-Midnicampum holicithias-

Someone was talking. They were far away though. Far away and behind a door from the way the muffled sounds echoed in the darkness.

Judy began to wonder why the noises sounded so familiar? Why did she feel comfortable when she heard them? Why were they getting sharper and sharper?

"Here she comes," Came a female's voice, it sounded like their mouth was full of cotton balls.

"Judy?" It was Judy's mother. Her voice sounded muffled and strained. Judy tried her best to focus on her mother's voice, she felt her ears twitch which caused a pressure in one of her ears, it was discomforting and she responded by groaning as if the noise could sooth the unpleasant feelings.

"Judy dear," Bonnie whispered softly.

"Sorry Mrs. Hopps but let's not touch her just yet, let her come out of this on her own," Came the females voice once more.

"Oh my sweet Judy," Bonnie whispered.

The sounds began to grow sharper and soon Judy could hear the soft noises that filled the room. At first, they were muffled but with every passing second, she could hear more and more. The steady beeping of the medical equipment, the cooing from her mother, the subtle gasps that were obviously her father trying to keep his emotions in check.

Judy slowly opened her eyes, blinking at first only to wince at the sharpness of the bright lights.

"Oh gosh," The female's voice said quickly, "Officer Wilde would you mind getting the lights?"

The room was dimmed as the lights in the ceiling turned off. Only a few small lights around the room were left on, leaving the hospital room in a blue glow.

"That better Officer Hopps?" Judy recognized the voice now. It was Dr. Sweet, the lioness was towering over Judy and examining the small doe as she came out of a deep sleep. "There we go, try and open those eyes again."

Judy followed her doctor's orders and groaned as she slowly opened her bright purple eyes.

"That's it, you are doing great Judy," Dr. Sweet said kindly as she reached over and gently placed a paw on the side of Judy's head. "Ok, little bright light now. Get ready."

Dr. Sweet turned on a small pen light and shined it at the sides of Judy's eyes. The bunny closed her eye lids at first and groaned.

"Keep them open for me Judy, ok?"Dr. Sweet instructed in a kind tone, "Just need to see if we have any problems."

As the doctor performed a few checks Judy tried to take in her surroundings. Everything was still a little dull as her senses still tried to process everything. She felt so very tired but also a little warm. She couldn't remember how she had gotten to the hospital but she did remember she had been hurting before. So much pain had coursed through her. Now though she just felt small bits of discomfort.

"Alright Judy," Dr. Sweet said happily, "Looks like you are recovering nicely. Now we are going to have to give you some more meds to make you sleep some more. I just thought you would like to see your family for a moment."

The lioness stepped to the side and began to check some of the equipment that sat next to the bed. This signaled Judy's parents it was alright to speak to their daughter. Both the bunnies moved in and stood on either side of their daughter.

"Hey there Jude the dude," Her father said, his lips quivering as he tried to hold back the tears. "You're looking…." He trailed off which told Judy she was not exactly looking herself. She wanted to know what happened and tried to speak, but her jaw felt so very sore and at the sound of her words starting to form Dr. Sweet looked over and instructed Judy to remain silent, to just let her parents do the talking for now.

"Oh sweetie," Bonnie said kindly. It was obvious that she wanted to embrace her daughter but restrained herself. The older gray bunny remained strong for her daughter. Her words were kind and almost devoid of sadness. Judy always admired her mother for being so strong in times like these. "Just know that everything is going to be alright. You are in the best paws we could ask for. Dr. Sweet has been so amazing and the other doctors here are working so very hard for you."

Stu began to gasp once more as he tried to contain the tears. "Oh, Stu!" Bonnie shot at her husband as she quickly moved around the bed. "Oh hush now, she is going to be perfectly fine." As Bonnie tried to comfort the emotional buck Judy noticed her look across the room and smile at a mammal in the shadows, "Nick dear, why don't you come say hello."

Judy felt her heart skip a beat and noticed how the steady beeping sounds from the machine seemed to change rhythm.

"Oh now that is adorable," Dr. Sweet gushed before returning to her work, having picked up the effect Nick's name had on Judy.

Judy tilted her head very slightly and winced at the discomfort. It was worth it though to see that handsome fox again. Nick stepped forward and stood on the side of the bed where Bonnie had stood just seconds before. His smile was confident but Judy could see a slight sadness in his eyes.

"Hey Carrots," Nick said in such a sweet tone that Judy felt herself falling for him again. "So do all rabbits sleep this much or is it just you?"

Gosh, even in a time like this he just couldn't resist being himself. She loved him that much more for it though.

"Alright, now that everyone has said hello I think it's time for someone to get more rest," Dr. Sweet said as she stepped over to an IV that was hanging over one side of Judy's head.

Judy began to moan in protest but her doctor wouldn't hear any of it.

"I am sorry Officer Hopps," Dr. Sweet began, "This was just to see how you were doing, we need you to rest some more. I will be waking you up again soon. For now though sleep."

As Dr. Sweet injected something into the IV Judy looked back at Nick and tried her best to smile. It was hard at first but soon her muscles followed the orders her brain was giving and she gave her fox the smallest of grins.

"I'll be right here Carrots," Nick whispered as he leaned closer. He had to stop himself from pressing his lips against Judy's head but just having him close was enough for Judy to let out a pleased noise. "You get some rest alright. I am not going anywhere."

With that Judy fell into a deep sleep once more. The last thi9ng she heard was the steady beeping of the medical equipment before everything drifted into a dream world.

Judy lost track with how many times she was brought in and out of her sleep. Occasionally it would be by Dr. Sweet who would perform a series of tests to see how Judy's senses faired. Every time Judy woke up Nick was standing there waiting for her. Her parents would take shifts from time to time. Judy would wake to find her father giving her a happy smile. Or she would wake to see her mother with a loving look. The one thing that remained constant however was Nick. He was there every time Judy came to. She had so many questions she wanted to be answered. One of which was why she occasionally woke up with a breathing mask on. An odd flowery scent filling her nostrils from the air being pumped into her.

Eventually, she was told she would not have to be forced back into a sleep. That she could remain awake if she wanted but wasn't allowed to leave the bed for now. Judy would also have to take breaths from an oxygen mask that they left on the side of her pillow. She had to sit still and just rest. She felt slightly restless and hated knowing she wasn't allowed to get up. Of course, she soon realized she didn't have much of a choice. Every time she had been brought back into reality it had just been for a minute or two. Not really enough to gather much information. Now that she was allowed to stay awake however it allowed Judy to get a feel for what had happened to her. The first thing she noticed as her legs. As she tried to move them she felt a numbness around her thighs. She looked down and noticed how her legs seemed to be much larger under the sheets. She began to pull away at the covers but was stopped by Nick.

"Carrots," Nick said softly as she sat up and looked at her fox. He looked for the right words but then looked at Dr. Sweet who took in a deep breath.

"Are you alright with Officer Wilde here hearing your condition?" Dr. Sweet asked. Judy nodded, she had a feeling this was some legal procedure they had to do. Nick must have been aware what Judy had been through and her current condition. Dr. Sweet reached for a clipboard at the end of Judy's bed and then took one step so she was beside Judy. "Alright Judy, so I want you to know that most of this stuff isn't permanent and from the looks of it you have already begun to recover rather quickly."

Judy smiled and looked over at Nick. His eyes gave her strength and she felt herself leaning over a little closer to the fox. Dr. Sweet cleared her throat which brought Judy's attention back to the lioness.

"Do me a favor and take a little breath from this Judy," Dr. Sweet instructed as she held the small mask towards Judy. The bunny followed the doctors instructed and took a series of breaths from the odd smelling gas. "Alright. So now on to the easy stuff…"

Over the next few minutes, Judy was put through the ringer. Though Dr. Sweet reassured Judy everything would be alright in the end it was still a lot to handle right now. During the incident in front of the 10-7 Judy had been tossed rather hard against their cruiser. One of her legs was broken. Judy winced at the news and groaned when she found out the other leg had to be in a cast because it had been dislocated at a rather odd angle. Though the dislocation had already been repaired they wanted her to stay off both legs for now. One of her arms had received some minor burns from where the canister had blasted open. Her clothing had saved the rest of her fur though. For now, the arm was wrapped in a series of bandages. Dr. Sweet was confident that the burns had been treated properly and that Judy would have some lovely gray fur covering her arm again in no time.

While the doctor explained all of this Judy would look at Nick occasionally. The fox giving Judy a confident grin. Though Dr. Sweet protested at first she finally relented to Judy who kept trying to inch her paw over to Nick's.

"Oh for crying out loud," Dr. Sweet exclaimed as she caught the couple trying to touch each other once more. "You can hold paws but gently Officer Wilde. Very gently!"

The rest of the prognosis went a whole lot smoother for Judy who gripped her fox's black paw in her own. Though she was still rather weak from her ordeal she felt stronger feeling his touch.

The lioness in the lab coat continued explaining what Judy had been through. "You remember how last time you broke one ear. Well apparently the other one got jealous of all that attention and you managed to break your other ear. Well not so much break as damage. So far we don't believe you will suffer any permanent damage but just know you will have to keep it wrapped up for a bit till it is fully healed."

Judy nodded as she listened to her doctor. She felt rather grateful to have Dr. Sweet looking her over again. The lioness had been an amazing healer last time and Judy was confident in her doctor's skills.

Though Dr. Sweet's tone was one of encouragement and confidence as the list of Judy's injuries went on the doe felt her good ear droop slightly. If it wasn't for the strength she got from Nick she may have broken down. The fox though remained close as Dr. Sweet explained the extent of Judy's injuries.

Once done with the long list Dr. Sweet took in a deep breath and held the clipboard to her chest.

"Now for the hard bit," The lioness said with a sigh.

Judy grew rather concerned at this last remark. If that was the easy stuff then what could possibly be the hard bits?

Just felt her breathing grow ragged and her heart rate increase. Dr. Sweet grabbed the breathing mask and flipped a switch nearby

"Deep breath Judy," The lioness said firmly. Judy followed her doctor's orders and took a deep breath of the flowery smelling air. "Good girl."

After a few deep breaths, Judy's heart rate returned to normal and she found she could breathe a great deal better.

"So that is actually the hard bit," Dr. Sweet explained. "Judy I am not sure how to explain this. No one really is. My college is completely at a loss on this as well…"

Judy sat back in her bed and listened as Dr. Sweet explained what had happened to Judy. Over the past few days, they had pieced together that the canister that had exploded and sent Judy through the cruiser window contained some kind of modified Night howler serum that when activated turns into a small cloud of smoke. As it turned out though this strain was a new type and was still being examined. They didn't have much to go on however as the canister did leave much of a sample for them to work with. They, in the end, had taken some blood samples from Judy. It was around this time she had begun to show signs of withdrawal. A toxicity screening was done on the bunny to see what she could possibly be suffering withdrawal from. As it turned out it was Night howler. Her body had changed in order to compensate for the exposure. Seeing as Judy had been exposed to two different types of Nighthowler her body must have thought this was a normal thing and changed to accept the Night howler. As crazy as it sounded just now needed Night howler to operate. She would be exposed to a small dose which in the end turned out to be the flower which had been blended and then turned into a powder. The tube she had been breathing through the past few days had dispensed the Nighthowler at a certain dose. In some sense, it was an inhaler. An inhaler filled with deadly night howler.

The irony was not lost on Judy. She was the one that had fought so hard during the case. The one who wanted this stuff destroyed and off the streets. Now though she would be depending on it to survive.

She looked at Nick as tears welled up in her eyes. The fox leaned over and put his muzzle under Judy's chin and gave her a gentle nuzzle. It was enough to calm the bunny for the most part. Tears still found their way down her cheeks though.

"Now Judy I want you to know we are currently working to figure this out. I don't want to give you false hope but we already lowered the dosage slightly with no noticeable effects. So that tells me you may be able to wean off of this stuff eventually. For now, though we will have this device at the ready. Whenever you feel a little hard of breathing or low on energy I want you to take a few breaths."

"Low energy?" Nick asked as he looked at the lioness.

"Yes. We believe that Judy's body will occasionally be unable to produce the energy she needs to get through the day. This kind of exposure though will give her more energy and convince her body to process what she needs to keep going."

Nick suddenly had a rather odd smirk on his muzzle. One that Judy eyed with apprehension.

"So it's like spinach?" Nick asked.

"Spinach?" Dr. Sweet asked.

"She's Judy the sailor mam! She's Judy the sailor mam. She gets to the finish because she eats her spinach!" Nick began to sing a song from the old Pop eye show. Judy let go of Nick's paw. When he tried to scoop her up once more she swatted it away playfully.

Dr. Sweet rewarded Nick's song with a small chuckle as she shook her head. She then grew somewhat more serious as she looked at Judy. The bunny braced herself for more bad news.

