Author's Note:

The last chapter was a bit sad, I confess. That will not be the tone for this whole arc, I promise! I will also clarify that this is the same story as 'Who Writes This?!'for those perhaps curious, it's just set about 3 months earlier. I will try to keep up a good pace for updating, and intend to have at least a single story in reserve to deal with a rainy day scenario!

Disney and I are not exactly besties, I just root around in the trash for little trophies to surround with candles and stuff. As such, Zootopia and specific characters mentioned below are property of Disney, and written out of love and admiration, not for personal profit or acclaim. Please fic responsibly.

Thanks for the Fox

Chapter 2: Debts of Gratitude and a Bunny Best Friend

Much to Judy's relief, Nick's mood had improved dramatically by the following day. She knew a lot of the perceived recovery was more likely his usual emotional mask he wore to keep other mammals from getting too close, but he at least seemed to be managing that better. The bunny did not bring up his mother at all that day. She opted to give him the space he'd asked for until he gave at least some indication he might want to open up more about that. There were moments, on rare, quiet occasions that the fox would invite his partner into more candid conversations. She would wait for one of those situations.

The day was pretty typical for a Friday, opening with the usual pre-shift banter in the bullpen. Nick even hassled Wolfard who had taken a liking to hassling the fox right back. Chief Bogo appeared to have trouble meeting Nick's gaze, and for a change did nothing to tamp down the vulpine officer's antics. Judy wondered if it was more that she was only noticing because she was really paying attention, or if Bogo always avoided looking at Nick. The fox often preferred to wait until full attention was on him before throwing stinging barbs and jokes the chief's way. Still, the assignments were given, and general patrol of Sahara Square was on the menu for the smaller duo.

Originally, Judy hated being assigned Sahara Square because she did not enjoy the intense heat of the noon day sun there. She ultimately softened her opinion of it because the trade-off was that it was usually pretty quiet during the day so she could give each case and encounter the full attention and follow up she liked to provide. That day was no exception with only four calls coming in before noon that were actually directed at them. On a busy day, Judy and Nick could generally expect anything to be tossed their way. However, when it was quiet, dispatch usually attempted to send officers to deal with issues they would be best suited to. It was not so much about ability as it was efficiency. The ZPD provided a service and they were expected to impress.

As such, they were not likely to send Judy and Nick to do something that required extremely heavy lifting, like clearing an accident or moving large debris that fell off a truck onto the highway. At the same time, Rhinowitz or Higgins were not likely to be sent to search for a child stuck in a sewer.

Because of this, the workload was light and the day still went by quickly enough. This suited Judy just fine. She had plans that afternoon which did not include her partner. She did consider at some point in the day telling him her intentions, but thought better of it. To him it would be intrusive and very much not her place. It was still important to Judy, though. She had to do this. Family sentiment was a big deal to most bunnies and her feelings on it were likely very different from Nick's. She just wouldn't tell him. It was that simple. Actually finding Vivienne Wilde was going to be a bit more of a challenge. She knew Nick was unaware of where she had been put to rest, but as officers they both had access to public records to try to find out.

With her work day out of the way, she watched her partner walk out the front entrance to head back to his apartment. He had not offered to hang out or anything, but they were not exactly joined at the hip, they still enjoyed their free time to decompress away from work. If they hung out, often enough the conversation ended up circling back to one or more cases they had been working. No, it was not unusual to see Nick head home after work with a friendly or curt goodbye. Judy knew he was likely distracting himself with movies and TV, or even just reading fiction which he loved to do.

She hated that he wanted to be alone during this, but she didn't blame him given the circumstances. Nick did not like to share his feelings, and he especially hated sharing misery. Judy waited for a while as he walked into the park which acted as a short cut to the transit line that would take him back to his apartment. He didn't bother with his own car. Traffic downtown made that pointless some days. Judy then turned quickly and padded up to the front desk of the lobby.

"Clawhauser!" she called warmly. The rotund cheetah nearly dropped his diet soda. He wasn't allowed to drink it at the front desk and getting caught again would mean a day in the loathsome records department. He looked and saw no one there. Judy bounced a bit to bring her ears up past the lip of the desk to get his attention. Benjamin leaned over the wide, stately desk and grinned down at his smallest coworker.

