She had the dream again.

It was the same as last time. Her and Nick in the museum, being chased by Bellwether and her thugs. The two of them falling into the pit. Nick getting shot with a real Night Howler bullet. Him pouncing her and digging his teeth into her neck.

This time, though, she didn't scream. She couldn't. It was as if, when Nick bit down on her neck, he cut her vocal cords. The only noise to escape her lips was the sound of her own quick breaths, which was drowned out by the sound of Nick's growling so close to her ears.

But after a few long, agonizing seconds, she realized something: she was still alive. In fact, after a quick swipe from her paw, Nick let go of her and backed away in submission. Confused, she rubbed her neck, but instead of feeling tooth marks and blood, she felt only her own fur.

Bellwether was above her, still taunting. "Your plan, was it?" She twirled the dart gun in her hoof. "Trusting a fox—a predator—with your life like that?" She chuckled. "I guess it wasn't a very good one."

Nick was still savage, but he suddenly seemed to think that the bunny was no longer in front of him; he jerked his body to one side and pounced on the nearby stuffed animals instead, ripping them to pieces in seconds.

Her attention was split between Nick in front of her, and the sheep several feet above her. She tried speaking again, and this time found her voice. "I do trust Nick. I trust him more than anyone else."

Bellwether snorted, either in agitation or in disbelief. "Some fox you just met a week ago? Sure, bunny girl, sure." She gestured to one of her henchmen, who handed her another Night Howler dart. "A bunny from Bunnyburough, scarred by a fox in her youth, and—need I remind you—the mammal most responsible for Zootopia's fear of predators right now…" She loaded the gun and aimed it at Nick, ready to give him another dose. "You can lie to me all you want." She unceremoniously fired, nailing Nick on the forehead. "But you can't lie to yourself."

Nick fell to the ground again, recoiling in pain. She could only imagine how he would act once the second Night Howler dose kicked in. She pushed the thought out of her head and turned her attention back to Bellwether. "I've changed. I can see now how my prejudices have affected myself and everyone else." She glanced back at Nick, who by now had stood back up on his feet. "And he is one reason for that."

"Poppycock and balderdash." Bellwether pointed at Nick. "You cannot look at me in the eye right now and tell me you aren't afraid of him." She smirked. "Or maybe you should tell him that, Ms. Sunshine and Rainbows."

By now, the fox was salivating and digging his claws in the ground, clearly agitated and antsy. His eyes were bloodshot and, if the real Nick was still in there, it was impossible to see him.

And yet, for the first time since the dream began, she was not afraid. Perhaps it was because something in the back of her mind told her it was all just a dream. Perhaps it was because he had already bitten into her neck once without harming her. Or maybe…

Perhaps it's because I really do trust him.

She slowly rose to her feet and faced Nick straight-on. "Okay, then I will."

Clearly, Bellwether was not ready for that response. "What?" she flatly replied.

Judy raised a paw and stretched it to her fox. "Nick…"

At the sound of his name, the fox's head jerked in her direction. Instantly, his eyes locked with hers, and he took a step forward. His demeanor still loomed above her threateningly, but even so, he did not scare her.

She was done being scared by him.

She took a step of her own towards him, as slowly as she could. "This isn't you. None of this is your fault. I know that. It's not your fault that you've been shot—just like it's not your fault that you were born a fox."

Nick's growling was unceasing, but his eyes remained locked with hers. As she took another step, he responded by taking another step as well, closing the distance at an equal rate. Then another step.

"Nick." Judy felt a smile slowly crawl onto her face—a genuine smile. "I trust you."

Her paw connected with his snout, and a second later, she ran it along his head.

The skin under Nick's fur trembled at her touch, but otherwise he did not move. His eyes were still lifeless, his teeth were still bared, and his breathing was still shallow. His growling might have been deafening if Judy hadn't mentally blocked it out. In an instant, it would be easy enough for him to end her life, but she knew he wouldn't.

"You know I trust you, right?" Judy asked, hoping he would answer.

In response, the fox turned his head away from her. It was only then that she realized the reason he hadn't attacked her. Attached to Nick's neck was his shock collar.

And it was blinking red.

The next thing she knew, her alarm was going off. Judy's eyes snapped open instantly. Her alarm clock read five o'clock as it did every morning, and the pre-dawn light outside shone through her window.

At first, she was relieved that the whole thing, once again, was just a dream. Even though she had realized it as it was happening, it was still nice to wake up in her own bed, knowing that Nick hadn't gone savage on her.