"We are currently trying to find a more reasonable delivery method for this medicine. Right now it's stored in a giant tank which I have a feeling neither of you will enjoy lugging around the city while on patrol," Oddly enough the lionesses words gave Judy some hope. From the sounds of it, Dr. Sweet believed Judy could actually return to work in the future. "While we work on the proper dosage and delivery system I am afraid you will have to stay here with us Judy. We also need to study the effects the new strain is having on you."

"How long?" Judy asked as her ears drooped.

"We don't know," Dr. Sweet said softly, "It could be a few days or even a few…months..."

The harsh reality of Judy's new condition set in and the doe felt a form of depression wash over her. The sadness however stopped when she felt Nick squeeze her paw gently. She looked over at her fox and was suddenly given hope.

A small chirping came from her coat and she pulled out a phone and sighed.

"Judy I am sorry but I am needed elsewhere," the lioness explained. "Do you have any more questions for me at this time?"

Judy shook her head and gave her doctor a warm smile. She was still spinning from all the new information but for now, she felt the worse was over with. Mind you she also had a feeling the meds from earlier were still swirling around her body which caused her to be more relaxed than she would normally be.

"I will be checking on you a little later then." With that, Dr. Sweet gave Nick a nod and excused herself from the room.

The door slowly clicked closed, leaving Nick and Judy alone in the room. Judy adjusted herself so she was sitting up. Her head had a little trouble staying up at first but Nick solved that problem by bringing Judy another pillow which he gently slid behind the wounded doe. She smiled at her fox and reached out for him. Nick gently scooped up the does paw and sat back down in his seat next to the bed. They sat in silence for what seemed like forever. Not in a bad way though. Judy felt she could just stare into those bright emerald eyes of Nick's all day. Soon though certain thoughts invaded Judy's mind. One thought in particular: Trisha.

"Nick?" Judy began to grow concerned as she realized no one had brought up the absent doe recently.

"She's ok," Nick said with a weak smile. Of course, her fox could read her like a book and must have had a feeling the subject would come up sooner rather than later. "It's just….complicated."

"Where is she?" Judy asked, having a bad feeling she wouldn't like the answer.

Nick took in a deep breath as he tried to figure out how to explain where the bouncy brown bunny that Judy cared for so much was currently being held. "She is currently being held..."

Judy winced when she heard the first part of the sentence.

"At the Rainforest District facility," Nick finally answered. "Awaiting trial."

Days turned into weeks and sadly those managed to turn into months as Judy remained at the hospital. Though she had almost completely recovered she was still stuck in the building. Friends and family came to visit her often. Even chief Bogo managed to swing by a pawful of times, occasionally bringing Angie who greeted Judy like they were sisters. Judy loving the affection from all of those she cared about. Of course, someone was missing. Someone rather important to the bunny.

Eventually, the day of the trial came and Judy sat patiently in her bedroom in the hospital. No longer in critical condition, she was staying in a small room on the 3rd floor. The view was alright, she could see the city busily going about its day. It kept her distracted as she waited for Nick to return. Though Judy couldn't go she asked Nick to be at the trial and show Trisha their support. The fox did so without much prompting. Sadly he wasn't allowed to text her during the trial which had been sealed off from the public. There was no televised trial today which caused Judy's patience to falter.

The sound of knocking on her hospital door caused her to nearly jump from the bed. She winced though knowing she should take it easy. Her body still recovering from all the physical therapy.

"Come in," Judy said nervously.

Nick opened the door and entered. The fox looked very handsome in his dress uniform. The fox deciding that showing up as a member of the ZPD may look better for Trisha's case.

"So?" Judy asked hesitantly as she saw the solemn look on her fox's face.

"She's back at the rainforest facility now," Nick said as he placed his hat on a table near the door. He was carrying a duffel bag with various snacks for Judy along with a laptop which he produced and brought over towards the bed.

This confused Judy at first. There wasn't a prison in the rainforest district. There was a small minimum security jail which was really just for probation and minor offenses. The confusion must have shown on Judy's expression as the fox took a moment to give his bunny a smug grin before explaining.

"Well let's just say we left the dash cam on in the cruiser when we pulled up to the 10-7," Nick began to explain. It all then came flooding back to Judy. Jim had been bragging about using Trisha in his schemes. How he had tricked her into doing what she did.

"Ok...but first…what about Gazelle's back up dancers?" Judy asked hesitantly. Though Trisha could be seen as a coerced accessory to a crime she was still responsible for firing on civilians.

Nick, however, rolled his eyes and let out an annoyed chuckle. "Well first off they aren't pressing charges. They were explained as to what happened to them when they were under the Nighthowler control. At first, they were devastated to hear that they were a threat to the gazelle. I thought for sure they would be ticked at Trisha for taking shots at them. Turns out they are on a level of loyalty to that singer that I could never begin to understand. None of them decided to press charges against Trisha. In fact, one of them wanted to thank the bunny for keeping Gazelle safe during the concert."

"But they were all hit!" Judy exclaimed as she remembered the Tigers each taking a hit. One of them even passing out.

Nick nodded and began to move his head from side to side. He stopped at the side of Judy's bed and patted it, the bunny hopping up and scooting over so she was now in front of the fox who placed the laptop next to the bunny and began to type away.

"Well about that..." Nick said with a weak smile. "You know how during a shootout the adrenaline starts pumping..."

"Nick..."

"She was using a rabbit Caliber gun…so you know. Against a tiger, it's really like a pellet gun if anything..." Nick said before raising his paws, "not that you bunnies aren't dangerous. I mean one of you is the toughest cop in the ZPD while the other turned out to be some kind of sniper...which explains all the coasters..." Nick trailed off as he suddenly remembered what an expert Trisha was of throwing small objects at the fox.

"Wilde!" Judy barked as she brought her fox back to reality. "Focus!"

Nick shook his head as he banished the thoughts from his mind for the moment.

"What about the tiger who passed out from blood loss?" Judy asked hesitantly.

Nick suddenly burst out laughing which Judy found rather morbid.

"Oh don't worry carrots. It's actually kind of amusing," Nick began to explain. "Turns out..." The fox leaned close to the doe who leaned towards her fox. "The big guy hates the sight of blood. When the Nighthowler wore off and he saw what had happened to his leg he fainted... I think the docs said he just needed a bandage and was good to go. Either way, none of them stayed in the hospital for more than a day."

Judy felt her jaw drop as she heard the news. She wasn't sure just how forgiving she would have been to someone who shot at her. In fairness, though all of them would apparently make a full recovery and in the end, Gazelle had been protected. Judy thought back to the night of the concert. Everything had seemed so dramatic. So serious. So very crazy. She then realized that if Trisha had used a weapon with the Caliber to cause damage to one of the massive tiger dancers it would have looked like a cannon compared to the small doe and would probably give off such a kick that it would have dislocated something in Trisha's arm.

"Well that handles the civil part," Judy said softly as she tried to think this all through.

"Yeah," Nick muttered, "As for criminal…well let's just say she had an amazing lawyer."

"You?" Judy teased as she raised an eyebrow at her fox. Nick burst out laughing at this point.

"No, though I have been told I would make a great one."

"You would look good in a suit," Judy teased as she eyed her fox with a hungry look. She reached over and pulled on the fox's tie and brought his head a little closer. The fox smirked and he complied, gently pressing his lips with Judy's. The couple enjoyed the sweet little kiss before letting their lips part. Judy felt her emotions going crazy. She had a great deal of pent up emotion at the moment thanks to Dr. Sweet's orders of no hiding the carrot while Judy was in the hospital.

"I look good in whatever I wear," Nick pointed out which got an eye roll from his partner.

"Ok so criminal charges. We are looking at…oh gosh…" Judy said as she tried to think where to begin when it came to the amount of trouble Trisha would be in when it came to criminal charges. There was the use of a deadly weapon, public endangerment, conspiracy, and collusion with a known criminal, discharge of a weapon in a crowd, even the possibility of domestic terrorism. All of it spelled an extremely long sentence for the poor bunny.

Judy looked over at Nick and suddenly became rather confused. The fox had a smirk on his lips. Was he enjoying the thoughts of Trisha being locked away forever like that? Could he really be so cold? Sure Trisha and Judy had had a little fling but that was so long ago and Trisha was in no way a threat to Nick and Judy's relationship. Judy was about to berate the fox for his demeanor during all of this when the fox finally spoke up.

"You remember some of the classes back in the academy?" Nick began as he gently squeezed Judy's paw. The doe looked up for a moment as she tried to remember a class that dealt with bunnies shooting up Tigers.

"I mean…yeah but..."

"The ones about unique laws?" Nick asked, narrowing down the bunnies search.

Judy simply nodded but gave her fox an unbelieving look.

"Well turns out there is a law that hasn't been abolished from Zootopia's founding about prey protection..."

"No way…"

"You best believe City Hall has gotten their act together though," Nick began. "The last thing they want is everyone knowing they are behind on abolishing bigoted laws from the past."

"What the hell law exists that makes that ok?" Judy asked. "I mean don't get me wrong, I want Trisha to be off the hook but…still..."

"Apparently there was still a lot of believing back in the day that predators could go savage once more," Nick began to say, the subject was obviously uncomfortable for him, being a predator species himself. "Well, they had some laws in place in case it happened. If a predator began to show off aggressive or dangerous tendencies then they could be restrained or…well…taken care of in the mindset of protecting the rest of the city. Even by gun toting civilians."

"It can't be that simple," Judy said as she shook her head.

Nick raised his paws in the air and shrugged, "I wasn't the mammal defending Trisha who brought it up. But if I do ever cross the law I want this guy in my corner. Speaking of which…" The fox suddenly had a sad look on his face. "You and I can't start dating again for another 3 weeks…"

Judy felt her heart rate spike as her heart plummeted to the pit of her stomach.

"What? Why? What happened?"

Nick saw the sadness forming in Judy's beautiful eyes and suddenly raised his paw in the air and waved it about. "Easy Carrots! I was just kidding!"

"Don't do that to me, Nick!" Judy shot back, the urge to jab her dumb fox in the side was overwhelming but luckily for the fox, she was too weak to put up a fight.

"Turns out that though there was no law banning complete interspecies relationships there were ones put in place for certain species," Nick explained as he scooped up Judy's paw once more.

"You're kidding..." Judy grumbled for what must have been the third time today. She reached over and took a breath from her medicine mask before returning her gaze to Nick. This was all starting to be a little too much for the doe.

"Yeah, apparently bunny and fox relationships were on a list as…what did they call it?" Nick thought for a moment then smirked, "unacceptable."

"I'll give them unacceptable..." Judy growled.

Nick leaned over and before the doe could react he gave her the gentlest kiss on the nose which caused all of the bad thoughts in her mind to simply fade away.

"If dating you means breaking the law then I guess we will just be law breakers together..."

Judy let out a deep breath as she felt a tear roll down her cheek. "Dumb fox…"

"You know you love me," Nick shot back.

"Do I know that?" Judy began, the mantra sounding even sweeter to her at this moment than it had before, "Yes, yes I do."

Judy had to resist the urge to climb out of bed and cuddle up with her fox. She took a deep breath and returned to the previous subject.

"So she wasn't charged with anything?" Judy asked in disbelieve.

"Oh she was, a lot of stuff actually," Nick said sadly which caused Judy to sigh with regret. "Apparently they spent hours bargaining for a lighter sentence. I think all the character witnesses helped though."

"Character witnesses?" Judy asked, her voice suddenly sounded ragged as she began to cough. Nick leaned over and rubbed his bunny's shoulders and nodded towards the breathing mask which Judy picked up hesitantly. She took a few deep breaths from the mask and closed her eyes. The Nighthowler coursing through her system and calming her nerves. She began to wonder just how long she would be dependent on this stuff. Dr. Sweet had her confidence but Judy was still worried that she may be like this for a while.

Once Judy had calmed down Nick picked up where he left off.

"Character witnesses. That's what saved her in my opinion." Nick explained. "Literally half the precinct showed up to the hearing. Bogo included. Along with chiefs from across the city. A few commissioners, firefighters, medics, doctors..."

"Everyone showed up for her…" Judy whispered as she looked down at her sheet, "I should have been there for her…"

"I made sure she knew you would have been," Nick said sweetly.

Judy's ears felt sore as they perked up slightly. She winced but waved Nick's concern to the side, the discomfort was gone as quickly as it had come.

"Thanks for going Nick," Judy said softly as she looked into the bright green eyes of her mate.

Nick nodded and gave Judy a warm smile. "Had to be, was needed to explain what happened on the dashcam of our cruiser from the night we met Jim at the 10-7."

"So the dash cam was still on?!" Judy asked, suddenly a little worried. She had acted out of passionate and knew she must have violated at least half a dozen ZPD policies by attacking Jim the way she did.

"No one blames you for your actions, Judy," Nick said sweetly. "In fact, a few officers mentioned they would have just shot Jim right then and there. If anything you were more restrained than half the officers in the ZPD would have been."

