Hey guys! Yes, as usual, I've waited way too long to post on here. I'm so sorry, but I've been going through a pretty severe case of writer's block lately. Hopefully it doesn't show in this chapter, but if it does, don't hesitate to send me some constructive criticism. Enjoy!

~Zootopia~

She felt awful. Awful for allowing Nick to continue his story, awful for butting in on his personal business, but most of all, she hated that she had done practically nothing in terms of helping him. All she'd done was make him tell her more and more traumatic events from his life, but they did absolutely no good.

She should have left it alone, should have just let him forget about his past and focused on the robberies that had been taking place. Every attempt to help him had done nothing, not that she knew of. In fact, Nick may have been worse off thanks to her assistance. She swallowed a lump in her throat, nervously rubbing her paws together, feeling the sweat accumulate on them. She was so worried about him and she didn't know why. He'd stormed off before. Except, this time, it was much different. She let her head fall back in the torn polyester of the seats of the taxi she was in, breathing in the unpleasant odor of passengers that had been in here before.

Her ears were going down her back, and she was looking out the window, not expecting the fox to be walking amongst the other mammals, but hoping that she would be able to see that sly smile, or even just a glimpse of his tail as he disappeared behind a street corner.

Finally, the taxi managed to arrive at the destination Judy had asked him to go to. She handed him the money and jumped out, flying down the small hill that lead to the small space underneath the bridge, hoping that she would see the fox on that lawnchair of his again. But this wasn't last time. He wasn't in the lawnchair, nor was he even under the bridge. Judy felt her knees wobble, and she slapped her hand to her forehead. She couldn't believe she thought her friend would actually come here, not when he didn't even want to be found. She looked up at the sky, as if a small part of her was hoping that he would somehow be surfing in the clouds, feeling her ears go back down to her back.

But when she walked back up the small hill, and grabbed her phone from her pocket to call another taxi, she looked over at the abandoned warehouse that had still not been taken down, and saw an orange figure leaning against a tree closer to the bridge. How had she not seen him? Had he seen her when she got out of the taxi? He had to at least have heard her. Regardless, her ears perked back up and walked to him, about to ask him why he hadn't made her aware of his presence, but he spoke before she could.

"I was going to do something with that warehouse, you know," said the fox, staring absentmindedly at the warehouse in the distance.

"Oh yeah?" said Judy, tilting her head up at him, thinking at first that it was some sort of joke from him. But he had a neutral expression, bordering on a scowl, as serious as someone like him could look.

"Yeah. I'd been saving up money from my scams with Finnick. I was gonna make it into a...an amusement park, you could say. I was going to call it 'Wilde Times'. Only predators would have been allowed. They could just be themselves and have fun without worry of prey looking down on them. They'd all just get together and ride the rides, eat junk food, and I'd get a decent profit from it."

"Why didn't you ever do it?"

"Haven't saved up the money yet. And even though my income isn't as good as it used to be, it's still more steady than when I scammed. Maybe one day I will open it up."

"Why didn't you just ask Mayor Lionheart to help you out. When you...said what you said, it sounded like he wanted to do anything he could to help you."

"No, I don't need to go to someone else about my wants or needs. If I want something, I get it myself. I'm not gonna ask some rich lion to get it for me." While Judy heard no hostility in his voice, she could tell Nick still wasn't a fan of the lion.

"What was he like, your father?"

Nick took a few seconds to respond, "I don't know how or why I remember so much about him. He was a good man. He knew a lot of people, just like me. I got his eyes. He worked hard. My mom was lucky enough to get a job as a waiter—even though she was paid much less—but my dad...my dad could never get a job. Every job interview he went to, he had to take me because my mother was at work and I was too young to be at home by myself. My dad didn't even really want a job. He just wanted to stay home so he could focus on taking care of me. But we needed the money. Without an extra income, we would lose the apartment we were living in.

"One day, on another job hunt, my dad just barely managed to get an interview with an otter to get a job working at a company that was focused on technology. My dad was pretty tech savvy, and this was the closest he could get to a job like that. He didn't have experience because he'd only had a handful of jobs before, and none of them were anything special. But, if there was one thing my dad had, it was a smile. Whenever he broke that smile out, he could usually charm anyone. The only reason he didn't get those other jobs were because his interview was either cancelled, or the people he went to interview would kick him out before he got a chance to do much of anything.

