The waitress finished taking their order, and walked away. One of the perks of being celebrities across the city was that people recognized you, randomly. The owner's cousin was one of the affected in the Nighthowler case, and so, today, their meal was free. Nick didn't mind.

Management had redone the interior of the store. Gone were the days of egg-shell tile and yellow walls, instead it was all painted black with slick and shiny hardwood floors and countertops, low hanging lamps with a warm golden glow. Even the utensils were new, and the bowls and plates were rounded, white porcelain that screamed modern art. They sat near the full windows, Nick in his uniform, Judy in her jumpsuit.

"So…" The fox said, drawing the vowel as far as he could get away with. "Carrots."

"Nick?" She knew it wasn't a question. She knew this tone of voice.

"'Crazy'" He sipped on his glass of water. "...what was it exactly? 'Ex's'?"

"Sweet cheese and crackers, Nick."

Nick guffawed as he leaned back in his chair, idling chewing on a straw. His feet were kicked up and onto the polished wooden tabletop. "So there are stories."

"No!" Judy said, as her foot began to tap.

"Watch it, Thumpers, people might mistake your for an earthquake."

"You are the most," She fumed. "...impossible fox."

"High School Sweetheart?"

"You really want to get into this?." Judy said, as she shook her head. The food could not

get here fast enough, and she swore, if the noodles weren't as good as she had heard, she might seriously injure the man in front of her. "We dated for like three weeks in the 10th grade and he said he loved me. He couldn't imagine a life without me."

"So, what did you do?"

"What was I supposed to do? Be okay with it?"

"Cold, Bunny." Nick said. "Ice cold."

"Like you would know."

"Ouch, Carrots." Nick said, as he lowered his ears and put a hand over his heart, speaking softly. Judy rolled her eyes. "That, that really hurts."

"What was your romantic life like? Huh?" Judy said.

"Not many crazy ex's." Nick said.

"What, did they break up with you?" Judy said with a mock pout. Nick had let himself take a sip of his water, but as she spoke, he stopped. If only Judy knew. "Nick?"

"Sorry." Nick wiped his muzzle and said, "As if, Carrots."

"So you've always been the predator?"

"Wouldn't you like to know."

The waitress came around with their food, and the rabbit busied herself with chowing down. Nick didn't wait either, slurping up all the delicious goodness.

"Besides the lovesick bunny, what other ex's you got?" Nick asked.

"I don't." Judy said, "Stopped dating after that. Focused on school, and then I was at the Academy." She poked her food. "Not a lot of extra time for stuff like that."

"I see."

"How about you?"

"What about me?"

"How many hearts have you broken?" Judy said.

"Who says I have?"

"Wait. You are single, right?" Judy asked, a brief flash of panic crossing her face.

"Have I ever talked about having a girlfriend?"

"To be honest, Nick," Judy said as she finished swallowing some noodles, "You don't really talk about yourself."

"Sure I do, Hopps. Maybe you just don't listen."

"I don't even know where you live." Judy said. Nick closed his mouth and was silent, considering her words. "Except for a few times when you were in the Academy and during our first case, you haven't really told me that much about yourself, or your past."

The fox's eyebrows scrunched together and he pinched the bridge of his muzzle. He shook his head as he said, "I look like a damn fool, don't I?"

"I mean, you can be a dumb fox somedays."

"I'm sorry Judes. I didn't mean to keep any of that from you." Nick said, as he slumped down and closed his eyes.

"Hey, hey, it's okay." Judy said as she laid a paw across his. He opened his eyes and stared at her briefly. "Really, it's fine. I know you don't like talking about stuff like that." She smiled softly.

He nodded. "You bunnies like talking about your emotions, all the time." Nick pulled his arm back to grab his glass and take a long drink. He leaned back in his chair. "Not really my style. But it does beg the question, why didn't you say anything before?"

Judy shrugged, "There never was a good time to bring it up. Besides, it wasn't pertinent before."

"It is now?" Nick said, as he cautiously put his glass down.

