Nick POV

I never want to set a three am alarm again. This was my second day in a row running on very little sleep. When this case is over I swear I am going to turn my phone off so no one can bother me and then sleep for a week straight.

I dressed quickly in the darkest clothes I owned, made a quick cup of coffee, and tucked my fake police badge into my pocket before going downstairs to wait for Judy. It was still dark out when I stepped into the parking lot.

I found a decently lit spot to sit on a curb in front of the building. And sipped my coffee, trying to stay awake and watch the street. There were very few cars this early and it was eerily silent.

When Judy pulled up in front of me I was already starting to drift back to sleep. Her bright headlights were a stark contrast to the darkness around me. I stood, shook my head, and tried to rub the sleep from my eyes. I sipped my coffee, barely even tasting it.

Judy didn't say a word as I climbed into the passenger seat of the car. She merely nodded at me and drove out of the parking lot toward Seaside. As we entered the district I rolled my window down, letting the harsh sea air wake me up a little bit.

By the time Judy parked the car I was feeling a little more awake. I sipped down the last of my coffee and left the empty cup in the car. Outside, Judy was zipping a thick dark blue jacket up to her neck. I should have brought one too, it was rare for me to travel to this part of town and I always forgot how cold it was.

"Okay, Micheal said they meet right in front of the wooden sign post for pier 42. Which I think is this direction." Judy pointed in front of her and began walking. Gently, I grabbed her shoulder and turned her around to face the opposite direction.

"This way, actually." She looked behind her at the direction she had been facing and then back forward before starting to walk again, not even verbally acknowledging her mistake. The closer to the water we got, the colder it felt.

It was a short walk to find the right pier. Luckily when we got there we found a stack of old crates and spools of rope leaned against a weather beaten shack. There was just enough space that we could both wiggle the rope aside and hide behind it.

We had a perfect view of the sign while being completely hidden. Most importantly, this spot blocked a lot of the wind chill. Unfortunately, it didn't keep the damp out.

"We probably have close to an hour before anyone shows up. If you want to try falling asleep, I can wake you when something interesting happens." Judy suggested. She already had her phone out and I could see she was reviewing a file she saved about Michael West.

"As nice as that sounds, I am a little too cold to sleep. And wet." The thick fog in the air had already made my clothes and fur damp. I tried to wiggle myself into a slightly more comfortable position, suddenly aware of just how close I was sitting to Judy. Taking a few slow breaths, I tried to keep my mind calm.

This would be the worst time for something to happen. The more I thought about staying calm, the more my mind began to race. Instead I opted to pull out my own phone to distract myself.

*O*O*O*

I did not recall falling asleep, it really didn't seem like a possibility given the circumstances. But I suddenly felt Judy gently shoving my arm to wake me up. As I shook the sleep from my brain she rested a hand over my mouth and held a finger up to her own lips in the quiet sign.

As sleep faded, I remembered where we were at, my attention quickly turned to the wooden sign in front of us. Sure enough, the goat from the other night was leaning against it, looking around nervously. He must know we would be nearby watching him. I just hoped he wouldn't accidentally give us away.

Micheal wasn't alone for very long. He had just pulled his phone out, probably checking the time, when a dark car pulled up on the cracked street closest to the pier. Another goat, this one flanked by two otters, casually climbed out of the car, strolled up, and shook his hand. I turned to look at Judy but she already had her phone in front of her, the red record button blinking.

We were too far away to catch much of what was being said, I hoped the phone could pick up enough audio to be useful. With three newcomers, I wasn't sure if Judy would want to approach this new dealer or not. I decided I would just follow her lead but I was really hoping we wouldn't be moving.

I was proud of myself for the level of control I was gaining but that was in a more calm situation. Something physical would be a different story, I knew if things got bad here it would be worse than the nightclub had been.

Unfortunately, Judy never got the opportunity to make a decision. After there was a quick exchange of money for a dark coloured envelope, the new goat turned to face where we were sitting. He had a wicked smile on his face.

"I don't suppose that is a very comfortable place to sit, Officer Hopps. Please, come out and join us, I'd love to have a conversation with you." He leaned heavily on a golden cane that was resting between his hands.

I turned my attention back to Judy who sat with her mouth wide open. Slowly she turned off her phone and slipped it back into her pocket. "Stay behind me, please." She whispered, pushing the rope away to climb out.

There was absolutely no way I was going to do that. As soon as Judy was on her feet, I pushed my way out to join her, not stepping in front of her, but close enough I could move to protect her if I needed to.

I wasn't sure if I would be able to keep myself from losing it if things took a turn for the worst but I knew that no matter what happened, I was going to keep Judy safe. My heart was already racing.

"Okay, let's talk. You know my name already, so what is yours?" Judy's voice sounded strong even though I noticed her nose twitching rapidly. She looked about as scared as I felt.

The goat laughed. "You are a bold little one aren't you, strange for a bunny. Very well, my name is William, but you may call me Billy."

