Judy had released her grip on the vixen almost immediately. Now the two mammals stared unwaveringly into each other's eyes, both engaging in a battle of wills outward and internal.

Judy, for her part, had descended into her 'police mind'. The thought that came forward like a blazing neon sign was simply: This is a con. This vixen is trying to hustle me.

Nick would have been proud of her scepticism. Indeed, he would have been just as suspicious if not more at this moment. It was simply too convenient. Gone for decades and then, out of the blue, his long-lost mother suddenly appears from nowhere. This, after both Judy and Nick's faces had been plastered across the Internet and news channels for months.

So what was her game then? Perhaps the media vultures, having failed to get the inside scoop, had enlisted the help of someone who might be able to get close to them. It was that or someone else out there looking to gain something from their current notoriety. Not to mention the real possibility that there were mammals who might wish them legitimate harm for some reason or another. Whatever was going on, Judy needed to protect Nick. And she would protect him. Because, although many assumed that Nick was the more protective one of the two (him being a fox and her a 'defenceless' rabbit), in truth, it was quite the opposite.

By the time Judy had sorted her thoughts she was only a few mental steps away from conducting a full on inquisition. This vixen would know fear. More than that, once she had clued Judy into exactly what was going on, she would stay away if she valued her own physical and mental wellbeing.

...

And yet…

…

The vixen was undoubtedly sick, and homeless.

Taking a further moment to properly analyze her pathetic state, Judy had to admit that if this was a hustle, it was extremely convincing.

She realized she had failed to entertain the possibility that what the vixen claimed could be true. Her eyes were a point of contention to be sure. The same striking emerald green - she had never seen anything like them except on her fox. The coloring of her fur… The way her eyebrows rose ever so slightly from uncertainty and fear. It was all so subtly Nick.

She could really be his mother…

"It might still be a scam."

Oh, without a doubt. But if she is…

Judy finally spoke after what might have been seconds or minutes, coming up from a deep well of thought. "What's your name?"

Something flashed deep in the vixen's eyes… Shame, sadness? "Cherry," she eventually croaked.

"Really? Cherry Wilde?" Judy was unamused. "I need your real name."

Searching the elderly mammal's eyes Judy could detect no hint of a lie when she eventually responded, "S'been so long. I… don't remember."

As unlikely as that seemed, Judy decided to leave it for now. "You know me?"

The vixen nodded yes.

"You saw me on T.V. - in the papers with Nick?"

The vixen nodded again.

This time Judy injected a modicum of menace into her voice and expression, "What do you want?"

The vixen didn't seem overly perturbed by Judy's threatening tone; instead, she swallowed and coughed for a moment. Fixing Judy again with her green eyes, shaking her head, a note of pleading playing across her features, "…is he good? Is he happy?"

The tone of her voice - that of a mother needing to know her son was doing ok after years apart. It started to eat away at the walls Judy had put up between them. She had to steel herself, bring to mind that this was probably the part where the con artist would play at her heartstrings. She wouldn't soften though, not if it meant exposing her fox to more heartbreak.

"Nick is fine, and he is good. He's a better mammal then he has any right to be after everything he's been through. Yes he has scars. But he also has mammals who care about him. I think he's started to heal, and I plan to help him in any way that I can."

The vixen's eyes had grown misty, and then, Judy watched as tears spilled down her face, pattering against her filthy hooded sweater. "I'm glad."

Judy buried her pity as she scrutinized her tear stained face, waiting for the act to be revealed as false or for the crux of this con to be played.

But to Judy's surprise all the vixen did was slowly and shakily get to her feet. Brushing away some of the leaves clinging to her person she asked,

"Gotta smoke I could bum?"

Judy couldn't even process the question so she simply stated, "No."

The vixen dropped her gaze. "Don't tell him you found me."

Judy wavered.

