Zootopia: Blind Faith

[Proto Triose]

Nick, not the best climber, did his best at getting his feet under him on a swaying branch. He crouched, ready to leap. Then a buzzing went off at his hip. It startled him, as he's completely forgotten about the little mechanism. His leap was thrown off, and while he came close, his claws merely swiped bark off the limb above him, and he fell.

His back hit a limb on the way down, bouncing him head over tail so he was falling face first toward the open mouth of the wolf, waiting to tear him apart. With no option, he put his arm in front of him, landing heavily on top of the wolf.

The wolf was a lot stronger, and managed to get his teeth back around his arm. Nick knew from personal experience it would hurt a lot less with less leverage, so instead of pulling away he shoved his arm forward, into the back of the aardwolf's jaws. The two of them rolled around for what seemed to him an eternity, through puddles and foliage. Both of them were good and scraped up by the time they stopped rolling, clawing and biting at each other. The aardwolf was on top, with Nick laying in a particularly deep gully between the roots.

Enough water had collected there for the wolf to shove his paws down on Nick's chest, submerging his muzzle, yanking violently at his arm. Nick went desperate, clawing at the wolf's underbelly until he let up enough that he could gasp some air. In that split second, he heard a scream; Judy! That bastard broke the deal! Nick, risking a mouthful of water, brought his head down and bit as hard as he could on the aardwolf's muzzle. The taste of blood filled his mouth. The worst part of it all was that vaguely, in the back of his mind, something told him it tasted good.

He was drug away from the roots by the wolf himself, trying to get the fox off of him. He hadn't noticed that the crowd had grown silent, he just kept up, unrelenting. His partner was in trouble, and this wolf was between him and her. Letting go, he slid right, using the aardwolf's connecting swipe to throw him further.

His side stung, but he couldn't feel the pain with everything going through his mind, indeed his body. Behind and to the left of the aardwolf now, he jumped on his opponent, wrapping one arm around its neck, the other grabbing the muzzle so he couldn't open it. The aardwolf thrashed, but Nick held on until the thrashing slowed, and finally stopped. The wolf was unconscious - which was good enough for him.

That was when he heard the loud speaker crackle to life. "Ladies and gentlemammals! It appears we have a celebrity in our midst!" Nick looked down at himself and cursed inwardly. His makeup was practically all gone, running in rivulets through his fur. He clutched his paw, where the aardwolf's teeth had nearly managed to cause substantial damage. Nick flexed his fingers, growling for real this time, at the pain.

"Officer. Nick. P. WILDE!" Nick looked around for a way out of the cage to rescues Judy, find out what was happening to her. His eyes fell upon someone he really did not want to see. Will O'Riley. Standing right next to Ben Ferel. Writing in a notebook. Nick almost punched something, then shook his head and ran toward the edge of the arena, where the mesh led far enough to the top to get to the building's rafters.

"Where are you going, Officer? You haven't won yet!" The announcer laughed as Nick began climbing, favoring his bleeding paw. He didn't look down, but he could hear a feral creature scratching at the chain links below him, too enraged to even think about the mobility required to climb. Thank god enraging him had worked just how Nick had hoped it would. The aardwolf was more base animal than evolved and thinking.

He finally reached the top, pulling himself up onto the thin bars cross crossing the ceiling. Use what Judy taught you. One foot, then the other. His mind went back to those days that seemed ages ago, in the rainforest district. He held his arm against his chest. One foot. Then another. He was making slow leeway to where they'd been keeping Judy, but it was a lot faster up here than down there.

The crowd was throwing cups, Back to Basics bars, anything they could find at him. Even, to his disgust, the remnants of raw prey. He almost threw up, but Judy needed him. He couldn't, and didn't.

[Dynax]

The crowd took on an entirely different animation, a new life. The howling hoard below started to twist and froth in different directions. First, a huge number of them started throwing things--food, trash, bones and insults at the Red Fox fleeing the arena. But a significant number of them, particularly those in suits ducked and ran, their private security ensconcing them like Elephants protecting young. Others, at the sight of a known police officer, started screaming and running in all directions for the exits. However, the chaos only escalated when armed members of the SWAT teams kicked in all four doors and stampeded into the grimy underground ring.


Tranquilizers of all sizes and potency were fired rapidly into the heaving crowds, huge armed officers storming through. Nets were deployed, scooping up large numbers of fleeing Predators.