"Well heeeey yoooou!" His tone was always so bright and cheery, making him immediately one of the rabbit's favorite coworkers to talk to. His positive attitude meshed well with her own, and his genuine excitement in conversation made him fun to talk to. However, she had even more reason to talk to him now.

"Hey Ben!" Judy piped gaily. "I wanted to ask you if you might know how to do something very specific, but I don't want a word of it spread around. Are you the guy I can trust with something like that? It's a personal thing, you understand." Judy looked around suspiciously and then whispered, "I would not want to be a guy who suffered the kind of fate to be endured over the kind of breach of trust that would be caused if one were to discuss this matter outside of this time and place…" She had picked up from Nick the effectiveness winding a long trail to apply weight to a statement had, and it was very often effective in making a point.

Clawhauser gasped, immediately cupping his mouth. "Oh Judy, I would never betray even a passing acquaintance, much less a super important friend like you!" he put a claw over his chest, crossing it with an X.

Judy replied sunnily, "Good! I need help with records." The cheetah groaned, looking like he was going down in a plane on fire. Judy waved her little paws out in front of her. "No, no… Not making you work records, but I know you are experienced in that area; I want to know how to look up something specific. And the nature of what I am looking up is kind of what I need you to be mum about. Can I count on you?" she asked. The cheetah hesitated, perhaps feeling it might end up being a considerable amount of work. Judy added, "It's a really important personal favor. Remember how I got you and Bogo the back stage passes to see Gazelle and get an autograph at the Service Appreciation Concert a couple months ago? I'm cashing in!" Clawhauser stood at attention, which was almost comical since he was so very round

"I will do what I can," Clawhauser promised. "What do you need?" He leaned in a little closer, using a quieter voice to make it clear he was trying genuinely to be as clandestine as a single cheetah the size of three could be.

"I need you to find out where someone was buried in Zootopia." The bunny spoke even softer. Ben reared up at that, cupping his muzzle. He murmured,

Clawhauser replied curiously, "Why… do you need something like that?" He narrowed his eyes. "You've been watching Lupinatural with Nick again, haven't you? Don't let that junk go to your head." He looked concerned.

Judy blinked up at him, confused a moment, then shaking her head. "What? No, Clawhauser, no, it's nothing like that. Trust me, my grasp of reality is fine, it would take more than a scary movie or story to make me lose my cool." The bunny laughed. She shook her head again.

The big cheetah shrugged and looked back down to Judy. "Okay, so what gives?" he asked.

Judy flatted her ears down her back, not wanting to share more than she had to. "I told you, it's a personal matter and I don't need it to be anyone else's business."

Clawhauser looked a little confused still. He murmured, "Okay, yeah, but why waste your grand favor cashing it in on something like this? Nick knows like… half the mammals in the city. He could make a phone call and find out what some guy had for breakfast last November. I've seen him in action." The cheetah narrowed his eyes again. "Unless Nick's the one you don't want involved." Judy widened her eyes. She sometimes forgot that while he was silly, playful, and warm, Clawhauser was still a cop and he deserved his badge even if an incident left him stuck with perpetual desk duty.

Judy grinned at the cheetah, not wanting to back down so quickly. She needed this information. "Brilliant deduction officer!" she congratulated, and then beckoned him closer. He leaned in close. "So… if you would like to talk to Nick about what I am asking about, I will be requesting you for my sparring partner during PT week." The portly feline gasped and covered his muzzle, rearing up full height again.

"No, not that! You have my word, bunny!" He then waved the tension down, leaning in again. "So… Who am I looking for?" Judy sucked in a deep breath. She was taking a risk trusting the known gossip for help, but she didn't know a better mammal to go to who would be willing to help without much question.

Judy answered in a whisper, "A vixen named Vivienne Wilde."

Clawhauser's face fell. "Someone related to Officer Wilde…" he offered.

Judy nodded slowly. "His mother," she stated softly.

