Chapter 8: Picking up the Pieces

"SHE WHAT?!" Judy exclaimed, slamming her palms on desk while the old shrew exhaled.

"It would seem I have underestimated her, my child." He said, letting out a dissatisfied sigh. "I apologize deeply, I should have acted much sooner."

Judy let out a deep groan, expressing a mix of frustration and pain as her shoulder still ached from being dislocated. Rubbing her head, she then tapped her foot and looked at Mr Big again.

"Just who is she? You claimed that she's a mercenary, so that means you know who she is."

"Her name is Alexandra, and she is something that followed me from the old country." A sudden voice said as both Judy and Mr Big looked towards the door. It was Kozlov who had arrived. "I just heard the news, boss. I am sorry, I should have been the one to deal with her."

"Kozlov, please don't blame yourself." Mr Big replied softly. "If you can, please explain everything to officer Hopps, I need to think of our next course of action."

The two nodded in silence as they left the office, allowing the old mobster to think.
Outside the office, Judy looked at the large polar bear for answers, but he clearly wasn't gonna give them to her now. Making their way to the kitchen, she watched him take a glass and pour himself some scotch from a flask that he had taken up from the interior of his suit. After taking a few sips he looked at Judy again.

"Her father and I have served together in the military. When the war was over and times went bad, I decided to move to Zootopia." He said, taking a sip and removing his glasses. "There was no place there for old soldiers like me, but Lebedev stayed saying he had a daughter to raise."

Judy gave an understanding nod, while Kozlov placed the half-empty glass on the table and stared at it, trying to gather his thoughts together.

"At first he was writing to me, mostly telling me how things were changing and about his girl. His little котёнок (kitten) is what he called her." The large bear said, giving a bitter chuckle and taking another sip. "But eventually he stopped writing… His last letter told me he was gonna join his wife soon. Some time later I got another letter, which was from Lebedev's daughter. She said she was gonna move to Zootopia and asked me for help." He murmured and placed the empty glass on the table. Took up his flask and started to refill it. "I thought that I would meet a young girl who was broken by the death of her father and who didn't have anywhere else to go."

Emitting another joyless chuckle, Kozlov drank the entire content of the glass with a gulp and looked Judy straight in the eye She was all ears by now, since the more she knew about her enemy the better.

"But, what I saw was something completely different. Before me didn't stand a frightened child, or a scared girl in need of a home," Kozlov continued, crossing his palms together. "Before me stood someone who had known the taste of blood many times, someone who had grown used to death and murder… Someone who despite her innocent smile and nice manners was a cold-blooded killer through and through…!"

Judy raised an eyebrow as she rubbed her chin in thought about this.

"So, what happened then?"

"Me and the boss decided to put her "talents" to proper use. She never questioned the boss's orders; she always did the job and approached them with precision. But sometimes she took it to the extreme."

"Like what for instance?" Judy asked, thinking she was gonna hear a simple heist job or assassination work.

"… She massacred an entire rival mob family during the funeral of the rival boss's youngest son." Kozlov said, making Judy's ears drop and gulp.

Sure, she had dealt with some criminals before who had done some really messed up stuff, but murder during a funeral! Something like that was supposed to be sacred, like a wedding. But apparently this wasn't the issue for this ocelot. Swallowing a deeply formed ball that was lodged in her throat, Judy nodded at Kozlov.
The polar bear meanwhile closed his eyes, recalling that scene.

