Nick and Judy arrived back at Precinct one in record time. They went to Clawhauser and asked where Darius was being held.

"So how do you want to do this Carrots? Devastatingly handsome Good Fox Cop and Aggressive and aggressively cute bad bunny cop?"

"Let's do it Slick," She replied as they walked past Clawhauser's desk. "Got any information to give to us?" She asked the chubby cheetah.

"He's a meanie alright. Brought in in cuffs and is really aggressive. They put him in the room to stew until you two got here."

"Thanks, anything else?"

"Not really. Ask Higgins and Delgato, they brought him in."

They learned from the two arresting officers that he was big, mean and not very bright. Extremely aggressive though, they suspected he had taken some Nightshadow recently, and their suspicions were confirmed when they had caught him trying to ditch it in the backseat of the car. They handed Judy the baggie with a syringe of clear blue liquid in it.

"I hate this stuff," frowned Nick. "Every time we shut down a place another one crops up. Someone wants this stuff on the street."

"Can you blame them? It's making a killing. Practically every other pred we bring in has this crap in their systems," replied Delgato. "Lots of predators want to feel like the biggest, strongest guy on the block. This stuff does that. A screwed-up liver is a small price to pay for that, far as they're concerned."

After Bellwether had been put away on multiple criminal charges, including conspiracy, assault, intentional endangerment of mammals and illegal possession of a class-c botanical substance without a license, Nick and Judy had hoped that Nighthowlers were going to just go away. And Judy honestly believed that they would. But that was not the way the world worked, sadly. After a few months, two new street drugs from the substance had hit the streets, a performance enhancement drug known as "Nightshadow," named such because it was a "shadow" of the Nightholwer serum; as well as a more recreational substance known as "Pasture," known to induce feelings of euphoria and extremely heightened suggestiveness in whoever used it.

They were both dangerous, in different ways. The former also had its parent's side effect of sparking some nasty aggression in whoever took it, and every few weeks or so, another mauling took place when some pred on Nightshadow got bumped into or had someone look at them the wrong way. While the latter had become popular on the party scene, and had also become the date-rape drug of choice among the city's premier scumbags. But out of the two, the Nightshadow had become the more prevalent of the two. No matter how many production warehouses were shut down, they never could get it off the streets.

"Whatever, we have a guy to interrogate," said Judy. Since he had been caught with an illegal substance, they could properly interrogate him, rather than just interview him.

"Good luck you two. Hope it goes well."

They took a moment to get into character and walked into the interrogation room.

"Darius!" Greeted Nick jovially, almost like they were old friends. "Darius, Darius, Darius. What is happening with you?"

"Bite me, pig."

Judy just scowled at him.

"What's up her tail? Trouble at home, preyfucker?"

Nick knew Darius actually didn't know about his tastes, so he didn't react to the barb. "Actually, she just has a really short temper for gang members who go and shoot up half of happytown."

"Eat my ass. I wasn't there," he denied. "Just because my Fam decided to have a little fun, why should I get in trouble for that?"

"If you weren't there, then how about you just tell us where your 'fam' got those guns?" He asked. "Don't deny it. A few predators with those gang tattoos were found with those weapons dead in the street. How about we cut a deal? You tell us where you guys got those guns, and we forget all about that Nightshadow Delgato and Higgins found in the back of their car?" He offered.

"What? You think I'll sell out my boys to get out of a few days in jail?" He scoffed. "Go fuck yourselves."

"Darius, we want to help you and help your fam," he told him while Judy's scowl deepened. "Your gang is not the only one with those guns. We find the guy and your rivals won't have them either."

"Still not hearing why I should do shit for you," he spat.

Judy lost her patience hopped into the air and slammed one of her feet down on the metal table with a loud thump, leaving a sizeable dent. "Because if you don't we are going to NAIL YOU TO THE WALL for a possession charge!"

"So what?" He asked.

"I know a judge who owes me a favor," bluffed Judy. "Possession could so easily become possession with intent to distribute, and those few days in jail become a few years! You want to go to prison?! For half a decade?!"

"What the fuck?!" He demanded. "You really gonna let her roll me like that?!" He demanded angrily, looking at Nick.

Nick picked Judy up and lowered her off of the table.

"What can I say? She's a bit of a maverick. I can't really control her," he smiled. "But I can get her to back off if you help us."

Darius wasn't smart, but he did have some serious balls. "You know what. I don't think that Zootopia's cute little poster bunny is gonna do that. SO bring it on. I ain't telling you jack shit."

"Well, I tried," Nick sighed. "We'll be back in a while to charge you. Take a while to think about your decision. And if you really want to take that risk."

"Yeah, go right ahead and skulk the fuck outta here," spat Darius. "Go try and con someone else outta a confession. That's what you do, right? Con Fox?"

