Disclaimer: Zootopia and all Canon characters are owned by Disney. All other characters, product names, trademarks, and copyrights belong to their respective owners.

…..

Feeling a fluffy tail wrap itself around her ankles, Judy looked up at her boyfriend and smiled. Nick was gripping a stanchion with one paw and holding her close with the other as they stood together on the crowded Metro car. The crowd swayed, and Judy leaned into Nick, probably a lot more than she really needed to, as the car took a gentle turn and sped up.

Judy couldn't help but be struck with a sense of déjà vu, 'Almost Six weeks ago, I was right here with Nick, heading to Zootopia General to visit with a victim who had gone savage, and we'd just rescued from a drug plot, except…'

Brushing her fingers across the colorful addition to her uniform, a smile formed as Judy thought, '…this morning's lead-up was completely different.'

…..

"Are you sure Ben was serious when he called and said we needed to come in for roll call?" asked Nick, yawning, "Bogo didn't seem too keen on us doing anything but leaving town yesterday."

"Yup," chirped Judy, leading her fox into the lobby by his tie. "And it's not just for roll call, Chief Bogo wants us to finish writing up our part of the incident report from Friday and give it to Connor before we leave."

"Well, since I slept through most of it, I think 'solid nap,' 'lumpy bed,' and 'crazy dreams' about covers it for my part of the report."

"Nope," replied Judy, now headed toward Clawhauser's desk. "You get to write all the parts about us getting into the rave and how you gallantly sacrificed yourself as bait for the kitnappers."

"Too boring, how about more of a fashion angle? Are there any pictures of you in your rave outfit?"

"Nope," smirked Judy. "So you'll have to—"

Nick held his phone out for Judy to see a newly arrived text from Torrie.

"—delete that picture if you want me to do your part of the report," finished Judy with a sigh.

"Hi, guys!" screeched Clawhauser, "Are you all packed and ready for your trip to Bunnyburrow?"

"You bet," said Judy, jumping up and snatching a donut out of Ben's box and handing half to Nick. "How about you, Slick?"

"Sure, I can't wait," deadpanned Nick. "Early morning wake-up calls by seven-year-olds, a two hundred mile long drive to the nearest Snarlbucks, and the best, Saturday morning chores."

"Mom's blueberry pancakes, swimming at the family lake, and counting stars on top of Lookout Point," countered Judy.

Nick nodded, "Yeah, Mom's blueberry pancakes are pretty amazing, especially with loads of her blueberry syrup."

Ben's eyes went wide, his paws squeezed his cheeks, his belly jiggled, and–

"Carrots, I think Ben's about to explode. Shall we head over to the bullpen and see what old Chief Buffalo-butt has in store for us besides paperwork on our last day in town."

"He…"

"Nick, be nice," replied Judy, pulling Nick toward the bullpen.

"Said…"

"Of course, oh fluffy one," replied Nick, closing the door behind them.

"Mom!"

….

Making their way to the front of the room, Nick pulled out their shared chair and held a paw out for Judy to climb up.

Judy, of course, hopped up and offered a paw to her fox.

Once seated, Nick looked around at all the silent mammals scowling as they tried not to look his way, and gulped. He hadn't been to a bullpen meeting since leaving for Bunnyburrow, and now he wasn't so sure coming to this one was such a good idea.

"Hey Carrots," whispered Nick, nodding toward the other officers, "maybe we should skip the meeting and just head back to Bunnyburrow."

Judy looked around and, about to reply, was interrupted by the bullpen door opening and her unhappy looking boss stomping his way to the podium…

…without any of the normal grunting or pounding on the tables by her frowning coworkers.

"Uh-oh," whispered Judy back to Nick.

"All right, all right, everybody calm down."

No one moved.

"I've got three items on the docket.

"First… we need to acknowledge the elephant in the room."

"Francine."

Francine Pennington, the largest mammal currently stationed at Precinct One, carefully made her way to the front of the silent bullpen.

"Fellow officers," started Francine, waving her trunk across the room, "a grievous injustice involving two of our brethren has been brought to my attention by more than a few of you, and this morning, after consultation with Chief Bogo, it falls on me to get to the bottom of this situation and correct it.

"Officer Hopps and Officer Wilde, please come forward."

"I told you," whispered Nick. "On three, I'll distract them so you can escape. It was nice knowing you."

Judy used Nick's tie to keep him from implementing his distraction plan and let go of it once they were both at attention next to Francine.

Speaking now to everyone in the room, Francine said, "As you are all aware, Officers Hopps and Wilde investigated and recently solved another Nighthowler-type case. Their investigation started almost six weeks ago and ended Friday when they went undercover and broke up a terror group that had been kitnapping predators and performing drug experiments on them. The City of Zootopia owes these two Officers a tremendous debt of gratitude for saving an untold number of predators from further harm, and I'm sure even more prey mammals from being hurt in riots like those that we suffered through last year."