"But this otter gave him a chance. He listened. And my dad managed to break a smile, and it was sold. He got the job. I was so happy for him. All I remember is the otter smiling at me. I think he knew what it was like to be struggling. I don't know how, but he'd been through some things, I could tell, even at that age.

"So, my dad had a job. The otter allowed my dad to bring me to work if I was good, so I was. I'd bring the one or two toys I had and just played with them until dad finished his work. It was all good. We didn't get kicked out of our apartment, we started to be able to buy slightly better food, and we were actually happy for a while. Tired, worked, unloved by the majority of the populace, but happy. Then, one day, while me and dad were in his office, two police officers came in. One tiger, and one wolf. They asked him to come with them, he questioned them as to why, and they grabbed him and started to drag him out of the building. I tried to get them to let him go, but little Nick Wilde wasn't going to do anything against two much larger predators. So my dad tells me to go home to mom and wait for all of this to blow over.

"Well, to avoid three hours of explaining everything to you, we managed to get everything cleared. As it turned out, one of the employees at the company had called the cops on him just because he hated foxes. Big surprise there, huh? My dad's boss fired the guy who called the cops, but more and more employees wanted him out of there. They complained about things that my dad wasn't even doing. Eventually, with almost the whole floor asking him to leave, my dad decided to quit. He said that he didn't want to bother anyone with his presence. He knew he was going to get fired soon, anyway. The otter would have had no choice, so dad spared him the guilt.

"My dad looked and looked, but he could never find another job in Zootopia. With no other choices left, he decided that the best thing to do was for him to leave. He knew a guy that offered a job far away from here, but my mom and I couldn't come. This was a job that you lived at. To this day, I still don't know what it was, but all I knew was that I needed to say goodbye to the nicest and strongest man I'd ever known. After he left, we would get regular checks, paying us just enough money to get by."

Judy blinked, then blinked again. She was waiting for Nick to get up and run away again, but he didn't this time. This time, he just kept looking at the warehouse, a small smile playing at his lips. Despite the tragedy he went through, he was remembering his father, remembering the good times. That was a step up in Judy's eyes. Just like that night on the gondola, she put a comforting paw on his unaware arm. He looked down at it, then looked up at her with a smile.

"You know, talking about this stuff, I have to admit, is a little bit easier," Nick said. "But only with you. Not some professional that thinks that they know me."

"I understand. We won't go back to Dr. Mona, okay?" Judy said, looking the fox dead in the eyes. He put his other paw on the one she had on his arm, and they had a moment of silence to enjoy each other's company before Judy's phone buzzed and she had to check it.

"Bogo just texted me. He wants us back at the precinct. He thinks he's finally gotten Weaselton to talk some more." Judy didn't text the chief back. She wanted to talk to him in person about this. If he'd actually gotten Weaselton to say something else, then they'd be one step closer to finding this kidnapper that had eluded them for so long.

But at the same time, Judy was worried that Weaselton was just trying to make up something to get out of their custody. After all, everyone else hadn't known anything more than the rat, but Judy didn't allow herself to think about it. He had to know something more, she knew it. She looked over at Nick, standing quietly beside her, looking down at his phone, doing whatever it was the fox did on his mobile device. Actually, what did the fox like to do on his phone? She'd never seen him use it that much.

"What're you doing?" Judy asked, feeling nosy again.

"Texting Finnick, seeing how he's doing."

"Do you two still talk much since you became a cop."

"He handled it a lot better than I thought he would. He only yelled at me for five minutes. I was expecting ten." Judy rolled her eyes and huffed a small laugh, but listened as the fox continued. "But yeah, he's pretty cool with it now. I just haven't checked up on him in a while and felt like shooting him a quick text." Judy felt like he was checking up on his friend to make sure he hadn't been kidnapped, but that was just her opinion.

While Nick tapped away on his phone, Judy looked down at her own, about to call another taxi. She noticed that Nick hadn't even really been bothered by her prying, not this time. Maybe she wasn't prying as much as she told herself she was. It was just for some reason, she wanted to know more and more about the fox beside her. Now that he was more willing to reveal things about himself, she was tempted to ask him things about his life.

