Chapter 5

"Where am I?"

"W-wh-what's going on?!"

Blackness cloaked the landscape, she could barely see her hand. She couldn't make out any other mammals...just, just, darkness. Eyes as bright as the sun stared back at her, glowing, almost reminding her of fireflies which she had only seen on her family farm way back in her youth days. The eyes glowing flickered and one maniac of a smile spread across the blackness, the white of their teeth causing an almost rift in space, slicing through the darkness almost.

"Come here, my sweet.." a voice as slick and smooth as Nick's oosed out of nowhere an everywhere.

"W-wha?" she asked confusedly.

"Judy..don't do it!"

"Nick...?"

"I DON'T CARE! I LOVE HIM!"

Turning, the doe looked at where the sound came from and found herself looking at a burning gaping hole in the pitch blackness. A colorful backdrop was shown of the inside of a beige area, almost like a hallway, there standing in it was the clear fugrines of Nick and Judy...not bantering..but arguing. Granted, they've argued with eachother before, mostly due to Nick's defiance and independance and much like hers albeit stronger and much more annoying - but that's why they had eachother, to remind eachother about their weaknesses and limitations. But this..this was different. The anger was pure for both, breathing heavily and hands balled into fists. Eyes glaring into amethyst eyes like daggers and bodies trembling with their rage and frustration. She looked, confusion etched on her face.

"JUDY, YOU'RE WAY OUT OF YOUR LEAGUE HERE!" Nick snapped, baring his sharp white fangs at the doe.

"NO! I'M GOING AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO STOP ME!"

"You don't know what he's like...Judy...please..don't do this.." Nick whispered, tears slowly forming in the corners of his eyes as he looked up into the eyes of Judy who looked baffled and hesistant before shaking her head and glaring back at him an turning on her heels, hooking her arm around someone else's arm and skipped off with them leaving a crouched red vulpine crying on the floor of the beige hallway, tears dropping onto the floor like raindrops, soaking deep into the carpet. The backdrop slowly deformed itself the darkness swooping in like a raging sea of blackness, swallowing up the frame before she had a chance to reach out towards the fox; instead she was pulled away visciously from the slowly being swallowed up by darkness backdrop to look into dead eyes, the wicked smile still there.

"Well hello my sweet," the voice whispered, etching closer to her. She was sure she was supposed to be able to feel their breath with how close they were to her face.

"Come with me, my sweet.." the voice said, now close enough to where she should've seen a face but didn't. Her body trembled, senses going into hyper drive as she backed away, wrenching her gase from the wicked smile.

"S-stay away from me!" she stuttered. She glanced back to see if the face complied but instead it took on a look of fury and grasped tightly at her arm pulling her back to where it was, she could now see rows of sharp teeth like daggers hanging from the inside of the black mouth.

"JUDY! COME WITH ME!"

Judy backed up, eyes wide with fear, breathing heavily as she looked around for a way to get away from them. She dodged it and ran in an opposite direction only to run straight into a wall, she practically smacked into it. Shellshocked for a second she didn't have time to defend herself as she was pulled violently and stared in horror as the thing began screaming in her face to a point where spit and brittle splattered all over her face.

"JUDY!

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"JUDY!"

"HELP!"

"JUDY!"

"JUDY!"

"stop, stop, stop, stop, STO-"

"Judy!"

Eyes snapping open, the doe hissed as a bright beam of light flashed in her eyes, blinding her for a second. For a minute she just closed her eyes tightly as she held an arm up to her eyes only to feel pain richoted up an down her arm. Gritting her teeth in pain, she threw her arm down immediately afterwards and opened her eyes once again, to find concerned emerald green eyes staring at her with worry. She blinked not quite registering what was going on or who was in front of her in the first place.

"Carrots...you okay?"

"Nick..?" she asked confusedly. The vulpine chuckled dryly with a soft genuine smile plastered across his black lips.

"The one an only," he stated. His hand was clutched tightly around her left one which was resting along the edge of the hospital bed. She looked down at it and then up the rest of her arm noticing a small IV plugged into her vein where a needle was inserted, pushing clear fluid through her system. She blinked in confusion and looked up at Nick with dull violet eyes.

"Nick...what happened?...

He just stared for a second before wrapping his arms around her and she could've sworn she heard choked sobs coming from the vulpine though they sounded more like hiccups instead," I'm so glad you're okay.." he mumbled softly, his breath just barely brushing against the hairs on her neck sending a shiver down her spine.

