Judy roused slowly from her repose in possibly the most luxurious bed she had ever known. Satin sheets with a thread count in the four digits were positively sinful against her fur. They felt like warm water enveloping her and coursing along her skin under her coat. She drifted in the grey nothing at the edge of sleep and just let herself enjoy it. It was self-indulgence of the highest order. She allowed her paws to caress over the fabric and her own fur. They wandered over her chest and thighs, gliding over stomach in the process. Everywhere the paws touched tingled and burned in ways she had never felt before. Her sides and arms reacted to their passing and her back arched into the mattress. The combined sensations of her paw pads and the warm liquid fabric over her skin was electrifying.

Slowly, Judy floated towards consciousness. With every baby step towards the waking world she took, the more intense the sensations became and the more aware that something was not right. It was very much not wrong, but not right. Sheets, whether made of satin or not, and regardless of the thread count, did not feel like liquid. Nor did she possess paw pads. Rabbits, by definition, didn't.

Through an immense force of will, Judy launched herself into wakefulness. She was sitting up in her admittedly decadent bed and the sheets felt exceptionally soft, but she still felt bathed in liquid heat. The sweat cooling on her skin was a stark contrast to what she was feeling, leaving her confused. Her breathing was labored and she felt flushed from head to toe.

Her confusion lasted until the source of her bewilderment could no longer restrain himself.

Good morning, Judy.

YOU!

Who else?

"Who, indeed…", Judy muttered to herself as she flopped back into bed.

Now, everything made sense. Nick was in the shower. He had opened the Bond and messed with her dreams. A thrill of giddy excitement skittered up her spine as she tried very hard to stop enjoying the feelings of the hot water and his paws. They weren't real. Just a shared sensory experience. One she could control her reactions to, she was sure.

You aren't running away?

Hard to do when there's no escape.

When you put it like that, so many interesting possibilities come to mind.

And yet, you show restraint.

There was a pregnant pause before the demon's reply filtered into her mind.

Do I?

Compared to what you did the first time you pulled this stunt, I'd say so.

You mean something like this?

Judy realized her blunder as soon as he spoke, but it was too late. As her mind reached to shut the Bond against what was coming, a wave of pleasure rolled over her. Nick's paws glided with nimble expertise over his erogenous zones. The sensations pelted into the angel's mind like a flood. Her back arched, her breath caught and her little fists balled in the sheets. The only thing preventing her from moaning was that, for a heartbeat, she forgot how to breathe.

As suddenly as the flood started, it stopped and Judy was left flabbergasted in its wake.

Like that?

Judy shut the Bond, but that wasn't enough to drown out the low, rumbling laughter she heard from behind the bathroom door.

Some minutes later, Nick emerged from his shower to find the rabbit glowering at him and thumping her foot. She was studiously refusing to look at any part of him other than his face, despite the fact that he was only wearing a towel.

"Problem?" he quipped.

Rather than respond, she shoved him out of the way and stalked into the bathroom, herself. Once the water was running, Nick pulled out a bronze Coin and spent it on a spell. It would tell him the moment the rabbit set her paws outside the shower stall. It would likely be unnecessary, but safety measures were always wise when acting in secret.

Now that she was occupied, Nick moved quickly. He scampered to the main room of his suite and rummaged through his coat, extracting two bundles and the same cloth bag from the night before. Returning to his room, he opened his chest and got to work.

The first thing Nick addressed was the larger of the two bundles. Opening it, he surveyed his very well used tools from the night before. Demonic steel could be fickle, but nothing was sharper. His daggers had gotten quite a workout the previous evening and they were in need of some tender loving care. He was all too happy to provide it.

Underneath the basin where his armor usually lived when it wasn't on him was a small knife chest. It housed all seven of his preferred blades in opulent comfort. He placed each one back in its particular spot and made sure they were nestled in. Then, he opened the second bundle and pulled out several small strips of demonflesh; a few trophies from the evening's hunt. Some might call him peculiar for taking the hearts of his prey, but there was no better way to strengthen one's power than consuming the heart of an enemy. Nick laid one withered strip of meat over each blade and closed the lid, muffling the sounds of his weapons enjoying their repast.