The fox began to cough, deep gravelly hacks that sounded incredibly unhealthy. After a few seconds of this she spat a wad of green mucus into the dirt before she spoke again, having to take a short gasp of air between sentences. "I knew you by his smell. Wouldn't have otherwise… with the clothes you are wearing. You should know… mammals have been around the camps… offering money to anyone who could tell them where to find you…"

And there it was; the hook, the mystery. It demanded an investigation. The vixen offered questions and Judy would need answers. The play was so obvious and yet Judy knew she couldn't resist, couldn't let it go; couldn't simply walk away even though she probably should. Instantly making her decision, Judy reasoned that Nick was safe at the academy for the next month. She had that long to figure this out at least.

The elderly mammal had turned away, barely lifting her feet as she walked, her paws shuffling through the dirt and leaves as she went.

This wasn't over though, so Judy reached out and lightly grabbed the vixen's paw. To Judy's surprise, the fox reflexively turned and growled at the sudden contact. The bunny wasn't fazed; she growled right back.

(During her weekend with Nick, and as they explored the more personal side of their relationship… Judy had made her first forays into growling. At first it was playful and almost mocking, then it had become fun and thrilling, and finally it felt natural and deeply intimate. In her ample free time, Judy had been... practising.)

The vixen's eyes went wide at the sound as the bunny before her produced a very accurate recreation of a growl. Then, for the first time since happening upon the rabbit, she smiled. It was at that moment that Judy truly started to consider that this might be Nick's actual mother; the way their mouths curved up in smug amusement was so similar it was uncanny.

The vixen let out an honest laugh that ended up as more of a wheeze. "Don't work much these days… and I haven't been with a doe before but… I'm pretty sure I can get'chu there." The vixen said it with nonchalance and deep amusement, a familiar twinkle in her eye.

Judy was extremely confused and tilted her head asking, "What?"

The vixen's smile widened. "Someone's got to teach you the difference... between a warning growl and a mating one little bunny."

Judy blinked for a moment as things clicked into place. Suddenly her ears and face went white, bile rising halfway up her esophagus. "N-no. That's not." She swallowed, "I don't want that."

The vixen laughed again, although this time it sounded a bit hollow as she waved at herself in a snarky self-mocking tone, "Ain't surprised. Not pretty as I used to be… I can see why he likes you though… you're an easy mark."

Judy was disturbed and vaguely insulted but chose to ignore those feelings for now, locking the entire exchange in the vault and throwing away the key. Instead of dwelling further, she just tried to get to the point. "Look," Judy refused to call the vixen Cherry, "he needs to at least know you're still alive. I can't say if he'll ever forgive you. I doubt he even wants to. All I know is that he deserves a chance, if he wants it, at some kind of closure. I know he has things he needs to get off his chest. You owe him that."

The vixen's face had fallen as Judy spoke. She looked for a moment even more fragile, if that was at all possible. Then her expression went blank, hardening, her verdant eyes becoming dark and distant. "I need money."

Judy bit back a curse.

"Money? Are you serious? You have the chance to maybe make things right with your son, who you abandoned, and you have the nerve to bargain?!"

The dead coldness in the vixen's eyes was terrible to behold. Judy hoped never to see that look on her fox, not ever.

"What do you think my life is you little c# &?… I have one rule… When mammals want something from me, they have to pay. You think I care about him?... Yesterday I sucked off an old goat f-for... half a bottle of vodka... I want a thousand dollars. That or… or he can find some other way to put me to rest."

Judy grit her teeth, hard; as much to stop herself from saying something she'd regret as to keep from being sick. She strongly considered that it really might be best to let the vixen remain lost. Could this horrible ghost of his mother really bring anything but disaster? And by the look of her she would be dead soon anyway…

No! That wasn't right. She could never face Nick again knowing she had abandoned his mother, as poisonous as she was, to possibly die sick and alone in the woods.

"Fine," Judy bit out the words, "you'll get your money. But first you talk to Nick. That won't happen for another month and until then you are going to be in my care. You'll do what I say without complaint. No drugs, no alcohol and no smoking until we're done. After that you can crawl back into whatever hole you prefer. I refuse to let him see you like… like this," Judy said as she gestured to the vixen's general vicinity.

The fox was giving Judy a nasty look, but was then ensnared by a long bout of painful wet coughing. When she was done all that was left was an aura of exhaustion and resignation. "You want to be my new pimp bunny rabbit. Fine, deal… this old whore can still dance n' sing. I can do evry'thang."

