The new tales from Zootopia

by Vindictive456

This story is a well thought out work of fan-fiction that will cover in moderate pace how Judy came back to the force and convinced Nick to be her partner, Nick's training to become an officer and his days at the academy, a weird new case involving corrupt mammals and a new dangerous drug, all of that sprinkled with the growing love between Zootopia's favorite pair of officers.

29. Episode 29: Rebound

Author's note: Salutations dear readers, it is I, Valiant and I have finally returned after a short hiatus with a brand new Zootopia chapter for you all. I have been thinking about making new stories about Zootopia, maybe mentioning them as AU titles where Nick and Judy still meet and live through small misadventures that lead them to fall in love and sharing a life together. Just hipothetically speaking, no guarantees. Anyway, what kind of story should I make next involving the determined bunny and the joker fox i unfamiliar worlds? Care to help me decide?

1) A world with no technology. Stone-age/ Farmer society.

2) A world of fantastical lore. Wizards and mages.

3) A steampunk world. Coal powered and ripe for the taking.

4) A minecraft world. Hey... It can happen.

5) A futuristic world. Starships, blasters and lazer swords.

Feel free to let me know in reviews or in comments if you would like me to work on something like that, some stories may be longer than others depending on the world I decide on but it is only because there are scenarios better suited for my brand of story-telling. At any case, enough distractions, Have an amazing reading.

Episode 29: Rebound.

Judy had never seen a place that looked, in equal measures, so fancy and menacing, the shrew in charge made a case to have his status and influence known to everyone, it was very admirable in a way but Judy could not help but feel like he was overcompensating for something. The safe house was well hidden in the middle of the savanna, way past the south side of the commercial district but it was no challenge spotting it amidst the many other buildings and gated communities in that part of the district. The house was surrounded from all sides by a tall cinderblock wall with menacing looking iron pikes on top, all of them in equal distance to one another as well as motion sensors connected to security cameras placed at key points along the outer perimeter, no intruder would sneak their way into that place unnoticed or unharmed. The front gate appeared small, simplistic, but it was guarded by a patrol of polar bears that was posted by its proximities at all times and was secured by an electronic lock, only those allowed to enter would do so.

Judy was already inside, she could not help but take careful notice of all the security measures that she saw on the way in, she could not linger or look intimidated, she was being closely followed by a huge polar bear that was guiding her and carrying Fru-fru to their destination inside the domicile. Judy looked around and saw a few other things that called to her attention, beyond the low temperature, much of the house interior that they were now passing by looked dirty and disorganized, there were cob-webs and dust balls by the corners as well as rooms filled with covered furniture and sealed cardboard boxes, many of the staff of mammals that would most likely be in charge of security was running around and cleaning up the place, a sign that Mr. Big had moved his stay to that safe house having safety in mind more than commodity by the part of his employees. Judy turned to the right, she found a long hallway, the polar bear behind her nodded his head once as Judy turned around to look up at him and Fru-fru soon confirmed that they had to go through the closed dark door at the very end of the hallway.

Judy walked ahead, Fru-fru and her escort following close behind only a few steps, Judy was just about to reach for the round door knob when the polar bear cut in front of her, sliding his feet over the carpet to put himself ahead and open the door himself. Judy would have opened the door herself but the bear was strictly following protocol passed down by his boss, Judy ultimately did not mind that, she waited for the door to creak open so that she could go inside. Judy looked around and saw an office, much like the one she was already familiar with from the Tundra Town area only this one was far better illuminated by natural light coming from the window blinds from the right side of the room, there were also fewer shelves and adornments pinned to the walls as well as a more stravagant pattern to the wall paper, dark carnelians that were imprinted on the capricious décor, branching and stretching from the floor divide all the way to the ceiling, Judy actually enjoyed seeing the decorations of that work place but her attention soon turned to the one mammal seated at the very center of the room.

Seated over his revolving chair, which was positioned over the sturdy frame of a wooden work desk, was the shrew responsible for overseeing countless business transactions and important exchanges between the high and low classes of Zootopia, Mr. Big himself. The elder shrew just heard the door to his office opening and he turned his chair around so that his sight, as poor as it might have been on his age, would land on his beloved daughter and the police officer that earned his outmost respect, he wished to speak and greet them right away but he was in the middle of an urgent call and he would have to leave pleasantries for later. Judy stood still, steps away from the shrew's conversation and to his always present security escort, two other well-dressed polar bears that were standing straight with one paw over the other positioned over their bellies, although it would appear that the one of the left had a distinctive height advantage over the one on the right, trusty assurances that the words of the mammal in charge would undoubtedly reach everyone without distortions or complications.

Judy and Fru-fru walked into the room just as Mr. Big was finishing delegating the last details of his phone call, Judy did not get all of the details but the shrew sounded like he was extremely concerned about something on the other side of the call, before she could get a good enough listen to the one-sided talk, Big turned the phone off with an aggressive swish of his right paw over the 'end-call' icon and an angry mumbling of his voice:

- Incompetent tools.

Judy lowered her ears, she was in the presence and receiving the full attention of one of the most influential and danger prone mammals in the entire city, someone who should radiate fear but was actually showing how stressful being in charge of so many things at the same time could be. Mr. Big placed both of his paws on the temples of his head and gently massaged them, he was now fighting the biggest headache he had ever lived through, every single one of the districts was showing panic, concern, due to the confirmed presence of mammals bearing firearms hiding somewhere in the city, it was not different for every single one of his employees who were tasked with filtering reliable information to his ears while relying solely on him to keep every single one of their pasts organized and on schedule for daily affairs. It was far too great a weight to fall on the shoulders of a single mammal, but Big knew all too well that he was the one to step up to the plate and keep everything in check until the dust settled. It was his job, he would have to work hard to keep it afloat.

Feeling calmer and more centered than he was feeling just a few minutes before, Big gestured with both of his arms, opening them as a gesture of polite and gleeful greeting to the mammals who just entered his office. Fru-fru was gently placed over the work desk and she walked over it so that she could give her dear father a warm hug, the elder shrew was happy to greet his daughter and repaid her hug with one of his own. Judy approached the desk with short steps soon after, Big extended his right paw ahead so he could have it picked and kissed by Judy, an old sign of mutual greeting and respect from the old days that still held true under Mr. Big's leadership. Judy walked closer and gently pinched the paw of the shrew with her right thumb and pointing finger, unfortunately she could not get close enough to kiss it, the desk was too tall and Judy was already standing on the tips of her feet without being able to reach him with her lips, Big did not mind it at all, dismissing Judy with a soft shake of his paw and a little laugh.

Judy gave a few steps back after concluding her greeting, she placed both of her paws above her thighs and bowed slowly as she said:

- It is good to see you, sir.

To which Big answered with his raspy voice blaring out for all in the room to hear:

- It is good to see you as well, my dear. I see and trust that you are in good health.

Judy stood straight once more and nodded her head once as she answered:

- Yes, sir.

- Good. Very good.

Mr. Big said so as he slowly nodded his head, Judy's eyes deviated from the shrew, traveling around the room before landing on him once more, he already knew why she was doing that. Judy was not afraid or bored, she was cautious, she was already sure of why she was there and what she would have to say but that did not change the fact that even thinking about such a touchy subject was hard for her, the conversation had to get underway and the elder shrew was the first one to speak up about it. Mr. Big pointed towards Judy with a simple gesture of his right paw as he said:

- I assume you already know why I have summoned you here.

Judy looked back at Big and answered him with a single nod and a verbal confirmation:

- I have a pretty good idea, sir.

Big nodded his head once more and gave Judy the cue to speak up, to tell him with clarity what had occurred and to not spare any details:

- Then, tell me child. Tell me about everything that has happened.

Judy lowered her head, her ears flopped mildly behind her head as they accompanied the momentum of her movement, it was still difficult for her to put it all in the open. Judy took in a deep breath, the cold air in the room felt refreshing inside of her lungs and helped her to calm down a bit, she could feel her heart beating against the inside of her chest, she released the breath she had taken only a few seconds prior out through her mouth and said with a low volume to her voice, most of her tone directed at herself:

- It feels like I have told this story several times already.

