Judy Hopps sat in the driver's seat of the Zootopia Police Department SUV that had been permanently assigned to her and her partner, Nick Wilde. She was impatiently thumping her foot against the floorboard as she waited for Nick, who had unexpectedly hopped out of the car for coffee when they had stopped at a red light. After yelling out in surprise at the fox's actions, Judy had immediately put on the sirens of the car and whipped the car into a parking space in front of the shop. After parking, Judy had angry snatched up her phone in an attempt to contact Nick, but he denied her first five calls, each on the first ring. Finally, he picked up, answering with his usual sarcasm.

"Officer Wilde here."

"Nick!"

"Oh, Carrots! What a surprise."

Judy could practically hear his smirk. "Nick, you can't just jump out of the car! That's dangerous! And we have a job to do!"

The fox and the rabbit had set out on a tip the ZPD had anonymously received about more possible Night Howlers being traded on the streets. The tip had been labeled as "Priority One," and frankly, the tip worried both Judy and Nick immensely. They had had enough with this flower and its all too unpleasant side effects.

Nick made a noise of disgust on the other side of the phone. "Look Rabbit, a quick coffee stop isn't going to hurt."

"Well, you should hurry back, I've got a feeling we are on to something good here."

"Having feelings now, Carrots?"

Judy rolled her eyes at his indirect flirtatious comment. "Well it doesn't take a 'feeling' to know that it doesn't take twenty minutes to get a cup of coffee."

Granted, Judy was over-exaggerating. In reality, Nick had just walked into the coffee shop, so it had actually only been a few minutes or so since his departure, but she missed him, and she wasn't about to admit it to herself, much less him.

"I'm tired," the fox whined.

"You're nocturnal."

"No coffee, no detective work."

"You act as if you were participating to begin with."

"It's a shame, I guess I got you a coffee for nothing. A bunny with an attitude never gets coffee."

"You got me a coffee?"

"How dare you."

Judy laughed at his false offended reply. She couldn't help but love Nick; whether that love was platonic or something more, she couldn't tell, but she knew that he meant a lot to her, and her to him.

"Just hurry up, okay? I'm starting to get bore- "

Muffled sounds, along with the sound of a car door opening filled Nick's ear. It sounded as if Judy had dropped her phone and then gotten out of the car.

"Carrots…? Alright, real funny, Fluff; where you at…? Hopps? Hopps."

In the coffee shop, two cups of coffee dropped into a trashcan with a loud smack that splattered hot coffee. Nick was running, running fast and running hard. In seconds, he was slamming himself through the glass doors of the shop and out into the busy sidewalks of Zootopia. He stopped dead when he saw the ZPD SUV sitting unattended, the driver's seat open and Judy's phone lying on the floor of the car.

"Carrots!" Nick frantically scanned the area around him, looking for any sign of anything suspicious.

"Nick!"

Nick's head swiveled towards the scream. There. Just at the end of the street was Judy, sprinting at full speed after a black fox. All that drama and she was just chasing a con? Nick rolled his eyes as he began running after the bunny. Nick watched as the criminal and the cop dashed around the corner at the end of the street, resulting in him picking up his pace.

"Hopps, wait!" Nick didn't need Judy getting herself into a bad situation. She had ambition and passion, but she didn't know when to quit, which had a knack of getting her into deep trouble more than once. Pushing himself to the limit, Nick slid around the corner, trying to keep up with them despite the head start they had had. His lungs burned, and his muscles screamed in protest, but he couldn't feel any of it. His head pounded with the thought of her, the thought that she might currently be putting herself in danger. His thoughts were interrupted abruptly by the sound of Judy's voice crackling over his ZPD communicator: "This is Officer Hopps, I am in pursuit of suspect! Priority one! Suspect is a black fox, heading down a back alley off of Main Street! I need back up! I repeat, I need back up!"

If Nick was worried before, nothing compared to what he felt now. She hadn't said his name over the ZPD radio frequency, and she had asked for back up. She thought that she was alone, and she knew she needed help. Judy liked to keep a brave face at all times, but when it came down to it, Nick knew that Judy was still afraid of foxes, with the exception of himself. She wasn't afraid of him, but she was afraid of the fox she was currently chasing. Nick grabbed his communicator from his belt.

"Carrots, back off now! He isn't worth it!"

No reply. Nick cursed himself for leaving her alone, but that was about to change. "Officer Wilde and Officer Hopps in pursuit! We need back up now!"

