Prologue

Zootopia – Nick's Apartment

Okay Wilde, this is your night.

Nick stripped off his ZPD uniform, carelessly tossing it on the bathroom floor and stepp slowly into the tub. He turned the water on high and let it rain over his head in steamy rivulets. Closing his eyes to the water as the heat and moisture wet his fur and soaked his skin, Nick leaned against the cool tiles of the wall, his muscles protesting from a long day at work.

The ZPD, after several months of gathering information and working with a confidential informant had finally shut down a drug ring operating out of Tundratown. The polar bear Nick had taken in custody had escaped and tossed him aside like a ragdoll. As his back slammed against the street light, the polar bear raised his claw to strike the dazed and defenseless fox. As his claw fell, the criminal froze up and fell down on the icy ground, his muscles twitching and causing him to be paralyzed as electricity coursed through his body.

Nick slowly got up from the ground, shaking flakes of snow off his fur and looked up at his savior, stretching his back, and immediately wishing he hadn't done so. Pain washed over him and the fox bit back a curse.

Judy Hopps, stepped forward and with her steely purple eyes, glared at the bear. Her paw was clenched around the Taser gun as she raised it up in the sight of the bear. "Mr. Veras," she started, "We have evidence of you dealing drugs out of your shop in Tundratown. Would you want to add an 'assault of a police officer' charge to your already impressive repertoire?" There was a pause, then Judy continued, "I didn't think so. Remember, there's more where that came from."

Nick smiled as his tough partner walked to him. "I'm so sorry Nick." Judy started with concern creeping into her voice. "I should have paid more attention to him."

The fox only shrugged. "You stepped in at the right time. I owe you one."

Judy snorted. "Add that to the list…" she held up a paw "Before you ask, we're at twelve."

"Eleven!" Nick protested, "That one time didn't count! We weren't on the job!"

Judy rolled her eyes and casted a small smile "And I thought you didn't need help with your dating life?"

Nick's heart raced, as Judy leaned down turned around and bellowed to the rhinoceros standing by Veras. "McHorn! Do you mind escorting him back to the headquarters please? Take Wolfard and Estrada with you."

The burly animal nodded and obeyed her orders. Even though he, Wolfard and Estrada was her senior by many years, Hopps gained the admiration and respect of every police in the department. Within a few moments, the polar bear disappeared in the car, surrounded by reporters and admirers clamoring for Judy.

The bunny sighed and looked back at Nick. "I need to go to talk to them."

"I can go tell them to back off," Nick offered.

Judy shook her head. "This is something I need to take care of. If I don't talk to them now, they'll hound me for days." She glared at the media. "Vultures," she muttered under her breath.

Nick overheard her remark, jutted his thumb towards a vulture standing in the corner, away from the chaos and smiled. "I'll tell Valerie you said that."

Judy looked towards the confident informant, then glared at her partner. "You wouldn't dare," she growled.

Nick flipped open his aviator sunglasses and put them on. "Alright… I promise I won't tell her, on one condition."

His partner placed her paws on her hips and sighed, "Name it."

"You have dinner with me… tonight. 8 P.M. I'll pick you up."

Hopps sighed and shook her head. "I can't do that Nick! The ZPD forbids dating!"

"Woah, woah, woah!" Nick raised his paws up. "Who said anything about dating Carrots?" The sly fox placed one paw in his pocket as he gave a half smile, enjoying watching her face reddened, "We're friends. Consider this one a payment of what I owe you?"

Judy pondered for a moment. "Zassy Zebra's"

Nick did an exaggerated bow, "As you wish."

Judy beamed. "It's a deal. After dinner, you owe me eleven right?"

Nick shook his head as he turned and walked towards Valerie. He needed to put her under pretend arrest to avoid any suspicion placed upon her as she worked within Veras' group. Because Veras needed his operation to expand, he brought in "representatives" from each district, Valerie being from Sahara Square. "Ten!" he called behind him.

