FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

10:37

Sitting at her kitchen table and dressed to the hilt in her police uniform, Judy had not followed her daily routine of turning the television on after waking up in order to scope out any interesting political or national news, and this was solely because of the iPad Tablet that sat upon the table next to her steaming cup of cinnamon-carrot coffee. Her collared blue shirt top had been steam pressed to perfection, and the glimmering badge attached to her vest, beetling her name and number, shone brightly with a flaxen gold tint caused by the reflection from the sunbeam cascading its way through her opened sliding glass door balcony. She had been sitting outside earlier, her eyes closed, taking in the sounds of the city which seemed to be breathing itself awake, bursts of steam and horns and machines sputtering the power cortex that was this magnificent metropolis into a higher gear. The night-shift rotation would take place today, putting her and Nick in a city of darkness and glowing lights, so she felt the need to acquaint herself with its body before they scurried about in the maze. It was, in a strange way, spiritual for her. It brought her closer to the feeling she used to have when back at Bunnyburrow, specifically the times she would step outside to massive rolling hills and a mountainous backdrop among silence--the silence had been delicious to her, she had eaten it up like vegetables, but now she had to make due with seeming disarray. She had to create the silence from the noise, and it was hard to do. But...if she pictured it just right...if she set herself in just the right frame of mind, she was among a field of metal and hills of steel and crisp morning air and quiet. It became her home--the closest thing she could come to imagining perfection.

She tapped her light grey claws against the table top.

Her head rested against one of her paws which was propped up by her diminutive elbow.

Nostalgia was not why she sat outside earlier and meditated. It had nothing to do with it. It was not the memory of Bunnyburrow nor the rolling hills nor the idea that this place could somehow inherit her homesickness.

Today was different.

Today she simply needed to talk to her parents.

The FaceTime application buzzed on her iPad Tablet, two of the ringing icons being custom orange carrots, and her bust was brought to a glimmering height when the other end was received by her mother, Bonnie.

"Mom!" Judy burst out.

"Bun-bun!"

On the other end of the receiver, Judy's mom was standing in what looked like a darkened and immaculate hospital room filled with "Congratulations!" balloons, and she was holding a small rabbit bundled tightly within a pink blanket, no doubt one of Judy's new nieces. Bonnie's expression was that of her typical jubilance, although she looked exhausted, and it sent a warmth through the homesick bunny to see the familiar face of a rabbit she never double-guessed, making her smile both inwardly and outwardly at admiring the facial features she has come to know like the back of her paw: the light cream splotch around her mother's mouth and high-brow eyes, the flickering pink nose passed onto Judy through strong lagomorph genetics, the passionate and understanding eyes of light purple, and the shorter ears poking atop her head that were not as dark at their tips when compared to many of her other family members. It was all fantastic to see and nearly sent Judy into an emotional state.

"Oh, which one is that?" Judy asked, referring to the newborn.

"This is Sandra!" Bonnie said joyfully. "Say hello!"

Bonnie held the phone close to the slumbering fuzzy ball and Judy instantaneously melted.

"She's_sooo_ cute!"

"Isn't she? Has her mother's ears."

"Is Janie there?"

"Your sister is sleeping right now, otherwise I'd let you talk to her."

"That's okay. How is she?"

"Exhausted. I'll tell you, this entire journey brought me back to my first litter, and boy was it rough. I feel for her."

"Well, as long as she's okay. By the way, tell her I said 'hey' when you get a chance."

"I will."

"Okay..."

"So, what's up bun-bun? By the way, you look _very_official!"

"Thanks!"

"Have you and your partner cracked any new mysteries yet?"

Judy giggled. "No, mom. While our first one was definitely mysterious, things aren't really as...conspiratorial as you would think anymore. We're basically top of the line cops now."

"Well, that's good."

"We're supposed to help out two of our coworkers tonight in staking out an area for drugs."

"Oh..." Her mother's voice sounded somewhat concerned.

"But don't worry, we'll be at a distance."

"Good."

"Yea...so, hey, how's London?"

"Oh! The sights are amazing! I'll tell you, it sure makes a bunny feel even smaller being at the top of the Eiffel Tower."

Judy giggled. "I'll bet."

"And your father learned that the food here just does _not_sit well with him. He's been walking like he's thrown his back out from all the cramps."

"Aww, that's too bad."

"Too much grease here, apparently. I guess he's just too used to homegrown carrot meals, you know."

"I guess so..."

Judy began fiddling with one of her ears which now sat against her shoulder. She rubbed the pink lining in a way that made Bonnie's own stand straight mass.

"What's wrong, honey? Something's bothering you."

Judy's mouth opened to say something, but she hesitated.

"What is it, Judy?"

Judy could hear a scuffle of some kind coming from near her mother.

"Last Friday I went out with some friends," Judy said.

"Yea? And?"

"Well, Nick invited me, and we had a really fun time, but..."

"Hold up!" Stu Hopps suddenly edged his way in the camera frame, his plump and tall head taking up nearly all of the space. "Are you talking about that fox friend of yours? Did he do something to my little girl?"

Judy tilted her head to the side, her eyes sliding down half-lidded in response to her father's brash and imperceptible attitude toward anything affiliated to a predator. It borderline made her infuriated that he, even after being brought to light in regards to the closeness and loyalty his daughter shared and cherished with Nick, still found time for jabs against foxes. Part of her couldn't blame him for it though. After all, his father, Richard Ernest Hopps, in his fairly explicit and current senile state of mind, never found a day busy enough to announce at the crowded dinner table in front of fifty bunny children that foxes were predisposed to the wonderful and kid-friendly genetics of Satan himself. That lifestyle had to have been a routine Stu learned to live with as a young rabbit, and Judy was not naïve enough to think that anyone could simply eliminate those imprinted values at the drop of a hat. But it didn't stop from bugging her to the point of anger. In all honesty, she realized her father could be far worse, and she was just thankful that her mom had been there acting as a catalyst of wisdom more often than not making Judy a witness to her magic of straightening him out whenever he stood too tall on his soapbox; all it took was a little push, and he was back to reality...or at least as close to reality as he could be. Judy peered at the tablet to see that her father's muddy-brown eyes, although looking tired with bags underneath them, were wide, darting back and forth, and his massive pink nose was bouncing around not unlike a school yard ball.

"Good to see you too, dad," Judy puffed out flatly.

"Jude the Dude, you just let us know what happened. If I have to fly directly over there and bring down a case of vulpine-repellant, I will." Stu's stubby rabbit finger was pointing at the camera.

"Gahhd, Dad! You're _im_possible." Judy grabbed both of her ears with her paws and yanked on them. "You haven't even heard me tell you the story yet!"

"Go ahead, sweetheart," Bonnie chimed in.

Judy let out a huff and then said, "I was going_to say that Nick _saved me!"

The other rabbits on the line had a perturbed look on their face, Stu especially.

"How'd he do that, sweetie?" Bonnie asked.

"Some guy tried grabbing me in the pub we went to..."

Bonnie gasped and Stu ruffled his nose, clearly angry.

"Are you okay?" Bonnie's voice was that of concern and a pinch of fear.

"Yes, I'm fine. The guy was a total jerk. By the way, dad, he was a rabbit, so, so much for your little lessons on the dangers of foxes."

Judy felt a momentary bout of regret for treating her father so badly, but his ignorance always seemed to overshadow his sense of judgment, and she desperately wanted him to approve of Nick, so much that it gashed at her emotions.

"How did Nick help, Jude?" Her father's voice was softer, giving Judy a feeling of appreciation that he was at least attempting civility.

"He grabbed the guy. Like, just _latched_onto him."

"Oh, my," Bonnie said, a hand on her mouth.

"He didn't hurt him," Judy quickly said. "He just...I've never seen him that angry before. And it was because someone was...someone was attempting to do something that I didn't want him to do..."

Her parents didn't respond and were instead allowing Judy to spill out whatever it was that needed to be said.

"I'm just..." Judy trailed off for a moment, rubbing her head with one paw. She let out a sigh slightly sprinkled with irritation. "I'm just really glad he was there for me is all, and I wanted you guys to know that."

"And we're glad he was there for you too, _right_Stu?" Bonnie nudged her husband's plump side.

Stu seemed to be suddenly broken free from his wandering mind.

"Yes.Yes! Absolutely," he blurted out.

"I'm sure he's a fantastic officer and friend," Bonnie said.

"He's..." Judy was trying to place her words correctly, "he's been there a lot for me, you guys. Ever since the Night Howler case. I couldn't have done it without him. And...even after that, he helps me with little things without me even asking him. I just wish he could meet you guys, you know, so you can see he's just more than some fox..."

Both sides of the line were quiet.

Stu was the first to speak up, shattering the silence.

"Jude, now you listen to me for a second." Her father's tone changed to complete seriousness.

Judy's ears poked straight up.

"Yes, dad?"

