Thanks to the reviewers as always: Victor John Foxfire, GhostWolf88 (FFN and AO3), DeadDireWolf, AwesomeFox99, x_uve, Spectra98, miceaholic, The Wildehopps Protection Agency (WHPA)

WILDE AND SON'S

Judy had traipsed back up to the apartment after Nicholas had run away. She had not been able to keep up with him and he had disappeared by the time she had reached the entrance hallway.

'Oh, no… oh, no… what did he hear?' Judy's thoughts echoed. She knew he had not heard the entire conversation, so his understanding of it was going to be limited. He could only have heard the bad parts.

Nick was at the apartment door, concern etched on his face.

"He's gone! What do we do?" Judy cried out. "What if he does something stupid?!"

Nick breathed in steadily. He resisted the brief urge to reach out and place a paw on her shoulder.

"First, we are not going to panic," Nick said.

"How can I not panic?!" Judy answered, almost hysterically.

"Pull yourself together, Hopps," Nick said, putting on a harder tone. "You're supposed to be the Chief of the ZPD."

Judy stared at him, before wiping the tears from her eyes.

"You're right… Perspective…" Judy mumbled as she fumbled for the radio on her belt.

"I'll call Fin, we'll scout around Downtown," Nick fished his phone from his pocket and dialled for Finnick.

Nicholas ran. He had no particular place in mind, he just had to get as far away from Nick and Judy as he could. And it would serve them right: they clearly never wanted him in the first place, or at least, that was what Nicholas had deduced from what he had overheard back there. What would they care if he just disappeared forever?

He ran across roads without pausing to look. Cars screeched to a halt as he cut across in front of them. One or two of the drivers had things to say.

"Hey, use a crossing, you stupid lank!"

"You trying to be roadkill?!"

"Get out of the road, you moron!"

Nicholas barely heard them.

Eventually, his legs started to tire, and he found himself slowing down. He didn't know where he was. He guessed he was still somewhere within the Savanna Central district, but it didn't look like a part of the District he had been to before. The buildings were dilapidated, with paint peeling off the walls of run-down apartment buildings, streets littered with rubbish and graffiti sprayed on billboards. There were notices over doors, each stating that the buildings and land had been acquired for redevelopment.

There was one building without a notice attached to the door. It looked like a disused shop, with a worn sign above it: 'And Son's – Suits For – amma – casion'. The windows were boarded up. The front door was peeled, and the lock was rusted.

'Nobody will look for me here,' Nicholas thought to himself. He looked around, and, seeing nobody, he forced the door open. As the door swung open, a bell fell from above the frame and clattered to the floor. Stepping over it, Nicholas shut the door quickly. His head briefly met the wooden panel covering the door's window. His teeth clenched as his anger boiled over, he turned around and spotted a mannequin that was bunny-sized and wearing a musty old suit. Snarling, Nicholas approached it and kicked it to the ground. His anger wasn't satisfied, and he aimed a punch at a larger mannequin next to it, one that was the size of a fox. It skittered to the floor as well. A third mannequin, about the size of a wolf, stood next to them and Nicholas sent it flying with a kick. His breathing ragged and feeling no better, Nicholas collapsed to the ground. He let tears fall from his eyes.

"Liars and cowards… the both of them… I hate them," Nicholas seethed. "I hate them!"

His fist slammed against the ground. Breathing heavily, Nicholas hauled himself back on to his feet. It was only then that he noticed he had entered a disused tailor shop. There were other mannequins with suits that were also in a poor state. There was a counter with a broken cash register. If it had once held any money in it, it had long since gone. Sat on the counter was a pile of leaflets, and though they had been damaged by time, Nicholas could still read the top one: 'Wilde And Son's: Suits For Any Mammal, Any Occasion'.

Nicholas reached a paw out to the leaflet pile and threw them across the room. They fluttered everywhere as they fell. Clenching his fists, Nicholas stormed for the front door and threw it open. He did not want to be here anymore. As he stepped outside, he noticed a van with a strange painting on the side driving past. The van screeched to a halt and the passenger door opened, with Nick jumping out.

"Kid, your mother is frantic looking for…" Nick began. Nicholas ran at him.

"You…" Nicholas growled, launching himself at Nick, fist clenched. He struck Nick straight in the face. Nick reeled from the hit, raising a paw to his jaw. Opening and closing it, he felt for blood or broken teeth and found none.

"Okay, I deserved that," Nick remarked.

"Why are you here? How did you find me?" Nicholas demanded.

"I could come up with a bunch of stories, but it's a simple as just driving around," Nick replied, indicating to the van behind him. Sat in the driving seat was Finnick, glaring at Nicholas with a rather unfriendly expression. Nick looked up at the building behind Nicholas.

"Though… what are the odds you would end up here, where my… father…" Nick said the word as if it were poison, "set up shop decades ago?"

Nicholas bared his teeth, making it plain to Nick that he wasn't interested in small talk.

"Look, kid," Nick said, "I understand how you must be feeling."

"No, you don't!" Nicholas bellowed. "Mom tells me the same thing! Nobody knows, because there are no others like me!"

"That's… not exactly accurate," Nick replied, "but you are unique. Special. A miracle, if ever I believed in them. That doesn't mean I don't know that you're confused about your place in the world."

