Author's Notes:

So I turned on Steam for the first time in a while. Sooooo I've been playing a lot of games whenever I boot up my computer instead of writing. Sorry for the ensuing delays lol. BTW if you've ever enjoyed Sierra game Hero-U Rogue to Redemption is kinda awesome.

I do not own Zootopia.

Their meal was fast but good, they took longer to get ready then they planned, spending their time cuddling and kissing before they actually left their home. All throughout their time at the restaurant they kept smiling at each other and breaking out into little giggle fits. Neither one could believe they were engaged, but they couldn't be happier about it. They got a few strange looks form the other patrons, but they didn't notice, even Nick's jaded cynicism had taken a backseat, only having eyes for his bunny.

When they were done they made their way over to the Off Duty, utilizing the subways, they decided if they were headed to a bar, and a cop bar at that, it'd be a good idea if neither of them drove. As they walked up to the entrance, paw in paw, Judy was taken aback at how plain it looked. There was nothing marking it as a hangout for first responders, nothing fancy or ornate on the signage. There wasn't a bouncer at the door, no one was dumb enough to try to sneak in here, so they pushed to door open and stepped inside.

As soon as they entered a shout came from behind the bar, "Oy, you two!" Judy prepared to get very angry very quickly, "Welcome to the off duty! I have to assume you're Hopps and Wilde?" They both froze for a brief moment, unsure how to address the older looking dingo, who was currently filling up a few large beer glasses. Eventually they both simply nodded, "Great, you're group is in the back, over there." He pointed deeper inside the bar, "Just make sure you come by and see me before too long, I love meeting fresh faces." Seemingly he was done with the conversation because he turned around to grab several bottles off the shelf behind himself.

Judy and Nick shared a confused look for a moment before continuing inside looking for their group. The two of them spotted Fangmeyer and Wolford as well as McHorn and Pennington all sitting around a table. They'd already lifted one of the benches for the two smaller mammals. As they approached the off duty cops noticed them and raised their glasses in a cheer. They leapt up onto the bench and sat down while waving them down trying to get the group to be a little quieter.

When everyone finally quieted down Pennington spoke up first, "Glad the two of you could join us! Wilde, you still good for that beer?"

Nick let out a laugh, "Of course I am! In fact, everyone's first round is on me tonight." He paused for a moment before he continued, "I uh… listen you've all been great, and I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for being so welcoming and for watching out for Carrots here."

Judy shot him a dirty look, "I'm more than capable of watching out for myself I'll have you know Slick. But I have to agree with the fox, you've all been excellent since I've come back."

There was an awkward pause as every thought of their treatment from before she'd left. Fangmeyer was the first to speak up, "I think I speak for the group when I say we're ashamed of how we treated the both of you during the missing mammal case. It.. It was unacceptable." The others nodded their heads in agreement, finding it hard to maintain eye contact.

Judy replied, "Listen, I'm not going to say that it was okay, or that there were no problems that came from it. But it's in the past, I don't need you to be sorry, I just need you to be better, which you have been! I am honestly happy to be working with all of you, there are no hard feelings."

Nick laid an arm around her shoulders, "I agree with Fluff. The positives that came from the Missing Mammals and Night Howler cases might actually outweigh the negatives, and what more could we ask for?"

There were a few half hearted smiles, but before things could get too awkward a server, a cute brown bear, walked up and said, "Welcome back everyone. Oh! And welcome to you two, first time here?"

Judy snuggled up to her fox, "Yup! It's a really nice place, you'll probably be seeing the more of the two of us before too long. Nick here will be entering the academy before too long, we'll be coming here whenever we wrap up some big case."

The table shared a quick laugh and Nick said, "I don't know if my liver will be able to come here every time we finish up a case."

Fangmeyer had a coy smile, "And just how often do you think you'll be solving these big cases?"

Nick's smug grin was firmly in place, "Probably average about one and a half a week. Don't worry, I'll be taking it easy, save some of them for the rest of you."

There was a moment's pause before everyone burst out laughing. She took everyone's orders and soon it was Judy's turn, "What can I get for you Officer Hopps?"

Judy looked bashful for a moment before she quietly asked, "Do you have anything with carrots in it?"

Nick couldn't resist, "Really Carrots? Are you trying to play up the bunny stereotypes?"

She fixed him with a stare before she turned back to their server, who was ready with her answer, "Yes, we actually have a Carrot-Ginger-tini, the mammals who order it seem to like it."

Judy looked happy at hearing that, "Great, I'll have that, it sounds good. And my smug friend here will have anything with blueberries in it."

The bear had seen it all so she only smiled a little when she asked, "Easy enough, you want a beer or a cocktail?"

Nick chuckled once and said, "I'll have a cocktail, thanks. Oh and here," he passed her a credit card, "These mammals are on me tonight."

The bear nodded and walked off towards the bar as McHorn was the first to speak up, "Now Wilde, we can't let you pay for all of our drinks…"

Nick settled back into his seat and asked, "Why not? I want to. Two of you are the ones working with my future partner and the other two are the ones who protected my den. If that's not worth a few measly drinks I don't know what is."

