FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

9:32 AM

"You want me to go where?!" exclaimed Clawhauser.

Wilde gave him a pointed look. "You need to go back to the ZPD and dump the sarge's car."

"And you said that that collar's got a tracker on it?" he asked as he took it from his paws.

"Yeah. All the collars that look like this have trackers. It's not safe to have them in the building."

"If what you're saying is true," began Clawhauser, "don't you think it's going to look weird that a fox came here on a ferry that's not even supposed to be on this route anymore? Nick, we gotta really cover our tracks with this. That fox--I know it isn't his fault--is begging the cops to come here! First, he comes here on a ferry that probably illegally ignored its shipping route-"

"It is illegal," Wilde interrupted, nodding to himself. He had to know the law well in order to exploit it.

"-and second," continued Clawhauser, "that means that they can trace it back to the skipper. I think Wolford said it was Delgato. If they trace it to him they could pick him up! He might give up Wolford and Fangmeyer--not that he would want to!" appended Clawhauser when Wilde gave him a look of censure. "The point is that there's a chink in the armour now, and if we don't get ahead of it we'll have less time than we thought before the cops get here!"

Wilde grit his teeth as he considered his options. Time was precious now. Things were unravelling too quickly!

'So now' thought Wilde, 'I need to, very quickly, figure this out.'

The first order of business was to get the collar out of this place as soon as possible, but suddenly remembered something else that was even more pressing. He took the collar from Clawhauser and took a picture of it with his phone before text bombing every contact in his address book:

If you have a collar that looks like this for the love of God stay away from Wild Times even if you're part of the Army. And do not under any circumstance come to the meeting tonight. Do not go to any pred hiding spots and do not do anything that you wouldn't normally do unless it involves large gatherings of preds at your home or work. We have it on good authority that there are trackers in these collars and until we have the ability to confirm or deny this ourselves it's better to be safe than sorry. Do not congregate and do not draw attention to yourselves! Pass on the message. Again, no email and use only word of mouth and text!

He attached the picture of the collar and took two others from other angles for good measure and sent it out.

He looked back to Clawhauser who took a look at his phone when it vibrated. Clawhauser read the text and nodded to himself.

"Well, that's one problem taken care of," he sighed.

"I hope so," said Wilde.

"Have you told Mike about this?"

"I've been texting him and he knows what's happening. I didn't want him to be too worried if I didn't come home."

"Where is he now?"

"He texted me a little bit ago and said he was with a friend. I told him to make sure to stay off the streets."

Wilde sighed and Clawhauser paused.

"So . . ." began the cheetah, "what should we do about the rest?"

Wilde thought for a moment. "Koslov has access to shipping routes. He might be able to pull a switch with Delgato and get him off the water and off his shift."

"And replace him with who? If they pick up whoever replaced Delgato won't they still arrest him and question him? Except then it'll end up leading to Koslov."

"Maybe the better plan," began Wilde as the thought out loud, "would be for Koslov to pick him up himself?"

"Because the fact that he'd just be abandoning his ship won't raise any questions?" returned Clawhauser. "Either way, they know that the fox came here so even if they can't find Delgato they will find this place!"

"Well, we have to get Delgato out; I mean: we can't just leave him twisting!"

Clawhauser nodded in agreement. "You want me to text him?"

"Yeah, text him," said Wilde. "He needs a warning. While you're at it text Koslov, too. He should be here soon, but he can delegate the job of getting him out as well as anyone."

Wilde took the time to text Finnick, warning him to turn away any members of the "Soldiers of Happy Town" who wore tracking collars. He finished and waited while Clawhauser sent his own text before speaking.

"So now, a few things:" Wilde began, "We have Hopps' police car here. We need it moved along with that collar. Throw the tracker down an alley for all I care; just get it far away from us and get the car back to the station. You'll have to risk it!" ended Wilde sharply when he saw Clawhauser was about to protest. Some of the soldiers had already arrived and he was grateful to see that none of them had the new kind of collar.

'Must be something they're just rolling out,' he mused.

Clawhauser nodded and left with a sigh. "Later, Red!"

Wilde nodded back before turning away.

Wilde ran his paw over his face a few times in order to clear his head and de-stress somewhat. He turned to some idle soldiers who were there and enlisted their help in setting up the room for the rest of those who would be in attendance there in the second warehouse. There was a stage area there where musical entertainment was occasionally provided. It also doubled as an excellent dais for community meetings or meetings with the Happy Town soldiers, both of which took place there.

He went up to the dais and sat down in a chair, pulled out his phone, and began texting back and forth with some friends and members of the inner circle. He was bored out of his mind as he waited for folks to arrive. He chatted with those who knew what was going on and with those who actually had some sway. They were all working hard, wracking their brains as they helped facilitate plans for the ten and four o'clock gatherings. After much discussion between all the major players in Happy Town it emerged that Mr. Big would, in fact, not be attending the earlier meeting. Mr. Big, it was said, was making his own plans and figuring out what needed to be done. Boris Koslov, Mr. Big's friend and fellow crime boss, would be presiding over the meeting in his stead. There was nothing much to do as the fox waited for the other attendees to arrive.

-.-.-.-

9:10 AM

As Garou drove he heard his phone vibrate. He ignored it while crossing the bridge to Happy Town but took a look at the message when he got to a stop light. The meeting was going to start at ten, the message read, but asked him to arrive by nine forty. He nodded to himself and set the phone on the console between the front passenger and driver's seats. He could get there at the right time easily and decided to make a quick stop through Bug Burger to grab some breakfast. After such a long shift he hadn't anticipated having to have what he suspected was going to be another, even longer shift.

Back at the station, Cevilla was sipping from a cup of coffee and reading a magazine to herself when she was startled at the sound of her name being called. She turned around and spat out her coffee when she saw who it was.

Sgt. Hopps ignored the fact that the doe had gotten coffee all over her blouse and continued to stare at her darkly.

"Sergeant! I-I'm so sorry-"

"Save it! I don't care at the moment. I have something more important for you to do, Shit-for-Brains."

The doe stifled an angry retort and merely looked ahead at the bunny.

"Yaguarete's giving me crap about accessing Bogo's laptop. Bogo sent me an email from his computer this morning and I need to get it. Since I can't, I'm going to need you to do it for me. After all, you're the one who told me about it in the first place." She smiled brightly at the doe.

"That doesn't sound like it's on the up and up," said Cevilla slowly.

"Oh, you're saying you have something better to do? I thought you might enjoy the opportunity to get the deputy alone. Use your feminine wiles. I'm sure he'd let you have a look if you threw him some."

Her jaw dropped but quickly tried to gather herself. "I-I would never do such a low-"

"You're telling me you don't like fucking savages? It's the damnedest thing because I would've sworn that I heard you and Garou smashing in the utility closet."

Cevilla sucked in breath as fear began to set in.

"Yeah, I'm sure I did," she continued pensively. "I'm also sure I heard something about a meeting somewhere but I couldn't tell where that might be. And then (now this is real funny) I saw the two of you sneak out of the closet, and this was just my luck: you didn't see me behind the planter," she gestured low to the ground, "when you were sneaking out. I guess that's another one of the fun perks of being so small. And then I saw you sneak around to my cubical to see if I was there and then you kissed in plain view! Isn't that strange?"

Cevilla didn't move. She didn't breathe. She was positively terrified.

"Now," continued Hopps in an easy tone, "this is no real surprise to me since I've known about your secret marriage for aaages. And the sad thing is that you two might actually make a cute couple if it weren't an abomination to do what you're doing. The two of you are in deep shit and it would take only one phone call to have the two of you arrested. You'd be surprised what you can get away with when things're off the record."

Cevilla was on the verge of tears but held it in as much as she could. She didn't trust herself to speak.

"So now, you have a decision to make:" Hopps grabbed Cevilla's tie and pulled her down to her level and said, in a deadly quiet tone, "Either you get me those fucking emails off the cheif's fucking laptop or I get to make a phone call and get that mangy husband of yours arrested. Declawing can be an incredibly painful procedure and I'd sure hate for you to have to watch someone you love suffer like that when it all could have been avoided. As for you," she smirked humourlessly, "you don't have claws, so I may have to get creative."

