(A/N: Thank you everyone for the lovely reviews, favorites, and follows. I haven't written fanfiction in a very long time, and seeing such positivity fills me with determination. Big shout outs to my editors, Rennaku and Shipping Mammals for helping me make my chapters into the best ones they can be. Also, shout out to eightspartans for keeping my lazy butt on schedule.)

The fickle mistress of sleep never truly found her way to Nick that night. At one point he remembered staring at the 3:17 on his clock and closing his eyes. When he reopened them, it was 3:41. He nearly wept tears of joy, cherishing those 24 minutes like someone deserted on an island flagging down a plane.

Nick desperately craved sleep; he started counting off the unspeakable things he'd do for a few hours' rest in his head instead of sheep, but that only kept him up further. Powder-grey bunnies in meter maid uniforms danced through his mind, their little tails bobbing back and forth while they handed out tickets.

How had I never noticed her tail before… he thought. It's like a little cotton ball, but fluffier, like a cotton ball made of yarn. I bet it feels like cotton candy and sunshine. What does sunshine even feel like anyway? Well, warm, I guess, but what would it feel like to grab? Probably like Judy's tail. Yeah, definitely like her tail. Man, it's so fluffy, like a little cotton ball, but if a cotton ball was made of yarn or something. Not like a ball of yarn, though…

Nick's circled around sunshine, cotton and fluff for several minutes before mini-Finnick was once again conjured on his bare chest, shaking his head. "Nick, Nick, Nick," he chided. "What on earth happened to you, man? Look at you, you look like garbage."

"Appreciate that, friend. You look even smaller than usual."

Mini-Finnick started slowly walking up Nick's chest. "You know, sarcasm is often used to deflect from things that someone don't wanna discuss," he said, ethereally passing through Nick's hand as he tried to swat him away. "That wouldn't happen to be what's goin' on here, would it?"

"Oh, right, like I'm gonna bare my soul to a four-inch tall imaginary hallucination of my best friend at," Nick paused, glancing at his alarm clock. "4:18 in the morning. Yeah, not happening, sorry." Nick rolled over onto his side, sending mini-Finnick cascading over the edge of the bed. He soon reappeared, floating in front of Nick's snout.

"Don't act like you got other stuff to do. You been lyin' here for hours, and all you can do is think of that bunny's butt."

Nick huffed, indignant. "Hey, don't paint me like some kind of creep. I've been thinking of a whole lot more than her butt, like her nose twitching, and her fuzzy ears, and how she smiles really wide when she beats me at handing out parking tickets, and-"

"But you have been thinking of her butt."

"I mean, like once or twice, tops," Nick said, rolling over on his other side. He realized he was pouting. Well, I'm having an argument with my own imaginary construct of my best friend who I haven't spoken with in months at almost 4:30 in the morning, he thought. I've probably earned the right to pout.

Mini-Finnick reappeared in front of him once again. "C'mon, Nick, I ain't even real and I know that you are seriously sick."

"Oh, yeah? Sick with what?"

"Sick with the nastiest case of repressed feelings I've ever seen, and you know there ain't any point in denyin' it."

"Just watch me," Nick said. "I absolutely have no feelings for Judy, and I'm definitely not jealous of that hare. See? Just denied it."

"Hmm, what hare would that be, Nick? I didn't mention no hare," mini-Finnick said. "What was his name again? Oh, damn, I can't seem to remember it… It's on the tip of my tongue…"

Nick groaned. "C'mon, Finnick, don't do this."

The pint-sized apparition rubbed the scruff of his chin, deep in feigned thought. "No, no, I almost got it. Chris Cotton? No, that's not it. Cody Cotton? Nah, close…"

Nick stuffed his paws in his ears, but he could still hear Finnick in his head.

"That's right, Cameron-"

"Just shut up, Finnick."

"-Cotton. Cameron Cotton is who you're jealous of," mini-Finnick concluded, the smug look he and Nick would practice staring the tired fox in the face.

Nick sighed, and flopped his head back against the pillow. "Finnick, why are you doing this? You're my friend, you supposed to have my back."

"Ok, first off, I'm not real, I'm a construct of your own paranoid delusions. You're doing this to yourself, moron, so if you wanna complain, take it up with yourself," mini-Finnick began. "And second of all, is that what we are, Nick? Friends? Cause friends don't up and ghost on someone for 6 months."

