Twotopia - Chapter 6: Same ol Song and Dance.

Story by Silverwolf626 on SoFurry

, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Double Upload today. Why? Felt like 5 was too short, hope you guys enjoy!


Country tunes filled the air with lights shining down inside the barn in a half dozen colors as bunnies, deer, sheep and fox alike were dancing away inside. Outside on what was once the lawn was now a second dance floor, lit a glow by lawn lamps that squared it away along with streamers and a massive bonfire in the middle. Cubs and Kits alike, roasting marshmallows near the fire while parents danced and celebrated. Nick found himself inside the barn set next to Gideon Grey, watching Judy and Nathan laughing away as they shared stories. Nick had trouble taking his eyes off her, she seemed really happy chatting with Nathan. The two even whispering and giggled, getting closer and closer together. They looked like a pair of old ex's that had found their spark again. He didn't like feeling jealous, but Judy had been the best thing that had happened to him in a long time. He wasn't about ready to let her go for another rabbit but, he also didn't want to be that over protective jerk that keeps her away from her friends. Stuck with his dilemma, Nick sighed and watched the party.

"So you're real sweet on her now, huh?" Gideon struck up the conversation, jabbing Nick's side.

"Yeah." Nick huffed, slumping against the wall.

"Well I've heard of stranger things than a fox and bunny but not many; hehe."

"Mmm." Nick hummed, not giving Gideon his full attention. Gideon was taking the hint, but didn't quite want to give up on cheering Nick up.

"Eh! Celia, come on down here." Gideon called out to the crowd. A female fox broke away from the crowd and headed over, bounding the whole way.

"What's up, Giddy up?" She beamed, pushing Gideon's shoulder.

"Nick, this here's my sister, Celia Marie Grey." He introduced. Nick perked up a bit, pushing himself off the wall.

"Nice to meet you, Nick Wilde." Extending his hand.

"Hey!" She exclaimed, pushing by his hand. "You the one I've been hearing about? The one dating one of the Hopps family?"

"Judy, yeah."

"Hoo, that's a hoot." She giggled, bumping his rear. "What'cha got an affinity for them bunnies?"

"It's a long story." Nick brushed off.

"Oh come on, Nicky. It's a party, why don'tcha cut loose hey, have a little fun!" She insisted snaring his hand with Nick caught flustered; she dragged him off to the dance floor.

"You be gentle with him, sis!" Celia took his hand and placed his other on her hip.

"Now you just follow my lead, ok handsome?"

"Do I get a choice?" Nick cringed a little.

"Nope!" She laughed, dashing off around in circles, Nick could hardly keep up with the frantic dancing fox. It caught a good few laughs from the other's nearby, but getting into the pacing he found himself managing to at least get the footsteps right. On the other side of the barn, Judy had just finished telling Nathan about the incident in the cooling towers back in Zootopia.

"Since we found out fennerite was used, we had to go check out this factory and wow. You should have seen it, Jason and Matt couldn't get anything out of her, so Nick and I pulled a rather, persuasive offer to get her to talk."

"How'd you do that?" Nathan questioned.

"We told her we could have overlooked a few mishaps if we had cooperation, reminded her that if anything had been stolen it'd likely be the government stepping in, that kind of thing." Judy laughed somewhat maniacally. "Nick and I used something similar to that on former mayor Bellweather and we were like, "It's called a hustle sweetheart, boom!"" Judy finished.

"Wow Judy, you're amazing! Check it out too, looks like Nick's certainly hustling out there." Nathan noted pointing out to the dance floor. Judy glanced over to see Nick somewhat struggling to keep up with Celia, but at the same time, finally relaxing and laughing as he went on.

"Huh. Isn't that Celia Grey?" She pondered aloud.

"Yeah, Gideon's sister. Looks like she's teaching him how to dance. Well, trying anyway." He joked.

"Hmmm." Judy sighed, looking away for a bit.

"Hey come on, what's with that look?" Nathan coaxed, trying to perk her up.

"Maybe I should cut in? Or would that look like, weird or?"

"Or, we could hop out on the floor and join em." Nathan suggested with a smile. Judy smiled and took hold of Nathan's hand. The two bounding out to the floor, they caught up with Nick and Celia and started dancing nearby. Embracing a moment of inspiration, Nick twirled Celia into Nathan and snatched up Judy's hands and swapped.