Cevilla choked back a sob.

"So, are you going to get my emails or not?"

Cevilla said nothing.

"Nod!" shouted Judy so loudly many people in the station turned toward them.

Cevilla closed her eyes in terror and give a shallow nod.

Judy let go of her, pulled her wallet out of her pocket and took out three dollars.

"Get yourself some more coffee," she said to the doe before turning to go back to her desk.

It was about three seconds before Cevilla came out from behind the welcome desk. Slowly at first but then quickly breaking into a run she headed to the bathroom. She got into a stall and slammed it shut, sat down on the toilet, and proceeded to cry. She sobbed uncontrollably, making no effort to hide the sounds until she felt as though she'd cried all the tears she could. She was there for what felt like an eternity before she finally got up, freshened herself up in the bathroom mirror, and went to Yaguarete to try and retrieve the emails.

-.-.-.-

"What do you mean I can't have them?!" Cevilla shrieked as desperation overtook her. She looked at the jaguar across from her pleadingly.

She had explained to Yaguarete everything the sergeant had told her and she couldn't believe he was denying her.

"This is what you signed up for when you got into this situation."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You can't just let us die!"

"Oh yes I can!" he shouted as he slammed his fist down on the table. "The minute she walked out of here asking me for those emails I checked them out for myself. They're orders from the mayor to pick up Nick Wilde."

Her face fell.

"And you're asking me who I should throw under the bus? Hm, let me think about that: 'Should I betray two dumbasses who shouldn't be together anyway or Nick Wilde who has connections to nearly every pred in the city?' Yeah, gee, I guess that is a tough call."

The doe sank down in her chair.

"You and your husband decided to do something disgusting and against all laws of nature! Hopps is resourceful; you should have known that she was going to figure this stuff out! It's sad. I mean, the situation is . . ." Yaguarete broke off as he contemplated the unsavoury idea of the two of them together. He looked at her. "It's disgusting, but I don't think you deserve to die. Unfortunately, it's what you have on your paws. Now, please go: I have work to finish."

The doe rose slowly and quietly and left.

She covered her mouth when she left the room and closed her eyes as tears threatened to overwhelm her again. She stopped when all of a sudden a thought occurred to her.

'"The minute she walked out of here asking me for those emails I checked them out for myself. They're orders from the mayor to pick up Nick Wilde"'

That's what the chief deputy had said! She didn't need the emails: She could just tell Hopps the information directly! She started toward the sergeant's desk and stopped in the entrance. She made a little cough to get the sarge's attention as she was bent over some paperwork.

She was giddy with excitement and only hoped that this would be her ticket out of the shit house.

Hopps turned and was surprised to see Cevilla there.

"Yes?" asked the bunny as she raised an eyebrow.

"Uh . . . I have some good news!" started Cevilla brightly.

"I'm all ears!" smiled Hopps and she sat back.

Cevilla smiled.

'Just tell her it's Nick she's after. Just . . . just betray Nick . . .'

And all of a sudden her plan fell to pieces. Could she really do such a thing? What would Garou say? There's no way he'd want her to betray the cause, but the thought of him being tortured in front of her was too much to bear!

"Uh . . ." she started.

'It would betray everyone in Happy Town!' she reminded herself. Thousands could die--her husband could die. And then what would it all have been for?

"I . . . uh . . ."

Garou would never forgive her. She had to call him. She should have called him from the start! Her mind had been too all over the place to think of it; she had simply been too overwhelmed with thoughts of self-preservation. But what the hell was she going to do now?

"You said you had good news today?" prompted the rabbit.

"I . . . yes . . ." began the doe slowly.

When she said nothing Hopps nodded for her to continue.

"I'm . . . going to get the emails for you. I mean I figured out a way to do it."

Hopps looked at her blankly for a moment before she threw her head back and laughed. She wiped a tear away from her eye and turned away from the deer as she said, "For your husband's sake you'd better."

Cevilla nodded, and Hopps watched as she made a quick getaway.

"What was that about?" asked Rhinowitz as he sauntered up after the doe's departure.

Hopps sighed. "Shit-for-Brains owes me a favour."

"Good luck with that. She was supposed to refill the paper in the printers and copiers, but she never did it."

"I know. I saw the stack under the welcome desk. You know if it's that big a problem," said Hopps as the rhinoceros walked away, "you could get off your lazy butt and get the paper your own damn self."

He snorted and called over his shoulder. "Eat my ass."

"It's so big I wouldn't know where to begin," she called back.

She sighed and turned back to her work.

-.-.-.-

9:27 AM

'Then it wasn't my imagination!' thought the doe as she walked away. Judy was totally and incontrovertibly here and not at Wild Times.

She waited a minute or two after Rhinowitz departed for Hopps to leave her cubical for any reason. When she did, Cevilla surreptitiously pulled out her own phone and managed to take a few pictures of the sergeant and sent them to her husband with the message, "I just took these!"

Garou opened his phone when he heard it vibrate and smiled when he saw who it was. He paused in the middle of downing his breakfast to read it. His face fell when he saw the pictures and the text. Something was very wrong.

He was a pawn in the ranks of the unofficial police force he and his fellow predators comprised in Happy Town. He had no connections to Wilde himself and had no one else's number except for his superior's. He quickly sent a text back:

Thanks a million. Gonna get these to Nick or whoever's in charge once I get there.

He closed his phone and practically inhaled the rest of his food before rushing to his car.

Before he could start the engine his phone started ringing. He saw it was his wife and answered it.

"We can't use the phone," he said when he answered it.

"It's fine; it's not actually about . . ." she trailed off.

'The meeting,' his mind finished.

"Go on," he said.

He listened with increasing distress as his wife related to him the events of that morning spanning from what Sarge had told her to what Yaguarete had said. She mentioned the email and referred to Nick as "Red" and he took the point exactly. He sighed to himself. More than anything at that moment, he wanted to hold his wife in his arms and reassure her that everything was going to be alright. He told her that he'd text her once he figured something out and warned her not to tell Hopps anything at all about Nick until his say so.

He hung up the phone and set it down on the console. He sat back in his seat for a few moments before reaching forward in a sudden flash of anger and fury and started punching the dashboard as hard as he could repeatedly until there were several cracks in it.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" he shouted loudly with each strike, the scent of burnt fur reaching his nose as his collar shocked him repeatedly. He could feel it singe his neck, but he didn't care. He was so furious he kept hitting even past the point his knuckles were screaming in pain.

He sat back when he'd exhausted the initial thrust of his anger and covered his face with his paws as a sense of profound uselessness overcame him. What business did he have supporting a wife if he couldn't protect her?!

'How can you call yourself a husband?!' his mind shouted angrily.

He removed his paws from his face and just lay back in his seat as he sucked in a breath and let it out again. It came out shakily and he took several more before he finally sat up straight and started his car. He needed to talk to Nick and right fucking now--come hell or high water he was going to see him personally, rank or no rank!

'And ask him for what? Permission to betray him to save my own ass?'

He sighed. He'd do anything for his wife but he could never betray the movement. The only other option would be for them to flee. Pack her up in the middle of the night and hightail it outta there. There was no scenario in his brain that ended with them happily ever after, though, and he put his head against the steering wheel for a moment.

The future was as of yet unwritten, he reminded himself. Things might work out for them, yet. He calmed his mind as much as he could before opening his eyes, letting out a sigh, and starting forward.

'First things first,' he told himself, 'talk to Nick.'

-.-.-.-

"You can't talk to Nick," said the short fennec fox. It was nine forty on the dot. He had just made it on time and was glad that he'd taken the buffer into account. True, the assembly wouldn't actually begin for another twenty minutes but he might've been needed for something else.

"Finnick, this is important!" he shouted desperately.

Finnick turned away. "Lotta people think what they have going on's important."

Garou pulled out his phone and turned to his wife's text. Unthinkingly, his temper getting the better of him, he reached forward and grabbed the fennec forcefully, turning him around.

"Did you just put yo' hands on me?!" started Finnick, his shout echoing through the second warehouse. No one noticed; however, as the shout was lost amid the cacophony of milling voices that charged the air.

