[Continued from Analysis – Pt II]

Nick came to slowly, fighting the painful return to consciousness. At first, the only thing he was aware of was the intense throbbing in his head. After a few minutes a whole collection of aches and pains made themselves known. Wherever he was, it was cold; too cold for his light summer coat. Despite the frosty air, though, his snout felt as though it were on fire. It was too dark to see, even for him, but a quick flick of his tongue confirmed his suspicions; whoever had tied him up had smeared horseradish across his nose. The spicy paste made his eyes water and threatened to overpower him.

Shaking his head, he tried to focus on his surroundings. He was seated in a wooden chair that was just a little too large for him. His paws were bound tightly to the chairs arms with plastic zip-ties, and the sharp plastic was already digging painfully into his wrists. His feet were bound as well, lashed to the chair legs in such a way that there was no leverage to be found.

The hollow way the sound of his breathing echoed told him that he was being held somewhere with metal walls; possibly a shed. The walls were thick though, and as his head cleared he recognized the constant hum of a nearby fan, probably an air conditioner. That made a cooler more likely, maybe a refrigerator truck.

The door swung open without warning, exposing his eyes to a painful burst of light. Blinking rapidly to clear the spots from his vision, Nick confirmed his surroundings as a large walk-in fridge. A stocky ram stood in the doorway, sneering at him. "Have a nice nap, pelt?"

"N-not really." Nick fired back, trying to control his chattering teeth. "T-t-the service here is t-t-terrible. You g-guys aren't going t-to like the r-review I l-leave on Howl."

"That's funny. You're a funny one, aren't ya?" The ram's smile was anything but comforting. "Why are you here?"

"I heard..." Nick coughed loudly, trying to breathe through his mouth. "I heard the hash-browns were good."

The ram nodded thoughtfully, then lashed out with a jarring punch to the side of Nick's head. Blinking rapidly as he tried to clear the spots from his vision, he refocused in time to see the ram produce a small whetstone from one pocket, then pull a pair of razer-sharp shears from a sheath on his belt. Spitting on the stone, he began to slowly run each blade along its surface.

"Why are you here?" He repeated.

"H-health department. Someone reported rats in the kitchen...cough...not wearing fur-nets."

"Don't test my patience, you mangy cur." The ram growled. Yanking the fox's head back, he practically snarled in Nick's face. "Tell me all about your investigation. What are you looking for? What brought you here?"

"Wha...what investigation?" Nick smirked crookedly. "I just sell pawpsicles, pal."

"Smart-mouthed little pissant, aren't ya? Maybe this'll brighten up that bad attitude." He held up Nick's phone, laughing at the fox's shocked expression as he mockingly read the text aloud. "Bonnie sent you a little message. Apparently, Judy is doing better but she's still asleep, and the doctor says that the drugs are almost entirely out of her system. Well, ain't that sweet."

"Shut it."

"Not such a smartass now, are ya? See, a quick Zoogle search of your name told me exactly who Judy is. Poor little bunny. Is she not feeling well?"

"Fuck you." Nick hissed through clenched teeth.

"Y'know, I'd be more than willing to send a couple of the boys over to the hospital to keep her company."

Nick surged against his bonds, barely feeling them dig into his skin. "You stay away from her, you son of a bitch!"

"Son of an ewe, pelt!" The ram drove a punch into Nick's gut, dropping the fox back into his seat. "Bitches are your kind's problem."

As Nick gasped for air, the ram leaned back and tucked the fox's phone away. "Our truck gets impounded after an accident, one cop ends up in the hospital for something to do with drugs, another shows up here askin' questions? Doesn't take a genius to put the pieces together."

Nick glared at the other mammal, but didn't respond.

"I bet that fluffball of yours got a nice hefty dose of Night Fury, didn't she?" He laughed, slapping a hoof on his knee. "A cute little bunny all jacked up on Fury! When did she go off, huh? Back at the station? Damn...a bunch of cops running scared from a little prey bunny musta been a sight to see!"

He seemed bemused when Nick began laughing softly. "What's so damn funny, pelt?"

"I...I'm just picturing that little prey bunny..." He looked up to stare the ram in the eye. "...kicking six shades of shit outta you."

