Stu grinned from the other side of the phone, with one paw holding the phone up in front of his face and the other hooked through his suspender strap as he stood in his personal study. His antique Carlton house desk that had been in the family for nearly a century sat at his right, while his favorite, pastel-orange sitting chair sat to his left. And beneath his hindpaws was the multi-colored, hand-knotted rug his mother and grandmother had made for him and Bonnie as a wedding gift.

Meeting Judy's amethyst gaze that looked so much like her mother's, Stu said brightly, "I'm a little surprised to see you're actually awake."

Judy forced her smile to remain in place as she answered, "Yep, I've been up for hours."

Stu chuckled. "I was beginning to wonder since it seems you're always sleeping when I call."

"Well, Dad, I was injured the other day and the doctor did order plenty of rest so my leg can heal." Not that I got much rest yesterday, Judy thought to herself while studiously pushing down the memories of why she didn't get much rest. Maintaining her forced smile, she added, "I am feeling a lot better, though. I even spent some time in Nick's weight room this morning, so I'm starting to feel more like myself again."

"The weight room!" Stu exclaimed. Swiping his paw through the air, he pressed, "Jude, how is that resting your leg? I'm surprised you didn't pop any stitches." Shoving his face close to the screen (which gave Judy a close-up of his nose), he asked, "You didn't pop any stitches, did you?"

By this time, Judy's ears were flat against her back. Rolling her eyes, she said, "Dad, I wasn't exercising my legs. I was sitting the whole time while working my arms and upper body."

"Oh, well, that's good." Glancing around as he tried to see past his daughter, Stu asked, "So, um, is Nick around? I don't see him."

Judy took a deep breath, and replied, "Nope, he's not. In fact, I haven't seen him all morning."

"What! He left you alone!? Why, that stinking fox." Making a fist with his free paw, Stu stated hotly, "When I get my hands on that todd I'll—!"

"Dad!" Judy raised her voice while talking over him. "Dad! Nick did not leave me alone."

Stu paused for a moment and let his paw drop back to his side, then cocked his head and said, "He didn't?"

"No. And even if he did, I'm a big girl." Putting a paw on her chest, she added, "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

Stu scratched his head and nearly knocked his hat off. Grabbing it, he stuffed it back on his head, then began walking in a circle (and traveling a familiar path on the multi-colored rug) as he asked, "So, where is he?"

Judy took a deep breath and shifted on the couch. Wriggling her toes, she answered, "He's still sleeping."

"Sleeping!? It's nearly noon!" Stu had been up since before 5 this morning, so even though it wasn't quite 11 O'clock yet, to him, it might as well be nearly noon. With a tinge of irritation in his voice, he continued, "What is that lazy todd doing still in bed!? How is he supposed to be taking care of you if he sleeps all day?" With a snort, Stu shook his head. He always knew foxes were lazy creatures and now his daughter was mixed up with one.

Judy swiped a paw down her face, then looked at her dad. "Dad, Nick is not lazy. We had a very early morning trying to get ready for our meeting with Bogo yesterday. Then we had to hang around the train station waiting for Rachel and Lilly to show up. Since Henry was the one who stepped off the train, Nick rode the train back to his place to pick up the truck." Stu opened his mouth, but Judy pointed a finger at him to shush him. "We were going to bring Lily and Rachel home and show them the place before they picked up the truck and drove it home, but since it was Henry who arrived, I told Nick to return for the truck while I waited at the station with Henry and his friend Billy." With a snort of her own, Judy waved her paw through the air and explained, "Henry was being a specist jerk and I didn't want him anywhere near the house—so I refused to bring him home." Folding her arm across her chest, she sunk down into the couch cushions.

Stu was surprised to hear Judy's side of the story about Henry and Nick's first meeting, as Henry had come home yesterday complaining incessantly about the stuck-up pelt with the big mouth. Bonnie had then laid into their boy about how much of a jerk he was first and told Henry in no uncertain terms that he was never to call Nick, or any other fox, a pelt ever again or she'd wash his mouth out with soap. Stu had tried to defend their boy, but the steely look in Bonnie's eyes shut him up, too.

