Author's Note:

We have here another submission that falls into the adults only rating. And it'll be falling deep into that. We got to explore already that first sweet encounter with a fox and bunny we all adore… but there's another fox and bunny in the story and their deepening relationship was no less important to the series. This will be split into two chapters, the first of which will not be adult, specifically. The second will be a lot. So… let's look just a little bit closer…

If you are just joining this series for the first time this story is in the continuum AFTER Season 1, chapter 25, so you will definitely want to read Thanks for the Fox and Guardian Blue: Season One for important context! As an intimate story, however, this can still be enjoyed on its own. A new reader will just have to assume some of the backstory.

Not only does Disney not pay me to write this, but they'd probably wish I hadn't. I do not own the world, the characters, or a second box of tissue.

Read on at your discretion.

Gratitude

Chapter 1: Welcomed Interruption

Life kept moving. Days interrupted by tragedy eventually melted into the days everyone else lived, even without the one who was lost. The outpouring of support slowed to a trickle and the every-minute-reminder of the terrible event ebbed to allow the requirements of general existence to creep in again.

It was, to most, just another day on the set. Jack was visibly frustrated due to a requested edit to a scene that he'd already shot twice. Aggravating though it was, this was a welcome change from the deeply morose feeling of a darkened Skye. The striped, grey-toned lapine sipped iced coffee as he tried to get himself fully awake.

He'd been jolted from a deep sleep at nearly ten that night by his friend and fan, a lady fox, telling him that she was going to be up late helping their mutual friend Judy with something extremely important. Jack understood. The bunny police officer had been through so much. In an instant, she'd lost her partner and very best friend. It almost seemed like she wasn't even really allowing herself to feel it.

He could see it. He knew what it was like. Jack had needed serious help when he was a kit because he relentlessly pretended his mom and dad were just on a long trip. It was hard. It was just too hard to lose someone who had become a completely inseparable part of everyday life. Jack knew that it was never going to get easier. But, in so many cases, it just gets swept away by living. That's what happened with these things. That's just life.

One day you can't get out of bed because all you feel is the gaping hole left behind by the one who was taken away from you. Alone. Angry. Afraid. Falling.

Some days later, you simply have to get up and go help a friend or something because not everyone was gone.

After that, the bills don't wait for you to fill the void. You go to work.

Work consumes your time, but in the same tick, it holds its foot in the door.

With that door open, friends show up to do the stuff you always liked to do. They aren't there just because of what happened. This was the stuff you always did before, and end up doing again. And you allow it. You're already at work. If you're working, it would be rude to say no, right?

And slowly… it all goes back to mostly how it was. You don't forget. It always hurts, but you learn to live with the pain. The hurt becomes a scar, and you wear it every day. You see it in the mirror. You see it in your dreams. But, at the end of the day, it's only a mark of the past, and life goes on. Judy Hopps would be okay. Skye would be too.

Jack was glad he had been there for Skye. It was shocking to him how hard it hit her. He had assumed the two foxes were sworn enemies when he first met the vixen in Nick's apartment. They fought bitterly and the buck was sure he would end up blood-splattered in Nick's apartment over it.

But so much changed so quickly. After that terrible day, Skye kept telling the buck that she had been blind to who Nick really was. The con-artist fox needed help, not judgement, and she could have done more. It was too soon. Nick needed more time. Foxes like him didn't have enough time. None of it was fair. It was completely wrong. This couldn't be happening. She wanted to talk to him just one more time.

It was painful to see his vixen friend like that. But, she was getting better. She helped Judy. She had befriended the officer who lost her partner. She made arrangements with management so that the grieving doe could stay in the apartment. It would be transferred to the smaller officer's name without a problem. Seeing Skye's selflessness got the striped bunny's attention more than anything else she could have ever done.

Jack had money.

Jack had fans.

Jack had fame.

He had all those things, but he valued one thing more than anything else. Altruism. Selflessness. His parents had been philanthropists and donated a lot of money and time to worthy causes. Their plane went down as they were heading to Fenrir for a conference on blocking an unbalanced law. It would require mammals who had committed felonies to wear ear-tags to identify (and thus publicly humiliate) them. As a result of this monumental loss, Jack valued sacrifice for the good of others.

