The next morning started unlike most for Nick. He was prone to sleeping in, so the alarm clock on his nightstand was sure to be vigilant in its ringing. Despite being on time every morning at half past six, the poor thing was often walloped over the head on the button marked, 'snooze.' Just to shut it up. This morning, though, was different. No alarm clock could be heard, or any other item in the house that needed power. On the kitchen table, was an electric bill the lazy fox had forgotten to pay nearly a week ago.

It came as quite the surprise to him upon waking. The clock face appeared to be blank, along with every other electronic device. Perhaps the most frustrating thing was the complete and utter lack of coffee, which he relied on heavily to get through the day. Realization did come to him shortly after seeing the notice on the table, though. According to Nick's watch, which ran ten minutes early, it was about ten O'clock. The primary thing on his agenda today was pay the bill, then figure out how to make enough to pay it the next month. This was how he lived a majority of the time; barely keeping his head above the water, and surviving from paycheck to paycheck. Although eccentrically clever, he had never been taught how to properly manage money.

About fifteen minutes to eleven, most of Nick's morning tasks were complete. He had gotten Finnick ready for the day, had a small breakfast, and changed into everyday clothes. In the middle of brushing his teeth, a loud knock came at his door. Normally, a knock meant trouble in this area of the neighborhood, which was why Nick had several door latches installed.

He spat the toothpaste out of his mouth and quickly set his brush back on the countertop before hustling over to the door, and looking into the peephole. To his surprise, standing on his doorstep was Judy Hopps, dressed in full uniform and waiting patiently for someone to answer her knock.

The conversation yesterday between child services and the Officer hadn't gone completely well. Once again, they were looking for more evidence to sustain Judy's report of neglectful parenthood. However, they had provided her with a template she could use to prove her case. She needed several written and photographed examples of disregardful parenting. Then she could properly ask for the child to be removed from his care.

It was this conversation with the department that put her at Nick's doorway in the first place. She wasn't, of course, going to explain to Nick what exactly her intentions were. Rather, she had come up with a, 'clever,' fib to tell him.

Nick, on the other hand, was in no mood to be followed around. He had overslept, under ate, and hadn't a drop of coffee to satisfy his heavy addiction to caffeine. Not to mention the long walk he had to take to pay his electric bill. In essence, before noon, everything that could possibly go wrong had done so already. He turned and began to walk away from the door, glaring heavily.

"Nick, I know you're in there, just open the door." Judy stated loudly.

No response whatsoever.

"Well, you'll have to come out at some point, bud, and I'll be right here."

The door finally opened, revealing an angry fox, "What do you want, carrots? I'm busy."

"What I want," She put a hand on her waste, "Is to let you know this: Due to your recent activity that is borderline illegal… You're on probation. I'll be keeping an eye on you whenever you are outside of your living space."

"…What?" Nick ground his teeth together, staring down at the rabbit.

"You heard me, Nick." She smirked good-naturedly, "So, I know you never wanted to see me again, but here I am, and here I'll be."

"…Let me get this straight," Nick closed his eyes, holding his arms out for a moment, "You are going to follow me around… All day? Watching my every move… For what reason?"

"Yes, I am going to be, and I think you know why I'm watching you. If you had a solid job with steady pay, we wouldn't be having this problem, now would we?"

He deadpanned for a moment, and then let his fake smile return. There wasn't much on his plate for the next little while, other than earning some more cash. Besides, there was plenty of time for scheme's later. He could stand to entertain a rabbit for now.

"Alright, that's fine. I'm not doing anything today anyway. Just going to pay a bill, then I'll be right back home."

"Good, I should have nothing to worry about, then. Are you going out right now?" Judy copied his forged smile.

"As a matter of fact, I am." He pushed past her roughly and began his tread down the sidewalk confidently.

"Nick. You forgot your child." She gave him a flattened expression.

"Oh, Right..." He turned and wandered back into his house, shoulders arched, before returning assertively with Finnick, tucked gently into his stroller.

Judy swiftly scribbled a few things down on the clipboard she was carrying, and glanced back up, "Well, go on. Don't let me stop you from your daily routine."

