DISCLAIMER: I was finishing up my bid to own Zootopia when Lightning McQueen blew past, tearing up the road and the bid blew right off my desk. I haven't seen it since, so I still don't own Zootopia, and now I have a road to fix.

Thanks to my friend and editor TheoreticallyEva for fixing up this chapter!


Rocky Mamusson couldn't help the sense of apathy as he looked at the half-dozen mammals who had rolled into his building. All of them had come in this morning courtesy of the raids, and he thanked whoever was up above that none of them were his friends on the police force.

No, the mammals in front of him were caught in the raid on the Meadowlands warehouse, though he'd gotten a call from the chief that another body was on the way, thanks to some of his underlings. Looking over the bodies in front of him, he noted that only two of them had gunshot wounds. One was quite clearly instantly fatal. The bullet had entered the warthog's skull on the left side and exited through a sizable hole on the right. It was messy.

The other GSW victim was a smaller sheep, female. The bullet had entered her chest and stuck there, and she'd bled out at the scene. The other four had large splashes of purple in their fur, but no immediate signs of trauma. He'd start with those ones first.

He was about to go wash up and grab what he needed when the door to the morgue banged open and a pair of pygmy hippos came in pushing a seventh gurney. The raccoon sighed and turned to look at the body. A ram, middle-aged, two gunshot entry wounds on the chest and a furrow where a third bullet grazed his neck. "Who's this?"

"The cops identified him as Doug Ramses. We picked him up in Tundratown." The hippo who spoke shivered, and the raccoon felt a pang of sympathy, since they weren't built for the cold weather in that district.

"How'd he get over there? I was under the impression that the ZPD wasn't doing much in that area today."

The hippo who spoke earlier just shrugged, while the second and shorter of the two scratched his head. "Beats me. From the looks of it, though, they tried escaping in a delivery van."

Rocky snorted. Of all the vehicles to pick, they choose a delivery van? However, it did occur to him that the large box could be used as an effective shield against pursuing police cars that might try to take out the driver.

It wasn't his job, though, to read into that part. He would be needed to determine the cause of death and report it to the families. And to the ZPD's Internal Affairs, if it turns out that the deaths were caused by a member of the force. He never relished doing that.

The raccoon pulled out his cell phone and made a call. The phone rang several times before the voicemail picked up and his wife's voice came through the speaker. "Hey, it's Dee, can't talk, leave a message! Bye!" Her voice sounded entirely too cheery for the mood in the city at the moment.

"Sweetheart, it's me. It's going to be another long day here, so I don't think I'll be home tonight. Love you. Give me a call, OK?" He hung up.

Donning his protective coveralls and gear, he turned back to the bodies. He had work to do.


Chief Adrian Bogo's signature scowl looked even fiercer as he stared holes through the lineup of mammals being marched in pawcuffs from their various cruisers and prisoner transport vans into the precinct. Two officers stood on both sides of him, all four with lethals at the ready should any one of them attempt to escape their handlers. Quite a few glares and insults were thrown at him, his mammals, the city, and, for some reason, the stars' alignment, as they were taken through the doors to their new accomodations.

He didn't want to keep the monsters out of a locked cage any longer than necessary, either, so they were putting all the mammals into one cell first until space in the booking queue opened up, at which point they were taken for processing and finally dumped a different cell. They'd planned it so that the last batch would end up right back into the cell from which they came.

City lawyers had been called, along with the mayor's office. Councillor Caulfield had been picked up by Rivers and Longtooth on their way back from the Furston building. Apparently, they had caught him red-hooved on a phone call, trying to launder more money from the frozen "charity" bank accounts. He'd panicked and swung at Longtooth when she'd moved in to arrest him, landing him a nice charge for assaulting an officer as well. Tundratown would be looking for a new councillor.

"You've got no right to do this to me! Do you know who I am?!" The chief almost snorted at that, remembering all of the times he'd heard that phrase throughout his career. The shouting continued. "I'll have your badges for this! This is an outrage! I'm the COO of Furston! You can't just—" The zebra, elk, and lioness disappeared into the station, with Longtooth giving the chief a look that clearly said she'd been listening to that nonsense for way too long.

