Well over 7k views now, which is extraordinary. A particular thank you to everyone who provided feedback on the previous chapter. I thought it would be hated, but a lot of you loved it. So apparently I should pick on our protagonists more? Sure, why not!

Never imagined I would be adding anthropomorphic animal abuse to the list of things I would be willing to do to feed my chocolate habit. C'est la vie!

Anyway, this week will mostly be focusing on our favorite bunny, so enjoy!

Incoming (bunny) fluff!

Chapter 7: Ending the First Shift

With the report written up, her partner held up in a meeting with the chief, and no other major outstanding tasks to complete, Judy found herself counting the minutes until the end of her shift. Only thirty more to go. Of course, she still needed to provide her own report to the chief before she clocked out, but that would need to wait until he was done with Nick.

For now, she settled on returning to her desk, reprinting the report, and spending the next several minutes of her life committing every salient detail of the day's events to memory. Soon enough though she grew restless and sought something else to focus her mind on. She wasn't about to let herself waste time pining after her partner (much as a small part of her wanted to). He could handle himself against the Chief; that much she was confident of.

What else could she do, though? The day's report was as complete as it was going to get. She could try running the name Blair through the system again, but it would just come up with the same several hundred hits again, no-one of whom possessed a clear connection to Xander Cage or the racing circuits. She most certainly was not going to spend this time obsessing over the note in her pocket - the one with the name Cassandra written in beautiful, flowy handwriting along the top, followed by a phone number below. That note which seemed so simple and unpretentious, and yet which the bunny couldn't help but find something offensive about.

Okay, maybe she could spare at least one minute on it. After all, she had a promise to keep (much as it pained her to admit), and she needed to plan this out right, given her last couple of failures..

Pulling the note out of her pocket immediately summoned up the image of the bubbly vixen who had written it, and for some reason that image irritated the beeswax out of Judy. It was almost as if Cassandra was trying too hard to fit some outdated stereotype of femininity. Not that the bunny was against acting feminine - she despised being labelled as a tomboy and her father drove her up the wall calling her "Jude the Dude" - but she had better things to do than to act coquettish towards any male she found attractive. Even a male as attractive as Nick.

'I hope Nick doesn't like girls like that,' came a guilty thought and a rising sense of unease, 'She's his species as well. Wouldn't he naturally prefer to be with a vixen?"

She glared at the piece of paper in her paws, demanding answers it would not give, then finally huffed in annoyance and folded it carefully away in her pocket for safekeeping. Truthfully, she was already considering springing the note on him while they were out and relaxing with some drinks, and had only brought it out to distract herself from her own impatience over how long he was taking with the Chief.

'Come on, Judy. What is coming over you?' she thought, rubbing at her temples in annoyance. This wasn't helping at all. Nick was up there facing Bogo for goodness only knew what reason, and her mulling over ridiculous romantic notions and getting angry at an innocent mammal wouldn't solve anything.

This wasn't how she wanted to end the day, worrying needlessly over her partner while childishly trying to forecast his romantic preferences. She'd take care of figuring out that latter point soon enough. Once they went out for that drink, and maybe after a carrot colada or three, she'd ask him his preferences and then give him that vixen's phone number. And if he took it, then that would be that. And if he chose to toss that number in the trash and sweep her off her feet instead, then…

"Focus, Judy…" she grumbled, rallying her scattered thoughts to what was important. First things first. She would also need to speak with the Chief to give her own side of the report. Once Nick was done with his meeting, of course. It was odd that she'd been kicked out, but she rationalized (for what felt like the hundredth time) that Bogo must have a good reason for bringing Nick in first. Alone. She bit her lip and forced down another wave of worry.

Anyway, she would talk to Bogo and get done with him as quickly as she could. Once that business was out of the way she could worry about her love life, or inevitable lack of one. At the very least, she could use the vixen's number as a fall back to deflect any harm to her and Nick's friendship. That was the most important thing, after all. No matter what her deepest desires might be, Nick was her partner and her best friend, and she had to protect that bond first. She had to protect him, even if that meant protecting him from her….

"Hey, Fluff."

That gentle voice snapped her out of her depressing musings, and she stared up in surprise into a pair of tired, green eyes, an equally tired smile accompanying them and a slight slouch to the fox's posture as he leaned heavily on the edge of the desk.