Nick glowered, watching her write, and then began walking. It wasn't his average casual walk, though, it was more cautious. Having the thought that someone was watching your every move was eerie, knowing was simply disturbing.

He felt more heavily affected by being surveyed, as most of what he did on a day to day basis wasn't something to be honoured by. The need to be even more imaginary than usual came to him, which wasn't a comfortable sensation. As a matter of fact, it was frustrating, and he continuously glanced back at the rabbit tailing him with a solemnly bitter expression.

After about a mile he finally turned around, staring at her, "Look, do you have to be on my heel? Why not stand a few feet or… a mile back?"

Judy feigned a caring look, and spoke in a dramatically soft voice, "Aww, Will that make you feel better? First of all, I'm not tailing you, I'm just following you."

"Yeah well," Nick cocked his neck to a side, clearly irritated, "It's bothering me, so-"

"Fine, I'll stand farther back if it bothers you that much." The rabbit wanted to say, 'If you are that much of a wimp,' but there was no reason to cause an argument just yet. Besides, she didn't need to be close to watch him, and it would be easier to get photographic evidence of his insensible childcare at a distance anyway. The department wasn't specific as to how much proof was needed, but a few documented situations would likely suffice.

And so they walked. Nick would sigh unpleasantly with the thought of being tailed on his mind, and Judy would eagerly watch him, waiting for him to make a trivial mistake. Bill payment was done at a security box next to the city hall, which meant it was a bit of a walk from the place Nick called home.

With full knowledge of the pursuer, he acted upon his best behavior, resisting the urge to discreetly snack on the open vendor's stands. He still didn't have a clue, though, of Judy's true intent.

There was something surreal about the walk. The bitter fox started muttering down in the direction of the stroller, beginning the one sided conversation with his infant again. This time there wasn't a joke to be heard, just complaints and the occasional well-whispered curse. Judy, who had increased her pace to keep up, let her ears wander to the conversation, and began writing a few quotes down. Nick caught sound of the scribbling pencil, which only increased his frustration.

He turned sharply, and glanced down, letting the penmanship focused rabbit bump into his torso, "What are you writing about, Cottontail? Every time I say something you start scrawling across the page. Now, I'm no expert, but I think that means you're putting my words on that paper, Hm?"

"You're going to want to refrain from calling me, 'cottontail.' And no, actually!" She lied, "Don't kid yourself, you're not that important. I'm not writing about you."

"Then why are you this close to me? Almost as if you were…" The fox drew out his last word, "Listening?"

"No. I just wasn't paying attention," She smirked sarcastically, "because I was writing. But, Oh, I'm so sorry for entering your personal bubble."

After stepping a few sidewalks back, she glowered, "How's that?"

"You're fine there, Carrots, just don't get any closer. I'd like to be able to inhale without the smell of your breath nearby."

"Very mature, slick Nick. I'll be here if you need me."

He wouldn't need her for anything. Ever. Fortunately, the city hall was getting closer with every step. He was on his way out of this nightmare; afterwards he could return home and stay there without the watchful eye of the Police Chief.

It wasn't that Nick enjoyed being alone, he simply disliked being around people he didn't know very well. That and, those who were attempting to place him behind bars. In essence, he kept to himself and refuted change. After all, moving about didn't produce stable work, and therefore, stable pay.

On the side of the City Hall was a deposit box, in which bills, along with their correct payment amounts, were to be inserted. Nick made his way over it, and set the stroller on the sidewalk to the right of him, "There you are, Fin, a front row seat to watch your good old daddy pour out almost every cent he currently owns..."

Giving a sly look behind him, he lifted his wallet out of his pocket, "Oh hey, there's my wallet! Funny, I couldn't find it yesterday!"

Judy fumed.

"Let's see…" Nick began gathering up the proper funds in which to regain his lost coffee maker. He wasn't paying a great deal of attention as to what was going on around him, otherwise he would've been noticing the stroller steadily beginning to roll away from his immediate grasp. While in the heart of the city, the structure Nick was standing at resided on a slope. It wasn't too intense of an angle, but it was enough to get a pair of wheels rolling.

Judy watched, in a hint of dismal excitement, as the stroller began to spool. This was a perfect example of detestable parenting. She shakily lifted up a camera, snapped a photo, and began writing vigorously about the ordeal.

