A young rabbit sat in the back of a police cruiser; her glossy, hopeless eyes peering out the window at the dusty trail they were driving down, the dirt of the road bathed in the garish red and blue lights spouting from the top of the vehicle. She ebbed in and out of consciousness, the hopeless dreariness of her circumstances drawing her into a dream like trance before blaring sirens pulled her back into reality.

BunnyBurrow

In all its scenic grandeur- its pastoral setting was often written about in romance novels penned by city dwellers – the district was in reality as gritty and unsentimental a place one could hope to find. From Judy's perspective, the burrows weren't a part of Zootopia meant to be romanticized. They were an unintentionally wicked place, festering with speciesism.

The kindly folk of the burrows, in all of their good will towards one another, could never seem to find it in themselves to love an outsider. Sure, they wouldn't spit in a predator's face. They would politely shake their paw, all the while stealing disapproving glares from a safe distance.

They were always waiting.

Waiting for something that would prove them right. That those chompers weren't to be trusted.

"Hey, Kid!" Judy was drawn back into reality again by a sound that somehow grated against her ears more than the police sirens.

"Hey, you awake back there?" the officer tilted his rear view mirror to get a better look at the teen.

Judy pulled the shock blanket currently wrapped around her tiny body a little tighter. "Yeah?"

"Mind telling us what it was like? Seeing as we did just save you and all" the driver chuckled to himself before nudging his partner slightly, a single paw on the steering wheel. The rabbit officer riding shotgun simply laughed at his buddies offhanded comment.

"What-What was…um…about what was it….what it was like?" Judy struggled to speak, her mind still swimming after the events of the night.

"You know, being kidnapped by that tod?" the driver insisted.

"I wasn't kidnapped."

Ignoring the continuous wail the siren provided, the car became horribly silent.

"You think-" the bunny in the passenger seat started, turning to look at his partner.

"Yeah, yeah…" the driver spoke as if he already knew what his friend was going to say.

"Heard about it happening a few times in the city on the news; don't get many kidnappings around here."

"Yeah…" driver replied again, sucking air through his teeth.

The rabbits in the front continued talking amongst themselves, as if the younger bunny in the back ceased to exist entirely. Judy sunk further back into her seat.

"Stockholms, right?" the officer in the passenger seat piped up again.

"Mhm, happens to hostages sometimes. Rare but it happens," the driver took a swig from his coffee cup sitting in his cupholder, "but I'm willing to bet my fluffy ass that this younger generation-" he nodded back to the rabbit seated behind them, "- are a bit more, what's the word… 'susceptible' to it. Kids these days don't know what they want as it is! Pile on a traumatic experience, and it's no wonder they start empathizing with their captor!"

The officer in the passenger turned back to look at Judy affectionately, but something in his eyes told her that he didn't care as much as he let on. "Feel real sorry for ya, darlin. Gonna get you fixed in no time, ya hear?"

She stared back at him thoughtlessly, her eyes unable to betray the irate emotions running amok inside of her now. The only thing keeping her from exploding at the officer right now was the numb feeling that worked its way up her body, insidiously finding its home in her muscles, cursing her bones with a chilly grip as it bore into her head.

Of course, the fact that they wouldn't listen to her regardless probably factored into her resignation as well.

Let them think what they want.

"But I knew them foxes were trouble! Don't you remember that one fox? Grey was his family name, don't remember what they called him, but the kids been going to group therapy sessions since his middle school days!" the driver started again.

"You ain't never heard of a rabbit going to one of those." His partner spat back.

"Nuh-uh, you ain't never heard of that, so why do they keep letting em into the burrows?" the officer rose a paw off of the steering wheel, waving it in the air in indignation.

"That's what I've been sayin."

Two rabbits walked side by side down the dirt path of the burrows, the trail to town bustling despite it being almost midnight now. The younger bunny followed slightly behind the chalky white jackrabbit leading the way, fumbling around with his phone. The rabbit in lead held his nose up high, his hands in his pockets. It looked like he hadn't a care in the world, but nothing could be further from the truth.

"Ay, yeah Jack, Dewey says they got em. The coppers are taking them to town square now." The younger rabbit crammed his phone back into his coat pocket, jogging to catch up to his friend.

"Mmm…" the white rabbit continued walking down the path, not bothering to look back at his companion.

"This ended up working out surprisingly well, don't you think?" the younger rabbit asked, now walking side by side with Jack.

"Mhm" the other rabbit continued walking.

"Hey, something the matter?" the concerned bunny asked, punching his buddies shoulder gently.

"Charlie!" Jack pushed his friend back, not in the mood to be touched. "I'm thinking! Can it will ya?"

"Ok! Geez louise man!"

The rabbits continued around the corner, the town square in sight. The area was starting to fill up, and rather quickly. Neither of the bunnies could recall a gathering of this size in recent memory. The vegetable fair itself didn't attract this meaning mammals!

"Jack…"

"What!? What do you want?" the jackrabbit scowled at his friend, his train of thought broken again.

"What's your deal tonight? You were fine when we were hangin' with the fellas earlier, something's got you down."

The white rabbit sighed, rubbing his arm his arm tenderly under his coat sleeve. The two found an empty bench and decided to take it before someone else did.