But then that relief was replaced by confusion. Wait a minute, I don't remember coming home last night. The last thing she remembered was being in the office, struggling to stay awake. Then she had a vague recollection of Nick showing up, and then…

Right. He brought me home.

She shut off her alarm and sat up. After having a long day yesterday and struggling to stay awake for the last few hours of work, it was nice to feel refreshed after a good night's sleep. She had been prepared to spend the night in the office, but thanks to Nick, she was able to sleep in her own soft, comfy bed.

Speaking of Nick…

She stood up and walked over to her desk. From her bed, she had seen a bouquet of flowers, clearly left there by the fox the night before. The gesture caused an involuntary squeal from her as she picked up the roses. It was not uncommon for Nick to give her small gifts as a token of their friendship, but he had never given her flowers before.

I wonder if these are supposed to be for being more than just friends…?

Judy's phone, fully charged, unlocked to a notes app. Nick had left her a short message, detailing the trip to her apartment—but it was hard to read it over the numerous message notifications from her parents.

She rolled her eyes and swapped to her Messages app. Most of them were from her dad, freaking out that she hadn't responded to his messages yet. Rather than scroll back up and read every single one, she quickly typed "I'm awake, I'm fine, I'm going to work" and sent it. She spent a few seconds glancing around the rest of her apartment to make sure she had everything—well, her keys and phone, anyway—and then opened her Messages app back up.

This time, it was time to send Nick a message. "Just woke up. Thanks for bringing me home last night. It looks like you took care of everything perfectly."

She set her phone back down on the desk and opened up the ZNN app to look at the top headlines. A few hours ago, a panther had torn up a shopping complex under construction in Little Rodentia. The panther had been taken in by the ZPD where, of course, she had no memory of the event. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but still, it disturbed Judy that these occurrences were becoming more and more commonplace.

All the more important that we get to the bottom of this.

She put her phone to sleep and walked to the shower. Usually she let the ZNN livestream play on her phone for her to listen to while she showered, but she wasn't interested in more bad news this morning. She quickly took off her work clothes—which she had slept in the night before—and tossed them into her laundry pile. She then grabbed her towel and walked to the bathroom for her shower.

As a bunny, Judy was used to taking fast showers—usually long enough just to let soap run through her fur and rinse it off. This morning, however, she had a little bit of extra time and decided to enjoy herself.

Judy made the water a little warmer than usual and relaxed her muscles. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her mind wandered back to her dream from the night before. It was clear to her now that there were a lot of repressed feelings that she had to work through, and that the longer she put it off, the worse it would be on her mental health.

Yes, she was afraid of Nick. That was easy enough to admit; after all, bunnies and foxes were natural enemies, so it was in her instinct—beyond her control—to have some form of primitive fear of him. And admitting it to herself made her feel a sense of relief; the weight of trying to hide it finally lifting itself off her shoulders.

Even so, it made her feel like scrubbing her fur all the harder under the water. It's not like I want to be afraid of him. He's my best friend! And he's gone through enough horrible things in his life as it is, and having the person he trusts the most be afraid of him is just too much to think about.

Judy leaned against the shower wall with one arm and let the water flow onto her body for a few minutes. "The person he trusts most…"

That was her. It was obvious—to her, to anyone who knew the two of them. And she trusted him as well, as a partner on the force, and as a friend—as her best friend. It was just so hard to focus on that trust beyond everything else going on right now…

I need to prove it, she decided. I need to prove that I trust him.

It wasn't necessary, of course. Nick already knew she did. In the past, her trust had been put to the test when they set up Bellwether in the museum, when they had worked the Jimmy Chew case—and even just last night, when Nick had brought her home fast asleep the whole trip.

Then this is for me. This is to prove to myself that I trust Nick. Because then if I can do that, maybe I can finally admit that I love…

She quickly shut off the water, forcing the thought to end. Okay, so I prove I trust him. How? She started toweling herself off as quickly as possible to make up for the few extra minutes than normal she had spent in the shower, then worked fast to dress herself. I don't want to do anything that could put either of us in harm's way. Nor do I want to put either of us in compromising situations. That really limits my options, doesn't it?

By now she was dressed and ready to walk out the door. Judy patted down her pockets, making sure she had everything. "Okay. Keys, cell phone, taser, shock collar key, walkie-talkie…" She slowly stopped talking as the realization came to her. "Shock collar key…" she repeated slowly.

The key that Bogo had given her for emergencies, and had warned her not to tell anyone else about—and, especially, to not use it on Nick's shock collar. No matter how much he hated wearing it, no matter how much it labeled him as a threat to the city…

"That's it!" she screamed, a smile erupting on her face.

