Author's Note: Back from holiday, so here is chapter 5! Glad to see the following to this story ever growing. I am really happy about any reviews or notes of encouragement, so please let me know what you think and keep in contact! I will be able to continue writing from sunday onwards, so hopefully it will soon be back to regular update times. (whatever those are.) As always, enjoy!

Chapter 5

Embers.

"Dad, look here! Dad! Hey!"

A small red fox was standing on the edge of a stone bridge, his fists clenched in excited anticipation. He was dressed only in swimming trunks and a child tame collar, but his whole person shun through the giddy joy in his green eyes. The boy was waving to an older, slender red fox down by the river bank, and his smile grew when the fox finally turned towards him.

The older fox's face dropped, and so did the popsicles he had just taken out of a camping fridge.

"Nick? Nicky! You come back down here RIGHT this moment!", stammered the concerned father. Little Nick wasn't even thinking about coming down. It was their third time camping out on Outback Island, in the woods, where no one bothered them and they could do what they wanted. Nick liked to play Robin Hood when he was out there, and pretend he was the bravest of all foxes. He needed to be, if he was going to be a great junior ranger scout.

"Dad, it's not that high!"

"Yes, Nick, it is! Come back down. Have a popsicle! You can go swimming again later." His father tried to put on a fatherly strict voice, but little Nick knew he could get away with it if only he didn't hesitate too much longer.

"I'm gonna jump!", he declared proudly. His father's jaw dropped open once more, he was wringing his hands, tail whacking about aimlessly.

"You might hit your head!"

"There's nothing down there, Dad. It's real deep water! I swam there lots of times!"

There was no convincing him otherwise. The little fox bent his knees and wrapped his tail around him, closed two fingers of his paw around his nose, and jumped.

He made himself small and round in the air, and hit the water what felt like an eternity away. It hurt. Even the slight angle on his fall caused him to hit the surface hard and square, and he was gasping and crying when he emerged from the surface. His father, by the riverbed, stood frozen in terror, and came running into the water to get him. Nick allowed himself to be swept up in his father's arms and cried to his heart's content.

"There, there. You'll be alright….I told you, Nicky. You need to hit the water really straight if you don't want it to hurt. It's alright now….no more of that, yeah? Come have a popsicle. Can you breathe alright again? See, it's fine…now, we don't need to mention this to your mother, do we. It can be our little adventurous secret."

The crying boy slowly calmed and wiped his tears away with a brave nod.

"I wanted to be brave", he sobbed.

"You are, my boy.", laughed the father. "but listen, Nick, it's good to overcome your fear. But sometimes it is better to run away than it is to be brave. You don't have to pick every fight, hm? Robin Hood had to run away from some things too."

"But not from water!", Nick giggled.

"No, maybe not. But you're only little, and we all start afraid when we're little."

Nick set his feet down onto the dry ground and rummaged through the camping fridge for a popsicle. The pain, apart from the stinging all across his chest, was almost forgotten.

"Am I gonna be afraid when I'm a grown up?", asked the boy. He didn't notice that his father was rubbing his neck where the fright for his falling son had activated his collar.

"Who knows. You're braver than your old man. I'm still afraid all the time."

"What are you afraid of, Dad?"

The fox father didn't reply. He ruffled the fur on Nick's head and reached past him to grab a popsicle himself. It took a few licks of the treat before the racing of his heart had calmed down.

Nick Wilde suffered several seconds of disbelief before he hit the water. His eyes widened when he saw the bunny falling after him, and her expression, in return, was startled and wide eyed. She could not grasp herself what she had just done, and Nick didn't even want to try to begin to understand.

There was no returning her to the edge however. She was holding on to his hand cuffs with all her might, and they were in mid-air, just waiting for the impact. And the impact came, cold enveloping the fox as though hundreds of icy little hands had reached up to pull him into the depth. He landed as straight as he could, taught by so many failed attempts in his childhood, and had it not been for the unexpected bunny companion he would not have been hurt at all. Now however he failed the straight entrance by a few degrees, and was greeted by stinging pain all over his back.

The impact knocked the air out of his lungs and he felt himself sink, the bunny right above him. Nick couldn't see her move. He was swallowed by darkness, the light of the surface distant above him. They fell deep, until Nick's momentum had slowed down, and it no longer pained him to hit the river ground. He had snapped back into attention enough to push himself off of the ground and up, gasping for air when his head broke through the surface.