"Switcharoo!" Nick exclaimed, as Celia had no problem taking the bunny out for a spin.

"Having fun?" Judy asked, slowing the pace down for Nick and her to talk.

"Starting to, yeah." Nick shrugged off, taking to his relaxed visage.

"I was just telling Nate about the Oshu incident." Judy explained.

"Yeah, you guys have been talking for a while." He noted.

"Nick relax, he's my friend."

"If you say so." Nick brushed off. Judy let go of Nick's hands and took a step back.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's nothing." Nick dismissed, trying to move away from the topic. "Just, after talking with your dad, and seeing you two together-"

"What did he say?" Judy questioned, her ears perked up as she planted her hands on her hip. Nick scratched his neck briefly, but the two were bumped by the party goers. Nick and Judy escorted themselves back a bit and sighed.

"Look don't worry about it, ok? Did you want to go back and talk with Nathan?" He offered.

"Uh, yeah. Sure." Judy half-heartedly agreed. The two were caught off guard by the sound of a glass breaking; looking across the dance floor they could see Celia nearly flailing Nathan around. "Correction, rescue him. He's never been much for dancing." Judy corrected, rushing back into the crowd.

As the night carried on, Nick remained fast in his corner, picking away at a bag of popcorn with a bottle of soda nearby. Judy was across the room with Nathan still, their conversations seemed a bit more toned down. The music in the room had slowed, couples were close knit, circling the room. Nick thought about coming over and taking Judy by the hand, carrying her off to the dance floor but kept hesitating. He knew it would likely upset her, or start a commotion amongst the family if he so rudely barged in like that. Instead he opted to remain in his corner waiting for Judy to dismiss him or Nathan to leave.

"With mom dying, the farm just isn't quite the same you know?" Nathan sighed a bit. "Dad keeps pressuring me into taking over and, I could I guess."

"But you don't want to." Judy concluded.

"I don't know if I'm ready, or even the right one for the job. Sure I'm the eldest, but heck Aaron knows more about carrots and raspberries than I do."

"What are you gonna do?" Judy pled, leaning in a bit closer.

"I guess just make a decision. It's a toughy, but I think I'll be ok."

"Pretty sure no matter what you do, you'll be fine." She assured him.

"Thanks Judy. I've really missed you, you know?"

"Aww, Nathan. I've missed you too."She cooed.

"I always hoped you'd come back from Zootopia, or maybe that I would end up out there somehow. After all, there's no bunny around here like you."

"Oh Nathan, that's so sweet!" She whimpered hugging him for a good while. Nick winced and fired his ears back, turning away from the two of them.

"Hey, Judy?" Nathan spoke up, standing up before her he brushed himself off. "May I have the pleasure of this dance?" Judy smiled, and took his hand.

"Sure." Scurrying out to the floor, he took her hand and pulled her in close for a dance. Judy was caught off guard by the sudden closeness, but she trusted her friend. Nick however had reached his limit, pushing off of the wall and heading out the door. He crumpled up the bag of popcorn and tossed it in the trash and was making a straight line for the house. He didn't realize that Adam had been watching him and was creeping up alongside Nick.

"Hey, you ok there bud?" He asked, trying to cut in front of Nick.

"Apparently, I'm not needed here tonight. I'll be inside on the couch if anyone asks for me." He fumed, trampling by Judy's brother. Adam looked back toward the barn, waiting till Nick stepped inside the house. With a look of determination, Adam rushed back in and halted Judy and Nathan.

"Just need to borrow my sister real quick."

"Uh."

"Thanks, much obliged." Adam bowed with a tip of his hat. Taking her outside, Judy giggling a bit of the way; she asked her brother.

"What's going on?"

"Have ya seen Nick around at all tonight?" He questioned.

"Well sure, he's inside relaxing near the benches." She replied pointing back inside the barn.

"Uh huh, why don't you take another look." Adam suggested, folding his arms. Judy seemed puzzled but peeked back inside around the door to find that Nick had vanished from his usual spot.

"Where'd he go?" She pondered. Swinging back to her brother she asked. "Where is he?"