Her exhilaration at potentially, 'Catching the bad guy,' overshadowed any presently rational thought. The more she wrote, though, the more she began to realize the sudden severity of the situation.

There was a stroller, with a budding young child inside of it, heading down an incline right next to a large street. Not just a large street, but a very busy large street, with fast moving vehicles of all sizes. Her own lack of empathy began to sicken her, and at this point, she was slightly afraid to glance away from her clipboard.

After a split second (which felt like an hour), she mustered the urge to glance up. Her ears immediately fell, as the suspicions turned out proper. There was the buggy, on its way down the hill, right towards the cross area of a busy intersection.

Had the situation been a bit less rigorous, she felt like scolding Nick for his lack of observation. At this point, though, the only words that could come out of her mouth were that of pure concern.

"Um, N-Nick. Nick! Your son!"

Nick had been totalling his funds during this time, and after her yell he glanced up wistfully, "Aw, Rabbit! You made me lose coun-."

Her words registered within his cognisant, and he snapped his view to the right, looking horrified. By this time, the carriage was half way towards the junction. Finnick, despite not uttering a sound up until this point, had suddenly begun to let out small yelps.

In a spurt of adrenaline, Nick took off down the sidewalk, leaving his wallet behind. One single thing mattered to him in that moment, keeping Finnick as far away from the open road as possible. Despite running faster than he had the entirety of his life, Hopps passed him effortlessly, stepping with the same amount of urgency.

Even though the situation was quite grave, it must have been morbidly comical to passersby. The sight of two fully grown adults running at breakneck speeds down the street, while nearly tripping multiple times, could've at least produced some internal merriment.

Half a second from Finnick reaching the car infested intersection, Judy quickly grasped the handle of the carriage, jerking it back to the safety of the walkway. Finnick still wasn't quite certain as to what was going on. The fast movement of his buggy, coupled with the air deprived expression of the rabbit holding it, did make him want to cry though.

Nick arrived a few moments later, still wheezing, and holding his cramped side. Glancing down at Finnick, he quickly lifted the child up, and gave him a firm hug.

"Are you-… Alright, buddy?" He spat through deep lungful's of air, "I might've, uh… Let go of your stroller for a minute. Everything's fine though, right?"

Finnick nodded his head, watching him blankly. He hadn't the slightest clue how close he had come to serious injuries.

"Sorry about scaring you, okay. I won't let that ever happen again." Nick planted a peck on the child's forehead, before exhaling slowly.

Judy blinked, examining the scene in front of her. Nick's expressionism looked quite sincere, almost as if he did actually care for the infant. Originally, she thought the fox was simply using him in order to gain sympathy from those he was trying to scam. Now, it didn't quite look the same.

Her heart ached as well after what happened; being so focused upon finding a flaw in Nick that it almost cost the life of a child. On the other hand, she saved him from imminent danger. Needless to be said, Judy was conflicted.

"Well," She finally spoke up, eliminating the prolonged silence, "I'm glad I could save him for you."

Stillness once again ensued, as Nick set the child back down. Judy had just touched a nerve.

"Save him… For me?" Nick stared at her, sighing bitterly, "I think I could've caught up to the stroller in time without you."

Judy chuckled, doing her best to appear valiant, "Nah, he would've made it to the intersection by then. You don't need to thank me, though. It's my duty as a Police Chief."

Nick said nothing, bothered by the Officer's arrogant answer. He brushed her hands off the grip of the pushchair, and began back up the hill silently.

The Rabbit watched for a moment, and then glanced down at her clipboard. Something didn't feel reasonably right about continuing the file. At this point, Nick wasn't acting like a purposefully neglecting father figure; he just looked very uneducated, and at times ditzy.

What at first seemed like a lack of empathy turned out to be a lack of instruction. Perhaps removing the child from his care was a brash decision.

Nick returned to his original location atop the incline and snatched up his wallet, which was miraculously still there. He had just slipped the envelope into the deposit box when Judy arrived, still keeping Nick's designated, 'ten feet away at all times,' rule.

"Well," She called, "You've finished your errands for the day. Isn't that right, Mr. Nick?"