The cheetah cupped his muzzle again. "Oh no, I had no idea. He's so young though, you wouldn't really think…"

Judy looked behind her, half expecting an angry fox to be standing behind her and then leaned in again. "It was recent. I want to… I want to pay my respects and tell her Nick's doing alright. I know it might sound strange to you, but it's really important to me and with it being a tender spot for Nick still, I don't want to bother him with it. I need to do this for me and for his mom." She looked intently at the cheetah, hoping that made at least enough sense to him to ensure his assistance.

Clawhauser sat down in his chair, holding up a paw. "I understand completely. Nick's got lots of good friends here and it would put her spirit and memory at ease I bet, to see that his friends all care for him. So let's see what we can find, right?" He opened a reference tool on his computer, and Judy leaned up against the desk.

"Wait, you can do this even outside the Records department?" she asked.

Clawhauser nodded and said, "Public records stuff, sure. The chief thought it would be valuable since I was so well cross trained during my little… ride in the basement…" he rolled his eyes at that fiasco once again, "… and so long as it's not security-locked files or protected information, I can access it from my desk. When Bogo needs answers he can get it faster if he's got more than one set of eyes. Here we are, last known address is… up till a year ago in the Lions Gate Apartments in South Savannah Central. So we know that's when the … arrangements would have been made. I see… Huh…" Judy looked curiously at Clawhauser as he appeared to bounce around between several application windows. With her vantage point she couldn't see a thing he was looking at.

The bunny spoke up, trying not to sound too crestfallen. "It's not in the public records, huh?" Of course it would not be that easy. On top of that, she wasted her favor.

Clawhauser finally responded, "Well, I think I found the record for his dad, man Nick would have been a kid-"

Judy flinched at that and hissed, "No, Clawhauser! Don't go looking at all that, I just want to know about Vivienne, don't dig that stuff up too!" The bunny was mortified. She was really getting her nose in it and she didn't want to actually damage her friendship over this. It was her glitch and not worth really upsetting Nick.

Ben waved dismissively at the cringing bunny, saying casually, "Calm down, Judy, think about it a moment!" He turned the monitor down so she could see the screen. It showed a record of a family plot for John Wilde. It was not in Zootopia. It was in New Reynard about 180 miles to the north and west. The cheetah explained, "I couldn't find a record of them burying a Vivienne Wilde in Zootopia during that time period, so I looked up her mate. If there was already a family plot, they might not have had to make a purchase, and I wouldn't see a record. If you are looking for her, she's probably there, Judy." The cheetah was openly proud of his information 'hunting' skill. Judy blinked, genuinely impressed at his mental dexterity. She would keep this side of her cheetah friend in mind as it could definitely come in handy later if she and Nick were struggling with information.

She grinned brightly up to him. "Well done, Clawhauser, sorry I doubted you!" she saluted. "So, does it show that she was actually buried there now that you see where to look?" she asked.

The cheetah sighed sadly with a pout. "No, it doesn't, but I can't look that up here, it's cross jurisdiction and I only saw his dad because after 20 years that stuff's publicly archived for the whole region. I would have to be in records for something that recent, please don't make me go down to records." The cheetah had the fingers on both paws crossed.

Judy sighed and smiled. "Okay, you are off the hook, I think you are most likely right. I'm sure enough that I will take the trip out there. It would be tacky to go Sunday and I want to be around just in case Nick needs me to distract him, but I am off Monday and Nick switched with Delgato so I won't be doing anything that day anyway." She was mostly thinking out loud, trying to formulate her plan. She hadn't gone anywhere except for Zootopia and Bunnyburrow in years, so the thought of striking out on her own with her secret mission was oddly thrilling. She looked up to see an obvious smirk on the cheetah's face. "What?" she asked.

"Not doing anything because Nick's working?" he asked. "It seems to me that you are out of sorts if you don't have your foxy."

The rabbit stared at Clawhauser blankly. "What?" She then gasped and flattened down her burning ears. "No! It's not like that, I just haven't been here long enough to get to know a lot of people in the city!" The heavy desk officer held his sides, laughing a lot louder than he needed to, embarrassing Judy terribly. She drummed her foot loudly at the reaction and then sighed, smiling at the big cat. "Thank you Ben, this helped me a lot. Consider us even. Until I get my paws on another back stage pass." She flashed a grin. The desk officer gasped at that and ran in place a little which was highly comical.

