Revisions

by TheUnknown3-1

Nick's blueberry plan is thwarted by Dawn Bellwether's organization and it nearly costs the duo dearly. The experience of succumbing to the Nighthowler serum changes the red fox's psychology to a degree. Nearly two-years later, the continued trouble with PTSD leads him further into the darkened den and forces an adaptation after graduating from the Police Academy.

26. Penance

CONTENT WARNING: This chapter contains a scene wherein a sexual assault is discovered. If you wish to skip this, read through until you find the first completely bolded line of dialogue (begins with "William, Warren…) and then scroll through until you find the second completely bolded sentence (begins with By the time the group). Utilize the CTRL-F method to find the aforementioned lines, if you wish.

December 31st, 2020

The days that followed Christmas were embraced with a whirlwind of Hopps clan activities. The word that a certain red fox was the subject of some serious hijinks sent the kits and grandkits into a happy frenzy due to the understanding that all of the adults were going to be in a relaxed state-of-being until the New Year had passed. The deities must have been feeling a little jovial and playful, because the first morning that followed Christmas saw the duo being awoken by roughly two-dozen kits that had hopped into Judy's bed to wake them up with a torrent of giggles and glomping. Fortunately, both of them had chosen to dress in their normal nightwear. Judy had ended up being forced to peel several of the buns off of the groaning and mumbling todd's head and shoulders. The previously nocturnal fox was only able to share a quick kiss with the diurnal doe before being drug out into the warren: still severely exhausted from the night's romantic activities. And, what was even funnier was the fact that the couple had not been able to clean off all of the blue toning to the todd's fur until that evening once the kits had all exhausted themselves.

When the following evening rolled around, Nick and Judy had learned quickly to be slyer about their nightly routine. Instead of locking Judy's door, the duo decided to retreat to Nick's room – locking that door – so that they could not only rest in the mornings, but also throw off the throngs of happy bunny kits. As sure as Serendipity watched over from above, they were awoken by the sounds of kits hooting and hollering as they bombed into Judy's room outside to find the fox. As they couple laid wrapped around one another, they had to hush each other several times while sharing kisses and listening to the calls for a search. At one point, when the sound of a desperate jiggling of Nick's doorknob broke the silence in his room, Judy had to rush into a steamy make-out session to keep the two from laughing out loud. Once it had seemed that the doe and the todd had "bunked somewhere else," the duo heard the scurrying of dozens of paws as the kits left the room. Right before there was a resounding crack of Judy's door being slammed. Nick had released a seemingly overwhelmed laugh while doing his best to curl up around Judy to hide them both from the world. The duo ended up paying for the decision a couple of hours later when the todd was surrounded and literally carried away, crutches and all, so that he could partake in the fun.

Periodically, Judy would be able to wander around the warren and find Nick. Sometimes he was playing video games with the kits. On one occasion, she caught them in the music room helping some of the teens learn the strings. Other times he was found racing little cars around a makeshift track or playing tea party with the tiny does that had wanted to dress him up as their faithful guard. Occasionally, when she knew he wasn't feeling all that sore and he knew that only Judy was watching, the todd would allow some of the kits to ride around on his back as he strode around the room on all four paws. The fact that the todd was willing to spend time with any of the kits that wanted him to play with them and their new toys made the doe's heart melt. It was seeing Nick wearing a little crown on his head during one of the tea parties that overwhelmed the gray doe, though. Judy felt so lucky to find someone so caring that her sisters had found her, sitting in a hallway, wiping a torrent of tears away as she cried openly. She had not been able to even speak until they had whisked her away to a quiet place so that they could all talk about what had happened. The normally gossip-focused group pulled together, in a tight bundle of fur and paws, while reassuring Judy that she had deserved such a kind male in her life. When the natural fall of dusk rolled back around the Burrows, Judy was far shyer and softer as the couple's bodies melted against one another, as they had done since the Eve. This time, it was the doe that found herself unsure of her own actions while responding to the softness of the todd's lips as the sun fell out of position outside of the warren.

New Year's Eve Day saw many of the kits being disciplined for being far more unruly than usual. It had been a normal thing to see for the doe, but Nick seemed a little uncomfortable in witnessing two of the younger teen bucks having their butts whooped by the matriarch of the warren. Even after they had made it a point to drop a couple of firecrackers near to the todd, as he was ambling along on his crutches, and ended up causing him to take a heavy tumble. Nick had explained that he was not hurt in the ordeal and had only been startled, but that did nothing to spare the two grandkits of Bonnie's belt. Judy was not able to discern if the issue was because city parents possibly didn't do that kind of thing or if he had become a leery about how much the incident had pissed her mother off.

Never one to end up all that wary of a prank, Nick had stumbled into the kitchen and found that there was a plate of blueberry cookies sitting on the serving table. He had been separated from the doe not long after the disciplinary action and was just cruising around now. Judy had previously explained what had occurred before the two does had found him doing his William Wallace impression in the entertainment room. The todd's weight rested on his crutches, in front of the table, as he waited for the auburn doe to notice that he was inside her domain. It took a few minutes, and several younger, snickering does before one of them tapped on Arabella's shoulder and pointing at the visitor. With nothing he could really do, Nick held his ground as the doe walked over to him, bristling in annoyance.

"Wilde!" She said loudly.

"Good evening, Miss." Nick said politely.

"Where's my Tupperware?" Arabella rounded the table, forcing the todd to reorient his crutches so that he could face her properly.

"Uh… I'm not sure where the kits got off to with that. It was out of my paws as soon as it came out of the cupboard." Nick frowned warily. "I'm really sorry about what happened."

The eldest Hopps doe huffed in annoyance as she sized the fox up. "No…" She said, deflating a bit. "I get it… You couldn't fight off a fruit bat in your state if you had wanted to."

The todd chuckled a little bit: not willing to admit that the statement was not actually nor entirely the truth.

"Let me guess. Mom said the Cookie Cartel had ended up stealing all the cookies for themselves and you didn't know that those cookies had actually been made for you… Which means that you're here for some cookies even though it's nearly suppertime. Is that right?" The auburn doe was certainly feisty.

"That's about the gist of it." Nick admitted, chuckling awkwardly.

He had not had any blueberries in quite a while and there was no way that a few could spoil his appetite anyway. Arabella turned and walked back around to the opposite side of the table, picking up a little sandwich bag before putting several of the cookies in the bag and tying it off with a holiday ribbon. Once the deed was done, the doe walked back around the table and right up to the todd. Her paws darted down to open his left-front jeans pocket and dropped the bag in before backing out of his personal space so that the doe could shoot him another stern glare.

"There's catfish, mashed tatters, and corn on the menu for you tonight, Wilde. I better not hear that you were 'too full' to eat your supper. Do I make myself clear?" The doe growled pointedly.

Nick immediately fired off his most award-winning of grins, not even noticing that his fangs were showing, while his tail began to wag in earnest.

"I will save these for later then. Thank you, Miss Arabella." The todd said.

"You better keep an eye out for my nice Tupperware set." The doe ordered sharply. "Now, get out of here. You're holding up my line!"

Nick chuckled and set out of the kitchen. Luckily, she did not go as far as smacking him on the backside this time. "I'll do that." He called over his shoulder.

Darkness had already fallen outside. One of the things that Nick had not realized about the warren's main hill was what was just outside of the kitchen entrances. It had, for the most part, been covered in snow due to the threat that the hawk had presented. Now, the outside decking had been cleared off and strings of lights surrounded a little patio where there were several outdoor tables while the main lights off of the building showered the grounds beyond. Nick heard a tapping on one of the windows and round that Robby was waving at the todd from the outside, so he proceeded to step outside.

As soon as he was outside, and the door had shut, the todd noticed that the older buck was hanging out with the W-litter again. The entire wooden deck had been swept of snow, as had the scatted tables, and the bucks were all drawing beers from the snowbanks – as opposed to using an ice-laden bucket or plastic cooler. Wyatt began triumphantly banging the bottom of an empty bottle on the wooden tabletop.

"Wilde! Wiiiilde! Wiiiiiiiilde!" The bucks began chanting with flashing grins.

Nick laughed, gathering up enough snow from the little snow wall that he was passing by, hucking a loosely compacted snowball at the group.

"Shut the hell up, you guys! The kits are sleeping!" He admonished warmly.

"The Haaaawk SlaaAAaayer!" Walter boomed in support of their friend.

"Shuddup!" Nick said with a shaking head, grinning softly, nonetheless. He took a seat amongst the group and smacked the nearby bucks in their shoulders. "That's never becoming a thing."

