Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to anything in this movie.

To: Guest- So it's all about the boy scout incident again? I thought in this fic we were going to find out new things about Nick's past. Nice chapter anyway!

I'm glad you said that. No, this story will not focus solely on Nick's incident with the boy scouts. In chapter two it states that waves of memories flooded his brain, hinting that his panic attack was a mix of different awful things that happened in his life, but the muzzle was the most prominent memory that went through his head at the time, referencing his possible PTSD from the event. I hope I cleared some things up.

Judy and Nick were on the sidewalk, silently travelling to where Nick said his old friend lived. The silence between the two was uncomfortable for a couple of reasons: One, Nick hadn't made a single snarky comment since they left the apartment. And two, there was a strange tension between the fox and rabbit. Judy kept sneaking glances at him, looking for any sign of emotion. Despite not saying anything, he kept that sly smile. At some point, Judy had to wonder if that was just his resting face from using it so much. Occasionally, they would pass by a store with a neon sign, or a car would pass, it's headlights hitting Nick's face.

Judy took these moments to check if the light would be strong enough for her to see past the sunglasses to his eyes. She had to be very careful when she did this, as Nick would certainly question her and make a joke if he noticed her continuously glancing at him. Only once did she manage to catch a glimpse at his eyes. She sighed when she saw that his eyes still had that sly look to them. Judy always believed that the eyes were the windows to the soul. If Nick could hide the emotion in his eyes, then to her that meant that he could change his very soul to make people believe that he was okay.

Yes, that was a very farfetched thing to think about, but this was Nick, the best actor she knew of, and she had a very strong feeling in her heart that there was something wrong. Well, that and the fact that she had seen something on his face when the headlight hit his sunglasses the right way. He could hide any emotion from appearing on his face, but he couldn't hide claw marks. Judy was determined to find a way to get him to take the shades off to confirm that was what she saw, but if Nick wanted to hide something from her, he would go to whatever length necessary to do so.

"So," Judy said, deciding to take a leap of faith, "why are you wearing sunglasses when it's so dark out?" She tried to make her voice as uncaring and casual as possible.

Nick's smile remained the same, but his eyebrow raised, "Well, I want to make sure that you're completely focused on this case. I don't want to distract you with my good looks." On any other day, Judy would have laughed at that, but not only was that comment expected, it was also her first failed attempt to get him to take the sunglasses off. "Honestly," Nick continued, "you sound like Bogo. Is the famous Judy Hopps losing her sense of fun and becoming the soulless chief? Stoicism is not a good look for you, Carrots. The next thing I know, I'll be walking into our office only to find you virtually dancing with Gazelle on your phone. I can already see your face photoshopped on a shirtless tiger."

Judy temporarily lost interest in what Nick was hiding, "What?"

"You didn't know about that? Well, Clawhauser was showing me the app against my will, and I may have politely tricked him into revealing some juicy details about our chief using that same app when he's alone in his office." Judy's smile could not have been wider, remembering Clawhauser showing her that app while Nick was away at the academy.

"You know, you're pretty good at getting information from people. If the whole cop thing doesn't work out you should be a reporter," said Judy. She had completely forgotten about what Nick was hiding at this point.

"Well, while I would adore watching you crumble under pressure as I ask you extremely personal questions about your cases, I don't think you could handle not having me as your partner. Besides, I could just interrogate criminals if given the chance. I'll be the good cop, and you, my fluffy little partner"-Nick ruffled the fur on Judy's head-"can be the bad cop." Judy grumbled as she tried to straighten her fur.

As she was trying to straighten it back up, she suddenly realized what he was doing. Judy tried her best not to glare at Nick as it all became clear. He was distracting her so that she would stop asking him questions, just like he did with the other officers at the ZPD when they accused them of being a couple. She wasn't happy about being tricked like that, but she couldn't deny that it was pretty impressive. Also, it just proved that he was hiding something...kind of.

Judy tried to think of a way to turn that against him. She had done it once when she blackmailed him into helping her with the nighthowler case by dangling the threat of prison over his head. Felony tax evasion, something that Nick wasn't prepared to be caught doing. She could stick her foot out to trip him. Maybe the sunglasses would fall off and he would have to explain the marks. Then again, was Judy just doing all of this for naught? He would probably just come up with some brilliant excuse to make it seem like nothing was wrong.

