"What?!" Nick said and jerked his head around.

The giraffe was standing across the road a small way down from them, casually dressed and holding a camera with a large telephoto lens on it. He was now trying to look as if he was taking pictures of the building or storefronts, but Judy had seen him pointing that lens in their direction.

"Great," Nick said, "Our very own paparazzi. How much you want to bet Stretch over there is the one who took those pictures last night?"

"You think so?" Judy asked, stepping back from the embrace, wiping at her eyes. Her voice sounded normal now, but she was still shaken.

Nick grunted. "That, or the mayor and city hall wasted no time sticking some PR goon on us," he said, "But those pictures in the paper were taken from a distance and from higher up, so it fits."

Judy didn't respond. She hadn't really looked at the newspaper pictures in any great detail. She sniffed one last time and rubbed her eyes.

Nick looked down at her, and his anger toward the photographer grew from a simmer into a roiling boil. Alright, he thought, enough of this. He looked back and forth down the street searching for a cab. Luck he'd only had back in his hustling days seemed to be with them as he spotted one coming their way. If it was free or not was another matter, but Nick stepped to the curb and started waving his paw as the cab drew closer.

Judy looked up at him, her eyes puffy and a little bloodshot.

"We can't keep taking cabs, Nick," she said in a tired, disinterested voice, "It's too expensive."

"Don't care," Nick said, looking down at Judy with concern. The cab, thankfully pulled over to the curb, "I need to get you somewhere else."

"What?" Judy asked, puzzled.

Nick pulled the door of the cab open before it had even fully come to a stop and ushered Judy into the back seat.

"Just shush and let me be all male and protective," Nick said. Before ducking into the cab, he looked back at the giraffe who once more had his camera pointed at them again. Nick made a V with two fingers and pointed them at his eyes, then pointed at the giraffe before sliding in next to Judy. She lay against the opposite door. who was subdued and looked ready to fall asleep, and he couldn't blame her. He put a protective arm around her and pulled her close. She snuggled up to him, resting her head on his chest.

"You know where Grand Pangolin Arms apartments are?" Nick said to the cabbie, who turned to look at him. Nick blinked. "Oh, it's you." It was the same cabbie that had dropped them off at the ZPD a couple of hours prior.

Judy looked between the cabbie and Nick and sat up a little. The cabbie stared back at the both of them in the rear view mirror and gave him a tired little smile.

"Me again!" said the old lion with a laugh, "What are the odds, eh? I was still in the area, and yeah, I know the place."

"Good," Nick said and turned his head to look back briefly, seeing what the photographer was doing. He was still standing there, snapping pictures of them in the cab, but didn't seem to be interested in following. "Take us there."

"You got it," the lion said, "You guys okay? Kinda seem a bit out of sorts back there."

Nick spared one more glance back and snorted. "The notoriety is wearing thin right now."

"Gotcha, kid," the lion said. The cab started to move without anyone making further comments.

Nick wasn't sure if the lion knew them because of what was in the paper or from the missing mammals case, but he was grateful that he caught onto the mood and didn't try to engage in any small talk. Nick had a question of his own, though.

"Hey, buddy," he said to the cabbie, who looked at him briefly in the rearview mirror, "Uh, this morning did you, um, smell anything odd?"

The cabbie blinked and raised his eyebrows before patting the side of his muzzle with a finger. "Nah," he said, "I can hardly smell anything these days. Why ya ask?"

"Uh," Nick said, clearing his throat, "It's nothing, just curious."

The cabbie gave Nick a grin and a wink in the mirror Judy didn't to see.

Judy's ears did perk the at the question, but wasn't much interested in the answer. She opted to rest against Nick's side as they traveled the short distance without further conversation. When they arrived a few minutes later, Nick reached into his pocket for his wallet.

"Forget it, kid," the old lion cabbie said, waving him down with a paw, "You gave me three times what that fare was worth this morning. This is on me."