The rest of the contents of the second bundle went into various jars and vials. It was important to keep fresh raw materials around, as well as preserved ones. His activities from the night before had rewarded him with eyes, claws, fangs, skin and flesh. Nothing that would be missed by their previous owners as they were all deceased and turned to dust.

Lastly, Nick put the bundle wrappings into his armor's basin and set it on the bedside table to let the living metal enjoy its own meal of demon blood. It had eaten well during the hunt, but a little snack at the end would do no harm. A little spoiling for what he would soon ask of it was not a bad trade. His chest was closed, his gear fed and the basin placid left plenty of time for the fox to pull a pair of slacks over his hips and lay back on the bed before angelic toes graced the room, again.

"Feeling better, Carrots?"

A cocked eyebrow from the rabbit in the towel was all he got for his inquiry. Nick watched as the rabbit dragged her clothes to the armchair in the room and tossed them onto it. In the process, her grip on the towel faltered. Grey fur on display was a welcome sight to the fox, as was the follow up wiggle as she readjusted the towel back to its former coverage. A purification spell later, the clothing was clean.

"You could open a launderette. Fastest dry cleaner's in the city! Any garment, six seconds or less!" His hamming it up got a little wiggle at the corner of her mouth and he knew she was only putting on a show that she was angry.

In a calculated move, Nick rose from the bed and padded to the door to the main room. "I'll give you a little privacy, shall I?"

Judy was confused.

The fox was acting weird, even for what she knew of demons and this particular one. In addition to the teasing and offer of privacy, he was energetic. Almost ebullient.

When she left the bedroom, Judy drew her critical eye over the couch where Nick was supposed to have spent the night. Not a red hair graced the seat surface and no wrinkles. If he had been there, even sitting up, there would be some evidence of it and clearly there was none. As she walked through the room, she scanned for any evidence of the demon's presence overnight.

There were fresh paw prints by the door, which couldn't be older than an hour. Dirt smudges on his coat. He was freshly bathed, so no evidence would be coming from him other than his odd behavior. There was no other proof that he had been in the suite beyond the last hour at most. Even his musk was thin on the air. All the evidence pointed to one fact.

"Where were you last night?"

Nick smirked from his seat. "Wow, sweetheart. Playing the jealous wife, already?"

Violet eyes narrowed at his cavalier. "It is too early for your jokes. Where were you?"

Nick yawned. "Busy."

"Feeding your sins?"

"So, you are jealous," he quipped.

Judy refused to take the bait. "Answer the question."

One of Nick's eyebrows rose at her pushiness. "I was out hunting, my dear suspicious rabbit."

"Hunting what, exactly?" Before Nick could answer, Judy's ire pushed her tongue to keep going. "You were hunting that deer, weren't you?"

Nick couldn't help but shudder at the memory of the creature from the catacombs. "I was not."

"Bullshit!" One grey foot began rhythmically meeting the floor.

"I can't lie, Carrots, remember?"

"Then what were you after while you conveniently had me unconscious in your bed?"

Nick's other eyebrow climbed to join the first one at her comment. It took a moment or two, but Judy caught on to what she'd said. Her mortification grew in tandem with his amusement until she was ready to combust and he was ready to explode. In an act of herculean will Nick forced himself not to laugh, lest the poor bunny immolate. Instead, he elected to take a very long, deep breath and stare at the ceiling as he answered.

"Hellhounds, mostly." Judy blinked. "There may or may not be a pile of ash that used to be a Centurion of the Praetori Order vaporizing in the sunlight."

"Oh. So, when I went to sleep, you decided to go off and tackle a little infernal fauna," Judy's voice was weak and acrid to her own ears. She had to start pacing or she'd start thumping her foot again. That, or simply die of embarrassment. She chose to pace.