"Oh, what, you're my shoulder angel now?" Nick asked. "Cause you're way too violent to be an angel, but your ears are way too big and floofy to be a devil."

"You know if you told the real Finnick that, he'd beat your wholesale ass with a smile on his face and go home with the good Lord in his heart."

"All the more reason to say it now, bud," Nick retorted.

The pair paused, glaring at one another. Despite being less than half a foot tall, mini-Finnick's trademark scowl still managed to incite more than a little discomfort in Nick.

"We… are still friends, aren't we?" Nick asked after a few moments.

Mini-Finnick shrugged. "I don't know, genius, you tell me. You haven't talked to me in months, and remind me again why?"

"Duh, I'm a cop now. You hated cops, and I up and ditched you to become one. Why the hell would you want to talk to me?"

"Man, you're somehow even dumber than I remember," said mini-Finnick. "You think I care about you bein' a cop? I ran with you for twenty years, Nick. You think I'm so shallow that I'd ditch you because you went clean?"

Nick shut his eyes. Not one square inch of his bed felt remotely comfortable. He felt itchy, like he was lying on a stack of dried hay.

Still refusing to look at mini-Finnick, he took a deep breath, processing his thoughts. "You wouldn't be ditching me, you'd be… making a smart business decision," he said finally. "No con man wants to be friends with a cop. I made my decision, so I have to live with it."

Mini-Finnick shook his head and slapped Nick across the cheek. Despite Nick being magnitudes larger than him and mini-Finnick not actually being real, the fox's cheek stung. "Man, you have to cut this 'woe is me' crap off, you're bumming me out," mini-Finnick said. "And what's with this fake selfless act, huh? I know you wanna see me, you're just looking for a cheap excuse not to because it'd be hard."

Nick rolled over and buried his head in his pillow. "Please, Finnick, I just want to sleep."

"Nick, you did the hardest thing I've ever seen you do when you went off to try to be a cop," mini-Finnick said quietly. Although Nick couldn't see him, he knew the look of disappointment he was wearing on his face. "If you can do something like that, why can't you come talk to me?"

He groaned into his pillow and pushed himself up on his paws. Sleep tugged at his eyelids, weighing them down like dumbbells. His exhaustion had pushed him into a state of exasperation. "Because I'm terrified, alright? Is that what you wanted from me? I'm scared, petrified, however you wanna put it. I'm scared you're gonna hate me. Scared you'll reject me. I'm just so…"

"Ashamed?" mini-Finnick offered. He was hovering next to Nick, concern dancing across his muzzle.

"...Yeah. Ashamed, I guess. Ashamed I ditched you."

"How do you think I feel?" mini-Finnick asked. "My best friend finally does something in his life, and here I am hustling the same group of lemmings from the same bank for the same cash every day."

Nick looked at his friend, and smiled for the first time since he'd come back to his apartment. "I'm really sorry, Finnick."

The four-inch Fennec just shrugged. "Hey, don't tell me, I'm just a figment of your whacked out imagination. Man, you just had, like, a ten-minute conversation with yourself. You need help, my friend."

Nick lay back onto his pillow, the sheets feeling somewhat more comfortable, and yawned. "Thanks, Finnick, I'll keep that in mind."

"No problem, man. Now get some rest, you still look like garbage."

Nick closed his eyes and drifted away, mini-Finnick fresh in his mind.


Sharp knocks at his front door did their best to rouse Nick from his sleep, but they couldn't break down his will to stay exactly where he was. He was vaguely aware of a knocking noise in his dream, but chalked it up to a gonging clock tower as he and Finnick kneeled in some bushes with binoculars, keeping a close eye on Judy and an unseen companion.

"나는 당신이 실제로 이 번역 구글 믿을 수 없어," dream-Finnick said, waving his arms wildly. Nick wasn't even sure what language that was, be he was pretty certain the real Finnick didn't speak it.

Outside the front door, Judy huffed. She didn't want to cause a ruckus and be a bother to Nick's neighbors, but the stubborn fox was leaving her with little option. She gave one last set of loud raps on the obviously plywood frame. "Nick, Bogo said we could come in late today, but I texted you the time I'd be here, and I don't want to wait much longer." She put down her parcels of coffee and pastries and grabbed his house key out of her pocket. I get him four blueberry Danishes, and this is how he thanks me?