"Still isn't an excuse," Judy muttered sadly.

"Well just know Bogo smiled when he watched it," Nick informed Judy. "I told him the right hook you sent Jim flying with was for Hank."

Judy only felt a little better about what had transpired but still embarrassed to know that the dash cam footage had been shown for all to see.

"Besides everyone was more focused on the part where Jim pretty much admits it was all him. That video saved Trisha a lot of hard time."

"How?" Judy asked. "It just showed she was working with that monster..."

"No," Nick said firmly. "It showed she was forced to do what she did to protect you and other members of the ZPD. It showed what she was willing to do for you. It also showed her pretty much saving our tails. If she hadn't shown up when she did…well let's just say we painted a rather dark picture for the jury so it made Trisha look like a kind of misguided hero."

"Still..." Judy sighed.

"Hey now…" Nick said as he put a paw under Judy's chin and brought her gaze to him. She sniffled slightly as she looked into his eyes. "I have forgiven her…sure she had her secrets but we all do. In time I hope you can-"

"I forgave her the second she shot Jim's ear," Judy admitted "I just wish…I wish Jim had never happened. We could all be sitting at the bar right now if it wasn't for him..."

"I know Carrots," Nick said solemnly. "I know..."

Judy took a moment to collect her thoughts before pursuing more information about the trial.

"So it sounds like she had a lot going for her," Judy said with a bit of hope. That hope only lasted a second when she heard what Nick had to say next.

"Yeah…well it almost fell apart when they showed the videos..."

Judy became concerned at the fox's sudden change in expression. He looked solemn and distant.

"Videos?"

Nick took in a deep breath and looked at the door before looking back at Judy.

"Nick?" Judy asked hesitantly.

"Some videos were leaked to the public. They were used in the case against Trisha…" Nick explained as he looked over at the laptop in front of him.

"Do you have them?" Judy asked as she looked at the laptop as well.

Nick signaled for Judy to scoot over on the bed and she did. The fox climbing up and sitting next to her, the computer sitting in his lap. Judy scooted close to her fox and gently leaned her head on his arm, her eyes looking directly at the screen.

The play symbol sitting in the middle of a blank image, waiting to be activated. Nick took one last look at Judy who gave the fox a nod, signaling she was ready. With that Nick pressed play.

The screen filled with the image of a porcupine in a lab coat. Behind him was a room filled with different pieces of equipment, tubes, and of course bottles of liquid that looked tasty but we're probably pure poison.

"Dr. Salt journal entry number 1," The porcupine began as he cleared his throat. "Finally managed to find a sponsor for this new experiment. Was hard at first and sadly I have been turned down by so many forms I was starting to lose all hope. But with perseverance, we have found the funding necessary to begin our work. What work is that? Well, let me explain." The scientist disappeared from the screen as a small doodle popped up. The image of a tiger and a porcupine showed up on the screen. "So right now the ZPD and other various agencies depend on the use of Tranquilizer darts to apprehend any mammal wanting to cause trouble."

The crudely drawn porcupine pulled a small gun out of thin air and fired a dart at the tiger.

"Only problem is it takes a few seconds to activate," the tiger swayed for a moment and then lunged at the porcupine whose eyes became giant Xs.

"Also on rare occasions, the target has suffered injuries due to dart mishaps." The porcupine and tiger image reset. The prey mammal firing at the predator only to have the dart land in the tiger's eye. The tiger making a frowning face. The image reset again and the dart landed on the tiger's neck only to snap off and leave the needle buried in the tiger's skin. Several more images played out. Each one ending with some kind accident that leads to one of the mammals suffering more than just a hit of Tranquilizer.

"My idea is we eliminate the use of those pesky needles!" Dr. Salt exclaimed as his image filled the screen once more. "Imagine a delivery system that simply hits its target and knocks them out in half the time! It could save so many from injury and even death!"

The video ended and the next one began automatically.

"Entry 2," the porcupine declared as his image filled the screen. "Alright so turns out the hard part wasn't getting the funding..."

The scientist paused and rubbed his temple. "Turns out my math was a little off in the first equation. Sadly the gel I used was not thick enough and simply dissolved once the chemical compound was added…"

The porcupine looked right at the camera and sighed, "But this is to be expected. I mean if it were so simple it would have been done already…right?"

The video ended and the next one began.

"Ok so now the 'skin' of the pellet is too thick. It hits the target like a rock and causes bruising but doesn't shatter and spread the Tranquilizer... plus as it turns out I have terrible aim. On a side note…all test subjects are now required to wear goggles."

The next video started.

"And cups…"

Seconds later another entry appeared on the screen.

"So as it turns out…I am not as smart as I thought I was." The Doctor admitted. There was some snickering off the screen and the mammal eyed someone out of view. "I was at a dive shop refilling one of the compressed air canisters for the experiment..."

"Which by the way you nearly broke by dragging it with the nozzle," Came a female's voice.

The porcupine rolled his eyes and then chuckled.

"As I was saying. I was at the dive shop getting them to refill an air canister when I was…harassed..."

"Approached," The female voice corrected the scientist who couldn't help but chuckle.

"Approached by a mammal who was there getting their own tank refilled."

"Refilled and checked doc, don't want it blowing me up on the field." The female added.

"Right. Well...anyways," The porcupine took in a deep breath. "Sometimes it is important to seek out help in the most unlikely of places. Turns out there is a whole sport dedicated to shooting small orbs at other mammals so you can paint them."

"Mark them with paint," the voice off screen corrected. "I mean...I could paint them. There was this cutie on the field the other day. Wouldn't have minded covering her with some..."

The voice trailed off as Dr. Salt looked over.

"Long story short," The porcupine grumbled as he grabbed the camera and turned it. "I have a new lab assistant of sorts. This is Trisha everyone."

A bright blue eyed doe was casually sitting on one of the tables in the lab. Her legs dangling over the edge as she smiled at the camera. The bunny's dark brown fur was adorned with a dark gray T-shirt with the words UCF written in black across the chest. A pair of khaki capris clung to her slender legs.

"Ello everyone!" Trisha said playfully as she waved at the camera and gave it a flirty wink.

The camera was panned back to Dr. Salt who smiled. "It's nice having-" Suddenly a pair of bright blue eyes filled the screen as Trisha hopped in front of the camera and stared into the device.

"Ello!" The bunny giggled.

A paw gently patted her on the side of the head as the porcupine shooed the bubbly bunny away.

"Well…at least it seems nice having a lab assistant," The mammal had a strained smirk on his face as the screen went blank.

Another video cued up and Dr. Salt returned to view.

"So lots 2 and 5 are looking promising. They are all well within the range I wanted them to be. Had been hoping that all lots would be viable but 2 out of 10 on a new experiment isn't too bad," The porcupine began to shuffle through some papers on the desk before him. He then rolled his eyes and lifted a sheet up, a series of fluffy clouds drawn on the top of the page along with a happily smiling sun. "Of course it's hard to keep track with a certain artist seeing the world as her canvas."

"You know you love me!" Trisha shouted from somewhere off screen, her voice sounding distant.

Dr. Salt rolled his eyes and then let out a sigh before looking back at the camera. "Might be time for a new lab assistant."

"I heard that!"

Dr. Salt winced and quickly reached over to the camera, shutting off the feed.

The next video started, this one was different, however. It was in a new part of the lab. As it turned out the lab was actually quite large. The all white room must have been broken up into sections. The section from the first few videos had been from Dr. Salt's laboratory desk. This image was of a large cleared out part of the room. Two mammals stood before the screen with their backs to the camera. Dr. Salt's quills piercing through his lab coat. Trisha was in a pair of black BDU pants and a gray top. Her ears raised as she held what looked like a rifle to her shoulder and took aim at a test dummy just down range.

There was a loud popping noise and suddenly the floor in front of the two mammals was sprayed with a bright blue liquid. Trisha shook her head as she lowered the rifle and began to inspect it. Dr. Salt took in a deep breath and began to mumble something that the camera couldn't pick up.

The video went out of frame for just a second as another video started. It was the same scene as before. Trisha, however, was now in a green shirt. The bunny took aim and fired the odd looking rifle. The same result as before but this time the spray went a little farther on the floor.

The next video had Trisha back in her gray shirt. She was rubbing Dr. Salt on the arm and smiling up at the porcupine before taking aim with the rifle once more. The two mammals were suddenly encased in a cloud of blue liquid as the rifle exploded.

Judy gasped as she watched the camera shake and tip over. The angle was odd as the camera landed on its side. The image of Dr. Salt teetering as he leaned against a table filled the screen. Trisha lay on the ground, groaning as she tried to right herself.

The next clip brought the viewer back to Dr. Salt's desk, the mammal sporting a bandage on his forehead.

"So…just having a little trouble with the delivery system..." The wounded scientist explained. "We are both alright though. Sent Trisha home for the day. Poor bunny took most of the hit when part of the barrel exploded. She will be alright though. Offered to drive her to the hospital but she insisted on just relaxing. Probably for the best, would be hard to explain all the blue paint to the nurses."

The next time Dr. Salt came on screen he looked a great deal happier. "Major breakthrough! Wish I could take all the credit but I can't!" He then leaned over and pulled Trisha into the screen. The brown bunny giggling as her ears showed a slight tinge of red. "This bunny right here. What a brilliant bunny!" Dr. Salt seemed especially giddy and even leaned down to give Trisha a peck on the head. The bunny laughed and scurried off screen. "We had a breakthrough. Big one! The delivery system is working smoothly now. See the problem was we were trying to go way too big. A rifle that could fire up to 20 rounds…too much. We needed to think smaller."

Dr. Salt lifted up a small device that Judy instantly recognized, a small gasp of air escaping her. It was the Nighthowler pistol that had been used during the missing mammal case to infect so many innocent predators.

"Once focused on the smaller side of things we were able to create a better seal. Which in turn allows more pressure to build up behind the pellet. The only problem is it can only contain about 3 rounds..." The porcupine studied the simple looking weapon and sighed, "Note to self, make sure Trisha receives some of the royalties to this. She has earned it."

The video stopped and Judy had to take a moment to look away from the screen. She felt sick to her stomach about all this. The thought that Trisha had something to do with so many problems in the city. A steady paw reached out and gently rubbed her shoulder. Judy turned back to look at Nick, his eyes full of sadness.

"We don't have to watch the rest Ya know," The fox explained as he reached over to shut the laptop. Judy stopped him and gave her fox the deadest look.

"No," Judy said firmly, "I have to see all of it..."

Nick nodded and opened another folder with more videos from Dr. Salt's studies.

"A lot of these are just his notes on a tranquilizer formula. Some of them have Trisha in them but it's just her being...well her. For the most part, she just assisted him in developing the delivery system. He was the one working on the formulas and the likes," Nick explained as he scrolled through the video files. The fox must have decided to try and save some time, instead of seeing the whole study it would be important for Judy to see the key parts.

With a few clicks, Nick started up the next video.

"So took Trisha to the range today," Dr. Salt explained. "Kind of a fun little field trip. She had a wonderful time. I can't tell what she loved more. Actually shooting or showing off to all those larger mammals."

The porcupine chuckled as he remembered the day's events, "Apparently she just has a natural talent for this stuff. I was talking to the range master and he explained he has seen this once or twice with bunnies. It's just something about their hearing and rapid eye movement. They can hear their own heartbeats and use breathing techniques to slow it down." The porcupine drifted off for a moment as he looked at his desk. He then looked right at the camera, "I never had a daughter…never had time for kids...but if I was a father. I would want my daughter to be just like Trisha. The way she views the world is so unique. How she treats every mammal she meets." The doctor took in a deep breath before rubbing his eyes, "Look at me getting all sentimental…anyways. We had fun today and I learned something about Trisha." The mammal on the screen looked over his shoulder and then back at the monitor, "Trisha has a wicked aim."

Another video started and Nick suddenly paused the video. Judy gave the fox a hesitant look.

"This one isn't important..." He mumbled as he tried to skip. "I just remembered it was after the range one."

"What's it about?" Judy asked as she looked at her fox.

"It's just a little party," Nick admitted.

Judy felt herself perk up at the thought of seeing a party with Trisha involved. Nick rolled his eyes and sighed, relenting to his bunny and allowing the next video to play.

"Happy Birthday dear John," A group of mammals sang as the video started. The camera was facing the large open space that had originally been used as a mock firing range. It had all been cleared up as several mammals stood about Dr. Salt who had an embarrassed look on his face. Trisha standing next to a lioness who held a large birthday cake for the porcupine. "Happy Birthday to you." The group finished and clapped as Dr. Salt blew out his candles.

Trisha hopped up on a stool and planted a sweet kiss on the porcupine's cheek, careful to avoid the quills.

"Happy birthday doc," She said as she gave the blushing mammal another sweet peck on the cheek.