Amidst the chaos, the steward of the Meat Market knew he was in more trouble than he'd ever been in his life and not likely to get out of it. Bloodmouth on one side, the Officer Nick Wilde on the other and of course the SWAT teams stampeding through the crowd and arresting the perpetrators en masse. The skinny Ocelot had ducked down, having stuffeed as much cash and collateral as he could in his pockets as he did his best to crawl away from the scene, hoping that Wilde hadn't spotted his distinctive coat in the crowds.

He was wrong. Something hit his back and forced him to the ground, and the fox snarled in his face, asking what had happened to the Rabbit he'd deposted with him. Here, only the truth mattered now.
[/size]
"Th-the Boss took her!" he stammered, holding his paws up in surrender. "Rabbit said something the Boss didn't like, and the Boss ripped her a new one! Look! that's her blood, right there!" The Ocelot pointed desperately to the blood trail leading off into the labyrinthine depths of the complex. "Lissen that's all I know! Let me go!" [/size][size=78%] [/size]

[Proto Triose]

"Unfortunately for you, I believe you." Nick threw him into the cage Judy had been taken from, slamming the door closed and re-locking it. "They'll get you out and trade them for some bars a little more spacious than you gave the prey. Which is more than you deserve." He took off after the blood, shoving frantic and panicked animals out of his way. He didn't dare yell her name, though it was on the tip of his tongue. He knew very well how much that would alert the Bloodmouth.


He knew the Bloodmouth was behind it; the ocelot had told him the boss took her. That could only be the Bloodmouth. He followed the blood trail, any number of things going through his head - was Judy dead? Lost too much blood, lost a limb, knocked unconscious? He knew was gaining on them - he heard a crash ahead. So she's at least still lucid enough to fight back.


He picked up his pace, his tail dragging through Judy's blood left on the ground, but he didn't care. Reaching a corner, he dashed around it and saw the end of the trail a distance ahead.


"Judy!" He yelled, taking off after them. He had no weapons but his claws and teeth, but they'd served him well before, and they would be just fine now. But that was all thrown out the window when the one dragging her turned around, and his feet slapped the ground only twice more.


"Aurora?"

[Dynax]

It had all happened in a blur. Judy had known known the vixen's face, but the pieces had fallen into place too neatly for it to be anyone else. And moments after the Arctic Fox had appeared before her, both parties had recognized the other for what they truly were beneath any phony disguises, names or roles. Judy had known with in those moments that Aurora would mean to take her, for it was clear by now that the vixen wished to destroy Nick shred by shred, and taking Judy would be as good a start down that road as any. The best even. Over the year that their friendship had endured, and continued to flourish, Nick and Judy had become something whole together. He had been her first true friend since leaving home to pursue her lifelong dream. He remained her staunchest, and Judy knew in her heart of hearts that he had experienced something similar. To hurt one, inevitably, was to hurt the other.


But once Aurora took her, how would Nick find Judy? The idea had come in a desperate flash as Aurora had opened the bars of Judy's cage, her yellow eyes malevolent with a silent glee, and cold with purpose. Judy did the first thing could think of to offend the Fox. She'd lashed out with her rangy hind limbs, striking the white vixen in the nose hard enough to make trickles of scarlet blood dampen her upper lip. Shock, indignation and pain had played out on her sharp face before Aurora made an impulsive move, and Judy knew she had to brace for pain.


She had let her scream tear through the air, naturally, when Aurora's sharp claws sliced three long bloody rents in her side, tearing through cloth, flesh and fur. As she had collapsed onto her knees and elbows, feeling the hot blood drip heavilly down her side, she bafflingly felt less fear than anger, and confidence.


Nick would find her. She was not going to die here.


Aurora was vicious. She'd seized Judy and run off, and Judy did her damndest to make the experience as miserable for the vixen as it was for her. She kicked, scratched and bit at Aurora as much as she could, but the Fox's thick fur prevented her from doing any serious damage--although she did suceed in slowing them down. However, as they approached Aurora's inevitable destination, Judy had started to feel light headed, and sick.


You don't have that much blood to lose, she had always been cautioned in all her training.


But she could hear approaching pawsteps, and knew she wasn't done yet.