"Thanks," Nick said, and gave the cabbie a grateful smile. Free breakfast and an honest cabby all in one day, he mused, I gotta get in trouble more often. The strangeness of the whole situation was starting to catch up to him. He'd never been generous. It wasn't that he couldn't be generous, but more often than not, it had usually been calculating, like with Finnick. Finnick was a friend, but at times it boiled down to a 'working' relationship with Nick being the mastermind of whatever scheme he was up to at the time, and Finnick being there to help or assist. He shared the profits of those ventures with him, and even gave him a bit more than expected most of the time. Not because Finnick was a friend, though, that was part of it.

No, it was because he knew that little bit of calculated generosity would pay dividends when he needed the big-eared little fox again in the future. Now, here was this cabbie giving them a free lift because Nick had given him a huge tip earlier. Not that Nick would have normally done that — he had just been in a hurry, but the result of that unintentional act was now paying off an unexpected way. What had Mister Big called it? Paying it forward? he thought. He'd heard the phrase before, but only now did it actually click.

Judy yawned and sat up straight. "Thank you, that's very kind," she said.

"Yes sir, thank you," Nick said. Manners were another thing that never hurt and were free as well.

"Don't mention it," the cabbie said, turning to watch them out his open driver side window as the two climbed out of the cab, "Seein' you two makes me feel young again. My first wife, rest her soul, was an antelope. You can imagine the jokes we used to hear," he said with a chuckle.

Well, that kind of gives it away, Nick thought. Must have seen the paper. Or who knows, perhaps he's just a net addict and read it online if what Clawhauser apparently said is true... I would bet money that pudgy ball of fluff is the main reason it's online in the first place.

Nick also thought about the wolf and ewe in the train last night, of McHorn saying "My cousin is datin' a grizzly bear," and how strange it was with all these interspecies couples seeming to come out of the woodwork. Perhaps not so strange, he thought. Interspecies relationships were not that uncommon. Predator-prey relationships were not unheard of either, but they were certainly more rare. There was stigma still stuck to such relationships, so it wasn't something you commented on or drew attention to. Nick guessed since he and Judy had become public, it opened mammals up to talking about it, like it was some secret club they were now members of.

"Oh, yes sir," Nick said to the cabbie, thoughts drawn back to Honey's "Nicholas Wilde are you datin' a rabbit girl?" and again to McHorn "Ain't you guys supposed to be like fire and ice?"

"I certainly can imagine," Nick said with wry humor, "And I'm certain we're in for every fox and rabbit joke in the book."

"Oh you are, trust me," the cabbie said, laughing, "There'll be some jerks too, but screw those guys. As long as you two love each other, that's what counts."

Nick smiled and nodded without comment.

Judy, standing beside Nick, looked up at him fondly, "I think we have that covered," she said.

"Good!" the cabbie said then waved one big paw, "I'll see you kids around."

Nick and Judy waved back, and the cab started to pull away. Nick looked down at Judy and just chuckled, shaking his head.

"Brave new world, Carrots," he said. Judy smiled and grabbed his arm, tugging him to the entrance of the Pangolin Arms. It was rather shabby looking Nick thought, but then his own apartment building didn't look much better from the outside.

"Perhaps so," she said, "But the world better watch out. I got a fox, and I know how to use him!"

Nick barked out a laugh as they climbed the steps.

Judy unlocked and opened the door to her apartment.

Nick's ears fell.

"Carrots, you have got to be kidding me," Nick said as he followed Judy in, looking around. Not that one had to do much looking. "This isn't an apartment," Nick said, "I wouldn't even call it a hole in the wall. That would be an insult to respectable holes everywhere."

"I know! I know!" Judy said. She went to sit on her bed that took up nearly a third of the small space. "I don't see the point in much else right now," she said and stretched her legs out, "I don't need a lot of space, and it lets me save up money for something else."

Nick snorted. "Unless you're getting robbed, you should have saved up enough to put a sizeable down payment on a house, even on our pay," Nick said, closing the door behind him.

The room was not much different from when Judy had first moved in. The desk was now covered with papers and carrot orange sticky-notes, most of it looking police related. There was a small stack of books on the windowsill near the head of her bed and a few more odds and ends in the bowl on the table by the door, but that was it.

