Chapter 8: …And the bag's in the river.
Several Hours Later…On the Road.
Never let it be said that Nick Wilde couldn't get together a crew at a moment's notice, one of the interesting things about him is that as a former con man and criminal, he has been involved in many things, which has led to many relationships, business or otherwise.
But out of the many occupations he has had over the years, pulling potential heists has always been one that got his blood on fire, even though he has chosen the respectable career of following by Judy's side as her partner, there were things he would miss about the old days. And the surreptitious entry and exit of guarded places was one that he missed.
In a way, the fact that Judy was here made it all the more enjoyable, there was a part of him that almost wished things went the other way, and she 'broke bad' with him, there were many qualities about her that would have made for a brilliant criminal mastermind. Of course, perhaps he was romanticizing his life, but still, the idea of playing some kind of 'low rent Bonnie and Clyde' with Judy was appealing to him, well at least the parts BEFORE the fatal gun battle with police.
Sitting in the back of the box truck with her, wearing clad black clothes, a balaclava perched on the top of her head. The fact of what they were about to do, Nick was excited, and seeing Judy in a burglar's get up was strangely arousing, though he made no mention of it to Judy, at least not right now.
Nick was snapped out of his fantasy when he was tapped on the shoulder by Tim Langley the otter and one third of the infamous "Trio"
"What?" Nick panned his head over in the otter's direction.
"I said, do you have all your gear?" he asked.
Nick had tapped the bag and nodded in the affirmative back at the otter.
"Yeah we got it."
"Strange, do you always keep equipment for breaking into places just lying around?"
"Hey, we never know when you'll call." Tim joked back.
The two shared a laugh, as Tim patted Nick on the shoulder before turning his attention back to his monitor.
The entire truck had been renovated into a proper heist/undercover operations truck. The standard fare of work counters, laptops, surveillance gear, as well as the previously mentioned break in/out gear
Melvin Cronkite a Jackal was driving the van, while John Baers the more conservative and level headed Koala of the group sat at one of the laptops downloading information to the target, the LAMB headquarters building, Melvin backing him up by getting information on the security system.
Nick turned back to Judy who had finished going through her bag, as if she knew what this stuff was for, and had the strangest expression on her face. Nick slid closer to the bunny and wrapped an arm around her, trying to talk to her over the loud sound of the engine.
"You sure you want to do this?" he asked.
"We have to." She replied.
"I know, but what I'm saying is are you sure YOU want to do this?" clarifying the question
"Nick…I've never done anything like this before."
"I know, that's why I'm asking. You don't have to do this if you don't want to."
"Yes, I do, I'm not going to sit back and let someone else do my job for me." She explained.
"I'm proud of you. You know that right?" He beamed with a smile.
"Of what?"
"Letting me turn the tables."
"What!?"
"Well for these last couple years, I've been in your world, doing the cop thing and showing me the straight and narrow."
"And now?"
"Well now I get to share with you what I did, and showing you about the crooked one."
"We've been undercover before Nick."
"I know, but this isn't that, that always had the safety of being 'approved' and 'legit'."
"This is the excitement of doing something you KNOW is illegal and can get you in a lot of trouble." He replied with a smile.
"Are you saying you miss this?" she inquired.
"I'll admit, I do a little." He admitted
"But mainly, I'm just glad I get to share this with you." He smiled at her.
Judy smirked and rolled her eyes, shaking her head.
"And also…" he started, whispering the rest of his statement into her ear.
Judy went wide eyed when she heard what Nick had said.
"Nick Wilde…how can you be thinking about that at a time like this!?" she said smacking him on the shoulder.
"I can't help it, the excitement of being here, you're here in that get up, sharing this with you finally. I never thought about it like that and it caught me off guard." He explained still having a giddy smile on his face.
At first she held a scowl but when softened up and looked at him.
"Can I be honest?"
"I think a little honesty at this point might help to balance out the seriously dishonest thing we are about to do. Sure." He joked.
"Come on Nick!"
"Sorry, yeah go ahead."
"I'm kind of glad something like this happened, because I like the fact we can share this together too."
Nick's smile beamed even brighter, if that was possible.
"And assuming we get out of here alive and more importantly without attracting attention…"
"Yes?"
"When we get home, you're mine Wilde."
"Ooo." He replied a bit whimsically.
