"Zootopia is in chaos."

It was a strong opening line from the ZNN reporter, currently filling up most of the screen on Judy's phone. The zebra was standing in front of Zootopia General Hospital, which was barely visible behind the wall of ambulances parked in front. Several mammals wearing scrubs were sprinting every which way in the background, though every once in a while Judy also saw a police officer mixed in with the crowd. To her dread, she even caught a glimpse of an officer on a stretcher, being taken out of an ambulance with an oxygen mask strapped to their tiger face.

The zebra reporter made a gentle sweeping motion with one arm as he continued his story. "This morning's peace rally took a turn for the worst, when a lion who was not wearing a shock collar suddenly went savage in the middle of the crowd. Police on the scene were able to subdue the lion, but not before as many as seventeen innocent bystanders were injured—some critically."

Judy's heart sank as the scene on her phone shifted to a clip someone had filmed during the incident. The cell phone footage, though shaky and a little out of focus, still clearly showed the lion in question lashing out at everyone close by. At the start of the clip, the lion was still holding a protest sign, so it must have turned savage within a matter of seconds. The clip cut off before any injuries could be shown, but the lingering shot of the hospital told the rest of the story by itself.

"Mayor Lionheart has once again called for predators to voluntarily put on shock collars, saying that he believes that such incidents can be avoided if predators, and I quote, 'just cooperate'." The zebra took a few steps to the side, the camera following his movement. "And of course, here at ZNN, we would like to remind our audience that the shock collars are a city-wide mandate, and predators who refuse to wear them risk prosecution under the law."

Judy groaned at the zebra's indifference to the statement. To an extent, she understood that the zebra was just a reporter, and it was his job to be indifferent, but it still rubbed her the wrong way. Predators were hurting—suffering—because of the shock collars, and even if they weren't, being forced to wear them was a blatant act of discrimination. This shock collar mandate was a bad idea, and it seemed just about everyone in Zootopia knew it, and she didn't care that it was a predator assistant mayor who had proposed it.

Speaking of the assistant mayor…

She turned to look at Nick, who was sitting beside her on the couch. It was slightly amusing to see his fox body barely fit on the bunny-sized cushion, but he somehow managed it, and was currently busy scribbling away on a piece of paper. His attention was mostly focused on his work, but one ear was turned in her direction, indicating that he was at least somewhat listening to the news report on her phone.

The paper in his lap was filled with notes from the night at the Trunk Hotel. He had started by writing down everything he could remember about the participants in the secret meeting. He, of course, recognized Assistant Mayor Rolfe and Timothy Fields, but although he often bragged about knowing everybody in Zootopia, he had to admit that he did not recognize anyone else in that room. Judy had known a few others, but that still left three or four that neither of them recognized.

Judy glanced back at her phone, and to her surprise, one of them was on her screen right now. A hippopotamus was standing beside the zebra reporter, wearing a much nicer suit than he had been a few nights before, and grinning at the camera.

Judy nudged Nick quickly, catching his attention. Nick's eyes widened at the sight on her phone, and he quickly scribbled more notes down on his paper as the interview played out.

"Ernie Hyacinth is the owner of Muzzle Up, one of the chief manufacturers of the shock collars," the zebra stated in introduction. He turned his attention to the hippo. "Mr. Hyacinth, can you tell us anything about the shock collars your company produces?"

Hyacinth flashed an open-mouthed grin at the camera before responding. "Certainly! Muzzle Up is committed to making our shock collars as humane as possible! Predators can wear our collars with confidence and pride, with the knowledge that wearing Muzzle Up helps keep you healthy and happy!"

The zebra stared at Hyacinth uncomfortably, clearly unsure of how to respond. Judy, on the other hand, knew exactly what she wanted to say—but she couldn't, because there were too many young rabbits in the den with her and Nick at the moment.

The zebra, after a moment of hesitation, finally found a follow-up question. "You know, Mr. Hyacinth, there are those in Zootopia who would say that you are unfairly, and possibly illegally, profiting off this tragedy. What do you—"

The smile on Hyacinth's face disappeared in an instant. "Tragedy?" He seemed to forget he was on camera, because he glared at the zebra and took an intimidating step in his direction. "Preds have had this coming for years!"

