceful I've seen him since I met you two."

"Well... if ya think we should, I'm willing to give it a shot."

"Thanks, Fin. No hard feelings?" Judy offered an outstretched paw as an olive branch.

Finnick could only blink in surprise. A prey willing to make peace with him even though he was in the wrong. He quickly pinched himself and yelped in pain.

"What was that for?" Judy asked in surprise.

"I swear, if someone hadda told me a prey would be as forgiving as ya, I'da have smacked 'em. Would've thought they were crazy or something." Shoveling down the last bit of his food, Fin stood up. "No hard feelings, bunny. Ya'd be great to have in a fight. Ready to wake Sleeping Beauty?"

Stroking Nick's cheek one last time, she gently pushed against his arm as Finnick strode next to her. "Nick? Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey…"

"He's not a kit anymore," Finnick teased her as he tried not to snort in laughter.

"Yes, he is! Look at him," she gushed "He's so adorable when he's asleep. He looks like one of my plushies. Why, I could just eat him up!"

Shaking his head to hide his amusement, he went over to Nick's head and motioned with his paw. "Come on over. I'll lift his head and ya can slide in under. Just like back at the camp."

Cocking an eyebrow, she looked at Fin questioningly. When he gave no indication that he was messing with her, she happily did as he asked. With the tod's head in her lap and a smile on her lips, Finnick handed her Nick's bowl and spoon. Pulling out a bottle of painkillers from her pocket, she crumbled one pill into the meat stew.

Between the two of them, they managed to get several spoonfuls of the stew into the barely awake fox's maw.

"So…" Finnick began as she fed the recumbent lapine, "... tell me. Where'd ya learn a move like that?"

"I have over a hundred brothers, some of whom would either bully me or torment me for thinking differently than them," she chortled. "After challenging a few of them to a wrestling match and 'accidentally' knocking the family jewels about, the rest learned not to mess with me."

Damn! Finnick thought. I pity the fool tod! He doesn't know who he's messin' with.

When it was apparent that he wouldn't eat anymore, she reluctantly gave up trying to force feed him. She didn't move from her spot though, contentedly running her fingers through his fur. "He at least had some of the stew and medicine. He should be able to rest better. I'll prepare a poultice for his shoulder later."

Finnick watched the couple with curiosity. Judy didn't show any fear of Nick despite the fact that his fangs were mere inches from her thigh. And Nick? Finnick tried not to snort in laughter. The tod was actually relaxed for once in his life. Well... at least the life they knew together in the stockade. He watched as the tension in the red fox's face disappeared under the soothing paws of Judy.

"Hey, bunny-girl!"

"I have a name, Fin." Judy rolled her eyes in mild exasperation.

"Yeah, yeah, Judy, whatever. Anyways… how'd ya manage to keep up with that jeep of the Predator Patrol? Once ya took off like a bat outta hell, I only found ya coz of your scent. Ya looked like something outa one o' them arcade games. Ya know the one before them video games took over."

"Sorry, I don't follow you. What are you talking about?" a puzzled Judy asked.

"Ya know, that shiny ball that bounces around like crazy, then you use them flippy things to keep it from dropping into the hole."

"A pinball machine?"

"Yah, that's d' one," he crowed triumphantly. "Ya was bouncin' around the forest like ya was some sorta pinball. How'd ya learn that?"

Scowling, Judy continued to stroke Nick's forehead as she reminisced. "Ever since I was little, I wanted to make a difference in this world. I didn't want to be just another stereotypical rabbit pushing out babies while growing produce for the rest of the world. I just wasn't sure what I wanted to do. One day, though, while I was playing with my siblings..."

"Hahaha, lookit Jude the dude! She can't keep up with us!"

"C'mon, fellas!" Judy called out to her older brothers. "Wait up for me!"

"Little girls should be at home, playing with dollies, not hunting dirty pelts!" Albert yelled back at her.

"You're as old as me!" Judy gasped as she strived to draw in air through her burning lungs. "You be nice to Gid!"

"Aw, what's the matter, little crybaby? You don't want us bullying your boyfriend?" another of her brothers teased as he ran ahead of her.

"He's not my boyfriend!" Judy blushed. "He's just shy around others, especially meanies like you! What's he ever done to you?"

"He don't have to do anything. He's a waste of space!" Albert called back to her. "He's just a pelt!"

"Yeah!" echoed the others. "Dirty, rotten pelts shouldn't live here in Bunnyburrow! They should go back to where they came from!"

"Gid was born here!" Judy adamantly declared.

"He's still a pelt!"

Unable to fight a fellow six-year old's logic, Judy focused on keeping up with her speedier brothers who were rushing to the edge of her parents' farm. "Hey! We're not allowed to go this far!"