"I've just got a weird feeling about this, man." the rabbit exhaled while speaking, leaning back on the bench in exasperation.

"Wait, what's there to feel weird about, we've got all our aces in the hole!" the other bunny sat up as he spoke.

"Man, just-"

"Jack, bro. Chill out-"

"Do you know how far they're going with this tonight?" Jack's voice was strained, he clearly wasn't in the mood to argue.

But he would.

"Does it matter?"

"Well, ki-"

"Look" Charlie clasped his paws together in front of his face and took a moment to breathe on them before rubbing them together in an attempt to warm up. "You're the one who called Officer Peabody up and told him to go on a fox hunt. If there's one guy who can't back out of this, it's you." the rabbit emphasized his point by poking his friend in the sternum.

"Ok! I get it…" Jack leaned against the back rest again, rubbing his arm nervously.

"You know I won't let you do anything stupid, right?" Charlie asked, trying to make himself comfortable sitting on the cold wood of the bench.

"Right…" Jack agreed, eyes narrowing as he slipped back into deep thought. "Wait, hey!" He nudged his companion, "I think they're bringing em in now!" he said, pointing at the police cruiser in the distance.

Both rabbits hopped off the bench and blended into the crowd, the mass of mammals having only grown larger since they had last bothered to look.

The closer the cruiser had come to the center of the town, the slower the ride became. It looked like everybody in the surrounding area had gathered to the town square. If Judy hadn't known any better, she would dare say that all of bunnyburrow had left their homes to rubber neck tonight. Amidst the radiating waves of raving rabbits - raging at whoever was currently in the middle of the square- stood the odd panther, cougar or sheep, not bunnies, but curious all the same.

Whatever had them worked up, it was apparently egregious enough to form a mob.

Judy had a terrible feeling. Deep down, she knew exactly why they all gathered here tonight. Rocks, rope and tree branches in their paws. Each rabbit's face baring a look of scorn, their anger fully justified in their own eyes.

She thought she saw Jack amongst the mob.

All of her fears were confirmed the moment she stepped out of the police car, tugging her blanket around herself again as the cold summer air swallowed her whole again. In the middle of the square stood a red fox, collared to the wild oak tree that stood as the centerpiece for the town. On his face, Nick wore a cold expression, but not one of anger or fear. For the first time since she met him, Judy read in his eyes a feeling of understanding. As if he already knew what his fate was.

As if he knew what he was destined to become since the day his train rolled into Bunnyburrow.

Without sparing her a look - understandably, as there was no way he could see her face in the crowd of look-alikes currently swarming him - the fox allowed his eyelids to droop, accepting his destiny with open arms. Or at least they would be open had two of the burliest police officers Judy had ever seen maintaining a tight, unapologetic grip on each of them.

"Stay with us kid, we won't let him hurt you." the rabbit who had driven her into town spoke, not even taking the time to look at her, instead turning away to ogle the horrible site in front of them.

She waited a spell. Holding her breath as she stared at the back of the heads of the two officers, their eyes still trained on the spectacle unfolding before them.

Without a word, her delicate feet- still blistered and bruised from the long walks she had enjoyed earlier that day- carried her off into the middle of the crowd.

"Why'd you do it?" an elderly rabbit asked the fox, still standing in the town square.

"I didn't do anything wrong" was Nick's only reply, his visage worn.

"I can't help you son if you don't tell me."

The fox looked out at the crowd, each and every one of them bellowing about how he needs to be "put to justice", all of them having a clear and concentrated vision of justice in each of their minds.

"To be honest sir, I don't think you could help me if you wanted to." As the fox spoke, the corners of his lips turned up into a jeering smile. No, they only wanted a show. The last two days had been more than enough of a pageant for the fox. He lowered his gaze to the floor as he thought.

Growing up in the city, he had friends. Animals who would come and go every now and then. Girlfriends who would fade in and out of his life, much like anyone else might experience. Living in the city, experiencing everything he had; it didn't come close to what transpired over the days prior to his current situation. Once again he found himself with friends, people who apparently cared about him. Unsurprisingly, they didn't, and when he found himself on the outside again; taunted, hissed at, jibed, he wasn't as surprised as one would expect.

The actual moment of blissful revelation didn't come until a certain bunny rabbit, despite her jeering peers, stood up for him. She had protected him. Maybe she even loved him a little? Maybe she didn't. Maybe it's all for the best that any stain Nicholas Wilde was prone to leave on the world is washed away after tonight. What would they have done had they gone to the city anyways? Had they avoided capture? For all he knew, the two would be sick of one another in weeks.

Nick had always hated those old, saccharine romance novels his mother had taken up months after his father had passed away, but he had to admit, the idea that his torch would be snuffed out before he ever had the chance to ruin a relationship with the most gorgeous rabbit he had ever laid eyes on fit into one too poetically to leave unappreciated.

As the fox raised his gaze, his eyes met with one amethyst pair that he actually recognized.