The relief that flooded over him kept him occupied for a few seconds before he realized that the bunny had not come up with him. He looked about the river, paddling pathetically to not be carried away by the slow but constant current. "Fluff? Carrots!", he called, aware of the looming threat of police officers perhaps ten metres above him.

He cursed the bunny inwardly. He had had no intention of sending her flying into the river with him, and he certainly had no intentions of dragging her about now! He had to run, flee, leave, before the police officers could get down the cliff and catch up with him.

….But he also couldn't let her drown.

"Urgh, Wilde. Why so opposed to another murder charge?", he murmured to himself. Then he took a deep breath and went back under.

He could feel panic built up within him when he didn't see her at first. His collar was sending tiny warning shocks across his fur that he just managed to ignore. Calm down. You'll find her. It's all good. And he did find her. She was hovering in the depth with the current tugging at her ears and clothes. The passiveness with which she let herself be carried by the water reminded Nick of a corpse. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled both of them up with the strongest strokes he could manage.

"Carrots, stay with me, okay?"

She was hanging limply in his arms.

With his legs he kept them both above water whilst the current took them away. Nick wanted to get some distance between himself and the police before he would even try to get out of the water.

When they were around a curve and the bridge was nearly out of sight, Nick dragged the two of them onto the stone river bank. He felt heavy from all the water weighing down his clothes. Each step he took, droplets rained down from him onto the white stone and formed a pathetic puddle in which he finally laid down the rabbit.

He knelt down beside her, observed her. Nothing. When a few seconds had passed and the bunny was still not moving, or jumping, or talking, or…Nick moved his ear next to her mouth and listened, his green eyes slowly widening.

Or breathing.

"Carrots? Hey, this is no way to get back at me…Carrots…Bunny…. OFFICER HOPPS! AAAA-TEN-TION!"

But nothing would get her to react. Of course not, Nick thought with a returning sense of panic. She wasn't breathing. He jumped up, paced a few steps with his paws wringing, then returned to her side. His collar had returned to giving him several little shocks, all annoying and painful, none enough to lessen his determination.

He put his paws onto her chest and pressed them down, hesitant to crush her tiny bunny chest. Could he perform CPR the same way on a bunny? Without breaking her? He took a deep breath, covered her nose, and exhaled into her mouth. Repeat.

The fox kept up the procedure desperately for maybe ten times before the bunny showed signs of life. He was just about to push his snout against hers again when she instead spat a mouthful of water into his face. He shook the water off and, with a hand on her shoulder, rattled her lightly.

There was even more water in her tiny body that had to be spit out. At last she rolled onto her side of her own accord, emptying herself off the remaining unwelcome liquid in her. She was coughing and trembling, a small, furry mess of anguish, but Nick had fallen back with a delighted smile on his lips. Relief broke over him like a wave. He felt a surge of adrenaline run through his body and jumped up, giddy excitement lightening every one of his motions. He was picking up water in his paws and threw it up into the air, watching the droplets glitter with all the colours in the light.

He felt the pebbles on the stone bank, ran his paws across the smooth, white surface, crawled on all fours towards the edge of the river bank to feel the mud beneath his hands. His eyes grew wider and happier each second, and soon he was laughing at the top of his lungs, freedom making his heart jump with euphoria.

The red fox felt tears of joy cloud his vision. He swirled back across the stone like a dancer and swept the bunny officer up in his arms. "Carrots!", he squealed. "I made it! I made it out of there! I'm free! Ha! And all thanks to you, my little fluffy friend!" He turned himself around, making her swing in his arms as he drew circles. Her eyes were open, but she was limp in his arms.

"You cannot imagine how great this feels! The water! The air! The wind! I'm freezing and I love it! Oh, I could kiss you, Carrots!"

Nick was holding her high in the air and would have indeed drawn her into a passionate embrace, had her expression not shifted from barely awake stupor to wide eyed fear. With her twitching nose she flinched in his arms, her ears flat against her head, and he saw her panicked attempt to find anything useful in her pockets. But he had already taken the remote and the pistol from her – the latter he had lost somewhere in the water but forgotten about. When she found nothing she fell back limp in resignation. The only thing left in her pockets now would have to be…keys.