Pausing, Francine cleared her throat and, with a quick glance at Bogo, said directly to Nick and Judy, "Unfortunately, we all work for the City, and given that it takes ten months to get a computer upgrade and a year for a new chair, we all decided we'd take matters into our own hooves and paws. So…

"Officer Pawson, if you would."

Connor came forward carrying an old cigar box and stood silently at attention next to Francine.

"Here at Precinct One, we have a pair of ancient and storied awards that are given out to mammals who keep going above and beyond their duties by saving the city."

"Atten-Shun," called out Sargent Higgins.

Everyone in the room, including Clawhauser in the back, stood at attention.

Handing the box to Francine, Connor pulled out a mushroom cloud shaped, gold-glittered medal made out of cardboard with a spent bottle rocket glued to it.

"For you, Officer Hopps, we have the Golden Firecracker Award, mostly because you keep blowing things up…"

Everyone chuckled while Judy rolled her eyes.

"…but really," continued Francine as Connor fit the medal's ribbon over Judy's head, "because you're a cop's cop, and willing to do whatever it takes to help your fellow mammal.

"And," turning to Nick as Connor pulled out a wad of cotton fabric wearing sunglasses mounted to a silver-colored cloud-shaped piece of cardboard, Francine said, "For you, Officer Wilde, The Undercover Pin Cushion Award, for gallantly allowing yourself to be tranqed and kitnapped…"

Everyone laughed while Nick turned and waved as Connor slipped a ribbon over Nick's head.

"and…"

The room quieted down.

"For being there for your partner when she tried to take on an army of bad guys and almost got shot by their leader."

"I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you," Judy added, giving Nick a hug. Thank you."

"Present Arms," commanded Higgins.

Everyone clapped their paws and hooves together and then saluted.

Nick and Judy turned toward their fellow Officers, stood at attention, and crisply saluted back.

"Order Arms," commanded Higgins, and everyone went back to attention…

…and grunted and pounded their desks in unison until Clawhauser wheeled down a large cart loaded with celebratory doughnuts.

….

"What are you thinking about, Fluff?" asked Nick while letting his tail slide up and down the backs of her legs. "I can feel your foot gearing up to start competing with Michael Catley."

"Pffft," smiled Judy, "like he'd stand a chance. Bunnies have way faster feet than felines."

"Cuter too," added Nick.

Shaking her head, Judy gave Nick a light hip bump and said, "I was thinking that the last time we were on this train getting ready to meet with Dr. Badger, things were a little different between the two of us."

Nick squeezed his bunny closer as he shook his head and said, "Nope, you've always been in love with me, you just needed more time around your foxy boyfriend to realize it." And then, looking down at his bunny, Nick winked."

"Har Har, like I'd fall for a two-bit hustler like you. I've got better taste than that."

Nick grinned and, waggling his eyebrows, whispered, "You're a hundred percent right about that. You taste soooo good."

"Niiick, behave."

"Whatever you say, Officer Firecracker."

Judy reached up and rubbed Nick's pawmade award with her thumb, saying, "That was pretty cool of the guys to give us these medals. I think it means they like you now."

Nick chuckled, "I think it means they like you, and they're willing to tolerate me."

Shrugging, Judy said, "You say tomayto, I say tomahto. Either way, it's a start, right?"

"Maybe," replied Nick.

"Well, look at Connor then. He and Olivia are having dinner with his parents tonight. Just think, if they're willing to do that, then anything's possible."

Judy and Nick both went silent as the Metro car went dark, passing under a wide roadway.

Coming out into the light found Judy breaking a stealthy kiss, followed by resting her head against Nick's chest and saying, "I'm going to have to talk to my parents, aren't I?"

"I think we both need to, Fluff."

"Yeah, maybe after the Carrot Days festival is over. We can tell them and then run away."

Nick chuckled, "Well, we could do that. Having a solid escape plan in place is a very fox thing to do."

Judy nodded.

"But I think maybe over lunch might work better."

Judy raised a brow.

"In a public place, with lots of witnesses, of course."

Sighing, Judy said, "I guess we could take our guns with us. You know, just in case."

"Nope, the first rule of being a boyfriend is don't shoot your girlfriend's dad. Makes it a pain when you're trying to get his blessing to court his daughter."

Judy nodded, "Uh-huh, how about I take my tranq, instead?"

Nick laughed as the Metro car doors opened, "Very fox indeed. Come on, this is our stop."

"How about a wooden club?" asked Judy, walking onto the platform.

"I don't know, that's kind of Billy-Goat. How about dumping a truckload of manure on him?

"Please, how unoriginal. We're farmers, everyone does that."

-/-/-

"MOOOOOOM!"