Judy cringed and looked away, no longer able or willing to hold the vixen's gaze. There were a lot of things Judy wanted to say to her. More than anything though, she just wanted to be gone from her presence. Sadly, life wasn't always so simple.

"Come on. I'm taking you to a doctor."

To Judy's great surprise, a few minutes later as she emerged back onto the main pathway of the Glen, vixen in tow, she was greeted by the ever-grumpy sight of Finnick. The squat fox had his arms crossed, his foot tapping on the pebble-strewn path. When he spoke, it was almost a growl, "Where the hell you been Rabbit?"

Judy blinked in surprise. "I thought you left."

"Well I didn't. You jus' decide to take a little nap or-" Finnick was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Nick's alleged mother as she struggled out of the long grass into the open. The tiny fox glared at the new arrival for several long seconds before asking, his voice steadily raising, "Hopps, who the hell is this greasy hag?!"

In response to this, and without missing a beat, the vixen spat a wad of phlegm right at him. Finnick danced back frantically, managing to evade it by mere inches.

"Bitch! I'll kill you!"

Judy's day had gone from fun and exciting to strange and awful within the span of thirty minutes. She was reaching her limit. In a voice she had used to direct crowds, Judy bellowed, "Enough!"

She eyed both Finnick and the vixen before continuing, "Finnick, this may or may not be Nick's mother. Before you say a single thing - I know… Nick told me everything. Also, I'm aware this might be a hustle. Believe me, I know. I'm going to need your help. I'm taking her to the doctor, and I need you to drop something off for me at Precinct One."

Finnick looked like he was ready to boil over. "She ain't gettin' in my van. I ain't getting lice, an' mites, and f $% knows what else-"

"Finn, please." Judy didn't try to use bunny eyes on him, as she figured it would just backfire. Instead, she gave him the most pleading but serious look she could muster. "I need your help."

The small fox grit his teeth and turned away. "Ain't happening." With that, he turned his back to her and began to walk down the path.

The funny thing was that even though he said he wouldn't, Judy got the distinct feeling that he would. Her fox sense was tingling and it was telling her that Finnick was there for her; his pride just wouldn't let him say the words.

She waved at the vixen behind her to follow. Each separated from the other by a few dozen steps, the three of them made their way, slowly and silently, out of the park.

Without a word, Judy got Nick's mother seated in the back of Finnick's van. The first thirty minutes of the car ride back to the city center was equally quiet.

Then the calm was interrupted by a soft snoring that was being emitted from a now obviously sleeping vixen.

After observing her for a moment, Judy spoke in the barest of whispers. An advantage that both her and Finnick luckily shared was their incredible hearing allowed them to pick up even the tiniest of noise, "I need you to go up into Nick's room. You'll find a few garbage bags full of clothes inside the closet. There should be some of Nick's stray hairs on the clothing. Collect up as many as you can find and put them in a sandwich bag. Use gloves. On the living room bookshelf, there is a hollowed-out book. It has money in it. I need you to hide it somewhere safe, not at the house."

Finnick's eyes never left the road but he gave the barest of nods to show that he understood.

From a box in the center console of the van, Judy slowly drew a tissue. Carefully and slowly, she used it to protect her paw from contaminating her target. The vixen seemed to be losing a lot of fur, due to parasites, sickness or shedding Judy wasn't sure. Resting on her tail were several tufts that had been clinging to her by little more than static. Reaching back, Judy gently swept the tissue over the vixen's matted tail, collecting a small bit of hair as she went. She wrapped it carefully into the tissue and, reaching over, placed it into Finnick's breast pocket. "Put that into a second bag. You need to take both bags to the receptionist at the ZPD headquarters, a cheetah named Clawhauser."

The Fennec fox's face was stony, but again he gave a small nod to show he understood. Judy let out a long sigh, leaning her head back into the seat.