"It's having that effect on you too?"
She simply smirked at him, feeling a sense of frustration at the fact he knows her so well.
"Adrenaline junkie." He labeled playfully.
"Shifty lowlife" she played back.
Nick chuckled giving her a kiss on the head.
The van continued on its path towards LAMB HQ.
Later…Vole Gardens…LAMB HQ.
The van had parked in a quiet spot near a dumpster area; two black clad figures had left the rear of the van and made their way towards the back part of the building. The taller one leading the way for the shorter one, as they approached the fenced fence in area that contained the air handler and electrical boxes. They climbed the fence and got inside one of the electrical boxes, Nick had attached a small box to the inside of the metal housing, attaching via a magnet against the metal. With a small penlight in his mouth he illuminated a small area of circuits, attaching the alligator clips to the leads of circuits. Judy marveled at how he seemed to know exactly what he was doing, watching the fox work out the problem in his mind and his paws moving with expert timing.
After attaching the last lead, their ear pieces chirped with the sound of John Baers.
"We're in."
Inside the van, the banks of monitors go active with different camera angles; the laptop's awaiting connection to the security system goes live.
"Okay, get to the rear door." Calls out Melvin.
Nick and Judy climb back out of the fenced in area and go to a nearby back door. Balaclavas pulled down over their faces, looking very much like your average thieves.
"We're here." Whispered Nick into the microphone in his collar.
"We're still syncing the system give me a moment." Replies Baers.
Nick turns to Judy, his green eyes peering out through the eye holes of his mask.
"Ya know, there is still time to call this off?" he asked honestly.
"I know, but we need to find those files, the answer is there."
"This is a lot to stake on a feeling."
"Nick…" she whispered.
"Carrots?"
"I just can't explain it; it's a very strong feeling, an instinct I just KNOW the answer is in the building."
"Alright fluff, if that's what you believe that is good enough for me."
Judy smiled underneath her mask, though Nick couldn't see, he smiled back, his cheeks puffing the side of his mask. Their eyes said everything they needed to say.
"Ok, got it." Radioed Baers as the sound of the electronic lock of the nearby door buzzed and clicked, it opening slightly.
The two walked into the building. Baers had set up a loop on all the cameras so as to let Nick and Judy have free run of the building with no one the wiser, when the time would come to for them to beat their retreat he would release the loop and remove all traces of their presence from the system. The trio being very experienced at this sort of thing, especially in Nick's past jobs where something of value was at stake, breaking into an office building seemed like child's play by comparison.
As Nick and Judy made it up the stairwell to the LAMB offices, she would look around for someone, her prey instincts kicking in, complete with the paranoia of being watched. She tried keeping it in check, but would occasionally realize how much her heart was racing. She knew what they were doing was wrong, illegal, maybe even immoral. Normally she wouldn't even consider such a thing, but the bombings, the terror had to stop, and if it cost the self-respect of one bunny rabbit to do it, then that was a fair trade as far as she was concerned.
They approached the door to the LAMB offices and Nick tried the door handle, locked, as expected but it never hurts to try anyway, you never know. Nick crouched down near the lock and pulled out a small case from his belt, opening it, it contained a lock picking set, after taking out a torsion bar and a pick Nick went to work on the lock.
Judy watched as Nick worked, the occasional clink of the metal on metal and watching his paws pull and tug on the pick, the steel focus of his eyes, it's like he was in another world. He didn't even notice her staring like he normally does. Usually when Judy stares at Nick for some time he notices, gets self-conscious and tries to deflect attention away from himself, either with a wink or a glance, sometimes a pithy joke or simply stare back at Judy with those bedroom eyes. She was so focused on watching him, she couldn't help but smile.
"Ha, yes!" he celebrated as he spun the lock around hearing it open.
There was a moment of intense sheer glee on his face to his accomplishment then it faded suddenly becoming hyper aware, he glanced at Judy, a twinge of guilt and then all it faded into his stoic expression again. She caught all of it and could practically tell what he was thinking if even he wasn't putting it into words.
She could tell that one part Nick was excited even celebrating at using his skills again, to be doing things like this, she could understand why, it was exciting, it was dangerous, and knowingly wrong, the forbidden fruit and the satisfaction that comes with it. Plus she could tell he was damn good at it, two decades of running cons, grifts, pulling jobs even being on a heist or two. Being with Nick Wilde; she has seen many of his faces even the intimate ones, this was the guilty pleasure face, the "I know this is wrong but I'm too good at it." look.