Skye had given herself a concussion the day of the tragedy because she slammed her car, her pride and joy, into a billboard to save mammals that she barely knew. Darmaw, an angry deer with a grudge against the ZPD, was firing Nighthowler pellets at elephants at a festival, and she intervened without hesitation. The fox sacrificed her most valuable possession and nearly her own life to help save others.

And oh how Jack noticed.

He promised himself that he'd never forget. He would be there for Skye any time she needed him, especially in these difficult days.

The buck shook his head and focused on the mammal who had just bustled into the small meeting room.

"Okay, so why this change?" Jack inquired patiently, holding up the blue-bound script. "I think it was a sweet scene. This makes Arthur seem cold to Yanni." The heavyset raccoon flailed a bit. In his odd-colored tweed suit he looked like some kind of 70's lounge couch.

"Arthur is cold! He's a bodyguard! Everything's business!" the procyanid replied intently.

Jack crossed his arms, looking sharp and angular in the black turtleneck shirt and slacks of his "Arthur" character. "Not two scenes before this one, he was holding her in his arms after her family died in that burning wreck. We've already established by this point that he's got a heart. I just don't think it's really in his character that he'd shout at her about her past ties to Remi literally the next day. Not in anger. Even if he's cold, she's still his client and that's … not good business." The bunny sighed. Was he being too sensitive right now? Was he inserting himself into the character? Arthur was the hero of this story, and the scene change made him look like a colossal tool, but that was a character. It wasn't Jack. Still, the buck knew his fans would absolutely hate it.

"Look…" The raccoon rubbed his temples a little. "I get what you're saying, but the writer was pretty adamant about not baiting the audience about the relationship too early. This is before the thirty minute mark. I'll talk to them about softening the scene, but Arthur needs to create that distance. It's part of his character. He doesn't let folks in. That's who he is. He's dark and mysterious. He's got a past. He's been wounded before."

"Yeah, Jeffery, he has," Jack replied. "And that's why he has every reason to at least be sensitive to the pain Yanni is feeling. Him more than any of her vapid little friends." The actor thumped the fat script that had, in his opinion, been damaged by too many late changes. A lot of scripts suffered from what Jack called 'Bad Trim'.

"I'll… I'll see about getting the writers to re-tool the scene… but we gotta shoot it by tomorrow, or we risk over-running the budget this month. Please consider that."

"I'm not saying sit on everything. We have like… eight other scenes we can work on," Jack informed. "Set us up for one of those. We have options. I'm gonna refresh my coffee." The buck held up his nearly empty cup and padded out. The tendency of writers, producers, and everyone in between changing their vision of a film in the process of making it was an endless headache for Jack, but he had more or less gotten used to it as a matter of course.

The bunny moved over to a long table that was about nose-height to him. There were snacks, cookies, coffee, scones and other goodies laid out for the actors and the crew. Standing by the table he found two large, strong-looking wolves dressed in black shirts and black slacks.

The white wolf was the one talking. "... sweet deal, I can't say that enough. Look at this. Every day. They have treats every day. Must be nice. I thought actors like… ate nothing but lettuce or something to keep their figure and everything."

"Gary!" hissed the other wolf.

"... Did you see the sandwiches yesterday? Stacked like double-decker buses!" he laughed.

"Gary!" The other wolf pointed at Jack. The buck stood behind the white lupine with his ears back, relaxed.

"Hey guys."

"Oh, hi! Sir. Jack. Uh, Mr. Savage. Sir." The white wolf backed away from the table quickly. "We weren't nibbling, I promise, just talking about… the uh… the layout. Security stuff."

Jack spoke casually. "Certainly. Please, help yourselves. It's not just for the actors. Every mammal here is a part of the end result. The refreshments are for everyone."

"Really?" came the incredulous response of the grey toned canine.

"Seriously. Just… go easy on them. As Gary said, they are pretty decadent." The white wolf sucked in a tense breath at having his own name spoken by the 'star'. It was okay. Most mammals on set relaxed after a few days. Jack continued, "We don't get a lot of time to stop and eat on a busy film schedule. We need energy, so a lot of calories are packed into this stuff." The bunny took a scone.

"Allow me, Sir," offered the grey wolf. He refilled Jack's coffee.

"Black, please," the buck stated.

"Certainly."

"You are?" asked the buck.