Heavy rain poured down on the funeral parlor. The building itself was of a large size and was clearly a place where one would pull off a fancy funeral, after all, a mob family wouldn't go for anything small, especially since the Estacados owned this establishment. Kozlov's car pulled over, seeing many parked cars but no people. Looking at his companions, he gave a nod as they all prepared their guns and stepped into the pouring rain. Approaching the parlor with their guns up and ready, they carefully opened the door and froze at what they saw inside.
The corridor was littered with bodies in varied states of slaughter, all of them members of the Estacado-family.
As they moved forward they saw more corpses, most of them with burns and bullet-wounds, while others were taken out with various objects, including one poor bastard who had gotten a chair-leg rammed into his forehead. Bullet holes of various sizes and calibers decorated the walls and furniture, along with black spots and big chunks of it missing, a clear indication that some kind of grenade had been used here.
Finally they approached the main room, which like the rest looked like a war zone. It seemed like a bomb had gone off in this place, with shrapnel and charred remains all around, some even barely resembling what they once were. Also inside said room was the female ocelot, who was wearing a priest's coat and calmly drinking some wine from a soot-covered cup while sitting on a chair near the blown up remnants of a coffin.

"Привет дядя Козлов, чего так долго? (Hello Uncle Kozlov, what took you so long?)" She asked as she put the cup down beside her. "The party kinda ended as you see."

"Alexandra, what the hell is this?!" He asked, approaching the ocelot. "What do you call this massacre?!"

"A job well done, if I have to say so myself. You and Mr Big said you wanted the Estacado family destroyed, so I destroyed them." She said, nodding at the remains of the coffin. "Put in some C4 with Francis and as a lovely parting gift. You can guess the rest."

"You weren't supposed do it at a funeral!" Kozlov yelled out, gritting his teeth and feeling anger boiling inside him. "This is something sacred, Alexandra! Now, where's Francis' body?"

"Ну, я бы сказала что он везде (Well, I'd say he's everywhere)" Alexis replied and casually waved her paw about.

Looking at horror show around him, Kozlov then glared back at the ocelot who was behaving as if nothing has happened. Hell, she even seemed bored!

"So, you just came in and just killed them all, dressed like priest? And you call yourself a christian…!" He uttered when they heard a groaning sound coming from one of the bodies.

Letting out a frustrated sound, Alexis pulled out a pistol and approached the source of the groaning.
The person in question was a middle aged snow leopard, who was still alive despite being burned and having a large amount of shrapnel in his back. Breathing heavily, he coughed up blood and gasped when he saw the ocelot pointing the gun at him.

"P-P-P-Please… I… I-I-I have a family… I… I'll l-leave t-the mob!" He whispered in a pleading voice. "P-Please… H-h-have me-"

But before he could finish his sentence, Alexis shot him several times and put a proper end to his life. After this she holstered her gun and turned back to Kozlov.

"Now, I've killed them all, uncle." She said softly, then walked the polar bear and headed towards the exit. "Since my job is done, please ask Mr Big to transfer the money to my account. Also, please inform him that this was my last job for your organization… I've kind of lost my interest in it."

The other thugs moved stop her, but Kozlov shook his head as he watched her step out into the rain and then slowly disappear in the distance.

Kozlov then opened his eyes and noticed how Judy looked kind of pale from hearing his description of the scene. Taking the flask and pouring a full glass, he then pushed it toward Judy.
The bunny quickly grabbed the glass and chugged it down, then coughed from the strong and smoky liquor that burned her throat and insides.

"After that, I didn't hear a word from her, and it was also after that they began call her 'The Saint'. I am guessing that she left the country for a while, probably doing jobs overseas." He murmured, rubbing his palms together. "But now she's back…!"

Then, Kozlov extended his hand and took one of Judy's little paws and stared into her eyes.

"Officer Hopps, I want you to understand this… Alexis isn't your average street thug that you're used to dealing with. She's trained, she's skilled and she won't stop until her job is done. I ask you to stay clear of this and let us deal with her, for your own safety."

Slamming the empty glass on the counter, Judy glared back at Kozlov with a determined look, which already told the old polar bear what her answer was gonna be.

"Sir, I'm a police officer. I don't care if she's a goddamn Terminator!" Judy exclaimed and slammed her fist on the table. "She's going be arrested and she'll answer for what she did. She'll rue the day she crossed me…!"