Still rancorous from Judy's comments, Wilde didn't respond. He wasn't in the mood to converse, especially with her. One of the few individuals he cared about just came close to being seriously injured by a moving vehicle. It was a selfish thought, but he wanted to be Finnick's hero.

His desire was to have the child grow up aspiring to be like his father, not a random Police Officer. Judy shouldn't have even been there in the first place without yesterday's excursion. Nick wouldn't have been able to catch the buggy before it was too late, but that was a thought he refused to think. If he couldn't even retain the life of his own, what kind of a father figure was he?

That's what troubled him the most. It wasn't his hatred for the Officer, but rather not being able to save the infant without her. He wanted to be a rampart for Finnick; a being of incredible reliability, even when a life was at stake.

Nick never really had a, 'dad,' to speak of, and that's exactly who he was trying to be. It was difficult attempting to mimic something you've never truly experienced, and yet be everything for someone so dependent.

Judy, on the other hand, hadn't the slightest clue about Nick's past, and cared little for his present. Still, the most recent situation the both of them stumbled into made her reconsider the outlook she originally had on the fox.

She caught up to him again, and glanced up, attempting to lighten the mood after what had just transpired, "Well, that was a close one, huh?"

"I said ten feet, cottontail," Was Nick's hasty reply.

The Officer's mood instantly soured, as once again the fox had changed her positivity into glumness, "Alright Nick, what's your glitch? Just half an hour ago you were cracking jokes, albeit most directed at me. Now you, a grown man, are giving the silent treatment."

"I just…" Nick stared distantly for a split second, before snapping a glare upon the rabbit, "You said you would stand back, so stay back."

"Don't dodge the question, why are you so quiet?" Judy cocked her head to the side, unaware of Nick's internal conflict.

"Listen, carrots, it's none of your business," His hissed, "If I wanted to talk about personal rubbish like this, I would go see a therapist. Not some random nosey cop who wants nothing more than to humiliate me."

The last part was spoken quite quickly. Judy frowned, starting to piece things together in her mind. She timidly spoke up, "Is this… Because I saved Finnick and you… Didn't?"

"Are you kidding? No." He fibbed, "Besides. You didn't save him. I had everything under control."

"Under control?" The Officer snickered naively, "May I remind you who let go of the stroller in the first place?"

"It was an accident!" Nick's voice finally rose, arching his shoulders defensively, "You think I meant to do that?!"

The increase in volume startled Judy momentarily, but after collecting herself, she returned the amplified tone, "Of course not! But you still did it. 'Not meaning to,' doesn't excuse stupid behavior."

"Stupid behavior?! I was busy at the time, rabbit. I get very occupied with what I'm doing sometimes."

"Well then, maybe you need to rethink your priorities because as I recall, a life is more important than an electric bill!" Judy returned, nearing the end of her rope with Nick's warped mindset.

"Alright, I give up! I wasn't thinking, and I wasn't paying attention. Happy?! Great." Wilde began pushing the cart again, "I'm going back home. You don't need to follow me because I'll be there for the rest of the day."

"Yeah, nice try! Who knows what manipulative scheme you are going to get into if I left you alone. I'm going with you." Judy smiled smugly, folding her arms.

The Officer watched Nick roll his eyes, and continue walking. She began to follow, then paused, turned, and bolted off in the other direction, "I'll be right back, then I'm following you home, got it?!"

She returned to the city hall, scribbling furiously on her clipboard. There was a plastic container hovering just next to the deposit box, containing several crème coloured envelopes. After grabbing one, she opened it up, placing several forms, and the paper containing her written accounts of Nick's childcare into it.

Just before closing it, she remembered possibly the most important piece of evidence, the camera's memory chip. She quickly placed it inside the slip, before licking the seam and sealing it. The prior conversation had once again, changed her mind about Nick. It would seem that he was far too immature, lazy, unobservant, and scandalous to be a father. In the end, though, she was letting her emotions skew any kind of logic.

Hopps placed the envelope into the deposit box, and raced back towards Nick's last seen location. At this point, she didn't feel surprised anymore to perceive the arrogant fox breaking the law. This time is was a simple Jaywalk across a red light.

