Judy didn't sleep well. Her mind kept her awake into the early hours of the following morning.

At first, it was because of the case she was working on. She jumped through mental hoops, trying to find a reason for everything—a connection at all that could help put this to rest once and for all. The more she investigated, the more she had come to the conclusion that someone was behind everything.

Over a dozen aggressive predators in just a few days. It's not a coincidence. That doesn't just happen. She knew it was true, but she didn't know much else. She didn't know why the predators were behaving this way, but there were at least a few similarities across all cases.

They are all predators. They all have no memory of what they did afterward. They are all doing this in public areas… She rubbed her temples, trying to think of more, before giving up. By this point it was past midnight and she wanted to go to sleep. Besides, I can think more clearly when I'm more rested.

But another hour of tossing and turning proved fruitless. Judy found herself lying awake on her bed, staring up at the ceiling to her apartment. The more she tried not to think of the case, the worse it got. Her mind ran in circles, going over everything she knew multiple times.

She didn't even know what details were important to remember, which made everything worse. Tony Stripes was a graphic designer. Mayor Lionheart and Assistant Mayor Rolfe both wore shock collars to set an example for the rest of the predators in the city. The pill bottle in the car. The lawyer who shut Stripes up. Her date with Nick…

All other thoughts were suddenly drowned out by that one.

Nick.

She and Nick had gone through a lot already together, and the more this case unfolded, the more Nick seemed to be affected. First, it was his sessions with Dr. Wood…

No, she reminded herself, that wasn't when it started. It started when he got his shock collar. When he agreed to put it on, he did so knowing full well that he would lose a great amount of dignity. He had done a good job hiding his true feelings about it, but she could sometimes catch glimpses in his face when he thought she wasn't looking.

In those moments, she could tell. He was not as happy as he had been before. The joy he had felt upon becoming a police officer, knowing that he truly was helping to make the world a better place…

That was gone. His smiles were forced. His cheerful tone of voice was a façade. His sunglasses rode over his eyes more and more often, helping him hide his shame from the world. He was in pain. He was conflicted about the changes going on in his life.

She wanted to help him, but didn't know how. She didn't like seeing predators wearing shock collars either, but there wasn't anything they could do. And while it was true Bogo had given her the key to take off Nick's collar, she knew doing so would do more harm than good—for both herself and Nick. And besides, after her dream from several nights ago, where Nick killed her, seeing him with a shock collar did put her mind at ease.

Judy clutched her pillow, cursing herself for even thinking such a thing. But even though she hated to, she knew it was the truth…

The dream still seemed so real to her—just as real as when she first dreamt it. The feeling of Nick's fangs closing on her neck, the thumping of her heart in her chest, the sheer panic and helplessness she felt as she woke up in a cold sweat…

Does it mean something?

She couldn't help but wonder, as much as she didn't want to. She couldn't get the possibility out of her head. Even though Nick was her friend—her best friend—he was still a predator, and she was still prey.

But Nick wouldn't hurt me, she told herself. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to make the thought sink in past her thick instincts. I trust him with my life—I have, many times! He has never let me down. He has always been there right when I have needed him the most. He loves me, and…

The squeezing slowly loosened. He… loves me…

She knew it, of course. They teased each other about it all the time. "Do I love you? Yes, yes I do." They had said it so much to each other, she didn't know who had said it the most times between them.

But… Does he love me?

True, they had gone on a date—a bona fide date, with dinner and awkward small talk and everything. And true, they had another one scheduled for the following Friday. And true, her parents thought that the two of them were dating—even though they thought Nick was a raccoon.

But they weren't dating. They weren't a couple. And besides that, she had more important things to think about. A quick glance at the clock told her that she had just spent the last hour thinking solely about Nick, instead of trying to think through the case like she had initially wanted.

Judy mentally kicked herself. It seemed every time she let her thoughts wander lately, they always wandered back to him. Nick Wilde, her fox.

My fox… She shook her head. Thinking about Nick was difficult. Her thoughts on him were complicated. She pitied him, she worried for him, and her bunny instincts forced her to even fear him. But at the same time, she admired him, she trusted him, and she wanted to be by his side as much as possible.

