Hey, guys. I am so sorry that I took so long to update. I've been really busy this summer. Before I start, I want to recommend an album to you guys. It's called "Transmissions" by Starset. I won't promise that everybody will like it, but I just figured I'd share it with you guys. Also, there is a particular song in this album that reminds me too much of Nick. I want to see if you guys can guess which song it is. Thank you for all the support you've shown me, and enjoy the chapter!

As soon as Judy saw Nick's last finger go down, she knew there was no time to waste. In a flash, Nick jumped over the lap of the polar bear next to him, getting his attention long enough for Judy to jump up and kick the polar bear next to her in the face. Of course, being a rabbit, all it did was anger him...and that was exactly what she wanted. Just as the polar bear swiped at Judy, she held up her hands, letting his claws cut the rope holding her wrists together. Taking only a moment to admire her partial freedom, Judy watched as Nick was trying not to get hit by a polar bear of his own.

"Nick!" Judy shouted, dodging another swipe from her polar bear, this time letting him cut the ropes keeping her feet together, just making him angrier. "Jump to me!"

"No arguments there," said Nick as he jumped over the lap of the other polar bear. Judy opened the car door, grabbing Nick, and jumped out, praying that the landing wouldn't hurt them too badly. The two mammals landed on the hard sidewalk, rolling uncontrollably across the ground. It took a few seconds before they could stop themselves, and a few seconds more to shake the dizziness away. Nick finally shook his off when Judy grabbed him again, running as deep into the nearest alleyway as she could. She didn't bother checking to see if they were being chased, and didn't care. All she cared about was getting herself and Nick to safety.

They took a turn, and the alleyway opened back up into the street. Judy, still holding on to Nick lest they manage to take him again, looked out to make sure there wasn't a certain pair of polar bears waiting for them. She heard Nick suck in air through his teeth, and looked back with worry.

"Are you okay?" she asked, looking him over for any injuries.

"I'm fine," Nick said quickly. "You need to go back to your apartment, Carrots. Make sure you're not followed." Judy was taken aback. It was as if Nick was a different person. His eyes, usually sparkling mischievously, were cold and calculating. His grin had resorted to a frown so deep that it looked almost painful. Worst of all, his voice, always smooth like silk, was almost monotonous, and...even a little deeper. She had never seen this Nick Wilde. Not once. The other thing that surprised her was his total lack of regard for himself. His first instinct was for her to go home and make sure she was safe. He mentioned nothing of his own well-being.

"What about you?" she asked.

Nick sighed, "Carrots, just do what I say."

"No," she said stubbornly. "What are you going to do?"

"Whatever keeps me alive," he responded with a shrug of his shoulders, walking backwards away from her.

"No," she said again, grabbing the fox's arm tight enough for him to flinch a bit. "We are going to my apartment because you have some explaining to do. Now, let's go." She let go of his arm, glaring at him with those determined eyes of hers. With another sigh, Nick agreed to go to Judy's apartment with her. She checked one more time for the bears before walking out next to Nick. He winced a bit, but she refrained from asking him, knowing that he wouldn't answer her now. But she would find out everything back at her apartment. This fox was not going to lie to her anymore. The two partners were deathly silent, hurrying down the sidewalk.

Judy glanced at Nick periodically to check for any signs that would suggest an attempt to get away from her and hide. That was something she couldn't understand when it came to Nick. He always wanted to make sure she was out of danger. Whenever stuff hit the fan in the night howler case, Nick always refused to leave her behind. Mr. Manchas, for example. She told him to go, yet he couldn't bring himself to get on the gondola and leave. Of course, Judy had done her fair share of saving his life. And now, Nick was telling Judy to go hide in her apartment while he did whatever it was he had planned on doing. No matter. If Nick was going to do anything dangerous, there was no way she was going to let him do it without her. That was just what partners did for each other, and her slick friend was going to have to get used to that.

They continued their silent walk, keeping an eye on their surroundings to make sure they weren't being followed. When they arrived at Judy's apartment building, Nick opened the door for his partner, giving her a faltering smile. She eyed him carefully as she walked passed him, making sure he stuck right with her the whole time.

"Oh come on, Carrots, if I were going to run away I would have done it already," Nick said with a tone that sounded like he was making a joke. Judy didn't respond. She just continued across the empty lobby, save for Dharma, the owner of the Grand Pangolin Arms. Nick greeted her with a wave, to which she lazily waved back, looking at a magazine at her desk. Nick followed Judy up the stairs to her apartment, dreading what was to come. She was not acting like the optimistic, borderline annoying little bunny he was used to. That determined look in her eyes told him all he needed to know. She was going to ask him a barrage of questions...especially when she saw his back. Judy opened the door to her apartment, stepping aside, signaling for Nick to go in first. He smiled, making a largely dramatic gesture to the room with his arm.

