The road was straight and narrow, the flat dirt gleaming sandy white in the hot sun. The car sped by at a leisurely pace, five miles under the limit, Zootopia slowly shrinking behind it. In the trunk sat two duffel bags, the contents of which were probably not entirely legal to carry without a license. Nick had insisted on being the designated driver, just so he wouldn't be entirely useless on this trip. Everyone else had their part to play. He was just tagging along because, yet again, the city was no longer safe for him. Nowhere was.

There was nothing but tall grass on either side, beyond that the thousands of dense pine trees that formed the forest which surrounded the city. Every now and then he passed by flowers, flashes of pastel colours against green. It was a scene fit for a postcard, and Nick was happy to be driving during the day. Making this trip in the dead of night would have brought back too many bad memories.

Memories of psychos and monsters, blood, gunfire, and so much death…

"There's a gas station ten miles ahead. We can make a pit stop there." Sitting in the seat next to him, Judy didn't need a map to know this. She'd made this trip herself several times, whenever she went to see her family. In the back, Gabe and Starlight were getting some shut-eye, probably the most they had since this whole mess started. They'd made a phone call an hour ago, to check on their kids, and they'd been quiet since then. There wasn't much to talk about. They'd already told Nick and Judy all they could, and they wouldn't know more until they met up with the others.

After dropping the bombshell about needing Judy's help, the overly eager bunny had actually leapt onto the table, falling slightly short and loudly banging her knee on the edge. Fighting back tears, she'd strode right to edge and tilted her entire body, her head hovering over the threadbare carpet. Nick hadn't been able to help but stare with admiration and exasperation. In a way, she was still that dumb bunny didn't think before she jumped.

"What do you need?" She'd asked, giving her answer through the tone of her question. "A warrant to raid the auction? I'll talk to Bogo, but I can't promise anything…"

"Auction already happened, Hopps." Starlight had smiled at Judy's willingness to help. "The highest bidder took it home to Deerbrooke. They told us it was Alexander Redwood."

"The hotelier?"

"The owner of Prince Hotel and all his siblings, that's the one." Starlight said. "Savage and Starlight have been watching him for days, scouting the security. Hopefully they'll have the codice's exact location by the time we get there."

"And how is Carrots supposed to help? Is she supposed to waltz into Deerbrooke and accuse him of sexual harassment?"

"Not funny, fox." Gabe grumbled. Judy said nothing, but looked like she was inclined to punch the dumb fox. "Redwood is hosting a charity event in two days, and this may our only chance to get the codice before Theo does."

Nick held up a paw. "Hang on a sec. Wouldn't it be safer to sneak in at night when there's not a few dozen people around? It's not exactly the West Wing."

Gabe shared a look with his wife. "We more or less said the same thing to Savage. But the stuck up cocksucker just told us to bring you along."

Judy turned her head, eyes bright with realisation. "Nick, my parents know him. They could get us invites to the gala."

"And now you know all we do." Starlight said. "You don't have to do this, you know. We don't know yet exactly what part you're going to play in all this."

Judy put her paws on her hips. "I can handle anything."

"Including aiding breaking and entering?" Starlight replied swiftly.

Judy stiffened and swallowed, suddenly no longer looking so certain. Nick watched her purple eyes jerk about in their sockets as they stopped focusing on Starlight. It was strange how her blank expression could convey the conflict within.

"That's what I thought." Starlight said, but not unkindly. "It might be a little too illegal for your tastes. But we don't intend to hurt anyone and at the very least it'll get you out of the city. Think about it."

Judy took a moment to think about it. Then her face hardened and she pulled out her phone. "I'll need to call my parents first. This really hinges on them."

Gabe nodded. "Just don't mention-"

"Just don't mention the impossible mission, she knows." Nick said.

Judy hopped down from the table and walked into the bathroom while she dialled the number and put the phone on her ear. Nick knew he should be surprised at her eagerness to aid in what was technically a crime, but he wasn't. He knew now he wasn't the only one feeling the toll of Swinton's vendetta.