Not bothering to answer her, they scampered over the fence separating the Grey's property from theirs. They quickly spread out as they crouched low in the grass in order not to be seen from the neighbouring farmhouse.

"Shhhh!" One of her elder brothers warned. "Keep an eye out for that pelt. He's bound to be here somewhere."

"Gid! Gid! Run away!" Judy yelled out from way behind them as she struggled to keep up.

"Why you little snitch, I oughta–"

Her brother never got to finish his sentence as he was suddenly hit by a flying pinecone.

"Hey!" he yelled out, whirling on the others as he rubbed his head. "Which one of you did that?" he angrily demanded.

Before any of them could reply, they were suddenly bombarded by numerous other aerial projectiles.

"Retreat!" they yelled as they scrambled back to the safety of their own property, not caring at all about leaving Judy behind.

Judy watched as her brothers ran away, giggling as she saw the whites of their tails disappear over the hill.

"You okay there, Miss Judy?" said a voice from above her.

"Gid, for heaven's sake, don't sneak up on me like that! Besides, how many times do I have to tell you? It's just Judy." She looked around for her friend and watched as he climbed down from a nearby tree. "So that's how you chased them away. How'd you know they were even here?"

"I was already out here, and I smelled them a mile away," Gideon proudly declared. "I'm gettin almost as good as my Paw when it comes to being a sniffer."

"Be glad you got that. I have no idea what they were going to do once they got here." She hopped up and gave her friend a hug, momentarily hanging from his neck.

"Whoa there, Miss Judy," laughed the tod, giving her a one-armed embrace before she let go. "Yeah, me too. Dad's been telling me not to mess with them but I was so mad that I wanted to–yeowch!"

"I'm gonna keep hitting you every time you call me 'Miss Judy'," she sternly warned her vulpine companion.

"Shucks," he complained, rubbing his arm, "Dad'll have my hide if I don't."

"Well," she reluctantly drawled, "what about this? When you're Dad's around, you can do that but when it's just us, you have to call me 'Judy'," she beamed, her logic sounding perfect to her.

"Fair enough," Gideon agreed. "So, what brings you here?"

"Let's go out and play by the river!" Judy hopped in place, itching to get going.

"Uhm… I can't." Gideon bashfully replied.

"You don't want to play with me? But I thought we were friends?" she sniffled.

"We are!" Gideon rushed to assure her. "But Dad said I can't be alone with you anymore. The other prey might get mad at me."

"But, that's just silly. Why would they get mad at you?"

"Said it was something to do about preds. Pred-judged or pred-juice. Said it was bad. That I could get hurt."

"Is it a disease among predators? Something in your DINA?"

"DINA? What's that?"

"You know, your biology. It's what makes us different. Like I can only eat vegetables and other leafy green stuff. And you like bugs. Which are yucky, by the way."

"Gosh, Judy. You sure are smart. Where'd you learn all this?"

"I listen to my Uncle Dan who likes to talk a lot. He tells me a lot of science-y stuff."

"Who's your Uncle Dan? I don't remember you having any kin around here by that name."

"He's not a rabbit, silly. He's a wolf."

"Whoa… you're part wolf?" Gideon cocked his head to the side, wondering if that made the rest of Judy's siblings part wolf and what exactly that meant.

"I dunno. I guess. I mean, my Dad is okay with me calling him that. Anyway, he's the wolf that helps around the farm. He's real smart, too."

"Do your siblings hate him like they hate me?"

"Some of them do. But not all! Most of us love him." Judy shook her head. "He plays with me, feeds me good food, takes good care of me… He's never hurt me or my brothers and sisters."

Gideon sat down, arms crossed and looked at Judy. "But some still hate him." The kit looked at his home. "I don't want to go to school tomorrow."

Judy sat next to him. "Why?"

"I got in trouble for sitting next to a girl sheep during lunch." He looked at Judy and saw her confused expression. "She told her teacher that my teeth scared her. But when I talked to her, she laughed and joked with me." He sighed. "Pops told me that it's something I need to get used to, and that that's why I'm not allowed to play with you. You're not going to tell your father I scared you, are you?"

"No, of course not!" Judy responded, startling Gideon as she looked him squarely in the eyes. "You're my friend! You'd never scare me.' She looked away for a moment but steeled her resolve. "Every time I tell people this, they don't think I can do it."

"Huh? Do what?"

"I want to be a police officer! I want to show that a girl can do it! And I want to help mammals like you. If I was there, I would've taught that sheep a lesson!"

Gid nodded with wide eyes. "Aw, shucks, Miss Jud-Ow!"

The rabbit giggled and started prancing around. "I've been training, you know. You want to train with me? Last one to the creek is a rotten egg!"

