Nick had spent most of the day figuring out where everything was around town, focusing on pinning down the rural route the bucks drove up after visiting the Dancing Doe, and the Dancing Doe itself. Having covered the town, he had gained a pretty good idea of where everything was and how to get to it. He had also found some time to practice driving in reverse and was feeling pretty good overall about his new found driving skills, though they still definitely needed more work. Nick had also been systematically avoiding phone calls from Chief Bogo, having answered the phone earlier and been greeted with the immediate request of talking to officer Hopps. Seeing as how telling Bogo that officer Hopps was actually in the middle of an unknown forest and in an unknown condition would probably cause Bogo to blow the phone's speakers, he told him that she was in the bathroom.

Sadly, that excuse wasn't going to work when he called him the second time. Or the third. Eventually Nick decided the best course of action was to simply tell Bogo that Judy was undercover pretending to buy some catnip, and that Nick had her under observation. Bogo approved of this idea far more readily than Nick had expected, telling him to "give Judy my compliments for a great strategy." It wasn't terribly important, but it really did bother Nick that it seemed every success in their operations was always attributed to Hopps before him.

Nick had gone and gotten some coffee from the local diner and was now positioned in the parking lot behind a dumpster near The Dancing Doe. With a little luck, Buck and his boys wouldn't even notice him as they drove in, or more importantly, as they drove out. He sat there quietly, letting the atmosphere of the place wash over him. The sight of the cracked parking lot and the thick trees behind it. The tacky looking signs and neon that stood on the outside of the old brick building, and the incessant country music that wafted through the air, burrowing deep into his sleep deprived mind.

He couldn't understand how mammals out in the country could listen to music like this all day long. It seemed to him that all they ever sang about where trucks, does and booze, in that order. Somehow this had formed the basis of country music, and as far as Nick was concerned it was enough to drive anyone insane. Or at least kill a sizeable number of brain cells. He tried to tune it out as he focused on figuring out what settings to use for the camera, taking a few experimental photos to get the lighting right. Nick sat there awaiting the arrival of the bucks in question for the next two hours. Eventually, he heard the sound of the engine he had heard the night before. The very engine he had accidentally ended up in a drag race with.

Nick got the camera ready, he had been practicing for this most of the day and even a little after the sun had set. Peeking the lens out through the down window he snapped a few pictures of the deer as they entered the parking lot in Buck's truck. He didn't spare the shutter at all, getting pictures of the truck pulling in, then parking and then the deer walking out. He tried to get photos of the deer in profile so that they would be easier for their wives and girlfriends to identify. As the last of them went through the back door and into the bar Nick snapped his last few pictures and rolled up the window. Just as he had planned, none of them had seen him and he had all the evidence that he needed to repay the waitresses for breakfast.

Using the next hour wisely, Nick sifted through the pictures and uploaded the best ones to his phone before composing a series of emails to send off to the waitresses. He was somewhat surprised with how quickly they responded, a few of them even offered to give him other jobs if he was willing to take them. He politely declined them though, explaining that he had only been passing through. Having paid off his favors he returned to the job at hand, waiting for the return of the bucks that had entered the bar not more than an hour ago.

He had to wait there behind the dumpster for another two hours before they came out, all of them a little inebriated with the exception of Buck. Nick felt a pang of respect for the drug dealer, at least he was good enough to drive sober. The look across his face though called out to Nick; something about this deer didn't seem right. He looked distant and afraid, disconnected from the world around him as if in a dream. Nick knew this face; he had worn it himself from time to time. It was the face of a deer on death's door, a deer with nothing to lose.

The deer got back into the truck and left the parking lot. Nick gave them a slight head start, letting them travel down the road a fair distance before he started after them. He wasn't going to make the fact that he was tailing them too obvious. Easing out of the parking lot he started to follow them back towards the route that Judy had told him about earlier, their car in the distance an almost invisible set of taillights. The car rumbled through the small sleepy town, and not a light could be seen in any of the houses. Soon after, he returned to the dense forest of the rural route. The truck continued down the road, Nick carefully driving to make sure that he kept his distance from the truck. Without warning the Truck disappeared from the road as Nick rounded a corner that he had just seen the big truck pass through.