Bonnie had then explained to Stu that she had talked to Nick herself, and he admitted to being a jerk to Henry, but only because Henry was a jerk first. Nick was merely living by the golden rule of doing to others as they were doing to him. This made Stu look back over how he had been treating others, but right now, he was more concerned about his son's claim on how the fox had been acting.

As he hadn't been there, Stu had hard time knowing which side to believe, but seeing the defiant look on his daughter's face, Stu decided to drop the issue with Henry (for now) and focused back on the todd she was staying with. "But what does that have to do with Nick still sleeping?"

With a heavy sigh, Judy explained, "We arrived home in the late afternoon and then Nick had to get dinner ready for us." With a smile, she said, "Since the last few days have been so hectic—what with my injury, moving into a new place, and having our big meeting with Bogo yesterday—Nick decided to prepare some of my favorite dishes for dinner. After dinner we stayed up late watching a movie, then I went to bed while Nick called his mom."

Stu scratched his head. Hearing how Nick had catered to his daughter's needs and made her some of her favorite dishes did give Nick several points in his favor. Then hearing that Nick had also called his mom piqued his curiosity. "Nick called his mom?"

"Yes, Dad, Nick is really close to his mom, so they do call each other from time to time."

"Oh." Stu lifted his cap to scratch his head again, then pushed it back on his head and asked, "But why did he call so late? Wouldn't he wake her up?"

Judy rolled her eyes. "No, he didn't wake her. They're foxes and Vivian is retired which means she's reverted back to her nocturnal habits."

"Oh," Stu said again with another scratch of his head. "But you say he's close to his mom?" That did improve his opinion of the slick todd by some degree. Any mammal who respected his mom couldn't be all that bad.

"Yes, Dad, he's very close to his mom. He's also very close to his sister."

"Oh, he has a sister?" Whenever Stu had dealings with foxes, he never really bothered to look beyond the fox himself. Usually he only saw them as lying thieves (Gideon had recently redeemed himself in the older buck's eyes thanks to his daughter's words). But thinking of Nick as not just a fox, but also part of a family—it made him look more kindly on the todd his daughter was moving in with.

"Hmm," Judy murmured. With a grin, she added, "In fact, his sister sent him a letter in the mail yesterday."

"She did, did she?" Stu murmured back while thinking. He was glad to hear the fox had family he was close too, but it still begged the question . . . Focusing his attention back on Judy, he asked, "But what about his father? Where's he?" It wouldn't surprise Stu if Nick's father had walked out on his family. Foxes weren't known for their loyalty, after all.

Judy's smile disappeared and her ears dropped down her back. Taking a deep breath while she composed herself (and made sure her tears were properly locked away), she said, "Nick's dad was murdered in cold blood when Nick was only seven." Seeing the shock on her father's face, Judy pressed on by elaborating. "Prey killed Nick's father, not a predator. It was also prey who killed his twin brother days before their 12th birthday."

Stu was left speechless. He never had a high opinion of foxes, or, well, any predators, and so had never stopped to consider how their lives may have been shaped or the tragedy they might have faced. And for any mammal to face such tragedy when they were so young—it left Stu's mind momentarily blank. When he finally gathered his thoughts, he muttered, "Nick said that?" It was more of a rhetorical question, but it didn't stop his determined daughter from answering.

"Yes, he did. And Chief Bogo himself verified it yesterday during our meeting—with the police reports that were filed." Lifting her chin slightly, she narrowed her eyes and added, "Police reports that were filed but never looked into further for no other reason than the responding officers didn't care since it was only a stinking pelt"—Judy sneered (oh, she hated that word)—"who died." With an angry huff, she continued by saying, "Never mind that they were letting two killers walk nor worrying about the other mammals they might decide to kill next."

Stu's ears couldn't go any lower, and if his daughter's objective was to make him feel crummy about how he'd been acting and thinking towards Nick—she was doing a really good job of it.

Folding her arm across her stomach, Judy said, "Furthermore, not even a year after his brother was murdered, a group of prey ganged up on Nick and were intent on beating him to death. If not for Honey showing up and proving she had a bigger heart and greater compassion than most mammals, then Nick would have died." Sitting up straighter, she glared at her father and added, "And if he had died, Dad, you can bet that twitching pink nose of yours that I would have died—either 3 months ago while tracking down Otterton, or 3 days ago while tracking down the Nighthowlers."