It can't be in public, and it can't be permanent, but maybe tonight at his place, for an hour or two, I can take his collar off and talk with him about how I feel.

It was so obvious, she wondered why she hadn't thought to do it earlier.

"Woo-hoo!" she yelled as she ran out the door. It was something of a surprise to feel all of her fears and worries leave her at the mere thought of proving her trust to Nick—but she didn't care, because she was just too happy. And with how happy she was now, she could only imagine how happy Nick would be that night.

She felt a spring in her step as she walked out the front door and onto the street. By now the sun was beginning to rise—though it was blocked by the tall buildings in the distance. Mammals of all kinds were driving or walking to work, busy sipping coffee or checking their phones or both. A few recognized her and bid her good morning, and she cheerily responded in kind. Her day was off to a great start, and she was positive that nothing could ruin it.

As soon as that particular thought crossed her mind, she passed by an alley. It was just like all the other alleys; dark, dirty, and devoid of life, but still, she felt herself slow down and stop in front of it.

It was the alley where she had taken down the polar bear.

The memory of that morning flooded her mind. Her happiness left her, and she couldn't help but stare down the alley, replaying the memory over and over in her mind. She could almost see herself in the alley this very moment, tactically leading the bear deeper in, unaware of the severity of the situation. Even now, she swore she could still hear the echoes of the bear's growls and roars against the walls.

But there was something else. There was something going on in the alley that demanded her attention—even though she couldn't see anything, even though nothing whatsoever was moving…

Something is wrong.

Cautiously, Judy drew her taser and entered the alley. She had to swallow the lump in her throat with every step she took. There was no polar bear here; in fact, there was no animal of any kind, not even a mouse scouring for scraps.

Still, to be safe, Judy held her weapon in front of her, ready for any surprises.

The moment she stepped into the alley, the noise from the busy street completely disappeared. Instead she was greeted with a deafening silence. As this was a housing district, the walls of the alley were spotted with windows and fire escapes. The ground was surprisingly clean, thanks for city ordinance, but even so a single piece of paper was sliding across the ground, caught in a small puff of wind.

Judy approached the paper and, in case it was a trap of some kind, held her taser to it while she slowly picked it up. Content that there was no trap underneath, she flipped it over and read it out loud. "'Be sure to drink your ovaltine'?"

Her jaw dropped in disbelief. "Ovaltine?"

The message had been hand-written in uneven lettering, indicating it was from a cub—probably a cub who had thrown it out with their trash the night before. She let out a long sigh and holstered her taser. I'm such a—

Something poked into the back of her neck, and at the same time, a small clicking sound rattled Judy's ears. She froze solid, knowing instantly that someone had a gun pressed against her. She felt her heartbeat intensify, and her breath caught in her throat.

"Don't worry," a soft voice whispered behind her. "I'm not interested in killing you."

Judy rapidly tried to identify the voice, but was unable to; since it was a whisper, she couldn't even tell if it was a male or a female. She was tempted to turn around and confront whoever it was, but thought better of it when the gun pressed deeper into her fur.

She gulped and forced her response out. "Then why the theatrics?"

"Because you need to know how serious I am with what I have to say," was the response. "You're good, bunny. Real good." The voice growled softly. "Too good. You and your fox partner are interfering with some very important plans."

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Judy felt a tiny bit of excitement in her heart. So we are on the right track…

"You're a good cop, Hopps," the voice continued. "A good cop and a good person. That's why I don't want to hurt you." After a pause, the gun crept up her neck and pressed against the back of her head. "But if you continue, I will be forced to take action."

Judy could hear the sincerity in the voice's words, which gave her the bravery to taunt it. "And what if I do? What if I blow this whole case open and find out who you are—and why you're doing all of this?"

"You won't," was the simple response.

"And why's that?"

"I know you would give your life for the greater good. Everyone knows that. But…" The whisper faded. "But what about him?" The gun pulled away.

Judy whirled around as fast as possible, taser drawn, but whoever was there a second ago was gone now. She looked around hurriedly, but it was clear that the person had disappeared. She spent a minute or two looking around for evidence of which direction they might have gone, but found nothing.

Their words drilled into her mind like a jackhammer. But what about him? What had they meant by that…?

She gasped in realization. It's a threat—a threat against Nick.

At that moment, as if on cue, her phone buzzed in her pocket. Judy fished it out. It was Nick. "At ZPD. Can't wait to see you!"

She kept staring at the screen for several long minutes, frozen in her newfound fear for his life.