He's told her many times that he doesn't regret choosing to do right and stay with her and she believes it, but it wasn't until just this moment that she realizes that while he doesn't regret it, on some level he does miss it even if he didn't want to admit it to himself.
Nick collected his kit and stuffed it back in his waistband and proceeded inside. They looked around for a records room, something that may have files or a computer access to it. After a few minutes they found it. Nick had to pick this lock too, taking about as long as the first but still managed to do it in record time. The door squeaked slightly as they went into the room.
They found the record stacks, moveable shelves on tracks with three pronged handles that cause them to move along the track when turned. The deep smell of paper and toner filled the room, each shelf filled with boxes and boxes of files, some dusty and the boxes with crinkles on the cardboard, others brand new with current dates and freshly folded cardboard. The pair went through the stacks and found a computer workstation on the other end.
Nick sat down in the chair in front of the computer with Judy looking over his shoulder.
"Last I checked, you weren't a master hacker." She jibed.
"Very true my fun bun, but I don't need to be when I have the best in the business downstairs." He replied.
"I just need to be their fingers." He added, as he plugged in a thumb drive.
After pressing the thumbdrive into the port, a series of command prompt boxes were flashing on screen, running whatever script that was written into them and disappearing.
"We are getting access now." chirped Baers over the comm.
The computer logged in and started to be operated remotely, the mouse moving and windows opening and closing, as Baers was taking control.
"Assuming Control!" joked Baers over the comm
"You're a nerd John, nobody even knows that game anymore." Nick fired back deadpan.
Nick turned to Judy.
"See simple as that." He smiled back.
"What we are looking for might be on hard copy, so you might have to search the file boxes once we find any references to one. Just hold on, we're looking just stand by."
Nick simply shrugged as he spun the chair around with his feet, pulling his mask up on his head revealing his face, his slick smile and emerald eyes looking at Judy.
"What?" she asked.
"So….."
Judy pulled her mask up, setting the bundle of it across her brow, she rubbed her muzzle fur to straighten it out along with the fact that it was itching her like crazy.
"So…what?" she asked.
"What do you think?"
"Nick, I swear to god, if you don't start making sense…"
"About this, ya know, being a burglar, a thief, a….how did you put it, a ' shifty low life climbing the fence'?" he replied trying to mimic her tone from so long ago.
She scoffed and smirked back.
"I can't believe you remember that, that was….a long time ago."
"I know, but I'm curious, what do you think? Walking on the dark side of the street, crossing the line as it were?"
"That is NOT what we are doing, we are trying to find a culprit, help the city." She clarified.
"Oh come on carrots, it's ok to say you like it." He said with his eternal 'Nick' smile.
Nick rolled the chair closer to her while still staying seated, pawing at her.
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing…I just want to hear you say it."
"Say what?"
"I don't know, that you find this…exciting, daring, a complete rush. Something like that."
"What? You want me to say that in a different time and place that I could be capable of being…"
"What? A criminal? Is that what you were going to say carrots?"
"Yeah, and no I couldn't be that, I'm too honest."
Nick stood up and wrapped his arms around her.
"I'm not saying you have to be a mastermind carrots, though you're smart enough to be one, i'm just saying that maybe, somewhere out there maybe we met up and I 'showed you the ropes'." He said with a whisper.
"Maybe." She admitted.
"Would it have been so bad?"
"I know what you're doing"
"And what's that?"
"You're trying to get me to say it."
"Say what?" he replied acting innocent.
"That…If things went another way, you could have gotten me to 'break bad'."
"Well, would you have?"
"Not that I have any particular motivation to do so…But."
"I love your 'buts'." He smiled.
"Nick….yeah, I guess you could have gotten me to…" she trailed off.
"I'm sorry what was that?" he held his paw to his ear
"Grrr….Ok, ok, Yes, you could have gotten me to be a criminal, you sly fox." She growled in frustration then admitted it to him.
"There we go. See that wasn't so hard was it?"
"Little miss straight and narrow has a dark streak."
"Well, it makes sense that you would bring it out. I guess."
"Well of course."