"Are you angry or pouting, now?"

"I can't believe you," Judy fumed. "I can't believe I didn't wake up!"

Nick shrugged a shoulder and smiled indolently. "You slept very soundly."

Judy stopped pacing and fixed the fox with a deadly glare. He appeared unimpressed. "You knocked me out."

"Hardly," Nick scoffed. "You went to sleep on your own. I just helped you stay that way."

"Unbelievable." Judy raised her paws towards the heavens then dropped them to her hips.

"What exactly are you so upset about, Carrots? You got a good night's sleep and there are fewer demons for us to worry about."

"Yes, I know. I heard Finnick warn you last night."

"Well, there you are, then."

Judy's chest hurt. Her breathing was hard and fast. She was angry; angry at him for leaving her behind; angry for presuming that she needed his protection; angry that she had been so easily fooled and manipulated. But there was one thing that upset her even more. She was hurt that he hadn't trusted her. That left her angry at herself for caring what a demon thought of her.

Her silent, pacing fuming was interrupted when the fox asked, "What's the problem, rabbit?

"You shouldn't have gone out alone!" she spat.

"I'm fine."

"Holy fire, Nick, that's not the point! I know you're capable, but I'm not going to let you treat me like a Guardian's Principle. I am not a child, a madman, or a fool despite how you think of me!"

"I don't think of you as any of those things." Nick was surprised at his own sincerity, but it seemed to be missed by Judy entirely, for which Nick was grateful. He had to figure out why he felt that way before he could attempt to explain it.

"Then why do you treat me like one? I will not be treated like a burden!" Judy ranted.

In direct contrast to Judy's high emotion, Nick's response was calm to the point of condescension. "I hardly see how me taking care of a few pests is a comment on your utility."

"We're in this together! We're partners!" she insisted loudly.

"Really, now, fluff... I didn't think we'd gotten to that stage of our relationship just yet." Judy sputtered at his teasing. At least she thought he was teasing. "To answer your question, I was out last night destroying a few of the Devil's eyes and ears in the city. Some hellhounds and a watcher or two are no longer in existence. That is all. I took care of a minor errand while you rested."

Somewhat mollified, Judy retorted, "I thought you had to placate your hungers," but not without sounding somewhat sullen.

"I did…" Nick replied lightly. "Somewhat..."

Judy's ears shot to the vertical. "Did you..."

"Did I what? Slake my demonic lust upon some unfortunate infernal megafauna? How far you have fallen, fluff…" he expounded, pressing a paw dramatically to his chest. "To suspect me of shagging hellhounds to death... naughty naughty!"

Judy thought it through. "No. I would have felt it if you'd fed."

"You might have enjoyed it, too," he pointed out.

"Oh, shut up," she snapped, halfheartedly.

"You didn't deny it."

"What about the coins? Did they help?"

Nick leaned back, settling in more comfortably and clasping his paws behind his head. "They helped immensely."

"To ease your hungers."

"Precisely."

The rather terse agreement was met with a long look from the rabbit. "By keeping me out of your way."

"Oh, you are a clever, clever angel."

Judy once more crossed her arms over her chest and, just barely, restrained her foot from thumping out her frustration. "I'll have you know I was a cherubim hunter. I've faced hellhounds before and I can take care of myself on a battlefield."

"Of that I have no doubt. However, these weren't the usual infernal yappers. They were Phosphorous Hounds; the Devil's personal pack of hunters. Without your proper armor you'd be dead, no matter how good you are in a fight." Nick flicked a speck of lint off his trousers and wryly commented, "Even I had a bit of trouble with the Alpha."

Judy's eyes widened at Nick's mention of Phosphorous Hounds. Those were several tiers higher than the demonic creatures she had previously encountered, on the threat scale. Hellhounds were similar to low level demons, in most respects. Driven by hungers and corruption, Hounds were indefatigable hunters vicious in the extreme. The Phosphorous breed of Hounds was the result of demonic breeding in House Envy as a gift for their Liege. They were to hellhounds what archdemons were to the rabble of Hell's army. Much as she hated to admit it, he was right. "I'm still annoyed with you."