Judy chuckled softly to herself as she watched the fox stride away from her. With his smile, charm and mannerism, she couldn't bring herself to argue with him. She made a mental note to herself to never let Nick get the better of her, but every time she did that, she failed.

Nick gave a small glance behind him and saw the petite little bunny turn around and walk towards the media. He hated hustling her, as he had left his previous life behind when he joined the ZPD. But he was willing to do so if it meant spending more time with her. He sighed inwardly as he gave himself a small goofy smile, tonight is your night Wilde.

The warm water snapped the vulpine back to the present as the fox turned around to let it run down his back. He placed a paw against the wall, arching his sore back to receive the majority of the warmth. How have I fallen in love with her?

He knew that he fell for her since she came back to him to solve the case of the Night Howlers. Immediately, Nick corrected himself, It was during the cable car ride in the Rainforest District. She saw the good in me when no one would.

The vulpine groaned loudly as he turned around to begin washing himself. Tonight is the night you tell her how you really feel. He was excited at the prospect of telling her, but inwardly he was terrified. Terrified that the other animals in Zootopia would judge them for cross-species dating. But most of all, he was terrified of the idea that he would lose her as a friend when he shared his confession.

Nick turned off the shower and stepped out of the tub. As the water gurgled down the drain, the vulpine grabbed blue towel off the hook on the wall and started to dry off. Within a few moments, Nick stepped out of the bathroom, the towel still wrapped around his waist as he walked towards his closet. With one motion, the mirror clad sliding door opened, revealing different articles of clothes- from V-neck shirts to buttoned-down suit jackets.

Go big or go home, the fox shrugged. He selected black slacks, a light blue buttoned down shirt, black suit jacket and a dark, navy blue tie to wrap up the ensemble. As he slid the tie around his neck, his phone rang on his bed.

As the vulpine moved around to the bed, a picture on the nightstand caught his eye. It consisted of three animals standing in the headquarters of the ZPD. Nick smiling proudly as he held a mean looking wolf in front of him who was glaring at the camera. Judy stood slightly in front of the fox, her thumb raised proudly as she gave a small smile. In the corner of the picture, Judy had written, "Nick's first arrest! Proud of you!" As the vulpine gazed at the picture, his heart raced at the sight of the bunny, the noise of the ringtone becoming quieter as the memory tugged at him.

/

Zootopia – Two Years Ago

The red car screeched to a halt on the side of the road, sirens blaring behind it. Judy jumped out from the driver seat of the ZPD police car and strode resolutely towards her target, Nick in tow.

"Sir. Do you have any idea how fast you were driving?" she demanded.

The window to the red car slowly rolled down and a face became visible. Judy's mouth fell wide open as Nick gave a hysterical laugh. "Flash, Flash, hundred-yard dash? Is that really you?" he asked with disbelief creeping in his voice.

The surprise look on the sloth slowly twisted into a smile. "Niiiiiiiick!" Flash spoke sluggishly.

Judy gave an audible groan. With the slow characteristics of sloths, she knew that the giving of the ticket would take hours. She looked over at her partner and noticed a small smile creeping on his face. Remembering the event at the DMV, Judy growled warningly, "Don't you dare!"

Nick gave her his signature lazy eyes and raised his paws, "What do you mean? I wouldn't dream of impeding our duty as a ZPD police officer"

"Uh huh." Judy nodded as she turned her attention back to the sloth. "You were going a hundred-fifteen miles per hour, in a city. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Flash moved his eyes at speeds befitting a sloth, "I needed to go to the-"

His explanation was cut off by a garble of the radio coming from the police car. Nick looked at Judy and with a tilt of her head, hurried back to the vehicle. Grabbing the radio, the fox spoke, "ZPD car #14, go for Wilde."

The familiar voice of Clawhauser crackled through the radio, "A Myrtle's store on Tenth and Broadway has been robbed. Witness has described a grey wolf fleeing the scene with a black duffle bag in a blue Zyndart. You're the closest to the scene!"

