The morning light gently streamed through the curtains onto the bunny's face as Judy buried deeper into the cooling heat her fox left in the sheets. Judy took today off work, citing 'Bunny Needs'. Yawning, Judy slowly lowered the sheet from her face as she heard snickering at the desk where Nick sat.

Nick glanced lovingly back to his bunny, her violet eyes peeking over the sheet, half lidded with dwindling passion they shared, while her mind rebooted, sweat still dewing her ears and forehead. Shaking his head, he turned back and continued to scroll down their investment portfolio.

It was Monday morning, and Nick wanted to make sure the investments they asked of the investor on Sunday was submitted on trade open. Stopping at certain parts at Judy and his portfolio, he nodded his head as he stopped and reviewed then turned off the monitor, stretched and went back under the covers with his bunny.

Judy, yawning once again, turned to Nick and gently rubbed a paw over his muzzle "Morning Slick. Our investments look good?"

Nick grinned back cockily "All submitted and accounted for. If things work as we hope, by this time next year we'll be two disgustingly wealthy mammals."

Judy woos, bouncing on the bed and pulled Nick into a searing kiss "I can't wait to start making changes. And on that, I had a thought. While I'm in good with Lionheart, we should look to get you a consulting license for ZPD so your help later can be official. It will give you a lot more credibility and help fast-track you later when you enter the ZPD. Plus, it'll put an early knot in Bogo's panties."

Nick laughs out loud "Sorry, I'm just picturing Chief Buffalo Butt wearing a pair of speedos. Thanks for that by the way, that image is now burned into my eyes."

Judy looks up in confusion which turns into one of sick shock and she makes dry gagging sounds "Nick, iewwww. No! Stop!"

Reaching behind her, she grabs a pillow and proceeds to beat her fox into submission. Nick, happily playing along grabs a nearby pillow and returns the favor. The makeshift battle turns swiftly into a tickle fight, a cuddle fight, a lovers embrace and then what all other loves do.

Behind closed doors sounds of passion once again echoed through the walls.

Chief Bogo was not a dumb buffalo. He was on the circuit for a while and had a knack for knowing when something was off. He couldn't put his finger on it but something was horribly wrong. It started Friday afternoon, after he sent that annoyance of a rabbit out to collect tickets.

Bogo snorted ".. Tickets. How the hell can a bunny get into problems taking damn parking tickets!"

Bogo tapped his fingers on his desk and clicked his phone on "Clawhauser!"

Clawhauser's voice echoed from the speaker "Yes Chief?"

Bogo frowned, his worrying brow increasing "Did Hopps call in Friday after her tickets?"

Clawhauser responded in his normal chipper voice "Yes Chief, she got over 200 tickets apparently and said she was signing off early for the day for some personal bunny matters. She also put in properly for time off Monday."

Bogo shuddered. Just what he needed. Bunny related issues. Probably something inane like breeding rights, worthless mammals, why Lionheart wanted one to be a cop was insulting.

Bogo sighed then answered "Thank you Clawhauser, it's what I figured. Just wanted to see if our new officer was actually working."

Clawhauser started to awww "Oh Chieeeeff, you do care!"

Bogo gritted his teeth "Clawhauser! I'm a busy mammal. Thank you." and hung up the phone.

Bogo rubbed his forehead. He didn't know why but he felt more worried now than he did. Personal bunny related issues, indeed.

Lionheart looked down through his reading glasses at the newest statistics of the predators that went savage. This was looking bad, and his experts were no closer to finding what the issue was.

He kept flipping through what information they had, hoping to find a smoking gun when his phone rang. Reaching over he picked it up and sighed, how he hated that sheep "What is it Smellwether?"

A high annoying chittery laugh on the other end "Oh, good one boss! Judy Hopps and a... fox... is here to see you?"

Lionheart blinked and mumbled to himself "Hopps… Hopps… oh yes, his new initiative project." Speaking up louder into the phone "Yes yes, send her up and… wait, you said a fox? What is she doing with a fox?"

Her heard a pause then a response from Dawn "I'm sure not to know boss, but they say they want to talk to you about your new initiative."

Lionheart looks down at the paperwork, rubs his eyebrow then removes his glasses and sets them aside. Maybe he did need a break.

"Dawn, send them up. I'll talk to them and see what Hopps wants to discuss."

Dawn, in her sickeningly sweet voice "OK boss, sending them up!"

The phone cuts off with her inane giggling and he shakes his head. It was so hard to find good help these days.

Dawn hung up her phone and looked up to Judy, then glanced to the fox beside her, her eyes becoming far less warm but keeping up an amiable mask "Lionheart will see you now, Judy!" And turned around and walked back into her office slash closet.