When the door closed behind her, Gabe turned to Nick, lazily holding his kukri. "And what about you? What are you going to do?"

"Me?" Nick asked just for the sake of it.

"Normally my advice to you would be to find somewhere to hide, but Hopps won't want to leave you alone for too long. She'll want you to come with us." Gabe made no attempt to hide his displeasure at the prospect, leaving his wife to be diplomatic.

"We're meeting Savage and Skyefall at a motel between Bunnyburrow and Deerbrooke. You can stay there until the mission's over. But if you're going to make a choice, now's the time."

A long time ago, Nick had admitted that he was a coward. It was that cowardice that had driven him to lie to Ben and hide underground in Honey's bunker for weeks, with nothing to do but feel sorry for himself. Two years prior he would have refused outright. He'd have been polite about it. Two curse words tops. Maybe a sarcastic apology to top it off. Why should he have to go through all that shit again?

But not now. It was that sort of attitude that caused him and his friends so much grief. And besides…

"You're right. Carrots won't leave me alone. If the objective is this ancient South Animerican pamphlet, I guess I could help do some homework or something. Maybe figure out why Swinton wants it back so badly."

It was the only thing he could think of. He may be a persuasive guy, but even he couldn't talk his way into a five star fiesta.

When Judy had returned a few moments later, with good news. Turned out, being high ranking members of the Red Mushroom Foundation, one of the charities Redwood was raising funds for, meant that her parents had already received an invitation to the gala. And having no love for Redwood's fancy soirées, with their wordless techno music and pretentious buffets, Bonnie just so happened to be looking for someone to attend in her place.

"Did you tell them about the codice?" Gabe had asked. Judy had shaken her head. "Good. We're leaving in twenty minutes. I suggest you pack light."

Almost two hours had passed since then, and upon breaking free of the forest and entering a seeming less endless plain of yellow grass, Nick caught sight of the gas station Judy had spoken of. He slowed down and stopped the car beside the nearest gas pump, the slight jolt stirring Gabe and Starlight from their nap.

"I'll fill 'er up." Nick said.

"And I'll pay." Judy followed him out the car.

Nick grabbed the nozzle and inserted it into the car,

Intending to let his mind to wander while the tank was topped up. He had a lot on his mind, most of it concerning recent events. He should be in the prison now, visiting Finnick, who still had some time left to go before he too was a free fox. After that was Ben; Nick needed to mend the remaining cracks in their friendship. And Honey… Nick swallowed. He hadn't seen Honey for months. It had been the day Ben had bought that fancy new wheelchair, the deluxe electric model that came with its own cup holder. She'd been cool about the whole thing, only griping that her underground bunkers were useless now that she couldn't use a ladder anymore. The last he'd heard of the matter, she'd taken up residence in her Marshland safe house, which was one of the few not located underground or upstairs.

Nick pushed the thought of her away. It hurt too much. That bullet should have hit him instead. It had been meant for him. He hadn't deserved to escape with a minor graze…

"How much longer, Nick?" Judy asked at that moment, and it was a good thing she did. The tank was seconds from overflowing. Nick quickly pulled the nozzle out and returned it to the pump.

"All done." He said.

"Good! I'll see you in the car."

"Actually, I could use the bathroom." Nick's bladder felt like it had shrunk in the days since his attempted kidnapping.

They wandered to the store, stopping to avoid getting hit by a windowless van that parked itself by the gas pump next to their own.

A generic pop song was playing from a speaker in the corner of the ceiling, way too loudly for comfortable shopping. Nick and Judy split up once they were inside the store, with the rabbit making her way to the till that was currently unoccupied. The shelf straight in front of Nick was stocked with candy. Nick spied some blueberry, cherry and vanilla taffy and snagged a pack, and on his way to the bathroom he grabbed a beer as well. If the cashier gave him any crap, Judy could buy the items for him. She wouldn't hesitate to help him, he had no doubt on it.