Nick's sincere smile transformed back into his confident smug grin. "Don't worry, Carrots. I think I've had enough lip contact with you for a life time. Now then." He dropped her onto the ground quite suddenly, simply letting her slip out of his paws. She landed with a surprised squeal.

With one paw he held her faintly struggling body against the ground, with the other he fished the keys to the handcuffs out of her pocket. It took some pulling and tugging until he had managed to draw them out of her wet, and hence tight, trousers. Judy tried to grab his paw as he pulled away, but he easily removed her grip, finger by finger.

"This was fun, and all, but I must be off. Don't worry your little head, bunny. Your police friends will find you here soon enough, so just wait for them here." He turned to step away, dangling the keys from his paws. "And thanks again! Couldn't have done it without ya."

To his surprise, he didn't get far. A bunny paw had clenched around his left foot and almost made him trip. He turned back, tried to kick her off lightly. "Listen, Carrots, you are barely awake so-"

But he needn't have bothered. The bunny had passed out again, her paw like a second iron cuff around his ankle. With a sigh the fox bent down to gently scoop the bunny up in his arms once more.

A sore dryness had spread in Judy's throat. Ironic really, seeing that she had nearly drowned some time ago. How much time had passed? She could not tell where she was – but it was dark. No sunlight assaulted her blissfully closed eyes, but there were shadows dancing before her closed eyes, moved by some light source in the world of the awoken.

The bunny opened her eyes carefully as to not alert anyone around her. She appeared to be alone at first, but then her sensitive ears picked up the sound of breathing nearby. She pushed herself up onto her elbows and surveyed her surroundings out of suspiciously narrowed eyes.

A fire was crackling just a meter away from her, enveloping her whole body in pleasant warmth and moving dancing shadows on the wooden walls of what looked from the inside to be an abandoned shack. The place was overgrown and looked brittle. Smoke escaped through various large gaps in the ceiling through which Judy could see the starry night sky. She was unharmed. Someone had undressed her down to her under shirt and trousers. The rest of her clothes and her bag were laid out by the fire, drying stiffly.

How had she gotten here? Her memory was fuzzy. She faintly remembered the icy touch of the water, like thousands little needles to her skin. She had remembered watching Nick Wilde hit the surface first, the smugness wiped off his face by her daring pursuit. The pursuit! Oh, what had she been thinking? And Wilde?

Suddenly panicked, the bunny frantically scanned the room. What had that breathing sound been?

And there he was. Leaning against one of the more solid looking posts by the wall, his eyes closed and his breathing gentle, sat Nick. His fur had dried ruffled and untidy, and he too was down to his under garments. Judy should have noticed the jump suit drying on the other side of the fire…

She tensed all over just trying to keep still. The fox had rid himself of the handcuffs and shackles and looked overall rather relaxed. Judy felt for her pistol. Gone. For the keys. Gone. For the remote – gone, of course. She sunk down onto her back and pushed her paws into her eyes. Stupid bunny! Stupid, stupid, stupid! What had she been thinking? Why had she let Wilde get away with tricking her again? She should have seen through his innocent, helpless act!

She looked Nick over once more, tried to find a vantage point. The bandages around his waist looked loose and muddy. His wound must have broken open lightly at some point during the day, because the fabric was spotted with blood. No lethal amount. The bunny found herself relieved at that observation, although she should have been more concerned with herself. She had nearly drowned! The only thing that had prevented that…. that was where her memory abandoned her. Had Nick pulled her out of the water?

Either way, Judy…you can't stay here. You're unarmed in the company of a dangerous criminal! Grab your clothes and be out of here…wherever here is.

She reached for her navy blue blouse and began buttoning it up hastily, forgetting one or two buttons in the process. She was busy closing her belt when Nick stirred and his eyes opened.

They didn't open slowly, mind you. He was wide awake from one second to the next, his green eyes glaring into her with an unspoken warning. His claws bore into the wooden ground of the shack. Judy froze with panic widening her eyes, but the fox's stance relaxed quickly, the threat vanished from his expression.

He smiled.

"Hey, Carrots…finally gracing the world of the living with a visit, I see.", he said and smugly folded his arms behind his head. He deliberately stretched in the process, making full use of his new found freedom.

The bunny pawed her own nose to stop it from twitching and slowly inched away. "W-what the hell, Wilde!"