"Larry. That's Gary, as you heard. Would've said hi much earlier, but you missed a few days on set." The other canid nodded at that.

"Yes. I did." Jack took a bite of his scone. It was cherry. He liked that. "I had some personal things I was dealing with." The bunny heard wailing sirens in the distance. It only reminded him of what had kept him from work those days. An emergency in the park. A missing mammal. A devastated friend. A spiritually wounded bunny doe trying to cope. Some of the city was in mourning. A larger part of it was tied up in the intrigue of the terrible plot of Darmaw.

Oddly, instead of being a single set of sirens going by, suddenly there were others. More and more. It seemed like half the city was full of police sirens to his sensitive bunny ears. Jack took a deep breath. Oh yes. That. It was the funeral. They were paying their respects. That suddenly sapped a lot of the bunny's energy. He knew Skye was there. She said she would be. How was she doing? Was she hurting? He wanted to be there with her, but they both knew that the distraction and media attention it would create would be unfair to Nick's family and friends. Jack went to work.

"It's hard to keep from howling with all that…" Gary said, breaking the bunny from his thoughts.

"You do it and you're sleepin' on the couch," Larry grumbled darkly.

"Nick Wilde's funeral," announced Jack, pushing the wolves for reverent silence. He had been a good fox. Like Skye said… it was too soon. He really had needed more time. The city needed more officers like him.

"Oh yeah, that… that was today, huh?" asked Gary, rubbing his white snout. "That's so harsh. It's good to see the city pullin' together and bein' supportive. You know. After being divided so hard before."

"Shh." Larry made it clear that Jack wanted it to be quiet a moment.

A good five minutes of sirens passed, and then faded out as Jack morosely listened to them. Goodbye, brave fox. Thank you for all you've done. I wish I had gotten to know you a little better. You will be missed by many, but by another bunny most of all. Jack closed his eyes as the sound died away.

"You met him, right? Someone here said that. You knew him and his partner?" asked Gary in barely above a whisper. Larry punched his arm.

"No, it's alright…" Jack looked up. "I didn't know him that well. Just a few days. But someone like that… he leaves an impression, y'know? And I have a close friend, Skye… she knew him. She took it hard. I took time off for her."

"I see…" Larry nodded understandingly. "You knew him from like… fundraisers and security detail and stuff?" It was obvious to Jack that the grey wolf was trying to shift the conversation to be more technical to lighten the mood.

Jack shook his head and smiled. "Actually, I got into a fight with some pretty bad mammals in a home invasion at Wilde's apartment a week or so ago. It was the event that caused the studio to hire you guys." It was hard not to smile thinking about it. What a mess that was! Still, they came out unscathed. However, only a day later… so many lives just fell apart. It wasn't fair. Nick was a hero. The hero should get to live.

"Wait. Seriously? You actually did the action movie thing for real?" asked Larry.

"Nah. Insane circumstances. I scrapped I guess, but that's really not me." Jack laughed. What a funny thought. Him actually going on some crazy adventure looking for trouble like one of his characters. But he'd done it. He fought. He didn't lie down and cry in fear. He saw what he thought was a fox kit get punted and he wrecked that wolf. A wolf. He fought a wolf. It was still like a dream in his head. What intense insanity Judy Hopps' life had been wrapped in. The mess with Lionheart? The Bellwether thing… Darmaw? Was it really like that every day for her? He never thought a real mammal could live that way.

"So, wait… now that the dangerous part is over… are they gonna let us go?" Gary asked with a tone of worry in his voice.

"I doubt it," answered the buck with a smile. "After all the stuff that happened, if anything else happened, there would be an insurance liability nightmare if the studio didn't at least supply some kind of constant security. So, long as you're on task, I am pretty sure you guys will make it to the end of shooting." Jack smirked at that.

He took a few more sips of his coffee while the wolves sampled pastries and coffee of their own. The conversation with his new site security crew distracted Jack from the frustrating re-do of his scene. It was nice to just… appreciate that the city was appreciating Nick.

After a few more minutes, the buck's phone began making noise. The song that crooned from its little speaker was Gazelle's 'Lick'.

"Shh," Jack warned his security detail not to talk. The funeral was probably over. He needed to give 100% of his attention to Skye now. Even shooting another scene would have to wait.