There was an immediate ruffling slap against his shoulder while William plonked an opened bottle of Tri-Burrow Harvest beer down on the table in front of the todd. None of them had really spoken about the incident that happened before Christmas Day. Having not taken any pain medications for the day, Nick decided to take a sip of "Bunnyburrow's finest" beers as he pawed a folded newspaper from Victor. It still tasted like flavored dirt and caused a disgusted shiver to roll across his shoulders.

"What's this?" Nick asked.

"Well…" William chuckled awkwardly.

"That's kinda what happens when you don't give out any interviews for the fine folks of the Tri-Counties." Robby continued when William paused.

"Yeah... Y'know, after you kill a Bird-of-Prey like some sort of crazy surface-to-air missile." Victor drawled.

"Tends to make you a pretty attractive individual." Warren nodded.

Nick unfolded the newspaper to find that they had shelled out for a full-color spread on the front page. The front column was complimented by a hi-resolution, as best as could be considering the printing methods of newspapers, shot of the hawk and Nick dueling in midair. Seconds before Nick's jaws snapped closed on the neck of the BOP.

The photograph encapsulated the brutality and savagery that Mother Nature had to offer from both mammal and non-mammal alike. There was an eerily determined "look" across the hawk's features as its neck was craned around to continue the assault: beak open, caught in a moment of silent screeching. Nick could barely believe that it was he, himself, that he was looking at. The physical pain etched around his eyes, from the talons that had dug into his thigh… The sight of his lips, drawn back to their fullest extent from the fury that he had felt, as his jaws spread around the hawk's neck. Ears pinned back from an equal level of hostility. The fresh wounds on his head had released tiny droplets of blood that were seemingly suspended in time. Feathers and fur had been shed around the two animals' midsections during the struggle.

The whole front page was taken up by the article that the photograph complimented.

And, the headlines were startling.

"What in the fuck…" Nick exclaimed in disbelief as he began reading.

Council of Deities Balance Scales in Bunnyburrow
Karma Dispatches Her Finest Todd Against BOP Threat!

The todd's eyes skimmed over the first paragraph, but upon seeing that there were words like hero and courageous, he folded the newspaper back over bitterly before setting it down on the table. The phrase "Zootopia's first vulpine law enforcement officer" was used to bolster support for him, as well.

"I'm not reading this, guys." He told the bucks firmly. "And, who took that damned photo?"

Victor snatched the newspaper up so that he could unfold it again before laying it over so that the reverse of the half-fold was showing on the tabletop. He jabbed a fuzzy digit down against the end of the article while staring at the fox that sat across from him: ignoring the last bit of Nick's outburst entirely.

"You don't have to read the whole thing." The buck said firmly. "Just those last paragraphs right there."

As Nick had suspected, a scan of the paragraph above the one that was being pointed at continued with the overzealously written exploits. So, his eyes fell down below Victor's index digit, seeing that it was, in fact, the final paragraphs of the whole article. The todd's claws slipped under the pages to bring the newspaper back up in front of his muzzle once again.

Local authorities are still investigating whether or not the North American Bird-of-Prey, identified as FH849 by American officials, had only taken the lives of the two GZT mammals from Prinehorn County. As we previously reported, TCNN's own Neil Fernsby lost his son to the hawk during that attack. The buck, who works as a local news-anchor, was unwilling to give a statement concerning the events of the Twenty-First of December. A day later, the Chronicle was unexpectedly approached by Prinehorn local, Andrea Hawthorn – a bobcat and the mother of the second victim of the same attack. The distraught queen had tears in her eyes and a waver plagued her voice when she spoke to the Chronicle. She asked the Chronicle to share her message for Nicholas Wilde.

"Serendipity cannot bring my boy, Zachary, back to this world or to our family. She cannot soothe the pain in our hearts from his loss. She may never even be able to offer the reprieve of finding his body so that we may bury him properly. But, by all of our Gods, the prayers of mothers across this rural area were answered. Mister Wilde… I watched as my smaller-framed friends, so many of them being rabbits, lost sleep night after night from the fear that it would be one of their kits to be the next to fall victim to that demon. If life never spares us a moment to meet muzzle-to-muzzle, I want to thank you – from the bottom of all the hearts within our small community – thank you for risking your life the way that you did."

Before she left, the last words that the queen spoke were in Vulpish;
"Valaiskoon Karma elämäsi polkua."

The article ended that abruptly.

"Let Karma illuminate the path of your life." Nick whispered through the lump that had embedded itself in his throat.

The thing about youth is that, for all of the piss and vinegar that is shown and spoken on behalf of, there is simply no hiding a depth of fear or sadness or concern. No matter how large the W-boys were. No matter how resolute and wise Victor was. There had been something about the translation that had made it hard for the teenagers to keep their eyes on the fox. It had been hard to keep the tears from their eyes while their ears fell back and low. For as smart as Victor was, he clearly had not read the section while also seeking out a translation. And, it made it clear to Nick that the Old-World lapine sections of culture had some sort of similar connotation. The todd did not open his muzzle to dig into that, though.

It was the reason that the teens were trying to dispel how upset it had made them.

Being quite a bit older than the other bucks, Robby was found to be sitting by in silence. In fact, Robby was the only one who would meet Nick's eyes directly now. The buck was content with the solemn consumption of his beer while doing so. Nick mimicked Robby's draw, from his own bottle, but the bitterness of the brew did nothing to smooth over the heaviness of the moment. As the younger bucks started coming back to a level of being moderately relaxed, Nick grinned softly.

"So…" The todd's voice was easily nonchalant. "You guys remember when I was being drop-tested for durability's sake, right?"

Robby's head jerked over to look directly at the todd while pulling a highly concerned, but curious face. The corner of his mouth was trying not to curl into an amused grin at the same time. He was wondering what in the hell Nick was getting at. The W-litter all nodded reluctantly: they were also extremely curious about where this was heading.

"And, be honest with me... I'm serious!" Nick instructed, setting the reel in his mind. "Which one of you was standing there with your shotgun while thinking that I was the biggest clay pigeon that you had ever seen?"

He had caught Victor, William, and Warren in the midst of drinking. The three bucks ended up catching the wrong pipe and blowing their beers all over the place. Having guessed correctly that dark humor was on the menu, Robby belted out a string of laughter at the looks that had been written on his brothers' faces. Nick was laughing, as well, and had leaned over to shove the oldest Hopps playfully.

"That's so fucked up!" Robby said once his laughter was a controlled chuckle.

"Hey… You laughed." The todd replied calmly, smirking all the while.

"You don't have any siblings, do you, Nick?" William inquired, wiping his mouth on the back of his sleeve.

"No. Why?"

"Good… I don't think we could take another one of our sisters falling in love with a fox with your sense of humor and mischievous demeanor." Wyatt deadpanned, bringing out another round of laughter from Robby and Nick.

"Just imagine if I had a sister." The todd admitted freely with a grin. "That vixen would run circles around all you bucks until the resulting whirlwind tied all of your ears together."

Victor looked up into the night sky above and folded his paws. "Thank you, Karma, for sparing us despite our transgressions in this world. Amen." He prayed.

Robby seemed more than happy watching the red fox torment his younger siblings as he went to grab another beer. There was an upward jerk of his head, directed at Nick, while shaking another bottle at the todd. Nick shook his head, raising his bottle to denote that he still had plenty left. The taste was starting to wear on him anyway.

"Hey!" Warren said loudly, pointing out towards the fields. "It's starting."

Sure enough, Nick looked over to find that the far-out cloud-cover was steadily being illuminated by plumes of reds and greens and blues of fireworks for the New Year's Eve celebration. If it was anything like Zootopia, some of the residences would take the party well into the earliness of the next morning. A few minutes later, the rumbles and cracks of large display shells made it across the snow-covered expanses and to their ears.

"It's too bad we couldn't go into town." Robby mentioned.

"Yeah. The word around town was that the locals were going to blow it out in your honor, Wilde." William said.

"Yeah… I don't need that kind of fanfare, fellas." The todd sighed wearily. "What about here, though? No celebratory fireworks for the new year?"

"Mom and dad want it quiet around the house tonight. Some of the kits are still having nightmare about the hawk and they don't want them to be startled." Robby explained.

Nick frowned a little at the thought, but before he could say anything, a scream pierced the air from out near the front barn. All of the males were out of their seats so fast that several of the empties were knocked off the table and skittered across the decking. Nick and Robby were leading the group off of the porch while Wyatt had collected two shotguns that had been leaned against the siding of the home. William caught one that was tossed to him, and both of the pump-actions were racked. Nick heard both of their cross-bolt safeties being disengaged.

"Wyatt, you and Walter go around the back. No lights. The rest of you are with me. If you find out what it is, yell. We'll come running." Nick said, taking charge.

The group rushed across the yard, past the pawful of vehicles that were sitting in the driveway and headed for the equipment barn.

"Nick, we won't be able to see in the back." Wyatt admitted.