With that bit of venting out of the way, Judy looked straight at the elder shrew with her friend standing right next to him, holding on to his left paw over the armrest of his chair I worry and anticipation, the two of them just waiting for the story to commence so that they could listen attentively to every word. Judy placed both of her paws in front of her as she began her narrative:

- Nick and I were sent to patrol the savanna early yesterday, it was supposed to be a regular day of patrol, that was when we received the call about several electronic problems happening all around the place, followed by a call that informed us that a motorbike had been stolen somewhere around the south side, we both headed there to investigate. We just found the trail of the thief when a new threat jumped us both out of nowhere, a group of mammals that were called 'the wasps', Nick recognized one of them straight away.

Mr. Big was suspicious about the involvement of some of his former employees in such a scheme but no confirmation had arrived since he learned about the ambush against Nick and Judy. The bunny officer had just delivered the confirmation that the shrew in charge needed to hear, he could feel his blood boiling for an instant as he clutched both of his paws over the armrests of his revolving chair, cursing himself for letting the crooks walk away from his employment not that long ago. Judy took a short breath before she continued:

- Nick and I held our own, but one of them had a tranq shooter, I was hit first, Nick was hit soon after but he was wearing a safety vest that shielded him against the needle, he was still awake when one of them hit him, I was out like a light, they dragged us off somewhere.

Fru-fru placed both of her paws over her chest, she gasped after hearing the story taking a dramatic turn against the two protagonists as described by Judy, her explanation was concise and simple but it still communicated how dreadful the whole situation was. Judy made a calming gesture with both of her paws, palms directed down, slow moving from an elevated mark until they were placed squarely in front of her torso, she was trying to calm the heavy atmosphere in the room down, mostly so she could continue telling all that happened. After making a few last second notes in her mind on how she should proceed with her narrative, Judy resumed speaking as she said:

- When I woke up, Nick and I were inside a closet located in the basement of an abandoned building, seated on the ground and pawcuffed with our backs to one another, it looked like a hopeless situation. Nick was the one to set both of us free, he slipped out of his cuffs somehow and devised a plan on how to get out of there, he was the one that figured out exactly where we were and how we could work together to get out of there. We couldn't call for back up because our radios were being jammed, I was far more interested in arresting the ones that put us there, Nick and I split up…

There was a sudden dramatic pause in the narrative, nothing serious, Judy just stopped herself so that she could breathe deeply and finish telling the story by flying through the main details:

- I went after the one leading them, an ocelot with a big scar on the right side of his face, I tried stopping him, he pulled the firearm against me and fired a warning shot. I was scared, I didn't know what to do or how to react, the noise of the weapon left me stunned, that was when Nick showed up. Nick pushed me out of the way and saved me, but he was hit in the shoulder by the second shot fired, he's in the hospital now.

Mr. Big was intrigued near the end of the narrative provided by Judy, he had no recollection about the mammal described by Judy, the feline with the moon shaped scar was nowhere in the shrew's memory and that was very concerning, whoever was responsible for every detail in this new crisis was a fresh player in town. Judy lowered her head and fiddled with her fingers as she waited for anyone else to say anything, the two polar bears exchanged looks, they now had an idea on how crazy that whole situation really was, the last polar bear in the room, the one that acted as an escort to Fru-fru and Judy and was positioned near the left wall of the office, lowered his head and waited in silence, not wanting to look at anything else in that moment, only Mr. Big took notice of that. Judy waited for a few seconds before she raised her head again, her eyes met with the figure of Mr. Big passing the fingers of his left paw over his face, methodically brushing his whiskers, he released a sigh and then used his left paw to signal to Judy, asking her to come closer once more.

Judy obeyed the elder shrew, giving two steps forward and placing herself next to the desk, she placed the palm of her left paw against the wooden frame and raised her ears as she heard Mr. Big starting to say:

- I really hoped that I would be long gone before hearing any mention of a lead spewer again. I truly hoped that this insanity would never again plague this city.

Judy was surprised to hear that, her eyes opened wide with surprise before she placed both of her paws over the desk frame and asked:

- 'Again'?! You mean to say that Zootopia has seen these types of weapons before?!

Mr. Big showed Judy the palm of his right paw, the bunny did not raise her volume in order to air out that question but the tone she used sounded a little intrusive, no harm was done in asking that, Mr. Big would clarify it soon enough. Fru-fru stepped away from her father's side, she walked over the desk until she was close enough to talk to Judy, she pointed to the outside through one of the two windows in the office and said:

- Daddy was very worried once he heard of what happened and everything related to it. We had to leave the Tundra and come here fast, little Judy is sleeping in the next room over right now.

Judy retreated after hearing that, it did not show right away but this entire situation had clearly shaken the mob boss all the way through, she did not think that was even possible. Mr. Big prepared himself to answer Judy's previous question, his mind recalled a time long ago when his seat of power was nothing more than a distant speculation, he spoke up:

- There was a time long ago in my younger days, when the city of Zootopia was plagued by all kinds of crimes, the ZPD was just getting its legs and building new precincts through the various districts but it was still hard to prevent violence from popping up everywhere you looked, lead-spewers were a part of that reality.

Mr. Big leaned forward over his seat before resuming his telling, now focusing on himself and how that time in his life impacted him and those close to him:

- I was young, but my ambition was yet to come in full. My family came to Zootopia in order to attain a better life for ourselves. Times were tough and I was soon thrusted into the employment of Antoine Lionark, the previous don before I was selected to preside over his territory. Don Lionark was a true figure in this city, half of the Tundra owes its existence to him, he did all he could to keep all in its place, however, the lead-spewers were flooding the streets of this city, something had to be done. Gregor here lost family to all of that madness.

Mr. Big said so as he pointed a thumb of his left paw back to one of his subordinates, one of the two polar bears tasked as his bodyguard and the one that showed most evidence of age, his head lowered as he recalled what happened to him in much younger years, even before his employment as an enforcer, how his uncle fell victim to a loose projectile that was meant for someone else. The look of sadness in the polar bear's face alerted Judy to how serious and somber that subject really was, not just for her, she felt somewhat dispirited for not knowing such things or even thinking about it. Judy turned over to the bear and whispered something to him, leaning slightly forward and placing both of her paws together before saying:

- I'm very sorry.

Her tone was genuine and the polar bear appreciated the sentiment, it did not diminish the pain he felt after recalling the tragic event but it was appreciated nevertheless, Mr. Big nodded his head and thought how he should have expected that kind of behavior from Judy, that was just the kind of mammal she was, pausing everything even in the middle of such a serious conversation in order to be polite and wish the best for others. The elder shrew's narrative deviated a bit but it did not move far away from its main focus. Mr. Big proceeded as he placed his back on the chair repost once more and said:

- I was tasked by the Don to collect vital intel through every nook of the city, being a tenacious youth, I could move in and out of anywhere and learn whatever needed to be learned without anyone noticing it. I brought him all of the information he requested and together we built the foundation that would be transformed into the 'Firearm Legislation Code'. I was there and so were all the other great entrepreneurs of this big city to oversee and sign the accord that would ban the use of lead-spewers of any kind from the streets, every weapon in this city was confiscated, sorted and destroyed, it was a remarkable time. It was then, one the day after the signing of that document, that I asked the love of my life to marry me, my dear daughter came soon after.

Fru-fru heard that story from her father so many times before, she loved to hear how her parents met and how the entire city changed thanks to the efforts of Don Lionark, one mammal, spreading his thoughts and his will to make a better future to all. Mr. Big's face appeared to light up for a moment as he recalled the amazing things that he lived through during his younger years, of the mammal who was a mere child tasked with discovering every facet of the city for himself, his face soon turned back into a scowl as he began to recall all of the bad times that came along with exploration and growing up. The attention of Mr. Big soon returned to Judy and to the others in that office with them, his telling had come to an end and he wished to drive this main point forward as he said:

- It was the hope of many mammals in this city, myself most of all, that no other armaments of this kind would ever be seen in the streets ever again. Yet… here we are.

