Nick sat in the waiting room at Zootopia General Hospital, drinking his fourth coffee in the last two hours and nervously twitching. Everyone in the waiting room had elected to sit as far away from him as possible. In any other situation he might have felt the ghost of an emotion he might have once called offense, but at that moment he couldn't even he bothered. He was pretty sure that his badge was the only thing keeping him in the waiting room at all.

He tried his best to quiet his thoughts, but nothing he did helped. He was too wound up and his treacherous mind kept thinking up worst-case scenarios.

"What if she dies on the operating table?"

"What if she's permanently paralyzed?"

"What if she's a vegetable?"

"What if-"

Nick shook his head and downed the rest of the coffee, the bitter taste distracting him from his thoughts for a moment.

"Judy will be fine." He told himself. "She's a tough bunny, and she'll live through this, and she'll make a full recovery."

Regret twisted his insides as he sat there, feeling useless and powerless to do anything about Judy's state. He began chewing on another one of his claws, a nervous habit that he was sure he had kicked years ago.

"She's going to die," whispered another intrusive thought.

"Shut up."

"She's going to die and it's all your fault."

"Shut up!"

"You should have been there to protect her. You should have done something. She's going to die and because you're a coward, you never got to love her."

"I said shut up!" Nick grabbed his head and shook it, trying to dispel the thoughts swirling in his mind.

"You know it's true. You know that you hate yourself. You know that she's going to hate you. You failed her. She trusted you and it's your fault she's like this."

"SHUT UP!" The words tire themselves from his throat before he even realized that he was speaking out loud. The patrons in the waiting room shifted uncomfortably in their seats and did Their best to give him more space.

He pushed those thoughts away. They were too painful to even consider. If Judy died… he didn't even want to think about how lost he would be.

Nick heard them whispering. The words "crazy" "homeless" and "savage" popped up. He didn't care he just needed to stay here. Some me was after Judy. He couldn't trust anyone. He needed to stay here and keep her safe.

He got up and went to get another cup of coffee. He needed to stay awake.

Bogo burst into the waiting room at the Zootopia General Hospital and looked around the room. After a few seconds, he found Nick. The poor fox looked like absolute hell, he clearly hadn't slept in all night, his fur was frazzled and his claws had been chewed down to nubs. He walked over to Nick. "Wilde, what happened, exactly?" He asked.

"Judy… She… So much blood…" he muttered, to himself more than Bogo.

"WILDE!" He shouted, seemingly snapping Nick out of it. "Tell me what happened to Detective Hopps."

"Okay, we had just parted ways, and we were going to our respective homes, when she called me up…"

Flashback

After hearing the explosion over the phone and calling 911, Nick rushed over to her apartment, sprinting the whole way. It was chaos. The building was on fire, a huge chunk had been blown out of the side, and the air was choked with smoke.

"JUDY?!" He called, looking around for her. "JUDY?!"

He saw a bright red trail of blood leading to an alleyway next to the building. "Oh my god…"

Judy was lying there, not moving, in a pool of her own blood.

Nick rushed over and took a moment to assess the scene. There didn't seem to be any danger, so he ran to Judy. It was bad, her body was covered in cuts and singed fur around terrible-looking burn wounds. He quickly began tearing off strips of his clothes to staunch the flow of blood. He felt for her pulse and gave an internal sigh of relief, she was alive, if only barely.

Nick tried to wake her up as he did his best to dress her wounds as he waited for an ambulance to show up. Nick. Arely managed to keep calm until Fire and Rescue showed up. He helped them secure the victims of the explosion. Once he was satisfied that Judy was going to be okay, he let them take her to the hospital. He entered the building, no longer on fire, and went to the room he knew to be Judy's.

Nick paused for a moment. This felt wrong. He should be with Judy. He swallowed that feeling as he had so many others in his life and went to work. He looked for anything that might be useful. He saw looked out where her window used to be and saw a rabbit-sized computer chair. She must have hurled it out of the window before jumping out. He kept walking, feeling the charred remains of her floor beneath his footpaws, when he kicked something by accident. He leaned down to pick it up. He had no idea what it was, the metal was broken and twisted. He grabbed it with his claws, careful to not leave paw prints on it, and slid it into his jacket pocket.

He took extremely careful notes where it was on the floor and then left the apartment building. He knew that there was nothing else he could do.

Flashback End

"And that's how I got here. I have this." Nick numbly reached into his pocket and pulled out a bag. "I think that there are the bomb remains. Maybe ballistics can find something."

"I'll make sure they get it. And you're going home," ordered Bogo.

Wh- Chief, Are you insane?" He asked. "I can't go home!"