"Mmm..me too - I guess.."

"What'd do you mean 'you guess'?" Nick said pulling away from her small frame and leaning back once more in the recliner chair that was far too stiff to be considered a "recliner", "Carrots...you almost died yesterday. Died."

She blinked at him before gasping as she suddenly felt all her memories coming back; the chat on the phone with Nick, the meal and pleasantries, the kiss, the worry and irritation, walking down a dark street, being confronted by someone in dark clothing, then darkness...

And a lot of pain too...

But even then, she couldn't remember what happened after that..everything else seemed like a blur of darkness...an then there was that dream - or was it a nightmare? Or both? She didn't know, she wasn't sure if she wanted to know..but a sliver of her did want to...

"What happened?" she asked. Nick looked at her before sighing and closing his eyes tightly.

"You really want to know?"

"Yes."

Sighing heavily he clasped his hands together and glanced up at her before saying, "Alright, let me start from the beginning..."

{FLASHBACK}

"Stupid, dumb, bunny. Retarded, idiotic, moronic, BUNNY!"

Nick walked as fast he could, breathing heavily while irritation made his heart pound heavily in his chest. He let out a quiet snarl, and glared at nothing as he made his way down 14th and Ash street. He was so close, he had a steady idea that she didn't know where she was. Problem was, he had no idea what street she was on..and he hadn't even bothered to ask her in his fit of rage and mentally punched himself in the face for making that error.

God dammit Nick, why are you such an idiot at some of the worst times?! He mentally scolded himself with a scowl on his face. First getting wasted and sleeping on a bench..and now he'd literally forgotten to ask his own partner where she was which would have made things much quicker. On the bright side, Nick being Nick, he was street smart and knew some shortcuts to get to the Nocturnal District. 14th and Ash just happened to be one of those, and he just so happened to be not to far from it. His walking turned into a steady jog as he made his way through the alley, using his keen sense of smell to see if Judy had come through this way...she hadn't. Though he shouldn't have expected anything less of the grey rabbit. She was smart but still a dumb bunny at heart - he'd taught some of the alleys that made the most sense to go into if you were trying to find a shortcut to get somewhere to her during their first case together - the Nighthowler one - and she'd seemed to acknowledge what he'd said but now...he could only shake his head at her independence.

"I don't know what I was getting my hopes up for," he muttered as his night vision cut through the darkness like a blade, sweeping through his surroundings to make sure no pickpocketers or other lunatics weren't out and about at this time of night, er, day. The sun hadn't come up yet but Nick could feel that sharp chill of a breese that only the dawn could carry over the metropolis.

His ears twitched faintly as the wind brushed against their hairs. But...there was something else with that too. He was sure of it; pricking his ears up high and swiveling them to the right of the alley he could faintly make out the sound of something brushing against the ground. There were no shops or food joints in this district and if there were they didn't give a shit about about maintenance, or health code violations. So since it wasn't the sound of a broom dusting off grime and dirt from the buisness's porch, then it had to be something else...

The wind blew again an he could faintly make out on the horison pale pinks and cotton candy blues slowly mixing together and swallowing the stars and deep indigo, the moon losing its spark of milky white light as the sun rose in another direction from the moon and began to shine its glorious ultra violet onto the pedestrians' homes' windows encouraging them to awaken from slumber and get ready for whatever the day holds in store for the average mammal. Unfortunately, instead of Nick waking up early for another day of paperwork and cruisin' through the streets, he found himself following a scent that was female and what he hoped was a hint of rabbit mixed in. He dashed across chipped and worn concrete, almost declawing himself as he stumbled and stubbed his claw against a sharp crack in the pavement.

"Fuck!" he yelled, but decidely not stopping to address the boo-boo. The only thing that mattered right now was that he had a scent, a lead, and he was determined to solve this case.

The scent hadn't grown stronger yet and the sun had already won its battle against the moon for the right to shine in the sky and had now successfully awaken the majority, if not all, of the city. Nick could faintly hear the sounds of honking and engines revving and of a car screeching against smooth pavement.

"CARROTS!" he yelled though he wasn't really sure why. Perhaps it was just to have some sort of reassurance that she was there and alive, "Carrots! JUDY!?"

No answer.

Throat clenching and eyes stinging he gasped heavily as few tears tried to break loose from his dam, She's fine, she's fine, she's fine, she's fine. She's a strong independent bunny and top of her class...she can handle anything...