"I'm in the kitchen, Colton. You don't need to yell," replied Bonnie.

Rushing up to the counter, Colton set an old cigar box down and said, "All done with you and Dad's old rooms. Cody and I moved Nick's bed into Dad's old room and his old bed into your old room for Judy. They both already had dressers, so we left those and just dusted and vacuumed."

Bonnie raised a brow.

Colton smiled and said, "I meant Sunni's litter dusted and vacuumed, so everything's all set."

"And what's this?" asked Bonnie, carefully opening the old cigar box."

"It looks like a bunch of Dad's old junk from when he was a kit," replied Cody poking his finger at an old Junior Ranger Scout compass. "I found it on the top shelf of his old closet. I figured I'd ask him about it in case he didn't want me to throw it away."

Pulling the box closer, Bonnie said, "Don't worry about it. I'll talk to your dad. You know how he is, he forgot all about it, but as soon as he sees it, he'll sort through everything and start telling everyone stories about how everything was when he was growing up."

"Yeah," chuckled Colton, "Good plan. You take care of Dad and his stories while Cody and I put a second coat of paint on the guest rooms."

"Thanks," replied Bonnie, holding out her fist. "You owe me."

Tapping her fist with his own, Colton bounced away, saying, "Nope, you wanted the guest rooms worked on, so that means this is all your fault."

Chuckling to herself, Bonnie waited until Colton was safely away before reopening her mate's memory box.

"So… what kind of mementos did a young Stuart Hopps think were important enough to keep all this time?"

Bonnie pulled out a couple of old merit badges, a small stack of skeeball tickets held together by the dried bits of an old rubberband, and cooed when she found a picture of Stu and Uncle Lewis fundraising for the Bunnyburrow Welcome Sign project.

"Or them running an elaborate hustle, as Nicholas would call it."

And taped to the back of the picture, something that made Bonnie's eyes go misty—the torn half of Stu's movie ticket from their first date.

"Oh, Stu. My sweet, sweet buck. There are so many reasons I fell in love with you, and gods help me, enough new ones that, despite the fact you drive me crazy sometimes, I'm still ears over tail in love with you."

Rooting around for any other pictures or romantic memories, Bonnie pulled out a tangled pile of charms hung on a beaded chain. Well, not exactly charms, thought Bonnie as she sorted through a few old keys, a whistle, a couple of soda can pull tabs, a key-chain knife, a mini-flashlight, and…

"For shame Stuart Hopps." …a bottle opener with an engraving of a scantily clad doe along with the name of a dive bar she'd heard had gotten shut down years ago.

"Probably from his bachelor party," said Bonnie with a grimace… until she remembered what happened at her bachelorette party.

"Best leave sleeping dogs lie," said Bonnie, about to drop the chain of her mate's junk back in the cigar box when…

'What are these?' Bonnie thought, seeing a pair of dirty, finger-sized, black-tarnished, metal rings hanging next to the bottle opener. 'Oh, Stu, you and your dad's truck. You're worse even than Nicholas is about his dad's car.'

"You're both peas in a pod," lamented Bonnie, dropping the chain full of memories into Stu's box and closing it up, "I just wish you could see in Nicholas what I do. He's such a good boy and perfect for our Judy."

Sighing again, Bonnie took Stu's box and, wanting to get the kitchen straightened around more than she wanted to go through an emotional set of stories with her mate, set the box on a shelf in the study.

-/-/-

Bouncing into Zootopia General's lobby, Judy led her less bouncy fox up to the security desk, where an okapi in a lab coat was gyrating off to the side while playing a game on his phone.

"Wow! You are one hot dancer… Brandt Okunpi."

Waving to the guard behind the desk, Judy said, "Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde, we're here to see Dr. Badger."

The guard leaned forward to check his computer at the same time the okapi's head popped up from his phone.

"I'm Gazelle, and you are one hot dancer."

Quickly muting his phone, the okapi slipped it into his pocket and rushed over to the small mammals, "Officers Hopps and Wilde?" asked the okapi, looking at the elaborate medal hanging around Judy's neck.

"Yes, sir," said Judy as she pulled out her badge and, motioning for Nick to do the same, added, "That's us. Chief Bogo asked us to stop by before we headed out of town because Dr. Badger had some questions."

"Yes, sorry, I didn't recognize you," mumbled the okapi. "I was expecting two mammals operating undercover like the police do on TV. I imagined you in some sort of gingham and blue jeans farmer's outfit, and Officer Wilde, well, I heard his fashion sense tended toward the outrageous, and he liked to wear shirts loud enough to shock a bat in a dark cave."

Judy nodded as she replied, "Yeah, they were. But just between you and me, the City's safe now because last night I threw them all in the trash while he was in the shower."