"Look!" shouted Garou as he leant down to show Fennick the phone before the fox had the chance to say another word.

It had taken Garou eight minutes speeding to get here and from the moment he arrove he'd been met with hurdle after hurdle! Now here he was with Nick's friend and he was being turned away?! He hoped the pictures would change his mind.

Finnick snatched the phone from his hand and looked at the text and the photos. His anger evaporated in an instant and was replaced with surprise. He turned to see Wilde texting on the dais, a bored expression on his face.

"Nick!" shouted Finnick. A large polar bear who was on the dais with Wilde turned to look down at them. "Nick!" he shouted again when he got no response.

"In a minute!" replied Wilde angrily as he finished texting whomever he was texting. He turned to look down at them with an annoyed expression when he was done. "Yes?" he motioned Finnick up to the stage but Garou took his chances and followed as well.

Finnick started once he reached the top. "Are you sure you got the right bunny?" he asked as he walked toward Wilde.

Wilde looked down at Finnick quizzically. "How do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean" he continued, "are you sure she's really Sgt. Judy Hopps of the ZPD?"

Wilde nodded somewhat uncertainly. "Yeah, kinda. I mean, Clawhauser identified her so I'm pretty sure."

Finnick showed him Garou's phone. "Is this her?"

Wilde took one look. "Yup! Was there anything else?"

"Are you sure?" asked Finnick.

Wilde took the phone to get a closer look. "Yes."

"You're positive?"

"Yes, Finnick! I looked at it twice: Yes--they're exactly the same!" he finished exasperatedly.

"The trouble with that, Nick," replied Finnick calmly "is that this picture was taken about thirteen minutes ago at the ZPD."

Wilde looked at the phone again, then at the timestamp.

"Is this your phone?" asked Wilde as he looked at Garou.

The wolf nodded and Koslov came closer to see over Wilde's shoulder.

Wilde saw the doe's avatar in the text log.

"Is this your . . ." Wilde trailed off as he looked up at the wolf.

Garou took a deep breath. "She's my wife."

Wilde cocked an eyebrow and both Finnick and the polar bear were looking at him now.

"Interesting . . ." Wilde trailed off as he read and reread the message and looked at the photos carefully.

He looked back at the wolf. "Your name is . . . ?"

"Garou."

Nick nodded. "Garou, would you mind if I texted her real quick?"

Garou gave a slight nod.

Wilde nodded back and texted:

Good day. I understand you're Garou's wife. This is Nicholas Wilde. I'd like you to send me another photo from your phone of sgt Hopps. A fresh one.

Wilde turned the phone around and took a picture of himself for identification and sent it along with the message.

A few moments later a text came back.

Will these do?

There were five candid photos of the rabbit in question.

Wilde texted back a quick "thx," before proceeding to look at the photos carefully.

'I'm starting to like this less and less,' he thought to himself.

Wilde pondered for a moment, flattening his ears as his confusion compounded.

Wordlessly, he handed the phone back to Garou and walked off the stage. The others, including Koslov, followed him. He got to his office and unlocked the door. They went through and then followed him again when he opened up the door to the side room to reveal Judy Hopps sitting right in front of them.

He was pensive for a moment before he wandered into the room followed by his friends. Wilde issued a quick "Shh!" when he heard Garou growl and snarl menacingly behind him.

Judy was looking straight at them, now; though her head had been lolled to the side as her body been trying to pull her down into sleep. Her mind cleared, however, the instant she saw the huge polar bear walk into the room.

"So . . ." began Wilde as he reached her, "I've got a couple of questions for you." He reached out again to Garou for his phone before opening it and finding the text. "Who is this?" he asked as he showed her the photos.

Judy gulped. 'Who was that?!'

Wilde removed the phone from her face.

"Fox got your tongue?" he asked. "C'mon! Who the hell are you?!" he suddenly shouted, leaning forward.

Judy paled beneath her fur. She'd been caught out, and now and there was no escape! She was going to have to come clean and be taken for crazy and disbelieved. How else would she be able to explain that there were two of them? Would they even listen for that long? Would they let her live long enough?! The prospect of telling them that she was an interdimensional being was frightening as the very idea sounded ludicrous even to her mind. She'd hoped she'd have been able to put it off for a bit longer but there was no other way, now: she had to tell them the truth! She swallowed nervously and trembled slightly at what she was about to say.

Mentally biting the bullet, she opened her mouth. "Okay, I-"

"They're probably sisters," chimed in Garou.

Everyone turned to look back at Garou who shrank back nervously under the hard gaze of Wilde and his friends.

"I mean . . ." said Garou nervously as he felt the tension in the room thicken, "they look exactly alike. Isn't the obvious answer that they're twins or something?" he finished weakly.

Judy was seriously considering slapping herself. 'Now, why in the hell didn't I think of that?!'

"I was hoping to get an answer from her," said Wilde as he nodded his head toward Judy.

"The only question," continued Garou cautiously, "is whether she's actually Hopps or not. I mean . . . right? I mean no disrespect, Mr. Wilde, but I'm just saying . . . ." He finished speaking.

Wilde had to hand it to him: Garou had guts. He appreciated that the young wolf had had the decency to speak up when he felt he needed to. Still, he wanted to hear what the rabbit had to say.

"So, are you the sergeant or are you her sister? Not that it really matters in the long run--either way you're not getting out of here."

Judy was internally squirming and she had no idea what to do in this very unexpected turn of events. On a whim, she said, "I . . . I'm her! I'm her sister! Her sister!"

He didn't trust this bunny for a moment. "Why did she call you here?" he asked.

"She didn't! I came on my own."

He shook his head to himself and turned to the others in the room. "No, that doesn't make sense. Hopps must have sent her in her place in order to scope out our operation and report back to her. I mean, that makes the most sense."

Garou made to butt in. "Actually-"

Finnick snorted. "More like feeding her to the wolves. At least this means we don't have to worry about the police department coming down on us so hard. Or even at all."

Garou tried again. "But she-"

"Maybe. Garou," started Wilde, "could you ask your wife whether she knows of any other rabbits working at the ZPD?"

Garou closed his mouth and nodded tentatively as he wrote and sent the text. A few seconds later he got his response.

"No," he answered. "She says all the other rabbits there are males. There's one other female but she's out sick. I can say right off the bat, though, that I know for a fact that there's no other female bunnies working there aside from the one who's out--especially none that look like her. If there were, we all would've known about it."

"I guess I assumed you worked downstairs in the records department," said Wilde.

"I do; but that's news that definitely would have made it to us," replied Garou.

Wilde nodded pensively before a thought occurred to him.

"So, you're the sergeant's sister," he said, turning to Judy, "but nobody else at the department's heard of you; yet you're wearing her uniform? So she must've had some hunch about this place."

"No," she said.

"What do you mean?" growled Wilde. "You know, you're not giving any of us anything to go off of! I know you're some kind of police officer. Nobody can fake that--if you're faking now you've had top notch training in lying and somehow I get the feeling dishonesty doesn't come easily to you. Clawhauser saw you at the sergeant's desk. He followed you here. You knew what the email said--both you and Clawhauser agreed on it!"

"I didn't have a hunch about this place. I got the email from Bogo and was able to find you in the system--both your place of business here and your apartment."

Wilde paled. "My . . . apartment . . . ?"

Judy looked at him quizzically.

He turned to the fox behind him. "Finnick, send someone around to check on Mike. He's with Morris, is that right?" He addressed his question to polar bear behind him.

The bear nodded.

Finnick made to leave the room and was already searching through his contacts for someone who could check on them.

"Bring him here!" Wilde called out as he left.

"My son, too," called Koslov.

Finnick nodded as he went out.

Wilde turned back to Judy. "So what're you and your sister planning?"

"I . . . I don't know! We're not planning anything! All I know is that I got an email from Bogo-"

"An email you read on your sister's computer?"

"Yes."

"An email which she hasn't seen? Clawhauser told me that he saw you delete it."

"Actually!" chimed in Garou, sounding suddenly quite desperate to get a word in.

Wilde turned. "Are you talking to me?"

"Yes, I'm sorry to interrupt but I have to say this: Hopps hasn't seen the email but she knows that there was one."