Looking at her, Kozlov gave off a rather defeated exhale and put his glasses back on.

"I understand officer Hopps. But, I ask you to be careful and not underestimate her, and allow us to aid you in her capture."

Judy was silent for a good whole minute, but it felt almost like an eternity. But then, she gave Kozlov an approving nod. She then got off her chair and made her way towards the door.

"Very well, but I want her alive and well. She still needs to stand trial." Judy said, looking back at Kozlov, who gave her a nod as well.

After this little talk, Judy stepped outside. Various thoughts were racing trough her head, most of them questions about who'd hire such a dangerous person to go against her and Nick. The list of suspects was longer than a giraffe's neck; one could make a make a phone book out of them! She and Nick had worked together for nearly two years now, and in that time they had locked up gang members, mobsters, murderers, thieves, corrupt officials and even a pyromaniac or two.
She also wondered how she was gonna track this ocelot down. She probably lived under a different name, and unless she and Honey was unable to find anything in the recorded footage, this mercenary was the only person that could prove Nick's innocence.
So many things were just piling up, and all she had wanted to do this weekend was to have Nick meet her parents… Wait.

"OH SWEET CHEESE AND CRACKERS!" Judy exclaimed slapping her forehead, then quickly pulled up her phone and saw she had missed ten phone calls and eight text messages from her folks.

Biting her lower lip, Judy looked at the address of the hotel they were staying at and quickly typed that she would be over in an hour. After that she left the premises of Mr Big's mansion and hailed the nearest cab which sped away towards her destination.

The promised trip sadly didn't take an hour, but instead two whole hours because of a car accident in the tropical zone, which made the bunny extra jumpy.
When the cab finally pulled over by the hotel, Judy tossed a few notes to the driver, telling him to keep the change and then rushed out of the cab, ran into the hotel and towards the front desk where a surprised female giraffe looked at Judy, who still looked pretty worse for wear since her fight in the forensic's lab. She asked in what room her parents were staying.

"Mmm… Stu and Bonnie… Mmm… Ah yes, room 325, fifth floor miss." She said while checking the computer behind the counter (which was wide and upturned as a compensation to her high altitude). "Should I inform them of your arrival?"

"No thanks! They already know!" Judy yelled as she ran to the elevator.

After getting to the fifth floor, Judy raced trough the hallway when she saw the door for one of the rooms opening. From there she saw her dad's head peek out, and Judy quickly hopped over and hugged him tightly.

"Oh Jude! You had me and your mother worried sick! What happened back there?!" Stu asked and returned the hug. When he parted from her, he gasped as he got a good look at his daughter, who's bottom lip and cheek had swollen up greatly by now. "What happened to you?! You look like you've gone through a vegetable grinder!"

Welcoming Judy inside the hotel room, Judy took a deep breath as she sat on the bed and began explaining everything to her two parents (though she did leave out the part with the assassin going after her and Nick). Their eyes were going wider and wider in the process of this, until Judy finally stopped, her throat being sore from the long talk.
Bonnie's hands were over her mouth, while Stu was tapping his foot and shaking his head.

"See, this is why I was always against the idea of her being a cop!" He said, stomping his foot and looking at his wife. "Rabbits weren't meant for this kind of job… This type of life is too dangerous for her! Just look at her!"

"Stu please, she's a big girl…!" Bonnie began, but then looked down with a frown. "But you may have a point… Judy, this is not something you should be involved with."
XXX

Judy stared at her parents, the she gritted her teeth and tiredly rubbed her head.

"Ugh, would just stop that? It's always the same thing…" She muttered, and then jumped off the bed and glared at her parents. "I have to be involved, because it's my job. I have responsibilities, now more than ever when Nick is behind bars for a crime he didn't commit, all after he worked himself to the bone to reform and become a cop too!" She threw her arms out and addressed them with an angry voice. "I chose this job because I wanted to help! Yes, it's dangerous, but that's something I knew right from the beginning. So would you please stop treating me like I don't know what I'm doing?!"