Jack took a deep breath, and then spoke, trying to sound soft and caring. "Hey, Skye. How'd it go?" He ignored the anxious expressions of the two wolves. They were obviously trying to decide if it would be ruder to stay and listen, or to bail out with their goodies in paw.

What Jack got from the other side of the phone immediately alarmed the smaller mammal.

There was a practically panicked fox on the other end. Cars were honking. It was so loud. That was not the kind of funeral Jack was used to it all. He tried to focus on what she was saying.

"... can't believe it! It's insane! She's insane! Jack, she's crazy! How?! How does that even happen!? He…" there were honking horns, someone yelling about cameras. There was the sound of tires squealing in a parking lot. Jack's eyes widened more and more. What was going on? Was there trouble? Couldn't the world just give that fox his peace?!

"Skye! Skye, calm down, I can't hear! What's happening?" The wolves traded concerned glances.

"... running around like mice and Finnick was my ride, but he just left on an elephant! I squished him and he left! I'm stuck at the park! It's crazy!" Skye was cut off again by an engine revving and someone shouting at someone else to move their truck. "… nuts! The whole thing's insane! I need help, Jack! I have to get to…" There was cheering. It sounded like Skye was at a championship sports event, not a somber gathering to mark the passing of a sorely missed mammal. The buck began breathing faster, dread filling him.

"Wait, hold on, Finnick left you? Skye, are you okay?!" He looked up at Larry who was clutching his paper cup dangerously tight with his claws.

"I'm okay!" yelled the fox on the other end of the line, "Oh my God. They're okay. Everyone's okay!" The last part was practically screamed. Jack was horrified. Skye didn't sound right. Not for everything going on. The buck had been taking care of her. She was getting better. She didn't seem at risk of actually losing it. Maybe the funeral had been too much.

"Where are you, Skye!? I'm coming to pick you up!" Was she at a sports bar or something? Had she wandered off during the funeral? He needed to get to her fast. Foxes were not well treated if they had to be picked up for disturbing the peace, and he knew it.

"...can meet you in front of the park. I'll be by the gate. Please hurry!" shouted Skye. "I can't believe that…" There was the sound of a helicopter overhead and more sirens. The phone disconnected. Jack stood there with a look of stunned fear. He didn't know what was going on, but she needed him. She called him because she needed him.

He promised himself. He promised he'd take care of her.

Jack was never going to break that promise.

He snapped his attention to the white wolf, still clutching his coffee. "Gary, I need you to drive me somewhere," the bunny stated resolutely, making the security wolf jump slightly. "Larry, I need you to let Jeffrey know I will be back as quick as I can."

Larry gestured a bit. "What should I tell him?" he asked.

"Let him know a friend needs my help. It's not negotiable. I took security detail with me. He'll want to know that." Jack turned on his heel and strode out purposefully, Gary fast behind him.

"I don't have a car, Sir!" the wolf called back. "… got repossessed while we were uh… between jobs."

"You're driving the limo." Jack exited the front door of the studio and made his way to the valet. The puffy ewe jumped to attention and went to get his vehicle.

"What about your driver?" asked Gary.

"They pulled my driver after my little 'incident' at Wilde's apartment. To keep me from 'wandering off' again." Jack made a mess for himself with that one. The dangerous mammal responsible for that had been stopped, in part by the vixen that Jack was now rushing to help. She sounded so freaked out. Was she scared? Had someone else already gotten to her? He should have been with her at the funeral! How stupid!

"Am I… gonna get in trouble for this?" Gary asked.

"No. Here we are…" The lady sheep pulled up in a gleaming black car and got out, bowing pleasantly to Jack. It was not a stretch limo, the buck preferring something a bit more standard for his travels. He smiled and pushed a ten into her hoof. The keys were handed to the wolf who got in and adjusted the seat. The vehicle was sized for a medium driver, comfortably up to the size of the canine who got in and buckled up.

"Gimme a sec. Used to driving a truck." He started up the vehicle and Jack hopped into the back, sitting on the single back seat and facing forward, able to see Gary since the divider-window was lowered.

"Please be okay…" Jack whispered to himself as he buckled in.

"Where are we going? The park, you said? Front of it?" Gary clarified.

"Yeah. City Hall side of it. Main gate," Jack puffed, trying to catch his breath. He figured the producer and director might have some choice words for him, but he didn't care. Not right now.