**


Aurora stopped in front of the door that led to the processing plant. The back of the tunnel had expanded into an enormous room, drawn in half by a massive industrial glass wall that displayed the machinery beyond--conveyer belts, assembling stations, and new versions of old-fashioned meat grinders. The portal to the processing room--a simple door, barred by a keypad. She could hear the familiar footsteps behind her, and knew her time was running short. She slammed the code in, just as she heard the damned Rabbit gasp out, "Nick!"


The door slammed behind her, and Aurora dragged her weakly struggling Prey up onto the conveyer belt closest to the glass wall.


"I had to, Nick," she called out to him, her voice harsh with purpose. "You knew me. You had to know in that traitorous muscle you call a heart that this was the only way. Predator and Prey can never be friends. There are hunters, and the hunted. We were built to eat them, and they created to feed us. And now, now that we're supposed to live in harmony with them, our very being, has been reduced to an unnatural state bordering on slavery. Eating bugs and synthetics, nourished with dead dreams and twisted realities. This city, this world, needs a wake up call, and it's going to start with you, old friend." she spat out the words like a curse, and she fell into the primal predatory stance. All fours, teeth bared, leaning over her gasping Prey.


"You know your precious bunny isn't going to last long now. But her final act in this world is going to be a blessing to you Nick. She and I are going to remind you what the relationship between Fox and Rabbit, Predator and Prey is going to look like. I'm going to rip out her throat and drink her blood, and you are going to watch." she licked her lips. "And after that, I'm going to make you taste it."


She placed a heavy paw on Judy's heaving chest, pressing down and staring briefly into wide violet eyes as the Rabbit's blood pooled beneath her. Aurora bared her sharp teeth, and lunged forward.

[Proto Triose]

The entire time Aurora was talking, the horror of what he was hearing dug like talons into his nerves and gut. So he'd been right, eventually, to take the saliva sample. Now they just had to take it from the other victims and match her to the scene. It exonerated him, would certainly prove his innocence.

And yet, he truly hoped he had been wrong. That her ideals had not become some kind of sick parasite in her mind, growing and festering into this new Aurora. But they had. As she talked, he quietly and discreetly pressed the four number code he still remembered into the door. He hoped the tip off wasn't wrong, not this time. Of all times not to be wrong.

He waited, however, until the last second so that Aurora thought she had the upper hand. When he saw and figured out what she was about to do, he jammed the last button. He barely had enough time to open the door, then leap, claws out, slamming into Aurora and sending her scratching backward. He stood protectively in front of Judy, teeth bared in a snarl.

"No, Aurora. Not this time. I may have listened and almost fell into your preaching before." He stalked back and forth in front of Judy, tail held even with his spine. "But you're wrong, on every level. At one point, we were treated like that. Shock collars and all. As I recall, it was prey that fought to allow them to be removed. The very company you work for - who works for you, I see now - was run by a predator and a prey. Where are your ideals, there? If you truly believed what you're saying, you'd have gotten rid of Buck a lot earlier than you did. What did drive you to kill him, anyway? Was he going to snitch?

You know why? Because prey -are- better than us. They live and let live. It's us that drive them into a corner. That force them to do something disgusting. Bellwether was not entirely to blame for what she did.

And this bunny. This carrot farmer from Bunnyburrough, who followed her dreams and came here, against what everyone said, came to fight for equality amongst prey and predators. I have seen her protect us and defend us at every turn. She's the only one that still believed in -me-, even when my own parents didn't. When, through not fault of yours, you didn't. And I can tell you with utter conviction that if you had done the right thing, she'd have defended you, too.

Which of us is the real monster? You need only look at yourself, Aurora." Nick stopped in front of Judy, his eyes flicking down to the blood - her blood - all around her. Clever bunny.

"So no, Aurora. Save your breath. Because you're wrong."

[Dynax]

There had been a brief flash of primal terror as Aurora's teeth snapped at her throat, where everything had gone white. But in the heartbeat before it all could have ended, a flash of red barreled into Aurora and sent her skidding back with a shrill yelp of shock. Judy knew that she shouldn't move. It would only aggravate what she was realizing now was a serious wound, but she couldn't imagine staying flat on her back for this. With a grunt of agony, she forced herself to her elbows and knees as Nick paced, feral in front of her. She was weak with relief and still only even concious due to the adrenaline surging through her veins, amd there was some hint of grim satisfaction. Aurora had stepped in her blood, and she was leaving very clear pawprints all over the conveyer belt.