"We are so happy that you have found one fox out there who is willing to protect and serve with you. I know I can be...blunt and...rigid at times when it comes to foxes...but I can also recognize when my daughter has made a good decision..."

Judy could feel a smile creeping on her face.

"And," her father continued, "we'd love to get him on this chat line sometime so we can thank him personally. Knowing you're an amazing judge of character, if he's half as nice as you say, I'm sure he's absolutely wonderful."

Judy rested her chin against the top of her paw, her love for her parents rushing through in waves. Giddy was the only word that could describe her state of being at the moment. It was a small step forward, but it was the best thing she would be willing to get out of her father for now.

"Thanks, dad."

Bonnie gave a light squeeze around Stu's arm, a signal that she was proud of him.

"Well, we've got to get going, bun-bun. I think it's lights out for everyone here. We'll talk to you soon!" Bonnie said.

"Okay, mom. Bye, dad. Love you guys!"

"Love you too, honey," they both said.

"Stay safe, sweetheart," Bonnie squeezed in.

"I will."

The FaceTime application went black.

Judy sat back in the silence of her apartment, softly rubbing her arm with her other paw. The smile on her face, while still present, was gradually losing its vigor. She felt a small subsection of herself break free from the despondency that put her in a chokehold when she awoke this morning, but in the very same moment, she could not deny that a much larger part of her, seemingly colossal in scope when she thought about it too long, was not satisfied. What still lingered inside of her had been the initial reason she wanted to call. It was true she sought to speak to her parents and relay the events that took place two nights ago, it was true she wanted a familiar face to engage in conversation with, it was true she was homesick, but what she really wanted to communicate had yet to escape her lips. It rested under her tongue, and she feared what would happen when it had enough strength to escape. How could she even begin to do what needed to be done? How could she begin to describe to her parents that she had spent every waking hour for the last two days reliving the rush her body felt, the flutter in her stomach, the clamp in her chest at the sensation of Nick's lips pressed merely against her cheek for what felt like a millisecond? She couldn't. Because they could not grasp its scope, its implications; they would not allow it to filter through. And ever since that night, ever since Nick left through the stairwell, Judy understood that all of these past months of doubting herself was simply a façade she was putting on for the sake of complacency stamped onto the citizens of a city that did not welcome conventionalism toward predators and prey.

She was wearing a mask. She had been for a while now.

And it was all for a city that had once tried to kill her.

A thought suddenly came to her mind: Look inside yourself and recognize that change starts with you.

Hadn't that been what she had said when announcing Nick as Zootopia's first fox officer? Did it still hold the same meaning when she first spoke of it? Did it resonate as genuine?

It had to, she mused. If it didn't...

If it didn't, she was certain everything up until this point would have been a lie.

It would all just be...savage.

She shook her head. Then why was it so difficult to come to terms with what she could feel was happening to her?

But that question was foolish. The answer was simple. It lingered in the air and had fangs like a predator gone vicious.

Because this place won't let you.

Because they won't let you.

Since first being partnered with Nick, she always suspected there was something about him she was drawn to; it had been a personality attraction at first--his ability to include her in any situation, his brash and witty way of thinking, his outlook on terrible situations and the seemingly flawless strategies he would adopt to turn them into something funny--and it was all so foreign to her, exotic even, so much so that she had welcomed it with open arms. It eventually got to the point of Judy doing nothing but talking about Nick with her parents during their routine phone conversations, and when they commented about this phenomenon, she would admittedly never realize she had been doing it. Because in reality, she didn't realize she had--it simply projected from her, and she would brush it off as simple excitement at having a new coworker, eventually making excuses, sometimes ridiculous ones. And then, as the two of them spent more and more time with each other, a transformation occurred. Just like a spark, it happened with no warning: no longer was she only magnetized by what he said, but also what he did...and then...and then what he _looked_like. It could not be denied. She knew it was there, boastful and gargantuan, staring at her with lusty anticipation: a sexual attraction. It followed her when he stepped into the vehicle every morning and she would glance at his chest and legs and handsome facial features, and then when he would enter her apartment in a t-shirt and her eyes would slyly trail along his arms and biceps, and even when he went to grab something in the office and her vision was filled with his tail and toned behind and what he may look like without a shirt on. It was beginning to haunt her and lure her away from having thoughts about any mammal other than Nick. The fact that she had no way of communicating this to another animal made her feel all the more alone and confused.

She suddenly let out a frustrated sigh. She was tired of making mental guesses and needed something tangible to examine.

Her hand reached for her iPhone, and after putting her password in, she scanned through the text messages that were sent over the weekend, pressing her finger on the icon which contained the largest number. She wanted to reexamine the conversation that took place Saturday just to feel a sense of imaginative closeness, to read into the messages with faith that she might find the same frustration she was experiencing on his end.

She looked at her screen, her furry digit scrolling across each message:

Carrots: Hey, I wanted to thank u again for helping me at the pub.

Slick Nick: No thanks needed. The guy was a fucking jerk. He's lucky you're so understanding.

Carrots: Ya he was. But he was also smashed. I don't know if he would have ever done that otherwise.

Slick Nick: Still no excuse. He'd be rabbit-stew right now if it weren't for u.

Carrots: lol. And u might be in a padded cell right now if it weren't for me too.

Slick Nick: That might be true. By the way, I like how u are trying to twist my act of heroism into your doing. Selfish, selfish girl.

Carrots: lol shut up.

Slick Nick: Again with that knife in my chest. You are an evil one.

Carrots: So...I hope you don't mind me saying but u left so quickly that night.

Slick Nick: I did. Now that u mention it, I did.

Carrots: How come?

Slick Nick: I guess I was just emotionally drained. I don't know. It just happened. Why do you ask?

Carrots: I was just wanting to know. It all just took me by surprise. I don't know...I guess I just don't want it to get weird between us.

Slick Nick: Hey, emotional bunny! C'mon! It was just a little peck on the cheek. I didn't propose to you. Anyway, it wasn't something your mother wouldn't have done, right?

Carrots: I guess you're right.

Slick Nick: Righty-right.

Carrots: You're right. I'm being dumb. I don't know.

Slick Nick: I mean, picture a world where a fox and a rabbit would get together. What kind of world would that be?

Carrots: Would be crazy I guess.

Slick Nick: Would be interesting, that's for sure.

Carrots: I mean people have a hard enough time when a species tries to mix in with a sub-category of their own species.

Slick Nick: True.

Carrots: It kind of makes you wonder why it actually hasn't happened before though. With all the crazy stuff these days, why don't we ever see it?

Slick Nick: I think the answer is pretty simple actually.

Carrots: What?

Slick Nick: Because this place won't let you. Because they won't let you.

Judy looked up from her phone.

Because they won't let you.

_ _ She shook her head.

Quickly, she set her phone down and moved her paw across the tablet, navigating to the iTunes application. It was one of those rare times where she felt like the silence she has come to love so dearly may actually drive her insane, and in an attempt to fight it off, she made the decision of plugging in some music before she left for the night-shift briefing. Scrolling through the choices, she landed on one of her preferred artists and set it to a favorite song of hers. The tune helped remind her that this place, while jagged in its beliefs, could perhaps overcome its very own hypocrisies in the end; it reminded her that there was creativity in an otherwise tumultuous world, that the one ingredient people could use in in order to fight against pushback was their desire to connect to others and build new things; and most importantly, it reminded her of a simple thing she had almost forgotten about, something she held close to her as an up and coming officer, something that got her to where she was...hope. As she rose from her seat and trailed along her apartment, she found herself glancing at her furniture for no apparent reason. Everything looked like a rock to her right now, rigid and lifeless--a spider den where shadows were eaten. Her eyes scanned from one furnishing to another and then rested upon the newly organized bookshelf where she looked to the bottom shelf at the trashy Forgotten Desire novella hunkered in between more notable pieces of literature. She smiled at remembering Nick's expression when he had picked it up--he had looked so good standing there in her apartment, so chivalrous, and she was sure he hadn't noticed her sneaking in glances at his figure during the entire time he worked for her. She moved on, scooting over to a small shelf where one of her favorite photographs of Nick and her rested in a small gold frame, and she couldn't help but smile at how the image had been birthed: during their Howler case she had caught him off guard in the lower district as he attempted to take a selfie; she had leapt forward and jumped up onto his back, clasping her arms around his neck, and right as he took the photograph, it had captured a confused, nearly cross-eyed Nick in his Hawaii style shirt and tie and a vibrant Judy practically attached to his head like a Siamese twin.

She thought he deleted the photo.

She was sure of it.

That is, until he sent it to her as a text after becoming partners.

Because they won't let you.

Judy breathed out, rubbing a small sheen of dust off the photograph frame.

She shook her head again and then turned to gather her work materials.

After downing the rest of her coffee in a single gulp, she turned off the music, set her 9 millimeter GLOCK in place, made sure her mace and ZPD-Taser were secure, and then jangled the keys in her hand on her way out the door.