Judy sighed and looked around her small room. "It's super cheap, and I didn't bring anything other than what I could stuff in my suitcase with me from Bunnyburrow," she said, "And I'm hardly ever here anyways. I basically just sleep here." Judy flopped back on the bed, her arms spread, with her long ears just pressing up against the wall.

Nick strode to the window and looked out. "My, my, what a lovely view, too," he said, looking at the dull buildings across the way and down to the street below.

Judy grunted, her eyes closed, but made no response other than that.

Nick looked down to the books on the windowsill. He picked up a few, looking at each in turn. 'Death on the Savanna' read one with, of course, a buff lion on the cover in a billowing white shirt and leather pants, and holding up an apparently unconscious and scantily dressed female zebra. Another of the books read 'The Emperor of the Night' in bold, dark, wispy lettering and its cover showing a roguish looking buff panther holding a leash attached to a collar around the neck of a kneeling female deer. The third book was titled 'The Wanton Wench' and portrayed a rather attractive, tall and leggy female jack rabbit on what appeared to be a pirate ship and being eyed by various species of sailors. Nick noticed that said sailors were predators, and were leering at the rabbit hungrily while doing their work.

Nick raised his eyebrows. I'm starting to sense a pattern here, he thought. He went to put the books back when he spotted one that had been under the three he picked up. The cover was plain, some kind of dark texture, but the stylized words stood out - 'Fifty Shades of Prey.' Nick put the other books down and picked that one up with a disgusted noise. He held it up, half turned to Judy, "Really, Carrots?" he said.

Judy cracked a tired eye open and looked over at him. She made a face and slapped her paws down on the bed. "Don't judge me!" she whined, and Nick chuckled, tossing the book down.

Judy made a little groan then and looked over at Nick. She lifted one arm and made grabby motions with her paw. "Can we just nap here? I don't think I can get up again," she said wearily.

Nick moved to the bed and sat down, taking Judy's paw. The bed was on the small side, but the both of them could lay on it together comfortably enough. He didn't complain, either, when he had to snuggle just a bit closer to fit.

"I don't see why not," Nick said and helped Judy up so they could lay properly along its length. They settled, Judy facing the wall and Nick spooning her small form from behind, her head tucked under his muzzle. He wrapped one arm around her, and she made a pleased sound as she wiggled back against him.

Judy yawned and rubbed at her nose with a paw. "So glad Pronk and Bucky are not home," she said sleepily.

"The two obnoxiously loud neighbors?" Nick asked as he nuzzled the top of Judy's head.

Judy made a tired 'mmhmm' and yawned again. "They... mmm... argue constantly," she murmured, "I swear the other day I heard Bucky yell 'You shut your 'bleeping' mouth when you want to talk to me!' How does that even make any sense?"

Nick chuckled. He looked forward to experiencing what Judy termed 'The Pronk and Bucky Show.'

"It takes all kinds," Nick said and shifted a bit, snuggling closer to Judy.

Judy's breathing deepened and slowed, and Nick's eyes started to drift closed. Both of them were asleep within moments.

Nick was awakened by the sound of thunder. It wasn't close, just a low bass rumble that faintly rattled the thin single glass panes of the window.

The room was dim; the thick clouds had finally turned the sky completely overcast and dark. They were in the same position they had been in when they fell asleep, but Nick's sleep had been filled with disquieting and unsettling dreams. He tried to recall what they were, but the memories were already fading, leaving him with a vague sense of unease. The feeling ebbed, however, when he ducked his head to look at Judy. She was still soundly asleep, mouth half open, and making an adorable little snore with each breath.

Nick lifted his head and looked back at the digital clock on Judy's desk. 2:42 p.m. was displayed in bright green digital numbers. Nick was surprised and lay his head back down. They had slept the better part of six hours and had hardly moved. Then again, he thought, we did get around three hours of sleep last night.

Nick's mind began to drift. He stared blankly at the rather grungy looking wallpaper and thought about this new strange turn in his life. Less than a day had gone by, and he felt like a different fox. He tried to examine the thoughts and feelings flowing through him, not something he often did. He was not one for self-introspection, it too often lead to dark thoughts that didn't do him or the ones around him any good. He had learned a long time ago to just bury and ignore certain feelings, certain memories. It had worked well enough... until he met a certain rabbit who somehow made these things come to the surface and refuse to be stowed back under.