However, Aurora didn't have much to say in response to Nick's words, words that Judy processed only intellectually as she fought to stay lucid.


"What you say doesn't matter, Nick. I've already won. Your Rabbit's dead!" she snarled before launching herself at Nick, jaws open and bloody.


She collided with Nick heavilly, scratching wildly at his shoulders and making a ferocious bid to clamp her teeth down on his throat. When she found that his size and strength made this difficult, she tried a different tactic, shredding at his sensitive ears and eyes.

[Proto Triose]

"Not yet," was all he got out before words were unnecessary any further. They had gotten everything they each needed to say out. She managed to tear open the wound that had just barely stopped bleeding, adding her own claw marks, turning it into an x shape above his eye. Nick dug his claws into her side, trying to get his mouth the side of her neck, but her snapping only managed to collide with his own teeth. A clash of bone and snarls filled the air until Nick got his feet under her and shoved her body up, dragging his claws along her ribs. He might not have been able to throw her off, but locked as they were it was a stalemate. One of them would have to try a different tactic eventually, or they'd both bleed to death alongside Judy.


His mind raced for something he could do; the conveyor belts! Pitching himself to the side, heaving Aurora with him, he managed to get her back between solid ground and a moving belt. Hopefully the burn would eventually get her to let go.

[Dynax]

Aurora shrieked, a high pitch, vixen's scream as the friction of the conveyer belt dragged at her fur and hide. She had no choice but to unhook her claw from Nick's fur, before dropping down onto the ground with a snarl. She was wounded, but not badly. Nick was stronger than she thought he would be--probably the work of the police academy's training--and she had unerestimated him. His size might even cancel out her heavier mass and ferocious fighting. She thought about attacking again despite not having the higher ground when he heard, distantly, the stampede of invading hooves and paws. An alarm in her production plant went off, shutting the lights down so that the red emergency likes slammed on.


The sirens screeched, and she knew, grimly, that her Back to Basics operation was through. The cops were here, and probably arresting her patrons and followers left and right back in the arena. She wanted to scream with frustration, but she hadn't made it this far giving into tantrums. But she also knew that she didn't have the time to fight Nick to a standstill. She had to get out of here, and fast.


She thought quickly. Seeing the conveyer belts going gave her an idea. She dashed along the floor of the processing plant until she reached the lever controlling the one the Rabbit was dying on. With a savage wrench, she dragged it into the on position, and the conveyer belt rumbled to life, pushing the half-dead rabbit in the direction of one of the meat grinders, turned on by the activation of the belt.


"Better choose, Nick!" Aurora called as she raced away. "And I know what it'll be." with that, she slipped into the darkness. She found her escape hatch under a floor tile, removed it carefully before slipping down the tiny tunnel, and to safety.


**


Judy for her part couldn't tear her eyes away from the brutal scene. It was like a vision out of the Stone Age, two mammals circling each other and tearing at one another with claws and teeth. It wasn't done anymore. It shouldn't be. It wasn't civilized, or evolved, but she couldn't help but think of Mr. Big's words as she watched the two foxes battle it out. Deep down, we are all still animals...


But Nick was doing this to save her life. And to fight Aurora was to engage her on her terms.


However Judy was fading fast, and as the conveyer belt jerked to life she fell flat on her belly, and found that she was unable to move. Desperately grasping at her consciousness fleeing into the dark, the most she could do was watch as Aurora fled.


Everything went dark after that.

[Proto Triose]

Nick made to chase her instinctively, but he heard the noise as well. When she threw the switch, and he heard the conveyor start behind him, he knew as well as Aurora did what choice he would make. If it came down to saving Judy and chasing her, there was no question where his loyalties lay. Aurora would still be there. He would find her, hell or high water. With only a moment of hesitance, he turned and ran down the moving conveyor belt, out over the chasm that it moved above. He snatched Judy up in his mouth, holding her gently though tightly. There would more than likely be a couple bruises on her, but he was -not- going to drop her, not here.