Must have gone up a drive.

Slowing down, Nick scanned the road, looking for the path into the woods that the truck must have taken. The dark grey of the gravel road stretching into the dark void of the forest seemed to be the answer that Nick was looking for. He felt a bit of fear grip him as he realized that he would be leaving the relative safety of the open road for the cramped gravel road. He didn't have much choice though and so cautiously started down the gravel road, willing the car to tiptoe along the path. As the road vanished in his rearview mirror though the truck he had been looking for darted out from the woods beside him, coming to a halt directly in front of his car. He couldn't turn around and he couldn't go forward. Nick felt a lump in his throat that stubbornly refused to go down as he stared transfixed at the group of deer that were now staring him down. Buck lowered his window and looked at Nick.

"What are you doing up here eh?" Nick tried to stay calm, but his ears had other plans in mind, retreating as far back as they could.

"I was um… Just passing through…" Buck snorted, apparently he wasn't convinced.

"Yeah. Sure. Alright, well your on private property and it seems to me and the boys that you are threatening us." Nick shook his head in disbelief.

"What!? No, no, no. I am very sorry if this is your property, I will leave right away!"

Nick reached down to change gears but then he heard a click and cautiously moved his head to meet the eyes of the deer in front of him. Arrayed before him were three tranquillizer guns. As far as Nick knew these were only used for self-defense against dangerous animals out here in the country. That being said, the darts that they had loaded up in the guns probably were meant for larger animals and the effects on his relatively small body were likely to be less than optimal. Nick tried to figure out if they could pierce through the glass of his car, then again, he really didn't want to find out. Buck turned back to him, a cold look in his eyes.

"Get out of the car fox. I'm afraid that this is as far as you go. Also… I'm sorry." Buck looked away as Nick heard the clicks of the other deer turning the safeties off on their tranquilizer guns.

Judy saw the muscle car and the truck from the woods. Her heart was racing as she tried to figure out what she could do to help the dumb fox. Nothing coming to mind she simply started running to the road and tried to shout at them. However, not talking all day and being fairly dehydrated made talking more than a little difficult. Instead of 'hey' there came out a high pitched growl. The attention of the deer and Nick were now all on her. She didn't know what happened though as she saw the deer, who had been in the process of getting out of the truck and surrounding Nick, now all dropped their guns and looked skyward. All of them started incoherently muttering some sort of rhyme.

She looked towards Nick who was now grinning from ear to ear. As she tried to talk though Nick raised a paw over his mouth, signaling her to be quiet. Then he bore his teeth and mimed growling at the deer, nodding at Judy to do the same. Judy was more than a little confused at this point but decided that given the current strange situation, that strange action must be called for as well. She neared the deer and the car that Nick was in growling and spitting the whole way. The deer all looked vaguely panicked as they kept their heads skyward and tried to walk back to the truck.

Crossing the road Judy got over to the driver's side of the car, drawing a questioning look from Nick as opened the door as quietly as possible. In a low whisper he tried to tell Judy to get in.

"Get in the passenger side." Judy shook her head between growls.

"No way, I'm driving."

"Judy no, we don't have time to adjust the seat. Just get in already." Judy looked mildly annoyed and ignored Nick, climbing into the car and sitting on his lap, putting her hands on the wheel.

"Judy there is no way tha-" Before Nick could finish his phrase the ears of the deer had turned towards them, followed slowly by their heads. One of them shouted towards the others as he saw Judy sitting in Nicks lap.

"Jackalopes can't drive! Get'em!"

Judy shouted at Nick. "REVERSE!"

Nick punched the clutch and shifted into reverse as Judy turned over the engine in one synchronized motion. Smacking the accelerator, the car shot out backwards, Judy shoving Nick's head out of the way so as to get a better look at the road they were backing down. Several darts went flying past the front of the car as Judy shouted more directions to Nick.