Nick nodded to himself, "Ten-four. Show Wilde and Hopps en-route"

"Godspeed!" the radio went silent.

Nick placed the radio back to its stand and leaned out of the window. "Carrots! We need to go!"

Judy looked back at her partner with shock, gesturing towards the sloth "But…"

"We have a two-eleven! Suspect is fleeing the scene!"

Nick smiled as he saw her purple eyes grow big with excitement. She turned back to the sloth and yelled, "Consider this a warning! Don't let me catch you speeding again!" The bunny raced towards the car, aiming for the passenger side where Nick was. "You're driving!"

Nick smiled with victory. He flipped his aviator sunglasses off his head and onto his face as he slid over into the driver seat. Immediately, his knees scrunched up, forgetting that Judy had sat in the seat before. Groaning with pain, the vulpine searched for the seat adjustor and upon finding it, pushed it back. He gasped a grateful breath as Judy climbed in giggling, "I'm so sorry."

The vulpine gave his partner a wary smile. "Now we ride," and pressed on the gas. The police car sped out of its position and into the heart of Zootopia. Both the vulpine and bunny found the wolf within an hour after Nick accidentally stumbled on his tail as he was hiding among the darkness of an alley.

The wolf had howled with pain and the fox responded swiftly. He aimed his Tazer gun at the suspect and bade the criminal to come forward. With little dignity and pain in his tail, the wolf had obeyed, revealing the black duffle bag full of cash and other small trinkets.

Judy couldn't keep herself ordered as she giggled hysterically, since she watched her partner step on what he thought was a stick. "Nice arrest, Nick!" she laughed.

When the duo brought the wolf back to headquarters, Clawhauser looked up from his desk pleased. "As it is custom for the ZPD, I want to take your picture." Once it was snapped, Nick immediately took the wolf for processing as Judy watched her partner with pride.

….

Zootopia – Nick's Apartment

The continuous ring from the phone snapped Nick back to reality. The fox immediately grabbed the cellphone and pressed answer, already knowing who it was. "What do you want?"

"Wow, Nick. Hello to you too!"

Nick smiled, "I'd thought you'd be sick of talking to me for today, considering we just got off work."

Judy laughed softly, "I…. I just wanted to know what you would be wearing tonight."

The vulpine was shocked at the statement, his mind and heart racing. "I…" he stammered.

"Spit it out Nick."

The fox gathered himself and nodded. He described his outfit to Judy and held his breath. "Wow, Nick! Going nice today? Okay… that helps me a lot. Thank you."

"Judy, I…" Nick started, but realized he was talking to himself as the familiar click echoed through his ears. He silently berated himself for not being quick enough as he wanted to tell her how much he was looking forward to the dinner. He groaned and fell back on the bed, hoping the covers would swallow him whole.

The hour until he would leave his apartment to pick up Judy ticked slowly. To attempt to speed up the time, Nick had turned on his TV – a 55 inch flat screen that he splurged on with his second paycheck from working for the ZPD. Once Judy found out about Nick's impulse buy, she immediately called him and yelled at the fox for being fiscally irresponsible. At Judy's insistence, Nick gave in and budgeted his salary to pay for rent, food, utilities and other necessities while the rest of his money went into savings.

As the news reporter droned, Nick kept looking at the time, hoping it would speed faster, as he fidgeted nervously. Once the time hit 7:30 P.M, Nick immediately jumped up, grabbed his suit jacket and hurriedly put it on. He turned off the TV and seized his cellphone, putting it in his pocket. Before leaving the door, the vulpine grabbed his police-issued Tazer gun and placed it in front of his pants, making sure his shirt concealed it. Even though he was off duty, the Zootopia officers were allowed to carry a Taser gun into the public and act only when needed. He looked in his suit jacket and made sure that his ZPD badge was sitting within it and sighed with relief. As the vulpine walked towards the door, he passed a mirror and stepped back, groaning as he fixed the fur on his head.