"Oh, please. Don't compare prey to a bunch of mindless chompers." The ram drew the shear blade across the whetstone again. "Prey stand together. We always have, even in the days when your kind would tear each other's throats out over a tree to piss on."

Leaning forward, he pushed the tips of the shears painfully into Nick's chest. "Preds are born savage. It's been covered by a thin veneer of civility, but all it took was one little flower to reveal what's always been there. Thousands of years ago, you existed to keep prey populations under control by weeding out the sick and the weak. We can do that just fine on our own now. The entirety of Mammalia has evolved beyond the need for you, pelt. You're biologically redundant."

Nick winced, but still managed a faint grin. "I...I bet you practiced that in the mirror."

"Y'know, all you need to tell me what I want to know is your tongue and one ear. Everything else is expendable." The ram casually informed him. "But all you gotta do is answer a few questions and you can be on your way."

Nick gave him a look somewhere between disbelief and disgust, drawing a cruel laugh from his captor. "Shoulda known you wouldn't buy that. How 'bout this; you tell me who tipped you off about me, and I'll kill you quick."

"Santa Claws. Turns out you've been naughty. Who knew?"

"Keep up the attitude, pelt. The boys are gettin' restless, and I got no problem tying you to a post and using you for ramming practice. The last pred we lashed up puked four times before he died." The ram frowned. "Godawful stink. I always forget how nasty pred puke smells. Like you're already rotting on the inside." Holding the shears up to Nick's face, he snapped the blades together. "Anyplace you'd like me to start?"

"J-just a little off the top."

"You're the boss." He reached up and Nick let out a pained yelped, clenching his eyes shut as the steel shears bit into the edge of his ear once, then again. When is vision refocused, he looked down at the ram's hoof to see a tiny triangular piece of flesh. "Preview of coming events, pelt. Feeling chatty yet?"

Nick was saved from having to answer when a scrawny sheep, barely out of his teens, pulled the cooler door open. "Hey, Gordon! Shepherd is in the diner!"

"Grant?" The ram's eyes narrowed. "What does that little piss stain want now?"

"I think someone told him about the cop." The younger sheep gestured toward Nick. "He keeps sayin' he wants to talk to you."

"Alright, go get him, bring him around back. Have one of the boys search him, too." The ram cast a sidelong glance at Nick. "Last thing we need is him growing a conscience."

"Domestic troubles?" The fox coughed. "Want me to come back another time?"

Sparing him a contemptuous look, the ram grabbed him by the collar and shoved him backward, chair and all. He teetered uncertainly for a second, then pitched over and landed on his side with a pained hiss.

"Don't you go anywhere." The ram chuckled, half-turning back before he closed the door. "I'll be right back."

"Gordon, this is getting out of control!" Shepherd cried. "We had a simple deal. I agreed to transport your product into the city, and you cut me in for 20 percent of the profit. It was a pretty goddamn good deal, but I don't recall killing cops being a part of it."

"Which is why I'm the one taking care of it." The ram, Gordon, responded evenly. "Everything will be back to normal soon enough."

"I have the ZPD crawling all over my business! This is pretty fucking far from normal!"

Growling, Gordon stepped forward and got right in the agitated bighorn sheep's face. "You're a fucking drug smuggler, Grant. You might want to reassess your definition of normal."

"I..."

"Is there anything at your warehouse that can implicate you?"

"N-no."

Gordon leaned a little closer. "Is there anything that can implicate me?"

"No, I swear!"

"Then what's the fucking problem?"

"I...I..."

"Get the fuck out of here, Grant." Gordon grabbed the bighorn by the arm and hauled him toward the parking out front. "Go home, smoke a little nip, think about your bank account in Boara Boara, and leave the grown-up stuff to me."

"But...okay."

"Good boy."

"Not good." Nick muttered to himself as he tugged against his restraints, hissing in pain as they dug in. "This is so not good."

Looking around for something to free himself with, he soon realized that he only had one tool to work with. Taking a deep breath, he began deliberately twisting his paw, clenching his teeth as the cold zip-tie cut into his skin. Slowly, gradually, his claw drew closer until he could just touch the tie. He began methodically picking at the plastic, maintaining as much tension as he could manage. Ignoring the blood that had begun to seep through his fur, he focused on the incrementally widening gap in his restraints. Finally, the combination of cold, tension, and the damage Nick had caused proved too much and the brittle plastic snapped apart.