Both Stu and Bonnie looked at her in silence, as Judy lowered her head, with her ears going down as well. She looked away, already feeling regretful for yelling at them. This was something that she had wanted to say for quite a while, but she still couldn't help but feel bad. These were her parents after all, who despite making many discouraging attempts to steer her away from her dream, still had always had her back.

"I'm sorry….I didn't mean to yell at you two… I know you worry about me, but please try and understand… I'm not a little bunny anymore, I'm an adult now…" She whispered. "And… Nick doesn't deserve any of this. If I didn't do my best try and help, what kind of person would I be?"

She felt a paw on her shoulder, and she looked up to see her father's face. He had a soft and understanding look in his eyes.

"We know that Jude, but no matter how old you get, you'll always be our precious little girl." He said. He was soon joined by Bonnie, who held Judy's paw and nodded, her eye's a little watery.

"Yes, sniff, and I'm sorry if we keep nagging on you about this… We can't just help it dear… We just can't help worrying, but you should know that we are proud of you."

Now Judy was the one who started to feel teary-eyed, and she nodded. The three then hugged. After this hard and horrible day, it was just what Judy needed.

A soft click of the lock and soon the door was opened as Alexis stumbled into her apartment and nearly collapsed. The ocelot flicked the lights on as she closed the door after herself. Coughing a little, she hissed while holding her hurting side, then removed the janitor's clothes and tossed them aside. She would have to dispose of them later; she could have burned them along with that car, but her spare clothes we're still in the rental car she had parked before going to the station, and going half-naked trough the city wasn't a prospect she liked thinking about. Making her way towards the bathroom, she gathered all the needed items to take care of her injuries.
She was later sitting in the kitchen in her underwear and carefully stitching up a gash on her left side, while on the table laid some fresh bandages and an opened bottle of vodka. Painkillers would have been better, but she was out of them at the moment, so this would have to do. Finishing with the stitches and applying some bandages (including a medical eye patch for her blackened eye), Alexis took a deep gulp from the bottle as she began to think everything over.

So, she had a tussle with her target, who had actually turned out to be quite an impressive fighter. Combined with that badger doing a real number on her, and the fact that her target was actually the godmother of Mr Big's granddaughter (she swore to give that no good Wooly an earful for missing that).
So, what did this all boil down to? Well, any normal merc or assassin would have dropped this job right away, tucked their tails between their legs and left Zootopia for good, but instead Alexis couldn't help but to smile a little. This gig had gone from kind of interesting to very captivating in a very short length of time. It was unfortunate that uncle Kozlov was involved, but as things were right now, she was having too much fun to pass this up. She hadn't been this excited since those jobs back in France.

Taking the bottle, she took another deep gulp when she heard a knock on the door. Raising an eyebrow, Alexis pulled out a Makarov pistol from underneath the table, quickly put on one of her shirts, some sweatpants and a pair of shades to cover her eye. Approaching the door, she innocently screwed on the silencer as another knock followed.

"Да (yes), who is it?" She asked, looking trough the peephole. To her surprise, she saw that it was the caracal from down the hall, Christopher. Hiding the pistol behind her back, she then opened the door a little. "Christopher, is something wrong?"

The caracal gave his usual, nervous smile and adjusted his glasses a little, staring at the ocelot and giving of a little cough while she looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"Ummm… S-sorry… I heard you c-came back… And… Mm… I-I w-wanted to check you up… If… Mmm… If you were okay." He said, scratching the back of his head while his pointy ears were pressed against his scalp. "I mean, last time I saw you. You seemed hurt and I was just really concerned."

Alexis was taken back by this and blinked a few times. It wasn't every day that someone was genuinely worried about her. Seeing a shade of blush in the caracal's ears, it finally clicked in her head as to why this person was so nervous around her; he must have a crush on her!
Giving off a soft smile, as she leaned over and kissed Chris on the cheek, which made him meep with surprise.