"You'll hear it. Don't just start cutting lose with that shotgun, though." Nick told him, huffing a little from the exertion. "What's the interior layout like?"

"One vehicle door there in front. One side-door for mammals, on the left side. Hayloft with ladders on each side near the walls. Lots of equipment between the door and the bottom story haystacks in the back. Looks like the lights are on inside." Victor explained hurriedly.

"William, Warren… Take that left-side door." Nick ordered. "Quietly, fellas."

The three groups split apart once they were roughly fifty yards from the barn. Robby and Victor held the todd's pace while Nick ignored the strain that he was putting on his healing thigh. The todd was grateful to find that there was a small mammalian door within the larger sliding doors for the tractors. It had clearly been opened recently due to the tracks that led up to it and the fact that it was already cracked. There was another cry, from within, and the unarmed todd ducked to slip through the shortened doorway without even a hint of hesitation due to not being armed. Robby and Victor split off once they were inside, taking other alleys through the parked farm vehicles, while Nick went right up the middle. As soon as he was at the end of the row, he could see what the commotion was. William and Warren had joined Robby on his left while Nick pushed out of the shadows. The unguarded light bulb above them hindered his eyesight until he had walked directly underneath it. Once he could see, Nick felt his body bristle.

There was the light scent of blood mixed with the smells of alfalfa hay.

On one of the bales, in the back of the bottom floor, he could see a Hopps doe laid up on her back. She was audibly crying out against a buck that had her pinned with his weight. One of his paws unceremoniously shoved up and under her skirt, between her legs.

"No! Stop!" The doe wept loudly.

Nick's pupils constricted so fast that it made his eyes ache and the lack of light forward of him resulted in a dimming of the area. With ears pinned back and his claws extended, he released a snarl that caught everybody's attention. The following clack of his jaws led his ears to hear that the sounds had startled even those of the W-litter that were present – so much so that their hindbrain hardwiring had stopped their movements entirely. The todd could hear the shouts of surprise from Wyatt and Walter as they had been alerted to where the threat was. The unknown buck jerked around onto his back and scuttled backwards as far as the bales would allow. Watching in terror as an unknown predator was purposefully stalking towards him.

The side door could be heard as it slammed open a couple of times. No doubt, the two oversized bucks had to fight it just to get inside. And, very quickly, everybody was standing in a semi-circle at the center of the room behind Nick.

Sounds were so loud in the todd's head that he could hear two sets of paws curling around the loosened wood of the furniture on the shotguns. Before them, the fearful doe was backing away from both the newcomers and the buck: tugging her skirt down protectively as she cried. Her undergarment was laying where it had been stripped from her. The young doe's muzzle was bruised and swollen around her bottom lip and her nose was the source of the blood scent on the air.

"Robby…" Nick growled. "Relieve the boys of those shotguns."

The only reply was the sound of the eldest Hopps son moving around and, forcefully, stripping Wyatt and William of their arms.

"That's Nigel Ferguson!" Victor exclaimed angrily.

Nick spun around and pointed at Warren, Wyatt, and Walter individually. "You, you, you! Go sit down!" He growled.

"Nick!" Warren made to retort.

"SIT THE FUCK DOWN! NOW!" The todd snarled.

All three of the bucks jumped and backed away towards the machinery that was behind them.

Nick's attention returned to the doe and he stepped over to carefully gather her underwear before walking over to kneel in front of the bale that to the fearful young rabbit was sitting on.

"You're Miss Stephanie, right?" He asked quietly, softening his features as he received a wary nod in reply. "I am not going to hurt you, alright. You know who I am… I need you to put these back on and I am going to take you to your momma. OK?"

There was a moment of hesitancy before the doe slipped down off of the bales. The fluff of Nick's irritated tail whipped around his right side so that she had some modesty in the deed. She relived the todd of her intimate item and Nick turned his eyes towards the buck who was still cowering a few feet away from the angered fox. If looks had been lethal, the Ferguson buck would have been murdered several times over. He had gone round-eyed in realization of that.

Nick suddenly felt the doe leap into his chest, wrapping her shaking body around his shoulders and chest. His right arm came up underneath her bottom before his left began working on comforting the doe, brushing her ears slowly, as she openly began to cry into the side of collar of his shirt.

The buck watched as the todd's tail began to whip back and forth in deepening agitation. Nick turned to face him as he drew himself up to his full height.

"I oughta let them beat you until nothing, but pellets come out… like some kind of fucked up arcade game." The fox snarled at the offender.

Nick turned away and walked over to Robby, positioning the buck on his left side so that he could speak in a hushed tone. The todd swore that he could already smell urine wafting from behind him now.

"William. Victor. Just them." Nick told the buck, though he spoke loud enough that the entire group could hear him. "You're in charge and they have until I return. No tools or farm implements or weapons. It turns into something completely different once those fall into their paws. Do you understand?"

"I understand." Robby's voice was tight with fury.

"I'll be back." He replied.

"Take your time, Red..."

Nick leaned down a little to grasp the two shotguns that Robby had gripped tightly together in his right paw. He pulled them out of his friend's grasp before walking out into the light of the room. As soon as he had melted into the darkness between the tractors, the only thing that converged inside the depths of the barn behind him was fury.

"Go ahead and get him on his paws, fellas." Nick heard Robby growl.

Nick poured a little more speed into his hindpaws, jamming the barrels of the shotguns between the front door so that he could swing it open and duck outside before the doe heard the sounds of what was coming to her attacker.

The trudge across the yard took more time than what he would have liked, but the todd was more weighed down than he had previously been. The trembling doe was crying so loudly into his neck that he did not think his soothing words were even reaching her ears. He rushed up the steps and saw the door swing open as Arabella stood there in confusion.

"Where's Bonnie?!" He asked loudly.

"She's in the living room! What in the hell is going on?!" The older doe answered.

Nick pushed the firearms into her arms unceremoniously. "Make those safe and put them away!" He ordered, ignoring the demand for information.

The todd did not bother clearing the snow off of his hindpaws before striding through the kitchen, crossing the hallway and into the common area. He ignored all of the concerned questions and eyes while looking around the area.

"Bonnie!" He bellowed urgently.

"Nicholas?!" The matriarch called back, startled by his raised tone.

As soon as he spotted her, the todd walked through the groups of rabbits – who had made way for him upon noticing all of the signals of distress – and knelt down in front of the mother to release her daughter. Stephanie was set down on her shaky paws and Nick rested his forepaws on her cheeks so that his thumb-pads could brush away her tears carefully. The todd did not want to overstep the boundaries of the situation that she was in, but he also did not want to seem cold and unfeeling.

"Sweetheart. Listen to me." Nick's tone was soft, while seeing that Stu had run over to figure out what the commotion was all about. Judy had been quick to follow. "You're not in any trouble. Alright? I want you to tell your momma everything that happened so that she can help you. Can you do that for me?"

The short doe, of maybe twenty, whimpered in despair and nodded softly as she watched the todd before her. Her nose twitched in pain and in fear all the while.

"I need something, though." Nick sighed deeply. "I need your permission to take your picture."

"For the investigation." She whispered.

The todd closed his eyes for a moment as he felt his head nod ever so slightly. His paws had fallen away to rest on his knees. Stephanie withdrew her paws across her chest, curling in on herself, before giving Nick another nod. The todd withdrew his smartphone and quietly snapped a photograph before pocketing it again: not wanting to encroach any further on the doe's personal space.

"I'm going to take care of this, Miss Stephanie. Now, go with your momma." He told the doe firmly.

If it had not been for the fact that he was so angry, Nick would have noticed the pain in his extremities as he raised up out of his crouched position. He watched as Bonnie rushed her daughter way with deep concern etched across her features.

"Stewart. Judith! Come on." He said before looking around. A shout followed the search. "Bradley! You're with me! Let's go!"

...

Confusion of what is happening in any given situation will lead to anger rising within a mammal. And, it does not help when someone you love is already so upset about it. It simply exacerbates the issue tenfold.

Judy followed the three males through the kitchen as Bradley burst through the door angrily. The todd had ripped one of the family's shotguns out of her uncle's paws and shoved it back into the closet with a clatter before he rushed past the key rack: grabbing his set without much thought. The keyring ended up catching the hook and his strength ripped the whole rack off of the wall.

"Nick!" She exclaimed.

"Shit!" Was all that he replied.

One of her sisters had been harmed and that was all she knew. Her father was probably the most visibly calm of them all as Nick took the lead to push out across the snow. It did not seem wise to ask after the location of his crutches despite the limp that he had.

"What happened, Nicholas?" Her father finally asked.

"We were sitting outside and heard a scream. Went into the barn and found your daughter pinned down by some buck that I don't know." Nick recounted tightly.