Nick leaned in between the huddling mammals and quietly said, "Nice try, Carrots. But last night, I pulled all my shirts back out of the trash while you were taking your shower."

Sighing, Judy leaned back to join her now smirking fox as the okapi put out his hoof and said, "Hello, I'm Doctor Okunpi, nice to meet you both. I'm Dr. Badger's Chief lab technician."

Shaking paws with both officers, Okunpi added, "Dr. Badger asked me to escort you back to the lab since she's in the middle of working with our victims."

"Oh, I remember you. You're the one that wrote the report on the drug Nick found at the scene with the savage caracal, Katie Leyton. I was so hoping you'd find something in Katie's blood that would explain her going savage the way she did.

"I understand, but as I documented in the report, there wasn't anything unexpected in her blood. The same is true with our new patients, there isn't anything unusual or unexpected in their blood that would cause a savage reaction."

Showing their badges and IDs to the guard, Nick and Judy waited as the guard coded them each a visitor's badge and said, "No weapons allowed inside, and stay out of the restricted spaces. Your badges aren't coded for them, and entering one will set off an alarm."

Judy clipped her new badge next to where her new medal was hanging down and said, "What happened? We didn't need visitor badges and warnings the last two times we were here?"

Okunpi blinked in confusion, "When Miss Leyton was here, security was minimal because no one suspected a terror group might be behind her going savage, and last week, you were both patients, not visitors."

Once the outer door of the mammaltrap entrance was open, Okunpi waved Nick and Judy through and, about to follow, was stopped by a voice, "Hold the door, please."

Waving her visitor badge so the guard could see it, the voice said, "Thanks, Doc."

"Leah!" said Judy, "What are you doing here?"

"Officer Hopps. Officer Wilde. I'm–"

"Leah," interrupted Judy, giving the lioness a mom look, "it's Judy and Nick. What happened in the past is in the past. We've moved on. Okay."

Leah hugged herself nervously and said, "I'm so sorry, and… and if it weren't for you two, my cousin would be dead. I don't know how to thank you guys. I… I was so wrong, and I've been here every day since you found her, and *sniff* she can't remember anything, and I can only imagine what those crazies were about to do, and…" Leah went to her knees and wept as she said, "Thank you. Thank–"

Judy pulled Leah into a hug and, patting her friend on the shoulder, said, "It's okay, Dee– Sophia's going to be fine. Everything's going to be okay."

Leah sighed into Judy's hug, and after a few moments, she said, "Her name's DeeDee, and the fact she didn't trust me enough to tell me that means I have a lot to learn. And a lot to make up for."

Nick nodded as he moved in closer and put his paw on Leah's arm next to Judy's, "Yeah, and take it from someone who's been trying to put his past behind him, it won't be easy, but with help from the right mammals, you'll get there."

*sniff*

"Thanks, Nick. I promise I won't let you guys down."

"We're all family, so any time you need help, call me," said Judy.

"Thanks," said Leah, squeezing Judy a bit tighter before relaxing her hug.

"Oh, yeah, speaking of family, my aunt and uncle asked me to give you this."

"Wow," said Nick reading the note Leah had handed him before handing it to Judy. "I didn't know DeeDee was related to that DePawly family."

Judy stood as she read the note and, not recognizing the name the same way Nick had, said, "Please let DeeDee's parents…"

Nick motioned upward with his thumb.

"…and her grandparents know that that's what we do at the ZPD, and tell them 'thank you,' but we can't—"

"Carrots," whispered-whined Nick.

"—that we really appreciate their gratitude, but ZPD policy won't allow us to accept—"

Nick groaned.

"—their very,—"

Nick whimpered.

"—very generous gift."

Leah chuckled, "It's okay. I warned them that that's what you'd say, but they insisted. You know, just in case you changed your mind."

Nick raised a finger… which was quickly dropped under the intense glare of a bunny.

"So," said Nick finding a safer, less poke-prone, topic, "I heard a rumor you were reassigned to the ZPA."

"Yeah," replied Leah, nodding toward Judy, "Chief Bogo said it was Judy's idea. I'm going to work with a group of civilians and veteran Officers, and we're going to put together a Community Outreach program. Something that is built on actual experience and best practices, not just wishful thinking. Something that can be tailored to specific communities, not just a one-size fits all answer, and something we can turn into a training package that's not just a checkmark, pencil whip exercise."

Following Leah, Judy, and Dr. Okunpi through the thick inner mammaltrap door, Nick said, "When you guys get settled, let me know. I've got a few names I can give you, that is, if you're serious about helping all mammals, not just the ones in the high-rent districts."

Leah slowed and, turning toward Nick, put her fist across her heart and said, "On what little honor I have left, I promise I'm going to make this happen. And yes, please, once we get the program stood up, I'd appreciate those names."

…..