The parade of shame continued, with more of their targets being emptied into their new living arrangements. When the last of them had been brought in, Bogo himself walked into the ZPD basement and made his way through the halls to the booking rooms.

It was like an assembly line there, too. First, the detainees were strip-searched and ordered to change into prison jumpsuits, their personal effects collected, examined, and sent for analysis. Those with hooves were also de-shoed if necessary. Then, they went through paw or hoof prints, mugshots, iris scanning, DNA collection, and blood tests. The latter was ordered by the health department in order to study the potential effects of long-term Night Howler exposure. Once all that was finished, the subjects were returned to the cells.

The cacophony of voices here ranged from refusals to do as ordered to insults and the usual arguments for their innocence. A few went on about purification or purity nonsense. None of the words went heeded by his officers, with many just telling the detainees to shut up, usually with more colourful wording.

Ten of their targets had ended up in the hospital, a few with gunshot wounds, and the others were being treated for Night Howler exposure and tranquilization. He sighed. The day had gone well enough, and he hadn't lost a single mammal, but he wasn't looking forward to the Internal Affairs and public relations debacle that would result from this. He could hear the questions now—

"Why was the use of this level of force authorized?"

"Why was the attack on the Rainforest District/Grand Palm Hotel not prevented?"

"No warrants were issued for the arrest of any of these mammals. Is the ZPD arresting anyone it doesn't like now?"

And dozens of others.

The spin doctors at many of the tabloids around the city, along with politicians, could try to paint the monsters they'd picked up as victims of a corrupt ZPD, and that wasn't including those who agreed with the ideals of this… group. This wasn't over, not by a long shot, and the fallout could last for years to come.

"Amazing that this relatively small group could cause so much destruction." The chief looked over at Rivers, who had moved to stand next to him.

The elk detective nodded. "McStripeson's secure, sir. If you want to question him, we'll need to bring him to an interrogation room, obviously, but I think Nolwazi is about ready to rip his ears off and use them as a gag. She had to listen to him rant for an hour."

Bogo shook his head. "See that the process here continues. Make sure every one of them is put in the cell and secured, and make sure there are more than enough guards. I need to visit the hospitals and make sure our mammals are OK, and that the detainees there are covered."

Rivers nodded again. "Yes, sir."

Bogo left the elk and headed back to the garage, climbing into his cruiser and heading to the Northern Lights Health Center. Hopps and Wilde were both there, along with Damian Hornby. Checking on his officers was his number one priority.

As he drove, he looked around. The few mammals who were out were only there to get from their subway station to their office or vice versa. With almost every shop in the city closed, however, the effect was an eerie silence and stillness. No kids playing in the park, no street vendors, no families stopping to chat, no teens with their noise-cancelling headphones completely oblivious to the world, no sloths racing down Main Street doing 115 miles per hour.

Tundratown was no different. The icy, snow-covered streets bore little sign of mammals passing by, tire tracks on the road and pawprints on the sidewalks long covered with fresh white powder. Normally, it would be regularly cleared or at least packed down by the passing of everyday life.

The hospital stood in the shadow of the climate wall near the coast, in an area that was often subject to snow squalls, thanks to said wall and the winds off the Pawcific Ocean. The climate wall itself was fortunately automated and could generally be run with minimal staff if maintenance was deferred, though it would cost the city in the long run. The wall itself was actually ten different identical heating/cooling and snowmaking systems, any three of which could be offline or broken down without impacting the climate of Tundratown or Sahara Square.

Today was a fairly mild day as the buffalo pulled into the parking area reserved for hospital emergency services before reaching for his parka and exiting the vehicle, shivering as he did so. He wasn't built for this climate, though he knew Hopps and Wilde would fare better. He quickly made his way inside and was directed to the room his officers occupied.


The doctor left, leaving the two small ZPD officers in the room with each other. The implications of what the doctor had told them were shockingly, almost uncomfortably clear.

"Sooooo…" They both said exactly the same thing at exactly the same time.

"You go first, Carrots." The fox gestured to the doe, trying to buy time to figure out how best to phrase what he was thinking.