"Did he?" Stu shouted the unfinished question.

"I don't know..!" Nick belted back. Anger had mixed with fear of the idea. "I don't think so! It didn't smell like it went that far!"

"But, he hit her?!" The patriarch was furious.

"We didn't see it, but there's no way that didn't happen! Not the way that she was beaten up!" The todd growled.

"Where's he at, Nick?!" Bradley bellowed.

"I left Victor and William to tune him up a bit. Robby's watching them in the barn." Nick explained, pointing dead-ahead of the group.

It did not seem to matter how poorly her boyfriend seemed to be feeling. Judy watched as Nick flowed through the door so seamlessly before any of the rest of them could follow.

The darkness of the outside and the shadows cast by the vehicles inside raised the stress that was pouring off of her family-members. There was angered shouting coming from within the depths of the large structure. And, as soon as they all broke into the light of the center of the barn, Judy gasped at the sight within.

"Why are you goin' soft, boy?! I thought the violence was what did it for ya?!" Victor shouted.

There, in front of the entirety of the W-litter, a buck was loosely set on his knees. William's left paw was clasped around the base of the buck's ears while his right was painfully gripping the buck's right shoulder to keep him upright. Victor stood in front of the two larger bucks and fired off a vicious right hook into the side of Nigel Ferguson's head. One of many that had already been released by the look of things. Robby was crouching nearby, but immediately launched himself up to his hindpaws when he realized Nick had returned.

"That's enough!" The buck snarled. "It's over!"

Apparently, William had not had the opportunity to strike a blow for himself and he took it when Victor had been startled and distracted by the report. The larger brother's paw released the shoulder and cocked back for an unforgiving blow against Nigel's opposite brow. Judy could not stop her own body's shudder at the sound of one of the buck's ears coming out of joint. It had been fortunate for all of those present that the buck was already unconscious: otherwise, Nigel would have been screaming as if he had been branded. Nearby, there was a bit of blood that had several teeth shining from within the crimson puddle.

It was at that point that Judy realized that Nick had not been completely sure of what to do going forward. He did not balk at the display of violence, which he had said originated from one of his decisions, but there was still the side of his law enforcement experience that was fighting back to some degree. The doe had heard of incidents like this during her kithood, growing up, to such a frequency that it was not startling. It was the cumulation of the fact that the incident had happened to one of her siblings, as well as that she had never seen the end result for herself. That was what set off alarms. In Nick's case, the todd was going to defer to the father's decisions on the matter going forward from when the buck had been retrieved.

"Who witnessed it?" Her father asked, trying to keep his tone even despite his emotions. It was the first time, in a long time, that Judy had seen his anger overtake the desire to breakdown.

Every paw that had already been in the barn, plus Nick's, went up without so much as a word being spoken.

"What did he do?" Stuart Hopps asked coldly.

Nobody replied immediately. All of the bucks looked a little ill at the recollection of how Stephanie had been found. Judy watched as Nick turned his head to divert his eyes. He looked to be in pain and not from his body's soreness.

"Nick! Robby!" Stu barked in frustration.

"Godsdammit, Dad! What do you want us to say?!" Robby shouted. "I figure he hit her two or three times to disorient her… before…"

"Mister Hopps," Nick said quietly, picking up where his friend left off. "It's as he said. The piece-of-shit battered her, so that she would not resistance him as much, before relieving her of a specific article of clothing. And, when we found them, he had her pinned down with a paw in a place where he clearly had no consent to be." The todd cleared his throat uncomfortably, pinning his ears back and angled his snout up to present his neck: about to denote something very unpleasant. "Her scent's all over his paw, Sir…"

Judy grimaced deeply and stepped out into the middle of the throng of mammals within the barn, getting close enough to be able to confirm what Nick had just said despite the accompanying scent of urine and blood. The best nose in the whole warren had not been wrong. The todd probably just wished that he had not been able to scent it at all. Judy turned and noticed that the wounded assailant was beginning to stir from his unconscious state, and it caused a surge of confliction to rise within the doe.

"This can't go any further, Dad." She said resolutely. "Call the Sheriff. No judge in all of the Tri-Burrow is going to look at the evidence and prosecute Victor and William for what they did. You know that. You remember the Hoosier case back when I was a teen."

"Yeah, and those Jacobson boys got off clean after they killed that that fuckin' pedophile." Wyatt snarled at his sister.

Nick stepped up next to Judy and began growling deeply, baring his teeth openly at the young buck. It stopped the whatever trains of thought that were running through each rabbit within the barn.

"No! It is over! You're not talking about a judge's overturned consideration of mammal-slaughter charges now. It's outright murder and you won't be able to walk that back. I doubt that previous incident had two active law enforcement officers weaved into the story, and we would all be implicated with digging such a literal grave." Nick bellowed at Wyatt. "You're not going to ask your sister or me to have that hang over our heads. Judy doesn't deserve that, and I feel that I have got enough on my Gods-damned plate as it is! No matter how much I agree with the justice in it! You would all go to prison. We would lose our badges and go to prison. Your father and your uncle and Robby would all be accessories and they would go to prison!"

It was William who Judy saw twitch just before he took a step forward: even after her ears had snapped over to take in the todd's words. Nick's head quickly turned between the two groups as he raised his index digits towards both William and his other three larger brothers.

"If you take another step in this direction…" Nick said before turning towards the other three. "Or, you three even so much as move to get off that bale… I swear to Karma that I'll put your lights out without so much as a fucking bedtime story. Don't make your friend, who was sharing jokes and a beer with you not all that long ago, do that! I am begging you!"

Victor walked up and put his paw, which had a liberal amount of blood on it still, on William's shoulder silently.

"What do you want to do, Dad?" The shortest buck asked.

Judy turned to see that her father was looking around the barn: taking in all the points where the struggles had occurred. Once it seemed like the patriarch's reverie was broken, he looked over at Wyatt's group.

"You three go in the house. The rest of us are going to see his parents." Stu ordered flatly before looking at his daughter. "Put some cuffs on him, sweetheart."

"Robby, you're driving. Get my truck." Nick cut in, obviously relieved by the call.

While Robby herded his dismissed brothers outside, Judy withdrew a pair of pawcuffs from the duty holster on the small of her back and cuffed the suspect in the front. Nick immediately came over to the injured buck's opposite side and helped the doe stand him up.

"All of you are coming with me." Stu mentioned. "Bradley, you're helping Nick put that garbage in the bed. If he resists, knock him out again. Judy, watch your brothers in the backseat."

Judy yielded her position to her uncle so that he could help Nick directly. They all filtered out of the barn and found that there was a gentle snowfall beginning to come down over the county again. If it had not been for the events of the evening, Robby probably would have looked like he was having fun plowing the Furd through the snow. But, there was no grin on his muzzle.

The group all loaded into the truck and Robby took them out on the county road by Stu's direction.

...

The meeting with the Ferguson parents had been extremely turbulent and that was because of the prior history between the two families. Judy remembered that, prior to their son's graduation, it had been Nigel who led the group of bullies who picked on Victor before his brothers had gotten involved in one of the largest brawls that the high school had seen in recent memory. They had initially been furious that Victor was the one who still had their son's blood on the outside of his paws. Knowing the circumstances of it enabled Victor to keep his cool despite the father's screaming in his muzzle.

Nick had hung back in the yard until it seemed like a fight was going to break out over the accusations. The Ferguson matriarch screamed, sending all of their heads turning around to find the todd walking into the restrained glow of the porchlight. They had all only seen the green eyeshine of the fox before he showed his presence fully and that was what had startled the doe twice-over. He made a comment to Robby before tossing his phone up to the buck. The phone was already unlocked, and it was turned so that the parents could see the photo of a brutalized Stephanie Hopps that Nick had taken. Somehow, and Judy did not know how, the buck had regained consciousness and had remained silent the entire time despite his injuries. Nigel's mother his way, shoving her husband out of her way, before roughly grabbing the center of the chain between the pawcuffs. There was blood on his knuckles, and it was clear that the doe scented the vaginal excretions that were on his digits.

The doe's hellish anger turned to a frozen fury instantly.

"Nelson… You call Sheriff Harrison for the Hopps' right now." The doe's rage had been conveyed in a whisper. "This is no son of mine."

She said nothing else before striding into the house and slamming the door behind her. Judy did not have to wonder why the matriarch had done a one-eighty. No doubt, the older doe actively feared for her own daughters' safety because of issues like this.

Two of the Bunnyburrow Sheriff's Office SUVs arrived fifteen-minutes after that phone-call had ended. When Quentin Harrison addressed the Ferguson patriarch, the buck merely stated that it was exactly as the witnesses stated it had been before he, too, walked away and into the family's warren. There was a resounding loudness to how quiet the buck was during the entire event of being left behind by his parents. It would have been a little concerning that he had possibly been rendered partially deaf from the beating that he had taken if it was not for the fact that he had attempted to rape her younger sister. The last that she had seen of the buck, as he was being led to the back of one of the cruisers, was how swollen his face was.