"Ladies first," he said with a short bow. His eyebrow was raised expectantly, knowing that Judy would give in and go first. But she didn't. She just tapped her large foot, waiting for Nick to go in first. 'Better now than never,' thought the fox with a small grimace, fighting another wince as a shot of pain went up his back again. He walked to the door until he was facing his grey-furred friend, before finally turning to go in, revealing the four large cuts going down his back. As expected, Judy gasped, immediately closing the door behind herself, releasing the same question over and over.

"Are you okay?" she asked for what must have been the fourth time before Nick could reassure her that it wasn't bad. "Not bad?! Oh, you dumb fox, how could you not tell me about this?" She lead him to the bathroom and turned on the bright light to get a better look. "Well, it's not bleeding, that's good. They are kind of deep, though. They shouldn't scar, but that doesn't mean it won't be sore for a while. She forced Nick to sit down on the bathroom counter, spouting different rhetorical questions, the most prominent of which consisted of "Why didn't you tell me?" She wasn't panicking, though. She was, in fact, keeping her cool quite well. That didn't mean she wasn't offended at her partner's complete disregard of himself.

The whole time, Nick was leaned against the wall, waiting for a chance to tell her that it wasn't serious, but there was no stopping her now. She had finally stopped fussing at him, taking the time to reach in her medicine cabinet to take out some disinfectant spray and bandages.

"Carrots, honestly, the cut isn't even that deep. It'll heal on its own. I don't need disinfectant, and I especially don't need bandages. All I need is for you to forget about my back so that we can focus on the events of an hour ago."

"I'd love to believe that, Nick, but I don't know if you're just lying to me again or not," Judy said, hopping up on the counter to treat Nick's back wound, speaking so casually and matter-of-factly that they may as well have been discussing current events.

"What do you mean?" Nick asked in fake ignorance. He was caught, he knew that, but darn if he wasn't going to ride it out for as long as possible.

Judy sprayed the disinfectant on the wound through the cuts in his shirt, earning a small wince that was almost unnoticeable.

"You lied to me about your friend, Nick. You told me that he kept up with things, that he would know about my job at the ZPD, and even yours. But he didn't even know who I was. So, that means you owe me an explanation. First of all, how did you really get those scratches on your face? Why did you lie about them? When did the polar bear claw your back? And do you know who is behind our attempted kidnapping? And Nick? Don't lie to me this time. Let's not forget who's holding a big can of disinfectant over your sensitive wounds. Take your shirt off so I can wrap the bandage around you."

With a sigh of defeat, Nick took off his shirt, and sat up straight so that Judy could properly bandage the wound. He took a large breath. It wasn't like he was telling her his entire past, but one question would lead to another. This naturally curious bunny would continue until he was drained of anything to tell her. But he knew she deserved the truth. He couldn't imagine how hurt she really was to be lied to by the ex-con who had supposedly changed.

"Well, let's start with the easier questions. One, the polar bear clawed my back just as we were jumping out of the car. No, I don't know who's behind all of this. There are a lot of people that use polar bears in their crimes. They're strong, feared, and if you throw them a fish or two, their putty in your paws. What I do know is that whoever is behind this is new on the streets. These bears made several stupid mistakes. They didn't bag you, and they didn't keep the bag on me, so that left the both us able to memorize where we were going and how we were getting there. They didn't tie me up at all, or check to make sure I was actually out. They were sitting next to each other with us on each side of them. We were both right next to the doors, which were both unlocked, giving us the chance to jump out. They carelessly carried us out of the hotel, letting everybody see us. But I doubt anyone did anything. Like I said, polar bears are pretty feared, at least the ones who work for a crime boss.

"He doesn't even seem to be familiar with you, as far as we know, yet he obviously has something against me. But if he's knew, I couldn't have done anything to bother him. I don't get it." Judy finished bandaging up his back, and Nick put his shirt back on. His head bowed in thought.

"You're not done yet, Nick. You need to answer my other questions," Judy said, walking into her main room, grabbing a blueberry flavored water from the mini-fridge for Nick to sip on. He opened it immediately and kept drinking it until it was all gone. At this point, he was stalling. The sly fox couldn't think of a way to wriggle out of this one. Not this time. That was scary, even for him.