At least, that's what he kept telling himself, but the more he repeated it the more unsure he felt of those words.

It wasn't that he didn't believe in her, he'd learned to never under estimate her so there was no problem there, it was just that while Judy had all the right skills and motivation that made her such an amasing cop, she had far too many flaws mentally; for instance, when it came to certain crimes she could be an emotional wreck of tears and matted fur, she could try to hold it together but it never got her anywhere at all but feeling down even deeper in the slums. And whether Nick wanted to admit or not, it was pretty obvious how the rabbit was, could be, completely oblivious to her words that she spoke sometimes, especially when around another one of Nick's connections. It was like with Mr. Big, she knew he was a crime boss but that was all she knew really, she hadn't even tried to understand that the situation she'd just gotten herself into was not the type of situation where one would bring up the fact that they're a cop and immediatley accuse a powerful crime boss about the possible fact that a missing mammal was in their car an state out quite plainly that because you're a crime boss you obviosly hurt this poor mammal who did nothing to you and you clearly like to take sick pleasure in watching others fear you and suffer horribly, you sick twisted bastard - she may not have said it out loud to the arctic shrew's face but by the accusatory in tone and the way her voice was intense it was quite clear how she felt, rather than evaluating the situation at hand by character and motivation she just judged it by what it looks like. Something she was working on never doing again...ever..

Oh, and don't even get me started on her naivete. It was just...no...just, just - no...

And thinking all of those thoughts sent Nick's hope crashing down on him like a tsunami, what also crashed unto him, what he crashed into, was concrete. Pure, solid, painful, concrete. Hissing, he stood up an could already taste the metallicness of blood in his mouth, his tongue now felt like it was on fire.

"Frigga fragga, OW! Sssssshit!"

The scent was a bit stronger now, but he still couldn't tell if he was tripping or if that was actual rabbit scent he smelt on the air. What he did smell, was the scent of blood..couple hours old with a sour smell to it that seemed to go from his nostrils down his throat, he could practically taste it on his tongue - I mean - he could taste it on his tongue cause it was actual bleeding and sore as fuck. He lifted his nose to the wind as it swept through his fur once more making his fur puff up along his scruff, he could smell the blood now which seemed to be the stronger out of the rabbit and female scent. A slight whine escaped his lips before he could stop himself.

"Only one way to find out if it's what I think it is..." he said and followed the scent trail towards its mark...

He hadn't expected it. The pool of blood pooled around her and was streaked across the ground in trail clearly showing that someone had been dragging the rabbit across the ground. The sun had risen now to its highest peak, gleaming down on the crimson puddle setting off a golden sheen like sparkle to the edges of it. It was just...inappropriate. He'd sat there, kneeling on the ground beside her, craddling her in his arms while he'd weeped tears streaming down his cheeks and falling like raindrops onto the rabbit's face which was stoic and expressionless nothing he was used to at all. He was used to the bright cheerful smile and gleaming amethyst eyes sparkling with naviete and confidence and hope. But there was none there. She was gone - dead possibly. Her body felt more colder the longer he held her.

"SON OF BITCH!" he screamed tilting his head upwards towards the sky as he did so, baring his teeth. A groan from a couple of feet away from him made himsnap his neck around almost giving him a whiplash. A dark cloaked figure clearly covered in not their own blood staggered to their feet moaning from pain at the double drop kick they'd recieved. A sharp snarl caused them to look up to see a furious looking red fox crouched on all fours with his hackles raised and backed arched, ears pressed against flat of his skull, pink gums showing along with his polished white teeth that most certainly wouldn't be white for long.

"YOU. SON. OF A. BITCH! DAMN YOU!" the fox lunged and the figure took off effectively throwing off its cloak in the process which landed on Nick's face causing him to yelp as he tripped and stumbled over his paws and tail, slamming his jaw into the concrete. Whining his tongue flared upwards with searing pain before he remebered what was happening and what his objective was and he leaped to his paws and shook off the cloak only to see no one there but himself and a slowly dying bunny...

{END OF FLASHBACK}

"And then I called an ambulance an tried to stop the blood flow which seemed completely pointless. Because of your smallness the doctor said you'd lost blood faster mostly due to the sharp massive cut on your stomach," Nick finished the story with a firm summary of the ending.

