The air of the city of Zootopia was still and cold, the land softly illuminated by the pale, blue rays of the moon which hung in silent observation above the clouds.

In the top floor apartment of an expensive block of flats, the curtains were drawn shut against the coldness of the night, the doors locked against the interruptions of the world, and the lights were out - encasing the flat in a comforting darkness - the only source of light being the large, open fireplace which crackled warmly, softly illuminating a part of the living room, and the small table and two chairs close by.

Smiling sleepily, the rabbit sat in one of the chairs rubbed at her eyes with the back of her paw as she yawned. She gazed into the empty seat opposite her, then an ear pricked up as she heard the sound of soft footsteps approaching behind her.

She turned and smiled at the fox as he returned from the kitchen. Having taken their empty dinner plates away, he sat back down at the table, close to Judy, and reached down out towards the fireplace, to poke at the coals with a poker.

"You did good work today," Judy said warmly, making the fox's face brighten to a fond smile as his gaze turned upwards towards her.

"Couldn't have done it without your help, Carrots," he said, setting the poker down and turning towards her.

"So," Hopps said, holding her paws out towards the dwindling flames, "what actually happened again?"

"You were at the debriefing too," Nick said, sitting back.

"Yeah, but in among all that talk of the economic implications of the return of the fish and all the theories about how the food should be distributed and all, I kinda got a bit lost."

The fox chuckled softly, raising a crystal glass of vintage red wine to his lips and taking a sip. "Go through what you know; I'll see if I can't clear up the rest."

"Oh, I know most of it. The Secret Intelligence Service were called in to investigate the disappearance of fish up here in the Highlands, and they traced the center of the disappearances to around the area of Castle De'ath. When that Newfoundland who was diving in the moat outside turned up dead and having been on the rack, SIS called us out to find out what was really going on."

"Don't forget our covers," Nick added, "you as an adviser for opening the castle up to the public; me as a Highland historian."

"Right. As we eventually found out, the East tower - which had supposedly been completely walled off for years - had been upgraded and turned into a miniature submarine station. They had a whole crew and a dozen one-mammal submarines hid there and Ian never even knew, and they used sonar beacons on the fronts of these subs because they wanted they wanted to frighten the fish away, and they wanted to frighten the fish away because they... they... alright, that's where I kinda phased out."

Nick smirked. "Never had you down as the type to phase out during class."

"It's been a long day, okay? We were both nearly killed several times and I just wanted the briefing to end so we could get back home, have a nice dinner, and go to bed."

"Okay, so with the fish all driven out into open waters, the fishing industry in the Highlands of Zootopia - fishing being the main economical mainstay up there - would have collapsed. All the independent fishermammals and fishing companies had to close down or go bust, not only ruining the economy up here but, as a knock on effect, cutting the amount of fish available down in Zootopia down to a fifth and more than tripling the price."

"And fish is one of the key sources of food for many species of mammal," added Hopps, "so when all the fish disappeared, no-one in the poorer areas could afford to buy any and the rich fought over the remaining few."

"That's right. Carrots, being vegetarian you might overlook it, but us carnivores do have a different diet and different needs to you herbivores. And since it was made illegal for pred to eat pray - and rightly so I might add - fish has become the only readily available source for all kinds of dietary needs."

The rabbit nodded. "I see why it's such a big issue. I mean, feeding the population aside, without the source of income the Highlands get from trading fish with the Lowlands of the city of Zootopia, thousands of mammals up there would've be starving or on the streets. Then that would have an effect on the ecosystem in Zootopia itself, and the reputations of that could stretch right out into the far reaches of all Zoophon."

"It's incalculable how much damage would've been caused just for the sake of a few fish. Let's just say it's a good job we worked it out when we did."

"You worked it out, you mean. All I did was kick McGnab in the groin, pointed a gun at the wrong De'ath and nearly got throttled to death by a badger."

"Hey, you saved my tail too: freeing me form being chained up down in the East tower; taking down Angus just as he was about to split me in two with a sword, and all your investigations down in the basement."

"Alright, but how did you work out what was going on?"

"Look at it this way. Why was that Newfoundland put on the rack?"

"Because... McGnab thought he was investigating what they had hidden in the loch?"

"Which proves they must have something to hide down there, otherwise he wouldn't have bothered."

"I get it. After that, you knew where to look, and then it was just a matter of taking a dive in the mote."

"And what I found was a big plughole joining the moat to the loch and to the open sea. You might also remember at dinner on the first night, before Angus showed us the walled-off East wing, that our plates and glasses were vibrating just a little?"

"Oh, that was vibrations of the plug in the mote being opened, yes?"

"Yeah, and the bagpipe playing was to hide the sound of the submarines when they left the underwater pens."

"But why all the secrecy? I get why they'd want to keep it quiet, but before we turned up, there was no-one to keep in the dark about it but for Ian, so why bother?"

"You forget, Hopps, Ian was still the Laird of Clan De'ath. He still had the right and authority to demand Angus, McGnab and the others leave the caste - which he would've done, had he found out in time"

Judy sighed. "It's such a shame what happened, though."

"The destruction of the clan?"

"Ian and Angus both dead, yeah."

"Well, the clan's slowly beet getting smaller and smaller over the past three generations, Carrots."

"It's not just that. We lost a lot of information about how the operation was run when Angus died. The McKerns and McGnab have been picked up and put in a cell, yes, but they were mostly in the dark about how the operation was run anyway."