It was time for work. The brooding would need to wait for later.

The night was calling, and it sometimes was not pretty.

?

"Fields!"

"Here, sir."

"Mackleway!"

"Yah."

"Delgato!"

"Present."

"Wolford!"

"Yep."

"Hopps!"

"Here!"

"Wilde!"

"Be careful how you pronounce that name, sir."

There was a small titter among the group of seated officers.

Bogo stopped taking roll and lowered his reading glasses so that he could look up and give a simple shake of his head to Nick.

The smile spread upon the fox's face was gargantuan, every inch of his teeth showing. Both of his paws were clasped together and his ears stood straight up. To his left, Judy's tiny grey and white paw was over her mouth, stifling a grin.

What had just happened was an ongoing inside joke, but the joke of the matter had been that everyone was in on it at his point.

"One day, Officer Wilde," Bogo said. "Just _one_damn day I'd like a regular, orderly roll-call. It's not a lot to ask. For Bovine's sake, can't you do that for me? Like, as a courtesy? As an animal to another animal, can't you do that for me, please?"

Nick spread his arms. "And tarnish my reputation for introductory quips and puns? Sir, that is simply asking too much."

Bogo eyed the clock and then adjusted his reading glasses. It could have very well been the angle he stood at, but Nick could've sworn the chief had what appeared to be the slightest of amused looks on his face. "Now we're wasting time...to be continued, Wilde."

Nick lowered his head in fake shame.

"Oppelt!" Bogo started again.

"Right here."

The night shift debriefing room, where the officers sat pack-jammed in like sardines, was wide and lifeless, every inch of it either covered in plastered white walls or quarterly crime informational posters or whiteboards scribbled with red markers charting suspects and pending high-priority cases. A series of long rectangular tables rested upon the clean white-tiled floor and helped prop up each officer's water bottles, coffee, energy drinks, and any other booster brought along as an assistant for the arduous night of patrolling ahead; each officer knew the game, knew the rounds, and for a lot of them it was simply a battle of readjusting their internal clocks in an attempt to train their bodies to yet again shift into a routine that would end once they were used to it. That seemed to be the bulk of their lives--routine and readjustment and more routine. The thick windows to the eastern side of the room were mirroring everyone's attitude by nearing a sleeping stage, their blinds lethargically leaning down and nearly shut entirely, and very little light appeared to seep through as a result of the dim blue twilight overtaking every inch of the cityscape outside. Nick was scanning his eyes around all of these sights, simply thankful that he wasn't a sole trooper when it came to night-shift rounds because having someone to talk to helped make the ten-hour duty much more bearable. And the fact that the animal he would be sharing this time with is Judy simply was icing on the cake. He was trying not to think too deeply about the conversation he and Judy had had via text the night after the incident, and the reason was he feared he might interpret everything that was said incorrectly; it had been, what he felt, a profound exchange and a territory they'd never traversed as far as conversations went. In no way did he feel strange around her, but rather his curiosity about her inquiries made him feel all the closer to her, as if they could now tell each other secrets from within that they would not have before. She had been curious. That was the thing that struck Nick the most.

Why don't we ever see it?

At least the curiosity was there.

He glanced over to see that she was fixated on Bogo.

"Fangmeyer!"

"Yea, chief."

"Hotch!"

"Here."

"Pennington!"

"Yes."

Bogo's sacred podium rested untouched by any appendages other than his own, and it stood tall at the front of the room, his papers stacked in orderly fashion for the evening prepping. He would shuffle through them, his massive buffalo arms shifting underneath earthy gray-black fur, and then clear his throat before announcing the docket before dismissal. His demeanor--rigid and cool and at times merciless for the sake of being the commander-in-chief--had definitely lightened up since the revolutionary news-cycles of the Zootopia Police Department successes circulated every major network weeks after cracking the Howler case. The positive feedback had put him in an even better stance with the mayor than he had before and docked on a hefty friend bonus, so he couldn't help but feel anything but pride in knowing he headed the greatest department on this side of the world. Ever since hiring Nick, he could not find it in himself to dislike the shiftiness and resourcefulness that the vulpine had come packaged with, specifically his uncanny ability to hone in on anyone shady enough to evade the eye of a cop who didn't have nearly twenty years of experience out on the streets. These types of people could seemingly sniff each other out and Bogo recognized that as an asset especially in regards to what was going on now...even though it might have meant the occasional wisecrack at his expense during meetings.

The cape buffalo had behind him a large hanging map of Zootopia's various districts and precincts tacked with a spider web of red strings and pictures charting possible drug distributors paired with their whereabouts. Many of the photographs were ragged aye-ayes with their trademark eyes: a single black pupil floating in a deep pool of yellow. As per the reinstated Mayor Lionheart, it was Bogo's upmost priority for his force to patrol the streets and communicate with this particular species in an attempt to counterattack the influx of the newly synthesized crack-cocaine drug the animal kingdom has come to know as Haowl. The small, white, plastic-looking drug shards were usually found in miniature zip-lock baggies stamped with a cartoon style mouth that flashed white fangs, looking like something a child might have drawn at school while ignoring a lecture. While packing the rushing affects one would experience taking cocaine, the hybrid substance seemed to cause its users to experience a sensational euphoria juxtaposed by violent outbursts nearly in a manner associated with Phencyclidine; in fact, some of the other officers on the force, Marcus included, had seen its dirty work done through cases of broken car windows and perpetrator's shattered paws. It was, in all sense of the phrase, a powerhouse drug, and anyone associated with it who did not know what he or she was getting into usually wound up hurt or worse. Up until this point, Nick and Judy have not had any close encounters with the drug other than taking in several suspects who were later charged with distribution and intent to sell.

Tonight, the fact that they were going to assist in a special assignment in the Nocturnal District could very well mean their tally might increase tenfold.

"Alright, folks, I want to make this quick and painless," Bogo started, all small chatter immediately halting at his command. He tapped at his clipboard. "First item on the docket: Lawrence Reid with the DEA debriefed you all on possible whereabouts and methodologies behind the movement and distribution of the Haowl drug. Again, it can be found in baggies like these." Bogo held up an empty bag example for a moment, making sure everyone got another glimpse of it and the childlike insignia branded on its transparent body in blue ink. "As discussed by him, you are to be alert for any sketchy activity on the streets during the night hours by stand-alone aye-ayes and owls. They have been known to be the primary 'legs' of the drug. Regardless of the _type_of individual you stop, we do know these hustlers seem to work as rogues and keep a low profile, so keen eyes are essential." Bogo seemed to be staring directly at Nick when he said the last part. He continued by saying, "Given the limited information we know, we cannot say for sure who may be heading the operation, if it's a combined effort, or where the shipping of these drugs are coming from."

One of the officers raised his hand.

"Snarlof," Bogo called.

"Do we know yet if the Shaw lead has any legs?"

"No we don't. That's still pending as of now. Wolford and Higgins have been briefed on everything that's been going on and will dispatch tonight undercover to assist the others. Hopps and Wilde will be their bird's eye tonight. We're hoping to see some movement soon."

In the back of the room, the undercover Timber Wolf was scratching the thick mounds of white and black tangled fur surrounding his broad neck and had resting on him an aye-aye costume not quite put on all the way, hanging from below his breast which was covered in a blue ZPD t-shirt. Higgins, his consistent partner-in-crime, was donned in casual street clothes and adjusted a large, fake, brown beard that clung around a rounded hippopotamus face topped off with large black-rimmed prescription glasses. Their reputation for being walking chameleons preceded them in such a way that it would have been an error on Bogo's part to not make them a part of the most current trail the department was sniffing out, and the fact that they would be paired with Nick and Judy acting from a distance as a scope of their movements made them a force not to be reckoned with.

"Okay," Snarlof said, ending his inquiry.

"At any rate," Bogo continued, "we need to be diligent and supportive. Any new information must be reported back to HQ asap. That could very well mean the difference between a successful capture or evasion. Everybody got that?"

A nod of every officer's head rang the approval.

"Good. Second item: Connie is out sick tonight, so if you want to turn in any reports or tickets, you'll want to swing by William's office before you start your shift. I want clean and safe roads tonight, folks. Don't let anything escape you. Be proud to be a part of the system that makes this place of predators and prey work." He let the last part of his instruction sink in with everyone and then continued with, "Let's make it a good one. Questions?"

Statuesque bodies gave Bogo the signal to proceed.

"Dismissed!" he announced in his gruff tone.

Every officer immediately rose from their seat, some grabbing their drinks or paperwork and began to shuffle out. Wolford quickly snapped his costume over his head, adjusted the headpiece, moved his fake yellow eyes about to make sure they registered properly, and then gave a series of quick hand slaps, similar to a secret handshake, to Higgins.

"Let's rock," Wolford said.

"Hell yea," Higgins responded in a fake foreign accent.

On their way out, Wolford sauntered next to Nick and gave him a pat on the back.

