Part 1: A Gaping Wound

This pain in his chest was too familiar. He'd felt this pain years ago, when he was betrayed and mocked by the scouts, muzzled and chased out the building.

It was hard to hold back his tears.

Every word of Judy's speech told him enough about what she really thought of predators. Wether she was aware of it or no, she was the same as the rest of them, a prejudice who marked them for what society saw predators as, saw him as.

Shifty… untrustworthy.

His heart began to tick a few beats faster as his paws balled into fist. Why—why did he let her, a bunny, his natural enemy, into his heart… why did he care for her so much.

Suddenly, he found himself wanting to bear his teeth at all the prey news reporters in the lobby and roar at the little bunny officer on the podium.

He didn't know why, and at the moment, didn't care.

Nick Wilde was still contemplating snarling at her as he watched Judy Hopps walked from the podium, ending her press conference; Assistant Mayor Bellwether walked by her side, congratulating Judy, with chief Bogo in tow.

Judy waved them off with some thanks and skipped toward him, eyes beaming.

She stopped in front of him. "Phew," she sighed, "that went by so fast! I didn't get a chance to mention you or anything we—

Nick raised a paw. "Oh, I think you said plenty."

Judy felt something within herself cower back at the honed venom in his voice. "W-what do you mean?"

"'Clearly there's a biological component… These predators may be reverting back to their primitive savage ways', are you serious?"

"I was just stating the facts of the case. I mean… It's not like a bunny could go savage." She said, forcing a smile on her lips.

The skin around Nick's nose arched. "Right, but a Fox could, huh?"

Her smile vanished.

"Nick, stop it. You're not like them."

Nick brought his face closer to Judy's. He said, "oh, so there's a 'them' now."

By now, all the news reports and cops had left the building, even Clawhauser. Judy, Nick, and the security cameras were the only ones left in the building.

Judy sighed with frustration. "You know what I mean. You're not that kind of predator."

"The kind that needs to be muscled. The kind that makes you think you need—Nick pointed to the pink bottle on Judy's belt—to carry around Fox repellent. Yeah, don't think I didn't notice that little item the first time we met."

Judy hung her head in shame as she glanced at the pink bottle.

Was she—

Nick said, "so, let me ask you something: are you afraid of me?" His emerald eyes stared directly into hers, searching.

Judy froze, and for the first time since meeting Nick, she found herself having a small drop of fear towards him, towards the primitive rage in his eyes.

Nick's eyebrows arched, as well as the skin around his nose. "Do you think I might go nuts," he said, both his paws—and claws—in front of him. "Do think I might go savage? Do think I might try to… Eat you—he exposed his fangs to her and took one step forward with his paws up, claws unsheathed, as if he'd launch himself at her, eat her.

Judy flinched back with a heavy, quivering gasp, almost losing her balance completely and falling to the marble floor.

But then… that's when she realized it, she was reaching for her fox repellent, her knees bent in a sloppy fighting stance.

And Nick—he simply stared and stared and stared, at the pink spray-bottle of fox repellent she was instinctively reaching for, at the fear in her beautiful, violet eyes. He couldn't believe it, didn't want to believe it.

She was no different from the rest of them.

No different from those scouts.

He shook his head and shrugged, as if the betrayal she'd shown meant nothing to him at all, as if he weren't having feelings for her, as a friend… and something more. "What did I expect?" It was a question more for himself than her.

He had to blink to fight off the tears—once, twice.

What did he expect?

Nick didn't say a word as he pulled a yellow sheet out his pocket and tossed it to the ground, and walked away.

But he stopped for a second and turned back to Judy, who just stood there, her gaze pinned to that yellow sheet on the ground, tears streaming down her face, her lips quivering.

And he realized what he hated seeing most, above all else, was her crying.

Nick almost rushed back to embrace her, comfort her, to say he how he wanted her in his life, but that familiar pain in his chest, the memories of how awfully he was betrayed, told him no.

He said, despite that,"I helped you solve the case within forty-eight hours and in return I get off without any felony tax invasion charges… that was are deal. You and me, we're done."

He continued to walk toward the transparent, spinning door of the ZPD, the exit, to exit from her life. He didn't want to, though. He didn't want to leave her. He wanted to look back one last time—

His ears perked at the sound of small feet pattering on marble.

He stopped.

"Nick." His name was a pleading cry on her lip. "I'm not scared of you, I never was. But…" she paused, and she let out a quivering breathe. "But… you scared me when you did that." Her voice cracked on that last part, and it echoed through the lobby.

There was a long, long silence between them, Nick never turning his back from her, his own eyes gazing at the marble floor. His heart wanted her, his heart wanted to hold her and love her, protect her. But his mind…

"Goodbye, Judy," was all he said, before he continued his forced-stroll to the door, his paws in his pockets.