Judy knew that she couldn't read Nick very well, but she couldn't shake that feeling that flowed through her entire body. Something was wrong with him, no matter how much he tried to hide it.

"You thinking hard enough there, Carrots? I can almost hear those little gears turning," said Nick. Judy snapped out of her thoughts, looking out to the road, watching an occasional car pass by. She heard a small sigh from Nick. "Look, Judy, I know you're not still upset about me cancelling on you. But there is something that's eating you. Just go ahead and tell me what's on your mind. I don't think I can handle your uncomfortable staring much longer." He added a small smile at the end of what he said, but it wasn't sly or snarky. It was actually sincere, and if Judy didn't know any better, she would have thought there was even a bit of concern behind that smile.

He knew the whole time that she was staring at him. For once, she had thought she was one step ahead of the fox, only to find out that he was actually two steps ahead of her all along.

"Well…" Judy tried to force out, but couldn't. She wanted to slap Nick so bad, not knowing if this was another distraction or if he was actually trying to figure out why she was acting strangely. What slipped her up the most was when he called her by her real name. As far as she could remember, he had only done that once before. And whenever he did call her by her real name, it meant that he was serious. The bunny took a deep breath and looked the devilish fox in the eye. "What made you cancel our movie night?" That sounded so stupid to Judy when it came out, but Nick didn't laugh, make a joke, or even put that mischievous curl back to his lip. He simply looked at Judy, his eyes filled with a sadness that his friend couldn't see, but his smile still earnest and caring.

"Carrots, the truth is…" Nick said, getting his face closer to her, their noses almost touching. Judy could smell the soap on his fur from the shower he took. She swallowed hard. "I had to make a few phone calls, do a bit of research, make sure that he's still living in his old hideout."

"It took you a little under ten hours to call people?" Judy asked incredulously.

"No, the phone calls were before I texted you, I just thought I'd let you know. I don't want to leave out any details. The reason why I sent you the text was because I was tired. I wanted to get some extra sleep. I needed to make sure I was well rested so that I wouldn't slip up around Rick."

"Your guy's name is Rick?"

"Yes, and he's very crafty, and he hates cops. Like I said, Judy, I needed the sleep so I could properly talk to the guy without him managing to trick me into spilling some secrets." Judy crossed her arms, letting Nick know exactly what she thought of that excuse.

With Nick's face still a bit close to hers, Judy grabbed his sunglasses and pulled them off before he could move back. Nick had a face of surprise mixed with disappointment in himself for leaving himself open for that. But that worry and shock disappeared from his face as soon as it appeared. Judy could have blinked and missed it...but she didn't blink. She saw the temporary surprise on her friend's face when she pulled those shades off.

"Do you feel like explaining those claw marks?" Judy asked, trying to keep her composure, thought she wasn't sure what emotion she was trying to bury. Whether it was anger or sadness, she had yet to decide. Right now, she was focused on hearing Nick's next excuse.

"I will gladly explain these claw marks on my face," said Nick with a confident tone, making Judy's fur stand on edge with annoyance. "I wanted to make sure I would completely fool Rick by giving myself some light claw marks. Light enough to look like scars instead of recent scratches. This way, he'll think that I've been back on the streets, and that I conned the wrong guy. Look, Carrots, Rick knows everything. He knows people, which he means that he also knows, one way or another, that I helped you on that nighthowler case. The more I could do to make him believe that I'm still a criminal, the better."

"What about me? I was all over the news for a time, meaning that he'll know I'm a cop. And according to you, he hates cops."

"No, you were a cop, but after quitting the ZPD, I managed to convince you that the life of a con artist was better and exceptionally more rewarding. You agreed to be my pupil, letting me teach you my ways, with your first scam involving us cracking the nighthowler case, thus enabling you to rejoin the ZPD to have access to the files. You know, find good places to steal from, steer the cops away from scams I pull, and other things, all under my watchful eye." The sly smile was back. Judy wanted to smile back at the fox's clever plan, but it seemed too real. She mentally scolded herself for thinking so, but Nick could have devised that plan on the spot. Still, Judy could find no argument for what he said. Except…

"So why were you wearing those shades to hide the marks from your face instead of telling me the plan, which you waited until now to do, by the way."