Opening the door to one of the large observation rooms, Okunpi ushered the group in. Immediately, Leah jogged down to the front of the seating area and hugged her cousin.

"I want you to meet a couple of my friends from the ZPD."

DeeDee stood as Leah motioned toward the new arrivals and said, "This is Judy Hopps, the first rabbit Officer at the ZPD, and this is Nick Wilde, the first fox Officer."

DeeDee put out her paw and said, "Nice to meet you both. I'm Sophia DePawly."

Judy tentatively put out her paw and, giving Dr. Okunpi a quick look, said, "Hi, yeah, nice to meet you too, DeeDee."

DeeDee started to tremble, "I'm sorry, we've met before, haven't we? I… I…"

Releasing Judy's paw, DeeDee wept, "I can't remember anything. Billy and I were dancing, and we went outside to get some air and make-out a little, and the next thing I remembered was waking up here. I don't know what happened, and I don't know how I got here, and I bet I'm supposed to know who you are. But I don't."

Leah pulled DeeDee back into a hug and, gently stroking her cousin's head fur, said, "It's okay, they're friends. They were the ones that found you and Billy. And it's okay not to remember anything, but talking to them about what you do remember would help us out."

DeeDee nuzzled into Leah's neck fur and nodded, "Okay."

Nick grabbed small chairs for him and Judy while DeeDee and Leah sat in a pair of audience chairs in the front row of the observation room, and Dr. Okunpi went up to the two-way window to check in on his boss.

Judy pulled out a notebook, much to Nick's disbelief that even about to be on vacation– 'never mind,'

and said, "Leah's right. Anything you can remember would be helpful. How about you tell me what you remember about your make-out session. Billy's a good-looking guy. I bet you remember some of that."

"Oh, yeah," gushed DeeDee to Judy. "Billy comes off as some sort of bad boy, but I know that deep down he's a total sweetheart. We talk on the phone, and when we went to see the Lion King remake–"

Nick groaned.

Judy dismissed Nick with a wave of her paw and said, "Ignore him. He refuses to watch anything but the original animated version."

DeeDee chuckled, "Yeah, well, Billy and I didn't really watch any of it either, if you know what I mean."

Judy nodded, "How about after the rave?"

"That was a great make-out session, too. It was right after Yakboy Slim's set. We went outside to the front of the parking area where there was this bench off to the side and out of sight, and that's where we got down to business."

"Anything to drink or any drugs?" asked Nick.

DeeDee glanced at her cousin and hesitating….

Leah got up and said, "What you say to these guys stays with them, so go ahead. I'll be over with Dr. Okunpi."

DeeDee nodded and continued once her cousin was out of earshot. "I wanted to jump his bones real bad, you know, the horizontal–"

"Sex, I got it," interrupted Judy.

Nick nodded sagely as he… saw the look he was getting from Judy and decided, wisely, not to say anything.

"Yeah, well, we'd both had a few beers, no drugs since those weren't allowed at the rave, and after that last set, which ended in a pretty sexy slow dance, I decided to make my move.

"I took him outside, opened up a few buttons on my blouse, and kind of couldn't take my paws off of him. And just when I'd started to nip at his neck fur, everything went blank."

Judy made a note and said, "That must have been when they darted you."

"I didn't think getting hit with a tranq knocked you out that quick. Wouldn't I have remembered getting shot?"

"Not necessarily," replied Nick. "These guys used multiple darts on their victims, and sometimes that can knock you out pretty quick and mess up your memories of getting shot."

"Okay, but Dr. Badger said I'd been missing for a week, and the only thing I vaguely remember from that whole time is some really hot girl trying to make the moves on my Billy. I wanted to claw her perfect tail off and her fur… Puleeze!

Judy gulped.

"… like, Billy's mine. Why can't she go find her own guy and leave mine alone?"

Judy coughed and said, "I'm sure that was just a dream or some kind of misunderstanding. Do you remember anything else?"

"That doesn't involve a hot girl with a cute tail trying to make the moves on Billy," added Nick.

Judy rolled her eyes.

Thinking for a moment, DeeDee finally said, "Something maybe later when the hot girl tried to jump my Billy, and I had to save him from her when he fell in my arms. Damn girl. Just cause she has the looks doesn't mean she should go around flaunting them and trying to bed every guy she meets."

"She has a point there, Carrots. Maybe we should let Bogo know to be on the lookout for a hot-looking homewrecker.

"Ow."

Judy smiled, "Sounds like the tranqs and the drug you were dosed with have messed up your memories. Nick and I found another victim about six weeks ago, and her memories were messed up, too."

"Did her memories ever come back?" asked DeeDee.

"She was mostly asleep during the time she was under the influence of the drug," said Nick, "but the few parts where she wasn't…"

"Last report I saw," added Judy, "it was inconclusive. She remembered bits and pieces, but most of it she still can't remember."