"Beast, you and Firecracker got us tonight?"

"You know it," Nick responded. "Any word or mess, we'll roll in and clean it up."

"Alright, man. See you two in the fray."

They gave each other a swift fist bump before Wolford turned and walked out with Higgins, working ahead to set up their post in the Nocturnal District before their backup arrived.

In the distance, Bogo's large lugging frame came walking toward Nick and Judy.

"Wilde! Hopps!"

"Yes sir," they said in unison, immediately straightening their postures.

Bogo knelt down and put a hand on each of their shoulders.

"You two keep your eyes peeled. I'm not kidding when I say I only put my best officers on the highest priority cases. Understood?"

"We won't let you down, chief," Judy said.

"Don't get that floppy tail of yours in a mess, sir. We've got this," Nick said with a smile.

Bogo's minute smirk gave them enough of a response they needed. He patted both of their shoulders and then rose to leave the room.

Nick straightened his uniform out and then turned to Judy.

"You ready?"

"Not yet," she said with a small sigh, flipping through a ream of papers in her hand. "I need to drop off some stuff to William first. I'll meet you in the office before we head, okay?"

"Sounds good." Nick turned to walk out the door but then spun around suddenly. "Want something from the snack machine? You look a little frazzled."

Judy could feel a smile coming over her face at remembering she had told her parents Nick did little things for her without her asking.

Nick raised one dark red eyebrow, perplexed. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing," Judy said. "I just thought of something random. And now that you mention it, I wouldn't complain if you had a Red Bull in your paw once we got started."

"Rocket fuel for rabbits? I don't know if I approve. That sounds like a heart-attack waiting to happen..."

"That's okay, you can save me if I pass out." Judy could feel the sentence catch in her throat as soon as it wafted passed her palate, and she immediately had to accept the fact that she had been thinking it but didn't intend the words to actually flow from her; it was another one of those moments where she could feel her emotions taking over rather than the part of her brain that filtered everything else through. She could not help but rapidly peer left and right to make sure no one else heard her. Thankfully, every other officer had departed. She tried her hardest to mentally combat the blush she knew was overtaking her, but when her purple eyes slowly shifted up to see Nick's reaction, she felt herself put in an even more awkward positon at seeing his muzzle upturned in a smirk that made her feel as though he was admiring her.

His signature look of confidence was positively beaming.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you, Carrots?" he asked slyly before turning around and leaving.

Judy was left standing with a sheen of red overtaking her fur. She cleared her throat, quickly shuffled her papers together, and made her way toward the ticket processing section of the debriefing station in an attempt to outrun her embarrassment.

Her mind prodded her: Cheese and crackers! Did you honestly just say that out loud!? Stupid, dumb bunny! Stupid! Stupid!

_ _ At this point, all she wanted to do was turn in her tickets and pretend like the entire scene didn't just play out.

But it did, and it seemed like Nick had yet again won another round. And what was even more profound was that she had not denied his question.

Her silence had been her answer.

Several halls down, feeling good with himself, Nick navigated through the building to one of the soda and juice machines. He took from his wallet a dollar, fed the crisp bill in the slot, and then picked out the drink Judy requested. While doing so, he caught his faint reflection from the glass on the machine and saw just how deeply affected he was through his eyes; they spoke to him about a challenge he never imagined he would have to face up until now, a battle that did not involve scandal nor danger nor money, but rather pure, unfettered emotion. Never had he experienced something of this magnitude; the only thing that came close was when he lived in his old home with his mother, but that had been a different emotional match. He'd contemplated many times that Friday night, after making his way back home, to turn around, climb the stairs to her apartment, knock on her door, and then take her in a deep and relentlessly passionate kiss when she answered. And it terrified him. The act itself did and the aftermath even more: how would they begin to cope with life in general on a scale that could even come close to normalcy if that happened? Would things transpire into a torrent of questions, trials and tribulations...discrimination even? The thought alone of even attempting to hold hands in public made him feel queasy, and it was in all of these flashes of scenarios and doubts and impositions in his mind that he realized just how much he sometimes hated his over analytical brain's inability to flow with his body. Everything in him told him to pursue what he wanted--he was a predator after all--but in the same stride he couldn't bring himself to do so. He clutched the Red Bull in his paw, trying to surge some energy out of himself and into the inanimate object. He walked through the ghost-white halls to the bullpen offices where he sat down in his chair before scrounging through his paperwork to double check on any documents he might need to turn in.

Complication was such a bitch.

He thought he'd escaped it after discarding the life of a conman, but in reality it only exacerbated things.

After grabbing a paperclip, heard a light knock behind him.

Turning his seat around, he saw Marcus standing in the doorway with a neutral look on his face. He had one hand in his pocket.

"Nick, can I talk to you?"

Nick slightly tilted his head to the side and then said, "Sure thing, man." He flipped through two of his arrest logs before setting them on his lap. "What's up?"

"So, you know...about Friday..."

Nick put his paw up and closed his eyes before saying, "Listen. I had a blast other than the little issue that happened. Seriously. I never did get a chance to thank you for the invite. And I hope that what happened won't prevent you from ever inviting me to something again. I really do like hanging out with you guys."

"No, no! Not at all. Shit, man. We all had a blast."

"Yea?"

"Yea. And about that other thing. You know, I've talked with Bernhard, and he's really sorry, and he--

"Listen, Marcus," Nick interrupted, setting his papers aside and crossing his paws together. He leaned back in his chair. "I love having you as a friend. Seriously, you're really fun to be around, and I know you don't like conflict, which is why I admire you. You're like a happy medium for everyone; it's...I couldn't do that with certain animals, so naturally I'm somewhat envious. But...I also do know that because you don't like conflict, you're willing to speak on behalf of that little shit. And as a friend, I probably would have too." Marcus was nodding, waiting for Nick to relay his point entirely. "But here's the thing: I don't care what his excuse was, I don't care if he claims he was drunk, I don't care what his intentions were. He did what he did. It was his choice. All I know is Judy was freaked out more than I'd seen her in a while, and she clearly didn't want it to happen...and that's all I need to know. He played his cards that night; it wasn't a pretty hand. That tells you a lot about a person...more than you can imagine. I would know. And as far as how the future will look, rest assured I'll come running to him if we ever get a 10-00. I'm not even shittin' you. I'll be the first to rush there and help him. But...outside of the line of duty, if that little fucking prick comes near me, or worse, her, you're going to be picking me up in one of the rigs and it'll be the worst day of our lives. That's what I know. And I think that's something he should know too."

Nick looked down at his papers in his lap and slowly began adjusting them in order.

The office was ghostly quiet for a moment until Marcus spoke up.

"It's...it's just a shame that it has to be like this." His voice was distraught yet an understanding remained in its crevices.

"Hey, I'll be the first to tell you I don't like it either. I'd rather just move on, but he's put himself here. It was his doing. And now we're...in this place. If he wanted limbo, well...he got it."

"Yea."

"And..." Nick stopped in an attempt to find how he wanted to phrase the next part of his conversation. "I just wouldn't be true to myself or true to my partner if I pretended like it didn't happen."

Marcus nodded and leaned against the doorframe. He seemed to be taking in everything that was said.

"You know," he began, "she's very lucky to have a partner like you."

Nick's maw slithering into a smile was the only response.

"I'm serious!" Marcus said, his own canine-toothed grin coming to fruition. He put his paw up to his chest. "Loyalty is a harder thing to find these days than you'd think. I mean, I know as officers we usually are, but out there, man, it's a circus. You two are something else, I'll tell 'ya."

"Thanks, Marcus."

Marcus turned his head to look down the hallway and then eyed Nick. His voice lowered an octave, a tone reserved solely for gossip, and his tail flicked behind him in apparent excitement.

"By the way, Amy told me that Samantha blew up in your face and not in the way that I thought would happen."

Nick laughed. "Yea, you could say that. I have to tell 'ya though: being called a 'fucking asshole' was not a first on my list, so I didn't quite take it as hard as someone else would have."

"Ha! Well, I was told by Amy the night after that there's all sorts of wrong with that girl. Like skeletons in the closet and then some, so it was probably for the best. What'd you say to her anyway?"

"I basically, probably, might have sort of called her a whore."

Marcus threw his head back and let out a laugh.

"That'll do it...that would do it, my friend," he said.

"Yea, let's just say she was a little more than pissed."

"I bet."

"She wasn't my type anyway," Nick said flatly.

Marcus crossed his arms and stood for a while. His face morphed back into a neutral expression and his eyelids slid down into crescent moons. "Speaking of which, man. I was wondering...I mean...don't take this the wrong way..."

Nick looked up at Marcus, waiting.

"Do you and--

"Hey Marcus!" a voice cheerily said.

Marcus's entire body flinched at the sudden interruption that appeared down by his thigh. He looked to see Judy standing by the doorframe.

"Shit, Hopps! Damn near scared me to death!"