"Can you!?" he asked rapturously.

"If I save the city again sure, why not?" she laughed. She turned to leave. Clawhauser whimpered at that.

"Get my hopes up just to cast them against the rocks," he sighed. "Good luck with your search Judy. I won't say anything to Nick, but give him lots of cheer and support, okay? We're here for him." Judy smiled warmly as she walked to the door. That was a large part of what she needed to say to his mother. They were there for him. He was not alone. And he'd never be alone again, even if he didn't see it.

Saturday was a very wet day. Judy and Nick were in the Rainforest District and spent almost four hours dealing with a ferry accident that resulted from an untethered junk drifting across the river followed by a captain's quick reaction and slow counter-correction. The ferry ran aground and resulted in quite a few thankfully minor injuries, but it required that Nick and Judy take over a hundred reports from the individual injured passengers. This did not put Nick in a great mood because he hated being rained on and it happened every twenty minutes at least for the duration. It was thankfully not terribly hot that day on top of it, but the dreary weather did have a negative effect on Nick's mood even before the accident. Or perhaps he was just going downhill as they were coming up on Mother's day.

She wished deeply that the chief had not kind of provoked this mess with that particular timing. However, the more she thought about it, the more it felt like she really needed to know. He might refuse it right then, but he would need help through this eventually. She just had no idea how to help since he felt he didn't deserve comfort. So she left it alone yet another day.

Arriving at the station left them with two hours of paperwork filing. Nick actually nearly fell asleep in the middle of completing it. Judy felt sad about that. He must have stayed up late watching movies or just… dealing with things. She felt a tug in her chest as she thought about perhaps a little too deeply and shook it away. Once they were over the hump Sunday, Nick would bounce back, and she would try to refocus him on the good he was doing. Judy had decided to do a little more research to hopefully get a better idea of what she would be doing and where she would be going Monday morning. She was eager to head out for this task once she had dressed down in civilian clothes, a dark green sweater and jeans. As she headed to the door however, Nick stopped her.

"Carrots, hold up!" he barked, stepping a bit faster to catch up. Judy's heart hammered as the bunny perked her long ears attentively. Had the rumor mill already wound its way from Clawhauser back to him? Would she really have to shower the boxing ring in cheetah spots?

She replied nervously, "What's up, slick, you almost missed me!" Judy smiled genuinely, trying hard to help Nick bounce back from his sour mood. He didn't look angry at least, so it was doubtful Ben had told him anything, but he still looked a little morose.

"Hey, just... I'm sorry I've been a bit…" He seemed to struggle with the word. Judy didn't want to say how she felt he had been in case that's not where he was going with the conversation and she didn't want him feeling worse about it.

She answered quickly, "You're fine Nick! Even I've nodded off doing paperwork before. You're just tired, and I can really sympathize." She nodded insistently. She could empathize with that and not put him on the spot.

Nick shook his head. "No, about the other stuff. My personal stuff. It'll be okay. I'll get around it, just need to… you know…" He looked down, obviously really uncomfortable. Judy did not want to push him.

Judy answered softly, "Nick, it's alright. I'm not upset or anything. I'm just not really experienced at this kind of thing. I am here for you no matter what. If you want to talk, if you want to hang out and be distracted, team up on Howl of Duty and snipe someone's under-supervised kits, you name it!" Nick chuckled at that last part, and appeared to consider it a moment.

He then looked back up to his partner and smiled. "Thanks, Fluff. I… I am actually really wiped out today though, so I am gonna head home and get a bit of sleep. Keep your phone around, though. I might take you up on the game if I wake up and feel a little more refreshed." He nodded at that.

Judy smiled back. "You just get some rest, I will be around. Be safe, Nick." She nodded again as the fox saluted and turned and headed out. Judy turned back and looked across the lobby. Clawhauser was at the desk with his chin on his paws, watching them. Judy flattened her ears back. Was he able to hear that? She shook her head. Surely not. She turned and headed to her next stop on her little intrusive bunny quest.

