The burst of fresh air that hit Nick as he stormed out of the ZPD somewhat cooled the fury that was building within him. He felt that fury quickly replaced with sadness. His breath came in huffs, though he didn't really feel winded. He decided to head to where he knew Finnick usually parked his van, before his emotions consumed him.

Nick knocked on the back door of the van with the sequence he knew Finnick would recognize, and the small fennec fox opened the door and regarded him plainly.

"Whatchoo want, Nick? Back from your little adventure? I already had dinner," Finnick said.

"Not really hungry," Nick admitted, climbing into the van and sitting there in the back.

"By the way, was that your bunny on the news tonight? Fox alive, what a speciesist piece of trash!" Finnick chuckled derisively.

"She's not my bunny," Nick clarified with a firm voice, though he looked empty.

"Dat's right, you were her fox, weren'tcha?" Finnick laughed again. "She finally let you off your leash?"

"Shut up, Finnick," Nick grit his teeth.

"Watchoo come here for, tellin' me to shut up?" Finnick challenged, sneering with his own toothy glare.

"I don't know," Nick grumbled. "I don't know where to go or who to talk to. That press conference, what she said there and afterwards, just to me... it hurt. So I hurt her right back."

Nick narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "You ain't like that, Nick."

"Not usually, but she got to me, Finn," Nick's lips twisted as he tried to keep control over them and his eyes looked like they were getting glassy. "I was getting the idea that she... you know, that she believed in me, I guess? It kind of sounds stupid, now that I say it."

"Boy, you right," Finnick let his sneer morph into a pitying, dark smile. "You knew that bunny for what, two days?"

"A lot happened," Nick reclined back, letting his weight slump against the side of the van. "She saved my life, then almost got us killed, then saved my life again inadvertently. We solved a case together, she... she asked me to be her partner." Nick balled up his fist and looked like he would punch the floor of the van.

"Don't you punch my vehicle," Finnick warned. Nick unclenched his fist. "Speciesist bunny like that? You know what I think, Nick?"

"What's that?" Nick sighed, but looked intently at Finnick.

"That bunny's no different than you or me," Finnick frowned. "She's a crook; a con artist. I saw how she hustled you. She used you. And she wanted to keep usin' you. You're better off without that kinda stuff in your life. Trust me, I know."

"You're talking about Cassandra?" Nick frowned.

"Das right," Finnick jerked his head off to the side as he clenched his eyes shut and sneered. "Vixen. She just wanted to use me, then threw me away. I thought it'd be fun to date a larger fox, but she... she didn't love me. She was parading me around in her purse like I was some sort of toy!" Finnick clawed at his head. "Then, worse yet, I was starting to get into it, you know? Just like what's happenin' to you! We're both fools, boy!" Finnick punched his hands together. "Ain't nuthin' this world got to give us, so we just need to keep takin' from it. Know what I mean?"

"Back to business as usual..." Nick gave a sigh. "I just thought she was different, you know? I guess it was the intensity of the moment, but I opened up to her in ways I hadn't to anyone..."

"Nick, hate to say it, boy, but you ain't right in your cranium," Finnick glared at him. "You still got that rag in your pocket from when you was a kit?" Nick instinctively felt into his pocket to make sure it was still there. The rag, as Finnick called it derogatorily, was his "reminder" of what he could have been; a Junior Ranger Scout. Nick also felt something new in there, the carrot pen. Nick felt a blast of shame. "You can't never let anythin' go."

Nick said nothing, just trying to keep looking at Finnick. It was working, though. He wanted Finnick to make him feel angry again, to feel frustrated and hateful. He didn't care if those negative feelings were directed at Judy, Finnick, or even himself. He just wanted to feel mad, because if he didn't, he knew tears would soon follow.

"So whatchoo think then, Nick?" Finnick tilted his head. "You think she's gonna come after you? Say she's sorry? Get real. This is the real world, and no one's got time for feelin's like that. In fact, I think if she ever saw you again, she'd try to scam you again."

"What?" Nick looked genuinely confused; Finnick had managed to say something that surprised him.

"Think what I said, fox!" Finnick was full of anger as well. "Females like that. They just want somethin' from you! They can't give anythin' back, not really! She shows up again, she'll want somethin' from you, I guarantee it."

"Maybe you're right," Nick rubbed his temples. "But maybe I was wrong in some way. I stormed out on her, leaving her flustered and frightened. I was expecting to feel satisfied that I showed her how small-minded she was being, but I just felt... wrong."