Judy blinked, eyes wide as she turned away from the fox and glanced beneath the covers to find that a massive bandage of gause was wrapped around her mid-section tightly and firmly enough to hold the stitches in place which they'd needed to do because of how large the wound had been, clearly made by a massive dagger cutlery knife. On the plus side, besides the overflow of blood she'd been losing, the knife dagger hadn't cut any vitals or anything like that so there was that...

"When can I get out?" she asked softly, looking back up at him.

He'd been staring down at his paws for a second before glancing back up at her, "Yeah - about that...you're gonna be at my place for some time," he stated hesistantly. Blinking the doe stared wide eyed at him, "Why?" she asked confusedly.

"Because you're on paid leave until the doctor says you're ready to head back to work and even then you'll just being doing paperwork - and so am I...on paid leave I mean," he stated. That apparently brought her back to life and she stared large eyes at the vulpine sitting in front of her.

"What?!" she squeaked, "I can't be on paid leave I have a job to do!"

"And you'll have plenty of others to do that job for you. You're not the only cop on the force you know..."

"I know.."

A comfortable silence fell over the white room, the smell of alcohol and other medicines and sich filled both mammals' nostrils making them breath shallowly.

Judy then broke the silence, "So when can I lea-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence as the door to the room as a female caracal walked into the room looking down at a clipboard. She glanced up showing an amsing set of bright light amber eyes; she offered a slight smile to the fox which he returned back before making her towards Judy with a confident stride in her step. The feline beamed a radiant smile at the doe showing all her incisors as she did so.

"Hello, Miss Hopps; my name's Dr. Kitren and I'm going to be the one to take care of you!"

"Hi," she replied hoarsely, she hadn't had anything to drink in a while.

"So what's the news doc?" Nick asked, leaning precariously over in his seat to a point where Judy was sure he would fall out an land flat on his face. The doctor glanced down at her clipboard staring intently at the reports written on the papers. She flipped each paper reading it carefully before flipping back to the first page and nodded her head, mumbling something incoherinsible. Finally, she got around to answering Nick's question.

"She's fine, luckily the blade didn't cut any vitals or arteries so there's that; unfortunately Ms. Hopps-"

"Just...call me Judy," the lapine interrupted shyly.

The doctor went into a slight silence of shock for being interrupted before shaking her head and nodding politely, "Right, of course. Ahem, like I was saying - you'll have to stay here for some weeks so that way I can monitor your health and make sure you're good to go. I'd say...about possibly," the feline turned to Nick for a moment," two or four weeks maybe?" She looked to the vulpine for comfirmation which in response he nodded his head.

Judy let out an audible groan.

"Oh come on Carrots, it won't be that bad having me around for company while you spend your time lying in a hospital bed doing nothing and being completely bored out of your mind!" Nick exclaimed in sarcastic optimism. Judy glared back at the fox and was tempted to pick up one of the medical equipment next to her bed an throw it at his smug face. Instead, she decided to do something else, which was sticking her tongue out and puffing out her cheeks as she did so. Nick only chuckled lightly at her expression along with the sound of a camera snapping which made Judy blinked in shock as she shook her fist at the male vulpine.

"Can't do anything while you're stuck in that bed, Fluff."

"I hate you."

"Do not."

"Do to."

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do-!"

"Are you both done?" the caracal asked, her voice filled with irritation and her eyes narrowed to slits.

"Sorry!" Both vulpine and lapine exclaimed bashfully, Judy blushing profusedly from realising how childish she was being.

Nick cleared his throat and made a sweeping motion with his right hand, "You were saying?"

"So will she be staying in here for two weeks or four weeks?"

The red fox thought for second, tilting his head up towards the ceiling and tapping a finger against his chin. Please don't say four weeks, please don't say four weeks, please don't say four weeks! Judy thought - no - prayed to the heavens that Nick wouldn't tease her and put her through more agony by making her spend a whole four weeks in the hospital.

"Three weeks at the minimum."

"You're - you're serious!?"

Nick looked at her as though she'd started speaking dog, "Well yeah, I mean, I knew you'd go nutso if you'd staued here any longer so I went with three weeks," he explained. And then he smirked at her mischieviously, "Unless of course, you want, three weeks-"

Judy shook her head violently causing her ears to flop about uselessly behind her, "No, no, no, no, no, no!" That's fine! It's fine - I'll take the three weeks!" she exclaimed.

Boy, these are gonna be some interesting weeks ahead of us... Nick thought chuckling.

And rightfully so...