A/N: A single picture leads Judy to realise that there is still much about Nick that she does not know—but definitely wants to find out.

Before we begin, I'd like to say a couple of things. First, for a dear friend BeecroftA, Happy Birthday! He is the first reviewer to Evergreen, and a contributor to several ideas in this story which you will see sooner or later. Do send him your warm regards!

Secondly, we've hit over 200 followers, 100 favs, and 100 reviews! The feedback has been incredible, so I would like to take a moment to thank all of you for your support. I hope you will continue to walk with me on this wonderful journey. Also, there is a little surprise at the end of this chapter. Enjoy!

Thanks to BeecroftA, Britt30, Landsec, car213, luxaurorae, Story . Writer . 2015, Selaxes, VickyT36, Cimar of Turalis WildeHopps, BlueberryCarrots, zenith88, neurasthenic, Bearsbears, KD-0095, Aronim, Bukoya, side-fish, harrypottercrookshanks, and Lupineleigh for reviewing!

Chapter 8: Photograph

"Really?"

"Yes. I'll move in," Nick said, bracing himself for a hug. Instead, Judy grabbed his hands in glee, shaking them up and down vigorously. A part of him inside felt kind of disappointed.

"This is going to be great! Let's go get your stuff now!" Judy exclaimed, looking like she was ready to bounce out the door.

"Now, like now? I just bought breakfast. And before you offer to pay me, it's my treat. I figure I'll need to pay you rent somehow."

"After breakfast then!" Judy said, smiling broadly. "I'll help you with the packing, and hopefully we can be back quickly."

"We? What do you mean 'we'?" Nick asked, emptying the contents of the bag onto the table.

"Well of course I'm going to give you a hand! You can't possibly carry all your stuff by yourself."

"Carrots, you can barely carry yourself. No offense, but I doubt you'd be able to help much."

"My leg is healing." She huffed, standing up and walking around briskly. "See? I can walk now. I've already made up my mind, Nick, so don't bother trying to change it."

"Yeah, I figured that out by now. Can't stop the stubborn dumb bunny, even when she's wrong." He smirked. "I hope you're prepared, though. It'll be difficult to sort through my stuff."

"Eh, I'm sure it can't be that bad."

Boy was she wrong.

They were back at the bridge once more, after taking a cab down from her house. Judy had been wondering where Nick kept all his stuff, since she'd only seen a deck chair and a few other small items the last time she'd been there to apologise. It turned out that Nick had kept the majority of his items in the nearby abandoned factory, which they were now standing in. From the looks of the dilapidated interior, the place had been abandoned for a long time. They entered through a side entrance, Nick ducking to avoid a large cobweb. Judy simply flattened her ears.

The interior was surprisingly dim. The late morning sun was high in the sky, but very little light was actually passing through the grime-covered windows. There was a cool, mossy feel to the entire interior, giving the empty factory a somewhat eerie atmosphere.

"What is this place, anyway?" Judy asked. "I didn't think there'd be places like this inside of Zootopia. It's way different from downtown…"

"This used to be an industrial park. This building belonged to one of the biggest players, Instinct Incorporated. Ever heard of them?"

Judy shook her head.

"Anyway, they moved to a nicer part of town a couple of years back, along with the other players around. This place was due to be torn down and rebuilt into an amusement park last year, but you can see how that turned out."

"What happened?"

"Politics. As it always is in big cities. And now with two mayors arrested, this place is probably never going to be developed. It's a shame; I do like amusement parks."

"You do? I didn't think amusement parks were your sort of thing. You seem too old for that." Judy teased.

"Oh trust me, Carrots. You couldn't get me onto a rollercoaster even if you paid me." He thought about it for a moment. "Well, depends on how much. But my point is, I like amusement parks and carnivals for the hustling factor. Ever played carnival games?"

"Yeah, Bunnyburrow has plenty of them."

"How many times have you actually won a prize?" Nick asked, making a left turn and heading to a dark corner of the large room. Judy followed, rubbing her chin.

"Not many…"

"Exactly. Carnival games are the essence of husting." He winked at her. "Keep giving the illusion that people can actually win, and they'll practically throw money at you to try and win it."

"I'm starting to think you have some first-hand experience in this…" Judy said, raising an eyebrow. Nick chuckled, almost wistfully.