"Well I'm not feeling overly inclined to tell you right now. Seeing as how you're sitting all starry eyed over there with Nathan."

"Ugh, he's just a friend Adam, come on!" Judy groaned, stamping the ground.

"It's funny; I've seen you spend more time with him today than you did with Nick. It's kind of an old fashioned rule but, you should really dance with the one that brought ya." Adam stated.

"I'm just catching up with him, what's wrong with that?" Judy argued throwing up her paws.

"Nothing, absolutely nothing. But leaving poor Nick there on the rails for the last couple hours? Now that's something I take issue with."

"So he left?"

"Yes he did."

"Well I'll go talk to him." She huffed, trying to walk by. Adam clasped his sister and pushed her back toward the barn.

"No, no no no. None of that now. Something tells me with him all riled up like that, he isn't in a mood for talking. You just go finish catching up with your friend." Adam insisted. Judy fumed once more, but Adam kept firm on his rather insistent request. Judy caught back up with Nathan who had found the bench inside.

"You ok?"

"Yeah, everything's fine."

"Ok." Nathan chuckled. "And the award does not go to Judy Hopps, for her performance as a bunny when everything is fine." Judy didn't laugh, just kept pouting on the bench beside him. Nathan cleared his throat and clasped his hands together. "Or you know, we could sit here and mope all night, that's cool."

"Nick left." She finally fessed up.

"Oh? How come? I thought he was having fun with Celia."

"I'm not sure what her type is, but it's not Nick's." Judy corrected. "Adam was complaining about how I was catching up with you tonight instead of spending it with him."

"Well I'm not complaining." Nathan threw in.

"We're friends you know, It's like he doesn't trust me all of a sudden."

"Well."

"Well what." Judy spoke up, perking her ears up high.

"Well I mean come on; we did dance a lot together at graduation. And I mean, you and I get along really well." Nathan suggested, moving in a little closer. "I wouldn't turn down the chance to be with you."

"Nathan, we're just friends. I even helped get you dates in high school." Judy said, shaking her head and throwing up a brow.

"Yeah, that was pretty cool of you." Nathan agreed, scratching his head. "But I'll be honest; I always did want to ask you out instead."

"Oh sweet cheese and crackers." She sighed, burying her head in her hands. Nathan opened up his jacket pocket and produced a small pack of cheese and crackers.

"Hahahah, remember this!? I used to catch you saying it so much, I kept some on me." He laughed. Judy let a smile escape, shaking her head.

"You are such a dope."

"Come on Judy." Nathan comforted, putting an arm over her shoulder. "We both said it, we miss each other. Maybe I could come out to Zootopia with you. We could be together instead."

"Nathan." Judy cringed, trying to shake his arm off.

"Just think about it." He suggested, placing the cheese and crackers in her lap. "I'll grab us a drink or two, let ya cool off." Rising up he went out to the stands outside, while Adam strolled over and sat down beside Judy.

"Don't you dare say it." Judy nearly growled.

"You know, if you hadn't left for Zootopia, we were pretty sure he was gonna propose."

"Oh come on now." Judy dismissed.

"I'm serious. Nathan was crazy about you, Jude. But you were so focused on joining the ZPD, you never bothered to notice."

"But we were always just friends-"

"Look me in the eye." Adam insisted, stealing her sister's focus. "And tell me, that you never thought about getting involved with Nathan." Judy tried hard to form the words together, but her brother was right. Submitting she looked away and draped her ears back. "That's what I thought. You got a choice to make sis. Nathan, or Nick. Now I won't hold either one against you, Nathan is probably the easiest of the two choices for you. But if you are gonna go with him, break things off gentle like with Nick. He's a good fella, deserves an honest answer." Adam stated, rising up to his feet. Sure of his speech, he walked out of the barn and left his sister to think on his advice. Judy looked at the cheese and crackers in her lap, feeling a tear escape she reached her decision.

Nathan manoeuvred himself through the crowd, carefully hefting two drinks with him. The bench however was empty, void of his partner for the night, save for a little package of crackers left in her seat.