Judy had been mostly faking her anger with him before, but that was over the line. She stormed back in and jumped onto the table and grabbed the loin by his shirt collar. "Listen here you piece of garbage. That fox has more integrity in one single hair than you have in your entire body!" She scolded him, getting right up in his face. "So how about you take that back or I leave you in here for a few more hours with a concussion?! Huh?! How does that sound big guy? No one insults My Fox!"

Nick grabbed her and pulled her away from him as she squirmed in his arms. She couldn't see, but he had the biggest, dumbest grin on his face right now as the last two words she had said replayed in his mind on a loop. "My Fox! My Fox! My Fox!"

Nick closed the door and left Darius alone and handcuffed to the table, and then put Judy down on the floor as she fumed. "Relax, Carrots it takes more than that to get to me."

"It's still not right. I should go back in there and set him straight," she grumbled, still looking at the door.

Nick took a moment to wipe the grin off of his face. "Look, Carrots, as much as I would enjoy the sight of him taking a twenty-pound, leg propelled bunny missile to the muzzle, this situation calls for a bit more tact," he reminded her. "And I'm pretty sure the last thing the department needs right now is a police brutality charge."

Judy huffed but agreed with him.

"I take it that things didn't go so well?" Asked Huggins.

"No good. He called our bluff." He told them. "We'll let him stew for a few hours and then maybe you guys can take a crack at it?" He asked.

"Will do."

Judy spoke up next. "In the meantime, we're going to go back on patrol and see if anything else comes up."

"Sounds good. We're about to go on break, we'll take a crack at him. Hopefully you guys rattled him at least a little."

"Can't win 'em all," Nick sighed. "Hope our other guy comes through."

"Won't know until we catch him." Smiled Judy as she started walking back towards the motor pool.

Nick smiled. Her enthusiasm was infectious.


Now that they had Darius, they focused all their efforts to finding Franklin. They were sitting on a street corner in their car in silence, Nick drinking another coffee.

"Hey Nick?" Asked Judy, wanting to ask him something she had been curious about. "Are you… seeing anyone right now?"

Nick almost choked on his coffee when he heard her ask that. "W-what?! Why?" He asked, suddenly feeling defensive. "Why do you want to know?" He asked, trying to kill the faint hope that was starting to ignite in his chest.

"Just curious," she answered. "You're a single fox in Zootopia, and a police officer, you must have some vixens interested in you."

Nick gave a thick swallow. "Ehh… Not really in to Vixens."

"Oh!" Replied, Judy, surprised. "So you're…"

"It's… Complicated," he told her. "I'm… I'm not into foxes at all. I'm an Inter."

Judy looked at him. She had never know that. "Okay, like my sister?" She asked. "She's dating a Hyena, lives in Zootopia."

Nick sighed, but happily. "Yeah. Just like her. Foxes have just… Never really done it for me, you know." He looked at her with a smile. "Thanks for not being weird about it. Not everyone is that understanding," he took a deep breath, "especially with my… tastes."

"What do you mean?" She asked. "You don't have to tell me, I can tell this is a bit of a sore subject for you."

"No. No, I trust you. I want you to know," 'for so many, many reasons' he added in his head. "I'm not just attracted to other species, I'm attracted to prey species. Small prey in particular," he winced as the words left his mouth. He knew she would understand, but it was still nerve-wracking to admit it.

Judy understood. Relationships between predators and prey were a pretty big taboo in Zootopia. Even more so than relationships between interspecies couples.

Nick gave a bitter laugh. "Guess that makes me the lowest of the low," he remarked. "I'm a Fox, the predator that even other predators don't like, I'm attracted to other species, and even worse, the species I have a preference for are small prey." He leaned back in his seat.

Judy couldn't help herself and she leaned over and gave him a hug. "You're not," she told him. "You're a great guy. Anyone would be lucky to have you."

Nick swore he actually got whiplash from how quickly his mood changed. One moment he was sinking into self-pity and the next second he was floating on cloud nine. And cloud nine smelled like Judy Hopps and felt like a warm hug from a bunny. He smiled and hugged her back. "Thanks Judy," he smiled. "I really needed to hear that. Feels good to get that off my chest."

She smiled and gave him a punch in the arm. "Okay, Okay. So is there really anyone you're interested in?" She asked.

'You.' "Not really," he lied. "I mean, I'm not really looking for anyone right now." 'Because I have you right here and you're all I want.'

"Okay, I get it. I'm not really looking for anyone either."

"Really? Judith Laverne Hopps doesn't have all these strapping, young bucks throwing themselves at her?" He asked. "Color me shocked."

"Oh, I did, but it was always the same macho thing," she out on a deep, masculine voice. "Oh, it's okay baby, you just need to get with me and I'll make you forget all about wanting to be a cop." "Oh, just come on, I'm sure you'll settle down after your first litter." "I hated all of that."

"Damn. I'm sorry," he replied. "Must have sucked big time. You really didn't have anyone?"

"Well… I had a few experiences in College, a few bucks that I dated, short affairs. None of them ever really did it for me, you know?"