"No I mean, it's like that Ying-Yang thing that Kaiden always talks about. Where inside one is the seed of the other. I saw good in you and I brought it out, it makes sense that there is a seed of bad in me."
"That's not what I was going for."
"Well it's something that should be taking into account, I mean my determination, boldness, willingness to break rules, I mean, if I really put my mind to it I could be a really good, bad person."
"Aw carrots, don't say it like that, I was just kidding around." He admitted.
"I'm just saying, since we're entertaining the idea of 'in a different time and place'."
"Well, I was just playing with a fantasy, ya know a little 'Bunny and Clyde' action." He said with a kind smile.
"Oh you like fantasies huh?" she said as she hugged him.
"Well, I'll tell you what, we can act out a few of our own when we….." she continued to whisper into his ears.
The ideas he was hearing was making his tail wag and chuckle slightly. It wasn't until the radio chirped that snapped them out of their moment.
"Uh, guys, we can hear EVERY word you're saying…" Baers warned, leaving it open to interpretation.
"Oh." The two of them muttered.
"Remind me to hose down the van." Jibed Melvin.
"I wouldn't mind hearing more." played Tim.
"Oooooook, and that moment's dead." Replied Judy.
"So are you ready to get back to work?" Baers suggested.
"Yeah, sure." Replied Nick a little embarrassed.
"Good, now while you two were….canoodling? I guess, whatever, we have been downloading a copy of the digitized files, and there is a reference to a file by Dawn Bellwether called a Project T.A.M.E.?"
"Sounds like that we are looking for." Replied Nick.
"Yeah, that's what we think too, you need to find file box 2100.05.76" confirmed Baers.
"I'll look it up." Judy offered.
"Just be careful." Nick wished waving his paw.
"Don't worry about me just keep digging." She smiled back.
Judy went down the stacks, rolling the shelving with the handles looking for the one box out of the many.
"Uh oh." She commented over the radio.
Nick held his paw to his ear.
"What?" he asked worried.
"The boxes don't go that high."
"What do you mean?"
"The last box is like 1999.09.99"
"Damn it, there is probably another records room." Said Baers.
"I can look for it." She replied trying to comfort them
"You sure carrots?" asked Nick over the comms.
"Easy."
"What if it's locked?"
"Then I'll call you over and you can work those magic paws."
Nick couldn't help but smile at that statement.
"Ok carrots, just be careful."
Judy quietly snuck out of the records room they were in and paced down the hallway, she passed a series of cubicles and office spaces, all empty, some doors open others closed, the workers simply leaving things where they lie, the quiet of the place and the emptiness of it gave Judy a creep up her spine. Being a bunny she was used to being crowded, and even in the city she was used to always being movement, people, and noise. Even cohabitating with Nick brought a presence to their apartment that never let her feel alone, whether it was his physical presence or the fact that his things were there, even the spicy scent of his musk, she was never alone.
Here though it seemed as though nothing was alive, like she was dropped in the middle of a monster movie or some post-apocalyptic disaster, nothing and nobody, things lay where they were, the place devoid of noise, activity and presence. It was an unusual and uneasy feeling, to know that there were places in the city that just stopped, becoming empty and absent.
She shook her head to snap her out of it, she had to focus on the task at hand, not observe the inherent creepiness of an empty room. She pressed on, reading the labels on each door, she noticed a familiar door. She walked up to it, the frosted glass acting as a warden to the affairs of inside, she remembered walking out these doors only a few days ago, Judy not able to help herself peered in.
'Gillian Bellwether's office.' She thought to herself.
Judy peered inside and just like the rest of the place, empty, devoid of action or presence. She scoffed, turning on her heels and looking around, she found what she was looking for another room, the label by the door saying 'Records', this room being just down the hall from Bellwether, across from her assistant.
'It made sense, of course she would want to keep the more damning files closer.' She thought.
Judy made her way to the door and grabbed the handle, turning it, the door may have been closed but it was unlocked. She inched the door open to see if anyone was inside, nobody. She went inside closing the door after her.
"How careless" she thought.
"Potentially incriminating evidence and you leave the door unlocked. Idiot!" She exclaimed in her head.
She searched the stacks of this room and within a minute found the box, opening it. There was a large folder full of papers. Perusing randomly she came upon a blueprint sketch, it was some kind of wearable equipment, looking like a necklace or collar.
"Hey guys, I think I found it." She chimed in.
