My inking has been hampered by the cold dry air this winter.

And there was Nick with Agent Anlef again. Now she wasn't merely icy, but restrained fury. "Your idiot partner running off after those PDR agents is likely going to blow this whole thing."

"What? You knew about them, and were, what, going to let them go?"

"Not exactly." She huffed.

"With the lead Hopps gave us, we were able to begin surveillance of the import company that had been used as a front for PDR activity. But it appears they were too careful to be seen there, though we did get some coded traffic, nothing broken yet, but is was still local at that time. We suspected they might be heading out of country. The Bunny Burrow attack was a surprise and a big break. By playing along with the planted evidence, we hoped the agents would more casually leave, as they 'had not done anything'."

"But why? Not like I want them to go after Judy, but why the Old Male instead?"

"Their main mission seems to have been to provoke fear, a sense that Lagos can not find a secure co-existence with others. The PDR is intensely exclusivist, that Lagos can not and should not mingle with other creatures. Once it was clear that the attacks were orchestrated, not the results of a fundamentally hostile community, they gave up that effort."

"Perversely, while they are keen to work for Lago solidarity, they had no problem with arranging the assaults on the rabbits in the city. Up to a point. Three of the hired muscle, the ones who went too far with the fatalities, they killed."

"That Zebra." Nick reacted, "And Darren?"

"He was just a loose end, someone who likely met with them in person. And it was only by luck that we found Sherman, as she would have likely been silenced as well."

"But Mr. Hopps, he was likely targeted, in part, to sow some fear further afield. But also to strike at Judy, as she would be regarded as a species-traitor."

"And that's the problem, if they get wind that she is after them, it will tip them off, and they will make every effort to kill her."

Nick reared back in fearful surprise at that. "So, what can we do?"

"If 'Nicole Savage' is actually going to Rain City, which would also be the logical destination for the PDR agents, we can head them off."

'How? And what's so special about Rain City?"

'How is simple, we will fly. There is a private jet ready to go."

"As for Rain City, it is out of our jurisdiction and the port of convenience to any number of overseas locations, including the PDR. We suspect there is a notable PDR presence there, both as a trans-shipment point to dodge embargoes and such, and as a base of operations for their covert operations on the continent."

"How are we going to do anything in a foreign state?"

"We have our own covert operation there as well."

"Oh wow, full on spy shit and everything." Nick rubbed his hands in exaggerated enthusiasm.

Anlef rolled her eyes. "Yes. And you will get a 'secret identity' and everything. A sales representative to hand carry a sales contract to a heavy equipment firm in Rain City."

"Ahw, nothing more dashing? No international mammal of mystery?"

"And while you are at it, tattoo 'spy' across your forehead. The Rain City authorities would just love that." Then the cat indulged in just a touch of mischief, "Just be glad we are not using your ZPD undercover persona."

"I don't have a ..." Then Nick stopped short. "What persona?"

"The one the ZPD began building for you since you joined. Just like they did for Hopps. Except, she apparently knew about hers." Though she was oh so careful not to let it show, she took just the slightest bit of glee in seeing that she had gotten to him, watching him puzzle over that. But back to business.

"As you will actually be carrying a sales contact and conduct real business, you'll need to brush up on the company product line. And get used to your new name, Steve Konnick "

Nick made a face at that, then, "And you, the lovely Agent Anlef, will you be going in with me?"

"Yes, of course. As your trusty assistant and secretary, Addy Itamak."

"How do we know if Judy is actually going to Rain City? And how did she get through the attempted intercept getting off the Transcontinental? If she was ever on that as well."

"A good question. And one we can examine on the way to the airport."

They made their way through to an underground garage where a somewhat beat older van was waiting. "Brand new big black SUVs are not subtle for real spies." Anlef observed.

Inside there was a pair of agents who immediately began measuring Nick for a new wardrobe. "It will be just off the rack for now, but as you are playing a salesbeast new to the company, you would not likely have anything too obviously tailored."

Nick huffed at that. Had they time; he had some good suits at his place, but was keen on getting on with it. The notion of Judy in the middle of some real cloak and dagger, emphasis on the dagger at the moment, was his main concern.

Then, as they had some transit time yet, she held out a laptop with security vids on it. "The first is in the city, and clearly Hopps got on the train at that point. Notice the large bags she was carrying." She then switched to vids from the Tri-burrow station. Nick watched intently.

"There she is!" He pointed to a blonde bunny in slightly slutty country girl attire. "Clever girl."