"You ready for this, Slick Nick?" Judy asked, elbowing his side, and putting the phone up to her ear to wait for the taxi people to answer.

He raised an eyebrow as he looked down at her, patting the top of her head, "Don't get too excited there, Carrots. Weaselton could just be looking for an out. But yeah, I'm ready."

~Zootopia~

They walked inside the precinct, going straight to the back where the interrogation room was. The first thing they saw was the chief standing across the table from Weaselton, who looked very bored.

They walked into the interrogation room, Weaselton straightening as he saw Nick. Obviously, the rat still hadn't completely gotten over the fox chasing him down. Bogo looked at the two officers as they walked in, filling them in briefly on what had happened. Apparently, the rat had decided that he remembered more about the guy that hired him, but refused to say anything until Judy and Nick were there. Judy gave Weaselton a glare that was about as terrifying as her species would allow.

"Okay, Weaselton, what did you remember?" Judy asked, leaning on the cold metal table.

"Just a few things here and there," he said, casually picking at the scraggly fur on his arm.

"Really? Man, I wish you remembered more things than just here and there. I don't think we left you in you're pretty cell long enough. You know, I heard from Officer Wolfson that a lion was arrested recently for assault. I'd be more than willing to let you share a cell with him until you remember everything," Nick said, sitting on the side of the table, smiling sadistically at the rat. Weaselton gulped, then took a breath to reveal what he'd been keeping.

"There's a warehouse, down near the wall that separates Tundra Town from the Rainforest District. That's where I met him," said Weaselton.

"What's the warehouse number?"

"I don't know."

"Why didn't you mention this warehouse before?" Nick asked, earning a glare from Weaselton.

"I may not be a great con like you, Wilde, but I still know when to reveal key information. I know about your wolf friend, about what happened to him after he revealed too much. I wanted to make sure nothing happened to me before I could."

"Good. Then you won't mind if we keep you in your cell until we've found the culprit."

As if she'd been waiting for it, Officer Pennington squeezed her way into the room and dragged the nervous Weaselton away.

"Hopps, Wilde, I don't know why Weaselton specifically wanted you two in here before he mentioned anything, but I don't trust it. I don't want either of you to go looking for that warehouse. I'm sending a group of officers to investigate. I've risked your well being enough as it is. I haven't forgotten that these people are after you two especially.

"But sir," Judy said, "we can handle–"

"I'm sure you can, Hopps, but there's something wrong with this. I've let you two go this far into the investigation, and don't think that I've forgotten about the targets drawn on the both of your backs. I'm not risking my finest officer and my newest officer just so you can go after whatever is at that warehouse. Go home, stay safe, and let us finish this. We'll keep you updated as things happen."

"You did assign us this investigation in the first place, Bo—I mean—Chief. Why not let us finish it already? We've faced worse threats than this. Bellwether nearly destroyed Zootopia with the nighthowler serum. This guy, we can bring him in."

"No, Wilde. Whatever slick remarks you have behind that wicked smile, you'd better save them for later because I will not be listening to any of them."

Nick rolled his eyes and gave Judy a light smack on the arm, "Let's get going, Carrots."

"Going where, Wide?" Bogo asked. It wasn't so much a question as it was a way of making sure they understood each other.

Nick just smiled and said with a dramatic bow, "Home, your highness, if that's okay."

"Watch the sarcasm, Wilde, or you'll be on toilet duty for a week."

"Only a week. I must be off my game. I'll need to try harder from now on." And with that, Nick left the room, his arms confidently swinging with each step, leaving Judy to shyly follow him, mouthing an apology to the chief before running up to get to his side.

"I think you pushed it a little too far," she said to the smiling fox.

"Nah, I think I pushed it just enough. Besides, I haven't been able to annoy anyone for a little while. I had to enjoy it for as long as I could." Judy smiled at him, more smiling at the fact that he had perked up. He honestly seemed a little happier, like he'd had a large weight taken off his shoulders. Maybe he was right, she thought. Maybe he really didn't need to talk to a therapist. He'd mentioned once that she believed in him, and she did. Perhaps that was why he loved talking to her now. The first time he'd opened up, he'd ignored it, forgotten about it. Then whenever they hugged under the bridge after her apology for the events of the conference, he'd realized that she really did care for him.