"I know, I know.", he waved her off dismissively. "But a simple thank you would suffice, really. Let's call it even. It was my pleasure."

Masking her fright with anger, the bunny clenched her fists and made herself stand firm and tall.

"I'm not thanking you, shifty fox! Do you have any idea what you've done to me?"

The fox's grin widened. "Urh, yeah, rabbit! I saved your life! How was I? I mean, I'm a little out of practice, but that was some pretty alright mouth to mouth action if I do say so myself."

Judy felt her face heat up from more than just the fire light. He had pulled her out of the water, alright. And now she remembered, faintly, waking up to him right above her, his paw gently shaking her, water she had spit at him dripping from his fur back into her face.

"You're the reason I almost drowned in the first place", she protested.

He finally dropped the smug act. Slowly he rose from his spot by the wall and took a step towards her. Her hand hovered pathetically over her empty holster.

"I didn't ask you to jump after me, Rabbit! In fact, what was that about? You know what? You're crazy!"

"I'm not a crazy dangerous runaway fugitive!", she retorted and regretted it at once. His brows furrowed, the mockery in his eyes was tinted with a hint of aggression. In the fire light, his bared fangs looked even brighter, even sharper. Ready to tear flesh and rip fur. Ready to taste blood. Judy stepped backwards, and found herself stumbling over her bag on the floor. The fox repellent! No, there was no time to reach it… With her hands she drew herself backwards until she hit a wall, her chest heaving with panic.

"Don't come any closer, Fox! I-I….I'm a cop! You don't want to assault a cop. I was valedictorian of my class! I am a great fighter!"

At this point she had clenched her eyes shut and was just waving him away desperately with one defensively outstretched paw. Seconds passed before she slowly opened her eyes and realized he had stopped approaching long ago and was watching her with nothing but mild irritation and…hurt.

"Relax, Carrots.", he sighed. "I'm not gonna hurt you."

As if to convince her, he raised both paws and put them behind his head like at arrest, retreated, and sunk back down at his spot by the post. "See? Nothing to fear from me. I never meant for you to jump as well. And the only reason I dragged you here is…well. I couldn't just let you lay there alone and unconscious…"

"So I'm not a hostage?"

"Ha. Dumb Bunny. What in the world would I want with you?"

She ignored the insult and slowly shuffled into a more dignified sitting position.

"Well….thanks.", she murmured.

"You're welcome."

"But I'm still mad at you."

"I figured."

And the more she thought on it, the more furious the bunny officer became. She stemmed her paws into her hips and wrinkled her forehead in anger. "I vouched for you! I could lose my job over this! Why did you do this to me, Nick? Why couldn't you just come along and let us investigate?"

"Yeah, about that.", Nick replied sarcastically. "I just so happen to prefer freedom over a prison cell and some grumpy officers shouting into my ears."

"But you said you were innocent!" – "I am." – "Then why….why didn't you talk to me. Why didn't you let me help you?"

Nick picked up a stick from the overgrown floor and absentmindedly poked the fire. His shoulders sunk in resignation. "You only want to help yourself. Were you really going to listen, Rabbit? Were you actually going to give me a chance?"

Judy had to hold herself back from impatiently tapping her foot onto the floor. She hugged her knees to herself, looked at him across the fire. "Maybe it's not too late for that.", she suggested quietly. "Tell me what happened."

Nick hesitated, but there was an unmistakeable spark of hope in his expression, too. It lit up his eyes beyond the reflection of the fire and the embers sparking up from it. He leant back, satisfied with the size of the flames that flickered peacefully.

"Fine, Rabbit. Get nice and comfortable. This might be a long story."

The bunny eagerly shuffled up against the wall and shifted into a comfortable position. She made such a show of it, that she thought to see a smile grow on the Fox's lip. He took a deep breath, seemed to check himself once more.

"It all started with-"

"Oh, and please put some clothes on.", Judy interrupted blankly.

"Oh, how dare you" He huffed at her with mock offense, and she found herself smiling at him in return.

"And here I thought you were enjoying the view.", he purred, but he reached for his jump suit without protest and stood to slip back into it. Without zipping it up, he sat back down and glanced into the fire long and hard, awaiting further interruptions. Judy remained silent, encouragingly alert.

"It all started about a year and a month ago. Things were starting to look up for me…"