The Sheriff Harrison immediately circled over to begin taking statements as one of his deputy's drove the prisoner away.

By the time the group returned to the warren, New Year's Eve had a singular hour left in the day.

Without so much as a word being spoken, everybody split off to take care of whatever it was they wanted to attempt to accomplish to get their minds off of what had occurred. Judy noticed that William and Victor remained in the kitchen, with the shorter buck opening the fridge to gather several bottles of beer and passing a couple off to his brother. It was a little odd to see that they were not immediately heading out to find the others of the W-litter. It was also a little off-putting that they weren't even concerned enough to clean up as they each slammed a beer home intensely. The doe heard the clatter of bottle caps, from the second round being opened, against the floor as she rounded the corner into the main hallway.

Nick had simply carried his crutches into the house as soon as he saw them sitting on the porch. Nobody was all that concerned that there were bottles laying around the area where the males had originally been hanging out. As the duo trudged downstairs, literally by Nick's choice of direction, Judy watched the todd's tail as it lashed side-to-side in front of her. With his emotions being shared by those who had been present or made aware, there was no need for him to hide his anger. The doe had caught a couple of glimpses of his face on the way inside: noticing that he looked completely calm. It was always that tail that gave things away when they were alone.

Once the door was closed to her room, Judy watched as the todd headed straight back into his own room. The door was left open, and the light had been flicked on. The doe almost jumped in surprise when Nick came back through the doorway while chewing on something. The sudden look of disgust that he had indicated that it might have been some pain pills. He began to strip off his shirt, letting the final sleeve slip away from his forearm and to the floor. Judy followed him towards the bathroom: slowly taking in the fact that he was intimately focused on getting into the shower. His pants were undone and fell away without so much as a hitch. Out of annoyance, her eyes darted around to make sure that they had not been tracking wet or dirty pawprints throughout the warren, but she found nothing of the sort. By that time, Nick had slipped into the bathroom: leaving that door completely open, as well.

The doe did not want to interrupt the todd's processing of the evening's events. Judy did not feel the need to take a shower anyway. While the water pressure sang from within the bathroom, she busied herself with picking up the todd's discarded clothes. She went over to the drop-chute for the laundry conveyer so that the moisture-inundated articles could be deposited. After that, it was time for the doe to throw on a pair of sleeping shorts and a tank top. There was an idea that formed in her mind and, upon hearing the fur-dryer whirl to life, the doe rushed into Nick's room and returned quickly.

Judy wanted to do her best to disarm any residual anger that Nick might have had. It seemed like it worked as soon as he rounded the doorframe and stared down at her with a cocked brow. She had stolen one of his larger ZPD t-shirts and donned it while waiting for him to exit his shower. Despite how concerned her disposition had been, Judy felt herself wearing the softest of smiles for her romantic interest.

The red fox slowly padded over to the doe and there was a loud squeak from the bunny doe upon being scooped into his arms. As soon as he tossed her up onto the bed, she gasped and giggled: watching as he slid onto the made bed without issue. He gentleness of his own smile, sadly, did not convey emotion that reached his eyes. Not a word was spoken as he reached over to extinguish the bedside lamp with a careful set of digits. There were still enough soft lights around the room to be able to watch the todd's body lay out next to her: head against a separate pillow and without covers. He had not even bothered to take the shirt from her for his own uncovered torso. As the minutes went by, what little night-vision had begun to kick in. Judy could finally see that Nick was simply staring up at the ceiling with his paws clasped together over his stomach.

Considering their depth, it was adequately moderate in temperature: so, there was no need for Judy to bother with the covers either. Especially not when she was nearly completely enveloped by a second layer of the fox's shirt. She simply scooted over to his shoulder, resting her own against it, so that she could lay down on the end of his pillow, as well. Looking up, as he was.

"I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight, Judy."

"I didn't think you would, Nick." The doe replied quietly. "So, we will talk about things."

Her right ear was cocked towards him: taking in the sound of a deep and very pronounced breath that had been made through his nasal cavity. Nick could tell that Judy was expecting him to start and to begin wherever he felt comfortable. Patience was not on a timer. The two mammals silently laid in the darkness for several minutes while she waited.

But, the todd did not know how to start the conversation with her. Another deep breath had been taken and Judy turned her head towards the gently illuminated fox head that laid next to her.

"I was surprised that you agreed with what my brothers wanted to do…" She whispered.

"I was surprised that you weren't bothered by the agreement." Nick admitted wearily.

Judy winced a little. There were certain things that would always occur and, subsequently, certain beliefs that she held – given her rural upbringing – that made her a walking contradiction now that she was a law enforcement officer. This was not going to be one of those times where Nick could offer a mental standpoint or emotional contrast.

"Stephanie wasn't the first victim, and she won't be the last. Nick… The demographics of rabbits don't really paint things clearly for other species. It's never usually the case to have a litter of kits that is split fifty-fifty in between the sexes. You would think that the unknown variable would likely balance in the long run. But, it doesn't. Not even with all of the litters from all the other families. And, that's before any calculations begin to factor in: such as age-differences across the total of litters, alternative sexual orientation percentages, or the percentage of population loss due to newly-minted adults moving away." Judy explained as best as she could. "There has always tended to be more bucks than does… Not every buck is mentally hardwired the right way. And, those that are… Well, not all of those other bucks are raised to think the right way about relations with does. And, then, there are just the ones who lose themselves to their hormones. Evolution from the Dark Ages did not reach every single individual. It likely never will: even with the pharmaceutical advancements. And, that's not to say there haven't been issues with does either! Those who abuse others, in this manner, have not ever fared well after their actions were discovered. There are nearly a hundred cases every year around the Tri-Burrows. Roughly forty-percent of those cases ends in the assailant's death."

The doe could not see the contortion of his facial features, but when Nick squinted, his eyelids closed just enough to focus the glow of lights against his eyeshine. A rustle of the sheets could be heard throughout the room as Judy turned over and onto her right side. There was a full investment in the conversation, after all.

"What are the percentages of assailants between the sexes?" He asked curiously.

"Roughly eight-percent are bucks. The other twenty are does." Judy offered.

"I see…" Nick said softly. "So, I should explain…"

For her, there was only the barest of visual perceptions that Nick had raised his paws, bringing them back so that he could prop his head up a bit: knitting his digits together all the while.

"You will have to recall that there is a smaller overall population of foxes in all of the GZT compared to rabbits." Judy's eyes widened. If he had been in a playful or disarming mood, the todd would have referred to them all as cute little bunnies as opposed to the apt terminology. "Apply the same percentages for sex crimes against that sum total. Except… you have to flip the sexes. When an incident occurs, the accused is brought before the Court of the Skulk and the punishment is witnessed by the Court if the case is absolute. The vixens are physically marked-up to whatever degree the victim – or victim's family – feels acceptable. And, the todds are killed outright for violating the natural order of vulpine courtship. Street justice is street justice… no matter if we're talking about foxes from Happytown or rabbits from Bunnyburrow, Jude. It's just intimately recorded and very strictly controlled at an internal level for vulps comparatively."

"You're referring to what happens to the assailant after?" Judy wondered.

"Yeah. A vixen doesn't get marked up and then taken down to the local precinct. The visual of the clawing serves two purposes. The first is that it warns todds to be extremely guarded around them. The second is to show other species that foxes take care of the more serious crimes ourselves. And, each species has different lists of grievances that are taken care of internally. There are flock politics, the wolves have their Congress – Dave might share a bit about them if you ask… so on, and so forth."

"Wait a second. We had to deal with that larceny case a while back. You remember? The one with the two red foxes?" The doe asked in confusion, leaning up so that she could sit on the bed next to Nick while crossing her legs underneath herself.

"Alright… How do I explain this? In Zootopia, there's kind of an unwritten understanding about how certain crimes are punished. It differs based on whether or not both parties are the same species. It also depends on the crime. A simple theft is going to be left to the ZPD. Whether or not the fox was committing the crime against another fox. Fox-on-fox sex crimes are always reported to the Skulk and never to the ZPD, at any point. The same goes for fox-on-fox assault and battery cases. Murders, on the other paw, are tricky for the Skulk to deal with. No matter if it's fox-on-fox, the body is usually discovered by someone who isn't a vulpes: which means the ZPD gets involved."

Nick paused and reached up to rub his closed eyes with a sigh.

"Judy, I'm not supposed to talk about the next part to those who aren't Reds. So, I need to know that you won't ever make the mistake of sharing it." He explained.