In a matter of minutes, the car was speeding down the highway from the Meadowland district to City Center. Jack clutched his seat belt at his shoulder, able to feel his heart hammering. He had to get there in time. As he sat in silence, the wolf turned on the radio. He likely wanted to distract the tension with music. An announcer's voice rang out over the radio.

"... still missing the full details, but we are getting somewhat confusing information due to the absolute chaos at the funeral of Officer Nicholas Wilde..."

"Whoa… Oh no." Gary said darkly. Jack's guts tumbled inside him.

"What?!" shouted the buck, "Turn it up! Turn it up!" The wolf did that, the announcer blaring through the radio much louder.

"... this comes after a bizarre report from the Palm Market area where unsubstantiated claims were made of a serious disturbance... We are still trying to obtain video from the scene… one moment… Yes… Yes, we have a reporter on scene with WPAW, Channel 9 news affiliate - joining us on the phone. Eric, can you hear me?" Jack's chest hurt. Something happened. Was it not over? Was this terrible thing not over?! What else could they do?! The bunny immediately feared for Judy's safety. She killed Darmaw. Did someone want revenge?

"... Yes, Alicia, I can hear you."

"Go ahead, Eric; what's going on out there."

Jack could hear murmuring and some yelling. It sounded like where Skye was.

"Drive faster," the actor anxiously hissed. His fear was no mere performance, however. It wasn't over. So much had been taken from the city. They were not gonna get his friend. He promised.

The wolf spoke in a shaky tone. "This has something to do with what's on the radio, doesn't it? There's trouble and we're going there?" Jack just nodded.

He'd be there for her.

Gary floored it, whipping past a truck on the highway.

The reporter on the other end of the phone with the radio announcer finally spoke. "Yes, sorry, I'm still attempting to get more details, but I will say, I was here in person when Police Chief Bogo made a startling announcement."

"What? Just tell us what's going on, geeze!" Jack pulled his ears down painfully.

"Does this corroborate the earlier unsubstantiated report?" asked Alicia.

"What report?!" shouted Jack, lurching a little as Gary dodged a blindly merging motorist.

"It does, Alicia. Chief Bogo announced that Officer Nicholas Wilde has been found by his partner, Judy Hopps." Jack sucked in a hard breath. Finally... after so many days. And everyone else gave up. They said he might have even gone out into the ocean. They said he'd never be found. Judy never stopped searching. She found him.

"Hey, that's good news, yeah?" asked Gary warily, mostly focusing on the road as he sped toward their destination. Jack was too frozen by shock at the news to even nod.

"And the other part of the claim?" asked Alicia. Jack held his breath. What other part? Wait, how did Judy find Nick? Wasn't she at the funeral?

There was a pause for some noise in the background. It sounded like someone was trying to ask the reporter questions and he was covering his phone to tell them he was live. Finally, he managed to get back on to give an answer to the announcer.

"Ye, Alicia. The chief confirmed that Officer Wilde was found alive."

"Huh!?" huffed Gary in the front. "What did he just say?" Jack couldn't even let out the breath he'd been holding. He was paralyzed. This was… this was impossible. He slumped back in his seat, a cold rush of excitement billowing through him like a winter gale. He'd just misheard that part, right?

"This came directly from the chief of police?" asked Alicia.

"That is correct. For the moment, that's about all the information we have to go on. I've talked to a couple other ZPD officers and it's caught them equally by surprise. According to our best source on the scene, Nick Wilde has been rescued by his partner. I will call back when I have more details."

"Oh… Oh my God…" squeaked Jack, finally releasing his ears and grabbing his muzzle. "Alive? He's alive?" The buck tingled all over. This changed little for Jack directly, but he could not help but appreciate that it completely changed the entire world for someone very important to him.

"That… That's what they said!" barked Gary excitedly. "You know him yeah? He's your friend? That's awesome!" he barked. The wolf then corrected as he'd kind of drifted from his lane while looking in the rear view mirror at his friend.

Jack lurched again involuntarily from that. "Oh! Hey, slow down! We don't need to go fast. I… I thought Skye was in trouble but… But she wasn't freaking out because something bad happened…" The bunny laughed, slapping the seat beside him and wiping his eyes with his sleeve. "Haha! Ha! Oh, Skye! Judy! You lucky mammals!" The car slowed down considerably.