Nick continued running and attempting to contact Judy over the communicator now that back up had been dispatched, Judy continued to give no reply. She had officially been unresponsive for over two minutes. After what seemed like an eternity, Nick reached the opening of the alley Judy had described in her call. He had lost sight of Judy's ears – which had been his main tracking method – minutes before when she had turned into the alley. He wasn't even sure if they were still in the alley or if they were streets away. "Carrots! Carrots!" Nick yelled out for her as he tried to keep his pace, but he was brought to an abrupt halt at the sight before him.

Just a meter or so away, there was Judy. She was being held down on the filthy ground of the alleyway by a clawed paw of the black fox. At this distance, Nick could see the fox was a type of silver fox, as he could make out a few silver patches of fur randomly present on the fox's back. Nick's heart skipped as he saw how close the fox's face was to Judy's, how the fox was baring his teeth at her. Judy's paws were wrapped around the fox's paw that was holding her prisoner against the ground, and her feet kicked repeatedly at the fox's clothed chest as she struggled to get free.

"Freeze!" Nick screamed at the fox as he began running down the alley toward him. The fox didn't even flinch, he only continued to lower his muzzle closer to Judy's face, his teeth flashing menacingly. Judy exerted every last bit of energy she had as she kicked, nipped, and scratched at the fox, screaming out of pure fear. "Nick!"

"Judy!"

Too late.

The fox lunged at her throat, her bloodcurdling scream echoing off of the brick walls of the alley. It was like a horror film playing in slow motion. As if by instinct, Nick removed his tranquilizer from its holster and shot immediately, the dart hitting the fox directly beneath his jaw line. A loud whine escaped the fox as the shot knocked him off of Judy and a few inches back, instantly drugging him. Nick was on Judy in seconds, his tranquilizer thrown to the side now that the threat had been eliminated. She was bleeding, and badly. Blood was pouring from the wound in her neck to the point that Nick couldn't tell where the wound's exact location was. Her soft gray fur was matted with dark red. Nick felt a lump form in his throat as he saw the amount of blood, and his immediate thoughts were filled with how futile trying to help her would be. No, he had to help her.

Nick shook his head, letting his ears flop slightly, as he tried to clear his mind of anything but helping Judy. Now being more receptive of the current situation, he quickly wrapped his paws around Judy's throat to stop the bleeding. The feeling of blood, Judy's blood, almost made him gag. She was conscience, and looking right at him, her amethyst eyes piercing his emerald ones. His widened eyes stared back at her, his cheeks lightly flushed; a part of Nick couldn't help but feel slightly awkward. He and Judy never really shared much physical contact and now here he was, practically sitting on top of her as he tried to keep her blood in her body. Here he was, his partner bleeding to death underneath him, and he was more concerned about too much physical contact.

"It's going to be okay, Judy. It's going to be okay. You hang in there, Carrots." Nick managed a grimacing smile, which she briefly returned. She was fighting, and fighting hard, but Nick had no idea how long she could hold on for. Nick felt his eyes sting slightly at the thought of her dying in this alley with his paws covered in her blood. He shook his head again; now was not the time to get emotional. Readjusting so that one of his paws was applying the needed pressure to Judy's injury and the other could grab his communicator, Nick began shouting orders: "Officer down! Hopps is down! Need back up and medical attention at my location now!"

A few agonizing minutes later, the dispatched officers and an ambulance arrived. Nick was screaming commands at them in seconds. "Get the medic! No, don't touch her! Get the medic! Arrest the fox!" Nick growled at anyone too near. He didn't need help with applying pressure or keeping her alive, he needed someone who could actually save her. "Alright, Judy, help is here. Stay with me here, Rabbit."

Finally, with the help of a few antelope paramedics, Judy was loaded into the back of the ambulance. Nick's paws continued to apply pressure while they loaded her onto a gurney, as he was too afraid to move. Letting go meant just that, letting go, and that was going to be the last thing he would do. The ride to the hospital seemed excruciatingly slow, despite the sirens that demanded traffic's obligation. Paramedics worked around Nick, complying with his fear to move from Judy's side. The antelope gave commands to one another, attempting to bandage Judy around Nick's paws, the only things applying compression to Judy's gaping wound.

"Keep applying pressure" was what Nick heard over and over again from the medics, but he wasn't focused on any of that; not once did Judy's eyes stray from Nick's. What was going through her head was beyond him, but Nick knew that she needed him.

"It's okay, Judy. It's going to be okay. I've got you."

Little did he know that Judy was not only thinking about how much she needed Nick, but also how much she wanted to tell him that she loved him. She didn't care what his reaction would be, she didn't care if he took it in a good or a bad way, she didn't care if he assumed it was the adrenaline talking, and she didn't care if he decided if it was a platonic or physical "I love you;" she loved him. She just didn't know if she would live long enough to tell him.