Judy had crept inside the house, slowly closing the door behind her. She spotted what looked like Nick's ears on the couch watching TV. Her mouth suddenly felt dry, trying to swallow as she inched her way over to the couch. Sitting there, his shirt missing and the remote in his hand as he flipped through channels, he didn't pay any heed to her arrival.

"Nick?" She asked. Nick didn't respond. "You left the party, everything ok?"

"Sure." Nick answered in a rather low and monotone voice. Judy was struggling to find the words to say, she wasn't sure how or what to apologise for, or even if she should.

"I'm gonna head to bed. You coming?"

"I'm good." He replied, keeping to his tone.

"Ok." She submitted, letting her hand slide from the couch. "Good night Nick."

"Night, Judy." He replied. Hearing him call her by name drove a lump up her throat. She was actually wishing he had said Carrots instead; somehow it always gave her assurance that everything was really ok. Judy crept down the stairs to her room and flung open the drapes. Dropping into her bed, she wrapped herself up, feeling a few tears escape. Nick rolled onto his side on the couch, keeping his gaze fixed on the TV. Nothing was really on, but at this point, he didn't particularly care.

Nick paused his channel surfing at the weather channel to check the time. It was 1:35 AM, and still he couldn't get to sleep. The party was long over, the barn cleared out and the lights all closed out. The only thing lighting the room in the house was the TV.

"The outlook for the work week is looking pretty grim over the next few days. Showers and Thunderstorms in store for areas of Bunnyburrow, Podunk, Foxton and Ringtail counties late Sunday night and well into Monday. Zootopia could likely see those same storms build up Monday morning or into the afternoon with heavy rains expected after that. No warnings or watches in place as of yet, but we'll continue to update you as it develops."

"Nick?" Bonnie spoke up from the foot of the couch.

"Oh, hello Mrs Hopps. Everything ok?"

"Yes, I'm fine Nick. You hungry? I was having a bit of trouble sleeping; I figured I'd grab a snack." Bonnie asked, heading into the kitchen.

"I'm ok, thank you though." Bonnie headed for the kitchen, turning on the light and spent a little time taking out a few carrot sticks and filling up a glass of water. She came back out, set the glass down on the table and sat herself down on the couch near Nick.

"Can't sleep either." She noted.

"Nah."

"Mmm, neither can she." Bonnie gestured toward the basement door.

"It's kind of an awkward situation."

"Is that right?" Bonnie asked, taking a bite from her carrot. "You know, I love that girl to death, but she can be so absent minded sometimes."

"Yeah."

"When she's focused on something it's like, whoa stand back, here comes Judy Hopps, but when the pressures off. She loses herself in those little moments, you know?"

"I suppose so." Nick agreed quietly.

"Kind of like how she lost herself in talking with Nathan tonight." Bonnie noted, taking yet another bite. Nick didn't respond, he just kept his eyes fixed on the screen. "Can I be honest with you, Nick?"

"Sure." Nick replied, turning toward her.

"You really love, Judy?"

"Of course."

"Then why aren't you down there with her?" Bonnie questioned firm yet quietly.

"I think she just needs a little-"

"No you needed a little. You calmed down, although still a bit mopey. But she's really down there hurting, Nick. Now I know, she was wrong to bury herself in Nathan all night instead of you, but. If you love someone, you work through it. Gosh, Stu and I were never perfect, but we kept at it and we have a wonderful home, happy family, great farm and it all came through because we didn't shy away. We kept at it, even when things got tough." Nick rose up from his seat and sighed.

"I get what you mean. I've just never let anyone into my life like her before."

"Never had any girlfriends?" Bonnie questioned. Nick curled his lip a little and shook his head.

"Not like Judy. Not with someone like this before. Been on dates and had short term relationships and all, but. Was never really that invested in them. This is different. I thought no one could get to me anymore but, she can." He explained. Bonnie gave her approval, nodding the whole way through his little speech.

"Nick, go to bed." Bonnie suggested with a smug little smile. "It's late; we should both be with the people we love tonight."

"Yes ma'am." Nick smiled right back. Rising up from the couch, he crept toward the door of the basement and listened inside. He could still hear Judy sniffling and whimpering in her room below. Cautiously he crept down the stairs, holding the rail the whole way down. He let his hand rest on the curtain before slowly moving it open. She hadn't noticed him coming in; Judy was rolled up in her bed, hugging the pillow as she cried. "Carrots." He whispered. Judy's wide eyes suddenly found him, as she tossed the pillow to the head of her bead.