"Well," she pulled a notepad out of her pocket, speaking quietly to herself, "At least I can fine him for now. Maybe he'll actually learn something from this."

Nick wasn't intentionally breaking the law. He wasn't doing it out of spite, or anger. It was pure accident, as he had caught himself up again in his own considerations. This was the second rotten day in a row for him, and it definitely showed in his body language.

He was preoccupying his mind with self-piteous thoughts, attempting in his own mind to turn himself into the victim, despite a majority of the time, being the problem.

In this situation, he had come up with an excellent lie to tell himself. It was simple really. People needed to mind their own matters, and leave him alone. He had done nothing wrong, except go out today in the first place. The electric bill really could've waited anyway.

In an unsurprising twist of bad fortune, a familiar horn blared loudly, snapping Nick out of his mind again. He crooked his head to the left, realizing this time he was the one in the middle of a busy intersection

. The vehicle approaching him looked to be the same truck as yesterday. It sounded similar as well, although something was different about it. Realization hit Nick a second later. This time, it was moving much faster, and it didn't show any signs of stopping.

He didn't have time to curse his misfortune, nor time to get out of the way. There was one thing he could do, though, and it meant more to him right now than serious injury.

Mustering up what strength he could find amidst the terror of the situation, he shoved the carriage that contained Finnick as hard as he could, and then steadied for what appeared to be a grisly impact.

Finnick's buggy made it securely to the other side of the cross walk, but secure wasn't a word that could be used to describe the infant's father. The truck's front wheels screeched loudly as the driver applied the brakes. In spite of that, though, Nick still found himself feeling the vehicle's front end slamming against him.

His shoulder took the largest force of impact, followed by the left side of his rib cage, and the momentum of the crash sent him tumbling to the ground, coughing manically.

Judy had heard the loud crash, but this time, showed no hesitation in discerning what happened. She raced towards the dismal scene, and stared openly in horror as a pool of blood began to collect from the left side of Nick, who was still gasping for breath.

"N-Nick! Oh my gosh!" She sputtered, crouching down next to him. All of her harsh feelings towards Wilde had quickly dissipated. It didn't matter who the victim was, she despised seeing anyone fall victim to the city's dangerous streets.

Nick lolled his eyes around for a moment, trying to find the rabbit standing right in front of him, before mumbling treacherously, "Y-You're an O-Officer… C-Call an a-ambulance!"

The Chief's training dictated to remove the immediate danger before calling anyone, so she quickly tore a line of fabric from the sleeve of her uniform, and wrapped the Fox's shoulder in an attempt to pressurise the wound.

"Alright Nick, just r-relax, okay? I need to pick you up and get you out of the road. This might hurt a little." Before Nick had the chance to detest, he was being dragged off of the crosswalk towards safety. This maneuver didn't go without a miserable growl of pain. Nick's undershirt was heavily saturated with crimson, and a muddy trail of red perused them both to the curb.

The truck driver had long since left the scene, and he had done so quite quickly at that. Judy set the injured fox down carefully, before standing up. She nearly dropped her cell phone from trying to snatch it out of her pocket. Afterwards, she dialed quickly, and raised it to hear ear, practically yelling into the receiver, "Hello?! This is the Chief of Police, Judy Hopps. We need an ambulance at… The Intersection of 12th Maine and Olive Branch. A pedestrian has b-been hit, please hurry!"

As news gathered of the injury, the walkways and intersections became vacant. Judy sat by Nick until the ambulance arrived, rocking the stroller gently, in an attempt to quiet the wailing infant. That sick feeling had returned to her a while ago, and she was taking larger breaths than normal to compensate.

Wilde was slipping in and out of consciousness due to a decrease in visceral pressure, leaving the Officer to her thoughts. She wanted to blame Nick again for what had happened, but it didn't feel quite right to do so. Mistakes were mistakes, and as long as one learned from them, there was nothing wrong with making them in the first place.

Before the crash, Nick had both hands firmly on the stroller, to ensure he didn't let go of it again. He learned from earlier when Finnick's buggy had made its way down the hill. It was mindless to think that Nick was incapable of erudition. After all, it did appear as though he was really trying to be a good father.