"Nice to meet you, William. Before we go on, I want to let you know that my coworkers know where I am at and if you kill a cop you're going to be looking at a lot more jail time than you would be for selling drugs." I wasn't sure if she was telling the truth or not about anyone knowing where we were at but I really hoped she wasn't bluffing.

"Oh, that won't be a problem. I have no intention of killing you." He waved his hoof behind his back and the two otters seemed to relax a little bit. Michael shuffled behind them but didn't say a word.

"That's good. I'm guessing our friend Michael told you we were here then?" Judy must have practiced what she was going to say. Or she was just running off of pure adrenaline and was really good at improvising. Either way, her demeanor was very different from the way she questioned Michael the other day. I was proud of her.

"Yes, well, after you threatened my idiotic little nephew here about my business, he immediately warned me about the cops sniffing around my tail. The kids not too bright, but he is loyal to family." William glanced back around his shoulder to the younger goat who seemed to slink down even lower.

"We didn't threaten your nephew, we simply asked for some information in exchange for not arresting him. Just like the information I am hoping to get from you. We'll cut you the same deal we gave Michael. You tell us who you are getting your supply of Nite Bite from and you walk away a free mammal. If you don't give us the information we need, then I have a pair of handcuffs here with your name on them."

Quickly, I pulled my shirt up a bit to reveal the police badge I had clipped to my belt loop. I had been waiting to do that all morning. The goats eyes moved from Judy to me. He waved his hand dismissively and let out a small laugh. "Put that away, Mr. Wilde. I know you aren't a real cop. Did you get your little toy badge from a cereal box or something?" He laughed again and I heard a small chuckle from the two otters.

My cheeks burned and I had to swallow the lump in my throat. This was one of the most important times for me to keep my cool. I dropped my shirt back over the fake badge and folded my arms tightly over my chest.

"Now, Officer Hopps, unfortunately I don't have the name of a supplier to give you as I make Nite Bite myself. I got the recipe from my old college roommate. You might know him, his name is Doug. Anyway, Doug is a brilliant chemist but an idiot when it comes to making a business. He had no idea how much money his nighthowler formula could bring in if he used it for something more than Dawn's little prey fears predator plan."

The goat reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a small plastic bag with something tiny and blue in it. "Of course I tweaked Doug's formula a bit. Made it a lot less potent and left out the chemical cocktail that was designed to keep the serum in your body long term. The effect of the flowers will wear off on their own just fine. After that, I just gave it a sweet flavor and boom, it's a little bite of fun."

He gave the bag a tiny shake and the heat in my cheeks seemed to move across my whole face. I had planned to let Judy do all of the talking but I couldn't help myself. "Fun?" I blurted out. "How is that shit supposed to be fun? It's dangerous." My arms dropped and I curled my fists tightly at my sides.

"Speaking from experience, fox? I don't remember anything on the news about a savage fox before Doug and that little sheep got themselves arrested. Perhaps you are one of my own customers then? Dissatisfied with the product? If you took too much at a time it may have hit you a little too hard." He tossed the little bag toward me. "This one's on the house. Give it another go."

I jumped out of the way, not letting it touch me. "I would never buy that dangerous shit from you."

I was going to say more but Judys hand gripped my arm and pushed me behind her. "Nick calm down, please." She tapped a finger next to her eye. It was a small gesture but I knew what she meant.

This jerk was trying to get under my skin and I was letting it happen. I was shocked at myself. I never let anyone get to me, I haven't since I was a child. Aiming my eyes at the ground, I worked on slowing my breathing again while Judy took back the conversation.

"You make it? Well, then, I guess I am going to have to rescind my earlier statement. William, uh, Mr. William you are under arrest." Judy pulled a few pairs of handcuffs from her belt. Quickly, she shoved one set into my hands. I was shocked at first until I realized there were at least three animals that we would be arresting and she couldn't do it alone.

I fell into step next to her as she slowly approached the group. William put his hoof up, but not to us. He seemed to be signaling to someone behind us. I turned quickly to see another otter to our right, there was a fourth to our left. We were surrounded.

"Pity, we were having such a good conversation. I really do enjoy talking to cops. Now, Officer Hopps, you may rescind your statement but I will hold true to mine. I will not kill you but I also can't have you meddling around in my business. You understand, right?"

He closed the hoof he held up. I didn't have a chance to figure out what that signal meant before I felt a sharp pain hit my neck and a familiar burn tear its way through my body.

Judy POV

Whatever William was signaling with his hoof, I was uninterested. I ran forward as he closed the hoof, my handcuffs were open and ready. Unfortunately I knew the goat would be a little too big for me to arrest on my own without getting hurt if he put up a fight, and I knew he would.

I went for one of his otter body guards, yelling over my shoulder without turning around. "Nick, I've got this guard, you get William." If we didn't have the chance to arrest both otters or Micheal, I really didn't care.

After I clicked the metal cuffs into place around the first otters wrists, I finally looked up to take in the state of the scene around me. About ten yards in front of me, William was nearing his awaiting car. The second otter and Micheal were both behind him. He wasn't even running, just walking briskly.

I jumped to my feet and started to run toward the car even though I knew I was too far to catch up to him. William was already closing the door to the back seat where he sat. As the engine roared to life, apparently there was a driver waiting for him, he rolled his windows down.