Finnick gave a pitying smile, but it was softer this time. Finnick patted Nick on the shoulder. "Like I said, boy, you ain't never gonna be right. Just stick with me and we'll keep makin' it what we can."

Judy was almost considering buying some new clothes to change into at the store, as well as a big pair of shades. She wanted to hide herself from all the hateful looks she was getting on her way home. She did in fact make it to the store, but what she bought... she didn't know if she was thinking clearly at the time. The enormity of her mistake was starting to weigh upon her, and she felt like she had to keep shooing it away, lest it consume her. She decided not to hide; that the hateful glares and shaking of the heads she saw were her just punishment. Not to mention driving Nick away...

What have I done? What will happen to predators because of what I said? Did I... did Nick and I really solve the case?

She came home to her tiny apartment, feeling hollow. It was too quiet for her. Her face scrunched up a small bit briefly as she knew she needed some sort of distraction. She tapped on the wall.

"Hey, you guys there...?" Judy beckoned to her neighbors. Her voice was uncertain and wavering. "Got anything you'd like to argue about...?" She tried to make it playful sounding, but it came out all wrong.

For a few seconds, there was no response. She didn't even know their names yet.

"Was that you on TV this evening, bunny...?" One of the voices finally asked. Judy squinted her eyes closed and her teeth bared in shame.

"Harsh, rabbit," the other voice offered curtly. Judy sighed, getting off her bed and staring at herself in the mirror. She wanted so badly to do what was right, to honor the uniform she was still wearing.

"But you can't, can you?" Judy whispered harshly to herself. "You couldn't even do this case by yourself. You needed some... some fox to help you. You're a disgrace. And you couldn't even leave it at that. You had to chase him away, minutes after you said you... you wanted him..." Judy's face scrunched up again and she felt tears start to well in her eyes. But she stilled them. She wouldn't let herself cry. She didn't deserve the release she'd feel if she broke down.

Angrily, she shoved her hands in her pockets and gave a short gasp, retrieving the crumpled-up ZPD sticker that she had absently picked up from the floor after Nick threw it down. She glared at the slightly gleaming sticker in one paw, and looked at the bag she'd brought home from the store.

"You're a foolish child; still a kit," Judy sneered in a low tone. "So you might as well act like one." Judy reached into the bag and pulled out a small red fox plush toy out of it, holding it in her other hand.

Judy started gently shaking the toy in one hand and slightly affected her voice. "'I know that somewhere there's a toy store missing its stuffed animal, so why don't you get back to your... your box...'" she'd started the sentence in a mocking, amused way, but she felt tears threaten her again. No, she said to herself firmly. Don't cry.

Very carefully, Judy began to unroll the sticker and then placed it on the chest of the fox plush. "Look at you, Junior Detective..." She wanted to laugh, but she couldn't bring herself to do that, either. She was trying to think of all their little exchanges they had made through the last two days. She placed the plush on her desk and dressed down for bed. She got onto her bed, not bothering with the covers. Her eyes wouldn't close, either.

Judy stared at the fox plush with the sticker on it. She wondered why she had bought it. Some form of self-flagellation? A punishment? A reminder of what she carelessly discarded because of her unguarded tongue?

She remembered the words of the elephant that sold it to her. "What's next, bunny? Do you want to burn this in effigy? Pred hater."

Judy couldn't fully comprehend the damage she had done. She knew she'd have to redouble her efforts in the coming days to try to smooth over her mistakes. Would there be riots? She'd have to help keep the peace. She owed Zootopia her best efforts, but she didn't know if they'd be enough.

"It would have made a good story, wouldn't it?" Judy asked the fox plush. "The first fox on the ZPD, together with the first bunny... and they fight crime!" Judy finally let out a terse giggle that quickly broke into sobbing. She got up, took the plush in her hands, and hugged it tight.

"Nick, I'm so... suh... so sorry..." Judy flung herself onto her bed and wept bitterly. Her body scrunched around the toy as she couldn't help from crying. Her efforts to stop just resulted in choked yelps and sputtering sobs. Surely, her neighbors heard her. But they said nothing.

Judy kept crying. She deserved no comfort, she thought. At work tomorrow she'd have to help fix what she had done. Even if it wasn't enough, she'd have to try. Tomorrow was another day.

But she knew there was no way it would be worse than this one.