The outburst caught Judy by surprise. Beside her, Nick's pencil abruptly came to a stop mid-stroke. The word "pred" was considered an off-color slang, and Hyacinth's abrupt—but casual—usage of it was not something either of them were used to hearing, not even when they were on assignment and had to deal with the more unpleasant criminals of Zootopia. It was just too strong of a slur for all but the most heartless of creatures—especially in the context of a not-so-veiled threat like Hyacinth just blurted out on camera.

The hippo suddenly seemed to remember he was being filmed. He cleared his throat, stood straight once again, and forced another smile in the camera's direction. "Actually, Kent, I'll settle with…" He thought for a second, before finally ending with, "No comment." Then he turned to his left and quickly walked away.

The zebra, professional as ever, walked right after him. The cameraman followed at a close distance, capturing the two of them in frame with ease. "Mr. Hyacinth, you didn't answer my question." The zebra had to call a little louder to ensure the hippo properly heard him. "Is Muzzle Up profiting from this tragedy?"

"No comment," Hyacinth called behind his shoulder. He briskly walked to the nearby parking lot, where an appropriately-sized red convertible awaited him.

"Is Muzzle Up illegally tied to the criminals responsible for these savage attacks?" the zebra boldly asked.

Hyacinth finally stopped, just in front of his car. He stood still for a moment, before turning around to face the camera, his stupid fake smile once again plastered from ear to ear. "Absolutely not, Kent. What a ridiculous thing to say. Now, if you'll excuse me." He turned back around, opened the driver's door to his car, and hopped in.

The zebra moved aside, allowing Judy to get a good look at Hyacinth's car for the first time. In the back seat were two red foxes—two female red foxes—who were dressed in outfits so skimpy she wondered if ZNN would get fined by the FZZ for indecency. They teasingly chuckled at the hippo as he settled into his seat, and then flung their arms around his shoulders after he got comfortable.

The sight made Judy sick. It was clear as day what was going on: the hippopotamus had taken Rolfe's bribe money and spent it on all of this: the new suit, the expensive convertible, the two predator models in the back seat, and likely a lot more. She didn't know what angered her more: the fact that he was getting away with it, or the fact that he didn't even bother hiding it.

The zebra clearly felt the same way. He pointed a hoof at the two foxes. "Mr. Hyacinth, those two aren't wearing shock collars."

Hyacinth's smile once again disappeared, this time replaced with an uncomfortable look of worry. "Yeah? So?"

The zebra paused, and for a second, Judy thought she heard him snort into his microphone. "You're the owner of a shock collar company, you have publicly endorsed the shock collar mandate, and you just said a moment ago, and I quote, 'Preds have had this coming for years'." He gestured to the two foxes, who were still flaunting their bodies all over him flirtatiously. "So, Mr. Hyacinth, why are these two not wearing shock collars?"

The hippo stared at the zebra like a deer in the headlights for several long seconds, his brain struggling to come up with a reasonable response. The two foxes continued to rub their bodies all over him; if they had heard the conversation, they obviously didn't care—either that, or they were trying to get the cameraman to cut away before anything too raunchy happened.

Judy glanced back at Nick, who was still staring at her phone with a look on his face that told her he was very uncomfortable with the whole thing. Hearing the word "pred" thrown around so casually was certainly something that would make anyone uncomfortable, but seeing the two foxes practically throw themselves all over Hyacinth was probably not helping either.

"Wish that were you instead?" she joked.

Nick blinked, taken out of his trance. He turned his attention to Judy and, in an instant, adopted his casual smile in response. "Nah," he responded. "They're not my type."

Judy narrowed her eyes, a mischievous smile of her own crossing her face. "Oh, really?" She held the phone closer to Nick, so he could get a good look at the two vixens. "They sure are pretty, though, aren't they?"

Nick snorted. "Sure, pretty obnoxious," he mumbled. He pointed at the screen with his pencil. "Look at them, they're all looks and no brains. What's the appeal in that?"

Judy pulled her phone back and widened her grin. "Oh, so it's brains you look for in a woman, huh?"

He stared at her, unimpressed, for a second, before flipping his pencil around in his paw and planting the eraser firmly on her nose. "I'll never tell, Fluff." Before Judy could taunt him a second time, he rested his pencil back on the paper in his lap. "Come on, we've still got work to do."