Wilde narrowed his eyes. "How?"

"My wife may have mentioned it to her before she knew there were two of them."

"But she didn't actually tell her what was in them?"

"No. She didn't know what was in them until about half an hour ago or so."

Wilde nodded and started to turn back to Judy.

"And! Sorry, can I just say one more thing?" said Garou, somewhat pleadingly.

Wilde ground his teeth angrily. "You know I'm starting to like you here less and less . . ."

"Please! I'm sorry, it's just that Hopps is blackmailing my wife and trying to get her to tell her what the contents of the email are. My wife was told to get the email for her or she'd have both my wife and me arrested. She was able to get the gist of the email from Yaguarete and was going to pass it on to Hopps but didn't want to betray you. So now we're stuck and I need your help."

Wilde only stared at him as his own mind raced. "I . . . I'm sorry to hear that." It was lame but it was all his mind could think of to say as it tried to work out what must have been a very terrifying prospect for such a young couple. In fact, Wilde was beside himself. He knew exactly what the wolf was feeling at the moment and after a few seconds thinking to himself he slowly said, "If the sergeant's sister is here it's only a matter of time before she tracks her down." Wilde paused as a pondered for a moment more. "Do it. Let your wife tell her. They're already able to track the fox here which is likely to cause all kinds of problems and it's likely the police're going to come here to check it out."

"If my wife tells her about the email, though, won't Hopps be on her way sooner than later?"

He had a point, Wilde thought. They had been counting on something taking place later that evening when it would become clear that Hopps was missing. Now it appeared Hopps wasn't missing at all and a mysterious sister had shown up in her place. As long as the email remained a secret Hopps would have no idea where to begin. The police would take a while yet to follow up on the fox but if they gave Sarge knowledge regarding the email she'd probably come alone. The email seemed to imply that it was a one-person job: the chief was asking her to pick up Nick Wilde. Or so he guessed. It's certainly what Clawhauser had implied. It was also semi clear to him that Hopps' sister hadn't communicated her whereabouts to anyone nor had she confided in her the contents of the email or the sergeant wouldn't have been threatening Garou's wife for it. Something was off. Something was very off. There were huge chunks of missing information and if there was one thing he didn't like was to have to make a leap of logic.

If he were working in tandem with someone to try and get on the inside of an organisation he'd be communicating with that person nonstop--but if Garou's wife were to be believed, they hadn't coordinated at all. Add into that that the bunny in front of him seemed to be totally unprepared for the questions he was asking her meant that she was probably lying.

'If it doesn't make sense it's not true.'

He now had in front of him two opposing paths--either she was working with her sister or she wasn't. If she weren't it would mean that this bunny had impersonated her sister and logged into her email without authorisation, gotten the information from the email herself and then come here for her own purposes which at this moment lay hidden; the other possibility was that she was in fact working with her sister and that for whatever reason she hadn't communicated where she was going. This destination--Wilde Times--was so intrinsically linked with the information given in the email he was certain that if this place had come up in conversation with the real Sgt. Hopps it most certainly would have been in connection with the now-missing email and Hopps wouldn't have needed to ask Cevilla for the email at all.

Wilde thought back to when he'd initially tied her up.

'"Maybe I'm not the enemy you thought I was,"' _she'd said. Wilde shook his head in an attempt to clear it. _'She must be working alone.' Or at least he hoped so. But why? And in what capacity?

He looked at Garou, finally having made a final decision. "Have your wife tell Hopps. If she comes alone we can set a trap for her; if she gets a group together to come after us, we can abandon this place and meet someplace else. Tell your wife--what's her name?"

"Cevilla," replied Garou.

"Right. Cevilla. Have Cevilla update us with what seems to be happening from inside the precinct. Even if it's nothing, we need to know."

"Should I have her ask Sarge about her sister?"

"No, no. We don't want to tip her off."

Garou nodded and began texting furiously on his phone. He walked out of the room as he continued.

Wilde turned back to regard Judy. "So why is it that you came here to investigate? Why did you hack your sister's email?"

Judy sighed. "I came here because I got an email-"

"You're sister got an email . . . ."

"Right. And it said to pick up Nick Wilde today and that it was coming from up top."

"Why would you do that if you weren't actually with the ZPD?"

"I saw that you ran a clinic and I knew there was no way you ran a clinic."

"What does that have to do with anything? You're not with the ZPD! You're an officer, yeah. But I just don't get it! And how could you possibly have known that I wasn't a doctor? 'Cause I'm a predator?"

"No, it's just . . . ." Shit. She was getting backed into a corner. Time to lie. "I suspected that you didn't have a real medical license."

"I can assure you, Ms. Hopps that Mr. Wilde has a valid medical licence," chimed in Koslov.

"I'm sure it's laminated and everything," she replied wryly.

"I'm done with this," said Wilde as he stood up straight. "She's not gonna give us a straight answer. Let's just have Mr. Big deal with her."

Wilde paused for a moment as he was about to leave the room and instead went back to check on the fox himself. He saw that the wolves had managed to set up an IV drip to keep him hydrated and sedated while he recuperated. They had removed his shirt in order to better tend the wounds on his chest and torso. He shook his head as he took in everything that the cops'd done to him. His body was a veritable map of pain. There was bruising and blood all over the poor male that he hadn't seen before where before his shirt had hidden it. He let out a sigh and walked from behind the curtain, through the room, and into his main office--Koslov had already left. He went out of both rooms, locking both doors behind him.

He found Garou staring at his phone quite pensively.

As soon as Garou sensed the fox was near he perked up and walked over.

"Cevilla just told me something odd."

Wilde nodded for the wolf to continue.

"She told me that Hopps wasn't even supposed to work today."

"Really?" he asked as he turned back to his office.

"Yeah. Not only that, but the only reason the real Hopps came in was because her phone and her patrol car had been stolen."

Wilde's attention snapped back to Garou in a flash. "Are you sure?!"

"That's what my wife's saying. Whoever this person is, whether she's Sarge's sister or whatever, they are not working together."

Wilde was troubled. He had no way to independently verify whether Hopps actually believed she'd been robed or not but it seemed to fit with his previous line of thinking--that this bunny was working alone. It also occurred to him that he could work himself in circles with this kind of thinking. Until he had something more concrete in hand, he'd have to go with what was in front of him. Things'd be fine as soon as Clawhauser came back from . . .

'From returning Hopps' car!'

"Oh, shit!" he cried suddenly. He had totally and completely forgotten that Clawhauser knew none of this and was walking straight into a minefield! He pulled out his phone and saw it was nine forty-seven. Hopefully he'd be able to reach him in time.

-.-.-.-

9:43

Clawhauser sighed as he pulled into the ZPD. He had managed to get here without incident for which he was very grateful. He was also grateful for the fact that there was no one else in the parking lot. Since he'd called himself in sick he wanted to sneak away as quickly as possible without notice. He'd take the metro back to Happy Town and express busses from there. Would take him a little longer, maybe about thirty minutes to get back, but he had to do it. He had just stepped out of the car and shut the door when a familiar voice behind him drew a surprised and terrified scream from him.

"What're you doing?" asked a very angry-looking bunny as she thumped her foot on the ground.

Clawhauser turned quickly and nearly gave himself a heart attack when his eyes confirmed what his ears had told him.

"Do I need to ask you again?"

"I . . . I-I-I-I was just . . ."

"Were you the one who took my car this morning?"

"No! I . . . how did you get out?!"

"Get out?"

"Yeah? Did Nick let you go?"

"Who the hell are you talking about and why are you in my fucking car?!"

"You . . . you don't remember . . . this morning?"

"The only thing I remember about this morning was that Garou told me you were out sick! What the fuck is going on here? Has this whole fucking place gone nuts?! I got up and some asshole stole my phone and my patrol car and now I see you here with it! Do you have my phone, too?"

"No, I . . ."

"Goddamn it, Clawhauser, grow some balls and tell me the fucking truth! What the hell is going on?!"

"Uh . . . um . . ."

'Just got to think up a convincing lie . . .' thought Clawhauser.

"Sarge!" came a bright and happy-sounding voice from the front entrance.