A very short train ride and almost shorter walk later she was standing in front of a door that she knew her partner had visited over a year before. She looked at it with a heavy heart for a bit, lost in thought. What had it been like? How would she have reacted? Her eyes immediately felt wet and she shook herself out of her thoughts. She could not even imagine. She then stalked one door over and tapped on it very lightly. After a short wait, a much older lady raccoon opened the door.

She looked at Judy and widened her eyes. "Officer Judy Hopps! What brings you to my door?" Judy cringed. That was bad. She forgot that she still had something of a celebrity status after the whole Nighthowler incident, and she hoped Nick would not have any cause for contacting his former neighbor again. The bunny was not even in uniform. Was she really that recognizable? She smiled warmly, glad at least that she didn't seem to dislike the presence of an officer suddenly at her door.

Judy said in a quiet tone, "Good morning, Miss…" she lowered her head, ears back graciously.

"Clarabelle." The raccoon stated warmly, pulling her shawl around her a little tighter. "How may I assist the ZPD?" she asked.

Judy nodded happily, then half-whispered, "Actually, I am not here on official police business, I am trying to find out some information for a friend." She stated. "Did you know the mammal who lived in the apartment next door a little over a year ago?" Judy asked.

The raccoon widened her eyes and shrunk back a little sadly. "Oh dear, yes, yes… Mrs. Wilde, but she's passed on." The raccoon cupped her muzzle a little, as if it were a taboo to even say it.

Judy replied, "I was wondering if you knew anything about what happened to her. Was there a funeral? Where was it held?" she asked. If she could find out which funeral home had been involved she might very well be able to get a definite answer before buying a train ticket.

Clarabelle waved a dark, dexterous paw to the bunny. "Oh no, I was not so close to Mrs. Wilde as all that. I knew her but she was pretty quiet and I hadn't been here very long when it happened."

Judy rubbed her chin, considering that and then asked, "Was she close to anyone else here in the apartment building, do you know?

The raccoon thought a moment, seeming to really try to come up with something that would help before admitting, "Not that I could tell. Certainly no one on this floor."

Judy asked, a bit warily, "I am curious… what exactly happened? Was there an accident?" She was cautious about this, not certain she had a right to even ask.

The elder raccoon did not appear to like the question but steeled her resolve to help all the same, speaking finally. "I don't know really. I remember some loud crying, and then the emergency mammals came and they took the body. I saw the gurney, but I didn't see her close enough to see ... you know… any of that. Injuries and all. I didn't want to see." She shifted a bit uncomfortably then continued. "…but the movers came a few weeks later and took her stuff and that was all. It was sudden, but no one said a thing about her after that. I mean, until a fox came a few weeks later looking for her. I think he might have been an uninformed relative. I told him what happened and he just kinda… broke." Hearing her put it like that was heart-rending to Judy. Some kind of emotion must have flashed over the rabbit's face at considering it because the procyanid seemed to latch on the detail as being important. "Oh, you don't… You don't think he was involved do you? Foul play?" Clarabelle leaned a little closer, wringing her small paws under her shawl. The tone was laden with potential for gossip.

Judy gritted her teeth. "On no, no, no!" she called loudly. "It was nothing of that sort. He was family, like you said. This is a personal thing for me, nothing more. I am trying to find out some information about her, is all." Judy nodded at the procyanid emphatically. She did not want a rumor getting back to Nick that Vivienne had been killed by a shady fox character only to later find out that the source of that rumor was his nosey partner. That would be a sloppy wet disaster on fire. Thankfully the raccoon seemed to surrender the gossip direction genuinely enough.

Clarabelle sighed a bit and said, "Well, I do hope you find the information you are looking for, dearie. You did a lot for the little guys in the city." Judy blushed a bit under her fur. She did not like being praised for that because she felt she messed it up way more than she fixed it. It took many months for the effects of her disastrous press conference to ease up.

"Thank you, Clarabelle." Judy stated. "I hope I can do more to restore the peace and happiness in Zootopia. There's a lot more work to be done." The rabbit smiled and Clarabelle nodded and smiled brightly back, sincerity in her grin before retreating back into her apartment. Judy turned and headed home, no closer to solving her mystery, but having a better idea of the suddenness of it.