Several mammals all gathered around the doctor, wishing him well and giving him a few small gifts. Trisha managed to slink away from the crowd and came right up to the camera and smiled.

"Happy birthday Doc! I know you are going to say that this is just supposed to be for study purposes but I wanted you to have a little video to remember all this by," Trisha said playfully. "You know when you are some big hot shot scientist with all the sexy lab ladies jumping on you." Trisha suddenly had an evil grin on her face, "Speaking of which, I hope you like your present..." With a wink, Trisha hopped from the desk and back to the party. At that moment the door to the lab opened up and several more mammals joined the party. Including a lovely looking lady porcupine in a lab coat. Trisha skipped over to the mammal and began to whisper into the porcupine's ear. A light bluish crossing her face as she looked over at Dr. Salt and giggled.

The next video started up and showed Dr. Salt sitting at his desk, a smirk on his face. "Well it's taken some time but I am confident we are almost there. We have several promising formulas to try out and a delivery system to get the formula to the target. I plan on starting mammal testing soon. Just need to find some volunteers." The porcupine thought for a moment and then chuckled, "Worse comes to worse Trisha and I can just shoot at each other."

The next video nearly caused Judy to jump back. A pair of bright blue eyes filled the screen before Trisha slowly slid back in the chair. The bunny was adorned in a lab coat that was obviously three sizes too big. This didn't deter the doe though who cleared her throat and then began to speak in a low voice, obviously impersonating her employer.

"Science science science," Trisha repeated as she began to spin on her chair before laughing. Just couldn't help but chuckle and shake her head. The small brown doe acted a little goofier in her younger years apparently but was still adorable as ever. Trisha stopped spinning in the chair and placed her arms on the desk before resting her head in her arms. "Doc…if you watch this…" Trisha took in a deep breath, "just wanted to tell you thanks for...well everything. I mean the money is great and I can probably pay off all those loans that were starting to pile up. But that's not why I wanted to say thanks. I guess it's just..." Trisha let out a sigh as she looked to the desk and then back at the camera. "You took a chance on me. When I was little not many mammals did. When I wanted to go to the shooting range with my brothers and dad I was always left behind. You know the place you took me to the other day. That was the first time I ever held a real rifle…because you trusted me. You took a chance on me and...Well..." Trisha fell silent as a pleased look crossed her lips. "Thanks, doc…I love you."

With that, the video ended. Nick finally regained control on the video files and scrolled through several more. Judy protested at first. She was starting to get a little teary eyed and wanted to see more of her best friends past but Nick said she could watch the others later, for now, there were a few more videos Judy HAD to see.

The next one popped up on the screen and Judy leaned back, wondering what other parts could have hurt Trisha's case. She was probably in trouble for helping make the device that would later be bastardized into some dangerous weapon. However, Judy had a hard time believing that would hold much weight in court. They couldn't honestly hold Trisha responsible for that though.

Judy's thoughts faded as the next video started and she felt suddenly surprised by the next image.

Dr. Salt was standing before the camera but that wasn't what caught Judy off guard. It was the handsome fox standing behind the porcupine. The predator was having a conversation with Trisha, the small brown doe sitting on a counter nearby with her paws dangling over the edge. The fox and bunny seemed to be conversing about a casual topic though as Trisha began to giggle as the fox waved his paws about.

"So it's been a long time coming but I think we are ready for mammal trials. Not a moment too soon either. As it turns out this project has eaten up a lot more time than expected and our deadline is growing closer. My employer, who still wants to remain nameless, is very eager and has thrown in a bonus incentive. So we had to cut a corner or two but sometimes you have to do that in the name of science," Dr. Salt said confidently before looking over his shoulder. The scientist then rummaged in his coat and produced a small box and popped it open, revealing an engagement ring. "Also in the name of family. Ellen and I have a date tonight and I think it's only right that the night of my biggest breakthrough is also the night my life truly begins."

The angle of the video changed with Dr. Salt taking up only part of the screen while the handsome fox whose bright yellow eyes looked right at the camera smirked.

"Now just like we said," Dr. Salt instructed.

"I would like to say that I am doing this of my own free will. I am not being forced to take part in these experiments and fully understand the risks," The fox said in a confident voice. "But also I understand this thing pays a huge amount of cash too!"

Trisha suddenly appeared on screen, her head popping from behind the fox as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. The fox let out a surprised laugh as he was suddenly used as a climbing post.

"But he is also here to be eye candy!" Trisha teased as she began to unbutton the top of the fox's shirt. The russet colored predator swatted away at Trisha's paws which caused the doe to pout and scurry away.

"Bunnies," The fox muttered as he rolled his eyes. The fox winced suddenly as a pen smacked him on the side of his head from off screen.

The next shot popped up on screen and it appeared to be multiple camera shots. One-half of the screen was filled with the three mammals busily preparing for something. The other had a yellow box and not much else.

The fox was grumbling as he began to unbutton his black shirt. Trisha letting out a few giggles as she watched from her seat on a table.

"That's right," Trisha teased, "Nice and slow now."

"Trisha..." Both Judy and Dr. Salt said in unison. Judy rolling her eyes slightly as she continued to watch the video play out.

"Tell me again Dr. Salt why is it I have to be completely shirtless?" The fox asked as he undid the last button. He had to take a step away as Trisha reached out and tried to rub the fox's fur.

"We need direct fur contact to ensure the chemical works on impact. This is kind of a full blown demonstration of this device's potential," Dr. Salt explained as he began to hook up a series of monitoring devices to the fox. "Now you will probably feel a sting from the impact but after that, the Tranquilizer will take effect and you should pass out. The area in the yellow box is actually a cushion so when you land you won't suffer any damage."

The fox had lost track of Trisha which allowed the doe to scoot closer on the table next to the predator. He let out a surprised yelp as the bunny grabbed tufts of fur and began to run her paws through the white of his belly.

"Eeeeeeee!" Trisha squealed as she rubbed the Fox's chest, the predator had a look that reminded Judy of Nick. The fox gave up trying to avoid what he knew was inevitable and simply stood there as Trisha began to scoot closer.

"Ok ok, that's enough," Dr. Salt exclaimed as Trish nuzzled into the Fox's fur slightly. To Judy's surprise, the fox chuckled and even leaned down to whisper something into the doe's ear.

Trisha's cheeks turned a bright red and she began to giggle uncontrollably. The small doe fanning herself. Judy suddenly wished the camera had a better mic so it could have picked up what had flustered the brown bunny on the screen.

"Just on the yellow box," Dr. Salt instructed as he shooed the fox across the room. As the predator left one part of the screen he appeared on the next. Turning around and placing his paws behind his back and puffing out his chest.

"You having fun?" Dr. Salt asked the doe who began to put on a pair of goggles to protect her eyes. Judy recognized them as a pair of shooting glasses normally used at shooting ranges. The fox on the screen flicked down a pair that had been resting on top of his head.

"That a problem?" Trisha asked playfully as she looked at the porcupine.

"Just didn't take you for the type is all," Dr. Salt said softly. "Not that there is anything wrong with it."

"I like to try new things doc," Trisha said as she loaded the small pellet gun with a series of blue orbs. "Who knows…he seems fun."

There was a knock at a door off screen and the two mammals looked over. Dr. Salt waved and a few seconds later another mammal appeared.

"We late to see Harry take the hit?" a deer asked as he approached Trisha and Dr. Salt.

"Just in time actually," Dr. Salt said proudly. "Couldn't hurt to have a medical professional present."

"I'm really here to watch the fox get hit." The deer teased.

"I can hear you," The fox grumbled.

"I know," The deer in a lab coat shot back as they were handed a pair of goggles which they put on.

"Everyone ready?" Dr. Salt asked as he scanned the room.

Everyone nodded and there was a sudden serious air in the room. Trisha adjusted her body and took aim at the fox. Her look was one of pure concentration as one of her ears raised up slightly.

"Live fire!" Dr. Salt announced. "3, 2, 1"

There was a small pop as a pellet burst from the barrel of the gun. It hit the fox square on the chest and covered the Fox's fur in a blue liquid. The fox let out a grunt from the impact and stood still for a moment before swaying in place.

"Sweet dreams," Trisha teased.

"Of you?" The fox mumbled as he fell to the floor.

"Good hit Trisha!" Dr. Salt explained as he hurried over to the fox now resting on the floor. The deer trotted over and studied the fox.

"He is ok right?" the deer asked. Though having made a few playful comments about the fox before it was obvious the deer was concerned for the predator.

Trisha meanwhile was clicking on a few safeties on the small device she had just used and set it down on the table. That was when things started to go wrong.

A series of rapid beeps came from the monitors nearby and an alarm chimed. The fox on. The floor began to shake at first before a full blown seizure took place.

"Oh no!" Dr. Salt shouted as he looked at the monitors and then back at the fox.

The deer ran forward and began to study the vitals. "Salt get clear of him he is seizing!"

Trisha turned as the scene played out, her look was one of our fear and panic as she ran over.

"No! No!" she screamed as tears poured from her eyes. "Harry!"

The screen went blank and Judy felt her breathing return, having held her breath during the whole ordeal. Nick reached across her and placed the mask over her mouth. Judy suddenly came back to reality and took a few deep breaths.

"What happened to him?" Judy asked as she looked over at Nick. She wanted to hear that the fox was alright, that he pulled through, or he had just had a little episode. Nick's expression gave it all away though. There would be no happy ending to these videos.

Judy took a deep breath and looked at the screen, she nodded and watched as the final video played.

Dr. Salt appeared on the screen. The porcupine looked different though. He had a tired look about him and his lab coat didn't have the same clean look it had before. When he spoke his voice sounded strained.

"So…This is probably the last log. We…we failed." The defeat in Dr. Salt's voice caused a pain to throb in Judy's heart. "Harry is in critical condition. They brought him out of the medically induced coma yesterday. The seizure led to a stroke and paralysis from the waist down. They aren't sure if he will ever walk again."

Judy gasped as she put a paw to her mouth.

"Turns out I missed something unique to predators. It's a protein problem. It has always been one. They need it to survive but…I managed to mess it all up," The porcupine explained. "If I had just taken more time…maybe I would have caught it..."

The doctor let out a sigh.

"This was all my fault," Then porcupine sighed as he rubbed his eyes. "I just wish Trisha would believe that…"

Judy felt a tear roll down her cheek as she wondered what would come next.

"One of the interns from another lab found her sobbing in the ladies locker room. She was apparently curled up in the corner of the showers, covered in cold water, crying…" the words left the porcupines lips which were quivering. "That poor sweet bunny. To have witnessed that…and I made her pull the trigger."

There were a few moments of silence before the scientist cleared his throat.

"She has returned back to her studies, focusing on being a full-time student. I convinced the mammals funding us to pay her a sizeable sum. She turned down most of it but accepted to have her student loans paid off and to take a small amount so she could focus on her studies. I just hope she forgives herself for this…it wasn't her fault. Harry asked about her. She wanted to see him but he pleaded for her not to visit…apparently he doesn't want her to see him like this. I could see his heart breaking when he told us all this...I am not sure what may have been starting to happen between them but...I am afraid I have ruined it."

Judy now understood where the gap in Trisha's history had come from. How she paid off all her loans. She also understood why she never mentioned it before.

"I have informed our benefactors of what has happened. Though I feel this is a failure one of them believes the delivery device still has potential and will be taking it into possession. I just hope the next group gets this formula right..." Dr. Salt then smiled at the screen sadly.

"In other news, I'm engaged," the porcupine smirked. "I know I shouldn't be happy but...I'm so glad to have met Trisha. She was the one to introduce us after all. Maybe after some time apart, we can all reconnect. Till then I will give her the space she needs. I just hope wherever we all end up we are happy."

The video ended and Nick closed the laptop. He moved it away quickly and prepared for what he knew was next. The fox had gotten a sixth sense when it came to Just emotions. The doe burst into tears and leaned to the side. Nick gently looped an arm around the doe and held her close. Comforting the bunny as her emotions took over.

When Judy finally calmed down she let out a soft purr as she tried to nuzzle Nick.

"So…how bad did she get it?" Judy asked, returning to their friend's sentence.

"Well, her lawyer is confident he can get rid of a lot of it through appeals...but..." Nick drew in a breath before listing off the bad news. "5 years in a minimum security facility. 1000 hours mandatory community service. When she is released she will be on probation for a year and will be fitted with an ankle tracker for 2 years. She is also now considered a felon so you can guess how hard that will be to get scrubbed clean. She will also have to go to counseling for a few months and…" Judy patted her fox in the chest and signaled for him to stop. Nick did so and looked down at his bunny who had tears in her eyes.