It looked like - if only for a moment- Nick had found her in the crowd, though Judy knew that was impossible. She was just another face in the storm of rabbits. She swam through the tumultuous sea of bunnies, trying her hardest to get closer to the old oak tree in the center of the town. She pushed, ignoring the annoyed comments from the nosey rabbits engulfing her. Deeper, deeper and deeper still she swam, holding her breath as she propelled herself between aggravated mammals. It wasn't until she was met with the back of one mammal in particular that she stopped her desperate struggle.

It was a little hard to tell with the poorly crafted street lamps and the silvery moon beams shining down on the townspeople acting as her only form of light, but the fox standing before her looked familiar. Her back to the little rabbit, Judy could still recognize the curvy figure in front of her.

The violet dress she wore, despite looking worn and sweaty.

The bonnet that was tied snugly at her chin, despite being slightly disheveled.

The clawed paws that writhed together as she held them behind her back, despite the stoic appearance of the rest of her stance.

She'd seen this women before, the day she got off the bus with Nick. The fox had opened the door for the two and introduced herself, briefly. It's unlikely that she even remembered the bunny.

But Judy remembered her.

"Mrs. Wilde?" Judy spoke in a loud whisper as she joined the woman side by side. Both girls staring at the fox currently being paraded around.

Without so much as looking at the rabbit, Nick's mother spoke: "I killed him."

Judy's eyes widened in horror for the first time in the last hour, the mother's dismal comment sobering the bunny rabbit from her shocked state.

"They told me to answer the phone, and I did. They had come in early that afternoon and told me they were going to wait for a call from him. That I didn't have a choice in the matter." As she spoke, the woman continued to eye her son longingly. "If I refused to help, I would be charged as an accomplice."

Judy nearly spoke, but choked instead. Her dry, itchy throat catching her before she was able to say anything.

"It didn't really matter - if I'm telling the truth - when I heard the phone ring I picked it up as quickly as possible. If it was him, I knew what it meant. But, I wanted to hear his voice again. I didn't think he would rush to tell me where he was." Judy felt her heart break as the mother fox spoke, the expressionless look on the women's face adding a macabre tone to her words. "I shouldn't have answered. I-killed-him." The vixen took time to emphasize each syllable of every word in her final sentence.

"No" Judy found it in herself to finally speak, turning her stare back to Nick again, same as Mrs. Wilde had.

"No?"

"No."

"What do you mean 'no'?"

Her gaze still trained on the fox in the center of the town, the bunny spoke clearly and deliberately. "I killed him."

There was a shared silence between the fox and the rabbit.

"…Judy, right?"

"Yes Ma'am."

The mother let out an aggravated sigh. For a moment, she was afraid that the older women would kill her right then and there.

"Why'd you do it?" the fox spoke again, evidently deciding not to tear the little rabbit's head clean off.

"I-I don't know." Judy explained, trying to maintain her resolute gaze at Nick while choking back her tears for the umpteenth time that night. "Jack- my old boyfriend- came into my house and told my parents that Nick kidnapped me," her tears felt notably warm as they ran down her wind-kissed, poised face, "Nick was in the bathroom, and I knew that my dad would have dragged him out given the chance. They always adored Jack… they would never have listened to me. They love me, but like anyone else in this town, they relished the thought that foxes were inherently evil. Why would they believe their delirious little daughter?"

Mrs. Wilde slowly exhaled through her nose.

"So I played along, I told them I would go get Nick. I explained that he wouldn't see it coming if I went in first." The rabbit swallowed hard. "And," she paused for a moment, blinking her teary eyes enough to clear them so that she could keep her focus on Nick, "I took him and ran. I knew what would happen if we got caught. A bunny admitting to her parents that she was kidnapped by a fox wouldn't look good, so we-" she threw her paws up into the air as she spoke, her voice cracking, the carefully chosen words barely audible over her own sickly sobs. "-we just weren't going to get caught, simple as that." She inhaled deeply, sending an intense shiver through her small, lithe body. "So yeah, I know…I know. I know, I know, I know it was stupid, I just couldn't see any other way out." As she finished her story she brought her paws to her face, wiping the streaming tears from her eyes.

A fox's paw found its way to her pack, massaging the quaking bunny with the gentle touch only a mother could give.

"I didn't mean that." Mrs. Wilde had finally torn her gaze from her son, now looking down at the sobbing rabbit. "I want to know why you went with him in the first place."

"…He's a friend…" Judy held her stare on Nick still, her words pouring from her mouth like a prayer as she spoke. "and, I think I love him."

The mother fox continued to caress the rabbits back. "But why did you guys run away?"

"Ni-Nick…" Judy started, "Nick was being bullied. I didn't know what people were capable of. I knew the rabbits of Bunnyburrow - as an unspoken rule - didn't like foxes, but I didn't know…"

"You 'didn't know what they were capable of'…" Mrs. Wilde repeated the rabbit's words back to her, almost as if they reflected a piece of the fox's own beliefs. The mother spoke her next few words gingerly, sobs of her own finally filling her own sentences. "I guess… you need to see bigotry with your own eyes… if you ever hope to open someone else's."

"Ma'am…" the rabbit spoke up again, almost interrupting the fox with her own abruptness, "Nick is more than a martyr for some cause."