"Oh yeah. Those were the early days. Me and Finnick were quite the duo back then. Too bad people eventually caught on, and we had to scrap the hustle. It was one of our best. Anyway, we're here," he said, stopping and looking up. Judy followed his eyes up, feeling her own eyes widen. An intimidating pile of shadowy boxes sat pressed against the factory wall.

"…How did you ever get all this stuff out of your house?" Judy gaped.

"Very quickly. The landlord only gave me twenty-four hours to leave. I took what I could."

"You didn't bother to sort out this mess in the two weeks that you were out here?" Judy asked, pointing at the pile.

"Carrots, when you spend almost an entire day hauling all this stuff out onto the streets, looking for another place to stay, you don't really feel the urge to look at it again. For a long time. Besides, there's really no point in arranging it nicely when I'm just going to move it again later on."

"Yeah, but now we have to sort through this mountain of stuff. I don't even know where to start."

"I did warn you." He shrugged. "But relax, I don't need most of this stuff right now since I'm just moving in temporarily. I'm guessing about two boxes' worth of stuff should be good. Now I just have to figure out which ones they are."

"Yeah, good luck with that…" she muttered. "Is that…a TV?" Judy asked, pointing in the corner of the pile and squinting her eyes.

"Oh yeah, we're taking that. It's old, but we can probably get some good use out of it. Do you see a mini fridge anywhere? I can't remember where I left it."

"Nick, I thought we were just getting the essentials."

"These are the essentials! I mean, nobody watches TV in this day and age, but it's nice to have around to have the bigger screen to hook your phone up to. Also, that fridge would solve your stolen lunch problem pretty well, now wouldn't it?"

It did sound tempting to Judy. "I guess…"

"Also, the lighting in your room is horrendous. You could use a new lamp. Oooh, how about this?" he asked, holding up a lava lamp. The wax inside jiggled in response.

"…as horrible of an idea as that sounds, it's still better than what I have," Judy said, sighing. "So where can I help?"

"Let's move some of these boxes outside first. It's too dark here to see anything. Not for me, of course, but I think you're more than likely to bonk your head at least three times."

"Thanks, Nick. That was real encouraging." Judy muttered.

"You're welcome. Alright, I think those shouldn't be too heavy. Take that one, that one, and that one over there," Nick said, pointing at each box.

"Got it." Judy nodded, heading over to the nearest one that Nick had pointed to. The medium sized box was stuffed haphazardly with an assortment of clothes. Shaking her head, Judy knelt down—still being wary of her leg—and lifted the box off the ground.

So far so good…she stepped gingerly out of the musty building and out into the late morning sun. She took a deep breath, grateful for the fresh air. It was starting to get rather warm out, though. Uncomfortably so. She picked up the pace—as much as she could manage—to get the boxes under the bridge where it was brighter. A good twenty minutes later, the last of the boxes sat in the cool shade of the bridge.

"Hey Carrots, what do you think of this?" Nick called, making the bunny turn around. He was carrying a small brown chest of drawers. "Might be good to keep my stuff in."

There was a loud crack, and a moment later, the sound of splintering wood as the entire top of the chest ripped right off. The rest of the empty chest landed on the ground with an audible thump, sending a small cloud of dust into the air.

"…Never mind." Nick tossed the broken chunk of wood into a nearby pile of grass.

Judy laughed, smiling. "So what's next, Nick?"

"Hmm…" he scratched his head, looking at her. "Here, I've got an empty box to put the important stuff in. I'm just going to sort out my pile over there. Would you mind sorting out this pile? It should be just clothes—clean, in case you're worried. I'll come back later to pick the ones I need."

"I can do that," Judy replied, nodding. Nick returned the nod and headed back over to his pile, diving back into the mess of items.

Judy returned her attention to the three small boxes in front of her. She opened the first one and started pulling out t-shirts of various colours and designs. Most of them trended towards blue and green. Not many orange or red coloured clothes, which made sense, with him being a red fox and all. She immediately began laying the clothes across the two other closed boxes and folding them at a speed that her mother would be proud of. Especially since they weren't bunny-sized clothes. It wasn't long before the contents of the first box were all folded and sitting neatly inside. She moved on to the second one, working through the pile quickly and setting it aside next to the first. Finally, there was only one box left.

She stopped for a moment to see Nick drop a few items into the large box in the middle of the pile, before walking over to her. When he saw the boxes, he stopped in his tracks, blinking.