He sighed. He thought about Honey's and his reaction this morning. It seemed childish now. Of all the mammals in his life, Honey was the one he had wronged the most and through no fault of her own. In fact, just the opposite. She had done a lot for Nick and his mother, right up until the end. He suddenly felt ashamed of how he had treated her, how he had avoided her all these years. Tomorrow morning, he thought, I'm going to go there and mend that bridge. That thought led to another memory he had avoided for even longer.

Not that far away... what, six... seven blocks? He thought and wrestled with the idea, parts of his mind trying to talk him out of it but he knew he had to do it. He debated about waking Judy, having her come with him. He knew he could use the support, but that sounded like a cop out in his head. This was something he needed to do himself.

Slowly and carefully, Nick disengaged himself and sat on the edge of the bed. He started mentally psyching himself up to do this. Part of him said it was a bad time, considering the stressful events of the day, while another part chastised himself for continued cowardice. The shame of that thought is what sealed it. It was either do it now, or lose the nerve for who knows how long.

It wasn't just seeing Honey again that had brought all this on either, although she certainly had been the catalyst. Nick had been thinking about his mother more and more in the days leading up to his graduation. Her absence has stung particularly bad that day. He so badly wanted to turn to her and see that pride in her eyes. Look, mom, look at me! He so badly wanted to re-write those last years.

His eyes swum, his jaw clenched, and his paws balled into fists. He swallowed hard and carefully got up. He sniffed and wiped the back of a paw across his eyes, letting out a shaky breath. He looked down at Judy, still fast asleep, then went to look out the window. It was raining, but not hard. It was more a slow, light drizzle. A 'soaker' as Judy would call it. And of course, it was raining... that almost seemed like an omen if ever there was one. Cliché, but appropriate... he figured getting rained on was the very least he deserved.

He also couldn't just leave and risk Judy waking up with him gone without explanation. He looked around then quietly moved to Judy's desk. He found a non-carrot pen and wrote a quick note on one of the small square pads. He peeled it off, and at first was going to stick it to the door, but grinned as he got a better idea. He slowly leaned over the bed and ever so gently stuck the note to Judy's cheek.

Judy awoke with a jerk and rolled onto her back. She blinked up at the ceiling, disoriented. She tried to sit, then flopped back with a groan with her paws going to her sore stomach and sides. Lying motionless for so long had allowed her abused muscles to stiffen up again. I do a hundred sit-ups and other core exercises every other day, she thought, how can I be this sore? It wasn't as bad as this morning, but it still hurt, and she grimaced at the thought of tomorrow. It was that second day after exercise that was usually the worst for muscle soreness.

Slowly her mind began to fully wake, and she blinked again; something had flicked her flight or fight response and woken her out of a dead sleep. She lifted her head and looked around, realizing Nick was not there.

"Nick?" she asked to the dim, empty room as if he could possibly be hiding somewhere unseen in the cramped apartment. She felt something sticking to her face and brought a paw up, pulling the note off her cheek fur. She turned it around, suddenly nervous of what she might find there.

Carrots,

Something I had to take care of. Back soon.

Love,

Nick

Relief flooded through Judy. She thought, for just the briefest of moments, that it would have been some kind of note about how it all had been a mistake and that he had to go, or some other equally awful possibility. She looked over at the clock; 2:52 p.m. She had no idea how long he'd been gone. A small ache built in her chest as the small amount of hurt from Nick not waking her grew.

She thought about calling him before she remembered her phone was out of power; she and Nick had both come back to her apartment and collapsed. She hadn't thought to plug it in before they dozed off together. She huffed as she stood up out of the bed and pulled the drained device out of her pocket.

"Crackers," she cursed and went to her 'desk' to fish the charging cable out from under a notebook. She plugged the phone in and the little green 'charging' icon popped up. She then padded to the door and opened it to duck her head out to look up and down the hall. No Nick. Her nose wriggled. She was pretty sure she could smell him in the air, so he couldn't have left more than a few minutes ago. His distinct smell of fox unmistakeable.