"How serious?" She asked in concern.

"Considering what we both do, I'd be sharing with not only a mammal who isn't a Red, but also the ZPD by extension of that fact. It would entirely depend on the composition of the Court of the Skulk, but… They would likely want to see me dead." Nick's head turned towards her and there was just enough light to gently caress the tapetum lucidum in his eyes. The doe was almost distracted by how pretty of a green his eyes had illuminated to.

"I would never share something so serious, Nick."

The todd shifted a little, rolling over towards her so that he could relieve the pressure on his back. "I'll just say that, in those cases, the ZPD isn't the only group looking for the suspect…" He murmured.

"Is this what you meant about the Gemsbok that night?" Judy blinked in surprise.

"No, no." The todd replied quickly. "I meant what I said exactly as I said it. But, if we use that case as the example: it wouldn't matter what species the perp' was. The Skulk will want him done-up their way. I'm just hoping that someone on the inside knows what I know and is smart enough to share the knowledge. None of the outsiders will want to be in the way of the individuals that come for that buck."

"What if he gets released on some technicality or the court grants a bond that he can meet?" Judy inquired with a worried tone.

Nick swallowed at that. She couldn't see it. She heard it. "Trust me when I say that the Skulk is hoping that that happens, Fluff." The todd used his upper body strength to sit upright before throwing his hindpaws off the edge of the bed.

Unsure if he was going to step away, Judy immediately rolled to her hindpaws and took a step over to wrap her arms around her friend's neck. The time that had been spent in their shared rooms had allowed the clock to push well past one in the morning already. The doe leaned up and kissed him just behind the ear to ensure that she had his complete attention.

"Don't even think about it, Slick. I know you like to walk when you can't sleep, but none of us missed the fact that you were in pain when we got back." Judy told him quietly.

The todd chuffed. "How do you know I walk?" He asked, raising a paw up to brush it over the top of her clasped paws at his front.

"I would wake up at odd hours and see you leaving or coming back through the window." She admitted.

"I knew I should have borrowed a slingshot to shoot out the streetlights." She could hear that there was a little more humor in his voice now.

Judy squeezed him in a hug before softly letting her weight draw him down on his right shoulder. Once the todd was laid down again, the doe scooted back enough to allow him to get comfortable. Nick ended up rolling over onto his left shoulder so that he was facing the gray bunny.

"I will so arrest you myself if you do that." Judy grinned teasingly.

Nick grinned momentarily before his paws reached out, gathering up the overly clothed bunny, so that he could pull her against the bare fur of his chest. There was a squeak, and a rumble, and a happy sigh just as he began to brush a paw over the top of her head and down her ears repeatedly.

"No need to expend your energy, Officer Hopps." The todd spoke with a professional tone. "You've already caught me. I'll even go quietly if you promise not to use the cuffs."

Fondness was what enveloped the doe's facial features as she began to wiggle around within the todd's grasp. Judy could hear Nick laugh a bit as she intermingled a bit of playful tickling amidst the movements: until she was finally able to slip out of both of her shirts. After tossing them outside of the envelopment that she was in, Judy pawed her way further up Nick's chest until she was nearly eye-to-eye with the todd.

The doe's furry paws slipped up to each side of his muzzle so that she could draw his snout right up to her exposed throat. There was something that comforted both of the duo when it came to each other's scent: it was a fact that both of them already knew. Judy felt that understanding in each hot rush air that was inhaled and exhaled as the todd fox took in all of her scents and pheromones.

"Get some sleep, Officer Wilde." She ordered kindly, smiling as she closed her own eyes.

...

The night in his subconscious had been treated rather kindly. The todd found himself surprised that he had woken up as peacefully as he had: considering the fact that he could not recall having even had fallen asleep to begin with. His forepaws pushed the todd upright with a groan that was split between the aches in his shoulders and the fact that Judy was not laying with him. She had not been in quite some time if the clock was anything to go by. There were only a couple of more days before he had to make sure to be able to be up by the time his alarms went off: and, waking up around noon certainly was not going to be smiled upon by the Chief.

No matter the fact that Nick was going to end up on desk duty or down in records for a spell.

Nick reached over and picked up the shirt that Judy had stolen in the middle of the night so that he could throw it on. As he hobbled over to gather up a fresh pair of jeans, the todd caught himself smiling after he had lifted the collar of the shirt up to his nose for a breath of her scent. Nick collected his crutches so that his mind could focus on wondering where she went and his hindpaws carried out of the doe's room with a slow and measured pace.

The hallway was clear all the way through to the elevator. There was a bit of an odd feeling about how barren it was. Nick was at least pleased to find that there were no odd scents in the area to indicate that there were any visitors running around. As soon as the elevator opened to the upstairs, it was clear that things were not the same on the ground floor. Many members of the Hopps family were standing around in the main hallway and several heads turned upon hearing the doors slide open. Concern was what was written on all of their faces and the sight made the todd's chest tighten a bit from his own growing anxiousness.

It was a way down the hall, but the muffled sound of shouting and screaming brought the todd's ears high and forward as he started making his way through the throng of bunnies that seemed to be waiting for something to happen. He got about halfway down the hall before Bradley noticed the todd and made a beeline for him.

"Nick, it's not really a good time right now." Stu's brother said warily, stepping right in front of the fox.

"I can hear that much. What's going on?" Nick agreed with the assessment. "Is it Stephanie? Is she not alright?"

"She's fine. This isn't about last night, don't worry." The buck explained.

The todd could hear Judy screaming from the kitchen now. Positively irate, by the sound of things. It made him push past Bradley as politely as he was able to: given what equipment the todd was hauling around. The brother was quick to fall in step with the larger todd.

"Nick!" The buck urged. "I really don't advise going in there right now!"

"Bradley, if this has something to do with me, then I'll face the punishment." The fox replied simply.

"It's not like that, friend!" Bradley commented, flinching terribly as he watched the todd grab a hold of the sliding doors leading to the kitchen.

To be honest, the todd did not ever recall there being any doors to the kitchen beyond. As soon as the left door was open, Nick sidled on through and found that the whole of the cooking crew was watching the shouting match that was going on between Stu, Bonnie, Alex, Judy, and Robby. Some of the daughters were doing their best to break it up and were categorically ignored. William immediately rushed over from one of the tables and got in front of the todd. The younger buck looked quite pained to see him.

"Nick—Look… We're really sorry about last night and the fact that I challenged you like I did." William said firmly, unsure if he should put a physical paw on the todd or not. "You don't want to be here until this is sorted out."

"Will, I understand why you challenged me, and I think now you understand why I stopped you. As far as I'm concerned, we're square." Nick said quickly, jinking left and then juking right to get around the mountain that he was faced with.

"Nick… Nick!" William mumbled as the todd slipped away. "Godsdammit."

The fox slipped up to within five feet of the disputing group and was immediately spotted by Judy as she was about to take another turn ripping into whoever had pissed her off so. He had been far too distracted to be able to pay attention to the conversation itself. The young doe was so startled by his appearance that her lip immediately began quivering. She was still livid, but she was scared, too. All of them noticed, but the two eldest bucks did not even bother to stop bellowing at one another.

"Nick! I tried to stop them!" She gasped.

But, the words were spoken far too late.

Nick had already zeroed in the silver cylinder that was currently being held by the matriarch of the family. So tightly in fact that he could see that her paws were shaking and, by the time his eyes met hers, she was completely in tears. His eyes snapped over to Robby only to find that the buck looked on the verge of being sick: as well as he could tell over the fact that the buck's chin was held so high that it told the whole story of his involvement. It was the way foxes showed submission, after all. Nick passed off his left crutch towards where he knew Bradley was standing before pushing himself between the two arguing bucks, wherein it was more of Stewart yelling at Alex, so that he could speak with the matriarch herself. Upon crossing the lines-of-sight of the bucks, Stu sounded like he was running out of fuel: having been distracted by the movement entirely.

When the todd reached the doe, he put a paw on her shoulder while softly urging her to follow him over to one of the tables.

"Bonnie, come here and sit down for me. Please." Nick requested softly. "You're shaking like a tree in a storm. Please, sit down."

It was a fact. The matriarch was so fearful of whatever was about to transpire that she could barely stand up. As soon as she was sat down, Bonnie was doing her damnedest to keep her composure while the tears poured from her open eyes. He could see it as he knelt before her. The doe was clutching his parents' urn so tightly – like she feared the metal urn would fall from her grasp and shatter into a matching numerical value to all of the ashes that were held within. The todd reached up and began brushing the heavy tracks of moisture away from her cheeks with his thumb.

"It's time, huh?" He whispered.

"It's long past time, honey!" Bonnie lamented. Her voice was pitched so high that it tore at the todd's guts.

