Boilerplate Disclaimer: The various characters from the movie Zootopia are all owned by Disney the great and powerful. Any and all registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

Wondered how my chapter title, "A Little Success Is Better than No Success" would look in Latin So I ran it through the Google™ Latin translator. You see it here as the chapter title. But, I confess, it didn't look right to my limited knowledge of Latin. So I did a reverse translation, from the offered Latin back into English and it isn't. This comes out as, "A little something is better than nothing." It still works for my title.

Paulo res melius quam nihil

Nick and Doc Wheeler waited for Professor Ramsey's return the first night after his visit to The Fold.

"Did you learn anything?" the fox demanded as soon as the ram came in the door.

"Too early," the hamster reminded Nick. "Any threats against you? Did you feel like anyone was watching you?"

"As you told Nick, it is too soon. It may take days before anyone speaks to me... If anyone even speaks to me. Oh, I did find out one thing, but I don't think it will be helpful."

His detective instincts kicking into high gear Nick demanded, "What was it? It may not seem helpful to you, but–"

"The price of drinks has gone up. I'm limiting myself to two drinks while I sit at the bar, but they are expensive. I'd like an expense account for them."

Nick considered swearing at the ram for dashing his hopes.

"Keep track of expenses. If the city won't pay you back I will," the hamster promised.

"That doesn't seem fair to–" protested Ramsey.

"He can afford it," Nick assured him.

After a couple days visiting Judy in Bunnyburrow Sharla had returned to her husband and two sons in Wheaton. "Are you and Nick going to try for another child?" she asked Judy before leaving.

"My first pregnancy was really painful," answered Judy.

"You told me the doctors thought that was because the chimera process wasn't complete for you and Nick... I'm sorry. None of my business."

"No, that's okay... Nick's mom has asked too. Nick's sister has two sons. My folks have enough grandchildren that–"

"They'll respect whatever you decide. I should have too. Sorry."

"Stop apologizing. If you can't ask your best friends embarrassing questions who can you ask?"

Sharla laughed and Judy a hug. "Thanks for not hitting me when I asked."

The afternoon after Sharla had departed Judy stared at Jade, working happily in the garden beside her grandmother pulling weeds. Would Jade be happy or jealous at the birth of a little brother or sister? Jade would love to have another animal who looked like her, but with the chimera modification complete Nick and Judy had been told any children would probably resemble a fox or rabbit. Would the pain of a second pregnancy be less than the first? She need to call the Pines and ask if they had risked a second child. Judy gave herself a mental kick for losing track of the Pines. She and Nick had talked with them often in the months after Jade and Ariel were born. "You can't stay in touch with everyone," the rabbit reminded herself.

The second and third nights at The Flock were equally disappointing for the five animals in the plan. Lylah and Nick were the two more impatient animals, wanting results NOW. George and Vaughn were the voices of calm, reminding them to be patient. "Zootopia wasn't built in a day," George told his wife.

"Yeah, but it could be torn down in a day if we don't find Bellwether soon."

Professor Ramsey was mostly worried. He'd heard stories of animals called heroes. He wasn't sure if they actually existed, but knew he wasn't one. No one would shoot him at the lounge... Could he be shot after he stepped outside one night? Would he confess he was part of a police sting if he were threatened? Would he fall under Bellwether's spell if he met her again? He was not a brave animal. Maybe he should tell the fox, hamster, and panthers to stop their efforts.

Ramsey was handed his second cocktail on the fourth night. He had a sip when a sheep took the stool beside him.

"Traitor," the stranger hissed.

Ramsey raised an eyebrow. "I don't believe I know you."

"No. But I recognize you. You're the bastard who sold Dawn out."

"I didn't sell her out."

"Your testimony at the parole hearing was all over the media."

"And do you think I would have gotten paroled if I said I still believed in her cause? A whole lot easier to work on her escape if you're outside of prison."

"Like you had anything to do with her escape," the other sheep sneered. "You've done nothing!"

"Part of my parole was a Police Department GPS device chained to my leg."

The sheep appeared nervous, "The police know you're here?"

Ramsey extended a leg and pulled up the trouser leg. "Nope."

The sheep still seemed suspicious, "Took you a long time. You're supposed to be a genius."

"My field is organic chemistry, not electronics. No way I could research electronics on my home computer – always the chance the police might give my hard drive a scan to see what I'm doing – or who I might be emailing. I could only look for information when I found an unsecured computer, or a public one. And getting the tools to take it off without setting off the alarm was a problem. I failed twice. It went off and the police were at my door in under ten minutes to check on me. I had to swear they were accidents."

"You're going to tell me you're still loyal to Bellwether?"

"No, I'm not. I don't know you. There are sheep in the police department. The police have informants who are sheep. If they bring me in for questioning everything I told you was a lie."