"NEUTRAL! BRAKE, HARD!" Nick took the hint, switching the car into neutral and then smacking the brakes as the car got back onto the main road. Judy swung the car into a sharp reverse turn, smacking Nick into the driver side window. He didn't have time to nurse his aching ear though as Judy gave him his next order.

"FLOOR IT!" Nick buried his foot into the carpet as Judy managed the wheel trying to keep the barely contained horsepower on the road and going in a reasonably straight line.

They were now flying down the road, the trees a blur as they passed by. Nick looked slightly panicked as he turned his head around to get a look at their pursuers.

"Carrots, remember that drag race?" Judy felt her heart go into her mouth.

"They're faster."

"Uh huh."

Exiting the woods and swerving to follow them the big truck's engine roared as Buck dragged more horsepower from it than any engineer would have ever reasonably considered possible. The truck was now screaming like a banshee down the dark country road heading right for them. Judy looked down the road, trying to think of what she could do before their pursuers caught up with them. She listed off everything that they had on them at the moment. Their car was faster, bigger, there was more of them and they had weapons. Judy bit her lip, the only thing that might have been a disadvantage was that they were all dumb deer.

Dumb deer.

The thought rattled around in her mind before coming into sharp focus. She now had a plan and knew exactly what to do.

"They're dumb deer!" Nick still was watching the approaching truck with great apprehension and didn't seem to catch the relevance.

"Regardless carrots, I'd say they're still pretty dangerous." Judy shook her head and told Nick what to do.

"See that intersection up there? Start breaking but don't go below forty and put your hand on the parking brake. Don't pull it till I saw so!"

"What!?"

"Just do it!"

Nick gulped hard and began to break as they approached the intersection just near the small town. Judy watched carefully as the intersection, waiting for her speed to drop just enough that she could pull off what she hoped for. Right before she turned the wheel hard to the left she shouted.

"NOW!"

The beast shuddered as its tail swung around and its tires screeched in protest to the extreme maneuver. Simultaneously Judy switched off the lights, awaiting those from the truck to come to just the right spot. Nick was panicking at this point, totally unsure why Judy had left them sitting still at an intersection as a truck full of angry deer came barreling down at them.

"Carrots! What are you doing!?" In the darkness it was impossible to see, but Judy now had a devious grin plastered across her face.

"Wait for it…"

"Wait for what!?" The car was now finally in position, Judy grabbed the light stalk and pulled.

"SHINE THEM!"

Nick's jaw went slack as he saw the deer's truck illuminated with the high beams from the car. All of the deer sat there, totally frozen, staring at them unable to look away. The truck then drifted too far to the right side of the road and went off into the ditch, flipping over and landing upside down. Not sure what had just happened, Nick put the car into first and drove slowly towards the crash. He didn't get it, what happened?

"What did you just do?"

Judy chuckled to herself. "I 'shined' them. HA! I haven't done that in years!"

"You what?"

"We often think deer are pretty stupid out where I'm from. It was a prank that we used to play on them all the time. If you shine a bright light at a deer in the dark they'll freeze. I never thought I would have to use it again after the last time." Nick's jaw was still slack.

"Wait, last time? You've done this before!?" Judy laughed a little casting a casual glance at the crash scene to make sure that none of the deer were dead.

"Eh, that's a story for another time. Let's go home."

Nick shrugged, there wasn't anything to argue with her about there. He added a bit of throttle and set off towards Zootopia. It was at this point though that he finally took stock of the horrible smell that was now filling the car.

"Carrots, why do you smell like a swamp?" Judy looked up at Nick from his lap, now slightly embarrassed at the seating situation and also just a little self-conscious about the way she smelled.

"Well, you see I had to hide my scent and I figured tha-" Nick regretted asking the question, clearly it had made Judy a little uncomfortable. He put his paws on hers and politely brushed them off the steering wheel.