She watched as the todd dipped his head and slowly began nodding in his agreement. Nick released a sigh before looking back up at her. The todd wore a pained smile and placed a paw over the top of one of her own.

"Continue to watch over them for me, please?" Nick asked the matriarch. "I'm going to need some nicer clothes for the next bit."

"I'm so sorry, Nick." Bonnie's voice caught harshly.

Pain was all that Nick could feel, especially in the physical sense, as he pushed up to his hindpaws. It took quite the effort make sure that no sound was released; though, he wasn't completely sure if the task was accomplished. Fortunately, Karma had instilled a purposeful maneuverability within the todd fox that could not be described as sly or untrustworthy. As soon as he was upright, Nick leaned back in and dropped a polite kiss right on the top of the doe's head.

"Missus Hopps, there's no need to apologize to me."

...

Bradley ended up accompanying Nick out of the kitchen by the todd's own request. He did not take a single look around the room. Nor did he acknowledge any other presence within the room. The todd was far too busy thinking about things as he walked away to even notice anything else. Not a single Hopps spoke a word until they were sure that Nick was far enough down the hall not to hear any more of the conversation. Judy angrily rubbed the tears out of her eyes as she surveyed what was happening.

Robby spun first and jabbed a digit out at his grandfather. "He oughta punch you in the fuckin' mouth!" The buck shouted before displacing himself over to the table so that he could pour himself a whiskey.

"You're on the verge of gettin' your ass kicked, boy. Sit down and drink that brown water. 'Mazed you're even old enough for it." Alex replied evenly.

"Alex! You are so far out of line!" Stu responded, walking over to bring her weeping mother over to his chest.

"No, I am not." The calmness in the elder's tone was infuriating.

"He's not a rabbit! He doesn't share the same customs as us!" Judy belted out.

Robby was shaking his head while pouring himself another double. Neither of them could believe that he had been wrangled into obtaining the urn. The buck's early morning visit had woken her up: forcing her out of bed when she noticed that he was whisking it out of her room at a quickened pace. Her pursuit had ended up taking her through the stairs until she was able to intercept him in the middle of the main hallway.

The most infuriating thing to Judy was how calm her grandfather was about the whole thing.

"You two…" Pop-Pop said, indicating between his daughter and son-in-law with a digit. "You call that todd 'family,' do you not? You were the first to do it, too."

"Yes, we do, dad." Bonnie whispered. "And, yes, we were."

"Then, you all listen! And, you listen well!" The buck barked, glancing around the kitchen in challenge to anybody else who wanted to give him the what-for. A dozen jumped from the elder's first outburst of the day. This, before he turned back to the main group. "If he is family, then that makes him a Hopps! Am I wrong?"

"He is family!" Stu admitted freely. "And, you're not wrong!"

"I've heard as much from nearly every Hopps here, Son." Pop-Pop agreed with a nodding head. "And, if he's a Hopps… That means it don't matter if he's a rabbit or not. Family is family. And, that means there are more customs intertwined in his life now than just those of his own. It's going to hurt like hell for a lil' while. But, he'll come around."

Judy's breath hitched in her throat at the comment. The eldest member of the entire Hopps family had just thrown down the trump card on the whole argument. He was right. And, that meant that he was only halfway out-of-bounds. No matter what anybody else had to say about the issue. Because, by the way that he was raised, he had not disrespected a single soul by speaking the truth. And, now, it was a life lesson for them all.

"Now, I want to see everyone in their finest Sundays today." Alex ordered, referring to their finest clothes – for church or otherwise.

Without so much as another word, the elder turned and walked out of the kitchen. It was a bitter pill to swallow for Judy as she watched the whole of the rest of the family disperse towards their own destinations behind him. Tears of fury and pain burned in the doe's eyes. She feared that Nick felt that he had been betrayed by her family. And, confliction cauterized the pain by the simple fact that there had not been a lie spoken since the todd's exit.

A confirmation of that was punctuated when she watched Robby stand up and pitch his empty glass against the wall near the front entryway closest. Anger dissolved into grief as if Karma has snapped her digits paw-pads. Judy watched her brother raise a paw to his brow and begin weeping as he weakly sauntered out of the kitchen.

By the time Judy made it back to her room to change, Nick and Bradley were already gone. Everything, after that, was merely a blur.

It was when Judy found herself upstairs again that she also found that her parents were standing outside the front window, in their finest clothes for the funeral. The doe made sure to don her service jacket, over top of her departmental Class-As, before even thinking about stepping out to join them. Seeing her mother and father is such a state… it was almost as if they had both aged a decade. Bonnie was cleaned up and standing as resolutely as ever despite the fact. She still had the urn wrapped tightly in her arms. It was a wonder how her father had ever gotten her mother to set it down for the dressing.

Moments later, the door opened and a multitude of Hopps rabbits began to pour out until an orange-accented snout cut a path amongst all of the grays, and browns, and blacks, and whites of the rabbit fur that had led the wave outside. The todd was in the same suit that he had worn on Christmas Eve. Though, Nick sported a black tie and leaned so heavily on his cane that it was barely conceivable that the fox still had the energy to wander. The W-litter immediately pushed out past everybody and began a trek through the snows, kicking and clearing a path out towards the county road. They were making sure that Nick didn't get caught up with his cane.

Judy's mother separated from her father and walked over to meet the todd before ushering him off the porch. She was surprised to feel a paw grasp her shoulder before she could even decide to follow the two and it spun her around to find that it was her father wrapping his arm around her shoulders. It was clear that the matriarch wished to share a bit of conversation with Nick before whatever kind of service would end up following. None of the congregation moved until Stewart began to walk them both out into the compacted snows beyond the porch.

Looking out beyond the todd and the doe ahead of them, Judy noticed that the W-litter was already working their way around the lone oak where Nick had originally paid his respects for his departed mother. With the exception of Victor and William, the other brothers were not dressed in their finest clothes, and she found that that had been by design. Walter was clearing out the immediate area around the base of the tree while Warren and Wyatt were dusting the snow off of something. Eventually, Walter ended up with his forepaws jammed into a hollow at the base of the trunk. The latter two bucks were diligently keeping their object from the sight of everybody while being committed to their work. It was only then that Judy noticed there was a sixth rabbit near the oak.

Wearing a suit that was nearly as pristine as Nick's, Minister Dalton Hopps was standing a few feet to the right of the tree with a pair of reading glasses on with his ears angled towards the approaching group. Every adult rabbit was acclimated to guessing just how far away someone was and her purple eyes watched as he stowed a small book in his jacket before greeting Bonnie and Nick. The wind made sure that Judy could not hear anything that was being said even as her father walked her within ten feet of the conversation.

The starkness of the white snows had blown from significant angles. It was the reason why the oak leaves, on all of the overhead branches, did not do the due diligence of keeping the frozen moisture off of the grounds beneath the circumference of the canopy. In fact, whatever had fallen ended up falling away and below to stay frozen thanks to the shadowing effect of the canopy itself. Had it not been for the event itself, Judy would have been ecstatic to see how the browns of the flowing bark covered the entirety of the imposing white oak with the grandest of exceptions in the dark green leaves from the surrounding overhead. The history of the tree had dated back over a 125-years according to her grandfather: which was saying a lot considering that he was pushing ninety-five himself and there was enough regional information from when there was only a single burrow in the area to corroborate the Hopps family's involvement with the tree itself.

As soon as the family had all formed a partial perimeter around the minister, he took a few steps over to the front of the tree before turning to face everybody. Warren and Wyatt stepped over to their brothers: allowing for everybody to see the marble headstone that was sitting next to the tree. It was nearly as tall as Judy was, sans ears, if one simply measured it against the top of her head. The doe was not close enough to read the inscription on the memorial sadly. That fact did nothing to stop her ears from standing on end. If Nick was never supposed to know who made the stone then Judy was going to have to make sure that it seemed like she had absolutely no clue… Despite the fact that she absolutely did. It was only by instinct that her eyes snapped over to Victor and his brothers. Dalton began speaking before she could consider her brothers any further.

"It is with a heavy heart that I stand before you all today to oversee such an event as this," The buck spoke somberly while looking out amongst his family. "And, it is with an even heavier heart that we find ourselves standing in the presence of two goddesses as opposed to one.

"Those two important figures, in faiths across this globe, have blessed us all with this pleasant winter's day so that we may pay our respects to Jonathan and Vivian Wilde. It is only by way of their son, Nicholas, that the ability to glimpse their personalities is bestowed upon us. And, for that, we are all eternally grateful to the couple." It was understandable that there was only so much for Dalton to say about two mammals that he did not know. And, with that, he clasped his paws behind his back. "Let us pray," Her brother bowed his head with closed eyes.

