"Not today fox!" Judy raised her rifle. Her blood hot with the vision of her friends and comrades lying dead in the field. She watched as the fox squirmed and raised his legs and tail up forming a ball. His eyes pressed shut and teeth showing as they ground together in a grimace before shouting.

"I'm on your side!" If her ears weren't ringing from the blast of explosions already, she would have questioned what she heard. Instead, she pulled the trigger.

The report of the rifle caused her ears to ring even more, that, she expected. What she hadn't expected was the strap just above his head to burst into splinters and then snap, sending him into a heap on the ground. The loud yelp that escaped the foxes muzzle when he fell tail first onto his equipment below him had her jump back a step.

"How'd I miss?" She thought to herself.

She didn't get any more time to dwell on the matter as the sound of leaves rustling behind her caught her attention. She turned quickly and tried to bring her rifle to bare on the possible approaching threat. Only to find herself being shoved and pinned to the ground, muzzle to muzzle with a white vixen with her lips pulled back in a vicious snarl. Judy was frozen in place as the deadly fangs hung over her head.

"Stand down!" The growling ended almost instantly, the vixen pulled her face back and Judy was able to see her more clearly. She looked very confused before looking towards the red fox she'd somehow shot out of the tree.

He was still lying on the ground, rolled onto his side looking at them. One arm reached back, rubbing his rump while he propped himself up on the other.

"Sir...! She almost killed you!" She said, turning her eyes back to Judy.

"She's an officer, we need her help if the rest of the rabbits are this hostile."

Judy's eyes narrowed and she began to struggle. "I won't order my troops to surrender!" She growled out, as much as a bunny could.

Nick rolled his eyes. "We're not asking you to surrender dumb bunny, we're on your side." He stood but it was obvious he would have a limp for a while. "Let her up Skye. We need to move quickly; do you have a radio?"

Judy laid on the ground as the vixen he called Skye pushed herself roughly off her. She glanced between the two before speaking to Nick. "How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"If your superiors haven't told you then you have only our actions to go by. You're an officer, you should have received some form of intelligence training or briefing. I know your government pointed the finger at us but that was to throw the Canids off the trail that we were working together. We aren't the ones who attacked you. Now, will you help us save your country?" Nick had taken a few steps closer to where she was on the ground and held a paw out to help her up.

Judy looked at the offered paw and then back up at the green eyes staring down at her. With reluctance, she reached out and took his paw, letting him pull her to her feet. She was even more uncertain as he reached down and picked up her rifle before holding it out to her. Her nose twitched as she looked down at it.

"I'm not who you think I am. Trust me." He said.

She looked up into his eyes and could only see warmth and sincerity. With a nod, she accepted her weapon back and led them back to her position. "This way." She said with a wave, leading the two foxes out of the thicket and back to the hill where her radio remained, beside her fallen comrades. Judy stood frozen as she crested the sandbags surrounding the small hole. Inside lay the bodies of Private Jenkins and Logan Skipson.

As Nick and Skye came up behind her, they saw what the bunny was staring at and both understood. A noise caught their attention and Skye moved to check the radio as Nick placed a paw on Judy's shoulder.

"I know it's hard. I've been where you are right now. To keep this from happening to others, I need you to focus." He said softly.

"That won't be necessary." Nick and Judy glanced over to Skye as she listened to the radio. "Burrows High Command is broadcasting orders not to fire at all Vulpisian forces. Looks like we're good for now."

Nick looked from Skye and back to Judy. "Take care of your friends, we'll handle the rest. Come find us when you're finished." He left her side and started walking to the nearest location he could see other Vulpisian troops beginning to organize and left Judy to tend to her own.

Judy didn't know how long she stood there, staring at the bodies of her lost comrades, particularly, Logan. Looking into his face, it was like he was just sleeping after playing in the dirt. At some point, she'd lowered herself to sit on the sandbags piled near her. She felt so numb, like it wasn't real. Some part of her mind recognized that she'd gone into shock. That she was refusing to process what had happened now that the adrenaline rush was gone.

She didn't begin to break down until a gentle breeze came and rustled the fur on Logan's face.

A/N:

Wow, it's been over a year since the last update. I do apologize for taking so long. Hopefully in the next week or two I'll have a little more time to focus on writing and maybe even bring this story to a close.