"Nick, what. What are you doing here?"

"Shhh." He hushed, sitting down on the bed he ran his hand over her head, stroking her cheek and shoulder. "You bunnies, so emotional."

"Nick, look. I'm sorry I-"

"Hey-hey-hey come on now. It's late. We're both tired. We can talk tomorrow, ok?" He assured her, still offering up the loving strokes. "Poor bunny." Nick whispered, climbing into the bed he pulled her, sheets and all into his arms. Judy whimpered a few more times before kicking off the sheets and letting them fall back on him. Jamming her head into his chest, she wrapped him up tight, letting the last few tears slip into his chest.

"Oh Nick."

"Shh shh, it's ok Carrots, I got you." He comforted, keeping his paws good and tight on her. It only took a few minutes for the tears to stop, and for both of them to finally get some sleep.

Nick and Judy were much more themselves the next day, eating together at breakfast and Judy showing Nick to a few of her favorite spots to play as a kid. After picking a few blueberries right from the vine, they headed back home and were met with a surprise. Nathan was at their door, stepping down the stairs as the two arrived. Nick huffed a bit but Judy giggled playfully holding his hand.

"Judy?" Nathan perked up, raising his hat a little. Judy ushered Nick up to the door and let him inside before turning around and leaning back on it. Nathan cautiously walked up the few stairs and hung his head. "Judy I just wanna say-"

"Don't." Judy dismissed, cutting him off.

"No, I'm sorry. I was too forward last night, I should have." Nathan tried to say, but was struggling to find the words. "I guess I should have said something before."

"It's not like I hadn't thought about it either Nathan." She said, gaining his full attention. "You were a good friend, cute, kind, warm hearted. But."

"But?"

"You and I were always on different paths. If I stayed here, been with you. I would never have been a cop, never fulfilled my dreams." Judy stated, taking a deep breath. "If that happened, I wouldn't be the same bunny you had fallen in love with. Nathan we're friends, but that's all we'll ever be."

"But Judy-"

"I love Nick." She cut off. "I love him so much. Maybe it's not what you wanna hear, but it's true." Judy said, walking over to Nathan she took hold of his hands. "I will always care about you. I don't want you to be a stranger. But please understand that what Nick and I have is so precious to me."

"I get it." Nathan spoke softly, lowering his head. Judy pulled him in for a hug and said.

"You'll find someone. I know you will. There's no way you couldn't, you're just too amazing not to. Just promise me when you do, you'll invite me to the wedding." Judy pled, letting him go. Nathan laughed, shrugging his shoulders.

"I'll make ya best male."

"And I'll help you pick out a dress." Judy quipped right back. The two laughed as Judy turned to go inside. "Promise you won't be a stranger?"

"Never." Nathan nodded. Judy tipped her hat and stepped in, seeing Nick planted on the couch. Giggling she bounded over and flopped right in his lap.

"Oof!" Nick was caught off guard and grasped her waist. "Little warning next time?"

"How about this." Judy smiled, planting her hands on his shoulders she leaned in stealing a good long series of kisses. Pressing into his chest and slipping her hands between the cushions and his back she moaned with pleasure into his neck. "I love you, Nick."

"I love you too, Carrots."

After dinner Nick found himself down in the basement with Ian, one of Judy's younger brothers. He was set at a computer, showing Nick a few of Zootopia's other secret maintenance tunnels. The little white bunny was adjusting his glasses as he surveyed the screen. He wore a striped blue shirt and cargo shorts that had a few tears near the bottom of the pockets.

"See here, so if you take 7G through rainforest district, it should take you right into the subway system. From there you could probably pop up anywhere you wanted in the city." He explained with a smile.

"Uh huh." Nick snickered. "Should have known Judy would draft you into this little investigation. Know a lot about computers?"

"Oh yeah, I'm kind of an awesome, world renown hacker." Ian grinned, brushing his nose.

"At 14, you're a world renowned hacker?" Nick questioned.

"The best." He laughed, turning back to the screen.