"Wilde, this is not up for-"

Nick snarled, drawing the nervous attention of several partons. HE stood up in his chair and got face-to-face with Bogo "Maybe you haven't noticed, but I'm off the clock, you can't order me to do shit."

"You are correct. But I need you at your best for when you are on the clock. So go home, there's nothing you can do here, your time will be better spent on the case."

"And what about Judy?" He asked.

"Wilde, unless you have a medical degree, there's nothing you can do here."

"That's not what I mean and you know it." Nick pulled Bogo closer. "We still don't know who killed Hooveson, and for all we know it could be a dirty cop. I am not leaving this room until I know she is going to be safe, and you can't promise that."

Bogo didn't respond. As much as he was loathe to admit it, Nick was right. Nether of them could safeguard her twenty-four/seven.

"Listen to me, Wilde." Bogo stood up. "I can't make any promises, but you staying here and killing yourself won't do anyone any good, least of all her."

"I'd rather die than take that chance," he told Bogo, unflinching. The truth was, that if Judy died… He was too scared to even think of what he would do. "I'm not going anywhere. So either leave, or go get me some more coffee,"

The last thing Bogo wanted was to cause a scene, and knocking Nick out and dragging him away would certainly do that. It would also critically undermine his and Nick's working relationship. None of that changed the fact that he still needed all paws on deck, and that included Nick.

Just as Bogo opened his mouth to speak, a new voice piped in. Smooth, silky and measured. It was a voice he knew well, one that he never thought he would be speaking with face-to-face again so soon.

"Gentlemammals, perhaps I could be of assistance."

Bonnie and Stu were driving hard towards Zootopia. They had heard the news and needed to see if Judy was okay. They had left their oldest children in charge of the farm while they left.

"I knew we should have never let her get on that train!" Shouted Stu as he hit the steering wheel.

"Stu, you know Judy. Once that girl gets an idea in her head she cannot be dissuaded from anything by anyone."

"I don't care anymore. Once we get there we are making her quit and do something safe!"

"Stu. You know as well as I do that we can't do that…"

Stu hit the steering wheel again. "I know… I just feel so helpless…"

"Judy's an adult now. All we can do is trust in her decisions, regardless of what they may bring."

Stu didn't have a response to that as he pushed the pedal down further and kept driving to Zootopia.

"What about that partner of hers? The fox?" Asked Stu, eager to assign blame to someone, something tangible. "Shouldn't he be keeping her safe? Isn't that what partners do?"

"Stu, that's not fair. We don't know what happened to her. For all we know, it was something he couldn't help." Bonnie did her best to calm her husband down. She couldn't exactly blame him for getting all worked up like this, but it wasn't helping. "Listen, we'll go and see her in the hospital, and then we'll go and talk to Chief Bogo. We cn get the story from him. And if we see Nick, I want you to be polite. For Judy's sake."

Stu sighed. "Okay, I'll do my best," he told her.

Bonnie gave a look at him, but she could tell that he was still fuming. His reckless driving gave it away. SHe hoped he would calm down a bit by the time they arrived in Zootopia, Stu made very poor decisions when he was angry.

"You were supposed to KILL her!" Screamed Swindon into her phone. "All you've done is made everything look more suspicious!"

Matthew sighed. "Hopps will die, you have my word on that, I've never failed anyone before, and I have no intention of starting now." The assassin kept a calm and professional tone as he talked with the Mayor.

"And that's the only reason I haven't give up on you yet! Hopps had better be dead before she leaves that hospital, or I'll be cutting you loose!"

"I would think twice before doing that, Miss Mayor," he replied. "I just think that you should be aware that I have been recording all our conversations. If you try to screw me, I'll make sure they get released. Even without any proof, they will turn your reputation into such a flaming wreck that you can forget about being Mayor. You'll be lucky to avoid prison, let alone get any kind of legitimate job."

"... This isn't over." Swinging hung up her phone and grabbed another bottle of liquor. She forwent a glass and took a long pull straight from the bottle. Her plan was crumbling before her eyes, she needed something to go right for once. At least the Hopps girl was out of commission for a while, that should at least buy her some time. If nothing else she still had her inside man at the ZPD, if Matthew couldn't get to her than she still had that ace in the hole.

"Mr. Big…" greeted Bogo with a cool and collected tone. "What brings you here?" He asked. It had been only a few short months since the last annual charity event that helped stretch the ZPD budget. Mr. Bog had been somewhat of a fixture of those events for several years running, and always gave generously. It didn't take a genius to figure out why. A strong police presence helped keep down any rising criminals that would try to muscle in on his territory, leaving him the undisputed king of white-collar crime in the city of Zootopia.