Judy lowered her head and mumbled about what she was really worried about at that time, the inevitable backlash that would come from the mammals of Zootopia. She took a short breath and said in lower volume:

- Everyone will be afraid. Things will be hard.

Mr. Big nodded once and reached for the handkerchief stored I his lapel pocket, he used it to wipe some of the sweat that was going down the sides of his face, he was nervous, he was never nervous, even Fru-fru had never seen her own father use the little cloth for anything other than dramatic flair and that worried her. Judy raised her head once more to look at the elder shrew as he spoke up:

- Fear is a powerful emotion. The city is not ready to learn about this sort of things. I do not believe any one of the mammals in this city is prepared to deal with this.

Judy lowered her head once more, letting it show how saddened she was, troubles were just piling one next to the other over her and she was not looking forward to dealing with them all by herself, suddenly, she felt something else amid all of the hostile considerations pounding the inside of her skull. Judy felt s small touch of pressure against her right ankle she looked down and saw Fru-fru giving her a gentle nudge and doing her best to comfort her friend, the size difference between them made it somewhat difficult for the female shrew to give the bunny the proper incentive to cheer up even if it all looked rather grim but Judy did not mind it at all, any support was welcome to her, Judy gve a small step back and reached down so that she could offer Fru-fru the palms of both of her paws to stand on, Judy brought the shrew closer to her face and they shared an adorable embrace. Fru-fru was almost shedding some tears for her friend but she resisted the urge to cry with the worry that it might smear her make-up, the female shrew placed her right paw over Judy's left cheek and said softly:

- Everything is going to be alright, Judy. I just know it will.

Judy's head retreated slowly from the hug, the bunny nodded her head and smiled while showing Fru-fru that she was also holding on to a few tears that threatened to escape her eyes at that moment. With the conversation concluded and all of the information exchanged, Mr. Big dismissed Judy, Fru-fru and all of the other mammals in his office, he said that he needed a few minutes of silence to think things over and he also communicated to his top tier security that he would speak up if he had the need for anything else. Judy thanked the mammal in charge of setting up that meeting for everything and, before leaving through the door, asserted that his words helped her a lot in dealing with the matters that troubled her up until that point, she also had a lot to still think about. Judy was escorted out of the safe house and driven back to her apartment building and Fru-fru insisted on accompanying her friend until the front door of her apartment and Judy accepted the offer, they wished each other farewell after Judy unlocked the front door to go back inside her place and Fru-fru returned to the car waiting to drive her back.

Four days went by, just as it was predicted, the media was all over the place trying to catch on the details surrounding the resurgence of firearms on the streets of Zootopia but the real culprits behind the scenes were making sure that all major leads were buried and as far away as possible from the authoritarian eyes of the ZPD or the meddling noses of the press. Mayor Zeinhanart was pressured to answer the most important questions in the mind of the citizens but he only assured that the safety of the city in its entirety was still a priority and that the ZPD officers were doing everything they could to remedy the situation. Chief Bogo had a meeting that gathered the mayor, the head of the security council as well as all the other chief lieutenants of the other precincts, patrol shifts were doubled and the ZBI was even called to sweep through the city streets with a fine tooth comb, traces of the transport vehicles as well as the trails left behind by the shooter had all but vanished. The only lead that was still in lock-up as evidence was the hardline link between the ocelot that shot Nick and the strange military grade device he was entrusted to guard, more questions were raised and not even the most talented investigators on any front had all the truth to formulate satisfactory answers. It almost seemed like every trail taken to arrive at an answer only lead to more questions.

Judy put in the effort to go to work on the passing days, despite the chief and even Clawhouser's constant protests telling her to stay at home, mostly because there were members of the press and local news outlets that wanted to talk to her and get more of her words to fill the blank spaces left by speculation and second paw telling, the chief tried taking the heat from the press away from Judy, he knew that she still needed time to adjust. Judy went to work but she did not went out on patrol, isolating herself in the cubicle and looking over streams of data that arrived on the ZPD network before forwarding them towards the centralized and safe storage of the servers, she was trying to keep herself busy and still help out also, even if the chief were to tell her that remaining at her home would be far safer than coming to work thanks to the increased patrol shifts, Judy still contended that she was safer in the ZPD, she was surrounded by allies in there after all.

During the days that went by, Judy found herself often confronted by the other officers, they met her occasionally through the halls or next to her working station and constantly asked if she was feeling okay after the ordeal she went through and having all of the work load she was consistently placing over herself, her answers were varied but she would ultimately tell them that she was doing fine, the tone of her answer did not inspire much confidence but the ZPD officers knew that Judy was tough and they knew that her partner would recover, they would be back patrolling together and they would be stronger than ever, that was the mentality of every officer under precinct one. It was seen that Judy would only leave her cubicle to confirm evidence transference and logistics with Doctor Pura, the panther also buried herself in work as she combed the data that kept arriving through the ZPD and ZBI shared investigation, neither side had a lot of information to provide after the extensive investigation but she still made sure to not let a single detail hang out in the air.

Judy would convene with Pura during her visits to the lab and pull up any conversation that would distract her if only for a few minutes away from work only to have an excuse to come by and ask out if there was anything new at all that the doctor learned from studying the evidence discovered up until that point. Doctor Pura was never too great with social cues, the panther had an unimaginable knack for all subjects of science but she did not fair all that well when it came down to interacting with other mammals, she would not even be interested in interacting with her own cohorts in the scientific department aside from exchanging notes and theses, but Pura was glad to interact with Judy and her partner, their interactions would always spark joy in her and give her small doses of incentive to keep working hard in her research role within the ZPD, more data to help her become better in general conversation. Doctor Pura felt disheartened when she learned about what happened to Nick and she felt more so every time she had to tell Judy that nothing new was learned after hours of study and investigation, she wished she could do more but only so much could be learned after staring at the same shards of evidence over and over again.

After evaluating the information at her computer screen one last time, scrolling fast through lines of code and formulas she had seen many times before, Pura decided to give Judy a thin thread of information that she followed to arrive at one solid conclusion that, unfortunately, did not leave the rest of the ZPD with much to go on:

- Judy, I have been analyzing the chemical constitution of the shell found by agent Howlbert. So far, the samples from the shell only comes across as a common phosphate and sulfur compound. The average quick and explosive kind that science has seen many times before.

Judy gave one step ahead and turned her head slightly to the left so that she could approach Pura and look at the screen herself, much of the graphs and schematics that crossed her field of vision appeared as nothing more that gibberish but she picked up fast on what the doctor was saying. Judy released a short sigh before saying the summation of what she had heard from Pura:

- Black powder.

Pura nodded her head once as she typed away at the keyboard to pull out different windows of information, she spoke up after confirming that Judy understood the gist of the analysis:

- Correct. Distilled and manufactured, some of these compounds can be found anywhere. Even common house hold fireworks can have traces of the explosive found in the shell.

Judy felt a curious nagging at the back of her head after hearing that, Zootopia was not commonly known for having too many firework manufactures, explosive, bright spectacles for citywide celebrations had to be imported from far away and, maybe, just maybe, there were traces in the mixture used in the shell that they could follow. Judy pointed to the screen and spoke up:

- Wait! Hold it right there!

Pura heard the order coming from the bunny and removed her paws from the keyboard, not wanting to disrupt Judy's sight or line of though in case there was any information that was crucial for the investigation and Pura had missed accidentally. Judy looked over the recently opened digital window until she found a picture at the far corner that correlated with her previous intuition on the matter, she leaned in closer and spoke softly as she recalled what she had heard from chief Bogo before:

- 'Covering up one trail can sometimes leave another'.

Pura turned her head to look at Judy and ask of her:

- What was that?

Judy tapped the pointing finger of her right paw over the desk and answered:

- Something I heard chief Bogo say a while back. You said that these components can be manufactured. Do you have any idea if some of the ingredients used to make them can be acquired from any specific sources. Maybe rare ones from somewhere else.