"I was going to tell you when we got to Rick's place. Speaking of which," Nick said, stopping in front of a regular looking apartment complex. "Here we are." He saw the look on Judy's face. She wasn't expecting this guy to live in such a normal looking place.

"He lives here?" asked Judy.

"Not every criminal hides in an abandoned warehouse, Carrots," Nick joked. "Come on. It's time to meet him." He walked into the building with Judy not far behind. She glared at the back of Nick's head, as if it would somehow let him know how unhappy she was with him. Everything Nick said made sense in a way. She was even starting to doubt herself, wondering if he was actually telling the truth the whole time. At this point, Judy knew that she was acting a bit crazy, constantly seeing if she could get Nick to admit something that he may not have even been hiding. She just couldn't shake the feeling that the fox was lying to her. At some point she would have to ask herself why she was so determined to get the truth from him.

The fact of the matter was that Judy just cared for Nick. Something was affecting her partner, and she didn't want him to suffer through it alone. In her family, if something was bothering someone, they would talk about it. Everyone would be there for each other. She knew that Nick was different. He was a fox that obviously didn't like sharing his feelings. But if he had told her about his troubles once, he could do it again.

Judy shook these thoughts from her for the time being. She needed to focus on the task at hand, which was talking to Rick. Nick walked into an elevator with his partner and clicked the button leading to the third floor.

"You never told me why he doesn't like meeting people in the day," said Judy.

Nick gave her a sideways glance, letting his smile disappear, "Yeah, this guy's a bit...different. I don't really know why he hates daytime so much, but I never asked. You'll understand why when you meet him."

The elevator door opened, and Judy walked out, following Nick to whatever room he was heading to. She wondered exactly what he meant when he said that she would know why Rick didn't like sunlight when she met him. Nick stopped at one of the doors along the corridor, taking a deep breath and shooting a reassuring smile at Judy, before knocking on the door. They waited for a few seconds, not saying anything, until the door cracked open a bit. All Nick could see was an eye staring at him. The eye widened when it saw the fox, and the door closed again. They could both hear the sound of the chain on the door being unlatched, and watched as it suddenly opened as wide as it could go.

"Nicholas!" yelled a gray wolf wearing a black shirt with a skull on it and black jeans with a chain on the side. His right eye was covered with an eyepatch, and there was a nasty scar going down the whole right side of his face. "How long has it been?" Nick smiled widely at his friend.

"I'd say it's been a few years," he responded. "How've you been, Rick?"

"Doing good. And who's this little lady? You finally get yourself a girlfriend? I thought you said you weren't interested in that kind of stuff."

"No, Rick, we're not together like that. She's my partner in crime," Nick said. "Finnick's been busy, so I had to get a substitute till he's ready to start back." Rick laughed.

"Please, come in. What can I do for you?" he asked, stepping aside to let the two in. Judy was shocked at how welcoming and friendly this wolf was. When she walked into his apartment, she noticed how dark it was. Curtains covered all of the windows. The only light came from lamps that were scattered across the place, providing barely enough light to see where she was going. Judy was really starting to envy Nick's night vision, angrily watching the fox walk to a nearby chair with his wolf friend as if it were as simple as making a wisecrack.

"I need your help," said Nick to his wolf friend.

"Does it have something with those marks on your face?" Rick asked. "If you're not more careful, pal, you'll end up like me." Rick laughed a bit, but Judy could tell it was still a bit of a touchy subject for him.

"No," Nick chuckled with his friend. "I spotted a nice little jewelry store here in Savannah Central. I was going to try and scam them out of some of their valuables. But, right when I'm about to go in, I discover that it was already robbed. So, I do a bit of research, and apparently there's been a string of robberies across Zootopia"-He pulled out a hard drive-"I managed to sneak a video of the incident. It was put on a loop, so I couldn't see who did it. I was wondering if you could reverse this so I could find out who robbed this place. I want to make a deal with him he can't refuse."

Rick took the hard drive, before busting out into laughter, "I don't need to reverse it, Nick, I already know who did it."

"You do?" Nick asked.

"Yes, because I'm the one who looped the footage for him." Rick burst into laughter. Nick reluctantly joined in, seeing an opportunity.

"I should've known," said Nick, laughing. "No one else in Zootopia could loop footage like that besides you. So, who is it? Who're you working with?"

Rick's laughing slowly died down, and he looked his old friend in the eye, "Listen, we've been friends for a long time. We were even partners once...so I'm sorry it has to be like this." Rick slipped the hard drive back into Nick's shirt pocket.