"How has he been alive this long?" asked Gary. "I mean… those waters were from glacier melt! He can't have lived in that. They said so!"

"I-I-I don't know!" Jack stammered, "I guess… we just keep listening for details? But… Hell yeah!"

"There's a bit of heavy traffic," expressed the wolf. "There's news vans showing up and stuff… I'm trying to get around them…" Jack could see the gates ahead. He rolled down his window and looked out, unbuckling his seat-belt and getting onto his knees in the car window to have a better field of view. "Oh hey, careful Mr. Savage! I gotta get you back un-flat!"

His mind was spinning. He needed to know more. Skye might know more than even the reporter did. Suddenly, Finnick leaving the vixen made a lot more sense. His friend was alive. He probably didn't even think. The little fennec probably just about lost his head. It was understandable. He would forgive the smaller fox this time. The car stopped. Gary waited patiently for vans and such to move out of the way. They might not be going anywhere for a while.

"Jack!" came a cry off to the other side. The bunny jumped to the other window and opened it more than it had been. The moment it was down he was slammed to the other side of the seat and against the door behind Gary by the sudden presence of a vixen jumping right through the open window. Jack gave an excited squeak at being tackled by the justifiably excited fox. He completely forgot about how that might look to his driver.

"Sir!" cried the wolf, his voice panicked. "Get off of him! Now! Let go!" Gary reached back and snagged Skye by her scruff, the fox crying out in slight surprise. He gave Skye a vigorous shake.

"Oh no!" Jack cried, having not even considered that his guard would be that quick to save him from an assailant. "No, no! It's alright, this is her! This is who we're here to get!" Jack laughed. Skye was released, slumping back over the re-pinned striped rabbit. She shrunk back, however, perhaps realizing how startling that might have been to the driver. It was understandable. She just got some crazy news.

"Geeze, lady!" Gary laughed nervously and then resumed trying to navigate the chaotic traffic. "That was quite an entrance!" Skye shook her paws like they were on fire, barely able to contain her excitement.

"Jack, Oh my God, he's alive! He's alive, he's alive, he's alive! Judy saved him! He's not dead! And I helped!" The vixen bounced a little, her ice blue eyes fixed on her bunny friend, wide and frantic. "We have to get to the hospital!"

"Slow down, Skye!" Jack laughed. It flooded his heart with joy to see her so happy after… how hard the last week or so had been. "First, we don't even know what hospital they went to, and second, what do you mean you helped her? Was he found at the funeral or something? I still know almost nothing about what's going on," he explained. Skye said she would be at the funeral, so how had she been able to help?

The lady fox bounced in the seat again. "No, like… early this morning! I helped Judy break into the DEC! That's where she found Nick! I don't know how she knew, but that's where she went!"

"Wait, hold on… you… You broke into… a secure, controlled, sensitive government works facility?" asked Jack with a squeak of dread in his voice. Shit. Not good.

Gary began chanting loudly. "La la la la la la-"

Skye took a quick breath, trying to calm herself. "I know it sounds crazy, but Judy knew he was there. Somehow she knew! But we thought she was just recovering his body! That's why she knew the city wouldn't open it up to look for him there even if she said he might have ended up in there. That's what she said."

"How, exactly… did you two break into the DEC?" Jack asked warily.

"We used a jackhammer and tore open the wall," Skye answered frankly.

"LA LA LA LA LA LA LA-"

"Gary, quit it!" the buck ordered. "Skye, you don't talk about this to anyone. If you need my lawyer he's at your disposal. And who is we? You and Judy?"

"And Finnick."

"Of course." Jack leaned back in his seat. Of course it would be more complicated than just Nick being found. Even that had to be some absolute insane incident.

"Look, Judy says she'll leave me and Finnick out of it. I trust her. And besides, that's not even the freaking point! Nick's alive! We have to go see him and Judy! I have to know they're gonna be okay!" There was a level of desperation in her voice that reminded Jack that if the officers were both taken to the hospital there was no way to know how bad Nick was hurt without actually going and talking to someone there.