His partner hanging limply in his mouth, he looked down over the side, at another belt that was nearly dyed red with blood, the black a little off colored. He could make the connections to what blood it was, but it was moving away from the grinder, obviously to take the ... spare parts upstairs to be packaged. That was all he needed. He jumped down from the height when they were just about over it, landing with a thud but letting most of his own body take the brunt of the force. His jaws closed a little harder, but it couldn't be avoided. They rode the rest of the way with Nick looking over his shoulder, all four paws on the ground to keep his balance. Damn you, Aurora. It didn't have to be like this.

------

The rest of the night was filled with multiple Emergency Teams checking him out, their blue and red lights filling virtually every alley of the Docks. Nick was wrapped in a blanket, sitting in the back of one of the ambulances. Multiple officers had tried to question him and get details, specifically about why he was in the condition he was in, but he remained silent, lost in the events of the night. The medical teams eventually pushed them away, telling them he was badly injured and wasn't in any condition to talk to them yet.

And he wasn't, but not because of the physical wounds - it was that, too, certainly - but had far more to do with emotional and mental wounds than anything. This whole case was escalating to just be too much for him. But he wouldn't let the case drop, especially not now. Now, Aurora had succeeded in making it personal. Still, he'd wait until Judy was stable before doing anything brash. When one of the crew tried to bring him to another ambulance than the one Judy was in, he stared at them with such a look that he may as well have bared his teeth. So they let him ride in the same ambulance, go to the same hospital. They had Judy strapped up to donated blood. He could only assume it was from one of her many family members - they'd called the Hopps family immediately.

Once at the hospital, after Nick's ears had been bandaged, his paw fixed and held in a sling before him, and all his scrapes and wounds cleaned and watched overnight and through the next day, he'd finally been allowed out to go see his partner. He had to walk with a medicine bag attached to a pole, doctor's orders, to replace lost fluids - but he was allowed to move about the hospital. He'd gone immediately to Judy's room, of course, holding a cup of black cherry juice, virtually untouched. But he'd stopped outside the door, seeing Judy's parents inside at her bed.

Bogo had come to visit both of them. He heard his footsteps from down the hall, but still didn't turn when Bogo thumped up beside him. The Chief's voice was low, being inside the hospital. A lot more comforting than Nick would have expected. "It's not your fault. You did everything she would have expected you to do, and more." He felt the chief's heavy hand on his shoulder. "It would have been a lot worse, if you hadn't been there. As it is, the doctors say it will take only a couple weeks for her to recover enough to be back to work. Parking duty for the next three months after that. For both of you." He tried to make a joke to lighten Nick's mood, but Nick didn't say anything. "You should be proud of what you did, son. She's lucky to have a partner like you. From surveying the scene, if it helps, she deliberately aggravated Aurora in order to get her to leave a trail of blood for you to follow. A smart move. You don't need to be nervous about any of this pointing back to you."

Nick finally spoke. "I'm more nervous to meet her family. In general, much less under these circumstances. I know who gave her the fox repel spray when she first came here. She told me all about it." He looked up at Bogo with his one un-patched eye. "You think they've got a tazer in there waiting for me?"

Bogo was taken aback. Still, he couldn't help but smile slightly. "Always trying to make light of the situation, Wilde. You'll be fine. Hopps left that trail knowing how much blood she would lose. She did that because she knew you'd get to her in time. That's an awful lot of blind faith the two of you have in each other." Bogo gently clapped him on the back. "If she trusts you that much, you can bet her parents know of it, and of you. Now get in there, before I make you pay a fee for loitering."

Nick went to the door as Bogo turned to leave behind him. He stood close enough that her family finally took notice, her dad tugging on her mom's shirt and pointing. Nick took a deep breath and opened the sliding door very gently, making his slow way into the room. Both of her parent's ears were on high alert, and her father reached behind him to the little counter where cards were left standing all over it. Nick didn't miss his attempt at subtly lowering a card to be face down, but he didn't say anything to call attention to it.

"Mr. and Mrs. Hopps? I'm Nick Wilde. Judy's partner."

[Dynax]

Bonnie and Stu Hopps hadn't thought twice about leaving the Hopps Warren for the city. They'd gotten the call in the middle of the night, and at the news there was no question as to what they would do. They had left the farm in Jeremiah's care and packed into the pickup truck and before driving several hours. Both had attempted to reflect on any bright side or silver lining they could grasp at before falling back into worried silence. Bon spent most of that time trying not to knot her claws in her skirt. They'd had close to three hundred children. And they had lost children in the past. Ruth, childhood illness. Hosea, a tractor backfire. James, infection. Sometimes there were things that couldn't be helped, and Bon and Stu had always done their best to shelter, nurture and protect their many children despite the challenges of raising a warren. They saw those children off to safe and happy lives independent from them, working on the family farm, managing their own, marrying, having their own children. Safe. Settled. Secure. Successful.