After a few more minutes of silence Finnick spoke for the first time, not bothering to whisper, "God she stinks. I ain't gonna be able to sleep in here tonight wit it smelling like dead animal. You gonna have to let me stay on Nick's couch for a few days till it airs out in here." Judy fought hard to repress a smile. She was deeply grateful. The prospect of spending time alone with the homeless mammal behind her had been twisting her gut into knots. Finn obviously didn't trust the vixen and was wanting to keep an eye on Judy while she was in the house. He really was looking out for her. Try and tell him that and he would vehemently deny it. But he actually had a pretty big(ish) heart underneath his gruff exterior… Dumb foxes.

Finally she responded, "Yeah, that's fine with me Finn."

A stretch later, as they began to come into the downtown proper, Judy judged that it was time to make a very necessary phone call. She had been trying to come up with a plan as she sat ruminating in the van. What she'd decided on was a bit of a long shot, and even if it did work, she was going to have to make some definite sacrifices. It was the best she could do on short notice though. So, taking her phone out of her pocket, she dialed up a number she had only used once before. The answer came after half a dozen rings, the recipient most likely contemplating the wisdom of answering at all.

"H-Hey, it's Judy! Uh... long time no see gal pal!" The voice wavered a few times, filled with false cheer and trepidation.

"Hey, Ben. How's everything with you?"

"Me? Oh, yeah, you know. Fabulous as usual!"

"Great. Listen, I'm going to be kind of blunt here. You owe me big time."

"Y-yeah? Yeah, uh, I really do, don't I? Judy, I meant to talk to you sooner. I'm really super sorr-"

Judy cut him off with a gentle but serious voice, "Hold up big guy. No apology necessary. I'm going to give you a chance to make it up to me. That and I have a one-time offer I think you will be interested in. The thing is, I need a favor. A massive, important, once in a lifetime favor."

"O… ok?"

"Here is the situation. I think I've found Nick's long-lost mother. She was living homeless. She's sick and old and is suffering from memory loss, along with a bunch of other things."

Clawhauser's voice became a bit watery, like he was on the verge of tears. "Oh my goodness. That is so terrible Judy. But I bet Nick is going to be so happy that you found her."

"Well, here's the thing. Nick can't know about her yet. He's in training and he needs to focus. If we told him now he would probably drop out from the academy to take care of her. Then me and him would never get to be police partners."

Clawhauser whispered in terror on the other end of the line, "No… so much cuteness… gone…"

Judy held in a sigh and soldiered on, "So, because Ms. Wilde can't even remember her own name, I need you to pull up her file and get her info for me."

"Uhhh… ok Jude. For you I can do-"

"Then, I need you to pull some strings with HR and get her listed as Nick's dependant and put her on his benefits."

"Yeah Judy, there is like NO way. Nick is going to have to-"

"She's very sick Ben. She needs proper care."

"No doubt Bun-Bun, but I can't-"

"And here is the other thing I'm offering. I know you are running a blog, 'Wildehopps Forever', right?"

"Um! A-about that-"

"I will have you over for one night. I will answer any and every question you have about me and Nick's relationship. Nothing is off the table. No intimate details or embarrassing stories. And so long as you let me curate what you write, I'll give you permission to post online almost anything we talk about. Let me say again that you will never, ever, ever get this offer again…"

Clawhauser had gone totally still. Eventually, a low guttural sound began as the cheetah seemed to be rebooting, "UhhhhhhhhhhhhhhHHHH hah ha! OK! Ok I'll do it. I might totally, definitely, get fired… but, but I can do this - maybe. I mean, yes! I've got this!"

Judy's voice was suddenly back to its usual bouncy tone, "That's great! You're a literal lifesaver. Thank you so much! Bye Ben!"

She ended the call before the big cat could say anything further or change his mind.

Judy let out a long groan as she slumped back into her seat. She quickly texted the overweight cheetah one last thing:

'Also could you get the lab to do a paternal DNA test for me ASAP? A friend is going to drop off some hair samples within the hour. Thanks!'

There. The plan, as shaky as it was, was in motion. The cost would be embarrassing to say the least, but to hell with it.

"Just go with the flow Judy. One problem at a time. Explain to Nick why his love life is on the Internet when the time comes."

Not ten minutes later Finnick dropped them off at the 'Happy Town Walk-in Clinic'. Judy woke the sleeping vixen, and with only a moderate amount of coaxing, together they stepped inside.