She arrived home just as the sun was going down and checked her phone. There was no message from Nick. She pondered giving him a call and checking on him, seeing if he still felt up for a game, and scolded herself again for crowding him. Growing up with a large family, personal space was in short supply and being close and hands-on was a natural state of being that kept one from going crazy. A bunny family was very social and affectionate and she did not want to forget that foxes might not be exactly the same. She nodded as she put the phone down, an act of sensitivity, not neglect. She hoped Nick was getting a good night's rest. He had planned to spend tomorrow alone, but she would message him in the morning to make sure he still wanted to keep it that way. Nick was the only one who could change her plans for the following days.

There were two messages waiting on Judy's phone when she checked it early the next day. The first one was at about 4 AM and read:

It would appear that a cider and a nap got translated by my tired fox body to a cider and good night sweet prince.

The other was:

I'm sorry I missed you. I played anyway. The kits have been practicing. This fox has no wind resistance left. This is easier with a bunny.

Judy laughed at the second one. She honestly did not like the game until she played it with Nick because she felt like war games glorified the very problems she had to deal with in society involving aggression. As she experienced it with Nick However, she found that it was kind of therapeutic. Also, Nick's reactions to things going terribly wrong in Howl of Duty always had her in stitches. She regretted not playing with him, but felt better that he did decide to play instead of doing something less social. She texted him back.

It lives! Sorry I didn't get to offer support fire, I was very asleep by then. Now my fox whistles when he runs!

She put her phone back down and made a quick and simple instant breakfast. Her tiny apartment did not have a stove, so her little microwave had to be the all-purpose kitchen. After she ate, she checked her phone and was relieved to see Nick had replied. She had really worried that because of the dreaded holiday he'd be completely silent. She read his reply.

I'm your fox now? I'm gonna need to see a bill of sale, miss…

Judy's ears burned. That's not how she meant it. She had been (mostly jokingly) called out for being possessive of her partner by Wolfard in the past. Nick was assigned to Delgato for additional computer and surveillance training and it frustrated the rabbit very obviously. Judy had stated that it was a bunny thing, but it wasn't and she knew it. She had caught herself being jealous of that situation, which had been pretty embarrassing. She chalked it up to her not having a lot of good friends in Zootopia early on. She was being clingy and curbed herself a bit after that. And yet, there it was, rearing its ugly head again in text. This time, she could not think of a reason. She wasn't jealous, just possessive. She replied immediately.

You know what I mean, Slick! XP

Nick replied seconds later:

Help! Thief! This bunny is stealing foxes! Hide yo kits! Hide yo todds!

Judy groaned, but felt better to see Nick being playful. She leaned back on her bed and held her phone up, sending another message.

Since we are both off, how are you feeling? Do you want to hang out a bit? We can go bowling, I bet Finnick would want to join.

Judy really did not want Nick to have to be alone today. There was a much longer pause before the next message. It was a good ten or twelve minutes of Judy watching her phone pensively.

It sounds like fun, but I really do want to just hang out here at the apartment today. It's just… Not a day I want to be out. I promise, I would be awful company today. Thank you though.

The bunny was crestfallen, but understood. She felt better having made the offer, but she felt Nick's reason for being alone was what was getting to her. He wasn't excluding himself because he didn't want to be near her, or would not enjoy it. He was punishing himself. Judy disagreed with Nick's feeling that he needed punishment more than what he'd already been through, but once again decided not to push it. She messaged him back.

As I said before, I'm here if you need me, partner. If you want me to drop by and watch a bunch of movies with you, or something low-energy that's fine too. They just added the whole Beverly Tails Cop series to instant-watch, so there's that. Just give me a ring - I will have my phone with me.

There was a very short pause before Nick replied.

I will be okay, thank you Judy.