Turning the key, she gently pushed her way inside the dingy apartment. She grabbed the bags and cups from outside the door and rested them on his kitchen counter. She didn't hear any water running, so she figured he was either drying off or still in bed. She inched toward the slightly ajar bedroom door, deftly avoiding the squeaky floorboard that her partner complained about constantly. "Nick, c'mon, you know how much I hate being late," she called out. Nick's ears twitched, but he simply rolled onto his back without stirring. Dream-Judy was laughing at some joke told by her companion. It looked like he had big, bunny ears.

Judy had made her way to the door, and pressed her ear against it. Barely audible, she heard the steady sound of Nick's breathing and his fan lazily spinning above him. She rolled her eyes and gently pressed on the door, heading into the room.

"Nick, I'm not your mother, now pleas-" She froze. Nick was laying haphazardly over the sheets in nothing but his boxer shorts, which had somehow gotten pulled down dangerously low in the middle of the night. His peaceful, lithe frame lay still, and she could see his cream-colored chest rise and fall with each breath. His ears twitched once, and his tail was splayed out away towards the window. Her eyes tracked from his head, down his chest, and to his abdomen. She started staring even lower, but turned away before her curiosity got the best of her. Her fists clenched down at her sides, arms straight with embarrassment. "N-Nick, please get up, and get some clothes on, you're not decent," she stammered out. She'd seen Nick in various states of undress before, like when he'd stumbled home from a bar after a rough day at work or at Francine's pool party, but never like this.

Nick felt ripped out of his dream, leaving foreign-dream-Finnick behind, right as Judy and her unknown friend with large ears started walking towards a movie theater, holding each other's paws. He blinked, slowly becoming aware of the world around him. His chest and waist felt cold, but it was a gentle coolness, like eating a popsicle on a warm day. Turning to his right, he saw Judy with her back toward him.

"Oh, hey Judy, what're you doing here?" he asked. The words out of his mouth could have made for a perfect impression of Flash.

"Nick! Put some clothes on!" she yelled.

The sudden increase in volume snapped Nick to attention. He looked down his body and saw his boxers dancing on the precipice on decency. A wave of self-consciousness crashed into him, and he frantically pulled up his briefs. Jumping out of bed, he searched from some shorts to throw on, but was coming up empty.

"Judy! What are you even doing in my room?" he hissed, digging through the discarded treasure of dirty clothes on his floor to cover himself up.

"I've been knocking on your door for the last five minutes, and your lazy butt was still in bed!" she retorted. Nick's lazy butt. Hmm, his butt… she thought. No, no, bad Judy. No thinking of your friend like that. Do not!

Nick finally found his prize: some basketball shorts he'd discarded to the floor several days ago. He smelled them. Hmm, still serviceable, he thought. Pulling them over his legs, he turned to his partner. "Okay, you can turn around now."

She slowly turned her head to see him barechested, but at least reasonably clothed. "Thank you," she started. "But we really need to get going, I don't want to be late."

Nick waved her away with his hand. "Relax, Carrots. Buffalo Butt said he could come in late today. I intend to make full use of that after last night."

"But Nick, we're already really behind schedule!"

He walked past her towards his bathroom. "And I'm sure a couple more minutes for a morning shower won't do us any harm."

She fumed at her partner. "Nick, after how you made me get you up, I don't really thi-" she said, but was silenced but a wad of basketball shorts hitting her in the face and falling to the floor.

Nick arched his neck to look back at her, shaking his tail a little. "Don't get any funny ideas, Carrots," he said, and closed the door behind him.

Judy's face turned pink from the blush spreading across her face at Nick's shameless display and from the indignant bunny fury building inside her. She heard the water turn on, followed by a yelp from either a very cold or very hot fox inside the bathroom. Smirking at his discomfort, but still very upset with him, she sat down in the kitchen and grabbed her coffee.

It was at the time Nick was scrubbing his back that it dawned on him what he'd just done. He dropped his brush, and it clattered loudly on the shower floor. Holy crap. I practically undressed in front of her. I threw my shorts at her. I joked about her joining me in here. His mouth was agape, and the water cascading down his head and into his mouth caused him to choke a little. What the hell was I even thinking?