Pura felt something clicking inside her mind after hearing Judy's question, the panther turned her attention back at the screen and searched around for a particular line of text that would provide both of them with the information they sought. Pura suddenly stopped her scrolling and pointed a claw straight at the screen after making sure she found what she was looking for, displayed over a picture of a large chemical strain there was a miniscule line that identified it as a mineral extracted from the earth itself, she swallowed some air and spoke up so Judy could see and hear it for herself:

- Here it is. This little compound near the carbon line has discernable traces of magnesium. I thought it was a little strange, it is considered combustible to incentivize violent explosion during detonation but it is more used for demolition and not necessary for manufacturing small port armaments.

Judy called out to Pura as she asked for the main point of the conversation as she said:

- I thought as much. Can this be found anywhere in Zootopia?

Pura felt the sudden clicking in her mind once more, picking up on Judy's trail of though as she answered and the thought out loud towards the conclusion:

- No… it can't. There are no underground deposits marked in the city or its outskirts. Which means it must have been transported from somewhere else. There is a slim chance we can trace that if we figure out where a substance containing this trace of magnesium was transported to.

Judy smiled and turned her head to face Pura, the panther had arrived at a simple conclusion which would give them a brand new clue, maybe even a concrete answer to all of it. Pura raised from her seat behind the desk and walked towards the front door of her lab while saying:

- I'm going to dedicate an entire stash of notes to this new lead. It may not be much but it is a brand new angle that we can follow to a source. Thanks, Judy.

Judy said farewell to Pura and wished her the best of luck in that new branch of the investigation, little more could be done by the bunny except return to her cubicle, finish her shift and wait a little more. Two more days passed and Judy had taken a little time for herself in that Saturday afternoon, Pura and the chief kept her inform via messaging through the ZPD communication hub, another marvelous use of the private waveband of her newest radio device and Judy kept the item close to her as she waited anxiously for any more updates on the case. Judy had just finished lunch, it was not a big meal but she felt satisfied and was just about to keep herself busy with another task for the day when she heard a knock on her door, it was not a loud knocking but it felt frantic, like whoever was on the other side of her front door could not wait to see her, she was not expecting any visits but she thought it could have been Fru-fru wishing to talk to her once more. Judy walked past her living room and next to the door frame, she leaned closer and asked out loud:

- Who is it?

A familiar voice belonging to a female bunny came to answer from the other side of the door:

- Judy, honey, it's us.

Judy quickly reached for the doorknob, twisted it and swung the door open, her parents were standing on the other side. Bonnie wished to hug her daughter as soon as she saw her appear in front of her through the threshold but her paws were rather busy with a warm tray of food, Judy could already smell the delicious dish hidden from immediate view by a white tarp with floral patterns close to its edges and she already wished to have a bite of it even if she just had lunch. Bonnie was dressed in regular clothes, a navy blue buttoned up shirt and jean pants while Stu was dressed in a bright green T-shirt with jean overalls, waiting in a straight stand with his paws in his pockets, smiling tenderly as he saw their daughter. Judy stepped forth and opened her arms, grabbing her parents and bringing the two of them into a nice hug, Stu felt Judy's right arm wrapping over his shoulder and repaid her embrace in kind but Bonnie had to be extra careful to not drop the tray she was carrying on to the floor after feeling Judy tugging on her, she always seemed to forget how strong her daughter truly was. Judy released her parents from the embrace as she asked:

- Mom, Dad, You're here. What are you guys doing here?!

Stu did not even mind that Judy had saved that question for after the hug, he actually thought it was very endearing, he gestured with his right paw pointing to the interior of the apartment behind her and answered:

- We came over to see you, Jude. We talked things over and we decided to come see you together, it was a little hard to find your place. Did you know there is more than one street with identical names around here?

Judy laughed after hearing that, she had figured that her parents may have a little trouble navigating through the streets of the big city without the aid of a GPS, there were many twists and turns that lead to unexpected places, much different from Bunnyburrow where all the roads connected to one central path that was much easier to provide guidance to any other place. Bonnie stepped forward and spoke up:

- We talked it over yesterday after our work in the farm was done and we left your brothers in charge of everything until we come back later today, I figured you may need something uplifting, so I made you this.

Judy took another long sniff of the meal, it was a little hard to identify it precisely at first but she got new scents that corresponded nicely with her taste. Carrots, lettuce, a pinch of onions, all of that covered in a thin layer of cheese and topped by a carefully simmered dough, Judy's mother really knew how to pack all of the most uplifting of feels into a dish. Judy thanked Stu and Bonnie for their care and attention and invited the two of them to come inside and the two of them obliged, coming into the apartment as Judy closed the door right behind them. Past some time, Judy told her parents how she was doing, how she had taken up some more archiving work for the ZPD on her own and how the days had quickly become a monotonous slough, she told them how there have been no strong leads about the mammal I charge of her ambush and that she had heard no updates about her partner's condition, the truth was… Judy had not even brought herself over to ask about Nick in any way.

Unwavering in seeking answers that would lead to the source of the main matter, Judy had dove into her work and not focused on anything else, her days felt empty without Nick around and it was still a little difficult for her to bring her thoughts over to her partner's condition. It was hard to imagine Nick in any other way than his usual smirk-ish self, Bonnie picked up on Judy's tone of voice right away, as soon as she mentioned Nick, most of the energy seemed to disappear from the room, Judy was no longer exhuming the welcoming aura she was showing before, it was definitely strange for both of her parents to see her spirits so low like that, they had seen something similar to that before but this time it felt worse, her ears raised and lowered irregularly as she talked or walked around, it felt like she was pushing herself down in a way, or maybe she was just tired, worn out from all the extra work charge she was taking on her own.

Stu and Bonnie joined Judy in her living room to talk things out, maybe see if there was anything else that they could do to help her out, Judy insisted that she was doing okay but her parents were still doubtful of that. Stu and Bonnie began to exchange messages with one another, telling each other things without the need for words, a stare, a quick wave of their paws, it was a little code that they stablished with one another so that they could talk without alerting their kids about a delicate or unrelated subject, they made it a secret of their own, or at least, so they thought. Judy had finished eating her portion of the dish her mother brought over, she had her head lowered as her upper body leaned forward over her seat on the couch, she was taking a small break in the conversation with her parents to breathe when she noticed as they tapped their feet inconspicuously on the floor tiles and gestured to one another, hoping she would not notice, she was not really sure what they were saying to one another but she already had a suspicion that she was the main drive of the conversation. Judy raised her head and spoke out loud:

- You guys know I am in the room with you, right? If you need to say something you can just say it.

Bonnie placed both of her paws behind her back and said:

- I'm sorry, sweetie. We didn't think you would notice us.

Judy raised from the couch and clarified:

- Everyone back home notices when you guys do that. I'm pretty sure everyone at home picks up on your 'secret conversations'.

Stu leaned forward over his seat besides Judy as he whispered loudly to Bonnie:

- I told you we should have incorporated ear signals in the mix.

Bonnie shook her head slowly from side to side and said:

- Stu, honey, we both know you are terrible with ear signals.

The older buck lowered his head and his ears flopped forward as he silently admitted that she was right, he did not have the proficiency to move his ears around in order to form a congruent code. Judy walked ahead until she was placed in clear view of both of her parents, Bonnie raised from her seat to follow Judy and tell her:

- We just have been a little concerned about how you have been running yourself. I can already tell that you are tired like you have been toiling in a field all day.

Bonnie reached with her left paw over to Judy's right cheek, her daughter avoided extended contact by turning her face away and saying:

- Mom, I'm alright. I just have been taking a little more work for myself. I have been keeping busy and it is nothing to be concerned about.

Stu raised from his seat as well and walked until he was right alongside his wife, he pointed his left paw at Judy for a quick second before lowering it and saying:

- That is something we need to be concerned about, Jude. Working yourself out cold over anything is not a good solution. Believe me when I tell you that. I tried to work myself to the bone when I was younger and things didn't exactly go my way, almost dropped down on my face because of exhaustion. It didn't help anyone with anything.