"Nick!" she exclaimed hopping out of her chair to close the distance with him, halting in confusion as he held up a paw to ward her off.

"You look terrible! Is everything okay?"

"Oh yes, everything is hunky-dory," he said reticently, not meeting her eye. "Bogo is… quite the hustler, it seems."

"What?" she asked, tilting her head to accentuate her curiosity. The fox was trying to hide it, but was obviously very drained by whatever had passed between him and the Chief. "What happened up there?"

"Nothing. Everything's fine," he dodged, quickly adding, "Chief wants to speak to you next though."

"Oh?" that threw her off the trail briefly, "Okay, well that's good because I needed to speak to him too before we leave."

"He's all yours…" Nick said, lowering himself stiffly into his seat and leaning back to let the chair take his full weight before kicking his feet up onto the desk.

"Nick, are you sure you're okay?" she asked, her voice tinged with concern for the partner's unusually cavalier behavior. "What did the chief say to you? He didn't fire you on your first day did he?" She tried to make that last remark sound like a joke, but concern bled through in her voice.

"He told me what I needed to hear," he said cryptically, tucking his chin against his chest and popping his collar up around his chin as he leaned back precariously in his chair as if making to take a nap. He gave her a dismissive wave without once looking at her. "I'm fine, Fluff. Go, have your meeting."

"Alright…. Well, don't get too comfortable," came her reluctant reply as she compelled herself toward the stairs, stopping to turn and add, "I'll be right back!"

Nick gave her another little dismissive wave as she bounded off to the chief's office. The moment she was out of sight he seemed to deflate in the chair and ran his paws up over his face, sighing deeply. So much for one of the best days of his life. He felt crushed by exhaustion and the psychological battering he had just received from the chief.

He lowered one paw in front of his muzzle, feeling an odd sense of amusement at the way it trembled. He wasn't immediately sure what to do with himself, but he knew Judy would be back soon and he didn't want her to see him like this.

Taking a calming breath and clenching his paws until the shaking stopped, he made up his mind on his next course of action.

After seeing the state of her partner, Judy was in no mood for hesitation or petty intimidation tactics, so she barged straight into the Chief's office, causing the much larger mammal to give a start as he stashed a photo in his drawer and sat up straight at his desk trying not to look guilty.

"Chief, you called for me?" she asked impatiently, letting the door swing closed behind her.

"Hopps, take a seat," he grunted, clearing his throat and earning her immediate compliance. "As you have probably guessed, I called you in here to get your preliminary field training report-"

"Sir, before we begin," she interrupted, "I have to ask, what was with the aggressive display earlier? You haven't tried to run me out of your office like that since I was a rookie."

"If I recall correctly, it didn't work back then," the buffalo deflected. "Why did it work now?"

"At that time I didn't believe you had a good enough reason to send me away."

"But you trust me now?"

"I trusted you then too, Sir," she returned, "It's simply that I disagreed with your reasons, and you know I'm not afraid to question your decisions if I feel they are incorrect."

"Indeed. That is why you are one of my most irritating officers," Bogo grumbled, before begrudgingly adding, "And also why you are one of my most trusted, too."

"Then, if I may, Sir, what was the reason for wanting to speak to my partner alone?"

Bogo hesitated, an act that was quite unusual for the cape buffalo.

"You really don't know?" he asked cautiously.

"No, Sir."

The chief sat back in his chair and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, 'Of COURSE she doesn't know. She was the only recruit assigned to Precinct One with from her class, and we didn't have any recruits make the cut in the New Year, either.' Bogo felt a building sense of discomfort at this situation. He had never had to openly explain this particular practice to one of his officers before, and he wasn't about to start now.

"Think of it as a final stage interview," he answered vaguely, "There were some things I needed to know about our newest recruit before I could officially welcome him to the team."

He received a perplexed look from the bunny sat across the desk.

"With respect, Sir, I already told you everything worth knowing about Nick before you approved his application to the academy, including his hustling and how he'd left that life behind. I even told you about that popsicle incident." She confessed that last point ruefully.

"Judy, I trust your insight and your objectivity, which is why I did not hesitate to assign him as your partner when you requested it, however as Chief I still need to take the measure of my new officers and gauge their dedication myself."

"And he passed, of course," she stated.

"I never should have doubted you," he chuckled.