He recalled the kiss they shared in the stake-out car last night. All the feelings from the previous night came rushing back.

Stooping to pick up his brush, he began to scrub himself again. I just have to play this off like no big deal. Nothing is awkward, just a joke. You're cool. You're Nick Wilde, he told himself. You got this.

A towel was soon wrapped around his waist, and as he stepped out into his living room, it became immediately apparent that he did not, in fact, got this. Judy jumped a bit at hearing the door open.

"I, uh, got you a coffee and those Danishes," she said

Nick froze. "Oh, thanks, Carrots. I was kinda kidding about those pastries, but I appreciate it."

"You were definitely not kidding about them."

Nick rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, alright, you caught me."

His towel began to slip from his waist. He made a mad grab at it and kept it in place, much to the amusement of Judy.

"Tell you what, why don't you get changed and then we can talk," she said.

"Right, yes! Changed. Definitely something I should do," he replied, still standing in the middle of the living room.

A few moments passed, and she was staring at him with anticipation. "Well?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah, I'll, uh, be right back," Nick said before scampering into his room and closing the door behind him.

"Great job, Wilde, smooth as ever," he muttered to himself as he opened his closet. Staring at empty space, he remembered his clothes for work were currently on the floor of the kitchen. A defeated sigh fled from his lungs, and he trudged back into the living room, where Judy was holding up his discarding uniform. "Forget something, early bird?" she asked.

He said nothing as he took the walk of shame to grab his uniform and head back into his room. Judy smiled and shook her head, returning to her coffee.

The shirt felt wrong on his body with all the wrinkles; he had always been immaculate about his appearance, and the sight of the crinkled blues in his mirror made him cringe. He threw on some slacks, accepting his lackluster appearance for the day. Probably earned it after a night like last night, he thought, grumbling to himself.

Stepping back into the living room for the fourth time, he looked to Judy with haggard eyes. She was holding up a bag and tapping her foot. "Okay, you're dressed. Now can we please get to the car?"

Nick said nothing and walked up to the counter where a cup with a little 'N' was inscribed on the top. He snatched it up and took a long, hearty sip, letting out an exaggerated sigh once he'd swallowed it. "Okay, now we can go."

She rolled her eyes and hopped off the stool and practically bolted out the door. Nick followed behind her at his own pace.

Nick was eating his pastries in silence, and an eerie quietness had settled over the pair as Judy drove to the precinct. After nearly choking on a particularly large bite, he offered one to her. She declined.

After a few moments, he spoke up. "Hey, uh, sorry you had to find me like that this morning. I didn't exactly sleep well last night, and I guess I was more tired than I thought I was."

Judy gave him a quick glance before returning her eyes to the road. "It's alright," she said, though the little waver in her voice told Nick otherwise. "Do you, um, always sleep on top of the covers? Seems kinda cold."

"Not all the time," he replied, trying to keep his tone steady. "It was pretty warm in my room last night, I was roasting."

"O-oh, right," she said. "Are you alright? I know you weren't feeling great after last night. You can take a half day if you want."

He looked at her with wide eyes. "N-no, no, I'm feeling great!" he lied. She turned to him with her big lavender eyes, and he felt his insides buckle under the pressure. "I mean, Carrots, I just had a rough night, I promise. It doesn't have anything to do with the stake-out. I just wasn't feeling great, that's all." He hated to lie to Judy, but he was definitely not prepared to have anything resembling the conversation it looked like he was steering towards.

She spied him warily, but it seemed to Nick like that was good enough for her.

He smiled as best he could, and took a bite out of his pastry to keep himself from opening his mouth again.

Judy was doing her best not to think of Nick walking away from her, his shorts pooled on the floor. "Alright, so we have a lead," she said, trying to change the subject. "How exactly do we go about pursuing it?"

Nick looked at her, and his inner detective started turning the cogs in his head. Work. I can focus on work. "We're pretty confident she had a public indecency charge against her at some point," he said. "It should be an easy matter of getting down to records and searching it up."

"Don't you think that could take a while?" Judy asked. "You know how bad the software in records is."

"Oh, damn, you're right," Nick sighed. "Well, it probably won't go quickly, but it's a sure fire thing. I think we just have to suck it up and deal with those crappy Windoes 98 monstrosities."