Judy had no idea that her father used to feel like that but she was sure that it was not exactly the same way she felt. Judy turned around with her arms crossed, standing her ground and not looking directly at her parents as she stared in another direction, but Bonnie was not going to let that slide. Bonnie walked closer to Judy once more and placed her left paw over her right shoulder as she asked:

- Judy, have you talked to anyone about this? Someone that might help you with this… transition in your life?

Bonnie was not very sure on how to phrase her question but she still wished to give Judy a gentle nudge in the right direction, get her to open up a little more about the things that were still troubling her. Bonnie walked a little more ahead until she was clearly in Judy's field of vision, she did not let go of her shoulder as she did so, Judy still tried to avoid clear eye contact and Bonnie was not sure why, of all the daughters in the burrow, Judy had never been the stubborn and avoiding type. Judy cave in after not too long, telling her mother that she had brief conversations with friends and co-workers like Fru-fru, Pura and Benjamin, it helped her a little but there were still other things that she had to work through on her own until she could feel better about what happened. Stu hopped in the conversation as well, walking into Judy's field of vision so that he could ask of her one very important question:

- Jude, your partner, Nick, have you gone and seen him in the hospital yet?

Judy felt frozen after hearing that but she still went ahead and answered the question as she said:

- Not… yet. The doctors confirmed that he is out of danger and the ZPD keeps a tight guard detail just in case. His mother is also there to keep tabs on things. I don't think they need me there too.

Bonnie stepped forth in the conversation as she said:

- Judy, I think you should go visit him.

Judy opened her eyes with surprise, her ears twitched over her head and se turned over to look at her mother, her face was so close and Judy thought as soon as he saw Bonnie's eyes:

"Oh, no! She's giving me 'The look'! I hate when she gives 'The look'."

Judy tried to take the conversation in another direction, no words even came out of her mouth, she felt like a barrier was placed around her and that no sound she made or protest she aired could go through it, her mother would not have any of it. Judy did not want to admit it but going to see Nick did not sit well with her, she still thought that more could have been done to prevent what happened to him and she was afraid, she was afraid to see her partner lying in that hospital bed and feeling even more powerless to help him in any way. After a full minute of silence, Judy decided that her mother was right, she should go and check on things by herself, Judy turned to Bonnie once more after making the decision and gave her a quick hug before darting towards her room for a quick change of clothes, she was dressed pretty casual before and opted for a more organized look before she went on her way to Zootopia General Hospital. As she returned to the living room, Judy was now sporting a long sleeve marron shirt but the two sleeves were folded symmetrically over the arms up to half length, she paired the style on with a beautiful pair of pants, a charming dark blue that went along very well with the shirt. Judy was finally heading off to go see Nick and no doubt she would bump into Maria as well, she was not worried about that, Judy invited her parents to come along and they gladly offered to give her a lift to the hospital as long as she could point them in the right direction.

Judy felt confident as soon as she exited the apartment along with her parents and locked the door right behind her, Stu and Bonnie got to the stairs first and waited for Judy to catch up with them so that they all could get to the ground floor and walk to the truck they had parked on the other side of the street. Stu commented as soon as they arrived at the truck that the parking space in Zootopia was not as atrocious as he had heard, he was able to find plenty of parking space without much issue and he also commented on Judy's choice of clothing as soon as he reached over with the keys to unlock the truck door on the driver's side:

- Judy, I have never seen you wearing clothes like that before. Is it some kind of new fashion in the city?

Judy laughed as she adjusted the sleeves and base of her shirt, she answered shortly after:

- No, dad. This here is just some new clothes that I bought a while back. My friend Fru-fru enjoys fashion and she invites me to check new clothe stores that she finds around the district.

Stu unlocked the truck and opened way so that Judy and Bonnie could enter in front of him, Bonnie crawled awkwardly over the front seat so she could get to her spot by the window and Judy walked inside second so that she could share the seat with her mother, neither of them minded that at all, Stu was the last one to enter and he spoke up as he was settling himself over the driver seat and buckling his seatbelt:

- Well, you look great, Jude. I might hop on over and buy me some new duds.

Bonnie intervened as she pointed out:

- Oh, Stu. Everything around this city looks so expensive. I don't even want to think about clothing stores and their price tags while we're here. I heard the vendors can search for any opportunity to rip other mammals off.

Judy made a dismissive gesture with her right paw as she turned to her mother and said:

- That's just a rumor, mom. You really just need to learn which stores to check out.

With that little tab of conversation out of the way, Stu inserted the key in the ignition and turned the engine on, he began driving and took the turn to the left right in the street they were on, Judy started to guide him to the correct exits and faster route he needed to take in order to arrive at the hospital. It was a leisurely drive across the savanna, Judy pointed out some sights and hangouts that she learned about during her patrol shifts and she also exchanged a few words with her parents along the way, mostly about how she kept her apartment organized and how she enjoyed going around the city now that she had a better grasp on the directions and the layout of the streets around her. The truck arrived in front of Zootopia general in no time and Judy pointed out a nice enough spot where they could park, as the trio of bunnies exited the truck, Judy decided to say:

- Hey, dad.

She called out to Stu's attention as the buck was locking down the vehicle, he turned to face Judy and hear attentively as she asked him:

- I forgot to ask. Isn't mom usually the one that drives around on long trips? How did you end up on the wheel of the truck this time?

Bonnie was the one to answer that, she took her time exiting the truck as she made one final check to make sure she was carrying all of her belongings along inside of her purse, she spoke up to answer Judy's question:

- Your father decided to play 'rock, paper, scissors' with me to see who would get to drive along this time. I lost.

Judy guided her parents inside, Stu was impressed with what he seen by the waiting room on itself, it was enormous, way bigger than anything back in Bunnyburrow, Bonnie watched as Judy took the lead, keeping an eye on her daughter and one on Stu, Just in case he bumped into someone by accident, she knew that he tended to trip around on occasion when they visited new places. Judy did not have to wander around the waiting space for long as she saw a familiar sight, an elder fox seated in a modest chair next to a far corner, entertaining herself with a book, it was Nick's mother. Judy called out to her parents' attention, signaling with a wave of her right paw of them to come closer, Bonnie was the only one who got the signal and she tugged on Stu's left arm and guided him to where Judy was standing, it did not take long for them to check on who Judy wanted them to meet. Judy called out to the attention of the elder vixen who placed a marker on the page of the book she was reading, looking up to who was calling her name shortly after:

- Hello, Mrs. Wilde.

Maria raised from her seat and walked a single step ahead to give Judy a soft hug and greet her right away:

- Judy. It's so good to see you again.

Judy repaid the hug but it was brief, she gestured towards her parents and introduced them as soon as they walked closer:

- Mrs. Wilde, these are my parents, Stuart and Bonnie Hopps. Mom, dad, this is Nick's mother, Maria Wilde. She is the greatest pillar of her community from what Nick told me.

Trying to stay humble after such praise, Maria spoke up to that:

- Oh, I'm not that great. Just doing my part to help others.

Bonnie and Stu shook paws with the vixen and it did not take too long until Judy asked about the state of things inside the hospital right after the meeting. Maria told Judy that doctors who were responsible for keeping tabs on Nick's condition have been coming and going through the hallways on a daily basis, each one of them responsible for monitoring a different aspect of her son as he was placed in observatory care, there was still no response and they had assured Maria that Nick was not in critical condition but he still would not wake up, it was very worrying to her. Judy did not know what to think after hearing that, for almost five days straight she had placed herself in a rigorous work cycle in and out of the ZPD but she had not heard anything concerning Nick, Judy remained silent after hearing Maria's answer and she also noticed a few things that were on the vixen's seat, only daunting on her at that moment. Maria had brought with her not only books to pass the time but also knitting tools, a blanket and a small cushion, she had spent a lot of time in the hospital, no doubt waiting for Nick to finally wake up, it made Judy glad to see that there was someone with so much love for her partner keeping a close eye on things but it also saddened her a bit to confirm that there was no drastic change for the better in Nick's condition.