"Nick, I'm really glad you told me...about everything," said Judy. She'd tried to say those same words in the gondola, but Nick hadn't heard her. But this time, he was listening, his hand moving around in his pocket.

His smile vanished as they entered their office, and he looked deep into her purple eyes, "Well, I'm glad I told you too...I think. It's so weird talking to you about this kind of stuff. I mean, I had it under control after the whole junior scout story, but the more I revealed, the harder it was to stop. Is this what it feels like to trust someone, to honestly trust them?"

"Saying things you weren't originally intending to? Yeah, that covers a good chunk of what it's like." He puffed out a breath. "I can't really be the only one you've trusted since that event, can I?"

"Other than my mom, yeah, you are," said the red fox. "But even then, I kept most of my stuff from my mom. She had enough to deal with." Judy couldn't imagine that, having to keep everything to himself and himself only. It sounded lonely.

She was about to try and change the subject to something a little more happy when Nick's phone buzzed in his pocket. His ears perked up and he took the device out, tapping the screen a few times.

"What is it?" Judy asked. Nick ignored her, still staring at his phone. "Nick?"

The fox looked up from his phone, his breathing heavy, his ears folded as far back into his head as they could be, and his eyes flooded with all kinds of fear. Judy had seen a look almost like that before, a look that scared her. She'd scene it when he thought Rick was dying. She grabbed the phone from his hand, looking at the text from Finnick.

You knew this would happen, Mr. Wilde. Come to your tiny little friend's van. It's parked in the usual place. ;)

Judy slipped the phone back into her friend's pocket, letting herself fall into that police calm she would need to keep Nick stable. She said, "Nick, he's fine, okay? Let's just go to the van and get him." He didn't seem to hear her, and she looked around to make sure nobody could see him like this. Who was she kidding? He was in no shape to go after whoever had sent him the text, but Judy wasn't so sure he was aware of that. "Okay, Nick, you have to tell me what to do, okay? Where is Finnick's van? He blinked rapidly, shaking himself out of whatever spell he had been put under and looked down at her.

"Come on, we're taking the squad car," Nick said, starting to walk out of the office.

"No," Judy said, grabbing his arm. "We have to tell Chief Bogo about this."

"Why? So he can tell us no? So he can tell us that it's too dangerous? If he gets his way, he'll send a handful of police officers, sirens blaring, to one van. Believe me, Judy, I know. When you hear those sirens, you run. But when this guy hears those sirens coming for him, who knows what he'll do to Finnick before he runs."

"Nick, we have to–"

"Maybe you have to, but I'm not risking my friend's life just so Bison Burger can get his way. If that's what this job is about, then it wasn't worth getting." Nick stormed out, knowing Judy would follow him eventually. And as it just so happens, as he was getting into the squad car, Judy hopped into the passenger's seat, telling him to drive before buckling her seatbelt.

He knew she couldn't have let him go alone, but he was still thankful he hadn't proven himself wrong, and sped out of the precinct's garage. Judy was decently surprised at how precisely he drove through the streets, especially at this speed. She knew how well he knew the streets of Zootopia, but she couldn't help but guess that this wasn't his first time driving like this.

A few turns and car horns going off later, Nick slammed on the brakes, taking one of the two stun guns that were in the glove compartment. Judy took the other, her hand itching to reach for the radio near the dashboard to report to Clawhauser or anyone. Going in silent like this, while it was smart enough, was also pretty irrational. If they were to go missing like the other mammals, or worse, it would be too late for the other officers to come and help them. But she swallowed her fear down and got out of the cruiser with Nick, following his lead. He silently padded his way down the street until they reached a familiar corner. Judy remembered this spot. This was where she'd found the fennec fox the last time she had been looking for Nick.

Nick looked back at her, nodding his head, showing her that he was ready. She nodded back, her ears perked up in determination. The two of them rounded the corner at the same time, the stun guns pointed and ready. There was Finnick's van. That was it. Just the van.

Nick did something Judy hadn't seen in awhile. He did a hand signal, one that was telling her to go to the other side of the van and look through one window while he looked through the other. Judy no longer saw fear in Nick's eyes. She saw the cop in him, the determined authority figure that she knew he had in him the day she'd given him his badge.