That earned a giggle from Judy. Nick stood up a little straighter and smiled at the sound of her laugh.

The pair slowly pulled up to a red light when yet another taxi cut them off to take the spot in front of them. Judy's mood instantly vaporized from cheer to rage. "Nick…" she seethed. "How is it that mammals assume it's okay to cut off a squad car?"

Nick fought the urge to laugh with questionable results. "I don't know, Carrots. I mean, you have such presence on the road. How could anyone miss you?"

"One day, Wilde," she began. "Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but some day, I am going to punch you so hard I'll be written up for it."

Nick gulped; he was immediately struck with the instinct of self-preservation. "Heh, my bad, Carrots, won't happen again." He prayed the apology was enough.

She stared him down with narrowed eyes before letting out a grunt of approval. "Yeah, that's what I thought," she muttered before breaking out into a grin. "Did I really scare you?"

"Uh, duh, Hopps. You put fear into me I haven't felt since my mom found out I was forging hallpasses and selling them in the 8th grade."

"I've been working on my bad cop routine in case I ever have to interrogate a suspect," she tittered. "So, I take it that the work's paying off?"

"Yeah, you could say that," Nick chuckled. His heart rate was slowly going back to normal after being filled with primal fear. Man, what would my ancestors think. A fox being scared of a bunny. Or a fox falling in l- no, nope, nu-uh. Definitely not what I was going to think. Mini-Finnick was summoned in his mind, shaking his head. Knock it off, Finnick. Now's not the time.

After advising Judy to just sip her coffee and try not to verbalize the curses she was putting on rude taxi drivers, they made it to the precinct without further issue. As they walked into the main lobby, Clawhauser waved at them frantically, a half-eaten donut hanging precariously from his mouth. Judy gave Nick a questioning look. He just shrugged. "Let's go see what he wants," he said.

"O-M-Goodness, how did it go, you guys?" Clawhauser asked when they approached the desk.

Nick and Judy looked at one another. "How did what go?" she asked.

"C'mon guys, you can tell me," Clawhauser said. He leaned in as close to them as his belly behind the desk would allow. "I know you both went on a stake-out last night. How did it go? What were you guys doing?"

They both froze. "I don't know what gave you that idea, but we weren't on a stake-out," Judy said slowly, her nose giving a mild twitch.

"We were just assigned a night patrol by the Chief," Nick said. He felt the urge to rub the back of his neck, and the itchy sensation from the previous night was back with a vengeance. "Some stores had been vandalized in the middle of the night recently over on 16th, and he wanted us to keep an eye out for anything suspicious."

"Yeah, it wasn't really anything special," Judy chimed in.

"C'mon you guys, I can tell you're fibbing," Clawhauser said. "Judy, your nose twitched, and Nick, you only call the Chief 'Chief' if you're hiding something."

The pair gawked at their portly friend. Bogo's words echoed in Judy's head. Part of being an officer at my precinct is considering all available options.

"Yeah, you both have tells, and yeah, I know them," Clawhauser said, smirking at the pair. "I may not be that fast, but you can't get anything past ol' Benjamin Clawhauser." Nick noticed he sat up a little straighter in his seat when he spoke.

"Alright, you caught us, Benji," Nick said, defeated. Judy stared wide-eyed at her partner, waving her arms trying to get his attention. "You wanna know what we were doing?" Nick asked.

Clawhauser gasped. "Oh, do I!"

Nick leaned in closely to the cheetah while Judy stood in fear of what her partner's next words were.

"Well, we got a special meeting with Bogo yesterday, and it was really important," Nick whispered excitedly.

"No way, what did he say?" Clawhauser asked. He'd brought his paws up to his cheeks and was listening intently.

"Well, there was a secret government agent in Bogo's office. We could only address him by the codename Agent Six."

"Wait, are you serious?" Clawhauser asked. The box of donuts on his desk was completely forgotten.

"Dead serious, buddy," Nick replied, his voice hushed and steady. "Old Number Six had a very discrete mission for Carrots and me, but it came with one very steep price."

Judy had to turn away and cover her mouth to prevent her snickering from reaching Clawhauser's ears. She wasn't sure exactly where Nick was initially going, but she was definitely interested in where it would end.

The world had all but vanished to Benjamin Clawhauser, and he was hanging on every syllable out of Nick's mouth. "What? What was the price?"