Finally, Nick sped out of his room, excitement clutching his heart as he looked forward to seeing his friend and hopefully romantic partner. He was very hesitant to share his feelings for her as the ZPD allowed, but highly discouraged inner-office romance. The vulpine did well for a while, but eventually, his feelings for Judy had caught up and now the fox, realizing that he wasn't getting any younger, wanted to settle down and start a family.

The idea had startled him at the beginning, but the more he thought about it, the more he enjoyed the prospect. But what grew him to like the idea of having a family, was having one with Judy. He knew that Judy would make a wonderful mom, but the Zootopian society looked down upon cross-species dating, especially between predator and prey.

Nick pushed the thought out of his mind as he went down to the apartment garage. Climbing in his four seater Mustang that Finnick had sold him for cheap several years ago, Nick texted Judy, "On my way."

As soon as the fox tossed his phone on the passenger seat, it buzzed, revealing a glow and Judy's response, "Okay. See you soon!"

Nick smiled at the response, and looked back. Making sure everything was clear, the vulpine backed out of the garage, turned left onto the small driveway and straightened himself out. He turned onto the street and headed towards Judy's apartment.

As he drove, Nick's mind raced, trying to figure how he was going to bring up the subject with his partner. "Judy, I wanted to bring you here to talk about…" he muttered to himself and immediately stopped. As soon as he hit a red light, the fox gently hit his head on the steering wheel, Idiot… Idiot… this is not a meeting. This is just a dinner with a friend…. A friend you really like…

The horn behind him blared loudly as the light turned green. Nick looked up and muttered a curse under his breath. He pressed on the gas and the car moved away, leaving his anxious thoughts behind.

Once Nick put his car into park in front of Judy's apartment and prepared to get out, the passenger door opened immediately, causing the cop to grip his gun. Once he saw who it was, he gave a huge smile and moved his hand away from his gun as Judy climbed in.

At the sight of Judy, Nick's heart raced and he immediately started to sweat. Suddenly, his throat clogged, causing him to be unable to find his words. She was wearing a dark purple dress with spaghetti straps. The dress itself had small openings on the side, in which her legs snaked through. Around her neck was a small, golden necklace with a small ruby in the middle that she had bought for herself for her ZPD anniversary. As the vulpine looked at the bunny, Nick smiled to himself, knowing that she chose the dress because of convenience. When they both worked undercover in the past at fancy gatherings, Judy would hide her back up gun on a leg holster on her right leg and her knife on her left. As his eyes moved down towards her legs, Judy's voice cut through his thoughts, "Eyes up here slick."

Nick immediately obeyed and brought his eyes to meet her violet eyes. Judy smiled softly, laughing inwardly at Nick's behavior. An awkward silence passed between the animals. Judy, having enough of the pause spoke, "You look nice, Nick."

"I… um…gah…" Nick stammered. Suddenly the tie that he was wearing felt like it was choking him. Judy's laugh cut through his embarrassment and the vulpine cleared his throat while waving his hand indifferently "Oh this old thing? I wear this to funerals." Nick moved his head away from Judy and stared outside at the busy street, making a face for the idiotic statement. What was that, Wilde?

Judy's giggle brought his attention back. "What I mean to say was….Thank you, Carrots," Nick threw in his nick name for her, hoping that it would clear the air and make things return to normal. "You don't look too bad yourself."

Judy smiled and leaned back, throwing her feet on the dashboard. "You're joking right? I'm gorgeous! Even my parents couldn't believe this!"

Feeling the anxiety return, Nick cleared his throat once again and started the car, while swiping towards the bunny. "Paws off the dash! This is a five-star automobile."

Judy stuck her tongue out at the vulpine. "You're no fun! Besides, didn't it break down on the first day Finnick sold it to you?"

"The first day, but it hasn't since!"

"And what is that smell?" Judy paused as she sniffed, "Is that cheese?"

Nick nodded. "I think there may be some pizza in the back seat." He groaned inwardly as he drove away. What a great start Wilde!

