A/N: So I know when I started this i said about once a week updates. However I knocked this chapter out over the weekend, before I posted chapter 9, and really want to get it out as I'm already working on chapter 11 and should have it out by Saturday. I want to make up for the months I had to take off by giving you readers more of the story but at the same time I won't shorten on the lengths and details to put them out faster. I hope you enjoy this one and the ones to follow.


Nick stirred as the rising sun blasted into the room straight into his eyes. He got up carefully to not wake up Judy, grumbling to himself about getting new blinds. He went to the bathroom and relieved his aching bladder. Coming back into the bedroom and looked at her sleeping form in the bed and smiled, she had curled herself into a tight ball due to the lack of warmth Nick provided her. "I really am the luckiest fox in the world." He thought to himself as he watched her a bit longer before going to the kitchen to make some coffee.

He had a pot brewing and was warming up the oven when a set of paws wrapped around his waist, "Good morning, carrots, are you ready for your big appointment." Nick spoke as he laid his paw over hers lightly squeezing.

"I'm excited and nervous, this will be the first time actually seeing the dress, and I get to try it on as well. Is it really only a month away Nick, it seems like only yesterday we were at the gardens deciding to have the wedding there." Judy let go of her fox and walked over to the coffee pot pouring out two cups, adding just enough creamer to dull the bitterness.

"I'm just glad the board approved our application. Apparently, Janet tried to raise a commotion about it and got kicked out of the meeting then voted off the board that same night. Unfortunately, she took her money and two other big donors pulled their funds as well."

Judy walked over to the table with the steaming cups hopping into her chair, "I didn't know they lost money because of us. Maybe we should consider doing it somewhere else."

"That's not going to happen, carrots. We've already sent out the invitations. Besides, remember what you said that day. No way are we going to let one mammal ruin our day, especially our wedding day." Nick walked over to the table with some piping hot croissants, cheese, and spinach. "Double besides, Daniel told me not to worry, money is not a major concern of his for the garden. In his own words, 'There's a reason I'm the longest running board member'."

They both sat and enjoyed the meal Nick had brought to the table. Judy was on her 2nd sandwich when her phone started buzzing, she looked down and smiled seeing it was Fru-Fru. "Hey there Fru, are you here already? Oh, you're just leaving, ok. Thirty minutes, I'll be ready. Look forward to seeing you again, bye."

"So what are you going to do all day while I'm out with Fru?" Judy questioned taking another bite of her breakfast.

"Trying to track down my best mammal, ever since the kit bust I barley heard a word from him." Nick stared out the window. Finnick was out there somewhere, he just didn't know where. Nick made sure Finnick was released and they talked a few times mostly over texts but for the past six months he hadn't heard anything from him. "He used to disappear sometimes when we were hustling but only for a week or two then got right back into it. We've never been out of contact for this long."

"I'm sure it's nothing serious, Nick. He'll turn up." Judy looked at Nick but could see her words didn't really comfort him. She didn't even fully believe them but she tried to not show it in hopes Nick wouldn't catch on.

"I really hope so, Judy. If he got into any trouble over the trafficker case that's on me. I got him involved and right in the middle of it all. If he is in trouble I will do everything I can to see to it that he is safe." Nick continued to look out the window over the city, he was down there somewhere. He had no family outside Zootopia so he wouldn't have left, so why wasn't he responding to Nick's calls and texts?

Once they finished their breakfast Judy went to get ready for her day with Fru-Fru as Nick washed the dishes. He heard Judy's cell phone ring, listening to her talk he poked his head out the window and saw one of Mr. Big's limos parked outside. Pulling his head back in he felt Judy grab him by the waist resting her head on his back.

"Fru is here. Be careful out there looking for him. I know you're going to have to go into some questionable areas, just come back in one piece."

Judy let him go as he turned and leaned in for a kiss. "Scouts honor this fox will return in one piece."

Judy giggled and jumped up giving him one more kiss on the cheek before walking out the door. She took the elevator down wondering if Nick was truly going to be careful. He could be so stubborn, but also loyal, at times and if he saw Finnick in trouble he wouldn't think about the consequences to help him. Those thoughts got pushed to the back of her head when she walked outside seeing Raymond opening the limo door revealing the tiny shrew inside.

"Judy, it's so good to see you! So, are you excited for today?" Fru-Fru was sitting in a specially made seat in the limo nearly jumping out of it with excitement.

"I'm ready but also nervous, but not just for the dress fitting." Judy sat down and looked at her friend.

"Whats wrong, Judy? Do I need to make a call to dad?" Fru-Fru had a very serious look on her face.