Acutely aware that his captor could return at any moment, he got to work on his remaining bonds. He made short work of the other zip-tie and quickly untied his legs. Frantically searching the cooler for some kind of weapon, he reached behind one of the shelf stacks, felt his paw wrap around a wooden shaft, and withdrew what turned out to be a mildew covered mop.

Holding his forearm against the handle, he estimated about a two-foot length and broke it over his knee. He tested its weight with one paw as he closed his eyes and mentally reviewed the baton training he'd received at the academy.

Taking a slow, deep breath, he stepped toward the door and placed his paw on the handle. Throwing the cooler door open, he was immediately confronted with the youth he'd seen earlier. Eyes wide with terror, the sheep drew a breath to cry for help. Nick leaped forward, swinging his makeshift baton into the young sheep's jaw with an audible crack.

Wasting no time dragging the unconscious mammal into the cooler, Nick closed and secured the heavy door. Casting his eyes around, he quickly spotted an old rotary phone on the wall. Practically leaping on it, he breathed deeply and steadied his paw long enough to dial three numbers.

"911 emergency, how may I direc..."

"This is Detective Nicholas Wilde, Precinct One, badge number five seven zero three. I need backup immediately at Babe's d-ugh!"

Nick's side exploded in pain as he was knocked violently away from the phone. He slammed into a nearby wall and the burning in his side told him he had at least one cracked rib. Looking up, he wasn't surprised to see the ram – Gordon, the youth had called him – glaring at him. Looking past the ram, however, Nick spotted his taser lying on a desk across the room, where it appeared to have been tossed haphazardly.

Eyes burning with rage, Gordon picked up the phone and viciously smashed it against the floor. "That was a stupid move, pelt."

"Wouldn't be my first today." Clutching his side, Nick struggled to his feet and glared defiantly at his attacker. Hefting his improvised weapon, he used his free paw to gesture the ram forward. "Come on, then. Let's see how tough you are against someone who's not tied to a chair."

Roaring with anger, Gordon lowered his horns and charged.

Waiting until his opponent was almost within reach, he swung the baton in a tight arc, forcing Gordon to twist his head to one side to avoid the strike and altering the ram's course enough to side-step the charge. As the ram thundered past, Nick lashed out with his other paw, claws digging a trio of bloody furrows across the ram's nose. Gordon reared back with a howl of pain. Never one to pass up an opportunity, Nick pressed his advantage and drove as hard a kick as he could manage into the ram's side.

Suddenly off-balance, the larger mammal careened into a shelving unit holding an impressive collection of alcohol. As the shelves tipped, most of the bottles fell to the ground, breaking open and soaking the ram to the skin.

Not waiting for Gordan to get his hooves back under him, Nick leaped toward the desk where his taser lay. He prayed to every god he could think of that he reached the weapon before the ram reached him.

Nick had always preferred the ZPD tactical taser over the standard issue compressed air tranquilizer pistol. Although it arguably lacked the versatility of a tranquilizer dart, it made up for it with sheer stopping power. Each unit packed a high-capacity power cell originally developed for use in military reconnaissance drones, and the discharge level could be adjusted for anything from an elephant down to...well...a bunny.

He could have sung with joy when his paw wrapped around the weapon's grip. He spot-checked the wire cartridge and flipped the safety off with a smooth and practiced motion as he spun back around. Expecting to have at least seven feet of distance between them, he didn't have time to react to the ram standing only a foot away. One of Gordon's sharp hooves dug into his neck, cutting off the air as he held Nick off the ground. The other took an iron grip on the fox's wrist, forcing the taser to point upward.

"Lemme ask you something; if you're the big bad predator, what does that make me?"

Looking up, a terrible plan began to form in Nick's mind.

Face twisted in rage, he shook the fox angrily. "Answer me, pelt! What does that make me?!"

"T...toa..."

Loosening his grip slightly, the ram mockingly tilted one ear toward him. "Speak up, pelt. I can't hear ya."