Judy allowed herself a small smile, but didn't ease off the pressure just yet. "He seemed a little… out of sorts afterwards, but dodged my questions about it. Did something else happen during your interview?"

Bogo schooled his face back into an unreadable expression. "The contents of that meeting are confidential, Hopps, and I must discourage you in the strongest possible terms from pressing your partner for the details. Trust me when I say he passed, and let it go."

Judy let the silence stretch between them as she considered those words. Bogo's patience was beginning to wear thin, but thankfully she decided not to push any further, relaxing in her chair and breaking into a wide smile.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that he passed and we can get on with the job!"

Bogo allowed himself to visibly relax as well, taking on a more casual, almost friendly attitude with the rabbit.

"So, the fox who helped you solve your first case has now become your partner, and you have helped him to solve his first case. We've come full circle, Judy."

Her smile brightened considerably at that thought. "So we have, Sir."

"Go ahead and give your field training report. Tell me honestly, how did your fox do?"

Judy felt a thrill run up her spine at Nick being called hers, but quickly suppressed it and started in on her report. Despite herself, her tone wavered back and forth between informative professionalism and happy, gushing bunny.

"I'm not sure it's fair to call it field training, Sir, as there wasn't much need for guidance on my part. Officer Wilde is a natural. Honestly I was more concerned that he might not be as energetic or enthusiastic on his first day, seeing as he transferred straight in from the academy. Even I took a week out to rest up at home with family before I officially started the job. However, I am happy to report that I was wrong there, too! He outperformed most of other partners I've had over the last few months, and I'm not just saying that because he is my best friend, he really did outshine himself in how he handled the traffic stop, the interview with Mr Slothmore, and in his general conduct throughout the day."

She willed herself to leave out the constant teasing she had to endure at the fox's paws, as well as the little incident after the traffic stop where she may have bitten her partner's paw in reprisal.

"So I see," Bogo responded patiently, taking his glasses out and examining the report. "Let's talk a little more about this interview with... Flash Slothmore? Rather unorthodox to let your rookie partner lead on his first day…."

Judy blushed out of embarrassment. "Well, Nick is rather unorthodox. However, we have some history with that sloth."

"Oh? Explain."

"Well, you see that wasn't the first time we encountered Mr. Slothmore. As mentioned in the report, he aided on the Nighthowler case and that was part of why we showed him leniency today."

"Help me to understand what exactly prompted the decision to show leniency here? I'm sure I need not remind you that driving at high speed in the downtown area usually carries mandatory jail time…."

"It was Nick's insight, Sir. He recognized that not only had the mammal in question been instrumental in solving a previous case, but he was also acting extremely out of character. And I mean that as a racer, not as a sloth!"

Bogo didn't react to her little joke, giving her nothing except a gruff, "Continue."

"Ahem, well, those were the reasons that we showed leniency, and in exchange we were able to glean the real reason for his speeding, which had to do with him being ousted from the street racing circuits on speciesist grounds. That lead to the interview and to us officially establishing our current leads."

"So you had your partner lead the interview based on his insights?"

"Yes, and no. I mean, yes that was one of the reasons, but… the thing is, Sir, Mr. Slothmore may drive like a speed demon, but he's soooo slow!" Judy let her frustration pour out in that last word, throwing her whole body forward and flopping her head on the desk dramatically.

"Yes, sloths can be challenging to deal with," the buffalo continued seriously. "Be glad you never had to bust an entire gang of them before."

Judy's head shot up and she stared at the chief with eyes wide in horror. The buffalo's lips cracked into an unnervingly wide smile.

"Just kidding," he grinned, allowing himself a few chuckles at the bunny's expense.

"Ha ha… well, if we ever DO have a sloth gang to deal with, Nick is your mammal!" she recovered, quickly turning the conversation in her partner's favor, "He's so patient, the complete opposite of me in that respect. Really, he was the ideal mammal to lead the interview. And just look at how much info he was able to get out of it!"

"Yes, I agree with your decision to have him lead in this instance, and despite the unorthodox approach, I would call that a very successful interview. Well done."

"Thank you, Sir!" she gushed happily.

"I expect you will be wanting to follow up on your leads Friday night at the docks?"

"I, for one, would like to. I believe it's one of Nick's off-days though so he may want to relax at home rather than come in to work a night shift. However," she grinned savagely and flexed an arm menacingly, "I'm sure I can convince him to come along..."