Judy looked behind her and saw that he was telling the truth. She shrugged nonchalantly and focused on the road. After living with 275 brothers and sisters in Bunny Burrow, she was used to the mess that came with it. Pizza was the least of her worries.

They both drove in silent to Zassy Zebra, a popular restaurant in the heart of Zootopia, known for bringing cuisine from every district. Once Nick pulled into the restaurant's parking lot and turned off the car, the vulpine immediately got out and sped around to the passenger side, opening the door for Judy. She smiled and offered a paw. Once the vulpine grasped it, Judy climbed out of the car, only to find herself falling. Immediately, she felt her body spin around into a dip, as Nick grabbed her back with his left paw, his right one still grasped around hers.

Judy's face reddened. "Nice going slick," she spoke, as she stood up, smoothing her dress.

Nick gave his winning smile, not disclosing to her the fact that he had accidentally stepped on her dress when she came out of the car, and decided to roll with it. "Anything for you, my lady."

Judy's smile changed to be one of concern. "Are you feeling okay, Nick?"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know… you're nice, but not this nice!"

Nick shrugged and shoved his hands into his pockets. "You're finally noticing, Carrots? I'm always nice!"

"Says the guy who took me into the naturalist club."

Nick chuckled at the memory. "Hey. At least you got a free show out of it."

Judy growled playfully, "I didn't need it!"

The two friends laughed and conversed about the Night Howler case as they walked towards the restaurant. Both reveled in memories of tricking the former mayor Bellwether into confessing her sinister plans and how they escaped the Cliffside hospital by going down the toilet.

"Those were the days," Judy sighed. "I'm happy that happened. If it wasn't for it, you'd wouldn't be my partner."

Nick smiled and opened the door to the restaurant. "I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world."

That sentence shocked him. He had never seen himself in the ZPD as he was making money from hustling other animals. But once he joined the force and became Judy's partner, Nick started to notice that the bunny's qualities were starting to rub off of him. But every now and then, Nick would play pranks on his partner, reminding her that one could never beat a sly fox. The vulpine pushed his thoughts out and focused on the present as he followed the bunny.

Judy had already walked to the hostess and spoke, "I would like a table for two please."

The hostess, a female cheetah nodded, entering in the information. "That would be around a thirty minute wait. Name please?"

Forgetting that she used a fake name for anonymity, the bunny spoke, "Judy Hopps."

The cheetah stopped what she was doing and looked up at the bunny, her mouth opened with disbelief. "Judy Hopps? The Judy Hopps?" her voice became higher with excitement.

Uh oh, Nick thought to himself, as he stepped forward, ready to ask the hostess to keep her voice down. Even though it had been several years since the Night Howler case, Judy was still a celebrity in the town. But when he strode forward, the cheetah immediately changed her demeanor, lowering her voice. "I'm so sorry, Mrs. Hopps. But since you're here, I can get you a table right now."

Judy smiled, raising her paw. "It's 'Ms,' actually. I'm not married yet. Don't think I will."

Nick's heart sank at the statement, but remained attentive to the conversation. "Besides, you don't have to. Nick and I are willing to wait," the bunny finished.

"I insist." The hostess responded. "Let me show you to your table."

Judy looked back at Nick and was only given a shrug. She nodded slowly and turned around to the hostess. "Lead the way."

The cheetah led the two to the back of the restaurant. As they walked, Nick noticed that the conversations of the patrons became quieter and quieter as the two moved further away. The hostess sat the two at the table and ignited a candle in the middle.

Not noticing the movement, Nick's analytical mind raced as he looked around the room. Two doors at the entrance, one door to my left, leading to the kitchen. One emergency exit behind me. The bar is on the right side of the room.

As the hostess left the table, Judy looked at Nick and smiled. She knew that he couldn't break his habit, and found that it was cute how Nick's mind worked. The vulpine finally turned his attention to her and spoke, "Well, I'm hungry."