The older goats sly grin made me mad. "Officer Hopps, while I did change ol' Dougs formula for Nite Bite, I did hang on to some of the original serum. You know, for security purposes." He rolled the window back up and the car moved down the slick road.

My head snapped back to Nick. What was he doing? The handcuffs were sitting on the damp wood next to Nick who was on his knees. His hands were both pressed hard against his eyes. "Nick, you okay?" I yelled, jogging back to him. "What's going on with…".

I stopped in my tracks when I was just a few feet in front of him. Williams words suddenly made sense. There was a familiar looking blue splotch staining the orange fur at the back of Nicks neck. His breaths were coming fast with that growl I was becoming too familiar with behind his voice.

I dropped to my knees in front of him. Unlike in the museum where we were contained in an enclosed space, Nick could hurt a lot more mammals than just me out here. In the museum, my focus was my own safety, keeping myself away from him as much as possible until help arrived. Now, my focus would have to turn to keeping Nick away from anyone else. Even if that meant I would be putting myself in harms way.

Quickly, I yanked my radio from the back of my belt and called the precinct for back up. Seaside was pretty far from the city center but they had their own precinct that would probably arrive on the scene first. I just had to keep Nick occupied until then.

At his back was the shack that we were hiding in front of. It wouldn't be as secure as I would like but if I could lure him there, it might work for the time being.

With a deep breath, I positioned my feet in a way that I could spring up and run on the dot. It was now or never, if he was fighting against the serum the same way he was before he wouldn't be able to fight it much longer.

I gently placed my hand on his arm, jumping slightly when I felt the muscles tighten under my fingers. However, instead of the wild look or snarl I was expecting from him, his strained voice came in just slightly above a whisper.

"I'm okay, I'm okay. Just give me a minute." The growl was still present but not any more so than it was in the night club. Nick moved one hand away and I could see his eyes were sharp slits, even so, they still held their normal brightness.

Slowly, Nick moved both hands from his face to the ground and used them to push himself back to his feet. He pulled a rag from his back pocket and slowly moved to wipe away the blue from his neck. The orb had broken the skin a little bit and I noticed blood mixed with the serum, turning the blue more of a purple colour.

Nick lifted his face up and took a long slow breath in, held it, and then an equally slow breath out. I waited for him to look forward again before placing my hand back on his arm.

"Nick?" The rest of the sentence got stuck in my throat as he turned to face me. His eyes hadn't changed but he gave me a small smile before shoving the rag back into his pocket.

"What the fuck! How is that guy standing on two legs after getting shot with that stuff?" A panicked voice broke the silence behind me. I forgot about the otter who was still laying on his stomach on the damp wood. Hands cuffed together behind his back, he was wiggling and trying to get to his feet.

I looked over my shoulder at him, glaring, before I turned back to face Nick. "He is right," I said in a hushed voice. "How are you almost completely unaffected by the nighthowler this time?"

Nick ran his hand over his eyes again before he spoke. "I don't really know. I'm not unaffected, I can feel it. But I am not sure if it's this past week learning to control it or if my body has built up an immunity. I…"

His eyes pinched closed again and he stumbled back. I moved closer to his side, unafraid this time. "Hey, what's going on? Are you okay?" I asked, frantically.

Nick straightened again. "Sorry, no, I mean, yeah. I'm okay. It's coming in waves. I do have to focus on keeping calm." I didn't have a chance to ask anything else when I heard police sirens. Nicks eyes widened even more and he glanced behind me.

I was going to have to do a little damage control. "Just, stay back here and keep calm. And don't let anyone see your eyes. I'm gonna talk to them and then we are getting you to the hospital."

Nick nodded and I turned around to face the two police cars that came to a screeching halt. Four officers, none that I recognized, jumped out. I held my badge up for them to see since I was in plain clothes, minus my police belt.

"Officer Hopps." I said, announcing myself. "Unfortunately, the main target got away but I did manage to arrest one of his guards as well as recorded evidence to help us find this guy." I pointed to the otter on the ground who had now managed to wiggle himself onto his knees.

Two officers ran past me to drag him to his feet and escort him to one of their cars while the other two stopped in front of me. "What about that guy?" An older looking wolf asked, pointing to Nick who was staring down at the ground and gripping his arm.

"He's with me. Actually, he injured his arm during the arrest so I am going to get him to the hospital if you guys can take it from here?" I leaned around him just in time to see the first two officers close the door behind the otter.

The wolf cleared his throat to get my attention. "Do you need us to take your evidence in as well? I'm sure the chief will want to see it right away." He asked.

I shook my head, "No, I will personally get it to Chief Bogo as soon as I get my friend to the hospital. I really do need to go, though." I took a step back and turned to jog over to Nick. The wolf gave me a disapproving look but turned his attention back to the other officers.

When I was back at Nicks side I steered him toward my car but away from the group of officers, positioning myself between them. "We're good to leave, but keep holding your arm like you were before. I told them you sprained it." He nodded and followed my lead.