Hopps turned to look as a slender doe walked up to them.

"Cevilla? Do you have my email?"

"Email?" asked Clawhauser.

"Yeah, someone got into my email this morning," started Hopps, "and deleted an important one I got from Bogo; and by 'someone' I sure as fuck hope I don't mean you."

Clawhauser backed up against the car. "No, no . . . I . . . I didn't . . . ."

"Anyway," interjected Cevilla, "yes I have it. Or rather, I know the contents."

"Go on," the rabbit prompted.

"Bogo wants you to find someone named Nick Wilde today and bring him in."

The rabbit looked at her quizzically. "Nick Wilde?"

It seemed to both Cevilla and Clawhauser that the rabbit seemed suddenly doubtful.

"Yes. That's the name. He runs a clinic on-"

"Yes, I know, the Speedy Care," finished the rabbit. "I know of him: he's a-" she snorted, "-doctor; but he's small potatoes compared with much larger fish in the city. Did the email say why?"

"Nope. Just that it was coming from up top."

Her face seemed to brighten at that. "I see . . . ." Hopps paused for a moment before she headed back inside.

"W-Wait!" shouted Cevilla, "d-don't you wanna go after him now?"

"Not that it's any of your fucking business, savage lover," she called over her shoulder, "but does it occur to you that I might want to do some research first before plunging ahead into a possibly dangerous situation?" She suddenly turned around. "By the way, you'll be happy to know that you're off the hook with me for now. Still, I may need something from you in the future, so don't think the deal's over yet."

She turned back toward the station and went inside. She couldn't help but wonder if it had been this Nick Wilde to whom Clawhauser had been referring.

'I don't know,' _she thought to herself, 'but I'll be sure to question him about that later.'_

Cevilla covered her face again in anger and frustration. She'd never be off the hook!

The doe let out a gasp and cried out when Clawhauser suddenly turned her around.

"Did you really just do that? Did you really just sell Nick out? Sell us out?!" He spoke in hushed whispers and non-threateningly but was clearly desperate.

"Nick didn't tell you? This is all cool! It's been covered!"

"And why the hell is Hopps here? And who the hell was that back at the park?"

"Oh, wow, you left before all the interesting stuff happened. Turns out there's two of 'em."

"Two Sarges?"

"No, to Hoppses."

He stared at her.

"As in two Hopps sisters. Garou figured they were probably sisters but that they weren't working together."

"That doesn't make any sense!"

"I know! So now Nick figured that there's some plot that centres on picking him up. He doesn't know why Chief wants him picked up, just that he does."

"But then why let the real Hopps in on it?"

"Garou told me that Nick figures it this way--Either the cops come and pick him up because of the fox they tracked there when they come looking for him or the cops will be going there because Judy's headed there. Did the email tell her to go there alone?"

"Not specifically, no; it seemed like it was something he was asking her to do by herself."

"Hm. Well, either way, Wild Times is no longer safe. So he figured why not just let me tell her. And if she goes there by herself it's a bonus!"

"How?"

"Duh! Trapping both Hopps sisters?"

Clawhauser nodded.

"Then all I have to do is watch what she does and text Nick."

"Alright. I better get going."

"You taking a car?"

"Nah, mine's there."

"Oh, well, how're getting back?"

"Metro."

"No way!" She pulled out some cash from her wallet. "You need to get back there quick."

"Oh no, I couldn't!"

"Pay me back later if you need to, but as it is there's very little time and things seem to be happening quickly."

Clawhauser nodded reluctantly. He didn't really have the money for a cab and he was thankful for Cevilla's offer. "Thanks." He smiled as she handed him the money.

"No problem. Hey, we'll catch up later. I gotta get back inside."

She turned and headed back into the building. Clawhauser turned around and headed back to the parking lot entrance. It was a while before he was able to get a cab and it was as he waited that he felt his phone buzz.

It was a message from Nick:

Hey, Clawhauser, I was in an interrogation and I forgot to have someone let you know that there're two Hoppses in the mix.

Clawhauser frowned, slightly annoyed and texted back:

Yeah, some warning would've been nice. Cevilla distracted her enough. Didn't even ask me about the car and what I was doing with it. Gotta say that it seemed like Hopps had heard of your reputation but she thinks you just run a fake clinic. I don't know all of what's going on but hearing your name distracted her enough that she didn't even follow up with me about what I was doing. Didn't even wonder why I was here and not at home like I said I'd be.

Nick received the text and frowned. Without having been there he couldn't be certain, but he was relatively sure based on that description of her behaviour that she knew more than she was letting on. On the outskirts of his attention he heard Garou mention that Cevilla had just texted him to say that Judy seemed to be staying put and was just making calls on her phone and texting before looking things up on her computer.

Something else was going on and he needed to know what.

Clawhauser sighed when he got no response and sent another text following his first saying that he'd be there as soon as he could and that he was taking a taxi. He pressed enter just as a cab pulled up and got in. He told the driver where he was headed and they took off. He sighed and looked out the window as he tried to clear his head and think about the new information that seemed to be piling up.

-.-.-.-

10:01 AM

Sgt. Hopps rubbed her forehead as she started getting a headache. The mug shot of Nick Wilde stared out at her from her computer. She had heard of him but didn't really know what he did--she had gotten hints that he really wasn't a doctor and that he was fronting for some other illegal activity. That Bogo had asked her to pick him up indicated, at least to her mind, that this Nick Wilde was a lead on the feral animal case. This didn't make sense to her, though. As far as she knew this is was just about finding out how and where the animals were going feral and it didn't make sense to her that a small-time crook and hustler, according to his police record, would be somehow responsible for this.

'His clinic would make for a decent venue and he would certainly have plenty of clients.'

She'd been almost certain that the epicentre for the spread of the condition was in Happy Town somewhere, but as she regarded the evidence now there were a lot of things that weren't adding up. She heard her phone ring and let out an exasperated grunt as she answered it.

"Sgt. Judy Hopps of the Zootopia Police Department speaking."

"Ah, Ms. Hopps."

"Mayor Pricilla?" she asked, confused.

"I was just wondering why you hadn't yet picked up Nicholas Wilde."

"How do you know whether I have or haven't?"

"I have my ways. I know everything that goes on in this city. I want that fox, my dear. Coal tells me you had him in your custody this morning but that you let him go."

Her eyes widened. "That was Nick?"

"Wasn't he?"

"I have no idea. Have you checked the collar? I put one of the new ones on him. The doctor should have uploaded its information on it."

"Ah, yes, now I remember. It seems he came in without identification."

"That would do it. So, uh . . . what did you want me to bring him in for?"

"My office has been able to obtain information suggesting that he is the key to your case on feral chompers."

Hopps raised an eyebrow. 'Just as I thought.'

"That seems . . . interesting . . ." mused Hopps out loud, "but after reviewing the evidence and the pattern of emersion of feral animals it doesn't seem to me that it's happening in Happy Town at all. I'd been led to believe just based on assumptions that it was someplace in Happy Town but-"

"Happy Town is the source!" said Pricilla sharply.

Hopps jumped but regained her composure. "Alright alright . . . I'll do some investigating in Happy Town and see if I can find him."

She hung up and sighed before reaching into her desk, pulling out a spare set of keys and headed for the door.

She heard Cevilla call out to her just as she was heading out. "Where are you going?"

"Jeez, are you always this nosy?" Hopps sighed exasperatedly.

"What if Chief asks where you are?"

Hopps nodded. "Something's not adding up. I gotta see if I can find this fox or not. Nick or whatever. Just finding him, though. Not gonna bring him in until I have backup." That was the smart way to play it, she figured.

Cevilla nodded and sent a quick text as the bunny went out.

As Hopps walked up to her car she made a mental note to ream Clawhauser for having taken her car. She realised she'd never properly reprimanded him for that. She hummed to herself as another thought occurred to her: The fact that he had driven her squad car had to mean that he had to have a key to it which meant that at some point he had had access to her keys. Had he been the thief who'd stolen them? There were a lot of things going on now that weren't making sense. People were acting out of the ordinary and it unnerved her. She got into the car and started it.