They both peaked through their own windows, finding nothing but the empty seats and the pulled back curtain. Nick signaled again, telling Judy through the dirty glass to go around to the back. They met at the doors that opened up to the back of the van where Finnick slept, Nick rolling his shoulders in preparation.

"Ready?" Judy asked in a voice that even he could barely hear. He nodded and they each grabbed a different handle, their stun guns steady in their other hands. A second later, they both swung the doors open, their stun guns aimed at the empty back. No Finnick. No mystery mammal.

Judy kept her stun gun pointed into the van while Nick lowered his and hopped in. He searched around and around, but there was absolutely nothing. He hopped back out of the van, his face down, and holstered the stun gun into his empty pocket, Judy hesitantly doing the same, except she had an actual holster on her belt.

"We're too late," he said quietly, his hand going into his other pocket. Judy made a mental note to ask him what was in that pocket of his that became so interesting at times like this. She was about to go back to the car and give in to the temptation to radio in their position and tell Bogo about what happened, knowing she and her partner would get the tongue lashing of a lifetime for doing so.

Nick's phone buzzed again, and Judy looked over her friend's shoulder so she could see the text.

Not as sly as you used to be, huh? Gullible little fox.

"Nick?" Nick and Judy turned their heads to the source of the abnormally deep voice. Finnick stood at the corner, carrying a bag of groceries. "Man, talk about a sight for sore eyes." Finnick calmly walked passed them, putting the bag in the van and closing the doors. "Man, what you doin' here?"

Judy stayed silent as she watched Nick put on that same foxy expression, taken aback at how quickly he'd managed to change his entire personality like the flip of a switch. Beneath that always devilish smile, though, she could tell that he was relieved his friend was okay. He really cared about his friends, all of them. When they had fallen into the water at that compound where Lionheart had been keeping the savage mammals, she'd heard the very end of him calling her name as she'd emerged from the water with her phone in that bag. And his strange blackout when Rick was poisoned. He cared for his friends, even if he put on an attitude that said otherwise.

"Just wanting to check on my little buddy, see how he's doing," Nick said to Finnick, patting the fennec fox's head. Judy was glad that she wasn't the only one he did that to. Finnick glared at Nick, muttering very unkind things as he straightened the fur on his head.

"Man, I told ya I didn't like that. Cut it out before I do," threatened the little fox. Judy felt like stepping in, but Nick kept that smile. That must be how their friendship really was. Weird.

"There's the fox I know," Nick said, his phone buzzing in his hand. He smoothly slid it into his pocket without even looking at the message, tilting his head with that smile still on.

"So, like I was sayin', what're you doin' here?"

"I need you to come with me, pal," Nick said, punching Finnick on the shoulder lightly. Finnick looked like he wanted to punch back harder...with his bat. But he looked at Judy. Well, at the police uniform anyways. "Oh no. Nuh uh, nope. I didn't do nothin', Nick. You ain't takin' me nowhere."

"Really? Where'd you get those groceries?" asked Nick, knocking on the back of the van where Finnick had put them.

"Uh…"

"Ole man Henry's?"

"Maybe…"

"That's what I thought, come with me to the precinct, Finny boy." Nick said, grabbing his friend's shoulder.

To Judy's surprise, Finnick didn't fight it. He had a scowl on his face that looked deadlier than any predator dosed up with nighthowler serum, but he didn't fight it. He was silent as Nick escorted him to the back of the car, not even putting handcuffs on the fox, much to Judy's worry.

But Finnick just leaned against the window, looking at his van, probably thinking about those groceries he'd left in there, and stayed silent on the whole way back to the precinct. Nick kept making small talk with Judy, and she half-mindedly responded to each attempt, more focused on keeping an eye on the fennec fox in the back seat, pretending to look out the window and using her peripherals to make sure he didn't try anything.

Once back at the precinct, Nick escorted Finnick inside, Judy following closely behind. As soon as they were inside, Nick brought Finnick to he and Judy's office. Nick nodded to the door and Judy closed it. The moment he heard that door click shut, Nick laughed and crouched so he could give Finnick a high five, to which the fennec fox gladly did. Judy watched as Nick practically threw himself into his office chair, rolling closer to them and resting his feet on the tinted glass wall of the cubicle.

"Just like old times, huh Fin?"