"That's your choice."

"I don't need you to protect me!" She no longer cared if she sounded petulant.

"What if I want to?"

Nick had a split second to realize what he'd said before agonizing pain lanced through his head. When he opened his eyes, he saw the rabbit massaging her temples, "What was that?"

"Feedback," Judy groused. "If you say something out loud and think it through the bind at the same time it's like putting a microphone in front of a speaker. The meanings overlap and cause that pain. What did you say, anyway?"

"Nothing worth repeating, if that's a risk." Nick found himself oddly grateful for the interruption despite the throbbing between his ears.

"Whatever. We need to get to work."

"On what?"

"We know what we're up against, but we have no information," Judy explained. "With Bogo dead and my acting rank, I have access to all the files and materials the Host has in the city. We can go through the reports and analyze them. Knowing what we do, we may be able to unearth something the Host missed."

"Good thinking. I'll order some food. I think we're going to need it."

Some two hours later food had arrived as had the paperwork doldrums. The rabbit and fox sat on the couch and armchair respectively, pouring over the files left in their care. Stacks and drifts of paper along with evidence baggies littered the coffee table and floor in a semi-controlled chaos of meandering investigation. Nick was losing his mind.

What Colonel Bogo might have considered a small document case, both the rabbit and fox would call an intimidatingly large filing cabinet. It also happened to be stuffed with every document needed for the operation of the angelic forces in the city. The deceased Chief's meticulous nature and pride in his work were both evident in the documents. They were exceedingly comprehensive and voluminous.

Files that could have masqueraded as phonebooks were the norm. Among them were the actual reports they needed, as were analyses, reviews, forensic reports, assessments and more blindingly detailed documentation than Nick had dreamed possible. Troublingly, there was little that provided new information, or shed light on their situation.

Most of it was nothing of consequence for them; dull, unhelpful, or mundane information pertaining to the daily operations of Bogo's command. The most amusing point in the whole section of files was Nick getting ahold of a quartermaster's report.

"Feather treatment?" Nick asked with a smirk.

Judy snorted and continued reviewing personnel reviews.

There were two other points which Judy brought to the fore. One was the fact that the evidence from the scenes of the soul thefts were now theirs, so they might be able to pull something from it. The second was less comforting.

"Why are we going through the personnel files, Fluff? Is it really that important to study the personal details of your dead comrades?"

Without looking up from the papers she was studying, Judy responded, "We're looking for inconsistencies."

"Why?"

"Something doesn't sit right with me." He watched her face shift from intense outward focus to internal memory retrieval. He was quite sure that she didn't realize how it made her nose twitch. "When I first saw you, the chief blew me off and Clawhauser met me at my favorite coffee shop. We talked for a long time that day, but at the bar last night, it was like he'd never met me; like none of it happened."

"Could he have forgotten? It was a traumatic day, after all."

"No. There he was calm when I asked and there was no dishonesty, or mental clouding in him. To him it just didn't happen."

Nick sighed and tossed another file on the stack he'd finished reading. "Well, I haven't found anything of value in any of these. According to the rosters and timesheets, Benny-Boy was already clocked in and on duty when you said he met with you. We don't have the CCTV cameras from the precinct to verify, but he doesn't seem the type to flake out like that on the job."

"Agreed. However, he was still there. I don't understand."

"Maybe we will when we talk to him next," Nick grumbled. "Or not. I'm leaving that thread of investigation until we have more evidence."

"Speaking of evidence, here." Judy tossed an evidence baggie to her partner in paperwork.

Holding the clear plastic rectangle in front of his nose, Nick looked it over trying to determine how its contents, which looked like a small rock, could possibly be of interest. "What's this?"

"The pebble."

A barked laugh shot from Nick's throat. "Are you serious?" Judy's smirk was all the answer he needed. "Well, I guess it's doing as much as anything else in here."