"The scratches on my face...I...I wasn't lying to you when I said they were self-inflicted." Judy kept quiet, sitting on her bed while Nick leaned into the wall, looking at the empty bottle of water. "I have...an anxiety disorder caused by events in my life that I would prefer not to disclose at this time. Because of this, I occasionally have panic attacks. Really, really bad panic attacks. The scratches on my face were because I was having a flashback of when I was a kid. I could feel the muzzle on me again, Judy. I thought I was back against those stairs, desperately clawing it off. Except, there was nothing there, and I was just clawing my face." Nick waited a few seconds, staring at his bottle, almost wishing that he could hide inside it. He felt his heart start to beat a bit faster. He hoped that it wasn't what he thought it was, and silently took some deep breaths to slow it back down.

Eventually, when the silence became unbearable, he looked up from his bottle at Judy, who was staring at him with an indescribable expression. Her mouth was slightly agape, and she was staring at him like he was a completely different person. That's what he was scared of. He knew this would happen. Nick tried not to scorn himself out loud for scaring Judy away. She would never look at him the same now.

Judy cleared her throat, "I didn't know. I didn't know that night with those kids had affected you so badly."

"It wasn't just the kids. It wasn't just the muzzle. That was terrifying and all, but it didn't stop there."

"What else happened?"

"I answered your question, Judy. I don't have to tell you everything else." Judy flinched. She had finally gotten what she asked for. So why did she feel so bad about it? Nick tossed the bottle behind him without looking, somehow managing to land it in the trashcan, and crossed his arms.

"Do you have any kind of medication for it? The anxiety, I mean," Judy asked nervously. Nick looked at her with empty eyes. She had gone over the line this time. Still, he gave another sigh, and opened his mouth to answer.

"I don't, and I'm not going to. These panic attacks don't happen often and they don't last long. Besides, the side effects on those medicines are worse than the anxiety itself."

Judy stood up slowly from her bed, walking to her best friend. She looked him in his eyes, but he seemed to be lost in thought again. She wrapped her arms around him, wishing that she could squeeze all of the pain he must've been feeling out of him. But the moment her arms touched his sides, he recoiled, jumping back away from it. He looked down for a bit, scratching the back of his neck nervously.

"I don't need your pity, Carrots. That's why I don't like to talk about my problems. Everyone feels bad for me and wants to hug me and comfort me. I hate it." Judy wanted to be insulted by that, but she understood. There was no bitterness in his voice when he spoke. She remembered when she touched his arm on the gondola, and he looked at her like she was crazy for a second before changing the subject. As if on cue, Nick's eyes lit back up and he clapped his hands together. It was like a switch had been flipped.

"So," he said excitedly, opening her fridge, "you got any food here? We can't try to solve this case without some brain food."

"I'm sorry that you go through that, Nick. Maybe you could go to a doctor, and he could give you some kind of treatment." She heard a laugh come from the fridge.

"Come on, Carrots, I told you, it's not that bad. Doctors aren't going to do anything. And even if they would, they certainly wouldn't do it for a fox. Think about it. Prey has to go into a room with a predator, alone, and tell them news that they don't want to hear. Doesn't sound like something I'd want to be involved in." Nick had his famous smile back on, explaining these things to Judy as if it was the happiest subject on the planet.

She wanted to say something else, but what could she say? Nick was at a point now where he would redirect everything to a different topic.

"Look, Carrots, I'm sorry I lied to you about the scratches, okay? I just didn't think it was something worth worrying about. I won't lie to you again, I promise. Unless it's for good cause, like a surprise birthday party or something. You understand." Judy, after hearing that sad piece of information about her best friend and partner in the world, couldn't suppress a laugh at his birthday comment. She watched him take out a bag of carrots from the fridge. "Uh, no offense, fluff, but do you have anything besides carrots?" He held up the bag for her to see. Judy giggled again.

"Second shelf, behind the carrot juice," she said, watching Nick narrow his eyes at her as if to say "Seriously?" The fox was about to make a joke about Judy eating too many carrots, when he saw a carton of strawberries, and another blueberry water.

"You're the best, Carrots," Nick said, taking a large bite of a strawberry. "So, what's the plan?"