"No, you go first."

The fox shook his head. "Seriously, Carrots. I want to hear what you think. This is you we're talking about, after all."

The doe sighed, looking a bit nervous as she stroked an ear. "All of our co-workers would be too big to be much help to me. Even Nolwazi. And your mom can't come out of hiding for a while. Maybe we can call my parents and bring one of my sisters down." She seemed to want to say something else, but kept quiet, her ears turning a shade of pink.

Nick thought for a second. "Maybe Madison?"

Judy's eyes lit up at that. "I'm sure I could convince her!" Her expression dulled a bit. "But we won't be able to bring her in until the lockdown lifts and trains are running again."

Well, that's a complication. The fox took a deep breath, his signature smirk on his muzzle. "Would the bunny be opposed to a certain fox helping her out?"

That caused her ears, to explode into a bright red colour. Her nose turned red, too, and started twitching like crazy. "NIIIIICK! This is serious!"

"Where? I don't see Sirius," he said, referring to Harry Pawter's large canine godfather.

The doe blinked in confusion for a moment before she made the connection and snorted in laughter despite herself. "You know what I mean!"

"Oh? Is the little bunny nervous?"

Judy covered her face with her ears, her scent spiking. Nick couldn't help but laugh at the doe's actions a moment before calming down. "Honestly, Carrots, you shouldn't be nervous." His face grew serious. "If anything, I should be."

Judy peeked out from behind her ears. "Why?"

The fox sighed. "Carrots, remember months ago when I told you the vixen leads in fox relationships?"

Judy nodded.

"Well, initiating intimate contact… or even something like this… That's something the vixen's kind of supposed to do as well. It's not exactly taboo for the tod to do it, but more often than not, it's the vixen."

It was Judy's turn to smirk. "Oh? Is the big bad tod scared that the little bunny is going to reject him?"

Nick was silent for a while. "Yes."

Judy's face softened. "Relax, Nick. I'm embarrassed and scared too. This is a big step forward for us and…" she trailed off, taking a deep breath, immediately regretting it when pain shot through her chest. "I've never been comfortable enough with any mammal to let them see… me. Except you."

Nick couldn't help the genuine smile that blossomed on his face. Just hearing Judy say that made his heart swell. Before he could respond, though, he heard the telltale hoofsteps of an approaching mammal. Judy obviously heard it, too, and a "Good afternoon, Chief" was out of her muzzle before he could even turn around.

"Hopps. Wilde."

Nick grinned as he turned to face his boss. "Yes, my esteemed chief, that's my name. Don't overuse it."

The chief's response was immediate. "Would you rather I called you Mud?"

The fox looked offended. "Why, I never…!"

"Never shut your mouth? Yes, I am well aware of that."

"Gotta keep you on your toes, chief." Nick winked at the cape buffalo.

Bogo grunted and turned to the bunny in the bed. "And I bet you're going to tell me you've just got a bruise and you should be all good to go in an hour."

The doe shook her head. "No, sir. Apparently, I cracked my sternum and a few ribs." She pointed to the light panel on the wall, where the x-ray exposures had been left, and the chief made his way over to look at them.

After a while he turned back to the rabbit. "How long?"

"At least two months, sir." Her ears dropped behind her head, and she looked down at the bedsheets. "I can do a couple hours of office work, but nothing out on the beat." She looked defeated, and Bogo was quick to pick up on that.

"Consider yourself lucky, Hopps. That armour did its job. And I'm damn glad, too, because I don't want to be losing some of my best mammals over bad equipment."

"What's going on back at the station, sir?"

Bogo cleared his throat. "We've rounded up all the mammals from the various raids. Those that survived, anyway. The Detectives are going through them now to make sure we've got everyone."

Judy slumped against her pillow. "Carrotsticks, I hope we did."

Nick nodded his agreement. "Gotta say, chief, I don't much like the idea of these… Well, I don't much like the idea that one of them might get away and set up shop elsewhere."

"I find myself agreeing with you again, Wilde, much as it pains me to do so." The chief sighed. "Hopps, I assume you're arranging for someone to take care of you?" He'd had officers with injuries like this before and was well acquainted with the necessity for care and assistance doing the simplest tasks.