"Well then cracking into Psych's computer should be easy, huh?" Nick asked, tossing up his brow. Ian went awe struck, slowly turning around in his chair.

"Psych? Like, the real Psych?"

"Mmhmm."

"Are you outta your mind?!!?!?" He nearly screamed. "Psych, the cyber terrorist. The guy who crashed the Predaton city servers, cracked the power grid and shut down the entire city!? Not to mention his weird posts on Preddit."

"Why have I heard of that?" Nick wondered.

"Here lemme show ya." Ian stated, typing in the page and navigating to Psych's most recent posts. "Huh, it's been a while since he's posted. Almost three months." Nick leaned in and read the top.

"Sorry for the blackout." He read the title. "Had a sudden urge to take up a romantic dinner by candle light with a good book. Going through old memories is kind of both fun and heartbreaking at the same time. Plus if it earns you a few bucks, why not?"

"heheheheh." Ian snickered, covering his mouth for a moment before pointing to one of the comments.

"What, oh. "You fucker, you turned off my wife." "How did I turn off your wife?" "Fucking auto correct, I meant wifi.""His wife is his Wifi." "And it's a happy marriage." Sheesh, why even bother posting here." Nick wondered.

"It's fun." Ian brushed off.

"Hey Nick!" Adam called out from the top of the stairs.

"Yeah?"

"Think you can help me move a few of the tables in the barn out?"

"Sure, I'll be right there." Nick agreed. "Thanks Ian, I might have to take a few lessons from ya sometime."

"Anytime Nick." He approved. Nick left his room, passing through Adam's and Judy's before heading up the stairs and outside. The sun was setting down behind the horizon, the air was cool and still. Crickets chirped as Adam lead Nick into the barn. Pressing open the door, the lights flung on to show Judy in the middle dressed in a beautiful blue silk dress that flowed onto the ground and showed just a hint of her belly. She even had a white flower on her head, tied to her left ear. Clasping her hands she smiled to the bewildered Nick. Adam rushed to the stereo and got ready.

"Hello Nick."

"Carrots?" He smiled, strolling inside with a massive smile. "Wow, you look so beautiful." Adam took his cue and started up the music. The song Wild Horses, sung by a female's voice began to play while Judy cleared her throat.

"Nick, would you like to dance?" Nick was almost brought to tears, knowing she had set this up for him.

"Come here." He smiled, pulling her in close. He draped his arms over her back as they slowly danced to the music. "You, are the most amazing bunny, in the entire world."

"So does this make up for last night?" She cooed, rubbing his lower back.

"You didn't have to make up for it, I was ready to let that go."

"Does that mean you want to stop dancing?" She asked. Nick tilted her chin up and shook his head.

"Not a chance." He whispered, leaning in for a good long kiss. Judy leapt up into his arms to bury her head in his neck. Nick kept slowly stepping to the music, holding Judy tight in his arms. "I love you Carrots. Always."

"I love you too, Nick. I'll never leave you."

Back at Cliffside, Bryan Baxter was sitting on one of the chairs inside, toying around with one of the shells from his gun. Psych came strolling down the hall, passing the abandoned reception desk and looked over to him. Heaving a sigh he took a seat next to the sorrowful racoon and leaned forward.

"How are you holding up?"

"Like shit." He quickly replied.

"I know I've said it a few dozen times already but, I'm sorry about Jordan. He was a good guy. A bit bull headed but, still a good mammal."

"You ever lose anyone?"

"Could say that." Psych nodded, turning to Bryan.

"Who?" He took a moment to give his reply.

"Everyone. I lost everyone I ever cared for."

"What a load of shit." Bryan dismissed.

"Silence boy, I had a life before all this and everything that was precious to me in it was taken away." He countered.

"Why?"

"Long story. One I don't care to tell." Psych refuted, his eyes finding the ground. "I know you're grieving for your friend, but I need to know you're in this. You know explosives about as well as I do. Things like that need a good team working together for things to go off without a hitch. Are you still in?"

"Fucking right I'm in. But I'm giving a cold million to Jordan's family." Bryan stood firm, slapping the arm of his chair. "Jordan moved out here five years ago. Wanted to work on cars, designing new body kits and redesigning models. He was good, real good at it. He started out with me in Fairways but, well. Let's just say I went down and dirty before him. Why I was so surprised he was willing to take this job. Guess he was just doing it to catch up with his old friend. Instead I got him killed."