The crowd only grew in size as the night went on, every new addition to the mob adding his or her voice to the constant babble. A series of bad choices culminated in a crisis here tonight, and to an outsider the angry rabbits- their faces orange and black due to the dim street lights- may look alien, or monstrous. What an outsider wouldn't be able to tell you, however, is just why it was that they were so angry. To tell you the truth, most of the bunnies themselves wouldn't be able to give you an actual answer.

They might tell you that the fox deserves what's coming to him.

"That wild animal kidnapped our Kin, no fox is going to mess with one of our does…"

"Gosh… It- It's for the safety of our own. I hate it as much as the next rabbit, but I can't ignore the fact that this kid is trouble…"

"Our Zootopia would be better off if a fox went missing tonight…"

The heated phrases could be witnessed rising up from the horde of animals as if they were a single, massive breath; exhaled by the rabble of indignant mammals, mixing in with the raw nightly air enclosing them, warming their chilly bones.

All the while, the fox standing in the core of the mob was left thinking about what could have been. It didn't really matter, but since he would never find out, he let himself entertain the idea…

They would take the bullet train to the main city. Judy would rest her head in the crook of his arm as they sped off into the night, eventually lulled to sleep before they ever got there. Or maybe, the two would spend the entire ride pointing out the landmarks they shot past, playing an improvised game of "I spy". Who would win? Neither of them of course! After the hell they went through getting on this train they would be too sleepy to remember what they had been "spying" in the first place, but it would be pretty great regardless, Nick assured himself.

Eventually, their ride would come to an end, and, after Judy picked her jaw up off of the floor, Nick would take her sight sightseeing. They wouldn't have a place to live, so they would have all night to look around the city. You know, when the young fox lived there himself, no part of the city impressed him.

After his father died, and he ran away from home, Nick took some time to explore the urban, concrete jungle that is the downtown district. Once the bright flashing lights and bustling streets lost their inherent, awe inspiring charm, it became another pointless district. Most places become petty and dull when you lose somebody you love.

With Judy at his side, the city would spring to life again. They could go running through the central park together. Maybe they would visit a museum or two, or three…dozen. They might see if they could find a late night baseball game going on, and watch from under the bleachers like he must have over a hundred times when he was a lonely kit.

When they got tired he would lead her back to his old neighbourhood, and take her to the old bridge he would often hang out with his friends under. They would stay there for the night, chatting about everything they had done that day, all the trouble they escaped.

And then they would wake up and do it again.

And again.

And again.

Until, one day- inevitably, Nick assured himself- his bunny companion would get sick and tired of living on the streets. Sick and tired of his dumb jokes and crazy antics. Sick and tired of living a life other than the cozy one she used to have living on the country side, and she would leave him. She would go back home.

And, the city would become just as dull and petty as it had been all those years ago.

"Judy!" the familiar voice of a male rabbit called out to her amidst the crowd, its owner pushing through the mobbing mammals.

Her parents had found her.

"Judy, shouldn't you be with a police escort, or… or something?" Bonnie asked when the two parties finally met, still struggling to catch her breath.

"They're off enjoying tonight's festivities." The younger rabbit spoke scornfully, looking away from her parents and off at the fox in the center of the town. "I guess I was wrong, there really are some things more important than doing your job when you're a police officer."

Her parents shared a concerned glance at one another before turning their attention back to their daughter. "But, why did you let him take you and run off? Why didn't you just call for help?" her mother started again.

"I took him and ran off, and I certainly didn't need anyone's help." The little rabbit spat back at the two, head still facing towards the epicenter of all of the commotion.

"Judy… You don't actually-"

"I don't actually what?" Judy cut her father off in the middle of his sentence.

"You don't …" Stu hesitated as if the thought was too vile to be spoken aloud.

"Spit it out dad!"

"You don't sympathize with the fox, do you?" as the rabbit spoke.

Bonnie thought she saw that female fox who had been keeping Judy company twitch in discomfort at her husband's remark.

"Ma'am-" Bonnie raised an eyebrow and held her paw out to Mrs. Wilde.

"Yeah, I do actually! I feel a great deal of sympathy for an innocent mammal." Judy interrupted her mother.

"How can you sympathize with your kidnapper?" the father spat back.

"He didn't kidnap me!" Judy brought her paws up to her temples. It's biting her in the ass.

"Is that what he told you?" her mother chimed in, drawn back into the conversation.

"No- Mom- I… oh sweet cheese and crackers…." There wasn't an easy way out of this.

Before Judy could even begin to explain herself, a shudder made its way through the crowd. From what the little rabbit could tell, the entire mob was now pushing its way to the front, the yelling growing louder than it ever had been before.

They'd grown tired of waiting.

"Stop! Stop it!" Judy yelled, diving back into the sea of bunnies, Mrs. Wilde trying her hardest to catch up, unable to squeeze through the crowd like the little bunny had.

"Please!" Judy shouted again.

The horde couldn't hear the desperate plight. Their chorus of cries for justice were too deafening. Nobody paid any attention to the little rabbit, her voice driven away by the raging storm.

Hell, even if they could hear her, no one would listen anyways; the bunny knew this.

So when she finally reached the fox, she did the only thing she could.

It had happened without warning.