"Hey now it's not gonna be too bad," Nick said encouragingly. "Her lawyer said with good behavior she can probably cut a lot of that stuff in half…"

"Nick...it doesn't matter," Just whimpered. "Trisha, our Trisha will be stuck in prison…"

"I know Carrots," Nick said solemnly as he tried to find the silver lining for his doe. "I know…"

-One week later-

Delta sat awkwardly on a metal chair as he looked at the large room, his paws resting on the table before him. There were several mammals all around him. Many talking in a hushed whisper as they caught up. While some mammals had different bits of apparel on half of them all wore the same orange pants and shirt. The uniforms all having numbers on them along with ID badges hastily attached.

Delta felt a bit awkward as he looked around the room. Catching the occasional stare or scowl. The canine hadn't had time to change out of his uniform and now sat in a room full of convicts and their families while he sported his ZPD tactical gear. Normally he would have changed but he had gotten a call from the facility that Trisha was now allowed to have visitors. He had been halfway through a shift of sitting at a desk doing paperwork when he got the call. The painted dog had dropped everything and rushed over to the rainforest district minimum security facility.

He hadn't seen Trisha since the trial. Now that the sentences had been carried he was allowed to see her during visiting hours. Delta had been losing his mind over the past few weeks. He had gone to see Judy and wish her well. Spent many hours with Atom in his hospital room which was normally filled with nurses gushing over the rather oblivious canine who was just happy for the attention. Work had been a nightmare though. With Atom down Delta was forced to focus on paperwork and help his commander with office tasks. He felt like a glorified office assistant sometimes.

Today though he was excited. Excited to see Trisha. They had managed to talk for only a short while before the trial. The bunny having confessed to Delta her past before the videos came out. She had been worried that when news got out about her past that some mammals may look at her differently. She wanted to stomp out any rumors that may come out right away. Of course, there had been a moment in the conversation that was about her future with Delta. The canine just smiling at her and saying "always knew you were a bad girl, wait till the guys at work hear what my girlfriend is capable of."

The simple title was enough to cause Trisha to become both teary eyed and giddy all at once. Sadly though the moment had ended as Trisha was the whisked away for her trial.

Delta had barely heard from the bunny since then. Quick phone calls or messages passed on through a connection he had in the corrections field. Part of Trisha's sentencing required she be without visitation until the warden of the facility approved. Apparently, he just did.

As Delta tapped his paws on the table he picked up on a conversation nearby and try as he might he couldn't resist listening in.

"She just walked in and started acting like she owned the place. But…not in a hostile way. She is really sweet. She even made friends with Mrs. Jumbo…I mean...that in itself is-"

"Officer Delta?" Came a gruff voice. Delta turned to focus on the voice and noticed a warthog in a business suit standing before him. Delta had made a note to learn who the warden was before visiting the facility. He wanted to make a good impression in hopes that it reflected well on Trisha. Delta stood quickly and saluted as he brought his body into a stuff attention.

"Sir," The canine said quickly as he addressed the warden. The warthog was slightly surprised but gave the canine a Curt salute in return along with a smirk.

"I am not your commander Officer Delta," The warden chuckled. "But good to see Westpaw still keeps you lot in line."

"That she does sir," Delta said with a smile. The warden reached out and held his hoof for Delta who shook it respectfully.

"Come with me, there is has been a slight change in plans," The warden said firmly as he led the concerned looking tactical officer from the communal meeting area.

"I have to say of all my years working in the corrections field I have rarely met a mammal as unique as inmate Rose."

Delta winced hearing Trisha's name like that. A reminder of what had happened to his bunny.

"She can be somewhat intense sir," Delta apologized. "I just hope she hasn't caused you too much trouble."

"She does have a certain energy about her that is for sure," The Warden laughed. "And trust me that is a compliment."

Delta lets out a sigh of relief as he continued to walk just behind the warden. The warthog took a moment to stop in front of a picture of a lovely looking giraffe. Her red hair was slightly unkempt but her suit was immaculate.

"Our first Warden," the warthog said proudly.

Delta had to resist rubbing his eyes as he read the name of the first Warden.

"Warden Weaver?" The canine asked as he looked at the plaque just beneath the picture.

"She was a brilliant mammal," the warthog bragged. "She didn't see the prisoners as evil mammals. Just folks down on their luck in need of rescue. She started our primary rehabilitation program which has led to the release of many mammals who are now model citizens."

"Very interesting sir," Delta said softly.

"No it's not," the warthog laughed. "I just wanted to see what you would say as I stalled for her to be ready."

"What?" Delta asked sounding suddenly very confused.

"She needed a moment to get ready and I owed her a favor." The warden explained as he continued down the hallway.

"Wait…sorry warden but what?" Delta asked as he tried to process what he had just heard.

"Trisha defused a rather difficult situation the other day before my guards needed to intervene. Which is fortunate since it would have meant the mammal in question would have had to have been punished otherwise. Trisha, however, calmed things down and by the time my officers arrived the situation was and I quote 'cool' "

Delta was still somewhat confused but decided to simply follow the warden in silence the Warthog led Delta around a corner until they were In front of a large door that required a key card. The warden slid his across the reader and a large metallic lock clicked. Before opening the door the head of the facility turned to give Delta a knowing grin.

"This never happened officer Delta and it won't happen again."

With that, the warden opened the door and ushered Delta inside. The canine trotted in and looked over his shoulder at the warthog who gave him a wink before closing the door.

Delta turned just in time to see a pair of beautiful blue eyes filled his vision as Trisha propelled herself at the surprised painted dog. Her lips instantly pressed against Delta who was forced against the door due to the surprise attack. He faltered for only a moment before wrapping his paws around Trisha's slender form, feeling the warmth of her fur as she let out a moan.

Their lips parted for a moment as Trisha caught her breath, "I missed you so much, baby." The bunny then pressed her lips to deltas once more as she began to undo a strap to the canines vest.

Delta pulled away for a moment and laughed. "How the hell did you arrange this?"

"We have an hour before he comes back, you want to spend it chatting or banging? I haven't had sex in a week!" Trisha growled as she attacked the office once more.

Delta pulled away again and paused for a moment.

"A week?" The canine asked. The doe responded with a rapid nod of her head as she lifted her shirt off and tossed it to the side, using her strong legs which were wrapped around the canine's waist for support. "You have been in here for two weeks though and several months while awaiting the trial as well."

Trisha gave a weak grin as she looked at her canine. "Well there was this visiting doctor bunny from one of the local emergency rooms, she was pretty cute and quite the screamer."

Delta felt his jaw fall open. Trisha burst out laughing as she gave her Delta an evil grin. "Gotcha!"

Trisha's laughter was cut off as she was suddenly tossed across the room into a makeshift bed. The tactical officer approaching as he undid his vest. Trisha giggling as she removed the rest of her clothing.

An hour later Nick heard his phone chirp as he received a message. The fox looked down at the screen and chuckled at a text he had gotten from Delta.

"Well Trisha seems to be in good spirits," Nick muttered as he set the phone down.

Judy who was still laying in her hospital bed perked up suddenly and looked over at her fox. Nick was happy to see some of the brightness return to those beautiful purple eyes of hers.

"Really?" the bunny asked eagerly. The bunny sat and thought for a moment before speaking again. "Are you sure we can try and pull some strings? Maybe she can come visit me…or maybe if Dr. Sweet clears it I can go see her..."

Nick let out a sigh and shook his head. "You know she isn't cleared to leave the facility yet. Part of her punishment. Plus we have no way of properly transporting your medicine around just yet."

Once again Nick was the voice of reason, acting like Judy's own personal nurse. The fox had taken the time to learn everything he could about taking care of the doe. Judy and her parents were both so very grateful for the extra help. Stu had returned to the farm in order to keep an eye on the family. He hadn't wanted to at first and it was with tears in his eyes that he finally relented to his daughter and wife's wishes. Receiving a police escort by Tammy back to the Zootopia Transit Authorities main terminal. Bonnie had elected to stay in the city and keep an eye on her daughter. If not for anything but to at least give Nick a break. The matriarch having to shoo the fox away from time to time, begging him to go home and rest.

Nick was always hesitant to leave but listened to Bonnie who was always firm but loving about the whole situation.

Today was Bonnie's turn to have some time off though. She was staying at Judy and Trisha's apartment and was taking some time to get some much-needed rest.

Nick was more than happy to let Bonnie rest as he took care of Judy.

Judy let out a sigh and looked at the large tank next to her and then back to Nick. The fox picking up that his bunny may need a little attention. He walked over to the bed and gave the bunny a gentle kiss on the forehead. Judy though suddenly had other plans. She reached up and pulled the fox down by his tie. Their lips meeting for a moment before parting.

"Thanks, slick," she whispered softly.

Nick smiled and simply nodded as he leaned back down. Judy let out a pleased moan as their lips met once again. Her ears raised as she wrapped her arms around the fox's neck, bringing him closer.

The moment began to grow in intensity until Judy coughed the bunny had trouble breathing for a moment which caused Nick to pull away and scoop up the air mask. He gently placed it on Judy's face and began to take deep breaths, demonstrating what Judy needed to do. The bunny rolled her eyes but took a gulp of flowery air.

So far she hadn't had much in the way in improvements when it came to this part of her recovery. Though the rest of her was healing nicely it appeared she wouldn't be free of the air mask anytime soon.

"I'm ok Nick," Judy whispered but sighed as she put the mask down. One of the issues with this treatment is that Nick had to avoid contact with her for a minute or two. They had recently discovered that the treatment was having a slight effect on the fox. The predator showing signs of exposure which led to the precaution of avoiding Judy for a minute or two after she treated herself. So far it appeared it only affected predators. Deb, a small bunny nurse, had volunteered to be part of an experiment. After Judy had treated herself the bunny had simply sat next to Judy. She gave the officer a weak smile and couldn't resist saying something.

"Who's ready for a sponge bath?" the nurse would tease which caused Judy to snicker and try to scoot away. Judy made a mental note to introduce Trisha to Deb one day. Having a feeling the two would hit it off rather well.

After a minute or two of deep breathing, Judy signaled for Nick to come back to the bed. The fox taking a seat next to the doe as he opened up his laptop.

Judy nuzzled against the Fox's arm and breathed in his scent, letting out a pleased noise as she closed her eyes.

"Looks like someone has more fan mail," Nick muttered as he began to go through Judy's email. Besides being Judy's lovable nurse the fox had become her Secretary of sorts. After word got out about Judy's daring actions during the 10-7 fire the city flocked to support the bunny as they had after bee work on the missing mammal case. She received emails from well wishes, news groups, the occasional fan who begged to bake her some carrot cookies. Judy was grateful for all the well wishes and attention but was far too modest to let it go to her head.

Nick on the other paw constantly tried to get Judy into agreeing into accepting some homemade baked goods. Or maybe a dinner. Or better yet the new entertainment center a certain warehouse store had offered.

Judy declined it all but made sure that Nick responded to all the fan mail.

"Carrots..." Nick muttered nervously which caused the bunny to open her eyes.

"Nick?" Judy responded, reacting to the Fox's tone with a nervous one of her own.

Judy noticed the direction in which Nick was looking and gazed ahead at the computer. An email was open on the screen and the doe began to read it nervously.

Hey Judy,

I hope this message finds you well. Well as well as you can be after being thrown into a car window. Sorry about that. Oh and sorry about the whole Night howler grenade. It was still in its test phase when I sold it but I never thought the idiots would actually bring it out in a situation like that. Things have gotten somewhat hectic for me. My services are required elsewhere. I didn't want to leave Zootopia. Things were just starting to heat up…get it? Because I torched that bar! Good times…very good times. Almost forgot I didn't manage to get a picture of all of us together. I really wanted to, I'm starting this fun little game soon. Saw it in a movie once. The picture gets all crossed out as each mammal dies and stuff. Maybe next time I'm in town we can all get together for a drink. I remember the last time we had a drink, what an explosive turn of events. I really need to stop. Anyways I hope you are recovering quickly. Don't worry about those medical bills by the way. They are all being taken care of. The least I can do, the data my sources are getting about Nighthowler effects because of your exposure is amazing. Already developing some new toys.

Tell Nick I said Hi!

Tell Trisha I said Die!

Tell that painted dog I shot I owe him a new Pawaiian shirt.

Love,

Tucker.

P.S. I go by Tucker now.

Judy finished reading the email, her ears starting to droop. After all, she had been through Jim…Tucker had managed to escape. It wasn't fair. She had worked so very hard and sacrificed so much. They all had, and now the villain would get away.

Nick gently looped an arm around Judy and squeezed the bunny close, having read the same email.

"We will get him next time Carrots," Nick whispered as he gently kissed Judy on the forehead. "Besides once word gets out he is the one who shot Atom, I think the whole city will be on his tail."

Judy snorted at the comment and agreed. Tucker could do all he wanted to her. Touch a sweet hair on Atom's head however and all bets were off.