She closed the door and thought about what to do. She guessed she could just get her things together to head over to Nick's and wait for him to return, but she knew that waiting would have her literally hopping off, and very possibly through, the thin walls. She walked over to the window and unlatched it. She grunted as she shimmied it back and forth to get the worn wooden frame to reluctantly slide up. It was lightly raining, and off in the distance, she could hear a low rumble of thunder. She looked back and forth down the street.

There were not many animals out, most that were sported umbrellas of various sizes and colors, but she did a double take when her eyes registered that distinctive russet color of Nick's fur. Sure enough, there he was about a block away. She pulled her head in and shut the window. She thought and put paws on her hips, her foot rapidly tapping like it did when she was trying to make a quick decision. It only took a moment for her to make up her mind to follow him.

She grabbed her umbrella under the table left. She paused long enough to lock her door, then quickly made her way down the stairs and outside into the dreary afternoon. She didn't want to waste even a second opening the umbrella as she darted in the direction Nick had been walking. She gritted her teeth as her sore muscles complained, but forced herself to move. She deftly dodged a few pedestrians, some of who turned their heads to follow her rush down the sidewalk.

Finally, she caught sight of Nick when she was within a half block of him, catching glimpses of his red-furred head and tail through the few mammals walking out in the rain. She opened her umbrella and wiped a paw over her head and down her ears, flicking water away as she started to keep pace with Nick. She made sure to keep her eyes on him, ready to dart into the shelter of a storefront or building or even use her umbrella to shield herself in the event he turned around. Nick did not turn around, however, but he did make a left turn onto Herd Street and strode out of view. Judy picked up the pace and peeked around the corner when she got to it.

Nick continued to walk, and Judy thought he looked like his clothes was getting drenched. She figured his fur was doing a good job at staying reasonably dry, but either way, it didn't seem to be bothering him.

Judy let him pull a bit ahead again and moved to resume her tailing. Where the heck is he going? she wondered as she padded after him.

After another block Nick suddenly stopped and backed up a few steps, and Judy ducked into the nearest storefront. He was looking at something in a window, and after almost a full minute, he walked into the store. Judy had no idea what the place was, she could not see any signage from this angle, but she backed into the alcove and waited patiently.

After about five minutes Nick re-emerged and continued walking, stuffing a small plastic bag into a pocket of his shorts. Judy started to follow him again when he ducked into another store right next to the first. She stopped, puzzled, and moved back into the recess she had been standing in. She looked back over her shoulder, making sure she was not drawing the attention of any irate shop owner, but the interior of this particular place was dark and a 'Sorry! We're Closed!' sign was hung on the door. Good, she thought.

She resumed her watch, nose twitching, and waited. Nick was in this new place a bit longer, but when he finally did step back out, he had a small bouquet in one paw. It was too far to see exactly, but there were white, purple, and red flowers in the mix. Judy narrowed her eyes, trying to make them out. She knew her flowers and was pretty sure that purple ones were orchids and the red ones were roses, while the white ones could be any number of things.

Initially, she chided herself for following Nick when he just wanted to pick her up flowers, but he didn't turn back toward her apartment. Instead, he walked right out to the street and started looking back and forth, watching the traffic. Judy ducked back, hoping she wasn't spotted. Now where is he going? she wondered anxiously as she peeked out as Nick started crossing when the traffic opened up enough to allow him to hurry across. She watched from her hiding spot as Nick resumed walking on the other side of the street, but then ducked into the entrance to the park that was right there. It took a moment for Judy to realize what she thought was a park wasn't at all.

She had been so focused on Nick she lost her bearings. The entrance Nick had walked into was flanked by two rough fieldstone pillars, the outsides slightly angled. Bridging the two pillars was a wrought iron arch which held the words "Morningside City Cemetery."

"Oh, Nick," Judy whispered, her ears falling. She debated turning around right there. This seemed like personal business she shouldn't meddle in, and Nick obviously wanted to do this on his own, but something told her she had to follow him. She swallowed hard as her curiosity got the better of her. She closed her umbrella and darted across the street when the traffic opened up again and hurried to the entrance.