"No, nothing like that. One of Nick's friends has gone missing. He helped us on that trafficker case two years ago and they have been in contact a few times since. But six months ago he stopped. Now Nick is worried he might be in trouble for helping us." Judy looked at the floor, knowing it wouldn't just be on Nick if anything happened to Finnick. She agreed to his help so it was partly on her as well.

"I'm still going to call daddy. Maybe he has heard something and can help." Before Judy could protest Fru-Fru already had her phone out calling Mr. Big. Judy sighed and gave her a description of Finnick, hoping he would listen to her and not get involved but just pass information to Nick and her. The last thing she needed was for one of Mr. Big's men to do something that she would then have to handle as a police officer.

"So, daddy is going to look into it, Judy dear. If some mammal has him, daddy will find out."

"Thank you Fru. Just please make sure to not get to involved. I really don't want to have to choose between my work and the family."

"Don't you worry about that. Daddy would never put you in that position. Now let's get on with the planning and celebrating! This is supposed to be a happy day, after all." Fru-Fru signaled to Raymond who pulled out a bottle of champagne and poured two glasses.

Judy finally relaxed and accepted the glass, "Okay, you win. So Nick and I talked it over and...


Nick had finished with the dishes and cleaning a bit of the condo before finally changing out of his pajamas. He sat down at the table pouring himself another cup of coffee looking over the last texts he had gotten from Finnick.

"So the last place you were staying at was in the rainforest district," Nick swiped through more texts. "A job to end them all and stop hustling. Shit, why didn't I take that as a warning?" Nick slammed his coffee down on the table and grabbed his jacket and notepad running from the table. He got into their car and drove as quickly as he could to the rainforest district. "Why have I been so dumb? A job to end them all and now no communication from him for six months. Even with everything going on in my life I should've seen that." Nick contemplated calling Judy but with no hard evidence, he didn't want to ruin her day with this, at least not yet.

He drove down by the river looking for signs of Finnick's van, one of his last messages said something about him setting up near the river basin. As he turned a corner he saw a homeless camp set up back in the trees, pulling over he parked the car and walked over. The whole place stank, the constant rain meant nothing ever dried out and the place had a musty odor that made him want to gag. A lot of the tents were just rain ponchos over sticks or wood pallets, a few mammals in circles chatting paying no attention to Nick. He spotted a gray fox sitting on the outskirts and approached him.

"Excuse me, may I ask you a question?" Nick asked as he sat down.

"I believe you just did, so I'm guessing you have another to ask." The older fox gave a chuckle as he looked at Nick. Upon seeing Nicks face he stopped. "You look very familiar, where have I seen you before."

"Nike Wilde, the first fox of the ZPD." Nick reached out his paw.

"Chester Jones, I thought you looked familiar. I saw on the news at a shelter what you and that bunny had done. However, I've also seen the ZPD as a whole turn a blind eye at times to us in these camps. So I'll ask you a question first; when you say you want to ask me a question is that as Nick Wilde, or Nick Wilde ZPD?"

"'Nick Wilde, that's it."

"Very well, what can this old fox do for you?"

"Well, Chester I have a friend, Finnick," Nick showed Chester a picture of Finnick and his van from his phone, "He disappeared six months ago and I need to find him. He may be in trouble and it's possibly due to some help he provided me two years ago."

Chester stared at the pictures, "He does look familiar, and that van absolutely does. I remember one night I saw a few mammals, I believe they were badgers, go into the back of that van. They were only in there for a few minutes but from the yelling I heard it couldn't have been good. Soon after they left the van tore off and I never saw it again, that was probably three or so months ago."

Nick was jotting everything down, "Thank you. At least I know he was ok three months ago. Maybe the job didn't pan out completely. Was there anything else that you can remember about that night?"

Chester scratched his head trying to think "Well the badgers hung around a bit after and spoke with some of the other mammals in the camp then left. But a day or two after a jaguar came by, asking about the van and that fox. No one in the camp had known where he went so he went crazy, tearing up tents, beating mammals, just going insane. After he was done he walked back into the forest screaming, 'If I find out any of you are helping him I'll kill everyone one of you. No mammal crosses Dimitri and gets away with it!'."

Nick started racking his brain, why did the name Dimitri sound so familiar? "Thank you, Chester. You have been a huge help."

"Not a problem, Nick. I hope you find your friend." Chester stuck out his paw as Nick took it.

"I will, hopefully under good circumstances. Either way, I WILL find him." Nick turned and headed for the car racking his brain as to why the name Dimitri sounded so familiar. He got into the car and turned it over. Why, why is that name so damn familiar? What is the connection to Finnick? Wait, Dimitri the panther, and Finnick. OH NO!