DeeDee started to cry again, "You don't think Billy's going to forget all about me, do you? What if all he remembers when he wakes up is that hot girl? Oh gods, I should have clawed her when I had the chance. Please don't tell me Billy's going to leave me for her after all I've been through. Please."

Leah came rushing over and, consoling her cousin, said, "I better take her to her room. She's been very emotional lately. Sometimes, she's fine, and other times, it gets bad.

"Thanks for everything," said Leah, leading DeeDee out of the observation room. "I'll see you guys later."

Once the two lionesses were safely out of the room, Nick pulled Judy into his chest and, with his arms around her, said, "You are pretty hot."

Judy rolled her eyes.

"And just so you know, there's not a drug out there that could ever make me forget about you."

"You mean my supposed hotness?"

"Nope, you. The whole Judy Hopps. The girl I'm totally ears over tail in–"

"EAT. YOU. NEED. TO. EAT."

Nick and Judy's heads both jerked toward the speaker that had just come on.

"Sorry," said Okunpi. "This is just so hard to watch."

Holding Judy's paw, Nick made his way over to the two-way glass and asked, "What's Dr. Badger doing to that poor mammal?"

"Yeah," Judy said, "Billy looks frozen in place."

All three of them stood with their muzzles hanging open as Dr. Badger… well, no one could exactly figure out what she was doing.

"EAT. FOOD. GOOD."

"It's like she's a tourist in another country and can't speak the language."

"Yeah," grumbled Judy, "Yell louder and slower like that's going to help the locals understand you."

"Now what?" groaned Okunpi.

They watched as Dr. Badger gestured broadly with her arms and wave her hands in front of Billy's unmoving eyes. And then…

"She looks like she's trying out for a Fangles video or a position in the Ministry of Silly Walks," said Nick, scratching his head.

Dr. Okunpi shook his head.

"I don't remember this being part of our examination the other night. Do you, Nick?" asked Judy, watching Dr. Badger hop on one leg.

"Oohh, oohh, oohh."

"Kind of a whole new meaning to playing doctor," said Nick, averting his eyes as Dr. Badger started to–

Judy closed her eyes, "I can't watch."

"I know, I'm going to need some industrial-strength brain bleach after this."

Okunpi slapped a big red button on the wall, and waiting for only a few breaths time, he squeezed himself through the slowly forming opening just in time to keep his boss from truly embarrassing herself.

Turning toward the glass, mirror to her, Dr. Badger facepalmed, knowing now that she'd had an audience to her unique tests. Gesturing to Okunpi to carry on with the experiments, Dr. Badger quickly made her way to the observation room.

"Officers Hopps and Wilde, how nice to see you again, and this time fully clothed and in perfect health."

Judy blushed.

"I missed that second silly walk you did trying to get Billy's attention. Any chance you're up for a repeat performance?"

"No, Officer Wilde. Everything we do here is all about the scientific method. Inputs and outputs, act and react, questions and answers. And sometimes it's not pretty what we have to do to get those answers."

"So, what's going on with Billy?" asked Judy.

Dr. Badger sighed, "The honest answer is I don't know. Mr. Manewood is entirely non-responsive. No matter the stimulus, he just sits there like he's one of the Queen's Foot Guards. It's maddening.

"You have to eat something, Billy," came Okunpi's voice from the speaker box.

All three mammals stopped and looked into the lab.

Billy was still sitting on an examination table, wearing only a hospital gown. His mane was a bit messy, eyes a little bloodshot, except now, his head turned to follow the okapi as he gestured and moved around.

"Have you tried saying 'please?'" asked Nick.

"I have no idea what's going on. No matter what I say or do, it's like I'm not even there to him. And then, when Brandt talks to him, Mr. Manewood responds."

Looking at Judy, Dr. Badger said, "That's why I asked Chief Bogo for a little of your time. Can you tell me anything at all about what happened to Mr. Manewood? Anything you found out could be helpful.

"Something pushed Mr. Manewood into a semi-catatonic state, and that same something appears to have had minimal impact on Miss DePawly."

"I'm guessing the same guys that tranqed me tranqed them too," said Nick. "A goat and a fat guy dressed up in a sketchy wolf costume. In my report to Bogo, I noted that the guy in the wolf suit, was likely a ram we'd been looking for."

Judy huffed, "I was the one that wrote the report, and yes, the two perps were a goat and a ram. I saw them leaving the lab before the ZPD took it down."

"You mean, before you blew it up. That could have been what traumatized Billy, little miss Firecracker taking out three blocks in the industrial district."

"It wasn't three blocks, it was barely a couple of buildings. And it wasn't me, I just happened to be nearby when it happened.

"She blew it up," whispered Nick. "She set a new ZPD record for property damage. She even got an award."