"W-wait for me!" GId said, scrambling after his friend.

"Ya were friends with a fox and started training with him? At the age of six? With a fox? Alone." Finnick groaned. "Ya just ain't a rabbit. Ya really must have wolf in ya. No, no! Shouldn't imagine that! Bad fox! Bad fox!" Finnick cursed as he hit himself on the head several times.

Judy rolled her eyes. "That was my first day training. Admittedly, training back then was glorified playing, but it became routine." Despondently sighing, she continued. "I still continue training even though female rabbits are barred from joining our own police department."

"This is Bunnyburrow, that makes no sense."

"Larger prey are expected to do the more dangerous jobs like being a police officer. Me, I'm expected to work at a store or a farm." She stretched her shoulders before running her short claws through Nick's fur. "I don't want to join the police department anymore, especially not after how anti-predator it has become. But I still want to be something more. I want to be able to make a difference." She looked down at Nick. This gives me a new purpose, she thought. "I need to go for now. I'll be back tonight. Watch over him for me, will you?"

"Yeah, yeah," Fin waved her off as she stood up. Judy took one last look at Finnick and the sleeping fox before disappearing behind the barn doors with a new pep in her step; one that she hadn't felt in a long time.

It was several hours before Nick stirred again. As time passed, Finnick decided to get a better lay of the land since he had nothing better to do. Climbing to the highest window in the barn, he wasn't surprised by what he saw; really, he was more disappointed than anything. There were field after field of carrots and other crops, an unholy number of bunnies tending to those fields, and several barns very similar to the one he was in. But he was pleased to see that, true to Judy's words, there was not a single slave to be found. No predators; just way, way too many bunnies.

A shifting of sheets caught Finnick's attention. "Yo, Nick!" Finnick rushed back down, glad to see his best friend was finally awake. "Gods, I was bored. Think ya slept enough today?"

Nick rubbed his eyes momentarily before responding, warily looking around at his surroundings. "Where are we? The last thing I remember was… oh, gods! We need to go!" he quickly croaked out, attempting to sit up, his arms stretching out to grab Finnick, only to slump back down with a painful groan.

"Yeah, ya been asleep for-What! We need to go? What'd that rabbit put in your stew! This is the first time since we left the Ottertons that our bellies are full and ya want to leave?"

Nick scoffed and shoved off his covers. "The longer we stay here, the more likely the PP will find us!" He struggled to sit upright once more, his arms having little to no strength left after all he'd been through. "You know this. We're better off on our own," Nick croaked, eyes squeezed shut in pain. He struggled to stand up, using all of his strength, only to fall into the bed once more, earning a disapproving look from Finnick.

"I'm not letting you go that easily, and there's no way in hell that your girlfriend will, either."

"Girlfriend? What 'girlfriend'? Unless you've switched, you certainly don't look like a female," Nick chuckled from his prone position. "Now, if you were wearing a cute little nurse's uniform..."

"Nick, shut your trap. I don't care how injured you are; I will slap that smug expression off your face." He curtly grunted and moved over to the far wall, sliding down into a sitting position. "Not sure what's gotten into you. You seriously want to leave all this? Free food, a roof over our heads, no PP at our heels? After all we've been through, now's a wonderful time for you to have a death wish!" The fennec hit his head against the wall out of frustration. "You even have a babe over there, making goo-goo eyes at ya! Classical farmer's daughter situation. Wish I had your luck." The fennec licked his lips as he peered through half-slit eyes. "Ya know, maybe she should check your head coz you musta hit it real hard when ya fell into the river."

Nick ground his teeth. "You keep her out of this! She's just… you know what? Forget it." Nick darkly muttered as he tried not to lose his temper. "You'll change your tune when the PP brings their sniffers over here." He rolled over away from Finnick, hiding his pain. "We'll stay another day, but once I'm ready, I'm leaving."

"Sure you are, bud, sure you are."

"How are you okay with putting these mammals in danger?" Nick snapped. "I get it; I'm in no shape to move, but all of us will be dead in a week's time if we stay here!"

"You'd be dead already if Judy hadn't found you, you idiot! Like it or not, until your wounds heal, we're staying here!"

Nick huffed. Gripping the sheets, he looked down at his body, seeing every scar he'd acquired over the years, and breathed out slowly as a new wave of pain washed over him. It'll all be over soon. Wherever is safer than this place, here we come.

A sudden vision of the mother he barely remembered shook him from his thoughts; that moment he had been ripped from her loving arms and hell on earth began was forever ingrained into his soul. Curling into a ball, Nick wished that things could've been different, but knew that no matter what, no matter how hard he wished, this was his life. He missed having dreams.