"It wasn't your fault, Bryan. Things got out of hand in a hurry and Jordan was dealt the shitty hand. It could have just as easily been any one of us." Psych argued.

"It shoulda been me." Bryan's voice cracked as he spoke. "I should have died; I'm the fucking scum bag, not him. It ain't right, it just isn't right." He cried. Psych grabbed hold of Bryan and pat his back.

"When this is over, you and I will pay respects to his family together, alright?" Bryan didn't respond, just continued to hide his face in his hands. A loud buzzer sounded down the hallway, stealing away Psych's attention. "Looks like they found someone. Come on, let's meet these new recruits." He ushered Bryan to his feet and escorted him down the hall and into the elevator. Heading down into the garage, Oshu, Aiden and two other cars had pulled in. Getting out of a black and red sport car with a decently large spoiler was Mr Manches, out the other; a yellow and green rally designed car was a deer. Oshu made his way over to Psych and nodded.

"New arrivals."

"Excellent, I'll need your driver's licenses boys." Psych insisted, extending his hand. Mr. Manches and the deer produced them and handed them to Psych. "Santiago Manches. I've seen this name before." He stated, stashing the card in his pocket. "You worked for Mr. Big."

"Used to, yes." He nodded. "I was a limo driver for Tundratown Limo service."

"Considering we just lost one of our boys to his goons." Psych calmly stated, pulling out his gun and aiming it at him. Manches flinched and covered his face. "Gimme a reason not to kill you."

"I swear, I don't work for him anymore. He fired me when I couldn't pay for the damage to the limousine."

"Go on."

"I'm glad he's dead. I need money, badly. I'm on the verge of losing my home in the rainforest district. Please, I'm begging you. I can drive, I can do whatever you ask." He insisted.

"Alright." Psych consented, stashing the gun away. "And Tyler Stag. Can't say I've heard of you."

"He's good. I've seen him in the races." Oshu vouched for him. "His car needs some work, but he'll do."

"Excellent. Well, since we've adopted the open policy. Let's go over the details with the new bloods, shall we?" Psych stated, leading the way into the elevator. Psych lead them into a large room, littered with abandoned computer equipment and hospital beds. Psych hit the button on his tower and waited for the computer to boot up. "As you may have heard, we've hit Sahara, Rainforest and Tundratown banks. Never stealing more than a few grand at a time."

"Yeah, I heard about that." Tyler noted.

"As a result, the banks are moving a large portion of their funds to both their treasury and to the Furs National bank in Savannah Central. The bank there has some pretty tight knit security and police protection, but not as heavy as the treasury. They believe we'll hit that next, but the bank vault will suffice perfectly." Psych went on. "From what I've gathered, we figure this will be quite a large pot."

"How much?" Manches asked.

"Sixty million at the very least. Split seven ways, it's about 8.5 million each." Psych calculated.

"The vault has a normal manual pass code, along with a digital pass key." Oshu stated. "Psych has built up this little guy." He showed off, an old phone that seemed to be changing numbers. "The key changes every 15 seconds. Aiden will break the digital pass code while Baxter hits the manual."

"And what about you two?" Tyler questioned.

"We're going to draw the attention away from you guys." Oshu replied. "I'll take you two new bloods on a little field trip tomorrow to secure the last thing we need. We hit the vault on Tuesday, Psych will get us into a new safe house and we'll fortify it up. Once we're settled in, us seven will be the new leaders of the most dangerous crime ring in the city. No one, will touch us."

"Get well rested boys, Howitzer show them to some beds." Psych instructed. "I have some work to do in here, you good for the night Oshu?"

"Yeah, I'm good."

"Alright, Aiden?"

"I'll stick with ya." He replied, pulling up a chair beside Psych's work station.

"Of course you will." He chuckled.

"Night old timer." Oshu called out.

"Night spots." He called back. Psych leaned under the desk and pulled out his bag. Inside he shuffled around, pulling out a prescription bottle and taking out three more pills. Aiden placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You ok?"