Mr. Big regarded the police chief with a calm look from the Palm of the polar bear holding him. He and Bogo had a complicated relationship. Bogo knew that Big was a criminal, most of Zootopia did, but he always kept his nose clean and was exceptionally good at covering his tracks. All his cash was laundered through his "legitimate businesses," and he never committed any crimes that could be traced back to him. Combined with the mostly white-collar nature of his crimes and his more-than-generous donations to the ZPD, and the police were very disinclined to go after him.

While the two men sized each other up, Nick slunk away behind Bogo. He wanted to keep his distance from Big at any cost. He still felt nervous, and the trio of polar bear guards behind him didn't exactly make him feel better.

"I'm here to tell you that Judy Hopps should not cause anyone any concern. He made a gesture and the bear holding him snapped his paw. Two doctors came in. An arctic wolf and an arctic hare.

"These are my family doctors, Doctors Timberson and Thumper. They will be seeing to Judy's medical care." As he finished speaking, two of the polar bears with him stepped out from behind him and joined the doctors. "And my boys, Raymond and Kevin will be providing guard service that I assure you, is substantial."

Bogo took a moment to size the both of them up. Most people would have missed it, but to his trained eye, he could see that they were both wearing shoulder-holstered handguns beneath their expensive, tailored jackets. And he would bet his pension that they had other weapons as well, in addition to the teeth and claws their species possessed.

"That is very… generous…" he said after taking a moment to find the right word. "May I ask why the interest in providing medical care and bodyguard services?" He asked.

"Family is important," he replied. "And Judy is not only a cherished friend, but also the godmother to my beloved granddaughter. I would be remiss if I did not make sure she was properly cared for after such a… senseless act of violence."

Bogo was satisfied that Mr. Big had no ulterior motives for offering his officer care. "Very well. I accept. I assume you already cleared it with the hospital."

"Yes. I just need Nick's permission."

Nick looked startled. "Me?! Why me?!"

"Judy has you listed as the person in charge of making medical decisions on her behalf in case she is ever… incapable of doing so. Possibly because her parents are too far away and she trusts you. I just need you to sign here."

Koslov, the bear carrying the Arctic Shrew, handed Nick a clipboard.

Nick's paws were a red blur as he signed the paper and handed it back to Koslov.

"It is done. And now there is just one more thing to discuss. I assume you still don't know who did this?" Asked Mr. Big.

Bogo answered. "No. We don't."

"I see. You do understand that Judy is family. And an attempt on the lives of one of my family must be… answered for?" Big was careful to choose his words.

"What are you saying?" He asked.

"I'm saying that if the ZPD fails to capture the madman that did this within a satisfactory period, I may have to take matters to the…" he considered his words carefully again. "Private sector."

"Is that a fact?" Asked Bogo.

"Yes. Now if you excuse me, I wish to talk to Detective Wilde. In private."

Nick's eyes went wide in alarm and he glanced around rapidly, looking for a way to bolt.

Bogo was satisfied that Mr. Big wouldn't have a cop killed in broad daylight in front of dozens of witnesses. "Very well. He is off the clock, so who he talks to and what it's about is of no concern to me." He headed for the door. "Have a nice day."

"Thank you." He turned to Nick, who looked almost resigned to his fate, keeping his muzzle pointed at the floor.

"Nicky, you look ok like hell," Mr. Big observed. "Before we go any further, I do feel the need to impress upon you that I have no intentions of harming you whatsoever."

Nick perked up a little at that. "R-really?" He asked. "I wouldn't blame you. I deserve it. This is all my fault. I failed her…"

Mr. Big sighed and had Kislov lower him down closer to Nick's eye level. "Nicky. Listen to me. I do expect you to keep Judy safe. But I am not an unreasonable mammal. I know that you and her had already parted for the night. I do. It expect you to be able to psychically predict any harm that might befall her. I am not mad at you because I fully understand that there was nothing that you, nor anyone could have done to prevent this."

"I know… I know…" Nick whispered, still unable to look anyone in the eye. He looked like he was about to break down.

"Nicky, if you truly want to make things up, then catch the person that did this. Throw him in a cell and destroy the key. Make him pay, make him regret going after someone so important to all of us."

A choked sob reached Nick's entire body. "I- I don't know if I can. Judy's the cop. I'm just a tag-along fox with a worthless badge that can't even-" he was cut off by the feeling of a massive paw slapping him across the face.

"Thank you Koslov." He turned back to Nick. "You went through the academy, you earned your place as a detective, and I know for a fact that Judy would disagree with every word coming out of your mouth." He fixed Nick with a warm look. "Tell me, if your situation and Judy's were reversed. Do you think that she would take even a second to wallow in self pity?"