The two animals looked down at the menu, attempting to decide what to order. As food options raced through his head, Nick looked up and gazed around the restaurant once more. He saw the hostess talk to the waitress with a low voice, pointing at them. Probably telling her to treat us nicely she knows it's Judy… He shook his head and looked around even more. He saw the bartender, an elephant, cleaning a cup quickly avert his eyes as he saw the fox looking back. Nick smiled softly and moved back to the center of the restaurant.

Patrons were chatting loudly and laughing. Small background music wafted through the dimly lit room. Aromas of the food wafted from the animals and filled Nick's nostrils, causing his stomach to rumble. But what caught his eye was a lion, in a business suit, talking on the phone, staring directly at him. As Nick looked back, the lion immediately looked away, not ceasing to talk.

That was weird, he thought. When Judy's voice cut through his head, Nick quickly looked at her. She was talking to the waitress, placing in her order. Once she was finished, Judy looked back at the vulpine expectantly. "Oh! I'll have the…" Nick opened his menu again and found his plate. "Berry burger please."

The waitress nodded and wrote down the order on her pad and left. Judy crossed her legs and started look around. Feeling his heart race, Nick breathed heavily and started to speak.

"Hey Judy,"

"Nick, I-"

The words scrambled over each other and they both laughed. Nick apologized and motioned for her to go first. Judy shook her head, "I interrupted you. You should go first."

Nick smiled nervously and straightened his tie. "Judy. I just wanted to tell you that I am so happy that you've put up with me for these few years on the police force…"

Judy smiled disappeared, and was replaced with sadness, causing Nick to stop his train of thought. Immediately, the vulpine spoke "I'm not leaving or anything… I just…"

The bunny giggled nervously, "Oh good. I got scared for a minute. I thought that same exact thing!"

Spit it out Wilde! Get it over with!

"Judy… I just wanted to say…"

A gunshot was heard and the bullet whizzed over his head. Nick instinctively dove forward over the table and tackled Judy down to the ground. With a smooth movement, the vulpine kicked the table down on its side. The two cops immediately sat with their backs onto the table. "Nine!" Nick yelled over the noise.

Judy rolled her eyes, pulling her Taser gun out, "Really? You're going to bring this up now?"

"You know I am!"

Judy giggled at the vulpine's audacity. He smiled in return and checked his ears. After feeling that it was still intact, Nick breathed a sigh of relief. "I think we have something more to worry about than your ears!"

"Carrots! These ears are all I've got!"

Judy smiled and winked, "Don't sell yourself short."

She looked over the table and saw that four masked animals walked inside the room. All the patrons were in the center of the restaurant, quaking with fear. The leader of the group strode towards a customer and grabbed him. Judy gasped with shock as she realized that it was a young zebra. Placing a gun on his head, the animal yelled, "I hear Judy Hopps is among us in this building. Come out rabbit or this kid gets it!"

Anger gripped Nick's heart as he heard the demand. "Cowards!" he muttered to himself. "I'm not going to let them get you Judy."

Judy placed a restraining paw on his arm. "We have no choice."

Nick thought for a minute, formulating a plan. A lightbulb struck off and he spoke in excited whispers, "You go out and keep them distracted. I'm going to go through the back door and around the restaurant. I'll take them down from behind.

Judy looked at the door, at Nick then back at the hostage. At first, she wanted to protest, but thought better. Once Nick made a plan and made up his mind, there was no stopping him. Besides, he was the best shot on the ZPD, even better than her. She knew that if anyone could pull of the plan, it was him.

After getting a quick nod of consent from the bunny, Nick started to leave. As he moved, a paw immediately grabbed his tail, causing him to yip softly with pain. "What?"

"I'm so sorry Nick. I… I just needed to tell you something."

"This can wait!"

"But it can't! There's no time!"

"What do you mean?"

The criminal cut through their conversation, "I'm going to count down from five! Judy Hopps! Show yourself!"

Nick shook his head. "I'm going, right now." The fox grabbed his tail out of the bunny's paw and silently sneaked to the back of the restaurant.

"Four!" the masked animal bellowed.