"Sorry!" she laughed. She stuck her thumb toward the hallway exit and was looking directly at Nick. "Hey, we need to head out. Bogo says Wolford and Higgins will need to check in on their mics soon."

Nick rose from his seat and patted Marcus's back on the way out.

"Duty calls, Fields. I'll see you later."

"Alright. You guys be safe now."

"Always," Nick said, throwing his voice behind him.

While walking down the hall to the parking garage, Judy looked at Nick and said, "So...what'd Marcus have to say about things?"

Nick thought for a moment of avoiding the crux of the conversation, but his respect for his partner overrode even white lies.

"He said Bernhard was sorry for everything. I told him I don't want to see that prick outside of our duties and that if he came near you shit would go down."

Judy was quiet.

She said after a moment, "I hope that doesn't happen..."

"Me neither. The little bastard is stupid, but I don't think he's that stupid. You just let me know if he tries pulling any shit with you. I'll straighten his ass out if he does."

Again, Judy was silent, and when Nick looked down at her, he saw that her face could have been holding in an inner smile of satisfaction.

At least that's what he hoped.

The two officers made their way to the parking garage, and entered their vehicle.

Judy jangled the keys in her hand and then started the car.

"Ready for a fantastic night on the town?" Nick joked.

"If by fantastic you mean scoping out the scum of the earth, then yes."

"Couldn't have said it better myself."

Judy set the car in reverse and then they were off.

On their way over, Nick couldn't help but watch everything zoom by with a look of content impressed upon his face.

At night the city was among one of the most glorious landmarks an animal could imagine; it stood at the epicenter of what was a mesh of landmasses that had no business associating with one another--frozen mountains to the north, rolling hills to the south, lush rainforests to the west, and lifeless sands to the east--but the true beauty sung out of this metropolis's metallic mouth when it dressed itself for the occasion in jewels and gold and twinkling lights during the darkest hours. Markets jostled, nightclubs blasted Urban Tribe's "Her" from surround sound systems the size of boats, and skyscrapers of chrome and steel and rebar designed by the newest and greatest architectural innovators of this time twisted and piked upward like spears held by warriors, but these weapons of war were more than merely a tool and had been adorned in vibrant neon lights that strobed or stayed stagnant for all to admire. Beauty paired with ferocity--an interesting contradiction, but Zootopia, this haven of parallels and paradoxes, was the only place that could pull it off effectively. Transit systems wound their way into the body of the city and followed along busy cars and automated street lights. Nick and Judy were only one of the many thousands of these busy cars currently trying to maneuver their way in and out of the city, and as his partner attempted to steer her way to their desired point of interest, Nick took quick bits of moments to look over and admire her figure barely illuminated by the outside chaos shining in the driver side window.

Wolford and Higgins's objective tonight was to stake out one of the heaviest known areas to exchange Haowl, the Nocturnal District Quadrant 2. It was a dilapidated scab of Zootopia, an urban nightmare where small street side markets were overtaken by hustlers and swift selling dope slingers who would loiter against building walls with toothpicks in their mouths just so that they could lure teens into an alleyway where they would exchange the latest and greatest drug for pocket cash in the hopes of getting them hooked. Because that's all it took: one time, one hit, and you came crawling back like a prostitute desperate for money. In here, in this place of perfect imperfection, that was the new circle of life. Bringing in any person affiliated with the drug and parading them with questions was the only weapon the department had in its arsenal, and so far, all of the leads have either turned out dead from lack of evidence or verified false by outside parties. After their first dangerous incident working together, Nick and Judy were actually happy they would not be the ones going into the field--being nearly mauled by a jaguar and playing Tarzan in the Rainforest District was enough action for either of them for a long, long while, and Bogo had enough sense to recognize and accept their want for a more moderate policing routine. Nick was looking out of his passenger side window at the trash getting caught in the drain systems and the garbage piling into mountainsides in between each building; it looked of a war zone blasted into oblivion. Among most of the quadrant subsections in Zootopia, this one was by far the filthiest.

It reminded him a bit of his home before he had left for good.

It reminded him of a shattered vixen.

A crackling sound emitted from the radio in their vehicle and Wolford's voice rang through.

"We're at point. You read me?"

Nick's ears perked up, and he grabbed the two-way radio currently tapped into Wolford and Higgins's mics.

Judy idled the vehicle into an alleyway set next to a small fenced off parking lot. They had a perfect view of where the two undercover officers were staked out. Pleased with her positioning, she turned off the vehicle engine.

"10-4," Nick responded. The audible click of the signal dying after sending and receiving a message sounded off.

"Alright," Wolford started, "gonna' be real discreet after this. Area seems like a hot bed."

"Roger."

Judy had a pair of binoculars out and would occasionally look in them at the disguised Wolford and Higgins. They seemed to be standing near a dimly lit section of packed convenience stores so close to one another they appeared to be one outlet. Wolford's aye-aye suit was impeccable and Higgin's clothes and disguise put him in good stances as no one who walked by them seemed to do any double-takes.

"Well...time to sit and wait," Judy said, putting the binoculars in her lap.

"The excitement is too much for me to handle."

Judy giggled and then reached over to take a swig of her Red Bull.

"Thanks for this, by the way," she said tipping the can toward Nick.

"Not a problem. You looked like you needed it."

"Yea..." Judy trailed off.

They were both mute for a lapse of time.

"So, what's up?" Nick queried, breaking the silence. "You just tired? I know switching back and forth can be a bitch at times."

"Partially. Yea. You could say that's part of it."

"And what else?"

"I don't know," Judy sighed. "I guess...I guess I'm just thinking about what's going to happen when Bernhard tries to apologize to me. You know it's going to happen sooner or later, even with him knowing you don't approve. I mean, how am I supposed to act?"

"Supposed to? I'd imagine you'd react by how you feel."

"I know..." Judy stopped for a second. "But...what if what I feel is the need to accept his apology? I mean, I don't like the idea of there being bad blood in the department."

Nick had both of his paws behind his head and was leaned back in his seat.

"Well...then...that's what you'll do, I guess."

"Do you think that would be the right choice?" Judy was looking directly at Nick now.

"Not if it's something you truly don't feel deep down. Personally, I know I don't want that dick-wad around me, period. Not after that crap he pulled. But...I mean if you really don't feel as though he meant anything by it, you're left to do what you want."

"Hmm..." Judy was deep in thought, not satisfied yet.

Nick caught onto this and turned his body slightly toward her. "Listen," he started, "I don't want you to think accepting his apology would somehow insult me. Because it won't, trust me. I'm a big boy. I can handle it. You make your own decision. Don't let someone else control your life; that shit's too complicated and annoying. It can fuck you up royally and just make you bitter in the end. Do what you want. If you'll feel better knowing he isn't constantly looking at you for approval, then give him the courtesy of accepting his lame-ass apology."

Judy's auxiliary incisors shone in the darkness of the car, a true tell sign she was beaming with a wide smile.

"That sound okay?" Nick asked.

Judy's eyes were now half-lidded. Even in near darkness, she looked stunning to Nick, and he tried to battle the impulse to reach over and gently touch her face with his paw.

"Why are you so nice to me?" she asked in a gentle tone.

He turned back and leaned in his seat.

"Because you have that effect on me, Fluff." He clasped both paws together and was fiddling with his thumbs in order to keep them at bay. His face lit up and he suddenly said, "It must be that cute little button nose of yours."

"Oh,whatever!" Judy laughed and reached over only to playfully slap Nick's shoulder.

Still smiling, she raised the binoculars to her head again and looked over at the stakeout point.

"They're talking to someone," she said with seriousness in her voice.

Nick straightened up in his chair.

Judy handed him the binoculars and he peered through them. Two tall aye-ayes, both looking ragged and scruffy and painfully skinny, were talking with the disguised Wolford and Higgins. By the looks of things, the conversation seemed to be flowing organically and neither party seemed too rigid in their body stances or quick in their hand movements to hint at any shenanigans taking place. This was a good sign--perhaps their capture of more Haowl customers would be easier tonight than they had initially thought; the only problem though was that the two officers could not initiate the first word of selling a drug they did not have because of the possibility of entrapment. It was now the move of these two. They would have to dig their own graves.

After several minutes, the two aye-ayes walked off.

"Dead end," Wolford's voice projected through the radio. "Fuckin' punks were tryin' to hustle us but not for the good stuff. We'll nail 'em another day."

"Should've called me over there," Nick said.

"Ha. And let you screw with the vibe? Sorry, red-man, but no go there. You just sit back and watch masters at work."

"Masters? For your information, Oh-Great-One, if you slouched your shoulders slightly and leaned your elbow against the railing next to you, you might look more inviting and attract more buyers."

There was a long pause. "...fuck off..."

"Love you too, you big fuzz-ball."

"10-4."

Nick set the radio down and looked back at Judy. She was smiling at Nick's banter with Wolford.