"Nick, please…"

"What? I heard Connor was trying to rename the ZPD 'car' after you. You know, 'Rabbit's Revenge' or 'Bunny Fists of Fury,' although 'Carrot's Crater' had a nice ring to it."

"Ahem," interrupted Dr. Badger before said Bunny Fists of Fury silenced the fox for her. "How about you start by telling me the state of Miss DePawly and Mr. Manewood when you found them in the lab."

Judy shrugged, "Not really much to say. They were both in the same cage, sitting next to each other on the ground. Nick was asleep in a cage next to them."

"Tranqed, not asleep. Not my fault they got the drop on me."

"You could have come and gotten me. I would have backed you up, that's what partners are for."

"Little doe's room, no foxes allowed."

"Bunny Fists of Fury."

"Sorry, go ahead."

"As I was saying, I found them together. Nothing unusual, except they never said anything, no yelling or screaming. You know, now that I think of it, that was kind of weird. When we did hostage rescue training at the ZPA, they always warned us that the hostages might get loud or throw themselves at us."

Dr. Badger nodded, "Go on."

"They were wearing dirty old medical scrubs, and the floor of their cage was covered in moldy hay–

"Maybe the mold has something to do with what's wrong with Billy?"

"Nothing showed up in our tests," replied Dr. Badger, "but I'll make a note of it. Anything else traumatic?"

"It's all pretty much in our report. I had them carry Nick out while I stayed back because the guards found out what was happening and started shooting at us. We had to go down a couple of floors to the front exit, I used the mega-fauna stun grenades I found in Nick's car, Billy picked the front door lock, more shooting, we ran, a bullet grazed Billy's arm…

Judy paused as Dr. Badger took a few notes and then motioned for Judy to continue.

"After that, we hid behind some old concrete planter boxes until backup showed up."

"How about when they went savage?"

"That all happened pretty fast. There was a fake EMT that came into the triage area behind Officer Schweinly, but I was more focused on Schweinly and then Nick than I was on the EMT. I think I might have heard him stop near where Billy and DeeDee were sitting together, but I wasn't watching carefully enough to know for sure. After that, everything happened all at once. DeZoto called out the fake EMT, the fake EMT screamed that the lions were going savage, Billy attacked, and Schweinly panicked."

"You said Billy attacked. I thought both DeeDee and Billy went savage at the same time."

"No," said Judy, "Billy was the only one that went full-on savage and attacked. DeeDee, I don't know, she for sure didn't go savage while I was busy keeping Billy off of Schweinly. But…

"What was pretty weird was when I kicked Billy into DeeDee and she pounced on him and held him down until I tranqed them both."

Dr. Badger took a few more notes before asking, "Any idea if the fake EMT injected Miss DePawly or Mr. Manewood with anything before he was discovered?"

Judy shrugged, "Sorry, I don't know."

Nick chimed in, "Officer Pawson has been assigned to search the lab site for clues. Do you want us to tell him to check around the triage area for spent darts or syringes or anything else our fake EMT could have used to drug those guys with?"

"Yes, please. So far, our tests haven't turned up anything unusual in their blood. So it would be a big help to know what, if anything, the fake EMT did that precipitated the savage event."

Dr. Badger rubbed her eyes and quietly groaned before shaking her head. "None of this makes any sense."

"How do you mean?" asked Nick.

"With the original Nighthowler attacks, predators were darted, and they immediately went savage and stayed savage until an antidote was found and administered."

"Yeah," said Judy, "all of the EMTs we know have been issued antidote packs just in case they're called to work a savage attack."

"Exactly," said Dr. Badger. "Nighthowler is ugly but simple. With this drug, besides being undetectable by our equipment, it's much more inconsistent. According to you, Miss DePawly and Mr. Manewood were docile and subdued until our imposter showed up, and then moments later, we had a major savage event. Except this time, only one of the targeted predators went immediately and fully savage. The other only reacted once her boyfriend landed in her lap and didn't go fully savage for another eight or so hours. These differing reactions to the same stimuli don't make any sense to me."

"Whoa, wait…" said Judy, raising a finger, "DeeDee went savage later here in the hospital?"

"Yes. Fortunately for us, she was still restrained from when she was brought in. She was asleep. First, from the tranqs you shot her with, then from normal exhaustion, until, assuming I have the evening's timeline down right, about eight hours after she was rescued, she woke up savage. She hissed, screeched, roared, chewed at her restraints, and even tried to bite and claw Dr. Okunpi as he administered one of our strongest sedatives.

"Miss DePawly slept for the rest of the day, woke up on her own, and has been behaving normally ever since."

"That sounds a lot like how it happened with Katie," added Judy. "She went savage, we shot her–"

"You shot her," whispered Nick.

Judy rolled her eyes, "Fine. I darted Katie twice to save my partner's tail. Again. Then, once the tranqs wore off, she woke up on her own and was back to normal."