"What do you mean?" Nick asked with a hint of a smile. Judy slowly put her hand on her partner's arm, ready to bolt to the door with him if necessary.

"I didn't have a choice, Nick. This is bigger than the both of us. I owe you, friend. I hope you can forgive me," Rick said. Judy had heard enough. Before she could get herself and Nick out of the room, she felt someone grab her, dragging her away from Nick and to the far corner of the room. Judy realized with fear that it was a polar bear that had her. Another polar bear came out of nowhere, and put a bag around Nick's face. She could almost hear his muffled voice, probably yelling at Rick. Judy wanted to say something. She wanted to tell Nick that everything would be alright, but she was too busy trying to escape the polar bear's grasp.

Nick's struggling became weaker and weaker, until he stopped moving altogether. She watched as Rick walked up to her with a sad look on his face.

"Don't worry, girl, he's not dead. I'm sorry you got caught up in this, whoever you are, but-" Rick stopped talking when one of the polar bears snorted in warning. Judy watched them take the bag off of Nick's face. It was too dark to tell if he was breathing or not. She didn't care to trust what Rick said for one second, but she hoped he wasn't lying. Had he known that Nick was coming? Rick was still standing next to her. He even looked a bit worried for his old partner. Judy wanted to kick him more than anything. She could probably slip her foot out for just a second to accomplish that task, and there was no doubt in her mind the polar bear wouldn't care if she kicked this wolf.

The polar bear that knocked Nick out picked the fox up and walked out of the room. The bear holding onto Judy mimicked his partner and slung her over his shoulder. She yelled and shouted, beating against the bear's neck, but to no avail. The bears carried the unconscious Nick, and the very conscious Judy down to the lobby. Everyone stared at the sight, but they did nothing. Judy couldn't believe that these people were just watching her get taken away against her will.

As far as she could tell, no one was even making a move to call the police. After seeing everyone's lack of care for the kidnapping of two police officers of Zootopia, Judy gave up her fighting, and let the polar bear put her into a black car with Nick, but not before tying her hands behind her back and her legs together so that she wouldn't try to escape. They also made sure that the two polar bears were between Nick and Judy. Nick was completely out, his head leaned on the tinted window of the car. Judy sat patiently, thinking of a way to escape, and looking for any opportunities to get out.

But as the car drove down the road, and Judy kept drawing blanks on ways to get out, she lost hope. There were a few ways she could escape by herself, but there was no way she was going to leave her partner alone. She couldn't really do anything if she escaped, anyway. All she could do was tell Bogo, and by the time they managed to find Nick again, it would probably be too late…

There were a few questions Judy had running through her head. Why did Rick seem so sorry about what he was doing? Who were these polar bears? The only polar bears she'd ever seen dressed up like this belonged to Mr. Big, one of the most dangerous crime bosses out there. But they were in good graces with him. Unless Nick sold him another skunk-butt rug, there would be no reason to kidnap the two officers.

Judy looked out the window, wishing she had brought something with her. She could have brought her stun gun, or even her handcuffs. Anything that she could use to help her get out. These bears hadn't even searched them for any weapons, so Judy could have easily sneaked in a few with her. She looked over at the unconscious Nick, wishing that she could do something to tell him that she was sorry for not being more careful. As she stared at her friend, she noticed something. A small twitch of his eye.

Judy glanced up at her polar bear captors, checking to see if they noticed it. They both were looking straight ahead, so Judy risked looking at her friend again. Nick opened his eyes long enough to shoot her a wink. She acted like she hadn't seen it, leaning back in her seat, watching her partner through her peripheral vision. Nick waved his hand slightly so that Judy would focus her attention on it. He pointed at himself, then at her, then at the door. His eyes still closed, Nick held up three fingers. Judy knew what that was. It was a countdown. Two fingers...she carefully put her legs up onto the seat with her, ready to jump. One finger...she looked at her captors one last time. Nick's last finger went down...It was showtime.

Agh, don't you just hate cliffhangers? I kind of rushed this chapter, so I hope you guys like it! Anyway, while we are getting into Nick's criminal past, this story will also reflect on Nick's personal demons. It won't be much longer, though, before we get into more of that. Let's hope Judy finds a way to get Nick to finally open up to her again.