"So...what else is new in the life of Miss Hopps?"

"What's else is new," she repeated distantly. Her face shed itself of her jovial expression, not entirely but enough to notice.

"Yea."

She gave this some thought and appeared to be debating whether or not to say what was on her mind as revealed by her mouth which opened for only a moment but then clamped shut in the same breath. Nick had seen this reaction of hers before and found it amusing, incredibly cute even, to the point where he would simply look at her and feign waiting for a response, but in reality, his eyes would scope out every sensual part of her, from her slight yet toned frame to the dark grey tips of her ears and even the cream white pattern of white fur on the insides of her paws. After their text session during the weekend, he made a pact with himself to stop fighting the undeniable fact that he was, by every measure of the phrase, attracted to her, and rather than make excuses for himself, he began to wallow in the feeling it gave him like a swine in mud; it was utterly intoxicating, surreal yet fitting, and made him feel like a grade-school kit experiencing his first crush. Some might even call it freeing. How could it be anything but right for him to want to feel a sense of satisfaction for someone who not only saved his life but also taught him how to be more compassionate? For someone who taught him to be true with himself? It couldn't be anything else. It simply couldn't. And he was beginning to feel a courage perpetuate itself within him; the same type of courage he created for himself over and over again in the past when things went awry, when the heat got too overwhelming, when his demons attempted to usurp his upbeat personality. She made this happen. It was her doing, and her face, even when confronted with uncertainty, told him he could begin to feel this way and not be afraid.

It spoke to him with no words and whispered without making a sound.

But then it did.

"Well," she began, clearing her throat, jolting him from his mental chamber, "remember how you and I were having that..._hypothetical_conversation about...interspecies relationships?"

This caught the fox off guard. What came out of his mouth was more of a sharp breath of air rather than a response.

Judy continued with, "And then you said 'because they won't let you' when I asked why we never see it?"

His heart skipping a beat, Nick could feel his chest tightening and hoped his ears hadn't perked up too high although he was sure it was already too late.

"Yes," he was all he said in a monotone voice. "I remember."

"I was curious after that. I mean, you know how I am. I like to research whenever I'm not sure about certain facts..."

Judy seemed to be prefacing whatever it was she was getting at and Nick picked up on this based on her tone. She was looking at random objects in the car, not quite making eye contact with him.

"Yea?" Nick asked.

"Yea. So...I searched on Google and figured out that according to the Zootopia Bureau of Statistics, in this city alone, as much as twelve percent of the population could very well be living secret relationships with another species."

Nick's brows furrowed. He sat thinking about this for a moment and what eventually slid out of his maw was simply, "You serious?"

"So says last year's anonymous polls," Judy shrugged.

Nick's claw scratched at the side of his muzzle. His bewilderment and fascination muddled his facial features.

"Twelve percent," he repeated.

"Twelve." Judy's voice was distant.

"And, like...what do they do?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean...day-to-day. Like, how do they function?"

"I don't know," Judy said, shaking her head. "They probably just live normal lives in the presence of others, but in private...well, you know..."

Nick looked over at Judy to see she was staring at the steering wheel. He thought she could very well be blushing based on how low her ears were drooping down and her head which closed in near her shoulders.

"What's even crazier is the fact that you said 'in this city alone'," Nick said.

"I know..."

"I guess those animals aren't letting the 'because this place won't let you' attitude screw with their heads."

"I guess so. But they sure are keeping it hidden."

Nick looked down.

No other words were spoken after that. Both animals stayed quiet for a long time and instead let the outside world sing its song of car engines and horns and machinery.

An exchange, a breath, a murmur, an alternative route of conversation; that's all it took to divert elsewhere, but neither of them took the initiative.

Instead, they let what was building churn and bubble. They let it fester.

Because in this place of perfect imperfection it would forever be there. It would make itself a home, and neither wanted it to leave.

Not a move. Not a glance. Not a word.

The moment remained in the void.

And then something happened they did not anticipate: it was gone as fast as it came.

"This place," Nick suddenly said, "can be cruel, can't it."

"Yea," Judy agreed.

"But at the same time, its...strange how it draws you in."

Judy was looking out of her driver side window. She thought of the dead boy.

"It makes you like it, then it bludgeons you every once in a while," she said.

Nick nodded.

"But we can't really do anything other than roll with it," he said. "True..."

"How do you manage to do that?"

She turned her body and actually laid herself on her side as much as one could in a vehicle seat, putting both paws against her cheek like they were small pillows. Being able to talk in such serious strides with the fox sitting next to her was something she could only do with him and no one else. It gave her a sense of comfort to know he could console her even when she didn't necessarily need it. This had been a slow progression, the ability to do this with one another, and while they may have spoken seriously during their first case, it did not compare to the verbal intimacy they were building upon each time they initiated a heart-to-heart conversation. It was a thing good friends did, but it was also something very good friends may have a hard time doing. And it was in that very thought that either of them had difficulty figuring out where they stood on the spectrum of closeness. If it was charted, if they could physically see it, what might have been revealed could be terrifying.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"What do you do to fight...to fight against all the bullshit?"

"I don't know. I guess what everyone else would do. You know...thinking, movies, inspiration, cheesy stuff. Meditation on my balcony. I don't know. What do you do?"

"Apart from masturbation?"

For a moment, Judy remained quiet, slightly taken aback, and then burst into laughter. Nick joined her almost immediately. They must have looked ridiculous from a passerby, rolling around in a cop car seat like schoolchildren, laughing unabashedly, but they didn't hold back. She grabbed ahold of her tiny stomach and then wiped her eyes when she managed to calm down.

A sigh escaped her mouth and she settled back in her original position.

"Yes, dumb, perverted fox," she said, "apart from that, what do you do?"

"Well..." he thought for a moment, trailing off, and then blurted out, "a good song."

"A song?"

"Yea. Something that gets you going." He was suddenly nodding as if agreeing with himself. "Yea! Music, right? That's big for most animals, I think."

"Music," Judy said, her tone suggesting she was agreeing with him. "That's definitively a big one. I do that too."

"But not that Gazelle stuff..." Nick said, eyeing her.

Judy gave Nick a slight look of disapproval, and he chuckled at her lowered brows.

"Hey! Don't hate me because I'm...picky," Nick said. "She's okay at times, but you know there's better stuff out there!"

"Okay," Judy said while rolling her eyes, "I'll give you that."

"Give me one other than her," Nick said with a smile.

"One better than her..."

"Yea. One you actually legitimately enjoy. Something that helps you forget. Stuff you dance to in your apartment without anyone seeing you."

Nick thought of that mental picture as soon as it flew from his mouth, and he couldn't help but envision she would do so in nothing but a lacy, very risqué bra and panties. For fear of establishing himself into a froth, he tried to shake off the fantasy, but his efforts were all for naught: he couldn't help picturing that well-exercised frame of hers, miniscule in stature yet fitting in the right areas, slowly gyrating left and right without a single care imprinted upon any part of her; she would be doing this in the very same living room he had been in only days ago, upon the very same carpet he had set his paws on as he had sat on her couch pretending like nothing was happening in his mind with her. Deeper. Yes. Down there. Now. Going in even deeper, he invented the idea that perhaps she would be edging her backside against him as he stood behind her, his hands hovering around her rounded flesh and then they would find themselves slowly wrapping around the curve of her hips in an effort to grasp ahold of her so that he may lean his head down toward hers from behind; so close, a heat lingering between their breaths, a slight moan escaping from her lips. Stop it! His mind brought him out of his reverie and did so by guiding his eyes back up toward something lacking any eroticism: the two officers staked out near the convenience store were still standing, waiting, and Nick noticed that Wolford had actually taken Nick's advice by leaning his body against the railing and was adding in his own casual display of nonchalance by twisting what could have been a piece of string between his fingers although it was hard to tell at this distance without the binoculars in hand.

The frazzled vulpine looked to Judy in the hopes she hadn't noticed his wandering expression.

She was smiling.

"Dancing without anyone seeing me?" She rose one of her dark grey eyebrows. "Have you been spying, Mr. Wilde?"

Nick cleared his throat. "Maybe. Yes, actually. You got me. I've been recording you and selling it to naughty sites like 'Down-the-rabbit-hole' and 'Fluffy-Fantasies.com'."

Judy giggled.

"You're horrible," she said. "And how would you know of those?"

"I just do. And by the way, _you're_avoiding the question, Cottontail."

"Okay, okay! Something that gets me going." Judy remained still for a second before sheepishly taking out her phone, putting in her password, and beginning rifling through the music library. She found what she wanted.

The song from this morning.

"Don't ask anything," she said, clearly trepidations of Nick's judgement, "just listen. Okay?"

"Alright."

"Seriously."

"Okay."

"Just don't make a big--

"Carrots! Stop!" He was laughing. "Christ!" He put a hand over his heart. "I promise, Little-Paranoid-Hopps, that I'll pretend to like it even if I don't!"