While Judy enjoyed teasing Nick, he was right. The whole point of this was for them to learn as much information as they could about the mammals in the Trunk Hotel—who they were, what they were doing there, and what their connections were to each other.

And at the moment, Hyacinth was the perfect mammal to study.

"Mr. Hyacinth?" The zebra pressed him once again. "Why are these two foxes not wearing shock collars? Surely the owner of Muzzle Up would be proud to use his own products, would he not?" When Hyacinth did not reply, the zebra elaborated, "Is it possible, sir, that you do not believe your own words? Perhaps you are afraid what your shock collars would do to these two—"

Finally, the hippo had a response, though it was not a response the zebra expected. Hyacinth started his car and, less than a second later, sped off. The two foxes flew back into their seats, throwing their arms in the air and calling out with a thrill as they accelerated away from the ZNN crew.

The zebra turned back to the camera, unshaken from the hippo's sudden exit. "That was Ernie Hyacinth, owner of Muzzle Up." He brushed the shoulder of his suit with a single swipe of his hoof. "And from ZNN, I am Kent—"

With a swipe of her finger, the app closed on Judy's phone, leaving just the sound of a few bunnies on the other side of the room to fill her ears. She once again turned to Nick, though this time she made sure to keep the conversation serious. "Did you get all of that?"

Nick read out loud as he finished writing the final sentence. "'Ernie Hyacinth, owner of Muzzle Up'. Entrepreneur, businessmammal, and a horrible liar." He dramatically dropped the final period with his pencil, then turned and flashed a smile in Judy's direction. "One more name to send off to Chief Bingo-Breath."

Judy nodded in satisfaction. It had taken them all day so far, but they were finally caught up on the names and occupations of everyone in the Trunk Hotel meeting that they could remember. And while right now, they were unable to do much with them because they lacked any proof, it was good to write it down so they wouldn't forget important details later.

Which meant it was now time to move on to the next objective: Trying to remember exactly what was said, and by whom, in the meeting.

That was an even bigger undertaking. They had already spent hours trying to piece together the exact conversation that had happened before Judy had turned on the news. They could remember most of what was said, but they both struggled to remember who had said what. Even after they had finished reconstructing the gist of the meeting, they could only remember certain things that certain mammals had said—and even so, it was all hearsay, which meant it wouldn't hold up in a court of law anyway.

All in all, it had been long morning, and they needed a break. Judy stretched her arms and sat her phone down on the table beside the couch, on top of a folder she had brought with her when they had first come to the den. "I'm going to get a snack," she announced, then stood up and turned around to look at Nick before she left. "Do you want anything?"

Nick was looking at his notes, double-checking all the information he had written down, but still responded with, "If you've got some extra blueberries, I wouldn't say no."

Judy smirked. "Of course. You and your blueberries."

Nick looked at her and flashed a sly smile. "Hey, you know me." He spread his arms in a ta-da manner. "Blue compliments my red so well!"

"Sure, that's why you like blueberries so much." Judy chuckled and turned on her heel to walk to the kitchen. The two of them were currently in one of the annex dens, small enough to only hold about two dozen bunnies, and the kitchen was a fair distance away. It was a bit annoying to have to go so far just to get a snack, but the two of them valued the quietness and seclusion of the den in order to better focus on their work. The few bunnies who were hanging out close to them were mature enough to keep their voices down, and overall, it was the perfect location for them right now.

Still, it took five minutes or so to reach the kitchen. Judy quickly grabbed a small bag of blueberries from the refrigerator before she forgot, then set her sights on the cupboard on the wall. She opened the door, and was greeted with the sight of a box of crackers from her favorite brand.

"Hello, stranger," she dreamily murmured as she grabbed the box. "Where have you been my whole life?"

She once again opened the refrigerator and grabbed a small block of cheese inside the door. The crackers with cheese would make for an excellent snack, and even better, it was a kind of snack that she could munch on a little at a time as the day drove on.

Satisfied with her haul, she kicked the fridge door closed with her foot and began walking back to the den. She didn't make it far, however, before she ran into just the rabbit she was hoping to see today.

"Sara!"