After the door closed, Nick took a deep breath and let it out slowly "Carrots, that sheep has a massive har-" Judy elbows Nick while clearing her throat as Nick wheezes a "haroooof!". Nick rubs his chest giving a mock glare to his bunny. "I mean, that sheep has a huge hatred for me."

Judy smirks slightly glancing to the side and up toward Nick "Now that we know what to look for, I'm almost surprised we couldn't see her immense hatred of predators before."

Nick shrugs and looks down "We tend to overlook what our minds can't accept. A megalomaniac murderous sheep happens to be one of them, apparently."

Judy just shakes her head and sighs "That's just it. It's just so… so… obvious. How could everyone miss it?"

Nick pauses and stops then looks up thinking "Probably because there are a lot more players then we are aware of, and they are making things hard to find." He reaches out and grabs Judy's hand to get her attention "Carrots, we need to be careful. Remember what we found out. There's a lot of players in this game, and very few of them are on our side."

Judy grins "Yes, but they don't have what we have, Slick." and with a warm smile squeezes Nick's hand "We have a sly fox."

Nick snickers, squeezes Judy's hand backs and resumes walking to Lionheart's office "And one not-so-dumb bunny." Reaching the door, they knock, hear a 'come in' from inside, open the door and close it behind them. It was time to start their plan.

Lionheart looked up at his guests. Judy Hopps. His equestrian figurehead. As he looked her over he did a quick double-take and truly looked over at Judy. Something was different. This was not the same bunny he saw being badged just last week. This bunny was dangerous.

His eyes left Judy's and glanced over the fox accompanying her then blinked as his eyes slowly widened. His predator senses were yelling at him there was an alpha in the room. What. The. Hell! He was a lion! He was alpha! But looking at the fox, he couldn't help but feel a little intimidated and he had no idea why. This was curious.

Lionheart put on a smile "Well, if it isn't Judy Hopps! And who's your rather intimidating friend?"

Judy's eyebrows went up "Intimidating?" Nick seems to understand immediately and sighed internally. Lionheart was one very intuitive lion.

Lionheart smirks slightly "Your fox friend isn't your run of the mills fox. He's someone special. But I'd expect nothing less from a truly special bunny."

Judy, to her credit, didn't even blush, just stood a bit straighter "This is Nick Wilde. He's a very special friend of mine, and a brilliant consultant. However, because he's a fox he's not taken seriously so we're here to see if you can help with that."

Lionheart blinks, surprised yet again "And how would you think I can help?"

Judy smiles, an almost shark grin "By approving his being an official stateside consultant with concealed carry permit and authority to be on-site consulting for the ZPD."

Lionheart leans back, his eyebrows going up "You don't do things by half, do you Judy."

Judy shrugs "I've had to fight for every inch I've gotten, I figure this time let's try to get ahead of it."

Lionheart opens his drawer and starts to pull out the proper paperwork "And what is Bogo's take on this?" as he glances up to both Judy and Nick.

Neither give anything away but remain very conspicuously quiet.

Lionheart breaths out slowly "I… see. Shall we consider this a… test? To see how it will take?"

Judy and Nick continue to look on, both with a single eyebrow raised, yet again not saying anything.

Lionheart looks back and forth, seeing the exact same expression and thinks to himself that these two will be a hell of a team. Lionheart internally thinks 'I wonder if I could even get the fox to join the ZPD. Hum, no way Bogo will go for that, but it'd be fun to see that buffalo fry in his juices.'

Signing the paperwork, he marks the sections for both Judy and Nick to sign, which they do, then takes the paperwork and gives the copies to Nick and Judy.

Lionheart smiles "I'll file the paperwork on my side, Judy, your copy is for the ZPD. Nick, yours is your proof of authority. You'll get an official badge and card for your investigative license within the week."

Judy blinks and covers her mouth "Wait… you're making Nick a P.I.?"

Lionheart leans back again, folding his hands under his chin and grins "It gets to the heart of it, does it not? Don't tell me you don't plan to eventually push Nick to join the ZPD. I see how well you work together. And…" Lionheart raises a hand to cut off Judy before she comments "… I approve. If for no other reason than to see that buffalo throw his coffee cup at the wall."

Nick grins a bit "I knew there was a reason I voted for you!"

Judy sighs and eye-rolls while holding her head in her hands. Lionheart just chuffed a light laugh as he addresses Nick directly "You are a dangerous mammal. I knew you were smart and sly, and not just because your a fox, but because that bunny." Lionheart points to Judy "Has you next to her, as an obvious close frie-" Lionheart's nostrils flare as he gets a combined scent and coughs "-end? My my, this is indeed interesting."

Nick and Judy just shrug and keep looking to Lionheart. Who now having a smug smile looks back. All three start to smile a bit then chuckle. Lionheart shakes his head "Damn Hopps, I didn't expect you to take my initiative this seriously!"