"No."

"Then neither should you. She believes in you. Make that belief reality. Be the Nick Wilde she knows you can be."

Nick finally looked up. "You're right. If this happened, it means that Judy stepped in something big. We hit them where it hurt. She's out for now, so I need to keep hitting."

Mr. Big smirked. There was a fire burning behind Nick's slitted, emerald eyes. Oh yes, there was still grief, loss and heartbreak. But now there was something to channel it all into. "Good. Oh, and get some sleep. And a shower. You smell almost as bad as you look."

Nick had noticed that everyone seemed to be sitting as far away from him as they possibly could. A fox was bad enough, but a smelly fox… "Uh… yes sir." He took a step to move out of the waiting room and nearly collapsed. The adrenaline and caffeine cocktail that had kept him up was wearing off and he suddenly realized how exhausted he was. He managed to stagger out of the hospital and took the train home.

Once he was home, h stripped off his filthy, tattered clothes and threw the shirt in the trash. The jacket and pants would need a trip to the cleaners at the very least. He collapsed in bed and slept a fitful, restless sleep until his phone began screaming at him to wake up.

By the time he finally woke up, he was still tired, but functional, at least. He dragged himself out of bed and showered, taking a bit longer than usual to wash the grime out of his fur and make sure he looked at least semi-presentable. It was a habit that had been drilled into him by his father. A fox always needed to look their best, or people would assume the worst.

"People will still assume the worst anyway, but less people," Nick thought to himself as he finished buttoning up his shirt and tucking it in. He grabbed his badge and his wallet before locking the door behind him as he headed out for the day.

In his hideout, Claw reclined in his chair. He contemplated calling Swinton to scream at her, but he knew that the effort would be wasted. She was rapidly becoming more trouble than she was worth. He reached over to one of the bank of touch screens laid out before him, and began scrolling through his contacts. He needed someone to take care of her in a way that he could make her more useful to him alive than dead. He couldn't find anything, but came across a rather interesting set of names.

Doug, Woolter and Jesse.

Bellwether had named them as accomplices in her bid for power, but they had escaped justice and were currently working underground. On what, he isn't know. However, he had reason to suspect that they hadn't simply gone dark. He had been an admirer of her plan to seize power in Zootopia, and the predator-prey rift left by her actions a few years ago had certainly been a boon to him. He transferred the files to his phone so he could scroll through them more easily. He noticed that some of their aliases had been ordering chemistry equipment. Cheap, secondhand stuff, but he knew drug manufacturing tells when he saw them.

A plan began to take shape in his mind. He sent them an email along with a small "donation" and waited for them to respond.

Mr. "Doug,"

I represent an interested party who wishes to fund your enterprises in exchange for a small, twenty percent, cut of the profits, and the promise of a few favors later on down the line. The money you have just received is but a small portion of what I can give you. If we partner up and you accept my terms, your Nightsade could be everywhere in the city, rather than just in the Happytowns. I can supply you with workers, equipment, and facilities that I assure you are better than whatever abandoned, dilapidated warehouse you are working out of.

Please respond to me as quickly as possible and we can properly negotiate the terms of our arrangement.

-Claw

The email was sent through twenty mirrors in over fifteen different countries, virtually untraceable to anyone that wasn't a savant-level hacker. He got a reply in short order. They were interested in what he had to offer them. They played it cool, but he already knew that he got them.

His grin widened as he read their reply. They had accepted his offer. He sent them another email with a number to his secure line so that they could contact him, along with instructions to delete the email chain after they had done so. His phone rang.

"Hello?" Came the laid-back and vaguely high-sounding voice.

Claw spoke, the built in voice-modulation taking effect. "Doug, I assume?"

"Yeah."

"Excellent. My offer is genuine, I just need you to promise me two things. First of all: Ask no questions. I have my reasons for doing these things, and you do not need to know them. Second: Do not try to screw me. I am a very nice mammal, very understanding. But that can and will change if you try and weasel out of this deal." He paused to let his implied threat sink in. "I trust we have a deal?"

"Yeah. Sure thing. We know the drill. Just as long as you keep your end we don't really have too many problems doing what you need."

"Excellent. I think that this could be the start of a beautiful working relationship...

Well, there you have it. The latest chapter. I can feel myself getting better at this whole "Storytelling" thing. I actually wrote a second draft of this chapter! First time for everything, huh.

Sorry I was a bit late getting this out. I've been on vacation with my Family and didn't want to write on vacation. So I finished it up after I got back.

Please let me know what you Think of this chapter and the way the story is going as a whole. I would love to know.

Edit: Sorry for the spam. I posted it and then noticed a few Typos that eluded me the first time I proofread.