Nick nodded. "I know that exact feeling. I tried dating vixens when I was younger, and it just never clicked. I felt like, like I wasn't getting anything out of the relationship."

"Like they were getting more out of it than me," replied Judy. "Huh, something to think about, maybe…" she trailed off. Could she really be an Inter? Bucks had never interested her, nor had does back home. Was it just a few bad experiences? Or was she just not interested in her own kind.

"Carrots," came Nick's voice from beside her. "I think I just spotted our target."

Judy snapped out of her reflection and looked where Nick was pointing. She brought up the picture and compared the two. It was him alright. "Okay, how are we going to play this?" She asked.

"How about I approach him while you head around the back and cut him off?" He offered.

"Works for me. Got your tranq gun?"

"Loaded for a mammal of his weight," Nick confirmed.

"Let's do this."


Franklin was on the verge of tearing his fur out. Last night was not supposed to go down the way it had. Only the Spots were supposed to have that kind of firepower. Now a bunch of the gang was dead and the cps were surely looking for him. He had already been planning to skip town, and after word on the street was that Darius had been arrested he had decided that he needed to cut his losses and get the fuck out of dodge.

He had laid low in his home for a while before grabbing all the cash he had and sticking it in a backpack with a few sets of clothing and getting ready to run. He was hyper aware of his surroundings and heard a car door slam. He flinched and saw… a fox. Not unusual around here. He took a deep breath and kept walking.

After a few moments, he heard a voice. "Franklin Cubbs, is that you?" HE whirled around and saw the fox from earlier a few feet away. He shifted his backpack. "Who wants to know?" He demanded, getting ready to bolt.

The fox took out a badge.

"Detective Nick Wilde of the ZPD. I'm gonna have to ask you to come with me," he said with a grin.

Franklins' fight-or-flight instincts kicked in and he began to back up, but tripped over something. He looked down and saw a rabbit.

"Oh, did I say 'me?' I meant 'us.'"

That was enough for him. He bolted. Pushing past the fox and rushing down the street. He had no idea where he was going but he knew he needed to get the hell out of there and away from those cops. He looked over his shoulder and saw the two of them sprinting after him as he ran for it. He pushed over garbage cans, mammals, anything he could get on the ground to hopefully trip them up. He rounded a corner into an alley and threw his bag over a fence and began to rapidly climb it. He heard something from behind him.

"Nick! Do it!"

He dropped off of the top of the fence and seconds later felt something hit him in his upper back. HE stumbled and kept running, but something was wrong. His arms felt heavy, and his legs. He began slowing down and soon stumbled again and couldn't regain his balance. He fell. He looked behind him and saw the bunny with her tranq gun empty as they walked over to him and caught their breath. His body felt so heavy. He needed to sleep…


Nick and Judy had caught up with him and he, predictably, had tried to run away. They were able to keep pace and when Franklin had tried to climb the fence, they had a plan. Nick ran ahead of her and cupped his hands and gave her a boost over the fence. His boost, combined with her jumping ability had sent her well over the fence, where she used her superlative reflexes to aim and fire her tranquilizer right between Franklin's shoulder blades. His running and elevated heart rate meant that the tranquilizer circulated through his system even faster and he was out for the count in seconds. They cuffed him.

"Detectives Hopps and Wilde here, we caught Cubbs, he tried to make a run for it, he is cuffed and out cold, waiting for pickup."

"Hopps, this is dispatch, Confirm your location and we'll have a car right over for the two of you."

"Alleyway connecting eighth and Seventh Street, across from a BuggaBurger."

"Copy that, sending a patrol car to your location."

Nick put his hands on his knees and leaned forward, panting to catch his breath and cool down. "We, we got him, nice workout too."

"Yeah, we-"she stopped short. She just realized that she had never seen Nick pant before. With his mouth open she could noticed just how long and broad his tongue was, and she also noticed his teeth. Or fangs, more like. Rows of pure white spikes lines the inside of his mouth, with four exceptionally large ones on the top and bottom rows of teeth near the front of his muzzle. The sight of those teeth did something to her and she spent several seconds just staring at them before Nick noticed and snapped his jaws shut.

"Sorry!" He exclaimed, looking borderline horrified before he remembered that this was Judy, not some bigoted prey. But now there was this awkward atmosphere between them. "I-I'll explain later, okay?" He pleaded, just wanting her to drop it for now.

She nodded silently as the image of his teeth burned itself into her mind. After a few minutes a patrol car arrived and Franklin was taken into custody and prepped for interrogation while the tranquilizer wore off.


Author's Notes


Well. That was fast. Even I didn't expect to have this thing ready to go this early. Not much to say about this chapter, just getting things set up for future chapters and sowing the seeds of that sweet, sweet WildeHopps romance we all crave. Feel free to ask questions about anything you felt was unclear, and please give me feedback. Comments are love people, spread the love.