Shortly after Duke's departure, Judy had received the long-awaited call from Clawhauser. It was time to visit Nick.

Judy stood close to the wall, off to the side of his bed. There was a low humming sound coming from the air conditioner unit in the room. The air smelled of cleaning supplies, and the light bouncing off all of the white surfaces irritated her eyes.

Judy was staring at Nick, and he was staring back. She had thought about this moment all day, but now that she was here she couldn't think of anything to say.

Eventually, the quiet tension between them forced the first thing Judy could think of out of her mouth. "I'm sorry."

Nick gave her a grin. "Wow, Carrots. It's rare to see an Inspector who would apologize to an Enforcer."

"I wouldn't blame you for being mad at me. You were right: I caused the situation to escalate. I shouldn't have stopped Honey. It didn't change anything. Sarah still had to be Paralyzed in the end, but I also nearly drove her to hurting herself and others. Not to mention having to Paralyze you. I was stupid and impulsive, and I ended up hurting you." Judy spoke with humility in her voice, looking towards the ground.

"Don't beat yourself up about it, Fluff. You're the Inspector here, so I have no right to complain." Nick replied, waving off her apologies.

"But you were an Inspector once." Judy spoke with a fighting spirit. "It surprised me to hear it. And even if you never were an Inspector, I feel like Enforcers have a lot to offer. I'm not above admitting my shortcomings. Just because I'm an Inspector doesn't absolve me of my bad decisions. I made a mistake. It's my mistake, so don't take it away from me."

Nick went a bit wide-eyed upon hearing this, and gave a genuine smile. "Definitely don't hear any Inspectors say any of that. Don't let Buffalo Butt hear you talking like that."

Judy fiddled with her paws. "Inspector Bogo and I have already voiced our disagreements with one another."

"That's very big of you to take responsibility. You know that I was an Inspector, so I know that it's a heavy burden, bearing that title."

"I didn't know predators were allowed to be Inspectors."

Nick huffed. "Guess they figured to use me as a test run. Didn't want to use a larger pred, figured a fox would be a safe bet. Maybe being a shifty fox helped me out during my time as Inspector."

Judy put a paw over Nick's paw, making herself nervous with the physical contact. Nick looked at her quizzically. Before she had to constantly tell herself not to view predators any differently than she would view prey. For some reason, some gut feeling, she didn't feel the need to do that with Nick anymore. She realized that there was so much common ground between the two of them. "Don't call yourself shifty. I'd say...'clever' is a better word for your performance last night." Judy gently told him with a smirk.

Nick smirked back. "How about sly?"

Judy let out a chuckle. "Can you tell me what it was like? Being the first Inspector of your species?"

"I can see why you want to know, First Bunny. Well, long story short it was a lot of trouble. Bogo wasn't thrilled to be working alongside a fox. I dealt with that a lot; everyone doubted me. As a result, I ended up getting along better with the Enforcers. Maurice taught me a lot about thinking like a detective. I was the one who recruited Honey, and she's always fun to be around. Ben's easy to talk to, or at least, listen to." Nick trailed off, most likely figuring that Judy got the idea.

Judy nodded along, listening to Nick talk.

"That all changed, though. I don't have the responsibility of being an Inspector anymore. I stopped acting like you." Nick went on, causing Judy to look at him in concern. "At first I thought I wanted to be an Inspector, upholding the laws of the system. Then I thought I wanted to be a detective, adding my own insights into the investigations. Now I'm neither of those things. I'm just a hunter."

"Is that how you see yourself? Is that what being an Enforcer is to you?" Judy asked him gently.

"Well, did you see me as an agent? As a detective? Tell me the truth, Inspector. What did you think of me before I killed Lionheart? What did I look like?"

Judy hesitated, feeling a bit embarrassed having been asked this question. She knew exactly what she thought of Nick, having seen him in action. She thought about it often: the way he growled, the way he bared his teeth, the way he slowly prowled before breaking into a sprint. That look of bloodlust in his eyes was still clear in her memory. Just thinking about him felt like a hazard to her Psycho-Pass, as if it were taboo. It wasn't going to sound like a polite thing to say out loud, but she knew it was what Nick wanted to hear.

"You looked like a predator cornering his prey." Judy spoke softly.

Nick shifted his head to the side, looking at the sparse decorations of the room. He looked slightly pained by her words, but accepting of them nonetheless. "I just follow orders. I've been an Enforcer for a while now, and that is the best way to handle assignments. The other Enforcers will tell you the same thing: don't hesitate and don't doubt yourself. I am an extension of my Dominator, and I am controlled by my Inspector's will. I stopped questioning what was asked of me, and just kept telling myself it was for the better of society. Me and the other Enforcers have killed many latent criminals under this convenient logic."

Nick took a deep breath before speaking again. He made sure to look at Judy. Judy felt as if she was being challenged by him once again. "We Enforcers are told that we are killers. At some point I accepted that as truth. If that's how the system sees me, then there's no point trying to fight against it. I thought I couldn't be anything else. But you, Judy, you made me realize how foolish that was."

"Because you used to be like me?" Judy asked, jumping onto his train of thought.

Nick nodded. "Yeah. I tried doing the right thing as an Inspector. But when I became an Enforcer, I lost all motivation because I have less agency in this position. Seeing you reminded me what this job is really about, though. It's about protecting mammals, and that's exactly what you did. You made your own decisions, using your own moral compass. You value justice." Nick gave a light squeeze of her paw. "As long as I have an Inspector as good as you, I feel like I can start making a difference again, instead of just being a hunter."

Judy began crying upon hearing Nick's heartfelt praise. It was nice to hear that he believed in her abilities as an Inspector, but what was even more touching was knowing that she inspired him to better himself. "Nick...thank you..."

Nick smirked at her. "Are all bunnies this emotional?"

Judy wiped her nose and gave Nick a playful thump on the shoulder. "So you wanted to help Sarah too? Would you have thought of a way to not kill her?"

Nick frowned. "I'm not sure."

Judy looked at him with concern and confusion.

"All I could think of was how I didn't want to die there." Nick continued. "I couldn't die there. That single thought consumed me. I know it sounds selfish, but I just can't help it. I have unfinished business; there is somebody that I owe." Nick stated with a note of finality.

"I understand." Judy lied. She didn't know what caused Nick to feel this way. All she knew was that the determination with which Nick spoke was frightening.

"Luckily, I have somebody as crazy as you to do that for me." Nick grinned. "I still can't believe you shot me, and I still can't believe you calmed that girl down. A bunny not backing away from a puma. You're something else, Carrots."

Judy gave an earnest laugh. She held out her paw for Nick to shake. "Well, Slick Nick, I hope I can be the Inspector that you can stand behind proudly. Let's promise...to make the world a better place, Nick."

Nick flattened his ears, gave her a warm smile, and shook her paw. "With an Inspector like you, I feel like we can do it. I promise to start handling cases like you again. I promise to try my best. Thank you, Judy. From now on, I'm all yours."