"Well, the only thing I can think of now is to go ask Mr. Big if he's heard of any new people on the streets. If anyone knows something, it's gotta be him, right?" Nick shrugged, eating another strawberry. Judy watched his eyes light up at the bitter flavor of the fruit, wondering how long he had been dealing with panic attacks bad enough to make him hurt himself like that. She had never noticed scratches like that on him before. Did that mean that they were getting worse? And he said that it wasn't just the incident with the muzzle that affected him so badly. There were other events in his life that triggered such awful attacks. She wanted to know so badly what they were, but Nick would never tell her. Frankly, she was surprised she'd managed to get him to tell her what he did.

She felt so bad for her partner. She wanted to hug him and tell him everything was okay, but he would never let her. He hated being comforted. He hated it when people felt sorry for him. On any other circumstance, he may have given Judy a hug. He gave her one when she apologized to him under that bridge for offending him the way she did at the conference. That one moment when she reached for her fox repellant would forever remain fresh in her mind. Nick may have forgiven her easily enough, but she had to learn to forgive herself for doing such a thing.

'Did Nick have a panic attack after I almost pulled the fox repellant on him? Was that why he left so quickly? Did he feel it coming?' she thought with horror.

"You feeling alright there, Carrots?" Nick asked her, putting the carton of strawberries back into the fridge, sipping on his blueberry water.

"Yeah," she said with an optimistic smile. "Just thinking about this case, that's all." Nick crossed his arms, feeling something in his shirt pocket.

"At least we still have the flash drive," he said, taking it out if the pocket, a look of surprise coming to his face.

"What is it?" Judy asked, watching the smile on Nick's face grow.

"Sly wolf," he said with a laugh, flipping the flash drive around for Judy to see. She smiled when she saw the name written on it:

Rick Howlens

"He gave me his flash drive," said Nick. "I can't believe I didn't notice it earlier."

"Well, we were a bit busy being kidnapped."

"True." Nick flipped the flash drive over in his hand again. "We need to see what's on this." Judy looked down nervously.

"I...don't have a computer," she said with a nervous smile.

"I figured that. You can't really hide anything in this place," Nick said. "But...I do have a computer at my apartment. It's too dangerous to go now, but maybe we can drive by there on the way to Mr. Big's tomorrow morning."

"Yeah," she said, feeling embarrassed that she didn't have a computer to use. "Or we can just go to the precinct and use the computers there."

"Well, if it's all the same to you, Carrots, I think it would be easier to have my laptop for this," Nick said casually.

"Oh, okay," she said. "Well, if we're going to go in the morning, we'd better go ahead and get some sleep." Nick nodded, and they both freezed when they turned towards the bed. Judy could feel a bit of redness in her cheeks, while Nick seemed unfazed as usual. If it wasn't for the orange fur, Judy would see the bit of redness on his cheeks as well.

Without a word, Nick lay down on the floor, using his arm as a pillow, "Night, Carrots." Judy was a bit surprised. Was Nick really willing to just sleep on the floor like that? She really needed to get a couch, if she could fit one in this apartment.

"Nick, are you sure-"

"I've slept in worse places, Carrots, believe me, I'm fine," Nick said with finality. Still, it was such a sad sight to see, watching her friend sleep on the hard, uncomfortable floor.

"Well," she said, going to her closet that was across from the foot of her bed. "At least take these." Judy grabbed a spare pillow and blanket and tossed them to Nick. His sly smile reappeared, except there was a bit of gratitude in it. But he didn't bother making a snarky comment, nor did he look back up at her. His eyes were focused on the pillow and blanket as if he was remembering something fondly.

He shook the thoughts out of his head, and lay back down with his pillow and blanket, definitely much more comfortable. Judy hopped up in her bed, moving around until she was comfortable. Nick waited until he heard light snoring that he moved to a position on his back, looking up at the ceiling. This brought back a few good memories. Well, technically those few were pretty much the only good memories, especially from childhood. It may have been a simple act of kindness to give him more comfort as he slept, but it meant more to the fox than Judy would ever know. Only two other people had cared about him so much as to do such a thing.

Nick rested his head against the pillow, letting his smile grow at the thought of Judy and how much she cared about him. He rejected her comfort, lied to her, and probably hurt her feelings, but she seemed to forgive him quite fast, and even continued to be a good friend to him.

'Maybe letting her in isn't as bad as I think it is. Maybe one day I can sit her down and tell her everything. And if she wants to leave after that, then I won't blame her. I'll just accept it and move on. Good night, Judy Hopps.'

So, Nick finally revealed a little bit about himself. But there are still unanswered quesitons. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Thank you all for the unwavering support! Maybe it's just me, but I keep feeling like there's something missing in my writing style. If you guys have any critique or suggestions, don't be afraid to write it in the comments.