"Don't worry about it carrots. It's all part of the job. Now, why don't you take a break and let me drive us back to the station."

Judy looked like she was about to protest but she reconsidered. She really was bone tired and Nick was really soft. Before she knew it she was drifting asleep as Nick kept driving. He felt his cheeks burn a little as she nuzzled up to him, but only for a moment. Right now, he needed to get back to Zootopia before the extra-large cup of coffee that he had downed wore off.

A few hours later they were back in Zootopia, and Nick had parked the car in the station's back lot. He carefully woke up Judy and he led her into the station to deposit the evidence on Bogo's desk for him to look at in the morning. Nick put together the physical and digital folders and then led Judy back out to their normal car. With Judy still bleary eyed he drove them back to his place.

Arriving at his apartment Nick looked at the time and realized that it was almost sunrise. Deciding to take advantage of the situation he shook Judy awake.

"Hey sleepy head, sorry to wake you but I really want to show you something."

"Huh? What is it?" Nick gave her a mischievous grin and grabbed her by the hand.

"Come with me."

Taking Judy by the hand Nick quickly led her up to where his apartment was and then up a staircase that she had never seen before.

"Where does this go?"

"You'll see…"

Getting to the top of the stairs there was yet another door. Grabbing a key from his pocket Nick unlocked it and led Judy onto the roof garden that sat atop his loft. Judy breathed deeply in the cool morning air and marveled at how delicious everything smelled.

No wonder his cooking always tastes so great.

Nick took his paw though and gently placed it under her chin, carefully moving her head towards the east. The sun rose in an explosion of color between the buildings of the city, in a sight that couldn't be captured in any postcard that Nick had ever seen at a gift shop. Judy stared in marvel at the beautiful sight, temporarily forgetting just how tired she was.

"It's beautiful!" Nick put his paw on his shoulder, and then removed it, inspecting its now thick layer of muck.

"Yup." Nick dropped a hose in Judy's paw. Still staring at the sunrise she looked at the hose in her hand and turned around just in time to see Nick wave goodbye as he slammed shut the door leading back into the apartment. Judy ran over and started banging on it.

"Hey! What's the big idea!?"

"Hose yourself a little before I let you back in! I am not cleaning out the shower again this week carrots!"

Feeling slightly defeated Judy did as he requested. The water was cold, and it wasn't exactly a relaxing shower. Then again, she figured that was for the best, because as soon as Nick came back to open the door for her she blasted him with the hose.

"I deserved that." Nick said as he sipped what was left of his now mildly warm coffee. Gingerly putting it aside, he picked up another hose and decided to repay Judy in kind.

Meanwhile at the police station, Bogo arrived to find all the files and evidence on his desk. As usual, Nick and Judy did excellent work. Looking through the files Bogo saw that he had more than enough evidence to shut down the catnip ring, though his heart sank as he saw Judy's photo of "El Patrón".

Not all the evidence in the world could convict that feline Hopps…

He paused though as he finished reading through the file. At the end there was an addendum from Nick.

Sorry about the interior of the car. Good luck with that!

Concerned, Bogo stood up and headed to the back lot. From a distance the car looked fine, as he neared it though, it began to stink a little. He hoped that it was just because they had been out in the country but upon opening the door he was overwhelmed by the smell of swamp. He stared in abject horror at the mud that seemed to have been thrown about on the inside of the car. Balling up his hooves Bogo screamed into the air.

"WILDE!"

In the country though, Buck received a call, a call he could not deny. He borrowed his wife's car and said goodbye to his daughter. He drove back to the cabin, a bottle filled with gasoline and stuffed with a rag in the passenger seat and a lighter in his pocket. He saw the cops there, the local sheriff and the deputy, it didn't matter. He calmly stepped out of the car, and ignoring their polite greetings lit the bottle's long rag, throwing it as hard as he could into the cabin. It caught fire faster than anyone expected, consuming the cabin in a matter of minutes, almost as though it had been prepared the night before...

Buck stood there silently, lifting his hooves over his head, tears in his eyes.