"That was quick. How'd you fold all those clothes so fast?"

Judy couldn't resist a proud smile.

"I have over two hundred brothers and sisters, remember? Back at home we'd have daily chores, and when I say daily, I mean from morning to night. I got plenty of practice."

Nick chuckled. "Bunny life sounds tough…"

"It was better than scrubbing toilets, that's for sure." Her nose wrinkled at the memory. "Cooking, folding clothes and distributing them were some of the more popular chores."

"I still can't imagine living with so many people," Nick said, looking through the neat piles of clothes and picking out a few. "It sounds like it would be an absolute mess."

"So…like yourself?" Judy pointed out.

"There's a difference. My mess is mine to handle. I never had anyone to share it with, so it was never a problem."

"Well, you're moving in with me, so it's going to be a problem. I don't want to see this mess in my room, got it, Nicholas Wilde?"

Nick stared at her blankly.

"I'm sorry, did you say something? I'm sorry, I think your pills gave me short term memory loss," he said, grinning cheekily. He grabbed a couple more shirts and shorts, adding them to the pile in his hand.

"So if I step on your tail, does that mean you'll forget later?" Judy shot back, raising an eyebrow. Nick paused.

"…Touché." He began walking back to the large box in the center, unceremoniously dropping the pile of clothes he was carrying inside. Judy could only stare.

"Did you just completely waste the time I spent folding those shirts?" she asked, crossing her arms and frowning.

Nick looked at the box, and then back at her, raising his arms innocently.

"Hey, I just asked you to sort them by type. I didn't expect you to go folding those clothes. Relax, Carrots. I'll sort them neat and proper for you once we're at your house, okay?"

"You wouldn't last a day in my family." Judy sighed, pinching her forehead. He chuckled in response.

"And that's why I'm glad I'm not a bunny. But thanks for your help, Carrots." He began walking back over to his pile. "Why don't you just take a break or something? I don't have much left to settle."

Judy let out a little humph as he walked off, thumping the ground with her good foot. The cluttered box was sticking out like a sore thumb. Maybe that was just her family upbringing getting to her, but she couldn't understand how anyone could live as sloppily as Nick did. She stared a moment longer, unable to resist it. Stepping over to where the large box sat, she looked in and pulled a shirt sleeve out from under a stack of books to refold the clothes. As she did so, one of the books fell over, the pages flapping open.

"Whoops." Judy quickly reached in and pulled the book out, smoothing the slightly crumpled pages inside and making sure nothing was torn. As she did, something small fell out that caught her eye. It was stuck between the pages like a makeshift bookmark. Judy picked it up, turning it over. It appeared to be a photograph. It looked quite worn, the kind that usually came with age. Part of it was faded, but most of the picture was still clear. Curious, Judy stood up, holding the picture against the light.

She gasped softly.

In the photo was a red fox. In fact, upon closer inspection, Judy realised that there were two. The fox at the forefront of the photo was a kit, who couldn't have been more than nine years old. He was wearing a light green scout's uniform, with an adorable, innocent smile on his face. That had to be Nick. But the fox's eyes in the photo were bright, full of joy and hope. Nothing like the Nick she knew now. He looked so innocent, so happy.

And then it hit her.

"I was eight, maybe nine, and all I wanted to do was to join the Junior Ranger Scouts."

Her grip around the photo tightened. This photo had to have been taken before...that night. It could have been taken on the very day itself. She remembered Nick's words on the sky tram in Tujunga, his memories, the way he described the muzzling on that horrid night. Why was this picture here? Was this the only picture?

She quickly knelt down and rummaged through all the books that Nick had put in the box. They were mostly blank, some with small notes scribbled inside, but none were picture books. There were no other photos in the entire box. The one she was holding was the only one.

He kept this one photo all this while. Why? Judy took a quick glance over her shoulder at Nick. He didn't seem to be paying attention to her, focusing more on untangling a huge bunch of wires and cables. She looked back at the photo. She had to admit, kit Nick was absolutely precious. She wanted to run up, scoop the little fox up in her arms and snuggle him till he begged her to stop.

He already knew a whole lot of secrets about her—courtesy of her parents—but she knew little to nothing about him, other than what he'd told her back then. Was he an affectionate fox when he was small? Did he have siblings? What happened to his parents? Tilting the picture a little, Judy could see a vixen, presumably his mother. She looked pretty, dressed in a bright purple blouse and pink skirt, with a proud, motherly smile on her face. She was probably so proud that her son was going to be a Junior Ranger Scout. The first predator in the troupe.