"Are you sure you want to know?" Nick asked. "They say knowledge is the heaviest burden of all."

"Yes, Nick, pleaaaaase, I want to know!" he pleaded. "I can handle it, I promise!"

Nick leaned in until his face was mere inches from Clawhauser's. "The price was," he began. "That anyone we told would have to be killed. That means you, Benji." Judy watched as the cheetah's eyes started widening as the weight of what Nick just said came crashing down on him, and was soon replaced with the embarrassment of someone who knew when they'd been pranked.

"Niiiick, c'mon, that's not funny," Clawhauser whined, his lips curling into a pout most unbecoming of a ZPD officer.

Nick simply shrugged. "Sorry pal, but there's actually nothing to tell. I just had to have a little fun."

"So you guys really didn't have a stake-out? Nothing happened last night?" Clawhauser asked. His face fell as he spoke. "But, Roberto said that you guys got a car from the impound lot. Shoot, I really thought I had figured you guys out."

Judy's heart went out to Clawhauser as he picked up another doughnut. I have never seen him look that sad about to eat a doughnut before. She felt a compulsion building inside her to do something for him.

"Well, you were on to something," Judy said. It was Nick's turn to gawk at his partner. "We were out pretty late last night."

"Really?" he asked. Judy heard his tone brighten almost immediately. "What were you doing, then?"

"There's a bar downtown that Nick likes, and he offered to show me around. Don't tell anyone, but we used a car from the impound lot to cruise around the city. Think you can keep a secret?"

Nick smiled at his partner through the bit of guilt from teasing Clawhauser. He hadn't meant anything by it, he was just trying to change the subject away from the stake-out. You did a better job than me, Carrots.

Clawhauser was positively beaming. "Oh, of course I can keep a secret, Judy!" he said. "Oh, look at you two, absolutely precious. So how was the date?"

Nick would have choked on the air he was breathing if he could have. His mind started racing, but to Judy's credit, she kept her cool. "Relax, it wasn't a date, it was just two friends grabbing some drinks and food, right Nick?"

Friends. That word hung in Nick's ear like a rowdy, drunken bar patron, refusing to leave even after his friends beg him to. "Y-yeah, it wasn't anything like that, Benji. Judy just needs to get out more so I offered to show her around."

Clawhauser leered at Nick. "Oh, yeah? What bar was it?"

Nick hadn't really gone out much lately. He wracked his brain, trying to think of a hole in the wall that Clawhauser wouldn't think anything of. "The, uh, Sleeping Lion, out on Candelabra Boulevard," he said after a few moments. He prayed those few moments wouldn't be enough of a giveaway.

"Oh, I've heard of that place," he said, satisfied with Nick's answer. "I think it has good reviews. Kind of dingy, though, if you ask me. Judy, I'll have to take you out to some real clubs sometime."

"Hey, it's certainly not 'dingy,'" Nick retorted, feeling strangely indignant that the bar he'd lied about going to was being besmirched in front of him. "And I'll have you know we had a great time."

"Well, the offer still stands, Judy," he said. He looked up at the clock on the wall. "Oh gosh, I've wasted too much of y'alls time," he said. "The Chief is gonna have it in for you for being so late."

"Relax, we've accrued a little overtime here and there. Already cleared it with Bogo," Judy said coolly.

"Oh. Well, I guess I'll see you guys around lunch, or whenever you're gonna eat," Clawhauser said.

"Sure thing, Benji, see you then," Nick replied. He began walking towards the pair's work station, and Judy followed swiftly behind him.

He let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, man, that was quick thinking, Carrots," he said as soon as they were out of earshot. "I must be rubbing off on you."

"Please, I've always been that smooth, or don't you recall your felony tax evasion?" she replied. "I was hustling you from the day we met."

"Oof, really wounding my pride there, Fluff," Nick said. "Alright, so we heading down to records?"

She nodded. "Once we get that name, we can report to Bogo and figure out our next move."

The duo made a beeline away from their desk and toward the stairs going down to the basement. Judy had only ever been down to records once before, and the sudden lack of foot traffic once they headed downstairs proved a stark contrast to the hustle and bustle of the lobby. Eventually, after nearly getting lost, they found the records room. Shelf upon shelf of cardboard boxes full of manilla file folders lined the walls, and a few computers that Nick estimated were from the late Jurassic period whirred quietly in the stagnant air. The room was completely empty. They only saw one other mammal on this floor as they were trying to find the room.