And, above all of that, she knew, she loved him. But…do I love him in that way?

That was a question she was not yet ready to answer—especially when she had been up all night, unable to sleep. It was an especially tough question to ask herself since it was obvious that she had trust issues with Nick. Her dumb bunny instincts were impossible to fully ignore, and no matter how close of a friend she was to the fox, he was still a fox, and she was still a rabbit.

And she felt guilty because of it.

The dream, and her reaction to it, had proven that even now, she didn't fully trust him. She hated to admit it, but it was true. Even after all they had been through, even after all he had done for her…

He doesn't deserve me.

That thought, at long last, quieted her mind down. Nick didn't deserve her. She didn't trust him. After the distrust he had endured throughout his life, Nick Wilde deserved to be with someone who trusted him.

And that someone isn't me. She sighed, loudly enough to hear it echo off the ceiling in her room. I want to trust him; he needs it, and he deserves it. I feel guilty that I don't trust him. I have no reason not to… So why is it so hard?

No answers came to her. Just many more hours of sleeplessness.

Finally, she gave up on sleeping and decided to head into work early. She dragged herself out of bed, took a quick shower and got dressed in her police uniform, feeling sluggish the whole time. She had gotten so little sleep, even her phone hadn't fully charged since she had plugged it in on her way to bed hours prior.

It was still dark outside when she left her apartment; the faintest hint of sunlight was just beginning to break over the eastern horizon, and she might have even seen a few stars if it weren't for Zootopia's light pollution. Lucky for her, Zootopia was a city that never seemed to sleep. Even though it was far earlier than most mammals were accustomed to, Judy had no trouble taking the subway to the ZPD, which was likewise full of activity.

She knew most of the nighttime staff only by name, since they operated on a different schedule than she did. Most of them, of course, were nocturnal mammals like wolves and raccoons, but as she walked into the front door, she also noticed a deer and a giraffe in the far corner, chugging on coffee in an attempt to wake up.

Coffee isn't a bad idea, actually. Judy hardly ever drank it, since she was usually so full of energy anyway, but today might be an exception.

As she expected, Clawhauser was not at his usual spot at the front desk; instead, a leopard named Purrcy was one to greet her. Purrcy, understandably, had a confused expression on his face when he spotted the bunny walking past. "Wow. Officer Judy Hopps. I'm not used to seeing you at this hour."

"Morning, Purrcy," Judy replied as politely as she could past the tiredness. She continued walking toward her desk. "Yeah, I couldn't sleep. Decided to come and work."

"Wait, Hopps." Judy paused and turned to look at him. "Check this out." Purrcy ducked down for a second, disappearing behind the desk, before reappearing with a medieval-era helmet on his head. "I am Spotacus," he dramatically announced, puffing out his chest and standing tall.

Judy would otherwise have been amused. However, her lack of sleep was currently affecting her sense of humor. "That's great, Purrcy," she managed to mumble, before turning on her heel and continuing to her desk.

Not even two steps later, she heard someone on the balcony above call out, "No, I am Spotacus!" She looked up, and saw Grizzoli wearing a similar helmet, standing in an identical posture, calling out to the rest of the lobby.

"I am Spotacus!" someone else called behind her. She didn't even bother checking to see who it was as she walked away; she figured this was about to continue for some time.

She heard one more, "No, it's me, I am Spotacus!" call in the distance as she finally made it to her desk. To her delight, the background check on Bruin and Stripes had finally finished sometime overnight. Her delight disappeared quickly when she realized that there wasn't much to read on either mammal.

Stripes was squeaky-clean. She had expected as much, given her interactions with him. Not so much as a parking ticket. Bruin, on the other hand, did have a parking ticket to his name, but that was it—and he had paid it in full within a week of issue.

I waited twenty hours for that? That's it? Judy slouched in her chair. What a day I'm having.

A faint beeping sound erupted from her pocket, causing her to jump in surprise. She quickly fumbled around and retrieved her phone, which had caused the beep. She groaned upon the realization that it was simply her morning alarm.

It was now 5:30, the time she would usually be waking up. Any other morning, she'd be wide awake within seconds, eager to get the day started, ready to make the world a better place.

Right now she just wanted coffee.