"Спасибо (Thank you) for your concern Christopher." She said gently, and then patted the spot where she had kissed him (all the while making sure that the gun in her other hand stayed hidden behind her). "I'm perfectly fine, don't worry about it."

The caracal's ears went redder, and then he noticed her wearing the shades which made him raise his eyebrows, but he decided not to ask questions. Instead he bit his lower lip and then looked back at her again.

"Sooo… Mm… Y-You wanna… I don't know… Hang out? I-I mean n-not right now! J-just ya know… T-tomorrow maybe?" He asked, giving the nervous smile again.

The ocelot thought about it as she looked at Chris. Considering that the bunny had seen her face, combined with the fact that Mr Big probably had probably sent his goons out to look for her, she was gonna need to lay low for a while. Plus, she needed some time for her injuries to heal properly, and since the virus had done it's job, she would have plenty of time before needing to prepare for the next part of the plan.

"Sure, I wouldn't mind spending some quality time." Alexis said, giving him another smile, though this one wasn't an insincere one like they usually were. "Now, do forgive me. But I need some rest, I've had a long day."

"S-S-Sure… Mm… Have a good rest." He said, as Alexis closed the door and exhaled in relief.

Leaning her back against the wall, she slid down and laid the pistol besides herself. Rubbing her head a little, she then shook the thoughts away. It was ridiculous to think someone actually cared for her, especially a complete stranger like that caracal. Why would he do such a silly thing anyway? Simple attraction? Yeah… That was probably it. She didn't deny that she had a great body, but she had always been more of a fighter than a lover, which was probably why her earlier romantic entanglements had been both few and brief.
Shaking her head again, she then stood up and picked up her gun up in the process. She had to get her head clear and not busy herself with such dumb thoughts. Since Mr Big would be coming for her, it would be wise to prepare for such an occasion, not to mention she knew this was gonna be another sleepless night for her. Going to her bedroom, she opened her closet, removed a loose board at it's bottom, and from it produced a double barreled shotgun, a few boxes of ammo, a box of nails, some clippers, a saw and finally a box of screws. Making her way back to the kitchen, she sawed off the barrels of the shotgun. Next thing she did was to remove the pellets and gun powder from the shotgun ammo and dump them into separate bowls. She then began to cut the nails into smaller pieces, then used them to fill the empty shotgun-shells.

As she was doing this, sounds of a loud argument could be heard through the wall of her apartment. It seemed like the anteaters were arguing again… Putting on a melody on her phone and putting a pair of earphones in her ears, the lyrics drowned out the world around her.

Arriving to the precinct the next day, Judy didn't waste any time as she hurried to Honey's office. As she came in, she noticed that most of the mess had been cleaned up. The badger herself was busy typing something on what Judy assumed was her personal laptop (the Believe- and They are among us-stickers on it kind of gave it away), muttering something under her breath. She was sitting with her back at her by her mangled desk, who was surprisingly still standing, with a stack of coffee cups arranged in a pyramid formation next to her.
Judy carefully approached the badger and tapped her shoulder. Letting out a shocked yelp, Honey spun around in her chair with her claws at the ready, making Judy jump back and take notice of the badger's wild expression.

"Honey! Honey! It's me! Chill!" Judy exclaimed and held her paws up. Seeing who it was, Honey relaxed.

"Oh… Sorry Jude… Mm… What time is it?" She asked, rubbing her eyes and combing back her messy hair with her paw. "Mmmm… Could you get me some coffee?"

"I… Think you've had enough. And it's around 10 AM, Honey." The bunny muttered, looking at the badger who turned back to the monitor. "Have you been here all night?"

"I've been trying to restore the footage. That bitch uploaded some sort of virus and it really screwed up the recording, plus a good chunk of my files and those kept at ZPD-website." Honey explained while shaking a nearly empty coffee mug in her paw, which she turned upside down and then stuck out her tongue, catching the very last drop of java with it.