Bogo chuckled at her display, not doubting that she could strongarm any mammal into doing her bidding if she so willed.

"Good. I'll liaise with lieutenant Krumpanski on SWAT and put together an action plan over the next few days."

The mention of the SWAT team immediately piqued the her interest.

"Don't they still have that jewelry heist gang to finish rounding up in Tundra Town, Sir?"

"About that. I have reason to believe this Blair mammal your witness mentioned is linked to the gang that ran the heist, so we have some crossover here. You understand that means Krumpanski will most likely want to take over your investigation too?"

"He can have it, if I can have SWAT detail with him." She stated boldly.

Bogo laughed loudly, causing her hackles to rise.

"You don't think I can handle it, Sir?" she asked, deigning to sound as annoyed as she felt at his laugh.

"A year ago, if anyone had asked me if I would consider putting a bunny on SWAT, I would have laughed them out of this office, and then put them on parking duty the rest of the week."

"And now?" she demanded impatiently.

"Now I know better," he responded straightforwardly. "I will speak to Krumpanski about rotating you in."

That immediately had her bouncing in her seat. Finally, she would have an opportunity to join one of the ZPD response teams responsible for taking down the most aggressive criminals in Zootopia. The Judy of a year ago would have been leaping to the ceiling and yelling, 'Woohoo! I AM a real cop! I AM a real cop!' The Judy of today would at least wait until she was back at her desk with her partner, to share in….

"What about Nick?" she was asking the question before it had even fully formed in her mind. If she was on SWAT, where would he go?

"One small mammal at a time, Judy. Bear in mind, while I do have the authority to force the Lieutenant to accept officers, I respect how he handles his team selections. You will need to prove to him first that a bunny can handle the responsibility. If he approves, we'll see about lining your fox up for an assignment as well. Assuming he wants it?"

"To be honest, I think I'm just being greedy with his time," she confessed, her voice softening when she thought of all the time she had gotten to spend with Nick today. "If it was up to me, I'd keep Nick as my partner permanently, no matter the assignment…."

"You understand I will have to rotate him out eventually?"

"Yes, Sir. It's just, we make such a great team and the time flies when we're working together. Even that interview with Mr. Slothmore was bearable because I had Nick to back me up."

"I see," came the pensive reply from Bogo. He paused momentarily while collecting his thoughts. He had wanted to broach this next subject tactfully, and she had just given him the ideal opening for it.

"How would you describe your relationship with Officer Wilde?" he asked plainly, watching her reaction carefully.

She answered as plainly as she was asked.

"Well, he's my best friend, and we are very comfortable around each other. I think that's part of what makes us work so well together." Judy started to feel unnerved by the stare she was being fixed with. She hesitantly opened her next question, "Why do you ask, Sir?"

"I have noticed that you two seem to be awfully close." The buffalo kept her fixed with that unnerving stare.

"...is that a personal observation, or a professional one, Sir?" she asked cautiously, her nose twitching as her mind raced to gather her thoughts and steeling herself for what she knew had to come next.

"About that, Hopps-" he started, reaching for the photo, but was cut off by the surprisingly resolute voice of the mammal opposite.

"Actually, Sir, I'm glad you brought it up. If you will allow me, I wanted to make an official report, but wasn't sure how to open the subject."

Judy was sitting calmly, gazing intently at the buffalo. The look intrigued the chief, and he already suspected what her next words might be, so he withdrew his hoof from the drawer, leaving the photo where it was for now and giving her his undivided attention.

"Go on."

She took a short pause to steel herself for what she had to say, then inhaled deeply.

"I think I might be developing feelings for him," she uttered in one breath, quickly adding, "For Nick."

"Oh?" Bogo raised one eyebrow.

She was already starting to become flustered from the admission, but soldiered on anyway, "I know that's kinda strange… a bunny and a fox… and I don't know if he feels the same… heck, I'm not even sure how I really feel about it, but…."

"Get to the point, Hopps."

"Right." She took a slower breath to calm herself, before continuing in a more even, professional tone. "I am obliged to report there was a moment earlier today, around 1600 hours. We were outside the city center, on Acacia Street. I stopped Nick on the sidewalk to talk to him and we accidentally ended up in each other's arms. It was completely unintentional, but we both froze because it was unexpected. I guess we were like that for a few seconds, at least."

"Why are you volunteering this information, Hopps?"