"We're working on that, sir. We'll see if we can get one of my sisters out here to help out, and maybe Nick's mom." She didn't say anything about the meantime, but from Bogo's knowing expression, it may not have been necessary.

"Good to hear, Hopps. Two weeks paid leave minimum for both of you. That's not optional, but I may need you to come in and help with the interviews and documentation. In fact, before you go home, I'd like you to come by the station and help with some of the interviews, if the doctor allows it."

Judy groaned. She hated not being out there to help but knew she'd be no good to anyone in the field or on the beat. An injured cop was a liability there, and they all knew it. She did have one question, though. "Sir, why Nick? He's not hurt at all."

The chief gave the two small officers a shrewd look. "It seems to me, Hopps, that Officer Wilde had to watch his partner get shot. I'd say that he might be in emotional distress, except I don't care. Once we're done today, go home, and don't come to the precinct for two weeks unless we need you."

Nick made a mock gasping sound. "Why, chief! Are you lying? Because I think you DO care!"

"Okay, then, I'm only putting you on medical leave with Hopps because I don't want to deal with your smug muzzle all day long without her to keep you on a leash."

Nick's voice turned to one of exaggerated hurt. "Aw, you wound me, chief."

The chief rolled his eyes as he made his exit. At that moment, Judy burst out laughing. "Nick! You shouldn't antagonize him like that!"

Nick gave her an easy grin. "What? You know he loves it, and so do you."

"Come over here so I can punch you."

"I'd strongly advise against that, Miss Hopps." The doctor had picked that moment to return.

"Save me, doctor, from the vicious bunny," Nick said in the driest tone possible.

The doctor scratched his head. "Sorry, pal, I only work in the medical field. Can't save you from this. You're on your own. Maybe buy her some flowers, though."

Judy giggled at the surprised, then mock resigned look on Nick's face.

"Miss Hopps, I have some pain medications here that should help, and a few bits of advice to help with your healing." He handed the doe the small bottle of pills. "Just a couple tips. A lot of mammals try to avoid deep breathing when they have a sternum fracture, but this could lead to a chest infection. Take deep breaths throughout the day, even if it hurts. Not a lot, but a few.

"Second, if you feel the need to cough, don't try to suppress it. You should support your chest wall by wrapping your arms around yourself, like you're hugging yourself. You can also buy braces for your chest. We'll reassess in a week, though, and see if one of those is absolutely necessary."

The doctor glanced between the two. "When you're sleeping, you should sleep on your back. Do you know if you move around a lot?"

Before Judy could say anything, Nick piped up. Again. "Most days, she sleeps like a log. Doesn't move a muscle… just occasionally tries to rip fur out of me when she wakes up."

"NICK," Judy shouted, shocked.

The doctor had his own smirk on his muzzle. "Well, regardless, try to stay on your back. And no…strenuous activities."

The bunny and fox both exploded into blushes, though Nick was thankful that his thick red fur hid it.

The doctor, meanwhile, was writing something in his notepad, then tearing it off and handing it to Judy. "I will see you a week from today, Ms. Hopps, 1:30 PM." The doe sighed and took the slip of paper. "Go ahead and check out. Go home if possible, and, like I said, no strenuous activity."

The doctor left the two to their own devices. Judy looked down at herself, then over at the chair that held, for the moment, her uniform and set of armour, sans the chest piece, which had been taken by Bogo to be analyzed and returned to the manufacturer for further examination. "Ummmm…"

Nick looked up at her, then over at the chair, then back at the doe again before the little light bulb went on. "I'll leave the room."

Judy seemed unsure for a moment, then appeared to steel herself and wriggled out of the bed. "No. If we're going to do this, we need to get over this hurdle. Just… Give me a paw getting down." The bed itself wasn't sized for bunnies, and they both knew that hopping down could injure her further.

Nick hurried to the edge of the bed and scooped Judy up, bridal style, and carried her to the chair before setting her down, gently. The doe grabbed her pants, then looked at them, then looked at Nick, before holding them out to him.