Bonnie stepped forth, she noticed the objects on Maria's seat right away, it came to her mind that she would probably do the same thing if one of her many children was in a similar situation, many times in the past when one or more of Judy's brothers or sisters were sick and she would sit at their bed sides until they felt better popped into her mind, she smiled as she recalled it was one of the many points in her self-imposed parent job description. Bonnie came in a little closer, slowly walking around Jud so that she could take the attention of Maria and ask of her:

- Misses Wilde, have you eaten anything yet today? You are looking so tired.

Maria massaged her closed eyelids using both of her paws as she said:

- These hospital seats are not that comfy for taking naps. I don't think I have eaten anything in a while.

Bonnie turned to Judy, confident her daughter would understand that she was going to take care of Maria, share a meal with her and maybe talk for a while, Judy nodded and showed a confident smile, signaling her mother that inviting Maria to do so would be a good idea. Bonnie gestured with her left paw as her right paw was placed over Maria's left arm, she asked:

- I think I saw a sign pointing to a cafeteria on the way here. Do you want to join us for a quick meal?

Maria lowered her head and looked at Bonnie's eyes, the vixen immediately felt like she could trust the bunny and answered her:

- I would like that very much.

Judy opened way for the two to pass by and Stu walked right behind, waving a little wave of farewell to Judy and freeing her to seek information for herself during a short time. Judy exited the waiting room and entered a long hallway with many doors leading to different rooms, most of them reposts for the hospital patients, the sterilized smell grew in intensity as she made her way into the hospital wing, it was starting to bother even her but she did not let anything deter her movement, she was searching for the one room housing her partner so she could toss her worries aside and see for herself how he was. Judy moved through quite a track, passing by a fair number of doctors and nurses making their way around, not giving her too much attention since each of them already had a full schedule to keep on that day and different patients to attend to, Judy became a little worried once she saw the door to Nick's room ahead, marked with a number 805 on the front, the wooden frame intimidated her a little and a part of her thought about going back the way she came, thinking that maybe going there was a mistake. Judy pressed onward, telling herself that it would be for the best to see her friend and maybe, just maybe, talk to him, even if he could not answer her just yet.

Judy stepped ahead, pushing herself in the direction she decided to go, the direction she had to go, there was an officer waiting on guard in front of the door leading to Nick's hospital room, a gray wolf, slick, strong, standing up straight with his arms crossed in front of his chest and sporting the look of well-trimmed fur over his head, he looked familiar somehow but Judy could not pin the name on the face, or the uniform for that matter. Judy noticed a few more details about the canine as she came closer to the door, his badge was pinned lower on his shirt than the officers at precinct one and there was a thin metal stripe right over the left lapel of his shirt that showed his name but Judy could not read the name from the distance she was placed, soon enough, just as she was getting close to the door, the wolf turned his ears in her direction, she heard her feet stepping closer and his eyes opened wide in surprise as he recognized her immediately. The wolf leaned his upper body down and asked:

- Officer Hopps? Is that you?

Judy finally placed a name on the officer that spoke to her, all she needed was to hear his voice clearly as she said:

- Hey, you're Nick's friend from the academy. Alfred, right?

The wolf nodded and stepped away from his guarding post as he walked forward a couple of steps and kneeled down to the ground so that he could place his height as close to Judy's as possible and shake her paw. Alfred did not let his smile falter, he nodded his head once before raising to his feet once more and saying:

- That's me alright. It is great to see you once again. I was kind of wondering how you have been these past days.

Judy let her left arm go limp to the side of her torso, she passed her right paw over the extent of her left arm and answered to Alfred with no enthusiasm in her voice:

- I'm… not really sure how to answer that.

Judy was still wrestling with several emotions at once, her eyes deviated from Alfred to the door right behind him, the wolf noticed that right away and he lowered his head before saying:

- Yeah, I know what you mean. When me and the cadets from the other precincts learned about what happened to Nick, we were all really shook. I volunteered to be placed here in guard duty just yesterday, I really wanted to see how he was doing.

Judy did not waste any time asking for clarification on that, she placed her paws together in front of her chest, one palm facing the other almost as if she was praying on the spot, her ears lowered and she asked briefly but directly:

- And?

Alfred let his ears lower over his head as well before he answered:

- I took a peek in the room yesterday. It was hard seeing Nick like that, connected to that monitor and… with a tube over his muzzle. I always thought he was unstoppable, like you.

Judy shook her head from side to side, negating that utterly while pressing both of her paws over her chest and saying:

- I am not unstoppable, not in the least.

By saying that, Judy openly admitted that she was feeling vulnerable, Alfred apologized for that, he should have known that Judy was not feeling at her best after what happened. Alfred pointed to the door behind him with his left paw and asked:

- You came to see him, didn't you?

Judy's answer to that was a simple nod of her head. Alfred checked around looking to both sides of the hallway to make sure that no one would make notice if he were to aloud Judy inside, the wolf approached the door and opened it, bluntly going against his directive to not allow entrance to the room he was guarding except for authorized medical personal. Judy stepped inside the room, peeking through the door before walking inside the room and seeing for herself that it was just as Alfred had described to her.

The room was not much different than the one Judy stayed in when she was recovering from her leg injury, a simple room with a light blue color to the walls, a small portrait of a scenery nailed to the wall, a modest armchair by the left side of the bed. Judy's eyes noticed all of the detail in the room before they turned to Nick, the fox was laying on the bed with the upper half raised at a small angle to give his back some support, he was dressed in a hospital gown and Judy could see a few thin wires that made the way up through the neck area of the gown and connected to a monitor that showed the steady beating of his heart. Nick had his right arm placed in a sling, he was breathing slowly, there was the soft sound of his breath and Judy could hear it clearly, she released a little gasp as she saw the sleeping face of the fox, his muzzle being covered by the opaque plastic of a breathing tube, her heart grew heavy after seeing him like that and it suddenly felt like her feet would sink to the ground beneath her, she could not fight the tears that made it through the sides of her eyes. Judy walked slowly towards the bed, it was not too tall and she could see Nick's lower body covered by a sheet as she moved toward the armchair next to the bed, her feet moving on their own while her eyes were focused on the fox.

Judy sat down on the armchair, she put her legs together and then placed both of her paws over her knees, she looked over at Nick, he looked so peaceful but it still felt unpleasant for her seeing him like that. Judy felt a pit opening at the bottom of her stomach, she looked over Nick and fought off the strange sensation deep in her mind telling her that she was not supposed to be in that room, Judy raised her ears and took a deep breath through her nose, it did not help her deal with that moment any better as she could feel a sudden queasiness take hold of her, now she understood the comment Nick made a while back about detesting the smell of a hospital, it was not settling her mood or her belly. Judy decided to break the quiet, she leaned forward after readjusting her seating over the armchair and spoke up with a great deal of control in her volume and tone:

- Hi, Nick. I finally came by to see you. I'm sorry if I didn't come any sooner.

No answer came from the fox, Judy lowered her ears but she could still hear all of the minor sounds coming from the inside of the room, her sensitive hearing made it feel like every beeping of the monitor and every slow breath the fox drew was echoing around and pounding against her very being. Judy took another short breath before continuing with her one-sided talk:

- Nick listen… I'm… sorry you're here. I know you don't like to be anywhere near a hospital. I keep playing it all in my head over and over again, I still can't figure out how it all came to this. I should not have asked to split up, we should have stuck together, like I promised I would do. I knowingly put myself in harm's way and you got me out of it. Again.