"Confused and a little panicked, but back to normal," added Nick.

Dr. Badger nodded, "I seem to recall from your report on Miss Leyton that she fell asleep after her drink was drugged, and she didn't go savage until the next morning when you were able to stop her before she escaped the alley she woke up in."

"So, both DeeDee and Katie were hit with a time-delayed version of the drug?" said Judy.

"No way, I'm not buying it," said Nick, shaking his head. "A mystery drug that affects some predators right away, and for others, there's a delay, and," nodding toward where Billy was sitting, "some victims are left almost feral, while others wake up fine except they can't remember anything from when they were under.

"I'm with Dr. Badger, this doesn't make any sense. I've run some complicated hustles in the past, but this sounds…"

"KISS," offered Judy with a smile.

"Yeah, Keep It Simple, Stupid," said Nick, letting his tail brush against Judy's legs. "This is too complicated, or it's a bizarre beta test, or we're all missing something important.

"Bellwether wanted to generate enough fear to drive all the predators out of Zootopia or force them all to wear shock collars. What these guys were trying to do, I don't know. It doesn't make any sense."

"Follow me, follow me, please."

"Look," said Judy, pointing through the glass, "Billy's moving around."

All three mammals watched as Okunpi walked backward toward another table with food on it, making 'come to me' gestures with his paws as Billy slowly followed him. Once the okapi felt the table with his tail, he moved to the side, made eating motions with his hooves, and pointed at the food.

Billy stood staring at the food.

Okunpi turned to the mirror as if he could see his boss and shrugged his shoulders.

"Do you want Nick and I to try?" asked Judy.

Dr. Badger pointed, "No, not yet, give Dr. Okunpi a chance."

Okunpi walked around the table and, waving his hoof to get Billy's attention, took a page out of Dr. Badger's book by slowly and precisely saying, "Please. You. Eat. Food. Now. Food. Good."

Followed by a pantomimed demonstration of eating food with his hooves.

Billy looked at Okunpi and then at the food, and just as Okunpi was going to spin up his own demo reel on crazy gestures, Billy scooped up a pawful of food and ate.

"Wow, he did it, he got him to eat," said Judy.

Okunpi turned to the window and, with a big smile on his muzzle, gave everyone a big thumbs up.

Dr. Badger shook her head and groaned, "Every time. How does he do that?

Chuckling, Nick, watching the lion make a decent mess eating, leaned toward Dr. Badger and said, "Looks like Okunpi just knows how to do it better than you. And he said 'please.'"

"Yes, I know my bedside manner is lacking, but still, it doesn't make any sense. Hungry is hungry. Why listen to Dr. Okunpi and ignore me like I don't exist?"

Judy shrugged and, turning toward Dr. Badger, said, "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll–"

"Not. Too. Fast. You. Get. Sick."

Nick smiled.

"Ooooh, I know why," said Nick, wiggling his fingers, "Maybe to Billy, you actually don't exist."

"Nick…"

"No, Carrots, hear me out. I remember this movie with Brad Pitbull where there was a zombie apocalypse, except the zombies completely ignored anyone who was sick or diseased or injured." And then, looking Dr. Badger up and down, asked, "How are you feeling? You might have something and not know it."

Judy facepalmed, "Nick, be serious. This isn't a zombie movie, and Dr. Badger's fine."

Nick put his arms out like Frankenstein and started to moan and shuffle around, "I'm a zombie fox, and I can only see fuzzy bunnies.

Paws on her hips, Judy watched her dorky boyfriend make a fool of himself. "Nick, that's not how zombies act. Now stop it. Dr. Badger still needs our help, and we can't leave for Bunnyburrow until we're done."

"Actually, Officer Hopps, you've answered all my questions, so if you need to get going, that's fine. I'll call you on your cell if I need anything else."

Staring mindlessly, Nick shuffled toward the most annoyed voice in the room and groaned, "I need bunny."

"Nick, stop it."

"Nom, Nom."

Judy put a paw out and backed up the aisleway toward the door, "Nick, behave!"

Dr. Badger laughed, "Yup, we're definitely done here. And Officer Hopps, please don't forget to take your zombie with you on the way out."

"Nom, Nom."

Pushing the door release, Judy groaned, "Nick, stop being such a dork."

"Nom?"

"Fine, one quick nom, and then we have to go."

"Mmmm, Nom… Nom."

Dr. Badger shook her head at seeing the red fox tail finally whip through the doorway and the heavy door gently shut afterward. She'd heard through the rumor mill that those two had a thing going on, 'Good for them,' she thought. It reminds me I owe my mate a backrub for cooking last night.

'Yeah, but first, what's wrong with my patient? He's fine with my lead tech but won't give me the time of day.'