"Does 'Training Aided Motivational Experience' mean anything to you?"
There was a silence for a moment but both Baers and Nick muttered in the negative over the radio.
"What did you find Judy?" asked Nick.
"Something about this Project T.A.M.E., it looks like some sort of collar."
"Collar? Like as in something you put on your neck?" inquired Baers confused.
"Yeah."
"That's very strange." Replied Baers.
"Give me a minute to figure this out." she stated.
Judy looked through some of the other paper work she saw words and phrases like "Predator threat" "Mandatory usage", there was a graph showing population figures she didn't quite know how to interpret. She decided she was just going to take the box and figure it out later. She started to stuff the small mess she created back into the box. Her focused thoughts were too distracted to have heard the door open, but snapped her out of her mind when she heard someone speak to her.
"Judy?" asked a voice with a lisp.
She froze, wide eyed, and caught.
She craned her head around to see a pangolin.
"Max? Hey….well what are you doing here?" she stood up, smiling, asking playfully trying in vain to distract from what she was doing.
"I was working late." He replied.
"Well you know, you shouldn't be such a workaholic." Judy chuckled nervously.
"What are you doing here?" he asked kindly.
"I was just…um…." She wrung her paws trying to think of an explanation
'Ah rabbit pellets, how does Nick do it?' she asked herself.
"Max I….I think your boss is up to no good." She admitted.
"What do you mean?" Max raised an eyebrow.
Judy was unsure of how to break it to the pangolin, being such a nice mammal, she figured he had a simpler world view, in fact he reminded her of herself when she first came to Zootopia. She felt a sting of guilt as she had to be the one to shatter his illusions.
She sucked air through her teeth as she was trying to conjure the words.
"I am certain that someone at LAMB, namely your boss is responsible for the bombings that have been happening. That…she is either the culprit or is managing the culprit."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because we just found some very disturbing evidence that may point to a motive."
"Such as?"
"Well let's just say it's reason enough that this whole terrorism thing maybe to make preds look bad, like real bad, and force some kind of permanent and mandatory something on them."
"That's why the terrorist is portrayed as a predator, why the predator looked like Paxton Mobley who has been a champion for predators. This whole thing has been to make it seem that predators are trying to I don't know, rise up or something. So that prey animals can do something drastic that restricts their freedoms."
"Oh my god. That's….unconscionable."
"I know, so Nick and I kind of….broke in." she admitted ashamed hanging her head.
"Wait, you're here all by yourself? No cops outside?"
"No, this isn't exactly…a legitimate investigation." She replied picking her words carefully.
"Oh…so…this, what you're doing here is like breaking and entering?" He replied pointing at the file box behind Judy's feet with his claw.
"Yes?" she replied very nervously.
Max thought about it for a second, mulling it over, Judy nervously twitched wondering what was going through his head.
"What can I do to help?"
"Oh Max, I can't ask you to…."
"Look, something bad is going on here…I want to help, if only to help the predators."
"Oh you sweet pangolin…Thank you." She smiled.
"Don't thank me yet." He countered.
Judy turned around and started to pick up the files off the floor and stuff them back in the box. Finishing a few moments later, she put the top on the box.
"Did you ever think when you said you wanted to be a cop in that play you would EVER be changing the world like this, Officer Hopps?" asked Max
"No, I never thought I would." She replied with a smile.
Judy's smile and elation suddenly drained away and a look of concern came across her face, then fear. She looked up towards the shelf in front of her, still facing away from Max.
"We….never released that video to the public." She stated gritting her teeth.
A moment of silence passed.
"You're right…you didn't…..I guess that was MY mistake" Max admitted.
Judy turned with a pained expression on her face, she turned to see Max holding a silver pistol gripped remote, the type of remote you see come with RC cars, except this one clearly made of metal and not plastic.
"I told you I was going to see you soon." Replied Max, his voice was different this time, he dropped his lisp and his voice was deeper, his enunciation was proper, sounding much more like his recordings.
"Oh my god…why?"
"I will explain in time, but for now, you're coming with me."
"Why would I do that?"
"Because this remote is connected to a small package that is sitting under the fox's chair right now. I let go, and let's just say Nick Wilde does his impression of a Jackson Pollock painting." Replied Max with a serious, deadly glare.
"Please… don't hurt him." Judy pleaded.