Over time Judy's mood had changed from one of solemn defeat to positive hope. The old Judy Hopps returning thanks to a certain fox. Oh and a certain painted dog. Atom never failed to come and visit Judy. He was ecstatic when he heard she was well enough for hugs. The dog would arrive, hobbling on a cane which helped him get around. Delta always berating the other dog for going too quickly or being too brash. Atom however ignored his friend and would waddle over, a large open mouth grin on his face as his bright yellow eyes narrowed in on Judy. The doe absolutely loving the affection and giving off squeaks of excitement whenever Atom looped a gentle arm around her. Nick would always have an annoyed look on his face though. Not out of jealousy mind you. Simply because he knew what was coming next. The painted dog would always release Judy and then turn to the fox, an equally excited look on his face as he chased the fox around the room, one arm outstretched, trying to bring the smaller canine in for a hug. Delta would always step in and help Atom. Whether it be by getting in Nick's way or grabbing the fox and dragging him over to the wounded African dog.

Judy enjoyed watching as her fox would be wrapped up in a hug. She would sometimes pout and give Atom a jealous look which had him limping over to her side once more, bringing her back into a hug. The silliness with Atom didn't stop there, however. He would sometimes show up unbeknownst to the hospital staff and sneak in pints of ice cream for Judy. The two would sit on her bed and watch cheesy hospital TV and munch away at the sweet treats. Nick actually welcomed the distraction and would sometimes sneak off to run an errand or two. Judy had a sneaking suspicion that the fox was concerned with leaving Judy alone for extended periods of time. One because Jim/Tucker was still at large. Two because as a doe she could sometimes get a little emotional. Three because he was an over protective boyfriend which she absolutely adored him. The fox continuing to baby the bunny as if she was some injured prey…which in fairness she still was.

It wasn't long before Judy was cleared to leave the hospital. A breakthrough had been made and a new form of Nighthowler treatment was made for Judy. In the end, it was just the right amount of the dangerous flower mixed in with some other chemicals Judy had a hard time pronouncing. The big issue had been they couldn't just give Judy straight Nighthowler the rest of her life. They needed a way to slowly wean the doe of the drug. Dr. Sweet was confident they had done just that thanks in part to Dr. Badger. Though her legs were no longer in a cast she was still required to be wheeled out of the hospital and lifted into a vehicle to take her home. Judy wasn't the only one cast free. During her stay at the hospital, Nick finally healed up and had his removed. The fox would occasionally have to leave Judy's side and go in for some physical therapy. The doctors said that since he had remained so active through his time in the cast that he shouldn't have too hard of a time gaining back all his muscle memory.

It was a rather emotional day when Judy was finally wheeled out of the Sahara Regional Hospital. Waiting outside for her was a small army of mammals. Members of the ZPD, ZFD, and ZMS were all waiting to cheer for the bunny. Along with members of the public and even a few representatives from city hall. All of them had come out to give the small bunny some encouragement. Nick stood behind Judy as he pushed the wheelchair. Bonnie walking just beside Judy, holding one of the doe's paw in a loving manner.

Roars and cheers filled the air as mammals all leaned in to give Judy some encouraging words.

"We love you, Judy!"

"Way to go Hopps!"

"You kick ass bun!"

"You are stone cold!"

"You ticketed my car and I was only 30 seconds late!"

The last one was soon silenced as an angry antelope was pushed behind the crowd of adoring fans.

Waiting at the edge of the sidewalk stood Bogo. A broad smile on his face. Next, to him, a lovely looking cheetah beamed and waved at Judy who eagerly waved back. Bogo chuckled at his god daughters antics and gave Angie a kind look before turning his gaze back to Judy.

The crowd was still rather loud but Bogo's voice managed to carry over rather well. "Hopps, I came down her personally for two reasons." The Cape buffalo began to explain.

"I missed seeing you too chief," Nick said playfully.

"Three reasons," Bogo corrected himself which caused Judy to laugh.

"One to see you out of the hospital and wish you well." The chief began to say which caused a tear to form in Judy's eye. "Two to give you the order in person to stay home and rest. I know you Hopps and I am here by denying your request to return to work early. I need you rested and mended. That's an order!"

"What was the third one, sir?" Nick asked, already knowing what was coming.

"Wilde you are a pain in my ass!"

With that, the large mammal stepped to the side and opened the door to a waiting truck. The ZPD had spared an unmarked to drive Judy back to her apartment. With some maneuvering, they managed to load Judy into the truck. The doe blushing as her fox lifted her up bridal style and gently placed her in the vehicle. Nick being the perfect gentle mammal stepped to the side and helped Bonnie in as well before heading to the front passenger seat.

"Wilde!" Bogo shouted, catching the fox's attention. "Take care of her. Or I take care of you."

"Such a concerned leader," Nick shot back before closing the door and signaling for Tammy who had happily volunteered to play driver to take them all home.

As the days turned to weeks Judy started to show signs of making a complete recovery. To the point, they managed to finally convince Bonnie she could return to Bunny Burrow and her husband who sent constant messages asking questions relating to taking care of the many kits still living on the farm. It had been a miracle Stu had survived as long as he had. Judy had a feeling her many sisters had stepped up when it came to taking care of the younger kits though.

"Well if you are sure," Bonnie said softly over dinner one night.

"Mom I am fine," Judy said as she reached over and squeezed her mother's paw. "We are so grateful that you have stayed here but it isn't fair to dad and the others."

Bonnie wasn't fully convinced but after some smooth talking from a certain silver tongued fox the bunny decided to listen to her daughter and made arrangements to return back to her rather desperate sounding husband in Bunny Burrows.

Benny showed up the next day to take Bonnie to the train station in the city center. The bunny thanking Clawhauser constantly only to have a flabby paw pat her on the shoulder.

"Pu-lease mommy Hopps. I am more than happy to," The large cheetah explained. "Anything for one of my favorite bunnies. Plus we have so much to catch up on!"

"Try not to reveal any more ZPD secrets there Benji," Nick teased as he brought over Bonnie's bag for the cheetah. Judy stood in the apartment and watched as the three mammals chatted for a moment. All of them seemed to be in high spirits which in turn made Judy hopeful for better days.

Bonnie excused herself from the others and walked over to her daughter, wrapping her arms around Judy in a loving hug. Judy had wanted to go with her mother to the train station but Bonnie wouldn't hear of it. Saying that Judy needed to stay home and rest, every second she rested was a second closer to recovery in Bonnie's mind.

"You call me if you need anything," She whispered as she gave Judy a kiss on the cheek. Judy nuzzled into the kiss and purred as she held her mother close.

"I will mom, thank you so much for coming to take care of me again," Judy whispered, feeling guilty at just how often she needed her mother in the city.

"I am your mother Judy," Bonnie said as she pulled away from the hug but held one of Judy's paws, "I will always be there to come and take care of you."

Bonnie wiped the tears from Judy's eyes and gave her daughter a kiss on the nose. "You send Trisha our love. Oh and those painted dogs as well. They were so sweet."

"Yes mom," Judy said as she watched her mother stroll back towards the front door.

Nick leaned down without instruction and gave Bonnie a gentle hug, knowing full well it was not only expected but now required. Bonnie said a few kind words to the fox, constantly thanking him for everything he had done for them. With that she walked out the door, Benny reaching out and holding her paw as he led her out of the apartment.

Nick closed the door and smiled as he stretched his arms up into the air before letting them fall to his side. Judy smiled at her fox and watched as he strolled over. The predator put a paw on of Judy's shoulders and leaned close. Judy closed her eyes and gently nuzzled her head under Nick's chin which caused the fox to rub his head between the bunny's ears.

"So how about a movie roomie?" Nick asked as he stifled a yawn.

"How are you tired already?" Judy asked with a giggle, "It's not even midday yet."

"Well I have been sleeping on the couch this whole stay," Nick pointed out.

The past couple of days had been a bit odd when it came to sleeping arrangements in Judy and Trisha's apartment. Bonnie and Judy had shared her large bed no problem. Nick, however, didn't want to use Trisha's room. Treating it like some kind of sacred shrine…or maybe a cursed temple. Either way, the fox had taken up residence on the couch which while very comfortable didn't replace a bed when it came to getting a good night sleep. Nick staying with Judy also looked like a somewhat extended idea as well. With Trisha in jail, all the bunny's assets had been seized. Which meant Judy was paying for the apartment on her own. Nick, however, stepped in and helped with the rent. Though he hadn't moved in fully just yet Judy was hoping it was just a matter of time. The thought of them sharing an apartment was new and hadn't been fully discussed. However Bonnie had let slip about maybe when Trisha got out of jail they could find a three bedroom apartment so all three of them could live together. Nick making a joke about the trouble of living with a dangerous mammal like Trisha.

"How about a little nap then," Judy suggested as she looked up into the bright emerald eyes of her fox.

"Couch?" Nick asked.

Judy smirked and shook her head, her ears flopping about in a playful manner.

Nick picked up on Judy's mood and gave her a knowing grin. "Just a nap."

"I mean, unless we can think of something else," Judy grinned.

"Just a nap," Nick instructed as he picked Judy up and carried her off to the bedroom...

"Well I haven't done any stretching yet today and the doctor said I may need to get my heart rate up somehow."

"Just a nap."

They didn't take a nap. In fact, they didn't take a nap several times that day.

-A few weeks later-

Judy, Nick, and Delta all stood beside an idling ZPD tactical SUV in a parking lot on the outskirts of the Rainforest minimum security facility. All of them had an eager look on their faces as they looked at a large gate in front of them. Well, maybe Nick didn't look too eager.

"How is it she is getting out so soon?" Nick grumbled once more.

Judy gave the predator a look which caused him to step to the side, knowing that if he remained close to Judy at the moment he was at risk of a quick jab in the side.

"The cell phone that Jim gave her to relay instructions during the concert," Delta began without looking away from the open gate. "Apparently they had a major breakthrough. Something about sand inside it from where a chip had been installed. Led to a major bust of a Nighthowler storage area. Trisha's lawyer found out and made a case that since Trisha had pawed over the cell phone without any struggle it had allowed that piece of evidence to remain intact which lead to the bust."

"That's a stretch don't ya think," Nick grumbled only to yelp as Judy poked him in the side.

"You want her to stay in there?" Judy growled.

Nick looked down at his bunny. The fox knew better and decided to just shake his head. He was teasing of course. He was just as excited to know that thanks to a rather skilled lawyer and a great deal of good behavior Trisha's jail time had been severely reduced. The brown bunny still had a lot when it came to her sentence. Tons our hours of community service, probation, tracking, house arrest, and so on. Though Trisha was about to leave jail she still had a long road till she was completely free.

"How has she been Delta?" Judy asked as she looked to her other side. The painted dog smiled down at Judy.

"She has been strong," the canine replied. "Constantly asking about you and Nick. Atom and I came to visit her again the other day."

"Wish she had let me visit," Judy grumbled.

Trisha and Judy had only talked a few times since the bunny had been incarcerated. Judy pleading to come and visit Trisha. The brown bunny though begged Judy not to. Trisha not wanting Judy to see her like this. It was difficult but Judy followed Trisha's wishes. Staying away from the facility but sending cards and little gifts for encouragement. Apparently, only Delta and Atom had been the only ones allowed to visit. The bunny trusting the two canines but it was also probably because she missed her boyfriend and some sweet attention from Atom. Her friends from the 10-7 had even been asked to stay away which Judy had a feeling devastated the crew from the bar.

Of course, they had all been busy. The bar burning down had been a major shock to everyone. It turned out the bar wasn't just some building to get drunk in but a place of refuge for the first responders. Its destruction had been felt throughout the city. Echo, however, stepped up and gave words of encouragement when asked about the bar. She reminded many mammals of her time as a firefighter. She had seen horrific fires take buildings away. It wasn't her job to save buildings though. It was her job to save lives. A building is just a structure, after all, it's the mammals inside it that give it purpose.

Echo worked quickly. The insurance covered a large chunk of the cost when it came to reconstruction but it didn't cover everything. She pulled what strings she had and managed to get a loan for the business. It wasn't too hard, one or two banks jumped at the opportunity. Seeing it as a chance for bragging rights and good PR saying they helped restore a bar dedicated to heroes of the city.

In no time at all a new bar had been built on the ashes of the old. It was larger, cleaner, and somehow remained hidden from the rest of the public. Some mammals had just suggested that Echo buy out an old firehouse or maybe an old precinct in another part of the city. The painted dog reminded everyone though, "Do you really want to drink in a place that looks like your work?" To which everyone agreed they were drinking to forget about work and this would be counterproductive. So the bar remained where it always had been, just with a second story on top.

"Well just give it another minute," Delta teased as he gave Judy a wink.

There was movement at the gate and a strong looking pig came running out of the facility. The three members of the ZPD tensed up slightly but the pig waved his hooves about and just smiled. He came to a halt just in front of the SUV and eyed the odd looking group. When his eyes came upon Judy they widened.

"You really are her…"The guard mumbled.

"See, what did I say, it's always Judy the hero," Nick grumbled as he crossed his arms.