The bunny frowned a bit, wondering if she should garner the same seriousness from him writing her actual name as she did when he said it, or perhaps even more. She sat back down and sighed. She hoped Nick really could get through something like this. He'd been pretty normal after he got out of the academy so she assumed he would get back to that at least, but she wondered how much of that was really just his walls keeping anyone from seeing what was really going on. How long could Nick's walls last? Would she see more of the open agitation and emotional distress she had seen in the chief's office? As Judy stared at the ceiling for what felt like half an hour, tumbling around thoughts in her head, her phone rang. She immediately brought it to her ear without even checking to see who it was.

"Yes?" she asked, expecting, for some reason, Nick to be on the other side. Perhaps he'd changed his mind. What came out of the phone was a voice she had least expected.

"Officer Hopps." Chief Bogo's blunt, heavy, deep voice boomed even on her phone's tiny speaker. The bunny held the phone a little further from her ear.

"Y-yes Chief?" she asked in a lighter tone, trying to be polite.

"Where are you at the moment?" he asked.

"I'm at my apartment. Haven't been awake long. Shorthanded?" she asked.

"No, no, not that; is Wilde with you?" he inquired, his voice softer in case the fox was able to hear.

"No, Nick's at home, he's taking the day. I guess he really kinda needs it. I'm … You could say I am on call if he changes his mind and wants me to drop by to keep him company," Judy explained, not wanting to give too much information to the chief. She didn't want to share too much about her partner since he was being pretty adamant about his privacy.

"I had hoped you might be able to offer him some distraction today. It's… It's got to be difficult for him." Bogo stated in his usual blunt manner, but the statement itself kind of shocked Judy. She was not used to hearing the Chief being so personally caring about an officer.

"I did offer, but Nick seems to want to just… be by himself today. I can understand I guess, but I don't really like it. I feel kind of bad about it." Judy said softly.

The chief answered softly, "Everyone deals with grief differently, Hopps, we can only give him his space if he wants it, but his level of stress while he was talking about it has me a little … concerned about the long term effects it might be having on him. He passed his psychological exam just fine at the end of his training, but we both know that Nick can sell Magic Eye posters to moles. So… I wanted your personal opinion on something, Hopps." Judy swallowed more loudly than she intended. The chief was going to ask her if Nick was actually fit for duty. She honestly was not sure how much of his emotional capacity was used up by this problem, and she had seen first-hand that the general public could be nasty to him. What would it take to break through Nick's wall? What would he do if they did? Fortunately, Bogo asked something different. "Do you think Wilde would accept it if I offered him the services of our on-site psychologist?" Judy blinked at that. She had not even considered that. She thought a moment.

She then shook her head a little. "No, I really doubt he would. He barely opens up to me, and I'm his best friend. I don't think he'd talk to a stranger about it." She felt pretty sure about that.

The chief spoke back evenly, "Perhaps, Hopps, but did you notice that he was more willing to talk to me about it if you weren't there? He tried to get you out of the room." Judy widened her eyes, remembering that clearly.

"Well, yes, but…" she wasn't sure what to add.

"Nick's ashamed of what happened, not just grieving. Talking about this is easier when it's not someone he's invested so much respect with. He doesn't know Doctor Carlisle. He might be more open to working through his issues because it will be closer to just working them out on his own in terms of how exposed he feels. I was thinking about offering it to him when I apologize formally on his return tomorrow… in private." Judy considered that a moment, and then drew in a deep breath as she conceded.

"It could not hurt to offer. Just… Can we not make it a job requirement, or seem like it is? If I see any hint that it might really be… compulsory… for him I promise I'll tell you, but let him see it as an option first. I don't want him to regret telling us about it." The chief was quiet, perhaps to think on that some, and then spoke.

His deep voice resonated again, "Alright, Hopps. I will make it an extended offer, so it doesn't seem that it's forced. But please pay attention to him. Your life may actually depend on his mind being on his job."

"I will. Thank you Chief." Judy stated, and Bogo hung up without saying goodbye. That was his way. Judy dropped her phone on her pillow. Would Nick be angry, she wondered? Would he take the offer and get some help? She closed her eyes and shook her head. In a little more than 24 hours she intended to be standing at the final resting place of Vivienne Wilde. She wanted to tell her that her son was going to be okay, but would she be telling her the truth?