Judy snorted a laugh and waved him off while she went back to her reading. "Yeah, yeah. Just get to work. "

"Not until I get more coffee."

"Pour me some while you're at it," she called without looking up.

Nick smiled as he filled two mugs. "I see how it is. You become the acting commander and courtesy goes out the window. I don't even get a please."

Judy gave up trying to work and joined the fox in taking a breather. The paperwork was set aside, joining another pile, while she took the opportunity to stretch. "Good sir, would you kindly favor me with your aid in collecting some refreshment?"

"I asked for a "please", not an excerpt from a Dickens novel."

"Would you please get that coffee over here, already?"

"Pushy rabbit," Nick snarked as he plunked her mug down in front of her.

Judy smiled and took a long sip of the still-hot liquid. They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes, resting their minds and eyes from the taxing work of endless reading. It felt good to the rabbit just to sit in the company of someone she was, astonishingly, becoming attached to. It was a hard admission to make, but one she couldn't quite avoid at this point. The realization of what he'd done the previous evening made her feel an array of emotions she'd only ever read about. Jealousy, anger, betrayal; those were surprises, certainly. The anxiety and concern, though, the fear for his safety and being upset at his choice to put himself at risk where she couldn't help him, those were the feelings that gave her pause.

It was that sense of desired reassurance that led Judy to ask a question entirely out of character for her to pose to a fellow hunter, let alone an angel to a demon.

"You said the Alpha gave you some trouble. How bad was it?"

Nick smiled and let his head roll back to rest on his chair's cushioned headrest. "Most hellhounds are pretty stupid. One good strike from above and they're done."

"The weak spot at the base of the neck." Judy knew that spot well from her time spent on the Fringe.

Nick nodded and let his eyes roll closed. "I took out most of them that way. Easy kills. The watchers were annoying, as always."

"Are those the things that look like squirrels?" Now her ears perked with curiosity and she found herself leaning in his direction.

"Uhhuh. With the fishbowl eyes."

"Quick little bastards," she muttered.

"They can be," he agreed.

"We'll have to trade hunting tips some time," Judy said over her coffee mug.

Nick smiled as he swallowed a mouthful. "Anyway, I managed to get rid of the majority of the pack, but the Alpha and Beta were left. They were huge, craggy things. I baited the Beta into a trap I set. It was ash before it knew what hit it. The Alpha, however, was clever. It waited until I came to confirm the Beta's death and it jumped me."

Her eyes went comically wide and Nick couldn't fail to notice the teasing humor in her voice as she asked, "You mean to tell me that a giant infernal rodent got the drop on you?"

"Keep your incredulity to a dull roar, Carrots. It was an Alpha for a reason." Judy hummed into her mug with a smirk, letting her eyes drift closed.

Nick chuckled and let his eyed drift closed, savoring the memory of a satisfying hunt. "The Alpha got the drop on me by letting the Beta die. I came to confirm and it attacked. It got a good hit on me from the side, but my armor protected me."

"Reminds me of an assault on the fringe. I was ambushed just like that," Judy nodded as she recalled that particular battle.

"It stayed low in a stalk."

"They snuck up quietly," she continued.

"I took one hit on the hip," he added, swiping a paw through the air in an imitation of claws raking flesh.

"My shield took the brunt."

In unison they said, "They never saw it coming."

Nick was on a battlefield outside a stronghold in the Fringe. He was fending off a trio of Gluttony's rejects as they slavered after him. He was short and agile and felt the wind under his four wings as they buoyed him up and out of danger. When his little grey paws landed, he slammed into the first with a shield bash and gutted it while it was stunned before hamstringing the second and crushing its skull with the pommel of his short sword. The last tried to flee, but he was quick and a throwing dagger split its spine from its skull. Satisfied, he shook the dust from his silver-white armor and collected himself for the next assault. A huge Gorger appeared and bore down on him. Nick screamed his battle cry and met the beast head-on.