Every step away from her was a challenge, as if his ankles were shackled—

"Please," he heard her call out from behind. Sorrow—there was much sorrow in her beautiful voice. He swallowed his sob, letting it collapse in his chest. He didn't take another step… couldn't. "Don't leave me, Nick." She choked out. "Please." He heard her take a step towards him. "You're… you're the only person in my life that's believed me, encouraged me to do what I do."

A tear streamed down his auburn cheek, leaving a damp path in its wake.

"You mean everything to me, Nick. I don't care if you're a fox, I don't care you're a predator, all I care about is you. And—and I love you."

He froze—completely froze.

"I love you," she said again. "For everything that you are."

When was the last time he'd heard those three, powerful words spoken to him, with such truth in them.

… He'd never heard those words since his mother had—

He turned fully around fully, looking her directly in the eyes.

"You're a bunny, Judy."

Nick felt the words hit their mark as she said nothing, as she didn't move. Nothing.

But he turned his back to her and continued to walk toward the spinning door, every movement slack, weak.

He'd said it, the only person the little rabbit thought believed in her just tore her to shreds. It was her reality: no matter how hard she worked, no matter how many cases she solved, she was just a bunny, nothing more.

And for Nick, saying that was his way of pushing her away, to quit on him, hate him, and move on.

But Judy Hopps never knew when to quit.

"You don't mean that," she said, sharply, but there was still hurt in her tone. "You know you didn't mean that."

Nick kept walking, forcing one foot in front of the other.

"When I handed you that paper, Nick, and asked you to be my partner, you were happy. You were truly happy inside, because deep down, you knew that's was what you always wanted: a chance to do right and prove that you are more than a fox."

One foot in front of the other, one foot in front of the other—he kept that pace as he neared and neared the door.

His ear perked at the rushed footsteps behind him, closing in on him.

"You think I would've handed you that paper if I was scared of you or hated predators as a whole? Nick, I gave you that paper because I see who you are inside… and I see so much more than just some sly fox. I see so much more and I love you for that."

There it was, those three words.

I love you

It was as if his feet had been nailed into the marble beneath him. He couldn't manage another step.

She remained persistent, her soft, near-soundless steps on the marble floor grew closer.

Nick didn't want to look at her, didn't want to face her expression.

"Go away," he growled.

The pacing of her steps stuttered only once, and then slowed, cautious. Cautious. He clenched his paw into a tight fist at that, anger and something else swarming through him.

"Nick, please. What I said on the podium… I'm sorry, I-I didn't know."

Another tear escaped his eye. He'd thought—god dammit, he really thought someone believed in him, could believe in him.

She began to speak—

But then.

"Judy," he said, his tone blank and flat. Dangerously calm. "Go. Away."

His threat was ignored.

"Nick," she said. Another step. His heart was thundering in his chest. "You're my friend."

And then, she grasped his paw in two of her own.

Something in him snapped when she touched him, anger, hatred, sadness and sorrow—all of those emotion hit him at once, shredding apart whatever was left of his heart.

Anger, through the chaos, slithered in and took over his mind.

But… something else took his mind as well. Something that was almost unknown to him—almost…

It happened in seconds.

One moment, Nick bared his teeth and unsheathed his claws as he let out a ferocious roar—

There was an ear-piercing scream as claws lacerated flesh—

The next moment, he stood there, every strand of his fur on end, his teeth bared and his fingers curled as he breathed heavily, those emotions dying down.

Then, his emerald eyes fell on her and widened with horror.

She was curled into a fetal position on the marble floor, clutching her stomach and breathing just as hard as he was, except, she was trembling—badly.

He felt his chest cave in when his nose caught the scent of blood. In his gaze, devastation shown there.

"Judy…," he breathed, a plea.

She slowly rose on one paw and gazed up at him. Terror—true, pure terror shown in her violet eyes, terror that was directed at him.

She raised her other paw and looked down at her stomach, looked down at the three gashes, the three claw-marks in her gray fur, in her skin.

Nick saw it, too, and… he dared one step toward her. "Judy," he said again. "I'm sorry."

Dazzling violet met emerald.

"… Stay away from me..."

Nick flicked away from her, as if he'd been burned, falling back a step. And then, he looked down at his paw. His eyes widened. His fingers, his claws were painted in blood, her blood.

He'd clawed her, he'd hurt her—

Nick ran for the spinning doors without looking back and when he got outside, he walked away calmly, his paws tucked in his pockets as his tail swayed with each step.

He grew father and father and father, until he vanished in the crowd outside.

Judy could only stare on, not knowing what to think, not knowing what to do.

A tear streamed down her cheek as she passed out.