Judy stared at her dad's stunned expression for a second, then turned her focus inward while thinking about how many times Nick had saved her—first from Manchas (albeit indirectly), then from Woolter and Jesse, the oncoming train, and finally, Bellwether and her goons.

As her father stood in stunned silence, Judy thought more on the attack from Manchas and it suddenly struck her how odd it was. First, Otterton had been targeted on his way to Big's house to talk about the Nighthowlers (he probably had them stolen from his shop, too, and figured out why someone would want to steal them), and then Manchas was targeted when she and Nick showed up to also talk to him about the Nighthowlers. Coincidence? Not likely.

Bringing her thumb up, she started chewing on her thumbnail again.

Seeing his daughter's pensive expression, Stu asked curiously, "Judy?"

Judy didn't even hear him as she muttered under her breath, "How did Doug know?" With a shake of her head, she muttered, "He was just following orders." With her brows furrowing in thought, she mumbled, "So how did Bellwether know?" That question was really starting to bug her now. Somehow Bellwether got wind of both Otteron's decision to talk to Big about the flowers, as well as her and Nick's intention to talk to Manchas about the same thing. But how? How did she know what they were up to? Did she have a wiretap on Otterton's phone? But then how would Bellwether know about her and Nick's trip to Big's mansion and his information that sent them to Manchas?

"Judy," Stu spoke louder. At his daughter's continued silence, he nearly shouted, "Jude!"

Snapping out of her thoughts, Judy focused on her dad and said, "Huh?" At her father's raised eyebrow, Judy shook her head and said, "Sorry dad, I was lost in thought." As she remembered why she was lost in thought, she suddenly sat up straighter and exclaimed, "Dad, I need to call Bogo, so I'll have to call you back later."

"Huh? Judy, what are you talking about?" Stu was stumped on what was going on with his daughter. She was jumping around from topic to topic again and he couldn't keep up with her. "And what's this about Doug and Bellwether?"

Judy shook her head. "Sorry, Dad, it's about the case I'm in the middle of, so I can't talk about it."

"What case? Jude, you're injured, remember? So, what's this talk about working on a case?" Stu scratched his head in confusion. Didn't they already close the case with Bellwether? And what about her leg? She couldn't even walk on it! As he began pacing in worry, he asked, "You are on medical leave, right?"

"I am, but that doesn't matter, Dad. I'll call you back later this afternoon, okay?" With that Judy ended the call and immediately dialed the ZPD dispatcher. As the number connected, she all but shouted, "Clawhauser! This is Judy, is Bogo in? I need to speak to him right away."

There was pause on the other end, and then a feminine voice spoke up, "Um, Officer Hopps, right? This is Belladine. Clawhauser doesn't work the front desk anymore, he's been moved to records, remember?"

"Fiddlesticks, I'd forgotten." It still bothered Judy that they took Clawhauser off dispatch, especially over something as stupid as him being a predator. He was the only cop at the precinct who was actually nice to her, and anyone who thought the chubby cheetah could hurt someone needed a serious psych evaluation. "Well, is Bogo available? I really need to talk to him."

"I'm sorry, officer Hopps, the Chief is in a meeting right now and can't be disturbed."

Judy frowned. After a moment's thought, she asked, "Okay, is Grizzoli available? He's the one heading the Nighthowler case, right?"

"Well, I can check. Let me put you on hold for a minute, okay?"

Music came on the line and Judy sat waiting to hear back from Belladine or Grizzoli. She much preferred Grizzoli so she could pass on her unsettling questions to look into.

….….

In the meantime, Stu stood staring at his phone and was only partly shocked by Judy's sudden goodbye. No, what worried him, was her insistence on working on a case when she was injured and was supposed to be healing. Well, her working on any case worried him. But he couldn't deny the fact that Judy was born to be a cop. As much as it terrified him, she was who she was. And after years of fighting that simple fact, he had finally accepted it—he didn't like it, but he did accept it—so why, oh why, did she have to go and throw him another curve ball?