As a matter of fact, Nick had just saved the child by putting his own life in jeopardy. Someone who had no regard for their family wouldn't do a thing like that. He had truly used every ounce of his presence shoving the carriage to the safety of the curb.

And there she was, writing a ticket to fine him with, while Nick was sacrificing an arm and a few ribs for the wellbeing of his son.

She felt completely heartless.

It seemed to take hours for the ambulance to get there, despite it arriving minutes after the wreck. From there, the injured fox was stabilized, and placed onto a stretcher. Judy assisted lifting the gurney into the vehicle, and from there the staff climbed back into the ambulance, and drove off. There were many Officer's on scene as well, blocking off the intersection, and securing the scene.

"Chief," A stout looking Policeman squinted over at Judy, "You know there's a child here, right?"

Judy glanced over, sighing. The excitement of the wreck had long since passed her, leaving her with an empty feeling, "Yes, I'm aware. I was the first one on-scene. We just need to… Bring him down to the station for now. Until his father's better, which shouldn't be too long, right?"

"We'll see what happens," Was the other Officer's reply, "When should we do that?"

"Don't worry about it," the rabbit blinked, "I'll take him down there."

Judy grasped the handles of the carriage, and glanced down at the teary-eyed child. She wanted to say something, but at the moment was unable to muster the urge to converse outside of business.

The Police station was relatively close to the city hall, and the day was, fortunately, almost over. By this time, the sun had gone down, and the street lights illuminated her path to the headquarters. It was a calm walk back, pushing the carriage along. That is, it was until a solitary realization struck her.

"T-The forms!"

She never really had the intention of sending the forms and evidence to child services. It was done out of irritation for Nick's attitude. After what had just happened to him, though, this would just be adding a devious insult to injury.

Changing her pace, she raced towards the deposit box, and slipped a key into the lock. A sigh laced its way out of her mouth as, upon looking inside, the various deposits had been removed and taken to their proper places.

The box had been long since cleaned out by the city hall's employees, at least an hour or two ago. It was too late to take it back now.

There was still a ray of hope, though, that eased her mind. She hadn't provided an incredible amount of confirmation anyway. Most of it was written, with only a few pictures. It was likely that they wouldn't accept such an intrepid statement.

Either way, there wasn't a need to worry about it now. Worrying wouldn't bring the article back, or get it lost in transit. For now, the big priority was getting Finnick to the safety of the Police station.

She walked the last block and opened the door to their destination, pushing the buggy inside. The heat of the open air was quickly blotted out by the air conditioned indoors of the station, which did feel excellent to both Judy and the youth she was pushing along.

Clawhauser perked up from the front desk, watching them walk in, "Hey Chief! I heard about that crash, is that the guy's kid?"

"Yeah, he is," She sighed, lifting Finnick out of the carriage, "I'm going to stay in my Office with this little guy tonight, okay? You'll know where I am in the morning if you need me."

"Aw, that's nice of you!" The Cheetah babbled, "My shift ends in about five minutes, but I'm not exactly sure where the guy taking over my position is. He was supposed to be here ten minutes ago!"

"Don't worry about it, Clawhauser," Judy responded tiredly, letting a yawn escape. Some people had very small problems.

"Go on home. I'll take your place until he gets here."

"Oh, there you are being supportive as always, Chief! Thanks!" He lifted his glasses off the desk, and sauntered out of the building, leaving Judy mostly alone.

She placed herself behind the counter, and set Finnick gently on a bench beside her. The two had nothing more to do afterwards than have a staring contest, of sorts. Judy eventually opened a cabinet underneath the desk, and pulled out a small fluffy blanket.

She handed it to Finnick, who snatched it up tiredly, and tangled himself up inside of it. It didn't take long for the infant's head to droop, and soon enough the sound deep breathing pattered against the Officer's sensitive ears.

However, Finnick wasn't the only one falling asleep. After about half an hour of waiting, Judy felt her eyelids getting heavy. She was exhausted physically, mentally, and didn't quite have the willpower to return to her office. Her head lolled a few times, and deciding soon that the Officer working the nightshift would wake her up, she let herself fall into a very deep sleep.