Taking a much-needed breath, Nick let it out as a deep growl. "You're toast, asshole!"

His thumb deftly set the taser to its maximum output - a setting designed to drop a raging elephant in its tracks. Firing into the light fixture above them, the weapon discharged its entire power cell in less than a second, overloading the outlet and bringing a shower of sparks raining down on the pair of them. The alcohol that permeated Gordon's wool ignited almost instantly.

The ram dropped Nick immediately, frantically beating at his wool and rolling on the ground to extinguish the flames. Nick took off running the second his paws hit the floor and didn't look back. Bursting through the door into the main diner, he had less than a second to register the sight of a moose in a ZPD uniform before he got a face-first introduction to a hoof the size of his head.

"I'm real sorry, detective." The embarrassed moose – Officer McKenzie from Precinct Twelve - handed Nick a fresh ice pack. "I didn't mean to knock you that hard."

Nick waved off the apology. "Don't worry about it. If a blood-covered fox holding a taser came running at me, I'd have done exactly the same thing." He hissed as he pressed the cold bag to his throbbing skull. "Though maybe with a little less head smashing."

"Too right, eh?" The much larger officer chuckled, accepting Nick's forgiveness but still looking like he wanted to apologize some more.

"How about we call it two minutes for rough-housing?" The pair turned to see McKenzie's partner, a polar bear also named McKenzie, sauntering over.

"How'd you guys get here so fast, anyway?" Nick wondered. "I only made the call to 911 about five minutes before you arrived. You must have been right around the corner."

"I dunno about any call, detective. We just pulled over this hoser over here for a burnt-out tail light." The bear McKenzie pointed to a mammal in the back of their cruiser; Nick instantly recognized Grant Shepherd from his company's website. "I swear, I didn't even have time to ask for his license before he starts cryin' and confessing to all sorts of stuff. We thought it was funny as hell 'til he started going on about a cop getting' killed. Better believe we bust our hindparts gettin' here after that."

"Well, I'm glad you guys made it."

"Yeah, 'cause you sure needed our help." The moose McKenzie snorted, gesturing to the mostly wool-less ram being loaded into a waiting ambulance.

"Well, thanks for the rescue all the same."

"Forget about it." "We owe you big time, eh. We've been tryin' to pin something on Gordon Manger for months."

"Happy to help, but...uh...have either of you guys seen my car? It's an unmarked cruiser."

The pair glanced at one another uncomfortably. "Well, we have seen it..."

"And?"

"Well...you see..." The moose McKenzie began. "It's kinda...

His partner came to his rescue. "It's about three miles up the road at the auto-wreckers. Thing is, it's not really an unmarked cruiser anymore. More like an unmarked cube."

"Wonderful. Bogo's gonna have my hide for this." He sighed, absently rubbing the bandages on his wrists. "Don't suppose you guys could give me a lift to Zootopia General?"

"Sorry, no can do. We gotta stay here till the scene is cleared, then we gotta get our new friend there to booking." The moose McKenzie pointed behind him. "Besides, you should probably take an ambulance. You got pretty banged up."

"No thanks to this hosehead, eh?" The bear McKenzie laughed, giving his partner a friendly punch in the shoulder.

"Hey!" The moose McKenzie scowled. "Take off, you hoser! I already said I was sorry!"

"Guess I better get going then." Nick stood slowly, wincing as his body loudly announced every injury. "Hey, I didn't catch your guys' first names."

"I'm Bob." The moose McKenzie gestured to the bear McKenzie. "He's Doug. Anytime you wanna grab a beer and catch a city-league game, just c'mon out to Precinct Twelve and ask for the McKenzie brothers."

"Y'know, I think I'll probably do that."

The brief shuffle to the waiting ambulance gave Nick a moment to think and, as the EMT helped him onto the gurney, the fox let out a pained groan. The EMT leaned over, giving him a concerned look. "You alright, detective? Where does it hurt?"

"I'll live. It's just..." He shook his head. "I still can't believe I said toast. Honestly...toast?"

The concerned expression slowly morphed into bewilderment. "Uh...okay. You just take it easy, pal. We'll be at Zootopia General in about ten minutes."