As if being a cop wasn't scary enough, she had to go and move in with a fox. A fox she apparently had some sort of feelings for. As a father, he wanted what was best for his kits, and especially his daughters—so whenever one of them brought home her first boyfriend (or any boyfriend), he always worried about whether the buck was good enough for her. Would he treat her right or was he a jerk? Did he put her needs above his own or did he make selfish demands of her? Would he stick with her or was he just playing her? So many worries.

And if Judy actually fell for this city todd, that would bring a whole new set of worries. Dating outside one's species always brought on its own set of worries: Would they be accepted? Could they make it work with their species and cultural differences? Would they be able to understand each other well enough? Would they still be able to have kits?

But if Judy fell for Nick, a predator and a fox, that was a set of worries that set his nose twitching. Predators had such sharp teeth and claws. And Nick was so much bigger than Judy. What if he got too rough with her? What if he scratched her and he decided he liked the smell of her blood? What if . . . What if they didn't fit? What if they did?

Stu froze on this thought and then shuddered. Putting a paw on his stomach, he stumbled over to the chair in his study and all but fell into the soft cushions. The thought of Judy lying with the fox made him sick. That just wasn't right and felt wrong in soo many ways. Putting a paw over his mouth and leaning forward, Stu tried to calm his suddenly rebellious stomach. It took a moment, but it finally settled down. Sitting back up, he took several deep breaths while trying to rid his mind of the images that were now there.

As much as the thought sickened him, Stu knew that if Judy really did have feelings for Nick—that if she fell in love with him—she'd pursue him relentlessly. She would chase him to the ends of the earth and she wouldn't stop until she either had him or he rejected her (and she might not stop even then). And this knowledge left him in a conundrum. As a father, he didn't want to see her being mated to a fox, so he hoped Nick would reject her. But if he did, Stu knew Judy would be heartbroken and that's something he never wanted to see.

So, what was he to do? The thought of Judy with Nick as anything more than friends made him sick, but the thought that Nick might break her heart made him angry. Unlike her sisters, when Judy committed it was with her whole heart, holding nothing back. So if Nick rejected her and broke her heart, Judy wouldn't recover easily. And that's not to say that even if Nick accepted her at first, that the todd wouldn't leave after taking everything (emotionally and physically) from her. He was a lying fox, after all.

But with that thought, the words Judy told him earlier about Nick's past surfaced. How was the fox able to survive and cope with such tragedy in his young life? Tragedy he received at the paws of prey. Prey who repeatedly kicked him while he was down. Stu had always considered prey as more of the nobler of the two mammalian groups: prey and predator. But as Judy pointed out 3 months ago, there are a lot of rabbits who were jerks. And that could also be said of the other prey species. It was sheep who were trying to kill his little girl, not predators. So, what had he been teaching his kits all these years?

With a heavy sigh, Stu took his cap off and rubbed his head. Nothing made sense anymore and it left him feeling lost.

….….

Judy sat with her feet drawn up on the couch and her good foot thumping the cushions as she waited for someone to come back on the phone. After a couple of minutes (though it seemed like hours), a gruff voice asked, "Officer Hopps? This is Detective Grizzoli. I was told you have some information for me." Adam Grizzoli was a large gray wolf with a black coat, and white fur around his muzzle, chin, and partially down his neck and a few silvery hairs sprinkled through the underside of his bushy black tail.

"Oh, yes, I do." Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm down so she could relay her information correctly (she couldn't forget how most of the mammals in precinct one—especially the predators—had ignored and overlooked her abilities). "I was just thinking about my Otterton case three months ago and how it tied into the Nighthowler case just a few days ago and I realized a strange coincidence."

"Okay, I'm listening," the gray wolf said a little skeptically. He never cared much for Hopps when she first came to Precinct One (she was just a tiny, annoying rabbit), but after her little speech at the press conference, he couldn't stand her. The only reason he was listening to her now was that she had tracked down Bellwether and found the real cause of the savage attacks. Bogo's speech the other day also helped put her in a slightly better light, but she was still a small rabbit who thought she could be a real cop.

Her skills she showcased in tracking down Otterton gave Grizzoli a better opinion of the small, annoying rabbit, but it was still hard to put aside the hard feelings seeing or hearing her engendered after all the harm that came to predators after her speech. He had several cousins and their families who were forced to leave the city after the persecution from their prey neighbors drove them from their homes. His younger cousin on his mom's side had several prey teens throw rocks through their windows, one of which smashed into their youngest daughter's bed and narrowly missed hitting her in the head.