'Okay . . . find Nick Wilde somewhere _ _in Happy Town . . . .'

She had brought with her the address to his apartment and workplace. That was no guarantee that anyone were there.

She ground her teeth.

'This is starting to feel like an exercise in futility.'

-.-.-.-

10:10

Mayor Pricilla sat forward in her chair "What do you mean Wild Times is closed?!"

"If you'll permit me," said the ram, "what I said was that it was closed to the public. We have a source who says that there's a large gathering of the so-called chompers taking place later this afternoon: Around four or five. There's another one taking place, now."

"How large a crowd?"

"The later meeting? Packed, from what I was told; just short of standing-room. Seems as though most able-bodied mammals are going."

"Seems as though things are on track, then. But just barely. Not exactly what I'd been expecting, though." She smiled but then suddenly scowled.

"Ma'am?"

"Oh, just one little snag. I needed Hopps to pick up Wilde and it seems she may have let him go this morning without realising it."

"Ah. Well, my source tells me he's there from what he's been able to figure out."

"Damn! She's not going to be able to get through the savages there. And by the way, do you have any idea what it was that tipped them off that something was wrong in the first place?"

"None at all. All the chompers my source's been able to hone in on have been keeping quiet on that front. He was lucky to get as much as he did. Seems there's a ban on communication with any outsiders, and while he's good at blending in, there's no faking whether you're part of the fold or not."

The pig sighed. "Hopps was kinda central to this. She's been on my shit list for a while and I was just hoping that this would be the chance to get her to stop the investigation."

"She's been one of our best workers!"

"That may be so, but I know a delicate spirit when I see one. That fuck up a year ago is not something I'm willing to forget. She may have thought she was gonna get off scot free. She's got another thing coming."

"So then . . . ?"

"So, then, we may have to deal with her manually. I want her there, one way or another. Especially after the stunt she pulled with Rhinowitz this morning. Did you know she interrupted the declawing of that creature?"

"Hmm . . ." the ram trailed off.

"Exactly."

"Alright, I'll get someone on it."

"Get Coal on it. He has to do this quietly. He can't alert her to what's happening."

The ram nodded and left.

The pig rested her head in her hands. Things were getting more difficult by the minute.

-.-.-.-

12:07 PM

Nick sighed to himself as the animals petered out of the park. The meeting had gone off without a hitch. Everything had been brought to light except for the fact that they had captured either Judy Hopps or her sister. No good would have come of that until they knew one way or the other what was going on. If there were anything he wanted to avoid it would be rash action and he knew that even the possibility of her capture would've set off a flurry of responses. For this reason, only Koslov, Mr. Big, Finnick, Clawhauser, and himself knew. He had taken the time to swear both Garou and his wife to secrecy in order to avoid word getting out.

The meeting had discussed what to do in the event that a cull was initiated. A text bomb was to be sent out from any citizen to witness the initiation of any kind of violence on behalf of city hall and Mayor Pricilla. The text would go out to every member of the predator army who in turn would text bomb their contacts allowing many predators to become aware of the situation in relatively short order.

Other things such as strategy had been spoken of and what tactics would be used to fight off an invasion. Certain sections of the city had been designated for each troop to patrol. Briefings by both Wilde and Koslov as well as news regarding what part Mr. Big was going to play were presented. Mr. Big had done a masterful job of orchestrating much of the planning but he was no general. Not by himself, anyway. He and Koslov had devised excellent strategies in conjunction with the leaders of the militia.

The two hour long meeting felt as though it had taken nearly all day. Wilde was positively knackered. Mike had arrived a short time ago and he'd let him into his office, giving the young man strict instructions to stay away from the annex. Drained of energy he walked to his office where he found his son sitting back and playing a game of solitaire.

He looked up from his game as Wilde walked in. "Are you done yet, dad?"

"For now," he sighed as he closed the door behind him. "Wanna grab some lunch?"

"Is it safe?"

Nick sighed. "You don't feel safe?"

"What do you think? You have one of uncle's goons pick me up and bring me here. He wouldn't tell Morris and me anything. I didn't know if something had happened or if you . . ." he trailed off. "Anyway, when Kevin got there and told me to pack my trunk I didn't really know what to think."

Wilde came over and hugged his son who hugged him back, tightly. "You're getting too smart."

"Too old."

"You're only fifteen."

"Old enough to know how messed up things are."

"You know I'm here to look after you, though, right?"

"I know. I just have to keep reminding myself of that." He let go of his father and reclined in the chair. "So who's in the side room?"

Wilde sighed. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

His son sat back and hummed to himself.

"Anyway," Wilde said, "Koslov said he'd take us to lunch if we wanted."

"He's taking us out by ferry?" Mike brightened.

"Yup!"

"But who's gonna watch her?"

"I . . . uh . . . I'm staying behind."

Mike shook his head. "No, Dad, I wanna stay here."

"I'm not gonna disappear if you go."

"I don't wanna risk it."

"Ya gotta eat, Mike."

"So do you! Can't they just bring something back?"

"They were gonna bring something back for me. I just thought it might be a good idea for you to get outta here for a while."

"It does sound like fun, but . . . I dunno, I just kinda wanna stay here."

"You sure? Morris is going . . ." he said as he smiled, knowing the lure was becoming more and more enticing. He could see the kid vacillating.

'Only a little more to tip him over the edge.'

Wilde finished. "Koslov said he'd let you ride on his back, too."

He cherished the moment he saw his son make his decision. A wide smile spread over the boy's face. Boy, was Koslov going to be surprised to find out what he'd promised but he had no doubt the bear would have no trouble complying.

Mike got up and hugged him before bidding farewell and leaving the office to find Koslov and Morris. Nick sat down in the chair his son had been occupying. He heard a muffled sound from the other room and got up, chair creaking as he did, and opened the door. The rabbit looked at him from her chair.

"I need to use the restroom," she said tentatively.

Nick sighed and went over to her. He unbound the ropes and carefully and quickly managed to undo the cuffs before reattaching them and walked her to the washroom.

"Who was that kid?" she asked as he led her

"None of your business."

She could hear the two of them speaking through the wall and was curious. Now she strained her ears to pick out the voice as they walked. She caught it and turned toward the source, an older kit, talking to a polar bear of some size though clearly not full grown whom she took to be Koslov's son. She nearly tripped when she saw he was the spitting image of Nick when he was a child.

"He's your son," she said out loud, astonished.

Wilde looked sharply in the direction she was looking and let out a growl.

"Those ears of yours are going to get you into trouble someday. But I'm curious, how do you figure he's my son?"

"Because!" she started as though it should be obvious, "he looks like . . ." she stopped herself before she finished. And how was she supposed to explain that she knew what Nick looked like when he was younger? "Well, I mean . . ." she stuttered, "he looks a lot like you."

Wilde nodded tersely and seemed satisfied.

"Is his mother here, too?"

"His mother's dead!" growled Wilde angrily.

Judy's mouth dropped open. She didn't dare ask how. They sped up now and he was jerking her by the arm. When they finally reached the restroom he stopped her and turned her around.

"It's thanks to the likes of you in this city that my son doesn't have his mother in his life. Do you have any idea what it's like losing someone you love? What it's like having to tell your son why he's living with you now?!" He was crushing her arm now. He spoke in a quiet tone that in no way belied his resentment. "And I swear to God if I lose my boy because of what you brought here you're going to be the first to go!" He let go of her arm and pushed open the door. "Go! And hurry up!" he shouted.

She had no idea how he had meant for her to use the bathroom without first uncuffing her paws, but she hopped backwards through the loop she made with her arms to get her paws in front of her.

When she was finished she found Wilde leaning against the wall next to the door.

"You know," he started without looking at her, "I never really understood what all of this was about. Why you people treat us the way you do. But now, after having lived the life that I have, I think I know the answer. It's all about power for you, isn't it? You just want to be able to do things they way you want. Isn't that right?" he was looking at her now.

Judy replied softly. "It's because in the end we're all just animals. In the end, there are always going to be those mammals who're willing to take advantage of others. Some prey feel as though they were being taken advantage of. Then there are others who never really believed in the cause of peace. Whatever the reason, it all boils down to power."