Her sister was approaching her from further down the hallway; it was not a coincidence that Judy had picked the den closest to Sara's room. The younger rabbit was carrying a big brown box, almost too big to handle, but seemingly light enough to not give her too much trouble. The top half of her head was barely visible above the box, which gave the comical impression that the box had grown a pair of tall rabbit ears.

"Hey, Judy!" Sara called. Judy quickly closed the distance between them so they wouldn't have to yell at each other. "What's up? Still hard at work on that case?"

"You know it." She raised the box of crackers in her left paw and smiled. "But right now is break time."

"My favorite time," Sara longingly repeated. She readjusted her grip on the box. "I've still got some packing to do, so no breaks for me."

"Can you squeeze one in for me anyway?" When Sara raised an eyebrow, Judy elaborated. "Do you remember how you said you would help me with the lab results?"

Sara nodded immediately. "Yeah, you said you needed the ZPD to send them over." When Judy silently smiled in response, Sara raised an eyebrow. "No way. Already?"

Judy's smile broadened. "Yep."

Sara blinked in surprise. "How did you manage that?"

"I could tell you, but if I did, I'd have to kill you," Judy playfully responded. Sara's unamused expression, however, forced the smile off her face. "I really can't tell you, Sara. All that matters is that I have the lab results, and I'm ready to give them to you."

Sara stared at her sister for a second, clearly pondering how she had managed to get the lab results so quickly and inconspicuously, but after a while, she simply nodded. "Okay." She raised the box in her arms. "Can I put this away first?" she pleaded.

Judy's smile returned. "Take your time." She stepped out of the way to give Sara a clear path down the hall. "I'll be in the den when you're ready."

Sara walked past Judy and shot her a smile of her own. "Don't forget, you owe me a big hug and some fro-yo."

Judy turned back around and continued down the hallway to the den. A few minutes later, she arrived and held up the bag of blueberries as she passed through the entryway. "I've got a blueberry delivery here for a Mr. Wilde?" she announced.

Nick, who was busy writing down more notes, lifted his head in excitement. "I'm Mr. Wilde, ma'am," he called in an equally over-the-top tone of voice.

Judy walked over to the couch, once again took the seat beside him, and placed the bag in his outstretched paw. "That will be fifty cents per berry, sir," she joked.

The smile on Nick's face disappeared in an instant. "Wow, inflation's no joke," he grumbled. He stared at the bag of blueberries in his paw, suddenly second-guessing his appetite. "Do bunnies accept checks?"

"We do," Judy confirmed, a smirk still spread from cheek to cheek, "but there's an extra fifteen-cent charge per blueberry if you use one."

Nick knew she was just joking, but nonetheless held off on opening the bag and digging in. "Hmm," she heard him talk under his breath. "Do I eat today, or do I pay my rent this month? Can't have both…" He looked back at her, a faux glare in his eyes. "You really enjoy ripping me off, don't you?"

"It's called a hustle, sweetheart." Judy chuckled and gently patted the back of Nick's head. "Tell you what," she offered. "How about you help me solve this case, and you can have as many blueberries as you want in return?"

Before she knew it, the bag was opened and Nick got to work shoveling berries into his mouth. "Deal!" His voice quickly muffled as he tried talking past the food. "I have to ask, though: What is the legality of an ex-cop helping you with a case like this?"

The question caught Judy off-guard. Technically, yes, Nick was no longer a police officer—something that she had forgotten—and she was unsure of what the usual protocols were for ex-cops to help out with cases like this. She figured, since he had been helping anyway before he quit, and since he was a civilian eyewitness at the Trunk Hotel, he was probably fine with helping her solve the case, but there was always a chance someone would have a problem with it.

In fact, if that "someone" was a lawyer looking for some kind of loophole to get their client out of being prosecuted for their role in turning predators savage, it would not end well. There had been plenty of cases where criminals got off without any punishment because a cop had filed paperwork incorrectly, or had said the wrong thing at the wrong time, or any number of things. And with the sheer amount of money Judy now knew was making its rounds through the mammals at the Trunk Hotel, she wouldn't doubt they would do everything possible to turn a simple misstep in protocol into a get-out-of-jail-free card.