Ramsey put his unfinished drink down on the bar and left. Nick had coached him on his response to different ways animals might approach him. He felt confident he had played the part he was told to play in this scenario. Whether the fox was right about how to respond was a different matter. He was far more accustomed to working in a lab where there the answers to his questions were clearly right or wrong. If right, it would always be clearly right. If wrong it was clearly wrong and he could decide on how to approach the problem with different ideas. Interpersonal reactions weren't cut-and-dried. Had he given the right answers or the wrong answers?

Nick was ecstatic at the news. Contact had been made. Vaughn less so. "You didn't get his name or anything?" complained the hamster.

"I told him not to press too hard. You don't want the Mark to see the hook until you're ready to reel him in."

"You're the animal who has been complaining about how slow things are going!"

Nick opened his mouth to argue. "Yeah, I have complained. But this is a nibble and could lead to something. Let's not mess it up by pushing too hard too fast."

Lylah voiced a more cautious optimism. "We should get video tape from security at The Fold. We should have officers watching the place. This could be big!"

"Do you have animals you know you can trust to watch the lounge? Are you sure no animals on security staff at the lounge aren't on Bellwether's plot? Act prematurely and we don't have anything. If we demand video tape the night after Ramsey makes contact they'll know it's a con."

"I find it real hard to accept you as the voice of reason," snarled the panther. "This could be important!"

"It is. I'm desperate to come home – officially – and don't want anything to mess this up. Ramsey will blow Bellwether's plans completely open if we give him a little time."

Judy returned two chapters of the manuscript to Teresa. "This is incredible. How close are you to being done? I'm guessing seven more chapters."

"Not sure. I have a lot of material, but books that are too long discourage readers."

"Have you shown these to the potential publishers?"

"Yes... I'm not sure if this is ethical, but I've let each of them know another publisher is interested."

"And?"

"Both have upped their offers a little."

"Well, they can see a bestseller." Judy paused. "Teresa? I don't know you well, but you've got publishers fighting for you and a great book on your hands – why do you seem nervous?"

The ferret was silent for a minute, then sighed. "I don't want to say anything bad about Bunnyburrow. I was born and raised here. But most of my family has left and I don't want to spend the rest of my life teaching language arts to young animals who think sending 'LOL' in a text message is literature. Both publishers dangled job offers in front of me as an incentive. Maybe more ghost writing, maybe editing, they even promised to look at a couple novels I've written and never shown anyone."

"That's wonderful!"

"Wonderful, yes. But I still think the less up front and more royalties will bring in more money. But half the up front won't be enough to get me all I need to set myself up in Zootopia. Rent for a new apartment, food, furniture... Even if I have a job guaranteed a move would take more money than all my savings and half the up front."

"There have got to be some inexpensive options."

"You live there. What are expenses like?"

"I still say there has to be a way."

"Yeah. Maybe. I'm thinking of asking Dominick to let me have all the up front money. He can have all the royalties – he'll end up with more in the long run. But."

"But Duke won't want to give up half the up-front money for the promise of a bigger payoff later."

"That's my opinion. You see him letting go of one cent if he doesn't see a full credit lying on the table in front of him?"

"No."

There were now sixty-seven official members on the the Baghera's rapid response team, and thirty-one awaiting awaiting possible confirmation. 'Official' in the sense of being recognized as members of a task force that didn't officially exist. And the first official rejection of a volunteer had taken place, although there were no 'official' rejects any more than there were 'official' acceptances. The officer was told she was being considered for inclusion, and the panthers would get back to her.

There was no reason to think she was a follower of Bellwether, but there was no reason to point a claw at any officer as a follower of Bellwether. However Bellwether probably had disciples in the ZPD. The gazelle was a relatively new officer and none of the 'official' members knew her well enough to vouch for her loyalty.

Lylah wanted Bogo to be considered at the leader of the response team. He did not want the job, saying she was in charge of Bellwether case. She told him that, as senior ranking officer and the officer who had arrested her the first time, any credit should go to him. One thing she didn't tell him was that she hoped it might deflect criticism from her if the media heard of the response team to have a prey species in charge.

The second thing she didn't tell him, although she desperately wanted to, was that there was a plan in place that might expose Bellwether. It hadn't been said to any member of the REDS team. Even a vague rumor might leak out and make Bellwether's followers more cautious and jeopardize the effort.

Instead all the animals on REDS were asked to make the search for Bellwether a higher priority. Don't leave it to the Bagheras alone. Work your contacts, question your informants, listen to word on the street. There was a chance Bellwether could be found this way. It also had the advantage of making the Bagheras sound slightly desperate, and that would suggest they didn't have any plans in place to infiltrate Bellwether's group.

The stranger was sitting on a bar stool by where Ramsey had sat the last four nights. The Professor ordered a drink and sat down on the stool beside him.

"You really interested in helping Bellwether?"

Ramsey shrugged. "Maybe. You're not going to tell me if you work for her. I'm not going to ask. We're both just blowing hot air at the moment."

"They have night howler antidote now."