"Get the same thing with Atom dude," Delta pointed out.

The pig shook his head for a minute and then looked at Delta, "She said she isn't coming out until you do the thing."

Delta groaned and rolled his eyes. "I am not doing that, it's just cheesy."

"She said you might say something like that," The guard began with a chuckle. "And if you did say that I was told to tell you that if you don't do it she will come out here and…now I am just quoting her on this but 'I will drag Judy into the back of that SUV and you two canines can just enjoy your time in the dog house.' "

Nick's eyes went wide as Judy blushed. Trisha managing to prove that she still knew how to get everyone flustered.

"Do the thing Delta!" Nick barked. "Do the thing!"

Delta quickly fumbled for his keys and unlocked the SUV. He then began to mess with his cell phone which he plugged into a console on the dash. He flicked through his phone and let out a loud sigh.

"The things I do for this bunny," the painted dog griped as he flipped a switch and then pressed a button on his phone.

The trucks PA system came to life and began to play a series of beats. Judy instantly recognized it as Bad to the bone by George Thoorbred.

"No way…" Nick said as he looked at the painted dog.

Delta rolled his eyes and had to shout over the blasting music, "She said this is how she would want to exit prison!"

Judy burst out laughing but suddenly fell silent as she saw the one they came for.

Trisha came strutting around the corner from the guard gate flanked by two prison guards, each of them holding a large shotgun.

"Oh come on is that necessary?" Delta asked, commenting on the weapons. Feeling the guards were getting a little too overzealous.

"They are bean bag guns, we never bring them out…but she wanted them to," The guard explained which caused Delta to just burst out laughing. "We don't normally send two guards out for a release either. She is technically just supposed to walk out and meet you all.

"Gods I love her," Delta shouted over the music.

As the song continued to play Judy watched as her best friend strutted over. She took note at just how much Trisha's hips seem to sway. The bunny was in a white T-shirt and jeans, a jean jacket tossed over her shoulder as she looked ahead through a pair of large patrol glasses. She had a tooth pick in her mouth and an evil grin on those luscious lips of hers.

"She has watched way too many movies," Nick piped up.

The two guards on either side of Trisha stopped and simply watched the bunny strut away, both of them had amused looks on their faces.

Before Trisha could make it all the way to the SUV though she was stopped by Judy, who couldn't wait any longer. The gray bunny darting towards her friend. Trisha dropped the jacket to the ground and spat out her tooth pick as she ran to meet Judy. The two embracing one another in a rather tight hug. Trisha nuzzling into Judy's neck.

"Ok, think that's enough of the music," Nick yelled as Delta leaned into the truck and flipped the sound system off.

Everyone stood and watched the two bunnies as they stood in the parking lot. Their arms holding one another tight as they just stood still. Judy took in a deep breath, shivering at the familiar scent of her friend.

"I missed you so much," Judy whispered.

"I missed you more," Trisha returned as she gave Judy a kiss on the cheek.

After what felt like hours the two finally parted. Trisha looking into Judy's purple eyes only to pull the bunny back in for a hug.

"We have it from here sir, they might be a while," Delta said to the prison guard as he held out a paw. The guard shook the canine's paw but had a nervous look on his face.

"Um…those are my sunglasses though..." The guard said hesitantly.

"Trisha!" Delta barked. The brown bunny looking up from Judy for a moment. "Give him back his shades so we can go!"

The pig gasped in shock as he watched his sunglasses fly through the air, only to land perfectly on his head.

"Thanks, Buck! It really added to the effect," Trisha said as she went back to cuddling with Judy.

"How…how does?" The pig stuttered as he pulled the sunglasses from his head and looked at them in disbelieve.

"You should see what she can do with coasters," Nick pointed out, only to have the denim jacket land right on his head. "Really?"

The reunion was a little bit teary eyed. While Trisha and Delta had seen each other during her incarceration they still shared a rather passionate embrace. The bunny and canine not hiding anything as the painted dog placed his paws on Trisha's rump while the bunny wrapped her legs around his waist. It took Nick coughing rather loudly to finally get the two attention. Something he regretted when a pair of blue eyes fell on him. For the first time ever he didn't try to run or fight it. He simply held his arms open and smiled as the small brown bunny collided with him. Nuzzling into his chest at first but finally planting a small peck on the fox's cheek.

"Thanks for everything," Trisha whispered sweetly to Nick who simply nodded.

Now that the canines had received some affection Trisha turned her attention to Judy but was surprised when the small gray bunny attacked, wrapping Trisha up in a strong hug. The two nuzzling into one another for a moment or two.

"I missed you so much," Judy said, her voice muffled as she began to cry into Trisha's shoulder. The brown bunny tried her best but soon let tears of joy roll down her own cheek as she held her best friend close.

"I missed you too cutie," Trisha whispered in return. The moment was interrupted by Trisha's stomach which growled, causing Judy to take a step back and grin at her friend.

"Do I really need to tell you all how much I have missed real food?" Trisha asked with a grin. Everyone shared a laugh as they piled into the SUV. Nick and Delta sharing the front section, letting the does have the backseat where they could sit and talk to one another. Both the canines knowing the girls would want to catch up.

As Trisha closed the door behind her Judy took notice of a small device on Trisha's ankle. It was obviously a tracking device which was part of Trisha's sentence. The brown bunny gave her friend a weak grin. "They put it on this morning since I was leaving. It is actually the top of the line apparently. I can take very…" Trisha paused and leaned forward to the front seat section, looking at her painted dog. "Very! Long showers."

"Good to hear," Delta grinned.

Trisha leaned back and gave Judy a playful wink before scooting a little closer.

"Bet you were glad when the casts came off right? Both of your furs is looking extra…shampooed," she asked as she gave Judy a seductive look. "Because I have a feeling a certain fox doesn't mind long shower."

"You have no idea," Judy said sadly, her ears drooping before a mischievous grin crossed her lips. "I made sure we didn't do it in your room though, but the rest of the apartment has been done."

"Hopps!" Trisha squealed excitedly as she tried to stifle a laugh.

"Especially the kitchen table," Judy added.

Trisha completely lost it and burst out laughing, nuzzling her forehead against Judy's. The gray doe leaning close to her friend. The two bunnies love having one another back in their lives. It was apparent from the tones, touches, and constant gossiping on the drive.

"Sorry I didn't get to sign your casts," Trisha mumbled as she examined Judy's arm.

"Well," Judy began as she blushed.

"No one did! She wanted to wait for a certain someone!" Nick pointed out from the front seat.

Trisha's eyes brightened as tears began to form. Judy simply smirked and nodded.

"It just wouldn't be the same," Judy explained "however someone did sign my cast actually," Judy tilted her arm slightly and pointed to a spot where the cast had covered. "Atom drew a hug button on my cast" Trisha giggled at Judy as she looked at the gray fur on her arm. "It was a button that whenever I wanted a hug I press and I got a hug."

"Really?" Trisha asked.

Judy nodded her head and pressed the spot where the button. Trisha instantly wrapped her arms around Judy who let out a surprised squeak.

"Looks like the button still works!" Trisha teased.

"Oh gosh…even I may get sick," Delta gagged from the driver seat.

"At least you don't have to live with them," Nick pointed out.

"You poor soul," Delta said in return, the two canines had actually become close friends over the past few weeks and it showed in their banter with one another.

"Speaking of which," Trisha said as she looked out the window and then to the front seat. "Aren't we heading home? I have to…umm...call my parole officer and I am not allowed to leave the confines of my apartment."

Judy noticed the embarrassment in the doe's voice and gently rubbed Trisha's back in a show of support. She still felt terrible for what Trisha had to go through. Even though she was forced into the situation she still had to take the punishment. Tucker's plan may have failed but in the end, a life was ruined, well almost ruined.

"About that," Nick said with a wicked smirk as he looked at Delta who nodded.

"What?" Trisha asked as her ears raised up, looking back at Judy who had an equally curious look on her face.

"Well, we managed to pull some strings. You need employment after all and we made a few phone calls."

"Really?" Trisha asked, sounding both excited but nervous. She hadn't managed to get a hold of echo during her time locked up and could only assume she had been let go from the 10-7. She had heard it was rebuilt but other than that she hadn't heard anything from her former place of work.

"Yes and I have an old friend looking for someone with your talents, so we made a call to your parole officer who was more than happy to clear you for a couple hours interview." As the fox explained everything Delta turned down a familiar street in the central district of Zootopia.

Nick then pulled out his phone and began to type a message out, sending it away in silence as he did his best not to look back, knowing full well if he did a certain brown doe would probably try to get information out of him.

Trisha slouched back in her seat and felt rather nervous all of the sudden and it showed. Judy fell back in her seat and rested her head on the bunny's shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Judy asked softly.

"I am definitely not dressed for an interview," Trisha said as she looked down at her outfit. The two does burst out laughing.

A few minutes later the turned down another familiar road and Trisha sat up in her seat. Delta made another turn which caused Trisha to sit up, even more, her wars raising.

"No…" Trisha whispered.

Another turn had Trisha shaking, "no way…nick…delta! No way!"

The two smug looking canines in the front seat glanced at one another and then straight ahead. Just began to pick up on where they were and she felt excitement course through her. They made one last turn.

The 10-7 looked amazing. It was newly brick covered building with a pair of large black doors that looked like they could let several elephants through at once. Instead of a neon sign, a large set of white numbers were now painted about the door. 10-7 was painted on the brick in an industrial sort of way.

Trisha burst into tears at the sight. It wasn't just the building though, but the mammals that all stood out front of the bar. As Delta pulled the truck to a stop in front of the bar Trisha put her face into Judy's shoulders and began to some with tears of joy.

"They are waiting for you," Delta cooed as he shut the vehicle off. Nick and Delta exited the vehicle and waited outside.

"I don't deserve this," Trisha said as she looked up from Judy's shoulder and out the window to several excited looking mammals.

"Yes you do," Judy said sweetly as she placed her pass on either side of Trisha's cheek and rubbed the tears away. She then leaned close and gave Trisha a gentle kiss on the forehead. "Let's go see if they are hiring."

Trisha and Judy exited the SUV and Trisha had to do her best to maintain her composite. Standing in front of the bar were all her friends. Em was standing at the front with a help wanted sign in her paws. Try as she might the otter couldn't wait and tossed the sign to the side, running to Trisha with tears in her eyes. Trisha ran forward and met the otter, the two holding onto one another as if their lives depended on it.

There wasn't a dry eye in the bunch. Even Nick tried to hide it but Judy noticed the fox running the corner of his eyes occasionally.

Judy watched as her friend was embraced by the mammals of the 10-7. She laughed when Petey lifted Trisha into the air and twirled her around. The brown bunny laughing loudly. Petey set Trisha down in front of another mammal which caused the bunny to freeze and look suddenly nervous.

Echo stood before Trisha with a sly smirk.

"So tell me, what experience do you have working in a bar?" The painted dog asked. Trisha burst into laughter as she jumped into her boss's arms and hugged Echo.

After a few seconds Echo set Trisha down and smiled.

"I am not too sure," She teased. "The last bunny I hired burn down my bar and turned out to be a wanted criminal."

There was a roar of laughter from the mammals present. Trisha however blushed and kicked the ground.

"In fairness, I didn't burn the bar down, that was a different bunny."

This was met by another round of laughter. Echo however smiled and pulled a shirt that had been rolled up in her back pocket. She tossed it to Trisha and Judy recognized it as the shirt Trisha normally wore when working at the bar.

"Welcome back to the 10-7," the painted dog said with a chuckle. "Now get in there and start serving, we have a packed house."

"Wait. What?" Trisha asked as she looked ahead at the large doors. Petey strolled over to one door as Echo took the other. They pulled open the large doors to reveal the inside of the bar which had another group of mammals. All of them in ZPD blue. There was a loud cheer and soon the members of the ZPD present we're all chanting Trisha's name.

Upon entering the bar Judy noticed what had changed. The inside looked the same for the most part but a great deal cleaner the walls were now split a polished wood that gave off a cozy but modern feel running along the bottom of the wall while the upper part was a dark crisp blue which helped give off a more modern feel. The walls which used to be adorned with different pictures from across the cities first responders were absent. Most likely lost in the fire. Several large screens were spread on the walls. Each one filled with an image of the different flags that represented the different branches of the Zootopia first responders. The actual flags of the departments hung exactly where Judy remembered them, along with several light bars which would normally be on top of a squad car.

Judy did, however, notice a set of large metal stairs at the far end of the large room. She would learn later the bar actually had two floors. Judy was curious to see what was upstairs but decided she would probably learn later from one of the Barkeeps.

As Nick and Judy weaved through the crowd they were greeted by many of their friends from the ZPD who all gushed over Judy and gave Nick warm welcome. Trisha had disappeared in the crowd but Judy had a feeling she would awesome her friend later. It seemed many of the officers Judy and Nick were close to were present. Clawhauser, Tammy, Lylah, even Bogo had taken time to come out and welcome Trisha back.