Judy frowns at Lionheart "Hey!" as Nick guffaws beside her while Lionheart just waves a hand lazily "Judy, Nick, I don't have a problem with this. If anything this helps me out far more than I thought it would, and the timing couldn't have been better."

Nick and Judy glance back at each other, saying without saying 'its your call, but it changes up the timetables'.

Judy takes a deep breath and blows it out "You know something about the mammals going savage."

Instantly all the gentle byplay of Lionheart is snuffed in an instant as he shows fangs for the first time in the meeting "And what.. do you know… about that?"

Judy and Nick meet his gaze, not intimidated in the least.

Judy shrugs "Nick knows because of me, and I know because Chief Bogo is wanting to have it solved. Your reaction just now shows you know something about it as well. If you can tell us anything we may be able to help? I can even promise to keep it between us."

Lionheart pulls back his fangs, not that he was intimidating either one anyway and debates the pros and cons in his head, tapping a claw on his desk in thought.

Looking up he shakes his head "Hopps, I can't. Not yet. There's far more at play here and I honestly don't have enough answers yet to even give you questions, let alone the answers to those questions. Let me work this out for a few more weeks and I'll reach out to you. Deal?"

Lionheart reaches out a hand to Judy, but to his surprise it's Nick that takes his hand. The grip is far… far… stronger than he expected "I'll shake on that, and you can confirm that any deal with Judy includes me. Any deal with me includes Judy."

Lionheart shrugged, his nostrils flaring to make a point "I would have never assumed otherwise. I assume our meeting is concluded? I'll try to fast track your badge and credentials to you. You should probably get it end of day tomorrow."

Nick raises an eyebrow "That soon?"

Lionheart shrugs "I'd rather not have you and Hopps sniffing around asking questions until I'm ready to provide answers. Think of this as me asking you for some time."

Judy snorts "So a bribe."

Lionheart coughs "An incentive."

Nick smirks "A bribe."

Lionheart sighs "Yea, you two are going to drive Bogo nuts."

Nick and Judy share a small smile "We're going to annoy anyone who deems it to harm the city…" they both glance up and meet Lionheart's eyes straight "… or the mammals in it. Pray, or predators alike."

Lionheart's eyes grow flinty and he gives a short nod "Understood. Let's hope we remain on the same side."

Nick tips his non-existent hat "Here's hoping." Judy just glares back.

All three know that after they leave the office, they will be in conflict. They just hope they avoid it.

Lionheart looks down to his desk, placing his glasses back on his face "Thank you for coming in, see yourselves out."

Judy and Nick shrug and head out, closing the door behind them. As they walk out of the building and back on the street, Judy speaks up out of the side of her lip to keep it quiet "Are you sure it was smart showing our hand like this?"

Nick puts his paws in his pants and smirks a bit "It was part of the plan. It forces up the timeline when we get the credentials, puts Lionheart in track with going forward. Helps reveal some of the hidden players.." Nick grins down at his bunny "Good move putting that listening device under his desk while I distracted him."

Judy just smugly buffs her paws on her coat "I learned from the sneakiest fox and his 30 years of memories."

Nick grins "Told you you would catch on Mrs. Assassin-bunny."

Judy glances back and forth and not seeing anyone watching them, nor any cameras nearby, grabs Nick's tie and pulls him down for a crushing and heated kiss.

"And don't you forget it Mr. Assassin-fox."

Letting go of Nick's tie as he stumbles a bit from the sneak-kiss-attack, the bunny continues on with a sway to her hips as she turns a corner, leaving just her cute little tail showing around the corner and wiggling enticingly before disappearing around the corner.

Cute. Damn cute. Devastatingly cute. To hell with the faux pas of using the word, Judy's tail was damn cute, on a damn cute behind, connected to a damn cute bunny.

Nick shakes his head, grinning touching his lips with a paw tip as he rushes to catch up to his far too sly bunny.

It was time for the next step of their plan.

Author's notes:

I always believed that Lionheart was never an evil or bad mammal. He was a mammal who was shoved between a hard place and had no real way out. Bellwether masterfully manipulated him and set him up for the fall, and Lionheart danced to her tune like a pro.

While Lionheart was generally on the side of 'good', he was more on the side of himself. Judy was not wrong in her comments when she arrested Lionheart. While Lionheart wanted to find out what was happening to predators, he was very clear that he was a predator and it was to safeguard him.

If he truly cared about those who were being effected, he'd have had an open reveal with professionals trying to find the cure. Not hidden them away from the public eye.

That's not the behavior of a good person, but of a self-serving one.

So yes. Lionheart not evil, but not really good either.

Judy and Nick know this and they're using him as much as they can while they have him.

Just like Dawn Bellwether knew, Lionheart is easy to manipulate. And Nick and Judy are doing a number on him.