She shut off her alarm, hopped out of her chair, and made her way down the hallway. She could hear a few more voices in the main foyer, still arguing over which of them was Spotacus, but knew most of the day shift wouldn't be making their way into work until about another hour from now.

Which means I won't be able to interrogate Roark until then, she realized with a groan. Why did I bother coming into work early if I've got nothing to do?

She reached the end of the hallway, where the coffee machine sat on a table. Unfortunately, it was a rather tall table, meant more for animals who stood twice or three times Judy's height. Not only that, but the machine itself was sized proportionally, so even if Judy could reach it, she would have a difficult time properly using it.

She let out a very loud, long groan. "What a day," she sighed out loud. She slouched and glared up at the coffee machine, wishing her disappointment would make things better.

To her surprise, she heard a familiar voice behind her. "It's kind of early to call it 'day', isn't it, Hopps?" She turned around and was met with the welcome sight of Fangmeier making his way to the coffee machine, coffee mug already in paw.

Her disappointment all of a sudden disappeared. "Fangmeier, can you give me a hand?" She gestured to the coffee maker, towering above her.

Fangmeier chuckled as he closed the gap between the two of them. "I certainly can, Judy." He sat his mug down on the table and grabbed a styrofoam cup from the stack beside the coffee machine. "I guess there are still a few things in the station that haven't been upgraded for the Mammal Inclusion Initiative." He started filling the cup. "Cream or sugar?"

"Two creams," Judy replied. She could already smell the coffee and couldn't help but grin in anticipation. "And yeah, there's a few things here and there that could be a bit more me-sized, but I've done a good job adapting until now."

"Until now," Fangmeier agreed, topping up the cup and reaching for the cream. "I'll make sure to put in the order for a shorter coffee table and bunny-sized coffee machine as soon as I clock in."

Judy's happiness was all of a sudden replaced with embarrassment. She quickly threw up her paws. "Oh, you don't have to do that," she started.

"Nonsense," Fangmeier insisted. He grabbed a coffee straw and began stirring. "Trust me, I know exactly what it's like to be forgotten about because you're a different species than most animals are used to interacting with." He finally reached down to deliver Judy's drink. "Besides, how long have you been here? It's long past time you got a proper coffee machine."

Judy accepted it—requiring both paws to properly hold the cup that Fangmeier so easily held in one—and took a sip. She smiled. "It tastes perfect."

Fangmeier smiled in return. "I was a barista in a previous life." He stood up straight again and began filling his own coffee mug. "Delgato's on his way, too. You can begin interrogating Roark a few hours early if you want."

"Can we?" Suddenly, Judy's morning wasn't all so bad. "That would be great. I've got nothing else to do until then."

Fangmeier started stirring in his own cream and sugar and turned his attention back to Judy. His smile was still on his face. "Then it's a good thing we decided to come in early." He tilted his head in the direction of his shock collar. "I guess both of us just want these things gone as soon as possible, you know? It's a pain to sleep with and no matter where we go, we always get weird looks from prey."

Judy stopped mid-sip. The shock collars… Up until now, she had completely forgotten Fangmeier was even wearing it. In just the short amount of time since they had been mandated, she had already gotten used to seeing predators wearing them—both on the police force and in public…

The thought made her feel sick in her stomach. This is already being normalized. I've already accepted it. She sipped at her coffee absently, hardly noticing the heat on her tongue as she swallowed. How many predators did I pass today on my way to work? How many of them were wearing shock collars—working shock collars—and I didn't even notice? How many predators have been suffering without me even so much as remembering—

"Are you okay, Hopps?"

Judy blinked, realizing she had been silent for too long. Her coffee was cooling down and her fingers were getting sore from holding the styrofoam cup. She looked back at Fangmeier, whose expression was of concern.

"I'm fine," she insisted. When Fangmeier raised an eyebrow, she forced a smile. "I will be."

He didn't seem convinced, but he nodded and turned on his heel. "I'm going to clock in now," he said as he began walking down the hall. "Delgato will be here in ten minutes. We can begin the interrogation at your leisure."

"Thank you!" Judy called after him. She took a few seconds to finish the rest of her coffee, threw the cup in the nearby trash can, and sprinted back to her desk. She ignored the voices in the lobby, still arguing over which of them was Spotacus, and whipped out her phone.