Hearing those words made Judy's heart drop and sink all the way to her feet, followed by a feeling of having all the air sucked out of her.

"Y-Y-You mean, the recording is gone?" She asked and was surprised by how low her voice sounded.

"Not exactly per-say. It's damaged, but I think I can restore it." Honey said to calm down the bunny. "That's what I've been doing this entire night actually."

"Can't you get a copy from the police-cameras?"

At this, Honey turned around in her chair and gave the bunny a serious look, which caught Judy off guard.
"That's what I thought, but when I tried to go and find a backup-file with our Nick-lookalike, I couldn't find any."

"But Bogo showed me the footage…" Judy mumbled.

"He probably showed it through a link on the website, which is down now thanks to the virus. Only way the backup could disappear, is if someone removed it."

Judy's eyes widened, then she punched herself in the palm and cursed.
"Damn! So she removed that as well…!"

"Actually… No." Honey said while scratching the back of her head. "While I didn't find the footage from the evidence locker, I did find the footage of our unwelcome little guest entering and exiting the station. She came in around eight dressed as a janitor, and went straight to this place all the while avoiding face-contact with the cameras. Point is, she went right over here… Like she knew where the forensic lab were beforehand, and she then left in a hurry as we chased her out… There was no way that she could've removed the backup-footage last night."

Honey gave her a meaning look, which prompted Judy to blink repeatedly as she processed what the badger was saying.
"What are you suggesting?" She asked in a low voice while throwing a glance over he shoulder. "… That there could be someone here at the station-"

"I'm not saying anything yet." Honey whispered to her. "But I do think we need to keep our eyes peeled and our mouths shut in the precinct from now on… At least until we know who to trust… Ugh, but here I am blabbing all about what I've come up with. What about you? Did the old coot have anything useful to say?"

Judy shrugged at this.
"A couple of things, but nothing that was solid enough to bring to court."

Just then the two heard a cough and they both turned their heads, seeing detective Richter standing in the doorway, staring at Judy and wearing his ever present smug smile on his face.

"Any problems officer Hopps? I heard you had a little tussle last night with some mysterious figure." He murmured, his eyes narrowing into slits. "And now I hear you have the footage, which I doubt you have the authority to be in possession off. Tssk, tsk,tsssk… Could it be so that Mr Wilde's criminal leanings has rubbed off on you?"

That comment made Judy practically boil with rage, though before she could give any angry retort, Honey stepped up from her chair, walked over to Richter and poked her claw into the detective's chest while bearing her teeth.

"First of all, nobody comes in here without my permission, so you better stay in that doorway buster! And second, if I hear you talk to any of my friends in such a tone again," she said, and then grabbed the surprised raccoon's snout in a tight grip. "So help me, I'm gonna pile-drive your head so deep into your torso that you'll have to unbutton your shirt to eat!"

Richter stepped back and glared at Honey while he adjusted his suit.

"Why of course, Mrs Barker, I understand… After all, you and Wilde must be like birds of a feather." He said, his face turning into a smirk again.

Judy got a surprised look. 'Mrs?' She thought in confused manner. She couldn't recall Honey ever mentioning that she was married.

Richter turned around and began to walk away, though not before saying one last thing over his shoulder. "I'll be sure to inform your friends at the 29th precinct of how you said "Hi" to them."

This made Honey back away from the doorway, looking rather pale and biting her lower lip as the despicable raccoon disappeared out of sight. Turning around, she quickly made her way back to her computer.
Judy gave Honey a worried look, and was about to place a hand on her friend's shoulder when the badger raised her palm.

"Save it Jude, I'll be fine. Just check on Nick, I'll give ya a call once the footage is restored."

Judy stared in silence, but gave a nod as she began to leave the forensics room, only to stop in the doorway and look back at Honey.
"Only one thing… Could you see if you could find any info on someone in the underworld known as the saint?"