Judy was given quite the surprise as she was suddenly lifted up from behind, a familiar sniffing noise filling her wars as she heard Atom sniff the does scent and then nuzzle her happily.

"Atom!" Judy squeaked happily. "I didn't even have to push the hug button!"

After a few minutes of getting settled Judy and Nick were both suddenly ushered towards the main bar by Em who had been looking for them. Judy was a little confused as to what was happening.

Standing next to a large screen stood echo and Trisha. The brown bunny back in her 19-7 blue shirt. Unlike her normal one however her stomach was covered, Judy felt like that needed to get changed later.

Echo raised a paw and a hush came over the crowd. "As you all have noticed the walls of the bar a little bare these days."

Several mammals all nodded in agreement, the walls looking off without all the different pictures and pieces of memorabilia.

"I ask you all if you have any pictures, medals, patches, anything please bring it in and I can hang them up so we can make this place look like home again." The painted dog instructed. "In the mean time, I have two pictures to put on the wall."

Echo then looked right at Judy and Nick and smiled. The screen next to echo came to life and showed a picture of Nick and Judy at Nick's graduation. Nick with a smug grin and Judy with a bright smile. The pair looked rather nice in their dress blues. Underneath the picture was a line of text, "Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde, ZPD, Missing Mammals case."

Everyone cheered for the pair. Judy blushing as she looked at the image. She then noticed Trisha holding up the picture in a frame. She hopped up on a chair and put the picture on a nail next to the large screen. Judy felt a swelling of pride when she realized it was Nick and hers picture that would be the first one hung up in the new bar.

"Next one!" echo shouted. The next picture appeared on screen and suddenly Judy felt she may die from embarrassment. The picture was of Judy strapped to a chair inside the tunnel of Love. Nick standing over her, his paws to on her cheeks as he pulled her close, their lips pressed against one another. Judy recognized it as the picture Delta took when Judy and Nick thought they would be killed by an explosion. In the end, it had been a trick but the painted dog had neglected to mention that till after he got the picture.

A few cheers and whistles echoed through the bar. Judy pulled her ears over her face and giggled. When she did take a peek she saw Trisha beaming at the bunny, giving her a wink. Underneath the picture was some text, "Officer Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde, ZPD, Nighthowler Case 2."

After the embarrassment wore off Nick and Judy managed to travel through the bar, shaking paws and receiving words of congratulations.

Judy noticed Nick was leading the doe to a particular part of the bar. It confused her when they reached a small table to a corner of the bar. Nick pulling the chair out for Judy before taking a seat across from her. His smug smirk told her something was up.

"What?" Judy asked her fox as she leaned back in her seat.

"You remember this table?" Nick asked as he gazed at the bunny, his emerald eyes full of warmth.

Just blushed as she suddenly realized where they were sitting and gently ran a paw over the table.

"Our first date..." she whispered. "Or at least I thought it was."

"Let's just say it was," Nick laughed. "And cue the crazy monster."

Trisha came bouncing up, her smile bright and her eyes brighter.

"So, what can I get you two?" she asked, sounding ecstatic to be asking them for a simple drink order.

"Surprise me," Judy said, remembering how much she loved Trisha's surprise drinks.

"The regular," Nick said to Trisha.

"The regular?"

"AA is for quitters," Nick teased, quoting himself from their first date.

"Wish you would quit," Trisha teased. Before the doe could skip away Nick grabbed the bunny's paw which caused Trisha to turn and smile at the fox.

"Welcome back Trisha," the fox said simply and nodded.

Trisha beamed as a tear rolled down her cheek. She nodded and then skipped away.

Judy let out a sigh as she looked around at all her fellow officers enjoying a well-deserved drink. She then looked at Nick who smiled at her.

"I remember I didn't stay in this seat for very long on our date," Judy pointed out. Nick taking the hint and scooting his chair back a little. Judy hopped from the seat and trotted over to the other side of the table and climbed up onto the Fox's lap, nuzzling into her fluffy partner. Nick wrapped his arms around Judy and kissed her forehead gently.

"You know," Judy whispered, "there was a certain something I was hoping would happen on our first date."

"Really now, do tell Carrots," Nick chuckled.

"How about I show you?" Judy whispered as she looked up at her fox. The doe didn't have to lean up that far as Nick came to meet her. Their lips gently pressing against one another in a passionate yet sweet kiss.

Judy felt Nick pull her closer and she let out a soft purr into the kiss. All the emotions she had gone through that day suddenly caught up and she felt herself shake. Judy pulled herself from the kiss and looked away as she let out a cough. Nick loosened his grip on Judy and began to rummage in his pocket for a small inhaler that had been made for Judy if she ever needed a shot of Nighthowler.

Trisha returned with the drinks in time to see Judy puffing some flowered scented air from the device. The brown bunny tilted her head slightly in concern.

"You okay cutie?" The bartender asked as she reached out and rubbed Judy's shoulder. Nick did his best to avoid breathing in any of the Nighthowler and sat back as Judy leaned forward. The fox reached out and rubbed Judy's back.

"Carrots just needed a puff of her medicine is all," Nick explained.

"I didn't know you had asthma," Trisha cooed as she looked at Judy.

Judy let out a weak smile.

"I don't," The bunny said weakly.

"Then what is in the inhaler?" Trisha asked curiously.

"Midnicampum holicithias," Judy said with a sigh.

Trisha's eyes widened as she looked at Nick.

Judy began to feel the medicine take effect and closed her eyes as she curled up with her fox. The vulpine smiling as he kept his bunny close. Nick then looked over at Trisha and smiled, "We just call them Night howlers."

-The End-

A/N for chapter:

It's done! Thank goodness this thing is done! Oh gosh I can't tell you how glad I am that this story is finally coming to a close.

I hope you all enjoyed this final chapter for Nighthowlers. Sorry if it was a long one. Not sorry how it ended though. This plot has been changed around a few times but this was the ending I planned all along. Yes even the bits with Trisha totally kicking butt, the bar burning down, and Jim…sorry Tucker..getting away. Will there be a sequel? Who knows? This story was my first one ever. The first time I even tried something like this. It has turned out to be one crazy learning experience. What did I learn? To stick with AUs. Firewatch will be getting more attention now and I have plans for a fun future AU I hope to start in the near future.

Hope you enjoyed this fluffy finale for NH.

Credits:

OceRydia: Thank you for the wonderful cover pic you made for this story. I am so glad to have artwork by you right now so one day in the future I can brag and show others that I have work byu the famous OceRydia! You are an amazing artist and I can't wait to see what you draw up next!

Floreloyx: My first biggest fan! You stuck through it all. Every chapter. I sought advice from you and you happily gave it while encouraging me to keep pushing forward. I can't tell you how happy I am to know someone like you and to have you follow my stories. I wish you luck on your own stories. In the real world I wish you luck with everything. Thanks for being a follower and a friend.

Cimar of Turalis WildeHopps: Cimar you have done so much for this fandom that it would take another 20k words to cover it all. You arranged the Collab which in the end created a crazy new story for me. You offered words of wisdom during those harder times. You taught me to keep writing and just enjoy the work and not the words of others. I like to think I am an ok writer. Through your constant campaigning though I have managed to get more readers than I ever thought I could get or deserved. Thanks for helping me make a name for myself. Also thanks for the Pinecone channel. :P

Fox in the hen house: Alright dude, I will try to not get too mushy on this one. You have been my best friend through all of this. I remember sending you that message mentioning how I loved your work and wanted to mention you in my story only to have you say that's what you planned for your next chapter. Message after message till we hit that 3k mark and ended up on discord together. You have been so instrumental in the creation of my works. All the good stuff is because you helped me and guided me to a better story. I look forward to your future works, to many new chapters, but most of all to our continued crazy conversations about utter nonsense that lead to amusing works. Thank you for being there for me through it all you foxy stallion you.

Everyone else: There are of course many others I want to thank. You know who you are and you should know I am grateful for knowing you. For those of you who stuck through the madness of my first story. While I continued to figure out where to go and of course through all the silliness of me messing with shippers and the likes. The positive reviews on here have helped spur me forward and focus on creating more and more content. I appreciate all the support and hope I made a story worthy of such devotion. I look forward to writing more crazy stuff for you all in the future. For now though: Thank you all!

And for those of you who stuck around through the credits I ask you this: What's the one thing you never do at a Marvel movie? Leave before the credits are done….enjoy.

Nick felt his stomach begin to knot as he rested on one knee. He knew it was cheesy but so was his bunny so he had decided to just go all out. He blinked a few times, looking at the ground for a moment. It was actually kind of cute to the bunny currently sitting before the fox. To see the famously smug and confident Nick Wilde nervous. It was a sight to behold that was for sure.

"Judy I normally have some kind of plan," Nick began as he looked up at the doe before him. His bright emerald eyes shimmering.

"I always have some kind of trick up my sleeve or a way to get out of a bad situation. But when I'm with you…all I see is one thing. Us. There is no big scheme or some kind of epic future being plotted in my mind when I'm with you. It's because I'm just so focused on the now. Every moment with you is something I cherish. Every second that passes is one I want to last forever. Every minute is just so wonderful because I have you."

The fox took a deep breath and then smiled as he slowly pulled a small box from his pocket.

"I made you wait, which was one of the dumbest things I could ever do. I did it because I was scared but I'm not scared anymore."

The bunny on the seat began to shake. The small paw that was grasped in Nick's paw shook as well.

Nick paused for a moment as he tried to maintain his composure.

"I'm not scared any..."

The doe in the seat snorted but did their best to remain silent.

"Ok…." Nick grumbled as he let go of the brown paw he had been holding.

Trisha burst out laughing as she held one of her sides.

"Oh gosh, Nick I'm sorry!" Trisha said as she fanned herself and tried to calm down.

"Listen if you aren't going to take this seriously," Nick said as he stood up and put the box in his pocket.

"Nooo!" Trisha whined as she reached out and grabbed Nick's paw. "You were doing so good Nick! I know she is going to absolutely love it!"

"You haven't even let me finish the whole thing though!" Nick shot back as he rolled his eyes at the bunny who was supposed to be helping him prepare for one of the most important moments of his life.

"Ok! Let me just..." Trisha scooted around in her seat and then crossed her legs. She took a deep breath and held out a paw as she looked seriously up at the fox. "I will be serious! I promise! I will act just like Judy so you will be ready."

Nick groaned as he took a knee once more and scooped Trisha's paw in his own.

"Judy-" Nick began but was cut off by Trisha who exploded with happiness.

"Yes, Nick Wilde!" She exclaimed as she wrapped her paws around the fox and nuzzled her cheek against his. "I Judy Hopps will marry you and we will live happily ever after and have tons of kits! And let Auntie Trisha spoil them rotten because we love her!"

"Ok, that's it!" Nick growled as he stood up. Trisha still had her arms around Nick's neck and her feet dangled as she rubbed her face against Nick's.

She giggled and slowly slid down till her feet landed on the floor. She looked up at Nick and beamed.

"You realize no matter what you say she is gonna say yes," Trisha pointed out.

"You think?" Nick asked as he opened the small box he had in his pocket and inspected the ring gently nestled in the center.

"I know," Trisha said confidently. "Because she has terrible tastes in foxes." Trisha couldn't help but tease Nick. The fox chuckled as he felt slightly better at his chances. Sure Trisha was a bit of a pain and wasn't exactly helping but hearing her words calmed the tod.

"I'm just…I don't know," Nick muttered as he put the box back in his pocket. A small paw grabbed his and he looked down at his friend. A pair of bright blue eyes shimmering up at him.

"I do know though," Trisha said as she pulled at the fox's paw. Nick rolled his eyes once more but took a knee so Trisha could give him a warm hug. "You and Judy are amazing together and I know you will make her happy Nick."

"Thanks, Trisha," Nick said as he squeezed the tiny doe.

"But if you don't I will end you," Trisha said sweetly.

"Thanks, Trisha…" Nick grumbled as he patted the bunny on her back.

The two friends parted and smiled at one another.

"Alright come on now," Trisha said as she turned to skip away. "Your future fiancé is waiting to get that ring on her paw."

"Trisha I was going to wait," Nick pointed out as he followed the bouncy brown bunny.

Trisha stopped and turned to glare at Nick. "You remember the last time you waited right?"

"You kissed my bunny in the 10-7 bathroom…"

Trisha grinned evilly and nodded.

"No!" Nick barked as he gave Trisha a knowing stare.

The doe tried to give the fox an innocent look but it didn't work.

"Trisha don't you dare!"

"Wait all ya want Nick!" Trisha said as she skipped away. "But wait too long and I'm gonna buy Judy a ring pop and propose to her myself!"

"That bunny!" Nick couldn't help but laugh as he ran after Trisha, the engagement ring in his pocket ready to meet Nick's future fiancé.