Just a few weeks before her seventh birthday, Judy Hopps had already decided what she was going to be when she grew up. The little bunny's love of mysteries, inquisitive mind, courageous heart and natural determination made the choice obvious – she was going to be a cave explorer.

Naturally, she wasted no time informing her parents about her decision, rushing into the kitchen to wow them with her choice of future career. Upon learning that their six-year-old daughter wanted to spend her life deep below the earth's surface, crawling through labyrinths of stone that the sun had never touched, they'd reacted just as you'd expect a pair of simple bunny farmers to react – with a hearty laugh and soft pat on their daughter's head. After all, it hadn't been so long ago that she'd aspired to be a fire truck.

Judy, however, was undeterred. They'd see! She would learn everything about climbing and geology and exploration – she already knew how to tie eight different knots! She'd be a world-renowned expert in all things underground!

Unfortunately, her passion was slightly hampered by the lack of access to any unexplored caves. Even the Hopps Burrow, large and deep as it was, bore no mysteries - you couldn't even find a place with a poor wi-fi signal. The closest thing she was able to find was an old well in the northeast fields. Intent on uncovering its mysteries, Judy had set out with a flashlight, some rope, and two sandwiches in her small backpack.

When she reached her 'cave', she'd carefully looped her rope around the wooden structure above the opening. But although she'd tied the rope tightly enough, the beam she'd secured it to had been exposed to the elements for too many years. She was only three-quarters of the way down when it gave way.

She yelled and yelled until her voice gave out, but no one came to save her. Slowly, the small circle of sky above her faded from blue to orange to deep red, until eventually it was so dark that she couldn't even see her own paws. Her small pink flashlight had held the darkness at bay, for a short while. Judy had forgotten to check the batteries, though, and as the little light began to fade she had felt her courage fade with it.

She didn't know how long she'd sat in the dark, willing herself not to cry, when the cold silence was suddenly pierced by the shouts of several mammals outside the well. Aiming her ears upward, she could faintly hear her mother's voice, frantically calling her daughter's name.

"Here!" She'd cried at the top of her lungs. "Mama, I'm here!"

"We found her!" Had come the response. "She's in the well!"

Soon after, she watched with joy as a figure was lowered down from the well opening. As they grew closer, she eventually recognized Deputy Burton from the Sheriff's office. She'd seen him a few times before, either walking around town or driving one of her older brothers back home after they'd had a few too many drinks. The friendly armadillo reached down to her and she leaped into his arms.

The way she'd felt when the deputy carried her from that well and into her mother's arms had changed Judy's life forever.

Now, though, Judy was beginning to fear that it had all been a dream; that maybe she was still trapped in that well. The darkness around her was so thick that it felt like a wet blanket. No matter how many times she cried out for help, the only response she received was her own echoing voice.

No one had come for her. Not her mom or her dad or Deputy Burton or...Nick! If anyone could find her, it'd be him! He'd sniff her out, or spot her with those eyes of his! She just had to give him a little help! Even if she couldn't climb out of the well herself, maybe she just needed to get a bit closer to the opening. Reaching upward, she grasped the first pawhold she could. It felt strong and reminded her of the vine that had once carried her and Nick to safety. The next outcropping curved upward a little, like a snarky little smile.

One paw after another, she slowly climbed out of the darkness. She just had to get a little higher, she told herself; then her partner would be able to reach her. Straining her ears, she could almost hear his voice calling her, encouraging her to keep going. Looking up, she could see the sky beginning to brighten. The sunrise was coming, and she was almost at the top. She could definitely hear someone speaking, but it was tough to make out the words; it was as though her ears had been stuffed with cotton.

At last, Judy's paws reached the edge, and with one last effort she pulled herself out into the light.

"Judy. Judy, look at me sweetheart." She tried to do as she was asked, wincing painfully as she tried to block out the harsh light that assaulted her vision. "Stu, could you turn down the lights?"

The blinding glare eased, and Judy tentatively cracked her eyes once more. In the dim light, she could just make out the familiar shape looking down on her.

"M-mom?"

"Yes, sweetie. It's me." She felt a paw stroking her ears, bringing back old memories of being sick as a kitten.