The fox immediately got the drift and stooped down to hold her pants for her, averting his eyes as he did so. She used his shoulder to balance herself, then stepped into them, allowing Nick to pull them up before adjusting them herself. Looking at the fox in front of her, she couldn't help but giggle at his apparent fascination with the nearby wall outlet.

"You know, you silly fox, most of the males I've met and the few dates I've been on, the males just wanted to get me out of my pants. I think that this is the first time a male has wanted to help get me INTO them."

That did the trick. The fox snorted and graced her with his easy grin. "Who says I don't want to get you out of your pants? I'm just waiting for the right… moment." He made an exaggerated once over of her pants-and-hospital-gown clad body and licked his lips.

Judy let out a laugh at that. While others might have been driven crazy by her fox's antics, it was part of his oddly endearing qualities. But for the moment, she had to be a bit more serious. She turned to face the wall. "Help me with the gown, Slick."

There was a long pause before Nick responded, so much so that Judy almost turned around to see what the delay was. It was then that she felt the gown loosen first at the bottom then the top as the ties were undone. The fox then gently pushed it off her shoulders, his paws lingering on them and rubbing gently, though she could feel a slight hesitation in his actions. A small grin crossed her face, thinking that SHE should be the nervous one, but she could tell that Nick was more anxious than she was.

For his part, Nick felt incredibly conflicted. On one paw, here was Judy voluntarily allowing him to see her in a state of undress that she hadn't before. On the other, he wanted to respect her privacy and give her what space she needed. She didn't seem all that uncomfortable, though, so maybe it was OK. He couldn't deny that her scent was getting to him, though, even more so than usual. Come to think of it, the scent was similar to the one he'd picked up from her months ago, right after Bellwether's arrest, and a few times since then. Was she… excited?

He shook his head and focused back on the task at hand. He grabbed Judy's shirt and held it over her head, waited for her to hold her arms close to her chest, then pulled the shirt over her head and down her back. As a finishing touch, he helped her get her arms through the sleeves, thankfully only eliciting a small grunt of pain from the doe.

Judy turned back to face Nick and regarded him for a moment before smirking. "I'm not that scary, am I?"

The fox blinked, and shook his head, then plastered his signature smirk on his muzzle. "I don't know what you're talking about, Carrots."

The doe quirked her eyebrow. "Really. So, the trembling paw was just an act? Not because of the scary bunny? Fear me! Rarrr!" She twisted her face into a ferocious expression and reached out her paws as though she were going to claw him. Unfortunately, she couldn't hold the act, snorting and breaking out giggling.

Nick gave her a wink. "Absolutely. All an act. 100%"


In another part of the hospital, Damian Hornby groaned and turned on his bed as he began to wake up.

Or, at least, he tried to turn. The sharp tug on his hoof and the loud clatter made him realize something was amiss, and he forced his eyes open.

The sight of the large glaring mammal above him made him wish he hadn't done that, and he felt like, if looks could kill, he'd be a melted pile of organic goo. It took him a moment to recognize the other mammal, but when he did, his blood ran cold.

The chief of police.

The very mammal who had the power to shut them down—and possibly did. The bovine lying in the bed did his best to meet the intimidating chief's glare. "Can I help you, officer?"

The cape buffalo's face twisted into an unamused smirk. "I'm sure there's a lot of things you can help us understand. For now, though, all you need to know is that you are under arrest. Terrorism, mass murder, possession, manufacturing, and distribution of a controlled substance, assault, assaulting a police officer, assaulting a police officer with a deadly weapon, and planning a coup. Multiple accounts for all but the last."

"I want my phone call." Hornby gave the cape buffalo the best defiant voice he could muster for being a smaller mammal lying in a bed chained to the side.

The chief snorted. "A phone call? The city is under police control. I don't have to give you anything. Even if it wasn't, I wouldn't be required to do anything for twenty-four hours. We also have a lot of your… mammals to process. And many of my staff are out sick from your delightful little present yesterday, so it might be even longer. So… don't leave town. One of my officers will be by to pick you up." The ugly grin on the chief's face did nothing to help Hornby's mood.