Nick wasn't sure who made the decision, but the moment he noticed the absence of the two burly rabbit paws on his arms, he knew he was in for a world of pain.

The first blow to his stomach knocked the wind out of him, one of the nearby rabbits had sucker punched him. Evidently, in the burrows, that's an open invitation for the rest of the mob to join in. Someone grabbed him by the collar and hurled him to the ground, allowing anyone close enough to strike him. Each time he tried to stand, paws would find their way around the chain currently linking him to the tree, yanking him back down to the ground.

The brutish paws that came crashing down with a painful thump every time they beat against him hurt.

The tree branches that broke as they were bashed against his back hurt.

The rattling noise which rang out in his ears whenever his head was struck with a stone hurt .

The thought that he had saw his darling rabbit for the last time completely maimed him.

"Wait!" the fox heard a weepy voice call out, its owner standing in front of him with her arms stretched out. "You don't need to do this!"

"Move it, girl!"

"What are you doing!? Do you want to get yourself killed?"

"Get out of the way or you're next kid!"

Judy had stuck her neck out for him again. She was the one thing separating him from the hungry maw of a thousand angry bunny rabbits.

"If- if you- If you just let me explain, we can have this whole thing sorted out!" Judy stammered out, trying her hardest to sound elegant.

"Judy, what are you doing! Get out of there!" her parents had finally caught up.

"Mom, Dad its fine! We're going to get through thi-" Judy had turned to her parents, only to be met with a sharp stone to the head.

"No" the fox thought to himself. "No, no…No! Judy!"

Nick crawled as far as his collar would allow, barely reaching her. He scooped her up into his arms just as the tidal wave of bunnies crashed up against them again, holding her tight in a fetal position as he bore the onslaught.

"Judy! Oh god…" the fox choked out sobs as he cradled the rabbit. The raging sea of angry mammals swallowing the two of them whole.

"You're killing him! Stop, oh god stop!" Nick's mother had finally reached the front of the crowd.

"Shut the fuck up." A male rabbit had grabbed her by the waist and hoisted the fox into the air, only to throw her to the ground with a horrifying thump.

"Wait!" Bonnie and Stu had called out in unison, their cries taken with them as they were forced back by the rest of the crowd.

"This is…" a jackrabbit spoke, turning to his friend.

"Yeah, it's pretty crazy isn't it, Jack?" the other rabbit wore a satisfied grin on his face as the two watched the ensuing riot.

"It wasn't ever supposed to go this far Charlie…" Jack replied.

"Well, I don't know what you were expecting." Charlie tore his eyes away from the action to give his friend a concerned look. "You aren't feeling for the fox, are ya?"

"Course not, but Judy's stuck in the middle of it now so-"

"So what?" Charlie shoved Jack slightly.

"So I'm gonna go call this whole thing off-"Jack shoved the other rabbit back, almost walking out into the crowd before being pulled back by his companion.

The younger rabbit wrapped his paws around Jack's collar. "You can't take it back. Why don't you just sit back and enjoy the show?" he jostled the rabbit a little before slapping him gently on the face. "So, chill out, ok?"

Once released from his friends grip, Jack struck him in the jaw with a closed fist, leaving the other rabbit out cold, not bothering to look back as the crowd engulfed him.

"Guys! Hello!? Guys, there's been a huge misunderstanding!" Jack shouted as he struggled to get to the front of the crowd. In the midst of a thousand other yelling voices, however, his own was nothing special.

"Hey!" he shouted again before being shoved to the ground. The rest of mob had gotten rowdy now, and fights were breaking out throughout the entire crowd. He got up again and brushed himself off, carefully making his way past the quarrelling rabbits.

"Hey, Yo! Officer Peabody! Over here!" Jack called out to one of the cops who had been assigned to Nick earlier.

"Jack, what's wrong?" the large rabbit asked.

"Man, am I glad to see you. Look, there's been a huge misunderstanding. Turns out the fox didn't kidnap anyone after all."

"But, you said-"

"Yeah I know what I said, but a guy can be wrong sometimes, can't he?" Jack said, apathetically shrugging his shoulders as he spoke.

The officer inhaled deeply before releasing a heavy sigh, taking a knee so that he would be on eye-level with the other rabbit.

"Look kid, I get it. Things like this, they're nasty," He rested his paw on Jack's shoulder, "doesn't mean we can just ignore what he did. There's a price to be paid-"

The jackrabbit allowed the officer's words to be drowned out by the hundreds of other noises ringing out that night. If they didn't get off of them soon, Judy would be...

The younger rabbit tore away from the cop, running out into the heart of the mob.

"Guys?!" Jack shouted again, trying his hardest to push between the group of rabbits, and the fox.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing Jack, get out of the way!"

"Get the fuck out of there!"

"C'mon, again?!"

The crowd hissed at the other rabbit synchronistically.

"Hold on!" Jack shouted, his paws raised defensively. "Just, hear me out!" he was struggling to shout over the crowd.

"Let Nature run its course Jack!" the policeman from earlier could be heard shouting amongst the crowd.

Despite his desperate pleas, he was only one rabbit standing in the way of many. With ease the crowd converged on the fox again, tossing the jackrabbit to and fro. Time and time again, Jack dove through the crowd to reach Nick and Judy, only to be dragged away again.