"Man, whatever. I wanna know what's up," said Finnick. Nick let his smile fall, but still had a bit of a sparkle in his eye. Judy wondered how much he really missed scamming with Finnick. Whatever it was that was happening, it certainly had given Nick some kind of high.

"Someone's coming after me, Fin. And those that I've worked with. That means Carrots over here, that means you, and that means the others."

"What about Lenny, Rick, Sticker, all those guys?"

"He went for Rick, but I messaged the other guys. I didn't tell them what happened, just that they needed to lay low and not take any more jobs."

"I never got that text."

"That's because you do you're own jobs, silly fox. The only person you took jobs from was me."

"True. How's Rick?"

"Unfortunately, he got poisoned. God knows how, but he's okay. He's at the hospital, and I know some people there that'll keep an eye on him." Throughout this entire conversation between the two foxes, Judy shyly stood near the door, not wanting to interrupt, but wanting to understand some of what they were talking about, the parts that didn't include the case they were on...or used to be on, thanks to Bogo.

As if sensing her discomfort, Nick looked at her and said, "Oh, sorry Carrots, you probably want to know what just happened."

"It'd certainly be nice," she said, moving over to her own office chair and sitting down.

"Well, I'll start with back at the van. See, me and Fin here came up with these special nicknames in case there was something wrong. The moment Finnick came from around the corner, I knew that this guy we're after was just going to keep using him to get to me. He's toying with us, Carrots. But anyway, Finnick's nickname is Finny Boy."

"What's yours?"

"You want to tell her, Finnick?" Nick asked the facepalming fox.

"Wilde side," he grumbled. Nick couldn't have looked prouder as Finnick said it.

"If you don't like it, why don't you just change it?" Judy asked the fennec fox. Finnick just muttered something about not wanting to talk about it, and went back to silently letting Nick explain everything.

"Anyway, I used the name because I think this guy had some kind of bug in the van to hear what I was saying. You remember that message he sent me about being gullible? Maybe he has impeccable timing, but I'm pretty sure he could hear me say that it was too late to find Fin. I couldn't take the chance. There were no cameras in the area, so I didn't bother with handcuffs. But now, since this guy thinks I've taken Fin here, he can lay low at a hotel or something for a little while."

"And what about this Ole Man Henry's, and these other people you said you worked with."

"Ole Man Henry owns a humble little grocery store a few blocks from where Finnick's van was. He's as blind as a bat and has no alarms on his doors, so you can just take anything out of there that you want to. Me and Finnick have talked to him before, but we're not acquaintances. As for the others that Finnick mentioned, they're just some old associates that would help me and Finnick with the bigger scams that required more people."

"What about these people at the hospital that you said were keeping an eye on Rick?"

"Oh, you caught that did you? Sly bunny. I know some nurses and a few doctors there. I told them that if anyone besides me asked to see Rick, anybody, that they were to keep them there and call the police."

"Does that include Dr. Sheldon?"

"I can't reveal all of my secrets, Carrots, otherwise the mystery's gone. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I know everybody."

"Your phone buzzed when you were talking to Finnick. You should read it." Nick took his phone out and tossed it to Judy.

"Glanced at it on the way here. You were too busy thinking that Finnick was going to attack you to notice." Judy could already feel Nick's smile shooting towards her, but looked at the message on his phone instead.

Don't think that pretty little precinct can protect him forever. See you soon, buddy.

They were just words, just words on a screen, but Judy still felt genuine fear at what those words said. She could almost hear a smooth voice in her head saying them.

"How did he manage to text you?" Judy asked.

"Look at the name at the top," Nick said. Judy didn't know how she hadn't noticed it at first, but the name at the top said: Finnick. "Found his van, stole his phone, and decided to play a little game with me. Whatever it is he wants with me, Carrots, he's just going to toy with me first. Each time being more severe. It's almost like a scam if you think about it. Get me weakened by messing with the people around me, then going in for the final blow. It's part of the reason why those polar bears were seated that way in that limo. The doors were unlocked, I wasn't bound. He wanted to take you and let me escape, or at least something like that. Guess our friend's not as sloppy as I thought."

Judy had to admit, she was pretty impressed at the stuff that happened in that brain of his. She couldn't have guessed he told those doctors and nurses that he knew to make sure Rick was okay. What other stuff did he do without telling her, what other plans were taking place behind closed doors?