He snorted. "You're talking like you actually believe that peace is something we ever could have had."

"I know we can!"

"Ironic words coming from someone who wears that uniform."

"You don't even know who I am."

"I know you're prey. I know you're representing yourself as someone working for city hall--which is what that uniform amounts to."

She looked down sadly. "I wish . . ." she trailed off. The fox beside her sighed.

"I know . . ." he replied. He took her arm, his anger seemingly vanished, and carefully led her back to the office.

He'd seen her fear and her sympathy when he had his outburst and when he spoke to her about the death of his son's mother. It was such a strange feeling to have, but it seemed to him more and more that this bunny was different, defying his expectations. She was hiding more--he knew that much, but he got the sense that she wasn't actively working against him. He had been pacified somewhat by that thought. What troubled him now was what would happen once Mr. Big arrove. He had no interest in seeing this bunny die. It wasn't personal, but it was the likely outcome.

He shrugged and sighed. His only real regret was that it was happening here. Mr. Big knew how to get his hands dirty and seemed to have no compunction about it.

'She got herself into this mess,' _thought the fox, _'and it's up to her to get herself out.'

Nick closed his eyes and thought about what he needed to get done. He closed the door to the side room, leaving the bunny bound and cuffed, as he went through in his mind what he'd have to do to get ready for this afternoon. He'd asked for people to arrive an hour early which gave him only about two hours to get things set up. He knew they'd all probably be arriving about fifteen minutes early, anyway. He locked the door to his office as he came out and started delegating to some of the workers who'd remained to help set up for the larger crowd that'd be arriving at four.

-.-.-.-

2:23

Nick Wilde awoke groggily, his bleary vision obscuring his vision as he tried to wake himself. He'd felt as though he'd been hit by a bus and winced when he realised he essentially had been. For the few short hours he'd been asleep his mind had allowed him to escape the reality he had faced earlier in the day, but now as he sat up--or tried to--the reality of his new situation came crashing down on him. He sat there for a few moments and reflected on his new situation.

'Guess it's back to hustling,' he thought to himself somewhat stoically.

He hadn't wanted to return to that life, but it was clear that that was all he'd be suited for here. Return to being a cop? No way was he going back to that place. He felt a terrible sense of resignation and fury settle in the pit of his stomach. The prospect of having to leave and start over from scratch was a daunting one, but he'd managed to survive before and he'd survive again. He didn't want to, though. He felt exhausted and tired of trying. But what else could he do?

As his senses returned to him he looked around and noticed that he was surrounded by a white curtain. He was lying on a bed and had an IV drip in his right arm. He heard snoring from the other side of the curtain and assumed that he must be in a hospital but after taking in the objects surrounding him he knew that that wasn't the case. Books, papers, and filing boxes seemed to almost fence him in. He looked down at himself and found that his torso and arms were bandaged and his shirt was missing. Someone had done a rather nice patchwork job on him. He touched the bandaged that was covering his left eye and removed it.

'Bad idea!'

It was still swollen to the point where he couldn't see out of it. He pulled out the IV, deciding that he wanted to have a look around. As he pulled back the curtain and took in the very dimly-lit room around him he realised he wasn't in anything that could even remotely be called a hospital. As his eyes scanned the room his heart froze as they landed on the terrifying figure that sat snoring in a chair.

He had no idea what the hell was going on now. It seemed to him that he had entered another level of hell. He felt trapped, all of a sudden. Looking at the snoring bunny--as innocuous as she seemed--served only to remind him of the cruelty he'd faced at her paws. Her words had cut him more deeply than anything he'd ever felt and had hurt him worse than the torture he'd endured throughout the course of the day. She'd broken his heart.

Not daring to look at her any longer and wishing only to escape the room, he started looking for an exit. He saw a door along the wall to his right, directly in front of the bunny. He quietly edged his way there before opening it and hobbling his way through it. The pain seemed to increase as he moved and spread all throughout his body. He was tender absolutely everywhere. Or so it felt. He left the door ajar as he wandered around. He seemed to be in some kind of office. He saw monitors stacked up on the wall to his left and observed what appeared to be an amusement park. There were people milling about and setting up chairs for what seemed to be a rather large event.

He wanted to be there and out of the room and away from her more than anything. He tried the door and found it to be locked. He banged as hard has he dared and shouted as loudly as he could but stopped when he found there was no response. Maybe there was someone he could call? Or at least a game to play or something?

He looked around and saw an abandoned game of solitaire on the desk opposite the door along with a phone and a few other knickknacks. He went over, shuffled the cards, and sat down to play a game. He had gotten nearly halfway through one round before he found himself bored of it. He reached over to the phone in the hopes that whoever'd left it had some decent games on it, unplugging it from the charger.

He switched it on and waited for it to load. As it booted he heard a groan from the other room. He definitely didn't wanna go in there now and he quickly tried to muffle the phone when he heard it let out its start-up jingle. When it had finished he took the phone out, swiped it, and got ready play a game. Silently, of course. He planned to turn down the phone's volume. What he saw came as a blow so heavy he nearly dropped the phone.

The universe was just fucking with him now:

Staring out at him from the phone was a wallpaper picture--a selfie--taken by Judy of the two of them together in a smiling pose. He sucked in a deep breath as his wind seemed to leave him moments ago. With a trembling paw, he reached forward to the camera function and began to look through the pictures on it. The very first one was the one she'd taken last night of the two of them smiling into the camera. His stoic demeanour was starting to crumble. He swiped to the next one: The two of them kissing. The one after that: the two of them at the ZPD with a smiling Clawhauser.

He went through the whole camera roll until he established to his satisfaction that it hadn't been a dream; it'd been real! He covered his eyes and choked back a sob. Setting down the phone he stood and started limping his way to the door frame. He looked at the lightly snoring rabbit before him, but not quite daring to hope that it was she. But looking at her now in the half-light the provided by the office reassured him that it was. It had to be!

Looking at her face he could see it was devoid of any ruggedness which he'd observed this morning. There was no malice nor hatred--though maybe it was just because she was sleeping. He stepped forward, coming closer. Then closer and closer still. Until he was right in front of her. His nose had never betrayed him and it confirmed for him what he'd hoped.

'She smells like me!'

He hadn't noticed it before as the whole area seemed to smell like him--but she especially, he could tell, had had her scent mingled with his.

He nearly fell in front of her as his knees became weak, choking back emotion as he reached forward and gently caressed her cheek.

"Hey . . ." his voice was shaky, hope and love threatening to overwhelm him and he nearly choked on his sobs. Looking at her now he could see she was clearly his. He knelt down, half collapsing, to her level. "Hey!" he said more loudly, "Carrots!" he shouted as he gently shook her.

The bunny opened her eyes and she looked up at him. Her foggy vision quickly cleared when she realised there was a fox kneeling in front of her. As her senses came back to her she took in his state--he was badly injured and had bandages all over his body and partially hiding his face. She looked into his eyes. And suddenly it struck her.

"Nick?" she asked tentatively.

"C-Carrots . . ." he said as raw relief flooded his chest.

She suddenly jerked forward, straining against her bonds, trying to get to him, as she cried out, "Oh my God! Nick, what did they do to you?!" Tears began streaming down her face as the pain of seeing her beloved in such an awful state. He fell on her and wrapped his arms around her and the chair as he started sobbing into her shoulder. In each other they found an overflowing well of fresh water. The physical closeness, the feel of their fur on each other, the warmth they were able to share all added to their mutual relief as they wept into each other.

Nick held her tightly, petting her head, nosing her and taking in her scent. It was her! He had no doubt. She was his anchor to reality, his everything. There was no way he would have been able to stand another day in this place without her! He pulled back and looked down at her. He kissed her lightly and she leant into him.

"Nick," she began tearfully when they broke away from each other, "what happ-"

She was cut off when he again kissed her deeply.

"What happened?" she asked through tears when they broke off as he caressed her. He couldn't keep his paws off her.

"Why're you tied up?" he suddenly asked angrily.

"Nick, they think I'm a spy or something! I didn't tell them that I'm from someplace else. Nick, this place is awful!" As she spoke he went around her undoing the rope. When he finished he went into the office to search for a pair of handcuff keys. Or, failing that, something just to get her out of the chair. He found a set of keys lying on the desk and he reached for them, seeing there was indeed a handcuff key on it.