Meanwhile, Judy and the Alpha hellhound circled each other. It was a scarred, leathery beast. Devoid of anything but the meanest of intelligences and bestial cunning. She'd battled such things in the arena many times. Her hip was mildly sore from the initial swipe, but she had rolled with the hit. The force had been defrayed enough that she wouldn't need any significant healing. In a moment of cunning, she feigned a stumble to bait the beast, which it took only too eagerly. As it charged in, she rolled her shoulder under it's jaw and rammed her daggers into the flesh of its neck. A quick drag of each blade to its opposite side left it bleeding out at her feet. In that moment she felt strong and dominant, which fed her Pride. Savoring her victory, she plunged her fist through its ribcage and pulled out its heart. She had use for such meats and was loathe to let such an opportunity go to waste.

The eyes of both angel and demon snapped open as one and reality reasserted itself.

"What in hell was that?" Nick huffed, breathless.

"I was you as you fought the alpha," Judy panted. "Why? What did you see?"

"More like where. It was a castella outpost somewhere in the Fringe. There was a huge white maggot with red mandibles bearing down on me. I've only had to fight one before in the arena when I was a slave in Pride and I never wore armor."

"That was my last campaign..." Judy paused to finish what was left of her, now cold, coffee. The bitter sweet liquid tasted amazing just then and helped to her to ground herself in the present. "We were assaulting a stronghold and they loosed about a dozen of those things on us. They were hard to kill."

"That was a Gluttony stronghold," Nick rasped. "I saw your memories?"

Judy nodded. "We saw each-others'."

"Let me guess… the Bond."

"I don't know…"

Judy spoke without thinking, but it had been the truth. She'd never heard of such a thing before, even between bonded angels. The Truant's Summons was supposed to share many things, but memory was not one ever discussed and the Bond had been discussed very thoroughly by her and her fellows, over the years. The Clerics who trained them were embarrassingly thorough. That being said, she studiously avoided looking at her paw and the Bond Mark. Blessedly, Nick didn't press.

Nick tried not to think about what he'd seen in the angel's memories. It hurt too much. The armor, the comrades, the sense of purpose; all things that were long past and dead to him. He'd left them buried for longer than he could remember. Now, those memories were seeping to the surface and reminding him of the bad times that came after his tours on the Fringe and endless apprenticeships after Officer's School; of his final initiation and a conversation with a goat that ruined him.

Before he could either become maudlin or crippled with a headache, Nick shook himself and addressed the one mystery he could actually do something about. The shared memories would have to wait until he wasn't skirting the edge of another episode, so he let that sit to the side. Instead, he looked at the baggie he'd been thrown before their little study break.

What he saw was difficult to understand.

"Carrots?"

"Yes?" Judy answered from the coffee maker.

Nick blinked. He hadn't been aware she'd moved. "You're sure this was the pebble from the crime scene?"

"Yeah. Why? The file numbers correlate." Looking up, Judy saw what she could only call tension on the fox's face. "What's wrong?"

Nick knew something was very not right. It didn't make sense. It couldn't.

"Judy, this isn't a pebble."

"What is it then?"

"It's a Tartarus Diamond." Nick was up and moving.

"A what?" Judy asked as she watched as the demon collected his armor and pulled a pair of long daggers from his chest.

"It's a stone that only exists in the deepest reaches of Hell. There are legends that say they're tears of God, or the blood of the first Devil. In either case, it shouldn't be here."

Nick appeared to be... unnerved. That was enough to send Judy in battle mode. "Okay, so where are we going?" Judy grabbed her coat and checked her own weapons.

"We are going to the armory that you now have access to, Acting Commander Hopps."

Judy glanced at the windows and the light shining through them before addressing the fox. "Right now?"

"I was going to wait until night so I'd be stronger, but this… This is too weird, even for me. We are getting you properly outfitted."

As Judy goggled at the admission he made all the way out the door. She was fast on his heels.