"So, if this guy is toying with you, then what do you think his plan is for the warehouse?"

"Good question, one that I do not know the answer to."

"Unless...isn't it just a little weird that Weaselton waited to tell us about the warehouses, then decided to tell only us. Maybe this guy told Weaselton to say that. Maybe he knew Bogo wouldn't trust us going there ourselves."

"And Weaselton never specified which warehouse it was. It would take a lot of men and a lot of time before they could have all of them searched."

"That would leave the precinct pretty vulnerable. What would this guy be planning?"

"He knew that Bogo wouldn't want us going to those warehouses with them because Weaselton specifically waited to tell me and you. Remember what he texted me? See you soon. He wants to take the opportunity to storm the precinct and take us."

"That really is a lot of trouble he's going through just to get to you. Are you sure he doesn't want more than that? I mean, with all the mammal power he has from his polar bears, he could probably take over everything. The precinct is the heart of Zootopia's defense. Once that's gone, he might be able to take over the mayor's office. Zootopia would be all his."

"Well, if I were him, I would. An opportunity like that doesn't just show up at your door everyday."

"What a shame that our cocky little friend sent you messages. We can show this to Chief Bogo, tell him our theory, and that's that. I don't care how many polar bears you have, the ZPD would have time to prepare, it'd give us an edge. And with how confident he's getting, hopefully he'll be leading the whole charge, and we'll be waiting to arrest him."

"Sounds good, Carrots. But, especially with how badly I annoyed him a while ago, I should go ahead and put Fin into hiding while you explain things to Bogo."

"Fair enough. Why don't we just meet at the hotel. We've been taking some pretty big risks lately by staying at each other's apartments, so we should just stay there until this is all over."

"Good point." Nick took his feet off of the wall and sat up straighter, stretching before standing. He was about to wish her luck, but Finnick finally spoke again.

"I can't believe that sucker took my phone."

~Zootopia~

Nick sat on the bed of the hotel room, his legs crossed rather uncomfortably, but he didn't care. He stared at the bright screen on his phone, trying to ignore the overpowering scent of cleaning products that threatened to give him a headache. He'd sent Judy the hotel name, room number, and a screenshot of the messages he'd gotten. In hindsight, it probably would have been better if he'd just given her his phone. But there was a difference between giving her his phone for a few minutes, and giving her his phone for a few hours. He trusted Carrots and all, but nobody was to take his phone. That was a boundary that nobody was allowed to cross. His phone was his source for all of his information.

Finnick was a few rooms over, probably wishing he had a phone of his own to text Nick with, and since the landline in their room didn't work, the fennec fox would be left to himself for a little while. Nick was not going to let the fox stay in the room with him and Judy. The two officers needed their sleep, and Nick knew how obnoxious his friend's snoring was. Well, that, and he didn't want to risk Judy mentioning something personal in front of the fox by accident. She was definitely surprised when he mentioned just a fraction of the people he knew here in Zootopia. If there was one thing he learned about life, it was that knowing people was better than any job or degree. Knowing people in high places, having information, that was all very important. It was one thing telling his bunny friend about traumatic events from his youth, but there was something much harder about divulging his plans.

Sure, he'd done it, but it wasn't easy. It was imprinted in his DNA at this point to make plans and keep it to himself. But Judy was helping him with that. She was slowly teaching him how to trust more and how not everyone was out to get him.

He looked down at his phone again, almost expecting to see a text from the kidnapper, claiming to have taken Judy. The thought of it put him in a cold sweat. A knock broke him out of his thoughts and made him jump in surprise. He uncrossed his now sore legs and went to the door, looking through the peephole, expecting to see Finnick, but instead seeing the very bunny he'd been waiting for.

He quickly opened the door, pulled her in, and shut it behind her. "Why didn't you text me?" he asked pretty casually.

"Sorry, my phone died. I don't suppose you have a charger on you?" Judy said.

"Sorry, ma'am, fresh out. Come back tomorrow, maybe we'll have some," Nick said with a smile.

Judy jumped onto the bed he'd just been sitting on, laying back into the pillows, "Haha, Mr. Wilde. Anyways, I talked to Bogo, and he believed me. I even managed to show him the pictures before my phone died, lucky me."