"Come on Judy let's see it," Fru-Fru was standing on the cushion bouncing in excitement for Judy to finally come out in her wedding gown, "I've been waiting for almost an hour now what is taking so long."

"We're doing some last minute pinning to get a slightly better fit, besides this thing is harder to get into than you would expect," Judy called out from the dressing room as the seamstress put another pin in and stepped back.

"I think that's it. You can go show your friend now." The beaver went to jot down some notes as Judy stepped down from the small platform and walked into the main room where Fru-Fru was waiting.

"Oh, Judy, you look stunning!" Fru-Fru stopped bouncing and just stared at Judy. She turned and looked into the full body mirrors in front of her. It was a pearl white dress, strapless sweetheart neckline with a small amount of trim lace hugging the top of her breasts. The tight fit continued down to her hips then flaring out as if it was water flowing off her body.

Judy stared at herself and couldn't believe it. Only one more month, and she would be walking down the aisle to Nick's waiting arms and join with him as his wife. That is if he would be able to get his jaw off the floor after seeing her.

"So any special plans for what to wear under it." Fru-Fru had a big smile on her muzzle as she asked.

Judy blushed at how straightforward she was, "I haven't really thought about it. I guess I should as it will be the first time Nick and I will completely be with each other."

"Are you telling me you and Nick haven't even seen each other naked yet?" Fru-Fru was shocked.

Judy turned to face the shrew, "No we haven't. We sleep together, but we change at different times and shower separately as well. I have teased him a bit but we promised each other we would wait until after we were married to become a mated pair."

"I'm surprised Judy! I always though bunnies never waited and once they found a mate they bounced on them right away!"

"Well, I'm not like normal bunnies, I really did want to jump onto Nick that first night we confessed our love to each other. However, it's an old fox tradition to wait so that's what we agreed on." Judy had stepped away from the mirrors and back to the seamstress to start removing the gown.

"Well we really need to get you something special for that night, then. It will be one to remember for the rest of your life." Fru-Fru let out a laugh as she continued, "You will absolutely remember it in the morning, especially with Nick being a fox. You may not walk right for a while."

Judy was glad she was behind the curtain as she started to turn completely red. How can she be so open about sex? It wasn't a subject spoken about in such a way back at the burrow and with her focusing so much on becoming a cop she didn't even really think about it. That is until she started dating Nick and then something inside clicked. Now it was like a fire burning inside, and only one way to extinguish it.

It was going to be a long month.

Judy came back out in her regular clothes as Raymond picked up Fru-Fru and they walked to the waiting limo. "Wait one second. I forgot to pay the seamstress."

Judy was turning around when Fru-Fru stopped her, "Don't worry about it Judy, it's all taken care of. It's daddy's wedding gift to you. He's covering all costs of your dress."

"Thank you, Fru! I don't know what to say." Judy started to tear up.

"You don't need to say anything, Judy. You're family and you always will be." Judy laid of paw next to Fru-Fru as she hugged it. Judy was about to speak when her phone rang, looking down she saw it was Nick.

"Hey, Nick, I have some great…"

"I need you at the docks right now, I think I may have found Finnick but he could be in serious trouble. I'm not completely sure so that's why I haven't called Bogo yet but I have a good suspicion that Dimitri, the panther behind the trafficking, has him at the docks. I need your help… ah shit." Judy heard screeching tires and horns blaring in the background.

"Nick what is going on?" Judy was scared the way Nick was talking, his tone was tense.

"I'm racing to the docks now and I need your help!" Nick was frantic now, "I'm ten minutes away from the building. How fast can you get here?"

"Maybe twenty minutes if traffic plays nice, but I'm in the limo with Fru-Fru right now. It's going to be hard for them to get me there and leave without being noticed." By now Fru-Fru was getting concerned as she had never seen Judy so nervous before.

"I don't care about that right now! Finnick could be hurt or dead for all I know… please, Judy, I need your help on this."

"Ok, Nick, I'll get there just please wait for me. Don't go in by yourself, I love you."

"I love you, too, Judy." Nick hung up the phone as he dodged between more cars seeing the cranes and buildings of the docks come into view. Two years ago he sent his best friend into that den with the promise of protection, now he was going back to fulfill that promise. He didn't have hard evidence Finnick was there, but he had a hunch he would at least find clues there.

He slowed down once he got near the warehouse. If someone was in there he didn't want to come screeching in. He got out and looked at the building. It was just as run down as the day the raid took place. The side door was still lying on the ground from where Mc Horn went crashing through it. Nick went quickly to the building finding a window to peek in but didn't see anything except shipping containers. Making his way around the building he got to the back bay doors and peeked in, still nothing. Quietly walking in he made his way up to the catwalks and the offices situated along the walls. He found bedrolls and trash everywhere that looked like some homeless mammals had taken up residence at some time but hadn't been there for some time.