Their trip to the precinct was quick and uninterrupted, largely thanks to Nick's powers. Judy realized that the previous evening their trek from the bar to his hotel had been devoid of mortals, not because of the quiet of the hour, but the force of demonic will. Mortals were keeping their distance, seemingly without realizing it. It was one of a dozen things she wanted to ask about, but the pace kept by the fox was too strenuous for conversation.

Once they arrived, Judy took the lead and skirted the building. By the fire escapes at the back of the building, Judy pressed a palm to the stonework and allowed her power to flow. A small door opened in the wall and both angel and demon scampered inside. For a moment, Judy was concerned about allowing a demon into the Host armory and weapons depot, but the fox seemed entirely unimpressed, bordering on disinterested. It stopped surprising her when she remembered his armor. He already had better than anything the Host could offer.

Finding the storage locker where her equipment was being kept was easy. Getting the fox to give her some privacy so she could don it was less so.

"You seriously have to strip down to put it on?" His disbelieving consternation at such inefficient battle prep was nearly palpable.

"I wasn't even allowed to keep the basic bodysuit, so I need to put that on first." Judy held up the, obviously form fitting and tantalizingly thin, first layer by way of example.

"Well, let's not stand on ceremony," he said as he grinned and leaned against the wall.

Judy smirked, but was unimpressed. "Turn your back. No free shows for you."

"I have to pay? How much?" he asked as he reached into a pocket as if to retrieve the necessary sum.

"My dignity is worth more than you can afford."

"I'm just looking for a little fur. Is that so much to ask?"

"Turn," she ordered firmly, though the effect was ruined by the corners of her mouth curving upward.

"What if I say please?"

"Turn." There was more giggle in her voice than she was comfortable with.

"Pretty please with a carrot on top?"

"I'll show you Carrot on top if you keep this up."

"Is that a promise, Carrots?"He waggled his brows a her as he pushed away from the wall.

Judy's ears flushed as she realized her accidental innuendo, but kept a straight face. "Turn."

Grinning, he complied and her blush flooded her face and ears. Judy wasted no time at all and changed into her armor as quickly as possible. As soon as she was dressed, the Acting Commander summoned the file case Bogo had bequeathed her and loaded what weapons and gear she couldn't conceal under her clothes into it. It was a small breach of protocol, but a minor infraction was the least of her concerns at this point. The pink tinge in her ears caused by the demon she'd brought into the armory and the bond mark on her paw that was now barely larger than a driving glove were all higher concerns. Concerns for another time, she decided, as Judy was guided out of the armory seconds after unsummoning the document case.

They made it about half-way back to the hotel, and Judy was taking a small breath of relief, when it all went wrong. Her first clue things were not well was Nick stopping cold in his tracks and holding his paw up, just like he had in the catacombs. Judy froze and things got bad fast.

Time seemed to slow and the world around them appeared to rot; veins of decay like mold and rotting blood traced every surface. Trees crumbled to charred husks. Concrete and asphalt crumbled. Judy's heart rate grew as each new layer of vile distortion crept over the world around her. Her paws itched for her short sword, but the signs she saw from her de facto bodyguard were confusing.

Nick appeared to be at ease after his initial tense reaction. His paws slid into his pockets and his posture took on a casual, expectant air. His smile was smug and relaxed. He looked like he hadn't a care in the world, or was waiting for a bus to show up.

Finally, Nick spoke up, but not to her, Judy was surprised to find.

"Whenever you're done your pathetic display and want to say hello, I'll be ready."

His voice was calm and even with a hint of a sneer in it. Before Judy could ask what he was doing, or who he was talking to, a goat stepped out from behind the corner of a building. He was huge for his species and pitch black from horn to hoof except for his eyes, which burned like red coals in his head. In his hoof, he held a long spear with three tines and black ichor dripped from his hooves as he walked. He ignored the fox, only having eyes for the little rabbit.

In a voice that was part velvet, part gravel, the ram spoke to the fox. "Well, well, Piberius. She's still pure."