It was a real possibility, but Judy could not do this on her own. She finally settled with, "We'll figure that out when we get there." She focused on her own snack, scooping a cracker along the top of the block of cheese, and popping it into her mouth. The mixture of salt and dairy made her close her eyes in satisfaction. "Besides, we're on a lunch break," she added. "No worrying allowed."

"As you wish." Nick popped another blueberry in his mouth and let out an involuntary moan as the taste overwhelmed his senses. "Your family is the best at making these, you know that?"

"Why, thank you!"

The voice came from the entryway. Judy and Nick both looked to see Sara just walking in, her box gone and her shirt slightly wrinkled from carrying it mere minutes before.

Judy smiled in greeting. "Perfect timing." She stood up and walked over to the table beside the couch. "Nick, have you met my sister, Sara?" she asked as she walked.

Nick quickly swallowed the blueberries he had been chewing on, jumped off the couch, stood up straight, and reached out his paw. "Oh, I'm sorry, I haven't!" Sara accepted his paw and he gave it a firm shake. "Sara! Hello! Judy's told me all about you!"

Sara politely smiled, though she was a tiny bit taken aback by the abruptness of Nick's actions. "Oh, has she?"

"Yeah, but I thought you were blonde and had yellow eyes."

Sara uncomfortably stopped shaking Nick's paw. Her fur was cream-colored, and her eyes were green—very unlike what Nick had just described. "Uh…"

Judy lifted her phone off the table with one paw, and grabbed the folder underneath with the other. She turned back around and quickly cleared her throat. "Nick," she politely interrupted, "you're thinking of July, my niece."

Nick's eyes widened. "Oh!" He threw both paws up to his face. "Oh no, did I just make a major faux pas?" His cheeks flashed an even deeper shade of red than usual, and his embarrassment was so tangible, even the other bunnies in the room stopped and stared at him with curiosity.

"No, not at all!" Sara quickly assured him. She chuckled in amusement. "Don't worry, Nick. With how many hundreds of bunnies live here, it's a wonder you can even remember which one is Judy."

Feeling more at ease, Nick lowered his paws and forced a smile. "As if I could forget." He flicked a thumb in Judy's direction as she walked back towards them. "She's only saved my life five times."

"Six," Judy quickly corrected.

"Six times, but who's counting?" Nick flashed a grin at her. "Hard to forget someone like that."

"Sure, but could you pick me out in a room of a thousand?" Judy asked, half-kidding.

Nick shrugged. "I'm willing to try if you are."

Judy finished closing the gap between them and, deciding that Nick's embarrassment had been adequately taken care of, duly handed the folder over to Sara. "Here you go, the lab report on the pill bottle found in Roark's car." As Sara took the folder, she added, "I also threw in the lab report from the coffee cup, too."

Sara raised an eyebrow. "A coffee cup?"

Judy hadn't told her about the coffee cup, and suddenly it was her turn to be embarrassed—though, really, it was more shame than embarrassment. She paused, trying to think of how exactly to explain it without bringing up bad memories for Nick.

Nick, however, answered for her. Adopting his trademark smile, he raised his paw, bringing Sara's attention to himself. "At the Gazelle concert, one of her backup singers went savage. Officer Hopps here," he added, patting Judy's shoulder gently, "determined that he had some late-night coffee right beforehand, and had the coffee cup tested." He motioned to the folder in Sara's paws. "It's all right there."

Silently, Judy thanked him for not mentioning the fact that she had gone savage as well—though, in the back of her mind, she wondered if she should have brought it up anyway, as she had exhibited different behavior from the predators who had gone savage. In any case, she smiled at Nick in thanks, and he gave her a knowing wink in return.

Sara flipped open the cover of the folder and began skimming the contents of the first page. "Okay, a pill bottle and a coffee cup," she murmured thoughtfully. Then she looked up at the two of them and raised her voice back to a normal talking level. "Anything else you want me to look at?" she sarcastically asked. "Psychiatry reports? Doctor prescriptions, maybe?"

Judy smirked in response. "No, that's it. I can't thank you enough—"

"Wait."

Nick's sudden interruption caught Judy's attention immediately. She turned to look at him, and was surprised to see his face deep in thought. His snout was scrunched, as if he had just experienced some kind of vivid memory and was trying to process it. He slowly stuck his paw in one of the pockets on his slacks, and retrieved a piece of paper, folded up several times over.