"O' Karma, we stand before you here today as mere envoys of a fellow Goddess. On these grounds, we offer a place of sanctity and serenity unto this todd and this vixen. We ask that you allow John and Vivian to join each other in the next life, just as you joined them in this world previously through the wisdom of the Endless Knot, so that they may prance and rest on the banks of the ever-flowing waters of the afterlife's river.

"Blessed Serendipity, as you are our Goddess of Nature and Fertility, I ask that you imbue this mighty oak with the spirits of these two foxes and make it their home. Match Karma's abilities and grant these two souls the Swiftness of the Jackrabbit so that they may continue to watch over all of the lives that have ever felt protection by way of their actions. Allow their souls to enrich the grounds where they will be laid on this day. And, may they be forever sheltered and protected by your soil.

"Amen."

Much of the congregation echoed the final word aloud. Never in her lifetime had Judy seen a service given where another deity was asked to watch over the deceased of a whole other species, though. The doe only realized how harshly the event would affect her when the sight of emotions, amongst the front row of her family, was seen upon opening her own eyes and looking around. There were so many tear-streaked cheeks amongst the visible faces.

Standing offsides, and at-ease amongst their own, was a solemn group of Hopps siblings who were clad in military uniforms from their respective branches. It was a contrast to the blacks and whites of the normal civilian funeral attire. They were considered to be the most respected of family members, aside from Judy herself, and they were taking everything extremely seriously.

Judy's paws balled up in an effort to control the perilous amount of shaking that had begun to overtake her body even as her father's arm squeezed tighter: as if he was attempting to absorb the franticness and dread that was washing over his daughter. Upon diverting her eyes away from the back of Nick's head, she found her father's own to be so full of moisture that it was clear he could not see anything. The coiling around his daughter was just as much for the buck as it was for the doe. His muzzle was clenched to the point that there was concern for the cracking of molars even though his lips were drawn back in a pained grimace. Stu might have looked angered, but it was clearly not the case for anybody that knew him well enough in the moment.

It was the movement from the todd's direction that forced Judy's focus back in her friend's immediate vicinity. There were no words exchanged between Bonnie and Nick as he withdrew the canister from her mother's offering paws. It had been a trade, to be more specific. Her mother had relived the todd of his cane before he could even grasp the metal urn in both paws from the bottom. The sight made Judy's spine stiffen despite how poignant and disciplined he looked. She needed to be the rock that Nick could grasp onto through his battering emotions.

The distraction of gaining control of her own emotions was interrupted by Nick's limping over to the base of the tree. Upon reaching out and placing his left forepaw against the trunk, the todd's strained right knee failed him: causing his claws to drag down, across the bark. The sound that permeated Judy's ears, over the damn-near howling wind, were several distraught gasps and cries from does nearby. Her mother's own hindlegs failed her upon seeing the seemingly frail state of the fox that was attempting to send his parents off. The gray doe did nothing to stop her father from rushing forward to wrap his wife up against his own distraught body.

Judy forced herself to take measured steps past her parents so that she could eventually stand behind Nick: carefully surveying his situation to ensure that he was not inadvertently injured or bleeding from torn stitches.

"Löysin vihdoin paikan, jossa sinut hyväksyttäisiin." The Vulpish was just loud enough for the closest rabbits to hear. "Anna anteeksi… Äiti… Isä..."

The words, unknown to Judy, caused Dalton to wince through his closed eyes. The buck lowered his head, but even she could see the quickness in his lips as he began whispering a soundless prayer on the heels of whatever the todd had said. The minister was close enough to the doe's right side for her to see the movements out of the corner of her eye. The statement had been outright distressing for the buck to overhear and surprising to her that it was understood at all.

From over the top of his shoulder, Judy had been close enough to peer in and follow the movements of Nick's forepaws. Undenounced to everybody behind her, Walter had dug out the hollow and, then, he had dug a hole within the basin of the interior itself. Amethyst eyes widened in distress as the sound of a raspy metallic friction began to fill her ears. Nick's tail thrashed so forcefully behind him that it eventually began to strike the doe across her ankles. Nick made no indication that he was even aware of the physical offense. His ears were pinned back in such a determined focus for the task that was well within his paws now.

Judy could see it as clearly as the sun would rise on the eastern horizon.

Before it had even happened…

The cover of the urn was set aside before both of the todd's paws took hold of the metallic canister, raising it forward into the hollow, before he tipped the open end towards the hole that had been dug within. Nick relaxed long enough to wait for the dust to die down before reaching back in to cover his parents' ashes with the soil. After his body had stilled, on crouched hindpaws, Judy could see enough movement in his ears to comprehend that Nick was silently whispering another farewell.

Claw-tips found their way back to the bark of the trunk as Nick dug into it solidly. There were little clumps of moist dirt clinging to the fur: some of which fell away upon the flexing of his claws. Most of it stayed where it was, though. If he was in any sort of pain from the exertion of bringing himself back to his hindpaws with that left fore', the todd did not show it. Judy had never been to a fox's funeral and the internal fight over what she should do for him raged deeply. It took all of the effort in the world not to interrupt the ceremony, no matter how much she wanted to offer her paw to Nick, she held fast while waiting for some sort of indication that he would receive her.

Nick turned to his left so that he could look at the headstone for a moment. Her own eyes followed to find that it was inscribed with John and Vivian's full names. Inscription was a very poor descriptor for it. The words, and the vulpine symbol of the Endless Knot, were chiseled – very professionally – into the marble headstone. And, below their names… A rectangle pocket had been precisely removed for a fitted and expertly crafted box, that had a swinging door in the middle of the face. It was a cubby, of sorts, with its glass viewing pane.

The space was empty.

It was with a step that Nick came close enough to be able to reach out and open the door.

A deft right forepaw undid the front of his suit jacket before twisting around to dip back towards the rear of his pants.

When the paw rematerialized, it was filled with a picture frame and considered for a moment.

Judy felt her resolve shatter instantly.

The blurring of tears in her eyes had to be wiped away several times over as vocalized cries were only partially stifled in her throat.

Within the redwood frame was a picture of a pair of newlyweds seen in a semi-grainy gloss.

Jonathan Wilde was standing, as dashing as Judy knew his son did, in a proper suit and tie while wearing the most ecstatic smile on his muzzle. Fangs and all. His paws were wrapped around the waist of Vivian Wilde while she wore a trim and fitting wedding gown and she sported a very shy but happy smile of her own. The vixen's ears were high and forward, through the bridal headdress that flowed down her back. The veil had been pulled back, over her head, not long before the kiss that sealed their two lives together in that life and the next. Vivian still had the bouquet clasped in her paws as they rested in front of her lithe stomach.

Their son placed the picture within the case before shutting the door and turning towards the crowd.

"Thank you all..." Nick said wearily. "For this place… for my parents…"

No statements or emotions were able to be conveyed, from her family, before the todd turned out towards one of the wayward hay barns. The oak tree was almost directly between the main warren and the barn itself, a midpoint of sorts, and her partner was ploughing a trail through the deepening snows with a fervor.

Judy looked back, though her paws were already following the todd outbound, to find that her father was clutching her mother while he had a paw on William's jacket. The patriarch was trying to fight off the emotions that were overwhelming him while also trying to hold his concerned son. The younger buck, and his brothers, were all looking back and forth to get a sense of what they should do. If they should have pursued the fox, who had not taken his cane, as he left the funeral.

Nothing seemed to deter Nick as he moved across the snowed-over grasslands. If it had not been for the fact that he was hip deep and moving through the banks, Judy would have had a hard time trying to maneuver on all fours across the top of the snows even with her furred paws. It was not cold enough to ensure a proper lope, as a hare might accomplish in Arctic conditions, over the glittering white blanket. So, she rushed along the path that the fox had cut until he entered through the office door just ahead. Judy only lost sight of him for a moment.

Once inside and out of the wind, Judy found the lights had turned on automatically due to the motion sensors inside the room. They flickered a little bit due to the age of the bulbs, but it did not impair her ability to see that Nick was leaned against the far wall near another door. The doe made sure to close the door behind her before running over to her friend. Nick's trousers were soaked from the knees down due to melting snow that had accumulated on the material and he was busying himself with removing the jacket, laying it on a desk next to him. The tie was loosened while he slumped against it.

By the time Judy wrapped her forepaws around the todd's head, she found that he was weeping openly as his body began to tremble. His paw was clenched tightly around the knot of his tie. Judy felt the shattering of her heart and the fall of her tears onto the fur over the top of his head.

"Gods, I miss them!" He croaked under the pressure of the doe's hug.

Judy nodded sharply: her eyes squeezed shut as her nose buried itself against his forehead. Her voice would have betrayed her if words were even able to be formed. The only thing that the two could do was wrap themselves around one another as tightly as they could possibly stand.