The cemetery was lush and had plenty of trees scattered throughout, so if she lost sight of Nick, she might lose him entirely through the confusion of vegetation and tombstones. His red fur stood out against the green and gray as he moved through the cemetery, and she tracked him without much trouble. She was prepared to duck behind the multitude of trees or large headstones should he turn around, but again, he never turned. He just marched on with his head forward.

Other than the two of them, the cemetery was nearly deserted. She saw a portable pavilion set up on one small hill a ways ahead, chairs lined up in neat rows under it. She saw a large mound of dirt as well, the grave still open and a tall figure in a black suit was striding purposefully through the tombstones away from the pavilion. They were too far away in the haze of rain to tell what species they were, but Judy thought they looked disproportionately tall. They might have been an undertaker, Judy thought, or perhaps a funeral director working on the preparations for an imminent funeral. Other than that one solitary figure, though, Judy only saw Nick.

Nick continued through the cemetery until he reached an area that was devoid of tombstones. Instead, there were simple small plaques set into the ground. This was the area for those who didn't have a lot to spend on an expensive plot and equally expensive tombstone.

Nick stopped and looked back and forth, seeming to search. He keyed on something and turned off to the left, walking and looking down at the plaques as he passed, appearing to read each one.

Judy closed the distance between them, walking out of the forest of tombstones, instead of stepping behind trees as she followed.

Nick finally stopped at one marker, staring down at it for long seconds.

Judy perked her ears and stepped out from behind a tree, slowly and quietly closing the distance She suddenly didn't care if she was spotted now.

Nick kneeled on both knees and leaned over, brushing debris from the marker. He gently laid the flowers on the plaque and Judy just barely heard him as he spoke in a voice high and tense with emotion.

"Um, hi, Mom," he said. "Brought you some flowers. I know I haven't exactly talked with you in a while. Uh, sorry about that. I'd say I was busy, but you always could tell when I was lying."

Judy's paw flew to her mouth as she realized just what she was intruding on.

"Things have... whew, things have really changed, Mom. For the better, I mean. No more scams and cons, if you can believe it! In fact, I, er, actually became a cop." Nick barked a single, dry laugh into the drizzling rain. "I know, I know, crazy, right? Me, a police officer. I've got my partner to thank for it, too. I wish you could meet her; I think you'd like her."

Tears welled at the corners of Judy's eyes as Nick continued.

"I was thinking about you when I graduated. It was almost like you were there in the crowd, smiling at me and taking pictures on a disposable camera. You'd probably fuss at me to keep my uniform tidy and crisp. I t-think you'd be really proud of me. But then I think how could you be proud, when I-"

His voice began to break, and he was still for several more moments before continuing. "I-I wasn't there, Mom. How could you be proud of me ever when I couldn't even be there for you. What kind of son am I..."

He was still and quiet for several more long moments before Judy saw raise his arms to the sky, shaking, before bringing them back down and tugging on his ears. She couldn't see, but tears began streaming down his face, masked by the rain..

"Y-You deserved better, Mom. I wasn't there, and I should have been. I'm so sorry..."

Judy's heart broke for him, and she hurried forward as Nick broke down completely in wracking sobs. She reached him and placed a paw on his heaving back. He didn't react or give any indication that he knew she was there. He rocked back and forth as he let his ears go and slid his paw down over his muzzle and neck. He crossed his arms over his chest as if clutching something tightly to himself

"I wasn't there..." he choked out between sobs.

Judy tossed the still closed umbrella to the ground and stepped up next to him. She pulled him to her. He didn't resist. Judy let him lean his head against her chest and cry while she cradled him as best she could.

"I wasn't there," he said again. His body shook with each sob.

His arms dropped limply, and Judy wrapped hers around his head, hugging him to her and holding him while his tears continued to flow. She rested her cheek against the top of his head, between his flattened ears. She did the only thing she could think to do - be there for him. She pressed her head against his while the rain soaked them both down to their bones.