"Shock collars, shock collars, shock collars," she whispered as she pulled up the news app. It loaded just as she reached her desk, so she stood her phone on end and began watching, making sure to pay attention to the predators in the video.

Sure enough, many of them were wearing shock collars. It was not as many as she had persuaded herself there would be, but it was still a sizeable number. Tigers, wolves, cougars, cheetahs, bears…

Foxes.

The reporter, a pig, was interviewing a fox. It was a female arctic fox, around the same age as Nick, and she was wearing a shock collar as well. In fact, the interview was about the shock collar.

"And how long have you been wearing this shock collar?" the pig asked.

The fox was visibly nervous. If Judy had started watching even just a few minutes earlier, she would have attributed it to the fox being camera shy. But now…

"Actually, this is my first day wearing it," the fox confessed. She reached up to it with her paw and seemed to try and cover the green light on the side, though it shone through her fingers. "I got a letter from the Zootopia city government with instructions to put this on."

"What did the letter say, exactly?" the reported pressed.

"I don't remember everything," the fox replied. Her voice was uneasy, almost as if she had trouble maintaining her breath through each sentence. "It said that all predators are supposed to wear these as a precaution against savage attacks."

"Do you agree with this order from the city government?" the pig asked.

The fox seemed scared to answer the question, as if speaking out against the city would mark her as a threat against society. She opened her mouth to say something, but quickly closed it again and instead meekly nodded her head.

The reporter, knowing when enough was enough, left it at that. "Thank you for speaking with us today, ma'am." He turned back to the camera. "Every passing day, you will see more and more predators wandering Zootopia wearing these shock collars. You might even be a predator wearing one yourself. This is obviously a very disturbing time we live in, but we have to hold out on Assistant Mayor Rolfe's assurances, that once the cause of the savage attacks is found out, the shock collars will be permanently withdrawn from society once again. For ZNN, I'm Wilbur Porker."

Judy kept looking at the fox as long as she could, before the camera finally cut back to the studio. She shut off the app and sat back in her chair, letting the interview sink in.

The fox was scared. It was obvious. She looked afraid for her very life—as if simply wearing the collar had made her a target. As if the collar marked her as a threat to society, and that everyone should keep their distance from her, even though she seemed to be a sweet girl with no intent to hurt anyone.

And Nick probably feels exactly the same way…

"Hopps?"

She glanced behind her shoulder. It was Fangmeier again, this time with Delgato by his side. Delgato was dangling a giant keychain in his finger, grinning from ear to ear. "You ready to break this lion down?" he asked.

Judy honestly welcomed the chance to take her mind off the shock collar situation. She promptly stood up and walked over to the two of them. "It will be my pleasure."

Judy sat across from Roark, visually examining him. The lion's mane was very unkempt—a casualty of just recently being woken up and dragged from his jail cell. His shock collar glowed a faint green underneath the fur of his mane. His eyes were half-shut and she could smell his morning breath from all the way across the table.

"Do you really have to do this to me this early?" he yawned.

Judy grabbed the stack of papers to her right. She tapped them against the table to straighten them out. "No, but I'm awake and you're awake so we may as well."

"Not of my own free will," Roark grumbled.

Judy took the top page and read it aloud. "I see you have waived your right to an attorney. It is my duty to remind you that this means you are—"

"I know what it means, Officer Hopps," Roark cut her off. To her surprise, he didn't sound impolite when he said it. "I want this over with as soon as possible, just like you. And I want to help."

Judy raised an eyebrow. "Do you really?" She set her papers down and leaned forward, paws folded in front of her. "Because as I recall, you led a high-speed chase across half of Zootopia and nearly got yourself killed."

Roark held a straight face—as straight as he could in his sleep-deprived state. "And you too, as I recall," he added. "But that's all I recall, Officer Hopps. I remember waking up to you dragging me away from my own burning car. I don't remember the car catching on fire, or the chase. I don't even remember getting into my car. The last thing I remember that day, I was in the middle of an appointment I attended during my lunch break."

Judy grabbed her carrot pen and notepad and began writing down notes. "What kind of appointment? Was it for work?"