"Gary, see if you can get back on the road. I'm gonna try getting in contact with someone who might be able to help find out what hospital Nick and Judy ended up going to." The wolf carefully worked his way into a roundabout. With a bit of patience and a watchful eye on a passenger he knew was not even supposed to leave the studio, Gary managed to get back to driving. Jack watched out the window. It was absolute pandemonium outside the car. While his arrival might have gotten a lot of attention and gawking, no one seemed to notice him at all.

"What made Judy look for him down there?" inquire the bunny buck as he pulled his phone out to find the right mammal to call.

Skye answered, having gotten her excited panting in check. "I'm not sure of all the details. Someone told her he could be there. She only called him an unnamed source." Jack had not minded the panting, of course. Watching her pink tongue bouncing as she attempting not to hyperventilate was kind of cute. Cute was appealing to his bunny sensibilities. Jack felt consumed in a kind of delighted excitement he had not felt since his parents had been alive. Such a crazy and happy thing had happened. It was something reality had seen that he remained woefully unaccustomed to.

Jack dialed the number and got nothing.

"Who're you trying to call?" pressed the white vixen as she scooted her hip back against the buck's. He wordlessly relished the contact. The vixen was very likable.

"Detective Pawlander. I have his personal cell number because of the whole Darmaw mess."

"That's the one with the white fur, right?"

"Hey, I know him!" called Gary. "I mean. Because… reasons." He gripped the steering wheel and just focused on driving. Skye looked up at him curiously, then back down to Jack, who was attempting to call again.

This time, the call connected.

"Hey, who's this?" The reply was short and exasperated.

"Jack Savage," the bunny answered.

"So, hey, I'm gonna need to get back to you," explained the other wolf, "We have a very big situation."

"Does it involve foxes?" Jack verbally mused.

"It involves a fox, yes," returned Pawlander. "Clawhauser, pull yourself together! Trunkaby, help him with the phones, please?"

"I'm calling concerning that fox, actually. What hospital has he been taken to?" Skye tensed up anxiously.

"I don't think you showing up will make it any easier to keep the media back. We still don't have all the details about this, Mr. Savage."

"He's a friend, Jules," the bunny said firmly.

"You know how many friends that fox probably has right about now?" asked the wolf on the other end of the phone. "This is the most significant media focus a fox has gotten since that God-awful music video in the 90's." Skye buried her muzzle in the crook of her arm to stifle the laughter.

Jack broke through his friend's reaction. "I can quietly go myself and be inside before the media arrives, or I can just openly catch a ride with ZNN the moment they figure it out. But I am going."

"Damnit, Jack. Whatever. He's being taken to Palms Memorial. Just don't make a scene! And if you interfere, you will be standing outside with the news trucks, got it?"

"Got it! thanks, Jules!" The buck hung up.

"I know where that is, I'm heading there now," Gary offered quickly, taking the very next exit on the highway.

"I wish I knew more," Skye fretted.

"I'm still reeling, honestly. How? How could he survive trapped down there? It's been a whole week. He fell in glacial melt. He should have been dead in an hour."

"Foxes are annoyingly resilient," the vixen obviously bragged. Jack laughed at that and the car continued down the highway.

In less than twenty minutes, they had parked in a covered parking deck outside the towering Palm Memorial Hospital. Jack tried to get more information from Skye about the situation that led to Judy breaking into the DEC. Skye only knew as much she'd already revealed. Jack laughed about tiny Finnick being forced to use a shovel too, and Gary promised he would not discuss anything that was said or done in the car while he was with Jack. It was explained that it fell under the non-disclosure agreement he and Larry had signed. It wasn't, but they didn't really know that.

Jack leaned up to the driver's side window after he got out. "I need you to wait here as long as you can. I don't want to be stranded here at the hospital. Are you okay with chilling out here for a while?"

"Sure, I guess. If Larry and I aren't already fired for letting you slip out of the studio, I don't think me waiting for you will make much difference." He sounded genuinely concerned.

"If they fire you, I'll hire you, how about that?" asked Jack.

"Both of us?" he asked, his voice lifting.

"Sure," responded Jack genuinely.

"You have a wolf in waiting, then, sir!" Gary jovially barked.

Skye and Jack hurried to the garage entrance of the hospital. The parking deck was confusing, as if it had been designed to make sure escaped patients from their psychiatric ward didn't have a chance to get off property.

Skye spoke cheerily as they walked briskly to another elevator bank. "That was nice of you to offer him a job if you got him canned. Do you do that often?"