Judy took another deep breath, saying, "Well, when . . . I . . . was tracking down Mr. Otterton, I was led to Silvano Big's mansion where he informed me of Otterton's call and desire to discuss a serious matter with him. I can only assume that Otterton either had his own shop burglarized or knew of another shop which had its Nighthowler bulbs stolen and had made the connection between the flowers and the potential for someone to use them to make mammals go savage."

Grizzoli flicked his ear and sighed. "Hopps, what's your point?" The seasoned wolf officer wasn't sure why the rabbit was calling. She'd been taken off the case already and put on medical leave. Furthermore, if she was to call at all, it should be to say she was submitting her report from 3 days ago, not rehashing her report from 3 months ago—a report he'd already read.

Judy's ears drooped. Things really haven't changed in the last 3 months, have they? she thought sadly. Pushing the negative emotion down, she squared her shoulders and said, "Well, Bellwether had Doug dart Otterton on his way to Big's mansion. And then 11 days later, she had Doug waiting to dart Manchas when Nick and I arrived to question him about the attack and to see if Otterton had said anything beforehand."

Running a paw down one of her ears in an attempt to remain calm, she continued before Grizzoli could comment. "Not only did Doug dart Manchas so he couldn't talk, but did it after he unlocked the door for us, which means Bellwether meant for Manchas to kill me then and there." Making a fist with her free paw while remembering the terrifying attack, she added, "And if Nick hadn't been with me, her plan would have succeeded. And once the city found out a large predator had attacked and killed the first rabbit officer of the city, you can be sure her plans to segregate and enslave the predator population would have gone forward without a hitch and with no one to stop her."

Grizzoli sat quietly for a minute while he thought about her words. He remembered watching the attack in the video Bogo had showed them the previous morning, and he did find it odd that Doug had been waiting for them, but he still wasn't sure why Hopps was calling. And how did she walk in or out of Big's mansion alive? Her report stated getting a lead from Big after finding Otterton's wallet in his limo, but not how she got in or out with her life intact. And why did she even ask a fox to help her in the first place?

Scratching behind his ear, Grizzoli asked, "How did you manage to get in and out of Big's mansion alive? He doesn't exactly like cops."

Judy bit her lip briefly as she thought of how much to reveal. Finally deciding on less was best, she answered, "I saved his daughter the day before and he was feeling a lot of gratitude, so he gave us the information we needed."

This was shocking information for the black wolf to take in, but even so, he didn't miss how Hopps had switched from 'me' to 'we' when talking about the case. She was treating the fox like an actual partner—which was crazy. Who would trust a fox that much? Bogo said Wilde would make a good cop, but Grizzoli wasn't so convinced. Flicking an ear, he asked, "Why did you take Wilde with you? There must have been someone more trustworthy than a fox."

Grizzoli's words immediately ruffled Judy's fur and she scoffed, "Like who? You?" Judy laughed bitterly. "Don't joke. Nobody at the precinct wanted me there 3 months ago. I was just the dumb bunny who thought she could be a real cop. Bogo wouldn't even put me in the system knowing that without any resources I was guaranteed to fail." Taking a quick, short breath, she continued hotly, "Well I found my resources and a worthy partner—a partner I'd trust over you any day of the week!"

Grizzoli sat in his cubicle chair with his hackles up at her angry accusation, and yet speechless at her angry retort. He'd never pegged Hopps as the volatile type, she always seemed overly optimistic and energetic, yet timid as she didn't talk back and hardly ever raised her voice. Back at the precinct, she was just a tiny bunny surrounded by large scary predators and prey, and her allegation that a jaguar had gone savage and tried to eat her only further engrained that image in his mind (along with most of the other officers). And even though he had since watched the video of the attack (proving she hadn't been making things up or exaggerating what happened), it was still hard to see her differently. She was the one who claimed predators were predisposed to go savage.