Nick paused in between aisles, taking a long look at the rabbit standing before the unmanned counter, arms crossed and foot thumping like a hummingbird wing. Judy was, for lack of a better term, an amazing bunny. It was a lot easier to see that once you got past the misguided prejudice. They'd talked a lot in the days after he began his sentence, and it turned out that his impression of her the first time they'd met had been almost entirely wrong. After issuing Nick a two-hundred and fifty dollar fine for nearly causing a traffic accident, Judy had gone on to seek harsher consequences for the lemmings that had run over his tail. She'd even arranged a stakeout to catch the punks red handed when they went after Nick again some time later. They'd each been charged as repeat offenders and received ten days jail time. Plus, the ringleader lost his snazzy convertible.

All that for a fox. And Nick was still too cowardly to admit that he was the one who stole her wallet.

Judy had long since apologised for allowing her ingrained prejudices to fuel her suspicions of Nick, but he no longer held it against her. It was his own fault that Judy hadn't been inclined to believe him about Woolton, the sheep in wolf's clothing who had shot him full of Night Howler. It hadn't helped that he'd been a colossal prick to her since day one.

The feelings he had for her now was a mixed bag; respect, warmth and a hint of longing. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so strongly for anyone of the opposite sex, if he ever. As always, Nick set those feelings to one side as he took his gaze away from her and continued on to the bathroom. He couldn't tell her. The world wasn't ready for it. It probably never will be.

He became aware of a certain stink as he reached the two doors leading to the bathrooms. Perfect. Public bathrooms were the worst. It didn't smell entirely like crap, and was too faint to know for certain. He identified the door he needed and pushed it open. The smell was stronger when he walked inside, letting the door close itself behind him. There was definitely the crappy stench of unflushed toilets, and the distinct smell of blood.

Oh, hell no. Nick gripped the nearest sink and swallowed back bile. A used tampon or pad had been left outside the trash can to fester. Being hunted by NEST goons was bad enough, he shouldn't have to deal with this, too-

Wait a minute, I shouldn't have to deal with this. This is the men's room.

Nick took a quick look around. The presence of urinals confirmed that this was the right room, and no-one had switched the signs to be an asshole. So where was that blood smell coming from? Did some drunk female stumble into the wrong room last night? Inexplicably, Nick began to hope that a misplaced feminine hygiene product was all he would find. The hairs of his tail were sticking up on end, his sixth sense warning him that something wasn't quite right.

There were three stalls in the room that were straight across from the urinals. Each was a different size to accommodate every mammal. Only one was fully shut, the middle one built for mid-sized animals such as antelopes and jaguars. Nick crept over to see that the stall was occupied.

The blood smell was coming from behind this door. He was sure of it, just as he was sure that he didn't want to investigate any further. Not without backup.

"Carrots?" He called. "Carrots!"

For a few moments all was quiet. Judy must not hear him over the speakers playing that music. Then he heard a knock at the exit door. Bunny ears. Of course. "What's up, Nick?"

"I really need you to come in here!"

"In the men's room? Are you serious?"

"Judy!"

The sharp snap of her name did the trick. Judy opened the door and entered, lips pursed in displeasure. Then her nose twitched as she too caught the scent, and Nick silently pointed to the only closed stall. Her paw went to the holster beneath her jacket, but she didn't remove her weapon just yet. "Nick, stay by the entrance."

An unpleasant thought came to Nick as he obeyed her, moving to stand by the exit and slipping the candy and beer into his pockets so he could take a break from carrying them. "Did the cashier turn up yet?

Judy shushed him. With one paw in her jacket, she edged up to the closed door. She knocked with the bottom of her fist.

"Hello? Are you alright in there?"

No answer. Typical. Just their luck to arrive in the aftermath of a robbery. They'd have to call the police, there was no way around it, and let their plans get shot to shit. Maybe he could convince Judy to give an anonymous tip and get back to their journey. She may go for it… but only if whoever was in that stall was beyond help.