Judy tilted her head, a small smirk pressed on her lips.

"Fine. Here we...go..."

She put her phone on the middle console and quickly hit the play button.

From the speakers came forth a lyrical poem dressed in red, and it was in this era of slow acceptance where the two biologically opposing officers--creatures who in primal days would have been pure and stringent enemies--sat amidst a dangerous plot of land and saw everything else seem to dissolve into nothingness right before their very eyes. It asexually produced negative space into infinity, and the outside world slowed itself for them so that they may catch up. But did they really want to? Probably not. The people walking on the concrete slabs lining the roadways, the lights hanging high and out of reach, the hustle of every other story other than their own--this all ceased to remain active and left them simply sitting in a vehicle with a song that brought Nick's breathing into a steady murmur, a near held breath in fact because of how he was lulled into contentment. What projected from her phone was a layered dream pop ballad not about love but it very well could have been; it could have been about death...it did not matter because it spoke of chances and shadows and darkness and time; it reminded Nick that if he focused hard enough, if he recalled his past in just the right slots of time, he might have the power to make himself disappear in the cracks of this city of perfect imperfection and contemplate whether or not he would be missed. He would smile though because he would find that he did not care for the answer. He would find that all he cared about was sharing this moment with Judy, sharing this song with her. And it was because it gave her pleasure. It gave her pleasure to know she produced something he enjoyed. Not quite melancholy but on the verge of setting itself into a gray area, the music was in fact something he could imagine the little rabbit meditating to while sitting outside on her apartment balcony before staring her busy day. He genuinely liked it, and unbeknownst to him, it was apparent Judy saw this because she would glance over at him during different points in the melody and smile at how his paws were clasped together and how his head, with closed eyes, leaned back on the seat cushion as he ate away at every vocal expression and keyboard note and guitar tone that was birthed.

Her fear of his mocking was entirely gone.

She had won this battle, and it made her feel wonderful.

"It's_very_ good." Nick said, turning his muzzle slightly as the music neared its end.

Like a giddy child, Judy simply rocked herself left and right in her seat. Her shoulders raised up close to her head.

"Knew you'd like it," she beamed.

Nick nodded. He looked up and his smirk immediately turned itself upside down. Judy noticed this and she pointed her eyes in the direction Nick was looking.

Wolford and Higgins were standing in a way that made both of their ears perk up. The two officers in disguise were rigid, clearly looking at something from a distance that did not bode well with them.

The beep of the radio cut through the song which was then followed by Wolford's voice.

"Shit's happening. 240 in progress."

The music died.

Time regained its power.

In a matter of seconds, as every officer was trained to do, Judy and Nick threw their euphoria and escalating emotions away as if they were disposable canisters and exited the vehicle, beginning to cautiously walk next to the juxtaposed building toward Wolford and Higgins who were still looking down the road toward whatever was taking place; their posture had not changed, although they appeared to be on the defensive. Nick lowered his frame by slightly ducking down because with his sensitive ears he could hear loud talking and a clear scuffle of some kind taking place around the corner of the brick building. His partner who lagged behind him took suit and placed her hand against her sidearm, ready to draw if the assault proved to be something out of control. Echoes, voices, then a thud. A shouting could be heard, low and deep, and then much louder, but before anyone could react, three booms--the blast and crackle of a high caliber pistol--reverberated throughout the tall buildings like a screeching wail of pain, and in a reactive moment, Wolford and Higgins immediately dropped down to one knee, both of them quickly brandishing their weapons and taking cover as much as they possibly could within the doorway of the convenience store they had been standing in front of. The gunfire had not been aimed at them, but four more shots sounded off, and then a successive two from what could have been forty or fifty feet from Nick and Judy's current position; their reaction had been complete instinct and police ritual under these circumstances: the swift and flawless unclasping of their police sidearm and Nick's quick 10-71 code into his radio. Someone was yelling "fuck" and then a car being lit up boomed from a distance, burning rubber, screeching, a shatter of a window, and then a high pitched scratch of what could have been a blunt object being thrown at something. Things were moving fast. What sounded like more shouting ensued, and the tin of metal being pierced by bullets rang out loud. Nick threw his body against the brick building and exposed his head only slightly around the corner to see that a black and white Alpha Romeo 4C sports car was turned on, its lights beaming across the darkened and barren street, and a flash was emitting from its opened window; it could have been a lighter, or some strange flashlight, but it wasn't. It made itself known quickly. The blast of another pistol rang out a millisecond after the flash and made contact with a dark blue van that had been parked across from the sports car on the other side of the road; two animals were huddled behind the van, and a third one was laying on the cold pavement, apparently shot, bleeding out. He was stationary, his body a large black mound of mass on an otherwise flattened surface, and he was not making a sound. He could have already been dead. In an attempt to escape, the sports car revved its engine and then began to speed off, but not before being shot at by the remaining two animals behind the van; a thunderclap of smoke and gunpowder recoiled from their weapons, trailing off into the night air, and then the two animals were huddling themselves into the vehicle. Contact had been made, and the sound of glass could be heard tinkling against asphalt before the sports car veered off and smashed into a light pole, bending it down at a nasty angle like an Ulna bone snapped in half. The light flickered out like death's call and the wiring near the top of the pole fizzled out a rain of sparks until it died off completely, the power source now gone. Nick had his gun pointed at the car and Judy ducked down low, turning her body toward the van which was beginning to maneuver around and make its way through the streets. Wolford and Higgins took off at a dead sprint, running toward the van in an attempt at apprehending the drivers before they gathered too much speed, but before the officers could even come close to it, the car was screaming away, meshed into a city of lights and dreams, and then it was gone entirely. Nick made his way over to the sports vehicle, and he could tell, even in the dark, that the driver was dead; his arm hung from the opened driver side window and was drooling a trail of blood onto the ground below like a hose with a hole in it. Standing next to the door, Nick saw that the aye-aye, probably in his twenties, had been shot in the head with an exit wound the size of a golf ball; a blast of brain matter and skull and fur had been sprayed onto the leather seats next to him, and the driver's tongue hung from his mouth like a sleeping feral dog, nearly bitten in half by clasping fangs that would set in with rigor mortis as time passed.

"Fuck..." Nick whispered.

Judy, her sidearm still drawn but pointed toward the ground, made her way over to Nick.

"Something's wrong here," she said. "Look."

Nick turned to see that the vehicle's trunk door was slightly ajar and bent strangely.

From down the street, they could see Wolford and Higgins jogging toward them, still on the lookout for anyone nearby. Sirens in the distance called out for reassurance. Backup. Their brothers and sisters would be coming shortly. Wolford's mask had been removed and his ragged wolf fur danced with every step of his feet. Higgins, even with his sluggish frame, had managed to keep up at a good pace behind his partner and was kneeling next to the shot animal in the distance; he shook his head, his beard still stuck to his face even throughout the entire scene.

"We got somethin' here, boys," Nick said. His pistol was pointed toward the opened vehicle trunk.

Judy nodded at Nick and he nodded back. She quickly pushed up the trunk.

This place can be cruel.

_ _ Deeper.

Down there.

Now.

The bat had been hog-tied, both arms stretched behind his back and both ankles clamped together by sturdy rope; his long mouth, gagged and tied shut by a cloth, had dried blood stain patterns around it and no doubt had tried to scream out at one point before his throat had been cut open by a blade. It was a wide smile of a gap, jagged, torn flesh and red meat and bone and jugular veins opening themselves for the world to see, and the horrors this corpse provided only projected at a higher pitch of volume when one looked at how his wings had various holes and tears in them, probably opened by a knife or some other object. The unique nose of the animal, pierced in its right nostril, had been battered by an object of some kind, broken to the side, and various cuts splayed upon his body suggested a timeframe of torture meant to either coerce information from him or send a message. He had suffered; this much could be seen by the body alone. Suffering and pain beyond measure. What secrets had he held? What ransom or money or product had he been involved in? Rape. Meth. Haowl. None of it mattered because the result was the same, the summation rang true and vile, and this all came rushing into every officer, even the hard-boiled Wolford who turned his muzzle and let out a sound that could only be a deep grumble of sympathy and hatred that unintentionally sprang from his belly like a meal not sitting well. Judy looked like she had seen an apparition and turned her body away, not wanting to see this thing that lay before her, a nightmare personified and made whole.

Nick's voice was quiet and monotone when he spoke into the radio attached to his breast, requesting for a body pickup.

The beep of his radio sent a chill down his spine. It had been so loud because there were no other sounds outside right now. It was as if everything else had died in the shooting.

"Shit," Higgins whispered. Nick turned to see that the hippopotamus had made his way back over and saw the mess. "What the fuck..." he trailed off.

"What_happened_?" Nick shouted out toward Wolford.

The Timber Wolf shook his head and pointed a paw back at where the van had been.