As soon as the chief left, the Texas longhorn began tugging and jangling at the cuffs on his wrists. It didn't do any good, and neither did kicking, since his rear hooves were chained down, too. The bovine let out almost a growl-like noise as he contemplated his dilemma. If they knew he was involved in the test yesterday, how much else did they know? How did they figure it out? Did Doug talk? No. He was with me the whole time.

It could only have been Stang. The conniving whore must have sold them out! A sense of dread fell over him as he realized that if the mare HAD sung like a canary, the cops knew everything that he'd done in the last six months. She conveniently disappeared for a week and came back only to stay in her apartment for another week, and then was seen out and about yesterday. So, if she talked, why would the cops have waited until after they'd conducted their test?

That still didn't explain why he couldn't get ahold of any of the elders in the van, though. What happened to them? Some glitch in the cell phone system, or did the cops do something to his phone? He knew they wouldn't have sold him out, and Stang didn't know anything about them.

The Texas longhorn sighed, resolving to get to the bottom of what had happened, even if he had to do it from the inside of a prison cell. He had no doubt that a jury of his so-called peers—filth, and those who supported them for sure—would throw him under the bus. If the others were still free, they would continue the plan and exonerate him when the time came.

Slumping back into the overstarched sheets of the hospital bed, Damian Hornby stared up at the ceiling. "I'm sorry, Isabel. I wasn't able to complete the work for you and Kole. But I won't give up. The kind of filth who took you away will still pay."


Officer Sarah Hardt read the text message on her phone, then slipped it back into her pocket, and turned to her smaller colleague, standing in the kitchen of Stang's apartment. "Detectives are calling this one a wrap. They're sending a uni over in an unmarked. We're good to go," she said.

Officer Samantha Livingston nodded and reached into her own pocket, pulling out a pair of flexicuffs and approaching Felicity Stang, seated on the couch reading. The mustang mare glanced up, then at the cuffs, and sighed. She knew what was coming and had resigned herself to the fact. It wasn't easy, but she wasn't going to delude herself into thinking she'd be let go. The best she could hope fore, she figured, was a lifetime in prison, minimum security if she was lucky, though most likely medium or max security.

She stood and put her hooves behind her head, facing the wall, not resisting when Livingston pulled her arms down to lock them in the flexicuffs. None of the three said anything. As they moved toward her door, the mare took a last look at her apartment and all of its furnishings, knowing that she'd never see them again. The officers would call her family to come and collect her belongings for storage, and her landmammal would be given notice of termination of her lease. She'd been able to at least get that arranged, thankfully, and her other affairs were in order. She was thankful for that, at least.

The three left the apartment, locking it up, with the mustang draped in one of her jackets to hide the fact that she was in cuffs. There was no need for any rumours to start and possibly get back to any stragglers that hadn't yet been picked up. To everyone else, it looked like the three were just heading out for a walk.

As they passed the front desk, the bighorn sheep doormammal gave her a cheerful wave and a smile before going back to his duties. Outside, the unmarked sedan was waiting, and Hardt reached down and pulled open the door. Livingston guided the mare into the back seat, buckled her in, then closed the door, turning to her fellow officers. "See you guys back at the station."

Officer Jake Steele nodded. "I'm told you guys are going to Precinct Nine?" He was referring to the smaller of the Sahara Square precincts. The one in the airport was closed, and the one on the Mojave Strip was full.

"That's correct, Steele. And I'll be riding with you." Hardt moved to the front passenger seat and let herself in, while Livingston left to pick up the unmarked car in which they had come the day before.


A/N

Well, things are winding down in some ways, but still very much full speed ahead in others. What will come next?

I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy. COVID-19 is affecting everyone, one way or another, and I have several friends out there on the front lines that I worry about every day. I'm considered "essential services" as well, working in telecommunications and IT, so I work mostly from home. Everything else is closed and travel is severely discouraged.

One person caught the reference in the last chapter! Can you catch any in this one?

Coming up on April 17: I Ask, You Answer!

Questions? Critiques? Did Doc Hudson sentence you to fix your local interstate after you spilled coffee on it? Leave a comment!