"I received this prescription from Dr. Wood." Nick slowly unfolded the paper. It was crumpled up, and had clearly been water-damaged by the river when they had made their escape from the Trunk Hotel, but it was still in one piece and the writing was still mostly legible. "He gave it to me during my last meeting with him. I completely forgot about it until now, but…"

He handed the paper to Sara, who promptly set it inside the folder with the rest of the documents. Judy raised an eyebrow. "Do you think it's important?" she asked.

"I don't know." Nick continued staring off into space, still deep in thought. "Probably not, honestly. But…" His voice trailed off, and whatever else he was about to say was inaudible to either of the two rabbits. His face transitioned from a look of thoughtfulness, to a look of reminiscence.

Judy knew that look. It was a look that Nick had when his mind was so preoccupied with thinking about an event from his past, he was unable to focus on the present. And whatever it was, it was hitting him hard; the longer he thought, the more she could see a hint of pain cross his face.

She quickly turned back to Sara. "Just get back to me when you can with that," she requested.

Sara nodded, closed the folder and turned around. "I'm on it." She walked out of the room and turned right in the hallway, headed straight to her room.

Judy turned her attention to the other bunnies in the room, all of whom had been fixated on their conversation ever since Sara had entered. "Do you guys mind giving us some space?" she politely asked. To her relief, they immediately made for the exit without protest, leaving her and Nick alone. She stood in front of him, caught his attention, and gave him a worried look. "What is it?"

The pain in his eyes was vivid, as if he were experiencing an old memory all over again. "My last meeting with Dr. Wood. I'm remembering it now…" He stepped over to the nearby couch and sat back down in his spot. "I remember what he said to me…"

Judy stayed in front of the fox, ensuring that his eyes remained fixed on hers. "Do you want to talk about it?" she softly asked.

Without hesitation, Nick nodded his head, indicating to her that, though this was going to be painful, he wanted to share his thoughts with her. "He grilled me. He spent hours asking me all kinds of questions: what kinds of prejudice I faced growing up, what it felt like to be the only fox in the ZPD—trying to get me to crack and look like I was incapable of being a cop, I guess. And then he said…" He lowered his head, staring at the ground in front of Judy's feet in shame. "You told him you wanted me to have a complete psychological evaluation."

Judy raised an eyebrow in confusion. "No I didn't."

Nick folded his paws and fiddled with his thumbs. "He told me…" He could barely finish his sentence. "That I'm a danger to Zootopia."

"A danger?" Judy knelt down in front of him, once again meeting his gaze, and grabbed his paws in hers. "Nick, you're not a danger!"

Nick struggled to get the next words out, and when he did, they were barely a murmur. "And he said…that you were scared of me."

She had seen this look on Nick's face before, and it was in almost identical circumstances. When they were spying on the meeting in the Trunk Hotel, one of the mammals in the room had said the same thing—that she was scared of him. And while she had wanted to deny it right then and there, at the time, she had been unable to. Back then, there were more important things to worry about, but now…

"Nick…" She caught his attention and fixed her gaze on him. "I'm not scared of you."

"Oh, I know," he assured her. The pain from the memory was still clear on his face, but mixed in was a look of honesty, proving to Judy he was telling the truth. "I know you're not scared of me. After what we've gone through since then, I know. But he said…"

Nick's expression changed. The pain and fear disappeared in an instant. His eyes widened, ever so slightly, as a thought entered his mind. Like a puzzle piece falling into place, the look of realization and disbelief flooded his whole face. Judy half-worried about what he had just thought, but decided to patiently let him sort it out in his mind and fill her in when he finished.

After several long seconds, he fixated his eyes on her again. "Carrots…" He stared at her, studying her face. "What exactly did you tell Dr. Wood about me when you met with him last Thursday?"

The question confused Judy, but as she pondered it in her mind, it suddenly made sense to her—why Nick had been apprehensive towards her, why he had such a hard time trusting her, and even why he had been so emotionally distant ever since he had put on the shock collar. He had met with Dr. Wood two times, once the previous Friday, and once before that on Wednesday.

She had met with Dr. Wood many times—including after she had gone savage against Nick—but despite what the beaver had told him…

"Nick… I never met with Dr. Wood last Thursday."