Judy was punishing herself once more, openly doing so through her words this time, figuring that getting it all out in the open for her partner, through the remote chance that he could hear her, would make her feel better in any way. Judy tried talking to others and making up solutions to make it easier on herself but none of it stood out, everything was still blurring together in her head, all the smells and sights that assaulted her when she closed her eyes made her feel even more sick to her stomach. Judy steadied herself, opening her eyes once more and turning her sight to Nick, she raised her right paw and placed it over his left paw, placed to rest alongside him, the touch felt warm to her, her fingers moved over his fur and petted the soft and rough pads of his paw, that made Judy feel a little better as she swallowed some air and continued to speak to him:

- I really miss you. I miss you at work. I miss hanging out with you. I miss your goofing off and your silly jokes. I miss you being around and making me feel better. I thought about you a lot and I was not sure what to make of it before, now it just seems so unimportant. I just want to be with you again.

Judy paused, she believed that speaking like that was putting too much focus on herself so she apologized for it:

- Speaking like that makes me sound so selfish. I'm sorry, Nick. I really want you to get well soon. I don't know if I should focus on feeling anger or relief, I just want some help on figuring things out. It feels like I'm going to cave in at any moment, it doesn't feel good at all.

Judy clasped her right paw, pressing over Nick's paw, she did not want to let go of him. Judy shook her head and spoke out again, raising her volume slightly:

- I know that I want to be in the ZPD and I still want to catch the ones responsible for this, but nothing feels right. We just keep hitting walls. I'm so confused at times. Nothing feels right.

Judy felt like repeating herself would not change much but she still did it. Judy could not fight the tears anymore, she began to cry silently, pressing her eyes shut, hoping with all of her heart that something would change. Once more Judy spoke up, opening her eyes still blurry with crying and saying:

- Please, Nick, everyone is so worried about you. We just want you to get well. I want you to wake up and heal. I'm sorry.

At that point, Judy felt like she was stacking words one after the other for the sake of the talk, she did not know what else to say to the fox but she felt like a huge portion of the weight she was carrying had been lifted away from her shoulders. Judy did not realize until that moment but she yearned to talk to Nick once more, he was not answering to her but his strong presence could still be felt, she knew that he was going to pull through, she just did not know exactly when that would be.

Judy decided to get up from the chair and make her way out of the room before she disrupted anymore of the place, she raised her left arm and wiped away the tears in her eyes, she scratched her nose and took a long whiff of air while her left paw was placed over her lips, it made a little more bearable for her to breathe without getting nauseated once more, she was just about to get up from the chair and leave when she felt a strange tug. Judy looked to the right and saw her paw, still placed over Nick's resting paw, she found it to be unmoving at first and thought that what she felt was nothing more than an involuntary tick of her fingers, she turned her head away only to feel the tug once more. Judy stopped on her tracks, she leaned closer to the bed and notice that there was, indeed, movement coming from Nick, his paw was closing up around hers, she could feel his grip strengthening around her fingers, she could not believe it.

Judy gasped and pressed her lips together as soon as she noticed that there was more movement coming from her friend, the bunny placed her left paw over the edge of the bed and placed herself at the tips of her feet so that she would not miss any detail at all. Within seconds, Nick's face began to stir, he showed a frown as his eyes pressed, he was fighting through unbelievable discomfort to open his eyes once more. Judy leaned in a little closer, her mouth now half open as she waited with anticipation for her friend to wake up, she could not even begin to believe what she was witnessing as she saw his head shaking slowly from side to side over his pillow, Nick winced in pain as the full sensation returned to his body and her turned his face away from the light coming from the window to look straight at Judy, she noticed the light coming on to his eyes as he opened them a little more. Judy heard the repetitive grunts of discomfort coming from Nick as he began to shake his entire body back to life, the fox leaned himself forward, at least he tried to, his back side was rigid and he could not move too much without letting his body instinctively spring back to his resting position, he did not mind that too much, it suddenly felt like there were bags of sand weighing him down, what he really took notice of was the one standing in wait right next to him.

Nick's mind felt like a groggy mess, he could remember blurry images of a damp dark place, he recalled running, sneaking, fighting and Judy, he definitely remembered Judy, then there was a lot of pain and everything after that was a big blank. Suddenly, Nick could feel a big shock stirring him out of sleep even faster than before, a kick start to his system that caused his shoulders to wobble and push him to sit up straight but a sharp dose of pain prevented him from moving any further. Nick opened his eyes completely, he felt a big deal of thirst coming from his throat and it also felt like he had not eaten in a long while, the image of the bunny placed alongside his bed came into focus and all he could say right away with a low volume and a raspy voice was:

- Hey, carrots. Why the long face?

Judy retreated, she could not believe that Nick was now awake, she placed both of her paws over her mouth as she let out a loud gasp, new tears were making his way out this time, a mix of incredulity and happiness. Judy watched as the fox tried once more to sit up straight, he put greater strain on his back rather than his shoulders this time, it made it easier and less painful for him though he was still experiencing soreness in a way he never did before, Nick felt the fresh air entering his nostrils as he breathed strongly, pumping more air into his lungs as he was making a greater effort and he only then noticed the plastic mask placed over his muzzle. The fox reached over the mask with his left paw and removed it swiftly so that he could take a sniff of the air around him, all of his senses were returning to work order as he took a deep breath and, once more, winced in pain as his shoulders raised and his chest expanded, he could at least have the scent of his new surroundings in mind.

Nick kept sniffing the air, blinking rapidly as his eyes became better accustomed with the light, he could not notice much difference in the new scents he picked up after removing the mask, the air was clean but it felt heavy for him for some reason. Nick's ears began to move and twitch over his head as he heard heavy steps coming from outside the door and the sound of heavy traffic out the window, it only then daunted on him where he was. Nick let his back rest for a bit as he tried supporting his upper body over his seat by placing his left arm down, Nick turned to Judy, he cleared his throat before speaking up with a voice much clearer than before:

- Oh, Damn. Am I in a hospital? Have I ever told you how much I hate hospitals?

Judy now had a big smile on her face, her ears lowered and she jumped ahead, climbing over the bed and wrapping her arms around her friend, it was just too much at once to simply remain still, she just launched herself over him out of sheer emotion while yelling out:

- NICK! OH, MY GOSH! YOU'RE AWAKE! THANK GOODNESS!

Judy just hugged Nick on the spot without even taking into consideration how stiff and aching his body actually was, the fox felt relieved to see his friend again but he would soon feel a stabbing pain put his entire body in high alert as Judy jumped over him for a hug. Nick's only response to that was shouting incoherently before he could form the words he needed to alert her:

- AUGH! YACH! OUCH! MERCY! OW!

Judy pushed herself away, she did not mean to hurt Nick like that, she was just so glad to see him once more that she did not even stop to consider anything else. Judy moved her arms frantically as she retreated over the bed, placing herself on her knees over the mattress and spoke quickly:

- Sorry! I'm sorry! I'm just…

Nick smiled and lowered his head, he placed his left paw over his chest, the area where he felt more pain at the time after the shock of feeling Judy over him, and said:

- It's fine, carrots. I'm alright.

Nick let out a long breath of air, he looked around once more to check on his new accommodations, it all happened so fast by his perspective, his eyes landed on Judy once more as the bunny was shaking her paws in the air out of panic, she spoke out:

- Oh, wow! You just woke up, I got to call a doctor! I got to tell everyone!

Judy was just about to blast off out the door and let everyone know that Nick was now awake, not even considering the normal hospital conduct to keep quiet for the sake of the other patients, but she was suddenly stopped by the fox as he stretched his left arm out and placed his paw over her shoulder to say:

- Whoa! Slow down there, fluff. You gotta tell me what happened first.

Judy turned back to Nick, she tried to move fast toward the door but she did not even make off the hospital bed before she was intercepted by him, at the very least his reflexes were still active. Judy slowly turned back to the right, turning her entire body over to face Nick, being guided in that motion by his left paw gently sliding down over her right arm, the fox asked again once she was looking at him once more:

- What happened after I went down? Did we catch the bad guys?

Judy felt delighted after hearing Nick's voice so clearly, she took a long sniff of air through her nose to clamp down her mood and placed her paws together before she gladly explained to him what occurred at their last crime scene:

- Five of the gang members you called wasps were apprehended but their leader got away, so did the ocelot who was issuing them all orders. You were taken to the hospital for surgery as fast as possible, the doctor confirmed right away that the projectile that hit you did not damage anything vital.