"Oh yes." Psych sighed, taking the pills with a swish of water. "I've been taking them on time as of late so, no close calls like the city hall job." He explained, browsing the computer. He opened up the files he had downloaded from the police databanks and growled. "Son of a bitch."

"What?"

"It was 80% before I left, I had hoped it had at least downloaded the current year and back, but apparently it's downloaded from forty years ago, to two years ago."

"Maybe we can patch back in through here." He suggested.

"Tried. We're connected through cellular networks, but not on any city lines. We're in the dark."

"Never stopped you before." Aiden smiled. Psych laughed and started going through the case files. "No, no Judy Hopps it seems. She started this year didn't she?"

"Yeah, sometime in May."

"Mmm, the city data banks are here too, I wonder if I should." Psych said trailing off.

"Should?" Psych gave it a moment and shrugged it off.

"No. No just. Just forget it don't worry about it." He stammered. "Stay focused, that's the important task.

"Well let's do a search of their roster, make sure everyone we had was clean."

"Agreed. Start with Jordan Avana." Psych stated. Searching the folder nothing had come up. "Let's just try by species that might help." After a good while a few Impala's showed up as former officers years back, but none over the last seven. "He was clean. Poor Bryan, the kid is so heartbroken."

"Yeah, gonna check on him in here?"

"Hahah, no. Something tells me he's fine. Ok, now the long list I'm sure. Wolves." It took a good while, Psych leaning back in his chair as the list piled up on names and pictures. "Well, this could take a bit."

"Yep."

"Don't blame you if you want to get some rest." Psych offered.

"And leave you to your own devices? I think not."

Judy and Nick were in a scramble to get their clothes back on. It was late in the morning and the two were due to check back into work today.

"I can't believe you talked me into a "Morning quicky" there was nothing quick about it." Judy huffed, buttoning up her shirt.

"I'm not complaining, and sides. Bogo did say check in whenever." Nick countered with a dopey smile.

"Can't believe it got stuck in there again."

"I still can't believe you can take my knot now." He said softly under his breath. Judy swatted his arm playfully as Nick slid on his tie.

"Shush you." Nick pulled her in, embracing her little body and taking a good whiff from her neck.

"You smell so good after we mate, you must release pheromones or something." Judy pulled back, bringing Nick up to his feet.

"Stop, you keep doing that we're gonna end up in bed again and we'll miss the train."

"Trying to see the downside." Nick quipped. Judy shoved him back onto the bed, spinning around to pick up her laptop.

"The downside is, you get to be bag boy. Come on!" Nick rolled his eyes and got back up out of the bed.

Rushing to the train station while covering their heads from the rain, Judy and Nick were just barely in time for the train to depart. Judy was getting a good squeeze out of her parents while Nick, Adam and Ian were chatting away.

"I'm gonna miss you guys!" Judy whimpered.

"We're gonna miss you too baby." Bonnie cooed.

"We'll be back in a few weeks for the holidays. Promise!" Judy reassured them.

"Can't wait. I've got a pretty neat idea for what we could do this year." Stu implied, nudging Bonnie's side.

"Well that's our cue, Carrots." Nick announced. "Mr and Mrs Hopps, thank you again so much for having me over." He praised, shaking their hands.

"Anytime Nick, we'll save ya a seat for the holidays." Stu smiled. The train let out a chime, indicating it was ready to go. Nick and Judy rushed on board just as the doors closed. Judy waved through the window as Nick settled into a seat. As the train went on, Judy gave a good long sigh, planting herself in the seat next to Nick. Taking her under his arm, he smiled and cuddled her close.

"Had a good time?"

"Yeah, I'm really gonna miss them this time though. I don't know why." Judy spoke softly. Nick kissed her forehead and comforted her.

"They're great mammals. I gotta admit, I'm excited to go back again in a few weeks. The food was so good!" He exclaimed with a stretch. "Ahh it'll be nice."

"So ready to get back to work?" She wondered, perking up a bit.

"A little. Ready to finish these two idiots off and send em behind bars." Nick stated, giving Judy a few good cuddles. "No one's gonna mess with my beautiful bunny girl."

"Mmm!" She hummed, hugging him tight. "No one's messing with my sexy fox."