"Wha..." She coughed harshly; trying to speak felt like swallowing sandpaper. It reminded her of the Fur Fighters concert Nick had taken her to, and the next day's painful reminder that she'd spent the previous evening shouting at the top of her lungs. "W...what happened? Where...am I?"

"Shh, now. Don't try to speak." She felt the end of a straw against her lips, and took a hesitant sip. The ice-cold water felt blissful on her stinging throat. "You're in Zootopia General Hospital. You...had an accident, but the doctors think you're going to be alright."

She wanted to ask more, to try and understand the situation, but it felt like the mere act of opening her eyes had already exhausted her. Slipping back into the darkness, the last thing she heard was her mother's voice.

"Stay here with her. I'll let Nick know she's awake."

The next time Judy woke, she felt considerably more lucid. Unfortunately, with that clarity came the awareness of a hundred aches and pains, particularly in her feet.

"Hey, Jude the Dude. Back among the living, eh?" Easing her eyes open, she found her father gazing warmly at her. "How are you feeling, kiddo?"

"Head hurts." She muttered, but when she tried to reach up and massage her throbbing skull, she discovered that her paws were trapped at her sides. "Dad? What's going on? Why am I tied up?"

Her father gave her a queasy smile. "It's...complicated. A lot happened."

"I don't...what are you talking about?"

"It's okay, honey. Just relax." He took her paw and gave it a comforting squeeze. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"I don't know...I was...I think I was talking to Nick?"

"Ah Ms. Hopps. You're awake!" Turning her head to one side, she saw a badger in a white coat enter the room.

"Who are...?"

"My name is Doctor Albert Forrest. I've been your attending physician since you arrived."

"Arrived? What's going on?

"The last thing she remembers is talking to Nick." Stu informed him. "How is he, anyway?"

"One thing at a time, Mr. Hopps." The doctor muttered, then smiled down at her. "What else, Ms. Hopps? Do you remember what you two were talking about?"

"I don't...why are you asking me so many questions?"

"It's going to be alright, Ms. Hopps." The Doctor assured her. "But it's important for you to remember as much as you can on your own."

"Please try, sweetie." Stu coaxed.

"I'm not...I got mad at him, but I can't remember why."

"Anything after that?"

"I...I was angry..." Her eyes began to fill with tears. "I was so angry..."

"It's alright, Judy." She felt her father's paw stroking her ears. "You're almost there."

Judy squeezed her eyes shut, grasping for the fragments of memory that seemed to hover frustratingly out of reach. "I think I...oh god, did I pull a gun on Chief Bogo?"

"Actually, I'm told that you only threatened to pull a gun on the Chief." Dr. Forrest assured her. "Although you did fire a gun at your partner."

"W-what?!" She looked horrified at the very suggestion. "Why would I do that?"

"Having met the mammal personally, I'm surprised you were able to resist so long." He smiled. "He's fine, Ms. Hopps. I promise."

"Did I...should I keep trying to...?" Despite her agitation, she felt her eyelids grow heavy as exhaustion overtook her again.

"No, that's about as far as I'd expected the lucid memories to go. Though from what I understand, you're probably better off." He reached down, loosening the restraints that held her wrists. "You're going to be fine Ms. Hopps. Get some rest."

By the time he finished the sentence, she was already asleep.

Drifting up from the darkness again, the first thing she picked up was a familiar and deeply comforting musk. Cracking her eyelids, she turned toward the sound of light breathing to see a familiar and dearly missed face.

"...Nick." She croaked, instantly getting his attention.

"Hey, Carrots." Smiling, he slowly climbed out of his chair and shuffled to her side. "Nice to see you awake."

"Look at you." She took in his haggard appearance, particularly the bandages on his wrists and ear. "What happened?"

"Oh, I got shot." He replied offhandedly.

"What?!" The bunny gasped, trying to rise up from the bed. "Where?! Who?!"

"Carrots!" Nick laughed as he gently lay her back down. "Carrots, stop! I didn't really get shot!"

"Then why did you..."

"Compared to that, saying I got the crap kicked out of me doesn't sound so bad, does it?"

She gave a weary sigh, but couldn't hide her faint smile. "Jerk."

"Guilty." He grinned.

"What happened there?" She gestured to the top of his head. "Your ear..."