Nick nodded. "We know enough to figure most of it out," he said, reaching out towards the wall and putting another log of wood on the open fire they were sat beside.

"Yeah, I guess. But, one thing I'm still not clear on: if Angus wanted his fish-scaring operation to be secret, why arrange for advice on opening the castle up to the public? Why risk filling the castle with tourists who might ask too many questions or get suspicious about what was going on?"

Nick took a long breath as he thought, sighing as he shook his head. "I don't know, Carrots," he said, "I don't know."

"There is something, actually... Nick, I think I might know." The fox looked up to her with interest; the rabbit spoke on. "Well, just before Angus killed Ian, he said something about only having to get involved because Ian wouldn't let him open up the castle to the public; wouldn't let him make any money out of it."

"Huh. So, again, simple greed destroys all. If he hadn't had been so greedy for money, he would never have got involved in that whole fishing fiasco, and if he hadn't still been so greedy again, he wouldn't have been making plans to open the castle up to the public."

"So his greed both made and ruined his plans. But how was ruining the fishing industry going to make him money anyway? What was he to gain from-" Nick turned to the rabbit sharply who stuttered to a stop, startling her with the sudden coldness of his gaze. "I... Nick, I... I'm sorry if I-"

Getting a hold of himself, Nick's expression warmed again. "Sorry, Carrots, it's not your fault. I'm just a little ~" Gazing off to the side, the fox sighed, distractedly.

"What is it? Tell me."

"I don't know, Judy. I don't know who was really in charge their. I mean, I know that Angus was the mammal overseeing it all, but he was only doing it for the money, and there is no money in driving the fish away! He had nothing to gain, personally, for doing that... unless he had a sponsor."

"A sponsor? You mean, he was payed by a third party? Someone interested in undermining Zootopia?

"Yeah, and someone powerful too. If Angus had the money for all that underwater equipment and sonar stuff in the first place, he would've had the cash to practically rebuild the whole castle."

Judy was silent for a long moment. "An agent from Zistopia?"

"More than likely." The fox watched the rabbit's troubled expression for a moment - troublement wasn't what he wanted to see from her, not tonight. Reaching out slowly, he slid his hand across the table, slipping Judy's paw into his hand. "Come on, Jules," he said, softly, "tonight's a night of calibration, not of worry, okay?"

Judy gazed at the fox before her, speaking a soft: "Okay." It the light of the fire, his russet fur was warm and soft and glowed beautifully, and his emerald eyes shone with the flickering light of the flames. Beautiful. There was no other word for it; it didn't no matter how she felt for him.

Hopps guessed she must have been gazing at him dreamily for longer than she had intended, because Wilde then lent swiftly towards her with a small smile on his lips, his face glowing in the warm light of the fire, and placed a light kiss on the tip of her small, pink nose.

Judy giggled softly, her nose twitching just a little. "What was that for?"

"Return of a favor," the fox said, pointing to his cheek, "I shall never wash this spot again". Judy smiled, making Nick smile even further as he saw all the worry draining out of her. Picking up the bottle of red, Nick emptied what remained out into his and Judy's glasses. "I propose a toast," he said, lifting his glass towards the rabbit. "To Carrots: greatest secret agent the world has ever known, and the finest damn female it's ever been my good fortune to meet."

The rabbit pick up her glass and tapped it against Nick's. "And to Nick Wilde, the best a rabbit could ever hope for, in the pursuit of a friend, work partner and..." Judy trailed off, a playful expression crossing her face.

Nick smiled warmly. "Go on, darlin'... say it."

A sly grin split across the rabbit's muzzle. "You already know, just as well as I, what we are, my sweet."

"That I do, Missie," Nick said, placing his glass down on the table without taking a drop, then plucking her glass from the rabbit's paw the moment before she was about to take a sip and placing her glass down on the table beside his... removing all obstructions between his face and hers... "that I do."

His paw touching upon the rabbit's cheek, he lent in close towards her, a sweet smile upon the rabbit's lips as the fox's nose touched genitally against hers.

Her eyes drifting softly shut, the rabbit lent slowly forwards, and allowed her emotions free roam over her body.

The piece of wood the fox had put in the fire took, and the room was lit and warmed by the playing flames of the fire within.


~ Zootopia, SIS: Castle De'ath ~
~ By Mister Smail~


This has been a FanFiction for the film, Zootopia. We are all aware of the credentials of the film, and so they will not be stated here.

Castle De'ath, however, was based on episode 5 series 4 of the black and white television series, The Avengers (which has nothing what so ever to do with the superhero franchise of the same name). This episode was directed by James Hill and written by John Lucarotti (source: . /the-avengers-tv-series/). First broardcast in the UK in 1965 and in the US in 1966, it was shot on location at Allington Castle, and starred Patric MacNee as John Steed (played, in this instance, by Nick Wilde) and Diana Rigg as Emma Peel (played, in this, by Judy Hopps).

I'm glad that you have chosen to dedicate your time into read of this humble tome (and if you seek another there is a Christmas series, 'Too Many Christmas Trees' which is also based on The Avengers)... and if, by chance, you have not read my main story, Paw in Paw, yet, then I would strongly advice you so to do.

I am merely a single man and there are many other works out there which are greater than this, and I hope that you continue to support not only me, but the works of other writers, long into the future.

That's all from me... this time.

Bee seeing you,
Mister Smail.


The End