After a moment Wolford said, "Well, as long as your sure it won't be too expensive…"

Judy let out a small laugh, when everyone at the table but Nick looked at her questioningly she said, "His bank account will survive, I promise."

Everyone begrudgingly agreed to let him pay, and that was that. Before the silence got too long and awkward Wolford spoke up, "So, before you two got here McHorn and Pennington were starting to tell us of your exciting day. I for one would love to know what happened. If you don't mind sharing that is."

They didn't and the table launched into the story of their day. During the story their order showed up, including a bonus round of tequila shots. They all picked up their glasses and Nick lead them in a toast, "To alcohol: the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems." Everyone clinked their glasses together and shot down their drinks quickly. Nick watched Judy as he poured the alcohol down his throat to see if she grimaced, but she simply let out a contented sigh and set her glass down. Fangmeyer on the other paw let out a few coughs and Wolford patted her back softly a few times to sooth her.

After the brief distraction of shots the story resumed and soon the table was full of the sounds of a great and horrible story being told. At first Nick was a little taken about at how quickly their little horrible encounter had turned into a funny story, but he realized that a little black humor was probably a great comping mechanism to help deal with the stresses of their jobs. He mostly sat back and listened to McHorn and Pennington tell the story from their point of view. Despite the jokes and lighter mood he was still a little upset about the whole encounter, though he did a good job of keeping that to himself.

As they were all sharing a laugh about how Francine pulled the truck out of their door Judy took his paw in her own underneath the table and squeezed it once. When he turned to look at her she was looking at him with a bit of concern on her face. He smiled at her and squeezed her paw back before kissing her forehead once. As he sat back up he noticed the table was silent and all eyes were on the two smallest mammals there. Judy began to blush slightly and her ears dropped down over her face as she averted her gaze from everyone. Nick on the other paw simply grinned at everyone clearly unashamed. He took a look around the table before he pulled his bunny to his side and slipped his arm around her shoulders.

Francine was the first to break the silence, "So are you two dating… or?"

Judy turned to her smug fox and asked, "That's a good question Nick, are we dating?"

Nick didn't even hesitate, "Well, we've been on one official date, and we've had some great mini dates, the motorcycle rides, the dinners, oh, that night at the bar with Finnick!"

"You got stabbed at that bar Nick. Any date you get stabbed on doesn't count as a date. Besides, you're avoiding the question: are we dating?"

Nick took a slow sip of his drink, and set it back on the table before he replied, "You've read up on fox dating habits enough to know better than to ask that Carrots. The vixen, er doe in this case I suppose, sets the pace in a fox relationship. If you want to know if we're dating or not, you're the only one who can answer that question."

Everyone was doing their best to keep their chuckles quiet, but the antics of two smaller mammals wasn't making it easy. Judy arched an eyebrow and said, "You're right, I guess we're not dating." and with that she settled back down in her seat and snuggled up against her fox.

The lager mammals were all stunned at the little exchange but Fangmeyer was the first to get her wits back, "Alright, bullshit you two aren't dating. Look at you! You're both cuddled up together like that! You're living together at Nick's place. AND we all just saw Nick kissing your forehead a second ago. So don't sit there and say you two aren't together."

Judy listened to her calmly before she replied, "I never said we weren't together, I just said that we weren't dating. We're engaged actually, I proposed to Nick earlier today."

Everyone but Nick shouted, "WHAT?!" simultaneously.

Nick quirked an eyebrow, ignoring the rest of the table, focusing on Judy, "Did you now? I don't see a ring on this finger." he said holding his paw up pretending to inspect it closely. "If I remember correctly I was the one who was actually prepared to offer up a proposal."

Judy inspected her own paw, "Then why on earth do I not see a ring on my finger Nick? Oh, Serendipity! Someone must have stolen it! Nick we have to find some police officers to report this heinous crime to."

"Alright fine, you go me Fluff, the ring I had all picked out wasn't sized correctly. I thought I would have had more time before somebunny popped the question."

Judy hopped up on the seat, "J'accuse!" She pointed her finger at her grinning fox, "So you admit that I was the one who proposed?"

Nick narrowed his eyes before he took another sip, calmly setting the drink down before he said, "If you run the tape back I think you'll find that I used the phrase 'popped the question' and not 'proposed'."

"You are simply arguing semantics at this point Mr. Wilde, you're whole case is falling down around you."

"Maybe so Officer Hopps, but all I need to do is stall for time until everyone else becomes too annoyed to allow us to continue. Besides, I'm too handsome to be wrong."

"Wha? What does that even mean?!"

"It means, my dear, that you're absolutely right and I just like riling you up. You're very pretty when you're angry." He lifted her chin with a paw and stole a kiss from her before she could object.

She placed her paws on his chest, planning to push her insufferable fox away, but they ended up wrapped around his neck pulling him in to deepen the kiss. When they eventually separated Judy sat down on her fox's lap, slightly flushed, and asked, "Sorry, what was the question again?"