The instant he'd unlocked Judy she raced around the chair and hugged him tightly. He winced and let out a cry of pain.

"Nick! Oh, Nick, I'm so sorry!" she said as she tried to help him up. He seemed to be leading her back behind the curtain and she realised at that moment that this was the fox whom she was supposed to have abused. She had heard the wolves in here earlier talking about how he'd been tortured at the hands of those at the ZPD and had had harsh treatment at her hands. They walked behind the curtain and she found the bed there and helped him ease back down into the mattress. He scooched over and patted the spot next to him and she obliged.

He put his arm around her and pulled her closely to himself.

"Nick what happened to you?" she asked. "Did I . . . was it me . . . ?"

"No!" started Nick sharply as he nuzzled into her fur, taking in her scent. "She was nothing like you. How did you know about that anyway?" he looked down at her.

"The people who were in here taking care of you mentioned that it was Sgt. Hopps. I have no idea what's going on but it seems like there's two of us in this world!"

"How'd that happen?!"

"I don't know; but Nick, I woke up this morning driving a car! I have no idea where anything is--everything's different. And the people here are so awful! What did she do to you?"

"I . . . I guess nothing, really. I mistook her for you and she . . . she told me that she didn't love me."

"Nick . . . ."

"I believed it, too," he said as he started trying to hold back the sense of hopelessness. "I thought that I'd cracked and that this whole thing was a nightmare; but the more time I spent there the more I thought that this was the way life had always been and that my life with you . . . that my life with you had been a dream. I told you last night that this all seemed too good to be true and when I woke up this morning it seemed as though everything had been." He began running his hands over her side and nosed the side of her face as he painfully recalled what had happened to him since that morning. He held back nothing as he trusted his mate to handle the details.

She did, but she also wept for him profusely. She recounted to him her own time here and included in it everything she'd learned and experienced while here. The one thing that came out in her story was that she sorry that things had been so relatively easy for her. He hushed her and told her not to blame herself. If anything had happened to her on the scale of what had been visited on him he would've been just as devastated. Since their mating last night, he felt himself becoming more protective of her than he ever had been. Not only was she his partner as a peace officer, but as he saw it, they were partners for life. He was glad to hear the she felt the same. It reassured a wounded section of his heart that she'd be there for him and that she was as devoted to him as he was to her. Together they were able to pool together their knowledge of the place. Doing this served to get him back into familiar habits, as though they were working a case, and which essentially they were. A sense of peace and contentedness settled into Nick's heart.

It wasn't long before their conversation died down and they simply lay in each other's presence while kissing, petting and nuzzling--both of them aching to reassure themselves and each other again and again that they were really here. Nick put his tail over his mate and she snuggled her head under his and slowly, they fell into a deep sleep.

-.-.-.-

3:17 PM

Sgt. Hopps finally stopped in front of a Speedy Care clinic that rested on the edge of a cliff. The place looked abandoned and she wasn't certain she wanted to go near it. Something was off about this place. The parking lot was totally empty and a closed sign was up in the window. She'd been sitting there for the past fifteen minutes or so trying to figure out what to do. The last five hours had been spent driving around Happy Town, locating Nick's apartment, and gathering any information she could. This was her last stop before calling it quits for the day.

She had some contacts whom she'd met on neutral ground and from there the plot seemed to get stranger still. She had no idea what was going on but it seemed as though the whole city had died. What she had learned, insufficient though it was, had surprised her: Every contact she met, every bit of news, every clue, led her here; and now, against her better judgement, she was parked along the side of the corniche opposite the clinic. Only one contact whom she trusted with her life had advised her to stop the investigation. Her direct order from Mayor Pricilla, however, prevented that. She was bound to go; and though she had made calls for backup it seemed they were going ignored.

None of this felt right. Not especially when she saw a short fennec fox standing in the door of the clinic. He turned the closed sign to open. He was collarless and blatantly so.

'That's a lure if I ever saw one!'

Sgt. Hopps may not have had much information to go on but she knew when she was being hoodwinked. She saw the fennec disappear back into the office.

'Fuck!'

She huffed and got out of the car, deciding that it would be best to bite the bullet and get this over with. She just reached the office door but stopped short of opening it--her survival instincts were screaming at her not to go. Her paw dropped to her side and she hummed to herself and started around the side of the building instead.

There, she saw a metal guardrail overgrown with vegetation. She reached it and peered over the side. She could barely make out the tops of some warehouses at the bottom of the cliff and spread out along the shore. She pondered to herself for a moment and was so engrossed in thought that she didn't register the car pulling up beside her. She was finally shaken from her thoughts when she heard a car door slam behind her. She turned around to see a koala approaching her.

"Sgt. Hopps!" he called.

"Coal! What're you doing here?"

"You called for back-up, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but you didn't answer. No one did." This was starting to feel hinky.

"Whatcha' lookin' at?"

"Oh," she started, "just these warehouses and the docks on the water's edge." She turned and gestured down.

The blow came as a surprise to her. She crumpled to the ground but struggled to remain conscious when something heavy struck her from behind. She turned over to look up at the koala, a cosh in his paw.

"You know, Pricilla never really forgot what happened with Otterton," he said as he replaced the club on his belt and withdrew his tranq gun. He fired thrice into her chest. "And now, you're paying the price."

Judy gasped in pain and tried to remove the darts but found she was already nearly immobile. She fought the darkness fiercely, willing herself to stay awake and alive though it was a losing battle. A bolt of fear went through her when she felt her quickly-fading body being lifted. She tried to utter a cry for help as Coal lifted her above his head and over the railing. The last sensation she felt before losing consciousness was that of falling as he threw her over the edge.

-.-.-.-

3:48 PM

Wilde led the way to his office as Mr. Big and his cohort followed. As always, Boris Koslov carried the shrew in his paws as a means of presenting him to his audience in a way that would intimidate those who stood against him.

Wilde unlocked the office door and stepped inside, followed by the others. He noticed as he went to the door to the side room that the cop's phone had been moved and that a new game of solitaire had been started. These things caught his attention but not quite enough to cause him to pause before opening the door to the annex.

The bunny was gone. The bunny was gone! All that lay in front of him was some loose cord and a pair of handcuffs.

"Nicky," came a voice behind him, "you promised me a bunny cop, but all I see before me is an empty chair and some rope."

"And handcuffs," said Koslov.

"She's here somewhere. She's gotta be here! Quick, lock the door!" he called behind him.

Finnick quickly closed the office door and locked it.

"Okay, look everywhere a bunny can hide!" Nick ordered.

"I'm not going to be able to do this thing," said Koslov.

"Right," said Wilde as he began to look around under his office desk. "Finnick, you might have more luck!"

The large polar bear shuffled into the now-cramped side room. He was flanked on either side by Wilde who had just finished checking under his desk, Clawhauser, Finnick; and his two henchmen, Raymond and Kevin.

They began looking around. It was Clawhauser who went to go check behind the curtain. What he saw stunned him. The fox and the bunny were wrapped around each other, sleeping.

"I found her!" he shouted.

Both the fox and bunny shot up as their sleep was instantly disturbed by the sound of Clawhauser's voice. Immediately the curtain was swept away completely by the large polar bear whom she'd seen before.

'Koslov,' she thought to herself.

Both she and Nick let out a shout of surprise when they saw everyone who now crowded them and they hugged each other tightly.

Nick's eyes landed on Wilde and he sputtered. "Wha-what?! Carrots what's going on?!"

"Oh, yeah; I may have forgotten to prepare you for how weird it would be to meet your double. Especially when he looks like you in almost every way, but I did warn you."

"Yeah, but Carrots, there's a limit!" He looked from her to the fox. Back to her. Then at the fox again.

The bear knelt in front of them with a thud, becoming suddenly the focus of their attention, and revealed what he was holding in his paws.

There, sitting on a cushioned chair, sat a tiny shrew.

Mr. Big leant forward when he saw the rabbit and narrowed his eyes. "Tell me, now, my dear--who are you?"