"Sure…" Honey responded without looking at her. Judy then left, but her sensitive ears picked up an audible whimper escaping from the badger.

Feeling confused and angry, Judy walked through the lobby with hard steps. If there had been any redeemable parts about Richter before, making Honey upset had completely killed those parts. What was that guy's problem anyway?

"Judy?" A voice called to her. She looked up and saw Clawhauser look at her with a worried look from behind his counter. "Oh god, are you okay? I heard you were attacked last night!"

"I'm a little beat up, but I'm still in one piece."

Clawhauser exhaled in relief.
"Thank goodness… How is Nick? I haven't had the chance to go see him yet." He waved his paw at his computer in a meaning fashion. "You know, all the paperwork I've had to do, plus this thing with the ZPD-website has made things really difficult for everyone… Does he manage?"

"Don't worry, that fox is a rock." Judy replied. "He's just waiting for his lawyer, who should be here sometime today."

"Oh, he's actually here already." The cheetah said, making Judy's ears stand up in interest. "He came to counter and asked where Nick was. He should be in the cell block, if he's made it there by now…"

Judy's brow knit at this.
"What do you mean made it there by now?" She asked. "Who is this lawyer?"

"You've gotta be kidding me!" She said a couple minutes later as she stood in the cell block, looking at the vulpine and his lawyer. "Nick! Is this a frickin' joke?!"

"Oh hey Carrots, I was wondering when you'd come by. I believe you've already met my lawyer~" He said gestured to a very familiar-looking sloth. "Flash the hundred yard dash~"

Flash gave his usual slow smile and raised hand in a greeting. He was about to say "Hi" to Judy, but the bunny held up her palm to interrupt him.

"Nick, what do you think you're doing?!" She asked her partner. "How can you have Flash represent you?! He works at the DMV!"

"Well yes, yes he does. Buuuuuuuut Flash also has a lawyer's master degree and quite the silver tongue if I do say so myself~" Nick murmured while Flash gave a slow nod. "He'll know how to keep everyone busy while you'll find a way to prove I'm innoce… What happened to your face?"

Judy gave a faint sigh as she looked at Nick. Most of the swelling in her face had gone down by now, but her body had started to ache pretty badly since last night. She began to tell him about what had transpired in forensics lab, her talk with Mr Big and even her talk to her parents. The fox raised an eyebrow and rubbed his chin.

"Well, this is an interesting turn of events if I have to say so myself." Nick muttered as he leaned against the glass. "Hiring someone to take you and me out. I should be flattered in a way~"

"Hmph, you can stroke your ego AFTER we find out who's behind this." Judy said, as she paced back and forth. "The list of suspects who hired her won't be small, so there's a huge problem already. Plus, we don't know where she's hiding."

"But…" Flash began to talk, though as usual, it was a lengthy business. "If you… Find her… We can… Prove… There is… A… Conspiracy." Nick nodded at this.

"That's what I was thinking. Well, we do know a certain weasel who might know where she is~" The fox said, flashing Judy his smug smirk as she quickly caught on to what he was talking about. "Though finding him without me might take some time. Why don't you ask Finnick for help? He'll know where Weaselton is."

"Sounds good. Well, guess I'm gonna be doing that while Honey is gonna be restoring the footage." She said, placing her paw on the glass door. "Don't you worry slick, you'll be out of here before breakfast time."

Nick crouched as he placed his own paw against hers, giving her an understanding nod.

"Also, Carrots, can I ask for a favor?" Getting a nod, he closed his eyes "Can you check up on my mom? She came here yesterday and I'm kinda worried…"

"Say no more Nick~" She said, giving him a friendly wink as she then took off, making Nick sigh.

"She… Really… Cares… About you." Flash said and received a warm smile from Nick. "Haven't… Seen… You… So… Happy… In… years."