"Gardening accident. Besides, the ladies love scars, right?" He chuckled. "Don't worry, Carrots. I tell you the whole story when you're feeling a little more energetic."

"...so he's got me by the neck, right? I try kicking but I can't get past his wool, and all the alcohol fumes are starting to make me dizzy. He's got the other hoof on my wrist, so I can't get the taser aimed in his direction. Then he leans in and says 'If you're the big bad predator, what does that make me?'." Nick grinned when his partner started giggling at his terrible impression of Gordon's voice.

Thinking of the ram that had tried to kill him, Nick made a mental note to head down to visit the psychotic mammal a little later. Although he'd escaped any lasting burns, Gordon's wool had been so damaged from the flames that the nurses had been forced to shear him from head to toe. Judy had been in the hospital for a little under a week now, and during that time Nick had made a habit of sneaking into the wool-less ram's room every few hours and turning the thermostat down as far as it would go.

Judy had been extremely lucky; the Night Fury she'd been exposed to had been a relatively low dose, and although her turbo-charged metabolism's rapid absorption of the Night Fury was what had caused the extreme reaction, it had also processed the drug quickly enough to avoid any long-term effects. Most of her time in the hospital had been focused on the injuries she'd sustained following her accidental overdose, particularly to the bones in her paws. Thankfully, the orthopedist assigned to her case had given her the green light to be discharged the following day.

"Well?! What did you say back?!" The excited bunny leaned forward in anticipation.

"Well, I said..." Nick winced slightly. "Right before I bravely fired the taser into the overhead lights, brilliantly using science to overcome a larger foe, I said...er...you're toast, asshole."

Judy let out a particularly loud snort, falling backward onto the bed as she descended into laughter.

"C'mon, Carrots. It isn't that bad."

"Ha! Toast!" She cackled. "Oh my GOD!"

"What? So maybe I choked. I think that's understandable, considering I was actually being choked at the time!"

"Oh Nick!" She wiped a tear from her eye. "Don't ever change."

Her comment, innocent as it was, suddenly left the fox feeling a little awkward. "Heh. Actually, speaking of change, there's something I kinda wanted to ask you about."

Her laughter petered out at the fox's serious tone. "What's that?"

"I don't know if you remember, but the day you, y'know." He waved a paw at the hospital bed. "Earlier on, before things went crazy, we'd just left Bogo's office and we were talking and you...uh..."

"...finally managed to ask you out?"

Nick's jaw snapped shut as his head slowly cocked to one side in confusion. "Wait, you remember that?"

"Yup." Blushing lightly, Judy gave him an embarrassed little shrug. "I've kinda been trying to work up the nerve for a while now."

"How long is a while?"

"Y'know...a while." She cleared her throat, fiddling with the edge of her blanket. "Maybe since the mannequin incident?"

"What?! That was six months ago!"

She shrugged, not quite making eye contact. "Maybe I like the whole chivalrous knight saving the damsel in distress thing. Just a little. Sometimes."

A slow smile crept back onto his face. "Just couldn't resist your dashing Don Coyote anymore, could you?"

"Nick, Don Coyote was a crazy mammal who wore a bowl as a hat and attacked windmills."

"And who you want to go out to dinner with." He added smugly.

She rolled her eyes. "Are you really going to start teasing me about this?"

"Why not?" He smirked, leaning in until they were practically nose-to-nose. "Would you rather wait till dinner?"

"That's it!" She shouted, grabbing her pillow and swinging it into the side of the fox's face. "I don't wanna go out with you anymore! Smug foxes don't get to date pretty bunnies!"

"Nooooo!" He moaned dramatically, laughing as she got a few more playful hits in. Eventually though, he snatched the pillow away and replaced it behind her. "Alright, that's enough of that. You need to get some sleep. We've both had a long week."

"Yeah, yeah." Smiling, she let her head fall back onto the pillow as he gently brought the blanket up to her chin. "Hey, Nick?"

"Yeah?"

"You're not leaving, are you?"

"Don't worry, Carrots." Returning to his chair by her bedside, he pulled his own blanket over his lap. "I'll always be here when you wake up."

"Good." She gave him a sleepy smile. "I'm gonna hold you to that one."

END