"Stop! Didn't I tell you to stop!? What do you want me to say!?" he shrieked. The warm anger stemming from the crowd almost seemed to manifest itself in the orange street lights, igniting the entire square in a phantom blaze, a hellish nightmare.

"You're killing her!"

And the crowd did not relent.

"Please! I didn't mean for this to happen!"

And the crowd did not relent.

"It was all a joke!"

And the crowd did not relent.

"I lied! I fucking lied! You're killing two innocent kids!" the jackrabbit finally broke down, his typical calm and collected exterior melting to the ground around them.

Slowly but surely, the crowd calmed down.

No one in Bunnyburrow had ever seen Jack cry, let alone shriek for mercy.

The Sticks and stones found their way to the floor.

The aggrieved cries for justice became gentle whispers of concern.

The once tumultuous ocean of rabbits dulled into a calm ocean, still buzzing with dormant, terrifying strength.

But calm.

"I lied, ok?" Jack choked the words out between sobs. "I lied because I'm a selfish, jealous asshole." The rabbit wiped the tears in his eyes away.

Cautiously, Nick looked up from his position on the floor Judy strained to crawl out from under him, having been hidden beneath the fox in an effort to protect her from the brunt of the mob.

"Jack…" the police rabbit from earlier started. "You could have gotten these kids killed, do you know what you've done?"

The other rabbits in the crowd turned to one another, each and every one of them murmuring something to the other. Many of them nodded their heads, cries of "Yeah!" and "shame on you" echoing into the now eerily still night.

Judy, finding the strength to stand – and an opportunity to speak her mind – crept over to jack.

"Shame? On Jack?" she asked the crowd, several of the other rabbits faces contorting in a look of confusion.

"Judy…" Jack held his paw out to her shoulder, only to have it swatted away.

"What Jack did… was horrible." The female rabbit spoke, trying to catch her breath, her heartbeat finally slowing back down to a reasonable pace. "I- I don't think I could ever forgive him…"

For the first time that night, Judy had all eyes on her, each and every one of the rabbits listening intently.

"But none of you did the right thing either. Any one of you could have stopped this." She paused for a moment, closing her eyes in reflection. "I didn't do the right thing. We all fucked up and," she watched as the wounded Mrs. Wilde made her way over to her son, slumping to the floor next to him, "and innocent people suffered because of us."

With that, the town square fell to silence, a blanket of stillness spreading out over the crowd, their hearts in their throats.

Eventually, the silence was broken.

"Jack, I'm going to need you to come with me." The stoutly bunny cop from before took the smaller rabbits paw in his own. Jack didn't fight it. Instead, he willingly walked off with the older rabbit.

As the last of the patrol cars left the square, the mob-goers slowly began the trudge back to their respective burrows.

It had been a long night.

Judy rested against the oak tree Nick had been chained to, accompanied by the fox and his mother. A long night indeed. The three slumped together, too tired to move.

"Mrs. Wilde?" it was Mr. Hopps. "Let us drive you to the town clinic. Its…the least we can do." He held his farmers cap in his paws, scrunching it up in his paws.

Turning to her son, and then to the little bunny rabbit that laid beside her, Mrs. Wilde looked up at Judy's parents and nodded cordially.

"You're lucky to have made it out alive, you know that?" the bunny nurse explained as she wrapped the gauze around Nick's head. Her eyes were red and puffy, as if she had been crying not all that long ago. "You two will be staying her overnight, we're gonna keep an eye on you."

The fox nodded.

"Thank you…" Judy spoke quietly, her head still pounding.

"We're a small clinic. We can't do much for you, but I'll do all I can." The nurse explained before turning to walk out the room. As she neared the door, she stopped.

"Ya know, I was in the town square tonight."

Nick and Judy shared an understandingly glance before looking back to the nurse.

"And what you said kid" she continued, now looking at Judy. "It really resonated with me. We… we've got some work to do around here." The rabbit quickly excused herself from the room. She looked like she was on the verge of tears again.

The two animals were left alone again.

The clinician's room was small, and the candle light did a poor job of illuminating much past the table it sat on. Still, the flame gently casted its faint glow on the ground, as best as it could, stopping just short of Judy. Leaving her in the inky blackness.

Unfortunately.

The ghostly image of her his night vision gave him wasn't enough. Nick wanted to know how she was doing. He needed to see her. He had to-

"You ok over there, Slick?" the rabbit spoke up. "I can't see very well."

"Me?" the fox paused for a moment, was he ok? "Of course, I've got my guardian angel by my side, don't I?"

The bunny chuckled before standing up and out of her seat, stumbling through the darkness of the room as she crossed over to Nick.

"Well, I must be a pretty shitty guardian angel. You're the one who saved me tonight, scruff." She pulled herself up onto the bed Nick was sitting on. It had already been decided that the one bed in the room was his tonight.

But he didn't mind sharing.

"Oh, ya know. Just felt like I had to pay you back."

"Yeah?" Judy bit her lip, her little buck teeth poking out from her mouth slightly.

"Uh huh" the fox nodded gently, his head still rattling.