"Because, it's possible that someone at the scene took a photo of us embracing," she confessed, holding her boss' questioning glare despite the colour rushing to her cheeks and ears. "I realize what a serious problem that might be for the ZPD if that image got out, and I just wanted to head it off and inform you that Nick wasn't to blame. I was the one who initiated physical contact and put us in that compromising position. If there are any consequences, I'm fully prepared to face them."

"I see. And you understand what sort of action might be taken against you if such an image were to become public?"

"I do, Sir. I would like to avoid being separated from my partner if possible, but I also appreciate that allowing ourselves to be seen in public like that is in direct violation of the ZPD's code of ethics. I just wanted to assure you that it wasn't intended, I was the one responsible, and…."

"Yes?"

"...I'm seeing Nick tonight to talk about it. Not like a date thing! I mean, I don't think it's a date but… I wanted to sit down with him and get our feelings straight, and make sure this sort of thing doesn't happen again. Not… not in uniform, at least."

"I see..." Bogo muttered, sitting back and contemplating what he had just been told. Truthfully, he did not care much for enforcing the fraternization policy, and provided his officers were discrete he would turn a blind eye, but there was one question he could not ignore.

"Judy, I need to know… Is this going to affect your ability to perform your job?"

"No, Sir," she answered resolutely, "Today is the only exception, and that is only because I just became aware of these feelings. You have my strongest assurances that I won't let it impact my work."

Bogo snorted in approval at her resolve.

"Well, in light of your volunteering these details and the assurances you have given me, I will take it under advisement and no action will be taken. Your assignment together is not currently in jeopardy."

She breathed an audible sigh of relief.

"But keep this in mind, Hopps. If it does become public knowledge, there will be a review, and I may be forced to reassign the pair of you. So sort it out, and keep it out of the workplace."

"Yes, Sir. Thank you for being so understanding," she said with a happy smile.

"I wouldn't be so quick to thank me, Judy… you know I-

"-don't care. I know, Sir. And I'm going to thank you anyway," she beamed at him.

Bogo gave another snort and sat far back in his chair, feeling somewhat abashed by her praise. Perhaps the still-fresh memory of chewing her partner out was weighing on his conscience, but now that they had each said their piece, he felt the need to get her out the door as quickly as possible.

"Was there anything else, Officer Hopps?"

"No, Sir, nothing important, at least."

"Good, then that will be all. Go on your little date with your fox. And no, I do not care if that's really what it is or not. And no, I do not want the details. I trust you to handle yourselves like adults."

"Yes, Sir!" she squeaked, jumping up in her seat and saluting so fast she hit herself in the temple.

"I'm serious about that, Judy," he warned, staring her down intimidatingly again. "If I so much as hear a single rumor flying around this Precinct about the two of you, you can forget simply being reassigned to different patrols and SWAT. You'll both be on parking duty for the rest of the month. Separately."

"Understood, Sir!"

"Good. Dismissed."

With that she leaped down and quickly headed for the door. However, just as she touched the handle, he called out to her again.

"Oh, one last thing, Hopps."

"Sir?"

He delivered his next question like a joke.

"Do you know why cows wear bells?"

"Yup! It's because their horns don't work!" she grinned brightly and waited for him to laugh, only to be met with an unimpressed look. Then it dawned on her, 'Sweet Cheese and Crackers, he saw the interview….'

"Oh, believe me, Hopps, my horns work just fine," he threatened. "However…."

The buffalo retrieved his phone from his pocket. It was accompanied by a tinkling sound, and Judy could see a charm in the shape of a cow bell dangling from the wrist strap.

"...I wear it because it behooves me to wear what my wife picks out for me."

"Haha! Good one sir!" she exclaimed in a panicky voice. That WAS meant to be a joke, right? She didn't just laugh at the gift his wife had gotten him, did she? She didn't even know he was married!

"Get out of my office," he snapped.

"Yes, Sir! Goodnight, Sir!" she squeaked, yanking the door open and dashing out.

"Goodnight, Judy," he chuckled after she was gone.

Once more alone in his office, an exhausted Bogo leaned back in his chair to contemplate the information had just received. He was intrigued to see that their feelings were mutual. Assuming no interference, it would only be a matter of time before they acknowledged those feelings. That then lead to the very real risk of their status becoming public. He knew his options would be limited in that eventuality, but a contingency plan was already beginning to form. He picked up his phone.