Nick heard noises coming from one of the offices further in but couldn't make it out. He went to pull his tranquilizer pistol but remembered he wasn't in uniform and didn't have it. Looking around he found a piece of rebar and grabbed it like a bat slowly making his way to the noises. He went into an office next to where the noises were coming from and found a hole to look through and the image made his blood boil.

There was Finnick tied to a chair, a shadow of his former self. One eye was swollen shut from apparent beating and he was so skinny it looked like he had hardly eaten. Nick looked as best he could to make sure no-one else was in there, once he was sure Finnick was alone he went back onto the catwalk and into the room.

Getting into the room made Nick even more furious, apparently, he had been there for a while as he was covered in his own filth. It made nick gag slightly but he fought through it and went closer to his friend.

"Finnick," Nick said as quite as possible. He saw Finnick's ears twitch slightly and a small grunt but nothing more. "Finnick, buddy, it's me, Nick. I'm here to get you out of here." More small movements and grunts from the small fox but nothing more.

After all the bonds were off Nick reached for his phone and Judy's name. She picked up after the first ring. "Judy I found him. Call Bogo and get them, AHHHHH." Every muscle in Nick's body suddenly tensed as every nerve seemed to fire at once causing Nick to shake uncontrollably as an excruciating pain shot through his side. He dropped to the floor and though his body was still early controllable he turned his head toward the door to be met with a pair of golden eyes.

"Hello, officer Wilde. It's a pleasure to meet you again. You took quite a bit of money from me two years ago. I think it's time for you to pay that back." The jaguar towered over Nick as a wicked smile grew on his muzzle.


"Nick, NICK! Answer me, Nick!" Judy was screaming into her phone trying to get a response. She heard talking but it was directed to her, someone was talking to Nick but she couldn't hear what was being said.

She then heard scrapping as Nicks phone was being picked up, "Judy, huh? Well, once I'm done with these two foxes I'll be coming for you as well." With that Nick's phone went dead, she tried calling it back but it went straight to voicemail every time.

She quickly dialed Bogo's personal line, "This better be important Hopps, this line is for…"

"Someone has Nick!" Judy interrupted Bogo, "He's at the warehouse where we did that raid two years ago. He went looking for his friend but someone attacked him."

"Where are you now, Hopps?" Bogo's voice completely changed.

"I'm heading there right now. He asked me to back him up because he didn't have complete proof of him being there but he was sure some mammal had him."

"Hopps, this is going to be difficult for you but I need you to stop. If someone does have him, you alone would be in no position to help him. You could get captured too and then I would have three mammals as hostages. Get to ZPD headquarters and geared up, well have a team spinning up shortly." Bogo was doing his best to talk Judy out of going in alone.

"Chief, I'm only five minutes away! If I turn around now it's at least twenty to ZPD headquarters. Have someone grab my gear and I'll wait by the warehouse."

Bogo knew there would be no way to convince her to come back, "Alright, Hopps, but do NOT go in alone. I don't care what you hear or see, do not go in!"

"I can't promise anything, Chief, but I'll try." Judy hung up the phone after that, knowing Bogo would keep taking trying to keep her out of the building. Nick was in there in serious trouble, there was no way she could stay out.

"Judy, are you sure about this?" Judy looked at Fru-Fru, "I know that look, you're not going to wait. You're going in and no-one is going to be able to stop you is there?"

"Sorry, Fru-Fru. He risked his life for me so how could I not do the same? Finnick is in trouble because of us and now Nick is in there because we made the promise to keep him safe. I HAVE to go in, there's no question about it." Judy had a fire growing in her eyes. Nick had saved her several times. No way could she just sit on her paws hoping the ZPD would get there in time.

"Well, there's nothing we can do to stop you but we can at least help you. Raymond, give it to her." The polar bear opened a hidden door in the side of the limo and pulled out a tranquilizer pistol handing it to Judy.

"Thank you, Fru-Fru. Drop me off then leave. There's no way I can get you involved in this, just giving me this gun could get you in trouble" Judy checked to see how many darts were in the gun.

"Judy, daddy doesn't do the things he does without knowing how to stay out of trouble. Something like this won't hurt us one bit, but we will leave soon after. However, if we don't hear anything from you soon daddy may take more direct action." Fru-Fru was patting Judy's paw trying to comfort her.

The limo pulled into the docks and straight for the abandoned warehouse. True to their word they dropped Judy off and left. She turned around once the limo was out of sight, "I'm coming Nick." She checked to make sure a dart was chambered and walked into the warehouse.