"Well, let me pay you back" the rabbit had already begun to lean in for a kiss, her paw trailing up the side of his throat, trying to pull his head down towards her.

He wouldn't budge.

"Judy."

She pulled a little harder.

"Judy."

"Ni-Nick?" her voice trembled, her paw sliding back down his neck and into her lap.

"I'm leaving the burrows."

"Ok…"

"Ok?" the fox asked.

"Ok, I'm coming with you; that was the plan all along, right?"

"Judy, stop it."

"What!? What am I doing wrong?" Nick could barely make out the features of her delicate face in this lighting. She looked hurt.

"You're making this harder than it has to be!" he explained, scooting away from her.

"I…"

"You can do better than a fox, Judith. The life my mother and I live in the city, its nothing like you're used to." He rubbed his face with his paws. "I could never give you everything you deserve."

"Nick… When you love someone-"

"Love? Judy we've been 'dating' for all of two days. What if you don't really love me? What if I'm just some pity project? Trust me rabbit, stick around with me for a while and you'll wish you were back in your comfy house out in the country." He took a moment to brush the paw encroaching upon his knee away. "So why don't we just save us both the trouble and-"

"Stick around with you?" the rabbit interrupted.

"What?"

"You said if I stuck around with you for a while I'd be sick of you!" Judy reminded him, "That I'd wish I were back at home."

"So what?" the fox spat.

"So What!? Boy, I've been dealing with your fluffy tail for a while now. I don't need to kiss you and hold your paw to see you for the real you."

The fox leaned away from her. Oh boy, now he's gone and shot off his trap…

"Why didn't you ask me how I felt!"

"I…"

"And while we're at it, what is it with you and always looking so far into the future? 'You're gonna be a copper, I'm gonna be a business fox, the cities gonna suck, it's not all it's cracked up to be. You're gonna hate me once you get to know me' sheesh!" she mocked him for a while, trying out her best Nick Wilde impression; which, admittedly, got a chuckle or two out of the fox.

"Why don't you just live in the moment for once?" she said, her paw on his knee again. This time, when the fox's own paw rose off the bed, it wasn't to brush hers off, but to clasp onto it.

"Ok, fine. We'll just ignore all the potential pot holes in our future. We'll hit them, and crash and burn." The fox closed his eyes and inhaled. "And probably die, but hey! Let's live in the moment!" he opened his eyes again, a smile finding its way to his lips.

"That's the spirit." Judy returned his toothy grin, despite the fact that she could barely see his face in the void that seemed to consume the room now.

"But!"

"But?" the rabbit asked. "Why's there gotta be a but?"

"If I'm gonna throw caution to the wind, I've got a condition."

"Oh boy…"

"Here me out!"

"Ok fine, shoot."

The fox gently pressed his forehead against hers. "You've been asking a lot of questions tonight fluff, so now I get to ask one. If you answer truthfully, then you can tag along."

"Fine, floors yours foxy." She said, nuzzling against his face tenderly.

"Do you really love me?"

The rabbit paused for a moment, pulling her head away. The fox watched as she put her thumb to her chin and looked up at the jet-black roof as if deep in thought. "Do I love you?" she answered his question with a question of her own.

"I do." She smiled as she pulled his chin in closer to her own, pecking him on the lips delicately. "I do. I do. I do. I do. I do!" she continued, each "I do" punctuated by a kiss.

She didn't need to have her sight to be able to feel his smile widen against her own.

The fox groggily turned over, watching as the light from the hall way came pouring into the room as his bunny stepped in, darkness returning the moment she shut the door.

"Is she ok?" he asked.

"Yeah, she'll be fine. Just a few broken ribs. I think she's happier to hear that you're ok honestly." the rabbit explained before crawling back up onto his bed, dangling her feet off the side.

The teens sat in a genial peace for a while, the wooden clock ticking away. They really should be getting some sleep.

"Judy?"

"Yeah?" She responded, staring at the dimming candle. It wouldn't have made any difference had she looked at him. She couldn't see worth a damn, but it didn't really bother her.

"Think your Ma and Pa will be ok with you running away with me?"

"Nah, but I'll sneak away if I have to." Her toes wriggled listlessly, still dangling off the bed.

"Yeah?" Nick replied in a mocking tone, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Yup, maybe we can sneak off at the dead of night!"

"Maybe we could!"

"Yeah, walk ourselves down to the train station." Judy continued.

"Uh huh?" the fox asked, imploring her to continue.

"Yup… yup, we could catch one of the night trains."

"Think so?"

"Of course we could!" Judy assured him.

"Huh, think it'll work this time?" Nick asked, his tongue in his cheek.

"Nah, but it was sorta romantic the first time, don't you think?" she taunted him back.

"Fine, but let's bring my Ma along next time. I swear, the phone booth over there is bad luck!"

The pair sat together laughing, Nick sitting up so that he could dangle his own legs off the bed, occasionally bumping Judy's playfully.

"Ah" the rabbit exhaled, lying back in the bed, the fox following suite, still playing footsies with the bunny.

"What's up?"

Judy didn't reply for a while, instead mulling over whatever it was that she had to say for a while. Until she finally spoke.

"Why is it that you don't like the city anyways?"

It was the foxes turn to think.