Judy sat down at a creaky chair in front of a faded desk, and the silence was soon broken with an overly loud tack tack tack as she input her username and password. They groaned collectively as it took the computer about 15 seconds to finally reach the desktop.

"Ugh, you think they could do with an upgrade of this stuff," Judy said as she tried to open the file searching software. A rotating hourglass mocked them from behind the screen. "This is going to take forever."

Nick was already bored, and the blandness of the room wasn't doing any favors. He looked around, trying to find anything to provide even the meagerest dose of entertainment. A few posters adorned the blank, beige walls, offering up platitudes about the security and integrity of the records room, how preservation of personal information was of the utmost importance, and how everything that went on in the records room was logged.

Wait. Everything is logged?

Nick saw Judy's paws deftly inputting a search to sort for female hyenas and indecent exposure charges. He frantically scanned over the tower for the power button. He reached out quickly and held it down until the screen turned black.

"Nick? What the hell was that for?" she yelled. "Now we're gonna have to wait for that stupid thing to turn on and everything!"

Nick shushed her, and pointed to the poster. "Judy, a log is kept of all the searches that mammals do in here," he whispered. He wasn't sure why he was whispering, but it felt appropriate.

"Yeah, so?"

"So what if they're watching?"

Judy froze up. There's a mole in the ZPD. If they have access to the searches in records, they'd know if we were looking for that hyena.

"...They'd know we're on to them," she said

Nick nodded, his countenance grim. "We can't use anything here in the precinct, it's too risky. If whoever they have on the inside finds out we're on the right track, the trail will dry up immediately."

Judy was staring into space but nodded in agreement. "I almost blew the whole case, just because I was overeager."

"Carrots, c'mon. If I'd sat down before you, I would have logged in and searched just like you."

"Still, I should have been more careful… that could have cost us the case." She looked down in her lap, her arms limp at her sides.

Nick rested a paw on her shoulder. "It's alright, Fluff. We're partners, right? I got your back."

She turned to him, and the faintest glimmer of a smile danced across her muzzle. "I- yeah, I guess you're right," she said. "Thanks, Nick. For thinking of that, I mean."

"No problem," he said, letting out a sigh. The pair sat there for a few moments. "Hey, let's head back up to our desk. We don't wanna look suspicious down here. Besides, this place kinda gives me the creeps."

"Good idea," Judy said, and they began walking back up to the lobby. At the top of the stairs, they paused at the sight of the dozens of ZPD employees going about their daily routines. Clawhauser was multitasking eating something out of view and typing on his computer. They could see the Chief on the second floor, walking to his office while an ocelot from administrative services kept pace with him, talking quickly. Francine had just walked in the door laughing with Delgato. They could hear Fangmeyer's raucous laughter in one of the breakrooms. Even one of the janitors was busy mopping in a corner by the restrooms.

"Nick…" Judy began. "It could be any of these mammals."

Nick's head swiveled around, taking in just how many mammals the ZPD employed. He knew many of them well, and recognized nearly all of them. And one of them is selling us out.

Judy scanned the room around the lobby again before closing her eyes and slowly taking in a breath. She exhaled, counting to five as she did. "Okay, the mole could be anyone, but that's not gonna stop us." She turned to her partner. "What do you think we should do? We only have the one lead, and we can't search the databases here," she asked.

Nick was zoned out, though, and didn't hear a word she said. Mini-Finnick once more appeared in front of him, smiled once, and vanished. He waited for the uncomfortable itching sensation once again, but it never came.

She tugged on his uniform. "Nick? Hello?"

He was pulled out of his reverie. "What?" he asked.

"I was asking you if you had any ideas on where to go next."

It was Nick's turn to take a deep breath, but his was laden with an anchor of anxiety, weighing it down as it escaped his lungs. "I think I've got one idea, but I don't like it. You need to stay here, though. I've got this."

She raised an eyebrow. One of her paws shifted to her hip. "What are you talking about? If we're investigating something, I'm going with you." She stepped in front of him, daring him to question her.

"Trust me, Judy," he said. She faltered at the use of her name, and her face softened. "I think it's about time that I go see an old friend."