Pennington spoke up, "Fuck the question, you two are engaged?"

Nick let out a bark of a laugh, "She felt the need to lock all of this down" he gestured to himself, "before I got back from the academy." He placed his paws over Judy's ears and said, "She's afraid that I'll get snatched up by some vixen once I look all handsome in my uniform. Don't tell her I said it, but I couldn't imagine loving anyone else but her."

Judy said, "Nick?"

"Yes Judy?"

"You need to cover the base of my ears, not the tips if you want to avoid me hearing something."

"I know Carrots, I just wanted to pet you ears." and he started to run his paws up and down her ears.

She basked in the attention he was giving her, "You're insufferable, you know that?"

"Well then I guess you shouldn't have proposed to me then huh?"

Wolford decided to interject, "Well congratulations you two! Kathy, I never should have doubted you."

Fangmeyer for her part simply took another sip of her margarita, ignoring Wolford completely. Instead she said, "So, when's the big day?"

Nick and Judy were both taken aback by that question, they really hadn't had the time to consider it. Judy pivoted to look at her mate, "I honestly haven't thought about it… Nick?"

"Don't look at me Carrots, I'm just hoping you don't realize you can do better before we actually tie the… well, tie the knot."

Judy whispered into his ear, "Too late for that one sweetheart." while Wolford coughed into his beer.

They continued on for a few hours, the veterans telling stories of their funniest arrests, Judy telling of the Podunk she'd left behind, and Nick mostly staying silent as the drinks flowed freely. He liked all the officers he was drinking with, but he still wasn't fully comfortable sharing things about himself. Eventually McHorn and Pennington stepped outside to smoke while Judy and Fangmeyer made their way to the bathroom so Nick found himself alone with Wolford.

They sat there, the awkward silence palpable, until Wolford spoke up, "You two make a great couple."

That statement took Nick by surprise and he blurted out, "You too."

Wolford looked panic stricken, "What are you talking about Wilde?"

Nick took another sip of his drink and said, "Sorry, I'm guessing you two are trying to keep it under wraps, but you shouldn't use the same musk mask as Fangmeyer then, especially cause neither of you used musk mask before."

Wolford groaned and rubbed his eyes with his paw. When he picked up his head he locked eyes with Nick and asked, "Could you please keep this quiet for now? We just started seeing each other…"

Nick razed a paw silencing his drinking partner, "Say no more Wolford, you secret's safe with me."

"Thanks. But I have to know, it was more than the musk mask wasn't it? That's just not enough info to go on!"

Nick chucked, "You're right. I've only seen you two a few times, but anyone who's looking could tell that you two are long time partners, completely comfortable with each other. Tonight? You two were a little awkward around each other. That plus the musk mask… well it's enough for an educated guess."

"Luna help me, in trying to not tip our paw we've revealed everything. Well, thanks for keeping it quiet for now."

While Wilde and Wolford were polishing off their drinks and discussing relationships Hopps and Fangmeyer were talking in the bathroom. Judy may have had a few too many and was a little unsteady on her paws while Fangmeyer was handling herself just a little better. After she finished drying off her paws Fangmeyer fixed Judy with a grin and asked, "So Hopps, have you hopped into bed with Wilde yet?"

"Fangmeyer! I can't believe you'd ask that!" A dopy grin made her way across her face, "Yes. How could I not? He's so damn handsome, and funny, and smart!"

Kathy chuckled to herself, "You're really head over tail for him aren't you?"

Judy nodded, "Yes, yes I am. He has me wrapped around his paws and I'm helpless in his grasp. Of course, I wouldn't have it any other way."

Fangmeyer took a moment before asking quietly, "How did you know he was the one for you?"

"He was brutalized to save me from Bellwether and her goons, and he took a drug that as far as we knew had no cure to keep me safe. When I saw him in the hospital after that, how could I not love him?" Judy paused for a moment before she giggled, "He's a criminal you know…"

"What? What has he done?"

Judy nodded, "Yup, his devilish paws, with those sinful claws, and his dangerous teeth are all wrapped up together to make his touch criminal." and she broke out laughing at her little joke.

Fangmeyer shook her head, "Funny. Well Officer Hopps, I think you're cut off for the night."

"Booo!" Judy cried out.

"Let's get you back to your criminal fiancé…"

Judy bounced with joy and made her way towards the door, "Yay!"

When they reentered the bar Judy was the first to notice their table was now totally empty, "Uh, where is my mate?"

Fangmeyer spotted the missing mammals in question, "Oh Simba, our mates found the karaoke machine." She cried out in dismay.

Judy looked over to the small raised platform that acted as the bar's stage, "Wait, there's a karaoke machine? Wait did you say our mates?!"

As the music started up Fangmeyer buried her face in her paws, "Nooooooooo."

Author's Notes

Again, I would like to apologize for the delay, and I appreciate the kind words that came in during the brief pause in updates. :) I shall endeavor to avoid further delays.