"I just learned your mother's still alive." Judy said, "And now she's missing. What ever happened in your past...it could be helpful now."

The feet of the chair slammed into the ground as Nick leaned back in over the table. "Carrots, look, there might be a reason why I don't talk about my past."

"Oh?"

"I've done things, Carrots. Things I'm not proud of," he said.

"Haven't we all?"

Nick let out a quick burst of air, and said, "I didn't just dump some bunny back in High School, Judy. I was a bad kid, I did bad things with bad people. We can't live life out on the farm and come to the big city to la-di-da make our problems disappear."

Judy raised one eyebrow as Nick's shoulders sagged and he pushed the noodles away from himself.

"I just…" Nick shook his head, "I just don't want you to think less of me, Carrots."

"Oh, Nick." Judy said, "I don't think I could ever think less of you. You're my best friend."

Nick beamed at her and winked. "I do have a question though: What does my love life have to do with this case?"

"That's just something I was personally interested in." Judy said with a wave of her hand. The fox narrowed his eyes at her. "What?"

"Dumb bunny." Nick said, as he flicked her ear. "You're adorable."

"Nick!" She swatted as his hand, playfully. He had to look away, but he didn't know why. Judy laughed, and he turned back towards her with a cocked ear.

"You really are a sly fox." Judy said, "I don't know how you do it."

"Do what?"

"Dodge questions, avoid confrontation." Judy said, "You still haven't told me anything."

"Well...sorry." Nick said.

"What will it take for you to trust me?"

Nick was shocked by how much that actually did hurt. But he refused to let his resolve crack. "I do trust you." Nick said. "With my life."

"I know. I do too." Judy said, "And I want you to know that I don't mean to pressure you or anything. I just care about you, and I want to be here for you."

Her paw was a warm blanket wrapped over his hand. It was comfortable, radiating heat like a fire. He didn't pull away this time, but he couldn't look at her. He couldn't let anyone see. That promise he had to keep. But this was Judy; and his ears dropped at the realization. If he couldn't trust her, then who could he trust?

"Alright." Nick said. "Sly bunny. You see right through me. No more running. No more dodging. You have questions, I have answers."

"Thank you Nick." Judy said, "I know it's hard for you."

Nick nodded, "Yeah."

"And don't worry. We won't jump into the hard stuff first. Nice and slow, okay?"

"Sure." Nick said, as he flashed a grin. "What do you want to know?"

"Well.."

"Wait, we've got a time limit, remember?"

"Of course." Judy looked at the clock. "Twenty minutes should be enough for some small things. Let's start with what actually is relevant to the case. I think it might help if you tell me about your parents. Your mother specifically."

"Okay, Carrots." Nick said, as he began to rummage through his chest pockets. "You can borrow my notebook for this official police interview."

"Ha." Judy said, as she pulled out a little blue book and pencil. "I always carry a spare."

"Where?" Nick said, baffled.

"Nevermind that. Who were your parents? How did they meet?"

Nick looked out the window and crossed his arms. "I didn't really know my Dad too well, but Mom told me about how they met two or three years before I was born. Mom raised me though, all by herself."

"Did your father leave you two?"

"No." Nick said, "He died when I was two."

"How?"

"He was shot." Nick said.

"I'm so sorry."

"You didn't know."

"Why was he shot?"

Nick let out a half-hearted chuckle. "You know, I have no idea. I looked up the case file in the ZPD database my first week on the force. Still unsolved."

"What was his name?"

"Jonathan. Jonathan Wilde." Nick said, "He was 27 when he died."

"Do you remember anything about him?"

"His laugh." Nick said, "He had this really loud, deep sort of laugh. He could make anyone in the room smile with that laugh." Nick nodded, leaning on to his elbows and crossing his fingers together, staring at the floor. "I remember one night my mom was busy making food and it burned because I was being too much for her to handle. He came in as the fire alarm went off, and he just laughed. Kissed my mom, picked me up and got us carry out."

"He sounds wonderful." Judy said, "I'm sorry he passed on."

"Well, what can you do?" Nick said, "This town has eaten up better people than my dad."