"Just speaking as a citizen of Zootopia I can't imagine she'd try that one again."

"What do you think she's working on?"

"I can't be sure, and I prefer to deal with the sure. But the rumors around the police department are that she's working hard to discredit them. It's not a bad working hypothesis."

"I hear that one too."

"Whether that's the attempt or not, it seems to be what's happening at the moment."

"Yeah, it does."

"Now, I would imagine that an animal inside the police department would be a good thing for Bellwether."

"You don't think she might already have some?"

"She could. Wouldn't surprise me. Even the rumor is causing tension for the police. Partners wondering if the animal they've worked with for years might be working for Dawn."

The other animal smiled. "Now, if she had animals in the police department. And I wouldn't know if she does – we're just blowing hot air, right?"

"Exactly."

"Well, if she already had animals in the police department it seems like you wouldn't have much to offer."

"Oh, I think I'd have a lot to offer. Unless she has other animals in the Forensic Lab. I'm in a location to ruin evidence... Oh, I don't know how much or how many times I could do it. I'm not sure if any of the animals there really trust me. They had me shadowed for at least a couple weeks after Dawn escaped. And I'll be the first animal they suspect if something goes wrong, but I could probably do a number of little things that might not even be noticed. Might get away with something big – just have to be careful for a long time afterwards."

"You could tamper with evidence?"

"Yeah... Not that I would, we're just blowing hot air..." Ramsey shrugged. "Tampering... It might have a lot of potential. Change a DNA sample here or there. It would cripple an investigation."

"You might be in an interesting position," the other sheep agreed. "If we were doing more than blowing hot air. Of course, that's all we're doing. But it is entertaining. Let me buy you a drink."

The bartender poured a couple shots of aged North 40. The professor swirled the dark green liquor around in his glass and inhaled the aroma. "One of the little pleasures you're denied in prison."

The other animal held up his glass, and Ramsey tapped his glass against the other, "The prey shall inherit the earth."

Judy found Duke at Gideon's Pie Shop.

"Whats is da news from da city?" the weasel demanded. "Do wez gets ta returns soon? Is Nick crackin' da case?"

"Nick wants to see what's happening, he's just doing recognizance."

"Iz wills bets he can not waits ta returns to dis wunnerful burg."

"No need to be sarcastic. This is a very nice place and–"

"If youse is a rabbit, which youse happens to be."

"You didn't have to come here... Duke? You've seemed stressed lately. What's wrong? Has your mother said anything is wrong with the family? Are you homesick to get back to Zootopia and hustling on the streets?"

The weasel closed his eyes and took deep breath. After a moment in thought he exhaled slowly, opened his eyes and looked at Judy, "I wishes ta knows if its matters to youse."

"I... Yes. I'd like you to be happy. You need to relax. I think the book about your grandmother is going to be great. There isn't any problem with that, is there? Teresa thought it was coming along great. You're looking at a pile of money."

Duke sighed, "Iz is gettin' sorta old for da streets hustle... Hoid a buddy wants to sells hiz pawn shop. Da down pavement woulds takes a bundle, but it coulds pay for itselve in no times."

"You? A license to run a pawn shop?"

"Iz figures dat wit a woid of supports from da finest defectives in da city dat it woulds be no problem."

"You think Nick and I would vouch for you?"

"Youse woulds know wheres I wuz when youse needs calls on me ta tells ya which ends is up."

Judy sighed, "Maybe. I'll talk with Nick... You said it would cost a lot of money?"

"He does not needs everyding at onct, but Iz needs a bundle for da downs payment, an' Iz needs it fast. Iz is dinking... Da shave driver says da smaller up fronts wit dat bigger royally wills brings more dough... Dat up fronts is stills big... How does Iz asks her for da whole ups front? She cans have da royally checks."

Nick chuckled as his phone call to Judy ended. "Well, at least you know why they've both been so moody lately."

"What am I going to do?"

"It's not your job to solve all the problems in the world, or even all the problems in Bunnyburrow."

"There are no problems in... Well, other than those two."

"Here's hoping the plan here works. I am so looking forward to see you again... Seeing you, and doing other things with you."

"Um, Nick? I... What do you think about Jade getting a sibling?"

"You're not–"

"No, of course I'm not. We're too careful for an accident. I was wondering – should we try for a second?"

"You were in a lot of pain with Jade."

"I remember. Wow, do I remember. But our bodies weren't finished with the process. I've talked with the Pines – they've had a second, no problems. A son."

"Did she have the same pains you did when–"

"Yes. But not the second."

"They're a lynx and an otter. They weren't as far apart as a fox and rabbit."

"But still different species, and everything was fine for the second."

"You really want to risk it?"

"I... I'm not sure. But I'm thinking about it. What do you think of the idea?"

"You just hit me with it... Let me think."

"Well, Stud, that obviously is all you can do over the phone. Just think about it, okay?"

"You're sure you want a second?"

"Sure? No... But I'm considering it and needed to talk with my husband."