"Good, so he's not sending anyone to the warehouses?"

"Nope, not now, at least. He did seem a little skeptical at first, but I managed to get through to him."

"So what now?"

"He said that we should stay here and lay low for a while."

"All I heard was extra sleep," Nick said, falling on the other bed, closing his eyes and listening to Judy's giggle at his little joke. It felt good to hear something like that. To just hear a laugh or a giggle. It felt especially good when he was laying on these comfy—yet still over scented—bedsheets.

Judy clicked the switch on the lamp, flooding the room in darkness. Nick looked over to where he knew she was, and felt his eyelids already starting to get heavy. He didn't even get to say goodnight before he drifted off into sleep.

~Zootopia~

Nick gasped, his hands clenching the sheets. He heard a small tearing from the fabric giving beneath his sharp claws. He sat up, unable to breath. He tried to suck in whatever air he could, but he couldn't get his throat to respond. His heartbeat quickened even more than it already was, beating so hard in his chest it felt like it would burst. His throat was constricted, as if his own body had betrayed him. But he laid back into the bed and forced himself to relax, forced himself to become aware of his surroundings. He became aware enough that his throat finally realized it needed air and allowed Nick to breath in the oxygen he so needed, leaving him to nearly choke again on the ever-so-lingering cleaning supplies smell. But he didn't care. He continued to greedily gulp down each lemon scented piece of air in the room, closing his eyes to savor it.

His head propped up on the sweat-drenched pillow, he started to get control of his heartbeat. But even then, he felt something watching him in the dark, and expected to see some sort of shadow figure at the corner of his bed. He didn't know why, but he felt a presence, a dark presence that was standing over him, even if he couldn't see it.

"Nick?" Judy's voice broke through the silent black of the room, making the presence disappear from Nick's fears.

"Yeah?" he acknowledged, trying to make his voice sound less unsteady.

"Hey," she said. Nick heard movement in the other bed. "What's wrong?" She sounded so caring. He would have made a joke about it if he weren't still trying to get his breath back. He couldn't tell her about it. Not about this. This had been the same dream he'd had the hospital, the same horrifically real experience. He could feel his heart beating faster again just thinking about it.

More movement, and the next thing he knew, Judy was climbing into bed next to him. She seemed completely unfazed by the sweat that dampened the sheets.

"I'll turn the light on," she said.

"No," Nick said. "It'll hurt my eyes. We've come a long way as mammals, but fox eyes are still pretty sensitive." At least he didn't lie to her. He just didn't tell her that he really just didn't want her to see him in the state he was. Wide eyes, covered in sweat, heart pounding, looking just like the little kit he'd been so many years ago.

"Okay," Judy said, curling up next to him. "Bad dream?"

"No, I just get hot at night really easily."

"Nick," she started, "I know that's not true."

"Okay, so I kinda had a bad dream."

"Judging by the sweat and the breathing, I'd say it was more than a kinda bad dream. Don't worry, you don't have to tell me about it if you don't want you. But don't shut me out this time, Nick. I heard you over there. You sounded like you were choking or something."

"I was. My, uh...my throat constricts sometimes when I have really really bad nightmares."

"I'm so sorry, Nick. But it's okay now. You can go back to sleep." Now he really felt like a kit. But, honestly, it felt kind of good to be sheltered for once. To be protected and not have to take care of himself and suck it up. The presence of this tiny little bunny friend of his, the feeling of someone being next to him in these moment...it was good.

His mother would come in and comfort him when he was much younger and had nightmares. But after the junior scouts, he learned to just hide them, to hide those vivid dreams of horrible things. Sometimes he wondered if his mother could tell if he was having them, but knew he would shut her out. He needed to talk to her again, one day. But for now, he just let Judy's warmth provide comfort to him, and let her bury her head into his chest. His heart calmed, and his breathing slowed, finally. Eventually, he could feel himself drifting off again. He was still scared of having another nightmare, but knowing Judy was here, that she would comfort him, maybe he wouldn't have another one...maybe...hopefully.

~Zootopia~

Hope you guys enjoyed! Like I said, I've had writer's block, so I hope this chapter doesn't seem lazy. See you guys in the next chapter! Also, let me know what you think about my new section break. For some reason, the horizontal line stopped registering on this website. Confusing, but I found a way around it.