Nick lowered his head as the truth of the matter hit him in full, he thought:

"Wow! So I 'did' get shot!"

Judy continued her narration as she told him what had been the state of the city in the last few days:

- Everyone has questions about what happened, I learned that the weapon used against you is the first firearm seen in Zootopia for a long time. A lead-spewer.

Judy quickly made a case to report how Nick's action contributed to the investigation, gesturing to the fox with both of her paws as she said:

- Thanks to you, the ZBI managed to put that weird radio jammer machine in evidence lock-up and we have the five former wasps prosecuted and ready for questioning. You were really brave.

Nick's expression did not change as he continued to attentively listen to Judy's words, he appeared distant for the duration of her report, his eyes traveling around the room as he reacquainted himself with the waking world little by little. Nick could not believe that it all had happened, the stabbing pain still noticeable at the back of his right shoulder was a hard to dispute piece of evidence, he could not move his right arm and shoulder without feeling the still healing flesh alerting him to not exert that side of his torso any more than it needed to. Judy finished saying all that she needed to say, if it were up to her she would not even comment on anything that happened on the day of the ambush anymore, but Nick had to know, she saw as Nick quickly turned his eyes and ears in her direction and leaned closer to ask directly:

- Carrots, how long was I out?

Judy felt a shiver climb through her spine after hearing Nick's inquiring tone of voice, it almost sounded like he would demand the answer out of her if she would hesitate at first or refuse to give it to him right away. Judy decided to come out and say it:

- Nick… you have been here for five days.

- Five days?!

Even if it was not that long of a time overall, Judy still felt like Nick's initial response to his remedial absence was warranted, however, the rest of his answer which came soon after, was definitely not predictable in any way by her. Nick lowered his head and searched around in his mind before he said:

- Oh, no!

- Nick, what is it?

Judy inquired right away after realizing that her partner seemed to be in some distress, it would certainly be a while before Nick adjusted to the fact that he skipped almost an entire week. The fox turned to her and said:

- I missed the game. I was all set to cheer for my favorite football team. You wouldn't happen to know what was the score of the last bout, would you?

Nick smiled after saying that, he thought that a silly joke like that would diminish some of the tension in the room, it did not have the wished result in the least. After hearing that question and looking at the fox's toothy grin, Judy could only stare at him with a blank expression, like a statue, her ears lowered at a small angle to the bac over her head before they perked right back up and her face was shown gradually changing its look, Judy was shown becoming angry, angrier by the second, Nick did not even notice that straight away. Judy suddenly exploded with a shout as she asked the fox:

- Are… You… SERIOUS RIGHT NOW?!

Nick leaned back as she saw Judy advancing a single inch towards him, revealing a brand new spark of fury in her eyes directed right at him and showing the fingers in each of her paws take the shape of little claws almost as if she was about to reach out and strangle the fox, Nick even put his left arm in front of him at a protective angle almost like he thought doing that would shield him from her outburst. Judy spoke out, lowering her volume but not changing the tone of her voice:

- Do you have any idea, any idea at all, what it has been like since you got hurt?

Judy counted on her fingers as she continued to speak:

- Your mother has been worried sick, Finnick has been worried Sick. 'I' have been worried sick and so has everyone else at the ZPD. I thought you were going to die, you stupid jerk!

Nick had his ears lowered, his eyes opened wide and his mouth pressed shut as Judy spoke to him, he had no intention of causing her to burst out like that and he thought that her speech would only get worse for him and more difficult for her as he saw a few tears descending over her cheeks. Judy leaned her upper body forward and pressed her paws over her chest as she said:

- You got hurt because of me… and I thought you were going to die. You closed your eyes in that alleyway… all of that blood. I…

Judy hesitated for a moment as she pressed her eyes shut, it did not halt the tears at all. She spoke again after directing her flooded look right at the fox:

- I didn't think I had tears left to cry anymore.

Nick felt terrible after seeing Judy like that, the fox leaned forward and tried to remedy the conversation right away as he apologized for his antics:

- Judy, c'mon, I'm… I'm sorry. Please, don't cry. I didn't mean to do that. 'Dumb fox', remember?

Judy wiped her tears once more and sucked in some air though her nose before saying:

- Nick, I… no. Don't apologize. You didn't do anything wrong. I'm just… I'm just a mess right now.

Nick leaned forward a little bit more and raised his left arm, he placed the palm of his paw against Judy's left cheek, giving her a soft touch before caressing the fur on the side of her face, wiping away the last remaining of her tears in the process. Judy and Nick looked at each other's eyes and a sudden dense silence fell on the room, there was nothing else that mattered more to each of them than staying right there and looking at one another, listening to whatever they still had left to say. Judy blinked slowly as she looked at Nick's face, she did not know what to say next, she felt like she had no right to say anything else after that short but substantial outburst, Nick broke the silence as he asked her with a whisper:

- Are you okay?

Judy lowered her head and sounded out a shot guffaw before she spoke up:

- I have been so sick of mammals asking me that question all the time.

She turned to answer him right after as she said:

- Nick, I'm not okay… but I really want to get better.

Nick nodded his head after hearing her answer, Judy raised her right hand and placed it over Nick's left paw, still placed to the side of her face, she closed her eyes and let her mind revel in his soft and warm touch once more, she missed it the most and only took note of it then. Nick left her to whatever she was doing, he did not mind the return to silence or that Judy was holding on to him so avidly, his ears perked up and his smile returned once he heard Judy saying:

- I really missed you.

Nick was just about to say something, he was about to open his mouth and tell Judy that he missed her too and he was glad to be back but he was interrupted promptly as she spoke out once more:

- I'm really sorry.

Nick showed a squinty look as he asked:

- About what?

- I didn't keep my promise. We should have been together. You got hurt because I got scared, because I couldn't do more.

Nick gave Judy's head a gentle push, he redirected her sight towards him just as her eyes were starting to deviate. Nick spoke up:

- Hey, don't say stuff like that. This isn't your fault, Judy. I'm here and I'm glad you're safe.

Judy wanted to say something else, she was glad to hear those words coming from Nick, removing the last bit of weight on her shoulders but she was surprised to feel as his arm moved around her, his left paw was placed behind her head and he was soon guiding her into a full on embrace. Nick laid back over his elevated repost on the hospital bed and he pulled Judy in to lay over him, it was the best hug that he could come up with at the time and he made sure to make it happen, Judy released a little yelp as she felt the fox's moves coming to a full stop and she let herself become completely immersed in that hug. Judy heard as Nick released a long hum from the bottom of his throat, the right side of her face was pressing over his chest and she turned her face slightly to the left so that she could free her mouth a little more out of the embrace and ask him:

- Nick, doesn't this hurt you?

To which the fox answer:

- It does.

Judy breathed heavily after hearing that answer but she became captivated by the hug once more as she heard the rest of the response form him:

- It's worth it.

Judy smiled, she turned her head back to its original position and let all of the remaining happy tears roll out of her eyes, wiping all of them off on the lapel of Nick's hospital gown. The two mammals too to silence for an expand of several minutes, Judy hoped that no passerby or doctor would intrude in that moment, she could not be happier to know that her friend was now well and recovering, however, unbeknownst to wither of them, someone outside the room was watching the touching scene. Alfred had allowed Maria, Bonnie and Stu to peek inside the room and check things out for himself, the wolf officer fully aware and listening as the whole scene unraveled brilliantly outside of his view, his imagination doing its best to fill up the gaps that were crumpled by silence. The three parents arrived a while after Judy made her way into the room to see Nick and the three were joyful beyond words to see the fox awakened and his dedicated bunny friend sharing a hug, Maria placed her right paw in front of her muzzle to let no noise disturb the two mammals in the room while Bonnie and Stu shared an excited embrace just outside the hospital room.

One of the doctors patrolling the hallway showed up shortly to inquire what was happening but he was barred from going any further by Alfred, the wolf nonchalantly leaned against a wall and reveling in letting the sweet moment pass by just for a little while longer.