Judy sat back and stared off out the window as she tried to push her anger back down. She wasn't expecting a confrontation when she called the precinct and asked to talk to Grizzoli. Taking a deep breath, she decided to end the conversation before she said anything more to further damage her reputation at the precinct. "Look, Grizzoli, I only called because I don't believe in coincidences. Bellwether must have had a mole or something in the phone company or watching the traffic cams—something that allowed her to know Otterton had made the connection with the flowers and that Nick and I were heading to Manchas's to ask about the same thing. If there is a mole, I don't want him falling through the cracks while you're busy rounding up everyone else."

Grizzoli sat quietly for a moment as he tried to calm down. The rabbit hadn't said anything wrong—harsh—but not necessarily wrong. And he couldn't forget what Bogo had said at the morning briefing yesterday. And, of course, there was no forgetting what happened to Staggson for trying to jail the sly vulpine who had helped her. Nor did he want to know what Bogo would do to him if she complained about his attitude and lack of helpfulness. Trying to keep his breathing and voice even, he replied, "I'll look into it." With how extensive Bellwether's network had been, Hopps's worries were well justified.

"Thank you," Judy said a bit more calmly. Without even bothering to say goodbye (she was still irritated at the wolf for insinuating Nick had been a poor choice of a partner), Judy hit the end call button and hung up.

It took Judy some time, and more petting her ears while thinking of Nick, to calm down completely. After her first day on the job, it became apparent that none of her colleagues believed in her ability or wanted her around. She could still hear McHorn yelling at her to leave Weaselton to the real cops when she chased him into Little Rodentia. Her stupid little speech at the press conference certainly didn't help any. The predators loathed her after the conference and, other than the most specist prey officers, the prey officers who had predator partners or friends all came to hate or resent her, too. It made getting up and going to work even harder than just feeling guilty over breaking the city—and destroying her friendship with Nick. She still had a hard time forgiving herself for that one.

But she had since mended her relationship with Nick and together they'd found the cause of the savage attacks and even caught the mastermind, so she was on the right track of fixing her mistakes. "Things will improve," she whispered softly to herself. "Things will get better."

Taking one last, deep breath, Judy picked up her phone and texted Fru-Fru, asking to have her father call her as she had an important matter to discuss with him. Fru-Fru was curious but didn't ask questions and it wasn't long before the tiny mob boss MuzzleTimed Judy.

Answering the call, they greeted one another, and then Big asked what her call was about. Judy quickly explained her fears about Bellwether's ability to know Otterton was heading over to talk about the Nighthowlers, as well as Nick and her visit to ask Manchas the same thing. Big, too, thought it was too much of a coincidence and promised to look at his staff who had been hired in the last year. Although Bellwether might have had someone listening in on Otterton's phone lines after the theft of his Nighthowler bulbs, the only way the psycho ewe could have learned of Judy's lead to Manchas was if someone inside Big's mansion alerted Bellwether to the information they'd gained so Doug could be waiting for them to arrive. A chill went through Judy's body as she thought of what might have been if Nick hadn't been with her.

It stilled surprised Judy to think about the sick lengths Bellwether had been willing to go in order to implement her 'Fear Always Works' plan to subdue, segregate, and then enslave the predator population. Although she wasn't 100 percent sure what the deranged sheep had been planning, but with as sick and twisted as her mind was (Bellwether was laughing while thinking Nick was savage and trying to eat her), Judy had little doubt that Bellwether's end goal was to either eradicate the predator population or enslave it.

Pushing thoughts of the psycho ewe aside, Judy leaned back into the couch cushions and grabbed one of her ears. Closing her eyes, she began running her paw down it for a minute while once again remembering how good Nick's paws felt the day before. With memories of her sly fox replaying in her mind, the negative thoughts and emotions she'd been feeling slowly melted away. Once she was in a better frame of mind and in a much pleasanter mood, she picked up the tv remote and turned on the tv. With a small smile playing about her lips as a few errant thoughts of Nick ran through her mind, Judy began channel surfing while waiting for her drool-worthy boyfriend to wake up and join her.


WingedKatt here. There's a few more loose ends to tie up with the Bellwether case, and Judy left her dad with much to think about. In the next chapter, Nick will wake up and join Judy where they'll have a fluffy conversation before Nick heads into town to get a few things ready for their upcoming wedding.

Ch 62: Don't Regret A Thing, will post in 2 weeks. If you have any thoughts or comments, I'd love to hear them. Take care and have a great weekend.