"No," Roark replied, but his voice became uneasy. "It wasn't work related. It was personal."

"And you don't want to tell me what it was?"

Roark was quiet for a few seconds. "I don't want to if I don't have to, if I'm honest. It's kind of embarrassing. And it's personal."

Judy took a second to ponder whether to press the question or not. She decided to let it slide for now. "We can come back to that later, then. What do you do for work?"

"I work at Mousy's." The reply made Judy pause. "I know, kind of weird, a big lion working at a clothing store for mice."

"It wouldn't have been my first guess," Judy replied, quite honestly.

Roark chuckled. "I guess there's a certain irony to it. You know, the whole lions being afraid of mice thing." He shook his head. "Not me. The school I attended growing up had a lot of mice and I became friends with many of them. It felt like as soon as we graduated high school, all of them went to work at Mousy's, so I decided to join them." His smile was genuine, and the sleepiness in his eyes slowly faded away. "Over the years, each of them moved on to different things. One of them went into construction. Another made their own business. Me, though, I stayed. I just loved the customers and they loved me. It felt good to help them out, you know?"

Judy couldn't help but smile a little herself. "I do," she admitted.

Roark leaned back in his chair, reminiscing. "It was great working there. The pay isn't the best but the people are."

Judy had to get back on track, though; this was an interrogation, after all. "And you say you have no memory of the police chase?"

Roark's smile faded. "No," he confirmed. "Not even a foggy feeling it might have happened. One moment I was in my appointment, the next I was waking up beside you."

Judy sighed. She had expected as much, but it was still frustrating that all the savage predator cases were so identical. The only one so far that was different was Tony Stripes, who seemed aware of his actions afterwards but was currently prohibited from talking about them thanks to his lawyer.

Lawyer…

"You waived your right to a lawyer today," she pointed out, "but do you have a lawyer of your own anyway?"

Roark stared at her in confusion. "I don't see what that has to do with—"

"Is it Timothy Fields?" Roark's surprise was all she needed, and she scribbled down more information. "You haven't signed any NDAs with him, have you?"

Roark was either too surprised to properly answer, or too uncertain as to what the correct response should be. "I… I mean… I did sign one but it—"

"Was it recently?" Judy pressed.

Roark continued to stare. "It's called an non-disclosure agreement for a reason, Officer Hopps. I can't talk about it."

"You can't tell me what the NDA is for, but you can at least tell me about it." Judy's mind was racing as she thought of the possibilities this might lead to. "Please, Roark. This could help solve this case!"

"I don't see how an NDA could—"

"Please?" Judy asked. She set down her notepad and carrot phone and locked eyes with him. "Call it payback for saving your life?"

The conflict in Roark's face lasted for a few more seconds, before he slowly nodded . "Okay. But I can't tell you much."

"That's fine!" Judy swiped back up her notepad and pen and readied it. "What can you tell me?"

"First of all, I didn't sign it for Fields," Roark responded. Before Judy had a chance to be disappointed, he added, "But Fields was present when I did. His office probably received a copy and has it on file."

And there's no way he'll ever let me read it, Judy knew. "Go on."

"That appointment I was at before the car chase—the NDA has to do with that." The uneasiness reappeared on his face. "As I said before, Officer Hopps, that's private. It's something in my personal life that I'd rather not talk about."

"That's okay," Judy assured him. "You've already given me lots of information. Is there anything else you can tell me?"

Roark thought for a few seconds. "Just one other thing." He leaned forward and whispered his next words. "There were more predators there. At least six. All of us signed the same NDA."

"Were there any commonalties between you besides all of you being predators?"

"Yes," Roark responded, before gulping and forcing out his next words. "We have all gone savage."

Judy froze. For a second, she wondered if she had heard Roark correctly, but she knew she had. She locked eyes with Roark once again. "You mean, all these attacks that have been happening around Zootopia…"

"Victor Bruin, Tony Stripes, Neil Jaws—all of them were in that room with me, and all of them signed that NDA." He seemed to want to tell her more, but couldn't bring himself to. Instead, he slowly sunk back in his chair, a look of defeat on his face.