"Clawhauser. Get me Lydia from PR & Marketing. And a strong, black coffee, I will be working some overtime tonight."

Hanging up again, he retrieved the incriminating photo from his desk drawer again and subjected it to a further round of contemplation. Perhaps he could put all of that schmoozing over at city hall to a noble use after all….

Outside Bogo's office, Judy was fuming to herself as she thought about Nick's jokes being caught by the Chief.

"Sweet Cheese and Crackers, how much of that awful interview did he see?" she groaned while heading down the stairs, "Ugh, Nick, I am giving your ear an extra hard tweak when I find you, you dumb fox!"

Quickly making her way back to the office, she was surprised to discover that their desk was empty.

"Nick?" she called out, looking around but seeing most of the cubicles now vacant save for Skunkton's, who was in the process of shutting down his terminal and packing up to head home for the night.

"Oh, Judy, you're still here?" he asked, surprised to see her.

"Hey, Skunkton, I'm really sorry about earlier…"

"Oh, you mean your partner growling at me? Think nothing of it!" he said with a smile, "I think it's great to have such a protective partner. You know I'm kind of a big fan of yours after that whole savage fiasco."

"Thank you," she grumbled, once more thrown off by a 'fan'. Worse, she worked with this one.

"It actually makes me feel reassured to know you've got someone watching your back. Even if he is a-"

"That sentence better not end with the word fox," she growled, matching the menace of Nick's earlier snarl. It was more than enough to startle the skunk into cowering away from the bunny. Fortunately, civilized skunks had long learned to keep their glands "evacuated" or else the poor mephitid might have sprayed himself in fright.

Quickly recovering from his scare, Skunkton began simpering, "Oh gosh, I'm so sorry. That was really inappropriate and insensitive of me, wasn't it? Please forget I said that. Old views die hard, you know?"

Judy rumbled in annoyance and the striped skunk once more fell silent. "I'll ignore it this once, Skunkton, and we'll forget about my comment and my partner's growling too."

"Sure thing, Officer Hopps. All forgiven and forgotten!"

Judy sighed and stared back at her desk, hoping the fox might just reappear.

"Anyway, have you seen Nick?" she finally asked the skunk.

"Oh, yeah, he left a while ago," Skunkton replied casually, gathering up the rest of his things.

"What?" came her shocked response.

"Yeah, he looked really tired. Think he said he was heading home to rest. Why, did you two have plans or something?"

"...I guess not," she muttered, crestfallen by the realization Nick had left without her.

"Alright, well, see you tomorrow, Hopps!" With that, the black and white furred mammal waddled out the door, headed home for the night. As, Nick, apparently had also done. Though perhaps with slightly less waddling.

Judy sat down at her desk, feelings of confusion and disappointment filling her head. Why hadn't he waited for her? They had planned to go out together and he'd even promised her one drink, and Nick never broke his promises to her. That last thought incensed her.

"It's not like him to go back on a promise," she mumbled to herself, opening her phone, "Something's gotta be up."

She flicked to the messaging app and pulled up Nick's contact. The last message she'd sent him was this morning offering to buy him a Snarlbucks coffee before their shift started. As if by magic, he had sauntered around the corner and responded in person - in hindsight, without his coffee, he really did move with more of waddle. Or maybe a shamble? Like a coffee-powered, zombie fox.

'Focus, Judy. Message him. Maybe he'll make another miraculous appearance…'

Her digits worked quickly, typing up a new message, going through several versions before settling on one that satisfied her.

Judy Hopps: 'Hey, Slick, what gives? Why'd you leave me at the precinct? We're still on for drinks tonight, right?

She hit send and waited several seconds, hoping that he might just walk around the corner again, but her fox failed to materialize. 'I guess it was too much to expect it to happen twice in one day,' she thought sadly. At least the message had confirmed as received on his end, so his phone must still be working, but it hadn't been read yet.

Remembering that she still had a change of clothes in her locker at the precinct, she decided to go and get changed into her civvies while waiting for his response. There were a few other female officers in the locker room between their shifts and either changing into or out or uniform, or heading into the showers. Currently none of the officers she was close with were present to accost her - she was thankful for that small blessing.