But if a child needed more, all Bon and Stu could do was their best. They'd wanted to do what they could to save Judy, before she slipped out of the safety of their hopes for her and into that ream where Bon and Stu couldn't hold her anymore. That realm where Ruth, Hosea and James had gone. Though perhaps they could never truly understand, they tried anyhow. It was what you did, as a parent. But now their worst nightmare had come true--a phone call with grim news, telling them that their Judy had been mauled in the line of duty.


 When they were finally ushered into Judy's room after Bon had donated several ounces of blood, she nearly wept at the sight of her daughter, carefully immobilized in the narrow hospital bed. She'd been hooked up to an IV and dressed in a slim hospital gown, but all Bon could do was imagine the scars and bandages underneath the cotton. The doctor, a ferocious looking but very professional Wolverine explained the situation to them in tandem with Judy's boss, the enormous Cape Buffalo. They told them what they knew of the events that had transpired, leaving both Bon and Stu shaken, relieved and still yet afraid.


Bon and Stu stayed with Judy as long as they were allowed, keeping vigil by her bedside, watching her chest rise and fall and listening to the beep of the surrounding machines. But at some point, dawn was a thing that happened, and then the morning, and finally they were told that Judy's partner, the Fox, was going to come in.


A part of Bon, a stupid, irrational part immediately recoiled at the thought before her senses returned to her.


Then the Fox, this Nick Wilde they'd heard so much about, entered.


Both Bon and Stu stiffened, not sure what to expect. When the Fox spoke, Bon stood up, her heart pounding and her mouth dry. Stu had wrapped his arms protectively around her, but Bon moved away, guided by some instinct, and gratitude. She approached the fox, and tenatively put her arms around his narrow frame.


"Thank you," she said, unable to hold back a few rebel tears of gratitude. "Thank you. Without you, they told us she wouldn't have made it. Thank you for saving our Judy."


Stu seemed to relent and approached them both. "Hiya, Mr--Officer Wilde," he said, with something like strained good cheer. "We've heard a lot about you. Sorry this is the way we had to meet, but we're...super glad you're there to look after Judes."




Bon stepped away from the Fox with a watery smile. A short, awkward silence followed where neither party moved, and Bon realized, belatedly what the right thing to do was, even if it hurt to leave their daughter's side.


"We'll leave you two be," she assured the Fox carefully. "We know the two of you are...wonderful friends. Stu?"


"Huh?"


"We'll go find them some breakfast."


The two parents left, with a last look over their shoulders before they shut the door, and padded down the hallway.

[Proto Triose]

Nick hadn't known what to do or say. He knew the silence was a little off putting, but it was the first time he'd met them, and he was more than a little surprised to get a hug from her mom. He had put his good arm around her as much as he could, to show the comfort, but he couldn't keep his balance without the standing IV drip - medications did funny things to you.

When her parents had left, Nick sat down at her bedside and put a paw on hers, watching her in her most vulnerable state. A tear welled in his eye, and he squeezed her paw. "Hey Carrots. I don't know if you can hear me." He wanted to wipe the tear out of his eye, but he wanted even less to take his paw away from hers. He never wanted to leave her side; still, he knew soon he would have to. In a matter of days, or Aurora's trail would go cold.

"Dumb bunny." He told her, smiling fondly, putting the back of his paw against her cheek. "I told you not to go and do something without warning me again. I knew you wouldn't listen, though. You never do."

He was silent a little longer before continuing. He looked up at her monitors, watching the steady beating rhythm of her heart. "We both know we have to go after her." It took him time in between, to gather himself. "You're the best partner I've ever had. I don't just mean on the force. The best friend a guy could hope for." Finally he looked down at her prone form again. "This is my mess. I need to fix it. I'm going to do something rash. You don't need to tap your foot at me, or give me that look. I've already made up my mind, and I just thought, in some capacity, you should know.

I just wanted to tell you, I -" the tv turned on when he leaned forward. O'Riley showed up on the tv with an image of the docks behind him. It was a report from last night. The volume was low, barely audible, but he could make out the words.