Christ, I should have stayed under house arrest!

Judy got down on one knee and peeked under the stall door. She gasped softly. Nick felt a cold paw grasp around his heart. He knew it.

Judy grabbed at her shoulder briefly before remembering that she wasn't in uniform and therefore didn't have her radio. She got out her phone instead.

Nick stepped toward her. "Carrots, we should tell others first and talk this through. No-one's supposed to know about our trip, remember?"

That's what he would have asked, had a gloved limb not clapped over his mouth and dragged him from the bathroom at that very moment. A masked figure shrouded in black inched past Nick and his captor and into the bathroom, the scope of a rifle fixed on the back of the oblivious bunny.

NEST, he thought with a new surge of terror.

Nick screamed at Judy behind the gloved hoof, the synthetic material threatening to chafe his muzzle, but the music was too loud and she couldn't hear him this time. The other goon inched closer to her, a goat, judging from the physique. Nick had seconds before he pulled the trigger.

Starlight and Gabe weren't here to bail them out this time. They were outside in the car, oblivious to the peril, or worse, they may already have been dealt with. Nick and Judy were on their own.

He had to do something, but all he could do was try to wriggle free, and that was easier said than done. As he struggled, he felt something hard bump against his body.

The beer bottle.

"Put your paws where I can see them." The goat said coldly. Judy stiffened, but only for an instant. In a blink she rolled under the stall door and disappeared. The goat showed no surprise, but Nick doubted he'd expected the bunny to do anything other than freeze and cower like the meek little mammal she was. Nick didn't know what good it would do. If these guys were carrying bullets in those rifles, that flimsy door wouldn't do a damn thing to protect her.

That meant he needed to do his part, and quick. He reached for the bottle neck protruding from his pocket. Being a fox, Nick doubted he'd out enough force into the bottle to make the guy let go of him. No, he needed to do much more damage than that. As luck would have it, his captor was standing right next to a shelving unit. A steel shelving unit.

"This is your only warning, Hopps! Come out of there with your paws up!" The goat barked. When she silently refused, he stepped over and smashed the door open with one kick.

Nick felt his stomach drop when he saw the body- an innocent pig slumped on the toilet, a bloody hole in his left temple- before a grey flash torpedoed into the goat's gun, throwing off his aim.

Nick slammed the bottle against the shelf, and it exploded, splattering beer and glass shards all over himself and his captor. Before the big guy realised what the fox did, he proceeded to ram the broken bottle into the flesh of his forearm.

The big boar holding him let go with a bellowed profanity. Nick hit the floor at the same time, the same time Judy knocked down the goat with a two-foot high kick to the face. The rifle swung wildly from the strap around his neck, and ended up beneath him when he hit the tiles. Nick ran forward, eyes fixed in the handgun in the downed goat's holster. Judy was on his chest, trying to shoot him with her dart gun, but he was grappling with her for the weapon. Nick was almost within reach when he felt a vice grip on the tip of his tail. He went down with a shout of pain, his outstretched fingers raking the black fabric of the goat's sweatshirt, just touching the holster. Nick pulled out the gun just as he was dragged back out the bathroom. He rolled on his back, aiming the gun and emptying the entire clip in a blind panic.

Half the bullets hit the boar in the chest. One hit his throat. Two hit him in the face, and Nick could see his eyes glaze over as he dropped like a bag of bricks. He fell backward into a shelf holding various bathroom products, creating a loud clatter and a multicoloured mess in aisle two. Shampoo and condition seeped out from broken bottles, mixing with the blood.

Oh god, what did I just do?

Nick only got as far as that one thought before was a thud behind him, and Judy cried out in pain as she rolled across the floor. The goat that had won their struggle got up and threw away the undersized dart gun to grab the rifle still slung around his torso.

Gunfire filled the air, but it was distant, muted, coming from outside. Oh crap, Nick thought. There were more than two NEST mercs in the area, and they'd gone after Gabe and Starlight.