She felt her stomach turn a little.

It was starting to eat at her now. She had to know more. The picture was telling her a thousand words, but it only gave her more questions than answers. She didn't even know if Nick would be willing to talk about it. Would he would clam up and try to change the subject, like he did whenever he tried to hide something from her?

Wait.

She squinted, holding the photo against the bright sunlight. Something stood out to her. Little Nick was wearing a red scarf. And it looked awfully familiar…

Judy gasped. Turning her head quickly to make sure Nick wasn't looking, she pulled out the handkerchief in her pocket and held it side by side with the picture. The colour was slightly off, but the intricate pattern that dotted the edges of the red cloth was exactly the same. The size seemed to match as well. There was no mistake: The handkerchief in her hand was the very same scarf young Nick wore around his neck as part of the Junior Ranger Scout's uniform.

"That was my favourite handkerchief, too…" His voice echoed in her head.

A realisation came to Judy. He'd kept this very same handkerchief—or scarf—for more than twenty years. The gears in her head were turning quickly. Nick kept a piece of his childhood—possibly the worst experience of his childhood—with him all these years. It must have meant a lot to him for him to keep it that long. What did it all mean? And then there was that photo, and his parents, and…

She shook her head, forcing herself to calm down. She wasn't going to get any answers thinking about it like this. There was only one place she was going to get answers, and that was—

"Hello?" Nick's voice suddenly called out. Judy's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly hid the photograph behind her back, spinning to face him.

"Uh, Nick, it's not…" she trailed off when she realised he wasn't speaking to her. His phone was held to his ear, while several cables draped over his other arm.

"…Yes, this is Nicholas Wilde. How may I help you?" He asked, pressing his head against his shoulder to hold the phone in place while he used his hands to untangle the cables.

Judy took the chance to slip the photograph back into her shirt pocket, before placing the book back into the box. Nick probably wouldn't be happy that she'd rummaged through his personal stuff, but she had to know.

She needed to find out about Nick's family.

"Oh really."

Judy saw Nick cross his arms. He frowned, eyes narrowing. He did not look pleased. Not one bit. He bent down so that his eyes were level with Judy's, focusing intently in front of him. Judy stared back wordlessly, waiting for an answer. Nick said nothing, only breathing deeply as he continued to stare. The silence was slowly starting to get to her. But just as she was about to say something, Nick inhaled.

"Forget it. This isn't going to work. You should put it back."

"Put it back?!" Judy exclaimed. "Why?"

Nick straightened back up, adjusting his tie.

"The cabinet looks better next to the window. If you put it here, the door will slam into it every time we enter the room. That would get annoying, fast."

"But if we move it back, you won't have enough leg room when you sleep," Judy replied.

"And if we leave it here, you'll probably step on my tail when you wake up to go to the bathroom at night. Or maybe you'll end up cuddling it. Either way, I think I know which option I prefer."

Judy grumbled something inaudible to herself.

"Fine," she said, acquiescing. "Help me move this back."

They were back at her apartment, having gathered all the stuff Nick needed from the bridge. Judy had to admit, her apartment looked a lot more like a home after Nick's additions. A mattress was placed at the foot of her bed, complete with a pillow, a bolster, and a blanket. A TV sat on top of a solid wooden box next to her desk, on which a brand new bright lamp stood—a proper one, after some debate. There was a small cabinet to hold both their clothes, a mini-fridge right in the corner next to the mirror, and of course, a coffee machine for the caffeine-addicted fox.

Everything was quite cramped, but it felt comfortable to Judy. It sort of reminded her of her home in Bunnyburrow, the way things were arranged with deliberate care to use the limited space efficiently.

"And…we're done!" Nick said, dusting his hands off, looking around the room proudly. "And it only took us seven hours." He joked.

"That's because you couldn't decide which coffee machine you wanted to bring in here," Judy said flatly. "If I didn't stop you, we'd probably still be under that bridge. Anyway, it doesn't matter. Welcome home, Nick." Judy said, placing a hand on his shoulder and smiling.

"Heh. It's marginally better than the bridge, but it'll do." He winked at her. "This calls for some celebration, wouldn't you say?" Nick said, opening the mini-fridge and pulling out a couple of soda cans.