She quickly changed into the clothes she had picked out for tonight; a plain, pink, v-necked tee that fell loosely around her hips and bunched at the base of her tail, and a simple pair of black leggings. She didn't really have anything in the way of fancy clothing. In fact, her entire wardrobe currently only consisted of a handful of plaid shirts, blue jeans, a small selection of t-shirts, and the black leggings she was currently wearing. This was about as presentable as she could make herself without buying new clothes. Not that she had planned this night out -that- far in advance, but she had hoped Nick would agree to go out. She hadn't expected him to back out at the last second though.

That thought sent a fresh wave of anxiety through her and she quickly checked the phone again, cursing as she realized she'd left it on silent, and feeling her heart leap as she saw a new message from Nick.

Nick Wilde: 'Sorry, not feeling well. Decided to head home and rest. See you tomorrow.'

The change in his tone was startling and her worry was building beyond control.

"No Carrots? No Fluff? No teasing or joking?" she grumbled to herself, for once missing the irritating pet names he insisted on calling her, "Something's REALLY wrong, and I'm going to find out what…."

She hit the call button next to his name and lifted the device to one ear, waiting for the dial tone to start ringing.

"Come on, Nick, pick up…" she mumbled, leaning against her locker and absently playing with her free ear.

The phone picked up immediately.

"Yello', Nick speaking."

"Oh, thank goodness, Nick! I was beginning to wor-"

"...Just kidding, you've reached my voicemail! Betcha thought it was really me, huh? Leave your message after the beep. BEEP. ...wait a minute, that wasn't the real beep! You better not have fallen for that…."

"Just how dumb does he think I am?"

"...only as dumb as a bunny."

"Nick!? Are you messing with me right n-"

"Okay, here it comes for real this time!"

*beep*

"Ugh, I really am a dumb bunny..." she muttered, realizing too late that it had already gone to voicemail. "CRAP! Don't record that! Argh, whatever! Nick, where are you? Call me back when you get this. Oh, and you are SO going to pay for that voicemail message. Just remember what I did to your popsicle. Wait, that sounds bad. I mean the bite! I'm gonna… Ooh, nevermind, you awful fox!"

She closed the call and huffed angrily at her phone. 'Did I seriously just get hustled by a recording of that sly fox?' Doubt crept into her mind, and so she called again and just listened. Sure enough, the exact same message played out. She let it beep to voicemail again and added one final message.

"You suck."

She closed the phone again and sat down on a bench to cool her head and figure out her next move.

"If his voicemail is on then either his phone just died or he turned it on manually after messaging me," she pondered out loud. "I know his phone was still charged before he went in to see the chief, so he must have turned on voicemail himself to avoid calls. But why would he do that?"

She stood up and paced, tapping her foot as she tried to piece it together.

"Something must have gone wrong when he spoke to the chief," she decided. "I have to make sure he's okay, but how? Skunkton said he was going home, but I don't know where he lives…."

On a whim, she checked her phone, but his address wasn't listed under his contact details.

"Drat. Maybe Clawhauser can pull his address from the officer registry? But if I ask that gossip queen for Nick's home address I'll never hear the end of it…."

She knew Ben would interpret asking for Nick's address to be a sign that the two were planning to get romantic, and she did not want to risk parking duty for a month if it got back to the chief that she was making house calls on her partner from day one.

She pondered her other options, but quickly realized she had none. It was either trust the cheetah, or go home and wait to see Nick tomorrow morning. And she'd rather risk parking duty for the rest of the year than leave her partner when he needed her.

"Please don't make me regret this, dumb fox," she grumbled as she headed out into the lobby. She just hoped the dispatcher hadn't already left for the day.

Despite her apprehension, she was oddly relieved to find Ben still at his post on the front desk, looking tired and intermittently absorbed in the same app game from the morning.

"Hey Ben, you're still here!"

"Yuh-huh. Nightshift is late today so I get another joyous half hour of desk duty to fill with digital donut eating!"

"I'm sorry to hear that, but I kinda need your help…."

"What's the matter, honey bun?"

"I'm worried about Nick. He went home without saying anything, then he left me a really strange text and now he's turned off his phone. I want to swing by his place and make sure he's okay, but I don't have his address…."

"Oooh-"

"Clawhauser, PLEASE. Whatever you're thinking, it isn't that. I think something's really wrong with Nick and I have to go make sure he's okay. And please keep this to yourself. If it gets to the chief that I'm visiting Nick at home - and not for that purpose, I swear - we'll be on parking duty for a month…."