"The crime ring has been brought to its knees by Officer Judy Hopps, once again saving the people of Zootopia from a terrible crime being committed right below our collective noses. We have word that everyone in on the Back to Basics scandal has been caught except for their leader, the Bloodmouth. The Bloodmouth has been positively identified as Aurora Pircir, an old friend and confidant of Nicholas P. Wilde, Hopps' partner. We have no leads on how close the two -" Nick shut off the tv with a dejected sigh.

[Dynax]

She drifted in a dark place for what felt like a long time. It was warm, a soothing pressure bearing down on her conciousness, as though it were the only thing keeping her spirit from floating straight up into the light and away from...wherever here was. She was numb, careless, languid, unnatatched to anyone or anything, without even a name. But slowly, the comforting pressure seemed to recede, and there was a heat, a dull throb somewhere below her ribs and right above her left hip. Pain, blood, wound. From there, she felt herself sink down into her body once again, once again aware of of pain and fur and flesh--and with it her name. Judy Hopps. Memories like pieces of broken glass started to fly back into place, to create an accurate reflection of what had happened then night before.


But in that awareness came another, the warm, rough, familiar paw pads of her partner wrapped around her own. Sound, at first distant, sharpened into clarity as the darkness fell away.


"I wanted you to know, I--"


"N-nick," Judy's voice started off a hoarse croak as she stirred, her eyelids fluttering open to reveal the inside of a hospital room. Light poured in through the window, lighting up the table that was full of cards and fresh flowers, even a few wrapped gifts. She sounded awful. She cleared her throat and tried again. This time her voice sounded something much closer to normal. "Nick!" she beamed, squeezing his paw back before she suddenly stiffened. Her parents had been here before him. Had they--


"Oh my god," Judy said in something almost like horror. "My parents. They didn't...?" she started, her voice panicky. She hadn't formally introced them yet! She'd alluded to her partner before, naming him, talking about him to her parents but they'd never met properly and despite the fact they worked with Gideon Grey now, old prejudices died hard. She knew that the hard way.

[Proto Triose]

He debated telling her they brought out a fox taser and repellant, but he couldn't traumatized her more in the state she was in, especially because he partially blamed himself, his fault or not. "No, no. Nothing like that. Your dad was a little hesitant, but your mom hugged me, if you can believe that. It's good to see you awake again. I was afraid." He left it at that, letting the rest hang in the air.

Then he leaned over and put an arm around her, his paw in a sling between them. "Don't ever do that again. If you had died ..."

There was a knock at her door, and the glass slid sideways, allowing a civet cat in with a clipboard nestled in his arm. "Oh, dear, my apologies." He said when he looked up from the clipboard, turning around as Nick straightened.

"Nothing to worry about, Doctor."

"Doctor? Oh, young man, you flatter me. No no, just a volunteer that helps out. I was instructed to come inform the young Mrs. Hopps that we feel she will be free to go home within the next three days."

Nick looked over at Judy with a reassuring smile. The news struck him as both good and bad - good, Judy got to go home. Bad, that gave Aurora three days of leeway that he couldn't be on her trail.

"She will not be allowed to leave her home, however. Strict bed rest. No strenuous activity like running around and chasing insane serial killers."

Nick put his paw on her shoulder, stopping the protest he knew was coming. "She can stay with me. I'll make sure she gets the rest she requires."

"And deserves." The cat chimed, tapping a pen in their direction on his clipboard. "She is rather famous for her hard work. Second case, in only a year! I am a big fan myself. Why I could just," and here he actually mewed a bit instead of saying anything. At least, he thought it was a mewl - it could have been meant as more, but was keeping it quiet, "with pride. Now then, I will excuse myself. We'll see where this all goes in a couple days."

Nick made no pretense of ignoring that the cat had given him precisely zero credit. At this point, he didn't care, and he didn't blame the citizens. They had only the news to go off of - though admittedly, Will O'Riley was a real thorn in his paw, and him with no mouse to remove it. Just his bunny.

When the civet cat was finally gone, Nick looked back over at her, clearly a little shy. "Sorry. I made that offer without consulting you. Of course, you don't have to stay with me. I can come and check on you every few hours at your place." He had his paw in his lap, now, fiddling with the tie of the hospital gown.