"Hey, when did you sneak those in?" Judy asked.

"At the same time I called for pizza. It should be arriving in say, fifteen minutes. We made good time. Gotta have pizza to celebrate the good news, too."

"Sly fox." She smirked, accepting the drink from him. "And good news? What good news?"

"Oh, I'll be busy in a couple of days. Doing my physical and mental tests for the ZPD," he said, his mouth curling up in a wry smile. It took a moment, but Judy got the hint. Her eyes lighted up.

"Nick, that's great news! So that call you got back at the bridge, it was…"

"The ZPD, yeah. Good thing they called then. They asked me to bring a whole bunch of useless documents for the tests in a couple of days. I packed them in just before we left the bridge. I know I'm supposed to be babysitting you while your leg heals, but I hope you can handle yourself while I'm gone for half a day." He grinned. Judy pushed him playfully.

"Very funny. But congratulations anyway, Nick." An idea was coming to her. "Have you mentioned the good news to anyone yet?"

"Well I think Finnick would be crushed. He was hoping I'd get right back to hustling some saps with him." Nick took a drink out of his can, before sitting down on her bed. "Guess I'll have to destroy what's left of his little hopes and dreams."

Judy sat down next to him, quite conscious of the distance between them. She didn't want to come across as overbearing.

"Yeah…I wasn't talking about Finnick. I was thinking of your…parents. Do they know that you're becoming a cop?" Judy asked tentatively, watching Nick's face for a reaction. As far as reactions went, there wasn't much from Nick. His smile faded some, and his grip around his can tightened.

But for Nick, that was definitely a big reaction.

"Oh yeah, sure I told them." He chuckled. "Well, I'll tell them…eventually."

She looked at him disapprovingly.

"Nick…you haven't told them, have you?"

"I mean, it's not a big deal. Changing jobs happens all the time. I'm sure they wouldn't be interested to hear this."

"I'm pretty sure they would when your previous job was hustling people out of their money." She turned to face him now. "Nick…that night, in the sky tram, that wasn't the whole story, was it? You didn't say what happened to your mom, or how you ended up on the streets hustling from the age of twelve. Something must have happened, right?"

Nick's response was a defeated sigh.

"You're not going to leave me alone until I tell you, huh?"

"If that gets you to tell me about it, then yes." Judy smiled softly. "Nick, you're my best friend, and I care about you. And…I admit that I am curious about this." She pulled out the worn photo from her pocket and held it between them, looking down at it. Nick looked down at the photo wordlessly.

"I found it while I was packing your stuff." Judy added.

Nick gently took the photo from her. He had an expression on his face that Judy couldn't quite place. It wasn't just sadness, but a mix of other emotions. Something that ran deep.

"Huh, look at that kit, all smiley and dumb-looking. I wonder who he is. He probably grew up to be a no-good hustler, like all the others." He smirked at her. She couldn't resist smiling back.

"No way. Look at him. He's the cutest, most sincere little fox I've ever seen. There's no way he could've turned out bad." She looked up, gazing into Nick's green eyes. "And I know that for a fact."

Nick fiddled with the picture, his eyes closing slightly.

"He probably would've, if a certain dumb bunny hadn't come along." He trailed off, thinking to himself. "Heh, you know, Carrots, you remind me of…her."

"…Her?" Judy whispered.

"My mother. She was always the optimistic sort, telling me to never give up, believe that I can do anything, change the world…all that sort of stuff. She was the sweetest, kindest, most gentle fox I have ever seen in my life. Anyone would have been lucky to have her as a mother."

"What…happened?"

Nick looked down at the photo, going silent for a moment. Judy could imagine the memories playing out in his head. And deep inside, she felt a small bit of fear. Fear of what she was going to hear from him.

After what seemed like an eternity, Nick finally turned to her and spoke up, saying three words Judy never expected to hear.

"…I ran away."

A/N: This is the beginning of what will be an important part of my story. Nick's family, and the scarf that he'd kept all this while. As such, it has been wonderfully illustrated by the talented Kochich! There are actually two pictures for this chapter. One for the scene under the bridge, and the other for the adorable picture of kit Nick and his mom. You can find his profile by searching "Kochich Evergreen", or you can visit my profile for the direct links to the photos.

I do hope you will check them out, and leave a comment for Kochich to see! He definitely deserves it. Till next time!