"Oh Judy, do you truly think so little of me?" he sniffled melodramatically.

"You run betting pools against everyone in the precinct," she retorted sardonically.

"Well, yeah, but it's all purely confidential. Just like how we won't tell HR about-" he stifled his mouth with both paws, earning a quizzical look from Judy.

"About what?" she pressed.

"...don't be mad?"

"Ben. What did you do?" she growled.

"I may have started a teensy pool on when you and Nick would get together..."

"Please tell me you're joking."

"Oh, come on, you two have been making goo-goo eyes at each-other since you walked in together this morning!"

She forced herself to breathe calmly rather than lose her temper at the cheetah. She needed his help, and exploding on him could ruin her chances of getting the info she needed.

"Look, maybe I might have given him a look here and there, but that doesn't mean anything. He's a good-looking mammal! You said so yourself. Besides, I'm pretty sure Nick wasn't making goo-goo eyes at me!"

"Judy, that boy could barely take his eyes off you," Ben responded smugly. "The whole time you were signing in he was just watching you with that smirky face of his. It would be a bit creepy, if you hadn't been doing exactly the same thing to him while HE was signing in…."

A memory of that morning rose up unbidden, confirming what she was being told. She really had been staring at him like that. She felt the color rising to her cheeks.

"...please don't tell everyone I like him," she grumbled into her chest, staring at her feet.

"Aww, honeybun. How could I refuse that request? It's just so c-"

"Clawhauser," she warned, folding her arms crossly.

"Oh, let me have this once, pleeease?"

She rolled her eyes.

"Fine."

"It's just so CUTE!" he exclaimed, smooshing his cheeks.

"And your cute pass has expired."

"Worth it."

"Now please help me, Ben," she pleaded, "You're my only hope."

"Ooh, was that a Star Boars reference?"

"What? No, I haven't even seen that movie."

He gasped at her in shock. "Whaaaat!?"

"Ben, focus, please!"

"Oh, fine…" he grumbled, turning to his computer and browsing through the file system before writing down some information on a small yellow post-it.

"Alright, according to the system, he lives at 1955 Cypress Grove Lane. One sec, let me check Zoogle for directions… Okay, just take the Inner Loop from Central Station to Rainbow Falls, then head north across the river. It's the building that looks like a giant sequoia tree, you can't miss it."

She leaped across the desk and snatched the post-it with the address out of his paw.

"Thank you so much, Ben. I owe you one!" she called out behind her, already dashing out the door in a grey blur, headed for Savanna Central station.

Clawhauser glanced at Nick's file on his computer and rubbed his neck thoughtfully. He had a pretty good idea why the fox might have cut out a few minutes early, and he spared a rueful glance up at Bogo's office door.

"Gee, I hope the chief didn't scare off another one," he sighed, returning to his phone and re-opening the app game, hoping for the remainder of his shift to pass quickly.

A/N: End of fluff

This chapter did not have enough fox. Or fluff. Next week will be foxier, and a fair bit fluffier. It won't be bunnier though; there will be in a roughly equivalent amount of bun. Also adding in some raccoon, just for flavor. Speaking of flavor, I am running low on chocolate. Send supplies!

Please do leave a review and a follow so I can pester you for chocolate in PMs, and alert you with the next update. Do let me know what direction you would like to see this story go in, your feedback is greatly appreciated.

Not much else to say here. So see you next Friday! :)

...unless you wanna talk about skunk butts?

Sure, let's talk about skunk butts!

FUN FACT: Today, on Fun Facts, we're talking about skunk butts. No not the rugs made from the butts of the skunks - the actual butts under the soon-to-be rugs!

So a lot of fics handwave Zootopian skunk spray by having the skunks surgically remove the offending glands at an early age. However, according to SCIENCE, it can take up to 10 days for a skunk's glands to "reload" once they are fully discharged, so with that in mind, I figure that simply having them "evacuate their glands" periodically via (government-approved) sanitary means would be a less invasive way of handling this biological feature.

Basically, they just need to go to the bathroom once a day and can live a perfectly normal life! I don't envy the janitor who has to scrub that bowl though. But then, I can raise you one better with two words: elephant latrine.

Vulpes, once again over-thinking the science behind a throwaway line! (poor Skunkton. You mustn't diss the fox!)