"Believe it or not, while I am an action star, my life outside of the silver screen has always been pretty mundane. I have a strict and often boring schedule to keep. You have been the most fun I have had in years. You and Nick and Judy."

"I… I really appreciate that, Jack."

They walked into the hospital and found it to be alarmingly… quiet. Of course, the lobby of a hospital was supposed to be quiet. Mammals who were hurt or sick didn't like loud sounds. Jack moved over to the receptionist's desk and asked about Nick. The receptionist told Jack that emergency arrivals did not get logged into the system right away, so he would have to check again later. The little ermine at the desk had obviously not yet learned of Nick's survival, so she began texting immediately.

"That's not… gonna help keep a low profile, I guess." Skye murmured.

"It's alright. Other officers will probably show up, so we'll know more then, I guess."

"There's one." The vixen pointed at a very large Bengal tiger. He looked anxious and was going back and forth between desks, talking to mammals and appearing to make something of a nuisance of himself based on the expressions of the mammals he spoke with.

Jack moved quickly over to the tiger and spoke, getting his attention. "You here for Nick?"

"News gets out that fast, huh?" asked the feline, before he backpedaled a little. "Woah, wait… Jack Savage?"

"Yep. How's he doing? Have they told you anything?"

"How do you even know Nick's here? It's not a thing we're broadcasting."

"We're his friends." Jack shrugged, actually enjoying saying it.

The tiger officer took a deep breath, obviously trying to calm his own nervousness. "Well, he's got a broken leg at least. He was a real mess too, so they gotta get him cleaned up. The paramedics both said that his chances look really good though."

"I take it Judy's staying with him?" Skye asked, her voice lilting with happiness at the news that Nick would likely be okay.

"Huh? Oh no, she's been taken to another operating room. She's gonna need some work too."

"What?!" yelped Skye. The tiger shushed her, glancing around furtively at the other mammals in the waiting room. Mostly they just looked irritated at the loud noise.

"Judy was injured? How?" asked the bunny in more of a whisper.

The officer shrugged. "Not sure. Somewhere between ripping open a couple feet of concrete to get into the DEC half a mile under the city, and then beating the guts of Zootopia into submission to get Nick back the surface and ripping a hole in the middle of Palm Street, she injured her arm or shoulder and got a nasty cut on her head. I'm sure it looked worse than it was, but it can't have been nice."

"Oh no…" Skye whimpered. "I should have stayed to help her."

"What?" asked the tiger.

"Last night!" interrupted Jack. "Skye was helping Judy… you know… coping and the like, at Nick's apartment." He did not want his friend implicated in a crime. Foxes were not reasonably treated in the court system. "You had to sleep though, Skye. You know you had to sleep before the funeral." She looked down and nodded. She clearly understood what the buck was doing.

She spoke softly again, "I hope she's okay. If she's not with Nick and she's hurt, she's gonna be so scared."

"Judy? Scared? You sure you guys are her friends?" laughed the tiger. Skye laughed weakly, but Jack understood. Judy might not show fear in the face of an assailant ten times her size, but nothing had ever caused her more harm than this last week.

"I'm gonna try to see if I can get an officer posted outside whatever room Nick ends up in," explained the officer.

"Wait, do you think there's still some kind of threat to him?" asked Jack.

"No, I just don't handle unanswered curiosity well," he replied, fidgeting.

"Right," Skye answered with a grin.

That left the fox and bunny lingering in the waiting room together on their own for about half an hour. Jack got them both a lime soda. They took turns showing one another social media reactions to the news. Most of it was heartwarming, but a few opted to tease about the ridiculousness of it. They both immediately stopped looking, however, upon discovering a Chitter posting that showed a single picture of an utterly blood-soaked bunny clutching her fox on the edge of a burst open hole in the street. They had seen enough.

They decided instead to just find comfort in one another's company and wait to find out more as they watched more and more mammals begin whispering and checking their phones about the happy news. In between his happiness that Skye was again so full of life and the thought that he'd not truly lost his other vulpine friend, Jack felt a swelling of pride for a city that rallied behind the good news as if Nick and Judy had been a part of everyone, and they were sharing eagerly in what happiness the salvation of Nicholas Wilde meant to his brave, determined partner. There may never be a better case for never losing hope than this seemingly impossible incident.