Judy sighed as she watched her partner leave the building. She checked the notch on her Taser gun and was greeted with a number 8 in green, revealing how many stuns she had.

"Three!"

Judy stood up with her gun in the air and turned around, facing the animal. "Detective Judy Hopps of the ZPD!"

/

Her voice carried through the restaurant and reached Nick's ears. He had ran through the alleyway and was now looking around the corner and into the window. Three animals had their guns trained on her with the leader on the zebra. Come on Judy, get the hostage out.

"You got me!" Judy called out. "Now let the kid go!"

That does it…

The leader laughed evilly and tossed the kid aside. He raised his gun up. At the moment the zebra was reunited with his mother, Nick started to make his move. However, as soon as he turned the corner, a small dart flew out of the darkness and entered the vulpine's neck. His eyes rolled back and everything went black.

/

Nick… where are you?

"I'll say it again! Let the kid go!"

"Put down your gun, and I'll let him go!"

Judy looked at the tear stained face of the young zebra. "Do it!" the leader bellowed.

The cop nodded. "Okay… you're in control. I'm putting the gun down." The bunny slowly placed her Taser gun down on the ground and keeping her paws up, spoke, "I did what you ask. Now let him go."

The leader chuckled evilly and threw the zebra aside. As soon as the child was reunited with his mother, Judy looked at the gun. Once she did, the leader yelled, "Don't think about it!"

Nick… where are you?

"Everything is okay." Judy spoke with a calm voice. "You're in control." She took a small step forward.

A gunshot was heard again, and everything happened in slow motion. She saw the muzzle flash and the pistol kick. The bullet sailed through the air and slammed into her small body, below the rib, knocking the wind out of her. She fell backwards and hit the ground with a small thud. Her breaths became ragged as she immediately placed her hand over her wound.

"Nick?" she said softly.

The warm blood seeped between her fingers and poured on the ground below her. She slowly raised her head and saw that the four animals had fled.

Nick…If only you know how I feel…

The world before became dim and hazy. As she bled, worried onlookers surrounded her, all calling 911. Looking up at the faces before her, she smiled as she found a familiar one.

/

Nick groaned and rubbed his neck, feeling the small dart fall out. He looked behind him into the alleyway and slowly picked up the item that felled him. The fox immediately placed it into his pocket and looked around. What am I doing here? JUDY!

The vulpine ran around the corner and saw a group of animals in a circle. The fox pushed his way through, holding a badge up and yelling "ZPD! Make way! Make way!"

Slowly, the crowd opened before him. As it did, Nick caught his breath as his worst nightmare had come true. Judy was fighting for her life in a pool of blood. The fox rushed forward and moved her paw away and covered her wound with his own. "I'm so sorry, Judy… I'm so sorry."

The bunny gave him a weak smile. "It's okay, Nick."

Tears started to flow down the vulpine's face. "I left you!"

"Nick… everything will be fine. You will be fine."

"Judy…" Nick choked with tears.

"Is the kid okay?"

Nick looked back and saw the zebra hugging his mother. He nodded quickly. "He's fine."

Judy sighed a painful sigh of relief. "That's what matters. I'm here to protect and serve."

"I'll get you to a hospital!"

"It's too late, Nick…. I wish I," Judy coughed.

"Shh." Nick soothed, "Don't talk."

The cop shook her head. "I… I wish I had more time." She raised a paw to his cheek. "Do you trust me?"

"What do you mean?"

"I said… do you trust me?"

"You know I do! You've saved my life and helped me!"

"Then trust me when I say that everything will be fine." Her voice became softer and slower. Her eyes slowly drooped shut.

"No! Judy! Stay awake!" Nick begged. Sirens were heard in the background as ambulances and the rest of the ZPD reached the scene.

"You are strong and you will make it. You're the best officer I have seen. But..." she coughed again.

"But what? Please!"

"Don't go back… don't go back."

The heart-stricken vulpine poured out all of his emotions that he bottled up into one name as he felt her paw become limp.

"JUDY!"