"I won't hurt him Judy, if you do as I say."
"Now pick up the file box, and come with me."
Judy complied, picking up the file box with both paws and stood in front of Max. Using his other paw he quickly patted her down looking for a weapons, which he found her dart gun, tossing it to the floor. He took off her radio and cast it aside.
"Now move." He replied, poking her in the back with the remote as if it was a pistol.
Meanwhile…
Nick had been working with Baers to transfer some digital files, following the Koala's instructions. After finishing, he craned his head around.
"Judy's been gone a while." He remarked.
"I'm going to go look for her, can you handle the rest on your own?"
"Yeah, we can spare a few minutes, we need to find those files though."
"Yeah, the files….I'm going to look for Judy."
Nick stood up and started walking towards the door, he didn't even get five paces before an alarm went off. At first he thought that maybe Judy had tripped something, or a guard saw something, but the flashing lights in the halls and in the rooms told him it was a fire alarm. In a panic, Nick rushed out the door.
"Judy! Judy!" he called out into the office not caring to keep his presence a secret.
He remembered that she took a right out of the door, so he followed hoping that he would run into her on the way back to him.
He jogged through the halls, calling out for her.
"Nick, Nick! Listen to me" called out Baers on the radio.
"Don't even start." Nick fired back.
Nick made his way to the other side of the office and found an open door, it was another records room. He went inside.
"Judy!" he exclaimed expecting her to be in there.
Nick saw a dart gun and a radio on the ground, he walked over and picked them up, the gun had not been fired, and her radio was intact, the headset still smelled of her scent. He noticed a gap in the nearby file shelf, noticing the numbers of the neighboring boxes he surmised the missing box was the one they were looking for.
"Nick, listen to me, you have got to get out of there." Baers demanded
"Not without Judy!" Nick replied.
"She's not there."
"Grr, how the hell do you know?!" Nick growled.
Melvin got on the radio.
"Listen to me Nick, someone else is in the building, the security feed, it's bogus, it's a loop."
"What?!" Nick exclaimed.
"We looped over a loop! When we looked at the 'live' feed we trapped, neither of you are on it, it's a loop from someone else in the system. You need to get out of there; it's a goddamn trap!"
"Nick listen to me, I can hear the sirens from the fire trucks already, we CAN'T be here when they arrive, if we get caught…if YOU get caught you won't be able to save Judy."
Nick was torn between wanting to keep searching or leaving, he wasn't sure which the truth was. Was she still there somewhere or was she gone. He was not going to leave her behind. He made his way back out into the hallway, looking for any sign. Nothing.
"God Damn it Nick! They're coming!"
In the parking lot…
Melvin got into the driver's seat and started the van.
"Mel, we can't leave without Nick." Yelled the Koala.
"By my estimate we have two minutes before the authorities get here, I'm leaving in one."
"But he's our friend."
"Then get him down here, John!" screamed Melvin.
Baers pleaded on the radio for Nick to come down, suddenly there was a crash, the trio looked out through the van's windshield, to see that a heavy desk had come out of a window and crashed into the overhang that was above the entrance
"What the hell?" commented Tim.
They then saw Nick approach the opening, looking down gauging the distance between the now broken window and the overhang.
"Holy crap, is he crazy, Mel get over there!"
Melvin put the van and drive and quickly drove over to just in front of the overhang, the trio watched as Nick jumped, rolling to his side and hit the overhang with a loud bang, denting it. They heard him call out in pain.
"Nick!" called out Baers.
Nick picked himself up and limped to the edge of the overhang and dropped down to the roof of the van. Tim opened the roll over hatch and pulled Nick inside. Nick was clutching his side.
"Good god Nick, are you ok?! Did you break anything?!" Tim asked.
"I don't think so, but it still hurts like hell." He grunted
Melvin floored the gas pedal and they sped off down the street away from the building and the coming sirens. They got about half a mile away when they heard a loud explosion, the burst of fire and light.
Everyone looked at the building, even Melvin glanced at it from the rear view.
"Oh god Nick….I'm sorry." Comforted Tim.
"It's fine. She wasn't in there." Nick reasoned.
"How?..."
"She wasn't!" he snapped staring at Tim.
"Where ever she is, she's alive….I…..I can feel it."
Nick cradled his aching side as they sped off into the night.