Judy didn't know how to respond. Her mind was racing—no doubt helped by the caffeine that was now coursing through her veins. Her sleepless night was a distant memory; all she could think about now was the possibilities that this new information presented.

All the predator attacks are connected. Someone is behind it all—and it's whoever authorized these NDAs.

"I've got to talk to Chief Bogo." She quickly waved for Delgato and Fangmeier to enter the room and started picking up her papers. "Roark, you were a big help! I can't thank you enough!"

Roark smiled weakly, and it was apparent the sleepiness was returning as he thought of being returned to his cell. "Glad to help, Officer Hopps." He stood up and happily joined Delgato and Fangmeier as they escorted him from the room. "I hope you can solve this case quickly."

"Me, too," Judy murmured to herself. She finished gathering her things and booked it to Bogo's office as quickly as she could. The door was open when she arrived so she let herself in.

Bogo was sitting there, typing something on his computer, and glanced in her direction when she came in. "Well?" he asked, obviously feeling that formalities were unnecessary.

"Chief, Roark was very helpful during his interrogation!" Judy jumped into the chair opposite his desk and plopped down her notebook. "Roark signed an NDA identical to Stripes, and told me that several other predators from these savage attacks signed the same NDA."

Bogo, suddenly interested, picked up the notepad and read over her notes as quickly as he could. "So, whoever authorized the NDA—"

"Is the one who's behind all of this," Judy quickly finished, unable to contain her excitement. "Or at least, they can give us the information we need to wrap this case up!"

Bogo slowly put down the notepad, a long look on his face. "Hopps…"

The excitement in Judy's heart disappeared as she studied the buffalo's expression. "What's wrong, Chief? Isn't this good news?"

She had never seen Bogo look so defeated as he was now. Without a word, he reached over to his computer monitor and swiveled it so she could see the screen.

It was an email that Bogo was in the middle of composing. It was in response to an email he had received from Judge Furgood a few hours prior.

She only needed to read the title of the email to realize why Bogo was so disheartened. "Request for court order," she read out loud. "Denied."

Bogo nodded. "The honorable Judge Furgood has deemed our request for access to this non-disclosure agreement to be in bad faith, and has denied our motion." He buried his forehead in his hooves in defeat. "This isn't like some patent application, where you can submit it over and over again until you finally get one. This was denied, and I can't file for another one, not even with Judge Seamammals like I wanted."

Judy was sad to hear this, but she refused to give up so easily. She picked up her notepad and waved it in the air. "What about this new evidence? This NDA is linked to the case, Chief! That's an undeniable fact!"

Bogo nodded in agreement. "Yes, Hopps, but that doesn't change anything. Maybe if we had included that evidence with our submission, things would be different, but—"

An idea entered Judy's mind and she had to say it out loud before Bogo could finish. "This is Roark's NDA." Bogo raised an eyebrow, but let her continue. "Chief, you asked for a court order to view Stripes' NDA. This is Roark's."

"Hopps, they're the same NDA—"

"But not the same person. We can ask for a court order to view Roark's NDA, which is a separate filing than Stripes'. Isn't that all that matters, Chief?"

Bogo thought about it for a moment, resting his giant chin on his hooves. Then, slowly at first, a grin spread across his face. "Clever bunny," he mumbled. He sat straight up in his chair and reached for his mouse and keyboard. "I'll submit the order right away."

Judy couldn't help but smile from ear to ear. "Thank you, Chief!" She turned on her heel and began running back to her desk, but quickly stopped herself. "Oh, Chief?" she began.

He had already read her mind. "I'll send it to Judge Seamammals this time, Hopps."

"How much longer is he on migration?"

"At least a few more days, but maybe we'll get lucky and he'll check his work email anyway." Bogo typed away furiously. "I'll need a photocopy of your notes, Hopps, and audio from your interrogation with Roark if you have it."

"I'll have both in your inbox before lunch, Chief," Judy promised, and with that left the office. The excitement she felt was on a level she hadn't experienced in a very long time. Finally, at long last, she had made a breakthrough with the case, and with luck it would be wrapped up in no time at all.

I can't wait to tell Nick! She chuckled to herself as she made her way to the photocopy machine. Ah, Nick. I wonder what he's up to this very moment.