"Are you sure?" Anlef peered at the image and then gave the Fox a look. Just partners indeed. Then it dawned on her. "That's why she booked the deluxe compartment, so she could do a dye job enroute."

The coverage in the terminal was not comprehensive, but they did catch the blonde bunny approach a brown rabbit in the waiting area for Rain City. "And I'll bet that's one of the agents. Look at her bounce afterwards."

Yeah, they were definitely more than partners. And the rabbit in question fit the general description of the agents.

The last sequence also caught a blonde bunny, but was now dressed as a rather tidy and understated businessbeast, complete with glasses that made her extra cute in a bookish way to Nick.

"So, she is on the train, as are the agents." Anlef noted, keying in information to a different device.

"Can't you just have the train stopped and have them pulled off?" Nick fretted.

Anlef made a sad little face, "Yes, if they were the only things in play. But the larger mission is to discover the full extent, if not break, the organization."

"And Judy?" Nick not quite growled.

"She has put herself in jeopardy, criminally so at this point, presumably for some ex-judicial revenge?" Anlef gave Nick an extra-scrutinous look, and wasn't disappointed.

He realized that his sweet little - correction, his partner, might well have a harder side. Her unexpected reaction to hearing of her father's attack certainly hinted at such.

"But, she has demonstrated some particular ingenuity so far, so she may well get through this. So some kind of recovery may be possible." Anlef hoped so; the rabbit could be quite an asset in any future case.

Soon they were at the airport and in a sleek private jet liner. On board were several more agents, with Nick's and Anlef's luggage and new outfits laid out to change in. Despite his regular choice of attire, Nick knew quality and was impressed with the suit that was chosen for him. Once airborne, he was invited to change. For off-the-rack, the clothes were a good fit, and the mirror in the lavatory suggested that he looked pretty good. Respectable businessbeast.

When he got out, he was pleasantly surprised with Anlef. Her outfit was still very restrained, very businessbeast, but at least was more flattering to her form and color than the rather drab suit she had on earlier.

"Well, we at least look the part."

"Yes, and now we need to be able to play it. Fortunately, your background has you only recently joining the company, as a salesmammal, so not knowing all the technical details of the product line isn't critical. Fortunately, you've got the hustle end down already, you could sell air to eagles."

Nick took that as a complement.

"So, what you need is to get more familiar with your background." Anlef held out a folder. "It keeps you in Zootopia and doing any number of odds and ends retail mainly, again no great stretch for you."

Nick settled in and reviewed the history of Steve Konnick. Other than details, easily remembered, it was a fair parallel to his own life. Now if he could just remember being 'Steve'.

After a while, he needed a little break and looked to Anlef for some small talk. Initially, at Anlef's insistence, it was in the context of Steve and Addy, a little role-playing. While Addy was well practiced, Nick suspected she had little or nothing in common with Anlef, while Steve was all too easy a fit for him. And as they went on, it was more Nick talking about himself. He figured that it was, no doubt, a bit of pumping for a fuller feel on him. Not a problem, especially as it took his mind off of the approaching action, and he wasn't shy about himself.

Of course, Anlef was not about to reveal anything about herself, but it was kind of fun listening to the silly fox ramble on. He was refreshingly irreverent and candid about many things. And he clearly had a thing about the Rabbit. They were obviously close, groomers at least, lovers, harder to say. Such relationships were uncommon, though years ago in her more provincial days, it would have been unthinkable. But in a different society in a different time, and considering how precious and fleeting any relationship could be, any love was good love.

When they arrived in Rain City, it was true to its namesake, a drizzle of rain in a world of damp chilly gloom. The rain forest district back home was humid and lush, and as the 'rain' was mostly via sprinklers, there was still a lot of sun available to make all the greenery cheerful. Here, it was thick and oppressive clouds, and while the greenery was easily as full, in the dull light, seemed more sullen, even foreboding.

As the train wasn't expected until the next morning, the pair made their way to a hotel for the night.

"A suite, rather than two separate rooms?" Nick suggestively wiggled his eyebrows and Anlef didn't even bother with an eye roll.

As they were supposed to be businessbeasts, it was a nice set of rooms. Nicer than anything Nick had ever seen before, but he had the wit to not obviously react.

"The room as been secured, so we can talk, though I would recommend we maintain our personas, for practice, if nothing else."

"Yes, Addy, my trusty sidekick." Nick thought a moment, then, "Dinner! Do you want to go get something? Or order in?"

"Ordering in would be the better course." Nick noticed that she actually showed enthusiasm for at least a moment as she viewed the menu. And he did too when he looked. Zootopian cuisine tended to be a bit more restrained in what and how once living food was prepared. Here there was no pretext or camouflage to the various fish and fowl dishes. Nick was more a bugs and berries Fox, not so far removed from his ancestral diet, but there were some chicken dishes that caught his eye.