"What does that mean?"

"He was a gangster." Nick said, "Worked for Il Maestro."

"Il Maestro?"

"He's the head of the Codilia Crime family." Nick said, "You didn't think Minkerton was nice to me because I grew up around here, did you?"

"I thought you did odd jobs for him."

"Only because he knew my dad, and said that he'd look out for me when I grew up." Nick said, "We were a protected family because Dad died in the line of duty or something for them. When the time came, he gave me a chance to prove myself."

"Did you?"

"That's another story for another time. We're talking about my parents." Nick said.

"Right. So, your mother. What happened between you two?"

"I don't really want to talk about it." Nick said, wringing his hand together, "At least, not here. Not now."

"Okay." Judy said. "When was the last time you spoke to her?"

"Carrots…"

"I don't need to know what happened. Just, basic information."

Nick grumbled, but agreed. "I was...sixteen."

"Wow."

"Yeah. Don't start." Nick said, "I've heard it from everyone."

"No you haven't." Judy said. "You've never told anyone else."

"I-what-how?"

"I don't have a minor in criminal psychology for nothing, Nick." Judy said, and when he still looked confused, she motioned to her face. "Micro-expressions. Helps you see things that even the best poker players are hiding. And, furthermore, just from knowing you, I think that the only person who beats you up about not talking to your mother is- yourself."

"If police work fails, you'd make a hell of a psychiatrist." Nick said.

"I'll keep that in mind." Judy said. "What did your mother do for a living?"

"Odd jobs here and there. Waitress most days, but when I was younger, thinking back, I'm almost positive she worked in a strip club." Nick said, "But I was too young at the time to connect the dots."

"Did she remain single?"

"No." Nick said. Judy recoiled, she didn't realize that Nick was part snake. Such venom in one tiny word.

"I take it she remarried?"

"When I was about nine." Nick said. "Met some guy. His name was Renard Stark. Real stand-up fella, if you know what I mean."

"What did he do?"

"He was abusive." Nick said, "But never in front of me. I think that was my mom's one rule with him. He would just shout and get drunk all the time. He'd pull my mom into the bedroom and in the morning she'd have bruises or, in the worst cases, cuts and slashes."

"Ouch. I'm sorry."

"You might want to record yourself on that pen of yours, Carrots." Nick said, "You'll want to give your voice a break from saying that before we're through."

"Did you do anything?"

"What was I supposed to do? I was 9!" Nick said, "I didn't know better. Those sorts of things just happened."

"Did they get a divorce?"

"Hell if I know." Nick said, "When I left they were still together."

"But your mother was living alone in that apartment." Judy said, "At least, I didn't see anything that indicated he was ever there."

"We would have seen bottles piled up in the corner." Nick said.

"But she still has the last name. Maybe he's dead?"

"Perhaps." Nick said, "But I think she would go back to her maiden name if that was the case. Or change it back to Wilde. She loved my dad-talked about him all the time, about what he would do if he was here. How he'd handle things, and how proud of me he would be. But, maybe that's all changed. It has been a few years."

"We'll have to check it out. Radio it in."

The fox gave a firm nod. "Dispatch." Nick said, as he clicked the radio on his shoulder on. "Dispatch, this is Badge 6987."

From the other end, the crackled, but still high-pitched voice of their neighborhood cheetah chimed in. "Hello Nick! How can I help you today?"

"Patch this through to R&I." Nick said, "We need to look up one Renard Stark. Male Fox, late fifties, early sixties. Give us anything you have on him."

"I'll get that in right away!"

"Thank you, Clawhauser. Badge 6987 out." Nick said, as he clicked it off. "Guess we'll find out soon enough."

"Ready to head out?"

"Sure thing, Carrots." Nick said, "And...thanks."

"For what?"

"For making me talk. It feels...good." Nick said. When the contented silence fell between them for just a moment, he coughed and brushed his shoulders. "Well, enough of all that. No need to cry in the middle of a noodle shop. Let's go, Carrots."

Judy stifled a giggle, as they stood up and left.