"I…" Nicholas prepared to argue back, but stopped when he registered exactly what Nick said.

"Tell me, kid," Nick said, "what exactly did you hear?"

"I know she wanted to terminate me! And I know you ran out because you couldn't face up to her!" Nicholas glowered at Nick.

"That's not… Look, she was scared that carrying you to full-term was going to harm both you and her, and she wasn't thinking straight," Nick explained. "When she learned the truth – that she wasn't in any danger – she decided not to go through with it. If she really wanted you gone, she would have gone through with it. Or, she would have had you put up for adoption."

Nicholas stayed silent.

"Do you know how frantic your mother was after you ran out?" Nick asked. "She thought you'd do something stupid, like stepping in front of a train, or jumping into the river. I have to say, I thought the same thing."

"So why is she not here?" Nicholas demanded. "She busy getting the grunts to do her work?"

"She's on her way right now," Nick replied. "We split up to search, but I messaged her when I saw you."

Nick sighed.

"I'm truly sorry you had to hear what happened in the way you did, especially when you weren't ready to," Nick said. "It's not that you shouldn't know the truth, but you should have heard it when you were ready for it. I know what it's like to want, no, crave acceptance, to be a part of something, and I know what it's like to have a father who walked out on you."

"Yes, Grandma Wilde told me the story," Nicholas growled, "which makes it harder for me to understand why you'd walk out."

"It's… complicated," Nick answered.

"Why does everybody keep telling me that, like I can't understand!" Nicholas bellowed. He balled his fists again, anger starting to boil over once more.

"I am not my father. If I had known she didn't go through with it, that she decided to keep you, I would have come back," Nick replied. "I would have come back to be a part of your life."

"Right… and you'd have done what with your mate and son?" Nicholas asked.

"I would have brought them with me," Nick replied, "You have the right to know your younger brother as well."

"And what would you have done about Mom?" Nicholas asked.

"I…" Nick began, before stopping to think. "I don't know. Maybe the same thing I did today. Maybe not. One of the many things I've learned today is that it's no use trying to guess what might have been. All I know is what's happening now."

Nick's ear flicked as the sound of a car engine reached him. He and Nicholas turned in time to see a police cruiser screech around the corner and abruptly stop.

"Nice to see her driving has improved," Nick joked.

"How can you joke in this situation?" Nicholas asked.

"It's a coping strategy," Nick shrugged. He turned back to Nicholas. "Listen, kid. Today's been tough on all of us, but especially you. Just don't give your mother a hard time over this. Her biggest weakness is that she dwells on the mistakes she made. Just know you aren't one of those mistakes."

The driver's door on the cruiser flew open and Judy jumped out, ran over to Nicholas and grabbed hold of him, pulling him into a hug as tears began streaming down her face onto his sweater. Nicholas felt the anger and bitterness start to ease. He glanced at Nick, who raised his paws in a shrug gesture.

"I'll leave you two it," Nick said. "I've got to get back to Mom's place. There's a lot to do before… well, there's a lot to do."

Nick turned back to Finnick's van, opened the door and clambered in. The door shut and Finnick drove off.

Judy had taken Nicholas back to the apartment and had called in to say she would not be in for the rest of the afternoon. Deputy Chief Fangmeyer would take care

Sitting on the sofa, Nicholas stared at the ground. His anger wasn't gone completely, but he felt able to hold it in check. Judy sat down beside him.

"I'm sorry you had to hear it the way you heard it," Judy said. "That wasn't the whole thing, and there's a lot of history between the three of us. I wanted to wait until you were old enough to handle it. You've been… troubled as of late and I didn't think this was the right time… one day, I hope you'll understand."

Nicholas glanced at her. His paws hurt.

"Please don't hate him," Judy remarked. "He didn't know… and that's on me. I've… been afraid of what he would say, and that's held me back. So, it's half my fault too."

Nicholas stared at Judy.

"He ran out on you," Nicholas said.

"He wanted time to gather his head," Judy replied. "Sometimes, things just happen a certain way. I… I thought he might have moved on when he didn't come back. I tried to find him, but I couldn't."

"You should have told me," Nicholas said. "Instead, all I ever heard is that I was too conflicted, that it was complicated."

"Think about how angry you have been lately," Judy said. "Would that have made things better? Would it have helped you to know, then, that your father wasn't what you had come to believe him to be? Oh, Nicky… why didn't you come to me sooner than this? You're my Son, and nothing will ever change that. But sometimes… you take after your father. And I… have never been great at reacting to being put on the spot like that."

Nicholas snorted.

"I know you don't see him that way right now," Judy continued. "but Nick is your father, and I think you should try to get to know him. I know that's what Grandma Wilde wanted… before…"

Nicholas glanced at Judy again. He got up and wordlessly returned to his bedroom, but there was no slamming of doors. He flopped onto his bed. After a few minutes, Judy came by and pulled his door to.

"I love you, Nicky," Judy whispered.

And that's the half-way point!

The big change here is no Delgato. In the original, he served as something to basically show 'nobody recognises Nick', and I felt that his actions towards Nicholas were inflammatory to the situation he was in. It made sense to me to remove that.

The next chapter is going to be a combination, since the following two chapters in the original were almost the same events from two different perspectives.