"Guys got out of the van. The sports car had apparently been waiting. It was like they knew it was there and what was going to happen. The driver got out of the car and started swinging fists with one of the guys from the van. Then, well, you know what happened after that."

Nick shook his head.

"Fuck," he said.

He turned to see that Judy was leaning against the brick building and had both of her hands on her knees.

He jogged over to her.

"Hey, you okay?"

She was breathing deeply and had her eyes closed.

"Yea," she said. "Give me a second."

Nick put a paw on her back and rubbed it gently.

"Everything's okay."

She shook her head and then said, "No. No its not. Not when shit like this happens." Her face appeared to be crumbling.

"I know...remember what you said, though: it bludgeons you."

"It bludgeons you," she repeated, nodding.

"But you can't let it get to you. It'll win, then. And it can't."

The sirens in the distance were getting louder, a mere several blocks away from their current position.

"It can't...it can't..." she whispered, a near mantra.

"It can't," Nick said. "Because we're all here. And that's all we can do. Be here. That's all we ever have. And I want you to be here with me..."

Judy looked up at Nick to see him looking down at her with nothing but concern and care. Feeling came rushing back to her body and the rubbing of his paw against her back sent her into something she needed to do. She needed it not only because of what just happened but also because of the frustration she had been feeling these last couple days in regards to her emotions and current state for the one animal she has come to admire unlike anything she has ever admired before. She needed this to release from her so that she may gain her sanity back and remember the feeling she had experienced this morning and in the car when fantasy and reality found a place to coexist.

It was necessary.

It was vital.

It sprang forth without warning.

She began to cry.

?

Three days had passed since the Nocturnal District Quadrant 2 incident.

Judy had taken an emotional hit from the entire ordeal, and Nick had been nothing but helpful to her--from doing tiny things like buying her random snacks to sending her funny texts so that he may take her mind away from negative thoughts to coming over after work hours and watching an occasional comedy movie with her to keep her company. She was responding well to everything, but Nick could tell it still affected her; this test of doom and foreboding death was a challenge, but it was something she was determined to overcome. Bogo was made aware of her reaction and empathized with the inner pain she was experiencing, so he did them a favor by reassigning them at a different section of the Nocturnal District so that they may have a better chance of avoiding something similar happening again. Everyone seemed to be walking a cautious line with the miniscule rabbit and did their best to provide moral support for her: Benjamin bought her an entire box of carrot-cake cupcakes (not before eating one himself and getting a sheen of frosting on his lips), Higgins had a brief talk with her about how she was feeling, Wolford would give her a friendly pat on the shoulder while passing her in the hallways and ask how she has been, and even Bernhard managed to respect what Nick had warned him about and steered clear of either of them whenever he found himself in their presence.

After running through the plates of the vehicle and identifying the driver based on his dental records, it came to fruition that the entire scene that played out two nights ago could very well have been snowballed out of control due to a bad Haowl deal that had taken place elsewhere. Judy and Nick came to this conclusion after reviewing the file and finding that the coroner revealed traces of Haowl in the wolf found dead on the roadside after the van had taken off into the city and the bat found in the trunk of the Alpha Romeo 4C. More than likely, the three animals in the van had been shipping the drug around and may have attempted to make a deal beforehand with the driver who may or may not have been the killer of the bat stuffed in his car trunk. Two empty baggies of Haowl with the infamous insignia printed on it had been found underneath the bat's body, and the wallet stuffed in his back pocket revealed that his name had been Timothy Bastleborn; this would not have mattered in an alternate universe--he would have been any other individual, any other average animal, but the reality was he was not; in fact, he had been one of Chief Bogo's prime suspects in the pending Haowl case. He was a heavy hitter of the drug and a creep who had been past convicted of molestation. He may have had what happened to him coming for a long time, but the enigma surrounding why he ended up in the trunk of a compact sports car and why the drivers of the van had found it in their best interest to take out the gun-toting aye-aye was all but a mystery. Neither Judy nor Nick could put these pieces together.

All that came from this was a crossed off mugshot of a bat and perplexed minds heading back to the drawing board.

Judy sat at her desk rifling through paperwork. She was reviewing the report that Nick typed for her as a favor so that she didn't have to recall every tiny detail that had taken place.

A small Styrofoam cup of coffee was set beside her.

She looked up to see a smirking fox.

"Thanks!" she said cheerily. She sipped the brew.

"No problem." Nick took a swig of his own drink. "How's the report look?"

"Perfect. Thanks so much, Nick. You're really the greatest."

"This I know."

She playfully rolled her eyes. "Even with that big ego of yours."

"Careful, Carrots. That might not sound right to anyone walking by the office."

She shook her head and leaned her chin against her paw.

"I swear, you're by far the most perverted animal I know."

"And you love it."

Judy took another sip of her coffee, and did not verify Nick's statement although she didn't have to. Her answer was in her smile.

"So, other than scanning through documents, what else is new?" Nick asked, leaning a shoulder against her desk.

"Nothing much."

"Marcus talk to you about the Canal District case file?"

"Yea."

"What do you think?"

"I don't know. I can see some similarities. I think we'd have to look deeper."

Nick nodded. "That's what I thought. He may be onto something though."

"He might be..."

Judy looked up at Nick and could see him scanning around the room. He had that sly, cocky look on his face she has seen so many times.

"What are you up to?" she asked.

Nick put a paw against his chest. "Whatever do you mean?"

"Nick!"

"What?"

"Nick!"

"Your anger baffles me, Fluff. Here I'm being such a gentle-fox and then your projection of negativity is--

"Cut it, dumb fox. What's your angle? You may be cleaver, but you literally have no poker face."

Nick sighed.

"What are you doing two weeks from now?" he asked. "Do you have any strange rabbit-like plans?"

Judy's smile widened. "Rabbit-like plans? What's _that_supposed to mean?"

"You know...like carrot eating contests or something, I don't know!"

"No, I don't," she laughed.

"Really?"

"Yes. Why?"

From Nick's pocket he brought out what looked like two slips of paper. He put them right next to Judy's eyes and said, "Boom."

It took a moment, but when she brought her head back, she could see the print clear as day:

Zootennial Stadium Arena

At Sahara Square

Zootropic Entertainment Presents

BEACH HOUSE

The Animalia Bluebird Tour

Fri Oct 7th 2017 @ 8:00 p.m.

"Get your sundress ready," Nick said with a smirk.

Judy's mouth was slightly agape. She looked at the tickets and then up at Nick and then back at the tickets. She put a paw over her mouth.

"How'd you get these? When and why?"

"One: I'm amazing. Two: the date is on the ticket, silly. And three: just 'cause."

Her smile, partially blocked by her paw, was infectious and it made Nick's go wider. Suddenly, she jumped up and wrapped him in a hug.

He put his arm around her and then said in a joking tone, "Are you just trying to get the tickets so you can pawn them--

"Oh,quiet!" she shushed. "Thank you so much! I can't wait!"

"Me too."

They stood hugging for a moment longer before Judy slowly let go and stood next to Nick, looking up at him.

"I didn't know they were coming here. I'd have missed it," she said.

"Yea. You're lucky you made such an impact on me," Nick said with a smirk.

"That's one out of a thousand," she said in reference to the number of times she has attempted to get Nick to enjoy her taste in music.

"Well that's the one that counts, huh?"

"Sure is."

The two stood for a moment longer before Nick took another sip of his coffee.

"Well," he started, "I guess I'll let you finish up reading through that report. Just let me know when you want it turned in, okay?"

"Alright."

Nick turned and exited the office. She was left sitting there as a radiant ball of excitement and putty and could not believe she would be attending a concert--not just any concert, but one of her favorite artist's concerts--with Nick. All the pain she had been trifling over for the last couple days seemed to be worth it in the end; in fact, like medicine, the frustration and morose seemed to numb themselves and make her inwardly laugh at how they could have affected her in the first place. He had been right in saying that this city can be cruel, but while that may be the case, it was a monster that could only feed itself based on how weak and powerless its people were. And Judy was tired of acting weak and powerless; she'd been doing so for three days, and that was far too long for her. Her parents had not raised that type of rabbit, so it was only natural that she would shake off her melancholy and buckle down for the long haul.

But now it was even easier to do so without a pep talk.

Now she could truly enjoy herself because of who she would be spending her time with.

Feeling spurned on by the moment, Judy quickly reached into her pocket and dug out her phone. She skimmed through the past text messages and once again came upon the conversation she had engaged in with Nick during the weekend. Scrolling through the messages, reading over and over again the dialogue, she searched for answers to questions that lay dormant in her. Then a realization hit her. She looked at the message more closely. It could not have been any clearer to her now. It could not hide itself, and neither could he anymore.

In an instant, she felt a wave of euphoria overtake her.

And it was all because of a single text she overlooked; one she had not read into carefully enough.

It was something that gave her enough strength and gusto to not fear pushing herself forward.

She looked at the message again and couldn't take her eyes from it.

Would be interesting, that's for sure.