Chapter One - Patrol
Downtown Zootopia, Tuesday, 1810
The police cruiser slammed to a halt inches before entering the intersection. The driver of the vehicle, Officer Judy Hopps, winced as she imagined the possible headlines: "Rabbit Road Rage Kills Family of Four", or maybe "Callous Cop Carelessly Crushes Critters". She immediately resolved to pay closer attention for the rest of her shift.
She didn't have much time to mentally berate herself, however. As soon as the cruiser stopped, her partner, Nick, turned to her and spoke with a voice dripping with sarcasm. "You're a menace!" he exclaimed. Judy rolled her eyes and gave Nick her best glare and returned fire. "Fine, then you can drive. But do try your best not to murder any more fire hydrants." Nick clapped his hand to his chest in mock outrage. "You wound me! Besides, I seem to vividly remember a certain cotton-tailed partner of mine swearing to never discuss the fire hydrant incident." Judy's glare melted into an impish grin. "You brought it upon yourself, Nick. I am a menace, remember?"
Nick could only laugh along with Judy at the exchange. Their banter was an essential part of the job, and it had become routine in the year that they had spent on patrol together. But something was bothering Judy - she was trying her best to mask her thoughts, but Nick knew her better than anyone and could tell when something was amiss.
"Alright Carrots, you got me. Serious talk now - what's on your mind? You've been off all day, what gives?" Judy sighed and glanced at the intersection light - still red. Her sharp violet eyes shot next to the radio seated in the dashboard of the cruiser - it remained silent. With no escape from Nick's inquiry, she slowly started exhaling the jumble of thoughts that had been rattling around in her head since the morning. "Well, it's this thing... two things, technically. There have been some rumblings; I guess the chain of command is shaking up a bit. Some brass are retiring, so positions are opening up... including a Patrol Sergeant slot." Nick's eyes widened and an eager smile split across his face. "Alright, so what's the second half?"
The light finally turned green and Judy accelerated cautiously through the intersection before responding. "This is what I'm really interested in. Rumor has it that there are open positions in the Detective Division, but nothing has been posted yet. Right now I'm not sure which one I'd rather go for, or if I want to apply at all." As she finished speaking, Judy felt a weight lift from her shoulders - she hadn't noticed how preoccupied she had been with her thoughts. She stole a sidelong glance at Nick. "What do you think?"
Nick paused and absentmindedly scratched his neck as he stared through the windshield. "Car in front of us has expired tags. Want to stop him?" Judy glanced at her watch and grimaced. "Fifteen minutes left on shift. If we go over, you're buying me lunch all next week." Nick gave her a cocky grin and flipped the cruiser's lights on. The car in front of them, a small hatchback, began to pull over. Judy thumbed her radio and spoke clearly into her shoulder "One-Adam-Six, Nine-Sixty at Story and Maple". She paused for a moment, and heard Clawhauser's voice ring through her radio. "Copy One-Adam-Six".
Nick, meanwhile, began to type the hatchback's plate number into the car's computer. "4... G... F... I think you should go for it, by the way. You'd make a great detective, or a great Sergeant. I guess it just depends on whether you'd rather solve crime in a suit, or torture patrol officers." A dry chuckle escaped Judy. "Well when you put it like that... I am leaning towards being a detective, though. I like the idea of really getting into the grit of cases like we did with the Night Howlers. Patrol just isn't the same ballgame." Nick nodded in agreement.
The computer beeped. "Record is squeaky clean", said Nick. "Warning?" "Warning", Judy wearily replied. Both cars finally came to a stop, and the two officers exited in tandem, as they had hundreds - perhaps thousands - of times before. Both fox and bunny had long since mastered the fear that grips every cop on traffic stops - after all, there's never any telling who was behind the wheel, or what could happen if the encounter were to go south. But the trust that Nick and Judy had developed throughout the year was far stronger than the fear. Even without looking, each knew exactly where the other was and how the stop would play out. It was a bizarre, yet comforting dance - and neither Nick nor Judy would abide a different partner.
The officers rolled into the ZPD lot exactly one minute before the end of the shift. As Judy guided the car into the subterranean parking bay, she gave Nick a quick grin. "I could totally have made us late, by the way. I didn't HAVE to run that last yellow light. Enjoy basking in my mercy." Nick scoffed. "I don't buy it. I'm still not entirely convinced you can tell time. Or read. Do they even have books in Bunnyburrow?" Judy's answer came in the form of a swift (but gentle) punch to Nick's left arm. "Ooooh, assaulting an officer. Does your form of mercy always come in the form of felonies? Or do you do misdemeanors too?" A second, slightly harder punch was Judy's response as she navigated the cruiser into an empty parking space. "Don't question my methods, Nick. They're too complex for you to understand, and I wouldn't want you to strain something by thinking too hard." The officers exited the car and loped toward the garage elevator - Nick fished out his pass key and carded them in. He hit the button for the ground floor and the elevator lurched as it began to rise.
"So now that we've stopped this horrible prey on predator violence -" he was interrupted as Judy punched him for a third time - "any thoughts? How long do you have to make up your mind?" The question immediately sobered Judy, who let out a deep sigh. "I don't know, a couple of weeks, maybe? There's number much notice for these things." She paused, and continued on quietly. "I don't want to accept a position that means losing you as a partner." Silence filled the elevator, which was momentarily penetrated by a high-pitched *DING* as the doors opened to the lobby. The ever-corpulent Clawhauser glimpsed his friends from his desk, and waved enthusiastically with a grin on his face that quickly dissolved into confusion as Nick closed the elevator doors.
As soon as the doors shut, Nick turned to Judy and began to speak, all traces of sarcasm now gone from his voice. "Judy, if you want to do it, just do it. Don't feel that you have to stick around on the bottom of the totem pole for me." Judy looked back up at Nick, and lost her train of thought. She had seen Nick drop his sardonic veneer on a number of occasions, but it never ceased to surprise her when she saw the real warmth behind his banter and cynicism. It was her favorite part of Nick - that pure compassion, that pure caring.
Though she'd rather drop dead than tell him that.
Just then, an idea came to Judy. "Okay then, what about this? Take the detective exam with me. If we both get tapped, we stay partners. If one or neither of us gets it, we stay in patrol. We stick together, no matter what" Nick paused, and then smiled. "I go where you go", he proclaimed, and opened the doors. "Ladies first", he said with a sweeping gesture towards the lobby. Judy pattered past him and headed towards the women's locker room as Nick slunk towards the men's.
Clawhauser watched silently, completely mystified.