"Guess I just didn't have anyone to appreciate it with." He decided, his paw slowly finding hers.

"Well- don't you worry yourself about that anymore Red. The summers still young, and we've got plenty of time to enroll in another school. I foresee you showing me around."

"Is that so?"

"Yup."

"You 'foresee'?" the fox asked, turning on his side to look at the rabbit, bathed in the shadows.

"Mhm." She responded, turning to meet him. Probably. She couldn't really see.

"Do tell rabbit, where do you derive your awesome powers of augury?" Nick asked, a charming scoff coming from his mouth.

"Augury? Pfft, calm down there Snakespeare. Call it a hunch."

The train slowly came to a complete stop. The trio of mammals already had their suitcases in their paws before it even began rolling in.

Here we go…

"You'll always have your home to come back to Judy…"

"Don't be a stranger."

Judy's ears stood erect when she heard their voices, it was her parents.

"Guys…" the female rabbit trotted over to them, dragging her luggage with her. She dropped the briefcase only to wrap her arms around them in a tight embrace. "This is going to be good for me. They've got a great police academy in the down town district and-"

"We know, we know…" Bonnie interrupted her, rubbing her back tenderly.

"You're gonna miss your train Jude, good luck." Her father said, patting her gently before letting go.

Judy nodded before continuing back to the edge of the platform. "I'll keep in touch" she assured them, walking over to join Nick and his mother.

The vixen sighed deeply. Giving the burrows one last look.

"Ma, it's fine. There'll be other Jobs."

The mother nodded understandingly, picking up her suitcase and climbing aboard the train, her son following suite.

Judy had one foot through the door before she was stopped again, another paw gently tugging her back.

"Gonna leave without saying goodbye?" a jackrabbit asked, wearing a concerned smile.

"I was planning on it." She responded, trying her hardest not to scowl at him. "Besides, don't you have community service to be doing or something?"

"Look, does wanting to wish an old friend good luck on her journey before she leaves forever make me a terrible rabbit?" he spat back at her, clearly irritated.

"No, that's not it. For what it's worth, I wish you the best of luck in life." She replied, trying her hardest to remain civil.

"Thanks."

"You still planning on going professional with your football career?" she asked, trying to make small talk.

"No, in light of recent events, it doesn't look like I'll be getting those scholarships after all." Jack explained, his hands on his hips. It almost looked like he blamed her.

Judy scoffed before turning around again, making her way onto the train.

"Judith, wait."

Her eyes raised to meet the jack rabbits.

"You know you can do better than him."

Judy closed her eyes, inhaling deeply.

"Goodbye Jack."

The train doors slid shut and the young bunny suddenly realized how real this all was.

Beyond those doors laid the only world she knew.

Knew.

Past tense.

Maybe looking towards the future is good for some things.

The jackrabbit backed away from the platform, joining the Hopps as they watched the train speed off into the distance.

"Why did we let her go, Stu?" Bonnie asked halfheartedly. She leaned her head against her husband.

"Hun, You know Judy. She's gonna do what she wants, no matter what we say." He smiled as he stroked her ears back against her head. "Let's just try to make our home a better place for her to come back to someday, okay?" as he spoke, tears welled up in his eyes.

His mate nodded her head slowly, sobs gently escaping her mouth.

"Okay."

"Hey slick." Judy greeted her the fox, nudging him slightly in the side.

"Ow"

"Sorry, sorry."

The two took their seats, Mrs. Wilde already dozing off in the train car across from them. The rabbit whistled to herself as the burrows whizzed past them at break neck speeds. The early morning light gave the district a cozy feeling. At first glance, no one would ever expect the evils this place was capable of.

"Shoot, guess you aren't going to get that late night train ride you wanted." The bunny asked, looking up at her fox companion.

"Well, never say never fluff. Next time we visit, I'll be sure to get us night tickets." The fox said, fixing the bandage wrapped tightly around his head.

"Next time? Whens that gonna be?"

"Eh, let's just live in the moment."

The Rabbit chuckled "Whatever you say slick." she pressed her face against the window. They were officially out of Bunnyburrow now and beautiful sights she had never witnessed slowly began to unfold before her eyes.

"We can take our time."

Bunny Burrow.

As dreary a place as one could hope to find.

Authors Note: I can hear it already: "Wasn't this supposed to be a fluffy story?"

Whoops

Sorry about flipping the script on you guys, it just didn't seem like the fluff alone was going to cut it. I swear I didn't mean for it to become quite as bleak as it did, but I felt there was a message to be told. I mean, it wasn't a particularly original message, and a tad on the nose if you ask me, but a message I feel passionate about all the same. That being said, I probably won't ever dive into something this racially charged again in one of my personal stories. It was all a bit intense, even for me.

Regardless, it was a fun experiment, and I'm glad you all came along for the ride! I'm particularly happy to have this all wrapped up now, as I've had another Wildehopps story in the works for several weeks now. I intend on this next piece being longer than any other work I've put out thus far, so I hope you'll stick around to see it.

Once again, thank you so much for reading my crummy little tales! If you liked this story – or even if you didn't – let me know why! There is nothing I love more than interacting with you all!

Until next time, cheers!