As they waited for their order, the menu reminded Nick of something. "Were you guys involved in the Bellwether plot?"

While Anlef knew he meant an investigation, "Well, we felt her vision was too limited, as we have always strived for world domination, so we didn't bother to back her."

The truth was that she didn't know, as she didn't have the 'need to know', but suspected the various agencies and offices she fronted for had been frantic, with an emphasis on possible hostile foreign action. She personally suspected targeted attacks rather than some perverse random savage reversion from the start.

"You two were rather impressive though, sorting things out ahead of the rest of the ZPD."

"Yeah, the hero saviors of Zootopia. But poor Judy still beats herself up about the pred comment. And you can't deny that, though closing the Bellwether plot did a lot for the city, that earlier shot didn't help."

"But, considering the general solidarity of the population in this most recent crisis, it seems the city has made progress."

"Yeah." Nick thought a moment. While Judy was still a delightfully optimistic bunny seven times out of ten, she was beginning to realize that she couldn't make the world a better place every day, and it could bring her down, at least for a while. Such emotional bunnies.

After dinner, and some more idle chat, Anlef indicated they ought to wrap things up for the night.

"Gah, I must get clean." And with that Anlef began to strip.
Nick's brow rose quizzically. He was not one to be particularly impressed by simple nudity, but after all her formality, this seemed a bit out of character.
She was a healthy feline of about his size and age, and though very much not his type, he was about to make some little comment when he noticed the scars.

Across her body and limbs were innumerable pale spots and lines; the fur around each injury had come back in white, though some scars were also stretches of ugly naked meat. Several were the parallel lines of claw marks, of at least three different sized sources, others were neat surgical incisions, and a couple were the unmistakable pucker of bullet wounds.

She saw his expression. "I was in the infantry, started young. Became an agent when I was no longer fit for tactical combat. Get clean now."

As she walked to the bathroom, Nick realized that al least part of her stiff posture was likely due to those injuries. And her tail had been broken, more than once. Nick had his own scars, most were more emotional than physical, but his thick coat kept secrets. Thinking of which, he didn't really need a bath, but a good brushing would do his pelt some good.

The room included a pretty good grooming set, and he set to work on his tail with a vac brush. It was an older model and a bit noisy, so he didn't notice some time later when Anlef returned and was surprised when she sat down beside him. She was still unclothed, but the cleaning had poofed her out a bit, giving her a kittenish look. "So, the bathroom was really a time machine?"

The Cat almost laughed. Then Nick noticed her fresh soap scent (and realized she had never presented a scent of her own, even when she was "dirty") and suspected he was all too foxy, Todds could get awfully musky.

Making a show of a deep sniff, "Should I rinse off, or otherwise get a bit less pongy?"

"You are not so bad. Maybe a little masking when we go out." Then giving him clinical appraisal, "Give me that and turn around."

Nick handed her the brush and leered, "Oboy, naked cat grooming!"

She just rolled her eyes. "You thick furred types never get your backs done right." She pushed him down on the bed and began to work him over. A really good grooming was as much massage as hair care and she had strong skilled paws. Although not at all erotic, it was deeply sensual and Nick was a limp noodle when she was done.

"Oh, where have you been all my life? I've paid good money for sessions that weren't half that good." Nick murphed, his face buried in the bed. Judy's 'Full Hopps Treatments' were on par, and perhaps a bit more special, but never any harm in tossing out a sincere complement. Half-rolling, he looked over dreamily to Anlef, who, for that instant at least, looked at ease, "I'm no where near that good, but could I offer you a reciprocal work out?"

The cat stiffened, "no. thank. you." Was that revulsion? No, that was dread; she was horrified at the suggestion. Nick could have kicked himself, with all those scars; she likely didn't want any of that touched.

"Sorry."

She waved him off. "No worry. Grooming you is good for me too." She looked away. "All work and no social life."

"Like Hopps, given half a chance."

"Your partner. Very focused in her passions, but she has an emotional investment in you now. Good for her." but that was not reflected in her expression; Nick saw grief in those green-gold eyes.

"Are you okay?" Nick asked ever so carefully. He still couldn't figure the cat out, but the evidence suggested she had had a particularly hard life beyond her minimal comments.

"I am not a native Zootopian." She said flatly. "Came here as a refugee, had lost everything but my military background." She looked away, "I was recruited and now have my missions to keep me busy."